Tales from the Cafe

'RANDOM: Tales from the Cafe, Volume Three' is now available on both Kindle and Smashwords. And as a special launch treat, Cafe Three Zero have arranged a 25% discount. The code applies only to 'RANDOM: Tales from the Cafe, Volume Three' on Smashwords, and is only valid today Sat 23rd, tomorrow Sun 24th, and Monday 25th Feb 2013.

For the discount, enter the code: RX84W

News Round Up

There have been a couple of interesting news stories this week. The first features the man who told his GP he believed his son had tried to kill him and his wife in an 'accident', only to be shot by his son the next day. It's a shocking story that instantly raises questions about the son's motivations, but I find myself wondering about what must have been going through his father's mind.

The other is, of course, the ongoing Oscar Pistorius case, which continues to throw up surprises. The lead detective was shown by the defence to have apparently tried to make the evidence against Pistorius fit his pre-formed theory but, even more bizarrely, he has himself now been charged with attempted murder.

To quote Mark Twain: 'The difference between fiction and non-fiction is that fiction must be absolutely believable.' A writer making up either of those two stories would have a difficult time making them credible. Nevertheless, both cases have been noted in my journal for future reference!

But here's one now that will make your scalp itch - it's a video clip of the charity group 'Jump4Heroes' BASE jumping off the Eiger. Just the part where they climb from the helicopter onto the perilously perched outcrop was enough to get my skin crawling, but then they stood on the edge peering down at that long rocky drop and I had to resist the temptation to hide behind my chair. Impressive flying, from both the BASE jumpers and the helicopter pilot, and all for a fantastic cause.

Latest Tales from the Café

I haven't had a great deal of time for my own writing this week as I've been devoting myself to preparations of the third volume from Café Three Zero.

'RANDOM: Tales from the Cafe, Volume Three' should be available on Saturday 23rd Feb 2013, but there a still some final adjustments to make before we can publish.

The idea behind this book was that we should each write a short prompt: a setting, a person, whatever came into our heads. These were then submitted to the group and reassigned randomly. It proved harder than it initially sounded, but it's produced some pretty diverse responses, including one from the winner of a competition run on the CTZ site.

I'll let you know as soon it's available, on both Kindle and Smashwords.

A New Pen, Please!

Why, oh why, oh why, is Christmas such a long way off? When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas last year I hadn't a clue what to say. Now, with months and months to go, I've found the perfect thing! It's a 3D doodler pen! I know! It's the pen we dreamed of when we were children !
The 3Doodler pen is not available yet as its inventors need Kickstarter backing before they can bring it to market.
So, Father Christmas, a couple of wishes if I may - please, please could you work your magic and drum up some backing for WobbleWorks and having done that, could I have a 3Doodler for Christmas? Pleeeease?

Could I also add that I will, of course, be a very good girl and would only ever use a 3Doodler (should you feel inclined to leave one in my stocking) for worthwhile purposes (like, drawing myself a pair of stick-on Vulcan ears, enhancing my husband's bedside table with scary 3Doodled 'monsters', or creating a fleet of model cars to play with when I should be writing).

Richard Briers

Yesterday's BBC news reporters' strike meant that proper tribute to one of our best loved actors wasn't really paid. The passing of the wonderful Richard Briers deserves far more than a thirty second slot on a reduced edition of the evening news, but hopefully the Beeb will make up for it in the coming days.

In the meantime, I'd just like to say how sad I am, and to thank him for always making me smile. As a small girl I loved him in 'The Good Life', and years later my own small girl came to love him just as much through our 'Good Life' DVDs. He and 'The Good Life' continue to appeal and entertain, across the generations. I'm not sure there's a better tribute than that really.

If you have ten minutes, here's a clip from the first episode of series 2 on YouTube. There are many more clips available, but I found it impossible to choose a favourite. He was brilliant in them all.

The BBC has a short piece on their website. It features a tribute from another of my favourites, Penelope Keith, one of his co-stars from 'The Good Life'.

Snail in the Mail

On a day when I could very easily launch into a rant about the latest drivel spewing from the mouth of one of the country's most influential politicians, I have had to make a deliberate effort to find something cheerful to focus on.
Salvation sometimes appears in the oddest of ways and never more so than today. My cheerful story to share with you today comes courtesy of a snail in the Mail. I should explain: it's an article about some pictures taken of a snail. I know, it doesn't sound riveting, but they're actually rather beautiful and definitely made me forget about thieving arrogant back-stabbing self-righteous idiotic snivelling politicians for a moment.

Mmmm Doooooh-nuts!

I had to share this one with you:

Traffic jams on roads surrounding a newly opened Krispy Kremes outlet in Edinburgh were so bad that police had to be called. Evidently the marketing campaign of offering free doughnuts to celebrate its opening worked a little too well. One man had apparently camped outside the store the night before it opened, but his efforts were rewarded when he won a gold card entitling him to two dozen doughnuts a month for a year.

As much as I love Krispy Kremes (though my wallet and waistline don't) I can't imagine camping outside a store in Edinburgh in the middle of February to get one.