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Tag: Haiku Page 1 of 2

Be Baffled ‘Bout Brilliantly Bad Ballads! Nonsense Verses for National Bad Poetry Day!

I  know
how
to write
Poe-
Try good
Just press ent-
er a whole bunch at
random point-
s
It looks super
✨fancy✨

It’s another day
It’s another holiday
Who woulda thunk it?

Dear God! The blogger
Is writing verse once again!
TREMBLE YE MORTALS!

Let’s celebrate art
The most fançioux: poetry
but not the good stuff

drop the pretention
rake those nails on the chalkboard
make fun, not good, stuff

just stop counting
abandon the thesaurus
who cares if a haiku is supposed to have a specific amount of syllables? rules? what are those? oh im “breaking the rules” who are you? my dad? hah i can does what me wantses irregardless!

It is national bad poetry day
Where we celebrate creativity
By making and reading poems that may
not exactly be “literary”
There’s so much pomp and circumstance in it
You’d think you could only read poetry
With a lordship and some prestige degree
But anyone can read ’em, they’re fun, try it
Here’s my suggestion: write some pretty words
They don’t have to be good, but maybe they’ll be.
Do whatever you want, follow rules or don’t
I’m sure there’s many a poem in ye.

“But alas”, you cry, “I doth not know how!”
Worry not, the librarian me knows all about crappy poetry

Rhyme is sublime. It’s a crime, I’mma chime, anytime the paradigm of rhyme goes bye. Similar sounds bound together incur profound purr renowned all-around. Astound year-round you crowned amateur litterateur!

Alliteration: an amazing action an author attempts, attracting attention among audiences. Bundling beginnings breaklessly becomes bountiful by bewitching bodies, banishing boredom.

Sibilance: certain s/c sounds said surplus, structured so somehow specialises sufficiently so sibilance stays separate. Sibilance starts sounds ampersand simultaneously starts inside some sounds.

Meter is not just a form of measure.
Iambic pentameter; what Shakespeare
Wrote requires ten syllables in five “feet”.
Feet is a unit, the Bard used iambs

Unstressed then stressed, a meter of two sylls
But I’ll tell you a secret: it’s nonsense,
Gobbledygook! Pick a random number
Of syllables and stick to it. Pretend!

People assume you know what you’re doing.
One format to try: Old Shakespeare’s sonnet
Three groups of four lines, rhyme A B A B
Ten syllables: Iamb pentameter

End it with a rhyming couple of lines,
A couplet, if you will, wrapping it up

Limericks are fun don’t you know
Rhyme A A B B A like so
Write li’l shorter here
For reasons we’ll veer
Answers? Nah, just enjoy the show

Haikus are classic
A sandwich of funny words
It’s easy as pie

Five syllables up
Seven syllables between
Five syllables down

So there it is, go poetry right now
If creativity is hard, then I suggest thou

Should pick up a book, read some nonsense poetry.
Where silly people make silly sounds sillily


The complete nonsense of Edward Lear / Lear, Edward
King and Queen of the Pelicans we;
No other Birds so grand we see!
None but we have feet like fins!
With lovely leathery throats and chins!
Ploffskin, Pluffskin, Pelican jee!
We think no Birds so happy as we!
Plumpskin, Ploshkin, Pelican jill!
We think so then, and we thought so still!”
(Edward Lear, The Pelican Chorus)

The musician Cosmo Sheldrake has turned one of these poems into a song, it’s worth a listen


Fox in socks / Seuss
“Knox in box.
Fox in socks.
Knox on fox in socks in box.
Socks on Knox and Knox in box.
Fox in socks on box on Knox.”
(Dr. Seuss, Fox in Socks)

There’s a very fun video of this book as a rap from the Dr. Seuss YouTube channel


Old Possum’s book of practical cats / Eliot, T. S.
Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there!

(T.S. Eliot, Macavity: The Mystery Cat)

(Also it inspired the brilliant musical Cats and its… less brilliant movie adaptation Cats)


Jabberwocky / Carroll, Lewis
“’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

(Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky)


Cautionary verses / Belloc, Hilaire
And is it True? It is not True.
And if it were it wouldn’t do,
For people such as me and you
Who pretty nearly all day long
Are doing something rather wrong.
Because if things were really so,
You would have perished long ago,
And I would not have lived to write
The noble lines that meet your sight,
Nor B. T. B. survived to draw
The nicest things you ever saw.

(Hillaire Belloc, Introduction)


Michael Rosen’s book of nonsense / Rosen, Michael
“The seagulls think we live at the seaside:
the tower blocks are their cliffs;
they swoop for fish in the gutter
but are happy that it’s last night’s fried rice.”

(Michael Rosen, The Seagulls)

 

Fun fact: this book’s written by the guy behind this meme:

via GIPHY
Forgive me, I meant to do it : false apology poems / Levine, Gail Carson
“This Is Just to Say
If you’re looking for a nice happy book
put this one down and run away quickly
Forgive me sweetness and good cheer are boring”(Adapted from Catalogue)

Who Are We Really?

Dear readers, none have asked, but some may have wondered: who are the strange and wonderful people who write for this illustrious publication? Look no further. We’ve delved deep underground, into the very lairs of these mysterious bloggers, and we’ve brought forth poetic riches the likes of which have never been seen. That’s right, I forced them all to write haiku about themselves to introduce themselves to you! In alphabetical order, no less. Here goes.

First we have the ever-wise B. Spinach. When she’s not tirelessly working the fields to bring more of that herbaceous delight into her house and onto her plate, she can be found somewhere in the pages of Louis Sachar’s The Cardturner:

Aspires to paint a
mural, but so far just makes
tiny paper planes.

Next is the indomitable Catherine, whose book-treat of choice is Margaret Mahy’s The Tricksters:

I had to write a
haiku; this is the result.
Let’s all blame Stephen.

Truly moving. Next up is the enigmatic Maiph. Purveyor of knitted goods and slayer of the leviathan, their literary musings chiefly concern the excellent The Owl Service by Alan Garner, and their inscrutable poetic waxings and wanings are represented below:

Inscrutable, yet
easily scruted when I
am tangled in yarn.

Finally, it is I, Stephen, your humble administrator. The title that sparks the most joy for me currently is Benjamin Alire Saenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe:

Moonlight falls softly
upon a nerd; He sleeps, eats,
but mostly he sleeps.

You, too, can write a haiku. Or a novel. Join us over at our online creative writing group at the NaNoWriMo Young Writers’ Programme (classroom code is CWRNJDZH), and don’t forget to join our Discord once you get in!

Music/Poems

Are haikus getting old? Is there another form of poetry you would like to see music reviews in? Comment away.

mastodon live

Live At The Aragon – Mastodon
Crack The Skye in its
entirety, plus other
concert favourites

liam finn

Fomo – Liam Finn
Displaying usual
consistent quality with
added “spaciness”

eddie vedder

Ukulele Songs – Eddie Vedder
Pearl Jam front man jumps
on bandwagon. What have you
wrought, uke orchestra?!?

flaming lips stardeath etc

The Dark Side Of The Moon – The Flaming Lips & Stardeath And White Dwarfs
Pink Floyd opus by
way of Wayne Coyne’s musical
circus plus Peaches

kitty daisy and lewis

Smoking In Heaven – Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
As a child of the
nineties, musical siblings
recall Hanson bros

neon trees

Habits – Neon Trees
American alt-
rock band from Provo, Utah.
Good ole wiki, eh?

The Haiku Machine

 

 

 travis barker

Give the drummer some – Travis Barker
Claims made of “no one
genre” are false. I know nu-
metal all too well.

weezer

Hurley – Weezer
Michael Cera guests,
to play the hurdy gurdy.
– Source, good ‘ole wiki.

body talk 1

Body Talk pt. 1 – Robyn
Now is as good a
time as any to link to
Librarians choice

body talk 2

Body Talk pt. 2 – Robyn
Of course we also
recommend this, the second
installment highly.

jesus and mary chain

Upside Down: The Best Of – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Scarlett Johansson’s
first backing band’s previous
career chronicled.

attack and release

Attack & Release – The Black Keys
Ably assisted
by a man dressed as a mouse
who provides keyboards.

glasvegas

Euphoric Heartbreak – Glasvegas
Contradictory
band names deserve album names
to suit I suppose.

another clubbers guide

Clubbers Guide 2011 – Ministry Of Sound
Back cover uses
type that causes Bs to look
exactly like Ds

The Music That Has Most Recently Arrived

nelly furtado

The Best Of – Nelly Furtado
Has she now – like a
bird – flown away? Or is this
a stop-gap album?

queen

Queen – Queen
How many dudes do
you know that rocked a mic stand
like this? Not many.

green day

Awesome As F**k – Green Day
Apparently their
live shows are more awesome than
most everything.

london sessions

London Sessions – LCD Soundsystem
I will miss you James
Murphy. Like, a whole lot. Is
this really goodbye?

angles

Angles – The Strokes
Former coolest band
in world returns from lengthy
hiatus to rock

britney spears

Femme Fatale – Britney Spears
Nico reference
excepting, it’s not really
that avant at all.

king of limbs

The King Of Limbs – Radiohead
All summaries pale
compared to animated
.gifs, see example.

plain white ts

Wonders Of The Younger – Plain White Ts
Essential wardrobe
items release another
album. Their sixth.

rumer

Seasons Of The Soul – Rumer
“I’d have these moods in
my soul that would come around
like seasons” – Rumer

chase&status

No More Idols – Chase & Status
Polished dubstep from
United Kingdom duo, plus
many, many guests.

elbow

Build A Rocket Boys! – Elbow
Well received alt-rock
featuring nostalgia as
the major motif.

chris brown f.a.m.e.

F.A.M.E. – Chris Brown
Forgiveness rhythm
and blues record? Fans are my
(his) everything.

Mo Music, Mo Poems

 

 

 white lies

Ritual – White Lies
Grandiosity
fills every second of
available songs

the drums

The Drums – The Drums
Heir apparents to
eighties indie empire start
out pleasingly strong.

keri hilson

No Boys Allowed – Keri Hilson
She only wants men.
I think that was the main
takeaway at least.

aha shake

Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings Of Leon
Before they cut their
hair and shaved their beards, the songs
were much, much better?

youth and young manhood

Youth & Young Manhood – Kings Of Leon
Does this make them the
music version of Samson?
Yes, actually.

lasers

Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
Light amplifica-
tion by stimulated e-
mission of photons.

burlesque

Burlesque – Soundtrack
Christina Aguil-
era sings most of the songs
but Cher chips two in.

Tarot Card Rock – Barnaby Weir
Vaguely predicting
people’s futures through the rock
and roll medium.

Twelve Poems About Twelve Albums

 

 

Get ‘Em Girls – Jessica Mauboy
What is “’em”? And why
should girls “get” it? Answers are
on track number one.

glee 4

Glee: The Music, Volume Four
Three of these songs are
Britney Spears covers. Rejoice,
fake Britney lovers!

glee 5

Glee: The Music, Volume Five
Similar to the
above entry, but with Biebs
instead of the Brits.

sing-off

The Sing-Off: The Best Of Season Two
I think this is like
American Idol, but
acappella-y.

chiddy bang

The Preview – Chiddy Bang
Two dudes making rap
but with “alt” samples preview
upcoming album.

jessie j

Who You Are – Jessie. J
Spikily lipped Brit
does the Lady Gaga thing,
only with black hair

cee lo

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
Despite swearing at
them, it is still possible
to make ladies swoon.

avril lavigne

Goodby Lullaby – Avril Lavigne
Still in and out of
love, but with sk8er men, no
longer sk8er bois.

justin bieber remixes

Never Say Never: The Remixes – Justin Bieber
Biebs re-imagined.
Biebs re-upped. Biebs re-loaded.
Biebs re-volutions.

Future Is Now – Cornerstone Roots
Future is never
actually now. Now is
always the present.

Pefect Flaws – Black River Drive
Flaws are defined as
imperfections. Another
title is debunked.

EPIC – Various Artists
Iggy Pop, Pixies,
Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx,
Nick Cave, Korn, Tricky.

Songs And Songs And Songs And Songs

baseballs

Strike – The Baseballs
Favourite modern
pop songs covered by three dudes
with big pompadours

black rebel motorcycle club

Beat The Devils Tattoo – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Dirty, dirty rock
and roll from garage rocking
traditionalists

jazmine sullivan

Fearless – Jazmine Sullivan
Fearlessly sequined,
purple tinged rhythm and blues,
slash hip hop, slash pop.

rocky horror

The Rocky Horror Glee Show
Exactly as it
says on the cover. No more
description needed.

tron

Tron Legacy – Daft Punk
Did you see Tron? This
is how it sounded. Minus
dialogue of course.

beach house

Teen Dream – Beach House
Everyone who went
to Laneways liked these guys quite
a lot. So they said.

Rocked 10 – Various Artists
The hottest new rock
songs of two thousand and ten
all on one CD.

Latest Sounds

clubbers guide spring 2010

Clubbers Guide, Spring 2010
If you are aware
of Ministry of Sound you
know what to expect

far east movement

Free Wired – Far East Movement
Does electro-hop
sound like something you would be
interested in?

black eyed peas

The Beginning (deluxe edition) – The Black Eyed Peas
The hologram man
includes some of the end with
the beginning

bring me the horizon

There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret – Bring Me The Horizon
When Death Metal and
Emo collide, it seems that
long titles result

mumford & sons

Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
Neatly attired folk
singers nominated for
Grammy with this one

the script

Science & Faith – The Script
Celtic soul trio
get their Maroon 5 on with
the soft rock numbers

Aotearoa Dubsteb Allstarz
Optimus Gryme has
collected New Zealand’s
finest dubsteppers

For Your Listening Pleasure

pink

Greatest Hits… So Far! – Pink
Not finished making
hits, compiles previous ten
years worth anyway

lady gaga remix

The Remix – Lady Gaga
A more apt title
would be “The Remixes” as
there are quite a few 

altiyan childs

Altiyan Childs– Altiyan Childs
X-Factor winner
sings other peoples songs for
his debut effort.

infant sorrow

Get Him To The Greek – Infant Sorrow
Russell Brand’s fake band
scores a soundtrack for the film
Get Him To The Greek

Live vol.1 – The Black Seeds
A Teen Blog writer
is thanked in the liner notes,
we are connected

Fragile Thing EP – Tono and the Finance Company
Literate folk-pop
compositions housed inside
excellent cover

Best Mozart 100 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I cannot believe
they left off Horn Concerto
number 8! Crazy!

Greatest Hits – Frederic Chopin
Long overdue best
of for nineteenth century
piano legend

New Compact Discs

duffy

Endlessly – Duffy
Shyness forgotten,
the spotlight’s glare now embraced,
pop moves to the fore.

crowded house

The Very, Very Best Of – Crowded House
These three discs are as
crowded as a crowded house
hahahaha jk.

good charlotte

Greatest Hits – Good Charlotte
Identical bros
longetivity ensures
Christmastime release

 

cardiology

Cardiology – Good Charlotte
Oh, you wanted more?
Perhaps these “heartfelt” tunes will
scratch away your itch.

mariah carey

Merry Christmas II You – Mariah Carey
Second in series
of seasonal themed songs from
singer of Someday

glee christmas

Christmas Album – Glee
More seasonally
appropriate recordings,
this time from Glee Club.

tinie tempah

Disc-overy – Tinie Tempah
Rapper shares birthday
with Synthesiser Patel.
Good for him, I guess.

Semi-Charmed Life – V/A
Unlucky enough
to have missed nineties alt-rock?
Not with this you’re not.

New Music And A Year-Old Joke

taylor swift

Speak Now – Taylor Swift

I was going to
write about this but Kanye
interrupted me.

camp rock 2

Camp Rock 2 : The Final Jam

Jo Bros. holiday
productively by kicking
out jams they then sell.

bruno mars

Doo Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars

Rising Hawaiian pop-
-star seemingly writes music
only whilst napping.

john legend

Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots

Legends – self procaimed
and other – shake us gently
awake from slumber.

macy gray

The Sellout – Macy Gray

Apparently to
sell out means bizarre Velvet
Revolver guest spots

concord dawn

The Enemy Within – Concord Dawn

Music is for drum
and bassers, cover is for
entomologists

New Music, New Haiku

linkin park

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Not even the light
from a thousand suns can pierce
maturities’ gloom

shihad

Shihad – Ignite

Stalwarts of local
scene truck on, introduce new
colours to palette

kelis

Kelis – Flesh Tone

Being overlooked
results in a move to the
dancefloor it would seem

scott pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim vs. the world : original motion picture soundtrack

Graphic novel as
film offers up better sounds
than most of its ilk.

interpol

Interpol – Interpol

Self-titled release
indicates return to roots,
results may vary

Moar Haiku

brandon flowers

Brandon Flowers – Flamingo

Diminutive front
man sets out alone, travels
back towards Sam’s Town

chemical bros

Chemical Brothers – Further

Nineties stad-house “bros”
borrow chillwave blueprints and
add personal touch

britannia high

Britannia High

Gary Barlow pens
tunes for what I imagine
to be UK Glee

 adam lambert

Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment (bonus tracks)

Your entertainment
is now prolonged by roughly
fifteen more minutes

Right Here, Right Now : 34 massive radio hits from the 90s

You may not recall
what the nineties sounded like,
though with this you can

Bonobo – Black Sands

Bonobos are like
chimpanzees. Black Sands is like
Sunday afternoons.

Haiku Review: Volume Two

jack johnson en concert

Jack Johnson – En Concert

Jack brings his guitar
around the world, along with
a tape recorder.

pitbull

Pitbull – The Boatlift

A man names himself
after a breed of dog and
raps about strippers.

gaslight anthem

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Four guys who enjoy
Springsteen make alt-punk music
and put out record.

american idol

American Idol : Season Nine

Did you watch the ninth
season of Idol? No, well
here is a recap.

beirut

Beirut – Lon Gisland

Can’t think of a thing
to say about this one. So
I apologise.

scouting for girls

Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV

Everybody
Wants To Be On TV is
by Scouting For Girls.

opshop

Opshop – Until The End Of Time

I heard the singer
has a bunker in his yard
like Ned Flanders does.

Reviews As Haikus

kele

Kele – The Boxer

Bloc Party frontman
releases solo debut,
the indie kids dance.

moby

Moby – Go, the best of Moby

Outspoken vegan
makes enough singles to just-
-ify a best of.

stroke

Various Artists – Stroke: songs for Chris Knox

Tributes for legends
should all be as good as this.
Get well soon, Chris Knox.

marina and the diamonds

Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels

“I’m from Ancient Greece”
– Marina Diamandis
That’s a weird claim, huh?

groove armada

Groove Armada – Black Light

It’s the “dark album”
hi-NRG synth-pop tunes
abound on their sixth

as i am

Alicia Keys – As I am : the super edition

What makes it super?
The DVD probably.
Soulful as usual.

basement jaxx

Basement Jaxx – Singles

Another dance group
collects songs and puts them on
a disc. Repackage.

sia

Sia – We are born

Sunshine pop from a
blonde-haired, blue-eyed lady from
the antipodes.

Nesian Mystik – 99AD

The Nesian Mystiks
return, Scribe shows up, so does
a guy called Wise. Chur.

 

An Interview With Tamsyn Murray

tamsyn_murrayNoted author, Tamsyn Murray, recently agreed to an exclusive interview with Teen Blog, which was nice. Born and raised in the UK, she’s got one YA book to her credit, My So-Called Afterlife (a colleague describes it as “gripping”, so it’s very good) with another on the way very soon. We asked her about writing, reading and cricket …

At what age did you begin writing? And when did you know it was something wanted to get paid for doing?

I’ve always loved writing stories and can remember dreaming up characters and scenarios from a young age. English was definitely my favourite subject at school but I didn’t start to wonder if I could write professionally until 2008, when I read a how-to-write book and everything fell into place. So I like to think I spent the first thirty-five years of my life learning how to write. Either that or I wasted them!

What other YA authors do you read and enjoy?

I’m an enormous fan of Neil Gaiman, who writes across a range of ages, and I loved The Graveyard Book. Other YA books I’ve read recently include The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Wasted by Nicola Morgan and Girl, Aloud by Emily Gale – three very different books but all outstanding.

Where did the idea for My So Called Afterlife come from? I assume the title is a nod to Clare Danes…

The idea for My So-Called Afterlife came when I was wondering what would happen if the building a ghost haunted got knocked down and something else got built on top – would the ghost haunt the new building? What if was something like a toilet? Then the character of Lucy appeared in my head, stamping her Ugg boots and demanding I tell her story. The title arrived after the book was finished and, yes, I was a fan of My So-Called Life.

A lot of the readers on this blog are aspiring writers, and judging by the short story competition entries we receive, they are also very talented, give them some tips on getting that first book published.

The best thing I ever did was find my literary agent. She made suggestions on where I could improve the book and knew which publishers to send it to once it was ready. It’s thanks to her that my novel found a home so I’d recommend aspiring writers try to find an agent on the same wavelength. They might take a percentage of your earnings but without mine, I’d be earning a lot less!

My So Called Haunting is due to be released soon, what can we expect from novel number two?

A different main character, for a start! My So-Called Haunting introduces Skye, a fourteen year old psychic who moves to London to stay with her aunt, Celestine. As Skye struggles to settle into her new life, she’s also developing a crush on the most unattainable boy in the school, Nico.

When her aunt asks for her help with a troubled teen ghost called Dontay, she’s glad of the distraction. But then Nico starts paying her attention, and she’s soon facing a battle to keep her love life and her psychic life separate.

As things get ever more complicated, it looks as though Dontay’s past might cost Skye her future.

We enjoy haiku and you enjoy cricket, write us a cricket themed haiku.

Erm, ok. This is my first ever haiku and I suspect it’s not very good! But here goes:

Bowler sights pale stumps
a crack of ball on willow
summer is a game

*      *      *      *      *      *

my so-called lifeMy So-Called Afterlife is available for issue on our catalogue, click on the title to place a reserve. For more Tamsyn Murray news, go to her website where she has all the details of her work, along with a link to her frequently updated and very interesting blog.

Review New Moon for us! There’s another poster in it

Exams? What exams?

As with the lovely Taylor Lautner posters, we’ve got another New Moon movie poster that we thought we’d give to the first person who tells us what they thought of New Moon (which we think some of you might have seen already). As usual, the catch is you have to review it in haiku form (explanation here again). Eligible only for WCL YA cardholders. Please add your full name [we won’t publish it]. The poster has folds in it again (sorry).

I suppose the other catch for me is I should provide an example review haiku thing, so here goes:

The movie begins…
Love, tragedy, danger, then-
“Put the shirt back on!”

Write a haiku and maybe get a poster, if you’re quick

The cast of the Twilight films lead the polls (the best actor, best actress, break out actor, best film, and some others) for the 2010 People’s Choice Awards. The People’s Choice awards are voted for by the public (well, the US public), hence their name. They are awards chosen by people, for the people.

I have two posters of the potential 2010 winner of best break out actor (as chosen by some people), Taylor Lautner, to give away! As much as I’d like to have them I simply haven’t the space for any more. If you want one write a haiku (explained here) about Taylor in the comments below. There are only two posters so the first two haiku will get one!  Eligible only for WCL YA cardholders. Please add your full name [we won’t publish your name]. The posters have folds in them sorry.

E.g.
Taylor Lautner plays
a werewolf in highschool. So
did Michael J. Fox.

Zombies, Haloes & the Art Deco Capital of NZ: An Interview with Amanda Ashby

Amanda Ashby is a New Zealand author whose books are published to critical praise in the U.S. Her newest book, Zombie Queen of Newbury High  – about what happens when a teenage girl accidentally turns her entire senior year into zombies and has to try and find a cure before she ends up at the top of their menu – will be available from the library soon. We have scored an exclusive interview with Amanda!

1. At what age did you begin writing? How old were you when you first had something published?

I wish I could say that I wrote my first book when I was five, but the truth is that while I loved English and creative writing when I was at school it never occured to me that normal, regular people could be writers and so I contented myself with reading as many books as I could get my hands on. But sometime in my mid-twenties I had a terrible thought on how sad my life would’ve been if my favorite writers hadn’t taken the time to sit down and tell their stories.

This thought continued to stick with me until I finally decided that perhaps I should sit down and try telling a few stories myself. Unfortunately, as many writers know, writing stories and getting stories published are two different things and it wasn’t until I was 38 that I got to see my first book come out. Yay!

2. Do you write professionally, or do you need to work a regular day-job? And does it interfere with your writing?

I’m sort of a full-time writer and mother all rolled into one and I also have a part time job working at the Napier library (which I love because there is nothing a writer likes more than to talk books with people!!). Right now I feel quite lucky because I have a nice balance in my life and I hope it can continue!

3. Where do you get your ideas for writing from?

The idea for my first book, You Had Me At Halo, actually came from my father’s funeral (which as a rule isn’t the best time to be getting book ideas), somehow the idea of writing a book that was inspired my dad’s death certainly helped with the grieving process. The idea for my zombie book actually started out as a bit of a joke because whenever I was stuck for ideas I used to say to my friends that I could always write a book called ‘I was a zombie killer bride’. Unfortunately, you know what happens when you say things too many times…

4. Who are your favourite authors?

So, so, so many that I couldn’t possibly list them all so here is a selection: Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Raymond E Feist, PC Cast and Kristin Cast (if you haven’t read the House of Night books yet then you really must), Jill Mansell, Janet Evanovich, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paolini, Jonathan Stroud.

5. We really like haiku – can you summarise Zombie Queen of Newbury High in haiku form?

Okay, so when I get arrested for crimes against haiku then I’m going to blame you entirely. Don’t think I won’t! Anyway, here is my butchered offering – no pun intended!

one simple mistake
entire school now living dead
feeding time is near

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