Here at Rotten Poetry we don’t like to make New Year Resolutions. We prefer to use the turning of the clock to make intentions instead.So we decided to ask some of our team and collaborators what their reading plans were for 2025. Charlotte – I have spent the last two years chasing reading challenges on… Continue reading
New Year, New Books!
Blog Feed
Trump; and Dystopian Fiction.
What makes a good dystopian tale? A lot of attention had recently been drawn to Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, A Handmaid’s Tale. The reason? The book itself shows the downfall of American society from the liberty to the exact opposite. For women at least. At first women are fired from their jobs before seeing the… Continue reading Trump; and Dystopian Fiction.
Not so Sweet Pea.
You may have noticed a new TV series on Sky called Sweet Pea. What you might not realise is that there is a series of books by CJ Skuse. I recently read the first one (titled Sweet Pea) to see what all the fuss was about. What I found was a wonderfully sardonic first hand… Continue reading Not so Sweet Pea.
Bookshopping in Leeds
Bookshopping despite a full TBR It was a Friday evening and I was feeling disheartened. I wasn’t enjoying the book I was reading and, while I was prepared to slog through all 600 pages, I wasn’t loving it. But if I left it, it would be 3 DNFs in a row. But it was no… Continue reading Bookshopping in Leeds
Book to film – the good, the bad and the downright disastrous.
Book to film. The following blog post contains spoilers. We’ve all been there. Sitting in the cinema, the film has finished, the lights go up. And we say, “The book was better.” Of course, some book to film adaptations are better than others. But no one will ever make the perfect adaptation because no two… Continue reading Book to film – the good, the bad and the downright disastrous.
By the Book, Hunstanton
Spontaneous holidays can always throw wonderful discoveries in your direction, and this day was no exception. As I wandered through the charming streets of Hunstanton, navigating a delightful pop-up market for local makers, I stumbled upon “By the Book,” a delightful independent bookshop. The warm and inviting atmosphere immediately drew me in. Their carefully curated… Continue reading By the Book, Hunstanton
Davey MacManus – Bluster Boy
Last week we announced the incredibly exciting news that we will be publishing the new book by Davey MacManus, The Bluster Boy. This is so exciting to me particularly because in the years when my music taste developed and grew Davey was the enigmatic front man of a couple of my favourite bands; The Crocketts… Continue reading Davey MacManus – Bluster Boy
Burn, Witch, Burn. Stories of Witches.
There has been a huge upturn recently in the number of books about witches and witchcraft. Practicing witchcraft, being a witch, has become almost trendy. But literature, like society, has taken its time to get here. Let’s go back to when witches were dragged into popular culture kicking and screaming. The witch trials and the… Continue reading Burn, Witch, Burn. Stories of Witches.
Writing Heather, Chasing Dreams
My debut novel, Heather, is released today (21 June 2024). This is life-long dream territory. And it still doesn’t feel quite real. Nightmare I started writing Heather when I was 20 years old. The idea came to me during a nightmare when I was living in a rented flat above a video rental shop in… Continue reading Writing Heather, Chasing Dreams
According to Stephen King’s The Running Man, next year will be intense.
According to Stephen King’s The Running Man, next year will be intense. It’s 2025 and 28-year-old Ben Richards is living in a dystopian America. The economy is in the toilet and the country is run by a totalitarian state. The gap between rich and poor is so vast that the poor have been pushed to… Continue reading According to Stephen King’s The Running Man, next year will be intense.