tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69245013194244736422024-02-19T02:17:27.648-08:00Samantha's BookshelfSamanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-23750489740535151622014-08-22T02:27:00.000-07:002014-08-22T02:27:00.068-07:00How do you find your voice?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. When I wrote my recent WIP I found my main characters voice as something that was a cross between mine and my little sister's. There are so many times the words she speak could be coming out of my little sister's mouth it's not funny. It was entirely unintentional to write like that, it just sort of .... happened.<br />
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So I'm wondering, how do you find your character voice? Is it someone close to you you draw inspiration from? Is it yourself? Is it pulled out of thin air?<br />
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Do you write in third person or do you prefer to write in first? What drives that choice?<br />
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My most recent WIP was written entirely in first person. I'm not sure why I chose to write it like that. I think maybe it was because at times I feel so like my MC. So like it could be me in her shoes, promoting what she's promoting and trying to achieve what she's trying to achieve. So maybe I thought it would be easier to write in first person. Well.... it wasn't. But it was certainly a great learning experience!<br />
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It's interesting, talking to different writers about how they write and why they choose to write like that. Why choose first or third person, why choose that particular voice, why choose that hair colour for your character. It's such a complex and complicated process the way we develop every tiny strand of our book and it's amazing how each person does it so incredibly differently!</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-62336576219159403572014-08-15T03:30:00.000-07:002014-08-15T03:30:01.431-07:00My Travels Part Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The third and final 'chapter' of my travels from earlier this year is here - if you're interested (if not I totally don't blame you for moving on to find a blog that is solidly about writing and reading!)<br />
The first two parts covered our time in Africa which was amazing, not we move on to Egypt (which technically is Africa, I know) and Europe!<br />
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We arrived in Cairo very early in the morning and were worried the hotel might not have sent the car to pick us up. However, the driver was ready and waiting with a sign with our name on it! He didn't speak much English though so chit chat was limited. He drove us through a quiet and almost deserted Cairo to The Windsor Hotel, an old Victorian era hotel with a lot of charm. You have to love charm to stay in a place like this because it really is very vintage and rustic - the original elevator, the rooms haven't exactly been updated, but nevertheless it's got a huge amount of character and makes for an interesting stay! It's history is so vast many films have been made in the hotel!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOz9U7cv9JbEnMJPHE0R2kTWUl81znU7NHzdu84AyNmGGf9R5wdpPBgVnt8IsgYMMfZBkDGxtKjiLL2-y1vAuPK13XpSpf8QWDysvYR69ymzELDVJLNEpMnblDffoizYLZVnPCTo89aI/s1600/IMG_8891-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOz9U7cv9JbEnMJPHE0R2kTWUl81znU7NHzdu84AyNmGGf9R5wdpPBgVnt8IsgYMMfZBkDGxtKjiLL2-y1vAuPK13XpSpf8QWDysvYR69ymzELDVJLNEpMnblDffoizYLZVnPCTo89aI/s1600/IMG_8891-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Windsor Hotel Restaurant</td></tr>
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The service at the hotel was really wonderful and we even had the owner come and chat with us to make sure everything is okay. The reason, I suspect, is because of all the conflict and the lack of tourists. There are so many staff bending over backward to do whatever you wish because there are so few guests coming to stay. The owner doesn't want to lay anyone off yet he worries the hotel will close if the tourists don't come back soon. It was rather sad actually.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenyV12S6CXX0aWQRDz7QfW5vBam3WvXEv-8lyPn40KJa4s-iTfI_EkXfw1OtM-ZoN5u_qYVbTQbsYZB3bnCw7bqVeF-6i0Dprm0fJaPLhr5m2nTaTsFwl0Mtti6o4TmdV-1wezatwxF0/s1600/IMG_8422-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenyV12S6CXX0aWQRDz7QfW5vBam3WvXEv-8lyPn40KJa4s-iTfI_EkXfw1OtM-ZoN5u_qYVbTQbsYZB3bnCw7bqVeF-6i0Dprm0fJaPLhr5m2nTaTsFwl0Mtti6o4TmdV-1wezatwxF0/s1600/IMG_8422-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
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Just a few hours after we arrived we were awake again and being given breakfast before a big day of touring the city. We'd originally planned for a two day tour but having spent more than we intended in southern and eastern Africa we thought it better to just do one day. On reflection possibly the two day would have been better but that's hindsight for you! Our guide's name was <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g294201-d4064603-Reviews-Mina_Samir_Egypt_Tour_Guide-Cairo_Cairo_Governorate.html">Mina Samir</a> - if you're ever in Egypt and find yourself needing a guide, he is wonderful. he speaks perfect English and even has a degree in Egyptology specifically for tour guiding.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a9gw-qePT2U/U84bamy8HMI/AAAAAAAAFBA/RRluxZCFuUI/s1600/IMG_8536-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a9gw-qePT2U/U84bamy8HMI/AAAAAAAAFBA/RRluxZCFuUI/s1600/IMG_8536-L.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1tZrjI-JiL1_n-6wJ6MDD-6fawX2sn6KtCJrnM3I5H9Co_mlkr3nhyphenhyphenjMw4YfMyh0b9MNkeUkVDErnlrYBZZGjiEWoBr6uV_n7_x5l-UhsOV8r__qnMfS5_fujg5-zB-NTQkrEpELo2o/s1600/IMG_8464-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1tZrjI-JiL1_n-6wJ6MDD-6fawX2sn6KtCJrnM3I5H9Co_mlkr3nhyphenhyphenjMw4YfMyh0b9MNkeUkVDErnlrYBZZGjiEWoBr6uV_n7_x5l-UhsOV8r__qnMfS5_fujg5-zB-NTQkrEpELo2o/s1600/IMG_8464-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Our first stop was visiting Saqqara the oldest and first pyramid in Cairo, also known as the step pyramid. It was fascinating! And given all the trouble Egypt had been having, all the tourists had pretty much stopped <br />
coming, i'm not kidding we had the place to ourselves. This was good and bad. Great for photos but bad as it meant all the peddlers would try and get every penny out of you. Seriously. It was quite awful actually but you have to just be strong enough to say no. Occasionally Mina would offer to pay for a photo on a donkey or whatever as a way to continue good relations with the locals since he brings many tourists through regularly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyInFAg8a4wBNNg_zRR4gED2kFkVdH6N0MgXQ_D2ECYUafcflChDVuS1WnoUpKjnSIBo6xdwIlTCBoztNHLvhQ3OjLS4J7OFVgBuO4Hgek1ftGiRRcTnwZwEFMxJ3_yGvX6RYKdC-3Nc/s1600/IMG_8545-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyInFAg8a4wBNNg_zRR4gED2kFkVdH6N0MgXQ_D2ECYUafcflChDVuS1WnoUpKjnSIBo6xdwIlTCBoztNHLvhQ3OjLS4J7OFVgBuO4Hgek1ftGiRRcTnwZwEFMxJ3_yGvX6RYKdC-3Nc/s1600/IMG_8545-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
After checking out Saqqara we visited the Papyrus shop. It's the authentic Papyrus paper and it really is <br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_AumFlPss7c/U84cJqd20-I/AAAAAAAAFB8/eG2kcAN5UNk/s1600/20140417_165047_-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_AumFlPss7c/U84cJqd20-I/AAAAAAAAFB8/eG2kcAN5UNk/s1600/20140417_165047_-L.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>quite spectacular especially with the Egyptian paintings on them. They could also write your names in hyroglifics as well as special dates in arabic on the painting you chose. It was very cool and we got a demonstration of how the paper is made. There was one we loved.... really loved, but it was just too much for us to afford at the moment. We chose a much cheaper one and what happened next was evidence of how hard the country has been hit by the conflict. When the city is thriving, you cannot bargain in these places. The prices are fixed... However they don't have enough customers and they're desperate for a sale. We genuinely weren't trying to bargain them down, we were happy with the smaller cheaper one we'd chosen, yet we really did want the other bigger one. He brought the price down from 1300 Egyptian pound to 750 Egyptian pound and threw in a small version of another big one we liked. We felt SO bad. We were of course really happy to get our beautiful painting but we felt awful. If only we could've afforded the full price! We said we'd come back when we had more money. They said, next year? Ahhh might take us a bit longer than that...!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjDYSE6oK9fX39_s-3MC46Bdo1pMB5_-NkFFx4NSJeTtEmurJ3vyEzw9HWCtGhQ2J2AmtbZYCE-H1jvlFd8HSkcCOiYoD-Pt1cNstAEfgrgnj3q8bwDKH7aKKSPNoYz6wNiLaj6_MDzA/s1600/IMG_8639-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjDYSE6oK9fX39_s-3MC46Bdo1pMB5_-NkFFx4NSJeTtEmurJ3vyEzw9HWCtGhQ2J2AmtbZYCE-H1jvlFd8HSkcCOiYoD-Pt1cNstAEfgrgnj3q8bwDKH7aKKSPNoYz6wNiLaj6_MDzA/s1600/IMG_8639-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>After the Papyrus store we headed out to Giza and saw the pyramids in all their glory. We went for a camel <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbiZoUKtP7Sm5fFF75_1joSc-ELmNlPejFw-vfSnlN3O7wgIdbY2Tv1rchCddwqRYXKr1Axl2Nc759qsy5c31bHeyrbNkSer-NwionrPM-s6rHjDxZI8bi1Idysee3ON228BJ5Yma4gM/s1600/IMG_8717-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbiZoUKtP7Sm5fFF75_1joSc-ELmNlPejFw-vfSnlN3O7wgIdbY2Tv1rchCddwqRYXKr1Axl2Nc759qsy5c31bHeyrbNkSer-NwionrPM-s6rHjDxZI8bi1Idysee3ON228BJ5Yma4gM/s1600/IMG_8717-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>ride (my gosh those poor camels I'm convinced they're treated very poorly. Jesse's camel whined the whole way :( it was sad I wish I could free them all!!!!) And then we went down to see the Sphinx. What wonders they are! It was strange too, all the local girls wanting to take their photo with me. I felt like a celebrity of something. Apparently the white skin and blonde hair is something they are fascinated with. We then headed to a local bazaar to pick up some souvenirs (they drive a hard bargain but when you genuinely don't want something and are happy to leave it behind they'll start bargaining with all they've got.) Then we headed to an Egyptian cotton factory. Would've bought something there if we had room in our luggage!<br />
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By that stage we were exhausted so headed back to the hotel, had dinner in their restaurant and slept. We were a little too afraid to leave the safety of the hotel! The next morning we headed to the Egyptian Museum. The receptionist at the hotel had no idea how to give us directions and naturally we got entirely lost. I have never been so scared in my life. We got lost in the Islamic area and I wasn't wearing a headscarf (novice). We got a number of looks... and walking past barricaded buildings wasn't fun. It took us an hour to find the museum. The museum itself was good. It was surrounded by more than 20 tanks all with at least 10 soldiers inside, that was a little disconcerting. The museum was very interesting but a complete mess in terms of layout. I was so freaked around the mummies. Silly really, they just.... I dunno, give me the heebie jeebies!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-k8HqUdEj0kHsRlyJebhpJQG__NmxcYdI6tp1un4-24i-W9RVg7FMXiHXn1sH-lo8phxSzFzYxtjz30mfHgwByoxcLSqS-_61EPc2_l0yYX-iQsp1s0drK3FSPTZiDmmLHIVr8dwXOo/s1600/IMG_8769-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-k8HqUdEj0kHsRlyJebhpJQG__NmxcYdI6tp1un4-24i-W9RVg7FMXiHXn1sH-lo8phxSzFzYxtjz30mfHgwByoxcLSqS-_61EPc2_l0yYX-iQsp1s0drK3FSPTZiDmmLHIVr8dwXOo/s1600/IMG_8769-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>When it came time to head home I was worried we wouldn't find the way. We had no map, no address, no phone.... well done. We got utterly lost. Not in the Islamic direction this time though thank goodness. We just had no idea where to find our hotel. We walked around and around in circles until eventually we walked into another hotel.The hotel manager said he'd seen us wandering around half an hour ago.... clearly we stuck out like sore thumbs. They gave us very good directions and eventually we found our way back to the hotel. It was great to see the pyramids but honestly I didn't enjoy my time in Cairo. Most of the people, unless you were possibly going to give them money were really rude, the streets were full of rubbish and everyone drove where ever they wanted. No one followed the rules anymore because of all the problems with the government. It was chaos! We were really glad to leave to be honest.<br />
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By the next day we were safely in Athens and feeling like we were rejoining society a little bit! We spent the first night on an overnight ferry out to Crete. We bought the cabin ticket which was a really good idea as it meant we got a good night sleep in the beds while the people who just bought tickets for the seating areas looked exhausted. We spent the first day on Crete exploring Heraklion, checking out the city and its restaurants.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gepd8CLkgyQ/U84eax2XVbI/AAAAAAAAFCk/ekr8JkVV27w/s1600/IMG_9363-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gepd8CLkgyQ/U84eax2XVbI/AAAAAAAAFCk/ekr8JkVV27w/s1600/IMG_9363-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>The next day hired a car and drove to Chania (we got really lost. again. and ended up on the other side of the island. Tourist time I called it. Jesse wasn't impressed at my navigating skills....) Chania was beautiful. A little Venetian style town right on the harbour. Gosh it was beautiful. Wonderful vibe, lovely people, all keen to share their stories. We had a great time there. We made good use of the car too, going out around the peninsulas and to the beaches around the area. If only it had been a bit warmer!<br />
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The blue of the water at this particular beach was so incredibly beautiful if I didn't know better I'd think it was fake. It was the most incredible beach. In the summer time it's packed with people swimming and sunbathing. It also has pink sand which is really incredible to see. It was pretty windy when we were there, would love to see it thriving in the summer months but it was quite a hike to get to!<br />
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We then headed inland and checked out this beautiful lake. This is one of those gems that usually get hidden away from the tourists simply because they don't know about it. I believe a lot of the locals love swimming here. There are paddling boats you can hire too and a restaurant right on the shore. It was quite breathtaking and at that time of the year (April) we had it all to ourselves!<br />
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The reason I chose Crete initially when planning our trip was because my granddad fought here during the war. He wrote a few of him memoirs down before he died and his time in Crete was one of them. He was stationed there however when the fighting came they were evacuated. His evacuation ship was hit and they swam back to shore. Many men were injured and couldn't go on but my granddad and other soldiers swam out to an abandoned fishing boat and used that boat to make their escape. It was really interesting visiting the area and seeing where he spent some of his time during the war. We also went to the graveyard where many of his friends and fellow soldiers were buried. The Kiwi soldiers take up a huge amount of room in that graveyard. It's a beautiful sight that's well cared for and overlooks the water.<br />
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From Chania we flew out to Athens where we spent two days checking out the Parthenon/Acropolis, <br />
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Lycabettus Hill and it's stunning view out over Athens, The Temple of Olympian Zeus, The National Archaeological Museum and wandered around the Plaka and the streets of the city. Athens was really lovely actually and we had a great time!<br />
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The food in Athens was actually really good too which was a nice change from what we'd become used to!<br />
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Then we headed over to Turkey! We headed straight down the South-West Coast to Kalkan where we were staying in a villa for a week. It was really beautiful but unfortunately we were there at the wrong time of the year and not a lot was open yet. We had hired a car but when we got there realised it was a manual. Jesse can't drive manuals and I'm not a super confident driver, particularly when it's driving on the opposite side of the road. We had the car for a night. We took it for a drive, we tried to visit another town, another beach.... I failed.<br />
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I freaked out, I couldn't do it. I don't know why... it was just so different driving from the other side of the car with the gear stick being changed with my other hand... I kept messing up and I really didn't like it. We decided we were on holiday and I didn't want to be that stressed, so we returned the car and spent the week lying by the pool in the sun reading and playing monopoly. Jesse got a bit bored but I loved it!<br />
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Then came Paris, the city of love! It's definitely not my favourite city in Europe and for me.... it didn't really live up to the hype. Going up the Eiffel Tower was cool as we saw the sunset from the top, and we were there with Jesse's sister and her family so that was really nice.<br />
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We enjoyed walking through Notre Dame during the Easter Mass too which was interesting. The food in Paris is not good. Unless you have a lot of money... all the touristy restaurants have exactly the same menu and it's dull and bland. There are plenty of crepe places though which are good. We also checked out Sainte-Chappelle which was so beautiful! What a church! Even better than the Notre Dame in terms of impressivenses I'd say. Those stain glasses... wow! We also took some time to check out Montmartre & Sacre Coeur which was lovely. We sat on the hill and ate gluten free treats from the gluten free bakery we'd discovered! We went to the Louvre and walked around looking at all the art, hello Mona Lisa.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9pVm0cn5yjyxWTbWS4nPPjahdbZIMfyyNykxicyvC-tEsXZCTh8FueA0yQnuOxpXlQ-5jscH1oTzJ189G5nZw2HOsadlxacJWvJ48L8qLU1ef-kZpFUcR6MMFwvfVpQpRU3dJAeCFTU/s1600/20140421_134755-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9pVm0cn5yjyxWTbWS4nPPjahdbZIMfyyNykxicyvC-tEsXZCTh8FueA0yQnuOxpXlQ-5jscH1oTzJ189G5nZw2HOsadlxacJWvJ48L8qLU1ef-kZpFUcR6MMFwvfVpQpRU3dJAeCFTU/s1600/20140421_134755-L.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>We saw the Moulin Rouge (though we're too cheap to see a show there!) and we had an amazing day out at Versailles which was our Paris highlight. We did a bike tour through the gardens which included a stop at the Versailles market to stock up on food for a picnic.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V9zkzPA_Xwk/U84jgiuqqGI/AAAAAAAAFDw/Xpq5TImYap4/s1600/IMG_0319-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V9zkzPA_Xwk/U84jgiuqqGI/AAAAAAAAFDw/Xpq5TImYap4/s1600/IMG_0319-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>We got strawberries, cheese, roast chicken, tomatos and a few gluten free treats and after biking past Marie Antoinette's house and various other places in the grounds we sat by the canal in the sun for a picnic. It was perfect! We ended the tour with a trip through the palace. Amazing.<br />
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The last thing we did was something I've wanted to do for a long time. We bought a padlock, wrote our names on, padlocked it to this 'over run with padlocks' bridge and threw the keys into the water :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQeh0jUvX5JgeThnGjoz1KayI3ktAT7ouEzNGhBdk9iX4jST4HFWDezCioCBgnX9aqDYsFj-7BsYoB90ofD9Zl98pl3009PWF8SOj0IfFyRqrWMg2V-i-oVvl6raBqgkmKSKJwKqa2hM/s1600/IMG_0961-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQeh0jUvX5JgeThnGjoz1KayI3ktAT7ouEzNGhBdk9iX4jST4HFWDezCioCBgnX9aqDYsFj-7BsYoB90ofD9Zl98pl3009PWF8SOj0IfFyRqrWMg2V-i-oVvl6raBqgkmKSKJwKqa2hM/s1600/IMG_0961-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>We took an overnight bus to Amsterdam which was not fun and as soon as we arrived were greeted with nastiness from public transport staff. Some people don't have a heart! I found quite a lot of that in <br />
Amsterdam actually, general rudeness and disregard for others. Such a shame as it's a really beautiful city. We had arrived really early so were right at the front of the line for the Anne Frank House which was very sad and a really moving experience. That poor girl.... Then we had lunch at a delicious Dutch pancake house (Called Pancakes!) then headed for a canal cruise on one of the canal boats.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sssXZpHs1dE/U84lz8i8QSI/AAAAAAAAFEU/TRmy48UKT9c/s1600/IMG_1040-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sssXZpHs1dE/U84lz8i8QSI/AAAAAAAAFEU/TRmy48UKT9c/s1600/IMG_1040-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>That was really nice, though both Jesse and I were having trouble staying awake not having got much sleep the night before on the bus! We were staying in an Airbnb apartment and fell asleep almost as soon as we got there! The next day we checked out the streets of Amsterdam, walking around the canals to Dam Square where there was an incredible festival going on, trying the famous hot chocolate, trying chips in a cone (huge in Amsterdam!) and checking out the Sex Museum and the Red Light District (when in Amsterdam!).<br />
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The next day was King's Day so it was madness with orange everywhere on the streets. There was a lot of partying, drinking, street stalls, food stalls, live music... it was quite epic, but I think it's the kind of thing that's best if you know the good places to go and if you have a big group of friends to celebrate with! We spent our final day at the Rijksmuseum which is a really impressive art museum in a beautiful building. I'm not a big art museum fan but this one I highly recommend!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kan8oKmvvYo/U84l2s8BTXI/AAAAAAAAFEo/1Qw7SNfzI-s/s1600/IMG_1215-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kan8oKmvvYo/U84l2s8BTXI/AAAAAAAAFEo/1Qw7SNfzI-s/s1600/IMG_1215-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>That evening we jumped on another overnight bus and headed to our new lives in London. This bus trip was awful as we got woken multiple times, had to get off the bus for the ferry ride and for customs etc etc. horrible! But we got to London and that's what matters! We've been here ever since, exploring all the corners of our new city and trying to find jobs. We miss our travelling hugely and would love to get back on the road and explore more of Europe. It'll happen, in time I guess.<br />
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So that's that. That is the end of my big adventure for 2014! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe it inspired you to do some travelling. I highly HIGHLY recommend Africa :)<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-47591417390040193652014-08-08T04:30:00.000-07:002014-08-08T04:30:00.698-07:00My Travels Part Two!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello hello, this post is picking up from Part One. This is the part where I travelled from Victoria Falls up to Nairobi!<br />
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tour. We were doing a 42 day tour but it was broken in half. So the first half
was Cape Town to Vic Falls and the second was Vic Falls to Nairobi. It was so
sad saying goodbye to Jabulani and the new group were certainly very different
from the first. We had a huge mix in this group. Canadian, English, German, Swedish,
Spanish, Aussie and us Kiwi’s!<br />
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This part of the trip was a lot harder. While we made some
good friends on this tour we didn’t all click as a whole as we had with
Jabulani. We also spent most of the week days driving. And I mean long drives.
14 hour days. We were getting up at 3.30am for breakfast at 4am and would drive
non-stop until 6pm where we’d set up camp, have dinner, go to bed and do it all
again the next day. It really wasn’t that enjoyable to be honest. However there
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We went back to Chobe and did the overnighter again which
was good as Jesse got a chance to do it the second time! I had a nightmare that
night that I was getting attacked in my tent by the animals that wandered free
through the camp. I’m a bit of a sleep talker and on this occasion I became a
sleep screamer yelling “Oh my gosh please, get off me, help me” etc etc. I woke
most of the camp. Except for the guides who had said ‘call out if you get in
trouble’. No one came to check on me! But I got a lot of flack for it in the
morning!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Luangwa National Park</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> where
we saw more hippos, impalas, another leopard – this one was super cool and
walked in front of the safari truck for ages! We also had a hippo walk through
our camp and spent a long night playing pool. We saw plenty of Cape Buffalo too. Funny looking animals. They almost look like they have pigtails don't you think?</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is the amazing and beautiful leopard that walked with us for a while. Isn't her coat beautiful? She didn't seem to be on the hunt but was just having a wander around, didn't seem phased by the fact we were right there. Stunning creature!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We spent several nights at Malawi
beaches where we sunbathed, had prediction readings from a witch doctor
(newsflash, they were pretty much all the same… right down to the things he was
saying, so it was kind of silly but a cool experience.) We also had the option
to do snorkling, diving and boat trips on the river. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We all did a walking
village tour through one of the villages in Malawi which was heart breaking.
Some of those children are so unwell and so desperate for attention. They mostly live on cassava root as that is what their main export is. They spend all their days picking, drying and beating into powder the cassava. It's food but it means the children are severely malnourished. Their clothes are dirty, clean water is a luxury they don't have and any drinking water they want needs to be pumped into buckets and carried home.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">One 5 year
old girl… she looked like she was about 2, that’s how small she was. She fell
asleep in my arms, desperate for attention yet too exhausted to keep her eyes
open. She was just so sweet. I wish there was some way I could've helped make her life just a little bit better. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE9eahivcUAd0qPOS7z1llRZwTgdN3MS_uBq8xM1fEaYHU3vPyjc6OSmv_4UdEnBwL-QOUZBaRjJrFxLsgFXgT4Yyf7TsPHhoNxD0JBHIEg99gJzo3li7_9sK0h3Z-R7fncWAEwu1QTI/s1600/IMG_5462-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE9eahivcUAd0qPOS7z1llRZwTgdN3MS_uBq8xM1fEaYHU3vPyjc6OSmv_4UdEnBwL-QOUZBaRjJrFxLsgFXgT4Yyf7TsPHhoNxD0JBHIEg99gJzo3li7_9sK0h3Z-R7fncWAEwu1QTI/s1600/IMG_5462-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Another little girl clung to me, even as the old boys tried to pull her
away (I think they were scared the white people were going to take their kids
away….). This girl was so unwell. She had an awful cough and was clearly
miserable. I desperately wanted to help her…. But how could I? I asked a local
doctor about her cough, he said her mother would have to bring her in and she’d
have to take pills. Which she probably wouldn’t take. It was horrible and so
sad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The beaches in Malawi, however, were beautiful,
although it did get a bit much all the local young boys trying to sell you weed
or force you to buy their handmade goods. </span></span></div>
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Zanzibar was BEAUTIFUL. What an
island! We all had to cover up, particularly during our time in Stone Town so hit up the local markets to get some awesome baggy trousers to cover our skin (It's a Muslim country). It's lovely though, so many tiny walkways, cobblestone streets, little market shops, lots of restaurants, and very cool cafes. A great vibe! Plus you can see Freddie Mercury's House! He was born here - crazy right!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VJ6xva4BFeYqoFb2SY4PeEHJ6NlzHSEnM2zha7zuBXzfTpChvLRF8aboc_NOQKkID5KMVtWQsWBC5KLB_CykmM5u0h2HCL6JPa5YVNJNwGG9YgIzHmwFd_BHdJpLY_kWtjx3CrFSMT4/s1600/IMG_5841-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VJ6xva4BFeYqoFb2SY4PeEHJ6NlzHSEnM2zha7zuBXzfTpChvLRF8aboc_NOQKkID5KMVtWQsWBC5KLB_CykmM5u0h2HCL6JPa5YVNJNwGG9YgIzHmwFd_BHdJpLY_kWtjx3CrFSMT4/s1600/IMG_5841-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">There's a really awesome food market in Stone Town which we all checked out. Careful though as many of the fish and meat that they don't sell they just roll over to the next day. It's REALLY easy to get sick in Zanzibar. They have lots of different foods though - seafood, meats, BBQ corn, breads, fresh juices, fruits, fries... almost everything you could image! A very cool vibe down there too. Be wary of locals trying to sell you alcohol. It's illegal!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLSJ4CvVU8aPCGeewfDELRGAihvqb9H-oXxRH-5upRDV2DPt90tYjGRdsuiE3gTJ5czWuq7FKbP12a6XCduKL-V6rNTkM4zKVmUDokG4KqfexZGUfiEWmfdUnRGbdvB67h6lygZwDook/s1600/IMG_5915-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLSJ4CvVU8aPCGeewfDELRGAihvqb9H-oXxRH-5upRDV2DPt90tYjGRdsuiE3gTJ5czWuq7FKbP12a6XCduKL-V6rNTkM4zKVmUDokG4KqfexZGUfiEWmfdUnRGbdvB67h6lygZwDook/s1600/IMG_5915-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After a night in Stone Town we headed up north to a place called Nungwai. We stayed in a little resort and wow, it was incredible. We
were in paradise. The beach was stunning, the resort was like a little village
with salon, shops, restaurants and bars. The pool was huge and warm… It was
honestly perfect. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">There were a number of beaches we could use which all had volleyball nets and plenty of room for sunbathing!<br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The only problem was there were tiny invisible jellyfish in
the ocean that stung you when you swum </span><span style="background-color: white;">(we swum anyway, they stopped stinging
within an hour) and almost all of us got stomach bugs either from the ice they
put in the drinks or from the food itself – I suspect a mixture of both. We
were all sick for the next week at least!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3g6J1mqjPe6FD4pcaOk6SPhJnS_-4nGTuIxtxj476wjJhf7fodytKRymbNatMZlOnpKOBsftqytosmrLFTunc1b44qIBlqa9I1kYjsZHrFQ6bnKhyphenhyphenDtsQBIJam302uAPZJ8cKMMDz7a4/s1600/IMG_6132-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3g6J1mqjPe6FD4pcaOk6SPhJnS_-4nGTuIxtxj476wjJhf7fodytKRymbNatMZlOnpKOBsftqytosmrLFTunc1b44qIBlqa9I1kYjsZHrFQ6bnKhyphenhyphenDtsQBIJam302uAPZJ8cKMMDz7a4/s1600/IMG_6132-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">One cool thing we did in Zanzibar was swim with the turtles
which was very cool although one of them did </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">bite me!! It hurt a lot! A lot of
the others swam with dolphins as well which they said was amazing. I swam with
dolphins in New Zealand a few years ago so opted not to in an attempt try and
save some money! Zanzibar was very cool though!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5BdIY7m5NDo7pVzRXUY8yy6R3WIn4P-VVQ6DliDFo5mBRa7NXS0IsVwSFU737CPeJYX4xLjbvKQgaCuNl7YDcAParBXZFMaz730BqIiCXsEr5Ogl-15kIIn2Tr797a4Kc6ExpOz_Ip8/s1600/IMG_5646-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5BdIY7m5NDo7pVzRXUY8yy6R3WIn4P-VVQ6DliDFo5mBRa7NXS0IsVwSFU737CPeJYX4xLjbvKQgaCuNl7YDcAParBXZFMaz730BqIiCXsEr5Ogl-15kIIn2Tr797a4Kc6ExpOz_Ip8/s1600/IMG_5646-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">After Zanzibar we stayed a night on the beach by Dar Es Salaam. My gosh that city is SO busy. So much litter, so much craziness and the traffic.... wow. It took us three hours to get from the outskirts to the centre of the city. It was madness! But the beach was beautiful and the water warm and the sunrises.... oh my goodness. I've never seen so many sunrises in my life but the ones in Africa.... they're unrivaled.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihhNFxQJHkD9oLyDKRHjdfzbjFKs1ymVHtdq_T0RLXb_TwQO2qC5ArtErcNNwWDb0bn_QmeXhBxItcU2xzjabRv3J94_ekY0X-DrD3Oph4tJOssIXi7-FZI8w0e8jI87H3bY856nmjWw/s1600/IMG_5725-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihhNFxQJHkD9oLyDKRHjdfzbjFKs1ymVHtdq_T0RLXb_TwQO2qC5ArtErcNNwWDb0bn_QmeXhBxItcU2xzjabRv3J94_ekY0X-DrD3Oph4tJOssIXi7-FZI8w0e8jI87H3bY856nmjWw/s1600/IMG_5725-L.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Finally we headed up to Arusha – the gateway to the
Serengeti. The trip into the Serengeti was an extra $500 USD so we had been
umming and ahhing for the whole trip about whether or not to do it. So many
people said we should just do everything to ensure we didn’t regret it.
Everyone said it was amazing and the tour leaders said it was the highlight.
Eventually we gave in. I’m so glad we did. I wouldn’t have wanted to stay
behind at the campsite! It was the highlight of my entire Africa trip. It was beyond
incredible!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BOqFkJjqeyM/U81lMPSBh4I/AAAAAAAAE70/TSmeEM0mee4/s1600/IMG_6502-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BOqFkJjqeyM/U81lMPSBh4I/AAAAAAAAE70/TSmeEM0mee4/s1600/IMG_6502-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We started out by getting some supplies in Arusha and
visiting the store that sells Tanzanite. For those that don’t know Tanzanite is
a beautiful blue/purple stone that is 1000 times rarer than diamonds and is
mined in Arusha. Because of that it’s much cheaper at the source. Prices of
Tanzanite are rocketing worldwide so we figured it was too good of an
opportunity to miss. Sam brought Jess a Tanzanite engagement ring and proposed
when they were in Thailand a few weeks later which was exciting! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After the Tanzanite store we headed back to camp and
checked out the snake park. I held a snake. No kidding. It was small and
terrifying but I held it. And then I had a baby croc. I felt bad about that
though as he seemed really distressed whereas the snakes were pretty chilled
about it.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mrYU-NC493Y/U81lNMDt3WI/AAAAAAAAE8M/9SMpsKMCgrg/s1600/IMG_6706-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mrYU-NC493Y/U81lNMDt3WI/AAAAAAAAE8M/9SMpsKMCgrg/s1600/IMG_6706-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Then we packed up our gear and were picked up by the
crew from Bee Eater Safari’s who drove us out to the starting point. We had the
evening to relax and then was served an incredible dinner by the Bee Eater
cooks. I have awful food allergies and hadn’t been fed particularly well on the
second half of the trip (the chef on the second half really didn’t get it. He
would only manage to process one thing eg. Oh she’s allergic to gluten. Good. And
then serve me onions which I’m highly allergic to. Or he’d serve me beef
despite me not eating red meat. </span></span></div>
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eggplant. Or he’d just give us rice. It was pretty crap! But in the Serengeti…
oh my goodness! Heaven. The food was SO good. And there was so much of it!
Honestly, huge kudos to the chef with Bee Eater because he was amazing. The
next morning we headed out very early making it in good time to the Ngorongoro
Crater. It’s stunning beautiful and absolutely packed full of animals. We saw
so many wildebeest, gazelles, another black rhino, flamingos, cape buffalo,
elephants and of course the lions. We hadn’t seen that many lions up until this
point so we really wanted to see lions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Well we saw them. They were busy mating. It was quite amusing.
Then we saw a pack of female lions out on the prowl trying to take down wildebeest.
Then we saw hyenas and more zebras…oh man it was so incredible. We had lunch by
a beautiful lake which was filled with hippos. We were eating outside but then
hawks started swooping us trying to steal our food so we had to eat in the
trucks! </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After lunch we headed to a Masaai Village which was really interesting
and gave me ideas for my book! </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">Their culture is very interesting and the way
they live is very basic. Their huts are tiny and usually fit 5 or more people.
They’re made out of cow and goat poop and grass plus flax. They retain their
traditional dress and their orders of rank and we were welcomed with a jumping
ceremony. We all had to jump while they sung. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The boys jumped first, holding
the sticks and the girls then had to wear necklaces and jump. Then we looked
around the village and market, the guys showed us their homes and told us about
their lives and then we visited the school where the kids sung for us and
showed us how they could do the alphabet! Pretty cute!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">After that we headed to the Serengeti. I’m sure you’ve seen
the Lion King? This is where it’s set. We even saw what should be Pride Rock,
except it’s called Lion Rock and they all hang out there! So cool. Saw plenty
of Wart Hogs running around too! Lots more wildebeest (it was their migration
season), and zebras, hippos, giraffes, antelopes, dik-diks (a type of antelope –
SO CUTE!), and lots of lazy sleeping lions. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiB_Vv2a24fgSmHzczw3AdHXqzbnEx680XwXXMXe7euRYXGC1ukNXV2JSrxPDNCeeKbFfEuEWvaPAz9-ITBW0nTMTVHeBrtJtGx7gRqIkRAX9puBSGTRbSV3wB7Fc5NM9hhR056DsnX0/s1600/IMG_7808-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiB_Vv2a24fgSmHzczw3AdHXqzbnEx680XwXXMXe7euRYXGC1ukNXV2JSrxPDNCeeKbFfEuEWvaPAz9-ITBW0nTMTVHeBrtJtGx7gRqIkRAX9puBSGTRbSV3wB7Fc5NM9hhR056DsnX0/s1600/IMG_7808-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Even better, as we were heading to
the camp for the night we saw a serval! </span><span style="background-color: white;">Most people don’t know about servals
but Jesse LOVES them (they’re like really big house cats) so it was awesome to
see one in the wild, although the baboons were trying to corner it and eat it!
We also saw two leopards sleeping in the trees. One of them had a dead gazelle
strung up which she’d obviously killed earlier that day.</span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">That night we had another delicious dinner and took
some epic photos with the amazing stars that were on display. We had to grab
something out of the truck at one point and Jesse and I were actually pretty
scared…there were lions and hyenas roaming. One of our group had spotted a
hyena near the kitchen so it was a little scary! We went to bed early that
night! (Actually since we were up before the sun almost every day and there was
no internet or TV we were usually in bed by 10pm at the latest!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TIA This Is Africa</td></tr>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">That night the hyenas walked around our tents laughing
and calling to each other. They went right through the rubbish we’d left in the
bins and scattered the remains all over the ground. Scavengers! I’m glad I didn’t
need to go to the bathroom during the night!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The next day was our final game drive. We saw our two
leopard friends again, they were together this time feasting on the gazelle and
at the bottom of the tree sat a hyena (they’re actually very cute animals). We
saw another serval and more elephants, hippos and giraffes. I was still
desperate for some good lion action. Everyone didn’t think it would happen but
hey, according to our guide on both Cape Town – Vic Falls and Vic Falls to Nairobi,
we were the luckiest group (the common thread was the four kiwis, clearly Me,
Jess, Jesse and Sam brought the luck! Haha!) </span></span></div>
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We were driving along a dirt path
and in the middle of the road lay a lone young male lion. He stood up as we
approached and we turned off our engine. Over the next five minutes, 12 young
lions, mostly female surrounded our truck. Some lay in the shadow of our truck
trying to get a break from the sun, others just wandered around. It was AMAZING. </div>
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After about half an hour the lions wandered off and climbed a tree, keeping a
very close eye on a nearby elephant who was wandering alone. <span style="background-color: white;">We watched those lions for about an hour and I reckon
we would’ve watched way longer if we hadn’t had to get back to camp! It was an
incredible experience!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCNZEVR0lJxPJBP2VRep7dISp17bkDvrhR0uajkonIr2cnFKutNm5pBNnjaJcNsx2_1QBpY7epa584RTOe9xXDYy6BJ82TvI1XjReRFuRaTnBSULND_De_Urm5KJkXwlUT_695f-wibh0/s1600/10154271_10152296392008476_8558293134620669458_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCNZEVR0lJxPJBP2VRep7dISp17bkDvrhR0uajkonIr2cnFKutNm5pBNnjaJcNsx2_1QBpY7epa584RTOe9xXDYy6BJ82TvI1XjReRFuRaTnBSULND_De_Urm5KJkXwlUT_695f-wibh0/s1600/10154271_10152296392008476_8558293134620669458_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So close!!!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Here's some pics of the other amazing animals we saw in Serengeti....</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccBrxoWP53hEYS_eSSrhI0IpJeLMmL93OqlObBl5Jyv_QfFbJzHK0ycZ31vgc8XvKSstcEb48LSDCCA1cwgZqjVhheEJ6mLpe5f9zpg-DRTKu7i3rv4Y1pbeGhTgbrQsRCmMwNi2adDQ/s1600/IMG_7801-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccBrxoWP53hEYS_eSSrhI0IpJeLMmL93OqlObBl5Jyv_QfFbJzHK0ycZ31vgc8XvKSstcEb48LSDCCA1cwgZqjVhheEJ6mLpe5f9zpg-DRTKu7i3rv4Y1pbeGhTgbrQsRCmMwNi2adDQ/s1600/IMG_7801-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baboon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1EL9UxvX6pFqXNiNwcrCvJG48e7HHMotXCQ2iM5hdsTq63Q7XPzlOYLoVIYUf99yxlkd9rI1861uJoX4gnoaop0fZErI0qrbLBPDRVmASc1RkGCaL0Ly-G5eseUJvXTkM_Qcw6KKPZYI/s1600/IMG_7632-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1EL9UxvX6pFqXNiNwcrCvJG48e7HHMotXCQ2iM5hdsTq63Q7XPzlOYLoVIYUf99yxlkd9rI1861uJoX4gnoaop0fZErI0qrbLBPDRVmASc1RkGCaL0Ly-G5eseUJvXTkM_Qcw6KKPZYI/s1600/IMG_7632-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serengeti</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTP3_XHFjYK1tSrxB4khvnlNQGsvFetprjmjzNw1QMvmRtZyzwbtyZoT6T5HkVsqT8tW9ZMp5URarERUZkFwVvnDSvGtix34nloG9ZlKr1rL1lM7wTsTn8fzAeroU2WYahFaOcazO_lKA/s1600/IMG_7592-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTP3_XHFjYK1tSrxB4khvnlNQGsvFetprjmjzNw1QMvmRtZyzwbtyZoT6T5HkVsqT8tW9ZMp5URarERUZkFwVvnDSvGtix34nloG9ZlKr1rL1lM7wTsTn8fzAeroU2WYahFaOcazO_lKA/s1600/IMG_7592-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serval!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1RScOcKSiwfAvkajEWPsNrNSyNDOMXa4xzb1FZiGFh5b1d5P3_YQhEO6gz987cH-N-rcyTaMkl3DssS436WRJSOdcrUsLeQSmnPxiezVgvlcwxL2bBCmiq8OvmASATjYfSsWEJl_xrg/s1600/IMG_7574-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1RScOcKSiwfAvkajEWPsNrNSyNDOMXa4xzb1FZiGFh5b1d5P3_YQhEO6gz987cH-N-rcyTaMkl3DssS436WRJSOdcrUsLeQSmnPxiezVgvlcwxL2bBCmiq8OvmASATjYfSsWEJl_xrg/s1600/IMG_7574-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giraffe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukF1VTY-M5W4EnBDEfkNDtcuzgkXFNVhaMeQ_deONKIuQiphkU65gMvDunOq469-PeFr-9jOBt0Bz-KaUPhMDZ0AKqiLokja1b6KP3_OBc10sIUtFaRKkmYPXp88ZQhprWxasZ_qUN3A/s1600/IMG_7550-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukF1VTY-M5W4EnBDEfkNDtcuzgkXFNVhaMeQ_deONKIuQiphkU65gMvDunOq469-PeFr-9jOBt0Bz-KaUPhMDZ0AKqiLokja1b6KP3_OBc10sIUtFaRKkmYPXp88ZQhprWxasZ_qUN3A/s1600/IMG_7550-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dik-Dik</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1D2ev3yerM/U81lddaaQFI/AAAAAAAAE90/9zMJlsXCFOU/s1600/IMG_7510-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1D2ev3yerM/U81lddaaQFI/AAAAAAAAE90/9zMJlsXCFOU/s1600/IMG_7510-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Leopard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCVp-Vs-6DS91fbmjmnW_57VAsn8FF5dNk00JCGtm9iITOcM14D_NAMfj7mxWyHGBhaauh8TW25kkvBeNI-ulwfRo6CDmyEa5coOnc0BlYLYAqrRUn8Cef-Ztx2TgKYhxEpxVZ_j1I7Q/s1600/IMG_7415-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCVp-Vs-6DS91fbmjmnW_57VAsn8FF5dNk00JCGtm9iITOcM14D_NAMfj7mxWyHGBhaauh8TW25kkvBeNI-ulwfRo6CDmyEa5coOnc0BlYLYAqrRUn8Cef-Ztx2TgKYhxEpxVZ_j1I7Q/s1600/IMG_7415-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male Leopard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MaB4N5TXv2BQry4l7pSxsd4oSIzBmgUHqYeHP5XTGNK_AHSxXNWwVEGWUIXEywo1wls8m_pXAdPzEAr1VaO3cd8lJ6Wg_Ywdqmt2HQUXVGMm9ijIqQMtJxd8ic_nQYJoq3w3KeJ7tSo/s1600/IMG_7080-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MaB4N5TXv2BQry4l7pSxsd4oSIzBmgUHqYeHP5XTGNK_AHSxXNWwVEGWUIXEywo1wls8m_pXAdPzEAr1VaO3cd8lJ6Wg_Ywdqmt2HQUXVGMm9ijIqQMtJxd8ic_nQYJoq3w3KeJ7tSo/s1600/IMG_7080-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToEb2C3-LJndKq7D6HMtEKL-E6rnQhKyyvLFzHySq4N3aYjF9flgHlAedUY2Pg9DdCZRCqObb3ibTrR5i89JhEnubbAR1rdGhyphenhyphenVKtcljpeZfxo5eE7gtfXiIirpCOC9wTeGyhVMhgu0Q/s1600/IMG_6884-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToEb2C3-LJndKq7D6HMtEKL-E6rnQhKyyvLFzHySq4N3aYjF9flgHlAedUY2Pg9DdCZRCqObb3ibTrR5i89JhEnubbAR1rdGhyphenhyphenVKtcljpeZfxo5eE7gtfXiIirpCOC9wTeGyhVMhgu0Q/s1600/IMG_6884-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vx55zi_i3rQ/U81lSMp-i7I/AAAAAAAAE8k/MQxEVa5Qvl8/s1600/IMG_6853-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vx55zi_i3rQ/U81lSMp-i7I/AAAAAAAAE8k/MQxEVa5Qvl8/s1600/IMG_6853-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eagle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg63peEXHfweKfVZi35oM-bnmdA8V02RnLx34QGViY3NHx0EaoAdGMJyTbynsMWjfSjQq0_1GH6HEbY-nhID7uJOzSIxcru1HpZyQ9eaO7qz4IsMqTW5qRgaeWj2cO0-54VpUUBg9y6E_E/s1600/IMG_6836-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg63peEXHfweKfVZi35oM-bnmdA8V02RnLx34QGViY3NHx0EaoAdGMJyTbynsMWjfSjQq0_1GH6HEbY-nhID7uJOzSIxcru1HpZyQ9eaO7qz4IsMqTW5qRgaeWj2cO0-54VpUUBg9y6E_E/s1600/IMG_6836-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ostrich</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T46_osgnBtY/U81lOWIn1kI/AAAAAAAAE8U/UgzcwskW8EQ/s1600/IMG_6798-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T46_osgnBtY/U81lOWIn1kI/AAAAAAAAE8U/UgzcwskW8EQ/s1600/IMG_6798-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gazelle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4zkS2bYInb13B9Gu8kpc2sLBGFooOlJNTEvlIfCKiXMb0taiqPwr8xKP6v_aDT3OR9N9bGk3XnkBwTqwq7d2tAZcpA7IY9FaURXidjrn5_-sM2XgDKXgWrUUq_GQk3QkRsS-gJftrHE/s1600/IMG_7062-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4zkS2bYInb13B9Gu8kpc2sLBGFooOlJNTEvlIfCKiXMb0taiqPwr8xKP6v_aDT3OR9N9bGk3XnkBwTqwq7d2tAZcpA7IY9FaURXidjrn5_-sM2XgDKXgWrUUq_GQk3QkRsS-gJftrHE/s1600/IMG_7062-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Crater</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wildebeest</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5dsZO9-OX7Y/U82DUuWB5hI/AAAAAAAAFAI/RUCzLYBPCHI/s1600/IMG_8197-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5dsZO9-OX7Y/U82DUuWB5hI/AAAAAAAAFAI/RUCzLYBPCHI/s1600/IMG_8197-XL.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The next day we headed through the Kenya border and up
to Nairobi where our tour ended. That evening the four kiwis jumped in a taxi
and headed out to the <a href="http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/">David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.</a> My mum is a HUGE elephant
lover. Her house, the house Jess and I grew up in is FILLED with all things
elephants. So for Christmas we adopted her an elephant from DSWT. The work
these guys do is really incredible. They rescue baby elephants (or any other
animal) who has been orphaned or injured and help them recover slowly allowing
them time out in the nearby national park and interaction with other elephants. </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3Mt97rSn_oPIRR_YrbbeWsMfl_ArZ-iTUfvInqWX6qGF_-HuLO8M01qhh6XcJinYmzIC-OaOkwB327xNgifvCJEgMm6KWy8J82kJ5EhyphenhyphenRKOIAN-vDzbd_o6X0KuMbjeUgnZ7WW2GhxM/s1600/IMG_8260-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3Mt97rSn_oPIRR_YrbbeWsMfl_ArZ-iTUfvInqWX6qGF_-HuLO8M01qhh6XcJinYmzIC-OaOkwB327xNgifvCJEgMm6KWy8J82kJ5EhyphenhyphenRKOIAN-vDzbd_o6X0KuMbjeUgnZ7WW2GhxM/s1600/IMG_8260-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a> <span style="background-color: white;">As the orphans grow they learn how to be a wild elephant and are eventually
released back into the wild. In order to do the work they do it costs them 900
USD per month per elephant. And to adopt one of these beautiful babies is only
$50 USD per year. We gave mum a booklet of all the baby elephants they had. She
wanted a little girl elephant who was still very young and chose Kamok. Jess
and I made it our mission to go and see Kamok when we were in Kenya and we were
worried it wouldn’t happen. But it did. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqSDECLv7E_CGsFegb9XzPyhNrcTZCVJ3FGmps4k9GRiRzL9iJICuKi9KbIJfqtOvvhRF2aGdQ8XUWVS5BdU4z5ufOfLfuPwz55VtrDHQW42plFEvvHTTo8bPnywPqzxDiagPvov0JJM/s1600/IMG_8322-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqSDECLv7E_CGsFegb9XzPyhNrcTZCVJ3FGmps4k9GRiRzL9iJICuKi9KbIJfqtOvvhRF2aGdQ8XUWVS5BdU4z5ufOfLfuPwz55VtrDHQW42plFEvvHTTo8bPnywPqzxDiagPvov0JJM/s1600/IMG_8322-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kamok</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">She was so tiny and so beautiful! She
was sleeping</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">under her blanket when we arrived but her keeper woke her up to
say hi to us. She played with a ball and a blanket for a while and came up to
us, wrapping her trunk around our arms. It was amazing. The keeper literally
lives in her pen, sleeping on a bunk bed, being there all the time for Kamok.
Kamok herself has become a little matriarch amongst the baby elephants. It’s
very cute. I highly recommend checking out the work they do. It was incredible
to see!</span><br />
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The next day Sam and Jesse swapped photos and then in
the early afternoon we said goodbye! I’m not sure when I’ll see my sister again
but it was really nice to be able to spend that time traveling with her! Jesse
and I flew off to Egypt and Sam and Jess flew off to Thailand. </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">More soon - stay tuned for part three, the final chapter :-)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-47724024647075268432014-07-31T07:30:00.000-07:002014-07-31T07:30:01.489-07:00My Travels Part One!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time and I’m
sorry it’s taken so long. I guess I haven’t <o:p></o:p></div>
really known where to start. My
travels…. They were so incredibly meaningful and life-changing that it’s hard
to sum up the most amazing experience in a blog post. But I’m going to try…<br />
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In February of this year my sister (Jess), her boyfriend (Sam)
and me (Sam) and my boyfriend (Jesse) flew to Cape Town, South Africa to start
out overland adventure. Now the name thing will probably get confusing…. I
guess if I’m speaking about myself I’ll just say ‘me’. Jesse will always be my man,
Jess will always be my sister and Sam will always be ‘boy Sam’, Jess’s man. It
is rather confusing.. sorry! We had booked a 42 day tour with Africa Travel Co
who I should point out were absolutely amazing. We had one short day on
arriving in Cape Town to look around the city. Jess and Sam were too jetlagged
to come up to Table Mountain with Jesse and I to see the sunset which was a
shame but we’re really glad we made time for it. It was incredibly spectacular!
Table Mountain – such an amazing landmark. Simply beautiful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next morning we set off on our tour. We had a reasonably
small group – us (the four Kiwis), an Aussie girl, a Spanish guy and two Swiss
guys. It was a very cool group. On top of that we had three amazing African
crew – the tour guide and the driver who were from Zimbabwe and the chef who
was from Namibia. Then we also had three trainees. Two very cool South African
girls who were training to be chefs/tour guides and one South African guy who
was training to be a driver. We were a very tight knit group and honestly,
being with those people made the tour that much better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVDEKLF0vKY0HMttf9waxYAozjX8EnkcnQXGFLaW-7r6_00HT4Y0Mf9FDikwNEbbROko5vg-hB1VX9X2IPD4eC1w9M0DwF_36H_8uNrvtuV6TprW3TLws6ZOXPJ3I0qOct0f7OCYAIs8/s1600/IMG_8461-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVDEKLF0vKY0HMttf9waxYAozjX8EnkcnQXGFLaW-7r6_00HT4Y0Mf9FDikwNEbbROko5vg-hB1VX9X2IPD4eC1w9M0DwF_36H_8uNrvtuV6TprW3TLws6ZOXPJ3I0qOct0f7OCYAIs8/s1600/IMG_8461-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Our tour started on a Township Tour of Cape Town. This was
heart breaking. I had no idea the huge divide that existed between the rich and
the poor in South Africa. We met a family that lived in a tin shack just off
the highway. I remember so vividly one thing the father said – “We fear for our
lives every day. A car could crash off the highway flattening us all, or if a
fire started, the whole township would be gone. We have thieves who spray fumes
into our homes to knock us unconscious and then they take everything we have.”
Then he said, “We wouldn’t want to leave though. This is our community. These
are our friends and our family. We wouldn’t want to leave our people.” It was very
humbling to see. They have so little, yet they’re very happy, very kind
hearted, they will give whatever they have to make someone’s day a little brighter…. </div>
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On this township tour we also visited a witch doctor, tried
homebrew beer and were taken to the Township’s “food hall” where we tried sheep’s
head/tongue and played pool with the locals. I should point out at this point
given I don’t eat any part of sheep or cow in usual circumstance there is no
way I was going near the sheep head. Jesse said it tasted like beef. Jess said
it wasn’t too bad, yet she hasn’t eaten meat since. Eating that sheep head
turned her into a vegetarian! Ha! </div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Once our township tour was up we started on our journey,
driving up into the Cedarburg region of South Africa. This was basically just a
pit stop but a great chance to get to know the rest of the group. The following
day we headed toward Orange River on the border of South Africa and Namibia.
Such an incredibly beautiful location, the camp we stayed at was right on the
river, we could jump straight in from the floating wharf and given it was the
middle of summer it was hugely refreshing. That night ended up being a big
party night, getting to meet the Nomad tour group who were taking a similar route
from Cape Town to Vic Falls. </div>
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Most of the group woke up the next day with
extremely sore heads (I’m not really a drinker so I was right as rain!) yet
they still were up bright and early to go on a canoe trip down the river. Once
they returned (I decided to stay behind and sunbathe!) we jumped back in our
truck and headed further up into Namibia. It was hot. Namibia is hugely a
desert country and oh my goodness. It was the first time I have ever
experienced 52 degree Celsius heat. We were using fast melting ice cubes to try
and cool us down! It didn’t help that we were stopped at a road block in the
heat of the day for over an hour!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMsmBkrsMus/U81HyszQkCI/AAAAAAAAE1c/pOVJfn-SYXQ/s1600/IMG_9171-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMsmBkrsMus/U81HyszQkCI/AAAAAAAAE1c/pOVJfn-SYXQ/s1600/IMG_9171-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Namibia was by far my favourite country on our trip. On our
first days in Namibia we watched the sun set over Fish River Canyon which is
the second biggest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon and we swam… a
lot! The first animals we saw were zebras… that was exciting! Oh and then an
Ostrich! I love the way they run! One of the highlights of this point was the
Namib Naukluft National Park which is full of brick red sand dunes. They’re
incredible. We hiked to the top of one and caught the end of the sunrise which
was amazing. It was so hot though! We had brunch sitting at the base of the
sand dune and it truly felt so peaceful. We were even visited by a sprinbox and
a jackal! Both really beautiful creatures. </div>
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After brunch we headed out to
Sossusvlei and in particular the Deadvlei– my gosh what an incredible sight. The
Deadvlei is a clay pan right by the “Big Daddy” sand dune. The ground is
entirely white and the trees have been scorched for hundreds of years and their
skeletons remain. The blue sky and the sun reflects on the white ground and
everything seems like it’s hyper-coloured. The sky gets so blue, the brick red
sand is so red… it’s amazing.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vwa4GbGSk5s/U81INkc-LwI/AAAAAAAAE18/fjO0x-3olio/s1600/IMG_9743-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vwa4GbGSk5s/U81INkc-LwI/AAAAAAAAE18/fjO0x-3olio/s1600/IMG_9743-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>After the desert we headed to the coastal town of
Swakopmund where we could do some shopping at the markets, Jesse and I did a
township tour which was even more heart-breaking than the first one, especially
the orphanage where we met a small boy with a giant tumour sticking out his
head… and no money to get it removed <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span>.
I spent SO much money at the township craft store which they were very thankful
for… Jesse was so confused why I came out with a maraca…. I’m sure it’ll come
in handy some day! We also went sandboarding and quad biking which was very
cool. Such a fun place! Our two Swiss boys ended their tour here which was sad
and they were replaced by two more Aussies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our awesome Jabulani group at Tropic of Capricorn</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiQ3v_ZSF-5baVmz6iDB8RqBbkzCx4gCZofoIkPjDk78qGxyhMXb2ii5Ed5LNLT4V7oNrx4BhMp0PHZl1CIWWjoog-rgqgV6bz81HBbnbJTvFU29TbZ2N9kWmi9lUJWrXolHXfaYTlOI/s1600/IMG_9992-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiQ3v_ZSF-5baVmz6iDB8RqBbkzCx4gCZofoIkPjDk78qGxyhMXb2ii5Ed5LNLT4V7oNrx4BhMp0PHZl1CIWWjoog-rgqgV6bz81HBbnbJTvFU29TbZ2N9kWmi9lUJWrXolHXfaYTlOI/s1600/IMG_9992-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our faithful truck!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnby86E1UN9-uLDdzU2J_YyDekoNB-O7y1ALDr6LWCjrvXjoM9vCoLMEgpmSN31HSEfK4OETao4_JIsj_CW5pLvpfcs3WXtuGCE1g-cj4Sddf1nr5i2c_E5FLrNU1wrKH3jNkGa4PKpE/s1600/IMG_0051-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnby86E1UN9-uLDdzU2J_YyDekoNB-O7y1ALDr6LWCjrvXjoM9vCoLMEgpmSN31HSEfK4OETao4_JIsj_CW5pLvpfcs3WXtuGCE1g-cj4Sddf1nr5i2c_E5FLrNU1wrKH3jNkGa4PKpE/s1600/IMG_0051-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being schooled on how to dance by the local kids on the Swakopmund Township Tour</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7syCPXZYjH0iEX-Gf8LTY07j7Sfmo639z2YKA-dJGCOsvAW1hUOrs4LBRbfB_STbJ11Wj8O0eAPQG8w5gG5v7eLsQodOfsE_xHoCm4cxGDqBHd942V2WUIV6A-9V5amHNEo2lm8yRT60/s1600/IMG_0794-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7syCPXZYjH0iEX-Gf8LTY07j7Sfmo639z2YKA-dJGCOsvAW1hUOrs4LBRbfB_STbJ11Wj8O0eAPQG8w5gG5v7eLsQodOfsE_xHoCm4cxGDqBHd942V2WUIV6A-9V5amHNEo2lm8yRT60/s1600/IMG_0794-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Over the next few days we headed north and stopped over at a
Cheetah farm where the owners were <o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qmUPPPP5pKM/U81KS-u751I/AAAAAAAAE2w/N6LHOmqbT9k/s1600/IMG_1151-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qmUPPPP5pKM/U81KS-u751I/AAAAAAAAE2w/N6LHOmqbT9k/s1600/IMG_1151-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>rehabilitating injured cheetahs. We got to
pet them which was so incredible. I did slightly freak out at one stage when
one went for my shoes! But they were lovely and beautiful animals. Following that
we headed up to Etosha National Park… and oh the things we saw! The giraffes
were actually my favourite. Incredibly graceful creatures they are. Although
the lions were pretty cool too. There were plenty of springbox, impala, zebra,
oryx, wildebeest, dik-diks, antelope and so much bird life. There were three
big highlights for us in the park. The first was seeing a black rhino (they’re
super rare!) and a white rhino go head to head over territory at a watering
hole. Normally a black rhino would win but this was a reasonably young black
rhino. After staring at each other for a while the white rhino claimed the
territory and started to drink. Black rhino wasn’t so happy about that, so they
stared each other down a bit longer then decided to become friends and drunk
side by side. No kidding!<br />
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The second highlight was seeing a zebra give birth!<br />
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It was
such a beautiful thing! We watched the whole thing right from mummy dear
pushing with all her might to the first steps taken by the baby zebra. We even
named it, it was so cute! Unfortunately this is Africa… and you know, circle of
life. Half an hour later a lion got a bit hungry and dragged the new baby zebra
off for a feed. It broke us!</div>
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The third highlight came early the next morning. We took a
drive through the park and came across a giraffe hanging out with an group of impala.
Suddenly the impalas went on alert and started making this clicking noise. The
giraffe bolted and then out of the hedges came a leopard! It walked around for
a while before realising there were too many impala to make a move so it
stalked off. In its wake came a pack of hyena. Those lazy hyena are too lazy to
make their own kill so they follow leopards around hoping to steal whatever
they’ve killed that day. </div>
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The hyenas then faced off with some wildebeest but
decided not to make a move. It was VERY tense! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family photo! Jess and I at the salt pan</td></tr>
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After our crazy nail biting morning we did something a little more low key and visited the salt pan of Etosha. The Salt pan forms part of the Kalahari Basin (Speaking of Kalahari, YA author <a href="http://jnkhoury.blogspot.co.uk/">Jessica Khoury </a>has a book coming out next year set in the Kalahari region. Funnily enough it's called <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21393504-kalahari">Kalahari</a>. I can't wait, it's going to transport me straight back to this incredible place. In my head of course! Add it to your 'to read' pile, now now now! So anyway, the salt pan forms part of the Kalahari Basin and is a 120km long lakebed which is pretty much completely dry... well sort of. It's like dry mud coated with salt (which means you do sink straight down into the ground as you walk on it. All good fun! Anyway, it's quite a sight, some of the girls even got down and gave it a lick to see if it tasted like salt. Verdict? Yes it did. But had a slight after taste of mud.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jabulani at the salt pan</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magestic giraffe taking a drink!</td></tr>
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After Etosha we headed up to Botswana where we took a river
cruise and saw some hippos. I really don’t like hippos. Do you know they’re the
most dangerous animal in Africa? They will charge at you, snap you in half and
then drop you to let you rot…. They’re vegetarians. They’re not killing you
because they’re hungry. <br />
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They’re just killing you because they see you as a
threat. Pretty awful. One walked through our camp once, was pretty scary. There
are funny though. They ‘laugh’…. I don’t know how I can describe the noise they
make but it’s like .. meh..he..he..he….heeee. It’s hilarious.<br />
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the beauty!! We were taken into the delta in mokoros which are dug out canoes,
poled by locals. It was so relaxing. Every single one of our group managed to
fall asleep in the hour and a half journey. We were guided between the reeds …..
it was just magical. We spent the next few nights bush camping under the stars. </div>
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(although we’ve heard stories of lions, elephants and hyenas all visiting the
camps!) and by night we watched the fireflies dance. We did quite a few walking
safaris through the Delta which was awesome – saw more hippos, a giraffe
(including a giraffe skeleton), warthog (PUMBA!!!), Zebras, wildebeests, and
lots of birds. I saw a hyena too. Eagle eyes they called me. (Only me and the
guide managed to spot him). On our final night the locals performed some songs
for us around the campfire and we all performed songs from our home countries.
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After our time at the Delta we headed up to Chobe National
Park where we did another overnight bush camp in the middle of the park. A
little scary to be honest! We had an elephant visit us for dinner which was an
experience. I love elephants but if they feel threatened …. They’ll charge! Luckily
she was just wandering past. </div>
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We saw a lot of elephants in Chobe. It’s the place
to be to see elephants! We also saw Cape Buffalo meaning we’d seen all of the Big
5, a plenty of baboons. The Lilac breasted roller was my favourite bird, and we
saw lots of hippos, eagles, giraffes… so many animals honestly it’s hard to
remember all their names!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHrgELxXA1Wozfay9kDDrQoxDqJvlBn8oqKq-uG4Uia17pXJrNGTqhqOCMUmKxSmDUgTKtyRRdjHJevAkUiCsDyBQ64K6Xr2I28MxKFEv1WZrJfrGPgTooQcPLRQX2WssUj4vOh25Myo/s1600/IMG_4013-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHrgELxXA1Wozfay9kDDrQoxDqJvlBn8oqKq-uG4Uia17pXJrNGTqhqOCMUmKxSmDUgTKtyRRdjHJevAkUiCsDyBQ64K6Xr2I28MxKFEv1WZrJfrGPgTooQcPLRQX2WssUj4vOh25Myo/s1600/IMG_4013-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Chobe was awesome, a great place to visit. From there we
headed on up to Victoria Falls. Such a beautiful place. The falls are
incredibly impressive. We also went elephant back riding (it’s safe for the elephants, not like
the ones in Thailand that really hurt the elephants). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eFQnqmvxI2J7I3RxVVMbSdoI81-awR5vBK0dVa7YYAOtr1syTq8yarRNz3zEkLgAGvvV-ci5mDh_NRGGFEoITU1-wP8Fv29jLXizSvOvTFbMmdCnRnZ0ATyls5a68goNYTOgH9e-oJs/s1600/IMG_3798-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eFQnqmvxI2J7I3RxVVMbSdoI81-awR5vBK0dVa7YYAOtr1syTq8yarRNz3zEkLgAGvvV-ci5mDh_NRGGFEoITU1-wP8Fv29jLXizSvOvTFbMmdCnRnZ0ATyls5a68goNYTOgH9e-oJs/s1600/IMG_3798-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a> Earlier that morning we'd gone walking with lions (they’re
lions that are part of a breeding programme to help get the dwindling
population of lions back up. All money raised goes to the programme) and zip
lining – oh my gosh I was so scared! It was a lot of fun though. We had quite a
few nights of partying as well as it was out last time with our amazing group.
We’d called ourselves Jabulani, which was the name of our truck and means
happiness in Afrikans. I miss them all terribly!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the sheer terror in my face!</td></tr>
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Jesse got really sick in Vic Falls. He’d been sick for a
while after eating dodgy chicken at KFC in Kasani, <o:p></o:p></div>
Botswana. He didn’t get to
come to Chobe with us the first time around, spending all his time vomiting instead
which was crappy. By the time we got to Vic Falls he was still quite unwell. We
ended up having to go to a doctor in case he’d picked up Malaria –he hadn’t. It
was scary though… and those third world doctors, wowee it was an experience.
Especially the chemist where we picked up the medicines, it was like a back
alley drug deal, so crazy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEqPlDPuFzsUs_j0VObEZH8tG62qJ-k3FvCvVzJusg1Lc13o4VZps1CRN05vHmO8tQevLNuaYzNCp2BqE9W5v1umRFasYc5tAS66Fnu863Ic2GRPZEPsLfxIoxrSpgTYHXw_jkfe7koQ/s1600/IMG_4380-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEqPlDPuFzsUs_j0VObEZH8tG62qJ-k3FvCvVzJusg1Lc13o4VZps1CRN05vHmO8tQevLNuaYzNCp2BqE9W5v1umRFasYc5tAS66Fnu863Ic2GRPZEPsLfxIoxrSpgTYHXw_jkfe7koQ/s1600/IMG_4380-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile my sister dances across the flying fox like there is nothing to fear....</td></tr>
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<br />So that brings us to the end of the first part of the tour. Stay tuned for part two next week! :)<br /><br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-87898844061301259782014-07-23T06:30:00.000-07:002014-07-23T06:30:01.601-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5HvkVYHKG-EwL-YAyR2C9Jgw0A4STMXgvYNZFO_uB0zdZdWn2Wbh0L2wV8aW5BFDJK7Js2Zls7p2s8dDkB97tFbrwnl6YJl-m9_XSPCd3fNRmo2yY5oJ-PZwD-DFSYVTkBwteuE2yZM/s1600/t.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5HvkVYHKG-EwL-YAyR2C9Jgw0A4STMXgvYNZFO_uB0zdZdWn2Wbh0L2wV8aW5BFDJK7Js2Zls7p2s8dDkB97tFbrwnl6YJl-m9_XSPCd3fNRmo2yY5oJ-PZwD-DFSYVTkBwteuE2yZM/s1600/t.gif" height="200" width="135" /></a>What's Up Wednesday is a super-awesome-cool-fun blog hop created by <a href="http://www.jaime-morrow.com/">Jaime </a>and <a href="http://erinlfunk.blogspot.co.uk/">Erin</a> to help writers keep in touch with each other. If you want to take part, head over to either of their pages to check it out!<br />
<br />
<b>What I'm Reading</b><br />
I'm currently reading <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17409299-while-we-run">While We Run</a></i> which I'm LOVING! It's the sequel to <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11544476-when-we-wake">When We Wake</a> </i>which was also excellent. I really love the Karen Healey's writing style and the story is so real and so possible... it just reels me in.<br />
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<b>What I'm Writing</b><br />
As I mentioned on my post on Monday I'm taking a bit of time away from my WIP now that I've finished my first revision while I wait for feedback. It's a little nerve wracking! In the meantime I'm playing with a few tentative ideas for my next book which is quite exciting but that's very much in the early early stages!<br />
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<b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b><br />
To be honest I'm not particularly inspired right now. I want to say exactly what I said last week, as what is inspiring me at the very minimum would be the summer weather and getting out of London City. The thing is, I read the news and everyday it's like a punch in the gut. The Malaysian Air disaster, the Palestine troubles, the problems in Gaza... what is the state of the world?! Where has humanity gone? How can a human look in the eyes of an innocent child and put a bullet into his head? How can a human detonate a bomb on a beach where there are children playing, or shoot down a plane without knowing for sure that it's the intended target? It breaks my heart to see this and in the last week in particular I've really been struggling. My Facebook newsfeed is likes doomsday. All the fighting, all the hatred... and then I get sad about the animal cruelty that's alive and well around the world. My newsfeed is filled with awful pictures of poor elephants, leopards, lions, rhinos.... beautiful creatures shot and killed by poachers who want to make money at the expense of a life. Baby animals left orphaned and ill when their parents are so heartlessly taken from them. Circus animals being whipped and chained.... the last remaining captive polar bear in Argentina who is sick and struggling in the completely inappropriate conditions. I'm finding it really hard to find inspiration around me when we're just dragging the world and all inhabitants down with us. It breaks my heart the amount of pain and suffering that's going on at the moment... *rant*. So that's uninspiring, although the people who are stepping up and doing something about it are really inspiring so I guess that's something!<br />
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<b>What Else Have I Been Up To?</b><br />
I've been going to so many job interviews. And they're no easy. One of them was three and a half hours long, another involved a presentation, another felt like I was being interrogated! It's soul destroying but something will come of it. Then I get really rude recruiters who find my CV online and call me about jobs .... they could at least be a little bit nice when they call!<br />
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Aside from that Jesse and I have been taking a few day trips. We went out to Brighton on a very hot sunny day which was really lovely. I got sunburnt, we ate fish and chips by the beach and listened to the waves crash on the shore. It's a pebble beach which is crappy but I didn't care enough... it was just so nice to be by the ocean again. I should move to Brighton. I really loved it out there. I really don't think I'm a big city girl. That fact is starting to really sink in! I should've forged a career around something that allows me to live in a sleepy town within easy reach of a bigger city. Maybe if my dreams come true and I get a book deal I might be able to do that....! We also went to the Museum of London which is really interesting, lots of information there about the development of the city, and we went to the Old Spitafields Market which was nice.<br />
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Yesterday we checked out Highgate Cemetery which was creepy and beautiful at the same time and had a lovely lunch at Kenwood House - the house from the film Belle if you've seen that (great movie!) and we walked around Hampstead Heath which was nice! It's nice getting out of our tiny little studio room for a while! You can go a bit stir crazy in here!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOiFpeHvHVLErI-_T4fXupN_nOT2VtyEegB2yl9JYcoRXBmLDzi0ZtWjDe3XF3nQbJQPBCOfynyUsh6J8LTclfQY0xANOd8pAs4XRFDWNKV2C1OruY2l7pIkMfDSBixfzEIEd0gEAi8Ro/s1600/10429339_570703319707596_8328289657125668134_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOiFpeHvHVLErI-_T4fXupN_nOT2VtyEegB2yl9JYcoRXBmLDzi0ZtWjDe3XF3nQbJQPBCOfynyUsh6J8LTclfQY0xANOd8pAs4XRFDWNKV2C1OruY2l7pIkMfDSBixfzEIEd0gEAi8Ro/s1600/10429339_570703319707596_8328289657125668134_n.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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We also went to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I didn't particularly enjoy the stage version to be honest.... it felt very.... slow and uninteresting, but others love it I'm sure! This week we're heading to see Skylight which has Bill Nighy and Carrie Mulligan! Very excited about that! How's your weeks going? :)<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-84833341228188202962014-07-21T08:01:00.002-07:002014-07-21T10:48:22.886-07:00Just a quick note....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
So a few weeks back I mentioned I had just finished my new draft of my WIP (for those of you that had been following, I finished my first draft over New Year and decided to scrap the whole thing. That was fun... not! Anyway, I finished about two weeks ago and have now just finished my first edit. I've sent it out to three people who I trust to give me their honest opinion on anything and everything from the style, plot, characters and general feel of the book. To say I'm nervous is a bit of an understatement!<br />
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Now I sit, my fingers fidgeting in anticipation for them all to get through the chapters and give me their feedback.<br />
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What is the process you take when you finish a first draft? What is your revising and reviewing process?<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-12713172706411032262014-07-02T01:53:00.000-07:002014-07-02T02:12:17.668-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5HvkVYHKG-EwL-YAyR2C9Jgw0A4STMXgvYNZFO_uB0zdZdWn2Wbh0L2wV8aW5BFDJK7Js2Zls7p2s8dDkB97tFbrwnl6YJl-m9_XSPCd3fNRmo2yY5oJ-PZwD-DFSYVTkBwteuE2yZM/s1600/t.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5HvkVYHKG-EwL-YAyR2C9Jgw0A4STMXgvYNZFO_uB0zdZdWn2Wbh0L2wV8aW5BFDJK7Js2Zls7p2s8dDkB97tFbrwnl6YJl-m9_XSPCd3fNRmo2yY5oJ-PZwD-DFSYVTkBwteuE2yZM/s1600/t.gif" height="200" width="135" /></a>What's Up Wednesday is a super-awesome-cool-fun blog hop created by <a href="http://www.jaime-morrow.com/">Jaime </a>and <a href="http://erinlfunk.blogspot.co.uk/">Erin</a> to help writers keep in touch with each other. If you want to take part, head over to either of their pages to check it out!<br />
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<b>What I'm Reading</b><br />
I've just finished reading <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12396528-hollow-city">Hollow City</a></i>, the second in the Miss Peregrine series. Now I've started on the latest book in the Pretty Little Liars series, <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18599776-toxic">Toxic</a></i>. *sigh* Those books just keep coming and coming and I'm getting sick of them but <b>I really need to know what happens!!! </b>I'm also reading <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797397-salt-sugar-fat">Salt, Sugar, Fat; How the Food Giants Hooked Us</a> </i>which is really interesting, informative and scary!!<br />
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<b>What I'm Writing</b><br />
Before I took my blog hiatus, I worked my ass off to get two - three posts up a week. Part of the reason I stopped it because I just couldn't sustain that any more. I was writing my blog instead of writing my book and my book is the whole reason for my blog in the first place! So when I came back to my blog I decided I would post when I could and when I wanted to but not feel the pressure to have to post all the time, and it's helpful. So i'm still working away on my WIP, the one I finished and then completely rewrote. If all goes well I <i>should</i> have my first draft finished by the end of day!!! *cue applause* so fingers crossed!<br />
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<b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b><br />
Two things - adventure and summer. I'm trying to make the most of the weather by exploring the UK, seeing what's in and around London and heading out of the city for day trips. Last weekend we headed to Epping Forest and took a walk through the trees (unfortunately summer didn't come to the party and we had a picnic in the rain) but even still! For me, it was very inspiring as the scene I was about to go home and write involved a forest. How convenient!<br />
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<b>What Else Have I Been Up To?</b><br />
I'm still unemployed. It's VERY depressing. The UK job market is tough to crack into! So it's been really hard but I've been looking and applying for jobs an awful lot! I also have been making an effort to get out and do as much as I can (as given the job situation I don't know how long i'll realistically be able to stay in London...). SO a week ago I headed into Trafalgar Square where they put on this free event called West End Live. Stars from all the Broadway shows came out and sung numbers from their shows! It was so great! While Les Miserables and Wicked are my all time favourite, I loved seeing the performances from the upcoming revamp of Miss Saigon. The Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia songs got the whole crowd on their feet dancing. It was fun!!<br />
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I also went to a creative writing course with my man (who has finally decided to unleash his creative writing potential and write his own book!) The course was on intricate storylines and while it was interesting it was more geared at those who hadn't started writing their book and possibly didn't even have an idea in mind. So for me I didn't find it particularly helpful at this point in time but I think Jesse did. There was also a lot of workshopping which I wasn't a huge fan of.... just lecture me!<br />
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I checked out a performance of <i>The Drowned Man</i> which is put on by Punchdrunk of <i>Sleep No More </i>fame. It was really good! It had a similar style to Sleep No More - four floors of set, audience members wear masks and they're free to wander as they want to follow the stories they choose to follow. It was really complicated but a great show. If you've seen Sleep No More.... think bigger - bigger cast, bigger (and way more) storylines.... bigger. It was awesome<br />
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We also went to the Southbank Philharmonia Concert on Friday where they performed 'screen themes'. We're talking theme songs from the favourites - Indiana Jones, Ghost Busters, James Bond, Batman, Superman and so many more. Then they ended with a few songs from their new Abba album which had everyone up on their feet. Best Orchestral concert I've ever been to!<br />
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The week ended at Wimbledon where we sat for many hours watching an empty court in the rain (and totally not dressed for the cold!) but then finally got to see some quality action. We saw Serena Williams defeated by Alize Cornet. Wowza it was an epic game. Pretty sad actually too, I was cheering for Serena but almost everyone else in the crowd was going for Alize.<br />
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So that's pretty much me! How's your weeks been? I'm going to leave you with this little picture as I thought it was quite clever....<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-22364975536621552682014-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:002014-07-21T10:47:06.177-07:00Book I've read lately<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I was in Africa (yes I promise I'll write a proper post of my adventures at some point) I spent a LOT of time on a truck driving cross country. In the last three weeks when we headed into East Africa we'd often spend up to 14 hours on the truck each day. It was kind of awful. It was SO hot and sticky, any bathroom breaks were squatting on the side of the road, and our lunches were usually a piece of plastic cheese slapped between two slices of cornbread. (Needless to say we all lost weight). Anyway, more on that another time. It was an amazing experience and I had the chance to read so many books. I'm not going to review them all but thought I'd give a quick run down here.....<br />
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<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6482837-before-i-fall">Before I Fall </a>- It got a little repetitive but overall I really enjoyed it. I love seeing a huge character transformation, especially when it's based so solidly in reality</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793231-if-you-find-me">If You Find Me</a> - A heartbreaking yet beautiful story. I really enjoyed it and it's stuck with me too which is always a good sign</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8442457-gone-girl">Gone Girl </a>- Oh my GOSH yes. Such an intricate, complicated and incredibly clever story. Interested to see what they do with the movie. The ending infuriated me something wicked, another reason I love it. They didn't give me the ending I wanted. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793184-calling-me-home">Calling Me Home</a> - A stunning novel. I love split historical novels like this - half in the past, half today, and with a dash of the civil rights movement... it's a brilliant story and very well told. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13624688-the-time-keeper">The Time Keeper</a> - I think if I hadn't read this in a day it would've taken me a long time to read it. It didn't pull me in. It was kind of weirdly told... but I kept reading and I still, four months on, think about the story a lot. It has a lot of power in it, and I really loved that.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13505141-grasping-at-eternity">The Kindrily Series</a> - I adored this series. I've only linked to the first book here, but all three were great. I really got immersed in the story of the characters and truly loved the plot and the mysteries. It's a shame it's not more widely known.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8835379-ruby-red">Ruby Red Trilogy</a> - I've actually only just finished series this as I only had the first one on my kindle in Africa but I loved it. A great mix of teen drama, romantic frustrations and time travelling 'someone is going to kill us' type of drama. The story moves easily and hooks you in straight away. I love it. I want more! (I still REALLY hate the covers though)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17674574-a-bit-mental">A Bit Mental </a>- Not fiction, not at all. But a really interesting memoir about a guy from New Zealand suffering from depression and what he did to help himself overcome it. Quite inspiring actually. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7824322-between-shades-of-gray">Between Shades of Grey</a> - Beautiful, stunning, heartbreaking story. I had no idea about the Soviet genocide and this really opened my eyes. So well written but it really does break your heart into tiny little pieces and only sellotapes a few fragments back together. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15818107-orphan-train">Orphan Train</a> - One of my favourite books this year. Reminded me a lot of my all time favourite book The Tea Rose. A really lovely story and the true meaning of 'started from the bottom now we here'. It really touched me. I seriously recommend this book</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7636774-i-d-know-you-anywhere">I'd Know You Anywhere</a> - I'm still not entirely sure or convinced about this book. Great premise... it just didn't sit right with me</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15826648-where-the-stars-still-shine">Where the Stars Still Shine </a>- Oooh this book was nice. It wasn't as deep as many of the others I've put on here but I did really enjoy it. And I learned about sea sponges from it, which is kind of cool. It was a much better story than I was expecting</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7193563-pretty-little-things">Pretty Little Things</a> - Haunting, scary and sad. It's a good book but very disturbing. For the first time ever I did guess who the killer was though. I usually don't read crime books because I never know who did it until it's revealed even though everyone figured it out on page 9.... I figured this one out, I was pretty proud of myself. It was really well done though :)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4374400-if-i-stay">If I Stay</a> - I loved this book. Such a great concept and so well written. I'm really looking forward to the movie</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8492825-where-she-went">Where She Went</a> - A follow up to If I Stay told several years after Mia's accident and told from Adam's point of view. Really sad the state of things when the book opens but over the course of one evening things change a lot and it's really cool to read and see why things happened the way they did. Not as good as If I Stay, but I still really enjoyed it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9460487-miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children">Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children</a> - I don't think I would have read this book if I hadn't been on a truck for so many hours, but I really enjoyed it once I got into it. It did take me a while to get into it though.... Great concept, very well told. Reading the sequel currently!</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15783514-the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane">The Ocean at the End of the Lane </a>- This book has had praise heaped upon it. I tried three separate times to get into it and it just didn't draw me in. I wish I could've loved it. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/315578.Auschwitz">Auschwitz: A Doctors Eyewitness Account</a> - words cannot even begin to describe how disgusted I am with what the human race is capable of. And what we do in desperate situations can be almost as bad. This is a book that is ... very hard to read. For obvious reasons. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333230-the-luminaries">The Luminaries</a> - An author with my own nationality, oh how proud we are of Eleanor Catton. Unfortunately, hard as I tried, I just couldn't get past the first chapter. I tend to stick to YA novels and this is certainly not YA. Despite having been to the places written about in the book and being able to picture them with perfect clarity, for me the book is too complex! She's a genius, and I, am afraid, am not (so much so I can't even read the writing of said genius). I've heard from many it's a brilliant book. Obviously it is, but for me I found it too wordy, too descriptive and very slow. Like I said though, I didn't get past chapter one, things could change greatly in the following chapters! Maybe one day i'll try again.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/375802.Ender_s_Game">Ender's Game</a> - Maybe I wasn't in the mood but I just couldn't get past the writing style. I loved the movie and perhaps I was too stuck on that. I wanted to love it, but I just was so clueless as to what was going on for too much of the book that I got frustrated and stopped. Then I sat about wondering why I couldn't seem to get through one of the YA classics! Failure.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11330361-a-stolen-life">A Stolen Life</a> - What Jaycee went through is awful, and reading about it in such detail is so uncomfortable yet I guess that human curiosity propels you further, wanting to know what other horrors lay in store. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18373.Flowers_for_Algernon">Flowers for Algernon</a> - A classic, of course. Very powerful and an interesting story. A case, I believe, of science being pushed too far.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11178225-out-of-the-easy">Out of the Easy</a> - Oh wow. I adored this book. So brilliantly written. I wanted more. I still want more. I love love love this book. Such a great story, so much action and I loved Josie, the main character. Waiting in anticipation for Ruta Sepetys next book.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11178225-out-of-the-easy">Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want To Know About Fast Food.</a> - I never want to eat fast food again. Really interesting to learn about the origins of the insane food industry, but seriously. I've gone paleo and partially vegetarian and I don't even want to go near a McDonalds. Ew.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51738.Just_Listen">Just Listen</a> - This feels like a much younger book and has less depth than many of the other books I've read but I still really enjoyed it. One thing I did feel though was that it was almost exactly (save for a few details) like that book Speak... the one that was made into a movie with K-Stew... seriously, it's like exactly the same. But I still enjoyed it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7303347-forgiving-ararat">Forgiving Ararat</a> - Why can I just not get into some of these books that have good sounding plots?! I just got so confused in the first few chapters that I gave up. I'm sorry</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8096073-chosen">Chosen</a> - This book really appealed to me being a child of adoption and I was excited to read it. It was told in multiple voices and none of them sounded any different from the other... sentences were confused and the story was so slow moving I gave up before I reached half way. Such a great premise though.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13138955-friends-forever">Friends Forever</a> - What happened? Isn't Danielle Steel supposed to be a writing super star? This book drags on and on. I managed to get to the end, but I don't know how. It was like watching someone mow the lawn. It moved slowly and big events (like main characters dying) seemed to only get a mention on one page, the next page the characters mourn and the next page they're partying at the local football game. I couldn't get past the writing either. Did DS really write it? A quick look on Goodreads shows I'm not alone in my opinion. Such a shame :(</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15790873-this-is-what-happy-looks-like">This is What Happy Looks Like</a> - This is a perfect rainy Sunday afternoon light hearted teen book. I likened it to the equivalent of People Magazine or Hollywood Life. We're not talking high quality and suspense, we're talking what you really need to give your mind a rest and take yourself away from the pressures of life for a while. and I really enjoyed it!</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15283043-the-distance-between-us">The Distance Between Us</a> - Aww I liked this book. Another light hearted one, but throws in quite a few interesting twists along the way. I should read more books like this, they give me the warm fuzzies.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11084145-steve-jobs?ac=1">Steve Jobs</a> - This guy was such a genius, yet such an asshole. The book was long. I started it the day I left Turkey to move to London and it took me a month to finish it (I wasn't doing a lot of reading but it did take a long time to read.) A really interesting and incredible story. What a life he led. I love his lack of fear and his brilliant mind. He may have pissed a lot of people off but my gosh he changed the face of our world. </li>
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So that's all I've read for now. I'm working on the second Miss Peregrine book at the moment and next up is 1984 (I'm going to see the show in August so want to read it before then), Elizabeth is Missing, While We Run, Sugar Salt Fat and Wheat Belly. So many great books! So little time! I need to go back to Africa so I can get through my book collection!!</div>
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What have you been reading lately?</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-85317205981969133102014-06-16T08:30:00.000-07:002014-06-16T08:30:00.383-07:00My First Novel - Panel Discussion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don't know how I have so little time to write posts at the moment given that I'm not working but I guess it's because I'm spending most of my free time writing my novel or playing the guitar and my blogging time just... gets away from me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anyway, I've been meaning to write this post for a while as I thought it might be of use to some people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At the start of June I went to a panel discussion at the Southbank Centre in London called 'My First Novel'. It was a really great event and focused a lot of writing techniques, plot creation, query letters and the publishing industry as a whole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">The panel was led by novelist Kate Mosse (<i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14975.Labyrinth">Labyrinth </a></i>and <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6450212-the-winter-ghosts">The Winter Ghosts</a></i></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">) </span></span><span style="color: #222222;">and she was joined by <a href="http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/felicity-blunt/">Felicity Blun</a>t, an agent with Curtis Brown; Emma Healey a debut novelist whose first book<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18635113-elizabeth-is-missing?from_search=true"> <i>Elizabeth is Missing</i></a> was released a week and a half ago (and before that sparked a bidding war with publishing houses at London's book fair); </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 17.91111183166504px;">Charlotte Mendelson a novelist (<i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1192084.Daughters_of_Jerusalem">Daughters of Jerusalem</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1192083.When_We_Were_Bad">When We Were Bad</a></i>) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 17.91111183166504px;">and publisher and finally novelist Sarah Waters (<i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45162.Fingersmith">Fingersmith</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56373.Tipping_the_Velvet">Tipping the Velvet</a></i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56373.Tipping_the_Velvet"> </a>and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/550720.The_Night_Watch"><i>The Night Watch</i> </a>among others),</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Each person had something really worthwhile and significant to contribute to the discussion and there was a time for audiences to ask questions afterwards.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> I made really quick notes during the evening so the following will probably run a little like a commentary.... Much of it i'm sure you know, but nevertheless I hope it will be useful to some....</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I was a little jealous of Emma. She originally began writing her book a few years back, writing little snippets here and there but wouldn't admit to being a writer or that she was writing a book for a long time. In the end she signed up to do her masters in Creative Writing at UEA and <i>Elizabeth is Missing </i>began to take shape. During her masters she met an agent from Curtis Brown who asked her to send her MS in once it was ready. So she did, and the rest is history. She said one thing that was important to her is that she always thought about the reader when she was writing. I thought that was a really interesting point. While I do often think about the reader and what they'll think when I'm writing, I mostly concentrate on the story and let the story go where it wants to go rather than worrying about what the reader might think. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Felicity then piped up about what she looks for when she is reading a manuscript. She looks for something what leaps out at her. A large part of that is the title of the book. It needs to be interesting and a little mysterious. It needs to make the reader ask what the story might be about, and a book, when being queried, needs to have a title. There's no point in sending in 'untitled MS'. She said the cover letter also must be interesting, it must have a great synopsis and book description with a book but it mustn't be too long. She has emails coming in constantly and the phone rings and there's hundreds on manuscripts to look at, her interest needs to be grabbed almost instantly. Your pitch must be interesting. She advises not rushing your cover letter. Take your time with it, ensure it's brief and professional.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The best way to know that your title is catchy and your synopsis is right is to ask someone you trust to read it and be honest. Agents choose what they'll invest their time in initially with the some method we choose a book we're going to read - good title, pick up the book, turn it over and read the synopsis. Then if that sounds good, we're ready to read the book. A good way to develop the synopsis is by remembering what inspired you to write the book initially. What did that feel like when the idea came to you? Bring the passion back but keep it compact. What is inspiring to you is likely to be inspiring to the author. Remember, they want you too. Without writers there is no publishing! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So query letters - short and professional, a short bit about your book and the synopsis, don't send a headshot (more on that soon), and they don't want to scroll through a long email given they're sent around 1000 queries a day! Look for an agent that represents your genre, don't waste your time (or their time) on an adult fiction crime agent if your book is YA fantasy. Find an agent near you. If you find one overseas it might be harder to make it work given time zones and whatnot. You want to be able to meet with them. Most agents have partners in different companies anyway to help sell your book in different places.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It was then Charlotte's turn to take the mic. First and foremost she wanted everyone to know that if you're finding your book hard to write, that doesn't make you special. This is always what it's like. It's hard. It's always going to be hard, whether it's your first book of your 21st book. You need to endure and keep going. Just because you think it's rubbish, it doesn't mean that it actually is rubbish. (cue laughter from the audience).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Sarah, who I might add had a number of fans in the audience who called her an absolute genius, they were ready to bow down and kiss her feet, had some advise about the process of writing. She's written 5 novels now and she said her process of writing is essentially the same as it always has been. It's the spirit of exploration that changes. She often does 2-3 months of pure research first (she writes historical novels), and through that research she finds her plots and her characters and then develops fiction out of that. She also works regular hours - Monday - Friday and it works for her. She said each book presents a different challenge and her most recent book took almost 5 years to write and perfect. Sometimes, she said, you just have to go over and over. Sarah did mention that chapter</span><span style="color: #222222;"> four is always the hardest to write as that's when there's a true change of pace in the novels. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />The audience were then invited to ask questions.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Emma was asked if she found the editing process, someone ripping her work to shreds, hard. She responded by saying that she was used to it after doing the masters, but it can still be frustrating at times. She said she self edited a lot and then would hand it to the editor who would rip it apart. However she said that everything someone could say that might help the book is good. Editors will be honest and that's important. Relish it and have a positive attitude. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sarah added that the editing process makes the book better but you may feel tired about it. Negative comments can be most useful though. Copy editing is so important and makes such a difference. She mentioned she had two editors, one in the UK and one in the USA for different audiences, that must be hard!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Charlotte mentioned that everyone needs editors so if you have someone who is intelligent and read books, then trust them. You may not agree but it may help you see something differently. Editors are great at pointing out the weak parts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One woman asked is looks have any bearing as to whether an author gets a book deal or not. She mentioned her friend was considering plastic surgery after seeing all the beautiful authors on latest release book covers. I think the jaws of everyone in the panel dropped about as far as they could. Every single one of them said 'no no no, do not let your friend get plastic surgery.' Looks have absolutely no bearing on whether or not a book is picked up. It's purely about the writing. Felicity even mentioned she finds it weird when authors send a head shot as when she's reading the MS she usually forgets the author exists and gets wrapped up in the story (mental note: don't send headshot.) So just in case you were wondering, what you look like does not matter at all. (and don't even think about plastic surgery. We are all who we are meant to be.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The entire panel were asked about their thoughts on planning the book. Felicity straight away told the audience not to send an agent an outline of a book. They don't want that (obviously), they want the MS, or at least the first 3 chapters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Emma said she wrote a 15,000 word novel plan. She doesn't write in sequence so it was helpful. She colour coded it and wrote in different fonts... on reflection she's pretty sure that was just procrastination. However she has friends who write chronologically and only have a basic outline or a plan in their heads and it's totally fine. It's up to the individual.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Charlotte said her plans are a constantly evolving nightmare. She squishes it all together and works out where all the characters are and goes from there whereas Sarah said the novels she has had the least trouble with she's always had a plan. It's always basic and there is a lot in between she didn't know but she said she needs to know what she needs to say and how to say it. Kate contributed to this question by advising to choose the tools that are right for you. Perhaps writing chapter one is better than writing an outline. Agents and publishers don't buy an outline. Some writers prefer to have a total outline and some don't. There's no right way, just go with what works for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another audience members asked why gay and lesbian characters are always secondary, not the main character. If we have gay marriage, why can't we have gay publication. This question took the panel by surprise but mentioned there were a number of books with gay characters and more coming out with central LGBT characters. They also mentioned the number of LGBT authors now, however not all of them write about gay or lesbian characters, but there certainly is some out there (maybe the market for this is growing, if anyone wants to pick it up?!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another audience member said her agent started sending out her MS in January yet it was now June and she hadn't heard a word from him. The book was part of a planned series and she wasn't sure what to do. Carry on with the series or start new? This confused Felicity and Charlotte who said she certainly should have heard by now either way. They said your agent should always be keeping you in the loop and that you have a right to bad news and to see the responses. There needs to be good communication between the agent and the author and if there's not maybe the relationship isn't working.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There was some talk about self-publishing, which I'm sure was a little awkward given they're all in the publishing industry in some way but Felicity said self publishing has had a huge effect on the industry in general and the reputation of it has changed a lot too, especially since 50 Shades of Grey. Some publishers do look at self-published authors and many authors have been picked up this way. Great success has been proven so there's definitely merit to it. They reminded the audience as a self-published author you're responsible for everything - price setting, marketing etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The panel were then asked how they transform good ideas into a plot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sarah said you can't not put a plot in a novel so you really need to find it. She always finds the characterisation harder and can find plots anywhere. She see's people at a bus stop and wonders about their story, for her it often goes from there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Charlotte says she's the opposite. She finds characterisation harder. She said she finds her plot by looking at the interaction of people and what comes out of that. She also believes you don't have to start with a plot but it will appear to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Emma said if you have a good idea, the plot will reveal itself to you but if you can't see past the first scene it probably won't grow. Kate added to this by saying that things have to happen. Anything that isn't serving the plot should go. What is happening in each chapter? Write yourself into the plot but once you've found it, delete the unnecessary stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Someone asked Emma if she thought creative writing courses were useful and Emma said they're definitely more constructive than sharing your writing with friends and family who just want the best for you. You have to know why you're going though. It will help you to grow as a writer and will give you a lot of tips. It's also great if you just want a year to purely be a writer. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Key Tips</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hard work is important</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You need to have passion. You have got to want to do it. Finish it. Publish it etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Conserve your willpower. Sit down and write. Self motivation is vital. Other things you're doing - joining a gym, going on a diet, learning an instrument, it might cut into your willpower. If you can juggle it al that's fine, if not maybe wait until your first draft at least is written!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Once you've finished the first draft, leave it for a few weeks and then go back and look at everythign - character, plot, writing. If something bugs you, it will bug the agent and the publisher and the reader. Don't make an agent read something if you're not sold on it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Be disciplined. Ask yourself, does that really work? Is that really what would happen? Is that really what it would sound like or feel like? Check your spelling and grammar.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You may be squeemish about someone seeing your writing, your precious baby you've been working so hard on... publishers and agents see manuscripts daily. They're not squeemish.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Don't be alarmed if you feel afraid. Just go with it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It's difficult at times. Just try and be open with yourself</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Be proud. Guard against cynicism. This is your path</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Show your work to someone else. Don't fear their comments - it's all helpful!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Write for one minute. It's better than zero minutes.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And that's all! A long and length post, I know, and I apologise. I thought about splitting them up to make it easier for you all, but I thought having it all in one post will be helpful for referring back to it in the future. I hope this has helped somewhat. It was a really great panel discussion, and as soon as I left the auditorium I signed up for a few creative writing courses - really looking forward to them and grabbing some more helpful tips!</span></div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-75654444929882565782014-06-04T04:22:00.003-07:002014-06-04T04:22:48.861-07:00What's Up Wednesday!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wow, it's been a while since I did one of these!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXc6aeGOIL4WNMAmW8HrhU031It_GxTuPkgX1_SgvApIDteuU3YizgNmbEj4AIE91LLMpI45NQgcQ3uqQ0ma-0nv5O9SALCzoPvxw_g58v5nuetMhfycQVLIt94ZpMph-IRCEWGpPFuM/s1600/PLANEBORDER2+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXc6aeGOIL4WNMAmW8HrhU031It_GxTuPkgX1_SgvApIDteuU3YizgNmbEj4AIE91LLMpI45NQgcQ3uqQ0ma-0nv5O9SALCzoPvxw_g58v5nuetMhfycQVLIt94ZpMph-IRCEWGpPFuM/s1600/PLANEBORDER2+b.jpg" height="200" width="185" /></a></div>
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What's Up Wednesday is a blog hop created by <a href="http://www.jaime-morrow.com/">Jaime </a>and <a href="http://erinlfunk.blogspot.co.uk/">Erin</a> to help writers keep in touch with each other.<br />
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SO, without further ado....<br />
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<b>What I'm Reading</b><br />
I've just finished reading the Kindrily series which I really enjoyed and am now starting on Sapphire Blue, the second book in the Ruby Red series. Although I don't seem to have a lot of time to read at the moment, I'm spending more time working on my writing instead :)<br />
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<b>What I'm Writing</b><br />
A week ago I completely gutted my WIP that I've been working on for a year and a half and pretty much started again. I kept the bones of the original wip but it needed a total make over so hopefully this will make it much better!<br />
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<b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b><br />
My photos from my travels. I had so many great ideas for new stories while I was travelling and so many of them are held within the thousands of photos I took. I honestly get lost in them every time I start looking through them. The life that many Africans live is somewhat similar to the life of my central character in my WIP (yet also very different), so I was able to really gain a lot of insight and inspiration from that. That and the gloomy London weather! (Summer, what summer?) A rainy day is always conductive for inspiration!<br />
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<b>What Else Have I Been Up To?</b><br />
Well I've just made my return to the blogging world after 9 months away. I wrote a post <a href="http://samanthasbookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/im-back-and-im-sorry.html">here</a> about why i've been away and what I've been up to. More recently though, I've been working on cutting out grains and sugar from my diet, have been going to the gym, learning guitar and applying for job after job (with not a lot of success. Le sigh). I did go to a writing seminar on Monday night which was hugely interesting and i'll write a post about it soon :)<br />
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How is everyone in the blogosphere going? :)<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-80229959733983673752014-06-03T10:30:00.001-07:002014-06-03T10:30:34.644-07:00I'm back... and I'm sorry!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So ... I failed at my blog for a while. I fact I think it was as long ago as August when I last dropped by. I could make all sorts of excuses - I ran out of things to natter on about, the time zone thing was tricky for group blogging and life just got in the way. All are valid excuses, and are true but that's no excuse. I really just dropped the ball. I'm sorry. But I'm back! Possibly not as frequently as I used to be, three times a week takes up a lot of my WIP writing time, but I'm definitely back.</div>
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There's a lot that's been happening in my life lately I'm not quite sure where to start! Over the New Zealand summer I worked at an amazing theatre company in Christchurch called The Court Theatre. I loved that job and lived everything about that place. I was so sad to leave but the reason I left was because I took off to the other side of the world and spent 6 weeks trekking through Africa on the most incredible trip of my life. We went through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya then up to Egypt. It was life changing and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. I was going to write an entire post about that adventure but then remembered this is my writing blog and you may not be particularly interested in that little part of my life! If you do want to know let me know... I'm one of those annoying travellers all too willing to talk about my travels!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The incredible sand dunes in Namibia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making friends with a Cheetah, Namibia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Falling in love with these beautiful two lion cubs, Zimbabwe</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lions in Serengeti, Tanzania</td></tr>
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After Africa I spent some time in Turkey, Greece, France and The Netherlands before moving to London. The last two months have been a little bit like being in limbo, looking for a job and a place to live but it's a fun city!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The city of love? Paris, France!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King's Day in Amsterdam, Netherlands</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giza, Egypt</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r_3fFqblasg/U44Dz9g_bzI/AAAAAAAAEto/YtUXHAvkcTg/s1600/IMG_9658-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r_3fFqblasg/U44Dz9g_bzI/AAAAAAAAEto/YtUXHAvkcTg/s1600/IMG_9658-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the heart of Athens, Greece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Qs5W-dyvssKeefvnOFmyM8x_OWBmWzqxCj0I3z5GAY4pJoVTplwocALINhrtQXeNjOtyb8itzwjaULHjVfIKqMZ-Xjx7hRlD9YgL4i_jevXDoBg8UquOox5kqQ6LYhm7jv79bJT2E44/s1600/IMG_9895-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Qs5W-dyvssKeefvnOFmyM8x_OWBmWzqxCj0I3z5GAY4pJoVTplwocALINhrtQXeNjOtyb8itzwjaULHjVfIKqMZ-Xjx7hRlD9YgL4i_jevXDoBg8UquOox5kqQ6LYhm7jv79bJT2E44/s1600/IMG_9895-L.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kalkan on the Turkish Coast where we spent our days lying in the sun by the pool reading for an entire week :D</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GpbHrORdbpX69f56sgQ4-fRE8dq7ha8jQMwFLiENwBh29e89abEluQGhxwRe4XlRaE73Y0UbzY-2KPSogZ69WHVDDSiqcgE8wxhhlDkXJu3h4BmsEdeIm55-tzlIrCzHUYivAuSkEl8/s1600/i-Jsd2ZL4-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GpbHrORdbpX69f56sgQ4-fRE8dq7ha8jQMwFLiENwBh29e89abEluQGhxwRe4XlRaE73Y0UbzY-2KPSogZ69WHVDDSiqcgE8wxhhlDkXJu3h4BmsEdeIm55-tzlIrCzHUYivAuSkEl8/s1600/i-Jsd2ZL4-XL.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London! My new home!</td></tr>
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Being unemployed has its benefits in that I have had a lot if time to work on my book.</div>
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When I last posted, I was still plugging away at my WIP. Well over the new year I finally finished that puppy. Then I let it sit. I mulled it over and thought about my characters then gave it to a good friend who gave me some excellent feedback. When I was in Africa I had a lot of ideas of ways I could alter my WIP for the better in the second draft.</div>
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A month after I arrived in London my computer finally arrived and I was reunited with my WIP. I knew it needed a lot of work and felt there was really something integral to the story that wasn't working. I spent a few weeks looking at my characters, looking at what makes them who they are and act the way they do... then I looked at the world my story is set in and the plot I had developed. Eventually I found the problem. It only took me a day of brainstorming before I figured out what the solution was. Typically it involved completely gutting my entire WIP. I sat there telling myself over and over that it was completely normal to rip to shreds your first draft and it was 100% necessary but it was still sad.</div>
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So now I'm starting again, but this time I know my characters and my world much more intricately. I know them inside out, the way I always should have. It's a nice feeling actually and I'm confident this story will be much stronger for the changes.</div>
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So, what did I miss around here?!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-68223731664888025172013-08-04T18:47:00.000-07:002013-08-04T18:47:00.076-07:00Blogging Inspiration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know we've talked a lot about finding inspiration for our WIPs and future WIPs but I haven't talked all that much about finding inspiration for blog posts.<br />
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I know the whole reason Jaime and Erin started What's Up Wednesday is because they too were finding it increasingly difficult to find topics to write about regularly on their blogs.<br />
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So I would love to know, where do you find your inspiration? Do you get it from other blogs? From the news? From google searches? Or does it just come to you out of thin air?<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-16711392940697986552013-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:002013-07-28T00:30:00.782-07:00You remind me of....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the questions I often see authors being asked is whether their main character (or another prominent character) is very much like the author themselves.<br />
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While one particular author would say that the character is very much like themselves or their best friend or mother, another author would say that the character has elements of themselves or is nothing like them.<br />
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When I started writing my WIP, I was basing part of the male lead (Noah) on my man. I imagined them to look very similar, and the personality to be quite alike, but as my WIP has grown, they're nothing alike. They don't think the same way, act the same way, the even look totally different (in my mind). Their motivations in life are completely different.<br />
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I find it quite amazing that Noah has grown to be very much his own person and now isn't actually based on anyone. By the time he walked onto my pages, there was no resemblance to my man at all. I was telling him how interesting I found this and asked him if he thought I was anything like Chlo (my MC).<br />
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It's a hard question really, as I haven't based Chlo on myself at all. I haven't written Chlo to be anything like me. She's from a different world, a different upbringing, a totally different life... but she's still a product of me so I guess it would make sense if by accident she really had turned out to be very similar to who I am.<br />
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We came to the agreement that while she's very different in her way of life, and the way she thinks about things and see's the world, and her reactions to situations presented to her are very similar to my own. Her emotions and the way she copes when life throws crap in her face are eight on par with my emotions and the way I would cope. Although, she's a lot stronger than I am and she's got way more balls (so to speak).<br />
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As my book progresses and the characters evolve, I'm sure I will see more of myself, my friends and family in the characters - most likely by accident.<br />
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What about y'all? Do you recognise yourself or your friends and family in your characters? Do you purposely write your characters to be based on someone or does it just kind of ....happen?</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-60135130401985489842013-07-21T19:06:00.000-07:002013-07-21T19:06:00.857-07:00If there were no limits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I fell down the Google Image rabbit hole today. I'm not quite sure how but I ended up pouring through graphic art, real images of beautiful places all over the world and simply incredible sketches (isn't the internet a marvelous place?!)<br />
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It was the strangest feeling looking through these images.... I felt like my mind was opening and there were no limits. I felt like I could go to all of these magical places, I could dream of being inside this graphic art, of stories I could write set amongst the scenes laid out in front of my eyes.<br />
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If there were no limits in life, if you could spend all your time doing whatever you wanted and going wherever you wanted, what would you do?<br />
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I've got a little bit of a dream. I'm trying to achieve it, even though there a hundreds of limits. I'd love to travel all over the world. To see the big cities and small villages, the lakes, oceans and mountains. I'd love to immerse myself in all different kinds of cultures, see different animals and experience new ways of life. I'd love to volunteer in a place that could really use my help. I'd love to move back to America (amazingly this is one of the hardest pursuits on my list! Dang American visas are hard to get!), I'd love to live in Cali, in a house in La Jolla (or near there) and raise my family and I'd love to write my stories and run a cake/high tea shop that overlooks La Jolla cove.... Just a little dream of mine.<br />
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What would you do if there were no limits?<br />
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Note: By limits I mean financial constraints, time constraints and other various barriers or constraints.</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-32273837906105138962013-07-14T18:35:00.000-07:002013-07-14T18:35:00.548-07:00A new resolution<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm not yet confident in my skills as a writer. It's all still feeling quite new for me. Because I'm not so confident I've asked two people who know I'm working on this WIP to read what I've written. However I found that the comments they would come back with was really affecting my writing and my need to get the story out.<br />
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While one would simply say, I don't like this part, the other would ask the small questions that I hadn't even thought of and certainly weren't necessary to think of in the first draft. But I'd look at their questions and comments and panic. I'd say if these questions are coming up now and I can't answer them, or I'm giving the answer they don't want to hear, then my book isn't going to work. The story isn't going to be right.<br />
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Consequently I would stop writing. I'd stop for a few days or a week and then I'd usually delete huge sections. Then I'd feel deflated. I'd think I couldn't do it and that I'd never be good enough.<br />
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I know they didn't mean for their comments to have that affect on me, but I was so desperate for my story to be....right. I wanted their approval with what I was writing, I wanted them to like what was written on those pages. I'm not saying they didn't, but there were aspects that needed work, or questions that were raised that they wanted to bring up with me.<br />
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Eventually I sat back and said to myself, I'm writing this story for me. It's my story and these bits this person is telling me to include or exclude will totally change the vision I have for it. I need to do what's right for me to get this story told. I need to do whatever I can to get the first draft complete, then I can hear what they have to say.<br />
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To do this I had to basically cut them off from my story. I don't talk about the content with them much anymore, and I definitely don't send them chapters. They understand, which I'm grateful for, and for the moment that is definitely what is best for me and my WIP. Since I stopped worrying about the comments they'd make and the questions they'd raise, the ideas poured into my brain and helped the story form in my mind. Now i'm more on track than ever.<br />
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I've asked a lot of people for help getting past my roadblocks over the past month or so, and I thank you all for your advice. Every piece of advice I was given, I've kept, and I use when I need inspiration. It turned out for me though, the way to really open the dam and let the ideas flow was to get rid of the external forces and to write this story on my own.<br />
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It's scary, but I really think it's going to be worth it! </div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-33891313264396460102013-07-07T01:00:00.000-07:002013-07-07T01:00:05.451-07:00Distractions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm TERRIBLE!<br />
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I was on such a great writing role, I had all these ideas kicking around in my head and then I got distracted. I got sucked into the world of The Game of Thrones.<br />
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Whoops.<br />
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I was going to watch it just when I had time (I was started from Season One), and for the first season I could see myself stretching it over a number of months. Then my co-workers started watching too so we'd have to watch a good number each night to discuss at work the next day. Then I simply got hooked.<br />
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I have three episodes left of season three, and after I've finished work and done the obligatory cake decorating for my cousin's third birthday party tonight I'm determined to finish.<br />
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The biggest problem however, is that I've TOTALLY abandoned my WIP. I'm so sorry. Terrible! I get distracted with things and those things become my whole world for a certain period of time until they come to an end (usually the end of a book or the end of the TV series so far, or until there is simply no more travel planning I could possibly do.)<br />
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Please tell me I'm not the only one?! Who else gets distracted, and what is it that usually distracts you?</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-73288525463131953502013-06-30T01:30:00.000-07:002013-06-30T01:30:01.502-07:00Nostalgia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In New Zealand at the moment our main postal company is pushing to have our postal delivery service reduced from 6 days to 3 days. I personally think it's silly, and backward and makes New Zealand look like a hick town BUT their rationale is that people don't send letters and packages as much anymore because of emails and so the posties don't have as many letters to deliver. It'll mean there'll be all sorts of job cuts (poor old Postman Pat out of a job) and will be really annoying if you have to wait that many more days to receive your post.<br />
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They've been talking about how it's similar to when they cut down mail deliveries in the 1980s. The milk trucks used to go around the neighbourhoods, take away your empty glass bottles and replace them with new bottles. In the 80's they cut down this service to only a few days a week. I remember when I was a little kid in the early 90's hearing the music of the milk truck and running out to pick up the crate of our milk. We'd put out the empty glass bottles and put a blue ring around the neck of one (which meant medium fat), a green ring around one (which meant trim) and a white around the other (which meant full fat). Then the crates I'd take inside each day would have three full glass bottles of milk, one with a silver top, one with a green top and one with a blue top.<br />
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I didn't realise when they stopped the milk deliveries all together. I guess by the time it happened I was well into my schooling years and didn't notice the slow phasing out of the glass bottles and the phasing in of the supermarket bought plastic bottles. The ones from the supermarkets had all different kinds of flavours - full cream, trim, normal, calcium added, chocolate flavoured - all different colours of plastic milk tops. It's like I blinked and the world was unrecognisable.<br />
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So I was thinking about that and realised I really miss my childhood. Not because it was the carefree kiddie days but because life was so much more simple.<br />
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I know of a child who is under 10 years old and her whole life is spent behind a screen. She watches TV in the morning. On the way to school she listens to her i-pod while playing on her i-pad. While she's at school she uses computers. When she gets home she plays online on her laptop while watching TV from the minute she gets home until the minute she goes to bed. It's awful and just makes me cringe.<br />
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Now I spend a lot of my life behind screens as well. But when I was nine years old there was no cellphones. There were no laptops (that I knew of). Desktop computers were big, slow and clunky and the internet was slowly building momentum but you could go and make yourself a cup of tea in the time it took to load one single page.<br />
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I spent my time listening to music and dancing, scootering and biking around the neighbourhood or reading. I played board games and used my awesome pro-yo or jittering. What's happening to our kids now? Are they all like this child I know? Sucked into a world that is spent behind a screen?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OF3GXJusmrI/UYL8Nzi-GfI/AAAAAAAABdU/7eG3EnBV-bs/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OF3GXJusmrI/UYL8Nzi-GfI/AAAAAAAABdU/7eG3EnBV-bs/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-hk45eqj2g/UYL7482gXTI/AAAAAAAABdM/pWqncLMgH64/s1600/razor-scooter-ms130-a3-blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-hk45eqj2g/UYL7482gXTI/AAAAAAAABdM/pWqncLMgH64/s320/razor-scooter-ms130-a3-blue.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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I've been getting quite nostalgic, and have been thinking a lot about the past and how things were, and I'm wondering, what is it that you miss? Do you read a lot of books set in the days of your childhood and long for the days when you didn't own a TV, or just as the TVs started projecting coloured images, or when al you could play on a computer was pacman? As much as these technologies are a godsend, is there any you wish you could just get rid of for a little while?<br />
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I better snap back to the present. The reality is, as our world changes and becomes this 'modern world of convenience' we need to change with it, or we get left behind. But sometimes it's nice to wonder, what would our world be like without all these screens, all this convenience? What would it be like to still receive our milk in glass bottles at our letterbox, and if the thought of cutting the postal service down to 3 days a week was just preposterous.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DxKjHJSRhU/UYL8ag21YmI/AAAAAAAABdc/SfFLGh7-nN8/s1600/Postman-pat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DxKjHJSRhU/UYL8ag21YmI/AAAAAAAABdc/SfFLGh7-nN8/s320/Postman-pat1.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
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I'm interested to hear your thoughts.... </div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-53586528220841897382013-06-26T01:27:00.000-07:002013-06-26T01:27:44.285-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What's Up Wednesday <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">is a weekly meme, started by</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.jaime-morrow.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;"> <span style="color: black;"><b>Jaime Morrow</b></span></a> and <a href="http://erinlfunk.blogspot.ca/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b>Erin Funk</b></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">, that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends and let them know </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">what's up</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">. Join by visiting their blogs and signing in on the widget.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">I've been pretty bad at blogging lately, and even pumping out a What's Up Wednesday! (Partly because I get Wednesday almost 24 hours before America/Canada so I get confused by the time difference...!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">But this week, it's all on!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><b>What I'm Reading</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">I finally finished <i>Cody Name Verity </i>which took me quite a while to get through then I followed it up by one of those guilty pleasures... Pretty Little Liars number 13 (!!). Dang guilty pleasures! Now I'm reading the new book from Khaled Hosseini, <i>And The Mountains Echoed.</i> There are so many others on my list that I've been meaning to read for over a year now, but I loved <i>The Kite Runner </i>and <i>A Thousand Splendid Suns</i> so really want to crack into this one!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><b>What I'm Writing</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">Still pumping away on my WIP. I've finally broken free of my mind block and barriers (there'll be a blog about this in the next few weeks) and now the words are flowing more freely. The key is to keep them flowing! I've made up two of the chapters I deleted, so just got to get a move on and make up the rest!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">I'm happy with where my story is heading now, but I am spending more time getting those words down and unfortunately less time here on the blog. I'm trying to avoid using my blog as a procrastination tool and avoid procrastination in general! We'll see how that goes... haha!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">We've been having some pretty crappy weather in New Zealand lately. It's heading toward the middle of winter and New Zealand has been utterly battered with wild weather. In the past week we've had a massive wind storm, a massive rain storm (which caused huge amounts of flooding) and a huge snow storm. My character is in a pretty dark place currently so bundling up in front of the heater and writing while the rain pours outside is what has been inspiring me!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><b>What Else I've Been Up To...</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">It's been busy over the last few weeks. Our Festival programme launched - if you're interested in just looking or think you might be in Christchurch in August/September check it out <a href="http://www.artsfestival.co.nz/">here</a>. That's been one of my big projects and I'm very happy with how it turned out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">I've been braving the -3 temperatures to get out to the gym at 7am each morning, and have finally started watching Game of Thrones. I know I'm SO far behind, and I did watch most of the first season in 2011 but just couldn't get into it. I'm trying again and am loving it so far! About to start on season two :D</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22px;">Aside from that, I've just been working and hanging with my family. Heading up north to see my man on Friday which i'm VERY excited about! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">As I said, it's mid-winter so we're all in hibernation mode so not a lot is really going on! Hating this cold! Bring on the summer!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">What have you been up to?</span></span><br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-72605391840084505182013-06-10T17:47:00.000-07:002013-06-10T17:47:44.803-07:00The you behind the blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was thinking the other day, I've been talking to a lot of you for almost a year via the internet but there's only so much you learn about people via the web.<br />
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Obviously many people want to keep their private lives private, but I'm curious to know, as we're all writers and readers, what else fills up our days? What else do you like to do? What part of the world are you in? (Because i'm sure that impacts when you write and what you write about) What part of the world would you like to write in?<br />
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Maybe I could start...<br />
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I live in New Zealand - have recently moved back after a year in the USA. I plan to move to the UK next year after doing 6 weeks in Africa, and 2 weeks in Turkey. Ideally I'd love to live somewhere picturesque and remote to write. I'm thinking Alaska or Iceland. I'm imagining snow and grey skies and being able to sit inside by the fire place with a hot cup of cocoa and my imagination.<br />
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During the day I do marketing and publicity for an arts festival then in my spare time I work out at my local gym, I play my guitar, watch my favourite shows online, bake, spend time with my family and read. I don't have as much time to read anymore which consequently means it's taking me far longer to get through a book.<br />
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On the very little free time I have, I like to daydream about and plan my future travel. My man and I want to travel the whole world. You learn so much from traveling and get so much inspiration.<br />
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So ... that's pretty much me. Now I would LOVE to hear about all of you :)</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-435008714362360072013-06-05T20:53:00.003-07:002013-06-05T20:53:50.234-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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How is it What's Up Wednesday time again already? If you're not up to date yet, What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that allows us to touch base with our online friends to tell them what's up in your world!</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">What I'm Reading</span></div>
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I'm ashamed to say i'm STILL reading Code Name Verity. I've been so crazy busy over the last few week that it's been a bit abandoned! Whoops! I miss my daily subway reading time! I'll get there, I promise!</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">What I'm Writing</span></div>
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A lot of you are aware I've been having some mega issues getting past my writers block. I deleted a good portion .... okay most of my current WIP and am starting again with a different angle. So I did the deleting and then I stared at the blank page and got frustrated. I blogged about my frustrations, got some great advice and then stared some more at my blank page. So I took a week off. I've barely even thought about my WIP for the last week until today. I went to the gym, and started to let my mind wander to my WIP. It was the first time I'd let myself think about what might happen next. </div>
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See I've been writing out a broad plan of the book and I got to this point and I just couldn't figure how to get from point A to point B. At the gym, it was like the dam had been blown up and the water could flow freely. No kidding, I suddenly got the answer. It hasn't got me to the end of my plan, but it's got me pretty close. I feel I'm ready to get back on the horse and start writing the chapters again. I don't know why it's taken so long, but I'm glad things are flowing again!</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">What Inspires Me Right Now</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #929090; font-family: Nobile; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>Nature. Everyone always goes on about how beautiful New Zealand is, and I know they're right. I do live in a really stunning city. But truth be told, I don't see a lot of that on a daily basis. I live in a city, I go to my house, to the gym, to work and back. Last weekend I got out into nature and saw just how beautiful it can be. My book is very tied in with the power of nature, and so that has really got me inspired!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">What Else I've Been Up To</span><br />
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Yikes I just wrote a whole speil here then it disappeared!<br />
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The main thing I've done in this last week was head to the West Coast of the South Island with my man so we could go to the glaciers! We had planned to go up on Franz Josef, but the whole time we were there it rained and rained. The cloud was really low which meant that the helicopter which transfers you up onto the ice couldn't operate so the tour was cancelled. We were so gutted! We headed 30 minutes down the road to Fox Glacier and as they don't need a helicopter their tours usually still operate in the rain. Only problem was, there'd been a rock slide so all their tours were cancelled too. We were so disappointed. There wasn't a lot else to do there except the glaciers so we packed up and left a day early. Typically within two days, the sun had come out and the tours up to the glacier had perfect blue skies. grrr! We did have a good chance to really spend some quality time together though. It was the first time we'd seen each other properly in 3 months so we were in dire need! We also managed to walk through the valley to the bottom of the glacier (in the rain, we got very wet), but that was nice to see.<br />
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Aside from that I've been busy at planning more of our big trip for next year! We've added in 5 days on Crete which I'm very excited about as my Grandad fought there during the war! We're booking the rest of our flights this week which will be great to get locked in! Then it's all about saving as much money as possible!!<br />
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Speaking of money, I've been working like a mad woman at work - the festival have released four of our top shows for the festival ahead of our main launch which has been very busy! So if anyone plans to be in CHCH, NZ in August and September you'll have to see some of the shows we've got on offer!<br />
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Lastly, I've been spending a lot of time with my parents lately which has been nice. My brother-in-law convinced us all to start watching this BBC show Orphan Black. I don't always trust his recommendations but this one is actually really great so far! Have only watched one episode but I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops. Does anyone else watch this?<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">What have you been up to this week?</span></div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-20214598197917970472013-06-04T01:52:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:52:00.369-07:00Writing Frustrations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You know that moment when you've been writing your first draft and it's been going really well, then suddenly you hit a road block? Yeah that moment. You feel like you're hitting your head against a brick wall over...and over...and over.<br />
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What do you do to move past it? Normally I give up writing for a few hours and then come back with a fresh head. Tonight, however, it was frustrating me so much that I dug out the Lindt dark chocolate bunny that I had left over from Easter and polished off a good half of it. Ummm opps.<br />
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So, does anyone have any better ways of getting past that mind block? Ways that don't involve chowing down half a chocolate bunny? Because seriously, I don't do enough work at the gym to burn off entire bunnies every week!<br />
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Tips please! :D</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-66386332539696718212013-05-28T18:38:00.000-07:002013-05-28T18:38:00.361-07:00Inspiration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you could see my "to read" pile right now you would raise your eyebrows and wish me luck. Truly. There are so many incredible books out there just begging to be read. So many different types of stories, so many characters.... where do we find the ideas from?<br />
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The book I'm working on right now, I have no idea where the inspiration came from. I was explaining the plot to my brother-in-law the other day and as he is a total sci-fi geek he was very excited to inform me my story had "very strong elements of sci-fi". No way, not true. Okay maybe a little true, but not intentionally! Honestly though, I have no idea where this particularly story idea came from. It wasn't a life event that gave me the idea, and it wasn't an image or a TV show or anything of the sort... I had one idea and it just developed from there.<br />
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In the past six months there have been a number of events that have triggered that little light bulb in my head to light up. The "this would be a great idea for a book" light bulb. Then there are the plans I'm making for the future which I can already tell would provide a great setting for a story.<br />
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So I wonder, where do you find your inspiration? Do you write books based on events of your life, or your friends lives or do you find something entirely and completely obscure and go from there?</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-36445999086735439502013-05-22T16:29:00.002-07:002013-05-22T16:29:36.724-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I swear the weeks are just whizzing past!<br />
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So word is starting to get out about What's Up Wednesday which is GREAT! I just now need to remember the time zone difference and get them up at the right time! Yikes!<br />
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How's everybody's week been? :D<br />
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<b>What I'm Reading</b><br />
I've now officially started on Cody Name Verity, and so far it's pretty good. Has a bit of a slow start but it's enjoyable to read. I've been going to bed really early to try and get lots of reading time in but unfortunately I end up falling asleep within half an hour. My co-workers do find it funny when I say I went to bed to read my book and ended up asleep by 9pm! Crikey!<br />
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<b>What I'm Writing</b><br />
Well I sat staring at my blank page with the title Chapter 8 for just over a week. You know when you read a book that is so boring you have to force yourself to get over it and just read but it's SUCH. A. HASSLE? Yeah, well my book's been like that. So repetitive and boring, and I sat there saying 'this is going no where.' So I did two days of serious brainstorming and then I looked at what my issues were.<br />
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I was trying to focus on two many characters at once. There wasn't a sole purpose of the story and there was too many smaller story lines trying to creep in. So I'm pretty much going to scrap chapters 4 - 8 and start over. Chapters 1-3 are where I want them, but I need to hone it in, and focus more on the issue and the resolution... the characters journey. I was also writing in split narrative as I thought that was the best way to get over a certain language barrier, but it was creating too much confusion so i'm kicking the guy's narrative to the curb and going to change a few things up. Hopefully it'll work better this time!<br />
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<b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b><br />
My motivation to get the story right, that's inspiring me. Every time I log onto my blog and check the newsfeed I get inspired. And of course my lovely man who won't let me give up even when I feel it's useless.<br />
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<b>What Else I've Been Up To</b><br />
Sleeping! I've been so tired I've been sleeping so much! A lot of physio as well - I have a slipped disc in my neck which is causing these awful headaches so I've been doing a lot of physio exercises to help that come right. I'm still planning my trips, and at work we're planning a big launch party for Friday night. We're pre-releasing four shows that'll be in our Arts Festival which is very exciting! And the brochure has finally been sent to the printers!<br />
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Aside from that, my man is FINALLY coming down to see me - it's been two months since I saw him last so I'm very exciting, and in a week's time we're heading to one of New Zealand's best glaciers which I'm very excited about!<br />
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What have you been up to? :)<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-87833368673889315312013-05-22T15:08:00.000-07:002013-05-22T15:08:00.665-07:00Review: Please Ignore Vera Dietz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://cf.foreveryoungadult.com/_uploads/images/20990/verdietz__span.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://cf.foreveryoungadult.com/_uploads/images/20990/verdietz__span.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="210" /></a><b>Please Ignore Vera Dietz</b><br />
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<b>Written By: </b>A. S. King</div>
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<b>Published By: </b>Knopf Books</div>
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<b>Published On: </b>October 12, 2010<br />
<b style="text-align: right;">Pages: </b><span style="text-align: right;">336</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Edgy and gripping, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Please Ignore Vera Dietz</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.</span></i><br />
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I was recommended this book by a friend of mine who's judgement on books I trust immensely. If she goes on and on about a particular book, I'm 99% convinced that I'm going to love it. Vera Dietz was no exception.<br />
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The cover is simple yet effective, a design in which you don't often see on many modern books which I quite like. I love the way the lighter is forming the title and the green background is quite eye-catching. As you make your way through the book, you also realise the lighter is actually a very important part of the story.<br />
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The book is narrated by Vera as she moves on with her life after the death of her best friend, Charlie, who she hadn't spoken to in months after he had changed enough to cut out of his life. The thing that I really love about this book is how very real it is. As though this situation, and this life, could really happen to the average teenager.<br />
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Aside from the somewhat confusing drunken hallucinations of Vera seeing dead Charlie's ghost, the book is exceptionally well written. It was easy to get captured into the story within the first few pages and it very quickly becomes hard to put the book down. While Vera knows the true cause of Charlie's death, you want to keep reading so you can find out the heartbreaking truth of what happened on that fateful day.<br />
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I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a strong and powerful YA novel.<br />
I would give Please Ignore Vera Dietz 5 stars<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924501319424473642.post-40425942453284331592013-05-15T03:20:00.000-07:002013-05-15T03:20:26.745-07:00What's Up Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've been meaning to do What's Up Wednesday for a couple of weeks since <a href="http://www.jaime-morrow.com/">Jaime </a>and <a href="http://erinlfunk.blogspot.co.nz/">Erin</a> came up with this awesome idea.<br />
Only problem was I kept getting confused with the different time zones and pretty much failed. This week though, i'm on it!<br />
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What's Up Wednesday is just a way to keep in touch with blogging friends and let everyone know what's been happening in your life!<br />
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<b>What I'm Reading</b><br />
I just finished the latest Jodi Picoult book <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15753740-the-storyteller">The Storyteller</a> </i>which I, embarrassingly, took two months to read. It was a good read, just very heavy and life kept getting in the way!<br />
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Tonight i'll also be finishing <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10959277-the-future-of-us">The Future of Us</a>. </i>Tomorrow I can finally start on <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11925514-code-name-verity">Code Name Verity</a>. </i>My friends been bugging me for ages to read this, so hopefully it sucks me in!<br />
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<b>What I'm Writing</b><br />
I'm taking my good sweet time to get through my current WIP. Seriously, I'm up to chapter 8 and have been writing for three months already. I currently have hit a snag and haven't written all week. I'm sure i'll be able to pick it up this weekend when I'm a little less crazy with work and life in general. I just need to stop changing so many important aspects of the book!<br />
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<b>What Inspires Me Right Now</b><br />
I'm not getting a lot of inspiration from certain things right now except perhaps my dreams. When I need something to come to me I go to the gym and about half way through my work out, once i'm well and truly lost in my story land my ideas come pouring out. Then of course there are a few of my own life events and parts of history that lend themselves and inspire me.<br />
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<b>What Else I've Been Up To</b><br />
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<i>At work</i><br />
We're in full on brochure production mode for the Arts Festival Programme Brochure. It's a lot of work and I've done a lot of proofing and editing over the last few weeks. I had no idea how much work went into those brochures. It's almost time to send it to the printers - very exciting but also nerve wracking.<br />
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<i>At home</i><br />
I've been thinking a lot about my book, but haven't done a lot of writing. I've been playing my guitar a lot too, losing myself in the music is a great way to spend some 'me time'. I've also been planning my next lot of travels! My man, my sister and my sister's man booked flights to Africa on Monday, we're all booked in for early next year to head to the great African continent and safari for 5 weeks before spending 9 days in Egypt, 6 days in Athens and 10 days in Turkey. Then we'll move to London. The plans are starting to come into place, I'm very excited! I'm also planning my trip to the New Zealand glaciers which I'm doing with my man in two weeks time. I've never been before even though they're only a few hours drive away, so i'm looking forward to that!<br />
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<i>In Remembrance</i><br />
The last week has been pretty difficult<i>. </i>On Friday two people I knew died. One was expected, and one was incredibly sudden and unexpected. I saw this guy on Friday morning and he was happy and full of energy. Within a few hours a brain aneurysm had snuffed out his life. So cruel and unfair. I've rarely known anyone to be so chirpy and living life to the full. It's hard to believe that someone who really was larger than life could be taken from us so early. Words can't fully do justice to how much of an incredible guy he was, and why he managed to touch so many people's lives, but he really did. A good portion of my town knew him in some way or another. His death has hit me harder than any other I've been through, including my grandparents (but that would be because I was so young). All my love, prayers and thoughts are going out to his wife and his two children who haven't even reached the age of five.<br />
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Sooo that's me for now! What have you all been up to? :)<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12231494996711068641noreply@blogger.com15