Pins of the Week

My top book/writing related pins this week are:

This is going on a poster in the library once I go back to work. 

If only it were that simple...

Harry Potter humour. I did get Hufflepuff on Pottermore though...

The original is a good opening line to know for quizzes!

And I'm finishing this week's selection with a book cover, because Kiera Cass' covers are gorgeous and I'm looking forward to this coming out soon. 

Let me know of your top book-related Pinterest finds in the comments. 

Harry Potter Gift Guide

Following on from Tuesday's post, here are my favourite Harry Potter related gifts.

DFTBA - £14 - If Hermione and Luna ran for the US Presidency... 

DFTBA - £7.50 - They're fair trade and they come with trading cards. I need these! They're also a lot cheaper than the ones they sell at the Studio Tour...

DFTBA - £19 - Snape, Snape, Serverus Snape...

Etsy - £16.16 - This is quite subtle

Etsy - £18.32 - This one is less subtle!

Etsy - 16.36 - They make Felix Felicis and Veritaserum versions too

Etsy - £16.36

Not on the Highstreet - £8 

Or, if you really want to blow the budget, there is this amazing Wizard Monopoly set from Etsy

Or anything from the new MinaLima stationary store. I would love the Alphabet Poster for the nursery. 

Plus there's also always those pretty new editions of the books.

Hunger Games Gift Guide

At the weekend I went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One. I wasn't sure about the book being split into two films at first, but I now actually think it worked really well; there are lots of great scenes in the film which would have been lost/rushed if there was only one movie. I'm also not a big fan of three hour long films, which is what probably would have happened if they had only made one. They also still managed to include a decent amount of action. It was a bit strange to only see about five minutes of Peeta though. 

Inspired by my trip to the cinema (my first since my daughter was born!) and because it's getting close to Christmas, I have compiled a list of Hunger Games related gifts which are all under £10. 

Etsy - £9.82 - This seems like such great value; it's huge!

Etsy - £9.16 - I could see my sister wanting this for Christmas

Cafe Press - £9.50 - If you love the boy with the bread

Etsy - £3.27 - A temporary tattoo of the Hunger Games equivalent to 'Okay'

Etsy - £9.82 - Because it made me laugh

.

Or you could always make your own.

Pins of the Week

As I have mentioned on the blog before, Pinterest is one of my favourite places to find writing inspiration. I probably pin around 50 new things a week, organised into various boards for different story ideas. Here are my top five book/writing related finds of the week. 

  

  

1) This is a Yosemite Firefall. It reminded me of the landscape I imagined for the Helian Realm, particularly the area around the volcanic city Kalme. 

2) This image is just beautiful. You can't help but let your imagination run wild: where is she falling from? What is the city below her like? Is it really underwater, or a cleverly concealed entrance? 

3) This is from a Buzzfeed article where they have changed book titles to accurately reflect the content of the story. I love this 'truthful' title for The Fault in Our Stars. What do you think Fire's would be? 

4) Veronica Roth on heroines. I guess this is why Tris is such an awesome character. 

5) This made me laugh a lot. I'm rereading some of the Harry Potter series at the moment, too. 

NaNoWriMo

November has come around again and NaNoWriMo has begun once more. I have 'won' NaNo three times now: when writing my very first drafts of Fire and Air and when working on a dystopian story, Amber & Ice, which you can read some of on Wattpad. 

I'm not taking part this year though. Between my daughter, editing Air, getting back to Amber & Ice and working on a few new ideas, I've decided I won't have time to work on a completely new novel. I do hope to write 50,000 words this month, they just won't all be for the same project.

I cannot emphasis enough how amazing NaNoWriMo is and how much fun it is to take part. Here are my top five reasons why:

1) No more excuses. For anyone who has ever expressed an interest in writing a novel, NaNoWriMo provides the perfect opportunity to stop thinking about writing and start doing it.

2) Peer pressure. Or maybe peer mentoring. NaNoWriMo will give you plenty of support to keep writing once you've started. Pep talks and writing sprints will have your word count soaring in no time. 

3) Time Pressure. The thirty day time limit forces you to stop stressing over every detail of your plot and the nuance of every sentence. Instead, it encourages you to get words on paper. It's amazing what you can come up with under these conditions. And even if you're certain it's rubbish, you just have to remember that editing is what December is for.  

4) Social media is going to be saturated with mentions of NaNoWriMo over the next thirty days. Don't watch from the sidelines feeling envious or wondering what's going on. Take part and join the fun!

5) The sense of achievement you will feel when you make it to the end is immense.

http://nanowrimo.org