The Girdle of Melian

here's a theme to this post that I'll share at the end... I've got three recommendations, two books and a musical! Byzantine Provocateur by Melissa Bradley An ancient city sparks forbidden desire... Thalia Burton arrives in Istanbul to relax and enjoy the company of her old friend. Hoping to forget the boring rut her life had become, she never imagines one encounter with Fadi's brother re-igniting the dim flame of passion inside her. Captivated by the heat in his golden eyes, Thalia finds herself tempted beyond reason... Murat Bahar had only intended to meet Thalia as a courtesy to his family. One look at the lovely American incinerates his intentions. She is an exquisite morsel he longs to taste, a taboo treat enthralling him like a siren of myth. Perhaps just one night... Once is not enough. Thalia and Murat embark on a fiery, secret affair that could burn them both, costing them friends and family. Read an excerpt on Melissa's site. I read t...

f we were having coffee... This is a blog idea from Conny at Study Read Write . I'm going to borrow it for today! If we were having coffee together this week, we'd be in Geneva, which means we'll likely have a renverse . We might be seated at Cafe de Paris, which has been around since the 1930s! There are a lot of people watching opportunities at this cafe, but if you'd prefer to be by the lake, there are many cafe-carts and sandwich booths along the water. It's been relatively mild here, compared to the weather much of the rest of the world has been experiencing -- we might even get a chance to sit outside! If you'd like something a bit upscale, there's always the Cottage Cafe... We can take a break from work and responsibility and talk about cabbages and kings... Somewhere in there I'll probably bemoan the fact that I haven't been keeping up with my ROW80 goals! But we can talk about what our day requires , the books we're read...

ook reviews! Wait, ROW80 first -- I'm still falling behind on blog comments. I read 'em all, those who drop by here and all the fellow bloggers I visit, but having time to leave a comment is another matter... Haven't had a chance to format those Wallace letters and ask for a new batch either. I've been reading a lot, though, and did a bit of plotting for a story of my own. I have this crazy idea that I might do Camp NaNoWriMo in June! The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend I haven't finished this one yet. So far it's a bit rambling and not as tight, if that's the right word, as her Adrian Mole books or The Queen and I . I'd have preferred a focus on the main characters, whereas the constant parade of secondary characters dilutes the impact of the story. Yes, the main character, Eva, really does take to her bed! But her point of view isn't very strongly told. There's a precursor to this in The Queen and I , when Prince P...

ear-end review, this time of my knitting projects! Now this is sad. Looking back, I see that without counting the A to Z Challenge , I posted only three times on my neglected knitting blog (Now I'm 26 posts away from 200 overall). The first was a recap of my knitting in 2013 , the second was a happy announcement , and the third featured gifts and an update . Happily, however, this does not mean I neglected the hobby itself! I completed two baby blankets and started work on two Outlander-inspired projects, one of which I finished last week! I haven't uploaded my photo yet - mine's in black and pink - but this is sort of what it looks like, though much thicker: I looked at two patterns, the gathering and the sassenach , before deciding that I knit too tightly for such patterns. I did a 2*2 rib on circular needles, which made for a very cosy cowl. I've already started another, along with a sweater for myself! It's been a while since I shared famous peop...

ery quick post today as I'm going to be on my rounds, trying to catch up with all of your blogs! I'm doing well on my main A Round of Words in 80 Days goal, which is to complete the Alfred Russel Wallace transcriptions: I've typed up the current batch and simply need to format them. I also finished knitting an Outlander-inspired cowl! But that's for a later post... I thought I'd share links to some of the fellow bloggers I'll be visiting, including - still! - some lovely bloggers who came by when I was blog blitzed !: Old Kitty Trisha at Word and Stuff Outlander Kitchen Joan of Dark - who has a new book of Geek Knits patterns coming soon! Author Margaret Buffie The Word Wenches , a gaggle of romance authors Al Diaz or Father Dragon - haven't visited in ages! Joy Campbell - another blogger I miss visiting! Fellow Forumite Jo Murphey Jamie at Mithril Wisdom Nick at Scattergun Scribblings Julie Glover ...

nd the winner of my 900-posts contest is...Theresa! I've previously employed my cats to choose winners, because it's easy to toss rolled up bits of paper in the air and have them choose one to bat around. This time, though, I used a new method. I asked this little girl to choose from a range of items on the windowsill: A foolproof method! Except when she launched her chosen item on the floor... For today's post and ROW80 check in I'd planned to do a year-end review of my writing in 2014. Yet I'm afraid to look, as I don't think I've accomplished very much. Let's see: January 2014 – I was wise last January . I recapped my knitting as well as my writing, and I only entered one vague goal: edit Druid's Moon . Unfortunately, I'm still stuck on that project. It's a great little novella. It just needs a bit of tension-adding tweaking... February – Not much writing, again. But I updated my characters' faces file ! This is very excit...

his is my 900th post! The last milestone was my 800th post , which featured the first sentence of a story, milking a cow, and lots more. Prior to that, I celebrated my 500th post with a week-long contest and a recap of all the posts that had gone before, including a very handy list of all the books I'd reviewed, plus blog awards and writing snips and author interviews and writers' houseparties and Charles II and so on. I'd really like to do that for today's post. Unfortunately, I don't have time to go through 400 posts one by one. Maybe when I hit 1,000 I can make the effort, especially since going through the list of posts has gotten me intrigued about all the authors I've reviewed or interviewed. Instead, I'm going to share a few random ones from the last 400 posts that leap out at me based on their titles: 30-day Song Challenge HEAP Reading a Book is Like the Star Trek Revolving Door Speaking of Star Trek -- Wil Wheaton ! 30 Things I Want...