Bibliophilia 8 - Magic

Bibliophilia

ISSUE EIGHT Trenz Pruca JUNE 2015 24 September 2014

Issue eight Magic

Harry Potter Book vs Movie

MINI MASTERCLASS IN ROMANCE WRITING Plus short fiction, poetry, book reviews and more

ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

Copyright ©2015 by Bibliophilia Magazine All prose and poetry rights are reserved by the contributing authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the individual author.

NEXT ISSUE!!

We’ve had some fun this year, but now we’re getting serious. Our theme for July’s issue will be SLAVERY Modern, ancient, literal and figurative. Let your imagination run wild and explore it any which way you can. The more inventive, the better!

Submission Guidelines Our guidelines are few and simple. We want to make it as easy for you to submit to us as possible and want to make our rules (such as they are) easy to follow. So here’s all you need to know: ‣ All submissions must be sent to bibliophilia@outlook.com by the 20th of the month to appear in the next month’s issue. ‣ All submissions must be sent as a pdf or word attachment, with your name, your pen name (if different), a short author bio (no more than 50 words) and your twitter name/ blog address in the email body. ‣ Short fiction can be no longer than 2,000 words, with the words ‘fiction submission’ as the subject of the email. Longer submissions will be considered on a case by case basis. ‣ Poetry can be no longer than 40 lines, with the words ‘poetry submission’ as the subject of the email. Up to three poems can be sent together. Longer submissions will be considered on a case by case basis. ‣ Features can be no longer than 1,500 words; proposals must be sent in the first instance with the words ‘features proposal’ as the subject of the email. Longer submissions will be considered on a case by case basis. ‣ All submissions must be sent via email - we do not accept snail mail submissions at this time.

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Regular Features

HARRY POTTER IN BOOK VS MOVIE PAGE 18

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEWED PAGE 13

MINI MASTERCLASS IN ROMANCE PAGE 5

Contents Submission guidelines and next month’s theme Page 1

Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun - or even just when you’re busy!

Somehow we’re in June and we’re already on issue eight!

Our Contributors Page 3 Mini Masterclass romance writing Page 5 ‘Marina and the Bat’ short fiction Page 8

Poetry close reading Page 10

Follow us on Twitter: @bibliophiliamag

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the regular contributors, as well as our guest fiction writers who send their work in to us. Even if you don’t get featured, every submission is read and we endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible.

bibliophiliamag. wordpress.com

Book of the Month Page 13

That said, there is always space for more work and we are happy to consider more regular writers. Just get in contact with me via the address opposite with your ideas and I’ll get back to you.

So enjoy this issue. Hopefully you’ll be able to sit out in the garden with a cup of tea in the sunshine. Or maybe not until next month.

Until then,

Email: bibliphilia@outlook. com

What We’re Wishing Page 15 ‘Unqualified in Magic’ short story Page 16 Book vs Movie Page 18 Prompts page Page 21

Mac

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CONTRIBUTORS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WORDS

Editor

Our Regulars Natasha McGregor - Editor Having written various genres since she was a teenager Natasha is looking forward to a new challenge in editing Bibliophilia. She is also working on her first full length novel and writing a collection of poetry.

Twitter: @Natasha2Mc

Literary Reviewer

http://natasha2mcgregor.wordpress.com

Richard Southworth - Literary Reviewer Following prolific but not terribly original writing as a child, Richard got back into proper writing in 2009 by competing in National Novel Writing Month. He currently has eight NaNoWriMo victories under his belt, in addition to writing book reviews and the occasional short story.

Twitter: @PneRichard

Features Writer

http://velociraptor256.wordpress.com/

Josie Alford - Features Writer Josie is 21 and lives in Bristol after finishing a degree in English Literature. She writes poetry and is saving money for a masters in creative writing. Her blog is full of all of her poetry and she aims to get into more performance poetry – follow her on twitter for updates!

Twitter: @AlfordJmo

Features Writer

http://thefaultymanufacturing.blogspot.co.uk

E"eMay - Features Writer Elle May lives in Lancashire but her heart is travelling around the world. She lives with her parents, sister, and any visitors who extend their stay. She spends her days quietly thinking or loudly voicing her profound thoughts hoping someone will understand what she is saying. http://masiejane.wordpress.com/ 

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Guest Writers Anna Nazarova-Evans - Fiction Anna Nazarova-Evans has taken two writing courses at the Folk House, Bristol. She completed NaNoWriMo by writing 50,100 words during the month of November, 2014.
 She lives in Bristol, UK, with her husband and cat.

Sammi Cox - Fiction Sammie Cox lives in the UK and spends her time writing and making things. www.sammiscribbles.wordpress.com

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MINI MASTERCLASS with Elle May ROMANCE IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR GENRES - LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE CONTINUING SUCCESS OF MILLS AND BOON AND THE HARLEQUIN BRANDS FOR PROOF. IF YOU CAN READ FIVE OF THESE BOOKS AND STILL WANT MORE, THEN WRITING ROMANTIC NOVELS IS FOR YOU. IF NOT, JUST REMEMBER IF GENRES WERE VEGETABLES THEN ROMANCE WOULD BE AN ONION: IT’S MANY LAYERED; WILL ADD FLAVOUR TO ANY LITERARY DISH; AND A POWERFUL ONE CAN MAKE YOU CRY. THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS A ROMANCE PLOT IS ALWAYS CHARACTER DRIVEN.

Summer Lovin’ Reading a romance novel can be like a summer fling - quick, intense, and easily forgettable. Writing one takes time, patience and dedication. At the heart of all great romances are two strong and appealing three-dimensional characters.

Dialogue can propel a story forward giving it life, energy and pace. Internal conflict spawns tension and excitement but must be sustained over the course of the story. Ideally it’s best to have two or three conflicts which are resolved along the way. External conflicts like

misunderstandings, circumstances or a secondary character’s influence should only be used as additional support to the blossoming romance. Layer your story with emotional highs and lows. Ditch the clichés and look for new angles, believable plots and memorable characters.

Remember Me What makes a memorable character?

Think about the people you’ve met, what do you remember about them? Is it a gesture, something they say, the way they

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dress? You can be inspired by reading books and looking at pictures but I prefer to draw character inspiration from real life.

Talk a walk in the park, sit in a busy public place or meet up with friends. Listen to the way people talk, watch their hand gestures. What are their odd quirks, their idiosyncrasies? The world is full of characters waiting to be written onto paper.

Knowing Each Other Get to know your characters; would you be happy spending a year or so with them? If you don’t like them then your readers won’t. What are their strong points, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and hobbies? Make a checklist to keep track of your characters traits and stick to them. There’s nothing more embarrassing then getting your hero/heroines name wrong.

What’s in a name?

First names and surnames can say a lot about your character, for example their nationality or when they were born.

Research popular names if your novel is set in another time or country. Readers can make an assumption about your character based on their name so be wary when christening your darlings.

Sometimes a character’s name can have more power than the character. In Daphne de Maurier’s novel Rebecca, the first Mrs de Winter is not the central character although her name takes the title. So overpowering is her presence throughout the story we never learn the second Mrs de Winters name.

It Takes Two Romance is about two characters who help each other become better versions of themselves. Whether your story takes place on Brighton beach during the swinging sixties or on an intergalactic spaceship in the Nebulas Galaxy, it will always be about two people and their

internal conflicts which stop them from living happily ever after. How are your characters going to confront these elements and overcome them together?

Inner Psychology Writers often complain about their characters taking on a life of their own, misbehaving and not sticking to the plot.

Instead of threatening them with immediate demise dig deeper into their psyche, it may reveal things you did not know. Try these four questions.

1. Put your character in a white room with no doors or windows and ask them to describe the room in four words. This is how they feel about death 2. What colour would they have in the room with them? Describe using four words. This is their personality.

3. What animal would they have in the room? Describe using four words. The animal represents their ideal partner and the traits they would look for.

4. Your character is standing on a cliff by the sea. Is it stormy, calm? Describe using

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four words. The sea represents their love life.

Lets talk about...hmm...you know At its heart, Fifty Shades of Grey is an emotional romance between two characters, erotica takes second place.

Readers either love or hate it; those that love it are interested in the romantic connection between Christian and Anastasia. The golden rule in romance is plenty of emotion, how much rumpypumpy you decide to put in is up to you.

Happy Ever After The purpose of writing a romance is the two main characters end up together. If not then your readers will feel cheated and dissatisfied. But it isn’t just about the happy ending; at least one character must change and grow as a result of your story. The power of the story lies in the empathy the reader has with the characters.

Not so Happy Ever After If your lovers are not going to end up together you better have a damned noble reason why not, a hell of a farewell speech and some pretty good substitute partners waiting in the wings. At the end of Casablanca, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) got

the hero of the resistance Victor Laszlo (Paul Henried). Rick (Humphrey Bogart) got a new drinking partner Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains).

The Classic Romance If a midsummer fling isn’t your style and you long for a lasting love affair with the reading public, your novel will need to be more than a satisfying romance. Pride and Prejudice, Casablanca, Romeo and Juliet, these classic stories all have something in common - the authors’ unique insight into their world. Jane Austen portrays a lively Regency Society through her witty observations and her exaggerated secondary characters. The original stage play of Casablanca, ‘Everyone goes to Ricks’, entwines a desperate love story with the plight of European refugees as they escape Nazism. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tragic love is set against a backdrop of violence and warring factions. By encompassing the larger world your novel will be as relevant in a hundred years as it is today.

A story can be character driven with minimal plot and keep readers riveted, but a story which is plot driven with flat characters will stall before it gets started.

It’s worth spending some time getting to know your characters; the better you know them the more realistic they will appear to your readers.

NEXT MONTH WE WILL LOOK AT PLOTTING YOUR STORY AND PLANNING THE PERFECT MURDER FOR A CRIME NOVEL.

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MARINA AND THE BAT

by Anna Nazarova Evans

Her grandmother was a mermaid before this.

Now in her last, seventh life she decided to be a bat.

Marina would summon her by shaking her green wavy hair until stars and meteors poured out of it. Her grandma would hear the jingling and chiming of the stars, as they fell to the ground, and fly to her flat in Stoke Newington above the Roses Drugstore.

Marina lived there with both her parents. She hardly ever saw them, because they worked shifts, but almost every night she heard them arguing about money. There never seemed to be enough of it, no matter how many hours they worked. These arguments made Marina sad. She would pull up her stripy socks with holes in them and put her hair up, so that the stars and meteors wouldn’t come crashing out by mistake. She would then climb onto her bunk bed and write down whatever was going on in the street that she could see out of her window. She hoped that one day she’d be able to sell her writing and by that resolve her parents’ problems.

One night her parents were

particularly loud.

“I’ll leave you if you don’t do anything about it!” her mum shouted.

Marina shook her hair so hard, you couldn’t see around the room for all the stardust. In flew Grandma Bat. “What can I do to help them?” Marina asked.

Grandma Bat hung upside down from the lampshade in silence for a few moments.

Then she opened her eyes and said, “We could try and get you a job?”

Marina agreed and in the morning they got on the bus and went exploring all the different ways to make money in London.

First they went to Canary Wharf, because Grandma said that was where all the best paid jobs were. As Marina walked out of the tube stop she saw a beautiful orchard. It stretched out for miles and there were trees of all different types and sizes. They made a gentle rustling sound. Numerous people, all looking very serious, ran back and forth amongst the tree roots, climbed them, measured the length and girth of the

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branches, exchanged notes and shouted at one another.

It was only when she approached, Marina realised that it was banknotes growing on the trees instead of leaves.

“There’s too much money here, Grandma. Why don’t these people share it with the rest? If they did, no one would be poor.”

“The only reason they are here, petal, is because of this money. If they had to give it away, no one would work in the orchard.”

Marina and the bat left Canary Wharf and instead went to Camden. Before they even got off the bus Marina spotted a giant ginger bread house. She got so excited, that she nearly fell into the marmalade river.

“O my god, Grandma! Isn’t it beautiful?” Marina said, feeling the gingerbread texture with her fingers.

All around the house there were people cutting off bits of the walls, removing lollipop windows, chipping away and removing thick icing decorations. As soon as they detached a part of the house, it grew right back.

“This is perfect!” Marina was jumping up and down and the poor bat had to apply all her might to remain seated on her shoulder.

“But where do they take these treats?”

“They sell them, petal,” Grandma Bat answered glumly.

“That’s fine. I’d still be spreading deliciousness to all those who buy from me.

Wouldn’t I?” “Yes, you would, but there’s a problem with that.”

“Why is that, Grandma?” Marina sounded deeply disappointed.

“The people you sell to, they quite often get addicted and need larger and larger chunks of the house.”

“But the house grows right back, doesn’t it?”

“The house does. But those who spend their money on it can end up spending all their possessions. Sometimes they don’t leave themselves enough to survive on. So they end up same as your parents.”

“O!” Marina looked like she was about to cry. “Well, then why are these people selling

them the ginger bread?”

“For many different reasons, petal, but mainly because they need the money.”

Marina gave up on the idea of making a lot of money. Since she liked writing stories, the bat took her to various places in London from Kings Cross to Kensington to London Bridge in the hope of finding somewhere Marina could apply her writing skills.

Everywhere they went they saw crowds of witches and warlocks gathering around giant crystal balls. Inside them one could see horrible things happening all around the world: hurricanes, wars, diseases, people crying because their lives were ruined. The wizards and witches were writing everything down with extreme agility. Every time a natural disaster was shown, that caused masses of people to lose their lives in an especially horrific way, a murmur would spread through the crowds and many would nod, recording the details of atrocities with particular vigour.

“Why do they do this, Grandma?”

Marina said, turning away from the ball unable to carry on watching.

“They sell the stories they write, petal.”

“But why are there only awful stories?”

At this point a witch with a giant wart on her nose separated from the crowd. “That’s what sells, my precious, that’s the only thing that sells,” she hissed through her rotting teeth and Marina got a whiff of her old musty cloak.

Marina turned to her grandmother with horror.

“They’re just afraid of losing their jobs, petal,” the bat said looking down.

Marina went home and got into her bunk bed. It had been a long day and she had learnt a lot.

She wrapped herself in her locks full of stars and fell asleep immediately. Whilst she slept, she dreamt that she was a princess and that her hair had turned into rivers that ran under a bridge and wildlife sprang from it.

She also dreamt that there was no money and people did jobs because they enjoyed them, not because they got paid.

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When I Have Fears

by John Keats A Close Reading by Josie Alford Hello again dear readers, as the theme this month is magic I set about trying to find a fantasy poem to analyse for you, something like Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” or Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” – both of which I recommend but for the purposes of this article they are a little lengthy. Instead, whilst doing one of my usual journeys through Keats’ poetry I stumbled across “When I have fears that I may cease to be”. Whilst Keats uses the sonnet to muse on his own mortality he does use some magical imagery and that totally counts right?

Keats is part of the second generation of Romantic writers, he is often considered to be one of the most iconic writers of the movement along with Shelley and Byron.

Keats died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, he was the last to be born and the first to die of the Romantics which makes the subject matter of this poem all the more striking for the reader. This poem was written in 1818, about 3 years before his death, in a letter to John Hamilton Reynolds, one of his friends. The poem outlines his desire for love, success and writing but frames that with the fear that he might not achieve all that he wants before he dies. So for a quick bit of the technical stuff: this poem is a sonnet with a Shakespearean rhyme scheme; it is 14 lines long divided up into three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet. Historically sonnets have a “volta” or “turn” in the poem at line nine, which is normally characterised by a shift in focus or an attempt to answer questions posed in the earlier lines. With

Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) sonnets in particular, there tends to be a further more substantial resolution with the final rhyming couplets.

The poem’s opening line arguably contains an allusion to Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “When I have fears that I may cease to be”. It echoes Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy, not just through the use of “to be” but also through the discussion of death, although there are differences in that Hamlet is considering suicide, amongst other things, and Keats has “fears” about the onset of death “before [his] pen has gleaned [his] teeming brain”.

The speaker’s pen is personified and is responsible for “glean[ing]” all the information out of his brain. It is described as “teeming” which, according to my Collins dictionary, holds two possible meanings: “to be full of something” and “to rain heavily”. His brain is simultaneously full of information and raining heavily with it, both senses of the word apply here

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and serve to show how overwhelmed the poet feels with the amount of information he feels he must write. The next two lines contain a simile that demonstrate the scale of the speaker’s teeming brain: “Before high-piled books, in charactery,/ Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain”. The books full of “charactery” (words) are “high-piled” and reflect the speaker’s confidence at how many books his creative mind can fill. The word “garners” is an archaic term for granary, in this line his thoughts are compared to “full ripened grain”; they are matured and well-formed within the books. However, it is worth remembering that the speaker has not yet achieved writing all his thoughts down and fears he may die before he achieves it. It seems for the moment he is all talk.

In the second quatrain the speaker’s gaze shifts upwards to the heavens. Keats personifies the night, describing its face as “starred”. Whilst one might not describe a face as starred, it does rhyme with scarred.

Whilst it could just be a coincidence, this realisation does change the meaning; it implies that the stars are imperfections on an otherwise black surface. However, upon this face the speaker beholds “Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance”. What can he mean by cloudy symbols? It could literally mean clouds, whose shapes inspire him.

However I would argue that the speaker is being more general than that. The night is, and brings to mind many vague or unclear symbols and signifiers of high romance; partly because in looking at the sky we are forced to think on our existence and partly because the sky has historically been an inspiration for many writers before Keats.

The term “high romance” is an interestingly ambiguous one, because it is not capitalised it could refer to any number

of things including simply love or Romance – the grand inspiration of nature that characterised the Romanticism movement. After taking in the image of the night sky the speaker thinks “that [he] may never live to trace / Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance.” Now this is where the magic happens, 8 lines in and we get to our first proper reference to this month’s theme. Anyway, at this point chance is personified with a magic hand, the metaphorical language becomes so convoluted here that it becomes pretty unimaginable and maybe that is the point – the speaker will never trace the shadows of the night sky – he needs both chance and magic.

Traditionally, the volta or “turn” of a sonnet occurs at line 9 at the beginning of the third quatrain. Keats does seem to embrace this tradition through his shift in focus from the “high romance” of the night sky to addressing the “fair creature of an hour” before him. The phrase “of an hour” denotes that the speaker’s encounter is fleeting – the romance is made all the more potent in its shortness. The next line; “That I shall never look upon thee more” seems in opposition with the sentiment that theirs is a fleeting, intense encounter “of an hour”, I would argue that the speaker both acknowledges and regrets the length of his vision of the fair creature. It is also worth mentioning that the speaker only desires to “look” at the person, not talk to or spend time with them – the subject of his desires is reduced to their “fair” aesthetic. The speaker goes on to mourn the fact that he will “Never have relish in the faery power / Of unreflecting love”. Another point goes to me for the magical imagery here. The unreflecting or unrequited love is attributed with “faery power”, according to

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the speaker it is something to be relished in, it is magical and ethereal, beyond the world of men. To take it further, unrequited love could be a magical power because it serves as an inspiration for the poet; if this is the case the references to magic in the poem could arguably serve as a metaphor for poetic inspiration.

Whereas Shakespeare uses the final rhyming couplet as a final resolution, Keats’ comes half a line early. Arguably this serves as a metaphor for the speakers’ fear that his own resolution will come to soon – a point made all the more poignant

by Keats’ early demise. It should also be noted that in being half a line early the resolution – made more obvious by a hyphen, cuts short the line on “unreflecting love” as death would. When the poet fears, beholds and feels the things in the earlier lines, “then on the shore / Of the wide world I stand alone, and think / Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.”

By placing himself “on the shore” the speaker is marginalising himself – he is figuratively on the edge. This isolation is furthered by the fact he is “alone” the alliteration of “wide world” emphasises the vastness of the world in which Keats is a small lonely figure, dwarfed by his thoughts. The line does not end on “alone” but on “think”, by making the verb part of the rhyme scheme Keats draws attention to it. Significantly the speaker does not actually do anything after his existential musings whilst his world falls apart, instead he continues to think. It is possible to argue that the speaker is trapped in his thoughts, incapacitated by the weight of realisation. The world ends and all fades to nothingness because he is unable to take action. However, there is an alternate way of reading the final line; the “love” and

“fame” are “nothingness” to the speaker already, they are not of value to him as much as the “high romance” of inspiration and his own writing.

So then, this rather fantastic sonnet

by Keats is packed with imagery, metaphor and existential musings – and a small measure of magic. Whether intentionally or not, meaning can be found where Keats’ deviates from the traditional sonnet form particularly with the resolution of the final two lines, even though the content itself does not resolve his earlier fears, instead it seems to exacerbate it. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do, may it encourage you to go forth and explore new poetry as it increases your chance of finding gems like this one.

When I Have Fears When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teaming brain, Before high-piled books, in charact’ry, Hold like rich garters the full-ripened grain; When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance; And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, That I shall never look upon thee more, Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love!- then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

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Book Of The Month

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern Published by Vintage, RRP £7.99

ISBN 9780099554798

Reviewer Richard Southworth chooses a mysterious circus drama filled with magic and romance Anyone reading this magazine who takes part in National Novel Writing Month may recall that Erin Morgenstern did a pep talk for the challenge a few years ago. She was well placed to do it, given that her debut novel The Night Circus was originally conceived during NaNoWriMo. This fantasy novel was one of the first books I downloaded when I got a Kindle, and it really left an impression.

The story begins in the 1870s as a wager is formed between stage magician Prospero the Enchanter and a man in a grey suit who uses the name Alexander. Both parties select pupils to play out the contest: Prospero has his illegitimate daughter Celia, while Alexander takes a boy named Marco under his wing. Both are trained in the art of magic by their respective teachers, and

upon reaching maturity, both find their way into a travelling circus unlike any other. The circus has been specifically set up as a venue for Celia and Marco’s competition, but it is not clear just what the rules are, or how a winner will eventually be decided.

This is one book that truly deserves to be called a work of art. Right from the opening, which describes you – it actually addresses ‘you’ – stepping into Le Cirque des Reves, it creates some of the most beautiful and detailed imagery I’ve ever seen in any book. From the bonfire, to the specially made giant clock, to the various attractions which are described in snapshots interspersed through the book, the circus is a surreal and wonderful place; Morgenstern certainly does a good job in making the reader want to visit the setting she creates. What is more, the prose touches all

This is one book that truly deserves to be called a work of art

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the senses: you can practically hear the music and taste the caramel.

Appreciating the imagery is an important part of reading The Night Circus, but it’s certainly not all about that: there is an excellent story to go with it. Admittedly, the plot itself – the contest between Celia and Marco – progresses a bit slowly, but you’re still keen to see what will happen in the end. Tension is created in the mysterious, unexplained little things that happen throughout the narrative, helped by the fact that the story is written in the present tense.

Setting the story in a late Victorian time period is very appropriate; the era lends itself well to the quaint charm of the whole thing. Many readers will probably see the romance that develops between Celia and Marco coming, but it still successfully provides additional tragic drama.

It’s not all about the two main characters, or even the diverse collection of people directly involved with the circus; some chapters are from the point of view of visitors, allowing us to see how the circus is viewed by the outside world, and giving an additional perspective to examine. In particular, there are several chapters throughout centring on a young man

named Bailey, who has a certain role to play, and there is certainly intrigue as that role is revealed.

The actual nature and rules of magic in this universe are not as clear or set in stone as they are in, say, the Harry Potter books – but this just adds to the mysteriousness. Magic here is a fine art, subtle and often beautiful, with different levels of mastery. While the magic that Celia and Marco learn is often centred around creation and illusion, it does also come in slightly different flavours, the twins Widget and Poppet, for example, can see the past and future in the world around them. There is a sense of magic purveying the overall environment, holding everything together, and not always having a positive effect on the minds of those involved with the circus.

Some books are good because they have a fascinating plot, or particularly wellconstructed characters, or delve deeply into the human psyche and make us think hard about ourselves. The Night Circus is worth reading because it is a thing of beauty, and I strongly recommend it.

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WHAT WE'RE WISHING Mac What a difficult decision to make! I know it wouldn’t be telepathy - I have enough trouble with my own thoughts in my head sometimes, let alone other people’s as well! I think I would quite like invisibility, especially when I’m trying to get lots of things done at work and people always ask me questions! Plus you could have quite a lot of fun sneaking into places you shouldn’t be.

Anna I wish I had a super-power that would allow me to destroy all the countries’ military arsenals one by one… and stop any new firearms and weapons of mass destruction being produced or even invented.

Failing that, I would at least like to stop countries waging war on one another or on their own people by making all their presidents/ prime ministers/MPs weave daisy chains and smoke peace pipes. One day!

Everyone wants superpowers - to fly, to go invisible. This month our writers share their own magical wishes - if you could have one power, what would it be and why?

Richard I’ve often desired the ability to teleport. There are so many places I want to go; it would be brilliant to do so without travel times, bus routes, driving and plane sickness complicating things. I’d fit a lot more into my day, indulge my hobbies, and probably fill up my travelling bucket list in a fortnight!

Sammi If I had to choose a superpower I think it would definitely have to be speed. The ability to cram more things into the day would certainly be useful, and being able to do boring things - like chores - in the blink of an eye would leave more time for the fun things - like writing and reading books.

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Unqualified in Magic

by Sammi Cox I thanked the postman and closed the front door, clutching my parcel to me. It had taken weeks to get here; I didn't want anything to happen to it now. Its arrival made me feel both eager and apprehensive.

Gently, reverentially almost, I placed the package on the kitchen table and put the kettle on. I needed a cup of tea to steady my nerves. As I bustled about the kitchen, my eye was constantly drawn to the table; to the parcel.

Sitting down, I reflected on what I had set in motion three weeks ago. It was the first time I had done anything like this, ordering a magical spell kit online. Magic and that weird stuff wasn't really my thing. However, the website had made it very clear. Magic is easy. Anyone can do it.

I took them at their word and submitted my order. Anything that got you to where you wanted to go in half the time and with half the effort was always going to get my vote. Surely it was worth a try? Where was the harm?

Even now, looking at it, I couldn't quite believe the lengths I had gone to in order to try and make my dreams come true. I had ordered a spell! I had paid for it! I wasn't even sure if I believed in magic. Magic was bonkers, right?

It was the stuff of fairy tales; the realm of children and the deluded.

And yet, here I was and here it was, sitting in front of me.

For a while, I simply sat staring at it, pondering what I should do.

Should I open it and take a look inside? Or should I just put it in the bin now and forget that I had ever purchased it? I was torn, unable to move; unable to make a decision.

Instead, I decided to study the box, in the hope that it would help me to make up my mind. From the outside, you would never have guessed what it held. It looked like any normal parcel. It could have contained CDs, DVDs, books or one of those horrible figurines found in the back of your grandmother's cupboard. Only it didn't. It contained magic.

After a while, it was my curiosity that finally made the decision for me. I wanted to see what was in the box. I wanted to see what magic looked like.

On lifting the lid I was expecting something fairly monumental to happen. Perhaps something would jump out of it, in a cloud of fairy dust, accompanied by a chorus of whizzing and popping sounds. In spite of myself, I assumed that because it was magic something amazing had to occur.

Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened. Feeling a little underwhelmed, I tilted the box towards me and took a good look at what was held within.

What I saw wasn't inspiring, and I must confess, I felt a little cheated.

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ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

Where was the glamour? Where was the wonderment?

I tried my best to put these feelings aside, telling myself I was behaving like a little girl. Of course, real magic was not like the stuff you saw in the movies. And besides, I silently argued, as long as it did what it promised, it didn't really matter, did it? With lower expectations and marginally higher spirits, I perused the contents of the box.

The first thing I pulled out was a lump of clear crystal. Once I removed the bubble-wrap I could see that it was pretty. I could imagine it sitting on my dresser, fulfilling the role of a paperweight. But what function did it serve in this instance? I got the impression its magical purpose was not in keeping loose papers in one place. Scratching my head, hoping that things would soon become clear, I turned to the next item.

It was a little pouch of chopped herbs, reminiscent of a bouquet garni.

Was I supposed to cook with it? I read the tag tied around the top of the bag, looking for a set of instructions - or a recipe - but all I found was the name of the mixture, Herbs for the Manifestation of Dreams, written in fifteen different languages. It was no help at all.

What was I supposed to do with some herbs and a rock? With speed driven by a sudden sense of impending failure, I pulled the remaining items from the box.

A blue candle.

A pebble with some weird symbol painted on it.

A small packet of salt.

What did it all mean? What was I expected to do with this stuff? I shook the box, hoping that the answer would just fall out of it, and breathed a sigh of relief when a pamphlet was shaken loose.

As I picked it up, I whispered, 'Please be a step-by-step guide to manifesting your dreams. Please, please, please.'

It wasn't.

It was a booklet of astronomical timings that was impossible to understand. Sunrises and sunsets, sun signs and moon signs and houses and planets...it might as well have been written in a different language.

I looked over the array of magical items now sprawled out over my kitchen table. I was baffled.

No, more than that, I was frustrated, disappointed and annoyed. It was supposed to be simple...a quick fix.

Magic is easy, they had said. Anyone can do it. Only to cast this silly spell you needed a PhD. And I didn't have one.

PAGE SEVENTEEN

ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

BOOK VS MOVIE Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

by J.K. Rowling EVERYONE LOVES THE BOY WIZARD, BUT HOW WELL DOES HIS INTRODUCTION ON PAPER MATCH HIS HOLLYWOOD COUNTERPART?

The story

name of Rubeus Hagrid. Turns out Harry is

Who isn't familiar with it? But for those of you who have been living under a

a wizard, and he's got a place in the best wizarding school there is - Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

rock for the past decade, here's a brief

chronicles Harry's first year at the school,

breakdown.

Harry Potter is a seemingly normal

from meeting his two best friends to

ten year-old living with his horrible (verging

encountering his arch-nemesis and

on abusive) Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon

confronting a three-headed dog (magic

and obscenely overweight cousin Dudley.

school, remember).

He lives (miserably) in the cupboard under

The book

the stairs and considers a day when he isn't locked in a good one.

This is another of those wonderful

Enter a parliament of owls, several thousand letters and a half-giant by the

first lines that draws you in. It's a little longer than my other favourite first line (see

PAGE EIGHTEEN

ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

last month's Book vs. Movie) but it's

Re-reading this

The opening of the novel sets the tone and flavour for the rest of the book, and of the series as a whole

definitely on a par, and sets the tone and

book I tried to find

flavour for the rest of the book. The rest of

the mindset of

the series in fact. Rowling's style is

someone confronting

uncomplicated, partly due to the initial

the series for the first

target audience (11-14 year olds), but it also

time. When these

serves to set a very conversational tone, like

books came out they

a grandfather telling his grandchildren

were astounding in

stories about 'when I was a lad'. So relaxed

their depth of character and setting, the

is it that one easily forgets they are reading

world was so perfectly built alongside our

a children's book.

own it was amazing to think Hogwarts has been around for centuries yet we have never seen it. No wait, sorry, it's not real is it.

Still, I remember waiting in anticipation for my own acceptance letter that would never come.

The film Child actors. You just have to accept that, at eleven years old and with no experience The biggest downside is that it's the

these are British school kids,

first book in a rather long series, so there is

not Hollywood movie brats - the acting is

a near constant stream of introductions in

going to be strained at best. Radcliffe, Grint

the first half of the book. Here are the

and Watson do pretty well though,

Dursleys, here are some students, here are

considering this. Hermione is perfectly

the teachers... It's a commitment you have

precocious, Ron wonderfully baffled and

to make when starting a new series, but it's

Harry stridently unruffled by everything.

Something to be said, considering

worth sticking with to meet the wide variety of people Harry encounters.

the books weren't massive when the film was produced, is the shear magnitude of the

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ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

adult actors. Sir Richard Harris, Alan

bridges and never ending corridors, the

Rickman, Dame Maggie Smith, Robbie

costumes are strange and yet familiarly

Coltrane, Warwick Davis... I could go on,

magical, and the tiny details of such things

but you get the picture. Wonderful award

as magic wands and moving artwork is the

winning, Oscar nominated actors perfectly

icing on the cake.

cast.

The actual film is very faithful to the book. No major plot deviations or changes, no awful cuts (except Peeves. Why Peeves?!) and no censorship of content. The book certainly isn't as dark as some of the later instalments, but being confronted with a three-headed dog can be somewhat startling to a pre-teen.

On the subject of three-headed

The verdict

dogs, the CGI is pretty good, even by

Even if it’s only as a required prequel

today's standards.

to the rest of the series, you need to sit and

Rewatching the film (which I recommend you do now and then) brings such a feeling of nostalgia. Meeting these characters for the first time was wonderful.

I just can’t compliment the casting enough.

enjoy this film one more time. Enjoy your first tour around Hogwarts, take some time to get to know your favourite professors once again, and relish in that first, simple triumph of winning the house cup.

Of course Julie Walters is Mrs Weasley -

The books are, quite rightly, a multi-

who else could be? In fact, I could spend

million pound legacy we can leave to

hours talking about the Weasley family alone! But Tom Felton deserves a mention -

right are as well. And we can’t understand

his initial portrayal of Draco Malfoy is a little pantomime, but it only serves to show the depth of his development over the

generations to come. The films in their own the present without understanding the past - without this first instalment, Harry would never go on to destroy Voldemort and bring

series.

The world is also so perfectly created. Hogwarts is a maze of moving

peace to the world. Oh right, I forgot again, fiction. Or is it?

PAGE TWENTY

ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

First line: She smiled as she opened the box…

Your task: run the mission; don't get seen; save the world.

Prompts Page Have you hit a dead end? Or just need some new ideas?

Look no further - just choose an image, quote or exercise from the page and start writing. Try experimenting with a form you don’t usually write in.

PAGE TWENTY-ONE

ISSUE EIGHT - JUNE 2015

The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.

J.M. Barrie, from ‘Peter Pan’ (1902)

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Lewis Carroll From ‘Jabberwocky’ (1871)

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