Falalala

Okay ... *rubbing my hands* I'm ready to have some fun again in Regency England. But I can't decide which book to write next. ("Argh! Argh! Argh!" she cried and ran around in circles, pulling her hair.) I'm in the mood to do something lighthearted (so no dark & gloomy paranormals for the time being), and I've got a choice of two stories: one is a straight historical (well, as straight as my historicals turn out to be, which isn't too straight after all *g*) (you might have already read the beginning here), the other a time travel (with a hero who looks like Richard Armitage and a heroine who steals something from a museum) (at first I thought she would steal something from the V&A, then I decided I'd use the Pitt Rivers in Oxford after all - it's so much stranger than the V&A!).

One heroine is still nameless, the other is called Gilly (short for Gillian, of course) (or perhaps for Gillianna?) and her hero is Richard *nudge nudge wink wink* Shirley, whose estate is called Brooksby Wirce. I haven't decided yet whether to make him an earl or not (isn't it nice to be able to decide things like that?). The other hero has an aunt who has travelled through exotic lands and wears big hats.

Hmmm .....

In My Library

In middle school I drew a picture of bookshelves peopled by fantastic creatures lurking between the books, chatting among each other, climbing from shelf to shelf. Clearly, these creatures had just climbed out of the books and were now busy discovering the world outside.

The concept of little people living on my bookshelves has always held a great fascination for me, and it is one that I've always put into practice when it came to decorating my shelves. So here are some of the Little People whom you can meet in my library.

Two curvy little madams ...


... who are currently admiring the TBR piles on my piano.

Pile 1:

Pile 2:

On the other side of the room, this kitty (a gift from my parents) lives among my Mills & Boon Modern Romances (between Sharon Kendrick and Sarah Craven, to be exact):

The shelf below is reserved for Totoro, who was a gift from a reader:

Another kitty, a gift from Teresa, sits on another shelf, guarding Teresa's books:

On the shelf above you can find this happy little miss:

A rather fat kitty sits in the fantasy section:

As do this sheep (which I bought on the Aran Islands) and the clay elephant (a gift from an honorary aunt).

What about your bookshelves? Have you got Little People living among your books, too?

More Pictshoores

This was another gift from my colleagues: while I was being examined as to my PhD-worthiness, they installed a new door plate:


And here's the box with the toy theatre I brought to uni for the exam (on the right, you can just see the last three of the six Champions of Christendom):

The Remains of the Day ... eh ... the party:

Horse Day!

May I present: Dr. des. Schwab (which basically means that you may call me Dr. Schwab, but I can't call myself Dr. yet):


(The robe is an old, moth-bitten one that one of my colleagues brought home from St. Andrew's; now all new doctors of our section have to wear it for the big procession through the humanities building to the big bronze horse in front of said building. The hat is a gift from my colleagues.)

Oh lookz, zere R dragonz on ze hat!

More dragonz (another gift):

(Can you tell I felt much loved yesterday afternoon?)

'Tis me, climbing onto the aforementioned horsie:

Sitting on the horsie while St. Peter threw snowflakes at us.

Group picture with horsie (I look a bit like St. Martin, don't I?).

And that was that. I still can't quite believe that it's all over now. No more Horribelz Dragonz to slay. No more headless chicken runs. How will I stand it?!?!?!

'Tis the Day

... the day to slay the dragons once and for all! :) Please keep your fingers crossed for me this afternoon, 3 p.m. Berlin time or 9 a.m. EST. If you live near Mainz, come and see me fall off the horse in front of the Humanities building just in time for five o'clock tea.

And then please send me some good vibes that I'll conquer the mess in my flat and vanquish the dust wombats:

books in the library-cum-music-room:



pile of books and papers with a desk buried underneath:


things to look forward to in the exam: Beowulf, Thackeray, pantomime, the seven deadly sins:

And this evening I'll finally be free!

The Countdown has started

Three days until the dratted exam.

Need lots of Richard-Armitage clips to keep me calm and prevent me from performing the headless chicken run. Scheme not always altogether successful.