Anthology 2013 - Chelmsford Writers

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

This anthology was put together by the people of Chelmsford Writers' Group, the writing group I belong to. We put it together for Christmas 2013 and it's taken me this long to read it! It's filled with short stories and poems about varying different things. Although for some reason, most of them are very dark.

My Review

It's not fair for me to write a proper review as each story and poem is different. Not to mention that I don't know a thing about poetry and that I myself am a stranger to short story writing as a craft.

But if you want something that's easy to pick up for a few minutes and put down again, this is the book for you. Because there are so many different stories and poems, if you're busy you can just pick it up, read a poem and put it down again in a very non-committing kind of way that I think we need sometimes in a book.

I read it in one day, almost in one sitting. It's great if you have an afternoon or evening you don't know what to do with.

I must mention my favourites because I think it would be rude not to:

Cuck00 - Jerry Beckett

Elizabeth - Paul Ebbs

Through the Looking Glass - Jane Bowers

Old Pals - Raymond Wallace

The Knowing - Dot Gumbi

Would I recommend it? Yes! Of course I would! Support us! I have a story in it as well and if anyone's interested. My entry is called Life's a Game and is very dark indeed.

It's on Amazon for only £4.99

I look forward to next year's! Though I don't have a clue what I'm going to put in . . .

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published - Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner

This is going to be slightly different from my normal book reviews as this is a non-fiction book and I wouldn't call myself an expert in non-fiction. I'm afraid it's going to be quite short because I loved this book!

Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published is a book that gives you great advice about both the writing and publishing process.

Blockbuster shocked me in how easy it was to read. Usually books like this are full of jargon and it makes you nervous, but not this book. It was so easy to understand, even if you don't know what all these literary terms mean, making it accessible to everyone.

It was crammed with great tips and I particularly liked the 10 things to Remember at the end of each chapter. It's a brilliant way to sum up and drive the points home. It's also a good reference point to read back on when you need some advice or you're stuck. I have a feeling I'm going to pick this book up over and over again just to read specific parts I might need help on.

Most importantly it reminded me that I don't know everything about writing. No one does. It's a craft you never stop learning.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will pick it up again and again. I recommend it for anyone who's written anything.

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Movellian / ZA Ready

Contact me with any questions or chatter here: molly.looby@hotmail.com

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

The man and the boy journey along the road, headed south, trying everything they can to stay alive in the grey surroundings left by the apocalypse. 

My Review

Before I start, I don't think I fully 'got' this book. I think I was reading far too shallow and if I'd gone deeper I would've enjoyed the whole thing a lot more. I understand why this book is so famous and acclaimed but it wasn't for me.

I loved how the two characters were simply 'the man' and 'the boy' and how they could've been anyone. It set the sad tone for the book. Though they could've been anyone, I found it surprisingly easy to get to know the two characters.

The Road was just full of the most beautiful descriptions but they just went over my head. It seemed too much and it was too heavy. I really struggled to picture anything because of the amount of description. Saying this though, the sentences flowed altogether in the most magnificent way. But because of the repetitiveness of the book I felt like I'd read the same description over and over. I'm sure it's meant to feel like that but I didn't enjoy the sensation, I just got bored.

Not enough was going on for my taste. I don't need action jam packed into every page but I do need a bit of something. I was thrilled every time they spoke but even then I wasn't sure what was going on and who was speaking because there are no paragraph breaks. I know it's supposed to be ambiguous but it was really difficult for me to follow at all.

I suppose I just didn't get on with the style at all.

I must also mention that this is the first book I've read all the way through on the Kindle and I didn't like it. I want to see the pages and know how far I am through by looking, rather than the percentage at the bottom. I like turning pages and physically progressing. I can't believe how much I struggled with the Kindle but it just really isn't for me.

After everything, the ending was so powerful and brilliant it brought a tear to my eye even though I'm pretty sure I missed the point to the whole novel.

Evaluation

Plot - 9/10 - there was nothing wrong with the idea at all

Way Plot Was Pursued - 7/10 - I felt a little more could've happened

Characters - 7/10 - it was hard to work out who was doing what

Style - 7/10 - just because I didn't get on with it doesn't make it bad

Pace - 8/10 - the pace was okay, sped up towards the end

Would I recommend it? No. I would end up putting someone off by trying to explain it and I don't want to do that.

Would I look up the author? No. I didn't get on with his style enough.

The Road is a book I would've enjoyed much more had I analysed every sentence. It's a book to study rather than read.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor / Ghostwriter / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

Chancing the Truth is almost here . . .

I think it's about time we all got ridiculously excited about Chancing the Truth, the third book in my Immorality of Immortality trilogy!

Check out my blurb:

We'll never be free. Only the end can release us.

Forget Adelina, Stephan's the real god of this castle. You disobey and you're plunged into hell and there's nothing you can do about it.

Unless of course Stephan goes too far. Unless of course you're given something to live for. Unless of course you're strong enough to fight.

I wasn't a year ago.

I am now.

I am Felix Hesper and I am in control.

Through the eyes of Felix, Damien and Lilya, the newest addition to the Senate, Chancing the Truth takes you on a journey of survival to the heart wrenching finale of the Immorality of Immortality trilogy.

I'm struggling to squeal about it without giving anything away but trust me, you will love Chancing the Truth. It is my absolutely favourite of the Immorality of Immortality books for good reason. 

I adored writing Chancing the Truth back in 2012. By the end of it I was well surpassing 1,000 words a day with total ease. I think this was probably the easiest thing I've ever written. The story just burst out of me like I had no choice.

This trilogy taught me almost everything I know about writing and has been the single most incredible experience of my life and I have no idea how to cope now it's over. Felix Hesper and Damien Avery have been with me for four and a half years and I don't really know how to say goodbye to them. At least I don't have to for a while. As long as people are still reading about them they'll still be around. And as if I could ever stop them chattering away in my head.

I must take this opportunity to thank my amazing friends Anna and Dave for getting together with me seven times to read Chancing the Truth  from cover to cover. We overcame some weird sentence structure, some irrelevance, some down right confusion and clichés and I couldn't have done it without their support!

I cannot wait to release Chancing the Truth and our new narrator Lilya on all of you! I'm dying to know what everyone thinks!

So to celebrate, I've re-released books one and two, Playing with Reality and Gambling a Fairytale on Kindle so they're now 77p and affordable to all (who have a Kindle or the Kindle app!)

PWR: http://bit.ly/PWRKindle

 GAF: http://bit.ly/GAFKindle

The only thing left to do is a final proofread and convert this bad boy to print and digital format.

We have never been closer . . .

To make sure you don't miss a single thing, 'like' the Immorality of Immortality trilogy on Facebook! http://on.fb.me/1cpMwEc

"Life is unexplainable and unexpected – especially when you can’t take anymore. This is my story, and I’d like to end with agony."

This is really happening!

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Movellian / ZA Ready

Contact me about anything writing, books, vampires or zombies here: molly.looby@hotmail.com

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

First I'd like to thank my friend Sophie for lending me the book otherwise who knows how long it would've taken me to read this!

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

Socially awkward Charlie writes a series of letters as he tries to navigate high school, new friends and family conflict while all the while trying to "participate" though his natural instincts are to simply watch and listen. Charlie tries to navigate triumph, failure, friendship, sexuality, honesty, right and wrong while keeping a level head and a heart full of hopes.

My Review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the most perfect coming of age story I've ever read. There was so much beauty in this book I'm surprised the pages can contain it.

I was thrust straight into Wallflower by Charlie's sweet innocent voice. In mere sentences I felt like I knew him and I grew to love him more with each passing page. His letters are aimed at you, the reader, and so Charlie is speaking right to you, making it impossible to resist his friendship. The letters are so easy to read, like diaries are, so I struggled to put this book down to go to bed and to get back to work. If I'd picked this book up in the morning of a day off it would've been finished in one sitting.

I must say, I was in the book with Charlie, following him every step of the way. The other characters were all delightfully different, each having a series of good and bad points that came through to me as the reader, regardless of how Charlie viewed them which was fantastic. They were all very real people with very real problems and that made it even easier to read.

Chbosky fills Wallflower with brilliant observations that land straight in your heart and make you think about the world you inhabit.  Certain phrases made my head ring and my heart swell like: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." Every now and then when I stop working for a moment, this sentence just takes hold of me and it's all I can think of. That  is powerful writing.

I've got nothing bad to say because I loved this book. I read 3/4 of it in one sitting without even realising. And I would read it again.

Evaluation

Plot - 7/10 - high school's been done

Way Plot Was Pursued - 10/10 - but it's never been done like this

Characters - 10/10 - authentic and real

Style - 10/10 - the letters were honest and perfect

Pace - 10/10 - couldn't put it down

Would I recommend it? - Yes. For anyone in or out of high school.

Would I look up the author? - Yes, but sadly he mostly writes screenplays.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was poignant, bitter-sweet, deep, moving and nostalgic. What can I say? I adored every single page.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor / Ghostwriter / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

The Fall of Us and CampNaNoWriMo

As most of you know, I'm addicted to NaNoWriMo and for the past three years I have participated in writing 50,000 words in November and I have won! In 2011 it was ZA which is available on Amazon's Kindle for only 77p if you love a good zombie novel.

Then in 2012 it was I Dare You which was shortlisted for the Sony Young Movellist of the Year competition!

And last year it was Just a Pair of Abominations which I blogged about in detail as I was writing it.

So I've been thinking of my next story for about a year now and it came to June and I still hadn't made a move to write it. I needed a push, and that push was CampNaNoWriMo.

CampNaNoWriMo is like NaNoWriMo but a lot more lenient. You set your own word goal and it doesn't have to be a novel but of course mine is. So on July 1st I found myself writing 1,000 words a day to reach my 30,000 word count goal by the 31st of July, but more importantly, I'd have the bulk of a novel by the end of July and before my birthday in September I will have finished book number nine, well on track for my goal of having written ten books in my five years writing.

The first week of Camp I was quite happy sitting there writing away but just like its November counterpart, CampNaNoWriMo threw me week two which was a hard slog and it seemed to take forever for me to do my words. But then week three, beloved week three, came along and I was on fire again.  On the 26th of July I reached my 30,000 word goal and won CampNaNoWriMo. Winning wasn't the important part for me this time, falling in love with my story was and that definitely happened.

I'm more excited about my novel, 30,000 words in than I was at the very beginning and that's amazing. Now's about the time to tell you all about it.

'The Fall of Us' follows thirteen year old Tye and Eeli who have left their childhood home in search of their dreams.  

Here's what I wrote for the blurb on Movellas: Enter the world of Tye.  The Fall has devastated much of the world as we know it but Tye knows nothing else.  He and his best friend Eeli are ready to leave their home as soon as they reach thirteen years so that they can be off on their own and be who they want to be and do what they want to do.  At last.

Tye and Eeli could never have imagined how dangerous the real world was going to be.

I first thought up the characters of Tye and Eeli in August last year and between then and now I've been working out what exactly happened in my apocalypse and how the world would work. Once I figured that out the rest seemed to come easy, but in a random order. There's a lot of people for them to meet and a lot of places for them to explore. I've never written an adventure story like this before and I'm loving it. But as usual, I know too much about everyone's backstory (saying that, I can never know too much about my characters) and the hardest part is deciding what to include and what to leave out.

While you wait for me to finish this story, here's about half of what exists so far. 

I'll leave you with a quote from my protagonist:

"It’s wrong. The feelin of bein the happiest you’ve ever bin an the saddest you’ve ever bin all at once. I’ve never had a feelin like it. Bittersweet, Nat called it. I reckon there’s never bin a more perfect word." - Tye, The Fall of Us

Molly Looby

Author/Wrimo/Editor/Ghostwriter/Blogger/Reviewer/Movellian/ZA Ready

Contact me if you have any questions about books or writing or anything here: molly.looby@hotmail.com 

Heaven - Christoph Marzi

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

David, a runaway from Cardiff desperately trying to find his way in the world stumbles across Heaven, a girl who's heart has just been cut out. Together they must discover what is really going on with Heaven and the man pursuing her, trying to finish what he started.

My Review

At the beginning, I really enjoyed this book. I found it easy to read big chunks of it at once as the information was given in such a way that I could take it in. However, as I read on, I got increasingly more bored of the characters and their plot line and didn't really want to pick the book up. Once I did, I read quite a lot but I didn't feel motivated to pick it up. It was also way too long. It felt like it took me forever to read. I would just look at my bookshelf and all the wonderful books there waiting to be read but I was stuck with 'Heaven'.

Saying this, however, it was a great decision to have David as the narrator rather than Heaven because it made it much more mysterious, even though the book was really about her. It makes a change from all the female protagonists I've read about recently.

There was also a line I loved that I feel was put there solely for other authors to read: "he'd never known how the stories would end when he began them - but who did?".

However, to counter this, there was the most redundant sentence I've ever read: "Then, after a pause that was neither long nor short".  I mean, what is the point of that? What's wrong with just saying "Then, after a pause"? Or maybe just take the sentence out all together. I just wasted valuable seconds of my life on that sentence. More so in fact because I had to share it with my house it was so ridiculous and now I'm sharing it with you.

I haven't had this problem for a long time but there were also far too many adverbs all over the place. E.g. "she asked bluntly" which was a completely superfluous phrase as the dialogue made it very clear she was being blunt. I just cannot get over how many published authors get away with using so many pointless adverbs. It drives me mad.

Another problem I had with 'Heaven' which I've never had before was the information about London streets. Every time David moved from street to street we were told about it. Which street he was on, which way he turned, which tube station he was in and which tube station he ended up at and on which line. It was far too much. And the descriptions of London seemed to go on forever. There were three separate descriptions of Canary Wharf even though I know exactly what it looks like. I looked it up and it turns out that Marzi is German which explain all the description but the street names, really? Does it matter where he is and where he's turning. No. It does not.

There was nothing particularly special about this story or the writing itself. Nothing about it took my breath away.

Evaluation

Plot - 7/10 - It was a bit weird

Way Plot Was Pursued - 7/10 - the chapters were too long and the explanation took a long time coming

Characters - 7/10 - I grew bored of them and didn't care about what happened to them

Style - 6/10 - there were a few nice phrases in there

Pace - 6/10 - the whole thing lasted too long

Would I recommend it? - No. There was nothing special about this book at all.

Would I look up the author? -No, for the same reason.

'Heaven' was just too long and non-spectacular.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor / Ghostwriter / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

Contact me about books, writing, and all things awesome here: molly.looby@hotmail.com