Alex Ankarr's Blog, page 3
November 13, 2016
New Release!
...on Amazon. Gay time-travel, alternate worlds, gay romance, gay scientists... Another World, Another Love... $2.99 on Amazon now! (Free to read via Kindle Unlimited!)
November 12, 2016
Searching for the one thing you can't find
I lost a small (A5) folder of notes the other day. Bigger deal than it sounds, since it was all the notes I’ve made for a book, 10,000 words or so. (Next in my werewolf series Wolf Wars, after Wolf Slave and Wolf Runaway.) By lost, I don’t mean literally dropped in the river or left in a cafe on the other side of the country, nothing so drastic. I knew damn well it had to be still in the house. I hadn’t taken it out in the first place. I just couldn’t immediately lay hands on it, and there was no way in hell I could remember the exact spot I’d last had it.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asi...
It wasn’t a critical emergency by any means – couldn’t have been less of one. I hadn’t even particularly wanted those damn notes. Or not until they’d popped into my head, and I’d idly wondered where exactly I’d put them. Then I wanted them, for sure.
In fact I had to have them – right there, right then! No question! But my heart sank as I stood in the middle of the living room, and faced the prospect of turning the house upside down while looking for them. I’d already lost a couple of things pretty recently, and I’d been through the whole process of search and devastation in the past few days more than once. Noooooo! Not again!
But I really had to have those notes. So I marched into the hallway, all ready to get started all over again…
And the notes were lying on the top shelf of the bookcase in the hallway. The very first thing that I laid eyes on as I turned the corner, in fact. I hadn’t noticed them up until then in my day-to-day comings and goings, probably because I’d just got too used to catching glimpses of it as I went to and fro.
It was fantastic! Not to overstate, but you know how your heart just sinks when something important has been mislaid, at the thought of the mammoth task that it’s going to be to search it out in an orderly and methodical way? (Or to toss things hither and yon and just create more mess and disorder, until the house is in bits and you still haven’t found what you’re looking for?)
And then there’s the massive relief when you’ve found it, so you could just do a little dance of glee. But how often does that happen almost immediately? Not too often, but it’s pretty cool when it does.
My partner noticed how pleased I was – maybe it was the gleeful dancing that tipped him off. And he made what I still think was a revolutionary suggestion in response. “Why don’t we,” he said, “seeing as you’ve actually found it so quick, have a big search for it anyway?”
“Uh what?” I said to that, intelligently.
“To celebrate,” he explained. “You know, rummage around in cupboards, flip through books on the shelves, go through paperwork, debate getting a ladder up into the loft – all the usual things you do when something goes missing. But normally, it’s incredibly frustrating, because the macguffin is still missing. You still haven’t found it, it’s elusive, out of reach, you have to keep on searching. But this time, you can stop any time you want!”
“Because I’ve already found it!” I said. Little lightbulb over my head, all that.
Is that a genius idea, or what? All the devilish carelessness and abandon of a hectic desperate search for an obscure object of desire – but accompanied with the relief of already having found the missing treasure. Next time, I might just give it a try.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asi...
It wasn’t a critical emergency by any means – couldn’t have been less of one. I hadn’t even particularly wanted those damn notes. Or not until they’d popped into my head, and I’d idly wondered where exactly I’d put them. Then I wanted them, for sure.
In fact I had to have them – right there, right then! No question! But my heart sank as I stood in the middle of the living room, and faced the prospect of turning the house upside down while looking for them. I’d already lost a couple of things pretty recently, and I’d been through the whole process of search and devastation in the past few days more than once. Noooooo! Not again!
But I really had to have those notes. So I marched into the hallway, all ready to get started all over again…
And the notes were lying on the top shelf of the bookcase in the hallway. The very first thing that I laid eyes on as I turned the corner, in fact. I hadn’t noticed them up until then in my day-to-day comings and goings, probably because I’d just got too used to catching glimpses of it as I went to and fro.
It was fantastic! Not to overstate, but you know how your heart just sinks when something important has been mislaid, at the thought of the mammoth task that it’s going to be to search it out in an orderly and methodical way? (Or to toss things hither and yon and just create more mess and disorder, until the house is in bits and you still haven’t found what you’re looking for?)
And then there’s the massive relief when you’ve found it, so you could just do a little dance of glee. But how often does that happen almost immediately? Not too often, but it’s pretty cool when it does.
My partner noticed how pleased I was – maybe it was the gleeful dancing that tipped him off. And he made what I still think was a revolutionary suggestion in response. “Why don’t we,” he said, “seeing as you’ve actually found it so quick, have a big search for it anyway?”
“Uh what?” I said to that, intelligently.
“To celebrate,” he explained. “You know, rummage around in cupboards, flip through books on the shelves, go through paperwork, debate getting a ladder up into the loft – all the usual things you do when something goes missing. But normally, it’s incredibly frustrating, because the macguffin is still missing. You still haven’t found it, it’s elusive, out of reach, you have to keep on searching. But this time, you can stop any time you want!”
“Because I’ve already found it!” I said. Little lightbulb over my head, all that.
Is that a genius idea, or what? All the devilish carelessness and abandon of a hectic desperate search for an obscure object of desire – but accompanied with the relief of already having found the missing treasure. Next time, I might just give it a try.
October 12, 2016
paddle-boats, book reviews and swans, oh my
Hey! I wrote a new book review! (Heh.) yes, this is indeed the purpose of this site, and maybe it's not the most earth-shattering news in the world. But still, I don't read a lot lately. (Such a slow reader, so many things to do, so little time. So many excuses.)
So it's a bit of an event, for me to post a review at all. Currently that makes a grand total of two altogether – woo-hoo, go me! This new one is of Little Big Books: Illustrations for Children's Picture Books, which is... pretty much exactly as described. I've given it four stars, only because the (excellent) artist interviews aren't extended to cover every artist featured. Which is sad, as they really are very enlightening and fascinating regarding the artistic process for children's book illustrators.
My favourite featured artist was Kitty Crowther, an illustrator working largely in French language books. Her work is absolutely beautiful – if you don't believe me then just take a look. Gorgeous, no?
The thing is, that on the day I picked this book up in a bookshop, during a shopping run into town, I'd been thinking and daydreaming a lot. Daydreaming, mostly, about how it was a beautiful summer day, and about the things that I'd do if only I hadn't already had a to-do list as long as your arm. I thought that a specially nice thing to do, that day, would be to grab a friend, and take them off for a day at the nearest lake that offered paddle-boat rides. I love paddle-boats, I rock at, uh, paddling a paddle-boat. Well, actually, I am hyper-competitive and not quite rational when it comes to paddle-boats. I will race friends, I will race ducks and swans on the lake, I will froth at the mouth and cheerfully risk joint damage and drowning. Come at me buddy, I will take you on, paddles at dawn!
So that's what I was thinking, wistfully, that day, leafing through the books on the Art History shelf of the local bookstore. Leafing through Little Big Books: Illustrations for Children's Picture Books, eventually. Where I stumbled across the work of Kitty Crowther, and this picture. (down at the bottom of the page.)
See? Swans. And a boat. Maybe not a paddle-boat, so much. More of a Grim-Reaper-Crossing-The-Styx kind of a boat. But still! It seems pretty damn meaningful to me, in a... 'go have yourself a paddle-boat ride, go on, you deserve it' kind of a way?
Well, maybe. If you're looking for an excuse, you can generally find one.
I think the main thing I'm saying here is, Kitty Crowther rocks. And so do paddle-boats. If you're going to go buy a Kitty Crowther book, or get yourself a paddle-boat ride, then either way, I salute you, buddy.
So it's a bit of an event, for me to post a review at all. Currently that makes a grand total of two altogether – woo-hoo, go me! This new one is of Little Big Books: Illustrations for Children's Picture Books, which is... pretty much exactly as described. I've given it four stars, only because the (excellent) artist interviews aren't extended to cover every artist featured. Which is sad, as they really are very enlightening and fascinating regarding the artistic process for children's book illustrators.
My favourite featured artist was Kitty Crowther, an illustrator working largely in French language books. Her work is absolutely beautiful – if you don't believe me then just take a look. Gorgeous, no?
The thing is, that on the day I picked this book up in a bookshop, during a shopping run into town, I'd been thinking and daydreaming a lot. Daydreaming, mostly, about how it was a beautiful summer day, and about the things that I'd do if only I hadn't already had a to-do list as long as your arm. I thought that a specially nice thing to do, that day, would be to grab a friend, and take them off for a day at the nearest lake that offered paddle-boat rides. I love paddle-boats, I rock at, uh, paddling a paddle-boat. Well, actually, I am hyper-competitive and not quite rational when it comes to paddle-boats. I will race friends, I will race ducks and swans on the lake, I will froth at the mouth and cheerfully risk joint damage and drowning. Come at me buddy, I will take you on, paddles at dawn!
So that's what I was thinking, wistfully, that day, leafing through the books on the Art History shelf of the local bookstore. Leafing through Little Big Books: Illustrations for Children's Picture Books, eventually. Where I stumbled across the work of Kitty Crowther, and this picture. (down at the bottom of the page.)
See? Swans. And a boat. Maybe not a paddle-boat, so much. More of a Grim-Reaper-Crossing-The-Styx kind of a boat. But still! It seems pretty damn meaningful to me, in a... 'go have yourself a paddle-boat ride, go on, you deserve it' kind of a way?
Well, maybe. If you're looking for an excuse, you can generally find one.
I think the main thing I'm saying here is, Kitty Crowther rocks. And so do paddle-boats. If you're going to go buy a Kitty Crowther book, or get yourself a paddle-boat ride, then either way, I salute you, buddy.
September 1, 2016
A Definite Article
As a newbie on the site, obviously I'm poking around a bit atm and seeing what's what. And the quirkiest thing that I've seen so far? You know if you see a list of people here on GR, belonging to a group or commenting on a book, and it shows their locations?
The United States
or...
The United Kingdom
Ta-da! THE United States. THE United Kingdom!
lol, it's nothing. It just tickled me. I hear it in my head in this doomy and menacing voice - possibly James Earl Jones. "THE UNITED KINGDOM! It is part of the territory of the Empire! We must reclaim it and kick all of those pesky Jedi Knights out!"
The United States
or...
The United Kingdom
Ta-da! THE United States. THE United Kingdom!
lol, it's nothing. It just tickled me. I hear it in my head in this doomy and menacing voice - possibly James Earl Jones. "THE UNITED KINGDOM! It is part of the territory of the Empire! We must reclaim it and kick all of those pesky Jedi Knights out!"
August 27, 2016
hallo
Hallo, I'm Alex Ankarr and this is my Goodreads blog. Apparently. I'll be announcing new titles and updates to my current WIP up on Wattpad, Erase You here. There should be a new update soon!
If you look at my reading list, you'll see I'm reading Douglas Coupland's 'Microserfs'. It's a re-read, and I'd forgotten how much I loved it. And now, I've read this line -
"Danny," he said to me, not to my face, but into the helmet which he polished with his old man's hands, "I still miss Jeddie. I can't get him out of my mind."
Wow. How sad, how beautiful. Douglas Coupland, folks, salute the man, what a writer.
If you look at my reading list, you'll see I'm reading Douglas Coupland's 'Microserfs'. It's a re-read, and I'd forgotten how much I loved it. And now, I've read this line -
"Danny," he said to me, not to my face, but into the helmet which he polished with his old man's hands, "I still miss Jeddie. I can't get him out of my mind."
Wow. How sad, how beautiful. Douglas Coupland, folks, salute the man, what a writer.
