Stuart Aken's Blog, page 291

Back of the Book Reviews September Extravaganza

Back of the Book Reviews SeptemberExtravaganza, in which, somewhere along the line, you will have the chance tocompete for a free version of one of my books (I'm giving away 15 copies, sothe chances are good). http://backofthebookreviews.com/contests/september-extravaganza/  Check out the site and participate to have achance.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Notable, noticeable or noteworthy?

Notable, noticeable or noteworthy?Notable: adjective - deservingof note, especially because of excellence, value, or importance; remarkable,striking, eminent. Noticeable: adjective - able tobe noticed or observed, perceptible; worthy or deserving notice.
Noteworthy: adjective - worthyof attention, observation, or notice; remarkable.
Another example of English wordsthat are almost synonymous. The differences are subtle, and largely due tousage rather than definition.
Notable is generally used forpeople or events that are unusual.Noteworthy is more usually employedto convey a sense of something commendable.Noticeable, although it can meanthe above, is normally applicable to something that is able to be noticed;something that may be quite ordinary but which is brought to prominence bylocation or context, perhaps.
'Shakespeare was a notable playwright.'
'The bravery of the pilots during the Battle of Britain wasnoteworthy.'
'It was noticeable that Brian had one brown eye and anotherof deepest green.'
Pic: Speckled sunlight.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Rabble

Rabble: noun - longseries of words with little meaning or value (SA rather like a lot of modern poetry, then.); pack or swarm ofanimals; mob or disorderly crowd of people; a type of people imagined as gatheredin a mob; people of the lowest class, the common or disorderly part of a population.
'As Denise stepped out of the archway, she came face to facewith a rabble and was forced to retreat in order to avoid being crushed by theonrushing mob.'
'At the dog fight, the rabble gathered round, cursing andyelling encouragement to the poor beasts in the pit, forced to fight each otherto earn money for their masters and the idiotic punters.'
Pic: Staithes harbour, North Yorkshire.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Monologue or soliloquy?

Monologue or soliloquy?Monologue: noun - longspeech made by one person, either in company or conversation; discourse in thenature of a soliloquy; scene in a drama in which a person talks alone, adramatic composition for one voice; a dramatic entertainment performed by oneperson; form of dramatic scenes or compositions for one person; literarycomposition in the form of a soliloquy.
Soliloquy: noun - literaryrepresentation of an instance of talking to yourself regardless of an audience,part of a play involving this; action of making a soliloquy or monologue.
As is so often the case in English, there is little actualdifference between these terms, and any variations are subtle. It comes down toa matter of taste and, as always, consistency in choice is perhaps moreimportant than any other consideration. However, I'd tend to use 'monologue'for something comic or plain and 'soliloquy' for something literary or flowery.
So, I'd label the famous deliveries given by StanleyHolloway (The Lion & Albert), and I'd call the famous speech by Hamleta 'soliloquy' (To be or not to be).
Pic: Looking south east along Deep Dale

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Quadrant

Quadrant: noun –one quarter of a day, six hours; instrument for measuring angles of altitude,usually a graduated quarter circle with a sighting mechanism; a farthing (SA, for those too young to know, this was aquarter of an old penny); Roman coin, a quarter of an as; plane figurebounded by radii of a circle at right angles to each other and the arc cut bythem; quarter of a circle's circumference; quarter of a sphere; anything withthe form of a quarter circle; part of a street curved in a quarter circle; in nauticalmatters: a metal frame shaped like a quadrant, fixed to a rudder head forsteering via fixed ropes or chains; slotted segmented guide through which anadjusting lever is operated; each of four parts into which something is divided.
Mostly a 'technical' term, but included here because of thenumber of uses.
'Mary cut her birthday cake into quadrants, so that therewas one for each of her guests and one for her.'
Poor Mary clearly has few friends.
28 August 1996 Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced.

Pic: Rocks on the shore at Flamborough, East Yorkshire.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Nauseous or nauseated?

Nauseous or nauseated? Nauseous: adjective - sick, nauseated; offensive to taste or smell; loathsome,disgusting, repulsive.
Nauseate: verb - become affected with nausea, feeldisgusted or sick; reject food with loathing; loathe or abhor; cause nausea oraversion, create loathing.
Basically; if you're feeling 'nauseous'(adjective), you're feeling sick.However, if some substance or event is 'nauseous', it is something that causessickness and disgust.To be nauseated (verb) is to feel sick, to be affected bydisgust or loathing. However, if YOU cause the disgust, etc., you are beingnauseating; i.e. you are the cause of the sickness or aversion of others.
As is so often the case inEnglish, the distinction is nice and therefore not always readily seen.
'The pervading stink of rawsewage following the flooding caused many people to feel nauseous.' (adjective)
'Fred was nauseated by thereports of child molestation amongst the Catholic clergy.' (verb)
'For much of the crossing,Johnson was nauseated; his sea-sickness lasting until the vessel docked in calmwaters.' (verb)
Pic: Across the Bay to Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

New Book Published

The Methusela Strain started life as a long short story, which won a special commendation from The New Writer novelette contest, when submitted. It spent some time languishing in a drawer for want of a suitable publishing opportunity. I revisited the original a few weeks ago, whilst searching my files during a 'tidying up' exercise, and decided it would make a good ebook. It needed more work and more content to make it into a proper story, so I spent time on enlargement and editing and came up with the book presented here.
With the cover, I wanted to present an idea of the content whilst giving some indication of the themes. The warmth of the loving couple seems to contrast well with the harsh and cold architecture of the background through which they are walking together toward an unknown future. It took some considerable time, trawling through the pictures available on the site I use for this purpose: http://www.dreamstime.com/ is an excellent place to find such pictures, with over 12,000,000 royalty free images, each available at very reasonable cost.

The story?
The Methuselah Strain is set in the not too distant future, on Earth, following a couple of catastrophic events, which have reduced the population significantly. Advances in gene manipulation have seriously modified the ability of the human body to exist for longer than at present. Similarly, advances in computer technology, nanotechnology and robotics have ensured that the ancient dream of the 1970s has finally come about. Almost everything is automated and many of the cyborgs are all but indistinguishable from human beings.
Into this world of ease and lack of purpose, beyond hedonism, I bring my two major protagonists. Lucy, aka The Prime Renegade, is an expert at the technology and, sick of the artificiality of life, seeks to end the rule of machines. She also needs and wants a man she can love and who might father a child for her. Randal is a devoted hedonist with little technical knowledge, who spends his time in athletic endeavours with the various sex toys with which he's surrounded.
When these two meet, what will be the result?

If I've intrigued you enough to tempt you to read more, you can freely sample the first 20% of the book using this link, which takes you to the Smashwords page where my books are displayed for sale: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken  Here you can also buy the ebook for any of the available ereaders, including your PC or Mac.
If, on the other hand, you feel you can risk the $1.49 or £1.05 to buy the Kindle ebook without sampling it first, you might want to try the links to Amazon, as follows:
USA: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=8&y=20
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=13&y=18

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Pastoral

Pastoral: noun - abook about the care of souls (now obsolete); Christian: a pastoral staff, letter,epistles; a pastoral poem, play or picture (now rare); in music, equivalent to 'pastorale';pastoral poetry as a style of literary composition.Adjective - relatingto shepherds or their occupation; relating to sheep or cattle farming; landused for pasture; in scenery, a landscape with the natural charm associatedwith pastureland; in literature, music, or works of art, showing rural life orthe life of shepherds in a romantic way; relating to a pastor or the spiritualcare of a congregation; relating to a teacher's duty to give moral care andguidance.
We rarely use the noun form now but I suspect most arefamiliar with its use in music; e.g. Beethoven's Sixth Symphony.
The adjectival use is more common however:
'The paintings of John Constable can be described aspastoral, in that they often exclude the less attractive elements of thelandscape in which he lived and worked.'
'All the mothers were devastated to discover that the Catholicfather who'd been expressly appointed to supervise the pastoral care of theirchildren had turned out to be a paedophile.'
Pic: A pastoral landscape.

Featured Author, Linda Swift.

Linda Swift iscurrently contracted with seven digital publishers and has eight ebooksavailable, seven also in print. Two additional books, two short stories and acollection of Haiku are scheduled for release later this year. Linda writesboth contemporary and historical fiction. Another historical, set in 1573England involving Mary Queen of Scots is among her releases this year followedby its sequel in 2012.
Hello, Stuart. Thankyou so much for inviting me back to tell you and your readers about my recentlyreleased historical. I have often heard the expression "the book of myheart." And THIS TIME FOREVER fits that description for me. I have beenfascinated with the Civil War since I first read Margaret Mitchell's book andsaw the movie of Gone With The Wind. Later, I avidly watched the TV mini-seriesNorth and South. And I think I knew even then that someday I would have towrite my own story about the Civil War. You can well imagine my joy when the firstreview by Manic Readers (rated five stars) said:
"This Time Forever isa sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure the horrors of theAmerican Civil War…I was reminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TVsaga of North and South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short andconvinced of the rightness of their respective causes, continue for some timeto have balls, parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but amere diversion in their neat little lives…It doesn't take long before sense andsensibility are violated on both sides as the war encroaches on their lands,plantations, houses, money and food supplies…It is easy to 'see' the scenesdescribed, from ballroom to battlefield, and to truly understand how this war,pitting families against each other, is a psychological challenge many cannotput behind them."
I think this is themost tragic period in the existence of the United States of America. Familieswere divided, with brothers fighting and killing brothers. The outcome changedthe way of life in the South forever and its repercussions are still being felteven today.I do not pretend to be a scholar of history. However, I did researchthe facts in this book and I believe the times and events to be accurate butsome Civil War buff will no doubt prove me wrong!
This historical has ahistory of its own. I began the story fifteen years ago and my agent sent asynopsis and first five chapters to a Harlequin editor. I met the editor at anational writers' conference and she asked me to send the complete manuscript.I was elated, but there was one small problem. I didn't have a completemanuscript, only the chapters already sent, however I promised to send it rightaway. I went home and began a marathon writing project. I work better underpressure but this was beyond my comfort level. I had not yet developed thehabit of doing research online and I had thirteen books of Civil War historyspread out on the bed in my office which also serves as the guest room. I wouldwrite furiously, come to a place where I needed information, search the booksuntil I found it, and resume the story. In two weeks I completed seventeenchapters and sent them in. The editor wanted the story but lost the battle withsuperiors because the story was more mainstream than romance. She asked me tosend it to another imprint and they kept it almost two years, finally rejectingit because I wasn't a "name" author which would guarantee sales.
My agent continued tosend it out with various responses, most of which reflected the fact that CivilWar books were not selling well. At one editor's suggestion, I cut the firstseven chapters to have the H&H meet in Chapter One. It was finally acceptedby an ebook publisher in 2006, who vanished overnight before I could sign acontract. I changed the name of the book three times, the last time when Isubmitted it to the publisher who accepted it with all the chapters intact.
As fate would haveit, THIS TIME FOREVER, is being published in the first of four years commemoratingthe Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. So I feel its time has come. There iscurrently a plethora of C.W. books, both new and reprints, on the market. Itseems ironical that this story about the American Civil War is being publishedby a Canadian publisher. And I doubt that anyone outside the United Statestruly appreciates the deep emotions this war still elicits, especially forSoutherners. (As an aside, an English publisher released Cold Mountain, anotherC.W. story).

  The 4th of July was a veryspecial holiday for me, this year, as my Civil War saga, THIS TIMEFOREVER, was due for release by Champagne Books. Its publicationcoincides with the four year commemoration of the Civil WarSesquicentennial and although I didn't plan it this way thetiming is perfect. And isn't it ironical that a story of such significance toAmericans is being published by a Canadian publisher? The ebook is availablenow from the publisher for $5.99 at http://www.champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php andat Amazon. The print book is released in August.  Instead of telling youabout the story, I want to share part of the book's first review. If youonly read one new book about the Civil War this year, I hope you will read thisone. It will take you behind the battles into the hearts ofboth Yankees and Rebels as they live and die for the cause they believein.
 MR Review
Rating: 
Reviewer: Alberta
Review: This TimeForever  is a sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure thehorrors of the American Civil War. The primary characters are Philip, a newlyminted surgeon who is enmeshed in the war as an idealistic young man, andClarissa, an expectant mother in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They meet underextenuating circumstances as Philip is captured by the Rebel forces and made toact as a medic to southern forces for much of the war. He ends up with Clarissaas a medical assistant. He has left a fiancée in Oswego, New York and herhusband is away acting as a courier for the Rebel side.I wasreminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TV saga of Northand South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short and convinced of therightness of their respective causes, continue for some time to have balls,parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but a mere diversionin their neat little lives.Thesecondary characters are just as well-developed and fascinating as Philip andClarissa. They move from feelings of patriotism to despair as the war causesmore and more upheaval in all their lives. The order of things has turnedupside down, and that which might have been unthinkable for ladies andgentlemen in the recent past, now becomes the norm as fighting rages on,leaders are questioned, and death becomes very personal for all the families.It iseasy to 'see' the scenes described, from ballroom to battlefield, and to trulyunderstand how this war, pitting families against each other, is apsychological challenge many cannot put behind them.

THIS TIME FOREVER isavailable from: http://www.champagnebooks.com  and www.Amazon.comOr you may find outmore about it from my website at www.lindaswift.net

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Me, Myself or I?

Me, Myself or I?Cause of much confusion, not a little of it caused bywell-meaning teachers in the hope of improving the manners of their pupils.
Here are some examples and hints:You wouldn't dream of saying; 'Leave it to I.' so, why wouldyou write, 'Leave it to Jane and I'? The correct form is 'Leave it to me.' And,therefore, 'Leave it to Jane and me.'
Since the confusion often occurs when a second person creepsinto the sentence, try writing it without the intruder, retaining only thefirst person pronoun, as illustrated above.
Similarly, you're unlikely to utter the sentence; 'There'sno doubt about what me would do under the circumstances.' You would alwayswrite, 'There's no doubt about what I would do under the circumstances.'
Finally, 'myself' is rarely needed. If you find yourselfusing it, always question the need and the context. I can think of only twoinstances of proper use:
'Some people think Gerald is a pain in the fundament, but Imyself am more tolerant.' However, even this usage is convoluted, as the sentencewould say precisely the same thing without 'myself'. Try it.
The other instance is: 'This causes me to ask myself whysuch a thing should be.' And is perfectly legitimate.
Pic: Shadows.