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I realise that I am not a blogger and know I never will be one. I'm happy about that because I realise what I am.

I'm a writer. I write short stories, articles and essays. I write historical fiction and humorous short stories, some of which have been scripted.

I've decided to join a few 'blogging' sites and see how I go. Eventually I will settle with one, but the jury's out at the moment.

I realise, as with writing, there needs to be a passion - a strong focus to a successful blog. I have one developing on another site, and I'm interested to see where it leads me.

One of the sites seems to be more of a social/anti-social networking site, another is very well serviced, but it's lonely there and the last makes me feel like a salesman for other sites and products.

I'm a writer who likes to blog, but it isn't the be all and end all of my life and never will be.

This guy guards one of my writing sites.

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Posted By: Elisabeth Fraser - Category: Writing Tips

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Lionheart

October 21st 2006 00:23

Ohh boy. Long time me no writey. Me no know write no more...

Today's book review pays tribute to one of this year's HSC English standard text, that much hated and despised Lionheart by Jesse Martin.

Lionheart by Jesse Martin

And I must say, I hated this book too with a passion last year, when I was analysing it for the Physical Journeys section in English Advanced.

But I thought that I might give it another chance, you know, just reading it without analysing everything that's happened to Jesse, and I've found that I enjoyed reading it more this way.

Sort of tells you why a lot of people are turned off from books: sometimes, the English subject ruins it.

Anyway, this is a non-fiction book about young, 16 year old Australian Jesse Martin, and we follow his journey all the from when he was a little baby (yes, ladies and gentlemen, complete with naked pictures of him as a lad and other personal matters that, in my opinion, should have been left private) all the way to when he finished his goal of being the youngest person to "sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted". But what draws you into the story is the way Martin writes: it's so personal, intimate, and I daresay, so colloquial that it sounds like the whole book is a letter addressed to you, dear reader.

The things I don't like is that, sometimes, he describes things too much, mentions things a little too much, and gives out details of his trip a little too much (Who wants to know him walking around his boat, oh pardon, YACHT, stark naked for the most of his journey? Not I.) Too much. Too much. Too much. No matter how much I enjoyed the book, I still found it too much of everything. I'd hate to watch Lionheart: The Video. Good thing my English teacher spared us that fate.

Nonetheless, it actually makes a good read. More for blokes than for gals, as most voyage books are.

I rate this novel:
7/10

**book cover from Powell's Books

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: More previous owners posts

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Across the Nightingale Floor

September 29th 2006 00:01

My sisters call me nipponiac, because I love anything Japanese. Heck, I'm even dishing out the five years of my uni life just studying about everything and anything in the land of the rising sun.

That's why I was happy to find this novel worthy of reading.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

And, I can say that I jumped into the bandwagon before everyone else in the world did. This is book one of the Otori Trilogy, as told by the main characters Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede. The story is gripping right from the very beginning, and I have virtually no bad things to say about it.

Set in feudal Japan, we mostly follow Takeo's life as he grows up as a "weak", little boy of a religious, forbidden sect called the Hidden (We get hints of what this religion is, but we wouldn't be told until the last few chapters of book 3). After witnessing his whole village massacred, and being the sole survivor of it all, he is adopted by a powerful Lord Otori Shigeru. He is then trained in the ways of some form of a super samurai x ninja (we also learn many of his life's secrets, but we're also left with a lot of holes to be filled by the second and third books).

If I say anything more, I would be ruining the little surprises and twists in the story, and we don't want that, do we? This is one of those books that are so compact in plot and character that anything else will unravel that delicious mystery Lian Hearn has managed to entwine. All I can say is, this series oh so addictive and I hope that if they ever make a film out of this series, they better do the books some justice.

I promise you, dear readers, that you won't be disappointed when you read this. Even my chick-literature-addicted sister loved it.

I rate this novel:
10/10

** Image taken from http://www.booksdirect.com.au

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: More previous owners posts

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The Silver Road

September 17th 2006 05:53

The Silver Road - Grace Dugan

The Silver Road is an alright story. I didn't have high expectations for it but it turned out to be an OK story with enough twists to keep the reader amused.

The Silver Road follows the lives of Zuven, a 16 year old foundling with a mysterious past, Yelala (the character that stands out most) a noblewoman who has dedicated her life as a soldier, and Haga, eldest son of a baron and has dedicated his life to rebellion. Together their lives intertwine as they try to kick evil old king off the throne

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: More previous owners posts

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Beware the bargain zombies

September 13th 2006 04:57

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a book review, nor book gossip, nor any news about new books.

This is a straight out blog for every book consumer out there. Listen closely and listen well

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: No Category

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ATTN Aspiring Writers

September 9th 2006 00:08

Homeword '06, the Western Sydney Writers' Festival, kicks off at Parramatta Town Hall in Church St starting from today, 9 September.

This is your chance, oh aspiring and realised writers, to come and join workshops galore. Each workshop costs $5 to attend. Who knows, you might even see your favourite Orble blogger there (In the FLESH, ladies and gentlemen) --if they come, that is

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: No Category

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Author's Awards

September 5th 2006 07:23

I'm sure that there are a lot of authors out there, published or not, who would want their pieces of magnificence etc to be recognised. Getting your stories published is hard enough already (remember that episode on Inspector Rex about the author turned murderer)... but winning an award? Sounds pretty tough, hmm? But according to this site, "Good books are often judged by the prizes they win. "

Enough about that. Here I've compiled a collection of awards that you, oh mighty author, can join. An award is an award is an award, oui mon ami

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: No Category

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A novel out to bite Jen Aniston?

August 25th 2006 05:52

Picture from www.101lifestyle.com

A fictional book supposedly based on the said blonde actress, and is said to have bitten and will continue to bite her behind-- hard.

According to New York Daily News, Aniston's ex-flatmate, fellow actress Nancy Balbirer, wrote a book called The Underminer: Or, the Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life. It is supposedly about a girl named "Jane" who landed a sitcom about friends living together in a place called the Village, presumably New York's West Village

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: Previous owners posts

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How to Kill Your Husband (and Other Handy Household Hints)

August 22nd 2006 07:12

Image from www.books.boomerangbooks.com

Books like these always remind me of Desperate Housewives, of which I seriously presume was the inspiration. Another spin-off that comes to mind is the book Desperate Husbands by Richard Glover. This book is pretty funny, but sometimes it's not. Maybe it's just the blokey jokes that us females don't really get. Or maybe it's just me. Nevertheless, I'll review Desperate Husbands in another day.

How to Kill Your Husbands (HTKYH in short) by Kathy Lette is, if not feminist in flavour, then a joke. This is a pretty funny book, and of course Kathy Lette's one-liners should not -- nay, never be taken seriously

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: More previous owners posts

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Varekai: Cirque du Soleil - Book

August 20th 2006 00:17

Image from www.powells.com

Varekai is one of those shows that is money well worth spent. Watching it was such a delightful, edge of your seat experience that you never seem to want leave that wonderful seat under Le Grand Chapiteau.

Whether you've seen the show or not, you can take a little piece of Varekai with you home through Cirque du Soleil merchandise and, most delightfully, a book that captures those magical feats the acrobats do that leaves your mouth hanging open and wanting more long after the show had finished

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Posted By: Victoria - Category: More previous owners posts

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