Colorado

Posted on March 20, 2013 by ashleymanningwriter

I would really appreciate it if you had a look at my friends short story and gave him some feedback. It’s definitely worth a look. Thanks in advance.

http://reeceajchambers.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/colorado/

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Endings and Beginings.

Posted on March 19, 2013 by ashleymanningwriter

It’s now only 2 weeks til the end of this year at uni. I know I’ve been going on about this a lot, but it can’t come soon enough. This year has really dragged out. Most of the texts have been awful, the lectures boring and I’m just not interested in a lot of it. Take today for instance. We had a guest speaker, a literary agent/author named Kate Nash. I was looking forward to this insight into the publishing world. She also started her talk by stating that there are things we can learn from her that wouldn’t be available online and in textbooks. She spoke about her journey as an author. Her talk was fine and it was interesting to an extent, although there wasn’t much there I couldn’t find on the internet. What really bothered me is that one of our lecturers kept on interrupting. He was really patronising and went on about how all year ones want to write novels because they don’t know that other forms of books like non-fiction and poetry. He said that if we walked into a bookshop we would find many other topics for books and that since fiction is so hard to be successful in that we should try non-fiction. He seemed really bitter. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it was irritating.

Another part of uni which is bothering me is that I have 2 presentations to do next week. While I hate speaking in front of people, if I’ve prepared something I can do it. This would be our 7th week of doing one of the presentations and today was the first time all 4 of us had met up. It seems like only half of us have bothered to do what we were supposed to, and we are yet again pushing things back til Friday. It’s a joke that people in the second year of uni can blame assignments for not having done assignments. 7 weeks. This is really annoying me.

Enough moaning. Not much can be done about it. I’ve finally gotten round to starting the second Skullduggery pleasant book. 1 chapter in. YAY. I’ll be reading that over the Easter break. I was informed that we aren’t aloud to call it Easter break last week and that made me laugh. I watched the two Clerks films last week. I was expecting more geekyness in them but there were still a few funny bits in it. Enough to make me want to watch more of the other films Kevin Smith made.

I’ve finally bought Metal Gear Rising and started playing it. It’s good, but very irritating. It’s been a long time since I’ve shouted at the tv til I wanted to throw the controller at it. 3 missions in and 5 to go. It’s going to be a long haul.

Haven’t got much to say this week. A lot of moaning but not much else. It’ll be over in just over a week and then I can enjoy things again.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley

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Zom-B City

Posted on March 17, 2013 by ashleymanningwriter

The third book in Shan’s newest series is finally out. I’ve bee waiting to read more of B’s adventure since the second I finished the last one, way back in January. B has left the underground facility and wanders through the streets of London. She finds a variety of people, from artists, opportunists and religious weirdos. The best thing about this book is the way in which other characters have reacted to the zombie apocalypse.

At first the book is quite slow, and didn’t really live up to what I’d imagined. However that doesn’t last long. As B travels back to her house and B’s isolation really takes the centre of the novel for a small part. I’ve been really shocked with how well Shan has tackled themes like racism and isolation in a series about zombies. (The gore and violence what I expected is still there but there are small parts where it takes a back seat.)

Despite a slow start the pace becomes relentless later on with shocks going past in a couple of pages, only for another shocker to come along seconds later. I read it in two sittings only stopping to eat my dinner. When this 12 book series was first announced I was worried that it was going to be a disappointment. It’s hard to keep readers interested for 12 books and the middle section of The Demonata did waver a little. (I did stick with that though and the last couple were just as good as the first.) I’m now a quarter of the way in through this series and I’m not worried at all about any book being wasted. I have a lot of questions and I’m not bored.

Zom-B is turning into a great series. It’s better than the Dementa but not quite as good as the Saga of Darren Shan. If you’re not already reading it, you should. I think the paperback of the first book has just been released, so it’s cheaper. I do recommend it and it’s a great read. As always I can’t wait for the next one. Zom-B Angels – Only 3 months to go.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley.

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Editing.

Posted on March 15, 2013 by ashleymanningwriter

Just hit the half way point in editing To The Other. I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along.  I’m going to celebrate by getting Darren Shan’s new book tomorrow. Or later today since it’s past midnight. This is my final major edit before I hand it out for others to look at so I’m pretty pleased with it and wanted to share that.

I cleared my desk yesterday. It was a complete tip a couple of days ago, and I was having to go through piles of paper and books to find the book I needed for uni. It had to be done. It’s amazing how in less than a day I can make a mess again. So much paper in such a little time. I haven’t even printed anything today. But when some lectures ask for 20 page printouts every week, I guess I have to empty my bag somewhere.

I’ve also made it a goal of my life to share this video with everyone I come in contact with. (This along with that Nicolas Cage one I posted a while back. Which you can also find HERE) Anyway without further delay this is the link to this months video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVzOve8T39w

Yes, I know I’m a little late with it, but really when there is something like this out there it needs to be listened to by everyone. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley.

 

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Sound City

Posted on March 12, 2013 by ashleymanningwriter

Finished the Gothic module this week. Final book was Hound of the Baskervilles. It’s the third time I’ve read that book and every time I finish it I say that I’m going to read the others. I’ve got the complete collection on my kindle so I don’t really have an excuse now. It’s one of my aims for the summer. (At least to have read A Study in Scarlet)

Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players album has finally come out. I’ve excited about this since the announcement. I’ve had it on repeat for most of today. It’s very good, but there are 2 tracks which I don’t like. Your Wife is Calling and Mantra. The first one is just rubbish and the second is boring, clocking in at nearly 8 mins. Other than that it’s a great album. Stevie Nicks, Corey Taylor and Paul McCartney stand out as the best guests. When I first heard Cut Me Some Slack (McCartney fronted Nirvana) I loved it, but I did think that would change. I’m really glad it hasn’t and at the moment that’s my favourite song on the album.

Tomb Raider came out last week. A game I’ve waited 5 years for. I traded in a few things and got it for 99p so I was very happy with that. It’s a very good game, but disappointing. It isn’t a Tomb Raider game. There are no puzzles, just hoards of enemies with loads of dramatic sequences. It’s basically Uncharted with no puzzles. Hopefully this reboot isn’t going down the same path as Resident Evil. Resi Evil 4 was brilliant. Then every game after that has gotten progressively worse. If it stays at this level Tomb Raider will be a brilliant series, but I do wish they’d called it something else.

Darren Shan’s new book comes out Thursday. I’ve been waiting eagerly for this since the last one. It’s going to be another epic addition at another epic Shan series. I’ll be reviewing that this weekend probably. I already know this Friday is going to be a 6 hour reading session of it.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley.

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