Writing Competitions

In an attempt to make myself write more regularly I have made a list of writing competitions that I want to try and enter. I have marked them in my diary and try to work towards those dates. In reality, I have only managed to get a piece of writing finished and ready for one submission but at least I am putting the time in to do some research and some getting some writing done.

I am attending the Chipping Norton Literary Festival this weekend (as long as hubby is still OK with looking after our daughter for the majority of the weekend! eek!), so hoping this will inspire me to do more.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant

This book was suggested by one of the members of my book club and the rest of us were a bit worried that it might be "overly religious" (only worried about this as the last few choices had been fairly heavy themselves), especially having seen its cover and the fact that Dinah, is mentioned in the Bible. In actuality, it wasn't all that religious. It tells Dinah's story, starting first with the story of her "mother's" and generally portraying women's lives during that time. The story itself was mostly fine but I just found that it dragged on a bit and with the constant portrayal of women's daily lives, I just got bored. Until, finally a major event happens (not going to mention it) but sprung out of nowhere and is over and done with so quickly that I actually did a double take and had to re-read the passage, thinking it might have been a dream sequence. It wasn't. It happened. And yet, not much time was devoted to it. In my opinion. Normality was resumed as the story dropped back to its particularly slow pace, which I continued to struggle to get to the end of. But I did, in the end, get to the end. I was somewhat relieved that the reading was over. Sorry. Truthfully, I don't think historical fiction is really for me, which probably doesn't help this review.

BOOK REVIEW: "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of sausages" by Tom Holt

Yet another new author to me. From the title on its own, I knew that this was going to be an interesting read and I found the story reassuringly intriguing and funny as it bumbled along. Having worked in plot sales myself in the past, I nodded along to the mundanity of some of the tasks described that the lawyers had to undertake. Cleverly written lines such as "Ms Briggs looked at her as if she was the ground, and Ms Brigg's parachute had somehow failed to open." kept me going. For a breath of fresh air and randomness, this is a perfect choice.

Our next read for our book club is: "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant

BOOK REVIEW: Book Club Choice: Maggie O'Farrell's "The vanishing act of Esme Lennox"

This is yet another author that I have not read before and it is probably not the sort of book I would normally go for, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found it well written and easy to read and enjoyed the story set within two different generations and times. From beginning to end I was drawn into Esme's story, and as I uncovered more and more of what happened to her and the reasons why she ended up where she did, I just wanted things to be righted for her...I'll let other readers be the judge as to whether it was...

BOOK REVIEW - Susan Hill's "In the Springtime of the year"

It took me a while to get into the story as I felt that Ruth was too two-dimensional. She didn't really do much or think much. It felt rather bland for a number of chapters. As if she was the boring character surrounded by far more interesting ones, until, at last, the last few chapters she shows a bit of herself, a bit of life, a bit of interest. It may have been her youth or closed-up-life-to-date, but I don't think it was solely the theme, death, which made her character so gloomy. Ruth needed Ben's death in order to get a life of her own, even if that life means supporting other people's. The action in the last few chapters almost made up for the pages and pages of reiteration, which may have been needed in order to get to a satisfactory ending. You close the book and feel as if there are no loose ties, it fits and it was worth the read in the end. But, if I had not been reading it for book club, I may have put it on hold, until had finished other books I'm keen to delve into, even if I did choose it.

BOOK REVIEW: Deborah Levy's "Swimming Home"

This is a new blog for me to encourage myself to write and read more - when I'm not looking after my 1 year old or trying to build two separate businesses and looking after the house and hubby! When @mummyratesit asked on Twitter if anyone would like to take part in reviewing this years' books shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize I replied before even thinking it through. I barely had time to read the books selected by the book group I had just started up or the books that are gathering dust, desperately wanting to be read, let alone an extra book, with a deadline. But I wanted to take part and so I made my selected book my priority for the week away we had at the end of September. As it turned out I didn't need the whole week as I finished the book within two days! Two days! Two days with a few disruptions. I haven't read a book so quickly in a long time, which shows how much I enjoyed it.

The other reviewers and shortlisted books are:


http://themcleanhalladventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/booker-prize-results-link-up.html reviewed "Bringing up the Bodies

http://yummymummytraining.blogspot.co.uk/ reviewed "The Lighthouse"

http://mummyisagadgetgeek.co.uk/ reviewed "The Garden of Evening Mists"

http://circusqueen.co.uk/ reviewed "Narcopolis"

http://morewomeninskepticism.wordpress.com/ reviewed "Umbrella"

It has been a while since I prepared a book review so please bear with me.

"Swimming Home" is set in the South of France as a family spend their holiday there with friends. However, their villa, and their holiday, is hijacked by a young woman (Kitty Finch) who, in time, has an effect on all of them. It shows some of the conflicts that arise in the characters' marriages, relationship between the parents and their daughter, and relationships between friends, whilst also dipping toes into the issue of depression.

I found some sections were rather dreamlike and I was not entirely sure if what I was reading was actually taking place or not. The erratic thinking of Kitty Finch, which makes total sense to her, but not necessarily to those around her shows a glimpse of how depression can take hold of some people, whether or not they are taking pills.

Having a relative who has suffered from depression I found this particular segment very true to life:

'Why do you take pills?'
'Oh, I've decided not to for a while. You know...it's quite a relief to feel miserable again. I don't feel anything when I take my pills.'

Pills can numb people's senses and this is reflected well in this book with both Kitty and Joe. It also begins to explain Kitty's sudden explosions of intense interest on doing certain things, having been numb for so long.

Another segment which made me both wince and smile was:

'I can't stand the depressed. It's like a job, it's the only thing they work hard at...'

Depression has such a negative perception (clearly) and people often mistake it for laziness or selfishness. And yet, those who do suffer from depression tend to be neither of these things when they are well.

"Swimming Home" is one of the few reads that I know I want to, and will, read again. As soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again. And that is pretty rare for me. I have been wanting to find an author that I want, really want, to read more from. And not because it has been recommended or because everybody else seems to be reading them, but because I enjoy the writing.

Levy uses concise wording with simple description, which when made aware to the reader are all to obvious, but we needed to be shown them through her words. Even with two of the main characters suffering from different forms of depression, one is more gregarious than the other, I still felt both lightened and enlightened by this story's end.

On the surface, an otherwise safe family and friendship group, until a stranger floats right into the middle of their pool, holiday and lives.

All items mentioned, words uttered, scenes set, have meaning. Deeper meaning than you first think.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Levy is a writer who makes you want to read better books (and for those of us aspiring authors, want to write better books too).

Laura

And another...:

Laura was standing by the window, waiting for the postman to arrive. The results would be arriving today. She hadn't wanted to collect them from school with everyone else staring. Expecting. The knot in her stomach was tightening. She took a deep breath, almost choking on the scent of her mother's daffodils, proudly displayed in a glass vase on the window sill. Cut in their prime. 'Will I be?' Laura thought to herself.

The results would affect the rest of her life. Which university she would go to, the people she would meet, the experiences she would have.

Her mobile went off. She ignored the call from her mother who was possibly more anxious than she was now.

Laura looked up to see the postman stepping towards their front door. This man. This stranger held the answer to the rest of her life.