My Year in Books 2016

Wow, what a year of reading I've had. Not only some corkers published this year, but some oldies and some re-reads and of course some challenges. Within my year of books was a small reading challenge. There were twelve categories to complete and I'm pleased to have completed all twelve; the final challenge completed this morning at about 9.45am. Nothing like cutting it close. I will highlight the books read for the reading challenge in red, and state their criteria.

So for now, here's my year in books. I hope it provides some ideas and inspirations. For each month I will select my favourite book - highlighted in blue - and explain why. And fingers crossed I've surpassed last year's total of 105 books. In case you didn't know, Rants loves to read!

Books I read in January

1. The Traitor: Seth Dickinson
2. Ketchup Clouds: Annabel Pitcher (Kindle)
3. The School for Good and Evil (Book #1): Soman Chainani (Kindle)
4. All the Light we Cannot See: Anthony Doer (Kindle)
5. Alias Grace: Margaret Atwood
6. Everything, Everything: Nicola Yoon (Reading Challenge - A book you can finish in a day.)
7. Deeply Odd (Odd Thomas #6): Dean Koontz
8. On Writing: Stephen King

January was a good mix of library books and kindle books. There was also a mixture of genres, adult books and YA. And choosing a favourite from this great haul was tricky, but I think Anthony Doer's tale of two teenagers and their separate, yet eventually interconnecting plight through World War 2, just pips Ketchup Clouds for the top spot. There are so many layers to the story. You see the war from both sides: French and German, yet at the heart of it is the hunt for a cursed diamond. It is simply and beautifully put out there and will stay with you. 

But, if you haven't read any Annabel Pitcher yet, please, go, do it! She's amazing. I had the joy of seeing her at YALC this year too.

Books I read in February 

1. Allegiant (Divergent #3): Veronica Roth
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (HP #4): J.K. Rowling (A re-read for HP Book Night)
3. The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater's Daughter #2): Melinda Salisbury (Reading Challenge - A book published this year.)
4. Monster: C.J Kruse (Kindle)
5. MaddAddam (MaddAddam #3): Margaret Atwood
6. Fangirl: Rainbow Rowell (kindle)
7. A World Without Princes (The School for Good and Evil #2): Soman Chainani (Kindle)
8. Prince of Thorns: Mark Lawrence

February was a bit of a series reading month. I love a good series. I completed another section of the reading challenge and racked up another few kindle reads. Top honour this month goes to the goddess of dystopia: Margaret Atwood, with the final installment of the MaddAddam trilogy. This woman is so terrifyingly accurate that you feel this is not so much a dystopian future, but a dystopian tomorrow. I can't recommend Margaret Atwood enough. She is amazing!

Books I read in March

1. Aquarium: David Vann
2. Death Comes to Pemberley: P.D. James
3. Saint Odd (Odd Thomas #7): Dean Koontz
4. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1): Cassandra Clare (kindle)
5. The Ghosts of Sleath: James Herbert (Reading Challenge - A book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child or BFF.)
6. Kindred Spirits: Rainbow Rowell
7. Stormbreaker: Anthony Horowitz
8. Movers: Meaghan McIssac
9. The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3): Marie Rutkoski (Kindle)
10. See How They Run (Embassy Row #2): Ally Carter

March was a great month. I finally finished Odd Thomas' literary journey. Thank you Dean Koontz. The final installment of Marie Rutkoski's incredible Winner's trilogy came out. And the new Cassie Clare series hit the shelves. But, I also tried a few authors I hadn't read before and was pleasantly surprised. Choosing a winner from this month is so hard, so I'll procrastinate on that a little longer and talk about The Ghosts of Sleath. Finally a book that actually scared me, and it was my partner who chose it for me, after finding it in a second hand book store. Cheers A. Alright, I'll choose a winner. Of the four I had it narrowed down to, I have chosen the first book I read in the month: Aquarium. This dark tale is addictive. It's so truthful and heartbreaking. The setting, the family saga, the protagonist and her journey into her sexuality, it's beautifully done. 

Books I read in April

1. White Teeth: Zadie Smith (Reading Challenge - A book you've been meaning to read.)
2. S: JJ Abrams & Doug Dorst (Reading Challenge - A book you own but have never read.)
3. The Book Thief: Markus Zusak
4. We are Completely Beside Ourselves: Karen Joy Fowler
5. The Courilof Affair: Irene Nemirovsky
6. The Fire Sermon (The Fire Sermon #1): Francesca Haig (Kindle)
7. The Lottery and Other Stories: Shirley Jackson (Reading Challenge - A book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller.)
8. The Weight of Water: Sarah Crossan
9. I'd Tell You but I'd have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1): Ally Carter
10. Tape: Steve Camden
11. Salvage: Keren David

Well, I ticked off a few of my reading challenges this month. Not too shabby. I also started another two different series, and discovered the YA section at Holborn library, opening up so many possibilities. This month's favourite book is by the wonderful Sarah Crossan and is the portrayal of a Polish immigrant and her attempts to fit in to her new life in Britain. Written entirely in free verse, it is concise, every word poignantly picked, nothing wasted or embellished, just the honest truth and it is beautiful!

Books I read in May

1. Brooklyn: Colm Toibin
2. Am I Normal Yet? (The Spinster Club #1): Holly Borne (Kindle)
3. One: Sarah Crossan
4. When I was Joe: Keren David
5. The Bees: Laline Paul (Kindle)
6. The Last Wild (The Last Wild #1): Piers Torday (Kindle)
7. Almost True: Keren David (Sequel to When I was Joe)
8. The Jerusalem Puzzle: Laurence O'Bryan
9. Lolita: Vladimir Nabokov (Reading Challenge - A book that was banned at some point.)
10. Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck (Reading Challenge - A book published before you were born.)
11. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1): Alwyn Hamilton (Kindle)
12. The Butterfly Garden: Dot Hutchinson (Kindle)
13. The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank (Kindle) (Reading Challenge - A book that you should have read in school.)

May was definitely my most prolific month, with 13 books read. Clearly I couldn't get enough literary sustenance. And I was flying through my reading challenge with only three challenges to go. The best of the month went to Anne Frank and her diary written during World War 2. The photographs and end notes were so poignant and it is a book I had been meaning to read for years. Thank you Anne for sharing your story with us. 

Books I read in June

1. Bluebeard's Egg: Margaret Atwood
2. Half a War (Shattered Sea Trilogy #3): Joe Abercrombie
3. In Twenty Years: Allison Winn Scotch (Kindle)
4. The Deptford Trilogy: Robertson Davies
5. Finding Audrey: Sophie Kinsella
6. Adorkable: Sarra Manning
7. The Uglies (The Uglies #1): Scott Westerfeld (Kindle)

June was a lighter month on the amount of books, though the Deptford Trilogy was humongous and it was actually three books in one. I couldn't decide on the top honours this month, so it is a shared honour between two YA books with fantastic heroines, great plots and really addictive reading. Thank you Sophie Kinsella and Sarra Manning. And I've seen you both speak at YALC which is very nice. 

Books I read in July

1. The Pretties (The Uglies #2): Scott Westerfeld (Kindle)
2. Amok: Sebastian Fitzek (Audible)
3. The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1): Genevieve Cogman (Kindle)
4. Death or Icecream?: Gareth P. Jones
5. The Apple Tart of Hope: Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
6. The Girl of Ink and Stars: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
7. A Kestral for a Knave: Barry Hines
8. How Hard Can Love Be? (Spinster Club #2): Holly Borne (Kindle)
9. Demon Road: Derek Landy

This month was quite YA heavy, which is not surprising with the Young Adult Literature Conference (YALC) taking place every July. Again I raided Holborn YA section and tried out a few new authors to boot. And my winner of the month for best book is definitely the second book in Holly Borne's Spinster Club series. You laugh, a lot. You become addicted to the fast paced story and the great characters. This is a feminist YA series about young girls realising they do have power and they are worth something and their ideas matter. It is about equality for all and it couldn't be done without cheesy snacks. 

Books I read in August

1. Way Down Dark (Australia #1): James Smythe (Kindle)
2. Cuckoo Song: Frances Hardinge (Kindle)
3. Falling into Place: Amy Zhang
4. Cell: Stephen King
5. The Demolished Man: Alfred Bester
6. Suite Fracaise: Irene Nemorovsky
7. Relentless: Dean Koontz
8. Under the Ivy - The Life and Music of Kate Bush: Graeme Thompson (Non-Fiction)
9. Kook: Chris Vick

New books galore here in my birthday month. I must mention Suite Francaise. It is a beautiful book, especially the first section which details the every day comings and goings of a town at war. So simple and elegantly expressed. It was a high contender for book of the month, but was just pipped by Frances Hardinge's Cuckoo Song, which I loved. This dark tale of a changeling, an imposter in the family, was greatly executed. 

Books I read in September

1. Metamorphosis: Franz Kafka (Kindle)
2. The Passage (The Passage #1): Justin Cronin (Re-read) (Reading Challenge - A book you've already read at least once.)
3. The Twelve (The Passage #2): Justin Cronin
4. Tiger Eyes: Judy Blume
5. Monsters: Emerald Fennell
6. The Masked Truth: Kelley Armstrong
7. Frontlines (Frontlines #1): Michael Grant
8. The City of Mirrors (The Passage #3): Justin Cronin

September was epic in terms of me finally completing the Justin Cronin trilogy. Wow. It meant I also got to re-read the first book, which not only put me right back in his world, but ticked off another reading challenge. The sheer scale of the work and the generations it encompasses are almost inconceivable. And yet, he did it. It is a masterful vampire trilogy, with none of the tropes you'd expect and everything you would not expect. I cannot shout it's praises enough. Sneaking the best book this month though, is my first ever Judy Blume read. Yes, I know, I should have already read them all, but I haven't, and I found Tiger Eyes in the library and I loved it!

Books I read in October

1. My Uncle Oswald: Roald Dahl
2. Mockstars: Chris Russell (Kindle)
3. We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Shirley Jackson
4. Ulysses: James Joyce (Reading Challenge - A book that intimidates you)
5. Railhead: Philip Reeve
6. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: J.K. Rowling

My month of least literary yield, though I think you'll forgive me as Ulysses was one of them. And man did that take some reading. I will confess to not having a clue what was going on half the time, but it was a challenge and it did intimidate, and now it just baffles me a little. The book of the month had to be: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. It is short and sweet and dark and consuming, and I will be reading it again soon. 

Books I read in November

1. Jonathan Unleashed: Meg Rosof (Kindle)
2. Skellig: David Almond
3. The Art of Letting Go: Chloe Banks (Kindle)
4. The Lie Tree: Frances Hardinge
5. A Song for Ella Grey: David Almond
6. Boys Don't Cry: Malorie Blackman
7. Black Ice: Becca Fitzpatrick
8. How Not to Disappear: Clare Furniss
9. The Ghosts of Heaven: Marcus Sedgewick
10. The Glass Demon: Helen Grant

Eight of these ten books were from either Holborn or Kentish Town libraries, showing how great their YA sections are. I love reading David Almond. I always feel right in the story from the first word. Both books of his I read this month were five star. I also very much enjoyed The Ghosts of Heaven. A really interesting premise and the three stories could be read in any order. But this month the top honours go to Chloe Banks. Her novel: The Art of Letting Go was refreshing. Older, mostly elderly characters, but so full of life, and full of secrets. The complex relationships and webs of deceit are carefully woven. Highly recommended. 

Books I read in December

1. Remix: Non Pratt
2. Dangerous Lies: Becca Fitzpatrick
3. Artichoke Heart: Sita Brahmachari
4. The Psychopath Test: Jon Ronson (Non-fiction)
5. What's a Girl Gotta Do? (Spinster Club #3) Holly Borne
6. L'Ultimo Caravaggio: Federica Campanini (An Italian book read over several weeks of my Italian course.)
7. The Heart Goes Last: Margaret Atwood
8. Rebecca: Daphne Du Maurier
9. Paradise Lost: John Milton
10. The Trouble with Women: Jacky Fleming (Non-fiction/humour)

No kindle books this month, but a nice mixture of non-fiction, YA, a book in a different language, and a couple of classics. Paradise Lost completed my reading challenge for the year, with a book I have previously abandoned. I have only abandoned two other books in my adult life and they were Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell) and Labyrinth (Kate Mosse), and I couldn't find them, so Mr Milton guided me through the final step of the reading challenge. Challenging it was, but complete it is. And because it's the last day of the year, I'm going to indulge my inability to  make decisions and have a couple of winners this month. Becca Fitzpatrick's tale of a teenager in witness protection was so well paced and the characters really jumped out. The way she creates sexual tension between characters as well, is phenomenal. I really enjoyed this book. The Psychopath Test is non-fiction that reads like fiction and is hilarious and terrifying and brilliant. And The Trouble with Women is a humorous, illustrated gem of a book, poking fun at the blatant sexism through history. You will roll on the floor with laughter. 

And so, it is finally over. I sometimes wish I didn't read quite as much, then this blog wouldn't take as many hours to write. But alas, I am a book worm and I am super proud of that fact. 

Drum roll please..........My final tally of books read this year is: 109. Woo hoo! I can't believe I beat last year's 105. So I guess, next year the target is 110.

Thank you for reading. If you managed to get through all of it, then you deserve a mighty big glass of bubbly tonight. Whatever you're doing, I hope you are with friends or family, or both. You don't need much for new year, just a person or people you love, some food and some festive cheer. That's almost it for 2016 guys. (Yes!) See you on the flip side. 

Rants out.

Recycling Rant

I'm livid. I don't understand how difficult it is to put your recycling in the black recycling bin. It even has pictures on the front to show you what you can put in it. And it's not that long ago that it was always full and we often had to keep bags of recycling on the balcony until it was emptied. But now, every time I take the recycling it's practically empty. And bear in mind there are 24 flats in our building and one large black bin for recycling. Yet about 6 large green bins for waste. Wait a minute. That doesn't add up. There are so many things you can recycle now, yet it is assumed that there will be five or six times more waste than recycling. I don't think so. To our one waste bin bag, we usually have at least two of recycling, if not more. So is it only us recycling?

Today I took down three bags of recycling and a bin bag of waste and I walk in to the bin store - always expecting the worst - but was pleased to see that people had actually managed to put stuff in the bins and not just dump them on the floor. But in one of the green bins was two massive cardboard boxes and a bag full of empty glass and plastic bottles. Yet, the black recycling bin I just emptied in to was empty. I was so angry. It's right there. Just put them in the black bin. So I did. I took the bag of bottles and I put them in recycling. Then I looked at the cardboard boxes and thought, no, I've got to go and get this shopping done before everywhere gets busy.

But I couldn't stop thinking about those boxes all the way there and all the way back. Why are people doing this? Are they uneducated? Are they ignorant? Are they just plain rude? Or lazy? Or do they just not get it? I mean, what's not to get? Dumping stuff in landfill when it has no need to be dumped, equals bad. Recycling where possible, equals good. It's that simple. Most products and packaging even say on now if they can be recycled. And even if you're not sure, if in doubt put it in the recycling bin, because people are employed to sort through it. I'm pretty sure people don't sort through the green bins, even if they know there are recyclables in there. They just dump.

So after purchasing everything I needed for a spicy lamb pie, I considered my options: ignore the massive boxes and get on with the day, they're not my problem or my mess; or go in there and flatten away. It's a small victory, but one I'm willing to get my hands dirty for.

And so this is why I'm all sweaty and gross after ten minutes of dumpster diving and recycling other peoples' crap. The boxes really were huge and I struggled to get them out as heavier bags were holding down the bottom edges. But persevere I did - just like I persevere when cleaning out every peanut butter jar and yoghurt pot. And I stamped those boxes down and in they went. And still the black bin is virtually empty. Maybe a quarter full. I peeked in a couple of other bins and saw several amazon boxes, but I couldn't reach them over the side and I decided diving in again was not on the cards today.

But really, in this day and age, I don't get it. Why are you not recycling? It really doesn't take very long to clean something out, or flatten a box. And how can the idea of these things being dumped in the ground not make you feel sick and wrong and gross? A few years ago I even found a place to recycle VHS, because I had so many and I couldn't bear to think of them just being dumped in a hole in the ground. So I googled and found one of the only recycling plants in the country that do it and I sent them there. They recycle everything, including the actual film reel and the cases. And I thought, brilliant. Imagine my Buffy VHS and all my Friends VHS becoming something else, for someone else. Amazing!

Okay, rant over. I'm probably preaching to the converted. And really I'm not preaching at all. I'm just angry that every time I walk into that bin store I want to start rearranging and pulling crap out of bins. Maybe I've found my new calling in life? My main point is: don't be a dick, recycle. Perhaps that should be the new advertising slogan.

Anyhoo, I'll be back later for my third annual Year in Books. And in the meantime, have a great final day of this shitty year we call 2016.

Rants out.

Rusty

I entitle this blog, Rusty, due to my infrequency of blogging, and also that I haven't written or edited in weeks. I feel I may be out of practise. But surely it's like riding a bike. You never forget. Right?
In order to blow off the cobwebs, I thought I'd tell you about my December so far, and some of the interesting, annoying, possibly great things that have happened. That should get the brain working and let the words take over. So here goes......

Well, December kicked off with me stressing about our annual dinner party: The Night of Five. The flat was a tip, we barely had a menu put together, and I had all the presents to wrap up and decorations to put up. Then an impromptu babysitting job, shat on my chances of catching up with any of the house stuff, leading to me having a slight freak out but being unable to turn the money down. Of course, in the end my stress was for nothing. And the extra money really helped. We hastily threw together a menu and I finally made successful meringues. Very successful meringues. Our guests received their customary five courses and I pulled a centrepiece out of my ass at the last minute.

The Centrepiece: A snowy tree. 

Though, twenty minute before the guests arrived, I ran down to take the rubbish and recycling, and it finally happened, the thing I dread every time I go down there: I dropped my keys in the bin. And they are those huge dumpster type bins. Oh crap. I had just showered and changed too. Clearly in future I should take the rubbish before showering. Not that I plan on going dumpster diving again any time soon. So, it was my first time jumping into a dumpster. And thankfully, there wasn't too much rubbish in there, all the rubbish was in bin bags, and I could actually see the keys, it was just that my arms weren't long enough. Stupid short arms for short people. If ever I needed go go gadget arms, it was in that moment. So I used my two recycling bags and placed them on the edge of the dumpster, to at least try and preserve the cleanliness of my jeans. I hopped on in there, fished out my keys and scrambled back out, all in the shortest time possible. Then I pissed myself laughing. I couldn't wait to get upstairs and tell A what an idiot I was. 

This month I set a new record for writing music reports, in that I completed 45 in 5 days. Though I did make my life easier, for once, and I typed them on the computer instead of hand writing them. To me that is a huge cop out but it was certainly quicker and allowed me to keep the right side of the sanity line. Which leads me to the last music classes of the term and some unlikely recurring incidents. Okay, so ladies, it's not often you get head butted in the lady parts, unless you work with kids who are all about the height of your lady parts. Man, it hurts. Then one of the other kids decided he was going to punch me in the lady parts. Honestly, twice in one lesson. I did shout at the second one though. The first one, the head butt, was an accident but the second was deliberate and not at all amusing. I told him to never ever do that to anyone. Ever! I think he got the message. 

I enjoyed an evening of calling out gender stereotyping in the Marks and Spencer's Festive Food brochure with the eight year old I teach and look after. He loves a catalogue. Who doesn't? And he's also food obsessed, and shaping up to be quite a good cook. But anyhoo, I digress. We were going through the catalogue and pointing out the hampers we would like, or the food we found irresistible, when we came across the dreaded: For Her and For Him sections. The first item was an afternoon tea hamper, with cakes and scones and biscuits and pink fizz. My charge rightly pointed out that it wasn't only for girls. He would love scones and biscuits and afternoon tea. He knew, obviously, the only thing he couldn't have was the pink fizz, but everything else he would have loved. Cue: a talk about gender stereotyping. 

I am so glad it was him that brought it up, because I feel this way every time I walk into a clothes shop, or a toy shop, and especially card shops. It's all pink for girls, blue for boys. Pirates on one side, princesses on the other. The girls bit here and the boys bit there and never the twain shall meet. And it's all bollocks and limiting and stupid and ridiculous! But what's great is that he's starting to see that. 

So we went through some more of the catalogue and talked about how it couldn't possibly be just for girls or boys, because it's food. Food is food. It has no gender. There is no reason why a particular drink or food should be aimed at men or women. We all need to eat and drink in order to live and survive. Though granted not all of us can afford to shop at M&S. Hilariously, in the: For Men section, everything was whiskey and cider and port, because women couldn't possibly like or want to drink any of those drinks. And he pipes up, but mummy likes cider. Exactly! When I saw him for his lesson this week, he remembered our chat and asked what is was called again. Gender Stereotyping. There's hope yet. 

Have you ever seen some one's doppelganger? I hadn't until last Wednesday, when having a nice belated birthday meet up with my friend. I came across the double of our mutual friend who lives in the North East, walking out of the restaurant we were in. He clearly had no way of being in London at that very moment, but it was him, just carrying a little more weight. I had to stop myself shouting out to him. Then of course, we had to call our friend straight away to see if it in fact was him, but he didn't pick up. Eventually we got through to him but he was in the North East, at home, not in central London. I don't know, I think somehow you don't want to think about there being someone out there that looks identical to you. It kind of shits all over the, I'm so unique thing, though granted they probably wouldn't be anything like you in any other respect. Still. It's kind of creepy. 

Oh and one more thing about that night, the stupid waiter guy was determined to get us to buy a bottle of wine, when we both insisted we wanted one large glass each and that was enough. Clearly he had to try and up sell, but when you have been told two or three times, just listen and bugger off. We go out to talk to each other, not spend valuable minutes explaining our reasons for not wanting to drink an entire bottle. Our choice. Bugger off. And because we were using the tastecard, he was also trying to persuade us to have starters which we declined due to our love of pudding. Then he asked us to promise we'd have pudding, which I realise we did promise to, but mainly just to shut him up and make him go away. But really, we have absolutely no obligation to do anything. If I want three main courses and nothing else, then so be it. If I want a starter and a dessert, I'll have it. I don't think I realised quite how annoying the guy was until having a couple of days to ruminate. 

And so, I'm almost up to date with the happenings of December so far. Sunday saw my 5th officially timed run of the year and my 4th 10 km of the year. I started off the year with a PB of 58.50 and had already shaved that to 58.17 in May, and 57.52 in October. So the heat was on. Could I shake a few more seconds off that time and finish the year on a running high? Well, as it turns out, yes, I could. I must be a winter runner, because my PB now stands at 57.02. Absolute shock and joy, as always. I'd never done one of these runs before for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. It was nice to have such small numbers, I think there were 533 people on my course. I'm used to doing the big runs with thousands of runners but maybe these smaller runs are where it's at. I'm also tempted to do the Greenwich run this Sunday, but we'll see. Greenwich Park is awfully hilly. 

  Run complete. PB achieved. Happy Rants. 

I had my final Italian lesson of the year on Monday. I'm bottom of the class in terms of being able to speak out, coherently and speedily. But I feel like I'm not given enough time to work out what I want to say. And like they always say with kids when they are learning to speak, give them as much time as they need. Don't jump in and take the words away from them. I feel this should also be applied to adults learning a second or third or fourth language. You need time to process. Because you need to think about what you want to say, then translate it, and then get your mouth around the words. Unfortunately, the same sort of patience is not given to adults and often I am cut off mid-sentence leaving our resident annoyingly good at everything person - though I do really like her, it's just annoying that I'm not as good as her - to take over. I realise I should have written this on the feedback form, but she gave them to us at 9.05pm when the lesson had finished and my brain was frazzled, and I just wanted to go home and eat. Anyhoo, I'm not giving up. I've already signed up and paid for Module 2 Lower 2. My reading and writing is good. My listening is improving all the time, and I am using websites and TV shows and short stories and Grammar drills to delve deeper into the language. If I can just get over my talking fear, then next term will be a little easier. 

Well, if nothing else, this blog proves I can still write. And I still have brevity issues. So nothing much has changed. But December has seen a few firsts for me. To summarise:

• My first dumpster dive. Hopefully my last. 
• My first successful batch of meringues. I will be making them again. 
• My first PB over 10 Km whilst wearing a Santa Hat.
• My first year of studying the Italian language complete. Here's to the next one. 

Happy middle of the week, rants readers. 

How goes your December so far?

Rants

Never a Dull Journey

Hello Rants readers.
I know you're probably thinking, how many more times can I rant about the 46 bus route? But if you had to take it every day, you'd understand. There really is never a dull journey.......

So, last night I was heading home from a private music lesson, teaching an 8 year old. Amongst other theory and music related exercises, I am helping him learn the piano. And practising for his Christmas show meant playing 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' over and over for an hour. Normally we do around 30 minute's piano and do some other stuff, but not last night. He had learnt the right hand tune part, and was learning the left hand part, which meant I had to sing the tune again and again, whilst he played the left hand part. I haven't sung so much in years. It was definitely a Primary School flash back. So now you have some context......

Anyhoo, I set off for the bus stop and I may not be able to time travel, but I can feel time stop. It's called: waiting for the 46. 12 minutes, it said on the electronic board. I stood reading my book and every time I looked up, the numbers were descending but way too slowly. By the time the bus came, I'd been waiting over 20 minutes and according to the electronic display there were two other 46's directly behind it. The joy.

So, I get on, bury my head in the book and switch off. That is, until we creep closer to Kings Cross Station. The traffic is always tricky at that time and you have to queue to turn right for the station bus stop. This guy gets up from his seat, way too early, and stands by the door. Now my seat is right by the door, facing this man. Firstly, he smells like three breweries threw up on him, and he was muttering to himself, with every other word an F and a Geoff. He tried to engage a couple of passengers, but they turned away. So once he realises the bus isn't going anywhere particularly fast, he starts unscrewing a panel above the door. That's when a few of us jump in: What are you doing? Are you alright, mate? Etc. To which we receive a hasty, 'fuck off'. Meanwhile the driver seems oblivious. I mean, I know he couldn't' really do anything, what with driving the bus, but he could have least made an announcement.

So, he's unscrewing this panel and trying to get out of the bus and that's when I step in: 'What are you trying to do?' I got a 'fuck off' and 'shut up' in reply. I told him, 'That won't open the door.' More abuse. Then one of the male passengers closed the panel and the drunk guy found the Emergency button. Now I need to point out here, that we were in the right lane, waiting to turn right, creeping forward at each light change. And next to us were three lanes of traffic including buses, cars and bicycles. So when he goes to press the Emergency button, I can't help but try to deter him. 'I wouldn't do that.' He smirked in my face and did it anyway. At this point I was getting pretty pissed off, so I said, 'Go on then. Do it.' This actually distracted him and the driver almost managed to get the doors closed, but the guy realised and leapt out. I can't tell you how lucky he was that there wasn't another bus coming at that point. Man, I'm grateful I didn't see someone splatted before my eyes. But really. WTF?

So that was last night. This morning when coming back from a music class at a nursery school, where there are a fuck tonne of roadworks, and temporary traffic lights everywhere, the bus driver was a mean prick. We had just pulled away - and when I say pulled away, we were still right by the kerb and about a foot from the bus stop when we were stopped by the temporary traffic lights. These lights keep us held for three or four minutes at a time, so when a man knocked on the window and asked - very nicely, I might add - if the driver could open the door, he refused. We were static, by the kerb, still right by the bus stop, and he wouldn't just open the door.

A lady sat near the front of the bus started asking the driver to open up, saying that it wasn't fair, but he just yelled at her and said he would lose his job. Then a few more of us joined in, saying he wasn't doing his job properly and we were still at the bus stop, so what was his problem. But he persevered. We waited, whilst the man stood outside the door, for minutes, just toying with him, and then the driver pulled away. What a tool!

So when I say there is never a dull moment of the 46, I really mean it. Drunk idiots endangering themselves, everyone on the bus and the surrounding vehicles, And drivers refusing to pick up passengers despite having the time and still being at the bus stop. It's madness I tell you. Madness!

I hope your public transport is less eventful than mine.

Rants

Bust Darts and Other Annoying Things Cyclists Do.

So I tried on some very nice pinafore dresses in a well-known chain shop the other day, and I was super giddy because they had a variety of designs, in my size, and in the sale. Winner. And yet, those pesky bust darts got in the way, or failed to be where they should be and consequently I didn't buy anything, because they looked ridiculous.

If any of you are reading this thinking what the hell are bust darts, they're these annoying sort of seams that are added onto shirts, blouses, some tops and dresses to infer where your breasts should fit. Because of course we all have the same sized breasts and we are all the same height, so of course these bust darts are universal......

They're crazy and no wonder women panic so much about sizes and stuff. When you try something on and your boobs come in lower than the bust darts, or the bust darts are further around your sides than they should be, this makes you feel like you're the wrong shape, or your boobs aren't big enough, or you're not tall enough. It's also really annoying when otherwise the item fits well.

I just have to wonder if these bust darts are still necessary. We're not all the same shape even within our clothing size. Of course we're not. We all wear that size differently. So why should we have to fit out bits in where they say so? Our bits should be free to fill whatever space they so choose.

Bloody bust darts. Needless to say, I didn't buy any, despite my deep yearning for a pinafore dress. And it didn't exactly make me want to go and try anything else on.

Moving on to a completely unrelated topic, but one I've ranted about many times, and that is the two wheeled menace to pedestrians: cyclists. Now, my rants are usually concerned with zebra crossings and cyclists, but yesterday I was crossing a small side road that had a pedestrian light on it. I waited for the green man and strolled out, just as the stupid woman cyclist decided she was going to start cycling, after previously waiting nicely at the light. She gave me this look like I'd just stepped in shit and then kicked her in the face with my shitty shoe, and I felt I had to shout at her: I'm on green.

What a dick! Just wait until your frickin' light and stop trying to run over pedestrians!

Okay, I'll keep it short and sweet today. Enjoy your Tuesdays. Watch out for cyclists and bust darts.

Rants.

How do you say, I suck, in Italian?

Do you remember in high school when you had that one particular lesson you dreaded? And before each of those lessons you felt a bit sick and whilst in the lesson you willed your teacher not to ask you a question? Well, it's been a while but I'm pretty sure my Monday night Italian classes have become this.

Tonight I was a complete shambles. I didn't understand anything coming out of the teacher's mouth. And for some reason she seemed intent on asking me things and further shaming me. She received mostly a stony silence and a confused expression. There was nothing going on in my brain this evening, or at least nothing particularly helpful.

I turn up every week and I do my homework and I try to do a little extra than that, but that's just not enough. If you can't make the verbs stick in your head, or pluck useful adjectives out of your bum hole, then you're unlikely to succeed. (I'm sure that what it says in the official course outline.)

I just hate feeling really dim. I hate knowing that I'm the thickest in the class. And I know that is not a useful word, phrase or sentiment, but come on, we all do it. We all think, man I hope there's someone worse than me. It doesn't matter the situation, we always hope there will be someone worse at it that us. But tonight, it was me. Tonight, I was the dim wit. I was the one they all looked at and pitied, and I hated every second of it.

It made me angry and frustrated and I'm not embarrassed to say: extremely sad. It allowed my super pessimistic side to shine through and take over. It made me feel defeated, overcome. It made me feel stupid, but then also silly for feeling stupid. I know it is okay to fail. I know it is okay to find things hard and to struggle, but in a ninety minute language class, it's damn embarrassing and quite shaming to be failing for every single minute of it.

Doing supposed 'pair work' didn't help as I was sat next to a right cow who wouldn't even look at me, let alone work with me. So fuck her quite frankly. She might have a better grasp of Sembra and Sembrano, but she's got no fucking manners. At least I wasn't the shittest at that. Hooray for small mercies.

Anyhoo, enough of this self-indulgent, self-hating barrage of nonsense. I was shit. Hopefully next week I'll be less shit. What else can I do but carry on?

Rants out.

Tech Issues

Morning. I'm trying not to cave in to the desire to fling Albus - my laptop - out of the balcony window. It's not his fault. He's been updated and upgraded to Windows 10 - albeit about 3 days before the deadline, but still...... -  and he's fighting fit. What's ticking me off if the Apple Music Festival links that are being absolute wankers. So I click on the link and it tells me I need to download the latest version of iTunes which I did last week. So then I go through my own iTunes account and at least I can reach the store. Eventually I find the Apple Music Festival banner and then it all goes tits up again. No network connection. Say what? I'm on the pissing internet you remboid. How the hell can I have no internet connection? So I keep clicking on the Get Tickets button and guess what? No frickin' network connection. Apparently.

So of course there can't possibly be a network connection. And I can't possibly be on the internet currently writing a blog. No. It's all an illusion. Of course Apple is right. Argh! The same happened last year and in the end I gave up - not that I would have been lucky enough to win tickets anyway, but still, what the feckles does Apple Music have against me?

Fuming! They are denying my access to Elton and Britney tickets. This is unacceptable!

And in other tech news, google photos are evil. They have this great feature where you can search for a particular object, animal, etc, within your photographs. So if you want to find all your photographs with clouds on, then you can. Just search clouds and voila! But when you search whales, because you're reminiscing about whale watching, you come up with Orca whales and Humpback whales and .......Oh, what's this, a picture of me in the swimming pool. Excuse me. Are you saying I'm a whale? Google, google, google. I'm disappointed in you. I'm a woman, I have enough complexes thank you very much, without being a search result for whales. And I wasn't the only human mistaken for a large sea mammal, no, A's mum was also captured in the sea as a whale. Charming.

Technology itself is being offensive. Wow. And people wonder why I revert back to the pen and paper. They've never called me a whale before.

Rants

YALC 2016 - Day 3

Exactly a month after YALC 2016 started, I will finally finish the blogging. Hooray you all cry, me included, so let's get this bad boy done because there's only eleven months till the next YALC.

With the majority of the afternoon and latter stages of YALC Day 3 taken over by the Harry Potter Birthday Party, all the panels and talks were in the morning and early afternoon starting with a line-up of eight debut YA authors. Yes that's right, eight of them, all desperate to tell us about their books and very kindly offering advice to the newbie writers in the audience. Apologies that in the excitement I forgot to take a picture of their shiny debut faces, but let me introduce you to the new kids on the block.

Pete Kalu, author of Silent Striker, part of a series of standalone books with football as the connecting element. The books deal with racism, bullying, hearing loss, identity and gender, all interwoven with characters that love football.
Harriet Reuter-Hapgood, author of The Square Root of Summer.  This time travelling, 'quantum physics romance' is a book I have wanted to get my hands on since I saw her agent/author talk at YALC last year.
Claire Hennessy, author of UKYA debut Nothing Tastes as Good, (She has been previously published many YA titles in Ireland). Think ghosts and weight loss and issues of appearance and acceptance, feeding in mental health and rounding it all off with a dark witty bow.
Chris Vick, author of Kook, which I was given as a free gift in my YALC goodie bag. Looking forward to reading that one. Kook is a tale of surfing and a love all-consuming that can drag you down to the depths. It packs an emotional punch and involves the characters getting in plenty of trouble.
Natalie Flynn, author of Deepest Cut, is a book with a mute protagonist, plagued with guilt after the OD death of a friend. She describes it as, 'dark but fun.'
Martin Stewart, author of the fantasy novel, Riverkeep, a wild adventure story with a hideous river monster, a quest and that nagging responsibility of taking over the family business.
Rhian Ivory, author of The Boy Who Drew the Future, the story of two boys a hundred a fifty years apart in time that can both draw the future, and the curse it brings to their lives.
Julie Gray, author of The Otherlife, a story about the dark in all of us. A supernatural tale of Norse gods and two opposing worlds co-existing.

Together, with the guiding hand of chair and host Luke Franks from Maximum Pop!, the authors collectively framed the outline for 'the perfect YA book' creating characters, plot lines, opening scenes and the grand finale. Far too much Beiber for my liking, but a hilarious mini collaboration.

We then heard about the authors' challenges, what it was like to be published, when you should send to agents and lots of practical advice for burgeoning writers. Here are some of their best bits of advice:

• Martin: When editing, 'be prepared to give up on stuff.' But also keep things you take out as they may be used in another book. 
• Chris: 'Work out what you want to say as clearly as possible.' 'Keep it relatively simple.'
• Pete: 'Write the ending first.' 'Have fun and enjoy yourself.'
• Harriet: 'Have a very comfortable chair.' And, 'always back up your work.'
• Claire: 'Caffeine!' 'Passion and enthusiasm are essential.'
• Natalie: 'Schedule for meltdowns.' 'Don't give up. Keep practising. Be patient.'
• Rhian: 'Embrace failure,' your first draft will be awful, but 'never say you're stupid.'
• Julie: 'Don't get too hung up on word count.' 

Finally Rhian told us about the text to speech function on the Kindle, where you can actually listen to your book as an audio book. So she listens to her book before considering sending it out to an agent or editor. Thanks for that gem, Rhian. I had no idea you could do that. 

It was a delight to listen to so many new voices in YA and how diverse and truly different all these books are. The reading pile just keeps on growing. Good luck with your debut offerings and even greater luck for the evil second book writing. 

Next up was the Ask YALC event, where members of the audience had submitted certain issues or problems they were facing, and a panel of YA authors would do their best to offer some advice or point them in the direction of a book that could help. I won't go through all the problems and the responses, but I will tell you that Juno Dawson, Holly Borne and Rosalind Jana were our authors, with Gemma Cairney as chair. They managed to get through several audience problems:

• In love with her best friend (who is also female). Should she tell her?
• Loss of a parent. What book would help a friend through this loss?
• Making friends at YALC. Why is it so hard?
• Being blanked by your best friend
• Wanting to know more about mental health and depression, are there some books you could recommend?
• Exam stress. Sometimes I feel like the only one who feels like this.
• Finding YALC overwhelming. 
• The best way to recover from a book hangover.

There was also talk of the inspirations of the authors themselves and much talk around gender issues and stereotyping. It was a well-attended event and I hope it gave support to those who needed it. Times change and technology progresses, but most of these YA issues have been constant over generations and will continue to be long into the future. 

From left to right: Gemma Cairney, Rosalind Jana, Juno Dawson, Holly Borne. 

The third and definitely one of the biggest panels of the day featured Frances Hardinge, Philip Reeve and Tanya Landman, three very different writers with very different subject matter who complimented each other perfectly and provided a captivating and often hilarious panel. 

What first drew you to writing?

Frances was writing short stories for adults when a friend realised her work was probably more suited to Children's/YA. Her friend stole the chapters and sent them off. 'I am very grateful to this friend of mine.'

Tanya used to keep a pet pig. Her first book was about a pig going for slaughter. Drawing on her own experiences. 

Philip started as an illustrator. He talks of being 'influenced by everything around us.' And he 'wanted to write on a huge scale.' When he was illustrating at Scholastic he was able to get some writing their way. 

Settings. 

Philip definitely prefers fantasy. He finds it 'satisfying creating worlds.' He enjoys 'choosing the elements' to the story and then piling in 'anything you want' in order to make it work. 

Frances chooses fun and often 'insane premise[s]' for her books. She uses 'elements of historical facts' to give a piece 'solidity' and likes to 'exaggerate.' She loves fantasy because 'you can't be wrong.'

Tanya usually works within a 'historical framework.' Her books are often based on real incidents and can be subject to criticism if she gets any of the historical facts wrong. 

Research.

When researching for her books, Tanya does a lot of reading around her historical moment. She likes to use google maps and the Internet as there is 'so much access' to so many resources. She also admits to owning lots of books on the American Civil War and the weaponry. 

Frances has been as far as visiting volcanoes for research into her books. She does a lot of reading too and likes to explore the gruesome in her books too. She has seen a lot of post-mortem photography during her research and for Cuckoo Song quizzed the London Transport Museum about what trams were like in the 1920's. 

Philip says he 'doesn't really do any' research. He reads a lot and enjoys stuff and facts, but he admits he's 'not that planned.' He makes most of it up. For his recent YA series Railhead, it was mainly his 'experience of trains' that got him started rather than a huge research project.  

Would you ever want to write a contemporary, realistic story?

Philip says, 'no. I don't want to.' He says it's not possible at the moment and something more realistic is 'not in focus yet.'

Frances says she 'can't rule it out,' but that she normally writes quite 'weird stories' and that is the way in which she 'perceives reality.'

Rebellious girls and feminism in the books and the characters.

Frances offers 'no manifesto'. She is not writing to be bluntly feminist, her characters are born from the story and it is all about the story. She admits to being 'fascinated and troubled by the state of the world,' and being 'allergic to unfairness.'

Tanya's strong female characters are infused from her youth when it was all about boys having adventures. Why couldn't girls have them too? She talked about the frustrations of the westerns she used to watch where the women were only good for three things: screaming, being rescued and falling down. 

Philip talks about his extensive reading as a child and how when he moved on to 'grown-up books' they seemed to be written by or staring female characters. So he started to associate 'proper books' with real life and women. His series Railhead is 'gender equal but class is the issue.'

Influences.

Philip sees 'everything you consume culturally' as an influence. As a teen he read a lot of sci-fi and enjoyed fantasy and mythology. He mentions Star Wars as a big influence. 

Tanya again talked of 'an anger against unfairness' and these westerns that were 'white washed versions of history.' She found anything with a sense of injustice at the heart of it, as inspiration and influence. 

Frances devoured books and remembers such authors as: Alan Garner, Nicholas Fisk and Tolkien, lovingly. She also had a fascination with black and white murder mystery films from the 30's and read a lot of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and Victorian novels. 

Current Projects. 

Frances told us of her upcoming historical fantasy, featuring an 'angry dead bear' set around the Spanish Civil War. 

Tanya wouldn't reveal any spoilers, but said her new book had been sent to the editor and is due out in 2017. 

Philip's Railhead series is a 'train based space opera.' Book two is out this October and he is currently writing Railhead 3. So watch this space. 

From left to right: Imogen Russell Williams, Philip Reeve, Tanya Landman, Frances Hardinge. 

This was a great panels with three big personalities and a nice chance to see Frances and her legendary hat. Thank you also to Imogen Russell Williams for the questions. 

Now to my fourth and final YALC panel on the final day of YALC 2016. The end is nigh. 

The Morally Complicated YA panel, drew a huge crowd, possibly the largest crowd I'd seen all weekend. And rightly so. This meaty discussion ranged from drugs, rape, prostitution, violence, sex and murder, and featured a cornucopia of newer and more established names in YA.  

Melvin Burgess celebrating 20 years of his novel Junk. 

Emerald Fennell introducing her third novel: Monsters. 

Louise O'Neill, the Irish author of Asking for It and Only Ever Yours. 

Manuela Salvi, an Italian author banned from publishing in her own country due to the subject matter of her book: Girl Detached, instead moving to England and publishing in English.  

Are you morally complicated?

Melvin says he goes out there to 'educate'. Yes his subject matter is often complicated but he uses morals and ethics to infuse his stories. He's not glorifying anything, he is simply writing about things that happen and should be addressed. 

Louise finds that if you have a female protagonist people want her to be likeable. And if they are not particularly likeable, then more questions are raised. But Louise goes for real life situations and real life characters. 

Emerald adds that she is being truthful. She is not going out of her way to be unnecessarily morally complicated but it is about the story and the truth of that story and the characters. 

Manuela talks of gatekeepers and the controversy that sometimes happen when you are writing about 'difficult topics.' She says, 'literature can be a way out,' and can give us, 'different ways to understand.'

What do you think about banning books?

Manuela has been banned in her home country. She talked about censorship being quite 'covert' in that it isn't given a wide knowledge, it is kept hush hush. It is them 'ignoring something they don't want to discuss.' Of course it upset her as, 'we assume we are free.' She has since devoted her PhD to censorship. 

Emerald sees it as 'appalling.'

Louise says it is something not really talked about but that in Ireland 'books and movies were still banned up to the 80's.' She also talked about the fact that abortion is still illegal in Ireland and that there were some art works up saying repeal the 8th, and they have started censoring the art on the streets. She spoke of the danger and worry of 'silencing artists.'

Melvin said it is 'always done quietly.' He said he's had his books 'wrapped in brown paper', 'kept under the counter,' or even in 'a separate room in the library.' He also spoke of there being 'no funding for those books for cinema or TV.' You are essentially 'exiled from TV and Movies on a global field.' Again this silencing of the artists voice. 

Louise then added that violence is seen as fine but sex is still not acceptable. But wouldn't you rather your children grow up knowing that they can have a healthy, happy sexual relationship?

Violence and the exploitation of women. 

Melvin was perhaps the exception here as his books did not contain violence towards women or the exploitation of women, but he offered that this could be because he grew up in the 70's feminist movement and from that was careful not to write his female characters as victims.

Emerald talked about 'everyday sexism' and that women just have to 'bear it.' It often brings 'shame on women', but she hopes it is getting better.

Louise has received a lot of online abuse and death threats and refuses 'to shut up.' She will not have her voice silenced. She says harassment and sexism are a daily occurrence for many women and it has to be stopped. 

Manuela talked about the media influence and advertising, and how fake it all is. She says there is a lot of anxiety over image and during her years as a teacher of graphic design she was shocked how much her students thought the models were perfect, and that they had no idea about air brushing and photoshop. All the social media and selfies are almost forcing kids 'to be sexy,' or to want to be sexy. 

Fantasy or Dystopia Vs Real World.

Louise's debut YA Only Ever Yours was a harsh dystopia. She said the adults were shocked, whereas the teens could totally see it as real life. There is a freedom in dystopian writing, that of exaggeration. 

Melvin said that dystopia can be quite 'liberating' and can have 'unusual structures.' But obviously it depends on the story you are writing. 

Emerald wrote her newest 'psychological dystopia,' Monsters, in first person. One of the main characters also has a mental health issue and the reader 'never know[s] what is real.'

Manuela added that there can be 'dystopian elements in the real world,' and offered 'reality as a possible dystopia.'

From left to right: Translator (sorry I didn't catch her name), Manuela Silva, Emerald Fennell, Louise O'Neill, Melvin Burgess and Mairi Stone.

What a great panel to finish on, lots to think about there. And what a stunning weekend of panels, events and general YA literary wonder. Thanks to all the organisers and thanks again to LFCC for the shared space. And a huge thank you to each and every author who graced the stage, who got a numb bum from hours of signing and chatting to the fans, and who imparted their wisdom and advice to the next generation of authors out there. You inspire and make people believe they can do it too. 

*Sigh of relief*. Now I have 11 months to recover until the next YALC. Already can't wait. 

Thanks again for reading. Regular rants will continue forthwith. 

Rants

YALC 2016: Day 2

Following on from last week's blog, here is day 2 of YALC 2016, better late than never, I hope.
I would like to point out the wonder of the YALC queue, this year being open all day, every day. Genius. You never had to queue very long and if you were there for the weekend and had a wristband, then you only had to queue the first day and the other days you just waltz in like a VIP. Not too shabby YALC. Not too shabby.

As I attended six panels in a row on the Saturday, I'd probably better run straight into it. *googles how to condense 36 pages of A4 notes into a concise and fun blog* Eek.

Kicking off Day 2 with a blast of politics and protest came the Rebellion and Resistance panel, with some fantastic authors from the UK and US.
Alwyn Hamilton: Author of Rebel of the Sands.
Julie Mayhew: Author of The Big Lie.
Simon Mayo: Author of Blame.
Kass Morgan: Author of The 100 series.
Anna James: Chair of the panel.

 From left to right: Anna James, Kass Morgan, SimonMayo, Alwyn Hamilton and Julie Mayhew. 

The authors started by introducing their latest books detailing the specific rebellion and revolution running through them.

Julie: Her novel The Big Lie has a bi-sexual ice skating Nazi protagonist..... okay, how can you not want to read this? It's a sort of contemporary, if the Nazi's won the war novel, and gives a bit of weight to what the kids were doing during the war. For Julie it was about the rebellion that happens in the mind, and the idea of someone or something changing your mind against what you previously believed.

Alwyn: Rebel of the Sands, the first of a trilogy is a rebellion in the desert to overturn the Sultan's reign. Her starting point was, 'girl with a gun' and the French revolution played a huge part in her upbringing and education.

Simon: Simon's novel, Blame, centres on heritage criminals and the idea that you can be held accountable for another generations' crimes. He talked about the 'lack of rebellion' in his book and how the criminals are contained and controlled by the prison and the state.

Kass: The 100 series. For Kass it was all about rebellion right from the start. Rebellion against the adults in charge, rebellion against each other. But also rebellion for love and rebellion for protection. It's about what we have to do to survive. Set in the future, using juvenile delinquents as expendables, we see the harsh realities of a post-apocalyptic earth.

Time and Setting.

Julie: Set in 2015, addressing now through Nazism. Didn't want a historical setting, wanted it contemporary and to show how we are still owned by society.

Alwyn: Writing fantasy you get to be epic! She talked about being able to do bigger things with the politics of a fantasy world, and also how not being locked into a specific time period gives you a lot of flexibility. It has a western/Arabian nights feel to it.

Simon: Set only a few years in the future. Was it a premonition? Because in the book Britain had to be out of the EU for the heritage crime to work. And lo and behold, we're out of Europe. Creepy.

Kass: Her books are set around 300 years in the future, the length of time it would take for a nuclear winter to last.

Darkness and violence.
This is a topic that comes up all the time in almost every YA panel, but there were some interesting answers here. All the authors agreed that they had to be true to the story and they had to make it real, but that they wouldn't be gratuitously violent just for the sake of it. Simon added that 'it's shocking where it needs to be shocking.' His book set in a prison, has a prison riot, which of course would be terrifying. it was logical to the story, but 'still has a moral compass.' He did talk of having to tone it down from earlier drafts as it was deemed at points too violent.
Kass admits she 'wasn't concerned' about the darkness and violence as it was integral to the world in which the book is set. Alwyn added that you 'can't gloss over stuff,' and that the teenage mind is often darker than the adult mind. Julie talked about how violence was always accepted in her books, but sex was still not okay. She honoured her publisher, hot key and said they were 'super brave' to take on her project. She also said, 'the real world is worse than the world in the book.'

Something to take away....
The authors were asked about specific messages in their books, or things they would like the reader to take away with them:
Alwyn: Everyone will have 'different opinions', 'I can't control what people take out of it.'
Julie: I want them to 'question the things they accept as normal.'
Kass: 'Bravery, in different forms.' 'Not just action.'
Simon: 'I haven't written a message book.' His book is more about 'shifting blame.'

If you had your own revolution, who would be in it?
Alwyn would go Ocean's 11 style, with everyone having different skills. She would also like Hermione Granger and Kat from High Society.
Julie: Clem, from her novel The Big Lie and the A-team.
Kass: Neville Longbottom (violence as a last resort). And Anne Shirley.
Simon: 'I'll take all of those and Lyra from His Dark Materials.'

A wonderful lead off panel for day 2 of YALC. Great authors, great questions and great insight into some more books for the reading pile. One down, five to go..........

Squad Goals: Friendship in YA  
This panel filled with a litany of female authors was centred around female friendships in YA, and why it is so important for young girls to have female friendships and not just focus on romantic relationships. They also talked about if girls and boys can be platonic friends and gave us their favourite fictional friends. So here are some of their best bits.

Holly Borne: Author of The Spinster Club Trilogy.

• Holly states 'friendship as the starring role' of her books. To think you've found the love of your life is unrealistic as a teenager, but you could find your friends for life. 
• In reaction to #squadgoals: 'Not all teenagers have these friendships.' It is 'not what everyone's life is like.'
• Lots of real life goes into her books from 'who can grow the biggest food baby?' to 'weird school trips and hating teachers.' Holly insists that there should be realistic fights, because sometimes friends do get on your nerves. 
• 'It's ridiculous to think you can't' be platonic friends with a boy. 
• Holly worries about social media and how it has changed friendships. All these selfies and comparisons. It's all very competitive. We need to 'accept each other.'
• Holly's favourite fictional friends are the Ace Gang from the Louise Rennison books, and Thelma and Louise. 
• She admits she is already in a gang/squad, that of the UKYA community. 
• From the audience Q&A we found out how Holly had been heavily trolled and abused on line after the hashtag i am a feminist. She said she has 'never blocked so many people in my life.' She also said, 'bad came out of the good' and that 'it's okay to stop and hide.' 'People can be really nasty and scary.'

Sara Barnard author of Beautiful Broken Things

• Her book is about 'friendship and love between three teen girls.' It's a 'love story without the romance.' She wanted to centre 'solely on the friendship.'
• She is still best friends with her teenage best friend. 
• She said it is hard sometimes because 'romance is expected' in YA. But she wanted to talk about the 'emotional bonds' and the history you can build up in friendships. She also talked about how you can be 'different with a new friend than an old friend.' Like you are 'trying out a different version of yourself.'
• Sara gave a resounding yes to the question of platonic friendships!
• Sara's fictional friends would be Queenie and Maddie from Code Name Verity. 
• And her gang would consist of Hermione Granger and Buffy and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  

Sarra Manning author of London Belongs to Us. 

• Her book is centred around what would normally be seen as the B character. She has a crazy best friend but it is also about the relationships she make in the one night depicted in the book and how a friendship made in ten minutes can sometimes have a lasting effect on you. 
• She loves to write female friendships as she finds them very interesting. 
• She talked about squadgoals as perhaps being competitive and that it could be a negative thing.
• She is 'pro girls', 'pro friendships' and she likes to write 'realistic fall-outs.' 
• On platonic friendships, Sarra gave a resounding yes, of course they can happen, but she also said how great it can be as 'friendship with a boy gives a different perspective.'
• Most things that happen in her books are taken or inspired by things that have happened to her. She talked of how even a bus journey can become 'a continuation of the party when you're with friends.'
• Her favourite fictional friend is Charlotte Lucas, for marrying Mr Collins. 
• Her squad or gang would include: Lesley Knope from TV's Parks and Recreation, Lizzie Bennett, and Sandra from I Caught the Castle. 

Thank you to Anna James for being the chair - two panels in a row - and for the great questions. 

From left to right: Anna James, Sarra Manning, Sara Barnard and Holly Borne. 

Teenage Soundtrack: Music in YA

It seemed only right to have Simon Mayo YA author, radio presenter and previous Top of the Pops presenter - showing my age now - to chair this panel. What a dude!

Our three authors answering the questions, Non Pratt, Chris Russell and Sophia Bennett all had music at the heart of their recent YA novels and bands in particular, fictitious bands that they wrote lyrics and songs for, and really had to create a living, breathing entity to inhabit their books. 

Non's book Remix is about a music festival, loosely based on Reading and Leeds, a festival she has attended many times herself. She talked about the idea of belonging and freedom that you can feel at a festival, and also the wonder of a moshpit, that people are looking out for you and will pick you right back up if you fall down. She also talked about the idea of being 'obsessed with the lead singer' of a band and what would happen if you in fact did get with a famous person in a band?

Sophia's novel Love Song sees the biggest band in the world coming off a three year tour and the decision to work on one more album. They hire an assistant who is not particularly interested in the music or them, but when working on the album, they are forced to get to know one another and she becomes their muse. The first half is littered with social media but the second half was purposefully set in a location with no internet, so social media couldn't play any part in it. 

Chris's debut novel, Songs About a Girl is about a pop group/boy band loosely based on One Direction, He was interested in the fact that all bands have the same experiences and arguments, whether they are a band playing in their dad's garage, or a super famous band with thousands of fans. You are still going to argue over the set list and what you should wear, and who should stand where on stage. When you 'strip away the fame' it's the same for all bands. I had to mention his collecting 'November Rain' - literally rain that fell in November, when he was obsessed with Guns n Roses. And not only that, but he kept it for years and years. He was definitely a devoted fan himself.

 From left to right: Simon Mayo, Sophia Bennett, Non Pratt, Chris Russell. 

They all talked about playlists, as that is becoming a huge thing now. What did you listen to whilst writing the book? What would you recommend we listen to whilst reading the book? What other bands/songs exist at the same time as your fictional band in the book? It's all about a shared experience, and an additional bond between author and reader. Chris Russell, is also in a band and the has been recording songs from his novel: Songs About a Girl, so they are available as tangible property to consume alongside the book. Sophia Bennett, author of Love Song has her playlist in the back of the book, so readers can experience the music that inspired the book from the author's point of view, again offering that additional connection with readers. 

Interestingly, whilst actually writing the novels, Non and Chris preferred silence. Non would start off with a mood enhancing track to get her in the zone, but would gradually turn down the volume to silence. Whereas Chris prefers utter silence and then rewards himself with music at the end of a successful writing period. Only Sophia works with music in the background but said it had to be chilled and on a loop. She mostly has two tracks by Zero 7 that she has listened to so many times they have become like white noise. 

Wow, only half way through. But there were so many interesting panels on day 2. Don't blame me, blame YALC for making it too good to resist. With only fifteen minutes between panels, there was only ever enough time to hit the toilets and return to your seat. Good job I brought a shed load of snacks, because lunch wasn't happening until at least 4pm. Good times. 

Anyhoo, on to panel number 4, To Bodly Go: YA in Space, with the delectable Malorie Blackman, who always draws a huge crowd because she's awesome! As well as Malorie, we were delighted to have James Smythe and Eugene Lambert, with questions by Emily Drabble. All three authors were introducing their current trilogies, all set in space, with Eugene as a debut author in the field. 

 From left to right: Malorie Blackman, James Smythe, Eugene Lambert and Emily Drabble. 

Malorie: Chasing Stars. A new trilogy set in space, inspired by Othello. The main character falls in love with a refugee they pick up in space, and her brother is not happy, so he poisons her mind with whispers and lies. 

James: Australia Trilogy, 1st book Way Down Dark. 2nd book Long Dark Dusk. He describes it as: 'Teen version of Ripley (from Alien) becoming Batman, on a spaceship with the crew of Mad Max.' James couldn't tell us too much without huge spoilers, but if that doesn't make you want to pick a book up, I don't know what will. (Incidentally, I had purchased Way Down Dark, the first of his Australia Trilogy, on kindle a few weeks previously, but hadn't found the time to read it yet. It was the first book I read after YALC.)

Eugene: The Sign of One is his debut novel and the first in a trilogy. It takes place on a 'dump world' in space, where twins are considered a curse. He is a twin himself.

What is sci-fi?
Malorie: Something that is 'scientifically possible or probable' in the future. It's alternate realities and multiverses.

James: 'Fine line between sci-fi and Fantasy.' 'Fantasy is beyond the possible,' whereas sci-fi sees us 'plausibly getting to that situation.'

Eugene: Eugene finds that the 'science' in sci-fi can put people off and that the term isn't always useful.

Dystopian warnings for the future?
James' dystopia revolves around climate change and social structures. He leads with the idea that 'nothing's wonderful' and that 'things are getting worse.'

Eugene talked of the practicality of dystopia, because a utopia is just not interesting. Also, you can exaggerate things within a dystopia.

Malorie's dystopia is more class based, with the 'haves and the have nots'. She talked about art and culture costing money and how not everyone can access it. Her book is set 150 years in the future.

Why Space?
Malorie originally set her Othello remake in a boarding school but found it wasn't working. When it came to her: Shakespeare in Space, she tried to fight against it, but that's where the story yearned to go, so that's where she took it.

James wanted to tackle the effects of society and violence. He set it in a dystopia in space where it was perfectly normal for everyone to go around killing people. If you take away the rules what happens?

Eugene wanted to create a claustrophobic and intense novel, and space was the 'most appropriate place for the story.' He again stripped away the laws.

High Tech?
In Eugene's world they are deprived. They are 'dump worlds' using what you might call low tech or improvised technology, the sort of 'grimy end of sci-fi.'

James said, 'as soon as I can get rid of a phone.....' He likes no technology or as little as possible, finding it gets in the way of the story.

Malorie agrees with James, that you have to be careful technology doesn't take over. Malorie's protagonist is very proficient with technology but finds herself overwhelmed by people and emotions.

Female Characters
Malorie always found it frustrating that in sci-fi film and TV the women were often 'there as eye candy.' And there was 'always a woman that would trip.'

James added that he hates the tropes used for women, that they are all so clumsy and need rescuing all the time. His main character is a girl and she has to do anything she can to survive. His main male character 'gets saved a lot.' And 'he trips.' Nice little role reversal there.

Eugene adds that his main male character is saved by Skye, a female character and she is not very sensitive about it.

Another quality panel here at YALC 2016 and lovely to see James Smythe, whose adult books I have read before, and lovely to meet a new face in YA. Plus, any excuse to listen to Malorie Blackman speak. Awesome!

Okay, I'm up to five out of six. Stick with me if you can, we're getting there.

Panel: Secrets and Lies
I won't deny my excitement at this panel, having read all four of the authors and some of them very recently. We were lucky to be joined by Chelsey Pippin from Buzzfeed, as our chair for the event, and these four wonderful authors;
Sarah Crossan: Author of One, the Weight of Water, Breathe, Apple and Rain.....
Keren David: Author of Salvage, When I was Joe and Cuckoo.
Sophie Kinsella: Author of many adult books but her first YA: Finding Audrey.
Annabel Pitcher: Author of My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, Ketchup Clouds and Silence is Goldfish.

From left to right: Chelsey Pippin, Sarah Crossan, Annabel Pitcher, Sophie Kinsella, Keren David.

They kicked off with a game of two secrets and a lie, most of which the audience guessed wrong, and then we were straight into a discussion on why secrets are so important in their books.

Sophie told us it is part of the storytelling. When you're dealing with families or protagonists with problems then there are bound to be secrets kept. There is often an element of shame involved too. Her protagonist suffers from anxiety and is scared to leave the house, but Finding Audrey deals with more than just Audrey's secrets.

Annabel said it is reflective of how we all feel and that we all have something we keep hidden. It's about finding that character's truth.

Keren told us about her latest book Cuckoo and how everyone within the story knows the secret, but she wanted to keep it from the reader as long as possible.

Sarah's book, One, is about conjoined twins, but it is not only secrets kept from each other, but also the wider family secrets that infuse this book.

Some YA books completely get rid of the parents and wider family, but in all these books, family, especially parents played a huge part in the secret keeping and the lies. Annabel's father character is hiding a huge secret in that he's ashamed that he doesn't love his daughter. He is not her real dad, her dad was a sperm donor. In Sophie's novel the dad acts as a comic relief. Yes he has secrets and yes he lies, but he also spends a lot of time looking at Alfa Romeo's on the internet. Keren's book deals with parents and adults falling far short of perfect. It deals with extremes of emotions and her adult characters are often unpleasant and unsympathetic. Sarah's father character is an alcoholic and she admits he 'could have been a villain', but he is still functioning as a father and human being. There is a lot of denial and dysfunction within the family.

Mental Health, Shame and Social Media
Sophie spoke of a phone being 'a toxic portal' and this 'inability to switch off' having detrimental effects to teenagers and their mental health. She is often 'saddened by attitudes' towards mental health on social media.

Keren talked about image and how there is somehow this image of perfection created, that people are striving towards. But it doesn't exist.

Annabel said the biggest problem is pretending and covering things up. It's a case of 'how you feel you should be instead of how you actually are.' A lot of social media is for show. 'It's not real life.'

Sarah, Annabel and Sophie all admitted to being secretive writers, not wanting to share their work with editors, friends or agents, until it is as close to perfect as they can manage. Though Annabel also told us of how hard it is to let go of that need for perfection when editing. Only Keren admitted to needing lots of attention when writing, and needing lots of praise and encouragement from people. Thank you to our secretive authors for their time and insight.

Yes, it's the final panel I attended on day 2. It's the Horror Inspirations panel. I really will try to keep it brief. I want this finished as much as you do. David O'Callaghan returned from Day 1 of YALC to chair this gruelling group of fiendish authors and steer us towards their horror favourites. From their group worship of Stephen King, to their love of 80's horror and James Herbert, this was essentially five horror lovers telling us why horror is awesome! Not a bad panel to finish on.

We were joined by Dawn Kurtagich, Derek Landy, Alex Scarrow and Darren Shan. And here are some of their best bits:

Dawn:

• 'I'm addicted to scaring myself.'
• Dawn favours psychological torture in her books. 'I like to watch them destroy themselves.'
• Dawn's favourite Stephen King novel is IT. The idea of all those adults turning a blind eye to those kids and what they were going through was the main terror. 
• Her favourite horror films include Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness.
• If she had to write in another genre she would write dark fantasy and would tackle it in the same way.  

Derek:

• 'I like blood. I like it on the page.' I like to 'torture the readership.'
• First Stephen King book was Firestarter. 
• He was 'raised on horror and fantasy.' He says 'more authors are writing it' which has seen this resurgence of the horror genre. 
• He highly recommended the writing of James Herbert, especially the Rats books, to scare the bejeezers out of you. 
• He loves the film work of Sam Raimi, especially Evil Dead and Army of Darkness.
• If he had to write any other genre, he would write crime.

Alex:

• Writing horror gives him - and hopefully his readers - an 'adrenaline kick'
• He would like to 'dissolve people'. 
• Alex went from reading Tin Tin, straight to Stephen King's Carrie. 
• The book Devils of D-Day scared the crap out of him. It's World War 2 won by zombies. 
• Alex loves the classic 50's horrors like The Thing and Forbidden Planets.
• Alex prefers to write his horror in third person, giving him a broader canvas and 'a way into their thinking voice.'
• Alex would write sci-fi or adult books if he had to move away from horror, but his style would remain the same. 

Darren:

• Horror is his default setting. 
• He loves the simplest deaths the most. 
• The first Stephen King book he read was Salem's Lot, after watching the TV show in the 70's. 
• Horror is back due to ease of accessibility and also all the authors and creators that were brought up on that earlier horror are now the creators and are continuing that love of the genre for the next generation. 
• Darren too saluted James Herbert's Rats books as the scariest stuff to read, and also gives a nod to Clive Barker and his 'well written extremism.'
• Darren prefers to write in first person, giving his writing an 'immediacy' and very personal nature.  
• Darren would write sci-fi or fantasy, or do a mix of genres if he had to move away from horror. His approach would be the same, it would just involve a change in the manipulation of words. 

From left to right: David O'Calloghan, Dawn Kurtagich, Derek Landy, Alex Scarrow, Darren Shan. 

Thank you YALC Day 2 and good night. 

Wow, that was epic. I hope it wasn't too verbose and that you had water and a snack handy. I don't need any of you passing out now. Well, only one more YALC blog to go, and don't worry I only attended four events on the final day, so it shouldn't be a repeat of this monster. Anyhoo, if you missed any of YALC or any of these panels, I hope I've given you a decent insight into the authors and their books and the issues they were trying to get out there. If your reading pile hasn't significantly shot up in volume I'd be surprised. There were a great mix of subjects covered on day 2 and I was able to listen to and see in the flesh, many authors I hadn't seen before. I did have a quick wander in LFCC and saw quite a few celebs. Several Lost characters were there. The usual cohort of Game of Thrones characters primary and secondary were there, and a personal favourite of mine: Michelle Gomez AKA Sue from The Green Wing. 'A Handbag!'

LFCC fun. 

Thanks for reading as always. You really are dedicated if you made it all the way through this beast. YALC Day 3 to follow shortly.

Ciao for now. 

Rants.