PRETTY HEARSES & E-BOOK COVERS: COVER DIARY: Status as @ June 2012 I promised myself no regrets or rancour - just to move on and learn from my cover adventures. What I didn't quite get starting out is that choosing a new cover is a bit like most things in life. Perfection is rare and it usually … Continue reading Pretty Hearses
Author: Consuelo Roland
The WOW Factor
I have a bit of an obsession I have to admit to - call it Covers OCD. In the days when I read every Famous Five book that Enid Blyton ever wrote I never thought about covers consciously. But looking fondly at the old friends I kept I notice now they all have a colourful cover; a certain look … Continue reading The WOW Factor
Ad astra per aspera
My mother believes in reading your stars. That's one excuse I have for checking my horoscope every day. The other is the scuffed-yellow paperback of Linda Goodman's Sun Signs that sits on the bookshelf next to my dictionaries, harking back to a lovelorn student. My preoccupations are just different these days. Today's Your Stars by Jonathan Cainer predicts: 'The grand trine has … Continue reading Ad astra per aspera
JH Lynch in Kalk Bay
I'm no expert on art and I'm no expert on JH Lynch. I discovered the mystery artist quite by mistake in Kalk Bay. You really shouldn't walk into Big Blue if you set out that morning planning not to buy anything except a cup of coffee or an ice-cream. I ended up buying a set of 6 … Continue reading JH Lynch in Kalk Bay
CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD: Oh for the love of fudge
So. Catherine Ryan Howard is my guru. My guru says 'Oh for the love of fudge.' Isn't that retro and cool? Never had a guru before. I have become slavishly devoted to everything she says because she is going to teach me how to be more than 'just a writer'. The problem is I don't have … Continue reading CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD: Oh for the love of fudge
The Lighthouse Cat
Did you hear the true story about the lighthouse keeper's pet cat that managed to wipe out a whole species of songbirds endemic to New Zealand single-handedly? Apparently this is the only known case of a single individual achieving that dubious distinction. It seems strangely ironic and so typical of our natural history; a tragedy almost kafkaesque in its inevitability … Continue reading The Lighthouse Cat
The adventures of a book peddler
Somewhere along the way I’ve become a book peddler. It seemed an infinitely preferable course of action to watching my novel THE GOOD CEMETERY GUIDE languish in a publisher’s warehouse. Being one of those people who suffer from excess optimism, otherwise termed ridiculous enthusiasm, I ignored the advice of all the sensible caring people in … Continue reading The adventures of a book peddler
What do I really think?
Oops! Deleted my spam file without thinking and lost bald-head's comment on the graves gardener blog. Basically telling me off for being spineless: come on (!) why don't you tell everyone what you really think? I guess that's blog protocol. Tell it like it is, get it out there, spill your guts, take sides, be up-front, controversy and confrontation is good, get … Continue reading What do I really think?
Madeleine McCann loves pink
Ironic that soon after my post "Pink is the new Blue" I started reading the book Madeleine, Kate McCann's heart-rending account of the abduction of her 4-year old daughter in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. It turns out that the little girl loves pink. Suddenly it seems unbelieavably irrelevant whether little girls wear pink … Continue reading Madeleine McCann loves pink
A touch of sex
'Add a touch of sex and we'll have them...!' He emphasized his brilliance with a casual click of fingers to attract a waiter's attention. The man's capitalist orientation was all there in the casual certainty of his educated voice. You couldn't have missed it. We'll satisfy the insatiable appetite, attract them with plastic breasts, draw them in with what they can't get enough … Continue reading A touch of sex
