O Brother Where Art Thou? - A Review

The majority of my friends who have seen this film, were not particularly impressed. In fact, a few of them looked a little bewildered when I said that I quite liked it. The movie is set during The Great Depression, in the late 1930s. We're introduced quite quickly to the three main characters (one of which...

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Rules for Writing Fiction

I came across an article in The Guardian called 10 Rules for Writing Fiction. In the article they have interviewed a variety of authors, asking them to share their ten rules for writing.I have really enjoyed reading these and so I thought that I would share my favourites with you! Elmore Leonard 3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the...

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Under the Dome - Stephen King

'We're a blue planet in a corner of the galaxy, and for all the satellites and probes and Hubble pictures, we haven't seen evidence of anyone else. There's nothing like ours. We have to conclude we're on our own, and we have to deal with it. We're under the dome. All of us.' Stephen King I am quite simply a Stephen King fan. I sing it loud and proud, so it was only a natural progression...

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The Post-Apoc genre, and my thoughts on The Hunger Games

The Genre I absolutely love both films and books that have a post-apocalyptic setting. In fact, even when I write, I find it a lot easier writing characters in to a 'post-apoc' setting than most others - there is just a world of versatility. We live in a disposable culture, and a culture that is blasted with...

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How I evaded Potter madness - and how I was lying to myself...

I am the 'Harry Potter' generation. When I was in school the books suddenly flooded the book bags of my peers; and I... a little stubborn at times, refused to read it - guffawing at the idea of a little boy-wizard with a lightening shaped scar on his forehead running around a massive school of magic. Whilst...

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When Audiobooks became golden....

Audiobooks are quite like Marmite.... you either LOVE them, or you HATE them. Although I have always (until a few years ago) been a paperback bookworm, I do have some early childhood memories of listening to audiobooks. Of course, I remember that the audiobooks were actually on cassettes that needed turning...

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