The Girdle of Melian

es indeedy, it's fun time! What makes you smile? That's the question asked by the London Science Museum . Take part in the project by leaving a comment on Marsha Moore's blog . My answer was my five-year-old nephew getting excited about something so that he jumps around, waving his arms, exactly like characters do in cartoons. I'd always wondered why no one did that in real life, and now I know; kids do! Jayne, over in the UK, has sent out her first query and is holding her first ever contest to celebrate . She's got some gorgeous prizes on offer, right after my own heart, from vintage children's books to vintage Agatha Christie to other lovely items. Hop on over and enter! Kait Nolan's Forsaken by Shadow , available at Amazon and elsewhere, is now in serial form on her own website. Check out the first part, here and tune in every Friday to read the rest. I've got a snip too! This is taken from the house party going on at Cherry Hill, Georgia - ...

uestions from Inside the Actor's Studio! We recently had a staff exercise at work, part of which involved answering some of the questions that James Lipton asks: 1. What is your favorite word? Wariangle 2. What is your least favorite word? Like (when used in Valley Girl sentences such as "I was, like, at my boyfriend's house and, like, we were, like, making out? He took off my bra, and then, like, his parents, like, came home?!) 5. What sound or noise do you love? The Aegean sea crashing on the sand near my grandmother’s house 6. What sound or noise do you hate? TV commercials 7. What is your favourite curse word? Fish wrinkles! 8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Veterinarian or sailor (on a sailboat) 9. What profession would you not like to do? Anything involving public speaking 10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “This way to the TARDIS...” (I...

f all unexpected things, my bank is hosting a summer reading club for children and teenagers! They've actually been doing this for a few years now; this year's theme is Destination Jungle and features, among other authors, the incomparable Jean Little, Rudyard Kipling, Farley Mowat, Iain Lawrence and Barbara Haworth-Attard. If you live in Canada - and possibly the North-East United States - spread the word and get your local library and schools involved. Also, the Why Don't Boys Read YA controversy is still smouldering over on Hannah's blog .

art way through the 51 day marathon and my word counts per day have dropped to about 400 instead of 600. But, look at me! It's 8 am on a Saturday and I'm already up, ready to begin typing all the 1000s of words that are filling up three notebooks. Just in time to enter the Teen Novel Contest from Wyvern Publications , that I found out about from Aubrie . Meanwhile, 19 year old author of Young Adult and Middle Grade books, Hannah , discusses why boys don't read YA; they skip from MG to regular adult books. Now, I'm against this sort of labelling in the first place (having read The Lord of the Rings , A Wrinkle in Time , Charlotte's Web and a host of other books all in about the same year, when I was 10-11), but it's the way the industry seems to work now (even if individual readers might not) and I go along with it while querying. Hannah suggests that one of the reasons for this might be that YA novels stereotype boys into wimpy, nerdy, goody-two-shoes types...

logfest of Death still going on below! Meanwhile, I'm almost at the half way point of my 51 day marathon and I've been writing nearly every day. Had a bit of a lag this weekend - lots of family and friend visits - but still 30 days to go. As soon as I get all the handwritten scenes typed up I'll up my word count widget; should be at 55,000 words at least. Only 20,000 more to go until revisions start - and then perhaps some celebrations (read: contests) might be in order... Or maybe I'll even host a blogfest of my own; Tessa's has been great fun!

Here's mine, short and more of a foreshadowing of death. This scene takes place in Constantinople in early spring, 1493, between the protagonist Rose and one of her travelling companions and closest friends, Baha. *** Baha's breath rattled in and out of his lungs, his chest rising and falling beneath Rose's hand until he raised himself on one elbow to cough into his handkerchief. He lay back, and the rattling resumed. Rose returned her hand to his chest, clasping his fingers where they rested directly below his heart. He looked at her, then away, and she tried not to notice how white his skin had grown, how red his eyes were. The coughing would start again soon; best to ask him while she had the chance. "Baha? Should I tell your family about – that you –" "No!" It was only a whisper, but forceful for all that. He opened one eye and narrowed it at her. "They did not wish to see me when I returned to Stamboul, and will certainly not care to se...

oanna Bourne 's The Forbidden Rose - the best new book I've read so far this summer! - free copy contest is now over. And the second Advance Reader Copy goes to... Frodo looking over the candidates: I'll grab this one! Yup, this is it... And the winner is... Raven! Congratulations! Please email me your address and I'll get the book out to you on Monday. Meanwhile, don't forget to tune in Sunday for *cue ominous music* the Death Scene Blogfest !