It’s Just Link-tastic

Since I know you’ll be missing Sarah’s wonderful link round-ups, here’s a rather pathetic version of my own. A grab-bag of miscellaneous stuff that I happened to come across over the last couple of days.

First of all, from the Glasgow Herald, an article about writers being paid not to write:

Serendipitously, since my first blog entry in the early hours of yesterday morning, I’ve had several e-mails promising me money if I don’t post any more. As you can see, I refused (actually, I’m just holding out for more cash).

Conan Doyle was cruel to his daughter and didn’t let her come home from school for Christmas.

And this is probably old news but here’s Edinburgh’s bid to become the first World City of literature, and a number of crime writers comment on the idea.

In a very interesting article, Patricia Cornwell talks to the Sunday Herald about Walter Sickert, risk-taking, her childhood and her new book Trace.

High above Central Park, Patricia Cornwell is explaining exactly how her home-made blowgun works. “What I used to have inside the handle, when you pulled it out, was a skewer that you could stab a person with,” she says with a cheerful matter-of-factness.

Note to self: decline any gold-embossed invitations from Casa Cornwell.

she is curious to see how readers will react to Trace, which dispenses with the usual back story and exposition, and more importantly, the bodies.

“Wouldn’t it be a great challenge to write a crime novel where you don’t really see a killing happen on the page, and see if I can still hold everybody’s attention?” she wondered. “Because that’s what it’s really like – if you were working a crime, it’s happened before you get there; the chances are you don’t have people dying left, right and centre the whole time you’re investigating it.”

J K Rowling reveals that Harry Potter’s arrogant teacher Gilderoy Lockhart (played by Kenneth Branagh) was based on her ex-husband

‘You might think it was mean of me to depict him as Gilderoy but you can rest assured he will never, ever guess’.

Well, he probably will now you’ve blabbed all to the Scottish Sunday Mail, hen.

This doesn’t sound quite right, but there’s a new book out called The Humor of Kierkegaard: An Anthology

“Marry and you will regret it. Do not marry, and you will also regret it… Laugh at the stupidities of the world, and you will regret it; weep over them, and you will also regret it. Hang yourself, and you will regret it. Do not hang yourself, and you will also regret it… This, gentlemen, is the quintessence of all the wisdom of life.”

He’s a laugh a minute, old Kierke.

Australian crime writer Jon Cleary is giving up crime after 54 books. Well, he is 87, he deserves a nice leisurely retirement.

Marilyn Stasio’s column in the New York Times this week is called Death Takes A Holiday and it’s a fascinating crime fiction tour around the world.

And something from one of my favourite humour columnists and mystery writers Steve Brewer

And just for fun, some odd news stories. This one is presumably Happy Ever Afterlife. It’s about a couple who were married after the groom-to-be shot the bride-to-be dead, and then killed himself (yes, that’s after). I’m still mulling over this quote:

“This does not mean the relationship has irretrievably broken down.”

And I’m sorry, but I sometimes visit the bathroom to escape from this sort of thing

The citizens of Amsterdam may now take counsel of talking toilets that expound on the perils of smoking or the futility of war and berate them on hygiene and cleanliness

And no serious round up of the press would be complete without something from the National Enquirer. Apprently, money won’t make us happy but more sex will.

“they found that those who have sex are usually in a much better mood than those who don’t.”

I wonder how much they got paid to do this research…

“But they also discovered that making love is so important to happiness that sleeping with a lover once a week instead of once a month is equal to the bliss you get from being given $50,000.”

Bugger that. Give me $50K and I’ll show you blissful.

And a heartwarming story of theft. Some thieves in Canada nicked 50,000 cans of beer. But there’s a problem:

“They can’t sell it anywhere in Canada without giving away the immediate fact that it’s been stolen… So we have crooks stuck with 50,000 plus cans of beer that basically they can’t fence.”

Is that actually a problem? I’m sure the thieves can come up with some other way to get rid of the evidence. Oh wait, they’ve apparently already thought of it:

“Very little of the stolen beer has been found. Four cans, three of them empty, were found in various parts of the New Brunswick province”

Four cans? Come on guys, it’s going to take a long time to dispose of the evidence at that rate.

And as for this one about a man caught watching porn in his car:

Police, who pulled up behind Gainey at an intersection, said the movie was playing on screens set into the passenger-side sun visor and the car’s headrests. Gainey, who was sentenced Friday, pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor public display of sexual material.

Well, I think personally I’d be more worried about whether he had an automatic or a stick shift and thus where his hands were…