Keris Stainton's Blog, page 10

Win Marcus Chown’s new book

I’m a big fan of Marcus Chown on Twitter and I’ve really enjoyed both Tweeting the Universe: Tiny Explanations of Very Big Ideas and his children’s book Felicity Frobisher and the Three-Headed Aldebaran Dust Devil, so I’m very happy to have been given the opportunity to give away three copies of his latest book, What A Wonderful World.

Marcus’s Summary:

What A Wonderful World is my attempt to explain everything – from finance to thermodynamics, sex to special relativity, human evolution to holography – in straight-forward, accessible, everyday language. My hope is that, if everything has passed you by in a high-speed blur, my book will quickly and painlessly bring you up to speed on how the world of the 21st century works. Of course, I haven’t really covered everything. Think of it as my attempt to explain everything… volume 1!

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the book, simply answer the following questions. (You don’t have to get them right – they’re just for fun. I’ll put everyone who answers in a hat and draw out a winner.)

What percentage of cells in your body are alien – that is, microorganisms hitching a ride?

a)    5%

b)    95%

c)    99%

According to Einstein, the faster you travel:

a)    The taller you get

b)    The slimmer you get

c)    The lighter you get

The scientists who won the Nobel Prize for detecting the faint “afterglow” of the big bang thought they had found:

a)   the glow of pigeon droppings

b)   the glow of street lights

c)    the glow of glow worms

Closing date is 27th October and it’s only open to UK residents, I’m afraid (it’s a big book).

Catch Marcus on the rest of the tour:

14th October Teen Librarian

15th October Penguin Galaxy

16th October Open Democracy

Feminism Friday: International Day of the Girl

“We are human behind and this part of our human nature that we don’t learn the importance of anything until it’s snatched from our hands. In Pakistan, when we were stopped from going to school, and that time I realized that education is very important, and education is the power for women. And that’s why the terrorists are afraid of education. They do not want women to get education because then women will become more powerful.”

Week in Whitby

We went to Whitby for a week last year and absolutely loved it, so we were very excited to go back, particularly since we found a fantastic cottage in one of the old yards off Church Street.

This was our view. The house was through a narrow arch between two Church Street shops and up about twenty steps. Once you go through the arch it’s really quiet. One of my favourite things about the holiday was coming back down through the quiet and then stepping out onto a busy and vibrant street. So cool.

The boys, however, were all about the beach.

Feminism Friday: Tony Porter – A Call to Men

This is a must-watch, particularly, I think, for parents of boys. It’s only 11 minutes.

And here is Soraya Chemaly being typically brilliant on the subject: The real boy crisis.

The day the internet went down…

So the internet went down. I refreshed it. I refreshed it again. And again. And again. [Repeat beyond all reason.] I tried to log out and back in, but my details weren’t showing. I turned it off and on again. I refreshed it. [Repeat until you realise you're a total idiot. Then repeat some more.] I went to bed.

In the morning, it still wasn’t back. I’d learned my lesson, I only refreshed it, logged on and off again and plugged it in and out once before ringing Virgin to see if there was a problem. See, I’ve made that mistake before – blamed David for breaking the internet before ringing and learning there’s a technical fault in my area. “There’ll be a technical fault!” I told the kids, who were sweating a bit, having woken up in a terrible dystopian wi-fi-free world. “They don’t usually last long!”

I rang. There was no message about a fault. I spoke to a woman who tested the line. And then suggested I unplug the modem and try it in another socket. Nothing. And then she said I needed a new modem. And it’ll be “three to four days.” I hung up the phone, my hands shaking. I told the children – they both shrieked.

“I need to check my moshlings,” Harry said moments later, heading for the computer.

“No wi-fi,” I said.

“Oh yes.” He sat back down.

For the past week, I’ve been writing 750 words every morning on a site called 750words.com. I opened it. Obviously nothing happened. I sighed heavily and opened a blank document instead.

“There’s no wi-fi on the iPad!” Joe shrieked.

“There’s no wi-fi anywhere,” I replied.

“Oh COME ON!” Joe yelled.

Next on my daily To Do list is exercise. I alternate between Nia and Yoga videos. They’re both online. Joe and I had a Take That dance party instead. (Harry was still weeping over the fate of his moshlings.)

I started reading a new book and headed to the computer to add it to Goodreads…

I got a text message about Joe’s preschool fees and attempted to access online banking to confirm when I’d last paid…

Joe spotted a lottery ticket and asked me to check if we’d won…

I could see Facebook on my phone and some friends were arranging a Christmas party, but my calendar is online and doesn’t sync with my phone…

“Ooh!” I thought. “At least I’ll be able to catch up on some TV!” Except everything I want to watch is on Netflix or needs a VPN…

I started making a list titled When The Internet Comes Back.

Harry and I talked the other day about how COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS it is that the internet didn’t exist when I was his age. How there are a lot of things that have changed a lot during my lifetime (cameras always spring to mind, particularly video cameras – my uncle hired one for a party in the 80s and it was like a TV camera – he had to rest it on his shoulder and it came with a separate mic on a stick), but the internet has gone from nothing to pretty much everything in less than 40 years. Unbelievable.

I also joke (“joke”) about how my entire life is online, but I was shocked by how much of my day-to-day stuff requires the internet.

After lunch, I unplugged the modem, blew some dust off it and plugged it back in. It was working again. We were all extremely relieved. 

Come and ring my Mightybell

That sounds smutty, I know. (Well it does to me. Maybe it’s just me.)

But, no, Mightybell is a really cool site for online communities and it’s  where I now run my online courses from. Look, it’s pretty…

… and it’s v user-friendly too.

Writing for Teenagers is a 6-week course and starts again 6 October. Beyond the First Draft is a 4-week course and starts 1 November. I’ve run them both before and nice people have said nice things. Look!

Writing for Teenagers

“So inspiring and informative! I found the whole approach a brilliant way in to talking about the issues surrounding writing and editing YA.” Harriet Reuter Hapgood

“The course for me was well rounded and packed with enough information/guidelines for the novice writer to put together a jolly good book. It’s the best fifty quid I’ve spent in a long time.” Paula Smith

“I loved the course. It was supportive, inspiring and helpful. It’s given me more confidence and enthusiasm to keep going.” Lesley Taylor

Beyond the First Draft

“There are so many courses out there that it’s difficult to know which one to choose. I really wanted help with editing and I found Keris’s course to be exactly what I wanted. It was packed with the sort of information that sometimes I’ve been afraid to ask about or simply hadn’t thought of. It was accessible, friendly and so ridiculously useful that I urge you to do it! I’ve learnt things that will be forever relevant. It’s a healthy dose of blunt advice and guidance that has steered me though the nightmare that can be editing, querying and synopsis writing. So glad I took part.” Sarah Bryers

Each course costs £50, payable via Paypal. If you would like any more information, email me. 

Feminism Friday: Feminist reading list

I asked on Twitter for some recommended feminist reading (non-fiction) and added a few of my own. If anyone has any more to add, let me know in the comments.

History of Their Own by Bonnie S Anderson & Judith Zinsser

Mad, Bad and Sad by Lisa Appignanesi

The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard

The Story of V by Catherine Blackledge

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (2010 edition)

Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine

Appetites: Why Women Want by Caroline Knapp

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti

Living Dolls by Natasha Walter

From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

See also:

Feminist YA Books

Feminist YA Authors

(I’ll be doing a list of feminist fiction too at some point, if you have any suggestions.)

Is that too much to ask for?

I saw this quote on Twitter the other night and it made me gasp.

This is what I want. Exactly what I want. (Well, not exactly. As my friend Kate pointed out, you could replace “tea” with “wine”…)

I mean, I know I’m hardly unique in this. I know this is probably the perfect life for many many people, but… when I saw it, something sparked inside me. Because I do want that. Exactly that (with wine) and I’ve wanted it for as long as I can remember. But do I spend my life in a way that’s bringing me closer to that? Nope. 

I love my life. I’ve written before about how I used to get upset when the cherry blossom arrived because it meant another year had gone by and I still felt… stuck. I don’t feel like that now. I love writing books (book news soon, I hope). I love home educating. I love my husband and my boys and my house (although I’d love my house more if I could move it to another town). I love myself (and it’s taken me a long time to say that!). 

But I find it so easy to get stuck in a rut. I’m kind of lazy and even though I do a lot of stuff, I don’t really do it as well or as much as I could. When I read Brené Brown on “wholehearted” living, it made my heart beat faster. Because I am half-hearted. In almost everything. (So I guess at least I’m wholly half-hearted…) And I don’t want to be that way anymore. 

I’m 42. Time is passing. Fast. My boys are growing up. I always tell myself we’ll have more money in the future, we’ll be able to live the way we want to in the future. But I’ve been telling myself that for – what? – 30 years now? I need to do what I can now to make sure we do have more. More travel, more books, more tea, more writing, more wine.

Wholeheartedly. 

Autobiography by Gabriel Celaya

I started reading The Yellow World by Albert Espinosa when I was in Waterstones in Sheffield and I bought it because of this poem:

Autobiography by Gabriel Celaya

Don’t hold the knife in your left hand.

Don’t put your elbows on the table.

Fold your napkin properly.

That’s the beginning.

Tell me the square root of three thousand three hundred and thirteen.

Where is Tanganyika? What year was Cervantes born?

I’ll give you an F if you talk to your classmate.

That’s how it carries on.

Do you think it’s right that an engineer should write poetry?

Culture is an ornament; business is business.

If you stay with that girl you’re not welcome in our house.

That’s living.

Don’t be so crazy. Best behaviour. Stand up straight.

Don’t drink. Don’t smoke. Don’t cough. Don’t breathe.

Yes, don’t breathe! Say no to every ‘no’

And relax: die.

I didn’t really enjoy the book, but I love that poem.

Writers’ questions for David Levithan – what would you ask?

Thanks to Jo at Egmont and the ever-lovely Sophie Waters, I’ve been given the opportunity to interview the amazing author David Levithan (via email, but I think I would have been too nervous to meet him anyway).

Because as a writer I’m totally in awe of him (the question that immediately sprung to my mind was “How are you so brilliant?!”), I thought other writers may do the hard work for me have questions they’d like to ask.

So. If you’re a writer and a David Levithan reader, please ask your burning question and I’ll pass it on to him (I’ll include your name, I’m not going to pretend I came up with the questions myself, honest). In the comments to this post, on Twitter or Facebook is fine and I need the questions by next Friday (20th September), please.

I’ll send a copy of David’s latest book Two Boys Kissing (not yet published in the UK) to whoever comes up with my favourite question.

[I haven't forgotten Feminism Fridays, I've just got a lot on atm. Will be back soon with a feminism recommended reading list, so if you've any feminist non-fiction books you think are a must-read, please let me know.]