Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino.

If you have any interest in far eastern literature you might be interested to read my book review for Natsuo Kirino's book, Grotesque. Kirino previously scored a big success with the previous book "Out".

On that page you will also find an interesting and informative video reviewing half a dozen modern Japanese books which makes good viewing.

You can read that review and see the video by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Ashes Cricket is Back - Again!

There will be many bleary eyes to be seen in England today, including those belonging to yours truly, as the Ashes series between Australia and England got underway at the Gabba in Brisbane at midnight last night, UK time.

Live broadcasts went on throughout the night and many people followed the series for as long as they could remain awake, many tucked up in bed, live radio commentary streaming into their ears, even after they had finally fallen asleep.

Australia closed on 273 for 8 which I reckon is a reasonable result for them, especially after they had earlier been 132 for 6, before a century stand between Haddin and Johnson rescued the situation.

The enfant terrible Stuart Broad did the business once again, much to the local newspaper’s chagrin, taking 5 for 65.

Now it all depends on how England can bat tomorrow, after that is, mopping up the Australian tail. A great start to what promises to be an incredibly exciting series.

Remember, England have not won at Brisbane since 1986. Could that all be about to change? We shall see!

And talking of the Ashes, this gives me the ideal moment to reprise the article I wrote on the series in 2007, and there is also film on that page of a Freddie Flintoff hat trick, (not against Australia) so if you would like to see that please go here now.

Thanks for visiting my pages,

Have fun

DC. 

The Perils of Sending Books in the Mail

Anyone who runs any kind of mail order business, regardless of whether you are Amazon, or auntie Mimi who sells the odd unwanted present on ebay, we all know how annoying and frustrating it can be when goods go missing in the mail.

I mean have you ever tried to make a claim against the postal authorities for compensation when that happens?

Jeez!! Talk about time wasting and red tape - these guys could write a dissertation on it, and probably have!

But this missing book complaint was all a wee bit different, read more here

Bestselling Olly Murs Annual

The best selling pop star Olly Murs now has a bestselling book too as here at David Carter Towers the Olly Murs official annual (2014) is outselling all other annuals including even that of One Direction.

We still have a few copies left and note that they are cheaper here than in our other online stores so if you would like a copy then what are you waiting for? Go here right now for more info on that.

Thanks for looking.

How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark

There are thousands of books out there for budding writers that purport to show how to write your great novel. This book is somewhat different in that it endeavors to show you how NOT to write your novel, or novil, as was first written here.

The book lists two hundred mistakes to avoid at all costs, and if you are struggling to write a good book, then this list may well save you an awful lot of grief.

It is a well known fact that sex scenes are amongst the hardest to write, and boy, that sure is true! Reading some of the bungled attempts featured in this book and I can well believe it. I am not certain whether the “bad writing” featured in this guide is real or simply made up, but of one thing I am certain, some of the bad sex is so toe-curlingly awful, it becomes hugely amusing. It's enough to put one off sex, or at least writing about it, forever. Continue reading more about that here

Book Reviewers Wanted

For New British Crime Fiction

Hey there - wherever you may be. If you are interested in crime fiction and you maybe have a little time on your hands, would you be interested in reading my new book The Sound of Sirens, with a view to writing and placing a review on Amazon?

If so, just let me know if you have written any previous reviews and where I can see them, and if we think we can do somethiing together, I'll send you a copy of the book - either a PDF or a paperback and we'll take it from there.

If you write crime fiction maybe you'd be interested in sending me your book in exchange, then do let me know, and again we'll see if we can work something out betwen us.

Please use the contact form coming up in a sec.

or if you want to check out my new book The Sound of Sirens, you can do that here

Thanks for reading and for your consideration,

best wishes,

David C

Sunday November 10th 2013 and it's Remembrance day today.

Took these photos in the sunshine at the War memorial in New Milton, Hampshire. See here for that

A good turnout too. Well done everybody!!

PS: This is my first blog post on my new website so it's something of a guinea pig of a blogpost.

Will it make it out into the blogosphere?

Hope so,

Have fun,

David C