Blog Archives
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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Girl Hearts Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe – Blog Tour
If you recognise this woman you probably already have this book on your TBR. I have to admit though that I’d never heard of Lucy Sutcliffe when Faye approached me about being part of the blog tour for Girl Hearts Girl. Clearly I don’t spend enough time on YouTube because, Lucy, and her girlfriend Kaelyn Petras, have over 25 million views on their videos. I was, however, keen to read the book which is Lucy’s memoir of ‘Finding Herself. Falling in Love.’
Synopsis
An inspiring, uplifting and sympathetic story about sexuality and self-acceptance, Lucy Sutcliffe’s debut memoir is a personal and moving coming out story. In 2010, at seventeen, Lucy Sutcliffe began an online friendship with Kaelyn, from Michigan. They began a long distance relationship, finally meeting in 2011. Lucy’s video montage of their first week spent together was the first in a series of vlogs documenting their long-distance relationship. Now, for the first time, Lucy’s writing about the incredible personal journey she’s been on.
What I thought
There has been a huge drive for increasing diversity in YA in the book community online, and writers and publishers are stepping up to the challenge with some great fiction and non-fiction books about mental health and LGBTQIA issues. Lucy’s memoir is a great addition to this market and adds to the #ownvoices movement.
Although the beautifully rainbowed cover markets this as a coming out story Lucy writes about her life more generally too and touches on her experiences with anxiety, transition to university, and generally managing a long distance relationship (Lucy originally lived in the UK and Kaelyn in the US).
Lucy starts the book with sharing her ‘mantra of sorts’ about thinking that the best is yet to come and she goes on to demonstrate a real appreciation of those simple ‘best’ moments that we often ignore. Being with friends, being in nature. There’s a sense of mindfulness and joy in simple pleasures that I found infectious.
Lucy’s coming out story is mainly a positive one and will hopefully provide other teens in similar situations with the courage to be authentic. Throughout her journey Lucy mentions that she knows her friends and family are supportive but she still delays telling them and there is suggestion that it is more about her own comfort and journey in ‘finding herself’ that is the biggest barrier. Doesn’t that ring true with lots of us – that search for and acceptance of identity.
There is a young feel to the writing, and at times perhaps a little over described for me but that didn’t stop me reading this charmingly honest account in only a few hours, and searching out the YouTube videos afterwards. I’ve shared a video below that really shows the importance of having real stories available to young people discovering their sexuality. To hear from Lucy’s friends about their experience, alongside the book, is a great addition.
In another video Lucy describes this as the book she wishes she had had when growing up. I think that whatever your sexuality, or age, this is a great read for anyone, it demonstrates to friends and families the importance of being supportive when someone comes out. The main negative experience Lucy had was so damaging to her health.
I wish Lucy the best of luck with the book and her relationship. The book is out now.
The Tour-wide Giveaway
There is a tour-wide giveaway! 3 copies of Girl Hearts Girl for 3 lucky winners!
Participants must live in UK or IRL.
The Rest of the Tour
Links for Lucy and Kaelyn
Website: http://kaeandlucy.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucyliz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucylizz/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/kaelynandlucy
See Lucy’s friends reflection on the night she Came Out
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#TommyvsCancer Blog Tour
In today’s world there aren’t many of us who can say that we haven’t been affected by Cancer in one way or another. But, did you know that many people who are directly affected experience financial hardship as a result of their diagnosis?
This blog tour is to raise awareness and hopefully inspire donations to one such individual. The author Tommy Donbavand. Huge thanks go to the wonderful book bloggers that bought this tour together.
Tommy has been blogging about his experiences with honesty and humour and you can find the link to his blog, and links to donate, below:
Website: www.tommyvcancer.com
Patreon Link: http://www.tommyvcancer.com/support/
The Man Himself
Tommy is the author of the popular 13-book Scream Street series for 7 to 10 year olds, published by Walker Books in the UK and Candlewick Press in the US. His other books include Zombie!, Wolf and Uniform (winner of the Hackney Short Novel Award) for Barrington Stoke, Boredom Busters and Quick Fixes For Kids’ Parties (How To Books), and Making A Drama Out Of A Crisis (Network Continuum).
In theatre, Tommy’s plays have been performed to thousands of children on national tours to venues such as The Hackney Empire, Leeds City Varieties, and Nottingham Playhouse. These productions include Hey Diddle Diddle, Rumplestiltskin, Jack & Jill In The Forgotten Nursery, and Humpty Dumpty And The Incredibly Daring Rescue Of The Alien Princess From Deep Space. He is also responsible for five episodes of the CBBC TV series, Planet Cook (Platinum Films).
As an actor, Tommy played the Clearlake MC in the West End musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story for over eight years, in addition to roles in the movies Zombie Love Stories (where he battled hordes of Scottish undead) and Going Off Big Time (where he was beaten up on a bouncy castle). A veteran of pantomime, he has portrayed just about every comic character from Abanazer to an Ugly Sister.
Tommy lives in Lancashire with his wife and two sons. He is a HUGE fan of all things Doctor Who, plays blues harmonica, and makes a mean balloon poodle. He sees sleep as a waste of good writing time.
Website: http://www.tommydonbavand.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tommydonbavand
For each stop on the tour we could pick any book of Tommy’s to review, and there were plenty to choose from – check out his list of publications on Goodreads. There were two that caught my eye so I got them both on kindle.
Fang of the Vampire (Scream Street 1)
Yes, I went for the the first volume of his 14 book middle grade series Scream Street – I do love my supernatural tales of vampires and ghouls.
This book was lots of fun and I will be checking out the others – though due to the illustrations I think getting hold of print copies might be the best way forward.
Scream Street is a place that supernatural creatures are sent to avoid them being a problem to humans, so when Luke turns into a Werewolf, him and his human parents are sent there, with no way out. Not so fun for Mr and Mrs Watson who can barely stop trembling when in a room with their vampire neighbours. Scream Street is also controlled by the nasty landlord Otto Sneer who takes pleasure in confiscating people’s things…including the electricity.
Luke makes friends with a vampire, Resus Negative and a mummy, Cleo Farr and together they start a search for a way out of Scream Street. This trio is great together and get into a number of scrapes in this first book. There is a whole host of characters that kids and adults alike will enjoy – like the farting goblins and the very laid back zombie Doug.
Great for bedtime stories.
Ward 13 (Teen Reads)
I was intrigued by the synopsis of this one where a teen, Mark Jackson, ends up in hospital with a broken leg, after a skateboarding accident. Whilst there he notices that patients who don’t seem to have any relatives visiting, don’t seem to come back from surgery. As a boy in a group home Mark fits that description and his surgery is scheduled for the next day…
This story was only 49 pages, which I didn’t realise when I bought it but that is because it is aimed at teens who are still developing their reading skill. A bit like the new Quick Reads series. Plots relevant to that age group but with slightly less challenging language. There was a nice bit of suspense and I liked the two young characters. It also made me feel queasy – in a good way?! Tommy has written a few creepy books in this series.
Do let me know in the comments which book(s) of Tommy’s catch your eye and make sure you check out the rest of the blog tour (some of the stops are hosting a giveaway) and do come and join in Vivienne and Chelley’s twitter chat on Thursday 30th June 2016 8-9pm using the hashtag #TommyvsCancer
kirstyes 