Natasha Duncan-Drake's Blog, page 55

Alan Rickman - A Very Splendid Man - #FanFridays 14

Alan Rickman A Very Splendid Man
To bastardise a quote: to lose one icon may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

Two much beloved iconic artists gone in one week, at the same age, both from cancer; it is horrible. If I am honest I will miss Alan Rickman much more. David Bowie was a great man and a superb artist, but I feel much more of a connection with Alan Rickman because he has played so many of my favourite characters.

I first saw Alan Rickman as the odious Mr S...

The Machine - Which Cover Do You Like Best? A Poll

So I have a new book The Machine, Rise of the Gifted almost ready for publishing, but I have a dilemma, I don't know which cover to use. Hence I come to you, my friends, to ask your advice. The genre is SciFi/Gay Romance with telepaths and figure skaters - I kid you not :).

~*~
The Machine, Rise of the Gifted (Preliminary Blurb)

Rafe used to be a world class, British figure skater competing against his arch rival, flamboyant American Louis Hayes. A catastrophic knee injury ended his career and n...

Author Interview: Diane Riggins (Fantasy Author and Blogger)

Today I am very pleased to welcome author and blogger Diane Riggins to my blog. She has very kindly agreed to be interviewed.


Diane Riggins Interview
Can you tell us a little about yourself? 
Wow, this is hard. What does one say about themselves. :) I guess I would start with how I started writing and that was in high school. I was one of those students that was into art, drama, and writing. I took art and drama classes and belonged to both the art and drama clubs. I continued the arts in co...

Jareth, The Monster Who Was Not Really a Monster - #MonsterMondays 30

So I did have a whole other post planned for today, but waking up to the news of the death of David Bowie, another great soul lost to cancer, I, of course, had to change my choice of monster. #RIPDavidBowie

Jareth The Monster Who Was Not Really a Monster
David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King, from LabyrinthWittegen Press$3.29 | 2.46
Amazon | OtherJareth, on the face of it, is the typical fairy tale villain. He is the monster with the pretty face who steals babies, taking them to his castle beyon...

A Cheap, Reliable Media Player and Streaming Solution - Raspberry Pi 2 + Kodi - #TipsTuesdays 19

A Cheap, Reliable Media Player and Streaming Solution Raspberry Pi 2 + Kodi
Wittegen Press$3.29 | 2.19
Amazon | OtherRob and I have a NAS box for much of our media and we like to be able to watch it on the big screen upstairs. We have been using an Amazon Fire Stick, but that is wireless and has started not to get on with the Sky wireless router - the other night it finally refused to talk to it at all. In fact most things except for the actual Sky box don't seem to get on with the wireless rout...

Kylo Ren - The Man with the Funky Lightsaber - #MonsterMondays 29

First off a warning - this post contains SPOILERS for The Force Awakens, so many SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know, come back when you have :).

So I saw The Force Awakens last week and I loved it and I also loved Kylo Ren, the primary antagonist, so I had to chose him for Monster Mondays 29. I do hope you enjoy the post.


Kylo Ren The Man with the Funky Lightsaber
Wittegen Press$3.29 | 2.19
Amazon | OtherNow I know a lot of people make fun of Kylo Ren, and given the who...

Review: Aimersoft Video Converter Ulitmate - Very Easy to Use Software

Aimersoft Video Converter Ulitmate Very Easy to Use  Software
So I have used various video converters finding that many have issues with certain conversions, but are really good for others. When it comes to Aimersoft's Video Converter Ultimate, I have yet to find something it does not do well. There is a free trial version for those who wish to try it out like I have been doing. The trial will only convert a certain percentage of your file, but it is plenty to check the quality and speed of...

Guest, Steve Turnbull - The Culture in Worldbuilding - #WriterlyWednesdays 19

I very much hope you will join together with me today to welcome author Steve Turnbull to Tasha's Thinkings to talk about the mysterious culture of world building.
The Culture in Worldbuilding by Steve Turnbull
When I built my first fantasy world for a book in 1992 I had already asked myself the question: "Why, in Dungeons & Dragons, if there are spells that can determine whether someone is telling the truth, is society still typically feudal? Wouldn't the fundamental nature of society be di...

Comic Book Mini Figures - Oh the fun :)

So my darling husband bought me one more Christmas pressie that only arrived today - 32 mini comic book figures :) He knows me so well!

The were late because they came from China... which should give you a hint that they are Chinese knock offs rather than official Lego figures or similar :).

You can also tell this because if they thought the character didn't look dangerous enough, i.e. they had no obvious weapons, they gave them some. I think Hulk and Superman probably didn't need the guns they...

Merry Christmas One and All

May the joy of the shepherds and angels,the love of the Holy family,and the peace of the Christ child,be with you all this Christmas time.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season whether you are celebrating Christmas, another holiday or simply enjoying the good will that tends to spring from this time of year.
If you are in a situation which means there is no joy to be had, I wish you peace and hope that things improve for you soon.
Love to you all.