The Girdle of Melian

anadiana! I've had many previous posts on Canada and Canada-themed books and music and travels, including the time I interviewed Vince Ditrich of Spirit of the West on his favourite children's books ! I've also featured Canadiana parts I and II on my knitting blog , including Talli Roland/ Leah Mercer's books . Today's Canadiana features two sad items, the passing of actor John Dunsworth , who most recently played the character of Jim Lahey on Trailer Park Boys, and of Gord Downie , the lead singer of The Tragically Hip. Here's a playlist featuring some of the funny bits from the first season of Trailer Park Boys: (I didn't create this playlist; I hope it's a good one!) Here's a playlist I created a while ago featuring a few songs by The Tragically Hip, in no particular order (subconsciously they may reflect the first recording I owned by them, which wasn't an official album but a mix on tape (yes, on cassette!) made for me

one fishing... Or, more accurately, I'm wading in school work and a bit of my own writing (how's that for a mini-ROW80 update?). This week, then, I leave you with links! I've done this a few times before: my most recent jaunt round the blogosphere was in July, and my post for the letter G during the A to Z Blogging Challenge collated all the previous jaunts! Lots of intriguing blog posts by fellow bloggers, a few of which I list here: Tammy, on a struggle that's all too familiar: querying Adam has a new job ! Carol has a new book ! Inky Fool also has a new book, on the history of drunkenness . My wishlist knows no bounds... Other bloggers to visit: Zan Marie, In the Shade of the Cherry Tree DL Hammons Michael SP Laurel Tara (and don't forget to vote in the sex scene championships !) Trisha Neurotic Workaholic Two Jos: Jo Murphey Jo Bourne , and the Word Wenches And don't m

ooks! In between readings for school, here's what I've been reading: Summer Fire by Sally Wentworth, because it has the same name as my novel, coming out in December ! This book was published in 1980. Let's just say that tastes and conventions in romance have changed quite a bit since then... Reach for the Sky by Paul Brickhill (who became a prisoner of war and was sent to Stalag Luft III, where he assisted in a mass breakout in March 1944, which became the basis of his book The Great Escape ). This book is about Douglas Bader: "Aged 21, Bader was a rising star in the RAF: an exceptional pilot with a natural flair for stunt flying and an outstanding sportsman, tipped to play rugby for England. Then disaster struck. Carrying out a banned “slow roll” at low altitude, Bader crashed so badly that he had to have both legs amputated. Drawing on his own experiences as a fighter pilot and prisoner-of-war, Paul Brickhill takes us through the exhilarating h

oday is Insecure Writer's Support Group Day! Today is also show your insecurity day! Love seeing mini-Alex wearing that scarf! I forgot to bring my IWSG shirt with me, and the weather is not cooperating, so instead of the Alps, here I am working on a blog post with a sequoia outside my window: I'm also interviewed at Carole Anne Carr's blog today! OPTIONAL  IWSG Day Question:  Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose? Short answer: don't we all? Long answer: I've always loved Tolkien's line from the foreword to The Lord of the Rings : "An author cannot of course remain wholly unaffected by his experience, but the ways in which a story-germ uses the soil of experience are extremely complex, and attempts to define the process are at best guesses from evidence that is inadequate and ambiguous." One thing that readers may not realise is that different bit