bye-bye Snow

Dear Reader,

I'm in the wintery-festive mood lately for obvious reasons. And since I've had no place to go, I'll sing (even with my sore throat) "Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snnnnooooowwwww"... ( these pictures are a few days old now but click the images to properly see all the snow falling action)

If, like me, you're reading this from London, or anywhere in the UK: I hope you enjoyed the snow and remember to drive carefully. If not then I hope you have a nice, warm and cozy winter holiday (unless you're in the southern hemisphere in which case, enjoy your summer and still drive carefully anyway).

Nida

thoughts On writing

Dear Reader,

As this year comes to an end, so does the poll I set up for the title of The Big One (a novel I'm currently writing).  So if you haven't yet voted, make sure you do before 01-01-11. Because every vote counts. --->;

Okay, election speech over, now on to more a important topics i.e. my self-confidence.

So I've noticed that lately I haven't been so hesitant to proclaim myself a writer or admit that I'm writing a novel or two. This is kind of a new thing for me, despite the impression that one might get from my blog. I'm generally quite a shy person and usually avoid questions related to my writing. I don't know exactly when this change began but I know it definitely has something to do with this blog. It might also have something to do with the fact that in these last few weeks I've been taking to uni, my main notebook for "The Big One" (see below for pictures) and the recyclable-folder (I'm as "green" as my bedroom walls) containing the printed version of all that I've typed up so far for this particular novel.

THE notebook

a Random page - so you can see the state of my thoughts

Now another thing you, dear reader, should know about me is that I usually don't put up much of a fight. Confession: Fights - I absolutely hate them, avoid them at all cost and don't even like the concept of them (except maybe in novels like The Lord of the Rings and kickass video games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood  or Prince of Persia) So when some of my uni-friends, Collective Codename: The Sisterhood, lovingly began pestering me to let them read some of my work ... well you can imagine how that turned out. But the comments that I got afterwards made me think that maybe, just maybe my friends aren't just saying all that so as not to hurt my feelings, maybe this stuff that I write isn't so bad, that maybe I should consider getting it published.

However, there is one thing I know for sure: I don't want "The Big One" to be the first thing I ever publish. The reasonings behind this decision are complex and even I don't fully understand it, but I'll try to explain it anyway:

"The Big One" is a work in progress and something that would change and grow and get better as I get older and, hopefully, wiser. It's an outlet for me into which I channel all that I observe in my surroundings, all that I feel and desire on the inside, all the irrelevant thoughts bumping around inside my skull and all that can be found in my imagination. And what I do is I "curl and crush it all into to a tight knit ball inside myself" and then "splatter it all across the empty pages that lie in my lap". So you see, other than being ginormously personal to me, it would be fair to neither my characters nor myself if "The Big One" is published before the story or I'm is fully actualised.

If you can properly understand all that, then I congratulate you on gaining more insight into my personality than I have.

Now I think that this is more than enough confessions and contemplations for me today.
Until next time,


Nida
 

the Winter reading List

Dear Reader,

Another season, another reading list, another post. Being caught up in university assignments and my research project and a million other things, did not leave me with enough time to complete my reading list from last season. Thus, my list this time round has a lot of books that you're probably already familiar with (that is if you've been following this blog for a few months now).  But there are definitely some new books there to wet your appetite (Aside: this phrase only applies to you dear reader, if you like to devour books the way I do - not literally though). 

Anyway, without further ado, may I present to you The List: 

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
3. Kill Grief by Caroline Rance
4. Aspirin: The Remarkable story of the Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys
5. The Winter Ghost by Kate Mosse
6. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
7. The Replacement by Brenna Yavanoff
8. The Passage by Justin Cronin
9. Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore
10. Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler
11. The Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn

This ones called "A View From my Bed":

I have nothing further to say really, especially with all these deadlines creeping up behind my shoulder. So for now, I bid you adieu!

Nida

P.S. - I know, I know I'm just feeling a bit dramatic today.