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12 Books in 12 Months

writing books and blogging about it

Foreshadows: Changing the way we read

Every so often, someone comes along and tries to change the way we do things.

This is particularly relevant in the world of the written word.  When some genius decided to go from cave paintings to papyrus scrolls* there was uproar in the publishing industry.  Nobody had done it before and so nobody could envision doing it differently, but now we wouldn’t read our ancient Egyptian texts any other way.  Similarly at the time of William Shakespeare, nobody gave a toss about fixed spelling (Bill spelt his name in several different ways) but these days we’re always getting ourselves worked up about kids using text speak instead of proper English.

Obviously we’ve had a lot of chat about the digital revolution on this blog, what with the Great Kindle Challenge and asking almost all interviewees for their thoughts on eBooks and such.  But what is the next evolutionary step in reading experience?  I’m glad you asked.

Continue reading “Foreshadows: Changing the way we read”

Do Writers Need to Read?

I have written about the difficulties of conflicting advice for writers on a number of occasions, but one thing that always crops up everywhere is that you cannot write unless you read.  You have to do this all the time, widely and critically, fiction and nonfiction, books, papers, magazines and even blogs.

But why?

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How to write blog comments

On Monday I talked about blog comments – more specifically the fact that even when I enjoy reading something I don’t necessarily leave a message to say so.

I mentioned this is because if I was going to say something I’d want it to add value to the discussion, or at the very make me appear pithy / wise / hilarious to other readers…. But also conceded that I love getting comments on my blog regardless of what they say, because the important thing is someone stayed long enough to read an entire post. People often get here by accident – sometimes looking for Glempy, Sandra, or Michelle; other times because some of my tags are a bit facetious.

Still, I’m rarely inundated with chat in the comments section and I reckon this is partly down to the fact that lurking readers do the same thing as me – read (or skim), go ‘I see. Well, I have nothing to add,’ and move on.  But help is at hand!  From now on you will always have something to add – just choose from one of my top ten pithy and insightful blog comments*, listed below. Copying and pasting has never made a blogger feel so validated.

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Author Interview – Gemma Malley

Today I am posting an interview with YA author Gemma Malley (who you might also have come across as Chick Lit writer Gemma Townley, sister of Madeleine Wickham/Sophie Kinsella – totally irrelevant to this article but nevertheless quite interesting!)  I first came across her when I was working at the library and picked up a shiny copy of The Declaration, the first in a trilogy set in a future where drugs have eliminated old age and people are prevented from having children because there’s no room for them.  It’s well worth a read, as are the other books in the series, The Resistance and The Legacy – particularly if you like a bit of future dystopia. Continue reading “Author Interview – Gemma Malley”

How to Blog

My name is Ali and I’ve been blogging for ten years.

I am him.

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Pictonaut Challenge – Any Direction

This month’s Pictonaut Challenge is Sci Fi, in honour of the release of Mass Effect 3. That’s a computer game, for those not in the know, and to be brutally honest it is of little significance in my life. My gaming habits are restricted to endless Tetris and getting stuck on Monkey Island, with a bit of Wii Bowling/MarioKart for luck. Mass Effect 3, meanwhile, ‘plunges you into an all-out galactic war to take Earth back from a nearly unstoppable foe.’ No coloured blocks or weak puns, then.

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