Hello again!

Wow, I've been gone waaaay too long! I've got some plans for some more stuff so bare with me and keep an eye out!

Obsess much?

The thing you have to realize about me, is that I have a habit of obsessing over anything I'm interested in at the moment. When I was younger, it was Barbies. I made clothes out of stray socks, houses out of boxes and furniture out of pretty much anything. In my teens, it was the internet and Kisekae. (It was just like Barbies!!) Then I moved on to the television show Charmed (there might still be a lingering spark) during my senior year in high school. Then there was House M.D. both of which I would read an obscene amount of fanfic. Don't judge. If you're reading this, you've been there too. Stemming from that fanfic, I found Skoosiepants and her amazing "Dirty Trousers" HP fanfic, which grew to bandfic and how I found Panic! At the Disco and Fallout Boy and The Academy Is...

I could go on and on...my point is that, except for the Barbies, it has always come back to reading. After the fanfic stage, it got pretty expensive. Four weeks ago, I got a library card. It's my favorite thing right now; I'm obsessed. I've already checked out and read seven books in the past three weeks and I just got eleven more today. Now that I have some free time, I think it's going to get out of control. But at least it's a healthy obsession, right?

...Right??

Sunday Faves

As of right now, I will not buy another book on writing for at least a year. I already have twenty on my desk, not counting the one I'm reading (for the past two months) and probably have a couple more floating around here somewhere. This will work...I hope. Since I've read a fare bit of them, here are three(or four) of my favorites:

• Page after Page by Heather Sellers- These are very motivating and she provides a different way of viewing the writing life, like viewing writing as a Lover and treating it like you were enamored and showering it with affection.


• Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale- This woman has a hell of a way with words and is pretty funny. It focuses more on grammar and using words effectively to make compelling sentences.


• What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel, PhD and Anna Maisel- This book is just plain fun! I use it mainly to figure out more in-depth things about my characters. Basically, it's a set of quizzes involving situations, events and even moral crises with each answer providing insight from a psychological point-of-view. There's also loads of other interesting things at the end of the quiz.

Waaaay past my bedtime...

Lately, I've been sleeping horribly so I've been hittin' the sack around 1am or so. This leaves me lots of time, that I don't use. Let me rephrase that: that I don't use constructively. I normally play WoW to put me to sleep but before that (and sometimes after!), I usually check up on some author's blogs. My favorite is Brigid Kemmerer's. If you haven't heard of her, you will! Her debut novel, Elemental, is coming out in Spring 2012. It's a while away, but I'll be reminding everyone I know to check it out!
Anyway, what I really love about her blog is her advice and insight.
For instance:

"Just like in any kind of story, I needed to keep character motivation at the forefront of my mind. I need to keep character at the forefront of my mind. The plot needs to keep moving. I write every scene with a goal of maintaining conflict on every page. Conflict adds tension, and tension keeps the pages turning. I read my friend's edit letter, and the editor had a fantastic insight: every scene should add a minor turn to the plot. If it doesn't, it's unnecessary."

- The hell with research. Just make it up., March 8, 2011

See what I mean? What she said makes perfect sense. She also posts little tidbits of her writing, which is really good and right up my alley! Both are what keeps me coming back for more!

In which the blogger tries to be coherent, but is not

I've been holding off on posting the review for Angelfire for about a week. Not because I didn't have time. Not because I hated it, quite the opposite really! I held off, mainly, because I really want to be coherent and not squee through the entire thing.

Let me start by saying that I've been waiting for this book to come out for awhile. I'm not quite sure when or how I heard about it, but the premise is just so intriguing! And quite refreshing after so many vamps and ghouls, unicorns and Fae! That being said, it took me until the teacher dying to really get into it. After that, I devoured it!
* The thing I really, REALLY love about Courtney Allison Moulton is that she is amazing at writing action scenes! I could picture exactly what was happening. The pacing felt natural.

*I loveloveLOVE the relationship that is Ellie/Will! It's not overly simpering and it feels real. Ms. Moulton has a great feel for the teenage voice!

*A white Audi named Marshmallow? Uh...yes, please!!

*I really wish the mini-storyline with Ellie's dad could have been more fleshed out. It felt like he popped in, got angry and yelled, then left. There was a brief sentence or two about when he started, but that's about it. My theory is that he's been kidnapped/killed and replaced with a vir (a powerful shape-shifting demon). At close to 500 pages, I can see why some things might have to have been cut. I hope we get more elaboration in the next book.

Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about this book. In fact, after I finished it, I couldn't pick up another book for a couple of days! All in all, I will recommend this book to everyone I know! I have a feeling it will be on bestselling list soon!

Frustrations

It's funny, how during the day when you're at work you can be so amped to go home and write and all throughout the day you're super-pumped to get started. Then you get in your car and all of these sweet, sweet nuggets of ideas and plots and characters and actual paragraphs pop into your head. But you can't write them down! 'Cause you're driving! And you get home, you say hi to the dog, race to the bathroom (hey! it was a long drive!), grab your beverage of choice, then finally sit down at your desk to gather all the pearls of awesome into one giant masterpiece. Aaaaand you face a blank page (or screen) and sit there for hours slack-jawed and unmoving. Everything is gone when faced with the soul-sucking whiteness that is an empty page. It's funny... and very very frustrating.



This happened to me. I did, however, manage to salvage this little tidbit from a whole day's worth of brainstorming. Here it is:

Clementine Mitchell's hair was the bane of her existance. The sable no-nonsense curls took no nonsense from her and did as it pleased. Including letting the light breeze pull it in front of her eyes, effectively blocking her view of a man racing toward her through the parking lot in a dark SUV.

Well, it didn't take me long to drop my resolutions, did it? Honestly, I'm not too worried and I'm not beating myself up about it. I knew it would happen and all I can do is keep on keepin' on, right? So, I've decided to get back on track by posting a little tidbit of writing. I'll post a couple of short reviews from some books I've read next post.

In 2005-ish, I had this idea about three Warriors of some Goddesses that are created to save the world, blah blah blah. It's been done, I know, but this was written more for character than plot. The characters are going through their own various emotions but the primary one they share is guilt. This is about the first, Merusia.

All Merusia wanted in life was love and all men saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of her. Merusia was sweet, giving, and beautiful, but naïve. Her heart had been broken and discarded many times before, but this was the last time; her heart could take no more. Sadness sang a slow lament through her mind and anger burned in her heart. Merusia walked down the sandy bank, along the beach and into the sea. A fierce wind whipped her long black hair against her blank, pale face and a massive, angry storm started to form on the horizon. Holding her arms towards the darkening sky, she sang her spell to the growing storm.

“Goddess Koro, Earth-mother Han’na; save me from a broken life.
I give my body, I give my life; save me from my heart’s strife.
Abused by love, Koro, I appeal to thee; I give my life freely to the sea.
My body, my soul, my mind, my heart; all for eternity.”

As Merusia sang, a thin wall of water formed around her. The last verse rang for the third time through the atmosphere and the faint silhouette of Merusia’s body dissolved into the sea. Everything was quiet. The storm grew intense, the sky darkened, and the sea heaved. Swirling masses of black clouds twisted down, gathering up the tortured sea and advanced toward the small island. Then the wind came, shrieking and shredding the foliage of the island as Merusia’s song heralded her wrath. The storm lasted throughout the night, as Merusia enacted her revenge.

The morning came bright and sunny and beautiful. All that was left of the island was a bare, rough rock. Merusia lay exhausted across the rock, naked and grief-stricken. The horror of the night before was forever etched in her heart and her memory. She sat up and sobbed, tears burning her flesh. “What have I done?” she whispered over and over. Finally spent, she looked around her.

As she looked across the ocean, a salty breeze whispered around her and pulled her hair gently to turn her head around. The goddess Koro rose out of the sea. She had hair like a waterfall, constantly flowing off her head. Little fish swam through the currents of her locks and made it seem alive. Her round full face was young and playful, her eyes kind yet ancient. Her expression now was remorseful and wise. She looked down on Merusia. “You know, now, that revenge is not the answer,” her voice trickled like a quiet stream.

Merusia nodded and her quiet voice answered, “Then why did you help me?”

The goddess Koro sighed and lifted her gaze to the sky. She glided over the water to Merusia and sat next to her, her form becoming almost human. Koro was silent for a moment then, “Even I must follow Fate's course.” Her gaze came down to her hands as they stroked the head of an otter that appeared in her lap. It gave a barking laugh as it disappeared back to where it came from. “My sisters and I are quite close. We hold a counsel every season. We discuss plans; settle problems, sometimes we just catch up on the gossip.” She laughed a little at that. Koro looked across the sea and the sea grew a little choppier. “Our last counsel was three weeks ago. A young seer had called on Han’na. It was not good. Trouble is brewing, something is growing and it doesn’t look good for us.” Koro turned to Merusia. “We need warriors. You are the first of three.”