MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 364

October 11, 2013

Ngaire Elder: Jumping for Joy with Rebecca Scarberry!

Ngaire Elder: Jumping for Joy with Rebecca Scarberry!: Rebecca Scarberry was born and raised in California. She currently lives on a secluded non-working farm in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas...
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Published on October 11, 2013 03:57

October 10, 2013

The Phil Naessens Show 10-10-2013 Oakland A’s/Detroit Tigers Game 5 Preview and NBA Hoops

http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/the-phil-naessens-show-10-10-2013-oakland-asdetroit-tigers-game-5-preview-and-nba-hoops/

philvegas1

Segment 1: Pounding the Rock Managing Editor J.R. Wilco joins Phil to discuss Matt Bonnerâs playing time and much more
Segment 2: Athletics Nation Lead Writer Alex Hall joins Phil to preview Game 5 of the ALDS game between the Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers including the controversial decision by Oakland Manager Bob Melvin to start rookie Sonny Gray over veteran Bartolo Colon and much more
Segment 3: Welcome to Loud City Managing Editor J.A. Sherman joins Phil to discuss the OKC Thunderâs recent pre-season game with the Philadelphia 76ers held in Manchester England plus much more
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Published on October 10, 2013 05:04

History Trivia - Charles Martel defeats the Moors

October 10,

19 Germanicus, the best loved of Roman princes, died of poisoning. On his deathbed he accuses Piso, the governor of Syria, of poisoning him.

732 Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeated a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, was killed during the battle.

1361 Prince Edward (Black Prince) married Joan Plantagenet. The "Fair Maid of Kent" was not considered the ideal wife for the heir of the English throne. Joan was the mother of Richard II.

1471 Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repelled an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.

1575 Battle of Dormans (battle during the 5th war of religion in France): Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.

1580 After a three-day siege, the English Army beheaded over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, Ireland.

1631 During the Thirty Years War a Saxon army successfully entered Prague (capital and largest city of the Czech Republic). The war was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe, and was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history.
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Published on October 10, 2013 04:42

October 9, 2013

The Wizard of Notts recommends: Only two months and a bit to go until developers turn America's historic Hollywood Park into a "leisure and shopping facility

Only two months and a bit to go until developers turn America's historic Hollywood Park into a "leisure and shopping facility - complete with plastic pink flamingos. I talked about it here...

http://gladiatorspen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/mark-barry-gives-hollywood-shakedown.html

Mark Barry Gives Hollywood a Shakedown
Gladiator's Pen welcomes Mark Barry to the ludis today for a conversation about his latest release Hollywood Shakedown. Refill your cuppa, prop up your feet and let's get acquainted with Mark.

We’re talking about your book Hollywood Shakedown today. Can you tell us what inspired this story? I’m a huge fan of Charles Bukowski, and the main character in Hollywood Shakedown is the mythical son of Bukowski’s alter-ego, Henry Chinaski. He’s called Buddy and he’s just like his dad! Two friends of mine inspired the novel. First, my friend in Houston, Paul Vani, challenged me to write a short story, and at exactly the same time, my much more local friend, Clive la Court, inspired me to write a fiction novel. I combined the two challenges and wrote about some of my favourite things. Comics, horse racing, football, LA, London, women, crime, food and weirdly named worldwide pubs.
There is a scene that takes place at Hollywood Park, which is sadly, about to close after 75years. Can you tell us about that and the roll the racetrack plays as a setting? I’m really annoyed and feel completely impotent about the closure of Hollywood Park. Over here, a place with Hollywood Park’s kind of history would have a Listed notice slapped on its gates and the developers clapped in irons. Did you know they’re replacing it with a retail and residential development??? Like, LA doesn’t have any malls. I have four months to make enough money to visit – it has been one of my ambitions. In the first chapter of the book, Buddy is tracked down by two goons who discover him in the stands of the Park. I try to put across the sounds and smells of the racetrack (see below) and also the baffling decline of horse racing as a spectator sport in the US. The book is full of racing – Bukowski raced there, too.
Was there a chapter, or scene, or part of the novel that was difficult to write, and if so why? Most of it was quite tough. I once wrote a novel in eighteen days. This one took nine months, labouring over every line for this because it was my first work of fiction.  The last chapter, which most people like, was very tough. I didn’t want to ruin the payoff – nothing worse than that, as a reader.

If you had one day to live inside of this book, how would you spend it? I actually did! The gang watch an FA Cup match between Fulham and Notts County on the banks of the River Thames. I support the latter and the chapter is exactly as it sounds.
Do you have a favorite part or moment in the book you would like to share? “The men walked up the stairs and into the main betting hall. Five bucks a piece found its way into the hands of a stony faced black woman in a red neckerchief. Like the track, she'd seen better days. Ramirez said something under his breath but the woman scarcely noticed, de-sensitised to everything but the thought of getting out of there.      It was livelier inside than they expected: Bettors milled around the cacophonous hall, hundreds queuing at the windows, sitting in the carrels, some perusing the Form, others smoking, scanning the cheat sheets and Indian Charlie. The air was blue with cigarette smoke and smelled of tobacco, tacos, cheese food, hot dogs and warm beer - all mixed up with the usual gambler's cocktail of sweat, fear, excitement and anticipation. Yet even a pair of racing agnostics like Bishop and Ramirez could palpably sense the tradition and the heritage. The smoky trails of Walter Matthau's Marlboro, or Bing Crosby's briar pipe; Hollywood was seeped in movie culture. Every banister, every railing, every corkboard tile was dripping in it.      Despite the best efforts of the hunched janitors in orange coveralls and their five-foot brushes wielded like pikes, dead tickets found the floor with unerring accuracy. The joint was a firetrap waiting to happen. One reckless cigarette butt in the bin could see them all go to hell. The crowd's optimistic chatter and the frenetic pulse of the simulcasted commentaries from tracks around the country, from Aqueduct and Sunland and Oaklawn, accompanied the two men as they passed through the betting hall.
         “Bet the ponies, Bishop?” Ramirez asked as they made their way outside into the sunlight, their brogue heels tapping sharply and noisily on the floor.          The older man shook his head. His craggy features never moved.          “Stocks.” He replied.” That's the smart boy's gamble.” (Chapter One)
What are three things you must have when you write? The Inuit hunting cap my friend and reader, Kelly Sherwood, gave me for Christmas 2010. Music. My writing voice nagging at me.
What element or elements do you believe make a story great? Writing and vocabulary to start with. I like writers who take risks, who break the rules and try to push the envelope. Martin Amis is my all time favourite. What he can do with a sentence is sublime. Sadly, Indie is full of Novel Writing 101. Every great story breaks rules.  I love the adverb. I would start every sentence with And, if I could. The latest diktat from the Creative Writing gurus, “Show, Not Tell”, has caused a sturm-and-drang conformity, which has hamstrung the development of writing (and writers) because it has become a meaningless cliché. Well timed exposition and stories within stories can turn a novel from a good story to a classic: Indie authors have forgotten that.
Do you write as the muse hits or do you have a set ‘work day’? For a year, I wrote full time. Now, I’m working again, so I have to write when I can. As Paul Auster said, really early mornings and late weekend nights. I wrote the bulk of Carla in a weekend, so I am best under pressure. I suffer from insane bursts of creativity.

How do you avoid or deal with distractions when in the writing zone? I’m lucky that I live on my own so I can do my own thing. The Internet, and particularly Facebook, was once a huge distraction I struggled to beat, but my addiction to social networks seems to have abated.
Who are some of your favorite authors to read? Of name authors, I worship Martin Amis, with the exception of his latest, which is bemusingly bad. I have also read everything by Paul Auster, Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, Liz Jensen and John King. Of Indies, Suzanne van Rooyen, who writes YA and science fiction, Emma Edwards, who is making a stir with a quirky vampire novel set in Wales. Mary Ann Bernal writes innovative historical fiction and Ngaire Elder is a much-underrated children’s writer who should be much better known than she is.
What can we expect next from Mark Barry? Is there another tale being spun and/or event coming up that you can share with us? I’ve just finished the sequel to my top selling football book, Ultra Violence. It’s called Violent Disorder and it should be out on August 1st.  I’m also writing a contemporary fiction novel about the lost generation in Nottingham, called Keith The Philosopher; a crime fiction novel called Painful Death and an anthology about sex, death and food; so, I’m busy.
What would you like to say to fans or fellow authors? Try to push the boundaries in anything you do. Don’t listen to gurus, especially writing gurus, because, invariably, they know much less than you do. Listen to the voice within you and act on it.

Okay? Thanks Elise.
About Mark Barry:  Mark Barry, author of “Hollywood Shakedown”, “Ultra Violence” and “Carla”, is a Psychologist and writer whose main interest focuses on relationships between people.   He has been writing since he was twenty one, having his first piece published in 1986.  He has written extensively on a variety of topics including, horseracing, football, personality disorders and human relationships.  Influenced by the great playwrights and screenwriters, much of Mark’s work transpires in dialogue.  He deplores exposition and in his fiction, leaves the reader in a state of nervousness more than he probably should.
Mark has had an extensive career as a professional project designer and bid writer, having accrued over £20m for groups and organisations working with disadvantaged people.  An ex-lecturer, Mark designed and delivered the UK’s first ever course in Criminal Psychology in 1997.  Much of this work infils his fiction:  Psychopathy and Borderline Personality Disorders are featured heavily in “Carla”, for example. 
Currently, Mark is a full time fiction writer and freelance blogger.  He has been interviewed on several Radio talk shows where he has given readings of his work.  His work has been featured in The Sun and Daily Mail and he has also been interviewed on Television.
Mark resides in Southwell, Nottinghamshire with his teenage son.
Where to find Mark: Green Wizard Blog USGreen Wizard Blog UK@GreenWizard62Green Wizard Publishing FacebookAmazon UKAmazon USBuy Hollywood Shakedown USBuy Hollywood Shakedown UK
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Published on October 09, 2013 16:41

Gladiator's Pen: How to win NaNoWriMo: Realistic Goals, determinati...

Gladiator's Pen: How to win NaNoWriMo: Realistic Goals, determinati...: NaNo season has begun. Novelists around the world are franticly researching, outlining, and character mapping in preparation for the 50,0...
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Published on October 09, 2013 12:23

The Wizard of Notts recommends: Notts County 4-0 Crewe - League One 13/14 Highlights


Highlights from Sky Bet League One as Notts County hammers Crewe.


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Published on October 09, 2013 06:06

Mr. Chuckles is not afraid of Vampires - are you? Check out Succubus by Gladys Quintal

  Australian Vampire Fiction Writer Gladys Quintal Talks About Succubi. This morning, we hear from well known paranormal (with a nice spot of slap and tickle thrown in for good measure), vampire fiction writer Gladys Quintal, once again who is about to release Book 4 in her series of novels. This one, called Succubus, is by all accounts the best tome yet. A resident of the West of Australia, she has been a writer for some time and is also an advocate for those misdiagnosed by doctors and also survivors of child abuse. She is an extremely interesting person who is well worth following on social media and better still, worth getting to know. Taking time out from exploring the local Jarrah Forest, Gladys took off her boots, sat on her hat, and settled down under a tree to talk to me on the Wizphone, the high pitched staccato of kukkaburras and parakeets, the essential musical accompaniment. Click on the link to read the entire interviewhttp://greenwizard62.blogspot.com/2013/10/australian-vampire-fiction-writer.html

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Published on October 09, 2013 05:38

October 8, 2013

The Phil Naessens Show 10-8-2013 Indiana Pacers, Fantasy Basketball and the Utah Jazz

http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/the-phil-naessens-show-10-8-2013-indiana-pacers-fantasy-basketball-and-the-utah-jazz/

philvegas1

Segment 1: Indy Cornrows Managing Editor Tom Lewis joins Phil to discuss the Pacers first exhibition with the Chicago Bulls, the return of Danny Granger and the Bulls Derrick Rose, what went right, what went wrong and much more.
Segment 2: Rotowire NBA Managing Editor Kyle McKeown joins Phil to discuss the Fantasy Basketball value of Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard, answers a listeners question about advanced stats and gives a couple of Small Forward sleepers plus much more.
Segment 3: SLC Dunk Managing Editor Amar joins Phil to discuss Grantland’s Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose ranking the Utah Jazz #27 plus much more.


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Published on October 08, 2013 03:49

History Trivia - England's King John marries Isabella of Angouleme

October 8


 314 Roman Emperor Licinius was defeated by Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, losing his European territories. Co-author of the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire, for the majority of his reign he was the rival of Constantine I until he was finally defeated at the Battle of Adrianople, and was executed on Constantine's orders.

451 the fourth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church ruled that Jesus Christ is "in two natures" in opposition to the doctrine of Monophysitism.



876 Charles the Bald is defeated at the Battle of Andernach.


                                                          King John in Robin Hood
1200 Isabella of Angoulême, second wife of King John, was crowned Queen consort of England. Isabella had five children by the king including his heir Henry who succeeded John as Henry III of England. In 1220 Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children.
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Published on October 08, 2013 03:46

October 7, 2013

Coming Soon - The Briton and the Dane: Timeline by Mary Ann Bernal


 
Dr. Gwyneth Franger is a renowned expert in early medieval England who is set upon learning the truth about the death of Lord Erik, the last descendant of the powerful House of Wareham.
Her quest becomes an obsession, a condition which began with the discovery of a portrait of the tall and valiant warrior with which she forms an extraordinary and inexplicable bond.
Digesting troves of mildewed scrolls and source documentation only enhances her belief that Erik was brutally assassinated by a cabal of traitors in the pay of William the Bastard shortly before the onslaught of the Norman Invasion.
On an archaeological dig in Southern England, her team unearths an Anglo-Saxon fortress, a vast citadel built during the reign of Alfred the Great, which she believes was Lord Erik’s stronghold.
In the midst of her excitement, she is awakened one night from her slumbers by a disconcerting anomaly emerging from the site.
Dr. Franger finds herself transported back to the Dark Ages and at the side of the noble Lord Erik who commands an army of elite Saxon warriors, a swift and mobile force able to deploy quickly throughout the kingdom to ward off invaders.
 Witnessing the unrest firsthand, Gwyneth senses that her instincts had been right all along, and she is determined to learn the identities of the treacherous blackguards hiding in the shadows, villains who may well be posing as Erik’s friends and counsellors.
 Will Gwyneth stop the assassins? Is she strong enough to walk away and watch her beloved Erik die? Or will she intervene, change the course of history and wipe out an entire timeline to save the man she loves with all her heart?
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Published on October 07, 2013 13:01