Looking Thinking Reading! Three Things very different this time—Tawny Frogmouths, Blogging Reward plus authors Malcolm Gladwell, Rohan Wilson, Mocco Wollert and Maree Kimberley—mix the sequence, have a sticky-beak. GBW.

LOOKING

On my Home page there was an image of two Tawny Frogmouths which live in my front garden. If you missed it, for your edification I have re-posted my original “Photo Of The Week” image—I change them every Saturday. I think this photo shows the unique adaptability of nature. GBW.

A Tawny Frogmouth Couple in Flame Tree Nov2019 — CAN YOU SPOT THE TAWNY FROGMOUTH? Actually there are two Tawny Frogmouths in my tree. They are night birds with an owl-like appearance but are actually more closely related to the nightjars and they lack the curved talons of owls. The general plumage of the Tawny Frogmouth is silver-grey, slightly paler below, streaked and mottled with black and rufous. During the day, these Tawny Frogmouths perch in the tree, well camouflaged as part of the branches. At night they hunt nocturnal insects, worms, snails, and often catch moths in the air during flight. They make a soft, deep and continuous ‘oom oom oom’ sound. They live all around Australia in a variety of habitats from city to rural areas. GBW. https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/birds/tawny-frogmouth/

THINKING

Quote “I think the pleasure of completed work is what makes blogging so popular. You have to believe most bloggers have few if any actual readers. The writers are in it for other reasons. Blogging is like work, but without co-workers thwarting you at every turn. All you get is the pleasure of a completed task.” —Scott Adams “Dilbert”.

Gretchen says: Like many things, e.g. press columns, literary reviews, magazine articles, in the blogging world I am only as good as my latest post. This idea isn’t new, and it’s debatable, but there’s so much coming along all the time that nobody has two seconds to scroll through my back posts – except spammers looking for a way in. Accordingly Scott Adams is right, for me it’s the pleasure of completing a task. Reimbursement? Pfft… that ain’t on my cards, baby. GBW.

Quote “And it occurred to me that there is no such thing as blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging is just writing—writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.”—Simon Dumenco “Media Guy”.

Gretchen says: Hmm, “just writing” hey? Each and every blogger is using this individualistic approach to writing. And they “publish” their little hearts out. I think blogging is more artistic than “just writing”. Yet I agree with Dumenco. All writers have their own agenda, and possibly two or three outlets, regardless of the name. I accept the term “blogger” because that efficient “publishing technology” supports me as I tread a path of my own making. GBW.

READING

A change of pace.
Four vastly different books.
A mixed bunch of authors.

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.
The #1 New York Times and top ten Sunday Times bestseller quote “I love this book … reading it will actually change not just how you see strangers, but how you look at yourself, the news – the world.” So far I have found nothing new but I will persevere in the hope that something startling will be uncovered considering “No one shows us who we are like Malcolm Gladwell.”
https://www.gladwellbooks.com/

Daughter of Bad Times by Rohan Wilson.
This dystopian novel comes well recommended. “In its vision of the future, Daughter of Bad Times explores the truth about a growing inhumanity, as profit becomes the priority. Supposedly dead, Rin’s lover Yamaan survives a natural disaster and turns up in an immigration detention facility in Australia, no ordinary facility, it’s a corrupt private prison company built to exploit the flood of environmental refugees.”
https://www.allenandunwin.com/authors/w/rohan-wilson

Bloody-Bastard-Beautiful-Mocco-Wollert SWWQ

Bloody Bastard Beautiful by Mocco Wollert.
“The frank and hilarious account of an immigrant girl who follows her German lover to Darwin. Adventurous, loveable and laughable, Mocco captures the heat and vibrancy of Darwin and its larrikins, in a decade where the Northern Territory makes its own rules.” Or as Mocco says “I am on my way to Darwin to find a job. I have no money to buy petrol or oil, man, I am desperate.” I met her at GenreCon and she’s quite a lady.
https://www.boolarongpress.com.au/our-authors/authors-w/mocco-wollert/

Never the Tracked: And other Stories by Maree Kimberley.
At GenreCon, I signed up for Maree’s newsletter and she gave me this booklet of outstanding short stories with a twist. I will be buying her forthcoming book because I love a bit of surrealism. “Coming in late 2020 from Text Publishing, Dirt Circus League is set in modern-day remote Queensland, a YA genre-bending slice of Australian paranormal fantasy and surrealism.”
https://mareekimberley.com.au/

Did I mention that I am a thorough reader? Don’t wait up!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward