I've decided to - temporarily, I hope - make this journal Friends Only. I'm being a bit wary about adding new people at this time, so don't take it personally if I don't add you right away.

I've loved the musical version of Les Miserables since the first time I saw it back in 1986. It was initially a co-production with the RSC and the cast included a number of their company, such as Roger Allum as Javert and the redoubtable Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, as well as a few 'ringers' like Michael Ball and Colm Willkinson (!) I was fortunate enough to see it twice during that initial six week run.

A few years later, after it had been running in the West End for a while, I took my mum to see it at the Palace Theatre - that must have been in the early 90s.

( at the end of the day...Collapse )

I' m sure these are all over the place by now, but what the hell. There' s no such thing as too many pictures of David Tennant, right?

( 2013 is going to be a good year for us DT fangirls :)Collapse )

I haven't watched a lot of telly this Christmas; to be honest, there didn't seem to be a lot I felt I couldn't live without seeing.

( Here be spoilersCollapse )

I know LJ has been rather quiet of late, and I'm guilty of not being around as much as I used to be. But that doesn't mean I don't think about my friends here and wonder how you all are. I will try to pop in more often.

But in the meantime, I wish you all the very best for this Festive Season and hope that Santa brings you lots of goodies!

You know how, sometimes, you see or read or listen to something that really makes an impression on you? So much so that it stays with you long after you first encountered it?

Back in 1985/6, I picked up a book - completely randomly, and because I thought it sounded interesting - by a British author called Stella Riley. It was historical fiction, which is my literary drug of choice and has been since I was eleven years old - and was set during the English Civil war. It's all based on fact, and many of the characters in the book existed, although the two protagonists in the romance that runs throughout it are fictional.

Anyway. I enjoyed the book so much, that I went looking for more by this author. Sadly, I found only one other title (this time set in the Restoration) but devoured it and loved it as well. Even more disappointing was the fact that she seemed to have stopped writing altogether, which I thought was a great shame. Over the next few years, both books became "comfort" reads - you know the sort of thing; you want to read something undemanding and familiar but good so you're not disappointed in your choice, especially if you're reading something to cheer you up a bit.

Somewhere along the way however, my paperback copies of both books disappeared. I don't know when or how - I can only assume during a house move (and I did plenty of those in the early 90s - divorce has that effect!) or something similar - but I always remembered those stories fondly and more recently, would occasionally check Amazon to see if there were any second-hand copies around so I could read them again. There were copies - but they were on the pricey side. I also discovered that Stella Riley had penned another four or five books, but they were even harder to get hold of and even more expensive.

The fact that, over twenty-five years later, I would still occasionally put her name into the search box at Amazon shows what an impression her writing made on me (either that, or I'm just a saddo - take your pick!) - and imagine my joy when, earlier this year, I discovered not only that she had revised and republished one of those very titles I had lost in ebook form, The Marigold Chain, but that she was revising all her novels with the same intention!

Yes - I was one very happy Caz :D

What all this is leading up to is that today, Stella Riley has published the book that started it all off for me, which is called A Splendid Defiance. That makes four of her titles that are now available as ebooks, and she is planning to republish her remaining backlist next year.

If you like historical fiction laced with romance and adventure; if you like incredibly well-written stories that feature memorable characters and excellent dialogue - I can't recommend her novels highly enough. If you're looking for something good to read over the weekend, you could do a lot worse than check them out.

ETA I reviewed the new edition here yesterday, and today, the author has written a blog post about how it came about.


And if anyone reading this needs more convincing, Stella is a fellow West Wing fan. Nuff sed :-)

I've been looking forward to this release for ages - ever since To the Death back in March 2011, ( Read more...Collapse )

I haven't had much to say about recent episodes of DW - partly because I'm knackered and partly because I've been trying to take them at face value rather than try to work out any of the intricacies of the plot or find very much beneath the surface. That's worked for me, but I just had to say something about the departure of the Ponds.

( Departures...Collapse )

I just remembered I haven't posted anything yet about Saturday's DW. ( Rory's hair is looking good, no?Collapse )

I've fallen behind with my BF releases lately, and haven't had time to write much - if anything - about those I have managed to listen to, but this one is so bloody good, that I had to shout about it!
( under here!Collapse )