Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa

We took our next door neighbours to see this, and it was fairly funny I have to admit. I like the penguins. However, it had even less plot than the first one, and I didn't think it was as good. It was completely ridiculous in parts, but apart from two bits, I think it got away with it. The first was when Alex bobbed across the sea in a crate, travelling from Africa to New York. The main reason I hated this little bit of ridiculously far-fetched nonsense was because it was entirely unnecessary to the plot. It would've worked just as well to have Alex shipped across, maybe even better. The other bit was the fish. Now, I'm sorry, but just one fish? And it surviving out of water for so long? No, just didn't work. The shark did, because the shark was funny. But not the fish. Anyway, it was quite amusing in parts. Worth watching the first first though.

Survival

This is the first book in Chris Ryan's Alpha Force series, which sadly seems to have ended now, as I don't think the Code Red series is anywhere near as good. It's very well written, and quite exciting. A group of teenagers are on what should be a fantastic holiday, working on a sailing boat in the Indonesian Archipalago. However, the five teenagers on A-watch do not get on at all. After angering their watch leader once too often, they end up sitting in a tender and then fall asleep. While they're sleeping, the rope connecting them to the boat snaps and they go floating off. They have to work together to survive. There's a section with survival tips at the end, and it's really pretty interesting. It's worth reading this one first, before any of the others in the series, but after that I think they can be read in pretty much any order. It's not absolutely essential to read this first, but it does set the scene and give you an idea of how Alpha Force first got together.

Sky Hunters: Anarchy's Reign

I just happened to pick this one up from the library, because it looked kind of interesting. A top secret special forces battalion, X-bat, ends up fighting a group of anarchists determined to destroy Los Angeles and kill the president of the US, along with a bunch of other dignitaries/foreign heads of state from the worlds wealthiest countries. It was very exciting and interesting, up to the last chapter or so which I thought really let the book down. It was too confusing and random, and it took me a while to work out what was supposed to be going on with that bit. Didn't like the ending at all. If it had finished about a chapter sooner than it did, it would've been great. Still, apart from the disappointing ending, which really didn't make a whole lot of sense at all, it was a very good book and well worth reading. Shall have to try and find the first two in the series.

By Royal Command

It's the fifth of the Young Bond books, and the last featuring James at Eton. I don't know whether I want it to end there or not. It was certainly a very good book, although it's worth reading the others first. It rounded off the series very nicely and it had a more complicated and intriguing plot than any of the others. I half want there to be more, but after that, they'd have to be wildly complex to retain the interest that one has created. It kind of explains James Bond's behaviour in some of the adult books too, the way he's so casual with women, and I know that's going to influence how I think of him in the 'adult' books. Definitely worth getting. And some nice big twists, especially near the end. All I'll say is that it's not quite what you think...

Happy Endings

Oh yeh, here's the next part of Happy Endings, in case you're interested. If not, well, it's here whether you want it or not. :D

Chapter 2 (Shadow)

I distrusted him the moment I saw him. He was red-faced, red-haired and overweight, and the sprawling, ranch-style mansion was newly built. He was most likely one of those people who’d got rich off the War while the best of all humanity was butchered. On the ground or above it, it makes no difference once you’re dead. People think of being a war pilot as being more glamorous, more noble, but it wasn’t. I’ve shot at men on the ground, and I shot men in the air, and they’re all equally dead. On the other hand, being a spy is an evil profession. Supposedly. I was a spy once, when I was young and carefree and had no idea how to fly a plane. Both were equally hard work, equally dangerous and meant killing people.
People also say Germans are evil. Personally, I can’t see the difference between them and us. We had different tactics formation wise, but other than type of machine and language we’re all the same people, pilots. Just as likely to be killed by a bullet or archie (anti-aircraft fire) as by a machine deciding to disintegrate or engine failure. Actually, the other difference was that their archie was a different colour, so you could see which side was shooting at her. I’m probably one of the only people who’s been in the rather interesting position of being fired at by both sides at once.
As I said, I disliked him at first sight, but I needed the money, and he had a proposition and I’d agreed to listen, so I went with him. He leads me in and I sit at a table in the big kitchen. A young black girl comes in, but Abe shoos her away and removes a tray from a cupboard.
“Glass of something Mr. Silverdale?” he drawls, looking at me like to him I’m on about the same level as that girl he has locked away in a tower.
“Water would be fine.”
“I can’t tempt you to some cider, or beer perhaps?” So I told him I don’t drink, not bothering to tell him why, but it’s not because of Prohibition. I’ve seen too many pilots go to an early grave, and all down to the bottle. The stress of war got to be too much for them and they drowned their sorrows with drink. Stupid things it always was that got them, like coming in to land without checking the wind, forgetting about the little hole and turning over, misjudging a gap and sheering off a wing. I even saw someone fly into the side of the hill after they’d been at the bottle. Scary thing was, they were all decent pilots, twenty, maybe thirty kills to their name.
“Mr Catlington. You brought me here for a business proposition. I have a feeling it has to do with transporting alcohol. Well, just for the record, I certainly don’t approve of alcohol. However, I’m in a bit of a fix. I was, as I think you’re aware, working for a company that did pleasure flights and air shows. They went bankrupt. I don’t know why, the accountancy wasn’t my business, but I haven’t had a pay check in over three months. I need money to keep flying, because petrol and spares cost money, and I guess you could say I’m getting homesick. There is one thing you must understand though. I will not commit to anything for longer than six months.”
“Fair enough. All I ask is that you try it for a month, and if it isn’t to your liking… Well, feel free to leave after a month. I shall supply aviation spirit, of course, and the gardener was a mechanic during the War, he’ll be able to see to your aeroplane I’m sure.” I nod. “Now people of your type rarely bother about the law, do you?” I shake my head.
He’s got me sussed completely, knows that I’m desperate to keep flying, knows of my reputation, knows that I’m not overly enamoured with governments of any form. He probably knows I’d like nothing more than to emigrate to Russia. In fact, if I can get there, I’ve been offered a position heading up a new Air Force initiative. What ‘planes the Russians have are sadly dilapidated, and they didn’t stay in the War long enough to get to need an air force as such, so they don’t exactly have one. Just a smattering of requisitioned private aeroplanes of pre-War antiquity that were owned by a couple of the rich enthusiasts. At the start of the War, it was second only to France, but it’s fallen into disuse and there isn’t much of a structure to it.

Southport

Was supposed to be going into Preston today with friends from High School, only they couldn't come. Ill and busy revising. So I went to Southport with my parents instead. Had a great time. Spent some of my Christmas money buying books... Well, what do you expect? Three of them are nonfiction though. One on the RAF's history, one on merceneries, and a sociology text book to revise from. Plus the new Young Bond book, By Royal Command. Will let you know what they're like after I read them. Oh, and tell me if this is ridiculous or not: £13 for a paperback book. I wouldn't mind paying that for a hardback, I have done in the past. But for a paperback? That's just a wee bit ridiculous. Mind you, I reckon £8 for a paperback is getting pretty expensive, especially when I'd normally get them from the market or Oxfam books and pay £1-3 for them. Still. I suppose the author has to make a living, and if the shops start taking bigger and bigger cuts for themselves, same with publishers, it's not exactly their fault the prices go up. Anyway, that's me done wittering for now. Going to go do some more work on Nutmeg Angel, since I've kind of decided to add in an extra scene...

Oooh, exciting!

I've just realised that I've been keeping this blog for just over a year now. I wasn't sure if I'd manage to keep it up to date. Apart from a few scant months (look at the numbers of posts per month if you want to see what I mean...) I am still writing it, and it is still staying fairly up to date. Ok, so maybe it's a little different to what I first imagined. Maybe it's less like a diary than I thought it would be. But that's ok, because I'm enjoying writing what I am, and hopefully I'll keep it going for another year yet.

Christmas

Oh yeh, I just realised I never wrote about Christmas properly. Got up at 6:20, not actually intending to get up until my brother came charging up and saying 'Merry Christmas, have you opened your stocking'. Apparantly, he opened his at exactly one second past midnight (as he has a radio controlled clock, it will have been exact...). So then we tootled downstairs, and then James wanted to go wake mum and dad up. I persuaded him it would be worth taking them up a cup of tea at the same time... So. After breakfast, we chilled out for a bit (James did not appreciate), then opened all our presents. Got two Delirious? CDs off my parents, they're really good. I especially like Glo. Was supposed to be getting a subscription to the BBC history magazine, but the company screwed up. Don't know if I'll still get it. What else? Quite a few WHSmiths vouchers and some money, chocolate, and a gorgeous little dragon Rachael made for me. So cute!

Dream

I had a really odd dream last night. I dreamt that I got arrested for a murder in Clitheroe and put in jail. Only I had a really good alibi--I'd been in college at the time, in history. It was really quite amusing in some ways, especially because the jail was ridiculously easy to break out of. Anyway. It was weird. As is the spelling of that stupid word. But hey, you know. That's what the English language is like for you. Lots of nice little confusing bits that make no sense to anyone. Including us. :D

Writing update

So, I've been working on editing Nutmeg Angel, so I can get it ready to put on Amazon and all the rest of it. It's turning into a bit of a rewrite session. For example, a part of the story which was about three lines has suddenly turned into nearly three pages (book size, not A4). And I also changed the first fight with the Devil, because it didn't seem anywhere near as exciting as it could be. I guess that's because I've never bothered to really change it before. It's almost identical to how it was originally (I think), although I had added a bit more to the lead up. Anyway. I don't want to write too much about the changes I'm making, because it's coming out soon and you all have to buy it :D.

As for other stories. Well, I've done a fair bit of work on Two For Joy (before version), but I seem to have stalled. Done some more work on my Artemis Fowl fanfic too (If All is Fair, you can read it on FanFiction.net if you're interested). Anyway, that's about it.

An amusing little discovery...

I decided to do the Myers-Briggs type test for Nutmeg and Ternalice, just out of curiousity. Now I've always known they're pretty different. However, they scored exactly the opposite of each other. I then did a marriage compatibility test thing based on that. And it came out with a very low possibility of it working. Oops... :D Never mind. I'm sure they can make it work. After all, they do love each other a lot, and sometimes differences can be good. Make things more interesting for me at any rate.

Operation Cobra

This is another book in the 633 Squadron series, and the only other one I have. I would go to the library because I'm sure they've got a couple in the Harris, but it's closed until Monday, and their stupid website isn't working either. Which is annoying because I need to renew some books... Anyway. That's irrelevant. It's a great book, very interesting, but it's suffered because I haven't read the ones in between this one and the first. Plus I do miss the MC from the first one, because he was just so ace! I gotta go. It's worth reading, but read them in order, best that way. See ya!

633 Squadron (book)

After watching the film last night, I felt like I just had to reread the book. And it's even better than the film. There's a very interesting bit of romance in there, and plenty of excitement. Plus the MC of the book comes across even more incredibly in there than he did in the film, although I do think the idea of him being a barnstormer before the war that they put in the film was a really good one. I stayed up till nearly midnight last night reading it. So good, I'd recommend it if you're into that sort of thing. If not, well, it is a war story and no matter how good, and how interesting the romance is, if that doesn't interest you you probably won't like it.

633 Squadron (film)

I watched this on TV last night, because it looked kind of interesting and I remembered reading the book. Boy was it good. Some of the flying scenes they did were incredible. I really enjoyed it. The only mega annoying thing was that there were soooo many ad breaks and they were really long too. That just drove me mad, because it broke up the film in all the wrong places. And I was a bit miffed that I missed one about WW1 aircraft that was on just before because I was so caught up with the fact that I'd seen 633 Squadron was going to be on. It was pretty true to the book, though inevitably it missed quite a bit out, a couple of preliminary operations and an interesting bit of romance. Still, it was a fairly long book, even if the copy I have doesn't look that long, not with it being in such small print.

Baby Reuben!

I've just seen my cousin's new baby Reuben, he is so cute! And really long too. His fingers are really, really long and he's absolutely gorgeous. Just thought you might like to know :D.