Tag Archives: science fiction

Diet is working!

My pants don’t fit anymore, as in falling down. O-O. Still, this is a good thing. The diet is working really well for me and cutting out the starchy foods has made me feel a lot better. I am not hungry, or irritable and I am also not terrible active, yet the weight is falling by the day. Getting on the scales in the morning is now a joyful experience.

Yes, I am supplementing with vitamins. I take selenium, zinc and probiotic capsules. I am also drinking watered down grapefruit juice for vitamin C and eating fruit. I find I really like the coconut Silk as a milk substitute in my coffee, but it is becoming more difficult to get. Still, there is one store in the nearest city stocking it. Yay. Cheese is a protein, so fine in moderation and full of calcium. Oh, and I am allowed one square of dark chocholate a day if I feel the need. I am not a chocholate fan, so this doesn’t really bother me, but some might find this important. On a roll, here.

No calorie counting, or portion control. No special little frozen dinners, shakes or ‘health’ bars. It is a modified Atkins diet/thyroid diet, basically cutting out all processed food. I am also cooking with virgin olive oil, so I suppose there is a tad of the Mediterranean diet in there, too. I honestly expected to gain a few pounds this morning, after a supper of steamed asparagus and a baseball steak, especially after I cheated and put gravy on the steak, but no, I was down two pounds this morning. I admit I couldn’t eat it all. It was too much and I always stop when I start to feel full.

I have hated clothes shopping for a while and now I find I am beginning to look forward to getting something that doesn’t make me look like a zeppelin. Not that I was ever huge, but it is all about body image and I hated mine. My heaviest was 185lbs. Yuk, yuk, yukkity yuk, yuk.  I had gotten to the state where I was eating so little that my capacity was possibly less than a child’s needs. Obviously, something wasn’t right, as the weight was totally undeserved. Here speaks a person who doesn’t much care for chocolate and candy, cookies or desserts. Nor did I browse on unsuitable things like potato chips. I don’t and never have snacked. I think it is all about finding the right diet that is also healthy.

My goal is to look darn good by the time my new book, Shadow Over Avalon, goes live on Halloween. I hope to have dropped thirty pounds by then. This is looking doable.

Very happy camper!

Another great diet item on my menu.

This is mine. On a bed of fresh and well washed raw spinach leaves, put cooked beetroot cubes, diced, hard-boiled egg, walnuts and diced apples, previously soaked in fresh lemon juice. Serve with a raspberry vinaigrette. The flavor explosion is something else. This is a low cost meal that give a wealth of protein, fibre and a load of essential minerals.

Dissolving Bankers into fits of giggles.

My visa is about to expire so I called my bankers today to activate my new card. Ok, so I admit I am bad and this gets worse if I have to do boring things. I love my bank, but boring this was as they had been instructed to give a long sales pitch to make me agree to pay 99c per month to protect my balance in case of death/dismemberment/redundancy, et al. I tried three times to explain that I kept my card instantly paid off and my balance was always zero. Off the spiel would rattle again and my badness was now activated by boredom. I took one last shot.

“Hon, when I pop my clogs with a zero balance, which I always have, it is hardly going to cause the bank any grief.”

That did it. She tried very hard to repress it and couldn’t. The giggles permeated the rest of the conversation. It is always great to see bankers have a very human side.

Starting to get a little excited.

I have an awesome cover and now am waiting to the edits to come in. I have waited a very long time for Shadow Over Avalon to be taken up, so yes, I am excited. That it will be going live near on or near Halloween is even better.

Imagine a future word where things that go bump in the night rule. This is what the returned king must face. He pledged his soul to protect his people at the time of their greatest need, but he didn’t sign up for this terror. When King Arthur returns to fulfill his oath, many things stand on their heads. Who is a friend and who is not?  The stakes will determine who lives and who dies. With the fate of humanity resting in his hands, he can’t fail, or can he? This is what happens next.

To be released by Kristall Ink in October, the witching month. Stay tuned for updates. 

Flash Fiction Competition from Kristell Ink

https://kristellink.submittable.com/submit/22350

Feline Flash Fiction Competition

On the 16th July 2013, Kristell Ink is exactly one year old…

“Holy potato, Batman! How did that happen?”

Exactly. Time has flown, and our first twelve months have been full of excitement, heartache, heartbreak, laughter, happiness, sadness and tears. However, we wouldn’t change a thing. We’ve loved putting together our books and releasing them into the big bad world.
Non-Compliance: The Sector, Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults, Healer’s Touch, Guardians of Evion, Darkspire Reaches, Space Games and The Art of Forgetting: Rider… all of them have that something special. Over the next twelve months we have more wonderful titles to share.
As a little thank you/ writing challenge, we’re running a small flash fiction competition. In 500 words, we’d like you to tell us a fantasy/science fiction/steampunk/ subgenre story involving something with a feline feel.
“Feline? Huh? Why?”

Well, In May 2013, Kristell Ink became an imprint of Grimbold Books, and our parent company’s logo consists of two rather mischievous cats: Grim and Bold, and so we’d love to tie in theme to our new parents!
Also, we love cats…
To be extra nice, we’re opening the competition up to artists as well. If you don’t want to write, or feel you can’t write (not that we believe that!), then draw us/ paint us/ photo-manipulate us a unique picture involving something feline in the genres we’ve already mentioned.

Grim and Bold will be judging, along with Alex Shepherd (reviewer for Fantasy Faction and all around fantasy lover). Once a shortlist is decided, we’ll bring along Adam Dalton (Gollancz author) and decide on the top three.
In the event of a split decision, we will turn to Mark Lawrence (Harper Collins author) to make the deciding decision.
Closing date is the 16th August 2013.
Good luck! And Have fun!

First Prize: Kobo Mini e-reader loaded with Kristell Ink titles (and some special books from authors we admire and believe you should read!) and a £10 Amazon Voucher.

Second Prize: £20 Amazon Voucher (or $30 if you’d prefer).

Third Prize: £10 Amazon Voucher (or $15 if you’d prefer).

Secret Project.

I am currently working on something special and I will release it once the final piece is in place. This involves other authors and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we will. Look for the big announcement!

I am also working on another short story to release to my website and to Readwave. It will be free to read. I hope to revamp my website so there are links to each free short. It will make them easier to find. This last might take a while as I am still learning how to navigate the site. It will happen.