Saturday 13 January 2024

In Memoriam Gonzalo Lira (1968 - 2024)

Perhaps you ask, who Gonzalo Lira is, or rather was.
I won't give details to him or his background, or even my reasons for mentioning him and his passing here.


But today, things just became too much and I finally had to break my long silence here.

I am angry for so many reasons, and starting to write here again might cause me to break my equilibrium and finally explode.

In a way, this post already is that, me exploding - or at least bubbling over.

 

Gonzalo Lira (1968 - 2024, killed in and by UKR)

R.I.P.

Please take a moment and say a prayer with me for Gonzalo Lira and his family (he has two young children) and also for what he fought for - for the freedom of speech.
Is 'freedom of speech' as dead as he is now?

 

(I might not answer comments on this post, though I hesitate to restrict them altogether.)

Thursday 31 December 2020

Happy New Year, my Friends !!!

 Dear friends and fellow RA-admirers around the world,


Last year, because of rarely blogging, not being up to date with RA-news and not feeling as if I had much to say, I did not wish you all a happy new year 2020 - and see, what year we had as a consequence !  ;o)

This year, I don't want to omit my annual greetings, though you otherwise rarely hear from me. 

Best wishes to you all and I wish you a wonderful, healthy and prosperous new year 2021 !!!

Stay healthy and safe and I hope you are well provided for and everything turns out in your favor.

Best wishes, lots of luck and all the best greetings to you all, my friends !!!


 

Greetings and cheers,

CDoart ;o)

 

 

 


Friday 29 May 2020

Blog Reunion Day - 2020

Natazukii started this idea, of a blog-reunion of all RA-bloggers.
What a lively community it had been back in the year 2012, celebrating a blog event, shows the Fanstravaganza page with all the linked articles.
I am now one of the mostly silent RA-blogs and am not at the height of all news and updates, so I don't feel comfortable with commenting all too much either.

Natazukii in her tweet wanted to know, what became of the former active bloggers.

Now, here is what I did in the meantime and what kept me from actively taking part in the fandom lately:
I learned a new technique (or rather many, and I am still actively learning more) to achieve some results I could not get elsewhere, or at least not with the necessary specifications, attention to detail and quality I expected from the results, as what I wanted crossed many disciplines and would require a whole boatload of specialists.

An example of some of the techniques I learned and what I have been doing is here:


But of course, my fingers were twitching to do something more RA-related. See what snapshots I caught:

Biker Richard



What glorious movie ideas run through my head, when I look at these images of biker Richard or sophisticated philanthropist Richard ... ;o)

Philanthropist Richard






But I also did something for fun in between all the work and so created a little (blue) 'Richard', as the little guy reminded me so much of stick figure Richard:

Little Blue Richard





So that was what I have been up to. Though not blogging about Richard, not entirely absent of the RAtmosphere.

I hope you enjoyed my journey and have a lovely BlogReunionDay 2020!


Thursday 22 August 2019

RA Happy Birthday - Hero in Every Book I Read - Interview with Chris T. Delarmy _ Part II


Happy Birthday, Richard Armitage !



(Omitted picture of a cake. - Sorry, I still need to painstaikingly avoid anything with sugar. Fortunately RA is sweet in another way ;o)



A wonderful birthday-post with a donation of US$ 1,- for each commentator commenting on the post is on Servetus' blog.
I am reluctant to make someone else donate for me, so I hesitate to comment, but please feel free to comment there and raise Servetus' donation.



Due to work pressure and my limited access, I am neither well informed nore up to date on RA's projects, though I try to follow as much as I can.
But for the day, it rather seems more sensible for me to post what has rested on my blog unfinished for a long while, to join in on the birthday party:


That Richard Armitage gets the role of every hero I read about in a book, is no wonder, as I admire his work. But that other people I know, but are not in the fandom, begin to see him in books as well, is surprising, even for me.
The one book, I already told you about, where I pictured him as a hero, was the one written by a close contact of me:

Chris T. Delarmy's "Rescued Hostage"

But now, a publishing contact of mine, who also read the book - and enjoyed it - saw him in the male leading role of the book as well, though she and her partner are not part of his fandom.
That was a surprise to me, when I got that feedback.

Perhaps the description of the grumpy hero would somehow be a role for RA? Who knows.
I can't depict him in the book in one of his previous roles. He rather is much more distinguished and perhaps a bit self-assured, bordering on arrogant, in this book. A role he in my opinion has not played so far. Though perhaps, his role in the book could steal some aspects from "North and South"?

Now that also the German edition of the book is finished and published, I wanted to know even more details from the author Chris T. Delarmy, how the hero is depicted in his head.
The first answer I got was, that the author intentionally wanted to leave the description of the hero relatively vague in the book, to let each reader depict his/her own favourite guy and heroine in the main roles.
Consequently, I could not sit still or remain silent and of course wanted to know, how Chris T. Delarmy saw the hero in his mind. And what an answer I got then ;o)
Of course Richard Armitage. What better man could be the hero of a novel with an a bit grumpy hero. Not that RA would ever be as grumpy as my hero in the book. But RA would be an excellent actor, to do the multitude of facettes and layers of the hero justice, which I don't think many other actors could even try to attempt. So yes, in my mind, Richard Armitage played out my hero in the book. That was rather helpful to depict the actions and rather quick moving argumentations of the book and keep track with the hero's intentions, schemes and intrigues.

As the book from the way the story is told as well as from its setup would be ideal for filming, I naturally wanted to know, if Richard Armitage would be the ideal hero for a film in the author's mind:
Yes, Richard Armitage is exactly the man I depicted in the novel and I would see as ideal for a film. Though I would not see him following an exact role he has already played, but he would be able to show his acting talent in getting into a new environment and mindset. 
As the hero of the book also has quite a journey to go through, I even think he might be an interesting character to get into and follow on his journey through the adventures of the book.
Prof. Lynford is not a static character. He went through a lot and needs a new perspective on life and what is really important for him. During the story, he needs to change his outlook on things around him.

As I am no screenwriter and my story is not written as a screenplay, it is an honour that you think the book would be ideal to be filmed. The one thing I certainly would like to see on a big screen, would be the explosion (no spoilers here!) and the hero's reaction to it on board of his sailing boat. That would be a thing I would love to see Richard Armitage to enact.

Also his reaction during the questioning regarding this explosion and his argumentative ways would be a thing I would like to see and emotionally played to its full potential by Richard Armitage.
Chris T. Delarmy told me much more than this, but I don't want to bore you with a long interview here.
If you have more questions to the author, please let me know and I can ask them in follow up interviews later on.

Now I wish you lots of enjoyment with the books and with the birthday celebrations for Richard Armitage.

Happy Birthday, Richard Armitage !!!


Chris T. Delarmy "Rescued Hostage"



German edition: "Gerettete Geisel"





Thursday 23 August 2018

CDoart Interviewing Chris T. Delarmy (Author)

From a rare poster, lured out by the birthday celebrations, I want to share a special treat with you today.

I did an interview with a new author, who has a connection to the RA-fandom and chose a pseudonym for the first written novel from one of my fan-stories posted here on this blog.

So what better way to introduce this new author, than to do an interview right here, where the name comes from.




Interview with Chris T. Delarmy



As your pen-name is a creation from one of my fan-stories (with my permission and I am really proud), my first question naturally goes to Richard Armitage.
Are you a fan of the actor Richard Armitage?
Yes, I admit to my addiction to certain roles of RA and also my admiration for the sensible way he does interviews. In an interview, he first caught my attention and I only later discovered his film oe­vre.

That immediately leads to my second question. What is your favourite role of Richard Armitage?

That is a really hard one to answer. I would have said Lucas North in "Spooks", but the way he was written out of the series spoiled my previous enjoyment of the role deeply. So I would need to evade this role and go to John Porter in "Strike Back". The new "Berlin Station", as much as I could get hold of it so far, was not able to convince me yet and I am still on the fence regarding this role.

I rather go for my possible all-time-favourite, Mr. John Thornton in "North & South", as I am partial to historical film and this one in particular.


Now knowing your role- and time-preferences. How does it come that your first published novel, though entirely fictional, is a contemporary story?

That is a rather long story in itself, how that came to be.

But to tell a long story short, I for years now have a story about a certain character in the late 18th century in mind. The story and adventures grow and grow in my mind and during all that time, another author (completely unrelated to me or my story) used my character's name in his own novel for a story in another timeframe, where the real family I need as a background for my main character was already extinct.

But the main problem was, that with my ideas for the story continuously growing, also my expectations towards it grew and grew and put so much pressure on me, that I had to write and execute something else instead.

As I have many story-drafts for diverse stories in my cupboard, I just had to stick to one idea and so I ordered myself to write and finish the next story that came to my mind.

And Sophia, the quirky, inquisite grad-student came to my mind and never let go.


Who is Sophia? Do you know a real person Sophia, the heroine of your book, resembles?
No, not really. Though her curious traits might be a bit lent from myself. But otherwise, she is assembled according to an imaginary person I really would like to meet. Her directness, her going after what she feels is right, really makes me want to meet her. It was hard to finish the book and to let go of her.

And your main character, Prof. Lynford? Is he somewhat like you or eventually like Richard Armitage?

Perhaps a bit like me, in his grumpy, annoying way. But I should rather not admit to that.

He takes time to warm up to, but he went through a lot, so it is worth the patience with him.

As to be inspired by Richard Armitage or one of his roles, I can't really say. Perhaps a bit like the early John Porter, but more from the book than the films, but mostly rather not.

Prof. Lynford just is his own annoying self, trying to get whatever he wants in his own twisted way.


What made you chose that exact pen-name for you then, if there is no exact Richard Armitage role or reference in your book?

First of all, I liked the sound of the name in itself. It stuck with me the first time I read it. I also liked the French origins of this still English sounding name.

Chris is one of my own names, so the jump was not too far. And T. stands for my mother's name. So in principle, my pen-name combines

- something from myself

- something from my heritage and

- something from my inspiration.


And you don't, by chance, want to lift your pseudonym?
No, definitely not. I have a publishing cover-up and co-corrector involved, who know my real name, but that is as far as my 'outing' goes.

And what are your plans for the future? Is another book already in the pipeline?

I admit, I rather cheated with the 'next book idea' part I mentioned before. I switched to the 'second' one in the row, when I made the same mistake with my first idea which I had made with my historical idea.

With my first idea, I liked the basic idea so much, that I found all my efforts not worthy for an execution. So I had to put it aside for a while. Now that "Rescued Hostage" is finished (though I am still sitting over the German version of if) I am coming back to this 'first' idea, which now hopefully will be my second book.


Can you already tell us, what the second book will be about?

It once again will be "A Camsted Adventure", like Sophia's story, though it will be a completely independent story with new characters. I don't want to reveal more yet, perhaps except that the headcount [murder cases - Clarification by CDoart] will be a bit higher than in the first book.


So now, the one remaining thing to do is, to let you know more about this book by Chris T. Delarmy. (Do I really need to reveal, where the name 'Delarmy' comes from?)


I myself already read and enjoyed the book very much and must admit, that it hit my kind of humour very much. To have a thriller and a quirky love story, which also makes you laugh and think about how you would want the world to develop to make it a tad bit better? This story combines not just adventure and suspense, but all in all is funnily told and enjoyable and gripping.

I certainly could use a Sophia, to solve some of my computer problems ;o)


Book-description:

Sophia, working at home for her graduate studies, sees a man in a window across the street. She immediately takes action when she thinks this man might be in danger. But this pulls her into a vortex of trouble both with secret services and the organized crime.

Can this naïve young woman take on those powerful organizations and get out of the problems she rushed into head first? Can she and the man she begins to have feelings for, make it out of their troubles alive? And is he even worth caring for, or rather one of the bad guys?

Follow Sophia from her desk at home on her way into adventures and dangers beyond her wildest imagination, where curiosity about a stranger lead her.



Chris T Delarmy
(The book is also available via Amazon-Prime. Please read the book there to the end for the sake of the author. Thank you !)

Now remains only for me to thank Chris for doing the interview with me and

to wish you lots of enjoyment with the book. Have a funny and gripping reading time !


Wednesday 22 August 2018

Back for Birthday Celebrations

It's been a while. I still have a few more food-posts for RA-characters in my drafts, but when living without sweets and fruit, thumbing through cookbooks and recipes becomes a rather uncomfortable pastime.

Also, as I have recognised, one strangely becomes quite unsocial, when each birthday among your acquaintances means, you have to explain at length, why you can't participate with the birthday cake or celebratory alcohol. Or if you don't and they press some on you, you are ill for days to come. Also, when you are invited, the easiest contribution to a party is no longer possible for you. You can't make a salad or a dessert, as each contains a load of things you have meticulously banned from your vicinity. When you are standing around at the party and try to discern, what the things you might try to eat are cooked with, each cook feels offended by your close scrutiny. So you rather avoid to get close to something to eat, as the hosts would rather feel offended, if you even tried to bring some of the for you still edible food ...

Fortunately, all those problems do not arise with a virtual birthday cake!

And so I can freely join today's celebrations.

Happy Birthday, Richard Armitage !



glitter-graphics.com

I very much hope, RA and you all still can enjoy an occasional cake and sweets and tasty food for real, not just virtually.

Happy celebrations and lots of sweets and sweetness to you all!

As a special present to celebrate, I will also post an interview with a new author, who took his name from one of my fan-stories (with my permission). So it is not too much to say, that he has a connection to the RA-fandom. But I will ask him about that in the interview. So more later ...