Rachel Riley on Countdown
The origins of some of our idiomatic phrases reminds me of a recent episode of the TV word quiz, COUNTDOWN. Suzy Dent is the word expert in Dictionary Corner on that programme. (Actually I usually keep an eye on the other woman there, Rachel Riley – a numerical genius with a fetching smile) and talked about the term Codswallop. She said the term – meaning nonsense – derives from an 1870s brewer named Codd and his weak beer and other beverages – wallop. However, on deeper investigation I found this derivation to be dubious and there is no agreement on its etymology. Just goes to show how hardly anything is really known for sure.
Another funny thing happened to me on my way to the forum. I had a short science fiction story rejected by Jupiter magazine earlier this year because the publisher considered the sex scene was too explicit for his readers. I tried removing it but the whole story revolves around the changing tensions between the two characters so it’s stays on my hard drive while I think of somewhere else to send it. Meanwhile I wrote a comical story about two astronauts (arguing) who land on a planet that appears to be made entirely of green dimples. For one version of the ending I have the planet being a god’s golf ball! I told you it was comic. Too preposterous? Probably, but Jupiter magazine liked it and it is to be in their October issue. Haha.
For that story I found the title first and the story followed. From a random title generator on the internet the two words Intimate and Surface came together. Ummm, about about a planet with an intimate surface – and so the story evolved. In the meantime if you know of a magazine or anthology editor looking for a racier science fiction short story, do let me know. It has a serious side too – called Target Practice, an asteroid heading towards Earth is deflected but it re-orientates itself back on course to hit Earth. Intriguing? I thought so.
Links to buy Geoff’s Books
Kindle – Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ARIA-Left-Luggage-ebook/dp/B008RADGYC/
Paperback Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ARIA-Left-Luggage-Volume-1/dp/1905091958/
Kindle – UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/ARIA-Left-Luggage-ebook/dp/B008RADGYC/
Paperback UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/ARIA-Left-Luggage-Geoff-Nelder/dp/1905091958/
Publisher’s website with more details and formats. http://www.ll-publications.com/leftluggage.html
1) 5 * reviews for the ebook HOW TO WIN SHORT STORY COMPETITIONS. Co-authored by two experienced judges in a dialogue form and has great reviews (not written by us or our friends!) at
http://www.ideas4writers.co.uk/books/storycomps.php
2) For something completely different try HOT AIR, an award-winning thriller based in England and the Mediterranean. A feisty woman witnesses a heinous crime from a hot air balloon. She’s abducted and kept in a watchtower on Mallorca until she escapes. A page turner on your Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Air-ebook/dp/B0084OZL9E/
UK Kindle http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Air-ebook/dp/B0084OZL9E/
3) SF mystery EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEE is exciting interest. Several unique concepts written in an accessible style with a feisty woman main character and with a beginning and end on Glastonbury Tor – festival and all. Paperback and now Kindle at
http://www.amazon.com/Exit-Pursued-Bee-ebook/dp/B001CQC9LY/
4) NEW for May 2013 Escaping Reality, a humorous thriller of the fugitive kind, is out on Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CWOU3YK and in the UK. “Nelder achieves love in a rocking chair and sex on bubble-wrap in this hilarious caper.”
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