Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Book draw reminder
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Book giveaway
Publishers HarperCollins have kindly sent a copy of 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz to be given away on Random Distractions. I am not the best person to offer a review of this book because I don't usually read science fiction, fantasy or horror stories and this book contains all of those elements. But I did read it and will say a few words about it, making no claims to do justice to what I am sure is an excellent example of this genre of fiction. I must say that I soon began to enjoy it and I could be heading to the library, in the near future, to see if they have any other books by Dean Koontz
To find out about the other residents and what happens to them, to be led into the mystery of 77 Shadow Street and the horrors awaiting them and the rest of the world you must read the book. It is a gripping read and I advise you to keep the lights on and to beware of shadows. You could buy a copy from Amazon or download it to your Kindle or you could leave a comment here and have a chance to win a copy.
You don't have to be a fantasy or science fiction lover to enjoy 77 Shadow Street. And you don't have to be a regular reader here to enter the book draw. Just leave a comment, saying that you would like to enter and I will draw a winner on Wednesday 4 February.
Author: Dean Koontz
Published by Harper Collins in January 2012
451 pages
Price £18.99
Shadow Hill is the highest point in an unidentified heartland city. The hill and Shadow Street that was built on it were so named because of the shadows of trees and buildings that were cast on sunny afternoons, creeping up the hill as evening progressed until they met the night at the summit.
Number 77 Shadow Street was built in 1889, the very grand home of billionaire Andrew North Pendleton. At that time, the house was called Belle Vista, and the Pendleton family - Andrew, his wife Margaret and their two young children - lived there happily until tragedy struck in 1897. Margaret and the children disappeared. It was presumed that they had been abducted but they were never found; Andrew became an eccentric recluse and eventually committed suicide. Therein lies the first mystery connected with the house.
The next owner of Belle Vista was Gifford Ostock, who lived there between 1905 and 1935. One night in December 1935, the butler slaughtered the whole family and all of the live-in staff before killing himself. The butler left an incoherent note claiming to have killed them all in order "to save the world from eternal darkness." Although sixteen people died, only eight bodies were found.
The house was owned next by Harmon Firestone, who died peacefully in his sleep in 1972. Belle Vista was then purchased for development into twenty-three luxury apartments but the conversion work was disrupted a year later, when a number of the tradesmen and craftsmen working there left their jobs because of strange happenings which they refused to discuss. The apartments were eventually completed and the building renamed as the Pendleton, the most exclusive set of apartments in the town.
For more than thirty years, the Pendleton has been a peaceful and luxurious home to the wealthy, some famous, some infamous and some simply hard-working or fortunate enough to be able to afford to live there. It is now December 2011 and the peace is beginning to be disturbed. There are strange noises and glimpses of ghostly figures, the walls seem to be alive and there are menacing rumblings from deep inside the hill below the Pendleton.
Silas Kingsley lives in apartment 3-C. He has spent his years of retirement studying the history of Belle Vista/the Pendleton. He has noticed a link between the mysterious events of the past: they have occurred every 38 years and the last known incident was in 1973, exactly 38 years ago. He realises that the odd things that are happening in the building now are leading to some terrible tragedy unless he can unravel the mystery in time and save the residents.
Number 77 Shadow Street was built in 1889, the very grand home of billionaire Andrew North Pendleton. At that time, the house was called Belle Vista, and the Pendleton family - Andrew, his wife Margaret and their two young children - lived there happily until tragedy struck in 1897. Margaret and the children disappeared. It was presumed that they had been abducted but they were never found; Andrew became an eccentric recluse and eventually committed suicide. Therein lies the first mystery connected with the house.
The next owner of Belle Vista was Gifford Ostock, who lived there between 1905 and 1935. One night in December 1935, the butler slaughtered the whole family and all of the live-in staff before killing himself. The butler left an incoherent note claiming to have killed them all in order "to save the world from eternal darkness." Although sixteen people died, only eight bodies were found.
The house was owned next by Harmon Firestone, who died peacefully in his sleep in 1972. Belle Vista was then purchased for development into twenty-three luxury apartments but the conversion work was disrupted a year later, when a number of the tradesmen and craftsmen working there left their jobs because of strange happenings which they refused to discuss. The apartments were eventually completed and the building renamed as the Pendleton, the most exclusive set of apartments in the town.
For more than thirty years, the Pendleton has been a peaceful and luxurious home to the wealthy, some famous, some infamous and some simply hard-working or fortunate enough to be able to afford to live there. It is now December 2011 and the peace is beginning to be disturbed. There are strange noises and glimpses of ghostly figures, the walls seem to be alive and there are menacing rumblings from deep inside the hill below the Pendleton.
Silas Kingsley lives in apartment 3-C. He has spent his years of retirement studying the history of Belle Vista/the Pendleton. He has noticed a link between the mysterious events of the past: they have occurred every 38 years and the last known incident was in 1973, exactly 38 years ago. He realises that the odd things that are happening in the building now are leading to some terrible tragedy unless he can unravel the mystery in time and save the residents.
To find out about the other residents and what happens to them, to be led into the mystery of 77 Shadow Street and the horrors awaiting them and the rest of the world you must read the book. It is a gripping read and I advise you to keep the lights on and to beware of shadows. You could buy a copy from Amazon or download it to your Kindle or you could leave a comment here and have a chance to win a copy.
You don't have to be a fantasy or science fiction lover to enjoy 77 Shadow Street. And you don't have to be a regular reader here to enter the book draw. Just leave a comment, saying that you would like to enter and I will draw a winner on Wednesday 4 February.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
A scary story
Granddaughter Amelia, known as Millie, is now three and a very important three-quarters years old. Like all members of our family, she loves books and she is beginning to read and write independently but her skills can't yet keep pace with her imagination and desperate need to communicate. Mummy is frequently called on, therefore, to act as her amanuensis when Millie wants to dictate a story.
This morning, the postman brought her latest masterpiece, addressed to Grumpy, the grandchildren's name for my husband. First, the accompanying card:
This morning, the postman brought her latest masterpiece, addressed to Grumpy, the grandchildren's name for my husband. First, the accompanying card:
And now for the story. Be warned that Millie is no sugar and spice child. She likes her stories to have a touch of drama and sometimes quite shocking endings!
We are building a collection of her work as an investment for our future. When Millie is an established novelist, we will cash in on her "early work."
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Perfecting my punctuation
I have to admit to being something of a punctuation bore. I tut when I see a misused apostrophe or hyphen, I like to use colons and semicolons and yes, I punctuate my text messages. I know that there are many fellow sufferers out there, risking stomach ulcers and anxiety attacks on every trip to the local shopping centre. I bet we each own a copy of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots and Leaves and I also bet that most of us are past the first flush of youth, having benefited from a good grounding in English grammar at school.
While this is a subject very close to my heart, I have resisted writing about it for fear of making some glaring error and having ridicule heaped upon me by my discerning readers! I know that I don't know everything but I don't know what I don't know. However, I have just received a book to review that is about to change all that and I wish I could afford to buy a copy for everyone who loves the English language.
Can You Eat, Shoot and Leave? by Clare Dignall is a must-have book for everyone: from the reader or writer with a good grasp of punctuation to the poor soul who went to school in the last twenty years and has never heard of it. It is as entertaining as it is informative and is available from Amazon.
There is a brilliantly funny foreword by Lynn Truss and then the book begins with a light-hearted quiz to establish the reader's level of competence in matters of punctuation. I turned out to be someone with a grasp of how punctuation works but with a few obsessive tendencies. There does, however, appear to be hope for me if I persevere with the exercises.
Each chapter deals with a specific point: the apostrophe, the comma, the colon and semicolon; then on to expressive marks - the exclamation mark, question mark, quotation marks, italics, dashes, brackets and the ellipsis - and, finally, the hyphen. Everything is presented in a clear and simple way with lots of humour. Michael Gove could improve education standards overnight by appointing Clare Dignall as chief advisor to schools!
I didn't make 100% in the exercises but I learned quite a lot, including some interesting differences between punctuation in UK English and US English. I haven't mastered all my new-found knowledge yet but I have my copy of Can You Eat, Shoot and Leave? right here beside my laptop and it will soon be well-thumbed. I see it is advertised as a Workbook, meaning that we are expected to write in it but that would upset my equilibrium too much!
Watch out! The Panda could be heading your way to give you a punctuation workout.
While this is a subject very close to my heart, I have resisted writing about it for fear of making some glaring error and having ridicule heaped upon me by my discerning readers! I know that I don't know everything but I don't know what I don't know. However, I have just received a book to review that is about to change all that and I wish I could afford to buy a copy for everyone who loves the English language.
Can You Eat, Shoot and Leave? by Clare Dignall is a must-have book for everyone: from the reader or writer with a good grasp of punctuation to the poor soul who went to school in the last twenty years and has never heard of it. It is as entertaining as it is informative and is available from Amazon.
There is a brilliantly funny foreword by Lynn Truss and then the book begins with a light-hearted quiz to establish the reader's level of competence in matters of punctuation. I turned out to be someone with a grasp of how punctuation works but with a few obsessive tendencies. There does, however, appear to be hope for me if I persevere with the exercises.
Each chapter deals with a specific point: the apostrophe, the comma, the colon and semicolon; then on to expressive marks - the exclamation mark, question mark, quotation marks, italics, dashes, brackets and the ellipsis - and, finally, the hyphen. Everything is presented in a clear and simple way with lots of humour. Michael Gove could improve education standards overnight by appointing Clare Dignall as chief advisor to schools!
I didn't make 100% in the exercises but I learned quite a lot, including some interesting differences between punctuation in UK English and US English. I haven't mastered all my new-found knowledge yet but I have my copy of Can You Eat, Shoot and Leave? right here beside my laptop and it will soon be well-thumbed. I see it is advertised as a Workbook, meaning that we are expected to write in it but that would upset my equilibrium too much!
Watch out! The Panda could be heading your way to give you a punctuation workout.
Monday, January 02, 2012
New Year
2011 was not the best of years for me, with many deaths and some health issues to deal with but it ended on the highest possible note with the birth of granddaughter Elizabeth Orla. The new year promises to be filled with activity, we are already booked for babysitting at the end of January, and there is nothing quite like a full diary to keep away the gloom.
Susan Coolidge (1835 -1905) is probably best known for her children's novels, especially the "Katy" books. I have recently discovered that she also wrote poetry and this seems an appropriate choice for the beginning of the year:
New every morning
Every day is a fresh beginning,
Listen my soul to the glad refrain.
And, spite of old sorrows
And older sinning,
Troubles forecasted
And possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.
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