A.M. Offenwanger's Blog, page 49
February 11, 2016
Pictures and Pears and Other Randomness
Helen Jones, of Journey to Ambeth, just posted some lovely pictures for her “Thursday Doors” series, of the church in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. Take a look, here. I love the way Helen’s pictures can grab me and just, for a few minutes, toss me into another place, right across the other side of the globe. And then, bing, I’m back in my Canadian existence, just a little richer for my tiny little armchair travel experience. (Check out this crazy lapis-lazuli-and-gold swimming pool she poste...
February 10, 2016
CHECKMATE has a Due Date!
We have a due date! One for the newest book baby. No, it’s not a due-back-at-the-library date, it’s the day Checkmate is going to be officially released: February 19th!
That’s not much more than a week away. Are you excited? Yes, you are, very excited indeed. Because you can’t wait to read about the further adventures of Cat, Guy, and Bibby (who’s now called Bina, seeing as she’s no longer a little kid – if you haven’t yet read “Lavender’s Blue”, go over here to find out about it). And there...
February 8, 2016
Check It Out: Author Interview with Zach Chopchinski
Some of you might remember that for the first time last April, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo, hanging out in a virtual “cabin” with a bunch of other crazy Wrimos and having wild pillow fights supporting each other in our writing efforts, in the process making some neat new friends. One of the friends in question is ZachChop, aka Zachary Paul Chopchinski.
Zach’s written a novel called The Curious Tale of Gabrielle, and he is re-launching it in a new & improved version (it’s always good to m...
February 5, 2016
Lavender’s Blue, the Song
“Lavender’s Blue”, the Septimus Series Short Story that I posted the other day (if you haven’t read it yet, go here, or here and download yourself a copy to keep), started with a song – well, actually, with a movie. That’s right, the Cinderella movie that I love so much.
The lullabye “Lavender’s Blue” features quite prominently in the film, and so afterwards, I had the song stuck in my head.And as I kept singing it, and thinking about Cat and Guy and the world they live in, a story started ta...
February 3, 2016
February 2, 2016
Lavender’s Blue
So, that surprise I promised you to shorten the wait until Checkmate comes out? Here it is: a free short story!! It’s all about Cat and Guy and Bibby and something that happened about four years after the end of Cat and Mouse. Seeing as it is a quite short short story, I’m posting it here in its entirety. But you can also go over here and download it as a pdf, if you’d like to put it on your ebook reader or print it on paper (it’s only four pages). That page will stick around, so you can go b...
January 29, 2016
More New Stuff, and a Surprise
You know how I’ve been promising Book 3 in the Septimus Series for quite some time now? Well, it’s getting close – really, really close! And just to whet your appetites, heeeeeere – DRUM ROLL, PLEASE! – is the amazing, snazzy, mysterious and oh-so-promising COVER (once again designed by the great Steven Novak).
May I introduce: CHECKMATE!
And of course you want to know what the book is about, don’t you? Yes, you do. Here’s what:
Rhitha’s life is miserable – but then she meets Bina.
Rhitha’s...
January 25, 2016
Hanging Out My Shingle, or: A New Endeavour
It’s a new(ish) year, and time for a new endeavour. Remember I told you a few weeks ago that I was cooking up something new? Well, here it is: I’m hanging out my shingle as an editor. That’s right, I’m joining the ranks of the professional nitpickers. I aim to occupy myself with such questions as whether it’s “endeavour” or “endeavor” – or perhaps even “Endeavour” (which depends on whether it’s British, American, or the title of the TV series).
For now, I’m starting small, with copy editing a...
January 20, 2016
January 19, 2016
Required Reading
My friend over on Jangled Nerves just let off a blog post on classics – based on yet another post, here, that details “16 Books Every Teenager Should Read in 2016”. So, I toddled over to that post and checked out this list of required reading. I mean, I’m not a teenager – haven’t been one in quite some time (sorry if that bursts a bubble for you) – but if there’s a list of must-reads, I want to know what it is.
And you know what? Of that list of sixteen books, I’ve read all of five, or maybe...
