YA Writer, Tech Support Girl & Tea Addict

Book: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Genre: Fiction/Young Adult/Childrens/Paranormal/Horror

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

If you’ve ever read Gaiman’s “American Gods” (and you should) you’ll have an idea of what to expect here. Neil Gaiman is a goldmine of mythology and history, and his knowledge leaks into the pages. Everything is infused with accuracy and research, everything is referencing old gods and famous moments in history. They call it a kids book, but as an adult reader you can get so much more out of all his subtle little nods to history.

The story starts out with each chapter being a self-contained ‘snippet’ from the main character Nobody’s life in the graveyard, following him as he grows up and makes friends with witches, steps through portals into other worlds, and deals with a teacher who might not be all that she seems.  Towards the end of the story, all the individual sections start to come together as the man named Jack picks up Nobody’s trail once again…

Neil has a real gift with characters. The Graveyard residents are made memorable with only a few lines of text, and they’re all so likeable. I didn’t even realise how attached I was to these characters, until 2am on Christmas Day rolled around and I was still reading, still desperate to know what happened next and what these poor characters were going to have to go through.

This is a great fantasy novel – an easy, fast-paced read with a lot of depth and appeal to all ages.

Book: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Genre: Fiction/Young Adult/Contemporary/Romance

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means) Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly, to her interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

“The Fault In Our Stars” released at the end of December in the UK to a bit of a kerfuffle – all pre-orders were supposed to be signed, but Amazon UK ignored the large number of pre-orders received and left it until the last minute to order all their required copies. As a result, instead of receiving the pre-signed copies, they received and sent out a rushed print to cover their requested numbers.

For the thousands of fans waiting for a signed copy, who received a blank one, this was disappointing stuff. I received an unsigned one and ended up buying a signed replacement from The Book Depository, who happily kept customers up to date on their inventory of signed stock. They really showed Amazon how good customer service should be done.

But all this kerfuffle didn’t stop me reading and enjoying the book. It’s a curious mix – a light, comedic story about a serious situation. One of the cover quotes mentions it jumping from comedy to tragedy, which is a fair description – it does it seamlessly, though, moving from light to dark beautifully.

If you’re not a fan of ‘cancer books’, don’t be turned off – while cancer is a big focus, it’s all kept at light-hearted as possible, and John Green’s signature style makes it all feel so real and so important. The kids are wise and funny, and I think that’s part of the reason his books are so popular. He doesn’t talk down to kids, instead, his kids talk ‘up’ – they say and think the things we wish we could put into words.

Looking for Alaska is still my favourite of John Green’s books, and it’s the one I would recommend to new readers – but if you’ve ever read his stuff, The Fault in Our Stars will not let you down. Set some time aside to read it — you can go through it in an evening if you have the time, but god forbid anyone interrupts you, it knocks you straight out of the story and makes it difficult to get back into it. The characters will stay with you, and it’ll keep tugging at your heart-strings long after you’ve closed the book.

Book: Write a Great Synopsis by Nicola Morgan

Genre: Non-Fiction/Writing Advice

Most writers hate writing synopses. They need dread them no more. In Write a Great Synopsis – An Expert Guide, Nicola Morgan takes the stress out of the subject and applies calm, systematic guidance, with her renowned no-nonsense approach and laconic style.

Write a Great Synopsis covers: the function of a synopsis, the differences between outlines and synopses, dealing with requirements for different agents and publishers, finding the heart of your book, how to tackle non-linear plots, multiples themes, sub-plots and long novels, and it answers all the questions and confusions that writers have. Nicola also introduces readers to her patent Crappy Memory Tool, explains the art of crafting a 25-word pitch, and demonstrates with real examples. Gold-dust for writers at all stages.

I’ve been waiting on tip-toes for this book to be released – synopses are tricky stuff to write, and it’s always nice to get an expert’s tips on them. While the UK publishing industry is a little more friendly than the US industry there’s a lot less information available online about it. We’ve got The Writer & Artist’s Yearbook, Carole Blake’s From Pitch to Publication, and now there’s Nicola Morgan with Write A Great Synopsis and her more general industry advice book Write to be Published. The best part about it – WAGS is only £1 in January! You can buy in here from Amazon UK.

Nicola’s book is a short and snappy read that covers all the bases – the only thing I would have liked is a more formulaic method, which tends to work best for me (Susan Dennard’s method worked a charm for me recently). Nicola’s recommendations don’t rely on a formula or a section break down, but this this allows her methods to work for a much wider range of stories. Her tips work brilliantly for both your run-of-the-mill 3 Act stories and for non-fiction and fiction that doesn’t follow a standard structure. She even includes some particularly useful advise for books that jump around, include flashbacks, or have multiple endings.

This is a succinct and brilliant book, and I recommend it for any writers (UK, US or otherwise) who’re tearing their hair out getting that synopsis written.

Just watched the latest Panic! At the Disco video, and I’m quite impressed by how they’ve kept the strong visual style of “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” while giving it a Steampunk update. The video has a nice suspenseful edge while the viewer figures out what in the world is going on, and the track used is excellent. All in all, this is a nice way to come back from a musical break (and a major line-up change) without alienating old fans – and I’ll be checking out their new album. I’ve embedded the video below:

(Top image is from My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days album.)