The first Blind Date I've been on in years..

Something I've noticed lots of authors do in either FAQ pages, advice to people, interviews and whatnot, is say that the best research and practice for writing is reading. And really, it makes sense. If you want to learn how to put a car together, it makes sense to see what different cars look like when they've been assembled by an expert.

Inspired by this [and overjoyed by the fact that my ability to concentrate for more than 2 seconds at a time seems to be returning (albeit slowly)], I've been reading a LOT. Anything I can get my hands on, really.. Old books I've read [what feels like] thousands of times, new books from authors I love, books from authors I don't even know! I've even been doing something that feels really reckless to a bookworm like me, and that's taking book advice without actually doing any research. So far I'm 3 for 3 [or 5 for 5 if you go by book and not author] and I'm really impressed with how much I've loved these books that are pretty much the equivalent of 'blind dates'. That is -- books a friend thought I might like, that I've never heard of and know nothing about.

Anyway, I've been raving about all of these books on pretty much every social media available to me so I thought why not do a bit of a little write up about them here! Who knows, maybe someone who reads this might be interested!

The first of my 'dates' was a trilogy of books recommended to me by Karen [otherwise known as My Twin -- and so I suppose maybe this doesnt fall under 'blind date' because it stands to reason that if she likes it, I will too (that seems to be the case for most things. haha!)], The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. I read the first of these while I was on vacation. I started reading out of boredom but then was so completely captivated that I went on to read the first and second book within 2 days of eachother [no small feat, they're almost 500 pages a piece and I had to fit sleep in there somewhere, too]!

I would classify the Black Jewels books as 'typical me' reads. I tend to be very drawn to the Dragonlance style book. Sara Douglass, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Feist.. these authors all feature prominantly in my personal library and I feel Anne Bishop fits very nicely among them, when it comes to not only writing style but also what they write about. Of course their concepts are unique, but these worlds are made up of fantasy and magic - unicorns, elves, etc. This is a 'typical me' book.

The second [or fourth if you don't count all three Anne Bishop Books as one] 'date' I had was completely on a whim. I had been recommended this book [and series - I seem to be incapable of reading books that stand alone] by a few people but it was very much at the back of my list. Anyway chance presented this book to myself and so I found myself reading Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast [of the House of Night series]. Honestly this book has been named as copying Harry Potter, copying Twilight, copying every young adults book or series under the sun but I think for what it is [comfortable fluff -- there's no real substance to the book but it's a good story and a good read if you arent needing anything too intelligent] it's fantastic.

Lastly -- but certainly not least -- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I literally put this book down 30 minutes ago after a 5 hour straight reading frenzy in which I didn't come up for air until I was done and my head is still spinning with how well written, intense and scary this novel was. I knew this book was popular in nerdy circles on the internet but I honestly had no idea what an impact it would have on me. I'm actually going to reread it [maybe even tonight].. it was THAT good. I picked this book as a 'pallet cleanser' - it isn't the kind of book I'd typically go for. But oh-my-gosh am I glad I had blind faith in those around me to pick this one up. Fantastic. Amazing. Breathtaking. I cannot say enough good words.

I don't want to ruin any of these 'blind dates' by giving you an explaination of the plot. I think that would ruin the fun of it. But give it a go - if you're going to try only one I would strongly, strongly recommend you pick The Hunger Games. In the world we live in, everyone needs to read it atleast once.

I'm still so fuzzy and submerged in this book, so I'm going to cut it short there. To recap:

The Black Jewels trilogy - Anne Bishop
Marked - P.C. and Kristin Cast
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Read something. Tomorrow! You won't regret it.

xx. A.

Lazy Saturday.

I had a great day. I slept like 11 hours [which is more than I had collectively all week, I think] without waking myself up choking or coughing. It freaking ruled. I feel like I'm finally in the uphill stretch of this chest infection. Still no voice [infact it seems to be even more gone than it was? odd?] but I'm starting to feel a lot less foggy, which is nice.

The Internet went out [thanks iiNet for being so reliable!] about 40 minutes after I woke up, and even though I spend the majority of my time online these days [what else is there to do when you're housebound the way I am most of the time?] it really wasn't that big a deal. I played 11 hours of Pokemon [haha nerd!] and listened to 14 chapters of Harry Potter and I just had a really nice, laid back day.

On the subject of Harry Potter I am reaaaally looking forward to seeing Deathly Hallows. I've read the book about 6 times now and it was probably my second favorite in the series. I haven't always liked what they've done with the movies [leaving cruicial things out, adding things that don't make sense, etc] but I guess it's the same as any book > movie adaptation, changes will be made and nobody will ever be entirely happy about it. Not sure when I'm going to go see it, at this point, but I'm in no rush - I'm sure it'll be in cinemas atleast until the next one comes out. haha! 

I guess I don't really have a lot to say, I just wanted to check in and let you all know I'm starting to feel a little better. Thank you to everyone who keeps trying to call and give wellwishes, and sorry I keep letting it go to message bank but as I mentioned above, I have literally nothing of a voice left.

Anyway I'm off to bed.. probably to play Pokemon for another hour or so.. need to get my 4th badge!

xx. A.

Project: Writers [un]Block!

I'm a book person. I've always been a book person. From the time I was old enough and strong enough to hold it up, I'm told, I've had my nose stuck in one. I live vicariously through the characters in the worlds my favorite authors [really, ANY authors.. I'll read anything] have created and for hours at a time, everything else ceases to exist.

When I was younger, if you'd asked me or anyone who knew me what I wanted to be, I/they would've replied either "a Vet" or "a Writer".. and honestly the Vet thing was a phase that passed as soon as I realised I had to do more than just play with the fuzzy animals and occassionally there'd be blood [eww!] involved. For years I was involved in Roleplay and Writing Clubs, I shunned the outside -- content with the world I and my friends had created from nothing but text and our imagination. I lived and breathed these characters, I knew my favorite characters responses to any question even better than I knew my own, really.

I would stay up, night after night, living on 2-3 hours sleep just so that I could push my creativity a little further. I wrote at school during lunch, I wrote during classes that were not designed for writing [sorry maths class, you suck!], I wrote on the bus on the way home. Half of what I wrote was garbage, but it just came so freely and easily that I could just cut out the bad bits later, if I even bothered to edit something old instead of just writing something completely new.

Somewhere along the way though I got lost. I found "real life" friends, I became interested in parties and video games and TV, I got a job -- and a boyfriend! I stopped living so much in my online bubble, I stopped carrying a notepad with me everywhere. I lost a part of me that I'm not sure will ever completely return. It became harder and harder for me to just sit down and write. There was no "flow". So eventually, I just stopped trying. Other than a few half-hearted blogs here and there, and the occassional spot of poetry I haven't seriously written anything since I left highschool. And that's sad. And wrong. And it's going to change!

A few days ago I received a book I'd ordered called "Everything I know about Writing" - by John Marsden [author of the popular Tomorrow When The War Began series (one of my favorite series of all time, by the way)]. This was a book I'd read in my teens, curled away in the corner of the highschool library somewhere and I'd remembered enjoying it. . so on impulse [I received a gift voucher for there for my birthday] I purchased it!

At the end of the book there's a segment called "600 Writing Topics" and these are sorted into categories such as quickies, discursive, poetry, personal, limits, letters, etc. Basically it's a bunch of one liners and the idea is either to answer the question or to use the line as inspiration. I've decided I'm going to complete the list and I've invited a few friends to try it out with me. And if anyone who reads this is interested in maybe giving it a go feel free to comment with your responses! I'm not sure how often I'm going to do these segments -- there are a few I want to tackle immediately so they might come more frequently in the beginning and then slow down to a once a week thing afterward, or I might really enjoy it and it'll become daily.. I don't know I haven't really ironed out the details.

Anyway, I'm going to make a new post for my first question because this one is already years long. I'm trying to think of a snappy name for it, but my 'working name' for now is "Project Writers [un]Block!" [or PWuB I guess for short] and is extremely subject to change.

I'm excited!

xx. A.