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Dark of the Moon – John Dickson Carr (1968)

“Dark of the moon, I think?”

darkofthemoonThe final Dr Fell novel (or Carr series novel for that matter), Dark of the Moon was published two years after Panic in Box C.  Both books enjoy somewhat of a soiled reputation, viewed as the tail end of the downward arc that the author’s writing took in the later years of his career.  Truth be told, I somewhat enjoyed Panic in Box C.  Yes, it rambled here and there, and Fell was a reduced to a caricature of a formerly great character.  Yes, there was an unforgivable hole in the solution.  But it was interesting enough.  As far as Carr goes, I’d give it a C (ooh, ooh, I feel a joke coming).  Seriously though – for all the nightmares that I had of a truly bad Carr title, Panic in Box C wasn’t it (that honor is reserved for Night at the Mocking Widow).

Dark of the Moon picks up right after Panic in Box C and makes a number of references to the previous story – although nothing spoiler related or so important enough to necessitate reading in order.  The setting has moved south across the eastern seaboard from New York and Connecticut to South Carolina, where Carr spent his later years.  Set on an island at the mouth of the Charleston harbor, Dark of the Moon has an entrenched southern feel.  Perhaps it’s that I read it while on a trip to New Orleans, but I could feel the humidity and hear the southern drawls in each page.

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a bad one – a fact that I need to make clear because it affects the way that I’ll summarize the plot.  I could give you the back of the book jacket version –  the mystery of a man found bludgeoned to death on a span of untouched sand – but really that comes so far into a garbled plot that it doesn’t seem right.  Instead, I offer you this:

Dr Fell is called urgently to South Carolina by wealthy Henry Maynard because….well…I don’t know.  Something was worrying Maynard, or something like that, but by the time Fell arrives, it seems to have cleared up.  Yet, there have been some weird occurrences at the sprawling southern manor.  A scarecrow has been stolen from a garden.  Someone may or may not have been seen standing outside the house late one night.  A tomahawk has been stolen from a weapons room.  Someone unknown was seen talking to Maynard’s daughter.

Well, there you have it, that’s about the first 90 pages.  Dr Fell hears about all of these going ons and bellows constantly that he’s very worried.  Characters storm about acting as if something mysterious is happening, but as a reader, I just didn’t have anything that interesting to latch on to.

Carr pads things out with a firehose of trivia – a technique that works wonders when woven seamlessly into his post 1950’s historical novels, but feels out of place in “modern day” tales such as Dark of the Moon and Panic in Box C.  We get a history of the various forts around Charleston, trivia on the Civil War, an unnecessary sequence about baseball, a character constantly spouting limericks about the newspaper industry.  Anything but a real solid mystery to bite into.

There is a glimmer of interest sprinkled through the first third of the book – a few references to the mystery of “the thing that follows but leaves no trace”.  You see, the Maynards have a long history in South Carolina.  In 1698, a relative was found dead on the island with the right side of his head battered in, as if by a tomahawk.  “His own footprints, only his, were in the soft mud roundabout.”  Years later, in 1867, another relative is found dead under similar circumstance – the right side of his head bashed in and 30 feet of untouched sand in every direction.

And so, it comes as no surprise when Henry Maynard is found dead in the exact same way.  Well, it did come as a surprise because I was 90 pages in and wondering if there was ever going to actually be a crime.  There is, and it’s a good one.  Maynard’s body is found lying on a terrace in front of his mansion.  The right side of his head is crushed in and he’s surrounded by damp sand touched only by his own footprints.

Ok, this I can live with happily – a classic footprints impossibility, amplified by the ghost of similar crimes of the distant past.  Thankfully, Carr doesn’t squander the situation, giving ample focus to just how puzzling the circumstances are and ruling out a number of possible solutions.

Unfortunately by the time the crime occurred, I was somewhat fatigued by all of the filler in the first portion of the book, and I had difficulty switching modes to critically spotting the relevant information.  That’s the trick with these Carr books, right?  You have to pay attention to every last word and seemingly unimportant nuance, and that’s difficult to do when you’re reading a 250 page book that feels like it should have been about 180.

Although the story picks up after the murder, there’s still some of the mess of the beginning spread throughout the remaining pages.  Characters are constantly huffing about, fetching Dr Fell for what ultimately turns out to be a non-issue.  Most chapters end in a seeming cliff hanger that is then cleared up in the first paragraph of the subsequent chapter as “oh, nothing to be worried about, never mind.”  And, unfortunately, Carr has started to describe scenes through forced dialogue to the effect of “You see this door towards the front, in the middle of a long blank wall?” – a habit he carried with him through his final novel, The Hungry Goblin.

And then the final 40 pages happen.

I don’t want to oversell you on this.  I accept that I had slogged through 210 pages of mediocrity studded with a few gems here and there.  My mind was hungry for substance.  It got it.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Carr drops an absolute jaw dropper of a revelation.  The kind that makes your mind instantly play back over the last 200 pages of garbled plot and realize that it all made sense.  It was all relevant.

Talk about feeling conflicted.  As much as I’ve ragged on the first 4/5 of the book, I didn’t hate it.  I’d maybe drop it a step below Panic in Box C – Dark of the Moon rambled a lot more, but it had a much more intriguing impossible crime.  Still, it was mediocre Carr and a book destined for the bottom 10.  And so here I was, all ready to rip into it, and then the end just shocked me.  I don’t even know what to say.

I’m not going to tell you that Dark of the Moon has a Top 10 Carr solution – not by a long shot.  But it does a special thing that only some of his books accomplish.  Carr somehow provides that one sentence that makes your brain suddenly put together a number of puzzle pieces that you didn’t even know were lying in front of you.

Don’t go rush out and read this one.  If you’re not really into Carr, maybe you shouldn’t ever read it.  But it would be sad if you didn’t get to experience that ending.

I have some more to say, but I have to reserve it for spoilers.  If you’ve read this one, please be sensitive with your comments below so that we don’t spoil things for others.

I figured out who the daughter’s secret lover was about midway through the book.  Nothing really clued me in, it just struck me that if I ruled out the obvious contenders, there was someone…err…obvious.  Of course, the secret lover didn’t have to be the killer, although I kind of assumed that might be the case.

In case it isn’t clear, the revelation that I loved was Henry Maynard’s secret.  That one I didn’t seem coming at all.  In skimming some reviews of the book after my read, I unfortunately learned that this plot twist is shared by another author’s book – a book that I haven’t read.  Hopefully that one isn’t ruined for me, but I suspect it might be.  Anyway, please don’t mention the other author or title directly in the comments.

The trick to Henry Maynard’s murder was ok, although it really could have benefited from a diagram.  I’m 95% sure that I understand how it worked out, but a sketch would have helped.

The outcome of the historical murders was disappointing.  We don’t get any explanation for the one in 1698.  The solution to the 1867 one was a total let down.  Yeah, I found the comment about the seaweed to be weird when it was mentioned, but really?!?!?!

End Spoilers

12 thoughts on “Dark of the Moon – John Dickson Carr (1968)”

  1. I’ll admit that it has been a VERY LONG TIME since I read this one. The grown-up me who reads all the barbs from true Carr fans about how awful it is has to reconcile himself with the youngster who thought this one was amazing! I was floored by the secret you allude to and what it meant regarding that first meeting between Miss Maynard and her lover. I gave the book away long ago and don’t know if I’ll ever re-read it, but I’m glad you at least found some joy at the end, Ben. I feel like I did about The Crooked Hinge which I also read long ago and which I also loved: I don’t want to spoil that early enjoyment by re-reading and re-evaluating and thus finding them wanting, even if I’m an older and wiser reader now.

    1. I have a hard time with how to characterize Dark of the Moon. I have a feeling that as more time goes on, I’ll end up with an elevated opinion of it. It does raise an interesting question – which do you rate higher?
      – A book that is a bit of a chore to get through for the first 80% and then delivers a satisfying ending (Dark of the Moon)
      – A book that has an absolutely killer set up and is a fun read, but then fails in delivering a satisfying ending (Seeing is Believing)

      Of course, there is no clear cut answer and you’d have to evaluate on a case by case basis. I suppose that I see the silver lining in both. Perhaps I’m more forgiving than most bloggers, but I tend to like almost everything I’ve read so far for one reason or another.

      As for The Crooked Hinge – you’ll love that book just as much if you read it a second time.

  2. I will unfortunately have to hold off on reading your thoughts until I’ve read the book…which is someway off with my broadly chronological approach…but, well, I’m curious. Though here’s hoping we don’t have another Emperor’s Snuff-Box on our hands 🙂

  3. It’s been a fair but of time since I read this but I think I ended up with similar feelings to yourself – lots of annoying and pointless stuff scattered throughout, but with enough nicely done atmosphere to hold the interest and then a nice pay-off at the end.

    1. Looking at Carr’s timeline of books, I suddenly wonder – is this his last great ending? He only published four more stories – Papa La Bas, The Ghosts’ High Noon, Deadly Hall, and The Hungry Goblin. Of those, I’ve only read The Hungry Goblin. It wasn’t a bad read, but I wouldn’t say that the solution packed a punch.

      Of the other three books, I haven’t heard too much positive, other than The Ghosts’ High Noon being respectable and Papa La Bas being dreadful. Is Dark of the Moon possibly the last time Carr left our heads spinning?

      1. I remember Dark of the Moon very differently and the ending certainly didn’t leave my head spinning. Possibly because he lifted part of the solution (i.e. impossible trick) from another writer. In my opinion, Dark of the Moon is the worst of the last three Dr. Fell novels: Panic in Box C was tired, but passable, while The House at Satan’s Elbow was boring and uninspired. But this one was a chore to get through. Something that was new experience for me with Carr at the time.

        The Ghosts’ High Noon is very respectable for a late Carr, but the last great one is arguably In Spite of Thunder, which has an original impossible situation with an equally original and surprising solution.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I have a great deal of affection for all three of the mid-60s Dr. Fell novels, even though none of them is a masterpiece. I think Dark of the Moon would have made a good novella along the lines of The Third Bullet, retaining the impossible murder and the matters discussed in the spoiler section but getting rid of the filler. (I have the same opinion of The House at Satan’s Elbow.) But writing novellas instead of novels would not have paid much!

  5. The plot twist in DARK OF THE MOON—assuming you mean what I think–is a great one; without revealing who the killer is, it changes everything you thought you knew, and it makes sense retrospectively. Unfortunately it’s recycled—Carr had used it in an early novel (where it fooled me completely). And the further “surprise” twist of the mysterious lover’s identity is also recycled—actually, the reverse of one used in a 1940s novel, so I guess if you reverse a twist, you’re not repeating yourself.

    Carr’s late novels show a decline, but I still felt they were worth reading (unlike Christie’s THE POSTERN OF FATE). THE GHOSTS’ HIGH NOON, as I recall, was pretty good. PAPA LA-BAS’s bad reputation is, I think, partly due to its political incorrectness (such as one character claiming not to understand why people object so strongly to slavery—actually I don’t think this is Carr’s opinion, since he makes it clear elsewhere that mistreating slaves was reprehensible, and the hero beats up a man for using the n-word); it’s uneven—some parts were clever, others made me wince. But it didn’t seem as padded as DARK OF THE MOON.

    I just read TomCat’s comment. I wouldn’t call IN SPITE OF THUNDER great, but I think it’s underrated; I remember being irritated by a stereotyped character who acted like, well, a sterotyped character, but a good read, and (unlike DARK OF THE MOON) completely original.

    Liked by 1 person

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The Holy Java

Building the right thing, building it right, fast

Annual Blogging Report 2011

Posted by Jakub Holý on January 1, 2012

The stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 62 000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

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Italian Supper

Here’s Brandt welcoming everyone to our house in Umbria…well, our house for a week in 2012.

Channeling the La Dolce Vita spirit we hosted Supper Club Sunday evening.  This was our first time to have a theme.  It was our dear friend Teresa’s turn to host but she is dealing with a health challenge.  We send her our love, prayers and lots of positive energy for the days ahead.

Teresa, we missed you and love you more than words can say!!!

The 2012 Italy trip has inspired my cooking, entertaining and dining out more than I would’ve ever imagined.  I have a deeper love and commitment to all things fresh.  I’ve learned that the simplest dishes can be the most delicious.  And, we’ve slowly stopped “dining out”.  “Played with” presentations no longer appeal to me; at all.  The value when dining out in Europe has ruined us.  There, we sat in a restaurant the size of our master closet literally rubbing elbows with the table next to us and had the best food you’ve ever put in your mouth AND a bottle of wine and only spent $50…for two.  Here, while there’s plenty of room and clean tablecloths what you get for what you pay just does not compute…and I won’t elaborate on ambience and service…MERCY!!!  So, we eat at home or at friends homes with the exception of a few ethnic restaurants we love where the quality and authenticity overpower the fluorescent lighting and language barriers.  I give credit to The Memphis Farmers Market for making my love of cooking and eating at home easier.  The vendors at the market are the closest I’ve found to the Trionfale Market or Campo de Fiori in Rome.  Shopping at these places truly changed the way I shop and we eat. In fact, my shopping spree on the morning we left Rome made us late for our lunch reservation in Orvieto by two hours…that’s a story for another blog!

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The joy of having a REAL butcher…heaven, pure heaven.

Tagliavento Norcineria, Bevagna…FABULOUS!!!

Suffice to say an Italian themed supper club made me very happy.

We had Italian map placemats.

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I did a Gorgonzola Spread with bread sticks to munch on between courses. The wine bottles holding the candles are from Fattoria Cinciano…the villa and vineyards where we stayed on our first trip.

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Everything in the centerpiece is either from Italy or inspired by our visits.  The glass is from Murano, the runner from Florence and fruit, bread and flowers all beckon back to a day visiting the Mercatos of Tuscany and Umbria.

Robert and Delia did the Aperitivo and Antipast0.  The Aperitivo was the oh-so-popular Biciclettta which everyone grabbed so quickly I didn’t get a photo.

I actually got chastised for making them wait to dig in to the incredible Mortadella Mousse.  They were both huge hits!!! Oh, and look at the Laguiole Spreader by Claude Dozorme we used for the mousse.  I know it’s French but it was an early birthday present from Sweet Teresa and I we just had to use it…FABULOUS!!!

I had the Primo Course which is almost always a pasta course.  So, I did Hand Cut Ravioli con Salsiccia Italiana e Funghi, Salsa di Pomodoro 3 Giorni e l’inizio piselli (Raviolis with Italian Sausage and Wild Mushroom, 3-day tomato sauce and early peas).  Brandt gave me a pasta maker after we returned in 2012 and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. However, this was my first attempt at ravioli and from all reports it was not bad…not bad at all.

Gary gave us the Secondi of Medaglioni Arrosto di Manzo e Gamberetti con Stilton e Pancetta (Roasted Beef and Shrimp with Stilton and Bacon Sauce)  As I type this it sounds really heavy but it was just the opposite.  The cheese and bacon were the perfect accompaniment to the beef.  The citrus and dill on the shrimp added the perfect brightness for a match made where the rolling hills of  Tuscany and the shores of the Mediterranean meet.

Brandt and Kirk conspired and surprised us all but me especially with the delicious Lemon Pound Cake from Carolina Pound Cakes.  If you like pound cakes but don’t like to bake; this company is for you.  A very special surprise indeed.

Kirk made it even better (and Italian) with homemade Amaretto Gelato…sweet in all the right ways and molto delicioso!!!

Brandt ordered the cake from long time friends Jere and Pat Rudisill but his actual supper club assignment was caffe’ and digestivo.  We love using these glasses our dear friend Bucky gave us.  They really do make the perfect ending to the perfect meal.

And, yes, I do believe the house was lovely and a good time was had by all.

One Comment Add yours

  1. nancy cadle says:

    I love your posts!!! Keep me posted for our supper clubs chance to come to memphis and hove you cook for us
    Nancy Cadle

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Posts Tagged ‘jailbreak’

Best G2X Rom!

Posted: October 29, 2011 in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

If you have an Android device, you must have visited the XDA forums! If you have a G2X, you must get this ROM!! It’s the best custom gingerbread rom for the G2X hands down! If you don’t have a G2X, you may be able to find a great ROM for your device. Be Careful though!! If you have no technical skills whatsoever, and can’t even follow a list of directions, DO NOT try these roms! You must root (jailbreak) your Android device before applying these roms. I used THIS  for my G2X. THIS site has most, if not all, Android devices and their instructions on how to root and apply custom ROMS! Have fun!!


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Bodega Berberana – Wine from Rioja

Pasta ai funghi porcini

A pasta ai funghi porcini needs a strong wine as accompaniment. Therefore I selected a ‘2003 Carta de Oro Crianza Rioja’ by Bodega Berberana, one of the oldest Rioja wine producers.

The ‘2003 Carta de Oro Rioja’ by Berberana

I believe it is high time that the 2003 vintage is consumed. The wine’s colour is already changing from dark red to the brick brown. But it has still the strength, the flavour and the body which makes this Rioja wine so superb. This blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Grenache is just the perfect wine for a “heavy” pasta. It is velvety and smooth with a long finish, a complex wine for every day drinking. Just honest and good stuff.

The back label of the Berberana Rioja

The colour is slowly changing

4 Responses to Bodega Berberana – Wine from Rioja

  1. Shengmei Hu says:

    Hi Rainer,

    The pasta looks tasty. I like pasta too, and so do my husband and daughter. Yet isn’t it funny – we use our KitchenAid machine to make Chinese noodles while many others, I guess, to make pasta. To me both are yummy.

  2. blog making says:

    Whats up this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting
    to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to
    get guidance from someone with experience.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  3. Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from
    somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my
    blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme.

  4. Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
    I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had
    problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
    I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

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Cold Soba Noodles and Shrimp

Words cannot express how much I love this dish. I think it’s because it is so fast to make, yet it is jam-packed with flavor. I first tried cold soba noodles last summer when the temperatures were sweltering. I needed something that wouldn’t require the stove to be on long. That’s when I read about cold soba noodles. Nigella Lawson had her own version of soba noodles, and over time I came up with my own! This dish tonight is in honor of Chinese team Newbee. Let’s pause and learn more about them:

Newbee’s current team consists of Hao, Mu, kpii, Kaka and ChuaN. This team has 3 players that are former The International champions. Hao, Mu and Chuan have all won the biggest tournaments in Dota 2 history. They are mechanically sound and disciplined in their play, boasting a very high win record.

Prior to the Manila Majors they were in a 22 win streak, never dropping a game to any other pro team. They are currently a front runner in the current Manila Major and well poised to take it all the way. The only team remaining in their way to the Grand Finals is OG. OG is quite formidable and will not fall easily. Newbee will need to bring their A-game and make minimal mistakes to take them out. Is it Newbee’s time to once again become the champions? We will know in a couple of days as the Manila Major wraps up this weekend!

And now onto the recipe!

These soba noodles are a cool, soothing change from the everyday hot dinner. The sauce is tangy, salty, yet has a residual heat from the Sriracha. I love how simple, fast, and delicious this dish is. I hope this summer you give this recipe a try. Let me know what you think of it. I’d love to hear from you! Have an awesome night everyone and let’s get cooking! 🙂

Cold soba noodles and shrimp
Cold soba noodles and shrimp

Cold Soba Noodles and Shrimp

Courtesy of: Lisa aka The Noob Chef

Yields: 3 servings

  • 1 lb. shrimp, de-veined and shelled
  • 6 oz. soba noodles (or 2 bundles)
  • 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. Sriracha
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil + 1 tsp. for cooking shrimp
  • salt to taste
  • Garnish: 1 green onion chopped & a pinch of toasted sesame seeds

  1. Boil the noodles in a medium sized pot for 4-5 minutes. As they are boiling, fill a mixing bowl with ice cubes. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, and pour them into the bowl of ice cubes to stop the cooking. Carefully toss the noodles around in the ice cubes to cool down quickly.
  2. In another mixing bowl, mix together the soy sauce, honey, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a small skillet, cook the shrimp over medium heat with 1 tsp. of sesame oil for 3-4 minutes or until pink and tender.
  4. Drain the cold soba noodles once more to get rid of the ice cube water and pour back into the mixing bowl. Pour the sauce on the soba noodles and mix to combine thoroughly. Toss in the shrimp and mix to combine.
  5. Plate the noodles and shrimp evenly on plates, garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds and serve!

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Catching you all up on California Successes

Chelsea Carmona here, Regional Manager in LA and SF, and I have an incredible list of women who have been contributing to the west coast public debate lately! Whenever I get the opportunity to talk with some of our lovely alumni, I am always so inspired to learn of all the amazing work they are doing! Here are some highlights I have heard about in the past few days:

1. Tabby Biddle (pictured right) “The Women’s Movement: What’s Next?”Image

2. Ruth Schulenberg: “Heath Care Act Provides Crucial Consumer Protections”

3. Penny Mudd “Mike Daisey’s fictional attack on Apple and Foxconn reveals fact of Silicon Valley greed”

4. Kimberly Dark, “Surrending to Popular Views: A Time for Reflection”

5. Lisa Davidowitz, “Lisa Davidowitz in Support of Torie Osborn for the 50th AD”

Keep up all the great work ladies!

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Thursday, August 08, 2013

“We Did What We Did, Now We Deal with It”

A preview of Low Winter Sun.

As most of The Rap Sheet’s regular readers already know, I was a big fan of the too-short-lived, 2010-2011 ABC-TV cop drama Detroit 1-8-7. So I’m cautiously optimistic about Low Winter Sun, an AMC-TV series--also set in beleaguered Detroit, Michigan--that’s scheduled to debut this coming Sunday, August 11, at 10 p.m. ET/PT (following Breaking Bad). Here’s AMC’s brief on the show:
The AMC Original Series Low Winter Sun is a contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption in a world where the line between cops and criminals is blurred. Low Winter Sun begins with the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective. Seemingly the perfect crime, in reality the murder activates forces that will forever alter the detective’s life, and pull him into the heart of the Detroit underworld.
This program is based on an award-winning 2006 British TV miniseries of the same name. Mark Strong reprises his role here as detective Frank Agnew, only now he’s part of the Detroit Police Department, rather than a cop working the gray, ancient thoroughfares of Edinburgh, Scotland. Low Winter Sun’s cast also includes James Ransome as Damon Callis, a member of the local criminal class, fetching Canadian actress Athena Karkanis as detective Dani Kahlil, and another English performer, Lennie James, appearing as cop Joe Geddes. According to the IGN blog, it’s Agnew and Geddes who commit the murder, “only for the two to then be tasked with investigating that crime, in the process attempting to make sure no one finds out they are in fact the criminals being hunted.”

After having lived in Detroit for a short time back in the 1980s, I still feel a certain connection to that historic and once-ambitious city. I hope Low Winter Sun does it proud.

Click here to watch a video about the series’ location shooting in Detroit, together with a trailer for the UK edition of Low Winter Sun.

READ MORE:Broken Men, Broken Place,” by David Carr
(The New York Times); “Review: AMC’S Low Winter Sun Comes on Strong, Stays Solid,” by Robert Lloyd (Los Angeles Times); “The Quality-TV Checklist,” by Willa Paskin (Slate).

1 comment:

Paul D. Brazill said...

I liked Detroit 1-8-7 too. This looks like a good one. I do like Mark Strong.


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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

"Dark Money" by Jane Mayer

After reading "All the President's Men," I was still feeling in a political mood, so I decided to tackle a book that's been in my TBR (to be read) pile for a while now:  "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right" by Jane Mayer.

As I said in an earlier post, while I was still reading the book:
"it is extremely well-researched and well-written. It's also infuriating, terrifying and downright depressing. But don't let that deter you from reading it. This is a book that NEEDS to be read. RIGHT NOW."
The paperback version I was reading includes a new preface that discusses the outcome of the 2016 U.S. election. Despite Donald Trump's populist schtick and lone wolf/beholden-to-nobody appeal, the overall results were a huge victory for the multi-billionaires who have been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into influencing the last several elections (at all levels of government), as well as the policies those governments pursue -- policies which, of course, benefit them and their interests.

Mayer delves into the history of the key players behind the "dark money" that's been pouring into the system: the Koch brothers, the DeVos family (yet, THAT DeVos family!), the Bradleys, Richard Mellon Scaife, John Olin, Art Pope and others. She shows in detail how they have spent the past 30+ years pooling their money to systematically build an interlocking network of think tanks, academic institutions, media groups, courthouses and government allies that has fundamentally altered the American political system, overshadowed the official Republican Party, and undermined American democracy.

In particular, she shows how these billionaires have taken advantage of tax loopholes to fund their pet causes through donations to their own private foundations, and to nonprofit organizations that -- on the surface -- appear to be populist and grassroots-driven, with names such as Americans for Prosperity, Citizens for a Sound Economy and Center for Patients' Rights. In reality, most of these groups were manufactured and funded by corporate interests -- "astroturf" organizations, as opposed to truly organic grassroots movements.

"Astroturf" organizations exploded after the election of Barack Obama, and even more so with the ruling on the Citizens United case by the Supreme Court, which removed limits on corporate campaign funding and made it much easier for donations to be made anonymously. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to identify where the hundreds of million of dollars flowing through the system are coming from.

There are dozens of revealing anecdotes (sample quote from Charles Koch: "I just want my fair share -- which is all of it"), including some unsettling personal stories from people who have challenged the billionaires -- or just gotten in their way. This includes Mayer herself. After The New Yorker published a story she wrote about the Kochs, she discovered a private investigator had been poking into her personal life. When they found nothing unsavoury there, Mayer was accused of plagiarism (charges that she quickly disproved, with full support from the writers she was accused of plagiarizing).

There is so, so much more to be said about this book, but I hardly know where to begin.

I consider myself fairly well read & informed about politics, in the United States as well as Canada. I had heard about many of these people before. I knew they were using their wealth and influence to try to sway public opinion and votes toward the causes they favoured.

But I didn't know the half of it. Reading this book is an eye-opener. The scope and impact of what the Kochs and their allies have achieved over the past few decades is truly stunning. And frightening.

To summarize:  this is a very important book, and the kind of book that we (a) need more of, and (b) need to read, NOW.

It may already be too late. (I hope not.)

This was book #12 that I've read so far in 2017, bringing me to 50% of my 2017 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books.  I am currently 3 books behind schedule to meet my goal. :p  ;)

  1. Oh man, I know I should read this, but living in the States, I find this extra terrifying. So much stress just turning on the news.


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I Want to Go to There

000003I love finding new romance authors I actually like: they are spread too thin in the great tsunami of cruddy novels, like a floating plank on the surface of a receding wave. One such author is Elizabeth Lowell and her book Eden Burning. What drew my eye to this particular book is that it is set in Hawai’I; usually books are set in Regency London or contemporary New York, so this was a pleasant change. I had no expectations about the story itself, merely hopes of hearing about lush tropical landscapes and the occasional cry of a bright bird in the dark.

These hopes were entirely fulfilled; the setting carried the story, while the romance was something of a dud. Why must the leading man be the brawniest in any room? And why must the heroine be comically short in comparison, or feel short in relation to his impressive tallness? (page 13) Why must the relationship unfold like a fencing bout, men advancing and women retreating? (page 84) Why do women become property? (141) Finally, why do we keep seeing the phrase “I’m too little woman”? (page 319) Aah!

Fortunately, we have the magic of Hawai’I to save us:

Coral trees blazed with color, their clusters of red flowers rising from each naked branch tip like a fistful of flame. Next to them, shower trees lived up to their name, producing fantastic cascades of blossoms that covered their branches. In other lands shower trees came in single colors – white, yellow, pink, or pale orange. In Hawai’i the trees had cross-pollinated until they transformed themselves into what the natives called a rainbow shower, a tree that produced flowers of all colors in soft-pedaled rainbow drifts that had no equal anywhere else on earth. (Page 96)

How much does it cost to get to Hawai’i? Give me a moment while I check…

0000001With their smooth, dark trunks, fernlike leaves, and delicate lavender flowers, the jacarandas pleased her in ways she couldn’t describe, only feel. She loved to lie beneath the trees at the height of their bloom, to see sunlight glowing through thousands of pale purple blossoms, and to have sweet, spent petals swirl down around her in a fantastic amethyst snow. (Page 96-97)

Bad news. Air fare from Boston to Honolulu can set you back $800, minimum. Oh well. But did you take a look at that fantastic Oxford comma? It’s not a patch on going to an island paradise, but man. It is bliss to read a book that is punctuated.

Furthermore, it is a joy to read a book that is noticeably passionate and well-researched; we get enough detail about Hawai’i to make the story believable and charmingly visible. We learn about two different types of lava, pahoehoe and aa lava (it’s pronounced ‘aah-aah’), about kibukas – the oases in the middle of lava flows – and about how the black sand beaches form. The descriptions of these things and these places takes place nearly seamlessly as the characters traverse their landscape; it sloshes over into each of them, makes them seem more intelligent and less like two bodies sizing each other up in preparation for their next sexual encounter. It’s a sneaky way of showing an ecological conscience and – gasp! – teaching something over the course of the narrative. This is the key to the best romance novels: they aren’t really about the love story, but serve more as a vehicle for banter or for overall concepts. A good love story is a byproduct.

Eden Burning is escapism at its best –if the romance is less than ideal, at least it’s consensual –  and it lives up to its title: someone does get stranded in an active eruption zone during the book. There’s nothing like a natural disaster to shake your characters into order!

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Amble down a Fortitude Valley laneway and settle in to this late-night drinking house and eatery for a sumptuous feast of share plates and Thai street food favourites. Brought to you by the kind souls who brought us The Flying Cock around the corner, LONgTIME delivers the flavours of Southeast Asia in fun, creative packaging – think Thai chicken hot dogs with coriander mayo and Bangkok tacos with crispy prawn larb and turmeric wafers. Fresh salads, innovative bar snacks, traditional soups and belly-filling curries fill the ambient venue with nostril-tingling aromas and provide the perfect accompaniment for the range of Thai-inspired cocktails, wine and beer on offer. Wrap your mitts around a glass of the draught house beer, Horny Elephant Ale, which also helps raise funds for elephant conservation and rehabilitation efforts in Southeast Asia.

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Making a BIGG change on campus

Courtney Bailey, Staff Writer

live_photo16815513With the honor of a DuPont grant recently being awarded to Wingate
University, both faculty and students have begun collaborating together to form a new sustainability group that will hopefully launch the campus and local community into a more environmental existence. From energy meters being installed on campus to an “Earth Week” planned for the upcoming spring semester. The visionary ideas of this group are already beginning to take form in very exciting ways.

Initially called Blue and Gold Makes Green, the sustainability group now possesses a catchy acronym for its name: BIGG. This stands for “Bulldogs Into Going Green”. The acronym comes from the creative suggestions of Professor Debbi Brock and her marketing team. Their involvement, as well as that of the Student Government Association and faculty, is passionate about sustainability making BIGG an all-encompassing organization.

“This is a group for everyone,” Dr. Catherine Wright, a theology and ethics professor and faculty advisor to BIGG, said. “Every person has a talent that is needed in this group. Whether you’re a football player, a journalist, a swimmer—everybody has a place at the table of the sustainability group. Everyone is needed. The only way to make sustainable change is to have everyone involved.”

Dr. Wright feels that this sustainability group has the potential to turn into an extremely positive component of the university and surrounding community. Provided that students take the initiative to become involved and have their voices heard.

“Many people are passionate about this on campus and would like to see sustainability as part of our plan moving forward,” Dr. Wright acknowledged. “This group is here to get ideas from students. We want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.”

The open-forum approach to BIGG is hopefully what will make it successful and sustainable for years to come. The DuPont grant requires its university recipient to create a more sustainable campus, and in order to accomplish this change at Wingate, multiple organizations must be involved. BIGG seeks to draw in members from all registered student organizations, faculty and the Wingate community.

“Faculty and students need to know that this committee plans on being around for years and years to come,” Trevor McKenzie, a junior Mathematics major and member of BIGG, said.“But the only way that we can make anything happen is if the whole campus is in on it. Make it a call to action. Nothing can happen with just one group.”

Kyle Ferrebee, a junior Business Management major and member of BIGG, also echoed the sentiments of Dr. Wright and McKenzie. “I believe that students, faculty, and even the town of Wingate need to understand that the group is still trying to construct itself, and that it has a huge opportunity to positively impact the entire Wingate community—if, and only if, it receives some meaningful participation from motivated members of the campus and community that wish to leave a positive legacy.”

BIGG hopes to further educate the campus on its purpose and future goals in the upcoming spring semester through projects, events, and lectures. As of right now, the group is still attempting to establish its identity.

On November 18, the group began the process of adopting its constitution and by-laws. All students, faculty, and local community members are welcome to attend the weekly BIGG meetings on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. located in Hayes. “We need the campus to reach out for change,” McKenzie said. “We invite anyone to come to our weekly meetings. Anyone can help.”

Edited by: Brooke Griffin and Kyndra Sanden

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A New Look for Winter Tales, Our #charity #anthology

It’s hard to believe, but November is almost upon us, and winter is just around the corner. Shops are already filling up with Christmas goodies, and the dark nights are drawing in.

Social media has been full of promotional posts for, and news of, forthcoming or newly-released Christmas books. Some might say (and some have) that it’s far too early for all that, but the truth is, whatever your opinion, festive books are on sale and they’re proving to be very popular.

In a world that can sometimes seem harsh and uncaring, it can be a relief and a joy to settle down with a story set at the time of year when peace and goodwill to all men reign supreme. There’s something very cosy and comforting about Christmas books, and this year, the Write Romantics have a bumper crop on offer. You’ll be hearing more about that in future posts.

But first and foremost, the important news is that, as you can see by the picture above, we have given our anthology, Winter Tales, a fresh look, and we love the gorgeous new cover with the festive robin and the warm, cheerful colours. We released Winter Tales back in November 2014, gathering together stories from generous writing friends, who happily contributed their seasonal tales in aid of two great causes.

Winter Tales was put together for the benefit of The Cystic Fibrosis Trust and The Teenage Cancer Trust – two charities very close to our hearts. At the time, we were ten writers with only one publishing deal between us, and we knew we needed help from our friends! Luckily for us, the writing community is a big, helpful and friendly one, and before long we had contributions from plenty of lovely authors. We raised lots of money for our chosen charities, and we managed to garner some good reviews for the book.

It’s now three years on (I know! Unbelievable!) and, with it being that time of year again, we’ve decided to give Winter Tales a new look and try our best to raise more money for the charities. The new cover has proved very popular, and we had a brilliant weekend of sales, earning our anthology a bestseller flag on Amazon for the very first time. But we need to keep this going, so, in the spirit of Christmas, we’re just giving anyone who hasn’t bought the book a gentle nudge.  Winter Tales is just 99p at the moment, and here’s a list of all the stories you can find inside.

Not Just Another Winter’s Tale by Jessica Redland

Reserved by Rhoda Baxter

Seasonal Encounters of the Cafe Kind by Zanna Mackenzie

In All the Wrong Places by Jo Bartlett

Winter Melody by Deirdre Palmer

The Handsome Stranger by Alison May

Loving Mr Perfect by Holly Martin

The Other Side of Christmas by Sharon Booth

The Art of Giving by Sarah Painter

All I Want for Christmas by Jackie Ladbury

The Bookshop of Dreams by Helen Phifer

Muriel’s Christmas Surprise by Jennifer Bohnet

Wherever I’ll Be by Deirdre Palmer

Christmas in July by Helen J Rolfe

A Pistol for Propriety by Alys West

A Tooth for a Tooth by Terri Nixon

It’s a Wonderful Life by Annie Lyons

Something Blue by Linda Huber

Ghosts of Christmas by Sarah Lewis

Meet Me at Midnight by Rachael Thomas

Into My Loving Arms by Lynne Pardoe

An Early Christmas Present by Samantha Tonge

Butterfly Nights by Deirdre Palmer

So, you see, we have some really fabulous authors in there and some fantastic stories for your reading pleasure. We hope you’ll take a chance on this anthology and, if you enjoy it, why not leave a review, or spread the word to friends and family so that we can raise as much money as possible to help everyone affected by cystic fibrosis and cancer, who need and deserve our help. You can buy Winter Tales here.

Thank you! And Merry Christmas. xx

Saturday Spotlight: Are we blagging it to blog it? by Christina Templeton

I’m delighted to welcome Christina Templeton to the blog today for her first ever blog post! She’ll tell you more of her story, but we met Christina in December when she got in touch after the publication of Winter Tales.  Christina’s two gorgeous grandsons have cystic fibrosis and she and her family have been heavily involved in fundraising for CF charities.  Christina is a member of the RNA’s New Writer’s Scheme which is, of course, how the Write Romantics met. I’ll stop talking now and hand you over to Christina (but please be nice to her, she’s new at this…)

As an author with three novels in the bag you’d think I’d be writing blogs with no trouble at all, but the truth is this is my first attempt. I always thought people only blogged if they did something amazing, like my son-in-law when he ran seven marathons on seven continents in aid of cystic fibrosis. Now his blogs were interesting!

Yes, his chosen charity is close to my heart as two of my grandsons suffer from this disease, but he wrote about his experiences in China, Chile and Antarctica whilst raising over half a million pounds.  But what do I have to blog about? A retired civil servant, blessed with a happy family life and a passion for writing, I’ve never done anything dramatic or heroic, never made a difference to world affairs or even local affairs. Apart from the shock diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in my grandsons, most of the drama in my life comes from my imagination. Which, of course, is why I’m a writer. IMG_3665

My daughter put me straight.  ‘What about our charity?’ she said.  She was referring to a local charity we set up to make life easier for children living with cystic fibrosis in Hampshire.  We provided things like trampolines to keep them active, nebulisers that take one minute instead of twenty to administer medicine and access to laptops to alleviate their boredom during frequent hospital stays.

‘And mum, what about your writing?’  she said ,almost as an accusation.  She’s right, of course.  Whilst I’m still without an agent and yet to have my novels published mainstream, I have completed three, won several short story competitions, been published in local and county magazines, uploaded four children’s stories on to Kindle and published a book of short stories on Amazon.

IMG_3666I’m in the Romantic Novelists New Writer’s Scheme and am encouraged by their feedback. I get really great support at the twice-yearly Dunford Novelists conferences – supported by best-selling authors like Catherine King,  Della Galton and Pam Fudge to name but a few.  Established or beginner, attending authors share their work and offer it up for critique. It’s quite intense but very useful and I’ve met some lovely people, including novelist Julia Bryant, who I’m proud to call my mentor and friend.

Are we blagging it to blog it? I thought so until I recently discovered the Write Romantics.  As well as publishing an anthology to raise funds for The Cystic Fibrosis Trust, they bring together so many things I’m passionate about – love, life and writing. I think what I’ve learned is that whilst authors may be better at fiction than fact, as the protagonists in our own life stories we all have something to say, and we know from our craft that heroes don’t always need to do heroic things to be interesting or win hearts and minds.  Are we wasting precious time blogging when we should be focused on our novels? It’s a valid question, but we novelists know the journey is as important as the end goal.  The life of a novelist can be isolated and blogging helps you feel connected to a wider community – it makes the journey more enjoyable, and let’s face it – what’s the point of writing if you don’t enjoy it?

Christina Templeton has written three novels and is crafting her fourth.  In between, she keeps her imagination active by writing short stories and as from today, blogs.  She’d love an agent, a publisher or both. You can find out more about her and her work here.

Thank you so much to Christina for joining us today.  If you’d like to leave a comment for her please click on the word ‘comments’ in teeny, tiny type at the bottom of this post.  And as Christina mentioned, Winter Tales our charity short story anthology is available here with all the royalties going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust.   Have a great weekend! Alys x

Wednesday Wondering – Meet our main characters!

Today on the blog, we have been Wednesday Wondering about some of the characters in our forthcoming anthology. Prompted by the lovely Liv Thomas, who passed us the ‘Meet My Main Character’ baton, four of the Write Romantics are going to tell you a bit about the characters just waiting to slip between the covers of our winter collection, which will be raising funds for the Cystic Fibrosis and Teenage Cancer Trusts. You can meet Liv’s main character in the fabulous novel she co-wrote, as Isabella Connor, Beneath an Irish Sky, available from Amazon at this link or read more about Luke on Liv’s own blog posting, here.

First up is…

Alex’s Anthology Character

What is the name of your character and the title of the story?

Harriet Hardy who is the main character in ‘A Pistol for Propriety’.

2013-08-18 14.35.25When and where is the story set?

The story is set in 1898 in Whitby in North Yorkshire. However the story is steampunk so it’s not quite the same Whitby. It was enormous fun figuring out where dirigibles (or airships) could land and how steam powered cars might work.  There’s still a steam bus running in Whitby during the tourist season and that sparked some ideas.

What should the readers know about Harriet?

The wonderful thing about steampunk is that you can have really strong heroines who wear fabulous clothes and hats. I spent far too much time looking at pictures of 1890s hats. They were as wide as tea trays.  Heaven knows how anyone actually walked about in them!

What is the conflict in Harriet’s life?

At the beginning of the story, Harriet has done something which can best be described as imprudent. (The other thing I loved about steampunk is that you can use words like ‘imprudent’ and they sound absolutely right.  As a big fan of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, I absolutely adored writing the dialogue).  I don’t want to say too much about what this imprudent action was but let’s just say that there’s a clue in the title of the story!

What are Harriet’s goals?

Harriet’s life hasn’t always been easy and it’s made her into a very capable woman.  She’s someone who thinks that marriage isn’t for her because of the choices that she’s made.  However, as this is a romance, someone turns up who challenges that assumption!

 Next we have…

Rachael’s Anthology Character

What is the name of your character and the title of the story?

My character is Sally Phillips and her story in the anthology is ‘Meet Me at Midnight’.

When and where is the story set?

It’s a contemporary story, set in Wales during the last few days of the year.

What should the readers know about Sally?

Sally is a writer, who has left London not only to try and escape her failed relationship, but to try and beat writer’s block.

What is the conflict in Sally’s life?

Her inability to write due to leaving Jake, her partner, but as soon as she arrives in Wales the words begin to flow, until she meets a handsome farmer one morning.

What are Sally’s goals?

To be successful in her work and happy in her life, something she’d always envisaged taking place in London, but events over the New Year change all that.

Our penultimate introduction is…

Julie’s Anthology Character

What is the name of your character and the title of the story?

The story I haven’t quite finished for our anthology is called ‘Not Just Another Winter’s Tale’ and features twenty-nine-year-old Emily Chambers

winter4When and where is the story set?

It’s set in the present day in the winter (hey, it is a Christmas/winter anthology) in the Derbyshire countryside although part of the story is set in the US of A

What should the readers know about Emily?

She can’t bear her new work colleague, Troy Zimmerman, after meeting him when working in the States over the summer. Unfortunately, she’s stranded at a conference centre and her only way home is to spend three hours in a car with him. Hideous thought

What is the conflict in Emily’s life?

Troy! Simple as that. Oh, and the fact that it’s started snowing. Very heavily. Which probably means the journey will be longer than three hours. Eek!

What are Emily’s goals?

To get home safely as quickly as possible with minimal communication with Troy. Only we know that’s not going to be possible, is it?

Lastly, me… the ‘artist’ (and I use the term loosely) formerly known as Jo, but now Write Romantic, Jay.  Hopefully more of that in a Mega Monday announcement coming your way soon…

Jay’s Anthology Character

What is the name of your character and the title of the story?

Jamie Chandler takes the lead in my anthology story, which is entitled ‘In All The Wrong Places’.

When and where is the story set?

The story is set in the current era and tracks the course of one December, which proves long enough to alter Jamie’s life forever.IMG_0671  Jamie lives in a sleepy Kent village, where finding love is difficult at the best of times.

What should the readers know about Jamie?

He’s gorgeous, funny, kind and the sort of Colin Firth-esque beta hero that every nice girl should fall for… Oh, and his legs don’t always work.

What is the conflict in Jamie’s life?

He’s convinced that no-one can love him after his diagnosis with MS but, as the title suggests, he’s been looking for love in all the wrong places.

What are Jamie’s goals?

He’s desperate not to spend another Christmas alone.  What he really wants is to settle down with someone and have the life he dreamt of before his diagnosis, but first he has to learn that love doesn’t always wear a name-tag.

Enter our competition

I hope you have enjoyed meeting our characters and don’t forget your chance to win a £20 Amazon voucher by entering our ‘Name That Anthology’ competition. All you have to do is to send in your entry to thewriteromantics@hotmail.co.uk to be in with a chance. Entries close on 31st August. You can also register for updates at the same email address, so that you will know as soon as the anthology is available to order. We have a wealth of other writers contributing to the anthology, many of whom are bestsellers, and you can find out more about them here.

Next week, two of the Write Romantics, Rachael Thomas and Helen Phifer, will be taking the baton on their own blogs to talk about the characters in their novels and, if you are really lucky, Rachael might even share her fabulous cover reveal with you!

You can read Rachael’s blog here.

Helen’s blog can be accessed at this link.

Mega Monday: We’re influential bloggers!

most-influential-bloggerThank you to Carol Cooper who awarded this badge to the Write Romantics.  We already loved Carol for inviting us to review her wonderful novel, being interviewed for the blog and for agreeing to write the introduction to our anthology, but now we love her even more.

One-Night-at-the-Jacaranda_cover_eBook_smlIn case you didn’t know, Carol is a doctor, teacher, writer, broadcaster and mother, whose debut novel, One Night at the Jacaranda, has received a wealth of rave reviews on Amazon. Carol is also a successful writer of non-fiction books, mainly on child health and parenting, and is The Sun newspaper’s doctor. As well as being a great friend of the Write Romantics blog, Carol has a fab blog of her own. If you’ve been missing out on Carol’s beside manner up until now, then you really should check out her blog.

Now we’re passing on the award to ten other bloggers. They might not get quite as excited over blog awards as we do – perhaps they’ve already had thousands – but we’re going to recognise them anyway, because their blogs have been influential to us.

Diana Blacklock was nominated by Helen R, both of whom are based in Australia.  Diana’s writing has been influential to Helen and her blog regularly features other writers who open up new worlds and add even more titles to Helen’s bulging Kindle!  Just the blog to visit if you’re wondering what to read next.

Sheila Norton, was nominated by Deirdre.  Sheila is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association and was traditionally published for some time, but is now blazing a trail for indie publishing.   Deirdre also recommends Sheila’s book Yesterday, which is set in the sixties and is well worth checking out.

Sharon Booth’s blog, the Moongazing Hare was nominated by both Alex and Julie – I might well have got in there too, if they hadn’t been so quick!  Sharon’s posts are always entertaining and she has a great writing style.  Sharon is brilliant at networking and supporting other authors and we are absolutely delighted that she is going to be a guest in our anthology.

WeddingSarah Lewis who runs the My Eighties blog has been influential on me (Write Romantic, Jo) for many years, having been one of my besties for (*clears throat*) 32 of them. Of course we met in a test tube! Sarah’s blog is a must read for fans of what surely was the best decade of all time (although Sheila and Deirdre might beg to differ). Sarah is currently writing a memoir and will also be a guest writer in our anthology.

The Murmuring Cottage was nominated by Lynne, who tells us that the blog is just beautiful, with still life pictures similar to Country Living magazine, very peaceful and restful, with an atmosphere that’s great for getting her in the mood to write.

Alison May is a brilliant friend to the Write Romantics blog and we have really enjoyed tracking the journey on her blog from nervous NWS member to published author, winning and being shortlisted for various awards along the way… giving those of us still in the NWS something to aim for. In fact she might already have this award, too, but we’re sure she’ll make some room in her trophy cabinet! Alison is also going to feature in our anthology and we can’t wait to read her story.

JKellerFord-web-301J Keller Ford was a recent guest on the blog,we absolutely loved having her visit and we have enjoyed following her blog ever since.  She’s got us thinking about the type of book cover we want for the anthology, which has been really influential on our plans, and has contributed to two anthologies herself, so really knows her stuff.

Rhoda Baxter, is another wonderful supporter of our blog and has helped many of the Write Romantics with advice and, especially, her knowledge of the US market. We really like Rhoda’s inheritance books slot on her blog and although we’re pretty certain she will already have been nominated, we’re including her in our top ten nonetheless. As you can already tell, we’ve been incredibly lucky that many of the bloggers and writers we have found so influential, in our first year of blogging, are also going to be involved in our anthology and Rhoda is no exception.

VIKKITHOMPSON_PICVikki Thompson is about the most prolific blogger we have ever met!  Vikki’s blog, The View Outside, was really influential on the Write Romantics in the early days and she taught us all about the value of tagging our posts properly and the joys of the scheduling function!  She takes on A-Z challenges with admirable enthusiasm and her writing prompts and insecure writers’ group posts are definitely worth the visit.

_MG_1008Linda Huber is another contributor who we have been thrilled to get on-board.  Just the picture on Linda’s blog, of where she lives on the banks of the beautiful Lake Constance in Switzerland makes us want to write!  She’s been inspirational in her support of the anthology and we have all been downloading her debut novel, The Paradise Trees, so we are ready for the release of her forthcoming second novel The Cold Cold Sea.  Her writing is every bit as evocative as the titles suggest and we can’t wait to get her anthology story in our hot little hands!

Carol asked us to include a YouTube video of our current favourite song.  Getting nine romance writers to agree on a single song was not something I wanted to attempt, so I posted a request on our Facebook group, promising the first person who came back to me that they’d get their choice.  So here is what Jackie chose, Ed Sheeran’s Sing, and we’ll be playing it in our flat at the RNA conference, at full volume.

So if you find yourself in the room below, and there’s some less than tuneful singing coming through the floor, you’ll know that the Write Romantics have been on the vanilla vodka again!

Mega Monday Announcement – A Write Romantic Competition

Thomas1Christmas is Coming!  Okay, well there are 212 days to go, but The Write Romantics announced recently that we will be releasing a winter and Christmas themed anthology in November to raise funds for two incredibly worthwhile causes. The charities are the Teenage Cancer Trust, in memory of Stephen Sutton, a young man who stole all of our hearts, and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. We chose the CF Trust because of another gorgeous young man called Thomas, who is Write Romantic Alex’s nephew.Thomas2

Alex tells us not to be fooled by the pictures – although Thomas might look angelic, he can be a cheeky monkey too when he puts his mind to it! As you can see, Thomas spends far more time than he should not being well enough to let that cheeky side really shine through, which is why we think the CF Trust is such a wonderful cause, in how it strives to help children like Thomas and fund research into this horrible disease.

Winter1The Write Romantics have been absolutely thrilled by the support we have received so far with the anthology and Carol Cooper, who is the Sun Newspaper’s GP and wrote the fabulous One Night at the Jacaranda, which is a finalist in the 2014 Indie Excellence Awards, has agreed to write the introduction for us. We will also be joined by the following guest writers, who span a range of genres from romance, via fantasy to thrillers and back again!

  • Rhoda Baxter (author of Dr January)
  • Jennie Bohnet (author of Shadows of Conflict)
  • Sharon Booth (author of soon to be released There Must Be An Angel)
  • Kerry Fisher (author of The School Gate Survival Guide)
  • Linda Huber (author of The Paradise Trees)
  • Sarah Lewis (author of soon to be released My Eighties memoir)
  • Annie Lyon (author of Not Quite Perfect)
  • Zanna Mackenzie (author of If You Only Knew)
  • Holly Martin (author of The Guest Book)
  • Alison May (author of Much Ado About Sweet Nothing)
  • Terri Nixon (author of Maid of Oaklands Manor)
  • Sarah Painter (author of The Language of Spells)
  • Liv Thomas (co-author as Isabella Connor of Beneath an Irish Sky)
  • Samantha Tongue (author of Doubting Abbey)

We also owe a huge thanks to Mark Heslington, Write Romantic Julie’s super talented husband who has shared these three great winter themed photos with us and will be producing both the cover art for the book and taking care of the type-setting.  The anthology will also be the debut release of The Write Romantic Press.

winter4We can’t thank our lovely guests enough and the anthology will also showcase the work of the nine Write Romantics with everything from short stories to flash fiction and perhaps even a bit of Pam Ayres style poetry! So how can you get involved? Well, obviously you can buy the book when it comes out, getting a great read, packed with stories from the impressive list of writers we have on board, but you can also enter our competition. The Write Romantics are looking for a name for our anthology, so we invite you to send in your suggestions to thewriteromantics@hotmail.co.uk

IMG_0671Write Romantic Jo will be co-ordinating the entries and the rest of the WRs will then judge the entries blind, with Jo retaining the Simon Cowell vote in the event of a tie! The full terms and conditions will be sent out to you on entering the contest and the prize is in two parts, the first is a £20 voucher for Amazon and the second will be a mention of your contribution in the acknowledgements section of the book. The closing date for entries is 31 August 2014.  So please start sending those ideas for a title in and look out for more announcements about the anthology coming your way soon.


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March 12th

1784 – Rev. William Buckland Born

Dean William Buckland was the first person to scientifically describe what would come to be known as a dinosaur, but although he was a pioneer, he was one of the most colorful dinosaur detectives of all time.

Buckland lecturing / University of Oxford

Buckland will always be remembered for his description of Megalosaurus in 1824, but he was a very eccentric and interesting personality in his own right. He famously surrounded himself with fossils–even having a tabletop set with coprolites (fossilized dung).

He was determined to eat every known animal, including reputedly devouring the heart of King Louis XIV. He was shown this relic and gobbled it down quickly before anyone could stop him.

His fascination with living animals and fossils dominated his house in Christ Church. Frogs and snakes inhabited cages in his dining room, while guinea pigs ran along his floors. Visitors told of occasional bites from Buckland’s jackal, which also wandered the house—sometimes devouring the guinea pigs, much to the horror of houseguests.

William Buckland also kept a bear as a pet–the biblically named Tiglath Pilesar–whom he brought to wine parties. Charles Lyell, one of Darwin’s best friends and scientific consultants, wrote of such a gathering at the Botanic Gardens: “Buckland had a young bear dressed up as a student of Christ Church, with cap and gown, whom he formally introduced…The bear sucked our hands and was very caressing.” Shy students worried for their dignity after speaking to ‘Tig,’ and Buckland found much amusement in making them do so.

Share your favorite stories and illustrations of William Buckland and Megalosaurus with us on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #TDIDinos.


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March 15th

The Shapes of Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are so weird and wonderful that it’s difficult to imagine humans dreaming up such fantastic animals. And yet, nature has produced so many forms within the dinosauria (many of them still waiting in the rock for us to find) that we are continually bemused and bewildered by the ancient creatures.

Dinosaurs sported plates, frills, spikes, horns, club tails, whip tails, head crests, body armor, feathers, quills, beaks, giant talons, and spinal sails. It is no wonder that artists, filmmakers, and the public have been drawn to dinosaurs for more than a century and a half. Many of the new species that are just being described are even more bizarre than their well-known cousins.

Let’s take a look just at the ceratopsians. Triceratops is one of the most popular dinosaurs, but the horned dinosaurs are a diverse group. Their main body plan is roughly the same–a quadrupedal trunk with strong legs and a relatively short tail. Their jaws were incredibly powerful. But the arrangement of the horns and spikes on their head frills varies widely.

Dinosaur Wiki

Just within this one dinosaur family, we find tremendous diversity. The “duck-billed” hadrosaurs shared similar variables, with a body plan consistent across the group but wildly different head crests. These were used for display and, with hollowed out innards, acted as trombones (and various other wind instruments) to call for potential mates. It’s difficult not to draw modern analogues with behavior like elk bugling during the annual rut.

The ceratopsians didn’t bugle. They probably weren’t using their horns for self-defense either–at least primarily. Like most of today’s antlered creatures, Triceratops and its brethren most likely used their horns for courtship displays and tussling with rivals. Judging by the imagery above, there must have been a lot of titanic squabbles back in the Cretaceous.

What we find, then, is a greater number and range of dinosaur species than many people presume. With a new dinosaur species described, on average, about once every two weeks or so, we are discovering so many new dinosaurs that it’s difficult for many of us to keep up. Our dreams and imaginations will always fall short of the dinosaurian reality. We’ve only begun to unlock their mysteries and the riddles behind their strange shapes.

Your turn! Share your favorite beautifully bizarre dinosaurs with us on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #TDIDinos.


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Lace and leather look good together…

…except the trousers aren’t real leather; they’re “pleather”.

And I’m not going to wear them with the lace top.

But that doesn’t flow off the tongue as much for a blog post title!

Anyways, I got these in the H&M sale. The trousers were £8 and the top £9.

H&M black lace top black pleather faux leather peg leg trousers

I’ve seen some “pleather joggers” on a couple of different blogs and I like them. They’re a different look to my biker skinnies, although I don’t know how I’m going to wear them. I don’t have the right ankle boots (I’ve tried them all). My pointy black stiletto courts will work, if I’m wearing them for going out. Top wise I need to play about, because of the elasticated waist. I’m wondering if I can get away with sneakers or hi-tops for a more casual daytime look, teamed with a chunky knit.

The top is kind of a replacement for another black lace top I have, which has lost it’s oomph through being worn and washed. I’ll be wearing it with black flares.

I bloody love H&M.

Thanks, as always, for reading! x

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Armskirk: Unlocking Magic through Disjointed Vignettes

Author’s Note

This work aims to create an ambiance, rather than to portray a plot as traditional fiction does. The 40+ vignettes are all arranged in a manner which gives insight into the world surrounding Armskirk, describing vivid moments of its existence. However, the vignettes are not ordered in a way which convey stories but rather act as accounts of history. The multiple descriptions act as a medium for which this magically mundane world may come to life.
While it is true that multiple stories do exist inside the world of Armskirk, they are never completely addressed in detail. The set-up for the lives of individuals and peculiar events are noted and then left open to interpretation of how they will unfold.
The work truly is an example of experimentation with detail and the style of vignette. I played with how I could utilize its form to portray ideas and how sequencing and structure can form the major aspects of a work.
With the collection coming together as a whole, this work could be used to prompt writers or help them realize how a character and/or story can unfold in a detailed and vivid setting. I wrote this work with the luxury that I might use this setting to help write future stories and build coherent story elements.

Armskirk_Unlocking Magic through Disjointed Vignettes

©2016 Carlos Lewis

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Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Moke Lake- Queenstown

Our next destination is just a short 25kms away but to get there we have to weave our way through the narrow streets and busy traffic of downtown Queenstown. Luckily it’s Sunday and the traffic isn’t so bad but there are still plenty of pedestrians stepping out when you least expect them to.

We’re heading to another small lake, this one is so far removed from Lake Hayes that it’s hard to believe they are in such close proximity. We turn off the Glenorchy road 12kms south of Queenstown leaving Lake Wakatipu behind and heading literally straight up into the mountains. It’s a tough haul for the Ranger and David wishes he’d been able to engage low-range before we’d made the turn. Slowly but surely we crawl up the switchbacks until the road levels out and we approach a gravel road and cattle stop.

The road disappears down a long valley, we stop a few times to let cars coming from the other direction past on the single lane track…

I take some more autumn colours at another cattlestop….

…and then a small lake comes into view. This is Lake Kirkpatrick a picturesque wildlife management reserve but it’s not where we’re heading.

We continue on a short distance and follow the narrow road around the flank of the mountain with a drop down to the lake below, hoping we don’t meet anymore cars as there’s nowhere to pull over here and it’ll be them that will be backing up.

We’re heading to the large DOC campground at Moke Lake (as in smoke). It feels like it’s miles from civilization and yet it’s just 20km from the bustle of Queenstown. Moke Lake is a very popular place over summer- according to the DOC ranger, there were 300 people camped here over the Christmas/New Year holiday. There are a number of walking & mountainbike tracks in the area and fishing and kayaking available on the lake (no powered craft are allowed though).

Ben Lomond Station borders the lake and they have a popular horse trekking business right on the camp boundary. I might just have to check that out. There's also a 4-5hr walk through the station that ends up at Arthurs Point back in Queenstown.

We found ourselves a very good spot right beside the water’s edge, well as near as the bollards would allow us.

The facilities are great and look to be fairly new. The kitchen shelter reminds me of the old shelter at
the campground at Titirangi in the Marlborough Sounds which also had a stock gate to keep the sheep out.

I wandered around camp taking a few photos and checking out the available walks- rain is forecast for the next few days so I’m not so sure we’re going to be able to do any of them.

There’s a loop walk around the lake that take 2-3 hours, I cross over the outlet stream checking the small raupo swamp out for birds. I can hear a few different ones but only spot a female tomtit and then a grey warbler in the matagouri on the way back through the camp.

There’s us all on our lonesome across the way,  four or five others campers arrived during the evening but all parked at the other end of the camp near the toilets.

As the sun dropped towards the craggy range behind the lake, reflections formed in the cool evening air.

The sun was gone by the time these visitors arrived for a quick photo-shoot. I got my own back and took some photos of the bride and groom as they posed on the waterfront. I felt sorry for the bride she spent most of the time swatting at sandflies (I forgot to mention there are plenty) and she must have been cold because she had thick black long-johns on underneath her dress! Don’t ask me what on earth the groom is doing, because I have no idea.

We’ll be out of range for a few days now while we explore the bottom end of the Lake Wakatipu. The weather forecast is not the greatest though, it would seem that the Indian summer is about to end.

  1. This is where we stayed a few weeks ago, when we were both last in Queenstown!
    Don't be fooled by the DOC sign for the walk around the lake, it only takes about an hour and a half.

    1. Like ships in the night! And yes as you say it only takes 90 minutes as I found out this morning and that was with about 10 minutes of photo stops. That's a first, a DOC sign that over-estimates. Mind you I got caught in the rain at the far end so that made me walk faster! :)

Thanks for taking the time to comment, it's much appreciated.


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21st Century Digital Girl

Good morning, and welcome to the 21st Century!

I thought that when I finished my novel, that my job would be done.  What?  No!  It turns out, that my work is just beginning.  For starters, I had to get a blog.  For visibility, for versatility, for legitimacy.  For the ability to spread the word about my book, and build up excitement for it.

I have always thought Marketing to be fruit of the devil, but if you don’t tell people your book is out there, they don’t check it out.  Yes, I have a publisher for this sort of thing, but my publisher’s job is to tell the world that my book is out, and my job is to tell my friends.

Just at the coffee shop today, I got asked if I was going to have audio books available as well as e-books.  I had never considered it before, but it’s my husband’s favorite format.  There are tons of people who don’t read books, but listen to them as they drive, or work, or garden.  So, now it’s finding out what audio format audio books come in, etc.

It was a lot easier when I was just dreaming of being a writer.  And maybe that was what stopped me – the fear of success.  The fear that I would have to market, and research, and do things that take me away from my writing.

Looking at it that way, all of this is still better than not having gotten here yet.

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Home > .net 2.0, .net 3.5, AJAX, c#, General Development, HTML, Standards > Rendering the Web Equally on Mobile Devices

Rendering the Web Equally on Mobile Devices

June 26, 2009

I’ve been digging through the Interwebs for a while now and, I thought, had worked out all of the “kinks” of rendering on a mobile device—specifically iPhones.

The special ‘viewport’ meta tag means the world to iDevices.

meta name=“viewport” content=“width = device-width” />

I’m faced with a new challenge—the Palm Pre’s built-in web browser.  My shiny new phone is great, but it isn’t without glitches.

The first glitch I’ve found appears to be a DNS issue— http://myserver/web won’t resolve; however, will.  It seems to be touchy.  Most of our webs work just fine, others don’t.  I haven’t narrowed it down to a single server or architecture as it seems to be a bit of everything.  Wonky.

The next glitch is more important—the rendering.  One of our tools is a simple form-based tool that looks great on the iPhone; however, renders partial screen and “garbles” when you move around the screen.

Palm Pre:

Garbled image

I’ve also found that anything in an ASP.NET Update Panel (like those Select buttons) are unusable.  Other webs I’ve used (Bank of America, etc) use AJAX just fine, so I don’t think it’s that—probably a coding issue I need to dig into and resolve.

UPDATE: Explicitly adding “LoadScriptsBeforeUI=’true’” to the ASP.NET ScriptManager seems to help with this.. a little.

Anyone else worked specifically with the Pre devices and rendering?  I’d appreciate any meta tags or layout ideas that worked. 🙂  The Pre isn’t a common device in our organization—yet.

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Day 50: The 10 essential newborn baby photos

With the arrival of a new baby there is one thing that is guaranteed. A lot of photos are going to be taken!

And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT.

Literally hundreds of pictures a day, clogging up your phone, filling up your hard drive (and if you are the sort of parent who shares baby pics on Facebook probably filling up the newsfeeds of all your friends too).

Every little thing that the baby does will be photographed, and you know what… every single picture is worth having! I love scrolling through the thousands of pics of my little boy on my phone when I am depressed on my way into work, and the fact he changes his appearance every day (by growing, not like some kind of mini “baby gaga”) means it is so nice to be able to look back at how he has developed…

However, despite the volume of pics taken, there are some classics which every new parent seems to try to take.

Below is my non-scientific analysis of the TOP 10 NEWBORN PHOTOS which everyone attempts to get…

  1. Baby’s face on daddy’s hand

“look at me, I am like the man in the Athena poster!”

  1. Baby’s tiny feet

“So cute! So tiny! So hard to photograph as he won’t stop wriggling!”

  1. Baby’s Little fingers

“Still cute, but not as cute as the toes… But slightly less wriggly so easier to photograph”

  1. Baby in a cute hat

“Awww… its got ears on it!”

  1. Baby in knitted outfit

“It was a gift… we have to get a photo to show to whoever knitted it”

  1. Baby with brother/sister/cousin

“Happy family – quick take the photo before one of them starts crying”

  1. Baby crying

“Not intentional, but inevitable that a few crying pics will sneak into the list”

  1. Ironic baby with alcoholic drink

“Banter! Hmmmmmmm”

  1. Baby in snowsuit

“Aw… teddy bear baby”

10. Naked Baby

“One to get in the bank for the time he brings home his first girlfriend”

*** please note, I don’t own the rights to any of these photos… and none of them are of my baby!

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It all comes down to “JUST TRUST” (Psalm 25)

plan trust.jpg

“If I keep my eyes on God,
I won’t trip over my own feet.

Look at me and help me!
I’m all alone and in big trouble.”

When I was a young man (which feels like about twenty minutes ago), I was in constant need of support. I often stayed over at my brother’s house on a sofa, and for a long while he patiently stored a load of my stuff whilst I  er..sorted myself out. And a variety of friends and family members did the same.

And if you’re in that select company, all I can say is thanks and sorry for breaking the vase.

The situation in Psalm 25 is roughly similar. It’s a cry for help from someone who not only needs an immediate hand-out, but who knows that it’s all his own fault.

I’m not coming out in a good light here, am I?

But that was my story.  Have you ever been in a difficult spot and you knew that you were in it because of your own foolishness? Maybe you knew that you should cry out to God for help, but you were afraid to do precisely because of what you had done.  Or, maybe your problems were not due to deliberate sin, but rather because of immaturity or stupid decisions. What should you do at such times?

It’s strange to say that sometimes the very situations that cut us off from God and from the fellowship of God’s people are the times we need Him (and them) the most. So the Psalm says this: Seek God in the hard times, no matter for what reason we are in those hard times. It reminds me of James 1: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”

Now is the time for faith-filled help-seeking.

The phrase “faith-filled” is important. It simply means knowing that the one you have turned to will come through. That’s why, when I read the Psalm this morning, I immediately thought of my brother. When I turned up, again, I knew he would sigh, roll his eyes a bit, and then put some extra bacon on.

And that – though I’m probably flattering him a wee bit- is what God is like.

This psalm is an acrostic, where each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which they sometimes did to help people memorize the words. Also,  there’s a strong theme of learning or instruction, which fits with the alphabetical arrangement.  So perhaps it’s a kind of school-book lesson on how to live so as to please God and be blessed by him when things go wrong.

Because the truth it, even in the smoothest of life’s operators, things often go wrong. Here it seems to have edged towards the frightening. He has treacherous enemies that are seeking to exult in his demise (vv. 2-3). These foes are many in number and they hate him with violence (v. 19). They have gained the advantage, because he describes his feet as already caught in their net (v.15). He feels lonely and afflicted, and his troubles are growing worse, not better (vv. 16-17). And, his repeated requests for God to teach him (vv. 4-5, 8-9, 12, 14) imply that he is confused in the midst of this mess.

And no one is exempt. No one can say ,“I’ve been following the Lord and seeking to be obedient. Why am I experiencing all of these trials?” Do you think that if you obey God, He gives you a free pass from trials? Think again.

Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal… 1 Peter 4:12)! Or perhaps you’re not surprised at all. Because you know that it’s your own fault!

That’s the gist of Psalm 25. The writer’s guilt runs through it like an ugly rash. In verse 7 he prays, “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions.” Perhaps his troubles later in life dredged up the sins that he had committed in earlier years. In verse 8, he refers to himself as a sinner. In verse 11, he again cries out, “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” In verse 18, he again asks the Lord, “forgive all my sins.”

Here’s Steven Cole, reflecting on the classic line “Remember not the sins of my youth”:“The older I get, the more I relate to the prayer that God would not remember the sins of my youth. The closer you draw near to the Lord, the more hideous the sins that you committed when you were younger appear to be. Some of the sins from my youth keep coming back to haunt me. I think, “How could I have done those things? What was I thinking?” Answer: “I wasn’t thinking! I was pretty much running on hormones! Only God’s grace kept me from doing some things that could have had far more serious consequences!

I try not to dwell on those sins, because they are now under the blood of Christ. But when they come to mind, they remind me of how corrupt my heart not only was, but still is (because I am still susceptible to the same sins). And, I thank God for His great love that sent His Son to bear my penalty for those sins. And I realize both my own enormous need for grace and my need patiently to extend God’s grace to others, as He has done to me.”

If you conclude that your trial is directly related to your sin or to your stupidity, what should you do? The tendency is to try to cover it up and bluff your way through. But that’s a wrong approach. There is a better way:

In whatever trials we find ourselves, seek the Lord and His wisdom for what to do.

One of God’s main reasons for allowing such trials into our lives is to get us to seek Him as we recognize in a new way how dependent on Him we really are. And, if our trial is due to some sin that was previously a blind spot, He wants us to confess it and turn from it.  Calvin makes the same point ”We must know, that as often as God withdraws his blessing from his own people, it is for the purpose of awakening them to a sense of their condition, and discovering to them how far removed they still are from the perfect fear of God.”

So, how do we seek the Lord in our hard times? Anne Lamott once said that there are really only three essential prayers: Help, Thanks and Wow. This is definitely a Help prayer.

First, to seek the Lord, be open about what’s gone wrong, and say sorry.

The writer is only too aware of his shortcomings, not only in the current situation, but going back to his youth. He doesn’t just shrug off his sins by thinking, “What do you expect? I was only 22!” He doesn’t compare himself to his enemies and say, “I may have my faults, but these guys are evil!”

He simply says: “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” God’s name refers to His character, and how He reveals Himself.  Moses “called on the name of the Lord” ( Exodus 34:5). Then we read (Exodus 34: 6-7), “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’”

Maybe this is all in mind when the Psalmist asks God to remember His compassion and lovingkindnesses (v. 6).

This is all of grace, and don’t forget it!

Throughout the psalm, David asks God to teach him His ways or paths (vv. 4, 5, 8-10, 12, 14). The Hebrew word for “paths” refers to ruts made by wagon wheels passing over the same ground often. God is consistent in His paths or ways, which stem from His holy nature. It’s silly to ask God to teach us His ways or paths if we were not seeking to walk in them. But, thankfully, God instructs sinners in His way (v. 8)! So we qualify!

To walk in God’s ways includes several things according to this psalm. It includes prayer (the entire psalm is a prayer). It means to wait on the Lord (vv. 3, 5, 21), because His timing is not always our timing. It means being teachable to grow in understanding God’s truth. It includes humility (v. 9), because God gives grace to the humble, not to the proud. To walk in God’s ways means to obey Him (v. 10). It means to fear Him (vv. 12, 14). It means to look to the Lord continually (v. 15). It requires walking with integrity and uprightness (v. 21).

In short, the writer is saying “JUST TRUST”. It all boils down to that.

If the Lord lets him down and those enemies triumph, not only his own honour, but also the Lord’s honour, is at stake. Here is a man who trusted in the Lord and just knew that the Lord would turn out trustworthy.

So, no matter how difficult our trials,  I trust that the Lord is able to deliver us from them, for His glory and our good.

Our task is to affirm by faith, as the writer does here, that the Lord is always good, loving, and compassionate (no matter how things look). He is fully able to deliver us from our trials, (no matter how things turn out) even when we were the cause of them because of our sin or stupidity.  Let’s pray the words of the Psalm in closing (from Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message):

 “Show me how you work, God;
School me in your ways.

Take me by the hand;
Lead me down the path of truth.

God is fair and just;
He corrects the misdirected,
Sends them in the right direction.

He gives the rejects his hand,
And leads them step-by-step.

From now on every road you travel
Will take you to God.”

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24in Anza Hardside Spinner

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  • top and side carry handles, tsa approved combination lock, brand logo plate, interior zippered divider, 2 interior pockets, compression straps, expandable flex-pack design, lightweight
  • 16in W x 24in H x 11in L
  • 8 wheels, 360-degree spinner mobility
  • zip closure
  • retractable handle length: 16in L
  • non leather
  • imported
  • style #:1000297976
  • California residents: For proposition 65 warning, click here


text:
European Union Trademark No. 000319863 (Word) Trademark register: EUIPO Status: registration expired

Word mark

The European Union Trademark for RTEC (Word) was filed on 01.04.1996 for goods and services in class(es) 9 at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The current status of the trademark No. 000319863 RTEC is 'registration expired'.

Trademark information
RegisterEuropean Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
Filing date01.04.1996
Registration date17.08.1998
Expiry date01.04.2006
Nice classes9
OwnerRELTEC Corporation
 44124 Cleveland,, Ohio, US
RepresentativeKADOR & PARTNER
 80469 München, DE
Goods and Services (the trademark is registered for the following goods and services)
Class 9 : Telephone, cable TV and multi-media transmission and loop electronic products and systems for narrowband, wideband and broadband requirements, namely loop extenders, voice frequency repeaters, transmission and test equipment for use within communications networks for voice, video and data transmission over copper, fiber optic and coaxial cable carrying and receiving equipment and systems; telecommunications central office terminals and remote access terminals, channel multiplexers, optical network interfaces, analog and digital subscriber line interfaces, channel banks, electronic plug-in cards, pair gain apparatus; operations support systems namely host digital terminal and optical network units; telephone line testing systems namely line test controllers, control terminals, printers and disc drives sold in conjunction with such systems; parts of all aforementioned goods.... More
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