But, this is more interesting than all of that! Promise. It is still book related, because I love books. Please let me introduce Match Books. This is a new publishing company I am a part of. It was something I couldn’t say no to given the opportunity to work with awesome people and fiction. I have worked in publishing for around eight years now, but I work in academic publishing. It is very nice to have a break from that and see the other side.

So, if you’d like to, it would be nice if you could go like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And check out the awesome website and the pretty book covers. Oh, and if you know writers (or you are one) interested in fantasy and romance and a slightly different way of doing things, send them our way. We have two special calls right now, one for an Urban Legends anthology and another for Second Chances (romance).

It’s early days and there’s still lots to do, but I’m really happy to be part of it.

Anyway, here are some pics.

This is when it had been pieced together but no wadding etc. You can still see the masking tape along the sides to tell me which row went where. I did spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get the squares ‘just so’, to give it the best arrangement, but I don’t know if I managed it.

Artfully thrown over the chair.

Now with wadding! And pinned ready for quilting.

Quilted and trimmed. Another lesson learned: don’t sew too close to the ends, because when you trim you will cut off your nice tied ends and the thread will unravel, and you will have to sew it again. You would think this would be obvious, but not to me. D’oh.

Now quilted and binding done. I decided to do some little squares for the corners, for no real reason except I loved that fabric and wanted to use it, but I didn’t have enough left for a full sized square. I do think I will do a little square quilt one day, with my left over fabrics.

Finished!

And the back view. Again, if I had remotely thought it through, then those squares on the back would have been in line with the ones in front. Then the quilting lines would match. Ah well.

Still, I am quite proud of it, and happy to see the finished result. This quilt was done entirely by hand, but I have just bought a sewing machine, so it will be interesting to see how I feel about quilting when it’s done a bit speedier. I do like sitting in front of the tv happily sewing though, even if it is slow going.

Am I making any resolutions? No, I don’t think so. There are things I would like from 2013, but then if I don’t get them I’ll probably just feel bad. Although I’ll probably feel bad anyway so…I’d like a new job. I would like a job where I look forward to going everyday instead of just getting through it so I can come home. And I am very lucky in some respects, especially with the people I work with, but it’s more than time I did something else. I have some possible projects brewing this year that make it more likely I’ll be doing something else by the time 2014 (oh god) rolls around, but there are no guarantees.

I’d like a really good holiday. I owe Max an adventure, so hopefully we’ll come up with something we can both enjoy.

I need to get creative with words and not just crafts, although I do intend to carry on quilting. I am going to buy a sewing machine to help with that, and my next project is a quilt for my niece. I also owe a post about my last quilt, and I’ll do that soon. But I really do need to spend more time writing, I’m trying to get back into that. Only by doing will I…well, do it, and will it feel easier to do it, so I’m trying. I should be doing that now but this sort of counts. Maybe.

Then there’s roller derby. I missed a lot of practice at the end of last year due to life and bad toes and other stuff, so I need to get back into a proper routine. I am not really feeling it at the moment though. This sort of slump happens when people move up to main league and I am left behind, it takes a while to feel right again (not helped by my absence, obviously). So I need to put some effort in and fall in love again. If for no other reason than I got five pairs of derby socks for Christmas! Also, new wheels, hurrah!

I also need to get a new laptop, since my current one is over six years old and you can get iPhones with more memory. It is very slow. I don’t need it for much, just internet use and Word. Oh and iTunes. So I don’t think I need to break the bank, I just need something that’s reliable. This one has been pretty good, given its age.

There you go, not really a plan or resolutions but just stuff that needs to get done.

At the end of October I tried out for the main league again. It was a much better experience this time, but I still didn’t make it in. I am not a stand out, although they said my skills were good. It is fine, and they are probably right that I am not ready, but it sucks to lose yet more of my buddies from rec league. Really proud of them, but wish I could still skate with them. We also had another rec league bout on the same day and my team lost by one point. Ugh. We did play really well though, and the standard overall was great.

November 11^th was Nin’s birthday, so we went as a family to Robin Hood’s Bay to scatter her ashes. We spent a lot of time there when we were kids and that’s what she wanted. We’d meant to do this in summer but that just didn’t happen. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day and we all enjoyed each other’s company, and I think Nin would have been happy with that.

I was also an extra in a film, for the company Max works for. I don’t know if I will actually end up in the final cut, or if, even if I do, you’ll be able to see me or tell it’s me, but it was fun. I felt like a right prat for a lot of it, since it was all done on green screen, but I did get to fall about on some crash mats and attempt to look scared. It’s a good job I don’t want to be an actress, because I am terrible.

I attempted to do NaNoWriMo for the first time this November, and I made it to 20,000 words or so before life got in the way. But that’s 20,000 more words than I had to begin with, and I did like that NaNo forced me to sit down and write and just get words on the page without over thinking it. Just get the first draft done and fix it later. Usually when I write things it is just notes and ideas, like I have to wait for inspiration to strike before I can do anything, and this just means I don’t really get anywhere. So for that it was a good experience and I hope to continue with my book. And I would definitely try NaNo again, maybe just when I am not as busy.

And then I went to Berlin for four days, with Max and a bunch of rollergirls. We did some touristy stuff and a day of watching roller derby, as it was a tournament weekend. Berlin is a wonderful city. I’d never been before but it’s really cool to wander around. We did an alternative tour, being guided around for three hours looking at graffiti and getting a bit of history about the city. It was very cold though, and we abandoned our attempt to see a broken down theme park. We intend to go back when it’s a bit warmer and see more stuff.

And I’ll end with babies, since there are now two new ones in the world. My niece Isla was born six weeks premature last week, but she’s doing really well, she’s just very small. Her middle name is Betty, after my grandmother. It’s perfect. I am going up to Yorkshire to see her tomorrow. And then, on the same day, my friend had Annie, who is not tiny at all. I look forward to many cuddles.

Life is good.

I read the first book in this trilogy, Blood Red Road, last year and really enjoyed it, but I’d sort of forgotten about it and didn’t immediately run out and buy this book. I should have, because I enjoyed it immensely (so much so I’ve gone back and read the first one again, which I probably should have done first. Oh well)

In Rebel Heart, Saba is separated from Jack as he goes to tell Molly about Ike. Saba is making her way west with Emmi, Lugh and Tommo when she meets up with Maeve of the Freehawks who has a message from Jack. She returns Saba’s heartstone and says Jack is with the Tonton. Saba does not believe this and deciphers his real message, leaving the others to go off to meet him. After learning that Jack has betrayed her, Saba does something unexpected that will hurt everyone she cares about.

I’m so in love with Saba, and these books. I love the way they are written, so clearly in Saba’s voice, and her dialect, which I thought initially would be hard to get into, is in fact just the opposite. It’s very lyrical, and it gives you such a clear idea of who Saba is.

Lugh drove me mad in this one. I just wanted him to be on Saba’s side for a change. I know she makes mistakes, she’s hot headed and often acts first, and selfishly, rather than thinking things through and doing what’s best for the group. But she’s his sister, she needs his support, and he’s just on at her all the time. And she did spend the entire previous book saving his ass. He could at least be grateful and concede that sometimes she does know what she’s doing.

I liked revisiting the characters we got to know in Blood Red Road and the new ones we met here. Young does a good job of making you wonder if they can be trusted or not. And I have no real clue how to think about DeMalo. He’s clearly doing horrible things, even if has an idea of a noble purpose, but I don’t know if I should hate him or not. Maybe I’m as confused as Saba.

And then there’s Jack. It’s a shame there wasn’t more of him in this book, but I think it served the story better that he wasn’t, and led to more conflict. I cannot wait for the next book to see how the story concludes. And I can’t recommend these enough.

It’s now on our bed, since it’s dropped cold these last few days. It doesn’t quite fit the king size bed, but it still looks very nice. So, a successful first attempt!

London Roller Girls Rec League Bout: Pink vs Black from Max Rees on Vimeo.

Aidan Brook has been hiding from the world for ten years, happily living in the middle of nowhere and not intending to change that any time soon, when her ex best friend, Sera, turns up on her doorstep with bad news. Those murders that happened all those years ago that made you run away? Well, they seem to be happening again. Aidan reluctantly joins Sera and returns to the scene of the murders, hoping to find who is responsible and put a stop to it for good, as she thought they had long ago.

On her side is the fact that Aidan and Sera are Elementals. They can control their own element. Aidan is a water, while Sera is fire, and the elements help shape their personalities. But the powers also come with a catch, since the murderer is killing those who are close to Elementals. Along for the ride are other Elementals, with varying degrees of power, as well as two shifters. As a group they work on finding and stopping the killer.

I don’t know how good a synopsis that is, but this book is definitely worth a look if you’re at all interested in urban fantasy, or similar. I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to have a new supernatural world, one that doesn’t rely on vampires and werewolves. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of those things, but it’s refreshing to have a change, and especially one that doesn’t seem to be basing its world on previous myths and legends. While I don’t think the idea of controlling the elements is new, the history of the Elementals and how they came to be is something I haven’t come across before. There’s strong world building, but without too much exposition. A lot of first books in a series get too heavily bogged down with back story, or they can skirt that entirely to keep people guessing for the next book, which is frustrating. I think Broken Elements treads this line carefully, giving you just enough to keep you interested without giving everything away. There’s still a lot to learn about the world and I look forward to seeing where it goes as the series progresses.

One of my favourite things about the book is the friendship between Aidan and Sera. When the story begins they’ve been estranged for years, but they’ve never really lost their connection to each other. I liked seeing them reconnect, and there’s real affection between them. And one of the strongest parts of the book is the humour and excellent dialogue. These conversations felt real. The group of friends as a whole is very well written, and they all get personalities and a voice and back stories, when it could have been easy for them to get lost in the group.

I really liked Aidan as a main character, and the book works especially well when exploring her doubts and insecurities about her powers and heritage and how/where she fits in as a half-elemental. I like that Aidan feels, for want of a better word, human. Real. Even though she has supernatural powers she’s still very relatable, and she does make mistakes. There’s nothing worse than an impossibly perfect heroine.

Along with the mystery of who dunnit, there’s a nice, slow burning romance, just in case anyone was worried that was missing. It’s more hinted at for most of the book, but that’s nice, it is not rushed or forced. As this is a series it can afford to take its time and let us become invested. It makes sense to do that, but not all writers do.

I look forward to the second book in the series, and learning more about Aidan and her world. So roll on 2013, when we get the next installment.

Update, 26 February 2013: I am friends with the author but this is an honest review. I am now working with the author in a publishing company, although I was not at the time of writing this. It does not affect the content of my review.

Annie Sweet is immediately drawn to 43  Stanley Road and quickly moves in with her family. The house is everything she wanted, but there are odd things about it – their dog barks at thin air, the floor in her office slopes oddly. As her marriage begins to disintegrate, Annie seeks answers to her home’s past. She discovers through the census that a young chorus girl named Lily Painter used to lodge there, and Annie is desperate to discover more about her.

Intertwined with Annie’s story in the present, there are other voices from the past. Inspector William George writes a journal about his cases, one in particular about baby farming which is bothering him. (Baby farming being when unwed mothers with little other choice available to them would pay other women to take their babies off their hands, and then these women would sell them on to those who couldn’t have children. In some cases the babies died in suspicious circumstances.) George received a tip off about two women and is determined to get to the bottom of it. And then there’s Lily’s voice, the ghost of the title. Initially we get to see how she came to live with the Georges and start making a name for herself on the stage, but it isn’t too long before poor Lily ties the threads of the story together.

I wish this book had a different title. It is such an obvious one for a book like this. And to be honest it doesn’t fit the tone of the book at all. Neither does the jacket image. It looks like it should be very creepy, an old fashioned, scary ghost story. And it isn’t that at all, although there are times when the author tries to shoe horn that in. And that’s the problem with this book in a nutshell: it is trying to be far too many things at once, and failing on all counts. It is not a ghost story, nor is it historical fiction, or a relationship drama. It’s all those things stuck together to make a decent book that could have been even better, had it been more focused. Parts of the book are ‘inspired’ by a true story of baby farmers, and the author uses these beginnings to think about a larger ‘what if?’ These parts work really well. I was hooked on the sections that focused on the inspector, and Lily’s earlier days and how she gets involved with the baby farmers. These sections are very well written, and if the book had only been about the past I think it could have been really excellent.

The parts that don’t work all that well are the present day ones, and they felt unnecessary. It seemed like the author wanted to frame the story in this way and so made it happen, even if it didn’t do the book any good, and meant that the ending was far too silly and coincidental for it to have the emotional impact it should have. Annie, I’m afraid to say, is a very dull character, and so spending time with her while she unravels what we already know is not all that interesting. And when she’s not looking into the past she’s despairing over her marriage or taking her daughter to endless auditions, (the daughter wants to be an actress, sort of, but it’s a lame attempt at adding drama. No pun intended there).

One thing I did enjoy was the setting, which is Holloway. I live in North London so it was nice to see places I am familiar with popping up in a book. And while I can’t give this a rave review, it was entertaining for the most part. I just think it could have been a lot better.

Who wants to see bad iPhone photos of the quilt so far?

This was pre-basting.

And during the quilting. I may have stabbed myself a million times doing this.

Here’s an attempt at a close up after quilting.

And another.

And its current state.

So there you go. I think it’s safe to say I’ve got the quilting bug. However, my next attempt will be much smaller. As much as I’ve enjoyed this, it’d be nice to get one finished in less than six months.