Sword and Laser Arrived!

My contributor copy of the Sword and Laser Anthology has arrived! This is the first time I've seen one of my short stories published in print, so I'm pretty excited! Want to take a peek?

The story is called False Lights and involves pirates lost in the mysterious Rift Space. I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope people also have a lot of fun reading it. :-)

I've got another two short stories coming out in anthologies soon, and it's still a race to see which will be my first ever published short story. It's looking likely to be the Sword and Laser story, but there's still a chance one of the others may leap ahead in the final stages!

I've dipped into a few of the other stories in the Sword and Laser Anthology already and there's some fantastic stuff in there. I'm very proud to be part of it, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

2013 Wrap Up

Wow, 2013 has been an intense year for me, and a great year in terms of both reading and writing! So, here is my 2013 in review...

Books Read

I read 72 books in 2013 and reviewed 51. I thought it might be fun to look at some stats, so here are some interesting break downs of what I read in 2013:

38 books by female authors (including anthology editors)

34 books by male authors (including anthology editors)

1 unknown (K.J. Parker)

32 British authors and anthology editors

22 US authors and anthology editors

5 non-British or US authors and anthology editors (wow, I need to try to read more next year!)

29 review copies

6 audiobooks

12 book club reads

62 SFF or with SFF elements

5 contemporary

5 historical (non fantasy)

2 crime/mystery

25 YA or children’s

My Favourite Books of 2013

Yesterday I listed my favourite books of 2013. You can find the post here, and since then I've finished another book that I would have included on the list: Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.

Challenges

Goodreads Challenge - I managed to complete this with half a day to go! I set my challenge as 70 books, and I actually read 72 books this year, but two of them were not listed on the site.

British Books Challenge - I completed this with 18 books read and reviewed.

Paranormal Challenge - I completed this with 26 books read and reviewed.

Witches and Witchcraft Challenge - I completed this with 8 read and 3 reviewed. I'd have liked to read and review more for this one, and was surprised how few books about witches I actually had. Plenty with magic, but not many with witches.

Richard and Judy Challenge - I completed this with 5 read and 3 reviewed. This was a fun challenge, forcing me out of my reading comfort zone, and it was great to try new things that I otherwise might not have picked up.

Genre Variety Challenge - I completed this with 16 read and reviewed. My genres ranged from fantasy and science fiction to contemporary, crime and even a zombie western!

TBR Challenge - I completed this with 11 read and 9 reviewed. I definitely want to get more of my TBR pile finished in 2014!

Success in all challenges! :-D

My Writing – Short Stories

I finally felt ready to start sending out short stories, and have had some successes! Next year I’ll have stories appearing in three anthologies – The Sword and Laser Anthology, Women Writing the Weird 2, and Missing Monarchs. I’m so pleased with this, and can’t wait to get writing and sending off some more!

My Writing – Novel

I’ve planned, plotted and begun writing a novel. It’s still in early stages yet, but I’m feeling pleased with the progress and hopeful about finishing it next year!

Internship

I’ve started an internship at Angry Robot, a science fiction and fantasy publisher in Nottingham. I’ve been learning and experiencing so much so far, and I’m really enjoying it. :-)

Conventions

I attended three conventions this year – Edge Lit in Derby, Eastercon in Bradford, and World Fantasy Con in Brighton – as well as one book fair in Leicester. I enjoyed all of them, but I think Edge Lit was my personal favourite.

Readathons

I took part in 5 readathons this year – three Bout of Books, the Wicked Valentine Readathon and the WWReadathon. I love readathons, but haven’t had as much time to join in with them this year. I’m hoping I can be involved in more in 2014!

So that was my 2013. Did you have a good year? :-)

Why Researching Your Historical Novel Totally Involves Going to the Pub, and other NaNoWriMo Updates

NaNoWriMo Week One!

We’re in week two of NaNo now and should be hitting around the 18k mark, I think. I have... considerably less words than that.

I’m remaining positive, however!

For me, the first few days of NaNo were taken up with World Fantasy Con, which was fantastic but very busy, and the day after with work that needed catching up on after the con. I know some people managed to write a little during the con, and they have my full admiration! I’ve still doing the catch up word sprinting. ;-)

I have discovered that I am terrible at remembering to update my word count, so it will suddenly shoot forwards on certain days. There’s something weirdly exciting about this, like discovering you’ve forgotten to open the last few days on your advent calendar and then gorging on the sudden feast of little chocolate Santa Clauses.

Using Historical Research 

I’ve also been making use of some of my research, and I’m glad I gathered certain things together beforehand so that I’m not too interrupted by having to look things up.

One of the early scenes is set at Nottingham castle, which I’d visited and taken pictures of, including the paths around it from every angle, so now I can just click, grab the picture, and know straight away which direction the character turns, whether there are steps or slopes, and so on. That probably sounds like too much worrying over picky details, but I live in Nottingham, so it seems like laziness to get that wrong.

Because my novel is mainly set in the 30s, with some flashbacks to the city in other periods of history, I need to know other details like what streets actually existed then, and so on. I’ve made a lot of use of photos and maps, and found some other gems in the library too.

This research has helped in other ways. It’s not just about facts, which arguably can be researched and added in later (though it certainly helps me to know them beforehand). It’s also about finding little things that can be worked into the novel, or that can influence certain plot points or characters. I’ve discovered the history of certain buildings that fit beautifully into my story, and images that inspire whole scenes.

I even discovered a wonderful book called Voices of Nottingham which is packed full of primary sources about life in Nottingham, some from the affluent members of society, but many from normal members of the public. Getting an insight into everyday lives is extremely useful, and the history student as well as the author in me is so excited to find this.

Finding Historical Images - Pubs and Libraries

Images are one of the most useful things I’ve found, both for getting facts right and for inspiring a sense of what the place was like at that time. It’s one thing to read about what Market Square looked like in late Victorian times, and another to actually see it. I have photos of old shops, of tram lines being laid, of historical posters and flyers, and many, many pictures of people... people milling about, people shopping, people playing, determined people going about their day, and people enjoying the city.

Victoria Station (now Victoria shopping centre)

And this is where pubs come in. Yes, honestly. Next time you go to a local pub, look for photos on the wall. You’re almost guaranteed to see at least a few. Look for older pubs, and particularly ones that are in interesting locations such as city centres. They will often hang black and white images of the pub itself and the streets around it. Pubs are places that tend to be proud of their heritage, so they’re good places to start. Don’t be afraid to ask either. Pubs often run in families and one establishment might have been passed down for generations.

Next stop: the library. Well, this one is obvious isn’t it? Look for large city libraries for ordnance survey maps, census records, and general interest books about the city and surrounding area. Look in smaller libraries for information on local areas.

And once you’ve read a little and found some interesting names of buildings, streets, shops, companies and people... the internet is your friend. It can sometimes be hard to find information without that initial clue to go on, which is why it’s often better to find a book to begin with, but once you have the name, the internet will provide you with pictures, personal anecdotes, and yet more titles of books to go find.

Market Square

Oh, and one last tip. Try not to get too distracted with historical research. It’s fun, and so it can easily take over. Remember what your end goal is. By all means go off on a tangent if you think the information could lead to something useful or wonderful, but remember to actually get writing too!

Preparing for NaNo

So, it’s late October and NaNoWriMo is once more looming on the horizon. If you’re unfamiliar with NaNo, it’s a challenge in which writers aim to pen 50,000 words in one month. You can connect with other writers, offer encouragement to your buddies, and receive tips and inspiration from the NaNo team. The event is meant to encourage people to just write write write, without worrying about editing or other concerns, so that at the end of the month you have a finished or nearly-finished project, Phase One of writing a novel!

Supplies!

I competed for the first time last year with a personal goal of 30k rather than the 50k. I succeeded, just, but there were a lot of things I realised, the main one being that I need to plan A LOT BETTER next time. Part of this was due to me trying to write a mystery book, so clues and groundwork needed to be laid carefully throughout the book, something that I found too difficult to ignore and add in later.

But partly, I think I learned that I am just the kind of writer that needs a plan. Maybe not a detailed ordnance survey map, but something a little more than basic directions to the end. This will help me stay on track, so that the words can keep flowing.

So this year, I’m doing the plotting thing. I bought a big sheet of card, and then wrote out scenes on post-it notes, different colours for different kinds of scenes. These weren’t every single one of my scenes, but the important ones, the ones that other bits will need to fit around. Then I began to arrange them, moving some around a bit, leaving gaps where there was obviously something missing, and so on, to see what the framework of my book looked like.

This is where I realised that I actually have a pretty solid first half, and then only about 3 major scenes in the second half with no flesh to go between them, and a very solid end. Huh. I wonder if this is normal for writers? Is it even a negative thing? Perhaps it’s good to leave myself with a looser second half, so that I have more room to manoeuvre later? I’ll be interested to see how it goes this time around. If anyone has any tips, or any recommendations of books on plotting a novel, please do leave them in the comments.

Another interesting thing that’s come out of this approach is that I can see certain themes running through the book, and I can more quickly solve certain problems by understanding where I’m going and which stages I need to hit to get there. The best solutions to problems are always the ones that tie in with events earlier, or key character motivations, or themes, and plotting like this helps me to keep track of these elements more easily.

Ok, so I do need at least one ordnance survey map

Another vital bit of preparation is research. This time around I’m going to be writing in a historical setting, and there are a lot of basic things I need to know before I begin. Small details can be changed and added later, but certain historical facts do affect plot and characterisation, so I need to have quite a good idea of what my city and society look like at this time. Researching is so much fun, I just have to be careful that it doesn’t become full time procrastination, which is another reason why I want to get the bulk of it done before NaNo. I don’t want anything to stop me while the words are flowing! (And let’s hope they do flow!)

And final preparations? Coffee, tea, chocolate, snack foods, fingerless gloves for typing in, comfy cushions, and beating that video game before November hits...!

So, are any of you taking part in NaNo this year? What are you doing, if anything, to prepare? Do you have any tips for success?

Oh, and if you're taking part and would like to add me as a buddy, please do! I'm on there as Jictoria.
 

Essential NaNo buddy

Showcase Sunday #30

Inspired by Celine from Nyx Book Reviews, I've decided to combine several weekly wrap-up memes into one post. Showcase Sunday is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea. Stacking the Shelves is hosted at Tynga's Reviews, and Sunday Post is hosted at Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. Letterbox Love is a special British book-haul meme hosted by Lindsey at Narratively Speaking.


Last Few Weeks:

I'm back!

I've taken a bit of a blogging break recently as I've been super busy. There's been moving house stuff, new furniture to build, an extremely busy period with freelance work, the Robin Hood festival, and more. I might not have been writing as many posts, but I haven't really slowed down on acquiring books, so this is going to be a giant Showcase Sunday!

I also have some fantastic writing news. One of my short stories has been accepted for the Sword and Laser anthology, and I'm so thrilled and excited about it! Sword and Laser is a fun sci-fi and fantasy book club podcast that I listen to, and they're in the process of putting together their first short story collection. Can't wait to read all the other stories that made it in too! :-)


New Posts:

Book Review - The Universe Versus Alex Woods, by Gavin Extence

The Robin Hood Festival! (including stunt fighting, me trying archery, and my husband striking a heroic pose in a green hat)

Top Ten Standalone Fantasy Books


New Goodies:

Okay, there are a lot. But remember, this is three weeks' worth!

Library Books:

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente

(Fantasy Faction book club read, already finished -

I loved it!)

The Lives of Tao, by Wesley Chu

(Fantasy Faction sci-fi book club read)

The Fade, by Chris Wooding

Charity Shop Finds:

Voices, by Ursula le Guin

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake

Book Shop:

The Iron Queen, by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa

(I really need to finish this series!)

The Shambling Guide to New York City, by Mur Lafferty

Library:

Research books about Nottingham's past

and an old ordnance survey map of the city,

for the novel I'm currently writing.

The Light Between Oceans, by M. L. Stedman

(for the Richard and Judy Book Club Challenge)

Ebooks:

Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

(Kindle Daily Deal!)

Games:

From the Steam Summer Sale

(I forgot to include these last time):

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition

Half Life 2

Orcs Must Die 2

 From the Humble Bundle:

 Dead Space

Burnout Paradise

Crysis 2

Mirror's Edge

Dead Space 3

Medal of Honor

Battlefield 3

The Sims 3

(Bought this pack for a few of the games specifically,

but actually they all look good!) 

Phew, that's it! How have you been and what have you been up to? Hope everyone's had a great week! :-)

Revisiting The Witches - A Guest Post from James Everington

Today I'm welcoming author James Everington to the blog, to tell us a little about what inspires his writing. James writes dark, supernatural fiction, and is the author of four short story collections, as well as one of the creators of the Penny Dreadnought anthologies. His latest collection, Falling Over, is out now from Infinity Plus.

Over to James!

---

So.

This was meant to be a simple blog post about inspiration; specifically, one in a series of guest blog posts about the key inspirations behind the stories in my new collection of short stories, Falling Over. This was meant to be about The Witches by Roald Dahl. (That was how I originally pitched the piece to Vicky, anyway – sorry Vicky!)

But instead I found myself writing something different, something about childhood, and memory, and time… but still about inspiration, hopefully.

I’d not read Roald Dahl’s The Witches for over twenty-years, but nevertheless I found that some of the scenes from it were constantly in my head whilst I was writing a story called The Time Of Their Lives. I guess anyone reading the story will see the same obvious similarities just as I did – it’s a story from the point of view of a child who is spending a holiday bored in a creepy hotel. Like The Witches, the story is about a child’s fear of adults, and what those adults might really look like, in certain lights…

Because here’s the thing: I decided to reread The Witches before writing this blog post and… it was nothing like I’d remembered. It was nothing like the scenes in my head that had somehow inspired me.

I mean obviously, it is set in a creepy hotel and it is from a kid’s point of view; that was all the same. And some of the delightfully horrible details were just as I remembered – particularly the different ways to recognise witches: the toeless feet, the hairless heads, the blue spit. (This part of the book, incidentally, seemed a brilliant refutation of that hoary old “Show Don’t Tell” rule. Dahl tells us things about witches, and because what he has to tell us is so repulsively interesting, we love it. “Show Don’t Tell” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and never trust a rule about writing that isn’t even obeying itself. But anyway, that’s a whooooole other blog post.)

But the feel of the book, the tone and texture of it, was completely different. It was lighter and fluffier and more whimsical. Although there are some creepy moments (and Dahl’s witches themselves are typically inspired and grotesque creations) I found myself smiling my way through it. And really, what was I expecting – it’s a kid’s book, right?

So what happened? How come what I remembered, and so blithely claimed was an influence in the story notes at the back of Falling Over, didn’t actually seem to exist?

I guess growing up happened.

I read it as a kid, at an age when obviously I wouldn’t have been able to handle the horrors of a Stephen King or a Clive Barker. Dahl has pitched the fear at the exact level that a kid of my age, and upbringing, and sensibility, could take without being so completely petrified that I’d never sleep (or buy a Roald Dahl book) again. So I remembered it being a book that was as creepy as it was possible to be, and because I never reread it, a buried and younger part of me still believed that to be the case all these years later. And good as it was, there was no way The Witches was going to match my memory of it. It’s like if you ever revisit your school as an adult – how small it seems!

I don’t regret rereading The Witches - it is a brilliant book, full of flashes and humour and childhood fears perfectly realised. But I can’t help but feel it’s replaced something else that was there, something more unexamined and personal, that I’d built up in my head over the years, every time my thoughts turned to The Witches. What’s replaced it is a newfound respect for an author who must surely be one of the greatest children’s authors ever - what a lucky generation we were. But I don’t know if it would be much use to me if I was writing The Time Of Their Lives now; despite being from the point of view of a child it really isn’t a children’s story.

Of course, I might be being overly pessimistic. It wouldn't be the first time. After all, who really understands inspiration? One thing that has become clear from writing this piece is that it's certainly not me. Maybe The Witches just needs to find its own place, its own level amongst all the other stories in my head, and maybe one day the real, Roald Dahl version of The Witches will be a jumping off point for another creepy tale for me to tell.

And if that ever happens, I promise I'll come back and write the blog post for Vicky that she originally signed up for!

---

Falling Over is published by Infinity Plus and is out now. Ten stories of unease, fear and the weird.

"Good writing gives off fumes, the sort that induce dark visions, and Everington’s elegant, sophisticated prose is a potent brew. Imbibe at your own risk." - Robert Dunbar, author of The Pines and Martyrs & Monsters.

Find out more at Scattershot Writing.

Find Out More About Me! - Liebster Blog Award

A while ago I was chosen for one of these pass-em-along blog award things by the wonderful James Everington, but I never had the time to get around to filling it out. Now seems like the perfect time, as it's my blogoversary week and I'm doing some posts focussing on me and my favourite things. So, here we go!

First up, I am supposed to tell you eleven facts about me. Okay, easy enough!

Eleven Facts About Me:

1) My favourite food is cheese.

2) Co-incidentally, my favourite movies are also cheese.

3) I can’t stand the phrase ‘I could care less’. It means the exact opposite of what you are saying!

4) My feet are always cold.

5) I make handmade Christmas cards for my family every year.

George the Dragon

6) I write fiction as well as all my various non-fiction and reviews. I’ve recently started sending out short stories and out of four so far I've had one accepted! I’m currently writing an urban fantasy novel set in Nottingham. (Yes, that all counts as one fact, shush you).

7) I have a group of freckles on my arm that resemble Cassiopeia and some on the other arm that kinda look like the Big Dipper if you stretch your imagination a bit.

8) I use books like others use comfort food. If I’m feeling sad or have just had a horrible argument with someone, I immediately want to buy a shiny new book. Having an e-reader can make this very hard to resist. It’s instant you guys!

9) I own a stuffed dragon (called George) that I’ve had since I was born. He’s had his eyes and ears and various parts sewn on again many times, and has a few bare patches, but he’s still with us!

10) I am determined to visit Italy one day to explore the ancient sites there, particularly in the Bay of Naples. I studied Classics for eight years and I love everything ancient Greek and Roman.

11) My favourite season is autumn and October is my favourite month.

So there you go, eleven facts about me! Next up, I have to answer the eleven questions that James set for me:

Eleven Questions from James

1) Who’s the most underrated author out there that you know of?

Well, I can think of plenty of authors who aren’t known very well, but underrated is a different thing. I’m going to say Diana Wynne Jones.

Wait, wait, I know what you’re thinking, but bear with me! Plenty of people know of Diana Wynne Jones and love her books, but actually she is often overlooked when people begin listing great authors. She is a children’s author, one who primarily writes about magic, and so I have often seen her dismissed. When I tell people that my favourite book is Howl’s Moving Castle, I tend to have to justify this a bit.

Diana Wynne Jones is incredible and if you’ve never read her books you really should. They are filled with wonderful worlds, fantastic characters, great plots, and intelligent writing. They’re books that children adore, but have massive appeal for adults too. She is very good at twisting tropes and telling things in slightly unexpected ways, but also giving you the plot arcs and endings that you really want. I also think she’s one of the best at writing romance, even though love stories are rarely the focus of her plots.

She has also written a few books for older readers, which are definitely worth checking out too. Fire and Hemlock, for instance, is quite a complex and multi-layered book that has stayed with me long after finishing it.

2) You need to pick one song to be used to torture unpleasant types, by playing it to them full volume 24/7. What do you pick?

‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ over and over. I really hate that song. It’s just too languid and mushy and... bleh! It really sounds to me like someone’s taken a normal song and put it on the ‘painfully slow and insipid’ setting. I don’t normally mind slow songs, but this makes me fidgety and my legs start twitching and I want to shake the singer and tell him to CHEER UP it’s Christmas.

3) As a writer, what is your own personal definition of success?

Oh wow, interesting question. Probably to be at the stage where I could write (and not have to do anything else) for a living. But honestly, any validation feels like a success, like when a short story gets accepted, or you read back over something you wrote at stupid-o’clock at night and it actually sounds okay, or when someone you trust reads over your story and doesn’t immediately want to throw up or punch you.

4) How do you like your steak?

I don’t.

5) A genie grants you get an extra hour every day, meaning your days are 25 hours long. The condition is you must use this hour to take up a brand new hobby. What do you pick?

Great question! Maybe knitting or cross-stitching; my mum knits such lovely things and I’d love to be able to make scarves and woolly animals and bookmarks, etc, for myself. That or archery.

6) What’s the most overrated piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

Hmm, perhaps writing advice that goes on about how you actually have to write to be a writer. Of course it’s true, but it’s the kind of statement that’s a bit useless to most people. It’s like asking how to begin knitting and someone telling you that you have to knit to be a knitter. It’s correct but in the end it’s not that useful.

I think if you’re going to tell people that they need to write, then advice that breaks things down is better. Like, how many words do you need to write a day before you have a book in a year? What kinds of things should you be focussing on in your first draft and what should you not worry about until the editing? And so on. That’s much more motivational and helpful.

I also dislike the idea that you have to avoid all adverbs. No! *clutches the adverbs* You can’t make me!

7) If you were in a band, what would your band name be?

If the author would let me, I would name it after a phrase or exclamation that I found amusing in a book. Like:
‘Asha’s Paps!’ (The Red Knight, K.T. Davies)
or
‘Great Juno’s Peacock!’ (The Roman Mysteries series, Caroline Lawrence)
or
 ‘Baby-Baby Panda’ (Geek Girl, Holly Smale).

(Thanks Lyris14 and PervoiBrushes on DeviantArt for the photoshop brushes used in creating the band logo!)

8) Oxford Commas – yes or no?

Yes!

9) What’s the most embarrassing typo or mistake you’ve ever found in your work after publication?

Hmm, well on my blog I once commented that a book was nothing like the film (which I’d seen first), not realising that the film was actually based on a later book in the series and was in fact pretty faithful to it. Oops! Thankfully, blogs can be edited after publication, so mistakes don’t have to be permanent! ;-)

10) Who’s your favourite Muppet?

Beaker! Love him.

11) Will you write me a haiku?

I can’t even begin to try to write a haiku. I will cheat and present you with the legendary haiku battle from Avatar: The Legend of Aang.

Student:
Through all the long night,
Winter moon glows with bright love,
Sleet, her silver tears.

Sokka, who was listening to the students practice, is knocked on the bottom by an ostrich and falls through the window

Sokka:

I am so sorry,

Something struck me in the rear,

I just wound up here.

Teacher:

Five, seven, then five,

Syllables mark a haiku,

Remarkable oaf.

Sokka:

They call me Sokka,

That is in the water tribe,

I am not an oaf.

Teacher:

Chittering monkey,

In the spring he climbs tree tops,

And thinks himself tall.

Sokka:

You think you’re so smart,

With your fancy little words,

This is not so hard.

Teacher:

Whole seasons are spent,

Mastering the form, the style,

None calls it easy.

Sokka:

I calls it easy,

Like I paddle my canoo,

I'll paddle yours too!

Teacher:

There’s nuts and there’s fruits,

In fall the clinging plum drops,

Always to be squashed!

Sokka:

Squish, squash, sling that slang,

I'm always right back at'cha,

Like my boomerang!

Teaher steps down

Sokka:

That’s right I'm Sokka,

It's pronounced with an okka,

Young ladies, I rocked'cha!

Sokka: Wait, counts on fingers 1...2...3...4...5......6!

Bouncer: Uh, that’s one too many syllables bud.

Sokka is flung out on his face

Eleven Questions From Me:

And finally, I'm supposed to think up eleven questions for the people I will pass the blog award on to. I'm not sure who, out of the bloggers and writers I know, would like to do one of these posts. I know some people find them too time-consuming, but I do think they're a lot of fun and would love to get to know more about the people behind the blogs and the books.

So, if you would like to answer the questions and put the blog award logo on your site, go for it! Answer my questions and pop your link in the comments. I would love to see your answers!

Meanwhile, I'm going to highlight five writers who I think you should get to know: K. T. Davies (fantasy), Jennifer Williams (fantasy), Andrew Reid (fantasy), Mhairi Simpson (fantasy and YA), Selina Lock (comics). They can feel free to answer the questions or not - no obligations! (though I'd love to see their answers) ;-)

1) What quality/talent do you admire most in a writer?

2) If you could pick any character from a film, TV series, book, or game to give a piece of your mind to, who would it be?

3) What’s your favourite sandwich filling?

4) Mary Sues... just misunderstood or really annoying?

5) If you could live in any country besides your own, where would you live?

6) What’s the most meaningful thing that’s ever happened to you?

7) Present tense in fiction... like it or loathe it?

8) An author is going to write the story of your life. Who would you like it to be?

9) Think of your favourite book. Got one? Now, what would that book be if it were an animal?

10) Flame powers or water powers?

11) Recommend me a favourite song! :-)

Top Ten Bookish Memories

Time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week it's our Top Ten Bookish Memories.

Lots of firsts on this list! In no particular order, my ten twelve best bookish memories are:

1) Starting the blog - Deciding to start this blog was such a good decision! At first I wasn't sure what to blog about; I just knew that I wanted to blog. I'd just joined Blockbusters and had been given a 14-days-of-free-films voucher, so I thought - why not reviews? Naturally, this became nearly all book reviews, with some films and games as well, and the blog has now become such a great reflection of me and my loves! And when the blog's still in its very early days, that first little face popping up on Google Friend Connect... so exciting. :-)

It will be my first blogiversary in April, and I'm sure that milestone will be another best bookish memory!

2) First review copy - This was from an indie author, a lovely woman called Greselda Heppel, and thankfully I really enjoyed her book (Ante's Inferno). Being asked to read and review someone's book, because they put value on my opinion - that's an amazing feeling!

3) First book convention - Such an amazing experience! Went from extremely nervous and not knowing anyone, to chatting quite naturally with people and going to get food with them by the end of the day. Everyone is so friendly at book conventions, and everyone will happily talk about book for hours - rooms full of my kind of people! Plus, meeting authors and hearing them read from their books is a pretty squee-inducing experience. I'll be going to conventions every year from now on!

4) Mr. Bankvole - When I was very young my dad used to make up and tell me stories about Mr. Bankvole and other wildlife living by a river. He'd do all the voices. I can still remember these so well!

5) Reading the final Harry Potter book - What a moment! Ending that series that I grew up with. Amazing, but also very sad.

6) Reading Howl's Moving Castle (and every re-read) - This is my special book, the one that will always give me a happy feeling.

7) First short story acceptance - Okay, this one's more writing than reading related, but this was such an incredible feeling!

8) First Read-a-thon - This was the 'Magnificently Magic Read-a-thon' hosted by Faye at A Daydreamer's Thoughts. I had so much fun doing this, and now I look out for as many read-a-thons as I can - I love them!

9) Being credited as an editor of a novel for the first time - This was a long time ago, but I still remember the excitement. Crashin' the Real by Deb Hoag. My name in the front of the book, and in her acknowledgements! Squeal!

10) Being accepted to write articles and book reviews for Fantasy Faction - One of the biggest genre sites online! I love this site and the people there, and being part of the staff writing team is wonderful!

Okay, I'm a big cheating cheater, because I'm going for two more...

11) Winning the first Book Drum competition - I won the competition for my profile of Homer's Odyssey, a fantastic story that I've loved for a long time.

12) Writing for the Fantasyland Herald - Because this is just so much fun, and sure to spark plenty more great memories!


What about you? What are your best bookish memories? Anything you're looking forward to or hope to achieve?

Fantasycon - Convention Report

Over the weekend I went to Fantasycon, a convention held each year for writers, editors, publishers and fans of fantasy (mainly books and short stories, but also some comics and films). This year it was held in Brighton at the Royal Albion Hotel, beginning on Thursday with a meet and greet for early arrivals, and ending on Sunday with the British Fantasy Society Awards and the Dead Dog Party.

This was my first Fantasycon and I was a little nervous. I knew a few people from Edge Lit, but this was a much bigger event and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I didn’t need to worry – everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I soon started meeting tons of new people as well as catching up with others. I can certainly see how Fantasycon has earned its reputation as the friendliest con!

Edge Lit - Convention Report

Edge Lit is a new convention for writers and fans of SF&F and horror, held in Derby (UK) and run by Alex Davis. This year’s Edge Lit took place yesterday, on Saturday 14th July at The QUAD, Derby.

With all kinds of authors and publishing professionals present, eleven different panels and talks, seven workshops, and fourteen author readings, Edge Lit was a packed and exciting day. Unfortunately, one of the guests of honour, Geoff Ryman, couldn’t make it, but Graham Joyce stepped in and gave a very interesting Question and Answer session.

Economics in Spec Fic - Podcast

In my last post I reviewed the latest issue of Clarkesworld magazine, in which an article on economics in speculative fiction particularly seized my imagination. I wished that the article could have gone a little deeper into economics in popular fiction, as well as into some well-known sci-fi such as Star Trek, but this was beyond the scope of the article. The article provided fascinating ideas about how to include economics and trade when world-building, but it left me wondering - what is the potential future of economics? Are the futures presented in some science fiction novels - and all the currently-popular dystopia stories - actually possible or realistic?

Then I came across this interview with Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, in which he discusses economics in science fiction and fantasy, with John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley from the podcast 'Geek's Guide to the Galaxy' (which is well worth checking out, by the way). Clearly economics is a hot topic in spec fic right now, and this interview is fascinating.

Just some of the subjects covered: Asimov, The Foundation and psychohistory; how alien attack will end the recession in 18 months; socialism and capitalism in sci-fi; the economics of building a death star; Star Trek's utopian vision; and what evil will really look like in the future.

Listen to the interview here.

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.