TRS Release Party

COME JOIN ME AT  A PARTY


I'm at  The Romance Studio today. There will be prizes - books and author prizes from TRS! Come out and meet some talented authors.  (I'll be talking about 'Children Of The Mit'.  OK, i know it's not actually a new release, but I didn't have an actual release party at the time and this seemed like to good an opportunity to miss!

There will be prizes, including a signed  copy of 'Starquest' from me,  various books from the participating authors and 5 print books (1 prize) from TRS prize vault

TRS is also giving away the following author prizes:

3 one year featured memberships @ TRS

5 four week static ads @ TRS

1 six month advertising package @ TRS

http://theromancestudio.com/party 10 AM EST to 7 PM EST on 7/29/10! Don't miss it! Come along and join in the fun!

Busy, Busy, Buzzzy!

Sorry, no Monday's word this week, it's just been a bit hectic, but I'll try and have soemthing for next week.

In the meantime, my Welsh hero of 'Dancing With Fate' my story in the Wild Rose Press's ' Song Of the Muses' series is being featured over at Sky Purington's Blog: Please pop across and leave a comment, if you have a moment. We're there all week.

Sky is a lovely lady, who I'm pleased to call a friend, and a talented writer herself. She writes wonderful time travel stories and paranormals, with hot heroes (usually in a kilt!) She's being featuring heros of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland on her blog all this month, and it's well worth a look!

I'm also being featured at The Bookboost. blog Tuesday 27th July, and I'm taking part in the Classic Romance Revival Excerpt extravaganza, with all three of my books and will be partying at The Romance Studio all day on Thursday, where I'll be giving a signed copy of Starquest as a prize, so phew - I wonder if I'll get any time to write! One thing - I never have time to be bored!

Hope you'll join me in these places if only to stop by and say 'hello'!

Monday's word - swanupping

I love swans.  Such beautiful, graceful birds, and rather romantic.  Apart from the lovely heartshaped effect the portray when they touch beaks, they mate for life.  As I said, romantic birds.  So I was fascinated by this article on swanupping by *Michael Quinion in his 'World Wide Words' site this week.

"It was reported in the Washington Post this week that the Queen is considering how to reduce the cost of running the British monarchy, one suggestion being to lay off her official Swan Marker. (The British media haven't mentioned this; perhaps the idea of the Queen having one in the first place to get rid of doesn't seem so strange to them as it does to Americans.)

Next week will see that official taking part - perhaps for the last time - in an annual ceremony on a seventy-mile stretch of the River Thames upstream from London: swan-upping. It's not as rude as it sounds: it's an annual census in which the mute swans and their cygnets are "upped"  - taken up from the river to be inspected and marked.

The census - it takes five days - is operated by the Swan Markerand the Swan Uppers of two of the ancient trade guilds of London,the Vintners' and Dyers' livery companies. The census is said todate from the twelfth century, at a time when the sovereign claimedownership of all swans (they were valuable birds that were servedup at banquets and feasts).
                                           
These days, royal ownership is claimed only on the Thames and some tributaries and - you may be pleased to learn - the Queen doesn't actually eat any of her swans. The birds used to be tagged by nicks on their beaks - which is why the Swan Marker has that name - but these days are ringed on their legs."

So while it may not make much difference to the welfare of swans, I can't help feeling the loss of our 'swanuppers' would be a further erosion of our British heritage.  I hope her Majesty will find another way of cutting costs.


*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.

Mondays Word - Umbraphile

Solar eclipses have often been used by writers, especially in fantasy as portents of some momentous event.  A solar eclips is such a mysterious and eerie event in many ways, so it's not surprising that authors love them.  Many people, in fact, lovee eclipses. 

Michael Quinion says: "The word UMBRAPHILE turned up this week in a piece
about the total solar eclipse that will take place this Sunday near Tahiti. Literally, "umbraphile" means a lover of shade (from Latin"umbra", shade + Greek "philos", loving); biologists occasionallyuse it for shade-loving plants (the adjective is "umbraphilic").

But it has been borrowed, or reinvented, by astronomers to refer tosomeone who is "addicted to the glory and majesty of total solare clipses" as the American astronomer Glenn H Schneider put it.

In 2003, the New Scientist wrote, "There are people who like solar eclipses and then there are umbraphiles, those who like them so much they'll drop everything to see one." Professor Schneider sayshe recalls using it in that sense after the total solar eclipse of 1976, but thinks that it may be older; however, the earlies published example that I've found was in the Philadelphia Inquirerin July 1991."

I find that quite fascinating, although 'umbraphile' probably  isn't a word that most authors would use when writing about a solar eclipse in a romance novel!


*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.

Monday's Word: Gallivant

First of all, I hope all my friends across the pond had a wonderful 4th July! I just wanted to say that, before moving on to Monday's word.

I don't have a lot of time for 'gallavanting', I'm too busy writing, keeping up my Blog, answering emails etc. LOL! Gallavanting - it has a nice ring at it, doesn't it!
Michael Quinion says:

" It's a fine word, which hints of galloping about in frolicsome high spirits. The Oxford English Dictionary's definition, written in an earlier Firtier age, suggests it means "to gad about in a showy fashion".

I'm not at all sure how often people still describe themselves or others as gadding about (it feels very old-fashioned to me) but you do it by going from place to place in search of entertainment or pleasure, usually with a person of the opposite sex. Its origin in an old and obsolete German word "gadling" for a vagabond points to its disreputable nature.

Gallivanting is much like gadding about, though ideally you should adopt a more ostentatious or indiscreet demeanour. Its antecedentsare rather less clear: the experts wave vaguely in the direction of "gallant", meaning a dashing man of fashion, a fine gentleman, or a man who pays special attention to women. That's from the Old French"galant", from "galer", to make merry."

So there you have it. I hope all my Amercan friends are enjoying a lovely long 'Independence Day' weekend. Perhaps you're celebrating by 'galivanting'. If so why not drop me a comment and trell me about it?


*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.