Coucou mes Bookinautes adorés... Me voici dans le train du retour d'un week-end absolument fabuleux à la Foire du livre de Brive ! Tellement de choses à raconter que je préfère encore vous les montrer, accompagnées d'un petit résumé !
Des livres, des rires, des larmes, des cernes, des échanges, des partages... Du bonheur et de la passion ! Ma valise pèse deux tonnes et mes yeux sont remplis d'étoiles !
#WordWeavers 12/11. Antagonist POV: what food would you serve to your enemy?
Perriad: what a peculiar question, even by your previous standards. Why would I be serving… although I suppose I did cause Jerya to be served with particular food at one point, when we had her (all too briefly) under confinement—but it was exactly the same as was served to the Novices at the time. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 12/11. Do you prefer to write on…?
I’ve used most of these, but now do most of my writing on a laptop. Sometimes on the iPad sitting in bed early in the morning, after making tea for self and partner. Ideas often crystallise when I’m waking up. I still use a notebook at times. Pens are important and I prefer gel pens. And then there’s the occasional voice note when I’m out and about. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/11. What's the biggest mistake you've made in your writing journey?
I sometimes wish I’d focused on fiction sooner, but then I think I learned a lot from writing other things, and from life in general. My novels would have been different if I’d published them earlier. For better or worse is impossible to say. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WordWeavers 8/11. Has another author ever inspired you to change anything about your writing?
Other authors have inspired me enormously. I always mention the early influence of Arthur Ransome and the enduring legacy of Ursula K Le Guin, but there are many others. But has any of them ever inspired me directly to change the way I write? Not in a way that’s apparent to me. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 8/11. What does your most productive writing space look like?
I’m sharing a photo of a room at Rydal Hall in the Lake District. My partner was attending a conference and I went along. I had this space entirely to myself for hours each day. What the photo doesn’t show is the fountain in the garden outside, which provided a perfect sonic backdrop. A very productive time. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 7. How would you describe your WIP's core plot?
This is hard. And even though I sometimes feel like I’m banging my head against the wall, I’m glad it’s hard. The fact that a book can’t be summed up in two or three words isn’t a weakness. It may be its greatest strength.
My best effort so far: “A coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic world that may seem strangely familiar.” #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WordWeavers 7/11. MC POV: you can change one thing about your life. What?
Jerya: the answer I'd give depends very much on where in my life you ask the question. If you'd asked me midway through #ThreeKindsofNorth I'd have wished that the Guild of Dawnsingers didn't rely on a deceit about how the sun rises. But if that came true, the entire rest of my story would be different and there probably wouldn't be any books. #writingCommunity#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WordWeavers 6/11. What does your MC know that other people don't?
That no one else knows: I can't think of anything significant. But in Book 2 Jerya becomes one of only 3 people who know that there’s life on both sides of the mountains. Only a few more know the truth about the parentage of another (new) character. And she realises who her own mother is, which was kept from her for 19 years. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 6. Would you consider an audiobook of your novel or short story?
I’d love to have the books in audio form, but only if it’s done properly, and I know this is one thing I can’t do myself. Finding the right narrator wouldn’t be easy and I don’t think I could afford professional rates for this and for studio time.
And before anyone asks, there’s no chance I’d consider using ‘AI’. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 5. How are you affected by reviews?
I have yet to have a really bad review of my novels. I suppose it’s only a matter of time; I’m actively trying to get more reviews, and I can’t expect them all to be raves. I can say I’ve taken a huge amount of satisfaction from the great reviews I have received. It’s nice to know that people get it, even though the books aren’t genre-conforming. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WordWeavers 5/11. What is your MC's favourite form of entertainment?
Taking a broad view of what counts as ‘entertainment’, at the time I’m currently writing, there are two activities Jerya loves: riding her horse, and star-gazing. And she never has as much time as she’d like for either of them. She’s also loved reading all her life, but time gets in the way there too. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
📚Les #utopiales2023 sont ouvertes, et la soirée d’inauguration commence fort avec la « Leçon du président » Roland Lehoucq. Faire tribunes pleines sur le sujet de l’antimatière dans la #sciencefiction, il n’y a qu’ici qu’on peut voir ça 😀 #utopiales#sff#sf#sfff#mesutos2023
📚 On continue le compte-rendu de #mesutos2023 avec le gros morceau du matin, la rencontre avec Mariana Enríquez, autrice de « Notre part de nuit », roman horrifique argentin lu la semaine dernière. S’inscrivant dans les pas de King, Barker…ses éléments les plus terrifiants viennent des relations familiales et du contexte social dysfonctionnels, issus de l’enfance de l’auteur, plutôt que simplement dans ses éléments fantastiques. #utopiales#utopiales2023#horror#sfff#fantasy#mastobooks
📚 Ça parle aussi de la transversalité de la violence, qui infuse les sociétés sud-américaines, avec l’exemple de l’excellent 2666 de #Bolaño. Une violence multiforme qu’on peut retrouver dans d’autres sociétés à d’autres époques. On évoque même #Boulgakov ! #utopiales#utopiales2023#mastobooks#mesutos2023
#WritersCoffeeClub 24/10. Are you a book hoarder, or do you give them away once read?
The bulk of my reading is library books, so hoarding is not a good idea. I generally only buy books I'm confident I'll want to read more than once. But times and tastes change and we have recently donated several boxes of books (mostly non-fiction) to an Oxfam bookshop. Which does leave a bit of space on the shelves… #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WordWeavers 23/10. likeable or unlikeable characters?
I’m not much drawn to outright villains. Even Perriad, the main antagonist in Books 1 and 3, is in the ‘well-meaning but misguided’ category. There’s a character in Book 4 who doesn’t display any redeeming qualities to speak of, but even he can be read as a product of his environment.
My favourites to write are, like Jerya, likeable but flawed. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 22/10. Which actor should play you in your life story?
Although there might be a small complication around gender, I would love Emma Thompson to portray me. We're about the same age (in fact we overlapped at Cambridge, though she doesn't know that). If she's not available, then maybe Lenny Henry (different complication, but this is in my dreams, after all). A Dame or a Sir… #aimhigh #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#writing#amwriting#mastobooks#books