My Reading List

One of the best things about post-uni life (particularly as an English student) is being able to read whatever I want. It’s actually quite strange – where, I ask myself, is the list of books I must buy, and why is Amazon not regularly claiming my money in exchange for kilograms of paperbacks?

I’m settling into it though, and I’ve dug out all the books I want to read. It’s a mixture of books I’ve had for ages; books I’ve started at uni but not finished; new books I want to start.

So, here’s the list. What do you think? Any of them one of your favourites? Most importantly, which one do I start with?

Tig

TV shows you should watch (part 1)

I’ll start with a confession: pretty much all the shows I watch are from the U.S. They just do it better. There, I said it. The autumn, sorry, ‘Fall’, tv season has started, which I’m very excited about. Here are some of the shows I’m watching, and why. 

Castle – The best popular show that no one’s heard of. I love it because: it’s about a writer; it’s got a great set of characters; it’s really well written; it’s got Firefly’s Nathan Fillion in it. The premise is that Castle, a crime writer, uses his skills to help out the NYPD in solving real crimes. There’s plenty of humour and the eccentric lead character really appeals.

Hawaii Five – O – I challenge you to watch it and not wish you were in Hawaii. Seriously. Other than that, it’s got a great formula: part tense crime drama; part character drama. The friendship between McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danno (Scott Caan) is recaptured really well from the original, and I look forward to their arguments in the car.

Damages Final Season

Damages – Ok, so the final season of Damages started a while ago, but I’m watching it now, so it counts (hey, it’s my blog). I honestly don’t have enough superlatives to describe this show. Probably the best writing I’ve seen. Go find the first season on DVD and watch the pilot. You’ll never think of a lift  elevator ding in quite the same way again.

The Mindy Project – I haven’t started watching this one yet, so I’m prepared to eat my words. I’m going to give it a chance because a) it’s a comedy, and I want to like a comedy again and b) it’s doing something different. Unlike seemingly every other ‘comedy’ that’s appeared in the last few years, ‘The Mindy Project’ isn’t about a ‘quirky’ white girl who moves to New York and proceeds to be unrelentingly ‘quirky’ in a series of contrived situations. Instead, it stars a black actress (what, not consigned to the best friend role?!) as a politically incorrect young doctor who’s pretty flawed and prone to a drink (she drunkenly rides her bike into a pool – I approve). Check out this glowing review from Sadie Gennis. Despite the dodgy title, I’m looking forward to this one.

Tig

p.s Saw this TV in Wired magazine which I wish I was watching all these shows on. In case any of you are feeling generous…Oh, and part 2 to come.

Writing Page Go!

Hello!

I’ve now updated my ‘Writing’ page with details of where you can find my writing in print or on the web, with links and shiny pictures.

On 17th September the English department at Southampton threw a launch party for the anthology of work that I put together with my friends and co-writers on the MA Creative Writing course. It was the first time I’d actually seen it, after all our months of editing, formatting and planning, and it looked incredible. We were all really grateful to Aiysha’s friend who was coerced asked nicely, if she’d be able to make a design for us in between handling her new baby. Pretty impressive, eh?

For me, it was the first time I’d seen my work in print. Like, in an actual book. Pretty cool and definitely a big motivator for continuing with writing – next thing is to see it on a bookshelf!

During the launch we gave readings from our work (they made me wait until last, didn’t they!) which was also the first time I’d read my own creative work to a room full of people. Thankfully there was no knee shaking, and I’d made the wise decision not to partake of the free wine until after my reading, so avoided the high potential for falling over/general embarrassment. 

It was great to meet Alex Hammond, son of many an English student’s favourite lecturers Mike and Mary, whose success in the world of lit agency was great to hear about among general stories we’ve all heard of ‘YOU’LLNEVERGETAJOB’. 

It was a great event, and was followed by more celebrations, helped along by the bottle of wine that found its way into my bag…

So please check out the writing page and let me know if it all works! 🙂

Tig

Tig in Real Life

On Monday I handed in my MA dissertation, completing my degree and my time as a student in Southampton. A suitably enthusiastic night of celebrations was enjoyed by all, followed by a less enthusiastic Tuesday. In the grog of yesterday morning, it didn’t really feel any different to other mornings in Southampton, but it’s different now that I’m home.

I woke up this morning with nothing to do. As in, not a single commitment; no ties to anywhere in particular; no deadlines to think about; no books to buy; no emails to send or, as made up most of my last year, any student problems to tackle. It’s a bit scary, definitely, but also really exciting. I can do…well, anything I want to.

So why the blog? I like the idea of starting a blog as I begin my post-uni life. I want to continue my writing and find a job where I can use it, so having a blog seems like a good idea to me. I’ll be able to share some of my creative writing on here, because it’s something I’m really passionate about and want to pursue long-term – your feedback will always be really welcome.

This blog is also going to be full of the things I like: expect books, films, tennis and more. I’ll share what I’m doing as I try to get from now, point A,  to point Z – I’m not entirely sure what that is yet but it’ll be fun to find out; hopefully with some entertaining anecdotes along the way.

That’s it. Real Life. Adventure and misadventure awaits, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

Tig (in Real Life)