IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Good words but too late…

Way too late.  And after all those smiling faces in pictures.  It makes it look like squeezing out an awkwardly placed belligerent blackhead is easier.  Could News Corp be this millennium’s Ratner?  Is anyone capable of believing that blind eyes missed all this?  And again, British MPs do not look clean at all.  It is time the UK revisited the concept of shame to be able to re-establish some decent ethics.

 

Update regarding upcoming posts & news...

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I am looking forward to this long weekend.  Saturday led to a catch-up on sleep so the planned posts are not coming as fast as originally intended.

I should manage to finalise my post on CrimeFest before Monday.  Last weekend I made it to Bristol for the Saturday at CrimeFest.  ‘Needs must’ can cause disappointment – paid work in my case – so I had been horrified to miss the Friday and the John Lawton appearance.  Luckily, he was still around on Saturday and we managed a catch up then.  And I have some news to impart as a result…

The Royal Wedding

Back in 1981, I was in France on holiday when our future King married for the first time.  A group of us from school had to make do with looking at the pictures as soon as the latest edition of Paris Match hit the shelves.  So, in 2011, it made for an enjoyable morning and part afternoon to be able to watch today’s royal wedding live.  However there was one image that led me to tweet this “Beatrice looks like she's arrived straight from an overnight goth party!”

 

I think it was the combination of extremely dark and heavy eye make up, the texture of her coat just beneath the collar, and the hat that looked like it had come from wardrobe at the Dr Who studios that did it for me.   What was she thinking?  And did neither she nor her sister actually look into a mirror when planning their outfits, let alone before they left the palace?

But to counterbalance the above, there was more than one moment of pure joy captured on camera today.  Celebrating a job well done, after almost everyone had left the abbey a verger was seen performing cartwheels down the aisle.  Here it is.  And congratulations to the happy couple!

 

Further Update & Emails

I am behind in replying to blog-related emails. Please bear with me.  I have tendonitis in my right shoulder and some pinching on my radial nerve.  Typing priorities remain with job applications for the moment.  Battery donations for my TENS machine will be gratefully received.  It's the 9v model...

Recognising the current spirit & mood in the publishing world...

This is the oomph that sends all to the London Book Fair:

And this is the official & authoritative word on the iPad:

London Book Fair 2010 - News

Due to the ash cloud coming down from Iceland, travel arrangements for those coming from overseas have been impaired or completely scuppered.  Efforts to overcome – observed on twitter – have been tremendous.  One Dutch publisher (Meulenhoff) is promising a night ferry if no flights for Monday morning and another, Ambo Anthos, has suggested it might be the first publishing house to “host a Skype dance party during the fair”.

This year, there is a focus on South Africa at the London Book Fair and, sadly, with further to travel and dependent on airlines, this contingent is suffering and having to cancel.

Some of us, as close as train or road travel are also not able to make it.  But, if you can’t make it, the London Book Fair can come to you instead.

Firstly, due to the wonderful internet and Twitter specifically, there will be tweeting for the fair.  The official hashtag to follow is #LBF10 and, following on from the developments at the  Emirates Festival of Literature earlier this year, there will be a Twitterwall at the London Book Fair on display at the Market Focus Bar.  Another one to follow is #lbtweet.  So, if you can’t make it but want to keep up with the news, you can let it flow to you via Twitter.

UPDATE 17/4: You can follow the Twitterwall here.

An apprenticeship in crime fiction?

The Arts Council England sponsored "Adventures in Fiction" apprenticeships are one year professional development programmes.  For 2010, one is offered specifically for crime fiction.  See here for further detail and how to apply.  The deadline is 31 May 2010.

Miep Gies and Anne Frank Remembered

Over breakfast this morning I sat down to watch the first hour of a BBC programme Anne Frank Remembered.  (For those in the UK, the iplayer link is here.)  It had been broadcast last night on BBC4.  Little did I realise that Miep Gies had died that day.  Gies, of course, was one of the few people who helped the Frank family and others to hide from the Nazis in Amsterdam during the second World War.  It was she who found the diary after the Franks had been caught.

There is an obituary of this remarkable woman in the Daily Telegraph here.

Just after 40 minutes into Anne Frank Remembered there is one scene where Miep Gies meets, for the first time, Peter Pfeffer, the son of the dentist who also hid in the attic.  It has to be the most moving greeting between two people that I have ever seen.  Pfeffer died of cancer not long after the meeting.

She is sadly no longer with us, but Miep Gies leaves behind an example of what it is to be good.

The Literary World in the New Year's Honours List

In comparison with previous years, the list of those in the publishing industry is shorter for 2010.  Congratulations go to:

• Ronald Gordon (Dick) King -Smith for services to children's literature.
• Ms Lauren Child, author and illustrator for services to literature.
• Ms Anthea Bell for services to literature and literary translation.
• Lemn Sissay, poet and performer for services to literature.
• Ms Helen Fraser, lately MD of Penguin UK for services to the publishing industry.

Book Posts Coming Up

I was pleased that I caught up with a couple of book blog posts earlier today.  Also, I hope to get these out, in order, before we break for the festive holidays:

• The Frugal Life – Piper Terrett (non-crimefic book on watching your pennies in these times of austerity from an author who practises and does not preach)
• Dead Tomorrow – Peter James (the proof copy could double up as a door stop, but when reading this thriller those pages go flickety flick, flick, flick and faster than the cars he likes to race)
• City of Thieves – Cyrus Moore (City-based thriller that lifts the lid on insider trading and corruption)
• Blacklands – Belinda Bauer (an engaging début coming in January 2010 written from the point of view of a boy seeking resolution for his family after a tragedy).

I also have some comments to come on the 2010 Book Club TV programme in the UK: that is the follow-on for the previously successful Richard & Judy incarnation.  I believe phase two may be both missing the point and missing a trick...

Finally, there will be a post on academics seeking your help in the world of crime fiction, especially in relation to WWII and the Nazis.  I know some of you are experts in this area, so please keep your eyes peeled for this post before we see in the new year.

Comments left on 09/12 are likely to see a delay in publication as I will not have access to the internet for the most of the 24hr period.  I'll catch you later in the week. Enjoy your reading!