Category Archives: #am writing (and all things writing related)
What I Couldn’t Tell You Blog Tour – Guest Post by Author Faye Bird
Today on the ‘What I Couldn’t Tell You’ Blog Tour I have a guest post from author Faye Bird on Where She Writes, but first up let’s find out a little about the book itself.
Synopsis
When love turns to jealousy, when jealousy turns to rage, when rage turns to destruction…
Laura was head over heels in love with Joe. But now Laura lies in a coma and Joe has gone missing. Was he the one who attacked her?
Laura’s sister Tessie is selectively mute. She can’t talk but she can listen. And as people tell her their secrets, she thinks she’s getting close to understanding what happened on that fateful night.
If that has whet your appetite you’ll be pleased to know that the book is OUT NOW.
Do purchase from your favourite retailer and add it to your Goodreads shelf here.
The Author
Faye writes fiction for young adults. Before becoming a writer she worked as a literary agent representing screenwriters in film and TV. She studied Philosophy and Literature at Warwick University, but has otherwise always lived in London, and still does now.
Website: http://www.fayebirdauthor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/faye_bird
Where I Write by Faye Bird
One of the things that I love most about writing is that you can do it anywhere.
I always have a pen or pencil and notepad with me so if I’m sitting down somewhere, anywhere, anytime I can write. And just like the rest of the world, I pretty much have my phone with me 24/7 so if I’m on the move – on the bus or the tube – I’ll write that way. That’s the peculiar, skittish nature of writing; sometimes you’ll sit down to write and nothing will come very easily and other times you’ll think you’re doing something completely unrelated and you’ll realize that a little bit of something useful has struck. I love that. But what I don’t love is that if you don’t get it down there and then, it usually vanishes and it doesn’t always come back again. So a way to make a note is what you need!
Where I sit to write – in the traditional sense – mostly comes down to three places…
Home: I don’t have a room of my own. I have the table that we, as a family, sit around to eat, talk, do homework, play games – the table that is the heart of the house, I guess. When my kids are at school I make it my own. And when I pause in getting the words down I’ll gaze out at the trees and the occasional dog walker, the passersby, because I’m lucky enough to have a huge tree and a little patch of green just in front of the house. If the house is full and I have a deadline then I will be found writing in bed. It’s the only place I can go in the house and shut the door and get away from it all. And it works!
Cafes:
Generally I will write in any cafe that will have me where the music isn’t too loud or the babies too grizzly. Since January this year I have been going regularly to a local cafe to write one day a week with a friend. We keep each other inspired and on track, and it’s great to have company with the coffee when we break. Current favourite haunts are The Fields in Northfields, the Cafe in Waterstone’s in Richmond (so lovely to be amongst the books!) and the Clocktower Cafe in Hanwell.
The British Library:
This is THE place to write. It takes some commitment to get me up to Kings Cross, put my stuff in a locker, syphoning off the things I need into a clear plastic bag, and forgo a pen for a pencil in the process, but the number of words I can get down in the Reading Rooms is absolutely worth the fuss required. As soon as I walk through the doors at the BL I can feel something change; it’s like a little bit of space opens up in my brain, and there’s a twinge of expectation, excitement. I think it’s a sense of possibility, and a sense of being amongst clever minds, but at the same time being completely undisturbed, completely alone. In this place whole hours can go by that feel like minutes, and I think without doubt my best work is done here. I aim to go one day a week and if I make it, it tends to be the best day of all.
Hope that has given the aspiring authors out there some inspiration on where to get those words down. Where do you guys write?
Do check out the rest of the stops on the blog tour – you can find links to them all here.
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#YAShot2016 – My Perfect Library – Kiran Millwood-Hargrave
The Second YAShot is taking place this October and a further announcement about the final programme is set to be released today at 4pm on the YAShot website. Sadly I can’t go this year but I still wanted to support this fabulous event that supports a year’s worth of author visits to libraries and schools.
Today, I am pleased to welcome back author of ‘The Girl of Ink and Stars’ – Kiran Millwood-Hargrave. I asked her some questions about what her perfect library would look like.
My Perfect Library
The Librarians would be…cats, because my two favourite things are books and cats. Plus I think cats would look really cute in those stereotypical librarian glasses, and would be good at the passive aggressive stares that librarians stereotypically give.
The Seating would be…armchairs. Really big, plush ones you can curl up in. I’m assuming this library is for reading purposes only, because if it’s for working I need a hard, upright chair. I’m Catholic in my taste when it comes to work.
What I’d see as I walked through the door…books and cats in librarian glasses. And an ice cold gin martini (very dry, very dirty). I’m obsessed with globes so the Clementinum National Library in the Czech Republic is pretty ideal, though it would need a bean bag corner for nap times.
How would the books be shelved? By genre and/or ‘if you liked this, you may enjoy…’. I’d work my way through the magical realism section first.
The events that they’d hold would be…salon style, with authors in conversation. They’d stretch into the early hours and turn into lock-ins – we’d need more martinis. And no one in the audience would ask that kind of question where you know they only want to hear their own voice. I’d also be partial to a literary themed fancy dress parties – The Great Gatsby, The Hunger Games and so on.
It’d have these bookshelves….that spanned from ceiling to floor, and ladders on wheels. Because, Belle.
I definitely agree with the Belle bookshelves – those sliding ladders.
What would your perfect library look like? Do let Kiran and I know in the comments below.
Make sure to check out the rest of the tour by following #YAShot2016 and grab your ticket. You can also sponsor a ticket too – let’s pass the love of reading on.
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The Witch’s Kiss Blog Tour – Author and Character Interview
The Witch’s Kiss is the first book by writing duo sisters Elizabeth and Katharine Corr. (Freakily or not my middle name is Elizabeth and my sister is Catherine!).
Today we can see how in sync they are by checking out their responses to the same questions.
SISTERS IN SYNC?
Which one of you became interested in writing first?
Liz: We both loved writing from an early age. Kate used to write poetry (some of it was alright) whilst I used to write for Star Trek fan fiction (way back in the days before fan fiction was actually a thing…)
Kate: I probably started writing first because I’m older, but I do remember Liz writing some pretty funny stuff as a teenager. I seemed quite drawn to very angsty poetry.
Name your top three witchy influences.
Liz:
- Terry Pratchet’s Granny Weatherwax: because nothing can ruffle the feathers of this cranky old bird, and she is practically indestructible.
- Jill Murphy’s Mildred Hubble: because if I were a witch I’d probably be just like her – awkward and accident-prone.
- J. K. Rowling’s Hermione Granger: because she holds her own with the boys and genuinely kicks ass!
Kate:
- The Wicked Witch of the West. I used to LOVE the film of The Wizard of Oz (and I had the books too). Dorothy should have just given her the ruby slippers in the first place.
- Jadis, aka The White Witch, from the Narnia books. Yes, she’s a piece of work, but you know – girl power.
- Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, in all her incarnations. She’s evil and she doesn’t care who knows it.
What was your biggest disagreement when writing the book?
Liz: Katharine always wants to kill someone. I generally like our characters and want them to live out their natural lives as best as they can. Kate, on the other hand, often wants to do exceedingly mean, dark things to them. Sometimes she makes me cry with her darkness.
Kate: I’m pretty sure I suggested killing off Leo, Merry’s brother, at some point; we ended up having quite a lengthy “discussion” about that. Voices were raised. There may have been some un-sisterly language…
Describe your sister in five words
Liz on Kate: Tall, bossy, beautiful, caring, over-achiever.
Kate on Liz: Short(er), brave, funny, determined, loyal.
What word/s does your sister overuse in their writing?
Liz: ‘S’okay.’ Drives me nuts.
Kate: It’s her punctuation. Too many exclamation marks, not enough commas. *Grits teeth. Gets out red pen.*
The Witch’s Kiss – Synopsis
Sixteeen-year-old Meredith is fed-up with her feuding family and feeling invisible at school – not to mention the witch magic that shoots out of her fingernails when she’s stressed. Then sweet, sensitive Jack comes into her life and she falls for him hard. The only problem is that he is periodically possessed by a destructive centuries-old curse. Meredith has lost her heart, but will she also lose her life? Or in true fairytale tradition, can true love’s kiss save the day?
Character questions
Merry (Our witchy protagonist)
Where did you see your life going after school?
Until recently, I didn’t see my life going anywhere. There was just a void. Nothing. I’d done some bad stuff, and I couldn’t get past it. But now… things are getting better. I’m becoming more used to my power, starting to get comfortable with it. But as to the future… It’s difficult to say. After everything I’ve been though recently, I’m trying to take it a day at a time. I’m just glad to still be here.
What does magic feel like? Tell us about the good and the bad.
Magic is – or can be – empowering. Liberating. When a spell goes well, I feel pretty unstoppable. And the power – it’s like a kind of…liquid fire, snaking through my veins and lighting me up. But that’s also the problem. It’s addictive. The more you use it, the more you want to use it. And if you’re not really careful, if you don’t have utter certainty about what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it… Things can go bad, really quickly. I’ve found that out the hard way.
Leo (Merry’s brother)
Do you wish you were able to do magic?
No, not really. I’ve seen Merry do some pretty amazing stuff. But I’ve also seen her on days when it’s all gone wrong. Days when the magic has been almost been controlling her, not the other way around. Sure, using a spell can sometimes be a quick fix, make life easier. But looking at Merry, and the other witches in my family… it definitely comes at a price. At the end of the day, I’m happy being ordinary. Merry once said I was her glamorous side-kick, but I’d rather think of myself as her solid second-in-command instead. Besides, she’s got zero common sense.
Jack (The cursed love interest)
What does love mean to you?
Love? It means everything to me. Love is what Gwydion was trying to destroy. He thought love was a weakness – a lie – but love saved me in the end. When I first found out I was the son of a king, my thoughts were not of the kingdom, or the riches and wealth I was about to inherit. Instead all I could think about was my family – about the mother and father who raised me as their own, whom I was about to leave behind. So, I suppose that, for me, love is about family. But it’s also about kindness, and sacrifice. True love means truly putting another first. Despite the curse, I have been lucky, in a way: I have had people in my life willing to do that for me.
Ruby (The neglected best friend)
If you could describe your best friend Merry in 5 words what would they be?
Only 5? Oh, that’s hard. I guess…well, athletic, obviously. Fearless. Over-achieving. Secretive, especially recently. And, you know, just a little bit weird. But in a good way.
What I thought
I do love a good witchy story and this one was a good mix of urban fantasy and historical fantasy – with the past and present worlds colliding. I got hints of Maleficent (the cursing) and Practical Magic (especially when the coven came out in force). Merry is a somewhat reluctant heroine – and I don’t blame her – poor thing hasn’t had half the training she needed thanks to some ‘family dynamics’. One set of family dynamics that really works to help her is with her and her brother Leo – I really liked him as a character and I’m sure she was thankful for his protective instincts on a few occasions.
The historical scenes showed the long line of witches that Merry descends from – and they are as cursed as Jack. I had echos of Melinda Salisbury’s The Sleeping Prince when reading these sections.
I’m not going to tell you what happens except to say it ends with the mention of the sequel – The Witch’s Tears. This can be read as a stand alone but I’m sure, like me, you’ll want to know where the story goes from here.
Huge thanks to the sisters for answering my questions (and demonstrating typical sisterly love) and to Vicki Berwick for the ARC (my opinions are my own – as ever).
Do check out the rest of the stops on the blog tour – The Witch’s Kiss is available to buy now.
kirstyes 