The Girdle of Melian

Not what you think ! But here's a library they didn't use: The Osler Library of Medicine at McGill University

Another great thread over on Compuserve (I hope the link works!)... I tend to buy books at a faster rate than I can read them, even while reading ten or more at a time - that To Be Read pile just won't stop growing! In a way, though, the pile acts as a kind of "buffer zone"; when I've finished a few books at once, or want to escape some of the more "serious" books I'm reading, and if I don't start rereading an old favourite, then I can scan the TBR pile and wait for a new book to strike me. Odd things happen sometimes, with this method. I was straightening a bookshelf one time when Dickens' The Chimes - a very tiny hardcover copy published practically 100 years ago - caught my eye. I sat down on the floor right then and there and read the whole thing. It was lovely :-)

Jenny has a recent post about Tag Lines for one's novel. I've been thinking about this all day and have come up with three for The Face of A Lion : Meeting the cat was only the beginning... (This might be better as: Meeting a talking cat was only the beginning...) Can Austin prevent history from being erased? What if Rome had never invaded England?

Check out this knitting pattern, courtesy of Jeloca  (pattern for sale here ): And now, some scenes from downtown Montreal:

The geese are flying north - I've been seeing them every morning on my way to the train station. Somehow they never fail to lift up my heart. My camera's not equal to taking still shots of them so high up, so I've borrowed a public domain image:

Tag! I'm it! I've been tagged by Carol ! The rules: a. Link to the person who tagged you. b. Post the rules on your blog. c. Write six random things about yourself. d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog. f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up. The six random facts: 1. I can count to 5 in eight languages (English, French, German, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, Welsh and Swedish) 2. My dreams are mostly like video games – lots of running, jumping, chasing, car crashes, wild animals, near-escapes... lots of fun! 3. I’ve never eaten at: Burger King; Kentucky Fried Chicken; or Quiznos. I’ve only ever eaten at Taco Bell once, and Denny’s once. Denny’s was the worst! I haven’t eaten anything but ice cream at McDonald’s in about ten years. 4. I once almost bought a Dali statuette at the Dali Museum in Paris – it was of Alice, skipping, and only cost 1000$, which was...

The blog of unnecessary quotation marks, here . How about unnecessary apostrophes? I still remember my boss at Dairy Queen, who once wrote up a grocery list for me that included banana's [sic]. Shudder! Why is it that people who can't spell/write coherently always add items? You'd think more ignorant would equal more simple , yet that never seems to be the case. They should teach kids early on: when in doubt, leave it out!

Two full chapters edited! Only one brief paragraph missing, left for another day. Should I celebrate with a snip? Why not! (parts of this snip have previosuly appeared in draft form on the Compuserve Books and Writers Community ) From The Face of A Lion , copyright Deniz Bevan: A landing opened up before him and he saw that there was a kind of private terrace, with benches and tables, and a low railing along the ledge, beyond which – “Oh, wow!” Austin turned his head this way and that, unsure where to look first. All four sides of the amphitheatre were visible below them. A hooded crowd was seething in to the arena from the doors on the other side of the hill from the apothecary’s shop, to join the mass of people already crowded in on the dusty floor and slowly climbing the tiered seats on all sides. Everywhere torches and lanterns flickered, and sticks and clubs were brandished. A jumble of shouted cries rent the still night air. The crowd now entering was loudest, and had soon dro...

Linda Gerber 's holding a contest! Jenny 's got a surprise coming!

As part of my attempt to revive my lacklustre performance in the latest round of 70 Days of Sweat , I have cleared my lunch hours for the next two weeks and plan to get some serious work done! Especially now that I've finished rereading the Chronicles of Narnia and, besides more Diana Gabaldon and Anthony Horowitz books, don't have any other books started at the moment (one of those strangep hases I sometimes go through). The idea is to get the entire novel forward from First Draft to Semi-Okay-Wouldn't-Mind-Passing-It-To-Friends (Maybe!) Stage, with at least one chapter of excellence that can be used for querying. And then I'll begin drafting a query letter... Ick. P.S. Isn't the photo great? P.P.S. I promise not to waste too much time playing Srabulous.

Here he is! I found this photo in the August/September 2007 special Family issue of Real Simple. I've contacted the magazine for permission to use the photo but haven't received a response, so I'm crediting them here, and anyone who has any additional info about the photographer or owner of the photo, please contact me!

Or as near as. I'm a stickler for correct spelling because I think the more logical your writing is, the clearer and better-expressed your thoughts are bound to be. Conversely, I love the way the English language is so fluid and bendy-stretchy, and enjoy reading about the myriad ways it has developed over the last c.1500 years ( Great Vowel Shift , anyone?). Offices that concentrate on writing and editorial matters - not just magazines, newspapers or publishing houses, either - tend to create mountains out of molehills in the search for a standard in-house style. I love the kinds of discussions that centre on apostrophe and comma use , as long as everyone also has an eye on the big picture of course - there's no sense splitting sides about split infinitives if the end-user (pc speak!) of your document couldn't care less and probably won't read half of what you're sending anyway. Better to make sure the overall writing is sound and that the document is delivered on t...

Flying penguins! Narrated by Terry Jones! Here . And the Snail's Tales post about how gullible the Turkish media are...

I'm going to have a little fun. Instead of making the usual lists about tasks, to do chores, goals, books (being) read, etc. I've decided to make a list of my main character's attributes. I believe Claire (tag!) has also done this sort of thing before for her characters, right down to their blood type, eh? :-) Age: 12 Height: 4'11" Weight: 75 lbs. Hair: Blond Eyes: Blue (dark) Hobbies: Football (i.e. soccer), Fishing Likes: ice cream, jam, walking in the woods Dislikes: powdered sugar, sand between his toes, really hot days Pets: none at the moment I'm going to think some more about his musical/reading/etc. tastes - what sorts of posters he might have on his walls...