October 30, 2013

IDEAS FOR THAT X-TRA SPECIAL OUTFIT? MAYBE NOT ...



Dear readers, this week, X is for X-TRA SPECIAL OUTFITS? ERR, MAYBE NOT ...


Tina Turner (above) - and the bride wore green ...

Katie Price & Peter André:

Emma Thompson & Kenneth Branagh:

Model Mary Charteris:

Rolling Stone Bill Wyman:

Banarama:

And, finally, not forgetting outfits for Hallowe'en!


ANY THOUGHTS?

And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who visited or commented.

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

XOXO NORA & LOLA:)

October 23, 2013

WESTERNS - SHOT IN SPAIN ...


Drive a few miles north of Almería here in Spain and things start to look oddly familiar. 

The Tabernas Desert (below) is genuine cowboy country: dusty with barren hills:


Remember how hot and dusty Lee van Cleef and Clint Eastwood looked in A Fistful of Dollars: 

and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

These movies were filmed here, along with many others. This was where Sergio Leone shot his Spaghetti Westerns.


As you approach the area, you suddenly see a "real" Far-West town, like those in the movies. There's an old wooden church, a saloon, a barber’s, a blacksmith’s, even Indian teepees outside of town. It's one of the theme parks in Tabernas, less than an hour's drive from Almería.





Dear readers, this week, ‘W’ IS FOR *W*ESTERNS ... shot in Spain (and elsewhere!)

The "Spaghetti" Westerns listed above and these below are reckoned to be among the all-time greats – do you agree?

Unforgiven (1992)

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Ride with the Devil (1999)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Ride the High Country (1962)

The Man from Laramie (1955)

Red River (1948)

High Noon (1952)

Stagecoach (1939)

3.10 to Yuma (1957)

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WESTERN OF ALL TIME?

And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who visited or commented.
Enjoy!

XOXO NORA & LOLA:)

October 16, 2013

VICTIMS & VILLAINS IN FICTION ...








                       Victim or Villain: who's your favourite fiction character?   

Ever wondered what happened to that childhood/teenage friend of yours? The one who suddenly wanted nothing more to do with you? Maybe you’ve since made contact at a school reunion or via Facebook or Friends Reunited? Or maybe you simply haven’t dared – scared of the reason? 

My latest crime thriller, Retribution – next in the series featuring the 33 year-old journalist, Alice Myers from Soul Stealer - deals precisely with this dilemma. She can’t understand why her closest friend, Ellie, suddenly broke contact years ago in the New Forest, Hampshire. 
Is Alice to blame? In unravelling the mystery of Ellie’s unexpected death and the subsequent murders together with DI Neil Hunter, Alice unearths secrets and confronts truths she can hardly believe - with enough red herrings for a Spanish fishing fleet!  
                                                       

I’m often asked about my novels. About how much of me and my personal experience goes into them. To give a brief but balanced answer: ‘yes and no’. Well, I did say brief! Yes, because, inevitably, those you meet do influence you. No, because the characters eventually created are composites.

As for authors who sell in the millions, do they portray themselves as they are or would like to be? Take the late Stieg Larsson (The Millennium Trilogy). His protagonist, Blomquist, is described as a good-looking, campaign magazine journalist attractive to women. Larsson was also a campaign magazine journalist. As for his looks, peep at his image on any back cover. Go figure! 

The names for characters have to be handled with real care, too. Take names like Beckham, Blair or Ramsay. Give any one to a quiet, self-effacing character and all the connotations take over. And in your mind’s eye, all you’ll see is Beckham/ Blair/Ramsay as, in psychologists’ jargon, feelings of transference take over. 

Which brings me on to that old chestnut: writer’s block. Here I’m reminded of (Raymond) Chandler’s Law: When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.” Good grief! How did he manage to get away with it?

Finally and back to Retribution, as Alice peels back the layers of deception, she finds nobody is above suspicion. And as for the victim and villain … Well, you really don’t want me to give away the ending, do you?!

For more on the novel (which is selling really well) and photos of the places referred to in it, click here for the August Newsletter. Here you'll find further details of background, inspiration and locations allowing you to "live" the drama – as experienced by Alice and “seen” through her eyes ...




VICTIM OR VILLAIN: WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE FICTION CHARACTER?










As you know, all profits from the sale of my novels, The De Clerambault Code, Soul Stealer and Retribution go to the charity Cudeca - see sidebar opposite (www.cudeca.org)).


See sidebar or click HERE (Amazon UK)HERE (Amazon.com) and HERE (Goodreads) for reviews and further shameless self-promotion! Thanks so much for your support!

Enjoy!

Nora

October 9, 2013

TRAVEL IDEAS ...







Dear readers, this week *U* IS FOR *U*NUSUAL TRAVEL IDEAS  ...

Fancy any of these on your travels? Whether for a desert island or beach holiday (eg on the Costa del Sol, Spain, above) or city travel below:

London:

Paris:

New York:

Sydney:

A slanket:

Face refresher post-travel: help!
Sauna anyone?
Feel like a nap?
Or a Mosquito mesh:



Convertible dress, anyone?



Or these? Err ...
Or duvet suits:

Or a face-kini -ugh
Fan-jacket?
Or a washing machine?

WHAT ARE YOUR TRAVEL ESSENTIALS?

And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who visited or commented.
Enjoy!
XOXO NORA & LOLA:)