A World of Books

It's all starting to get very busy what with dissertation and placement, and from next week I am working four days instead of  just two. I am sorry for not updating my blog as often as I should, but finding time is an issue, as is finding things to blog about. Unfortunately there's not much other than dissertation and work going on at the moment, and I don't want to bore those brave souls amongst you who venture here to read my blog. You may be thinking, well, then, update us on your book project and on Publishers Inc. Alas, there is nothing to report. They are both currently being proofed for the millionth time, but hopefully one day soon I will be able to bring you news on them.

So, in the midst of all this, you would think that I would not be adding yet more books to my reading list. I honestly don't have as much time for reading as I would like right now. Whenever I can, I snatch some hours, but I am not getting through my books as quickly as I would like. A sensible person would realise that adding to the list right now would be rather stupid. A sensible person would focus on completing the books in the 'To Read' pile before adding more. I, however, am not a sensible person.

My current reading pile

This is my current 'To Read' pile. That doesn't include the books I still want to buy. In the last few weeks so many good books have been published, many of them additions to series I've already started. It pains me that I have yet to buy Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, but as soon as I actually have money again I'm rushing out to get it. Since reading the first two pages of The Humans and being told how brilliant it is by my friend Lauren (who does have an eye for a good book), I now want to get a copy of that. I also discovered that the same author wrote a children's book called To Be a Cat. I cannot resist stories about cats. Moreover, I've been promising myself to read Looking for Alaska and the rest of the Game of Throne books (which will likely take a whole year), and as if that was not enough to make your head spin, I have been enjoying Daniela Sacerdoti's Dreams so much that I am definitely going to read Watch Over Me.

Let the Work Experience Commence!

Goal #3 for the year (and arguably the most important) - Take my first steps in getting a job in publishing. Last Thursday I made some progress on this front when I begun a work experience placement at Black & White Publishing in Leith, Edinburgh. This is my second work experience placement (I spent two weeks at Luath Press, also in Edinburgh, last March) and I was eager to get started and gain a further insight into the publishing world.

This placement is part of my MSc Publishing course, although I organised it myself. After a speculative email, I was answered almost immediately and luckily there was an opening which I gladly seized upon. A few people on my course had already been to Black & White and they all had seemed to have enjoyed it, so I looked them up and discovered they have quite a varied and exciting list. As well as many non-fiction titles, they also publish crime and mystery fiction, romance fiction and even (to my delight) a couple of young adult titles. Having discovered this I was excited for my first day.

Based on Ocean Drive, Black & White are a simple bus journey from Edinburgh city centre. I've not been to Leith too often (apart from one horrible interview/assessment with a recruitment company) but armed with Google maps I soon found my way to the office. It is a lovely, bright, airy office, and I even have my own intern desk, complete with stationary and Mac. My first impression when I walked in was one of wonderment. There are so many bookcases and so many books; I felt like a child in a candy shop. I probably came across as a little over-enthusiastic!

Book Review: Goddess

I bought Starcrossed, the first in Josephine Angelini’s trilogy, mainly because I loved the cover art so much. It also sounded like quite a good story. Once I started reading it, I quickly became hooked. I did fall ever-so-slightly in love with the hero, Lucas, and I loved the way the relationship between him and Helen was set up. It was the ultimate forbidden love and based on Paris and Helen of Troy no less. The concept was different to anything I’d ever read before: offspring of Gods and mortals, or scions, divided into four houses, tormented by the Furies so that they were driven to kill one another on sight. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t wait to read the others.

Goddess is the conclusion to the trilogy. It was released back in May and though I must confess I hadn’t enjoyed the second installment, Dreamless, as much, I was still eager to find out how the series would wrap up.

Top 5 Motivational Songs

I was out running today and it may sound corny, but it did make me feel almost empowered. As I ran jogged my way along the streets of Gullane I suddenly felt as if anything was possible, any obstacle was surmountable. Which is a nice change considering the frequency with which I have been despairing lately.
It got me thinking about how simple things can suddenly restore your faith in yourself. Take music, for example. Haven't we all at some point heard a song and instantly felt so much better about ourselves? I do love my music; I think life would be a bit dull without it. I love the fact there are songs for every occasion: happy songs, love songs, heartbreak songs. Today, however, is a motivational song day.

I'm not going to lie, I am having a tiny (okay, major) panic about how I'm going to fit everything in over the next two months. Somehow I must juggle dissertation, placement, a part time job and the finishing touches to both Publishers Inc and The Camomile. Sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day! Today, however, I am in a positive frame of mind due to that run and I did manage to get quite a bit of dissertation work done today, including this survey, which I am begging you all to spend five minutes on for me: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sMvooXWMtY0UkjhMBvlQQWGrNt2b2qy7RmoEtglm5dI/viewform

So, to honour today's burst of optimism I have decided to dedicate my post to my top five motivational songs. These are the tunes I turn to whenever I need a bit of morale boosting.

In descending order...

5. What A Feeling - Irene Cara
It's really all about that immortal line - "take your passion and make it happen". Every time I hear that I think yes, I can fulfil my dreams. The whole song is so uplifting, though. It's always guaranteed to get me dancing away and smiling by the time it's over. Incidentally, I've never seen Flashdance, though I've been meaning to for years.