Tuesday 19 April 2011

Guest post: Amanda Stevens author of 'The Restorer' in character!

To celebrate the release of her fantastic novel 'The Restorer' which comes out today (April 19th) has written a guest post in the style of her character, Amelia who is a graveyard restorer!!
You can read my review of the fantastic novel 'The Restorer' here

Poisoned by His Wife & Dr. Cream—My Favorite Epitaphs

A true taphophile will let nothing stand in her way—be it spiders, snakes, poison ivy, or ghosts—for the opportunity to explore an old cemetery.  I love every aspect of graving, but I have a real affinity for epitaphs.  Most of the modern headstones contain little more than the basics—the person's name, date of birth, date of death, and who they are survived by or buried with.  But the really old memorials strive to tell a story in lush and melancholy verse.  And occasionally, one stumbles across a true gem—the revealing epitaph:

Poisoned by His Wife & Dr. Cream—an inscription that appears on the tombstone of Daniel Stott, murdered in 1881 by Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, a serial killer some believe to be the infamous Jack the Ripper.  Stott’s wife was seduced by Dr. Cream and then later testified against him.  She never served a day in prison but was publically indicted by her husband’s epitaph.



Stepped on the Gas Instead of the Brake—poor Jonathan Blake.

I’m also partial to the defensive epitaph:

He Never Killed a Man that Did Not Need Killing—inscribed in the foot marker of Clay Allison, cattle rancher and gun fighter.  Despite his reputation as a gunslinger, he died in a wagon accident on his ranch in 1887 and was buried in Pecos Cemetery in Texas.

The accusatory epitaph:

I Told You I Was Sick—engraved in a marker on the crypt of one B. P. Roberts interred in Key West Cemetary (that’s the way it’s spelled in the iron lichgate—oops!).



And the life-goes-on epitaph:

Sacred To
The Remains of
Jonathan Thompson
A Pious Christian and
Affectionate Husband.
His disconsolate widow
Continues to carry on
His grocery business
At the old stand on Main Street:
Cheapest and best prices in town.

If you have a favorite epitaph, I’d love to hear it!

Happy restorations,
Amelia

……………………………………
Links:
Website:  http://www.amandastevens.com/
The Restorer trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChonniWxl4s
The Graveyard Queen trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrCf_eDCt_I
Free prequel download:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Abandoned-ebook/dp/B004RQD3J8/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302975541&sr=1-6

9 comments:

  1. So I absolutely adored this book and can't wait until the second book comes out.

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  2. On my gravestone, I plan to have written that "If you're here to talk to me, have you not noticed you're too late?"

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  3. Those epitaphs are great! I can't wait until the second book comes out either, The Restorer was definitely 5 stars!

    My sister's epitaph is "Entertaining the Angels" because she was such a ham and loved to make people laugh and was always the center of attention wherever she went - she just had that kind of personality. I'm sure the angels are getting a real kick out of her :)

    Cait you're so lucky you got this guest post, very awesome! I'm linking to it on my blog. :)

    April @ My Shelf Confessions

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  4. I told my husband to put this on my headstone: "Thank God She'll Never Have Another Deadline!"

    Thanks, Cait! This was so much fun to do!

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  5. Neri I adored this book too-it's my fave so far this year!!

    Nina that's a great one-so sarcastic. I love it!!

    April: Your sister's epitaph sounds perfect for her! And yes I know I'm lucky to have this post-its all thanks to the amazing woman who posted a comment above mine ^ aha.

    My epitaph of choice is:

    "In this grave there is peace, its silent occupant does not know sorrow"

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  6. LMAO, I love the life goes on epitaph! Nothing like sneaking a little advertising in and getting some pity pennies!

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  7. Definitely want "There is a light that never goes out' even if it is a bit cliche.

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