10 September 2007

Help! I've been memed!

Kimbooktu tagged me for a Book Cover meme! The instructions are as follows:
1. Enter your first name into Amazon;
2. Choose the first book you see that is "interesting or amusing."

Well, I had to scroll down a bit since I do share a first name with the much published comedienne/ entertainer, but here are a few that tickled my funny bone (no offense to the real Ellens to whom these belong):


Apparently, this series is about wine growers, not wine drinkers, but still: That first glass, it's dangerous!

My first thought: "Why does he have armor on his butt?!" It should be pointed out that I also have long blonde hair, although I do not wear it in braids when I am holding the shoulder of my bekilted warrior. The same author is responsible for this work of egregious punnery:

There are no words...


This cat probably thinks of murder all day.


If only it were a how-to.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you read this and decide to do the meme, let me know, and I'll link to it. (And yes, I'm surprised that Beverly Cleary's Ellen Tebbits didn't come up. I guess it's not that popular any more, alas.)

06 September 2007

A helpful hint for writers!


Are you a published author? Are you thinking about killing somebody? Maybe you shouldn't write about your plan and publish it after the fact, as one Polish author did. When he suspected his estranged wife and a friend were having an affair, Krystian Bala killed the man and threw his body in a river; three years later, his novel Amok described a similar murder, except the victim was a woman. A tip on the similarities between the unsolved case and the book led police to discover more evidence (including a phone card Bala used to call his victim and his girlfriend the day of the victim's disappearance), and now, to a sentence of 25 years in prison.

Amok is described in the news story as "a work of pulp fiction set in Paris and Mexico, narrated by a young translator who moves from one sexual conquest to another, killing one of his lovers." Check out its creepy cover, at right.

This all reminds me that I've never seen the classic Hitchcock film "Rope," which I hear is really good.