C.H. Clepitt's Blog, page 12
November 7, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
Yes, we know it’s Wednesday. Blame the interns.
So, it’s that time of the week again, where our friends at Feathers and Toast perform a mysterious mime for your guessing pleasure. Guess correctly before Friday and you could win the opportunity to have the mime of your choice performed. Answers in the comments.
Congratulations to last week’s winners, who all correctly guessed candle flame inside a pumpkin: Mairi Sim, Maria R Riegger, Janet Martin and Rosie Rennie.
The clue this week is November 5th…
November 3, 2018
7 Questions
Today’s 7 Questions are with Addison Albright, author of the forthcoming romcom Of Rats and Cats. 
Addison describes the book as:
a short story, meet-cute detailing the humorous get-together of two otherwise regular guys, leading average lives. The story ends with a solid happy-for-now where we are left to imagine them continuing their relationship as they traipse, without further issue, toward their eventual HEA.
We check in for a cup of tea and a chat pre-release.
1. What inspired the story?
I wish I could say I was inspired by a true story that I’d heard, because wayward pets would be such a fun way for two people to meet (Rats and cats? Dogs and boa constrictors? Bearded dragon lizards and…badgers?). But alas, that wasn’t the case. I think this is the only story I’ve written where the location came first, followed by the characters and story line. A local writing group was considering putting out an anthology where the themes were that the story have an element of LGBTQ+ romance and that it be set in Kansas City, and my contribution was written before the project went south. Beyond that, I like pulling one significant event out of a couple’s otherwise humdrum life and highlighting that as a short story. Often that means a cute how-they-met story, which is the direction I went in Of Rats and Cats.
*Coughs*, um, badgers are NOT pets! Anyway, moving on…
2. Are you a rat person or a cat person?
After doing a little research for this story I could possibly see myself as a mouse person, but even after reading about pet rats, I still shudder at the thought of owning one as a pet. Nope, nope, nope. I’ve been a cat person my whole life starting with a childhood kitty who was known for dropping out of trees onto cows in the pasture behind our house (come on…you’ve got to at least respect the verve of that cat), all the way through to my final three kitties that were with me for five moves and more than fifteen years before dying of old age over the past couple years. The plethora of cat memes out there are all true, and how can you not love—maybe even relate to—the attitude of the smart ass cats in those videos looking you straight in the eye as they knock stuff off tables?
Which leads us nicely to our all important next question…
3. Pet couture, yes or no?
Hahaha…maybe if I was a dog person? They will at least tolerate, if not appreciate the efforts. I’m pretty sure that “tolerate” is the most I could have hoped for from any of my cats if I’d tried. That said, the idea is appealing, but not so much the inevitable scratches and bites.
They may love it. You don’t know unless you ask… anyway…
4. It’s a fun story, was it fun to write?
Thank you! It was lots of fun to write! I think writing the opening scene was my favourite part. There’s humour liberally sprinkled throughout the story, but it’s heaviest in the beginning. I loved coming up with ideas for ways to embarrass Raymond and his hero as their beloved pets ran amok. And okay, the research looking for titles for Raymond’s collection of vintage gay porn and an outrageous dildo for him to have stashed under his bed was part of the fun!
Er… OK… Hopefully no-one checks your browser history…
5. Did you pants it, or have a plan?
I pants everything, which is nuts considering how organised I am in most things in my life (seriously, you should see my closet…or spice drawer). But, when it comes to writing, I have a general idea of what’s going to happen in a story, but the details that come out as I write end up driving where the story goes, adding twists and turns. Beyond the opening scene in Of Rats and Cats, I had no idea what else was going to happen with the characters when I started writing it…how they were going to get from their awkward and embarrassing first encounter to realising they kind of liked each other, and hey…maybe we should go out on a date!
For instance, back when I wrote To Love and To Cherish, which also ended up having a lot of humour in it, I started out writing a marriage of convenience story. I didn’t know I was going to add an amnesia twist (that ended up becoming the primary story-driving plot point), until I started writing the chapter where the accident happened.
My one exception to this is a time-travel story I’m working on. Since that timeline gets complicated, I’ve sketched out a (very) brief outline. Something tells me that the details will still end up changing things, though.
All the best writers pants it. Not that I’m biased… but I am kinda peckish, so…
6. Describe your ideal sandwich.
Oh, dear. I’m not much of a sandwich person, and I’m a really weird eater. It all started when I was a child and was sick to my stomach…a LOT. I don’t think my mother ever considered there might be an intolerance to a certain food behind it, but my subconscious must have tried to work it out, and I eventually stopped “tossing my cookies” on a regular basis. Needless to say, my subconscious overdid it, and I became a very picky eater. As an adult, trying to become less so by trying some things I’d long rejected, I quickly worked out that I have a tomato intolerance and that whenever I eat anything with that vegetable/fruit/whatever in it, I will deeply regret it 4-6 hours later.
So, sandwiches…I’ll eat one if it’s very simple, because I still cringe at the thought of condiments in general (negative associations—even ones that were ultimately incorrect—are tenacious b********). I like ciabatta rolls, so my ideal sandwich would start with that, sliced, buttered, and grilled, then add some warm meat (roast beef, ham, chicken, turkey…) and voilà, there you have my ideal (and very basic…yet prissy) sandwich.
7. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring 3 things, what would they be?
This is the kind of question that’ll take over my mind and I’ll think about it for days. I’m weird like that. The answer might vary based on whether the parameters are that I know I’ll be there for life, or if there’s hope of rescue and I might want to signal potential rescuers (like with a mirror). I suppose it might also change based upon the natural resources that would be available on the island.
But, assuming I would be there forever and would want things that would last and make my survival easier, and also assuming it was a decent sized little island with trees and foliage, etc., I’d bring (1) lifetime supply of flint & steel (can we call this set a single item?) for ease in fire making, (2) a hefty/sturdy machete, which would come in handy in so many ways, and (3) a cast-iron potjie cauldron pot to give me cooking options beyond “put it on a stick and hold it over the fire” or “hope there are rocks I can beat into a pan-like shape.”
I often beat rocks into a pan like shape, just for the heck of it. Thanks for stopping by.
If you enjoyed this interview, you can find out more on her website.
And you can pre-order the book as follows:
PURCHASE LINKS
Publisher/JMS Books, LLC | Kindle (Universal Link) | Books2Read Universal Buy-Link
~or~
https://www.jms-books.com/romance-c-29_105/of-rats-and-cats-p-2544.html
October 30, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
It’s that time of the week again, where our friends at Feathers and Toast perform a mysterious mime for you to guess. Should you guess correctly you will have the mime of your choosing performed by Tallulah.
We’re super excited that last week’s winners include our very own Ted Akin, who has been trying every week and now hit a home run with Gold Fish. Go Ted! Other winners that we care less about include: Mairi Sim, Elle Newlands, Sarah Venus, Linda Henderson Eubanks and Paul Uhler. Well done to them too and stuff.
Don’t forget to pop your answer in the comments before Friday to be in with a chance of winning.
October 29, 2018
Sophie’s Unleashed Hunt
58 Rockin’ Robin, rock, rock, ooooooooo makes you want to sing
53 Every dog has its day
October 22, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
It’s that time of the week again, where our friends at Feathers and Toast perform a mysterious mime for your guessing pleasure! Pop your answer in the comments and if you get it right before Friday Tallulah will perform the mime of your choosing.
And just to prove it’s true, here is a mime our very own Maria chose when she guessed correctly a couple of weeks ago:
And congratulations to last week’s winners: Paul Uhler, Sarah Venus and Judith Evans with water boiling.
So, without further ado, here is this week’s mime.
October 20, 2018
Found in Translation
Found in Translation is back. This time we are partnering with artist and amateur linguist Jen Giacalone.
In this section, we take a well known phrase from another language, then find the equivalent saying in English.
If your language has an alternative version, we would love to know, so post it in the comments!
So, this week’s saying is:
In Urdu, you don’t say “I won’t give you what you want” if someone asks you for a favour that is out of line, you informally say “تیرے باپ کا راج چل رہا ہے؟ (Teray baap ka raaj chal raha hai ? [“ch” as in “chair”])” which roughly translates to “Is this your father’s kingdom?”
What is it in your language?
Here’s a badger eating a cake. You’re welcome.
October 16, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
Yes, we’re two days late, but but you still have two days to ignore us and not post anything, so not to worry. Yes, it’s time for another mystery mime from our friends at Feathers and Toast. Answers in the comments, and if you guess correctly you could have the mime of your choosing performed. Sometimes a prize goes to the best wrong answer, so don’t be afraid to just have a go!
Last week’s mime was water going down the drain, and the winners were Paul Uhler and Ranata Suzuk.
October 8, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
It’s that time of the week again, where our friends at Feathers and Toast perform a mysterious mime for you to guess! Pop your answer in the comments and if you get it right before Friday Tallulah will perform the mime of your choosing for you! Don’t be afraid to have a go, either. Sometimes the best wrong answer wins, too!
Last week’s mime was a horse jumping during a race. Congratulations to Janet Martin, Mairi Sim, Sarah Venus and Judith Evans who all guessed correctly!
October 4, 2018
Natalie Husdan Had a Ball
What is it about the charity that particularly resonates with you?
PCRF is a small charity set up by a widow Maggie Banks whose husband died of Pan Can. They focus on raising funds exclusively to support research into improve the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer, survival outcomes have improved little in 40 yrs which is why I think this focus of the charity is so important. My healthy super energetic beautiful 63 yr old mum was diagnosed with pan can last November and died 7 months later. It’s a dreadfully aggressive painful cancer that is terrible to watch loved ones suffer from and terrible to suffer with and awareness of this silent cancer and funding of research/treatment has been hugely lacking in the UK.
What made you decide to organise a ball?
Sue’s Summer Soiree was organised for June and Mum had a ticket and her dress bought. It was due to be a special & fun night to celebrate my Mum, her life, her fighting hard against Pan Can, and to raise money for PCRF, kickstarting the summer and giving my Mum a boost. Tragically, Mum died suddenly of sepsis caused by the cancer, the day before the Do, on the 14th June – so we postponed the event for 3 months – it was finally held on Fri 7th Sep.
What is involved in organising a ball?
Getting numbers in! Selling tickets. Picking the menu, decor, we had a cigar and sweetie table, so buying all these things and then decorating the venue – which sat 182 people. Hardest part was getting prizes in for the raffle and silent and live auctions, persuading companies to donate to these, and we did a cool A6 Glossy booklet for every guest with adverts in for every business that donated prizes so graphic designing and organising that took a lot of work. Our tagline was “Pancreatic Cancer’s Good at Spoling Things, But Not This Party”. Thankfully my step-brother Rob Jenkins is a brilliant graphic designer who did the design work.
What would you say was the most difficult/rewarding part?
Most difficult was the moving of the date a few days before when we knew we had to postpone, telling all the guests, sorting with the venue Hilltop Country House who were amazing, thankfully family and friends really kicked in here and took over doing this for me personally when my head wasn’t really functioning – that was really touching seeing that, so many people offering their help, and over the summer nearly everyone committing to the new date and those who couldn’t make the new date so kindly donating their ticket money instead of asking for a refund. The kindness and generosity of people – friends but also friends of friends that I don’t even know so well, and businesses in East Cheshire & Manchester. People buying raffle tickets and putting in auction bids even if they couldn’t attend.
Obviously this is a very serious cause, but it was a ball, were there any funny moments?
Making two grown men wear bejewelled crowns so they were noticeable in the marquee during the raffle & auction, that was a nice surprise we organised for Tony & Rick! Everyone had a good few hours on the dance floor, Hilltop have a proper boogie room and wicked DJ and kept the venue open late for us so there were plenty of violent shapes being thrown, dance offs as the drink flowed and ridiculous behaviour that was very amusing.
And you can find out more about the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and ways to support it by visiting its website.
October 1, 2018
Monday Mystery Mime
It’s that time of the week again, where our friends at Feathers and Toast perform a mysterious mime for your guessing pleasure. Pop your guess in the comments and if you guess correctly before Friday you could be a winner!
Excitingly we had a Newsnibbles winner last week! Well done Maria, Tallulah will perform your chose mime shortly.
And congratulations to all of the other winners too: Mairi Sim, Pamela Loudenbeck Van Horn, Judith Evans, Amy Scamoffa and Fiona Goodwin who all correctly guessed pumpkin being carved.
So, without further ado, here’s this weeks mime.
