Keris Stainton's Blog, page 47

My new office

I love my home office, I do, but I find that when I'm there I don't get an enormous amount of work done. I've always known I work better out of the house, but until recently it wasn't practical to get out very often, since we didn't have a car. But in the last couple of months, not only did we get a car, but my childcare circumstances changed so that I only have two guaranteed child-free mornings each week. I needed to make sure I got as much done as possible in those two mornings and so, after dropping Harry at school and Joe at preschool, I've started going to Starbucks. And it's been a revelation.

Basically, I get more done in two mornings in Starbucks than I previously did in a whole week at home. And it's not that I don't have the distraction of the internet, because the branch I use has free internet (although I don't have Twitter on my desktop, which probably makes a difference). I think it may be that because I've made the effort to get out of the house and I'm spending money on lattes and lunch, I want to make sure I get full value.

But it's had a knock-on effect in that I really look forward to it. Knowing I have two mornings dedicated to fiction seems to have inspired me – I've had more ideas in the last few weeks than in the whole of last year. I'm also into a proper writing routine. I'm working on a bunch of different things so I don't get bored and I'm really enjoying it.

The proximity to cake is good too.

Do you find you work better out and about?

Spring: a few of my favourite things

Haven't the last couple of weeks been gorgeous? I've been loving the weather and we've been trying to make the most of it by getting out and about as much as we possibly can. Spring is my favourite season and the last few days have featured a few of my favourite things…

The first of this year's photos of blossom. The first of many, no doubt.

 

On Saturday, we went to Windermere and it was absolutely gorgeous. Just before we went home, I said we had to go and paddle in the lake and it ended up being our favourite part of the day. I could look at sunlight on water all day long. (And if my children are in the water being gorgeous, even better.)

My absolute favourite thing lately is being able to see Jupiter, Venus and Mars with my own little eyes. The first time I spotted them a couple of weeks ago, I stood in the street for ages, agog. Last night I went in the garden to bring the washing in and there they were. Literally awesome. (And look! That's my lilac tree – in bud!)

52 Books: Anna Maxted's Tom and Matt books

Anna Maxted's adult novel Getting Over It is one of my all-time faves, so when I saw she'd written a couple of children's books – and that they're illustrated by Alex T Smith, whose Claude books Harry and I both love – I snapped 'em up.

We read The Baddie first and it's just wonderful. It's right up Harry's street, featuring two little boys with wild imaginations, and it's laugh-out-loud funny with some great jokes for the grown-ups too.

The Horrible Princess was, I think, even more of a success, since Tom and Matt now have a baby brother who sounds a lot like Joe and whose appearances had Harry in stitches. (And the Princess isn't really horrible, nor is she typically "princessy".)

They're both very sweet and funny books, crammed with humour that doesn't rely solely on poo/fart jokes (though there are some poo/fart jokes in there too). We also enjoyed that the family sounded like ours – the parents aren't perfect, the boys sometimes fight and get on each others nerves, but they all clearly love each other lots.

I really hope there are more books to come.

Friday favourites (bookish edition)

These libraries found on Little Free Library are so gorgeous. I'd love to do something like this (I even have a box I could turn into a little library) but we don't get much passing traffic here.

I love these 30 Dr Seuss Quotes that can Change Your Life. Which one's your favourite? Mine's 'The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.'

My fabulous friend Helen made a chocolate truffle torte inspired by Della Says: OMG! Mouthwatering.

Which reminds me… Playing By the Book's Edible Book Festival is amazing. Check out the Pinterest board.

What's it like to grow up in a bookshop? And not just any bookshop – Shakespeare & Co in Paris. Sylvia Whitman knows.

Updated: How could I forget this slideshow of dubious Hunger Games tie-in products? (I've been looking for a recipe for Grilled Tree Rat with Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce!)

52 Books: The Writer's Tale by Russell T Davies

I've raved about this book in the past (more than once), but I'm rereading it now and I just love it so much.

I decided to reread it for comfort after the stress of the Emma Hearts LA edits and I'm so glad I did. It's not just comforting, it's inspiring and funny and sweet and yesterday I actually caught myself hugging it. (Yes, I do need a holiday, thanks for asking.)

All writers should read it. Honestly. And you don't need to be a Doctor Who fan. When I read it the first time, I'd only really watched the Christopher Eccleston season and I still adored it. Rereading it is really making me want to watch all of Davies's episodes and, as luck would have it, Harry's suddenly rather keen on the show too (via The Sarah Jane Adventures) so it should work out rather well.

Happy Weekend

{via SwissMiss}

Friday favourites (Clooney!)

I'm afraid I do not know the proper credit for this photo. I tried to find it, honest I did, but then I had to share it anyway, because ohmygod the hotness.

I stumbled across this video of Rolf Harris demonstrating art design on a computer in 1984 when I was looking for a Toni Arthur song my friend Anstey recommended (I used to love Toni Arthur). Anyway, the video? Hilarious. I'm so old.

Remember Puddle Ducks? And Prettifying Pavements and Potholes? Loving this pothole gardener in the same vein.

I'm currently rereading Russell T Davies's fabulous book, The Writer's Tale, and he mentions JK Rowling's appearance on Newsnight, so I looked it up and found the transcript. Ace.

I showed Harry and Joe these photos of the Rainbow Hotel in Palm Springs and we all agreed – WE HAVE TO GO.

Can't remember how I found this video of poet Sarah Kay performing her poem, B, but I love it. One for all parents (particularly of daughters) to watch.

The Snow Child

I realised recently that my friend and fellow writer Anstey Spraggan hardly likes any books at all. We talk about books a lot and she hates them all. I think there were about two books that she liked all last year (I can remember one, but not the other…). So when she said that she not only loved Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child, but that she wanted to write about it, I welcomed her to my blog… Over to Anstey:

How many times, when your children were small, did old ladies stop you in the street to tell you, 'They're only lent to you, dear'. Never has it come so true as in The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (pronounced A-o-win, by the way).

Jack and Mabel move to Alaska after decades of childlessness marked, just once, by an almost-child who is lost long before his due date. The ghost of this little child echoes between them, widening a chasm that threatens to separate them forever.

The debate of the book is the gap between reality and magic, at first asking the characters – and the reader – to decide upon a truth but, as the book goes on recognising that some realities are different to others and some magic is deeper than simple conjuring. Faina – the girl who arrives with the snow – will certainly only be lent to Jack and Mabel but, if you learn enough from your time together and if you discover the meaning of love, does it matter?

Everything that's required to make a modern classic is here: we sit on the edge of our seats willing Garrett not to make the human error we know he's going to; we long for a capable friend like Esther with all her skills and the dependable George behind her; we back Jack and Mabel and their attempts to survive in the harsh Alaskan wilderness and root for them all the way, sharing in their joy and their pain. These characters are so vividly drawn that they quickly take on a life of their own. With exceptional skill Ivey adds in Alaska itself – the trees, the animals, the landscape and the snow – as characters in their own right. Once you read the bio on Ivey's blog, you can start to understand how she connects so fully with the wilderness and beauty of an Alaskan lifestyle. For the first time in my life, reading an author's blog has added to my enjoyment of their book and given it a whole new depth. Not that it needed one: The Snow Child had me enchanted from 'Mabel had known there would be silence'.

Ivey's charm comes in that, beyond living in a way that is very close to the life Jack and Mabel have and being able to paint it in a very real and plausible way, she pulls off a masterstroke of language in her manipulation of grammar. The choice that Ivey makes, in her use of layout, adds another dimension to the construction of her story. For me, her manipulation of grammar is unique in that it actually changes the meaning of the entire book (once you've worked out what it is). I saw a comment on Twitter about this point but the tweeter had only clocked one half of the idea, reading one layer down but not seeing the bigger picture (to say more will spoil it). In The Road Cormac McCarthy uses points of punctuation to emphasise the new rules of his world with fantastic effect, Ivey takes this one step further and uses punctuation as silent narrative that actually changes the story.

Eowyn Ivey was named after a character from Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. In The Snow Child, the world of magic she creates is far closer to our own than Middle Earth – in Ivey's kingdom, the impossible and the unlikely are just a whisper from the everyday.

Verdict (from the notorious book hater): a bewitching story that I can't wait to read for a second time.

If I were Queen (of Teen)…

Have you heard of the Queen of Teen award? It was founded in 2008 "to celebrate teen and tween authors… dealing with real-life issues in a way that is honest, entertaining and fun."

Nominations are now open and I would be ever so grateful if you'd nominate me. It only takes a minute, honest.

I don't expect you to nominate me without knowing what I guarantee* I will do if I'm lucky enough to win, so…

If I were Queen of Teen…

1. Libraries would not be shutting down. Absolutely not. And my local library would have a small Starbucks in the corner. (Coffee + cake + books = win!)

2. All children would have access to books…

3. …and no one would ever take the piss out of anyone for reading.

4. All phone boxes would be like this one.

5. I'd quite like the ability to make books come when you call them and to pause the world when engrossed in a particularly exciting bit, but I think that may be beyond Queenery. I think for that I'd need to be Grand Mistress of the Bookiverse or something…

So what do you think? Worth a nomination? I probably won't go mad with the power…

* this is not a guarantee.

Oh and if you'd like to tell me what you'd do if you were Queen of Teen or Master/Mistress of the Bookiverse, then I'd love to hear about it! 

(Also had to add that it pained me to write "If I were…" even though I do believe that's correct. Bloody Midge Ure has a lot to answer for.)

52 Books: Wonder by RJ Palacio

Thanks to a few excellent pre-publication reviews of this book – particularly this one at Readaraptor! – I was keen to read it, but it was actually this interview with RJ Palacio (the author) that tipped me over the edge and turned it into a MUST READ! NOW! Fortunately, it was on NetGalley, so I downloaded it to my Kindle and got reading.

And oh my. What can I say? It's a gorgeous book. It's funny and sweet but, in some places, incredibly hard to read – I actually had to put it down a couple of times because I literally couldn't see the words for the teariness. But don't let that put you off – really – because it's ultimately uplifting and inspiring and just… gorgeous.

I'm going to buy a paper copy because I really want to read it with Harry in a couple of years and I completely agree with Raimy who says it should be required reading for all children between 10 and 16. But honestly a lot of adults could do with a refresher course in judging people on appearances, so everyone should read it. (I only read it a couple of weeks ago, but writing this has made me want to read it again.)