Thursday 23 March 2017

National Puppy Day! (Godsgrave & the importance of pets)

Hello void that is the internet!
I'm gonna keep this light hearted today. 

Firstly, I just wanna say how excited I am for the cover reveal of Jay Kristoff's next book, the sequel to Nevernight. GODSGRAVE! Now, I own the Nevernight with the raven cover art(featured to the right), which I was kinda hoping to get a cover to match but, nevertheless, it is still beautiful and, if you haven't seen it yet you should go check it out and share it round. Rumour has it that Mr. K will be doing a bit of a giveaway... so... get over there and get some signed booty.

Now, to the cuteness!

I think most people can agree that pets are an important part in our current society. They are more than just there to protect our properties or keep pests away or the other carnivorous reasons why we used to keep pets around... Pets are part of our families. They are our children, our siblings, our roommates. And it doesn't matter if you're a dog-person, cat-person, axolotl-person, or all of them. Most people can agree that having one or many fur-friends around is awesome. Especially puppies! How fucking cute are puppies!

Here are some of the benefits of having pets around (that I stole, but am giving credit to, from People.com)

Puppies just make you feel good: There’s a reason they say a dog is man’s best friend. Having a pet, not limited to dogs, is something that everyone should experience at some point in their life. Pets can be calming, mood lifting, empathetic, and so much more. They teach you how to be selfless and responsible as you are caring for another life. Generally speaking, they make you happier. Puppies help manage depression: In some cases, therapists suggest that patients suffering from depression should adopt a pet. An animal will love you unconditionally and also be a great friend and listener. People with depression often benefit from having a pet, especially a dog, as the animal can help them get out of the house. Puppies can help you live longerThere are other health benefits associated with pet ownership (particularly dogs). Many studies show that owning a pet has a positive impact on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, infection control, allergies, stress related problems, blood pressure and psychological issues. Puppies expand your social life: A key to a healthy mind, especially for those who are elderly, is staying engaged with others. A pet is often a conversation starter and being out with a pet often warrants questions or comments from passersby. Bringing your dog to a dog park is a great way to meet new people with similar interests.Puppies help your children learn: Having a dog in the home can build confidence and manage anxiety and stress in children. Children who struggle with reading or math can gain confidence when reading aloud or reciting multiplication tables to their dog.Puppies keep you active: Training and playing with your dog also provides mental stimulation, helps unleash creativity and alleviates stress. Having a dog will also encourage you to exercise as you’ll need to walk Fido regularly.Puppies can take stress out of your life: Having a daily schedule reduces stress for any individual. Having a dog that relies on you at specific times each day (feeding, walking and sleeping) can help establish a routine.
If you are gonna go buy a puppy (or any pet), please consider going to a shelter and adopting. There are so many pets out there that need a home and love. 

And now watch some cute puppies, because ... reasons...

Hugs xxx 


Thursday 16 March 2017

Between Lost & Found - Chapter 7

The girl ran through the woods. She jumped over fallen trees and ducked under low hanging limbs. She heard the thundering footsteps behind her and tried to pick up the pace. One of the dogs ran past her and the rest followed. The pack had grown but were still clumsy with their big paws and large heads.
The girl had noticed that she was changing as well. Her legs and arms had grown longer and thinner, although she wouldn’t have believed that she could get any thinner. But she was stronger than she had ever been. Her legs moved quickly and her eyes had grown keen.
The last dog to pass her cut too close and bumped straight into her leg, tumbling the girl and her long limbs to the ground.
The girl cried out in shock, but when the dog that had bumped her came back to lick her face and nudge at her to get back up, a laugh bubbled out of her.
She had never been so happy.
She lay on her back and watched as a swarm of insects flew amongst the leaves of the trees above. They sparkled blue and reminded the girl of the beetle she had once tried to save. The swarm flew downwards in a cyclone of wings. A couple of them came to rest on the girl’s chest and she had to stop the dog from pouncing on them. 
They were so beautiful. Long bodies and elegant wings. Wasps they were, but they did not sting the girl. They simply walked around on their fragile little legs and then took off again, buzzing pleasantly as they flew away. 
How improbable they were. Such tiny creatures. How was it possible that they contained the same things as she inside their bodies? Brain. Stomach. Heart. And to be able to fly with such small wings, fine and delicate and barely there at all.
As quick as the wasps had flown away, the rest of the dogs, whom she considered her brothers and sisters, came back as well, all crowding and licking and playing. The girl sat up on the soft mossy undergrowth amongst the tumble of wagging tails and boisterous bodies. 
The dog that had rumbled her nudged at her arm until she lifted it to let him under. She hugged his thick neck tightly as he kissed her face. She stroked his soft shiny coat and watched the love on his expressive face. Ears down, he crept further and further on to her lap. She couldn’t stop patting him for a moment, lest he nuzzle his way back under her hands.
‘Oh, Fury. I can’t pat you forever,’ she said to the big black dog that gently lay on top of her. 
She watched his coat gleam as she stroked his neck, but caught sight of her hands. The bones in her fingers had become pronounced, the spaces between joints had lengthened. And she had to think, how many joints are there meant to be on a human hand? There looked to be too many. The tips of her fingers were becoming pointy and her fingernails seemed to be changing color.
‘They’re just dirty,’ she thought, but something about her hands made shivers run up her spine. 
Suddenly, the entire pack’s ears were pricked and they were all staring off into the woods in the same direction. One of the dogs, she couldn’t figure out who began to growl deep in their chest. 
Out of the trees came a beautiful being, a woman, with fiery red hair and green scales instead of skin. She had black horns that rippled and curled from the top of her head. Her face was long and her eyes were large ebony globes cracked with volcanic crimson. She was a dragon. But also a woman. She was naked bar a belt with a sword in its hilt. It was the same dragon lady she had seen before. 
The black dogs continued to growl. They all stood in front of the girl, barricading her from this strange woman. 
‘Sweet girl,’ said the dragon lady in a feminine but rough voice. She then got down on one knee and bowed her head. ‘I mean you no harm.’
At this sign of subordination, the dogs stopped their growls but did not back down, did not lower their hackles. 
The girl stood up and the dragon lady looked up, but quickly put her head back down. 
‘I know you from somewhere,’ said the girl. ‘I have seen you at my home.’
‘Yes, forgive me, sweet girl. I have been …’ she chose her words wisely. ‘… Observing you from afar.’
‘Afar? You came in my home while I was asleep,’ said the girl, for she was not entirely stupid.
‘I have been mesmerized by your beauty and your voice,’ said the woman. ‘News of your crystal voice has traveled far and wide across the kingdom. I had to hear it for myself. I wished to talk to you, but I am afraid that your pack mother wouldn’t allow it.’
The girl heard the words but she was not listening properly. She had never been complimented before, she had especially never been called beautiful. Something grew inside her, a new feeling that she couldn’t quite explain. But she liked it. She wanted to hear the words again.
‘My beauty?’ she asked.
The dragon woman looked up and back down again, keeping her head bowed, horns pointing towards the pack of dogs protecting their sister. ‘Yes, sweet girl, I had heard stories of the human beauty that could sing to the forest. I had to come and see her for myself.’ She chanced another look at the girl and her dogs, but this time she kept looking.
‘And what was it that you wanted to say to me?’ The girl stood up a little taller.
‘Our queen wishes to have a meal with you, she is to have a feast in your honor,’ said the dragon lady.
‘Queen?’ thought the girl.
She stepped in front of the pack and the dragon woman stood up. At full height, she towered over the girl as a tree does a shrub.  
‘What is your name?’ asked the girl.
‘I am Lady Kavain, left hand of the queen and keeper of Dracorllia,’ said the dragon woman with an inflection a human couldn’t mimic.
‘Dracorllia?’ asked the girl, trying her best at the strange accent.
‘Yes, that is my home, where all the Dracorlla people live. It is on the other side Evermeer,’ said Kavain.
‘Evermeer?’ asked the girl.
Kavain smiled, showing her sharp teeth, glistening white. ‘Yes, sweet girl, that is where we live. That is here,’ she said with a sweep of a taloned hand.
The girl felt excitement building up inside her. There was a queen and she wanted to meet with her. She was throwing a feast in her honor. She tried to keep her decorum, but the smile touched her lips, escaping like a bug trapped in cupped hands, squeezing through the cracks between fingers. 
‘When is this feast?’ asked the girl. She may not have been stupid, but she was still young and impressionable, hopeful.
‘Why, tomorrow night, sweet girl,’ said Kavain. She said night as if that was an actual thing. But Kavain had not seen darkness since she was a child and the last human king had ruled. 
The girl laughed a little, for she had not seen nightfall either. ‘How will I know when it is night?’ the girl asked.
‘I will return tomorrow and escort you to the castle.’ Kavain looked over the girl. ‘And bring you some clothes. Maybe you should also think of taking a bath. It is rude to be in the presence of the queen smelling of dog.’ This last sentence made Kavain kick herself. She immediately saw the look on the girl’s face change. Kavain bowed her horned head toward her and averted her eyes. ‘Forgive me, sweet girl, I only wish to serve the queen and yourself.’
‘That’s okay, Lady Kavain. You did not offend me,’ the girl lied.
‘I must be off to inform the queen that you will be able to attend. Her Grace will be quite pleased,’ said Kavain, straightening up once more.
‘I can’t wait,’ said the girl.
Kavain bowed for the last time and then turned to leave. She tried not to think about the young human girl and her sweetness. She could see it on her face, her excitement at such a prospect as to meet the queen. Instead, she thought about her own daughter. Her beautiful Kavina. And all the other Dracorlla children in her home. The death of this one human child would continue to save theirs.


Sunday 5 March 2017

Being a creative mum

If you're anything like me, then you are the sort of artist that works on a whim. You wake up to a sunny day, not too hot not too cold, and you think to yourself 'I'm gonna paint outside today.' Or perhaps it is rainy and you decide that you want to sit next to a window and write.

You're a parent now, though … so, how do you continue to fulfill all your crazy, spontaneous, whimsical notions? Seems impossible, right? The thing is, it's not impossible, but you will need to change a few things. 

I remember when my second child came into the world. He was needy, not as needy as my first, but he was definitely still needy. He constantly wanted to be fed and so I was attached to him permanently for the first 6 months. I still got writing done, though. I have a distinct memory of having him breastfeeding and kind of balancing my notebook on the side of the armchair (and partly on his feet) so I could write. It is doable but you have to be savvy and take opportunities where you can. And if you can't find opportunities, make them.

If your little ones are at an age where craft time is exciting for them. Take these moments to work on your own thing as a group. Grab that canvas that has been calling to you and pull out the paints. Make sure to get them their own brushes and paper or canvas (if you're so lucky to have more than one spare) otherwise your masterpiece will become theirs. Not that doing art together is a bad thing, but sometimes it is nice to have something for yourself and there is no shame in indulging in this. 

Learning to regain your creativity after becoming a mom is just as much an art form as it is to write a poem. It takes time and patience to find your stride again but just take baby steps. Even things as simple as finding the time to read a book (without pictures) is something that becomes difficult.

A friend and I had the brilliant idea to start a mom's creative club. We would meet once a week and hang out in her caravan while her husband looked after the kids (and likewise my hubby was at home with the boys playing video games before bedtime.) It was a great way to spend time with other moms and relax and get some of our creativity out. We would write or draw or anything we felt like doing (my BFF recently bought some embroidery thread for something else to purge our creative juices on) the point was that we would do something other than parenting for a couple of hours a week. 

Unfortunately, due to our respective shitty health situations, we have missed about 7 weeks of our little get-togethers but the point is that it was still done and we have plans to start again in the near future.

I feel that there is a lot of guilt that us mothers/parents feel about regaining some of the life we once had before becoming a parent. As if once our little bundle of joy and poopy nappies came into our lives that we are now a parent - we are a vessel for nurturing and feeding schedules - and we must not give in to the temptations of enjoying the things we once used to. 

I am not suggesting that we abandon our children and go live some bohemian lifestyle, doing yoga and drugs to find our true artist within... but taking some time to yourself and not abandoning the person you are just because you are a mother now, is not the end of the world, in fact I believe it to be necessary for our sanity. And perhaps, if we feel more fulfilled within ourselves, it will leave more room for successful parenting.

So, go make good art and try not to feel guilty for doing so.

Hugs xxx