What I'm Reading
Since last week I've read My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland and The Earl and the Fairy, Vol. 1 by Mizue Tani. Both of them were pretty unexpected reads, but I enjoyed them; I loved My Life as a White Trash Zombie and I can't wait to read the other books in the series. The Earl and the Fairy I didn't like as much - it told more than it showed, meaning everything developed too quickly for my tastes - but I'm probably going to read the rest of the series because there are only four books in the manga, and I don't think I've ever come across a manga series so short. Plus the main character's a fairy doctor, so it's kind of cute.
Right now I'm reading Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland, and I'm loving it so far!
Right now I'm reading Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland, and I'm loving it so far!
What I'm Writing
Still working away on short fiction!
What Works For Me
I'm not really feeling very inspired this week, sorry to be a downer. I'm having one of those existential crisis weeks where I feel as though nothing I ever write is ever going to be good enough, so why bother? I'll work my way through it, I just need to shake off the funk.
What Else Is New
Last Thursday libraries all over Britain were having Harry Potter Book Nights; Bloomsbury sent around a bunch of activity sheets, and I volunteered at my local library to help out with the event. I got to be Head of Ravenclaw House (mainly because I told one of the librarians I have a Ravenclaw shirt and a Ravenclaw scarf) and three other volunteers were the Heads of the other Houses. The kids designed dragon eggs, went on a treasure hunt, played 'Petrified Potters' (AKA musical statues), ate some of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans and there was a quiz, too, as well as prizes for the best costume. A little girl in my House won one of those prizes for her amazing Tonks costume; not only did she have a pink wig on, but she even had a name tag written like this: Nymphadora TONKS. It was really cute.
Slytherin came away with the ultimate House Cup, but Ravenclaw were a close second, and I think that's impressive considering there were only three kids in my House!
On Sunday my niece turned 4 - 4! I feel like she was only born yesterday! - and she had a big party where pretty much her entire nursery were invited. She also got a buttload of presents, I have no idea where my sister's going to put them all, and she had a great day running around with her friends.
My sister had the most amazing cake made for her. My niece asked for a unicorn and a rainbow, so that's what she got!
Then on Monday I announced the Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge! I've partnered up with Amy Bruno @ Passages to the Past to organise a reading challenge that's been created with the intention of encouraging people to read more diverse historical fiction. You can find my announcement post here with more information, and I'd love it if some of you decided to join in or just spread the word! This is the first reading challenge I've ever hosted, so it would kind of suck if no one signed up.
I've also been rewatching Inuyasha this past week, which ties with Fruits Basket for my all-time favourite anime, and it's been such a comfort. I first watched it when I was around 16 and I still love it just as much as I did then; one minute it'll have you laughing and the next minute it'll break your heart, but that's what makes it so darn good. I wish I could get them all on DVD, but each season is still around £25 each and there's no way I can spend £200 on anime!
What's new with you?
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| Look how beautiful he is... |
What's new with you?
Hang in there with your existential crisis. Fight your way through it!
ReplyDeleteAnime is good for making you laugh then breaking your heart into tiny pieces.
Have a great week :)
Thanks, I'm certainly trying! =)
DeleteI hope you have a great week, Jess, and power through until you realize how much you rock. Perhaps you need to write something longer. Just a thought. But I get very frustrated with my short fiction. I like character development way too much.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melanie. =) Yeah, maybe it's time I returned to writing longer fiction and see if that helps!
DeleteOMG Harry Potter night sounds amazing. I'm glad you had fun. (also Hufflepuff FTW) Thanks for sharing. :D
ReplyDeleteIt was a really fun night. =)
DeleteThe Harry Potter night sounds like a BLAST!!! Hope you have a great week, Jess, and good luck with your short fiction. Happy birthday to your little niece---they grow up fast, don't they?
ReplyDeleteIt was a great night. =) And thank you!
DeleteWe're all entitled to that kind of funk every once in a while...hope you work through it soon!
ReplyDeleteThat HP night sounds like tons of fun. I ran a HP day at the library a couple of years ago and it was hands-down the best program I've ever done!
Thanks, I hope so too!
DeleteIt was really fun. =) It's definitely something libraries should consider doing more often.
That reading challenge sounds like a great idea. It seems like a lot of people think historical fiction needs to stick to the same places and eras over and over again, like Victorian England, World War II, and the American Civil War, when there are so many other possibilities to explore. In particular, I'm always on the lookout for Japanese historicals.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope you join in if you want to or have the time to. =) I've been trying to find some decent historical fiction set in Japan, too, but also in South America; I don't think I've ever read anything set in South America!
DeleteThat Harry Potter event sounds awesome! Hope you can fight off that existential crisis. Weeks like that are never fun!
ReplyDeleteIt was great fun. =) I hope so too!
DeleteHow cool! A historical reading challenge? (That coupled with your fairy tale challenge...beyond epic!) And I say this because I write historical fantasy, or at least my debut series is in that realm. I love it when people take a time period with a super interesting culture or backdrop and built an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteI hope you take part if you have the time, the more the merrier! =)
Delete"I'm having one of those existential crisis weeks where I feel as though nothing I ever write is ever going to be good enough, so why bother?" <-- YES. This has been me since the start of the year. I'm trying to push through, but ugh... Writing and publishing and rejection are hard. You're not alone! <3
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to hear you're not the only one feeling a certain way. I hope we're both out of the funk soon! =)
DeleteThat Harry Potter night sounds fantastic! I wish something like that would happen around here. :-) I hear you on the existential crisis thing. Yes. I feel like that almost every single day. Sure makes it hard to get my butt in the chair to work on writing. So, yeah. There are many of us in the same camp, I think. Hoping we can all find that confidence boost we need this week! :D
ReplyDeleteIt was really fun. =) It sucks, I just keep trying to remember the wise words of Sylvia Plath: "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
Deleteoh my, that cake! And I get losing inspiration. All writers have their ups and downs. Hope you get out of the funk soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I hope so too!
DeleteThat Harry Potter stuff at the library sounds amazing! How fun!
ReplyDeleteI've been there where I feel like, why bother? But then I remember the good days too. I think writing will always be an up and down like that.
I agree. I think pretty much any art form has this effect on its artists!
DeleteThat Harry Potter book night sounds like a lot of fun. You're not a downer at all. I completely understand where you're coming from. I think as writers we're all like that from time to time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we all feel that way and it's always nice to be reminded of that - I think the worst thing about these kinds of funks is how alone they make you feel.
DeleteThat Harry Potter Night sounds like so much fun! What a cool thing to volunteer for.
ReplyDeleteAnd everyone goes through those funks. The immortal words of Stuart Smalley on SNL come in handy during those moments- "You're good enough, you're smart enough and gosh darn it, people like you." :)
Have a great week!
Thanks, those are some great words of wisdom! =)
DeleteI really want to come to Harry Potter night! And I'm pretty sure I would get sorted into Ravenclaw as well!
ReplyDeleteIt'd be great if more libraries all around the world decided to host them!
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