LOSING VIRGINITY

With all the other interesting blogs bouncing around the ether at the moment, I didn't want mine, a) to detract from them and b) to get lost among them. Therefore, Losing Virginity is delayed until 2016.

As I've already entered blogger world, I’ll offer up some small portion of my latest musings.  A ‘free’ mini gift that won't clutter the home once all the festivities are over.  And one that won’t involve you having to get it out and display every time I visit or pop up on-line, or make you think about which black bag to slip it in to!  Coherent thinking can often become difficult after Christmas exhaustion, but choices do abound from donating unwanted items to the numerous charity shops, permanently losing them into council bins, to hunting out the receipt in the hope of returning ‘it' for a refund, etc.  Some people keep a cupboard specially for ‘presents’, and find it a good money saver.  Of course there are many more inventive ways we 'dispose' of the above.  If you have a few minutes, I would love to hear about them.

So, around this time of year, how do most of us show the measure of genuine affection for one another?  Is it evidenced with hours spent on comparative price searches for what can't be afforded by either one or both sides?  Just a little cheeky suggestion from me, and in return it is possible you'll still feel the tips of the ears burning, but does that matter because at least it won't have cost you anything?  Okay it's this.  How about instead of the usual commercial route, you do the communicative one.  I love using the telephone and pressing buttons.  So I'm going to use these skills to talk about my book, Seven Stops.  It’s now available in paperback.

I’m already imagining how fantastic a Christmas it’ll be if family and friends buy my book.  Being cheerful and gushing won't be difficult because the January bank statement won't make my eyes pop out and my heart palpitate when I look at it.

The great Bard wrote, 'Such stuff as dreams are made on' and that's what I'm going to do.  Imagine and dream about the approaching New Year and how amazing it's going to be.

A Great Man In A Kilt

What's not to love? Seumas is funny, clever, a great wordsmith and I bet he has the best looking knees in the world.  Had he been wearing his kilt in November when I met him, I would have checked them out!  Seumas, thank you for allowing me to share your words.  Now over to you...

…the name’s Gallacher… Seumas Gallacher… License to KILT…

…there are some remarkable benefits to be had from merely being a Scotsman… the WURLD seems to have made its mind up about how we Scots look, behave and sound… closer to home in Caledonia, we may have a different view on some of that, but nonetheless, we are an unmistakable breed and distinctive brand… adopted Scot-by-film-osmosis, Aussie actor, Mel Gibson, has to take some of the more recent blame for the stereotype of Braveheart, stamped indelibly in the minds of million of cinemagoers across the planet… woad-painted-blue St Andrew’s Crosses on faces, marching to battle against… well… well, against emb’dy, really… I’ve worn my kilt for special occasions most of my adult life… whenever society events call for formal attire, and in some countries,  National Dress, the kilt is a standout couturial winner… recently I was honoured to attend  an American Women’s Association meeting here in the Middle East as a Guest Speaker, and I was particularly requested to, ‘please, please, please wear your kilt’!... it seems our cousins from across the pond have a ‘thang’ about men in kilts… turned out I spent as much time indulging requests for ‘selfies’ as I did in the rest of the presentation put together… the strange thing is, whenever I wear the kilt, I never feel anything but properly, formally dressed… for me there is no ‘casual kiltie wear’… p’raps that’s why it sets its own standard of fashion… the inevitable question gets raised anywhere from twice to a coupla dozen times per events where I do wear it … ‘what’s worn under the kilt?’… the response ranges from the cliched ‘NUTHIN’s worn… it’s all in perfect WURKING order’ to more raunchy replies not suitable for this blog (I have some sensitive English followers to consider, Mabel)… I’ll leave yeez with this clip which may or may not put yer minds at rest… see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!…
http://seumasgallacher.com/

NO BEER

Life is especially busy at the moment with birthday's and of course...ahem...writing. There are even a few friends that want to meet up. Given the amount of times I bemoan fate (it doesn't answer back) about how plain a life I lead; how lonely; how no-one remembers me; no-one's left a review of my book/s (there's seven); no-one calls...and then the phone goes...  

So, back to juggling life and writing.  In my world they do appear to be two separate things. I know I can multi-task but the writer in me likes to make everything quite a challenge.  Hence I become my own worst enemy.  

It was the birthday of someone very dear to me, (not cost-wise), and they happen to like beer.  I don't.

One of my life-long searches is to find the alcohol that I will actually enjoy the taste of.  I'm fortunate enough to have friends that let me taste their drinks.  The suspicious writer in me always checks that they've had a sip out of the glass first before I sample.  The 0 - 10 scale of how my taste buds have reacted is told  through the resultant grimace, shudder or occasionally worse.  Hopefully their kindness is in fact exactly that, because otherwise they could only be pampering me in order to laugh at my face pulling.  No...they wouldn't...would they?  Hmm...

Anyway, this particular friend is often trying to persuade me to buy beer and I adamantly declared that I never would.  Occasionally I make such declarations and come to regret them.  This was one of them.  Buying the beer, even making a gift of it would have been a dawdle, cheaper and less time consuming.  I came up with the idea of beer as the birthday theme.

THE MOST EXCELLENT WORLDWIDE BOOK TOUR #9: Meet author ELIZABETH HORTON-NEWTON

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Author Name:  Elizabeth Horton-Newton
Book Title:  “View From the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale” and “Riddle”
Genre and Sub-Genre: Romantic Thriller/Alternate History
Book Content Rating:  Adult (18+)  Based on language, violence, sexual content.

Meet our charming author, ELIZABETH HORTON-NEWTON

About the Author:

Elizabeth Horton-Newton was born and raised in New York City. She began writing when she was a child, writing stories for friends and family. In the 4th grade at P.S. 151 in Manhattan she wrote an essay about her dream job- she wanted to be an author. While attending Hunter College High School she often cut classes to sneak off and work on writing her first novel, a love story about her favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney. It has long since been lost to time. Continuing to write short stories over the following years, she married, raised a family, divorced, set up housekeeping with her four children, and returned to school.

After attending Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY majoring in Media Arts and East Tennessee State University earning a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Psychology and Sociology, she worked in the social work field for thirteen years. She currently lives in E. Tennessee with her husband, author Neil Newton, and a collection of rescued dogs and cats. Her first book "View From the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale" was published in October 2014; a love story that revolves around the assassination of President John Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 and the ensuing conspiracy theories.

​This was followed in June 2015 with the release of "Riddle" a romantic thriller about a Native American convicted of killing his high school girlfriend. Returning to his hometown he struggles to readjust to life in a town divided in its belief of his guilt or innocence. Suddenly accidents are happening and people are dying in the town and some eyes turn suspiciously toward Kort Erikson. She is currently at work on her third novel, "Stolen", a romantic thriller about kidnapping, gypsy crime families, and the Witness Protection Program. 

FRIDAY 13th TRIES...

In this post I'm not even going to tell the truth about the types of 'lazyblogitis' I've suffered from.  For I doubt not that you're all going to be fairly cognisant of how it all goes.  There's always myriads of ideas waiting to burst forth like spring flowers.  That's in a couple of months by the way.  Almost decent, (I'm only speaking for me and my characters) sensible sentences formed these past weeks but like dreams in the night quickly hide from the light.

For the here and now – yummy lunch time – I have cooked a delightful dish.  To some it may appear somewhat green.  Never fear.  It ‘tasteth somewhat different to how it doth looketh.’  Or maybe it does.  My word versus the onlooker’s eyesight = a trip to some very fine buildings.

This is how I ‘magicked’ up the sensation on the plate: Peeled 1 medium onion and hacked it. It cried.  Not me.  I did something similar to an inch of ginger – sliced it with a sharp knife. The 3 cloves of garlic I made mincemeat of.  Then with the rapeseed oil bubbling I stood over them as they sizzled. I smiled cruelly at their steaming cries. Finally, deducing they were getting browned off, I threw in half a dealt-with fennel, 3 lots of chopped pak choi, 3 cracked-on-their-head eggs, 2 jaggedly cut carrots that had been sweet on me and stirred like crazy. Midway to resting my arms and wipe the forehead of the 'ladies glow' I poured in a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, darkly dangerous soy sauce and hot (I know how to handle it) chili pickle (confession: not my homemade).  Rested I took up the spoon once more.  Then, no way am I going to admit to having forgotten, I thrust in a third of a packet of kale. Apparently it’s really good for the insides.  As it’s my first time...(very shy admission), I'm not sitting in judgment.

THE MOST EXCELLENT WORLDWIDE BOOK TOUR #8: Meet author GLEN BARRERA

Author Name:  Glen Barrera
Book Titles:  The Assassin Who Couldn’t Dance and A Capable and Wide Revenge
Genre and Sub-Genre: Thriller/Action
Book Content Rating:  Adult (18+) Language and Violenc

About the Author

Glen, a former partner in a real estate appraisal company, who still takes appraisal assignments from time to time, now writes. Over the years he's edited a company newsletter, written short stories (one a contest winner) and poetry. It wasn't until he divorced a few years ago, however, that he finally found time to take a writing course while working on his first novel. The Assassin Who Couldn't Dance and a follow-up novel, A Capable and Wide Revenge (now available), were tutored by Michael Mirolla, a published Canadian writer.

​He is now working on a third novel with the working title, Sweet Peach. Glen grew up in Chicago, with college at Western Illinois University, College of DuPage and the University of Illinois, Chicago. He studied Isshinryu Karate for fourteen years, sailed for seven years out of Burnham Harbor, practices Tai Chi and plays classical guitar. A Chicago boy at heart, he now lives in a western suburb.

MOST EXCELLENT WORLDWIDE BOOK BLOG TOUR #5: Meet author MICHELLE MEDHAT

Meet author MICHELLE MEDHAT

10/12/2015

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Author Name:  Michelle Medhat

Book Titles:
Connected: The Call
Connected: The Shift
Connected: The Call and The Shift (Author’s Cut)

Genre and Sub-Genre: Spy, sci-fi, love story, thriller, political, fantasy
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Book Content Rating:  Adult (18+) Based on language, violence, sexual content.

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Author Bio Michelle Medhat, BA (Hons) FRSA FIoD FIKE MCIM
Michelle Medhat has had an exciting career that spans over 26 years in technology, science, education and marketing. Currently, Michelle is Director of Operations and Strategic Development at NEF: The Innovation Institute, an educational charity and professional institute that she co-founded with her husband Professor Sam Medhat in 2004. The Institute has donated millions of pounds to the science, engineering and technology education sector, and has helped to improve the lives of over 500,000 people.

In her time, she has headed up an e-learning company, an events and media company and a management consultancy. She has even created (from scratch) an educational institutional overseas (in Dubai) with her husband based on the UK educational system. Over the years, Michelle has worked with clients from BBC, Channel 4, EDF Energy, GSK, Walkers, Whitbread, and the NHS. Michelle has always tried to stay ahead of her time.

​A case in point being, back in 1995 she orchestrated the first international conference in the UK on multimedia communications (MediaComm) when the Internet was at its infancy. Backed by leading media and press organisations (BBC, ITN, The Independent, Times Higher) and technology companies (IBM, BT, Philips), the event introduced the public then to an unknown technology called ‘entertainment on demand’.