Upcoming Release Dates

Okay, we've got a couple of target dates for my new books' release. For The Glass Minstrel, it's September. For Curse of Arachnaman, it's June. Both of which should have "-ish" appended to them since things can happen in the course of production. But there you have it. :)

And a random vid post, which was also something that I shared a while, while back - I think when I first opened this blog.

In response to a recent post made by a literary agent, who said that editors are once again reading submissions but with some pretty specific things in mind. Vampires for YA fiction are needed, but preferably from a girl's POV and that the vampire has to be hot.

*sigh*

Whatever happened to vampire stories like this:



What, not girly enough? :D

Ian Charleson

I honored Dodi Fayed in my last post because he was the executive producer of Chariots of Fire. Mea maxima culpa: I forgot to honor Ian Charleson, who played Eric Liddell in the movie.

Charleson, who was gay, was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and died of AIDS-related causes in January 1990 at the age of 40. He died eight weeks after performing the title role in a run of Hamlet, in Richard Eyre's production at the Olivier Theatre. Fellow actor and friend, Sir Ian McKellen, said that Charleson played Hamlet so well it was as if he had rehearsed the role all his life.

Charleson requested that it be announced after his death that he had died of AIDS, in order to publicize the condition. This unusual decision by a major internationally known actor — the first show business death in the United Kingdom openly attributed to complications from AIDS — helped awareness of HIV and AIDS and acceptance of AIDS patients.

Charleson is buried in Portobello Cemetery, Edinburgh. Read more

I found out about his death by accident a few years ago. RIP, Ian.

Too Special to Ignore

Courtesy of Tamara Sheehan, AU 19th century Japan specialist. She said that when Japan transitioned from feudal to industrial in the late 19th century, several English families sailed there to be a part of the country's modernization.

And we have the results right here:


Anyone getting gnawed on by unexpected plotbunnies, or what? I know I keep thinking about a cross between Kabuki theater...



...and Chariots of Fire.



Hey, I had a tween crush on Nigel Havers when the movie came out. Or make that barely-teen (I was thirteen if ya wanna know). RIP, Dodi Fayed.