Boom, Clap.

So, June was a bit of a hot mess. Not exactly bad, but a little more crammed than I expected, with the always pleasant scaffolding of sickness and that desperate scramble to catch up on work, both day job related and writing related. That said, it's not exactly like July's shaping up much better. There's a lot looming, and in kind of exciting news, I'll be talking myself hoarse between teaching Writing 101 at QWC starting this Wednesday, Blogging & Author Platforms at Sunnybank Hills Library on Saturday, and speaking on a LadyFest Panel on Women in the Arts next week. So all in all, a bit crazy!
On top of that, I'm moving in August and am starting to prepare myself for it. I've spoken before about being a bit of a root-layer, and this is one of the first times I've really been excited to move. Not just due to the one terrible housemate, but because it feels a bit like a new chapter, or growing up or some mix of both. Probably both. 
Anyway, have a mixtape full of my jams over the last month, and, hey, what do you have planned for July?

Sunday Short: 'Happy Endings' by Margaret Atwood

If you think this is all too bourgeois, make John a revolutionary and Mary a counterespionage agent and see how far that gets you. Remember, this is Canada. You'll still end up with A, though in between you may get a lustful brawling saga of passionate involvement, a chronicle of our times, sort of.

I haven't read as much Margaret Atwood as I want to (bad Sophie), but man, this inventive, odd, and oddly heartbreaking choose-your-own-ending story is all sorts of wonderful. Atwood's voice is so clever, and she manages to walk a fine line of detached and intimate which hits my buttons in the best ways.

You can read 'Happy Endings' by Margaret Atwood here.

Friday Finds

This song by Meghan Trainor might just be my fave new jam.

- New Studio Ghibli!! Ahhh!!

- Kill Your Darlings interviewed Meanjin editor, Zora Sanders for the new Pitch Bitch initiative, and man, it's a good one. Uber informative and shines a light on a lot of the cultural and social gender inequality that still plagues writing and publishing.

- 5 of the best literary frenemies.

- The Bronte sisters made tiny books! Tiny, tiny books!

- A map of all the movie fictional locations!

- 34 things you probably didn't know about Breaking Bad.

- This Guardians of the Galaxy viral site is pretty darn amazing too.

- These 10 graphic novels to read this summer is also bulking out my reading list. Speaking of graphic novels (or, well, comics) Storm #1 preview! Ahhh!

- These beautiful pictures of American libraries are also pretty great. I'm a bit in love with #6.

Also, I'm teaching a bit in July which is pretty exciting. I'll be tutoring a four-week Writing 101 course, which covers the fundamentals of creative writing for short stories and novels. That one kicks off next Wednesday. Next weekend, I'll also be teaching Blogging & Author Platforms at Sunnybank Hills Library. Both are shaping up to be pretty fun and educational courses, so check them out if you're a local!

Reality Studio SS14

Ugh, desert-themed lookbooks and fashion shoots are some of my favourite. I love pops of colour against sandy backdrops and that sort of invasive, barrenness. It takes me to a different place. It helps that this line by Reality Studio is gorgeous. Vivid and picturesque and, well, kind of perfect.

Check out the full line over at the Reality Studio website.

  

 

'Lola Bensky' by Lily Brett (23/52)

Lola Bensky is nineteen, fat and interviewing Jimi Hendrix. That's the opening scene of this oddly epic novel, which encompasses the impact of the Holocaust on the children of survivors, the way weight plagues women, music journalism, love, and fame.

I have such mixed feelings on this novel. On the one hand, it ticks almost all of my boxes - music! Women coming of age! History informing narrative! On the other hand, Lily Brett's writing style takes a while to adjust to. Stylistically, there's a lot of telling, and I'm not sure how much I like that, particularly in the context of this story. It also seems to change dramatically halfway through, flashing twenty years forward and rapidly caterpulting itself through years of Lola's life. Dramatically offbeat years too, that with deeper exploration could have been more compelling.

That said, Brett's dialogue is wonderful, and the banter between Lola and the musicians - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Mick Jagger in particular, makes for some pretty awesome scenes. The glimpses of the Holocaust are also well told - shocking, sickening and bold in a way that makes for compelling reading, and informs Lola's character beautifully as the novel unfolds. I'm just not sure it's enough to make me like it all that much.

2.5 out of 5 false eyelash sets.

Sunday Short: Janine by Ben Goodfellow

Janine blew her nose and said, ‘Oh. Yes. Good point. Thank you.’ Then she took her pouch of tobacco and her lighter from her handbag and gave them to me. After I asked a couple of times whether she was OK, I went outside for my break and rolled a cigarette. I blew these big, fat blue-grey smoke-rings and got that under-the-covers feeling when I thought about how I would never, ever have to worry about what Janine was going through.

Seizure's Flashers series continues to be a pretty damn great one for bite-sized fiction. Ben Goodfellow's short, 'Janine', is a pretty perfect representation of the medium too. A simple idea with beautifully orchestrated emotional repercussions.

You can read 'Janine' over at the Seizure website here.

Friday Finds

- Saturday Morning Slow Jams on youtube have been a lot of fun, particularly as they're doing renditions of your favourite childhood cartoons. The newest one, which covers the Sailor Moon theme song, is basically the best thing I've heard all week.

- Eighties style Game of Thrones opening credits!

- These Studio Ghibli hoodies are pretty fabulous.

- Sleepy Hollow comics! (If you're not watching the series, you should be. It's wooonderful).

- Mockingjay teaser! Also, these district posters are gorgeous.

- Gail Simone's message to female comic creators is A+.