A sound check first

 

I wonder if people who comment on social media show their true colours there or if they are simply posturing - trying to be the one who says the most outrageous thing?

Back in the day, we had newspapers who actually reported news. They were read and the articles were discussed, usually, among people who knew each other. Today newspapers have no news to report as it is all broadcast 24 hours a day on tv and via our phones, so the editors resort to promoting dispute wherever they can. This weekend newspapers, via social media,  are making hay out of the BBC changes with tennis commentators. 

Who knew there was such huge disagreement over who the public want to commentate on their tennis matches? Personally I like Andrew Castle. His voice is pleasantly suited to the job and he talks equally about the tennis  and the people watching.  This last week I have missed him telling me who the camera was focussing on in the crowd because I recognised very few of them.

The American crew (McEnroe, Austin) came in for huge criticism for their nasal tones and their bias towards American players to the detriment of the British contestants.  Why they approached Eugenie Bouchard I shall never know except that she represents Canada and that will persuade Canada to buy the rights to showing tv coverage there, as American commentators help sell to America. 

Then there are the people who want Sue Barker to return. Much loved as she is, Sue was born in 1956 and is now 70.  There is much work involved in keeping up with players and their losses and wins and Sue deserves to enjoy her retirement. 

And then there is Andre Agassi. A great player, certainly and knowledgeable about tennis and I am sure his books are very readable but   - and it is a huge but - a speaker he is not. It is hard to understand the closed mouth delivery, the monotone level, and initially he talked over the play on the court below. He was not popular. 

Where the Wimbledon committee go after this is difficult to predict. Cultivate home-grown commentators? Bring on some of the younger British ex-players such as Anne Keothavong? She does well. Give them a sound check first and see if they can actually commentate  sensibly and most importantly, that their voices are pleasant to listen to for three hours at a time. That would be a good idea. 

Round up

I'm blogging over at http://lindsaysromantics.blogspot.com/ today. If you don't know the blog, it's worth a visit. I added my piece on Historical Belles and Beaus
on the 22nd but forgot to mention it here!


Last week dh and I took a picnic over to Corbridge and walked up to the place I gave my heroine Alina as home - Aydon Castle. It looked pretty good in the blazing sunshine and I couldn't resist a few pictures.


In places so old there have been so many changes down the centuries that it is hard to be sure exactly what the place would have been like in Alina's day. The lovely blocked up window might have been part of the guest quarters, yet from the other side of the wall, you receive a different impression.
The door on the left steps straight in to the cow byre below the kitchen. The door into the sunlight leads to a narrow path above the ravine that caused Harry such trouble. I spend hours contemplating the old stones and how they are arranged and it never fails to give me ideas about stories, what might have taken places there so long ago.

But life calls today. There's a bit of necessary food shopping to do, compost* to buy for houseplant change overs, garden rubbish to take to the waste recycling and then a session in the gym.
(*Is compost the word I want? If it isn't, I can't think of the correct one!) None of the tasks will take us far from home, then it will be back for lunch and and afternoon in front of the tv for Wimbledon. Federer and Nadal in one day! Phew!

Too busy!

Too much, I cry; too much! There's fabulous weather

begging me to go for walks, my garden to enjoy, people to see, Wimbledon (and if you are of the football persuasion, World Cup) to watch.

I signed a contract last week with Sapphire Blue publishing for my book Shadows, so e-mails are whizzing back and forth on that topic. Shadows has changed since it's brief exposure with the now defunct Triskelion. I've rewritten it from beginning to end and added 20,000 to improve the characterisation and motivation of the story. It's definitely a much better book than it was.

At the same time I'm making new contacts through the electronic world, receiving reviews for my last book and joining new blog groups. If you haven't discovered it yet, do have a peek at Historical Belles and Beaus. (The longer I look at that last word, the more I am tempted to write it as Beaux. And if you hurry, my post on Anne Boleyn is the most recent).

As for my poor old wip, editing has stalled at around Chapter 16.

This is the third day in a row that I've not got to it and I'm feeling so guilty. I also know that I have only a certain number of days before I go on holiday and I'd hoped to have it finished before then so that I could settle down and write - ha! ha! - wait for it! a romance for the Mills & Boon competition that kicks off around September.

Mills and Boon and I do not gell. I am continually told in rejection letters that (though my writing is fine etc) I don't have enough internal conflict.

I think because my Matho story is at an end (except for the editing, which OK, demands a lot of layering and thought) my subconcious is sort of freewheeling, if I can put it like that. It noted the M&B competition, and has been offering me tantalising bits of plot that I could use if I was willing to put in the time and energy - and if I think I have a better understanding of what they want when they talk about internal conflict. To be frank, initially I used to think of it as whingeing. Heroine wrings hands and wonders what to do in difficult situation. Now I have learned it is far more than that, and I think I could actually manage it now. It also seemed an ideal new venture to think about while I'm relaxing in France.

The pic shows Hexham market place on a brilliant sunny day. The close up is one of the more intriguing memorials around Hexham. No explanation. But why would someone go to the expense of having a memorial stone carved that says only Blood and Fire?

Must go - the Queen is arriving at Wimbledon! Must watch!

People's Book Prize and Grunters

Passed this beautiful lady and her bashful foal on a walk the other day. Yes, those are buttercups and daisies beneath their hooves.

I heard of something called The People's Book Prize yesterday. The website is here. As far as I can tell it applies to the UK only but I could be wrong on that as I have not read all the small print. I would have copied it here, but I can no longer get the blog to accept chunks copied from other sites.

I must admit I am wary of any site that offers something dependent on The Public Vote because that is so obviously open to bias, bribery and corruption! If you have a big family with an army of cousins, or a big office or university department to vote for you, it must be a huge advantage over the shy, retiring author who lives alone. I may be cynical, but hoping that sheer merit will get you noticed seems a faint hope these days. And yet the impossible does happen. Either way, it will be interesting to watch and see what happens.

And yeah! Wimbledon has announced that it will cut down on grunters and moaners! Persistent grunters will forfeit points, games, even matches. There is a list of grunters and their decibel output here The women seem to grunt far louder than the men. Navratilova says it is done to cover the sound of the ball striking the ground, as that gives away a good deal of information about the amount of spin on the ball. So yes, in my view, that is a form of cheating. And my ears will be so pleased to have those wailing grunts assaulting them no longer