I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction lately, most recently Tracey Chevalier’s Burning Bright.  Like The Crimson Petal and the White, it’s really bringing to life th.  Unlike me, the narrator of my novel is a Londoner: born here, working here as a young adult.  I’m trying to create a version of this city for her that’s not my own.  Another challenge.  And so many more words to write.

On visits to bookstores, I often skim the writing resources shelves but I haven’t actually sampled too many of those on offer. However, when I wrote the original question, there were three books I had in mind.

As a teenager, I loved John Marsden’s Everything I know about writing. John Marsden’s one of my favourite young adult authors, and this book gives insight into his writing process for some of his earlier novels, alongside prompts and exercises for your own writing projects.

Another book that’s particularly relevant at the moment is No Plot! No Problem, by Chris Baty. Chris is the founder of NaNoWriMo – the month long 50,000-word-novel writing extravaganza that starts tomorrow. However, his book has some useful tips about the human side of writing that apply no matter which month you write in. And his talk of rewards allowed me to justify the large quantities of M&Ms I consumed while writing Lessons to Learn.

Finally, I’d recommend Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write. There’s some great advice in there – from keeping morning pages (something I do every now and then when I find myself not writing regularly) to continuing to write while you’re waiting for a response to a submission. I’ve read this book so many times over the years, and yet, every time I finish it, I’m re-inspired to continue writing.

If there are any writing-related books you’d recommend, please leave a comment here, or on the entry at web stuff 4 writers.

Okay… picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better.

What do you read?

For me, when I’ve been sad or worried or stressed, it’s always been novels by John Marsden. In some respects it’s about the minimisation of my own problems. My boyfriend may have dumped me, but least my country isn’t at war, like Ellie’s inTomorrow, When the War Began; I may have a cold, but at least I haven’t been scarred by acid as Marina has been inSo Much to Tell You.

But, after reading the same books multiple times in the years since I started high school, there’s also some comfort now in just knowing the stories, reading the words that I’ve read before, the certainty of what’s going to happen at the end.

For me, books are a way of learning about new worlds – different people, different places – but, at the same time, they’re also a good way of escaping the worst-case scenarios on this one.

I guess you could say that I’m a fan of Harry Potter.  I’ve known the launch date for Book 7 longer than I’ve known my own.  I went to a ‘come as your hero’ ball as Hermione Granger.  I’m a geek, yes, that’s a given.  That said, I’m not as fanatical about the series as I used to be (I no longer have a Harry Potter toothbrush for example).  My interest peaked at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,when the kids I was teaching at the time were all talking about the book as if this Harry Potter was the latest kind of Pokemon.

When I read Book 5, I thought it would make a great movie – all the battle scenes, and flashes of light coming out of wands.  And indeed it did make a good movie (the boy and I saw it in the weekend), but in the book, all of Harry’s angst and DIALOGUE IN CAPITALS did get to me after a while.  And, while I did intend to read Books 1-6 again before Book 7 came out, life and other novels have got in the way, so I don’t remember the five uses for Dragon’s Blood, and I can’t give a well reasoned argument about who will die before the end of the series.

That said, I’ve got my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ordered from a local bookstore (luckily, given the recent news stories, not from Asda).  And I will be queuing to collect it as midnight approaches this Friday.  Harry’s been part of my life for about six years now, and I can’t wait to see how the story ends.

But which books? I went into Waterstone’s at lunchtime yesterday, and didn’t know what to choose. All I could see were shelves and shelves full of the final product; each one the result of typing and deleting, research, sending off manuscripts, crossing fingers, coming up with a blurb and so on.

So, which books? I’m looking for your recommendations. What have been your books of the year? What have been the books you’ve escaped in? That have made the time fly by just that little bit faster? They don’t have to have been published this year of course. I think my choice of 2007 so far has to be Extremely Loud and Incredibly Closeby Jonathan Safran Foer.

Since we arrived here in London, I’ve also fallen in love with British historical novels. Matt and I visited Hampton Court Palace over the Spring Holiday long weekend. It rained, so the hedge maze wasn’t much fun. But as I wandered through the rooms once occupied by kings and their courts, I wanted to fill them with stories. I’ve read almost everything by Philippa Gregory, but if anyone’s got any other historical novelist suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Other genres (including “no genre” or “difficult to classify, really”) also welcome.