What I'm Reading
I'm currently taking part in Bout of Books 10, but sadly I got no reading done yesterday or on Monday because I've had a surprisingly busy start to my week. Things are slowly starting to settle down, though, so hopefully I'll get a lot of reading done by the end of the week.
At the moment I'm reading Philip Pullman's Northern Lights which, despite not being on my Bout of Books TBR, was calling to me. I'm ashamed to say I've never read the His Dark Materials trilogy. I tried once when I was younger but I just couldn't get into it. I've heard so many fantastic things about the trilogy, though, so I thought I'd give it another try and this time around I'm enjoying it!
What I'm Writing
As usual, I'm working away on Bloodroot and Bracken!
What Inspires Me Right Now
Is it cocky to be inspired by your own work? I remember a time when I doubted myself so much I thought I'd never be able to write a novel, and now I have a story that I love with characters that I love and a lot of loose ends of the plot that were bothering me are starting to fall into place. It's a great feeling.
What Else I've Been Up To
On Friday myself and a friend went to see Pompeii, and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece - it was part Gladiator, part Titanic, part disaster movie - but it was fun, and even though parts of it were a little funny I actually thought they did a pretty good job of treating the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its consequences quite tastefully. It wasn't over-done.It was nice to see Kit Harington somewhere that wasn't snowing, too, and Emily Browning's just gorgeous.
Other than that I've been buying myself some cheap books online. I decided to buy myself a copy of Tanya Huff's The Silvered because I stumbled across it the other day and it sounds really cool, then I managed to find very cheap, second hand copies of Victoria Lamb's Witchstruck and Marc Sedgwick's Witch Hill. I'm constantly on the look out for more books that could be useful for my portfolio's bibliography!
What's new with you?
Yay, I'm glad you're enjoying Northern Lights! I first read the trilogy when I was about 12, but I enjoyed it even more when I reread it a few years later.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's cocky to be inspired by your writing! I'm still kind of surprised whenever I manage to finish a draft, haha. Old fears die hard, I guess.
Have a great week!
From what I've read of this book so far it seems to be the kind of book that people of any age can enjoy, but from what I've heard about Philip Pullman I didn't expect any less. I really like his attitude towards fiction for younger readers.
DeleteThanks, you too!
I read NORTHERN LIGHTS (aka THE GOLDEN COMPASS) a long time ago, but didn't make it further in the trilogy at the time. I've always meant to go back and finish it, because I've heard great things. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to be inspired by your own writing! Sometimes I just stop and go, "I'm writing a book. An actual book." That definitely inspires me. I mean, it's not something everyone can do, you know? So, not cocky at all! Have a wonderful week, Jess! :D
Haha, you're welcome!
DeleteI have a lot of those moments, too. It can be rather surreal sometimes.
Thank you, you have a great week too! :)
Northern Lights is my favourite book of all time. I just love it. I re-read it yearly. It's very special to me. I read if for the first time when I was ten and it's stuck with me my whole life (thus far ;))
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Wow, that's very high praise. :) It does seem to be one of those books that's on almost everyone's favourites list. I'm a little ashamed it's taken me this long to get round to it.
DeleteThanks, you too! :)
I haven't seen Pompeii, but I'd like to. I'm interested to see how they do a movie where you already know what happens in the end!
ReplyDeleteIt is worth seeing (for Kit's abs if nothing else), and for the most part I think they succeeded with this film by treating the eruption how the people there to see it would have most likely treated it. They had no real idea what was about to happen to them, so even though we, in hindsight, know it still gave the film a 'maybe everyone will be alright' kind of vibe. :)
DeleteI don't think it's cocky at all to be inspired by your own writing. I think it's probably even necessary for building up enough momentum to finish a story. I can totally relate to feeling that way though. I had the same doubts you did about getting a book done. I hope you ride that inspiration for a long time! Have a lovely week! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is true - it's certainly a lot easier to work on a project that you're passionate about!
DeleteThank you, you have a great week too! :)
It's not cocky (although admittedly, I've questioned this myself as well lol). I think it's great to find inspiration in your own work. That means you're doing it right :) And by "part Titanic," does that mean Kit's character doesn't make it out? Haha. I sort of kind of want to see it.
ReplyDeleteWriting can sometimes be such a lonely job that I suppose it's up to us to praise ourselves. :P
DeleteHaha, you have to see for yourself. ;) Though really there are quite a lot of Titanic similarities: poor boy in love with rich girl, rich girl is engaged to horrible man, a disaster occurs. It's like Titanic, only hotter!
I read the His Dark Materials...ten years ago now? (OMG. It's been that long?!) I keep meaning to reread it since there were a lot of things that went over my head the first time around.
ReplyDeleteThat description of Pompeii has me sold. Three of my favorite things, all wrapped into one? I need to go see that NOW.
I think it's a good thing to be inspired by your own work because sometimes that's the only thing keeping you going :)
I tried reading the books when I was younger but, for whatever reason, I just couldn't get into Northern Lights. Then I made the terrible mistake of watching the film adaptation. I'm enjoying it this time around, though! :)
DeleteYou do! It's a fun film, is nothing else.
This is very true. :)