Gallery of the Dead by Chris Carter is a page turner, but stay behind the sofa

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This man can write, really he can, but how does he sleep at night after conjuring up these plots? Does he dream the scenarios up? Or should I say, nightmare them up? I bet people he meets think he’s such a nice boy…

It’s when you read his biography that you realise that Carter has a lot of grist to inform his mill, or indeed his writing. Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team he interviewed and studied a great many criminals – it shows. He now lives in London.

So perhaps no dark dreams, just a knowledge of how the criminal mind might work. Knowing a few policeman I am aware they all have a few cases they can’t erase from their minds, so  in Gallery of the Dead when an LAPD lieutenant tells Detectives Hunter and Garcia of the Ultra-Violent Crimes unit: ‘Thirty seven years in the force, and if I was allowed to choose just one thing to erase from my mind, what’s inside that room would be it’ as they arrive at a crime scene, you know it’s going to be a bad ‘un.

It is, but such a damn good novel, and totally addictive.

The serial killer who has created this nightmare scene needs the combined forces of the FBI and Hunter and Garcia to even get close to stopping the escalating creativity of his appalling acts. This is a psychopath whose work could win the Turner Prize, it’s so artistic and weird.

For one who used to hide behind the sofa watching Quatermass and the Pit (don’t bother if you’re young, you won’t even have heard of it) this was a book I should have read in small bits, and then sniffed smelling salts. But it is so addictive, so pacey and well written that I gulped it down, page after page, but not last thing at night. Oh no, this is a daylight read for me, but you might be made of sterner stuff.

The structure is sound, tension is on overload, and the characters of Hunter and Garcia empathetic, the other characters live and breathe, except the dead ones of course and Carter ‘gets’ the women .

Gallery of the Dead by Chris Carter hb. £16.99 pub Simon and Schuster.

The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past

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In The Long Hangover, Shaun Walker provides a deeply reported, bottom-up explanation of Russia’s resurgence under Putin. By cleverly exploiting the memory of the Soviet victory over fascism in World War II, Putin’s regime has made ordinary Russians feel that their country is great again.

Shaun Walker provides new insight into contemporary Russia and its search for a new identity, telling the story through the country’s troubled relationship with its Soviet past. Walker not only explains Vladimir Putin’s goals and the government’s official manipulations of history, but also focuses on ordinary Russians and their motivations. He charts how Putin raised victory in World War II to the status of a national founding myth in the search for a unifying force to heal a divided country, and shows how dangerous the ramifications of this have been.

The book explores why Russia, unlike Germany, has failed to come to terms with the darkest pages of its past: Stalin’s purges, the Gulag, and the war deportations. The narrative roams from the corridors of the Kremlin to the wilds of the Gulags and the trenches of East Ukraine. It puts the annexation of Crimea and the newly assertive Russia in the context of the delayed fallout of the Soviet collapse.

The Long Hangover is a book about a lost generation: the millions of Russians who lost their country and the subsequent attempts to restore to them a sense of purpose. Packed with analysis but told mainly through vibrant reportage, it is a thoughtful exploration of the legacy of the Soviet collapse and how it has affected life in Russia and Putin’s policies.

This is a brilliant and exhaustive book which tells you all you need to know about Russia and Putin. History with heart.
 

The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past is available here.

When I Loved Myself Enough: Inspiring words to help you find happiness and joy

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I really loved When I Loved Myself Enough. We live in a world where too many people are struggling to love themselves. Not everyone is good at knowing their own self worth. This book has a lot of beautiful collections of wisdom which make you really think. A brilliant book which should be kept to hand for when you need a pep talk. It is even more poignant as the author Kim McMillen died before finishing the book and her daughter finished it for her. It has many beautiful and honest points about life. This would make a wonderful present for someone you love who is struggling to love themselves.

When I Loved Myself Enough is a beautiful collection of wisdom that is startling in its simplicity. By the end of the book the message becomes clear: loving yourself holds the key to loving others and having others love you. By sharing her insights, the author also shows us how to feel the same sense of peace and quiet joy that illuminated her life.

This book began as one woman’s gift to the world, hand-made by Kim McMillen and handed out to friends. After Kim’s death her daughter Alison continued making the books – and word of mouth turned this into an underground bestseller in America. Today, over two decades later, it brings comfort and inspiration to readers around the world.

When I Loved Myself Enough: Inspiring words to help you find happiness and joy is available here.

Das Fest:  VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN – sounds interesting.

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Wednesday 28th February – Sunday 4th March 2018

 

 

Crossing between illusion and theatre, Philipp Oberlohr’s thrilling new production Das Fest is the surreal sequel to his interactive Das Spiel, which premiered at Ovalhouse and sold out at VAULT Festival in 2016 winning the People’s Choice Award.

Das Fest meaningfully engages audiences, delving into their beliefs, memories and realities.

So, how does this work?

Das Fest is a mindreading experience, celebrating the past and the future of the attendees. Oberlohr could select anyone from the audience – he doesn’t know who will be chosen or what memories they will bring.  It could be anybody.  This mind-blowing production combines new methods of storytelling, live art, clowning, physical theatre and illusions in a way that will knock you off your feet.

 

Described as Austria’s Derren Brown (The Independent) and Vienna’s Master Illusionist (Metro), illusionist and performer Philipp Oberlohr creates experiences that border between theatre and performance art.

 

Oberlohr comments, In Das Fest, I want to create a visual prediction, creating images that describe memories of the audience, before they even decide on one.  The audience gets this experience of being seen.  It is quite something to have somebody take a look at you and describe one of your childhood memories; this is something that I consider a human need, the need to be seen by others. I’m working on Das Fest in the best environment possible: VAULT Festival. They don’t allow me to be conservative. Only conservative of the good things.

 

Das Fest has been made possible with support from The Austrian Cultural Forum London.

 

Performance Dates  Wednesday 28th February – Sunday 4th March 2018     Wednesday – Sunday, 7.45pm     Saturday matinee, 3.15pm

 

Running Time   60 minutes

 

Location   VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN   How to get there The Vaults are located underneath Waterloo station (on the Northern, Bakerloo and Jubilee lines).  Leave Waterloo Station via Exit 1.  Turn right onto Station Road Approach and keep on the right hand side of the road.  Walk all the way to the bottom of the road and go down the first set of stairs you come to and turn right at the bottom of the stairs.  The entrance to the VAULT Festival is 10 meters down the graffiti tunnel on the right hand side.

 

Box Office  Tickets are available priced £13 from www.vaultfestival.com

 

Twitter    @PhilippOberlohr, #DasFestShow

 

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING – WRITER CLARE SWATMAN

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Clare Swatman spent almost 20 years working in women’s weekly magazines. Her debut novel Before You Go was published last year, and her second, The Mother’s Secret, is published by Pan Macmillan on 22 February. She’s currently writing her third novel.

What was the first writing advice you were ever given?

‘Write about what you know’ is the advice most people give, and I was no exception. But for me it really did ring true, especially the first time round. When I started writing Before You Go it was with the idea that I just wanted to write something. I wanted to be able to say I’d given it a go, and never regret not having tried; I had no expectation that anyone would ever read it, or want to read it, so I was really writing it for myself, with the hope that some day, something might come of it – but it might not. And so, while concentrating on the plot and developing the characters, I found it really helpful to write about places I was familiar with; Newcastle, where I went to university, Crouch End, where I used to live, Doncaster, where my best friend lives. It meant there was one less thing to worry about getting right, and I could concentrate on the story in hand. I also used my experience of writing true life stories to develop the characters and the situations they find themselves in. Years of interviewing people about the things that have happened to them has given me a good insight into how people respond to happiness, heartache and difficulties – and it’s not always how you’d expect!

What was the most recent writing advice you were given?

There’s no magic bestseller formula (if there were we’d all be making millions of pounds!) – all you can do is write the best book you can. That’s it. And if you try and write to be a bestseller you’re more than likely going to set yourself up for disappointment. It’s a tough one to swallow, because of course as a writer you dream of selling lots of books and of everyone loving what you’ve spent years writing, but it’s easier to expect smaller things, and be pleased by them, otherwise you’d live in a perpetual state of disappointment and anxiety! So now I try to remember how pleased I am to be published and keep trying to write the best stories I can.

What Is the piece of advice you’d most like to pass on?

Don’t compare yourself to others. This has been a big hurdle to overcome, and I have to admit I’m still working on it! I love my social media, and think it has great value in my life. But there are times when I think it can work against you, and the publication of a new book can often be one of those times. I’ve found it always feels, rightly or wrongly, as though every other book being released, read or even written is mentioned all the time on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – except mine! It also feels as though everyone else is selling hundreds of thousands of copies and getting huge success within days of publication. Of course this probably isn’t true, but as with everything, social media takes the shiny parts of people’s lives and magnifies them. So comparing your own life and career to the life and career of someone else portrayed online is not only pointless but can be damaging. So I’ve had to learn to stop – and I would definitely give this piece of advice to anyone starting out in writing or any other career. Just do you own thing, enjoy it, and stop worrying about everyone else!

 

Declutter Your Life by Gill Hasson Book Review

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Declutter Your Life:

How Outer Order Leads to Inner Calm By Gill Hasson

Decluttering has gone beyond a trend. We constantly want less in a consumeristic world that always thrusts more upon us. This book by Gill Hasson is like her other books: easy to read, informative and entertaining. It tells you not only how to declutter your home but also your entire life. I managed to read this book in one sitting and I found it immensely helpful. With two young children I am constantly trying to declutter the things that do not matter from our life. This book gives you the motivation you need to make a positive change to your life that will be permanent. Highly recommended.

Our homes and workspace are a mirror of what’s happening inside us, Declutter Your Life explains how you can change your relationship with the things you own. Instead of being weighed down with objects and possessions that keeps you stuck in the past, you can learn to think about your things in a new light; in a way that’s constructive and helpful to you.

There are plenty of ideas, advice, tips and techniques to help you. You’ll discover how outer order leads to inner calm. Declutter Your Life explains how the principles and steps taken to clear and simplify your living space can improve not just your home but also other aspects of your life; your work, relationships and general wellbeing.

An ordered environment leads to ordered thinking. When you stop allowing your life to revolve around things that don’t matter, you instantly gain the time, space and energy to focus on the things that do. Declutter Your Life will help you to:

Let go of guilt and get rid of the emotional baggage that keeps you stuck in the past
Feel less overwhelmed and stressed
Clear out your unnecessary commitments
Simplify and improve your work life
Declutter your relationships
Simple living doesn’t end at home. Declutter Your Life shows you how to reclaim your space, your time and your mind to achieve the life you want to live.

GET OUT FROM UNDER ALL THE CLUTTER, COMMITMENTS AND DEMANDS THAT ARE MAKING YOU FEEL STRESSED AND OVERWHELMED.

Let′s be honest, at least half of the stuff in your life – the objects, oddments, obligations and contacts – is just clutter and confusion.

Do you ever wonder what′s stopping you from parting with it, or how it would feel to let go of the stuff that consumes so much of your time and energy?

Decluttering doesn′t mean making do with less – it′s about creating space so that you can live your life unburdened by things, obligations and people you don′t really need.

IT′S TIME TO THINK ABOUT YOUR THINGS IN A NEW LIGHT.

Declutter Your Life opens your eyes to the effect all that stuff is having on your life. It explains how to let go of the things that don′t matter so that you have more time, energy and enthusiasm for the things that do.

Packed with insights, tips and proven solutions for getting past the physical and psychological barriers that are holding you back, Declutter Your Life shows you how to:

Simplify and improve your home and work life.
Let go of guilt and the emotional obstacles that keep you stuck in the past.
Feel less overwhelmed and stressed by information overload.
Identify and clear out unnecessary commitments.
Move on from negative relationships.
Clear out the clutter that′s getting in the way of you living a more simple, purposeful and fulfilling life.

Declutter Your Life by Gill Hasson is available here
.

INTRODUCING VILIV BY DR. FELIX BERTRAM

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BEST-SELLING LUXURY SWISS SKINCARE LAUNCHES IN UK

INTRODUCING VILIV BY DR. FELIX BERTRAM

 Developed by Dr. Felix Bertram, a medical specialist in dermatology, skin surgery, beauty treatments and a sought after speaker at national and international meetings, the viliv biomedical skincare range is based on concentrated serums – targeting treatments for specific skin problems that work at the highest scientific level. Available fromwww.feelunique.com.

Viliv offers individual, targeted and efficient skincare packed with active ingredients from Swiss biotechnology. The line-up is formulated with particular skin needs in mind each serum is design to work alone or combined as a regime or as a cure – both in terms of their concentration and their efficacy. From dark circles, under eye puffiness, facial redness, skin firming to skin radiance there’s a solution for everyone and each treatment is free from parabens, mineral oils and colourant, as well as being 100% vegan, gluten-free and animal testing free.

Dr. Felix Bertram comments “in my clinic, skinmed, near Zurich, my colleagues and I have treated about 40,000 patients in recent years and we are always being asked: ‘What skincare do you recommend?’ Now, after six years of intensive development, I am able to give an answer: viliv”. “At the heart of my skincare line are the high-tech serums. They treat each skin problem separately, targeting it with 1-3 key ingredients at optimal concentrations. The best part is the confirmation from my patients and friends that viliv works. I have so enjoyed putting my DNA as a doctor.”

We tried the following:

viliv C clean off the day £20

 viliv c – clean off the day, daily facial cleanser by Dr. Felix Bertram loosens all impurities and make-up effortlessly and thoroughly. It is formulated to calm skin and maintain its natural balance. Aloe vera moisturises. Almond oil, rich in vitamins A, B, E and trace elements, nurtures and protects from free radicals.

 

 viliv tone your skin, refreshing facial toner – £33

The refreshing viliv t – tone your skin – refreshing facial toner removes the last traces of cleanser and neutralises the calcium in tap water. Edelweiss and bamboo extracts reinforce skin structure with powerful antioxidants and flavonoids. Formulated to hydrate, protect against moisture loss and help skin better absorb the active ingredients in skincare products.

 

The cleanser leaves skin super clean but does not irritate. Skin feels soft and looks good after. The Toner hydrates the skin and is the perfect base for your moisturiser or serum. Both are great and recommended.

 

 

Simnel Cake Recipe

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Makes: 1 x 20 cm round cake

Equipment: 20 cm round, deep, loose-bottom cake tin

This Simnel cake goes down a treat in the lead up to Easter. Apart from upgrading many of the ingredients for better health, our twist is the addition of goji berries and a few of our favourite spices. The use of dried berries and fruits adds chew and important fibre. Don’t put too much on your plate – this is a rich one!

175 g unsalted butter

175 g coconut sugar

3 eggs

175 g spelt flour

175 g sultanas

90 g dried cranberries

30 g dried goji berries

zest of 1 lemon, grated

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

pinch of salt

To Decorate

Raw marzipan (see below)

Honey or melted butter, for brushing

Edible flowers, such as nasturtiums and

violets, to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/

Gas mark 3–4 and line a 20 cm round, deep,

loose-bottom cake tin with baking parchment.

2 Put all the ingredients into a large bowl.

With an electric whisk, beat them together

until well combined.

3 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and

smooth the top. Bake for 1V–2 hours until

a skewer inserted into the middle comes

out clean.

4 Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes

and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

5 Once it’s cool, use the cake tin as a template

to cut out a round disc of raw marzipan.

6 Brush a little melted butter or honey over

the top of the cake and lay the marzipan

disc on top.

7 Use the remaining marzipan to make

11 equal-size balls to decorate the top of

the cake. You can use honey to stick these

on as well.

8 Top the cake with edible flowers such

as nasturtiums and violets.

raw marzipan

Raw Marzipan

GF, DF, V

Our raw marzipan is quick and easy to make, with the maple syrup helping to keep the delicious almond flavour. If you particularly like your marzipan, and I really do, you can also add a few drops of almond extract.

340 g ground almonds

3–4 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2–3 drops of almond extract (optional)

1 Mix all the ingredients together to form

a dough. Wrap in greaseproof paper and chill

until ready to use.

2 Roll out the dough between two sheets of

baking parchment to 2–3 mm. You don’t want

to use flour to stop it sticking to the surface,

and the paper will also make it easier to

pick up.

Modern Baker: A New Way To Bake by Melissa Sharp with Lindsay Stark (Ebury Press, RRP £26). Photography by Laura Edwards. Available from amazon.co.uk