Solidifying!

Hi, Howdy, Yo, How're doing?

Wow, so June....I would love to say I've been busy. I'd love to give you a justifiable reason why I've not written anything in two months...I'd love to.

Instead, I'll explain it through metaphor. This Happened.

But just imagine I'm the witch and the water is LIFE, OK? That's basically what happened.

There are three things that are important when you're 24 (in a really superficial-1st world kinda way) and they are:
1) Your job 
2) Your social life
3) Men


Me at 24

1) Can't get a job
2) Can't leave the library due to The Evil Thing (dissertation)
3) Spend my time imagining legitimate ways I will bump into Henry Cavil. I know Henry, it would be magical


So that's why the melting happened.





BUT, I've decided to solidify (hence name of post, amazing link there I think you'll agree...because I melted...yeah?) and start writing again. 

"PHEW" I hear you all silently cry! 
And I can promise that the next few blog posts will be extra silly, extra bookish and extra existent...which I feel is a good step forward. I may even experiment with some fiction, or dabble in some prose, but only if you're very, very good.

Here's a hint at some things I might write about, just to wet those tastebuds, or tease those eyes or whatever it is that happens.

• CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND WHY THEY'RE AWESOME (in no way connected to the fact that I would really, really, really like a job in children's books)

• ME AND WHY I'M AWESOME (joke....or is it? *employ me*)

• ON DISCOVERING FEMINISM AT LATITUDE

• ummmm COWS, HENRY CAVIL, FLOWERS, LEMURS....OTHER THINGS THAT ARE AWESOME

• ON OVER-USING THE WORD AWESOME

Yeah, that should keep us going for a bit. 

I'll write again once I've thought of something funny/interesting/to pass the time.

See you in another two months then.

Book Review: Sky Song by Sharon Sant

I was recently caught staring into the bathroom mirror trying to see if my eyes change colour…they don’t. Two green eyes continued to stare unsympathetically back at me so I’ve concluded I’m nothing like Jacob Lightfoot, though it’s fair to say, not many people are. 

Jacob Lightfoot is the slightly strange protagonist of Sharon Sant’s debut novel Sky Song. This is the first in a trilogy that sees young Jacob discover his true identity and the huge amount of responsibility that comes with being different. 

The story starts in a recognisable manner; it opens with a scenario that evokes thousands of questions, and then relaxes into a setting of the scene that leads to a dramatic but comfortable read. This is not necessarily a criticism, this method is a tried and tested formula for young adult novels that works well, and is not to say that the plot is predictable. From poor Jacob’s rude awakening one morning by a creepy individual in his bedroom telling him that he, Jacob, does not exist, the plot hurtles around corners and loops the loops at alarming speed. It is brilliantly surprising with every chapter and Sant manages to include many themes without the plot feeling cluttered. Jacob, in essence, is a normal teenage boy; he finds it difficult to fit in, he loves his best friends, bickers with his parents and has girl problems. He also, however, has eyes that change colour, a photographic memory and a feeling that something inside him is waking up. 

One of my favourite things about this story is Sant’s characterisation. Unlike many young adult novels where the main characters seem much wiser and articulate that normal teenagers, Sant’s characters feel very real. I can easily hear their interactions and especially like how the intimacy and affection between Jacob and his friends and with his parents is always apparent without having to be spelled out. Sant obviously has skill at portraying her characters so it is somewhat disappointing that this talent doesn’t stretch to all areas of the book. I never really felt like I knew Dae at all. I would have loved more interaction between him and Jacob so that when (SPOILER ALERT) Dae dies I feel some of that harrowing sadness that envelopes Jacob when he finds out. But I didn’t pity Dae at all and it’s such a pivotal moment for Jacob that I knew I must be missing something. I think the problem I had is that a lot has to be explained to the reader; who Makash is for example, and why he is angry. The revelations about Dae have to be awkwardly communicated, which is why I think they lose their significance, and I don’t feel the reader ever quite understands who the watcher is or why this is such an important position. This may sound ridiculous but I didn’t really realise that Astrae was another physical planet until the very end, I thought it was a sort of state of mind, which obviously makes it quite different! 

It would have been great if Sant could have developed these issues further so that readers can figure out more by themselves. I, personally, would have appreciated more description and detail about Jacob’s time on/in Astrae and truly what is expected of him so I could fully understand the weight of his decision. We heard so much about Jacob hearing and feeling his home inside his head but I felt that we didn’t get to hear or feel it ourselves. 

Sky Song is the first in a trilogy so I am hopeful that many of my questions will be answered in the second and third books, which I would still very much like to read.  Sant is a talented writer and there are obviously so many excellent and creative ideas inside her head, I would just more of them on paper.

@SharonSant 

http://sharonsant.com/

Speed Dating for the Literary Minded

I’m afraid my absence from the digital page has no exciting or dramatic cause. I have not been forcibly kept away from my laptop by tornadoes, floods or any other natural disaster that put saving the world at higher priority than blogging. The misfortune that inflicted this separation upon me was the horror of deadlines, a horror – I hope you will agree – that would send even the most brave and dedicated of bloggers into a mad, referencing-induced frenzy. 

However, I also went speed dating, which happily brings us back to the silliness that is the inside of my brain.  I didn’t go speed dating with the hope of meeting ‘my one and only’ (I don’t believe Ben Barnes or Benedict Cumberbatch would ever go speed dating in Balham), but I did go with the hope of an interesting evening chatting to interesting people…which sort of happened. It was certainly interesting and I certainly did not meet my one and only. I did, however, end up talking to some rather strange people about rather strange things. Mainly because towards the end of the evening the wine had been flowing and, getting bored of asking, “where are you from?” and “what do you do?” I resorted to “what animal would you be and why?” and “Dragons! Tell me about them!” 

One thing this evening did offer me, apart from a hangover and phone calls I have to avoid answering, is the fascinating jewel of procrastination that is 'which literary characters would I like to speed date with?' 

My first thought, naturally, was Dumbledore! But just four minutes with Dumbledore? No, I would need a lot longer than that with him, think of the questions I could ask! Like, why is he suddenly naked in Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise? Then I thought of some more, Jon Snow, Prince Caspian, Achilles… and realised I was only thinking of actors I fancy and that’s not the point. 

Perhaps other Game of Thrones characters? Maybe Ned Stark? But I think we all know what he'd say. 

Or the formidable line “we’ll talk when I’m back.” Words, we’ve noticed, that ultimately result in the death of whichever character has the misfortune to utter them.  

So I’m looking for people who would be interesting to meet, but only for about four minutes and then you want them to leave…tricky. 

1. My first choice is Pi Patel from Life of Pie. I don’t need him to tell me his story; I’ve read and seen it. But, I would enjoy starting off the evening with a large glass of red wine while he looks at me with his rather amused expression and explains religion to me in a way that I genuinely appreciate. I think after four minutes I might become internally confused about my spiritual leanings, so four minutes would be just the right amount of time for me to engage with Pi peacefully. Then, when the timer goes I would feel happy enough to say goodbye and watch him walk serenely to the next person with a feeling of ‘yes, I’ve learned something here’. (But no Richard Parker. I love tigers but being mauled to death on the first date would not be a good start.)

2. My second date would be with Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle. There’s no particular reason I would like to meet her other than I think we would get on well and that four minutes would be enough time to form a life-long friendship. Then she could invite me back to the castle; I’ve always wanted to live in a castle.

3. Mr & Mrs Beaver from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. This might sound silly but when else are you going to get to talk to animals that can actually talk back? Not an opportunity to be passed up, I think. 

4. I think my fourth choice might actually be my favourite. Skulduggery Pleasant, from his own series by Derek Landy. Not only would I get to have a date with a real, smartly dressed and ever-so-polite skeleton detective, but I also find him incredibly funny. Only four minutes with Mr Pleasant would be a shame but I imagine that sit there any longer and he would have to dash off to do some world-saving of one kind or another and I’d prefer it if he didn’t bring any vampires or monsters into this already quite strange concoction of characters. 

5. Finally, to end my rather short but fun-filled evening on a high, I’ve decided on Mr Knightly from Jane Austen’s Emma. I would have chosen P & P’s Mr Darcy, only I don’t think he’d approve of me and it would probably just be really awkward. Mr Knightly, however, is much more cheerful and gentlemanly. He’s also extremely handsome, at least in my head, and I haven’t done any swooning yet. I am supposed to be dating these characters after all so perhaps if I leave Mr Knightly for my last date, my evening could end in a much more satisfactory date-like manner. 

Despite the lack of love at my first speed-dating event, I’m trying it again in a different location, with hopefully different men, at the end of the month. You never know, perhaps with a repeat attempt I might stumble across one of the Bens, or at least a talking beaver.