#howtosucceed

#ScribesAndMakers – 22nd Sept. Promotion day. Self or someone else. Or both. Damn! It’s a day too early, the next chapter of my online serialisation of my short story collection, Tales From the Demi-monde, goes live tomorrow and I don’t have a direct link to it until then. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS My Word of the Day today is QUARRY-FACED. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments! Quarry-faced, from Middle English quarere, Medieval Latin quarreria, literally a “place where stones are squared,” from Old French quarrière , in turn derived from Vulgar Latin quadraria, from Latin quadrō, to square + -faced, from face, Middle English face, from Old French face, in turn derived from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs, form, appearance + -ed, used to form past tenses of regular verbs. Meaning, having a face left as it comes from the quarry and not smoothed with the chisel or point (stonemasonry, of stones). The picture shows a weathered stone gothic folly tower built from rough, uncoursed grey fieldstones. This definition pretty much does what it says on the tin. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday "Avast, Ye Mateys! Hoist Yer Colours for Talk Like a Pirate Day!" Arrrrr! All you landlubbers, prepare to be boarded. It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, so be quick about it or you’ll be walking the plank. Here are a few handy phrases you scurvy dogs can use to help you fit in as though you be one of the crew, to prevent you from being keelhauled. How to Talk Like a Pirate Arrrrr!!: Various meanings from "yes" to "I agree," to "I'm happy" or "I'm enjoying this beer." Ahoy!: Hello. Avast!: Stop and give attention. Aye!: "Yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said." Aye, aye!: "I'll get right on it, sir, as soon as my break is over." Beauty: The best possible pirate address for a woman. Always preceded by "me," as in "C'mere, me beauty." Bilge rat: The bilge is the ship's lowest level. It's loaded with ballast and slimy, reeking water. This is where bilge rats live. Grog: An alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water. Or beer. Or whatever yer tippin,' if calling it that makes you happy. Landlubber: The seaman's version of "land lover," mangled by typical pirate disregard for elocution. A "lubber" is someone who does not go to sea. In a room where everyone is talking like pirates, lubber is always an insult. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#AmReading Or, in the case The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville, #AmNotReading. Whilst it sounded like an intriguing team up between the writer and the actor it prove to be an extremely difficult read and ultimately I couldn’t force myself to finish it. A tedious narrative filled with characters devoid of anything in the way of a personality. It was impossible to identify with any of the characters. Hence I abandoned it, something I rarely do, even after forcing myself to try to read it small chunks as a way of minimising the tedium. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday The last Thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, died on this day in 1936 alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. The Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus), commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial which was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. Before European settlement, several thousand remained in the wild on Tasmania. Starting during the 19th century, they were perceived as a threat to the livestock of farmers and bounty hunting was introduced. The Thylacine is widespread in popular culture and is a cultural icon in Australia. Thylacines are universally regarded as being extinct by the scientific community, but when the species became extinct is unclear. Modelling based on reliable records indicates extinction during the 1930s or 1940s, although unconfirmed sightings of the species have led a minority of researchers to suggest it survived for several decades longer than that. More money has been dedicated to rediscovering the Thylacine than any other mammal. Sightings of possible tracks were reported throughout the 1950s and 1960s and in 1982 a sighting of a Thylacine was reported by a Tasmanian park ranger prompting an extensive two year-long search, which was kept confidential at the time, but found no evidence of any surviving Thylacines. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WordWeavers 8 Aug: Which character would survive a zombie apocalypse, and why? It’s not something I’ve really thought about as I’m not particularly fond of the modern take on Zombies. If zombies were to feature in my work they’d have to be the good old-fashioned Zombies from Haitian folklore. There seems to be a trend where they’re pitted against all sorts of different protagonists, usually with a title along the lines of XXX versus zombies or zombies versus XXX, so practitioners of magic versus zombies wouldn’t be too far-fetched. I reckon the zombies would lose hands down. #WritersOfMastodon #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday Angela Carter was born on this date back in 1940. She was known for revitalising fairytales and infusing them with eroticism, making their passive heroines sexier, smarter and stronger. Carter initially emboldened other literary authors to tackle supernatural themes afresh. Her approach, duly toned down for mass consumption, became a model for the feminist-lite reinvention of other disregarded genres in print and on screen, in adult and children’s fiction – from vampire horror (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight) to SF dystopia (The Hunger Games) to Disney princesses with attitude (Frozen, Brave) playing a significant part in fantasy’s resurrection and its ascendancy in the bestseller and box office charts since the late 90s. #bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday Delia Derbyshire was born on this date back in 1937. Her claim to fame is she was the woman who arranged an electronic realisation of Ron Grainer’s theme of the Doctor Who series in 1963. The rest, as they say, is history. Probably one of the most well know television themes to be created and produced entirely with electronics. Grainer attempted to credit her as co-composer but was prevented by the BBC bureaucracy because they preferred that members of the workshop remain anonymous. She was an English musician and composer of electronic music who worked with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s and has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music." #bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday Alice Lidell was born on this date back in 1852. This was the girl who would find fame as the eponymous heroine of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Check out the acrostic poem from the end of the second book spelling her name out in full: A boat beneath a sunny sky, Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July— Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear, Pleased a simple tale to hear— Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and memories die. Autumn frosts have slain July. Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes. Children yet, the tale to hear, Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream— Lingering in the golden gleam— Life, what is it but a dream? It occurs to me, even if I was writing this on the anniversary of her death, not her birth, this is one little girl who’s never going to die. She’ll live on for ever in the books which tell her story. #bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

Machiavelli was born on this date back in 1469. My anonymous Evil Criminal Mastermind in How to Succeed as a Supervillain by Following the Evil Overlord List considers him to be essential reading for all aspiring villains. He reckons that Machiavelli’s The Art of War, and The Prince, along with General Sun Tzu’s book, also entitled The Art of War, comprise the three erudite Big Books of war, conflict, and dissent. They’re all books which deserve to be added to the Evil Overlord’s required reading list, and he’s penned an addition to the beloved List which suggests: all those aspiring to wickedness are strongly advised to read, study, and memorise both versions of the Art of War along with The Prince and, once one has done so, read them again until you know them by heart. Then, and only then, will you be ready to take over the world. #bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel