Roland Clarke's Blog, page 51
April 22, 2016
S: SEISMIC CRIMES
S for SEISMIC CRIMES!
Today is the release of Chrys Fey’s first novel!
BLURB: An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion
consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.
Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she
can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a
criminal’s cross-hairs.
When a tip reveals the killer’s location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?
DIGITAL LINKS:
Amazon / Barnes
& Noble / KOBO / The
Wild Rose Press
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINT!
S for Spraying – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 19.
“Spraying three utterly virulent compounds onto leas was intentional.
Xylitol masked delphinine, galantamine, plus amatoxins,” noted Jamila.
Barrels hauled from recalcitrant Yoshi’s ketch, embroiled quivering Zollie.
Glossary:
Amatoxins a subgroup of at least eight toxic compounds found in several genera of poisonous mushrooms, most notably the Death Cap Amanita phalloides (Death Cap) and several other members of the genus Amanita
Delphinine a toxic diterpenoid alkaloid found in plants from the Delphinium (Larkspur) and Atragene (a clematis) genera.
Galantamine an alkaloid obtained synthetically or from the bulbs and flowers of the Galanthus species (Snowdrops), and related genera like Narcissus (daffodil).
Ketch a two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat with a mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder and smaller than its foremast.
Xylitol a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener. Xylitol is often fatal to dogs.
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Seabiscuit inspired many Americans back in the Depression, and for many was a Sure Thing. But then so was Secretariat.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Scorpion (species of Centruroides, Tityus, and Leiurus);
Distribution: warm temperate and tropical regions;
Toxic principle: neurotoxin, cardiotoxin, hemolytic, lecithinase, hyaluronidase, and others
Symptoms vary depending upon the species of scorpion; sting from the tail stinger causes a sharp burning sensation, swelling, sweating, restlessness, salivation, confusion, vomiting, abdominal pain, chest pain, numbness, muscular twitching, respiratory distress, convulsions, death; the mortality rate from stings from certain species of scorpions is very high; antiserum is available.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
S is also for Seismic Crimes
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 21, 2016
R for Rustling – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 18.
Rustling steeds is criminal, but justifying murder? Theft using violence, perhaps.
Why kill everything? Liquidation?
Xerothermic yards asphyxiate quarrelling grooms. Fields do not.
Hippophobia or zelotypia?
Glossary:
Hippophobe hater of horses
Xerothermic dry and hot
Zelotypia excessive zeal in carrying out a project; jealousy.
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Red Rum achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977. Definitely part of a Rounder.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Rosary pea, paternoster pea, or jequirity bean (Abrus precatorius);
Distribution: tropical regions;
Toxic principle: abrin (N-methyltryptophan) and abric acid – abrin is one of the world’s most toxic substances;
Symptoms: onset of symptoms may be delayed several hours to two days: vomiting, diarrhoea, acute gastroenteritis, chills, convulsions, death from heart failure; one seed chewed may be fatal to a child.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 20, 2016
Q for Quintessential – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 17.
“Quintessential racing knowledge simplifies betting,” thinks Archibald.
Money on horses can generate usurious vices.
Watching Xander yelling insults, pointing jealous fingers, expedites detection.
Zollie loses nothing.
Glossary:
Quintessential of the pure and essential essence of something; of or relating to the most perfect embodiment of something; most typically representative of a quality, state, etc; perfect
Usurious 1. Practicing usury; 2. Of or constituting usury
Usury 1. The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate; 2. An excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Quizzed sounds interesting. I might go for a Quinella with this mare in my selection, but I’m take a gamble here.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Quinine administered by ingestion or injection. Malaria treatment.
Symptoms: Progressive ringing in ears, blurring of vision, weakness, fall of blood pressure, haemoglobin in the urine, oliguria, and cardiac irregularities. Cardiac depression, convulsions, and respiratory arrest can occur.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 19, 2016
P for… Prep for Doom – a review
Prepper – NOUN – chiefly North American
A person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies:there’s no agreement among preppers about what disaster is most imminent whether you’re a doomsday prepper or simply like to be prepared, emergency foods should be kept on hand
Since I’m working on Gossamer Flames, a post-apocalyptic series of interconnected tales, I’m looking for similar fiction to read, not just to see how the best fiction works, but for the details about preppers and how they behave. “Prep for Doom” was therefore a must read. So on to the review.
From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM – an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths. What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month. An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them.
“Prep For Doom” is a clever anthology by different authors, each contributing a stand-alone story connected by the pandemic apocalypse, so building into one large story from multiple points of view. The level of collaboration on this project must have been impressive, as is the resulting work.
The characters of each story reflect different reactions to the growing crisis, some more intense and visceral than others. Each protagonist takes the stage in a unique way, and plays out their fate in the disaster – some as victims, some as opportunists, even killers, and some as saviours. Some are committed preppers or have known one for good or bad. But most are ordinary people trying to survive.
Much of the time I was asking how I would react in such a situation. Panic? Help?
Each of the writers tells a facet of the story in their characters’ words. So inevitably, some stories are stronger than others, painting more vivid images. Most wrenched at my emotional responses.
Many characters reappear in other stories, whether in supporting roles or even as people in the ‘crowd’. Some get swept up as casualties, others survive and give hope. Memorably one antagonist is seen in one story from a victim’s viewpoint, yet later another writer vividly shows that antagonist’s desperation and driven fall from survivor to killer.
I wanted to give “Prep for Doom” five stars, but a few things let it down in my opinion.
Setting: although the virus spreads worldwide, we only get to see its impact on US communities, predominantly around the epicentre of New York. The opening chapter is the exception as it’s set somewhere in Africa, but I wanted a few more non-US viewpoints.
Resources: food runs out fast as does water, which makes total sense so some people are surviving on granola bars. The desperate looters feel realistic, but I kept wondering why cell phones worked for so long? Why do some people have the power to keep watching the world die on TV? For a few days perhaps, but this felt longer. Since the hospitals are swamped very quickly, I struggled to believe that some services survived for long. Maybe the emergency facilities are far better than I thought, or Americans are better prepared.
Chronology: inevitably many of the stories start at roughly the same point – the virus release – so the editors will have struggled to place them in order. Unfortunately, at times I was lost and wished there were clearer indicators of time and date in some instances. But most were clear from the words.
Stereotyping: in most cases, the race/sex/religion of the characters didn’t adversely reflect on their actions in an unrealistic way. But one crucial episode grated as the minority concerned gets a trite apology and the story gives them a raw deal. Not wishing to spoil the plot, I will say no more.
Missing elements: there were a few things left unexplained, although maybe there is more to come. For instance, I wanted to know about the initials PFD, which appear throughout and not just for Prep For Doom. Is the link a coincidence, or a reasoned choice?
However, these criticisms are minor and don’t detract from an excellent anthology that I recommend. It has the right blend of realistic actions and reactions, weaving a sense of despair as the reader is carried towards hope.
As to my own post-apocalyptic saga, I feel there are lessons to learn and I will attempt to embrace them.
And for my next read, I am tackling a very different novel in this genre – far bleaker and darker… like grey ash: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
P for Phytotoxins – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 16.
Phytotoxins quickly ravaged sturdy beings; elements that killed grooms, horses and fauna – unwitting victims.
Wood absorbed deadly compounds into xylem liquid; mirroring necrotic yellowing of jaundice.
Zoopery?
Glossary:
Phytotoxins plant poisons
Xylem plant tissue
Necrotic pertaining to the death of tissue in response to disease or injury.
Zoopery experimentation on animals
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Phar Lap: As Australia and New Zealand’s most famed Thoroughbred racehorse. who won 37 of his 51 career starts, this is a Punter’s dream.
[While the fate of Phar Lap has never been resolved, the popular consensus from a 2000 necropsy is that he was poisoned with a large dose of arsenic.]
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium);
Distribution: Tasmania, Ecuador, Balkans, Kenya, Tanzania;
Toxic principle: pyrethrins; Though pyrethrins are typically viewed as being among the safest insecticides in the market due to their rapid degradation in the environment, synthetic pyrethroids are comparatively toxic.
Symptoms: In mammals, toxic exposure to pyrethrum can lead to tongue and lip numbness, drooling, lethargy, muscle tremors, respiratory failure, vomiting, diarrhoea, seizures, paralysis, and death.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 18, 2016
O for Oxyblepsia – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 15.
Oxyblepsia proffers questionable judgement, requiring beholders manifest solid evidence.
Ketch tracks lead from a holm upstream, veering Westwards.
Deposited xenoliths implicate yachty Zollie, castigating navigational gear.
Glossary:
Holm island in a river
Ketch a two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat with a mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder and smaller than its foremast.
Oxyblepsia extremely keen sight
Xenolith piece of rock brought in from another area
Yachty relating to yachts
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Ogygian is my Outsider, even though he is one of the top 250 US racehorses at No. 133.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Oleander (Nerium oleander); In Sanskrit the plant’s name means ‘Horse killer’; in Arabic and Italian it means ‘Ass killer’. Goats are immune.
Distribution: Southern Europe, Asia, southern US;
Toxic principle: cardiac glycosides, oldendrin, and nerioside;
Symptoms: sweating, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, unconsciousness, respiratory paralysis, and death.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 16, 2016
N for Nefarious – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 14.
Nefarious operators protest. Quayside alibis remove suspects bar three fanatical gamblers united in ketch manoeuvres.
Vocal witnesses, demanding justice, call Xander, Yoshi, especially Zollie, lucripetous humgruffins.
Glossary:
Humgruffin terrible person
Ketch a two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat with a mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder and smaller than its foremast.
Lucripetous eager for gain
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Nijinsky could have been my Nap in 1970 for the Englsh Triple Crown, but then he was the last horse to win that.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Narcissus (incl. Narcissus poeticus); All Narcissus species contain the alkaloid poison lycorine, mostly in the bulb but also in the leaves;
Distribution: Southern Europe and Mediterranean in origin, but worldwide;
Toxic principle: Toxicity varies with species, N. poeticus being more toxic than N. pseudonarcissus, for instance. Members of the monocot subfamily Amaryllidoideae present a unique type of alkaloids, the norbelladine alkaloids, which are 4-methylcatechol derivatives combined with tyrosine.
Symptoms: The toxic effects of ingesting Narcissus products for both man and animals (such as cattle, goats, pigs and cats) have long been recognised and they have been used in suicide attempts. Salivation, acute abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, then neurological and cardiac events, including trembling, tetanic convulsions, paralysis and death.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 15, 2016
M for Mimetic – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 13.
Mimetic nauticals on punters qualifies as devious.
Reasoning suggests they control justifiably useful vessels, whether xebecs, yawls, even zabras.
Killicks grant incursive landfalls by hippic farmland.
Glossary:
Hippic of, like or pertaining to horses
Killick small anchor or heavy stone used as an anchor
Mimetic imitative; of, like or pertaining to mimicry
Xebec small three-masted pirate ship
Yawl a two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailboat with the mizzenmast stepped far aft so that the mizzen boom overhangs the stern.
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Man o’ War with his 20 wins out of 21 races might have attracted a Monkey. Of course he won $249,465 in purses.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia); poisonous to several different animals, including horses, goats, cattle, deer, monkeys, and humans.
Distribution: North America;
Toxic principle: andromedotoxin;
Symptoms: hypersalivation, tears, impaired vision, tingling of skin, dizziness, vomiting, muscular paralysis, kidney failure, convulsions, coma, death; children are poisoned by eating leaves.
Necropsy of animals who have died from spoonwood poisoning show gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
April 14, 2016
L for Lupicide – #atozchallenge
“A Brilliant Conspiracy” Episode 12.
Lupicide must never obnumbrate probing. Quizzically, Archibald roasts executioners boasting, “Slaying those unwanted vermin, just culled wolves”.
Factors divulge xenogenous yearling killings.
“Garbed in zabra habilement?”
Glossary:
Habiliment attire
Lupicide killing of a wolf
Obumbrate to overshadow
Xenogenous (Pathology) caused by or originating from an external or foreign body
Zabra small sailing vessel used off the coasts of Spain and Portugal
Archibald’s ‘Horse of the Day’
http://www.paulaura.com/betgloss.htm
Lottery might have been a Layer’s challenge back in 1839, depending on the racecourse.
Jamila’s ‘Daily Poison’
http://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Types-of-poison#ref396648
Larkspur (Delphinium species);
Distribution: northern temperate regions;
Toxic principle: delphinine, delphinoidine, delphisine, and other alkaloids;
Symptoms: burning and inflammation of mouth, nausea, vomiting, respiratory distress, itching, cyanosis; one of the greatest causes of death in grazing livestock.
Word Links
http://phrontistery.info/glossaries.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adverbs.shtml
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm
*
The Challenge runs over 26 days – with Sundays off for good behaviour – and each day will be based on the alphabet, from A through to Z.
Read more about the Challenge I set myself in my Theme Reveal:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2016
For more on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and to visit the other brave bloggers, go to the official site and this linky list.
