Titles After Titles...

Novels, short stories, essays, jokes, little paragraphs.... Every reader will enjoy them... I know I love to read either it's a novel, a textbook, or a short story, an article, a magazine, I will read it if I'm interested.

Sadly, oddly enough, I ain't one to read many American writers. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of amazing writers, but I can't seem to enter their world. The writing is rather different from an Australian, British or German writer. Now, I'm still in love with novels, I can't stay away from them, no matter what will be in my way. But we also have an American writer who came to me via a friend of mine after they let me borrow a book.

Obviously, I can't buy every book I'd like to, I would need an entire room just to store them, show them off like a little library... But for now, I make lists, and buy a few! I wanted to share the latest 10 books with one review...

I. Me and You by Niccolò Ammaniti, an Italian author. "It's a beautiful book, a perfect tale. Painful and moving. Surprising, even for a writer of such a pure and inimitable talent, a sort of island without archipelago in the panorama of Italian fiction."- L'Unità (Italy). Ammaniti was born in Rome where he still lives. One of his novels was listed for The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. 

II. The First Book of Calamity Leek by Paula Lichtarowicz. "A mash-up of Margaret Atwood and Roald Dahl" - Lady Magazine (UK). Lichtarowicz was born in Cheshire and studied English literature at Durham University. When she isn't writing, she makes television documentaries. 

III. 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough. "Mean Girls for the Instagram age." - The Times. Pinborough was born in the United Kingdom, she is an award-winning YA and adult thriller, fantasy and cross-genre novelist and screenwriter.

IV. The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe. " Gripping"- Somerset Life. She is the daughter of a London publisher and has been surrounded by books all her life. Her early published work included ten romantic novels, several short stories for magazines and radio. 

V. The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley, an Irish writer. "Full of family secrets, exotic flowers, tragedy, and redemption... A sweeping, poignant saga that will enthrall fans of  The House at Riverton, Rebecca and Downtown Abbey."- Shelf Awareness. 

VI. Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher, an amazing British author. "A gorgeous, gloriously romantic read with buckets of charm." - Jill Mansell. An incredible woman who I come to inspire a lot through her writing, her vlogs, and her husband, Tom Fletcher. 

VII. The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien. "One of Edna O'Brien's best and most ambitious novels yet. The Little Red Chairs is personal and political; charming and grotesque; a novel of manners and a novel of monsters."- Maureen Corrigan, National Public Radio. Edna was born and raised in the west of Ireland but has lived in London for many years. 

VIII. The Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. "Poignant and hilarious, threaded with compassion and, behind everything, the cataract of a thundering moral statement." - The Boston Globe. Vonnegut is a master of contemporary American literature. He has quite a dark humor and unbelievable imagination which makes me love his writing. 

IX. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. "A free-wheeling vehicle... An unforgettable ride!"- The New York Time. 

X. The Sirens of Titans by Kurt Vonnegut. " His best book... He dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life but to answer it."-  Esquire.

I have to go through them all, but I'm still waiting for a few other novels that are suppose to be arriving soon enough... Can't wait to be able to read them!  
Books are a way of escaping life, real life, to go on adventures, make you travel to insane places while being in bed under warm covers and a cup of tea on your bedside. So when I receive a book, I just imagine myself going into another world, another place. 

"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."- J.K.Rowling

PS: Sorry about last Friday's post, I couldn't get one online, I had to go to work and do other things right when I woke up. To be honest, I kind of forgot about it before leaving to work. 

~Bella

Where's the little voice?

As you may know, I'm a writer, and I'm currently working on a novel... It's been two years, and writer's block as comes multiple times, showing unexpectedly, turning my life into a real nightmare. 

Writer's block usually happens when you have a fear of something, afraid to put down ideas, to see a critic afterwards. Being a perfectionist! If you are a perfectionist, you will struggle, wanting to always have the right word, the right phrase, and if you don't even write, you have to get your ideas straight in your head, you'll never be writing a thing. Timing is a big issue, you may be in front of your computer or page and nothing comes to mind because it's just not the right time. Your ideas may come not yet, though, it sometimes takes a little more time to get your ideas straight! 

Writers tend to have a little voice, an imaginary friend they talk to. I've heard myself talk to myself, not conversations, but like "Oh I shouldn't put that up there, should I?" 
When we say we got writer's block, we are mostly talking about our imaginary friend who isn't talking to us... Everyone of us, writers, have to struggle with it, and don't pretend like you haven't had to deal with it! 

A year ago, I bought a little book about writer's block, and I recently looked back into it and discovered that it actually helps a little. So, I wanted to share a few notes from my tiny book with you, and maybe help with writer's block! 

They aren't phrases, tips, or anything like that... It varies into 3 categories :
1. Writing Challenges: short assignments to get you writing as quickly as possible, no more than a minute or two. It helps you think as you write. 
2. Spark Words: A word with a photograph! Carries different meanings for different people. It wants you to create a scenario or a scene about the word and the picture. 
3. Writing Topics: From choosing a title and selecting an opening line to cope with negative criticism, these topics feature advice and exercises from legendary and contemporary writers. Just write!

So let's start now:

Imagine that you could wake up tomorrow in someone else's body. Whose would it be? How would your life change? What are some of the first things you'd do? (writing topic)

Flirting (spark word)

Begin in the Middle
Good stories hit the ground running--- and you can accomplish this by "beginning in the middle." Consider the first sentence of Raymond Carver's "Elephant": " I knew it was a mistake to let my brother have the money." Or the opening line of Mario Puzo's The Godfather: "Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number three and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her." ... Write your own opening line that begins in the middle. Establish characters, situations,and conflicts with a few choice words. Then drop your readers right smack in the center.  (writing challenge)

Discipline (spark word)

Write about your earliest childhood memory. (writing topic)

I got to do a few little challenges on there, but then I tend to want more than just one little piece. I want to write a book about it. That becomes my issue, but it helps you write about something. So instead of staring at a blank page, trying to get your imaginary friend back without trying to write something... Isn't going to help you at all. 


" All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line. That's why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone." - Erica Jong (Authors Publish)

~Bella