Is anyone even reading my humble blog offerings anymore or are you all sunning yourself in foreign climes?
Anyways, on Friday I delivered my first grown-up book, except today I decided there were at least two chapters that needed to be completely rewritten. But mostly it's done and as Dusty once sang, I just don't know what to do with myself. Tomorrow I will probably start my next teen book as I don't believe in taking writing breaks; it's a heady combination of an over-developed work ethic, credit crunch hysteria and Jewish guilt. Be very glad you're not me!
So, I finally have time to post the second part of my reading recs. There will be other parts to come, but this time I wanted to focus on my favourite female writers. In fact, with a few notable exceptions, all my favourite writers are women. People can be quite sniffy about writing for women and the themes women writers explore, but I want to read about relationships, shopping, food, sex, friendships, clothes and life and death and everything in between. I don't like reading about people blowing each other up, anything too sci-fi-ish or fantasy and crime. But that's just a personal preference and really? The only difference between female writing and male writing is that they're written by different sexes. Neither one is less or more than the other, but the writers I mostly come back to are stubborn, difficult women who write about other stubborn, difficult women, because I am one. So, here we go:
1. The Collected Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was a noted wit in the 1920's, who was thwarted in love, drank too much and hung out with the likes of F Scott Fitzgerald. She never wrote a full-length novel, but all her short stories, poems and book reviews are gathered in this compendium. You probably already know of her as she wrote the famous epiphet, "Men never makes passes/At girls in glasses," but she's so much more than that. Her stories are always funny, but have this black edge running through them and actually the New York of her 1920's in very similar to the New York of Gossip Girl in that underneath all the style and shallowness, there's something sad and unhappy lurking underneath. God, Blair Waldorf is the spiritual great-grand-daughter of Dottie P!
2. The Pursuit Of Love and Love In A Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
I'm absolutely obsessed with the Mitford Sisters, six debutantes who shocked England with their antics. Though I have no time for Unity Mitford, who was in love with Hitler, or Diana Mitford, who married Oswald Moseley leader of the British fascists. But I love Jessica Mitford who eloped with her Communist cousin when she was 17 and I adore Nancy who wrote two of my favourite novels, The Pursuit Of Love and Love In A Cold Climate. These are not sappy romances, but mannered, elegant stories about love and the upper classes and are full of wit and acid observations but, as usual, have this core of hopeful sadness running through them.
3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
A shy, timid slip of a girl meets a much older, rich man and marries him, as you do. He takes her back to his big, creepy house, Manderlay, which is managed by his equally creepy housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, and the second Mrs De Winter (we never discover her first name!) starts to piece together how his first wife, Rebecca died. You should also check out the film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which is just as spooky and atmospheric as this book.
4. Edie: An American Biography by Jean Stein
When I was 17, I was besotted with Edie Sedgwick, a superstar created by pop artist, Andy Warhol. Edie came from a really wealthy, completely bonkers East Coast family, did a spell in a psychiatric hospital and came to New York. She cut and died her hair silver to match Andy Warhol's, starred in his pretentious movies, had an affair with Bob Dylan (his album Blonde On Blonde is rumoured to be about Edie)and did copious amounts of drugs. She was a doomed, tragic little girl lost and I thought she was wonderful! This biography tells the story of Edie's life through the anecdotes and
memories of the people who knew her. And let's not mention the film, Factory Girl, OK?
There may be more. I'm sure there's more, but my brain currently feels like blancmange (it's been a rather erm, alcoholic weekend!) so I'm going to post and be damned and maybe come back to this in a day or so.
And don't forget to vote for me in the Queen Of Teen thingy.
Live on
S x
Showing posts with label book reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reports. Show all posts
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Summer reading list (Part One - The Classics)
Finally, in the downtime between the second and third drafts of the grown up book and filing my business taxes (because being a writer is dead glamorous), I have found an hour to compile some book recs. It will be a part work, because there are so damn many of them.
So, I'm starting with the classics. Those books of yore that you might even have to study at school and always end up on those 100 Books That Everyone Should Read lists - there's a reason for that; it's because they're magical, life-changing books. But here's my take on them.
1. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith"
Ignore the fact that she also wrote 101 Dalmations, which actually I love, and the terrible film they made of this book, I Capture The Castle is one of the most poignant coming of age books. Which means the main character, Cassandra, is dreamy and insular and given to flights of fancy to escape her life of genteel poverty, unrequited love and a beautiful older sister. The last paragraph makes me cry every time I read this book and I've probably read it about ten times.
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I actually did this book for GCSE English when I was but a mere slip of a girl even that wasn't enough to ruin it for me! And of course you all know that I love it as one Atticus Smith from Let's Get Lost was named for Atticus Finch, the lawyer pa of Scout who defends a black man in 1930's Alabama against charges that he raped a white woman. Not only is it a really powerful story about civil rights, or the lack of them, it's about being a kid on long, hot days when the summer stretches out before you but by the time the first leaves fall from the tree, you've lost some of your childhood innocence as you realise what an ugly place the world can be. It always reminds me of that line from The Breakfast Club, "When you grow up, your heart dies."
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
I went through a huge Plath phase during my turbulent teen years. Like, always carrying her Collected Poems with me, going on pilgrimages to Chalcot Square, hating on Ted Hughes, writing my own sub-par Plath-esque poetry and, on one occasion, dragging a poor friend to a really bad play about La Plath at a theatre in a pub. Lord, I was one pretentious little bitch! That said, it's been years since I read The Bell Jar but it should be compulsory reading for all teenage girls with writerly aspirations. Basically, Esther Greenwood (but really Plath herself) wins a magazine writing contest and spends a summer in New York interning for them, with 11 other girls. She almost gets date-raped in a car park, has a really bad experience losing her virginity, then has a nervous breakdown. Why, it's a laugh on every page! Except, it's not but you should probably read it, because all us moody girls who like to wear too much black should.
4. The Catcher In The Rye
I always think of The Catcher In The Rye as a companion book to The Bell Jar, or the boy version of The Bell Jar. Holden Caulfield is one of the most biting, angry voices I've ever read. Holden is a deeply troubled teenager, scarred by the death of his perfect older brother and bumming around New York for a couple of days after geting kicked out of his expensive boarding school. It occurs to me that so many of these books are about disaffected youths who get stuck as they make the transition to a scary, grown-up world. Like, the loss of innocence that makes you an adult is a catastrophe for them. Holden moves through life as if the top layer of his skin has been shaved off so he feels everything too deeply, while at the same time he's almost numb. Or actually obsessed with the phoniness he sees in the people around him. I loved The Catcher In The Rye when I was going through adolescence but as I got older, Salinger's other books about The Glass family (Raise High The Roof Beam Carpenters and Franny And Zooey) are the ones I come back to time after time.
5. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Not my favourite Austen, which would either be Emma or Pride And Prejudice but this was Miss Austen's first novel and I think it's a good place to start for anyone who's a bit wary of books written in Ye Olden Dayes. Catherine Moreland is a 17-year-old girl obsessed with gothic romance novels. No, not like Twilight! Well, actually, yes exactly like Twilight but in Miss Austen's day these were melodramatic novels about haunted houses and heroines with heaving bosoms tormented by the ghosts of evil landowners and doomed lovers. Catherine has to separate fantasy from reality in her own search for love, which is something I've never managed to do. Now, in life I think you're either a Bronte fan or an Austen fan and I'm Austen all the way. I can't be doing with all that mopping and mowing about the moors and orphanages and madwomen in attics. Whereas with Miss Austen's novels, there's a lightness and elegance to them and I think her heroines are truly modern young women refusing to give up their dreams and settling for anything less than what they truly deserve. In fact, you can still relate to all her characters some three hundred years later, apart from Fanny Price in Mansfield Park who's stuck-up little prig. Please don't be put off by the language. The secret is to get into the rhythm of her writing and it doesn't matter if you don't perfectly understand each sentence, because all of a sudden you just get caught up and lifted away by the story and woah, you're an Austen girl. Welcome to our club. Another three members and I get the toaster oven.
6. Bonjour Tristesse by Francois Sagan
Literally translated as Hello Sadness. A story about une jeune fille de France just as a change of pace. Again, a crazy teenage girl going through crazy teenage things but she's French so it's all the more crazy and sophisticated. Oh la la!
7. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Much, much darker than the film, Holly Golightly is a little girl lost in the Big Apple, running from her past and trying to find solace in a world of parties and rich men. Which never ends well.
Well, that's enough to be getting on with. I shall be back with more fabulous books for you to read and fall in love with. But right now, I have to write a letter to my accountant...
Live on
Sarra x
So, I'm starting with the classics. Those books of yore that you might even have to study at school and always end up on those 100 Books That Everyone Should Read lists - there's a reason for that; it's because they're magical, life-changing books. But here's my take on them.
1. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith"
Ignore the fact that she also wrote 101 Dalmations, which actually I love, and the terrible film they made of this book, I Capture The Castle is one of the most poignant coming of age books. Which means the main character, Cassandra, is dreamy and insular and given to flights of fancy to escape her life of genteel poverty, unrequited love and a beautiful older sister. The last paragraph makes me cry every time I read this book and I've probably read it about ten times.
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I actually did this book for GCSE English when I was but a mere slip of a girl even that wasn't enough to ruin it for me! And of course you all know that I love it as one Atticus Smith from Let's Get Lost was named for Atticus Finch, the lawyer pa of Scout who defends a black man in 1930's Alabama against charges that he raped a white woman. Not only is it a really powerful story about civil rights, or the lack of them, it's about being a kid on long, hot days when the summer stretches out before you but by the time the first leaves fall from the tree, you've lost some of your childhood innocence as you realise what an ugly place the world can be. It always reminds me of that line from The Breakfast Club, "When you grow up, your heart dies."
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
I went through a huge Plath phase during my turbulent teen years. Like, always carrying her Collected Poems with me, going on pilgrimages to Chalcot Square, hating on Ted Hughes, writing my own sub-par Plath-esque poetry and, on one occasion, dragging a poor friend to a really bad play about La Plath at a theatre in a pub. Lord, I was one pretentious little bitch! That said, it's been years since I read The Bell Jar but it should be compulsory reading for all teenage girls with writerly aspirations. Basically, Esther Greenwood (but really Plath herself) wins a magazine writing contest and spends a summer in New York interning for them, with 11 other girls. She almost gets date-raped in a car park, has a really bad experience losing her virginity, then has a nervous breakdown. Why, it's a laugh on every page! Except, it's not but you should probably read it, because all us moody girls who like to wear too much black should.
4. The Catcher In The Rye
I always think of The Catcher In The Rye as a companion book to The Bell Jar, or the boy version of The Bell Jar. Holden Caulfield is one of the most biting, angry voices I've ever read. Holden is a deeply troubled teenager, scarred by the death of his perfect older brother and bumming around New York for a couple of days after geting kicked out of his expensive boarding school. It occurs to me that so many of these books are about disaffected youths who get stuck as they make the transition to a scary, grown-up world. Like, the loss of innocence that makes you an adult is a catastrophe for them. Holden moves through life as if the top layer of his skin has been shaved off so he feels everything too deeply, while at the same time he's almost numb. Or actually obsessed with the phoniness he sees in the people around him. I loved The Catcher In The Rye when I was going through adolescence but as I got older, Salinger's other books about The Glass family (Raise High The Roof Beam Carpenters and Franny And Zooey) are the ones I come back to time after time.
5. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Not my favourite Austen, which would either be Emma or Pride And Prejudice but this was Miss Austen's first novel and I think it's a good place to start for anyone who's a bit wary of books written in Ye Olden Dayes. Catherine Moreland is a 17-year-old girl obsessed with gothic romance novels. No, not like Twilight! Well, actually, yes exactly like Twilight but in Miss Austen's day these were melodramatic novels about haunted houses and heroines with heaving bosoms tormented by the ghosts of evil landowners and doomed lovers. Catherine has to separate fantasy from reality in her own search for love, which is something I've never managed to do. Now, in life I think you're either a Bronte fan or an Austen fan and I'm Austen all the way. I can't be doing with all that mopping and mowing about the moors and orphanages and madwomen in attics. Whereas with Miss Austen's novels, there's a lightness and elegance to them and I think her heroines are truly modern young women refusing to give up their dreams and settling for anything less than what they truly deserve. In fact, you can still relate to all her characters some three hundred years later, apart from Fanny Price in Mansfield Park who's stuck-up little prig. Please don't be put off by the language. The secret is to get into the rhythm of her writing and it doesn't matter if you don't perfectly understand each sentence, because all of a sudden you just get caught up and lifted away by the story and woah, you're an Austen girl. Welcome to our club. Another three members and I get the toaster oven.
6. Bonjour Tristesse by Francois Sagan
Literally translated as Hello Sadness. A story about une jeune fille de France just as a change of pace. Again, a crazy teenage girl going through crazy teenage things but she's French so it's all the more crazy and sophisticated. Oh la la!
7. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Much, much darker than the film, Holly Golightly is a little girl lost in the Big Apple, running from her past and trying to find solace in a world of parties and rich men. Which never ends well.
Well, that's enough to be getting on with. I shall be back with more fabulous books for you to read and fall in love with. But right now, I have to write a letter to my accountant...
Live on
Sarra x
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
I must eat so many lemons...
Hello earthlings
After the wettest, soggiest summer since records began, I'm happy to report that London is finally sunshine-y and warm. Hurrah! Also, I escaped unscathed after getting run over by a bus but will never step out into the road without looking again.
On to more important topics. Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the first Fashionista's book, Laura. I know that it seems light and fluffy on the surface (and on the cover!) but like all my stories, it's about what lies beneath the masks that people wear. And I'm really grateful that so many of you understood that.
Unfortunately, I have no news to report about any US or Canadian publication date for the series. The British edition should be available on amazon.com and amazon.ca though. Austrlian and NZ readers, the series should be on sale at the usual places and there will be French, German and Dutch editions next year.
However, I am working on a little something that will only be published in the US next year. Can't say anymore at this stage but you guys will be the first to know when I can spill.
I've also done a little press for Fashionistas at two of my very favourite websites. The first interview is at pink-world.co.uk. You can find it here
and I also answered my own question, 'what does being a fashionista mean to you?' at chicklish.co.uk. You can read my thoughts here.
While I'm in a linky mood, I wanted to rec a couple of books I've read recently. I don't really read much teen fic 'cause I like to stay in my own little teen world but y'all have to rush out and get a copy of Notes From The Teenage Underground by my MySpace pal, Simmone Howell.
She's an Australian writer who tells the story of Gem and her two frenemies, Lo and Mira and their plans to stage an Andy Warholesque happening. Except it doesn't quite work out as Gem thought it would. This is such a great book about movies, how fraught friendship can be and what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. I really identified with it as I was obsessed with Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick when I was a teenager.
The other book I wanted to rave about is my mate Grace Dent's Diary Of A Chav: Trainers vs. Tiaras. It's about Shiraz Bailey-Wood from Essex who's a pink hoodie-wearing chav with an emo older sister, a fat dog and ambitions to become a reality TV star. Don't read it on the bus though 'cause you'll start cackling out loud and people will think you're deranged. It's also worth checking out Grace's Big Brother blog At the moment I'm hating on Ziggy so hard.
What else? I'm listening to Kate Nash too much and spitting out words in a mockney style. Want to weep for the travesty that is Britain's Next Top Model. Need to sort out what I'm doing for my birthday next week and will be fostering a six week old kitten who needs bottle feeding while my cousin is on holiday.
I'm also writing some words that will become a book one day. Y'know, same old, same old...
Live on
Sarra x
After the wettest, soggiest summer since records began, I'm happy to report that London is finally sunshine-y and warm. Hurrah! Also, I escaped unscathed after getting run over by a bus but will never step out into the road without looking again.
On to more important topics. Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the first Fashionista's book, Laura. I know that it seems light and fluffy on the surface (and on the cover!) but like all my stories, it's about what lies beneath the masks that people wear. And I'm really grateful that so many of you understood that.
Unfortunately, I have no news to report about any US or Canadian publication date for the series. The British edition should be available on amazon.com and amazon.ca though. Austrlian and NZ readers, the series should be on sale at the usual places and there will be French, German and Dutch editions next year.
However, I am working on a little something that will only be published in the US next year. Can't say anymore at this stage but you guys will be the first to know when I can spill.
I've also done a little press for Fashionistas at two of my very favourite websites. The first interview is at pink-world.co.uk. You can find it here
and I also answered my own question, 'what does being a fashionista mean to you?' at chicklish.co.uk. You can read my thoughts here.
While I'm in a linky mood, I wanted to rec a couple of books I've read recently. I don't really read much teen fic 'cause I like to stay in my own little teen world but y'all have to rush out and get a copy of Notes From The Teenage Underground by my MySpace pal, Simmone Howell.
She's an Australian writer who tells the story of Gem and her two frenemies, Lo and Mira and their plans to stage an Andy Warholesque happening. Except it doesn't quite work out as Gem thought it would. This is such a great book about movies, how fraught friendship can be and what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. I really identified with it as I was obsessed with Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick when I was a teenager.
The other book I wanted to rave about is my mate Grace Dent's Diary Of A Chav: Trainers vs. Tiaras. It's about Shiraz Bailey-Wood from Essex who's a pink hoodie-wearing chav with an emo older sister, a fat dog and ambitions to become a reality TV star. Don't read it on the bus though 'cause you'll start cackling out loud and people will think you're deranged. It's also worth checking out Grace's Big Brother blog At the moment I'm hating on Ziggy so hard.
What else? I'm listening to Kate Nash too much and spitting out words in a mockney style. Want to weep for the travesty that is Britain's Next Top Model. Need to sort out what I'm doing for my birthday next week and will be fostering a six week old kitten who needs bottle feeding while my cousin is on holiday.
I'm also writing some words that will become a book one day. Y'know, same old, same old...
Live on
Sarra x
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Research 101
Happy Sunday to you my little darlings
It's very soggy, chilled and grey here in London. I wish Spring would just hurry up and sprung already.
As ever, thanks for all your comments, particularly about my new series Fashionistas. I can't wait for you to read the first book when it comes out in June. Or is it July? I never can remember! And thanks for all your other comments, though I have to remind you that leaving a comment here or at MySpace is the best way to contact me. If you do manage to dig out my email addy, I send back a pre-written email, which is a bit of a FAQ and also a reminder that this blog or MySpace are the official ways to contact me. While I'm on a reminding tip, there are a list of tags on this blog that will direct you to previous posts on writing tips, why there will never be a sequel to Diary Of A Crush and all sorts of other exciting topics. And links to all my interviews on the interpipe.
So at the moment I'm hard at work on the third book in the Fashionstas series, Irina, all about a surly Russian model, which is proving a great way to channel my aggression as I stick to my 2500 daily word quota.
It occurs to me that I haven't talked about the writing process for ages so I thought I'd do a post about research and how important it is to a writer. Being neither Russian or a model (and in this case, never having visited Japan which takes up a significant few chapters), to write this book and make it convincing meant that I had to do a lot of research. In an ideal world, I'd make enough money and have such great connections that I could just jump on a plane to Moscow or Tokyo or call Kate Moss for a little chat, but I don't so here are the less glam tricks of my trade.
Interviews
I'm really lucky that I have a lot of contacts in the fashion industry so I've been going out for coffee with people who know more about this stuff than I do. (A little tip, I bought this little gizmo that I stick into my iPod, which turns it into a voice recorder.) My good friend Jill Wanless gave me loads of great stuff about modelling and what happens behind the scenes on fashion shoots. I was shocked that all the dramatic scenes I came up with weren't half as outlandish as some of the things that actually go on. I'm also incredibly lucky to know Iain R Webb, a really influentilal fashion writer and living legend. Iain actually worked for Russian Vogue and has visited Moscow so could give me a first hand account that I just couldn't get from my Rough Guide To Moscow. It's also been really helpful to be able to phone Jill up and ask inane questions like, "Is there anything that models usually take to go-sees?" Or "Could a size 10 girl realistically be a successful model?" I have to say that all my years of workong on fashion magazines and being bored stupid at photo shoots were also invaluable as I could use tons of things that actually happened that I've been saving up for ages.
Internet
I love the internet. You're all too young to remember life before it but it involved going to libraries and wading through card indexes or using cuttings agencies and still not finding what you were looking for. Google is a writer's best friend. Thanks to Google I could find out the time difference between here and Russia and how long the flight takes. Where the Prada in Moscow is and what does the street look like? Even what MacDonalds tastes like in Tokyo! I have to confess I get a bit eye-rolly when I get emails and messages, usually on book reports, asking me tons of questions and usually ending with the words, "I couldn't find anything about you on the internet!" In a fraction of the time, they could have put "sarra manning" in a google search and found out everything they neded to know, which is what I tell them to do when I reply!
My favourite two research webby tools are Wikipedia, which pretty much has the facts on anything and everything. Someone's even Wiki-ed me! My other must-have is the bookmark site delicious. When I find a site or an online article (even a cookie recipe) that I know I'll need at a later date, I just click on the del.icio.us button I've installed on my toolbar and bookmark the site, but I can also organise all my bookmarks into tags like 'Russia' or 'Fashionistas'.
Media
I think peple can be really up themselves about research. It can be fun too! Fr'instance I got to re-watch Lost In Translation to actually see what Tokyo was like and watched the special 'making of' feature on the DVD too. Hey, it gave me lots of colour that I could put into the book as well so who's to say that it's not proper research? I also watched a way dark film called Lilya 4 ever, which was a great insight into the seedy side of post-Soviet Russia. What's weird is that all of a sudden everything you watch is relevant. Like, this week's episode of UK teen drama Skins saw them going off on a school visit to Russia, while there's that really annoying Russian girl on the new series of ANTM! When I was writing the second book, Hadley, about a former child star turned partying club kid, there were bits of gossip I read on celeb blogs that went straight into the book, including the fantastic quote, "Urgh, don't talk to me like I'm a normal person!" I guess Hadley is based on a composite of maybe three or four different celebrities and the crazy shit that they got up to while I was working on the book was absolute writer's gold.
Something else I've always done is have a big stack of magazine articles in a folder - for the last 18 months that I've been writing Fashionstas, I've kept every interview I've found with a model, or a feature on the fashion industry, or the New York club scene or 'internet It girl' Cory Kennedy. Though I've stopped reading pieces on the size zero debate because, hello, so over it.
Joke
I've also been listening to The Research a lot! But I think the two things may be unconnected.
Love Sarra x
It's very soggy, chilled and grey here in London. I wish Spring would just hurry up and sprung already.
As ever, thanks for all your comments, particularly about my new series Fashionistas. I can't wait for you to read the first book when it comes out in June. Or is it July? I never can remember! And thanks for all your other comments, though I have to remind you that leaving a comment here or at MySpace is the best way to contact me. If you do manage to dig out my email addy, I send back a pre-written email, which is a bit of a FAQ and also a reminder that this blog or MySpace are the official ways to contact me. While I'm on a reminding tip, there are a list of tags on this blog that will direct you to previous posts on writing tips, why there will never be a sequel to Diary Of A Crush and all sorts of other exciting topics. And links to all my interviews on the interpipe.
So at the moment I'm hard at work on the third book in the Fashionstas series, Irina, all about a surly Russian model, which is proving a great way to channel my aggression as I stick to my 2500 daily word quota.
It occurs to me that I haven't talked about the writing process for ages so I thought I'd do a post about research and how important it is to a writer. Being neither Russian or a model (and in this case, never having visited Japan which takes up a significant few chapters), to write this book and make it convincing meant that I had to do a lot of research. In an ideal world, I'd make enough money and have such great connections that I could just jump on a plane to Moscow or Tokyo or call Kate Moss for a little chat, but I don't so here are the less glam tricks of my trade.
Interviews
I'm really lucky that I have a lot of contacts in the fashion industry so I've been going out for coffee with people who know more about this stuff than I do. (A little tip, I bought this little gizmo that I stick into my iPod, which turns it into a voice recorder.) My good friend Jill Wanless gave me loads of great stuff about modelling and what happens behind the scenes on fashion shoots. I was shocked that all the dramatic scenes I came up with weren't half as outlandish as some of the things that actually go on. I'm also incredibly lucky to know Iain R Webb, a really influentilal fashion writer and living legend. Iain actually worked for Russian Vogue and has visited Moscow so could give me a first hand account that I just couldn't get from my Rough Guide To Moscow. It's also been really helpful to be able to phone Jill up and ask inane questions like, "Is there anything that models usually take to go-sees?" Or "Could a size 10 girl realistically be a successful model?" I have to say that all my years of workong on fashion magazines and being bored stupid at photo shoots were also invaluable as I could use tons of things that actually happened that I've been saving up for ages.
Internet
I love the internet. You're all too young to remember life before it but it involved going to libraries and wading through card indexes or using cuttings agencies and still not finding what you were looking for. Google is a writer's best friend. Thanks to Google I could find out the time difference between here and Russia and how long the flight takes. Where the Prada in Moscow is and what does the street look like? Even what MacDonalds tastes like in Tokyo! I have to confess I get a bit eye-rolly when I get emails and messages, usually on book reports, asking me tons of questions and usually ending with the words, "I couldn't find anything about you on the internet!" In a fraction of the time, they could have put "sarra manning" in a google search and found out everything they neded to know, which is what I tell them to do when I reply!
My favourite two research webby tools are Wikipedia, which pretty much has the facts on anything and everything. Someone's even Wiki-ed me! My other must-have is the bookmark site delicious. When I find a site or an online article (even a cookie recipe) that I know I'll need at a later date, I just click on the del.icio.us button I've installed on my toolbar and bookmark the site, but I can also organise all my bookmarks into tags like 'Russia' or 'Fashionistas'.
Media
I think peple can be really up themselves about research. It can be fun too! Fr'instance I got to re-watch Lost In Translation to actually see what Tokyo was like and watched the special 'making of' feature on the DVD too. Hey, it gave me lots of colour that I could put into the book as well so who's to say that it's not proper research? I also watched a way dark film called Lilya 4 ever, which was a great insight into the seedy side of post-Soviet Russia. What's weird is that all of a sudden everything you watch is relevant. Like, this week's episode of UK teen drama Skins saw them going off on a school visit to Russia, while there's that really annoying Russian girl on the new series of ANTM! When I was writing the second book, Hadley, about a former child star turned partying club kid, there were bits of gossip I read on celeb blogs that went straight into the book, including the fantastic quote, "Urgh, don't talk to me like I'm a normal person!" I guess Hadley is based on a composite of maybe three or four different celebrities and the crazy shit that they got up to while I was working on the book was absolute writer's gold.
Something else I've always done is have a big stack of magazine articles in a folder - for the last 18 months that I've been writing Fashionstas, I've kept every interview I've found with a model, or a feature on the fashion industry, or the New York club scene or 'internet It girl' Cory Kennedy. Though I've stopped reading pieces on the size zero debate because, hello, so over it.
Joke
I've also been listening to The Research a lot! But I think the two things may be unconnected.
Love Sarra x
Monday, January 15, 2007
All change!
Waving, not drowning...
Why yes, there is a shiny, new look to this blog with many added features. For good reason.
I've been absolutely swamped with emails and comments and MySpace messages over the last few weeks. I love, love, love hearing from you. I do. And I appreciate that you pour your hearts out and that my books mean a lot to you. It makes me feel very humble and honoured.
But the amount of things hitting my in-box has reached critical mass. I'm up to my elbows in my new series, but I'm also a jobbing journalist with freelance articles to write to keep the mortgage paid! This adds up to not a huge amount of time.
There's also the very thorny topic that I get asked the same three questions over and over and over again.
1. Please, please, please write more Diary Of A Crush/Guitar Girl/Let's Get Lost books.
2. I'm doing a book report and need some vague information on you that I haven't bothered to google.
3. Can I have some writing tips?
I have answered these questions many, many times on this blog. Many times. But I realise it can be very hard to trawl through the archives if you don't know what you're looking for. So, at first I considered just writing a FAQ and giving up the blogging, or else I would just be replying to the same questions all the time.
But I didn't want to do that. I like blogging. And I like blogging to you and reading your comments and finding out about what's going on in your life. I don't get time to reply to everyone but I read them all. I can't stress that enough.
LABELS
So, I decided to use the new features at blogspot to hopefully make everyone happy. As well as a new layout, I've spent two whole days of my life going back and labelling all of my entries. You can see the labels to the left of you. Now, to find out why there are no more Diary Of A Crush books you can simply click on the labels: Diary Of A Crush or NO MORE SEQUELS and all will be explained.
LINKS
I've also added a links list (also on the left, though you may have to scroll down to find it) with lots of me on the interpipe, from interviews to podcasts to my publishers' micro-sites. There's also a whole ton of other links for my favourite bands, magazines and people.
THE MYSPACE BLOG
I've decided to stop cross-posting to my blog at MySpace. I'm still on MySpace and always happy to add new friends and read (and even reply occasionally!) to messages there. But the blogspot template with the labelling and whatnot makes it more pratical to just blog here.
I hope that these nifty little things will help you find what you're looking for and it will make it easier for me to direct people to the right place. Though if I get one more email about a fourth Diary Of A Crush book, my brain may just leak out of my nostrils.
I guess the one thing I hate about blogspot is that there's no option so I can reply to specific comments. I either have to add a comment to my own post or try to pick up your questions on the next blog posting.
Anyway, there's lots here for you to take in. But, I'm still here. I'll still be posting all sorts of lists of stuff I'm into and a whole other bunch of rambly crap and book news, excerpts and gossip. I'm not going anywhere and please don't you either! I would be interested to know what you think of the new look blog and if you have any other tips or ideas of things I can do to make your blogging experience better.
Much love
Sarra x
Why yes, there is a shiny, new look to this blog with many added features. For good reason.
I've been absolutely swamped with emails and comments and MySpace messages over the last few weeks. I love, love, love hearing from you. I do. And I appreciate that you pour your hearts out and that my books mean a lot to you. It makes me feel very humble and honoured.
But the amount of things hitting my in-box has reached critical mass. I'm up to my elbows in my new series, but I'm also a jobbing journalist with freelance articles to write to keep the mortgage paid! This adds up to not a huge amount of time.
There's also the very thorny topic that I get asked the same three questions over and over and over again.
1. Please, please, please write more Diary Of A Crush/Guitar Girl/Let's Get Lost books.
2. I'm doing a book report and need some vague information on you that I haven't bothered to google.
3. Can I have some writing tips?
I have answered these questions many, many times on this blog. Many times. But I realise it can be very hard to trawl through the archives if you don't know what you're looking for. So, at first I considered just writing a FAQ and giving up the blogging, or else I would just be replying to the same questions all the time.
But I didn't want to do that. I like blogging. And I like blogging to you and reading your comments and finding out about what's going on in your life. I don't get time to reply to everyone but I read them all. I can't stress that enough.
LABELS
So, I decided to use the new features at blogspot to hopefully make everyone happy. As well as a new layout, I've spent two whole days of my life going back and labelling all of my entries. You can see the labels to the left of you. Now, to find out why there are no more Diary Of A Crush books you can simply click on the labels: Diary Of A Crush or NO MORE SEQUELS and all will be explained.
LINKS
I've also added a links list (also on the left, though you may have to scroll down to find it) with lots of me on the interpipe, from interviews to podcasts to my publishers' micro-sites. There's also a whole ton of other links for my favourite bands, magazines and people.
THE MYSPACE BLOG
I've decided to stop cross-posting to my blog at MySpace. I'm still on MySpace and always happy to add new friends and read (and even reply occasionally!) to messages there. But the blogspot template with the labelling and whatnot makes it more pratical to just blog here.
I hope that these nifty little things will help you find what you're looking for and it will make it easier for me to direct people to the right place. Though if I get one more email about a fourth Diary Of A Crush book, my brain may just leak out of my nostrils.
I guess the one thing I hate about blogspot is that there's no option so I can reply to specific comments. I either have to add a comment to my own post or try to pick up your questions on the next blog posting.
Anyway, there's lots here for you to take in. But, I'm still here. I'll still be posting all sorts of lists of stuff I'm into and a whole other bunch of rambly crap and book news, excerpts and gossip. I'm not going anywhere and please don't you either! I would be interested to know what you think of the new look blog and if you have any other tips or ideas of things I can do to make your blogging experience better.
Much love
Sarra x
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Burning the candle at both ends...
Buenos dias, my sweet ones
I'm a little hurty today as I've been going out too much and possibly drinking too much as well. Last night, I saw my good friend Kate Kannibal (possibly not her real last name) and her wonderful band, The Priscillas, play their Christmas show. And very wonderful it was, plus there was spectacular fake snow that got everywhere.
I'm meant to be going out tonight but the thought of curling up on the sofa in my pyjamas and watching DVDs is looking more and more tempting by the second. Especially as the coming week promises bowling and/or karaoke plus going to see my favourite new band Lucky Soul. Then a cocktail party and more bowling. Everyone I know seems to have a birthday right about now. Including the baby Jesus.
When I haven't been drinking and getting the 134 bus home at some ungodly hour in the morning, I've been wading through the second draft of the second book in my new series. I've made a rash promise to deliver it before Christmas. I'm crazy like that.
I'm still thrilled with all your comments about Let's Get Lost, especially as it seems to be more than just a good read, but a book that stays with you after you've read it and makes you cry. Tears are good. Tears are what I wanted. And the other thing I love is when art and life collide and something in one of my books slots right into what's happening with you. Fr'instance, onewtown08 is moving to Bossier City which is namechecked in Sealed With A Kiss and Dannie has been to Bailey's Fish 'n' Chip shop in Southend, which gets a mention in Pretty Things. Actually, Dannie since you told me that I've had a terrible hankering fro haddock and chips from Toff's, my local award-winning chippie, but I'm trying to be strong and eat lots of vegetables instead.
But there are two points of business I need to clear up. I've mentioned them before but no one took any notice! If you are writing a book report or essay on me, then all the info you need is already online. All you need to do is google my name (in speechmarks) and you'll find everything you want, except my age and marital status because heck, a girl has to retain some mystery. I'm kinda bemused when told that people haven't been to find anything on the interpipe, or maybe they just didn't look! And the other thing is that if you send me a message on MySpace, then I can't reply to you if you'r settings won't accept messages from people you haven't Friended. And I can't Friend you if your settings only accept 'adds' from people who know your last name or your email addy. I'm not ignoring you!
And finally, no one seems to want an end of year mix CD from me. The offer still stands. Two lucky people will get my annual Songs That Have Changed My Life This Year CD that I send out with my Crimbo cards. All you have to do is send me a Christmas message from one of the characters in any one of my books. Make them, funny, thoughtful, creative, whatever and remember to leave your email addy.
Cross-posted at http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning
I'm a little hurty today as I've been going out too much and possibly drinking too much as well. Last night, I saw my good friend Kate Kannibal (possibly not her real last name) and her wonderful band, The Priscillas, play their Christmas show. And very wonderful it was, plus there was spectacular fake snow that got everywhere.
I'm meant to be going out tonight but the thought of curling up on the sofa in my pyjamas and watching DVDs is looking more and more tempting by the second. Especially as the coming week promises bowling and/or karaoke plus going to see my favourite new band Lucky Soul. Then a cocktail party and more bowling. Everyone I know seems to have a birthday right about now. Including the baby Jesus.
When I haven't been drinking and getting the 134 bus home at some ungodly hour in the morning, I've been wading through the second draft of the second book in my new series. I've made a rash promise to deliver it before Christmas. I'm crazy like that.
I'm still thrilled with all your comments about Let's Get Lost, especially as it seems to be more than just a good read, but a book that stays with you after you've read it and makes you cry. Tears are good. Tears are what I wanted. And the other thing I love is when art and life collide and something in one of my books slots right into what's happening with you. Fr'instance, onewtown08 is moving to Bossier City which is namechecked in Sealed With A Kiss and Dannie has been to Bailey's Fish 'n' Chip shop in Southend, which gets a mention in Pretty Things. Actually, Dannie since you told me that I've had a terrible hankering fro haddock and chips from Toff's, my local award-winning chippie, but I'm trying to be strong and eat lots of vegetables instead.
But there are two points of business I need to clear up. I've mentioned them before but no one took any notice! If you are writing a book report or essay on me, then all the info you need is already online. All you need to do is google my name (in speechmarks) and you'll find everything you want, except my age and marital status because heck, a girl has to retain some mystery. I'm kinda bemused when told that people haven't been to find anything on the interpipe, or maybe they just didn't look! And the other thing is that if you send me a message on MySpace, then I can't reply to you if you'r settings won't accept messages from people you haven't Friended. And I can't Friend you if your settings only accept 'adds' from people who know your last name or your email addy. I'm not ignoring you!
And finally, no one seems to want an end of year mix CD from me. The offer still stands. Two lucky people will get my annual Songs That Have Changed My Life This Year CD that I send out with my Crimbo cards. All you have to do is send me a Christmas message from one of the characters in any one of my books. Make them, funny, thoughtful, creative, whatever and remember to leave your email addy.
Cross-posted at http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning
Saturday, November 11, 2006
What's in a name
Guten tag my little strudels
My contact lenses are giving me grief so I apologise if this post is riddled with typos.
It's been quite a tumultuous week. I'm still reeling from the Britney and k-Fed split, not like it was any surprise. And even more importantly the Roland Mouret 10 dresses went into Gap, while at H&M was the quite wonderful Viktor & Rolf collection. Alas, the Viktor & Rolf pieces seem to have sold out before I could get my hands on them, but truly we live in wonderful times.
I've been super busy writing for British Elle, but I have just started the second draft of the second book in my new series (still not out until Summer 2007 in the UK.) This involves reading the first draft and being pleasantly surprised that it's not quite as craptacular as I thought it was. But mostly, I've been a whirlwind of organisation as I fly to New York next Wednesday for a short holiday, though I will be signing some extra copies of Let's Get Lost in a backroom at Barnes & Noble, Union Square, which will then be available to buy. And shopping. Lots of shopping. Century 21 has already been alerted!
As ever, thanks for your comments, especially your thoughts on Let's Get Lost. Blue Floppy Hat asked if the title was taken from the Elliott Smith song, and actually it came from the original, Chet Baker version. Well, actually that's a little bit of a lie. Originally, many moons ago, when I started writing the book, it was going to be simply called Lost. Fast forward and there just happened to be a rather popular TV show of the same name that started in the meantime. I had lots of ideas as to what to call the book, some of them still scrawled on a Post-it note on my wall (Good, Bad, Whatever…, Crazy Mixed-Up Girl, A House Safe For Tigers) until I realised that Let's Get Lost was perfect. It just seemed to encapsulate Isabel's state of mind and her refusal to face up to what she was really feeling.
I also get asked for information for book reports every now and again. As ever, I just don't have the time to be of much help. One day I will have a proper website with a FAQ and links to all my interviews – or at least update my publisher's micro-site but until then, a simple Google search of my name, will turn up anything that you probably need to know for school assignments. There are quite a few interviews I've done that are up on the interpipe and that's the best way to find them.
Right now, I really need to jump in the shower (just back from the gym) and eat some lunch before my stomach stages a protest and walks to the fridge all by itself.
I won't be able to update next weekend as I'll be in New York, but I'll be in touch soon.
Love
Sarra x
(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)
My contact lenses are giving me grief so I apologise if this post is riddled with typos.
It's been quite a tumultuous week. I'm still reeling from the Britney and k-Fed split, not like it was any surprise. And even more importantly the Roland Mouret 10 dresses went into Gap, while at H&M was the quite wonderful Viktor & Rolf collection. Alas, the Viktor & Rolf pieces seem to have sold out before I could get my hands on them, but truly we live in wonderful times.
I've been super busy writing for British Elle, but I have just started the second draft of the second book in my new series (still not out until Summer 2007 in the UK.) This involves reading the first draft and being pleasantly surprised that it's not quite as craptacular as I thought it was. But mostly, I've been a whirlwind of organisation as I fly to New York next Wednesday for a short holiday, though I will be signing some extra copies of Let's Get Lost in a backroom at Barnes & Noble, Union Square, which will then be available to buy. And shopping. Lots of shopping. Century 21 has already been alerted!
As ever, thanks for your comments, especially your thoughts on Let's Get Lost. Blue Floppy Hat asked if the title was taken from the Elliott Smith song, and actually it came from the original, Chet Baker version. Well, actually that's a little bit of a lie. Originally, many moons ago, when I started writing the book, it was going to be simply called Lost. Fast forward and there just happened to be a rather popular TV show of the same name that started in the meantime. I had lots of ideas as to what to call the book, some of them still scrawled on a Post-it note on my wall (Good, Bad, Whatever…, Crazy Mixed-Up Girl, A House Safe For Tigers) until I realised that Let's Get Lost was perfect. It just seemed to encapsulate Isabel's state of mind and her refusal to face up to what she was really feeling.
I also get asked for information for book reports every now and again. As ever, I just don't have the time to be of much help. One day I will have a proper website with a FAQ and links to all my interviews – or at least update my publisher's micro-site but until then, a simple Google search of my name, will turn up anything that you probably need to know for school assignments. There are quite a few interviews I've done that are up on the interpipe and that's the best way to find them.
Right now, I really need to jump in the shower (just back from the gym) and eat some lunch before my stomach stages a protest and walks to the fridge all by itself.
I won't be able to update next weekend as I'll be in New York, but I'll be in touch soon.
Love
Sarra x
(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)
Saturday, September 02, 2006
No sir, I don't feel like dancing
Greetings girliea
Ah, the sun is but a dim and distant memory; it's grey and cold and all the delicious new autumn fashions are in the shops. Hurrah!
Because I spend most of my time in front of dark!Wes, my computer, I tend to live in jeans and a collection of faded logo retro tees but I'm coveting and even buying some fabulous frocks at the moment. And slouchy boy trousers. And I'm still loving polka dots and always will. In other style news, I have decided to stop straightening my hair after many years and I'm learning to love my curls.
On the writing front, I'm two thirds of the way through the first draft of the second book in my new series. It's still known as Untitled Sarra Manning series but I hope to be able to give you all the juicy details in a few weeks. I'm also doing a lot of freelance writing at the moment, mainly because I had a humungous tax bill come through and I want to go to New York in October and do some serious damage in the Marc by Marc Jacobs shop on Bleecker Street. Alas, his beautiful main range is too rich for my tastes.
I'm getting a lot of email requests for biographical information for school projects. Everything you need to know, or that I'm happy for you to know(!), is out there on the interpipe. Just type "sarra manning" (don't forget the speech marks) into a google search and you should find everything you could ever want to know. Except my age, my weight and my secret fears. A girl has to retain some mystery!
Also, I am obsessed with the new Scissor Sister single. But I always feel like dancing – especially when no-one else is watching…
As ever, the disclaimer that I'm now adding to tbe bottom of every post: No more Diary Of A Crush books, like, ever!
(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)
Ah, the sun is but a dim and distant memory; it's grey and cold and all the delicious new autumn fashions are in the shops. Hurrah!
Because I spend most of my time in front of dark!Wes, my computer, I tend to live in jeans and a collection of faded logo retro tees but I'm coveting and even buying some fabulous frocks at the moment. And slouchy boy trousers. And I'm still loving polka dots and always will. In other style news, I have decided to stop straightening my hair after many years and I'm learning to love my curls.
On the writing front, I'm two thirds of the way through the first draft of the second book in my new series. It's still known as Untitled Sarra Manning series but I hope to be able to give you all the juicy details in a few weeks. I'm also doing a lot of freelance writing at the moment, mainly because I had a humungous tax bill come through and I want to go to New York in October and do some serious damage in the Marc by Marc Jacobs shop on Bleecker Street. Alas, his beautiful main range is too rich for my tastes.
I'm getting a lot of email requests for biographical information for school projects. Everything you need to know, or that I'm happy for you to know(!), is out there on the interpipe. Just type "sarra manning" (don't forget the speech marks) into a google search and you should find everything you could ever want to know. Except my age, my weight and my secret fears. A girl has to retain some mystery!
Also, I am obsessed with the new Scissor Sister single. But I always feel like dancing – especially when no-one else is watching…
As ever, the disclaimer that I'm now adding to tbe bottom of every post: No more Diary Of A Crush books, like, ever!
(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)
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