M J Mallon YA Author and Poet

Five Photos Five Days Challenge Day 1- Lost Dreams, Drug Oblivian

I’m currently taking part in the 5 Photos – 5 days challenge after being nominated by Annika Perry – Annika Perry’s Writing blog.

I would highly recommend that you check out Annika’s blog.

Here’s the link : https://annikaperry.wordpress.com/

Firstly, the rules are as follows:

‘Post a photo each day for five consecutive days, and tell a story about each photo. The story can be truth or fiction, poetry or prose. Each day one must also nominate a fellow blogger to participate in the challenge.’

Here is my photo and writing for Day 1.

This is my photo of the one of the locked gates of Cambridge University. Somehow my photo of this beautiful gateway inspired me to write a very sad piece of flash fiction. The mind works in very mysterious ways, well mine does anyway! Forgive me for putting a dampener on such a beautiful setting.

WP_20150609_006 — https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com

Lost Dreams

Heidi peered through the locked gate, in the distance she saw the neat manicured lawn, the suggestion of a life well lived. There was a brand new bike propped up against the wall facing away from the exit. Heidi wondered who the bike belonged to and why it had been abandoned by its owner. She sighed, climbed onto her own rusty bike and cycled away.

The next day she returned, but the bike was gone. Everything else was just as it had been before. Heidi stood by wistfully peering through the ornate bars. She saw a group of people coming towards the gate, a bunch of undergraduates no doubt. They opened the gate, and each of them seemed to individually register her presence with a quizzical glance. She wanted to stroll in, but she knew she couldn’t. If she did that would just make matters worse. They would see her as she was now, so she stayed outside the gate. Safe. Behind secure bars.

I know without any doubt that Heidi believed that she belonged within the walls of that forbidden garden. It wasn’t her fault, she’d say. Heidi’s downfall started at sixth form, everything started to slip. Leaving secondary school had seemed such a liberation to her but her departure should have come with a warning sticker. Beware: Sixth Form Can Seriously Screw You Up. To begin with the changes in Heidi were barely noticeable, but soon, the pressure built up. An outlet had to be found, a way for her to cope. She ended up at wild parties once a week, and when once a week wasn’t enough, every night became the norm. Then she started to experiment. Her motto became: it’s easy to anaesthetise yourself, pretend you’re okay, when you’re not. At first mum and dad didn’t notice but when her grades started to slip they woke up. Fast. Their perfect princess was no longer bringing home A’s the best she could do was a D, a D with drugs, dangerous boys, and doubtful friends.

Of course the inevitable happened Heidi missed classes, came in drunk, she got kicked out of sixth form. No second chances. Then mum and dad did what they had to. They couldn’t cope, the stealing did it. I tried so hard to help, believe me I did. We all did. I blame myself so much. We all do. Now Heidi’s lost. All her dreams are blossoming in that beautiful garden locked within sight but way out of her reach. She might be light fingered but she has no hope of stealing those dreams back. They’re gone forever. Who knows who she might have been? Where she might have gone? All she has now is dream words, I’ll be okay. A new false promise. Health Warning: Time To Fix Herself.

In my dreams I see my sister clearly. I picture envy. She’s leaning on that gate, but the gate isn’t supporting her. I see her ugly red marks, needle impressions and fingers shaking. She’s tugging at its unforgiving bars, raging, pulling them towards her. She doesn’t say a word but I can hear her pain, screaming. I can taste the loss in her throat like it is I who has swallowed the bitter pill of failure. I see her as she used to be, my perfect little sister, and I cry, cry because that is all I can do. That is all I am left with. That gate is always locked. The dream is never different. Her hope lies crippled, planted like a false seed in that immaculate, well kept garden. Many view that ornate gate as a walkway to fulfil their dreams but it bars Heidi entrance, and reminds her of her own prison cell. Life.

Today I would like to nominate two bloggers, rather than just one!

Lauren at https://courageisnotanoption.wordpress.com/

and Victoria Davenport at https://coffeewriterepeat.wordpress.com/

Thanks for dropping by.

Do pop by again soon, and leave a comment if you can, I’d love to hear from you.

Kyrosmagica xx

Haiku Poetry Prompt challenge #49 Lock & Gab

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge #49 Lock&Gab

Time for another Poetry Prompt Challenge from Ronovan Writes. If you haven’t joined in the fun well I would highly recommend you do!

Well this time I’ve added a link to a bit of my writing at the bottom of this post, as the prompts were just so me! All comments haiku and writing related would be most gratefully received. Or just come and have a gabber. Either ways I’d love a chit chat.

Oh, these prompts, what can I say? Ron really knows how to come up with great challenge words. Lock, I love it. It just conjures up mysterious, hidden places, and gab well there’s nothing like a good old chatter, unless of course monkey thinks it’s getting out of hand!

Monkeys says

A hum in my brain

Gab on, Gab Off, now stop it!

Lock it up DARLING.

Secret Key Sings

The bewitched attic

A gab about mystery

The secret key sings

I found these particular prompts very inspiring. I wrote about a secret key in one of my chapters of my first manuscript, here’s a link to my writing extract: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/06/18/writing-extract-the-mystery-of-the-talking-key/

If you like this tiny sample of my writing please do let me know. I’d appreciate that so much. Thanks. x

Words good or bad, are my very own!

Thank you for stopping by, do come again, I love visitors.

Kyrosmagica. x

Break A Leg Dave…Oh, You Did…

Reblog of Steve at Talk About Pop Music’s mix tape for Dave Grohl. I know what it’s like to be incapacitated by an injury – I’ve broken a foot before. Bless his cotton socks.

Here’s what features on Steve’s tape: James, sit down. Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Relax. The Eagles, Take it Easy. Supergrass, Sofa of My Lethargy. Reef, Come Back Brighter. I’ve got a feeling he’d like Come Back Brighter best, or Relax that’s my guess.

Writing Challenge: Allergic to the Letter E. Grit A Giant Quandary

Well I’ve been nominated to do an unusual challenge from Colleen over at Silver Threading.

I’m not one for reading the rules too well, so I’ve just stumbled upon no. (3.) Do the challenge within 24 hours, EEK!!!! Anyway, why not? I’ll have a go. I’ve got a feeling that this will be a useful exercise, and I reckon that the end result might be ridiculous. But that’s okay I like ridiculous, so with that in mind I think I’ll just make it a monster story. Oh dear monster has an E in it, so does just about every other word too. Quick re-think? Me thinks. Giant perhaps? Yes Giant works.

Well starting this and my computer’s got other ideas it keeps on over heating. I reckon my husband has cast a spell on it, he gets a bit fed up when I spend too much time blogging! UGH!!!!

At last it’s cooled down.

So on to the task in hand:

Here’s the link to the original post from Colleen: http://silverthreading.com/2015/06/18/allergic-to-the-letter-e-challenge/

Here are the Rules: (Courtesy of Colleen at Silver Threading)

1) Write a whole paragraph (A WHOLE PARAGRAPH??) without any words containing the letter “e” (still easy?)

2) By reading this, you are already signed up.

3) Challenge at least five bloggers to do the challenge. They must do it within 24 hours or it is considered as failure.

4) If you fail or pass, suffer in the Page of Lame.

5) If you win, wallow in the Page of Fame.

My effort:

GRIT A GIANT QUANDARY

Grit A Giant only had a passion for words. Nothing could rock him. Only words. His passion for a,b,c,d.

“Oops what’s a wrong?” his giant pal Frank would say.

“I can’t find a way to go past D.”

His giant pal saw his chin drop as Grit had a hasty gulp, and a swallow.

Frank did a crack out grin. “How about a work past it pal, try a frightful F?”

“F stands for fail and I don’t want to, I’m grit, I’m in this until I crush that …..oh, I can’t say that word.”

His pal pat him on his back. It was all too much. Grit’s crying was not Giant protocol.

Grit would fizz and his brain would fog on its way past d. It was no good. What a bum job. How could Grit A Grizzly Giant show a chink of pitiful?

His rivals would find it so tantilising to taunt him.

This is what a rival bunch of giants would say, “Such a choking bumbling fool of a giant, Grit’s such a stupid git.”

Grit’s soul was bust.

That fifth word would always haunt him. Poor Old Grit. A giant fan of Sci-fi but no split infinity would cross his lips you know which s.i. I’m thinking of.

So his pal said, “Why don’t you a grab and shout out an X for that a word you can’t say?”

Grit found a grin in hiding, put it on, and said, “to boldly go whxrx no man has gonx bxforx.”

Grit was a happy, grinning giant. Still a git, but that’s not this story. All his Xmas’s had found a way to roll in right now!

My nominations:

https://samannelizabeth.wordpress.com/

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/

http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/

http://barbtaub.com/

http://blog.jeffcolemanwrites.com/

Hope you enjoy!

Kyrosmagica x

The Creative Blogger Award

Thank you so much to My Personal Teen Life for nominating me for the Creative Blogger Award this one means so much. It’s taken me some time to get this post together, I’ve been real busy recently, so apologies for being a bit slow.

Here’s the link to My Personal Teen Life’s blog. It’s lovely. I would highly recommend that you check it out. : https://mypersonalteenlife.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/creative-bloggers-award/comment-page-1/#comment-206

First of all I’d just like to say I’ve been getting quite a few awards, first of all it was the Thunder award, followed by the Sisterhood Award and now this. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve cast a spell on my fellow bloggers, I’m smiling a lot, Kyrosmagica, white witch style, and it’s not even Halloween yet!

Well whatever it is it’s very nice indeed to be nominated for these awards, and then being able to share them with some of my bloggy friends too.

So here are the rules:

1. Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you.

2. Share five facts about yourself to your readers.

3. Nominate 10 other blogs and post their link.

4. Notify all the nominees via their social media/blogs.

5. Pass the rules on to them.

Five things about me:

1. I’m quite a messy person, and tend to flit from one activity to another. If you meet me in person you wouldn’t think so as I dress quite smartly but this is just a smoke screen, believe me. If you should see my desk, no on second thoughts you really don’t want to see my desk, that would be so embarrassing! No desk photos allowed!

2. I’m a water person, I love the sea, and really enjoy swimming. If I was to be reincarnated as a fantasy character I’d like to come back as a mermaid! A nice one though, all shiny and colourful.

3. I’m terrible in a crisis, so don’t count on me if you’ve fallen down and fractured something. Unless you’re over the initial crisis part, and then I’ve very helpful to have around. Which is just as well as my family tend to make quite a fashion out of breaking things, my brother his elbow, myself my foot, my husband his leg, my dad his ankle, my eldest daughter her ankle, (you can read about this calamity here: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/02/15/an-unusual-valentines-adventure/)….. Even my youngest daughter isn’t exempt from drama, you might like to find out more about her unfortunate experience with a sea urchin in Greece: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com/2015/03/27/my-friday-post-sea-urchins-ouch/

Anyway I digress, back to the crisis situation as I said I’ll most probably panic. I’d make the worse nurse ever. Sadly, this is most definitely true my mum fell down and broke her shoulder on the way out for a Chinese meal. It was scary, partly because she’s over seventy, her blood pressure shot up, and she looked really bad. Scared me to bits. But, I gathered myself, and went with her to the hospital in an ambulance. Luckily her shoulder’s healed now, but the memory is still fresh in my mind. Ugh!

4. I have a fear of heights which was a nightmare when I tried to go skiing, but I overcame it, and managed to ride cable cars, chair lifts, etc. One time I didn’t manage to get off the chair lift in time and a hunky ski instructor had to lift me off himself, I didn’t complain! Some women have a thing about men in uniform, well I have a thing about men in ski gear! Handsome Paramedics too they come in very handy when you’ve broken your foot!

5. I love my food a little too much, particularly satay and banana fritters. I used to eat these in Malaysia, and would love to tuck into some right now. YUM!!!!

My nominees:

Ten is just not enough, there are so many others that come to mind (some of which I have already nominated for other awards before)) but here goes …………..

Remember this award isn’t compulsory, if you want to join in that’s great but if you don’t that’s fine too. Don’t worry I won’t cast a spell on you!

To wear a rainbow – Silver linings in a Woman’s World: https://toweararainbow.wordpress.com/

Words across the oceans. Lover of poetry, books, music, art & exploring of life! http://debradml.com

Nigel Borrington’s Photography blog: http://nigelborrington.com/

Tofino Photography: https://tofinophotography.wordpress.com/

Lucile De Godoy. Bridging Lacunas. http://luciledegodoy.com/

Inese MJ Photograpahy blog: http://inesemjphotography.com/

Stefan Viklund Photography blog: http://vanerpaddel.com/

Patricia No. Art by Mimulux. https://artbymimulux.wordpress.com/

Shari Bradbury Photography and Writing http://photogwriter.com/

Artist Kirt Tisdale talks about his Art Gallery https://thewallgalleryblog.wordpress.com/

Thanks for stopping by. Don’t be shy leave a comment, I love to hear from you.

Kyrosmagica. Friendly white witch x

Writing Extract: The Mystery of The Talking Key

This week amongst other things I’ve been working on Ronovan Writes Haiku Prompt Challenge, which I’ll be posting on my blog soon. Here’s the link to his prompt in case you’d like to participate. https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/

Ron’s prompt words Lock and Gab triggered a memory out of an attic, an attic that exists in my first novel, or should I say manuscript as it is currently unpublished. This getting published business isn’t easy. You don’t realise just how hard it is until you try yourself. I remember ages ago one of my fellow writers saying to me that she had sent out boxes and boxes of letters to publishers and agents and every single one had come back in the negative. Well in my case, I’ve sent out in the region of twenty enquiries. This isn’t nearly enough. I read somewhere that you have to query at least one hundred people. I know this is probably true but I hate rejections they eat into your soul.

So I’m sharing this small writing sample with you to get your valuable opinions. This is from a chapter later on in my novel, when my main protagonist Amelina goes exploring trying to look for answers to the puzzle of her life. She steals a key, which leads her to discovering an attic room with a hidden away secret.

If you like it please do say, and if there are ways in which it can be improved do comment, I really would appreciate it so much. Thanks. x

A tiny shaft of light trickled in alighting on a far corner of the attic. Amelina moved towards the light carefully trying to avoid the obstacles in her way. Nearly twisting her ankle climbing over boxes, and old suitcases, she saw a light shining like a torch on to a delicate hook, where an object was dangling. She scrambled towards it and saw that it was a golden key.

As she grabbed the key she heard a strange noise, which sounded like a shrill voice recording with a constant playback sound. The voice became louder and more agitated as she made her way out of the attic.

“Put me back, thief,” the mechanical voice said. It babbled on, “I was enjoying the sunshine streaming in. Don’t you know how cold it can be in the attic? A bit of sunshine cheers me up. How would you like to be surrounded by unwanted things all day and every day?”

Amelina couldn’t believe that the key was talking to her. She did her best to ignore the ranting voice, and started to climb out of the attic, but her progress was slowed down by a sheer drop that suddenly appeared. There was a tiny ledge to the left of her with just enough room for one small foot. She knew that if she didn’t balance perfectly on that ledge she would fall down the steep steps, and it was a long way down.

“You’ll get me into trouble you will. Bring me back thief!” shouted the voice.

Amelina ignored the voice. She edged herself out of the attic, poised her foot on the ledge, and balanced like a trapeze artiste before jumping to the step below. Her heart was still racing, adrenalin bubbling up to the surface in short gasps when she turned the key and opened the door.

The key groaned and sighed deeply, “You’ve done it now. There’s no turning back.”

Thanks for stopping by. x

P.S. I found the mysterious puzzle image at the top of this post on MorgueFile free photos. http://www.morguefile.com/

Guest post, Ali Isaac on dialog

Ali Isaac guest posting on C.S. Boyak’s blog Entertaining Stories. Ali’s talking about dialogue. Dialogue’s a tricky business – well I think so. Sharing this great post, just had to reblog.

Entertaining Stories

Maybe for Ali’s sake I should spell it dialogue. I kind of like it that way myself. When I was looking for someone to do a guest post about writing dialog, Ali answered the call.

Ali has two of three books available in her Tir Na Nog series. She had a huge hurdle to get over with her main character. I’ll let Ali tell you in her words.

***

I’ve never been one for giving writerly advice. The way I see it, there are a million and one authors out there who can do it far better than me, who have huge book sales and successful marketing platforms to back them up.

Google it, if you want… I’m sure most of you already have. There’s reams of advice on the subject; dialogue makes a story easy to read, it helps create flow and pace, it’s all about interaction, we can…

View original post 1,362 more words

Trailer Time: “The Secret Life of Pets”

The secret life of Pets. Such a fun trailer. Must see! Reblogged from Caffeine Crew.

The Caffeine Crew

In true teaser fashion, Illumination and Universal have released the first trailer for their film called “The Secret Life of Pets”. Have you ever wondered what your pets do while you’re away? Well, this film looks to answer that in a dramatized and animated way. While the actual plot of the film isn’t revealed in the trailer itself, it is known that it will take place in a Manhattan apartment building and will follow Max’s life when his owner gets another dog named Duke. Things get even crazier when a bunny named Snowball starts “building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-owned pets and their owners.”

I don’t go see too many animated films, but when I do it’s for films like this. This looks fantastic! The animation looks great, the voices match the pets, and it puts some imagination into what goes on during…

View original post 51 more words

Writer’s Quote Wednesday: Ray Bradbury.

It’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I’d say that all you quote lovers out there should stop by Colleen’s blog, Silver Threading, to join in the fun. Here’s the link to her wonderful blog, which is choc-a-bloc full of all manner of interesting things: http://silverthreading.com/2015/06/17/writers-quote-wednesday-a-silver-quote/

Well, before I begin my chosen quote let me tell you what’s been happening here chez the Kyrosmagica household. Well, it’s been a bit busy recently. I’ve been sorting out our kitchen removing about eighty percent of its contents into boxes. No I’m not moving house, we’re having a kitchen makeover. My husband and I didn’t quite agree on this makeover business, I wanted a light touch up, you know nothing too crazy but he wanted to knock down walls and add patio doors. Guess who won in the end? Yes, I am a bit of a pushover. I just don’t like arguing. Anyway, that’s my little rant for the day. I’ll let you know how it goes, hopefully the house won’t fall down around my ears while I’m typing up my next blog post. If it does I’d just like to say, “it’s been sure nice to meet you guys.”

Right, back to Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I really love this quote from Ray Bradbury, particularly the lurking in libraries and climbing the stacks and sniffing books parts. Yes, I like a bit of crazy, so this appealed to me. As to writing every single day, yes, that’s most definitely the number one tip.

“You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
― Ray Bradbury

And this quote is so touching too. It’s one of those quotes that just makes you feel as if you know Ray doesn’t it?

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in August 2000, Bradbury said, “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you’ll come along.”

Sadly Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness.

Here’s some pictures that I hope Ray would have approved of :-

Here’s my fantasy perfume:

Library:

Ladder:

Book:

Ray Bradbury Biography via Goodreads:

American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a “student of life,” selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947.

His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury’s masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum “recommended reading” anthologies.

Ray Bradbury’s work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City.

Ray Bradbury has never confined his vision to the purely literary. He has been nominated for an Academy Award (for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright), and has won an Emmy Award (for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree). He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television’s Ray Bradbury Theater. He was the creative consultant on the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1982 he created the interior metaphors for the Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World, and later contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France.

Married since 1947, Mr. Bradbury and his wife Maggie lived in Los Angeles with their numerous cats. Together, they raised four daughters and had eight grandchildren. Sadly, Maggie passed away in November of 2003.

Hope you enjoyed Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Do comment, it’s great to get feedback on my posts, and to hear your opinions. Come and say Hi.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come again soon!

Kyrosmagica x

Guess What – I’ve joined The Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers

Thank you so much to Alicia at Caffeine and Books for kindly nominating me for The Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award.

Do check out her blog: https://caffeineandbooks42.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/sisterhood-of-the-world-bloggers-award/

These are the five rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
Put the Award logo on your blog.
Answer the ten questions sent to you.
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Nominate ten blogs.

Did you have a book that meant a lot to you as a child?

I loved C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and read them all. If you haven’t read them then please do but in this order, (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Magician’s Nephew; and the The Last Battle,) so that you get a full idea of the magic of this series. Some publishers are printing them in a different chronological order:

Is there any author or book that you collect and will always welcome multiple editions of the same title?

When I was a youngster I used to collect The Chronicles of Narnia, Tintin, and Asterix the Gaul. I had a pretend library in my bedroom! When I was older detective novels captured my interest – Agatha Christie, and Raymond Chandler. Nowadays I’d love multiple editions of fantasy titles as fantasy is my favourite genre. As well as this I still enjoy detective novels, Asian literature, Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Say that you find yourself judging a book by its cover (not that we ever do that!); what sort of covers do you go for? Are there any that are an absolute turn off?

I love pretty covers, the more elaborate and vibrant the better, here are some of my favourites:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-bone-clocks-by-david-mitchell/

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton……https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-miniaturist-by-jessie-burton/

Sometimes a simple cover can be very effective too, a perfect example of this is The Art of Being Normal.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2015/04/26/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-art-of-being-normal-by-lisa-Williamson/

I don’t like bland or unimaginative covers, that’s the only criteria I go by, but ultimately it is the writing that matters most.

If you could pick any imaginary animal to bring home to Mom with an earnest, “Can we keep him?”, what animal would it be?

I think it would have to be Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia, as I love cats, and he’s one big cool lion.

Is there any book to movie adaptation that you simply refuse to watch? No way, no how, you’re not even giving them the opportunity to mess it up?

I don’t think so. I love going to the cinema, but unfortunately I don’t go as often as I would like. I like to see how stories are handled cinematically, but of course sometimes the cinema version just doesn’t quite live up to the book.

http://flavorwire.com/172372/the-10-most-badly-bungled-classic-book-to-film-adaptations/9

http://flavorwire.com/342090/authors-funniest-responses-to-the-film-adaptations-of-their-work/4

What is the most unusual book you’ve ever read? (Plot, writing style, chapter layout, etc?)

The most unusual book I’ve ever read is A Girl is A Half Formed Thing, which I’ve reviewed on my blog, here’s the link to read my review: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing-by-eimear-mcbride/

Is there any book or series that you’ve read that is so totally outside of your normal genre, but you loved it and would recommend it to others as a “take a risk!” type of book?

I don’t normally read horror, but I read The Exiled by William Meikle and would recommend to readers of thriller, dark fantasy and horror. Here’s the link to my review: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/review-of-the-exiled-by-william-meikle/

Do you have any bookish collections, or anything you covet and hope to someday collect? Candles, artwork, bookcases?

I love candles, so I’ve got quite a lot of those scattered about the house, as well as candle holders too. I’m a bit of a jewellery collector, I have so many pieces of jewellery. Our house is overflowing with books too. A lot of them belong to my daughter as she’s a bookworm too. She’s a great source of information on what’s current in terms of YA titles and she kindly lends me all her books if I ask nicely, so I’m lucky that way! Her bookish blog is http://definebookish.tumblr.com/

There aren’t enough bookcases in our house for all of our books, it’s such a shame. If I had loads of money I’d remedy that and probably splash out on some art too.

What book has been on your TBR pile the longest, but you just can’t convince yourself to pick it up?

Probably one of the longest, is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. I did pick it up eventually, I read the first chapter and then started the second but somehow I couldn’t quite connect with it. That might have been the frame of mind I was in, sometimes it’s good to go back and try again. I don’t like starting books and not finishing them – this rarely happens! Also another one was Liar’s Poker, I really didn’t fancy this much, but my reading group had chosen it for this month, and I ended up reading about half of this and then I gave up. It wasn’t because it was badly written, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, there’s too much financial information in it, and the obsession with money just drove me mad!

You get a $500 gift card for all things bookish – do you run to your nearest bookstore and spend like a fiend? Or do you create pro/con lists (a la Rory Gilmore) to make sure you get just the right & perfect & wonderful bookish things? Or are you eyeing a particularly expensive bookcase somewhere?

I’m not one for lists, or being organised, so I’d just go out and choose something. I’d like one of those fancy chairs to sit on, to relax while reading a book, or a hammock on a tropical island, but I don’t suppose the gift card would extend to that!

I could get a pretend one I suppose!

Some bookcases would be good too. I’d like to buy lots of gorgeous books, yes pretty ones from authors I especially enjoy.

My questions:

1. What is your most memorable holiday destination?

2. Tell me about your favourite drink, or food? Or both!

3. What kind of books/stories do you write? Or creative activities do you engage in?

4. What’s your favourite author/genre? What is it about their writing style that inspires you?

5. How do you spend your spare time when you aren’t writing or creating?

6. Have you ever done anything that was really embarrassing/funny?

7. If you could come back as a fictional character, (human, alien, animal!) which character would you choose?

8. Are you superstitious? Would you dare to travel on Friday the 13th?

9. What’s your zodiac sign? Do you believe in zodiacs, numerology, etc?

10. What’s the most scary, or challenging thing you’ve ever done?

If you’d like to accept the award – It’s not compulsory! – but I hope you might like to, please could you answer my questions above. Thanks.

My Nominees:

My Nominees for this award are all the ladies in the blogging world, you’re great, but I have to narrow it down to ten for the purposes of this award, so here goes:

Writer of Fiction, adventurer, lover of animals, nature and chocolate covered strawberries: https://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com/

Elsie Elmore: http://elsieelmore.com/

Author, Blogger, Poet and Freelance Writer: https://rebirthoflisa.wordpress.com/

Bookin’ It So Many Books. So Little Time. Let’s Review! https://marciameara.wordpress.com/

Ramona Wray. #YA novelist. I read and write books. http://www.mybookishlife.com/

Susanne Leist author of the Dead Game – A paranormal fantasy, a Vampire Suspense. https://susanneleist.wordpress.com

Just Olga. Olga’s things: writing, reading, translating, stories, life. The first book in Olga Núñez‘ AngelicBusiness trilogy is available now for pre-order on Amazon. https://olganm.wordpress.com/

You can’t change the world but you can change the world of one person: https://serinssphere.wordpress.com/

Sacha Black. Mother, Wife, Writer….. Almost An Author. Full Time Worker Bee, Part Time Nail Artist: http://sachablack.co.uk/

DorneWhale. My life in pictures and craft work. https://dornewhale.wordpress.com/

And Write Dorne! : https://dorneawhale.wordpress.com/

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These are the five rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.

Put the Award logo on your blog.

Answer the ten questions sent to you.

Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Nominate ten blogs.

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