Irissel's Inklings

Knightley Academy (1 and 2) Video Review and Giveaway!

2011-06-26T00:39:00.000-04:00

Goodreads descriptions:

Kightley Academy

Henry Grim has never been in trouble for borrowing a sword from the headmaster's private stores. He has never discovered a forbidden room in a foreign castle, or received a death threat over breakfast.
All Henry knows is life as an orphaned servant boy at the Midsummer School, bullied by the privileged sons of aristocracy. But all that changes when Henry is the first commoner to pass the entrance exam for the prestigious Knightley Academy, where he will be trained as a modern-day knight alongside the cleverest and bravest fourteen-year-olds in the country.

Henry and his roommates, two other students from decidedly un-Knightley backgrounds, are not exactly greeted with open arms by their classmates. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that someone is going to great lengths to sabotage the trio's chances at becoming knights. But Henry soon learns that there is more at stake than his future at Knightley, and only he can sound the alarm. Is anyone going to believe a former servant on the brink of expulsion?

Brimming with wry humor, page-turning suspense, and surprising twists, this first adventure in a memorable new series is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

The Secret Prince

Knightley Academy is back in session, and Henry Grim is confident that nothing else can prevent him from earning his knighthood. But Henry and his friends quickly discover that their professors have made some troubling changes to the curriculum -- an old classroom filled with forgotten weapons. It is the discovery of this classroom that prompts Henry and Valmont to become the unlikely leaders of a secret battle society. But disaster strikes as Henry, Adam and Frankie find themselves stuck as Partisan School servants. Yet something is rotten in Partisan Keep. And when Henry is discovered by a secret society of outlaws with a sinister purpose, he must come to terms with a great sacrifice that will take him away from everything he has ever known and wanted. The stakes get higher and tension mounts in the second installment of Violet Haberdasher's fresh, fast-paced, and always surprising Knightley Academy books.

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Knightley Academy
Source: Bought
Links: Goodreads | IndieBound | Amazon

The Secret Prince
Source: Received ARC from Author
Links: Goodreads | IndieBound | Amazon

Reader-Palooza!

Tiffany: Thanks! I hope we get to do it again next year too! And I agree about all my favorite characters living through awful tragedies.

After_Dark: You really should get caught up. There's only a few weeks left until Deathly Hallows part 2! Thanks for following!

Cait: Thanks for following!

Indie: Most of my favorite characters live crazy lives, too. I probably wouldn't choose to switch with most of them.

Gina: Thanks! Luna really is adorable...

Lieder Madchen: Thanks for following!

Cassandra: OMG! I am NEVER going to get that image out of my head. Thank you for that... >_>

Aloi: I've actually seen a lot of blogs that put both Friday hops together :)

Alison: I just finished The Last Little Blue Envelope. That one made me want to be Ginny even more. *sigh*

Jenny: I agree entirely. The ending needed a bit more... excitement...

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 27
How many of them are by debut authors? 6
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 3

Trading Places and Meeting Authors

2011-06-10T18:47:00.000-04:00

So I really liked the questions for Parajunkee's Follow Friday and Crazy-For-Books's Book Blogger Hop this week so I thought I'd participate!

Q. The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?

A. This question would probably scare the living bejeezus out of me because most of my favorite book characters are the ones that go through the worst stuff. Like Snape. I really like Snape but I would never want to trade places with him. And Tyrion from The Song of Ice and Fire series. My favorite book character of all time is probably Peeta from The Hunger Games and I wouldn't want to trade places with him either.

As far as characters I WOULD like to switch places with, that'd probably be Luna from Harry Potter. She goes through some bad stuff as well, but I would love to have her ability to act completely out there without worrying at all about what people think. I also wouldn't mind changing places with Ginny from Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. She gets to travel all over Europe and make out with a Hot British guy! Yea, I could live with that.

Q. Who is the one author you are dying to meet?

A. Well, I met the main author I was dying to meet, Maureen Johnson, at BEA. If you want to see a full recap video, click here, and for a video with just Maureen, click here. I'm also really looking forward to meeting John Green at LeakyCon in July. I would also love to meet JK Rowling, of course, but I really don't think I'd be able to keep it together around her.

If you also participated in either of these hops, let me know in the comments and I will check out your post!

Reader-Palooza!

Alison Miller: Yay for RTW indeed! And yay for plansters!

Casandra: Yea, "panster" tends to invoke images of elementary school bullies, doesn't it?

Christine: Thanks! I don't think I can take credit for the word, though...

Emilia: Thanks! I may have to participate again next week!

Resolution Tracker

Books read so far this year: 25
How many of them are by debut authors? 6
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 3

I am a Planster

2011-06-08T21:47:00.001-04:00

So today I've decided to participate in YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday. This is the first time I've ever participated in this "blog carnival," but I really like the topic this week so I thought I'd join in.

Today's Topic Is:

Are you a plotter or a panster?

I'm actually a little bit of both. Before starting a new project, I always have a general idea of the beginning, where it's going to end, and a few key obstacles that the characters will have to overcome on the way. I also usually write out pretty detailed character profiles and a few setting profiles (since most of my stories take place in made up worlds). Once I have all that, then I generally start writing and see where the story takes me. I usually wait to do a super extensive outline until after the fist draft is finished so that I can see the big picture and determine whether or not the plot makes any sense.

So that's my answer. If you also participated in Road Trip Wednesday this week, don't be afraid to leave your link in the comments and I'll be sure to check it out. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check out my BEA recap video from yesterday's post!

Reader-Palooza!

Cassandra: Don't worry about it. I also looked pretty terrible that day and I had a picture taken of me with Maureen Johnson that ended up on PublishersWeekly.com!

Resolution Tracker

Books read so far this year: 24
How many of them are by debut authors? 6
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 3

Book Expo America Recap!

2011-06-07T22:03:00.001-04:00

Hello all! As most of you know, a little over a week ago I had the privilege of attending Book Expo Amerian in New York City. It was one of the best weeks of my life and I have recapped it for you in video form below. If you are a nerdifigher, you will notice that it is in the style of one of John and Hanks Thoughts From Places videos.

Were you are Book Expo America or Book Blogger Con? If so, what did you think? And did you meet me there?

Reader-Palooza!

Grace: Thanks! It was nice meeting you at BEA as well. And I've subscribed to your vlog. You have some very nice reviews as well.

Resolution Tracker

Books read so far this year: 24
How many of them are by debut authors? 6
Community service hours: 8 (I'm actually in the middle of applying to volunteer at a Library!)
Adventures: 3

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

2011-05-29T11:54:00.005-04:00

Description from GoodReads:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

I expected to love this book. Unfortunately, I only just liked it. Of course, it’s my own fault my expectations were so high since others had told me that it hadn’t lived up to their expectations either. Still, I was a little disappointed.

That being said, I did enjoy Wither and will definitely be looking forward to the sequel. I may have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t expecting an exciting book with a heart-pounding climax and a rip-your-hair-out cliffhanger ending. If I had simply been expecting a story about a girl who is thrust into a marriage that she didn’t want to a person who isn’t as evil as she originally though, then I wouldn’t have been disappointed. I love books that are simply about characters going through difficult times in a world different from my own. I like reading about worlds that I don’t know. That’s why I read speculative fiction.

It was probably the label of “dystopian” that caused me to expect some thrilling action/adventure story. Ever since reading The Hunger Games, that’s what I think of when I encounter that genre. This was more of a quiet, calm dystopian, which is perfectly fine and something that I can definitely enjoy, and I did.

So I definitely do recommend this book. It was beautifully written and I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters. They live in a very interesting world and are thrust into very interesting situations. The ending may be a bit predictable, but it is also beautiful.

What I could take from this as a writer:

Characters are everything. I loved Rhine. She was strong and focused, but still flawed and still had to struggle with her decisions. She wasn’t driven to do things by boys (in fact, she did the driving). All of the sister-wives were very interesting to read about as well, especially Cecily. She was misguided and had a bad temper, but still ended being likeable. Linden was probably my favorite character, which might come as somewhat of a surprise, because he presented the most difficult moral gray area. I love those. And House Master Vaughn was just so creepy and mysterious and you never now for sure just how evil he is… *shivers*

Rating: 4/5
Source: Bought
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 23
How many of them are by debut authors? 6
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 3

May I Have This Dance?

2011-05-22T07:55:00.000-04:00

So there was this thing called internet prom going on yesterday. I wasn't sure if I was going to upload a video for it, but the footage of everyone else's awkward dance moves inspired me. So here you go:

So, anyway, I'm currently sitting in an airport am about to board a plane to New York City for book blogger can and BEA. I still can't believe I'm actually going. This is definitely thanks to some very generous people in my life.

If you're going to either Book Blogger Con or BEA, tweet at me (@RuthEDay) and let me know. If not, you should follow me on twitter. I'm sure I'll be exhaustively tweeting about it so you can live vicariously through me!

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 22
How many of them are by debut authors? 5
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 2 (Will be 3 after this week!)

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

2011-05-20T23:31:00.001-04:00

GoodReads Description:

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

So I don't know if I should actually this a review or more of a documentation of how this book made me feel. Obviously, I loved it. The writing was beautiful. The characters felt real. The story was beautiful and had a spectacular, moving ending.

I think I read this book at a very good time. I've just graduated from college and am having a hard time finding a job. I've been feeling very under-motivated and useless and was starting to doubt the point of life. This book has made me realize that life is about what you do or how much money you make, but rater about your relationships with others - your friends, your family, your significant other. To be reminded of that right now is a huge comfort.

This book has also reminded me why I write and given me a small dose of motivation. I write because it's the only way I can make sense of this world. I feel it is the only way I can articulate how I see the world and what being alive means to me.

Basically, I am really thankful to Lauren Oliver for writing this book. And I'm really glad I read it when I did.

Rating: 5/5
Source: Bought
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Reader-Palooza!

Anne: Yea, I probably should have waited to review the two of them together. Granted, I've seen Day of the Moon now and I'm still pretty confused...

K.M. Weiland: Indeed, you must remedy that the very next time you get the chance. Doctor Who probably my favorite show of all time!

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 22
How many of them are by debut authors? 5
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 2

Doctor Who Review: The Impossible Astronaut

2011-04-27T22:42:00.000-04:00

Reader-Palooza!

Cozy in Texas: Thank YOU for reading and commenting on my review!

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 19
How many of them are by debut authors? 5
Community service hours: 8
Adventures: 2

REVIEW: Rage by Jackie Kessler

2011-04-16T17:25:00.001-04:00

GoodReads Description:

Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.

That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a new kind of blade—a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley before realizing it was the second in the series. So before I read this, I bought the first boon in The Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Rider's Quartet, which was called Hunger. I wasn't too impressed with Hunger. I feel like I would have liked it better as a contemporary YA novel about a girl with anorexia instead of a YA fantasy novel in which that girl became famine. The passages describing the main character's disease were very poignant and moving, but the parts about her becoming and embracing Famine felt contrived. Plus the ending seemed a little rushed.

Rage, however, was different. Missy was fascinating to read about in all the same ways the main character of Hunger was, but the fantastical elements and the action scenes were so much easier to get into and actually felt like they belonged in the story. The character of Death was developed a lot more in this book, and he quickly became my favorite character. It was a lot easier to empathize with Missy because she actually had a reason to be depressed. My overall opinion is that this book is definitely worth reading, but there really is no reason to read the first book in the series before this one. There story lines are completely different and the only main character that exists in both is Death.

Rating: 4/5
Source: NetGalley
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Resolution Tracker!
Books read so far this year: 17
How many of them are by debut authors? 5
Community service hours: 7
Adventures: 2

Playlist LIVE!

2011-04-03T15:06:00.001-04:00

I swear, I'm not going to post all of my VEDA videos here, but I wanted to post this one because I'm really proud of it. Also, there's a part of it that is somewhat book related. I'll post the entirety of that clip here as well

Robyn Schneider, Kaleb Nation, and Nanalew talk about being authors on YouTube (full clip):

Resolution Tracker!
Books read so far this year: 16
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 7
Adventures: 1

So... I'm Doing This

2011-04-02T03:48:00.000-04:00

I have been AWFUL about updating the blog lately. I'm sorry, but my life has been all kinds of crazy. If you check out my youtube channel, you will see why. Also I've been roped into doing this:

So, if you want more regular content from me this month, I suggest you go subscribe! Of course, I will still be posting reviews here and any contests I host during VEDA will also be posted here, so don't feel pressured to.

Reader-Palooza!

Deborah: You're welcome. Sorry I haven't got it in the mail yet. My live has been crazy lately and it's taking me a lot longer to read it than originally planned.

Resolution Tracker!

Books read so far this year: 16
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 7
Adventures: 1

Giveaway Winner!

2011-03-21T23:16:00.001-04:00

Wow, 126 followers? That's, like a fifty follower jump from before I posted the giveaway. I honestly did not expect that much, especially since I didn't make following the blog a requirement for entering. So, thanks, all you new subscribers! I hope you stick around. This blog is a bit random. Sometimes I post about what I'm reading sometimes I post about what I'm writing. It all depends on my mood. Things have been a bit sporadic lately because I finishing up my final semester of college. I'm not going to promise that things will become more routine after graduation, though, because I have no idea where I'll be going afterward.

Anyway, I have a giveaway winner to announce. Drumroll, please...

The winner of an ARC of The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens is...

Deborah A.

Congratulations! I will get it in the mail to you as soon as I finish reading it!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Reader-Palooza!

Debbie: Thanks for following!

Mary: No problem! It was fun. I'm astounded by the response!

Resolution Tracker!

Books read so far this year: 16

How many of them are by debut authors? 4

Community service hours: 6

Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop!

2011-03-17T01:08:00.001-04:00

First of all, I'm SUPER behind on reviews, so sorry for that. I've been working nonstop on my honors in the major thesis lately and I have just had NO time. Plus all the awful things going on in the world right now make me feel kind of guilty for posting about any thing else, and I don't fell that any think I COULD post about them would do it justice.

Anyway, onto a happier note...

For this hop, I will be giving away my ARC of The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far I'm really liking it!

GoodReads Description:

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.

Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.

Until now.

Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.

The Emerald Atlas brims with humor and action as it charts Kate, Michael, and Emma's extraordinary adventures through an unforgettable, enchanted world.

So if you would like to win my copy, just fill out the form below:

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Thanks for entering! And don't forget to check out the other blogs in the hop!

Reaser Palooza!

pussreboots: Long and boring? I found the Umbridge sections riveting! Long, maybe, but certainly not boring...

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 15
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 6

How My Relationships Have Shaped Who I Am

2011-03-11T00:14:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I do have two book reviews I've been meaning to write, but I can't come up with much to say about either of them. I might just lump them both into one post sometime this weekend. But for now, I offer you this InformedRamblings video about why I'm happy to be single and how I feel my relationships with other people have shaped who I am.

Reader Palooza!

pussreboots: You abandoned the series because of Umbridge? I hated her, but I though she was fascinating to read about...

Marie Rearden: Thanks for the complement! And I agree with what you said about Umbridge versus Voldemort. Umbridge is almost creepier because you DON'T know why she is the way she is!

Ashley Holt: Yea, Fox especially is notorious for canceling really good shows.

merpiper: Indeed, it seems most of the current Firefly fans didn't know about it until after it was cancelled. Maybe the reason for low viewership when it aired was poor advertising, and then once it got cancelled, the angry fans gave it free publicity.

Erinn: Yea, no problem! It was a great blogfest!

Elizabeth: She does look pretty hilarious, doesn't she? In a creepy way...

Alison: Yep, right up there.

Cozy: I heard about Firefly being on the Science Channel. It's not like they're going to be new episodes, though, which I'm kinda happy about. The series in combination with Serenity is rather perfect the way it is. I wouldn't say no to a Serenity sequel, though.

Rachel: So true! I don't think it would have become nearly as huge as it has if it hadn't been cancelled. And I doubt later seasons could have been as good as the first. I love your thoughts on Umbridge! LOL

Murees: Yes, the existence of Serenity definitely makes the show's cancellation seem a lot less awful.

Laura: Yes, you definitely must add it to the list of shows you plan on watching this summer! Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

K.M. Weiland: Browncoats unite!

Resolution Tracker:
Books read so far this year: 14
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 5

Cancelled Shows and Villains

2011-03-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! I am a officially on Spring Break so what better way to celebrate than with a blogfest? Erinn over at something else to distract me is hosting one today that asks what are your favorite cancelled shows?

So, here are my top five cancelled shows:

5. The Class

This show only aired for one season back in 2006/2007. I watched it while it was actually running, so I don't remember much about it, but I do remember that I laughed a lot and was really upset when it didn't come back for a second season.

4. The Book Group

This is British show and British shows usually have pretty short runs (Doctor Who being a notable exception), so I wasn't surprised when I found out there were only two series. All of the episodes are on Hulu, and my sister got me to watch it by telling me the main character, Clare, was a lot like me. Now, Clare is kind of a bitch for the first few episodes, so I wasn't all that flattered, but she grew throughout the series and became quite likable. Plus, she was basically living the exact life I want to live. Clare is an American writer who decides to up and move to Endinburgh to start her life over. To make friends, she decides to start a book group. Yea, I basically want to do exactly that. Hopefully, when I do, the people I meet will be just as quirky and hilarious!

3. Friends

Ah, Friends, what fond memories I have. I don't like to call this show cancelled since it lasted ten years and the writers knew when the ending was coming so they could write a satisfying conclusion. I say that shows likes this have finaled; they haven't been canceled. In my opinion, friends is the best sitcom ever. I don't think anything else can ever quite measure up. Also, my whole family watched it during its last couple seasons, so it was a great bonding experience.

2. Lost

This is another show I consider finaled and not cancelled. It is the only show that lasted more than one season that I've ever watched from pilot to finale without missing a single episode. I loved the characters. I loved the plot(s). I loved that everything was open to interpretation and I loved how it ended. The finale was about the characters and their relationships with one another and didn't get bogged down trying to explain everything. I cried so much during the last season. It was rather pathetic, actually.

1. Firefly

Okay, this is a show that should definitely be on everybody's list. In my opinion, it is the best show in American television history. I watched all fourteen episodes and Serenity about a year ago and I couldn't believe someone had actually cancelled it. I mean, it is just so good. I was (and still am) in love with all of the characters, and the world was so intricate and so full of possibilities! It really blows my mind that not enough people watched it to keep it around for a second season.

All right, so that's my top five, if you are participating in the blogfest, feel free to leave your link in the comments so I can check out your top five cancelled shows.

Now, since it's Friday, on to book blogger hop!

This week, the question is: Who is your all time favorite book villain?

So I've been seeing a lot of other blogs mentioning Voldemort in their posts, but I'm going to go with...

Professor Dolores Umbridge!

I know she isn't QUITE as bad as Voldemort, and she isn't as well developed either, but she has always freaked me out more. There's just something about her overly-girly clothes, her high-pitched voice, and her frog-like appearance that just freaks me out. Not to mention those EEEEVVVVVIIIIILLLL quills!!! I mean, what kind of sick mind does it take to come up with that? Plus, my two favorite scenes out of all seven Harry Potter books would not have happened without her. I call those scenes Minerva versus Dolores and the Triumph of the Twins. If you've read the books and don't know what scenes I'm talking about, seriously, re-read book five.

That's it for today! If you're participating in either of these blog events, let me know in the comments!

Reader-Palooza

anvils: lol, yea, it's definitely out now

Resolution Tracker

Books read so far this year: 13

How many of them are by debut authors? 4

Community service hours: 5

REVIEW: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

2011-02-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

GoodReads Description:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

I was not expecting to like this book as much I did. The description from GoodReads made it sound like a Twilight clone, and the names are pretty laughable. Theia Alderson? Serendipity Falls? Haden Black? I mean, c'mon!

But after I got past the silly names, I was able to really enjoy this book. Obviously, it is a lot like Twilight in that a rather normal high school girl meets a boy who is anything but normal and they fall in love. That, and the boy believes he is too dangerous for the girl and that she would be safer if he could stay away from her. But that is pretty much where the similarities end. There is no love triangle, no super fancy sports cars, and Theia actually has a quirky, likable group of friends of her very own.

Theia's two best friends, Donny and Ame, were probably my favorite part of the novel. They were funny, refreshing, and had lives of their own. Theia's love life was not the only one that played a part in this story and that was definitely fun to see. The main thing I learned from this book was not to make the heroine an island that the hero lands on and then becomes the only person in the heroine's world. A main character should have people she cares about who aren't related to her or possible love interests.

I also really liked the "dream" sequences. They were terrifying and some of the images stuck with me and still haunt my mind now. The way the author described the dancing skeletons (yes, there are dancing skeletons) really made my heart race and sent shivers down my spine!

Some favorite quotes:

"If you are about to tell me you are a vampire that glitters in the sunshine, I will-." (Hey, at least it knows.)

"As per my usual custom when confronted with a boy my age, I cast my eyes to my shoes while he passed me." (That was SO me in high school.)

"So Ame stayed home like a good girl and I snuck out like a bad one. I already longed for a good book and my quilt." (This is so me NOW.)

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars. It comes out tomorrow (March 1) and I highly recommend it for fans of Twilight or YA paranormal romance in general.

Source: jReceived finished copy for review from NAL/Penguin
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 12
How many are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 4

REVIEW: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clrae

2011-02-25T16:04:00.001-05:00

GoodReads description:

As readers of series starter City of Bones already know, teenager Clary Fray is a Shadowhunter, a demon slayer who has the gift of spotting Downworlder werewolves, vampires, and faeries. She is also an adolescent in an abnormally dysfunctional family: Her mom is in a magically induced coma and her father is probably insane and undoubtedly evil. All of which places Clary in situations that would challenge even the most talented average American girl.

City of Ashes is definitely a book that suffers from middle book syndrome. It feels like a bridge book that was just there to fill the gap between books one and books two and didn’t really have any particular purpose of its own. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy reading it. I did. I just don’t think it measured up to the first book, and now that I am well into City of Glass, I can say that it doesn’t even come close to measuring up to the amazingness that is that book.

The main reason I felt this book fell a bit flat was the plot. It just didn’t seem to get going until the very end, and then everything seemed to get resolved rather quickly. However, there were a couple scenes in the middle of the book that I absolutely LOVED, but also hated at the same time (for those who have read the books: the Seelie Court scene and the Jewish graveyard scene). Those scenes will probably stick with me forever.

One thing about Cassandra Clare’s writing that I noticed in this book but didn’t notice much in City of Bones was the fact that she REALLY likes similes. Now, I don’t have a problem with similes in moderation, but I think she over-did it a bit in City of Ashes. Some of them work, but some of them are a little contrived and tend to take me out of the story. I found an example of a simile that I thought worked and one I thought didn’t from the first chapter of City of Glass to illustrate my point:

"Her suitcase was open like a clamshell on the bed..." This one didn't really work for me. I don't think it was necessary to convey the image of an open suitcase and it just took me out of the story for a bit a made me aware of the writer.

"She sounded as tense and fragile as an overtightened violin string." I liked this one because it didn't seem forced and didn't take me out of the story. I feel like it was necessary to describe just how Maryse's voices sounded, while the clam simile wasn't necessary to get across what the suitcase looked like.

I haven’t noticed many other similes in City of Glass that bothered me all that much, but they littered the pages of City of Ashes and prevented me from being as into the story as I could have been.

Overall I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Source: Bought
Links: GoodReads | Indiebound | Amazon

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 11.6
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 4

My Bucket List

2011-02-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

I made this video for one of my classes and I'm really happy with it! I'm working on my InformedRamblings video now, so I might post that one here tomorrow.

So what's on your bucket list?

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 11.5
How many by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 4

And the winner is...

2011-02-20T22:10:00.001-05:00

Kassy!

Congratulations! I've sent you an e-mail asking for your address so I can send it to you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. For everyone else who wanted it, Falling Under by Gwen Hayes comes out March 1st, and you can pre-order it on IndieBound or Amazon and add it to your to-read list on GoodReads. Thanks so much to everyone who entered and tweeted about the giveaway!

Reader-Palooza!

Falling Anvils: Nice one! I can't say I haven't done something like that before...

KM: :) Yea, I've been thinking of it in that way for as long as I can remember. I've really never understood why so many single people let Valentine's Day get them down.

Brandileigh: Thanks for entering!

Kassy: Congrats on winning and thanks for all the tweets!

Michelle: Me too! I'm sure Fids will be a lot of fun!

Ashley Holt: THANKS FOR ENTERING!!

T.H. Browning: Thanks for entering! You made it just in time for the drawing. And thanks for the RT, too! :)

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 11
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 4

Happy Friendship Appreciation Day!

2011-02-14T21:43:00.000-05:00

This is for all my lovely blog commenters, too! I <3 you guys!

While you're here, go enter to win a copy of Falling Under by Gwen Hayes!

Reader Palooza!

steer clear of falling anvils: LOL! It's not out yet anyway. You'll probably win my copy if no one else comments on that post, though... *waits*

Resolution Tracker!
Books read so far this year: 9.1
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 2

GIVEAWAY: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

2011-02-13T15:51:00.000-05:00

GoodReads description:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

So I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I'll post my review closer to the release date, but I received a finished copy from the publisher and thought I would spread the love by giving it away! If you would like a chance to win my copy, please comment below. Selection of the winner will be done by a random number generator, but you must be a follower to enter and you will get extra entries if you tweet/facebook/blog/vlog/etc. about this giveaway and link to this post. If you do any of those things, just leave a link in your comment (you can comment more than once if you do those things later and want to let me know, but more comments will not get you more entries).

I will announce the winner on February 20, so you have a week to get all your entries in. Before entering, please note that I cannot afford to ship outside the US. :(

Source: NAL/Penguin
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Reader Palooza!

MLA: Thanks! I'm on a YouTube collab channel called InformedRamblings, so if you like my videos, you'll definitely like the ones by everyone else on the channel! :)

steer clear of falling anvils: I was OBSESSED with Felicity. I had the doll, the books, the accessories... it was a little ridiculous... And thanks! I don't think I'm doing all THAT great a job of keeping up with my resolutions. I mean, I haven't started running yet and I'm still not very good at feeding myself...

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 9
How many of them are by debut authors? 4
Community service hours: 2

Elizabethan England Would Be Fun to Visit BUT...

2011-02-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today's InformedRambling's topic was what time in history we would have chosen to be born in...

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever wanted to live in the past?

Reader-Palooza

The Story Siren: Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm sure I will enjoy them!

Laura: I'm looking forward to reading both of them! I've heard mixed things about Graceling, but I'm optimistic that I'll enjoy it.

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 8.9
How many of them are by debut authors? 3.9
Community service hours: 2

In My Mailbox 1

2011-02-06T21:45:00.001-05:00

So I decided to participate in The Story Siren's weekly blog meme this week!

ARC/Review Copy:
Falling Under by Gwen Hayes (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)

NetGalley
Trickster's Girl by Hilari Bell (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (GoodReads| | IndieBound | Amazon)

Bought
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon)

Reader-Palooza

Alison: Yeah, even some males like Anna and the French Kiss. It truly is Universally appealing.

Karli: Heh, I thought so. I haven't read Nancy Drew in forever, but I do seem to recall her getting stuck in a cupboard more than was STRICTLY necessary...

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 8.75
How many of them are by debut authors? 3.75
Community service hours: 2

REVIEW: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2011-02-05T16:21:00.004-05:00

Summary from Good Reads:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

This book was all kinds of brilly! It was basically a YA sci-fi dystopian murder mystery romance novel and I loved every minute of it!

First of all, the sci-fi/dystopia aspect. The first chapter, where Amy gets frozen, was absolutely TERRIFYING! The detail with which Revis described the process was stunning. Not only did it give me nightmares, but it also made me believe that such a process could actually exist. I believed that, some day, all of us would be able to get cryogenically frozen in that exact same way. Not that I would want to, of course... *shivers*

Also, the spaceship, Godspeed, on which most of the story takes place was really interesting to read about. As someone who loves high fantasy and is used to to reading about completely made-up worlds, I felt Revis did an excellent job in creating hers. She had a lot of cool technology and a completely alien culture going on and she managed to give a good picture of it all without being bogged down in pages of infodump. All us writers whose stories take place worlds that aren't this one can definitely learn from her.

Let's move on to the murder mystery part. Now, I'm not big into the whole mystery genre. I mean, I read Nancy Drew when I was in elementary school, but ever since then, it hasn't really been my cup of tea. But I love it when it's done well and woven in with another genre. It worked really well here. I'm not going to say that anything was particularly unpredictable, since I managed to to figure out everything a few chapters before they were actually revealed. But it was predictable in a good way. You know, that way that makes you feel smart for figuring out the mystery before the characters do.

I loved the characters, too. Elder and Amy felt so real and it was refreshing to see a romance from both the male and female points of view. I do think the relationship was a teensy bit underdeveloped, but I was able to overlook that because everything else about this book was so jaw-droppingly amazing!

And can I take a second to talk about first person present point of view? I have come to realize that I really like it. I've been a bit afraid to write it ever since a few agents and authors around the blogosphere wrote about how hard it is to do right and how, if it isn't, the whole story is usually a train wreck. But you know what I learned from reading Across the Universe? I learned that you can have amazing results if you take risks. Not only did Beth Revis write in first person present point of view, she wrote in DUAL first person present point of view! I can only imagine how hard that was to write, but it definitely added a lot of immediacy and emotion to the story. So, basically, I feel like I need to take more risks with my writing and tell my stories in the POV I feel they need to be told in.

So this book has inspired be to add an extra rating to my five star scale. This rating will only be for books that:

Make me laugh or cry or give me nightmares.
Keep me up late reading them OR keep me up late thinking about them.
I love more than most of the other books I have given five stars to.
Make me really THINK about important/interesting things.

I am going to call this rating ~*Brilly*~, and a book is going to do all those things in order to get it. This book definitely gets it. The only other books that I've reviewed so far that would get it is The Hunger Games Trilogy, so, yea, that's the kind of book that will get this designation.

Source: Bought
Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Amazon

Reader-Palooza

April: Yea, it's pretty good so far. I though I would be rather annoyed by it, but I'm not, so THAT's good.

Howard: Don't be embarrassed! I'm sure we all have a book we've been meaning to read for years but just haven't got around to yet. I know I have quire a few.

Brandileigh: I know I've heard of Beth Isaacs and The Light of Asteria before. I just can't figure out where! And, yea, that sounds like a book I would probably read, but I can't find an ebook version and it's not at any of my local bookstores. :( And to your comment on the City of Bones review: You are very welcome! I just bought City of Ashes and City of Glass today so I'm super excited to read those now!

Bellamay: Thanks for following! And you should definitely read Across the Universe.

Karli: Are you the Karli I think you are? If so , HI! And good job finding my blog. Also, you wouldn't have to wait for enough money to buy it. You could just borrow it from me! :)

Andrea: Good. They should be.

Kristin: Thanks for following!

Jenny: Thanks for following and I hope you liked the review!

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 8.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 3.5
Community service hours: 2

Another Meme Friday!

2011-02-04T18:07:00.002-05:00

So I decided to do the Blog Hopper memes again this Friday. Who knows? Maybe I'll do them every Friday from now on...

So this week, Jennifer from Crazy For Books asks: What are you reading now and why are you reading it?

Well, I am actually reading two books right now...

I'm reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote for school. If you haven't heard of it, it's a nonfiction novel (at least that's the terminology my professor keeps using) about a multiple murder that happened in Kansas. It's kinda cool, but not the sort of thing I'd usually read for fun.

I received a finished copy of Falling Under by Gwen Hayes from NAL/Penguin, so I'm currently reading that for review. The annoying love-at-first-sight thing is kinda there, but the dream sequences are SO cool and creepy and definitely make it worth reading (so far at least). It's not out yet, but you can pre-order it on IndieBound or Amazon!

And now for Parajunkee's meme...

She asks, "What is the book you are currently 'pushing'?"
Well, I seem to have done a good job of pushing Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I think I've convinced three or so friends to read it. So now I'm going to start pushing a book I just finished reading...

I absolutely LOVED Across the Universe by Beth Revis. I would say it's the best book I've read so far this year, but I spent the first three days of this year reading The Hunger Games Trilogy, so...

If you're a follower, you'll see why I loved it so much tomorrow when I post the review! If you haven't read it yet, you really should!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to comment!

Resolution Tracker

Books read so far this year: 8.3

How many are by debut authors? 3.3

Community service hours: 2

Appropriately Lazy Vlog About Procrastination

2011-02-03T20:38:00.001-05:00

This week's InformedRamblings topic was procrastination and what it is we always put off.

So what do you always put off?

Reader-Palooza:

merpiper: Thanks! It's amazing the similarities you can see between things if you actually look :)

Maddz: I haven't gotten that many spoilers but I HAVE seen a certain picture on on the author's twitter account that implies CERTAIN people end up together and for that to happen I know a CERTAIN thing can't be what it seems.

Selfcentered: Thanks! Sometimes I try to be funny, but I definitely wasn't trying there. And if that shirt said Ravenclaw, I probably wouldn't be giving it away =P

Resolution Tracker:

Books read so far this year: 8.3
How many of them are by debut authors: 3.3
Community service hours completed: 2

REVIEW: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

2011-02-01T23:22:00.002-05:00

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

So I was in love with this book by the end of the the very first chapter... maybe even the very first page. It was just so beautifully written and the characters were so lovable and just plain funny. It felt like a very calm read (which I sometimes like) up until the last fourth or so and then I couldn't put it down. I was pretty much always thinking about it while I was reading it. I loved Clary and Jace and especially Simon so much, I couldn't get them out of my head. (Note: I don't tend to do the whole Team Whoever vs. Team Whoever thing. Usually the male character who I like best is not the one I want to end up with the main female. I DO ship. See, with Twilight, I was an Edward/Bella SHIPPER, but Jacob was my favorite male character. I didn't think Bella was good enough for him anyway. Woah, that was a tangent I didn't mean to go down).

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last people to read this book, so I'm not going to worry TOO much about spoilers for the rest of this review, so... stop reading now if you're even more out of the loop than I am...

So... I know a lot of people had a problem with the ending. I actually kind of like it. I mean, I know that they can't ACTUALLY be brother and sister. It's kind of hard to be be freaked/grossed out about something that you don't entirely believe, so I'm just going to assume that they find out that THAT was all a lie in one of the next two books and that everything will be hunky dory and I can go back to shipping Jace/Clary without feeling guilty about it. Plus, the fact that they THINK they're brother and sister but have all this chemistry between them should make for some interesting reading. I like watching characters suffer! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Speaking of which, I should take efforts to make my characters suffer more. That's something I learned from reading this book. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TORTURE YOUR CHARACTERS!!

So I really loved this book. I got lost in it. I give it 5/5 stars... blah blah blah... now let's move on to what I REALLY want to talk about and that's...

What makes something (a novel, a painting, a song, etc) original?

I was looking through some of the negative reviews for City of Bones on Goodreads (I do this for every book I really like) and I noticed that most of them were claiming that City of Bones was unoriginal. A lot of them said that Cassandra Clare stole from Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy, Star Trek, etc, etc. My main response to that was, if a work of art "steals" things from so many different things and combines them all and makes them into something new, doesn't that kind of make it original? I mean, just because Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father, does that mean no other writer can ever make a villain the hero's father again without being accused of copying? And just because Harry Potter didn't know he was a wizard, does that mean every other character written from now on who has some sort of magical powers HAS to know about it from the moment they are born?

Cassandra Clare was obviously heavily inspired by Harry Potter (I mean, she did write fan fiction), but that doesn't mean she STOLE from J.K. Rowling. Every single work of art ever conceived has been created as a response to the works of art that were already in existence. I mean let's look at Harry Potter. Not everything there is completely original. Let's compare it to The Lord of the Rings for instance. The Dementors seem a lot like Ring Wraiths to me. And Dumbledore is TOTALLY Gandalf. And the whole big spider thing? Yea, Tolkien did it first. And let's look at the Horcruxes for a minute. Voldemort put pieces of his soul into them, huh? Well, Sauron poured his soul into the One Ring. And the locket Horcrux makes the trio all moody when they where it? What exactly did the one ring do to Frodo, hmmm?

Of course, The Lord of the Rings wasn't completely original either. Tolkien was pretty open about his fascination with Gaelic myths and legends and wouldn't have been ashamed to say he drew a lot of inspiration from them. I love both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and don't hold it against J.K. Rowling that not everything she wrote came from her own head. No one lives in a vacuum. The art we create is ALWAYS going to be influenced by every other work of art we experience, whether we are conscious of it or not.

Okay, that was a bit of a long rant... sorry...

I would appreciate your thoughts on the idea of originality, though. It's a topic that fascinates me. I mean, can anything ever be TRULY original?

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 7.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 2.5
Community service hours completed: 1

I've Never Really Been Into Superheroes...

2011-01-31T23:18:00.003-05:00

BUT I just might have to watch the new Superman movie when it come outs. Why? Well, I'll just let this let this picture speak for itself...

That's Henry Cavill. He's British and he's been cast as the new Superman. I might be channeling Stephanie Perkins a bit here but... *drools* I love me a good HBM!

No, but I really have a legitimate reason for being excited about this. I was a HUGE fan of the Tudors and Henry Cavill's character, the oh-so-dreamy Charles Brandon (aka. the 1st Duke of Suffolk) was my favorite character besides maybe Sir Thomas Moore who died in, like, the second season or something, so... Anyway, I know the guy has been passed-up for some so pretty big roles, so I'm glad he's finally landed one. (Though, I must say, I'm not TERRIBLY upset that he was passed over for the role of Edward Cullen...)

Anyway, this post was mainly just an excuse to respond to all the comments I got on my last couple posts so...

Reader-Palooza!

Susan: I know, I am SO looking forward to Wither. I requested an ARC, so I'm sort of hoping it just shows up in my mail box soon like a few other books did today. That would be SUCH a nice surprise. Divergent sounds really good, too, have you heard of that one?

Andrea: Thanks for stopping by!

Lazy Girl: Thanks for following and commenting on my last two shirts. I'll probably be giving that Gryffindor shirt away soon, so keep your eyes open for that! Oh, and WOOT! Number 50!! You ARE the champion!

Laura: Thanks SO much for following! Your picks looked cool, too.

Alisha (MyNeedToRead): Yes, I am definitely one of those students who just enjoys learning for learning's sake. I don't know what I'm going to do when I graduate college... And thanks for the complement! I "dig" your blog space, too!

Susan (Reading World): No problem. I like discovering new blogs and making new friends. And, yes, living in a bunch of different places has provided a lot of inspiration for my writing. That's why I want to keep traveling. :)

Anne: Thanks for stopping by! And, yes, it is always difficult to choose which books you're looking forward to. That's why I chose six!

Laura (All of Everything): Yea, ever since I read The Hunger Games, it seems like I want to read every single Dystopia title I hear about!

Elizabeth: I'm majoring in English so I obviously like that, too. As for typing... I think I could have taught myself how to type. I think I only took it once and that was in second grade or something...

Madigan McGillicuddy: First of all, I love your name! Second, it seems like EVERYONE is looking forward to Wither. Third, you didn't get into the Mortal Instrument series!? Ah well, I guess not everyone can like it...

Resolution Tracker:
Books read so far this year: 7.25 (review of City of Bones coming soon)
How many of them are by debut authors? 2.25
Community service hours: 1

A Couple Memes

2011-01-28T19:21:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! I felt the urge to participate in a couple book blogger memes this Friday. If you're a book blogger, you should try them, too!

So, in her weekly meme, Jennifer at Crazy-for-books.com asks what books we are looking forward to this year. Well, I have a few:

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney: Everything I've heard about this book makes me want to read it. The cover, the blurb, the fact that this is the author's debut title. I've never read a book that puts the fey in a modern setting before, but I can't wait to read this one.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano: I've been on a bit of a dystopian kick lately and this one by another debut author sounds AMAZING! Girls only live to age 20!? They're forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out!? Give it to me now!!

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare: I haven't even finished the first book in this series, yet, but I'm already in love with the characters and with Ms. Clare's writing!

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson: Maureen Johnson is quite possibly one of my favorite people EVER. I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes this summer and LOVED it. When I found out there was going to be a sequel, I almost died! (By the way, if you don't follow Maureen Johnson on twitter, you really should.)

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris: Seriously, go read the the description of this book and tell me you don't want to read it!

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: The one doesn't even have cover art yet, but I am SO excited for it. After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I CRAVE other books by Stephanie Perkins! If I knew what address I would be living at in September, I probably would have already pre-ordered it...

These meme happens every Friday over at parajunkee.com. This week, the question is: What is/was your favorite subject in school?

Well... this is a really hard question because I usually like all of my classes and the degree to which I liked them depended almost entirely on who was teaching it. In high school, my favorite classes were Calculus, AP US History, and Economics/Government because I adored the teachers I had for those classes. In college, my favorite classes have probably been my American Lit classes because the best professor in the history of professors teaches those. When I was a biochemistry major, I love organic chemistry I and II because I had a great professor for those as well. Of course, I also love my creative writing classes because that's what I love to do. And I suppose my creative writing professors have been pretty awesome, too!

If you participate in these memes, post a link in the comments so I can check your blog out!

Reader-Palooza:

Kate: Well, I'm going to have a contest to win it soon, so if you want a non-homemade version...

Aislinn: Thanks SO MUCH for following, and I hope you like my reviews.

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 6.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 2
Service hours completed: 1

I am a Slytherclaw!

2011-01-27T20:26:00.001-05:00

I picked the topic on InformedRamblings this week and I decided we should talk about what Hogwarts house we would be in.

So... what house would YOU be in?

And does anybody want that shirt?

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 6.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 2
Service hours completed: 1

The Fried Chicken Incident

2011-01-26T21:01:00.001-05:00

So, readers, do you have mothers by any chance? I'm going to assume that most of you do. I don't know how many of you will be able to answer the following question with an affirmative, but I'm going to guess a lot of you will. Do your mothers diet? Off and on? Trying a new fad diet every month?

Well, mine does, and has been for as long as I can remember. So this isn't the first incident of the kind that we have seen in my house, but I hope that I may have said something to make it the last.

So, a couple days before I left to go back to college, my mother and I were sitting at home wondering what to do for dinner. We do this a lot at my house because no one really likes to cook and my sister can't bring pizza home from Pizza Hut EVERY night, so sometimes we have to get creative. Luckily, my dad called right at that moment to tell us he was going to stop at the grocery store on the way home from work and ask if we wanted him to pick anything up.

My mom listed off all this health food that she could eat for dinners and lunches and such. Stuff that I didn't particularly want to eat and wouldn't be allowed to anyway since my mom's health food is usually off-limits to anyone who isn't my mom. So I told mom to tell dad to pick up some chicken that the two of us could eat. My mom repeated my request into the phone and everything seemed all hunky dory for dinner.

BUT, when my dad got home from the store he had FRIED chicken. My mom FLIPPED. She started yelling at my dad about being unsupportive of her diet and yadda yadda. He just stood there, looking confused and shocked, mumbling things like, "But you asked me to bring home chicken." Apparently my mother had been expecting rotisserie.

Feeling bad for the guy, I decided to deflect some of Mom's fury onto myself. "Mom," I said. "We haven't had friend chicken in forever. Why should we have to diet just because you are?"

So she started yelling at me about how much she loves fried chicken and how impossible it would be for her not to eat it with it sitting right in front. During all this, my father and I were shooting each other amused glances.

When my mom finally paused for breath, I said, "Well, why don't you just exercise some self control and not eat it?"

My dad nearly snorted and my mother launched into a tirade that I can barely remember because I was too busy trying not to laugh at my dad as HE tried not to laugh.

So I guess that was a kind of disrespectful thing to say to my mother, but it amused my father, and, hey, she didn't eat the fried chicken. That's a win-win in my book.

Have any of you guys had any similar experiences with your mothers? Of course we love them, but sometimes they can just be a bit, er... unreasonable...

Disclaimer: I love my mother. I think she is the most beautiful, lovely woman in the world and I would not have wished for any other to have raised me. I swear, she is super nice and really laid back most of the time. She's just a bit too self-conscious and worried about her weight when she doesn't need to be (seriously, she's gorgeous).

Reader Pallooza

Michelle: Thanks for the comments you've been leaving on random blog posts. It took me a while to find them, but I eventually did! I know what you mean about Rollins getting you addicted to Dominoes. I am addicted to that and Pizza Hut because my sister works there.

Merpiper: It makes me so warm and fuzzy inside to know that I've helped people discover good books. :)

KM: Yea, the "love at first sight" thing was really the only complaint I had about Timeless, so I was able to get past it.

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 5.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 2
Community service hours: 1 (Yay tutoring!!)

REVIEW: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

2011-01-22T16:13:00.005-05:00

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.*

Honestly, I don't entirely know how I feel about this book. That may be because it doesn't actually feel like one book at all but rather like three very different books. The first fifty pages felt more like a pretty generic YA contemporary novel about a girl who loses her mother and then has to move to New York to live with her extremely wealthy grandparents who she has never met. The only detail that hints at anything paranormal is the dream described in the first chapter, but that is easy to forget with all the other stuff going on.

I did LIKE the first fifty pages. The writing was usually very good and sometimes poetic (you can definitely tell the author is also a song writer), so it was easy to get lost in Michele's life and experience her wonderment at the new, elitist life she has been thrown into. However, the fact that she didn't travel back in time and meet the male protagonist until a fourth of the way through the book did have me tapping my fingers a bit, wondering when the plot described in the book description was going to get started.

However, when the main plot finally did get started, the story took a turn for the worst. At least for me. This is because I am not a big fan of the whole "love at first sight" story line. Michele and Philip are in love the moment they first set eyes on each other. Granted, Michele has been dreaming about the guy her entire life, but she still really only knew what he LOOKED like. It's not like they had long, deep discussions in those dreams or anything. And honestly, Philip? How is it you are so quick to trust a girl only YOU can see? Ah well, I suppose there are SOME people out there who like the "love at first sight" thing, but I prefer to watch love develop slowly and tortuously over time (see: Anna and the French Kiss and The Hunger Games).

All that being said, I did enjoy the middle part of this book. I love both fantasy and historical fiction, so the whole time travel thing can be a lovely mix of the two and Alexandra Monir mixed them beautifully. She made Gilded Age New York seem completely magical in and of itself, and I loved exploring that world. So, if the story had continued in this vein until the end, I probably would have given it a 3/5.

BUT, remember when I said this book was like reading three different books? Well, the third book was definitely the best. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil it, but it starts when Michele begins her "race through history to save the boy she loves". I mean, we get to see Roaring 20s and World War II era New York! It was SO much fun exploring those worlds with Michele, and the WWII part nearly** moved be to tears it was so beautiful!

So, in the end, I gave this book 4/5 stars even though the last page kinda made me want to drop it back down to 3/5 again... but I'm not going to say anything more about THAT.

Have you read it? If you haven't, you should. If you have, what did you think of the ending?

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 5.2
How many of them are by debut authors? 2
Community service hours completed: 0

* Book description taken from the author's website.
** More like NEARLY made me drown in my own tears.

I Like Picasso and Frida Kahlo

2011-01-20T22:48:00.001-05:00

So this week's InformedRamblings topic was art and who are favorite artists were.

How do you feel about art? Do you have a favorite artist?

Reader-Pallooza:

Hannah: All right, Across the Universe next then. And I'm already thinking about City of Bones all the time and I've only read the first chapter!

Resolution Tracker:
Books read so far this year: 5
How many are by debut authors? 2
Hours of community service: still 0 >___>

FIVE New Books!

2011-01-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

So I just spent WAY too much money at Borders, but I'm super excited about what I bought. They're all books I've been meaning to get my hands on for awhile, so I can't wait to read them!

1. Soulless by Gail Carriger

2. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

3. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

4. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

After I finish Timeless (expect a review soon), I'll probably read City of Bones, since that's what I went to Borders to get in the first place. Also, Michelle recommended it to me, and she seems to have pretty good taste in YA novels, so...

Have you guys read any of these books? If so, what did you think of them? And which one should I read after City of Bones?

Reader-Pallooza:

Michelle: I agree. The world-building was lacking as well. I guess not all books can be winners... By the way, it was really hard for me to spell your name correctly because the MC in Timeless is named Michele (yes, with one l).

Resolution Tracker:

Books read so far this year: 4.75
How many are by debut authors? 1.75
Hours of community service: still 0 >___>

Review: XVI by Julia Karr

2011-01-16T18:53:00.005-05:00

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

So that's the description of this book that I pulled straight from GoodReads. Doesn't that sound amazing? I thought so, too. I mean, the whole XVI thing is pretty unique. I've never read a book that takes place in a country whose government does anything quite like that. So, needless to say, when the book came out on January 6, I was excited to get my hands on it. Unfortunately it only took a few pages for me to start feeling disappointed.

I still finished it, so it wasn't boring or anything. Mostly it was just badly written and that kept me from growing connected to the characters or feeling the full impact of what was happening. When Nina's mother died, I should have felt her pain. If a story is well-written and something that tragic happens to the main characters, I should be moved to tears. In XVI, Nina seems to get over her mother's death rather quickly. I get that she was trying to be strong for her sister, but Ms. Karr should have shown more of that inner struggle between wanting to break down and wanting to stay strong. It just wasn't there.

I could tell why the author's writing fell so flat. There were countless times that I came upon sentences that I felt could be so much more impactful if only they were worded a different way. This has never happened to me before, so the mistakes must have been pretty obvious. One thing I noticed a lot of was the author's over-use of had. I've been struggling to cut that word out of my prose for awhile, so I was disappointed to see a published, agented (by an agent whose clients I usually love, by the way) writer using it so much. Shouldn't someone have told her to cut back a little? Not only did she use had a lot, but she also used as many different contractions of it as she possibly could: I'd, she'd, Ginnie'd, etc. It was getting extremely annoying.

However, my main problem with XVI was that it never really seemed to get started. Throughout the entire book I was waiting for Nina to turn sixteen and have to deal with what that means in her society. Her birthday and the required appointment to get the tattoo didn't even happen until the last chapter, though, so the book wasn't really about that at all. It was more about her dealing with the secret her mother told her on her death bed and trying to keep her little sister away from her mother's abusive boyfriend. Obviously, this was exciting but it wasn't what I expected, and the bad writing just didn't do the idea justice.

Overall this book gets a 2/5 rating from me. Have you read XVI? You might like it if you find the premise interesting enough and don't hold your breath until she gets the tattoo.

Resolution Tracker
Books read so far this year: 4.5
How many of them are by debut authors? 1
Community service hours completed: 0

What will be on my Tombstone?

2011-01-13T23:08:00.001-05:00

So I've decided to start posting my weekly InformedRamblings video on this blog. Mainly because I talk about a lot of interesting topics over there and I wouldn't want you blog readers to miss out. Anyway, if you're just interested in my videos, you don't have to worry about subscribing because I'll post those here. Trust me, though, my channel-mates are a lot more entertaining than I am, so you should probably subscribe!

So, yea, what would YOU want on your tombstone?

Books read so far this year: 4.2
How many are by debut authors? 1.2
Hours of community service: still 0 >___>

By the way, these won't count as my BOW'11 posts...

The Hunger Games Trilogy (SPOILERS ABOUND)

2011-01-06T20:38:00.002-05:00

If you haven't read all three books in the Hunger Games Trilogy, GO READ THEM! And then come back and read this post. Before the spoilers start I will just say that this is definitely one of my top two book series of all time. I really don't think I could choose between these books and Harry Potter (something I never thought I'd say).

So I read the first book in this trilogy for the first time over Thanksgiving break and LOVED it, so I asked for the hardcover box set for Christmas. Let me tell you, it was torture waiting until Christmas to read the other two. Once it finally came, I re-read The Hunger Games. Everything that got to me the first time around got to me just as much on the second. I still cried when Katniss volunteered to take Prim's place in the Games. I still cried out in anguish when Peeta said that he was in love Katniss during his interview. I still sobbed as Katniss sang Rue to sleep. I still felt AWFUL for Peete while Katniss was pretending to be in love with him to save their lives. Peeta is probably one of my favorite characters in literary history, so I really felt for him.

Catching Fire was probably the most emotional of the three for me, at least on first reading. The Quarter Quell thing caught me COMPLETELY by surprise. I found myself saying "No no no no no! They CAN'T go back to the arena again! They just CAN'T!" I was super proud of Peeta when he said Katniss was pregnant. That was the perfect way to shine light on the cruelty of the games for those who lived in the Capitol, and I was proud of Katniss for not being angry with him. Also Katniss' dress! That made me cry because it was basically Cinna sacrificing himself to rebel against the cruelty of the Games. I knew he was going to die as soon as the dress was revealed. And then when all of the tributes held hands after their interviews, I sobbed again. They were all rebelling, now, even the Careers. I sobbed with pride as, at the very end, Katniss remembered who the real enemy was. I don't think I've ever been more proud of a fictional character.

On to Mockingjay. This one probably would have been more emotional for me if I wasn't so numb from reading the first two and if I didn't already have an idea about what the Capitol was going to do to Peeta (thanks to a song by All Caps called Real or Not Real). Still, I loved it, and I feel like those who don't either just didn't GET IT or thought the ending was too depressing or both (often both). I DO think the situation with Peeta was solved too quickly. I would have liked to see that story line fleshed out a bit more. The thing I liked best about this book was that I really had NO IDEA how it was going to end. It seemed that no matter what side won, Katniss would lose, especially since Peeta was pretty much destroyed. I loved how beautifully Suzanne collins showed the truth that there is never a "good" side or a "bad" side in war. One may be the lesser of two evils, but in the end, everyone has someone they love and everyone is killing people who other people love. I loved that, by the end, Katniss realized, in a way, she wasn't really that much different from the Capitol people.

All right, the ending. I thought it was perfect. Given the circumstances, I think it was as happy as it could be. Prim's death was tragic and awful, but it didn't affect me emotionally as much as I wish it had. I wasn't really expecting it, and it is especially tragic since all of the events since the first chapter of the first book would not have happened if Katniss had not sacrificed herself to save Prim's life. That made the whole series come full circle in a very tragic way. I'm not angry at the author for doing it, just as I am not angry at her for killing Finnick (my favorite character that did not appear in the first book). I can see why she did it. In war, deaths happen at random and they are very rarely fair.

I was really proud of Katniss when she killed President Coin, even though I was certain she was going to be killed for it. It made sense that she wasn't, though. I mean, who WOULD want to execute her? Almost everyone loved her and a lot of people probably assumed she had a good reason for the assassination, especially the victors and those who had known how power-hungry Coin actually was. Katniss HAD to kill her while she had the chance, or it is very likely things would have gone back to the way they were under President Snow (or something very similar).

Even after Katniss was let off the hook for assassinating Coin, I was sure she was going to die. I was convinced Peeta was going to kill her. Since I was so convinced the ending was going to be awful, when I realized it wasn't going to be, I started sobbing and couldn't stop until about thirty minutes after I finished it. I could hardly believe how well things turned out. Yea, Katniss and Peeta were damaged for the rest of his life, but, honestly, I feel like the series would have delved into the realm of fairy tale if they weren't. No one can go through what they went through and ever REALLY get over it. If they are strong, they can live relatively normal lives with the people they love anyway, which is exactly what happened. Another round of sobs came when I found out Katniss had agreed to have children. I know Katniss wouldn't have given in unless, deep down, she wanted them. And I also know she wouldn't have wanted them unless she was completely sure they would never have to go through what she had gone through - that Panem would be in a state of peace for a very long time. I don't think anything could have convinced me more that things really were okay, that Peeta and Katniss were not letting the horrors of their past ruin their whole lives.

And just a quick word to those who were hoping Katniss would end up with Gale... seriously? Did you not get that it wasn't really about Gale versus Peeta, but about one way looking at war versus another. Gale was well-intentioned, but he was also violent, did not allow room for gray areas in his way of thinking, and showed a hint of that cruelty that existed in Coin and Snow. This was exactly what the whole trilogy was arguing against. Peeta believed that their was room for goodness in everyone, that no one truly won in a war, and he understood that people were just people with loved-ones no matter which side they were on. Katniss had to end up with Peeta, or Suzanne Collins would have been arguing against her own point.

I think this quote (from page 388 of Mockingjay) exemplifies it beautifully:

I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.

I mean, gosh, that quote makes me cry every time.

Resolution Tracker!
Books read so far this year: 3.3
How many are by debut authors? 0.3
Hours of community service: 0, but I've signed up to do some volunteer tutoring next semester, so we'll see how that goes.

Reader Palooza!

Rachel: I think I am going to try C25k. It seems like the best way to get into running.

Maggie: Steal away! ;)

Whimsy: BOW'11 is a great idea. Props to you for that. This is my first BOW'11 post!

Morrigan: Thanks! It's good to know someone else reacts to the new year in the same way I do. I was beginning to think I was weird or something...

Jon: Maybe you should... maybe you should...

When I Actually Think About It...

2010-12-31T19:48:00.005-05:00

2010 was a pretty good year.

I usually really hate New Years, and this year is no exception. I always feel like I haven't accomplished enough in the previous year and that I should have worked harder and that I shouldn't weigh as much as I do and that I should be in better shape and why haven't I done this yet or why haven't I done that... yea, it's a little depressing.

But when I sit down and actually force myself to think about what I've accomplished this year instead of what I wish I'd accomplished, I realize that I actually am not THAT much of a failure.

1. I discovered the vast potential of the internet, and while that might not be an accomplishment per se, it definitely makes me feel more connected to the writing world as well as a whole bunch of people who I have a lot more in common with than anyone I've met in person.

2. I started this blog and I like to think I keep up with it relatively well, even though I only posted twice most months. But hey, I have 36 followers and over 50 posts for the year and I'm very happy with those numbers.

3. I got a Twitter, something I'd been resisting for a while and have over 100 followers there, also a number I'm very happy with.

4. I also have a YouTube channel and actually started posting videos there. I'm hoping it'll up my confidence and public speaking skills a bit, because I'm really bad about that sort of thing. Plus it's a wonderful way to meet like-minded people. My collab channel has been particularly helpful with that even thought it's only been going for about a month and a half. Plus we have over 50 subscribers!!! I mean, woah!

But it's obvious none of that is all about numbers for me, it's more about the connections I've been making with other people. So, if you've been reading these blog posts and think you would like to get to know me better, don't hesitate to talk to me on Twitter or email me (irissel.awesome@gmail.com) or something. I'd love to get to know new people.

But my biggest accomplishment this year was definitely...

5. I finished the first and second drafts of a novel. I mean, that's something I've been trying to do since I was in fifth grade and I finally DID IT! I wrote a WHOLE story. Well, I've written whole short stories before but... a NOVEL! That's a lot more words. Obviously a goal for next year is to edit it until it's as good as I can make it and then start querying agents. I already have a couple "dream" agents in mind, but I'm aware that this is only my first completed novel so I shouldn't be too devastated if the querying doesn't go anywhere. (Even though I really love these characters and I would really like some justification to write the sequel that I've been dreaming of.) Oh, and as of now, my new novel is sitting at 20,600 words. Not the 100,000 words I was hoping to have by now, but since I only started writing it two months ago, that was a rather unrealistic goal anyway... I'm happy with 20,600 since I really only need 30,000 for my thesis...

All right some goals for next year:

1. Edit to "perfection" and start querying The Healer. I am currently trying to think of better titles for that one. So far the best thing I've been able to come up with is "The Burning Remedy". Does that sound ridiculous? Would you read a book with that title?

2. Start running. This is a habit I've always wanted to pick up but never have. I think it could only help my writing (and my health of course).

3. Learn to feed myself properly. I have lots of problems with this one. I don't really know how to cook so whenever I go grocery shopping I tend to buy a bunch of junk food and frozen dinners that don't really need cooking.

4. Blog at least once a week (as part of BOW'11)

5. Read at least 12 debut novels. That's right, I plan on participating in the Debut Author Challenge. Here are some books I am looking forward to reading:
XVI by Julia Karr
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
Falling Under by Gwen Hayes
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwabb
Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
The Circle Cast by Alex Epstein

6. Read at least 50 books total. *gulps*

7. Finish at least a second draft of Charlotte's Court.

8. Do at least 25 hours of community service. I know this isn't much, but I'm going to be extremely busy with my last semester of school until May and I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what I'll be doing after that, so 25 is what I'm aiming for. I might revise that goal if I reach it by July.

9. Go on at least one adventure. This could be something as simple as going to LeakyCon or VidCon or something as huge as moving out of the country after I graduate. We'll see what happens.

There you go, my obligatory year round-up blog post. I'd love to hear about some of your accomplishments this past year and what your goals for next year are! Share them in the comments.

I Read Books

2010-12-29T00:56:00.003-05:00

I've read two books recently that I want to talk about. One was a LOT better than the other. Not that they're really comparable. One was YA contemporary and the other was MG fantasy, but that's beside the point. Anyway, on the the first review...

The first book that I read upon arriving at home and realizing that I had left the books I was already in the middle on my book shelf at college was The Shifter by Janice Hardy. This was the book that I didn't particularly like. I mean, it wasn't exactly bad. It just wasn't good. To tell you the truth, it kind of disappointed me. I was expecting to really enjoy this book, since it's my favorite kind of fantasy and the premise was very unique. However, I quickly learned that for me to enjoy a book, I have to fall in love with the characters, and it's hard to fall in love with a character that doesn't feel like a real person. There's nothing terribly unlikable about any of the characters in this book, but there isn't anything very likable about them either. They felt more like pieces being moved around on a very large, very unique chess board than actual characters. And it was told completely in first person, so I really should have felt like I knew the main character by the end of it, but I am sad to say that I didn't. And the secondary characters just feel like place-fillers. That being said, I could not put this book down while I was in the middle of it. It was very exciting and the plot did move at a very fast pace. And the premise was interesting. I think the main reason I kept reading after the first few chapters was to figure out just how Nya's gift worked and how her society functioned. The world building in this novel was truly fantastic. The main reason I bought this book in the first place was because someone told me mine sounded a lot like it. I agree that they sound the same the way I was describing it, but I was relieved to find they really are very different and not at all the same story. Anyway, I'm glad I read it because I learned that a good plot and an interesting premise can go a long way, but only lovable characters will have readers coming back for the next book in the series.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins was another books I couldn't put down, but for completely different reasons. I completely fell in love with Anna's voice from almost the first page. I have never had a character in a book feel more real to me in my whole fifteen or so years of reading. I found myself wanting to be in her head forever. And Etienne! From the description of the back cover, I was expecting him to be some cookie-cutter hot British boy, but no. He felt just as real and had just as much depth as Anna herself. Stephanie also did a very good job of establishing setting. I felt like I was exploring Paris with Anna and I felt like her friends were my friends. Stephanie Perkins must have magical author powers because this is not the type of book I usually read (see above for what that is). I probably never would have given it a second look if John Green hadn't praised it so profusely, but since he raved about it, I had to give it a try. I mean, a man loved a book called Anna and the French Kiss? That means it's gotta be good, right? Right! I honestly can't wait for Stephanie's next book. It's called Lola and the Boy Next Door and it's supposed to be a companion book to Anna. September can't come quickly enough!

If you want to keep up with I'm reading here's a link to my GoodReads profile. I post more first response reviews there. The ones I post here are probably going to be a few weeks later because I like to digest a book before I write about them on my blog. Thanks for reading!

So...

2010-12-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in awhile... I think the reason for that is pretty obvious since it's mid-December now, which means I just finished another semester. Yeah, and with the exception of my Spring 2009 semester, it was probably my most stressful one yet. If you follow me on twitter, you know I was going through what I call a "hell fortnight". I had 6 papers and 3 exams in the course of 2 weeks, which about killed me. So, yeah, I'm finally home for the holidays now so all that's behind me. We'll just hope my grades turn out all right.

I suppose we should talk about the elephant in the room, huh? No, I did not win NaNoWriMo this year. That's another year of just having too much to do in November to write 50,000 words. To be fair, November is a bit of a crazy month for us students. I wasn't keeping track but I'm pretty sure I wrote at least 50,000 words within 30 days during last summer, so I don't feel terribly pessimistic to get my writing done. I really need to work on this book over the holidays, though. Especially since it's supposed to be my honors thesis and all...

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, I'm part of a collaboration channel on YouTube now. It's called in InformedRamblings and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Everyone else on the channel is a lot more interesting than I am, so you might want to consider subscribing. We're actually all from different countries, which just happened completely by accident. I love talking to people from so many different parts of the world, so I fell SO lucky to be a part of this channel. So, yea... check it out.

ReaderPalooza!

Morrigan: So true. I have the problem where I ALWAYS feel compelled to completely rewrite what I've already written. Well, I don't know if that's a problem, but it does take a lot of time...

Maggie: Essays... I never delete whole chunks of essays. Mainly because I always end up waiting until the night before they're due to write them... and by night before, I stay up all night procrastinating and then REALLY start writing when I notice the sun is coming up, which to me means it is officially the due date.

NaNoWriMo Day #4

2010-11-04T17:03:00.000-04:00

So I did something yesterday that I didn't think I would do throughout the entire month of November: I deleted some of my writing. Yes, I know, that is a a big NaNo no no, but I just couldn't get past those 800 words. It was 800 words of character back story, no dialogue, no scene description, just back story. Basically, it was the rewrite of the history from his character bio. After I had put all that down on paper, I just couldn't move forward. The presence of those 800 words was just completely crippling me. I didn't know how to transition to the next scene. Eventually I just decided to re-do the chapter entirely, so those 800 words got deleted. I was stressing out big-time yesterday trying to make up for it.

So, even though the meters show that I only wrote 1700 words yesterday, I actually wrote 2,500... exhausting...

Oh and I discovered GoodReads yesterday. Add me?

NaNoWriMo Day # 2: #5MinuteFiction

2010-11-02T20:52:00.001-04:00

So I participated in this thing that Leah Peterson does every Tuesday. It's called #5MinuteFiction and it basically involves responding to a writing response that she posts at 1:30 and posting it as a comment by 1:45. This week, the prompt was NaNoWriMo related, and I think she plans on making it her theme all month. Today's prompt was to take the main character from your NaNovel and write about him/her voting on election day. The world that I created for Charlotte's court has a very elaborate election system so I thought it would be fun to explore that with my entry. My novel has five main characters but I just picked the one it made the most sense for and went with it:

The council was gathering. The mourning period for King George Thornton was finally over and it was time to vote on who would be the next King of the Emerald Isles. Arthur sat among the other council members, shifting nervously from side to side. Should he be loyal to Ironden and vote for the previous king’s son? Or should he go with his heart?

If Arthur went with his heart, there was no doubt his choice would win. The council members always voted for their own Duke. That was why elections usually lasted days – sometimes weeks. The councilors would engage in constant debate until, finally, one of them agreed to vote against their province. Arthur could end the election today. It would be the shortest election in living memory

But did Arthur want to go down in history like that – as a traitor to his people? He thought of Charlotte. The many conversations he had had with her. She was wise, there was no doubt, but so young. Could she handle being the first queen of the Emerald Isles to rule in her own right?

The election overseer started called the first name.

Then the second name.

Then the third.

Arthur took in a deep breath and raised his hand.

What did you think. I like it because it actually gives some incite into my characters' world that I didn't know before. Also, I was having a bit of a tough time characterizing Arthur and this really helped.

Thanks for reading!

NaNoWriMo 2010 Day #1

2010-11-01T17:35:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! It's the first day of NaNoWriMo! Now, since I will OBVIOUSLY be busy with something else this month (as I'm sure most of you will be also), I have come up with an idea for the November blogs. Basically, they will be SHORT. They will basically just be a way for me to brag or moan about how things are going and offer support to anyone else who might be going through the same thing. Also, I found this little guy and I really want to use him throughout the month:

So yea, if you are also participating in NaNoWriMo this year, I would love to hear how it's going. Leave a link to your profile and I will add you as a buddy!

Reader-palooza:

Rachel: I agree NaNoWriMo isn't for everyone, but no one should try to discourage others from doing it. I love being able to write without having the pressure of perfection. I find that if I try to go back and edit before finishing a first draft, I never finish a first draft. By the way, I've loved reading about your London NaNoWriMo experience on your blog. It sounds like a great way to meet the locals as well as get writing support.

Why I said "Yes" to NaNoWriMo

2010-10-29T19:55:00.001-04:00

So it's that time of year again: When thousands of people stock up on junk food and caffeinated beverages, say goodbye to their families and friends, barricade themselves in their rooms, only to emerge thirty days later an actual ZOMBIE!

Okay, maybe not, but many will have completed the rough draft of a novel in that time, causing their brain to be drained enough for them to SEEM like a zombie. If you've attempted it before, you know what I'm talking about.

I've actually never won NaNoWriMo. I've tried and failed twice, but the last time did lead to a completed draft in April and a completed second draft by the end of the summer, so I consider it a success. Therefore, I plan to attempt the marathon again this November.

I've been meaning to write this in response to this post all week and I FINALLY have time. This writer has decided NOT to do NaNoWriMo and seems to think that no one should and proceeds to list the reasons why. Well, I think she is (mostly) wrong and will address all her reasons for not thinking it is a good idea now.

It saps creativity.

This might be true for the author of the blog but it certainly isn't true for me. I suppose some people just don't work well having to write a LOT every day, but that is how I work best. It gets me in a sort of creative "zone" and doesn't let me get out it. Over the summer, I sometimes wrote 4,000 words a day and felt great about it, so saying that 1,600 words a day is too much for anybody to be creative is a little insulting. I plan to write 2,000 words a day during the month of November, and I think having that pressure to produce words helps to turn off the left side of the brain, which insists on editing all the time, and gives the right side of the brain (yes, the CREATIVE side) permission to do what it will. Also, I find the community that arises around NaNoWriMo very inspiring and it definitely fosters MY creativity.

Quantity isn't quality.

Well of course it isn't. I am certain that what most participants in NaNoWriMo end up with at the end of the month is a hot mess. However, I also feel that most first drafts, no matter how long they took to write, are hot messes. I am a strong believer that with a first draft, getting the words down is the most important part. Once it is finished, you can go back and mold them into something readable.

It won't help you improve.

I found this point to be absolute ridiculousness. Of course it will help you improve. Any sort of writing will help you improve. What won't help you improve is the fear of starting, which NaNoWriMo does a lot to diminish. It goes without saying that if you only write in November, it won't help you improve much, but I am sure most participants who are actually serious about publication plan to continue honing their craft throughout at the year (by possibly re-writing and editing what the wrote in November?). I know I do. And those who are just doing it for fun don't really have to worry about that, do they?

Anyway, that's my two cents on that. I think it's perfectly fine if the author of that post believes NaNoWriMo is not write for her, but I don't feel like she should go discouraging others from doing it or making those of us who do plan on participating feel like lesser writers, which is how she made me feel.

Thanks for reading! Please comment with your thoughts and if you want to be writing buddies throughout the month of November (and beyond), here's my NaNoWriMo profile.

Reader Palooza:

Maggie: Will Grayson, Will Grayson was amazing! I also have only An Abundance of Katherines left to read. It's lucky that you don't have to buy it!

Rachel: It's great that your dad is passionate about what he does. I wish my dad had something he was passionate about. I don't really see how anybody could be passionate about his job (he works in logistics, you know, getting things from one place to another) and it doesn't seem like he is. It just "pays the bills" and offers enough of a "challenge". Ah well, he is getting real into hunting lately, which I respect.

Morrigan: I definitely think I'm better off with my (sometimes) extreme emotions. They make me feel more alive. And I also find the whole conflict between personal desire and what is right for society to be a very interesting concept. Maybe we should explore that in some of our own writing. ;)

Passion vs. Duty

2010-10-20T18:36:00.002-04:00

OMG! I'M POSTING TWICE IN ONE WEEK! WHAT IS GOING ON?

I don't think I've posted more than once in week since August... so... yea... HELLO!

I wanted to write this post because my Brit Lit II professor said something that I found very interesting in class yesterday. It really had nothing to do with what we were reading or anything, but he does that a lot... says random thoughtful things and then we spend half the class talking about it instead of the reading. Yea, he's a pretty cool professor.

Anywho... What he said was "If you are going to be happy in life, you must find (and do) something you are truly passionate about." Let me just say that I LOVE people who think like this because those are the types of people who can GET me. Obviously, I've known what I was passionate about since fifth grade or something like that so I guess I'm on the right track. However, not everyone that I know would say they are terribly passionate about anything, which has always made me sad. I mean, I guess I've never really been able to understand them. What drives these people? What gives their life meaning? How can they possibly be HAPPY?

This line of thinking led me to conclude that there are two types of people in this world: those who are driven by passion (like me) and those who are driven by duty (I think my dad fits this category pretty well). I think it would make sense for most artists (this includes writers) to fall into the passion category. People who are content to just live normal lives surrounded by family and friends are in the duty category. They will be content as long as they can live a comfortable life and provide for those they care about and take the occasional break from the average/upper-middle class job. Notice how I said content there, not happy.

For those driven by passion there is no such thing as contentment. We are either always really happy or really sad. We can never truly relax because we always feel like we should be doing something that will propel us toward our current and life goals (because when we achieve one we always come up with another). Obviously, there are positives and negatives to each type of person and the ideal situation would involve finding some sort of balance between the two. Unfortunately, I think that would be a hard thing for a person to change about themselves and I don't know if anyone should try.

So, yea, that's what I've been thinking about lately... And speaking of people driven by passion, I'd like to give a shout-out to a guy I go to school with, Aaron Childree, who released his first ever EP on iTunes this week. I really hate to ask you lovely blog-readers to buy anything but I genuinely believe this guy has a lot of talent and I don't think you would regret checking out his music. He writes all his own stuff, and I went to his release show this weekend and I could really tell he is passionate about what he does... so yea... here's a link: clicky! It's only $4.95 but if you only have $0.99 to spare my favorite is "Not a Waste of My Time" so... yea... buy that one...

So in the comments I'd like to know: Do you consider yourself more of a person driven by passion or duty? On a related note: I've always been fascinated by the Lancelot/Guinevere and Tristan/Isolde moral dilemmas... So... thoughts?

To close this blog post, I'm going to steal an idea from Maggie and Hannah: Reader Palooza.

Maggie: Glad you liked the exercise. I'll try to post more of them when I find them. I've been thinking about posting the form I use for character bios... Would anyone be interested in this?

Anvils: Thanks for stopping by! I hope the exercise worked for you.

Susie: Thanks for following! It's usually characters that come first for me, too. The novel that I'm working on right now is a bit weird for me, though, because the world came to me first and then the characters. The characters are already dear to me, though, even the bad guy.

Bekah: Hi =) Who are you on AW?

Morrigan: That is exactly what it is. And green is awesome... as is your blog.

I Shouldn't Be Writing This

2010-10-17T22:42:00.004-04:00

I really shouldn't. I have a Shakespeare paper due tomorrow at 11am that I've barely started. I don't know why, but whenever I have a million other things that I absolutely HAVE to do I always get the desire to blog. I never want to blog when I have nothing better to do. Of course, I always have something better to do. Obviously working on the novel is a higher priority than this blog, and I'm always working on a novel. But I seem to have the same problem with that, too. I never seem to REALLY want to work on the novel and NOT STOP unless I have a ton of homework I should be doing instead. That's probably why I hand-wrote two pages of the first chapter of Charlotte's Court this weekend. (It's still in VERY early outlining stages.)

So... I made a video this weekend. It's a music video to All Caps' "The NaNoWriMo Song". I'm actually quite proud of it. It's the first music video I've ever made and I think it's pretty good for a first try. What do you think?

I was actually spurred to do it by the fact that I have to make a five minute video for my screenwriting class. He said we could make a "music video-like thing" if we wanted so I just ran with that. Of course, the video isn't due until Wednesday and this paper that I'm supposed to be writing is due in about twelve hours... Why can't I ever do things in the correct order?

Since I last blogged I finished Paper Towns by John Green and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I want to write a whole post on the Hunger Games but I want to re-read it first. I'm dying to go out and buy Catching Fire but I'm determined to hold off until I have more time so I can REALLY enjoy it and not have to constantly worry about all the other things I'm supposed to be doing while I'm reading it like I was with Hunger Games.

Anyway, Paper Towns was kinda... meh... Compared to Looking for Alaska it was a bit of a disappointment. (I want to write whole post about that book as well, but, again, I want to re-read it first since I flew through it so quickly.) I liked the beginning and the end of Paper Towns but the middle just seemed to drag on forever. Put simply, this book epitomizes the reason why I am so terrified of writing my own middles. I'm always worried that they'll drag too much and that most of the events that take place will seem pointless.

All right, I think I'm gonna end this post now. I think I've rambled about completely random topics for long enough.

Oh, I almost forgot: I had to change the design of the blog again because the other one started messing up and I couldn't figure out why. I like this one for the same reasons that I like the other: it's green and has a sort of fantasy vibe. I actually think I like it better because it's a bit bigger so people should be able to read it easier. What do you think?

Start With a Character

2010-10-04T23:23:00.000-04:00

So, it's already 11:06 Monday night but I am determined to start this whole Mention Monday thing this week. The reason why I'm posting it so late is because I live in an on-campus apartment and the thing with on-campus apartments is that there are always people around to distract you from your homework or anything else that you should be doing. Therefore, it always seems like there are a LOT fewer hours in the day than there are when I am living at home.

Anyway, the blog post I am going to mention for this first Mention Monday can be found here! It's a new blog I found... probably by going through the posts on Absolute Write but I can't remember. The blogger's name appears to be Madelein Eirwen and she wrote about having a great desire to write but not having anything to write about. She says it's been years since she's written anything, which I find hard to fathom since I don't think I've gone without writing for so much as a month since middle school. Of course, I do get the impression that she is a wee bit older than me (though I can't know for sure), so she's had more time to not write... if that makes sense.

So, what I've decided to do as a response is talk about this writing-prompt like thing we did in my screenwriting class. It can be used for any sort of fiction writing, not just screen plays. I've never encountered any other exercise that has so immediately sparked ideas. I think this is because it starts with what I believe to be the most important part of any story: character.

The exercise:

Make a list of as many first names you can think of.
Make a list of as many last names you can think of.
Pick one name from each list that you like. This is now the name of your character.
Brainstorm ideas for this character's personality, background, and eventually a possible plot for a story. It's amazing how many ideas you can get from just a name!

That's it! Pretty simple, right? Try it. I swear, by just having a name you can come up with all sorts of ideas. The great thing is, if the first name you choose doesn't work for you, you can just pick another one!

One more thing: I've found the trick to brainstorming is not to do too much pressure on yourself, and always do it by hand, that way you can't delete. It doesn't matter if the ideas you come up with are horrible. No one has to see them but you. The whole point is just get the ideas flowing and get your brain in the habit of constantly coming up with ideas again. If you've been out of practice for awhile, it would make sense for you to have trouble coming up with things.

So, Madelein, if you decided to stop by, I hope this post was helpful to you or anyone else who's been out of practice for awhile. Good luck getting started again!

Procrastinating... as usual

2010-10-03T15:32:00.000-04:00

So I haven't felt like doing much in the way of homework this weekend so instead I decided to change my blog design! So, yea, what do you think? I like it because it's green (I love green) and it has kind of a fantasy feel, which fits since I'm a fantasy writer. I also stayed up until 3 last night watching the David Tennant version of Hamlet, which was AMAZING. I guess that TECHNICALLY counts as homework since we're going to start reading Hamlet in my Shakespeare class next week.

Anyway, I think I'm going to start doing the whole Mention Monday thing tomorrow since I don't foresee having a lot of homework. So I am currently looking for a good blog post to respond to. If you come across anything that I could write a good response to (or if you, you know, write one) post a link in the comments.

Also, I think I'm going to start using labels differently, but I don't really know how. I kind of want set categories or something, but I don't know if all the posts I've done up to this point will fit in those categories...

Where did September go?

2010-09-30T23:05:00.001-04:00

Well I didn't want September to come to an end without blogging at least one more time. There are many times this month when I've wanted the blog but I just haven't had the time. Taking 24 credits really makes time pass in a very different way... both slow and fast at the same time... if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I've been trying to come up with a way to rejuvenate this blog. I want to come up with a schedule where each day of this week will have its own type of post. Kind of like #teasertuesday was my Tuesday thing for awhile... Of course, I don't think I will have enough time to blog everyday, but I really want to make a habit of blogging regularly. You know, work it into my schedule like I did every day in August. Anyway, here are some ideas that I came up with:

Mention Monday: I'd pick a blog post I read or a video I watched the previous week and write a response to it. Of course I would provide a link and post a comment on the post as well.

Teaser Tuesday: Once my new story gets rolling, I'll start participating in this again.

Writing Wednesday: I'll update y'all on how my writing is going. I haven't started querying yet this is the kind of post in which I would talk about hat process.

Thoughtful Thursday: This is when I write about things that have been on my mind. It could be stuff that I learned about in class or stuff inspired by my discussions with my Interfaith group. Right now (literally as I'm writing this) we're talking about Don't Asks Don't Tell... so expect posts on that sort of thing.

Sonnet Saturday: I want to start writing poetry... about nerdy things... And I plan on starting with Shakespearean sonnets...
Summary Sunday: These will be very diary-like posts that may eventually graduate to vlogs. It will basically just be a recap of my week.

Yea... I don't when I'll be able to start implementing this schedule... Once I catch up with all my school work... maybe...

Fail.

2010-09-04T13:53:00.000-04:00

So I kind of failed on the whole BEDA front. I was doing really well until the last five days or so and then I just... stopped posting. You can probably guess that it was because recently started my senior year of college, I'm taking five classes plus and independent study, which adds up to 24 credits total, and, well, last week I was kind of over-whelmed. I felt guilty when I blogged because I should have been doing homework and I felt guilty when I didn't blog because I DID say I would blog every day in August. So, yea, I'm sorry if any one was waiting with bated breath for my final BEDA blogs, but I doubt that that was the case for anyone.

So, otherwise, I'm doing pretty well. I got my independent study approved, which means the novel I'm writing now (it's a brand spankin' new one) will actually be for English credit and it'll count as my honors in the major credit, so yay! I'm unbelievably happy about that. I can hardly believe that I can actually do what I really LOVE for school. Also, I'm reading Jane Austen for school. That seems almost to good to be true. I'm so unbelievably in love with major now. I really wish it wasn't my senior year. I want more time with THIS major. I wish I'd picked it from the start instead of doing Biochem for a full two years. I guess in the end I'm doing what I love.

Also, I went to a job interview for an on-campus position that involves calling alumni. I REALLY want the job. It is exactly the amount of hours I want at a higher pay than I'd be able to get anywhere else. Apparently, it would look really good on a resume, and I am just SO in love with my school right now that I would love to be paid to talk to alumni about it. It just seems like the perfect job for me at this point.

So, yea, that's my life right now!

A Glutton for Knowledge

2010-08-27T22:08:00.000-04:00

So yea... That was two days in a row that I forgot to blog. Don't say I didn't warn you about that, though. I think my posts this week got progressively shorter as it went on. It was a really hard yet awesome week. I know this semester is going to be Hell, but a good kind of hell if that makes any sense. I'm taking five classes (that's 20 credit hours at my school) plus an independent study (another four credits), so I don't think I will really have any time to do anything but school work.

If I had one class that I honestly didn't like, I would probably drop it. I mean, I don't NEED to major AND minor in pretty much the same subject. But I WANT to take literature classes and I WANT to take creative writing classes, so while I could have all my creative writing classes count as English major electives, I want to take all the literature electives, too. So I might as well not count the creative writing classes toward my major and this pick up the minor. What can I say, I'm a glutton for knowledge.

Of course, my independent study might not be accepted. But it's writing a novel, which I would do anyway, despite also having to write a screen play for my screenwriting class. I have pretty good idea of what both of those stories are going to be, though, and I'm SUPER excited about both. If the independent study, that will be another two English major elective taken care of, which makes it more likely I'll have time to minor. Also, I'll have professorial guidance on it, which is an AMAZING opportunity.

So, yea, it's going to be a hard semester, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy it. Even the class I wasn't so excited about (American Lit) has been a lot of fun so far. My independent study proposal has been making its way through the department committee yesterday and today and my professor had read it just before class. She brought it up and said it sounded "interesting" if front of the whole class, which was a little embarrassing. My Shakespeare professor took any even more embarrassing approach. When he called my name for roll, he called me a "famous author" and mentioned that I've already finished a book, which led to a lot of "Wow. Is it published?" from the other students. And I just had to blush and shake my head in embarrassment. I actually had lots of efforts to help edit, too, which was nice, but still a little embarrassing.

So, that's my life this first week. Has anyone else started school yet? How's it going for you guys? By the way, I'm still reading all the BEDA blogs and such, though sometimes I only have enough time to skim the.

A Good Kind of Insane

2010-08-24T22:36:00.000-04:00

I totally forgot about #teasertuesday today. Big surprise. It's only the second day of the semester and I'm already starting to go a little insane. Don't worry, though, it's a good kind of insane. Anyway, I've spent all my at-home time today writing a proposal for an independent study so that I can get honors in the major. Yes, I am choosing to put even MORE on my plate. I finally got as far on that as I can tonight but I still need to adapt a short story to a screen play and read something for American Lit. So... yea... I'm gonna go...

Busy Day

2010-08-23T23:44:00.001-04:00

I have a feeling that as the semester progresses and the work starts piling up, I will get closer and closer to completely forgetting to blog. Luckily BEDA only lasts another week, so after that I'll only blog when I have time. I don't even know if I'll continued with #teasertuesday after BEDA. I don't want to get too far into my novel with those excerpts, so yea... I guess I'll just blog when I have time. Maybe once a week.

That actually makes me kind of said because I've really enjoyed blogging everyday this month and reading the blogs by the other BEDA-ers. I will definitely continue to read your blogs and comment if I can think of something to say. Of course, since it IS my last year, school takes top priority right now. And if I get what I want and manage to land a job, I won't even have weekends... Isn't it ironic that the times that you have the most to blog about also happen to be the times that you have the least amount of time to blog?

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to get honors in the English major. I have the GPA requirements and one of the options for a thesis is to write a novel... so... yea... I don't plan on using the one I've already written, though. I planned on writing a draft for a new one in November so I could use that one. I just have to get all the formalities done this week and register for an 8 credit year long independent study. I don't NEED 8 credits by any means, but I DO need English electives, and those 8 credits would count for that. Also, having honors in the major would be nice...

ANTICIPATION!

2010-08-22T22:12:00.001-04:00

I'm going to miss the feeling next year. You know the one I'm talking about. The feeling you (well, probably just me) get the day before classes start, after you've bought all your books, and you've set up your room... the one fluttery excitement you get in the pit of your stomach as you flip through and smell all the new books... the hopes of making new friends and having some awesome new professors... yea, that feeling.

Maybe it's just because I'm a nerd, but by the time the night before the first day of classes arrives, I can not wait for the next morning to actually start USING all the books and supplies I've collected over the past week. All the anticipatory feelings are making it hard for me to right this blog. I am just to excited to type! ARGH!

And I think I'm even more excited than I usually am because I'm REALLY excited about the classes I'm taking. Do you want to know what they are? Yes? You do? AWESOME! Well, I think I've already mentioned that I'm taking an Jane Austen class, but I'm also taking creative writing: screenwriting, major English writings 2, American Lit, and and a class solely on Shakespeare. That's FOUR literature classes and one creative writing class, but I'm not terribly worried, because I love to read and write creatively!

I was going to write something else, but I can't remember what it was... hmm... Oh yea! I'm really going to miss this feeling next year. In fact, I'm probably going to miss the whole school thing. Ever since I started going I've loved school. I don't know what live will be like without it. Of course, I don't know for SURE if I won't be going to school next year. If I get into one of two programs and DON'T get into my top choice thing that I want to do next year, I WILL be starting on a master's degree next year... I have a sneaking suspicion that that will be completely different though...

All Moved In!

2010-08-21T22:54:00.001-04:00

With all the business of getting settled in my new apartment, I almost forgot to blog today! Oh well, I remember with a whole hour and fifteen minutes to spare.

So, I am pretty much all moved in now, and all my stuff is organized. I feel much better about starting this year now that all that is taken care of. I guess I just don't like being in a state of limbo. Anyway, now I'm actually kind of excited about starting classes on Monday! I mean, there's no reason for me not to be since I'm only taking classes I know I'll enjoy or have a previously established interest in (such as the Jane Austen class). I think the only reason I've been dreading this year so much is because it's my last one and I'm going to have to put some sort of resume together to hopefully get a job and the end of it, something that I haven't had very much luck with so far.

Anyway, for now, I'm just going to try to live in the moment so I can enjoy my first week of classes.

So, my apartment is on the second floor, which would be cool if the ground the complex is built on was level. But it's not. So I might be on the second floor but it FEELS like the first floor. And it's the front corner room of the complex, which means it has a cool layout, but I can also hear all the cars honking away as they drive along the busy street right outside my window. Also, it's right next to the front door, so I can also hear all the drunk students slamming their way in. Ah, well, I suppose it'll do. I really wish all the cars would stop honking though, they should know by now that it's not going to get them anywhere.

Oh, and I can also hear the train loud and clear.

So my roommate is already asleep and she has been since about nine. She flew in from China after being there for about a month and a half for some amazing internship at the Beijing embassy, so she's seriously jet-lagged. I wish I could get an amazing internship... not really all that interested in China, though... I suppose an internship would be a could plan for after college if I can't get a REAL job.

Anyway, my sheets are probably done drying now, so I'm going to go make my bed and get some sleep. GOOD NIGHT!

Packing to move back to college... for the last time... ever

2010-08-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

I've always hated packing for college. I'm alright when it comes to packing for almost any other occasion. I love packing for trips, and packing to move is usually pretty easy since everything has to go. Every time I pack for college, I'm always struggling with what I should and shouldn't take. If I forget something, I probably won't see it until my mother can ship it or I can drive the two hours back home to pick it up. At the same time, I don't want to over-pack because then I won't be able to find places for everything.

Add on top of that, the emotional stress of leaving my dog for yet another year (yes, it upsets me THAT much) and the thought that this summer might be the longest stretch of time I ever live with my family ever again. I mean, if I'm lucky, I should be able to move out permanently pretty soon after I graduate. As desirable a situation as that would be (mainly because I don't want to stay in Florida any longer than I have to), it still makes me sad. I think I've already established how close I am to my family, so I'm going to miss living with them.

Oh, and have I mentioned the subdued yet constant feat that I'm going to screw everything up this year and not be able to get a job ever or even graduate at all? I mean, I don't really have anything to put on a resume for the kind of job I hope to get, so I really need to step it up this year. Also, I've only done one semester as an English major so far, and even though I took care of all my gen eds when I was and biochemistry major and I've been taking nothing but English classes since I made the switch, I'm worried I'll miss some random requirement that will keep me from graduating in May. And I can't afford another semester and that school...

Ugh... I need to stop moaning and get back to packing.

Thoughts

2010-08-19T23:03:00.001-04:00

I don't really know what to blog about today so I'm just going to list some random thoughts.

1. I move into my on-campus apartment on Saturday. Once I get finished with all the packing and am all moved it, I'll probably be excited, but right now I'm kind of bummed.

2. Over the last 24 hours I watched three movies. Here they are in the order ascending order of how much I liked them: Brothers, The Road, and An Education.

3. Of those three, I liked the ending of The Road the best. The one for An Education just didn't measure up to the quality of the rest of the movie.

4. Before I start classes on Monday I want to get through the rest of my "movies to watch" list, which consists of The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, and In Bruges. Have you seen any of these? Do you like them?

5. I started reading Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson the last night. So far I'm enjoying it. It's not as un-putdownable as 13 Little Blue Envelopes was though. Do you like Maureen Johnson? If so, what's your favorite book of hers? That way I can know which one to read next.

6. I really need a job this year. I'm hoping for one at Universal.

7. This time next year, I might be living in Germany. That's pretty exciting... *crosses fingers*

Alright, I guess that's it for today. I hope everyone had a good Thursday!

Lazing Around

2010-08-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

This week is becoming one of those "lost" weeks. You know, those stretches of days when all I do is lay around in bed or on the couch and watch television or Youtube videos thinking about all the things I should be doing but remaining unable to decide which of those things I should do first. Yea, well, the main problem this week is that none of the things I "should" be doing seem particularly urgent. I mean, I already accomplished my main goal for the summer (finishing the second draft of my novel) and I don't plan on starting the next one until November (for NaNoWriMo, ofcourse). Granted, I would like to have the second novel outlined by then and then current one completely edited and ready for querying, but for some reason I can't bring myself to work on either of those two goals much quite yet.

I might just be feeling this overwhelming desire to laze around because it is a sort of left-over week positioned oddly between the excitement of the cruise and the stress of going back to school. Maybe my mind is subconsciously telling me I should relax as much as I can before getting back to the grind, especially since, after I graduate in May, I might never get the chance to laze around for a week again. I should take the opportunity while I've got it, I guess, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it TOO much.

Anyway, I've been in the mood to get to know some new people, so if you'd like to chat, leave a comment and we can exchange MSN (or whatever) screen names!

Brandon's Coming-Of-Age

2010-08-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

I have skipped a few chapters this week and have gone straight to the point where Thera and Brandon are at the age they will be for the rest of the story. This was originally the beginning of the first chapter, but now it is Chapter 5. Anyway, most of it should be pretty easy to follow without too much explanation.

“Ouch, Thera, pay attention!” said Brandon as I stepped on his toes for what seemed the millionth time. We were dancing at his coming-of-age celebration, two years after the announcement about healer marriage.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“Are you alright, Thera? You don’t seem well.”

I sighed. Even though our time together had dwindled over the past two years, Brandon could still read me. I was feeling strange lately, especially around fire, and we were currently surrounded by the torches that lined the walls of the Great Hall. It was as if the orange flames were calling to me. Sometimes I thought I saw a pair of dark eyes staring out at me from their center. I couldn’t bring myself to tell anybody about these hallucinations, though, not even the boy – no, man now – I had grown up with. It was almost a certainty that people would think I was going insane. So I just looked up into Brandon’s concerned green eyes and smiled. “Nothing,” I said.

Brandon gave me an unconvinced look but did not ask any further questions. I flashed him an appreciative grin and tried my best to forget about the very existence of fire so I could stop stepping on my partner as we danced. This proved impossible to do with all the red and orange swirling around us as we spun. I stumbled a few more times before the song was over, despite having grown up learning the steps. It was a dance the monks had brought with them from Salvatori. They said it was a more appropriate way of dancing than what we had done before. The only contact between partners was at the hands and forearms, and the steps were slow and deliberate, which made it easy to get distracted.

“The ceremony was very beautiful,” I said, hoping a conversation would keep my eyes from wandering to the flames and help me concentrate on the dance. “I wish I had something this special to look forward to for my eighteenth birthday.” It was only three moon-turns away.

“You had a very nice celebration when you turned sixteen,” Brandon said.

“Yes, but it was not nearly so grand or meaningful as this. The only purpose of it was to show me off and announce that I was of marriageable age, which turned out to be absolutely pointless since I am not allowed to marry.”

Brandon’s eyes darkened for half a second, but then he laughed and let go of one of my hands. The song had ended. “Well,” he said, as the musicians struck up another tune. “Unfortunately, I am under obligation to dance with every young lady in Seya, so we’ll have to continue this at another time.” He bent low over the hand he was still holding and looked up at me with a wink before turning around and disappearing into the crowd.

I sighed and watched as the partnering shifted and no one approached me. My eyes searched for Brandon. He was positioning himself for the next dance with my sister. At fifteen, Kate already looked like a woman grown. Many called her the most beautiful girl in Seya, with our mother’s straight black hair and green eyes. She was taller than me, despite being three years younger, and had filled out nicely. I could probably still masquerade as a young boy if I wanted.

I moved out of the way of the dancers and went to sit on a bench that was placed against the wall. I glanced at the far end of the room and saw the High Lord sitting on his raised dais. I smiled when I saw my mother sitting next to him – in the chair that was usually reserved for Brandon. My mother was never one for dancing, and High Lord Kimball hadn’t done so since his wife died giving birth to Brandon. I could tell they were grateful for each other’s company at these events.

So, what do you think? I like my new fist scene much better, but I'm not sure how wise it is to start further away from the main action of the story. Of course, I have added more action to the first four chapters, but I still don't know if it works...

Did you guess correctly?

2010-08-16T21:57:00.002-04:00

Since I can't think of anything else to write about, all I'm going to do today is go through my list of facts and let you know which are true and which is the lie. Did you get it right?

By the time I was eighteen, I had lived in eleven different houses.
This one's TRUE! My dad was in the Army until I was 15, so we moved around a lot. Even after he retired, my parents got the moving bug after three years in one house... so we moved to a different house down the road.

I love to dance but am really bad at it.
Definitely TRUE! I really do wish I was better at it...

I like being pale, so I tend to avoid the sun.
This one needs a little explanation, but it's TRUE! I have a bit of a fear of skin cancer. Plus, I find Caucasians who OBVIOUSLY lay out all the time incredibly unattractive. It's like they're trying to be something they're not.

I studied abroad in England for a year.
None of you guessed it, but this one's FALSE! I was only there for a semester. HAHA! I tricked you!

I lived in Germany for four years, just after the fall of the Berlin wall.
We moved there within six months of my birth.

I used to be a Biochemistry major.
I wish I had switched to English sooner, but Organic Chemistry was actually kind of fun.

I wish I could be a vegetarian but I like meat too much.
Yup, I have a profound admiration for anyone who has the self-discipline to give up meat. It's so much better for the environment.

My favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings movies... don't make me choose between them.
Most definitely TRUE! They have been my favorites since they came out. I like the Harry Potter BOOKS better than the Lord of the Rings BOOKS, but I actually don't like the Harry Potter movies much. I love the Lord of the Rings movies and feel that every change Peter Jackson made improved the story.

So, none of the commenters got it right, but was anybody terribly surprised?

Versatile Blogger Award

2010-08-15T22:43:00.002-04:00

So... when I came home from my cruise and checked my email, guess what I found among four days' worth of spam? An email from fellow-writer and blogger Lisa Fox stating that she had awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award! You can see what she posted here.

This is my very first blog award so, needless to say, I was very flattered to receive it. Receiving the award means that I have to list seven truths and one lie about myself and let YOU, my lovely readers, guess which is which. At the end of this post, I will choose four of my favorite bloggers to pass the award onto. Sound good? Good. Now, here are the seven truths and one lie about me:

By the time I was eighteen, I had lived in eleven different houses.
I love to dance but am really bad at it.
I like being pale, so I tend to avoid the sun.
I studied abroad in England for a year.
I lived in Germany for four years, just after the fall of the Berlin wall.
I used to be a Biochemistry major.
I wish I could be a vegetarian but I like meat too much.
My favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings movies... don't make me choose between them.

Now, onto the five people I would like give this award to:

Deanna

Hannah

Maggie

Jaleta Clegg

Cruise Blog #2

2010-08-14T23:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm still pretty exhausted today, but I'm going to try to tell you guys about the rest of this cruise. Sheesh, I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!

So... I'll start by mentioning this lovely British family we met on the first day. They were some of the friendliest people I have ever met. We met them when we got to the piano bar five minutes before the pianist was supposed to stop playing. Only the British family was sitting at the piano so we joined them and gave the pianist (his name was Steve and he was also British) a good tip so that he would keep playing for awhile. We had so much fun that night that we decided we would go back every night Steve played. The British family had the same idea.

On the last day of the cruise (Thursday), we finally made it to our stop on a private island owned by Royal Caribbean, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday. This was more fourth cruise so I have been to a lot of cool ports, but this was definitely my favorite. Like I said, it's a private island, so only guests from Royal Caribbean ships can visit. The food was free and we could pay for almost everything else with our sea pass. Plus, we got to go jet skiing, which was fun, and I got to talk to ours SUPER HOT South African tour guide who told me that on 60 people live and work on the island. Once I learned that, I made it my mission to find the place where the workers lived. I recorded some video from that adventures so I'll probably edit all that together and upload it within the next couple days.

So Thursday night was the last dinner and the last piano bar experience of the cruise. I was really sad that I'd have to be saying goodbye to my family soon. I hardly ever get to see my dad's side. I hadn't seen my Aunt Susie and Uncle Trey for a year and a half and I probably won't see them again till next summer or even later, so, yea... sad.

I didn't drink much the entire cruise, but I decided to splurge a little at the piano bar on the last night because, you know, it was the LAST NIGHT! By splurge, I mean I had three glasses of wine... but that was enough! The British family was there, and they, Aunts Susie, Uncle Trey, my dad, and I stayed up until about 1 AM singing with Steve in the piano bar. When Steve was finally to tired to go on, the British family suggested we all go up on the deck and watch the stars since there was supposed to be a meteor shower. We stayed out there for another hour or so, but I only saw one meteor. Also, I had my book with me because I had been reading on the promenade before Steve started playing. My Stonehenge bookmark, which I had cross-stitched in England, blew into the ocean. That really bummed me out, but it was still one of the best nights of my life.

Anyway, I had to wake up at 7 the next morning to eat breakfast and get off the boat and I spent all of Friday walking around the Kennedy Space Center with the members of dad's family that could come. It was very interesting, but I doubt I remember most of it since I was so tired. I slept through the IMAX show we went to, so yea...

Anyway, I don't have the energy to edit this, so excuse any spelling errors or typos.

Exhausted

2010-08-13T21:45:00.000-04:00

So I'm in a hotel again, but I am extremely exhausted. If I try to go into detail about the end of the cruise right now I won't be able to do it justice so I think I'll wait until I've had a bit of sleep. Just know that I was up until 2:30 AM watching the stars with some lovely British people we made friends with over the course of the four days and then I had to wake up at 7 AM to go get breakfast before disembarking. Then we spent all day at the Kennedy Space Center. Okay, I'm going to go to sleep now...

Cruise Blog #1

2010-08-11T16:42:00.002-04:00

So I didn’t get to go jet skiing around the Bahamas yesterday. Turns out the weather wasn’t good enough for us to visit that particular island and we ended up going straight to Nassau. I’ve already been to Nassau and didn’t find it terribly exciting, so I’ve just been hanging out on the ship. We’re not leaving until midnight tonight so that’s pretty much a full day and a half in one place. It’s a shame really, since I kind of like being at sea and watching the endless expanse of water. Oh well, tomorrow we should attempt CocoCay again. I really hope we make it there because we’ve already paid for this jet ski thing and I’d really like to do it.

Other than that, it’s been a pretty awesome cruise. All four of my grandparents are here, which is a rare occurrence, as well as aunts and uncles from both sides of the family and a few cousins. The food has been great, as is to be expected on cruises. The shows are cool and the weather is nice (except I’m not a big fan of sun). But the best part comes at night. About an hour after dinner this British guy starts playing piano in one of the bars and we can go sit around him and sing along. We made it there for the end of his show the first night, but last night we got there at nine and stayed until one in the morning. He played and sang the ENTIRE TIME. I know, that guy has some stamina, right? For the last hour, he was saying that his hands were cramping and that it was past his designated play time, but some guy kept putting big bills in the tip jar so Steve (that’s his name) kept playing. He’s a really nice guy… too bad Wednesday is his day off. We’ll get to see him again tomorrow, though, that should make for an excellent last night.

Can I just take a second here to say how much I love my family? Not only am I lucky enough to have four amazing grandparents who are all still alive and healthy enough to do fun things, but I also have wonderful parents who love each other. The two of them plus me and my two little sisters are the type of family who will all hop out onto the dance floor together and dance to a live band playing the Twist, My Girl (my dad changes it to “my girls”), and other oldish songs. Then we all go to the piano bar (with my aunts and uncles and for the first part of it my grandparents) and sing along to American Pie, Bohemian Rhapsody, and a large assortment of Beatles songs. My family is awesome, and I love being reminded at how lucky I am to have been born into it.

Alright… internet costs 69 cents a minute… let’s see how long it’ll take me to post this…

Dissol Has Fallen

2010-08-10T08:00:00.004-04:00

Okay, this was supposed to post yesterday. I don't know why it didn't:

Hello everyone! I am writing to you from my cruise. Well, not really. It's actually the Saturday before the cruise, but I don't want to miss this #teasertuesday so I'm writing this aheaad of time and scheduling it to post on Tuesday. As you are reading this, I am probably riding on a jet ski in the Bahamas, so, yea, be jealous!

Anyway, this excerpt takes place just after the last one, it's the first excerpt that I've posted regarding this plot line. Umm... just so you're not too confused: Dissol is the country to Actae's south and they are currently being attacked by people from the continent. Maeldra and Actae have just agreed to ride to their aid... Hopefully that helps you get oriented

There were a lot of people milling around outside the Keep, talking excitedly, as Brandon and I rode toward it. A stable boy rushed up to take the gelding’s reins as we dismounted.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Brandon asked the boy as he helped me down.

“A messenger,” the boy said excitedly. “From Dissol. No one got a chance to talk to him before he rushed into the Keep, though. He smelled and looked like he hadn’t bathed in a fortnight.”

“Who else is in there?” Brandon asked.

“High Lord Fallon, of course, since the Maeldrans haven’t left yet. And his son rushed in a few minutes ago as soon as he heard…”

Brandon nodded. He turned to me and kissed my cheek. “I’ll come find you as soon as I know what’s going on.”

“Thank you,” I said. I watched Brandon pass the guards and disappear behind the red double doors before making my way through the crowds and to the Infirmary.

For the next hour, I felt like I was the only healer in Seya. Well, besides my mother. We were the only two who were paying any attention to the patients whatsoever. The others were huddled around the windows waiting breathlessly for someone to come out of the Keep and tell us what was going on. Had the Dissolans managed to fight off the Lendradians without our help? Had they finally been overrun? Had the invaders given up on Dissol and were they currently making their way to Actae? There was no way of know for sure.

Until Brandon, as promised, showed up at the infirmary. All of the younger apprentices swarmed him, asking him an endless stream of questions. Finally, Brandon was able to shout over their voices. “The High Lord is going to make an announcement. Go wait for him in front of the Keep.”

Kate was the only one who stayed behind with Mother and me. She looked up at him expectantly as I finished changing the bedding on one of the cots.

“What is it, Brandon?” my mother asked calmly.

I looked up at him. His face was white. “High Lord Malcolm has been killed. Dissol has fallen.”

So I probably won't have internet access to read the other posts this week, but if you want me to read yours just leave a link in your comment and I'll read them when I get back.

Good Morning!

2010-08-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

I actually woke up early enough to write a decent blog before having to hop on a shuttle to the ship. Please excuse any typos and poor grammar; I am a little groggy. As you probably already guessed, the hotel DOES have internet, so yesterday's rushed post was unnecessary. I could have just waited to write it until I was here.

Anyway... yesterday was a pretty good day. After driving for two and a half hours, we got to the hotel and met up with my grandparents and aunt and uncle. Almost as soon as we got here, everybody wanted to go to the beach. I'm not really much of a beach person, so my sister and I stayed back to watch Kick Ass. I've wanted to see it for awhile, but I was worried that it wouldn't live up to all the hype. It turns out my worries were unfounded as it was very good. I'm not usually one for gratuitous violence, but I didn't mind it in this case. I hope they'll make a sequel.

After everybody got back from the beach, we decided to go to the pool. I didn't want to swim (I am just NOT a water person okay... unless a boat or jet ski is involved) so I sat at a table and talked mostly to my grandparents about what I'm going to do after college since I'm graduating in May. Having these conversations is always scary and awkward because I don't really know WHAT I'm going to be doing. I hope it's something involving a job that will make me enough money to move out, but I just don't KNOW. And having this conversation with this particular set of grandparents is doubly awkward because my cousins on that side of the family seem to all be GENIUSES! And not just geniuses... DRIVEN geniuses. Everyone seems to have known what they want to do since at least before they started college and then did really well in college and then got amazing jobs after college. And by the way, for the cousin who I know reads this sometimes: teaching counts as an amazing job and you're amazing for doing it.

Now, as most of you know, I am more certain than most people as to what I'm supposed to do with my life. But that particular career is super hard to get into and it's getting harder to make a living at it. *sigh* But I would keep doing it even if I wasn't making any money off of it so I have nothing to lose from trying.

Anywho... After the pool we all went to dinner at this random local Mexican restaurant we found. It was delicious and very amusing since everyone had been drinking all day. I can't really remember any specific amusing moment, but I do remember lots of laughter. And, no, I wasn't drinking. The only alcohol available was in the form of beer, and I'm not terribly fond of beer.

I have to go get ready to board the ship. My grandmother is starting to nag. Note: I love my grandmother. She is adorable. Here is a picture to prove it:

Oh, and by the way, you will be getting a post tomorrow. I've already scheduled the #teasertuesday. I don't know if Wednesday and Thursday will be possible, though. *crosses fingers*

Rushed

2010-08-08T11:46:00.001-04:00

This is going to be a short, quick, slapped-together blog post because I over-slept by an hour and a half, and we're supposed to be in a car on the way to Cape Canaveral like, now. So... yea... I'm boarding a cruise ship tomorrow. It's going to be fun. We're celebrating my parents 100th birthday (they both turned 50 this year), and lot more of my family than I usually see are going to be there but not as much as we'd hoped. We booked a four-night cruise instead of a six-night in hopes that more people would be able to come that way, but, yea... that didn't happen.

Oh, and the reason I over-slept is because I couldn't sleep last night. This is the second night in a row that that new idea has kept me up...

New Stuff!

2010-08-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

I had an awesome idea for a new series last night. I'm incredibly excited about it and really want to get writing, but it's way I don't want to kill the idea by trying to write it before it's ready. So I suppose it'll have to wait until the current WIP is completely edited and ready to query. Maybe it'll be my next NaNoWriMo novel? Hmmmm...

The thing about getting an amazing idea in the middle of the night, though, is that it keeps you up for the rest of the night. So, yea, I was really tired today when I was trying to finish up all my pottery-painting.

In other news, the $90 worth of Harry Potter merchandise that I ordered during the Harry Potter's birthday sale. I got some pretty awesome (and useful) stuff. I'm a Ravenclaw, so I got a water bottle and a pen to advertise it. I also got a DA messenger bag and two new t-shirts. The All Caps t-shirt that I pre-ordered forever ago also come. I'm looking forward to wearing it around campus when I go back to see if anyone recognizes it.

So tomorrow morning I get to drive down to Cape Canaveral for the cruise that starts on Monday. I'm going to write my Sunday blog tomorrow morning and schedule my #teasertuesday submission to post, but other than that I don't know how consistently I'll be able to blog this week. Hopefully the hotel will have internet so I'll be able to post Monday's blog there. That way I'll only have to worry about Wednesday and Thursday on the cruise. I should be back home by Friday.

It's a shame that I don't really know if I'll be able to keep up with the BEDA thing while on the cruise since it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll have a lot of cool things to blog about. If it doesn't work out I'll have a lot to say when I get back, though!

Pottery and Victoria

2010-08-06T23:58:00.001-04:00

So I don't really know what to blog about to do. Some of you have so many amusing things happen in your day that it is just so fun to read about them. I don't feel like I've had anything terribly amusing has happened to me in quite awhile. I guess I will tell you about my day and see if something emerges.

So the first thing I had to do today was drive 45 minutes to the county clerk office to pay a traffic ticket I got two months ago. I had to take my sister because she also had a traffic ticking to pay. I find it a bit unfair that my ticket was for speeding and hers was for rear-ending another car, but she only had to pay about thirty dollars more than me... really? Oh, well, whatever... It was relatively painless since there was no line and the clerk was really nice.

After that was taken care of, I drove to my mom's shop to do some pottery-painting. I don't get to do that very often. Most of the time that I'm at my mom shop I'm supposed to be working. But not today! I going to finish it all tomorrow. Once they're fired I might take a picture and show them off t you guys.

When my mom and I got home, we ordered pizza and decided to watch a movie on demand. The television seemed to have a problem with our first choice (The Road), so we had to go with our second, The Young Victoria. I'm kind of glad this happened because I really LOVED this movie. It was so beautiful to watch and romantic and interesting. I don't know if you know this about me, but I am VERY interested with the British monarchy. I didn't know much about Victoria before this, except that she was very in love with her husband, which was a bit of a rarity for the upper-class, especially the monarchy, back then.

Anyway, I want bore you with my ravings about the movie. I'll just say that I really didn't want it to end. I'm going to post this now, and just in time since it's already 11:57.

Second Draft Finished!

2010-08-05T20:39:00.003-04:00

So... I finished my second draft last night. Sometimes I just need a late-night writing spree to get things done. But, anyway... YAY! Here's a wordle of the whole thing. I got the idea from this blog.

I find this very interesting because the five biggest words are my three main male characters, eyes, and back. I expected eyes, since I'm rather obsessed with them, but back? Seriously? Hmm... One word that is oddly small is the heroine's name, Thera, but I guess that makes sense since it's in first person. The most annoying word, sitting right there in the middle and a decent size is "just". Grrr... that word is such a crutch for me. Near the end I was trying so hard no to use it, but still, THERE IT IS! *sigh* I'll have to go through and get rid of some of those later. Another worrisome large word is "looked"... I need to find some more synonyms...

Anyway, sorry for the short posts, lately. As you can imagine, I am a bit worded-out.

Contest Run by Therese Walsh!

2010-08-04T20:07:00.001-04:00

So today has been pretty much a nothing day. I wanted to finish the second draft of my novel yesterday, but that didn't happen. If I had, this post probably would have been about how happy I was to have finally finished another draft. Instead, yea... it's not going to be about that.

I really only have one new scene to write since the last chapter is going to stay pretty much exactly the way it was in the first draft, but for some reason I am having a VERY hard time writing the new scene. I don't exactly know why... Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the climax has already happened so I'm in the "resolution" part of things, and after writing such intense scenes, it is hard to get the enthusiasm to write lighter scenes again. Do any of you other writers ever feel this way when you're coming to the end of a draft?

On a happier note, I just entered this contest run by Therese Walsh. You should too! She and a bunch of other authors are giving away a ton of free books including one by my favorite author, Juliet Marillier, and and another by an amazing author I met about a year ago, Margot Livesey. Therese Walsh is holding the contest to promote the paperback release of her book, "The Last Will of Moira Leahy". I haven't read it, but it sounds amazing!

Thera Tells Brandon About Her Gift

2010-08-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

So I'm doing BEDA this month, but I still plan on posting #teasertuesday excerpts. For those of you reading one of my excerpts, the description in the side-bar should get you oriented. For those you who read last week's, this one takes place pretty much right where that one left off, except William has left. It's a little longer than usual, so I apologize for that...

Brandon let out a sound that gave me the impression he’d been holding his breath. I lead him to sit at the base of the closest tree. He seemed to be favoring his left foot.

“Are you alright?” I asked once he was settled. “Did he hurt you?”

“My ankle,” Brandon said through gritted teeth.

I moved to his left side and removed his boot. His ankle was indeed swollen. I tried moving it a around a bit, but that grunt and wince. It seemed like a moderate sprain since I couldn’t feel any broken bones.

“Stay away from William, Thera, he’s evil,” Brandon said as I tried to figure out how to get him back to his horse. The ground would be slippery and I didn’t want to make things worse.

“Evil?” I asked, momentarily distracted from his injury.

“Dangerous… I don’t trust him…”

“Well, I can’t imagine any decent person would fight someone half his size.” I returned my attention to his ankle.

“He’s not that much bigger than me,” Brandon said.

“No I suppose not…” I looked at the rope tied around my waist. It usually held my healer’s pack. Full healers were expected to wear them at all times but apprentices usually took them off for lessons. Without it, I had nothing to wrap Brandon’s ankle with.

I looked up and caught Brandon’s green eyes – the mark of a true Actaen. I had blue eyes, since my father had been a Dissolan. “It’s only a sprain,” I said with a half smile. “But if we’re not careful, it might cause permanent damage.”

Brandon nodded. “So what are you going to do?”

I held his eyes for a few long seconds. Brandon was my closest friend. If I couldn’t tell him…

“I want to show you something,” I said before I could stop myself.

“What sort of something?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“You have to promise not to tell anyone.”

His eyes narrowed. “Alright…”

I took a deep break and placed both my hands over his ankle. I closed my eyes, but instantly reopened them. “And you can’t be angry with me,” I said, looking back into his green eyes.

Brandon chuckled. “Thera, how could you ever make me angry?”

I grinned, my confidence restored. He was right; he had never been mad at me before.

I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. This time I envisioned the sprain. I imagined the swelling going down and the broken tissue forming anew. I felt the area shrink with my hands. Within seconds, I opened my eyes and saw that his ankle looked perfect.

I looked up but didn’t want to meet his eyes. I had no idea how he would react. “I’ve been able to do that since I was seven,” I said quietly.

It took him a few seconds to realize what I’d done, but then he snapped his foot away from me.

“Sorcery!” he said. His face was white as a cloud.

“No it’s not,” I protested. This was what I had feared, that he wouldn’t even hear me out before calling what I could do a gift from the Lord of Death.

“Explain it, then!”

“I… imagined your ankle healing… poured all my thoughts into it… and then it just… happened.” I finally managed to meet his eyes.

“There’s nothing else that it could be! It’s sorcery, Thera! Evil! You could be burned for it!”

My heart picked up speed. “You’re not going to tell anybody, are you? You promised.”

Brandon stared at me for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he leaned forward and took my hands in his. “Of course not,” he said softly. His green eyes forced me not to blink. “I care about you more than anyone besides Father. I wouldn’t want to risk losing you. But, Thera…” He paused, giving my hands a squeeze. “You have to promise not to use it again. Nothing good can come from it.”

I thought about what he was asking of me. I was good at healing the conventional way. I could still save a lot of lives. But there had already been a few people who would have died if it wasn’t for my gift. “But… what if it’s the only way I can keep someone alive?”

Brandon pursed his lips. “Let them go to the Land of Light. By using a gift of the Father of Death on them, you are endangering their place there, as well as yours.”

“It’s not-,” I started.

“Thera,” Brandon said, gripping my hands tight and holding my gaze. “Please.”

I sighed. “Alright,” I said, finally looking away from him. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Brandon said, letting go of my hands. He got up. The rain had stopped while we were talking. “Now let’s ride back to Seya and get into some dry clothes.”

I nodded and followed him back to where the horse was tied up.

Thanks for reading! Any and all thoughts are welcome.

SciFi/Fantasy: What’s REALLY Important

2010-08-02T16:21:00.001-04:00

Okay, so everybody knows that the most important parts of a story are character and plot. And plot usually stems from character, so I'll just say that character is what's most important. I don't think this is any less true for the speculative fiction genres. This is why it frustrates me so much when readers/watchers of scifi/fantasy label a book or episode awful just because it didn't explain how everything was possible. To me, this defeats the purpose of the genre, which is to revel in the impossible. Most of what happens within a scifi/fantasy world is not technically POSSIBLE, but the writers create a different world with different rules in which pretty much ANYTHING could be possible. Yea, there are still limitations; otherwise the audience wouldn't be able to suspend their disbelief. But if the writers don't make it PERFECTLY clear how something is possible, then I feel that it is the audience's job to think of a way it could within that particular world's rules. That way, you are PARTICIPATING in the story and not just being a passive consumer.

Maybe I feel this way because I am a scifi/fantasy writer and spend the vast majority of my time thinking of ways impossible things could be possible. However, I also feel that if writers spend too much time explaining the technicalities of everything, then they wouldn't have enough time to explore character and advance the plot. And as I said before, this is the most important part of a story whether it's speculative fiction or not. This issue was brought to my attention recently because of this summer's Doctor Who finale. From what I can tell, most people were very happy with it, but others were too caught up on the fact that not all the "science" was explained. Now, I don't know about other fans, but the main reason I watch Doctor Who is because I love the CHARACTER of the Doctor and his witty dialogue and the relationships he has with his companions. This season, I fell in love with Amy and her relationship with Rory. If the writers had sacrificed exploring these characters just to better explain the science, I would have been very disappointed. I can fill the gaps in the science on my own, and I'm happy to do so.

Another scifi show that seems to get a lot of flak for not explaining absolutely EVERYTHING is Lost. I, for one, was ecstatic the writers chose to spend the finale on the characters' relationships with each other and not on trying to fill all the plot holes. Now, I really don't think Lost had that many plot holes. I was able to figure out pretty much everything on my own. Someone who came to pretty much exactly the same conclusions as I did is Alex Day. If you watched the show and are still confused, just watch this:

What REALLY blows my mind is when someone says they weren't satisfied with the last Harry Potter book. In my (not-so-humble) opinion, Deathly Hallows was the most amazing finale EVER, and no one could have come up with a better ending to such a beloved series. In my mind, it cemented Ms. Rowling's place as one of the most skilled writers of our time. The most baffling reason I've ever heard for dissatisfaction came from a friend of mine. (SPOILER ALERT) She said she couldn't understand why Harry didn't die when Voldemort hit him with the Avada Kedavra curse. To me, the answer to this is obvious: he possessed all three deathly hallows. (I mean, duh) (END OF SPOILER) I don't feel this had to be stated explicitly fro most readers to figure it out. Seriously, if my friend had only thought about it for half a second… (To any IRL friend who may be reading: I've totally forgotten which of you said this, so please don't take it as a personal attack.)

So, basically, what I'm trying to say to viewers/readers of scifi/fantasy everywhere: GROW AN IMAGINATION! As I writer, I don't want to have to hold your hand throughout the entire story and explain every nuance of how the magic works. Yea, I know how it works, but if you come up with a completely different explanation, that's perfectly fine with me. In fact, I would be very pleased because that means I made you THINK. What I care about most is that you fall in love with my characters and are enthralled by my plot. For that to happen, detailed explanations must sometimes be sacrificed. Sorry.

So... That turned into more of a rant than I meant it to be… Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday. Feel free to do so today, as well. I would love to hear your opinion on this matter, even if it is completely different from my own.

A lot of you seemed to think that #TeaserTuesday was a great idea. I mean, I would have done it anyway, but now I'm really excited to hear from all you new readers. Maybe some of you with a novel in the works will participate? Hmmmm? *stares*
Clicky for more info.

Here We Go

2010-08-01T13:59:00.000-04:00

So... It's August 1st... and sometime around April I said I would do BEDA in August. Now I'm realizing that I should have just done it in April because in August I am going on a cruise and starting up my senior year of college. Granted, back in April I was finishing up my junior year so... I guess that wasn't necessarily the best time either...

So, the up side of doing this in August is that I should have lots of interesting things to blog about since I will be TRAVELING and moving into a new APARTMENT and trying to find a JOB. Back in April all you would have heard from me would have been about studying for finals, writing papers, and finishing the rough draft of my novel. Of course, over this first week, you'll probably hear a lot about me finishing the second draft.

Just a head's up for all those who are new: Every Tuesday I post an excerpt from my novel for #teasertuesday on twitter, and I plan on continuing that throughout August (that is, if twitter starts working again, but every time I've tried to log on today and yesterday I've been getting an error message. Is this happening to anyone else?). If you're not interested in excerpts, don't read my Tuesday posts. If you are interested, I welcome any and all feedback!

Anyway, what can you expect from me this August? My posts will probably center around things like writing (duh), videos (if I ever get around to posting another one), what I'm reading (right now it's Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marilier and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe), television shows and movies I like (the post I'm thinking about for tomorrow was inspired by the Doctor Who finale), and what it's like to be a college senior (first word that comes to mind: terrifying).

So, I hope you enjoy the complete randomness that will be August!

Awkward Vlog

2010-07-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

Sooo.... A few days I posted a very awkward Vlog up on YouTube. You want to see it?

Yea, see what I mean by awkward? I was so nervous when I did this that I had to script out everything I wanted to say... can you tell? I'll probably post another one sometime next week...

I don't know why I decided to start doing this except that I feel very drawn to the YouTube community and wanted to at least try to get involved. Also, I'm hoping it will help me gain some confidence and become better and public speaking... We'll see how it goes, I suppose.

William is Introduced

2010-07-27T09:38:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged in two weeks! I know, crazy right? Well, it's time for an excerpt for #teasertuesday. This takes place a couple years after my other excerpt. Thera and Brandon are ten and are playing a game in the forest but are interrupted by the appearance of a new character.

“So, who are we after today?” I asked, grinning as I turned to Brandon.

“Lord Hops-A-Lot,” Brandon said, taking a very serious tone. He drew his wooden sword from his waist. He took that thing with him everywhere. “We just got message that he escaped from a Maeldran jail and has been making his way toward Seya to terrorize our women.”

We split up, walking on tip-toe around the trees and bushes, being careful not step on any twigs or fallen leaves. I crouched low to the ground as I went, sometimes crawling on my hands and knees. The dirt was turning to mud between my fingers as the rain continued to fall.

Then, I saw our runaway poking his little pink nose out of a nearby bush.

“Psst! Brandon,” I whispered, making sure to keep my eyes on Lord Hops-A-Lot. “I think I found him.

I didn’t get an answer from Brandon but my target hopped out of the bushes, long pointed ears swiveling around. “Brandon!” I hissed again.

The pink nose started sniffing my direction. Within seconds I would lose the element of surprise. I decided to apprehend him on my own.

With a yell, I leapt from my hiding place and ran after Lord Hops-A-Lot. He was paralyzed in fear for a split second but then started away from me. As he did, the rain started coming down hard. My feet were slipping and sliding in the mud as I ran but I kept chasing the escaped criminal.

Finally, I couldn’t keep my balance and my feet went sliding out from under me. I landed face-first in the mud. All I could do was watch, giggling, as my quarry hopped out-of-sight.

“Brandon,” I shouted, getting up and wiping the mud off my face. “He got away.”

No answer. I looked around but the only movement I saw was a sparrow alighting off a nearby branch. A soft chirp came from its beak.

“Brandon?” I called again, my voice shaking.

Just then I heard a scuffle and a shout from somewhere off to my right. I turned and started running. The shouting and sounds of a struggle got louder as I kept moving forward, but it wasn’t until I reached the end of the trees on the bank of the river than I found the source of the noise.

Two boys were rolling on the ground throwing punches at each other. I recognized Brandon immediately but, through the rain, it was hard to make out who the other was.

“Brandon,” I shouted. “What are you doing?” I edged closer to the fighting, unsure if I should do something to end it or just let the males come to some sort of resolution on their own.

“Stay back, Thera,” Brandon yelled, just before his opponent managed to land a deflating punch to his stomach. My friend doubled over as the other boy stood up and took a step back, towering over my friend. He was at least two heads taller than me. He wiped a lock of dripping black hair from his face. It was then that I recognized him: High Lord Fallon’s son.

“What did you do to him?” I yelled, making my way to Brandon’s side.

Lord Fallon didn’t say anything, just stared at us as I helped Brandon to his feet. The pouring rain and Brandon’s labored breathing were the only sounds to penetrate the silence. I started taking in the damage. Brandon’s arms and face were all scraped up, but other than that he had just had the air knocked out of him. He paid me no mind as I attempted to straighten out his sopping wet tunic. He was too busy staring back at William. I looked back and forth between them.

“What happened?” I finally whispered to Brandon.

“He… He…” Brandon wouldn’t take his eyes off the Maeldran.

“Lord Brandn thought he saw something he didn’t,” William said in a voice that was already too deep to be mistaken for a boy’s even though there was no way he could be older than fourteen.

Thanks for reading!

Thera Discovers Her Gift

2010-07-13T12:45:00.000-04:00

Alright, it's Tuesday again! That means it's time for another excerpt for #teasertuesday. I decided to jump ahead a little this week, though this is still from chapter 1. Thera and her mother are at the infirmary examining a boy who has a broken leg.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. We can try a splint, but there is no guarantee that it will grow back normally. He may be crippled for the rest of his life.” She glanced toward the boy’s face. “I’m going upstairs to get supplies. You stay here and comfort him. If Michelle or Adria walk by, send them to ask around town for his parents.”

I nodded, staring at the boy’s face and smoothing the dark hair back from his forehead. “Shhh…” I murmured as he let out a soft whimper. “You’ll be alright.”

His green, Actaen eyes opened and looked straight into my blue ones. My vision clouded when I saw the pain behind the emerald. I wished with all my heart that I could make it go away.

And then – just like that – he fell asleep.

I gasped, afraid that he had died. I checked his pulse and made sure he was breathing – those were the two things I had learned to do first. His breathing was slow and relaxed; he was definitely sleeping.

I let go of his hand and stood up. I had never seen anything like this happen before. How could someone be in so much pain, be gripping so tightly to my hand, and then all of a sudden, just fall asleep? I knew people could pass out from pain but this seemed… different. Like I had caused it somehow.

One of the other apprentices, Michelle, walked up behind me. “Did he faint?” she asked.

I nodded, staring at the boy’s chest as it rose and fell – continued confirmation that he was alive.

“That happens sometimes, especially to the young ones.”

I turned to her and half-smiled. “I suppose it’s a good thing. That way he won’t be in pain any longer.”

Michelle shrugged and moved to get a look at his leg. She cringed. “Ouch. That looks really bad.” She was older than me and therefore better trained.

“Oh, um, mother wants you to go ask around town to find his parents,” I said as soon as I remembered.

Michelle glanced at his dirt-smeared face and greasy hair. “He looks like an orphan to me… but I’ll see if I can’t find anyone who might know him.”

As Michelle left, I looked around the main room. We had fifty cots but it was rare that we filled all of them. Most of our patients had diseases that we didn’t want spreading so they were kept in the quarantined rooms. My mother was the only fully-trained healer working in the main room this morning and only three of the apprentices were helping her. All of the others either had the morning off or were working with the quarantined patients.

When I was certain no one was watching, I stepped close to the boy again, running my eyes over all the scrapes and bruises that covered the exposed parts of his skin. I touched a bleeding scratch on his arm, timidly.

I imagined what his skin would look like without all the cuts and bruises: pale, smooth, a few freckles but otherwise unmarked. The cut I was touching seemed to fade – not entirely, but it stopped bleeding and became a thin, white scar.

With a sharp intake of breath, I stepped back and flexed my hand at my side. Had I done that? Had I caused the boy’s scrape to heal so quickly? I stared at the place on the boy’s arm that had been bleeding only seconds before. Maybe I had imagined the blood. Maybe that was an old scar. I glanced down at the fingers of my right hand and saw a smudge of red. My body started shaking.

What do you think of Thera discovering her gift in this way? Does it make sense? Thanks for reading!

It All Started with Neopets

2010-07-08T18:43:00.001-04:00

Over the past few weeks my love for the internet has been reaffirmed. Not that it was every really waning, but recently I was reminded of what it is that makes the internet so awesome. No, it isn't cat videos, Wikipedia, or free downloads. It's the ability to connect with like-minded people and get their encouragement no matter where in the world I (or they) happen to be. I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but it has always been difficult for me to find people I can relate to IRL, but on the internet, they are just a click away!

I first discovered this phenomenon on a beloved website from my childhood, Neopets.com. I first joined this site because I thought it would be fun to have a virtual pet to care for (even though I had a dog IRL), but I stay because of the forums. Sure, in order to use them I had to lie about my age (I was 13 for AT LEAST three years), but it was my portal to people who loved Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and writing as much as I did. It is also where I started participating in text-based role-plays. They had a WHOLE FORUM dedicated to it, and when I finally figured out what it was, I was in heaven. I stopped playing on Neopets when I left middle school, but I was still role-playing on random forums around the internet up until… um… last Christmas…

Now, I know text-base role-plays seem like about the nerdiest thing a person could participate (except for maybe those live medieval role-plays that people dress up for… I REALLY want to do that someday), but I think it's through them that my writing really developed and I learned the importance of character development. And this all happened with the support, encouragement, and co-participation of people from around the word – which wouldn't have been possible without the internet.

More recently, I found myself in a rather disheartening writing-slump because I was so stressed about what I was going to do after college. Luckily I was rescued. By who, you ask? Why, a bunch of people! All of whom came from the internet. I posted a thread about my problems on the AW forums and the lovely people there helped me to gain some perspective. I started participating in #teasertuesday on twitter and a bunch of people left VERY encouraging comments and that helped as well. I browsed the search results for #amwriting (also on twitter) and found that I wasn't the only person with such problems, and that helped too.

So if you are one of those people who left comments or replied thread, THANK YOU. It really is appreciated. And if you are going through a similar writing-slump, believe me, complaining about it on the internet really helps. ;)

Currently Reading: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Another Excerpt

2010-07-05T23:42:00.000-04:00

So, I meant to post another blog between last Tuesday and today, but, I swear, this past week went by WAY too fast. I was so busy helping my mom at the shop, celebrating Independence Day, participating in #wordathon, and watching the world cup that I just lost track of time. So, I'll get right to my next excerpt for #teasertuesday. It picks up right where the last one left off.

When the screaming finally stopped, I looked back out the window. The wind shifted and all of a sudden my nostrils were filled with the smell of burning flesh. The flames had reached his torso but he was already dead, probably suffocated by the black smoke that blocked out his face. His family was huddled together– a wife and three of his daughters. He didn’t have any sons. My mother told me that his land would be given to one of his cousins. His wife and daughters would be left homeless.

I couldn’t look any longer. I closed my eyes and felt the tears start to fall down my face. I opened them a few seconds later to see that Brandon was staring at me. His green eyes had lost their hardness. “Are you alright?” His face was twisted in confusion. He had never seen me cry before, at least not since my father died, and we had fed at the same breast. My parents left me in the Keep’s nursery when my father was working for Brandon’s father, High Lord Kimball. My mother was a healer so she couldn’t always watch me. My sister was put in the nursery too, when she was born.

I nodded, trying to wipe the tears from my face. Brandon reached out and timidly placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have spoken so sharply to you. You’re only a girl af-”

I shrugged his hand away. “It has nothing to do with being a girl.” It had everything to do with being human, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “It’s just- his family. What did they do to deserve this? Without him they have nothing.” I glanced back out the window. The crowd was thinning as Aellan’s body continued to smolder. His family was still there, though, waiting to collect their father’s ashes. “I was lucky my mother had the infirmary.” I looked back at Brandon. “Or we would be just as poor as they are.”

Brandon shook his head. “My father would have taken care of you. Your father died an honorable death, protecting the High Lord. The farmer died because he sold his soul to-”

“The Father of Death, I know. Still, does that mean his family deserves to suffer for the rest of their lives?” My voice started to crack.

“Perhaps not,” Brandon said, putting his hand back on my shoulder. “But what other choice was there?”

There were hundreds of other choices. Aellan could have been fined a larger portion of his crops, he could have been imprisoned, the High Lord could have ruled that his lands go to his daughters, all of Actae and Maeldra could go back to the religion we practiced thirty years ago. In that time sorcery was seen as a gift from the gods and not an evil that had to be wiped out.

I glanced around Brandon’s room and took in the grandeur. He was only a seven-year-old boy but he had a grand four-poster bed that could sleep eight grown men. It was hung with drapes woven with fine green wool to keep him warm as he slept. I looked back out the window at Aellan’s family. They would never know such warmth. Brandon couldn’t understand what the poor went through but I witnessed it every day. At the infirmary, not a fortnight passed where at least one child didn’t die in our care from a disease he would never have been at risk for if there was some place for him to sleep that was not cold and damp.

Once the fire had completely died and Aellan’s body was nothing but ash, his eldest daughter – she looked maybe 15 – started moving toward the pyre, clay jar in hand. My mother had given them that jar.

The girl’s shaking hands and tear-stained cheeks were too much. I looked away and buried my face in my hands, trying not to sob too loudly. I felt Brandon’s arms wrap around me. “I’m so sorry I made you watch. That was bad of me. I should have known how you’d react.”

Thanks for reading!

#TeaserTuesday and Writer's Block

2010-06-29T15:57:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted anything in awhile. I've been experiencing writer's block on all fronts. That might be because I'm stressing out WAY too much about what I'm going to do after college to really focus on anything...

Anyway, I just discovered this lovely twitter hash tag called #teasertuesday. It offers the opportunity to post an excerpt from your WIP in your blog and then tweet about it. You can find more information here. I've decided that this is something I could likely participate in every Tuesday, so here is an excerpt from the beginning of my current WIP, "The Healer". You can find a brief description in the side bar.

I couldn’t see the man’s face, but I could hear his screams. The red and orange flames were growing steadily at his feet. I felt the contents of my stomach churned as the crowd around him cheered and yelled insults. His wife and daughters were closest to the pyre, throwing sticks and kindling into the flames, hoping to speed their father’s death and end his suffering. My eyes filled with tears.

“He’s such a coward,” Brandon whispered from beside me. “The flames haven’t even touched him yet and he’s wailing as if he’s already in the Underworld.” We were watching the burning from his bedchamber on the third floor of the keep. From his windows, we could see everything happening in the square below. My mother didn’t want me to watch and I wasn’t inclined to disobey her, but Brandon had insisted. “It is justice for the Father of Death’s servants to burn,” he said. “You should want to witness it being carried out.”

But I didn’t want to watch someone die. Not that I hadn’t witnessed a death before – that just came with the territory of being an apprentice healer – but those deaths had all been accidental. I couldn’t even try to save this one.

The man’s screams stopped for a few seconds. I hoped he was already dead – of fear – before feeling too much pain. However, as soon as the bottoms of his breeches caught fire, the screams started again. I looked down at my hands and saw that they were shaking. I wrung them together, trying to keep them still. I didn’t want to seem weak in front of Brandon.

“Look at his children,” I said, trying to keep the tremor from my voice. “They can’t be much older than we are.”

Brandon didn’t spare them a glance. “Good,” he said. “This will serve as an early lesson to them not to deal with sorcery. Maybe their father would have escaped the flames if his father had been burned for such evil.”
I swallowed my next words. Brandon didn’t know what it was like to lose a father. Mine died when I was four. That was only three years ago and I was already starting to forget him.

I took a deep breath. “All he did was stop his crops from dying during the drought. That doesn’t seem too evil to me.”

“All sorcery is evil, Thera,” Brandon said, still staring out the window.

I stared at my hands. I didn’t want to see how much the farmer was burning now that I could barely hear my own thoughts over the screaming. “Didn’t the monks do something similar when your grandfather first gave them land here?” I asked softly.

“Hmmm?” Brandon asked, still staring out the window.

I repeated my question and, finally, Brandon looked at me. “That was different,” he said. “That year’s harvest was a gift to us from the All-Father for accepting his servants and allowing them to live on our land.”

I didn’t see how that was any different. For all we knew, Aellan thought his power was a gift from the All-Father as well. That was his name, Aellan, but Brandon refused to speak it, as if he wasn’t good enough for a name. His youngest daughter was called Katelyn, like my sister. She fell off a horse as her family was traveling here for her father’s trial. I helped heal her broken arm. She was only four, also like my sister. My mother had agreed to keep her in the infirmary during the execution so that she wouldn’t have to watch.

So, ummmm, what did you think? Leave comments letting me know! Now to go read what other people posted!

Why I Write Fantasy

2010-06-17T22:35:00.001-04:00

I've known that I wanted to write novels since fourth grade, when I learned that someone had to sit down and actually pen those chapter books I was devouring weekly. However, I didn't know I wanted to write fantasy until middle school. That was when I first read the Lord of the Rings. I fell in love with the genre and never looked back.

That being said, I read novels that aren't fantasy all the time. I love historical fiction as well as most YA fiction. I've tried reading some adult contemporary fiction that isn't historical or fantasy and, unfortunately, they just don't do it for. The first series of books that made me want to be a writer was the Nancy Drew series, so one would think that I would grow up into a lover of mystery novels. However, this is not the case. As a more mature reader, it is much easier for me to identify the underlying pattern that is present in most mystery novels and almost all genre fiction. I was talking to my mother, who loves mysteries, and she says that she likes the formulas. That's perfectly fine with me. If there are readers out there who like formulaic writing then, by all means, people should keep using the formulas. However, formulas are not for me, as a reader or a writer.

The only genres that I feel are exempt from this formulaic feel are fantasies and historical fiction. Obviously these types of novels still follow some sort of structure when it comes to plot and character arc and such, but I never feel like I am reading the same book except with different character names in these genres. Each story feels unique and I feel like I am on a new journey of discovery with each I book pick up and each new writing project I start.

Recently, when I turned in a part of my fantasy novel for my creative writing class last semester (I got permission first), my professor wrote me a note stating that he can't stand the genre because he doesn't understand why people write it since it seems to be solely escapism, which isn't always a bad thing. And, yes, a lot of it is escapism. It my opinion, escapism is the reason the entertainment industry, in all its forms, exists at all. For the most part, when a reader picks up a book, they want to imagine that they are someone else for awhile. I know that's the main reason I became such a voracious reader. But that is certainly not all that fantasy is. It is the oldest genre in the tradition of story-telling. The oldest known stories are about monsters and people with inhuman abilities. They were the first types of stories that attempted to relay some deeper message, whether it was to teach children a lesson about life or spread some political message that would have gotten someone killed without the veil of a fantasy story. In modern times, I still think that fantasy literature is the best and most subtle way to convey a message.

Now, onto my problem with "literary" fiction… To me, it seems like the one rule in literary fiction is that it must be depressing. Whenever I read it, I get the sense that the author is trying to say something deep and profound about the human condition but half the time I don't pick up on it. The other half it comes off as preachy. This gives most literary fiction a very pretentious feel that just turns me off from it. I don't like books that make me feel stupid . What's the point of reading if you're not going to feel smart when you're doing it? That being said, I do try to convey some deeper meaning in my fantasy novels but it usually arises from the story, not the other way around.

I do like most YA fiction novels, however, no matter what other genre classifications the try to attach to themselves. The literary stuff doesn't seem quite as pretentious and the romances don't seem quite as formulaic. I don't really know why this is… maybe there is just less pressure on YA authors to brand themselves.

So… I know these are some pretty controversial views within the writing community… Whether you agree or disagree, please leave a comment so we can discuss!

A Game of Thrones review (spoiler-free)

2010-06-11T18:07:00.000-04:00

So I finally got a new computer. My old computer all of a sudden stopped displaying colors properly about a week ago, which made it very hard to see what I was writing. It was to frustrating to write a blog, but everything's perfect with this computer so hopefully I will be able to blog more. I did manage to keep working on the The Healer with my my old computer but I was just outlining. I finished it, by the way, the outline, so I should start working on the second draft soon, YAY! I gave myself I day off after I finished it and spent the whole day playing Harvest Moon. It was nice. But now... BACK TO WORK!!

Anyway, back in February or whenever it was that I decided to start this blog, I had the vision of using it as a book review type blog. Not the sort of book reviews that you would see in a newspaper or magazine but more along the lines of examining books I read to pick out the things that I can learn from each one and apply to my own writing. That way, I will train myself to read like a writer. However, when I started my blog, I was making my way through the first couple chapters of a VERY long book, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, which I didn't finish until about a month ago. As a fantasy writer, I had been meaning to read this and the subsequent books in the series since I was in high school. However, my mother didn't want me reading them until I was an adult, and rightfully so since the books contain some very mature themes. Not that I didn't read books that were much worse while I was in high school (The Black Jewels Trilogy, anyone?), but my mother didn't find out that I had picked them from her bookshelf until it was too late. So, in the end, I didn't start reading the books by the current king of epic fantasy until last January.

The first thing I will say about A Game of Thrones is that George R. R. Martin certainly has earned that title. Since The Lord of the Rings, I don't think I have ever read a fantasy novel set in a made up world that is so detailed and different from our own and yet so similar and real. The amount of creative energy and research (yes, creating believable fantasy settings does require research) that must have gone into creating the world of the Seven Kingdoms and the Dothraki is mind-blowing. I can only hope that one day I will be able to create a world that vivid and detailed.

Another unbelievably detailed aspect of A Game of Thrones is the plot. There is just SO much going on in this book that it's hard to keep up with it all. Martin handles his many points of views masterfully. The MANY pieces of the plot and the mysteries come together slowly in a way that gives the reader a chance to guess what is going on before the characters do. This makes the book a very rewarding read.

The excruciating detail that had to go into the plot and setting of A Game of Thrones was very daunting. I couldn't help but think, "Why am I even trying to write in this genre? There's no WAY I'll ever be able to come up with plots as complicated as this or settings this vivid." I still feel that way quite a bit, and even more so now that I'm half way through the second book in the series, but I have decided to press on anyway. I don't think I will ever write anything like what George R. R. Martin has written, but after some thought, I realize that I don't really want to. My characters are more character-based than plot-based, though I do like creating detailed fantasy worlds.

There was something lacking for me in A Game of Thrones that is always present in books I love. That something is a connection to a character. Within a A Game of Thrones, there seems to be hundreds of characters, and nine of those get their own POV chapters. Despite this unlimited choice, I didn't fall in love with ANY of Martin's characters. There are many reasons for this. The most obvious is that not enough time was spent on any one character. Every time I started to feel a twinge of fondness for one, the chapter would end and I would not get another glimpse of her for another hundred pages. Unfortunately, that is the risk when you try to write from so many different points of view. Another reason is that a lot of characters seemed very... cookie-cutter. Arya was the stereotypical tomboy, Sansa the girly-girl, Eddard the honor-always-comes-first nobleman*. I've seen all of these characters before so for most of the book they bored me (Note: the CHARACTERS bored me, not the plot). The only POVs I found remotely interesting were Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen. However, I never grew to care much about them just because I didn't get enough uninterrupted time with them. That being said, I do like them, and they are the main reason I picked up the second book.

So, those are my thoughts on A Game of Thrones. If you've read it and have something to add or disagree with something I've said, please leave a comment!

*Now that I'm half-way into the second book, a few of these characters have started to break their molds a bit, which makes them much more interesting. I'm even starting to fall in love with a few. (Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, and Tyrion, mainly)

Graduating

2010-05-29T02:59:00.000-04:00

So it's that time of year when many people are starting the next stage of their lives. Thankfully, this year, I am not one of those people. But I will be next year and that terrifies me. I am not at all ready for college to be over. Maybe I will be by this time next year but I don't foresee that happening. I JUST changed majors at the beginning of this past semester and now that I am finally studying something I really love, I don't want to stop. Since I'll really have to cram my schedule with English classes between now and next May in order to graduate on time I might be sick of it by graduation but we'll see.

Also, I'm scared. I mean, literally terrified. I have never had a REAL job in my life. I've tutored a bit but I think the most I ever made from that was about $50 in a week, so... yea... not exactly long hours. Plus it was just kind of handed to me. I didn't really have to apply for it or anything like that. Granted, I have applied for a LOT of jobs. So far this summer I have probably turned it about twenty applications. Have I heard back about any of them? Nope. That is what scares me. Not the prospect of working but the chance that I may not even be able to find a job in the first place. I am so awkward and shy and honest (in a bad way) that I think it would take a very special person to want to hire me based only on a first impression. I know I'd be a good employee once I secured a job and I can teach myself almost anything. I'm perfectly willing to work for my mother for FREE, after all.

The other day my dad and I went out to dinner and he told me that the company he works for hires editors and writers and such so he might be able to give me a leg-up, which would be nice. Still, I'm scared and probably will be until some sort of money-making opportunity presents itself to me. Let's face it, I won't be able to survive in today's society unless I can find a way to get the green. You know what I need to do? I need to stop by career services when I return to school in the fall. Yea... maybe that'll help.

By the way, I recently had an idea for a new project. I don't quite know what it's going to be yet. It might be another series of novels (I have lots of ideas for those) but I'm thinking more along the lines of a series of short stories or maybe screenplays? Hmm... I don't know. Might make a separate blog for it if I decide to go the short story route.

Still reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It's fun.

FINALLY!

2010-05-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

So I haven't updated this blog in awhile but I SWEAR there's a really good reason for that... okay, maybe there isn't but there was back before May 5 when I was finishing up the semester. But I guess since I've been on summer break I don't have much of an excuse. I haven't really done much with my summer break as of yet. I've been trying to find a job but so far that endeavor has been unsuccessful. A manager at Chuck E. Cheese's promised to call me and schedule an interview on Monday, though, so YAY! KIDS! (That isn't sarcasm, I really do love working with kids)

So, yea, I don't really have much of an excuse for not updating this blog except that I've recently discovered DOCTOR WHO!! I have come to hold the opinion that this is BY FAR the best show ever created and the fact that it has been around since 1963 has restored my faith in humanity. Of course, once I discovered it, I couldn't do anything else with my free time until I had made it through all four of the new series. I will eventually make my way through the classic Who episodes as well but I don't think those will inspire me to spend all day just watching episode after episode like the newer ones did...

This week I have had a moderately better excuse for not updating. Since I have not yet managed to acquire a summer job, my mother decided to wake me up at the kill-me-now hour of 9:30 (I'd gotten in the habit of staying up until 4) and drag me to her shop to help out there. The only thing I have to complain about is the waking up part (I am NOT a morning person). Other than that, it was quite fun. My mother owns a paint on pottery shop and it's actually quite fun to pour molds, clean green-ware, and see what customers are painting. Plus, it gives me the rare feeling that I'm being a good daughter. I think I may continue to help her out even if I do manage to get a job, despite the early hours.

So... I do have some future blogs planned. I'm thinking I'll try to update on a regular schedule throughout the summer... Maybe every Saturday and Wednesday? I also plan on participating in BEDA in August, even though I will be on a cruise for four days of that month and will be starting fall semester... but I will TRY...

I've also been working on editing my novel, which is actually going quite well, despite all the distractions.

Currently reading: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Happiest I've Ever Been

2010-04-30T05:24:00.000-04:00

Here I am, five in the morning. I've just finished a portfolio for one of my classes. I have a little over forty-eight hours before I get my World Lit take home exam and right after that I have my editing essentials and English lit exams. And yet, right now, I feel happier than I have ever been.

Why, do you ask? Well, last night, I managed to do something that I have been wanting to do since... um... middle school. I finished the first draft of a NOVEL. It's not a particularly long novel but it is definitely a novel. I cannot put into words the joy I have felt since I typed the last word and how much that joy multiplied when I printed the whole thing out and held it in my hands. It was such a surreal feeling.

Now, this novel is nowhere NEAR finished. I know that as soon as I get to work on editing it (which I don't plan to do for at least two weeks) the first thing I will think is, "Damn, this is awful. Why do I even bother?" But then I will remember how great I felt writing it and how much I wanted to shout from the roof tops when I finished that draft. I can only imagine how I will feel when I manage to edit it so much that I feel comfortable calling it a FINAL draft. Though, that may never happen.

I think the reason why I am so happy is that I have proven to myself that I can do it. Now I know that if I never get published, it isn't because I lack the self-discipline to finish a novel. Writing over 50,000 words when it's not for a grade or for work takes a LOT of self-discipline. Also, this happiness is completely self-inflected and I know the possibility of me feeling this way again is entirely under my control. Every other time in my life when I have felt joy it was mainly because of other people but this is all because of ME and that feels awesome.

Anyway, this is me shouting from the rooftops.

Draft 1 word count: 58,063
Title: The Healer
Currently Reading: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

DRAGONS!!

2010-04-20T19:33:00.000-04:00

So I went to see How to Train Your Dragon last Saturday and I am DEFINITELY going to buy it when it comes out on DVD. I'd heard it was good and because of all the hype I went into it thinking I was going to end up disappointed because I usually am when there is a lot of positive hype about a movie. I was NOT disappointed.

I have absolutely noting bad to say about this movie. It looked great and had a great story. I loved the dragons and how they were kind of modeled off of enemies in a video game. Some of them were adorable, some of them were goofy-looking, and some of them were just a little bit scary. Toothless, the main dragon, was a little bit of all three. All of the main characters were likeable and were well-developed.

"How to Train Your Dragon" definitely gets 5/5 stars.

In other news, I hit the 50,000 word mark last night!! That means my story is now officially novel-length!! And I'm only about sixty pages away from finishing A Game of Thrones. That means I'll finally be able to read something new!! I think I'm going to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson next. That she be a bit easier to get through... I'm worried about not being able to reach my 100 books this year goal.

Rough Draft word count: 50,630
Currently Reading: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The Importance of Literature

2010-04-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

Last night I was having trouble falling asleep so I decided to give up on it for a while and write down what was on my mind. This was the result:

Okay, so I started thinking about this because I've spent the past few hours applying for summer jobs. I started getting worried because, in all honesty, I held the belief that my love of reading and writing storied could not possibly help me get a real world job. If anything it would hinder me since my mind is always drifting off to imaginary worlds. When I am in the middle of reading or writing a story (which is always), I have a very short attention span.

But, now that I am done filling out applications for the night and have decided to go to bed, I have been thinking about the purpose of literature and the affect my long-term immersion in it has had on my way of thinking. I have come to the conclusion that the positive affect literature has had on my perspective far out-weighs any of the negatives that my tendency to day-dream could cause. Also, I now firmly believe that literature is, and has been for quite awhile, one of the most important parts of human society.

Why is literature so important? Well, think about it foe a second. What does any good novel, short story, essay, memoir, or poem force you to do? It forces you to see though the eyes and step into the shoes of another individual. Whether that individual is real or fictional depends on the genre. I think it is my non-stop reading of novels since the age of seven that has given me the world view that, in a way, everyone is right. I find that I never completely disagree with anybody, though I rarely completely agree with them either. I can see how a person could come to believe just about anything and can justify just about any point of view. I think my experience with literature is also responsible for my frustration with people who believe their way is the only way.

I certainly don't feel like I am the only person who literature has had this affect on. In my experience, people who read a lot tend to be more open-minded than those who don't. I could draw a comparison between my mother and my father right now but I will refrain.

Writing fiction has taken this experience to a whole new level. Instead of passively reading about characters who have vastly different points of view than me, I now find myself actively creating such people in my mind. I always take great pains to make sure none of my characters are exactly like me. I have to be able to justify everybody's action - even the villain's. I think that this experience has enabled me to never believe the worst in people. No matter how awful or stupid a person's actions may seem to me, I always find myself thinking, "What could justify this in their mind?" I have yet to be at a loss for an answer.

Therefore, I feel like heavy readers of literature and creative writers could make great employees. Sure, we day-dream a lot but that is because we are constantly imagining what it would be like to be someone else. This makes us great conflict resolvers and peace keepers.

A Change in Mindset

2010-04-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

So, for my Major English Writings 1 class we had to write an essay describing how we would like the world to change by the time we are fifty. This assignment was given while we were reading Thomas Moore's Utopia so it was a relevant assignment. It's called "A Change in Mindset" and here it is:

There are many situations present in the world and, more specifically, the United States that frustrate me. Our political system wastes a lot of money and polarizes our country. Despite our ideal of the separation of church and state, the religions of our politicians still have a lot to do with the laws that get passed. Modern society is too caught up with money and the production of things that for the most part are not at all necessary for human survival. The root of all of these is the tendency for people to believe that their religion or political party is infallible and that anyone who does not completely agree with them is either evil or stupid. For anything in this country or the world to change, people’s mindsets are going to have change first as opposed to forcing change on people.

In thirty years I would like to see the United States’ political system go through many dramatic changes. It should head back in the direction that our founding fathers envisioned for us. Political parties need to be done away with, if not completely, then at least as a mechanism by which our leaders are elected. In the current system, a person has to agree almost entirely with the views of one of our two major political parties in order to even be in the running for the presidency. Chances are slim for moderates and those from smaller political parties to be elected to congress as well. Instead of having primaries in which only members of one political party can vote, we should have one big primary for everyone who wants to run in which everyone can vote. Then, the two with the most votes will run against each other for the presidency. This method could be used for every public office. It would also be beneficial to the country to get rid of campaigning. That way a candidate’s chance at winning would not depend on the amount of money their campaign can raise. Every candidate should be able to write an essay detailing what they would like to accomplish if elected as well as their qualifications and post it on the internet. The usual debates and a few question and answer sessions would be held, but that would be it. There would be no advertisements, no bumper stickers or pins, and no political rallies. I think this system would greatly reduce the number of negative comments made between opposing political candidates and decrease the amount of polarization of the whole country that today’s elections cause. This would also decrease the amount of money that goes into elections so that it could go toward things that would do more good for the country such as education and health care. Elections need to be more about choosing the best person for the job instead of who the “cool” candidate is or who can raise the most money for their campaign.

Also, the United States needs to live up to its ideal of separation of church and state. In order for laws to be passed there needs to be some rationale for them that does not involve the bible or the beliefs of any particular religion. When it comes to issues such as gay marriage, the only significant argument against it is a religious one. In reality, if gay marriage were legalized throughout the United States the only people it would affect would be homosexual couples, and it would affect them in a positive way. Other issues involve primarily religious debates, but that seems to be the most obvious. However, in order for such changes to be made, the mindset most Americans have toward religion needs to change. People should not look at their religion as the “one true religion,” and they should not want to force their ideas concerning morality and the afterlife on others. If everyone could just look at religion as all of us worshipping the same deity but in different ways, this world would be a lot more peaceful and there would be a lot fewer ridiculous debates that divide our country.

The modern preoccupation with money causes many of the evils present in a today’s world. It is enough to make one think that the Utopians’ abolishing of money would be a good idea. After all, its only real purpose is to facilitate trade. However, such a facilitator is necessary in the global society that we live in now. It is a lot easier to send money overseas in exchange for goods than it is the ship physical goods in both directions. Despite this necessity, I would like to see society less caught up in vain riches within the next thirty years. Does it really matter what brand of clothing or handbag you have? I believe that once people are less preoccupied with money, a more relaxed society will emerge. There will be less of an inclination for people to sell forty hours of their week to someone else, and instead they will be able to do things that are more fulfilling to them personally. In modern society, too many people are forced to spend the vast majority of their time in a job they hate to get someone else rich.

Specifically to the United States, I would like to see huge changes in the way the political system works. On a global scale, I would like to see a huge change in the way people conceptualize religion and money. It may be unrealistic to expect that such huge changes would take place in only thirty years, but I hope that at least my grandchildren will live to see such a place. What is most important is that people’s mindsets change as opposed to forced changes in policy.

Date Night and Clash of the Titans

2010-04-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

So I am currently sitting in the library trying to write a 300 word paper... yea, 300 words, shouldn't take long, right? Yea, I know, and it's on pretty much any topic I want so why am I procrastinating it? I don't know... it seems like the easier and shorter the assignment the more likely I am to put it off for unreasonable amounts of time... yea, I know, stupid.

Anyway, so I as a way to procrastinate writing that paper, I have decided to write this blog, which will be about the two movies I saw this past week: Date Night and Clash of the Titans.

I saw Clash of the Titans Monday night and unless you REALLY love special effects and don't really care about plot, dialogue, character development, or acting ability, I would not recommend you go see this. Obviously, being a novelist and a lover of theater (watching it, not participating), I care quite a lot about those things so I HATED this movie. Despite the relentless action sequences and the beautiful scenery, I was quite bored throughout the entire thing. I found myself nodding off more than once. The main reasons for this boredom were probably a lack of followable plot and character likability. Not that the characters were unlikable or anything like that it's just that the plot did not develop in a way to make me care for them, which is important if I'm going to develop an interest in any story, no matter what the format. Also, the only decent actor was Liam Neeson and he just did not have enough screen time.

My over-all feeling coming out of this movie was anger because I feel like movies like this are trying to make good writers and actors obsolete just because we now have good special effects. So, I give this move one out of five stars.

I saw Date Night Friday night and I found this movie significantly more enjoyable than Clash of the Titans. Sure the premise and over-all plot was nothing special but how can you beat a Steve Carell/Tina Fey collaboration? You really can't. I don't think I could ever get sick of seeing them together so I feel like they need to do a movie together at least every two years. They had great chemistry as a boring married couple and, of course, kept me laughing throughout the entire film. If you go, be sure to stay for the gag reel. Steve Carells and Tina Fey's natural sense of humor is unmissable.

Over-all feeling coming out of the theater: I want to see them together again! Star rating: 3/5

Rough Draft word count: 45,508
Currently Reading: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (I'm down to about 100 pages)
Movie I'm Probably going to see next: The Runaways

Reading List

2010-03-29T19:46:00.000-04:00

Yay for blogging in class!*
So, the main reason I wanted to start a blog was so I would have a place to record what I think about all the books I read and all the movies I see. I hope that this blog will become mainly a review blog and thoughts on writing blog and less of a bunch of random ramblings...
So, here is a tentative list of all the books that I plan on reading and the order in which I plan on reading them so it should also be the order in which I review them... maybe... I left out all the non-fiction books I plan on reading but I might review those as well.

A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Reread of all seven Harry Potter books

A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Mansfield Park Jane Austen

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin

The Magician by Michael Scott

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Other books I want to read:

Paper Towns by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Wideacre (trilogy) by Philippa Gregory

Reread The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks

The Sword of Truth (11 book series) by Terry Goodkind

Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett

Word count: 43,768

Books read so far this year: 11

*It's a three hour class... my attention span just doesn't last that long :(

Health Care

2010-03-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, so, I am quite possibly the biggest procrastinator in the world... which is the main reason I have not posted a on this here bloggity since, well... my first post... which was... I don't even know how long ago. All I even remember about my last post was that it was about why I write. This was something I was really eager to share with the world (or at least anyone who might accidentally stumble upon my blog). Anyway, I haven't had anything else that I've wanted to get off my chest for a while.... well, I do, but that's not anything I'm quite ready to post on the interwebs...

So, now that I've finally stopped procrastinating and am writing my second blog post, what should it be about? Hm... How about... health care!

As I am sure most people are aware, the USA government recently passed the health care bill that has been under debate for quite awhile. Now, I learned all I know about how a bill becomes a law from School House Rock so I am no expert on the whole process. Also, I only have a very vague idea of what the bill actually says but I do have an opinion on the general issue of universalized health care.

Obviously I am not completely against it because I want to become a British citizen someday and they have universal health care there. However, I have always been wary of bringing such a thing to the United States. My main reason for being wary is that the USA is a LOT bigger than the UK and a LOT more spread out. I think we have around six times the population and 50 times the land mass of that tiny little island. So obviously, any health care bill we passed would have to be on a much grander scale than what is in place in England or any other country in Europe and it would cost a LOT more money. I am all for individual states offering universalized health care to their citizens. Honestly, I think most things like that should be left to the states to decide. I think it is widely accepted that things are much more manageable on a smaller scale. Another reason I am wary of this PARTICULAR bill is the fact that it is thousands of pages long or something like that. Seriously? Who is going to read that? I have a hard time believing that all those who voted on it read past the first two hundred pages or so and there's no way all of our citizens are going to be able to read it. I just don't get why it has to be so long. I have NEVER read anything that long and never plan to.

All that being said, now that the bill has been passed and signed into law, I think it is time for republicans to stop attacking it and for democrats to stop attacking republicans for attacking it. We might as well give it a chance now that it is an official US law, shouldn't we? If it does work without bankrupting the country wouldn't that be great whether you were for or against it? And if it doesn't work we'll be able to get rid of it once that becomes apparent. There's really nothing to gain by being pessimistic about it so let's just accept it a see how it goes!

Word count: 43, 587
Reading for fun: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (still)
What's going on tonight: Earth Hour!

Why I Write

2010-02-25T22:20:00.001-05:00

Alright. Here we go. First blog post.

First of all I'd like to comment on my blog name. Irissel has been my internet name since I was first on neopets which was when I was like... nine... or something like that. So, if you've met someone name Irissel on the internet before, especially if it was on a role-play or Harry Potter forum, then it was probably me. So HI! Glad you found me. Sorry for going inactive or losing touch or anything like that but I had to actually concentrate on writing novels and stuff... by stuff I mean papers and short stories for college... because I'm an English major now. As for inklings... Well, it's a play on the word ink since I primarily think of myself as a writer... and it's sort of a tribute to J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis who are two of my personal heroes since they pretty much created the modern fantasy genre. If you didn't already know, they were members of an Oxford literary group that called themselves the Inklings. As for the actual definition of inkling as found on dictionary.com:
1. a slight suggestion or indication; hint; intimation
2. vague idea or notion; slight understanding
Yea, that kind of fits this blog too.

Okay, now on to the actual title of this particular post: Why I Write. I often feel like I have to justify spending so much time writing a novel that, most likely, no one besides my close friends and family will ever read. I know that my dad probably sees it as a complete waste of time and he will probably want me to get a "real" job even if I write a best seller. He calls it a "hobby" and this is somewhat true but I am a firm believer that what you do for most of your waking hours should be something you enjoy. You shouldn't spend eight hours a day doing something that is absolutely meaningless to you. I don't even know how people can bear to do that because I certainly can't. That being said, although writing fiction is something I enjoy I wouldn't call it a "hobby". I have lots of hobbies and none of them take nearly as much thought, time, or planning as writing a novel does, and none of them take as much out of me emotionally. My hobbies are things I do to entertain myself or keep me from getting bored, such as reading, watching television, watching youtube videos, crocheting, cross stitching, or going to the movies but certainly not writing.

In short, I write because I have to. I spend the vast majority of my time thinking of my novels and coming up with new scenes. Before I was actively writing novels, I would think about the books I was reading or the characters in television shows and what could possibly happen to them next. I have a hard time paying attention in class because of my constant preoccupation with my own imagination. If I don't end up writing all of this stuff that I am thinking of down then I will continue to think of this stuff obsessively in a desperate attempt not to forget any of it. As it is, my mind is keeping me up at night and causing me to drift off in classes. This past Monday I experimented with taking my computer class and working on my novel. I found that I was able to pay a lot better attention this way because I was able to control the drifting of my mind. It is a lot easier for me to split my attention when I am able to write down both what I am supposed to be learning and the creative things running through my head... Apparently that is just the way I work.

Also, about a week ago I was unable to work on my novel for about five days. Not working on my novel threw me completely off my schedule . I was procrastinating everything and waking up late and missed all of my classes at least once. Yea, it wasn't a good week. Granted, the reason I didn't have time to work on my novel was because I had to write a short story for my creative writing class.The short story I was writing was historical fiction so it required a lot of research which required a lot of time. I'm actually still working on it so I don't get to work on my novel as much as I'd like but at least I'm working on it regularly. However, my schedule still hasn't gone back to what I'd like it to be. I find this interesting because it's not just any writing that I have to do to stay sane it's working on my novels. I can't really explain why this is except to say that novel-length fiction is what I love to read so it makes sense that it is what I love to write as well.

Well, I guess that will be it for my first post on this blog. I'll end with a quote by C. S. Lewis that pretty much sums up why I love to read:
"Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilage, of individuality. There are mass emotions which heal the wound; but they destroy the privilege. In them, our separate selves are pooled and we sink back into sub-individuality. But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like a night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do." - C. S. Lewis

Words typed up for current novel: 30,244
Books read so far this year: 6
What I am currently reading (for fun): A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
What I'm watching: The Olympics