Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 178

Heist Society, by Ally Carter

I've always enjoyed Ally Carter's popular spy-boarding-school Gallagher Girls books, not least because they have such awesome titles (I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You, Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy, Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover) – they are fun, peppy reads which prioritise girl friendship, spy skillz, loyalty and awesome adventure over boys and romance, though there's a bit of the latter as well.

Heist Society blows Gallagher Girls out of the water.

The premise is...

Whose Holiday?

One of these days I will alert myself to the impending school holidays early enough that I can arrange my work schedule around them, in order to spend quality time with my children without the slightest hint of resentment that, you know, I'm not getting my words written.

This is not that story.

Honestly, in all my planning to take a break in March and get writing like a calm, controlled maniac in April, how did I fail to notice that the Easter holidays started on April 2? Also that the Easter ...

Who's Holiday?

One of these days I will alert myself to the impending school holidays early enough that I can arrange my work schedule around them, in order to spend quality time with my children without the slightest hint of resentment that, you know, I'm not getting my words written.

This is not that story.

Honestly, in all my planning to take a break in March and get writing like a calm, controlled maniac in April, how did I fail to notice that the Easter holidays started on April 2? Also that the Easter ...

Books for Daughters

I don't go to the shops with both daughters very often. Raeli being at school and Jem having 2 afternoons daycare a week means that I tend to squeeze my chores into those precious daughter-free hours. But today is the last proper day of the Easter holiday, and after several activity-heavy days that have meant little actual shared activity for me and Raeli, today I let her choose what to do.

This meant working on our seemingly endless paper theatre project (glue takes so loooong to dry and...

Evernight, by Claudia Gray

This one's been on my shelf a while. I don't remember why I chose it originally except that it sounded good, and by the time it arrived in the post I went 'ugh vampire boarding school, what was I thinking' and chucked it on the shelf. I got it out again on a whim yesterday, read the first chapter and went 'ugh, rebellious girl who thinks she's plain, gorgeous guy, bland flirting, spooky hints surely I'm not going to bother reading this one…'

And then I kept reading.

Despite the utterly...

Pulling an All Nighter (why yes I am too old for that, thank you for asking)

I couldn't sleep last night, which bugged the hell out of me. Serves me right for going to bed early in order to get up for Arsenal v. Barcelona, I think. I ended up getting up at 2am and writing, on the grounds that if I didn't get any sleep, I would be too trashed to make the most of my one child-free afternoon for the week, so I might as well get some work done.

There are no children awake at 2am. I might have to remember this for the future.

I spent a couple of productive hours reading t...

The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy (1984)

This one's a classic YA title that I hunted up after seeing several writers I respect recently talk about it as being a favourite romance. It's old enough that the only copy in our local library was a dodgy old large print version, though I see from checking Fishpond that it was reprinted as recently as 2 years ago – a pretty good sign of its ongoing popularity! It won the Carnegie Medal in the year it was published.

Margaret Mahy is an author I enjoyed very much as a child – I still put...

Australian Shadows Award 2009

While we're talking awards news, the winners of the Australian Shadows Award have been announced, and I was very pleased to see Kaaron Warren win Best Long Fiction for Slights, which I still think was the best novel of the year despite being a deeply unpleasant reading experience (in, you know, a good way). Deborah Biancotti also took out Best Short Fiction for "Six Suicides" from A Book of Endings (Twelfth Planet Press), which is exciting – while the reader feedback for this book as a...

Hugo Shortlist!

The Hugo shortlist nominees went up on Twitter this morning, Australian time – luckily I had been woken up early by my adorable/dreadful children, so I was around to read them as they came in.

I haven't been as excited about a Hugo shortlist in years – not just because I got to nominate and will get to vote in these particular ones, but because it does look as if there has been a bit of a demographic shift this year. There are lots of women, new writers and online publications represented...

Chicks Dig Time Lords

I've been hanging out for this one for a long time! You know when you hear about a book and it sounds like it is completely designed for you? I'm pleased to say that Chicks Dig Time Lords, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea, is exactly what it says on the tin.

Doctor Who is my fandom; I have rarely participated in any actual fannish or community activities in the fandom itself, and yet I have never been more fannish about any kind of media in my life. And I do mean life – I have...