Latest news with #Blair
Cosmopolitan
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
See Cover Reveal for Haley Pham's ‘Just Friends'
After talking to dozens of authors over the years, the one thing that you learn is that writing your first novel is often a scary and solitary experience. Many people will never know what that initial draft was and it can sometimes take more than one shot to make it. But also most people aren't Haley Pham. The content creator and now author has been taking her viewers on a journey through the process of writing her first book and now it's all becoming very real as she reveals a new part of the puzzle: the book's cover. Cosmopolitan is exclusively sharing a first-look at Haley Pham's Just Friends, which is set to be released on March 3, 2026. Blair and Declan were the ultimate BFFs growing up, but life had other plans and they soon went their separate ways. Now thrown back together in their hometown, old memories and feelings start to spark a new kind of relationship between them. Here's some more info from our friends at Atria Books: Of course, you're going to want to meet Blair and Declan for your selves and you finally have that chance with the book's official cover. With a name like Seabrook, you bet that these two are getting cozy together at the beach. Check out the stunning cover that was designed by Michaela MacPherson for Atria Books. We also chatted with Haley and asked her all about this perfect new beach read! Check out the exclusive interview below and make sure to pre-order Just Friends! There are many beginnings that fizzled out before I started working on Just Friends. Namely, when I was 17, I started compiling essays and poems I thought would become a book one day. At the time I couldn't picture writing fiction. Then, in 2022, I started writing random scenes I could not stop thinking about in my head. I remember thinking I'd only spend 20 minutes on it before starting my day, and the next thing I knew my entire morning was gone. It was noon and I hadn't started my actual work. It was actually quite startling to discover something I loved so much that time warped. Felt like time traveling! It was crazy. For months I would allow myself some time to write, but I didn't think it was anything serious. I'd go back to making videos, but as time went on, the prickling urge at the back of my mind to write would crop up more and more. By the time I admitted it was my dream to write a novel, I already had 20,000 words done. So, it was a matter of admitting I wanted to do it too much to ignore and it was time to commit! Definitely sharing! When I started the novel I wasn't picturing anyone reading it. What surprised me most was how my brain felt after a day of editing/re-working/re-plotting the book, especially for the second draft. I remember taking a walk after a day of editing and being shocked at how new and strange the sensation of trying to come back into the real world was after being in my head all day. It's such an internal process, it felt like finding the deep end of my brain. I've never felt anything like it! One of my favorite things to do since I was eight-years-old is to capture things; processes or experiences and then turn them into a video to watch back. It helps me understand and organize the experience, and even enjoy it more deeply. So, since writing a novel for the first time was such a novel experience, I wanted to document every step of the way so I'd remember it. Then, I thought sharing it would be fun for anyone else who dreams of writing a book, or for readers who are curious about the process since it seems so allusive! Hmm, this one is tough to answer because I don't want to give anything away! But, I will say, the thing that breaks them apart is also the one thing that might have needed to happen in order for them to work in the present. Or, more specifically, what Declan learns in the past that can make him the perfect partner for Blair in the present. Blair has a lot to learn about relationships in general, but one thing I wanted to focus on was how she navigated sharing her grief, or even her motivations for her actions with her mom. Like her mom, she is more of a doer than a communicator, which to her makes sense, but in reality it causes lots of problems! Every character is acting in a way they believe is most loving, but sometimes, making choices without letting anyone into them will cause the exact opposite result you were hoping for. Honestly looking back it's hard to remember exactly. I feel like it was both of them at the same time. The initial thought was: 'The It boy of middle/high school who's quarterback of the football team. And the girl who no one would've known the name of if it weren't for Declan.' But the thing that makes them so intertwined is how young they met and how much that friendship carries them through their adolescence. I wanted him to be born in the wealthy town of Seabrook, while Blair only ends up there because her mom was fleeing an abusive husband and her great aunt lets them live with her. So, if it weren't for Declan, she'd feel out of place in Seabrook. But because of him, she feels right at home. Inversely, Blair has loved Declan long before football became his defining trait to everyone around him, including his dad. So, when football starts ramping up, Blair's admiration of him means even more. He knows it's based on who he is, and it feels like this safe, unchangeable thing. Definitely. The parts of the story that involve Vietnamese culture or, in particular, Blair's great aunt Lottie's story of coming to America from Vietnam are personal and true. I learn about history best through fiction, and my family's story of immigrating here during the Vietnam war is not only the reason I exist (lol I wouldn't have been born) but has also inspired me my entire life. In the story, I never mention it, but if you calculate it you'll realize that Blair is actually 25% Vietnamese whereas I'm 50%. Which I think is funny because if I were to have a daughter she would be a quarter Vietnamese like Blair. So, I think of her similarly, in that, when you have a child, they have tons of similarities to you but are also entirely different and singular. Well, it's funny because I didn't realize I'd be writing a second chance romance at first. My thought process was: my favorite trope to read of all time is childhood friends to lovers. So, I definitely want to write that, but I want them to be adults and the childhood part to obviously be in their past. I love the yearning of both characters being so scarred by their attempt at their relationship not working out that neither of them has dated since. I also thought writing dual timelines would be easier because if you got stuck in the present you could go backwards, and it would help develop the characters so much for the present, but it turns out writing dual timelines is even harder than writing one. But what I love the most about it is the natural mystery it adds to the story. There's nothing I love more than reading a past timeline where the characters are closer than ever, they're doe-eyed and believe nothing can go wrong, and then you turn the page to the present timeline and they're barely making eye contact. I actually had the past timeline much more mapped out than the present timeline. At first, there were way more flashbacks and I cut a lot of those scenes out. I probably wrote a whole book's worth of pages that got cut, but I was so excited by their past because it's when who they are as people are being developed and there's nothing like that feeling of first love. But I mostly wrote switching between the present and past timelines as I went. I was really excited for the part of the book where their past timeline ends, and they only have present chapters because their new love story is beginning. I'd want them to know how much something as simple as an encouraging comment has gone for me during this process. Know that every time I share something about the book, there is even more terror than excitement behind it (and I'm extremely excited). I'm so aware that this is my first attempt at writing a novel and I have so much room to grow, but when I was scared to start, I convinced myself to by thinking: start now so that by the time you're thirty (hopefully) you'll have a few books under your belt. And with that, hopefully you'll become a better storyteller! In the meantime while you wait for Just Friends, listen to Drive by The Cars and look up a photo of a blue-footed booby. Yes, I am obsessed with the cover! The setting of the book: Seabrook, California, was inspired by Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and I really wanted the cover to capture some of that setting! So much so, I wanted there to be illustrations of Carmel's cypress trees on the past chapter headers. But back to the cover, I love the sunset behind the title, and the bird on the letters especially. Also, I'd love to hear what building/house they think is in the distance! Yes: Thank you!!! The book is not even out yet but it's already been the most fulfilling and liberating (and terrifying) dream to explore. So, you supporting that journey is more than anything I could ever dream up or ask of you. Just Friends, by Haley Pham will be released on March 3, 2026. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice: AMAZON AUDIBLE BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP APPLE BOOKS KOBO TARGET WALMART POWELL'S BOOKS HUDSON BOOKSELLERS GOOGLE PLAY
New Statesman
20 hours ago
- Politics
- New Statesman
The special relationship that wasn't
Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images What a week for Britain's 'special relationship'. Keir Starmer headed to Scotland to sit in near silence at a press conference with President Trump, as the US leader attacked implicitly or overtly his policies on energy and tax as well as tearing apart his 'friend' the mayor of London. Starmer delayed his announcement on the recognition of a Palestinian state until his visit was over. Unlike Macron, Starmer's declaration came with conditions attached, partly in the hope of staying as close as possible to Trump. Even now No 10 hopes to be a 'bridgehead' between the US and the countries recognising a Palestinian state. Starmer's moves are made with the US in mind. Why do so many prime ministers set such store by the so-called 'special relationship' with the US? They seek out the presidential embrace, while aware of the darkness that swamped their predecessors who did the same. One of the great posthumous commentators on contemporary politics is the former foreign secretary, Robin Cook – a figure with whom I suspect Starmer would have had considerable affinity in his former role as a human rights lawyer. In Cook's diaries, published in his book, The Point of Departure, the then cabinet minister exposed brilliantly the shallow evasiveness of the 'bridgehead' role: 'Tony Blair's favourite image of Britain's relationship with the US is that we are its bridge to Europe…The concept of a bridge is perfectly tailored for New Labour as a bridge cannot make choices, but by definition is in the middle'. The observation is illuminating on many levels. In some respects, Starmer has been unfairly criticised for lacking the clear sense of purpose and direction possessed by Blair on all fronts. It was Cook's view, at least, that Blair also avoided hard choices until he had to make them. At which point he went for the least daunting option. When he was forced to choose between Europe and the US over Iraq, he sided with President George Bush, with the full support of the Tory leadership and Conservative newspapers – his comfort zone. When the war went horribly wrong a lot of the fickle admirers turned on him. The special relationship did not lead to a comfort zone for Blair. It never does for British prime ministers. When Clement Attlee won in 1945 the country was broke and urgently needed huge investment in public services, as it does now. Attlee found a way of raising the cash by negotiating a loan with the US, Britain's recent wartime ally. The terms Attlee secured were brutally punitive for the UK and hugely beneficial to the US. It is the reason why Britain's change making Labour government lasted nowhere near as long as the Conservative's equivalent elected in 1979 – the toll taken on the economy was great, as Attlee and his colleagues addressed the huge costs of repaying the loan. A deeply divided Labour Party was in opposition for 13 years after losing the 1951 election. A main source of the division was Attlee's final attempts to reassure the US on its ambitions for defence spending. Attlee greatly increased expenditure on arms. The party split over the introduction of prescription charges to pay for some of the spending. Fast forward to now: what services will be hit as the current government meets its plans to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, partly to please Trump? A few years after Attlee left No 10, Anthony Eden became the next prime minister to fall, partly over assumptions about the US. When Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser seized the Suez Canal, Eden's immediate instinct was to respond with force. He was a brief hero for the summer of 1956, as he outlined his plans for war. By the end of the summer President Dwight Eisenhower made it clear he would not back Eden. The British prime minister was taken aback but dared to hope for neutrality from his partner in Washington. Eisenhower was not neutral. He opposed the prime minister's military plan. The then chancellor, Harold Macmillan, also discovered that the US would hit the fragile British economy if Eden went ahead. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Without the US, he could not do so. He was gone by January of the following a year, a fall in some ways more dramatic than that of Liz Truss. Eden could not survive after his misplaced faith in the special relationship destroyed him. After this, British foreign policy became a little more realistic. Macmillan had seen first hand that the US could not be relied on. He sought and failed to join what was then the Common Market. In the 1960s, Harold Wilson also tried to sign up, again without success. But he demonstrated Britain could be independent of the US when he did not offer military support in Vietnam. President Lyndon B Johnson was furious, but Wilson held his ground. The current government's ministerial historian, Nick Thomas-Symonds, cites Wilson's decision as the bravest foreign policy move of any Labour prime minister. Wilson's successor, Edward Heath, was not remotely bothered by the special relationship, and instead negotiated Britain's membership of the Common Market. As with domestic policy, Margaret Thatcher changed all assumptions. Her friendship with President Ronald Reagan was part of her image as the Iron Lady, bestriding the world stage. In the 1980s Blair and Gordon Brown watched her on a TV screen in their cramped shared office as she was feted in Washington. In contrast their leader, Neil Kinnock, was treated dismissively when he made to the US. Blair concluded that a Labour leader could never win elections if at odds with a US president. The seeds of Iraq were sown in the 1980s. But there was a twist. When Thatcher turned to Reagan for support at the start of the Falklands War he hesitated. Even when the 'special relationship' was based on genuine rapport, Reagan did not deliver when Thatcher needed him. There are good reasons to want the special relationship to work. Intelligence sharing is of mutual interest. The US has agency and economic might as no other. When it is possible to work with presidents it is obviously best to do so. But why do so many prime ministers, with the exception of Macmillan, Wilson and Heath, become victims of their hunger to be at one with the US, whatever the circumstances and characters in the White House? Part of the answer lies in Britain's equivocal attitude to Europe. Another has to do with the sheer glamour as prime ministers head for the White House compared to, say, the hard grind of an EU summit. For Labour prime ministers being 'shoulder to shoulder' with a US president is a short term way of getting approval from right wing British newspapers. But they do not dare to see that the 'special relationship' traps them as they move knowingly towards their political incarceration. [See also: A Trump shaped elephant] Related
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Drop off points to willingly surrender illegal weapons revealed in Victoria
Drop off points for Victorians to surrender their machetes have been revealed in attempts to push safety. The Daily Telegraph's Tim Blair shared his amusement over the seemingly weak attempts for those who own illegal weapons to willingly surrender. 'Here's what a really clever police force would do, a really clever government, just arrest everyone who's showing up with machetes,' Mr Blair told Sky News Australia.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
A child's distress, a parent's tears: waiting for ADHD help is hell
Blair would do risky things without thinking. Kirsten, from East Lothian, says she gets traumatised just thinking about lockdown during Blair's P1 year. 'He really didn't do well at home,' she says. 'For us as a family it was tough. Now, looking back, his brain was going at 100mph and we didn't realise. Things came to a head when Blair was in P2. 'He was doing stuff that was so impulsive I thought he was going to harm himself.' She describes 'umpteen disagreements, tension, stress and frustration' as she struggled to manage Blair's behaviour without understanding what was causing it. 'People do not understand how hard it is as a family unit,' she says. Kirsten took Blair to the GP who quickly agreed that he needed further investigation, suspecting ADHD. She gave Kirsten and her family a huge questionnaire to fill in about Blair's symptoms. After eight months, Kirsten heard that a panel had reviewed the questionnaire and decided Blair warranted further investigation. Then everything went quiet again. Kirsten says: 'I emailed them, I asked if he was anywhere near the top of the list, because I was really struggling. Read more by Rebecca McQuillan "There was nothing, there was no support. It was no one's fault, I'm not blaming anyone, but I would phone or email and they would say we can't say whether you're any further forward, we can't say to you how near he is to the top.' Finally, after another 13 months, Kirsten was given a date for an assessment. The diagnosis when it came was definitive: ADHD. It had taken nearly two years. Getting a diagnosis brought one overwhelming emotion for Kirsten: relief. Blair got a book explaining in child's language what ADHD is and describing coping strategies. Blair's school now had a better understanding of Blair's behaviour and put the family in touch with the charity Children's First for additional support. The diagnosis put Kirsten in a stronger position when advocating for adjustments to be made for Blair at school and elsewhere. Yet now Blair is on another waiting list – for a possible course of drugs – with no end in sight. There are thousands of families going through this in health boards across Scotland. Usually, children seeking an assessment for neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD or autism go through child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The Scottish Government says it is now meeting its 18-week waiting time target for CAMHS, but that is for the initial appointment only. Neurodivergent children are typically referred on to other much longer waiting lists for assessment. Those waiting times are not published. Demand for assessments has increased, so much so that Tayside Health Board has stopped accepting referrals unless a child has a pre-existing mental health condition too. The tears of parents are an indictment of the broken system. Kirsten says: 'I feel sorry for anyone entering the waiting lists now because they'll probably never get to the end of it within five years and it's awful. 'They don't have enough staff, CAMHS, they don't have enough resources. 'Something's got to give.' But what? Campaigners and parents point to a growing rhetoric from government around the idea of getting children support – in schools for instance – without a diagnosis, taking the emphasis away from the assessment. This was underlined last month in an official review. Everyone is keen that children get support regardless of diagnosis and everyone understands the huge pressures on CAMHS. Dedicated staff are working flat out and there is much goodwill towards them. But the reduced focus on diagnosis worries many parents. Is this really about what children and their families need, or is it being led by a desire to reduce demand for CAMHS? They strongly suspect the latter – and that's a problem, given how important diagnosis often is. Some parents find it hard to get professionals to respond to their child's needs without a diagnosis, but they themselves can also feel hopelessly ill-informed about their child's challenges without one. Learning that a child has autism or ADHD is a daunting moment for any family. Neurodevelopmental conditions vary enormously in how they affect individual children. Without expert assessment, parents can't be sure what's causing their child's difficulties, how severe it is, their child's individual strengths and challenges, how they may be affected in future and how best to support them. Is there a a desire to reduce demand for CAMHS? (Image: PA) The move away from medical diagnosis also heaps more pressure on teachers by creating the expectation that they will provide an expert view on a child, when most don't have the training to do so and are already overwhelmed by the level of need they are trying to cope with. A diagnosis is not in itself the answer, but for many families it's a key part of the process. In April, the Royal College of Psychiatry urged ministers to be more transparent about these 'hidden waits' and called for ring-fenced funding for neurodevelopmental assessment pathways. They warned long waits meant young people couldn't be adequately supported, with some going on to develop mental health conditions on the back of neurodivergent conditions. Difficult though it is for a cash-strapped government, it's clear that the answer is more capacity in the system, not trying to move away from expert diagnosis. Blair's diagnosis was in May 2024. Since then, he has been waiting for a course of medication to reduce his symptoms. Kirsten is now worried that he may not have the chance to try it before starting secondary school next summer. She is worn out by it all. 'It's the radio silence that really hurts sometimes,' she says, adding that it can feel like they've been forgotten. 'Every child who's got it deserves more than that.' Rebecca McQuillan is a journalist specialising in politics and Scottish affairs. She can be found on Bluesky at @ and on X at @BecMcQ
Time Out
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This deeply influential early Disney artist has an exhibition of her work on display in San Francisco
Picture 'It's a Small World': its distinctive, zany design with different-sized block panels, evocations of monuments from all over the globe, a happy-faced clock, doors that open to show childlike figures, exuberant golden flags that fly in all directions regardless of the actual wind—and that's just the outside of the iconic Disneyland ride. Inside, animated dolls represent different countries (in a way that may not always ring as respectful today, but is dead-on reminiscent of the 1960s) in fantastical environments of busy design, bright color and enthusiasm. That look? It's thanks to one of Walt Disney's favorite artists, Mary Blair—and an exhibition of her work is currently on display in San Francisco's Walt Disney Family Museum. For those unfamiliar, that's 'Disney family' museum, not Disney 'family museum'—Walt's daughter Diane lived in nearby Napa Valley and donated her family's photographs and materials to create the collection. The museum's in the Presidio, a former military outpost that dates back to the Civil War, and provides a fascinating look into Disney's personal life. As for the exhibit, 'Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic' runs through September 7 and contains nearly 150 artworks—watercolors, drawings, collages and ceramics—and historical photographs. Blair was also the guiding influence behind the look of the early animated feature films Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), and visual development paintings in the exhibition really dazzle. For instance, this opaque watercolor on paperboard of Cinderella's pumpkin coach racing against the clock to get home before midnight ingeniously illustrates the idea of speed and panic, seen in the slant of the carriage, the horses almost pulling against each other, and the landscape depicted as a block of tumultuous blue. According to the exhibit's wall text, 'Walt was known to challenge artists to bring Mary's influence into the films,' and did her the honor of hanging two of her paintings (on display at the exhibit in their original frames) in his Los Angeles home. At the museum, the tilework at the bottom of the staircase reminds us of Blair's incredible use of color and shape. A display of Blair's cupboard with a green drawer, holding her inks, watercolor palettes and brushes, sits right under a photograph of her at her desk working with the same cupboard behind her. A pair of her cat-eye glasses are there, too. It's easy to feel close to this artist and her genius at this exhibition. Can't make it to this show? Walt Disney World travelers can see her 90-foot-tall mural in Disney's Contemporary Resort, which depicts the Grand Canyon and the American Southwest. That 1971 A-frame hotel is one in which the monorail travels through the resort's tower. And, of course, you can float through 'It's a Small World' at five different Disney parks around the globe.
