S.M. Carrière's Blog, page 224

Book Review: The Watchmen of Ephraim

The Watchman of Ephraim by Gerard de MarignyMy rating: 4 of 5 starsBefore I start this review, it's important to note, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I know and am friends with the author. Despite this fact, I promise you none of the claims made herein are in any way exaggerated.This was a great read.To be sure, there were some things that I didn't like so much. Mr. de Marigny makes no

Reading

Yesterday, my online friend Gerard de Marigny released his début book The Watchmen of Ephraim. It's a political thriller.Not really my genre, actually, but I'm determined to read outside my genre more often. There's some stuff in other genres I could really use in mine. You should have my review of the book quite soon. I'm not giving anything away before hand.If this book peaks your interest,

Happy Birthday Australia!

Today is Australia Day, and I'd like to wish the country I spent the majority of my childhood in a very happy birthday.With luck, the Australian Government was forward-thinking enough to forgo the Australia Day fireworks and instead use that money towards the disaster relief. After all, a government's job is the welfare of its people.You can still help. Above this post and directly beneath the

Reverse Procrastination?

So, though I told everyone that I would be setting aside my novel until my short story was ready for submission to competition, I ended up writing an easy 3 000 words yesterday afternoon. It was wholly unexpected and I'm not sure whether to be proud of myself for reaching the 80 000 word mark, or mad at myself for not actually working on my short story.I have decided that proud would probably

Monday, or This Post is Late

Of course this post is late. It's Monday, the computer is running all sorts of scans, it's bitterly cold outside (but at least there's sun!).... I'd be pretty unhappy too, if I was a computer.The weekend was quite lovely. Again, due to family obligations on the part of our coach, there was no Lion Dance training on Saturday. Thus, I scored another sleep in. This is becoming a bad habit. I'll

Nizzle

To be slightly intoxicated, to be the worse for liquor; to be unsteady; usually in past participle (nizzled). Nizzle-toppin, an actively-inclined by weak-minded person; mid-Yorkshire.- Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary, 1898-1905Neezled, little drunk or intoxicated.- Walter Skeat's Glossary of North of England Words, 1873

I Really Can't Think of a Clever Title for This Post

There is so little news, it's almost depressing.My long time streak of being able to write 3 000 words in a day was broken last week when, some days, I barely even made 1 000. It has picked up over the last two days, but it has taken all day when it used to only take a few hours.I shouldn't grumble too much, I suppose. At least I'm writing, right?In any case, Hunter is going along alright. I'm

Calmer Now

Feeling much better about the world after my rant yesterday. Hanging out with good folk like my Kung Fu brothers and sisters does that!So does punching stuff for an hour.I love training.In other, writing-related news, I'd finally managed to make the 3 000 word mark yesterday. I don't know how far behind I am now, but it doesn't matter all that much, since I'm writing primarily for myself.Also,

Humanity Lost - A Rant

What happened to goodness? What happened to compassion? What happened to understanding?What the hell happened to respect?Yesterday a report came through of a female police officer who was surprised-attacked by a knife-wielding sociopath as she exited a shop investigating an unrelated robbery. She was rescued by a civilian who saw her on the ground with this maniac attacking her.Instead of

Word of the Day

Oops! I ranted today, and forgot all about the Forgotten English word of the day. Again, it's just one of those days where the word is surprisingly apropos:Jugulator:A cutthroat or murderer- William Whitney's Century Dictionary, 1889