I can’t believe I’ve finished my first year of university already. What a crazy, fun, life-changing year it’s been! And I’ll get to do it all over again for the next three years. It’s so strange to think that this time last year I was suffering through all of my A-Level exams, waiting for them to be over so I could relax and enjoy the summer. At that point, I was pretty determined not to go to university but thank god I had a last minute change of heart, or I wouldn’t be the happier, more confident person I am today.

In September, I made a huge leap along with thousands of other first year students and moved halfway across the country into a city I’d never been before and started university. I immediately loved my course. TV Production was everything I’d hoped it would be and everyone I met on the course was lovely. I got on with the people I lived with and everything was great. Like most students, I was often struck with homesickness but I had my new friends to help me and I got through it. However, although I was quickly learning independence, I still stayed hidden deep within my shell and preferred to spend my nights alone in my room with a cup of tea and a good book, while everyone else in the flat went out partying.

It was only in November, when I moved into a different halls of residence called Merrowdown, that I really came out of my shell and became myself. And it wasn’t a slow, reluctant crawl out of my shell, either; it was a giant, out-of-nowhere leap into the open air. My very first day in Merrowdown, I made a huge effort to talk to everyone and have some fun rather than keep to myself, and that was the best decision that I’ve made all year. If I hadn’t done that – if I hadn’t made an effort to meet these guys – I wouldn’t have the amazing friends that I have now. I don’t think I would have even made it through the year without them.

When I returned to uni after Christmas and my trip to Disneyland, things became more difficult for a while. One of my closest friends in Merrowdown left uni which affected me a lot, and my mum later became ill. These things, along with the fact that my motivation for my course suddenly dropped from 100 to about 7, made coping with uni life much harder than it had been before. I’d had a history of depression before, and it hit me hard in February and March. This was the point when I might have dropped out if it hadn’t been for my brilliant friends who pulled me through.

As things have a habit of doing, however, it all got better. I’m still in contact with my friend who left, my mum’s getting better, and I made a huge decision that got me through the stressful last months of coursework. I decided to change course. Although I love everyone in TVP, the TV industry is not necessarily where I want to end up and therefore the course just wasn’t for me. Instead, in September, I’ll be starting a Creative Writing degree, so I’ll get to spend all day every day writing stories, poems and scripts. Sounds like heaven!

Now, as I’m writing this, I’m back at home having finished my first year of university. It was sad to leave Merrowdown but I know that we’ll see each other again in September and keep having as much fun as we’ve had all this year. I can’t thank these guys enough for being there for me. Every single person in that house has helped me in some way and I’m beyond grateful for that. From hugging me when I’m upset and carrying me downstairs when I passed out, to giving me words of encouragement when I needed them and posting train tickets to my house when I accidentally sent them to Merrowdown and then left for Easter. Everyone in Merrowdown is incredible.

But even though it’s sad to say goodbye to the house, next year will be even more fun. I’ll be living with three other girls in student housing where there will be Netflix nights and baking days every week. I’m so excited for what’s to come in September. I can’t wait!

2016 So Far

Hello! Notice anything different? If you’re an old follower of My Sleepy Fairytale, you may have noticed that my blog’s design has changed. This is because I’ve moved it over from Wordpress to Blogger. If you’re new to my site, then welcome! Take a look around – I even have a little About Me page.

My main reason for moving was simply that I felt there wasn’t much room exploration or design on the free Wordpress site, whereas Blogger has a lot more exciting features for me to play with. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go on a big Blogger adventure together and discover all of the exciting nooks and crannies of the site. Who knows where we’ll end up?

I’m afraid this post may be a bit of a rollercoaster as my aim is to explain where I’ve been (or where my head has been) for the last few months. It has been crazy. Coming into 2016, I expected the year to be all smooth and sparkles but I was being a bit naïve. Of course, there have been plenty of lovely, sparkly moments in the months, but there have also been a few horrible, gloomy ones, too. I don’t want to make you sad so I won’t dwell on them, but just to make you aware, this is what has been happening in my life…

Back in February, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Don’t worry, she’s doing absolutely amazingly! The chemotherapy is working and everything is going the way it should be, but it has sometimes been difficult. She’s giving that monster one hell of a fight, and she’ll be perfectly healthy again in no time.

We’ve had to give up a few family things like a holiday to the seaside and a theatre trip, but they’re barely sacrifices when we know that mum is getting better and better with every treatment. Cancer’s a bitch but we’re going to win.

However, despite this horrible thing happening to our family, there has also been a huge, amazing, beautiful thing happen to us, too.

My sister had a baby! Pandora Lily Emmans was born on 20^th April, and she is the most beautiful little creature I have ever met. The moment I woke up that morning and found my phone flooded with photos of the new member of our family, there were many happy tears. I absolutely love her. I got to meet her a couple of weeks ago and just wanted to cuddle her all day.

I am going to make it a personal mission to be the best aunt in the world. Even though she lives two hours away, I’m always going to be there for her and love her with all my heart. She is like a little miracle sent to remind us all of the beauty and innocence in the world, and to remind us to smile. Because you can’t not smile when you’re snuggling this little panda.

Currently, I am in the middle of the final rush of coursework at university, and I can’t wait to get it all handed in and go home. Although it will mean leaving my halls of residence and Uni Family, I think I am ready for a good, long, relaxing break. There will be many tears shed on move out day, but I’ll see everyone again in September.

What about you? How has your 2016 been so far? I’d love to hear from you. Let’s chat!

Love from Beth J x

Book Review - Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 30th March, 2016.

Where Rainbows End, or Love, Rosie, as it is more popularly known is one of the sweetest, most heart-warming books that I have ever read. Upon finishing it last night, well into the early hours of the morning with the heavy weight of sleepiness settling over me, I found myself turning the final page with a warm feeling in my chest and a smile on my face. If the aim of this story is to encompass the feeling of falling in love, then I think it succeeded.

Back in January, I watched the film Love, Rosie, on one of those rare quiet nights in at university when I felt like I needed a good rom-com in my life. I loved it immediately. The characters, the story, the soundtrack, the imagery, and the general feeling of the film was me all over. And when I found out that it was based on a book, I knew that I had to read it. I bought it the next day.

Where Rainbows End is, however, very different from the film. Although the characters, concept and heart of the story remain the same, there are several big differences. Personally, I found that this did not detract from either of them, but instead gave me more to look forward to as I was reading the book without knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

The book is about best friends, Rosie and Alex, who grow-up together but circumstances cause them to suddenly live on different sides of the world. The book follows them through their lives as they remain in contact, struggling to both fight off and come to terms with their feelings for each other. But life is never as simple as that and sometimes reaching a happily ever after takes a fair bit of time and effort.

The most unique thing about this book is that it is written in the form of lots of different documents – letters, emails, chat-room messages, newspaper clippings, and even a couple of obituaries. By writing in this unconventional prose, Cecelia Ahern has perfectly encapsulated a sense of life that many books fail to do. As we read from the points of view of different characters, their believability is so strong that I almost feel like I really know them.

I also feel like this form lends itself perfectly to the romance genre. There is a romanticism to letters that is often forgotten nowadays, and if this book had failed at everything else, the one thing that it has definitely done for me is give me a new goal of writing more letters. As we rifle through Rosie’s assortment of lifelong documents, we explore the journey of the characters’ lives in a new and revealing way.

So many themes are explored in this book, but some of the ones that stood out to me were love in every form – family, friendship and romantic – following your dreams, and the circle of life. All of the characters strive to achieve their personal goals in life, and I feel that this adds a whole other dimension to the story, making it more than just your typical romance novel.

One of my favourite concepts of the book is the use of mirroring between the generations. Rosie is best friends with Alex, and her daughter, Katie, is best friends with Toby. Alex dreams of becoming a doctor and Toby dreams of becoming a dentist. And both pairs struggle to realise their true feelings for each other. I thought that this was a very clever way of encouraging Rosie to act on her feelings, as she did not want her daughter to make the same mistakes that she did.

I also found that the timeline of the story was important. Unlike in the film where Rosie and Alex reach their mid-thirties, in the book they go all the way to fifty without recognising their feelings for each other. There is something so poignant about the thought of going half a lifetime without finding your soulmate. This may be just because I am used to reading stories where the characters are much younger at the point of their happily ever after. However, I believe that the concept of finding love at fifty is important. It reflects reality in that sometimes it does take a long time, but the end isn’t what is important; it’s the getting there that matters. All of the characters lead full lives and their years do not go to waste.

But their romance is pretty important too.

I’m so pleased that I found this book. It is bursting with all of the happiness and heartbreak of life, stitched together in a unique way that tells a beautiful, poignant story of true love. I highly recommend it to everyone who loves a good rom-com or chick flick, or who just needs a little bit of love in their lives. Where Rainbows End is practically the definition of the word ‘love’.

And if you don’t feel like reading, then at least watch the film. For Sam Claflin, if nothing else.

Star Rating: 4/5

Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year of First Publication: 2004

Let's Never Grow Up

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 7th January, 2016.

This year, I turn twenty. That is so strange to me. Twenty seems like it should be some kind of cut-off point. You’re no longer a teenager at twenty. It’s the age when you’re expected to start putting your teenage tendencies behind you and try to act like an adult. Legally in the UK, you become an adult at eighteen, although most of us seem to think that we’re adults on our sixteenth birthdays. The truth is, we’re not. We’re only pretending.

At nineteen, we’re more like adults-in-training than real, proper, responsibility-having adults. I mean, yes, we have responsibilities but everything that we need to worry about is still way ahead in the future. We’re only tasting freedom. Especially us students – it’s all just practise. All of the Big Things – getting our own house, having a career, kids, marriage – for most of us, are things that might happen eventually but not right now, so we don’t have to think about it. Some of us might have our own houses already. A lot of us have jobs, and most people will be at least thinking about what career they want to work in. Some nineteen year olds might even have kids or be married, or both, but in my experience for the most part, we’re still only practising.

Some people disagree. When I’ve voiced this opinion before, I’ve been told firmly that no, I am definitely an adult, there’s no getting away from it. Yes. Legally, I am definitely, absolutely, no question about it, an adult. But I don’t feel like one, and I don’t think I will for a long time yet. I’m still learning. I’m still figuring everything out. All of the things that people tell you your teenage years are for, I’m still working on now.

For example, I don’t know what I want to do in my future. I know that there are some things I want out of life, like a career that involves writing, and way, way in the future, I want to be a mum. But other than that, I don’t have a clue. I’m at university. I’m on a very industry-specific course. There are people who expect me to have chosen a path by now and be working on getting to my chosen destination, but I think I’d prefer to go on an adventure and explore all of the beautiful places I could go before I decide where to spend the rest of my life. There are so many options out there, and I change my mind all the time. I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of that. The only thing that’s been a constant love of mine forever is writing.

And I still don’t know who I am yet, but I don’t think anyone does, really. I know some things about myself but they are prone to change every now and then, and the person I thought I was yesterday might be a completely different person to who I feel like today. We might broadcast one or two versions of ourselves to the world, but we’re not that person all the time. We act different ways with different people. If you could see yourself with your friends, your family, and when you’re on your own, how do you know which version of you is the real you? They all are. We’re not just one person; we’re many. We’re all growing as people with every passing day, and we learn more and more about ourselves as the days go on.

As well as that, while all of the high-flying drama that seems to thrive in the air around teenagers might be over, my life is still riddled with worries and conflicts and problems, just like everyone’s. I’ve had my fair share of teenage drama in the past. My story is really not that different to everyone else’s, except that I went to a peculiar little school in the countryside where we had to do compulsory Eurythmy every week and participated in Michaelmas festivals where we dressed up as a dragon and pretend to be slain. But even then, I know at least nine other people who have those same tales to tell. (By the way, if you don’t know what Eurythmy is, it involves robes, cloth shoes, and gracefully waving your arms in the air as you float around the room. No, seriously.) I’m more than relieved that that period of my life, when every little thing was huge crisis and I was shrouded in a dangerous lack of self-confidence, is over. But even so, there have still been dramas in my life recently that make all of that angst look like nothing.

My point here is that while I might be leaving my teens behind at the end of this year, that doesn’t automatically make me an adult. I won’t suddenly start reading the newspaper every morning, fretting about bills, and tutting at childish things like believing in magic. The truth is, the news scares me and so does money, and I would happily believe in magic for the rest of my life if I could.
I think that we carry our teenage years with us through our entire lives. We might get to ninety and look at ourselves, and still find that struggling, confidence-lacking, angst-ridden version of ourselves shining through in some way. That’s not a bad thing. It just means that, even when we’re old and have seen everything there is to see, we’ll still be learning and growing every day.

I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t have a clue where all of those winding paths up ahead will lead me. And that’s great. I don’t want to.

Let’s just not grow up. Of course, let’s keep aging and experiencing and learning, but let’s just stay the same as we are right now – expectant and excited for things to come. Let’s remain wide-eyed and hopeful like children on Christmas Eve. Let’s keep having fun and finding sparkles in shadows, and never knowing what’s around the corner. Let’s live for now, like we did yesterday.

A Pretty Epic Year

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 31st December, 2015.

Goodbye 2015, what a crazy year you were! Although I haven't done a lot of blogging lately, a lot has happened in my life and I can happily say that I am leaving the year a completely different - and better - person than I entered it.

March - The Film Academy crew. See if you can spot me! (Thanks for that, Haider)

It's absolutely bonkers to me that this time last year, I was panicking about an A-Level drama performance that felt like it was going nowhere - but that I later passed with flying colours. Back then, I was just beginning to have doubts about the Creative Writing degree I'd applied for, and the BFI Film Academy course was creeping up on me with every passing day as I remained oblivious to just how life-changing it would be. I didn't know half the people I know now. Everything was scary and intimidating. I had no independence. I was a different person. Before, the world was too big for me but now I've grown to fit the world a little bit more.

April - Family trip (minus Tom) to Conwy Castle.

Last year, I made this post about my new year's resolutions. This year, I'm not making any resolutions because for the first time in as long as I can remember, I'm completely happy with who I am. This is a huge deal for me. I've always been self-conscious, caring too much about trivial things like my weight and what people thought of me. Over summer, I lost a lot of weight but even if I put it all back on now, I'd still be happy, and I've realised that what people think of me really doesn't matter. I am happy with how I look and who I am.

September - The girls (minus Georgie) from my first flat during Freshers.

I think the main reason for this is university. To say that going to uni at all was a last minute decision is an understatement, and I truly believe that had I not gone, I wouldn't be as happy as I am now. I've only done one semester so far, but already uni has given me more opportunities and experiences than I could have imagined. Just surviving on my own has given me a huge confidence boost. When you're forced to be independent, you have to push your anxieties and fear aside and just go for it. And being thrust into a new city on the other side of the country where I know absolutely no one would have seemed like a nightmare to me last January - or even last August  - but now I could happily walk into a group of strangers and make friends. If I ever need to, that is.

November - Out with my new housemates on my birthday. Such a good night!

My last uni update was back in September, and even more things have changed since then. I moved into a different halls of residence. When I took the first accommodation, I was told that I had to find somewhere new by December as the international students would then move in. So, the race was on for us to find somewhere else to live. I literally couldn't have made a better decision when I chose this place. I don't know if any of my new housemates will read this but there's a good chance they will so I won't make this too soppy. I'll just say that from the moment I first set foot in this place, they welcomed me like family and I'm so glad I know them now. I'll also say that before I moved in, I barely drank any alcohol. Now, thanks to them, I can probably be found lying on the stairs most Wednesday nights. Thanks a lot, guys.

December - the Morledge family takeover at Disneyland.

Of course, the year hasn't been all smiles, laughter and drunk antics. My final few months of college brought me a whole lot of stress and anxiety, and there was the terrifying few weeks at the beginning of summer when I passed out in hospital and the doctor said I'd had a seizure. But hey, if you're gonna have a seizure anywhere, a hospital is probably the best place to have it! Even if it was the night before one of my exams. The beginning of uni was a difficult time too, when I wasn't sure of anything, didn't know anyone and missed home like hell. But clearly, as things have a tendency of doing, everything turned out alright.

And there are even more things to look forward to in 2016. First and foremost, my beautiful older sister is having a baby. We're all so excited and I can't wait to meet my little niece in April. Our family is going to make her the most loved little girl in the world. As well as that, we're also going on holiday In the summer, straight off the back of this Christmas's Disneyland trip, which is a whole other blog post in itself. And, of course, there's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them coming out in November. It's all a Harry Potter fangirl can do to stay sane for so long. Well, as sane as I already am, at least.

Christmas day 2015. Surrounded by family and full of food.

All in all, 2015 has been a pretty epic year for me, and I hope it's been just as brilliant for you. I am so grateful to my family and friends - old and new - for being there for me when I needed you. Thank you to all of my housemates and coursemates. All of you are fantastic.

Happy New Year!

My University Story So Far

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 29th September 2015.

I haven’t written anything for weeks. Literally, nothing. Not a single short story. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I am currently writing this sat at a new desk surrounded by pretty new fairy lights and lots of random paperwork I haven’t read yet. My new desk, fairy lights and paperwork are 105 miles from home, but I love it here.

Two months ago, I did not want to go to university. The thought of travelling so far away and being thrust into the world of adulthood without anyone to look out for me (not to mention more education!), was terrifying. But that was the only thing holding me back: fear. It was getting towards the end of summer and I had been out of college since the beginning of June. My days were blurring together, there was no sign of a job on the horizon, and I was sick of the sight of myself. I didn’t know what to do with my life.

Then, a week before A-Level results day, my mum casually mentioned ‘clearing’ at the dinner table. For those of you who don’t know, clearing is a system that universities use typically if a potential student doesn’t get the grades they need to get into their first choice uni. As I wasn’t going to uni, the thought hadn’t occurred to me, but all I had to do was get released from the course I’d previously applied for and no longer wanted to do (Creative Writing), and then I was eligible for it. This brought round a whole new world of potential. There are so many courses out there for everything, and I needed that week to whittle down all of my options to find the right one for me.

Having completed the BFI Film Academy course earlier in the year, I knew that I wanted a job in the media industry, and once I’d decided that, I looked for any and all courses that held the Creative Skillset tick. The Creative Skillset tick signifies that the course is very practical with excellent industry contacts, which was just what I wanted. Upon finding the Television Production course, I immediately fell in love with it and knew that was the course I needed to get on.

Clearing was both terrifying and surprisingly easy. Bright and early on the morning of results day, I stumbled downstairs and opened the email attachment containing my results. BBC! (That’s got to be a sign, right?) But there was no time to celebrate. After a quick glass of orange juice so that I didn’t sound like I just woke up (which I had), I rang the university and had a quick interview with the head of the media school, who then told me that I had a place. I had never been so happy! And once my accommodation was sorted out – which was super stressful but totally worth it – all I had left to do was go shopping.

Moving day came around quicker than any of us could prepare for. I was a complete bundle of nerves and excitement, although saying goodbye to my dog sobered me up nicely. The journey took about two hours with a heavy printer on my lap, and the four of us were all squished because I had decided to bring along half my bedroom. By the way, if you’re planning for university next year, don’t take along half your bedroom.

I’ve been at uni for a week and a half now and, although it’s hard at times, I can safely say that it’s the best decision I’ve made. That doesn’t mean to say that it’s what would be best for you as everyone’s different with different goals, but for me in particular, I’m so glad I decided to come here. Once all of our parents had left, a group of us in our flat walked into town. We’ve quickly become like a little family and I love everyone I’m living with even though we were strangers a week and a half ago.

If you’re reading this worried about who you’re going to be moving in with when you start university, please stop worrying. You’ll find that if you put yourself out there and really try to be friendly to everyone, you’ll make friends a lot quicker. Everyone’s in the same boat, and they’re more likely to make friends with the person who smiles at them than the person who hides from them.

I know it’s difficult. I’m definitely not a very independent person and going so far from home was miles out of my comfort zone. I’m also pretty quiet and find it hard to be myself around people don’t know, but whenever I’ve tried hard to talk to people, even if it’s a little awkward at first, everything has worked out well. Homesickness has also been a slight problem for me as I’m very close to my family, but a phone call always makes things better, and I have friends here who I know care for me and look out for me, which I am so grateful for. Having anxiety, this was bound to be a difficult experience at times, but despite that, I am loving every minute of it.

I’m sure the uni life will lead to some crazy adventures, and awesome friends are already being made. I’m excited to see what exciting thing happens next.

Two Days at the Derby Book Festival

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 7th June 2015.

This week was the grand opening of Derby’s debut Book Festival. This was the first year that the city has put on the festival and they definitely pulled out all the stops. The week was packed full of exciting events, from writing workshops to performance poetry. Special guests included Rufus Hound and Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse.

I attended two of these events. The first one was ‘A Conversation With David Nicholls’. David Nicholls is the author of the bestselling novel, ‘One Day’, and also the screenwriter of many Hollywood films including ‘Great Expectations’ and the recent ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’. David Nicholls is a very funny, down-to-earth man. He told us all about how he came up with Douglas, the main character of his new novel, Us, and how one particular incident in the book was inspired by a real life event involving an angry biker gang in Amsterdam.

The other event was on publishing – both the life of a publisher and how to get published. As someone who one day dreams of being published, the information I learned from this event was invaluable. The speakers – Julia Murday, a publicist at Penguin; Karen Ball, a publisher of children’s books; and Diane Banks, a literary agent – were fantastic. They explained what they look for in an author, and also gave advice on how to self-market your books. For example, we were told that as long as you’re careful with what you put out there, being active on social media is a huge help to your career, as it enables you to prove that your have contacts and potential book-buyers. They also stated that it’s incredibly important to keep an eye on the ever-moving trends, so if the time for bestselling sci-fi novels has passed, hold onto that manuscript and wait for the trend to come back round.

Publishers are much more likely to choose your book if it fits in with the bestsellers at the time.
I highly recommend visiting a book fair to those of you who enjoy writing and reading. There are so many opportunities out there to meet and network with other people who one day might just be the contact you need to take a leap into your career, as well as all of the events that are held to teach you everything you need to know about the industry. There are over 350 book festivals in the UK, and the number keeps growing as they become increasingly popular. This was my first time attending one, but I know it will not be my last. I can’t wait for next year’s!

From Buses to Broadway to BFI BFFs

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 10th March, 2015.

Three months. It’s been three months since I last wrote to you. It’s unforgivable, I know, and I apologise profusely from the bottom of my heart. However, I do have an excuse: I’m a filmmaker now.

Since January, I have been attending a BFI Film Academy at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham (a lovely place by the way, with delicious cakes in the café – you should go there if you’re ever in the area). I honestly don’t know how I got onto this course. I remember my Media Studies teacher telling me about it after I moaned about the fact that I didn’t know what to do with my life, and then the next thing I knew, I was filling in an application form. I think I knew this was going to be an amazing thing when Ella (a tutor on the course), replied to thank me for the application and wish me happy birthday for the next day.

And then I got in! And so began the panic. I had only been to Nottingham maybe once in my life before, and my memory of getting the bus then didn’t go too well (cue lots of running and panicking and no money and no time and it was the last bus, and I didn’t know where I was or who I was with and gah! But that’s another story). I don’t know why I always panic about public transport so much. It’s not like anything bad has ever happened to me on a bus (touch wood!), but never mind. It turned out, as I was on the bus on the way to my first day of Film Academy, Dom, a guy from my drama group, was also heading to the same course. So I didn’t have to worry after all. Who’d’ve thought it?
I was so nervous on that first day, surrounded by a bunch of strangers (and Dom) who I was going to be working with for the next three months. I remember we had to write something down and I already had a pen in my hand, but Ella was handing them around and in my panicking, blustery mind I tried to take it from her, fumbled and dropped it, and wanted the ground to swallow me up. I was weird back then.

On that first day, I also met Shannon, who it turned out also went to my college but I’d never seen her before. We had to film a three-shot silent film with only one character and one prop, on a mobile phone. Guess who ended up as the actor. (Me.) Shannon was filming it. I think it might have been the scene where we left the lift and I had to turn dramatically to the camera that might have been the moment we clicked. Or it might have been the unstoppable laughter that came after that.
Over the next few weeks, we were given various lessons on things such as how to use the equipment, how to structure a story, how to dress a set, and many others. I don’t think I was particularly good at any of these things, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. And before every weekday session, in the time between college and Film Academy, we would gather in Broadway’s café and take advantage of our magical free teas. Those were the best.

The actual production project happened all of a sudden. One moment, we were learning how to turn on the camera. The next, six of us were in a small, hot, smoke-filled room full of equipment, telling actors to make life difficult for each other. It was actually amazing to see the script that I had written be brought to life. I also brought in some props, which included a disgusting yellow blanket to go over the back of the chair. If you ever see the film, please ignore the continuity errors that occurred because of this prop from hell.

We had so much fun shooting this film, and our group was brilliant. Eleanor, Ben, Jordan, Finn and EB – if you ever want to make a film, these are the people to call. And the actors were amazing!
After the shooting was done, so began the editing process. As far as I know, the film is still being edited as we speak, and then the sound will still need doing afterwards. But once that’s done, the film will be all finished and shiny, and that’s when we’ll have our premiere.

The premiere is what I’m looking forward to the most. Not only will it be our chance to show off all of the hard work that everyone at BFI put into these films, the group will also be reunited.

Our last Film Academy session was pretty epic, and I think it stands to show how much we all loved this opportunity, because Joe Dempsie was just down the road giving a presentation at a local college, and no one ran away to meet him. Well, Jordan did, but he came back. One of the best moments was when, because we had bought a thank you card for the tutors, we all had to sneak out to sign it, but instead of going to the ‘toilet’ one at a time like normal people, we all went at the same time. As all of the girls crammed into a tiny public bathroom to sign the secret card, the boys were left to cover for us in the workshop. I’m not exactly sure how or why they chose this story, but they decided that when we came back in, we all had to dance. I did not.

But Sophie and Finn did! With a few of the classic dance moves (the shuffle and ‘reel him in’ included), they successfully distracted from the fact that we were blatantly doing something secret. The best part was when they began to feel awkward and decided to ‘teach’ us like Al and Roger, our tutors. Sophie snuck away in the guise of Roger by saying, “Roger would sit down and stroke his beard,” and she did just that. And then, of course, there was pizza and drinks, and lots of hugs and a little bit of crying, as we all departed from BFI for the last time.

Until the screening. Has it really only been three months since I didn’t know these guys?

BOOK REVIEW: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This was originally posted on my former blog, mysleepyfairytale.wordpress.com on 16th September, 2014.

I think it’s something extraordinary that, while I’d usually have about five books on the go and switch between them, as soon as I started reading The Maze Runner, all other books were forgotten. Honestly, this book is something special. From the moment I opened it, I fell in love. The moment I closed the last page, I felt like I had been told the meaning of humanity.

The book opens with the protagonist, Thomas, waking in an enclosed space with absolutely no memory of his identity, pulling us in with the first and possibly most important mystery – Who is Thomas? Soon after, we are introduced to the other characters: tough Alby, sweetheart Newt, scary Gally, lil’ Chuck, and later, superhero Minho. And let’s not forget the plot’s trigger, our gorgeous, independent lady whose name I shall not mention.

It is impossible not to become attached to these characters, even the most despicable of them. They all have their own set of unique traits and flaws, and Dashner builds the different relationships between them beautifully.

Quickly, we learn that nothing is quite right in the Maze, a horrible place with seemingly no escape, where the boys have been living for years. And not only are they trapped; they’re trapped with the Grievers! The Grievers are awful, half-machine half-animal creatures that stalk the maze, coming out mainly at night. You don’t want to get stung by them (although they also offer worse ways to go), or you’ll have the Changing to look forward to. Not much is known about the Changing because the only ones who have been through it refuse to talk about what they saw, but their pain is obvious. No one is the same after the Changing.

The entire book is a thrill to read, with twists and turns right up until the last page. Nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted.

Who would I recommend this to?

• Sci-fi fans
• Hunger Games fans
• Anyone who is interested in seeing the film (read the book first!)

Star Rating:

(The Maze Runner will be in cinemas from 10th October, 2014)