Katharina Gerlach's Blog, page 25
March 20, 2013
Spring Equinox (20th to 22nd March) and Diana Wynne Jones Giveaway
Diana Wynne Jones has always been my favorite author aside from Astrid Lindgren. When she passed away, we lost one of the most imaginative fantasy story tellers of our time. In her honor, fans of her dedicate this March to her. Those that are authors (like me), decide to give away an array of books. Since I mangled the Raffle from the Spring Equinox Giveaway (*blush*), I rolled the two into one. I hope you’re all going to participate.
For three days from now on, a plethora of authors discounted their books to less than $5 or are giving them away for free. In combination, readers can win an incredible bunch of eBooks or even printed books from participating authors. In addition to that, many authors are hosting additional giveaways. In that regard, welcome to my site.
P.S.: OK, I botched it, so what? It was my first try at Rafflecopter and I didn’t realize there would be timezone-differences. To make it up for you, I extended the deadline. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Spring Equinox (20th to 22nd March)
For three days from now on, a plethora of authors discounted their books to less than $5 or are giving them away for free. In combination, readers can win an incredible bunch of eBooks or even printed books from participating authors. In addition to that, many authors are hosting additional giveaways. In that regard, welcome to my site.
March 15, 2013
No News Today – and to the end of the week
it’s my father in-law’s birthday to morrow, our car is leaking break-fluid, and I’m short of time as it is.
See you Monday,
P.S.: I caught a terrible cold, so I’ll take a few days off of blogging. Sorry.
No News Today
it’s my father in-law’s birthday to morrow, our car is leaking break-fluid, and I’m short of time as it is.
See you Monday,
March 13, 2013
Wednesday’s Quote – and my take on it
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.
Michael J. Fox
In the same vein as last week’s quote, this one tells us to stop setting ourselves unreachable goals. It took me a long, time to realize that my stories, my household, not even I myself have to be perfect. Of course, I strive to make everything as good as I can, I try to excel, but I’m no longer thinking I can be the perfect author, the perfect mother, the perfect wife and the perfect housekeeper all at once. It’s liberating to say the least, and my eBooks, my household and my family are still getting the best I am capable of giving. I just don’t feel guilty for not being perfect any more.
March 11, 2013
Review Monday: The Children of Noisy Village
The book The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren is very popular in Germany, and in my case, it’s a very good example how the taste of a person can change with age. Normally, Astrid Lindgren is one of my favorite authors. I loved her stories of Emil from Lönneberga (who is called Michel in Germany), “Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter”, “The Brothers Lionheart” and “Mio, My Son” and read them over and over again to this day.
“The Children of Noisy Village” by Astrid Lindgren
About the book:
“The Children of Noisy Village” insists that there is no place as wonderful as Bullabü, the village where six extraordinary children live. It only consists of three farms, but the six children, Lisa, Bosse, Lasse, Inga, Britta, Ole and little Kerstin, enjoy playing in the freedom and peace of the Swedish countryside. The build huts, go searching for treasures or sleep in the barn. During summer, they catch crabs in the lake, and in winter, they skate over the ice.
My thoughts:
When I was ten, I found these stories terribly boring. It didn’t (yet) see the lovely use of the language, and the kids’ adventures paled in comparison to what my brothers and I came up with every day. We became captains on the seven seas, robbers in the darkest forest, kobolds, elves, princesses, wild rider hordes, journalists and much more that our imagination handed to us. I can’t remember a singe day when we were truly bored – although we did pretend a couple of times to annoy our parents. 
Hey, and we didn’t even have computers (our first one was a C64 with a Datasette, very similar to a cassette but for storing data, we had to copy programs and games by typing the code), mobiles, game stations or MP3-players in my childhood. TV just began using color, and films for children were few and only available in the afternoons. We often missed them because we were too busy playing. If you think you can survive without your technical gadgets, try it for a few days. It takes some getting used to, to get the rusty imagination running again. But then, pine cones become humans, low hanging branches turn into roofs, empty plastic containers are bowls for food, and twigs the necessary cutlery. By the way, swings made of old car tires are wonderful for daydreaming.
I think the descriptions of my nearly perfect childhood (thank you, Mom, Dad) makes it clear, why I didn’t much care for “The Children of Noisy Village” as a child. Out of love for the author, I reread it when I was much older. Low and behold, I loved its ingenuity. I realized how wonderful and magical my own childhood has been. I understood that Astrid Lindgren had written this book for all those children who didn’t have a forest outside their bedroom window and who couldn’t flee into imaginary worlds on their own. Yes, I realized that the same ideals she depicts in this book are the main reason for my fascination with her other books. You could say that the book I liked least influenced my reading and writing the most. What about you? Have you been influenced by a book? Or is there a book that you like a lot better or a lot less than your favorites? Tell me about them in the comments.
March 7, 2013
Freaks Fun Friday: Battle on the Harzhorn
I am a freak, I admit it. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed going to school (go ahead, laugh at me) — not because I wanted to meet my friends, but because I loved learning new stuff. It hasn’t changed all that much. I’m still delighted if I manage to smuggle facts into my stories without anyone noticing. at this place, I’ll give you access to my twisted mind. Welcome to a Freak’s Fun Friday.
the road past the Harzhorn
Roughly three years ago, hobby archaeologists with probe heads found a twisted metal shape they took for a medieval candle holder. When someone pointed out to them that it might be much, much older, they feared to be accused of illegal diggings and contacted the archaeology department. What a luck they did. The item in question turned out to be a horse shoe used by Romans. So, the dig began, and the finds were spectacular.
the metal inlay at the spearhead’s shaft indicates it’s Germanic
The researchers found countless shoe nails, tips from catapult bolts, and coins. The best item they found was a Germanic spearhead. With the coins and radio-carbon dating and other methods, the archaeologists were able to determine that the battle most likely took part in 235 aD and was part of Maximinius Thrax big Germania Campaign. This was ground breaking since scientists had assumed Romans never ventured into Germania again in great numbers after Varus’ defeat (9aD).
The finds, especially the distribution and alignment of the bolts, suggested that a big Roman army had been forced (the how isn’t clear yet) to not use the pass road. When the army tried to scale the Harzorn, a low mountain range, they were attacked by Germanic people. New finds indicate that the fight spread miles to the west. An upturned wagon filled with weapons was found as well as many more shoe nails. In autumn this year, the city of Braunschweig will host a special exhibition about the battle.
My husband and I’ve been following the development with greatest interest since the Harzhorn is less then 10 miles from us. You could say it’s around the corner. Of course, we’ll be among the first to visit the exhibition. Also, I’m the first to get a story published with this battle as setting. What else could I do with the Hanging Man as a prompt for a Tarot-related anthology?
March 5, 2013
Wednesday’s Quote – and my take on it
An imperfect plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
General George Patton
Usually, I wouldn’t read a biography about anyone connected to war. My preferred genres are fantasy and historical novels, but I made an exception for General Patton. My husband practically begged me to read at least part of it. The most interesting facts I found were about Pattons wife, but that’s not the point of this quote.
For me, Patton’s words mean that it’s better to start working on your dream immediately than to wait for the time that’s right. There is no such thing. I can only make my dreams come true if I work on them constantly, sometimes for a very long time. So, better get started asap.
The quote doesn’t mean I can’t try to make my novels as perfect as I can get them. It just tells me to quit fiddling with it at some point and send it out into the world. In that sense, get going on your dream.
March 4, 2013
My Monday Cup of Tea (ehm Cocoa)
Creativity is not restricted to words. As a child, I used to tinker a lot. My favorite pastime were pop-up picture books of my most favorite fairy tales. I still have the booklets, although many are missing the writing (either because I never got round to writing it or due to the fading of ink with age ). Here are some stories I made into books:
all my little pop-up booklets
Frog King
The Golden Bird
In some of my stories, I even managed to create some movable parts.
Sleeping Beauty, flames closed
Sleeping Beauty, flames open
I hope you liked them. How about you? Do you like to tinker? Have you ever made toys from paper or other material? Or do you prefer to buy your toys?
March 1, 2013
Freaks Fun Friday: the one environamentally difficult predator
I am a freak, I admit it. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed going to school (go ahead, laugh at me) — not because I wanted to meet my friends, but because I loved learning new stuff. It hasn’t changed all that much. I’m still delighted if I manage to smuggle facts into my stories without anyone noticing. at this place, I’ll give you access to my twisted mind. Welcome to a Freak’s Fun Friday.
My daughter went to a lecture about wolves yesterday, and came back full of questions about predators in general and wolves in particular. She was fascinated by the fact that the number of the prey is not determined by the number of predators (1 exception, see below), but by the available food. In fact, the number of predators is determined by the number of their prey.
So, what has that got to do with an environmentally unfriendly predators, you might ask. Well, do you know which predator is the hardest for nature to cope with?
Correct, it’s cats. Yes, the fluffy, adorable, cuddly, cute animals so many people keep as pets. They are hunting machines, and due to the fact that they know how to train their can openers (humans), they reproduce in great numbers. With the food freely available from us, their population has grown incredibly, threatening some species (hunting mice is fine but many birds fall victim to cats any many of those are endangered already). The big problem is that most cats are free to roam the streets, and since they don’t stop hunting, their sheer number is a burden for natural habitats. Would anyone let his/her budgie, dog or pet tarantula run around free? Surely not, but it’s very different with cats. What people forget is that cats are very effective hunters.
They are also the only predatory animal that is capable of sharing a territory with other cats with a time schedule. The same gardens are patrolled by several cats at specific times, which means, cats instinctively understand time management. It’s amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I admire cats; their patience, diligence and beauty when they hunt. I am not trying to hold cats responsible for the fact that they only do what their instinct tells them to do: hunt.
But I wish, humans were more careful about what they unleash. Sure, kitten are cute, but does that mean we should ignore birth control with cats? If every cat owner would make sure his/her cat couldn’t reproduce and stayed indoors most of the time, nature might get a reprieve.
Do you have a cat? Or are you more a dog person?
