Alison Golden's Blog, page 6

📚 Grist for the mill 📚

Hey there, lovely reader!As we move into the holiday season 🎃, I am thinking of next year – what I want to do, achieve, who I want to spend my time with, how I want to move forward with my life. I reach a milestone birthday next year, a number I find unbelievable, so that has crystallized my thinking too.

There's some things I want to develop further, other things I want to start, and a few others that I'm thinking need to be over already. LOL.

But the themes stay fairly constant. I'm moving in...

📚 My comma problem 📚

Hey there, lovely reader!Fall is here. 🍂 It was ninety degrees last week. ☀️ Goodness.This week I have some more thoughts on artificial intelligence, some fun for you, and an announcement. Also the latest on the impossible jigsaw. 🧩Comma, comma, chameleon

When I was in college 🎓, my writing professor told me, in front of the class, that I had “an obsession with commas.” I had no idea. I was mortified.

Once it was pointed out to me, I could see that I did, in fact, sprinkle my sentences with ...

📚 Ai, ai, ai 📚

Hey there, lovely reader!I've been studying and experimenting with artificial intelligence for months now as I think about when, how, and if I want to use it. What AI can do is amazing, shocking, and mediocre all at the same time. Undoubtedly it will get better.

Is AI exciting? Yes. Is it terrifying? Yes. Is it exploitative? It can be.

(Fun fact: Back in the late 1980s, I worked for a technology company which pioneered the use of artificial intelligence. It is not a new concept to me. I shared ...

📚 A Haunting and an Ancient Monolith 📚

Hey there, lovely reader!I went to the pictures last week to see Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting in Venice. I don't go to the movies that much. It's too loud. I am probably the only person who takes her earbuds with her, switches them to noise cancellation, and can still hear the soundtrack perfectly fine.

But I did go a month ago. It was the first time in three years I had been. The theatre had been updated and I sat in a nice squishy recliner seat. I had never had an issue with the seats at the ...

📚 Two stories 📚

Hey there, lovely people!I went to a neighbour's party last weekend. I've lived on this street for 27 years and this was only the second one I've been to. In that time, older people have moved away and families have moved in. There are more young children here than I can remember in nearly three decades and certainly more than when my children were little.

An ice cream van came around the weekend before – another near-first. We live at the top of a very long, very steep hill (the kind you pray ...

📚 What does it mean? 📚

Hey there, lovely reader!The mornings are getting cooler. I had to put a jacket on to go for a walk this morning. I usually like to get out for an hour before everyone else and before it gets to hot and before I write for the day. It sets me up well. I listen to podcasts or music or sometimes nothing at all.I've got something interesting, something fun, and a notice for you today.What does this mean exactly?

I often get asked about the meaning of British colloquialisms. I tend not to use too ...

📚 Dog Days of Summer 📚

Hey there, lovely people!It's a beautiful day here in Northern California. The skies are a deep, clear blue, the temperature is just right – not cold, but not energy-sapping hot, either. It truly feels like the dog days of summer and I'm here for it.

I am rereading the Diana Hunter series, refreshing my memory as I prepare to delve into another adventure for Diana and Peter. How far will she get in her quest to solve the murders of her parents? And  what or who is she willing to risk to do so? ...

📚 Back to Business 📚

Hey there, lovely people!,I'm back from the UK and back to business here in the US. Got a bit waylaid by the obligatory virus one picks up while travelling and also by a kitty who was pleased to see me, but I am back at my desk and beavering away.

What's next?

My next big project is a new Diana, but first I am making a few changes to the series. Shortly, the prequel, Hunted, will only be available in my starter library. It will no longer be for sale, either as a standalone book or part of a bo...

📚 Can you help Annabelle? 📚

Hey there,Phew! Have I been hot, dirty, and dusty these past few weeks? I am helping a relative declutter her home. It's been hard, physical work – quite the opposite to the type of work I usually do – but very satisfying and, I hope, helpful.Help Annabelle find a larger audienceI have just released the entire Annabelle series in large print in order that she may reach readers for whom paperbacks and a bigger font are important. Please share the links with anyone you feel might enjoy them in ...

📚 New York, here I come 📚

Hey there,I'm off to New York for my son's graduation on Saturday. We're staying all week to enjoy the sights, a show or two, and a couple of escape rooms. I can't wait!The ceremonies are taking place at Radio City Music Hall and Yankee Stadium, two places I haven't visited before, and I've been going a bit nuts trying to put together outfits that will cater to hot and cooler weather.This week I've got two announcements about new developments that come to you via Wordles. (If you don't want t...