Authors Electric

  Computer's switched on. Right, that's the technical bit sorted. Now, who are we going to embarrass this week?  I first started writing a blog in order to learn about the technicalities of doing blog posts - you know, how to insert pictures and make the words stick to the screen in more or less the right order and places. I'd been invited to join a group blog, you see (this one, actually) and didn't want to look too much like a total techno-numpty when it was my turn to produce something. A wippitty blog The practice blog was called A Tale of Two Wippitts and the first post took me ages to write. It was all about wippitty predilections for vole au vents I seem to remember. And then it took ages to work out how to upload pictures and position them ... never mind going on to conquer stuffing in links and stuff like that. Unless you are a newbie at blogging, you are probably rolling your eyes at this point. But it was all new - and quite exciting - ...

One of the great things about having a dog - or in my case dogs - is that they give you a guilt-free excuse for stepping away from the keyboard or catching up on the more tedious things like filling in the tax return or housework ... they keep me regularly exercised, make sure I don't forget mealtimes,and ensure plenty of breaks for essential maintenance such as grooming, training, teeth brushing, nail clipping, tummy tickling, treat feeding and general spoiling and gazing at in adoration.They also ensure that I get up at a sensible hour and don't waste the morning lolling in bed ... But just recently Archie has taken it into his head that five o'clock (we're still talking about the morning here) is the new six o'clock. The day now starts something like a variation on the old 'are we there yet?' scenario. It goes a bit like this: Archie: Quick! Quick! Wake up! Me: (sleepily) What? Why? Archie: WAKE UP!!! Me: What? Is the house on fire? Have burg...

This blog post is dedicated to my two whippets, Archie and Angel, who have been my faithful and uncomplaining companions throughout its composition. Book dedications fascinate me. Sometimes they are mysterious and intriguing, and sometimes give you a tiny glimpse of the author. Grumbling to myself recently about the prospect of having to wait a couple more years before being able to get my hands on the third part of Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle, I re-read the dedication in the first while looking to see how big a gap there had been between parts one and two. It reads: “To my mother, who taught me to love books and opened the door to Narnia, Pern and Middle Earth. And to my father, who taught me that if I was going to do something, I should take my time and do it right.” And instantly I was able to forgive him for having to wait for part three: these are books I also love, and that advice was straight from my dad too. I shall now try an...