Tag: Deborah Makarios

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The Confusing Colour of a Cover

Preparing the cover for Amiant Soul was a confusing and somewhat nerve-wracking business. It wasn’t just that I wanted deeper tones on the cover image, or even that I wasn’t entirely qualified to make those changes (i.e. completely ignorant of how to go about it, and succeeding only by means of some rather messy trial and error).

Illustration of silhouetted man facing desert dunes.
The original image.

It was the way the image appeared on the screen – or rather screens. I work with two screens, one built into the laptop I use, which is a more bluish toned screen, and one separate monitor, which is less blue. Naturally, the cover image appeared different on each screen. That I was prepared for.

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Amiant Soul: the Cover Revealed!!

On the 11th of October 2020, I started playing around with a new idea for a book. One thousand, two hundred, and twenty-nine days later, that book is on the cusp of taking physical form. Mere minutes ago, I ordered the proof copy – the first of what will hopefully be many copies to be printed.

And what, I hear you ask, will it look like? Behold!!

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In Search of a Working Kettle

Despite what the US Embassy in London may say, microwaving is not the right way to heat water for tea. For one thing, an explosion of superheated water as you take your mug from the microwave creates the very opposite of the soothing and restorative effect a good cuppa should have. The proper way to make tea is with water boiled in a kettle, and these days that’s usually a super-convenient electric kettle.

Except.

As Consumer NZ wrote in 2019, “We’d expect even the cheapest kettle to last at least five years of household use” – but their survey showed that 85% of kettles are defunct before they reach that age.

Diagram of an electric kettle controller.
What could possibly go wrong?

This does not surprise me in the least. Over the course of our marriage, the Caped Gooseberry and I have seen no fewer than five electric kettles bite the dust – including the one that memorably died the day after we moved house.

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