Headphones and Notebooks

Now that Christmas is only a month away, most of us are looking for gifts for the writers in our lives. But venturing into the increasingly-busy shops can be a bit daunting when you don’t know what you’re looking for. So I’ve pulled together my top five gift ideas that would be perfect for the writer in your life. 1. Notebooks Fact: there is no such thing as too many notebooks. I have several around my room right now, and I would still be thrilled with more. It’s always useful to have one you can slip into your bag before going out, and I for one like having different notebooks for different projects. The best thing about notebooks is that their designs range from everything to smart, plain ones, to ones decorated with TV characters, floral designs, animals, or whatever else you can think of. Ergo, you can find the perfect notebook for anyone. They even make great stocking fillers. 2. Desk tidies Most writers have a plethora of pens, pencils, notebooks, sticky not

With His Dark Materials hitting television screens, as well as upcoming remakes for Roald Dahl’s The Witches , and a host of Disney remakes of old fairytales they had previously animated, I couldn’t help but think about book adaptations. I recently discussed the stream of reboots and remakes we’ve had on our screens, and it got me thinking about how there are still plenty of books that seem ripe for adaptation but aren’t being made. It seems odd to me that we keep remaking films and television adaptations and yet overlook some great stories at the same time. So this week, I’ll be talking about five books I’d love to see adapted for the screen. 1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman Written by the author of Stardust and Coraline , and co-creator of Good Omens , Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a real treat. I remember reading the whole book in about six hours, before meeting Gaiman at a book signing at Portsmouth’s Guildhall back in 2013. I had

Angel #6 For anyone who’s been following my reviews, you’ll know that I haven’t quite reached a point in the Angel comics where I’m super excited by what’s happening. But with issue number six comes a change. With Angel off fighting on the Hellmouth with Buffy, Spike’s fled to Los Angeles following Drusilla’s betrayal, and Lilith wants Fred and Gunn to seek him out. Not only was this issue great for seeing Fred and Gunn in action together without Angel around, but it was also fun to see Spike without Drusilla. I feel like this is perhaps the first time in the comic reboot that Spike is really able to flex his muscles, as it were, as he was constrained by his sire while in Sunnydale. This issue also marks the addition of Spike to the Angel Investigations team, and I’m curious to see how long Spike will remain a staple of the Angel comics. Is this a long-term thing, or will he cross back over into Sunnydale and the Buffy comics once Angel is back to lead his team again?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ’s avid fans have a lot of opinions on the various characters in the show, and that is no more obvious than how fans see members of the beloved Scooby Gang. All the characters divide fans’ opinions in one way or another, but one character stands out in particular. Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) was introduced in season four’s iconic Hush as a potential new friend- and lover- for Willow (Alyson Hannigan). She soon joined the Scooby Gang ranks, despite Benson not being credited as a main cast member until her final appearance, and for many her calm demeanour and quiet strength made her a fan favourite. But others thought differently. The reason Tara as a character stands out so much is because, unfortunately, she is unique in the Scooby Gang in that she appears to not really serve much of a purpose. She also lacks much of a connection to the rest of the Gang beyond being Willow’s girlfriend. As a result, some fans were left feeling the character was a little b