Recent Posts
ConvoScience: To Mars and Beyond
So, Mars is currently at its closest to Earth, certainly closer than it has been for 15 years. What better way to celebrate such an occasion than to talk about what it would take to get to Mars and even further out into space?
Well, that’s exactly what Jessie and I did in your recent episode of Conversations in Science.
Police, Death, and Writing
On December 27, 2017, I started penning my crime thriller where a writer encounters a sinister website that leads to a game of cat-and-mouse with a serial killer. The idea was bouncing around in my head for two full years before I eventually started writing anything. All I had was the opening scene and the closing scene. Now, for obvious reasons, I have so much more. However, as part of writing this novel, I’ve had to do extensive research into how Atlanta PD does things, how they’re structured, as well as getting my head around some interesting aspects of US law and criminal investigations. It’s been a testimonial to my […]
Is the New Zealand national anthem really that hard?
I’m not a rugby fan. I’ll be the first to admit that. However, I do take pride in my country, and when a singer totally botches my country’s national anthem, I don’t know if I want to laugh my head off, or run and hide.
Crystal Collins, American singer, was invited to sing the New Zealand national anthem at a rugby game between New Zealand and England in Denver. The results… Where does one even begin?
She butchered the Maori language, which is horrible within itself, but the English verse… What the…? It was so out of time, and didn’t even follow the melody. I have no idea what she was singing, but it wasn’t God Save New Zealand.
I decided that in response to this horrible rendition, I needed to actually sing for you what the New Zealand national anthem really sounds like. I might not be the best singer in the world, but trust me, that song really isn’t that hard. Take a listen.
#CockyGate and Trademark Hell: Enough is Enough!
I have been watching what is going on with #CockyGate, stunned by the train wreck that is gripping the publishing industry by storm. What started as one woman’s horrible mistake (and lack of understanding of trademark law) has blown up into a full-scale witch hunt. And you know what… I’ve had enough!
Pitchforks have been seized by the masses, and the mob is on the loose. No one is safe from this shit storm (and yes, I deliberately swore). I can tell you now, watching the social media feeds, there WILL be more than one author who will have their reputation harmed, if not destroyed, by this mess. Where will it end?
Sleep, Oh Precious Sleep…
Sleep, oh precious sleep, why for art thou eluding me? Why must you be so broken? Why must I sleep so lightly?
Oh yeah, that’s right… I have children.
New mothers and women who are thinking about having children, listen up, and listen good. Accept it now. Sleep for you is over. You might get the odd night of deep slumber, but it won’t last. This I can guarantee you. Trust me, having children is the worst thing that any woman can do for their sleep pattern. And it really doesn’t matter that I happen to have two teenagers. They are STILL waking me up at all godly hours of the morning.
If you are a mother yourself, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. Sleep is something that disappears from your life before your children are even born.
Smartphone game has crossed the moral line.
Anyone who knows me personally will know that I’ve always had an objection to computer games. It’s not because of the violence or anything like that, but because of the addiction that is inherit with computers and electronic games.
I’ve lost count of the number of times when I’ve gotten up at all godly hours in the morning to discover my husband not in bed, because he was playing a stupid computer game (the same game he was playing when I went to be six hours before). When our son was first born, my husband’s addiction to computer games got so bad that we had to put in rules: he wasn’t allowed to play any computer games except on a Friday or Saturday night, when he didn’t have work the next day. Now that our son is in his late teens, my husband can see the dangers of our son going down the same road, and my husband has been helping me teach my son to manage this special breed of addiction.
However, lately I’ve noticed that the nature of the advertised games on certain apps has changed. For the first time ever, it’s the nature of the games that has me seriously disturbed.