Maya Panika's Blog, page 9

Review: Dreams and Shadows

by C. Robert Cargyll

4 stars

A modern day fairytale come urban fantasy set in both the solid, everyday world, and an un-seen, parallel place of supernatural creatures from a broad mix of folklores, who live, half-hidden, alongside the humans. It gets off to an explosive start, the opening is stark and tragic – though I found the childhood chapters less interesting than what followed. The childhood-in-fairyland story is fine in its way, but more conventional, less original, less intriguing than the unique vision of the second half. Everything warms up, gathers speed and takes on a whole new tone – much darker, more sinister, more thoroughly Gothic – when Ewan and Colby grow into teenagers, living divergent lives in the same town.

Gothic is the word that keeps coming back to me as I try to describe this tale; a dark and bloody streak of it runs through the narrative – it’s not something I generally associate with a story set in Texas. The location, in Austin’s seediest bars and a mystic bookshop, certainly adds a dash of spice to this modern day tale of angels and demons that has more to do with the Brothers Grimm than anything by Disney. From start to finish, Dreams and Shadows is pretty raw and thoroughly gory – not one for the kiddies, for sure. The end appeared to be setting the scene for a new story. If this is the first in a series, I’m deeply sorry that the – for me – best character, doesn’t make it to the end.

In short, this a great book by a creative author I’ll be watching for sure. And – having felt so many parallels between this book and my own, I can’t resist a plug. If you enjoyed Dreams and Shadows, might I recommend Entanglement? I think you’ll enjoy it.

I love this time of year

It is unbelievably cold! I don’t know what the wind-chill is today, but it’ll take your face off. I love it!

 

- Pop loves sheep!

 

Australian National Book Week

Entanglement is featured, alongside many other wonderful books. Please do go and like their page, or even read some books.

On Facebook.

On Pinterest.

Review: Illumination

This is the first of many books I’ve read and reviewed this past month. I was sent some wonderful books this batch; it’s been a while since I gave so many 5 and 4 star reviews. The Christmas break, plus two enormous parcels of books to review, means I’ve not been able to do any ‘off-piste’ reading at all since before Christmas. There are three books by good friends and fellow writers that I’m desperate to finish and review, but with only two books left in my ‘official’ pile, the worky bit of reading is all but done, and I should finally be able to read for fun – at last. And look! That rhymes. Aren’t I clever?

Illumination, by Matthew Plampin

5 stars

As always, Matthew Plampin brings history to life in the form of a wonderfully paced tale about the everyday horrors of life in Paris during the siege.

Illumination is a little slow to start, it took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but slowly, by inches, the plot winds itself into a tight, addictive, absorbing tale, as Clem and Hanna Pardy – a pair of not altogether likeable English twins, and their mother Elizabeth, a domineering, ambitious writer – become trapped in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. All is set against a background of artists and café society, revolutionary communards, rabble-rousers, courtesans, balloonists and spies, to form a wonderfully twisted tale of ambition, deceit and double-dealing.

I love Matthew Plampin’s writing, and while Illumination doesn’t quite match his incandescent The Street Philosopher, it’s not too far behind. The history makes an impeccable and detailed background for the lives of his characters – wonderfully well-drawn personalities. I never once felt I was reading about imaginary characters, these people felt absolutely real.

 

Hello from the frozen North

It’s been a while since I updated my blog – a conscious decision to eschew the net for a while, over Christmas, for family reasons, and after, to catch up with work and reading. I’ve done a bit of the former, a lot of the latter. I’ve been sent some wonderful books lately. I’m writing reviews that I’ll post over the next few days. It’s proving hard to get back into the swing of things after such a long break. I’ve more or less given up on Twitter – too huge and unwieldy. I can’t keep up with it. I’ve rather run out of steam on Facebook, too. I’m mainly to be found at Goodreads  these days – where the conversation is always about the books – and Pinterest, where I can endlessly prevaricate engage with the world through pretty pictures.

I’ve begun work on Chaos, the novel which follows Entanglement. It’s still very much at the planning stage, ideas are coming thick and fast and having to be stitched into the overall story. It’s a complicated plot that takes place in more than one time and multiple spaces. It’s going to take a lot of writing. I’m aiming to finish it before the end of the year, but, well, you know how it is.

We’re enjoying spectacular weather here in the north of England at the moment – well, I’m enjoying it. I know some people hate the winter and snow especially, but I love these clear, cold days of sugared trees and pastel skies. It is particularly nice snow, too, powdery and dry. Where there’s no snow, there’s ice: frozen lakes and icicles. The world is blue and white, with touches of pink when the snow stops and the sun struggles over the horizon for an hour or two. I’ve been out in it as often as I can. It’s hard work, and that’s just what I need. After the Christmas gorging, which segues all too easily into my January birthday, when there’s always cake, it cannot be denied that I’m a bit of a prize porker at the moment and after a morning’s hard strolling in the snow, there are usually outbreaks of hot toast and gingerbread coffee, becoming red wine in all sea areas later. Which rather defeats the object I suppose, but there it is.

Re-blog: This Place Will Lend You Books For Free

 

An appreciation of libraries by James Brown

via Sabotage Times

Just click on the pic.

You scratch my blog and I’ll scratch yours.

You can’t touch me, I’m part of the union – so Sung The Strawbs, back in 1973. The Blog Scratchers Union is not an actual union – I’m no longer in an actual union, not since I paid my last dues to the NUJ back in ::coughmuttermumble:: – just a meeting of like-minds who want to build a bigger following by friending and following others, which seems a pleasing and goodly concept.

As suggested by brother Seumas Gallacher – here are some blogs you might consider following…

David Rashleigh, Chris Hill, RP Dahlke, Iain Broome, Bev Wheelan, Cassandra Giovanni, Jane Davitt, Jon Sayer, Horton Deakin, Clive Eaton,  Joe McCoubray, Stuart Haddon, Pamela Sutherland, Barbara Alfaro, Venture Galleries, Richard Stephenson, Mike Thomas, Vanessa Ryan, Ti, Michelle Proulx

 

and of course, the wonderful Scottish kilted author, Seamus Gallacher 

I invite them to join me around the brazier for a mug of strong, sweet tea and a rousing chorus of The People’s Flag. Time to don the old donkey jacket and Lenin cap – they’re fashionable you know.

Afterlife…?

Linking to an interesting over-view of the many ways in which investigators have attempted to prove – or disprove – that the afterlife exists.

Just click on the picture…

Author Profile: Chris Hill

I’d like to introduce you all to a wonderful writer, Chris Hill, author of Song of the Sea God.

Tell me a little bit about yourself as a person?

I work in PR for a children’s charity, before that I was a newspaper journalist for a lot of years. I started as a reporter and was a news editor, sub-editor and an editor. It’s a job where you meet all manner of people from every station in life, which I think helped me as a writer. At home I have two sons who keep me busy so I do the usual family stuff. I run sometimes, when I can be bothered, and I did London marathon a couple of years ago – mostly I’d rather sit around in front of the TV or listen to music though. Oh – and I read, I’m always reading.

Tell me about your journey as a writer – how you started and how you have developed?

I remember writing creatively as a child – maybe even when I was at junior school. I used to write scraps in the back of old school notebooks – not proper stories or poems, but attempts at fiction certainly. I can’t remember why I started but I always loved reading and I guess it grew out of that.

I got more serious in my 20s. My writing began to take on proper shape and structure and eventually I started writing stories I felt were good enough to enter competitions – then I started winning some, which was obviously encouraging.

Later on I progressed to attempting novels. I’ve completed three so far – this is the first I’ve found a publisher for. It’s been a learning process – it still is!

How would you describe your work – its themes and the important things about it?

I guess what I write is literary fiction, or general fiction – it’s what I read and what I’m passionate about. Themes can be whatever interests me at the time – if an idea snags on me I’ll work it through in my notebook and if it appears there’s enough there for a story or even a novel I’ll start work on it.

Tell me about your current book – what is it about?

Song of the Sea God is a book about a man who comes to a small island off the coast of northern England and tries to convince the locals he is a god. In some ways I suppose it’s a book about the nature of religion – what it means to people, how it works. I’d like to think there’s humour in there, particularly in the narrative voice, but it’s quite a dark book as well, it delves into some quite murky places.

I have a blog, where I talk about writing and lots of other stuff, HERE.

Where can I buy a copy of your book?

It can be ordered at all bookshops – plus found at many places online including Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and of course it’s available on Amazon and you can read the first few pages to get a feel for it.

 

Update: La Mer…

Tense, nervous
headache?

Played by the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band* seems a singularly appropriate tune to play to those on hold to Yorkshire Water. It could be worse, a pleasant enough way to bide your time, if a bit giggle-inducing. A whole lot better than that bloody Richard Clayderman song (on a very short loop) you used to get while waiting (sometimes for literal hours) for the sewers of Cuba Telefónica to connect you to to the UK. That’s sent more than one journo stark screaming mad over the years, believe me (I know. I was that soldier).

I feel like I’ve been on hold to Yorkshire Water for most of the morning thanks to a Sudden! plumbing emergency – on top of an already-existing plumbing emergency – that’s kept me indoors, waiting for the plumber and not walking the puppy and enjoying this gorgeous, clear and snowy-frosty weather. I’m not pleased. The puppy’s not pleased and is taking it out on the cat. The cat is responding with extreme violence and climbing the walls. Life is somewhat fraught.

Poppy  is probably just getting her own back on me. A couple of days ago I yelled at her for soaking her bed in what I (now mistakenly, I fully accept) thought was a gallon of puppy-pee. Having mopped up and disinfected and washed everything, only to have it all re-soaked, I now realise there’s a leaking pipe under the bedroom floor. We’re sleeping in a marsh. The room smells dank and mouldy. It’s not at all nice. We are insured and a plumber should be here ‘sometime before three’ (can you narrow that down a bit? No, sorry, of course you can’t, how very silly of me). I suppose all the furniture will have to be taken out before he (or she) comes, too. That’s going to be fun.

So, I was dealing with all the tooing and froing on that particular sticky wicket (plus a blue and shivering postie, plus the usual stream of cold-calls from Bombay) when a horrible noise in the kitchen and total absence of water in the taps alerted me to a second, more acute problemette. Lots more calls back and forth brought a Flying Emergency Water Man!  who has established it’s something affecting the village and not a frozen pipe, thank all the Gods. Our water flows again, but until it stops being the colour of weak wee, I ain’t makin’ a cup of tea with it.

I’m still waiting for Plumber Number One to arrive and tell us why the bedroom floor is a boggy mire. I suspect that will be a less easily-dealt-with and much more unpleasant thing to sort out. Honestly peeps! I’ve not done a lick of work this morning. I haven’t even checked me emails.

* Yorkshire! Water! Genius.