25. Oh ****

I'm twenty-five today. As in, years. Of age. Not twenty-fifth on the list of all-time bestselling authors. (As if.)

I don't want to be twenty-five. I had things I wanted to do and be by the time I turned twenty-five and have yet to do and be some of those things. Write a bestseller. Go to Venice. Meet Jeremy Irons. Be more patient. Ask me if I've done and been those things. Er, no.

You know, maybe I'll just be twenty-two forever. That's right: I'm twenty-two. Plenty of time to do and be all of those things now!

Cake for everyone!

9 Weeks of Reading

As promised last week, this post is going to be devoted to the books I read (and loved) while the Internet was away with the fairies. There's not actually as many as I thought there were, mostly because an awful lot of the books I read haven't made this list; I'm not going to list the books I didn't like or didn't finish.

So in no particular order...


Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
I love this book and nothing I say could adequately describe how I feel about it, so I'm just going to leave it at: clever, startling, heartbreaking.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
This is quite a dark book in some ways, and quite a sad book in others, but I spent most of it laughing out loud because Sarah Rees Brennan is just so. Very. Funny.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
This wasn't the first time I read it, but I loved it all over again. Definitely a book full of awful things and really sad bits, but also all the warm fuzzies.

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot
It'd been years since I read a Princess Diaries book and it suddenly occurred to me that I never found out how it all ended! So I went and got it. Awww. It ended just the way I would have liked it to!

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Weird as anything, but also weirdly addictive. I couldn't stop. I had to know!

Chime by Franny Billingsley
I love this book so much. It's dark and magical and twisty and features a complicated heroine I absolutely adore.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
I couldn't put this down. It's another dark, twisty story and incredibly sad in parts. But it's also incredibly hopeful and ends with a lovely sense that the wrongs things have been put right.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I know, I know. Why did it take me so long? I wouldn't say I totally and absolutely loved it, because more often than not I was either a little lost with all the sciencey stuff or my wimpy little heart was breaking for how tiny these children were and how much Ender loved Valentine and all that, BUT. That. Twist. Is. Awesome.

ACID by Emma Pass
I can't actually remember if I read this right before the Great Internet Black Hole or during, but either way: it's an action-packed thriller. Normally I don't even like action-packed thrillers, but I couldn't stop reading this. I had to know how it would end. I had to know what would happen. I also love Emma's writing style.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
I would have expected nothing less from the author who broke my heart twice with If I Stay and Where She Went. This is less devastating, but is nevertheless romantic and sweet and sad.


There we go! I'm sure I've left something out and forgotten about something else, but oh well. Have you read any of these books? Do you have any favourite recent reads to recommend?

Me, Elswhere. And Cats...

Life and writing have once again got on top of me, so just a quick one today. I'm very excited to be part of Michelle Sedeño's blog feature celebrating debut authors of 2012 (that's me! Yes! I'm one of them!). Her interview with me is up here, so go check it and the other author interviews out - we're giving stuff away!

(Side note: I'm alone at home right now. At least, I think I am. But I'm hearing mysterious noises. Creaks. And scrapes. It's most peculiar. If I were imaginative I'd say a half-destroyed zombie was dragging itself across the floorboards in the hallway...

...lucky I don't have an imagination, eh?)

And books! On the one hand I feel like I have tons of books in my reading queue. On the other I feel like there's nothing I feel like reading right now. Anyone have any great recommendations to share?

(PS. So, the noises. Not a zombie. A cat got in. I rescued it and sent it home.)

(PPS. OH MY GOD. Speaking of cats! Have you seen this live stream of a family of kittens? GO! GO SEE!)

Writers and Lady Gaga: more in common than we thought?

Just a quick stop today. So we all know that Lady Gaga likes to wear unusual things, right? Meat dress, anyone? (Ah, I love Lady Gaga.) And many of us are writers/artists of some kind, are we not? And in true artistic fashion, do we not have our quirks? 

For instance, I wear weird stuff to work sometimes (for example: nothing. I've said this before, I do sometimes get undressed for a shower, then remember an idea, and start writing and before I know it, I'm working naked for hours...) and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there. Anyone else? No? Don't be shy!
 
So I love this Guardian article. Blog-friend and reader Alesa sent me the link several days ago and I decided I had to share it.

What are your artistic quirks?

An episode in the saga of How Sangu Works

ON AN AVERAGE WRITING DAY

1.30 PM: Wake up

1.35 PM: Fall back asleep

1.40 PM: Wake up and play games on iPad or, if very lucky, read a bit of a book (or a whole book. Why not?)

2 PM: Turn on laptop, because laptop takes at least twenty minutes to start up properly. Then go get dressed and brushed and whatever else. On busy days dressing and brushing is optional. Pity postman.

2.30 PM: Check emails. Return blog comments that arrived overnight/day. Write up a blog post if I have time, otherwise glance over my favourite blogs and Twitter stuff.

2.45 PM: Find a song I really want to listen to right now. Usually a song that fits what I'm about to be working on.

2.47 PM: Start writing/editing/revising/tweaking/proofreading/tearing hair out.

3.50 PM: Notice that I received a text message half an hour ago. Odd. Why didn't I hear that? Hmm. Forget to reply to text message because brain is fully lost in book-world.

4.10 PM: Realize I'm hungry. Even odder. Have I not eaten today? Oh. Why didn't I? Hmm. Forget to eat because brain is fully lost in book-world.

5 PM: Brain aches. Eat a plum.

5.15 PM: Steve rings to say he's leaving work. I mumble, most irked about being disturbed while brain is fully lost in book-world. Steve tentatively inquires about text messages that were not replied to. I say 'hmm? What did you say?'

6 PM: Look around wondering where Steve went. He's been quiet an awfully long time. 

Oh. He hasn't come home yet.

6.20 PM: Steve comes home and kisses me on the top of my head, over the back of my chair. Refrains from pointing out the fact that I look like a deformed crab, hunched over laptop with alarmingly bad posture.

6.30 PM: Look around wanting to know why Steve never hugged or kissed me when he came home. He sighs. I give him a hug and we manage to have a proper conversation lasting a whole three minutes. I go back to writing/editing/revising/tweaking/proofreading/tearing hair out. Brain aches. Odd. Why am I hungry?

7 PM: Steve shouts at me for only eating a plum all day. I make up for it by taking a two-hour break and watching TV with him and eating Too Much Dinner. And dessert. We have real conversations and sprawl half on top of each other on the sofa to watch TV.

9 PM: Return to manuscript. Brain does not ache. In fact, brain wants to know why Characters One and Two aren't kissing yet.

9.30 PM: Realize I haven't put a new song on since 3 PM and must do so because Steve is heartily sick of hearing the same thing over and over. Change song and play it for the next three hours.

4 AM: Turn off laptop. Brain aches.

4.10 AM: Shower. Wash hair. Trip out of shower and into bedroom, where Steve is asleep on my side of the bed. Make him move. Get in bed.

4.30 AM: Can't sleep. Bloody nuisance. Read a book. Or poke Steve and demand entertainment.

6 AM: Finish book. Stop poking Steve. Sleep.

8 AM: Wake from comatose condition to Steve kissing me goodbye as he leaves for work. Swat him affectionately and descend back into the depths of corpse-like slumber.

12 PM: Postman knocks. Stumble downstairs and offer winning smile.

12.10 PM: Comatose.

1.30 PM: Wake up. And start all over again.