This week:
• I love school stories
• How many twins are there, exactly?
• This book has weird, fascinating worldbuilding
Author Archives: alisonjanetbrown
Choosing your genre as a reader
This week, defining your genre as a reader:
• Means you know yourself well
• Can close you off from finding other things you love
• Will help you avoid things that annoy or trigger you
Legends & Lattes: what is cosy fantasy? Or, how to make yourself hungry by reading descriptions of cake
This week:
• I try to nail down what cosy fantasy is
• Travis Baldree becomes a one-click author for me
• The mouth-watering descriptions of pastries made me hungry
Rainbringer: passive heroine, active heroine
This week, Rainbringer:
• Has two strong heroines
• Subverted my expectations
• Totally blew me away
Writing female secondary characters: why it’s important and how to do it
This week, secondary characters:
• Are most likely to default to male
• Are important representation
• Demonstrate the values of your society (and your writing)
Robert Muchamore nails writing female secondary characters, woop!
This week:
• Robin Hood is a 12-year-old boy who must survive alone in Sherwood Forest when his father is falsely accused of theft
• Women going about their business and doing their jobs in books is unusual
• Robert Muchamore writes great secondary characters who reflect reality
Secondary Characters, Narrative and Comedy – Review of Redshirts by John Scalzi
This week, Redshirts is:
• A fun romp through the Universal Union
• Sneakily asking ethical questions
• Much more meta than I anticipated
The King’s Man: how it made promises to the audience and… why it didn’t deliver
This week:
• The King’s Man sets up a great action story
• It then fails to deliver
• I have my theories as to why
Bing Crosby’s character development in ‘White Christmas’: an analysis
This week, White Christmas:
• Is a classic of its genre
• Demonstrates some elegant character development
• Is for life, not just for Christmas
Why join a Writing Circle?
This week, I reveal that writing circles:
• Can actually help you improve your writing
• Are very variable in tone
• Can host a range of events for writers