I did promise a giveaway this week, so here we go… winner gets this brand new painting I promised. 🙂
To enter, reply on this blog post or on my related Tweet with one of your favorite random Poirot quotes. The more obscure, the better! Let’s see if we can share and bring out some that aren’t heard as often. 🙂 Winner will be drawn randomly next Friday, the 21. (Also, how in the world is it already June 14???????)
Good luck!
I am very bad– I managed to miss May altogether for the blog! Bad Kelly!
By way of apology, here’s a new little Poirot sketch in acrylics; 5″x7″ on canvas board. Want to win it? I’ll have a new giveaway for it next week here on the blog. 🙂
I’ve been meaning to do another art giveaway for ages, but life keeps getting in the way. In fact it’s been a month or so since I’ve posted here at all– January has been hectic with Candlewick Theatre, as we’ve been rushing to get Thorton Wilder’s play “The Matchmaker” together in less than a month. As well as showing at Morden’s Kenmor Theatre, it was our Valentine’s dinner theatre production this year, wrapping up on February 10. We’re all exhausted! (Here’s me in my character of Flora Van Huysen:)
BUT ANYWAY, you’re here for the Poirot giveaway. 🙂 Comment on this blog post and you’ll be entered to win this little 8″x10″ acrylic sketch on canvas board of Poirot, Hastings, and Japp! Image is taken from the episode The Affair at the Victory Ball. I will be drawing a winner one week from now, February 21. Good luck and happy Valentine’s Day!!!
For this particular prize draw, I’m giving away this miniature acrylic-on-canvas painting, with its own little wooden easel– plus one more surprise bonus gift! To enter: just let me know, either here or on Twitter, what you’d like to see more of on this blog. Funnies? Book reviews? Episode trivia whatsits? Original fiction? Anything Poirot-esque that might tickle your fancy. 🙂 Winner will be chosen and announced next Sunday!
Hi all! Inspired by the Etsy seller whose merchandise I previously blogged about here, I decided to make a few “Christie text” pieces of my own. I offer two samples here for a prize giveaway– a 24″ ball chain necklace with a magnetic-opening, glass-faced pocket watch pendant, and a small pocket watch key fob. Both feature text from pages of a real vintage Poirot novel (sorry, book purists). The larger pendant measures about 1 3/4″, by the diameter of the silver circle, and I’m including a few charms that you can keep in or take out as you like– a key, a tiny enameled moustache, and five faceted emerald beads. The text of the key chain pendant is covered with a protective acrylic dome. The winner gets BOTH. Fun!
To enter this prize giveaway, all you have to do is share one of your favorite Poirot photos, here or on Twitter (in reply to contest tweet). Do this any way you like, even if you can only link to one you find online. It can be from the television series or something else– artwork, an original Christie cover, Albert Finney, whatever you’d like. Next Saturday, I will draw a name at random from the entries. You’ve got one week!
Good luck! 🙂
… @Beebles32 (as per Twitter). Congratulations! 😀
It’s been a little while since the last giveaway, so I thought I’d make something new to send to some lucky Agatha Christie fan out there. How about a set of six handmade notecards? These cards come in a variety of colors on nice-quality cardstock with blank white interiors and envelopes. Assorted French greetings pop off the luxuriously-moustachioed paper background, while shining platinum frames add just a touch of glitz. 🙂
To have a shot of winning, just reply to this blog post or message me on Twitter to tell me your favorite Poirot short story. I’ll enter your name, and on Thursday next I’ll draw a winner. It’s as simple as that!
What Poirot blog would be complete without a nod to the other books by Agatha Christie that feature Hercule Poirot as a fictional character? I’ll start with what is probably my favorite non-Poirot Christie: the Tommy and Tuppence collection, Partners in Crime.
Tommy and Tuppence stories are always a treat because, despite certain moments of implausibility when things sometimes get a little international-spy-crazy, the two main characters are simply SO well drawn and interact so wonderfully. The stories tend to be light-hearted and hilariously funny, and anything farfetched just adds to the fun. Partners in Crime has some aspects of unique brilliance: the two main characters are posing as a fake detective agency while solving genuine mysteries, and for inspiration, they choose to solve each case in the style and idiom of different fictional detectives. It’s really a great way for Christie to show off her talent and a treat for mystery-lovers to see her characters tackle the modi operandi of their favorite sleuths!
The major Poirot book reference is that of The Big Four, though Poirot fanatics may also notice nods to Roger Ackroyd and more. The little grey cells are mentioned fairly early in Partners in Crime, but the very last chapter of the book is reserved for a case solved in the style of Hercule Poirot. It’s called “The Man Who Was No. 16,” in reference to “The Man Who Was No. 4.”
*****
‘So it is,’ said Tuppence. She lowered her voice impressively. “This is our last case. When they have laid the superspy by the heels, the great detectives intend to retire and take to beekeeping or vegetable marrow growing. It’s always done.’
…
‘Well, sir, why not use your little grey cells, and see what you can do.’
‘It’s easier to use your little grey cells in fiction that it is in fact, my boy.’
…
‘He is the 4 squared– in other words, he is now the No. 16. You comprehend, my friend?’
‘Perfectly,’ said Tuppence. ‘You are the great Hercule Poirot.’
‘Exactly. No moustaches, but lots of grey cells.’
‘I’ve a feeling,’ said Tuppence, ‘that this particular adventure will be called the “Triumph of Hastings.”‘
‘Never,’ said Tommy. ‘It isn’t done. Once the idiot friend, always the idiot friend. There’s an etiquette in these matters. By the way, mon ami, can you not part your hair in the middle instead of one side? The present effect is unsymmetrical and deplorable.’
*****
Speaking of that last quote: if you like the book, you might also need the audio book. Read by Hugh Fraser, it’s almost worth it solely to hear the voice of Hastings himself call his own long-standing character “the idiot friend.” 🙂 There’s another reason to love this particular audio book– it features a bonus interview with Fraser in which he waxes eloquent about the challenges of recording about a million audio books (I forget exactly how many hours he’s recorded, but it’s insanely impressive), the technique of Agatha Christie, working on the show, and other fun stuff.
Now to the prize giveaway…
This one is a little bit girly, I suppose, but I can’t help occasionally making girly things. I dabble in crafting as well as the fine arts. In honor of Christie’s Partners in Crime, I offer you a pair of bracelets, embellished by yours truly… one to keep, and one to share with your favorite partner in crime. If bracelets aren’t your thing personally, the pair of them would make a great gift for any girl. They are 7.5″ and extend to 8.5″, and they feature two halves of a “partners in crime” heart, tiny key charms, and some of my favorite sea-glass-colored iridescent beads.
I’ll ship these anywhere in the world. To win the pair of them, just share this blog post on Twitter or Facebook and send me your name. I’ll pull a name from a hat next Wednesday and announce the winner. 🙂 Bonne chance!
Seven Storeys High 