National Stationery Week, Day 1

National Stationery Week is upon us once again.

I say 'once again', but in reality I managed to forget all about it last year.  So this year I've flung myself into it wholeheartedly.  Somewhat overzealously, in fact... the full extent of which will be revealed tomorrow, and when I say 'full extent' I do mean it.

Today is 'Pencil Day'.  I used to have a decent collection of watercolour pencils (as shown to the left) and regular colouring pencils, along with drawing and metallic ones--I still do, in fact, somewhere--but as I don't draw much any more a lot have fallen by the wayside.  These days, my trusty assistant for everything from sketching to puzzles in the newspaper is an ancient and slightly disgusting mechanical pencil that I 'liberated' from a former workplace many years ago.  I should probably replace it, but it's served me well.  I'd feel bereft without it.

Most people swear by various pencil grades (I have a set of those somewhere too), but not only am I a heathen who uses a mechanical pencil, but I'm doubly damned by using generic HB leads too!  At least it's not so bad these days, as all I do is ink over the pencil lines and then erase them--but it's arguable that I'd be better using a softer 2B lead...  But as the side of my hand is grey and disgusting by the time I'm finished normally, anything softer and more easily smudgable would be disastrous!

In preparation for my big project, I've been working on two illustrations.  I forgot to take a picture of the first one before I started to ink and colour it, but I did remember the second.  So, in honour of Pencil Day, this is the pencil sketch of the second illustration (the one that shows just how out of practice I am!).

Fancy handwriting will be the death of me.

You can see my trusty pencil, along with the putty eraser that might look disgustingly disreputable, but is actually supposed to be that colour.

Hopefully, tomorrow, the whole finished picture will be ready for you to see!

Tomorrow: Pen & Ink Day, the day I may have gotten a little carried away with... Notepad Day, my favourite photographic subject!

No-Nonsense Reviews - The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

Pros
+ A kind, tenacious main character you can empathise with
+ Easy, flowing writing
+ Sweet and believable relationships between characters
+ Strong supporting characters

YMMV
+/- The writing was in places a little too breathless for me

Cons
- The After was a little disappointing

I saw a recommendation for this book on the author Jenny Trout's blog and, as I've always been a fan of myths retold, bought it.  And then, in the usual way of things, it sat unread for a few months before I saw it again and thought, oh hey, I'll read that one now.

I didn't have any particular expectations, but fell in love quickly with both the author's writing style and Persephone, the main character.  For quite a young and naïve girl she has the strength to stand by her convictions, even when they run the risk of backfiring spectacularly on her--and there never felt like there was any guarantee that they wouldn't.  It always felt as though there was an element of danger to her decisions.  It also didn't read like a "classicly YA" story; I quickly forgot its genre as it contains certain delicately-written love scenes that wouldn't be out of place in some of the non-YA romance I've read.

The ending was satisfying, which is possibly why the After section felt a little like a let-down, jarring in comparison to the end of the story itself.  It makes sense and fits in, it just felt a little discordant following on from the rest of the story--but it certainly doesn't detract from the overall effect of a touching love story that converts a myth into something wonderful.

• Goodreads page for The Dark Wife
• Sarah Diemer's The Dark Wife store page

Musical Interludes

Many writers are happy writing in silence; I'm not one of them.  I tune it out while I'm writing and couldn't tell you exactly which song I was listening to at any given time, but music creates a white noise for me that blocks out all surrounding distractions.

The side effect is that some bands and singers will become irrevocably stuck on certain stories.

Currently I'm listening to a lot of Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, because only when I'd just finished The First Steampunk Novella (yep, still untitled) did I realise how perfectly his singing and the songs fit the story.  (The downside was that Barnacled Warship prompted a whole sequel...)  The side effect is that now, whenever I hear them, I'm transported back to Niko and Kirill's world and probably will be for the foreseeable future.

The same goes for The Killers, whose Day and Age album became synonymous with a story called Chime that (big surprise) is unfinished, but I do intend to complete one day; I listened to the CD in my car not too long ago and almost immediately found myself immersed in the plot again.  Three Graces is similar but not quite so specific, evoked by The Naked and Famous and The New Pornographers--and apparently a very similar theme with band-names.

It's even less specific with Unravel.  It's songs here and there that, left alone, provide a brief flash of nostalgia but when put together into a playlist--an exercise I did for a challenge last year--bring back memories of things that people who don't actually exist did.  It's a peculiar feeling, but between the experience of selecting songs that most accurately fit the characters and the arranging of them into a playlist, I felt like I'd learned a little bit more about my boys and their story.

Has anyone else created a playlist for their stories and, if so, how did you find the challenge?  Enlightening or frustrating--and did it spark any fresh ideas?

No-Nonsense Reviews - Come To Me by Megan Derr

Pros
+ Well-written with an easy, readable style
+ Likeable (frankly adorable) characters
+ Brilliant sex scenes

YMMV
+/- Might not make sense if you've not read Black Magic

Cons
- Not long enough!

It's quite hard to condense my feelings about this book into a coherent review, mostly because I'd preordered it, pounced on it the minute it became available and proceeded to squee pretty much all of the way through it.

I love the characters involved.  I fell pretty heavily for them in Black Magic, which I couldn't put down, so getting to read more about them was fantastic, although I (selfishly) would have loved the stories to be longer.  Both stories were sweet and both characters' personalities shone through along with just how much they love one another--and both managed to stab me sharply in the soul, something the first book also succeeded in.

I recommend picking it up for a short, fun and frisky read (both chapters contain sex), but don't blame me if you're just forced to have to buy the first one too.

• Goodreads page for Come to Me
• Buy at Less Than Three Press

• Buy Black Magic at Less Than Three Press

Character Interviews

I've seen these be mooted as an idea for "getting to know your characters better" and, to a certain degree, I think they really do work.  The only problem lies with the question: what do you do if your characters converse with each other and contribute scenes and opinions by themselves in your head?  I've never needed to ask my characters questions about themselves, because they usually contribute quite happily by themselves.

Yes, I know how I sound.  Shush.

But the idea sounds fun anyway.

So I decided that it might be quite fun to interview my characters for this blog.  If anything, it'll be something new to do, to take the place of the Meet My Desk series since I ran out of things with names.  I'm still pondering it over, and indulging in a healthy dose of procrastination by rendering "interview pictures" of said characters rather than writing--you'd be surprised at how time-consuming what ultimately amounts of 3D photography can be--but I think I'm more likely to do it than not.

If anything, mostly because I already have three pictures of various characters.

So I'd like to throw it open: is there anything you'd like to ask a character?  Whether you've read Three Graces and have something you'd like to ask Cas or David, or want to ask Milos from Unravel what it's like being the second surviving elven bioweapon, or even ask Kirill from the Unnamed Steampunk [we're getting there with a name, I think] how the front of his hair came to be white--which @SplitShilo did today actually ask!--or even just a generic question to any or all characters, then go ahead.

You can post a question in the comments box here, or email me at pax@paxasteriae.co.uk, or maybe summon one through the void with esoteric rituals and blood stone circles.

No-Nonsense Reviews - Blood Skies by Steven Montano

Pros
+ Interesting, likeable characters
+ A very different take on fantastical creatures
+ Emotive, clear description

YMMV
+/- Became very afraid of getting attached to characters very quickly

Cons
- Sometimes prone to repetition

I started reading Blood Skies, I have to admit, out of an urge to deal with the fact I have a ton of books on my Kindle, and I've read only a fraction of them.

However, it didn't take long for me to become hooked.  The story, after an initial moment of "what the hell is going on?" soon grabbed me and didn't put me down again until I'd finished.  I quickly grew fond of the likeable Eric Cross and his sister and, wanting to know more about them and the world they inhabited, didn't want to stop reading until I got to the bottom of what was happening to them.

The world was clearly described, to the point where I could imagine every scene and location in detail.  The only downside was that some facts and points were repeated after only a short time, probably to hammer home their importance but it instead gave me an odd feeling of déjà vu.  It wasn't enough to become a major detraction, but just enough to be a little irritating.  Maybe I'd have noticed it less if I'd not finished it in only a couple of sittings.

However the plot, pacing and ending were all more than satisfying; as soon as I finished it I ordered the second one and I'm looking forward to reading it.

• Goodreads page for Blood Skies
• Steven Montano's Blood Skies Series page

The Promised Handwritten Blog Post - It's National Stationery Month Soon...

Click to make it larger if necessary!

For more information, check out National Stationery Week's site and their Twitter @NatStatWeek -- and maybe consider joining me in writing something?  Please?

Copic atyouSpica Pens - Review

I bought these pens from Cult Pens last year and I kept meaning to review them, but I wasn't sure whether I had enough experience using them to be able to do so.

And then on Friday my trusty lavender pen, fading and no longer quite so glittery as it had been when it first arrived, finally died halfway through helping me plot out a story, and I realised then that perhaps, just maybe, I had been using them quite a lot after all.  So, while I'm waiting for a replacement to arrive (no I can't just use another pen, it'd feel wrong), I thought I should finally review them.

Copic atyouSpica glitter pens come individually, in a pack of twelve of a single colour, or in two sets (A and B) of every colour.  Set A contains more strident colours, such as lavender, red, sky blue--which is darker than you'd expect--as well as black, gold and silver.  Set B contains pastel colours as well as some darker versions of set A, a clear pen, and one of the blackest black pens I've seen.

The pens write very nicely and the ink flows well onto the page.  They survive my too-strong pressure and spiky handwriting admirably and don't dry out too quickly if you leave the lid off, which is particularly handy when your inspiration suddenly dies on you.

Each pen also contains glitter and the effect varies depending on the brightness of the ink: the glitter is very visible in the black pens, while it's nowhere near as noticeable in the pastel colours.  The exception to this appears to be the orange pen--at least, in my case--which is packed with a surprising amount of it.  The glitter doesn't slow down the flow and is evenly distributed in the ink.

The glitter will wear away from the page with time, but the colours remain strong and bright.

The pastel colours are hard to see on white paper, particularly in low light, as are the orange and yellow; the clear is for accent purposes and is near impossible to see.

For pens that are primarily designed for crafting they make beautiful note pens and are great for general handwriting.  I use them for colour-coding my plotting notes, as well as for a little extra sparkle for things like greetings cards.

Finally, you can get a lot of use out of one pen--I'd plotted out a novella and a half with the lavender before it died!  And more to the point, I'm surprised at how quickly I've come to rely on them--they've become my 'go-to' pens in a very short space of time.

My new lavender pen meets the pack