The Chronicles of Emily Cross

Matched

2012-01-27T20:13:00.001Z

In a future society, the officials decide everything, from what you eat for breakfast to who you should love. Cassia Reyes, is a normal teenage girl, who through a technical mishap discovers that the officials are not always in control, especially when it comes to who you love.

Matched, similar to the Hunger Games and Delirium, is a break through dystopian young adult series, which has received a huge amount of positive reviews. A well deserved amount in my opinion.

Ally Condie does an exemplar job at building her world - which in some respects has elements of our own. If we use IQ and personality tests to assess people's suitability for certain jobs, who is to say this won't develop further into who we should love (on-line dating sites are prime example). The point being, that like all exemplar writers in this field, Condie builds a world that is not hugely dissimilar to our own, she takes elements of our world and skews them to an extreme and for this reason the story and moral of Matched has more impact. Definitely in my opinion, world-building is one of the strongest features of this book.

Regarding characters, Cassia was an alright character - she has her flaws and good qualities, however to be honest I didn't really engage with her. Not because of how she was written but just the character herself, which is no reflection on Condie's writing. My favourite characters are Grandfather and Bram as both strike me as free spirits in their own way. For instance, Cassia's eyes needed to be opened through the mismatch, her grandfather's words and Ky's lessons while Bram from the get go seems to always be pushing the barriers in his own small ways. I just found him to be delightful and a touching character especially when it comes to the antiques incident.

My feeling is that although this book centres around a match/mismatch, romance is not the main theme, which is refreshing. Now, there obviously is romance in this book, and it's nice to see both male leads on equal footing (smart, handsome, decent), although you do feel sorry for Xander at times. In some ways, regarding Ky too, I find it sad that it took the mismatch for open Cassia's eyes, but I'm glad this is explored in the book - that it is not taken as a given by the character, that Cassia questions herself regarding her feelings.
But my most favourite aspect of this book and the main theme (imo), is the use of poetry, especially one of my all time favourite poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" , as a catalyst for Cassia. It demonstrates that in the void of Cassia's world, where only 100 poems, novels and songs exist, the timeless impact of certain works remain. That, regulation of the arts and elimination of creative self-expression is the beginning of the end - a regulation on the evocation of emotion and the human spirit. Condie does an exemplar job of showing us how these forbidden poems fester in Cassia's mind, riling up her spirit, in a quiet but deep way and provoking her to questions the society and consequently to seek out Ky more and more.

My only detraction from the book, is I felt the ending could have been stronger. Ky's disappearance and then Cassias leaving didn't leave me on the edge of my seat. However the last chapter was touching as she associates each word as bringing her closer to Ky, reiterating the importance of self-expression without restraints/monitoring.

Off topic: Sometimes I wonder about the wisdom of trilogies - whether sometimes an extra-long tightly written book would be better than three?

Back on topic, this is definitely one the better Dystopian YA fictions out there, and I recommend fans of dystopian romance to have a gander. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 moons :)

Toodles for now,

Christmas Writing booty

2012-01-15T18:58:00.001Z

After having my 'smart' phone (for the amount of problems I have had with this phone, I seriously question the term) for just under a year, I've discovered the wonders of bluetooth. Who knew I could just magically send stuff to my laptop without that cable yoke that was with the phone- certainly not me, friends!

So see below the wonders of bluetooth and BE AMAZED at my fabulous grainy pics!

#1 - Santa was kind enough to bring the best everyday fountain pen EVER - the Charcoal Lamy Safari. Dream to write with. . .

#2 Santa was very good to me (because I'm a very good girl, obviously) and also got me this beautiful cross journal. Absolutely obsessed with their journals (and now you can see why).

#3 For those of us who believe bed is more than a place for sleep - one of the big bros, really hit it on the nail this year for my xmas pressie with this wooden laptop table from argos! (I liked it so much that I bought another for my college apartment).

#4 And of course the mandatory pic of a cute dog. I give you, Teddy - the most photogenic of the family, yet the hardest to get a photo of. . .

I know what you're thinking, I'm wasting my time with all this writing stuff - photography is obviously my true calling, HA!

Anyhoo - Toodles for now & happy writing/reading to all and to all a good night :)

A broken promise. . .

2012-01-04T19:41:00.001Z

Promises are a funny thing. I rarely break promises to others, yet I always break them to myself.

Jaysus, that line sounds more like the beginning of a self-help memoir than an "I'm back" blog post.

So yeah, I decided to return to the world of blogging after a very long hiatus because as you know, the internet is in very short supply of wannabe writers who like to blog.

We're practically an endangered species.

Anyhoo . . . what's this broken promise malarky (yes, I still use this word, and no I'm not a 90yr old irish stereotype) I'm melodramatically yabbering on about you ask? Well over a year ago, I made a promise on this blog (always a good idea to post stuff on the internet that will come back and bite you in the arse) that I wasn't going to make another blog post until I completed the first draft of DarkShines. Ahem. . .

*cough*

Yeah. . . probably getting a fair idea of where this going. . .

I'm sure you're all very surprised to hear that DarkShines is still in its first draft (i.e. not finished). I wish I could say I was half way through but no that would be lying. . . I made so little progress in 2011 with DarkShines, that I would be more willing to tell you my current weight (post-christmas) and post a naked video of myself doing the macarena than tell you my word count.

So yeah. . . 2011 was kind of a shit year, here's to 2012 being less shit and you know, non-apocalyptic :)

And here's to finishing this bastardy thing (my new name for WIP).

Belated Happy New Year!

I shall see you all around the blogosphere,

Toodles

Happy Paddy's Day

2011-03-16T15:57:00.002Z

I couldn't let the day go by without posting something, could I?

Well tomorrow is St. Patrick's day or Paddys day (but not 'patty day' as I've seen in some places!?!?! Patty = Patricia)

I couldn't resist plugging this website addressing the important issue: http://paddynotpatty.com/ ;)

Anyhooo back on point:

This year the parade in Dublin is taking a very literal theme and is based on Roddy Doyle's short story BRILLIANT (which you can download here for free). The idea being that parents will tell the story to their kids, then watch the parade together as each group will take a section of the story, so tune in (i'm sure it'll be online) and watch the story being told via the floats :)

To everyone here or abroad, have great day tomorrow,

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona Duit!!!

Time for a Hiatus . . .

2011-02-12T13:53:00.002Z

This blog has slowed considerably in the last few weeks and that's due to alot of real life stress. I haven't touched my writing in months and feel I'm only now coming out of my funk.

Strange time I know for a hiatus, then isn't it? But in my stressed moments I've gone back to what I love most - poetry. And I also hope that I can now also get back to writing.

I think this blog, as much as I love it, is a distraction from writing so I'm stepping back for a while. Once I've made some decent progress i.e. finish the story completely then I think I'll make a return.

So this is more a 'see you later' than Goodbye.

I'll be about the blogosphere though, reading all your amazing blogs so I won't be completely gone! And I'll be posting book reviews on theBookBundle and FITG.

Just wanted to say you are all wonderful and super supportive!

So see you guys around your blog comments :)

A lil pride. . .

2011-02-12T12:03:00.001Z

About a month ago, I posted the DAA ad, which was all very Irish Proud.

Here's hilarious Paraody of that:

DAA Pride Barry Murphy Parody from Ciaran McCarthy on Vimeo.

Here's original:

DAA - Pride from Ciaran McCarthy on Vimeo.

Killing us softly. . .

2011-02-06T12:30:00.004Z

Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly 4.

A must see for everyone, especially young women. A real eye opener.

Important to bear in mind that Jean Kilbourne's focus is on women. She mentions men briefly (more about how feminine virtues are not viewed positively in men and how media portrays violence to men as being manly) but obviously there are issues (even more so now) concerning male body images too but this isn't the focus of this video or Jean Kilbourne's studies.

I will try and see if I can get a video about men and advertising/media too or article.

And can I just add that when I was uploading these videos here - I had to say I was over 18 for the third video - because the video (due to the 'porn' photoshoot image she shows) was flagged, but its ok to be in a fashion magazine?!?

7 things you didn't know about me. . .

2011-02-03T22:04:00.004Z

The wonderful wise Anne R Allen has given me the Versatile Blogger Award!! YaY! As part of this award I have to tell 7 things about myself that you might not know and then pass this award on to a few lurvly people!

1. My real name is . . . Mary! Yes, I know incredibly dull name, but tis a family name. My current nick name is Fairy Mary - because I'm away with the fairies. An improvement on previous names such as mad mary, scary mary, hairy mary (pre-tweezers pre-teen eyebrows - this one hurt). Other nicknames include Maud (something about mystic maud - a tabloid psychic), Mare (shortening of Mary but also because of my love for horses) and Moy (a weird mixed version of my mothers name/my irish name).

2. I never played with dolls as a kid - I ALWAYS played with My Little Ponies. Before I was allowed MLPs (due to my mothers fear I would choke on the hair) she had to go into local shop (which thankfully sold little plastic farm sets separately) and buy little plastic ponies for me!!

3. Building on the doll vs. pony theme. My mother (bless her!) had to go into the local video shop when Chucky first came out (as they had big stand up of him in the window) because I would throw a FIT, a hysterical fit every single time we went past the shop. My mother for peace of mind (because the video shop refused to remove it from the window) spent the next three weeks take a 9 mile journey home instead of a 3 mile journey because of yours truly. To this day, I HATE those freaky evil things that are porcelein dolls.

So yeah, I still don't like dolls. not mad about teddies either. But my little pony rocks!

4. I am a SERIOUS arachnophobic. I can't even type that word *****phobic without quivering. This results in alot of fastforwarding and closing of eyes for certain scenes of certain movies (because Hollywood has a festish for giant tarantulas - the bastards! Like Chucky wasn't enough trauma!!!!)

5. In first year of my Arts degree, I took Ancient Civilisations. I have a thing for ancient civilisations . . . something about men in flowy robes ;)

6. I'm a pisces, whose ascendent is in aquarius (but is sometimes pisces??), whose moon is in Capricorn.

In short: BirthChart

7. I was meant to be born on my uncles birthday - 12th february. I bypassed valentines and 12 days later was born on 24th - my Granny and Grandads wedding anniversary. My sister was born on this Grandad's birthday (missing my other by a day) while my brother is born on my Granny's birthday. Quite cosmic.

My other brother is a freak and was born on his own birthday!

So there you go - 7 rambling too much information truths!!! See what happens when you make me talk about myself = Scary Mary makes an appearance!!!

Emily is a much more stable persona!

I have to pass this award onto some people now:

Laura Jane Cassidy - the nicest author I have ever meet!!
Clare Greenstreet - because she always comments :)
White Rabbit - It's nice to know I'm not the only one who lands themself into awkward moments!
Claire Hennessy - Irish Prodigy
Parajunkee - Talented does not describe!

Internet doesn't think much of either sex. . .

2011-01-29T14:02:00.005Z

Well I was working away (as you do) but decided a bit of googling was in order so I began to enter some questions related to my work such as:

"why do women lead?"

"Why do women become leaders?"

And Google had some 'interesting' suggestions of what I might have meant.

Take comfort though, I did make sure to ask same questions about men.

WOMEN

MEN

Silver lining: The Internet doesn't seem to have a high opinion of either sex. Not exactly gender equality one is looking for though lol.

Empire of the Sun

2011-01-26T21:06:00.002Z

One of my favourite films is 'Empire of the Sun' so when I entered the FITG challenge, I made sure to include the book on my list. Based on J.G. Ballard's own childhood, this novel tells the story of a boy's life in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A story of war, starvation and survival.

I found it hard to rate this book and even harder to review it. I found this book an uncomfortable read, not in a 'it made me want to blind myself' but more in a 'got under your skin and stays with you' sort of way. So I suppose I could call it 'profound'. There is no doubt that this book is a mesmorising read, and once I hit my stride, I read the book in a night. It's a strange mixture of autobiography and fiction, which makes you wonder where Jim starts and Ballard begins (thankfully my edition had an essay by Ballard summing up his experience which gives you further insight).

Because of my love for the film, it's hard for me not to compare and contrast. The book is definitely much darker and deeper than the film. Through the language, Ballard portrays subtle nuances about situations and hidden depths to characters (minor oneces especially) which could never translate to screen. We're more connected to the world and to Jim with the book. Jim's hunger, hallucinations and desperation to survive in the cruel world of Shanghai and the camps resonate more, with the language of the book reflecting his state of being.

Yet, although in some aspects I felt closer to the world of Jim via the book, I found the book didn't resonate or have the impact that I felt the film had for me. Perhaps Jim's numbness translated more via the text, but I felt no emotionally connection to the people in Jim's world like I did with the film. In the book, there is just a sort of desperation which in the end isn't as nicely or touchingly resolved/relieved like in the film. There is no happy reunion with his parents only this: "Jim had wanted to explain to his parents everything that he and the doctor had done together, but his mother and father had been through their own war. For all their affection for him, they seemed older and far away".

Ballard is an exceptional writer and the book in itself is excellent, if only for the impact it has on you as a reader. It won't touch the heart like the film does, but certainly this book will resonate with you. So I'm giving it four moons!

2011-01-18T21:52:00.005Z

It was mentioned by some readers (the lovely WhiteRabbit) that they would like to see some of my writing. Although I'm wary about posting stuff on the internet (i've had stuff plagarised before), I thought I'd start posting some shorts and poems and see how it goes.

Below is a poem I've written a good while ago, and one I actually love (which is rare for me), sadly no one else (editors) seemed to share my lurv lol. So here you go: Emo away :)
’

Quite a masterpiece I know. lol.

New Year and some resolutions

2011-01-09T13:19:00.002Z

Belated Happy New Year!!

Apologies for the quiet, it's been a busy December and looks to be a busy January too.

As some of you know I have a list of things to do (203 things to do before I kick it).

One of which is to keep a new year resolution.

So I thought I should list my resolutions for this year:

1. Lose Weight/get healthier
2. End my singleness (i.e. be in a relationship for longer than 10 secs)
3. Complete 15 203 things to do before I kick it
4. Complete 15 FITG Books
5. Progress with PhD (study 1 complete and study 2 possibly)
6. Complete DarkShines
7. Complete Stephen Fry's Poetry Exercises
8. Start Collection of poems
9. Start collection of short stories

Quite a few I know, probably would be more realistic to have one or two. Aw well, maybe I'll luck out and at least complete one.

So more importantly amazing readers,

What are your resolutions for the new year??

P.S. If anyone has time, could they send positive thoughts/prayers my way 11th January? I have an interview for a wonderful scholarship (which could change my life and place of residence for a year)!?! Thank you Kindly!

Cleopatra's Daughter

2010-12-16T14:32:00.002Z

Cleopatra's Daughter tells the story of Selene Kleopatra, daughter of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra of Ptolemy, who after the defeat and suicide of her parents, if left to live under the watchful eyes of the ruling family of Ancient Rome.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to reading Moran's other works. It's extremely easy to read, and isn't bogged down with too much historical detail. I found the characters and their stories to be engaging, and I would recommend it to others except for one major caveat.

Moran adds an additional element to the story, she creates a character/plot called the 'Red Eagle' which fights against the establishment for the freedom of slaves. This plot is meant to add an extra feeling of suspense and action to the plot which I feel is completely unneccesary and sort of ruins the atmosphere of the book. Immediately it adds a very 'modern' concept to the ancient world, yes there were those who were against slavery in ancient times but this 'red eagle' hero figure feels very modern. The entire slavery subplot contaminated the storyline for me, as Selene is seen as very anti-slavery, which just has me sort of shaking my head - she was raised with slaves tending to her every need, why would she start to question it now? I know it has to do with the fact that she now is a captive, but she is never a slave or experiences the life of a slave.

Moran is an excellent writer and I did enjoy the story, I just feel that it would have been much better and realistic for her to concentrate on the dangers for Selene being in Rome such as political intrique, the senate etc. This is touched on briefly but isn't explored to its potential. Reading is about suspension of belief but the 'red eagle' plot line pulled me out of this belief. I thoroughly enjoyed Moran's writing style and story (except for that aspect) and I LOVE anything to do with Egypt so this gets a 3 out of 5 moons from me.

I'm looking forward to reading her other works Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen.

If anyone has any recommendations of egyptian historical fiction, please leave a comment :)

Some thoughts on Writing

2010-12-04T15:12:00.003Z

Well I'm close to breaking point, as much as I love the snow, cabin fever is firmly setting in, resulting in lots of deep thinking and ponderings.

I found out this week that my chapter did not get short listed for the first chapters competition. To be perfectly honest I knew this would happen but as I posted on someone's blog recently - you always have that annoying little optimist inside saying 'maybe you will get it this time'.

Really starting to hate that little eejit.

ALthough I have assignments etc. due next week, I'm taking this weekend off after having an insanely busy month (i.e. November) but I just can't get in the groove of writing. Partly because I am me - a person who can only get motivated to work on her fiction when she's underpressure with other things like work!

But also because it sucks not to be shortlisted/rejected or whatever. It leaves you questionning yourself and your abilities (or the lack thereof). Kind of getting sick of it myself to be honest (not the rejection but more the self-doubt). So last night, sitting on the loo (lovely image I know but seems to be the place for serious thinking), I had a realisation - a quiet one though, not a shocking slam bam one - basically that writing and getting published is going to take a loooooong time (duh! i hear you say) so why stress yourself about it!?!!

You see, originally I thought that someday I would become a full-time writer, that my day job (which I thoroughly enjoy) was a place holder for the day I became a poet and author and lived in big grand house by the sea with a study and library and had a handsome man who rubbed my feet and fed me chocolates (yes that is me on the sofa).

Completely realistic, yes?

Anyhoo, the way I planned my writing was through periods of time i.e. I will have such and such done by xxx and then that way I can have final draft done by xxx. I never completed these goals, which always left me feeling utterly shit about myself. So What's the point of this?! I'm not a published/contracted writer. I have no deadlines. It was like I had become that priest from the DiVinci Code, except in stead of using a whip, it was like a thousand little paper cuts from my diary, with each cut saying "you are not worthy. you did not complete your quota. YOU FOOL!!!"

Mental. I know. But as well as a optimist, I also have a little masochist too. I think he's the one who likes to write as well :)

A motto of doing phd, is "there is no such thing as a perfect phd - only a complete one", there is truth in this. But phd also teaches you to realise that anything that involves creation takes time and hard work. Similarly I would rather give myself the next 2-3years to write an amazing debut book, than to write it in a 6months-year and to have it completely rejected. That being said, the three year book would probably be rejected too (this is why the little masochist loves writing).

The point of this rambling post (apart from making me sound like I've multiple personalities) is to say writing is important to me. I shall continue to write whenever I can. But it's time to take a step back from the dream and to just write. Completion of an excellent book is the goal. Publication is just a bonus of that goal. It will no longer be the motivation (I've been reading ALOT about motivation and goal recently for work).

Easier said than done - i know, but I think it's time to write, just for the sake of writing.

And time to let go of the house with the man slave.

Pah, this was meant to be a small post and look at it now. Apologies anyone reading this - I should have put a disclaimer warning of the ramblings.

Also NB Let me know if these sort of posts get annoying. Last thing one needs to read is a lot of whinging by some nobody who wants to be a writer!!! (which basically sums up my blog)

Follow Friday (IV)

2010-12-03T10:37:00.004Z

I have been really dreadfully busy lately and have missed a few FF as a result!

But today I make up for that. Welcome to Follow Friday hosted by the wonderful Parajunkee

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://www.iceybooks.com/
Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Todays Question is:

What do you do besides reading / reviewing as a hobby??

Well for me, writing/reading poetry, writing fiction, listening to music. I sound quite the loner don't I? Ha! When I had time for a life I used to do acting and horse riding.

So What's your answer?

Snowbody Snows the trouble I've seen. . .

2010-12-01T14:41:00.004Z

. . . Snowbody snows the sorrow!

It seems the weather gods have decided to kick Ireland when it's down and sent on some lurvly weather for us.

Personally I rumble and grumble (cause I like to anyway) but really I love me some snow, when it's nice and fluffy and white . . .

Yesterday, the snow was slushy brown yuke which had turned to ice and was absolutely leg breaking lethal, but now new snow is falling (i'm watching from my work window - yes, I'm actually in my office and no I'm not working ha!) and everything is white again. YaY.

The snow is so perfect it actually looks fake! I just hope this doesn't mean that we don't get a white Christmas - that we've had our quota for the year and the big woman (mother nature duh) upstairs decides to cut us off!

Yes, I like the snow.

It's just such a pity about the people (i.e. brats - and when I say brats I'm talking 20 something brats- who decided to pelt my window with snowballs and have basically a stockpile of snow balls and are waiting near the walkway to throw them at random girls. . . is this the winter mating ritual of the maleificus studentus?)

Mental note: Must ask David Attenbourgh

Edit: Work has closed for the day.

Is nothing Sacred!?!?!?!

2010-11-24T10:53:00.003Z

Incredible busy at the moment but I HAD to POST about this.

Holy Jebus is NOTHING SACRED!

Buffy without Joss is like life without chocolate. . .

Unbearable!!!!

I just don't understand why they would touch that series. It's perfect as it is.

Don't touch my Childhood!!!

Why don't the just make another firefly movie instead (with Joss!!!) which would make Joss fans actually happy!!

God, the movie/tv gods just love to step on Joss Whedon alot - no matter what he does and how amazing his writing and stories are - they are cancelled or (now) rebooted :(

Emily is not a happy camper. I just know in my bones that they are going to twilightise/vampire diarify it into something completely unoriginal.

Time to rewatch the Buffy box set me thinks. . . then the angel one. . . then a bit of firefly and serenity. . . then a bit of dollhouse too.

Sniff.

Nice Ad!

2010-11-17T14:30:00.001Z

Have to say I really like this ad. Makes one very proud :)

Come on & Let me Flow!

2010-11-15T22:13:00.008Z

Flow.

Another one of those lovely buzz words that make you want to weep over your shiny laptop.

I definitely put it up there with Voice, as an undefinable term. And just like voice, it's ever so important.

Doesn't it just want to make you scream? Yet another thing to be 'aware' of when you write.

Well, for me I've been pondering 'flow' since I began to 'try' and 'write' my first chapter for a competition (due THIS Saturday - eek!). It's only 3,000 words and I'm roughly half way there, but I'm just not happy with it. There are moments of flow, don't get me wrong (or maybe this is voice?) - but then there are parts where it feels like I've made a mistake playing the piano - I've included too many beats in the bar and everything sounds obvious, flat and amateurish.

To hear 'Flow', you have to read your work aloud (or in your head). When the Flow is gone, you see the words on the page. You remember you're reading writing and awake from the spell. My writing reads like writing - it does not read like a story.

I equate this with - if it looks easy to do, it's been done right, while my writing looks like I worked it to death.

(God, I hope the judges don't read this).

Anyhoo I'm not a perfectionist normally. But I think I'm really starting to be one when it comes to the auld writing. Which isn't necessarily bad, but is driving me absolutely nuts because nothing seems good enough.

Definitely amateur sums it up.

So i think there is a hard slog in front of my Ladies and Gents, because I might be sorta able to write but am I able to tell a story?

So, Santa, if you're listening - I'd really like to be a professional writer/storyteller for Christmas :) and maybe throw in a literary agent and publishing deal too while your at it :)

Thanks for listening to my moaning!

Beautiful Bag Giveaway!!!!

2010-11-14T11:16:00.003Z

Things have been insane busy lately. I cannot wait for December!!

Anyhoo, my wonderful friend Blaithin, has her own bag company/boutique called 'Cute Rage'. Now, I have about four of her beautiful bags - they're all handmade, funky and able to fit a good bit on a night out for a clutch!!

Cutie Rage is having a BAG GIVEAWAY over on her facebook page!

Here are some of the droolworthy pics:

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on one of the photos of the bag on CUTIE RAGES facebook page (link above)!

Don't comment here to enter the comp!

The Giveaway is international so anyone can enter.

Best of luck to everyone!

Normal programming of this blog will commence at the end of this month.

Toodles

DarkShines: Favourite Sentence Snippets

2010-11-09T19:52:00.006Z

I'm working away on chapter 1 of DarkShines - It's alot of work, but after making ten drafts of the first two paragraphs, changing the structure and getting lots of feedback - it STILL feels HACK!?!

Anyhoo, always the optimist (yeah right) there are some lines which I thought *fair deuce* (and have probably been written before). Still I thought I might be nice to post the odd one here and see what your thoughts are (or not).

Hell, I might even make this a weekly meme thing that others can part take in. Post a sentence from your WIP. Get some traffic going, without 'publishing' or giving away too much.

Let me know if you're interested awesome readers?

Back to the point, Here is my first snippet [but not the opening line]:

"She was finally beginning to realise something was wrong. They always did in the end. But it was always too late.
She was dead – she just didn’t know it yet."

Hope you enjoyed that - short and sweet :)

P.S. Why am I so cheerful? Because I've moved (yesterday) away from the evil one and into a lovely new place (which needs to be bleached aka Domestosised) where I can still see my lovely tree and even have a balcony now. Wahoo! Lesson learnt - life's too short to put up with someone elses drama or passive aggressiveness!

A bit of an update

2010-11-04T09:03:00.005Z

Things have been a little insane in RL at the moment. I have so much work to do that I've taken to yelling at my laptop everytime I hear the 'bing' of a new email :)

See this is what procrastination and a summer of watching BBC classics gets you!

Writing wise I'm trying to meet the deadline for the competition (don't know if I mentioned it before). It's a contest by Inkwell for best 1st chapter (and your WIP doesn't have to be complete) and prize is winning an author page on the Inkwell website and some euros :)

I tell ya this first chapter will be the death of me. I posted snippets up on AW for feedback. I have to say, the people over there are wonderful and theadvice they've given me is invaluable. It really makes you realise that you're only a cog in the wheel when it comes to the development of a novel.

So at the moment I'm rewriting the 1,500 words I'd written already - I think what everyone said (including the queen beta, my mother) was dead on and even in the back of my mind I knew about the faults of the work myself - it's good though to get second opinion and even better to get suggestions on how to fix it.

If I don't win the competition (obviously I'm not goint to, as it will be struggle to get it done by deadline November 20th) I might, if people are interested, post snippets of it up?

Anyhoo better go, work (that's not writing) to be done.

Happy Oíche Samhain

2010-10-31T13:15:00.000Z

Happy Oíche Samhain everyone (aka Halloween)

I absolutely love this time of year!

And after having huge argument with a Icelandic gentleman about the origins of the holiday (He said that everyone knows it's American commercial holidaty and of course I said it's a traditional Irish/Celtic one) I felt ready to explode!

So if anyone cares to know about some of the origins, I direct you to the ever reliable wikipaedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Anyhoo, ranting aside. I wish everyone a Great Scary Halloween and for the pagans out there, a Happy New Year (Although not pagan, I think I shall use 'the new year' to get my fat arse in gear for looking well for Christmas!)

Toodles :)

Dead Until Dark

2010-10-28T14:32:00.000+01:00

So as a graduation treat last year I bought a load of books, one of which was Charlaine Harris' omnibus edition of her Sookie Stackhouse series. I opened the page of 'dead until dark' one morning and read the first book in a few hours!

Brilliant and such a fun read. Definitely a guilty pleasure. And definitely not to be taken 'seriously'.

As a reader, you come across books that are 'heavy', others that are 'light/fluff'. I love both types, as both are equally hard to write (and IMO lighter books are harder).

Charlaine Harris' books are definitely and meant to be part of the 'light' group. If you want to relax, switch off and have a bit of fun - these are for you!

Although I imagine everyone in the entire universe has read these books already - I highly recommend them to all, especially vampire fans.

My only thing is the back of this edition said 'move over bella. sookie stackhouse is here' - Now, its really really important to remember (especially twilight fans who believe this series is a twilight knockoff and have been quite harsh, especially in regards to Sookie's gift) that these books were published in 2001 and have won awards etc. so my recommendation to twilight fans is don't go in judging the book - sit back, relax and enjoy the ride because these books are such a yummy guilty pleasure!

So I'm giving them 4 moons!

So you think you're a vampire Eh?

2010-10-27T15:26:00.003+01:00

So anyone who reads YA (or has YAs) will have no doubt recognising the following:

Girl meets boy. Girl fancies boy. Boy fancies girl. . . for lunch. Girl finds out Boy is vampire (or other supernatural thing). Girl is even more attracted. Girl almost dies as result of boy being in life. Boy saves the day. Boy and girl live happily ever after.

Hmmmm. . . so Mr. Boy, let's call you Edward for easiness sake, shall we?

You think you're a vampire?

Well I'd like to introduce you to a little thing called Renfield's syndrome aka 'clinical vampirism'.

The term was coined by Richard Noll, author and clinical psychologist, and comes from Dracula's insect eating assistant (now if he called it 'Dracula's syndrome' we'd have all heard of it). Of course Renfield had the lovely habit of eating bugs believing the had essential life force.

This condition is a mental disorder but is not categorised in DSM IV (mental health bible) but is seen as part of schizophrenia (So, Edward you say you hear voices?) or paraphilia (no comment on this one *cough*comparing smell of blood to heroin*cough*).

Symptoms include:

The craving for blood as you believe it gives you life enhancing powers (So Edward you believe you sparkle in the sun, are immortal, could take Buffy in a fight and still have a fabulous mop of hair at 108?)
Primarily males suffer this.
Usually an event occurs where ingestion of blood occurs in childhood, and then as puberty hits it becomes exciting/sexual arousing. (Now, what did that Doctor do when you were half dying and your friends and family died from spanish flu?)
Often starts with autovampirism (no thanks i don't want to know) before moving on to the blood of other creatures (Is this what you mean when you refer to being a 'vegetarian'?). Before moving onto final stage. . . humans (aka Bella, right?)
Often not seen as influenced by fiction or mythical creatures, but by being sexual aroused by blood (So the first girl you have ever been attracted has blood that is irresistible to you?)

Hmmmm. . .

So what is my advice?

Run. Bella. Run.

Mwaahahahahahahahahaha

And all that Corkonian Jazz. Part Deux

2010-10-25T19:16:00.003+01:00

Twas the first anniversary of me and 'Aisling's first visit to cork.

Twas also the Cork Jazz Festival.

Fun was had. Drink was had.

Heads and feet now sore.

Aw Cork, you never disappoint :)

Covorting with some Covers (III): USA vs. UK/IRE

2010-10-25T11:32:00.000+01:00

Thanks to some suggestions by the wonderful Shellie and my own wanderings around amazon -I've decided to do another US vs. UK book covers. However with a little more of a twist.

Bareback (UK) vs. Benighted (US) by Kit Whitfield.

Thoughts: Definitely handsdown, UK cover and title seems much more appropriate and powerful. The image on the left (uk) is haunting and almost painful to look at, but just makes you want to read. The US cover is a bit meeh. The red is lost against the blue/green cover. There seems to be a lot going on as well, which makes the impact weak.

The Naming (US) vs The Gift (UK):
Book 1 of the Book of Pellinor By Alison Croggon.

Thoughts: I'm biased. I absolutely LOVE this series so much! And I own the UK covers. I absolutely love the UK covers but equally I like the look of the US ones. Coverwise for me it's almost a draw because they work in very different ways but still both are beautiful and eyecatching. Title wise, it's disappointing that the name had to change but the title is still quite relevant and appropriate for the story. So I think for me, this is a draw.

Magic Under Glass by Jacyln Dolamore.

Of course most controversial for last. This Bookcover got ALOT of grief because the original US bookcover (left) was seen as ignoring the fact that MC of the book was described as more middle eastern looking.

The next US version (right) is more faithful to the book's character but lacks any sort of humpf IMO. I just feel sorry for the poor author that her book got caught up in so much controversy.

The UK version (below left) by far seems more faithful to the story of the book and is really cute. I am totally drawn to it because it's clean, simple and colourful. Presumable safer PR wise to have a drawn cover after what happened with the original US cover (although the girl in picture does look fair and blonde to me). . .

Well, Please let me know your thoughts/comments and any bookcovers you recommend :)

Jazz Hot Baby!

2010-10-22T21:33:00.002+01:00

As a huge fan of Victor/Victoria I squeeled like a little eejit when I saw Kurt's rendition. Absolutely Amazing. He did Julie Andrews proud!!!

SO here is Kurts & orginal (at the end, when she pulls off her wig like that = man)

Follow Friday (III)

2010-10-22T09:55:00.002+01:00

Welcome to follow friday, a weekly meme started by the wonderful Parajunkee

Here are the rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - What Book is That?
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Todays Question:

What are you currently reading? And what do you think? Anything to add to my TBR pile?

Currently I'm reading Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black. The jury is still out. It's been a slow read, but still good. Although Hilary Mantel is an award winning author I find her writing style difficult to interpet and read. . . review will come eventually :)

Anyway, WELCOME to any new followers, it's great to have yeh.

Drop me a comment so I can return the favour :)

The Gargoyle

2010-10-21T13:14:00.000+01:00

I absolutely love the opening line of this Novel,

"Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love"

The Gargoyle is the story of a young man fighting for his life, after a horrific accident, which has ended his pornographic cocaine driven lifestyle and made him into a monster. Enter - Marianne Engel, a schizophrenic, who believes they have meet in a previous life and are destined to be together.

Through her naration, we travel from Norway to Japan, and through the middle ages charting the tragic ending of their previous love affair. Anderson expertly allows these shifts from past to present, without losing the reader and sucking us deeper into the world of Marianne.

Combining mystery and mysticism, events unfold which are left unquestioned, which gives this book an air of magic realism. The concept and development of the characters and their stories is done very well, with this story remaining with you for days after being read.

Definitely one of my favourite books, i give it 4 moons. Although i thought this book was exceptionally, I felt that there was something lacking - a 'je n'ai sais quoi' which i never put my finger on.

Covorting with some Covers (II): USA vs. UK/IRE

2010-10-18T13:51:00.000+01:00

To spice up my weekly 'covorting with some covers' meme, I'm going from time to time (see how unpredictable and wild i am. . . ) I'm going to include some US vs. UK/IRE comparisons.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.

Thoughts: Definitely think that in both 'Shiver' and UK book cover version (left) rules the day. It looks darker, more of a contrast and more eye catching if sitting on bookshelf (unless beside twilight lol).

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Thoughts: US (left) without a doubt a winner here. The UK cover looks so generic YA PR that it wouldn't catch my eye at all, while US cover just makes you want to read it!

Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine
(e.g. Book 1: Glass houses)
Thoughts: Neither of these covers do anything amazing for me. But I do think that UK cover (right) appeals to me more. It definitely knows its market. I think the later covers on the UK side do improve, and are very pretty. The US cover (left) is edgy but just doesn't leap out at me.

Any thoughts?

A little thing called voice. . .

2010-10-17T21:24:00.005+01:00

Voice. When you're a "person who writes"
(I feel strange saying 'writer' like I'm an impostor so bear with me), it's all you hear about.

You have to have Voice. It's all about the Voice. You're grammar can suck but once you have Voice you're ok. You're plot is useless, I hate your characters but you've great Voice. Voice is learned. Voice is innate. Voice. Voice. Voice. Voice. Voice.

ARGH!!?!?!?!

What the HELL is VOICE? (and where can I get some s'il vous plait?)

Well, I but this terminology up there with having an 'EAR' for languages or music. It seems to be this intangible mysterious thing that is the holy grail of writing.

So why am I having this rant? Well this 'voice' thing has been on my mind for a while, as it seems to be this fundamental ingredient to writing, that everyone talks about yet no one really can pin a definition on and like the 'talent vs. ability' debate - do you just have 'voice' or can you get it? (i.e. work?) This has come to the fore because recently I've been thinking of entering a competition hosted by the wonderful Inkwell for Irish writers, where you're first 3,000 words is reviewed by a Penguin editor and a literary agent for a prize.

I haven't written the first chapter yet (I'm writing rough draft in reverse) so I played around with it and posted the first 300 words or so on AW to get some feedback. Repeatedly I was told to cut the thing except for last two paragraphs. I was told these had voice. That these made people want to turn the page. Now, I keep staring at the page. Looking at the paragraphs with no voice and the ones that supposedly do. I completely agree with the feedback but I'm left pondering about this voice thing.

How do you know you have voice?

If I'm entirely honest with myself. I don't think I have 'it' - that voice, which makes people keep reading. Sometimes I might write the odd line and see maybe a glimpse of something, but then it goes. Is this voice? Something which is there, but needs to be worked at to be found? Or do you either have it or you don't? Am I fooling myself? Deluding myself? I know DarkShines will probably never see the light of day - mostly down to my lack of skill and experience. I'm ok with this. I believe in 'practice makes perfect' but I also believe that sometimes you need to have an innate ability to build on in the first place - is this what voice is?

I don't know. I feel I should know. I feel I should know that I have it, but I really don't. Does any writer do? Or is it something only an outsider can see and determine?

Amazing readers who are writers, do you know what voice is? And do you know if you have it?

(And can you get me some?)

You are so beautiful to me. . .

2010-10-16T16:39:00.000+01:00

Need I say more. . .

Busy Busy

2010-10-16T15:21:00.003+01:00

Thanks to the wonderful White Rabbit, I've discovered scheduled posting on blogger!! So I shall be posting (reviews/covers) in the coming days in spirit but not in body.

WHY?

Well it's not because of my usually laziness, but because I've been mad busy lately between PhD work, being sick (really) and having apartmate dramas. If I wasn't so cautious about what I posted on the internet I'd have a mighty rant specifically about the last part but I won't. . .

I am going to take some steps though, which I shall just sum up with this wonderful quote by one of my friends (who was mugged last week).

"Jesus really knew what he was doing when he made that water into wine"

Personally I'm going to replace wine with vodka and have myself a merry auld time :)

See yeh all in few days

Cheers!

Something Wicked this way comes. . .

2010-10-13T12:01:00.000+01:00

Something Wicked this way comes is a gothic novel by Ray Bradbury and was read for the Basics Challenge.

Writing a proper summary for this book is very difficult. Simply its a story of a strange carnival coming to town and two boys, Jim and Wills discovery of its horrific secret and purpose. This sentence summary doesn't do this story justice, as it touches on many themes such as the sins and follies of human kind, whether its the wish for youth (or age) or for immortality, on family, friendship or the soul.

To be perfectly honest i found this book to be a slow read, not because i found the story to be boring etc. or because i was 'making myself' read it but mostly due to the complexity and layers of the book which is reflected in Ray Bradbury's unusual (but amazing) writing.

Definitely a book i think that needs to be read several times, as I can imagine that each sentence and word of this novel was chosen for a specific reason. The style of the writing is so unusual and often confusing but reminds me of poetry/lyrics in the way it pulls you into the story.

I'm giving this book 4moons, because i'm still unsure of what to make of it? A book that needs time and a ponder, me thinks.

Covorting with some Covers (II)

2010-10-11T11:43:00.000+01:00

Some other yummy covers!

Torment - Lauren Kate

Thoughts: I love this image, the bleakness ties really well with the title but also with the previous book 'Fallen'. I'm glad it's grayscale because I could image a colour like 'red' would over power the overall image.

Shiver (UK) - Maggie Stiefvater

Thoughts: Love the colour scheme of this, especially as usually you would expect the branches to be black. I like the inversion and the splash of red. Really love this.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Thoughts: Simple but so powerful, the colour scheme is amazing but the artwork is well. Does the work complete justice. Very sophisticated. Love it.

Foot-in-mouth disease AKA authors go BOOM!!!

2010-10-09T21:14:00.004+01:00

Alice Hoffman, Anne Rice & lots and lots of others.

Hmmmm. . . what do the following authors have in common?

Well, first they're human.

Second, they're Authors.

Third, they forgot the golden rule - Never ever send emails/tweets or anything else when you're angry.

I've been thinking about this alot lately, especially when I'm reading others' tweets/blogs, or reading stories of authors who've reply back to critiques. Now, let's be honest, I don't have a clue what it's like to be a published author and I certainly don't know what it's like to have work reviewed in public for all the world to read, but there's one thing that just keeps popping into my head when I hear of these stories:

Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrell, you'll never win!

For writers (unpublished/published) I think this is really something to bear in mind. The world of publishing, like any creative career is full of criticism and rejection. At no point in your career will you ever be able to please everyone - your work will be accepted, rejected and criticised -constructively or destructively. We as writers have to reconcile ourselves to this point and remember that even when/if we're pulitzer prize winners or millionnaires, your work is never too good to be not critiqued.

So you've been ripped apart? What do you do?

There are a number of options to choose from:

Make a cup of tea. Perhaps Chamomile. Turn on your rain sounds and do that yoga breathing you learnt from that dvd you bought yourself last Christmas. You are calm. You are calm. You think happy thoughts (e.g. revenge plots for a certain reviewer).

You get so angry and upset that you're house goes into lockdown. Alarms are blaring, babies are crying. Pets/Children/Significant Others are running for cover. This is Cloverfield except without the bad camera work. Eventually you calm down. . . hopefully there has been no casualties.

You Eat. You eat everything that is not breathing. Is that Haazan Daz? Is that chocolate? Is that a frozen pizza back there which expired around 1998? Is that a family size back of popcorn? Are those the kids' lunches? hmmmm. . . are those dog biscuits? Yup, you eat through the pain. No wonder you've put on three stone. You begin to think sending a bill for weight watchers to the reviewers might be an excellent idea.

Pain is good for the soul. Those 150 rejections from literary agents and publishers weren't enough to completely wallpaper you're 'study' now you've decided the 'wall of pain' needs a new section. The Pain is Good. . . The Pain is Good. . . so you put that bad review up on that wall, right beside where you hang that 'atonement whip'.

And what do you not do?

HIT SEND

Just step away from the computer and walk away. . .

Far away and go play with some puppies or look at your royalty cheque.

Because fandom wank is fun to read but not when you're the one being read about.

And REMEMBER delete no longer means delete - it only means 'google cache'.

Like Karma, once your comment is out there, there is no taking it back and it will come back to haunt you!

So to sum up, I think if there's one thing to learn from others' mistakes is that NEVER EVER respond to a negative review, unless you can do it like this

Please leave some comments, love to hear yer thoughts!

Toodles

Follow Friday (II)

2010-10-08T09:32:00.002+01:00

Welcome to follow friday, a weekly meme started by the wonderful Parajunkee

Here are the rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - seducedbybooks.blogspot.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Todays Question:

How many reviews do you like to do a week?

Now that's a loaded question for moi, if I could get one review a week done I'd be very happy. This is the problem of a reading day job - when you get home half the time you're all read out!

Anyway, WELCOME to any new followers, it's great to have yeh.

Drop me a comment so I can return the favour :)

Number 30: Tarot Cards here I come

2010-10-05T20:28:00.004+01:00

As part of my '203 things' to do before I kick it, I decided to include 'learn to read tarot' cards! Now as a young teen, I was mad into palmistry, astrology, wicca and anything with the scent of incense! And considering it's the month of October I thought now would be perfect time to get cracking. . .

So I did number of spreads and am kind of impressed with the findings.

One question I asked was: What about my writing career?
I did a 3 card spread symoblising past/current position; present/possibility or problem; Future/the outcome of the interaction.

PAST/CURRENT POSITION

I drew the 7 of cups.

"The emotions associated with this card are those stemming from within, from the unconcious mind and represent your hopes, desires and aspirations (Well. You really can't get more specific than that can you? Pretty much sums up my situation at the moment, eerily so!). Unfortunately, the card also indicates an element of confusion as to which of these represent an achievable reality and which are simply pipe-dreams (hmmm I've less than 20k written and never had a word of fiction published. me, confused nah. I'm the next Stephen King I tells ya!). It is important for you to choose wisely which paths to follow, but it may be that now is not the time to decide (Like i need to be told to procrastinate but at least now I have viable excuse - the cards told me to)"

PRESENT/POSSIBILITY OR PROBLEM

I drew the King of Swords.

"Authority, self-confidence and an uncompromising professionalism are all the mark of the upright King of Swords. This card tends to represent someone in business or the law who will be a great assistance (Hmmmm . . . am I the only one thinking Literary Agent here hehehe :) . . . easy know I'm a pisces & optimist/dreamer eh! ) to you to help solve a major difficulty in your life (aka getting published hehe). Assertive to the point of being domineering (hmmmm. . . ), this man can be cold and remote in his interpersonal relationships (no gold stars or hugs then?) and as a result, prone to feeling lonely and isolated (well, if you gave me some hugs and stars every once in a while, maybe you wouldn't so isolated, duh!).

FUTURE/OUTCOME OF INTERACTION

I drew 'The Hierophant'.

"This card has two main interpretations. One is that it signifies advice and guidance from a professional source - teacher, lawyer, spiritual adviser etc. (Literary Agent!?!) - either being sought by you or offered to you in one of these capacities. The other is that this card represents orthodoxy and conformity in your life (i.e. a paid job??), and indicates that observation of the moral, religious or social conventions of your culture will bring them greatest fulfillment (Yes, PAYCHECK!! Shopping. YaY!).

So to sum up. Writing at the moment is a bit up in the air, I'm not sure if it's reality or pipedream, but a nice cold domineering Literary Agent is going to change all that and give me some great advice, resulting in my conforming to the social conventions of my culture i.e. earning a wage = my greatest fulfillment = shopping. YaY!!

Think I shall keep up this Tarot stuff ;)

Thanks for dropping by!!

The Time Traveler's Wife

2010-10-04T17:09:00.003+01:00

What can i say? I began this book at about 2am and at 6.47am, i am sleep deprived but it was worth it!

The Time Travellers Wife is a story of the 'real' love between Claire and Henry through time and their lives. Nicely written, this book leaps back and forth through time but still paints a coherent picture. I loved dipping in and out of this book,experiencing the juxtaposition of Claire's youth and Henry's middle age.

This is just a beautifully story, written in an amazing way that grabs you and won't let you go till you've read that sweet ending with a tear soaked face.

So 5/5 in my book - i can't wait to read her next book.

Covorting with some Covers. . .

2010-10-04T11:37:00.004+01:00

Some covers that have me drooling. . .

Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly.

Thoughts: I love the contrast - black/white vs. colour; modern photo vs. regency painting.

Tracking the Tempest (Jane True) - Nicole Peeler

Thoughts: I absolutely love the cover! It's so funky and different. Grabs the eye and makes you want to read this book!

The Replacement (US cover) - Brenna Yovanoff
Thoughts: My God, I love this, it just so creepy and brilliant. Reminds me alot of the addams family. Compared to the UK version, this is light years ahead. Love it. The only fault I would have is that the author's name is so small and slightly off to one side.

Halo - Alexandra Adornetto
Thougths: Angel lit really knows how to make amazing covers. Hush Hush was remarkable but this is so eye catching and beautiful. It's almost like the image is coming off the page - like a movie than a still. Whoever designed this cover needs a pay rise!

So any thoughts? Love to hear your thoughts or recommendations for nice covers that I can covort with ;)

On my wishlist

2010-10-02T15:42:00.003+01:00

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. If you want to know more click HERE.

So here is a list of some of the books that I wish for (hint hint):

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

(From S&S website)

I've heard very good things about this book, so it's definitely on my wishlist

Looking for Alaska

First drink, first prank, first friend, first girl, last words! A poignant and moving crossover novel about making friends and growing up from American author, John Green. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words -- and tired of his safe, boring and rather lonely life at home. He leaves for boarding school filled with cautious optimism, to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another.

(from amazon.co.uk)

I've heard some amazing things about this book, and considering it's now basically a YA classic, I really need to read this!

I am the Messenger

2010-10-01T23:28:00.004+01:00

I am the messenger, is the story of Ed Kennedy (19) who works illegaly for a cab firm, has only three real friends and epitimses the phrases 'waste of space'. between a chainsmoking mother, a stingy friend with 40grand in the bank, a girl he loves to bits but 'likes him too much' for more, a quiet friend with a tattoo of jimmy hendrix, and 'the doorman' who smells like death, you would think Ed Kennedy would be last one chosen to be a hero or a saint.

After a failed bank robbery though, Ed Kennedy becomes the messenger, recieving messages of his next mission via aces. Through acts of kindness to those around him, Ed is being lead by the hand though a journey of self discovery and sometimes, of course is helped with the advice of pie eating hit-men.

This book is YA, and it knows its audience. It was a extremely easy read, but although the language is simple - the meaning isn't. Marcus Zusak shows his talent again with this novel, and although in my opinion it can;t compare to the book thief, it is still excellent.

When i first picked it up, i was hoping for the beautiful descriptive language of the book thief, but this wasn't the case. The language of the book doesn't reflect the writer but reflects the book and its character. I give it 4 moons (not 5), only because of part of the ending (the ending is still very good), where we discover who is behind the messages - slightly disappointed with it as i thought Ed's first guess near the end would have been a brilliant twist and appropriate.

Never Let Me Go

2010-10-01T10:52:00.003+01:00

Never Let me Go, is set around the lives of a group of students growing up in a seemingly idyllic English boarding School set in an alternative 1990s. In my opinion, this book is best described as 'haunting' and will stay in your thoughts long after you've put the book back on the shelf.

Its hard to go into any details, as i don't want to ruin the plot, but this book encapsulates a number of broad and important themes, such as what is it that makes us human?- the soul, love, creativity etc., Is our future already determined by who/what we are? The field of medical science and Ethics?

The power of Ishiguro's writing can be best summed up with this quote :

"What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers." Logan Pearsall Smith

Although this novel starts in a comfortable nostalgic way, there is always a shadow or hint of the true nature of this skewed world, and although Kath the narrator does touch and question these elements, her own fear of the truth makes her 'push it to the back of her mind'. As a result, the narration isn't a linear telling of the events of Kath, Tommy and Ruth at Hailsham and beyond, but a tapestry of memories and thoughts.

A natural telling of someone narrating their own story. A story which has elements that reflect the experiences of a 'normal' childhood.

Easily this novel could have focused on the more 'cold' aspects of this alternative world, giving dates and figures etc. but instead to reiterate the overall point, it barely hints at the facts of this world till the end, where previous snippets of information are finally tied together and the hard truth of Kath's fate is revealed. But instead, it focuses on the 'human' story, through the telling of Kath's life - it properly shows how tragic and inevitable the fate of the donors' lifes are and the lies people tell themselves to cope with being both a donor/carer or being a normal.

Overall, an exceptional complex book which i found hard to review without going into detail but absolutely loved reading!

Random Reading Reviews

2010-10-01T10:47:00.002+01:00

As some of you know, I run a book review site called The Book Bundle where myself and some other lovely readers post reviews about books we loved, liked and disliked. Because the wonderful Parajunkee gave me a gorgeous rater I've decided to cross-post reviews here. I hope in the future to post reviews for same book here and over at BB, but with one more personal than the other. Here is my lovely rating system! Merci beaucoup to Parajunkee

Follow Friday!

2010-10-01T10:14:00.002+01:00

Each Friday Parajunkee will be featuring one blogger randomly that signs up for follow friday.

Basically the rules are as follows.

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host Parajunkee.com and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://www.bookswithbite.net/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

So I've added myself to the list and made this post to say hello!

The Arse is firmly back in the chair

2010-09-29T16:17:00.003+01:00

What am I on about?

Well it's a little thing called 'Butt-in-chair' writing, which I often read about but never really subscribed to - as often for me the BIC would turn into the SIS (stare-into-space) resulting in BWP (Blank-white-paper).

Jaysus, enough with the acronyms!

Lately though especially with DarkShines I've been doing the BIC and I'm really surprised at the results!

So today, after a two week hiatus of helping first years and working on RL crap, I met and went beyond my daily word count. Now, I'm not one for word counts but considering the sheer drivel which is my rough draft, it's a good way to keep me going. So I'm well over the 17,000 mark now, and my aim is to complete this rough draft by Halloween (around 60k)

To anyone out there, who is a procrastinator like myself, I highly recommend the BIC approach because it's relatively painless - 500 words a day (I started with this) and before you know it you've a decent sized draft. Unlike my other approach which was the 'I'll do it later when I'm . . . ' which resulted in zero words.

Another good idea (i'm full of them today aren't I - easy know I'm procrastinating from real work) which I've discovered is like a fine wine, (cringe at metaphor) your wip needs to breath. I outlined DarkShines but now it's changed alot as a result of just writing the rough draft. I've new characters, twists, tightening and improvement of different areas etc. Everytime I rethink something, it feels stronger for it. So my advice (similar to PhD) is don't sweat the outline too much, your wip is going to change and continue to change right up to the point it's on a bookshelf - so let it breath and be flexible!

So just enjoy the ride - I am :)

Toodles!

Testing, 1, 2, 3

2010-09-28T18:57:00.000+01:00

Just testing my signature :)

What do you think?

2010-09-26T18:50:00.004+01:00

Well, what do you think of the amazing makeover!!

I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Rachel of Parajunkee Designs- would you believe I only contacted her Friday and by Sunday she created and installed this wonderful template!

I absolutely love it - its like she read my mind and put in exactly what I wanted and couldn't convey properly into the most visual and beautiful form.

I'm so happy about this!!

So, it goes without saying that I highly recommend Parajunkee Designs if you want really professional job: http://www.parajunkeedesign.com/

Yay!

I'm so excited!!

2010-09-25T22:57:00.002+01:00

The Facelift is coming. . . This blog is going to beautified very very soon!!!

YAY!!!!!!

Wear Sunscreen!

2010-09-23T23:31:00.003+01:00

Brilliant video - not about actual sunscreen

Diversity in DarkShines. . . am I clueless?

2010-09-21T22:33:00.005+01:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking about DarkShines lately, especially in regards to the characters. In a recent post on Writer's Chronicle Blog, my friend Jen posted about Diversity - which was really apt because I've run into this issue with DarkShines.

At the moment, I am at the stage where many of my characters just have a name, age, and maybe a rough idea of their personality. I feel once I attach a face to the name (which is usually a model for me rather than 'the character' e.g. sometimes I use expressions of actors to make the process more visual to me of how character will react etc.) I have a more concrete grasp on the character.

Recently I was looking up pictures for my main characters, when I came across a picture of an actress of Nigerian and Russian descent. And BAM, I knew this was Chloe, the exact same way I knew one of the main characters was gay. But now I wonder and worry - not about my decision because I know deep down that this is Chloe and this is Michael, but there is a weight attached to these characters now, which I'd never considered before.

I guess I'm just throwing my thoughts out there to the blogosphere because I feel a little out of depth, as I've seen so many people write about diversity and challenges of writing about other ethnic groups etc. but maybe I'm being VERY naive but I know who Chloe and Michael is, can't I write them as they are? Can't I treat Chloe and Michael the way I treat every other character? Isn't their skin colour and sexual orientation just a part of who they are, but is not the whole of who they are? Why should these characters be treated differently? If I think of Chloe and Michael as individuals with loves, hates, desires and fears aren't I being true to them anyway?

Am I being stupid and naive about this? People say write what you know, but my stomach actually twists at the thought of changing these characters. I really feel this is who they are.

I guess I just need to push this out of my mind and write the characters for who they are. . .

But any thoughts/comments/advice please share!!!

Mwah!

2010-09-14T10:36:00.003+01:00

So I notice I've hit 86 followers (wahooo - thank you everyone!) - to be honest, on this blog (cause I'm shameless with the other ones) I've never really recruited followers.

THAT doesn't mean I don't love having them though, especially you wonderful people who comment :)

So this is for you, lovely readers and commenters:

The perfect ending for avatar!!

This website is sooooo addictive

MWAH xxxx

Slow but Steady. . .

2010-09-12T11:11:00.005+01:00

So I was making huge progress with rough draft of DarkShines up to about a fortnight ago. Definitely a lot has to be said for the BIC (Butt-in-chair) technique. I'm well over 16k which probably doesn't seem like a lot but is more than I often end up writing.

Over the past fortnight, due to real-life fun (yeah right - i use 'fun' ironically here) I haven't written a word. But I'm feeling very positive. I have to say this whole writing a book in reverse is great - sometimes difficult - as when you decide to change something, you realise you'll have to change it in following chapters in rewrite - but overall I think I've found my way of writing. It's a great way to prevent yourself from a] over thinking your writing b] not finishing because you have finished the end, now you just have do the beginning.

At the moment the rough draft (RD- i call it this because it's utter crap) is really like a very detailed outline - half the time I just tell rather than show, as I know I'm going to be just using this draft as a guide for writing the first draft (the first of many).

Funny thing is (and i know i won't be saying this when I have to rewrite) I'm really looking forward to writing the first proper draft of DarkShines - as I'm really excited about the story. Over the weekend, I didn't do much writing but I did do some thinking. There were some kinks in my story around chapter 9-10 section (and more to come) but I think I've sorted them out and now my story doesn't sound contrived/deus ex machina but makes sense! The characters as well seem to becoming more real and complex - as I write this rough draft elements and layers I never saw coming are being revealed and I actually feel that if I do this right (which is a big 'if' with my writing) I'm going to have something really good. I just hope that I have the skills to do the story justice now.

But yeah, I never (and still don't - no offence) get what people mean about 'characters' talking to them. At the moment, I feel like I'm more of a psychologist/actress. As I write, I think of the motives of each character separately, then I put myself in their shoes, which is hard (and is going to be harder) especially when you put yourself into the mind of the antagonist (who I like to think of as someone who is weak, not bad - or at least was weak enough to be pushed into doing horrible things).

I definitely think that although I hope to get the rough draft done by October (which will be pushing it as things are INSANE BUSY at the moment). I know that my first and subsequent drafts are going to be slow, but hopefully steady and good.

So wonderful readers and 'leavers of comments', are you slow and steady all the way through? or are you fast on the first, slow on the second or just one of those wonderful people who can turn a polish manuscript out in 6 weeks?

One of my favourtist websites. . .

2010-09-08T23:16:00.001+01:00

. . and yes I am a masochist :)

Despair.com

Writer, Reader or Reviewer?

2010-08-30T19:02:00.006+01:00

So, this blog has slowed down a bit from my usual frantic and random posting :) but maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing according to an excellent post by Anne R Allen. The message is quality over quantity. Alas, for me, it's the 'quality' part that may be problematic! Sure I'll slow down due to RL but whether my posts improve beyond what they are, well we'll see. . .

I've been pondering a few things. Often I've come across debates on issues related to themes in books (mostly YA Paranormal) and I've wanted to jump straight in and throw in my 2 cents. I've wanted to post my thoughts and opinions on issues such as censorship, feminism (or lack there of) and other 'isms' but I often stop myself from posting. Sometimes because I feel my opinion isn't going to contribute much to the debate, as many of the points have been well made, or that I feel I haven't grasped the complexity of it all and want to measure the opinions of the different sides before jumping in. . . but sometimes I don't post for a different reason. Rachel Gardner did a recent post highlighting tips for book reviewing - one tip advises only reviewing books that you like.

As a writer, I agree with what Rachel says - publishing is a business and there's no point shooting yourself in the foot before you get it through the door by criticising others' books. Maybe that's a cynical view of things but it's something I consider (or at least try to) before I post here or anywhere else. I may post funny things about certain books but I don't believe I've ever insulted a book or its author. Every comment I make on the internet I make as 'Emily Cross', maybe a never to-be-published writer or maybe future author . . .

As a reader, I want to read others' opinions on books - good or bad. I actually enjoy reading reviews which actually give an opinion (not insults mind) on the book they've read. And often I want to give my opinion on books. Now, as many of you know (and probably realise by now from this post) I'm a wimp. One of those people who works themselves into having an ulcer worrying about upsetting other people (not the best quality to have in a reviewer). When I do review, I sandwich my criticism in between positive comments - even if said comments are small, I do try and find some positive to mention but I also include criticism -respectfully but to the point (or at least I hope). As a reader I believe this is a good way to review, but if I consider Rachel Gardner's post, should omission be reflective of opinion?

I've been pondering this for a while as I've read a few books recently that are extremely popular in the genre I hope to write in, but haven't exactly warmed the cockles of my heart (actually they more boiled my blood). For the reader, reviewing is liberating and allows you to make your opinion and thoughts heard in a way that never before was possible but in the end for a writer what is the advantage of negatively (constructively) book reviewing in public? But then if you review only books you mostly like, is it being unfair to your readership? Or in the end will they care?

I guess I need to draw the line on this:

What am I?

Writer or reader or, should I say reviewer?

Image 1: source - by Cindianns
Image 2: source - by PracticalOwl

Design Change - Any thoughts??

2010-08-24T14:39:00.003+01:00

So this blog has been looking a bit 'meeh' lately, well I'm on a waiting list to get a new template designed (all shiny and new :)) but in mean time I'm trying to decide between 5 blogger templates and I'm hoping yeh can help me decide.

Going to show a pic of each, what i like and don't like and then yeh can vote at the end of this page :) and be great if people left comments too (if yeh like!)

So #1

Link to big image here
Pros: I like the 'otherworld look of it, especially the header! I don't hate the colour scheme either
Cons: No nav bar, not mad about the text thing at top either and I'm not big lover of insects i.e. butterflies, only two column

#2

Link to Big image here
Pros: i like the feel of it, funky and don't mind colour scheme (can change easily), nav bar, three column,
Cons: Is it a bit normal? Text (header is a bit blah)

#3

Link to Big Image here
Pros: Love the 'feel' of it. Colour, header, text! Really cute
Cons: only 2 column (sidebar is quite narrow). It's a bit girly. Does it convey me? Don't think possible to widen side bar

#4

Link to Big Image here
Pros: My little pony YaY! Kinda happy feel to it. decent sidebar, navbar, cute!
Cons: two column only. Maybe looks like kiddies blog?

#5

Link to the Big Image here
Pros: I LOVE grungey vectors, colour scheme is coolio!
Cons: Maybe it's a bit much? Very very narrow posting and sidebar space (see the utube video that's the smallest size!!) Not sure if be able to change it. Not insanely happy about the buildings in header

So there's the choices to far - Please vote and let me know. I'm on the fence here! Leaning one way then the other so other's thoughts would be great :)

Thank you!

How Twilight should have ended. . . lol. . .

2010-08-22T11:05:00.001+01:00

30 rock. . . rocks?!?!

2010-08-18T19:58:00.003+01:00

Well it seems the Psych Saturday yokey is a bit of a bust - got no responses. No worries though, I'm always coming up with stuff (that lasts about two weeks till i forget to update lol).

I haven't had much to post lately, which is odd for me considering I post about anything, but good news is I've been writing DarkShines. Tis complete and utter crap at the moment but hopefully during rewrites etc. it'll come together. At the moment I'm just putting words on the page and going to see from there. . .

Nothing much to report apart from that, so I leave you to my friend Kenneth - who I thought I had nothing in common with till I saw this:

Between 30 rock and Dexter I'm getting nothing done. . . damn tv shows making me procrastinate!!

Psych Saturday: Questions Answered!

2010-07-30T15:58:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the first Psych Saturday. As I mentioned before, I'm hoping to answer reader's questions about their writing and psychology.

Psych Saturday can only work if people send me questions, so far I haven't gotten a great response - so please if you have a psych question. Please email me at emilycross09@gmail.com with 'psych Saturday' in subject line :)

Huge Thank you to the reader who responded with the following questions - I hope my answers are useful to you :)

1. well isn't everyone a little crazy? ;-)

In my opinion, there is no such thing as 'normal' we're all a little 'crazy', it's all just a matter of degrees and this is what makes us interesting :)

2. so is there a purpose, is it fair, to label your characters as such, especially if it's the narrator, as opposed to just making them behave the way the behave (in a certain type of novel that is...), except in the case where... hmm... like it's someone labeled as such in the world of the book... and then to still make them relatable....

I think as a writer you have to decide where you stand on this issue. Personally I don't think a character should be defined by a 'label'. In my mind, issues such as mental illness or conditions should be considered during character development but shouldn't overshadow the actually character development itself. A great example of marrying the two occurs in the book 'The curious incident of the dog in the night-time' where we have the story told from the first person perspective of Christopher Boone, a 15 year old boy with Aspergers syndrome. Within the the actually text of the book, it is never specified where Christopher falls on the autism spectrum,
the author, Mark Haddon, doesn't necessarily 'label' him. But we get a sense of his condition, which is reflected within the structure of the novel itself (chaptered numbers) where the author uses Christopher's fascinations with numbers as a technique to tell the story and through the narration of the story.Like all great narration, we see everything from Christopher's perspective which is naturally filtered by his condition and his personality.

Therefore I think that you need to decide yourself about your character. If your character is going to have a 'label', then you need to decide how much impact it will have on your character and whether you want to actually explicitly label them. For instance, you can have a character with a lot of quirks or someone who has a mental illness, it is entirely up to you how important quirks or illness will be for your character. But if you are going to write a character with a mental illness such as schizophrenia or depression then some of the characteristics of these illnesses need to be incorporated but not overshadow your character. For example, if you have a character narrating who is bi-polar, the way they narrate/tell the story will differ between their depressed and manic stages - one chapter might be short sentences and have a 'down' feel to it while the other could be rambling, exciting, stream of conscious with long sentences and reflect a narrator who feels 'elated'.

3. and in the cases, the a gothic novel- like patrick mcgrath's, and arthur phillips "angela" and many others, to use the "unreliable narrator," to build the suspense...

As society is always labeling more and more, and pushing more treatments (with corporate interests in mind), don't you think the most compassionate way, and the truth, would be not to let an illness define a character, so maybe not to define them that way at all... unless it is a psychological study, or a memoir of a struggle, or something, because it's hard.... I mine what I'm writing is sort of like that, but I don't label myself anything... I think writing about psychoanalysis is very interesting...

Like you mention, Patrick McGrath's Books and Arthur Phillips 'Angela' use unreliable narrators as a plot device to build suspence. The unreliable narrator can a] be revealed as unreliable up-front and immediately or b] be revealed slowly as the plot unravels or revealed at the end for a twist. For example, in a book i read a while ago (can't remember the name), the character is living with her father and older sister after her mother died in a fire. Her older sister is very prominant in her life and tells her what to do, but then people (her boyfriend) begin to be murdered and she believes her father has something to do with it. Then she realises it is her sister all along, the twist is that her sister died in the fire and she has actually commited all the murders when her other personality took over. As a narrator, she is completely reliable (or so we think) right until the reveal, which leaves the reader reeling (in a good way). The character is never labelled because she doesn't realise that she is mentally ill so how could we know that she is an unreliable narrator until she realises it!

Back to your question, I believe that as a writer, you have decide what way to define your character.
Sometimes as a writer you do need to step back and away from your characters and see which is the best method for telling your story. I don't think that a person should be defined by their illness but I don't think portraying them without the symptoms of that condition would be fair either. As a writer, you yourself need to decide about whether you wish to use a reliable or unreliable narrator and whether you wish to be upfront as say 'Hi my name is xx and i'm have xx' or whether you want it to be hinted at and revealed slowly or whether it should be revealed at all.
I think that you also need to decide what message you want in your writing. It's obvious that you feel strongly about labels - therefore, you probably don't want to assign a label to your character, and you don't need to either if you don't want to. Remember there are no rules when it comes to content of your writing! It is entirely up to you how you portray your characters and the world of your book!

4. Do you think one needs personal experience in it to fairly write about?

I assume you mean 'it' as in psychology/mental illness? Alot of people talk about 'write what you know' but you can know lots if you put your mind to it :)

If you have personal experience, that is sure to help but if you don't I don't think it should hinder you. Plenty of people write about serial killers etc. without being profillers/cops/killers, you just need to research it! Talk to people in that field, get their personal experience and read up about it! Half the fun is actually reading up and researching (what a nerd i am) because you never know when a new idea will pop into your head. e.g. Phillipa Gregory was researching a book about Trade and ships and she came across a ship called 'Mary Boleyn' - she researched more and found out that Anne Boleyn had a sister - viola - 'The other Boleyn Sister' was the result.

So to sum up, to label or not to label is entirely up to you as a writer. Only you know your characters and the world of your novel inside and out so do what you feel is comfortable and right.

I hope this has been help to the reader and to others. Please email me if you have an follow up questions to this or have a question (s) for psych saturday :)

Thanks for reading!

A little update. . .

2010-07-27T15:54:00.005+01:00

Nope, tis not moi whose getting married (hard to do that when you're single, or so I've heard. . . ) but one of my best buds, she's getting married this weekend and no before you ask, her name is not Chelsea.

Anyhoo, as you can imagine, things have been a tad busy in RL with all the weddingy stuff.

But (I've noticed that we seem to be allowed to put 'but' at the beginning of sentences now. So I think i shall try this out! Sorry Ms. Salmon [my old english teacher], its peer pressure) I've also been making some progress with DarkShines. By progress I mean, I've been deciding what soundtrack the movie adaptation will have. . . so as you can see i've been very productive!

Seriously though, I have been making very slow progress but progress none the less. I've completed the outline of the book, and thanks to my brother have removed the ghost from the machine so the plot isn't too meeh. In typical 'me' style I've started the first draft with the last chapter and am working backwards - I often read the last page of a book before I buy so this way of doing things isn't entirely surprising. . . so far I have to say it's been difficult and horrible and I think every word completely sucks but at least I realise that I suck :)

I guess, i'm overloading my writing - trying to keep what I think is 'my voice' but also trying to see how other authors write in my genre (keep interest of reader etc.) and it's coming out a tad crap. . .but after two years of writer's block I'm just thankful there is crap! Who knew this writing stuff is so hard ;)

At least I can sort of say I've finished my book - I've the end done, now i just need to do the middle, and beginning . . .

P.S. this friday/saturday I will be posting the first Psych Saturday post! Remember to drop me an email/comment if you want to ask a psychology/writing question!

Toodles Lovely Readers and Peace out :)

Emily

Just a little bit of a swoon. . .

2010-07-07T10:06:00.002+01:00

Where has 'North and South' been all my life!?!?!

As a BBC drama nut, I have only now (the shame!) just watched North and South and dare i say, it is almost better than P&P (I'm talking BBC version, not the one with KK)!

The Leads, Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe were great! Just such a brilliant pair of actors - Richard Armitage especially was amazing, and played the character brilliantly. It was great to see him in a non-villian role - why this man isn't in more programs/films eludes me.
Daniela Denvy-Ashe was also excellent, and portrays Margaret Hail perfectly! Couldn't fault the film at all - just excellent, brilliant and perfect rolled into one :)

And of course, plenty of swoon moments too!

Definitely adding this to the wishlist for dvds and of course rereading the book!

Had the strangest or should I say scariest dream last night

2010-07-03T11:04:00.006+01:00

I dreamt of Twilight.

I dreamt of Edward.

I dreamt of Jedward Hair.

I dreamt of Edward having Jedward hair.

I dreamt of Edward standing at the end of my bed.

I dreamt of Edward with a manic/deformed face
I dreamt of Edward doing the Jedward Jump Routine with his face and hair at the end of my bed.

Jaysus!

Did not sleep a wink for the rest of the night!

Not entirely sure what scared me more - Edward or the hair or the jumping!?!?!

EDIT: Holy Crap - just forgot about this:

"Friday dreamt, Saturday Told, is sure to come true no matter how old. "

Meep!!

Psych Saturday Opens: Questions Needed!!

2010-06-30T23:15:00.003+01:00

Calling all writers!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I want to give something back to the writing community, so I'm starting psych Saturdays - I receive an email from my wonfer ful readers concerning an issue (e.g. a character's phobia or body language or mental illness) they have with their fiction.

People seem to be really interested in this, so I'm hoping for a good response.

If you have a question/query etc. please send it to emilycross09@gmail.com and in subject line put: psych saturday.

Greatly appreciate as much detail as possible as it will make it easier for me :)

Hopefully people will be interested enough to email in!

*fingers crossed*

Thanks everyone :)

GGG Galway

2010-06-27T16:28:00.000+01:00

See yeh all Thursday!

I'm just an American Idiot. . .

2010-06-24T12:13:00.004+01:00

Due to the stars aligning in my favour, a few days ago I received a gift of a GreenDay ticket to Marley Park! Wahoo!!

So, last night myself and SC partook in a bit of moshing and arm waving in the balmy weather.

Greenday were brilliant. They played non stop for two and half hours, so I was well impressed!

Have to say, their attitude is amazing - not an ounce of diva in any of them. They don't take themselves too seriously and letting some fans sing their songs was class!

BUT

Not to be a moany bitch but there were a few things that were so annoying:

1. If you are going to actually make the effort of having big screens - please put them high enough so people in the back who are not 6 foot can see them! What is the point of having them the same level as the stage. If I can't see the stage, how the f**k shall I see the screens?

2. Tall people - F**k sake

3. People on other people's shoulders - F**k sake twice

4. Starting the concert at 8.30!! - F**k sake thrice - no atmosphere till it was dark - waste of perfectly good pyrotechnics and fireworks.

5. People who pay 70 yoyos to see a band. Yet, they don't know the words to most of the songs. I got my ticket for free, what the hell were the other people's excuses??

Everytime Billie (lead singer) stuck the mic out to the crowd to sing, it was welcomed with the dull mumblings of people who honestly don't have a notion . . .

Tis such a sad state of affairs when the crowd actually only started getting lively and singy when they played 'hey jude' . . .

Is this what happens to certain bands that are seen as 'cool' to go to? People go, yet don't actually know their songs!?!

Poor Greenday - I really felt for them.

Opinions Needed - New Project?

2010-06-18T14:24:00.001+01:00

Since and before I started this blog, I have gained and learnt so much from browsing the blogosphere and reading wonderful and insightful posts by both aspiring and published writers and publishing insiders.

For a while I've been pondering about what I could possible contribute to this knowledge base. I'm not a published writer, I'm not an editor or agent and I'm really only learning about the ins and outs of the writing business, so what can I contribute!?!?!

To be honest, I don't consider myself an expert in anything -

but I have a psychological background. . .

Mulling over this, I came up with an idea (oh no you say, another one lol)
Do you think reader/writers would be interested in 'Psych Saturdays' - a weekly/fortnightly/monthly (depending on responses) post answering readers psychological questions relating to their writing?

For example, if you had a character with a phobia, perhaps you could ask me about how would this phobia occur? or what type of behaviour would your character display if they had OCD? or if your character was depressed, what therapy would they most likely attend? etc.

I've set up a poll below (and on the sidebar) -I would really appreciate people's answers (and thoughts if you'd like to leave a comment below) about whether you think this is good/bad idea and whether you would use it.

P.S. if you really want, you can also email me emilycross09@gmail.com, if you have suggestions or possibly psychological questions to get this project started!

The Week in Book News

2010-06-18T11:12:00.000+01:00

So what's been happening in the world of book news for the past week?

In Book News. . .

Richard and Judy have joined up with WH Smith for a new book club. For autumn, then spring and summary 'The Richard and Judy Book Club' will return. It will be promoted in stores but not through a TV show. Read more here. . . For non UK/Irish readers, Richard and Judy are two presenters who book club has launched many excellent books into the bestseller list. As a buyer, you are 99% guaranteed a brilliant read if a book has Richard and Judy stamp. Glad to see this is back again - will make picking good books alot easier.

In lieu of global deals, US publishers are chipping away at traditional UK rights territories, with India being on of the most contested areas, followed by Malaysia, South Africa and Singapore. In most cases US publishers seek non-exclusive rights, meaning that although UK pubs can export, they have to compete on launch dates and price. Seems there may be a bit of conflict ahead which will make spats over territories 'small skirmishes' when compared with larger issues of global territories which is "a huge battle to be found" according to Anthony Goff, President of Association of Authors Agents. Read more here. . .

Penguin accidently axed the fictional foreword of Lolita, Penguin is now pulping the books and reprinting - whoopsy!

Artemis Fowl has been voted the Puffin of Puffins (68%) in a national poll, set up to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Puffin Modern Classics. Read more here. . .

Transworld plans on publishing two untitled books by Terry Pratchett, which were started in 1986 but left unfinished because of the DiscWorld Series. The Books are due out in spring 2012. Read here for more. . .

Everyone knows the genuis that is Stephen Fry, but soon the world will get to know the secrets of Mrs. Stephen Fry! Edna Fry (who has 56,000 twitter followers) shall recount her life as a celebrity wife and mother of 5-7ish kids in her 'top secret diaries' which Hodder & Stoughton have acquired. The book will be published in Hardback this Christmas. News reports state that Mrs. Fry has been very excited since hearing the news, having a good chat with Mrs. Norton and Mrs. Winton. Personally I can't wait to hear all the sordid secrets of the Fry household! Read more here. . .

Popular Self-help author Wayne Dyer (never heard of him myself?) has been accused of plagarism by author Stephen Mitchell (nope, never heard of him either) who filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in LA yesterday. Mitchell claims that Dyer plagarised 'at least 200 lines' from his Tao Te Ching: A New English Version in two books and digital spin offs. Read more here. . .

In the happening world of the book blogosphere. . .

The amazing Nathan Bransford has done another critique post on Monday (and will again today around GMT 21-23.oo) which provides great insight into the mind of agents who are assessing your work!

CKHB has done a great post listing of agent and publisher's blogs - invaluable information so check it out!

The Wonderful Rachelle Gardner, is talking contradictions and confusion for writers in regards to Feedback and Advice on signing with agent !

Edward Nawotka from publishing perspectives ask the question: Does working help or hinder your writing. . .

AND extremely important post which shall have huge reprecussions on writers everywhere (or should I say 'cuddly' writers such as myself) - so definitely give this a read. . . i'm making a shopping list as I type lol. . .

Beautiful Cover. . .

2010-06-15T10:38:00.007+01:00

Wandered into Eason's and saw the new range of Walker Canongate books, which are (so far) 4 classic books (like Life of Pi) which have been repackaged toward YA market (smart people!). Pretty Monsters (left cover) caught my eye so like SJP with a pair of manolo blahniks, I couldn't leave it behind. . .

VERSUS

Which do you prefer?

Where is the Romance and the Parents?

2010-06-12T12:08:00.005+01:00

I was abroad recently, and brought some nice escapist YA urban fantasy/paranormal romance books along to keep me company while I watched the 6th rerun of the same story on CNN (by the end of my trip, I had the stories off by heart).

Although I found these books to be good page turners and I did enjoy them, there were some things that niggled me abit.

WARNING

I'm quite Vanilla when it comes to giving opinions on books etc. I'll rant and rave about myself or RL, but I like to keep this place squeaky clean - as the public face of Emily Cross. Now, I'm going to have myself a rant about something which has been sitting on my for a while -

I've come to saturation point reading certain YA books (you know the ones - I'm not referring to the whole of YA paranormal genre in this post, just certain books), so this is more to do with this saturation than perhaps the books themselves (or maybe it is to do with them - they saturated me in the first place??).

Anyhoo I am just so sick of seeing this pattern:

'boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy goes neanderthal. Boy knows she is his. Boy has pretty eyes. Girl knows she is his. Girl is taken back to the cave. Parents don't care.'

Now in fairness, there have been some books that have done a better job at balancing the romantic relationship than others - but even in these more balanced books there are small sections and bigger sections of other books which make me:

stop.

look.

listen.

and then scratch my head and check the calendar date, it is 2010, right?

I'm an equal opportunities etc. sort of girl. Men and women are different, but can't we be equal too? In the realm of some YA paranormal romance (like i said previously, this is about some not all YA PR books), there is this message about what love and relationships should be like, which doesn't consider different types/stages of love or abuse of love and in my opinion certainly doesn't consider equality between the sexes as represented by Hero and Heroine and their relationship

I've read some books where I just want to shake the main character and say "What the F**k is wrong with you!" shortly followed by "Where the hell are your parents!?!"

Other bloggers such as wonderful Anne R. Allen mentioned this, and linked to very good article. At the time, I said - tis a plot device! You're more likely to be able to sneak out at night, have boy stay in your bed or run around fighting x,y,z if you're parents don't know that you exist or care!

After reading the 10th book or so, where MC is in a boarding home/staying with relatives/single parent who doesn't care/self-absorbed - it really started to annoy me. I get that this is good to allow action to happen - but if you want some conflict for a teen - trust me, over protective parents or normally protective parents provide plenty of that! YA is all about growing up and relationships changing - not just between girls and boys but also with your parents. I think alot of PR YA has forgotten this element - removal of the parents is just easier for the romance and paranormal stuff, but what about young adult element which involves having your relationship change with possible the most important people in your lives.

When I read these books (and i'm not that far from my teens. . . mentally i'm still 17 but not sparkly - yet) I think of my own parents - maybe I'm sheltered but sometimes i think the biggest fantasy element of alot of these books is the relationship between parent/guardian and teen. Seriously, your 16 and your parents don't notice a guy is in your room or sharing your bed?!?!

Then I look at the romance element:

Where is the element of uncertainty? This whole instant soul mate supernatural thing makes it so easy for romance to bloom, doesn't it? Reading alot of these books, I have only found few where it seemed to me, the romantic element was significantly drawn out and done realistically. Maybe I'm a relationship dysfunctional spinster, but where is the doubt? where is the questioning of 'does he like me for me or cause he is obsessed with me?' Is this happening too fast? Do I really need this drama in my life? Does he love me? Is my butt big in this?

I think back (and I think now) - It is not that easy. I know this is the element of Paranormal Romance that is essential - food for the heart etc. but I don't think it would ruin the romance to have love develop and not be 'love at first sight'. One of the masterpieces of literature and romance (which has spawned a 1001 books and films based on it's plot) is 'Pride & Prejudice' - Darcy and Elizabeth's love developed - there eyes didn't meet and instantly they imagined 's/he's the one for me - i will now be obsessed and stalkerish' - they meet and he thought 'she has nice eyes but is a bit poor and doesn't have the best figure a bird can have' and she thought ' he's a stuckup know it all, wandering round the dance hall like his S**t doesn't smell' and it developed from there. . .

To be all Glee about it, the Journey is the best part!

Just to end this rant, I want to reiterate that I know there are amazing YA PR books out there that portray parents as caring individuals, and more importantly (IMO) portray young love in a healthy and more normal way. Some have love at first sight, others have love that develops - but when it's well done - it doesn't matter.

P.S. Please if any one has some book recommendations, drop a comment (especially YA PR)

Image source 1

Thanks for listening/reading my rant!

GLEE-irific Book coming soon. . .

2010-06-11T11:32:00.001+01:00

Note: I'm going to be doing a book news update here and on Writer's Chronicle blog once a week (usually on a monday- but I thought I'd post this now)

Well for those of us, who love GLEE - it's time to Rejoice (or not) because even though the series is over for the moment - there's money still to be made.

Publishers Weekly has revealed that Little Brown have just announced that they are launching a 'Glee' publishing programme starting with a prequel entitled 'The Beginning' which delves into the backstories of our favourite characters!

Cha-Ching!

Not entirely sure how this will work? The appeal of Glee (for me) is definitely the music BUT if they have the writers of the show (i.e. the person who writes Sue's lines) writing those books then I might pick up a copy!

First Rejection . . .

2010-05-21T16:45:00.005+01:00

I got my first rejection today.

It was for a poem I submitted to an e-zine.

Is this the part where I tear my clothing and rub gravel through my hair and send a threatening rejection of the rejection letter back to the editor???

*shrugs*

Personally, I think that would take too much effort.

Eating chocolate is just so much more of a simpler and pleasant way of 'being upset', don't you think?

Then again, come back and see how I react after I've been rejected for the 100th time and we shall see how 'calm' i'll be ;)

image source

#14 - Fame - Irish Style

2010-05-16T21:14:00.011+01:00

Date: 16/05/2010

It's funny, when I made my '203 things to do before i kick it' list, I thought of it as more of piece of procrastination rather than something to take in anyway seriously.

At first, it was more of a happy coincidence when I got to check something off my list, I headed off to Poland for a conference. Poland was on my list. Visit Poland - Check!
Entered a competition. Got a voucher. Win competition - Check!

The process was entirely passive. . .

Lately though I've been using every chance to check things off it, (and even refer to it in public with my 'ladies who lunch' friends) and the repercussions of checking off these things is actually so surprising!! I had never anticipated the ripple effect.

Today, without realising it, I crossed another thing off my list.

Fame, is an Irish reality show, where men/women are competing for the male/female lead in Fame, the Musical. The voting is done by the public and the guy and girl with the lowest votes have a sing off where the judges decide whose to survive for the next week. . .

Rewind back to a few days ago, I'm sitting in my wonderful appartmento 'working', when I get an email about a special offer for tickets - considering the Helix is in spitting distance, I thought that it must be a sign from the Divine (or spamland), so upon discussing it with the Ladies - myself, SC and SC's boyfriend, the accountant (I feel it's important to take note of that), go wild and decide to attend the show.

Fast forward to the more present past . . .

Upon entering the Helix, it think realisation hit us as to why the tickets were so reasonable. . . I think a creche would have had less children on its premises than the amount of kids running about the Helix, but sure being childlike myself, I took it in my stride and we headed on up to the rafters for our cheap seats.

I have to say it was a fascinating experience - not because of the show though, but the going ons behind it. I couldn't take my eyes off the camera crew, who were running around the stage like bunnies on crack. . . with each turn of their scripts - more bounding across the stage with cameras on shoulders and more angle flicking from camera 1 to 3 to 5 back to 1 then 4! It's really impressive! Although I think the kiddies surrounding me weren't too impressed when I wasn't hollering for such a one or whoever was singing at the time. . .

*wipes eye*

To me, those camera men are truly the stars

*sniff*

Anyhoo more to the point, SC was kind enough to remind me that Fame was indeed a live show and we were (although as far away as we were) part of the audience.

Therefore a + b = C

~~#14 Be Part of a live audience~~

Time for a face lift. . .

2010-05-14T23:53:00.006+01:00

It's been over a month since my last post, and many of you probably notice things have changed a bit?

Well, I decided my little blog needed a makeover both in appearance and in content. . .

Well, the changes you notice (blog design) at the moment are only temporary - soon I'm hoping to get some professional nip and tucking done for this blog!

I was going to do a big post yapping on about how I came to the realisation that my blog has the stability of a manic Yorkshire terrier with size issues but that would be 'telling instead of showing'.

For the past couple of months, I've been pondering about this blog, and its purpose. I started this blog to build a platform/network under the pen name Emily Cross, but beyond that I don't think I've placed much thought into the content of my posts - which i'm sure people can agree ranges from personal to things about writing to Glee videos.

Like me, this blog is all over the shop, no focus but I don't want it to be boring either (if it hasn't already?). . .

So, I'm hoping to insert a bit more of my personality into the blog, a bit more useful content (might as well put some of that psych stuff to use) and lots more pwetty pictures :)

Also I've crossed off some more stuff off the '203 things before i kick it' list - so i'll be post about that stuff too. . .

I've travelled all day and am all contaminating with recycled airplane air. . .

Thus, I leave you with this. . .

Image source

Hiatus

2010-04-28T23:00:00.002+01:00

I've just completed a huge amount of work and was completely stressed.

I've come to the frightening realisation that the *fun* has just begun!

In the coming month I've a number of assignments, theoretical model and theory to finalise and preparation for my first academic conference AND it's in a foreign country (and I'm the only one going!), workshop (also abroad) and I have my 6 month funding review so I'm up to my sweet eyeballs in work, stress and craziness.

So, I'm unplugging for the next month or so (probably til mid june). More than likely you'll see the odd comment but I'm putting all blogging, non essential laptop time away.

I shall be back though, hopefully in a more calm mode. . .

Till then, thanks for all the lovely comments

Take care

Toodles

Emily

News

2010-04-28T11:36:00.001+01:00

(please ignore - this post)

Welcome

2010-04-28T11:34:00.000+01:00

(please ignore - this post)

Sometimes a Picture is worth a thousand. . .

2010-04-27T21:01:00.003+01:00

Screams

OR
Cries

Is it terrible that last pic put me in a good mood.

Aw Laughter tis really the cure for every ail!!

Strike a Pose - Vogue

2010-04-23T22:10:00.001+01:00

A little Chaos . . .

2010-04-23T15:03:00.003+01:00

“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.” - Chuck Palahnuik

Wrong - Check

Stupid - Check

Foolish - Check

Just waiting on the discovery part now :)

Hmmmm. . . wonder what my supervisor would make of that quote when I don't have my work done for the deadline . . .

Another nice quote is:
"Chaos in the world brings uneasiness, but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth." - Tom Barrett

Totally going to say that to my mother next time she gives about me being messy mwahaha.

When Procrastination is used for good. . .

2010-04-20T20:42:00.003+01:00

I'm the queen of procrastination. . .

Many of you will notice I've been active on the auld blogosphere lately.

Three guesses why, Ladies and Gents - Yup, I've work to do with a looming deadline over head so of course I'm procrastinating here and around the place!

BUT, something interesting has been happening lately:

Usually

Procrastination = no work done at all

But lately

Procrastination from academic work = writing of novel

I find writing to be hard - yet I'm so up to my eyes and so engrossed with models, theories and causation that I'm actually finding it relaxing to be struggling with dialogue and description of a very rough draft. . .

Mental, i know!

Anyhoo found a pretty graph (which causes a pavlovian reaction in me as there are waaay too many models in my life at the moment - and I'm not talking hunky man models either)

The silver lining of an ash cloud

2010-04-19T11:14:00.004+01:00

Finding the silver lining in an volcanic ash cloud can be hard, but I've seen some amazing sunsets in the past few days - makes me wish a] my camera wasn't broken and b] i had photography skills
Heres some snaps I've found around:

River Liffey, Dublin

House of Parliment, London

Edinburgh, Scotland

Picture Sources

Also the addictive radarvirtuel.com which shows the cloud and the lack of airplanes in the skies.

Glorious Sunburn. . .

2010-04-18T20:15:00.003+01:00

Yes, I am sun burnt!

But

I am sun burnt . . . in Ireland!!

Yes, would you believe we actually had some gorgeous weather this weekend - went on a fab weekend away with the girls to Cork and had an amazing sizzling time :)

I'm not even a sun person but after the weather we've had for the past 5 years - well it's even made me a sun worshipper!

Red Lemonade linked a post about some mad pics on the Ray Foley website (radio show) who has a page where people can stick up sunshine snaps (see how big a deal it is here!)

Here's some nice samples (it looks like the Ireland, the tourist board shows off in their ads to entice tourists)

you know you're a writer when . . .

2010-04-14T14:12:00.004+01:00

. . . you're sitting staring at thirty tabs open on firefox - all to do with Fishbein's theory of planned behaviour, or theories on unconscious motivations, intrinsic versus extrinsic, and barriers/attitudes/expectations, which you're supposed to be playing around with to come up with a half decent theoretical model for your PhD and instead you think . . .

wow. . .

This is so applicable to a writer's experience

*shoots self*

God sometimes I wonder where my parent's got me from! :)

Writerly Update

2010-04-13T23:14:00.003+01:00

Probably jinxing myself - but sure whatever!!!

WIP: Dark Shines

Words: 500 (wow, i know amazing lol)

Chapters roughly outlined: 3

Characters: Been playing with Myers Briggs so we'll see (procrastination)

State of emotions: Happy

I've written 500 words of crap but tis 500 more words than I had yesterday and this is what rough draft/ first draft is all about! I was worried that my outlines wouldn't be sufficient for chapter but I feel like it helps, that I can go back to this mini summaries and say "oh yeah, may remember I want to hint at that etc." - I imagine I won't be writing this yoke in a linear fashion - nice and messy - bit like myself :)

My Poem is getting Published!!!

2010-04-10T12:29:00.002+01:00

Wahooo!!

In August, my poem The Poet is getting published on the e-zine/website Wordlegs!!

In publishing, I've always been told to celebrate every little success so

Champagne is on me :)

A little bit of musings . . .

2010-04-08T19:47:00.004+01:00

Sorry if this post is a bit of a downer, but shucks deep down under my 'bubbly' (others words not mine) personality, i'm just a deep dark hole of despair, who only finds pleasure in butchering the english language with excessive alliteration.

Yup, truly a ray of sunshine. . .

This attitude (as a psychic has told me - yes a psychic, and yes I am one of those people lol) is due to me being drained of energy (since last August - around the time of the lovely thesis - is it any wonder!!)

After today though I am very drained = nonsense chatter. I always talk stupid when I'm tired, it's like the little bit of restraint that usually keeps my trap half way shut - completely unhinges.

Today was intense and I'm completely fried.

I was going to yap on about my crap etc. but then I'll be sending out the bad vibes into the blogosphere!

So i'm going to end this on a happy note, and invite you all to my wedding - so clear your calendars for June 2015!

Aw, you have to love an optimistic psychic ;)

LMAO

2010-04-06T19:22:00.002+01:00

Cast of the hills bitten by a rabid squirrel . . .

Advice Needed: Pen Name

2010-03-29T13:12:00.003+01:00

Hey everyone,

For a while I've been in a bit of a quandary about my pen name.

The Problem is, I absolutely LOVE the name Emily Cross, but when choosing the name I decided to overlook the fact that there was another Emily Cross out there, an American foil fencer who won a silver medal in the Olympics in 2008.

Now maybe you've never heard of Emily Cross, but if you google 'Emily Cross', she comes up for about the first two pages. My worry (maybe it's silly) is that when I start querying myself as 'emily cross', agents who look me up on google will only find her name?

So, What should I do?

a] Keep my Emily Cross name, and just go with it

b] Rename myself Amelie Cross (or something similar) and phase emilycross out? (and hopefully not loose readers?) Or add an initial like Emily M. Cross?

c] ???

Any suggestions would be great, really not sure what to do!! Would you believe I've been mulling over this for months!?!?!

Getting to grips with your Character!

2010-03-27T16:15:00.000Z

I don't know about anyone else here, but I find one of the most difficult things about writing is developing a complex three dimensional character. Even the thought of character development makes me break out in a sweat because I get so daunted by even the thought!

Well, if anyone is interested I've done a post on the Writer's Chronicle about one way which I have found helpful to me - using MBTI Personality types.

Don't know what MBTI is? Or interested in what the hell I'm on about, please drop over

FlashBack: Maniac 2000

2010-03-25T22:05:00.000Z

God this brings me back!!

John Connolly: Art Lives

2010-03-24T15:42:00.004Z

RTE (Irish Television) is doing a series of documentaries entitled 'art lives'. Last night they did a documentary about John Connolly, called Of Blood and Lost Things.

Even if crime fiction isn't your thing (it's not mine) - I highly recommend you both read his books (which are amazing) and watch the documentary.

My favourite quote: "Evil is an absence of empathy".

Also the interview touches on criticism John Connolly has received forhis hard core crime novels having elements of horror/paranormal.

Where I have my own little Cylon Moment. .

2010-03-24T10:25:00.004Z

Ok, after meeting up with some friends in city centre for some cuppas and chat, I finally got home.

Sitting at my lovely new laptop, I could hear the faint sound of music.

Hmmmm, I thought, Tis unusual to her 'appartmate 2' listening to music (or making any sound at all) especially at 12am.

I shrug. I put my earplugs in and go sleep sleep.

Wake up this morning, run around like a mad thing and finally end up in work.

Sitting down in my very quiet office, I begin to hear the music again.

Now I'm really starting to freak out and start fumbling round my office looking for the source of the sound.

I open the window - nope.

I open my door, go into the corridor, hoping some student is listening to music - nope.

Bump into next door office person, and laughingly say (without alarming her), do you hear any music - nope.

So, what does this all mean?

(nope, it doesn't mean i'm mad, duh!)

Well, Logically I must be a Cylon (yes i am a BSG nerd)!!

It would explain everything, instead of hearing music 'in the ship', I was hearing it in my 'apartment/office'!!

The music seemed to be getting loader though.

Especially when I approached my coat.

Where my Ipod was in my pocket.

Playing all night.

*sigh*

Guess I'm just a Frakking Human afterall!

#201. Win a competition- DONE

2010-03-23T16:19:00.003Z

So, as some of you may know I made up a nice list of 203 things to do before . . . well, you know :(

Well, today I've completed number 201 - win a competition.

Now, before any of yeh ask for a couple of million, nope sadly was not the lotto that I won (which I'd pinned all my hopes on as my 'win a competition') but a Ten euro voucher ala Easons and Galaxy Chocolate :)

Still counts, in my humble opinion.

Just in time for Easter :)

So that's one down and another couple of hundred things to go . . .

I'm Back

2010-03-19T17:18:00.002Z

YaY, laptop arrived earlier than expected, so I've the weekend to play with it :)

aw non-work internet - it has been too long!!

*note to self* delete history off work computer ;)

Happy Patrick's Day & Where WR becomes my hero

2010-03-16T15:02:00.004Z

Pop on over to the White Rabbit's Blog and read this post, ESPECIALLY if you are even remotely considering going to LEAP YEAR.

My favourite part:

Ireland is not Cuba. In fact before the recession, Ireland was wealthy as fuck and Irish people could afford brand new cars from places as far away as Japan. Why Hollywood insists that we all drive chuck-a-booms or hitch rides on trucks transporting chickens is beyond me.

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!! Have a good one! ( i know a day early, but i'm at work and i won't be tomorrow. Yay for national holiday!)

2010-02-22T10:42:00.004Z

I feel like I'm on mission impossible mode at the moment.

Yes, I am humming the tune and i type this post frantically but i promised Jon Paul I'd help out with his nifty blogfest idea.

So, following in the footsteps of the Fight Scene Blogfest, and "Love At First Sight" Blogfest, JP is announcing the first annual "Drunk At First Sight" Blogfest in ode to St. Patrick's Day

Here's how it will work:

1) Sign up below.

2) Write a new scene or short story, or dust off an old one, about a love/relationship situation that also includes one or more of the following elements:

---St. Paddy's Day as important event or setting
---Use of Ireland or anything Irish as a setting or prop
---An alcohol related event (party, hangover, cocktails, AA meeting, etc.)

3) Just prior to March 17th (St. Pat's Day), post said story to your blog.

4) On St. Paddy's Day, cruise around the interwebs, drink in hand, and check out everybody's amazing fiction.

That's all there is to it! Sounds like great fun--and in keeping with the St. Paddy's Day spirit. These other great bloggers are helping out with the Blogfest as well:

* The Postman from The Sententious Vaunter
* Bone from Cruising Altitude
* Scott from A Writer's Blog

The DAFS Blogfest promises to be fun for the whole family. No really. The first (virtual) round is on us. Sign up over on JP's Blogpost (links above), and spread the word.

The more, the merrier.

Forced Hiatus

2010-02-12T11:35:00.002Z

The Laptop is dying.

Currently getting IT people to give it CPR, but doesn't look good.

Almost all my files/music/four years worth of procrastination have been wiped.

So I won't be posting/responding alot for the next few weeks till i get a replacement laptop.

Aw little virus riddled Inspiron 1300 has been good to me.

R.I.P

P.S. if any one has any advice about what type of laptop i should get please give me some - i don't have a clue

Time to Battle

2010-02-10T09:45:00.001Z

Just wanted to direct people (especially DW) over to Jon Paul's Blog, where he is doing an excellent series of posts. Often to many of us, writing is like going to war, you have to have a battle plan!

Well in JP's BattlePlan Posts, he uses his military experience and knowledge to help you layout a plan for your writing. I highly recommend you drop by his blog and take a look! Gives you a whole new perspective on writing :)

Totally Savage!

2010-02-10T08:23:00.001Z