Randomness

Hey hey, what have you lot been up to? I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that I have *not* been watching lots of Jersey Shore and The Inbetweeners and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and being idle. Um. Yeah.


So. Some things.


1. There's a new blog in town and it's a good 'un. The awesome Keris Stainton, Susie Day and Keren David (the Charlie's Angels of the UK YA scene) have only gone and set up a whole blog dedicated to UK YA. It celebrates all that is great about British YA literature, so go check it out if you're at all interested in British books (and if you're not interested, then what the hell are you doing here? Just kidding... sort of). My favourite section is Britishisms, where you can go to translate our crazy lingo and realize it's not all rhyming slang and cor blimey, guvnor.


2. Here's a song for your ears. This track got me through the last couple of months of first draftage of book three. It's the acoustic version of You Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless and it is made entirely of awesome.

3. I read and loved this book:

From Amazon: When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.

But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.

Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship—one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to “fix” her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self—even if she’s not exactly sure who that is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules.

4. I should probably tell you about that crazy time last weekend when ENTANGLED was number two in the UK Kindle chart for ALL THE BOOKS, snuggling up next to THE HUNGER GAMES... but it all seems like a bit of a dream now. I have been assured by a number of people that it did in fact happen though, and all I can say to that is BAHAHAHAHAHA.

5. I've run out of Things. Here's a Griffpup pic instead of an Actual Thing.

Right, that's your lot for now. I must away for there is book planning to be done. I've got my Sharpies, a big sheet of paper and a head full of ideas. Laterz.

Confession time

OK, here's the thing. I'm a writer, right? But for the past few months I've been a writer who doesn't, y'know, write. 


I think this little fella was partly to blame for this sad state of affairs...

But it's not exactly fair to blame a cute little pupster for me being crap. Because that's exactly what I've been: CRAP. The real reason is... I just haven't wanted to write. I got 50,000 words into the WIP and realized I had no earthly clue what should happen next. Instead of sitting down with a notepad and working it out, I decided to ignore the problem. Surprise, surprise, this wasn't the best solution. 


Every time I even thought about opening the word document I would feel vaguely sick and massively uneasy. I would rather do ANYTHING than write - anything at all. But the thing is, when I don't write, I feel horrible. I mean, really, really horrible. I feel guilty and useless and pointless and blah. I was honestly starting to wonder if I'd ever finish this book. The deadline isn't getting any further away, and I already know this book's going to need some major rewrites (something I've never done before... eek). So everything was looking a bit rubbish, really. Apart from the puppy. Thank God for the puppy.


But then... but then... Something happened. I'm not sure what, exactly. But I started writing again this weekend. I still have no idea where the story is going, but now I really want to find out. And that ain't going to happen unless I write the bloomin' thing. 


Thankfully, a few factors suddenly came together to make me want to write again...


There's this song...

And this one...

There's also a playlist that one of my very favourite people created for me (thanks, Fras!). And the encouragement and help kindly provided by another awesome friend (thank you, Lauren!). And not forgetting the sensible advice from the lovely Zoë Marriott and my favourite email buddy, Lara. All these things went into the pot and helped me serve up a big ol' bowl of writing stew this weekend. And I'm still going. I do hope I haven't jinxed it by telling you lot.


So I'd better get back to it, eh?

Some thoughts

1. Have you read AMERICAN GODS, by Neil Gaiman? You probably have. According to Twitter I seem to be the very last person in the known universe to read it. And if you haven't read it, what are you waiting for? It's bloody brilliant. I read the 'author's preferred text', which is something like 12,000 words longer than the original book. I'd be very interested in comparing the two versions and may well do so one day. Unless one of you has read both and can save me the time?

2. I somehow got involved in a Facebook conversation about fanciable cartoon characters. Any favourites you want to tell me about? You tell me yours and maybe, just maybe, I'll tell you mine.

3. I've ventured into the world of Google+. Am liking it muchly so far. There's something very satisfying about putting people in circles. I hope the arrival of Google+ will force Facebook to buck up its ideas, especially regarding privacy.

4. This song is rocking my socks off right now. Bwani Junction are going to be BIG.

5. Last, but by no means least... This little fella is arriving tomorrow:

That's all from me. What's going on with YOU?

Music!

Last week I ran a contest on Twitter, asking people to tell me about a song that perfectly encapsulates ENTANGLED. There were a lot of awesome entries, which made me very happy.

Here is the winning song (chosen by @discolemonkayy), followed by a couple of my other favourites. What do you think? Any more to add?

Oh look, it's 2011.

Happy New Year and all that shiz. I trust you're not too hungover? Good.

Just to let you know that I'm over at Wondrous Reads today, talking to Jenny about music. In case you didn't know, Jenny is a music guru. In fact, I reckon she should start some sort of music consultancy service. If you do head over to check out this interview, you have to promise you won't laugh at the inclusion of Avril Lavigne. Do you PROMISE? OK, you may click on the link now.

In other news, I cooked beef last night and it turned out to be so overcooked I nearly cried.

In other other news, I am going to visit my nephew this afternoon to see if the indoor boomerang I got him for Christmas actually works.

In other other other news, I want to play Mario Kart, but I seem to have lost a vital connecty thingummyjig that goes in the back of the TV, so I can't. Sigh.

Cry me a river

Yesterday was a slowwwwww writing day. I thought I would NEVER finish writing a certain scene, and it wasn't even a particularly interesting scene either. But I persevered, and little by little, I got there. And my characters started talking about something I hadn't expected them to talk about - not yet anyway. And the opening notes of a song came on my blip.fm playlist and I CRIED! 


Was it the song? Was it the scene? Was it a combination of the two? (I strongly suspect the latter.) Whatever it was, it reinvigorated me. It made me want to keep writing. So I listened to the song again. And again. And again. I can be obsessive like that. And the words started to flow... at last.


'What's the song?' I hear you cry. My Heart Will Go On, by Celine Dion, perhaps?
Nope. It's this song, recommended to me by musical guru Jenny at Wondrous Reads. Please enjoy.



Now I'm officially on the lookout for songs that make people cry. Recommendations please!

Music vs Silence

I need to listen to music when I write. At least, I think this is true, but having never actually tried to write without music I can’t say for sure, can I? But I strongly suspect this is the case. Besides, I need SOMETHING to drown out the gallumphing children next door, the slamming doors, the super-deep voice of the man who lives downstairs.

I tend to listen to the same stuff over and over again when I’m writing. It takes a lot for me to get bored of a song if it happens to fit the mood of my novel. Here’s the overly long playlist I created when I was finishing off my first novel. Someday I’m going to edit it down to create the definitive-bestest-of-the-bestest-with-no-fillers version. I’m hoping that process won’t be anything like as hard as cutting words from the novel. (Ouch. I can still feel the pain.)

A few days ago I was listening to Lady Gaga for the very first time, and a new story idea popped into my head – just like that. I got pretty excited about it and wrote a page of random, barely decipherable notes. I was very tempted to start writing it straight away, but like a good girl I forced myself to be disciplined. One story at a time is more than enough for me, I reckon. But the idea is fizzing away there somewhere at the back of my brain. I’ve no doubt that by the time I come to actually write the story, it will have transformed into something entirely different from the original idea BUT without that spark of Gaga inspiration, I’d have a big pile of absolutely nothing. Gaga, I salute you!

So my question to you is this... Do you listen to music when you write? If so, who and why? I’m ready to broaden my musical horizons, so bring it on!