Tag: Bar Yarns & Beer Nuts

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Bar Yarns w/ Author – T.M. Clark

TMClarkAuthorPicture

I’m so glad you dropped in for a bar yarn with me, Tina. (I realise it was probably only to get away from tidying that desk!)

Here’s a beer coaster, how about you jot down your blurb for My Brother But One the back to kick-start our chinwag.

Scott Decker and Zol Ndhlovu are partners in a private game ranch in Zimbabwe. They have a friendship borne from Africa — a brotherhood that endures the generation gap — and crosses the colour barrier.

Australian Ashley Twine is a thirty-something dynamic achiever and a confident businesswoman. When a gender mix-up secures her a position on a volunteer program in the Hwange National Park, Ashley gets a chance to take stock of her life and reassess her situation. But the chauvinistic Scott — who runs the operation — is adamant she isn’t cut out for the job.

After Ashley witnesses firsthand the devastation left behind by poachers, Scott finds himself torn between wanting to protect Ashley or force her to leave Africa for her own safety…and his sanity. However, nothing can prepare her for being ambushed and held captive by the psychopathic Rodney — an old enemy of Zol’s — from a war fought years ago. But now that their world has been threatened, circumstances take hold of their lives and begin to shape and change them forever.

Set against a magnificent backdrop of Africa across the decades, T.M. Clark explores and challenges the traditions between the white and black families of rural Africa.TMClarkMBBOcover

Come on then, grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

I’m a cheap date – coke? Hot chocolate? Fruit juice would be great – thanks … I don’t drink alcohol…I know it’s not for lack of trying, body just doesn’t let me…

Hey, did you hear the one about … Tell us a joke (preferably one that comes with a punch line you actually remember!)

I’m so bad at jokes… I don’t get them half the time, I often have to smile, then go home and ask hubby what-the-heck was so funny… and I always mess up the pun – so … I’m taking my one life line here okay?

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

They have snacks at the bars you go to? Gee I must try that place sometime… right a bar snack… Would have to be Droevorse…in English – “Dry vors” (said phonetically). Basically a South African snack food, it’s a dried sausage.  It’s got a thicker skin, but inside its full of flavours, a little unrefined and can be known to pack quite a punch…( they can came in chilli flavour…) Because  that’s how you find me most of the time.. once you get that harder layer off, I’m really nice inside…but fiercely protective and possessive – I guess a bit like chilli…

Ahh, that beer hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us—on a scale of 1 to 10—as a writer are you a messy desker or tidy desker? (NB: 1 = “I am a neat nut case” and 10 = “What desk? Where? Is there a desk here somewhere?”) Are you game to post a working space picture right now?

10/10 for messy desker… have been known to have to move my keyboard along the desk to make room for the work on the left – or the cat… .just took a picture…. But it gets worse… look at the side of my desk.. still more to sort through… I would say I am a tower person – I pile things on top of each other until something almost falls over … I hate it if anyone moves things as I know where they are in the mess. But every now and again my hubby takes all the piles and puts them in a box and says – ‘sort… enough mess.’ He is so opposite to me, he is the neat freak and I feel so sorry for him having to share an office with my scatty brained self.

The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

  • Dance to Gangnam Style
  • Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
  • Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

Can I please use my second life line here??? Pretty please????

I can’t dance. I’m not naturally graceful at all. Sure, when I dance with hubby he makes me look good as he just leads me around and helps me find the rhythm, he is a great dancer, but me, alone, oh man I look like a spider on a hot stove… not a pretty sight at all.

My singing is so bad my teenagers always tell me ‘ssshhhh mum’ because I sound a bit like a cat getting strangled. I can’t believe I used to sing at school…mind you that was years ago….but incidentally I love that song!

And I am a true African Princess – I hate washing dishes, and will load the dishwasher and run it half full rather than do them myself in the sink…. Please don’t make me do dishes…

Time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner. You get to pick three songs.

  1. African Sky Blue – Juluka/Savuka and Johnny Clegg
  2. Wind Beneath My Wings – Bett Midler
  3. Home – Phillip Phillips

Only three, but there are so so many I wish I could play …

An author, an agent and a chicken walk into the bar… how do you know which one crossed the road?

Had to be the author as she was talking to the chicken on the other side, before seeing the agent, picking up the chicken and taking it with her, and then walking together into the bar like friends, even though she doesn’t know the agent and the poor chicken is dying of embarrassment because the author forgot to shave under her arm because she was on deadline and can’t spare the 5 extra minutes in the shower… but always has time to talk to an agent.

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there?

Would have to be because the author was there with the agent and the chicken, and when she was digging in her monstrous bag to grab a business card that she dug from deep inside, the stapler spilled out onto the bar, along with an assortment of pens, note books, and bulldog clips, tatty magazine article tear outs (with hot pictures of scantily clad men) that she stole from the doctors rooms, and she was so busy talking to the agent she left all her stuff there… and that was why there was still a stapler on the bar when the barman put all the other cr** under the bar for safe keeping… but couldn’t put away the pink glitter covered stapler as it made him smile thinking of the owner, hoping she would come back…

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

  1.  My iPhone. I know but honestly it has everything in it, diary, phone numbers, email, Facebook, Twitter –  EVERYTHING!
  2. My driver’s licence – I live on an island connected to the mainland by a 1km bridge.  Everything happens off the island, and the public transport isn’t      reliable. ( Read that as I’m not good at public transport…) I’d be lost without my licence to drive to all the ‘writer thingies’ I attend, and the lunches, and book launches and generally all the things one does, like shopping off the island…
  3. My hubby Shaun. Seriously, he is my other half. It’s been a work-in-progress marriage for almost 22 years now, and I would hate to loose him. Not only is he a fabulous critique partner, but he stabilises me – mostly, and makes me      laugh. And that’s huge in my world. He should probably go as no 1 but      hopefully at placed 3 there is less chance of actually losing him… oh and don’t worry when he does get lost and I don’t know where he is – I just ‘stalk my friend’ on my iPhone and find out where he is…LOL

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number?

Your lucky number is: 14 & 46

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books. Oh, and you are giving one lucky reader (anywhere in the world!) a signed copy of My Brother But One. Comment away, folks, and to connect online… NOW CLOSED

AND THE LUCKY WINNER IS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

Web site: www.tmclark.com.au

Email: tina@tmclark.com.au

My blog – e-Diary – http://www.tinaclark.com/Tina_Clark/e-Diary/e-Diary.html

Facebook

Twitter: @TinaMarieClark2

Goodreads

I use images a lot when I write so Pinterest has become my new best friend. I used to do collages, but now just flick through my Pinterest page and go – oh yes then start writing.

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tinamarieclark2/boards/

You can buy my book from:

E-book – Apple App Store – https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/my-brother-but-one/id730800670?mt=11

E- book from Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Brother-But-One-T-M-Clark-ebook/dp/B00G2V5PRY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385345864&sr=1-1&keywords=my+brother+but+one

 Ebook – Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/my-brother-but-one

 Books from:

Target, Big W, Kmart

Book from Booktopia – http://www.booktopia.com.au/my-brother-but-one-t-m-clark/prod9781743564660.html

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Bar Yarns with Author ~ Anna Romer

Beer Yarns and beer Nuts welcomes Kim KellyI recently had the pleasure of speaking at Anna Romer’s book launch in Boonah (QLD) – the setting for her fictional town of Magpie Creek. Her debut novel is AMAZING! No wonder the Get Reading people included it in the 2013 50 Books You Can’t Put Down. It’s true!

anna romer (1)G’day Anna, come on in. Grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

Thanks Jenn, that pink lemonade sounds rather good.

 

Here’s a beer coaster, Anna. Would you mind jotting down the blurb for your book – Thornwood House – on the back?

When Audrey Kepler inherits an abandoned homestead in rural Queensland, she jumps at the chance to escape her loveless existence in the city and make a fresh start. In a dusty back room of the old house, she discovers the crumbling photo of a handsome World War Two medic – Samuel Riordan, the homestead’s former occupant – and soon finds herself becoming obsessed with him.

But as Audrey digs deeper into Samuel’s story, she thornwood_housediscovers he was accused of bashing to death a young woman on his return from the war in 1946. When she learns about other unexplained deaths in recent years – one of them a young woman with injuries echoing those of the first victim – she begins to suspect that the killer is still very much alive. And now Audrey, thanks to her need to uncover the past, has provided him with good reason to want to kill again.

Have you heard a good pub joke lately?

I know a fantastic joke but I need a piece of paper and a pencil to tell it! And the punch line is a cracker!!! Oh well. . .

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

In Spain they serve ‘caracoles’- tiny snails in their shells cooked in garlic and served by the handful – often just thrown onto the wooden tabletop, they go down a treat with ice cold Estrella Dorada (or even a feisty local beer). . .and since I’m partial to gastropods in general, I’d have to be a garlic ‘caracole’.

Ahh, that hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us if you are a messy desker or tidy desker? (1 = “I am a neat nut case” and 10 = “What desk? Where? Is there a desk here somewhere?”)

I like everything in its place – a ‘2’. . . although midway through a project I tend to vanish under a pile of books and papers, only surfacing at intervals to go in search of my teapot.

The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

  1. Dance to Gangnam Style
  2. Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
  3. Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

I was a teen John Denver fan!!! Let me at ’em! “Drivin’ down the road I get a feeling’ that I should have been home yesterday, yesterdaaaaaay. . .’

Hmm, maybe stick to writing, Anna. Now… time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner.

You get to pick three songs.

  • ‘Super Massive Black Hole’ – Muse
  • ‘Lady Marmalade’ – LaBelle’s great classic
  • ‘Can You Get to That’ – Funkadelic  (Awesome!)

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there.

The girl in the corner is wearing granny undies and the elastic broke so she had to staple the waistband. . .?

(Thanks for the tip!)

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

  1. My hatchback, ‘the Crow’
  2. The bush (to run off into)
  3. My red kelpie Poppy (grrrrreat name, grrrrreat dog!)

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number?

8 (the number of infinity!)thornwood_house

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books.

  • Webpage:   www.annaromer.com.au
  • About the book:  www.thornwoodhouse.com.au
  • Facebook:   AnnaRomerAuthor
  • Publisher:   Simon & Schuster (Aust) Publishers
  • Also check out:  Get Reading 2013 for Thornwood House

If you enjoyed this Bar Yarn, there are lots more to come. So you never miss a post, why not whack your email in the TELL ME! box above.

Just wait until you see who’s dropping by for a Bar Yarn next. Prepare to giggle.

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Bar Yarns w/ Gracie Macgregor & ‘Hearts on Hold’ Giveaway

Gracie Ed (2) I met Gracie at her Calypso Bar. Now here she is at Calingarry Crossing pub having a bar yarn and a …. warmed olive? Oh well … Find out about the Calypso Bar below, along with details of how to WIN a copy of Gracie’s novel Hearts on Hold.

Come on in, Gracie. Grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

I have recently discovered this amazing Swedish strawberry and lime cider: it’s the very essence of harvest time! Tall glass, lots of ice, please!

Okay, well, here’s a beer coaster. How about a beer coaster blurb for Hearts on Hold?

The strongest sunshine casts the darkest shadows…HOH

Cate Boyd is searching for a place where nobody knows her name. The sleepy Maltese village of Xlendi offers privacy, anonymity, and the serene life she craves, far from her former world. But her peace is shattered when monolithic development company Vena announces its plans to level her village, and threatens to expose Cate’s secrets if she stands in its way. The arrival of seductive, nosy professor Brandon Blackshaw seems too coincidental for comfort — especially when she discovers that Vena is his research partner. As the pressure mounts, Cate must decide which is more important: her hard-won privacy, or the future of her beloved Xlendi.

Hey, did you hear the one about … Tell us a joke (preferably one that comes with a punch line you actually remember!)

A footballer walks into a bar. You’d have thought he’d have seen it.

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

Sadly, I can’t “do” nuts, or I end up doing a run to the nearest hospital. It gets pretty ugly. Instead, I’ll be perfectly content with a lovely bowl of mixed olives – warmed, if you wouldn’t mind. I don’t want much, do I?!

Ahh, that beer hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us: are you a messy desker or tidy desker? (NB: 1 = “I am a neat nut case” and 10 = “What desk? Where? Is there a desk here somewhere?”) Are you game to post a working space picture right now?

Gracie's DeskSure. Happy to post a picture of my desk. It’s not where I work, though, because it’s got a bit of other stuff on it at the moment. I wouldn’t necessarily call it messy. “Messy” seems like such a pejorative term. I think my desk is… industrious. Really? You’re really going to make me rate it? Ok. I’m a 1. Just not where my desk is concerned.

The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

  • Dance to Gangnam Style
  • Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
  • Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

Can I have the drinks before I have to sing for my supper? John Denver all the way, baby. Why should my poor little Mazda be the only one to suffer?

Time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner. You get to pick three songs. (FYI- Links to You Tube clip)

  1. Merry Clayton’s “Yes” from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack:
  2. The Finns’ “Anything Can Happen”
  3. Wendy Matthews’ “If Only I Could”

An author, an agent and a chicken walk into the bar… how do you know which one crossed the road?

It doesn’t matter. The author’s going to have the best story about what happened next.

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there.

Keeping a tight grip on its (bank)notes?

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

  1. Choc-coated coffee beans. They’re sometimes the only things that keep me sitting at the space-which-is-not-my-desk pounding on my keyboard. Until I have to      get up to refill the bowl. Then all procrastination bets are off.
  2. My iPad. I do not like Macs as a rule (heresy, I know), but I do love my iPad.
  3. My gorgeous teenaged son. I’ve left him until last in the list just so he doesn’t get too embarrassed. Or too full of himself. He’s already far too confident in his ability to get me to do pretty much whatever he wants!

Shhh! The last race of the day is on the TAB screen and I reckon I’ve picked a winner. I browse the race guide with the jockey colours influencing my bet. When browsing a bookshop, what influences you? (Order this list: Author. Cover design. Title. Tagline/blurb. First chapter. Last page!)

  1. Author
  2. Author
  3. Author
  4. Tagline/blurb
  5. Tagline/blurb
  6. Author. I have no memory for titles, I rarely notice covers and I NEVER read first or last pages before I can sit down and read the book from go-to-whoa.

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number?

Your lucky number is: 7. No, 8! No! 3! Sorry, I’m not being greedy. I used to be indecisive but now I’m not so sure.

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books.

Jenn, thanks for asking, and thanks for inviting me along to the harvest, I’ve had terrific fun!

Readers can find me in these places:

Website & The Calypso Bar!:  www.graciemacgregor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GracieMacgregorAuthor

Twitter: @graciewrites

Escape Publishing: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857990594

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/GracieMacgregor

BOOK GIVEAWAY TIME!

Jenn, I’d love to give away a copy of “Hearts on Hold” (epub format or PDF) to your choice of the best answer to this question:  One of the least-recognised benefits of choc-coated coffee beans is …

Okay folks, over to you. You have about two weeks. Gracie and i will still be in the bar so we may need a nudge!