A to Z Reflections, IWSG, ROW80, and Irvine Welsh!

is for... I mean, and now back to our regularly scheduled programme.

It's hard to get out of A to Z mode! The challenge was really fun this year. I'm still busy making my rounds, so don't be surprised if I come by and comment on older posts!

This was my third A to Z Challenge and third year having a theme. In 2012 I covered Favourite Books and 2013 was the year I showcased all sorts of favourite posts and links from Twitter. That was a fun theme, actually; maybe I'll do it again next year. I favourite a lot of stuff on Twitter and don't always have a chance to go back and read or watch them all.

This year it was nice to have a built in theme based on my life! I'm still collecting random items I'd like to share with all of you, from the world's steepest mountain-side cable car to this fact I just discovered yesterday: author Graham Greene lived his last years in Switzerland and is buried here.

I'd definitely recommend a theme for anyone who might have found it difficult to get through the month, and having a theme that lends itself to photos is a definite plus for those days when you just can't think what to write.

Today is Insecure Writer's Support Group day! I'm not sure I'm the best person to seek advice from at the moment, as I'm quite behind on my ROW80 goals, and still not sure if I'll be able to make it to the May exercise on the Compuserve Forum. It's a great one this month, hosted by one of the All The World's Our Page authors, all about bringing the setting in your story to life, so if you've got a scene you'd like to work on, do drop by!

As for other sources of inspiration... well, I visited the Geneva International Book Fair last Saturday!

The only English-speaking author whose name I recognised on the programme was Irvine Welsh, but it turned out the panel he was on also featured another author, Linwood Barclay who, it turns out, is Canadian! Funny coming all the way here to meet a Canadian author. I've just read his Never Saw It Coming, and would recommend it for fans of thrillers.

Panel with Irvine Welsh and Linwood Barclay, mediated by Corinne Jaquet

After the question and answer session

I couldn't think of an intelligent question. One person asked if there'll be a sequel to the Trainspotting movie and the short answer is maybe. The intriguing bit was that, apparently, a little while ago, Welsh and Danny Boyle and a couple of others locked themselves into an Edinburgh apartment for a week to talk about the books and the movie and see if they could start hashing out script ideas. That would have been a great week during which to be a fly on the wall!

Me!

One other interesting I learned is that Welsh's writing style changes with every book. Sometimes he'll work 9 to 5, other times he'll work late at night; sometimes he'll write at a desk with notes and Post-its everywhere, other times he'll write outside the house... One book was written while riding the Circle Line of the London Tube, apparently!

The fair also had an exhibit of newspapers from the first and last days of World War I:

And of course there were lots and lots of books for sale. Very dangerous for those of us who miss our libraries:

Back to work... I discovered a great place for lunch yesterday:

View from the front porch of one of the villas on the United Nations grounds

This little fellow was surveying the grounds...

Meanwhile, I've got reviews coming up, of Medeia Sharif's Snip, Snip Revenge and Talli Roland's The No-Kids Club. I'd definitely recommend both books, but look for full reviews soon!

Which authors have you met recently?

Do you have a favourite spot to go to at lunchtime?