Two sites to flag up if you are in need of writing inspiration.
Firstly, if you are looking for real-life contemporary disasters and
life angst, you need look no further than FML. Yes, it is wrong to laugh at the
misfortune of others, but they have posted it to share, and I have been in
tears of laughter over a few of them.
PostSecret is a site which I find fascinating as a concept, but
it also throws up hundred's of plot premises. Essentially, people from across the globe are sending postcards they have made with a secret they are keeping to the PostSecret address in the states. The newly arrived secrets get displayed every Sunday. You can trawl the
archive too. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, all of them are interesting
Go have a look, and don't tell me that there isn't anything there that can send your creative juices flowing.
That thing where a book that you have been loving, as in L-O-V-I-N-G, ends in a way that you would never have chosen. It might be a true ending and valid blah blah blah, BUT IT WAS NOT THE ENDING I WANTED!!!!! *Stamps feet*
That.
Considering how late it is, this one almost needed a drumroll rather than a fanfare. Apologies. The school start just got in the way.
The pile looks like this;
The Ides of April - Lindsey Davies (Historical Crime)
You against Me - Jenny Downham (UK YA Contemporary)
Underworld - Meg Cabot (YA Fantasy)
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume (Womens Fiction)
You don't have to say you love me - Sarra Manning (Womens Fiction)
Locked Inside - Nancy Werlin (YA Contemporary)
The Seven Wonders - Steven Saylor (Historical Crime)
Severed Heads, Broken Hearts - Robyn Schneider (YA Contemporary)
By Any other Name - Laura Jarratt (UK YA Contemporary)
The Church of Dead Girls - Stephen Dobyn (Thriller)
on the e-reader -
How We Met and other stories - David Levithan (YA Short Stories)
I'm going to hazard a guess that some New Adult will sneak in here at some point too. Sneaky things...
Still to come;
Awaken - Meg Cabot - (YA Fantasy)
The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell (Thriller)
The Dream Theives - Maggie Stiefvater (YA Fantasy)
Considering I normally stick with YA, I'd say this pile is a bit of a departure in terms of diversity. There isn't quite a 50%-50% gender split, but there are some boys in there, including the obligatory David Levithan tome, because I love him. Have I mentioned that before? I have? Many times? Good. Because I love him. I would read his and John Green's shopping lists if given the chance. (The Robyn Schneider book is in this pile purely because it is compared to John Green's writing on the front cover. It had better not disappoint, Publishers Weekly...)
I'm particularly looking forward to the books by Jenny Downham who previously wowed me with Before I Die, and also Laura Jarratt's follow up to Skin Deep.
Naturally I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on Maggie Stiefvater's new book, the second in the Raven Boys Quartet, out later this month.
I'll keep you posted on the progress.
So it is the first of September, which means there should be a shiny brand-spanker of a TBR pile here.
Can you see it?
No me neither.
But it is taking shape.
It just isn't ready yet. Too many of the books are are still en route.
Won't be long though. And there is still time for recommendations.
