You take your first steps

Butterfly feet knee deep in snow

Pink nosed and fascinated

By the twinkling of Christmas. 

Little steps chasing bitter gems

Melting on your tongue. 

There’s something about snow

That demands spinning, dizzying

And constant. I think you might be sick

And yet you keep on spinning,

Laughing for good measure.

Cold knees barely covered by grating gingham 

That mum promised you’d grow into.

You nod through life lessons less on life and more on giving up

Until you are set free.

The playground’s so much smaller

Than the world out there

I promise

I’ll take you to see it one day – 

A newborn lamb is far more interesting

On the plains of California. 

You’ve graduated to a blazer,

Although it still doesn’t fit. Fretting something fierce

And sweating through the weeks

Before freedom. 

Soon you’ll be drunk on sunlight and fireside stories

And cheap cider. 

That grin you wear, the one that says

‘I’m on top of the world’

Makes my heart ache. 

For the world will keep on spinning

Until you are at the bottom. 

The cold has come again. 

Though masks and sweets and wellies

And the crack-bang-wallop of a thousand skyward colours

Punctuate your pain.

I want to take you hand in mine

But you leave

A trail of broken hearts in his wake

And yours.

And so the world keeps spinning. 

The snow, it melts

The sun, it sets

The heat, it chills,

The leaves, they die.

We die too, and so the sky

Grows darker

Until it’s light again.

The world will keep on spinning.

Oh my God. I had this series recommended to me ages ago and have only just gotten around to reading the first book and it is amazing. Preferred writing styles are highly personal but this worked with mine to a T. Every page had something that made me audibly express how much I loved it and some of those plot twists, oh, did they shock me.

The Raven Boys is the first novel in a four-part series called The Raven Cycle and follows Blue, the non-psychic daughter of a psychic, who also lives in a house of psychics and makes their energy ‘louder’, as she joins a group of ‘raven Boys’ – boys who attend the ultra-exclusive Aglionby school – on their quest to find the ley line that holds the key to the raising of Glendower, an old Welsh legend. I can’t tell much more without giving anything away, but I hope this is enough to encourage everyone to read this

The characters could have so easily been stock characters. Blue could have been a quirky, standoffish girl with no room for the boys in her life, but she is hugely three-dimensional, both strong and admitting her weaknesses. Similarly, the characters I was most worried would be one-dimensional were Gansey and Ronan. Neither of them gave any credit to my concerns, however, as their rich inner and outer lives were developed. Ronan could easily have been an aggressive villain with no redeeming features, just as much as Gansey could have been the rich kid, flaunting his money and superficial interests. That Noah was used to effect that he was provided me with no end of delight and his character was suddenly keenly interesting.

Perhaps my favourite thing about this novel was its premise. Modern witchcraft is subtle and so does not often make for great fantasy novels – which I am not entirely sure this series is yet, it doesn’t fit into that category as obviously as it ought to – but this is brilliant. It is fresh and new and the lack of previous attention gives Stiefvater plenty of room for innovation and invention. I was skeptical when I started as I wasn’t expecting such fascinating prose to come out of something not as obviously magical as traditional fantasy novels, but this exploring of uncharted territory really pays off.

I have very little to say against this novel. My only thought is that, although the writing style is right up my street, it won’t be for everyone. Stiefvater has highly stylised prose, with lots of adverbs and off-the-wall adjectives and figurative language which, although entertaining, can sometimes cloud small plot points.

I was genuinely shocked by how much I enjoyed this novel. It is not a series that gets lots of love in fantasy circles, not as well known as other series, but it should be. I can’t wait to read the rest of them.

I haven’t read a huge number of books that have been released this year for the simple reason that my bookshelf is so full already I’ve been restraining myself from buying more. Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is the exception to that rule.

I read it for a book club and, until it was suggested by another member, I had never heard of it. For that, I am almost ashamed as it has been named a TIME must-read for 2019 and, having now read it, I have to agree.

The basic premise is this: Young and Pak Yoo, a Korean couple who have immigrated to America with their teenage daughter Mary, run a hyperbaric oxygen chamber called ‘Miracle Submarine’ that is used as a treatment for a range of conditions, including autism, cerebral palsy and infertility. One night during a dive, the tank explodes, killing two people. This triggers a long and complex murder trial that, at some point in the novel, leaves every character open to suspicion. Underneath the framework of the trial are the complicated and sometimes toxic relationships of a number of different characters that, at least in our club’s conclusion, makes most of the characters unlikable, if compelling.

First of all, this novel is far more than a ‘who-dunnit’. True, that is the main plot point and I was very eager to find out who had done it, but there are parts of the novel that have very little to do with the actual crime which are nevertheless extremely interesting and contribute subtly to every characters’ motivation. Really, the murder trial provides only a convenient hook to reveal the deepest depths of each person involved, as well as their backstory and personal relationships. It is the high stakes and unbelievable tension that draws out these things especially well – another scenario would have worked, but not nearly as well.

The plot, while it may sound convoluted, is a fascinating one and something that I have never come across before. It succeeds in creating a murder mystery for the modern age where many others do not, in part down to its creativity and imagination but also down to its ensemble of characters.

Speaking of characters, I mentioned earlier that many of them are, at some point, unlikable. That does not make them bad characters, in fact I think a character that antagonises themselves in a novel makes for a better character than a consistently likable one. Mary Yoo, for example, is introduced as a victim to whoever has set the fire that blew up the chamber, but the darker aspects of her character are woven in delicately throughout the later parts of the novel, painting her as reckless and selfish in a wholly unexpected way. Also Elizabeth, perhaps my favorite character for how complex her personality is, remains a question mark throughout.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I am yet to work out if the ending was satisfactory or not. I think that it was, but given how much suspense was artfully built up during the first 250 or so pages, I imagine any ending would feel a little bit hollow. Myself and few others who discussed it were able to see who had done it from about two thirds through, but others didn’t see it coming at all.

One more thing I have to mention is the book’s treatment of disability as a subject. There are a very wide range of opinions and thoughts although, interestingly, not a lot of them come from the people with those disabilities. The parents all have their own opinions over whether it is right to ‘treat’ autism as opposed to an acquired disability, and we see the extremes that the protesters will go to in order to stop the perceived cruelty of the treatments and therapies that these children have.

Kim has had a lot of experience with the use of HBO (hyperbaric oxygen therapy) for her own son (she has talked about this in interviews with Guardian, Elle and NPR) and so her writing certainly does not come from a place of ignorance or misinformation. I think it is an interesting choice to have the parents’ opinions and we do get a small insight into Henry’s feelings about his treatments, which I enjoyed.

This book, overall, is a great one. I’m not a huge mystery fan but this was engaging and tense all the way through and kept me guessing – as I said, just about every character had the spotlight shone on them at one point or another – until the very end. Definitely a 2019 must-read.

I think most people that I know have had a fanfiction phase. 12-16 is prime fanfiction time, which just so happened to coincide with an explosion of websites that publish it for the oldest members of gen Z. It gets a bad wrap, both for being entirely sexual and entirely terrible. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of it is at least one of these, and a fair amount is both. However, this isn’t always the case and it can be a great way into practicing writing early on in life. This wasn’t how I, personally, became interested in writing but I know plenty of people who did find their creative spark in existing works.

There’s lots to be said for and against it. Now writing myself, it’s a strange thing to think about but also weirdly flattering. I know lots of writers love and lots dislike it, so I’d like to try and unpack why that is.

Pros

For readers, I think there are a few major benefits. Firstly, in researching for this post, I asked Pinterest to signpost me to some of its favourite fanfiction and, unsurprisingly, some of it is actually very good and, in my opinion, exceeds some published novels I have read, both in quality and in length. You can jump into a world knowing what is going on if you are a pre-existing fan of the work without the exposition needed for a new novel or series (which can be really interesting and fun but requires more brainpower than stepping into a world that you know and sometimes, I just don’t have that brainpower to expend on a new series). Secondly, and I know this is a particular concern for younger readers (although not exclusively) – it is free. Whilst a physical book will always be my preferred reading method, at £9+ from a bookshop, it is sometimes just not feasible to keep yourself stocked with new books. I know things can be cheaper online but it’s nice to try and support bookshops (and, without naming names, some online businesses have what can, at best, be called dodgy labour practices). In some cases, fanfiction can also be a way of filling in or fixing plot holes that are infamous for annoying fans of an otherwise brilliant work. It carries on a story when the original is finished and can connect members of a fanbase.

For fanfiction writers, clearly the main benefit is writing practice. Having never ventured into fanfiction writing myself, I don’t know to what extent it would have been useful to me, but other writers I have spoken to have said that it helps to start by taking an existing story arch and redeveloping that, and then moving on to develop your own narratives. The fact that most sites allow comments to be left on works is potentially a double-edged sword, although a few friends have said that most of what they were left was helpful feedback and encouragement. So, another win for fanfiction writers, then.

I’ll move on, finally, to writers of the original works that are made into fanfiction. I’ll mention those who aren’t as comfortable with it later, but plenty of writers enjoy this aspect of their fanbase. Neil Gaiman, upon the release of ‘Good Omens’ on Amazon Prime, noted the explosion of fanfiction based on his (and Terry Pratchett’s) work, thanking his fans for their commitment to the work almost 20 years on. I imagine that it would be strangely complimentary to have your work developed by fans, and interesting to see characters and plots be taken somewhere you never considered.

So, there are plenty of upsides to fanfiction. Based on what I have researched, far less of it is badly written and overtly sexual than is to be believed – although there is plenty of both (sometimes in one work) that is to a very unique taste. What is there to be said against fanfiction, then?

Cons

For readers, pretty much the only downside to fanfiction is poor quality and unintended deviation from canon. The most famous example I can think of – as well as the only fanfiction I had ever read before deciding to write this post – is ‘My Immortal’, a well-known (even outside of the fanbase) fanfiction of Harry Potter, rife with spelling mistakes, lack of any semblance of continuity, either with the original books or with its own plot, and poorly developed characters and plots. This is perhaps a bad example, because what is loses in literary quality due to everything listed above, it gains something wonderful in its comedic element. However, my point stands that a lot of fanfiction is unregulated for spelling and quality, and therefore can be quite hard to read and understand.

As a side note, I didn’t so much as read it as listen to it read aloud – let me recommend you listen to this, it is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdv6Q68EutU

There is also, as mentioned before, a stigma attached to reading fanfiction. As well as the assumption that it is very sexual, it, certainly when I was of that age, considered very ‘uncool’. Not that I think coolness should ever come into consideration when choosing hobbies, I thought I should mention this as it is a concern for some people.

Finally, I know that some authors have expressly asked that websites take down work based on their writing. Whether this be for Copyright reasons or because their work is complete and they do not want it extended, I think it important that these wishes are respected. Others have expressed their opinion that, while they don’t mind fanfiction of their work, they don’t consider it useful for budding authors. However, I don’t think this is the main purpose of fanfiction, rather, I think it functions to extend a world beloved by fans and to bring together a community of writers and readers, just as the original work does.

Overall, I think that fanfiction has many benefits for both readers and writers, although some people don’t like it. There’s certainly very little harm in it. Whilst it might be helpful for some budding writers, for others the existing framework might be a hindrance to creativity and imagination.

My university is among many that will be, from next week, affected by UCU strikes. I have written this to demonstrate my support for them.

‘Cheeky Bastards’, or ‘In Solidarity with the UCU Strikes’

‘Cheeky Bastards’, or ‘In Solidarity with the UCU Strikes’ 

Cheeky bastards, the lot of them – 

Those sulky, stroppy traitors

Ungrateful 

Hateful, spiteful, disrupting

My train of thought. 

Corrupting 

my morals and my freedom

Of speech. 

Greedy pampered whingers

Why does your money 

Matter more than mine?

Cheeky bastards, those young bucks

To come for little

And stay for less. 

Bright and brash and brilliant – 

They line 

My mind

And his pockets. 

You try to convince them that they are lucky.

Cheeky bastards, on the line

In the sand. Take a stand 

On the stones of promised knowledge

Hallowed words and broken oaths

To serve and protect

The few. 

The many know exactly where they stand.

Cheeky bastards, those old-timers

Security, fifty years aged in oak panelling, 

Poured down someone else’s throat. 

More time saving, less time paving

The way for the future. Of course, 

You say this. 

It doesn’t affect you.

Cheeky bastards!

Out of line, are they?

Victimised, are we?

Sometimes I can’t believe what comes out of your mouth.

I had a blog a long time ago but I mostly posted drawing I’d done, in pen, on lined paper, of cartoon characters so I decided to give this another go with something a bit more ‘me’ this time!

I’ll be trying to update fairly often, but, for now, add me on:

Twitter: @CharlotteGoodg2

Instagram: rosevictoriacharlotte