Oh no, I got a cold...

 

 This is so not what having a cold is like. STOP! Don't come too close! I'm infected.... Yes, that's right: it's half-term, time for a deserved rest and, naturally, my body has decided to attack itself and ruin my week of fun.   Despite obsessive hand-washing and avoiding contact with sticky children wherever possible (quite a challenge in my job) one of the little monsters has managed to infect me (and by monsters, I mean germs, rather than children. Or maybe not...)

Review: The Humans

The Humans by Matt Haig

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ummm... although I enjoyed "The Humans", I can't get evangelical about it like some readers have. I didn't find it life-changing, just ("just"!) witty, touching and amusing- which is more than enough for a bedtime read. I liked the observations about humanity, and the dog- obviously- and some of the situations were laugh-out-loud funny as "Andrew" navigated his way through social norms and expectations. Good, sweet fun.



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Review: Corpsing

Corpsing by Toby Litt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Clever, in a Clever kind of way. I was hooked from the start, lost my way for a while (Josephine... yuk, yuk and triple yuk) and ended a bit confused. The neat ending didn't work for me and left more questions than it answered. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the pace and intrigue as Conrad tried to figure out who was behind the murder of his girlfriend and the attempted murder of himself. This might appeal more to fans of noir (or graphic descriptions of the effect of a bullet ripping through flesh), but it isn't one I'd read again.



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Review: The Girls

The Girls by Lori Lansens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, a joint "autobiography" by craniopagus twins, but what I got was a sweet and poignant story of sisterly love. It was easy to read Rose and Ruby as distinct characters, with separate hopes, dreams and desires and, although it is made clear early on that the girls are nearing the end of their lives, their story was not depressing. Rather, I found myself admiring them, laughing with them, and hoping they would manage to finish their book (I slowed down reading as I realised I was near the end, to give them time to do it- lol). This won't be for everyone, but it was an easy read that still managed to be uplifting and thought-provoking.



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Book Reviews and Recommendations: 5 Picks for Fantastic Phil

 

Tea, cake and a good book- bliss!

I love stories, whether in book or film form and, when one really moves me, I have a hard time keeping quiet about it. I can get positively evangelical at times... (by the way, have I recommended "Confessions" to you yet?)

 

So, imagine how thrilled I was when Fantastic Phil (you may remember him for his contribution to Rock God) asked my opinion on whether he should read Gone Girl, (yes, obviously) and how chuffed I was that he enjoyed it.

He's asked me again for my recommendations and, after perusing my bookshelves, this is what I've come up with:

Read The Hungry-Man for half-price!

On Wednesday, my Harvey- my bestest boy and eternal puppy- will be turning twelve!

I don't know where the years have gone... it feels like only a few months since I was teaching him to sit and shake his paw for treats, and having to lift him on the bed because his little legs were too short to jump up and snuggle with Mummy.

Back then, he was scruffy-looking bundle of fur, sometimes compared to Spit the Dog, who tried to make friends with cats and attack fireworks. Now he's a slightly larger bundle of differently-coloured fur who chases cats and runs away from fireworks!


Harvey aged 6 months

Naturally, I shall be spoiling him rotten on his birthday and feeding him sausages, but Harvey thought it might be a nice idea to share the joy by offering The Hungry-Man at half-price as part of his celebrations.

"What a good idea!" I told him. "You really are a very Clever Boy!"

(Yes, I do actually talk to Harvey. All the time. He's a wonderful listener).

So, that's what we're doing. From now until the weekend, The Hungry-Man will be on offer for only 99p as an ebook.

Harvey thinks you'll really like it but then, as the hero of this cracking tale of a plucky pup who battles unimaginable evil to save his beloved Mummy, he is slightly biased ; )

NaNoWriMo: My Ten Commandments

And we're off! National Novel Writing Month starts today and so I'll be busily doing typey-typey every spare moment I can find in order to achieve my 50,000 word goal before December. Just like last year, I've drawn up my list of non-negotiables- my Ten Commandments- to make sure I still have a job, friends and dogs that love their Mummy. Here they are:

 

1. Thou shalt not let the day job suffer- this is thy quest, not thy employer's.

2. Thou shalt write at least 1,667 words on a week day, and aim for 2,000.

3. Thou shalt not lie in on weekends, but shall rise with the dawn to write at least 2,500 words on those days.

4. Thou shalt not neglect thy terriers, for lo they will perform dirty protests if regular walkies are not adhered too.

5. Thou shalt not eat Haribo by the bucket, as thy is wont to do when sitting at a computer for lengthy periods of time.

6. Thou shalt not idle thy time waiting for more Candy Crush lives, but shall banish the iPad from thy sight until the daily word count is reached.

7. Thou shall make use of quiet moments to reflect on thy novel, and scribe every idea on post-its for future reference.

8. Thou shall shower every day and eat too, for a smelly and hungry writer is no joy to the world.

9. Thou shalt not go home to commence work on thy novel until planning is completed and books have been marked.

10. Thou shall phone thy parents at least twice a week, or face the wrath and woe of anxious fretting that thy have been eaten by terriers.

Keep an eye on the counter (top right) to track my progress and feel free to hassle me about it. I may need the extra motivation!

Friday Five: Cute Dog Costumes for Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I've got my candy, my costume, my scary-night-in TV schedule all planned... now, what else? Oh yes! Dressing up my dogs!

I'm not one of those people who dress their dogs all the time (my boys are tough terriers who leg it at the sight of namby-pamby dog-clothes) but even they enjoy the fuss and attention (and extra treats) they receive when they do allow me to wrap something ridiculous around them. Harvey has a SuperDog outfit, a Playboy Bunny outfit, and is quite fond of his Christmas jumper, whereas Alfie is big on scarves and doesn't mind antlers. My most ambitious dressing up attempt was when they wore matching homemade dragon costumes for Wadfest one year- which went down a storm!

Hats off to these brave dogs, though- their clever costumes made me laugh and must have taken their humans ages. Here are my five favourite cute dog costumes for Halloween:

The Headless Horse Dogman

Cute Cerberus

I'd totally give treaties to these sweeties!

Aww! I wouldn't mind if he invaded my dreams.

Not one for arachnophobes!

 

Does your pet join in the Halloween fun? What cool costumes have you seen this year?

 

Also, don't forget that Strange Ideas: Death, Destiny and Decisions is half-price this Halloween!

 

 

 

Halloween Special: Discounted ebook offer

 

Happy almost-Halloween!

 

For the next 48 hours, I'm giving you the chance to download Strange Ideas: Death, Destiny and Decisions for only 99p. Just click the link and get stuck in! And tell your friends!

 

Enjoy my Strange Ideas...

 

Louise xxx

Ghosthunting at Borley Rectory

How was your weekend? Mine was an exciting one: not only did I get to meet up with one of my favourite indie authors and all-round top bird L.K. Jay, I also had the pleasure of meeting Cat and Lynx Raven, of Calamityville Horror fame, and going on a ghost hunt!

Our destination was the infamous Borley Rectory, or what remains of it, and our objective to see if we could locate the ruins and get anything spooky recorded. Borley Rectory, for those who don't know, was built in 1862 by Henry Dawson Ellis Bull and gained fame in the late 1920's as "the most haunted house in England". The root of this may be a monk from the Benedictine monastery built in the 1300's who was getting up to unholy things with a nun from a nearby convent. After their affair was discovered, the monk was executed and the nun bricked up alive in the convent walls. The nun reportedly still took a stroll every now and then past Borley Rectory, and was seen often enough to be considered a nuisance. Paranormal researcher Harry Price was called in to investigate and wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. After an escalation of stone-throwing, raps and messages written on the walls through the 1930's, the rectory was badly damaged by fire in 1939 (which had been predicted by a spirit) and finally demolished in 1944.
 
Despite its fame, the tiny village of Borley wasn't prepared for a quartet of slightly hyper ghosthunters, if the locals' reaction to us was anything to go by. We ignored the blatant (and suspicious) stares as we pulled up by the church and got straight down to making friends with a cat. We asked him if he knew anything about the hauntings, but he wasn't very forthcoming. He did, however, helpfully lead us over to the graves of the Bull family. Apparently this was his favourite sunbathing spot, as he hopped up onto one of the headstones and watched us from there as we got all excited over Henry and his family's final resting places.

Now to hunt down the Rectory ruins! Using my dog-walking know-how, we found a legal route round the back of the houses opposite the church which, according to the old map, were built on top of the original rectory. We saw nothing, but did get a name- "Harry"- on Cat and Lynx's magic ghost gadget. A spooky coincidence? Harry was Henry Bull's son, who apparently swore to come back if he was disturbed in the afterlife.

Further up the lane, we came across the driveway for an abandoned building which, based on the old map, we thought may have been the ruins of the Rectory or the summerhouse that was next to it. We had a good old nosey over the barbed wire and the ghost gadget reported lots of blobs which could have been spirits. How exciting! I was having great fun on this ghosthunt, and I can see why Cat and Lynx do it so much.

Back at the church, we studied the map once more to see if we could pinpoint the Rectory more accurately, but we were interrupted by a knocking on the window of the house opposite. An irate old lady, probably terrified by the sight of strangers, came out to tell me that we were invading her privacy by filming her house- despite the fact we weren't actually filming her house, nor did we have the cameras pointing anywhere in her direction. I felt sorry for her though, despite her being so rude, because she was probably freaked out by people with unnatural hair colours and piercings, so I just smiled and assured her that we had no interest in filming her house and, just because we had cameras, it didn't mean we were filming her house. I honestly couldn't have stated it more clearly, but I don't think I convinced her. I don't know what she thought we were up to!

We were pretty much done by that point anyway, so we hopped back in the car and went for lunch in a conveniently local haunted pub, The Bull (which, despite the name, pre-dates Borley Rectory and the Bull family) before heading back to Lesley's for drinks, chilli, more drinks and a cracking game of Cards Against Humanity. A perfect end to a great day!

Find out more:
Borley Rectory
C.L. Raven: Recce at the Rectory