Day of the Triffids

In perhaps one of the strangest pieces of festive tv scheduling. The BBC are currently showing a two part adaptation of John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids. Whilst the Triffids themselves look slightly like deranged celery – I’m not sure it’s possible to make them scary – what was incredibly effective was the mass panic following the blinding of 99% of the world’s population after a solar flare.

Reminiscent of every zombie film you’ve seen but instead of an insatiable desire for brains every blind person is desperately seeking a sighted guide. Eddie Izzard also makes a fantastic villain. You have absolutely no idea what his agenda is – other than survival at all costs – we don’t even know his true name. The scene where he calmly survives a plane crash, whilst all the other passengers are literally in a ‘blind panic’ sets up his character perfectly. Will be tuning in tonight to see if they can sterilize the Triffids.

The Garden of Love - Blake

I think sometimes you read a poem and it just sticks with you, something about it resonates. I haven’t done a favourite poem post for a while, so here’s The Garden of Love by William Blake (1757-1827). Which I think is on my mind more since I read Hemovore by Jordan Castillo Price.

The Garden of Love

I went to the garden of love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not writ over the door;
So I turned to the garden of love,
That so many sweet flowers bore,

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be -
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.

Happy Christmas

Christmas Eve here at the moment, but Christmas is only a few hours away. May you all have a happy holiday season. :)

Aspirational Prose

I think I find prose more aspirational than inspirational. Along the lines of – darn it why can’t I write like that!

One of my favourite quotes from a novel is from Bareback by Kit Whitfield (released as Benighted in the US).

It’s set in an alternate universe where 99% of the population are werewolves and the other 1% are given the responsibility of policing the majority. There’s a scene where a character walks across a park, unbeknownst to his death and Kit Whitfield writes:-

“He didn’t know this was the end of his life. If nobody warned him, he couldn’t have known that he should have loved those last hundred yards, that they weren’t just an obstacle to getting to where he planned, that the sounds of his feet on the pavement and the wind in the branches were all he was ever going to have.”

Immediately I am taking those last steps with that character, beautiful, spare and haunting, those lines have stayed with me long after I finished the book.

Favourite Christmas Films

It’s the time of year when I’m planning which movies to catch on tv over the festive period. So, in no particular order here are my favourite Christmas films (or films which feature Christmas).

Scrooge (1970) – The musical starring Albert Finney as Scrooge. For some reason this version doesn’t get shown too often. A pity as it’s probably my favourite version of A Christmas Carol.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). Okay, not particularly a Christmas movie AT ALL. But it is one of my favourite films and does take place at Christmas.

A Christmas Carol (1999) – The version featuring Patrick Stewart. And the one that seems to be played most often. Lol – you’re probably noticing a pattern to my Christmas viewing.

Die Hard (1988) – The original and still the best. Besides it’s got Alan Rickman in it.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – I only watched this for the first time last year and I loved it. It’s very close to the Alastair Sim version of Scrooge, which I know for a lot of people is the definitive version.

Love Actually (2003) – Was just watching this the other night, and I think it sums up a lot about Christmas and is possibly a future Christmas classic.

So you may have guessed that one of my Christmas traditions is to try and watch as many versions of A Christmas Carol as possible. It always reminds me of the important things about the season and leaves me with a warm Christmassy glow.

Giveaway Reminder

Just a quick reminder that I am giving away a copy of Every Good Thing by M. Jules Aedin in December. Just comment on any December post and I’ll pick a winner at random from the comments posted here and at the Other Place blog.

Musical Inspiration

Hmmm. I don’t think I started out with the intention of writing a series of posts on inspiration but it looks like that’s what I’m doing.

I find music very helpful to the muse. Driving to work with the car radio on usually encourages story ideas to come flooding into my mind. I think we live in such a media focused world and we are so used to watching movies and tv with background music that it almost feels natural to weave a story along to a melody.

So here are a few of the pieces that are inspiring me at the moment.

I love the following two songs for vampires.

Remember – Josh Groban (This is on the soundtrack to the movie Troy)

Forever May Not Be Long Enough – Live (I think I’m right in saying that this played over the credits of The Mummy Returns)

I am a bit of a movie buff. Most of the songs I like I tend to pick up from soundtracks.

The following song (which I think is great for when you’re stuck partway through writing a love scene) is an exception.

Insatiable – Darren Hayes

I find songs most useful when I’m stuck for inspiration on a particular point and I know what I’m trying to say but somehow not getting there.

Classical music on the other hand I find fantastic for general inspiration. You don’t get led by the lyrics and can let your mind wander.

Favourite pieces at the moment are:-

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis – Ralph Vaugh Williams – just beautiful

Jazz Suite, Waltz 2 – Shostakovich – Which for me is just the creepiest sounding waltz, and brings to mind all these strange fantasic creatures dancing. Makes me think of the masquerade scene in Labyrinth.

Danse Macabre – Saint Saens – I have loved this piece of music ever since I was a little girl and my aunt told me to imagine skeletons dancing to it.

Symphony No. 3 in C Minor (Organ) – Saint Saens – Most familiar as used in the movie Babe. But if you listen to the whole thing there is a wonderful ‘chase’ section, which is great for when characters are running away from things.

Anyone have any other recommendations?

Quotation Inspiration

I get a lot of inspiration from reading the poetry and prose of other writers, poetry is especially good as a trigger. But this year I was given a quotes calendar and sometimes I find myself imagining situations in which my characters could use some of these quotes.

My favourite one at the moment is attributed to Carrie Fisher.

"Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

Questions, Questions, Questions

So if anyone has any questions they’d like to ask about my writing, the Land of the Fey, what I’m working on at the moment. Feel free to post them here. For example.

Will you be writing anything anytime soon? – I sure hope so.

Or if you’ve got a burning need to know why Lily is so cranky all the time:).

Currently listening to – Super Massive Black Hole by Muse

Reading Review of the Year

I find that this time of year kind of naturally lends itself to looking back and thinking about the great books I’ve read this year. If I had to pick some of my favourite m/m to recommend they would include:-

Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville
Hemovore by Jordan Castillo Price
Every Good Thing by M. Jules Aedin
Hero by Perry Moore
A Note in the Margin by Isabelle Rowan

And to celebrate – the re-relaunch of the blog, the holiday season – I have a copy of Every Good Thing by M. Jules Aedin to give away. Just comment on any blog post between now and the end of December and I will choose one poster at random to win a copy of the book.

If anyone has any book recommendations from 2009 I would love to hear them, or about the books you’re looking forward to in 2010. I’m always looking for new books to add to my TBR pile.

Time to Get This Show Back on the Road

Okay. Family crisis whilst not over has calmed down for the moment. So I’m going to make it third time lucky for getting this blog going.