It’s been a while since we had a Mirror Mirror instalment and this one is sure to be interesting. Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a Canadian at heart, being born in Ottowa on November 18, 1939. She began writing at the tender age of 6, but her realisation of wanting to be a writer came a decade later.

Atwood didn’t attend school full-time until she reached the eighth grade, and was in her 22 year of life when graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in English (honours) and a minor in philosophy and French.

As well as graduating from University in 1961, she won the E.J. Pratt medal for Double Persephone, a book of poems she’d published privately, and armed with a fellowship from Woodrow Wilson she began graduate studies at Radcliff College completing them a year later.

She went on to teach in Universities across British Colombia, Alberta, Alabama, Toronto and Montreal, as well as becoming the Berg Professor of English at New York University.

There can only be one person to be the first to receive prestigious awards and Margaret was the first to receive the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987 for The Handmaid’s Tale, the same book was also nominated for a Nebula Award in 1986 and a Prometheus Award in 1997. And though the three awards are synonymous with science fiction, Atwood did not see her work as fitting this genre. She explained… “For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can’t yet do…. speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand and that takes place on Planet Earth.”

Margaret is also a known environmentalist, philanthropist and political heavy weight. She was an honorary joint president of the Rare Bird Club within BirdLife International, was the subject of the 2010 documentary, In The Wake of the Flood, by Canadian director Ron Mann following her on the book tour for The Year of the flood, and in 1987 spoke out against free trade proposals between Canada and America.

For writers perhaps her most lasting philanthropic venture was becoming the founder of the Writers Trust of Canada. Encouraging budding writers to make their mark on the world as she has.

There really is no question that Margaret Atwood is a much respected personality.

Now comes the exciting part for Brisbane people. On the 25^th of February 2013 Margaret Atwood will continue her tour for The Year of the Flood with a one night only Evening of Words and Music. Tickets are selling fast and for more information you can head over to the Brisbane Writers Festival website or click the link… http://www.qtix.com.au/qcgu/event/bwf_atwood_13.aspx

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/

Something is wrong with the children. It starts out with a few cases of them killing family members. The attacks can only be classed as anomalies for so long before the world begins to take notice as it blossoms into an epidemic. Anthropologist, Hesketh Lock, is busy working on cases of corporation employees sabotaging their companies for no reason that anyone can fathom; something that is fast becoming an epidemic in itself. What he’s not prepared for is his ex’s son’s increasingly erratic behaviour. Soon he’ll find himself racing to find the reason for the world’s teens’ sudden and unexpected change of behaviour before he loses the things closest to him.

The premise of The Uninvited was new and creepy. A society that is being attacked by the members that it should most wish to protect brings up all sorts of moral issues. Jensen doesn’t hold back in the telling of The Uninvited either. The ‘us and them’ paradigm that is inevitable in such dire situations crops up, with the adults of the world arming themselves against the children.

Hesketh was an interesting choice of main character. He suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome which gives him a proclivity to overload emotionally in stressful situations. By using mental and actual origami, he’s found a way to counter the situations he cannot handle. He tells readers from the start that his inability to lie means that he will be a reliable narrator. He also prides himself on being a rational being who has nothing akin to what humans would call a gut-instinct. Contrasting this to a world that is growing increasingly irrational makes for an inspiring read.

While the idea behind Hesketh should have worked well, however, it fell flat for me. He was not a likeable character. There was a casual cruelty in the way he treated some of the other characters; but their angry reactions to his behaviour generally made him feel as though they were narrow-minded to judge him. On top of this, he was not honest and I was left wondering whether he was meant to be an unreliable narrator or whether Jensen hadn’t put enough research into Asperger’s. Hesketh does outright lie in the novel when he needs to spare the feelings of someone he cares about. He also lied through omission repeatedly while being interrogated, which is not something that he should be able to do in a high-stress environment. He seemed to have all of the traits a person with Asperger’s might have with none of the personal set-backs.

The cultural diversity in The Uninvited was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the novel. I imagine that the level of research Jensen put in must have been vast; and it shows. Having Hesketh work for an international company that put him on the scene in places like China, Dubai and Sweden also hits home to readers how wide-spread the events of the book are far more than keeping one setting for the story.

Jensen does a great job of writing a world-wide disaster and the people caught within it in a realistic style. Her ability to draw a truthful picture of various cultures makes The Uninvited one of the most culturally astute books I’ve read recently. Coupled with the novel’s chilling atmosphere, this is definitely the book for the intellectual horror buff.

The Uninvited – Liz Jensen

Bloomsbury (August 1, 2012)

ISBN: 9781408821152

We wanted to share some news with you all!

Aussie Women Writers blog on their 2012 Reading Challenge and Burn Bright gets a mention as most reviewed YA book. Great Aussie YA authors mentioned include my friends Isobelle Carmody and Paula Weston who we’ve both interviewed and reviewed are here on Burn Bright.

We’re also delighted to share our reviewer Holly Mortlocks’s new blog where she will chronicle an intense physical challenge she’s taken on to combat depression. Holly will share with us as she competes in TOUGH MUDDER. Join in her struggles and triumphs.

Also, Paperback Princess interview Marianne for Australia Day. Find out three secret things about Marianne. And then read part two of the interview where Marianne talks about new work.

Confessions of a Booky Monster

Hi! I’m Cecilia- also known as the Booky Monster. I’ve always been an avid reader but I fell into reviewing by chance a few years ago and now- well I’m hooked!

How often do you blog?

I admit I can be a bad,bad blogger. I aim for at least once- twice a week but sometimes the “real” world decides it needs me to pay attention and get my head out of the pages!

How did you come up with the name for your blog?

Confessions of a Booky Monster is a inside joke.  I have a slight crush on Cookie Monster (heck he’s cute and has the inside track on where all those cookies are hiding), my husband has always called me “Chooky” or “Chooky Monster”( Australian slang for chicken) and my biggest vice is my obsession with books which sometimes hits such extremes “chooky” becomes “booky” and every addict has to confess sometimes

Favorite part of blogging?

The exposure to some many new authors that I may never have found otherwise and meeting all those fellow book nerds!

Which current reading trends have you been drawn to?

I’m not much of a “trend” reader as such. I’ve always been a genre hopper and read constantly from a wide variety. I do have little stages where I do find myself a little obsessed by one over the other though, at the moment I’m on a huge mystery binge.

What is your favorite meme or post blog write up on your blog?

Recently, definitely the Shine Light Blog Tour.

Do you tend to like the hero/heroine/protagonist or the villain/antagonist?

Definitely hero/heroine/protagonist, although some of the villains out there certainly give the “good” guy a run for their money in the entertainment stakes.

Here at Burn Bright we’re delighted to share the news that Marianne’s award-winning science fiction series, the Sentients of Orion, is now available in E-book in the USA.

You can purchase the Sentients series via this LINK. It can be bought via Amazon, iTunes, Nook, GooglePlay and Kobo.