Hurdy-gurdy

Hurdy-gurdy ... let's start with something with a bit of a medieval vibe by Andrey Vinogradov - 

And now perhaps some Cowboys from Hell from Guilhem Desq- 

And then his fabulous Magic Castle -

Hurdy-gurdy, zanfona, wheel fiddle - whatever you call it, it's an instrument and a half!

How I Write

Domenico Remps Cabinet of Curiosities (1690s) 

wiki commons

Join me over on the Royal Literary Fund website where I have a short podcast on How I Write this week, as part of the Vox resource.*  Grab a coffee or a tea and take a break - there's some good browsing to be had!

* Short podcasts on a range of topics such as Why I Write? The Best Advice I Ever Received, How Writing Changes the Writer, My Reading Habits, and many more.

I Love Sandra Boynton

 

Fooling the Algorithms

I really like Instagram.  What I don't like is having several gazillion strange men following me.  Most of them would appear to be either a) fairly high ranking American military men or b) hunky silver fox type surgeons or c) younger men with their shirts off or d) slightly sad single fathers.  I have been assured that they're none of them real.  They're just algorithms, and I've been culling them regularly.  But then it occurred to me that maybe I could slide under that algorithmic radar.  Maybe if there wasn't a photograph of a female face with swathes of white in her hair (so of course I must be desperate) on my profile, maybe I wouldn't seem so much like prey?

It worked!  And this is what did it:

Since I changed my profile picture to this, by Thomas Heitler,* there hasn't been a single mythical general, surgeon or hunk knocking at my Instagram door.  Long may it last!

Thank you, Thomas!

*His most recent comic What the Witch Saw (Quindrie Press) is available here. 

Goodbye to Fair Isle

 

Till next time.