Rhoda Baxter's Blog, page 76

Women of Science

I don’t have a title for my latest book yet, but I know it’s about a woman who is doing a science PhD and wondering whether or not to stay. It was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about why women leave science.

Every year there are hundreds of women with PhDs who hang up their lab coats and go do something else. It could be something science related (science teachers, lab technicians, that sort of thing) or something totally unrelated – there a lot of accountants and actuaries an...

Jen Black – author of Reluctance

Today I've got Jen Black visiting my blog. Her debut novel 'Reluctance' is out this week! This is the first time I've interviewed someone. It's quite exciting actually.

 

Hello Jen, tell us a bit about yourself

I've always lived within forty miles of where I am now in Northumberland. The only   continent I haven't visited is South America – and I've no plans to do so! With a degree in English/History and recently retired from library management, I write almost every day – usually historical adventures.

What inspired you to write Reluctance?

There's a National Trust property called Gibside nearby, and in the seventeen hundreds, a certain George Bowes made immense wealth from the coal trade. Without sons, his daughter inherited everything and made a very unfortunate marriage which scandalised society at the time. I thought I could use the basic thread, and make a very good story out of it. The reasons people married then, as now, are many and varied, and I wanted to explore why a woman might give up her wealth, independence and property to a scoundrel.

Which character did you identify with first, Frances or Jack?

Frances was the character who initially formed in my mind. Well educated, and with an aversion to marital duties after her first marriage, she had absolutely no incentive to marry again. Yet she would. So what was it that changed her mind? That's what intrigued me.

What's the best thing about your hero and heroine as a couple? They are first and foremost friends. From that, comes everything else. He, for different reasons, is also against marriage, but I cannot say more without giving away the plot.

What's your current research obsession?

I'm currently writing about a male protagonist in sixteenth century in France, and swotting over a siege at St-Dizier in 1544.

Reluctance by Jen Black is out on the 6th of April 2012

 "It takes courage to love again…

Perhaps marriage is the safest place to hide if you're afraid of love."

If there was one thing Frances didn't want to do, it was marry again. She is perfectly happy with her life as widow and looks forward to spoiling her cousin's children as they come along. But in England in 1803, an heiress was fair game to fortune-hunters and some were more tiresome than others. When two strangers enter her life, she has no idea that between them, they will change it it forever.

You can find Jen on http://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com or on twitter

Reluctance is available from http://museituppublishing.com

Patent Attorney heroes – Marsh is not alone

My novel, Patently in Love is set in a patent attorney firm. So, naturally, I contacted @IPKat. For those outside of the world of intellectual property, the IPkat blog is a very popular blog about all things patent, trademark and copyright. I've read the blog for years but never had anything worthwhile to contribute, so I was delighted to get a mention on it.

Soon after, I found out that another book featuring a patent attorney hero, a thriller this time, had been released on the same day. This prompted me to go and look for other books with patent attorney heroes. Turns out there are a number of them.

Here's a list, in no particular order (Thanks to the Patently O review list and Google):

Errors and Omissions by Paul Goldstein – A legal thriller featuring copyright law

A Patent Lie by Paul Goldstein – A legal thriller featuring a Markman hearing

Undue Diligence by Paul Haughey – A legal thriller featuring patent trolls

The book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber  – A literary/historical detective story involving copyright

Notes of a Patent Attorney by Brian C Coad  – I haven't a clue what this is about. I think it's a compilation of stories – maybe whimsical, maybe fantasy – the Amazon listing isn't clear

The patented formula for a multi-armed man by Unno Juza – Japanese Sci Fi/political satire (?)

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson (Calvin's Dad is a patent attorney – he's not the main character, but he's definitely a hero)

The Schmetterling Effect by Ivan Cotter  – Adventure thriller

Patently in Love by Me – Romantic comedy – er… not a thriller)

 

It looks like most of these are thrillers. This is probably because most patent attorneys have a background in science and most retired patent attorneys are men (assuming the writing is a hobby, indulged in once the pressures of work have melted away). I think I've got my reading list sorted for the rest of the year.

Of course there are patent attorneys who write novels which do not involve IP – Michelle Paver (author of the Wolf Brother series) is the most obvious example, but I'm sure there are others.

It's not surprising that IP attorneys and examiners would turn to writing. After all, these are people who have to painstakingly explain the difference between 'comprising' and 'consisting of' on a regular basis. (If you're not used to them, patent claims can read like cryptic crossword clues).

Just for fun, I thought I'd try writing a set of claims for my story. But then I found this online: http://www.plotpatents.com  and decided to give up and go to bed.

Goodreads Book Review: All That Mullarkey

All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed 'Can you keep a secret' so much that I thought I'd try another book by Sue Moorcroft. I seem to be reading my way through the Choc Lit books at the moment.

Cleo's marriage is on the rocks and she has a one night stand. Unfortunately, she forgot to use protection. Is she pregnant? Can she preserve her marriage? Does she even want to?

Cleo is a nice character, bright, sparky and fairly bloody-minded. Her habit of burying her head in the sand gets annoying by the middle of the book, but once we move on to section two, that sorts itself out. Justin is a lovely bloke (okay, a little irresponsible at times, but still…).

There are two main male characters in this book, but it's fairly obvious from early on who the hero is. The second half of the book deals with some serious issues like harassment, parenthood, the work life balance and the importance of reputation. The dialogue, especially between the men, was really well done.

The ending, although you know it's coming, is really sweet and resonant.

View all my reviews

How the Kindle App gave me my hobby back

My mother taught me to read. (She also taught me to read critically, but that was much later). For as long as I can remember, I read. A lot. When I was at primary school I read four or five books a week, all age appropriate of course. I continued reading until I went to university when, suddenly there wasn't time for reading for pleasure. I took up reading again when I started work. I had a longish train commute into London. Which meant I had at least two hours a day where I had nothing better to do than read. I went to the library once a week and scooped up a load of books from the 'just returned' trolley – thus ensuring a fairly eclectic selection. Sometimes, the librarians would point me in the direction of something new that they thought I'd like.

I used to read at lunchtime, read before bed, read whenever I could. And then I had children.Pfft. Suddenly there was no time for ANYTHING. Pick up a book? Forget it. By the time I found the book from wherever the Tykes had hidden it, found the right page, unglued it if it had been lovingly covered in jam/porridge/worse, it was time to do something else. So, reading for pleasure was something limited to my lunch hour at work or when I was ill. It was all academic anyway because I never got to browse in the library. The closest thing I got to a fun book was Hairy McLairy (I love that book).

That was the case until I was given a smart phone. The first app I downloaded was the Kindle app. Now, suddenly, I had access to a bookshop that was always open and I could get the book within minutes (seconds, even). I could read in little snippets on my phone – which was always with me and always off limits to little people. Now I read while the kids are splashing in the bath, while I'm waiting for them to finish their colouring before they leave nursery, while I'm waiting in the doctor's waiting room with a sleeping baby on my shoulder. It doesn't take up any room in my handbag (which is full of kid related clutter) and I don't have to wonder where I put it down.

Thank you Kindle app. You've given me back my most treasured hobby.

Goodreads Book Review: Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering

Rhoda Baxter‘s review
Mar 07, 12·edit

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Read from March 01 to 07, 2012

Jemima has a dark secret. The scars from her past stop her from settling down. Ben has secrets of his own. When Jemima goes to Ben’s shop to ask him to stock her jewellery, they recognise something in each other.

Please Don’t Stop the Music is too dark to be considered chic lit. The deeply damaged hero and heroine, arson, postnatal depression, the peculiar mystery of what Saskia is up to, all combine to make it a compelling read...

Goodreads Book Review: Please Don't Stop the Music by Jane Lovering

Rhoda Baxter's review
Mar 07, 12  ·  edit

[image error]
Read from March 01 to 07, 2012

 

Jemima has a dark secret. The scars from her past stop her from settling down. Ben has secrets of his own. When Jemima goes to Ben's shop to ask him to stock her jewellery, they recognise something in each other.

Please Don't Stop the Music is too dark to be considered chic lit. The deeply damaged hero and heroine, arson, postnatal depression, the peculiar mystery of what Saskia is up to, all combine to make it a compelling read. With all that, you'd expect it to be a bit of a depressing read, but it isn't. The characters are vivid. The comedy is mainly through the way the characters interact with each other (no ditzy heroine slapstick here!) and the dialogue is witty. Jemima is likeable and believable, even if you want to shake her sometimes. Ben is so damaged you just want to wrap him in a blanket and take him home. The ending is not quite your traditional happily ever after, but it's upbeat and full of hope. This is a good book; well written and thought provoking. I really enjoyed it.

Goodreads Book Review: The Man Who Ate Everything

This is my favourite foodie book. I bought it on the strength of a chapter headed 'Salad the Silent Killer'. I read the whole thing from start to finish (and ate a lot whilst doing so). In the years that followed I've dipped into it often. It's going tatty and dog eared with love. If I meet anyone who is really into food, I always recommend it to them.

The Man Who Ate Everything is a collection of articles by a man who loves food. What's more, he has the sort of mind that makes him experiment with things to shake out how they work. The chapter about his efforts to recreate the taste of Evian were hilarious. His voice is light, entertaining and informative. And the enthusiasm for food shines through. Perfect.

This is an essential foodie book. Just don't read it when you're on a diet.

Tagged: Food

Goodreads Book review: UnTied Kingdom by Kate Johnson

Untied Kingdom by Kate Johnson

I bought this book because I loved the title.  I was expecting a light read. I was wrong.

Eve Carpenter falls through a hole in the world and ends up in London in a parallel universe where England is a war torn, third world country. No one knows what a mobile phone is. Shakespeare never existed and computers are a bit of a mystery.

Will Harker is a major in the British Army. He's a tough, battle scarred military man who is devoted to his country. He thinks Eve is a spy, or mad, or both.

The story follows Eve, Harker and the rest of the group on their mission. The romance between Eve and Harker unfolds slowly as they make their way into enemy territory. The story is unmistakably a romance, but the background is a brutal war. The story takes in battles, bullet wounds, amputations, blood (lots of blood), torture, treachery and singing. The dialogue is good and the characters are fabulously rude to each other.

I really enjoyed this book. It's action packed, vivid and funny. I was so gripped by the story that I ended up doing silly things like trying to read whilst cooking and staying up far too late into the night. You might call this book chick lit, but you definitely can't accuse it of being light or frothy.

Tagged: parallel universe

In praise of librarians

Information overload. (Photo by Brenda Starr)

Another day, another article about how librarians are becoming extinct. I wonder if that's really true. Libraries, yes.  But librarians? Really?

I used to know a trainee librarian. We used to joke that she had to spend an hour a day practising saying "Shhh" and glaring at people over her glasses.  I suspect that's what a lot of people think librarians do. Not true. They do a lot more than that.

Information has value and librarians are good with information. If you want to know anything about anything, your first port of call (after wikipedia), should be a librarian. They won't know the answer immediately (well, they might, I suppose, depending on the question), but they will know where to find the information. If it's something particularly tricky to find – they will at least know who has the tools to dig it up.

When I needed to know which worming pills were used in the 1960s (my life is so glamourous), I phoned up the science desk at the British Library  and spoke to a librarian who found me the right journals to look in. There are librarians who specialise in local history, those who specialise in medicine, those who specialise in chemistry, in engineering, politics, digital archiving, patents, you name it. They can search databases, rummage through archives, find contacts for experts, source copies of rare documents. If that weren't enough, they can recommend an author that writes like that author you already like.

I suggest that librarians are not going to go extinct. In an age where there is more and more (and more) information available, we need people with the skills to sift the nuggets from the noise. Librarians will probably need to rebrand themselves. They will be managers of information, searchers for fact. I've put some time into coming up with more fun names and my favourite so far is Information Ninja. Discrete, silent and (mostly) dead on target.