YA Highway: Funny Business

Hello! Today am posting for YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday.

The question is: who is your favorite comedian or funny book and/or movie?

I found this difficult. I clearly don't read enough comedy and so I ask you to rec me a funny book! For my part I think Meg Cabot and Kiersten White are people who write with a lovely, light touch and with humour present. My friend Ellie Phillips genuinely makes me giggle too and has a brilliant writing style.

Otherwise, I struggle to think. Please do rec me!

For my part, comedians I like include Eddie Izzard - I've seen him live and he was very funny. 

I went to see Chris Addison and he was also brilliant. The first part of his set was 'up to date' comedy - it was around the time the Chilean Miners were being rescued and he did a whole bit on them. I was impressed that he'd obviously had to come up with it quite quickly.

I'm going to go for a TV Show rather than a movie and say I love the stylings of The Big Bang Theory. It genuinely makes me laugh out loud and I think Jim Parsons deserves all the plaudits he gets.

I am now going to search out some comedy! What do you find funny?

Do you keep a diary? Is that your blog?

This weekend a group blog I am part of launched called: The Writer Diaries.

I join a group of awesome ladies - all far more fabulous than I - and am excited to be part of it. Please do check it out, and let us know what you think. We aim to share our innermost thoughts on the journey to publication, we write for a mixture of age groups, and would love you to come join us.

There are several group blogs around, all of which perform a wonderful function and all I hope is that people will add us to their visits and that we can find our own wee niche.

Being part of this has made me wonder: do you keep a diary? Do you consider your blog your diary? Do you have a 'private' blog where you record your thoughts? I read lately that 83% of today's teenagers still keep a paper diary. I find that fascinating, because I'm sure if most of us were writing a 'diary style' book we might wonder if that should be a blog. But people still keep private thoughts, private.

So I ask you: do you keep a diary? Is your blog enough of an outlet?

I don't keep any sort of diary or journal. I'd like to, but between blogging/tweeting/facebooking/writing I don't know how I'd find the time.

Would love to know what you think. Would also love to know what you make of The Writer Diaries - anything you'd particularly like to see?

Celebrate The Small Things

Welcome to the first

Celebrate The Small Things! 

Full instructions are here but in a nutshell:
Sign up. Post a small thing to celebrate, congratulate others via the linky list, and be congratulated!

This week I am celebrating:

Not having chocolate for the whole week (NO MEAN FEAT)
Revising 3 Chapters of my WIP (HURRAH!)
Catching up on my TV Shows (BECAUSE IT MAKES ME HAPPY).

Whatever you have achieved this week, be it tidying a drawer or getting a recipe right, or completing a critique for a friend, CONGRATS. BIG HUGS!

*TWIRLS YOU AROUND AND DIPS YOU*
*DANCES YOU AROUND THE ROOM*

*Runs out of capitals*

What are you celebrating?

News & Help & YA Highway: Road Trip Wednesday

Before I start YA Highway for this week, a quick piece of news and plea for help:

I have been asked to join a LOVELY bunch of ladies contributing to a blog about writing called The Writer Diaries (also tweeting here). It's not YA specific in case you are wondering, it's a group of fantastic ladies (I am by far the LEAST AWESOME of the AWESOME on offer) hoping to bring fresh ideas and some writerly secrets to the table.

It launches this Saturday so PLEASE come visit us / promote us - help us out ;)

Onto YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday where the topic is: 

Imagine you get to open your own bookstore. What would it look like? What kinds of books would you sell?


Awesome question. Mine would have wooden bookshelves and comfy sofas. There would be a tea shop. People would be encouraged to browse, to sit and read, to put their feed up with a piece of cake and cup of tea. Experts in the genre would be available to help advise people, a walking talking 'if you bought ___ you'd like ____'. I'd sell all kinds of books, but of course have a great YA section.

 I'd have a 'bookswap' section where people could bring and leave a book. I'd run a book club.

I'd encourage people to write reviews on cards and leave them by books. I'd want people to chat about books. I want this bookshop now!

In the meantime, I'm making a tea and putting my feet up. Cheers!

What does your bookshop look like?

Writing Chat: The Sound of Silence

Before I go into my writing chat for the day, if you are interested please go to my post and sign up to 'Celebrate the Small Things' on Friday. With new added badge. Cheers me dears.

I am envious of people who speak with excitement about their writing playlists. What fun it must be making them up, and putting them on to get you 'in the zone'.

See, I cannot listen to music while writing. Am I the only one?

When I focus on something, I REALLY FOCUS. If I am writing, Ryan Gosling (or say Jensen Ackles, or Jack off Revenge) could do the naked highland fling in front of me, and I would not notice. Half an hour later I'd be all 'Huh? Ryan, did you want something?'

If I put music on, I either:

a) won't hear it. This may be the point, you may say. You don't listen to it, but it helps get you in the zone. It's there, informing the words. The atmosphere. Perhaps, but it's more likely it's just annoying my neighbours, or that
b) I will listen to the music instead. The music becomes my sole focus, and I am not writing any more.

Therefore I tend to write in silence. Maybe the TV on SUPER QUIET, also not being paid attention to (Ryan, Jensen and Jack (Nick? I think the actor's called Nick) can watch it, while I'm ignoring them).

This doesn't mean music doesn't inspire me. Of course it does. I listen to a song and it sparks off an idea. Lyrics especially inspire me. I love songs which tell a story (Stereophonics 'Local Boy in the Photograph' gets me every time) or songs which inspire a mood (Florence and the Machine do this I find). I watch or read Twilight and I COMPLETELY SEE the influence of Muse. I can see that she listened to them.

Music inspires me, but I don't listen to it while I write. Maybe I could playlist for inspiration while out and about, but in the meantime the sound of silence accompanies me.

Am I the only one? How does music inform your writing?

Celebrate the Small Things: Join Me

Thanks to all those who voted in my polls regarding a new feature.

I'd like to announce a weekly post to:

Celebrate the Small Things.

How it works:

1) Sign up on the linky list below.

2) Each Friday, post in your blog something you wish to celebrate achieving / doing that week.

It can be writing related: I finished a tricky chapter! I finished my outline!
It can be reading related: I read two books!
It can be life related: I tidied my sock drawer! My child finally ate something green! I cleaned the shed!

Whatever you like.

2A) Use the Badge! :)

3) Hop around other blogs and offer congratulations/a pat on the back to other people. If everyone visits at least a few other blogs, we'll all have some congratulations.

4) Feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I would also REALLY appreciate it if people could please advertise this, at least at first, so we have a few peeps joining in. It should be fairly low maintenance week to week, and feel free to include your celebration item within a post covering other topics.

This is the code for the badge.

Also: let me know how this is going. It was a toss up between weekly and fortnightly in the votes. I went for weekly as fortnightly leads to the 'is it an on or off week' confusion but if it feels better, we can always drop it down to fortnightly.

I have put the linky list as open for the whole year, but will revisit after a couple of months, see if anybody is joining in.

I vote we sign up this week, and begin next week!

Please do join in, let's celebrate those small achievements! :)

Here's the sign up:

RT Wednesday: Goals for 2013

Today I am joining in Road Trip Wednesday over at http://www.yahighway.com/. The topic is: 

What are your goals for the new year---for reading, writing, or other?

My goal and word for the year is positivity. I refuse to sweat the small stuff.

My goals writing wise are to finish the revisions on this WIP and complete my draft/WIP of my YA Contemp + 1 other draft. We'll see how I go there. I usually write YA but I have an idea for an adult thriller which I may have to try and plan or draft at some point. We'll see. I want to focus on the YA in progress first.

I read quite a bit last year, so I want to carry on doing that.

How about you? What are your goals?