A (late) January Round-up

Well, January has been and gone! Who can believe it?

This post is a little late *cough*, considering it's already a few days in February, but I thought I would get this up anyway.

January was the month of many exciting book releases. Some of the best books that I read this month include:

1. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
2. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
3. Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders (this wasn't new this month, but it was to me, and incidentally, this book won the Costa Children's Book of the Year prize!).

Plus, these books got released at the end of the month, so they can be included in this post:

1. Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens (adored, but technically I read it in February....)
2. All Fall Down by Ally Carter (ditto)
3. The Sin-Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
4. I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Writing wise, I have been busy, and my star chart (which has gone amazingly well for the first month is very busy and full. I managed to rewrite and add lots of new chapters to my MG story, Nowhere House, plus I continued to edit my YA, Sweet Little Lies. And, I managed to do some other writing while I was away, which was great and very freeing! So a good writing and editing month on the whole. A good start to the year!

And now onto a new month (since I took this picture it has already begun to fill up, I promise):

January saw a trip to Fowey, which was amazing and I had the best time. I'd never been in January, but I loved it. See some pictures here. Plus, I graduated.

I also joined the gym, so you know, that's good as well. It's certainly been a busy - and good - month. 
This month, I'll get up the end of the month post a little sooner.... Have a good February everyone!

January blues and 'Potter' ramblings

I was going to write a post about how terrible it is that I haven't written a post yet this year (how has that happened? I don't know, I'm sorry) and what has happened this year and how low I'm feeling at the moment (January blues), but instead, I've become lost in a YouTube vortex of JK Rowling videos.

It happened because I re watched Deathly Hallows P2 the other night (having watched some of the others over the last few weeks) and that one more than any others brought up a web of emotions and just nostalgia and disbelief at how wonderful those stories are, and how important they are, and the power of the story and the message of love, and all that. And just how intricately plotted they are. How important they are to so many people, me included.

Watching all these videos of Jo makes me remember just how much I look up to her and how much of a hero she is to me.

Of course there's that tiny bit of me that is sad that I will never write something as popular or wonderful as Harry Potter, but then I have to step back and just be happy about what I write, because I do love what I write. Anyway, that's beside the point.

Thinking back to that kid who found the first two Harry Potter books in her stocking one Christmas and didn't expect her life to be changed in such a big way by the book series, it's mad. I just did not know at all how huge this would all be for me and how it would change my life and my world, in the best way possible. I'm sure I've talked about this before, and just how important the books and characters have been in my life. But still, some things struck me (again). Mostly that Harry Potter is a series about LOVE. Most importantly, a mother's love for her child, and this is evident throughout the whole series. ALL OF IT.

That is the main plot line, the main feeling running through the WHOLE STORY. A mother’s love. Harry potter is about how much Lily loved Harry. How that love is unbreakable, never goes away, no matter what. She wasn’t alive for the whole of the series, yet her love had the greatest impact on the whole story. She was always protecting him from afar.

I know this is nothing new, but I just love it.

So many feels and emotions from that last film. 

In other news, January is nearly at an end (how?) and the January blues have got to me. Sigh. Today seems a bit brighter though, a bit better. Maybe helped by a good night's sleep and the fact that it's now light until about 5. Yay!

Writing wise, am plodding on as usual - switching between far too many projects and wanting to work on so many different things. Is good at times, but then I find myself just switching between things and actually getting nothing done at all, which is not so good. But am cracking on, and also focusing on Treading Water, and getting that maybe ready to query in the near future. Maybe.