Novel Kicks

About Novel Kicks/Laura... Novel Kicks was founded in 2009 and is run by Laura who is currently living in Hampshire, and lives with husband, Chris and her cat, Buddy. She would love to be a writer. She’s trying to write the novel she thinks so much about. She’s loved reading and writing since ‘Creative Writing’ classes in primary school. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything she can get her hands on, she loves reading, dancing like a loon, and watching Project Runway and Ugly Betty (her two TV guilty pleasures.) She also has an obsession with chocolate and Jammie Dodgers.

Review: Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Black Swan, August 2014.

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love – all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine’s life.

This book had been recommended to me by so many people. I am always in two minds about a book many people tell me ‘I must read.’ I am then worried that it won’t meet expectation (this is also why I stay away from most nominated films during Oscar season. I find that the hype sometimes ruins the book or film.) I shouldn’t have worried.

Before I Go To Sleep focuses around Christine, who following an accident years earlier, looses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. Every morning, she has to learn who she is all over again from her husband, a man she doesn’t know. Eventually, she begins to keep a journal and everything begins to unravel around her. Like Christine, you begin to realise something isn’t quite right but you can’t quite figure out what.

I love books like this where there are puzzles to solve. The only small thing I had to get my head around was, with having started to read this around the time I heard a lot about the movie, it was hard to imagine the characters in any other way than the actors who were playing them on screen. No disrespect to Mark Strong (he’s a great actor,) but I imagined the doctor being a little younger.

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A Moment With…Kelly Florentia

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Kelly Florentia is the second author to join us today for our collection of posts to coincide with NaNoWriMo. Kelly joins us to talk about short stories.

I love reading short stories. There’s something quite gratifying about a sharp, tight tale with a satisfying or clever ending. Although not as widely read as novels, short stories are a lot more prominent than some people may think. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a film adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella (1958). And Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds was inspired by Daphne Du Maurier’s short story of the same name taken from her anthology The Apple Tree (1952). Oscar Wilde, one of my favourite authors of all time, mainly wrote plays and short stories.

Producing fine, short literature requires great skill and tenacity. Unlike a novel, you only have a few hundred or a few thousand words to create a strong, believable plot with convincing characters and a fulfilling conclusion. Your aim is to engage readers within the first sentence, keep them connected, and not let them down in the last paragraph with a poor or predictable finish. Most of the stories I write have a twist or surprise ending simply because that’s what I like to read, but not all short stories need to take this form. Stories can be humorous, moving, romantic, inspirational or chilling. But, primarily, they must be entertaining.

Personally, the most challenging aspect of short story writing is coming up with new ideas. Magazine editors are always on the lookout for fresh material, and the last thing you want is for your reader to find your story predictable or worn. So when ideas arise I jot them down and work on them later. Ideas are everywhere. A comment someone makes, a newspaper article, a conversation, something I see on T.V. or read on the internet.

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Writing Room – Game Show

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Writing Room is our online writing group.

We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.

Today’s prompt: You are forced to be a part of a game show where peole watch for fun. To survive, you have to win and that comes with tough decisions. What happens to you if you win? What happens if you loose? Is everything as it seems?

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A Moment With…Christina Jones

Published November 23, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

In our second post today to coincide with National Novel Writing Month, we talk to author, Christina Jones about her route to publication and how all started with a boy called Tony…

My route to publication was – to quote every contestant X-Factor has ever had – a bit of a roller-coaster… And a lifelong roller-coaster at that… I’d always enjoyed writing stories and making things up, and I had my first short story published when I was 14 (in a teenage magazine – remember them?). I wrote about Tony from the chip shop who I was madly in love with and who ignored me and went out with my best friend instead. I poured every bit of teenage heartbroken angst into that story I can tell you! I sent it to the magazine without ever thinking it’d be published – but they loved it, bought it and paid what was a fortune to me then, and it opened up a nice little niche for me – and I carried on writing short stories, serials, articles (I became the pop correspondent for “Jackie” – was the envy of all my friends!), and anything else they’d pay me for (!) for the teenage mags while I was still at school, and then did the same for the women’s magazines for years. It was my hobby – and I was earning enough pocket money from it to have a couple of nice holidays each year – and that was about as far as I ever imagined my writing career was going.

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Competition: Win a Writing Maps Gift Pack

Published November 23, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Writing Maps think that good writing should be encouraged, shared and published.

Devised by writer and creative writing tutor, Shaun Levin alongside a wide range of designers and illustrators, Writing Maps are full of inspiration for writers. Each map contains at least 12 writing prompts and each map is beautifully illustrated. Maps available include; The Character Map, Writing People (for crowded places,) and My Writing Life.

Thanks to Shaun, we have a wonderful chance for someone to win this lovely little gift pack. It contains the City of Inspiration Writing Map (I have it and it’s fantastic and so helpful,) a notebook, a pen and a postcard with an additional prompt. It’s perfect for any writer or will be great as a Christmas present for any writer. They really are useful in helping the creative process.

How to enter:

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