Paula Berinstein's Blog, page 5
November 10, 2015
Meet Amphora Kapoor
Amphora is one of Amanda's roommates at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives. She is of Indian descent and was born in London. She is a bit testy and is afraid of many things. She is also boy-crazy, except when it comes to Simon Binkle, with whom she argues constantly. Sometimes she and Amanda have a strained relationship, but at other times they’re good friends.
Amphora has a highly developed sense of design and is planning a career fighting espionage in the fashion industry. She first appears in Book 1 of the Amanda Lester series, Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy.
November 5, 2015
Fun interview and Amanda Lester book giveaway!
The wonderful Aeicha Matteson has posted a fun interview we did about the Amanda Lester, Detective books at her Word Spelunking blog. Please check it out. The giveaway is open until November 13th!
October 29, 2015
Prizes for blog tour hosts just added!
The Amanda Lester, Detective blog tour now includes a giveaway for the hosts: two $25 Amazon gift cards. So far nine people have signed up! Please join us!
October 28, 2015
Amanda Lester, Detective blog tour announced!
My Amanda Lester, Detective series will be doing a blog tour from November 30th to December 13th!!! If you know any bloggers who would like to sign up, please direct them to the wonderful organizer, Lola's Blog Tours!!! Thank you!
Prizes are international. I will ship books anywhere the U.S. Postal Service serves!
October 21, 2015
Meet Simon Binkle, annoying geek and one of Amanda's best friends
Simon Binkle is a geek. He’s tall and thin with unruly dark hair, including a cowlick he’s always trying to pat down. When he learns that a detective is supposed to cultivate a mystique, he takes to wearing a fedora and sometimes a red sweater vest and/or a tweed jacket. He has light blue eyes and wears thick coke-bottle glasses.
Simon can be a bit dense and gauche socially, but he’s loyal and honest and becomes one of Amanda’s best friends. He’s a science nerd, but he’s also adventurous, creative, and brave. He’s also a lot more astute about what’s going on with the other kids than he lets on. He loves Ivy Halpin’s dog, Nigel, and is always trying to make special devices for him. In fact, he’s always inventing something. He comes from a family of extremely smart scientists.
Simon first appears in Book 1 of the Amanda Lester series, Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy.
October 7, 2015
Simon Binkle's Cellphone Microscope Really Exists!
In Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy, Amanda's friend Simon Binkle and their teacher, Professor Kindseth, create a powerful microscope from a cellphone. This device actually exists, although the real one doesn't use a lens from Simon's glasses. It was invented by a team at my alma mater, UCLA.
The device is way cool, and the article contains a very nice diagram of it. Check it out!
The device is way cool, and the article contains a very nice diagram of it. Check it out!
October 6, 2015
Weird idea having to do with pink sugar. What do you think?
I'm thinking about having a contest to pick the best recipe that uses pink sugar. I'm not quite sure how such a thing would work though. If people just send recipes, I'd have to make all the things just to see how they turn out. And if they send me the cakes, etc., I'd be inundated. Is this a ridiculous idea?
October 5, 2015
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used lessons from Sherlock Holmes to become a better basketball player
"Knowing what other people didn’t know meant you had more control over your life. This revelation immediately influenced my approach to basketball, where I practiced Holmes’ powers of observation on my opponents."
He also used Holmes to help him become a better student:
"Holmes’ influence on my learning was profound. I had always been a dedicated student in school, but soon after discovering Holmes I expanded my intellectual horizons to include history, literature, politics and religion."
Read the entire article here
He also used Holmes to help him become a better student:
"Holmes’ influence on my learning was profound. I had always been a dedicated student in school, but soon after discovering Holmes I expanded my intellectual horizons to include history, literature, politics and religion."
Read the entire article here
October 2, 2015
Amanda Lester reviewed by Sherlock Holmes expert Peter Blau!
Sherlock Holmes expert Peter Blau has written a Holmes newsletter for more than forty years. Here is what he says:
Paula Berinstein's AMANDA LESTER AND THE PINK SUGAR CONSPIRACY, (Agoura Hills: The Writing Show, 2015; 357 pp., $9.99), features a 12-year-old descendant of Inspector Lestrade who's expected to continue in the family's tradition; despite her not wanting to be an investigator she nevertheless is sent to a mysterious British school for descendants of famous detectives, where she encounters a real mystery and a villainous conspiracy. It's the first of an interesting series, and the author has a web-site (with sample chapters) at www.amandalester.net.
Read Peter Blau's Scuttlebutt newsletters here.
Paula Berinstein's AMANDA LESTER AND THE PINK SUGAR CONSPIRACY, (Agoura Hills: The Writing Show, 2015; 357 pp., $9.99), features a 12-year-old descendant of Inspector Lestrade who's expected to continue in the family's tradition; despite her not wanting to be an investigator she nevertheless is sent to a mysterious British school for descendants of famous detectives, where she encounters a real mystery and a villainous conspiracy. It's the first of an interesting series, and the author has a web-site (with sample chapters) at www.amandalester.net.
Read Peter Blau's Scuttlebutt newsletters here.
October 1, 2015
Meet Nigel Halpin!
Nigel is Ivy Halpin's guide dog, and the best golden retriever you've ever seen. He first appears in Book 1 of the Amanda Lester series, Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy, where he helps Amanda and her friends defeat the bad guys.
