She went quietly

Last spring I finally turned in my BA dissertation in creative writing, a year too late, but at least it was turned in.

I have had the piece I wrote lying around for a long while, and it is a piece I am particularly proud of. The piece is not written for an audience, it is not written for a reader to enjoy. This is the first piece I have ever written that was purely for me, to help me through a very though period of my life. This of course makes it very fragile and I was very hesitant to turn it as my dissertation, but I had great support from my mentor at the time who helped me shape something that was more a therapy session between me and the computer into a structured story.

After having the piece lying around for a long while, having a few friends read it, I have decided to put it out here. After all it is supposed to be a blog about writing.

The piece is called “She went quietly,” as a kudos to the song of the same name, She went quietly by Charlie Winston, which helped inspire the shape of the story. The song helped me through writing block when the story and structure had to take residence over reality.

So I have attached the story in PDF below if you want to read it.

She went quietly

Author Spotlight #1: Kimberly Loth

CI have decided to have a monthly author spotlight. During the spotlight post I will highlight an author and their work. The monthly spotlight will only feature authors that I have read. Ideally it will feature an interview or a guest post from the author.
To kick off my first Spotlight I have gotten an interview with Author Kimberly Loth, I reviewed her book Bittersweet earlier in late March, and that book is the reason I chose to feature my interview with her as the first Author Spotlight.
Bittersweet is a book that hit very close to home because of the fact that it deals with suicide, which I have personal experience with. The book is right by its name: it is very bittersweet. It makes you want to cry, but then you smile through the tears.
Half the proceeds of Bittersweet goes to  charities that work help find answers and support those who are left behind. You can pick up your copy from Amazon.co.uk^{(Disclaimer: I do not get paid for link clicks)}

 First Kimberly, I would like to thank you very much for doing this interview. And before I start asking questions, would you please tell us about your books?

– I write all kinds of YA, but all my books have a romantic bent. The first series I released (The Thorn Chronicles) is a YA Paranormal series about a girl who is trapped in a supernatural cult and escapes only to find that the world outside is just as scary.  I have the first two books released in that series and the other two will come out later this year.

Bittersweet is a contemporary novel about a girl whose father dies and her adventures in grieving.

I know that “Bittersweet” was a particularly hard book for you to write. When and how did you decide that you had to tell this story?

– After my dad died I knew I wanted to tell the story from the point of view of teenage girl because my relationship with my father was largely developed in my teenage years and he never quite stopped treating me like one.  We also spent a great deal of our summers together riding roller coasters so I liked the setting of an amusement park.

You also portray grief very realistically, would you say that you drew upon your own experience?

Luna’s Red Hat

Author: Emmi Smid
Publisher:  Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publishing Date: 21.04.2015
Purchase link: amazon.co.uk
ISBN: 9781849056298

Synopsis: An Illustrated Storybook to Help Children Cope with Loss and Suicide

My Review:
Luna’s Red Hat takes up the important subject of suicide, a little discussed  taboo topic in our society. Following a beautifully illustrated story of one day in Luna’s life, we get to know how she lost her mother just a year ago and we see a father who is struggling with helping Luna understand what happened as well as coming to terms with his loss.

Through the story Luna behaves realistically, though her thoughts might not be as genuine as her behavior. The loss and the lack of understanding of what happened, has made her frustrated and angry. Her father pulls er through and help her understand is small, clear words what happened to her mother as well as explaining that it was not Luna or any one else’s fault.

As well as containing the small story of Luna and her little family the book ends with an informative essay by Dr. Riet Fiddelaers Jaspers. The essay outlines how to tell a child about such a thing as suicide, and why it is important to actually let the child know what happened.

This book is designed to help children deal with loss and suicide, but I believe adults also could benefit from reading it.

Day 4: Book that makes you cry

The last book that made me cry was Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth. I did review it just a couple of weeks ago, read my review here. It is a very bittersweet story indeed. What I really liked about this book is that it deals with suicide in a very realistic and low-key manner. Literature often seems to either glorify or demean suicide, but Bittersweet kept a nice balance without turning into something lecturing. It gave me much the same feeling I got when I read 13 reasons why by Jay Asher, which is another book that made me cry.

Bittersweet

Title: Bittersweet
Author: Kimberly Loth
Publisher: Kimberly Loth
Publishing date: 21.03.2015
Purchase Link: Amazon.co.uk
ISBN: 9781508644125

Synopsis: 
Every Sunday Savannah Ray gets an email from her dead dad. She doesn’t know how the emails work but she’s finally ready to start looking for answers.

My Review:
It has been a long time since I have fallen in love with a book, but upon reading “Bittersweet” I felt a sad sort of love that I haven’t felt since reading “13 reasons Why (By Jay Asher).

The st”ory follows the troubled late teen girl Savannah as she comes to term with her father’s suicide. Her father’s death has made her bitter and withdrawn, and in many ways she seems to isolate herself from life. After years of denying grief she has become depressed and worries whether the “curse” will take her too.

The book is a Romance book, but the Romance plot does very much aid in Savannah’s rediscovery of herself Even though she hated the thought of moving to her uncle for the summer, getting away was a good thing for her. New people, and not all of them good, has a big impact of her. The story slowly unfolds and bit by bit the reader is introduced to the truth about how her father died, as well as the reader is invited into other dark secrets.

The last two chapters are the most impact chapters in the book and it is all woven together into a bittersweet ending which a high possibility of tears.