Crust Poisoning. By the Wicked Stepmother.

February 28, 2014 celia 1 Comment

Anything with a crust on it must be dangerous. Isn’t that so? Isn’t that why so many kids don’t eat them?

Well, they come up with all kinds of reasons and excuses for leaving them on their plates. Crust tastes bad. it’s dry. It makes me choke. Etc. etc. You could list all the excuses kids come up with for not finishing off their crusts.

Dangerous crusts

Sandwich – designed to choke you.

Pie – no filling left in it so it’s not worth eating.

Pizza – covered in germs from where you’ve been holding it in your dirty mitts.

Toast – burnt to hell and just plain nasty. Actually, if it is burnt the kids do have a point. It IS dangerous. It’s carcinogenic.

burnt crust — burnt food is carcinogenic

But burnt food aside, why do kids insist on leaving crusts?

There’s an entertaining website called How To Be A Dad, but it’s just as entertaining for Mums. Andy has coined the phrase Crust Poisoning. I can’t claim any credit for that. (I wish I’d thought of it first!)

Here’s a link to Andy’s post about crusts on the How To Be A Dad website. Hilarious, isn’t it?

And here’s another link to the I Used to Believe website. The top story is brilliant.

the crust man — from the I Used to Believe website

But, here’s the thing. These posts on other websites refer to LITTLE kids. What happens when your enormous 15 year old is still doing it?

Wicked Stepmother took some photographs to demonstrate. There are just the two pictures, but the rest of the week the same thing happens.

Day 1 crust — Monday’s breakfast leavings

Brioche and Nutella crust — Tuesday’s leavings

What we’re looking at here is not burnt. It’s not dry. It isn’t hard or horrible in any way whatsoever. It’s Brioche. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it –

Brioche (/ˈ b r i oʊ ʃ / or /ˈ b r i ɒ ʃ /; French: [bʁi.ɔʃ]) is a pastry of French origin that is akin to a highly enriched bread, and whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb.

Hello? Rich and tender crumb.

It’s soft as a baby’s skin.

So why leave so much of it?

A loaf of Brioche is a joy to behold. It’s soft and sweet and buttery-eggy and you could easily suck it down if you didn’t have any teeth.

There is no reason on this earth why anyone would need to leave any of it.

Now then, Wicked Stepmother cannot abide wasting food. Her generation caught this from ancestors who had lived through rationing and hardships today’s kids couldn’t even begin to imagine. Wicked Stepmother’s generation has learned to be economical with resources and it can be quite an affront to see so much food going into the waste bin. On a whim.

But, as you might imagine, Wicked Stepmother has a cunning plan.

She will buy no more loaves of Brioche. Not a single one. Here’s the premise.

You know how there isn’t a crust on a muffin?

Nobody ever leaves bits of muffin on their plate. They go round the plate, stabbing with their hungry fingers picking up every last crumb, don’t they? Dab, dab, dab till all the little crumbs are consumed. Till the plate is shiny and empty and there is no waste to go in the bin . . .

(I’m getting a bit excited now at the prospect of putting into operation this cunning plan of mine. Oops, cunning plan of the Wicked Stepmother.)

We shall purchase only Brioche Buns. Crustless Brioche Buns.

Eggy, buttery and flaky. The answer to this crust dilemma?

Leave me a comment. Go on, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Languedoc

Languedoc in February

February 27, 2014 celia Leave a comment

February is the month we bought our home in Languedoc. I had arrived to finalise the purchase wearing boots and thick woollens and needed to peel off layers of clothing in the Languedoc winter sunshine. I admit to feeling smug. We thought winters were always going to be warm and sunny. What a fantastic life in the sun. Each February since then has brought frost and even a bit of snow.

Languedoc snow in February — just to prove we can get snow in the south of France

EDF always save Red Days for February so they can make the most profits out of us as we snuggle up by the log fire. Red Days, you remember are when electricity costs nearly ten times as much as Blue Days.

This year we were prepared for another February cold snap. We had logs up to the eaves. We had gas bottles aplenty. We had a freezer full of ready-prepared meals to save on cooking.

And then the sun came out . . .

And so did the flowers . . .

Languedoc Magnolia in February 2014 — what a sight!

February 2014 has been the kind of south of France winter everybody dreams of.

Mimosa is earlier than ever.

Japonica is in blossom everywhere.

It makes a stunning contrast with the yellow Mimosa.

One week after the Roquebrun Mimosa festival, we went back to walk by the river without my having to worry about hordes of people banging into my painful arm.

At the restaurant Le Petit Nice we had dish of the day. We make a rule to have dish of the day whatever it is. That way you try things you might not normally choose. So, we had sanglier, wild pig, and very nice it was too marinaded in garlic and thyme and bay. We sat outside on the terrace overlooking the River Orb.

February Languedoc lunch — view from Le petit Nice

After lunch, a walk by the river and look what we found –

The mineral rich soil in Roquebrun benefits from the village’s unique position and stays warm. In potager gardens along the river lettuces are growing abundantly in the shelter of the rocky mountains.

Languedoc February mountains — keeping out the winter

I simply love this place!

We found a spot where the river was still; the reflections were superb. You can barely discern where the reflection begins.

I think the best time to see reflections like this is before the trees are in full leaf.

But look at this! Last year I posted on March 14th about the early blossom. It’s earlier still this year. Here are the same trees –

Yes, Languedoc is a good place to be in February.

Novels, Reading, Writing

Book covers. Judging a book by its cover.

February 15, 2014 celia 3 Comments

Book covers have been discussed in other people’s blogs. Usually they poke fun at ridiculous designs. On Google images, you can find pictures of the 10 worst book covers of all time etc. Some of them are so bad they’re hilarious. Mostly they are genre fiction of the kind of inexpensive reads you used to find on a market stall. Self-published books are notorious for having poor quality covers. But what about book cover design on recent highly-rated books from mainstream publishers?

I don’t like some current fashions in book covers. There, I’ve said it. Can’t be plainer than that. Some book cover designs are so awful I wonder what their authors thought about the packaging of their precious months of hard work. Self-published books have some kind of an excuse for having terrible covers, but where mainstream publishers put out our favourite authors’ latest novels in covers that scream second-rate, I get annoyed.

Here are examples of some of the books I’ve read:

What were they thinking putting that cheap red title in letters that look like worn road markings? If I didn’t know Mr Coben’s work I wouldn’t have bought this book. It looks as if it’s about some pervy paedo with a taste for little boys. Yuk!

I have no qualification in design so you’re entitled to tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. But I’m entitled to my opinion and it’s this: current trends in book cover designs can be misleading.

In some cases, very misleading . . .

Oh, Kate I loved this novel, but the cover? It cheapens your plot and characters. It looks like a quasi-erotic historical romance. It is based on historical events, of course, and there is a story of love woven within it, but the novel is so much more. This cover design neglects the hardships endured by your primary female characters. Anyone would think the whole book was about a Russian princess in her red satin gowns waiting for Prince Charming to arrive.

Misleading book covers

Why do they do it? Why do they want to make novels look as if they’re about something else? Here’s more –

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding is contemporary literary fiction. It rips your heart out. I think somebody must have briefed the designer with ‘It’s a haunting tale of . . .’ and the designer stopped listening, didn’t bother to read the book and came up with a book cover that looks like it ought to be a ghost story. Ooh- er – something nasty in the attic, eh? And what is Mrs Danvers doing climbing the steps in this version of a burnt out Manderley?

Speaking of Rebecca, look what they did to a reprint of du Maurier’s classic story.

bad book cover design — tasteless book cover

It’s no better than a card from Moonpig or the Dog’s Doodahs or Funky Pigeon. And what’s with all this red, satin stuff again? Is this another case where the cover designer never read the book?

Won’t readers new to the author be disappointed when they discover the story hasn’t got any red satin glamour about it at all?

Won’t that same disappointment prevent them from buying books by that author ever again?

What is the point of misleading prospective purchasers?

Here’s another classic novel with a badly updated cover.

Everything about this cover is SO wrong. They couldn’t even choose a font that encapsulates the era of the narrative.

I don’t like book covers where they use a scene from the film, either.

This was a good book before they made a film out of it. Why put famous actors’ faces on the cover? To attract a different body of readers? Misleading again?

It seems to me publishers are afraid of what they choose to call literary fiction.

So, stop calling it that then.

A good read is a good read whatever genre you want to put it in.

Here’s a cheap and nasty looking book cover where the story is about cheap and nasty characters.

Layer Cake was given me by friends returning to England. I’d never heard of it and didn’t know it was also a film. The characters are such villains and probably a little stereotypical, but it doesn’t matter because this is one entertaining read. You can’t help rooting for the protagonist. It belongs with other cult reads but with a cover like this it’s only ever going to find its way into the second-hand shop, in my opinion. I get the car and the iron, but what’s with the Humpty Dumpty colours and the primary school layout?

It looks like a Haynes car manual. With an iron. How to repair those small dents in your bodywork . . .

book cover — mixed feelings about this one

One Day I can look at the cover of One Day and see the faces. On other days I see a wobbly candlestick. But then, when the original Batman film poster first appeared I wondered why it had on it an open mouth with strange golden teeth.

Do you remember the one I mean?

Can you see the teeth? Ah, well.

So it might be just me.

What do I know?

Sometimes book covers are spot on even if they are still misleading. Here’s an example of one I think works well.

The cover for 50 Shades does its job well, in my opinion. It makes you wonder about what’s inside. The cover is actually classier than the narrative and that’s where it’s misleading, but the lady made a packet so she must be right.

I like the lone figure in the landscape appearance of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. Not only are they appropriate for the storyline but they are instantly recognisable as another Jack Reacher walking into trouble novel. You know you’re not going to be disappointed. There’s no misleading.

The lone figure image worked well for Carlos Ruiz Zafòn’s Shadow of the Wind. Great book; great cover.

I loved this book. The lone figure is not a Jack Reacher type, standing tall (all 6ft. 5 of him ) ready to get his fists out and sort the problem. The shadowy figure here has his head down; his shoulders slightly stoop. You know you’re going to feel sorry for him or worry about him at some point.

There’s mystery in that fog.

There’s danger in those dark buildings.

The cover is enticing.

The lone figure emblem didn’t work so well second time around.

Or, maybe it did. Maybe it was truthful. It was a paler image for a paler story. I think it was a mistake to stick with the same kind of imagery as the first book.

Do you get disappointed by book covers? Do they sometimes put you off buying a book?

How important do you think book covers really are?

I’d love to read your opinions. Drop me a line and share your thoughts.

France, Languedoc

Mimosa Festival at Roquebrun.

February 11, 2014 celia 1 Comment

Roquebrun holds the Mimosa festival each year on the second Sunday in February. This year the weather was perfect and the crowds turned out for a day in Hérault’s spectacular winter sunshine.

The mountain village of Roquebrun enjoys its own unique climate. Sheltered from the worst of winter winds, the village nestles in a picturesque valley by the river Orb and is a tourist attraction for walkers, picnickers and canoeists all year round.

Mimosa flowers in February when the air is filled with its sweet perfume. At the Mimosa festival, you can buy a bunch to take home, but don’t leave before you’ve tasted the local wines or visited the Mediterranean garden centre which clings to the rock face above the village.

In the afternoon, the parade of decorated floats takes place and children in fancy dress take part in the following procession. People with broken arms (yours truly) are advised to keep away from the crush and let someone else take the photographs.

mimosa festival — competition for best decorated float is wicked!

Himself handles a camera very well from time to time, but I find I need to be specific about the kind of photographs I like to use in my website posts. As soon as my back is turned, he finds something he likes better and i’m sure to find pictures of his favourite things when I look through.

Like this one.

Harley at the Mimosa festival — on himself’s wish list

Bikers love the twisting climbs through Hérault’s river gorges. I get just as much of a thrill standing still and looking at it!

Who wouldn’t feel great after days of grey winter weather getting outdoors into pleasantly warm February sunshine and breathing in all that clean mountain air?

Colour comes back into your life with springtime Mimosa and new almond blossom. So just to please his old lady with the sad arm and wrist, himself took a lovely closeup. The boy done good.

February blossom in Roquebrun — more signs of spring

Thank you for visiting my website. You can find my author Facebook page at Celia Micklefield or tweet me @CMicklefield. Or you can drop me a message here. Your email remains private.

Till next time. Broken bones permitting . . .

Reading

What kids used to read

January 17, 2014 celia Leave a comment

Have you forgotten what kids used to read? I was doing some research for an idea I have for a new novel and I came across a childhood book of mine as I rummaged through old notes and boxes of stuff. I was astounded. My search came to a halt and off I went down the sidetrack. As you might remember from a previous post, it often happens – don’t worry.

I’d won a prize at primary school and in those days prizes most likely would be a book token. I was 8 years old. This is the book I chose.

From the Royal Series by the publisher Ward Lock & Co, this classic children’s book by Robert Louis Stevenson had been our class reader. I loved it. I liked it best when our teacher, Mrs Hall read from it. I wanted to be able, like her, to put expression into the action and read aloud with confidence.

The book cost 4 shillings. I remember my mother being surprised that this was how I wanted to spend my prize token. Treasure Island was really for boys, wasn’t it? Was I sure that this was what I really wanted?

She showed me other books from the same series.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was one I read when I was a bit older. What Katy Did or what she did next didn’t interest me at all. However I did enjoy Little Women when I was around eleven. So, I went home with Treasure Island and read again the story of all those great characters.

Now here’s an interesting thing. Look what Ward Lock had to say on the back cover of the Royal Series and I quote exactly as printed on the dust cover.

Ward Lock 1957 said . . .

‘These stories should be read by all young people, for they are an essential part of our cultural heritage and as significant in the educative process as any subject in the school curriculum.’

Wow! They go on to say,

‘Above all, through an exciting world of imagination, they will gain knowledge of human beings and their ways that would otherwise take a life-time to acquire.’

Blimey! Sounds like they were publishing books for young Martians.

Ward Lock now publishes text books for teachers and students. I wonder what they think about how children’s literature has changed over the years. Or ways it hasn’t changed at all. Here’s a link to their current web site.

Here’s an excerpt from Treasure Island Chapter 4 – punctuation as original –

‘It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet, and I shall never forget how much I was cheered to see the yellow shine in doors and windows; but that, as it proved, was the best of the help we were likely to get in that quarter. For – you would have thought men would have been ashamed of themselves – no soul would consent to return with us to the “Admiral Benbow.” The more we told of our troubles, the more – man, woman, and child – they clung to the shelter of their houses.’

I wonder how many 8 year olds would get their heads round that now?

By the end of Chapter 5 there have already been three deaths: Jim’s father upstairs on his sick bed; Captain Billy in the inn from a stroke after drinking too much rum; and Blind Pew who is trampled by horses.

Murder and mayhem just to get you started. Good guys and bad guys.

In what ways do you think children’s literature has changed?

Please join in. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you for visiting my website.

Writing

2014 for writer in Languedoc. Be careful what you wish for . . .

January 7, 2014 celia Leave a comment

In 2014 writer in Languedoc is having problems already. Writing plans are delayed.

writer tools — learning to type with just one

On December 14th a car hit me from behind and knocked me flying. I don’t remember falling. That part of the experience is a complete blank. I remember my head bouncing on concrete and I ended up lying on my right side cradling my left wrist. Both my head and wrist were hurting like crazy. I knew I was in trouble and lay very still.

Christmas and New Year were non events for me. I was out of it much of the time, spaced on painkillers and sleeping my way through nightmares. But here I am today, typing with one hand a little at a time. My wrist/arm is broken in 2 places. I have a full arm cast which gets in the way and is very heavy. I can’t sit at my keyboard for long because I can’t get in a comfortable position.

Be careful what you wish for

Do you remember my post from the Wicked Stepmother where I planned a crafty coup for time off from kitchen duties?

Oh, how I wished for a break from all that cooking.

Well, look what happened!

A break in two places.

I won’t be able to peel a potato for months.

But I’m a writer. Somewhere I’ll get a story out of it.

Writing

Arse(d) Ends. Great reviews on Amazon

December 3, 2013 celia Leave a comment

Mick’s crowing about his latest reviews for Arse(d) Ends, his first collection of darkly comic stories. I have a soft spot for the old boy, so I thought it might be an idea to give him a little update on MY website.

Arse(d) Ends

I know it’s a weird title. I know some people don’t like it, but Mick does and he’s sticking with it. You can’t deny the title suits the mood of each story. Mick is Celia’s alter ego. Remember him? You can find out more about him here.

One reviewer, Juliet on Amazon.co.uk has said the stories in Arse(d) Ends are ‘ a cross between Alan Bennett and Tales of the Unexpected.’

Wow!

We like that. A lot.

Arse(d) Ends story collection — comedy with a twist

There aren’t many words in the English language ending with the letters a.r.s.e. Mick took six of them as inspiration: Parse, Sparse, Enhearse, Coarse, Unrehearse(d) and Hearse.

These are stories with a twist. Humour with a hidden dagger. (Metaphorically speaking)

Mick says,

‘Even good people have a dark side that comes out every so often.’

Of course, Mick is more highly tuned into the things that are likely to go wrong, so while Celia moves on with her women’s fiction, Mick gets free rein in his own favourite shadowland.

The Dark Side

We’re not talking horror or fantasy or sci-fi. No. It’s more fantastical sic-fic. (I just made that up. Do you like it?)

Real life settings with real life characters but with some very odd situations – just like real life where dark and light and funny and sad can happen all at the same time.

So there are some unusual combinations in Mick’s stories.

Feral cats,

and deadbolts feature in one story in the collection. According to Mick, it’s often these unusual combination of elements that make for the liveliest stories.

In another of Mick’s stories, Ted is sick to death of his wife’s hobby – making Teddy Bears. Who knew Teddy Bears could be so offensive?

A reviewer on Amazon France says there’s something Dahlesque about the tales in Arse(d) Ends. A wonderful compliment, but if you don’t believe me, the review is there for all to see on Amazon. fr. It’s a pity all the reviews don’t show across each platform so that whether a customer is buying from .com., .uk., or any other Amazon site, they’d be able to see all the reviews if they wished.

Here’s a link to the Amazon UK page where you can click to read a sample of the first story.

Alternatively, you can listen to a short reading here.

Should I mention Arse(d) Ends would make a lovely stocking filler?

Oh, go on then.

Arse(d) Ends would make a lovely stocking filler.

Till next time,

Cheers!

Celia

Writing

Gran Lit. Are you serious?

November 14, 2013 celia 4 Comments

How very dare you? You mean, it’s only for Grannies?

Nonsense. Hilary Boyd writes for people not for bookshelves. (My words)

Don’t call it Gran Lit

I’m so heartened by her attitude to publishers’ need to classify fiction into genres.

“Bollocks,” she said when the Gran Lit classification was first suggested to her.

Oh, Hilary, please come to France and be my honorary sister. Who says people don’t want to read about older women?

Not me.

Who says you can’t have romance and sex with older characters?

I didn’t say that.

I’ll tell you who said it: Publishers. To be exact, their readers. You know, the ones who hold back the gates from the likes of aspiring novelists such as you and me. They are the ones who are in charge of the slush pile. They pass on to the people who really make the decisions only the books that excite them.

But they’re all teenagers, darlings. They only know about fantasy: werewolves and vampires and robots and spies and spaceship ghosts and the like. They also read those books with photographs on the front of men (boys) who are built of muscle and iron and their women nearly wear red or black satin. Or else they read titles like Carlotta’s Christmas at the Cup-Cake Café and the cover looks good enough to eat if you’re into sweet and sickly Candy Floss.

See? Fantasy. Do I sound full of sarcasm? Of course I do.

When they’re older, they’ll get a life. In the meantime, I mustn’t be too hard on them. They got it SO wrong, didn’t they?

Who makes up the majority of the reading population?

Boomers.

We’re still here. We’ve had our kids and years of sleepless nights. We’ve looked after ageing parents during their last days. We’ve lost sleep all over again when the grandchildren were unwell. We’ve had our own illnesses and close shaves. We’ve had a life. And, let me repeat myself, we’re still here. And we’ve got a little money to spend on small treats like a damned good story to read.

We’re old enough and wise enough to read all manner of different kinds of books. We have open minds. We’ll read about police detectives, little girls in France, 6ft 5″ ex marines on a one man mission to rid the USA of scum bags, widows with autistic sons, kids in a fight to the death struggle – you understand me – and once in a while, we want to read about people with whom we can identify more closely.

See, the young readers employed by the publishers couldn’t possibly understand that because they haven’t got there yet.

So it’s hats off to Quercus for publishing Hilary Boyd in the first place and having the nous to put her out as an ebook.

The Boomers have spoken. Gran-Lit? Bah, Humbug. It’s L.I.F.E., darlings. People get older. Even publishers. And now they’e having to get wiser, too. Go Hilary.

Edit: 2nd March 2018. I wrote this post in November 2013 when I was living in France. Four weeks later I was hit by a car and my life changed. Now I live in Norfolk, UK. I have CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) and I write more slowly than I used.

Writing

Does your face match your genre?

November 9, 2013 celia Leave a comment

Are authors and their novels comparable with dog owners and their dogs? Do writers look like what they write? If you’re not sure what your genre is could you simply check in the mirror? Would there be a certain look in your eyes that told you what to write? Does the way you smile give you away?

Do authors look like their genres?

Do romantic fiction writers look romantic? Are thriller writers thrilling? What can you say about the way horror writers present themselves? Do they look horrible?

Some of the authors I’ve read.

Here are some famous faces. I’ve read all of them. Not always everything they’ve written, but the following faces have played their part in my growing up with reading for entertainment. I make the distinction here between reading for pleasure and other reading. I have therefore excluded all the authors I’ve read for study and the many classics I’ve enjoyed.

Enid Blyton — when I was a child I read everything she wrote

Does this lady look friendly? Would she be a lovely mummy? Does she look as if she adored children and loved to entertain them with her stories? Or does that strong jaw speak of something heavier than nodding toys and goblins with large ears?

I know more about her now than I did when I was a child, but I think I would have been in awe of a lady who wore that kind of jewellery.

Daphne du Maurier — my teenage favourite

As a teenager I read everything I could get my hands on from the second author in my gallery. Maybe you’ve read a previous post where I explain what I loved so much about this author and the power of her characters.

Only recently have I gone back to catch up with short stories of hers which I missed when I was young.

(Edit 26/04.2014)

I can’t imagine what she’d think about a recent BBC television production of one of her novels where we couldn’t see what was happening in the dark and we couldn’t hear what was being said.

John Wyndham Sci-Fi genre — he introduced me to Sci-Fi

At school we read one of this next author’s books. I loved it and went on to read everything else he’d written too.

His works of science fiction appealed to me because they were about how extraordinary circumstances affected ordinary people. I think they’d feel out of place and dated now, but at the time it was fascinating reading about alien children or plants that captured and ate people.

A new genre had found its way into my reading. I wanted more. I looked for even darker stories and found them with the next author on my list.

Dennis Wheatley horror genre — dark tales of devilish horror

I was hooked. If my mother had realised what I was reading, I think she might have banned this author’s books. I couldn’t get enough. I think I became a Goth before Goths were invented.

His words thrilled me to bits, I suppose much in the same way a different generation of teenagers thrilled at Edward Cullen.

Eric van Lustbader thriller genre — high octane dramas

Here’s where I went next.

I had a husband by now and we had started a family. This author’s books were primarily written for a male audience, but I lapped them up. Well, haven’t I always said how much I love variety in my life? I continued reading action thrillers, horror and science fiction for several years, interspersed with books by the following author.

His books were best sellers. I tried books in a similar genre by female writers of the time, but didn’t rate them as highly.

It was a long time before I trusted female writers again. I discovered a woman who, although she was way before my time, spoke to me in a voice I knew well.

Dorothy Parker — sharp as bitter almonds

Oh boy, I loved her wit, her sarcasm, her pain, her fury. I devoured her short stories. She was clever and scathing and thoroughly magnificent and I wondered what she would have written had she been born in my generation.

John Grisham thriller genre — a new kind of thriller

I can’t include every author I’ve ever read in this post – I’m sticking to the ones I read most. It’s interesting that there are more male authors than female. Maybe that means something: maybe it doesn’t. But I read everything the man on the right put out until the one about an American football team in Italy. And don’t say I objected to him changing genre. He’d already done that before and I loved A Painted House. I would never object to an author writing in a different genre.

Dan Brown thriller genre — I’ve read them all . . .

This is the man who took over. He’s the only author I’ve ever bought in hard back because I didn’t want to wait for the paperback.

I’ve read them ALL.

Does his face say ‘best-seller’?

Oh, yes.

And now it’s time to hear from the girls. Do they look like the kind of books they write?

Martina Cole crime genre — would you argue with her?

I tried reading the woman on the right. I’m including her in my list because I really did want to like her. I wanted to understand what makes her a best-seller. Really, I did. But, I can’t read her. Sorry. I couldn’t ever read J.K.Rowling either, for different reasons. Sometimes you just don’t get on with the way a writer writes. That’s okay. You can’t please everybody and I’m sure Martina isn’t the least bothered that Celia Micklefield doesn’t get on with her books. In this photo, though, she looks like what she writes. Wouldn’t you say?

I found characters to really get behind in this author’s books. She’s great. Love her to bits.

Just bought her latest.

Wouldn’t you want this lady for your sister?

I would.

Val McDermid crime genre — hard as nails?

Another face you wouldn’t want to argue with. If she didn’t write crime fiction, she’d be a butcher. Or a wrestler.

This author’s magic has bewitched many a reader. She probably had her fingers forked behind her back when the photographer took this, though.

My current favourite female writer. Look at her face, those eyes. You just know she’s holding back.

And my current male author?

Ah, Jack Reacher. Say no more.

So where would I fit in with all this?

Three pictures – all me – all different. Which genre do these faces belong to?

I don’t know.

If you do, let me know.

Authors in order of appearance:

Enid Blyton, Daphne du Maurier, John Wyndham, Denis Wheatley, Eric van Lustbader, Harold Robbins, Dorothy Parker, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Martina Cole, Jodi Picoult, Val McDermid, Joanne Harris, Anne Tyler, Lee Child, Celia Micklefield x3.

Feel free to comment. Maybe add your own suggestions to the list. Do you look like what you write?

Till next time,

Wednesday Vine Report

Languedoc Wine Tasting Report 6th November

Aside November 6, 2013 celia Leave a comment

November in Languedoc

November can be a strange month in Languedoc. Weather is changeable. The wind tests itself, blowing a hooley one day, stroking you the next. But not cold yet. No. That comes later. November is often humid when the Marin comes from the south and brings some dirty weather, grey and grotty.

Languedoc vines November — vines in November

The vines are not pretty. But you might get lucky and find some bunches left behind after the harvest. They are often right at the bottom of the plants where the machines have missed.

It’s good walking weather, though, and there are plenty of routes to keep the ramblers happy.

Hang on a minute. Didn’t this used to be the Vine Report on Wednesdays?

It did. But the vines are empty now. They’re getting ready to go to sleep. In some vineyards, the growers have already begun the mammoth hand-pruning work.

You can see their white vans when you’re out walking the hills.

However, as promised, my route has taken me not to the great outdoors, but to a selection of venues for wine tasting. So it isn’t the Wednesday Vine report now – it’s the Wine Tasting Report.

There’s a lot of wine tasting to be done in Languedoc. You could spend a lifetime and still have only scratched the surface.

On his 101 Books to Read, writer Robert Bruce is currently reading book #63 on the Times Magazine 100 greatest novels list. His blog is really popular and rightly so. He reviews the books as he reads them, but his most popular posts are the ones where he gets sidetracked a little. Don’t we all get sidetracked? That’s why I call my blog page Random Thoughts.

Robert’s ambition is achievable. You can read 101 books. I don’t know what he’ll do when he’s finished the Times list. Maybe he’ll start another list, but what I’m getting at in my roundabout way is I could never taste all the wines there are sitting waiting for me out there. I could kill myself trying or end up in some rehab clinic. So, my ambition must be achievable.

Wine tasting in my own back yard

This is where I’m starting. It makes sense. Everybody and his aunty makes wine in my neck of the woods, so I won’t have to travel far.

Languedoc wine cooperative — vats, boxes and bottles

This looks like Happy Land to me.

Languedoc wine discussion — wine tasting gets serious!

Himself and a friend enjoy discussing what they like best in a wine.

We’re not experts. We can’t tell you the finer points of winemaking and tasting. But we know what we like and what we would buy to take home and give to our dinner guests.

Languedoc wine has come a long way from the cheap plonk that might have been better on your fish and chips. Some of this stuff is superb. So, we have made it our business to visit Domaines and cooperatives where we haven’t visited already and taste their wines. (Rubs hands with glee.)

Vinopolis in Florensac is five minutes away. Why haven’t we been there before? Don’t people often tend to overlook what is right there on their doorstep? We’d heard about it from friends who use the restaurant there. What a great idea, huh? A lunch time venue where you can get great food and try wine from the cellar before you buy cartons to take home.

We tasted several wines from their fabulous range and because the day was warm we decided to stay with the whites.

One of the biggest surprises for me was their Muscat. This is a wine I usually overlook, having been disappointed before on account of it being too thin and sweet for my taste.

Not so. I loved it. It had much more depth than I was expecting – a really fruity taste that made your whole mouth sing. We bought 6 to take home to give a good old try out.

We also bought their Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc which, as you can see from the lable on the right has won the gold medallion at the Paris nationals.

The Rébus and the bottle of petit grain came from the vigneron at Bessan, one of our favourite places to sample.

And so, there is much to look forward to this coming season. I look forward to posting again.

Cheers!

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November in Languedoc

Hang on a minute. Didn’t this used to be the Vine Report on Wednesdays?

Wine tasting in my own back yard

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write from the heart