Anonymous asked: Do you think Harry Potter is overrated or do you love it? What do you think of Pottermore?
The first Harry Potter book was published on my 16th birthday, so I blame my disinterest on the fact that I was too old for it (I did very much enjoy a different book about a school for witches when I was ten, though). I read a few of them, because my sister (five years my junior) was a fan, so they were in our house, but I gave up around the fourth one because it was just too long and I didn’t think the writing was very good.
Which is to say that I’m not particularly interested in the books as texts but as someone interested in the publishing industry, I’m interested in Harry Potter: The Business. So…I guess I’ll be interested to see if Pottermore shifts the ebook market, and how.
11:06 am |
October 3 2011
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On anniversaries
As of today…ish (maybe it was yesterday?), I’ve been living in London for eight years.
I arrived via Dublin with two very heavy bags. My then-boyfriend’s mother tried to negotiate the overweight luggage fee down by complimenting the woman at the desk on the fake diamond she had glued to her front tooth. The woman accepted the compliment but did not reduce the charges
Last night I watched the X Factor results show, and as I choked back tears as the contestants doubled over with grief and fear said things like, ‘THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF MY LIFE’, I thought that maybe the fact that I am now the kind of person who cries at the X Factor is a sign that I have been here too long.
The world. What is it like?
9:38 am |
October 3 2011
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When I was in 9th grade I decided to reinvent myself as a sporty person. I’d course I picked field hockey as the the sport that would define my new sporty person life: because it was a sport that we hadn’t played much in middle school, making it seem possible that unlike soccer or swimming, my talent had simply not yet had the opportunity to come to the fore. I also picked field hockey because you got to wear a cute tartan skirt while playing.
My dad compared it to playing golf while running. And fearing for the chances my eyes would have when meeting a flying stick, he decided I should wear some eye protection when I played. Which he sourced for me from the lab where he worked.
You can imagine how embarrassing that was. Barreling down the field after a ball while wearing lab safety goggles. And missing the ball, because it transpired that I was not good at hockey after all.
But maybe less embarrassing than the fact that a few weeks ago, I selected an almost identical pair of frames to be my actual glasses.
11:32 pm |
September 30 2011
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Anonymous asked: What do you think of this year's Man Booker Prize? Any guesses who will win? Do you think the right decisions have been made so far?
I’m a bit nonplussed by the shortlist —did they really leave Hollinghurst off because he already won once? It reminds me of the fire safety poster competition at my elementary school — but, you know, I think it’s fine. I think Barnes will win, because of the fire safety poster competition factor — it’s his turn.
12:35 pm |
September 30 2011
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Anonymous asked: What's the difference between literary and commercial fiction?
Marketing.
3:54 am |
September 30 2011
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Anonymous asked: Have you read or watched One Day? What do you think of it?
I am not a fan.
11:53 pm |
September 29 2011
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Anonymous asked: Do you think creative writing courses are any good and which courses are the best?
I haven’t taken a creative writing course since university, as part of my degree. I enjoyed and appreciated the workshop structure very much and often think it would be great to start an informal workshop with other writers who are at the same stage as me…but that’s never materialised. (You know, email me if you’re interested.)
The people who I know who’ve taken creative writing courses in the UK - particularly masters’ programmes - cite the time, space, and focus that they provide as the key benefits. They can also help writers to build valuable networks.
What they do not provide is any guarantee of publication, which for me makes it difficult to justify the cost — both in terms of the cash money and the opportunity cost. I do think some courses are banking on the fact that some people will pay a lot to be turned in to novelists…and it may become exploitative if the courses aren’t rigorous and selective.
For more on the debate, here is an interesting article by Leo Benedictus.
3:08 pm |
September 29 2011
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Anonymous asked: I've read quite a lot of plays including Shakespeare and Arthur Miller. I would like to know some more obscure playwrights and plays please!
Hm. Well, I’m still probably not the best person to ask. A much better resource: reading lists for theatre courses at universities. You could do worse that start with the advanced theatre curriculum in the English department at my alma mater, where I studied playwrights like Hellman, Brecht, Churchill and Kushner.
12:07 pm |
September 29 2011
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Anonymous asked: Do speculative applications ever work?
Occasionally, I’m sure they do. Especially if your speculative application ever happens to cross the desk of someone when they are about to look for someone.
But instead of sending speculative applications, which are also quite likely to get deleted/filed in the recycling bin, write to people you’d like to work for and ask if they’ll have a coffee with you for ten minutes as a sort of information gathering activity. Lots of people will have coffee with you, and if it’s the beginning of a (you guessed it) meaningful relationship, some will then get in touch when they are looking to hire.
12:01 pm |
September 29 2011
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Anonymous asked: Which poets do you like?
er…um…I’m not really that in to poetry. I know! I’m sorry! I do enjoy it when I come across it, and I loved studying it in university, but it’s never been a form I’ve really sought out.
That said, here are three of my favourite poems:
‘Daddy’ by Sylvia Plath
‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’ by TS Eliot
‘I have not lingered in European monasteries’ by Leonard Cohen
Also I recently very much enjoyed this poem by a fellow Tumblrer.
11:56 am |
September 29 2011
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