Firstly, I just wanted to say that the cover photo for this post is possibly one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen haha!
But moving swiftly on…
In honour of the scariest day of the year I thought I’d talk about Goosebumps and the new movie (starring Jack Black) that will be out early next year…
I LOVED Goosebumps as a kid. I used to have all the books which I read repeatedly so the spines were completely destroyed!
I also watched the TV show after school and to this day I can still remember the opening credits vividly!
R.L Stine is an inspiration to anyone who writes children’s books. He had a way of making his stories the perfect amount of frightening which brought this fascination to the reader who just had to read the next story and the next and the next.
The main character in the movie (played by Jack Black) is R.L Stine which I think is fantastic! The premise is that the scary creatures from his books start appearing in his own life and he has to face the demons he has created! It looks brilliant and I think Jack Black is the perfect choice to make this film a mixture of fun and frightening.
So here’s my question to you…which Goosebumps book scared you most?
J.K Rowling has written a stage show! And I am sooooo excited about this!
Here’s the description from the website:
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne will receive its world premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016.
Featuring a cast of over 30,Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. Written by Jack Thorne and directed by Olivier and Tony award winner John Tiffany, the play brings together some of the most exciting talent working in the theatre today.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be directed by John Tiffany with movement by Steven Hoggett, set designs by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, special effects by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Jamie Harrison and musical supervision by Martin Lowe.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender‘s Playground Entertainment and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.
Casting hasn’t yet been announced but come on who isn’t hoping they’ve brought back Daniel Radcliff? I mean, I would be running to the theatre to queue for it literally now – and yeah it’s not even gonna be out until Summer 2016 so that’s how long I’d camp outside for it…..
The world Premiere is 30th July 2016 but preview tickets are going on sale from 30th October so if you want a ticket you better sign up now for priority booking!! I’m certainly going to!
Have you heard? Stephanie Meyer has written a 400 page reimagining of Twilight where Bella is a boy (Beau) and Jacob (Julie) and Edward (Edythe) are girls as part of the 10th anniversary edition. I don’t know whether to be crazy excited or a little weirded out…what I do know is, is that this picture is amazing….😂
Think you’ve come down with a bad case of Writer’s Syndrome? Check out these five signs that’ll help you diagnose yourself….
1) Do you fantasize about writing?
About what your characters could get up, about their pasts and futures, love interests and enemies? Do you gaze off into the distance with an evil smile on your face as your antagonist does something deliciously cruel in your mind? Do you lose yourself so completely that you literally cannot remember what you were just doing? And, most of all, do you answer people’s questions with “hmmm?” Or “huh?” As you’re dragged out of your reverie?
2) Are you emotionally attached to the imaginary people in your mind?
Do you laugh, cry, feel angry, embarressed or sad when something happens to your characters? Have you decided on a character’s death only to reach that scene and almost/do back out of killing them because you just can’t bear killing off the fake person who you’ve grown to actually love? (And post-death have you sobbed into a pillow the eaten a barrel of chocolate to help yourself cope?) Are you genuinely excited about what’s going to happen in the story you conjured from nothing? And can you honestly say you’ve never wanted to actually be friends with some of your characters? (Like the fictional people in your head you created – those people!)
3) Do hours seem to slip away as if time has somehow sped up?
Do you settle yourself in to writing early in the morning then you look up and it’s lunchtime? Do you forget about mealtimes and are only reminded to eat because of your tummy rumbling so loudly it drags you back to reality? Does it get to midnight and you think “five more minutes” then suddenly it’s 4am and you have to be up in a couple of hours to do actual real life things? Do you feel like there isn’t enough time in the world to get your writing done?
4) Do you ever worry that even if you lived for two hundred years you’d never be ‘done’?
Do you feel that no matter how much you wrote, no matter how many hundreds, thousands or millions of words you got down you’d never reach a maximum? Is writing something you’re compelled to do like it has become as important to you as eating or sleeping?
5) Do you sometimes have to force yourself to be social to make sure you don’t become a hermit that lives in the hills?
When in writing mode do you have to make a conscious effort to put the story away and just be in the real world for a while? Do you plan social events in advance so you can keep that time aside for being away from your writing? But do you also, when being out, think about writing when you get back home later and find yourself being inspired for events that could happen in your book while you’re out?
If you answered yes to any of these questions (especially if it was more than one…) I’m afraid you just got diagnosed with Writer’s Sydrome!
So I have spent many many hours trying to come up with the best blurb possible for my upcoming YA fantasy novel Creeping Shadow! And what have I learnt?
Writing a blurb suckssss!!
I can write thousands of words to make a novel but apparently summing it up in a few hundred is just anout the most impossible thing ever. But after a lot of moaning, sighing, deleteting words and swearing at my cat I have come up with a blurb! And now I need some feedback!
So here it is the blurb to Creeping Shadow (Book One in The Rise of Isaac Series) that will be available to by December 2015 (woo!)…………….
A man waits in Vale, a world void of humanity. A mother vanishes, her disappearance concealed by the police. A girl falls from her bed, black veins encircling her heart. And a boy linked to them all must fight to save his family.
Earth is just one of seven worlds. Gateways divide the realms and those who pass through must earn a key for each one, participating in challenges that will separate the fearful from the brave, the weak from the strong, and the witless from the cunning.
Meet sixteen year old Oliver Knight. He knows nothing of the other worlds or his family’s dark past. But when his adopted sister succumbs to a deadly curse the truth is revealed and he is plunged into an unknown land in a desperate plight to save her. Though Oliver soon discovers that not everyone is on his side and he must choose who to trust, who to believe and, ultimately, who to run from.
The journey begins with a devastating truth, whispers of a rising cult, a race against time, and an enemy that lurks in the shadows…
Okay so i have very few subscribers and though I deeply love you both (haha) I would like to have a few more!
BUT I’m not asking you to subscribe willy nilly. Why would you? When you could be out subscribing to J.K.Rowling, or Cassandra Clare or George R.R Martin. Why don’t you go subscribe to those people right? Afterall, they’re offering you something already!
So I present to you a challenge! If you laugh at the following meme you must honour your vow to subscribe but if not I’ll let you go on your way – and I don’t want any pity subscribers either!
By subscribing to my newsletter you’ll get all the latest updates on my writing before anyone else! But also tips, tricks, and deals! I won’t spam you either, I promise! And, of course, I won’t share your email with anyone else and any time you want to unsubscribe you’re just one click away from doing so!
Here we are then….remember if you laugh you have to subscribe! If you can’t face the pressure then maybe you should turn back before it’s too late!
Hey guys so it’s day two of the challenge and I realised I forgot to tag people in it yesterday to pass it on haha woops! So I’ll tag extra people today (aren’t you lucky! You’re just rubbing your hands together hopin’ I’m gonna nominate you – aww now I feel bad if I don’t…)
Today’s quote is from the late Robin Williams. I love it and think it says it all so I’m shutting up now and giving you the quote!
So you have a fantastic character with all the flaws, traits and layers of an actual human being BUT (particularly when you’re writing third person) how do you get across who they really are?
When I started writing I knew I had a tendancy to write third person but, in comparison to first person, it isn’t so easy to convey their inner emotions and who they are as a person. Some people choose to add the thoughts and feelings of their characters in italics which is one way of approaching this but this isn’t a technique I personally use.
If, like me, you’re a bit of a googler then you may have tried searching this problem to get advice but what you get is a whole long list of ways to develop your character like character profiling etc. but this isn’t what I’m talking about (so if this is your problem – read no more!)
So what did I do?
I read a whole lot of third person books and noted the techniques they used in terms of sentence structure to convey who the characters are.
And here’s my list for your persual. I hope you find it helpful!
(I use ‘he’ in my examples but this is obviously interchangeable with she/I/they etc. etc. Also all actions, thoughts and feelings distinguished by ‘/’ can be interchanged with whatever takes your fancy!)
He usually / His usual / He was used to being…
He supposed/wondered…
He hadn’t felt/behaved/acted that way for a while…not since (insert past event)
He felt embarressed/distressed/upset/hurt but wouldn’t let (so and so) know that
He had once been (insert description) but now he was (insert opposing description)
It was nice/unusual to meet someone like himself in that (describe how they are similar/disimilar)
It wasn’t how he personally would have acted but…
He wouldn’t be embarrassed/hurt/goaded so easily not since (insert past event that changed him)
He frowned at himself/ his sister / friend / his clothes (shows how proud he is or isn’t)
He ignored the surge of emotions that arose because of…
Had he been able to/ willing to/ had the guts to/ bold enough to/ not under the watchful gaze of/ quicker off the mark/ he would have (insert action)
He (insert action) for effect
He tried to look/ tried not to look…
He was always/often/never/occasionally the one to (insert behaviour)
Thank you so much to Christine.B for nominating me. Check out her blog here – you won’t regret it! Her musings are passionate, funny, inspiring and quirky and you might even catch a glimpse of her gorgeoussss dog in a photo or two!
So! What’s this versatile blogging malarkey all about? Telling you seven things about myself of course – what? Wasn’t it obvious? (It really wasn’t…)
So here are seven things about me you probably didn’t know (and if you did you must be psychic or a mindreading stalker – ooo a mindreading stalker that’s a scary thought!)
Just for the hell of it I’m gonna number each one in spanish (don’t ask me why…)
Numero Uno – I love to run! I run 4 miles at least three times a week! It’s my favourite exercise because I can get up into the hills, run off road through the fields and just be completely alone with my thoughts. It’s a fantastic way to work out kinks in my book and also time to just escape from the world for a while. #bliss
Dos – I was brought up as a vegetarian and have never eaten meat! I bet that one made you pause haha. I get a lot of questions about this one because many people simply can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life without tasting the meatyness of meat but oh well! Doesn’t bother me XD
Tres – I live in the most quaint, quintessentially English town you could ever imagine! It’s famous for being the home of Winston Churchill and tourists flock here all year round! The town hosts all kinds of old fashioned events on the green from wartime fairs with a real life warhorse descendent called Hercules who pulls his own carriage (including bringing santa to town at christmas!)
The view from my window
Cuatro – I’m an adventurer and thrill seeker at heart. Every year I jet set off on my own to a foreign land and pack as much sightseeing, hiking, and adrenalin activities in as I physically can. I aim to see the world one holiday at a time!
So far I’ve trekked the great wall of china, skydived, scuba dived, bungy jumped and rode an elephant bareback in Thailand, crossed the southern states of the USA from LA to New York camping all the along the way from winning in Vegas, trying my hand at a shooting range in Texas (apparently I’m a natural!), riding in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, horse riding on a ranch in Utah, dining with the native americans in Monument Valley, lived it up in New Orleans, cycling around Washington DC in a desperate plight to visit every museum, white house and monument in town, running up the Rocky steps in Philadelphia and sightseeing in New York. This year I’m flying to Australia where I will be travelling alll the way round woohooo! Adventure is in my soul! And that’s why I love to write it too!
Me on the Great Wall of China
Cinco – I drive a Mini Cooper (I know, I know I’m the most english person that ever lived right?) I love driving and have actually been congratulated on my parallel parking by several onlookers on various occassions! ( If you saw where I have to park every day and seen the pubload of afternoon drinkers in front of me while I do it, I think you’d agree I cope pretty damn well under pressure!)
Seis – I’ve been single for four solid years! *gasp* – No, seriously! And I’ve loved every minute of it! I’ve learnt to become independent, live on my own, travel alone and be comfortable with just being alone. One of my favourite quotes that sums up a period of singledom is this:
“Appreciate being single because that’s when you grow the most. And with that growth, you come to know what you’re looking for.” – Daniel Goddard
This just says it all…
Siete – And last but not least I’m a bit of a zombie fantatic! I often have intense dreams (nightmares???) about surviving a zombie apocalypse! My favourite tv show is The Walking Dead and I recently bought tickets to the first ever walkerstalker convention coming to London and the cast are all gonna be there! (For fans of TWD – Norman Reedus just signed up and I’m peeing my pants with excitement!) and to give you an idea of how crazy I and those I’m going with are….we are dressing up – oh yes! I have literally seen every zombie film and tv show ever made and like to think I have a pretty good idea of what to do if zombies come to town…
So there you are! I may have put you off me for life or (hopefully) given you a bit of reasonably interesting info about me that momentarily distracted you from that paint drying on the wall!
Caroline Peckham 