Hobbies and Crafts

BC will look up Sharp Objects and One Damn thing after another.I love herwriting too :-D

Bc is Jeffery Deaver a 'she'?

~~~ to Ann. Re reading my previous post I see how confusing I can be! :-D Sorry Jane, One Damn Thing After Another is written by JodiTaylor. and I think it's her first book.....Sharp Objects by Gilian Flynn and....Jeffery Deaver is a man!!

I have my copy of Gone Girl .. waiting for me to read when I have finished the book I am reading and I have done 4 books for the Greaders group...

Then I want to read a NZ book called "The Book of Secrets" by Fiona Kidman. it is a novel about early NZ.. where the past haunts a lone woman in frontier Waipu. ( it is on Kindle)

Waipu is in the Northern part of NZ and in the 1850s settlers from Nova Scotia established a community there.

We have little towns like this all over NZ.. we have Dannevirke where the Danes settled and Norsewood had the Norwegian settlers... all these places have retained some of their family histories in the community.

Persie

I work in a library, and our borrowers often ask about book titles written by particular authors
Our current system has author titles arranged in alphabetical order rather that in series or publication date.
In situations, where we need to find titles from a series ect, we use the following invaluable website...

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Enter the name of any (fiction) author to find their bio, alternative pen names and all titles written.
It is a UK site but is not restricted to British authors
Titles are then organised into stand alone novels, series collections, date of publication, and usually has info on forthcoming titles.

Alternaively, if you know the title of any book and need to find the author, the website has this faclity too

GL thanks for that info, worth knowing. :-)

Just finished paths of glory by Jeffery archer not keen on the man but he is a very good writer. The book is based on the original attempt to reach the summit of Everest by George Mallory. It is well written and very readable.

Just finished Just One Damned Thing After Another and am stuck for my next read. I need something....quirky, unusual, contemporary, puzzling, non slushy, humorous, and...er....a jolly good read :-D

Hellllppppppp...I need some bed time reading :-D

Not so much "What I am Reading?", but "What did I write"!

Our research can uncover lots of interesting facts and occasionally we unearth an ancestor of particular interest. This was the case with my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Isaac Forster. Written against his burial record, in 1774 at King's Lynn, was the word "Swordbearer". This led me to do an in depth research into the life and times of Isaac Forster, together with his family and other people with whom he came into contact, as a sail-maker in eighteenth century King's Lynn. I also researched events of the time, both local and national, as well as what life would have been like during his life.

From all this research, I wrote an historical novel, based on the life of Isaac Forster, and this is now available as an e-book. "Swordbearer", a Family History novel by Robert Merry, is available from Amazon for just £2.05. Why not give it a try and tell me what you think.

Before publishing this book, I gave copies to a few friends to gauge their reactions. Here are a few comments from Andrew Wilkinson, a film producer and director (Wilkinson Productions Ltd; http://www.wilkinsonproductions.com), which I reproduce here with his permission.

"Congratulations Bob! A tremendous amount of work went into this project and your dedication to detail and narrative shines through.

"Your description of the Great Storm of 1741 was very visual - I can see the Hollywood effects wizards having a field day with that scene! There I go, seeing it as a film.

"It's all very well written."

BTW - the book is only available at the moment as an e-book through Amazon, and is therefore suitable for Kindle devices. But don't worry if you haven't got a Kindle reader. Amazon has a free program on their site to enable Kindle books to be read on a PC and there are also apps for iPhones and Android devices.

Robert, well done for writing it. did you self publish as an e book and was that difficult.

Next time I am thinking of downloading books I will certainly think about that one.

You do have a customer review on there. is that an independent review or a friend?

Hi Robert

Thanks for posting on here as well......

I wish you all the luck with your book and I am hoping to read it very soon :-)

'The Uses of Literacy' by Richard Hoggart. First published in 1957.

It's an amusing & sometimes a sorrowful summary of the UK working-class life of that era.

It needs to be read in small chunks to appreciate the writer's vivid use of the English language. An enjoyable read nonetheless.

Im reading bits from a book called

Great British Wit by Rosemarie Jarski....funny in places but too much to read all in one go :-) :-S

To answer the questions posed by AnninGlos, yes, I did self publish. It is fairly straightforward, with a good step-by-step guide by Kindle Publishing. Perhaps the hardest part was due to the fact that it is done via Amazon.com, which is USA based. It allows you to sell the book worldwide, but you also have to fill out an American IRS tax form online, making it clear that your not an American taxpayer.

I didn't know it at the time, but I have to admit that I've since found out that the review on Amazon was by my daughter! She says she meant every word. The other comments I've quoted are from a friend and fencing colleague. He is a film producer and director with his own production company. He is also on the panel that judges films for BAFTA awards, so I'm sure his comments reflect his true opinion - he has his own professional integrity to maintain.

Thanks Robert for the advice, and your honesty re your daughter. She is obviously proud of you. :-)

Well, at a loss for something to read the other night, I downloaded Richard Madeley's book 'Some Day I'll Find You'..I think someone on here has read it? I read most of the Amazon reviews and whilst some said it was dire some said it gets better and better. I am still waiting for the 'better bits'. lol The plot is quite good but the writing is crude and predictable and with far too much detail about the war. Not sure if I will finish it.

My brother recommended I read Lionel Shriver's book 'Big Brother' which I may s(tart) instead of dear Dickie's :-D

BC I read it and thought it was quite good I think. There is a review somewhere on Greaders. :-)

Review Some day I’ll find you by Richard Madely

“The other day upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there”
Who was the real James Blackwell? that was the question.
I was not that interested in this book to start with, I didn’t like RM’s style of writing. But I persevered as it had good write ups, and I am glad I did. It grew on me, and after about a ¼ of the way through I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. What started as a rather slow romance set just pre war and at the start of WW11, ended up being a tense thriller with murder, kidnap, the Mafia and a deserter ten years later.
A very well written book, James Blackwell was a charmer, wasn’t he? Diana and her family thought so. The characters were beautifully written, I sort of felt sorry for Douglas, but wanted to give him a good shake as well, Typically a dour Scot who did himself and Diana no favours. Yes I really enjoyed it, well done on a good first book.

Thank you Ann <3 Maybe I will give it another go! Maybe I haven't reached the exciting bit yet! But I really think that some of our scribblers in the Writers Club could do a lot better. BC XX

Just finished Doris Davidson's autobiography 'Gift from the Gallowgate'

Loved the book, so easy to read and more so cause Doris was born
in 1922 in Aberdeen.
She took me back to names I had forgotten about of companies long
gone, places I had frequented as a young girl that she had also been
even though she is 20 years older than me, the Palais,Beach Ballroom
loved dancing there and reminded me of cafe's we used to meet up at
which have been replaced by other buildings. A wonderful trip down
memory lane for me. Enjoyed her memories as a teacher here and she
also lived in same estate as us.
Even if you don't live in Scotland and are looking for a stress free read I
would suggest you give it a try.

Emma :-)