tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73631876492781893702024-03-18T11:06:10.706-07:00Fiction and FilmThe website for young adult author Kate Larkindale. A place for her musings on writing, publishing and a day job in the film business.Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.comBlogger2184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-84687099617204851912024-03-17T10:03:00.000-07:002024-03-17T10:03:01.985-07:00Weekly Goals 18-3-24<p> The Festival finished last night with a spectacular aerial dance show that used light and haze and music to create something truly amazing. I absolutely loved it.</p><p>But now it's time to try and claw back some semblance of real life again. And to catch up on some of the sleep I haven't had. I don't think you can ever really catch up on lost sleep, but it's nice to try. I have two days off during the week to start to recover, and I am very much looking forward to that. </p><p>So this week my goals are to get my life in order again and to try and get back into a good routine. The house needs a good clean and I have booked a haircut which is very needed. I need to try and catch up on some of the movies that have been released since the Festival started too. Not to mention I need to do some work on my query letter - another rejection over the weekend.</p><p>I entered my query into a contest in the hope I might get some good feedback I can use to improve it. So fingers crossed...</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-82932835242004066662024-03-14T17:26:00.000-07:002024-03-14T17:26:04.966-07:00Celebrate the Small Things 15-3-24<br /> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" /><br /><br /><div>It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...<br /><br />What am I celebrating this week?</div><div><br /></div><div>It's the final weekend of the Festival which feels really odd. We've been working on this for so long and it seems insane that it is finishing so soon. The three weeks have felt both incredibly long and over far too quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've had the opportunity to experience so many wonderful performances over the three weeks, often things I would never have gone to if I hadn't been involved in the event. I mean, I don't think I would have ever paid to go to see an all-male a cappella group myself, but the skill and mastery those guys demonstrated was just amazing!</div><div><br /></div><div>Last night I got to see Arooj Aftab, an incredible Pakistani/American singer with a voice that is out of this world. I cannot recommend her more highly. She sings mainly in Urdu, making her perfect writing music - I can't get distracted by lyrics, but the emotional intensity of the songs still pulls through.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have three more shows this weekend, and I hope to get to all of them - a collaboration between a famous Australian digereedoo player and a chamber music quartet, an aerial dance extravaganza and a theatre piece by and Irish company.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then next week, sleep... Even though we have just gone on sale for our next event in May/June.</div><div><br /></div><div>But hopefully I will have some more free time soon to actually look at my query letter again. three more rejections this week.</div><div><br /></div><div>What are you celebrating right now?</div><div><br /></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-10253226707670757822024-03-12T10:30:00.000-07:002024-03-12T10:30:00.407-07:00Books I've read: The Interestings<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvSZ0kshGNRhYB_XKD3CTJ356kRmf10Ige5B9-TufLF5u556o0NXdJ2HTFpkXuohgm73bdVatcNdFVU5w92UrJf1S2gQfwe3BjEOQa1eyzxdnaqUwzhBejNSYJQlyfiQrkkQ0-Q8C3iaXJMf-TXioPAWGw3ZWUNGE4bADYjSEl3Veq6Kl8lpQFdTX7rRa/s463/interesting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvSZ0kshGNRhYB_XKD3CTJ356kRmf10Ige5B9-TufLF5u556o0NXdJ2HTFpkXuohgm73bdVatcNdFVU5w92UrJf1S2gQfwe3BjEOQa1eyzxdnaqUwzhBejNSYJQlyfiQrkkQ0-Q8C3iaXJMf-TXioPAWGw3ZWUNGE4bADYjSEl3Veq6Kl8lpQFdTX7rRa/s320/interesting.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div><br />This was one of those books that sounded like it would be really interesting and right up my alley. Unfortunately, I ended up finding it quite boring.... Admittedly, I did read it in very small bites because I've been too busy to read much the past few weeks, and maybe if I had read it more quickly, I wouldn't have found it quite so dry.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I don't think so...</div><div><br /></div><div>The book follows a group of friends through their lives from the moment they meet as teenagers at an arty summer camp, focusing primarily on Jules, the one who is the most surprised to be included in the group. This camp remains the high point of her life, the place she discovered herself, realised she could be funny and met the people who are to become the most important in her life.</div><div><br /></div><div>At fifteen, all these people are talented and creative and certain their lives will be tied directly to the arts they are passionate about. There's Ethan, the artist whose passion is animation and who, at fifteen, has already created an expansive fictional world in which he is the main character in a story unlike his own real life. There's Jonah, the son of a well known folk singer whose passion for music has been soiled by the predatory acts of one of his mother's associates. Then there's Ash and Goodman, brother and sister from a privileged New York family who are as different from one another as chalk and cheese. And on the fringes of the group is Cathy, the voluptuous dancer whose passion and talent is not enough to overcome the challenges her decidedly undancerly body throws up.</div><div><br /></div><div>When camp is over, the group remains connected, partly because they all - except Jules - live in NYC, something that makes Jules feel resentful and left out and makes her behave badly toward her mother and sister at home. She escapes to the city and Ash's family whenever she can and moves to the city to make her name as a character actor as soon as she finishes college.</div><div><br /></div><div>As they grow up, couple up, start careers, marry, have kids and live lives both rewarding and challenging, this group of people who once called themselves The Interestings remain friends, helping one another through tragedies, celebrating joys and holding one another's secrets.</div><div><br /></div><div>I found the way this book was written annoying. I felt very removed from the characters and never really felt like I grasped the motivations behind their actions. Jules irritated me in the way she she remained so in awe of her wealthier, more successful friends even when the work she was doing seemed so much more important and meaningful than anything these supposedly more successful people were doing. Again, this may have been because I only read a few pages at a time and never really fell into the book's rhythm or flow, but I don't think that is the case.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I probably would not recommend this one too highly. </div><div><br /></div><div>But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:</div><div><br /><br /><i>The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.<br /><br />The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.<br /><br />The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules's now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.<br /><br />Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.</i></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-64115648962315831612024-03-10T10:03:00.000-07:002024-03-10T10:03:47.111-07:00Weekly Goals 11-3-24<p> It's the final week of the Festival this week so I'm just beginning to peek at life on the other side of it.</p><p>I had another query rejection yesterday, so I'm starting to wonder if I might need to tweak the query a bit. It's clearly not landing the way it should. I'm not going to have time to work on it this week, but the following week might be a good time to do some radical surgery on it and see if I can make it more compelling.</p><p>In the meantime, I will send out a couple more queries and keep my fingers crossed that someone is interested in my beautiful, tortured, Catholic lesbians...</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p><p><br /></p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-43211214479518841412024-03-07T16:15:00.000-08:002024-03-07T16:15:04.069-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 8-3-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...<br /><br />What am I celebrating this week?<div><br /></div><div>It has been a fantastic week of arts events and everything seems to be running well, so far. Nine days to go before we close! It has really raced past. That opening weekend feels like it was a lifetime ago, yet it was only two weeks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Highlights for me this week have been solo violinist Johnny Gandelsman playing Bach's cello suites transposed for violin. It was in a beautiful Catholic church with the most extraordinary acoustics and even though I generally find solo violin piercing and annoying, in this locale, it was simply beautiful. I also saw Tim Minchin last night which was very entertaining. I feel like he is one of those mad geniuses whose brains work at a million miles an hour. I'll be interested to pop my head in on one of his other performances to see if the show is much the same every night, or if he changes things up a lot night by night.</div><div><br /></div><div>I got some print copies of <i>My Murder Year</i> and they look as pretty as I imagined they might. I will have to get a couple into the library system when and if I ever get a chance to get back to the library. It's been weeks! I have had no time to read recently and it has taken me almost two weeks to get about 2/3 of the way through the book I'm currently reading. So unlike me who usually reads 2-3 books a week.</div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't had any more query rejections. Whether this is good news or not remains to be seen... They may all be no reply means no agents, or they may just be behind in getting to queries. Either way, hope is still alive here. </div><div><br /></div><div>What are you celebrating this week.?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-29315769296675747572024-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:002024-03-05T09:30:00.252-08:00IWSG - March 2024<p> It's the first Wednesday in March so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvf0WXpQ0ddXFJig0053dwCBSiqhLN1K-e2rxVlZbbbYkRMXoU4HLlvjlylDDhGZG6UIEflcYOcHErWmCmLN08OTdIIZi9Hj0hBBcQsCRepETTJFStPh64U0achZM-08kfSKvW3rCk6ki-6oTf0tjtyHd5miLKKcjcw11UIz_vTq4WCWydrXmUOKXjQqHL/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvf0WXpQ0ddXFJig0053dwCBSiqhLN1K-e2rxVlZbbbYkRMXoU4HLlvjlylDDhGZG6UIEflcYOcHErWmCmLN08OTdIIZi9Hj0hBBcQsCRepETTJFStPh64U0achZM-08kfSKvW3rCk6ki-6oTf0tjtyHd5miLKKcjcw11UIz_vTq4WCWydrXmUOKXjQqHL/s320/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D718acefcd9%26e%3D6818d556cc&source=gmail&ust=1709597089867000&usg=AOvVaw2ufQxGj2ReWqSr8t2StKXV" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=718acefcd9&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Kristina Kelly,</a> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D93fd318dc7%26e%3D6818d556cc&source=gmail&ust=1709597089867000&usg=AOvVaw3j2DfOQY9UqxcRLt_l2DMU" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=93fd318dc7&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Miffie Seideman,</a> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D78066134fd%26e%3D6818d556cc&source=gmail&ust=1709597089867000&usg=AOvVaw3F059zYart47EpVCx1MHcZ" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=78066134fd&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Jean Davis,</a> and <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D0116a45e12%26e%3D6818d556cc&source=gmail&ust=1709597089867000&usg=AOvVaw26g_IeCbd_JYgy9D7tHXQh" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=0116a45e12&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Liza @ Middle Passages!</a></span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;" />This month's question is very topical...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><i>Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?</i></span></span></p><p>I have to admit that I have played around a bit with ChatGPT. Out of curiosity more than anything else. Not to write a synopsis, but I did feed a synopsis to the AI to see what kind of a query letter it might make of it.</p><p>The answer? Not a very good one. It gave some weird comp titles that I didn't think matched my book at all, and focused the query on a sub-plot rather than the meat of the story. Perhaps my synopsis wasn't good enough? Or AI isn't as smart as it is cracked up to be. I certainly would never use what Chat GPT spat out in any real-life scenario.</p><p>Maybe if I'd persevered and given the bot more guidance, I would have got something better out of it. But frankly, doing that defeats the time-saving purpose of using the bot to begin with. It took me far less time to write a more compelling query by hand than it would have to keep engaging with the AI to get something useable.</p><p>I don't think AI can ever replace real writers. Even if you ask the bot to write something in the "style of Writer X", it's never going to capture the nuance of that writer's voice which comes from their experiences and emotional responses to situations. Yes, maybe the bot can find words the author is partial to and use those in whatever text it spits out, but it still won't feel or read the same as something actually written by that author.</p><p>I don't think AI has any place in any creative field. Creativity is something uniquely human that is born from the particular experiences, emotions, values and sensitivities of individual people. A computer is never going to be able to replicate that in a way that feels wholly satisfying because it doesn't have those influences shaping its thought processes from birth. All it can do is replicate stuff that has already been created and spit it back at us after it has been through its electronic filter.</p><p>So I would never use AI as a tool in my writing work. I don't find it that helpful. Where I have found it useful is in creating things like NDA agreements or generic job description documents or form letters. Things that have been created many times before and can be tailored to fit your own needs. These things can take a long time to pull together from scratch, and using the AI created document as a framework for your own can save a significant amount of time.</p><p>I just wouldn't use it exactly as it is when it comes out of ChatGPT... There are always some weird phrases or terms that need some adjusting before they say what you truly want to say. </p><p>What are your feelings about AI? Would you use it in your creative practices?</p><p><br /></p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-46211534090469024452024-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:002024-03-03T09:20:42.377-08:00Weekly Goals 4-3-24<p> It feels kind of unbelievable that the Festival has only been going for just over a week. So many shows have already been and gone. Yet there are still more to come. Another two weeks' worth. I don't think I'm ever going to catch up on sleep...</p><p>But it has been going well. Audiences have been good and everyone seems to be enjoying the events. We had a morning rave on Friday which was super fun. Over 350 people dancing at 6:30am... Who'd have thought something like that would be so popular?</p><p>So my goal this week, like it was last week, is to get though the next week of events without incident and to try and get as much sleep as possible.</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-64053601961771821982024-02-27T09:22:00.000-08:002024-02-27T09:22:42.067-08:00Books I've read: Horse<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtppF7zVf6efc0STZyr660VxG9yEy9VBDDBim2Q_2VRnNY0J1sUXROnnDnooKOS8m0p9F3LKexH2CZs7YF1n8565h9-8Klhd2SZpuCOwQifQneZGJb9VwgBB9TfF_qFyIkVOKpyp6bWJUce7IY3hCDXP30FJZ2mpPN6TeE464Ye8dv244uNzV03O-EYCuS/s400/horse.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtppF7zVf6efc0STZyr660VxG9yEy9VBDDBim2Q_2VRnNY0J1sUXROnnDnooKOS8m0p9F3LKexH2CZs7YF1n8565h9-8Klhd2SZpuCOwQifQneZGJb9VwgBB9TfF_qFyIkVOKpyp6bWJUce7IY3hCDXP30FJZ2mpPN6TeE464Ye8dv244uNzV03O-EYCuS/s320/horse.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div><br />I picked this up off the bookshelf at work a few months ago because I've read other books by Geraldine Brooks and enjoyed them. I didn't read the blurb at the time, so I started reading it with very little idea what to expect. And I was pleasantly surprised.</div><div><br /></div><div>Set across multiple time-periods, the book is about a famous racehorse from the pre-Civil War era that was captured in several startlingly good portraits. When a young art historian finds one of these portraits in a junk heap, he's intrigued by the appearance of Black men in the portrait, clearly caring for the valuable horse. In a bid to find out more, he heads to the museum where he meets a scientist whose discovery of the horse's skeleton in storage has lead her on a journey of discovery.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the modern day story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Intertwined with this story is the story of Jarrett, the Black groom and trainer, born into slavery, whose life was devoted to caring for this remarkable horse throughout his life. And a third thread that follows an art dealer in the '50s who receives one of the paintings of the horse and tries to find it the perfect home even though she is more used to selling Jackson Pollocks than equine portraits.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed this book. I had no idea that there were so many Black people involved in horse racing at the time or that they had such important roles. That part of the story was probably the most interesting to me. You hear so much about slaves who were treated badly, it was refreshing to read about slaves who were respected, given real responsibilities and encouraged to voice their opinions.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm also an art geek, so the story of the art dealer also tickled me.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'd definitely recommend this one. It's a fascinating look at a part of history I knew nothing about, and was an enjoyable read at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:<br /><br /><br /><i>A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history<br /><br />Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.<br /><br />New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.<br /><br />Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse--one studying the stallion's bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.<br /><br />Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.</i></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-65699284354393366022024-02-25T09:02:00.000-08:002024-02-25T09:02:59.126-08:00Weekly Goals 26-2-24<p> I made it through the opening weekend of the Festival.</p><p>It was busy and I did a lot of rushing around, but nothing major went wrong. Well, apart from having to cancel the rest of the season of a show because some of the cast got sick. But even that went pretty smoothly. I missed out on seeing the Akram Kahn dance company, but I did get to see Meow Meow which was an absolute hoot! My face ached after the first half from laughing so much.</p><p>So my main goal this week is to try and get some sleep and to recover from the weekend. The rest of the Festival is nothing like as crazy as that opening weekend that included the Writers festival - which I managed to see nothing of because of the timing of the events - so it should be very manageable. I hope.</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-52679529281760340672024-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:002024-02-23T09:26:48.918-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 23-2-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">The Festival officially opened yesterday after a few days of early shows to test the waters, so to speak. It has gone well, despite a few glitches with things like ticketing systems and printers. But nothing that has affected the audience experience (yet).</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I'm tired though. It's been a long time between days off and a long time since I slept through the night. I just need to get through the next couple of days of long hours and rushing about and then I'll get a day off. Although I think I may have to spend that day off clearing through my emails!</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-80143681772236660432024-02-20T09:19:00.000-08:002024-02-20T09:19:53.700-08:00Books I've read: The Weight of Blood<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPoiXY0HGUZMac7k86ry9AQIx1EnCEA_o-qnvGH_qg_7j2tWMSlnBZkDy3DDJhoIEplUM17xBhq3QjJR1sb9ggNBeejNsQjJZqKbUJaPIwmzjOlgvenwfYylK2fFKfZ6zYImb52e2kmWvLp5zxxtc_6YSKlmKsICn_jGDp5OoKSVx72L5qNZAFhbcjAVk/s2417/weight.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2417" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPoiXY0HGUZMac7k86ry9AQIx1EnCEA_o-qnvGH_qg_7j2tWMSlnBZkDy3DDJhoIEplUM17xBhq3QjJR1sb9ggNBeejNsQjJZqKbUJaPIwmzjOlgvenwfYylK2fFKfZ6zYImb52e2kmWvLp5zxxtc_6YSKlmKsICn_jGDp5OoKSVx72L5qNZAFhbcjAVk/s320/weight.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>This author is an insta-read for me ever since I read her book, <i>Allegedly</i>. So when I saw this one in the library, I pounced. Kind of a modern-day Carrie, the book jumps around through time as investigative journalists try to uncover what really happened at a Georgia high school prom. A prom that ended with a town in ruins and several dead bodies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maddy is an outcast at her high school. Her clothes are wrong, her ideas outdated and her repeated absences (always on rainy days) are explained away by a vaguely threatening auto-immune disease. Maddy tolerates the low-key bullying because she has bigger things to worry about.</div><div><br /></div><div>Until a rainstorm comes out of nowhere while she's outside running for PE and the secret she and her White religious fanatic father have been keeping for years is revealed: Maddy is bi-racial. </div><div><br /></div><div>When a video of the bullying and teasing Maddy receives as her secret comes out goes viral, some of her classmates get together to try and prove that their town isn't really as racist as it might seem on the surface. For the first time the school will host an integrated prom - up until now, white kids went to the country club for prom while Black kids went somewhere else.</div><div><br /></div><div>The girl who comes up with the idea even manages to convince her Black quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date to prom. For the first time Maddy begins to wonder if she might be able to have a normal life, if she might be able to find genuine happiness in a world that has been nothing but cruel to her until now.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Maddy has a secret. And when things at prom do not go as planned and a cruel prank is pulled on Maddy, she lets loose, leaving a trail of corpses in her wake.</div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed this one. There was enough supernatural spookiness to call it a horror, while it was grounded in reality and had a lot to say about racism and the difficulties faced by those trying to make a change to this way of thinking. I do feel like Maddy's father was a little over the top, that his treatment of her seemed Victorian and made him into something of a cartoon villain. But he isn't in the book that much...</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'd recommend this one.</div><div><br /></div><div>But don't just listen to me. Her's the blurb:<br /><br /><br /><i>New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson ramps up the horror and tackles America's history and legacy of racism in this suspenseful YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom.<br /><br />When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation … Maddy did it.<br /><br />An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.<br /><br />After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.<br /><br />But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret … one that will cost them all their lives</i></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-32576469592520101782024-02-18T08:53:00.000-08:002024-02-18T08:53:24.874-08:00Weekly Goals 19-2-24<p> This is the week it all starts. The Festival kicks off tomorrow with the first show, with the official opening on Friday. This weekend is going to be the biggest and most stressful part of the whole thing, with shows at every one of our venues plus the Writers programme taking over a three-screen movie theatre for three days.</p><p>So this week my goal is to get through this opening week and weekend without any major drama. There are two functions in the mix, alongside all the regular stuff that goes into running a Festival. I keep waking up at 2am and remembering things I haven't done yet and then thinking of more things I need to do. Hopefully I can get through all these today and tomorrow morning, before I have to go and set up at the first venue..</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-91987419328111692792024-02-16T09:22:00.000-08:002024-02-16T09:22:52.536-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 16-2-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It's the weekend! And we're almost through all the ticketing for the Festival! I'm hoping to bash out the last of it this afternoon, before I go to the movies, and then it will just be the last minute stuff that comes through during the Festival itself. Definitely not going to go into work on Sunday.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It all kicks off this week. First show opens on Tuesday with the actual festival opening on Friday. It's going to be a busy few weeks until it finishes on 17 March. I may miss a blog post here and there, so if I'm not posting on my regular day, that's why. It's going to be an amazing few weeks of art and culture.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-52383659677283489142024-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:002024-02-13T09:23:43.780-08:00Books I've Read: Now is Not the Time to Panic<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZLPKVmOfflb1l5CeEBlB7blqeuJE7_jc-ahfXgGvkevIhmGipGydaRz6eleiip8QXJKX-orntRXzS1H1jz_16QvN_VSt_y9LrOcPBkMqVUIDtJe8HY8xFfs0DSmlvQNC2BItVdZJ1olLMziM5n3eY3mnXQOXk9FxQsWBIvFsO7wDq6rOQQ5EZIW1DHKc/s2409/Panic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2409" data-original-width="1592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZLPKVmOfflb1l5CeEBlB7blqeuJE7_jc-ahfXgGvkevIhmGipGydaRz6eleiip8QXJKX-orntRXzS1H1jz_16QvN_VSt_y9LrOcPBkMqVUIDtJe8HY8xFfs0DSmlvQNC2BItVdZJ1olLMziM5n3eY3mnXQOXk9FxQsWBIvFsO7wDq6rOQQ5EZIW1DHKc/s320/Panic.jpeg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><div>I really enjoyed Kevin Wilson's previous book, <i>Nothing to See Here</i> (the one about the kid that spontaneously combust), so when I was doing an event at a bookstore last week and saw this, I knew I had to buy it. I do not regret it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Set in the present day and in 1996, the book is about a weird event that happened in a small town one summer and caused far-reaching repercussions. It opens with a journalist calling a now-adult Frances Budge and asking questions about the summer in question. Having never told anyone about it, Frances is terrified that the truth will come out and that it will shatter the life she's built for herself.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1996, sixteen-year-old Frankie is facing a long, lonely, boring summer in her small town. The most exciting thing she can think of to do is to write her subversive Nancy Drew fan fiction in which Nancy is the perpetrator of the crimes. But then she meets Zeke.</div><div><br /></div><div>Zeke is an artist who is only in town for the summer while his parents decide whether or not to divorce after Zeke discovers his father is having an affair. As lonely as Frankie, Zeke gravitates toward her and they are soon spending every day together.</div><div><br /></div><div>An abandoned Xerox machine in Frankie's garage leads them to experiment with words and images until they come up with an enigmatic, yet strangely beautiful phrase that Zeke illustrates. They make copies and hang them all over town. At first people are curious, but not really afraid. But as the summer goes on and these posters keep going up and spreading through the town like wildfire, rumours begin circulating: it's a satanic cult, it's a heavy metal band, it's a message from aliens...</div><div><br /></div><div>As the summer goes on and different versions of the poster keep popping up, people become more and more unsettled and on edge. Copycats proliferate. The entire town is on edge and soon this leads to tragedy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed this story about the power of subversive art. Frankie and Zeke were very real characters, dealing with their own problems and their own lives even as the thing they started blows up to be far bigger than both of them. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's also a book about the power of an unsolved mystery and the lengths people might go to to find the truth. And how that truth can be both bigger and less meaningful than you might ever have thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book is also very funny...</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'd definitely recommend it.</div><div><br /></div><div>But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:</div><div><br /><i>From the New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here comes an exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever.<br /><br />Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another sad summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s unhappy house and who is as lonely and awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.<br /><br />The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won’t stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town. The art that brought Frankie and Zeke together now threatens to tear them apart.<br /><br />Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge—famous author, mom to a wonderful daughter, wife to a loving husband—gets a call that threatens to upend everything: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that? And will what she knows destroy the life she’s so carefully built?<br /><br />A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not The Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free.</i></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-37184705918273953532024-02-11T08:58:00.000-08:002024-02-11T08:58:29.171-08:00Weekly Goals 12-2-24<p> With this being the last week before we start actual production on the Festival, once again my goals are all largely work-related - as they will be until mid-March now. I'm going to be too busy for anything else.</p><p>This week I want to make sure all the ticketing is done, apart from any last-minute things that might come through, and I want to make sure we have everything set up and in place for the two functions we're hosting during the Festival. We're struggling a little with having enough staff over the opening weekend, so I may have to shuffle a few people around to make sure we have the right people in the right places at the times we need them. It would be very useful to have a clone or two at this point as there is one day I'm looking at working across three venues from 7am until 11pm. </p><p>Luckily, after the opening weekend, things are much calmer and easier to manage.</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p><p><br /></p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-60646283996308748872024-02-09T10:33:00.000-08:002024-02-09T10:33:13.199-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 9-2-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I'm not sure I am celebrating this week. I've been so snowed under at work, I haven't had the chance to think much about anything else. I'm hoping to get a day off over the weekend, but I'm not sure that's going to be possible. We'll see how much I can get done on Saturday afternoon.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I've had a few more query rejections and am starting to wonder if maybe I need to do some work on the query to see if I can make it more compelling. I'm not quite at the number I usually advise people to start tweaking at, but it seems like things have changed a bit since I was last querying. But that's going to have to wait until after the Festival.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-65652760249113392652024-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:002024-02-06T09:11:00.306-08:00IWSG: February 2024<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> It's the </span>first<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group!</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawmdgmWquZ4HOcXJVehKXbtz95R5BaSKGfFiGKW8qPup7jbV8ZtJID2uSJcXzNFXHTl7EUnH72Sfqm0jbctnx6cI1L8x4wF5AcQle44nlSYXNEZil5eCawjnc46eQasAXQLMyJaoWhwl3WouvpnS8nnwq1TOWEf9rc1-oxy-5wu_oYS0Lpp5oMVqwwBHH/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawmdgmWquZ4HOcXJVehKXbtz95R5BaSKGfFiGKW8qPup7jbV8ZtJID2uSJcXzNFXHTl7EUnH72Sfqm0jbctnx6cI1L8x4wF5AcQle44nlSYXNEZil5eCawjnc46eQasAXQLMyJaoWhwl3WouvpnS8nnwq1TOWEf9rc1-oxy-5wu_oYS0Lpp5oMVqwwBHH/w200-h197/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;">The awesome co-hosts for the February 7 posting of the IWSG are <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=6e45e7e580&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Janet Alcorn,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=46347f2521&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">SE White,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=e903958861&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Victoria Marie Lees,</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;">and </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=89113f5b78&e=6818d556cc" style="color: #007c89; font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Cathrina Constantine!</a></span></p><p>This month's question is a good one...</p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;"><i><b>What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?</b></i></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center;">For me, the </span></span>bigger turn off is not really about the content so much as the design. So many writer blogs are built in Blogger templates (my own included) that have been customised by the author in really terrible ways. Coloured fonts on coloured backgrounds are one of my biggest peeves. If you want someone to read your blog, make it easy to read. if I visit a blog and find the text in purple on a lime green background, I'm not going to stick around long enough to know if your content is good or not.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other thing that bugs me is people who try to do too much in a single post. If you're doing an author interview, do that in one post. If you're talking about a bookstore visit, make that a single post. If you're reviewing a book you read, make that a single post. Some bloggers seem to like to post once a week and stuff everything into one long, confusing, rambling mess. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you have that much to talk about, maybe post more often. You can still do the work one a week, just schedule those posts for different days so readers aren't faced with scrolling endlessly down the screen looking for the part of the post that they're interested in.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've got an author website, make sure your contact details are on there. It doesn't matter if you're published or not. If someone wants to get hold of you, make sure that information is there for them. If I'm looking for an author to feature in an article or interview, if I can't find a way to contact them easily, I'm going to move on, regardless of how much I enjoy the content on their blog, or their books.</div><div><br /></div><div>I could keep going, but this is getting long, and maybe rambly, so I'll stop before I become my own pet peeve...</div><div><br /></div><div>What do you dislike about blogs and websites you visit?</div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-60720511553350886122024-02-04T09:04:00.000-08:002024-02-04T09:04:21.933-08:00Weekly Goals 5-2-24<p> This week my goals are all work related - and not my own work.</p><p>I want to get all the partnership tickets sent out this week because that will take a huge amount of pressure off me and will allow me to help my colleague with some of the other, smaller orders we have to get out. I went into work yesterday afternoon and got a bunch done, so I think if I go in tomorrow when no one else is there again, I can probably smash out the rest. It just means I don't get my day off... But I think that's a small sacrifice to make for getting more sleep.</p><p>I also want to make sure all the details of the functions are finalised this week. I have the rooms and tech booked, and the caterer is aware of them, but I need to actually pick menu items and lock everything in this week. And arrange with the suppliers when to pick up booze and stuff. Luckily we do have an extra person in the office at the moment to help with these things.</p><p>And if I get a chance, I'd like to send out a couple more queries, but if that doesn't happen, then it's not the end of the world. I think I still have 10 out there...</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-12188924449480406322024-02-02T09:04:00.000-08:002024-02-02T09:04:02.177-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 3-2-24<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"> </span><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It's the weekend!</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It has been a crazy busy week and I am exhausted. I actually went to bed at 8pm last night! Admittedly, I had been to a gig the night before. And I haven't been sleeping well because there is so much to do and not enough hours in the day to do everything. I decided while tossing and turning and worrying about all the work I have to do in the next to weeks that I will just go into work on Sunday afternoon and on Tuesday (which is a public holiday) and try to smash out some of the stuff I need to get through while the office is empty and quiet. It's kind of the only way all these people who need tickets are going to get them.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I haven't received any more query rejections (although weirdly, I did just get a rejection from a publisher I'd sent <i>Standing Too Close </i>to in 2022) so that's good. I know it's probably because most of the agents haven't reached my query yet, but there's still a chance...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">And that's about it for me. I'm too tired to celebrate much. If I could get more than 4 hours sleep a night I'd celebrate that, but that doesn't seem to be a thing right now.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-18946110320578337592024-01-30T09:26:00.000-08:002024-01-30T09:26:33.902-08:00Books I've Read: The Blackwoods<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-Q4-y0inW_W3OXyQoZVsU0xDCxcDHTnxOYOuCQgQJUtz9-eQ5R8QJ3f4naNh4i-D0pIU1pl2xndOcUHRe0G7-FBF357Iif_mLaou-EU_vQbs8AGybUzbAOKsuCWDilBGVC452jp_Eg_wWShtzDoBpFwj0dwn8ZhByvJHXxCWfMwsp3w-v-cuLKEGhaMB/s499/black.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-Q4-y0inW_W3OXyQoZVsU0xDCxcDHTnxOYOuCQgQJUtz9-eQ5R8QJ3f4naNh4i-D0pIU1pl2xndOcUHRe0G7-FBF357Iif_mLaou-EU_vQbs8AGybUzbAOKsuCWDilBGVC452jp_Eg_wWShtzDoBpFwj0dwn8ZhByvJHXxCWfMwsp3w-v-cuLKEGhaMB/s320/black.jpeg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>As anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm a film lover and anything to do with the movies and movie stars is right up my alley. So this book instantly appealed to me because it's about a family with many generations of movie royalty. A Black family, no less!</div><div><br /></div><div>Spanning close to a century, the book focuses on Blossom Blackwood and her rise to fame in the segregation era where casting Black actors was rare, then parallels this with the stories of two great-granddaughters who live in the present day. The family has benefitted greatly from Blossom's fame, with various members, including one of the great-granddaughters being actors.</div><div><br /></div><div>Personally, I found Blossom's story more interesting than the modern day story. The struggles and sacrifices she had to make to live her dream were heartbreaking. But Blossom refused to give up and refused to compromise herself and her integrity even when it would have made opening closed doors easier for her. And some of the choices she was forced to make were heartbreaking.</div><div><br /></div><div>In contrast, the problems her great-granddaughters face seem trivial - leaked nude photos for Hollis and an uncharacteristic blow up at media for Ardith, the actress. I felt that both these characters were a little thinly drawn and not different enough from each other to justify both their stories being told.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book centres around a long-held family secret which is revealed after Blossom's death. The details are spun out in the chapters outlining Blossom's life and career; the effect it has on the family as a whole are dealt with in the present day sections.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, I enjoyed this one despite the present day story not being as compelling or interesting as the one from the past. The details of Hollywood both past and present felt authentic and the author clearly shares my love of old movies!</div><div><br /></div><div>But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:<br /><i><br />From Boston Globe/Horn Book Award–winning author Brandy Colbert comes the story of four generations of a Hollywood family—an unforgettable tale of ambition, fame, struggle, loss, and love in America.</i></div><div><i><br />The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name. Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything. Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite.<br /><br />When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford. Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.<br /><br />Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells an unforgettable story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.</i></div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-26925639832822962002024-01-28T08:51:00.000-08:002024-01-28T08:51:33.150-08:00Weekly goals 29/1/24<p> I'm not going to have a lot of time over the next few weeks to do anything writing related, so I'm going to keep my goals very small and simple. Until we finish the Festival on 17 March, work is going to have to be the priority. And this week, ticketing has to be my priority at work. There is a lot to do and each booking takes considerably longer than I anticipated.</p><p>So I will focus on getting another 10 queries out for <i>Guide Us</i>. Like ticketing, querying takes longer than I remembered, with researching the agents' wish lists, finding out if they're open, finding out if their agency is a "no from one of us is no from all of us" agency...</p><p>What are your goals this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-51911218303526073582024-01-26T09:13:00.000-08:002024-01-26T09:13:31.809-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 26-1-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It's the weekend!</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">With the Festival only 4 weeks away, things at work are BUSY! So I'm celebrating having a weekend. I won't be getting one for a few weeks while we're in the middle of things. My bestie is down from Auckland so I'm going to see her over the weekend which I'm looking forward to. I haven't seen her since July! She's playing a gig here which I'm going to. Looking forward to that.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">Otherwise, I'm going to try and have a relaxing weekend. I feel like I need to sleep a bit.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I've sent out a few more queries for <i>Guide Us</i> and now have 4 rejections. All from very established agents who have big client lists already. I feel like maybe I need to focus more on newer agents who are still building their lists, but am trying to mix it up a bit. Will try and get a few more out over the weekend.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-78292927376137693762024-01-23T09:18:00.000-08:002024-01-23T09:21:41.169-08:00Weekly Goals.... a bit late<p> Yes, yes... I know it's Wednesday, not Monday. Monday was a holiday here and we were up at my partner's property on the coast and somehow I just missed my usual Monday post. But better late than never, huh?</p><p>My goal this week is to start querying <i>Guide Us</i>. I actually sent off a few queries over the weekend, and have already racked up my first two rejections. Way to go, me! In case you're at all interested, here's the query. Give me any feedback you might have. ...</p><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Dear Agent,<br /><br />I’ve seen that you’re seeking X, Y and Z, so I thought you might be interested in <i>Guide Us</i>, my 78,000 word YA contemporary novel. <br /><br />Told in dual POV, <i>Guide Us</i> follows 17-year-old Juliet Capaldi as she navigates her senior year at the strict Catholic school she has attended since kindergarten. Juliet re-connects with her former best friend, Iris, who fled St. Ignatius for public school after she and Juliet shared kisses at an eight grade party. Despite trying to deny their attraction, Juliet and Iris can’t resist re-kindling their friendship.<br /><br />As their friendship deepens, Iris and Juliet struggle with their feelings for each other while grappling with their faith and family expectations. Already under a cloud of distrust from her mother, Iris is terrified of disappointing her again and insists their relationship remain a secret. Juliet, who has already started questioning whether the things taught in church still apply in the modern world, wants to bring their relationship out into the open.<br /><br />Desperate to prove she’s not the abomination the church tells her she is, Iris breaks things off with Juliet and sleeps with a boy. When she discovers she’s pregnant, it’s Juliet who supports her and shows her she has options. Struggling with guilt, Iris seeks guidance from the church only to be told that if she goes with her heart, she’ll be damned for all eternity. <br /><br /><i>Guide Us</i> is a story about first love, self-discovery and the struggle to reconcile faith and desire. It will appeal to readers who enjoyed books like <i>Red, White and Royal Blue</i> by Casey McQuiston, <i>We Are Okay </i>by Nina LaCour and <i>Heretics Anonymous</i> by Katie Henry.<br /><br />I have published five YA novels with a small press and my short stories have appeared in<i> Halfway Down the Stairs, Residential Aliens, The Barrier Review, A Fly in Amber, Everyday Fiction</i> and numerous anthologies including recent Voyage YA anthology <i>Just Above Water</i>. I am a contributor to writing blog Operation Awesome, offering weekly advice to writers as agony aunt, O’Abby.<br /><br />Per your guidelines, you will find X,Y, Z below.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #741b47;">Kate</span><br /><br />What are your goals this week?</div>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-89682808485721170702024-01-19T08:52:00.000-08:002024-01-19T08:52:53.970-08:00Celebrate the Small Things 19-1-24<p> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovmdGkmHlbQ/XPAc-dSHI0I/AAAAAAAACSE/y4NZah6lkWoMP9E38-zwTsGmNTB1ee9TgCLcBGAs/s1600/celebrate.png" style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px; padding: 8px;" /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;"><br />It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What am I celebrating this week?</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">I finished <i>Guide Us</i>!</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">Yes, you read that correctly. The book is done. I took the day off yesterday and went to the library to read through the whole book and make any last changes that needed to be made. There were only a handful of things that needed attention. Maybe five.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">Now the querying starts... Give me strength.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">It's a long weekend, so I plan to put in a couple of hours each day to get a bunch of queries out, then we'll wait and see.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: 14px;">What are you celebrating this week?</p>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363187649278189370.post-81113517172793972652024-01-16T09:30:00.000-08:002024-01-16T09:30:00.309-08:00Books I've Read: Once More With Feeling<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o6iSOJ0hzOg6DTk0CpOOiUeLimRbqBhAPLkKxLr2yvLVClAOqAE-CvssmqbIkO5accSseM_5flaO0-9qDiJtYTb1XnP4Q3we8U7GhZyjCEdQG9ean7YEniglU3dE7-tgZO-O57MMQjO0NmkFF55tbmGQeRzJOrk5E-Hs_svndD-N2FoAx66SpjGj1rv8/s450/feeling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o6iSOJ0hzOg6DTk0CpOOiUeLimRbqBhAPLkKxLr2yvLVClAOqAE-CvssmqbIkO5accSseM_5flaO0-9qDiJtYTb1XnP4Q3we8U7GhZyjCEdQG9ean7YEniglU3dE7-tgZO-O57MMQjO0NmkFF55tbmGQeRzJOrk5E-Hs_svndD-N2FoAx66SpjGj1rv8/s320/feeling.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This was a quick, fun read that I picked up because it was set in the world of musical theatre and pop superstardom - two things I'm always into reading about. Particularly after having just seen the hilarious mockumentary, T<i>heater Camp</i>. For a second time...</p><p>Cal and Kathleen first met at a summer camp for theatre kids as teenagers. They liked each other and performed together, but nothing really happened between them. Years later, they meet again when Kathleen has become a teen pop sensation under the name Katee Rose and Cal's boyband, CrushZone join her on tour. CrushZone also has Katee's boyfriend, Ryan, on board and their relationship is endless fodder for tabloids and paparazzi. So it's not really the right time for Katee to notice how hot Cal is, or how much more she enjoys spending time with him that the other boys. Even Ryan.</p><p>Now, almost 20 years later, Kathleen is relatively contented with her life out of the spotlight. Katee Rose is a name from the past and she avoids thinking too much about the scandal that imploded her career. Until the opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap. The one thing she's always dreamed of - the chance to perform in a Broadway musical. The one catch? Cal is attached as the director.</p><p>Kathleen agrees to take the role and promises she'll keep things professional with Cal. But as the rehearsal period gets intense, she can't help noticing he's still just as hot - if not hotter- than he was when he was a teen heart-throb. And damn it if she doesn't still enjoy his company!</p><p>I enjoyed this. It's light and fluffy and follows all the romance novel tropes you'd expect. It's not deep and doesn't do anything new with the genre, but sometimes that's just fine. Sometimes you just want something light and fun with some characters who do end up with a happy ever after in spite of themselves.</p><p>So if you're looking for something like this, go for it.</p><p>But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:</p>T<i>hen. Katee Rose is living the dream as America's number one pop star, caught in a whirlwind of sold-out concerts, screaming fans, and constant tabloid coverage. Everyone wants to know everything about her and her boyfriend, Ryan LaNeve, the hottest member of adored boy band CrushZone. Katee loves to perform but hates the impossible demands of stardom. Maybe that's why she finds herself in the arms of another CrushZone member, Cal Kirby. Quiet, serious Cal, who's always been a good friend to Katee, is suddenly Cal with the smoldering eyes and very good hands. One unforgettable night is all it takes to blow up Katee's relationship with Ryan, her career, her whole life...<br /><br />Now. Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary existence, and leaving her pop star image in the past. That is, until Cal Kirby shows up with the opportunity of her dreams--a starring role in the Broadway show he's directing and a chance to perform the way she's always wanted. The two haven't spoken since the joint destruction of their careers, and each of them blames the other, making their reunion a tense battle of wits and egos. Katee reluctantly agrees to the musical, as long as she keeps her guard up around Cal. But rehearsals are long, those eyes still smolder, and those hands are still very good. Despite everything, Katee can't deny the chemistry between them. Is it ever a good idea to reignite old flames? Especially if you've been burned in the past?</i>Kate Larkindalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.com0