RIDICULOUS THINGS I'VE DONE FOR WRITING

I love writing with all my heart and it has its place in the deepest corners of my little soul. The written word makes me feel safe and happy, and I feel much lighter when I'm pouring my heart out onto the paper (or onto the computer screen, for that matter).

Writing, however, is not just about writing. In fact, I probably spend the least time by doing the writing itself. More often then not, I spend the writing time doing things to either find inspiration or things that (I am naive enough to think that) would help my brain to think better. Most of these things are ridiculous, but I have decided to share them with you.

In the past months, for the sake of writing, I have:

1. started learning Gaelic and done a massive research on the history of Scotland. I've also done a great research on Scottish fairytales and myths, herbal medicine and found a book of medicine from 18th century from which I cannot read a single word but I'm still very satisfied with having found it.

2. listened to people while already imagining how I could use their stories for the one I was writing.

3. experienced awful things and my reaction was "at least I can write about this".

4. enthusiastically spoken a dialogue out loud to myself to see how it sounds.

5. spent hours in front of a mirror making emotional faces so I could "show don't tell" how the characters are feeling.

6. screamed at people for turning on the TV when I was in the room, writing.

7. sat there perfectly still trying to imagine what getting a boner feels like.

8. bought five different notebooks to write things down so I wouldn't forget them (and then ended up never writing down anything).

9. created my protagonists as Sims and played the game with them to see if the ships I'd decided there would be would sink or swim.

10. spent several minutes being upside down because I thought that more blood in the brain would help me think better.

11. attempted to read three books in one day.

12. written four different beginnings to my story, chosen one, written sixty pages, and then decided to start fresh so I deleted all of it and started writing again with a completely different plot.

13. sacrificed my social life.
14. spent more time carefully picking names for my characters than I would do picking a name for my own child.

Let me talk about this, though. If you're in need of names for your characters (or babies or dogs or plants) then this site is definitely the best I've seen. There are lots and lots of names from different languages, religions, parts of the world. There are mythology names, medieval names, names of literary characters and more. As a bonus, most of the names' meanings are mentioned and you can search for names by them. They have a "catalogue" of surnames as well. This site is just the most helpful so I thought I would let you all know about it.

15. published a story on my wattpad, got scared and deleted it. Then posted and deleted it again in a month's time. (Now I'm in the phase of being confident enough to publish things so you can check out my latest idea.)
16. drank approximately three litres of coffee in less than two hours to stay awake because I think better late at night and early in the morning and I needed to finish a chapter.

17. went for a run in really cold weather to see how the cold air would affect my lungs because I needed to see how my character was feeling. It ended in pneumonia, 0/10 would recommend.

18. assigned proper songs to scenes I was writing, making quite a nice playlist. (Also the other way round—after hearing an amazing song, I imagined my characters in situations in which the song could be played.)

19. double (sometimes tripple) checked meanings of words that I safely know just to make sure. I usually used two (or more) different dictionaries and thesauruses.

20. written.

What about you and your experience with writing? Are there any ridiculous things you've done for the sake of it? Have you ever published/thought about publishing your very own book? Do you share your writing with people on the Internet? (If so, I'll be more than happy if you'd put a link in comments so I can  check it out!)

NEW ON SHELF | Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Hello my fellow bookworms!

As you may or may not know, I'm a big lover of the Outlander series. Outlander (or Cross Stitch, if you like) is the best book I have ever read so obviously I had to purchase its sequel, Dragonfly in Amber.

When I bought the first book of the Outlander series, I bought the one with Sam and Caitriona on the cover since I didn't know there were more books and I didn't know I would want to read them. (No, I don't want to read them, I'm dying to read them.)

I had waited a year to purchase this book. I wanted to continue what I started so I had waited for the tie-in edition with cover that's got the Outlander series cast on it. Well, here it is! My suffering is finally over! You can probably imagine that my heart skipped a beat when I first held this precious in my very hands.

It's beautiful. Look at them. Look at them! I am in love. I'm obsessed.

The only thing that kind of bothers me (and is probably the only pet-peeve that I have) is that the first and the second books come in different heights. Also the "stickers" are ridiculous and someone should make a petition to stop them.

But that doesn't stop me from loving these two precious babies (whether that be the books or Jamie and Claire) with all that's left of me after reading the first book / watching the first season. I'm literally obsessed with this book. Both of them. They are beautiful. They are basically all a bookworm could ever dream of. I'm very tempted to re-read the Cross Stitch and I'm more than excited to read Dragonfly in Amber! You can prepare yourselves for a very emotional review because this is gonna be huge and it's going to be an emotional rollercoaster, I can feel it.

There's only one more thing left to say.

Welcome home, Dragonfly in Amber, welcome home.

REVIEW | Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Digital Fortress
Dan Brown

Genre: science fiction, techno-thriller

First published: 1998

Pages: 510

Language: English

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

When the National Security Agency's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage - not by guns or bombs, but by a code so complex that if released would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught it an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

There's one golden rule to reading Brown's books: suspect everyone.

I started the reading on Saturday afternoon and hadn't stopped until I finished the last sentence on Sunday, at 3:20 am, and let me tell you, it was one wild of a ride.

I'm not a technological type. I'd sooner write a fifty-page essay than solve a math problem that kids in the elementary school are able to solve. When it comes to codes, I cannot even do anagrams. But Brown and his amazing writing skill and his talent make the whole issue not only understandable, but also very enjoyable even for people like me who would more likely become a mermaid than an IT expert.

As I was looking at other people's reviews on Goodreads, I couldn't help but think that lots of people forget the book is sci-fi, which means most of the technologies used in the story don't exist. And I think that condemning a book so wonderfully written just because the author made things up is a nonsense.

Yes, the book is wonderfully written. The characters, just like in all of Brown's books I have had the pleasure of coming across, are real and believable. You feel happy for them, you feel sorry for them, you despise them, you're worried about them. As you read the book, these characters matter to you. Susan Fletcher and her incredibly smart and, according to the description, incredibly hot fiancé David Becker. Commander Strathmore and his service and devotion to the NSA. The genius Ensei Tankado who kicks the NSA's ass. All the supporting characters. I really enjoyed all of them.

Brown is marvellous. He makes you laugh at one page and then makes your heart race with anxiety at the other. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he just makes the reader on the edge of their seat with the cliffhanger chapters that just make you want to read one more. That's how I ended up sitting in my bed at three am, eyes burning, dying to finish the last chapter. If that's not a sign of a great book then I don't know what is.

Also the plot twist. I have to say, there were a few things that I predicted or figured out too soon. Sometimes I just knew what was going to happen. At the other hand, there were tens of situations that absolutely blew my mind as I didn't expect them, and made me think that those predictable moments were predictable intentionally (and even if not, it doesn't stop me from loving Brown's work). There's betrayal, no one's who you think they are, no one acts the way that you think they would. But the main plot twist, that was fantastic. Brown makes you think you know what's going on, and then he shows you that you don't. I know I am repeating myself by saying this, but that's just how it is. Fantastic.

I highly recommend this book to all of you, because even if you don't know a thing about computers and programming, Brown brings this topic to the table in a way that just makes you want to read on.

REVIEW | About a Boy by Nick Hornby

About a Boy

Nick Hornby

Genre: novel

First published: 1998

Pages: 307

Language: English

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Will is thirty-six but acts like a teenager. He reads the right magazines, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also discovered a great way to score with women - at single parents' groups, full of available mothers, all waiting for Mr Nice. That's where he meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old in the world. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Mozart, looks after his mum and he's never even owned a pair of trainers. Perhaps if Will can teach Marcus how to be a kid, Marcus can help Will grow up...

Someone told me once that if you don't enjoy a book while being about 20 pages in, you should put it down and not bother finishing it. If I did exactly that, I would never be able to experience all the feelings this book had to offer. I wasn't really enjoying Marcus and Will's story until I was about 60 pages in, but the good part was worth waiting for. I really enjoyed the book at last.

Will is really such a good character. And I do not mean a good person, I mean a good character. The type of character you despise at first and grow kind of very fond of him during the novel. He's an expert in shutting the life out and not answering the door to it, and only cares about what to do with all of his free time and money since he doesn't have to work because his father once wrote a famous song. He's kind of afraid of commitment and doesn't understand what falling in love is for except for making a wreck out of you. He basically just wants to have fun, and he only ever goes out with women he wants to have sex with. And for some reason, he thinks that making up Ned, a baby he tells single mums he's the father of, is a really good idea. At one of the SPAT!  (Single Parents - Alone Together) meetings he meets Suzie, best friend of Fiona, Marcus' mother. And it's precisely through Suzie that Marcus and Will meet for the first time.

Marcus lives only with his mother, who's simply nuts. She's seriously fucked up and annoying. She forces her beliefs onto her son in arguments that he doesn't have a chance to win, using kind of a psychological abuse (I honestly don't know what else should I call her behaviour). The worst thing is that she actually thinks she makes him think for himself. The truth is, Marcus is annoying and slightly weird as well at the beginning - but with a mother like that, I cannot really blame him, so I'm closing my eyes to that a bit. My heart was breaking for this boy so hard while reading the novel, because his mother is not only crazy and depressed, she's also completely blind to him telling her about being bullied at school.

The day Will and Marcus meet, Fiona tries to overdose and little Marcus finds her covered in her own sick. From that moment on, the whole book is about the developing relationship between these two.  And they're the best thing that has happened to me in a while. Seeing how they go from total strangers, overcome Will's dislike towards kids, and develop this really nice kind of relationship, that's exactly what my little sensitive soul needs to be happy.

The problem with reading a book basically in one sitting is that all the feels come at once. The novel made me laugh, it broke my heart, then it was funny a light again, and then it shattered me completely. It made me laugh out loud. Once I actually had to put the book down and laugh it off properly. It took me about ten minutes to be able to concentrate again without thinking about the funny part. (I won't spoil it but it was seriously that hilarious.) At the other hand, it was breaking my little, fragile heart. It was so real and raw that it made me cry once. I was really pitying Marcus for what he had to go through with his mum, with his classmates, just in overall.

Another thing that I really enjoyed (kind of masochistically), since the book is set in 1993 and 1994, was Hornby's idea to contain Kurt Cobain and his death in the book. It was a perfectly thought idea for the story, since we have a crazy, suicidal mother there. His death somehow gives space to the characters to wonder about life. And with the fact that Kurt is in the book, I have to mention Ellie, a fifteen-year-old who loves Cobain and "befriends" Marcus by accident. I really liked this rebellious girl, she kind of reminded me of myself when I was fifteen. Well done, Nick, you know exactly how to hit the right nail with your hammer, don't you?

I'm just going to say that I really ended up enjoying this book, and that I'm definitely going to check out the film adaptation. If it weren't for the slow start, I would rate About a Boy five stars.

REVIEW | Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Chocolat

Joanne Harris

Genre: novel

First published: 1998

Pages: 320

Language: English

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock - especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the preist denounces the newcomer's wares as the ultimate sin. Vianne's plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a "Church not Chocolate" battle.

I started reading this book with really high expectations because I have seen the film adaptation with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche and I just couldn't help but love it with all my heart. I was hoping that the book would be at least as good as the film. Turns out, the book is even better.

When Vianne Rocher and her six years old daughter Anouk with a great imagination and an imaginary rabbit Pantoufle come to Lansquenet, they immediately disrupt the atmosphere of the village. 

I really enjoyed these two ladies. I loved Vienne's character, her kindness, her sense of humour and the level of her sassiness. She's such an amazingly written, strong woman. I also couldn't help but have this really big grin on my face every time Vienne's fierce love for her daughter Anouk was described. Their relationship is the sweetest thing I have ever witnessed. Such a pure and intense feeling that burns in the mother's heart for her little offspring. I'm not gonna lie, it made me very teary-eyed once. (Okay, maybe twice.) 

I also enjoyed Roux, the red-haired gypsy. I cannot help but imagine Johnny Depp every time he is mentioned in the book, and maybe this fact makes me a bit more affected. And least but not last, I have to mention lady Armande. Old, witty, lovely lady. She was breaking my heart and I am sure she would break yours as well.

What I also liked about the book is that we get to see two sides of the story. The changing point of view keeps the reader interested and entertained. I love Vienne's point of view, but I definitely enjoyed the story being told from the antagonist's point of view just as much. Entering père Reynaud's mind in the form of letters to another père was a delightful experience. He's exactly the kind of antagonst that is absolutely believable and you just get him; he's doing the wrong thing because he's convinced it's the best thing he could do. He's not particularly a bad person, he just likes when his flock is obedient and the members go to church every Sunday. I am by no means justifying his actions, but when you read his thoughts, you really get the feeling that he only wants to lead a peaceful life being surrounded by faithful sheep that are the members of his flock.

You could say I despise Reynaud. And you're right, I do. His behaviour is terrible (and kind of ridiculous). There is, however, one thing I liked about him. In the book, there is, besides others, one problem - Joséphine Muscat, who left her husband after years of, let's say, abuse. The thing is, Reynaud, due to obvious religious reasons, doesn't want the Muscats to get a divorce. BUT his opinion on Mr Muscat and his behaviour really surprised me. He actually thought he was being idiotic and defended Joséphine. And that made him a little bit better in my eyes (until he managed to fuck up again).

This book made me feel LOTS of things. I can definitely say that Chocolate might be one of my most favourite books of all time. The writing is just beautiful. Flowery descriptions, amazing dialogue and a great plot. I definitely need to pick up another of Joanne's books in the future.

Harris simply makes you want to read another chapter, just like a box of chocolate makes you crave another piece of the sweet delicacy.

I highly recommend this book to all of you.

REVIEW | The Eye of the Storm by Patrick White

The Eye of the Storm

Patrick White

Genre: novel

First published: 1973

Pages: 557

Language: Czech

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Elizabeth Hunter, an ex-socialite in her eighties, has a mystical experience during a summer storm in Sydney, which transforms all her relationships: her existence becomes charged with a meaning, which communicates itself to those around her.

LIBRARY ADVENTURES #1

Hello my fellow bookworms!

The weather today was amazing and made the school a little bit more bearable for me. What made the day even better, though, was the afternoon visit of the library we have in the city.

Not only the library has a BEAUTIFUL interior - you should see the wooden doors and the stairway (literally the stairway to heaven)! - but they have amazing books there as well. And I felt that today was a really good day to pay a little visit to the bookshelves overflowing with masterpieces.

This time I decided to pick up three books from the English section, for I'm still halfway through the Eye of the Storm by Patrick White, and I'm expecting Dragonfly in Amber to appear at my door in two weeks (and I'm super excited!), and I didn't want to be under any pressure. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the books if I had to read them quickly.

Let me introduce you to the gems I brought home today.

The first book is Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. The story about the NSA, the National Security Agency, that is many times more powerful than the CIA. When the NSA encounters a mysterious code that a code-breaking machine cannot break, they call Susan Fletcher, the head cryptographer and mathematician. What she uncovers could cripple the U.S. intelligence. Fletcher battles to save the organisation she believes in but she founds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the man that she loves. 

I, as a lover of Brown's work, am incredibly happy about picking this book and I cannot wait to get to reading it!

Second, there's About a Boy by Nick Hornby. Will, at thirty-six, is single, child-free, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also attending single parent's groups full of available mothers - and that's how he scores with women. That's also how Will meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old in the universe who listens to Mozart, takes care of his mother and has never owned a pair of trainers. Will Marcus help Will grow up and, at the other hand, will Will help Marcus to be a cool kid? I'm really excited to find out (for I haven't seen the film adaptation).

And last but not least, I picked up Chocolat by Joanne Harris, a book about a small French town that is turned upside down after the arrival of a chocolate confectioner, Vianne Rocher, and her daughter.

I was really happy after finding out about Chocolat being a book, because I simply loved the film adaptation with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. I cannot wait to get to this book (I will probably start with this one, actually).

As you can see, my day was great and fruitful in the matter of books. What about you and your relationships with libraries? Do you prefer libraries to bookstores? Do you like borrowing library books or do you like having new books more? Share it with me!