Trivia Tuesday

I pick up the oddest pieces of trivia looking through book catalogs, so I decided to share some with you. References are, of course, available upon request.

1) Beethoven died of lead poisoning.
2) The great plague of Athens, which led to the Athenians defeat in the Peloponnesian War, was caused by contaminated cereals.
3) In the Middle Ages, illnesses resulting from contaminated foods were often attributed to the wrath of God or malevolent spirits.
4) In 17th century America, the hallucinogenic symptoms of moldy grain were thought to be signs of witchcraft.
5) The madness of King George III may have been accidental arsenic poisoning.

Women's Fiction Meme

Paperback Writer tagged everybody who posted a comment on her blog, and I asked a question, so here is my very first meme.

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal? Paranormal.
Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? It depends. There are a few authors I collect in Hardback, if they come out in Trade I'll get those, but I'm starting to acquire a large collection of Mass Market (I tend to read the spines out of my mass market, that's why I prefer the others).

Heyer or Austen? Austen, but of course.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar? Brick and Mortar, for the most part (I did break down and join a book club but that has turned out to be mostly for research materials).

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Narnes & Boble all the way. They have coffee, they have chocolate, they have nice people who regularly order things for me when they are not on the shelf, and I have even convinced the nice people at my local store to start carrying Kerry Greenwood's mysteries. Yeah team.

Woodiwiss or Lindsay? I plead the fifth, on the grounds I might incriminate myself.

First romance novel you ever remember reading? It was actually a bodice ripper my sister was reading, I don't remember the title or the author, but I could probably tell you the whole story.

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random? Alphabetize by author, except... the mysteries are separate from the scifi/fantasy, the hardbacks are in different cases from the paperbacks, and the nonfiction is all schlumped into the bookcase wherever there was room (My organizational impulse ran out of steam).

Keep, Throw Away or Sell? Some I keep and lend out to friends, family, and coworkers, some I donate to the library, and those I have read to death I throw away.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? Dustjacket on, that way I don't lose it in the loose paper black hole known as my office.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake? Actually I like both.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Stop reading when the book falls shut with my nose caught inside (or the eyes start focusing independantly).

It was a dark and stormy night or Once upon a time? Dark and stormy night. Definitely.

Crusie or SEP? Again I must plead the fifth.

Buy or Borrow? Usually buy, I don't like waiting for it to hit the library shelves (most of the time, anyway).

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse? All of the above.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger? I can go either way.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading? More of a read with breakfast, read with lunch, read after work, read before bed...

Series or standalone? Mostly series, but if the author is good- I'll read standalones.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? The Far Family and The Tall Woman by Wilma Dykeman (for when I get homesick for the mountains :o) ).

So, how'd I do?

Laurie R. King--Mutterings: The pink dot

Laurie King has written a post about something that everyone should think about, and sooner rather than later. So, go read her blog here:
Laurie R. King--Mutterings: The pink dot

and then go and sign up to be an organ donor. The life you save may be someone you love. And doing it now you save your loved ones the heartache of trying to figure out what they think you would have wanted.
Thank you.
Ann

Break Out the Flannel!

The temperature took a nose dive yesterday, and I actually broke out the flannel sheets, and even turned up the thermostat on the heat. Of course, it was either that or learn how to type with my knit gloves on :o). I have spent so much time at the Dentist’s office lately that the desk staff and I were joking that if I spent one more day there this week they were going to have to put me on staff. I’ve had an interesting reaction to have that much dental work done, after I've finished at the dentists, for the rest of that day I find myself clenching my teeth, and actually have to remind myself not to do that. I am really looking forward to having this whole thing finished and done with (and paid for- but that’s a whole nother story).

The rewrite is going well, I haven’t figured out all of the plot wholes, or what to put into them. I’m mostly figuring it out as I go along. The word count on the latest draft is 14,780 and I’ve got another two or three handwritten pages to be put in. Not exactly speedy Gonzales but not bad either. Stay warm and stay safe. Ann

I Don't Suck!!!!!!

I posted a question on Paperback Writers Blog on Friday asking about how the critiques for the ebook challenge. And she answered! She said that she'd read them all and that writing the critiques were taking longer than she thought. And she said that if mine was the one she thougth it was it definitely did not suck eggs! Yeah! Now if I could only get a similar reply from DAW I'd be a totally happy camper (okay, that and if I could actually make it through one whole month without having to think about job applications and interview questions and interviewing applicants- this is soooo not why I went to library school- oh and evaluations- which are evil).

I've been working on revising my novella, and have started the work needed to change it into a full length novel. I've read what I've written and made changes (in pencil), and started thinking about what I need to add and what needs to be changed, and have started making a timeline so I can figure out where the additions need to go.

I must arise and go now (okay, so I'm just getting dressed and walking to the drug store). Not as fun as going to Innisfree, but necessary. I have to pick up a few things in case the bad weather they're predicting shuts us in tomorrow (I really truly hope that it doesn't, even though I would love a snow day- I've got a dentist's appointment tomorrow and I've been waiting six months for this). Wish me luck.
Ann

Rewriters Unanimous

No trivia today. The evening was spent walking laps and then beginning a major rewrite of my ebook, turning it into a sellable novel (hopefully). I'm changing the timeline, changing a few relationships, adding some more magic and mystery, and probably adding more danger. Just about the only thing not being changed is the setting, and the main characters. Owen needs to be with Grace in her isolation, or it won't work, and he can't be there if he's the love of her life. So it stays. I'm sure Caitlin will be pleased.

My Day Off

For today at least I can ignore my day job, and everything that I try to get done when I'm there. Today, I can read over my novella, make notes on what's there and what needs to be added, changed, or removed. I can clean my apartment (or at least parts of it, I'm too honest with myself to think the whole thing will get done), and then this evening, I am meeting with a friend to walk laps around her neighborhood (my third day of walking this week) and then we are going out to eat (Mexican- at my favorite Mexican restaurant-which I haven't been able to have lunch at since I was moved to a different library). I had already started the rewrite and rereading what I'd started makes me think there might be hope for it after all. Have a good weekend everyone.
Ann

Tuesday's Trivia

Looking through Paperback Writer’s List O’Links for Monday I found a few nuggets of information I thought were interesting. In no particular order, here they are:

POSH- there is no evidence that this word is derived from the acronym ‘port outward, starboard home’ supposedly the shipboard accommodations of wealthy Brits traveling to India (to keep their cabins out of the sun).

Dungeon- comes from the Old French Donjon, meaning ‘great tower of a castle’.

Dolomite- Italian Mountains named for a French geologist (Deodat De Gratet De Dolomieu)

Down- meaning hill- comes from the Old English dun ‘hill’.

Gandalf- literally translated ‘wand elf’- is in Norse mythology the name of a dwarf.

Cameron literally translated means ‘crooked nose’.

Courtney literally translated means ‘short nose’.

As always, sources available upon request.

Paperback Writer: January: Plan

Paperback Writer: January: Plan

Business plan, that's the ticket. Must have business plan.
(Must also learn to plan to eat sensibly and moisturize on a daily basis :o) ).

Tuesday Trivia

One of the things I decided to do was share some of the interesting facts that I've discovered while doing research, or reading, or that I found out at work. So Tuesday will be Trivia day, and the first Tuesday Trivia is Five Things I Learned about England.

1) In the brief warming period before the Little Ice Age, it was so warm that they started growing grapes in southern England. And the wine they produced was so good, the French wineries started complaining that they were cutting into their business.
2) The weight of the ice sheets during the last ice age actually lifted souther England and it is now gradually returning to its original level (or sinking-as the case may be).
3) The remains of prehistoric forests have been found on the foreshore of the Thames at Erith.
4) The Savoy Theater was built before the Hotel and not the other way round.
5) Monet’s paintings of the Thames were painted in his suite at the Savoy Hotel.

Food for thought. Sources available upon request. Have a good afternoon, Ann
P.S. Has anyone else been having trouble with the new Blogger, or is it just me.