M.H. Thaung's Blog: Musings, page 6

Another year nearly over…

Phew! I’ve only been back at work for 4 days (after a holiday) and it’s been a complete mad rush. This is because we’re based in a university building and not a hospital. Being university, Christmas closure started at 5pm yesterday, and the building officially reopens in January. But since we provide a clinical service, we still have to keep that going. So I’ve been having fun providing a lab service from my home study

Writing-wise, I’m still plugging away at a sequel to The Diamond Device, and...

Pantomime time again – Beowulf

Yesterday, we went to the first performance of Charles Court Opera’s 2021 pantomime, Beowulf: An Epic Panto.

The performance was held live at the King’s Head Theatre. It was lovely to be back there in person. I think this is especially the case for pantomime, where much of the fun lies in audience participation. One change from previous years was that no hapless audience members were dragged up on stage to make an unrehearsed contribution to the entertainment. (And they’re not plants: my partner...

Very short stories #35

I hope you’re having a good November so far. Mine started with a week’s holiday, when I got some (small amount of) writing done on my sequel to The Diamond Device. It’s still at the plot spaghetti stage, though with a bit more cackling than before. I’ll take that as a win. Arrived back at work this past week just as all our delayed cases started coming through again, so it’s been pretty busy

As I mentioned in my last post, The Diamond Device is now available in multiple ebook stores such as App...

Brief update

On Wednesday, we had a fire at work. That isn’t exactly the kind of excitement I like to see there , and my routine went out the window (or up in smoke, if you prefer…)

So today I’m just making a quick post to say that The Diamond Device is only going to be in the Kindle Unlimited scheme for a few more days. After that, it won’t be included in your KU subscription. However, I’ll be releasing it for sale on other stores such as Kobo, Nook and so on. My other books (the A Quiet Rebellion ones) wil...

Very short stories #34

We’ve been “rationalising” the cupboard under the stairs. It’s always an adventure (or maybe a trip down Memory Lane), especially as my other half has switched to eating low-carb since the last time we had a clearout. Finds include: 8 tins of tuna chunks (I don’t remember ever eating that stuff), 6 cans of baked beans that neither of us will touch, and a 2 kg bag of dried chickpeas. The chickpeas were a pandemic purchase—4 kg in total!—and I’m still working my way through the first bag. Still, i...

Very short stories #33

I hope your September is going well so far! I seem to have “volunteered” to do a variety of talks and papers over the next few weeks, which is eating a wee bit into my time. If I opt to keep a positive outlook, I could maybe say that being busy makes you value your leisure time more. Now it’s just a case of convincing the subconscious that that’s really the case!

Book reviews

On the plus side, I’ve had a good amount of reading time with the increased daily commute. As you can see, I’m still poki...

Very short stories #32

Work on my sequel to The Diamond Device is still going rather slowly. (I’ll refer to it as DD2 for convenience). I’m at that stage I term plot spaghetti, where the various story strands flop around and don’t seem to be at all connected to each other. No matter how much I plot or outline in advance, when it comes to actually drafting, the story doesn’t fit together. Still, I have an idea where things are going: just not how they’ll get there. Some new characters will appear, including a young wom...

Very short stories #31

It seems I spoke too soon in my last post, about not having a heatwave. I feel like I’ve been baking (or maybe stewing, depending on humidity) for the last couple of weeks. The temperature’s been around 27-30 Celsius. It feels worse in central London where I work, where all the concrete buildings radiate heat, even in shady areas.

Maybe you’re chuckling at my lack of heat tolerance, and quite probably you’re right. In years gone by, I have been known to go out in the snow in a T-shirt, to visit ...

Very short stories #30

I’m on holiday this week, which is a nice chance to get some writing done and, hopefully, recharge. With London weather being so changeable, I never know whether to step outside wearing shorts or a raincoat. Still, it’s far more comfortable than heatwaves or floods, both of which have been in the news recently. Wherever you are, I hope you’re keeping well and safe.

In case you missed it, my writing buddy Philip Folk has just released his first book. Congratulations, Philip, on your release of Fa...

A little slice of life freebie

With work getting busier, I’ve not had time to put together a proper post this weekend. However, I do have a free promotion running on A Friendly Rivalry, a slice of life short story set in the world of A Quiet Rebellion. Set around twenty years before the main trilogy, it offers a glimpse into the rivalry between Emily (the barracks housekeeper) and Martha (the palace housekeeper).

If you want to learn more, pick up a free copy here.

Looks like Martha’s messing up Emily’s nice clean floo...