EIBF round-up, only a month late

I'm clearly  very behind on this, but for the last six years, August has been the best, most exciting/tiring month of the calendar and I wanted to do a little post of my 2013 highlights. Obviously there were some more stressful/challenging moments but they pale next to the good bits, and are hardly worth mentioning! I adore working at the best book festival in the world (totally not biaised) and I'm sure I'll have forgotten some things but it really is quite marvellous and I wanted to share some of the (many) reasons why:

See?! Awesome!

When Meg Rosoff remembered me and wrote a lovely message in my copy of Picture Me Gone (which is excellent by the way, and OhMyGosh am I excited for the film of How I Live Now?) When a customer and I shared a giggle after hearing a colleague confuse Sandi Toksvig and Ruby Wax over the radio. Relatedly, when Sandi Toksvig met the Gruffalo and the totally wonderful Chris Scott caught the moment on camera and Twitter went crazy. ENORMOUS glasses of wine at The Huxley. Seriously, they were like fishbowls. Literary Death Match judged by Neil Gaiman, Craig Silvey and Dawn O'Porter. More Awesome. I probably don't need to say anymore but to further sway it there was lots of live drawing, including The Tattoo Fox. Which brings me to... The Tattoo Fox. This was a runaway hit in the bookshops, and it was really quite miraculous that we had a book at all, considering it didn't exist 6 weeks prior to the festival's opening. Hot off the press indeed. The family of customers who were just so excited about being at a festival all about books: "It's a festival of books! Books!" The discovery of Flying Eye Books, who have quickly moved to my top five imprints. The beautiful ghost story that Kate Mosse read at the Faber Social Unbound event. Barroux. Lovely, lovely Barroux. He was the Illustrator-in-Residence this year, and he's all French and dreamy, and does beautiful brush and ink illustrations. How literally everyone buying books after Judith Kerr's event said how lovely it all was, and how privileged they felt to have seen her. Delightful customers who queued for hours to have Neil Gaiman sign their books and were still laughing and joking with me even when we had to move the queue. Twice. Arranging That's Not My Noun and Dirty Bertie books by colour when things got a bit too much for me. Gorgeous bird book sculptures by the mysterious Edinburgh Sculptor, including a beautiful Crow tribute to the late, great Iain (M.) Banks. Kate O'Hearn's amazing costume and her amour-clad monsters and warriors. The customer who at 5.15pm on the final public day came in and asked "So what is all this?" And last, but very much not least, Nick Barley dressed as Batman alone in the middle of the square, gazing into the mid-distance with a perfectly billowing cloak.

Here's to next year! 

Gently, gently

So, as expected my little blog lay fully neglected during the madness of the book festival, but now that the dust has settled, and I have some time on my hands, I return with only one issue. What to blog about? I will write a post about my highlights of the book festival but I needed something to ease me in. At which point, my good friend Lauren came to my rescue. Lauren blogs at To The Railway, and was tagged in something called The Leibster award (no, I didn't know what this was either). She had noticed my radio silence and in her words "I like it when you blog, okay!" She didn't tag me in her post, so I'm not going to tag others and write new questions, but she did suggest that I might like to answer her questions anyway. This seemed like a good way to get back into it AND it's a bit like one of those "Get To Know Me" posts that I always meant to write...

So here goes!

1. What did you want to be when you grew up? I went through a whole list of things that I wanted to be but the earliest one I can think of is an artist. I never showed much skill, and didn't really think about having to do The Art but I really, really wanted to live in a tumbledown cottage, and wear a blue smock and beret, and have one of those messy boards with dried paint splodges on. Aged 8, this is what Being An Artist meant, apparently.

2. If you could visit one fictional universe where would it be and why? Potterverse. Next! Obviously it would need to be before the Battle of Hogwarts so that I could meet Snape, make him forget about Lily and his life as a double agent and we could run off together before Nagini got her fangs anywhere near him.

3. What was the last book you read and did you enjoy it? The Falling Sky by Pippa Goldschmidt. I did! It's wonderfully written, set in Edinburgh and I love novels with scientific themes (I'm sure if someone tried to teach me the astronomy in this book, I would totally shut off but when science is presented through fiction, I find it much easier to follow).

4. Which three people would you invite to a tea party? They can be alive, dead, fictional, real, or anyone really. Moominmama because I'm sure she'd bring some great cake. J.K. Rowling because I have some questions. And Meryl, obvs.

This is why.

5. What’s your most listened to song on itunes? Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John by Belle & Sebastian feat. Norah Jones for some reason.  
Disclaimer: this isn't a totally fair reflection I don't think, as I quite rarely listen to music through iTunes on my computer.

6. If you could have any animal as a pet what would it be and why? Sloth.


7. What is your favourite play? Have you seen it performed or just read it? Noises Off by Michael Frayn. I saw it in London when I was about 14 and just thought it was marvellous; so clever, and so so funny. I was really sad that I couldn't see it when it was in Aberdeen earlier this year.

8. Where is the strangest place you’ve ever had to answer a phone call? Honestly don't think I've ever had to answer the phone anywhere particularly peculiar...

9. What’s your favourite children’s book? Well this is impossible. You could ask me this question every day for a year, and I'm sure I could give you a different answer every day but I think for today I'll pick Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I love the many illustrated versions of this book, from Tenniel's classic, to Helen Oxenbury's recent gift editions, not forgetting that Tove Jansson also illustrated a version.

10. Where would you most like to travel to if money were not an issue? Finland. What?! I want to go to Moomin World.


Now, that wasn't so bad was it! More very soon...

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 

"The Shadow Fold , a swathe of unpenetrable darkness, is slowly destroying the once great nation of Ravka. 

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the world of the kingdom's magical elite - the Grisha. Could she be the key to setting Ravka free? 

The Darkling, a man of seductive charm and terrifying power. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him. 

But what of Mal, Alina's childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can't she ever quite forget him?" 

I'd seen quite a lot about the Grisha series on twitter and a few blogs, so when I was offered copies of the first two in the trilogy whilst on placement with Orion a few weeks ago, I snapped them up! I raced through Shadow and Bone and was then faced with a dilema; according to Leigh Bardugo's website the third isn't out until 2014, so did I read Siege and Storm now because it was really exciting and I really wanted to, or should I pace myself and read it later this year and have less time to wait for book 3? I tried to be good and do the latter, but yesterday the beautiful weather begged for some outdoors reading, and I gave in, reading the whole book in practically one sitting. 

Bardugo has created a richly detailed world, based on tsarist Russia, where everything depends on a hierarchy of power. The Grisha are the magical elite; three orders, each with different specialities. The Corporalkis' magic revolves around the body, either harming or healing; Etherealki are summoners, in control of wind, water and fire and the Materialki are creators. I just loved the elemental nature of it all. 'Like calls to like' is a line oft-repeated throughout the novels. Additionally, the Grisha are only part of the population, forming what is called the Second Army, who answer to the Darkling (more on him shortly). The First Army is more traditional, soldiers, trackers, mapmakers etc and it is the King's Army. I particularly enjoyed this difficult relationship between the magical/non-magical populations, and the way that the nation of Ravka hangs on the maintenance of this delicate hierarchy, any shift in the balance and it's all likely to crumble. 

From the opening, we are introduced to Alina and Mal, two orphans with an incredible bond that keeps pulling them back together. They are part of the First Army, in a regiment that is about to make a journey across the Shadow Fold, a swathe of darkness cutting the country of Ravka in two. An attack on this journey causes Alina to reveal a hidden, unique power that could be the answer to saving the country. I don't want to say too much more about the plot because Spoilers, and this is one of those books where I'm jealous of anyone who gets to read it for the first time, but needless to say it's a gripping story with twists and turns all over the place, plus fast-paced writing that carries you along on Alina's journey. 

Alina is not your typical heroine, she's scrawny with lank hair and at times her lack of self-belief made me want to shake her. But this makes the successes somehow all the more wonderful. This trope of ordinary girl discovering she has hereto unknown power on a massive scale could feel tired and worn, but Bardugo breathes fresh life into it with her humorous style, and original concept. Mal is, of course, dashing and handsome and from the outset I was rooting for their relationship. The way it develops is beautiful, yet real, and a joy to read. 

But I think my favourite, certainly in the first novel, has to be the Darkling. I have expressed in this very blog how much I love a villain and the Darkling definitely would make it into my top 5 literary villains.  He's seductive and charismatic, a dangerous combination in itself added to which we have his immense magical power, and you certainly can't judge Alina for her attraction to him.

There have of course been comparisons to other YA fantasy series but beyond the label fantasy, I'm not sure I buy it. The magic of this world is original and exciting, and despite comparisons to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings it is a very far-cry from the wand-waving of Hogwarts or Tolkein's Middle Earth. All in all, a wonderful read and I urge anyone who enjoys historical fantasy, full of twists, with a sprinkling of humour and more than a little romance, to give Shadow and Bone a try. 

Now I just have to wait. Is it 2014 yet?

"I've walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I'd do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don't tell me we don't belong together"

Things I Have Been Enjoying Of Late

1. Despicable Me 2: Given how perfect the first Despicable Me film is, I went into the cinema with some doubts, worried that the sequel couldn't possibly live up to my extremely high expectations. I was proved wrong. It's brilliant, and although I think the plotline of the first is hard to beat, I really, really enjoyed the film. Plus, if possible, the minions are even better than the first time round (perhaps down to their increased screen time). Their Barbara Ann teaser trailer will probably never stop making me laugh:

 

2. The Tree That Sat Down by Beverley Nichols: My mother has been telling me to read this book for a very long time, and I finally got around to it. First published in 1945, it is the story of the Shop Under the Tree in a wood inhabited by animals, and what happens when a rival shop is opened by Evil Sam. At first I thought it was a little preachy, for example a discussion of The Street of Wicked Newspaper shops and a recommendation that young children avoid such a street, but I think this preachiness was both of the time, and rather tongue-in-cheek. Despite a few tears when the lovely Mrs Rabbit gets ripped off and has trembly paws, this is a very sweet book and I'm going to try and hunt down the sequels. Apparently there are abridged versions that aren't as good because they miss out the little poems and spells and things that pepper the books, so will be looking for the unabridged editions.

3. Andy Murray winning Wimbledon: Obviously. 

4. The arranging of Latitude Festival transport: 8 DAYS! I'm volunteering in the Literary arena at Latitude this year and am hugely excited for it.

and last, but very much not least,

See?

5. Graduation Week! That's right, little Blog, I got myself a degree and am now MoominPoll MA (hons). I had a lovely day in Aberdeen with my parents and some grandparents, and the weather although dismal on the way into the hall turned into a completely beautiful afternoon. After the ceremony I drank something appropriately fizzy and took the obligatory mortarboard-tossing photographs, before a delightful lunch at The Coffee House on Gaelic Lane and beautiful dinner at Cafe 52 on the Green which is my favourite restaurant in the city. The next day I moved out of my flat, and here a hat tip must be made to the parental unit and their incredible packing skills, squeezing all my possessions, including a bike, the three of us and my grandparents into their Mazda estate. Quite remarkable! Leaving Aberdeen was strange; I did feel quite sad but I'm very excited for whatever comes next.

Edinburgh Excitement

The last few weeks have been most exciting chez MoominPoll. I've just had a delightful two weeks work experience placement with Orion Publishing and enjoyed every second of it, met lots of lovely people and gained some really great experience. Not to mention some really great new books; I just read Shadow and Bone, the first in the Grisha books by Leigh Bardugo but it's so good that it definitely deserves a post of its own.

Not only this, but the end of June marks the start of my favourite time of the year with the announcement of the programme for Edinburgh International Book Festival. This is my fifth year working at the festival and I love it - three weeks surrounded by books and people who love them as much as I do, Unbound in the Speigltent and wangled whisky vouchers and a hugely diverse programme of events. The weather is usually less than ideal - a family of rubber ducks usually make their home in some particularly swampy corner of Charlotte Square - but in true British spirit, we just get on with it! So naturally I was very keen to see the programme when it was announced last Thursday. I was not disappointed. It's a brilliant selection, even by EIBF's very high standards and I am so excited for August now. So I thought I'd do a quick post of the events I'm most excited about seeing, work timetable notwithstanding, with more than a little skewing towards the children's events.

1. Hadley Freeman: I recently read Be Awesome and really enjoyed it, so I was delighted to see that she'd be in Edinburgh on the 18th. The book is presented as a collection of essays and observations, and if she's half as funny in person as she is on paper this is set to be a really great event.

Maybe Judith Kerr's most famous creature?

2. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin: I'm almost certainly not going to be able to see this one, never mind what ticket sales are doing, due to its time but I can be excited anyway right? The Blind Assassin is my favourite novel by Atwood (and up there in my list of favourite novels), and I love the way it weaves different  texts: diary entries, newspaper clippings, extracts from the novel within the novel.
3. Judith Kerr: The inimitable Judith Kerr celebrates her 90th birthday this summer, and she has published a beautiful illustrated celebration of her life and work. Part autobiography, part collection of illustrations, I saw Judith Kerr's Creatures while I was on placement with HarperCollins Children's Books and it is just gorgeous! The author has had a long, exciting life, starting with her childhood in Berlin and I'm sure her talk will be just fascinating.

Laura Dockrill

4. Meg Rosoff - I'm a fully paid-up Rosoff fan and I've seen her speak a couple of times at the book festival, and always enjoyed it.
5. Thursday 22nd August is the day I'm most looking forward to in terms of the children's programme. It has recently appointed BookTrust blogger Laura Dockrill talking about her first children's book Darcy Burdock, the lovely Kate Greenaway medal-winning author-illustrator Catherine Rayner, this year's illustrator-in-residence Barroux, whose book Mr Leon's Paris is a beautiful taxi journey round the world AND the wonderful Simon Bartram creator of Bob, the Man in the Moon. Really, really great. I kind of hope it's my day off so that I can spend it just going to kids' events...

These are just a very small percentage of a very full programme - more than 800 events with more than 700 authors - but I think the programme team have outdone themselves this year. Bravo all, and bring on August!

My Favourite Villains

Argh, really not doing very well at this "regularly" thing, am I? Once again, in my defence, I have been hugely busy, this time with final essays and final exams and final drinking. However, all that is now done. As of 10.30am yesterday, I am finished with my studies. Nothing left to do. Hasn't quite sunk in yet (which has nothing to do with many pints yesterday afternoon) but all very exciting.

So. Onto the topic of this post. Villains. I was recently reading this flavorwire post about movie villains which ranks dear old Voldemort as #21 of their 50 Greatest Movie Villains on account of his being 'so evil, people are afraid to say his name'. Admittedly, this fear stems from the fact that if you do say his name the word has a magical trace on it, and he sends a couple of cronies to kill you off. So, all in all, pretty villainous. HOWEVER, Voldy is not my favourite Potter bad guy. Sure he's the Big Bad behind the magical world's annual battle of good versus evil but I actually think that some of J.K. Rowling's other antagonists are more interesting characters. Obviously Bellatrix Lestrange is the first to spring to mind; whilst Voldemort is cold and calculating in his attempts to wipe out the inferior muggles, Bellatrix is really just evil for the sake of it. I think the films play up the relationship between her and Voldemort with her looking to him for validation, whereas in the books I got the impression that she just genuinely enjoyed her murderous lifestyle and by aligning herself with the greatest dark wizard to have ever lived, she's got an outlet for it. There's also Umbridge. Although ostensibly one of the Goodies, Dolores Umbridge is just so delightfully vile with her kittens and her frills and her ridiculous adherence to The Rules. Harry's detention of writing lines with her special quill, whilst all the pink, frilly kittens watch on is an incredible abuse of power and very creepy to boot.

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy

But I think my favourite villain throughout the series, and certainly the one with the most interesting development, is Lucius Malfoy. In Chamber of Secrets, Lucius is an extremely unpleasant blend of malevolent and powerful, planting Tom Riddle's diary on Ginny Weasley before term starts in an attempt to have the chamber of secrets reopened, thus simultaneously discrediting both Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley in the eyes of the ministry. [SPOILER] This isn't exactly how it works out. Over the course of the final three books, we see Lucius change from one of the sneeriest, most unpleasant men in fiction to a dishevelled, humiliated shell pleading with Voldemort to end the battle so that he can find his son. His calm, icy exterior when he is associated with those in power, either the Minister for Magic or Voldemort, masks cowardice when alone and ultimately, his human concern for the safety of his family separates him from the other major villains on the dark side. This also, I think, makes him one of the most nuanced characters in the canon.

All this chatter of Potter villains got me to thinking (how very Carrie Bradshaw) of other fictional villains that I loved, managing to narrow it down to a top three, discounting the aforementioned (Lucius would probably make it in at number three). Honorable mentions go to Steerpike in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books - more of a Machiavellian anti-hero than a villain strictly-speaking, but he does burn down a library and cause the death, whether directly or not, of several members of the Groan family so he's not doing so badly in the villain stakes - and du Maurier's Mrs Danvers - her intent to break up Max de Winter's second marriage seemingly knows no bounds, covering all manner of nasty behaviour, culminating in the burning down of their beloved home.

 3. Mrs Coulter in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: Marisa Coulter is cruel, ruthless, power-hungry and manipulative - all hallmarks of an excellent villain. Plus there's the whole intercision thing (cutting children from their daemons) which is pretty grim. However, as with Lucius Malfoy, the character isn't unrelentingly evil, and she is torn between her maternal instincts towards Lyra and acting for her own gain, making for a twisty-turny relationship between the reader and Mrs Coulter; I never truly felt able to trust her, but she did keep surprising me.

'Her eyes were big black buttons'

2. The Other Mother in Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Coraline is Gaiman's story of a girl who, feeling ignored by own parents, finds a doting Other Mother and Other Father in a parallel of her house, and initially she is pleased by parents who will pay her attention. Obviously this goes really well. It also features one of the truly creepiest passages of any book I have ever read. I don't want to deprive anyone the pleasure of reading it without knowing what happens so no spoilers here, but I get chills just thinking about it. (An aside: I actually read somewhere that Gaiman initially omitted this chapter from the book, believing it to be too creepy even by his standards, but was encouraged to reinsert it by his editor. And I'm glad he was.) The Other Mother herself is very similar to Coraline's actual mother but with buttons for eyes and long twitchy fingers, and she collects children but gets bored easily and leaves them locked behind a magic mirror. Lovely.


Which leads me to...

Quentin Blake's Grand High Witch. Still terrifying.

1. The Grand High Witch in Roald Dahl's The Witches: 'The most evil and appalling woman in the world'. I can't even articulate how terrifying I found the Grand High Witch as a child. My sister and I had story tapes of James and the Giant Peach (which we would sometimes listen to whilst we were falling asleep) and The Witches (which we would most definitely not listen to whilst we were falling asleep), and even approximately fifteen years later, I can still remember the music on The Witches and it still makes me shiver. The witches are all physically repulsive: no toes, no hair, clawed hands but the Grand High Witch is even more so, removing a mask to reveal a rotten face. Anjelica Huston played the GHW in the film brilliantly and arguably the film's version is even more grotesque, but it's obviously Quentin Blake's drawings of her that have really stuck in my mind. Dahl did villains very well, and I really think that the Grand High Witch is his pinnacle.




So who are your favourite villains from the fictional world?

p.s. I'll try and not mention Harry Potter or Roald Dahl in my next post.

Musing on names in translation

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! Only post two and I've already broken my own rule. In my defence, I've been hugely busy and allowing myself to only procrastinate the really important things with the marginally less important things. Am thankful that I didn't offer my first-born to the blogging gods should I break the rules, otherwise we could end up with a tricky Rumpelstiltskin situation down the line and if I remember my Brothers Grimm correctly, that did not end well. Although that was mostly for Rumpelstiltskin himself...

ANYWAY.

Matilda and Harry Potter

During a recent work experience placement with a children's publisher, I received very beautiful French editions of two of my favourite children's books: Matilda by Roald Dahl and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I have wonderful memories of reading Matilda as a child, although I hadn't read it for many years, and I am a fully paid-up member of Potterheads Anonymous so I was delighted when a tidy-up in the publicity corner unearthed these two books, and since no-one else nearby at the time spoke French I didn't have to fight anyone for them. They are part of a series called Bibliothèque published by Gallimard Jeunesse last year to celebrate their 40th anniversary. The series aims to build up a library of classic and contemporary literature, both original works in French as well as works in translation, accessible to children and teens, and features a range of other titles such as The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea and Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. A really ecclectic mix. 

Matilda cover image

From an aesthetic point of view these books are beautiful. They have a "soft-touch" dust jacket, and lovely heavy pages, whilst the gorgeous cover illustrations by someone called Antonin Faure are shiny and lightly embossed. As someone who particularly loves illustration, and can't imagine Roald Dahl's words without Quentin Blake's pictures, I'm pleased to note that the books retain their original illustrations internally, and Faure has incorporated Blake's classic image of Matilda reading sitting on a pile of books into the cover image too. 

 

The thing that I found particularly interesting, and really the point of this post, was the way certain names and words have been translated. In Matilda, the Wormwood family have become the 'Verdebois', Miss Trunchbull is 'Mlle Legourdin' whilst Miss Honey is rather jarringly 'Mlle Candy'. I understand the first two changes; as French-sounding words they flow better, especially when read aloud (important in children's books) and, whilst not literal translations of their English counterparts, they convey similar meanings: 'bois' meaning wood, and 'le gourdin' something like the club or bludgeon. However, I just can't get on board with Mlle Candy. It irked everytime I came across it when reading, and although perhaps candy is more familiar an English word than honey to French children, I just can't understand why, having gone to the trouble to give others very French names, the powers-that-be stuck with Mlle Candy.Why not even Mlle Miel? 

Harry Potter cover image

There are similar examples in Harry Potter too. The translation of the title to 'Harry Potter à l'Ecole des Sorciers' (Harry Potter at the School of Wizards) initially bothered me, but then I remembered that the Americans also altered the title, and they weren't even translating it into a different language! Within the story, since many of Rowling's words and names have been made up, there's quite a difference. For example Hogwarts becomes Poudlard, the four houses are Gryffondor (Gryffindor), Poufsouffle (Hufflepuff), Serdaigle (Ravenclaw) and Serpentard (Slytherin). Three of these are fairly self-evident but I can't explain the name for Ravenclaw. Claw in French is 'griffe' so perhaps it was decided that going with literal translation would have been too close to Gryffindor? 

In terms of the characters themselves, most of the main ones in the first book all retain their English names: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, McGonagall etc. Except Snape. Whose name is Severus Rogue. Severus. Rogue. WHAT? Now, I am a particularly big fan of Snape. I loved his character development; like Dumbledore, I always trusted that he was ultimately good and '"After all this time?" "Always"' will never fail to bring tears to my eyes. And I just don't think this name fits. Without taking into consideration that the alliteration of Severus Snape is something that I'm sure was carefully thought out by Rowling, the surname Rogue seems to do Snape a disservice. The closest translation in English to the French word Rogue is 'arrogant', and whilst Snape is depicted as many things (cold, bitter, sarcastic...) I don't think he's really arrogant. 

However, despite some issues with the translation of names, these books remain two of my favourites, and in the same way that it is nice to break up some Serious Grown-Up Reading (I do do some, I promise) with a bit of YA fiction, or a picture book, it has been nice to break up reading for my French 21st Century novel course with two stories that I know and love. Now I'm just seeing how long I can hold out before buying more in the series, because I think they'd look especially pretty all together on my bookshelf... 


p.s. apologies for terrible quality of these photographs. They really do not do the loveliness of these books justice...

The Difficult First Post

Writing a blog is one of those things I've been meaning to get around to for rather a long time now. I think I mostly want to do it just to see if I can but suspect I have been putting it off for two main reasons: firstly, the problem of what to call the thing, and secondly, how to begin it. The Difficult Second Novel/Album is a concept with which I imagine most are familiar, but I have decided that the blogger faces The Difficult First Post.
The first problem was resolved by some swift facebooking with my mother who reminded me that my name handily fits into that of my favourite Finnish cartoon character but the second remains an issue. So, I did some research (*).
Turns out that I was under the misconception that it was imperative to begin such endeavours with some kind of Blog Manifesto, outlining what it is you plan to write about, how often you're going to do so and promising at least your first-born if you fail to stick to it all.
Apparently this is not the case. You can just start. Who knew?
So I don't need to tell you that I intend to try and write one post per week. Or that these posts will feature all manner of interesting topics, probably fairly bookish in nature, as I attempt to make my way in the world of publishing. (As a publisher. It will become abundantly clear, if it hasn't already, that I'm no writer.) And probably some puppies. Everyone loves puppies. I suspect that this little blog will flourish in times of procrastination and probably lie a bit neglected when I've Got Stuff On but that remains to be seen.
So, onto The Probably Equally Difficult Second Post...
* By research, I mean that I looked at the first posts of two of my pals' blogs: Jen over here and Evie here.