Monday, 27 February 2012

Did you know...

  • that there have been over 20,000 books written about the game of Chess? 

  • that Lucy Maud Montgomery was abandoned as a child? Her mother died when Lucy was only two years old and her father abandoned her to her maternal grandmother because he wanted to re-marry, move away, and begin a new family with his new wife, leaving all reminders of his first marriage behind him. Lucy Maud Montgomery was famous for writing the `Anne of Green Gables' series, stories which semi-mirrored her own life, as Anne was an orphan living on Prince Edward Island. 

  • that William Shakespeare invented the word "hurry"? 

  • that William Faulker was a poor public speaker? When he won the 1949 Nobel Prize, his acceptance speech was greeted with only polite applause because it was virtually unintelligible to the audience. However, when it was published in the paper the next day it was universally acclaimed as one of the best acceptance speeches ever. 

  • that you can help out a great writer, Alex Cavanaugh by buying his book CassaFire today? Well, yes you can. Barnes and Noble. Amazon paperback and Amazon Kindle.  
CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:
“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal
You can visit the author’s site at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/
Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6VINRGtyE.

Sources: http://ideasofindian.blogspot.com/2008/05/some-interesting-facts-about-books-and.html
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/People/Writers-Authors-248.html

34 comments:

DeniseCovey_L_Aussie said...

Go Alex.

No I didn't know any of those things, oh learned one...

I don't feel so bad for having my post up early now Clarissa. Thanks.

Denise

Miranda Hardy said...

I knew the last one. Lol Congrats Alex!

Joanne said...

I enjoyed this; was captured by the title.

I loved all the Anne of Green Gables books – I don't think LM could've written them without her childhood experiences.

And big congrats to Alex re his latest release!! Sounds awesome!

Patsy said...

I didn't know any of those except the last one.

Lynda R Young said...

It's good to invent a word now and then ;)

Jai Joshi said...

Haha! I did know that Shakespeare invented a lot of words but I didn't know that he invented 'hurry'. Definitely cool to know.

And I did know that CassaFire is released today. Good luck, Alex! Best wishes!

Jai

Old Kitty said...

Go Alex, go Alex!! Yay!!

I did know about Shakespeare inventing amazing words!!

Poor Mr Faulkner! You know at writing school - they always stress how you should be able to read out your story and I never went with that theory and would always opt not to! I'd never read my story out because I freeze with fear! Yay for Mr Faulkner!! Yay!

Take care
x

Talli Roland said...

I did know that about LM, but not about Shakespeare!

And a massive YAY for Alex.

Margot Kinberg said...

Clarissa - This is such interesting stuff! Thanks! And Alex, congratulations on your launch and I wish you well!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thank you so much, Clarissa!

Angela Ackerman said...

Holy cow--I didn't know any of those things! And congrats to Alex--he's such a great guy and I hope this book does awesome! :)

Ann Best said...

You are a goldmine of information, Clarissa! I didn't know any of this.

I'm going to buy CassaFire for my Nook. I like reading on it better than my Kindle reader because I can see what page I'm on and it's easier to move back and forth through the pages.
Ann Best, Memoir Author of In the Mirror & Imprisoned

Ann Best said...

Ooops. I see it's only in paperback on B&N. So I just downloaded it to my Kindle.

Lady Gwen said...

I really loved your lead-in to Alex's book. I wish I had been more creative. Brilliant! And I'm so happy for Alex, too:)

Laura Marcella said...

Shakespeare invented hundreds of words. It's pretty amazing!

I love the Anne of Green Gables series. I hope to go see Prince Edward Island some day!

Congrats to Alex! Hope you have a great week, Clarissa!

Carol Kilgore said...

Great post! I didn't know any of these things - except for Alex's book, of course.

J.L. Campbell said...

Glad I came by. I now know some stuff I didn't know before. Only thing I knew about was Alex's release.

Michael Offutt, Tebow Cult Initiate said...

*throws confetti for Alex.

My professor in college studied under Faulkner. She said he was a drunk. That probably had something to do with his ability to speak.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Clarissa .. I'm waiting for your review - Alex has sparked the world with his blog tour ..

I didn't know those facts .. Shakespeare is responsible for quite a few words .. I just had a look to see if I could read Faulkner's acceptance speech - I guess it's long and intelligent .. not short text style versions of today!

Good luck to Alex as he does his rounds .. cheers Hilary

Kittie Howard said...

Tweeted this interesting info.

lbdiamond said...

Ha! I didn't know any of those things!

Congrats to Alex!!!!!

Jemi Fraser said...

I've got my copy! So happy to see CassFire everywhere today!

Very cool information too!

The Golden Eagle said...

Interesting facts! I didn't know any of them--except for the one about Alex's book, of course. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Didn't know that about hurry.

And congratulations to Alex!

jtwebster books said...

I didn't know any of those things. How tragic about Lucy Maude, I didn't know she was an orphan.

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

I knew that you were smart! And I knew about Alex... the rest is all news to me.

Did you know that Lucy Maud Montgomery lived in my province for most of her adult life? And that when I used to commute to Toronto I drove by that house every day?

DEZMOND said...

I didn't know that about Willy Shakespeare, he's full of surprises :)

Richard said...

Thanks for the interesting tidbits.
Good luck to Alex.

Pat Tillett said...

That is all very interesting! I play chess, one book is probably too many!
I bought the book and hope to start on it very soon!

inluvwithwords said...

Fun post!

Damon said...

nice post :D

Peggy Eddleman said...

Oh my goodness. Fascinating stuff!

Someday, I want to be remembered for inventing a word people use every day. :D

Lydia Kang said...

I didn't know that about LM Montgomery! Wow. It makes sense, though, with Anne...

DWei said...

Shakespeare invented quite a few words didn't he?

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