Tom Cruise films never fail to amaze me and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is no exception because it is now one of the best films I've seen this year. I love action movies. Some of my favourite films are action movies and if you were to ask me who my favourite actors/actresses are, I'd say Tom Cruise. I have yet to watch a Tom Cruise film that I've disliked and the Mission: Impossible franchise is one of my top movie franchises ever. So it was no surprise that when Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One came out, I desperately wanted to see it. And usually for films being released in the cinema, I'd wait until they were available on a streaming service or the likes of Sky. However, with it being the seventh instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, my family and I went to the cinema to see it on the big screen. And how wonderful it was. Review of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was a fantastic film. It brings together all the key characters from the previous movies, such as Benji, Luther and Ilsa, and also introduces some new characters, one of whom is from Ethan Hunt's life before he joined the IMF, adding another twist to the film. The premise of the movie is for Ethan - Tom Cruise's character - to retrieve a key, split into two parts, to stop a new enemy called The Entity. The Entity is essentially AI (artificial intelligence) that could ultimately rule the world. Ethan and his friends have to retrieve the key but upon doing so, they meet Hayley Atwell's character, Grace. She's a new addition to the IMF gang and by the end of the film becomes integral to the organisation and their friend group. Now, what I love about Tom Cruise films are the stunts and authenticity of the action. In the Mission: Impossible movies, Tom Cruise doesn't half-arse a job - he goes all in. And in Dead Reckoning: Part One there are so many stunts and action sequences that as a viewer blow your mind. One, in particular, was the motorcycle scene where Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle up a mountain and launches himself off the cliff to then parachute down onto a moving train. This scene was spectacular. Any stunt a character that Tom Cruise plays does in a film is always incredible because you know Tom, himself, has done the stunt. And as the video shows, Tom Cruise did actually ride the motorbike off a cliff and base jump onto the train. I could go on forever about the action sequences, like the one in the falling train, but I want to focus on the other aspects of the movie. Another aspect of the Mission: Impossible films that I love is the friendship and comedy. Simon Pegg's character, Benji, is a great example of comedy through character. In every film Simon Pegg is in, Benji's character adds humour to the tense and fast-paced action. He delivers one-liners and humorous anecdotes throughout that do make you laugh. Ving Rhames' character, Luther, also adds a comedic effect as well as Tom Cruise. And these comedy elements add momentary relief to the drama making the films more enjoyable as a whole, and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is no exception. The friendship aspect of the films is conveyed through the actors' relationships off-screen, being friends with each other, but also with the closeness of characters and how they're always there to back the other up. Ethan, Benji, Luther, Ilsa - and now Grace - support each other and fight together, no matter the costs and that's evident in the seventh instalment of the franchise when Benji, Luther and Ilsa turn up in a van to rescue Ethan. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is one of my top films this year - just below Top Gun: Maverick - and I can safely say it won't disappoint. It is definitely worth the watch if you love action movies! Until next time...

Welcome back for Part Two of my interview with the bestselling author, Cressida McLaughlin. Readers, welcome back to WriteWatchWork. If you read my most recent post, you would know that I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my favourite authors, Cressida McLaughlin. Speaking to Cressida was a moment I'll never forget, but we spoke about so much that I've had to split the interview into two parts. You can read Part One here, and for Part Two, where we talk all about Cressida's books and have a game of Would You Rather, read on. My interview with Cressida McLaughlin WriteWatchWork: You recently signed a new multi-book deal with HarperCollins. Could you tell me a bit more about that -- if allowed, of course -- and if you have any ideas for the new books yet? Cressida: Yes, so I've got a four-book deal with HarperCollins, and two books are going to be standalone romances and two are going to be a series, which is going to be a new series; so not The Cornish Cream Tea series, which is, at the moment, after eight books, coming to an end -- but I might return to it, so never say never. The book I'm writing at the moment is a standalone romance and then I'm going to be writing the first book in a new series, but actually, I haven't yet decided what that is. There are still discussions with my editor about where it's set, whether it's another Cornwall-set series or I'd love to set a series in Norfolk, which is where I live. And so, I haven't started thinking about that one yet because I'm still working on this new standalone. So there are going to be two standalones and then two books in a brand-new series. All kind of the same style that I've written from the beginning so contemporary romance; lots of characters, lots of community, and usually some pets because I love putting animals in my books, so the same feel-good factor as before. WriteWatchWork: Well, I look forward to reading them. And you mentioned including lots of characters there, and across all of your books, there are several protagonists and side characters. Which character resonates with you the most that you've written? Cressida: Oh my goodness, out of all my books? It's really hard. I try to make all my main characters different, so sometimes, I try and think of characters that are really different to me and that's more of a challenge. Recently, the one that's resonated with me the most is probably Thea in The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday. She comes down to Cornwall for a solo holiday because her best friend's had to pull out because she's got a job back in Bristol where she lives. Thea is quiet, she's a bit of an introvert and she's very bookish. She finds it difficult to come out of her shell, but she's also got this dream that she wants to fulfil and she finds it quite hard to do that. I loved writing about her because I think that I've got some of the same characteristics as her. I'm quite introverted; I could easily hide in my house and read books for days on end without doing anything else. And there are some bits in that book, for example, she goes on this clifftop walk in Cornwall that she finds absolutely terrifying, and I wrote that after I'd done the same thing with my husband. We'd gone on this walk and he was like 'Let's get on the cliffs', and there were bits of the cliff walk that were just like, 'Why are there no barriers?'. I couldn't believe that people strode along this thing with a sheer drop down to the rocks below. So there was quite a lot of me in Thea I think and I definitely resonate with her story quite a bit, whereas characters like Ollie, who's a lot more extroverted, I loved writing her but I think that's because I'm quite different to her. WriteWatchWork: It's good though to have characters that you do relate to but then others who surprise you and are very different as well. Cressida: Definitely. I like the challenge of that, and my editor always says there's a little bit of you in every single one of your heroines, which I think is unavoidable because they're coming from you. But it's nice to think, 'How would she react in this situation?', and actually it will be really different from how I'd react, and kind of exploring those moments. WriteWatchWork: Well, have there been any characters you've disliked writing about or not enjoyed as much, whether it be a protagonist or side character? Cressida: I think sometimes there are villainous characters, not in a cartoon strip way, I don't think you can put a big bad villain in there because it wouldn't be realistic. One of the main problems I have is I hate putting my hero and heroine through the ringer. So, when it comes to the conflict element, which you have to have in books, I always find it really difficult to do that. I have to gear myself up and say, 'You're going to make them have a really horrible time, but there's going to be a happy ever after at the end, so don't worry about it.' I'm trying to get better at that, so there are not necessarily any characters I've disliked writing, but those bits of the book, although they're really interesting and meaty and challenging to write, I always have to push myself further, because otherwise they'll just have a little disagreement on Page 220 and by Page 222, I'll want them back together. So I have to work hard at making them have a bit of the book, which is often referred to as 'The Dark Night of the Soul', where characters hit rock bottom and have to drag their way out and find their own happy ever after. So, that bit I always find quite hard work, but also it's really good for me to do it. WriteWatchWork: Earlier you mentioned where the inspiration for The House of Birds and Butterflies came from, going to nature reserves with your husband, but what about your first book? Where did the inspiration for A Christmas Tail come from? Cressida: I have never owned a dog, I've had a couple of cats in the past, but I've never owned a dog. But I love dogs and near us, where we live in Norwich, just on the edge of Norwich, we've got a really nice park. It's just a big square of grass and me and my husband used to go walking there every morning before breakfast. And the main people we'd meet would be dog walkers and we got to know them. It is sort of like a really nice community, and you could see that these people met up with each other to go dog walking. It was so lovely to see the people walking and how similar they were to their dogs, and so the idea was what if this woman starts dog walking in her beautiful little neighbourhood, but she's more interested in solving all the problems of the owners than she is in walking the dogs. So I wanted a really nosy character, who had such great intentions to help people, but always kind of got things wrong or got in the way. I just thought that that was such a nice idea for a book, having this little community where they all get involved in things like the Christmas lights; it seemed like such rich territory for romance and with this character, who was hopeless in lots of ways but had a really big heart. So it was mainly from walking around, seeing the dogs and their owners near where I live and thinking about what they would be like and what are they like with their dogs. WriteWatchWork: Which of your books was the most challenging to write? Cressida: So I know the answer to this. The Cornish Cream Team Bus, which I would say is the book that has changed my writing career because it was never going to be a series, to begin with. It was just this one book because I wanted to set a book in Cornwall, I wanted it to be on the beach, and I wanted it to involve food. I had all of these ideas and I wrote the whole book, sent it off to my editor and she came back to me and said there are only two things wrong with this: The relationship between the hero and heroine. And the plot. Basically, it's the biggest structural edit I've ever had to do. I had to basically rewrite the whole book and it was a huge challenge. It was really stressful at the time because it was my sixth book, but in the past lots of my books have been written in four parts because they came out as eBook parts; so, I'd write each book as a part and have it edited as a part, so I wasn't ever working on a whole book at once. Whereas this one was the first book I think, or maybe the second book, where I've done that. And then to have this edit where I had a huge amount to do, it was really really stressful, but I was super happy with the finished results and it was really really popular. My editor was like 'This is a really popular book, why don't we do a second one?' And so The Cornish Cream Tea series was born. So the hardest book to write but the biggest rewards reaped at the end. WriteWatchWork: What was the easiest book of yours to write? Cressida: Easiest to write was The Staycation, which was my standalone that I wrote a couple of years ago, and I wrote that in lockdown. I had just sent off, I think, The Cornish Cream Tea Wedding to my editor, who was on holiday for a fortnight, and I had this idea bubbling in my head, which was obviously based on lockdown because it was about a guy who was stuck in a hotel room because he'd been in an accident, he couldn't really get out and about, and his sister sends a travel agent to his room to book him a holiday for when he's better. But he says he doesn't want that, he wants the travel agent to bring the holidays to him in the hotel room while he's recovered because he's so bored, and so that was the idea and it'd been bubbling away probably since the beginning of lockdown. And then when my editor was away, I just sat down and thought, 'I'll see if I can write the first chapter'. She didn't know I was writing it, it was just for my own pleasure and in that fortnight, I wrote the whole first draft, so I wrote about 90,000 words in two weeks. I just couldn't stop, I loved it so much. And after, I sent it to my agent and said, 'What do you think about this?' and she sent it to my editor and she was like, 'Let's publish it'. So that was definitely the easiest and quickest one to write because for some reason the story and everything about it was just there in my head waiting to plop down onto my computer. I wish that was the case for every book, but it's not; it was an anomaly but quite a good one. WriteWatchWork: In a lot of your books, you have very specific knowledge, for example, wildlife and nature in The House of Birds and Butterflies, and astronomy in The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse. What sort of things do you tend to research for a book and how long does the research stage take? Cressida: It depends really on the book. With The House of Birds and Butterflies, my husband and I go to those bird reserves all the time, so I really wanted to write about it and I had quite a lot of knowledge already. But obviously, especially, there are bits at the beginning of each chapter, which is a little snippet about a particular bird or animal, and I will research those to make sure that the facts I was putting in weren't just random or something I thought was true but wasn't. Astronomy, again, that's something I'm really interested in, but I didn't know many of the details. So I would say with every book, I do probably a few weeks of research, and most of it is online to be honest; I haven't gone out and done any proper big research trips, although that's something I'd like to do in the future. For The Cornish Cream Tea Bus, it was making sure it was actually plausible that you could have a café on a bus and if it was alright to have a water tank in there and an oven. I didn't want that to be completely improbable, so I had to research all those bits, and you don't want too much detail in there, no one needs to know about how the water tank is fitted but they want to feel like they're not living in a fantasy world if the book isn't a fantasy book. So I do probably a few weeks of research just to make sure that I feel confident going into writing the book, and then if I write a scene and there are any gaps, I'll make a note and go back afterwards to fill those in because when I'm in the flow of the story, I don't want to suddenly come out and spend two days researching something. WriteWatchWork: That's really good because I found with your writing style, whilst you include lots of descriptions and facts, it doesn't detract from the narrative and I can picture things clearly. With The House of Birds and Butterflies, the snippets at the start of each chapter are written in a way that you just take it with the narrative. Cressida: I'm so pleased. That's what I want because especially I think with crime books, they'll often be so specific about something that people aren't aware of and you do sometimes get big chunks of knowledge about it, which is really informative and the story wouldn't work if you didn't. I certainly think when people are reading light-hearted romance, they don't want to be taken out of the story with big factual reams of stuff. I have had a couple of people email me and one person who owned a campervan when travelling was like, 'I'd like some more information about how does she empty the sewage and is there a map of the inside of the bus?' And I was like, 'No.' People don't want that in their romcoms, it's not a book about how to set up and run a café on a double-decker bus. It's not a how-to manual, it's a romance. WriteWatchWork: One thing I am interested in is how you come up with the names for locations, like Porthgolow, and pets and characters as well. Cressida: It is pretty challenging, and also that is one of the things where I feel like I can’t start writing until I know the names of the people and the places because you can’t really picture them in your head unless they’ve got a name. I think with the two Cornish place names, I looked up Cornish words and what they meant, and found some that sounded nice and had good meanings as well. I can’t remember what the meanings of Golow or Karadow are now – I think Karadow means kindness, something really nice --- but then I had a look and there are lots of other ports, there’s Port Isaac, all those kinds of things, so it was a hodgepodge of what was already in Cornwall and what word would sound nice on the end. With the characters, I think especially for the hero and heroine, that does take me quite a while because I want the name to fit with the personality and I think especially with the hero, I have very strong ideas about what names are sexy and what names are not. For example, I would never have a hero called Colin, and I'm sorry to all the Colins in the world, but for me, that's not a sexy name, so I'm not going to use it. I've read a couple of romances, I think they were American, where the hero's been called Colin and I've been like 'Really?' So it's very important to me that especially the hero and heroine have the right names, and I will spend a lot of time on baby name websites, and sometimes, I'll think about what year were the characters born in and then look at the most popular names in that year. In The Cornish Cream Tea Bus, she's called Charlie because originally instead of a cream tea bus, I was going to have a crepe bus or a crepe food stall, so I was thinking of Charlie's Crepes. Then I changed the crepe bit but then already in my head she was Charlie, so she kind of stuck. With Lila, I just loved the name Delilah, and I thought it was a beautiful name but also the name of someone who was a bit of a terror. I have to fit the names in with the personalities of the people I'm creating as well. WriteWatchWork: Which one of your heroes would you say is your favourite? Cressida: That's really hard --- I love them all. But I do have a real soft spot for Daniel in The Cornish Cream Team Bus, and I think that's because it was the first time I had tried to do a sort of enemies-to-lovers book. The antagonism between Charlie and Daniel at the beginning was so much fun to write, I loved him coming across as a cold, callous character and then unpicking all those layers. Similarly, with Jack in The House of Birds and Butterflies, he's properly grumpy at the beginning and clashes with Abby a lot. I love writing the lovely heroes like Max and Colm, who are lovely from the start, but it's nice to peel back the layers and see the heroine peel back the layers of the hero and get under their skin and show all their soft sides. So I have a real soft spot for Daniel. WriteWatchWork: If you could give aspiring authors one piece of advice, what would it be? Cressida: My piece of advice to aspiring authors is to write a story that you're passionate about. Don't look at the market and think, 'Well these kinds of books are doing really well' or 'This person's a millionaire'. If you want to be a writer, you have to write a story that you love because if you're not passionate about it then chances are you won't write something that readers are passionate about either. So write a story that you really love and you're really invested in. My second piece of advice, which is more technical, is to get to the end. Don't be a perfectionist and go back and edit the first chapter 30 million times. Try and get to the end of something because you can always go back and make it better, but you cannot edit a blank page. WriteWatchWork: I must say, I am guilty of the second one, editing before I've finished the first full draft. Cressida: I think that is such a big thing because it's such a personal thing to do and when you're just starting out and you've not built any routines or plotting styles or anything, you're just figuring it out. So it's easy to just think 'I'll go back and make them better' and it is scary walking off into this blank world of finishing it. But I think, just know the first draft is going to be rubbish. It's just going to be rubbish but get it all down and then go back and make it work is what I would say. I think so many more people would get their books finished if they stopped worrying about the beginning that they've already written and just forced themselves to go through to the end. And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed reading my interview with Cressida and found it as fascinating as I did. Until next time...

Cressida McLaughlin's The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse has been described as "warm and wonderful" and "like a lovely warm hug in a book", and I wholeheartedly agree. I've recently been working my way through Cressida McLaughlin's books, of which there are 14. My first book by her was The Cornish Cream Tea Bus, which I loved, but my favourite book by Cressida was The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse. The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse is a standalone novel, made up of four parts, set in Dorset. It's one of Cressida's earlier books in her career, but it is just as good as her later ones. My mum and my sister love Cressida's stories so it was only right for me to join the bandwagon and fall in love with her stories too. So let's review The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse. The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse by Cressida McLaughlin Contemporary romance: 10/10 Self-discovery: 9/10 Forced proximity: 8.5/10 Friends to lovers (but other stages in between): 9.5/10 The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse is a contemporary romance novel set in Dorset as it follows the story of Robin Brennan. Robin moves home from London to Campion Bay after tragedy strikes in the city. When she's home, she's reunited with her parents and the lovely residents of the town, including her friend Molly. However, her ex-high-school-sweetheart, Tim, still lives in Campion Bay and is rather eager to reunite with Robin. Whilst she's helping out at her parents' guesthouse, they announce that they're thinking of retiring and moving to France. Robin being Robin means that she takes over the guesthouse in full force, renovating it and updating it for modern guests. The renovations are exactly what the Campion Bay Guesthouse needs and let me tell you, when Cressida describes each of the rooms in the guesthouse...it will make you want to pack your bags and spend a week there! Each room has a different theme whether it's nature or the sky and stars at night. Once the guesthouse is fully refurbished and ready for opening, Robin has all but one room booked. But on her opening night, Will Nightingale turns up on her doorstep, drenched from the rain, with an adorable cavapoo named Darcy. From there, the story really gets going as we see Robin navigating her newfound responsibilities of the guesthouse whilst being pulled to her latest tenant and next-door neighbour Will as she helps him settle into the town, sort his aunt's house out and find out the truth. I've read quite a few of Cressida's books and one thing I've noticed about them is that her writing style effortlessly hooks you as a reader. The way she constructs the narrative and builds momentum in the plot is really good. This plot of Robin having a fresh start in her old town whilst juggling two suitors is heart-warming. Not only because you get to see romance but also because there's friendship, family, hardships and self-love as themes throughout too. Robin's character is relatable, to me, in many ways. She works hard, is self-motivated and dedicated to doing well. But she's also sometimes a bit too selfless, always wanting to help others out. Robin is also kind-hearted and well-loved by all those in Campion Bay and isn't afraid to admit when she's done something wrong. Will is the handsome charmer, who is trying to seek some answers. But he's also trying to make up for the past and the little time he spent with his aunt for the majority of his life. When he's in Campion Bay, Robin helps things make more sense and he begins to settle into the town. I really enjoyed reading about both of these characters and following their character arcs throughout the novel. Their dynamic throughout was amazing to read and also to see how they interact with each other, others in Campion Bay, and how they deal with the issues they're faced with was really good and very well-written. All the other characters, as well, including Molly, Tim, Paige etc, all felt very realistic to me. Cressida spends time introducing each of them and so by the end of the book, you feel as though you know them each individually. Cressida's writing in The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse was so good and inspiring. The mixture of dialogue and descriptions was perfect - there are some writers I've read where the descriptions have been very in-depth, but Cressida includes the right amount of description mixed with the narrative to give you a clear visual image without taking away from the story. You can tell that this book was written with love and care because it oozes off the page. The intricate details of the guesthouse, the plethora of different personalities in Goldcrest Road, all the different businesses...The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse has a community feel to it and I only hope one day I can write a book that hooks readers the same way Cressida has achieved. Have you read any of Cressida's books before? If not, click the image below to head over to Amazon and give this one a try. And come back later this week for an exclusive interview with Cressida herself! Until next time...

In today's world, it can be more difficult than one would think to motivate yourself and achieve your dreams. But it's not impossible, not with ambition. It's a truth universally acknowledged that when one sets their mind to something, when they visualise what they want to achieve, they can. Turning something you once believed to be unattainable into something achievable and tangible is possible. But you have to put in the work. I class myself as a Slytherin in terms of Harry Potter houses. Now, for anyone who isn't familiar with the houses of Hogwarts and their attributes, they are as follows: Gryffindor: Gryffindor is probably the most famous of the houses at Hogwarts. Its house symbol is a lion, which probably tells you all you need to know already. Those chosen to be a part of Gryffindor are often: Courageous Determined Brave And those that stand up to others Ravenclaw: Ravenclaw is another of the houses, notable by the eagle emblem. It's typically a house that includes the smartest of minds, so the Ravenclaw traits include: Intelligent Wise and Witty An Overachiever And not afraid to be their unique selves Hufflepuff: Hufflepuff is probably the least well-known house and one that people underestimate. The house's symbol is the badger and traits of those who are Hufflepuffs include: Humble Hard-working Trustworthy and Loyal And having a strong moral compass Slytherin: Slytherin is one of the two most well-known houses but also the most notorious for having a bad reputation. However, there is more to it than that. I embody a lot of the traits that represent those in Slytherin, which include: Ambitious Cunning Resourceful Shrewd I used to always say I'm a Gryffindor but looking back I'm definitely a Slytherin. However, I also have traits of all the other houses too. But the point I'm trying to make is that Slytherins are known for being ambitious. And it's this ambition that everyone can use a bit of. Ambition as an ally In life, there are times when we know exactly what we want to do but there are times when we also have no clue. Neither situation is better than the other in the grand scheme of things. Planning meticulously can be helpful but so can going with the flow. However, having ambition can only be a good thing. Having that desire to achieve something, to be successful and proud of yourself, can help increase self-motivation. The other day, I was scrolling through TikTok when this video of Kevin Hart appeared. It was him explaining his mentality in life and describing himself as a "life goes on" type of guy. Personally, I found the video actually rather inspiring and it got me thinking. Life goes on, it's not going to stop for you to do something or sort things out. It carries on. But if you use your ambition, use your desires, your dreams, and motivate yourself, you can achieve so much in life. If you make mistakes, who cares? Learn from the failures and the errors, don't let them define you. If things take longer than you would have liked, it doesn't matter. Life goes on and one day you will get to where you want to be. So long as you have that drive within yourself to keep going and keep working hard, nothing can stop you. Kevin Hart's exact words were: "Sun don't stop for nobody, man. Sun don't ******* stop. Sun gonna be up in the morning regardless. That sun is gonna be up in the morning regardless of how I ******* feel and how depressed I am. "The Sun is gonna ****** shine in the morning and at night time the moon gonna be there and you gonna look up, these days gonna keep going by. "So do you let the days go by and look up and you wasted a year doing what? Or do you just pick it up, alright, I figured I made some mistakes, life goes on. Let me figure out life from this point. I'm a "life goes on" type of guy." Until next time...

Jamie McGuire's novel, Beautiful Disaster, was made into an Amazon Prime movie earlier this year. Whenever a book gets turned into a movie, I'm always a bit apprehensive. I like to read the book first to get the full experience, and then watch the movie because the two are never quite the same. With Beautiful Disaster, I've read the book a couple of times; the second being only a month or two ago. The first time around, I loved the book. But when I reread it, when I was older and wiser, it didn't have quite the same appeal. However, I was still very excited about the prospect of a film version. I'd seen the film adaptation of Perfect Addiction by Claudia Tan and I enjoyed the movie. So the other night, my sister, who's also read the books, and I sat down and watched Beautiful Disaster, the movie version. Now we both gave the film two different ratings. We categorised them as: A rating of the film based on the book A rating of the film, separate from the book I'll tell you why we did this. Novels can be however long an author desires. Some are only 50,000 words whilst others can be over 100,000 words. But for movies, the typical length of a feature film is around two hours long - unless it's Avatar, Lord of the Rings or Avengers: Endgame. Therefore, when it comes to converting a book into a movie, it's difficult to include everything. In Harry Potter, there are a lot of things missing from the movies that are included in the books - that's just how Hollywood works. However, if you watch Beautiful Disaster because you've read the book, and want it to be like the book, then in my opinion, you are probably going to be disappointed. The movie is around 90 minutes long and it does have a lot of aspects of the book missing. For example, the characters of Finch and Brazil aren't in the movie at all; the love-triangle aspect with Parker isn't really a love triangle, so you don't get that intense jealousy from Travis all the way throughout. The finale with the fire is also very underwhelming in the movie and not what I expected. So comparing the two and rating the movie as a film adaptation of the book, I've given it a 2/10. But on the other hand, if you watch Beautiful Disaster as its own film, forgetting about the book, it's better. Watching it as a typical, modern-day, cheesy romcom, makes it more tolerable to watch because of the differences. It centres more around Abby and Travis, excluding other characters' storylines, and is very fast-paced. I still only rated it a 5.5/10 because it was very cringy and there were scenes that didn't need to be quite how they were, in my opinion. However, the acting of Ginny Gardener and Dylan Sprouse, who's come a long way from Suite Life of Zack and Cody, was very good. It's not my favourite film and I probably won't rewatch it, but I'm glad I've seen Beautiful Disaster at least once because it did make me laugh! Have you seen the movie? Until next time...

Books, books, books. Reading has become more popular since the rise of Bookstagram and BookTok and so I wanted to share some of my favourite books on my shelves. Social media has a lot to answer for, both negative and positive; but one of the more positive aspects of social media is that it has created different communities like Bookstagram and BookTok. With the formation of bookish communities, the popularity of reading also increased. I've always enjoyed reading ever since I was little and I've never really had a slump where I haven't wanted to pick up a book. However, the problem with enjoying reading is at some point you will have too many books for your bookcase. If you've read my previous post, you'll know I attended an author signing - RARE23London - a couple of weeks ago. Whilst there, not only did I get the books I went with signed, but I picked up even more, coming home with 17. This meant that I spent last weekend trying to find space for them all, eventually rearranging my entire bookcase. Now, my family and I are in the process of reorganising our spare room to turn it into a library - who wouldn't want a library in their house? - but we're not quite there yet. So my desk and bookcase are the homes of my paperbacks. And whilst I was sorting out all my books - around 140 books - I began thinking about which ones are my favourites. So I wanted to share them with you. My favourite bookshelf books On my bookshelves, I have quite a vast range of novels and short stories. The genres differ quite significantly from romance novels to fantasy and dystopian to horror and crime to timeless classics. I use a total of six shelves on my bookcase and then two on the side of my desk, which was quite a squeeze getting all my books on there. And the way I organise my books is usually by genre but also by the ones I like the most. With a funky bookcase, the shelves are all different sizes so I have a shelf dedicated to Harry Potter, one that's only Stephen King books and one that's for Classics and Agatha Christie novels. But, the bigger shelves house some of the books I like the most. So on my top shelf, my favourites have to be Elsie Silver's Chestnut Springs series, Eliah Greenwood's Easton Boys series and Lauren Asher's F1-based series Dirty Air. I also have Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on the top shelf because that book was just amazing. Now they are all romance series - and there are many more where they came from, hence why I have a shelf dedicated to romcoms - but another of my shelves also houses some of my favourites. These novels aren't specifically romance, although that is a sub-genre. The Shatter Me series, Six of Crows duology and A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) are some of my favourite series to read. ACOTAR is a fantasy series and Shatter Me is a dystopian series, whilst Six of Crows in my opinion is a mixture of both. I remember reading all these books and being in awe of how the authors crafted worlds different to our own that suck you in and make you want to reread those books continuously. I also have a shelf on my desk dedicated to all my Christmas books, which is one of my favourite shelves! And I've read all of the books on there and continue to reread them each year in the build-up to the festive holidays. My favourite books that aren't on my shelves At the moment, I'm currently working my way through Cressida McLaughlin's books. Her books are now some of my favourite reads and I will revisit them again and again - I even read a couple of her Christmas books this month, in July! And whilst I love her books, I don't actually have them on my bookcase. But my sister has them on hers. I would love my own copy of McLaughlin's books but that'll have to wait until I move out, haha! Bookshelf books I have yet to read Earlier I said I only tend to get paperbacks that I know I'll reread again, and whilst that is true, I have to admit I do have some books that I have yet to read. These tend to be romance novels but also some of the classics and thrillers. On my Stephen King shelf, I have about five books, three of which I haven't dived into. I've read Carrie and Misery, which definitely lived up to its title, but I haven't read The Institute, The Shining or Everything's Eventual, which is actually a collection of short stories. Along with King's books, I still haven't mustered up the courage to tackle some of the classics. I've read The Great Gatsby, which when you open it you'll be greeted by annotations throughout, and also Wuthering Heights; however, I haven't read Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice or Moby Dick, which my friend actually gave to me. And then there are a couple of romcoms, like Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey and Set on You by Amy Lea, that I'm still trying to get around to reading. There are also some dystopian books I have yet to read including Q by Christina Dalcher, who also wrote Vox, which I really enjoyed. So out of 140 books, I have read the majority and I would revisit the majority too. But there are still some novels that are yet to be read that may end up bumping their way up the list to the favourites section. Have you read any of the books mentioned? And what are some of your favourite books that you own? Until next time...

RARE23London is a book signing event with over 200 authors in attendance where avid romance readers, like myself, can go and meet some of their favourite authors and get some books signed. Last weekend, I went to my first-ever book signing event. I'd never actually met any authors in person and so when I saw RARE23London all over my social media, I knew I had to go. I went to the event with a friend, who I met on Bookstagram, and it was lovely to meet her in person and spend the weekend with her meeting some of our favourite authors. Now, RARE stands for Romance Author and Reader Event and as I mentioned above there were around 200 authors in attendance. They all write romance but the sub-genres vary from dark romance to small-town romance to rom-coms. The actual signing day was Saturday and as my friend and I had early entry tickets, we were able to be in the signing room, which was huge, from 9:30 until 5:30 that evening. But on Friday, there was also a Meet and Greet, where a select few authors were signing and everyone could basically enjoy the evening chatting with the authors and fellow readers. In all honesty, the whole weekend was so good and everybody there was wonderful. I spoke to lots of different authors and I spoke to loads of different people, who I'd never met before. And because everybody who attended had similar interests, RARE had a community feel to it. If you know me, you know that my dream is to be a published author. So, meeting some of my favourite authors was amazing - I was like a little kid in a sweet shop! Whilst at RARE, I got to get photos with some of the authors as well as get my scrapbook signed and also my paperbacks. I actually only took nine paperbacks, which were rather heavy, but I came home with 17, which made my suitcase and rucksack even heavier! And you may be thinking that's a lot, but trust me...it's not. One woman I was speaking to had about 60 pre-orders to collect on the day...60! Now I'm home and need to find space for all these books, haha! But, first I wanted to share some of what I got up to over the RARE23London weekend. Meeting my favourite authors As an aspiring author, there are writers who I look up to and dream of producing work of their calibre. For me, I got to meet a select few of these at RARE and can only hope that one day I can meet my other favourite authors who didn't attend RARE, such as Cressida McLaughlin. But the authors that I did meet and was so excited to meet (so excited!) were: Elsie Silver Eliah Greenwood Ana Huang Somme Sketcher Catharina Maura All these ladies are so lovely and kind. I can't quite believe I got to meet them in person and speak to them! Their writing is some of the best I've read and I will always go back and reread their books. They all write romance but different kinds of romance books, so if you've never heard of them, I'd recommend giving them a go - you won't regret it. One thing I learnt from RARE23London Another thing I did at RARE was not only speak to the authors about their own works but also my dream of writing a novel. In fact, I have professionally made business cards and even plucked up the courage to hand a couple out to people, which was rather nerve-wracking! But I took the leap. RARE pushed me out of my comfort zone and I'm so grateful for it because it was a weekend to remember. I embraced everything that happened and took it all in my stride and now, coming home, I feel inspired and energised to continue working towards my goals and dreams in life. So the one thing I've learnt that everyone can use is: Take the opportunities that come to you and don't be afraid to do something. Take the leap, take the chance and embrace the moment. Until next time...

In the modern day and age, a lot of TV shows are cancelled if they don't make enough money, however, there are three cancelled TV shows that I believe should be brought back. TV and movies are such a big aspect of entertainment and there are so many different varieties of series and films available to us. After all, we all have our own preferences when it comes to choosing something to watch. But the disappointing thing is that so many series get cancelled either after the pilot episode or after the first season. Now, this may be a controversial conversation, but this blog post is purely my opinion. Among the many cancelled series, there are three shows I would like to see back on TV and I'll tell you why. The first show I'd love to see come back is Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. This show is new this year and it's a prequel to the iconic movie, Grease. Whilst it's not everyone's cup of tea, I actually really liked the show. I previously wrote a blog post ranking the songs from it, which shows how much I love it, haha. But unfortunately, it's been cancelled after season one, which for me, is sad because I was hoping for more Grease original songs, a Jane and Ritchie reunion and answers after the cliffhanger the finale left us on. The cast has created a hashtag - #Savethepinkladies - in the hopes that the show will be renewed. I share their hope because Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies may be a bit cheesy, but it is entertaining, and enjoyable to watch and actually shows us the importance of friendship and sticking to who you are. The second TV show I would like to see back on our screens is Julie and the Phantoms. Now, I know a lot of people, especially on TikTok, feel the same way. Julie and the Phantoms was a Netflix show about a young girl, who rediscovers her love of music when she meets the three ghosts of a boyband. Again, the show only had one season aired before it was cancelled. Just like Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, it had original songs written for it, which probably to no one's surprise, I really liked. Julie and the Phantoms also ended on a cliffhanger, leaving fans waiting for the next season but it never came. Having Julie and the Phantoms back on TV would be great because it would give us more songs to listen to and tie up the storylines and give the audience more important life lessons, like season one did. Whilst the previous two shows mentioned were cancelled after season one, this third TV show was actually cancelled after season five. It was also a reboot of a show from the 90s. And it is MacGyver. One of the main reasons why I'd like to see MacGyver back on TV is because, throughout the whole five seasons, the producers teased us with a relationship between Mac and Riley - two of the protagonists. In season five, it looked like they would finally get together as the two of them realised they liked each other. But, before we actually got to see them get together, season five ended and season six never happened. I also, personally, want it to return because it's an action show that has comedic elements as well as useful in lessons in chemistry and physics and technology that would help you if you're ever in a sticky situation. There was once a petition to get the show back on TV but it sadly didn't do the trick. Now I understand why TV shows get cancelled and there's nothing really we can do about it, but I just wanted to express my opinion. You may agree or you may not - that is completely fine. These are just my thoughts. But a question to you all: have you seen any of the above shows? If so, what did you think of them? Until next time...

Have you ever set yourself a reading challenge for the year? Well, this year, I'm trying to complete two reading challenges, which means a lot of books. Every year, I set myself a goal on Goodreads of how many books I want to read. Last year, I set myself a goal of 100 books and I managed to read 128. For 2023, I'm trying to reach my goal of 115. So far, six months into the year, I've read 71 books and am 15 ahead of schedule. But my Goodreads Challenge isn't the only challenge I'm doing this year. A friend of my sister's on LinkedIn started a Reading Challenge of 30 prompts. The aim is to read as many books as you can that tick off the different prompts. Now this is both difficult and easy. Some of the books I've read have fitted into multiple prompts, allowing me to check off a couple at a time. However, some of the prompts are also quite tricky to tick off because it's not easy finding books that fit them. Out of the books I've read this year, not many were rated five stars. But there were a few that I thought were amazing and some of them are different genres as well. So as we're halfway through the year, I thought I'd give you a reading round-up of 2023 so far. My Reading Update of 2023 The most common genre that I've read this year is romance. Personally, romance is one of my favourite genres and I've probably read more in that genre because of the book signing I'm going to next week - RARE London. The sub-genres of romance, however, have built up. Since joining Bookstagram, I've discovered lots of new sub-genres of romance books as well as new authors. Small-town romance and sports romance seem to be popular on my reading list this year. But I have also read some mafia romance books and billionaire romance novels too. However, romance isn't the only genre I've read. As part of the Reading Challenge of 30 Prompts, I've actually read a couple of books that were written by Swedish authors. One of them was A Man Called Ove and the second was Geiger. These books both ticked off quite a few prompts of the reading challenge, so it was a three-prompts-one-book scenario. Whilst A Man Called Ove was more literary fiction, in my opinion, Geiger was most definitely crime/thriller fiction. Another crime book I've read this year is Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanaugh. I actually read a book in this same series last year and was completely hooked by it, so it stands to reason that Fifty-Fifty did the same. Honestly, the writing is amazing yet terrifying at the same time. I mentioned romance being one of my favourites, and it is, but I also love reading fantasy/dystopian novels that are set in a world different to ours. This year, I haven't actually read many fantasy novels but the one I have read, Six of Crows, was very good. And again it ticked off a lot of the prompts on the LinkedIn Challenge. The prompts I've ticked off so far Now I haven't ticked off loads of prompts. In fact, I've still got quite a long way to go but I have made some good progress. Not all of the 71 books I've read so far this year match a prompt but a lot of them do. So, in total, I've ticked off 14 prompts, which are: Prompts about the book title: A colour - Ruby Red A number - Fifty Fifty and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo The protagonist's name - Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Hail Mary and A Man Called Ove A profession - Professor Astor An animal - Six of Crows A season - Cruel Summer and A Cornish Cream Tea Summer A body part - Love on the Brain Prompts relating to the book: A genre you don't read very often - A Man Called Over A book set in your own country - The Staycation and A Cornish Cream Tea Bus A book set in a country you don't know very well - A Caribbean Mystery and Geiger A translated book - Geiger and A Man Called Ove Prompts about the author: European Author - Gustaf Skordesman, Frederik Backman and Steve Cavanaugh North American Author - Elsie Silver and Hannah Cowan Disabled Author - Leigh Bardugo I still have many more books on my TBR list, but there are still six months of the year left, so hopefully I can complete more than 14 prompts. If you like reading, have you read any of the books I've listed above? And are you doing a reading challenge this year - if not, give the 30 prompt challenge a go. Until next time...

As humans, there are always new skills and talents to learn and develop to better ourselves and maximise our potential. As many of you readers know, I'm an aspiring author. To be a published writer of novels has always been my dream for as long as I can remember. I nearly took a detour and became a doctor, channelling my inner Meredith Grey, but realised that that wasn't the right route for me. Instead, I returned to my passion for writing and decided to pursue that. But it wasn't easy. When COVID-19 hit and the United Kingdom went into lockdown, I was two months away from sitting my A Level exams. Being told that all exams were to be cancelled and there was nothing I could do was frightening, to say the least. On top of that, I was supposed to decide which university to attend. During lockdown, my friends and other people I know had one of the most relaxing summers. Whereas I decided to ponder my future, expand my experience and develop skills. I wasn't certain about going to university so whilst we were all stuck inside, I completed online course after online course, all with a focus on writing. In the end, when it came to results day, I declined my uni offers because I had found something better and something different. However, now, after three years of studying for my part-time degree, I have a little break before July due to logistics with my university. But when it comes to having a break or time to relax, I struggle...despite having lots of things I want to do away from work. So since submitting my final coursework for my previous module, I have kept busy. And one of the things I've done is complete a Freelance Journalism Diploma with the Centre of Excellence. It was whilst completing the diploma that I had the idea for this blog post. During the final section of the course, there was a part on being a freelancer in general and how we can maximise our potential and become better freelancers. However, I feel the tips it provided can apply to anyone about anything. Maximising our potential In our modern society, a job doesn't just require one specific skill. A multitude of skills and talents can be required because you never know what you may encounter. And it doesn't matter what industry you work in. For example, a swimming teacher has to be able to swim well, but they also have to have good verbal communication, patience, and be able to teach others how to swim, sometimes without even getting in the water. And a businessman has to have knowledge about the business industry, have good verbal and written communication, have good computer skills and so on. So when my online course mentioned making yourself more marketable and versatile, it really stuck with me. There are always more methods of improving our skills, honing our talents and learning new things. For example, because the course was focused on journalism, it suggested a good thing for a journalist to do is to learn and practice a new skill including: Editing Photography Video-making and Video-editing Social Media Doing online courses in any topic whether it be sign language, computer skills or health and wellness, will help maximise your potential because it gives you another skill to pull on and use. It is very difficult nowadays to get the job you want and to even get experience. So trying to learn new things and develop those you already have can never be a bad thing. So what's a skill you'd like to learn but never got around to doing so? Until next time...

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies debuted on Paramount+ back in April and with 30 original songs in the series, it was only right that I ranked my favourites. Musicals is a genre of film and music that I love. Going to the theatre or watching musicals from home never fails to make me smile. When it was announced that there would be a TV series based on Grease, I knew I had to watch it. And I loved it! My mum and I both loved the original film so we watched the TV series together. Whilst we do admit some parts were a bit cheesy and sometimes cringy, overall it was a great show! For me, it summed up what musicals should be. In the series, there are 30 original songs written by Justin Tranter, specifically for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, as well as a rendition of the infamous Grease is the Word. As someone who has a whole playlist dedicated to musical theatre songs, it was only right that after finishing all 10 episodes, I rank the songs and decide on a favourite. So here is WriteWatchWork's ranking of the songs from the series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. My Ranking of Songs from Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: It is quite a difficult feat to decide on one favourite song from the TV series. There's a mixture of songs from ballads to dance numbers and I like quite a lot of them. I wouldn't be surprised if my Spotify Wrapped at the end of this year had the cast of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies as one of my top artists. Because there are so many songs from the show, I've split my rankings into groups. So let's begin. My favourite songs: One to Five: My top five songs from the show are ones I could listen to on repeat and never get bored. I say that because I have indeed listened to them on repeat and haven't gotten bored yet. 1. Think Pink 2. Take the Wheel 3. The Boom 4. Face to Face 5. Good Girl Act These songs are all quite fast-paced apart from Face to Face. But whilst I like the beat and the rhythm of the music, the lyrics are the things that grabbed my attention. My favourite songs: Six to Ten: 6. New Cool 7. Pointing Fingers 8. Brutal Honesty 9. Different This Year (Reprise) 10. Girls Can't Drive The five songs above are ones I really enjoy listening to but they don't quite make it to my favourites. My favourite songs: Eleven to Fifteen: 11. Crushing Me 12. Grease is the Word 13. I Want More 14. Same Sky 15. Girl Gang Now it's just getting more difficult to rank the songs. These five songs are ones I like but at the same time, I sometimes skip them when they're played because I'm that person who'll shuffle a playlist and then skip songs until I get the ones I want, haha! My favourite songs: Sixteen to Twenty: 16. Hand Jive 17. High Rollin 18. Different This Year 19. Finding My Light 20. Please Please Please My favourite songs: Twenty-One to Twenty-Five: 21. Sorry to Distract 22. Hit Me Again 23. Election Song 24. Land Don't Look So Bad 25. World Without Boys My favourite songs: Twenty-Six to Thirty-One: 26. Pulling Strings 27. Carelessly 28. I'm in Love 29. In the Club 30. Merely Prayers 31. All In I struggle with making decision in life, in fact if you speak to anyone who knows me, they'll probably tell you I'm quite indecisive. Ranking the Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies songs wasn't easy because they are all good in their own way, but at the end of the day, I do have my favourites. ? Have you seen the show? If so, do you agree with my ranking of the songs or do you have a different favourite? Until next time...

Writing is a key skill in life but for writers and aspiring authors, practising writing every day is more beneficial than we probably realise. If you've read my blogs before, you will know I'm an aspiring author. My dream in life is to write a full manuscript for my novel, which I have actually started. But if there's one thing I've learned whilst studying Creative Writing and trying to accomplish this dream, it's that writing every day has its benefits...and probably more than we think. The other day, I took myself out for lunch to our local café and whilst I was there, I did some reading of my current book, Six of Crows. But I also did some writing in a writers' journal my parents gifted me. The writers' journal was created by an author whose books I love, Kandi Steiner. It features four different parts and each part includes different writing prompts. The first section focuses on non-fiction, the second focuses on fiction/prose, the third section is all about finishing off the prompt and then the final section is all about poetry. Whilst at the café, I used the third section and finished off the prompt: 'I woke to the sound of screaming.' For this prompt, I was actually able to write a scene from my novel using the two protagonists I've created. Now it's been a while since I've written some of my manuscript, which hasn't been all too helpful as I have found certain things to do with my story and the world it's set in aren't all that clear in my mind. So it felt really good to revisit that world and those characters and get inside their heads again. Since that day, I've made notes on my phone or saved pins on Pinterest that relate to my novel and its aesthetic. Making notes on my phone about it and writing a scene, even if it's just my characters getting up in the morning, has been really beneficial. Writing each day as an aspiring author has meant that my ideas are kept fresh in my mind. All my characters and their personalities stay with me so when I go to write a lengthier piece of my novel, for example, a couple of chapters, it's effortless when I'm trying to convey my characters' true selves. For me as well, the world my novel is set in is fictitious - it's a product of my imagination and nothing like the real world. Frequently writing from my characters' perspective about the world they live in allows me to remember important details but also discover new things along the way and therefore develop my ideas and better my writing. If you're an aspiring author, try writing every day and see if you notice any benefits for you. Until next time...