Today is my last day in Vietnam! I’ll be leaving hectic Hanoi and heading back to the homeland. Somehow, a casual ‘let’s go on an extended holiday in Asia’ turned into ‘let’s go live in Vietnam and get a job and apartment and motorbike and friends and many other much more long-term stuff…’ I genuinely don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad it did.
Before I came to Vietnam, the only thing I really knew about the country was that it was in Asia and there were lots of films about the war there. Not really a well-rounded view of things… I had some ideas about what it would be like, many of which were wrong. So, for other people that don’t have a clue about the place, maybe I can clear up a couple of silly ideas of my own before you have them too.
Continue reading “My Many Misconceptions About Vietnam (and Probably Yours Too)”
Last month I finally finished writing my children’s book: Olive in the Heights. Hurrah! However, the fun never stops. Once you’ve finished writing your book, there is the issue of finding someone to read it. ‘Read’ in all senses of the word; proof-readers, beta-reader, a literary agent, a publisher and eventually actual readers. And I thought writing my book would be the hardest thing…
Continue reading “Entering the Literary Dating World (AKA. Trying to Get Published)”
Going home after a year of travelling and living abroad is a strange feeling. Every film I’ve ever watched told me that I was meant to feel a surge of emotions, a burst of awareness and an eye-opening epiphany about life. I expected to rush off the plane at Heathrow and smell the fresh English air, dive on the tube with a new-found love of commuting (theatrically spinning around handrails, of course) and see the streets of London with wide, open eyes.
Recently I’ve noticed loads of articles about how to make a ‘reading nook‘. As lovely as they all are, I just can’t see the point. I could read upside down on a busy playground’s monkey bars if I wanted to. If it’s a good book, nothing can stop me! On the other hand, finding the perfect writing spot is a different matter…
Every time I look at a photo from a few years ago or reminisc about old stories with friends, I realise how much we’ve changed in just a few years. I’m sure in a few more years, I’ll be noticing much more prominent changes between our twenties and thirties. But, for now I’m just going to share some of the amusing thoughts I had not so long ago.
Continue reading “20 Lessons Learnt in my Teens vs my Twenties”
If, like me, you have trouble trying to harness your writing creativity within an organized workspace, today you are in luck! OmniPapers have been kind enough to share some fantastic tips on how to set up a comfortable and productive writing spot, not to mention a nifty infographic too! Over to you OmniPapers…
Continue reading “[GP] 5 Essential Tips for Writers to Organize A Perfect Workplace”
There is nothing like living in your home country all your life, surrounded by other people who have also lived in the same country all their life, to make you completely oblivious to what your culture is like.
Continue reading “6 Things I’ve Learnt About My Own Culture from Living in Vietnam”
What exactly is in a freelance writer’s tool belt? Unfortunately, there isn’t exactly an Ikea flat-pack available to us. However, there are a few essentials that no writer – in my humble opinion – should be without.
We’ve all finished reading a book before bed, only to dream of being in the same fictional land all night. Some locations will always stick in your head, whether they’re terrifying, inconceivable or just plain fantastic. Here’s a few of my favourites, the ones that didn’t give me nightmares and that I still dream of existing as my home in the near future!
1. Wonka’s Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
No children’s fantasy land would be complete without obscene amounts of sweets and chocolate. Roald Dahl’s chocolate factory not only had streams of chocolate and candy flavour research rooms, it also Oompa Loompa’s and the charming Willy Wonka himself. Who wouldn’t want to hang out there every weekend?
Perfect for: Sweet-tooths
2. Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Despite being full of danger and hazards, everyone wishes Narnia was just a short…
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