BLOG BREAK Round-ups, Resolutions and Reflection


Nick Cross presents his fortnightly selection of must-read blogs.


Hello there! After an extended blog-free break for the month of December, it's been a treat to catch up with some of the posts I've missed.

My must-read is a terrific post by Patrice Lawrence about why she (a BAME author) is, nonetheless, a writer with privilege. We've been hearing a lot about white privilege over the past year, but it's sobering to consider how much class and upbringing can also affect our chances in life.

Natascha Biebow has been getting emotional, with an incredibly useful post for Picture Book Den examining how to find your character's emotional journey. I love the way Natascha breaks down the structure of Happy Birthday To You, Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark to analyse how the plot and emotional arcs intersect.

With the turn of the year came the inevitable (but welcome) posts rounding-up 2017 and looking ahead to 2018. I've already mentioned Space on the Bookshelf's Best of 2017 set of posts, but it's worth checking back because they added lots more in December!

Catherine Friess provides another great round-up for her blog, highlighting Story Snug’s 10 most viewed posts in 2017. It's fascinating to see the new and old favourite books that were popular with her readers over the year.

Vanessa Harbour is as reflective and thoughtful as ever, providing a very personal summary of 2017 and looking forward to the publication of her debut novel in July (yay!)

Steering away from the idea of only making resolutions at New Year, Chitra Soundar has a helpful piece outlining how to make positive new habits, while acknowledging how hard the process can sometimes be.

Finally, Sarah Broadley has baffled my Soft Southern Ears with the Scottish phrase "Before my lum reeks wi’ the fuel o’ ithers coal." Luckily, she then explains exactly what it means (it's a Hogmanay thing) and shares her New Year goals.

Nick.

*Feature image: Blog Break logo by Melany Pietersen


Nick Cross is Words & Pictures' Blog Network Editor. He is an Undiscovered Voices winner and 2015 honours recipient of the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for fiction.

Nick also blogs for Notes from the Slushpile. His most recent blog post finds him joining the rest of the team to offer Christmas tips and thanking readers very sweetly for their continued interest in all things Slushpiley!

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