Brewing

  I've just spotted that technically summer starts in two weeks. Yes, I know that the weather does not seem to be on board, at least not here in the UK, where the recession means we can no longer afford any good weather, but still. Beginning of June = Beginning of Summer. It's the Law (or something.)

  Specifically, it means I have about two weeks to brew the Summer TBR pile. Unlike last season when I had a stack already, it is currently looking a wee bit thin on the ground. (Most likely this is because it is birthday month chez nous -7 birthdays in 15 days - and I'm immersed in present sourcing.)

  I've also set myself the new rule that from now on I have to include two books from the shelves that I have never got around to reading. I’m going to consider it as remedying an obsession. It might also stop my better half from scowling at the shelves.

  So, while I'm in the procurement stages for the list, does anyone have any recommendations? YA, NA or ChickLit please. I'm not even going to look at the Classics this time- we know that path never ends well for me…

  Suggestions please!

Sunlounger Stories

For anyone who is a fan of Chick-lit, or sorry, Women's Fiction rather, then there is a new website that might be of interest. Belinda Jones, of numerous novels has just launched a new website www.va-va-vacation.com that links nicely to Sunlounger, a new anthology of short stories which are all based on holidays. (Out July 1st)

  Besides the thirty plus published authors who have contributed to the anthology, three slots are also being given over to the winners of the Short Story competition which was held earlier this year. The short list is due any day now and the winners will be announced on the 1st of June.

   One for the suitcase perhaps? Or if you haven't got a holiday booked, then the book s designed to be an escape in itself or a source of inspiration. 

The cocktails are easily sorted, now we just need a little sun...

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

  Miss Snark's First Victim is running a critique session based on first kisses. In some kind of out-of-body-experience I entered a kissy scene from one of my stories. 
These things scare the be-jeezus out of me (critiques, not kissing, that is). It feels roughly like volunteering to have tomatoes pelted at one's naked personage. 
  
 I haven't read the comments yet; I'm just about to pour the glass of wine to steel myself with, but if you have a look through the entries, can you spot which is mine? (No looking through the comments for clues, cheaty.)

 (Fairview, Liz and Yotti you are all exempt from this game - Insider knowledge!)

Trumpet Blowing

This morning I am blowing my own little trumpet, as Paragraph Planet is featuring a flash fiction piece of mine for the day.

Paragraph Planet is a site where writers can submit a story of writing of max 75 words and if they like it they'll post it for one day. So I had a punt at it, and they selected it.

Have a look if you have time, and then have a go. Getting the word count down to 75 is like a word puzzle.

Is it just me?

A question to the writers out there; is it just me or do you also have reoccurring dreams when you have been shirking from the words? OK, maybe you are all diligent and never shirk, but when I do I get The Dream. 

Historically, the scenario is that I find myself back at Uni, in my final year, and people keep telling me that my Literature lecturers are looking for me, having spotted that I haven’t set foot in the department for the whole academic year. My pigeon-hole is stuffed with notes and I haven’t handed in a single essay. At some point I regain enough consciousness to tell myself that I left Uni ages ago and that this isn’t real. But I wake up feeling guilty and I know what the real message is. I know. 

 This has been happening for over 10 years. In fact I've been having this dream since before I started writing with intent - when I wanted to write but kept letting life and excuses and fear get in the way. It took a friend to suggest that perhaps there was significance in the reoccurring nature of the dream. Once I started writing they stopped. Then I started procrastinating and they started again…


The night before last, after having been angsting about the writing for a while and producing all of approximately nothing, I found myself on a Writers panel chaired by someone who was intermittently Alexander McCall Smith and Phillip Pullman.  Obviously my performance was toe-curling even in my sleep, but it had the desired effect and I was back in front of the computer yesterday morning, attacking the task that I have been putting off for so long.

Is it just me? Are you hounded and chastised by dreams too?

A-Z Directions

This is another of those posts where I say Hello then promptly send you off elsewhere.

 My CP is currently taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge, whereby she is posting part of a short story every day, with each installment beginning with the next letter in the alphabet. This is not a case of having a story lined up in advance and then chopping it into bits. This is creating as she goes – which is scary when there are readers tuning in daily to follow the action.   

Do take a look. I’m enjoying it a lot, not least because I’m used to seeing her YA writing and this is a complete departure.

So Hello! and off you go to here.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

A book arrived at the library that I didn’t remember ordering, or even how I came across it in the first place.  It is about loss and grief, which in many guises would be a downer, but not this. Really, not.

  17 year-old Lennie’s sister Bailey has died, and the family is heartbroken. Then Lennie falls head over heels in love with the dreamy Joe Fontaine and we have a heady cocktail of grief and joy, leading to confusion and guilt.

  This is a fabulous Push and Pull story, where Lennie has to reconcile herself with what has happened and to which extent she stays with the past or moves on to the future. Of course this makes up a considerable part of Lennie’s guilt; how can she be happy considering what has happened?

The plot feels deliciously simple, but there are of course various layers, all of which feel so very realistic yet still quirky. (I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there is music, a triangle and hidden poetry too.)

 What sets this novel very high up in my pile of books I have to own, and also stops it from being a downer is- *drumroll* - The Voice. It is a natural YA voice with a fantastic exuberance that cannot be quashed by the grief. It is so infectious that you end up reading a story about heartbreak with a whopping great smile on your face. (Or maybe that was just me.)

 How clever is that  -a book about a toppling grief that is full of joy and an absolute pleasure to read? Utterly skillful.