The Pratchett Diet

This month, I'm on the Pratchett Diet. I've read "Nation" and am busy re-listening to "Good Omens". It must be the 5th or 6th time I'm going through the book and every time it becomes more Pratchett and less Gaiman. 

Apart from the very worthwhile issues discussed in the book, such as:

• the nature of religion
• God's greater plan
• the nature of belief
• the nature of angels, fallen angels and man
• bending the world to your own will
• the importance of saving whales
• and the whole planet,
  

the quality of the book I love the most is its nostalgic make-you-feel-good rendering of The Childhood Summer (a bit like The Go Between and To Kill A Mockingbird, only better). 

The summer in Good Omens is not perfect, but it's hot and long and filled with friends (one dog included) and exciting naughty things to do. 

It's the summer you wish you've ever had. 

It's the summer you'd wish on your own kids.

Terry Pratchett's Nation

Terry Pratchett's "Nation": not a Discworld novel. Terry Pratchett's "Nation": classified as a "young adults' read. I would disagree.

Terry Pratchett's "Nation": not the best book by this author, not the funniest (see footnote 1), not the most polished. And yet, it's probably going to become one of the most unforgettable. 

I don't know, why. I've trawled the Internet, read articles, watch youtube, all in the vain hope that Sir Terry explains what he was trying to say with the books. You know, about gods and bad things that happen to good people and patriotism. Most of his books are an allegory for something (unless I've been reading them all wrong all these decades), and I'm failing to find the reference among all the pointers. HELP!

Footnote 1:
The funniest bit is Mau's interpretation of Daphne's invitation to tea.

Footnote 2: 

I am forever indebted to Sir Terry for my new motto: DOES NOT HAPPEN.

Footnote 3: 

For Imo's sake, get that book out of my mind, somebody!

The Women's Millionaire Club

Do you have what it takes to JOIN THE CLUB?

Why do some Women make ‘Big Bucks’ in their Home Based Business and Others Don’t?


Is it Luck, Karma, or did they know something we don’t know? MGM opens the Gift of
Possibilities in this scrumptious book, The Women’s Millionaire Club.

MGM shares the succulent Secret SUCCESS Recipes of Twenty-One Women Millionaires.
Each Top Performing Home-Based Business Woman Millionaire stirred the right ingredients
to mix up a batch of Million Dollar Success. You, too, can create that same luscious Million
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For the first time ever, MGM surveyed, assessed and interviewed Millionaire Women,
from various home-based businesses, until she discovered the right combination of lipsmacking ingredients that created Million Dollar Success. Using their easy to follow
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yummy opportunities to Make a Difference using the principles of ‘Friendship Marketing’!
The Women’s Millionaire Club is based on statistically validated information yet reads
like advice from a friend showing women entrepreneurs how to take advantage of their
feminine strengths to build and grow a prosperous and successful home-based business.

MGM opens the Gift of Possibilities so the Impossible Becomes Possible.

How ‘Ordinary’ women with NO Prior Experience in owning a Home-Based Business
did the ‘ExtraOrdinary’-- MADE MILLIONS while MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Success Ingredients ALL the Women Millionaires had that You Must Have to

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How YOU Can Create the SAME Success whether you are a veteran, ‘newbie’ or
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(The Women's Millionaire Club, by Maureen G Mulvaney, is being offered beginning on March 17th, 2009 at 12:01 am. We invite you to go to this page - http://mgmsuperstar.com/wjtc/exclusive.html - to access the order page and then go back to this page to access the bonus page. On the Exclusive Private Invite page, enter your order confirmation code. That will allow you to gain entry to the FREE Pot o' Gold Bonus Items.)

Yvonne Walus chatting on Savannah Chase

An interview about me and "Witch Hunts on the Internet"

Find out what inspired Yvonne Walus to write "Witch Hunts on the Internet": http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com/2009/03/chat-with-yvonne-walus.html.

Read the wonderful review ("... very well written, gripping, and beginning and ending in a perfect manner ..."): http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-review-witch-hunts-on-internet.html

Buy the book: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook77234.htm

Billy Connolly Live - I went, I saw, I laughed

It would have been cheaper to buy the DVD. Undoubtedly. And my neck wouldn't have been so sore from craning to the right to see the stage. But there is something about the atmosphere of a live show that makes all the inconvenience (and the cost of the tickets plus petrol plus parking plus babysitter) worthwhile. 

You have to take your hat off to Billy Connolly. He worked hard for his money, pacing the stage for over two hours (no intermission) in front of thousands of people. It's not so much what he says (even though his being lesbian joke) - it's how he says it, accent, beep words and all. It's in his attitude, in his timing, in his rhythm.

Speaking of rhythm, he also taught us how to swear effectively. Now that will come in handy when I read my latest book reviews!

And speaking of book reviews: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2009/February/Whitney-DangerWordGames.htm (Danger, Word Games by Eve Summers)

Novel Origins on the Radio

Novel Origins is a radio show about books and authors. Please visit us on:

• http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Novel-Origins

We also blog on http://novel-origins.blogspot.com/.

Ebooks in Europe

While ebooks are gaining acceptance and popularity in USA, their journey down-under and in Europe is rocky. 

"... Digital publishing consultant Ralf Alkenbrechen said the American model could not be transplanted in Europe without a few modifications": http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5368516/rocky-road-europe-ebooks/ 

Europe I can understand. Many countries, many languages, and the European Union Regulations are a joke (millions and millions of little laws about important matters like the maximum permissible curvature of bananas - I kid you not, up until a few years ago a banana was not a banana in Europe unless it was "free of abnormal curvature and at least 14 cm in length").

But New Zealand and Australia? Why are ebooks not a huge hit here, particularly with the cost of transporting paper books to the other end of the globe being what it is?

The mind boggles.

Some ebooks to start the discussion rolling:

• "Eve Summers has managed to write a red-hot sexy romance story about two lonely people fueled with passion, hot sex and dirty talk A Slave of My Own Desire has you wanting to read this story from start to finish in one sitting. Eve’s erotic novella is a great short story, one that is well worth reading."
  

 

Read more at http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2009/January/Sandie-ASlaveOfMyOwnDesire.htm

and

• Are you fed up with pretty words? Hurt by flattery and lies, the heroine of "Danger, Word Games" certainly is. What magic words can the hero offer to break the bad spell?
   
  "Danger, Word Games" - only 99c on http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=351.