Oh, man. The majestic Imperial Star Destroyer. I’ve said before it was one of the reasons I fell in love with Star Wars. Here it is in all its glory. Bristling with weapons, a space-going aircraft carrier cum assault ship. According to Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, the 1.6km long…
I recently posted a few dioramas of the engine room (so to speak) of Stirling Castle – the kitchen and bake house. We also visited the upstairs chambers, where the gentry lived. Much of the restored part dates back to the sixteenth century. At this time, the kings of Scotland used Stirling Castle as home….
Scotland is, of course, full of Scottish history. One of the most interesting visits we made was to Stirling Castle, which stands on a rugged crag above the town of Stirling. As with all these castles, some sort of fort would have stood up there for millennia. Over the years, the walls and buildings were…
Today I’m guest blogging at Devon Ellington’s site, talking about sequels series and all things related. I’d love to know what you think. https://biblioparadise.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/series-sequels-greta-van-der-rol/
My sister died last September. Oh, don’t feel sorry. She’d had a good life and towards the end, she was more than ready to go. Always an intensely private person, the inevitably intrusive care became harder and harder to take, increasingly an affront to her dignity. Even so, death has its impacts, mostly on the…
I’m one of those people who believes that when you write about real historical events, it isn’t your place to change facts. For example, unless you’re writing alternative history, you can’t move the Battle of Waterloo from 1815 to 1820, or 1795 simply because it suits your story better. In my novel, I’ve stuck to…
On this last day of 2012 I’m indulging in a little bit of reflection. When I was younger, old people used to annoy me. They’d get in my way, putter around when I wanted to hurry. They’d shuffle along, backs bent, maybe a walking stick in hand. Silly old farts. Like I said, maybe I’m…
The fact that Fifty Shades of Grey took out the gong for most popular book of the year and E.L. James was crowned ‘Publishing Person of the Year’ has engendered quite a lot of outrage. “But it’s badly written rubbish.” “She pinched an idea from somebody else.” “You want good erotica? You can get it…
A lunar eclipse happened in my part of the world on 28th November, hard on the cosmic heels of a solar eclipse earlier in the month. As it turned out, the penumbral eclipse was a huge disappointment. No shadow across the moon’s disc, not even a reddening of the light. So the cirrus cloud partially…
I was reading an article from somebody, all enthusiastic about the exo-planets the Kepler probe keeps finding. They’re all many times larger than planet Earth even if they’re in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone. You know the one – not too close, not too far, just right. That is, a planet neither too close to its primary…