S.P. Oldham's Blog, page 6
September 4, 2023
Random Giveaway #3 - Let the Random Giveaways continue!
Random Giveaway number three. If you haven’t won already, here is your chance to try again.
The first cover depicted below was created by Minoterrae for Amazon Kindle. You can find them on SelfPubBookCovers.com/ Minoterrae Check out their work if you like their style!
The second cover was created by Troubador Publishing, where the book is available in paperback.
As per the other competitions, comment below with your ideas for what the book might be about, based on the covers. Doesn’t matter if you have read the book or not. You can comment with the correct answer or a ridiculous wrong answer, up to you. Let your imaginations loose! There will be more than one winner chosen at random. The prizes will be random too and *can include, gilets, T shirts, hoodies, beanies, signed books, water bottles and more.
Good luck, I look forward to reading your replies.
Competition ends Friday 8th September 2023, Midnight GMT.
Winners of Round 2 - Random Giveaway
Thanks to everyone who is taking part in these random giveaways. I am having a ball reading all of your answers! If you have friends or family you think might enjoy having a go too, please share, let them know where to find me. Random Giveaway #3 is about to start soon, so share away, spread the love!
In the meantime, we have winners for round two. I am very happy to say that the following people have won a random prize:
Facebook: Mike AmblerWebsite:
Chris Anderson
Paul Lodge
I will be in touch with the winners to arrange delivery of their prizes very soon. Thanks once again everyone, I hope you are enjoying taking part.
S P Oldham
August 29, 2023
Let the Random Giveaways Continue!
This fabulous cover for ‘Post Mortem’ was created by SelfPubBookCovers.com/ DesignzbyDanielle Why not check out their work for yourself on SelfPubBookCovers.com
To be in with a chance of winning a *random prize from me, comment below with what you think the book is about based on the cover. It doesn’t matter if you have read it or not. You can comment with the actual answer, or with a ridiculous wrong answer. Up to you! More than one winner will be chosen.
I will close this at Midnight GMT Sunday 3rd September 2023.
*Prizes can include drink bottles, beanies, gilets, Polo Shirts, Hoodies, pens, bookmarks, signed copies and more.
August 27, 2023
Winners Announcement!
Thanks to everyone who entered my first random giveaway event. We have three winners as follows:
Website entries:
Jane Wheble - love the idea of a punk band called ‘Mindless Trilogy’ with an album called ‘A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing!’
Mark Williams - Your answer was pretty much spot on in terms of what the book is about!
Facebook entries:
Laura Pritchard - Your answer was also pretty spot on!
Well done winners! I will be in touch to arrange delivery of your *random* prize very soon.
Didn’t win? There is another giveaway about to start tomorrow, so don’t despair, just try again!
P.S If you happen to have read any of the books in the trilogy or the whole trilogy itself, please review and share. Thank you.
August 24, 2023
Audiobook of the Month on Wordpeddler
Wordpeddler is running an Audiobook of the Month competition. If anyone enjoyed Hag's Breath on audio and would like to add it to the poll, feel free! You have to be a member of the group to post. Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/groups/792085239326261/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=810138290854289
August 21, 2023
Let the random giveaways begin!
You can comment here on my blog or on the original post to be entered (pinned post:) https://www.facebook.com/solostinwords
Let the random giveaways begin!
This is the front cover for the Mindless Trilogy, created by Viergacht on SelfPubBookCovers (link here: SelfPubBookCovers.com/ Viergacht Highly recommended, check them out.) To be in with a chance of winning a *random prize from me, comment below with what you think the trilogy is about based on this cover. It doesn’t matter if you have read the book or not. You can comment with the actual answer, or with a ridiculous wrong answer. Up to you! More than one winner will be chosen.
I will close this at Midnight GMT Friday 25thAugust 2023.
*Prizes can include drink bottles, beanies, gilets, Polo Shirts, Hoodies, pens, bookmarks, signed copies and more.
August 19, 2023
Freebies!
I have some great merchandise that I want to share with you all, so look out for some flash giveaways and/or competitions coming up!
August 13, 2023
Winner Announcement!
Thanks to everyone who entered my recent comptition to win a free Audible download of ‘Hag’s Breath: A Collection of Witchcraft and Wickedness.’
I am very happy to say that the winner this time around is:
Eileen Tingle!
Congratulations Eileen! I love the idea of setting spells to music, according to the needs of the individual. I also love the slight note of warning, in that Eileen can’t guarantee the safety of the supplicant after the spell is cast… Deliciously wicked!
Thank you to everyone who entered. Keep an eye here or on Facebook as I often run competitions and giveaways. Please share and help spread the word if you have seen anything here you have liked.
Eileen, I will be in touch very soon!
S P Oldham
Image Credit: Unsplash via Squarespace Stock Images. Seemed fitting!
August 3, 2023
A Bizarre Coincidence!
Unbelievable! Hard on the heels of my blog post about Tarrare and Domery and their strange appetites yesterday, this article pops up! Not saying the individual concerned has the same conditions or tastes as those two men from history, but how bizarre and coincidental that I should see this today!
The article in The Guardian states that police are searching for a man in Devon who bit off a chunk of his bus seat! The article is more than eleven years old, but even so!
The headline reads:
“Chair rage: police hunt for man who chewed bus seat
Devon and Cornwall police release CCTV still showing man they believe caused £200 damage on a bus – by eating a chair”
Wonder if they ever found him?!
August 2, 2023
The Truly Horrific and Insatiable Appetites of Tarrare and of Charles Domery
Somebody recently brought my attention to a true character from history by the name of Tarrare.
Tarrare - or Tarar - was a Frenchman living in the 16th Century. He was a soldier and showman, famous for his ability to eat large amounts of just about anything, including cats and other live animals. When he went to war during the War of the First Coalition, he was discovered eating from gutters and from waste heaps, despite the fact that he was very well fed as a French soldier.
His appetite was truly horrendous as well as enormous, and despite the fact that he was constantly hungry and in search of food, his condition deteriorated to the point that he was underweight and eventually hospitalised due to exhaustion. Unable to find him suffering from any kind of mental disability, he was - according to Wikipedia “the subject of a series of medical experiments to test his eating capacity, in which, among other things, he ate a meal intended for 15 people in a single sitting, ate live cats, snakes, lizards, and puppies, and swallowed eels whole without chewing.”
A later stay in hospital saw Tarrare sneaking out to eat from the waste and offal outside butcher shops, waste in gutters and other foul sources.
As if all of this was not bad enough, he also had cannabilistic tendencies. He was caught trying to drink the blood of other patients, of attempting to eat corpses in the hospital morgue and was finally thrown out of hospital after being suspected of devouring a 14 month old infant who disappeared.
The fact that the story of Tarrare is true fascinated and repulsed me in equal measure. It did not take much research to discover another character from roughly the same period.
Charles Domery or Domerz was Polish, also a soldier, who became known for his astounding appetite. According to Wikipedia, “While stationed near Paris, he was recorded as having eaten 174 cats in a year, and although he disliked vegetables, he would eat 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) of grass each day if he could not find other food. During service on the French ship Hoche, he attempted to eat the severed leg of a crew member hit by cannon fire, before other members of the crew wrestled it from him.”
Domery was also known to eat cats, rats and even candles, resorting to grass if nothing else was available, in large quantities. He was never seen to vomit after eating any of these disgusting foodstuffs and seemed outwardly well, again with no notable mental disability.
Tarrare died of advanced Tubercolosis. It is not known what manner of death befell Domery or when he died. Theories have been proffered to explain the unusual - to say the least - eating habits of both men.
One such theory is Polyphagia, which means ‘excessive appetite.’ Seems a bit obvious, right? However, the description (Wikipedia) for Polyphagia is thus: “Polyphagia or hyperphagia is an abnormally strong, incessant sensation of hunger or desire to eat often leading to overeating. In contrast to an increase in appetite following exercise, polyphagia does not subside after eating and often leads to rapid intake of excessive quantities of food. Polyphagia is not a disorder by itself; rather, it is a symptom indicating an underlying medical condition. It is frequently a result of abnormal blood glucose levels (both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia), and, along with polydipsia and polyuria, it is one of the "3 Ps" commonly associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.”
Modern theories suggest that the men suffered from Hyperthyroidism, a damaged amygdala or damage to the ventromedial nucleus of the Hypothalmus.
What fascinates me is that these men were from the same period. Apparently, other individuals with similar stories were also documented at this time. However, only Tarrare was autopsied, meaning what could be learned by medical professionals of the time was limited indeed.
Are there more modern stories of this nature? Do you have any theories as to why these men had such literally horrific appetites? Let me know your thoughts.
For more information in greater detail, links are below.
Thanks for reading.
Sources:
Ventromedial Nucleus - Wikipedia
Please note that although I have cited Wikipedia above, there is a fair amount of information out there about both of these historical characters.
Thank you to Facebook - Chrislin Prose for the heads up on Tarrare that started me down this quite revolting rabbit hole!
Tarrare: Portrait de Jacques Simon dit Jacques de Falaise., 1820
Charles Domery - Image Credit: https://allthatsinteresting.com/charl...
