Marina Finlayson: Pecked by Ducks

... and hello spiffy new website! This blog is moving to: www.marinafinlayson.com/ where you can still catch up with the doings of the d...

Some hospitals have programs where quilters donate quilts for children with cancer. When a new patient is admitted they get to choose a qui...

It’s November, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month , that crazy, stressful, sometimes blissful time of year when hundreds o...

Looking for something to read? Here’s a few books I’ve read lately. And look – they’re not all fantasy novels!! Hello From the Gille...

We are big believers in sitting down every night together for dinner and chatting. The ducklings are old enough now to be amusing dinner co...

Baby Duck and I were chatting about writing on the walk to school this morning. I said I was hoping to get a fair bit done on book 3 of the...

I was going to say it was the “most productive” room in the house, but I didn’t want anyone leaping to the wrong conclusion. Baby D...

When I was young, one of my brother’s favourite albums was “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings. My dad happily sang along to the ...

Well, the new season of Dr Who premiered last night, complete with new Doctor Peter Capaldi. The verdict at our house? Overall, a resoundin...

This is the very first dragon I ever bought myself, in those long-ago days BC (Before Children), so I guess you could say this little g...

I’ve been a big fan of dragons for as long as I can remember. Sure, I wouldn’t want to meet one in a dark alley, but in books, movies and a...

Haven’t done one of these posts for a while! Baby Duck doesn’t like too many linktastic posts, and since he’s my main audience I like to ke...

In A Fantasy Alphabet, G is for Green by Jay Lake. I have to admit, my interest was piqued almost as much by the negative reviews ...

You know how you’re reading along, enjoying a book, and all of a sudden the writer kills off your favourite character. Or something really ...

How do you feel about headless bodies on book covers? Not as in decapitated and spouting blood, but the kind of cover where part of the mod...

Ever get that feeling that you have too many things you have to do? Too many responsible and grown-up tasks grinding you down? That feelin...

My novel Twiceborn is another step closer to finding its way into the world. Yay! Do you like the new supermultigrated blurb? I’...

This year, for the first time, we went into the city to see Vivid, which is a light show where several public buildings are lit up w...

Like all Brandon Sanderson novels, The Rithmatist features an innovative magic system. The story is set in a school for young magician...

Okay, suppose you’re looking for a new urban fantasy to read. Would this blurb entice you to pick up the book? “Whoever said ‘what you ...

Today in A Fantasy Alphabet we arrive at the letter F. F is for Fire , by Kristin Cashore. I read this when it first came out, and...

One of the best things about being a parent is getting to embarrass your children. Think of it as payback for all the scenes they caused as...

On Emma’s fifth birthday, she and Mama picnic in the meadow near the village. It’s an idyllic scene, surrounded by wildflowers and danc...

The Carnivore was sorting washing when a horrified look came over his face. Horrified and really guilty. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I pu...