P.D. James: “Write what you need to write.”

29 Jun

james

“Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted. Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.”

~ P.D. JAMES

The world’s most interesting astrologer: heavenly bodies

29 Jun

heavenly_bodies

Alan Annand is an astrologer and writer of crime fiction, including his New Age Noir series featuring astrologer and palmist Axel Crowe, a criminal profiler with a horoscope.

Read reviews for Scorpio Rising, buy it at:

AmazonAppleBarnes&NobleSmashwords

Alan Varanasi @ 50%

~~~

SCORPIO RISING book review: “Speak to the stones and the stars answer.”

28 Jun

SR3 ebook thumb7th-star heaven! 

Every now and again, I get a book review that makes me feel guilty. First, it’s so good I don’t believe it, so I keep going back to re-read it. Make sure there’s no hidden sarcasm, some kind of back-handed compliment.

But no, it is true and well written, as Papa would say. I get a warm fuzzy feeling from re-reading it. Somewhere out on the west coast, a smart sensitive woman is stroking me, and I like it.

But it reminds me again of why I write for this niche – because I know my tribe is out there, and I write for them.

Here’s what Laura of Oregon posted on Amazon:

Seven stars (out of five) to Alan Annand!

As book one in a series named “New Age Noir,” Scorpio Rising lives up to its series name in every way. With spare, yet brilliant prose, multi-faceted character development and seamless dialogue, the complex stories within stories unfold, and suspense gathers momentum surrounding the many esoteric and intuitive profiling techniques of the humble and honest protagonist, Axel Crowe.

I will begin book two, Felonious Monk, immediately. Then I will set about reading everything Alan Annand has written to date. His intelligence, his mastery of his craft, his humor, and his keen insight into the precarious toe dance on the high-wire we humans are set upon to undertake is profound.

I have to say, without explanation, that there is a certain subtle balance inherent throughout this book. While in any murder mystery there are the inevitable terrible and dark elements, in Scorpio Rising the presence of the light and conscious elements are woven into the vast tapestry that comprises all life – not as opposites, not as existence being black or white, nor it being good or evil – but as necessary parts of a grand dance in which everything is connected in mysterious ways.

As poet Theodore Roethke wrote, “Speak to the stones and the stars answer.”

 ~~~~~~~

Alan Annand is an astrologer and writer of crime fiction, including his New Age Noir series featuring astrologer and palmist Axel Crowe, a criminal profiler with a horoscope.

AmazonAppleBarnes&NobleSmashwords

  ~~~~~~~


SR for print spread v3 jan 2013 web

Vera Wang (b. June 27): “Don’t be afraid to take time to learn.”

27 Jun

wang

“Don’t be afraid to take time to learn. It’s good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.”

~ Vera Wang, b. 27 June 1949

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565464382978/

 

Chris Isaak (b. June 26): “The more hurtin’ the music was, the better it made me feel.”

26 Jun

isaak

“The more hurtin’ the music was, the better it made me feel. I think of that now when I write my songs. I may not be feelin’ the blues myself, but I’m writing them for other people who have a hard life.”

~ Chris Isaak, b. 26 June 1956

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565464378380/

 

Yann Martel (b. June 25): “Art is a gift: you create and then you give away.”

25 Jun

martel

“Art is a gift: you create and then you give away. How readers receive that gift is their business. If they hate it, that’s their response to it. Others respond by liking it. Either way, that is their interaction with the book, which is no longer mine.”

~ Yann Martel, b. 25 June 1963

 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565464372842/

George Orwell (b. June 25): “Big Brother is watching you.”

25 Jun

orwell2

“BIG BROTHER is watching you.”
~ George Orwell, b. 25 June 1903

http://pinterest.com/pin/39406565462361885/ 

Lawrence Block (b. June 24): “Persistence is an essential part of a writer’s job description.”

24 Jun

block

“I think persistence in the face of adversity is an essential part of a writer’s job description. If you don’t care enough about it to avoid being easily disheartened that way, you really should be doing something else.”

~ Lawrence Block, b. 24 June 1938

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565464367401/

 

Duffy (b. June 23): “I think music is the only thing that I’ll ever really have.”

23 Jun

duffy

“I think music is the only thing that I’ll ever really have.”

~ Duffy, b. 23 June 1984

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/39406565464362355/

Alfred Kinsey (b. June 23): “The only unnatural sex act…”

23 Jun

kinsey

“The only unnatural sex act is that which you cannot perform.”

~ Alfred Kinsey, b. 23 June 1894

 http://pinterest.com/pin/39406565462356453/