Last evening my brother-in-law asked whether I’d heard the new Avenged Sevenfold album. When I told him I hadn’t had a chance yet he recommended I listen to it when I had the chance. I had that chance this morning (Spotify/internet connection – same old story). My bro-in-law described some of the songs as being a bit like Metallica, some a bit like Iron Maiden. He also thought the title track ‘Hail to the King’ was the weakest of the lot. I had heard ‘Hail to the King’ on Kerrang! and was quite impressed by it. If it was the weakest, I said, then the rest must be quite something.
Author Archives: R Cawkwell
Hi I'm Rosemarie and I like to write. I write short stories and longer fiction, poetry and occasionally articles. I'm working on quite a few things at the minute and wouldn't mind one day actually getting published in print.
The changing face of CD packaging
And to continue the subject of music…
It’s probably not the most fascinating of subjects to most people but something caught my eye as I was contemplating my CD collection recently. I was sizing them up for new storage. This never used to be a problem because I hardly owned any music, but in the last couple of years I have collected rather a lot. During this operation I realised I might have a bit of a problem getting storage because standard CD racks are designed for one format of CD case and I had several different types. And that was when it hit me.
Reckless Love’s new album – I finally got to hear it!
On release day (in the UK)!
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‘The Paleo Diet’: Latest fad based on bad science?
If there’s one thing I can’t stand its people who manipulate the ignorant with bad science for profit. If you are going to claim something make sure those claims stand up to rigorous investigation. This isn’t news to people who know me well but it might be to you, my dear readers.
I should probably give you a bit of background to the statement I just made, and probably the title of this little blog post. I don’t want any misunderstandings after all.
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Review – ‘The Black Lion: Satan’s Kingdom’ by Anthony Karakai
2013
A modern spy thriller set in Hungary
Jackson is one of an elite covert force, ‘The Black Lions’, recruited from the CIA and ready to deal out violent justice. His team mates are a mixed bag of ex-security services from around the world.
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Review: ‘Improbable Women’ by William Woods Cotterman
2013
Syracuse University Press
Augusta Zenobia ruled Palmyra in the mid to late third century and made a terrible nuisance of herself to the Roman Empire. Eventually she lost her fight and after being taken to Rome a prisoner disappeared in to obscurity. Sixteen hundred years or so later the first of five remarkable English women explored the Middle East inspired by her and the romance of the east.
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Review: ‘Affliction’ by Laurell K. Hamilton
2013
Headline
In the twenty-first Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, novel, our heroine finds herself in an unusual situation: meeting her in-laws in Boulder. Unfortunately she’s meeting Micah’s parents because his Dad is dying from a zombie bite that’s rotting faster than the doctors can cut it away.
Probably not the best time for a family reunion?
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Progress report ‘Variations on a Theme’ short story collection
As I may have mentioned in a previous post, I’m working on a collection of short stories and have been for most of this year.
The collection came about because I wad on the train home from a concert last year and started writing ‘first line prompts’. I took one of these, two prompts from a Tumblr blog I follow, and a random picture I liked, and decided to see what I could do.
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Farewell, Seamus Heaney
I love his translation of Beowulf, such a sad loss.
It is always a sad day when a favorite writer dies. This morning, came the news that Irish poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney died at the age of 74. We have written about Heaney here at BFGB before, about his masterful translation of Beowulf and his delightful collection Human Chain. I do not think I can describe Heaney’s work better than to repeat what I wrote about Human Chain:
[Heaney] writes thoughtful, thought-provoking, poems that display a love of language and life. Since the 1960s, Heaney has used his poems to explore the natural world, farming and farmwork, the violence that shattered his native Ireland, the intersections of the Irish and English languages, and above all his own place in the world.
Knowing that there will not be a new work from such a wonderful writer makes the day seem dreary and sad. But at least there…
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The Friday Who
I’ve seen this meme a few times. I still giggle every time.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 