Keris Stainton's Blog, page 85

Writing Wednesday: Characters

I asked last week if anyone had any writing-related questions cos my mind was a blank. Stella asked:

Have you ever met anyone, you may have loved them instantly or they just brushed you up in totally the wrong way, and thought, "I'm going to make you a character in a book one day!"?

Good question! I don't think I've ever actually thought "I'll put you in a book…" – I picture myself saying that while squinting malevolently and shaking my fist – but I definitely do hear stories about people and think "that would work in a novel". Usually if my characters are inspired by real people, then it's celebrities rather than people I've met.

Although the mum in Della was vaguely based on the mum of some friends when I was at school. She was a former model, impossibly glamorous and did indeed turn up to collect them from school in stilettos and leather trousers. The rest of Della's mum's personality was made up though, since I didn't know my friends' mum well enough to pinch her personality too.

I don't think I'd ever put someone I didn't like in a book as revenge. I've been thinking about it and how I can see how it could be cathartic, but it just seems too negative to me. I think I'd find it stressful. I'd be more likely to take a couple of nasty characteristics and give them to an invented character.

Hope that answers your question, Stella. Anyone else got any questions?

2 down, 38 to go

I ordered me a bucket of food.

Find out what I thought of it over on The Big Zeroes.

I should write a misery memoir…

My sister found this at Dad's at the weekend:

The 'lots of love to Daddy' at the end suggests I'd already approached my mum with this issue and it hadn't been resolved to my satisfaction.

(Oh and before anyone points out that I spelled my own name wrong, I didn't: it originally had two Rs but I dropped one.)

Fishs Eddy (appears in Jessie)

There's a shop in New York that I've been wanting to visit for ages. I actually walked past it last time I was there, but I was doing a 13-mile sponsored walk at the time and couldn't stop. It's a kitchen store called Fishs Eddy and it has the most fabulous stuff.

Obviously I love the New York Skyline Dinnerware, but I also love the Memo trays and mugs and the Central Park range, which is now deleted, sadly.  Apparently there's a lot more stuff in the store than there is online, including vintage plates, etc. (There are some great photos here.) I really must go next time.

Anyway, I included something I'd seen on the Fishs Eddy site in Jessie ♥ NYC:

Jessie stared down at a place mat with a print of the Manhattan skyline around the edge.

If and when I do get to the store, that's what I'll be buying. (Along with the Carnival umbrella.) (And some Vintage Flower Storage Bowls.)

The light of the world

I don't know when I first heard the light effect seen in this photo referred to as "God's fingers" but whenever it was, I remember thinking that it felt right… even though I don't believe in God.

Whenever I see it, it gives me a moment's pause, brings me to the present and makes me think of life and death and The Universe.

But then today, driving home from the Trafford Centre of all places, Harry spotted the God's Fingers effect and said, "I can see the light of the world and that means someone has died over there."

Now Harry goes to a church school and so I assume associates this kind of light with picture he's seen of Jesus and so I wasn't too freaked out.

He went on: "I think it's someone in that town over there. I think they've died now."

Okay, I was a little freaked out. The calm way he said it – in his little, still-babyish voice – reminded me a bit of The Sixth Sense (actually it reminded me more of the Spaced parody of The Sixth Sense) and so it definitely did give me slight heebies, but mainly it did the same thing the light has done for a while: it made me pause. Someone may have been dying in that town over there, right at the very moment we were looking in that direction. And even if not there, obviously somewhere (lots of somewheres).

It made me think of that line from Spinal Tap: "Puts things into perspective…" "Yeah, too much f*cking perspective." But I know I'll think of it every time I see "God's Fingers" from now on.

{Photo source}

1 down, 39 to go

I've ticked something (small) off my list.

Read all about it on The Big Zeroes blog.

12 Books of Christmas… in January

I was pootling through my 12 Books of Christmas list when my dad went into hospital and I abandoned it. I did say I'd finish it in the New Year, but it's almost the end of Jan now and I find that I… can't be arsed. So here's a summary instead:

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook

Probably the best book on writing I've ever read and you don't have to be into Doctor Who to enjoy it. I couldn't stop reading it, but didn't want it to end. Totally inspiring and very funny.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Incredibly sweet, funny and, I think, important YA book. Plus the setting is fabulous and highly entertaining. (I don't want to say anything more about it because I think the fun is in discovering all the odd little details.)

Grace, Eventually by Anne Lamott

I love Anne Lamott's books so much. They make me feel joyful and tearful and appreciative. As with all of Lamott's writing, these essays are beautifully written, filled with humour and compassion. I read this sitting in Northumberland with a cup of coffee and a beautiful view, which was the perfect way to read it. Like Lamott's other books, Grace (Eventually) made me feel glad to be alive.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I didn't think this YA book was for me at all – it's a dystopia and quite violent – but I was utterly gripped. In fact, I read some of it on the train and caused other passengers to look at me oddly because I was squeaking with fear and trying to read without actually looking at the book…

Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie books

Me and Harry love Mo Willems books and the Elephant & Piggie books are hilarious. They're so quick and easy to read (Harry loves deciding if he's going to "be" Elephant or Piggie) and the books all have brilliantly simple and subtle messages about sharing, self-esteem, etc. Genius.

Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn

I was sent this book when it came out in the US a couple of years ago and couldn't get into it at all. I decided to give it another go when it came out in the UK, mainly because I loved Sarah Dunn's first book, The Big Love, so much. I'm glad I did because I ended up loving it. (FYI: It's a modern interpretation of Woody Allen's Manhattan, which I had no idea about when I first tried to read it.) (And this is the US cover; the UK cover's rubbish.)

The Dating Detox by Gemma Burgess

Gemma Burgess's debut novel was easily the funniest novel I read last year and probably one of the funniest I've ever read. The main character, Sass, is strong, cool and hilarious and I really wanted her to get her happy ending. I can't wait to read Gemma's new one, A Girl Like You.

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron

Love Nora Ephron. Love, love, love. I loved her first collection of essays, I Feel Bad About My Neck, which I actually reread on the Kindle last year just before buying I Remember Nothing. Loved it. And it gave me lots of ideas for places to go, things to do and, most importantly, what to eat next time I'm in New York. Love. (I also reread her novel, Heartburn, and… I expect you can guess what I thought of it.)

Writing Wednesday: any questions?

I have – or at least I'm supposed to have – a regular 'Writing Wednesdays' feature. Except I can't think of anything to write about.

Partly because I'm just rubbish at thinking of things to write about, but mainly (probably) because I'm writing a new book and when I'm writing a new book, the rest of my brain goes a bit foggy.

So do you have any burning writerly questions? Ask me anything! (But please do ask me something, so I don't look like a total billy no-mates…)

Fancy a brew?

A couple of weeks ago, Joe drank my leftover cold tea and it's given him a taste for it.

The other day, on the way home from school, I said to Joe: "When we get home, we'll have a cup of tea…" When we got home, as I wheeled him into the hall, Joe said, "Tea?!" (He pronounces it more like "Dheeeeee".)

Then, another day, I said, "Shall we sit down and have a cup of tea?" Joe immediately climbed up on the sofa. "Dheeeeee?"

Both times I made him a very milky tea and gave it to him in his beaker. He prefers it out of a mug, but that's just too stressful for me, so beaker it is.

At the weekend, he once again wanted my leftover tea in a mug and since he was sitting nicely next to me on the sofa, I gave it to him. On the coffee table in front of us, there was a biscuit. Joe pointed at the biscuit so I took the tea off him and gave him the biscuit. He wasn't happy. So I took the biscuit away and gave him the tea. Still not happy. So I gave him both and told him to be very careful and to pick up the mug with two hands.

Joe picked up the mug by the handle, picked up the biscuit with his other hand and then dunked it. Amazing.

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can

LOVE this.

More retro posters of Superheroes' home cities.

(That Spiderman theme only makes me think of Llama-man from the Steve Wright radio show in the 80s – which I was OBSESSED with, seriously. Off the top of my head, it went: "Llama man, Llama man, does whatever a llama can. He can spit, he can trot. Got whatever a llama's got." Weird time, the 80s.)