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Flowers for Algernon – get the tissues ready fam!

I am making a quick update because I have run into some technical issus with my Authy 2FA application on my phone. This has caused several problems because for some reason the account hasn’t synced correctly since the 23rd of June. But anyyywayyy, you probably don’t really care much about 2FA 😂

I have made some progress on the Flash Fiction side of things – not much, but some. I am still reading about how to write flash fiction but it seems to me that every article I read seems to say the same thing which is basically write, then edit and cut everything down as much as possible and then edit again. Great. A lot of editing involved, no real clue as to what is good technique. I am seeing fiction for all sorts of things, all sorts of word counts as well.

I also decided to read really quickly Flowers for Algernon. This was not on my list, I read it today when a friend told me that “this story will screw you up”… let me say that WHO in their right mind could write a story so sad and depressing and just… ugh. I am not saying the writing is bad, quite the opposite. I haven’t felt that depressed about a book in some time. If you want something to make you feel hopeful and then drop you off the side of a bridge, read Flowers for Algernon… that should deliver nicely.

Here’s a link and it’s virus free if you want to read it. I may write a review for it possibly because its so good.

 

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Recommend a book, please!

You may have read on Pinterest or some site that likes to blog memes, random facts, factoids for specific subjects like writing or any other social media site that to write well you must also read. I used to be addicted to reading. I have no idea why I stopped. I doubt there was a very good reason because I’d remember it. But here it is, and today I spent some time on my lunch break going through various “recommend me a book” websites like Goodreads to try and find my next book.

I’ve had some suggestions from workmates, but I didn’t like wuxia because it just didn’t feel like me. It’s hard to explain, but I went to multiple websites to try and find my next book and came up empty-handed. Of the millions of books on planet Earth, I couldn’t find one book that took my fancy from all of the ones I saw.

The genres I am interested in are Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Horror, Cyberpunk and I’ve read quite a few books considered “romance”, but I wouldn’t call myself a Mills and Boon reader if that makes sense. So I thought I’d ask my followers and readers of anything they could suggest with the above genres in mind? I also love Vampires and Supernatural and Paranormal, too.

Even though this book doesn’t really fit any of those categories well, one of the last books I read and absolutely loved was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller who is a romance but not in the way that you’d think! I think this is one of the most endearing things about this story because it flips a few characters taken from history upside down, and the end result is just fantastic.

Some of my favourite (non-Star Wars) books are Magician by Raymond E. Feist, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Martian by Andy Weir.

If you know of any books that you’ve really enjoyed or that would fit my taste from the examples above, please leave me a comment, and I’ll go check them out 🙂

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Books of Old…

Have you ever just wandered about a book you once read, perhaps in your childhood, and you suddenly find yourself connecting with that author again? It’s quite a surreal experience. It’s happening to me right now – the book is The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier and I’ve decided that I am going to try and read as many of his books as I can for the 2019 new year Goodreads book challenge. I’m going to start now though because I promised myself I would try and read more (not as a new year’s resolution, just in general). Continue reading → Books of Old…