Flash Fiction: You Are in My Arms and Everything is Fine

My over-anxious mind has a tendency to create insanely intense dreams sometimes. Some of them I forget pretty soon after waking, but there’s a few that stay with me, either because of a complex plot or powerful emotions that I can’t shake off. This particular dream stayed with me largely for the second reason. I’ve …

R.J. Anderson: Knife (#1 in the Faery Rebels Series)

I’m not sure how old I was when I originally read this book: maybe around 12 or 13, certainly within the target audience. But it’s surprising how much it pulled me in on the re-read even as an “adult” (not even “young adult”, eurgh) reader. Ok, the cover, with an adolescent looking fairy in full …

Alice Broadway: Ink (Skin Books series)

I'll admit it: I am extremely shallow when it comes to books. Far too often my Waterstones giftcards go towards the most intricate or unique cover, and this was exactly the case with Alice Broadway's Ink. Look at the pretty gold pattern and captivating catchphrase! In this case, the blurb helped confirm my selection: “Imagine …

Dianne Hales: La Bella Lingua

As most of my readers will know, I have been living in Italy and learning Italian for a few years now. So La Bella Lingua, Hales' non-fiction rendition of her love affair with the Italian language, struck me as my perfect book companion. Although a permanent American resident, Hales spent many extended holidays absorbing and …

Moving out, moving on.

I held the open jewellery box in my hand, the purple velvet cover hanging down from the layers of ten year old super-glue I had sworn was magic paste, the fairy's twirling haltingly slowing, and the shrilling cover of For Elise breaking up as if a mobile phone driving through a tunnel, only for the …

Paula Fox: Desperate Characters

Another one of my rare English finds in the local library system, and something that I probably wouldn't have chosen otherwise (yay to limited selection forcing me out my comfort zone!), yet am thoroughly glad I did. Paula Fox's Desperate Characters follows Sophie and Otto, a married, childless, middle-class couple in late 60s Brooklyn, over …

Tulips under the pillow

Following on from my creative writing spur, here's something I wrote with the help of a creative writing kit which gave me the first line. I put tulips under the pillows, and then I set fire to the house. Would the tulips be uncovered before the flames destroyed it all? I hoped so. I imagined …

Adrian Barnes: Nod

I'm still not really sure what to make of this novel (not a great start for reviewing it, I know). I've read it twice now, the second time not for enjoyment, but in an attempt to understand my feelings towards it. Unfortunately they're still slightly confused, so hopefully this review will help me organise them. …

George R.R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle: Windhaven

Oh fantasy book genre, how I've missed you. Bought for George R.R. Martin's name a while back, Windhaven was taken from its place on my shelf for the same reason: upon the season seven finale of Game of Thrones, I knew I would need to fill the Martin whole in my life (even if, let's …

Creative Writing Spur

It's becoming all the more evident that I need to find the time / motivation for writing, because as my current procrastination that led to searching through old documents has shown me, I can actually write kind of okayish. Who knew? I was beginning to think I had no talent for creative writing, and then …