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camwritesbooks · 6 years ago

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writing asks: all odd numbers !!

3. is there a book you regret buying?

there are quite a few books I’ve bought over time that I knew I was going to hate but got anyway, usually just so I could complain (which is a dumb reason to buy a book when you could buy one you’d actually enjoy tbh). the most recent book I kind of regret buying was what if it’s us cause I really didn’t enjoy the 50% or so of it that I read (that was just what I found, if you like it that’s fine tastes are different!), but I don’t feel a great deal of regret about that. it has a nice cover at least.

5. how many books do you own?

ok, I’m going to do this. I’m going to go count all my books. here are the results:

just general mostly YA books on my shelf: 47warrior cats shelf of nostalgic adoration: 62 (yes, 62)cupboard of ugly books some of which I don’t even like: 34(total = 143)

and that’s not counting my enid blyton/children’s classics cupboard, my illustrated/bigger books and all the other random books I stuck up in the attic so they weren’t in my room anymore. I really need to unhaul a heap of my books tbh. (except for the warriors ones. in fact I need to buy more of those).

13. what’s the first story or oc that your current self can be proud of?

although I am somewhat proud of my cringey lord of the rings oc/weird immortal goddess story past (which I’m going to be sharing for my one year anniversary in february btw!! get ready for the worst thing ever), the first thing that I’m still super proud of was this fairytale-style short story I wrote in year five. it was a school assignment that we had to write a short story for a book put together by the teacher, one story per student. anyway I wrote this thing which was essentially the origins of ara, from cursed queen! it was pretty decent and I remember even the most horrible boy in the glass (who hated me) told me how good it was. it was my first success, I guess? and I have very fond memories of it.

15. how many drafts does your work go through before you’re ready to show it to people or publish?

well I’ve never exactly finished something before, whoops. but I’m onto my third try with valkrya, for example, and I’m probably going to start a fourth soon. and by that I mean literally just starting all over again. things like my bodyguard au I don’t redraft, I just revise it vaguely and then post it because I can’t be bothered.

17. what’s something you wish you would’ve learned earlier as a writer?

that it’s okay if it’s shit the first time you write it! just keep going and come back later. it’s my thing now that I don’t stop to edit or change things (unless absolutely necessary) so I can’t get as much done as possible.

19. do you tend to read more articles, blogs, or books about writing for tips and tricks? watch videos? make it up as you go along? something else?

not really any of those? if I see a helpful post on tumblr I’ll reblog, but I rarely go back to look at those. most of the time I just wing it I guess.

25. don’t think, don’t hesitate, just write a few lines of the first thing that comes to your mind.

Raven raised a hand to feel the weathered stone of the ruins as she’d done many times before. She often wondered about the people who had used to live here. The spirits told her very little. They spoke only in fractured whispers, murmurings she could barely understand even though she tried with all her might to hear. A new sensation began to creep in at the edges of her consciousness. Something horrible, and evil, slowly crawling across the earth. The forest around her was silent, truly silent, but she could still feel it coming.The whispering spirits grew louder than usual, their jagged voices hurting her ears. The words they spoke were indiscernible, but for once Raven could understand what they meant. Run, or die.

none of you know what that refers to or who raven is, but you will come february :)

thank you june, have a lovely day!! the other odd numbers are answered.

⇝ WRITER ASK GAME

#ask #ikilledmyocs

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limejuicer1862 · 5 years ago

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Liz Brownlee

is a National Poetry Day Ambassador, A School Patron of Reading, and does readings and workshops in schools, performs at literary festivals and libraries etc., and organises poetry events.

Her other books are Reaching the Stars, Poems about Extraordinary Women and Girls, Liz Brownlee, Jan Dean and Michaela Morgan, Macmillan, The Same inside, Poems About Empathy and Friendship, Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, Macmillan, Apes to Zebras, An A-Z of Animal Shape Poems, Liz Brownlee, Sue Hardy-Dawson and Roger Stevens, Bloomsbury, and Be the Change, Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow, and Roger Stevens, Macmillan.

[email protected]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I’d been writing stories for my local primary school, and a friend suggested I should go on a writing course. I can’t drive, and when some time later she said she had to go on a creative writing course and would I like to go with her, I accepted. Then, when someone else we got to know there turned out to live near enough to give me a lift, she dropped out. Her creative writing enthusiasm was really a ruse to get me there (I have some very good friends).

The (luckily) excellent tutor said the first thing I wrote showed I was a poet. Subsequent writing did seem to confirm this, and I enjoyed it. I wrote my first children’s poem there about my son, who stuffed his pockets full of all sorts of things, which ended up in the washing machine.

Then the second friend asked me if I’d like to accompany her to Bath Uni for a course and gave me the list of courses to choose from. One was for children’s poets, run by children’s poet Mike Johnson, serendipitously on the same day and at the same time as the course she was doing. He sent off some of my course poems with his to poet anthologists and I was published (thanks, Mike!). In fact, that first poem I wrote was my second to be published. When my first poem was published, my mum gave me a box from her attic – it was called ‘Lizzy’s kiddy drawings and poems.’ I’d forgotten all about my earlier efforts!

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Poetry was everywhere when we were little. There were always children’s pages in all the newspapers, with puzzles, cartoons, crosswords and poems. My first poetry book was called Jolly Jingles, read to my brother and I often by my mum and dad, and I still have it. Children’s annuals always contained poetry – Treasure Annual introduced me to Edward Lear’s The Pobble, who drank lavender water tinged with pink, and who lost all his toes swimming in the Bristol Channel – very glamorous and slightly unsettling to a child who was born in Bristol. R L Stevenson’s From a Railway Carriage was wonderful to charge around quoting – who could not fall in love with the rhythm of Faster than fairies, faster than witches/Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches! AND – my favourite poem read in childhood, Overheard on a Saltmarsh by Harold Munro, which still sends shivers up and down my arms.

At Grammar School, we had a wonderful English teacher (who is still alive), who read us delights to tingle spines and make us breathless, such as The Listeners by Walter De la Mare, and Tarantella by Hillaire Belloc. Other poets were introduced by the O and A Level curriculum.

3. What is your daily writing routine?

I get up. Have breakfast. Do some Tweeting and any blog work that needs done, and round about 11 when I have finally woken up after a coffee I start researching, or writing, depending what stage I’m at. It takes a while to get into the writing. Lots of false starts. Lots of deleting and starting again in a different form or style or pace or angle. If I’m deeply into a project of writing I will start that straight away and carry on, my husband comes home around 7, and I’m still at it, and I often continue through the evening, because once I have got going, I find it hard to stop. The final poem may not be the final poem. Sometimes it takes a few weeks or months of tweaking. Sometimes you just know that is it.

4. What motivates you to write?

Enjoyment.

5. What is your work ethic?

Write the truth.

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I loved animals and read a lot of animal books, Gerald Durrell, James Herriot, and lots of non-fiction facts about animals. I write a lot of animal poetry. But I also read a LOT of fiction, very eclectically, favourites being Aldous Huxley, Isaac Asimov, all Brontës, Jane Austen, John Wyndham, Franz Kafka, Heinrich Böll, J R Tolkein, Stephen King, Harper Lee, Madeleine L’Engle, Ursula Le Guin, Enid Blyton, J Meade Faulkner, Marjorie Rawlings (never read the Yearling again, too sad!) E Nesbitt, Alan Garner, C S Lewis … my parents did not censor anything. I made no distinction between adult or children’s books and read them both, and have done ever since. I think everything you read influences you and feeds into the rhythms in your mind that you can source to create.

7. Which writers do you admire the most and why?

I don’t admire anyone the most. How can you? People are so different, writers are so different, you read them all for different experiences. I can tell you my favourite books – To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (we read this at school, and my teacher let me keep my copy as she could see I was having hard time handing it back!), Welcome to the Monkey House, Kurt Vonnegut Jr The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, Brady Udall, Cancer Ward, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, Time Must Have a Stop, Aldous Huxley, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, The Chrysalids, John Wyndham, Helen Dunmore and Bill Bryson always, and anything by Paul Auster, Tim Winton and Raymond Chandler, those spare prose styles I find delicious, I Robot Isaac Asimov, oh, I can’t write them all – anything that makes me laugh.

Poets? Let’s just say I try and read everything I can get my hands on. Particular favourites, Ted Hughes, Stevie Smith, Leonard Cohen, Pablo Neruda. Children’s poets? I read them ALL. Lots are my friends. I have my favourites but I’m not saying.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

My brain flits. Poetry fits the flits.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Read a lot. Write a lot. Go to a writing class. Never expect to finish learning how to write.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

My newest book, just out, is Be the Change, Poems to Help You Save the World. I was noticing and reading that children are worried about the continuous feed of worrying information about the climate crisis. They are powerless, and that makes them feel more scared. The poems in the book, which I’ve written with Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, address most of the 17 UN sustainability goals, and each poem has little tips at the end, which give a child small ways of helping the climate themselves. Having something constructive to do helps with anxiety. And I believe that if we all pull together, we can save the world. Here is the last poem in the book:

Snow

Swirling slowly in lilting flight, as cold as stars, the soundless white

of drifting feathers spreading wings, to sing the songs that snowflakes sing,

of how small gifts of peace and light can change the world in just one night.

>© Liz Brownlee

I’ve also just handed in a book of shape poems about people who have shaped the world – this is an anthology and my first project as an editor. I thoroughly enjoyed this process!

I’m busy writing for another few books, but it’s too soon to mention those – but it is true that I am never happier than when ‘ping’ I suddenly ‘get’ how to shape the words I want into a poem, or how to shape the words I’ve already written into a shape poem, or when I’m shaping poems into a book.

12. Do you do anything other than write children’s poetry?

I used to draw a lot. If I’m not writing I have strong urges to do something else creative – draw, sew, make something! But if I’m not writing, and even when I am writing, I run several websites and Twitter accounts. I have my own blog which I add to fairly often (http://www,lizbrownleepoet.com), and Poetry Roundabout (http://www.poetryroundabout.com), a website on which I post anything and everything to do with children’s poetry, there is an A-Z of current children’s poets, I’m doing a series of famous children’s poets and their favourite children’s poetry books at the minute, and I also post reviews, information for poets and people who love poetry, poetry news and competitions etc. I believe supporting children’s poets and poetry helps us all. Then there’s my Twitter – https://twitter.com/Lizpoet I also post the blogs on the Children’s Poetry Summit blog (https://childrenspoetrysummit.com/) and run that Twitter account, https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit And last but not least, I walk my assistance dog, Lola.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Liz Brownlee Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

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jennyjeffries · 6 years ago

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Two things involving words that I have not done for a while: I haven’t written a blog and I certainly have not sent off any Christmas cards. So here I sit on a Friday night, deciding to kill two birds with one stone.

Looking back at this last year, I must say it is a vast improvement on some of the recent previous. We lost Mum in 2016, and it took a while to get used to not having her wonderful presence around. Last year I wrote my longest self-published book ‘Auckland to Orkney’ after spending weeks roaming Scotland. I figured I’ll have a go at jotting down the significant events of this year, which (unbelievably) is nearly over.

February: The week long camping trip up at Kai Iwi lakes. This is a wonderful summer tenting holiday–usually–and although my sis and I got a few days of swimming in the clear fresh water and reading, the winds began to howl around us, and the rain threatened, so we packed up and went North instead. Visited a few places I haven’t been in a while and stayed in motels or B&Bs.

April saw the weather more settled and a small but heartwarming gathering of our small church to see the sun rise for Easter morning.

May and June: Helen (sis) and I headed off for six weeks to the UK. We hung out for a few days with our dear friends in Bournemouth visiting some of the local sites.

We flew from London to Tirana, Albania, to meet up with some folk from small house church gatherings along with other women from the UK, USA and the Netherlands. It was glorious.

Then we went to Paris for a couple of days, hanging out at Montmartre.

We took the fast train to the south of France, and stayed in St. Remy, Provence, going out each day to visit various of the many quaint picturesque spots nearby. Every day was full of glory, from a clear green river that poured out of a mountainside, to the Van Gogh sanitarium where he spent many years, to the Roman ruins just outside St Remy. Two weeks of enjoying Provence- and we even found an early field of lavender.

We flew direct from Marseilles to Dublin, where Helen experience Ireland for the first time, and I saw how much it had changed since I saw it thirty years ago. Our trip to Ireland finished with a trip out to County Wicklow.

July, and we were well and truly back in wintery Auckland, both of us at new jobs. Mine was as a PhD Administrator for the School of Engineering, Computer & Maths Sciences at AUT University. I am working three days a week there, but it is busy, and the other two days are spent even busier at home. I had found out the day before we left to go to the UK that my first fiction book – An Unexpected Highlander – was accepted by a publisher, and so I came home and began my second historical romantic fiction (of course!). Somewhat surprisingly, my strongest supporters turned out to be a group of engineering tutors and supervisors who I got to know going up to level 6 to make my coffee in the morning. I became known as ‘Enid’ in honour of Enid Blyton. And so the long winter months progressed:

By September, I completed the final edits on my new book, and in October it was published and for sale through Boroughs Publishing Group (LA) or Amazon. Needless to say, I was and still am, excited and thrilled.

Also this month, I received an intriguing request from someone I didn’t know. Initially I ignored it until the person identified themselves as a child who I had taught back in 1980, in my third year teaching. They had organised a meet up at a local pub, and to my delight and surprise, a small group of ex-pupils from Edendale Primary School were there, and one of the teachers I had taught with. A happy reunion indeed!

Mid-October I flew to Brisbane, and was picked up by a fellow Outlander fan and her husband, and stayed the night with them before Amanda drove us on a lengthy day-long journey down to Glen Innes in NSW for a ‘Through the Stones’ Outlander Gathering. Here I met up with a wonderful boisterous bunch of mainly women from the ANZOFs group (Australian and New Zealand Outlander Fans), and we spent three days delighting in all things Scottish and Outlander, even meeting David Berry, who plays Lord John in the show.

In November, I sent my second novel to the publisher and am currently awaiting the response. I am halfway through my teen novel about a boy who is transformed by a magical pearl and can breathe underwater.

It is now December. Endless functions rounding up the year have happened at work. I have taken to cycling the three days I work in town, to try and improve my exercise – if the weather is not too bad. Have even managed to cycle a couple of times with my older brother and younger sister, which was great. We are all looking forward to summer, which has only hinted at being here. Christmas is a couple of weeks away, and then the true holidays begin.

I hope you who are reading this, have a peaceful, festive, fun season, and can face 2019 with hope and cheerful anticipation, as I am.

2018 was a good year Two things involving words that I have not done for a while: I haven't written a blog and I certainly have not sent off any Christmas cards.

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jenmedsbookreviews · 7 years ago

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Today it’s my great pleasure to be welcoming author Patricia M Osborne to the blog in order to spread a little more book love. We’ll be taking a look at all Patricia’s book love choices just as soon as we’ve found out a little more about the woman herself.

About Patricia

Patricia M Osborne was born in Liverpool and spent time in Bolton as a child. She now lives in West Sussex. Apart from novel writing, Patricia writes poetry and short fiction. Her poetry and short stories have been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. She is studying for an MA in Creative Writing with University of Brighton. House of Grace is her debut novel.

When Patricia isn’t writing she likes to try and play her piano. She’s also interested in photography and art and loves walking, particularly around her local Victorian Park and lake where she is Poet in Residence.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

…

House of Grace

It’s 1950 and all sixteen-year-old Grace Granville has ever wanted is to become a successful dress designer. She dreams of owning her own fashion house and spends her spare time sketching outfits. Her father, Lord Granville, sees this frivolous activity as nonsense and wants to groom her into a good wife for someone of his choosing…

Grace is about to leave Greenemere, a boarding school in Brighton. She’s blissfully unaware of her father’s plans when she embarks on a new adventure. The quest includes a trip to Bolton’s Palais where she meets coal miner, Jack Gilmore. Grace’s life is never the same again.

Travel with Grace through two decades as she struggles with family conflict, poverty and tragedy. Is Grace strong enough to defy Lord Granville’s wishes and find true love? Will she become a successful fashion designer? Where will she turn for help?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Childhood Sweetheart Favourite book from childhood

An old 1950’s Rupert Annual. I think my mum brought it home one day from a jumble sale when I was about five. It obviously had quite an impact on me as I regularly feature a Rupert book in my fictional stories.

First love The first book you fell in love with

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I was around nine years old when I fell in love with this little red book with its thin pages and tiny print. I remember my teacher was cross with me and said I should be reading an Enid Blyton Famous Five or Secret Seven story instead. To do this day I’ve never read either, probably out of stubbornness. My late sister however, was a great fan.

Biggest book crush The book character you’re totally in love with

Bernard Cornwell’s, Uhtred of Bebbanburg from The Last Kingdom series. I fell in love with this wonderful character as I turned the pages in the book. I wasn’t disappointed in the recent television screening either, the actor they chose fitted the bill nicely.

Weirdest book crush Well… duh

Stephanie Meyer’s, Twilight Series. A member of my book group chose Twilight for her book choice. I was hooked and read the whole series within a few days, craving for more of this vampire, Edward Cullen. Craving for a vampire, how weird is that? Unfortunately, once I watched the film my dream hero vanished. The actor chosen to play this character was not at all as I’d imagined.

Hardest break up The book you didn’t want to end

All the Light We Cannot See. This was such a brilliant book that I did not want it to end.

The one that got away The book in your TBR or wish list that you regret not having started yet.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. I don’t know how come I’ve never read this and since the series has been on television, friends have told me that the novel is even better. Chilling, frightening and unthinkable, but only what I’d expect from this talented writer.

Secret love Guilty Reading pleasure

I have to admit that I love a bit of Catherine Cookson, Virginia Andrews and Danielle Steel and until I joined my book club thirteen years ago this was all I seemed to read. However, I’m now open to reading all genres as each month a member chooses a book. It’s quite an eye opener as you end up reading all sorts of books that you’d never have chosen yourself.

Love one, love them all Favourite series or genre

I love fantasy, futuristic, sci-fi, romance and family sagas. I particularly loved the Time Traveller’s Wife. I’ve never really been into crime or westerns.

Your latest squeeze Favourite read of the last 12 months

Emma Donohue’s, Room. I read this as research into child narrators for my work in progress. I would definitely recommend it as a great read. The book is much better than the film.

Blind date for a friend If you were to set a friend up with a blind date (book) which one would it be?

Margaret Attwood’s Oryx and Crake. This was our first read when a group of mums got together thirteen years ago to start a book club. It has become a bit of a joke that when a new member joins they have to read Oryx and Crake as a form of an initiation. It seems you either love it or hate it. Personally, I loved it.

Greatest love of all Favourite book of all time.

All The Light We Cannot See, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction 2015. You will note that it’s the same book that I never wanted to end. It was chosen as a group read for my book club and it’s probably the best book I’ve ever read, beautifully written and moving. Although it’s got 531 pages, it’s broken down into small chapters, which I like, making it manageable with a busy lifestyle.

If you haven’t read it, I definitely recommend it. I’m so pleased that I belong to my book group because otherwise I may never have thought of choosing this.

Thanks for taking part Patricia. Some really interesting and diverse choices there. MIght have to go and look a few up myself. I loved Rupert too as a child, and Little Women had more than just a few outings over the years too. I’ve not read All The Light We Cannot See yet but I’ve seen quite a few people recommend it. Might have to take a look.

What do you think guys? Any recommendations for Patricia that you think she’d like?

Make sure to join me this weekend when author Eve Seymour spills the beans on her #booklove.

Have a great week all

#Booklove: Patricia M Osborne @PMOsborneWriter Today it's my great pleasure to be welcoming author Patricia M Osborne to the blog in order to spread a little more book love.

#Book Love #Patricia M Osborne

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