Just another writing update that is, as per, way too long. But in my (flimsy) defence, this blog is first and foremost my writing journal and I absolutely love having a record of sorts that documents how things have changed with the passing of time so with that being said, here's what I've been up to since my last post...
On Friday 15th February 2019, I released The Dissection of Bryan Trout which went down well but like I said in my previous post, I didn't spend any time promoting it as I wanted to get straight on with my next writing project, which I did and the following Monday I got right back into my routine of working on the BIG project before work then editing the next writing project (another short story) after work. I'm going to be honest and say that I've once more experienced burnout from working too hard which I know I said I would try not to do, but hey ho, I'll never learn. Somehow, in the middle of it all I had an idea for something completely different. Not a book. Not a script. Just something else. It involves writing, but in a totally different way... Oooooo. The idea came to me on a walk to work one day and when I arrived at my desk, I furiously started jotting down thoughts for it and generally getting excited, as we all do when a shiny new idea presents itself. For a few weeks after that, I would pop down any ideas for it on a note on my phone then on Saturday 23rd March, I spent the afternoon transferring those thoughts onto my laptop and mapping out the potential story, characters and other ideas for it. For now, I'm keeping it to myself bar my long-suffering mother of course and flatmate. To be honest, even if it comes to nothing, I'd like to do it anyway, just for fun. I've done 'stuff' like it before, but never on this scale so we'll see...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot... on Friday 22nd March I had YET ANOTHER idea for a short story and in the space of 5 minutes whilst waiting in a queue at Barclays, I wrote 241 words of it. Could be nothing, could be something. I will definitely try and work more on it at some point in the future when I have more time. So never in a nutshell.
Now, onto two books I have to discuss that are quite possibly as different as two books can be but nevertheless, equally as wonderful.I read the non-fiction book, Hamilton: The Revolution after wanting to get more background on a musical that has pretty much taken over the world. I have recently become obsessed with the soundtrack so it seemed like a no-brainer to read this book, and I'm so glad I did. The book felt like a giant hug and was not only beautiful, but so fascinating. Hamilton: The Revolution takes you from the conception of the musical all the way through to the curtain call on opening night, interspersed with the lyrics of every single song in it which has annotations in the margins from the genius that is Lin, the show's writer, offering a little glimpse into his mind and how and why he chose some of the brilliant lyrics that he did.
The other book I read was Lanny by Max Porter. I shall hold my hands up and say that I only bought this book on some wild impulse when an email from Foyles arrived in my inbox saying I could buy a first edition of a book (and author) I had never heard of before... but if I was one of the first 100 people who bought it, I would receive a LIMITED EDITION SIGNED print. Words too tempting to resist. Fine, I confess, I don't think I even knew the synopsis before parting with my cash but I ended up being pleasantly surprised as it turned out to be one of the most beautiful and unusual books I have ever read. I went into it not knowing what to expect and on reflection, with a book like this, I'm so glad as it was the best way to go into it. Quirky and divine and cosy and funny with glorious sentences pieced together to form this joyous hardback. I don't want to even give away a single thing about the story or language so you can experience it as I did. Jump in at the deep end and prepare to be spellbound.
And finally, I thought I'd end this lengthly update by sharing two pieces of news with you all and a little bit of corny reflection. On 18th March, a podcast with the lovely girls from Mental Health Book club Podcast that I recorded back in January was put up then the following Friday 22nd March, a documentary I was part of all about the skin condition I suffered from was released (here) and between both projects, they put me in a very reflective mood. I started to think a lot about my life and the many strange and tough times there have been, then how much my life has changed. It made me think about my skin in particular and how, over the course of two years where I was housebound and in a lot of pain both mentally and physically, I was able to change my life completely and along the way find a love of writing. More importantly, for the first time in my life, I didn't give up and in the last month where I have had moments of doubt wondering whether all this sacrifice and hard work I have put in with writing is worth it, I would think about my skin and how I didn't give up and ended up with the best skin of my life. None of us know what will happen, which is terrifying but also wonderful. Don't give up. Three simple but strangely hard words that have changed my life.
And on that note, I think I shall leave it there so until next time,
Cara x
