Best of 2010

T.V.

Glee

Pretty Little Liars

Modern Family

The Inbetweeners

Movies

Easy A

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Another Year

Inception

Albums

Light Shape Sound- Miracle Bell

Write about Love - Belle and Sebastian

Speak Now - Taylor Swift

So Runs the World Away - Josh Ritter

Books

Paper Towns - John Green

Just Kids - Patti Smith 

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

Wishing you all...

a very merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone! Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope you have an amazing time.

Looking forward to in 2011

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

I thought it was exciting earlier this year when I heard that David Levithan and John Green were collaborating for Will Grayson, Will Grayson but this is on a whole other level. David Levithan's forthcoming adult novel is a love story in the form of a dictionary! I am the kind of person who would be secretly excited if somebody told me I had to read an entire dictionary in 24 hours. And I adore David Levithan. I have a feeling this one is going to be special. 

Delium by Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver's debut, Before I Fall, was amazing, and this looks even better. 

"Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy."

I hadn't been particularly attracted to any dystopian stuff until I saw this. It sounds like such a good idea for a story and I can't wait to read it.  

Bright Young Things by Anna Godberson

When I heard Anna Godberson was releasing another series I thought, how is she going to top The Luxe? Well I think she might be about to! 

"The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the roaring twenties."
Sounds amazing! 

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

"From National Book Award winner Judy Blundell, the tale of a sixteen-year-old girl caught in a mix of love, mystery, Broadway glamour, and Mob retribution in 1950 New York."

Blundell + Broadway = extreme excitement! 

What are you guys looking forward to in 2011? I found all of the above through book blogs or twitter, and I'd love to hear about other exciting titles! 

This Christmas I'll be Reading...

A book by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, set in New York at CHRISTMAS = Yay!

One of the best things about Christmas is the books! I especially love St. Stephen's Day (the day after Christmas Day) as I usually spend it sitting in front of the fire reading (and eating!).

I can't wait to start Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. What will you guys be reading this Christmastime?

Time to Celebrate

Angel Kiss is finally, completely...finished!

I sent the copy-edits back to London on Tuesday, but I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I keep thinking I should be opening the Angel Kiss file on my computer. I started writing Angel Kiss in February 2007, when I was 20 years old, so it has been a major part of my life for the nearly four years. I feel weird now that it's finally done, but weird in a good way. I'm so happy to be finished rewriting. And I'm excited that publication day is getting closer. Only 138 days to wait!

Angel Kiss is available for pre-order.
and you can also add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Gorgeous Gift Books

Who doesn't love getting books as presents? Especially pretty gift books! I recently did some loitering in my local bookshop and checked out the beautiful new arrivals. Here are my picks for this Christmas season:

I was such a fan of The Hills, except for the last series...it was nothing without Lauren! Her new book looks great, it's packed with lots of style advice and lovely pictures. 

I gushed about this one before, and it's available now! It's a collection of rarely seen musings by Marilyn about life, love and literature and looks SO good! 

 Fearne and Holly's cute collaboration has such a cool design inside, and would be a great gift for your bestie! 

The photographs in this new collection, chosen by Audrey Hepburn's family, are just stunning. 

This one has been out since 2007, but I hadn't seen it before and it's definitely going on my wish list! It comprises of a fantastic selection of interviews including Truman Capote interviewed by Andy Warhol, Joni Mitchell by Cameron Crowe, and The Dalai Lama by Robert Thurman.

Give a book this Christmas! 

In the Zone

pages from my 18 Kisses Scrapbook*

This morning I was quite tired, yet super happy. I was up really late last night writing 18 Kisses. FINALLY I am back in the zone. See, up until last week I was writing my second book whilst still rewriting my first one (Angel Kiss is gone to the copyeditors, so it's *almost* finished) and I was finding it hard to get into Book 2. I didn't have writer's block as such, I was writing stuff, but I didn't feel like I was in the world of 18 Kisses. It was more like I was playing a video game, and I was controlling what the characters were doing, but I wasn't at the very heart of the story. I wanted to jump into the T.V. and get into the middle of it all but I couldn't, because this wasn't The Ring and there was no way I could get through. Until last night. I'm not sure what happened, but I was totally in the scene I was writing. I wasn't just making up Jacki's thoughts, I was inside her head. I didn't have to think really hard about what was coming next, because it was like the characters were deciding themselves. (Yes, I realize this makes me sound insane.) I wrote more in one night than I had in the whole pervious two weeks. And now I'm full of ideas and I can't wait to get back to writing. It took a while to get here, but it was totally worth the wait.




(*these images, which I use for inspiration, were found randomly on the web. If you own the copyright to any of them and would prefer that I took the scrapbook page down, just email me and I'll do so straight away.)

Makeover and New Blog Address

image source

Hey Everyone,

My blog got a makeover! It's now more of a website, with new pages containing information on my books and events and stuff, as well as my usual regular blog posts. Take a look around and let me know what you think. I still have some more little things to add, but it's almost done! Thank you to the fabulous Liz Maybury for the beautiful design.

Also this blog now has a new address:
www.laurajanecassidy.com

(old address was www.laurajanecassidy.blogspot.com)

The old address will still redirect you here, but please update your bookmarks etc. if you can, I'd hate to lose any of my lovely followers!

Christmas Gift Guide: Part 2

Personal Organizer

penguin hot water bottle

laptop bag

snowglobe

A5 notebook

All items from Paperchase