Nigel Quinlan's Blog, page 44
April 13, 2015
"The group “ough” can be pronounced in eight different ways in English. The following sentence..."
The group “ough” can be pronounced in eight different ways in English. The following sentence contains all eight:
A rough-coated, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully.
”-
Just saw this on Facebook. Hooray for English spelling! (via linguisten)
For the word nerds. :)
(via themarysue)
Countdown To...: Guest Post: Nigel Quinlan on Weather, and The Maloney’s Magical Weatherbox
I wrote an entry over at the Countdown to 7 May blog about weather in the Weatherbox. Read it. IF YOU DARE.
April 12, 2015
I Should Probably Have Done This When I First Started The Blog.
My name is Nigel Quinlan. I have written a book, and that book is called THE MALONEY’S MAGICAL WEATHERBOX. It will be published in the UK by Orion Children’s Books in May 2015 and in the US by Roaring Brook Press in July 2015.
WEATHERBOX tells of the adventures of Neil and Liz Maloney, children of the Weatherman. The Weatherman is in charge of the changing of the Seasons four times a year through the Doorway. The Doorway of the Maloneys is the phone box outside their house.
Thanks to the Weathermen, the Seasons have changed for thousands of years without interruption.
Until now.
There’s Weird Weather all over the place. There’s a mysterious Tourist who knows more than he should. There’s hags in the wood, and their little brother, Owen, has made friends with a bog beast. An old feud is about to be rekindled and long-laid plans are about to be hatched. For the first time ever, the Season won’t change; but everything else will.
If you want, you could pre-order the book from here:
http://www.sheelaghnagig.com/books-t-shirts-parties-the-maloneys-magical-weatherbox-launch.html
It’s my local book-shop/cafe and I wrote a lot of this book there. They’ve been hugely supportive and deserve a bit of support in return.
Here’s the cover art by Erwen Madrid:
April 8, 2015
Was out at UL for a book launch and public reading, part of the...
Was out at UL for a book launch and public reading, part of the Week With Kim Stanley Robinson thing. The book being launched was a monograph, Irish Science Fiction by Jack Fennell. Being an academic work from an academic publisher, the price was prohibitive, even with a 20% discount, but holy mack look at that cover. Mr Fennell endeared himself to me immediately by remembering me and my half-a-collection This Way Up from Aeon Press. Then Kim Stanley Robinson remembered me from an interview I did with him (well, Bob Nielson let me tag along) in 2002 when The Years Of Rice And Salt came out.
Anyway, KSR launched the book, then gave a reading from 2312 and a short story related to Shaman and answered some questions, and it was great. Tomorrow he’s coming out to Cloughjordan Ecovillage to give a talk on climate change, so I won’t have to drive all the way to Limerick. And yet, are not the places closest to home sometimes the longest journeys of all? No. No they are not.
April 6, 2015
March 24, 2015
March 19, 2015
Local author sits staring into space waiting for inspiration,...
Local author sits staring into space waiting for inspiration, secretly hopes someone will ask him about his book.
March 16, 2015
aubergdesigns:Today’s #sciencewoman is Marie Tharp, the first to...
Today’s #sciencewoman is Marie Tharp, the first to map the ocean floor! #WomensHistoryMonth http://ift.tt/1Cdaq59
