Mini Reviews of McKenzie and Nolan, and 100th Anniversary of Hercule Poirot

ew books!

I finally checked to see when Amazon might be sending my copy of the latest Louise Penny, A Great Reckoning, and it's not till this Friday! I've been kind of at a loose end with my reading because of that, not wanting to start anything else that's going to take over my life in the way that such books do.

Which is why I've been rereading lots of Agatha Christie. I'm not sure if she gets enough credit for her characterisation -- she really achieves so much with just a few quick turns of phrase. And Tommy and Tuppence are brilliant. I still haven't seen the latest BBC version of their adventures, Partners in Crime (featuring David Walliams and Jessica Raine) -- goodness, I just looked up the show site and realised that Major Carter is played by James Fleet, none other than Hugo Horton on The Vicar of Dibley. And, of course, he's the Reverend Wakefield in the screen version of Outlander! -- but now that I've been rereading, I'd like to catch up.

As for ROW80 goals, I've started on the secret knitting project! Secret because it's a group project for a friend, and I'm not running any risks by blabbing about it yet... I've also ordered wool for another project, a fox scarf, that will be a gift. Here's what it ought to look like when completed:

Round 3 of ROW80 is winding down, and for round 4, I hope to tack on another goal -- sorting through story ideas to select one for this year's NaNoWriMo!


I've got four mini reviews today! (Mini reviews are an idea I got from ZanMarie, who had some intriguing books in her last mini-reviews post!)

Catherine McKenzie's latest, Fractured, is coming soon!

Each character in this book could be an unreliable narrator in their own right -- the reader's never completely certain about their motives or whether they're hiding something. Yet each is empathetic in his or her own way -- John and Julie let their guards down once, and of course that's the one time someone else observes them. They doubt themselves, they question their own actions, but they're still trying to do the right thing. As are each of their neighbours, for their own reasons. And yet -- they clash. I always find it intriguing that people (not just in books) can be true to their own desires, not want to hurt others, yet succeed in doing just that. This story explores the extremes of that idea, and of how small actions, even those recanted or regretted, can lead to an ultimately terrible consequence.

Love the first question in the reading guide, too, as it captures the suspense and trepidation: "Fractured begins with John at his front window, spying on the house across the street. What is it about living in close proximity to someone else that gives people the need to know what is going on in their lives? Have you ever been 'caught looking'?"

Taking it one step further, the novel written by the protagonist of Fractured also explores the idea of how far innocence may be stretched. A murder has been committed. Yet the victim himself was a criminal, a predator. Can a case be made for individual justice?

The Murder Game

Yes, it's actually Catherine McKenzie, writing as Julie Apple!

McKenzie has a great way of making the settings of her books seem real, not just in terms of description, but on a human level. I always feel like if I walked into the town, I'd know where to go for coffee, where the attractive neighbourhoods are (love looking at older architecture!), where the river or other waterfront is. The Murder Game not only has all that, but it's set in Montreal, and I recognise every building, restaurant, bar, and Metro station -- it's exciting to think that other people reading this book might be intrigued by the depictions, and want to visit Montreal for themselves.

Parts of the book also flash back to the 1990s. I suppose more books will start being written in that time now (incidentally, author Kevin Brennan has just written a piece for another blog all about 90s nostalgia. I might start thinking about writing a few essays myself...).

I really enjoyed the description of the rally held before the 1995 referendum; I remember attending, I remember the giant flag, and I remember staying up all night later, on referendum day, growing more and more tense as the votes were counted (I was too young to vote!). But this was before digital cameras and smartphones. I don't have a single photograph of the event (except for the poster I bought of a photo from above of the crowd and the giant flag) and memories can be so sketchy. I think we walked there from school, but how did we get back, by bus? What did we talk about? Was there singing (besides the anthem)? Which politicians made speeches? Did we linger downtown afterwards? Was there underage drinking? Maybe if I start writing stories set in the '90s, some of these memories will resurface...

The other day I mentioned that I had only one Kait Nolan book left to read -- but apparently there were two!

I thought I'd read Know Me Well, but it turns out I hadn't. Well, now I've read both that and To Get Me To You. I'm all caught up on the Wishful stories, just in time, as there are new ones in the works!

Another lovely Wishful romance! One of the things I really enjoy about the Wishful stories is the layers -- there's the couple, and their backstory, then there's the work they do and their devotion to their jobs or vocations, and then there's the town itself, and all their friends and neighbours. The novel weaves in enough of the other elements to ground the reader, without ever losing focus on the hero and heroine.

The first Wishful story!

Usually I read things in order, so I'm not sure how I missed reading Norah and Cam's story when it first came out. They keep popping in and out of the other stories, and I love the ongoing question of when they'll finally find time in their schedules to get married. It was great to finally read of their beginning, and how Norah first settled in Wishful. I like her even more now that I've seen things from her point of view!

Plus you can read this one for free! Choose your format for To Get Me To You here.

It's the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot (and Captain Hastings), who first appeared in 1916, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Guess I'll reread that one next...

Love the new commemorative stamps from the Royal Mail

Have you read any new stories set in the 1990s?

Or is there another time you look back on?

Crystal Collier Cover Reveal! Plus ROW80 and Mini-Rant About Twitter

heese!


Guess who's revealing a cover today?

Before that, a quick ROW80 update from me -- we're nearing the end of this year's round 3, and in true ROW80 style, I'm revamping my goals for this current round and the next. No, I haven't finished edits at all. I'm hoping that after this year's NaNoWriMo, when the writing is in full swing once more, I'll have the motivation for edits.

Until then, I've suddenly got three new knitting projects! I'm not doing too badly with unfinished objects (UFOs!) -- I only have two at the moment. One will likely never get done, while the other is easy, and will hopefully fall into the knitting I'll be doing on the new projects. I expect all this to take up either my weekend reading time or my commute reading time. On the other hand, I'm actually starting to read regularly on the Kindle app on my phone, which means more reading time at night after baby falls asleep (in the same room) -- and yet this completely removes Twitter time.

[As an aside, I have a mini-rant, because this has been bugging me for over a month now: I love Twitter but am really soured by the version for Android -- compared to the Twitter app for iPad, the app on Android is utterly useless with regard to lists. And, the main news feed being impossible to keep up with and full of advertising, I only ever check my lists.
I've been forced to use Hootsuite to actually be able to check lists with any kind of completeness, and even that is subpar -- both Twitter itself and third-party apps only scroll back to a designated number of tweets, which is utterly infuriating. I check Twitter only once a day, and I want to scroll back in the last 24 hours, start from the bottom, and read up. I don't want to only go back 20 hours or 17 hours or to whenever an arbitrary number of tweets has been reached: just show me everything!
And I certainly don't want -- or understand the need for -- the insane way Hootsuite loads: I scroll all the way down as far as the stupid arbitrary code permits, start reading up and, suddenly, there's a blank spot and it says "load more tweets" -- but I just loaded everything! then I have to reload, scroll back down to where I'd stopped, start reading up again, and after a designated number of tweets, there it is again, "load more tweets". It's like reading a newspaper article online, trying to scroll up to check something in the first paragraph, and having to reload the entire page once more.
What on earth is going on here? Why won't Twitter itself just load every tweet in my lists for as far back as I care to scroll, then keep it loaded so I can happily read up for as far as I want? The iPad version does this just fine -- what gives with Android?]

Now for some excitement!

TIMELESS
(#3 Maiden of Time) by Crystal Collier

TIMELESS (Maiden of Time #3)

by Crystal Collier

YA Paranormal Historical

Release Date: November 1, 2016

TIME IS THE ENEMY

In 1771, Alexia had everything: the man of her dreams, reconciliation with her father, even a child on the way. But she was never meant to stay. It broke her heart, but Alexia heeded destiny and traveled five hundred years back to stop the Soulless from becoming.

In the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Church has ordered the Knights Templar to exterminate the Passionate, her bloodline. As Alexia fights this new threat -- along with an unfathomable evil and her own heart -- the Soulless genesis nears. But none of her hard-won battles may matter if she dies in childbirth before completing her mission.

Can Alexia escape her own clock?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy/sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror, or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and "friend" (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her Blog, Facebook, or Goodreads, or follow her on Twitter.

Want the first chapter free? Sign up HERE.

Congratulations, Crystal!

Speaking of ROW80, I've got more book reviews of novels by founder Kait Nolan to come, as well as the latest Catherine McKenzie and more (let's not get into how impatiently I'm waiting for my copy of Louise Penny's new book) -- and photos of all the knitting projects, natch!

If you know of a third-party app that's also free but handles lists on Twitter better than Hootsuite does, please tell me!

IWSG Day and Library Out of Storage!

appy Insecure Writer's Support Group Day!

Today's question is: How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

The short answer is, I don't!

The long answer is, that when I'm drafting a new story, there's no question about finding time. Time just magically appears. I stay up late writing, and don't feel unrested. I scribble on napkins. I write notes to myself on my phone. I avoid social media because, hello!, there are characters to discover and exciting events happening. I hear conversations in my head while walking. Every image I see reminds me of the characters...

Then the story is done. It needs typing up, most of the time, from notebooks. That's okay, too. There's time in the morning if I get in to work early. There's time during the baby's nap. Slowly the crumpled already-typed pages pile up. Minor edits are done and missing scenes have been written.

And then there's a complete draft in Scrivener. Time to print and start editing!

This gets done, too. There may be a long train trip, a work event with a long break during which I can hole up and read. The manuscript is covered in scribbles.

And that's the stage I'm at with most of my stories -- a pile of printouts covered in scribbles. For some reason, entering those changes, really digging in to character motivation and story arcs, seems to be a sticking point for me. I just cannot find the motivation. And suddenly there's no time in the day. Work is extra busy. Lots of family events. Niggling chores. Many exciting books to read. And my own tales just get pushed to the wayside.

This is why I love doing NaNoWriMo -- an excuse to go back to the happy drafting stage!

But when will I edit?

Thank you to our co-hosts this month! C. Lee McKenzie, Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman, Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata.


I've got my photos together to share the day our storage stuff arrived:

47 bins, 12 boxes, and 4 wardrobe boxes!

(I ended up collating most of the photos because Blogger continues to turn half my photos upside down, and I just can't figure out why.)

I wanted to have all the storage stuff all organised as quickly as possible, and managed it in just a few days, with help from family.

For the first time, we have all our books out -- yes some are in cupboards and some (also for the first time, as I'd much rather have everything visible -- it's out of sight out of mind with me, and I forget a lot -- but there's just no space) are in the second layer on the shelf behind the first (to help my memory I tried to suggest their presence -- e.g. one big crime story hardcover is a clue that all the Agatha Christies are back there!), but there are no books in bins, hidden away!

Found the reply card that Julian Barnes sent me, when I had the temerity to answer his questionnaire at the end of Flaubert's Parrot. Wish I'd kept a copy of my answers to all those philosophical questions! 

There's the truck arriving... And a Delftware dish showing an absinthe drinker...

It begins...

Getting there...

A few piles to go...

Avalanches of books... and some school stuff in bins, to be kept in our storage space here in the apartment...

Done! All the Folio Society books are now together, for the first time!

Hmm, I didn't catch all the comic books in that first photo on the left... And there's one other shelf in another cupboard, for all the Paul Austers and Rose Tremains and many others. Plus the cookbooks in the kitchen!

Finally have all my MG and YA together!

Tolkien, Inklings, Canadiana, poetry, Celtic myths and legends,  art,  Bukowski, Stephen King, and Diana Gabaldon plus Forumites!

Tolkien shelfie!

Then there are the bins of books to give away -- that is also a first. I'm finally parting with a few books, especially some of the duplicates I've bought here and there at book fairs, not remembering I already owned them. Might even hold a contest here for some!

And, of course, this means they'll all have to be removed from the library catalogue!

But there are still items missing!

The movers were so quick and efficient that there wasn't time to arrange with family to have other items brought to the storage space and included in the packing, so we haven't got our records, or my coin collection, or a few scrapbooks, or the three bins at my sister's:

 

I'd forgotten which books were there; turns out there are many of the Turkish books in translation by Professor Joseph S. Jacobson that I reviewed, and all the Vonnegut, and more.

Or the 11 other Andrew Lang fairy books (I brought the Blue Fairy Book with us as a token), which are still at my parents' house:

RIP Sam

As a result of all this, I've instituted the third round of the Book Buying Ban, effective until Christmas -- at least!

Have you moved recently?

Did you throw out lots of stuff before you moved, or in your new space?

Or did you keep everything?

New Release by Kait Nolan!

uess who has a new release?

Louise Penny!

No, seriously, as excited as I am for this book (Three Pines! Gamache and everyone! The Bistro! The duck! The emotion and tension and philosophy and humour and... Anyway, just waiting on delivery), there's another new release I'm really referring to:

Kait Nolan's Turn My World Around, which comes out tomorrow!

The road to redemption...

Struggling single mom Corinne Dawson doesn't have time for fun. She's too busy making a new life for her son and trying to avoid being dragged down by the ghost of who she used to be. But when an accident knocks her boss out of a local dance competition fund-raiser, she finds herself face-to-face with the worst mistake from her past.

Attorney Tucker McGee has always seen past the prickly exterior of this former mean girl. He knows there's more to the story than simple spite. When they get partnered for Dancing With Wishful, he finally gets the chance to act on the spark he's felt since she moved home. But getting past her regrets just might be the biggest challenge he's ever faced.

As the competition heats up, so do the feelings between them. Will Tucker be able to convince Corinne that she's more than the sum of her mistakes? Or will she be forced to leave town to find a new beginning without him?

I got an advanced copy to read for review, and if I hadn't needed to be fully alert at work this week, I'd have stayed up all night the day I got it -- it's so exciting to read a book that's sweet and yet has you on the edge of your seat (or, er, pillow), wondering how the hero and heroine are going to manage to come together.

The story weaves effortlessly between the hero and heroine's points of view, and gives that great sense of characters you're sure you've been friends with for ages. I've got two left feet and have never watched Dancing With... anything, and even I was swaying to rhythms in my head as Tucker led Corinne across the stage. And then there're one or two scenes... Let's just say they made me wish I could tango!

Small town stories that are part of a series really strike a chord with me -- it's a good feeling to know that even when two characters have found their happily ever after, the reader doesn't need to let them go entirely. Love spotting couples from the previous stories set in Wishful (which is also southern -- damn skippy!) each time I read a new one (the writer in me also gets excited by the thought of how much fun it must be to name all the spots in town and discover all the links between the various families). And I adore the tiny moment that links them all together -- that bit at the start involving a coin, the fountain in the town centre, and a wish...

You don't need to read the series in order; each book is also a standalone. Two of them also cross with Kait's other series, the Meet Cute stories. Those are exactly what they say they are -- short bites of romance for when you need a pick me up, a little spark, the beginning and promise of something great.

Not kidding -- I was between books this afternoon and started Once Upon A Coffee on the train ride home. I read the last line just as the train pulled into my station! Of course, now I'm hoping to see some more of Dillon and Avery, wandering round Wishful, maybe at Speakeasy or the coffee shop or the diner...

Here's a list of them by hero and heroine (I only have one left to read!):

"Couples By Series Wishful

Dillon Lange and Avery Cahill: Once Upon A Coffee

Cam Crawford and Norah Burke: To Get Me To You

Brody Jensen and Tyler Edison: Be Careful It's My Heart

Liam Montgomery and Riley Gower: Know Me Well

Myles Stewart and Piper Parish: Once Upon a Setup and Just For This Moment

Reed Campbell and Cecily Dixon: Wish I Might (in the Virtually Yours anthology)

Tucker McGee and Corinne Dawson: Turn My World Around

Speaking of Kait, she's the one that started the brilliant ROW80. And here I am, another week with no update on the writing front. Work is crazy busy -- I didn't even get to write up this post at lunch like I usually try to do. On the other hand, I have tried something new: this is my first post using the Blogger app on Android, and so far it's been very easy to use. I just need to learn my way around adding links and formatting (notice all the missing italics for the titles?)... It's nice to have this new option for days when I can't get to the blog in the daytime!

What apps and shortcuts do you enjoy using?

ROW80 and Nairobi! Part 2

o glad visitors seem to have enjoyed my Nairobi photos from last week, because I have the final batch to share today!

But first... Last week I was so busy sharing photos that I forgot to share any ROW80 updates!

It's not all good news: I haven't finished the latest round of edits on Druid's Moon at all. I have finished knitting a blanket, though! Photos of that to come when I've collated another knitting-related post.

And I finally got caught up on blog commenting. There are quite a few interesting bloghops happening, especially the Write...Edit...Publish flash fiction challenge for August, to write a story on the theme of gardens.

Meanwhile, ROW80 -- the writing challenge that knows you have a life -- is moving! Not to somewhere entirely new, but the blog will be closed to further entries, and the community will shift to the ROW80 Facebook page, to create more dialogue and make updates and interactions easier. Come visit us and join in!

Now for more photos:

I like the acronym MICE

Flags!

View over the business district

Statue of former President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta

Thanks to a colleague for this evocative photo!

Cod liver oil!

I took a photo of myself taking a photo... That's me on the right in the red skirt.

This guy walked into my photo -- I was trying to get a shot of the Swiss Cottages sign

And here, from our shuttle bus windows, are the Swiss cottages themselves!

I wasn't able to check Twitter for 10 days, we were so busy, but I did manage to post once -- yes, it really was 4 a.m.

...and here's someone I was missing while I was away

Back to regular posts next week!

Which interesting photo-filled blogs have you visited this week?