…for the The Timeless Land
After months of blood, sweat and toil, The Timeless Land’s cover has been finalized and it looks like we’ll be rolling out soon. Just to recap — yes, it has been a long time and you’re forgiven for having forgotten — the Shadow in Eternity series consists of:
Hoping to be back very soon with news of the book being out! Meanwhile, what do you think is going to happen? Who will die and who will live?
~PD
This blog challenge that Kate, Marie and I decided to tease ourselves with was to list between five and ten fictional characters we’d like to have a fling with.
Ideally one would like to describe a “fling” as an uncomplicated roll in the hay, but the sad truth is that one finds fictional characters fling-able because one is attracted to them in various ways that makes one find “potential” in them, as one friend puts it. And this truth is a sad one because these wonderful people we lust after are just a figment of someone else’s imagination, and ne’er the twain shall meet!
Which makes us challenge participants a sadder lot, but that’s besides the point. So here goes in alphabetical order:
- Miranda Bailey: Of course, everyone knows and loves Dr Bailey of Grey’s Anatomy, that sarcastic, no-nonsense resident at Seattle Grace Hospital who is nicknamed “the Nazi” by her interns. Portrayed brilliantly by Chandra Wilson, Bailey would be horrified to hear that she is completely cute! If I’d been ranking this list, she’d be near the top.
Laura Holt:Portrayed by actor Stephanie Zimbalist, Laura Holt is the brains (you could say the brawn too) behind the Remington Steele detective agency in the series Remington Steele. She is strong, intelligent, resourceful, sensitive, with a dash of daring and a flair for finding herself in the middle of the excitement.- Edgar Wield: Sergeant Wield is a character in Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe series of books. It has been televised as well, but it is the book character I refer to. Wield is ugly as sin, but has a heart of gold and a brain like a computer. He is also uncompromisingly gay, but this is my fantasy, right? (Read a profile of Wield.)
- Dana Scully: There is no other way of putting it—Scully makes me go weak all over! And I love her logic and her need to explain and understand everything.
- Spock: It is probably every Trekkie’s fantasy to break through Spock’s icy countenance, and I am no different. That raised eyebrow and those pointy ears have kept him on my list since I was a teenager. The only question that bothers me slightly is, does being with a half-Vulcan mean I’ll be getting some only once every seven years? Just as well I have all these other people on the list…
- Barbara Havers: Right… now this is one that might surprise people who have read the Inspector Lynley novels. (Once again, there’s a tele-series, but I refer to the books.) Scruffy, unpredictable, abrasive—there seems nothing likeable about Sergeant Havers of New Scotland Yard. But beneath the rough exterior is a sad and lost soul that brings out the protective best (or worst!) in me. She is also a smoker, which would otherwise really put me off, but for some reason the completely ordinary and extremely flawed Havers has always attracted me.
Judge Gray:Judge Amy Gray from Judging Amy is a single parent living with her own mother. A family court judge, Judge Gray often called upon to make tough decisions that change lives. Despite being a strong and inspiring figure, she has a certain vulnerability about her that I find very endearing.- Mark Darcy:This is the Mr Darcy from Bridget Jones’s Diary as portrayed by the lovely Colin Firth, of course. No explanations required. And he’s rich too! (He’s also the only reasonably good-looking male on my list. I wonder why.)
The Ninth Doctor:The Doctor has a time machine, and he can take me to wherever and whenever I want—heck, who wouldn’t sleep with him? But it’s the Ninth incarnation played by Christopher Eccleston that I’m particularly interested in—the “northern” accent, those sticky-out ears and long nose… oh yes, make place for yet another ugly guy on my list!
Toshiko Sato: Sweet and nice and lost. That’s what describes Toshiko Sato (actor Naoko Mori) of TV series Torchwood completely. A complete geek, but with a sad and murky past, Tosh has also always been very unfortunate in matters of romance, and therefore is due a change!
And, finally:
(Also ran:: Captain Jack Harkness: I want to want to have a fling with Captain Jack of Doctor Who and Torchwood, but I just don’t see it happening. I admire his openness in matters of sex and sexuality, and the way he is unrestrained by the trappings of 21st-century [patriarchal?] perceptions of right and wrong. I think I am more attracted to his 51st-century morals than the man himself!)
So, that’s all folks… Well, in fact, not really. That’s only all the names I can think of right now. And, by the way, Swapna, you have been tagged!
~PD
We alternately call them crime novels or detective fiction; may even trivialize them as “mystery stories”, inadvertently classifying them with the likes of the Five-Find Outers. They include some of my favourite authors: Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, H.R.F. Keating, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell… and it’s only recently that I have learnt that another term for this sub-genre of fiction is the “police procedural”. And this term, in turn, throws up two names: Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.
The Man on the Balcony is the third book in the Martin Beck series by this husband–wife team. The series is so-called because it features a Stockholm-based police detective of the same name as the central character, even though his colleagues appear to get just as much print-space.
Without further ado, read the review. More will follow as soon as I am able to get hold of the other books.
~PD
