tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58719386869571053892024-03-13T22:57:09.687+00:00Pam's Writing ExploitsPam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-18740489802161237282017-04-23T08:00:00.000+01:002017-04-23T08:00:00.167+01:00Book recommendations for World Book Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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For anyone who doesn't know, World Book Day is a global celebration of reading, authors, and books, recognized in over 100 countries worldwide.</div>
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I thought I'd mark the occasion by listing a few books I've particularly enjoyed in the last few months.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsfyVv00i5wIDUXySej6vG1YJSm-vNWhZZGHb0pAy0xpLQ96K8y8o9d7QlkGWQKPGlQNOexeNHO4Lk_JE4uDi08tEQ6KNInUFIC9EtmVzuCDoNGIVhUGNrz7dRL-3w8EsmLbuSC_jB98/s1600/FangirlWIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsfyVv00i5wIDUXySej6vG1YJSm-vNWhZZGHb0pAy0xpLQ96K8y8o9d7QlkGWQKPGlQNOexeNHO4Lk_JE4uDi08tEQ6KNInUFIC9EtmVzuCDoNGIVhUGNrz7dRL-3w8EsmLbuSC_jB98/s200/FangirlWIP.jpg" width="131" /></a><i>Fangirl</i> by Rainbow Rowell. (YA contemporary) I've been very slow in getting around to reading this, but I really enjoyed it. What I particularly liked was that it was a story about a normal girl, but within that there were sections of her fanfic and the story she based her fanfic on. I liked that it was a normal everyday story and that it was a fantasy story all in one.</div>
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<i>My Naughty Little Sister</i> series by Dorothy Edwards, illustrated by Shirley Hughes. (Childrens contemporary-ish!) I've loved this series since I was a little girl. The stories are about a little girl and the mischief she gets up to with her friend Bad Harry. They're short and very sweet, lovely for bedtime stories or for a bit of nostalgia if, like me, you read them when you were younger.<br />
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<i>Murder for Christmas</i> by Francis Duncan. (Adult crime) Amateur detective Mordecai Tremaine is a relatively new discovery for me. He's a bit like a male Miss Marple - a little bit fluffy, gentile, old fashioned and romantic, and set in the same time period. There are only a handful of books in the series, but they're all wonderfully engaging. The stories are all different but the clues are all there if the reader wants to try to track down the killer before Tremaine.<br />
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If you're interested in finding more posts about World Book Day, look for the #LovetoRead hashtag on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-56230117066216185132017-04-22T20:21:00.000+01:002017-04-22T20:21:23.520+01:00Finally the writing resumes!Since having a baby just over a month ago my writing has very much taken a back seat, but this week - finally! - I've managed to get a short story completed. It may get submitted or it may just sit on my computer as a reminder that I <u>can</u> write and be a mother!Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-30170863785616529542017-04-20T09:14:00.001+01:002017-04-20T09:14:45.806+01:00Trying Scrivener<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBavMpCtA2_ClK1id_w4UBPU5uktQoEcvQbDwrSBbuIDmDduiquAX95w-7ZUFpkIYqMOoiLc9VUQk9GJCR6PgP5rhQadjHhHV_T3vB90ATOjel4N5FVFyqNxfQbFlGjPaiOBoXFAGB6Hk/s1600/Scrivener-2-icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBavMpCtA2_ClK1id_w4UBPU5uktQoEcvQbDwrSBbuIDmDduiquAX95w-7ZUFpkIYqMOoiLc9VUQk9GJCR6PgP5rhQadjHhHV_T3vB90ATOjel4N5FVFyqNxfQbFlGjPaiOBoXFAGB6Hk/s1600/Scrivener-2-icon.jpg" /></a>For the longest time I've written my stories in Word. It suits me, just bashing out words in a word processor, but it can be awkward when I go back to edit and I need to find a certain part, or want to move chapters and so on. I got a trial of Scrivener a few years ago and quite enjoyed it, so I decided to take the plunge and buy the full version. I'm hoping it will help me be more organised and make my editing easier.<br />
I'll post a review in a few weeks once I've had a chance to use all the features!Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-78534752683558182682017-03-15T19:44:00.000+00:002017-03-15T19:44:01.129+00:00Making diversity realistic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqueDR39kxS8_B3pqm1kOJ-TOuE97by2f_M7wu4bZAfGLh7dhnkBQdEwO7ycQHz3hDba8qLJysQHIW4EbEasVFssZtlawhA97jUIOQb11oYBUFrBBwmIOE4xx_rxfQt2i8va87BzYCeQ/s1600/27623264486_115c435657_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqueDR39kxS8_B3pqm1kOJ-TOuE97by2f_M7wu4bZAfGLh7dhnkBQdEwO7ycQHz3hDba8qLJysQHIW4EbEasVFssZtlawhA97jUIOQb11oYBUFrBBwmIOE4xx_rxfQt2i8va87BzYCeQ/s320/27623264486_115c435657_b.jpg" width="320" /></a>A lot has been said in the last few months about diversity in books. I'm all for it - but only if it's realistic.<br />
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Let me explain. In the area I live, 99% of people are white. The majority of those are English or Welsh, with a healthy number of Poles as well. Of the non-whites, there are a couple of Vietnamese families, a few Indian families, one or two Chinese families, and one or two black people. If I was to write a story set in my home town with several non-white characters then to people who knew the area, it wouldn't ring true, and it would detract from the story. Similarly, if I was to set my story in London and only had one or two non-white characters, then it would also not feel right.<br />
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The key is to be realistic with your demographics. If you do a quick search for demographics you can find all sorts of stats for the place you're writing about, but mostly it's just a case of common sense.<br />
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It's a similar case for including LGBTQ characters - if your story is set in a gay nightclub, chances are most of your characters will be LGBTQ, but if it's not then you don't want to include so many that it's unbelievable.<br />
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Of course, there are occasions when you may need to go against the demographics, for example, using current affairs, your story may be about Syrian refugees coming to a small English town and trying to settle in. In that story your main characters will be Syrian, and the people they may ask for help may also be non-white.<br />
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<br />Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-48049068333952051372016-11-05T15:19:00.004+00:002016-11-05T16:06:24.150+00:00Nanowrimo 2016 is here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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It's NaNoWriMo time again and I'm trying to get back into a writing habit. I've hardly written anything in the last year, having become a mum in March, but I've had ideas building up and now I want to commit them to paper.</div>
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For a long time I've wanted to write a Christian novel but not had any ideas, but then I had a nightmare about a car crash that inspired an idea for a story that I think actually has legs. The nightmare is actually written out in full with very little added as one of the chapters of the story. </div>
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Synopsis:<br />
Have you ever thought about angels? Holly has, from the Christmas angels to her gran’s army of angels that watch over her. Then, after miraculously surviving a car crash, she becomes one – and
she discovers that everything she thought she knew was wrong.<br />
And when Azrael (the Angel of Death) and Lucifer, the Angel of Light
(aka the Devil), start dropping in to ask for help, she knows she's in
big trouble.<br />
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Tagline: <i>Sometimes, the Devil can be truly angelic...</i></div>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-54381334905831596702016-08-21T19:16:00.002+01:002016-08-21T19:16:48.618+01:00Review: The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGAEYW-O62RINUkKXrC9kK277Lie1LbvLFZ3WdAtjJ7Wo-TlSabe8hQn1yhC3mkM0QCKH4mBzWgCcm_HkZ_z2dJ4EpLgAe6aWLFHvyWBWPlQ7yTPZOlX9nQokU6g08C0bru39mHcO8RQ/s1600/9780008173111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGAEYW-O62RINUkKXrC9kK277Lie1LbvLFZ3WdAtjJ7Wo-TlSabe8hQn1yhC3mkM0QCKH4mBzWgCcm_HkZ_z2dJ4EpLgAe6aWLFHvyWBWPlQ7yTPZOlX9nQokU6g08C0bru39mHcO8RQ/s320/9780008173111.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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Take a crumbling London bookshop; add in an eclectic staff
including painfully shy Verity, tattooed and blue-haired Nina, and newly-appointed
romance book-loving owner Posy; then throw the self-styled “rudest man in
London” into the mix and you get this charming rom-com of a book.</div>
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definite nods to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice</i>,
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Regency bodice ripping scenes conjured from Posy’s imagination.</div>
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Posy inherits Bookends bookshop from eccentric owner Lavinia and decides to rebrand as romantic
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A delightfully fun and easy read.</div>
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<![endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ISBN
9780008173111</li>
<li>Published by Harper</li>
<li>Paperback</li>
<li>RRP £7.99<div class="MsoNormal">
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<li>On sale
25th August 2016</li>
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<br />
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-13781562030546914342016-06-11T16:42:00.004+01:002016-06-11T16:42:54.356+01:00S is for Show, don't tell<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3bhVL73PRfk4xRTW236Dh9S0CQFj6pELQymWSKHtw7QbJ6N_-1nvH4qzzwGPai0-h81HFm3L2jz5M1kvKihGwWGdhCpAJwSoDec_CvHqpvOE9dIbpIunFBM8Yhhl0T6tsydjh93znzc7/s1600/S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3bhVL73PRfk4xRTW236Dh9S0CQFj6pELQymWSKHtw7QbJ6N_-1nvH4qzzwGPai0-h81HFm3L2jz5M1kvKihGwWGdhCpAJwSoDec_CvHqpvOE9dIbpIunFBM8Yhhl0T6tsydjh93znzc7/s1600/S.jpg" /></a>When I was writing my first draft of Witness I introduced the character Wade by describing his physical appearance compared to his friend Ethan and went on to tell the reader how he became friends with Lois - because they shared a similar taste in music. It was a really dull page of prose.<br />
<br />
In the rewrite I decided I wanted to make Wade a bigger character in the story and went back to specifically look for places where he was included. I'm ashamed to admit that I left in the boring introduction to start with, but then I came to my senses and realised that it wasn't really adding to the story. I took out the description and added a scene where Lois was revising listening to her iPod and Wade came over to join her because he heard the music. It said the same as the orginal but it was much more interesting because it included dialogue and interaction between the characters.<br />
<br />
Lesson learned - show, don't tell!Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-20360518429585289952016-05-28T09:30:00.000+01:002016-05-28T09:30:10.632+01:00Book review: The Crocodile Under the Bed by Judith Kerr<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://www.biblio-globus.us/photos1/1021/10218427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.biblio-globus.us/photos1/1021/10218427.jpg" /></a></div>
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This is not the usual sort of book I review as it's not YA! It's a kids' book designed for toddlers/early readers, and I was asked to review it because I have a small person of my own now. She's a bit young for this book at the moment, but it will go onto her bookshelf ready for when she's ready to start enjoying books.</div>
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<br /></div>
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On to the review...</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every child knows the space under the bed is where monsters
live, but in this charming story it’s not scary creatures but a party-loving
crocodile that’s lurking beneath Matty’s bed. The story is simple – Matty is
sick and can’t go to a big party with his sister, so the crocodile takes him to
his own party in the jungle.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The book is sized perfectly for small hands, with easy to
hold, chew-proof board pages. Inside it i s filled with beautiful illustrations
of Matty and the crocodile enjoying a celebration with the animals. There are
even a couple of cameo appearances by the author’s most well-known and loved
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<i>
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<i>The Crocodile Under the Bed </i>would make a lovely bedtime
story or something for older siblings to read to younger brothers or sisters.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Published by Harper Collins</li>
<li>RRP £6.99</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-00-816668-7</li>
</ul>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-16175426549132173482016-05-25T14:55:00.005+01:002016-05-25T14:55:53.071+01:00Book review: The Siren by Kiera Cass<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dec8b3e4b0d191d4ffbf51/t/55d60454e4b06459b23bb375/1440089173197/Siren+Cover" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dec8b3e4b0d191d4ffbf51/t/55d60454e4b06459b23bb375/1440089173197/Siren+Cover" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Kahlen has a deadly secret – she is a siren, and if she
speaks even one word it could doom anyone who hears it. The only people she can
be herself around are her siren sisters, Aisling, Miaka and Elizabeth, and Her –
the Ocean which looks after them in return for their services. Kahlen is
feeling unsettled with her life, masquerading as a student among humans, when
she meets Akinli, a boy who handily understands sign language. Think of it as a
teenager’s version of The Little Mermaid.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sadly this is where the book starts to go downhill. Cass’s
penchant for odd names made it difficult to really get into the story to start
with, and the relationship between Kahlen and Akinli is too instant to be
believable.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There are some redeeming features - the best character in the book
was Her, and her relationship with the sirens as part mother, part warden and
part employer was fascinating. It was also an easy read which would be good for
a beach holiday.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I did enjoy it as a novel idea and something a bit different. It isn’t a terrible book, but it had potential to be so much
better.</div>
<ul>
<li>RRP £7.99</li>
<li>Published by Harper Collins </li>
<li><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">ISBN 978-0-00-815793-7</span></span></li>
</ul>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-32801240861551401992016-05-17T17:19:00.001+01:002016-05-17T17:19:32.993+01:00Book review: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan<a href="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4dba9d3864da5f71bdc75088d380c4adefa4fa68/0_0_1812_2765/master/1812.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=7d06e95e9d07946ccfc16fb8a96ec2af" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4dba9d3864da5f71bdc75088d380c4adefa4fa68/0_0_1812_2765/master/1812.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=7d06e95e9d07946ccfc16fb8a96ec2af" width="209" /></a>It's no secret I love Rick Riordan's books, and I pre-ordered this as soon as I knew it was coming out. It didn't disappoint!<br />
<br />
The story is the first in a new series in the <i>Percy Jackson</i> world. It follows on from the<i> Heroes of Olympus</i> series conclusion, but you don't have to have read that series to enjoy this book (there are a couple of references to previous books that will only make sense if you've read them, but they don't have any impact on following this story).<br />
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In a nutshell, this is a fish-out-of-water story. The Greek god Apollo has been punished by his father and king of the gods Zeus for his part in causing a war by being made human and thrown down to Earth. He believes the only way to get back to Olympus and be reinstated is to complete a series of trials, with the help of the demigods of Camp Half-Blood.<br />
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The book includes some characters from previous stories but the main focus is on Apollo and a feisty young demigod called Meg, who he meets when he first arrives in acne-covered-human form in New York. The story is told from Apollo's point of view, which is a brilliant ploy by Riordan as it not only gives an insight into the mind of a god but it shows the character development Apollo goes through during the story.<br />
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As with Riordan's other books, there are quests, prophecies, monsters, teenagers with supernatural abilities, mythical creatures and a generous dollop of fighting sprinkled with humour, great characters and excellent storytelling. I read the book in 24 hours - it grabbed my attention so well that while there were plenty of places I could finish a reading session, as soon as I put it down I wanted to know what happened next.<br />
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If you've already read the other <i>Percy Jackson</i> books then you should absolutely get this, and if you're new to Riordan's world then you should still get it, and pick up the other books in the Greek gods story arcs as well!Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-2456547954218460292016-05-04T11:40:00.000+01:002016-05-04T11:40:38.986+01:00Book review: The Divergent series by Veronica Roth<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Bookshelves are full of dystopian young adult fiction at the
moment, but the <i>Divergent </i>series is in my opinion possibly the best offering. If you've read my <a href="http://pamgriffin.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/why-i-didnt-enjoy-hunger-games-books.html" target="_blank">previous reviews</a> you'll know I really wasn't impressed with the <i>Hunger Games</i> trilogy, mainly because I didn't like the way the main character developed. In contrast, <i>Divergent </i>manages to create a heroine who has plenty of character development while staying believable and, most importantly, likeable.</div>
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I got the whole series in a box set, which
contains the trilogy of <i>Divergent</i>, <i>Insurgent </i>and <i>Allegiant</i>, as well as <i>Four</i>, a
collection of short stories exploring the back story of the character Four. I suspect it was released to coincide with the film release of <i>Allegiant</i>. All the books are, of course, available individually as well, and the short stories that comprise <i>Four </i>are also available separately. The books are interlinked through a larger story arc, but each could also be read as a standalone story (with the caveat that if you started with <i>Allegiant</i> then you may get confused with the number of characters, who are introduced in the previous books more slowly). </div>
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The stories
follow Tris as she breaks away from her own faction, where selflessness is
highly valued, to join the brave and foolhardy Dauntless faction, before
getting involved in a battle between the factions and the factionless, which
leads to the revelation of a secret which changes their world completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tris is flawed, occasionally idiotic, but
eminently likeable, while the world she lives in is imaginative and unique.</div>
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There
is plenty of action, with fights, guns, explosions and conflict, and there is a
lot of violence, but the stories aren’t gory at all, with the possible exception of one scene in the first book, depending on how squeamish you are. There is a sex scene, but it's written in such a way that it doesn't really show anything but still conveys the emotions of the scene. In an interview with <i>The Independent</i> newspaper, Roth said that was entirely intentional so as to not alienate younger readers. She said:<i> "I was concerned about not alienating my very young readers. I remember
reading books at that age and stopping because I wasn't comfortable. I'm
not trying to talk down to them. It's definitely a scene of great
intimacy. That's what was important. I didn't want to have smut on the
page. I don't want to titillate."</i></div>
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I really enjoyed the books, the stories, the characters, the world, the quality of writing, the descriptions, dialogue and the way the series resolved, which is not how you might expect! I definitely recommend the series.<i><br /></i></div>
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<ul>
<li>RRP £12 for the box set</li>
<li>Published by Harper
Collins</li>
<li>ISBN 0007591374</li>
</ul>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-76796646353278292412016-01-01T09:48:00.000+00:002016-01-01T09:48:03.524+00:002016 writing resolutionsI've been so quiet this year because I really haven't been writing that much. I did finish my second draft of Witness, which I'm happy about, but I couldn't seem to get any inspiration for much else, what with life and a growing baby bump distracting me.<br />
<br />
So writing resolutions for 2016:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Revise Witness.</li>
<li>Write some standalone short stories.</li>
<li>Do NaNoWriMo again this year.</li>
<li>Finish Thief.</li>
<li>Try different styles of writing, like telling a story through a diary, only using dialogue, a ghost story, etc.</li>
</ol>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-34052632968616480942015-04-01T15:06:00.000+01:002015-04-01T15:06:05.781+01:00It's April, welcome to Camp Nanowrimo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdStrQbj6lg4Nnyk-U6oEvgS-cwx-nhdceVSZUN1FEeWKfX1ViB21MgABM8sGGVXNjiSeS4IbN1UvxNmk86DsVe3BQG-MzB4d3pg_BzWOaazjQZM-GUDPCi17c6QkVnrEECnnDfx_sGw/s1600/Camp-Participant-2015-Web-Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdStrQbj6lg4Nnyk-U6oEvgS-cwx-nhdceVSZUN1FEeWKfX1ViB21MgABM8sGGVXNjiSeS4IbN1UvxNmk86DsVe3BQG-MzB4d3pg_BzWOaazjQZM-GUDPCi17c6QkVnrEECnnDfx_sGw/s1600/Camp-Participant-2015-Web-Banner.jpg" height="147" width="400" /></a>Usually in April I decide to do the blogging A-Z challenge, but this year I've decided to give it a miss. It's not that I don't enjoy blogging (or indeed, that I don't need the kick up the backside to blog!), but I'd rather spend my writing time on my Camp Nanowromo project this year.</div>
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In the time it takes me to think of a write a coherant blog post with pictures, I can have typed out about 1,000 words of a first draft, and I have so many ideas for stories at the moment that I really want to get them down on paper to see if they'll actually work.</div>
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So far today, I've written just shy of 1,000 words and started my story. It's called Fallen Star and it's about the Zodiac - sort of along the lines of Percy Jackson with the Greek Gods.</div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-GEplzwhd14k%2FVRvVik76dxI%2FAAAAAAAACQ8%2FQwUq883DMf8%2Fs1600%2FCamp-Participant-2015-Web-Banner.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdStrQbj6lg4Nnyk-U6oEvgS-cwx-nhdceVSZUN1FEeWKfX1ViB21MgABM8sGGVXNjiSeS4IbN1UvxNmk86DsVe3BQG-MzB4d3pg_BzWOaazjQZM-GUDPCi17c6QkVnrEECnnDfx_sGw/s1600/Camp-Participant-2015-Web-Banner.jpg" -->Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-40604807621498907422014-10-27T13:25:00.000+00:002014-10-27T13:25:03.042+00:00Fingers whizzing across the keyboard...<a href="http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo275/Slysionnach/blogsept_zpsef13bbd0.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo275/Slysionnach/blogsept_zpsef13bbd0.png" style="font-size: 10pt; max-width: 100%;" /></a>Lots of questions all wrapped up in one subject this month, so, in keeping with the subject, I'll try to answer as fast as I can.<b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b>Speed Writing</b><br />
<i>How
fast do your first drafts go? Do they take you a year? A month?</i><br />
<br />
Honestly it depends on what I'm writing. I've got a whole pile of drafts that haven't ever been finished properly. Mostly these are NaNoWriMo novels where the missing chunks are outlined but I just haven't had the motivation to finish.<br />
<i> </i><br />
When I'm enjoying writing a story then I'd say on average about a month to get the first draft nailed down. The number of stories that progress past that stage is actually very small though, but that's another story!<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTX2muMfBSk32IalsXNO8E45Z1OM10G_qHGY8M-B0o6qjd-n9Cy1JjfvN0Qda7Hutstx6Sxw4rFCqAxQYx7x8SOHVSv7d16IFyvCnLuGP4xKssobKaNaCkxwftk47NlwkK-cjYehyphenhyphengdK0/s1600/fastest-way-to-write-articles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTX2muMfBSk32IalsXNO8E45Z1OM10G_qHGY8M-B0o6qjd-n9Cy1JjfvN0Qda7Hutstx6Sxw4rFCqAxQYx7x8SOHVSv7d16IFyvCnLuGP4xKssobKaNaCkxwftk47NlwkK-cjYehyphenhyphengdK0/s1600/fastest-way-to-write-articles.jpg" height="135" width="200" /></a><i>Is your
speed more of a NaNoWriMo style writing or trying to nail down each
word perfectly the first time? What suffers because of your speed?</i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b><br />
<br />
I don't really change the way I do drafts for NaNoWriMo - I write to try to get down the picture in my head as fast as possible, and if it comes out sounding just right then that's fantastic. Usually it comes out in the form of an outline first, then gets fleshed out into a first draft. I do the same when I'm writing NaNo - the only difference is that I don't delete anything when I'm doing NaNo!<br />
<br />
<b style="font-style: italic;">Bonus: </b><i>What was your shortest novel? Your longest? And what was the main problem in each?</i><br />
<br />
I think my shortest was a children's story that started out as five separate short /stories and then turned into one long one. The main problem with that was that I found I was repeating description a lot. I don't know if that's because I was trying to build wordcount for NaNo, or because I was just seeing the characters with the description first, or if it was because I was thinking I hadn't described them enough, but I really <i>really</i> overdid the description.<br />
<br />
The longest is probably one that I'm working on at the moment which is already at 50k and only about half done. I haven't re-read it properly yet to know what problems it has, but I expect I'm find plenty...
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-28760437460326910322014-08-07T13:32:00.001+01:002014-08-07T13:35:34.216+01:00Who likes short shorts? We like short shorts!<u>Short Stories</u><br />
<i>Do you write them? Do you hate them? Do you think they're lovely but there's no market for them? For those who wish to be published, many people will tell you that short story publications get your foot in the door. And while that is definitely true, I'm not sure how many people really focus on the short stories. So tell me about your own views on them. Have any been published? Are you looking to publish some? </i><br />
<br />
I love reading and writing short stories - I would say 75% of the stories I write are shorts or flash. I like the challenge of creating a well fleshed out character and making a fully fledged story in a limited amount of words, and there's so much that you learn from short stories that you can then transfer into novels to make them better.<br />
<br />
I haven't had any shorts published yet but I'm looking to do so. I've got a little pile of shorts at various stages of editing that are waiting for me to get back to them ready to submit somewhere.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Bonus: What is your favorite magazine/anthology of short stories? Send us a picture of the cover! (Especially if you have a favorite issue.)</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.magazines.co.uk/images/a-z/the-peoples-friend-magazine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.magazines.co.uk/images/a-z/the-peoples-friend-magazine.jpg" height="200" width="144" /></a>I suppose my favourite magazine would have to be the People's Friend. My grandma used to get it regularly and I would look at the children's pages, and now my mum gets them occasionally and leaves them in the bathroom for reading when you're, ahem, 'sitting down'... I like that the stories are inoffensive and generally feel-good, and that you get all sorts of stories in one issue.<br />
<br />
I like anthology story books as well, and the best one I read recently was <i>Other Worlds</i>, a collection of 10 YA sci-fi/fantasy stories by Rick Riordan, Shaun Tan, Tom Angleberger, Ray Bradbury and others.Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-53337696805441842822014-07-03T10:34:00.002+01:002014-07-03T10:34:37.715+01:00Don't step over that line!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>With horror writing abounding over in Zombie July, let's talk about our own writing limits. <br /><br />What will you absolutely not write no matter what? Even if the story tends to lead toward it. And where do you put your foot down in your genre? Do you write fantasy but not darker than a medium shade of grey? Do you write erotica and rape is not acceptable to you? Let us know your reasons why!</i><br /><br />I will write violence to a certain extent but not go into graphic detail about anything. Unless it's essential to the story I'd rather leave it before the violence starts with the hint that it's going to happen. I think that's pretty much my limit in any genre with any type of violence.<br /><br />The reason is just that I don't really like writing extreme violence and I don't think I could do it justice anyway, so I'd rather go with the Blair Witch effect and hint at things rather than showing them. I think the reader's imagination is likely to come up with much more interesting things than anything I could put on paper in that respect.<br /><br /><i>Bonus: For fun, what genre will you never ever ever write?</i><br /><br />Easy question - I will never write horror or erotica. I don't like reading them and I can't imagine ever wanting to write them either.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-91093349436468799382014-07-02T11:48:00.001+01:002014-07-02T11:49:10.249+01:00But what does he look like? - WriYe<u><i>Description</i> </u><br />
<i>How much is too much for you? How little is too little? How do you find your happy medium? What must you describe about every character when you write?</i><br />
<br />
I don't think I've mastered description yet. If anything I tend to do too much description, tossing it in all over the place - 'she shook her head, her brown curls<i> </i>falling into her face' or 'her blue eyes took in the forest scene with its lush green leaves and red and yellow wildflowers' type of thing. Possibly not quite to that extant though...<br />
<br />
I always at some point include hair colour and general body type/size/height because I like to know what characters I read about are like, so I want to include information I look for in stories. That wouldn't be 'he's 6ft tall with short spiky black hair and a toned body' though, it's more likely to be dropping his hair colour in at one point and later mentioning his height compared to, say, a shelf he's reaching something off, or a small child who's talking to him.<br />
<br />
Body type can be slotted in at any point - a woman not being able to make her hands meet while giving a friend a hug, or someone calling an insult to someone (stick insect or fatty, maybe) or describing the type of thing that person does for fun. Someone who spends all his time in fast food restaurants is likely to have a very different body type to someone who's a member of a running club.<br />
<br />
<i>What's the worst way to use and/or reveal character descriptions? </i><br />
<br />
The worse way is when you get paragraphs of description with nothing to move the story forward at all. I try to avoid that! The second worse way is the 'looking in a mirror' technique, or the variation 'another character looking at him/her'.<br />
<br />
<i>How much of the scenery do you put into your novel and why?</i><br />
<br />
I like to include scenery if it's relevant, but it not I just like to set the scene. If someone is in a train station you can have the noise of a train pulling interrupting a phone call and that's all you need to include, but if someone is meeting underneath a clock at the railway station you might want to add detail as the person searches for the clock - because in that instance, it might add to the tension as the person tries to find the clock in time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="font-style: italic;">Bonus: </b><i>A picture is worth a thousand words... Draw us your main character!</i><br />
<br />
I can't draw people very well, and I especially can't get people to turn out the way I imagine them in my head. I usually do internet searched to find a picture of someone who looks like how I imagine my main characters. This is the picture I found for Dawn Bell, the main character in my July Camp NaNoWriMo novel.<br />
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<br />Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-12070472153394905502014-07-02T06:00:00.000+01:002014-07-02T10:17:36.882+01:00Judging a book by its cover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/42/The_Host.jpg/200px-The_Host.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/42/The_Host.jpg/200px-The_Host.jpg" /></a></div>
My favourite book cover is The Host by Stephanie Meyer. You can't tell properly in this picture, but the white ring around the pupil of the eye is metallic silver.<br />
<br />
I love that they used a very simple image but put so much thought into it - in the story (and this isn't a spoiler) you can tell the aliens because their eyes shine silver when you shine a light at them.<br />
<br />
I picked up this book a few years ago partly because I'd read the Twilight books and enjoyed them, and partly because I really liked the cover of this book.<br />
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What's your favourite book cover?Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-57144284657254174032014-07-01T09:59:00.001+01:002014-07-01T09:59:25.065+01:00Software decisions - WriYe<i>What do you use to write? Do you shift between software for different parts of writing: planning, writing, editing, etc?</i><br />
<br />
This one's easy - I use Microsoft Word most of the time because I tend to colour code my writing - red for ideas, green for outlines, blue for bits of text I've taken from somewhere else that have given me an idea, etc. I use Notepad as well sometimes when I just want to write without distractions, like when I'm word warring, have an idea I want to get out or am using a prompt to do some freewriting. I have tried Liquid Story Binder and I quite liked it, but not enough to pay for the full version.<br />
<br />
I do most of my editing in Word as well, although I do print out everything before every big edit so I can mark up bits to change, highlight, scribble out and generally scrawl all over the draft before I make any changes on the computer.<br />
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<i>What do you use to supplement your writing? Music? TV in the background? YouTube channels?</i><br />
<br />
I like to write to music and give my story a soundtrack. I can't write with TV in the background because I get distracted, but I will put on CDs or, more usually, make a GrooveShark or YouTube playlist especially for the story. I use choosing a soundtrack as part of my character profiles too, deciding what sort of music they would like and what they'd be listening to in their everyday lives before I set dragons and/or aliens loose on them!<br />
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<br /><i>Bonus: Give us a screenshot of you mid-writing. Seriously. Pause, snap, post.</i><br />
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This is the planning stages of my Camp NaNo novel. I'm using a 100 words prompt for chapter titles and under each one I'm outlining what's going to happen in that chapter. I doubt I'm going to use all 100 prompts, but I find them useful to give me ideas when I'm not sure what to throw in next. </div>
<br />Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-57027492609593249552014-06-30T08:00:00.000+01:002014-06-30T16:24:05.324+01:00Who encouraged your writing?In a newsletter I get from NaNoWriMo Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo, asked - <i>"Who encouraged your writing when you were a kid? For
me, it was a teacher named Judy Barnes. Back in 1991, Mrs.
Barnes read a story I wrote in front of the whole class, and
I can still feel the glow from that moment today. Her single
act of encouragement changed the course of my life."</i><br />
<br />
I thought I'd post a bit about the people who encouraged me when I was a kid. All three are teachers actually, which goes to show a good teacher is never forgotten.<br />
<a href="http://www.jaguda.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Encouraging-Words.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.jaguda.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Encouraging-Words.png" height="200" width="190" /></a><br />
The first two were both teachers at my middle school (junior school), Mr Wheeler and Mr Hanrahan. Back in about 1990, in Mr Wheeler's class one term he set us the task of writing a 'novel'. We had the sort of exercise books with a lined page then a plain page, and we had to write a story during the term, with pictures, to fill the book. I write a story about my two pet cats, Smudge and Vicky, an evil ice queen who liked to eat cats and a helpful griffin. There were a few pages left at the end so I wrote a poem about the story to fill the gaps.<br />
<br />
Mr Hanrahan happened to read the poem and said it would look good if I typed it up, so he got me some time on a computer (we only had about two in the whole school!) and I typed it in, then he suggested I should read it out in the 'good news assembly'.<br />
<br />
Smudge and Vicky's Adventure was the first story I can remember writing, and the encouragement from the two teachers that it was a good story and that it was worth sharing was really exciting.<br />
<br />
The third teacher was Miss D'Auban, who I've mentioned before. For the first creative writing project I did in her class, in about 1993, she gave me an A and then announced to the class that only one person got an A. She then went on to give me lots of useful bits of advice by asking lots of questions which made me think about what I was writing. I've always been grateful to her for all the advice and comments she gave me over the years.Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-24435607054647522062014-06-12T07:29:00.002+01:002014-06-22T14:30:13.928+01:00Genre - Wriye Circle<i>April - And we've made it through editing! So let's shift to something more fun... Genre</i><br />
<br />
<i>• What is your main genre?</i><br />
<br />
Childrens/young adult fantasy. Usually that fantasy is grounded in the real world somehow, like a normal boy finding a troll in his locker one day, or a girl suddenly finding she can fly, or what if that man rode a dragon instead of driving a car? I do like to go completely fantastic sometimes though, and create a whole new world where faeries live alongside pixies, and gnomes build the best damn dams in the country.<br />
<br />
<i>• How has it evolved for you in the past few years and how do you think it will evolve further - both in your own writing style and in the publishing field overall?</i><br />
<br />
To start with I would just write a story that I enjoyed writing, and while the content would be suitable for younger readers, the characters might be too old or the language I used might be too complicated. I think I've got better at creating characters that do what I want them to do but aren't too old for the audience I'm trying to write to.<br />
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Digressing for a moment, I read somewhere that children always want to be older, so they'll happily read about a main character a few years older than themselves, but they've still got to be someone they can relate to. A 13-year-old might like to read about a 17-year-old but he's going to find it more difficult to a 21-year-old because that character's life will be outside the 13-year-old's easy frame of reference, eg, he's left school, he goes to pubs, he might have a full-time job or be at uni. The 17-year-old will have more in common - probably still at school dealing with teachers and parents but wanting more freedom, might have a part-time job but mostly likes hanging out with his friends when he's not in school.<br />
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I don't know how my writing style will change, but I'm not going to try to push it in any particular direction. As to the publishing field, I think characters will continue to evolve but will in most ways stay the same as they've ever been - heroic, extraordinary, good beating bad, etc.<br />
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<i>• Is there any genre you think blends easily with your niche? Or maybe you write in one that hasn't really emerged yet.</i><br />
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Childrens/YA blends with pretty much any genre as long as it's not too violent or sexual I think. (I would have issues describing The Hunger Games as a children's book for this reason.) The fantasy touches my stories generally seem to have would blend well with sci-fi, and I have dabbled in that and quite often try to explain some of the fantasy elements through science.<br />
<i><br />• Bonus: Doodle us something that describes your main genre to a T. (Like hearts for romance. But you can't take that now. Haha.)</i><br />
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<br />Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-71184399802788646332014-06-04T07:00:00.000+01:002014-07-02T10:18:03.137+01:00#Bookaday book recommendations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A new post-a-day type challenge that's supposed to run throughout June, but since I only just found it, it will probably go through June and July!<br />
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1 - <a href="http://pamgriffin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/my-favourite-childrens-books.html" target="_blank">My Favourite Children's Books</a> (an old blog post, but it answers the question)<br />
2 - <br />
3 -<br />
4 -<br />
5 -<br />
6 - Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers<br />
7 -<br />
8 - <br />
9 -<br />
10 -<br />
11 - <br />
12 - <br />
13 - <br />
14 - <br />
15 - <br />
16 - <br />
17 - <br />
18 - <br />
19 - <br />
20 - <a href="http://pamgriffin.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/judging-book-by-its-cover.html" target="_blank">The Host by Stephanie Meyer</a><br />
21 - <br />
22 - <br />
23 - Lord of the Flies and Macbeth. Hated Lord of the Flies but I really enjoyed Macbeth.<br />
24 - Enid Blyton. She gets a lot of stick, but the stories were interesting to read and a lot of fun, and they made me want to read more.<br />
25 - Lord of the Rings - Return of the King. Seriously, how many times does a book need to end before it actually ends?<br />
26 - <br />
27 - <br />
28 - <br />
29 - <br />
30 - Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-44247770936503878512014-05-28T16:41:00.002+01:002014-05-28T16:41:25.684+01:00Book review - Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRD2C4DszxL0R0X77A9hP_HbpgpH77rOFlC_BQNt7xQ9C-1U9RNuOmi1vDo4xip6pkSUCLlgox3P4GD93Uk37Id4B-gMtcIVqyKIpz0-aa3lKSGPtmRU22a_GR-B3JO0Wiri4ezZ9hCU8/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRD2C4DszxL0R0X77A9hP_HbpgpH77rOFlC_BQNt7xQ9C-1U9RNuOmi1vDo4xip6pkSUCLlgox3P4GD93Uk37Id4B-gMtcIVqyKIpz0-aa3lKSGPtmRU22a_GR-B3JO0Wiri4ezZ9hCU8/s1600/Untitled.jpg" /></a>Alice has pink hair, a famous spaceship-flying mum, a laser-shooting goldfish as a teacher and she's being chased by invisible aliens. She's also been evacuated to Mars where she and a few hundred other kids will be trained up as the next generation of spaceship-flying alien killers. Along with nerdy Josephine, animal-loving Noel and his rebellious big brother Carl, and the goldfish, Alice finds herself with the minor challenge of having to save the whole galaxy before it gets eaten.<br />
<br />Sophia McDougall has created a fascinating world on a realistically terraformed Mars so that even the nerdiest kid should be able to enjoy the story without picking holes in the science.<br />
<br />I loved the fact that the main characters were British and Australian, not American, and the way the four main characters interacted. There are touches of lots of different genres and other stories - a bit of Lord of the Flies, Star Trek, your typical space shoot-em-up, and a bit of mystery thrown in along the way, along with some toilet humour which should make the boys laugh and girls react much like Alice does - eeeewww!<br />
<br />The book is the first in a new series, but it works really well as a standalone book and would be a great one to pack to take on holiday. It's aimed at boys and girls aged nine and over, and would make a fun, light read for anyone who enjoys children's fiction.<br />
<ul>
<li>Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall </li>
<li>RRP £9.99 (paperback)</li>
<li>Published by Egmont</li>
<li>ISBN-13: 978-1405268677</li>
</ul>
Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-3575534262924098372014-04-21T20:34:00.000+01:002014-04-27T20:34:50.263+01:00R is for Reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As you know if you've been following my blog, I'm on a big reading drive at the moment. My favourite genre to read is YA, although whether that's because I like to write YA, or whether I like to write YA because I like to read it, I don't know.<br />
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I've always heard you should read lots to be able to write well, so I think regardless of which way around the above is (does that sentence even make sense?!) the things I choose to read do influence the way I write - the language used, the style of writing, the subject matter, and so on. I don't generally read 'real life' stories, they always have some sort of fantasy/sci-fi in them, and that's what I write.<br />
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What do you like to read and does it influence your writing?Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5871938686957105389.post-78248106345324974232014-04-19T08:53:00.000+01:002014-04-21T08:53:42.751+01:00 Q is for Quick sessions<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dgXTtlmKnyVsqnDYDOUvQGprbhHM6pxhz2FeVPq1CImTvlCvWCzmuI-H22rzgQuNJYE1hyphenhyphenB-pKO9-owvfXxpFxRtsI8wFsP21mdF_6yVusG6n8GuwhZoHVa-j7nxFFZmmTThUW1vyKEU/s1600/Q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dgXTtlmKnyVsqnDYDOUvQGprbhHM6pxhz2FeVPq1CImTvlCvWCzmuI-H22rzgQuNJYE1hyphenhyphenB-pKO9-owvfXxpFxRtsI8wFsP21mdF_6yVusG6n8GuwhZoHVa-j7nxFFZmmTThUW1vyKEU/s1600/Q.jpg" /></a>One of the biggest problems I have is finding time to write around work, meetings, family, hobbies, etc. I often find I only have half an hour to actually sit down and write, and then I think 'well I can't do anything in that time' so I end up just researching (ie, browsing the web...) or doing character profiles for characters that never find themselves in a story.<br />
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Something I need to do is to get myself in gear for writing in quick bursts. When I do word wars I know I'm perfectly capable of writing 1,000 words in half an hour, but when it's just me and the blank screen, somehow I can't motivate myself.<br />
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So I have a question today - does anyone know of a really active forum or chat room for word wars so I can get motivated and war against other people and not just against myself?Pam Kingsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09917696726983054033noreply@blogger.com1