Blog Archives | Page 8 of 8

I’m A NaNoWriMo Failure (Or Am I?)

This time last year was around the time that I told myself “You’re gonna write a novel. And you can do most of the first draft during National Novel Writing Month.”

Oh, how naïve I was. It was at this same time that we planned to rip out our kitchen and fit a new one, and not once did my brain realise, while planning either the kitchen design or the novel, that it would be pretty tough to write 50,000 words in the same month as taking on a mammoth DIY project. Continue reading “I’m A NaNoWriMo Failure (Or Am I?)”

September Reads

I’m not one for writing detailed book reviews, but I do like to keep a note of the books I read so that I can make recommendations to anyone who is looking to get stuck into a new book. I must admit, I’m not exactly keeping tabs of the latest bestsellers and I have a to-read list as long as my arm (or twice as long, at least), so many of these will probably be old news. Nonetheless, these monthly instalments can be a record for me, if nobody else, and if I help you to pick out your next book then all the better.

Here’s a roundup of the fiction I lost myself in as summer turned to autumn and the weather became decidedly chillier. Continue reading “September Reads”

Why I Write

One of the first assignments I was faced with at university was to write an essay titled “Why I Write.” I did terribly. The essay was returned to me covered in the red ink scrawlings of a creative writing tutor who probably wondered why on Earth I had chosen to do a creative writing degree. In fact, at that moment, even I wondered why I’d chosen to do a creative writing degree. Continue reading “Why I Write”

Tame Impala: Let It Happen Single Review

When I first heard Tame Impala’s latest single I was a little underwhelmed. Compared to some of their previous addictive tracks such as ‘Elephant’ and ‘Half Full Glass of Wine’ it seemed to lack energy and individuality. It was too toned down, too plain and simple for a band known for its fuzzy guitar riffs, trippy synth and psychedelic melodies. Yet after listen number two, things started to fall into place. Continue reading “Tame Impala: Let It Happen Single Review”

Queens of The Stone Age: Get Drunk, Get Laid & F**king Do Cool Sh*t

Everyone at some point wants to be in a band; it may be when they’re 15 and playing air guitar in front of the mirror whilst discovering Hendrix, or when they’re 30 and they’ve realised their youth has passed them by, or 50 and still believing they have must have some kind of deeper purpose in life and that purpose may well be music. I don’t believe there is anybody, no matter of their age, gender, job or class, who hasn’t wanted to be pop star, rock star or badass band member. If there is somebody, I wouldn’t want to know them. Continue reading “Queens of The Stone Age: Get Drunk, Get Laid & F**king Do Cool Sh*t”

Jack White: 21st Century Bluesman

Jack White’s music has varied between rock, folk, experimental and alternative, but the roots of it lie in blues. He has admitted that in 1999, after The White Stripes’ first album release, he made it his mission to modernise the blues and continue the blues legacy into a new century. Perhaps it is down to the way in which White incorporates several different genres of music into his sound that makes his version of the blues popular, or perhaps it is simply because he himself – exotic yet homely, gothic yet traditional – is strange and interesting enough to make people want to listen. Either way, he’s worth $30million; we must assume that he has sold plenty of records and that people across the world are enjoying his modern take on the blues. Continue reading “Jack White: 21st Century Bluesman”