I’ve just googled April Fool’s Day, and it seems the origin of the day is a bit of a mystery. According to the National Geographic site the most popular theory is that France changed its calendar in the 1500s so that the New Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of the start of spring in late March or early April.
However word of the change traveled slowly, and many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the New Year in the spring. These country dwellers became known as “April fools.”
Another theory is that April Fools’ Day simply grew out of age-old European spring festivals of renewal, in which pranks and camouflaging one’s identity are common.
Wikipedia says April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day, though not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, enemies and neighbors, or sending them on fools’ errands, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
As a child I remember my father waking us up extra early. He was very excited and said that one of our horses had foaled. When we stumbled outside in our pajamas, rubbing our tired eyes, he shouted, “April Fool.” Color me not amused. I still remembered my lack of humor!
I also remember purchasing a block of rubber, cutting it into pieces and decorating them with chocolate icing and shredded coconut so they looked like Lamingtons. I took them to a class party and still recall the priceless look on the boys’ faces when they tried to eat the rubbery lamingtons.
And sort of in the funny ha-ha category – I broke my bike today. I’m not sure what happened but the front wheel caught somehow and I almost flew over the handle bars. It must have looked funny, but I managed to save myself from greeting the footpath with my head. I think hubby should be able to fix my bike. The chain has come off and I couldn’t get it back on so I had to wheel it home. Luckily, I always wear my helmet. I know some people don’t but during my teenage years I used to ride horses quite a bit. I never fell off much, but I did trip over while crossing the road one day. The riding hat was the only thing that saved me from gashing my head open. I ripped the felt on the hat but was otherwise uninjured. The moral of the story is that I learned to wear protective helmets whenever necessary! It’s actually law to wear a helmet while cycling in NZ, a law I’m happy to obey.
I hope everyone had a fun weekend. Watch out for pranksters on April 1st!
Today I’m touring a wonderful author from Down Under–from Australia, to be precise. I’ll try not to hold that against her! Denise Rossetti writes wonderful intense romances, usually with a fantasy element. I’ve read most of her books to date, and I’m definitely looking forward to some free time to devote to Strongman.
Brokeback with a Happy Ending
When the credits rolled up for Brokeback Mountain were you in tears? Denise Rossetti was.
Then she got mad – two souls who were destined to be together, so much love, so totally wasted. All because of the society those men lived in. But what if a similar situation occurred in another place, at another time? In a world Rossetti knew well? Her writer’s brain started churning…
Enter Stage Center – Fortitude McLaren, a hard-bitten mercenary who’s had a gutful of mud and blood and death. Brought up in the bigoted society of the Straight Church on the fantasy world of Phoenix.
Enter Stage left – Griff, acrobat and knife-thrower, lithe and athletic, a man with a gift for friendship, for caring.
Vampires are hot in the paranormal world at the moment. Readers can’t get enough of them. Debut author, Selena Illyria has set her book, A Fling in Vampiropolis in the vampire world, so of course, I had to ask…
1. How would you define a vampire?
Selena: Hmmm, well let’s see, first thing that comes to mind creature of the night. Who needs to drink blood to live but can also eat and go out into the sun. They are hard to kill and considered immortal but can be killed by either a beheading or having their heart destroyed. Also, they can be a detached, jaded and at times mistrustful of mortals.
2. Why do you think vampires are so popular amongst readers?
Selena: I think it’s the immortality aspect that appeals the most. The idea of never growing old, living forever, etc.. But also there the question of what have they seen? What do they know? Aspect of it all, but that ties into the immortality thing doesn’t it? LOL.
3. Tell us a little about A Fling in Vampiropolis—an elevator pitch, if you like.
Selena: The story is about a woman, Nevada Justice, who has a stressful job and she just wants to get away from it all. Go someplace exotic and foreign. Despite Vampiropolis being in the U.S. it is very exotic to her and foreign, as it was founded by vampires and it is one of the few all Vampire cities in the U.S.. There are other things there but we won’t get into that. *smile*
She meets a local vampire, Lucian Sandros and decides to have a fling with him. She starts to develop a bond with him, only for them to get into an argument on the last night she is to stay in town. Hurt, she goes back to Normalville (a term that is used to describe places where the paranormal and other populous are outnumbered by the mortal population) and back to her life and her stressful job. She doesn’t think she’ll see him again. So, what will she do when he does go after her? LOL. I’ll leave it at that.
4. What powers do your vampires have?
Selena: All the senses are increased and they have great strength. Also, they can appear and disappear at will. And they are excellent lovers. LOL
5. Where did the idea for your book come from?
Selena: I had been racking my brain for an idea for a short paranormal story. I wanted something that was in my mind different. The idea for the city came first and after that the idea for the characters and story came next. Then it was a matter of writing it. LOL.
6. Do you have any rituals you perform before you start writing?
Selena: I must have music. Sometimes a song is playing in my head when I get up in the morning. If I can identify it, that’s the music or song I listen to first. I mentally put together a sound track while getting breakfast together and letting the computer boot up. Once I’ve gone through email and I’ve made a mental outline of what I’m going to work on, I sit down and write. Sometimes I take breaks and watch TV or surf the web or exercise if I feel myself getting distracted or too energetic. I write until I’m either too tired or the muse as left me.
Selena’s book, A Fling in Vampiropolis is out on 28 March 2008 at Changeling Press. You can visit her website here.
What do you think about vampires? Like them or hate them? If you’re a fan, what powers do you like them to have? How would you define a vampire?
Most people own a pair of jeans. Finding the right fit can be an exercise in frustration and after many years of trying on jeans, can I say dark rinse, mid-rise, boot-cut. That’s me, baby. I’ll admit that having found my style I’m now feeling suitably smug. I did, however, take a moment to ponder about jeans and their history. IMO there’s inspiration to be found while checking out men in jeans, although if you repeat this to my hubby, I’m denying all!
So, in honor of jeans and the clever man who invented them:
THIRTEEN THINGS ABOUT JEANS
1. The word jeans comes from a type of material made in Europe. The material, called jean, was named after sailors from Genoa in Italy, because they wore clothes made from it. The word ‘denim’ probably came from the name of a French material, serge de Nimes: serge (a kind of material) from Nimes (a town in France).
2. During the eighteenth century workers wore jean cloth because the material was very strong and it did not wear out easily.
3. In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, “You should have brought pants!,” saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last.
4. Exhausting his original supply of canvas, as the demand grew for his long-wearing overalls, Levi switched to a sturdy fabric called serge, which was made in Nimes, France. Originally called serge de Nimes, this name was soon shortened to “denim”. And, with the development of an indigo dye, the brown color was soon replaced with the now familiar deep blue, the trademark color of most jeans made today.
5. One of Levi’s many customers was a tailor named Jacob Davis. Originally from Latvia, Jacob lived in Reno, Nevada, and regularly purchased bolts of cloth from the wholesale house of Levi Strauss & Co. Among Jacob’s customers was a difficult man who kept ripping the pockets of the pants that Jacob made for him. Jacob tried to think of a way to strengthen the man’s trousers, and one day hit upon the idea of putting metal rivets at the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly.
6. These riveted pants were an instant hit with Jacob’s customers and he worried that someone might steal this great idea. He decided he should apply for a patent on the process, but didn’t have the $68 that was required to file the papers. He needed a business partner and he immediately thought of Levi Strauss. In 1872 Jacob wrote a letter to Levi to suggest that the two men hold the patent together. Levi, who was an astute businessman, saw the potential for this new product and agreed to Jacob’s proposal. On May 20, 1873, the two men received patent no.139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That day is now considered to be the official “birthday” of blue jeans.
7. Jeans can be worn very loose in a manner that completely conceals the shape of the wearer’s lower body, or they can be snugly fitting and accentuate the body, specifically the buttocks. Historic photographs indicate that in the decades before they became a staple of fashion, jeans generally fit quite loosely, much like a pair of bib overalls without the bib. Indeed, until 1960, Levi Strauss denominated its flagship product “waist overalls” rather than “jeans”.
8. The orange thread traditionally used to sew Levi Strauss blue jeans was intentionally selected to match the copper rivets that doubled the durability of the jeans.
9. How many pair of jeans do you own? According to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™, each American woman and man own eight pairs of jeans on average.
11. One of the best as well as easiest things you can do to protect your jeans in the laundry is to turn them inside out before washing.
When possible, use cold water to wash your jeans along with a small amount of vinegar added to the rinse cycle instead of fabric softener. The cold cycle is much easier on your blue jeans and helps to prevent fading. The vinegar is an added touch to preserve the color.
Another way to preserve the color of your jeans is to buy a detergent for dark colors such as Woolite Dark Laundry Fabric Wash. This detergent is made especially to help preserve dark colors and works very well for blue jeans.
12. Choose a style that’s right for your body type. A slim figure is well-suited to low-rise skinny, straight or boot-cut jeans. The latter two cuts are more flattering on muscular, athletic shapes. If you are pear-shaped, try low-rise boot-cut or flared jeans for balance. A higher-rise is recommended for curvier girls, as it better conceals love-handles. However, every figure is different and it really is best to try on many different cuts. To make your butt look perkier, choose a jean with low-set back pockets that are closer to the center.
13. I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes. ~Yves Saint Laurent
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
My guest today is Amanda Ashby. Amanda lives in New Zealand, or rather she’s just returned to New Zealand from the UK, and we’re happy to claim her back. You Had Me At Halo is Amanda’s first book. It’s a funny paranormal with a unique slant and has garnered great reviews, including a nomination for the RT Reviewer’s Choice award in the contemporary paranormal romance category. It had me grinning. Amanda is currently immersed in the world of zombies as she works on a young adult novel. She has an interesting life.
CONTEST: see the details below to enter. We’ll draw the winner’s name on Thursday so don’t forget to check back in the comments section to see if you’re the winner.
Gwen Mitchell from News and Reflections honored me with an Excellent Blog Award recently. Thanks so much, Gwen!!
The Rules: By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you agree to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10. You deserve this! Feel free to recognize blogs that have already received this award.
I visit the following blogs on a regular basis. Most of my favorite blogs relate to books and the writing business. All never fail to entertain, enlighten and make me think. They’re all Excellent Reads. I would like to pass this wonderful award to the following 10 blogs (in no particular order):
Writing a book is like dating. There’s the first excitement of the new idea where you wonder what to wear, how to approach the shiny new relationship. It goes well and there’s a second date. The liaison seems full of promise but suddenly the guy doesn’t ring…
What on earth has gone wrong? you wonder, trying to frantically rethink the relationship, obsessing about what you should have, could have done differently.
On 7 March 2008 I had a new release. By the following week my book was up on an Internet pirate site. To add insult to injury the person who offered my book linked directly to the cover art on my website. I’m not the only author this has happened to recently. Both New York published authors and those with small presses are victims and if anything, the problem is becoming worse.
I’m angry, irritated, annoyed, pissed off—all those. Actually, add more “labels” in your imagination because that’s how I’m feeling. I’ve already exercised my potty mouth in the privacy of my own home, but I try to keep this blog clean.
I want to speak directly to the individuals who have put my books up on pirate sites. It’s simple really.
You are a thief.
That’s right. You’re committing a crime. It’s not a defense to say you didn’t know, because I know you do. You’re stealing from me. To put this in perspective let’s say you work forty hours a week, and at the end of that period you receive an envelope of money. Your employer gives the money to me, but instead of handing it on, I take quarter of the money and keep it. Only then do I give your wages to you. It doesn’t feel very good, does it? The fact that I’m taking money you could use to feed your family? The money you’re counting on to pay expenses?
That is what you’re doing to me. Contrary to public belief, authors do not make buckets of money. You are robbing me of a portion of wages I’ve worked hard to earn.
To the people who come to my website searching for free copies of OpShop’s song One Day, shame on you. If you want to listen to their music before buying, check out their website where you can hear the entire album. If you enjoy their music go and buy it from iTunes. That’s what I did.
If you’re reading this and are guilty of the crime of Internet piracy, you’re probably laughing. You probably don’t care, don’t have a conscience. I’d like to point out that what goes around comes around. Your turn will come.
Brokeback with a Happy Ending
My guest today is 
Gwen Mitchell from 
