D.D. Chant's Blog, page 9
October 18, 2012
A Splendid Salmagundi!
It’s finally here!!!A Splendid Salmagundi, a collection of short stories and poems from the writers and readers of the UK Amazon Kindle Forum. I have a short in this book and I’m so excited! I hope that people enjoy it!
Please take a look???
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RBQSA4/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_5q8Fqb1PXRM3C
Please take a look???
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RBQSA4/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_5q8Fqb1PXRM3C
August 30, 2012
What I'm Watching!!!
I have an addiction.Don’t worry too much as it isn’t anything dangerous! My addiction is actually quite tame and harmless: I’m addicted to Asian dramas. More specifically South Korean dramas.
Where does this addiction come from???
Well that’s kind of hard to say…mostly I blame YouTube because that is where I had my first taste of K-Drama. I had spent 23 years in ignorance of their existence but one day while watching films on YouTube I somehow stumbled on to ‘He Was Cool’ (I have no idea how this happened, I vaguely remember it being a suggestion on the side bar). After that it was ‘My Girlfriend’s A Spy’, ‘My Little Bride’ and ‘Innocent Steps’ before quickly progressing to the aforementioned K-Dramas (and Japanese Dramas / Taiwanese Dramas).
When I admit to my addiction people always look at me a bit funny and say things like: ‘But surely it’s all subbed, isn’t that just irritating?’
No, it isn’t. It has no effect on my enjoyment at all and to be truthful I don’t even notice that I’m reading rather than listening anymore. It surprised me how quickly my ears started to recognize the different languages so that when I saw a trailer I would know if it was Japanese, Taiwanese or Korean. I was even more surprised when I started to recognize some phrases!!! (Although I’m not sure how useful ‘I love you’ in Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean is going to be!!!)
But we digress…
Now you have to approach K-Dramas in a certain way: they are the television equivalent of candy, do not expect gritty realism in any way, shape or form. Sit back, suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the (admittedly mad) ride you are about to take.
So why do I like K-Drama???
For several reasons: I like that the stories are (mostly) sweet romances, everyone always looks lovely and the characters are nice. The good guys always win, the bad guys always fail and the hero ALWAYS gets the girl.
That’s not to say that I don’t have my issues with them sometimes! Mostly the story centres on a love triangle (or square??? with all three guy liking the same girl), normally both guys will be handsome/kind and generally awesome and yet one of them will suffer a broken heart and see his true love lost forever…not cool, I don’t approve of that at all!!! Also these two guys will normally be best friends at the beginning and fancying the same girl will tear them apart before one of them gives up and then everything is hunky dory again.
But despite that I still watch and wait and hope that the guy I’m rooting for is going to get the girl at the end. Sometimes the love triangle thing doesn’t upset me at all so long as I like the hero BETTER than the other guy, but this doesn’t always happen and sometimes I end up liking the secondary guy better than the lead (yes ‘Mary Stayed Out All Night’ I’m talking about you!).
The story lines are almost always ridiculous but there is also always something to keep you interested:
A young poor but plucky girl is given a scholarship to a private school that only takes the children of the wealthy elite and catches the eye of the handsomest, wealthiest boy. This boy is the leader of a gang (not that sort of gang!) called F4 made up of the four wealthiest boys in the school who also happen to be the four handsomest boys in the school as well. But come on: it’s the romance between the hero and heroine, the friendship between the 4 boys (okay, okay: AND their good looks!!!) that’s the real reason you’re watching anyway! (Boys Before Flowers)
A poor stunt woman body swaps (think ‘Freaky Friday’) with a rich man. This one was just so funny in places and I really liked the Hero and Heroine, how the guy playing the Hero managed to make me believe that he was actually the Heroine trapped in the wrong body I will never know, but he had me in stitches: I never knew a guy could scream like that!!! (Secret Garden)
A poor girl finds out on her sixteenth birthday that she is betrothed to the future King (yes I know that Korea has no royal family but just go with it!) and must now marry a complete stranger who doesn’t know her, doesn’t like her and is pining for another girl. I wanted to strangle the Hero in the first few episodes but I warmed to him in the end, the romance between the two leads was lovely and I didn’t want it to end! (Goon, Princess Hours).
Can you see a pattern emerging here??? ;-P
I’ve just finished ‘Can You Hear My Heart’ and I loved it, it had the same poor girl meets rich guy scenario but the Hero was so lovely! Defiantly a favourite! And I’m just starting ‘Faith’ which has Lee Min Ho as the lead (he was also the lead in ‘Boys Before Flowers’). It’s a historical drama, which I like, with a Heroine from the future. At the minute I’m more interested in the secondary romance between the King and the Queen than the Hero and Heroine…are you intrigued??? Then why not check it out!!!
http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/faith-episode-1/
Where does this addiction come from???
Well that’s kind of hard to say…mostly I blame YouTube because that is where I had my first taste of K-Drama. I had spent 23 years in ignorance of their existence but one day while watching films on YouTube I somehow stumbled on to ‘He Was Cool’ (I have no idea how this happened, I vaguely remember it being a suggestion on the side bar). After that it was ‘My Girlfriend’s A Spy’, ‘My Little Bride’ and ‘Innocent Steps’ before quickly progressing to the aforementioned K-Dramas (and Japanese Dramas / Taiwanese Dramas).
When I admit to my addiction people always look at me a bit funny and say things like: ‘But surely it’s all subbed, isn’t that just irritating?’
No, it isn’t. It has no effect on my enjoyment at all and to be truthful I don’t even notice that I’m reading rather than listening anymore. It surprised me how quickly my ears started to recognize the different languages so that when I saw a trailer I would know if it was Japanese, Taiwanese or Korean. I was even more surprised when I started to recognize some phrases!!! (Although I’m not sure how useful ‘I love you’ in Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean is going to be!!!)
But we digress…
Now you have to approach K-Dramas in a certain way: they are the television equivalent of candy, do not expect gritty realism in any way, shape or form. Sit back, suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the (admittedly mad) ride you are about to take.
So why do I like K-Drama???
For several reasons: I like that the stories are (mostly) sweet romances, everyone always looks lovely and the characters are nice. The good guys always win, the bad guys always fail and the hero ALWAYS gets the girl.
That’s not to say that I don’t have my issues with them sometimes! Mostly the story centres on a love triangle (or square??? with all three guy liking the same girl), normally both guys will be handsome/kind and generally awesome and yet one of them will suffer a broken heart and see his true love lost forever…not cool, I don’t approve of that at all!!! Also these two guys will normally be best friends at the beginning and fancying the same girl will tear them apart before one of them gives up and then everything is hunky dory again.
But despite that I still watch and wait and hope that the guy I’m rooting for is going to get the girl at the end. Sometimes the love triangle thing doesn’t upset me at all so long as I like the hero BETTER than the other guy, but this doesn’t always happen and sometimes I end up liking the secondary guy better than the lead (yes ‘Mary Stayed Out All Night’ I’m talking about you!).
The story lines are almost always ridiculous but there is also always something to keep you interested:
A young poor but plucky girl is given a scholarship to a private school that only takes the children of the wealthy elite and catches the eye of the handsomest, wealthiest boy. This boy is the leader of a gang (not that sort of gang!) called F4 made up of the four wealthiest boys in the school who also happen to be the four handsomest boys in the school as well. But come on: it’s the romance between the hero and heroine, the friendship between the 4 boys (okay, okay: AND their good looks!!!) that’s the real reason you’re watching anyway! (Boys Before Flowers)
A poor stunt woman body swaps (think ‘Freaky Friday’) with a rich man. This one was just so funny in places and I really liked the Hero and Heroine, how the guy playing the Hero managed to make me believe that he was actually the Heroine trapped in the wrong body I will never know, but he had me in stitches: I never knew a guy could scream like that!!! (Secret Garden)
A poor girl finds out on her sixteenth birthday that she is betrothed to the future King (yes I know that Korea has no royal family but just go with it!) and must now marry a complete stranger who doesn’t know her, doesn’t like her and is pining for another girl. I wanted to strangle the Hero in the first few episodes but I warmed to him in the end, the romance between the two leads was lovely and I didn’t want it to end! (Goon, Princess Hours).
Can you see a pattern emerging here??? ;-P
I’ve just finished ‘Can You Hear My Heart’ and I loved it, it had the same poor girl meets rich guy scenario but the Hero was so lovely! Defiantly a favourite! And I’m just starting ‘Faith’ which has Lee Min Ho as the lead (he was also the lead in ‘Boys Before Flowers’). It’s a historical drama, which I like, with a Heroine from the future. At the minute I’m more interested in the secondary romance between the King and the Queen than the Hero and Heroine…are you intrigued??? Then why not check it out!!!
http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/faith-episode-1/
August 4, 2012
Honey, Honey!!!
It is that time of the year again!It is the time for stealing liquid gold from a vicious hoard of weaponized and decidedly ungenerous foes. Yes I’m talking about my Dad’s pet bees!!!
Over the years that my Dad has kept bees he has developed an allergy to them, and more importantly, to the honey. He can’t touch the honey anymore and so the uncapping and extracting has been passed on to me, my Mum and my sister.
Now I don’t know how familiar you are with extracting honey but there are a few things that you know are going to happen EVERY time you attempt to process the honey:
1. The honey will get everywhere, on every surface, in your hair and sticky patches with mysteriously appear on your jeans and tee shirt.
2. You will eat too much honey. Don’t argue because you just will, the temptation is impossible to ignore and making yourself sick is inevitable. I would actually question the sanity of someone who could finish the extracting process without feeling as though they might cast up their accounts!!! Ladles, spoons, sieves and all manner of other implements will present themselves to you just begging to be licked and you will be powerless to deny them!
3. At the point when your hands are at their stickiest your nose will start to itch, this phenomena is not limited to honey extraction but is rife throughout life’s more messy moments.
4. At some point you will forget to close the tap and honey will pour out all over the floor.
5. All those jars you’ve been saving will have lost their lids, I don't know how this happens it just does.
6. After you’ve showered and changed you will find a sticky bit you somehow managed to miss.
But despite all of that, the delicious taste of honey on toast every morning until the next season is a more than adequate reward!!!
Over the years that my Dad has kept bees he has developed an allergy to them, and more importantly, to the honey. He can’t touch the honey anymore and so the uncapping and extracting has been passed on to me, my Mum and my sister.
Now I don’t know how familiar you are with extracting honey but there are a few things that you know are going to happen EVERY time you attempt to process the honey:
1. The honey will get everywhere, on every surface, in your hair and sticky patches with mysteriously appear on your jeans and tee shirt.
2. You will eat too much honey. Don’t argue because you just will, the temptation is impossible to ignore and making yourself sick is inevitable. I would actually question the sanity of someone who could finish the extracting process without feeling as though they might cast up their accounts!!! Ladles, spoons, sieves and all manner of other implements will present themselves to you just begging to be licked and you will be powerless to deny them!
3. At the point when your hands are at their stickiest your nose will start to itch, this phenomena is not limited to honey extraction but is rife throughout life’s more messy moments.
4. At some point you will forget to close the tap and honey will pour out all over the floor.
5. All those jars you’ve been saving will have lost their lids, I don't know how this happens it just does.
6. After you’ve showered and changed you will find a sticky bit you somehow managed to miss.
But despite all of that, the delicious taste of honey on toast every morning until the next season is a more than adequate reward!!!
July 30, 2012
Guest Post: 'The Promise'!
So here is a copy of a guest post that went live today! Thank you to Nobonita for having me on her blog and for all her support!http://perrytheplatypus1102-3daydreamer3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/an-insight-of-characters-world-guest_30.htmlI love historical romance.
I remember the first HR I ever read, it was ‘The Convenient Marriage’ by Georgette Heyer and I was hooked! Victorian, Edwardian, Regency, Medieval…I loved them all!!!
But what was it that I loved so much about these stories???Obviously I loved the romance, the adventure but that is true in any book whatever genre. And then it hit me, it’s the same thing that I love about post apocalyptic and futuristic stories: I love seeing the huge difference between the world I’m reading about and my own world and yet still seeing similarities too.
But why Saxon?
I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t know at first what period of history I was going to choose to set The Promise in. I wanted something different and unique, something unusual and after reading up on the Saxons I realised that I had found the perfect setting.
The period in Saxon England after the Romans had left was a very fascinating; King Ine of Wessex, the King that Rafe serves, was Christian and his laws reflected that fact. There were huge tensions between the different Kingdoms making it a writer’s paradise when it came to intrigue.
The time period was also very mindful of women and gave them a great deal of care that was missing from later times, which meant that Adele would have had a lot more say in her marriage and her life in general than women in future time periods when she would have basically been a method of transferring land and money to create an alliance between families. It is also suggested that well born women could be very powerful and well educated, and also that in some cases they could inherit. Which is obviously not what you expect from ‘The Dark Ages’!!!
I have deviated from fact in some place: in the story I state that Whitred of Kent died while Ine was still ruling...that is incorrect as King Ine abdicated to make a pilgrimage to Rome and Whitred didn’t die until the following year.
But it was necessary for the plot of my story.
Also I’ve given Whitred a daughter although I can find no evidence that he had one and filled in the blanks: I know that he had three sons and three wives, but cannot be sure which son(s) belonged to which wife. The Promise was originally a standalone book, but by the time I had introduced Finan and Leofric I knew that there was more to this story than I had planned. I wanted to hear more about them and what would happen to them next. I also found myself interested in Daegmund and Anlaf of Gradock despite the fact that I had only planed them to have a small part in the story. Now I’m hoping to give them their own books in the Lady Quill series!
To everyone who has read my book, thank you so much for taking a chance on my story and I really hope you liked it and want to know what happens next.To anyone thinking about reading my story: go for it!!! Lol!
July 20, 2012
Greetings from Falmouth
I have the flu.And when I get the flu the germs really go to town. Now I know you probably think that you get the flu bad but believe me: I get it far, far worse!!!My sister is to blame for my current illness, she’s the one who brought me in to contact with these foul germs having caught the putrid sickness herself. Now I’m feeling like death warmed over and she is looking disgustingly cheerful. And glamorous. Which kind of adds insult to injury.I’m visiting Falmouth at the moment and I have a beautiful view over the water at all the boats, the sun is shining and I just wish I wasn’t feeling quite so crummy and could enjoy my surroundings a little better. As it is I’m curled up with my fluffy pillows and a very large hot toddy feeling very sorry for myself and watching day time T.V….is there ANYTHING more depressing than day time T.V.???But the thing that is really getting to me is that I can’t taste anything at all!!! ‘Feed a cold’ the saying goes but a cold sucks the fun out of that as well!As you can see I’m in a really good mood and am putting a brave face on my misery.
On the plus side I had a 5* review on Broken City:http://www.bloodsweatandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ Sorry couldn’t help bragging a bit!
On the plus side I had a 5* review on Broken City:http://www.bloodsweatandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ Sorry couldn’t help bragging a bit!
July 13, 2012
Review For The Promise
Hi everyone!
Here I am again! I've just had a lovely review for The Promise from another Judy!!!
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dd-chant-book-list.html
Thank you Judy!!!
Here I am again! I've just had a lovely review for The Promise from another Judy!!!
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dd-chant-book-list.html
Thank you Judy!!!
July 12, 2012
Sorry!!!
Okay so first of all I have to say a great big SORRY for not being around lately! Blogger shut me out and I’ve only just managed to get back in! I know, I know; I told you that I was a complete technophobe but I bet you didn’t realise I was this bad huh???
Getting locked out of your blog has got to be like getting locked out of your house; no amount of explaining will convince everyone that you haven’t got some SERIOUS issues! I can almost picture you looking at this page and saying: what the heck is wrong with this chick??? Just how long has she been locked out???No way! That long???The very thought of being away from your blog that long is giving you cold turkey and your itching to call your therapist and talk the horrible fear that this might happen to you away! Lol!!!
To add to your horror I’ve managed to lock myself out of wattpad too! :-(
So my big news is that I’ve FINNISHED ‘Fracture’!!!
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!
I am soooooooo excited about it and am hoping to bring it out early next year! In the mean time here is the synopsis:
In a world torn apart by war and divided in to three nations Astra struggles to achieve balance. As a child she experienced a horror that caused her life to fracture around her and change everything she’d ever known in an instant. Sixteen years later and Astra has been pressured into a false position by her past taking a stand that enables her to keep her loved ones safe, but the cost is high.
Caught in an intolerable position Astra is loyal to only one thing: the family that loves her. But when a diplomatic mission from the Free Nation arrives for peace talks with the Tula, Astra’s precariously balanced world begins to fracture again.
If you want to be alerted when it goes live just click on this link:
http://authoralarms.com/
In other news I’ve just had a LOVELY review from Judy at Little Hyuts, thank you Judy!!!
http://littlehyuts.blogspot.co.uk/
So bye for now and see you soon….as long as I don’t manage to be awesome again and lock myself out!!!
Getting locked out of your blog has got to be like getting locked out of your house; no amount of explaining will convince everyone that you haven’t got some SERIOUS issues! I can almost picture you looking at this page and saying: what the heck is wrong with this chick??? Just how long has she been locked out???No way! That long???The very thought of being away from your blog that long is giving you cold turkey and your itching to call your therapist and talk the horrible fear that this might happen to you away! Lol!!!
To add to your horror I’ve managed to lock myself out of wattpad too! :-(
So my big news is that I’ve FINNISHED ‘Fracture’!!!
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!
I am soooooooo excited about it and am hoping to bring it out early next year! In the mean time here is the synopsis:
In a world torn apart by war and divided in to three nations Astra struggles to achieve balance. As a child she experienced a horror that caused her life to fracture around her and change everything she’d ever known in an instant. Sixteen years later and Astra has been pressured into a false position by her past taking a stand that enables her to keep her loved ones safe, but the cost is high.
Caught in an intolerable position Astra is loyal to only one thing: the family that loves her. But when a diplomatic mission from the Free Nation arrives for peace talks with the Tula, Astra’s precariously balanced world begins to fracture again.
If you want to be alerted when it goes live just click on this link:
http://authoralarms.com/
In other news I’ve just had a LOVELY review from Judy at Little Hyuts, thank you Judy!!!
http://littlehyuts.blogspot.co.uk/
So bye for now and see you soon….as long as I don’t manage to be awesome again and lock myself out!!!
May 20, 2012
Devon Show: The Aftermath!!!
It’s over!
The Devon Show that is, not life or anything dramatic like that!!! I had lodes of fun: I sold a little, talked a lot and now I’m shattered.
It’s the first time I’ve had a stand and so you can imagine how nervous I was, we had lots of interest and I think everyone at the show ground had heard of Buy My Book and our infamous stuffed sheep!
No I’m not even going to TRY and explain that last statement to you!
I was reminded yet again of just how many of us Indies are out there: several came on to the stall for chat about the difficulties of self publishing. I also had two separate visits from members of the BBC! The first was a producer who specialised in documentaries: she was very interested in the Indie movement and took my details, even asking if it was okay to pass them on!
I’m trying my hardest not to get over excited about it!
All in all it was a success and we are hoping to line up a few more shows this year and see how they go!
In other news ‘The Promise’ is currently 37th in historical fiction on wattpad and 99th in the watty awards!!!
And ‘Broken City’ is 85th in sci-fi!!!
Woot Woot!
The Devon Show that is, not life or anything dramatic like that!!! I had lodes of fun: I sold a little, talked a lot and now I’m shattered.
It’s the first time I’ve had a stand and so you can imagine how nervous I was, we had lots of interest and I think everyone at the show ground had heard of Buy My Book and our infamous stuffed sheep!
No I’m not even going to TRY and explain that last statement to you!
I was reminded yet again of just how many of us Indies are out there: several came on to the stall for chat about the difficulties of self publishing. I also had two separate visits from members of the BBC! The first was a producer who specialised in documentaries: she was very interested in the Indie movement and took my details, even asking if it was okay to pass them on!
I’m trying my hardest not to get over excited about it!
All in all it was a success and we are hoping to line up a few more shows this year and see how they go!
In other news ‘The Promise’ is currently 37th in historical fiction on wattpad and 99th in the watty awards!!!
And ‘Broken City’ is 85th in sci-fi!!!
Woot Woot!
April 17, 2012
Book Stand At The Devon Show!!!
Okay so BIG news!!!On the 17th to the 19th of May I will have a book stand at the Devon county show!!!http://www.devoncountyshow.co.uk/I am sooooo excited!!! I can hardly wait! Paperback editions of both ‘Broken City’http://www.amazon.co.uk/Broken-City-ebook/dp/B005GHMH8A/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_4and ‘The Promise’ will be available!!!http://www.amazon.co.uk/Promise-Lady-Quill-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B007GNOVY0/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_3Also available will be children’s books by M. Dawn:Kurt the KangarooHipp the Hippopotamus Emily the EweAlso sharing the stand will be ‘The Sooner’ author S.G. Alan.http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sooner-ebook/dp/B005QES7LE/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1334693938&sr=1-2
D.D. Chant :-D
D.D. Chant :-D
April 9, 2012
Horror On The Hard Shoulder!!!
Today I did something I haven't done in a while……
I broke down.
Don't get the wrong idea: it was my car that broke down not me! I was an unwilling passenger to the whole thing!
So there we were on the hard shoulder, the engine would still run (somehow I find that insulting, like the car was taunting me!!!) but no gears. Nothing at all.
Not what you want to happen at any time but at 4.00pm on the Thursday before Easter Friday???
OH. DEAR!!!
Fortunately we rang the recovery company just in time and so I did something I hadn't done in a while: I went for a ride in a tow truck! Which was much better than the 'hilarious' suggestions of my friends whom I'd texted my woes to. These suggestions included, but were not restricted to: skiing, biking, swimming or *GASP* walking home!!!
Yes everyone thought it was very funny, which I for one just couldn't appreciate!
Strangely though while actually inside the tow truck we passed someone else broken down on the hard shoulder.
What did I do???
What do you think I did?!?!?
I laughed, of course!!! :-P
I broke down.
Don't get the wrong idea: it was my car that broke down not me! I was an unwilling passenger to the whole thing!
So there we were on the hard shoulder, the engine would still run (somehow I find that insulting, like the car was taunting me!!!) but no gears. Nothing at all.
Not what you want to happen at any time but at 4.00pm on the Thursday before Easter Friday???
OH. DEAR!!!
Fortunately we rang the recovery company just in time and so I did something I hadn't done in a while: I went for a ride in a tow truck! Which was much better than the 'hilarious' suggestions of my friends whom I'd texted my woes to. These suggestions included, but were not restricted to: skiing, biking, swimming or *GASP* walking home!!!
Yes everyone thought it was very funny, which I for one just couldn't appreciate!
Strangely though while actually inside the tow truck we passed someone else broken down on the hard shoulder.
What did I do???
What do you think I did?!?!?
I laughed, of course!!! :-P
