#Alison Sterling

[thedoctorwhocompanion]

Is Steven Moffat Returning to Write the Doctor Who Christmas Special?

Is Steven Moffat Returning to Write the #DoctorWho Christmas Special?

It appears that former showrunner, Steven Moffat, is returning to write Doctor Who, seemingly for the Christmas Day special. Though details have since been deleted, producer Alison Sterling’s online CV notes that the “Series 15 Christmas Special” is directed by Alex Pillai (who’d previously been confirmed as a director for the series) and written by Steven Moffat (who was showrunner between…

[radiofreeskaro]

Radio Free Skaro #952 - Let's Do The Time Zone Again

http://traffic.libsyn.com/freyburg/rfs952.mp3 Download MP3 After a long and punishing era of North America tapping its toes and drumming its fingers waiting for the adventures of Doctor Who on their televisual devices, Disney+ has upended the universe with a global release on its streaming service with the result that North Americans will see the show Friday afternoon and the UK will suffer the…

[kusin-tisdag]

Let's check in on some other important players of Gen 1!

Gunnel and Jade still hang with Bess and Jules - and also Clara Bjergsen (who lives in Chestnut Ridge). They are all enjoying retirement, even if Bess still has that entrepreneurial energy and now and then start a new project/business. Gunnel still writes, but mainly lives off old royalties. Jade enjoys being at home - she invested a lot of time and money to make it her favorite place in the world!

Anton's sister Elsa with husband Stephen (both well into their 60s) still live in Windenburg with their daughter Maia (23) and son Jacoby (10). Alessandra (23) has moved to Henford-on-Bagley with her husband Tono Bunsi (37).

Nigel (45) lives now with his husband Jaxton (36) and adoptive son Darrell (12) in Windenburg.

Alison (47) inherited her childhood home, but completely rebuilt and redecorated. She and Erwin (51) are still very much in love, and they pour all that love and joy into raising their son Floyd (4).

Jay (49) still lives in Sulani, but the house has been rebuilt and made bigger. Her and Vincent's (48) adoptive daughter, Amelia Bauman, lives nearby. At home is now Adelaide (12) and Derick (3).

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💙💜🩷 99 Books for Bisexuality Visibility Month 🩷💜💙

please support this blog

💜 How incredible is it that I made a list of 99 books for bisexual visibility month, KNOWING there are so many NOT featured on this list? I'm so proud to be bi. Having these characters and stories intertwine with mine warms my heart.

💜 What's your favorite book featuring bisexual characters?

💙 The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar 💙 Perfect on Paper - Sophie Gonzales 💙 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli 💙 Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston 💙 Queens of Geek - Jen Wilde 💙 Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster - Andrea Mosqueda 💙 Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute - Talia Hibbert 💙 Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake - Alexis Hall 💙 A Merry Little Meet Cute - Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

💜 Leah on the Offbeat - Becky Albertalli 💜 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid 💜 Radio Silence - Alice Oseman 💜 The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee 💜 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat 💜 Wolfsong - T.J. Klune 💜 The Pairing - Casey McQuiston 💜 Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 Heartstopper - Alice Oseman

🩷 Going Bicoastal - Dahlia Adler 🩷 Some Girls Do - Jennifer Dugan 🩷 Hani & Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar 🩷 Autoboyography - Christina Lauren 🩷 Written in the Stars - Alexandria Bellefleur 🩷 They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera 🩷 Cool for the Summer - Dahlia Adler 🩷 Delilah Green Doesn't Care - Ashley Herring Blake 🩷 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

💙 I'll Be the One - Lyla Lee 💙 Running With Lions - Julian Winters 💙 Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Talia Hibbert 💙 Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender 💙 Not Your Sidekick - C.B. Lee 💙 Ophelia After All - Racquel Marie 💙 Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao 💙 Something to Talk About - Meryl Wilsner 💙 The Girls I've Been - Tess Sharpe

💜 Iris Kelly Doesn't Date - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 Never Ever Getting Back Together - Sophie Gonzales 💜 Her Royal Highness - Rachel Hawkins 💜 Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman 💜 I Wish You All the Best - Mason Deaver 💜 Mistakes Were Made - Meryl Wilsner 💜 Hang the Moon - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochrun 💜 The Brightsiders - Jen Wilde

🩷 Wild Beauty - Anna-Marie McLemore 🩷 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Victoria Schwab 🩷 Payback's a Witch - Lana Harper 🩷 A Dowry of Blood - S.T. Gibson 🩷 Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 🩷 Dark Rise - C.S. Pacat 🩷 If This Gets Out - Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich 🩷 Let's Talk About Love - Claire Kann 🩷 Carry On - Rainbow Rowell

💙 Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Klune 💙 I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston 💙 Pumpkinheads - Rainbow Rowell 💙 Icebreaker - A.L. Graziadei 💙 This Poison Heart - Kalynn Bayron 💙 A Lot Like Adiós - Alexis Daria 💙 Sorry, Bro - Taleen Voskuni 💙 We Are Okay - Nina LaCour 💙 Count Your Lucky Stars - Alexandria Bellefleur

💜 Hot Dog Girl - Jennifer Dugan 💜 Verona Comics - Jennifer Dugan 💜 They Hate Each Other - Amanda Woody 💜 The Disasters - M.K. England 💜 The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater 💜 You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson 💜 These Witches Don't Burn - Isabel Sterling 💜 My Dearest Darkest - Kayla Cottingham 💜 City of Shattered Light - Claire Winn

🩷 The Unbroken - C.L. Clark 🩷 Dread Nation - Justina Ireland 🩷 House of Hollow - Krystal Sutherland 🩷 Love & Other Disasters - Anita Kelly 🩷 Ace of Shades - Amanda Foody 🩷 The Lost Girls - Sonia Hartl 🩷 Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst 🩷 This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story - Kacen Callender 🩷 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

💙 If You Still Recognise Me - Cynthia So 💙 Melt With You - Jennifer Dugan 💙 The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun 💙 That Summer Feeling - Bridget Morrissey 💙 The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School - Sonora Reyes 💙 The Luis Ortega Survival Club - Sonora Reyes 💙 The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💙 Flip the Script - Lyla Lee 💙 Role Playing - Cathy Yardley

💜 I Think I Love You - Auriane Desombre 💜 Truly, Madly, Deeply - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Gearbreakers - Zoe Hana Mikuta 💜 Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter 💜 The Spirit Bares Its Teeth - Andrew Joseph White 💜 Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl - Brianna R. Shrum & Sara Waxelbaum 💜 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💜 A Darker Shade of Magic - Victoria Schwab 💜 Love at First Set - Jennifer Dugan

[averyqueerhalloween]

Horror & Thriller Books with Queer characters: 🏳️‍🌈🎃

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Ace Of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling

Murder Takes The High Road by Josh Lanyon

A Dowry Of Blood by S.T Gibson

The Taking Of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas

Manhunt by Gretchen Felcker-Martin

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

A Lesson In Vengeance by Victoria Lee

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Her Body And Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

The Route Of Ice And Salt by José Luis Zárate

The Dead And The Dark by Courtney Gould

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Queen Of Teeth by Hailey Piper

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

The Cabin At The End Of The World by Paul Tremblay

It Came From The Closet by Various Authors

House Of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

What Moves The Dead by Ursula Vernon

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

Night Of The Living Queers by Various Authors

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

Graveyard Of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew White

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew White

Dead Flip by Sara Farizan

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya Macgregor

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

Everything The Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

The Promise of Lost Things by Helena Dunbar

Prelude For Lost Things by Helena Dunbar

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

All The White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

As I Descended by Robin Talley

This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

[houseofbrat]

The first sign that there was going to be a PR fiasco regarding The Prince & Princess of Wales was back on 26 March 2023. Almost a year ago.

And what happened then?

Oh, yeah, the "ball-breaking" new private secretary Kate had selected for the job suddenly decided she no longer wanted the job. Huh?

The “straight talking” PR guru hired as the Princess of Wales’s new private secretary has opted to stay with chef Jamie Oliver rather than take up the role, The Telegraph can reveal. Alison Corfield, 51, is understood to have been uncomfortable with the prospect of having such a high-profile position and decided instead to remain under the radar.

Huh? How could she not understand the job was going to be "high-profile"? How?! She would have known that before any discussions took place about actually hiring her.

 “She loves the work and is an integral member of the campaigning team. “She decided she just wanted to keep her head down and get on with the job she knows so well in the background. She didn't want the publicity that comes with working at that level for such a well-known institution.”

Nope. It doesn't make sense, particularly when you think of all the PR fuckups that have happened in the last few months.

Because Kate having a private secretary who had a reputation in handling pr would have been quite the asset in a situation that has been unfolding right now.

A source who worked with Corfield on Oliver’s campaigns, said: “She’s a ball-breaker, a real straight-talker, very passionate, dynamic and genuinely funny. She makes things happen and will really push things forward at the palace.”

That doesn't sound like someone who would have been intimidated by working a more public job. Most people don't even know who private secretaries are to begin with.

What seems more likely at this point is that the Alison Cornfield realized she was going to clash heavily with the communications team headed up by Lee Thompson. Alison has a background in public relations (pr). It's not surprising that she would have different opinions on how to handle things regarding public communications.

And Alison--as Kate's private secretary--would not out rank the communications secretary. She would be in a situation where she had to fight constantly with with the head of communications and be losing those battles due to rank. Because the head of communications, Lee Thompson, reports up to William & William's private secretary. He may officially report up to both William & Kate, but, as I said earlier today, Kate is not on equal footing with William in the hierarchy.

This man's job should already have been on the chopping block. He should have resigned or been fired yesterday. No reports that has happened yet. Sounds like he's still working at KP. Still throwing Kate under the bus!

Look at this illustrious career:

In less than two years, this man has decimated the once sterling reputation of The Princess of Wales. You know, the reputation that her fans take pride in, and what keeps her up at the top of the YouGov polls.

And with what happened yesterday, it has taken a huge drop.

And with further events that are coming up, it will take an even bigger drop.

And cause her husband to also be humiliated and have his reputation ruined.

And yet Lee Thompson still has his job right now.

[acotars]

books read in 2023

january

sweep in peace by ilona andrews

one fell sweep by ilona andrews

a court of mist and fury by sarah j. maas

sweep of the blade by ilona andrews

sweep with me by ilona andrews

my best friend’s exorcism by grady hendrix

kiss her once for me by alison cochrun

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

i’m glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy

love and other words by christina lauren

sweep of the heart by ilona andrews

the only living girl on earth by charles yu

witches get stuff done by molly harper

you had me at hola by alexis daria

her vigilante by lillian lark

inconvenient daughter by lauren j. sharkey

anon pls. by deuxmoi

you are eating an orange. you are naked. by sheung-king

legends & lattes by travis baldree

bad vibes only (and other things i bring to the table) by nora mcinerny

signs of cupidity by raven kennedy

bonds of cupidity by raven kennedy

crimes of cupidity by raven kennedy

read: 23

february

exciting times by naoise dolan

sweethand by n.g. peltier

you made a fool of death with your beauty by akwaeke emezi

something wilder by christina lauren

highly suspicious and unfairly cute by talia hibbert

you deserve each other by sarah hogle

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max goldstone

would you rather by allison ashley

read: 8

march

meet me in the margins by melissa ferguson

king of battle and blood by scarlett st. clair

the exotic by hampton sides

river of shadows by karina halle

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

lovelight farms by b.k. borison

the soulmate equation by christina lauren

before i let go by kennedy ryan

haunting adeline by h.d. carlson

the lies i tell by julie clark

one jump at a time by nathan chen

our wives under the sea by julia armfield

all systems red (the murderbot diaries #1) by martha wells

before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi

read: 14

april

funny you should ask by elissa sussman

make a scene by mimi grace

sweeter than chocolate by lizzie shane

the kiss quotient by helen hoang

my favorite half-night stand by christina lauren

romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld

icebreaker by a.l. graziadei

the wedding proposal by john swansiger

circling back to you by julie tieu

by the book by amanda sellet

a lady’s guide to mischief and mayhem by manda collins

love in the time of serial killers by alicia thompson

if the shoe fits by julie murphy

whispers of you by catherine cowles

the kiss curse by erin sterling

by the book by jasmine guillory

honey & spice by bolu babalola

one night on the island by josie silver

the bodyguard by katherine center

the reunion by kayla olson

the neighbor favor by kristina forest

crooked kingdom by leigh bardugo

do i know you? by emily wibberley & austin siegemund-broka

just my type by falon ballard

delilah green doesn’t care by ashley herring blake

happy place by emily henry

dating dr. dil by nisha sharma

icebreaker by hannah grace

count your lucky stars by alexandria bellefleur

stone cold fox by rachel koller croft 

fake it till you bake it by jamie wesley

read: 31

may

the dead romantics

motherthing by ainslie hogarth

the woman in the library by sulari gentill

artificial condition (the murderbot diaries #2) by martha wells

the last word by taylor adams

you shouldn’t have come here by jeneva rose

read: 6

june

fourth wing (the empyrean #1) by rebecca yarros

the very secret society of irregular witches by sangu mandanna

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

read: 3

july

the traitor queen (the bridge kingdom #2) by danielle l. jensen

the beast by katee robert

baldur's gate: descent into avernus by by james introcaso et. al

forget me not by julie soto

the wishing game by meg shaffer

read: 5

august

the true love experiment by christina lauren

pachinko by min jin lee

almond by sohn won-pyung, translated by joosun lee

hook, line, and sinker by tessa bailey

read: 4

september

hey, u up? (for a serious relationship): how to turn your booty call into your emergency contact by emily axford & brian murphy

everyone knows your mother is a witch by rivka galchen

fangs by sarah andersen

a room with a view by e.m. forster

juniper bean resorts to murder by gracie ruth mitchell

one's company by ashley hutson

the mysterious affair at styles by agatha christie

solita: a gothic romance by vivien rainn

you, again by kate goldbeck

the undertaking of hart and mercy by megan bannen

my roommate is a vampire by jenna levine

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

the vampires of el norte by isabel cañas

her body and other parties by carmen maria machado

evil eye by etaf rum

the seven year slip by ashley poston

read: 17

october

keeper of enchanted rooms by charlie n. holmberg

the serpent and the wings of night by carissa broadbent

shy by max porter

down comes the night by allison saft

the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic by breanne randall

the hurricane wars by thea guanzon

read: 6

november

a witch's guide to fake dating a demon by sarah hawley

the wake-up call by beth o'leary

when in rome by sarah adams

the view was exhausting by mikaella clements and onjuli datta

hello stranger by katherine center

practice makes perfect by sarah adams

do your worst by rosie danan

read: 7

december

bookshops & bonedust by travis baldree

the fake mate by lana ferguson

read: 2

final count: 127/100

[likeclarabow]

2023 Books Read

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield (Dec 31-Jan 2)

See You Yesterday - Rachel Lynn Solomon (Jan 2-Jan 3)

All Dressed Up - Jilly Gagnon (Jan 4)

She Gets the Girl - Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick (Jan 5-Jan 6)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (Jan 6-Jan 10)

Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier (Jan 10-Jan 13)

Greywaren - Maggie Stiefvater (Jan 14-Jan 16)

The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber (Jan 17-Jan 22)

By the Book - Jasmine Guillory (Jan 22-Jan 24)

Portrait of a Thief - Grace D Li (Jan 25-Feb 4)

Pride and Prejudice (reread, audiobook) - Jane Austen (Jan 31-Feb 6)

Macbeth (reread) - William Shakespeare (Feb 6-Feb 10)

Normal People - Sally Rooney (Feb 18-Feb 22)

All the Dangerous Things - Stacy Willingham (Feb 23-Feb 25)

The Diary of Mary Berg - Mary Berg (Feb 17-Feb 27)

The Witch Haven - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 4-Mar 11)

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Feb 26-Mar 12)

The Witch Hunt - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 19-Mar 22)

Jonny Appleseed - Joshua Whitehead (Mar 19-Mar 28)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie (Mar 25-Mar 29)

Last Violent Call - Chloe Gong (Mar 30-Apr 1)

Beartown - Fredrik Backman (Apr 1-Apr 4)

People We Meet on Vacation (reread) - Emily Henry (Apr 5-Apr 7)

Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka (Apr 8)

Kiss Her Once For Me - Alison Cochran (Apr 8-Apr 10)

If You Could See the Sun - Ann Liang (Apr 11-Apr 15)

Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie (Apr 15-Apr 19)

The Appeal - Janice Hallett (Apr 19-Apr 20)

The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf (Apr 20)

Molly of the Mall - Heidi L.M. Jacobs (Apr 21-Apr 22)

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein - Kiersten White (April 23-Apr 25)

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (April 26-Apr 28)

Happy Place - Emily Henry (Apr 29)

Us Against You - Fredrik Backman (Apr 30-May 3)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (May 3-May 5)

Juniper and Thorn - Ava Reid (May 6-May 10)

Meet Me at the Lake - Carley Fortune (May 11-May 12)

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (May 12-May 19)

Anne of Green Gables (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 19-May 22)

Anne of Avonlea (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 24-May 26)

Anne of the Island (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 26-May 30)

The Winners - Fredrik Backman (June 2-June 6)

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (June 7-June 8)

Peril at End House - Agatha Christie (June 9)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B (reread) - Sandra Gulland (June 11-June 12)

Tales of Passion Tales of Woe - Sandra Gulland (June 13-June 14)

The Last Great Dance on Earth - Sandra Gulland (June 14-June 15)

Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi (June 15-June 18)

Crooked House - Agatha Christie (June 22-June 24)

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (June 20-June 30)

I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys (June 30-July 1)

Pageboy - Elliot Page (July 2-July 4)

This Time It’s Real - Ann Liang (July 6)

The Last Word - Taylor Adams (July 6-July 7)

The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur (July 7-July 8) 

The Guilt Trip - Sandie Jones (July 8)

Camp Zero - Michelle Min Sterling (July 8)

The Berry Pickers - Amanda Peters (July 8-July 9)

Family of Liars - E. Lockhart (July 9-July 11)

The Last House Guest - Megan Miranda (July 11-July 12)

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - Roshani Chokshi (July 14-July 21)

Rolling in the Deep (audiobook) - Mira Grant (July 20-July 21)

Wunderland - Jennifer Cody Epstein (July 21-July 23)

The Stationary Shop of Tehran (July 24-27)

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang (July 27-July 29)

These Violent Delights - Micah Nemerever (July 29-Aug 3)

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (Aug 3-Aug 5)

Begin Again - Emma Lord (Aug 6-Aug 8)

Medicine Walk - Richard Wagamese (Aug 8-Aug 12)

419 - Will Ferguson (Aug 16-Aug 19)

Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead (Aug 21-Aug 24)

Ballet Shoes (reread) - Noel Streatfeild (Aug 25-Aug 26)

Songs for the Missing - Stewart O’Nan (Aug 28-Aug 31)

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight - Kalynn Bayron (Sept 1-Sept 2)

I’ve Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella (Sept 2)

The Adult - Bronwyn Fischer (Sept 3)

Nine Liars - Maureen Johnson (Sept 4-Sept 6)

Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan (Sept 6)

The Honeys - Ryan La Sala (Sept 15-Sept 19)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne (Sept 12-Sept 20)

Beowulf - Unknown (Sept 8-Sept 21)

The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side - Agatha Christie (Sept 21-Sept 25)

Better Than the Movies - Lynn Painter (Sept 26-Sept 30)

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer (Oct 4-Oct 7)

And Don’t Look Back - Rebecca Barrow (Oct 7)

Hallowe’en Party - Agatha Christie (Oct 8-Oct 9)

Cannibal Island - Nichlolas Werth (Oct 9-Oct 22)

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Oct 17-Oct 22)

Stalin’s Nomads: Power and Famine in Kazakhstan - Robert Kindler (Oct 16-Oct 24)

Six of Crows (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Oct 25-Oct 30)

Crooked Kingdom (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Nov 3-Nov 7)

Sadie (reread) - Courtney Summers (Nov 9-Nov 10)

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells (Nov 6-Nov 13)

Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Nov 6-Nov 13)

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 11-Nov 15)

Good Girl, Bad Blood (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 15-Nov 18)

As Good as Dead (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 20-Nov 23)

Red White and Royal Blue (reread) - Casey McQuiston (Nov 25-Dec 5)

The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Dec 18-Dec 22)

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (Dec 24-Dec 25)

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett (Dec 25-Dec 27)

Murder in the Family - Cara Hunter (Dec 28)

Three Holidays and a Wedding - Uzma Jalaluddin, Marissa Stapley (Dec 29)

The Book of Cold Cases - Simone St James (Dec 30-Dec 31)

[artsydon]

Mystery Case Files Original Character Design Board

His name is Detective Alstin Lars

Disclaimer: Alstin Lars is NOT AN OFFICIAL CHARACTER FROM THE MYSTERY CASE FILES SERIES.

He is an OC of mine in MCF Fan Fiction called Convergence of Reality.

Aside from him existing in my MCF Fanfic Universe, Alstin Lars is a METAPHOR to real-life people/MCF fans who are sitting alongside the MCF players and aiding the player throughout their playthrough (e.g people who help the players to find objects for them to progress) since Alstin Lars is an APPRENTICE of Master Detective and therefore he is assisting her throughout her case.

Additional Notes:

The Anonymous Master Detectives are the main characters who refer to the official in-game characters such as Alison Sterling as "Them" in the games. Therefore, Alstin (who is a fan-made character of mine) and MD are both Master Detectives, reflecting the players in real life playing the MCF games as the Master Detectives themselves.

One shall control the game and the other one assists in finding objects or helping solve puzzles.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

Hallmark’s October Movie Slate Includes New Hannah Swensen and Curious Caterer Mysteries (TVLine.com)

3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost Premiere Date: Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8 pm A ghost from the 1920s refuses to leave the home just listed by Anna, a new real estate agent. Worse, the spirit is convinced she cannot “pass over” until she gets Anna back together with her ex; Julie Gonzalo (Supergirl), Chris McNally (When Calls the Heart) and Madeleine Arthur (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) star.

Field Day Premiere Date: Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 pm Jen (Witches of East End‘s Rachel Boston), Marissa (Virgin River‘s Carmel Amit) and Kelly (Good Trouble‘s Shannon Chan-Kent) are moms from different backgrounds who are thrown together to plan the annual Field Day at their kids’ school. Along the way, they navigate a myriad of obstacles, including an unsupportive head of the PTO. New to town and still trying to move on following the loss of her husband, Jen is thankful to have the encouragement of Dan (Saving Hope‘s Benjamin Ayres), the school’s PE teacher who is becoming a good friend…or could this be the start of something more? As the planning continues, Jen, Marissa and Kelly bond as friends who will stop at nothing to make sure their kids are happy, with each of them finding their own path as their friendship grows stronger.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery Premiere Date: Friday, Oct. 6 at 9 pm They say the real estate business is deadly, but no one is more surprised than Hannah Swensen (Days of Our Lives‘ Alison Sweeney) when her mother, Delores (Barbara Niven), discovers the dead body of the homeowner – and regular customer of The Cookie Jar – while house-hunting for her sister Michelle (The Flash‘s Tess Atkins). Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and is convinced that the prime suspect Mike (All My Children‘s Cameron Mathison) and the Sheriff (Day of the Dead‘s Mike Dopud) are focusing on isn’t the culprit. Hannah’s sleuthing becomes a family affair when Delores, Michelle and even her sister Andrea (Heartland‘s Lisa Durupt) – who pays an unexpected visit – take part in the investigation. As Hannah uncovers clues she slowly rules out suspects and is led to the shocking truth about the killer’s identity.

Curious Caterer: Fatal Vows Premiere Date: Friday, Oct. 13 at 9 pm In the third installment of the franchise, professional caterer and amateur detective Goldy Berry (Awkward‘s Nikki DeLoach) is hired to cater for a big wedding. The bride, Jessamyn Cole (Superman & Lois‘ Amanda Khan), is the ex-wife of Goldy’s current romantic interest, detective Tom Schultz (the ubiquitous Andrew Walker). The town is shocked when they find the groom, Sterling Clearwater (The Flash‘s Kareem Malcolm) dead and Jessamyn missing. To complicate matters, a new detective (Dangerous‘ Brock Morgan) with a vendetta against Tom is hired to oversee the case. Forced to take matters into their own hands, Goldy and Tom must find Jessamyn before she meets Sterling’s fate.

To read the full article at TVLine.com click this LINK.

TVInsider has a write up also.

[queenboudicaa]

Many inventive theories attempt to explain why ovulatory signals disappeared in the human line, but none of them, in my opinion, propose an advantage so sterling that it offsets the abandonment of the premier genereplicating method used by millions of species over millions of years—females signaling males their sexual readiness at the same moment they are ovulating.

The few species of primates that do not ostensibly signal ovulation are distant from the human line on the evolutionary primate-branching bush. A few other species' females also do not appear to advertise their ovulation—for example, some birds, such as mallards—but the problem of knowing for sure is exacerbated by the fact that human observers can't ask the males of these species whether or not they are aware of the females' ovulation.

Among the more ingenious explanations for why sexual signaling disappeared in humans is the one proposed by anthropologist Nancy Burley. Women lost the ability to monitor their ovulatory moment, according to Burley because those who grasped the connection between sex and pregnancy realized that pain, possible death, and taxing demands were also part of the deal.

A woman so enlightened, Burley theorizes, might prudently decide to abstain from sex . Celibates do not leave offspring. Selection pressure would, therefore, favor those women who were unaware of their ovulation.

Primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hardy proposes that infantile murder coaxed human cryptic ovulation into being in a theory known as the “many fathers.”

Having carefully documented the horrifying fact that male primates some¬ times killed infants, Hardy posits that the loss of external signs of ovulation ultimately protected newborns by keeping all parties guessing concerning the issue of paternity especially males. Unsure whether an infant was due to his copulatory efforts, a male would be less inclined to kill it.

Hardy worked primarily with hanuman langurs, but other studies, including Jane Goodall's chimpanzees in the wild and Alison Jolly's ring-tailed lemurs, have confirmed that males commit infanticide in these species. To date, thirty-five species of primates have been identified in which strange males kill infants.

Social scientists Margo Wilson and Martin Daly found suggestive evidence that this abhorrent practice exists among humans. Surveying crime statistics, they noted that when an adult male murders a child he is sixty-five times more likely to be a stepfather or live-in boyfriend than the child's biological father.

Though I have great respect and admiration for Hardy's work, I wonder whether her theory is the whole story If infanticide was so great a threat to the continuation of affected primate species, why did only the human line adopt the evolutionary strategy of cryptic ovulation to solve the problem?

Chimpanzees, for whom infanticide is a serious problem, have not evolved anything resembling cryptic ovulation. Bonobo males have never been observed to engage in killing infants, yet bonobo female primates come closest to mimicking the human female's reproductive model of loss of estrus and increased sexual receptivity.

The observation that strange males do the killing is in keeping with evolutionary theory. Alpha maledom often does not last very long. A strange male who achieves dominance must make hay while the sun shines. By killing the sucklings of his new group, he can precipitate estrus among the distressed mothers and thus increase his chances of spreading his genes.

Among human populations, it has been a common strategy of conquering armies, after beheading the losing side's warriors, to turn their attention to killing the infants who the conquerors know were fathered by those warriors. This slaughter of the innocents has been amply recorded at different times in disparate locales throughout history. Cryptic ovulation has rarely protected infants of the conquered women from being killed by strangers.

If keeping the male uncertain concerning paternity increases the life span of children, what would be the advantage to the female of remaining in the dark on such a vital issue as her own ovulation?

Another question: The male primates that engage in the practice of infanticide do not seem to care one fig about the offspring they do sire. Since the majority of infanticide is carried out by recently arrived males that are strangers to the group, it would be safe to assume that these animals are equipped with an instinct to kill the infant of any strange female.

Hardy's theory rests on the assumption that a male primate is capable of making the causal connection between sex and birth, either instinctually or consciously. There is minimal scientific evidence to indicate that this quantum leap in logic has occurred in the mind of another species besides a human.

Another problem: Since knowing when a female ovulates is critical to a male's fitness, why did not the human male develop a compensatory counteradaptation to detect the female's ovaries' subterfuge?

Many other theories abound. Donald Symons suggests women use their year-round sexual receptivity to seduce philanderers in exchange for gifts . L. Benshoof and Randy Thornhill propose that cryptic ovulation allows a woman to mate by stealth with a superior man without alerting her husband.

Though the theories outlined above may have been contributing factors in reprogramming Gyna sapiens ’reproductive cycle, they do not seem to offer sturdy enough reasons to explain the origin of such drastic changes in her life strategy.

The rarity of concealed ovulation among the other three million sexually reproducing species suggests that cryptic ovulation is not a mainline solution to any of the problems posed by the various theories.

The primary consequence of cryptic ovulation—the need for increased sexual contact to coincide with ovulation's propitious moment—would appear to be highly disadvantageous, evolutionarily speaking.

In the cold calculus of energy conservation, copulation is both dangerous and a very expensive metabolic activity An ancestral couple in flagrante delicto would have been very vulnerable to a predator. Sex consumes time, calories, resources, and mental effort that might better be used for survival. With a few notable exceptions, other creatures expend minimal time and energy copulating. The mating act of most birds and mammals can be measured in seconds.

The human investment, in terms of time spent thinking about sex, planning, wooing, and actually engaging in the act, exceeds that of any other creature. After their strenuous coitus, humans generally require a longer recovery interval than any other animal.

Additionally without a visible or olfactory lodestar, men and women have found it necessary to engage in frequent, capricious copulations throughout the year to increase the likelihood of pregnancy.

The uncertainty of conception, both for those who yearn for it and those who don't, has been among men's and women's most consistent causes of stress, anguish, and anxiety down through the generations.

Evolutionary processes do not care whether an organism is happy or not. Nevertheless, stress tends to diminish an organism's fitness.

Nonestral females of other species, with rare exception, do not appear to begrudge the attentions estral females receive from excited males. When Gyna sapiens lost estrus and gained the ability to engage in sex anytime throughout the year (if she so desired), the nettlesome problem of sexual jealousy among women reared its ugly head.

The green-eyed monster consumes a staggering waste of spirit and is virtually unknown among other species.

Cryptic ovulation and year-round sexual receptivity also greatly increased the amount and degree of jealousy among many men.

Societies have had to construct draconian legal, social, religious, and cultural barriers to regulate members' sexual competition and minimize the outbreak of violence. Duels, dogmas, eunuchs, taboos, so-called honor killings, chastity belts, and female genital mutilation are just a few of the rituals and devices that attest to the difficulty men have had in dealing with women's robust sexual capability.

Desmond Morris in his book The Naked Ape makes the argument that humans are the first species to elevate sex to the status of a recreational activity’ Morris speculates, “The vast bulk of copulation in our species is obvi¬ ously concerned, not with producing offspring, but with cementing the pair bond by providing mutual rewards for the sexual partners ."

According to this argument, endorsed by many others besides Morris, we are Homo ludens (the Playful Ape) and we have liberated sex from the depths of the Minotaurean labyrinth! in the brain's primitive limbic system of instinctual drives.

By elevating sex to the brain's higher, neocortical planes, according to these authors, we have created a new kind of sex. Proponents argue that the pleasure we so derive and the love that enhances the deep human commitments more than offsets any of the disadvantages of drastic changes in sexual programming.

[fantasticpants]

Every now and then I take the Statistical "Which Character" Personality Quiz for Homelander to see which characters are spiritually closest to him, because it amuses my brain. This is my most recent quick test result. He always vibes with so many epic mean girls...

Homelander (The Boys): 90%

Regina George (Mean Girls): 89%

Gavin Belson (Silicon Valley): 88%

Selina Meyer (Veep): 88%

Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia): 88%

Sharpay Evans (High School Musical): 88%

Cersei Lannister (Game of Thrones): 87%

Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender): 87%

Logan Delos (Westworld): 87%

Ari Gold (Entourage): 87%

Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter): 86%

Cheryl Blossom (Riverdale): 86%

Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind): 86%

Jacqueline White (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt): 86%

Valencia Perez (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend): 86%

Barbara Kean (Gotham): 86%

Ernesto de la Cruz (Coco): 86%

Jan Levinson (The Office): 85%

Sterling Archer (Archer): 85%

Stormfront (The Boys): 85%

Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso): 85%

Alison DiLaurentis (Pretty Little Liars): 85%

Jackie Burkhart (That 70's Show): 84%

Lindsay Bluth Funke (Arrested Development): 84%

Gabrielle Solis (Desperate Housewives): 84%

Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl): 84%

Dan Egan (Veep): 84%

Jenna Maroney (30 Rock): 84%

Commodus (Gladiator): 84%

The Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs): 84%

[lcndonboysstuff]

https://www.tumblr.com/lcndonboysstuff/741321797740511232/he-would-i-feel-bad-knowing-itll-never?source=share

i wish for joe to be in a series or film as a likeable and significant supporting character. i also wouldn't mind him playing an antagonist because his performance in harriet was good, even his acting as lawrence sterling in tllfyl was also good, athough brief, especially his last scene. there is just something about him playing this type of characters that is so subtle and not so explosive that really gets you. i love my actors who can play a convincing villain. still, i want him to play a lighthearted character like masham in the favourite, though masham's kind of a prick, so that he can be celebrated and gain traction.

or even a smaller role in a successful movie, like Alison and Saltburn. he needs to gain some momentum

[kusin-tisdag]

Anton has prepared horse-themed cakepops, the guests arrive (including Nigel's husband, Jaxton!), Cassie is an adorable tiny puppy and after Amanda has blown the candles she gets to play video games with Alison - to the great entertainment of everyone.

And then, the guests say goodbye, and the Johanssons go to bed. For the last time for this generation!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💙💜🩷 Books for Bisexuality Visibility Month 🩷💜💙

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💜 How incredible is it that I made a list of 99 books for bisexual visibility month, KNOWING there are so many NOT featured on this list? I'm so proud to be bi. Having these characters and stories intertwine with mine warms my heart.

💜 What's your favorite book featuring bisexual characters?

💙 The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar 💙 Perfect on Paper - Sophie Gonzales 💙 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli 💙 Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston 💙 Queens of Geek - Jen Wilde 💙 Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster - Andrea Mosqueda 💙 Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute - Talia Hibbert 💙 Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake - Alexis Hall 💙 A Merry Little Meet Cute - Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

💜 Leah on the Offbeat - Becky Albertalli 💜 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid 💜 Radio Silence - Alice Oseman 💜 The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee 💜 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat 💜 Wolfsong - T.J. Klune 💜 The Pairing - Casey McQuiston 💜 Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 Heartstopper - Alice Oseman

🩷 Going Bicoastal - Dahlia Adler 🩷 Some Girls Do - Jennifer Dugan 🩷 Hani & Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar 🩷 Autoboyography - Christina Lauren 🩷 Written in the Stars - Alexandria Bellefleur 🩷 They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera 🩷 Cool for the Summer - Dahlia Adler 🩷 Delilah Green Doesn't Care - Ashley Herring Blake 🩷 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

💙 I'll Be the One - Lyla Lee 💙 Running With Lions - Julian Winters 💙 Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Talia Hibbert 💙 Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender 💙 Not Your Sidekick - C.B. Lee 💙 Ophelia After All - Racquel Marie 💙 Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao 💙 Something to Talk About - Meryl Wilsner 💙 The Girls I've Been - Tess Sharpe

💜 Iris Kelly Doesn't Date - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 Never Ever Getting Back Together - Sophie Gonzales 💜 Her Royal Highness - Rachel Hawkins 💜 Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman 💜 I Wish You All the Best - Mason Deaver 💜 Mistakes Were Made - Meryl Wilsner 💜 Hang the Moon - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochrun 💜 The Brightsiders - Jen Wilde

🩷 Wild Beauty - Anna-Marie McLemore 🩷 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Victoria Schwab 🩷 Payback's a Witch - Lana Harper 🩷 A Dowry of Blood - S.T. Gibson 🩷 Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 🩷 Dark Rise - C.S. Pacat 🩷 If This Gets Out - Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich 🩷 Let's Talk About Love - Claire Kann 🩷 Carry On - Rainbow Rowell

💙 Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Klune 💙 I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston 💙 Pumpkinheads - Rainbow Rowell 💙 Icebreaker - A.L. Graziadei 💙 This Poison Heart - Kalynn Bayron 💙 A Lot Like Adiós - Alexis Daria 💙 Sorry, Bro - Taleen Voskuni 💙 We Are Okay - Nina LaCour 💙 Count Your Lucky Stars - Alexandria Bellefleur

💜 Hot Dog Girl - Jennifer Dugan 💜 Verona Comics - Jennifer Dugan 💜 They Hate Each Other - Amanda Woody 💜 The Disasters - M.K. England 💜 The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater 💜 You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson 💜 These Witches Don't Burn - Isabel Sterling 💜 My Dearest Darkest - Kayla Cottingham 💜 City of Shattered Light - Claire Winn

🩷 The Unbroken - C.L. Clark 🩷 Dread Nation - Justina Ireland 🩷 House of Hollow - Krystal Sutherland 🩷 Love & Other Disasters - Anita Kelly 🩷 Ace of Shades - Amanda Foody 🩷 The Lost Girls - Sonia Hartl 🩷 Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst 🩷 This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story - Kacen Callender 🩷 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

💙 If You Still Recognise Me - Cynthia So 💙 Melt With You - Jennifer Dugan 💙 The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun 💙 That Summer Feeling - Bridget Morrissey 💙 The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School - Sonora Reyes 💙 The Luis Ortega Survival Club - Sonora Reyes 💙 The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💙 Flip the Script - Lyla Lee 💙 Role Playing - Cathy Yardley

💜 I Think I Love You - Auriane Desombre 💜 Truly, Madly, Deeply - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Gearbreakers - Zoe Hana Mikuta 💜 Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter 💜 The Spirit Bares Its Teeth - Andrew Joseph White 💜 Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl - Brianna R. Shrum & Sara Waxelbaum 💜 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💜 A Darker Shade of Magic - Victoria Schwab 💜 Love at First Set - Jennifer Dugan

[mitchelldailygames]

2023 Book Round-Up

This is going to be a quick list of some of my favorite books that I read this year. These aren’t books that necessarily came out in 2023 and they’re not in any particular order.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone OK, this one is in a particular order. It’s my favorite. I read this book twice this year, the first time based on the recommendation of that tweet a lot of people saw. I found it beautiful, and as someone who wants to eventually publish novels, very inspiring. The application of the epistolary style to its sci-fi concept (it is actually set in a time war) made for a compelling and unique feel to the book. The prose were absolutely gorgeous. The way the characters were human and the way they were inhuman was perfect. All of it got me thinking about how my own writing could reach further than I'd considered before.

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir I also read and really enjoyed Nona the Ninth this year, but Harrow was my favorite. The mystery of it all, the intense necromancer action, and the angst all adds up to the perfect Locked Tomb book. And the payoff at the end is so good.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute I read this after watching Jacob Geller’s Art in the Pre-Apocalypse video, and this is the write up that will end up feeling the least like a recommendation. This book messed me up. I read it while fall was tumbling towards winter in the often dreary Pacific Northwest (of the US). This book made me feel like the world was ending. I became immersed in the state of living life while the end drifted closer to the point I kind of started to believe it in real life. I certainly found it compelling in its restrained doom.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers This one is also in a particular order because I read it right after On the Beach and it plucked me right out of my funk. Where the previous book left me feeling like precious few moments were slipping away from me, A Psalm for the Wild-Built said it was OK to just be. This is a beautiful solar punk novella as is its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. It presents a possibility for a better world while giving a glimpse into the pathways we can take as individuals to move towards something better (while acknowledging that big changes need to take place on a macro level).

The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson I tried reading this a long time ago because I was a fan of Gibson’s cyberpunk books and couldn’t get into it. I didn’t have that problem this year. Its steampunk London after the century-early arrival at the computer was very compelling. It fell prey to some tropes I’m not a huge fan of, namely that people in crisis will quickly resort to chaos and violence, but overall it was a story and setting that kept me reading all the way through this time.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer What a book! I’m currently reading Authority, and I love this brand of weird sci-fi/horror. I watched the movie forever ago, but really enjoyed (and am enjoying) the story that's told in the books. The unraveling of the group and of the biologist was a great read, and it was fun to see cosmic horror in the modern age done really well. The mystery of it all was really the hook of the book, and the things it leaves unanswered was really fitting for the story.

Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King I finished the Dark Tower series this year, but this was my favorite. The doombot bad guys, the way it expanded on the lore, and the gunslinger action were all really cool. The characters were all operating at their peaks in this book, while dealing with some deep, dark secrets, and it felt like it held the best of all the things the series has to offer.

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt What a harrowing, powerful, complicated haunted house story this is. I will say this book is not for the faint of heart (and comes with trigger warnings at the beginning of the book), but I was left at the end of the story with the distinct feeling I had read something that would stick with me for a long, long time. It gets into the complicated ways identities interact and the way fascism breeds in societies and individual hearts. There are long sections that slip into disturbing rambles that become less coherent as they go on, which is perfect within the tone of the book. The things that haunt the characters throughout the story add and help give traction to all of these other pieces.