In May this blog went on hiatus. Between exams and travelling it wasn't feasible for me to keep it up, so I decided I'd take a short break and restart in August. A good plan. Nothing wrong with taking a break when needed. Except it almost wasn't so much a break as a break-up. What... Continue Reading →
The stereotypes of teenagers are often unfair, portraying us as noisy, rude and rebellious. Although I'm usually quiet, polite and the closest to rebellion I come is dying my hair, there is one way I match the profile perfectly - I love to sleep. With this in mind, I was sceptical when a friend suggested... Continue Reading →
I love complaining about it. I love reading about it. I love hearing about others do it but most of all, I love doing it myself. If you can't tell, I'm talking about writing. It's more than just a hobby for me - it's a major part of my life and my identity. I practice... Continue Reading →
When I was younger, up to about age fifteen, I devoured books indiscriminately. It didn't matter what they were - as long as they were in reach, I'd pick them up for a quick nose and come to my senses about three hours later with the book finished, or when someone forcibly pried it off... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, the rules are there to protect us. In the case of the law, it's to protect us from harm. In the case of the writing 'rules,' it's to protect us from terrible books. Some rules, like the use of correct grammar, are helpful throughout your whole life. Others, however, are actively harmful to your... Continue Reading →
Sometime during February, I found out about Pitchapalooza. If you're not familiar with this event it's loosely associated with NaNoWriMo and the idea is you send in your 250-word pitch to the Book Doctors, who are professional book advisers. Twenty are randomly selected and critiqued in a live video before the winner is announced. That winner is... Continue Reading →
The past few days I've heard quite a bit about Vero. It's the best thing ever - it's the worst thing ever - it's saving creators from the mercy of the algorithm - it's stealing creator's works and dooming us all. Honestly, I don't know what is true. I had a little look and it... Continue Reading →
Remember my Teen Author Talks? Course you do, you read every one. Anyway, great news. I'm looking to get them back up and running over the next few weeks, in the slightly different format of an instalment every week, as I mentioned in Taylor Bennet's interview a little while ago. I already had a waiting... Continue Reading →
A smash-hit bestseller appears a freak event, impossible to predict, yet in their daring book The Bestseller Code, Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers argue that there is, in fact, a winning formula. All you need is a highly sophisticated algorithm trained on bestseller for years. It's a fantastic book and fascinating to read whether you... Continue Reading →
No blog post today, I'm afraid, but for good reason! I have exciting news to share with everyone about an upcoming series on this blog. It'll be called, as you have probably guessed from the title, Teen Author Talks and from that you can basically work out everything you need to know. I've found seven brilliant teenaged... Continue Reading →
Mary Conway 