update amazon.com sold out of CUT SHORT last month just one week after restocking. 500 copies on their way. Might be best to preorder before they sell out again.
EURO CRIME
CUT SHORT one of a reviewer's
TOP 5 READS of 2009
http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/Top_2009_Reads.html
and two new reviews this week:
http://noirjournal.typepad.com/
http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/
and another 5 star review on amazon.co.uk
Excellent, 9 Feb 2010
By
Cormac Mac "Crime king" (London) - See all my reviews
Cut Short is an excellent first novel. It was recommended to me by a friend who loves the Karl Kane series of books by crime writer Sam Millar. I wasn't disappointed. Steel is a name you will be hearing more of in the future. Buy this book. Steal it. Whatever you do, read it.
Extract: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3Ixmq3OyA
plus
CUT SHORT one of many titles included in 4 for 3 offer on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Short-Geraldine-Steel-No/dp/1842432710/
A good week!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Neighborhood
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Hello Neighbors! How is everyone is doing on Blogland Lane?
.
.
.Have you found the place that makes fresh lobster rolls?
.
.
.
And the Hardware Store where advice on anything is always free.
.
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How about our fantastic Public Market?
.
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And the Wine Shop on the corner?
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And the Library?
.
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And the Ice Cream Shop on hot summer nights?
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I love living here.
And the best part of all is my neighbors.....
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Bit of Real World-Sorry
I don't like to post real world stuff here, but I need to let you know I've been one two three punched with sick family, sick me, sick animals and weather. Ok, that might be four.
So-I've got a couple of requests pending for residents-hope to get to it next week.
I owe Marianne my art box and I feel awful about that and my own is at the post office-I haven't left my home it two weeks (via car-I did step outside a couple of days ago for the first time). At times my living conditions have been quite primitive and not being able to bend over has added a unique twist to several activities of daily living.
Yes, some of it was serious, a critter or two hasn't made it and I still can't walk very well. But I will get better and I will be back.
We'll push out our art showing to be fair to Marianne-details to follow. In the meantime, keep the faith and keep your humor-sometimes that is all we have to pull us through.
So-I've got a couple of requests pending for residents-hope to get to it next week.
I owe Marianne my art box and I feel awful about that and my own is at the post office-I haven't left my home it two weeks (via car-I did step outside a couple of days ago for the first time). At times my living conditions have been quite primitive and not being able to bend over has added a unique twist to several activities of daily living.
Yes, some of it was serious, a critter or two hasn't made it and I still can't walk very well. But I will get better and I will be back.
We'll push out our art showing to be fair to Marianne-details to follow. In the meantime, keep the faith and keep your humor-sometimes that is all we have to pull us through.
Friday, February 5, 2010
party alert!
Wow. Everyone here is so creative! I just dropped by to see if anyone fancied making their way up to my little purple house on the hill overlooking the sea, for a glass of wine. Just chilling out after a hectic week, working and looking at the final edits for ROAD CLOSED which will be published in June, so expect a party here!
It's lucky CUT SHORT sold out again so book signing had to stop for a while, otherwise I really wouldn't have had time to sleep!
CUT SHORT is now back in the shops again, and amazon have restocked, so I'll be off again soon. First stop, talking to a local book club this week, then it's a local literary festival on the 20th after which the bookstore signings and interviews start up again. I must get my edits done. My deadline to get it all off to my publisher is the 20th.
After that, I'll be working on book 3 which is due out in 2011. It sounds like a long way off, but it's no time at all to get a book out...
So I hope you'll accept my apologies for not posting and commenting very much here. Not lazy. Busy.
It's good to be back on Blogland Lane - in my slippers - and fleecy dressing gown - watching the sunset with my neighbours -
New review of CUT SHORT on Noir Journal http://noirjournal.typepad.com/noir-journal/
It's lucky CUT SHORT sold out again so book signing had to stop for a while, otherwise I really wouldn't have had time to sleep!
CUT SHORT is now back in the shops again, and amazon have restocked, so I'll be off again soon. First stop, talking to a local book club this week, then it's a local literary festival on the 20th after which the bookstore signings and interviews start up again. I must get my edits done. My deadline to get it all off to my publisher is the 20th.
After that, I'll be working on book 3 which is due out in 2011. It sounds like a long way off, but it's no time at all to get a book out...
So I hope you'll accept my apologies for not posting and commenting very much here. Not lazy. Busy.
It's good to be back on Blogland Lane - in my slippers - and fleecy dressing gown - watching the sunset with my neighbours -
New review of CUT SHORT on Noir Journal http://noirjournal.typepad.com/noir-journal/
Thursday, February 4, 2010
For Renee & Jacquie
.Don't ask me how it can be that love is able to take root just like that, across the miles, so the hearts of many now mourn for the heart of one, a woman named Renee in Winnipeg, who has lost her Mother, at a time when she and her sister Jacquie are being tested every which way already.
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The following poem is for my beloved friend Renee, Jacquie, and their families. It is one of my earliest poems, written just after my friend Willa died and just as I came to understand the power of love.
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Astonishment
.
If I were dying tonight,
Lying in my bed with plastic tubes and half-filled bottles
on the small table nearby
and bedpans and oxygen there to diminish any shame,
Perhaps forcing my breaths
with the strength of a desperate parent
who implausibly and frantically lifts two tons
of mangled steel off a broken daughter—
If I were dying tonight and I wished to tell you
What will astonish you,
I would tell you this:
.
Be sure to notice white flowers in the moonlight,
Because the softened glow is like no other.
.
Appreciate the lingering scent of garlic on your fingers,
Because healing is possible from that alone.
.
Tell the truth when it matters least
Because then you will be sure there is another honest person in the world.
,
Always spend the extra money for dimmers
Because light that builds in intensity and then gently fades is
good for your spirit.
.
Over and over, ask yourself, “What is the lesson here?”
Because then you will forever be a student and never a victim
.
Never believe for a moment that the world is going to hell
Because you only need to love outside yourself to know better.
.
If I were dying tonight, I would tell you all this
Because astonishment is brethren to curiosity,
Which leads to observation,
And dedication,
And finally appreciation.
.
If I were dying tonight, perhaps there would only be minutes,
Perhaps only seconds,
To tell you that I will leave with all the love
I have ever felt, and ever given.
I will take it all with me, tucked under my angel wing—
The accumulation of grace from every breath I have ever taken.
.
Here’s what’s astonishing: I will also leave all that love behind,
It will be embedded in my daughter’s stunning light and my partner’s quiet
courage,
It will guide my friends and coworkers when the layoff comes.
My brother will remember how I tried to do my share
And Joey will find someone else like me to help him tame his fears.
Even the woman at the grocery store that day I let her go ahead of me—
will remember how we were both comforted from that simple act.
.
If I were dying tonight, I would also tell you
That within, under, because of, and from the little moments
Comes all the wonder and astonishment you could ever hope for.
The little moments that aren’t so little.
I would tell you to let those moments astonish you.
I would tell you this because it is all you need to know.
Astonishment
.
If I were dying tonight,
Lying in my bed with plastic tubes and half-filled bottles
on the small table nearby
and bedpans and oxygen there to diminish any shame,
Perhaps forcing my breaths
with the strength of a desperate parent
who implausibly and frantically lifts two tons
of mangled steel off a broken daughter—
If I were dying tonight and I wished to tell you
What will astonish you,
I would tell you this:
.
Be sure to notice white flowers in the moonlight,
Because the softened glow is like no other.
.
Appreciate the lingering scent of garlic on your fingers,
Because healing is possible from that alone.
.
Tell the truth when it matters least
Because then you will be sure there is another honest person in the world.
,
Always spend the extra money for dimmers
Because light that builds in intensity and then gently fades is
good for your spirit.
.
Over and over, ask yourself, “What is the lesson here?”
Because then you will forever be a student and never a victim
.
Never believe for a moment that the world is going to hell
Because you only need to love outside yourself to know better.
.
If I were dying tonight, I would tell you all this
Because astonishment is brethren to curiosity,
Which leads to observation,
And dedication,
And finally appreciation.
.
If I were dying tonight, perhaps there would only be minutes,
Perhaps only seconds,
To tell you that I will leave with all the love
I have ever felt, and ever given.
I will take it all with me, tucked under my angel wing—
The accumulation of grace from every breath I have ever taken.
.
Here’s what’s astonishing: I will also leave all that love behind,
It will be embedded in my daughter’s stunning light and my partner’s quiet
courage,
It will guide my friends and coworkers when the layoff comes.
My brother will remember how I tried to do my share
And Joey will find someone else like me to help him tame his fears.
Even the woman at the grocery store that day I let her go ahead of me—
will remember how we were both comforted from that simple act.
.
If I were dying tonight, I would also tell you
That within, under, because of, and from the little moments
Comes all the wonder and astonishment you could ever hope for.
The little moments that aren’t so little.
I would tell you to let those moments astonish you.
I would tell you this because it is all you need to know.
.
Love,
kj
Monday, February 1, 2010
Using My Quiet Time
I've been snuggling in and staying warm and dry. I've been using up old yarn and have been happily at work making curly scarves. Some are more successful than others. The pattern and yarn choice makes all the difference.
The coasters above are a bonus. I had just enough Louise Harding Nautical cotton leftover from a purse project to make these sweet little coasters. If you knit or crochet and have never used this particular yarn, I highly recommend it.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The State of Maine
A freeze is coming. I can tell. When my left knee is dialing the chemist's for prescription refill all on its own, it's time to break out the long underwear.
Not for me, of course. I have my own personal summer to keep me warm. For my partner, the one with three percent body fat. Eventually, I know she'll be tired of sleeping in hat and mittens.
A little hot tea, a little cuddle with the human furnace, and all is well again.
"Jennie? are you almost ready? We really should have left ten minutes ago. And it's yourfamily after all..."
No answer, but I can hear the hangers sliding back and forth in the closet. Best not to interrupt, even though I know I'm the one who will get the over-the-spectacles glances from her father for making us late.
Outside the gray sky is low enough to touch. I hear a drip-drop-drip every few minutes as the last of this morning's rain finds its zig-zag way to the downspouts. Night rain is better. That sound is so soothing for falling asleep. Better than Ambien.
"Jennie! Any time soon?" I venture again.
Silence for a moment, I know she is rolling her eyes at me, then, "You're not hel-ping..." she sing-songs, "and relax, we won't be late, I promise. Don't we always make it on time?"
She's right, of course, but I'm driving.
Not for me, of course. I have my own personal summer to keep me warm. For my partner, the one with three percent body fat. Eventually, I know she'll be tired of sleeping in hat and mittens.
A little hot tea, a little cuddle with the human furnace, and all is well again.
"Jennie? are you almost ready? We really should have left ten minutes ago. And it's yourfamily after all..."
No answer, but I can hear the hangers sliding back and forth in the closet. Best not to interrupt, even though I know I'm the one who will get the over-the-spectacles glances from her father for making us late.
Outside the gray sky is low enough to touch. I hear a drip-drop-drip every few minutes as the last of this morning's rain finds its zig-zag way to the downspouts. Night rain is better. That sound is so soothing for falling asleep. Better than Ambien.
"Jennie! Any time soon?" I venture again.
Silence for a moment, I know she is rolling her eyes at me, then, "You're not hel-ping..." she sing-songs, "and relax, we won't be late, I promise. Don't we always make it on time?"
She's right, of course, but I'm driving.
And I hate family weddings. I have to spend so much time being...nice. An unnatural state for me. Not that I am mean. I don't think I am, anyway, just bristly. Prickly. Walking through the world with my elbows out. Here in Maine, that's not really so unusual. If you've never heard this before, take my word: Never ask a Maine native for directions. Oh, we'll give them to you, all right, and they may even get you where you are going. But if they do, it's probably by accident. Really, I belong here.
So, the wedding. When it's family, it's supposed to be different. God help me, I do love these people, it's just that I'd rather spend my time with Jennie...or nobody. Small talk has never been my forte, and I am reliably informed that I do a piss-poor job at it. If this were a celebration for friends, or acquaintances, we could make an appearance, then get the hell out of there.
Today, the wedding is Jennie's baby brother, David's, and since I actually kinda like the guy, I have decided to be on my best behavior. Whatever that is. I'm pretty sure it doesn't start out with me nagging Jennie to get it in gear so we can go. Anyway, she's right, we'll be there in plenty of time. Hey, I should be grateful, right? If we had left when I was ready, that would be fifteen more minutes meaningless conversation to smile through. Things are looking up already.
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