Jane Marlow's Blog, page 7
February 3, 2017
RUSSIAN WORDS, WELL WRITTEN
Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees are bare,
and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.
- Anton Chekov (1829 - 1904)
considered one the greatest writers of short fiction
and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.
- Anton Chekov (1829 - 1904)
considered one the greatest writers of short fiction
January 27, 2017
RUSSIA'S CHOLESTEROL WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
A bit of trivia:
Twenty-seven years ago on January 31st, the first McDonalds opened in Russia (then, the Soviet Union). Throngs of people lined up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, shakes, and fries.
On the day the fast-food eatery flipped its first burger, it was expecting 1,000 people. However, it served a record-setting 30,000 visitors. Would you wait in line over 6 hours for a Happy Meal?
Twenty-seven years ago on January 31st, the first McDonalds opened in Russia (then, the Soviet Union). Throngs of people lined up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, shakes, and fries.
On the day the fast-food eatery flipped its first burger, it was expecting 1,000 people. However, it served a record-setting 30,000 visitors. Would you wait in line over 6 hours for a Happy Meal?
January 8, 2017
SERFS & SLAVES - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Privet!
For those of you who read my novel, Who Is to Blame, do you wonder how our female protagonist - Elizaveta – came to be a serf? And what’s the difference between a serf and a slave? How did one segment of Russia’s population lose their freedom while another segment became affluent nobility? Was serfdom born of greed? Or of necessity?
A brief answer (but a tad long to put on Goodreads) is on my blog.
http://janemarlowbooks.com/latest-news/
For those of you who read my novel, Who Is to Blame, do you wonder how our female protagonist - Elizaveta – came to be a serf? And what’s the difference between a serf and a slave? How did one segment of Russia’s population lose their freedom while another segment became affluent nobility? Was serfdom born of greed? Or of necessity?
A brief answer (but a tad long to put on Goodreads) is on my blog.
http://janemarlowbooks.com/latest-news/
January 2, 2017
CHUCKLE WHILE YOU LEARN
Privet!
(Russian Greetings; an informal Hello or Hi)
Interested in diving deeper into concepts touched upon in my novel, Who Is to Blame? View the current issue of my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cqRFhP
No entrapment. No sales gimmicks. I promise.
SAMPLE:
Russian Proverbs Lost (somewhat) In Translation
- Transliteration: Pervyy blin (vsegda) komom.
- Translation: The first pancake is (always) a blob
- English equivalent: Learn to crawl before you learn to walk.
(Russian Greetings; an informal Hello or Hi)
Interested in diving deeper into concepts touched upon in my novel, Who Is to Blame? View the current issue of my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cqRFhP
No entrapment. No sales gimmicks. I promise.
SAMPLE:
Russian Proverbs Lost (somewhat) In Translation
- Transliteration: Pervyy blin (vsegda) komom.
- Translation: The first pancake is (always) a blob
- English equivalent: Learn to crawl before you learn to walk.
December 26, 2016
2017 READING RECOMMENDATION FOR RUSSOPHILES
Have an interest in the country with the world's largest land area? Try Russian Life magazine (https://www.russianlife.com). It's stories and stunning photographs been entertaining and enlightening its readers for over 20 years. I've found this brainy, funny, off-the-beaten-path publication contains slices of just about everything pertaining to historical and cultural Russia.
• From religion to fairy tales
• From fine cuisine to sulfur dioxide spewing from a nickel refining plant
• From Moscow’s dating scene to St. Petersburg’s Save the Baltic Seals Foundation
• From Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin.
Per Russian Life, Putin starts every day with a bowl of steaming kasha. If you’ve read Who Is to Blame?, you know that kasha is the ubiquitous porridge that's traditionally made from buckwheat and has been warming Russian tummies for centuries.
Wishing you prosperity & serenity & lots of good reading in 2017!
• From religion to fairy tales
• From fine cuisine to sulfur dioxide spewing from a nickel refining plant
• From Moscow’s dating scene to St. Petersburg’s Save the Baltic Seals Foundation
• From Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin.
Per Russian Life, Putin starts every day with a bowl of steaming kasha. If you’ve read Who Is to Blame?, you know that kasha is the ubiquitous porridge that's traditionally made from buckwheat and has been warming Russian tummies for centuries.
Wishing you prosperity & serenity & lots of good reading in 2017!
December 17, 2016
WOMEN DEFINITELY DID NOT RULE THE ROOST
I was told by someone who recently read Who Is to Blame, “Being a woman in peasant Russia - Ugh!”
Couldn’t agree more. In order to be a female Russian peasant who’s content with her life, you’d have to:
- adore your in-laws since you share a one-room hut with all 12 of them.
- not take offense at wife-beating, a time-honored tradition.
- not mind that your voice is unheard at home or in your village.
- find it romantic to share your bed-of-straw with a guy who works in the fields all day and bathes every 2 weeks during the summer and monthly (at best) during the winter.
-delight in continuously being either pregnant or nursing.
- relish cooking. And pickling. And baking bread. And more bread. And slaughtering and plucking a chicken.
- appreciate that an evening working the spinning wheel provides a relaxing way to end the day.
- be an early riser so you can stoke the stove, shovel snow for a path to the barn, milk the cow, gather the eggs, breastfeed your infant, and get the breakfast kasha bubbling before you start your workday
- rise above feelings of rejection when, following Hubby’s death, your in-laws exercise their right to send you back to your birth family.
Couldn’t agree more. In order to be a female Russian peasant who’s content with her life, you’d have to:
- adore your in-laws since you share a one-room hut with all 12 of them.
- not take offense at wife-beating, a time-honored tradition.
- not mind that your voice is unheard at home or in your village.
- find it romantic to share your bed-of-straw with a guy who works in the fields all day and bathes every 2 weeks during the summer and monthly (at best) during the winter.
-delight in continuously being either pregnant or nursing.
- relish cooking. And pickling. And baking bread. And more bread. And slaughtering and plucking a chicken.
- appreciate that an evening working the spinning wheel provides a relaxing way to end the day.
- be an early riser so you can stoke the stove, shovel snow for a path to the barn, milk the cow, gather the eggs, breastfeed your infant, and get the breakfast kasha bubbling before you start your workday
- rise above feelings of rejection when, following Hubby’s death, your in-laws exercise their right to send you back to your birth family.
November 27, 2016
AUDIBLE COMING SOON
IN THE WORKS! The Audible version of Who Is to Blame.
I watched bits & pieces of audio recording being made. What an exacting, technical, lengthy procedure!
The narrator, actor John Hosking, always kept a green apple within arm’s reach. Imagine how dry your mouth would be if you spoke continually for 4 hours! A parched palate causes clicking and other weird mouth noises that result in an amateurish and annoying recording. An occasional lubricating bite of a tart apple keeps the juices flowing.
Can’t give enough thanks to Gil Stober at Peak Recording for taking me by the hand and walking me through the production process. Photos of John and Gil and the recording studio can be seen on my website, http://www.JaneMarlowBooks.com/latest...
I’ll post here to let you know when the Audible version is available. Thanks for your interest!
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
I watched bits & pieces of audio recording being made. What an exacting, technical, lengthy procedure!
The narrator, actor John Hosking, always kept a green apple within arm’s reach. Imagine how dry your mouth would be if you spoke continually for 4 hours! A parched palate causes clicking and other weird mouth noises that result in an amateurish and annoying recording. An occasional lubricating bite of a tart apple keeps the juices flowing.
Can’t give enough thanks to Gil Stober at Peak Recording for taking me by the hand and walking me through the production process. Photos of John and Gil and the recording studio can be seen on my website, http://www.JaneMarlowBooks.com/latest...
I’ll post here to let you know when the Audible version is available. Thanks for your interest!
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
November 20, 2016
BEVERLY HILL BOOK AWARDS
I received a delightful piece of news! Who Is to Blame? was selected as a finalist for the Beverly Hills Book Awards. The organization “celebrates the physical book in print that has always been and will always be a part of our worldwide culture.”
In selecting finalists, consideration is given to the writing plus the cover and interior design, promotional text, aesthetic components, and other factors that demonstrate outstanding presentation.
A big bear hug to my Greenleaf Books publishing team for pulling it all together!
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
In selecting finalists, consideration is given to the writing plus the cover and interior design, promotional text, aesthetic components, and other factors that demonstrate outstanding presentation.
A big bear hug to my Greenleaf Books publishing team for pulling it all together!
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
October 20, 2016
Author Pens Words; Publisher Brings Book To Life
Why does the author get so much credit for a book? Yes, the author puts the words on paper, but creating a book requires a synergistic team of professional editors, proof readers, designers, and typesetters, plus gurus in distribution, marketing, accounting, and legal. And besides cooperating, each and everyone has to stay on-schedule to meet the deadline.
Well over a dozen people at Greenleaf Book Group in Austin, Texas directly had a hand in making Who Is to Blame? into a first-class book. My deepest gratitude goes to every one of them. https://greenleafbookgroup.com
Really l-o-o-k at the book you are currently reading – the front cover, back cover, front matter, page layout. Consider how many steps, people, specialties, and processes have to dovetail. By all rights, the results should be chaos. Instead, the final product is a magical transformation of what the author scribbled on paper months (if not years) ago.
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
Well over a dozen people at Greenleaf Book Group in Austin, Texas directly had a hand in making Who Is to Blame? into a first-class book. My deepest gratitude goes to every one of them. https://greenleafbookgroup.com
Really l-o-o-k at the book you are currently reading – the front cover, back cover, front matter, page layout. Consider how many steps, people, specialties, and processes have to dovetail. By all rights, the results should be chaos. Instead, the final product is a magical transformation of what the author scribbled on paper months (if not years) ago.
Do svidaniya!
(Until we meet again!)
Jane Marlow's Blog
My sincere hope is that you find my historical Russian novels to be both entertaining and informative.
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