Thursday, 12 June 2025

13 June: Fanny Burney/Madame d’Arblay Quotes

Today, 10 quotes from Fanny Bumey Novelist and diarist, daughter of Dr. Charles Burney, music historian, known after her marriage as Madame d’Arblay. She was born on this date in 1752.

  1. People who live together naturally catch the looks and air of one another and without having one feature alike, they contract a something in the whole countenance which strikes one as a resemblance.

  2. O! how short a time does it take to put an end to a woman's liberty!

  3. To diminish expectation is to increase enjoyment.

  4. A little alarm now and then keeps life from stagnation.

  5. Money is the source of the greatest vice, and that nation which is most rich, is most wicked.

  6. We relate all our afflictions more frequently than we do our pleasures.

  7. But authors before they write should read.

  8. Wealth per se I never too much valued, and my acquaintance with its possessors has by no means increased my veneration for it.

  9. To save the mind from preying inwardly upon itself, it must be encouraged to some outward pursuit.

  10. Great joy is as restless as sorrow.



Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)


Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.


Paperback

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