Ragtag Giggagon

e ven if i kill a murderer with their own very sword, i am -nevertheless- a murderer, too. ~Katya Mills, murder by memory IV Some of the pet peeves I have as a writer are below. You may note the quote above from the terrific Katya Mills , and its relevance may or may not become apparent in the course of this post, virulent with hypocrisy as it is.  I was prompted to write this post by Larysia Woropay , a marvelous Canadian poet and author, as part of her bloghop on pet peeves. Larysia Writes is her presence, where you will find her own writerly pet peeves . I think Larysia's poems have a dash of William Blake or John Milton, and touches of the Ancient Greek playwrights and mythology, typically with today's science thrown into the mix. Her flash fiction - often containing twists - and her poetry tweets are worth checking out too.  She has two longform work-in-progress-eez (that's plural for "novels what she's writing") which are ready to be published tomorrow...

Although very fond of Mexican cuisine, Mr Donald Tump apparently prevented the cooking of pasta and the delivery of pizza to his rental properties for three decades. His rationale for the ban on Italian food - it can now be revealed - was his apparent personal conflict with spaghetti. A spokesperson from the Trump camp - speaking out for the conditions of the economy - claimed that The Donald finds eating spaghetti "a complex challenge." Because of his short, chubby, clumpy fingers, Mr Chump finds the fork-spinning technique favored by spaghetti-eaters prohibitive to his fine dining experiences. When in a restaurant that solely sells shells, lasagne and other pastas on its menu, Mr Chub has been known to order spaghetti only when instructed to do so by his campaign advisor Vladimir Putin. The theory is that he must overcome his fear if he does not want to appear to have an "anti-pasto" bias. His inability to eat spaghetti has not prevented Mr Clump's Italian flu...

We prologue into the latest Blake and Avery novel by MJ Carter with a clear villain who shows a Cartesian indifference to the pain caused to non-human creatures through animal testing. Seguing into the first part of the book, through the eyes of the narrator, Avery, we are taken on a prison visit: Blake is in a Catch-22 situation, more eager to stand up to his bullying patron and stay in prison than to not risk his life among his murderous fellow inmates. Next we go to the Reform Club, a gentlemen's venue and fine-dining establishment for the progressives of the day. As dishes are sampled, one of those in attendance appears to fall prey to a similar bout of poisoning as that suffered by the dogs and rats in the opening pages. High-end cuisine at the time is the equivalent of today's molecular gastronomy; melt-in-the-mouth sensations, trompe l'oeil courses that appear to be the mains but are actually sweets, and a radical menu in keeping with the Club setting. Carter deftl...

Fiona from the Something Wicked Crimewriting Festival sent out the details of their awesome events this year: Murder comes to Malahide on the October bank holiday weekend in the form of the Something Wicked Crime Writing Festival, which runs from Friday 28 th to Sunday 30 th . Over the course of the three days, there will be something for all ages interested in crime, crime fiction and children’s books. On Friday October 28th a panel of bestselling authors will discuss how they write about murder and violent crime. The panelists are Alex Barclay ( Darkhouse, Blood Runs Cold) , Sam Blake ( Little Bones ) and Liz Nugent ( Unravelling Oliver, Lying in Wait ) and will be hosted by Bert Wright ( Administrator of the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards ). The event will be held at Malahide Lawn Tennis Club at 7:30pm. Tickets €12.50*/€15 (*early bird) ‘Malahide Murder Morning’ takes place on Saturday Oct 29 th . This is a forensics and crime scene Liz Nugent workshop where participants will...