Jamie Ashbird

Pretending to be spookier than she actually is since 1990, and pretending to be human since 1979... shhhh, don't tell anyone.

[jamieashbird]

A Murmuring of Bees

Friends, Strangers, Sherlockians, lend me your earhorns.

If you love Sherlock Watson and John Holmes… wait. Swap those, thank you. If you love these two ragamuffins and their extraordinary relationship, and you also love good causes then check out A Murmuring of Bees.

It’s a delightful collection of stories about love and friendship and deducing and bees, written by a swathe of amazing Sherlockian authors (plus a wee little 221B by me). Not only that, the proceeds go to It Gets Better Project

You can purchase A Murmuring of Bees from any of the links below:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Bookdepository (FREE delivery worldwide)

Improbable Press

[fyotpprompts]

NANOWRIMO prompts

Since you guys liked the first list so much.  I decided to make another.  I hope the writing is going well.

Write about the usual suspects

“How does he keep getting in here?”

Your character wakes up in a bed not their own.

“No snicker is going to fix this!”

“Who just steal someones right sock?”

Your protagonist finds the villain’s lair.  What happens now? How about redecorated with the villain’s most hated color.

Gratuitous love scene

“We really need better people.”

Throw in a storm

He’s name was Charming Chase, but he was anything but.

“This happens everytime I die.”

Punish your Protagonist, like make them suffer.

“This is the forbidden floor.”

Describe a door, right before the villain bust it down.

When at a loss for words have the villain and the hero kiss. (Just add some kisses anytime you get stuck.)

“What’s in the box?” (Seriously what’s in the box that the protagonist is holding.)

Have your protagonist go into the woods with just a pocket knife.

Use it was a dar and stormy night somewhere and bulid from there.

“Bees, so many bees.”

Throw your MC from a high place, see what happens.

“We need to talk.”

“What happened in there?”

Put your protagonist in a box.

Burn down your MC’s childhood home, then steal the family pet.

The lead loses a valuable piece of evidence

What is your MCs greatest fear?

Have your MC wake up in a bed and place not their own

“Had me that fork.”

“What are you running from?”

Kidnap your lead

[atlinmerrick]

5 December, 5 author photos and the official release date of A Murmuring of Beeeees!

Brittany Russ, Kim Le Patourel, Janet A-Nunn, Narrelle M Harris, and some Atlin Merrick person present to you Improbable Press’ third book, officially out in paperback and ebook today!

AmazonUS

AmazonUK

Improbable Press

Bookdepository (free shipping worldwide!)

Barnes & Noble

Ebook (Kindle)

IP is a for-profit press but this book is a labour of love. For this anthology every writer—so many more than the five above!—has donated their story so that  profits go to the It Gets Better Project. Enjoy stories by:

Amy L Webb (Flawedamythyst), Anarion, Atlin Merrick (Wendy C Fries), Brittany Russ (Kirakira Nanoda), Darcy Lindbergh (Watsonshoneybee), Elinor Gray (Mistyzeo), Hallie Deighton, Jamie Ashbird, Janet A-Nunn, Kerry Greenwood, Kim Le Patourel (Kizzia), Kimber Camacho (Random Nexus), Lucy Jarsdell (Dancinggrimm), Meredith Spies, Morgan Black, Narrelle M Harris (221b_hound), Poppy Alexander, Stacey Albright, Tessa Barding (Lobstergirl), Verena, Verity Burns

We hope you enjoy the book, we’ll joyfully write more, we appreciate any and every review as they really do help, and happy holidays to everyone!

[jamieashbird]

A Murmuring of Bees is officially out now. A collection of honeyed buzzy stories about two men who are so beautifully intertwined, body and soul, we can’t stop loving them over a century after they were created. Also, I have a teeny weeny story in it.

[dailydot]

I am sick of stories where there are a bunch of fully realized male characters and one female character, whose primary characteristic is simply being ‘the girl’ or the personality-less object of some man’s affections.

Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn.

Unfortunately, this quote describes EXACTLY how Gamora is depicted in the trailer for Gunn’s next movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. The four male characters have clear personality traits and exchange funny banter, while Gamora gets no dialogue at all. Her main role is to be the object of Star-Lord’s affections. Even Groot, a baby tree with a three-word vocabulary, is given more to say. 

(via dailydot)

[atlinmerrick]

A Murmuring of Bees — New vendor added!

This is who’s written us stories of love and romance between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Get the book before 30 Nov 2016 to get it by Christmas.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Improbable Press

Barnes & Noble

Ebook & other book vendors pending!

[jamieashbird]

I’m in a book! A real life book that you can buy and read and all those things that are able to be done with books.

[jamieashbird]

I should try to remember I have this tumblr every now and then.

[tansyrr]

It’s up! It’s happened! Two and a half years ago, I started serialising my space opera retelling of The Three Musketeers on my blog, writing a chapter a week of what turned out to be an epic adventure. My Patreon supporters received the final story compiled into book form, but now it has been re-edited and packaged for purchase!

Re-reading the manuscript and giving it a ‘one year later’ edit, I remembered all over again how much work I had to put into the worldbuilding to make the original story structure make sense… and yet it was so much fun and the changes felt so obvious in places, it was almost as if Dumas wanted his story to take place in a sexually diverse futuristic universe with spaceships instead of horses, space stations instead of cities, and shape-changing alien spies causing havok.

Writing this book was like an intensive, two year writing class! I learned so much about my own preconceptions about gender (swapping most of the canon characters but not all, because heteronormative futures make no sense to me!), and I finally got to express my love of the space opera genre. There… may be more intergalactic hijinks in my future.

Musketeer Space is up on the Kindle store now and will be appearing across other ebook platforms over the next day or so. One for all and all for one! 

[mujistudies]

A compilation of chrome extensions and iOS + Android apps (some are paid and some are free)  °☆.。.:*・°☆

| For your computer |

fliqlo

momentum

lanes

clarity

embark

minimal clock

infinity

currently

polar clock

caffeine

f.lux

be limitless

leoh

dream afar

| For your note taking |

evernote

onenote

simplenote

somnote

iNotes

notability

notes plus

google keep

quip

inkflow visual notebook

jot

good notes

noteshelf

| For your to-do lists | 

wunderlist 

moo.do

todoist

habitica

trello

any.do 

priority matrix

do

glass planner

swipes

timetune

| For your planners + calendars |

myStudyLife

myHomework

sunrise calendar

google calendar

plan

sol calendar

| For your timing + focus | 

tide

forest

pomotodo

flat tomato

pomello

pomodrone

clearfocus 

tomato timer 

30/30

focusnow

tasks and measures

self control

stayfocusd

timewarp

cold turkey

atimelogger

writer’s block

| For your presentations |

prezi

powerpoint

emaze

raw shorts

powtoon

| For your storage | 

google drive

dropbox

| For your mindmaps + diagrams | 

mindmeister

lucidchart

goconqr

gliffy

google drawings

| For your tests + flashcards | 

goconqr

quizlet

flashcards+

anki

| For your writings | 

zotero

grammarly

hemingway

| For your health |

fabulous

plant nanny

safetrek

sleep bot

sleep better

to bed

nike + running

waterlogged

period tracker

weight loss coach

health mapper

medisafe

| For your inner peace  | 

stop, breathe & think

headspace

pacifica

noisli

sleepio

infinite storm

relax melodies

calm

sam

thunderspace

mindshift

taomix

i am

pillow

binaural

[jamieashbird]

My review of The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Sad, happy, hopeless, hopeful. Everyone has a story.

[jamieashbird]

Getting back on the reviewing horse, as it were. This is my review of Atlin Merrick's The Night They Met. Read it yet? Why the plonky bollards not?

[jamieashbird]

The Diemenois

After a lovely long break, which included Nano madness, it's time to get a-reviewin' again.

http://melbournereviewofbooks.com/the-diemenois/

[jamieashbird]

One of the fastest selling seasons of Hamlet in Britain came to a close only a few hours ago. The National Theatre’s record breaking performances at the Barbican were helped along by the pul…

My review of Nicki Greenberg’s Hamlet in which I briefly mention BC’s Hamlet (which I have not seen), and the critic’s response to the “fan” audience of BC’s Hamlet (which made me and many other, more articulate, people mad). Oh and then I review the book, because book review.

[jamieashbird]

Truth and Truthability

My dearest reader How much I have to tell you. Oh, but how are you? I trust you have been well? I have the misfortune to suffer constantly from my nerves and have confined myself, of late, t…

My review of Garth Nix’s Regency romance-inspired tale, Newt’s Emerald.

[ebookporn]

The scariest monsters in literature, ranked

Horror movies get all of the attention around October, but books can produce their fair share of Halloween-appropriate scares as well. So costume company MorphCostumes decided to rank the scariest monsters in literature in a brand new infographic. To come up with the final “scream score,” the company looked at a combination of appearance, power, and evil intent.

The monsters are pulled from both contemporary and classic literature, which allows for some interesting juxtapositions. The graphic asserts that H.G. Wells’ Morlocks are just as terrifying as George R.R. Martin’s White Walkers (which is arguable) and that the Nazgûls from Lord Of The Rings are 5 percent scarier than the Dementors from Harry Potter (which seems about right). Meanwhile It’s Pennywise is the only monster to snag a 100 percent scream score. We’re sure he’s thrilled.

FULL CHART HERE

[thewritershandbook]

10 Rules For Writing A Compelling 'About Me' Page | The Story of ...

How to write a compelling 'about me' page and bio for your website and online profiles.

[jamieashbird]

We're All Mad Here

There is something that happens to one's very soul somewhere between childhood and adulthood and it is this: in some people it dies and in some people it lives. I don't mean soul in any religious s...

Happy birth-time to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. One hundred and fifty years ago, Lewis Carroll penned a wonderfully mad tale that is still loved around the world.

Here is my, well, not review really... More a nonsensical ramble.

[jamieashbird]

The pains of the priveleged

I have been rather quiet of late, I know. The problem is how to keep up all this social media presence nonsense.

Twitter is easy. The app allows you to easily switch between accounts thereby making it simple to keep them up to date.

Oh tumblr. How I wish I could do the same with you. It would be lovely to be able to switch between blogs at the flick of a finger but alas, one must log out and then log in again. Have you any idea, tumblr, how tedious that is? Have you?

Sure, I could make this blog my primary focus but then how am I to keep up to date with all my Doctor Who and Sherlock fandom wank? 

Ugh, it’s not to be borne.