May 7, 2012

Adventures in the kitchen: Potato, bacon and leek soup

Have I said this before? I could live off potatoes. So filling, so versatile, so cheap.

While most of you are enjoying the yield to warmer weather, things are cooling down here.

So Cate’s leek soup was calling my name, and with the addition of some leftover bacon and bacon bones and some other tweaks, it blew my mind.

Ingredients for my version:
One leek
Two potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter (can omit for a vegan soup)
3 cups stock
Freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream (can omit for a vegan soup)

Directions:
Slice leeks into rings and dice potatoes finely.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot and cook leeks over medium heat until they are soft.

Add the potatoes and stock. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the cream before serving and season as needed. If you’re making this with the bacon, I doubt you’ll need salt; but if you’re skipping it, then sea salt to your heart’s content. Serves two.

Frugal factor: high. I included a bit of bacon, which would be the priciest part of the equation.

May 7, 2012

Link love (Powered by doughnuts and endless emails)

Reading through some of my old posts recently, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia. For the bloggers I used to read, who’ve stopped writing. Many of them were once commenters here, but no more.

When I first started reading blogs I was a lot more discerning. I limited my reading; I liked to feel I knew the basics about each person I read about – age, occupation, family, location, etc. But bloggers come and go – especially in the personal finance area, where so many are anonymous, or eventually come to the end of a financial journey, and simply fade away.

Now I’ve added more and more fresh blogs to my reader (I’m up to 432, though that includes old feeds to blogs that are no longer active, like some of those below). I’m still picky. I often find myself visiting a blog multiple times through links from elsewhere before taking the step of subscribing. But I’m going to take a moment here to mention some of the bloggers I miss:

Girl with the Red Balloon

Katie/Red was a fellow (ex) journo who quit the profession because it didn’t offer the right kind of lifestyle and pay. I was seriously envious of her writing chops and her dedication to minimalism, fitness and debt payoff.

Fabulously Broke

Since her blog was bought out, it just hasn’t been the same. There are still plenty of pre-written FB posts, but that’s not going to last forever – and the posts that aren’t by her very obviously stand out. Luckily she has a new blog: Mochi and Macarons (two things I do not care for, but I do love her style!)

The Anti-Socialite

One day her posts stopped showing up in my reader. Upon checking the link, though I found out it’s gone private (so maybe she’s still blogging quietly!).

Dog Ate My Finances

Dog was brusque and I didn’t agree with a lot that she said. But I admired her chutzpah and am sad that her blog seems to have been sold to some crappy company trying and failing at SEO (hence why I’m not linking).

SF Money Musings

Loved her because she was another introverted, creative, Asian girl making it in the big city. Again, her blog seems to have been sold to the lowest common denominator.

Frugal Dreamer

A down-to-earth Canadian girl whom you just couldn’t help but warm to.

Blonde and Balanced

She started out on WordPress as Carrie on the Cheap, then came out as her real self and moved over to B&B. Now she’s gotten married, bought a house and stepped back from the blogosphere.

An English Major’s Money

I’ve already done a fan post about this girl. So much smarter than I’ll ever be.

Special Snowflakes and Other Myths

I still think this is the greatest premise for a blog ever. My dad was definitely guilty of cultivating this in me. Despite having terrible self esteem and body image issues, I used to have an inflated perception of my own abilities. Writing – I thought this would surely lead to a great writing career. Music – I thought I could sing. I wrote songs (mostly lyrics, a few actually set to music). All things I thought the world would embrace. All things that millions of others are also vying for, every day.

How many blogs do you read? Any blogs you’ve seen disappear you wish would come back?

Links I liked this week:

Some excellent life advice from Just a Titch.

Bullish advice on asking for more money.

A lovely, bittersweet post on life and death by Kara.

What to do after making a career switch, at Life Etc.

Tips for the first time cruiser, from Stephany Writes.

My post on getting back into your groove, How to reclaim your work mojo, was in the last carnival of personal finance.

And more recently, Journalism lessons for the rest of us (on thinking like a journo to get ahead) made it into the Yakezie carnival.

Blast from the past

One year ago…
I pondered the impact of class in the workplace;
Outlined why I have no management aspirations;
Talked about having a communications degree;
Shared some of my favourite cheap eats in Auckland;
Blogged about peak creative times.

Two years ago…
My childhood best friend found me through Facebook;
I struggled with some relationship imbalance;
And blogged about the plight of the journalism grad.

Three years ago
I recounted some of my early jobs;
And asked why YOU blog.

May 5, 2012

Review: The Complete Stories – Franz Kafka

There are three parts to The Complete Stories.

The two openers, Before the Law and The Imperial Message, which I *think* are about patience and perseverance and I especially liked.

The main body, including his seminal The Metamorphosis and other stories. Kafka’s gothic dark humour really shines through. He seems to have a thing about imperial rule/animals/death/imprisonment and of course, the human condition. Prime example: the true-to-life, packed with allusions, The Hunger Artist.

Some were deathly dull. The Burrow, I didn’t even read. Some are just bewildering: Description of a Struggle (WTF was going on there? Please enlighten me if you’ve read it), Wedding Preparations in the Country.

His most famous work was, of course, The Metamorphosis – very Greek tragic, beautifully haunting.

But my favourite was a very, very dark one, In the Penal Colony, featuring an unthinkable machine of torture. Simultaneously absurd and horrifying, you have to wonder what was going through his mind.

And then the shorter vignettes of the final section, some just a couple of paragraphs long. A few shiners, but overall more unpolished diamonds than gems, in my view.

No doubt these are stories that get better with multiple readings – I just don’t want to put in the time.

May 4, 2012

Guest post: OTT weddings and cutting costs

Today’s post is part of a Yakezie blog swap on the topic of weddings! You can read my post over at Fiscal Phoenix.

Before we cut our cable, I enjoyed watching Say Yes to the Dress.I was continually fascinated by the women who would spend $10,000 to $20,000 on a dress. True, the dresses were often gorgeous “princess” dresses with elaborate detailing and beading and a gorgeous train. Yet, I could never imagine dropping so much money on a dress I would wear one time for one day. ONE DAY!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How We Cut Costs for Our Wedding

When I got married 10 years ago, I just happened to fall in love with a wedding dress that cost a little over $100. After alterations, the final price tag was just a bit over $200.

Because I come from a very large family (my dad was the youngest of 10 kids and my mom was the second youngest of 9 kids and I have over 40 cousins on my mom’s side alone), my husband and I knew we would have to keep things simple to be able to afford to invite over 250 guests. In the end, my husband and I made all of the table decorations, made our own flower arrangements and did much of the other prep work ourselves such as wrapping the silverware in a napkin with a bow around it and even making our own arch to walk through when we entered the reception.

My aunt made our wedding cake, my cousin was the D.J., and my uncle took the wedding video. We had a hot buffet of food we had made the night before the wedding. Our wedding was DIY, and we only spent $6,000 for 250 guests. That price is not just for the reception, but for every single wedding expense.

What I loved about our wedding was that there was no residual effect. We didn’t have to put any of the wedding expenses on credit. We weren’t still paying for our wedding years or months after it happened. What I disliked about our wedding was that we did so much ourselves, we were exhausted when it was over!

Over the Top Weddings

I have attended plenty of weddings where the bride and groom dropped a great deal of money and were paying the wedding off for several years. What I noticed about these weddings is that they had a lot of little things that people didn’t want.

My friend had a wedding where they gave out flower bulbs so people could plant them and remember the wedding. This is a nice idea, but in reality, most people probably didn’t want plant bulbs, so they didn’t plant them. To me, that was wasted money. While the napkins that have the couple’s names and wedding date embossed on them are pretty to look at, at the end of the day, they are just napkins. People aren’t going to bring them home and cherish them; they are going to use them to wipe food off the corner of their mouth.

I may not be the best person to ask about these issues because I am a bit of a minimalist when it comes to parties and decorating. However, considering fights about money are the number one cause of divorce and couples tend to fight more when they are saddled in debt, starting a marriage in debt because you had an expensive, over the top wedding doesn’t seem like the smartest relationship choice.

Melissa blogs at Fiscal Phoenix and Mom’s Plans where she writes about finances, getting out of debt, food and family.

May 2, 2012

Layby vs hire purchase

I’ve been doing some higher-end mystery shops of late: jewellery, luxury fashion. They’ve been awesome experiences, actually. The staff know their stuff and when it comes to making suggestions for improvement, I really don’t have any ideas to offer. In fact, one of the surveys went so well I very, very nearly went through with the purchase (and if New Zealand had strong return policies I probably would have). This wasn’t one of those surveys that included purchase, or purchase followed by return. Just one of those teasy ones where you pull out at the very last minute.

Luxury retail, SoHo (Photo credit: La Citta Vita)

One thing they always make a note of is to mention a layby option. I never really understood this until I got older and realised that some people spend hundreds of dollars on a single item of clothing. (Personally, the most I’ve ever spent is under $200, on a coat, and a pair of a boots respectively.) Since the big bad GFC, layby is apparently making a bit of a return to the retail scene.

If you’re not familiar with the term, layby involves the shop putting aside the item for you. You pay weekly instalments toward the balance – usually interest-free – and once it’s paid for in full, that’s when you finally take it home.

For those who can’t pay in full upfront, I think it’s a great option. It beats paying 20 percent interest on a credit card, that’s for sure. And I certainly am not going to argue with a system that promotes delayed gratification (something I think our generation lacks a little, myself included).

Then there’s that other beast – hire purchase, offered on bigger-ticket items. Electronics. Appliances. They’re not such a good deal, in my view.

I did consider taking out a hire purchase on one of my laptops. It was a lovely interest-free deal, and interest rates were high enough that I figured I might as well keep money sitting in my account as long as possible.

But digging down into the fine print, I found upfront fees and annual charges that totally wiped out the interest-free carrot. And that’s why I whipped out my credit card, took the rewards points, and took the savings hit.

I can see in some situations this might also be preferable to carrying a credit balance, depending on the specific numbers. But I don’t anticipate a hire purchase ever worming its way into my list of financial liabilities.

May 1, 2012

How to stay sane and maintain a semblance of life order

I am a terrible procrastinator. I am also a stressball, a low-energy type of person and despite the fact that I have neither kids nor any regular extracurricular commitments, often find myself wishing science would hurry up and invent a real life Time Turner.

Nonetheless, through a crazy uni schedule, multiple jobs, shift work and now 9-5 work, I’ve come up with a few things that are working for me.

Cooking

I shop once a week. Usually on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. On Sunday night I make up lunches for the next couple of days, if not the whole week. I ate sandwiches for most of my school years and am ever so slightly over them (except for elaborate, gourmet type ones, which I have not the patience to deal with).

I much prefer a cooked lunch – couscous, fried rice, roast veggies – with the odd salad (it must have serious carbs or protein in it, however, in order to earn its place in my stomach).

I’m not very good at cooking in big batches (hence why we don’t entertain all that much) so it’s rare that we have leftovers for dinner. But those evenings are AWESOME. Can you beat coming home and heating up a lovely homecooked-meal in minutes? I think not.

I also try to keep some basics on hand at all times – those quick-cook pasta meals in packets, noodles, bread, peanut butter, eggs etc.

Exercise

Compared to most, I’m pretty slack on the exercising front. I say find what suits you, and stick to it. For a while I did free Zumba classes with a friend every Wednesday. I don’t like it enough to pay for it, though. Running has always been the one physical activity I’m kind of good at, and so I go with it. Plus it’s free! I’ve tried running in the mornings. Doesn’t really work. Pre-breakfast, I don’t get far before feeling queasy and light-headed from hunger. Post-breakfast, I just can’t run that soon after. I also do not do well running after consuming spicy food. What I DO do is try to run once on a weekend afternoon and once on a weekday evening (hence the importance of a filling lunch). I also do a few stretches and other exercises on my bedroom floor most weekday mornings (weekends are for lazy rising).

Sleep

Sleep is sacred. It comes only second to food in my world. Nothing gets in the way of my sleep. NOTHING.

Me time

I need alone time like some people hate the idea of marriage equality. Me time is for reading books. Blogging. Playing guitar. Baking. Until recently, watching Buffy. Consuming content that’s relevant to my industry (career development? self-improvement?). Whatever your thing is, make time for it and do not let others impinge upon it. I often turn down weeknight invitations, even though my only plan is a hot date with my food processor, mixing bowl and oven.

Cleaning

I hate cleaning with a passion. I should be cleaning more often, eg, in that midweek slump (you should see the state our house descends into by the end of the week. One day when I’m all grown up I will have a monthly cleaner to help out…). At our place, cleaning usually occurs on a Sunday evening so we have things looking nice to start the week and then it’s all downhill from there.

I have an excellent book that lays out tips to keep on top of cleaning, like filing away paperwork as soon as it arrives, sweeping hard floors every day, wiping down things in the bathroom every couple of days, etc. Good advice to follow. But if you’re like me, nobody will strike you down dead with lightning for your slatternly ways. Personally, I only remember to clean the windowsills when a property inspection is forthcoming.

Relationships and friendships

I would be happy if every night ended with me engrossed in a book and T watching TV before falling asleep. Apparently, though, sometimes it’s good for me to put my book down and interact with him. (J/K, sorta.) Occasionally we manage a bona fide date night, and that’s always lovely. I recommend scheduling those in. I also suggest the same kind of standing arrangement with friends; regular get-togethers are more likely to succeed.

Last year I set myself a goal of texting one friend a week. You might be like me and be better at being pursued than doing the pursuing. I’m slack at reaching out, because, well, I’m lazy. (And perhaps because I have a deep-seated need to be liked and fear rejection.) It would be so much easier if they were all into social media … But anyway, regularly reaching out to friends is a great thing.

Sensing a pattern?

Organisation is key. I plan most everything ahead and am constantly making fresh notes in my calendar or reminders in my iPhone. I listen to my body, because it likes routine, and so does the smooth running of my life, really. I have nothing on some of you guys with your hardcore day planners, but in my world, if I get the bins out in time for the rubbish collection, that’s a win.

OTHER STUFF

Know yourself. You know your limits and you know your priorities. Honour those. There are people who thrive on a busy life, with constant houseguests, frequently entertaining at home, going out after work every night, training for a marathon, travelling frequently, kicking ass at work. I’m not one of them. And I don’t try to be.

Set boundaries. People will always want more from you. It’s up to you to say “NO. NO MORE EMAIL CHECKING ON THE WEEKENDS.” Say no. And stop responding to Facebook events with ‘maybe’ if it’s definitely a no.

Have things to look forward to, both big and small. Everyone needs goals, dreams, motivation. Mine was getting into the degree I wanted to pursue. Then it was graduating and getting a job and having more time and money. Then it was finding a job with better hours. Now it’s travel and a wedding. There are little things, too, like a mini staycation or visits to a favourite restaurant. Whatever yours is, keep it on the horizon.

Have less stuff. Okay, this may not work for everyone. I live with a horrible materialist. Where I didn’t want to tell anyone we were burgled the last time that happened (because it’s a rather embarrassing story), he wanted to brag to friends about his shiny new TV (thanks to how fast technology moves, we got a bigger one for what the old one was worth). But the more stuff you have, the more time and money it sucks up. T’s RC car, motorbike, etc need maintenance. Which is fine, as it doesn’t involve me (although I still end up being the one to remind him that this or that needs taking care of). Also, stuff can be stolen, as I too well know.

Not sweat the small stuff

I’m working on this: stopping obsessing over BS and stopping beating myself up about mistakes. Because we all mess up. We’re human. Fall off the moneywagon? Pick yourself up and try again next month. Letting someone’s disparaging throwaway comment haunt you? Ask if they really matter – and if they actually know what they’re talking about. Adulting has an excellent post on this.

THE FINAL WORD

I truly believe that you cannot do it all at once. Balance to me, is fluid. Are you going to spend exactly an hour exercising every single day, an hour socialising, an hour cooking, 30 minutes reading, 15 minutes tidying the house up, or whatever? Your priorities, and thus your balance, shifts over time. Sometimes you’ll need to turn up the dial on work for a while. Then that might quiet down and you can focus on health or friends. When you’re training for a marathon you need to step up your game on that front, then you can pick back up on other things once that’s behind you.

What do you find helpful in keeping your head on straight and your day-to-day life on track?

April 30, 2012

A week in the life: sans smartphone

By: Gonzalo Baeza

Recently, I spent a week without my iPhone. Or any phone at all. It was kind of like losing a small body part. Perhaps a finger. I coped, but it was annoying.

After five days, I went out to the mall and bought myself a $39 cheapie, an LG that weighed practically nothing with chunky buttons and did nothing, basically, apart from text, call, play radio and do calculations. I didn’t know quite what to do with it. So I didn’t do anything at all. It was an epic chore just to figure out how to turn off the keypad tones. I resorted to the occasional text speak because typing was so tedious. Everything about it was hideous and horrendous. But at least I was contactable.

(I believe a cellphone is a necessity for most people today. I use mine to contact T when I don’t know where he is; when I need a ride in a relative emergency; for work; to keep in touch with friends who aren’t big on social media, and of course, all the other things that web access on a phone enables.)

Here’s what I use my iPhone for in a normal day:

The alarm wakes me up
I sneak it under the covers and read the day’s news
I check my social networks, including work accounts if feeling diligent
I receive news alerts direct to my phone
I do a spot of social networking while waiting for my computer to unfreeze
I receive Twitter alerts – monitoring my work account and my two personal accounts
I read blogs over lunch
I make myself notes in the Reminders app
I use Google Maps and remote email if I’m leaving the office during the day
I make notes in Evernote if, while walking to and from home, I come up with ideas for either my blog or work (which is often)
I add items to our grocery shopping list in my Pak n Save app
I occasionally listen to music or podcasts (rarely – I’m terrible at focusing when it’s solely audio. My mind wanders like crazy)

Hence why I would never make it on Survivor or those dreadful reality shows where families live like they’re back in the 1800s.

Are you a smartphone addict? What do you rely on your phone for?

April 29, 2012

Link love (Powered by tiny feet and comedy acts)

When I have kids, you can bet that they will be a good few years apart in age.

T and I spent Anzac Day with his three nieces and one nephew. The older two are in double digits, just, and the younger two around 1 and 2. The littlest is EXHAUSTING. He runs absolutely everywhere and doesn’t seem to tire; most of our excursion to Western Springs (a park surrounding a giant pond/lake filled with ducks, swans, eels and other aquatic life) was spent chasing his speedy little person as he hurtled toward the water. His sister is about a year older, and, thankfully, a little calmer. One adventurous pair of pattering legs is tiring enough to keep up with.

My brother and I were six years apart, which I think was too much. I have to admit, I was kind of a bad sister. I had (and still have) pretty much no experience with younger children. And I was horrible to him; for the most part, I didn’t want anything to do with him at all. I remember lots of yelling and hitting, though for the life of me now I couldn’t tell you what one of those fights was about. So every time T berated one of the older girls for not helping out with their siblings, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for how selfish I was back in the day.

CARNIVALS THIS WEEK

Thanks KNS Financial for hosting last week’s Yakezie carnival! He included my post on employment and independence.

And Jacob at My Personal Finance Journey hosted the Totally Money carnival, along with my post ruminating on how winning the lottery (even though I don’t play) would change my life.

LINKS

Every aspiring pro blogger should read this post on getting better paying gigs.

Diary of Why on the things she wishes she knew back when.

Five no cost/low cost ways to upskill, at Fabulously Broke.

Red Lips and Academics on the new generation between girlhood and womanhood.

Cassie at Digging Out and Up on how envy can be dangerous to those in debt.

Koreanish says there’s a good chance you’re not writing because you’re not writing about what you actually want to write about.

Confessions of a female ex-lad mag editor.

Scary, sobering, craziness over Klout. *smh*

Lindy at Minting Nickels shares some lessons on buying a new car.

A sweet chili chicken rice bowl from Closet Cooking.

Poor Girl Eats Well shares a recipe for spicy Thai basil beef.

Smitten Kitchen whips up some classic ice cream sandwiches.

Finally…

I was approached by Alan Akina of Hawaii’s 101 Financial this month, who’s launching an e-book on personal finance for the working middle-class. It’s short, digestible and comes with worksheets and links to videos (warning: there is, IMO, excessive life-storying to wade through before the practical stuff kicks in, if you want to skip the narrative). It’s very much for beginners looking to get the basics down and nudge their finances into shape. I do like his top five money principles: money in, money out, money we owe, money to grow and money to share. Snappy, huh? You can grab a copy for free on May 1 at SuperDuperSimpleBooks.com.

And in other news, I cracked 100,000 all-time blog views this week!

Thanks so much for reading along; I appreciate each and every new subscriber, follower and commenter. If you’re a lurker, why not choose today to de-lurk and say hi? 🙂

April 27, 2012

5 career lessons I learned as a journalist

What I learned from being a journalist

You learn a few things after being plunged into the world of media.

(For me, it’s been the need to be absolutely ruthless with my time, because I could easily work 24/7. That’s hardly industry-specific, though.)

But there are a few other things that are totally applicable to everyone.

There are no stupid questions

Okay, maybe you’ll look stupid or feel stupid for asking for clarification for what might seem a really basic concept. But you’ll feel even stupider if you don’t, and end up getting the wrong end of the stick. “When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.” So never be afraid to ask simple questions – WHY? HOW? Unless it’s due to you not doing any research of your own, most people will appreciate that you’re genuinely trying to understand what’s going on, whether it’s in reference to a scientific idea, a financial concept, a new hi-tech product.

The power of silence

People chatter when they’re nervous. They want to fill the empty airspace. Silence is used by salespeople as a tactic to get what they want. Know when to shut up and use it to your advantage, i.e. in negotiations.

Ask “who else should I talk to?”

Sara Ganim won the Pulitzer for breaking the Penn State scandal. And it all started by asking a regular source, “Anything else going on?” This applies to everyone – if you’re looking for work, ask everybody you know, and ask them to put the feelers out. When dealing with a customer, ask for referrals.

Start easy, and ease into the heavy stuff

I’m not a big fan of small talk, but accept it’s a necessity. Sometimes I am even quite good at it. Getting things done is often about greasing the wheels. It’s about setting people at ease, getting them used to you, and warming them up. You wouldn’t march into your boss’ office, sit down without greeting and demand a raise at the top of your voice, right? Before getting into the nitty-gritty, hard-hitting stuff, smooth the path and lay the groundwork.

Just do it

It’s all too easy to put tasks off, to feign that you “need to do more research”. God knows we all did that countless times at journalism school. Nope. What you need to do is pick up the damn phone or send that email. I still occasionally suffer from phone phobia (and sometimes can’t help but wonder, as a die-hard shy introvert, if I’m in the wrong business) but I have no choice but to suck it up and deal to it. It’s usually a lot less scary than you imagine. Whoever is on the other end is just a person – another human being, like you or me. While the worst that could happen can be pretty embarrassing (BEING HUNG UP ON), it’s less daunting having put it behind you, rather than have it hang over your head.

April 26, 2012

Review: Socialpunk (plus Q&A with author Monica Leonelle O’Brien)

I recently had the chance to interview Monica Leonelle, a Chicago-based writer, and review her latest e-book, Socialpunk (the first in a trilogy). Read on for some of her insights, and scroll down for my book review!

Many authors find writing a creative outlet from an otherwise uncreative job. Can you talk about balancing writing a novel (a creative pursuit) with a marketing career (also a rather creative pursuit) and keeping those juices constantly fresh?

I would go crazy if I just did one or the other. I like that marketing is all about strategy, and that I’m able to provide a ton of value to would-be writers. For example, I have free email consultations that are killer—they are getting really popular, actually. One allows you to ask three questions about writing, publishing, and/or marketing a book. I send back detailed answers. The other is for writers with a manuscript—they can upload their first 1000 words and received detailed feedback on how to make their book more hooking.

Novel writing is what I do for fun, but it also ties into my business nicely, I suppose. I am working on a better balance between the two at the moment, and considering doing more serialized fiction so I can get my fiction out and into the world faster. I spend a lot more of my time on my writing consults and editing services, at this time.

Tell me about the differences between writing a novel and business/nonfiction – the process, how you approach it?

They aren’t that different for me. I use Scrivener to do detailed outlines, regardless of what I’m writing. And in both, I try to create lots of tension. Though, I guess with non-fiction I really try to give detailed information, which isn’t always tension-based. Linked Prospect is a leading software for automating invites, auto-responders and bulk message campaigns on LinkedIn. We have a system that saves you time and targets the exact people that you want to talk to about your products or services.

What was the inspiration for Socialpunk and what message do you hope to deliver through it?

I don’t do messages, really. I can’t honestly understand authors who try to give a message. I prefer to present the world through my viewpoint and let people decide what they believe for themselves. As for inspiration, the book is inspired by Chicago winters, technology and digital media, and the Terminator series. James Cameron continues to be a huge inspiration for me as a writer.

The book publishing industry is going through some massive upheaval and very fundamental changes – what are your thoughts on the future of publishing?

I don’t know that books will really be around, to be honest (in the far future). In the Socialpunk universe, people don’t have books anymore. All media is interactive and visual. Text isn’t needed as much because thoughts are communicated without words.

Tell me about your book marketing strategy – did you start blogging first to build a fan base? Are other authors adopting a similar strategy?

I don’t believe in blogging to build an audience, at least not in its typical form. I’m still building a fan base for my novels, but one of the ways I do so is via an email list. I have about 500 people who are willing to hear about my new releases… of course, the more the better. I haven’t launched a campaign to increase this number, but I’m definitely thinking about how to do so.

Your one piece of advice for would-be authors?

Patience! It’s not just for would-be authors, but also for authors. And also for myself :). I want to speed things along whenever I can, but books are a slow business.

REVIEW

Socialpunk – Monica Leonelle O’Brien

A little bit YA, a little bit sci-fi, Socialpunk follows a teenaged Ima living in a post-apocalyptic America. The novel opens as she, along with her best friend/something more Dash, sneaks out under her abusive father’s nose to a rave in the city. Her night begins to unravel as Dash abandons her to hook up with beautiful, catty Lia (urk. Granted, sci-fi isn’t always strong on characterisation), and takes a definite turn for the worse when the entire club blows up.

And thus, she learns her entire universe – The Dome – is a lie. Along with the mysterious Nahum and VR “tester” Vaughn – who’s just as surprised to discover that real people exist in this dimension as Ima is to realise that her Chicago isn’t all it seems to be – she travels beyond the boundaries of her train line to a place where the line between human and machine is blurred; the currency of choice is Clout (does anybody else now find it strange to see the word spelled correctly?); and art and creatives rule. I particularly liked that.

As Ima plunges into the real Chicago, she must piece together a puzzle much larger than she could ever have imagined. It’s a world where, in order to survive, she has to undergo a Terminator-style makeover to fit in, emerging bigger, faster, stronger (it’s a bit Bella in Breaking Dawn post turning – and yes, I read all those books). On the plus side, in this new phase of her life, she has not one but two guys vying for her affection – every awkward teenage girl’s dream.

While slow to start, the author does eventually pick up the pace and from then on it’s all action action action. Admittedly, some parts are clunky and unpolished, and from about halfway through small grammatical errors and typos start creeping in. And personally, I think it would have been stronger without the very last chapter. But I think the key question is: would I read the sequels? The answer is yes.

Want to win stuff? There’re giveaways going on around Socialpunk’s release – click here for more details.

Are you much of a sci-fi fan? An aspiring novelist? (I bet a fair few of you are – I used to want to write a YA novel, but now I think I’d be more likely to write something non-fiction. Can non-famous people write memoirs?)