Author CL Walters was looking to feature writers from Instagram on her blog and I got picked. You can read her post about yours truly by clicking here.
She is the author of two novels that can be bought from Amazon.com:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvhOTJGnKw_/
Swimming Sideways by CL Walters
“What do you do when your world has fallen apart, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to put it back together? Abby Kaiāulu (Kaw ee aw oo loo) gets the chance to start over when her family relocates from Hawaii to a small town on the Oregon coast. But she’s hiding a secret. Leaving the past and the cultural lessons of her Hawaiian grandfather behind, Abby redefines who she is to hide it. There’s Good Abby – she makes and follows the rules – and there’s Bad Abby – she always questions them. But both leave Abby wondering: which one is she really? Her road of self-discovery takes her on a journey where she must discover the truth of who she is as a daughter, a sister, a woman, a Hawaiian and as a friend. But just when she thinks her world might be coming back together, it falls apart all over again. “
“ Seth Peters has been angry for a long time. Living with an abusive, alcoholic father has that effect. But when he wakes up in a hospital – outside of his body – due to an accident that he doesn’t remember, Seth is no longer angry; he’s terrified. When his memories begin to return, he is confronted with a legacy of lies he’s constructed to survive the pain of his own life. Realizing he’s no different than the man he’s loathed his whole life, Seth’s learns that his choices have set into motion far-reaching and terrible consequences for the only true friend he’s ever had, Gabe Daniels. Challenged with wallowing in the pain or confronting his fears and admitting to the ugly truth about himself, Seth must decide if facing what he fears most to save his friend’s life is worth the risk of losing his own. “
It is set in the Middle East, in the desert. There is a western feel to it with the guns but a fantasy element with the magic and mythical creatures.
This is my review.
What is the book about?
The story is set in the desert in a time when women are oppressed. Amani lives in a small town with her aunt and uncle as her parents are dead. It isn’t a happy home, they are poor and she is coming to an age where she must be married but doesn’t get to chose who. Her uncle thinks she should marry him and she can’t think of anything worse. So, she plans to escape.
Fortunately she is a good gun slinger and decides to dress up as a man and enter a shooting contest. She plans to runaway with her winnings.
Skip to ”What did I think” to avoid spoilers.
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How it starts
At the contest she earns the nickname Blue Eyed Bandit (her eye colour is unusual) and although she makes it to the final and is clearly the best shooter it turns out the contest is fixed and she is lucky to make it out alive.
The soldiers are looking for a criminal which turns out to be Jin, the guy she met at the contest and helped her escape. Amani helps him hide although Jin doesn’t recognise her without her disguise.
Later, when she captures a magical horse, worth a lot of money, she thinks her luck has changed. But, her uncle decides they must marry so he can take the money. The mine explodes and in the chaos, Jin helps her escape with the horse.
The middle
At first Amani and Jin are not travelling companions but as their paths keep crossing they end up helping each other. There are also a few almost kisses.
To avoid getting captured Jin suggests they join some travellers as hired help. Amani has to pretend to be a boy and is hired as a shooter as the route is dangerous.
During their travels they see some of what the army are doing and discover they have created some type of bomb and will use it on civilians and blame the rebels.
Whilst travelling, Jin is attacked by a creature that creates nightmare. The party want to leave him behind as he will slow them down and die but Amani stays with him. She is determined to get him across the desert in his fragile state. A creature is tracking them so Amani has to find somewhere safe, she finds a wall and says the secret phrase from the fairy tale Jin has been telling her and the hidden entrance opens.
This trip was a little tiresome for me and Amani didn’t have much purpose. Her family were long gone and she was running to a city where she thought her life would be better.
How it ends
Amani finds the rebels secret hideout. Whilst at the camp she meets Dijinnis and learns about how they all have a unique characteristic. She discovers her blue eyes are because she is a Dijinni. She also discovers Jin is the rebel prince. At first she is angry he hid this from her but later forgives him.
She joins the rebel’s and helps them to stop the bomb by figuring out her power in the nick of time. She also gets with Jin and they kiss.
What did I think
I like the magic and world building I’m just not a massive fan of travelling within stories. I also wanted the magic sooner but I guess that was the tease to hook me until the end. Amani is a strong fierce character which I enjoyed. The chemistry between Jin and Amani was subtle although it was obvious that he would be the love interest. I get the feeling the passion is being saved for a book later in the series.
I’ve got the next book to read but decided to read Red Queen instead. Rebel of the Sands is a good book and worth a read. There is a movie coming and I think the magic will look very exciting on the screen.
Spring is when the calendar starts to get busier. As we get closer to the summer there are more festivals. Now is a good time to enter competitions.
In April #WriteMentor will open for potential mentees to apply for mentors. In May, there is The Bath Festival. If you prefer online events, be ready for #PitMad on 6 June.
I’m going to take this opportunity to remind you about the calendar I have been updating with literary dates and made accessible to all.
Google calendar
I created a public Google calendar so you can see everything I have added. If you want to copy an event then you too will need a google calendar (it is free with a free Google email account).
Here are the books I have bought for my little girl and why I think they are great for babies.
Best books for babies
Tactile Book
I ordered this one from Amazon. She loves the crinkle sound and looking at herself in the mirror. I went with this one as the Black & White high contrast pictures have been specially designed to be stimulating for babies. It also has a strap to make it easier to attach to a buggy.
Bath book
I ordered mine from The Works. Babies dribble a lot, are sick and want to put everything in their mouths. These books are wipe clean. I choose this one as I liked the three detachable characters that can be used for matching games.
When she is older I will let her take it in the bath.
Wooden Book
I picked this up from Lidl during a baby event. Being wooden makes it really robust. She has thrown it and chewed it and it still looks perfect.
Not suitable for babies
I did buy these for my son and was sad when they got ruined. However, these do help encourage speaking so as long as you don’t leave your baby alone exploring the books, you should be okay.
Picture books
At this age you should take care with picture books as although they may love it they have a tendency to grab things and love scrunching up and tearing paper.
If you go down this route, look out for nursery rhyme collections like those by Miles Kelly as babies love hearing the repetitive sounds and it can encourage talking.
Board books
Board books might look sturdy but they are made of cardboard. If you leave a baby unattended with one, they’ll chew the corners into a pulp and the picture will peel off.
If you go down this route, look out for stories that rhyme like those by Julia Donaldson.
Touch and feel books
Another good choice is tactile books like the “That’s Not My” line. These books are also useful for developing a child’s vocabulary of descriptive words.
Other touch and feel books will enable them to feel different textures and learn about a topic. The picture below is one about farm animals.
Would you recommend these?
I hope you found my suggestions useful. I would love to hear what books you have loved sharing with a baby too.
Personally, I like my projects to have a title before I start writing, some people don’t feel this necessary. My debut novel, currently being queried, was originally called Drift.
Here is a collection of some of the covers I have created for it over the years (there are more).
You will also notice one is called Wipeout as originally there was two books but during a brutal edit, I cut loads , they became one.
I have recently changed the title of Drift to Jewel of the sea. Here is the current cover and can be read on Wattpad.
If you would like to learn more about creating a novel title please check out today’s featured post by Lorraine. She shares her simple and easy to use tips on how she develops her novel titles. Here is the link to her article: http://lorraineambers.com/2018/03/31/creating-a-catchy-novel-title/
As a writer, I wish there was a resource with links to literary competitions, online events and festivals where I can copy the content to my own diary. But, I’m yet to find one.
So, I created my own. And, I am going to share this with you.
Google calendar
I created a public Google calendar so you can see everything I have added. If you want to copy an event then you too will need a google calendar (it is free with a free Google email account).
I hope you find this resource useful. If you notice my calendar is missing any events that you feel ought to be included, please comment with the link. I’ll then check it out and add it to the calendar to help other writers out.
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye. To read the full list, please click here.
This post is to remind you of those taking place this Winter.
It looks like December and January are a downtime for book festivals so this list starts and ends with February.
“Our inaugural festival in 2018 was a great success with a line-up including Man Booker-shortlisted author Deborah Levy, journalist Martin Bell, psychogeographer Iain Sinclair and performance poet John Hegley. We featured over thirty events with writers from Kent and further afield, as well as writing workshops, poetry events, and more.
We hope you will join us again in February 2019. We have another exciting programme of events and activities planned for book lovers of all ages and persuasions, featuring author talks, discussions, creative workshops and spoken word events.”
“The Festival, formerly known as Kate O’Brien Weekend, is this year celebrating its 35th edition. The event continues to honour the life and works of the Limerick author, while attracting prominent participants from all over the world. Building on this significant history, the Limerick Literary Festival seeks to promote Limerick nationally as a place of literary excellence and to provide a platform where readers can meet their favourite authors and other readers.”
One of the best things about having kids is the children’s books. I am a huge fan! What started out as one shelf in our front room for children’s books quickly turned into three shelves and a bookcase upstairs!
I find it really hard to persuade Father Christmas not to buy more books becuase he loves them as much as I do! Today, I am going to share the books that I enjoy sharing with my son, the most, at Christmas time.
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margarey Williams
Be warned that this famous beloved tale isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. At the end the boy has to get rid of his rabbit but because he loved it so much, it becomes real.
The Snowman And The Snowdog (pop up & light up book)
This beloved tale about a boys Snowman coming to life and taking him on adventure is available in lots of formats but the pop up and light up book is a real treasure. There is something facinating about pages that jump off the page but at the end of this book, the stars twinkle due to a built in sensor and built in tiny lights
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet Ahlberg
All the Jolly Postman books are amazing. Children love the little envolpes (from and to fairy tale characters) and finding out what is inside. The letters sometimes contain a gift like a puzzle or a comic. This book makes a lovely gift (thank you aunty Heather) and the snowy variation of this book is great to share over the winter months.
Stickman by Julia Donaldson
I don’t own this book, we borrowed it from the library. Borrowing books is a great way to discover new books for free. Stickman is about a stick that gets seperated from his family. He ends up on a dangerous adventure as he tries to get home to his family. On his adventure he helps Santa who in return helps him get home.
Another, wintery tale by Julia Donaldson is The Gruffalo’s Child. The sequel to the popular Gruffalo. The brave Gruffalo Child sneaks out of the cave on a dark snowy night to find the Big Bad Mouse. Once again, the quick witted mouse out smarts this little Gruffalo.
How The Grinch Stole Christmasby Dr Seuss
My son absolutley loved the Grinch. This descpicable character feelings towards Christmas is quoted as “hate, hate, double hate, loathe entirely”. His hate for Christmas is very entertaining and when he says “Poo poo to the whos” my son laughs and makes me read that line over and over again. Don’t worry, in the end, the Grinch learns that there is more to Christmas than giving gifts.
My Rhyme Time Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
This is an all year favourite for bedtime but when I was asking my son to help me pick the books for this post, he inisited on this one as he like the twinkle star nursery rhyme and at Christmas time we change the words to “Twinke twinkle Christmas star”. The book is filled with traditional nursery rhymes and illustrated beautifully by Miles Kelly.
The Christmas Show by Rebecca Patterson
This book was a gift from my son’s nursery. He isn’t the easiest kid to keep in line so I am not sure if this book was chosen especially for him in mind or just a lucky chance that he got it. It is all about the children preparing for the nativity play, the main little boy doesn’t really pay attention and on the big day he gets it all wrong but his performance is still loved by his family and he is told to ignore the mean words of the head angel.
Thank you for reading
Are any of the above your favourites? Can you recommend any more that I should add to my collection?
With Christmas fast approaching, I have decided to create a list of gift ideas for writers. Here you go from the extravagant to the affordable.
As my list got too long for my post <eek>, I have had to split it between two posts. Part 1 is the more affordable gifts and part 2 are the more extravagant gifts (anything over £20).
Here it is:
Writing course
Another idea is to support the writer in developing their craft. One of the best presents my husband got me was my online writing course with Curtis Brown Creative. Courses start from RRP £200. Click here to read my review.
Groupon is a great place to shop for bargains and often have offers on courses. This is where I got my Write Story Books for Children online course for just £30! I also got Write Romance Fiction but have not started it yet. The course are flexible and you can study wherever, whenever and take as long as you like!
You could check with your local college or library to find details about writing courses nearby.
Some people prefer a face to face learning experience. A writing retreat would make a great gift. You can buy a holiday that allows them to escape and be with other writers. The retreats often include workshops as well as an ideal environment to write. Check out Skyros Holidays. Breaks start from RRP £90.
Another option is to buy them a mentor! The Literary Consultancy is a company that offers mentors, manuscript assessment and editing. A writer could learn so much from one of their packages. They sell gift vouchers too!
Vintage
Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters is a place to buy high quality vintage type writers (prices start at around RRP £125). Alternatively, you can check second hand sites like eBay or Gumtree. I got mine from Facebook. Writers have a warmth for the aesthetics of these. Some writers might even use one to avoid web distractions.
You could buy them an antique writers bureau (or a new modern one). These desks look beautiful and are an ideal place to sit on your laptop working on your novel. I’ve always wanted one with the fold up lid like this RRP £350 real wood one at Cotswolds.
Green Woods Funiture in the UK uses sustainbly sourced wood to make custom bookcases. Prices start from around RRP £250.
The Ethical Superstore sells fair trade products including furniture. They have bookcases/shelves starting from around RRP £250.
Technology
In the digital age, no writer should be without an electronic means of writing their novel. You could buy them a tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard, a laptop (the Microsoft Surface Pro has a pen to enable them to hand write their novel if they prefer to do so over typing) or a PC. When buying, check out things like whether they can save to a USB device or if they will need cloud storage.
Although most agencies allow you to submit your manuscript online, there is still a need to print. Your writer might appreciate a printer so they can take a document with them to their local writers group or to make editing easier. I have always liked the compact shape of the Canon printers. When buying, look for ones that allow wireless printing so your writer can print to it from anywhere in the house.
There is plenty of software to make writing easier. You could buy them MS Word or software specifically designed for writers like Scrivener or Dabble writer.
Comfort
I do get cold writing and I would love it if someone bought me some nice socks or a warm blanket. These also come in handy when curling up with a good book.
Alpaca wool is hypoallergenic yet warm like wool. You can purchase a fair trade, luxury Alpaca Throw from TraidCraft for RRP £135.
If you writer is vegan they won’t want a blanket made from animal hair. How about an Organic brushed cotton Fair Trade throw from White & Green RRP £133.
Gift sets
For RRP £29.95 you can get them The Writer Box from The Little Bookish Gift Company. The box set contains writing tools and refreshments.
For £39.99 the Writers Hamper from The Story Gift contains a selection of goodies for a writer including writing tools, mug and coaster. They have several other hampers to choose from including one specifically for female authors and another for fairy tales.
How about a tote bag from Zazzle, Cafe Press, The Literary Book People, or Story Gift. These are great reusable bags to use to carry books from the Library. But, if you want something a little more glamourous, how about a Disaster Designs bag from Campus Gifts. Disaster Designs have a ‘Book Club’ clutch bag RRP £35.95, a type writer bag RRP £30.95 and their Ampersand Satchel RRP £49.95.
Thank you
I hope you found this list useful and don’t forget you can always treat yourself. Is there anything on this list you would love? Please let me know if there isanything I have missed out.
Thank you for reading my extravagant writers gift list. I hope you found it useful. If you would like more ideas, please check out my affordable writers gift list.
An airborne disease infects all the males in the world but women are immune. Males are kept safe in sanctuaries as soon as they are born. The rest of the world is run by women. Only the elderly remember life with males.
Virginia wrote this book imagining what the word would be like if men were not part of the world. First she had to decide how to make this world possible and then how this impact would change life as we know it.
How it starts
Fourteen year old River finds an XY (what boys are called) unconscious in the road. She takes him home to her family.
The middle
The family decide to keep the boy and help him heal. It is a miracle he has survived outside the sanctuaries. The laws require he be reported and returned or killed if to sick. The family have to keep him hidden.
Adapting to life with a boy is the main focus. River needs to be aware of her nudity. The boy, Mason, has different mannerisms and customs – like a foreigner in her world.
How it ends
River has an obsession with planes and one of her favourites arrives at a nearby town. She goes to the hanger but it is being kept locked up.
River manages to get in by offering to help refuel the plane. Whilst there she sees a man and helps him escape but things turn nasty and she ends up killing him with a rock. There hasn’t been any murders in years so when Mason takes the blame, everyone believes him.
River then helps Mason find his mum because if they can there is a way around the law. River and Mason then leave to find his mum. When they do, she accepts him and as a result keeps him safe. C
What did I think
The book really made me think about how our genders do play a part in our identity and how others perceive us. I found the world Virginia created was cleverly thought out.
The book started by throwing us right into the action. It was written in first person POV enabling me to feel her distrust and fear of the boy.
Virginia’s writing was really strong and vivid. I would definitely be interested in reading more by this author.
I met Virginia at Felixstowe Book Festival. You can read all about it by clicking here.
I preferred this to The Gender Game by Bella Forrest which is about the world divide between men and women. You can read my review here.
