Learning from the Masters

There’s no better cure for a writer’s block than reading published work. 

I don’t know about you, but when I can no longer face the pain of the seventeenth redraft of a single paragraph, it’s nice to step away from the laptop, and read something that published author has written.

No doubt they’ve endured the same lengthy, frustrating process as you. Maybe they’ve shared some of the same gut wrenching plot issues, the elated days, the solemn days, the refuse-to-face-the-keyboard days. The days of being face down in words, wading through plotlines, drowning in verbs and ready to abandon the whole thing.

But these authors have got through all of this. They are literally the light at the end of what is essentially a dark, narrow tunnel of self-doubt. They’ve come out the other end, waving their masterpiece in the air and shouting ‘It can be done!’

With that in mind, I’d like to share two of my most recent inspiring reads.

The first is a new book by award-winning author Susan Crandall, called ‘Whistling Past the Graveyard’:

Nine-year old Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three, but is sure that if she can just get to Nashville, where she now lives, her momma will have reached her ambition of becoming a world-famous singer and be ready to reunite their family again. A Fourth of July parade gives Starla the chance to escape from the steel-iron grip of her grandmother, Mamie, and head north.

But the journey doesn’t go as Starla planned; she meets Eula, a black woman who is running from a dark, abusive past, and together they embark on a fraught and dangerous road trip, finding pockets of luck and goodwill in towns filled with 1960s racial segregation and tension.

Confronted with a number of life-changing challenges, Starla is forced to shed her naive view of the world, and gain a new understanding of respect, sacrifice and family. This is a beautiful coming of age story about a feisty, precocious girl who never gives up.

And…. If you’re in the mood for something side-splittingly hilarious, but no less intense, then read Trish Cook’s new book, ‘A Really Awesome Mess.’

Two teenagers, Emmy and Justin, have just been accepted into a therapeutic school called Heartland Academy. Each of them is locked into their a unique personal struggle, and the only thing they have in common is their stubbornness, their sarcasm and wish to leave ‘Assland’ Academy as soon as possible. But along with the rest of their therapeutic group, they must see through their issues until they are healthy enough to go home. Cue a series of manipulative yet oddly heart-warming attempts to cheat, lie and outsmart the therapists. Tragic, hilarious, and worth reading for the Hogwarts sorting game alone.

Happy reading! x