I’ll be on Radio Victory this morning – Bob Bruce’s Morning Call programme which runs from 10 to 12. I’ll be talking about my Little Mallow cosy mystery series and no doubt a whole lot of other stuff!
Here’s the link, in case you missed it and would like to listen. (Please excuse the excess of cake.)
Wednesday word of the week – Hyperbole
According to my dictionary, hyperbole (pronounced hyperbollee) is ‘an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally’. I wish someone would tell the media (especially the local news) and marketeers that.
People are never a bit upset and mildly inconvenienced when a bus service changes or the lift is out of order, they’re devastated, trapped and stranded. When there’s a mistake on their gas bill they’re not a bit surprised and then glad when it’s sorted out, they’re shocked, dismayed and horrified then hugely relieved.
Food manufacturers don’t release a new flavour, instead it’s an exciting new recipe or unique taste sensation. Products are never quite a good idea which might be useful, they’re innovative and life changing.
TV programmes are never quite amusing, they’re always hilarious and slide-splittingly funny. Presumably ‘they’ watch the director’s cut, leaving me with the version which got slightly lost in translation … either that or I’m just a complete and total misery. Yeah, could be that.
Here’s a picture of a deadly poisonous fungi I risked life and limb to photograph for you. Or, without the hyperbole, here’s a fungi which might not be good to eat and which was growing on a slope of wet grass, meaning that had I not been careful I could have slipped a bit as I walked up to it.
Getting ready
This morning I’m drinking tea and studying book one in my cosy mystery series. The tea part is standard for me (there are two cups, because I always make two and if Gary isn’t awake yet, I drink both).
I’m looking at my book, because I have a radio interview about it later this morning, and hope to sound as though I know what I’m talking about! That’s harder than it sounds as I’ve not long finished editing book two, and as it’s the same location and many characters recur, it would be easy to get them mixed up.
After the interview, I’ll be home for a much needed cup of tea and breakfast, and will get back to work on book three.
Wednesday word of the week – Calender
I’m sure you all know that a calendar is the kind of chart thingy with the days and months of the year divided up. You’re probably also aware that it’s very easy to type calender instead (you will be if you’ve read any of my drafts as I’m always doing it)
Did you know a calender is a real thing?
A calender is machine which uses rollers to press paper or cloth into smooth sheets. (The cat is sat on my slightly rumpled quilt, which is the closest photo I had. No, I won’t be producing an illustrated dictionary!)
Over My Dead Body
No, I’m not issuing an ultimatum – that’s the title of my story in the current issue of Ireland’s Own. (You won’t tell them that despite my name, and the fact I spent my honeymoon there, I’m not really Irish, will you?)
As the strapline suggests, this story is about two strong-willed characters. It’s also about a mother-in-law who likes to get her own way, and is perhaps even a bit stubborn. Of course it’s entirely fictional and has absolutely no basis in reality whatsoever.
On an unrelated note, I find that writing can be a very cathartic process.
Wednesday word of the week – Tribute
A tribute is a thing said, done or given as a mark of respect or affection.
Followed by ‘to’ it’s an indication of a praiseworthy quality (as an example, my dictionary gives ‘their success is a tribute to their perseverance’ which I particularly like).
A tribute used to be how miners pay was calculated and could also mean a payment made by one state or ruler to another.
Tribute was also the make of our old campervan (or do I mean model?)
Reviewers wanted!
The second book in my cosy mystery series will be out in July, and I’ll have some advance reader copies (ARCs) on offer. These are free ebooks, given in advance of the release date, in exchange for honest reviews on or soon after the book is released.
In my case I’m asking for reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads too, if you have an account there). For this reason, to take part you’ll need an Amazon account which allows you to post reviews. (If you’re not sure, try downloading this free book and leaving a review for it.) I’ll also consider people who have a review site or blog.
The download links will be sent out in June, and reviews due by mid July. You don’t have to have read book 1 in the series, and aren’t obliged to give a positive review. I don’t pay for reviews, so all you’ll get out of it is a free read and my thanks.
If you’re interested, please contact me.
See you there?
I’ll be at the book fair in Lee-on-the-Solent on 11th May. It’s free to come and take a look, so if you’re in the area please come and say hello.
Double Discount
Both of my cosy mystery novels, Acting Like A Killer and Disguised Murder and Community Spirit in Little Mallow, are currently on offer – but only for the next couple of days. They’re 99c in Amazon.com and 99p in Amazon.UK. They can also be read via kindle unlimited, or requested at your local library.
Wednesday word of the week – Pipedream
A pipedream is an unattainable or purely fanciful hope or idea. You know, like the hope that when you upgrade one thing on your computer you won’t discover your printer, working practices, hair colour and country of residence are all incompatible and need to be changed before you can do so much as open an email.
Compared with that, becoming a successful novelist seems a perfectly reasonable plan.
I did know the meaning of the word pipedream, but not its origin. It comes from the visions or hallucinations experienced by people smoking opium pipes. Obvious when I think about it – presumably I never had before.
Here’s an opium poppy, I grew. I don’t need to smoke them for them to raise my spirits.