From "Coffee to go" to "Book to go"

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Below this post is a YouTube video of a machine that some say is about to change the world of publishing forever - the Espresso Book Machine.

The EBM can make a book for you in minutes. You simply browse the computerised catalogue, pick the book you want, choose your cover and... wait. An average paperback takes about 2 to 3 minutes.

glitter-graphics.com

You can choose to print anything from an old out-of-print classic to a new hot best seller. Not only that... you can also upload your own document and print your own copy of your own book. I'm rather excited to find out that the printers of my own book, Lightning Source, are involved in this new venture.

At the moment the EBM is scattered around the globe in a few universities and book stores, but the numbers are growing. In the future you could literally get your coffee and book to go!

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The Espresso Book Machine

A Most Remarkable Woman.

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photo courtesy of clarita

Shastri sent me a link to some wonderful photos he took recently of Navagrahas statues, the planetary gods. Their names triggered a memory I'd forgotten - how the hands of Fate led me to meeting a most remarkable woman.

In 2001 I was working as an astrologer (birth charts for advice and career guidance) and had a small column in a local newspaper. One day I answered the phone to a most unexpected caller.

A woman, with a beautifully elegant Indian accent, told me that she had been informed that I was "the one" and would I please come visit her to pick up my books.

My books?

In the course of conversation she explained that she had a large collection of astrology books that she had decided to donate to a worthy astrologer. Unsure who to choose to inherit them she had torn out the photos of all the local astrologers, from papers and magazines, and dowsed them with a pendulum. The pendulum had chosen me.

And that is how I first met Siromani. I thought, at that stage, that the story could hardly get more strange and wonderful, but how wrong I was!

A few days later I made my way up stairs to the flat where Siromani lived. I rang the doorbell... and a tiny woman came to the door. Small in stature, clearly quite elderly, and very much NOT Indian. Her faded hair still showed traces of the pale blond it had once been and her remarkably bright eyes were a clear sparkling blue. I thought there must be some mistake, but the moment she started to talk I recognised that lovely voice from the phone call.

How does a blond blue-eyed elderly lady in Africa come to have an Indian accent? By living a very adventurous life. Over a cup of tea Siromani told me how she had been born in India, of Scandinavian parents. She had spent her childhood and early adulthood in India and that was where she had studied astrology and dowsing. After marriage she had moved to Africa, where she had worked as a building constructor, an engineer and a water dowser.

Now, a month before her 90th birthday, she felt it was time she started studying something new and more challenging. So she was getting rid of all her old books and focusing on books on herbal medicine and alternative healing.

How many people decide to start a new study/career at the age of 90?

I spent a magical afternoon listening to her stories of India and Africa, discussing astrology and books in general. She was one of the most vibrant and alive people I have ever met. I went away with a box load of antique astrology books and ephemera, but the gifts she gave me that day went far further than that.

As I was leaving I noticed a book tucked into her chair next to her. It was the same book I was reading and I commented on that fact. A book on archeology. I was actually finding it a bit boring, but she said it was well worth the effort and that I should go back home and finish reading it.

I did finish the book and it was worth the effort, but not in ways you might expect. The book led me to pottering on Google looking for more information on some of the ancient civilisation. That in turn led me to joining an archeology forum...

... and that was where I met the Highlander who became my husband.

Coincidence, luck, or Divine intervention through the stars? Who can say? All I know is that gaining a husband was a truly unexpected gift from a most remarkable woman. :-)

photo courtesy of Kevin Rosseel

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The Other side of Wild Flowers

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I know, I've been pretty scarce lately. The reason for that is hay fever. All those wonderful wild flowers and grasses we photographed a week or two back have now become "the enemy"! Hubby and I have been sneezing, sniffling, coughing and, to add to the seasonal misery, both of us have swollen itchy eyes.

At the moment I'm here, but not really up to writing much. My head actually hurts from all the sneezing and I have a nose Rudolph the Reindeer would be jealous of. The weather has been gloriously sunny, wonderfully warm, but hubby and I are mostly having to stay indoors. We're probably the only people hoping for some rain, to get all that pollen out of the air!

Even Bunny Boy is finding the heat too much. He's spent the last two days lying in the shade, underneath the bird bath, snoozing.

How wonderful it must be to lie flat in the long grass and not end up sneezing your head off.

Pict-ures

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Two weekends back the weather was lovely and we took a day to go exploring. I completely forgot about it until I was clearing out all the pictures from my mobile phone and found the photos. We decided to go East to look at some of the Pictish stones and circles. Aberdeenshire is unique in having reclining stone circles. That is stones deliberately on their sides, unlike places like Stonehenge where all stones were upright.

The West coast of Scotland was populated by the Gaels, the North saw the Vikings come and go, but The East was Pictish. For those who don't know much about the Picts. The Picts were the people who populated this area of Scotland. They carved wonderful designs onto stone, they most likely were tattooed with similar designs (based on what Romans reported) and they spoke their own unique language.

You can find all the designs and photos/info HERE.

Aberdeenshire is more gentle than the highlands. Some areas look more like England with lush green rolling countryside. I love the names in this area too. It was here, on holiday for the first time, I found Cowbog. This time I noted down a few favourite names along the way. Places like Meikle Warple and Drum of Warple sound like places a Hobbit might enjoy, but would any creature want to live in Windyraw or Boghead? Goblin towns perhaps?

Our first stop was at the very pretty town of Inverurie. There are stones, and two man made "hills", in the cemetery. That hill looks small, but up close it was steep enough to be a bit off-putting to climb.
Here is one of the carved Pictish stones. It is a bit worn and hard to see the entire design.
You can see that stone on the left, with the reclining stone next to it. They were quite small. I'd say the reclining stone was about the length of a two seater park bench.
The best part, for me, wasn't the stones. It was the view. Isn't that scene below perfect? It looks like it should be a painting.
After a picnic lunch we headed off to the next place, a complete stone circle with reclining stone at East Aquhorthies. (another mind-boggling tongue-twisting name)

This circle is set up on the ridge of a hill. The reclining stone here was HUGE. To give you an idea the stones at each end are about 2 metres (6 foot) tall.
It's hard to photograph a circle. We took pictures from each angle.
You can see the view from this one.
Here's the back of that reclining stone.
This stone was my favourite. It really was pink, and slightly sparkly.

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First Light Update

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I've finally received notification that the properly edited version of my book, First Light, is now available!

If you're unsure about ordering a book - the new corrected version has 308 pages where the original only had 304. AND... the new edited version has a thank you in the front to my parents and husband Alexander. The old one had his nickname, "Sandy". The Alexander book is the correct book. :-)

It was available at all the Amazon.com versions. It is also now available at Waterstone's, Borders Books, W H Smith and Tesco online in the UK and Barnes & Noble in the US.

I was hoping to change the old cover, but wasn't able to this time. I have been working on a few ideas and here's what I'd like, if I had the choice.
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Wild Flowers

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Close ups of the flowers in the field posted below. First the poppies...
Then wild pansies/violas - yellow ones...
... and purple...
Thistles, of course!
Tiny blue flowers...
LOTS of the tiny blue flowers amongst pink grasses. How pretty is that?
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