Never Say Never

All throughout my secondary education, when the dreaded question of, "so, what are you going to do when you leave school?" popped up I was never 100% confident in my answer. For a while I wanted to be an advertising copywriter, long before Mad Men graced our TV screens. Then I looked into Science careers, and doggedly stuck to wanting to be a Haematologist for a number of years. But the thing I was most confident in, were these two statements:

"I am never going to be a teacher" and "I am never going to leave Ireland"

For those of you who know me, you'll have smiled by now. For those of you who might be new; Hi, I'm Sarah and I'm a Biology teacher living in England.

Life has this funny way of turning everything you think you know about yourself upside down because I was so sure that I would never do either of those things. The second statement even led to my breaking up with a boyfriend (I say 'a' boyfriend like there are multiples. One and only to date. Insert: forever alone meme) who went off to University in Bath, keen to get away from Ireland at the first opportunity.

If nothing else it's taught me something really important and that is, to never say never. If the internet is to be believed (after sorting through a frankly worrying number of references to that Canadian atrocity, Justin Beiber) then Charles Dickens was the first person to actually coin this phrase. And he was right. To completely rule something out of your life, especially when you haven't tried it, closes so many doors. I love teaching, and I love living in England. In fact, after my first week working at my school I cried with happiness on the way home because I finally felt as though something in my life was going right after a rather stressful few years at Uni. Although content, it would have been quite a stretch to say that I was 'happy' while at University. I also have found a lovely set of friends, an old internet friend and some of their extended circle, and have been more social than I can remember in a long time.

But it's important for me to note that I wouldn't go back and change anything. It's taken me a while to abandon those two statements since they were embedded into me so deeply. If I hadn't come around to giving up on them organically I wouldn't be the person I am today.

So my point is that when it comes to reading and writing, never say never.
"I'll never write middle grade" I could write the next big thing in Middle grade and never know it if I didn't give it a shot.
"I'll never read Urban Fantasy" There's so much to learn about writing when you read outside the genres that you're comfortable in.

What about you? Is there something that you said, once upon a time, that you'd never do but have done so since?

Sarah x

My life revolves around notebooks.

One of the most important things that I was told on my first teaching practise was to keep everything that you've got to do in a notebook. The temptation in teaching is to scrawl to-do things onto post-it notes and chuck them into the bin when you've done them. Don't do that.

Why? Because once that post-it is gone it's really easy to forget all the work that you put into getting those things done. If you keep everything in a notebook then you can record how far you've come through your to-do. I've taken that advice very to heart. Almost too much.

I've always liked notebooks. Not so much writing in them but just owning them. However, I've really got into using them for different things. So here is a little window into all my little notebooks and what I use them for.

Blog notebook

I got this a while ago in a sale. It's got a cute pug and a slogan that made me giggle. I write down ideas about blogs that I'm planning on writing. In fact I'm writing this blog in the notebook right now (Blogception...). Hopefully the notebook will help me keep up with posting.


Teaching notebook

Self explanatory really. This is where I keep all the things I need to do for school. I'm not always good as using it as I should but it's definitely been helpful!

WIP Character notebook

This is a recent addition to my notebooks pile. I started it when I was working out dome ideas for my WIP. Usually I just bomb straight into writing. Perhaps now that I've got my character notebook with some extra bits and pieces about all the main characters and the main plot, then I might be able to make it past 15,000 (which is where I usually get really stuck!) I've got pictures of actors that are inspiration for the characters, some family tree stuff, a rough plot and a few other bits and pieces knocking around.

Writing book

I'm currently going through a phase where I can't actually write at the computer. My fingers freeze up and there is nothing translating from my brain to the screen. So I've taken to writing long hand. I have this big beauty to help me with that. Hopefully she'll help mend the broken bridges between my brain and my keyboard.

Journal

One of my things on my New Year's To-Do list was to start keeping a journal. For a writer, I find that I've stopped writing quite so much. So I've the idea that if I don't write down anything fictional or blog related that day that I, instead, will turn to my journal and fill in a paragraph about my day.

Empty notebooks

As I said near the start, I just like having notebooks. I have a range of empty ones that I've collected or been given that are just waiting to be filled with ideas!

Do you use many notebooks in your life? What are your favourites?

Sarah x

IWSG - "I can't do it."

If any of you are parents, I'm sure you've heard this phrase numerous times, possibly even several times today. "I can't do it."

I was an awful one for this as a child. I can't climb the monkey bars, I can't do my homework, I can't phone my gran to thank her for the present because phone calls absolutely terrify me.

You get the picture.

Now the phrase that haunts me is "I can't finish a draft." The last time I actually finished a piece of writing was 2011 and it was a Fanfiction. So, my track record is woefully lacking in finished works. My limit is about 15-20,000 words, and then things just seem to fall apart. My fingers wont work on the keyboard, the well of plot just seems to run dry and every word feels like I'm wading through treacle. At that point I give up, because if it's that hard to write then it must read like absolute torture.

However, not too long ago I was uttering the phrase "I can't do it," with regard to teaching. Before most classes on my training year I would begin to panic. My heart would hammer and my stomach would perform some intricate origami before the 30 or so kids would pour into the room enquiring as to whether or not we would be setting things on fire today.

But that's now my job. 8-4, Monday to Friday I teach 11-15 year olds Science. And I'm not naturally boastful but I'm kind of alright at it. And I can't remember a time when I laughed so much. It's not an art that I have perfected, I'm not the most inventive or creative of teachers. There are still the kids and the classes that I'd rather not teach but I don't think I can apply the phrase "I can't do it" to teaching anymore.

Perhaps with a more perseverance and the addition of a "Don't break the chain" poster this may be the year that I finish a WIP. It's on my 2015 to-do list, so I hope that it works.

Have you conquered your I can't's?

Sarah x

Top 5 books I read in 2014

I'm doing these posts a little retroactively but it's still January so meh.

Again, no particular order. No. 1 wasn't my favourite, they're all equal top.

1. The Lies Of Locke Lamora 


Oh my goodness was this book fun. I got the audio book version because I find with Fantasy it's easier to have someone else butcher the place names and character names. The characters that Scott Lynch has created leap out at you and grab you. I vividly remember starting listening to this book while out on a walk in the forest and laughing out loud, then having to check that I didn't just look deranged to any fellow walkers.

The humour is it's main attraction but boy can this guy tell a good story. Heartbreaking at times, you'll know what I mean if you've read it yourself.








2. Saga

2014 became the year that I decided to read more graphic novels. The Saga series had popped up around the blog world and I decided it would be where I started my graphic novel journey. I'm so glad that I did. I can vividly remember burying my nose in this on the way home from a trip into London on the train and having it completely devoured by the time the train pulled into my station.

The world(s) that have been created here are so vivid and amazing, thrown together with a Romeo and Juliet-esq plot that completely doesn't ever go where you think it's going to go. There are also some completely infuriating twists and cliff-hangers thrown in.










3. Where She Went 

I can't vividly remember why I loved this book so much. The characters perhaps, or the emotions that I felt but I do remember reading it in one sitting and clutching onto it for some time after. I cried, I laughed. This and If I Stay are quite an amazing duology and I'm so glad that I picked them both up.














4. Fangirl

There are so many reasons why this book was amazing. First, Fanfiction has been such a big part of my life. It's where I started writing, and I've even gotten life long friends and such a whack of confidence out of it. I would dread to think where I'd be if I'd never written any Fanfiction. Secondly, this book really hits home because I also felt like a fish out of water at College (University here). I barely left my room and was almost afraid to have fun. Why? I've no idea.

The plot points, Cath and her mother, her relationship with Wren and the romance with Levi are also so wonderfully told.









5. Daughter Of Smoke and Bone

This book, although I struggled with names, paints such a vivid picture. The descriptions in this book are glorious and leap off the page. The 'romance' is neither here nor there for me, but it was such a captivating read that I'm going to gloss over it. I will get around to the next part sometime this year.















What were your favourite books of 2014?

Sarah x

My 2015 To-Do List

I've never much held with the 'Resolutions' because if you're going to change your life, diet, eat healthier, spend more time with friends, then you can up and choose to do that at any time, you don't need the new year to do it!

Having said that, there are some things that I'd like to achieve in the new year. So instead of a 'Resolutions' list, I'm putting up a "To-do" list.

1. Start a jar of positives

I was at a friends house for New Years and everyone gathered around to read out what his mum called her 'Blessings Box', a collection of little slips of paper she'd written whenever she felt blessed. It was a wonderful experience and I've set my mind to doing something similar. I have the unfortunate personality trait of 'glass half empty' so it will be nice to have something to actively take note of the positives!

2. Finish a WIP

I've never finished an original story and I'm hoping upon hope that 2015 is the year that I do it.

3. Get a new camera and get some of my photographs printed out and hung up.

After purchasing a new computer for Christmas, it will be a while before I can afford a new camera, but I used to take a lot of photos and I'd really like to get back into the Photography.
 I have a lot of pictures that I'm quite proud of, and I'd like to get some printed out a decent size and displayed in some manner around my flat.

4. Take a weekend break to somewhere I've never been.

I'm not very well travelled and I should really get one of those voucher thingies and take a weekend break to somewhere, whether it be in the UK or Europe. Perhaps once I've gotten my camera so I can document it!

5. Read 30 books.

I hate to lose. Which is why for the last two years I have adjusted my total books for the Goodreads reading challenge down to whatever number of books I have read so it still registers that I have completed the challenge, when in actual fact I have failed what I originally posted. Not this year though. It's 30 books or bust.

6. Join a club or organisation. 

It probably won't be until the summer or next school term as I've too much to do when school is on as it's still my first year. But next September, when I've more of a handle on things, I reckon I'll have time to join some sort of club!

7. See Carrie Hope Fletcher in Les Mis.

This wonderful ray of sunshine is the Youtuber and West End Star Carrie Hope Fletcher. I've been watching her online videos for years now, and playing Eponine in Les Mis has always been one of her life's ambitions. In June 2013 she was announced as the new Eponine, and in June 2014 she said she'd stay at Les Mis for another year. Now that I live in England it's so much more likely that I'll be able to get to see her! I've never had the pleasure of meeting her, but having watched her for years on Youtube I feel like a proud big sister and I have to see her before she leaves the production.

8. Go to a recording of a show.

Radio or TV I don't mind. The BBC always does free tickets to a lot of their shows and I'd love to give it a go!

9. Go to a book signing.

I've only ever been to one book signing, and it was Kathy Reichs. She came to my University while I was there on a book tour and I got it signed for my Dad as he's a big fan of her Temperance Brennan series (of which the TV show Bones is based on!). It's about time I went to another one! I'll have to keep an eye out for signings in my area!

10. Keep a journal.

I've tried this before and it hasn't worked. Let's hope 2015 is the year!


What have you got planned in 2015? Do you have some resolutions? Let me know!

Sarah x

Top 5 Movies I saw in 2014

I do like to do lists at this time of year to talk about the best stories that have been told to me, through the media of film, television or print this year.

First up, its movies! I don't rank my movies because it was hard enough picking just 5 let alone putting them into some kind of logical order.

Imitation Game

 

Okay, I may have lied about being able to make a logical dissention between my favourite and least favourite movies. Let's just call this one no.1 and everyone else the runners up. Hands down this was the best movie that I saw in 2014. Possibly the best movie I've seen in a very long time. I went with friends and we spent the entire walk back to my flat in silence because we didn't really know what to say. Even after a cup of tea to restore us we found it difficult to talk. It's such a powerful movie. It portrays such a powerful picture of Autism for a start (Alan Turing would, by today's standards, have been put somewhere on the Autistic Spectrum based on accounts of his personality.) and also the ending is crushing as to the treatment of homosexual's. This man and his team effectively ended the war early, yet none of this mattered in the face of his 'perversion'. The last 10 minutes of the film is so heart-breaking. Without doubt the most powerful piece of film I've seen in a long time.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This movie was such fun. I laughed so much, and cried on one occasion. If you've seen it you'll know what occasion that was, or at least can guess. This movie has a lot of kick ass action and a female character that is not - thank god - just a romantic interest for the male lead. It's ridiculous at times and outrageous at others, but it's definitely one that I would go back and watch time and time again. I'm already looking forward to the sequel.

The Fault In Our Stars

And the prize for the movie that made me cry the most this year goes to, The Fault In Our Stars. Not even Les Miserables could match up to the amount of water that left my eyes in that cinema. I'm kind of glad I went on my own. 

The real strength of this movie I felt was the message that it left, about how Gus wanted to leave a lasting impression on the world, but what was more important was the way he touched the lives of his close friends and family. When compared to the book (baring in mind that it has been some time since reading TFIOS) I felt that the movie brought this message across much better, but a re-read may change my mind. 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

 

I have a lot of trouble saying that I 'enjoy' the Hunger Games series. The films are, yes, extremely good and getting better with each film. But the subject matter is horrifying, and getting more so. Jennifer Lawrence is an absolute gem in this, and her portrayal of PTSD and her slowly descending into worse and worse appearance of PTSD is very convincing. There are so many parts of the movie where I catch myself wincing at the screen because there's something there, with all the 'propaganda' that feels terribly familiar and not impossible in the future. Also, Josh Hutcherson deserves some recognition for his fabulous work. I won’t spoil it in case you haven’t seen it but he really comes into his own as an actor in this instalment. I can’t wait to see what he and Jen do in the final part.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

This is a truly beautifully animated film. I love these stories to death. They’re so touching. I also love all the characters. Toothless is a given as he reminds me of my cat. For being an ‘animated’ film, the portrayal of relationships is really pretty good. Hiccup and Astrid have a wonderful chemistry, and how they showed Hiccup’s parents brought a few tears to my eyes. The story was also very well told. I was concerned where they were going to go from the first film, but they still managed to have a very meaningful plot that was well executed. Again, looking forward to the next one. If the school where I worked wasn’t so strict about not letting them watch films on the last days of term then I would insist on them all watching this, just so that I could watch it more!

What I've been reading August - December

*Blows off the dust*

*Nervously approaches the keyboard*

Hi. 

It's been a while I know. And I even dabbled with another blog. I promise I won't do that again.

Turns out this actual adult thing takes up more of my time than I had originally thought. Quick update. I'm now an actual proper fully qualified teacher of science. I've moved 400 hundred miles from my home in Northern Ireland to take up a job in England. I've been teaching for almost a full term and I am exhausted.

Keeping up with reading and writing isn't easy when you're a full time teacher. "But don't teachers get to leave school at 3pm?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No. And even if I do it just means bringing work to do it at home instead. 

But yes. Reading. I haven't read that much from August to December, and this is the first year that I don't thnk I'm going to complete my reading challenge. But never the less, let's get started!

1. Saga Vol. 1-3 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer) and Fiona Staples (Artist)

This is actually my first graphic novel. And it's amazing. I bought the first volume on a trip into London and had it finished by the time the train pulled into my station and promptly ordered Vol 2 and 3. It's a wonderful Sci-Fi, Couple from opposite sides in a war, kick ass story. The humour is also something that tickles me. I really can't wait until Vol 4 is released, but it keeps being pushed back as Amazon keeps e-mailing me as much. 

2. Republic of Thieves (Gentlemen Bastards no. 3) by Scott Lynch

I love this world to death. The Gentlemen Bastards series is utterly amazing. I listen to it on audiobook as I find it easier to follow fantasy if I have someone reading out all the strange place names and character names to me as I tend to forget when I've read the names before and then lose track of who's who if I do it by myself. Mostly I was listening to it on the way to work and on more than one occassion I nearly crashed my car from laughing. Scott has an amazing whit that is passed on through Jean and Locke. This book also feathers the elusive Sabatha who's been a hot topic of book 1 and 2 and it was amazing to get to know her as well. The ending totally dropped a bomb on me and I'm dying for part 4. 

3. Edge of Eternity (Century Trilogy, No. 3)

I love Ken Follets 'epic' writings. My favourite duology is the Kingsbridge series Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. He's so good at creating huge overarching stories with interlinking themes and characters. However, Edge of Eternity fell a bit flat for me. It wasn't nearly as good as the previous two books Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. The main problem is that I think it covered too many years. However, it was nice to see how the 3rd generation characters of the protagonists of the 1st book Fall of Giants ended up. The series as a whole also shows how much of an extrodinary century the 20th century was. 

4. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Cousins War #1)

I do enjoy historica fiction and I've found online that Philippa Gregory is very much a marmite author of the book community. What made me buy this series was the BBC TV show that aired in 2013. I am a sucker for Historical dramas. The older the better. The costumes and the dashing men and fierce women draw me in. The series was so powerful I had to get my hands on the source material to compare. I've only read 1 out of the 6 books currently in the Cousins' War series. Although this was the first published, it's not the first chronologically. Though I'm under the impression that you can read them in any order. They do follow the same story but from such vastly differing points of view that it doesn't matter whose side of the story you hear first. I found myself getting very wrapped up in the first 2/3rds of the story quite nicely, but after Elizabeth and her children go into santuary and the infamous 'Princes in the tower' storyline takes over I found this book dragged it's heels a lot. Perhaps its an analogy for how long Elizabeth didn't know what was happening to her sons, but I felt that it lost pace quite dramatically at that point. Otherwise, a very good and interesting read. I will doubtless be making my way through the others in due course.

5. Sex Criminals Vol. 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky


I don't really want to say too much about this book other than it's a dream to read. Not for younger readers. If you like graphic novels, humour, good twists, and are not too put off by sex (I'd say that it's tastefully done for the most part) then this is definatly worth picking up.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Let me know what you've been up to as well. I've been away so long, that I know some of you are bound to have news for me!

Sarah x