Things to Be Excited About

With the weather getting everybody down (it's bleak and cold and snowing in England, it's even cold and grey here in India where I still am, and I expect most of the northern hemisphere is feeling the onset of winter), I thought this was as good a time as any to concentrate on all the things I am happy/excited about - and to ask you to share what you're excited about!

1. I will be back in the UK in eleven days! This might not seem like such an exciting thing, especially because I will be sad to leave Bangalore and my parents and family after having seen them for such a short time, but I am so excited to be back with Steve. 

2. I have a wedding to plan, so I'm expecting a lot of stress and chaos and amazingness in the next few weeks. We're hoping to get married at the end of January, if all goes according to plan, so  Oh. My. God. that's not far away now!

3. WOVEN is going to be published! Sara Sargent, an editor at Balzer + Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins Children's in the US), made an offer about three weeks ago and my agent and I had another offer but we ultimately went with Sara, who is awesome, by the way. I haven't signed the contract yet, which might be why it still feels surreal and impossible - apart from, of course, the fact that it is surreal. 

I've been telling myself to hold off posting about this until it's all signed and sealed, but I couldn't resist! And hey, I've held off for three weeks, that's pretty darn good willpower! I know I need to write up a proper post about it and explain things better, but for now, let that be a bit of exciting news. And let me also say: thank you, Melissa, for making this happen!

4. I bought a pair of gorgeous gold heels the other day. Now I know this is a very frivolous thing to be excited about - and that it's shameful I don't even have a photo to show off yet - but I love those shoes. I bought them for the wedding, but I'm totally going to get more wear out of them afterwards.

So there. Four things I am thrilled about this week. But I'd love to know about the rest of you (though I'm not sure I have to ask Talli what she's excited about)!

What's brightening your winter?

Shoes and Books: a Comparison

The wonderful Vix once mentioned she'd like to see me do a frivolous shoe post, and it got me thinking about my love for writing, my love of books, and my love of shoes. While the more high-brow types might look at fashion as something that's beneath them, whereas dusty pages of Homer and great classics are a more fruitful way to spend your time, I can't help but disagree. I think there are a lot of similarities between books and shoes - whether it's the books you write, or the ones you read.

Here's my take on it:

The High Heel vs. Chick Lit (ahem, sorry, I mean Women's Fiction)

This one's easy, right? Feel free to smack me upside the head and tell me I'm barking, but I reckon most of us might associate the glorious high-heeled shoe with this light, witty, girly genre. A genre that invariably involves at least one character strutting about in six-inch heels. On a personal level, I love wearing heels - five inches, tops, anything more is just plain torture from the moment the strap's buckled! - and I love chick lit/that type of women's fiction (also within reason. The predictable and tired love triangles don't really hold my attention for long anymore.)


The Trainer vs. the Trusty Comfort Book 

You wouldn't wear your trainers to an interview, to a book signing or to a party (well, you might, but I wouldn't) - but when you just want to be reliably comfy and you can't be bothered to think about how your feet feel, you fall back on the old trainer. Weather permitting. A hot alternative is the trusty flip flop or the really, really comfy pair of gorgeous summer sandals you love.

Like the trusty trainer, the comfy flip flop, or the soothing sandal, there's that comfort book or genre we all have. For some people it's a light holiday read (light romance, a funny travel book). For others, like me, it's a genre or a book that is always, always a pleasure to read, no matter how I feel. For me, this comfort book (tears aside) is The Time Traveler's Wife or any Georgette Heyer historical romance. However low I feel, these books cheer me right up (Heyer) or make me snuggle into a bit of gorgeously written escapism (Niffenegger).


The Shoe vs. Fantasy

Ah, and then there's the shoe. The Shoe (and heaven forbid you fail to capitalize it) is that pair of shoes that always, always makes you feel absolutely gorgeous. If you need a confidence boost, it's the shoe that takes you there; if you want to sparkle, it's the shoe that lights you up. It's the shoe you wear on that really special date, to that party where The Boy is going to be, to that job interview for the Dream Job... you get the idea.

By no means is it the most comfortable shoe you've got. In fact, it probably hurts your toes, or your calves, or - and this is for you, male readers - it makes your heel burst out into blisters the next day. Ouch. It could be a pair of heels, it could be studded gladiator sandals, it could be a shiny black formal pair that always gets you the job... regardless, it's still The Shoe, because it makes you feel like you could take on the world and win.

And isn't that just what the fantasy genre does? Whether you're fighting Dark Lords or fighting dystopian governments, doesn't the fantasy genre take us outside of ourselves, make us feel like we're somehow stronger, and don't we come out of it feeling like we could win any fight we fight? It could be an urban fantasy love story, it could be high fantasy with swords, it could be a space opera.


What's particularly interesting about this to me is that these are three types of shoes I always love, and always wear - and three types of books I simply can't resist. In fact, I even often write these types of books (though I haven't written women's fiction in ages).

And an example of a shoe I don't wear, and a genre I don't read much of?

The Punk Leather Boot vs. the Thriller


Spiky, high-risk, guaranteed adrenaline. I've never written an out-and-out thriller, and I've never worn an out-and-out leather boot. I don't think I ever will do either of those things, simply because they're not very me. But they might be very much like somebody else.



Sorry if I've put my beloved male readers off, but I hope I haven't, because I think this could work for you too. Do you have shoes that fit into your reading and writing habits? Clothes that suit your artistic or creative talents?

So how do fashion and reading/writing/art work together for you? And if they don't, fair enough. This is my map, but I'd love to hear about yours. What kinds of maps do you draw in your own habits?



And on an unrelated note, Elizabeth Mueller is hosting a blogfest about changes. She's having it in honour of my moving house, which I think is pretty darn amazing of her! So do go over and sign up if it's your kind of thing - imagine the possibilities of subjecting your characters to enormous changes!

Blog Fest

A short weekend-post today.

First off, thank you to everyone who has voted in the poll so far. I'm rather amazed that 'a childhood anecdote involving an elephant' is tied in first place so far, as that really was a bit of joke. Joke's on me, I guess. Never fear, I shall follow through! To anyone who hasn't yet voted and wants to, the poll's in the sidebar, and please do add your thoughts in.

Bought beautiful shoes yesterday. Well, actually, Steve bought them for me, which I thought was very, very nice of him. Here they are.

*gazes at photo happily*

I've just joined The Alliterative Allomorph's Blog Fest, where you post a scene of 'internal conflict'. It sounds like it'll be lots of fun. The post date is 12th May, so if anyone else is interested, do have a look at her post and see if it's something you'd like to join.

Finally, for those who are interested, I've written about a thousand words of the Death-Desire-Rage project I mentioned yesterday. I absolutely love writing it so far, though obviously I couldn't tell you if it's good stuff or not; still, I think it's going well for now, and I hope to post the opening or an extract from the first chapter here soon.

Really must come up with a title for it, as referring to it is 'the Death-Desire-Rage project' is not only slightly misleading, but downright unwieldy. How about Tea with Ghosts? Or Tea with Death, Desire and Rage? The former is succinct but I guess it could give readers the wrong idea until they're a fair way into the story. So though the latter is longer, why not? I'll use that one as a filler for now. TEA WITH DEATH, DESIRE AND RAGE. Which I'll no doubt begin abbreviating to TEA out of pure laziness.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

A somewhat guilty diversion...

...into fashion. Yes, I said it. I used the dreaded F word. Fashion. There. *breathes immense sigh of relief, now that the word has been uttered and gotten off my chest*

I recently discovered a steampunk-oriented blog called STEAMED! and it's fantastic. I didn't think of myself as really into the clockwork, gears and Victorian fashions and art that seem to characterize steampunk, but I've discovered now that I love it. I want the clothes, I want the art, I want the books, I want it all. I'm not entirely sure how I came across the site, except that I reckon it was through reading author Gail Carriger's blog (her novel Soulless and its sequels are steampunk/urban fantasy) and she mentioned she'd done an interview with them. The long and short of it is, I discovered STEAMED! and it was there, on that website where I discovered my love for the aforementioned clothes, art and books, that I discovered steampunk-oriented clothier Clockwork Couture.

Oh, boy. If I had the money, I'd probably shop them out of stock. Some of the shoes/boots are to die for. Most specifically, this is to die for.

These boots.

I think I'd sell my left leg for them. The black ones, not the red or purple. Or maybe I'd sell my left arm. (But please, don't take me up on these offers.)

I'm a sucker for Greek gods

I've managed, by and large, to recover from my sleepless night. I caught a few hours in the late morning and am now looking forward to an early night. 

Have just been into town with Lindsey, where we dropped into a bar for a drink or two. Minor hitch in this plan: apparently, I managed to walk all over Asda, town and the bar with a hairband stuck to my back (well, below my back actually) and only realized it was there when a group of older men with tankards of beer decided to ask me if it was deliberate. My face went so hot you could have scrambled eggs on me.

Steve's started a blog, and has a few posts up already. It's focused on sport and his opinion of current sport news and updates, so if you like that kind of thing, do see him. He manages to make it sound interesting to me, which is a feat, because I'm very un-sport-y. So I reckon someone who likes that stuff would love it.


I've decided to attempt an experiment in writing Half. There are certain things I absolutely love, and I've decided to include them all in the novel, and see if they work together. If I could read my ideal book, it would have all of these things, so I thought: why not write something with all these things I love? Can I make it work, even if they seem incompatible?

So into my slightly dystopian premise, I'm planning to infuse:

• Sherlock Holmes
• Greek mythology
• Clothes/shoes
• Slightly Victorian language
• A sexy love interest and an electrifying romance
• A man who growls. I love men who growl. See my previous mention of my love for Kevin McKidd. He growls, in a nice way.

I've loved Sherlock Holmes and Greek mythology ever since I discovered them, separately, as a child. I've never been able to really use that love in my writing yet. Obviously, the book will not at any point be about any of that list. It will just include them. Can it work? I suppose we'll have to wait and see...