A writer's letter to Santa

THIS! So tempting. Wanted to give it a shout out.
That's all. Back to the wrapping now...
Merry Christmas!

Fa la la la lah, La la la laaaaaah........

 Currently my head has hit capacity given the Christmas furore; the purchasing, the wrapping, the planning, the imminent end of school, not to mention the vital mince pie scoffing... And much as I am still able to write every day, thanks to my slavish devotion to 750words.com, regular blogging is about to cease until after the main event. Sorry. It's the blog or the mulled wine drinking, and well... y'know...

 BUT I won't leave you with nothing. It is the season of giving after all, so I am going to direct you (the writers of you out there) to something else for the next few days (- as if you  don't also have planning, mulled wine drinking and wrapping to do, or maybe you are that űber-organised bod who has all this malarky covered already...)

Notes from the Slushpile are running their Twelve days of Christmas blog event, and if you haven't visited it yet, then it features a different agent or editor each day, sharing their 2013 submissions wishes. CLUES!!!  It's good to know what they want sometimes and well worth a nosy.

Meanwhile, to the writers and the non-writers alike, have a very Merry Christmas, all five of you and those who lurk too (I know you must exist, as five members can’t be viewing the blog over and over again every day. Don’t think you fly under the radar - I have the stats!) I'm also wishing you lots of excellent ideas and excitement for 2013.

Heads Up! Incoming!!

So I’ve posted my Winter reading list, which should see me through to the end of February, but there are new books due out all the time in YA, and if you are interested in seeing what they might be, then these sites, show a selection of the line up for 2013.

YA Contemporary

UKYA

GoodReads

Anna Reads

Alpha Reader

 I already have my eye on Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Princess for the Spring TBR list, which, would you believe, already has its foundations, with three books (by male writers as it happens) courtesy of Christmas presents sent to me by My Lovely Critique Partner. (Have I mentioned before that every writer should have one? Why yes, I do believe I have. Gold dust. Seriously.)

Suddenly I feel very organised, having a current schedule, and already booking slots into Spring. Mmmmm, I love books. The excitement just never stops...

Which 2013 books are you hanking for?




Today's Distraction Tool (yes, remember this?) Glee at the sound of packages being popped through my letterbox by the postman. My Christmas shopping plan is coming together... 

Gut reactions.

As I have now thrown myself- with blissful abandon no less- into my Winter TBR list, I figure that I should cast an eye back on the pile that went before.

I'm not a proper reviewer, (as I'm sure that you are well aware by now); I generally just like to flag up the books that I have the urge to say something about.

So, instead of reviews I'm going with some reactions. For illustrative purposes, the pile looked like this and there were 6 other books in there as late additions or e-books.

They were, in no particular order;

Tammara Webber- Easy

Mike Wells - Lust, Money & Murder

Cath Crowley - Graffiti Moon

Maureen Johnson - 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Trisha Telep (ed.) - Kiss Me Deadly

Jerome K Jerome - Three Men in a Boat

My Star of the List award went to Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon, which I gushed about here. (Yes, I know there hasn't been an award before. I just made it up. Like just now. Because I'm impulsive like that...)

Sarra Manning is the queen of voice. I'll take notes of how she writes.

John Green writes teen guy and friends banter soooo well.

Jenny Downham wrote possibly the best death scene I've ever read. I knew it was coming, I even knew how it was going to happen- because she'd told me, and yet still it crept up on me. Skillful. (She writes a smart teen sex scene too.)

Maureen Johnson was new to me, and has a voice that I really want to read more of. 

Tammara Webber’s Easy confirmed my interest in the emerging category of New Adult.

That's it for naming names. Now for some other comments;

With one of these books, I didn’t make it past chapter two. I got Bored.

In one of these books I hated the main character. She was criminally stupid and it annoyed me deeply. The ending  was a cliff-hanger and I literally did not care whether she lived or died.

One of these books was hugely over hyped on twitter.

One of these books must have been the “difficult second book” or the latter half of a two-book deal. Otherwise it dismays me that it both got the author an agent and a publisher.

One of these is an OK story, but nothing special and I suspect the celebrity of the author made the difference.

One of these books, the writing and POV were great, but the story made me feel deeply uncomfortable. But I think it was supposed to.

Two of these books have been made into films. I'd rent both on DVD, but there’s only one of them I would read again.

I think I need to start a little book diary to record my top-line reactions on each book I read as I finish them, and see if there is an even mix each time. Watch this space in March, then....

Ranting as form

I've blogged before about being interested in different forms writers use. I blogged here about epistolary novels I'd been reading, and about the Amazon fiction, and also about some flash fiction here.

But the book I have recently finished is a new one on me. 

I came across Daniel Handler's book Why We Broke Up, because someone tweeted about the pictures in it. Yes, there are lovely painted illustrations by Maira Kalman. But they aren't just pictures. No, no, they are so much more than that, but more of that later.

And on the basis of the title and it being YA contemporary I ordered it in. (See how little it takes with me? So easy to sway - but some people like that about me.)

Having got the book I found out that  Daniel Handler is in fact none other than Lemony Snicket. Now, I know that Lemony Snicket isn't a real person, and I daresay I've seen numerous things which have outed his real name, but I hadn't been paying attention, and suffice to say the information was greeted with a groan. Some years ago I bought and read all of the thirteen parts of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I was so disappointed with the end, that I turfed them out immediately. (That's a reader scorned for you, hell hath no fury...)

Nevertheless I did read it, and I have to say that I prefer Handler to Snicket.

But here’s the thing that I wanted to flag up; this story is told through the medium of Rant.

Min, has broken up with Ed ( no spoilers here, as it says what it is on the tin..), and  Min has collected the “prizes and debris” from their time together in a box which she is delivering to his door.  And on the way over, she rants about how she has got to be in this situation in a missive to Ed. And it is a heartbroken, angry, humiliated and hopefully cathartic rant, the likes of which many may recognize from their teen years. It even gets so ranty at one point, that I couldn't keep up with the sense of it and had to go back and re-read it when I knew the outcome. (I definitely remember those rants as a teen where my train of thought was heading all over the shop, yet it still made sense to me if nobody else.)

 Min feels the need to tell Ed what he has done, explaining her hurt, even though Ed might not care or might be oblivious, and her telling is glorious. I distinctly recall writing a letter like that myself once, complete with toe-curling references to song lyrics. Thank God I burnt it.) 
I love the idea of 350 pages of ranting.

But there’s more...  It is also an inventory, and this is where the pictures come in.

 There are no chapters in the book, but instead it is divided into segments pertaining to each item in the box, which deftly leads us through the five weeks Ed and Min were together. And each item has a picture. I do love a good tweak to the standard Chapter heading or number, such as the inclusion of  temperatures in Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver. There the temperatures, as they drop, have their own little narrative, without the need to cover it in the text. In the same way, the illustrations here flag each new chapter and remove any cumbersome need to describe each object.  In addition, some of the illustrations are strategically placed, so like in the best picture books, the turn of the page can bring a shock, or a joke or a revelation.

So this was a book that I really enjoyed having in my hands, as much for its construction and form and illustrations as purely for its story, energy and the nostalgia.
Toe-curling memories aside, good things can come from a proper rant.

*Cue fanfare* My Winter TBR List

Given the first snow fell here this morning, it seems like the right time to declare this season's pile open. (OK, so I have read the first one already, but it is December 5th already, and "Have books, must read." That is a real adage, isn't it?)

I'm quite tickled about this pile, as for the vast part, I have absolutely no idea of what they are about. In fact all the ones with an asterisk are a complete mystery to me. That’s Living on the Edge, right there...

Two aren't featured in the picture, but are incoming. I'll update as they deign to cross my threshold, but I just couldn't wait any longer.

In depicted order, the members of the merry bunch are;
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
Why we broke up - Daniel Handler
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour – Morgan Matson
Emma (hearts) LA - Keris Stainton*
Notes from the Teenage Underground – Simmone Howell*
Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
Lucas - Kevin Brooks*
An Abundance of Katherines -John Green *
You killed Wesley Payne - Sean Beaudoin*
Struts and Frets - Jon Skovron*
Going Nowhere  Faster - Sean Beaudoin*
The Curiosities - Maggie Steifvater, Tessa Gratton & Brenna Yovanoff
The Duff- Kody Keplinger
Skin Deep - Laura Jarratt*

No e-books up there currently, but as you know they are slippery little buggers and sly their way into my i-pad when I'm not looking.

And just to show that I do in fact follow up on (some) of my plans, of the 14, 7 are by male writers.  I feel I am doing my bit today for equality in the YA world.

So, let the reading commence! (Yes, it already did – I know, but “Let the reading continue” doesn’t sound as Gung-ho.) What are you reading this winter?

Quick Quick, don't miss the action

Just a heads up that the Annual Bakers Dozen Auction is about to start over at Miss Snarks First Victim. The link is here or over to the right there in the Blog list, because, being lovely, I like to make things easy for you.

 The entries are up for comments now, and the bidding from the 13 agents starts Tuesday. (Don't ask me what time, as it is happening across the pond and frankly US times are just all over the shop. You'll have to do the calculation yourself. OK, so I retract the making things easy for you thing.)

I think the bidding is going to be exciting, and even more so if you've read them and have your own favourites.

Who knows? Months from now, some of these might even appear in my TBR pile. Just wait and  see...

NaShoStoWriPaMo - Catchy, right?

So it has been NaNoWriMo, and as mentioned before, I don't join in as it isn't something I think I can constructively cram in right now. I ignore my kids enough already as it is. 

 But I do like the idea -on the understanding that what you have at the end is a raw splurge of words that you can then work with, as opposed to something ready to send out. And so, I made my own little month, and not because I can’t play nicely with other kids, but because I knew what was feasible for me.

 Therefore I present to you, NaShoStoWriPaMo, that is National Short Story Writing Part Month. (It's a part month as I knew that realistically I wouldn’t get to work on it properly at the weekends.) Aptly, National Short Story Week also fell in the middle. (OK, maybe that was coincidence, but let’s call it serendipity, yes?)

So today I finished a first splurge draft for a short story. Or maybe a 26,500 word outline for something bigger. And given that I have been blocked for months now, that feels just great. It was so good to fill the blank pages, and to rediscover how just doing it spawns lots of new ideas as you go, rather than just sitting there, waiting for  an idea to hit and stressing over the fact that it didn't.

Sometimes you just have to shape your next journey to something attainable and start with the small steps. 

Oooh! What's that?

Can you guess what it is?


Yup, spot on. Well done  you! It is of course my Winter TBR pile under construction.
There are more books on their way, but I'm already ridiculously excited.

What are they, you ask? Really? Do you open your Christmas presents ahead of time too?
Shame on you...

Looking for men

So this made me smile. It's a spoof photo spread  of male YA writers.

What  I also came away thinking was that in spite of having read almost exclusively YA for quite some time now,  I didn't know any of these chaps' work. At all.
So I took a good hard look at my YA shelves (yes, that's them over there. Can you spot the Dark Side?) It is very clearly a female dominant bookcase, but then in my defense so is the category. Looking at this season's TBR pile, of the 14 books I had in there, including the e-books, 11 were YA. Of those 11 only 2 were by men.

 I feel I have been remiss and should attempt to address this imbalance in my next couple of piles.
 I've already read books by David Levithan, John Green, Keith Gray, Patrick Ness, Kevin Brooks, Jon Marsden, William Nicholson, David Belbin and Charles de Lint, but that is about it.
 So is there anyone out there, who would like to recommend some more to me? I'm specifically leaning more to the YA Contemporary at the moment.

Obviously I will be looking a little harder at these photo spread guys too. I mean their books of course...

Twitter - because Life's distractions aren't enough...

So at the same time as starting the blog here, in fact the same day, I joined Twitter, because I'm allegedly from a binge culture, and so I need things as intense as possible.

 And indeed it was. My head was in a spin for a few days, having until then had fairly Amish habits.

But now, three months (and a bit) have passed and these are my thoughts on the mighty Twitter.

1)      I have never come across (or at least never appreciated) anything so aptly named. It genuinely feels like opening a window and hearing constant and frenzied chirping, from all sides. That bit still knocks my socks off.

2)       I love the fact that I can tailor my noise pool. Mine is currently made up of; writers, agents, publishers, comedians, and the few friends I know who also Tweet.

3)      I’m still getting used to the fact that you can tweet a person you have never met before, and especially if they are known faces.  At first I was worried about intruding, and wanted to start with a proper British “sorry to intrude...” I’m still not proficient and I doubt I’ll ever be prolific,  partly as I don’t have an i-phone, but also because I don’t want to just say things for the sake of it, and I can’t stand too much self promotion.

4)      Which brings me onto ditching people. I have Unfollowed several who just sang their own praises constantly – as in bombardment – or were just peddling their wares. But I do feel guilty about it. It is like telling someone that you don’t want to be friends with them anymore, only not actually telling them, just secretly sliding away... 

5)      I need to be discerning with Follow-backs. This is now a pre-empter to 4). I now read profiles before I hit the Follow button. The guilt is shorter-lived, and saves me the bombardment.

6)      I enjoy following agents and their industry banter. (However, for the ones who have my MS in, I can’t help myself from thinking that they should Tweet a little less and focus on their work... Self -absorbed? Moi?)

7)      There are clearly some very lovely, warm and supportive people out there. They are generous and willing to overlook buffoonery.

8)      Last but not least, I know now how Twitter can devour my time and attention, even as just a Lurker, but that it is all too late. I’m fairly addicted. 

Monday Morning Moby Dick Moment

OK, so it isn't like I am obsessed by Moby Dick or anything. That way madness lies, as those of us who have actually read it (yup, still smug) well know.

However, imagine my chagrin when I find out that rather than painfully laboring through the full 212,758 words, I could have done it in 12. Yes, 12. Like this;  Sailor. Boat. Captain. Leg. Mad. Sail. Find. Whale. Chase. Smash. Sink. Float.

So, thanks to Cozy Classics for being 15 years too late. And to the rest of you, for whom I have just saved you an enormous effort; You are most welcome.

A little liberation.

I’ve said it before and no doubt I’ll say it again – I do love a list. And this one makes me feel much better about some of my recent reading.

See, it isn’t just me that gives up on books! (Nor is it just me that hated Moby Dick, if you read the numerous comments, but there I did at least read to the end. Yes, I know, smug is not an attractive attribute...) 

And unlike the ditched writing mentioned in the post below, these are works that have actually made it to print.

This list is very liberating indeed.

I might not feel so bad about sliding Dracula back onto the bookshelf now.

First blood

Is it just me? Is this First Paragraph thing getting slightly out of hand? Or am I just refusing to look reality in the face (Admittedly it would not be the first time, but life can be much better that way...)

I am a fan of Miss Snark’s First Victim, and she bases many of her writing competitions on openings.  Fair enough. These are what you submit to an agent or publisher, and they need to be good. In the past there have been competitions based on the first paragraph and even the first lines, which offer invaluable feedback for writers.  Correctly, the feedback mainly focuses on whether the paragraph grabs the attention of the reader, and whether there is a clear sense of voice.

However, there are times where, based on just one paragraph or line, the feedback can be comments like "No, sorry. I don't get a sense of the protagonist’s beliefs, hopes, dreams, past, future, age, appearance, needs or desires. I wouldn't read on..."  (Perhaps I exaggerate a little.) When I read these, I want to shout "Whoa there. Too much pressure! One paragraph/line can only do so much." Is that just me? Is it just me that apparently cannot write a line that in its singular state is beautiful and deep and dynamic and insightful, lyrical yet punchy, leaves sixteen clues that will make you shout “Of course!” 280 pages down the line AND grabs you by the throat? In one line? You can do that? Ok, just me then. Must try harder...

 And then I read this link here, where a panel of agents listened to a set of first 250 words and indicated at which point they would stop reading. They didn’t have buzzers but it still sounds cut-throat. I guess agents see a million submissions a week, and so they are particularly honed to this, but surely they could give it a chapter, assuming that the writer is able to string a sentence together? What chance does the slow burn novel have? As a reader, I pick a book up based on a good blurb and I'll give it at least three chapters before I  think about ditching it. The first paragraph doesn't feature in that mix.

The panel also gave indications as to what put them off; i.e. generic beginnings with weather and dates. On this basis, Tess of the d'Urbervilles would never have got published. So perhaps they are onto something after all...

Go Go Nano!

 Just wanted to say a huge Good Luck to all the nutters writers out there who are embarking on NaNoWriMo tomorrow. 

 I won't be joining you, as I am a wuss with that kind of word quota for 30 days in a row, plus I won't be near the computer everyday. Half term holidays and weekends rather get in the way, I find. (Yes, I know, blaming it on the kids. Again.) So it is NONOWriMo, for me, but those who can, and do, - you have my full admiration. Go to it!


And here is my NaNo top tip - (as if I am any kind of authority) - loosely linked to my last post; 

1.Go out get yourself some of your favourite chocolates or sweets.  
2.Viciously guard them from everyone else in your household. Or simply hide them somewhere ludicrously cunning. 
3. When you hit your word count for the day, immediately scoff one. 

There, what more incentive do you need?

Rejection Chocolates

As a writer and aspiring author I send some of my work out on submission. You have to be in it to win it, right? Sometimes the writing gets picked up and printed, and sometimes it doesn't. Nobody likes rejection, but if you want to play the game, you have to accept it and hopefully, if there are notes with the rejection, learn by it. At least you are doing it, because if you never submitted or posted your work in the ether, then you can’t be discovered. If you won't take my word for it, then Nathan Bransford covers it well here.

Here is how I take the sting off.  These are Tom’s Mini Skildpadder, from Denmark; dark chocolate turtles filled with rum flavoured fondant goo. The Yum. And they are all mine. No-one else in the house gets to so much as sniff at them. Everything I tell my kids about sharing goes out of the window when it comes to these. Only when I get a rejection email am I allowed to eat one. As the old adage goes; There are times when only chocolate will do. And much as the rejection might make me miserable for a day, being able to stuff one of these in my gob always makes things a tiny bit better. (I’m sure there is a link to a Mary Poppins song here, but I am going to pass...)

Book Crush!

It is time to accept that you are crushing on a book when;

•  you have a deep-seated  need to own a copy, when you are only a quarter of the way in. A printed copy.
• you actually have to remind yourself that it is wrong in every way to not return a library book. As in Never...
•  you have a dopey grin on your face while reading it.
•  you laugh out loud while reading it, or keep murmuring “Mmmmm”.
• you start rewarding menial household tasks with  five minutes of book
• you sneak in a chapter when you absolutely haven't got time to
• every Priority on your to-do list suddenly looks over-exaggerated
• you wish that you had written it. (I know Jealousy and Envy are bad bad emotions. But still... )
• you have a building angst- one that is beginning to impinge on your breathing- in fear that the ending could disappoint. Please don’t , please don’t, pleeeeeeaase.....
• you blog about a book before you have finished it.

Did I miss any?




*For anyone watching this on "Dave", then this post was originally written while I was reading Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon.*

Sneaky business

 I turned my back for one second, and two more books snuck into my Autumn TBR pile. (And so soon after Tammara Webber's Easy somehow  slid through cyberspace into my ipad.) 

Yes, shocking indeed, but that's libraries for you. They send out ninja-sneaky books to infiltrate the book piles of innocents such as myself.

Clearly I am extremely bewildered at this unplanned turn of events, but I am obviously now on a deadline to get them read.

Libraries are demanding like that.

A writing tool moment.

I already mentioned in an earlier post that I use 750words.com to have some form of discipline to my writing, because I am demand-orientated - and also like the badges I get for writing a lot, or fast, or for days in a row.  Easily pleased? Yes. Generally happy? Consequently yes.

This is another of my writing tools; My Tiara. Now someone once thought that tiaras were only for watching Strictly Come Dancing, but no, no, au contraire. A Tiara is for Life, not just ballroom dancing...

It might just look like a second-hand plastic tiara stolen from a daughter's dressing up box, but it is soooo much more than that. Can't you tell??  Mine helps me write.  The words flow better, and they might just be better words too. (Turns out it even helps with a hangover – and not just as a visual warning for family to steer clear.)

I first discovered the magical powers of the tiara when working at a children's TV company. Once in a blue moon, I'd answer the phones for a lunchtime, when there was a personnel shortage. There was a tiara on a display behind me and momentarily distracted, I put it on. It was one of the most peaceful hours the phone had ever known. Don't tell me you can’t see the connection.  At the end of the hour, the owner of the company (the creator of Teletubbies- so someone who knows about success...) arrived in  reception and we chatted. At no point did she even mention the tiara, which naturally I took to be a stamp of approval. The display tiara never left my office after that.

So, I'm encouraging everyone to get one and for anyone who had one to match their wedding dress, to dig theirs out and get some value out of it. (The cost-per-use ratio will thank you for it too.) It just makes you feel a little special and life smoother. Cleaning doesn’t feel nearly as awful when you are wearing a tiara. FACT. And the postman gets used to seeing you wearing it pretty fast.

 Make one, buy one, steal one, you won't be sorry.

Mmmmmmmm Cake... Creative Distractions (Pt 2)

I confess I have a very weak spot for cake. Both making and consuming. To be fair, one generally follows the other with a rapid pace. That might even be rabid pace. The foaming at the mouth is somewhat similar.

I'm wondering whether it is a creative mulling mechanism, as mentioned in the post below. (See, I am trying to make it sound more worthy than me just being a glutton.) And in this search for worthiness, I can see that I am not the only writer who likes to bake.

Nicola Morgan is back with her new blog here, where she has posted a recipe for űber healthy Brain Bars. (She also does a Brain Cake, for those who want to make guests smarter). Aside from her fiction, Nicola also writes books about brains. As one does. Particularly teen brains. Her book Blame My Brain sheds fascinating light on just what it is that's going on in a teen brain that makes them behave as they do. I recommend that you do the Emotions test. Suddenly a large proportion of teen behaviour makes sense. What a revelation.

So her recipe for brain boosting bars is one I shall be sampling on the spawn shortly.

 A wee while ago Sara Dessen shared her recipe for Magic Bars, which I actually have some of on my kitchen counter as I write. They are The Yum, and have the added benefit of being a fantastic dumping ground for all the odds and ends in your kitchen cupboard. I think of them as bin bars, to be honest. It's amazing what coconut and condensed milk can cover. And I can get highly creative with what I'll hide under it. The kids haven't a clue...

 But to tie this properly in with writing, (Tenuous? Moi?) I have to flag up a recipe by Maggie Stiefvater, which she posted while writing The Scorpio Races. The deadly horse race of the title takes place in November on the island of Thisby. Part of the celebrations includes November cakes. Not only did Maggie describe these mouth-watering cakes in delicious detail, she actually invented them specifically for the book.  How is that for attention to the detail of one's creative craft?  Plus, making them (and scoffing them) for research purposes must have been a completely justifiable distraction for her.

And that isn't tenuous. It's just plain Genius.

The Joy of Wreckage - Creative Distractions (Pt. 1)

Sometimes the body and brain need to be otherwise entertained in order to mull other creative subjects. As I’ve posted before, I dream up various ideas while driving, and I know someone who finds inspiration when knitting. In addition, I’m a firm believer that creativity begets creativity. However, I feel guilty when following other creative pursuits when I should be writing. It means I  don’t do much as I’d like, when the fact is, sometimes you just need to get away from the words.

 So when I found Keri Smith’s book Wreck This Journal I got very excited. It elicits small bursts of creativity which can fit perfectly - and guilt-free- into my day when the need calls, without distracting from the writing time for too long.  

Firstly it is a book, which immediately makes me feel like it is connected to writing. (Yes, indeed, how easily I fool myself...) And it has instructions and I do like instructions. However, after that, it is an all–out creative free-for-all. Essentially the idea is to abuse the book. In some instances that means literally beating the crap out of it. Yes, I know it sounds like sacrilege, but then often the fear of embarking on something creative comes from the reluctance to make a mess of the blank page, or breaking rules, and this book encourages- actually demands- exactly that.

The first instruction is to break the spine. Yes. Break. The. Spine.  Wilfully. Eeek! That immediately had me nervous, but aah, it was so deeply satisfying. After that you can pick and choose as you go, (no, you don’t even have to read it in order – oh, the naughtiness!) tearing pages, ripping them out and giving them to strangers, chewing them, sewing them, composting them, decorating them in many many delicious ways.

So after a while the pristine book looks... well, less pristine. It becomes unique to you and in fact you become prouder of it the mankier and gnarlier it becomes. I am still looking for a high place to drop mine from, and fyi the ribbons are so that I can wear it rucksack style (of course, what else?)

In true review style, this is one that I Highly Recommend – for anyone, even if you don't think you are creatively inclined. You’d be amazed at your capacity for wreckage and how liberating it can be.

*Cue fanfare* The slightly late unveiling of my Autumn TBR list.

 Yes, I am aware we are already a month into Autumn, but I had blatantly forgotten to blog about the new pile, which admittedly I have already dived into and has me very excited so far.

And so, without further ado, I present to you, (in no particular order, other than as photographed) My Autumn TBR List;

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – Jennifer E Smith

The Windvale Sprites - Mackenzie Crook   (This is Gareth from the UK version of The Office, or the skinny false-eyed pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean.)

Now is good – Jenny Downham (aka Before I die.)

The 13 Treasures – Michelle Harrison

Paper Towns – John Green

Secrets, Lies and Locker 62 – Lil Chase

Wasted – Nicola Morgan

Let’s get lost – Sarra Manning

The perks of being a wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

Sugarcoated – Catherine Forde

The Blood Keeper – Tessa Gratton

(Not shown – 13 little blue envelopes - Maureen Johnson, because I had to return it.  The sharp-eyed amongst you who know my reading tastes/passions may also notice that Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys isn’t there. Curious, no? It’s going to be the flagship book of the Winter TBR pile. See? Planning ahead...)

Also there are two ebooks pending;
Mike Wells' Lust, Money and Murder because he gifted it to me when I followed him on Twitter and he gets so much praise for it from other followers.
Jerome k Jerome's Three Men in a Boat- because it is supposed to be funny and is also vaguely local to where I am. (OK, not completely local, but at least this part of the world.) And I still want to prove that I can read and appreciate grown-up books, given that it is no longer a 100% certainty. (Yeeeees Dracula is still lurking and scowling at me from the bedside table. Do not judge me.)

What are you reading this Autumn?

An open letter to My Inner Critic...

Dear Madam,
Kindly bugger off.
Yours most sincerely,
Pernille

What happens when the distractions are taken away?

My electricity got cut off this morning. Three hours, without the internet and its dangerous siren's calls; no emails, no blogs, no links. No music in the house. Nothing. (I have paid my bill by the way. It was a scheduled cut, to replace something extremely vital apparently. I have a spiffy new set of wires now.)

Instead of staring at the computer, I sat with my thermos of tea, at the kitchen table for best light, and an A3 pad and stared at the brilliant-white page. There is something delicious about A3. It invites bigger ideas than A4 in my mind and there’s space for more of them. (Plus walking around the house with an A3 drawing pad makes me feel Creative, but then as we have established, I do not get out much...)

And then I started jotting. Just random notes and instant thoughts scrawled onto the page before I analysed them too far and over-reasoned them. A basic premise had been in my head for a few days, but I hadn't really played it out yet. By the time the fridge and freezer kicked back on, the page was full. Of plot. And down the side there were side notes (yes, where else would you find such notes?); possible names, things to be looked up, alternative paths to be considered.

I can see that sometimes I need a window of silence and no distractions. And sometimes I need a blank page and a licence to scribble randomly. I think that such sometimes are going to have to be a more regular fixture. Luckily, I now know where the fuse box lives...

This Morning’s Distraction Tools; NONE!! (were you not listening?)

The Twice-lived Summer of Bluebell Jones by Susie Day

I've just finished a teen book, and it was a lovely read.

 The blurb says "Turning thirteen. It’s a rollercoaster ride. Especially for Bluebell, when she accidentally summons her fourteen-year-old self from the future. Red has amazing friends, actual boobs and a road map of the year ahead. Perfect! Blue can’t fail to have the summer of her life. But Red’s got secrets. Ones she won’t share – not even with herself."

 Susie Day brilliantly captures that awkwardness you have as a brand new teenager, of all the expectations you have of this new era, but at the same time not knowing how to make the leap.  It’s the things you want to say and do, the ways you want to look and be seen, but not quite having the courage to do them. It is the age where you are precious about how you project yourself to others, whilst still grappling with working out who that self in fact is.

 It is very difficult to talk about the book, without giving away spoilers and that would be such a shame, but it is a vibrant yet tender portrayal of a teenage summer, and the angst and victories that come with it. It is smart and emotional, and ultimately breath-takingly brave, just like Blue. 

I've passed it straight on to DD1, as she is on the brink of all that teenage malarky, and I'm hoping that she'll take from it the central message of "Seize the day".

Top of the Drops.

Just as there are some books that are keepers, I guess that there will always be some books that are more destined for recycling than others. For example, Dan Brown has the dubious honour of having written 4 out of the top 5 books most commonly offered for swapping over on the ReaditSwapit website here in the UK.  Really. Of all the books in the UK, people mostly want shot of his. Poor Dan. 4 out of the top 5! On the flipside, he’s sold gazillions of copies, so need not care.

Interestingly, some companies actually monitor such statistics. (Ok, so when I say interestingly, I mean to me. Others out there might actually have a life...) For example Travelodge Hotels, have a chart of books that are left behind in their hotel-rooms every year. Yes, there is someone somewhere, whose job involves logging this data. Who knew?

 21,786 books were left in Travelodges last year apparently, (which coincidentally, according to some, roughly equates to the books in my TBR pile). The Telegraph covers the Travelodge stats here along with other unusual tomes that have been left, but the Top Ten this year looks like this:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey                                  E.L. James
2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo               Stieg Larsson
3. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest     Stieg Larsson
4. Fifty Shades Freed                                     E.L. James
5. The Hunger Games                                     Suzanne Collins
6. The Girl Who Played With Fire                    Stieg Larsson
7. Fifty Shades Darker                                     E.L. James
8. Catching Fire                                               Suzanne Collins
9. Mockingjay                                                   Suzanne Collins
10. The Help                                                     Kathryn Stockett

Am I the only person who repacks what they bring to hotels? Deliberately leaving books would feel strange to me; abandonment in some cases, or plain flytipping in others. Or maybe guests see it as generously "donating" a story to the housekeeping staff, sharing the joy so to speak? Or is this usual behaviour and I am in fact just a hoarder...?

Yesterday's Distraction Tool, (especially for Louise); studying charts like this, and yapping with my coffee coven for the first time in months. Not even feeling a little bit guilty about that one.