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12 Books in 12 Months

writing books and blogging about it

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reading

Book Hangover

You know when you read something completely immersive and wonderful and you almost don’t want to finish but you find yourself racing to the end because you want to know how it will be resolved and all the loose ends are accounted for in a narratively satisfying manner? The sort of book that makes you do a little cry or maybe a manful sigh at the end and then you go on Goodreads and give it five stars and look at the reviews by people that didn’t like it and put them on your enemy list.

And you know how later, when you return to your own work in progress – which is a completely different project and isn’t supposed to resemble the thing you just read in any way – you see just how far you still have to go with it and the whole thing makes you feel very tired even though it’s Saturday and you’ve had ten hours sleep and two coffees.

And you know how then you sit and eat pringles and listen to Red Sparowes and Explosions in the Sky as your living room gets darker and darker (it’s probably going to rain soon, like nature knows you need a bit of pathetic fallacy in your life) and think ‘there’s no point blogging about it, I need to crack on,’ but you’re not sure how to start somehow so you blog about it anyway?

That’s been my afternoon.

Silent(ish) Sunday

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As some of you may remember, I am involved in a relay writing project with a bunch of lovely people I met on the internet. Entitled ‘The Life and Times of a Working Barbarian’ it involves each of us taking it in turns to pen instalments of a gripping fantasy saga containing lots of Strong Female Characters and, apparently, a fair number of worms.

For various reasons the barbarian took a bit of a break at the start of this year, so what with one thing and another I haven’t written a chapter since the start of October 2013. I’m therefore spending my afternoon reminding myself what has happened since, as it turns out my next chapter goes live tomorrow. There’s nothing quite as motivating as having totally forgotten an impending deadline…

I strongly urge you to do the same, and check back tomorrow to vote on what happens next.

Talking the Talk (with Henry David Thoreau)

I just found this on Pinterest (because where else would I be on a Saturday afternoon when I told myself I’d get some writing and editing finished), and I felt the urge to pick it apart a bit (because again, I’m supposed to be working).

Thoreau quote: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you've imagined

‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you’ve imagined’ – Henry David Thoreau.

Continue reading “Talking the Talk (with Henry David Thoreau)”

This One Goes Out To The One I Love

As a person with aspirations of one day publishing a book rather than just drafting them, I spend about 60% of my time devising witty* dedications for the title pages of projects I have yet to finish.

Dedications are often slightly boring – ‘for [insert relative here]’ type messages, but occasionally they’re revealing, or hilarious, or heartbreaking.  An internet (and personal) favourite is from Jenny Lawson‘s excellent book Let’s Pretend This Never Happened:

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Alas, even with the drafts of 12 books on my hard drive and a further two in progress it’s unlikely I am ever going to have enough stuff published to warrant the number of dedications I’ve come up with, particularly given that many of them are for total strangers.  So I thought I’d post some here. Continue reading “This One Goes Out To The One I Love”

What To Read In 2014

Are you one of those people who has trouble deciding what to read next?  Perhaps you accumulate books like bankers accumulate bonuses, and you’ve got so many you don’t quite know where to start?  This is, after all, one of the occupational hazards of being an enthusiastic reader.

reading-list

In 2014, might I suggest that you occasionally base your decision on the gender of the author?  I’ll tell you for why.

Continue reading “What To Read In 2014”

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

The new weekly photo challenge from The Daily Post is ‘Inside‘.  So here’s a nosy of what’s inside my bag:

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And here’s a look inside of the blue notebook in said bag:

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Stories are inside, is essentially what I’m saying.  I’m deep like that.

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