The cake came to me rather easily. I had a vision. I got lucky. But the challenge came when it was time to develop the frosting. I feel like everyone in the Test Kitchen had an opinion on what it should be...I definitely tried at least 10 different frostings.
People saw the moment. But they didn't see the years that made it possible: the questions about who I was; the injustices I could no longer ignore; the voices of those who came before me that I carried into that stadium.
I kind of daydreamed what it would be like to have a modern Dan Dare. That resulted in me emailing the Dan Dare Corporation asking if I could pitch a new Dan Dare graphic novel series. They said yes.
If Youth, throughout all his history, had had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn't constantly run across folks today who claim that 'a child don't know anything.'
The Financial Times puzzle by the setter known locally as Harpo, navigating to Independent 12,318 by the solver known locally as Enigmatist and our own Paul here at the Guardian, continues to impress.
My earliest independent reading memory is The Story of Ferdinand by Leaf and Lawson. I loved that bull! My favourite book growing up Big books gave me the whirlies so it took a while for them to start landing.
The most common titles on hold with the longest waits include The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir, Heart the Lover by Lily King and Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden.
The only thing worse than making a mistake is keeping it bottled up inside. Learning from the mistakes of others could help you embark on the healing journey of sharing and working through a mistake of your own, with someone you trust.
The scenario of a debut writer receiving a six-figure sum from a major publisher is a common fantasy, but it is based on misconceptions about the writing profession.
The holiday read has a long history, and for many of us, the pace of modern life means the only time we really get stuck into the latest novel is while spread out on a sunlounger or sipping coffee in a plaza.
Camus famously summed up the story like this: A man who does not cry at his mother's funeral will be condemned. Thus, the novel begins: 'Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know,' introducing Meursault's flat, noncommittal tone.
The opening pages introduce us to a world straight out of gothic fable. In an isolated manor house by a forbiddingly dark forest, a strange-looking baby is born. This unearthly child, Lajos, is fated to carry forward the family name of the Lazars, a noble dynasty with an alarming tendency to go mad, die violently, or both.
To be a clever, bookish teenage girl is to spend a certain amount of time standing on the sidelines, feeling invisible to boys. There seemed to be a natural division: you could be smart or pretty, but you could not be both.
