Joelene and Belinda are representing The Escape Club at a Laini Taylor/Hachette event in Sydney.

With Bel doing her part to make our Sydney trip fantastically memorable, I’ve decided to pull my boots up and make sure that I have everything in order too. Not wanting Bel to show me up yet again, I considered making a video of my efforts, but I fear that watching me read is somewhat less fascinating than curling hair. And Bel’s hair-curling video really is fascinating. She’s achieved the classical vintage look with seemingly no effort – bonus for getting to watch her sing in the mirror!

So, my copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone arrived. I nearly squealed with happiness, which would have likely caused my customers some distress, but managed – just – to hold it in. Obviously, I started reading it in my break because I am dedicated to the YA bloggers’ night! All altruism here; no ulterior motive.

And wow. If you haven’t read Daughter of Smoke and Bone yet, you should. My paltry ten minute break was more than enough time for me to fall into the pages and wish never to emerge. It was also enough to keep me glued to the pages for at least ten minutes too long and receive disapproving stares from my manager when I did emerge.

Maybe it’s just me, but something about a novel set in Prague featuring an art student with peacock-blue hair demands to be read. I put the book down just to come and write this, by the way. I am obviously so dedicated, and sort of hate my computer a little bit right now because it’s keeping me from my book. I was up to a really good part too. I tried to get to a part that wasn’t good, but it was an exercise in futility. They’re all good parts. Seriously, get this book!

Now, I’m sure that some very unkind Burn Bright readers will think that reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone is just another way of procrastinating, so I made alternative attempts to organise. And also, no. Reading great books is in no way a pleasure to me. It’s all for the cause!

I went dress shopping! I bought dresses, and skirts. Now I have too many options rather than too few so I’ll have to try everything on multiple times and demand second opinions.

I have also figured out cost-cutting measures for accessories. It’s a slightly dangerous venture but again, dedication, I have it. If I wait until late enough at night, I can raid my sister’s stash of necklaces, bangles and earrings. It will require bypassing her bad-tempered cat, but I think it can be done.

Now all that I have to do is hope that Days of Blood and Starlight arrives in store soon, so that I’m not stranded without the second book when I finish the first. Also figure out make-up. This may just require another shopping trip…

With a little over 2 weeks to go I’ve been brushing up on the things I’ll need to have with me in Sydney.

They see me rollin’ – I needed to get myself a new piece of luggage, something that will roll around the city with me until check in. So I opted for 4 wheels rather than 2 and for ease of recognition at the luggage claim I went for loud and obnoxious leopard and bright pick with gold hardware. Hope nobody else had the same idea as me.

In the know  – I don’t want to be holding up the line in the airport, so I have checked what I can and cannot take in my carry-on luggage and the weight limits of both carry-on and checked luggage.  Each company is different so it’s always better to check.

Hair we go – I’m trying a whole new style clothing, and my modern hair style haircut doesn’t really go with. So I’ve been trial running how I want to have my hair for the event. *add youtube link for part 1 here* I’ve shown you how I put my hair up in perm rods to create a wet set curl. Part 2 soon.

Kiss and Make Up – I’m trying a few new products for the trip and I’ll have reviews of them on Marianne’s channel soon. Test running the completed look you want to wear will have the dual purpose of getting you practiced in how to apply the look in the shortest possible time, and also have you well versed in which tools and products you’ll need to take. *on my final run through I’ll be putting the items in a separate bag as I finish using them, so they don’t get mixed up and forgotten.*

Clothes horse… ney – I want to be comfortable and not schlumpy on the plane. So I’m testing out what I’m thinking of wearing. The shape wear was an EPIC fail so that will be staying at home. Nothing says discomfort like having to constantly pull and readjust an undergarment. I’ll keep the small podge and spend the day fiddle free.

As I’ll assume everyone knows, Bel and I are off to Sydney in September for an amazing night of Hachette-induced fun. We have been promised YA, Laini Taylor, and fellow bloggers, so obviously we are nearly delirious with happiness.

Bel is already wonderfully organised and prepared and she will do the Burn Bright team proud. Me – not so much!

My preparations thus far have extended to taking Bel’s travel itinerary for my own. Time-management, people, I have it! I’m frantically ordering Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series because I may be late on the band-wagon, but I’m not going to miss it completely; and checking Hachette’s latest YA offerings–you may call it procrastination, but I call it research.

A YA event with Hachette is probably about the most exciting thing in the world right now, and not only because it gives me a chance to gush about books without people backing away slowly, it’s also because one of Hachette’s imprints, Little, Brown, will be releasing books from some of my favourite authors in the next few months.

Lair of Dreams, the second book in Libba Bray’s Diviners series will be out mid-next year. The third book in Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series will be released in November. And Holly Black’s Darkest Part of the Forest has an early January release date.

With these amazing titles set to be released so soon I can’t wait to find out what else Hachette has coming out for Christmas. Hopefully we’ll be able to get all the goss early September, so we can pass it on! Until then I’ll be reading Laini Taylor.

Joelene and I are Sydney bound next month, and we are tremendously excited. I thought I’d take you along on my journey to get my butt organised. *Please note all plugs are completely shameless, and I am only writing about the experiences I would recommend to friends*

#1 Up, up, and away – I looked it all up online, found the cheapest flights and the closest hotel to the event. *Holy COW it’s not cheap to travel by plane.* I then went to Escape Travel at Garden City and the lovely agent, Daniel, helped me book everything, including travel insurance. I pick up my tickets and stuff sometime this week. Thank you Daniel!

#2 Threads – Ebay has been my friend, though nothing can beat looking in bricks and mortar stores and trying things on. Kick ass Kirstin from Ursalady at Stones Corner suggested I try on a Lindy-Bop dress many had tried and nobody had fitted into as yet. I tried it, and not only did it fit, but it looked amazing. I will definitely be going back to Ursalady. Thank you, Kirstin!

#3 Hop to it – We have a few things booked to do while we’re over the border, the least of which is shopping, so comfortable shoes are a must have item. I haven’t been properly fitted for shoes since I was in primary school (Just a little while ago, huh?), so I treated myself to a trip to Gilmour’s Comfort Shoes at Mount Gravatt. The shoe fitter extraordinaire, Lisa, was saintly in her battle to fit my itty bitty tootsies. We found a beautiful pair of Ziera shoes (they’re named Babette) and, not only were they the last pair she had to offer me, but they were on sale.  Thank you Lisa!

#4 Hairs lookin’ at you, kid – Now comes the trek half a world away (I do exaggerate a little) to have my eyebrows tamed. I was devastated when my favourite beautician, Kelly, switched salons on me. S+S at Carindale. To keep the Jim Henson people away from me once the photos are posted online, I need the Muppet removed off my face. (Bert has to be my brother from another mother.) Kelly is gentle and thorough. Thank you Kelly!

#5 Hair today gone tomorrow – The last thing, besides packing obviously, will be getting my hair trimmed. Thankfully I’ve had a pretty wash and wear style for the past year (gone are those long tresses) so it’s just going to be a maintenance trip to I Heart Hair at Browns Plains, where I swear by the scissor skills and blade work  of Katharine. I am telling no lies, when I say Kat is only the 4^th hair stylist in my 30 something years who can cut my hair correctly. I know she’ll make me look good. Thank you Katharine!

All we have to do now is wait. Pics and clips to come.

What do you to prepare for an exciting event?

Book

I felt like I already knew these characters to a certain extent because we’d reviewed City of Ashes for the Burn Bright Book Club previously. I was pleased to see where their character arcs originated.

City of Bones is essentially about Jace and Clary finding one another and realising that you may not be able to pick your family, but you can certainly pick your friends. 

Cassandra Clare has me enchanted with her use of landmarks around New York, Brooklyn, and the surrounding areas. The unknown has always held some sort of magic to me and to have these places glorified in an enjoyable book makes both things more special.

The interesting bits will be to see how much the film, which is ‘based on’ this book, will be able to bring the chemistry between characters, the plausibility of the supernatural aspects, and the way the setting is allowed to speak for itself and isn’t just left as decoration.

I honestly hope Harald Zwart tries to keep the film as close to the book as he possibly can, though 500 plus pages will be difficult to contain within a standard film-length adventure.

Bring it on!

Paperback, Movie Tie-In, 506 pages

Published July 9th 2013 by Walker Books Ltd (first published 2007)

original title

City of Bones

ISBN13

9781406346428

Film

Consider me blown away. The casting was spot on, the CGI and special effects department were well on top of things, and the fact that Cassandra Clare was part of the script writing process helped beyond measure.

The key plot points were dead on target and the slight changes were forgivable as long as you went into it knowing it’s a film ‘based on’ the book, not a close adaptation. If you are expecting a word for word recreation, you will not enjoy it, though many of the memorable quotes remain in the script.