Year of the Series

Book-wise this year was the year of the series for me.  Here’s my recap of series I started, continued, or read in entirety this year.

5 - Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon: I started reading the Outlander series at the beginning of the year after enjoying the sumptuous TV show last year.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but found books 2 and 3 contained too many coincidences (to the point they became ridiculous and obvious).  Haven’t decided if I’ll continue with this, but the characters are appealing and I do want to know what happens to the daughter.  Maybe after a long break…

4 - Icebreaker series by Lian Tanner: I’ve read the first book in this series and have had the second book on my ‘to-read’ list ever since.  A girl who doesn’t belong to any of the tribes on the ship is cared for by mysterious mechanical rats.  Steam-punk without the steam.  Intriguing.

3 - Colours of Madeline trilogy by Jaclyn Moriarty: I read the first book a year or so ago and the second book this year.  Can’t wait for the third to come out.  A crack in a broken parking meter allows Madeline to communicate with a boy in the Kingdom of Cello.  A familiar trope leading to a unique land.  Brilliant.

2 - Obernewtyn chronicles by Isobel Carmody: I read the first book several years ago, but the release of The Red Queen this year prompted me to catch up on this brilliant series.  Knocked off books two and three in the past month.  There’s a map, there’s beast-speaking and far-seeking and other super-powers.  What more could you want?

1 - Chaos walking trilogy by Patrick Ness:  So good, I read the entire series in a month.  Check out my Chaos Walking blog post here.

Best wishes to all for a great year in 2016!

Addendum:  Totally forgot to include Ellie Marney's fabulous Every series.  Being crime (not my favourite genre), I'd have to slot it in behind Colours of Madeline, but well worth reading for the romance.

Negative to Positive

Someone at work taped up a sign above their desk that read: You only work here.  I pulled it down and taped up a sign that read: You are a valued part of a team.

More than ever, we are inundated with negativity: from TV, news, the inescapable internet, and increasingly often from other people who should know better.  At times, it's hard to rise above it, but I think we owe it to ourselves not to reinforce other people's negativity.  We all have bad days, we all make mistakes, we all get hurt.  This festive season, let's practice a little more kindness, a little more forgiveness, and do something to make someone else's outlook on life a little more positive.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

Helen Keller

Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire

It’s been a busy couple of months since I last posted, but with bathroom renovations almost complete, colleagues over their ailments at work, and various other interruptions out of the way, it’s time to knuckle down to writing, blogging and occasionally tweeting again.

I have been reading Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire for our “Witches” themed book club discussion next month.  I’ve never read anything by Maguire before and I found this book both enjoyable and frustrating. 

The book is strongly steeped in Russian folklore interspersed with a spattering of pre-revolution Russian history.  I really enjoyed the folklore elements: the elusive fire-bird, the irritable ice dragon, and the wise-cracking witch Baba Yaga in her capricious house.  I also initially liked the two main characters, Elena and Katerina, whose lives, in one fateful moment, get swapped about. 

There’s so much to like in this story, and perhaps that’s the problem.  There’s just too much happening: Matryoshka dolls marrying dragon-tooth soldiers, a subversive/subservient feline, Tsar Nicholas, Rasputin and an unnamed monk locked in a tower, train travel, tornado travel, and the Tsar’s adventure loving godson, the list goes on.  These are all very entertaining, but by the end of the book, I found I didn’t care as much about the main characters as I did in the earlier chapters when their lives and the complications were simple.

I also have a problem with books, particularly children/YA books that make too many obscure references.  How many children, or even adults, will know anything about Caligula, Robespierre, Benedict Arnold, or Tallulah Bankhead?  And those were mentioned in just one paragraph!  There were at least a dozen more seemingly irrelevant references like that.  When I read, I don’t want to take myself out of the story to go search Google to find out who the author is talking about.  The same goes for words that don’t even appear in a dictionary.  I read to be transported out of the ordinary world into an extraordinary one.  I can tolerate looking up one or two things if they are relevant to the story; any more than that gets annoying.

All that said, some of the writing was lovely – particularly descriptions of the Russian countryside and St Petersburg – and the banter between Baba Yaga and her cat was rather witty.  As I said, there is much to enjoy in the book, but I think simplifying the story would have made it more powerful.  The message to Live your life seemed tacked on at the end when carrying on the theme of need and greed would have been more appropriate.

“Oh, the peskiness of brute childhood!  I always detested it!” remarked the witch.

“Nonesense,” replied the kitten.  “You ate children for a living and loved it.”

‘Yes, but by invitation only.  A mob is an ugly thing, and the younger, the uglier.”

― Gregory Maguire, Egg & Spoon

Chaos Walking Triology - Patrick Ness

Due to the AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!-factor of the cliffhanger ending, it's almost impossible to read The Knife of Never Letting Go without reading the next book in the Chaos Walking series.  So the moment I finished Knife, I borrowed The Ask and The Answer from the library.  The second book also has a cliffhanger ending, but unlike the first, it's not scream inducing.  It was the un-put-downable quality of the writing that had me diving straight from Ask into Monsters of Men. 

It's difficult to give an overview of Chaos Walking without spoilers, so I won't say too much about the story, just that on New World men can hear each other's thoughts and there are no women (or are there?).  One day Todd discovers a hole in the noise and is forced to run for his life from the men of the town he grew up in.  If you like dystopian novels, this is dystopia at its best.  It's an ugly and violent world that Todd lives in, and the body-count is high.  If you don't like that sort of thing, these are not the books for you.

What I love the most about Chaos Walking is the characters’ voices.  Each character, indeed each animal, has its own distinct way of speaking and thinking.  I also love the ambiguity of many of the characters, particularly in the second book where Todd and Viola just don't know who they can trust outside of each other.  It creates non-stop tension and conflict: the essence of a great story.

Patrick Ness is fast become one of my all time favourite writers. 

Her accent’s funny, different from mine, different from anyone in Prentisstown’s.  Her lips make different kinds of outlines for the letters, like they’re swooping down on them from above, pushing them into shape, telling them what to say.  In Prentisstown, everyone talks like they’re sneaking up on their words, ready to club them from behind. – Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go

Announcements

Announcement 1

I have joined the twittersphere, therefore I no longer have time to read, write, sleep or eat.  Because, you know, PRIORITIES!  If you have your priorities straight, you can follow me: @ELambWrites

Announcement 2

Freshly Squeezed Reads has written an article about me, which I must say was a most interesting and enlightening experience.  (I'll never look at magazines the same way again.)  You can read the article here: http://www.freshlysqueezedreads.com/2015/07/c1blitz-winner-ghost-curse-by-ella-lamb/

Ash Road by Ivan Southall

Ash Road was published in 1965.  The first few pages show its age with dated language and an old fashioned style of writing, but don’t let that put you off reading this classic book.  Except for the lack of technology and kids being left largely to their own devices, the rest of the story could have been written this decade.

From the moment a trio of school boys accidentally start a bush fire, you know the unstoppable monster is heading straight for Ash Road.  The folk living on Ash Road have various levels of knowledge of the impending disaster and how to survive it, but don’t realise the enormity of the danger they’re in.  After all there’s a whole mountain and huge reservoir between them and the fire.

For anyone familiar with the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, the fictitious terrain around Ash Road is recognisable, but even for those of you who aren’t, Ash Road will have you on the edge of your seat.  Nature itself is both villain and hero in this book but the human characters’ efforts to save themselves and each other are precious, and the trial by fire changes each character indelibly.  The ending is a relief and the last line incredibly moving. 

Ivan Southall’s descriptions of the fire are outstanding – classic Aussie children’s literature at its best:

It came upon his vision as something living and evil, shapeless and formless, constantly changing, huge beyond comprehension: an insane creature of immense greed consuming everything around it whether the taste pleased or revolted it, rejecting what it did not care for only after it had mauled and savaged it, then pitching it aside or spitting it into the heavens. – Ivan Southall, Ash Road

What the Raven Saw by Samantha-Ellen Bound

I couldn’t resist this little gem I came across at the library, particularly when the blurb on the back said: ‘The raven doesn’t want you to read this story.’

This is a quirky, well-told tale of a raven that lives in the bell tower of an old church with his horde of treasure.  The raven naturally has a bird’s-eye-view of the comings and goings in the church, the graveyard and surrounding area.  The characters he meets run the gamut of ghosts, lovelorn scarecrows, annoying pigeons and a flirty weathervane.

When the raven spies someone stealing from the collection plate, he must come up with a plan to expose the criminal.  Even though he has lost everything he thought was important to him, he enlists the help of his new found friends to lead Father Cadman to the stolen money.  What makes the raven "almost happy" though is being able to sing the hymns and gospels songs that are his refuge from an unwelcoming world.

What the Raven Saw is a great book for all ages.  I gave it to my eight-year-old son and he couldn’t put it down.  Without being the tiniest bit preachy, it explores themes of loneliness, friendship, helping others and living a meaningful life.

The Best Bit of What the Raven Saw:  The trip down memory lane with chapter headings such as: People Get Ready, This Little Light of Mine, Go Tell It On A Mountain, Morning Has Broken, Oh Happy Day and more.  I found myself humming throughout the days remembering songs I hadn’t heard in years and, just like the raven, "having horrible sentimental thoughts."

It was exactly the same feeling as the first time the raven had caught his first rogue gust of wind and thought he could soar and soar and there would never be an end to it. - Samantha-Ellen Bound

Long Island

I have done some renovating and renamed my blog.  What I always hoped this blog would be is something positive, something where the usual daily complaints could take a back seat, a place where I could find the best of something, whether I enjoyed that thing or not.  I hope the new name conveys that vibe.

The photo-header was taken during an early morning walk on Long Island in the Whitsundays in Queensland.  We holidayed there several years ago, a much needed break from our hectic lives.  We had a blissful few days exploring the island, lazing by the pool between stints at the buffet, and basically doing as little as possible until we were advised to evacuate ahead of a tropical cyclone.  The next three days, thanks to bad advice, were a nightmare.

It’s hard for me to look back on that holiday and remember the great stuff, the positive, because by the time we got home I was more stressed than when we left.  I was so relieved when our plane touched down in Melbourne I nearly cried.  Yet if I choose to, I can remember many wonderful things: Wallabies feeding right outside our room at dusk, watching a sea turtle swim under the jetty, bats taking flight in the evening, singing karaoke with my daughter (oh, the joy of knowing you’ll never see those people again), an awesome massage, morning strolls along the beach and many more great memories.  As the daughter of an infernal, er, I mean, eternal optimist, I know that good can always be discovered hiding behind the bad.

My favourite memory of our holiday on Long Island:  Reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan outside our room as we waited for the kids to fall asleep each night.  Zombie novels and tropical islands might seem an odd mix, but have you ever heard a coconut fall off a tree in the dark beyond the porch light?

The Unconsecrated are never alone.  You are...

C1Blitz competition

I’m honoured to have won the Freshly Squeezed Reads’ Choice Award in the recent C1Blitz competition, for the first chapter of my YA manuscript Ghost Curse. 

This unique competition showcases first chapters from unpublished writers.  There are peer-voted, professional-voted and teen-voted categories alongside the FSR Choice category. As a condition of entry, each participant must give feedback on at least five other entries.  All in all I received 4 teen reviews, 2 professional reviews, 5 compulsory reviews from other entrants, and 2 voluntary reviews from other entrants.  That’s 13 different opinions on my first chapter!

After learning of my win, I wrote the following comment on http://www.freshlysqueezedreads.com/  “This is one of the best writing competitions I have entered for the quality and variety of valuable feedback given.” 

Some other writing competitions provide score sheets or detailed feedback, but this is usually only from one or two judges.  I entered one such competition years ago.  One judge gave me an almost perfect score – taking off one point for a minor punctuation error (that the other judge didn’t even notice).  The other judge gave me reasonable score, but far, far from perfect.  So which judge was correct?  The answer, of course, is that they were both right.  Reading is a highly subjective activity. 

Did I get conflicting comments on my C1Blitz entry?  Absolutely.  But several of the critiques contained similar comments, so I know with certainty what I need to work on the most.  If only one person in 13 criticised something, I will consider their advice, but give it lower priority.

Next year, Freshly Squeezed Reads will be doing a P1Blitz for first pages of a manuscript.  I highly recommend any aspiring YA writers to consider entering this competition.  It is a fabulous experience.

Best comment on my story from a teen reviewer:  It is extremely mysterious and it is agonising to have to wait for it to be published, because it needs to be NOW.

I concur – except I’m still editing and rewriting the second half of the ms.  Doh! 

Back to work.

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

Over the summer (appropriately), I reread this favourite from my teenage years.  I couldn’t remember a lot about Summer of My German Soldier, apart from the kiss and the hiding place over the garage.  I had a vague feeling it was set in America, but wondered how it could possibly be that a Jewish girl hides a German prisoner of war in the US.

It turns out my vague feeling was correct.  It is in fact set in Arkansas during World War II, in a small backwater where the only Jews in town own the local department store.  Patty Bergen is the unloved eldest child of the family.  When POWs from the nearby camp are brought to the store to purchase hats for their field work, Patty forms a bond with Anton Reiker, a half-English, half-German POW who interprets for the others.  Later in the story, Anton escapes and Patty hides him in an abandoned loft above the garage.

That is an overview of the plot, but these scenes take up surprisingly few chapters.  There is so much more to this book.  Weaving through the plot are portraits of: a town steeped in prejudice; a family in which appearances (literal and figurative) are everything; and a character searching for her self-worth. 

I highly recommend this powerful story of friendship.  I loved it as a teenager and I love it still.

The Best Bit of Summer of My German Soldier: “The greater the value, the greater the pleasure in giving it.  The ring is yours, P.B.”  Then in the darkened silence, I heard him breathe deeply.  “Am I still your teacher?”  Without pausing for an answer he continued, “Then I want you to learn this, our last, lesson.  Even if you forget everything else I want you to always remember that you are a person of value, and you have a friend who loved you enough to give you his most valued possession.” – Bette Greene

The Accidental Princess by Jen Storer

I’m busy writing and rewriting, not much time to stop and blog, but I had to mention this gem of a chapter heading I came across while reading Jen Storer's The Accidental Princess.

The Accidental Princess is a wonderful modern take on old fashioned story-telling for middle-grade readers.  Boys, don’t be put off by the title, there’s plenty of gory bits and slime.

Best bit of The Accidental Princess – Chapter Sixteen: Wherein there is dancing and other horrors.

The Theory of Everything

When the kids start back at school, I have a not-strictly-adhered-to tradition of going to the cinema on my own for a little me-time.

And so it was today, after a much-needed haircut, I went with my $11 online ticket to see The Theory of Everything.

The story is based on the book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen written by Stephen Hawking’s first wife Jane Wilde Hawking.  The two leads, Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, are superb in this heartbreaking romance.  The story follows the couple’s meeting, romance, Hawking’s diagnosis with motor neurone disease, his subsequent physical decline, marriage, children, Hawking’s success as a brilliant theoretical physicist and the difficult decisions that Stephen avoided, but inevitably had to be made (ultimately by Jane).

I was moved to tears many times during the film and I was still quite emotional on the drive home.  I’m not sure why.  The film has a happy ending: Stephen, who was given two years to live from diagnosis, is now 72; both Jane and Stephen remarried but have remained good friends.  Perhaps it’s the fact that love couldn’t conquer all.  It didn’t matter though because, as Stephen says in the movie, ‘Where there is life, there is hope.’

The best bit of The Theory of Everything (spoiler alert): Stephen’s last computer generated words in the film when he and Jane are watching their children play in the grounds of Buckingham Palace: ‘Look what we made.’