Jo Robinson's Blog, page 42
March 19, 2015
What’s in a Name? Amazon Author Pages and Nom de Plumes
Originally posted on :
Authors use nom de plumes for various reasons. Erotica writers for instance, who don���t want their families to find out how they���re earning their crusts. Fictionalised memoirs are also books that sometimes could cause major problems for their authors if the people in their lives that are also in their memoirs find out. Especially if they are painted in an unfavourable light. This can lead to legal action, apart from any other sort of revenge the ���injured��� party might think to take. Hugely successful authors, like Stephen King who wrote as Richard Bachman, have dipped their toes into these waters for various reasons. Sometimes to see if they would be as successful if readers didn���t know their books had been written by them (I knew with King and Bachman though ��� before the truth was told), and sometimes simply because they don���t want to anger readers of a certain genre���
It’s confession time – well almost
Our lovely Jack is a long way from expired – where’s number 400 now? :)
Originally posted on Have We Had Help?:
To all of you who have yet to retire, take it from me when I say I thoroughly recommend it.
All of my adult life I worked for someone else. Who benefited the most from the relationship? In each case they did. Before you start, yes I know I should consider myself fortunate to have been in constant employment, receiving a weekly wage from my sixteenth until my fifty-fifth year, when I was eventually considered too old for the�� labour market, winding up on the scrap heap back in 2003, along with millions of others.
By the bye, I don���t envy anyone looking for full-time employment in these days of below minimum wage zero hours work contracts���
Despite being bitter at the time, eventually I looked upon it as the best thing that happened to me, even though the next ten years were tough financially when I was left with���
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March 18, 2015
The Afternoon Video- Lucky 13 animal thieves!
Funny! :D I know all about animal thieves with my horde.
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
The video was sent by my Russian and Spanish friends by email so thank you Anton, Svieta and Irina..13 very accomplished food thieves of the furry variety.
Maeve Binchy, My Favourite Irish Author ~ Happy St Patrick’s Day
This is lovely – written by Maeve herself from Cate’s new site.
Originally posted on Octopus Ink.org : The Blog of Cate Russell-Cole:
Written by Maeve, before she died in 2012. A video interview with Maeve, is below her bio.
���My memory of my home was that it was very happy, and that there was more fun and life there than there was anywhere else. My mother could do all kinds of things, like take a bone out of your throat if it got stuck and you were choking, or clean out a turkey on Christmas Eve when it arrived far from oven-ready. She could take out splinters and cure headaches and get the grocer to deliver her a packet of Gold Flake by giving a list of other items as well and asking if it could be brought up to the house soon because she was in a hurry for the cornflour. Our house was ten miles from Dublin City where we all went to University and then to work. Ten miles���
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I, appeal!
Originally posted on leilasamarrai:
Dear fellows writers and readers,
Due to an unfortunate circumstances, the translation of my literary works is��discontinued. Since WordPress is an international community of writers, I appeal to all of you, fellow writers of good will, to reblog this status looking for a translator of my literary works��from Serbian to English language.
Thank you in advance!
Leila Samarrai
A big thank-you to Chris The Story Reading Ape���s Blog
Some more well deserved luuurve for our beloved Story Reading Ape. :)
Originally posted on Julie Lawford:
Every time my blog goes bonkers, it���s because Chris Graham over at The Story Reading Ape���s Blog, h as re-blogged one of my posts. I thought it was time I said thank you.
I���d been at it all day
on Sunday, essentially trying to write a blog post but in reality, procrastinating like mad. Eventually the post emerged, a quirky list of��� yes��� what I���d been doing instead of writing a blog post. I uploaded said musings, shut down my PC and came down to the kitchen to make my tea.
As I messed around with ingredients ��� salmon baked in a tinfoil parcel, watercress sauce, broccoli and rice, since you ask ��� I could hear in the next room, my iPad dinging merrily away as my WordPress App announced a succession of readers liking or commenting on my blog. That���s nice, I thought. I have to say, it���
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March 16, 2015
Ode to the Story Reading Ape
Thank you Chris! I’d forgotten about this Ode to the Librarians Cousin (You!). I’m reposting it in honour of you and your hero, and with the request that no charges be filed for the damages. Here’s to Discworld fanfic – why not!?
This tiny tale is dedicated to Chris, the Librarian���s cousin (and our much belovedThe Story Reading Ape), to thank him for his friendship, and also by way of snivelling apology for almost calling him a man, and getting myself into a pickle.
Washgale cowered under the gooseberry bush. He���d been innocently sipping a quarter of ale in the Dodgy Guitar, when a huge ma-, monk-, er, ape, had crashed through the window, clutching a terrified scribe under his arm. The patrons scattered, as you do when confronted with such pointy fangs. The ape found who he was looking for at the piano, mellowly humming along to the tune of A Crone Is Not a Crone Unless You Have Your Spectacles On.
Washgale had watched from the safety of the chandelier, as the cousins agreed that humans in general had been given enough chances to figure out the names. Then the battery began. The scribe was summarily inserted, upside-down, into a barrel of pickled turnips, her whining about deadlines and Twitter instantly silenced. Within minutes, every human started running for their lives. The gnomes looked on, picking their noses as always, and the fairies pranced in and out, poking an eyeball here, and pinching a bum there. It wasn���t often that they got to unleash their darker desires with impunity.
Finally Washgale took pity on the scribe. She had surfaced from the barrel, and was trying to remove the small turnip from her left nostril, while yelling, ���Oi! I���ve got emails!��� He looked at his only companion on the chandelier, who was laughing heartily at the scene below, and trying to hit the scribe on the forehead with beautifully aimed gobs of hot candle-wax.
���What are you?��� asked Washgale, pinching his nose so as not to breathe in the ripe smell emanating from what looked like a cross between a really huge hairy rat and Satan. It looked at him.
���I am Nyami,��� the thing replied, sipping its warm lager, ���I am the Tokoloshi. My mother was a really huge hairy rat, and my father was the devil.
���Oh,��� said Washgale, before suddenly finding himself under a gooseberry bush. He peered at the cottage it was growing beside, and realised that he was in Gummy Vamps back garden.
���Oh crap,��� he said.
���Not under my gooseberry bush please,��� said a reddish voice behind him.
Washgale ran as fast as his hairy legs could carry him, knowing that his chance of finding enough bananas to rescue the scribe was zero, when he ran headlong into a banana tree. He picked a hand, peeled one of the yellowly yellow fruit, and ate it.
���Hmmm,��� he said, settling down under the tree to eat, ignoring the faint screams in the distance before the gurgle signifying a reinsertion into the pickle barrel.
���Facebook! I���ve got to get to Facebook!���
���Bloody scribes,��� he muttered, ���They���re all over the place these days.
Not Dead Yet
Right. Moving on. The last couple of days have been really interesting ��� not interesting in a great way though. Directly after the eyeball incident, I cleverly sliced the whole top of my knuckle off with my very strong and sharp kitchen scissors. It was still attached by a thread of skin, so I stuck it back on again and plastered it up with a big pile of Betadine. It���s finally stopped popping open now, so that���s out of the way, but now I have an awesome toothache and I look like a chipmunk, so…. whoever���s sticking pins in a doll that looks just like me, kindly desist.
I missed posting my Ode to Terry Pratchett, and now I just want to catch up again, preferably without incurring any further injuries. All part of this weird collection of tiny injuries coming my way, and Terry Pratchett departing this old rock on my mother���s birthday, and me normally being sad on her birthday because she died so young got me thinking that Terry���s life ��� my mom���s too – should be celebrated with laughter, quaffing, and ….. stuff….. rather than too much sadness. Death is a trip we���re all going to have to take, and there���s no point in railing against it when it happens. Death is a natural part of life.
What happens on the other side? I���m sure that something happens. I know that a lot of people think that the end is the end ��� life extinguished ��� nada. Not me. I don���t believe that our lives are senseless, and I would be well chuffed to be collected by Discworld���s DEATH when it���s my turn to depart this mortal coil. Hey Ho Binky!
We all run from it ��� avoid it ��� fear it, and mourn those who are taken by it, often forgetting to appreciate the life that we have right now. Sometimes we���re so wrapped up in seemingly huge problems that we forget to live. Right now I���m grateful to be alive ��� I plan on having as much fun as I can too. After decades of giving me laughter and comfort, both in good times and bad, Sir Terry Pratchett���s final gift to me seems to be the gift of gratitude. Not only gratitude that I���m alive and well (sort of), but also that by his example I realise that anything is possible if you set out to do it. So in honour of my best loved writerly person, I pledge to appreciate all the days I have left, to do the best that I can, and be the best I can be, and to always remember to laugh. And to scribble ��� a lot. His having published seventy books is definitely a goal to aim for.
Bon voyage Sir Terry ��� you���ll be with us always ��� in laughter, joy, risqu�� bits and fabulous wisdom. See you on the other side. Rock on.
Now – back to living – I’ll be in catch up mode for a couple of days zooming around your blogs – much safer here at my desk – I hope.
Image Credit: Paul Kidby
March 12, 2015
Terry Pratchett
I���ve been in love with this man ever since I was a teen and read The Carpet People. I���ve read every little thing he���s ever written multiple multiple multiple times too ��� they grow my soul and make me laugh like no one else has ever done. Right now I have to take my eyeball to some place where it can vegetate in the closed position, but old one eye or not, I���ll write my tribute to the greatest comedy fantasy writer of all time tomorrow. It will be EPIC. It will be VERY LONG. It will be full of love, and rude humour. In the meantime, I���m pretty sure our Sir Terry had some awesome rat-on-a-stick nibbles out for the reaper, and some knock out Ankh Morpork booze. So sorry that your next book will be written amongst the stars, but those of us who believe in the great A���Tuin ��� that the turtle moves – know that we will find you again some day. We���ll read your next book there. With me always Sir Terry Pratchett.
Rest In Peace and Never Leave Us.
Photo Credit – The Guardian
#WrittenKindness Award – Jo Robinson – Author, blogger, illustrator and friend.
As far as I’m concerned Sally can write the book of kindness – she’s the one who always shows us the way, with her amazing support, general love, and graceful acts. Thank you my lovely friend – this means very, very much to me.
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
I was recently awarded the Written Acts of Kindness Award by the very charming and generous best-selling author Seumas Gallacher who is in the process of celebrating the re-launch of his books with Crooked Cat Publishing this month. Do follow Seumas on his blog http://seumasgallacher.com/
There are so many people that I would like to thank for their kindness that I could happily spend the next year posting their nominations.
However, today I am nominating Author, blogger and illustrator Jo Robinson who lives in South Africa and writes the most wonderful books and blog articles.. You are used to seeing her here on Smorgasbord, as not only do I love to share her posts and books, she also is the very first person to like and share my work back in 2013. Jo has always been one of the first to like, comment or share a post. She is incredibly���
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