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D. P. Lyle: Original Sin Sunday, Jul 27 2014
Uncategorized family history, homicidal rage, murder, surgeon, thriller Auntie M Writes Crime 12:41 am
What if?: The Crucial First Question
So you have a cool idea for a story. Big deal. Ideas are a dime a dozen. And ideas aren't stories. To become a story, your idea must evolve into a premise, or what many call "The Central Story Question." It's what the story is really about.
To become a premise, the original idea must ultimately lead to the question: What if?
What if this happened? What if that person did this? What if that dude hanging out at your local coffee shop is actually a rogue undercover agent with a deadly agenda? Or a serial killer? Or is stalking one of the baristas?
It is from those two words–What if?—that stories arise.
The power of your story's What If? can't be overestimated. It is the single guidepost that will keep you on track as your churn out those 100,000 words. A good What if? states the main character, the situation, the stakes, and, most importantly, the central story question.
It is the answering of this question that is the story.
The What If? should be stated in about 25 words or so. Because the What If? is brief, it's often called the elevator pitch or the agent pitch. It communicates your story in the most efficient terms. We've all heard writers respond when asked what their story is about by saying things like, "Well, there's this guy who lives on an island. And he hates the water. And a big shark is killing people and this is threatening to shut down the town's beaches on a holiday weekend. And then there's this other guy who is a shark expert and he has a really cool boat. Oh, I forgot, the first guy is the chief of police." Yawn.
What if a hydrophobic, island-community police chief must go out on the water to kill a predatory shark to save the town's summer economy and to prove his own self worth?
What if an FBI trainee must exchange personal information with a sadistic serial killer in order to track another serial killer and save a Senator's daughter?
What if the youngest son of a mafia family takes revenge on the men who shot his father and becomes the new godfather, losing his own soul in the process?
These are of course Jaws, Silence of the Lambs, and The Godfather, respectively. See how these What If?s reveal the protagonist and clearly state the story premise? Read these books or watch the movies and you will see that each scene moves toward answering the story's What If? Each of your scenes should, too. If not, consider cutting, or at least reworking, those that don't.
Here's a tip: When your What If? is completed to your satisfaction, print it out and tape it to your computer or the front of your writing pad so you will see it every time you sit down to write. Before writing each scene, read your What If? and ask yourself, "Does this scene help answer the Central Story Question?" If you do this, you will never lose sight of what your story is about. Particularly in the dreaded middle, where so many stories get lost in the jumble of character and backstory and cool dialog and all the other stuff that goes into a manuscript. The What If? keeps you focused and on track.
What if a female cardiovascular surgeon must unravel why so many of her post-op patients succumb to bizarre homicidal rages and to do so must dig deeply into her family history?
That's the What If? for ORIGINAL SIN, my latest Samantha Cody thriller.
ORIGINAL SIN:
Dr. Lucy Wagner was on top of her game. The only cardiac surgeon on staff, a new pediatric cardiac unit dedicated to her, and an impeccable reputation not only put her at the apex of the local medical pyramid but also garnered a few powerful enemies. Such is the nature of jealousy and greed. Turf wars can get ugly. Still all was good until the day old John Scully, the spiritual founder and leader of a local snake-handling church, died on her operating table. Fainting spells, nightmarish dreams, and patient after patient succumbing to some violent psychosis followed, putting her career, and her life, in jeopardy. Aided by long time friend and ex-boxer, ex-cop Samantha Cody, Lucy must reach deeply into her family's past and into her own soul to find the strength to confront old and very powerful forces she never knew existed.
Read the First Chapter Here: http://www.dplylemd.com/DPLyleMD/Excerpt-OS.html
D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books (MURDER & MAYHEM; FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES; FORENSICS & FICTION; MORE FORENSICS & FICTION; HOWDUNNIT: FORENSICS; and ABA FUNDAMENTALS: UNDERSTANDING FORENSIC SCIENCE) as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, DOUBLE BLIND, and ORIGINAL SIN); the Dub Walker Thriller series (STRESS FRACTURE; HOT LIGHTS, COLD STEEL, and RUN TO GROUND); and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (ROYAL PAINS: FIRST, DO NO HARM and ROYAL PAINS: SICK RICH). His essay on Jules Verne's THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appears in THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS and his short story "Even Steven" in ITW's anthology THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER.
Along with Jan Burke, he is the co-host of Crime and Science Radio. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women's Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
Website: http://www.dplylemd.com
Blog: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com
Crime and Science Radio:
http://www.dplylemd.com/DPLyleMD/Crime_%26_Science_Radio.html
Hot Summer Reads and Rory Flynn Interview Tuesday, Jul 22 2014
Uncategorized art world, crime, disgraced cop, drugs, falls, family mystery, kidnapping, marine policing, mystery, suspense, Thames River Auntie M Writes Crime 12:43 am
Auntie M has a huge stack of crime fiction waiting to be read and she likes to take the middle of the summer, when guest blogs build up, to remind you of those books that are in print that you will enjoy. Seek out the ones that appeal to you for some fun summer readings.
First up is an interview with author Rory Flynn, whose first crime novel, THIRD RAIL: An Eddy Harkness Novel, is in print. Auntie M had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mr. Flynn when she was in Concord, MA, recently with her writing group visiting the literary sites. Not far from the homes of Emerson and Alcott, we talked about Mr. Flynn's character Eddy, his hometown of Nagog, not unlike Concord, and Flynn's writing process.
Auntie M: When a former principal remarks that what happened to Eddy's family is Shakespearian, Eddy answers:" And you don't mean the comedies do you?" How much of that comes from your own history and from living in a small town? You have a line: "Cities churn, suburbs strive, but small towns stay the same."
Rory Flynn: My real mother disappeared from my life over twenty years ago so that's a part of it. I choose when to go in and out of focus on that kind of stuff and end up taking out more after the first draft. The idea of small town's never gets lost, but people know where they are they are in small town living. It's a microcosm of the whole world, and when Eddy turns over a stone it's familiar to readers. The monument crash in the book and its subsequent controversy over fixing it or not actually occurred here, and like us, there are elements that convey a bigger story about behavior and life.
AM: We see the action unfold from Eddy's shoulder which gives the book a tremendous sense of immediacy. Despite his fall from grace that paints him as a tragic figure, he handles it all gracefully.
RF: Eddy's a walking-around kinda guy, especially when he's collecting meter change. When he loses his gun, it's a metaphor for him losing face on the job that got him demoted in the first place. I like to throw everything into a chapter and then take out what's not needed but something's always got to be happening. There's darkness and there should be dimensions in each chapter where something happens. I have fun writing him.
AM: "Morning is about flaws." These lines of realism smack the reader in the face with a universal truth. Do you create them out of the writing or have them in mind first?
RF: I liked lines that resonate and have that universal truth. It's like a filter of Life. I fit them in with when I can work them into the lines around what's happening; it can't be forced. But sometimes that kind of line resonates.
AM: Some of your characters are way out there, eccentric to say the least. Where does that come from?
RF: I played in a grotty urban punk band and we'd do these gigs, often in college towns, I'd meet and see so many different kinds of people, always with a nightlife I was supporting. And I like being wild, throwing in characters who are out there.
AM: You write and work but you're very community-mnded. You work with Gaining Ground, a community farm group.
RF: My wife and I both do. It's a 100-acre farm run by volunteers who grow and give produce to the people who need it. There's a real give and take with the surrounding community and it's a program that's spread to fifteen countries.
AM: Yet you find time to write, time to volunteer, time to work at a copyediting job, and time to run the Concord Free Press.
RF: I need that job to put two daughters through college! Very few writers, unless you're Stephen King or JK Rowling, can make a living off their writing. I have other novels (under his real name, Stona Fitch) and one was made into a movie and another optioned by Harry Connick, Jr, but only a very small percentage of writers support their families just on their writing. The Press came about from an idea, again, of giving back to the community.
Generosity is infectious and I find the whole concept fascinating. It's an odd publishing model, Concord Free Press, with underwriting from Kodak that covers printing costs. We reach out to people and the books choose us. We ask them to let us give 3,000 copies of a book away for free and then ask the recipient to make a donation to any charity of their liking and then pass the book on. Once you take money out of the equation all things are possible. To date we've raised over $400,000 dollars to various charities and given the author exposure. People are reading their books who might never have seen them and readers are making donations they wouldn't have thought about. We'd like to expand next to books out of print.
AM: What's on your nightstand waiting to be read and who do you like in crime? And more importantly, what's up next for Eddy Harkness?
RF: In crime, Megan Abbott's The Fever–she's on CFP's editorial board. I like Alan Guthrie and Robert Parker, too. I like Jess Walter, Stephen Zweig, Martin Walser; that night stand has Bohumil Hrabel's I Served the King of Englandand Herman Koch's The Dinner. Eddy? In Third Rail, the fictional drug loosens people and their problems up, until they have a monumental crash. I liked that and its effects. The sequel, Dark Horse, is a tale of personal responsibility on many levels.
AM: Thanks for your time, Mr. Flynn. Now for THIRD RAIL, the first Eddy Harness novel.
Eddy Harkness is a young detective with a sixth sense for finding hidden things: cash, drugs, guns, bodies. But Eddy's place in an elite narcotics unit is derailed by the death of a Red Sox fan in the chaos of a World Series win, a death some feel he could have prevented. The incident is not told in great detail; just enough to interest readers and explain Eddy's fall from grace. Eddy finds himself exiled to his hometown just outside Boston, where he empties parking meters and struggles to redeem his disgraced family name with its own history.
After a night of crazed drinking with a wild new companion, Eddy's police-issue Glock disappears. Unable to report the theft, Eddy starts a secret search for it, using a plastic model for cover, just as a string of fatal accidents lead him to uncover a new, dangerous smart drug, Third Rail. There is a cast of characters filled with eccentricities who rival Monty Python, too. With only that plastic gun to protect him, Eddy's investigation leads him into the darkest corners of his hometown, where it soon becomes tough to tell the politicians from the criminals. There will be death and revealed secrets as Eddy turns over stones in the town he thought he knew. With a highly developed setting, a very human protagonist, and a story that takes off from page one and never lets up until its startling finale, Third Rail readers will be looking for the next Eddy Harkness novel.
On to other recommended reads.
Martha Grimes has been off writing other novels, so her return to a Richard Jury novel after four long years is anxiously awaited in Vertigo 42. Jury as a Superintendent has more flexibility, although he still has Carole-anne Palutski as his comely upstairs neighbor. The whole eccentric crew revolving around Melrose Plant is back for a few scenes, too, although their presence has more to do with comic relief and less do with Jury's investigation when he's asked by an old friend to look to the death of the friend's wife seventeen years ago.
Tess Williiamson died in a fall down stone steps at her Devon home, several years after coming under suspicion for the death of a child, there for a day's outing with a group of other children at the home, in a similar way. Her husband, Tom, can't believe it was accidental, or that Tess committed suicide. Tom asks Jury to look into the case, and as it falls on the turf of his friend, Brian Macalvie, only too eager to establish the real cause of death. Jury soon finds himself at the house, called Laburnum.
The scene seems staged to Jury, but then so does the death near Ardy's house in Sidbury of a young woman who has fallen from a high tower. The Hitchcock movie "Vertigo" comes into play here. Dressed impeccably in designer clothes and shoes, the woman's death investigation runs parallel to Jury's old one, until a man dead from gunshots is found in an alley and things really get complicated after that.
Auntie M was happy to be with the familiar cast but the ending seemed to be almost anti-climatic, or perhaps the pace was off a tad. Whatever, it's still a pleasure to be back with Richard Jury and his unlikely crew of friends.
Witness Impulse has brought out Frances Fyfield's Gold Digger, in ebook and trade paperback, and its a tour de force from this talented writer who gets inside the psyche of her characters. Readers will also learn about the art world as that world is the pivot point of the entire plot. But it's so much more, in the talented way Fyfield has of creating engaging and very real characters who leap off the page, all damaged by life.
Thomas Porteous sees something in the urchin Diana Quigley, who enters his house as a thief only to steal his heart and become his wife, despite a huge age difference.
Thomas is an art collector, with an eye that rivals Di's own, and he sets about teaching her to see art and nature with new eyes. Theirs is a happy if brief marriage, and one of the highlights of the novel are Di's descriptive cards of the paintings they share in the huge old house by the sea that was once a school.
Thomas' first wife turned their two daughters against him in a most horrendous way, but that doesn't stop either of the daughter's from plotting to get their hands on what they feel is their wealth by right, instead of going to Di. Despite his best try at reconciliation before his death, his daughters abandon him until Thomas is gone. The only family member who adores him, along with Di, is one young grandson, Patrick.
Now the family has planned to rob Di and gain back what they feel is theirs, and she enlists a motley group of compatriots to help her foil their plan. Suspenseful and compelling.
Sharon Bolton made a name for herself with engaging stand-alone suspense novels before launching her Lacey Flint series. The newest, A Dark and Twisted Tide, shows once again why this unusual protagonist is the perfect foil for the gritty settings Bolton chooses and the unusual stories she tells.
Lacey is living on a houseboat on the Thames and starts to feel she's becoming part of the river's community until the shrouded body of a young woman is found in the river. She's recently joined the marine police unit and is fast becoming used to the ins and outs of the river and its byways.
When she realizes this body has been deliberately left for her to find, Lacey knows she's being watched. But by who and why? And with her fragile relationship with Joesbury on hold while he does undercover work, she's feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Then someone starts leaving creepy gifts on the deck of Flint's houseboat just as the bodies being to pile up of more young woman, garbed in the same kind of unusual shroud. That's when her former boss Dana Tulloch gets involved and Lacey's investigation takes on a new angle: are young women being kidnapped and kept prisoner after being lured her from places like Afghanistan? And what of the brother and sister team Lacey comes to know and befriend who live on a tributary? How are they involved? This is a first-rate mystery with all the twists and plot turns any reader could want,and a solid nail-biter ending. But it's the characters that infuse A Dark and Twisted Tide with such heart and reality— not just the damaged Flint but her friends and colleagues as well. Highly recommended.
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Jill Paton Walsh: The Late Scholar Sunday, Jul 20 2014
Uncategorized Golden Age mystery, Harriet Vane, Lord Peter, murder, Oxford Auntie M Writes Crime 12:22 am
Jill Paton Walsh has the daunting task of continuing the Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries in a fashion Dorothy L Sayers would have approved. After completing two unfinished Sayers' manuscripts (Thrones, Dominations and A Presumption of Death, Paton Walsh followed with her original story The Attenbury Emeralds, and now follows it with the fourth, The Late Scholar.
Auntie M had the great good fortune to meet Paton Walsh, along with her husband, children's literature author and world-known scholar, John Rowe Townsend, at St Hilda's in Oxford last summer, where Paton Walsh was the keynote speaker. Townsend died this March and Paton Walsh has Auntie M's sincerest condolences.
In her keynote speech, Paton Walsh described the joys and heartaches of publishing. A Booker-Prize nominated and Whitebread Prize-winning author of children's books, mysteries and novels, she spoke with passion of her love for literature in all its forms, and displayed a comprehensive knowledge of its history.
So it is no surprise that Paton Walsh has embraced the Sayers canon and with each successive novel, drawn even closer to the originals. With this fourth incantation, The Late Scholar, she has created a love letter to Oxford in all its glory, while maintaining the personalities and charm of the original characters.
Now the Duke and Duchess of Denver, roles that do not rest easily on their shoulders, the Wimsey's are adjusting to British life after WWII. Their son's, Bredon and Paul, are both at prep schools and eyeing their futures in the new world order when Peter is approached by Oxford's St Severin's College. As Duke, he wears the title of their Visitor, the college's royal patron, a mostly ceremonial position.
But in this instance, the college faculty and its warden have been unable to agree on whether to sell a rare manuscript in their possession to allow the purchase of land that may or may not raise enough funds to allow the college to pull out of financial hardship. According to St. Severin's charter, the Visitor is the tie-breaker in these situations, requiring a visit to Oxford, land of both Wimsey's alma maters. Accompanying them is Peter's long-time butler and family friend, Bunter.
It's a hornets nest that awaits them, as the Warden has suddenly disappeared without explanation, and faculty member starts to die by methods that echo those in Harriet's detective novels. There are several accidents that may or may not be other attempts, and the Wimsey's must call on old friends to get to the bottom of a very dodgy situation at the college.
It's like coming home again for Peter and Harriet–Sayers' fans will understand references to Gaudy Night–and they and the reader will revel in the time-honored traditions that both Wimsey's understand only too well. The sights and feel of Oxford and its environs is captured perfectly, and anyone who has never been to Oxford should well take note: this volume will make you want to visit.
The story spins out along complicated lines, with discreet questioning and investigation on both of their parts, feeling out personalities at High Table dinners, consulting former Fellows and colleagues for gossip. Their personal lives jut in and out as well, with a surprise visit from their sons, as well as facing the aging of Peter's mother, the beloved Dowager Duchess. The proximity of murder pushed death into their thoughts far too often, but is balanced by the romantic reminiscing of the couple.
Absolutely a must for fans of Golden Age mysteries, where Harriet Vane holds her own in what is still largely a man's world.
World Blog Hop: The Nora Tierney Mysteries and Me Tuesday, Jul 15 2014
Uncategorized amateur sleuth, English mystery, Nora Tierney, police procedural Auntie M Writes Crime 12:12 am
My thanks to Susan Whitfield(www.susanwhitfield.blogspot.com) for inviting me to take part in this blog hop. Susan's wonderful, wacky books can be found at http://www.susanwhitfield.com, where you'll be able to choose from her Logan Hunter mysteries and her women's humor in Slightly Cracked, and even a cookbook, Killer Recipes. This multi-genre writer is hard at work on a historical mystery based on a relative!
My Nora Tierney Mysteries grew out of a desire to write what I most enjoyed reading. I've always been drawn to the puzzle of a great mystery and spent many years reading Nancy Drew and the Golden Age writers. Despite a 30 year career in nursing, I always wrote on the side (poetry, essays, nonfiction) and within my profession, writing feature articles for a nursing journal and editing another. During the transition from nursing to writing, I snagged a job as a medical consultant at a NY studio because I knew screenplay format. This was my last nursing job and my favorite: correcting medical scenes to working onset for anything filmed in Manhattan, mostly soap operas and a few series like Law and Order. And as I did that job, I started writing interview articles for Mystery Review magazine.
I'm no a full time writer, a member of Sisters in Crime, and run the Writers Read program in Belhaven, NC. I still write poetry and essays on occasion, but my focus is the mysteries and that's where I've always wanted it to be.
By the time the first Nora Tierney Mystery was published in 2010, I had worked out a story arc spanning six mysteries involving American Nora, a writer from Connecticut, who finds herself living in England and writing children's books after a stint at a magazine not unlike People.
In THE BLUE VIRGIN,Nora's been living in Oxford and become friends with Val Rogan, a textile artist. When Val's partner, Bryn Wallace, is found dead, Val becomes the prime suspect and Nora swings into action to clear her best friend, despite being in the early stages of an unplanned pregnancy. She frustrates the detective inspector on the case, Declan Barnes,too.
THE GREEN REMAINS follows Nora's move to the Lake District to work with illustrator Simon Ramsey and involves her staying at Ramsey Lodge, the inn he runs with his sister Kate. When the body of the heir to the Clarendon Estate washed up on the shore of Windermere right outside the lodge, Simon is implicated and Nora noses into the investigation, this time with almost disastrous results to her and her unborn child.
With her baby six months old, Nora is excited to have a theatre troupe arrive at Ramsey Lodge to stage Noel Coward's farce, "Blithe Spirit." Declan Barnes will be the only non-cast member staying at the lodge when a series of accidents and pranks escalate to murder. This time Nora's baby is on the premises and she finagles her way into the investigation in the newly-published THE SCARLET WENCH
So what's up next for Nora? In the months after the April events of The Scarlet Wench, Nora's taken Declan home to meet her mother and stepfather in Connecticut. The next book in the series follows their deepening relationship as Nora must decide where to make her permanent home. The book I'm writing now is titled THE GOLDEN HOUR, where Nora will be in Bath at the real bookstore Mr. B's Reading Emporium for a reading and signing of her two children's books when mayhem and murder follow her once again.
The series are contemporary but written in traditional English mystery style, with less stress on the violence and gore and more on the psychology of the characters. They have chapter epigrams (think: Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse) and sometimes room layout; they always have a Cast of Characters. A mix of amateur sleuth and police procedural, I'm moving Nora around England so the series won't suffer from the "Jessica Fletcher" syndrome–how many murders can reasonably happen in one small town? I feel setting is important, too, as it's the stage you place your characters on and affects the action, so I always start with that, as well as the victim, who is the murderer, and the all-important: WHY.
I'm not writing about serial murderers or psychopaths, although I do read those all the time for my crime fiction review blog, Auntie M Writes (www.auntiemwrites.com). I'm interested instead in seemingly average people who for one reason or another, become convinced it's reasonable to cross that fine line and commit murder. The stories grow out of the setting, that initial murder, and the why of it all. It's a fascinating process and as a fiction writer I'm allowed to play the WHAT IF …? game every time I sit down at the computer.
You can find my books at Bridle Path Press (www.bridlepathpress.com) and request a signed copy or autographed to a particular person. They are also on Amazon.com as trade paperback and in ebook format.
Please support the authors who will continue this blog hop on July 21st:
Melissa Westemeier: (www.melissawestemeier.blogspot.com). Green Girl in Wisconsin delights readers with her humorous and heartwarming novels. In print now are Kicks Like a Girl, and Whipped, Not Beaten.. See her site for ordering information.
Linda Lovely: (www.lindalovely.com) Linda's books are a mix of suspense, romance, mystery and laughter. She writes the Marley Clark Mysteries, Dear Killer and No Wake Zone, and her newest title is Dead Line, Book One in her "Smart Women-Dumb Luck" series.
Malcolm Torres (www.malcolmtorres.tumblr.com
Summer Kickoff: Hannah, Casey, Dahl, Mina, Russell, French, Eriksson Sunday, Jul 13 2014
Uncategorized journalists, liars, lies, London murder, murder, obsession, suspense, Swedish murder Auntie M Writes Crime 12:50 am
Summer beckons with new books ready for you to investigate. Here's some of the newest summer crop to get you started with great reads:
Sophie Hannah's The Telling Error is her newest entry in the Zailer/Waterhouse series, an unconventional procedural set in England, where the action centers on a participant in the murder.
Nicki Clements is the unlikely focus pulled in for questioning after the unusual murder in her neighborhood of a controversial columnist. Nicki is an easy liar, a woman who holds secrets of her own, but she's not a murderer. How she's gotten herself deeply into trouble, and the reasons behind her inability to tell the truth and to fabricate stories, all converge into this tale that has the feel of a nightmare too easily imagined by the average person.
Here's Nicki in her own words: "This is the thing about deception that some people forget: its practitioners don't do it solely for their own sakes. Often they do it to make others happy. It's embedded in the training programme we liars o through; we see that when we tell the truth, our instructors scowl, raise their voices, turn red in the face. Anyone who cares more about pleasing other people than about their own happiness–anyone who believes, deep down, that everyone else matters more than they do–learns fluent dishonesty at a young age."
Award-winning Hannah has developed the art of telling a story that resonates with readers for her ability to decipher human emotions and actions. Her first Poirot novel will be published this fall.
In her fifth Maeve Kerrigan mystery, Jane Casey's The Stranger You Know brings readers the newest case for the London detective. Three women have been brutally murdered and arranged in a ritualistic manner. Each has had her eyes cut out, their hair sheared off, and lie on a bed or flowers.
The killings echo a death from the past of Maeve's partner, DCI Josh Derwent, the frustrating man she admires at the same time as he exasperates her with his unprofessional remarks and hot temper. Now she must decide if this man she works beside is wrongfully accused of murder–or if he's being framed in a most horrendous manner.
A vibrant addition to the series, Kerrigan's frailties in terms of her own relationships add to the mix.
Journalist Julia Dahl makes her crime fiction debut with the riveting Invisible City.
Using her experience in several areas, she bring to life an new protagonist readers will want to follow: Rebekah Roberts, born to a Hasidic Jewish mother from Brooklyn and the Christian preacher from Florida who raised her. Rebekah takes a job in New York to bring her closer to the mother who abandoned her as an infant, convinced her motives are to be in the center of the journalistic scene.
Working as a stringer she's called to cover the story when the body of a Hasidic woman is found brutally murdered in a junk yard. Calling into question the NYPD's relationship with the ultra-Orthodox community, she's shocked to learn the woman will be buried without an autopsy, her husband never questioned by police. She's determined to find the truth, and perhaps along the way, unravel a thread that may lead to her mother. Original and readable.
Denise Mina's Alex Morrow series finds the mother of young twins investigating the death of a businessman, only to discover a complicated network of corruption and deceit that reaches back to the Glasgow to the night Princess Diana died, when a 14 yr old girl found herself sitting in a car with a dead body and the murder weapon in her hand.
How Morrow uncovers the real story, and finds a murderer, make for compelling reading in the unsentimental but very well-written series that never shirks at the realities in our world.
Leigh Russell's Geraldine Steel series has been reviewed here before. The newest addition, Stop Dead, finds Steel in her Met job in London, investigating the murder of a highly successful and unorthodox businessman. At first the victim's business partner are prime suspects–until he, too, is killed in the same gruesome manner, and Morrow races to find the culprit with only one clue in hand: DNA that leads to two women, one dead and the other in prison.
Russell brings back Steel's former partner, DS Ian Peterson, in his own series in Cold Sacrifice. Still adjusting to marriage and thinking he may have made a mistake, Peterson's newest case will take him away from his bride more than ever when three dead bodies pile up quickly. When the first victim, a middle-class housewife, is found stabbed in a nearby park, her husband comes under suspicions, but is soon cleared. That is, until the prostitute who gave him an alibi turns up dead, followed soon by the murder of another prostitute. Peterson will have his hands full trying to placate his wife at home while devoting his time to unearthing a killer.
The husband and wife duo of Nicci French have a winner in the Frieda Klein series. Waiting for Wednesday finds a weakened Frieda recuperating from the events that ended Tuesday's Gone and have left her with physical and emotional wounds. Then DCI Karlsson asked her insights when a health visitor and mother of three is found dead in her home, the victim of a horrific attack. When her niece befriends one of the teens left motherless, Frieda finds the answers may lie closer to home than she thinks. And she's very aware of her own teeming emotions and fragility, which affects her impulsive actions on several fronts. Another satisfying entry in the series.
New to Auntie M but not new to Swedish fans everywhere, Kjell Eriksson's Ann Lindell series brings the fifth entry, Black Lies, Red Blood. With an interesting protagonist, the female police inspector finds her newest case coming too close to home, when the journalist she's been having an affair with is implicated in the murder of a homeless man. After his disappearance, Ann must decide if the man she's fallen in love with could be a killer, while keeping the news of their relationship from her colleagues as she searches for another explanation. Filled with psychological and descriptive details.
Stephen Booth's wonderful Fry and Cooper series returns with Kill Call,this time exploring the world of hunting and horses.
The case presents in a strange way, when on a rainy Derbyshire moor, hounds from the local foxhunt find the body of a well-dressed man whose head has been crushed. Yet an anonymous caller has reported the same body lying half a mile away.
DS Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper investigate and find themselves embroiled in the violent world of hunting and the saboteurs against it, Throw in horse theft and a connection to the meat trade and you have a mystery. Fry tries to unwind the complex and shady business interests of the murder victim, while Cooper decided that the answer to the case just might lie deep in the past.
History is everywhere around him in the Peak District landscape — particularly in the 'plague village' of Eyam, where an outbreak of Black Death has been turned into a modern-day tourist attraction. Cooper can't ignore the instinct that tells him this is at the heart of the case.
New in paperback and in ebook from Witness Impulse, one of the slower-paced books in the series but nonetheless with an interesting and arresting case to follow.
Also from Witness Impulse, the 10th Ben Cooper/Diane Fry Booth, Lost River; previously reviewed. This strong entry in the popular Peak District series revolves around a May Bank Holiday ruined by the tragic drowning of an eight-year-old girl in picturesque Dovedale. For DC Ben Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, the incident is not only traumatic, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the Neilds, the dead girl's family.
Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harbouring a secret – a secret that the whole family might be willing to cover up. DS Diane Fry finds herself drawn into an investigation of her own among the inner-city streets of Birmingham, and quickly Fry realises there is only one person she can rely on to provide the help she needs, and that's Ben Cooper.
Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love and Longing Sunday, Jul 6 2014
Uncategorized anthology, editing, lust, mystery stories, sex Auntie M Writes Crime 12:27 am
Please welcome Ann Mitchell, who will describe her editorial experience as part of the Triangle Sisters in Crime anthology:
What's the Deal With Editors, Anyway?
As you're no doubt aware, writing contests are a great way to get your work recognized and hopefully, published. That was the case when the Triangle chapter of the international organization of Sisters in Crime held a contest, open to members of SinC in North and South Carolina. It had to be a crime story, naturally, and the theme was sex. A titillating proposition, to be sure. Short stories selected would be published—a wonderful opportunity in and of itself. However, for me this contest held an extra draw: the chance to work with an editor.
Of course, I knew an editor would give me the basics: correcting grammar, punctuation, and the like. Beyond that, though, I was a bit hazy. I wanted the chance to get my feet wet in other stages of the writing process, so I gave it a shot. Having an interest in technology, I wrote about a futuristic simulation video game that leads to murder. To my delight, my short story was one of the ones selected to be included in the anthology that would become Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love and Longing. I found that Karen Pullen, the editor, was an established writer and I looked forward to her remarks on my story. And before long, that day arrived.
My initial reaction after perusing the marked up copy was, "Hey! What's the deal? It couldn't have been THAT bad. After all, it was chosen to be included in the first place!" Even though I was a member of a critique group and used to getting constructive criticism on my work, my ego had become a bit bruised (seriously though, there were A LOT of notes). After ruminating a bit, I licked my wounds and went back to the marked up copy. This time, I had a different reaction. All of Karen's editorial notes made perfect sense. After stepping away and coming back with an open mind, I realized that none of the suggested changes took away from my original story but made it cleaner, more consistent and readable. So, after one, no, two … okay, several re-workings, the result was an improved story that we were both very pleased with.
Then came the copy editor's notes. Sigh.
In the end, it was exactly the experience I'd been looking for. I learned a great deal from Karen's insights that I believe will make me a better writer, which, published or not, is what we all strive for. Most of all, I found that the editing and revision process is a collaborative effort that aims to produce the best result possible for the readers. It's difficult to be objective about your own work, but a little humility goes a long way. You may just find that your work becomes something better than even you imagined.
I'm very proud to be included in Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, along with these talented writers: Britni Patterson, Tamara Ward, Toni Goodyear, RF Wilson, E.B. Davis, Bonnie Wisler, Donna Campbell, Karen Pullen, Joanie Conwell, Linda Johnson, Ruth Moose, Sarah Shaber, Calvin Hall, Jamie Catcher, Meg Leader, Antoinette Brown, Polly Iver, Judith Stanton.
Marjorie Ann Mitchell is a business analyst for a tech company in North Carolina and freelance writer. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Write On!, and The Raleigh Write to Publish writing groups as well as The Holly Springs Writers Guild. She graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. She has an interest in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genres as well as essays that reflect social commentary.


I received this note and pictures from Bernie Brouillet last week, and I'm only now getting around to posting them. Sorry Bernie!
Bernie Brouillet wrote: Seen at MoPar Day at Lebanon Valley Dragway in upstate New York, was this 1959 Plymouth Suburban 4-door station wagon, it's for sale for $13,000 (maybe the price for the mag wheels factors in here) and while I didn't speak to the owner, a friend of mine knows him so we could make contact.
Car has a V-8, plenty of surface rust but no obvious rust through - interior was fairly good but probably it's newer seat covers.
A fun tidbit of the day is that the winning car in the "Electronics" eliminator (he uses a transbrake and delay box, if those terms mean anything to you) was a 1971 Roadrunner that I raced against once at Epping NH back in 1976. He beat me in the final of a race there when my Sport Fury stumbled at the top of first gear (point bounce?) His son now drives the car, but the day, Gilbert Gay - 80+ years old now - comes to the track with son Greg now and then so we reminisce. He says he doesn't really remember my car from back then but that's fine considering the circumstances.
Was a beautiful day weather-wise, and on the way home automotive oddities completed the day. First we spotted something funny up ahead, my friend Bob thought he saw a 1960's Barracuda about 400 feet in front of us, but I was sure it wasn't one of them (at that distance I can hardly see anything these days) and once we caught him it turned out to be a Rambler Marlin. Not common for sure. A few miles later, coming towards us was something old, really old holding back a line of traffic - as it "whooshed"" by I recognized the unmistakable styling of a Stanley Steamer, seemingly unrestored a having a rather rusty colored patina.


HOME BASE is here and it's a celebration!
Get on over to my Facebook page and join the fun for a chance to win! Use the handy Facebook icon under CONNECT to the right and it will take you directly to me. See you there!
I can't believe it's almost here!! Coming 12.2018! LOOK FOR IT . . .
The Big Play is LIVE!


My client have been in Belfast for over 20 years, producing solutions for a specialised Insurance Market. All candidates will be interviewed over 2 stages, with the second stage being informal.
Working as a Database Developer you will be responsible for providing data such as Web and Application Analytics.
This role will suit a candidate that has a passion for Technology and Business Analytics.
– Any previous experience with Business Objects, SQL Reporting would be an advantage.
Very positive team, great retention rates and a flexible working environment. If you would like to trade a role in a multinational for something that feels more local and family oriented, feel free call me directly to discuss this genuinely excellent role.
The salary and package will be tailored to attract the best candidate. Excellent on site amenities and benefits will be made available to the successful candidate.
For further information please contact Ryan Quinn in the strictest confidence on 02890 330 250 or apply via the link below. Visit www.vanrath.com for a comprehensive list of similar jobs, career advice and salary surveys.


text:
Q: What is the right way to set a different  for dev/staging/production <base href="">

for dev and production are different(for production it's subfolder). What is the good way to build different base with webpack?

A: If you have a template option set to an HTML file then Version 2.x of the plug-in will not perform any substitution.
In this case, you will need to modify @stever's answer as follows:
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
  ...
  template: './src/index.ejs',
  baseUrl: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development'?'/':'/app/'
})

and rename your index.html file to index.ejs

A: Now it is easy to do it.
Install the base-href-webpack-plugin in your project:
npm install --save-dev base-href-webpack-plugin

and import this code in webpack file:
// Import package
const { BaseHrefWebpackPlugin } = require('base-href-webpack-plugin'); // Or `import 'base-href-webpack-plugin';` if using typescript

// Add to plugins
plugins: [
  new BaseHrefWebpackPlugin({ baseHref: '/' })
]

Reference: https://github.com/dzonatan/base-href-webpack-plugin

A: In Webpack 4 I have tried the baseUrl in HtmlWebpackPlugin , but it's never gets parsed in the html. So you need a new plugin called BaseHrefWebpackPlugin along with HtmlWebpackPlugin
Webpack.config
 new HtmlWebpackPlugin(), //this will create default template
        new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
            title: 'MyApp' //replace title

        }),
        new BaseHrefWebpackPlugin({
            baseHref: process.env.NODE_ENV == 'development' ? '/' : '/MyApp/'
        })

Html
    <base href="<%= htmlWebpackPlugin.options.baseUrl %>">
    <title><%= htmlWebpackPlugin.options.title %></title>

A: the best what I found so far was to put this property in config(HtmlWebpackPlugin option):
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
  ...
  baseUrl: process.env.NODE_ENV == 'development'?'/':'/app/'
})

and then output it in index.html:
<base href="<%= htmlWebpackPlugin.options.baseUrl %>" />

A: If you are using Angular CLI 6, you can specify baseHref and deploy url as part of your production config (projects > xxx > architect > build > configurations > production) inside angular.json.

A: If you are using webpack, you will certainly have to set output.publicPath to the same value.
See HtmlWebpackPlugin injects relative path files which breaks when loading non-root website paths

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Well, i just did some "renovation" to this blog sebab dah bertahun layout yang sama. zaman tak kawen, dah kawen dan beranak....sama saja.
Anyways, i have nothing much to write just to say HELLO to the blogging world as i have been on a long hiatus for quite sometime...atas dasar kasihan kat blog ni,macam hidup segan mati tak mahu pulak sejak dua menjak tuan tanah tak dak idea nak tulih apa. hehhh...so tulis laa sepatah dua kata skit rasanya.
what am i currently been up to these days?? aside from endless workload, i am currently actively trying my best to lose weight.seriously. i mean i cannot be walking around with a plus size clothing anymore...i hate it and i want to be healthy and strong and active for my very active girl, Maryam too. i need to keep up with her running and jumping around.
i am ashamed of being fat and i am tired of being overweight already! seriously. i think i am doing this for myself basically. i am so lucky that my husband has never asked me to reduce my weight as he thinks i am just perfect the way i am and he actually assured me that.. but, i have been gaining too much weight since pregnancy and post pregnancy...so, if i want to be pregnant again the next time, i think i better loose the weight first. i don't want to be pregnant fat. that's all. i think it is not healthy and definitely not cute... sorry, that's my opinion. ;) so peace...no hard feeling please.
i have a few dreams in my life, and this particular one has been slipping away a few times already. i cannot let it slip again this time. you know, to continue my studies at this time with a growing up child, i have a lot to think and to sacrifice. but, if others can do, why can't i? so, all i need is to be positive and remind myself to stay positive all the time as the road to this particular dream is not going to be easy. and i know it will be all worthwhile, Insyaa Allah.
if i ada post graduate degree pun it would not guarantee me a high position or stuff like that. this is just for my own satisfaction and for my child to have a person who she could at least look up to one day hopefully.
and i have to make sure that while i am busy juggling my work and my studies, Maryam would still be the first priority and family comes first before anything else. so, dear God please help me with this. Ameeen.
sekali sekala pegi belajar balik akan buka lebih luas pemandangan kita kan. our Prophet pun encourage us to never stop learning until the end.


text:
NCAA Hockey Bracketology: January 15, 2014
Updates on the road to South Broad Street.
By Brian F. Jan 15, 2014, 3:01pm EST
Share All sharing options for: NCAA Hockey Bracketology: January 15, 2014
Hard to believe but Boston College is already halfway through the regular season Hockey East schedule. Such is life with a 20-game conference schedule. The Eagles are sitting pretty at 8-1-1 in conference play, four points clear of Northeastern (!) and Providence with a game in hand.
Let's take a look at where BC would end up in the National Tournament if the season ended today.
First, the ground rules.
Sixteen teams make the tournament. Each conference tournament champion receives an automatic bid. Interestingly, there's one more of those this year with the creation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference and resulting CCHA/WCHA reshuffle. The remaining 10 programs receive at-large berths. Those 10 bids go to the top 10 teams in the PWR.
There are other modifications to this year's PairWise ranking system that don't necessarily need to be noted here. If you want to read up on the PWR changes for this season, USCHO breaks it down here.
For the purposes of this bracket, we'll assume the team with the top PWR rating earns the conference's auto-bid.
Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams
1. Minnesota - Big Ten champ
2. Boston College - Hockey East champ
3. Ferris State - WCHA champ
4. Quinnipiac - ECAC champ
5. St. Cloud State - NCHC champ
7. Northeastern
9. UMass-Lowell
10. Wisconsin
11. Cornell
13. New Hampshire
14. Clarkson
15. Michigan
16. Air Force - AHA champ
45. Boston University
Bubble teams (in order): Notre Dame, Vermont, Maine, North Dakota, Colgate
By conference: Hockey East 5, ECAC 5, Big Ten 3, WCHA 1, NCHC 1, Atlantic Hockey 1
Step 2: Assign the seeds
No. 1 seeds: Minnesota, Boston College, Ferris State, Quinnipiac
No. 2 seeds: St. Cloud State, Union, Northeastern, Providence
No. 3 seeds: UMass-Lowell, Wisconsin, Cornell, Yale
No. 4 seeds: New Hampshire, Clarkson, Michigan, Air Force
Step 3: Place host teams in regionals
This year's four regional hosts are Yale / Fairfield (East in Bridgeport), Holy Cross (Northeast in Worcester), Miami (Ohio) (Midwest in Cincinnati) and Minnesota (West in Saint Paul). Minnesota and Yale are safely in the tournament field at this point. Miami and Holy Cross are not (thanks, Crusaders!). Minnesota is slotted into the West Regional and Yale the East.
Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in Regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.
No. 1 Minnesota is placed in the West Regional in Minneapolis.
No. 2 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.
No. 3 Ferris State is placed in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati.
No. 4 Quinnipiac is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport.
Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-conference match ups if possible. Begin by filling each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding.
If this is the case, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 v. No. 8, No. 2 v. No. 7, No. 3 v. No. 6 and No. 4 v. No. 5.
Number 2 seeds:
No. 8 Providence is placed in No. 1 Minnesota's Regional, the West.
No. 7 Northeastern is placed in No. 2 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast.
No. 6 Union is placed in No. 3 Ferris State's Regional, the Midwest.
No. 5 St. Cloud State is placed in No. 4 Quinnipiac's Regional, the East.
No. 9 UMass-Lowell is placed in No. 8 Providence's Regional, the West.
No. 10 Wisconsin is placed in No. 7 Northeastern's Regional, the Northeast.
No. 11 Cornell is placed in No. 6 Union's Regional, the Midwest.
No. 12 Yale is placed in No. 5 St. Cloud State's Regional, the East.
No. 13 New Hampshire is placed in No. 4 Quinnipiac's Regional, the East.
No. 14 Clarkson is placed in No. 3 Ferris State's Regional, the Midwest.
No. 15 Michigan is placed in No. 2 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast.
No. 16 Air Force is placed in No. 1 Minnesota's Regional, the West.
Our bracket as we have it set up:
West Regional (Saint Paul, Minnesota)
1 Minnesota vs. 16 Air Force
8 Providence vs. 9 UMass-Lowell
East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
4 Quinnipiac vs. 13 New Hampshire
5 St. Cloud State vs. 12 Yale
Midwest Regional (Cincinnati, Ohio)
3 Ferris State vs. 14 Clarkson
6 Union vs. 11 Cornell
Northeast Regional (Worcester, Massachusetts)
2 Boston College vs. 15 Michigan
7 Northeastern vs. 10 Wisconsin
After initially populating the bracket, the NCAA then looks to avoid intra-conference matchups. The above bracket has two such intra-conference conflicts -- 8 Providence vs. 9 UMass-Lowell out West and 6 Union vs. 11 Cornell in the Midwest. Lowell can't be swapped out for the 10 seed as this would create another first round, intra-conference matchup with Northeastern. #HockeyEastProbs But the River Hawks could be swapped out for 11-seeded Cornell. UMass-Lowell heads to the Midwest to take on Union, while Cornell is shipped out west to face Providence.
Our bracket as we have it set up now:
8 Providence vs. 11 Cornell
6 Union vs. 9 UMass-Lowell
Finally, the NCAA looks at ways of boosting attendance by tweaking programs within each band. Not sure you can do a whole lot more with this bracket. With Minnesota and Air Force out west, Quinnipiac, UNH and Yale east, Ferris State and ... just Ferris State in the Midwest and BC and Northeastern in the Northeast, this bracket shapes up pretty well. The committee might toy with the idea of swapping 10 Wisconsin with 11 Cornell, sending the Badgers out west and bringing Cornell back to the Northeast. But let's hold off on that for now.
For BC, a less-than-favorable draw with two of the three Big Ten clubs with a pulse -- including a team that earned a 3-1 victory over the Eagles in the season opener -- and a surging Northeastern squad that has won three straight Hockey East contests to draw even with Providence in second place. Still, it's Worcester; a venue that has been very kind to the Eagles' NCAA Tournament runs over the past decade.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Oil prices continued their fall on Tuesday, will the benchmark Brent and WTI crude oil grades both dipping lower, traders have reported.
By 0840 GMT, Brent futures had fallen by $0.28 to $82.06 per barrel, and futures for WTI by $0.34 to $77.06 a barrel. Earlier on Tuesday, the price of Brent fell to four-year low, and since the end of June, world oil prices have declined by 30 percent.
The low oil prices have not yet affected the production of shale oil in the United States, according to Energy Information Administration, Reuters reports.
"U.S. manufacturers may cut their production starting from next year. If that happens, the market could recover, but while the countries that are not members of OPEC are ramping up their production, the market will continue its downward trajectory," said Yusuke Seta, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan, adding that prices will also cause a strengthening of the dollar.
"A new target for Brent in the near future is $80, but from a technical point of view, it is unlikely to fall below this level," he said.
Bank JPMorgan Chase & Co lowered its forecast for the average Brent price in 2015 by $33, to $82 per barrel.
Libya has cut oil production to 500,000 barrels per day, as one of the military groups vying for power there seized a large field of El Shararah. In September, oil output in the country reached 900,000 barrels per day, compared to 100,000 in June.
The continued fall in oil prices will cause more headaches for budget planners in Russia, the world's largest oil producing country, as its budget depends significantly on oil revenues.


Get ready for Halloween with this spooky print from Maywood Studios. Black cats are tossed on a bright green background sprinkled with blue stars and small white dots.
Print Size:Cats are approximately 1.75" and 2" tall. Design repeats every 8".


City in the park - an peaceful, safe area of newer developments surrounded by a park. This one bedroom ground floor condo is nestled away on a quiet cul de sac and is a 3 minutes walk to Edmonds skytrain, shopping, local trails and Bryrne creek. Bring your own ideas to this 737 sq ft large (GROUND FLOOR) one bedroom. 1 parking, Pets allowed, well maintained building with Pro Active Strata. New 25 year warrantied roof. Location, location, location.


text:
Holly Honderich
Holly Honderich is a politics reporter and a Master of Science Candidate at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She is currently writing for Medill News Service in Washington D.C., and serving as a fellow at BBC North America. Prior to Medill, Holly earned a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University in political science and worked as a city and breaking news reporter at the Toronto Star. Upon graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in political reporting and will make her first stop at the San Francisco Chronicle to complete a reporting fellowship.
Posts By This Author
White Nationalist Rally Draws Small Group in Nation's Capital. Counter-Protests Draw Thousands
by Holly Honderich, by Juliette Rocheleau 08-12-2018
Siblings Charlotte and Sean Kratovil-Lavelle stand on the perimeter of the Unite the Right counterprotest on Sunday. Photo by Holly Honderich.
About 1,000 protesters gathered a few blocks from a white nationalist rally Sunday, far outnumbering the fewer than two dozen Unite the Right activists who walked to Lafayette Park near the White House one year after the deadly riots in Charlottesville, Va.
Families Belong Together March Draws Tens of Thousands Protesting Trump's Immigration Policies
by Holly Honderich 07-01-2018
Susana Sandoval, 46, leads members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance into Lafayette Square on Saturday morning. Holly Honderich/Medill News Service
Thousands of protesters clad in white and armed with signs denouncing President Donald Trump rallied Saturday in more than 90-degree heat against the Trump administration's immigration policy and the "zero-tolerance" approach that has separated children from their parents after they crossed the border from Mexico to the U.S.


A secondary school in Preston are seeking Cover Supervisors to work on a part-time, day to day basis. These are ad-hoc requirements where the school may call on the morning to request cover or the prior evening for the next day.
Rate of pay is £9.50 an hour (based on a 6 hour day).
If you are looking for part-time adhoc work alongside studying for a Degree, working another job or enjoy part-time work to allow for a flexible lifestyle then this would be perfect for you.


"Oh! The weather out side is frightful, but "Frank and Betsie's" is so delightful. There's no place I'd rather be.
Frank and Betsie's [Restaurant] is the perfect setting to toast the end of [a] journey and the beginning of a new life.
Mike Leonard - NBC's "The TODAY SHOW"
Speaking frankly, it's a pleasure to dine at Frank and Betsie's.
Baked Brie, fresh from the oven and melting into garlic butter sauce, was exceptionally rich and quite wonderful.
From start to finish, Frank and Betsie's is about good food, good conversation, and a pleasant dining experience.
There are some very attractive and rewarding selections, not the least of which is the House Pate. Chicken liver has been whipped up until it is almost as light as a mousse, with a fresh, not too salted taste.
Entrees carry out the French bistro theme with selections that emphasize fresh herbs and a fairly steady hand at seasoning.
I ordered the steak au poivre that features the tastiest peppercorn sauce I have had this side of the Atlantic, a delicate combination of red wine, brandy, and crushed blue peppercorns.
...we both decided to try the Florentine bar cookies. They were incredible! Other Florentines that I've had were quite different... These were bar cookies with a buttery base and a creamy caramel almond mixture.
Gotta' rate Frank the tuna fish sandwich king of the north shore!
Frank's pastries will drive you crazy! Just great!


text:
Q: Enable PHP highlights in VS 2010? I've heard that Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 has support for PHP. When I load a PHP file though, it has nothing highlighted and is nothing more than a glorified text editor.
Is there a way to enable it?

A: As far as I know, we don't do PHP support out of the box. You probably need a third-party component such as this one: http://www.jcxsoftware.com/vs.php

A: You can enable syntax highlighting for php files using a simple hack in Visual Studio 2010 (might also work for earlier versions)
Open Tools -> Options dialog from the menu, and select Text Editor -> File Associations on the left. Add php as a new extension and select 'Microsoft Visual C++' in the adjacent combo box. Apply and now you and open and edit any php file in Visual Studio with Syntax highlighting and code folding. The only problem come is when the file has mixed php and html code. It does not look really good and editing is painful.
I have tried VS.php, and I am certainly not impressed. The only thing it can add to visual studio is creating a php project easily, otherwise, I haven't been able to find it any more useful.

A: I've found by using the VS2010 script editor for PHP it does 90% of what I wanted.
As Samnan states - goto Open Tools -> Options dialog from the menu, and select Text Editor -> File Associations
and told VS2010 to use its script editor
Also XRefresh plugin for firefox is quite handy for quickly viewing code changes on a second monitor running firefox.

A: On Microsoft Connect, it seems that this is a feature request. And they've talked about it on MSDN. But so far, syntax highlighting doesn't seem to be a builtin feature just yet. Though, Expression Web 2 and 3 do have IntelliSense  in the HTML designer, we could be seeing native syntax highlighting in the Visual Studio 2010 RTM come March.
Hope this helps.

A: I've heard rumors about them adding it in the final release, however there is no native support for PHP within the beta right now.


text:
Beauty Posted on May 10, 2019
Dollar General Presents Its Third Annual A Day of Beauty Event
"We are excited to host the 0.33 annual A Day of Beauty event to energize Dollar General clients and train them on all of the extremely good multi-cultural merchandise available in our shops," stated Makia Embrey, Dollar General's A Day of Beauty emblem ambassador. "The day focused on supplying health, splendor and wellness recommendation, understanding, money-saving hints and complimentary samples. We look forward to welcoming nowadays's attendees to their local Dollar General keep quickly."
Today's occasion featured a panel dialogue entitled Beauty from the Inside Out! Presenting Larry Sims, Naja The Nail Guru, Mel J. And Char Braden, a guest speaker presentation from writer and actress Kim Fields and an extraordinary overall performance via R&B singer Vivian Green.
First pics of blogger Suzanne Jackson and new husband
U.S. Condemns Execution of a Syrian
Influential Apple blogger 'Boy Genius' says the iPhone 8
Representatives from Dollar General personal brands, L.A. Colors, Black Radiance,
Maybelline, L'Oreal, Pantene, Colgate, Softsoap, Bronner Brothers, Eco eco, Pink, ORS, Ponds, St. Ives, Caress, Jamaican Oil, Salon Pro, Via Natural, Olay, Shea Moisture, Creme of Nature, Cantu, Ampro, Smooth n Shine, Tone, Palmer's, Africa's Best, Broadway Colors, Bella Curls and African Pride attended the occasion, provided samples and complimentary splendor offerings.
"Seeing the effect of Dollar General's 1/3 annual A Day of Beauty on individuals is inspiring," said actress and special visitor presenter Kim Fields. "I am excited to be part of an afternoon that offers an in-depth have a look at inner and outward splendor in which attendees leave feeling empowered with knowledge and pampered with complimentary products."
Revolve is Stepping into The Beauty Commercial enterprise
Beauty in nature suggests via the lens
Beauty School Student Transforms
Why Amazon Isn't Ready To Dominate Beauty
Beauty And Wellness Alternatives From The Victoria's Mystery Angels, Consisting of A $2,000 Facial
The fourth trouble of BeautyCents magazine lately hit Dollar General stores supplying readers with fall 2017 coupons, recommendation for the imminent returned to high school and fall seasons, apparel developments and extra. Copies are to be had in Dollar General shops for the duration of the fall. The mag is likewise accessible online here.
Celebrity Biographies:
Kim Fields: Kim Fields is an actress and director nice Annual acknowledged for General her global Beauty
syndicated tv roles as Tootie at The Facts of Life and Regine on Living Single. She has made several appearances in films and nationally suggests including What to Expect When You're Expecting, Mork & Mindy, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Drew Carey Show and Kenan & Kel. She has additionally directed episodes for Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Kenan & Kel and Living Single. Most these days, Kim seemed on Season 8 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars, but not anything is more interesting than the approaching release of her autobiography Blessed Life and her fall most suitable of the movie A Question of Faith in which she plays Theresa Newman.
Vivian Green: R&B singer-songwriter Vivian Green is described as an artist whose vocals are riveting and electric powered. At a young age, Vivian started out her career as a singer and is credited for writing "Dear God" by means of Boyz II Men, from their 1997 album Evolution. After journeying internationally as a backup singer for Jill Scott at the age of 19, she went on to release five albums over the course of her profession. Her first hit turned into 'Emotional Roller Coaster' and her album A Love Story was licensed Gold, to call only some of her accomplishments. Vivian has claimed her very own space inside the neo soul musicscape with a mixture of coronary heart-wrenching ballads and up to pace grooves. Her today's album, VGVI, is set to launch q4.
For additional information, photographs or gadgets to supplement a story, please go to the DG Newsroom, touch the Media Relations Department at 1-877-944-DGPR (3477) or through email at dgpr@dg.Com.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been handing over price to buyers for over 75 years. Dollar General allows shoppers Save time. Save cash. Every day!® via presenting products which can be often used and replenished, such as meals, snacks, health and splendor aids, cleaning materials, apparel for the family, housewares and seasonal items at low regular costs in handy neighborhood locations. Dollar General operated thirteen,601 shops in forty-four states as of May 5, 2017. In addition to excessive quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers inclusive of Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg's, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola. Learn extra approximately Dollar General
Beauty is not skin deep. It's attitude that separates the beauty from the crowd. "Looking at the beauty in the world is the first step of purifying the mind." The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. A woman whose smile is open and whose expression is glad has a kind of beauty no matter what she wears. All women are beautiful, regardless of their looks. You just need to touch their soul with respect and appreciation for their inner beauty and you will be rewarded with joy. The heart is way more important than the package.
I love natural beauty, and I think it's your best look, but I think makeup as an artist is so transformative. I would never like to endorse a fairness cream. I believe in natural beauty.
True beauty can't shine through makeup. Many of us can't even imagine our life without makeup. It sounds strange and even scary for many girls, thanks to media popularization of unrealistic beauty standards. To be beautiful without makeup?! Is it even possible?!
For many of us, it would be a big nonsense even to go to a supermarket with no makeup on.
Media often forces us to believe that a woman with no makeup on can't actually look somewhat attractive or beautiful.
If someone wants to live a makeup-free life, or at least to be able to have makeup-free days, then it makes sense to put a little bit more effort into caring about the natural beauty of your face, hair, and body.
1) Feel beautiful (even without makeup)
Yes, the first step to natural, makeup-free beauty is connected with your inner perception of yourself – your self-image. If a girl considers herself beautiful and is able to accept herself totally and unconditionally, then the whole world will feel the same about her. Yes, it's that simple!
But if you don't feel comfortable and confident about yourself with no makeup on, try to adapt the new 'natural' image gradually.
2) Your skin is your everything!
If you decide to lead a makeup-free life, it doesn't mean that you need to completely let go of all skin care products. Many skin problems are actually related to the excessive use of makeup; skin tone becomes uneven because of the reaction of your body on a foundation, concealer or blush. If skin problems persist, get a professional advice of a dermatologist; it's better to treat the problem straight away than to put it on hold into a waiting box. Some other tips for the beauty of your skin include: use facial masks 2 or 3 times a week (choose masks according to your skin type), and exfoliate your skin regularly (we are not only talking about exfoliating your facial skin, exfoliate your whole body.
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Small wind turbines are of particular interest for regions with hardly any infrastructure that therefore need an autonomous supply of energy. Existing solutions, however, are currently too expensive for broad-scale use – especially in areas with weak economies, like North Africa. This is why IAV wants to use its experience from automotive engineering as a service provider for developing robust, inexpensive and efficient systems.
On the one hand, our expertise in developing individual components plays a key part: We have been working on electric motors and generators for many years and also have modern test benches for e-machines. On top of this, we are familiar with the demands on efficient and cost-optimized volume production from the automotive industry – experience we would like to use in producing small wind turbine systems.
IAV's service portfolio includes investigating and developing engine and generator concepts, measuring and parameterizing small wind turbine systems on the test bench and devising concepts for pitch adjustment systems. Beyond this, we are also involved in developing remote-diagnosis solutions as well as in analyzing the development and production of small wind turbine systems – always under the aspects of cost optimization and logistics.
Your request regarding the topic Small Wind Turbines will be sent directly to the responsible department.


Wind energy developer Wind Capital Group, LLC has selected RMT, Inc. (RMT), a leading renewable energy EPC contractor, to design and construct its 150-MW Osage County Wind Energy Facility in Osage County, Oklahoma.
RMT will provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the civil and electrical infrastructure to support the installation of 94 GE 1.6-MW wind turbines at the site. The civil and electrical infrastructure includes roads, crane paths and pads, turbine foundations, and full site restoration. The electrical infrastructure includes a 34.5-kV underground collector system, a 34.5/138-kV power substation, and a 138-kV project transmission line. RMT is also responsible for tower erection, in-tower wiring, mechanical turbine completion, and testing and inspections to deliver a fully functional wind-powered electrical generation facility.
Construction of the Osage County wind farm is expected to begin early this fall, with project completion scheduled for June 2012. RMT is also currently constructing WCG's 201-MW Post Rock project, and has completed five additional projects for WCG totaling 312 MW.


Once your wholesale flowers have been delivered, they will need conditioning before they are arranged. Conditioning will ensure that the flowers are in the best condition for the maximum possible amount of time.
Flowers should be unpacked immediately on arrival. Remove all packaging material. A good inch should be cut from the stems at a 45 degree angle with a sharp knife – do not use scissors, as they will crush the stems and prevent water freely flowing up to the flower heads. Air locks in the stem are the most common cause of wilting. Please note: STEMS SHOULD NEVER BE HAMMERED OR CRUSHED.
Strip the lower foliage from the stems. Any leaves that are left under water will start to rot – this will cause a build up of bacteria and may block the stem ends as well as feeding the flower heads with the bacteria.
Fill your flower buckets between a quarter & one half full with luke warm water. Add flower food at the appropriate rates, (flower food will help prevent bacteria). All buckets must be spotlessly clean to prevent bacteria. Flowers should be left in water for at least 2/3 hours before arranging and preferably overnight.
Never leave your flowers near a radiator or in a draft and always keep out of direct sun light.
Cut stems at a 45 degree angle using a sharp knife.
Fill clean buckets with warm water – add flower food.
The outer petals on roses are called 'Guard Petals'. They are often darker in colour and thicker than the inner petals. These can be carefully removed.
Condition in the same way as Woody Stems.
Immerse up to their necks in water.
Turn stems upside down & fill the hollow stem with tepid water.
Hold thumb over the stem until it is placed into bucket of warm water.
Cut off the white firm end of the stem with a sharp knife.
Fill clean buckets with cold water – add flower food.
Daffodils exude a poisonous sap when cut. This will kill other flowers if conditioned in the same water – always condition separately.
Single leaves can be totally immersed in water to condition them.
Shiny, smooth foliage can be washed. Leaf-shine can also be applied.
Carnations and spray carnations should have their stems cut between the joints.
Tulips will always bend towards the light. Wrap in newspaper when conditioning to keep them straight.
Remove all foliage from lilacs, (syringa), and forsythia so sufficient water reaches the flower head.
Remove lily stamens. The pollen will stain skin, clothes and furnishings.
Cover mimosa flower heads with a plastic bag when conditioning to stop them drying out.
Some flowers can still wilt even after conditioning. Roses are a good example! Should this happen: re-cut the stems and place in near boiling water – this will destroy the air lock. Wrap the flower heads in tissue or newspaper to protect them from steam. Leave in water for approx. half an hour. When the flowers are revived, re-cut the stems, as the boiling water will have damaged them. Continue to condition before arranging.


Gorgeous retro palm tree travel poster inspired by lyric from the Go Betweens, by Indie Prints.
Great vintage abstract type poster from Land of Lost Content! This print comes in SMALL/MEDIUM/LARGE framed and unframed. 210gsm acid free archival paper with a small white border.


For info on the 2018 Country Christmas Choir Concert visit www.tourismmerritt.ca/events/music-theatre/merritt-country-christmas-concert-2.
Entry Fee is free but donations are always welcome.
Country Christmas Love to Dance Concert is having 2 performances. Nov. 23, Doors will open at 6:00pm and the performance will start at 7:00pm at the Merritt Civic Centre.
Country Christmas Love to Dance Concert is having 2 performances. Nov. 23, Doors open at 12:00pm and performance starts at 1:00pm. The second performance doors will open at 6:00pm and the performance will start at 7:00pm at the Merritt Civic Centre.
Raising Funds for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. $50 a ticket. Includes dinner at 5pm and show from 6-8pm.
4 Justice For Her Fundraiser Fashion Show, Welcomes All of the 4 Directions For Her, Through the 4 Seasons we will always remember Her, Reminding ourselves the 4 Vital Connections to and from Her, the Water, Land, Animals and being a Giver of Life. 4 Ever For Her!
Brambles Secret Door Gallery presents Georgina Beatty, Linda-Butler Buchanan, Cassandra Dolen, Libby Dybikowski, Wendy EEckhout, Jean Kiegerl, Heidi Koehler, Miriam Loken, Diane Lavoie, Kim Leclair, Bobbi Parkes, Stefanie Travers, Cindilla Trent, Kim Vizi-Carmen.
Opening reception November 10th at 7 pm. Live music by guitarist Robert Bertrand.
Students at Merritt Secondary School are looking to keep used batteries out of landfills, and help developing countries at the same time.
The 'We Care Crew' is starting a battery drive today.
Member Courtney Christy says every AA battery contains the amount of zinc needed to save the lives of six children in a developing country.
"All the zinc is recycled, and then donated to developing countries in need."
Drop boxes for batteries will be spread out through out the city, including at Merritt Secondary School, the Community Policing Office, and the Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre.
Batteries collected will be taken by members of the 'We Care Crew' to Vancouver next week, when they attend 'We Day'.
The Fall Paint-In is Back!
Have Fun, Try something new!
Fall Paint-In....create a beautiful fall painting in one afternoon. Take home an 11x14 canvas.
Deadline to register is October 14th.
Cost is $40 with all proceeds to the Nicola Valley Community Theatre.
$5 for dessert, coffee and tea provided by Espresso, Etc.
Nicola Valley Life- A collection of artwork old and new, in a variety of media by various artists including Jean Kiegerl, Wendy Eechout, John Taylor, Roger Kamp, Doug Strand and others.


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https://www.sheltonherald.com/sports/high-school-sports/article/Gaels-4x200-relay-qualifies-for-Nationals-13945682.php
Gaels' 4x200 relay qualifies for Nationals
Published 1:04 pm EDT, Thursday, March 13, 2014
The Shelton High boys indoor track 4x200-meter relay team competed at the New England Regional Championship held at the Reggie Lewis Track Center in Boston on March 1.
The team, consisting of Tom Kane, Mike Ficano, Mike Pingree and anchor Kevin Block, was looking to again break the school record and to qualify for the National Indoor Track Championships in New York City on March 14 and 15.
The first goal was well within their reach, as they had already broken the school record twice this season. The school record was 1:36.87, set four years ago.
The relay team recorded a time of 1:35.98 at the Yale Invitational in January, following up a few weeks later with 1:35.62 at the state championship.
The second goal seemed much more difficult. The boys needed a time of 1:34.00 or better to qualify for the National Championships. An improvement of over 1.62 seconds seemed insurmountable.
The team was able to squeak out a nail-biting time of 1:33.99, shattering the school record and giving them a berth at the National Championships at the Armory Track in New York City on March 14. The relay squad placed 11th overall amongst the 36 best teams in New England, a tremendous improvement over its seed of 17th.
The National Championship will be the last race of the indoor track season, with outdoor track season starting in early April.


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The Power of the Dog by Maud Earl (1864-1943) and Arthur Croxton. Smith (1865-1950) published by Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1911 This Edition de Luxe is limited to One Hundred copies signed by the Artist in ink. The cover in leather with gilt titles and signature, printed on thick art-paper with 21 tipped-in colour plates after paintings by Maud Earl, each with script about the breeds by eminent dog writer Arthur Croxton Smith. The breed chapters include the Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Foxhound, Bloodhound, Pointer, Greyhound, Welsh, Scottish, Boston, Bull, West Highland White, Fox, Sealyham Terriers, Pekingese, Miniature Bulldog, Chow, Griffon Bruxellois, Pomeranian, Springer Spaniel and Miniature Poodle.


GapiDraw provides a direct 1:1 bridge to the DirectDraw library on stationary PCs and Windows Mobile devices with hardware acceleration. Even the coordinate systems are identical! Thanks to a flexible internal software architecture it is easy to add support for other hardware acceleration libraries in the near future such as Open GL ES. To find out what features are hardware accelerated in GapiDraw please refer to the online documentation.
Expandable. It should be easy and manageable to add new features to current blit operations, without adding large blocks of source code as a result. GapiDraw uses a programming technique called Template Meta Programming in C++ which makes the source code both easy to expand as well as very high performance. Several of our source code customers have expressed great satisfaction with the modular design of the GapiDraw graphic architecture.
High Performance. Images in GapiDraw are stored in something referred to as surfaces, a 16-bit image format. Since all modern processors today can operate on at least 32 bits of information at the same speed as they operate on 16 bits, all pixel routines in GapiDraw are fine tuned to always operate on 32 bits of information. As an example, drawing surfaces with opacity will only require one multiplication per pixel since even the multiplication can operate on multiple pixels thanks to some clever bit shifts and 32-bit logic!
Native Orientation Rendering. Every software-based display has a frame buffer stored in RAM. When you read a byte from the frame buffer, the cache in the device will automatically pre-fetch the next couple of bytes in the background. To take advantage of this, every graphics loop in GapiDraw always operates in a cache-optimized way so that if many pixels are to be read from the frame buffer, most of them will be read from the processor cache. GapiDraw will even prefetch four cache lines in parallel for maximum performance. Considering that the display can be rotated in any possible orientation (left, right or upside down), it becomes quite a big task to realize this cache-optimizations for yourself in a stable and performance efficient way if you should choose to develop your own graphics engine. Using GapiDraw you can focus on the content, not on optimizing the rendering performance in every possible display configuration.
A surface is an image area which you can use for drawing. You can copy other images to this area, or access it directly for custom pixel effects.
In GapiDraw, even the display and the back buffer are two surfaces. Thus, to draw to the backbuffer, you typically create a new surface, load an image into that surface, and draw it onto different positions on the back buffer to simulate movement.
GapiDraw supports three types of surfaces: opaque surfaces, surfaces with 1-bit transparency mask (like GIF images), and surfaces with variable alpha (like PNG images) - called RGBA surfaces. RGBA surfaces are used for all Windows Vista graphics, and is also used for all graphics on the popular iPhone and iPod Touch handheld devices.
Memory on handheld computers is precious and should be used as sparsely as possible. Many legacy applications use the image loading routines from Virtual Office Systems that provide a direct link to the system built-in image decoders to load PNG, JPG, GIF and BMP images from a file, resource or memory. The built-in image decoders however have one significant drawback: they use huge amounts of memory!
To give an example. A typical game stores pictures as PNG images on disk. The images are 8-bit indexed color, and the final decompressed image should be stored as a 16-bit image in a format combatible with the display. The amount of memory required when using the built-in image decoding routines are a (1) the size of the file as loaded into memory (this can be minimized by using memory mapped files), (2) the size of the file as expanded to 24-bit true color (which is necessary since the built-in routines does not expand to the 565 display format on all devices), and (3) the size of the final 16-bit surface. Given an image that is 2000x1000 pixels, the minimum amount of memory required to load the bitmap is (2000x1000x24bit + 2000x1000x16bit) = 9,77 mb using the system built-in image decoder.
Instead of using these decoders GapiDraw includes custom-written PNG and BMP image decoders with nearly zero memory overhead! Loading an image of 2000x1000 pixels will only require 3.91 mb using GapiDraw's proprietary image decoder (~2.5 times less memory)!
Internally, GapiDraw uses an optimization technique called template meta programming. Template meta programming is a C++ programming technique that allows optimizations such as loop-expansion and automatic means of creating temporary variables in optimized code. GapiDraw uses the template meta programming technique for loop-expansion.
In most graphics operations, GapiDraw accepts several flag parameters that changes how pixels are to be copied between surfaces. Examples are transparency, color masks and colorizations. Implementing support for three flags, a developer can write either one loop that covers all flags or eight individually optimized loops. Writing eight different loops for three flags means having to write another additional eight loops if a new flag is added to the API. In some operations, GapiDraw accepts up to eight flags as parameters. Writing one loop imposes significant performance issues in that all flags have to be checked for every single pixel being copied, whereas writing 256 individually optimized loops results in un-manageable source code.
GapiDraw supports multiple display formats such as 16-bit 555 and 16-bit 565 formats. Using Template Meta Programming, all blit loops are copied by the precompiler to generate unique and optimized loops for every display configuration! The result is simply stunning performance!
GapiDraw 4 introduces hardware accelerated graphics on Windows Mobile devices, windowed mode, gradients and much more. Click here for a list of all the new features in GapiDraw 4.
If you click on one of the links below you are taken straight to the GapiDraw documentation where you can read more about the specific topic.
Proven OS integration. The GapiDraw application framework is centered around an easy to use class CGapiApplication that serves as the starting point for your application. The application frameworks takes care of every possible OS event such as minimizing due to incoming phone calls, warning signs due to low battery or other notifications. The GapiDraw framework has been improved during many years, and tested on tens of thousands of devices.
Simple to use configuration structure to set parameters such as maximum number of frame updates per second and double click support.
The option to set and modify the maximum number of frame updates per second (FPS). Limiting the maximum number of frame updates per second has several advantages, such as prolonging battery life. GapiDraw features an advanced timer class that adaptively analyzes the number of frames rendered each second, and spreads out the frames in a way that guarantees smooth playback during the entire update cycle.
The option to lock all hardware keys to prevent application switching.
GapiDraw ships with a complete framework to develop interactive Xperia panel applications. Using GapiDraw you can run the same code either as a separate executable file (to help debugging) or as an Xperia panel DLL (for release).
A choice to store the back buffer in either video memory or system memory. Storing the back buffer in system memory is a good option when information has to be read from it, for example when doing alpha blended graphics that are not accelerated by DirectDraw.
Direct throughput to DirectDraw. If you want direct access to the DirectDraw object or the primary surface, GapiDraw provides direct access to these classes if you have legacy code you want to use.
Support for creating applications as DLL files using an "offscreen display". If you want to develop a visually advanced today screen plugin, a DLL file, or a Sony Ericsson Xperia panel you want to create an offscreen display using GDI which you can then copy to the display. GapiDraw has been used in numerous games and advanced applications for today screen plugins, and is currently in use for developing Sony Ericsson Xperia panels! Using an offscreen display you get the same blazingly fast blitter performance as in full screen mode, with the flexibility to blit in a window or a panel.
Extensive back buffer support. On devices without DirectDraw, GapiDraw supports three different types of back buffer configurations, all of which are used today on various devices. The first type is where display access is direct, and the application itself has to manage the back buffer and copy it to the display. The other type is where the application manages the back buffer and notifies the system to update the display using the back buffer provided. The third type is where the back buffer is buffered and where the system will copy it to the display itself.
Extensive display support. Every single blit and graphic drawing routine in GapiDraw supports 15-bit as well as 16-bit displays with no per-pixel conversion in the final blit to the display. Everything is rendered internally exactly as it will look on the display, which is one of the reasons GapiDraw performs so well. GapiDraw can provide support for all these display types while still performing well thanks to the Template Meta Programming technique used (see the information box to the left).
Object Oriented class structure - both the display class as well as the back buffer class inherits all the drawing and blitting features from the surface class, meaning you can draw and copy images to them freely.
Draw to the display in any orientation with no performance loss. Typically, handheld computers use a portrait oriented display in a resolution such s 240 x 320 pixels. GapiDraw can use this display as either a 240 x 320 display, or a 320 x 240 display, in any orientation (0, 90, 180, 270 degrees rotation) without any performance loss due to advanced internal coordinate transformations. By default GapiDraw will use the orientation used by the operating system, this can however be changed at any time when the application is running - GapiDraw will then internally rotate all bitmaps to fit the new orientation for maximum performance.
Coordinate transformations between device coordinates and logical coordinates, especially useful when the display has been rotated or scaled.
Support for surfaces that are opaque, have 1-bit alpha or variable alpha. 1-bit alpha is realized by setting a color key to the surface, variable alpha is realized by using a surface class called RGBA surface.
Clipping support, you can set an area that equals either the full surface or a part of the surface, and all graphics drawn to the surface will only be painted within that area. This works for all GapiDraw operations, and all GapiDraw operations have been specifically optimized for clipping. This means that there are no pixel-by-pixel checks done to see if it's "inside" the clipping area or not.
Surface-to-surface intersection. This highly optimized routine will first perform a bounding box check of two surfaces, and then do a pixel-by-pixel scan of just the overlapping area to see where they intersected. The surface function Intersect() will even return where the surfaces intersection so you can draw appropriate effects at the right location.
AlphaBlt to perform a copy of a surface with variable alpha to another surface. AlphaBlt supports stretching, opacity and mirroring (left/right and up/down).
AlphaBltFast to perform a fast 1:1 copy of a surface with variable alpha to another surface. AlphaBltFast supports opacity.
Blt to perform an opaque or a 1-bit alpha copy of a surface to another surface. Blt supports color keys, color fills, opacity, mirror (left/right, up/down, rotation, scale and stretch.
BltFast to perform a fast 1:1 opaque or a 1-bit alpha copy of a surface to another surface. BltFast supports color keys, color fills, opacity and highly optimized "Photoshop-style" effects such as Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Hue and Colorize.
Pixels using GetPixel, SetPixel and SetPixels (to set many individual pixels at a high rate) with opacity.
Lines with anti-aliasing and opacity.
Filled solid color rectangles with opacity.
Gradient filled rectangles with dithering and opacity.
Bitmapped text that can be left, right or center-aligned with opacity. Text kerning can be individually set between characters to provide advanced typography solutions.
Built-in system font that can be used for debugging output. The system font comes in two options - one with a thin border and one without. The built.in system font can be re-created at any time with a custom color.
Simple font format. Each letter is drawn exactly as wide as it is in pixels.
Advanced font format. Each letter have individual kerning options, to make characters such as paranthesis flow smoothly with other text.
A FontMaker application to quickly make bitmapped fonts in the advanced font format from TrueType fonts.
GapiDraw can store resources such as images and data objects inside a Virtual File System, VFS. This file system is quite flexible, and supports files stored in folders, and the option to get direct file access using standard operations such as Read, Reset, Seek and Tell.
A VFSEdit application to easily make zipped VFS archives using drag and drop is included.
Mouse cursor support, including several high quality, animated bitmapped pointers with variable alpha from top artists at Debianart.


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Book Awards & Medals
There are a bunch of awards that are given to authors. Here are some of the ones my books and I have won.
2020 MacArthur "Genius" Award
Awarding unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.
THE HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AWARD
This is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. Given every other year by IBBY, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards recognize lifelong achievement and are presented to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature. The Author's Award has been given since 1956 and consists of a gold medal and a diploma, presented at a festive ceremony during the biennial IBBY Congress. The Patron of the Andersen Awards is Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and the Awards are sponsored by Nami Island Inc. Nominations for the Andersen Award are made by the National Sections of IBBY. The award recipients are selected by a distinguished international jury of children's literature specialists. The selection criteria include the aesthetic and literary qualities of writing and illustrating as well as the ability to see things from the child's point of view and the ability to stretch the child's curiosity and imagination. The complete works of the author and of the illustrator will be taken into consideration. (copied from the Hans Christian Andersen Awards website)
THE ASTRID LINDGREN MEMORIAL AWARD (ALMA)
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world's largest award for children's and young adult literature. The award amounts to SEK 5 million and is given annually to a single laureate or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers, and reading promoters are eligible for the award, which is designed to promote interest in children's and young adult literature. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the foundation of ALMA's work. An expert jury selects the laureate(s) from candidates nominated by institutions and organizations all over the world. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 and is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council (from the Award website).
MARGARET A. EDWARDS AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, that has been popular over a period of time. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine. It recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and the world. (copied from the American Library Association website)
NEWBERY HONOR MEDAL
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. (copied from The American Library Association website)
The Coretta Scott King Book Award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Committee of the American Library Association's Ethnic Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The award (or awards) is given to an African American author and an African American illustrator for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. The books promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream. The Award is further designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood. (copied from the ALA website)
The National Book Awards have become the nation's preeminent literary prizes, and The National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner the most important event on our literary calendar. Today, the Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. (copied from The National Book Awards website)
The Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Picture Book Awards
Middle Grade Book Awards
Young Adult Book Awards
Complete List of Awards