Monday 10 April 2017

Blogging for Me

Me and drag superstar, Charlie Hides.
In the last year, I've had a lot going on in my life. Between mental health, moving my life back to Ireland, finally finishing my manuscript and the everyday admin, I've found it hard to focus on my blog. More than focusing on it, I've found it quite tough to stir up the passion to write. Don't worry, I'm still going to write. I used to tell myself I had to write twice a week and really, the only person telling myself this was me. No one else expects me to churn out two blog posts a week and really, I'd rather produce something really heartfelt and poignant - something that makes you think and/or feel - every fortnight than publish half-baked posts that aren't a reflection of me or this blog. More than any of this, I need to remember why I started this blog. I started it for me, to voice my thoughts and chat books and if someone loves what I do, fantastic.


So what does this mean for the YAfictionados blog?
It means a couple of things:


  1. This book will no longer be limited to book chat. I love books and bookish chat will remain one of the central tropes I'll discuss here but I also want to talk about my writing journey (especially if I manage to get an agent and find a publishing home - fingers crossed!) to help inspire others to write. I want to talk about some of the beautiful places I've visited abroad on my travels but also in my hometown of Dublin. I want to peel back the layers and let you guys (and girls) see a different side to me; to see beyond face value and get to know the different parts that make me, me.
  2. I won't be posting with any fixed regularity. I'll aim to post every second week but I'll only be posting when something strikes or moves me and really, when it feels like something worth sharing with all of you.
  3. I love reviews but my focus will move away from single reviews and look at some of the books I enjoyed reading in that particular month (a monthly round-up starting in May).
I hope you're all excited and be sure to share all your bookish thoughts with me on Twitter. I want to know what you're reading and what you're looking forward to reading this year.

I'm looking forward to sharing some of my mental health experiences and a bit more about my illness so subscribe and keep an eye out for 


Christopher Moore:


Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog (@YAfictionados). He's currently working on his debut LGBT YA novel. When he's not reading, writing or blogging, he can found in coffee shops or baking in his kitchen (watch out for his book cookies!). He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.

Sunday 2 April 2017

Change your Perception and you Change the World

Tree shaped like a heart.
I attended a funeral of someone very dear to me on Wednesday This post isn't about sympathy and with all due respect, I don't want your sympathy and I don't want you to take this initial message as the actual message behind this post.

At the ceremony, in the crematorium and at the pub, I saw a community come together. There was no black/white, gay/straight, young/old binary divides. Everyone had tears in their eyes at some stage. I bit down on my lip trying to stop my own tears but it was near impossible. This was a woman that touched our hearts, changed our paths and transformed our lives and brought laughter and joy into our lives.

Everyone in that room had one thing in common: we were all there to show our live for some who had infinite love for all. We were brought together by love and understanding, compassion and celebration of a life that transcended so much. And in this moment, I had a thought. No one was thinking about prejudice (racism, homophobia, transphobia etc.). We weren't caught up with binary oppositions. It was our compassion and capacity to love, develop and understand that shone.

There are people out there that will carry their prejudices like emblems, like badges of honour and while some of these understand the hatred in their words, the vitriol that they poison future generations with, others do not. They are ignorant to the harm they cause. When they are shouted at on Twitter and attacked, their points are proven but if we show compassion to understand their point of view and ask questions to make them think, we can change perceptions. And if we cannot do this, if our fire and arguments fail, we can channel our energies into productive projects to further develop our own goals and the change we want to see. If we allow ourselves to be caught up in a viscous, cyclical process with a beginning and no end, we face frustration and emotional blocks that dam our positive energies, our capacity to love and our ability to bring about change.

At the risk of sounding morbid, our ultimate destination is the ground. Our compassion should be our common ground and if we can't approach things with compassion and try to encourage others with which we debate with to be compassionate, then we debase ourselves to their level.

I guess what I'm trying to say is to show love. Show understanding and compassion even in the face of adversity. Fighting fire with fire makes you that which you oppose and when we sling mud back and forth, we'll all get muddy and it's difficult to separate who is right and who is wrong. Our message is important and feels right to us but our approach is what can change opinion and instigate change. Do not comprise your integrity or compassion when you engage with thoughts you disagree with. It's incredibly difficult. It's not always easy; in fact, it's hardly ever easy but we need to be our best selves to change the world around us for the better.

Lena, you've thought me this if nothing else, in life and in death. Wherever you are, I hope you're at peace. Love always.

Christopher Moore:

Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog (@YAfictionados). He's currently working on his debut LGBT YA novel. When he's not reading, writing or blogging, he can found in coffee shops or baking in his kitchen (watch out for his book cookies!). He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.