The Secret Fire Tour!

Today, am excited to be part of the Secret Fire blog tour, which is celebrating the release of The Secret Fire by CJ Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld. But today's tour post is a little different from the others!

Today, myself and my French blog-twin for the day, Les Mondes de Clèm (who was so lovely helping me translate the questions and some answers into French - if you are French speaking/reading person, please check her out!), are switching posts. So, I will be hosting our shared blogpost in French and Les Mondes de Clem will be hosting our blogpost in English. So, please, check each of us out as we try this out!

Both blogs are very excited to welcome the main characters of The Secret Fire series, Taylor and Sacha, on our blogs for a quick Q&A. Now, we asked these questions PRIOR to the events of the book... we have our reasons...

Anyway, enough of this talk, let's get start with these questions, shall we...?

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Bienvenue sur mon blog, Taylor et Sacha. Avant de continuer, pourrais-tu nous dire quelques mots sur toi. 

Sacha: Je m’appelle Sacha Winters. Je vis à Paris et j’ai 17 ans, bientôt 18 (hélas). Je vis avec ma mère et ma petite sœur dans un appartement à l’ouest de Paris. Mon père est mort, il y a quelques années de cela, dans un accident de voiture. Ma particularité ? Je ne peux pas mourir, pas tant que j’ai 18 ans, et je peux vous dire que ça pourrit bien ma vie…

Pourquoi pensez-vous que professeurs, M. Finlay pour Taylor et M. Deidé pour Sacha, vous ont demané de répondre à cet article ?

Taylor: Il fait toujours des choses comme ça. Pour être honête, je pense qu'il veut que j'aille à Oxford plus que je ne le veux moi-même. Mais c'est un très bon professeur.

Sacha: Parce qu’il aime me donner du travail en plus ? C’est sa grande spécialité. Mais je l’aime bien. C’est le seul prof du lycée qui s’intéresse un peu à moi. Alors peut-être qu’il me la demandé justement pour me prouver qu’il m’aime bien… à sa façon !

Quels sont les cours que tu aimes ? Et ceux que tu n'aimes pas ?

Taylor: J'adore l'histoire, le français, les sciences... Et j'adore aussi les maths. En fait, il n'y a pas de cours que je n'aime pas ! J'ai quand même hâte d'aller à l'université. C'est à ce moment là que les choses deviendront vraiment intéressantes.

Sacha: Quand j’allais en cours, j’aimais l’histoire, parce que mon père était historien médiéviste, l’anglais, facile pour moi, puisque mon père, d’origine anglais, me parlait dans cette langue. Pour le reste, je ne me débrouillais pas trop mal. Mais tout ça, c’est du passé.

Où te vois-tu dans cinq ans ? Dans des études supérieures, voyageant à travers le monde ou bien faisant quelque chose de différent ?

Taylor: Je vais étudier l'archéologie à St Wilfred, à Oxford. Ensuite, je vais être diplômée. Dans cinq ans, je serai archéologue. Attendez de voir.

Sacha: Ahah, c’est une blague, non ? Je ne pense même pas être en vie dans cinq ans ! Je vous rappelle que je dois mourir dans 8 semaines, le jour de mes 18 ans ! Alors dans 5 ans, si j’y arrive… On verra à ce moment-là. 

Penses-tu que le passé est important pour l'avenir de chacun ?

Taylor: ABSOLUMENT. Nous construisons nos villes sur d'anciennes villes. Et nous construisons nos vies sur d'anciennes vies. Comment le passé peut-il ne pas être important ? Il est une partie de nous.

Sacha: C’est le passé qui fait de moi celui que je suis aujourd’hui. C’est le passé de ma famille qui me poursuit encore, et qui est à la fois un fardeau et un trésor. Le passé est le socle de chaque individu. Sans lui, nous sommes des nouveaux nés. Maintenant, j’aurais préféré que le mien soit un peu plus… léger, on va dire hein ! Parce que pour l’instant, il ne m’aide pas trop à envisager mon avenir. Bon sang, vous m’embrouillez avec ces questions ! 

Maintenant que nous en avons terminé avec les questions ennuyantes, parlons musique. Quel genre de musique aimes-tu écouter ?

Taylor: Ma meilleure amie Georgie est obsédée par Taylor Swift, et je l'aime bien aussi. Mais je suis plus indépendante. Quand Georgie n'est pas là pour s'en plaindre, j'écoute des groupes comme First Aid Kit and Neko Case.

Sacha: En ce moment, j’avoue que j’écoute des trucs pas forcément joyeux. J’aime quand ça parle de la mort, d’être un monstre, d’être différent. J’étais plus bisounours avant, mais on va dire que les temps changent. Ces derniers jours, j’écoute Nirvana en boucle. Peut-être que je sens une connexion avec Kurt Kobain. Je le lui dirai si je le croise après ma mort…

En ce moment y a-t-il une chanson que tu aimes particulièrement ?

Taylor: Il y a une chanson de First Aid Kit qui s'appelle "When I Grow Up" et que j'écoute beaucoup. C'est un peu vieux, mais c'est bien.

Sacha: "Creep" de Radiohead. 

À quoi te fait-elle penser ?

Taylor: Être capable de prendre mes propres décisions, et faire ce que je veux. Être courageuse.

Sacha: Que je ne suis pas le seul à me sentir mal, à penser que je suis bizarre, que je ne comprends pas pourquoi je suis comme ça et comment je peux changer. 

Quand tu n'es pas de bonne humeur, y a-t-il une chanson que tu écoutes souvent ?

Taylor: Je suis toujours de bonne humeur !

Sacha: Je ne suis pas souvent de bonne humeur en ce moment. 

Et une qui te motive peu importe le moment ?

Taylor: Connaissez-vous la chanson "Boom Clap" ? Je l'adore !

Sacha: Je ne me souviens plus. Avant, j’écoutais des chansons qui me donnaient la pêche, qui me donnaient envie de chanter, de danser, de rire. Je ne me souviens plus comment c’était…

Pour finir, quelle est la dernière chanson que tu aies écoutée ?

Taylor: Georgie était là hier soir et elle était en charge de la musique alors EVIDEMMENT c'était "Bad Blood", de Taylor Swift. Ça ne change jamais.

Sacha: "Losing My Religion" de REM. Ça parle de perte de tout : confiance, foi, amour. « That was just a dream ». Peut-être que c’est ça ma vie. Un rêve, un cauchemar… 

Merci beaucoup Taylor et Sacha d'avoir répondu à mes questions!

(Et un grand merci à CJ Daugherty et Carina Rozenfeld!!)

Night School - The Song

If you are a Night School fan, you might not be aware that the Friday just gone, a song inspired by the series has been released. And CJ Daugherty is a fan. So much so, an acoustic version of the song was used in the book trailer for Night School: Endgame.



Well, to celebrate the release, I was asked if I fancied asking some questions to the singer, Betsa, asking her questions about Night School, music and her reactions to when her song was used in a book trailer. So, am breaking my blog holiday (again) to share with you guys!

Before I go any further, I must thank Betsa for taking time out to answer these questions and Jack Jewers to setting up the Q&A. So, thank you. Now, here we go!

Betsa, thank you so much for chatting with me. First of all, how did you get into the Night School series? 

Thank you! 

I got into reading Night School after seeing a copy of it in my local book shop; although I don’t like to judge a book by it’s cover, the Night School cover completely pulled me in and made me want to read it. After reading the blurb I knew it was definitely my kind of book, filled with an intriguing love triangle, action and mystery.

What was it about Night School that grabbed you as a reader? 

I’m quite the hopeless romantic so the whole Carter – Allie relationship was extremely thrilling for me as a 14 year old. Also I felt like Allie was a real person; she made mistakes and wasn’t perfect, I could relate to her character, especially the panic attacks that took her over and her own personal struggle throughout the novel. 

What about this series grabbed you as a songwriter? What made you think “There’s a song in here”? 

As soon as I’d seen the book trailer the first lyric of the song came into my mind; ‘It’s getting darker and there’s someone after me’ – I think I sang it as I was walking home from a late night babysitting last year. It was the decisions Allie had to make throughout the first two books that really got me thinking; how she was always second-guessing herself and whom she could trust. From April 2014 until January this year I kept the song a secret and thought of it as more of a little bit of fun. CJ and Jack then asked if they could use a cover of Shake It Off I had done, for one of their videos. I thought to myself ‘Betsa, you actually have a song about Night School for Night School’ and sent over a version I had recorded on my iPad. Amazingly they loved the song and here we are today!

What was the process of creating the song, Night School? Was it a long process or was it quite fast? 

Writing the song took me about an hour as the lyrics and melody came so easily. I wrote it in my conservatory in the dark to try and get a good, ominous atmosphere. Obviously, after that nothing happened for another year as I never told anyone about it, but June this year I had the absolute pleasure of working with an incredible producer Brad Mair who knew exactly what the song was about and exactly what it needed to be. Straight away this made the process run smoothly. He had it finished in what seemed like and instant. I think I’ve been very lucky with how well our team communicates with one another, making sure everything was done right and to the standard we all loved!

So, how did CJ Daugherty (writer of the series) and Jack Jewers (director of the Night School: Web Series) come across your song? 

I’m lucky enough to know both CJ and Jack as they live quite locally to me. As soon as I found this out I was so excited to meet her and luckily got to when my dad was asked, by complete chance, to film the Night School Book Trailer. By this point I had already read the first book and was incredibly amazed that he was working with CJ! Since then, both of them have been round for parties and get-together’s and have fortunately been to some of my gigs. This is why I felt comfortable enough to finally show them the song.

An acoustic version of your song was used in the book trailer for Endgame. How did you feel when you were told this? 

I was absolutely ecstatic when Jack told me he wanted to use the acoustic version of the song! At the same time I was worried about what the fans would think, hoping they would like the song and support it. Luckily all the comments have been positive, which has made me feel extremely humbled (the Night School fans are honestly the nicest people ever!)

What was it like to watch the book trailer when it was released and hearing your music being used? And what’s it like, knowing that the trailer has had over 10,000 views? 

I was on cloud nine when I saw the book trailer. I sneakily put it on at college, as I couldn’t wait to watch it. Funnily, for a moment I thought they hadn’t used the song as the beginning had a different piece of music. I then I heard the guitar come in and began squealing with glee. I had to stop myself from showing everyone in my photography class.

The song was released on the 17th July. How does it feel to have your song released for purchase? 

It’s such an amazing feeling! It’s so lovely to have the incredible support from CJ and Jack, and of course the Night School fans and blogs like this, as I created the song to speak to the people who were completely taken in by the franchise; by the darkness and romance, by the mystery and pain, and by the choice to pick a side, hoping that it’s the right one. That’s what the books are all about and therefore that is what the song is about and I really, really hope people get that and like it!

Are you working on any new music? 

I am working on new music! At the moment Brad Mair and I are working on another one of my songs ‘Missing You’ which has a similar vibe to Night School yet more drums and guitar. ‘Missing You’ should hopefully be out some time this July as well, and I’m hoping the Night School fans will also enjoy that song too.

One final question: have you read Endgame and, without spoilers, how do you feel about it?

Annoyingly, I haven’t had the chance to read Endgame yet as I’ve been reading all the old classics (Austen, Wilde, both Bronte Sisters…) But It is on the top of my Summer holidays reading list and I can’t wait to throw myself into it! From the Endgame book trailer, I will probably be holding my breath the whole way through and most likely shedding a tear when it comes to the end.

GoodRead - Night School: Endgame

So, we're here. The final book in the Night School series. And if you have followed my blog for a while, you know I am a bit of fan of this series. Not sure how that happened as, when I first read the first book in the series, I was "I like this, but there are far too many loose ends for a standalone" (oh yes. I thought Night School was a standalone book) and now, I was freaking the heck out over how Night School: Resistance ended.

So when I was sent the final book in the series, Endgame, via the publishers, I was happy. At last, we're going to find out how this series was going to end. And, at the same time, I was very uncertain over it. This is the last book in the series and I, like other fans, was a little worried over these characters.

At the end of Resistance, Allie was thrown into the back of a car, shocked beyond words over the events that happened to her. Lucinda is dead. Carter is missing. And Nathaniel has won. Or has he? Allie must recover quickly if there is any hope to end this war. But first, she and Cimmeria Academy have to find Carter before ending this terrible struggle for power. And not everyone will walk away from it unscarred...

Throughout the course of this series, CJ Daugherty has this great writing style where she can write foreboding really well. You get a sense of uneasy throughout the series. But in Endgame, all that is gone. We are thrown in the action and it is all hitting the fan. And CJ can write this just as well. There are moments when I was speeding through the pages, not sure I could put the book down in case it kept speeding forward when I wasn't look.

Plus, CJ gave us character development. Now, if you are aware, in my previous posts on this series, I have said CJ can write slow burning thrillers. And it's only now I have realised that she has done the same with character development. Allie in Endgame isn't the same girl she was when we first met her in Night School. It's the same with the other characters and, because of this, their relationships with each other - friends, enemies, lovers.

There was one relationship that I suspected in Resistance, maybe even earlier in Fracture, and I was excited when I saw I was right about it and I was thrilled over how CJ handled it. No drama. And that is how it should be.

This series, at times, reminds me of The Hunger Games. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but it does. Yes, Night School is completely different to Hunger Games (one is modern day conspiracy theories while the other is dystopian), but both have the same vibe to it. And, unlike how The Hunger Games forced itself into three books, CJ was allowed to take her time to explore the themes.

Speaking of Mockingjay, I have a horrible feeling that some readers will not be happy with how CJ ended the series. Some readers might feel that it was like Mockingjay and both ended with more of a whimper rather than the bang it deserves.

But with the secret conspiracy world that these books are set, the ending does feel right somehow. Maybe that's a me thing.

I really liked this series (maybe I need to do a reread soon) and I am both excited and intrigued over CJ's next project, The Secret Fire, which is out later this year.

Night School Saturday - Jack Jewers Talks About the Making of Night School: Web Series

Hello again! Yes, another Saturday so another Night School Saturday. You thought because the web series was over, these would stop. Oh no!

Today, I am very lucky to talk to Jack Jewers, the director of Night School: The Web Series and the man who has helped with these Night School Saturdays. I owe a lot to him (He's the one who got everyone answering my questions over "What was that like?", "How did you film that?" and other kinda geeky questions I asked and bit my tongue over [if you know me, you know I like to know more about what happened behind the camera...).And I am thrilled that when I asked Jack if he fancied answering some questions, he said yes.

Now, before I go any further and give you the usual "You can follow him on Twitter at" info, I want to say something real quick. I asked Jack these questions around the time when episode 2 "The Other One" was aired so if the answers feel out of date, that was because I decided that I wanted this to be one of the last things to air on my Night School Saturdays!

Ok, the Twitter jam. If you want to follow Jack on Twitter, you can do so at @JackJewers or you can follow TrailerMade Films at @trailer_made. Right over to Jack to answer some questions. And me not bouncing in my chair over one of the last few questions...

Jack, thank you so much for having time to answer a few questions about Night School: The Web Series. I (as many fans) would love to know where did the idea of turning Night School into a web series come from? Did the author, CJ Daugherty, come to you with this idea? Did you go to her or did you both come to the same conclusion together?

The idea sort of evolved over time. The Night School book trailers had grown a bit of a cult following alongside the books since we started making them in 2012. When we shot the trailer for book 4, Resistance, in May 2014, we ended up with enough extra material to form a couple of teasers in addition to the main trailer. These were quite fun and went down well, so we had the idea to come back over the summer and build on that by doing some extra ones. Not full episodes, just snippets of action featuring different characters, of between 30 seconds and a minute in length. (We actually completed one of them featuring Nathaniel, which will never be released now, although much of the footage was re-used in Power).

Then one day we were having a long discussion about all this, and it suddenly dawned on us that there was this huge opportunity just staring us in the face – why not turn it into a web series instead?

So the TL;DR on that is that we were out walking the dog and had a brainwave!

You directed the book trailers for all the Night School books. How big a change was it to go from filming a book trailer that lasted only a few minutes to film a series of six episodes, each under 10 minutes long?

Actually it was less of a change than you might think. For a start, scripted drama is my comfort zone. It’s definitely more challenging a medium for a director – a whole other level, really – but I absolutely relished taking that step. It felt a little like ‘great, now we can get some real work done.’

However, in practical terms, they weren’t all that different to make. We always pushed the envelope as much as possible in terms of production values with the book trailers. The web series was shot with largely the same crews, so we were used to working with each other. And they were also made on similar schedules. It took 2 days to shoot the book trailers for Fracture and Resistance, which is actually more time than we had for some of the web series episodes!

That said the web series was certainly a bigger production by far.

CJ wrote the scripts for this series. Was there any time you read the script and thought "How are we going to film this?" or were you excited for the challenge?

I constantly wondered that while reading the scripts! But CJ and I have a very symbiotic way of working, which really helps.

The episodes are also very different, with different sets of challenges. Sometimes all I had to go on was the dialogue – that was the case on the three ‘character’ episodes, The Other One, The Gilmore Girl and Bang. I then had to build a visual story to go alongside her words, and I had pretty free reign with that.

The more action-focussed episodes were closer to conventional drama scripts, with basic action outlined too – in which case my job was to interpret them visually. That means hundreds of little decisions – everything from where to put the camera, to using a particular lens, and of course working with the actors and all that entails. Every single one of those can end up having a huge impact on the end result.

Now, what was the process you went through to find the right actors for the roles? Were they any surprise castings that surprised CJ and you?

We always knew that we wanted the main actors from the book trailers – Jess Sargent, Campbell Challis, Louis Clarke-Clare and Danny Carmel – to reprise their roles in the web series. For the other parts I put out castings through professional industry channels and then auditioned a shortlist.

As to whether there were any surprises – yes! The casting for Jo threw us some real curve balls. Jodie Hirst was the first person we saw of about six actresses who read for that part. She impressed us hugely – not only with her performance but also by looking so uncannily like Jo is described in the books that I think CJ felt a little spooked by the experience!

It all felt like a done deal until the final person to audition walked in, who happened to be Grace Parry. She was absolutely brilliant, and while we still went with Jodie for that part, we ended up offering Grace the role of Katie without ever seeing anyone else for it. I just knew she’d make an amazing Katie.

The way Grace tells the story ends with ‘and given that Katie’s such a bitch I’m not sure that’s a compliment’ but I can assure you it is!

  

With each episode having a different leads (Allie was the series main lead, but we had an episode told from Carter's point of view, another from Katie) and each with their own unique feels (in Power, we have Nathaniel being questioned in a Newsnight-style and in All the Pretty Killers, we are in a dream where we see Allie's friendship of Jo after the terrible events of Legacy). Was this a decision you made very early on when CJ was writing the scripts or was it something organic that happened when you saw the scripts?

Definitely the latter. Our concept for the series evolved as we went along. At one stage the idea was to do most episodes from the point of view of a different character. Initially it was only going to be Power and All the Pretty Killers that were done as full action episodes. But they were such strong scripts that we felt it was better to do the episodes half and half in terms of style – and besides, we wanted a really awesome opener that a casual viewer could see and instantly get what Night School was about, with no prior knowledge. So Flashback happened!

Now, with web series and podcasts becoming popular (for example, The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, Emma Approved, Welcome to Night Vale, Serial, etc), why do you think this is the case? 

I think in some ways it’s the inevitable result of the explosion of web content. I read recently that more than 50% of everything is now watched on YouTube. But also it’s because they offer a huge freedom to writers and directors – with good scripts and a good team you can shoot, edit and distribute your own work relatively cheaply, and retain creative control. There’s no middleman. It’s a very democratising thing.

Once the series was filmed and edited, the news was unveiled to the fans. Were you surprised on how positive the reactions were to the news with people tweeting the news, blogging/vlogging and news article being released in The Bookseller and CJ being interviewed on London Live?

It’s been phenomenal. I couldn’t have dreamed that episode one would make the cover of the Guardian. We were completely thrilled. Being the first web series based on a YA novel outside the USA helped us get attention, but most of it is down to the fact that we just had such a talented crew and cast, making something genuinely innovative and new. We’re all very proud of it.

What was your reactions when you released the trailer and the first episode and both got views of over 12,000 within a short period of time? Did it take you by surprise?

Yes! The Night School YouTube channel has gained over 100,000 views in just a few months. We’re creeping slowly towards half a million now, and that’s mostly organic – the trailers and webisodes have had almost nothing in the way of paid promotion. People are discovering it for themselves.

With Night School: The Web Series having such a positive reaction with fans and critics, would you consider filming an original web series if you thought of an idea that would grip viewers?

Of course! I’d love to. In fact I have a few ideas...  *narrows eyes; rubs hands*

Last question: speaking of future web series, will there be a second series on Night School?

A second series has certainly been talked about but no decisions have been made yet. It partly depends on how well the rest of series one goes down – if people want a series two it would really help if we were to get as many views as possible! But we’ve got some awesome ideas about what we could do with a series two. We’ll decide either way by about early February. Promise! 

Night School Saturday - Q&A With Campbell Challis

So, have we all recovered from Night School: The Web Series airing its finale episode on Friday? And have we recovered over Jessica's interview yesterday? Can we talk about it? ... what do you mean "No, I haven't see it yet...". You know the drill - go to youtube.com/NightSchoolBook and watch it. And if you haven't watched Jessica chatting all things Allie, you can check out yesterday's blog post or hope over to youTube and watch her there...

Anyway, you can stay as this post as I want to take you back. Back in time! Well, till a few weeks ago (ok, last year!) when the second episode in the series, The Other One, was aired. Not seen it? Let me leave it here for you to watch (or swoon - either is good with us...)



Watched it? Have you recovered from Carter's half-nakedness? Well, the lovely director of Night School: The Web Series, Jack Jewers, emailed me and asked if I wanted to be involved to showing off the series. No brainer, like I said last week (and the week before. And the week before that. And before that...). So when Jack asked if there was anyone I fancied doing a small Q&A with, Campbell Challis was one of my first choices. And Jack was awesome enough to get Campbell to answer some question.

So, my huge thank you goes to Jack for getting Campbell to answer these questions (you're cool) and a super thank you to Campbell who took time out from his backpacking trip in the exotic location of Thailand (BACKPACKING IN THAILAND! THAILAND!!! And he answered my little questions!!!). But thank you Campbell!

Now, before I throw this over to Campbell, I want to share the love so, if you want to follow Campbell, Jack or CJ Daughtery on Twitter, you can go and follow them at @OrignalWayfarer, @JackJewers (or @trailer_made) & @CJ_Daugherty. Now, let's get some answers from Campbell, shall we...?

Campbell, thank you for answering a few questions on my blog. Before we go any further, let's get this one out of the way first: Had you read the Night School series before starring in the web series? If you have, what's your reaction to the series and, dare I ask, what's your favourite book?

Hello, it's my pleasure to answer your questions.

The answer is no, I hadn't read any night school books before becoming carter..., In fact I hadn't even heard of night school until I was sat in a coffee Shop with CJ and Jack! It was on that fateful day CJ handed me a copy of Legacy... So I suppose that remains my personal favourite. And I have only great things to say about the series... I suppose for me it's helps me to gain a better understanding of Carter and his relationships with the other characters on a much deeper level.

Tell us how you got the part of Carter for Night School: The Web Series?

My acting agent emailed me basically saying that I had to go and meet a couple of strangers for a coffee in Surrey. I thought... "Hmmm sounds interesting", so I went along to Cafe Nero in Farnham and there I met Jack and CJ. We had a bit of a chat and talked a bit about Night School, then Jack asked me to give my most smouldering stare, he then said "If you shave your beard off, you can be Carter!". So that was that. And aside from making book trailers and web series's, we've become good friends!

Now, eagle eyed viewers will know that you play Carter in all Night School's book trailers. What was it like going from filming book trailers to filming a web series?

It was a really great transition, because we already knew the characters, so all we had to do was throw in a bit of dialogue and we were off the ground! Aside from that it was fantastic news because it meant more days filming with everyone which is always a blast!

Carter was only in one episode of this series - The Other One. How did feel about having one episode to make the viewer understand Carter, who is quite a complex character in the book series?

I'm so pleased that Carter could have the opportunity to explain things a bit, and that's exactly what the episode "The Other One" did; it gave Carter the time to let the audience know exactly who he was and where he was at in terms of everything. As you mentioned, Carter is a very complex character and I think that really comes across in the speech during the episode. It was also the first time Carter says any dialogue in terms of book trailers and web series's, so it gave me the opportunity to really get into his shoes.

With the fandom have very strong feelings over whether Allie should be with Carter or love rival Sylvain, did you feel pressure to make Carter win over the viewers? Especially with the "We had something once. But I blew it" line?

I wouldn't say I felt pressure, but there is always a bit of healthy rivalry between Sylvain and Cater. But other than that, the rest is up to CJ. The "I blow it", line almost makes cater more desirable for the viewers.

Now, I don't think anyone noticed but you were shirtless in The Other One. Were you ok with this or did you find filming those scenes quite challenging?

Haha...! I thoroughly enjoyed filming those topless scenes... Aside from feeling liberated, it was a warm October, and running around in a hoodie all day got pretty hot. So when it was suggested that I took some clothes off, I was very happy!

Speaking of scenes, were they any scenes that you enjoyed filming?

I really enjoyed shooting all the scenes but if I had to pick out one scene it would have to be all the running shots. I'm an avid runner in my spare time so it was really cool being filmed sprinting around the Surrey countryside. The other crazy thing is that Tom Blount... The camera man, (who also plays Gabe) had to run with me.... But with a very heavy, very expensive Camera!

What was it like working with CJ Daughtery and Jack Jewers?

Honestly working with Jack and CJ is so so much fun, we always have a great laugh and get some great material at the end of the day. From an actors perspective, Jack is a great director to work with as he makes you feel comfortable with everything, you don't feel pressured into fitting into a box ... You are just free to give your perspective on the character. The really cool thing is also that CJ gives her author's input which is pretty essential considering she made Night School! And the best part is that they are married! It's literally a match made in heaven!

If CJ Daughtery and Jack Jewers decided to do a second series of Night School, what would you like them to do with Allie? Is there any stories or scenes that you would like to tackle? 

I think I would like to see a bit more Bad Allie!, like what we saw in "Flashback". I want to see more of Allie's dark side come out, also maybe a bit more of .... Dare I say it... Sylvian and Allie just to shake it up a bit! But who knows what might come next..., It's all up to CJ I suppose 

Night School Saturday - Jessica Sargent Chats Night School

So we had the last episode in the current series of Night School: The Web Series. How are we feeling? In shock? Mourning? Or hopeful for a second series *hint hint CJ and Jack hint hint*.

If you haven;'t watched the latest episode, why haven't you? Well, here it is! ENJOY!!!



And because he is awesome, the director Jack Jewers managed to get Jessica Sargent - aka Allie - to answer some questions. And Jessica decided to film herself answering the questions (and Jack was super kind to edit this video for me as I have NO IDEA HOW TO EDIT VIDEOS!). So both Jessica and Jack are great for doing this - thank you both for taking time out to do this for me!

Oh, before I hand you over to Jessica, am going to tell you two things. First, come back tomorrow around the same time as there's going to be another Night School Saturday post... *keeps quiet over what but I think you'll like it*.

And second, if you want to follow Jessica, Jack or CJ Daugherty on Twitter (because they are awesome), please do so at @jessemes, @jackjewers (or @trailer_made) or @CJ_Daugherty.

Now, am going to hand over to Jessica!

If I Made The Movie Soundtrack For... NIGHT SCHOOL

I should be writing my write-up on me finishing my reread of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Or my review of Young Avengers: Style > Substance. But I can't seem to get into the mindset to write them. So, I thought I would do this, my first blog post under my "If I Made The Movie Soundtrack For..." trial.

I was going to do Broken by AE Rought first. That was always the plan. Leave this one till last so it doesn't clash with the Night School: Web Series (What do you mean you haven't watched it? Go to https://www.youtube.com/user/nightschoolbook - the last episode should be up this Friday so you can blitz them now!).

But I like the idea of doing a soundtrack for this series as a whole. I usually have a song for each book, so I went "Ok, if this was turned into a TV show or a movie, what music would I have?". The trouble with this was I wanted foreboding songs - songs that hint at the danger to come - and not one song with this feel came to me. It was a NIGHTMARE! However, a new idea popped into my head. What songs would be on these characters's iPod?

Now, before the Night School fandom corrects me, I know Cimmeria Academy has a strict no technology code, but I thought "If Allie can't get an iPod in the school, surely Jo or Katie will". And then, the songs came. Sod the movie, what would the character's LISTEN to! And they were fun songs. Songs I could twist on their heads. That's when I got excited. Very excited. That's never a good thing with me...

Now, my attention for this soundtrack is that, while we have a good mix of songs - songs that have been written especially for this movie/TV show or been remixed with Night School in mind, I want a few songs that we, the viewer, know and go "Hey! They have the same taste in music as me!" while not distracting us from the story. So... I decided to pick a few songs from my weirdly long list and show you my idea for this soundtrack. I hope you like...


"WHERE IS THE LIGHT" by The Amplifetes
Bad Allie. The Allie we meet in the first chapter of the first book. So this would be playing over the first scenes when Allie and Mark is trashing the school and when Allie hides (and gets locked into the closet), the music will stop. We will hear only Allie's breathing and then her panic. It's a complete 180 to have this powerful song to show us this strong, badass Allie then have it stop and show us a completely different side of her.


"STOMPA" by Serena Ryder
Another Bad Allie song, but it's not as harsh as Where Is The Light. I can imagine Allie using this song on her drive to Cimmeria Academy, trying to remind herself of who she is and remembering her brother. But I can imagine a few other series, mainly with Jo or Rachel.


"DON'T STOP ME NOW" by Foxes
I have no idea why but this song instantly made me think of Isabelle. I can imagine this version of Queen playing in Isabelle's office when Allie first enters her office. I, for some reason, imagine Isabelle being a fan of jazz and, if we can only make a version of this song more 1920 smokey jazz-bar sounding, it would be perfect for her.


"COME BACK HOME" by Two Door Cinema Club
I listened to this song a lot when I read the first book. While it sounds all electronic and fun, I always felt there was a dark undertone to it, something that fits perfectly with Night School. I can easily imagine Allie relating this song to what she remembers of Christopher, her brother. Or what she think she remembers of him...


"SPEAK UP" by POP ETC
There is something haunting about this song that I can't put my finger on. Plus, I love a good hint of foreshadowing and I feel that this is hints to Carter and Jo.


"VULTURES (MJ COLE REMIX)" by Jess Mills
I only discovered this a few weeks ago when I researched another song from one of my current TV addictions (How To Get Away With Murder) and I found this by mistake. But this song I feel is perfect! I can imagine this being Allie's investigating music, trying to figure out the secrets of Night School...


"BOYS DON'T CRY" by Natalia Kills
I just wanted a bitchy, poppy song for Katie. Only reason why I picked this one. I can imagine Katie playing this to herself before going to a party... And, if memory serves me right, Cimmeria Academy has a far few parties...


"COVER MY EYES" by La Roux
Ok, this is an add-on! I just thought of foreshadowing and, as we have teens and hormones working overtime (and THAT love triangle. If you want to call it that), I wanted to hint at a future event with Allie, Carter and Katie.


"LEAVE WHILE I'M NOT LOOKING" by Paloma Faith
Last song but the ending of Night School: Legacy with Jo. This is Jo's song. It was as soon as I discovered it. (For some reason, I merged the endings of the first and second books together just so I can get this song on this playlist...)

Ok, that was far more songs that I was expecting and that was FAR MORE FUN than I was expecting! Am kinda glad I did this post first as it was fun! I love writing fun blog posts (and I sense when I write the "If I Made The Movie Soundtrack For..." posts for AE Rought's Broken and Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls, they are going to be a tad more strict).

But I hope you all like the music. Tell me what you thought of my choices and what songs would you pick if you were in charge of the movie/TV show's soundtrack? I want to discover new songs and rediscover some classics!

Night School Saturday - Jodie Hirst Talks About Playing The Dead Girl

Yes, it's another Night School Saturday! Yes, another one. THESE WILL NEVER END (well... until the lovely director Jack says he has nothing more to share with me...)!

If you haven't seen yesterday's episode, All The Pretty Killers, I will pop it down below. There is a HUGE SPOILER in it from the second book in the series, Night School: Legacy, that carries the series forward. So, if you haven't read Legacy, you might want to skip this episode. And this blog post in general. Just covering myself!



Have we seen it? Is it safe to talk?

Ok, well, because Jack is a really nice guy, he asked if I wanted to help promote the Night School: Web Series. I said yes (of course I did, have you not read any of my other Night School Saturday posts?) and Jack got Jodie Hirst - the actress who played Jo in yesterday's episode - to write a tiny blog post for me. And it's on the subject matter I wondered over...

Anyway, before I let Jodie take over my little blog, I want you guys to share the kindness and love. If you want to follow Jodie, Jack or CJ Daughtery on Twitter, you can go and follow them at @BlondeBob24, @JackJewers (or @trailer_made) & @CJ_Daugherty.

Ok, Jodie, all yours!

“So you’re playing a dead girl?” enquire all my friends. Blunt, to the point, but true.

Not one to back down from a challenge I wanted to convince the audience that I was alive, not only to make the ending all the more poignant, but to show that even in death you can still have a big influence on those you leave behind.

I can relate to Jo (apart from the being dead part!) in the way we can both talk to anyone, we like to please people and can also be a tiny bit mischievous (we all like skinny dipping, right?!)

Jo and Allie’s relationship from the start is one that many girls can relate to. Jo takes her under her wing and through all the highs and lows (and there have been a few) they still remain firm friends, and, in a time of need who does Allie turn to? Me!

The location for my episode of Night School : The Web Series is beautiful and adds to the dreamlike nature of this narrative. The scene which sees Allie running to Jo is on top of a hill overlooking a gorgeous Surrey landscape. However, it may be a little tainted as I believe there’s still a bit of fake blood up there!

Talking of blood, there’s just a bit in this episode... What fun that was to play with! Who wouldn’t want to ruin a gorgeous dress? Oops! I’m pretty sure we have some funny outtakes of that scene; you may get to see them soon!

What a privilege to have been given the opportunity to play this beautiful character. She has so much depth and grace and I hope that the Night School fans think I have done her justice.

As for a second series? Oh yes, even a dead girl can come back more than once!  

Night School Saturday - Grace Parry Talks About All Things Gilmore

Another Saturday, another Night School Saturday. This is turning into a habit, isn't it, lovely readers, is it not?

The director of the Night School: The Web Series, Jack Jewers, asked if I wanted to take part in showing off the series (the first of its kind in the UK - who knew?!) and I said yes - like I said last week, am a bit of a fan of the series...

Anyway, today, the actor playing Katie Gimore - Grace Parry - talks about what it was like to play the mean girl in yesterday's episode, The Gilmore Girl. Not see it yet?



Compared to last week's very tense episode of Power, this is very much the opposite (and possible one of my fave episodes so far in the series!).

Now, before I throw this over to Grace (who took time out to write this tiny piece!), I just want to share the love so, if you want to follow Grace, Jack or CJ Daughtery on Twitter, you can go and follow them on Twitter at @GraceParry93, @JackJewers (or @trailer_made) & @CJ_Daugherty. (and once you've done that, you might want to watch CJ and Grace on London Live, chatting about the web series and how it came to be...)

All set? Right, over to you, Grace!

There’s a quote ‘everyone loves to hate a mean girl’ and I’m sure the fans of Night School will say this definitely applies to Katie. She’s someone who will say EXACTLY what’s on her mind and not think about the consequences. (Somewhat a trait I admire in Katie. At least you know where you stand!)

I love that my episode of Night School: the Web Series gives Katie the chance to tell her side of the story. Yes, she may be privileged (I wish I could be chauffeur driven everyday) and something of a queen bee (“thank God for this face!” – my favourite line) but ultimately her heart is in the right place. I think because of this Katie helps bring the comedy to Night School she was certainly a LOT of fun to play.

My casting is very often ‘the nice girl’ so playing Katie was something of a new and exciting challenge for me. There was something very exhilarating as an actress, having to unleash my inner ‘mean girl’ for the role. I think the fiery red hair definitely helped the character choice too. In fact, not only was I tempted to keep the hair after filming, I was finding myself having to bite my tongue and not get in trouble for saying something Katie might!

After reading the books and The Gilmore Girl script, I immediately saw a character reference to Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls (name a teenage girl who can’t quote the whole film – not ashamed to admit I can!) It would be hilarious if people were quoting Katie after the episode goes up.

The day spent filming The Gilmore Girl was so much fun! The school used as Cimmeria Academy (Frensham Heights in Surrey) was just like Hogwarts. I think every girl should have the chance to have a day in the life of Katie Gilmore – a trip to the spa, shopping and of course, after all that hard work, stopping for a Cappuccino (without sprinkles!) A chance to do all of that again would be lovely- so fingers crossed for a second series ;)

I just hope by the end of the episode the audience learn to love Katie as much as I do!

Night School Saturday - Danny D Carmel talks Nathaniel

As some of you guys are aware if you're big Night School fans, a small web series has been released and yesterday, we had a new episode. Power focuses on one character: Nathaniel. If you haven't seen it, I shall link it below...



Seen it? Ok, we can talk now as I don't want you guys to go further in case of spoilers. If you haven't watched it and we let something slip, you only have yourselves to blame...

I have been very lucky that the director of the series, Jack Jewers, asked if I wanted to be involved in some way to show off this series. Of course, the answer was yes. I am a huge fan of the Night School series so it was a no brainer.

And I am very honored to have Danny D. Carmel on here, chatting about how he got into the mind of the power-hungry Nathaniel. So, before I hand it over to Danny, I must say thank you to Danny and to Jack, both for their time. If you want to follow either of them (and CJ Daughtery) on Twitter, you could go to @DannyDCarmel, @JackJewers &/or @CJ_Daugherty. Or, you can follow the Web Series on YouTube at youtube.com/nightschoolbook

Ok, Danny, over to you!

What it was like playing Nathaniel?

Nathaniel is a very different kind of character to my usual roles, which have generally been boisterous, young and warm characters. Not so with Nathaniel; He's older, colder and bolder.

So getting into the mindset of this power-hungry man was vital. Aside from asking C.J. a series of questions about his back-story and motivations, I set-about about finding real-life people that Nathaniel could resemble and studied them. Their reasonings, their mannerisms, their outlooks - it unravelled some pretty interesting insights. Like, how much crime figures and Members of Parliament share similar traits, but for opposing goals (generally). Nathaniel internalises a lot of these, such as cunning, ruthlessness and persuasiveness, which he's able to bring into use in the right measure, at the right times. That's a big asset of Nathaniel's timing. Knowing when & where, as well as how, to get people on-side. It's one of Nathaniel's strongest assets. But his temper, impatience & aggression are his weakness. We tried to show that by keeping his violent edginess doing battle with his persuasive pleasanteries, and having neither the time nor patience for either!

We aimed to really bring this out in Nathaniel's eyes. In a sneaky way, I tried to grab some inspiration from that famous 'Restaurant Scene' in the Godfather. Where Al Pacino's eyes are saying far more than anything or anyone else is. You can see the anticipation, the second-by-second decisions he's making about whether to kill this guy, or not and what the repercussions would be. That's the effect we were trying to bring out here. Is Jeremy (the journalist) serious with these questions/allegations? Does he know I have a virtual gun pointed at him? Does he know that I already know this interview isn't going to air? Why does he say these things to me, when he knows I'll kill him for it? I was trying to convey those menacing questions raging behind a smiling suit & tie.

Finally: Playing someone who is as far away as you can get from the trait of humility was also tricky initially, as it is incredibly humbling to work opposite Damien Thomas, who is a fantastic & highly-accomplished actor. That is especially true for me, because I grew up watching Damien in the Hammer Horror movies in-which he played the lead role, well before I was even born! However, all that faded away after rehearsing with him and Kunju Li (who plays the lovely producer/ camera operator, Lucy). Damien's enthusiasm and passion quickly made us realise what a privilege we had to be working with him. Awesome Director Jack Jewers and the wonderful team he put together, made this journey all the more exciting and thrilling. I hope that the Night School fans will take away a whole new world from the Web-series. (If they do however, it will only be because Nathaniel wanted it to happen.)

GoodRead - Night School: Resistance

If you have been following my blog for a while, you might have noticed my feelings toward the Night School series has changed from "I like it, but not enough" to "Are you kidding me?! You expect me to wait HOW LONG!?". So I have been prowling around for a copy of Resistance (as I am now calling it - saves typing) and I found a copy. But why did I go into a tiny state over not finding a copy for a while? Well... I'll tell you later, but I was told on Twitter and I got VERY excited.

Resistance is the fourth and penulimate book in this series (to my knowledge) and after the events of Fracture, Allie is on the run, in hiding. She was hiding with Rachel at Sylvain's French villa and has been moved every few weeks. For once, Allie thinks she's safe. Until Nathaniel's guards find her and start shooting at her.

Realising there is nowhere will be safe, the trio return to Cimmeria Academy. And that's not the same school that Allie was forced to flee. Only a handful of students are left attending the school, tensions are running high, the mole is still not discovered and with every day that passes, Nathaniel is getting one step close to take total control.

Desperate to do something, Allie agrees to Lucinda's late night plan. But in agreeing to this, has Allie put her life and those of her friends's on the line? And with the situation with her feelings towards Carter and Sylvain coming to a head, Allie needs to have her head in the game. Because the winner will take it all if there is one wrong move...

Ok, I think I stated that Fracture was my fave of the series (and this is still true) but CJ must have read the blog post (my Fracture review is here or snooping in my Review Listings tab) because SHE GAVE US ANSWERS! ANSWERS AT LAST! We discovered who the mole was (I kinda guessed, but it was still a shock to the system on who it was and the shortlist of who it could have been...) and Allie finally realises who she's in love with (yes, we don't have to wait till the final pages of book 5 for Allie to realise what most of the fandom was been rooting for!)...

And security - my pet issue with this series was addressed! THE CHARACTERS SPOKE ABOUT THE LACK OF IT IN THE PAST FEW BOOKS! I am very happy when this happened - and it happened on more than one occasion.

Anyway, I got that all out of my system, let me really talk about Resistance. The best way to desrcible my reaction to this book is like this: part of the time, I wanted to hug this book and the rest... well... I wanted to strangled. I like this book and this series - I do, dear reader - but there are times when I get very frustated with it (and I think CJ does this to us on purpose because this world is filled with lies, liars and double-crossing. She likes to unnerve us, I think).

This is a very different book to Fracture. Fracture was a personal book - Allie had to piece herself back together again after the events of book two (Legacy). But in Resistance, Allie was fighting back. She wanted to help, even though she had no idea where to start. She wanted to help Lucinda and Isabelle without thinking about it, but when it comes to matters of the heart...

Typical teenager moments ahead.

And while we had answers, it was nice that CJ tackled issues we all faced. Matters of the heart, coping with grief and friendship struggles. Because of these, CJ places some interesting questions forward: why did Rachel really join Night School, even though it stands against everything she stands for? And why is Nicole suddenly become close buddies with her? (I have a theory - and if it is what I think it is, I will be VERY intrigued on how CJ handles it... ).

What CJ Daugherty does great (like I have said in every review for her books) is that she knows how to write slow burning thrillers. You always have a sense of uneasy with the Night School series and it takes its time revealing information to you. No info dumping the reader, and when she does, CJ does it quite subtly.

I do have a few issues (don't I with EVERY book in existence!?). The first is, of course, security. Yes, I know I said this was address but there is a few times where I was going "You are kidding me?! Why... WHERE THE **** IS THE SECURITY GUARDS?!". There was one moment where I got so angry with this, I had to put the book down for a moment and make a tea before I could continue (and it was a good part as well!).

My second issue is a stupid thing. It's a me thing. While reading this, I keep noticing the use of one swear word quite a lot (it's not what you think!) and, for some reason, I found it quite grating. I don't consider myself a prude but would that word really be used in that situation? Again, this is me thing. This is nothing to do with the author.

My third issue and, again, this is a me thing - but there were times I guessed or I knew what was going to happen next. I think it's because I read quite a lot of thriller-type reads so I am probably always reading going "Ok, tis is what's going to happen next..."

It is going to be very interesting to see how CJ ties all of this us... And I shall be waiting...