Anita Birt's Note Book and Rant

I am on a grammar kick about the use of words improperly. When to use "less" or "few." When to use "Who" or "whom." Those of us who went to school  many years ago had lessons in writing correctly. Paragraphs. Essays. Wicked tests thought up by our strict teachers fell on our innocent shoulders. But the lessons stuck!

In the Times Colonist our local Vancouver Island newspaper on February 18, 2012."The woman had worked at the post office for a relatively short time, said Sgt. Rob Webb of Shawnigan RCMP. The case involved "less than 100 items." Please don't do this! The officer should have said, "fewer than 100 items."

In The Globe and Mail one of Canada's two major newspapers this item. It appears in an article about the abuse of OxyContin abuse. ""Of the thousands who need treatment, she said, less then10 percent are getting help."

Concise Oxford  Dictionary: Fewer the comparative form of Few is correctly used with words denoting people or countable things, while less is used with mass nouns denoting things that cannot be counted. Below is a good example of how to use "less."

This from an article in The National Post regarding stifling rules wreaking havoc on the transportation industry in Greece. "It cost less to import a tomato from The Netherlands than to buy one from a Greek farm, less to rent party goods from Italy than from a neighbouring Greek town."

Lesson over. I won't go into the use of  "who" and when to use "whom." Sigh. Who is paying attention to my rant? Please comment and make me feel good. Make me feel even better by by purchasing the trade paperback edition of my time travel romance novel, "RING AROUND THE MOON."

Imagine arriving at midnight at the cottage my heroine has rented in Cornwall, England when a man appears from a nearby stand of trees and claims her as his wife who died two hundred years ago.

Enjoy life. Enjoy reading.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com

Anita Birt's Note book and Rant

I feel a rant coming on. I am an older woman, not in my dotage and still paying my taxes, income and on everything thing I purchase yet the federal government in my country is making noises about older people being a burden on society. Not quite in those blunt words but I get the message. We are over using our health care system and draining resource, etc. It goes on apace and I am tired of being blamed for the ills of society. I have been as healthy as a trout all my my life and now I am using the medical resources available to me. Either I use them or I die! Not  a desirable outcome.

That's my little rant. I am thinking of adding to my true story of crossing the Atlantic Ocean on August/September 1944. Not in  sailboat but on a small ship as part of a huge convoy taking food and other important goods to war torn Britain. Not that I did anything important but two ships in the convoy were torpedoed and the explosion lifted me inches off my bunk. It was close and I don';t remember being frightened.When you are young, dying is not part of your thinking.

I shall return. In the meantime, hustle out and purchase my time travel romance, Ring Around The Room. I hadn't read it since I wrote and am reading it now. I love it.
 Anita

www.anitabirt.com

Anita Birt's Note Book and Rant

I know there are real live human beings out there who touch base on my blog They are like ghosts not stopping long enough to leave a comment. Now is that fair? I want comments especially now with my e-book, RING AROUND THE MOON, now published in trade paperback. My publisher created a new cover for my book that is quite beautiful.

Where are you and why are you not leaving a comment or two or three? Take a minute to check out my  web site at: www.anitabirt.com.  Leave a ghostly comment and I shall love you forever - well for a little while as I digest your cmments.

Writing is a ghostly business in some ways. We sit alone at our computers or with pen and paper and create stories. It's dream time while I run the movie inside my head and solve problems when they appear. Or a new character intrudes on the story line and has to be dealt with creatively. I had a major problem in Ring Around The Moon and couldn't figure out how to solve it. I wakened in the dark of night and the answer came to me.

Writing is mysterious. A story line pops into my head and I am hooked. I am developing a story about an elderly lady who moves into a seniors' residence. Instead of finding peace and quiet she stumbles into a mystery waiting to be solved. A strange character is hanging around the edges of my mind. Why? I don't like him but he won't go away.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com

Anita Birt's Note Book and Rant

My e-book, RING AROUND THE MOON, has been issued as a trade paper book with a new beautiful cover.  Here are the back cover notes I wrote for my book when it was first published.

"It wasn;t supposed to happen like this. Not to her. Not to sensible Beth Ormond. She'd rented Quest Cottage in Cornwall to get away from the hassles back home in the States, and to think through her future as as single Mom.

Tired after driving from Heathrow Airport she got out of the car. A full moon glowed in the night sky. She hurried up to the cottage but stopped n her tracksd  as a man emerged from a nearby stand of trees and called out to her.

Alan Tremaine had traveled from the past to the present time with a story so bizarre Beth couldn't get her mind around it unless she disregarded her scientific training and believed in time travel. Could she? Did she want to?"

Americans can buy my book from my publisher, Ellora's Cave.com, or Amazon.com and various book stores.
Canadians can buy my book from Amazon.ca. It will save postage.
In the UK: I assume it's available at Amazon.UK

Off you go to purchase my intricately plotted time travel romance. I had many difficult problems to solve as my story evolved, not the least of which was figuring out how to create a modern identity for Alan.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com






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Anita Birt's Note Book and Rant

I've been having fun researching information about my Atlantic Crossing August/September 1944

I sailed on the S.S. Ariguani out of Halifax on August 29 part of Convoy HX304

On September 6 an explosion lifted me off my bunk. We passengers were never told what had caused the explosion and all the thumps that continued. The captain forbade us to go out on deck. I now know why.

The Empire Heritage a steam tanker was struck my torpedoes. The Pinto, a  convoy rescue ship came to pickup survivors and it was torpedoed. The Empire Heritage carried 59 passengers plus a large crew. Few survived. A trawler, HMS Northern Wave rescued those who survived.

German U-Boat #482 Captained by Graf von Hartmut Matursky did not survive long after striking convoy HX304.. Two months later the Royal Navy attached and destroyed the submarine.

 I found it hard to believe that all this information from 1944 was so easily available. Our ship docked in Liverpool on September 10. Convoys can only travel as fast as the slowest ships. I believe we were doing 10 knots that's why it took two weeks to cross the Atlantic.

Another bit of information. The Ariguani was a small ship.425.2 feet long. 54.1 feet breadth. It could fit in a Canadian football field.

I am waiting to receive the print copies of my e-book, RING AROUND THE MOON. You can order from my publisher, Ellora's Cave. or Amazon.com or in Canada, Amazon.ca.

Enjoy life
Anita

www.anitabirt.com

Anita Birt's Note book and RAnt

I have news. My e-book, RING AROUND THE MOON, is now available in trade paperback! If you live in the States you can order my book from www.jasmine-jade.com or Amazon.com. It will also be available in book stores. In Canada it is more efficient to order from Amazon.ca and save on postage. View the new cover!

Ring Around The Moon is a time travel romance set in magical Cornwall. My hero time travelled from two hundred years in the past to the the present time.  My heroine is an American, fourth month's pregnant with her first child.  She rented Quest Cottage in Cornwall for a month to rest and plan her life as a single Mom.


The "best laid plans," often go astray. I loved writing this book. The plot's twists and turns surprised me and I am the author


Anita
www.anitabirt.com

Anita Birt's Note book and Rant

I have added Rant to the title because I might hold forth in the new year rather than start a new blog.

I HAVE NEWS. I had an e-mail from my publisher two days before Christmas informing me that some of their e-books will be going into print in 2012. They will be printing my time travel romance, RING AROUND THE MOON. the new print books will be available on the publisher's web site first and then offered to Amazon.com and three other retailers. I shall keep you informed when all this happens. I am pleased to have another book in print.

A VERY DIFFICULT MAN is available as an e-book but is also available in trade paperback. Check my web site for synopses and covers. All my books are available at Amazon.com and at Jasmine-Jade Enterprises.

It is a dreary overcast day in Victoria with a little rain. I got out for a walk earlier and missed the rain. I am feeling rather witless right now because I have task to do and would like to put it off but honour calls. Must bear down on the task and get it done.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com