Typeset World

You Can't Just Get an Apartment

2012-01-29T22:19:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, in a few short weeks I will be moving from Chicago to St. Louis. This is mine and Casye's very first apartment and we're very excited to start on this new journey together. When I told my friends, their responses were almost always "I am so jealous." Many of my friends have since decided to either move out or start considering moving out in the near future. To those friends, I say: you can't just get an apartment, and certainly not a first apartment.

When you say "You're paying $360 a month for rent? I can totally afford that on my meager salary! I should move out!" I feel like you don't understand just how expensive a first apartment is. I want you to think about all the things you use every single day at home. Your bed, blankets, pillows. Your toothbrush and toothpaste. Your clothes, your dresser. Your food, your table, your chairs, etc. Now think about paying for all of those at the same time. On top of your first month's rent. This is your first apartment and I don't care how messy your room is, you do not have all the things you need yet. Your first apartment may be small and you won't need everything at first, but I don't feel like you understand just how many things you need. Now, in my situation, I was lucky because Casye and I have both been buying things and other people have been giving us things as well. That really helps. But even so, I've already spent some $620. And I'm not done yet. And these are just the things I feel like I need when I first move in, there are other things I'm going to get further down the road.

And don't forget, you'll also be paying for utilities. When re-watching an episode of Parks and Recreation today, Andy was talking about his newly acquired house and saying things like "you can use all the free electricity you want." Sometimes when I talk to my friends, I feel like they're saying the same things as Andy. You may not have had to pay for electricity before when you lived with your parents or when you lived in a dorm at school*, but you'll have to pay for it now. And water. And gas. I'm sorry, you wanted air conditioning in the summer? You have to pay for it. You may even have to pay for garbage. And get this, you have to pay for sewage, too. Yeah, you literally have to pay to use the bathroom in your own place. That shit ain't free.

You'll also have to pay for food. No more going to the fridge and grabbing whatever you want and no more texting mom to pick up some more ice cream bars. You probably don't realize how much you eat or how much it will cost you. When I first had this discussion, some of you thought you could eat on less than $100 a month. Please excuse me while I laugh at you, this will only take a moment. One really good resource I've found is the USDA's website, which calculates average costs for groceries, depending on your food style and how many people are in the household. And the thing is, for the first month, you'll have to buy a whole lot of stock items to start off your kitchen, like flour, sugar, and hot chocolate mix. There are things you are going to want on hand at all times, and then you buy your groceries on top of that.

If you really, truly want to get out on your own and move into your first apartment, I implore you to first create a cost analysis and projected budget. You need to know how much your rent & utilities are, how much you spend on groceries, and how much you spend on your other expenses, such as your cell phone, cable, internet, and very likely your student loans. Add all those together and subtract it from how much you make every month. Then you need to look at your savings and figure out if you have enough money to pay for all the things you'll need just to start, like plates and furniture. Once you've done all that, you can decide when you are financially capable of moving out. (Physically & mentally able are two entirely different matters, though)

Once you've taken all this into account, then you can start really looking at places. If you need any help, let me know.

*side note: stop telling me how dorm living is exactly the same as apartment living. It's not.

2011-12-27T18:26:00.000-06:00

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Was there possibly any better book for me to read over the Christmas holidays? No, I think not.

I loved this book. It was a beautiful love story in that it didn't feel like a big love story, the kind where you know from the beginning that the characters will be forced together, even if you don't particularly think they belong together. This one felt real, innocent, lovely. It was a story where I sometimes wanted them together, sometimes thought it would be okay if they didn't, but loved the final outcome. I also loved Dash. I mean, really, really loved Dash. I think he's the boy in my head. But maybe that's just because he's one of David's.

I start Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List tonight.

View all my goodreads reviews

Carpal Tunnel Coping Tips

2011-08-22T00:19:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I suffer from chronic CTS and that I'm hoping to have surgery before the end of the year. Some of my friends, however, also suffer, though (thankfully) not to the same extent. Still, just because they can't get surgery, doesn't mean they don't suffer. So I promised to compile a list of tips for you, some are obvious and often repeated, some aren't often included on carpal tunnel pamphlets.

The obvious: avoid activities that exacerbate the symptoms.
If you can't avoid something (e.g. it's part of your job), try to find a different way of doing it. Maybe hold the controller a different way, or use your other hand as often as possible.
Keep your wrist straight when typing. Adjust your keyboard. Use a wrist pillow. Keep your wrists up, like they taught you in school. Basically, keep your hand level with your arm. When you bend your wrist, it cuts off the tunnel more, hence the pain after hours of typing.
If your hand/wrist/arm/elbow hurts, raise it to heart level or above.
Ice, rather than heat. 30 mins
Aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs. Whatever will reduce the swelling. Use these in moderation, of course.
Massage the nerve running round your elbow.
Stretch your muscles, but slowly, as if you're doing yoga.
Avoid sharp, staccato movements.
Avoid the salty foods. They cause you to retain water, bloat, and constrain the pathway through your wrist.
Don't hold up books. Rather, place them on the tabletop and hold the pages down.
If you can carry things by balancing them on your palm, rather than gripping them, do it. This is especially important when you've reached the same point as me, as dropping becomes a major concern.
Take a warm shower.
Use a splint or brace when it's especially painful. Using one at night is also quite beneficial.

Why Rose Tyler is a Fantastic Companion

2011-06-17T01:13:00.000-05:00

First, we have the Doctor, who has come up with yet another brilliant plan that could save the world…but he hesitates. A war-torn timelord who has lost everything and has become a loner, a survivor, has found something to hold on to. He hesitates, because even with the entire world at stake, he just wants to save this one person, this one girl. And more than that, he tells her. He could have saved the world, or he could have saved Rose and everyone would have gone along with his plan, but instead he chooses to tell her why he’s hesitated. Basically, he’s opening himself up to her, telling her how much he cares about her.

And then Rose—beautiful, wonderful, fantastic Rose—tells him to save the world. Unlike the Doctor, she doesn’t hesitate. She just tells him to do it. She is so selfless and heroic. It doesn’t diminish what he’s doing by telling her, either. She recognizes that he’s saying he cares for her and she’s reciprocating by allying herself with his cause, by learning from him, by understanding what it means to be a timelord or a companion, what it means to be the savior. And she knows that no matter what, her life is not worth any more than the billions of lives they could save together. She doesn’t hesitate, she just tells him to do it.

Why River Song's Life Sucks

2011-06-17T01:03:00.001-05:00

River has had such a terrible life. She’s kidnapped as a baby, we see her dying (and regenerating!) as a child, she spends the majority of her life in prison (even though she can break out whenever she wants)—but mostly her life is terrible because she hasn’t known her family and when she did, they didn’t know her.

When Rory shows up at the prison, she knows exactly who he is, but she doesn’t recognize him. I don’t think she’d met him yet, but here he was—her dad!—coming to get her…and he hasn’t the foggiest who she really is. All her life River has known about Rory, the Last Centurian, her father. All her life she’s been told that he would go to the end of the universe and stop at nothing to save her. And here he is, right in front of her, on her birthday.

For a split second, she’s excited: her dad is here! He came all this way to be with her on her birthday! But he didn’t; he’s not there to celebrate, he’s not even there for her, he’s there for the Doctor. It’s this crushing reminder that no matter how much she learns about her family or how much they will eventually know about her, she’s not a part of their lives and she lives out of order with those closest to her. Every day of her life she knows a little more, but everyone around her knows less: knows less of her. Slowly she watches everyone fall out of love with her, even her own father, even on her birthday.

Neil Gaiman Visits Second City to Promote City Underground Novel - Chicago Young Adult Fiction | Examiner.com

2011-04-10T17:14:00.000-05:00

Neil Gaiman Visits Second City to Promote City Underground Novel - Chicago Young Adult Fiction | Examiner.com

2 chances to see Neil Gaiman in Chicago this week! Neverwhere is such a great book, it's possibly my favorite Gaiman book to date (but who could really choose?).

Also, check out my articles for the Chicago young adult literature section on Examiner.com!

Review: The Lover's Dictionary by David Leviathan

2011-02-10T12:01:00.000-06:00

The Lover's Dictionary is a wonderful book that tells an ordinary love story in a unique way. The unnamed narrator has organized his tale in a series of dictionary entries, giving uncommon definitions for words through storytelling. It is a novel comprised of flash fiction, set up alphabetically as a dictionary. That sounds confusing, but to a logophile like myself, it's love.

I found this book via twitter, when the webpage suggested I follow @loversdiction. On this page I found a series of very short entries similar to the ones in the book, and I was hooked immediately. One of the newest entries at that point was "appendix, n.: In the body, it’s in the middle; in the story, it’s at the end. I say, let’s live now, and let the charts come after." and after I retweeted it, I knew immediately I had to have this book. It mixed together a love for words, an unconventional and unique form, a love story, and David Leviathan--a combination I knew immediately I would love. I admit that I bought it on impulse, which is the downside of being able to use Amazon at any time of night (1 am, I think), but I'm glad I did.

In this multi-formed novel of flash fiction, we hear a love story not in the way it would unfold—that is to say, chronologically—but in the way it is remembered: pieces at a time, overlapping and conjoining until the story itself takes form. Each word and moment unravels a little more of the story, each story reveals a little more of the people, each person adds a little more to the relationship. In this rare form, we get an idea about the relationship as a whole, not just the beginning, middle, and end. The story is real, ordinary and familiar, and that's why we love it. The characters are even more-so, realistic right down to their taste in music or way of thinking. I felt absolutely that the unnamed girlfriend in this tale was someone I knew, as well as the narrator. Often times I felt I was the narrator, despite the second-person point of view. The book is structured in that the reader should feel like the girlfriend, or perhaps a friend secretly reading these notes written to her (for they are letters, in addition to dictionary entries), but I connected with the boyfriend so much that at times I felt like I was him, which is incredible and not altogether common in anything aside from great Literature.

Overall, I think this is a great book that any lover and any lover of words will enjoy. Additionally, as it is comprised of flash fiction, it's a quick read. At the end, you'll be left wondering exactly what happened, but I think it's possible to draw conclusions, though opinions may vary on what those conclusions are and mean. Whatever you decide happens, I'm convinced that by the end of the last page--at the Zenith of the book--you'll be wishing there were more to read.

Audiobooks and Why I Avoid Them

2010-10-19T23:03:00.001-05:00

(Crossposted from the 5NerdsomeWriters)

In a comment on Hilary's post from last Friday I mentioned that I have some deep-seated issues with audiobooks, but that I have been listening to them for school anyway. The only reason I do this is because I am currently taking six English courses and that makes for a lot of reading, reading I don't necessarily have time for; so I listen to audiobooks while I drive to make use of my 35 minute commute to school. Were this not the case, I'd continue my boycott of audiobooks.

Why? Well, for one, I feel they strip the reader of the experience of reading. If I can quote Rupert Giles here:

"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke, can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer… has no texture, no context. It’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um, smelly.”

Reading is more than just a story, it's the simple act of turning scratches on a page into ideas, images, and memories in your head. There's something to be said for the small and the feel of a new book, an old book, a borrowed book; no two books are exactly the same.

Authors do a lot of cool things with text that you don't get to see when listening to an audiobook. We wouldn't get the same sense of anger or excitement from Junior in Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian without his random sentences in all caps. I fear that the majority of the magic (and horror?) of MT Anderson's Feed would be lost without the distracting "pop-ups." Shape of paragraphs is nonexistant. Heck, some novels even use certain fonts for a specific reason (like Westerfeld's use of Futura in So Yesterday).

Short story: some audiobooks just suck. A lot of how a reader/listener reacts to an audiobook has to do with the reader. I know Korianne has been listening to Stephen Fry read the Harry Potter books for class and that he really makes the story come to life for her. Hearing Sherri Crowther read Emma was good, but it took me a long time to be able to concentrate on her soft voice. Oppositely, Ruth Golding (Wuthering Heights) has a very rough voice and she tries to keep the reader interested by changing it slightly for each character, but this only makes it harder to listen to her at points. Honestly, I have no idea what she's saying whenever Joseph is talking.

Audiobooks can be read differently than you would read them. The reader may put emphasis on different words or read in a different tone than you would had you been reading the book. I find this is true when my creative writing teacher reads our work out loud to the class. I hear my poem and I recognize it as mine, but the tone is all wrong, that's not how I would read it at all. I want to tell him he's wrong, but essentially, he's not, he's just reading the text in front of him, albeit differently than I would. It's the same for audiobooks and because of this a listener can understand the book very differently had they read it for themselves.

Plus, they can be pirated so easily and it's part of what's killing the book industry.

So give me my paper and ink, when I have the choice. Or better yet, provide me with a way to read while driving or get me a chauffeur. A 25th hour would be nice, too, while you're at it. Thanks!

Related: My post on audiobooks/ebooks vs books in sales

Banned Books Week: 25 Sept - 2 Oct, 2010

2010-09-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

It's almost Banned Books Week! Click the image above to go to the ALA website for more info!

The Importance of LGBTQ Books in Our Schools

2010-09-23T22:03:00.002-05:00

Lately on the web there has been much discussion about the difference between Literature-Capital-L and popular literature and which kind should be studied in the classroom and why. Quite honestly, the best answer here is the easiest: both. Students, from middle school through university, should be studying a wide array of literature, including "The Classics," poetry, manifestos, short stories, plays, modern novels, and even young adult (YAL) and middle grade (MG) books. If all students are presented with are the Classics, then that's all they'll know. The same is true if they are only taught modern novels that are written for their specific age group. What we need is balance, and that doesn't apply only to the kind of books read and taught, but also to the content within the books.

The last few decades have been full of revolutions in the way literature has been taught, prompting authors and educators to integrate new voices and focus on minorities such as women, African American, Latino, Eastern and Oriental cultures, etc. Now is the time for the revolution in which LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, & Queer/Curious) literature is brought into the classroom as well. It may not be an easy change, but it is a necessary one.

Why should students study LGBTQ books, authors, and topics in the classroom? For the same reason they are asked to study any other books, authors, and topics: because the books have something to offer, because they represent a part of culture, and because they are needed to teach tolerance. Every day in schools students are teased, bullied, and in some cases even beaten, for not fitting into the "norm." The truth of the matter is, however, that having a student in class that identifies as LGBT is becoming the norm and statistically there is a very good chance that at least one of your students or classmates does identify that way. The norm is changing and so should class reading choices. Educators should create a sense of normalcy by presenting LGBTQ books to students so that the ones who do identify LGBTQ can explore their own identity through literature just as a heterosexual student would with any of the Classics or modern novels with a heterosexual main character, but these LGBTQ books will also provide a "window" (as Katherine Mason calls it) for heterosexual students to see into lives of LGBTQ members. Teaching these books can help all students relate to the characters in these books, not based upon a shared sexual preference, but upon the fact that they feel the same emotions, act the same way, and make the same mistakes as the reader. A good way to do this is to include a book that isn't necessarily deemed LGBTQ, but has homosexual characters or themes presented in them in a normal and respectful way, such as Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Leviathan. By presenting works of literature wherein homosexuality is normal, educators help to make it normal in the classroom as well, which may hopefully lead to less bullying against homosexual students.

Part of creating this sense of normalcy is to teach and make available LGBTQ books, but not just to throw them into the curriculum as the Token Gay Book, just like the problem faced with The Token Girl Book. So often it is the case in Literature classes that the curriculum is comprised predominantly of male authors and that authors like Emily Dickinson or Mary Wollstonecraft are tossed in as an afterthought, often in an awkward place, just so they can include a female writer. The same could so easily happen with LGBTQ books, that educators add them in out of a necessity to have at least one book of its kind, but never really integrate it into the curriculum. The way to fix this is not to think of the text as a Gay Book, but as a book that happens to have gay characters. Teach it the same way you would any other text: by talking about the plot, the characters, the writing style, the cultural significance--surely if professors take the time to read the books as books, they can find a way to teach them as such.

This is not to say, of course, that choosing to include books with LGBTQ characters or themes won't be met with opposition. Some parents may object and ask that you remove the book from the curriculum in order to teach something "more appropriate." The best thing to do here is to let that particular child study another book instead, but do not remove the book completely because one parent has decided to take a stance against it. A parent has every right to censor what their child reads and frankly, it is commendable, because it means they are taking an active role in their child's education. However, there is a difference between not wanting your own child to read a book and trying to take away the opportunity to read said book from the entire class or even the school. If you want someone to respect your choice not to read it or have your child read it, then you must also respect the choice of those who do want to read it and arguably should for the reasons listed above. In her article in the ALAN Review, Katherine Mason quotes a teacher in saying that representing books such as these is part of being a "democratic and culturally responsive classroom," an ideal educators should live up to, despite the beliefs of some parents.

Most of the time the controversy surrounding LGBTQ books has to do with what might be considered "The Usual" in book banning/challenging, i.e. sex, language, and violence. Generally The Usual complaints come out of a person not reading said books. In classrooms, high school and college levels especially, language and violence become less of an issue, if they're presented in literature. The main issue raised against LGBTQ books are that they are supposedly all about sex, and they'd have to be, because the main character is wondering about their sexuality or alienated by it, right? Not exactly. These books are no more all about sex than heterosexual books are. Some will have them, some won't, but generally this is not the focus of the book and many books of this nature do not feature sex at all or treat it like any other YAL book would. In the coming week many bloggers will be discussing this idea that a single sex scene or reference dominates a book in the eyes of a potential book challenger, as a part of Banned Books Week. Just as it is the case with books such as Speak, Catcher in the Rye, and The Color Purple (all challenged in 2009/10), the book in question is more than just sex and still sustains literary merit.

Sometimes educators and librarians, students especially, need to take a stand against injustice, both with the challenging of LGBTQ books and with the way they are excluded from curriculai. The way students are treated by their peers, and sometimes faculty members, for their sexual preference, is an injustice. Writing off an entire genre of literature as not worthwhile because of the themes it presents, is an injustice. In all of these cases, educators and readers can fight back and take a stand, just by integrating books with LGBTQ themes and characters into school curriculai and placing these books on the shelves of school libraries where students can access them, if they want to.

For more on this subject, read "Creating a Space for YAL with LGBT Content in Our Personal Reading" by Katherine Mason, from The ALAN Review, Vol 35, number 3, which you can find here.

On the Semenya Gender Dispute

2010-07-06T17:35:00.001-05:00

Earlier today Caster Semenya, olympic running champion for South Africa, was welcomed back into the world of sports after eleven months of trials and tests to determine her gender and ability to race in the women's division. Many challenged Semenya's gold medal at the last summer Olympics because she ran so much faster and had a bigger muscular build than other racers, calling into question her gender. The truth was that Semenya had both male and female sexual organs, making her an intersexual* individual. I have been doing loads of research on intersex conditions lately, in preparation for my next novel, and I learned that there are different types of the condition, none of which should have kept Semenya out of the competition. Most intersex people identify strongly with one gender or the other and this is backed up by physical characteristics, such as genitalia, without being equally male or female.

What this athlete was exposed to was inappropriate, demeaning, ridiculous, and as I see it, unnecessary. If an intersex individual who is primarily female and identifies as such wants to represent her country in the world Olympics, she should be able to. And now that she has returned many question whether or not she had a surgery to make her body more female so that she could be considered one. If this is the case, I am royally pissed off and overall very disappointed in the world, based on their treatment of this woman. She is a person, a living human being, and to go through that kind of ridicule and trial is beyond what any person should have to deal with. Intersex people are people too and should be treated with the same kinds of respect.

Caster Semenya, on the other hand, has handled the situation very well and is an inspiration to intersex people. I plan drawing a little on her strength and her story when I write about Sky's dilemma in my next novel. Semenya, I am very sorry that you were treated the way you were, but you have my support in anything you do. Good luck on the race.

*Another term is hermaphrodite, but there is a slight difference.

Review: The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg

2010-06-20T21:31:00.003-05:00

I can be seen reading the same book for weeks, taking it a page at a time because I have other things to do that take precedence over the book, but that is not the case with The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. I read the entire book in two days, even while working the front desk at my job this past weekend. I couldn't put it down, true to the history I have with E.L. Konigsburg books. And when I was done, I wanted more, as I always do.

Margaret Rose Kane, twelve years old and brilliant, goes to a summer camp when her parents go on an archeological dig in Peru--the third most preferable option for her summer. First, she wanted to go to Peru, the second, to spend time with her uncles Alex and Morris at 19 Schuyler Place, but neither of these options was afforded her, so off to camp it was. Eventually, after a few rough days at camp with a cabin full of girls who have it out for her, Margaret Rose is rescued by her Uncle Alex and taken back to Schuyler Place, where she learns of a terrible secret. The three beautiful and magnificent towers in the uncles' backyard—built over 45 years and consisting of pipe, glass, clock faces, and ceramic pendants—one of the things Margaret loves most—are being demolished. Unwilling to stand by and let such a crime be committed, she begins her work at saving these works of art by enlisting some unexpected help.

Konigsburg owns two Newberry medals for a reason: she's brilliant, undeniably and unequivocally. The first reason for this is that her characters are wonderful and memorable, people you can relate to and people you want to become your best friends. Margaret Rose provides for the reader both of these through wit, determination, and, above all, love. Margaret's heart goes out to her uncles, to their structures, and to Jake, the handyman/artist, and your heart will go out to her in return. The many different ways in which her character stretches is amazing and in addition to that, she feels real. She acts and speaks like a true twelve year old. And, honestly, the reason I first fell in love with this book is the portrayal of Uncle Alex in the opening chapters. He is clever and sneaky and fantastic and I wish I had a relative like him.

The second thing Konigsburg excels at in this book is the way it is told. Not linear, like most MG novels are, but rather more like a spiral, each time the circle is repeated with the events a little more is revealed, the story grows, and it continues. The way she plays with language reveals a certain cleverness about the author as well as her main character, telling specific parts of the narrative by breaking down phrases in previous sentences as a way of explanation. Konigsburg and Margaret also play with words and their definitions, which both aids the story and the learning of the reader.

Perfect for its age group, middle graders, but not to be overlooked by those who are older (much like myself), this book is beautiful, heart-warming, quirky, brilliant, and addictive. My God, is it addictive, but in a wonderful way. I highly recommend this novel to dreamers, lovers of both art and the English language, fans of dynamic main characters, and all of you who fell in love with Konigsburg's previous books.

I'm just going to leave this here...

2010-05-04T16:35:00.001-05:00

In the digital era by ~Marco-art on deviant ART

Doesn't that image/title just break your heart? Very powerful statement here, when you throw in that title.

Doctor Who: Science Fiction or Fantasy?

2010-04-18T14:13:00.004-05:00

The following post contains spoilers for the newest episode of Doctor Who, 5x03: Victory of the Daleks, so if you do not wish to be spoiled, please refrain from reading. If you do not watch the show, however, you can still understand this post.

In "Victory of the Daleks," the Doctor's nemeses, the Daleks, show up during the London Blitz. Now that part I am entirely okay with, because Doctor Who is all about time and space and the crazy juxtaposition that could arise from someone like the Doctor being able to travel through and interfere with both. What I am not okay with is having WWII planes in space, attacking a space ship, with technology stolen from aliens. I feel like that crosses the line between science fiction and fantasy.

Within the genre of fantasy a reader can find hidden worlds, magic, and impossibilities; in science fiction the reader can find the same aura of wonder and amazement, but also a sense of truth and a million possibilities. Science fiction examines the world, where humanity stands, and all of the potential roads we could travel, and where they would take us. This genre stretches the imagination as far as the edge of space and approaches every "what if," all the while staying within the immense realm of possibility.

And that's the thing: science fiction has limits, regulations, guidelines. Sure, they're very loose sometimes, but they are there. In fantasy you can explain something by calling it "magic" and that's enough. In science fiction, you reveal the process or the machinations, you are forced to give an actual explanation. And, to an extent, this explanation must be somewhat realistic, or rather, scientific. Science fiction is a blend between the "science" of reality and the "fiction" of fantasy.

Philip K. Dick argues that "The real origin of science fiction lay in the seventeenth-century novels of exploration in fabulous lands. Therefore Jules Verne’s story of travel to the moon is not science fiction because they go by rocket but because of where they go. It would be as much science fiction if they went by rubber band."

While I agree with him, I have to point out that while spaceships are real and entirely plausible today, they were not in WWII. My suspension of disbelief lets me believe that The Doctor's TARDIS can exist then because it is a time machine. I cannot, however, extend that to cover RAF planes from that era suddenly being upgraded in a matter of minutes and then flying into space, armed with alien technology. I would have believed it, if they had gone by rubber band. The truth of history here is that the space race would not occur for another 20 years. Furthermore, are we supposed to believe that those planes could make it through Earth's atmosphere without burning? Or that the laughable gas masks worn by the pilots would allow them to breathe in space? I don't buy it. Come on, Moffat, you can do better than that.

Doctor Who has, for many decades, been seen as wholly science fiction, but when it begins to cast off the limits and rules of reality, I'd argue that it's crossed over into fantasy. And I like fantasy, but don't try to pass it off as science fiction, because there is a world of difference there. Fantasy approaches the impossible, science fiction approaches the possible, but not yet probable. If you want me to believe that mannequins can come to live or that someday humans will be living out our years on a space station while the sun burns away our beloved planet, that's fine. I accept that these are possible. When you want me to believe that a time before space travel had aircrafts more advanced than the ones we have now, 60 years later? That I cannot do.

So dear Stephen Moffat, please check your facts when reporting on history, and give us something fantastical, but believable. Give us the science fiction we've come to expect from Doctor Who. Oh, but for the record? I'm totally digging Matt Smith as The Doctor and I can't wait for the next episode.

Free Twilight Book: Generous Giveaway or Masterful Marketing?

2010-03-31T18:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it was announced that Stephenie Meyer is going to release a fifth Twilight book, but it's not what you'd expect. Let's get the facts first: this is not Midnight Sun, it is a completely different book, a novella actually*, about Bree Tanner. Don't know who Bree is? You're not alone, I didn't remember her at first either**. Cut for spoilers: She is one of the (spoilers!) newborn vampires created by Victoria in the 4th book, the only one to escape the Cullens, and was later killed by the Volturi.

What I find particularly interesting about this book, though, is the way it's being marketed & distributed. First, starting on June 7th, the entire book will be available free online. Sounds generous, right? Well, it is—but only for a month. After that it will be printed in book form, $1 of which is going to be donated to the Red Cross. Still pretty generous, but it's also very clever.

The first clever marketing tactic here is offering the book free online, for a limited time only. Putting a book online gains readers you might not get otherwise, makes the book easily accessible, and the more people who read it, the more people who like it, the more people who are likely to purchase it later. The New York Times recently printed an article on this, about how offering an ebook for free can not only gain readers, but put your book on the bestseller's list, something that attracts even more attention.

So you tell all your friends to hurry up and read it online, creating a sense of immediate need, but what if you don't get it on time? What if you don't finish reading before it goes offline? How will you keep up with your fellow Twilight obsessed friends? No worries, you can buy the book in print! And a true fan will likely buy the book anyway, regardless of reading it online, so they can own it and reread it whenever they want***. The added bonus here is that you're doing a good thing, because $1 of your purchase goes to helping people through the Red Cross! Why is this important? It has to do with embedded giving, which I won't pretend to be the expert on, but here's the bottom line: By tacking on that donation, you are more likely to buy the book. You feel good about yourself, because you helped people, but you don't need to go out of your way to do it. You get to support change by doing something you were going to do already! When I think about this (thanks to one of my professors), I think about Product RED. You were going to buy that shirt or that laptop or that book anyway, but now you get the added bonus of feeling good about the purchase. It takes away some of the hesitation we might have for spending the money. What I'm saying here is that by putting that sticker on there that proceeds will go to the Red Cross, readers are more likely to pick it up. It's not as deceptive as this argument may first suggest, but it is clever.

An argument that's been raised over the past two days regarding this (largely by anti-Twilight people) is that Meyer is only printing a fifth book as a way to milk more money out of her fans. I don't think that's true. Surely she'll be making more money, but she's not making any thing off the free copies and honestly, I think she's sincere in saying that she wants to do something for her fans. True Twilight fans have been begging for a 5th book since the 4th one come out. If JK Rowling put out an 8th book, wouldn't you want to read it? Didn't you want to check out The Tales of Beedle the Bard when it came out? It's the same thing. There is a demand by the fans for more to read in the Twilight world, and Meyer's fulfilling those wishes. If she only wanted to milk the fans, she would have released Midnight Sun despite the leak.

Will I be reading the book? Probably not, but I'm not the biggest fan of the books. For the people who are, I can understand their excitement at having something more to read, I would feel the same way. And I really do think that Little, Brown is being rather clever here with the way they're marketing it.

*Although 197 pgs hardly sounds like a novella.
**actually, still don't, but I am trusting some of my friends who are die hard fans.
***This reminds me very much of another post I need to make, on the ethics & arguments behind downloading ebooks. I will get to that soon, I hope.

Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

2010-03-26T18:34:00.002-05:00

It occurs to me that I have not done a very good job at keeping up my promise to review all of the books I read this year. I can blame this on the way I've been devouring books the last few weeks, the lack of internet last week, or the severe amount of schoolwork I've had, but instead I will just say that I am sorry, readers. I hope to make this up to you with FIVE reviews in the near future, starting with this one.

Dog Days by Jeff Kinney is the fourth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. If you've been around here before, you'll know that I rather like this series and the clever way in which it weaves together prose and picture. This is not entirely like a graphic novel and not entirely like an illustrated book, either, but rather somewhere between. This book is no exception and continues that wonderful tradition that Kinney has throughout his books, something that (ideally) keeps the reader interested.

While I do love the series and I did enjoy the book, I found myself wishing there was something a little more to this installment. It has a solid plot, earning money to pay off a debt to Rowley's dad, and the same characters, but it didn't make me laugh in quite the way the first and third*. This isn't, of course, to say that I didn't laugh at all, because I certainly did. The best thing about this series, and Kinney's writing style, is the pure humour behind it.

I honestly don't have much to say about this book, but I did enjoy it and if you like the series, it's worth the read. If you haven't read the series, I highly recommend the first book, which was absolutely fantastic.

*I didn't hate the second, but I did find it to be the least intriguing book in the series.

The Novel: Good Days & Bad Days

2010-03-21T20:50:00.005-05:00

My good friend Jordyn is also an aspiring novelist and together we press through all the hardships and celebrations that come with writing. Mostly hardships. And we listen to each other as we bang our heads on the table repetitively, hoping the words will leak out our ears and onto the page. We talk each other up and through things, and we realize that writing makes us bipolar. We will love it and we will hate it and none of that will stay consistent.

There are good days and there are bad days, and basically, this is what I sound like when I am writing.

On a bad day:
Aaaauuuugggghhhh. Just aaaauuuugggghhhh.

On a good day: (like today)
Jordyn: Yeah. I've planned a lot for this though, so I don't know. I feel like I'm kind of diving in through and it's like I don't quite know how to swim. You know?
Jez: I think that's kind of what writing a novel is like, honestly. It's undiscovered territory and we are without a clear map, so we have to experiment and take chances and hope the next step we take doesn't land us in a nest of scorpions or take us over the edge of a cliff.
Jordyn: Well that's terrifying.
Jez: But it's exciting, because we're the first humans ever to walk that path, ever to see that flower, ever to drink from that pure spring, untainted by chemical run-off. It's an adventure and we are explorers.

Also, if you're interested, you can follow Jordyn's journey through her recent novel (about spies!) here.

Amazon Release Dates & the Battle Against New Mediums

2010-03-10T13:54:00.004-06:00

First, yes, I finished my first draft and met my deadline a day ahead of schedule, and that is why I am posting again. Sorry to not have told you sooner! Edits are pushed off just a bit, but I am reworking an old idea now, so no worries, I am writing still!

About a year ago, Garth Nix released the sixth book in his Keys to the Kingdom series, which ended in a dreaded cliffhanger, the lives of most characters hanging over the edge, their fates as unknown as the void of nothing. And that was the end of the book, with no conclusions and no certainty. It has driven me crazy for a year, let me tell you. But now, in March of 2010, the seventh and final book in the series, Lord Sunday is out, or coming out, depending on who you ask.

I, like most online consumers, consult amazon.com first when looking for quick facts, like publishing dates. Amazon lists Lord Sunday to come out next Tuesday, but borders.com shows it as having come out on the 1st of March, not the 16th. This means that Borders released the book more than two weeks before the shopping giant Amazon. What's more, Amazon shows the audio book being released a week before the book, which brings about another issue. Not only are sellers releasing items on different dates, making book birthdays hazy and confusing anxious buyers, but the audio books are available, adding to the shift we've already begun to see where consumers are favouring audio books and ebooks to hard copies.

Audio & ebooks already have advantages over real books, in that they are more compact, easier to carry and store, and easily distributed. They also tend to be cheaper, by and large. But with these new medias, you lose a part of what is so wonderful about books. You lose that sense of holding something real in your hands, the ability to imagine a character's voice for yourself, the eternal battery power of a book, and that new book smell. Books capture memories between their pages, little pieces of you, and other forms blend in with the rest of the medias we absorb every day. A page in an ebook has less effect, read between the hundreds of internet pages viewed every day; a chapter in an audiobook drowned out by mp3s and radio broadcasts. Still, the market is shifting, and if a reader is desperate enough for the book, they may be moved to buy an ebook or audiobook simply because it releases a week before the corporeal copy. This also loses publishers money, so I'm forced to wonder why sites like amazon would set up the dates as such.

I am reminded, of course, of the recent troubles with amazon and publishers such as MacMillian, where it becomes apparent that Amazon simply doesn't care about the publisher's rights, but even so, wouldn't they make more on an item with a higher price?

All of this said, I am buying my book from Borders, like I originally intended, and I will be buying a physical copy. I'm a little miffed that I was misled by Amazon's dates, as I could have been reading the climactic conclusion already, and all this anxious waiting over the past week could have been avoided. Unfortunately, I cannot wait for shipping, but I am forced to wait for a new in-store coupon to arrive in my email. We'll see if I'm able to hold out until then.

Coming Soon: reviews of Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson & Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney, a post on biographies prefacing novels, & the writer's journey as seen in Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Just a Note on Donating to a Good Cause

2010-03-09T23:47:00.001-06:00

For the last few years, I've been learning. I've been learning from life, from all the hard lessons it has to teach me. The majority of those lessons come from being below the poverty line, and always just a few short stumbles away from being a charity case, literally. So, when I get the chance to give back to those like me and those worse off than me, I take it. Tonight I went through my closet, cleared out the clutter, and now I am donating two full trash bags of clothes. And chances are, the dresses that I got as hand-me-downs are also going to be donated, to a separate cause, that helps out girls in tight situations who can't afford prom dresses. And I don't need those dresses, I will never have a chance to wear them. I have one, that's enough.

If you have clothes you're not going to wear, or toys you don't play with, or things you need to get rid of to make space as you grow up, please consider donating them. My favourite charity is Juvenile Diabetes, but there is also Goodwill (which, for the record, is a great place to shop as well), and numerous other places that take donations. Just look into it. You're going to throw them out anyway, so why not? You don't have to do anything but drop them off--and even Salvation Army will come to your house for bigger things! Think about charity.

Truth in Writing

2010-03-05T23:54:00.001-06:00

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—this is the immortal advice that Emily Dickinson has left us with. The end lines of the poem tell us that "With explanation kind, The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind—" This poem's brilliance cannot be ignored, so neither should its advice. Yes, this poem is generally interpreted as being about God, but why should that make it any less meaningful when applied to other areas? Why not apply it to journalistic and novelistic ethics? As writers we may come to a situation where we are put between a rock and a hard place, where we must decide if we should tell the whole story, or if we should hedge, omit, or even outright lie to cover for someone else. It's a decision we all must make for ourselves, and should be taken on a case by case basis, but perhaps, like myself, you can find help in Dickinson's words.

Lately I have written a series of personal narratives that have primarily been to work out issues in my life. Cathartic though they are in nature, I still wonder if I could do something with them, perhaps get these pieces published somewhere. I know that it may not work out, but I could at least try, though one thing stands in my way. These narratives are extremely personal, and although I have no qualms with telling the world these things about myself, many of them focus on my family and the current struggles we have found ourselves in. So while I am okay with having my story out there, my family probably doesn't feel the same way. I come from a very long line of proud people, the kind of people who brush issues under the carpet and will do anything to keep the image that everything is okay. To publish these narratives would be to destroy that façade, but should I not publish, or not write, something because of how it will affect them? I want to say I shouldn't, but I know that's a promise I wouldn't be able to keep. For me, writing is all about catharsis, getting the emotions on the page, no matter who reads it.

So do we write things as they are, the truth, bare for the world to see in its natural state, or do we maybe fudge a little, to protect others? Perhaps we tell all the Truth, but we tell it slant. We present things as they are, but we present it in such a light that it may not be as harsh when the judgement time comes. We will let it dazzle gradually, and try our hardest not to blind anyone.

Things I Love About The Princess and the Frog

2010-03-05T16:53:00.003-06:00

Spoilers ahead!

First, this movie is a great twist on the old fairy tale of the Frog Prince. Instead of a kiss from a princess turning a frog into a prince, the princess is turned into a frog. I love it. More than that, it sets up the story with a bigger adventure, of turning both Prince Naveen and Tiana back into humans.

The art style and the storyline (even the scary bits) are just like old school Disney. The voodoo man, Doctor Facillier, and his dark magic reminds me of the Queen in Snow White and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. The shadow creatures, too, remind me of these. Without his magic, Facillier could be a human version of Scar, almost. Possessed by his greed for power, eventually brought down by the people he thought to be on his side, and is not afraid to kill to get what he wants. And when he does it will absolutely break. your. heart.

I love Tiana, she's a breath of fresh air after years of princesses wanting nothing more than a prince. This is a smart, responsible girl who works towards her dreams. This girl is not satisfied to sit around and wait for the "someday" when her prince will come. She's got bigger plans. And the family angle, just wanting to live up to the goal that she and her dad set for themselves, is also really interesting. Of course, there's the obvious point of her race, which I think is fantastic. It's about time we got some diversity, Disney! (Although that's not to say we haven't before, remember Jasmine & Mulan!) Now this is a princess that little girls can aspire to be: reasonable, intelligent, determined, talented (I wish I could cook like her!), and still get the prince.

Prince Naveen is fantastic as well. Something I love about this movie that we don't see very often is that the guy falls in love first, and I think that is best done in this movie than in previous Disney ones. Yes, it has happened before, think of Aladdin or Sleeping Beauty. The difference between them, though, is that in The Princess and the Frog, Naveen & Tiana don't have a "love at first sight" situation. Nope, they don't like each other like that at the beginning, and then slowly Naveen starts to realize that money and women are great, but that he really loves Tiana, and that just warms my heart. Even better, Tiana doesn't immediately realize that she loves him back, because she's too distracted by her dreams. She has to "dig a little deeper" to find out what she needs. Eventually, they both realize that what they once wanted--money, success, to be human--isn't what they need, that love is more important. Now that's true Disney.

Continuing with the fantastic cast of characters here, let's not forget the secondary ones, for they really steal the show at some point! First we are introduced to Charlotte "Lottie" Lebouff, who is that little girl fed fairytales and spoiled all her life. Like a great foil should be, she is the dreamer to Tiana's hard worker. What I love about Lottie is her constant excitement, and that she could be the stereotypical spoiled rich girl, but instead she gives up her chance at marrying a prince, for her friend Tiana. She could have been a secondary villain, but instead she's a caring friend, and that's wonderful. Also, her interactions with her dad crack me up. The "What just happened?" line makes me laugh every time.

Next up we have Louis, the alligator who wants to be a jazz star. This movie is filled with dreamers, and Louis is no exception. He's also good for comic relief, paired up with the ever-amusing Ray, a firefly from the bayou. I like Louis, but I think Ray is the more important character in this plot, as he leads Naveen & Tiana to Mama Odee, but also he shows them true love, by speaking of his Evangeline, the night star. And even when he's killed, trying to save his friends, he still gets what he deserves, by being united in the night sky with Evangeline. That's also very Disney, and cheesy, but in a good way.

While the characters are the best part of this film, it would be horrible of me not to mention the music. The great Randy Newman lives up to his legacy by providing us with a great soundtrack that mirrors the Jazz Age in which this movie is set. The lyrics are also fantastic and the music will make you want to get up out of your chair and dance along. It's fantastic. Also, setting the story in the Jazz Age was really interesting, and works with the "dream" theme we see throughout the rest of the film, and also brings some beautiful designs for the clothing. I simply love Tiana's yellow uniform for work, with her cute little hat.

So, yeah, I am in love with this movie, if you couldn't tell. And upon watching it again, I felt the need to write up a post about it. That is how much I liked it. My cousin teases me about it, because when we saw it for the first time on Christmas and the lights came up in the theatre, I was sitting there with a grin plastered across my face, giggling and swinging my feet like the five-year-old I really am. This movie was one I could really relate to, and I highly recommend seeing it.

Contest: Will Grayson, Will Grayson ARC

2010-02-14T14:05:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone, just stopping in real quick to let you know there is a great contest going on over at Hey! Teenager of the Year to win an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Will Grayosn, Will Grayson by John Green & David Leviathan. Go here to enter!

I'll be back with book reviews & a few blog posts as soon as I finish my novel. I have a DEADLINE you guys. It's coming up faster than I'd like.

Cleveland.Com Interviews Calvin & Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson

2010-02-02T18:43:00.004-06:00

As a huge fan--but also as a writer & a reader in general--I found this interview really interesting.

Here are a few of the highlights:
Cleveland: With almost 15 years of separation and reflection, what do you think it was about "Calvin and Hobbes" that went beyond just capturing readers' attention, but their hearts as well?
Watterson:: The only part I understand is what went into the creation of the strip. What readers take away from it is up to them. Once the strip is published, readers bring their own experiences to it, and the work takes on a life of its own. Everyone responds differently to different parts.
I just tried to write honestly, and I tried to make this little world fun to look at, so people would take the time to read it. That was the full extent of my concern. You mix a bunch of ingredients, and once in a great while, chemistry happens. I can't explain why the strip caught on the way it did, and I don't think I could ever duplicate it. A lot of things have to go right all at once.

Watterson: Ah, the life of a newspaper cartoonist -- how I miss the groupies, drugs and trashed hotel rooms!

You can read the full interview here!

Writing as a Profession

2010-02-01T15:57:00.004-06:00

Here's a fun, interesting video from the wonderful Maureen Johnson on writing as a career.

Also, be sure to check out Maureen's new book Scarlett Fever which came out in stores today! I have only read the first two chapters so far, but I can tell you that I love it already. I have already written down one quote, I kid you not.

Additionally, check out the contest running over at Laina Has Too Much Spare Time for a chance to win a signed copy of Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachman. The contest is open internationally so that anyone can enter, but hurry and leave a comment because this contest is only open for a day!

The Apple iPad: Communications & Publication

2010-01-27T15:54:00.003-06:00

Okay, this is not a technology blog, but I am going to talk about the new Apple iPad. Why? Because we live in a technologically advanced society where each new toy--shiny as they may be--affects the way we live, and even the way we read. This is not a technology blog, but it is a blog that looks at literature, publishing, and communications, and the iPad, and Steve Job's unveiling of it, encompasses all of those.

Communications - Audience, Rhetoric & Presentation
What I like about Steve Jobs is that he is not the corporate CEO archetype. When Jobs showed up on stage earlier this morning to present the new Apple gadget, he was wearing jeans and tennis shoes. Not exactly what you would expect from the head of a leading technology company on the day of its big presentation. In doing this he presents himself to the people as one of the people, as someone just like them. Now, this is a great strategy for gathering attention, reaching out to those who are not the technology-following geeks, and essentially it helps them identify with Jobs. What they see is an average man sitting on his couch using the new iPad. Jobs is showing the community at large that they too can easily use and apply this new technology to their everyday lives, they don't need to be technology wizzes in order to understand it. In fact, for many people who already have the iPhone or the iPod Touch, the technology may not be that much different. That's two (or arguably three) audiences that Jobs is already appealing to in his presentation, without having to say anything yet, and then you add in the technophiles of all sorts and you have a ready-made fanbase. And, he's also adding one more audience: those who have trouble viewing small screens. Now, I'm not saying that the elderly are going to pick up the new iPad or anything like that, but they might. Why? Because the larger screen, with the ability to magnify and resize text easily, would be appealing to them, especially in conjunction with the new iBooks app. They would be able to use an eReader on a larger scale that would be backlit and easy to read. The same applies to any webpage, now that the older generation are also becoming a part of the new technological world. The topic of iBooks & the iPad as an eReader is something I'll come back to in a moment, but first I want to look at the rhetoric and presentation of this new device, from a communications standpoint.

I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I believe that it is important to examine the syntax that Jobs uses. Sure he may have overused hyperboles* like "magical" and "awesome," but they work well for him. Through his use of hyperbole Jobs has built up this product in the consumer's mind--which could help or hurt him in the future, only the sales will show. Will some consumers look into getting an iPad based on the colourful and ambitious dialogue? Maybe. Will some others criticize Apple for not living up to it? Probably, in fact, I would argue, definitely. How this plays out in sales though, remains to be seen.

Another effective strategy for the Apple team is the way they have used communication and social medias as a business tool. What's the best way to get the word out quickly these days? Social medias like twitter, where rumours of the new Apple "tablet**" have been circulating for weeks. There have been talk about the new features the iPad might employ, as well as what it will look like, and what the cost will be. What I find brilliant, when looking at this strategy from a marketing standpoint, is that Apple "accidentally slipped" a few price ranges that one should expect from the new toy, generally centering around $1000 a pop. Why does this matter? Because everyone went in expecting that sort of price, and were then shocked to find that it was only going to cost $499 (with additional data packages at $14.99 & $29.99 a month). This may seem expensive, but in comparison to the $1k we were expecting? It's a steal. Now, I will admit that this may have also hurt them in a way. By releasing a higher price, they made the public expect a larger product, like a tablet computer, which is not what this is. So now the public's attention might be shifted (as my friend Mike pointed out again just now) more towards what the iPad isn't, based on rumours and early projections, and less on what it actually is. But make no mistake, it's still a great way to market and make the product seem as if it has more value. Not to mention that the web has been craving for any solid data for months, creating all sort of buzz. By keeping most things under wraps, this works in the same way that GoogleWave did in that people want to know more, simply to be in the know. We're a very nosy society that way, and Apple is great at using that in their favour. They keep it a secret and therefore we want to know. And as soon as any hard data gets out, it's everywhere. Even now, hours later, 7 out of the top 10 topics trending worldwide on twitter are related to Apple, the iPad, and the release this morning (also how it will compare/compete with Amazon's kindle). Social media is a great thing for this, creating all sorts of hype.

Possible Effects for Publishing & the eReader Market
This new device is probably going to be used primarily as a multimedia device, and I don't see anyone writing anything long form such as novels on it, at least not without the aid of the keyboard dock***, but I do see people using it to watch movies and listen to music. The new larger screen even makes it somewhat superior over the iPhone in that it allows high definition videos to play on YouTube. More and more I am finding that I--as well as many others--cannot view a video on YouTube in regular dimensions because it has been recorded to be viewed in high def. And really, if you have the option, high def is the way to go, so it's great to see that in a device such as this (I'm still unsure of what to describe it as). But one thing I think the iPad is going to be great for is that it can be used as an eReader with the new application, iBooks. What is iBooks? Think kindle, only Apple. In the presentation today Apple even said that they would be using the same kind of idea--as well as interface--as Amazon's highly-acclaimed Kindle. And with the ebook market growing so rapidly****, it's no shock that Apple would want to get in on the action. Like I mentioned previously, this ebook is something that others are not: it's big. That may sound silly and obvious, but it's true, and that's going to appeal to a lot of readers out there. It is all the convenience of an eReader, on a bigger format, and one you can easily maneuver thanks to the touchscreen technology. Something else that you can do with the new iPad is you can buy books right from the iTunes store without having to connect with a computer to do so. Plus, there are already so many free ebooks online free that you can read! But the great thing? A lot of large publishing houses have teamed up with Apple to make iBooks work. Some may even be releasing books earlier on iBooks than they will for the Kindle, Sony, & Nooks--spelling trouble for companies who previously held the market and now may have bigger competition than they expected.

So what will this do to publishing? Well, I predict that we will see an increase in ebook sales, or rather, a continuation of a trend that is already in place. Though this might also speed that up. Another thing is that prices may go down as these companies compete with each other, and that could be a huge problem for hard copy books, a market that is already taking a hit from ebooks. Who wants to spend $20 or more on a hardcover book, or even $10 on a paperback, if soon you will be able to buy many books online for far less--or even free? How this, and also other digital readers like the Kindle, will affect the publishing market remains to be seen, but you can be sure that the market is there for an eReader and that it's not about to go away. Another thing this may do for publishing is, again, an extension of a trend that is already there, but some publishers may choose to release a book only in ebook format, possibly only on iBooks. This could be good or bad for marketing, but it saves on publishing costs (especially those of overprinting a book, which could also be disastrous for a novelist), and it creates a kind of exclusivity for that book, making readers value a digital reader, and possibly one eReader over another.

These are all very early predictions for something that was just released today, but certainly things to think about. I would be very interested in what others have to say, so please, let's get a discussion going in the comments. Again, this is not a technology blog and I am focusing on this new iPad from a communicative, rhetorical, and publishing standpoint, so I am looking for things primarily related to those subjects.

And thank you for reading this far, that was a lot to take in, I know.

*Is an overuse of hyperbole redundant in and of itself?
**I would argue now that this is not a tablet computer, nor is it the new version of the iPhone rumoured to come out sometime this quarter, but it is somewhere in between and therefore we cannot truly call it a tablet any longer.
***Which, I must say, looks really shiny. And is a great idea, because it then makes the iPad into a touchscreen desktop computer. I think that's a huge selling point, at least for me. I don't mention this because again, this is not a blog to look at the technological aspects, you can find those anywhere else.
****I refer you to this very interesting article on ebooks & advertising that features Maureen Johnson!

Condensed Review: Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King

2010-01-24T22:34:00.001-06:00

I realize that my last review of Green Grass, Running Water was a bit much for some of you to digest, and certainly more than you wanted to read, so here is the condensed version that I wrote for amazon.com's review page of this novel.

The format of this novel and the cyclical oral tradition/literary mashup that King presents us with is fantastic, interesting, and satirical of canon, as well as Western & Native cultures. The three levels of narration are intriguing and although they may complicate the story at times, they provide a certain amusement and insight that would not otherwise be possible. The characters are believable and lovable and when the novel is finished you will feel as if you have lost a close friend. The part that I most enjoyed, however, was King's humour. Witty and satirical and just out-right funny, it was a great. I highly recommend this book to all adult readers!

You can read my full review of this book here: http://bit.ly/6XvoYB

Review: Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King

2010-01-24T18:51:00.002-06:00

In the beginning there was nothing, just the water. That's how the book begins and how we are first introduced to one of the stories involved in this book. Part creation story, part biting satire and quirky humour, and part realistic drama. The story has three levels, the first revolving around five Blackfoots, the inhabitants of Blossom, Alberta, and the nearby reservation in Canada, and around a doctor and his assistant from Florida, USA. There is Lionel, TV salesman with an upcoming birthday and a life that seems to be going nowhere. Charlie is the hot shot lawyer who has everything except the full attention of the woman he loves. Alberta is the woman they are both persuing, but who doesn't want to be tied down by any man or marriage, although she does want a child. Latisha is Lionel's sister, a single mother of three, and the owner of the Dead Dog Cafe, a restaurant near the reservation that boasts dog meat is its daily special to unsuspecting tourists. Their uncle Eli completes the quintet, a now-retired professor who is the wayward son who came home. He is currently living in a cabin that stands in the way--and halts the progression of--a dam that threatens the Blackfoots, and Eli has found a way to tie the case up in courts, with Charlie as the opposition's lawyer. Finally we have Dr. Hovaugh & Babo, employees at a mental hospital four Old Indians have escaped in order to fix the world. These Old Indians, going by the names of Robinson Crusoe, The Lone Ranger, Ishmael, & Hawkeye, are mythically old and legendarily powerful. They are a part of this story, but also on a higher level telling it to the even higher narrator who is telling the allegorical creation story to Coyote, who also intervenes with the rest of the narrative. It is, in a word, complicated, but in another, brilliant. I highly recommend anyone who is looking for a fun, humourous read, or anyone who is looking for an intellectually stimulating story.

The most notable aspect of this novel is the way the narrative is told, on three different levels, and in a way that combines the oral tradition of the Native American peoples with the written literary tradition of Western culture. The story of the higher narrative gets told 4 times, each time a little different, but sheds more on the real story in the present day. It's cyclical and very much a part of the oral tradition & the Native American culture it is meant to reflect and contrast. The literary & allegorical sides also show up in the narratives when each Old Indian, in their turn, meets a member of Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as characters from the canonical novels they take their name from. It's a bit like Jasper Ffrode's Thursday Next series, in my opinion, and I think that fans of Ffrode's would greatly enjoy King's humour and satire of literary canon & form.

Another great asset to this book are the characters, flawed and realistic. I think all readers from all walks of life will be able to relate to at least one characteristic from anyone in this cast. Whether it be a fear that your life is going nowhere, a dissatisfaction with your situation, a marriage gone wrong or a fear of commitment, there is something there for everyone. More than that, the characters are lovable, you want them to succeed and you will find yourself choosing teams in some situations, siding with one character or another. In the literary aspect these characters help drive the narrative forward and help with King's odd disjointed style of telling the story both in the past and the present. More than that, Charlie and Lionel are great foils for one another, set in comparison as well as in competition for Alberta's heart.

I hope my literary notes did not scare anyone away from this book, because I promise you that even without knowledge of literary canon or the full Judeo-Christian tradition, without a degree in English, you will still be able to read and appreciate this novel. King is a gem of modern literature, a writer that is both comic and satirical and unequivocally brilliant. I highly recommend this book to any adult looking for a good read and a few good laughs. (Again, especially to fans of Jasper Ffrode)

Why We Write

2010-01-18T16:28:00.005-06:00

I've just finished my last day in a short interim course on writing & publishing, lead by Travis Thrasher. He's a great teacher and it's great to take a class on these things where a writer is the teacher instead of just another professor who is saying what he's told to say. Thrasher worked in publishing and he is now a full-time writer, so it's great to get that sort of insight.

I was just looking through Thrasher's blog, The Journey is Everything & I came across an entry from the beginning of this year about why he writes. I thought it was a really great post and I share a lot of his reasons.

You can read Travis Thrasher's post here, and I recommend looking through the rest of his blog as well, there's plenty of tips for writers to be found there.

What are my own personal reasons for writing?
Whenever I'm asked this question, or why I'm writing a particular project, I think back to something Madeleine L'Engle once said. "You have to write the book that wants to be written." I have always identified with that quote* and I think it really applies here. I could write a novel on any subject you want to give me, but it wouldn't be mine. I write because I have new stories within me, just waiting to be told. Stories that are just busting to get out and onto the page. I write because I have a story to tell.

And I write because it's what feels right and what makes sense in my life. I am not about to pretend that my life is all sunshine and daisies right now--nor has it ever really been--but in spite of all of that, writing makes sense. And it's somewhere I can work out my real life problems, even just in small ways. My characters are not me, and the stories I tell are not my memoirs, but everything I write has a piece of me in it. Moreover this is a reason I write Young Adult fiction, because I feel that in YA you can work through different problems than you can in adult literature. Which reminds me of another quote from literary agent Kate Schaffer (aka Daphne Unfeasible): "I don't believe that most teens think their lives are "normal and uneventful." I think every moment is fraught with anxiety & excitement." I feel like that's true also, and therefore I can fit most of that into my books, and if it helps me, great, if others can identify with it and it can maybe help them also, even better.

I write to satisfy my curiosity & to explore all of the "what if"s in life. I can't get rid of all of the world's air travel in real life, but I can write about what would happen if that were to occur. I can't give myself a horrible fatal disease (and still be alive to write about it afterwards), but I can write about it. Life is full of "what if"s, and I write to see what would happen.

And, like Thrasher, I write to say the things I wish I could say and do the things I wish I could do.

That's why I write, and so I'm curious, what about you? For all the writers out there--serious or recreational--what makes you write?

*And the second part where she says "And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children,” but that's a whole other topic for another blog.

Review: Liar by Justine Larbalestier

2010-01-08T22:05:00.003-06:00

Micah is a compulsive liar, we know that from the start. We do not know why she lies, or when. We do not know what mysterious disease her family has and hides. And most importantly, we do not know what happens to her boyfriend Zach who has gone missing and is later found to be murdered (on page 5, not a spoiler). This novel is a psychological thriller and a journey to find the truth, something Micah has had trouble with before.

It's really hard to write a synopsis of the story without giving anything big away, so I am going to leave it at that. I will also do my best to keep this review free of spoilers from here on out. I think the biggest thing about this book is the fact that Micah is a very unreliable narrator. Everything she tells us must be questioned, from the smallest of things to the existence of some of the characters. You will suspect her and you will feel betrayed by her and you will wonder if she's crazy. The thing is, though, that Micah is such a beautifully written character that we want to believe her, despite how many times she lies to us. We will go along with what she says and get wrapped up in the story only to fall for one of her tricks--and she will trick you. At the end of the novel you're left wondering what was real and what she lied about, or if any of it was real at all. Another brilliant thing that Larbalestier does is set up the novel in 3 different sections, each of these with smaller parts broken into Before, After, School History, Family History, and History of Me. In this way it feels as if Micah is organizing the facts--or rather, her thoughts depending in which interpretation you end up taking. It's a different way to read but it works so well for this novel. While reading I found myself finding some aspects a little too much (I can't even say, it's the biggest spoiler), but then I realized that this could be a lie as well. Whatever this book was, it was compelling and it made me think. On a few occasions since finishing Liar last week I've caught myself thinking about different things and honestly, I'm not sure what I believe about this story, except that it was an interesting read and I enjoyed it. Larbalestier has woven quite the novel that will keep you guessing from start to finish.

Reviews are Coming Back!

2010-01-08T21:29:00.002-06:00

I posted very little in 2009 and only 2 of these were book reviews, which was the original purpose of this blog. Now, this is not entirely because I wasn't reviewing, it was also because I wasn't reading much either. I was a full time student with two jobs and very little time on my hands, and that's still partly true. Even so, I am opening up the blog for reviews again. My goal is to review every book I read, whether I was in love with it or not. Seeing as I only read nine books last year (seriously, there is something wrong with me, but this is not including comics & manga either), this may not be such a huge task. This is my goal and you can hold me to that.

That said, a review of Justine Larbalestier's Liar will be up later tonight.

Insomnia: What It Is & How to Deal With It

2010-01-02T15:28:00.006-06:00

Despite what WebMD & pharmaceutical companies may lead you to believe, the tiredness you're feeling every now and again may not be insomnia. These days it seems that everyone who is awake at night or is tired in the morning is blaming insomnia for their sleep troubles, and that may not be the case. In a study 23 out of 100 people were found to suffer from insomnia, but what that doesn't tell you is how many suffer from acute or chronic insomnia. What you all are calling insomnia may be a short-term thing or it may just be a lack of sleep or a disturbance in your sleep cycle.

Acute insomnia can last just a few days or be a problem that comes and goes over time. It is caused by stress, pain or discomfort, another medical issue, environmental factors, or a change in your sleep cycle.
Chronic insomnia is long lasting and more severe.

You do not have insomnia if you stay up all night by choice.
You do not have insomnia if you spend the entire night on the internet just because you can.
You do not have insomnia if you wake up tired to your alarm after only four hours of sleep.

Tips for dealing with insomnia:

Stay away from computers, televisions, books, and anything else that may distract you. These only allow you to stay up later and occupy your brain even more. They do not help you sleep. So, really, if you are online talking about how you can't sleep, you're only making it worse for yourself.

Make your bed your sleeping place, not your living space. If you have your bed only for sleeping, your body relates it with sleep instead of awake activities.

Set a schedule, the more you stick to it, the better chance you will have of getting to sleep at night. If you have a lot of trouble falling asleep allow yourself time to do so. The important thing is that you go to bed at the same time every night, whether you are tired or not.

Again with the schedule, do something at night to help you fall asleep that doesn't take too much brain power. I myself pray and go through my day in my head, trying to remember all the good things and not focus on the bad. Another trick I sometimes try is to play the alphabet game with comic/book/tv series. Such as A is for Albus Dumbledore, B is for Buckbeak, C is for Crookshanks, etc etc. It's a personal thing and related to you, but it should not be something that requires a lot of brain power

Do not sleep during the day. If you immediately take a two-hour nap when you get home, is it any wonder you're not tired a few hours later when it's time for bed? I really don't care how tired you are, you are not allowed to sleep during the day.

Allow yourself time to wake in the morning. Remember to stick to that schedule though. If you wake up at the same time every day, you are more likely to wake up feeling rested than if you wake up at 7 one day and 10 the next then maybe 8 the day after that. Consistency is key.

Take warm baths at night about a half hour or an hour before you go to bed as they will help your body relax. Showers are not recommended because they will wake you up, but for some people it works (works for me, but this is not so common). If you have to take a shower every morning to wake yourself up, do not take one before bed and opt for the bath instead. Also, if you need that morning shower, it is still okay to take a bath at night. You are allowed to bathe more than once in 24 hours, you know.

Keep the room quiet and dark. This should go without saying, but really, you would be surprised. Do not have the tv on, do not turn on the radio, and turn off all lights and electronics you can. Sure your lava lamp or Christmas lights may look cool, but they are not helping you sleep. Keep them on during the day, but turn them off at night (this also helps to conserve electricity).

Think about what you are eating and when. If you are eating something close to bedtime that is going to give you heartburn, well, it's not wonder you're not sleeping well. If you eat too much, you might have trouble also. Same goes for not eating anything (and really, you will regret that when you get up in the morning).

This goes along with the above, but avoid caffeine and sugar late in your day as they will only wake the body up even more. Instead try to drink water, non-caffienated warm drinks, or low-sugar fruit juices late at night.

Ultimately, it's something you have to work at each and every day. You can't just fix things overnight and drugs aren't the best option either. You may not even have chronic insomnia to begin with and it may be related to stress or some illness, in which case, you need to deal with that first before you can get decent sleep again.

One more thing, you may not need as much sleep as others do anyway. If you can wake up feeling rested after only five or six hours of sleep, there is nothing wrong with you. Enjoy your extra hours, by all means. Just because you are awake at 2 AM does not mean you are an insomniac. It's when you lay in bed for hours at a time and can't sleep or wake up constantly in the night or feel lethargic and irritable all day long that you have to worry.

And, from the insomniac's point of view, just saying you are an insomniac when really all you are doing is forcing yourself to stay up to watch a tv show or something on youtube? Yeah, we don't like that. And you're not doing yourself any favours either.

NaNoWriMo 09: Tools for Success

2009-11-30T22:31:00.004-06:00

50,000 words in 30 days? Sounds hard right, but it's entirely possible, with the right story, a few good characters, some determination, and a few other things. NaNoWriMo is coming to a close for this year and I've just polled a few of the participants and winners about what they felt helped them the most to get the words out, keep the story going, concentrate, and keep at it all month long. Here's what we, the writers, have to say.

A Good Story - Don't go in unprepared. Sure, I winged half my novel and had no idea where it was going to end, but I did have a clear beginning and a general idea of what was going to happen. Some people outline their entire novel ahead of time and hey, if that works for you, go for it. That does not work for everyone, and even if it does, you may not stick to it. You don't need it all figured out, you just have to love it.

A Support System - NaNo is not for the weak, don't face it alone! It helps a lot if you have other people participating at the same time as you. I think that is a huge part of what got me to the finish line this year, was knowing that my friends were writing away and I would be letting them down. Knowing that they were all cheering me on. Other writers help, but so does a simple support system of friends and family. Be prepared for a lot of people thinking you are crazy, I know my family did/does, but they still asked me every now and again things were going. My mom even asked me about my word count in an attempt to get me working when I was sick as a dog on day 29.

A Sounding Board - In addition to support, find a friend, a fellow writer/nanoer perhaps, that you can bounce ideas off of. I know I would not have been able to work through a few rough patches in my novel (or start actually, starting was hard) without the help of Mike, Jesse, & Jordyn. Sometimes your friends have good suggestions, or maybe you just need to talk things out to see what needs to be done.

Snacks - You need sustenance, don't starve yourself just to finish your novel on time. Plus, I think the simple action of eating something stimulates your brain. A lot of writers turn to candy for this, for me it's tortilla chips. Or maybe gum is more your style, keeping with your diet too (you dedicated person, you).

Drinks - This is just as important as snacks, if not more. Don't let dehydration get you down! Also, most drinks--for writers anyway--involve caffeine. Caffeine is the writer's best friend. It keeps you going, it energizes you (albeit temporarily), and it keeps you up. Or if you are a morning person, it wakes you up. It has been said (I forget which author, forgive me) that writers are simply machines for turning coffee into novels. I don't drink coffee, so I think it's that we process caffeine and output word counts. Also, hot chocolate, iced tea, Gatorade, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola are all very good alternatives to coffee that writers swear by.

Cough Medicine & Vitamin C - This is just me, I think, but if you are caught sick in the middle of NaNo (or at the very end like I was), trust me, these will be your best friends. Take them (within reason, I am not promoting drug abuse here) to get you through it. Your body will thank you for it.

Sleep - You will want to stay up really late on some nights, but if you are falling asleep at the keyboard, those lost hours sleeping will be worth it. When you are tired your brain doesn't function at its best and your novel will suck. You will write things that upon rereading in December will make you question your sanity. You will stop sentences in the middle. You will have random letters from when you literally fell asleep on your keyboard. Sleep is good, try it some time.

Set a time for writing - This doesn't work for everyone, sometimes you just have to write when the moment is right, but with NaNo, you don't always have time for that. Figure out when you write best, whether in the morning, just after lunch, or in the wee hours of the morning when the only other people awake are night guards and those poor souls who work the 24 hour drive thru at McDonald's*

Free Time - Essentially, going along with the previous point, write when you can. If you can fit a few words in on your lunch break, do it. Every word counts. Ray Freisen & I both write really well when traveling, in cars and on planes. Do not do this if you are the driver, of course, but other than that, take advantage of that time, make it worth your while.

No Distractions, No Internet - This is the hardest one for most writers, cutting out the distractions. The wonderful E. Lockhart turned me on to a program called MacFreedom which is cruel, but effective. Basically you turn it on & it locks your internet so that you can't access it until the time is up. You can press all the buttons you can find and scream as much as you want, but it will not let you online. And once you get over how crazymaking that is, it helps. I have also locked myself in Starbucks without internet and managed to knock out 3,000+ words in a single sitting**. But some people honestly cannot do this. I am usually one of those people, I have to admit, but they also need a certain degree of strength. So you can only write in short bursts & need to check your twitter every half hour, okay, but don't check it every half minute.

Music - Another tip that works for some, but not others. Sometimes it just depends on the day. I swear by Explosions in the Sky and whenever I am listening to them, I write really great stuff. Other days I need total silence and have been known to threaten people in order to get it. If it works, do it.

Insanity - It's something all writers throughout history have had: just a little bit of insanity. This is doubly important for NaNo, I believe, because you have to be just a little crazy to want to take on this project

All of that said, there are no clear "do's" and "don'ts" of writing, there is just you and your novel. You know what works for you, so do it. Do whatever it takes.

Congrats to all of those who finished this year! We did it!

*For the record, I appreciate you serving me ice cream, even at 3 AM.
** It helps that Starbucks is magic. They'd have to be, or why would so many writers go there?

Girls and Breaking Out of the Boxes

2009-11-23T20:31:00.006-06:00

I don't normally post anything personal here, but I don't think this is just me and I feel like I should address it somewhere. Here seemed as good a place as any.

My friend Jordyn, of Ten Cent Notes did a piece awhile back that was printed in Red: Teenage Girls in America Write on What Fires Up Their Lives Today and was afterwards interviewed by Bitch Magazine, which you can read here. I have yet to read Jordyn's piece (no worries, I soon will), but the interview struck a chord with me.
This part especially:

On the biggest misconceptions about teenage girls in America: The idea of "pretty or smart." Many girls are both, but everyone gets lumped into one category or the other in spite of it, and sometimes that holds girls back. A lot of times it's hard to step out of the box others put you in, even if you want to, and I think it's especially difficult for girls, because the lines are firmly drawn.

I spoke briefly with Jordyn after she posted that, telling her how I liked that bit and we had this little interchange over twitter:

Jordyn: I've had guys tell me that I "look smart". I kind of figured that was code for "boring". lol
Me: I've gotten both, but never at the same time. I'm either smart & boring/nothing special, or I'm pretty with nothing to offer. And I really hate that. I want someone to think I'm pretty (even when I don't) and to tell me I'm special (even when I'm not).

And, honestly guys? I don't think that's too far off from what most girls want. This is also something that I believe most girls have dealt with in life, too, and not just in high school. From the time we are young we, as girls and boys, are taught a duality for how women are to be perceived. It's something women have fought against for a long time, but has become so engrained in our lifestyles and in the media that it's hard to break free from it. There are the pretty girls, and there are the smart girls. But do we ever look at a pretty girl, say, the homecoming queen, and think "wow she's so intelligent"? Or look at a really smart girl, the bookworm in your calculus class with the glasses, and talk about how gorgeous she is? I don't see a lot of that happening around here, to be honest.

As I mentioned in the quote above, I've been perceived as both pretty and smart, but never can I think of an instance where it has happened at the same time. I have had guys come up to me and hit on me without ever having spoken to me, because they think I'm pretty (and for the record, I hate that). I'm more than my looks, and I want people to see that. Or sometimes I write something really great, or give a good speech, and someone tells me how smart I am. Like Jordyn, I feel that the word "smart" can sometimes mean "boring." Smart girls aren't exactly known for having fun or being fun, and in the media especially, they are rarely portrayed as pretty.

So we get put into boxes, like Jordyn says, and we feel like we're stuck there. Sometimes, we are--but that's only because the girl accepts her fate to remain there. A "smart" girl gives up on her looks, why should she bother if no one is going to notice? A "pretty" girl gives up on her studies. Why does it matter when everyone tells her she can get by without them? It's a cycle spurred on by those very same girls who are trapped within it.

I'm not saying we can start a revolution here, because that can't happen overnight. What we can do though, is start with one girl. Maybe it's a guy telling the bookworm she's pretty, maybe it's telling the model that something she said had depth and meaning. There are girls like that out there, most girls are not one or the other, despite which box she's been thrown into. All a girl wants is to be accepted for all that she is, not for one quality or the other, and we should be able to see that in them. Not only that, but we should tell them, because sometimes they've been in one box too long to see that they can break free. The pretty girls don't always think they are pretty, and the smart girls don't always feel so smart. Sometimes, all a person needs is someone else to remind them of how great they are. That's not such a hard thing to do. It's a start, anyway.

Thoughts on the subject? Experience with it? Share them in the comments please!

NaNoWriMo 09: Zenith, Favourite Lines Chapters 10-19

2009-11-12T22:20:00.006-06:00

Chapter 10
He didn’t fit people into social classes or jobs, but rather roles. Acting roles, and even though he couldn’t figure out the genre of the film yet, he knew that Risty was born to be a leading lady. She was never going to play a supporting role, to anyone.

Chapter 11
"...He was a bit off his nut, that one, but that’s why we loved him I suppose. He was a lot of fun at parties, if nothing else.” Gramps laughed to himself, remembering family and times long since past.

Chapter 12
"There would be special effects explosions of extreme proportions and bright flashes of colour in intense paka-paka sequences.

Chapter 13
Risty was not at all like them, she was strange and mysterious and very serious, but she had managed to open his eyes at the same time so that he was finally able to see what had been in front of him all along.

Chapter 14
Risty Alexander thinks about the bigger picture and conspiracy theories and does not have time to think about the little things, or the little aspiring directors, in life.

Chapter 15
“No one has a perfect life, Rob. No one has a perfect family. No one is exactly as they seem.”

Chapter 16
"It wasn’t just my shoes that were specially designed for the job, I was.”

Chapter 17
“I was a coward once, Rob,” Risty said, her eyes locking with his, softer for a second. “Just once, but that’s all it took.”

Chapter 18
This would not have happened, this moment here in the barn, but neither would the hundred others in the last week, the ones he wanted to remember.

Chapter 19
Whatever it was, it was to blame for hundreds of deaths, and he didn’t want to add his own to the list. He was a director, not a stunt man.

Chapter 20
“But that’s why we’re going to get through this, so that we can still be around for a very long time and you’ll eventually learn to trust me. I can wait.”

NaNoWriMo 09: Zenith, Favourite Lines Chapters 1-9

2009-11-12T22:13:00.001-06:00

I've been posting my favourite/oddest sentences on my tumblr & I thought since I never update here, I'd share them all with you folks as well.

Chapter 1
“So, Rob Mason, what do you know about hobo-eating alligators?”

Chapter 2
She didn’t understand potatoes the way they did.
((I spend an awful lot of time talking about that silly potato))

Chapter 3
That one message, twelve lines long, had broken the strong old man.

Chapter 4
Everything was traded for safety. It was the one thing they had in abundance these days, if nothing else.

Chapter 5
“The price of convenience,” she said scornfully. “Everything is so convenient and so fast, and we lose sight of what’s really important anymore..."

Chapter 6
“Ah yes, those ever important minutes we’re saving with everything these days,” she commented. “Pretty soon we’ll have one thousand four hundred and forty of them, all to ourselves, to do whatever we wish.”

Chapter 7
“Do you remember that day?” Risty asked suddenly. She sat down in the clovers and continued staring up at the clouds.
“Which day?”
She turned her head quickly and looked him dead in the eye. “The day the sky fell.”

Chapter 8
Sometimes sharing a loss made it easier to lose, even if you had just met the person you’d be sharing with. They both needed something, and maybe the other one could help with it.

Chapter 9
It had a thermometer, barometer, seismometer, and every other kind of -ometer a man could have need for, and a screen to monitor them all from.

NaNoWriMo 09: Do you do research?

2009-11-12T22:05:00.000-06:00

And if you do, what sorts of things do you research? Do you only look up the really big things, or the small things too?

I seem to research only really odd things.

My list so far consists of (but is not limited to): potatoes, the great Irish potato famine, the Great Chicago Fire, maglev trains, the history of flight, airplanes, train bombings across the world (especially those in London, New York, & Moscow), clouds, crop circles, & urban legends.

I'm pretty sure my novel is the first thing to combine all of those together.

Reading Meme

2009-09-16T10:33:00.002-05:00

You ever realize most of my entries start with "I'm not dead" or "Sorry I haven't been around"? Yeah...if you miss me, check out my twitter, my tumblr, & my livejournal. There's also the 5NerdsomeWriters, where I post on Tuesday. Actually, all the blogs I would normally put up here, tend to go there, which is why you're not seeing them very often. So if you're used to my regular chatter about books, publishing trends, & mass communication, you might want to check that out. Be sure to read the other girls' posts as well, because they're amazing.

Anyway, here's a book reader meme I snagged from Jordyn of Ten Cent Notes.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Chances are, I am always snacking, especially while reading. The better the book, the less I snack because I start to forget about food, haha.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you?
I would never ever ever write in a book! I might put in sticky notes if it were for a class, but generally if I feel like making notes, I open up a file on my computer to keep track. This is usually how I start my reviews.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
Generally bookmarks. And by bookmarks I mean anything I can find that is flat. Sometimes I will not use anything and just trust myself to be able to find the right page, but sometimes that can be tricky.

Laying the book flat open?
Absolutely not! It ruins the covers & spines of the books, and I can't stand that.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Fiction, but every now & again I'll read some nonfic if it's good & looks interesting. Or is on a subject I really enjoy.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy. I don't really like audiobooks all that much. They're convenient for someone like me who rarely has a minute to breathe, but at the same time, the voice, tone, & style of the reader on the tape has too great of an influence on the person listening. I think people should be able to make those distinctions for themselves.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
I can put it down whenever, and generally have to. My life doesn't always accommodate me enough time to finish chapters.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
Generally I just keep on reading & can infer from the context what it is supposed to me, and I'll maybe look it up later. If I'm near my computer, I might look it up right then.

What are you currently reading?
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

What is the last book you bought?
I just had a birthday last month & got a few gift cards, which I used to buy an array of books. I purchased 2 EL Koningsburg books, City of Ember, The Book Thief, Memoirs of a Teenaged Amnesiac, & I think one other but I can't remember.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I can and do read more than one at a time.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
Any time, anywhere. Though I seem to most read when I am waiting in lines or in cars.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
It depends on the book. Some series should have been stand alones, some stand alone books I wish were series.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
I am constantly recommending The Great Gatsby, Looking for Alaska, anything by Maureen Johnson, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, & The Higher Power of Lucky

Liar in the Publishing Industry

2009-08-02T12:10:00.002-05:00

For my 5NerdsomeWriters post for video week, I decided to talk about Justine Larbalestier's new book Liar, and the recent controversy surrounding its cover. Enjoy.

5 YA Crushes

2009-06-28T22:34:00.003-05:00

I have more than 5, but that is not how the meme works. Jordyn over at Ten Cent Notes posted a list of the 5 guys in YA that she does and does not like the most and challenged the rest of us to do the same, so here are mine. If I wanted to make this really, really easy I could just pick one guy from every Maureen Johnson book & be done with it (and still have books left over) but I won't do that.

Just to name a few...
1. Spencer from Suite Scarlett
He. Is. AMAZING. He is sweet, smart, funny, and he can do a prat fall. And ride a unicycle! This is the boy for me. I was in love from his very first line, I swear.

2. Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series
He's old, yeah, but whatevs, I don't care, I love this dude. Really smart, totally caring, and solves all your problems with chocolate.

3. Tom from Magic or Madnes
He's just fantastic. And he can sew. Although I have to admit, I fangirl him less & less as the series goes on. Probably because I don't like who he ends up with. (I like HER, I just don't like him with her)

4. Gavin from Shrinking Violet
I've always had a thing for guitarists, you know.

5. Hunter from So Yesterday
So he can be a bit of a wimp, but I'm willing to help him become braver. Still, he's smart as heck and nerdy, but also sweet. Good guy.

Guys I find very over-rated.
1. Edward Cullen. He's a creep, a stalker, & a pedophile. And a tonne of other things like those.
2. Harry Potter. I cannot stand him towards the end of the series. Honestly, where's the appeal?
3. Sirius Black. Even more-so than Harry. So many people are in love with him and I just don't get it! (double for Snape)
4. Victor from Runaways (totally counts). He is a robot, okay, got it...what else ya got?
5. Speaking of Marvel characters, why Wolverine?!! I never understood this. EVAH.

Review: Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

2009-06-22T22:45:00.004-05:00

Shrinking Violet is the debut novel by Danielle Joseph and it is definitely a strong start to what looks to be a promising career as a YA novelist! The story is about a young girl named Tere who has a problem: she is painfully shy. Still, all she wants is to become a radio DJ. It's a bit hard to talk to hundreds when she can barely talk to anyone outside of her best friend and Gavin--the cute boy in her English class--but when an opportunity to work at her stepfather's radio station presents itself, she doesn't hesitate to take it. Tere spends her next few weeks interning on a somewhat sleezy DJ, Derek's show until one of the other DJs drops out of his slot. Tere steps in to help one of the producers do the show and soon enough she's part of the show! But Tere's dream isn't all it could be. Her radio persona, Sweet T, becomes quite popular and Derek takes the liberty to offer her up in a contest. Whomever writes the best love song to Sweet T gets to take her to her senior prom. Only Tere doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to reveal herself, she doesn't want to go with a stranger. Truthfully she wants to go with someone else. So does she get out of it, or does she find her voice? You'll have to read to find out.

I really love this book, and I gratefully thank Danielle Joseph for sending me a copy (I won it off her blog). Tere is such a sweet, genuine character. She feels real to me, and that's the strongest part of this book. Gavin also feels real and I wish I had known a boy like him in high school. I admit that the ending was a little bit predictable, but I'm generally good at guessing these things, and I loved it anyway. In fact, I was hoping the whole time for it. There was a point where I got worried that it wouldn't happen even! Music plays a big part in this book and I'm left wishing that it came with a soundtrack. I especially want to hear the entry about Sweet T's favorite foods, that part made me laugh in the book. I also want to hear the band Shrinking Violet. In this book Tere became a good friend to me and it was nice watching her mature and change and truly "find her voice." The story is part finding yourself, part going after your dreams, and part adorable love story.

I highly recommend this book (twice today...so far), especially to anyone who loves YA and those cute Shojo-like books. It's a fabulous book that is wonderfully written with amazing, realistic characters that is sure to cheer you up and leaving you with a happy feeling and a need for more! Hopefully we'll see more from Danielle Joseph in the very near future.

4 Ways to Win a Copy of Scarlett Fever!

2009-06-22T20:08:00.003-05:00

I care about you, readers, which is why I will never fail to tell you about a way to win something awesome. Today's awesome object is a copy of Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johson! Here's a few ways to win, and all you have to do is comment on these pages!

Frenetic Reader
Carrie's YA Bookshelf
Tower of Books
GreenBeatTeenQueen

Go go go! I wish you all the best of luck! :)

Link: Contest: 20 Boy Summer Goody Bag!

2009-05-22T20:09:00.003-05:00

Are you excited for 20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler? No? You should be! Go read the excerpt on Sarah's website. Okay, are you excited now? Good. Now let's add to that excitement with a little contest, hosted by the Beautiful Creatures Book Club. Enter the contest by leaving a comment on their blog, and earn extra entry points through a variety of ways. Contest prizes include an ARC of 20 Boy Summer, a lovely seaglass bracelet, a notebook, a California postcard, a beach bag, and blue frosting flavored lip gloss. I think, honestly, the lip gloss is my favorite part. Go read the excerpt if you want to know why.
Anyway, contest is this way. GOOD LUCK!

In related news, I bought 20 Boy Summer at Barnes & Noble today! It hit the shelves early (original pub date 1 June) in some stores, so maybe it's out by you too! I'm glad I found it before the long weekend, because I'll be at my aunt's house and on a few long car trips, so this is great! I'm also 1/3rd of the way done with Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph which I will finish tonight or tomorrow, so that's also awesome. I love books, especially debs from such nice authors!

You can follow both Sarah & Danielle on twitter! @sarahockler and @DanielleJoseph1

Money Issues in YA vs Adult Books

2009-05-21T22:33:00.004-05:00

I generally reserve this blog for reviews, links, and other "formal" bookish stuff. In my mind there are "blogs" and then there's stuff to put up on my LiveJournal. I'm going to try to redefine my idea of "blog" this summer and work more personal thoughts into this, instead of only reviews. Whenever I want to say something about a book or literature, I will say it. I'll still leave out spoilers, of course.

Generally, I believe that children's literature (including Young Adult) holds more positive qualities than adult literature does, but this isn't the case in all areas. The biggest thing for me, lately, is that in regards to money, adult books seem more realistic. There's a simple reason for this: adults worry about money more. Because they spend their lives working for that money, and they have to pay the bills for water, heat, electricity, medical, insurance, etc etc etc. Then they have to buy groceries and toilet paper and rubber bands. Whatever. The point is, adults are constantly aware of how much money is going in, and how much money is going out. This is reflected in book catered to the adult audience. We see many issues of money in this genre: characters needing to pay rent, or trying to get a raise, worrying about how they'll pay their medical bills whenever something goes wrong.

In children's books, you don't see this. First off, because children don't pay their own expenses, they rely on their parents. This doesn't mean that children don't worry about money. When do we get to read the stories about the child who hides in the bathroom for the first ten minutes of lunch period so they can be at the end of the food line so that no one is around to hear them when they tell the lunch lady they get a free lunch? The story of the kid who has to buy all their clothes at the second-hand store and purchase all their shoes a size or two larger because they can't afford new things all the time? The kid who doesn't go to birthday parties just so they don't have to show up without a gift because the family couldn't afford one?
We don't read these stories very often. I think the main reason of this is that children who are reading the books don't want to read about those problems all the time--especially if they're living them. They might just want to escape the problem, put themselves in place of the main character, and live like royalty for a few hours. That's totally understandable.

With YA however, I see it a little differently. Young adults are no longer children, but not yet adults. They're somewhere in the middle, age-wise, and in this issue as well. Or, at least, in my opinion, they should be. That doesn't mean that they are. This is the age, especially in the later teens, that one gets their first job and starts to pay some things on their own. Sure, these things may just be movie tickets or new cds (assuming they even buy hard copies anymore), but it's their own money, and they need to keep track of it. Even still, you don't see this as much as you would expect. Yes, in John Green's Looking For Alaska this issue is tackled through The Colonel, who is always having Pudge pay for his cigarettes because he can't afford them. We go to his trailer even. But the thing is, the Colonel, much as I love him, is not the main character here. He's not the narrator either. It's all Pudge, and Pudge has the money to pay for cigarettes for both of them, to pay for McDonald's, and his family can easily afford the private school. Generally, the main characters have money. This may also go back to how poverty-stricken children want to escape their money issues through literature, but it may just be a way to make things easier on the author. Things are so much easier to get going if the character can afford them.

Still, there are books that address these issues, I'm not saying there aren't. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson is a great example. The family is having financial troubles and are barely keeping their head above water at the point where the story begins. The hotel is beginning to fall into disrepair and we see the ways this impacts the family members. It's great, and more than that, it's believable. It's something that some of us can relate to. So why aren't there more books out there like this one? Why do our main characters always have to be upper middle class with spare cash and cars (even if they're not new)? Will books featuring a few money issues (even small ones) become more popular in our current economic situation, or will we see rise to more books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where the poor boy finds the golden ticket--a way to rise above the current situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything mentioned. Leave them in the comments.

Interview: Hilary!

2009-05-17T19:17:00.002-05:00

And the children's book week interviews continue! Sorry I haven't posted every day, exams were rough and so was school. Why is there so much stuff going on at the end of the year, by the way? That's crazy! Why can't they give us some things like like, early March when we are dying of cabin fever?

Today's interview is with my fellow Nerdwriter, Hilary! She blogs on Fridays for the 5NerdsomeWriters, so check her out!

Jez: First off, what is your favorite book in either children's lit or young adult literature? Why?
Hilary: Hmmm.."Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. It was so intresting I couldn't put it down,

Jez: Is this the same book you loved as a child, or has that changed over the years?
Hilary: Oh, it's changed over the years. I used to hate reading as a kid.

Jez: Is there any book that stands out that really impacted you, either positively or negatively? Any books that you associate with a specific time in your life?
Hilary: Again, "Speak" because it is one of two books that made me like reading again. This being my freshman year of high school and all.

Jez: What was your favorite book that you had to read in school?
Hilary: "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. It was really "for" school, but my freshman english teacher assigned us to read it. It's now one of my favorite books.

Jez: What do you love most about children's literature? Do you think this gives it an advantage over adult literature?
Hilary: I love how classy and predictable it is for the most part. It has advantages because it deals with a certain group of people, those beginning to read by his or herself with different ranges, without being explicit.

Jez: What is the most important lesson you have learned from a book?
Hilary: Oh god, I never remember. I'm terrible like that.

Jez: Who is your favorite character, or which one do you identify with the most?
Hilary: Margo Roth Spigelman from John Green's "Paper Towns." I love her character. She's just really fun and interesting to read, and mysterious. Even if we're nothing really alike in real life.

I'm starting to get the feeling that I am a lesser person for not having read Speak. I'm sure Hilary will now try to force me to. :)

Another Chance to Win!

2009-05-13T20:18:00.003-05:00

Didn't win Danielle Joseph's Shrinking Violet (btw, I did!) or the copy of How to Buy a Love of Reading that Jordyn was giving away? Fear not, there's another chance for you to win something! Jordyn, of Ten Cent Notes is holding another contest! This time it's for Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix, which has a fabulous looking cover. Pon is another debut novelist, so let's show her our support, okay? Plus, free stuff, what's not to love?

Check out the contest here.

Interview: Christina

2009-05-12T23:24:00.002-05:00

For Children's Book Week I am interviewing basically anyone who wants to be interviewed about their favorite children's/YA books and about the genres themselves. Today we start with one of my best friends, Christina, who asked me to let her do this. So, here we go, my first reader interview!

Jez: First off, what is your favorite book in either children's lit or young adult literature? Why?
Chris: Stargirl. Has wonderful, colorful characters. ♥ Great story. I also really like A Great and Terrible Beauty.

Jez: Is this the same book you loved as a child, or has that changed over the years?
Chris: Not the same books I loved as a child--my books changed with interest. From silly ones: I SPY, ghost stories to Nancy Drew, Stable Club, Babysitters Club...I've always gravitated towards books with great female leads, though. I always loved the Bernstein Bears though (♥ ).

Jez: Is there any book that stands out that really impacted you, either positively or negatively? Any books that you associate with a specific time in your life?
Chris: There was this riddle book I read in the first grade called "Who am I?" I was obsessed with solving the riddle, and read it a bunch of times in the library. That was when I didn't like reading that much at all. I think that's why I got really into Nancy Drew books, because they were great mysteries. I got totally engrossed, and wanted to be just like Nancy--smart and stylish (check!). I think she was a good role model for babyChris. I remember I really liked those historical diary books. I own 4 or 5 and have read a lot of them.

Jez: What was your favorite book that you had to read in school?
Chris: I can't remember any YA books I had to read in school, except for The Diary of Ann Frank and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I don't think I liked reading those very much. Read them in...3rd or 4th grade for Excel.
Jez: I'm going to assume that Excel was like super honors, because those are tough books to read as a 3rd grader. I think this is sort of like the Giver in that you can technically "read" it as a young child, but you don't understand the full magnitude (Ann Frank-Holocaust; Giver-Communism) until you are much older.

Jez: What do you love most about children's literature? Do you think this gives it an advantage over adult literature?
Chris: Children's literature is incredibly creative--you don't get as much in adult literature. It relies heavily on the child's imagination and really good books set off some spark--the want to write, draw, play, act, do scientific experiments, solve mysteries, or even make awesome flying crafts out of paper and balloons (thank you, BB). Adult literature is way too serious for its subjects--children's literature can be as goofy as green apes (grapes) and still be effective in conveying a message. Kid's books seem more fun to write, too. P:

Jez: What is the most important lesson you have learned from a book?
Chris: Generation Dead taught me that not all books about zombies are worth reading. Harry Potter told me that magic is everywhere, just hiding from us Muggles. Stargirl said that being myself is the most fun. Flipped reminded me that young love is foolish and funny in its own naive way. A Great and Terrible Beauty showed me that you can create your own paradise as long as you have friends, magic, and the courage to take responsibility for it.
Jez: We've argued zombies before, and you know I don't like zombie books, so we'll skip past that and move on.

Jez: Who is your favorite character, or which one do you identify with the most?
Chris: My favorite character is Stargirl. The most amusing person, I think we would get along swimmingly and be the best of friends. :D
Jez: The potential best friend character seems to be the reason why we pick some of our favorite characters. I mean, I'd give anything to be best friends with Mandie, Claudia, Lincoln, or Ms Frizzle. Of course, I'd like to be most of them also, which is another reason we go towards certain characters.

A big, extra-sized thank you to Christina for ~~forcing me~~ being the first reader interview here at TypesetWorld! You're the best, darling!

Children's Book Week, May 11-17 2009

2009-05-11T22:06:00.004-05:00

Today marks the first day of Children's Book Week 2009 and I'm pretty excited for it this year. I have a few things planned and will try my best to post every day this week (exam week actually gives you time, go figure).

To kick things off, what are some of your favorite children's books, and why do you love them? You need not rate them if that's too hard, all you need to do is name a few off the top of your head.

Growing up I remember loving quite a few books, but some stood out more than others. First, there was the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard. My grandmother gave me Mandie and the Jumping Juniper (book 17) for Christmas one year and gave a different Mandie book to each of the girls from my generation. I read through mine and loved it, then I read through my sister's (which I loved more to be honest). Eventually I read through all 40 books, plus the special, the Young Mandie series, and now New Horizons. It actually kind of breaks my heart that I will never know what happens to my favorite young detective (and which guy she ultimately ends up with) because the wonderful author, Ms Leppard passed away last year. I really wish I could have met her and thanked her for how much this series has done for me and all the hard times it got me through. I owe her so much.

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll was another book that I read and reread constantly. The copy I owned had once belonged to my great (or possibly great-great) grandmother. It was leather bound and small enough to fit in my pocket, and believe me, I carried it every where. I remember one Spring I kept it in my coat pocket and any time I was in a car or a line, I would pull it out and read from wherever I had left off previously. I still own the copy, though I must admit that it is torn and ragged and the front cover fell off. I no longer read that one, but keep it safe, and own a brand-new hardcover version that comes with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I credit this book with first getting me to enjoy reading, and also to enjoy fantasy.

Holes by Louis Sachar holds a very special place in my heart as well. I'm feeling a little old now because I remember reading this book many times when I was younger, and just October I met Louis Sachar on the 10th Anniversary of his publication of Holes. I first saw it at a book fair and I'm not sure whether I chose it or my mother chose it for me, but somehow I ended up with my own copy. And we read it in school. My best memory, however, is after my mother read it, she decided to read it to the rest of the family. We would sit down together for dinner at that time (something we haven't done in ages now, I admit) and every night she would read us the next chapter of the book. Afterwards, we would discuss it, and sometimes convince her to read a second chapter. It really brought my family together, even for a short time. The Anniversary Tour was great because I was able to go with my mother and my brother (who, coincidentally was reading it in school at that time), so it was something we could share again, 10 years later, though there were only 3 of us instead of 7. Mr. Sachar is a wonderful man, as well. On that night we were also introduced to Small Steps which I had always known about, but had never known was related to Holes--this book is equally brilliant, though completely other.

It's no secret that these days I'm completely in love with Susan Patron's The Higher Power of Lucky, and more recently, its sequel, Lucky Breaks. The messages of these books are so strong and the books are wonderfully and uniquely written as well. Patron's characters stand out among some of my favorite, especially the knot-tying Lincoln. You can read reviews I've written about her books here on my blog (Lucky Breaks was my last post). Ms Patron is a lovely person too, and recently friended me on facebook, which was quite a treat for me.

So, what are some of your favorites? Which ones should I be reading (and reviewing)?

For more information on Children's Book Week, please visit the official webpage. Be sure to check there for events in your area as well!

Review: Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron

2009-05-05T23:14:00.004-05:00

I am currently writing an essay on this book, but I thought a regular review would be necessary for the time being. The first part is actually part of my essay, honestly. The rest of it is the pared down, spoiler-free version. Enjoy!

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron (Sequel to The Higher Power of Lucky)

All our favorite characters from The Higher Power of Lucky are back, and a little bit older. For Lucky, these past few months have all been leading up to one big thing: her 11th birthday, and 11 is a very big deal. Sometimes though, growing up isn't so easy. Up until now, even through loosing her mother and gaining a guardian, Lucky has had one constant in her life: Lincoln. At eleven-and-a-half Lincoln has gained some popularity in the knot-tying community (of which he is the youngest official member) and has been talking with the best knot tier in the world, Mr. Budworth, who has offered to let Lincoln stay with them for the summer--maybe even the full year. Loosing Lincoln would be to loose a part of herself, so Lucky doesn't take too well to this. Just the next day though, a group of geologists arrive at Brigitte's new open-air café, one of them bringing along his niece, Paloma, a girl the same age as Lucky. Could this be an opportunity for a new best friend--a best girl friend--that Lucky has been wanting? What will this mean for her and Lincoln? And what happens when a simple treasure hunt in the desert goes wrong?

Hands down, the absolute best part of this book for me was the characters. They were so realistic that I feel like I know them. (And yes, I will admit that I could easily fall for an older version of Lincoln) Lucky was especially well-done and her character showed a lot of depth, and more importantly, was perfect for the age she was supposed to be. Sometimes when authors make their main characters children they make them too young or too old, because it's been so long since they were that age themselves that it's hard to remember. And it's very easy to make your character older to make it easier for them to understand things, as well. I admit that at times I felt Lincoln came off as too old to be only eleven (and a half), but at the same time, I do think there are some young boys out there who are like that. On the other hand, Lucky was undoubtedly eleven. Her "meanness gland" that would crop up at certain times, her need to impress and be close to Paloma, her questioning whether or not she or her friends are good enough, and the fact that she lets her emotions get the best of her prove this fact to me. Paloma was another great character and at first I wanted to not like her, but I think this is impossible. She's so sweet and kind-hearted--and smart too--and makes a great addition to the cast. One thing I didn't like, however, was how Miles was suddenly portrayed as a genius. There is nothing in the previous book that would lead us to think this, and very little in the second as well (aside from his reading of Brain Surgery for Beginners), so to this reader, it just seemed tossed in as an after-thought.

The plot flowed very nicely in this book and had many different strands that all tied together nicely at the end. The book opens with Miles retelling a story that Short Sammy told him about a beautiful woman in the mining days of Hard Pan that died tragically while two men fought over her, and how half of her brooch fell down the well. Lucky wants to look for the brooch, but Lincoln discourages her. This seems to be the end of it for awhile, lost in the background while Paloma takes center stage, but the story comes back later on and is a huge part of this book. The same goes for Lincoln's ever-constant net and Short Sammy's mysterious box. These are frequently mentioned, but not explained until the end of the book when Lucky is given the answers. I particularly liked Short Sammy's small side story because it worked into the first book so well.

I love Patron's style in this series and how it reflects Lucky's personality and interests. The way she ties together science and childhood imagination is wonderful and entertaining. I enjoyed seeing Lucky's list of the similarities between herself and Charles Darwin because it brought back her interest in him, and also reminded me of the list she made at the beginning of Higher Power about how to be a good mother.

Overall, I loved this book and couldn't put it down. It is a great read for middle graders, many of whom are struggling with the same problems that Lucky does--or even perhaps the same problem as Lincoln does. Additionally, it is fun and entertaining, with many parts that will make you laugh out loud. The ending, in particular, is quite heart-warming as well. I highly recommend this book (and its predecessor) to anyone ages 8-80. Rack up another win for Ms Patron!

On a side note, Matt Phelan's art is spectacular and gorgeous. This is one of my favorite pieces of cover art overall; beautiful.

Link: Contest: Free Copy of Shrinking Violet!

2009-05-05T17:16:00.004-05:00

I read about Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph on the Simon & Schuester website a little while ago & I liked the premise! I've been waiting for this one to come out, and now Danielle is offering a free copy on her website! All you have to do is link to the contest. Go check it out!

About the Book (official): High school senior Teresa Adams is so painfully shy that she dreads speaking to anyone in the hallways or getting called on in class. But in the privacy of her bedroom with her iPod in hand, she rocks out -- doing mock broadcasts for Miami's hottest FM radio station, which happens to be owned by her stepfather. When a slot opens up at The SLAM, Tere surprises herself by blossoming behind the mike into confident, sexy Sweet T -- and to everyone's shock, she's a hit! Even Gavin, the only guy in school who she dares to talk to, raves about the mysterious DJ's awesome taste in music. But when The SLAM announces a songwriting contest -- and a prom date with Sweet T is the grand prize -- Sweet T's dream could turn into Tere's worst nightmare...

Why You Shouldn't Trust Amazon Reviews (Or Lucky Breaks Pt 1)

2009-05-04T21:47:00.002-05:00

Today I have been working on a very in-depth review (or essay?) on Susan Patron's Lucky Breaks which I finished reading last week. While I was taking a break from writing, I decided to see what other reviewers had to say about the book and google brought me to the amazon reviews page. Now, I don't usually read amazon reviews, but I decided to check these out. I remember now why I don't read these: they're not accurate and can't always be trusted.

With reviews, you have to remember that generally they are one's own opinion and are therefore subject to the reviewer's tastes. So you can read a whole load of bad reviews for a book, and then read the book for yourself and end up loving it. The opposite is true also. So, when reading reviews, always take them with a grain of salt.

Now, in my opinion, a good reviewer doesn't just give their opinion, they give a synopsis of the book--without spoiling anyone--and also comment on a few things other than their likes or dislikes. They should mention the flow, the character designs & changes, the style, syntax, strength and continuity of the plot, etc. And you generally can't get that from a review on amazon.

Another thing I ran into was that these reviewers don't always have their facts straight. In a review of Lucky Breaks someone described Brigitte as both Lucky's stepmom and her mother, of which she is neither. She is Lucky's guardian; a woman from France who was once (but is no longer) married to Lucky's father before he married (and left) Lucky's mother. It's all right there in the beginning of The Higher Power of Lucky if you bother to read it. It is also mentioned a few times in Lucky Breaks. I say this only because it is vital to understanding Lucky and Brigitte and their relationship together.

The same reviewer seems to think that Lucky Breaks was only about a quickly formed friendship between Lucky and Paloma and Lucky getting in a spot of trouble (which they spoil, but I will not). Also, that Higher Power of Lucky was simply Lucky trying to figure out what a Higher Power was after overhearing it in a 12 Steps meeting. Yes, these things happen, but they are not what the book is all about. The first book was about survival, trust, and family (even if they aren't blood relations). The second book is about the bonds of friendship, self-confidence, and growing up, with some more about trust and family as well. If you think Lucky Breaks was simply about Lucky and Paloma's "treasure hunt" I seriously question your ability to read a book and fully understand it, as well as question you in your review.

Generally, I don't think there are enough good book reviewers out there, at least not in the places people are looking. Let's face it, people do read amazon reviews as a way of choosing whether or not the book is worth the money. I think it's really unfortunate that the reviews they are reading are of such low quality and are seriously selling the book short. The worse the review, the less likely someone is to give the book a chance, and then a good number of amazing literature gets lost in the shuffle.

Technology & its Influence on Publishing

2009-05-04T18:53:00.002-05:00

[Originally posted 21 April 09 on the 5NerdsomeWriters collaborative blog.]

Last week I finished reading The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot and I loved it. I loved the main character for her gumption (though she could be irrational at times), her best friend for her fiery spirit, and John for being an all around great guy, even if he lied from the very beginning. I liked watching the story unfold and seeing how a web of lies can ruin things for a character. Most of all, I liked seeing how they entire book was presented through a series of emails. And I do mean the entire book. Not one bit of dialogue or pretty prose outside of those emails interchanged. It meant that we might not get all the details we wanted in a certain situation, but we got to read a book in a new way, something fresh and modern. I'm not saying I want all books to be written in this format--in fact, far from, because I would really hate that--but it was neat to see it here.

As some of you know (because I brag on Twitter...sorry) I'm a beta reader for Jordyn Turney's novel-in-progress Love or Something Like It (LOLSI for short, we realize that is not the correct acronym). Her novel is presented in a very similar way, but I think for a better reason. LOLSI uses not only email, but IM, Facebook, & Twitter as well. Why? Because the main characters are teens and this is how they communicate with each other. These two aren't exactly the first of their kind to come about, there have been others (like Lauren Myracle's TTYL which I want to read soon). Like I mentioned with LOLSI, the format really has to fit the book for it to work, but at the same time, I'm predicting an increase in sales in these kinds of books because they are the social norm for teens and even juvenile readers these days--that's how they understand messages, so why not publish their books in that format? But y'know, if you're writing about 18th century England? I don't think IM is the correct format for your book, just saying.

It just goes to show how technology has a huge effect on the publishing industry and books. Before the printing press the majority of people were illiterate because why should they learn to read when there were no books available? Also, you couldn't be sure of the exact meaning of a text because new copies were made (and often translated) by monks who would change the wording or the meaning to reflect their personal and religious beliefs. Beowulf is a perfect example of that. Even after the printing press, not many knew how to read, it wasn't until the Turks invaded that books and technology returned to the western world (they called them the dark ages for a reason, it was like we went back 1000 years in time, lost a lot of tech & literature). And now books are in decline again, taking a back seat to anything electronic (though ebooks have yet to pass hard copies, thankfully), and someday, who knows? Maybe we won't have books anymore, at least, not in the format we know them as. At the same time, it is equally possible that books will outlast modern technology, seeing how long they've lasted already. Only time will tell.

[On a side note, my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel had some parts that were presented in facebook messages or IM because that's what the characters used. I doubt this book will ever make it to publication though because I doubt I'll ever want to finish it. 2/3rds through the month I started to hate it, soo...yeah. Not gonna happen.]

Okay, that got a little long, but I'm serious when I say it could have been much longer if I talked about all the technological advances (even just the big ones) and historical events that affected publishing and literacy throughout history. I know a lot...on the bright side I'll pass my theatre history test this unit!

My Depressing Taste in Reading

2009-05-04T18:41:00.003-05:00

I think I mentioned this before, but I am really bad about blogging on more than one site at a time. This one has been the one that has (unfortunately) been neglected. And most of the things I've been posting belong here more than anywhere else, so I'll be adding them all here in the next few days.

My top 3 favorite books (one for each level of reading):
Adult: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
YA: Looking for Alaska by John Green
Children: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
(spoilers for Alaska & Gatsby will follow)

+ Gatsby: Main character dies
+ Alaska: A main character dies
+ Lucky: How to get on after a loved one dies

In one chapter of my book CT, Ciera requests Erin to bring her a few books. They include: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, Charlotte's Web by EB White, & Feed by MT Anderson. (short list, she may request more, idk) Why? Because she wants to read books that deal with death, because she herself has to deal with it.

Let's look at my own writings, shall we?
CT: About death & how we deal with loved ones dying
The Conqueror: a civil war/power struggle; Many loved ones died in "The Overthrow"; death & how to move on afterwards (Basically it's the story of the people caught in the crossfire)
You Always Knew*: Just go read this one, okay? It's short (and leave comments here if you have any, that journal is no longer used)
The Elementist: Not a major theme or anything, but Tara has to deal with her mom remarrying a few years after her dad's death. (Note: This is the comedy of the group; totally satirical & funny, not depressing)

And then we have Marhsall Manor where OMG NO ONE DIES. But it's still about a kind of loss, but regaining it. Basically that old theme of Love Always Wins in the End. It's HAPPY.

*My only published piece. In a high school literary magazine. Made it past query & full request, but was ultimately turned down for a proper publication.

So, we can all agree now that I am completely morbid and move on. That is all. :)

Oh! And if you could recommend any books like those listed above, that would be great.

Link: Contest: How to Win a Love of Reading

2009-05-03T21:34:00.003-05:00

Over on Ten Cent Notes the ever-fabulous Jordyn is giving away a free copy of How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. Extra entries for every link you post to the contest, which is what I'm doing. Even so, you should check out her other blog posts too, she's great!

Go here to enter!

Another Book Meme!

2009-04-23T14:14:00.002-05:00

I was tagged via twitter by the awesome Sarah Maclean (check out her new book, The Season!), so here goes!

1. What author do you own the most books by?
Lois Gladys Leppard. I'm on a quest to someday own the entire Mandie series! (All 41 of them)

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
...Lincoln Clinton Carter Kennedy? ^^; In my personal fandom he's an aloof, sweet-hearted 18/19 year old. It's a fanfic thing. But you see why this was a secret, right?
Also: Calvin O'Keefe, Jonathan Guyer, Jamie Madrox, and so many many more, but those aren't secrets ;D

4. What book have you read more than any other?
Hm...Through the Looking Glass or Looking for Alaska by John Green. The adult book I've read the most is The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.

5. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Most likely one of the Mandie books; or Holes by Louis Sachar, which came out about that time.

6. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
If I don't like a book, I don't finish. Although I was pretty upset with the NOT ending of Superior Saturday by Garth Nix

7. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
I'm still pretty in love with Looking for Alaska...do re-reads count?

8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Powerful stuff, man.

9. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
I'm with Sarah, Ulysses is definitely up there for me. But I think overall Crime and Punishment by Fyodr Dostoyvsky (whose name changes spelling all the time)

10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I think my last answer would give you a hint, but if not: French. I like Camus, hate Dostoyvsky.

11. Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
...that's hard. Uh...uh...Chaucer. I love Shakespeare, I really do, but all his plays are kind of the same? Plus, Paul Bettany never played Shakespeare.

12. Austen or Eliot?
Austen, no contest.

13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
(Sarah, DON'T. They're awful) I've never read a lot of the High School English classics. They were always required for the other classes, but not mine. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, & One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

14. What is your favorite novel?
Like I was explaining last night, I don't have one favorite, I have three: one for each reading level I read/study.
Adult - The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
YA - Looking for Alaska by John Green
Children's - The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.
(notice a theme there? Yeah, so did I. I have depressing taste in books, I know...my own novel has kind of the same theme too)

15. Plays?
Love 'em. My favorite is The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare

16. Poem?
Eh, it really depends. I can love them, hate them, or not care. I really like Emily Dickenson & Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith.

17. Essay?
Not so much, but I guess if it had a really fantastic topic then I might.

18. Non Fiction
It really depends on the topic, but overall I'm not much for nonfic.

19. Graphic Novel?
YES. I work in a comic book store, okay?

20. Science Fiction?
Love 'em!

22. Fantasy?
Oh absolutely!

23. Who is your favorite writer?
Maureen Johnson. I know, I know, it goes with nothing else I mentioned in this post and all her books are happy & funny & not morbid. I don't know, I just like her style.

24. What are you reading right now?
Some birds outside & my dog snoring. It's very quiet here.

25. Favorite Genre:
YA - Realistic fiction. Go figure.

I tag YOU.

BEDA09: Day 7: You Will Never Find the Perfect Swimsuit

2009-04-07T22:11:00.002-05:00

Yay! I made it a whole week so far!

Just get that through your head right now. Unless of course you are a mannequin, in which case I'm a little afraid and will avoid you. No offense to you personally, I just have a fear of mannequins. Anyway...moving on.

Now, this may be different for guys because I don't have any experience in buying men's swim trunks, but this is true for women. Swimsuits are not made for you. They are made to make you feel like a lesser version of yourself. They do this through size discrimination. And really, it doesn't matter what size you are, the swimsuit business discriminates against you.

If you are really tiny: All the suits are too big for you. Sorry.
If you are small: You cannot have those cute skirt bottoms. This is what I spent a long time looking for today. I'm a size 4 and I have big thighs and I think the skirt bottoms look better than the others. What are those called anyway, the ones that look like panties? I don't know. But they don't make skirt or short bottoms for anyone under size 10, which is very unfair.
If you are a medium size: There is nothing in your size either, sorry. This is a scheme to convince you that you are too big, which you are not.
If you are a bigger size: There are no cute suits. This is also a scheme to convince you that you are too big to wear a suit, which you are not.

The media & the swimsuit industries are out to ruin your self-esteem. They want to make shopping for a swimsuit as painful as possible so that you will go home & starve yourself. Or take some sort of diet pills. They want you to become horribly anorexic, which by the way, is not sexy.

But who cares what the swimsuit industry thinks? GO SWIMMING ANYWAY. REBEL. BE HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. DON'T GIVE INTO THEM.

BEDA09: Day 6: Meeting Guys & Girls at the Gym & Why This is a Bad Idea

2009-04-06T22:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, so today I finally had the time and the determination to take that little card over to Cardinal Fitness to get my free day's worth of a workout. I have had this card for a few weeks now, ever since my co-worker Susan gave it to me. First off, this was not an insult or a hint to loose a few pounds. I work at Jenny Craig and Susan had just worked out a little deal with the guy at Cardinal so that they would each refer clients to the other and he gave her a whole stack of day passes. She offered one to me and I took it.

Fast forward to today when I finally go. I show up, walk straight to the front desk and say to the three people standing there "I need some information on joining up, please." I said please because I am generally a polite person. The guy looks at me, slides a little clipboard over and has me write down some information (they will likely use this info to bother me by phone tomorrow, or by mail next week). One of the girls wanders off, and the other one turns to the guy and says "I got this one." He looks at her and says "Nah, it's cool," then turns to me and offers to show me around. I get a short tour of this place, and it's pretty small, honestly.

Now, I need to mention something here. This trainer is cute, he is very cute. Not my type really, but cute. He had nice hair and about a billion freckles. He smiled a lot. So I think I only heard about 80% of what he said (which honestly is only slightly less than usual...ADD child here) because I was trying to figure out not how to get his number (I'm happy with my current situation, thanks), but why fitness trainers are all so good looking. Yes, they are healthy and healthy is attractive, but come on, you get a lot of your looks from genes. So is there a gene that makes you want to work in a health club? Are you somehow drawn to gyms because your great-great-aunt on your mother's side was once a world class gymnasts' trainer? I have no idea. I didn't have time to figure this out or ask him questions about his lineage (which would be weird, but not completely out of character for me), because he immediately started trying to sell me the program. By the way, the deal changed and I could no longer join for $10; I'm not happy about that. We'll get back to that point though in a minute.

I whip out my pretty little card and say "Actually, I want to use this today." Freckle Boy looked disheartened (I wonder if they work on commission) but he took my card and my ID (I'm not sure why) and tells me to have fun. I ask him where the ladies locker room is because he didn't say or because I was too distracting wondering about his great-great aunt on his mother's side. Who I suspect was secretly Irish, but moved to Russia because that's where the gymnasts were at the time. This is beside the point though.

A few minutes later I'm on that treadmill and I'm wondering a few things. The thought that kept coming up though was why do people always want to meet someone at the gym? This is a horrible place to find a potential date people!! Yes, your date will be healthy and maybe muscular and/or athletic. Or they could be like you and just pretending to get a proper workout while on the prowl for a date. Plus, now think long & hard about this one: do you really want to meet someone while you're all sweaty & gross? More importantly, do you want to meet someone while THEY are all sweaty & gross? I don't know about you, but I don't. Plus, if you get the date and they turn out to be a horrible person that you never want to see again, how do you face them at the gym next time?

From what I observed today with my free day pass is that no one really wants to meet someone at the gym. Okay, that's not true. Everyone wants to meet someone somewhere and the gym is not off-limits. There were people checking each other out, but in the end, the gym is not an ideal place to meet someone. Most people just plugged in their headphones and walked on the treadmill or sat on a bike. Headphones are the perfect thing to send the "I-Don't-Want-To-Talk-To-Anyone-Now" vibe. It works about 93% of the time, try it. Some girls were texting on their phones (I'm not being sexist, I'm just reporting what I saw), which gives off the I'd-Rather-Talk-To-Someone-Else vibe, which may be even more effective at getting people to leave you alone. It's easier to listen to music though if you're running. Most women did not wear a lot of makeup, because they were working out. They're going to get all nasty anyway, why go through the hassle of getting pretty first? It's a waste of time and effort. No one dresses up to look nice when they go to the gym--it's simply impractical.

So, tell me, why do people always think that when they join a gym they'll meet someone fabulous and amazing to sweep them off their feet (or someone you can sweep off their feet)? There are thousands of places better to meet someone! Unless, of course, cute, freckle-faced trainers who were somewhere along the line secretly Irish, then by all means, join the gym and if I decide that it's not worth going to my first choice gym and go to Cardinal, then we can work out together. I'll even talk to Freckle Boy for you & be your wing-girl. It's something I'm good at. But if that's not what you want, ignore the stories and look for someone where you are comfortable.

If you like books and want to meet a cute, Nerdfighting girl who likes books also, try Barnes & Noble. If you are caffeine-addicted and want to meet a nice guy who doesn't make fun of you for drinking four cups an hour, try Starbucks. There's always the internet, but be careful there. And if you're in Chicagoland and need a wing-girl who writes really long blogs like this one, call me.

BEDA Day 5: How My Day Went From Bad to Spectacular!

2009-04-05T20:02:00.001-05:00

If you follow me on LiveJournal or Twitter (heck, I even ranted about this on my Triad of Dysfunction video), you'll know that today was supposed to be my day off of work. You'll also know that it wasn't, because I had to cover for one of the other girls. On top of this, it was possibly the worst day I've worked in a long time. However, I try my best not to dwell on the bad things in life and right now I'm doing pretty good. Earlier I was doing spectacular ;D

So, here is a list of things that can turn my day around:
+ Pizza. There is a great little pizza place near where I work that serves slices of pizza that are honestly bigger than my head and about an inch thick without having too much cheese. I'm lactose intolerant, but this was fine and the taste would have been worth the stomach ache anyway.

+ Good Movies with Good Music.
When I got home I had only planned on watching a few minutes of TV while I finished my lunch, and to my surprise, Spectacular! was on! This is one of my favorite movies with some of my favorite songs, so I was really happy. I don't know what it is about this movie, but I just can't be in a bad mood while watching it! Sadly, it was the end of the movie.
However...after a bit of searching, I was able to find the full movie online! This was doubly awesome because awhile back I had send the soundtrack to my friend (and fellow Nerdwriter) Hilary Apollo and got her hooked on the music. And now I was able to get her to watch the movie too! There were four of us Nerdwriters on at the same time, so we were all talking on MSN and for most of that time Hilary & I were watching Spectacular! and talking about it. It was so much fun!

Now I'm just finishing up watching Hairspray which is another great movie with great music! I've been dancing along. I really love Amanda Bynes in this movie, she's so darn cute and spunky!

My mother called me from the grocery store earlier and asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told her that I was fine with Kraft mac & cheese, but I wanted the shape kind because they taste better. I didn't tell her this, but she picked me out the Spider-Man kind, so that was pretty cool. My mother knows me so well, hehe. :)

So, in conclusions, things to make a bad day better:
+ Good Food
+ Good Friends
+ Good Films

On Communication & Things Jez Doesn't Want to Blog About

2009-04-04T22:59:00.003-05:00

I didn't know what to blog about so I asked Jen on Skype and my sister in the kitchen. I have gotten many BAD suggestions. So here is a list of things I do not want to blog about. That's my blog for tonight I guess.

+ Alligators
+ Crocodiles
+ Grapes
+ Apple Juice
+ Toast
+ Local politics

In other news, I love modern communication technology. This is what I will truly blog about tonight, because it's something that's been great for me today. I am part of the 5 Nerdsome Writers and today has just been a great day for communicating with them through many different outlets! There is the SAFT which is a facebook thread, LiveJournal, Dailybooth, Twitter, email, MSN Messenger, and then today we added to that list text messaging directly (well, everyone except Jenny who is in England). Later on Toni got me to finally download Skype, which I had never used before. So we did a skype call and that was pretty fun. Just now I was talking to my friend Jen in a video chat via Skype and that was cool too! I think it's amazing that in this day & age we have so many different ways to contact one another and stay in touch! I just read the Marvel Presents: Pride & Prejudice comic book last night and in that age people communicated only through letters or messengers. It could take weeks to get a message to someone! These days you can just send one message to Twitter and instantly all your friends know that you broke your arm, or discovered the Holy Grail, or had Cocoa Puffs for breakfast. You need never feel alone again! Not when you can so easily contact someone else! It is a wonderful time we live in, to be sure.

BEDA Day 3: Why I Believe Seventeen is Great

2009-04-03T20:21:00.003-05:00

Have you ever looked at the magazines at the grocery checkout? Yes, of course you have, because there are only two things to look at while you're in that line: magazines and candy (I'm sure you look at both). And what is the one thing all those magazines have in common? Sex. Not even just sex appeal either, though there is plenty of that to be found*. All of these magazines boast that they have the best sex secrets for you! Seventeen Magazine is no exception. Except for one thing: these "secrets" are appropriate for their audience: girls 14-19. When you flip open the magazine, find the correct page, & get to reading, you'll see that all of the secrets are actually tied to young girls talking to their mothers about sex. What kind of magazine is this?! A great one, in my opinion. It doesn't say that no one should be having sex in their teens, but it does say that talking to your mother first will help, even make your sex life better! Because you will have safer sex, be more prepared, know what to expect, and feel less guilt. Your mother may also help you know when you are truly ready, and not just having sex because of pressure from boyfriends or friends or even society.

So Seventeen Magazine? Is on a list of approved reading for Jez's younger sisters. Well...the teenaged ones anyway.

*Refer to my post yesterday to read my hygienist talking about sex appeal in ads.

Copyediting & Why You Need Us

2009-04-02T22:57:00.002-05:00

I don't know if I ever announced it on this blog or not, but while I'm waiting to get my Big Break in writing, I fully intend to be a copyeditor. Why? Because the world needs copyeditors and no one else seems to want the job. Everyone else relies entirely on spellcheck to find their mistakes and they don't even want to get into grammar or anything remotely technical about style. And then there's little ole me who picks up a copy of her school's newspaper so that she can make marks all over it correcting grammar and spelling. Yeah...I actually do that. One day if I ever want to write for them again, I will present the editor with my pile of edited papers and tell him that he really needs me. I'm fairly certain that he will be inclined to agree.

Today while at the dentist getting my teeth cleaned my hygienist was talking to me about copyediting. (I love my hygienist by the way, she always remembers things about me, like my English major & that I am very allergic to mint) She was saying that if she ever decided to give up dental work, that she would get her degree in English and probably do the same as I am. There is a poster in that room that is very poorly worded and it bothers her very much. She made a great comment about it: "They spent so much time trying to find the perfect blonde model that they didn't even bother to read what they had printed on there." I think that's true of most things in society right now. These people who are in charge of these sorts of things just think to themselves "Well, it looks good," and that's it. They worry more about the appearance of being correct rather than actually being correct. Why? Because people tend to glance at things and never give anything a proper look. And even if you're not reading every word, you need copyeditors. You need us so that your message gets across, so that there are no mix-ups, and so that your product does not end up on the front page of Fail Blog.

And you need us to do all the grammatical things that you don't want to. This goes double for authors.

BEDA, Sick, & Script Frenzy

2009-04-01T23:50:00.002-05:00

So...it's BEDA. Which is Blog Every Day April. And I'm just barely getting this in on time. I actually did vlog earlier today and I'm working on getting that up right now. I look totally miserable in it though because I'm sick and I've had a really sucky week that will not end. If it wasn't already a day late, I would just re-shoot tomorrow.
Anyway, I already blog every day over on my LiveJournal so for this challenge I thought I would see how many days I can blog other places. This includes here, 5NerdsomeWriters, and maybe Maureen Johnson's ning, because that's where this all started. Well, technically it all started on Twitter, but it's centered on the MJ Ning.

It's also Script Frenzy, which I did not know about until about fifteen minutes ago. My friend Casye just begged me to join it with her, so I'm going to try. You write a script that is 100 pages long in 30 days. This is not as intense as NaNoWriMo thankfully, so I'm going to give it a shot. I make no promises though. I'll update you guys about that.

If you want a real blog, go read my post from yesterday on 5NerdsomeWriters about children's literature and why I think it's better than adult lit.

Inkheart vs Stravaganza & A Wrinkle In Time

2009-02-24T22:45:00.005-06:00

Okay, those of you who follow me here know that I also have a blog on which I post my favorite quotes: Typeset Quotes. When I was on there today I clicked the Madeleine L'Engle tag and it took me to all of the posts on wordpress with that tag (which is odd & I don't like this feature) but it lead me to this post (which contains big spoilers for A Wrinkle in Time). In the post the author compares A Wrinkle in Time with Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. I brought this up with my friend Casye and I think that blog would have been better if they had continued with the Inkheart line of thought, because it was interesting. So I have a few points to add to what they said.

I will do my best to exclude spoilers, but I promise nothing for the little stuff. Big spoilers will not appear here, ever.

A Wrinkle in Time: main character is Meg
Inkheart: main character is Meggie
Well...yes, that's true, but I don't think that really says much about the book.

A Wrinkle in Time: father is mysteriously missing
Inkheart: mother is mysteriously missing
Okay, a good point, and a driving point in each book. This is actually a very common theme in books, to not have one parent there. It's definitely prevalent in Disney movies and I really do not understand that. The fact that one of the parents is gone is a good emotional topic with the main character. Do they feel resentment? Do they feel pain or sadness? Are they indifferent? Something like this can be taken in a lot of different ways.
Now, when we bring in the "mysteriously missing" part, we open a whole new world of questions. Where have they gone? When did they go? How did they get there? Was it against their will? Will the child find out? Does someone else know and keep this secret from the child? Will the child go to find them? Will they ever find them? These kinds of questions are the things readers wonder, and that's exactly what the author wants. These are the kinds of questions, when approached in a good way, make a great book. I think this worked out well for both of the examples listed.

A Wrinkle in Time: a stranger shows up on a stormy night (Mrs. Whatsit)
Inkheart: a stranger shows up on a stormy night (Dustfinger)
Okay, now this is the point that I really wanted to discuss. It is a very good correlation between the two books, but I think it can be taken a step farther. They are strangers that show up on a stormy night, yes, but they are also strangers who become integral to the plot and very important to the main character. Meggie would never have known about her father's gift in Inkheart if it were not for Dustfinger, nor would Meggie & Mo know about the kind of trouble they were in. If Dustfinger hadn't shown up at that time, who knows what would have happened. We may have never met Elinor! That would have been a travesty! And without Dustfinger the story would have ended at book 1 (and we wouldn't have been able to see Paul Bettany shirtless in the movie ;D )
In A Wrinkle in Time, nothing would have happened without the appearance of Mrs. Whatsit on that stormy night. We would not have known that Meg's father was still alive, that there was such a thing as a tesseract, anything about The Black Thing, never have met Mrs. Who & Mrs. Which, never gone to Uriel or anything else. We would have spent the next 100 pages sitting in the Murry's kitchen talking about how bed sheets have gone missing in the town. I don't think I am even exaggerating here. This is proof that a good character, or a good entrance, can be the deciding factor in the success of a book.
[On a side note, these are also my two favorite characters in their respective books.]
------
Now, when I was trying to think of other things to say between these books, all I could think of was how similar Inkheart was to the Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman. I've been thinking this a lot lately as I've just begun reading City of Secrets the fourth and newest book in the series. Let's take a look, shall we?

Inkheart: Main character can be transported in & out of book worlds
Stravaganza: City of Masks: Main character is transported between worlds with the use of a book
This is very imporant in both books, in fact, the entire plot of each book rests on this point. Inkheart would be nothing without the ability to bookjump (I'll borrow the phrase from Fforde's Thursday Next series). I mean, really, do you want to read about a book doctor? Let's spend whole chapters on how he chooses which endpapers to use. NOT. And City of Masks would have been extremely depressing if all it we read about was how Lucian was slowly dying of cancer. No, it's so much better if he gets transported to Talia where he is healthy and awesome and gets to have adventures. As readers, don't we all wish books would open themselves up to us in new ways and let us simply fall in? They already take us on adventures, but we only get to live these vicariously, wouldn't it be so much better if we experienced these for ourselves? I thought so, that's why these books are such a hit.

I need to cut this short because it's 23:49 and I have an anthropology exam at 900 which I know nothing for. But let me just add this one last thing:
Inkheart: Meggie has an aunt Elinor who is obsessed with books
Stravaganza: City of Secrets: Matt has an aunt Eva who is obsessed with books

I will try to expand on this tomorrow if I can.

To all you readers out there, I do highly recommend Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Stravaganza: City of Maks by Mary Hoffman, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, and also Thursday Next: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

The Triad of Dysfunction (My YouTube Collab Channel)

2009-01-06T23:53:00.003-06:00

This year I will be doing a video correspondence channel with my two best friends who are away at school. You can all watch us here on YouTube, or just go to YouTube & search "triad of dysfunction"
You can also watch me on my regular channel, here.

So far we only have up our project introduction and my personal introduction, but I will be bothering the other girls to get up videos soon.

If you do watch, leave a comment! I love opening my email and seeing all the notifications for new comments. It brightens up my day.

Okay, that's all I wanted to say, really...hm...maybe I should make this more blog-y?

Well, today I pulled out my old laptop and started typing up everything on this laptop from one of my books. See, my old laptop only has a floppy drive (it's that old, I had a PC in between), so it's really hard to get information off of there. I could save it to floppy, transfer it to the PC, and then get it on my macbook via the network, but the PC is acting up and refuses to cooperate with much of anything today. And I really needed those old chapters. So I did it all manually and it's a pain, but I think I prefer it. This way I get to read through all of the older chapters and refresh my memory or find things to bring up again later. It's great for me! That, and I get to laugh at all my old jokes. :D

If anyone cares to read it, I wrote a ridiculous children's story here that is not meant to be a serious story, but as a joke for my friend Jenny. If I ever want to though, I'm convinced I could easily rework it into a real story.

More Top List Stuff, of My Own This Time

2008-12-31T12:47:00.007-06:00

Today is apparently a very good day to blog, because when I got on this morning (admittedly not until about noon) my LJ flist of friends & feeds was pretty full of people doing their bloggy thing. I love days like this.

This is also the day where I go back & talk about the books I read this year. In the past years I have put up monthly lists of what books I have read, when I read them, etc, but this year you may have noticed that I haven't done that here. Instead I favored for the master list of books I've read and movies I've watched in 2008. It was an idea that started out small (a meme I was tagged in by harvardbarbie that I kept up with. It doesn't have all the details of the original, but I was more likely to update it. I did leave out quite a few comic issues though, considering I read tonnes this year (what with getting a job at a comic shop & all).

Anyway, here's what I have to say about that list:
I have listed 198 books that I read this year, though I read more than that & forgot to write them down....

Children's Books
Best Children's Book I Read This Year: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (this would also go under Most Controversial, which I don't agree with)
Best Sequel: Small Steps by Louis Sachar, Sequel to Holes
Book I Most Often Recommend to Children/Parents: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Best Picture Book: Flotsam by David Weisner
Funniest: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules! by Jeff Kinney (not as good as the first, but still hilarious)
My Favorite Children's Book I Read in 2008: The Witches by Roald Dahl. (though Lucky was a very close second)

Young Adult & Adult Books
Best Book of the Year (Published in 08): Paper Towns by John Green
Book I Believe Every Teen Should Read: Looking for Alaska by John Green (I read it twice this year)
Most Overhyped Book: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Best Teen Series: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (I'm excited for her new series in 09!!)
Best Sequel: Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (Sequel to Howl's Moving Castle)
Book That Was Far Better Than the Movie: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Most Controversial: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (because of this, I believe it was a great pick for the high school's book club)
Biggest Cliff Hanger: Superior Saturday by Garth Nix (do not read this until Lord Sunday comes out)
Best Collaborative Effort: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle
Best Sci-Fi Book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Best Superhero Story: Hero by Perry Moore

What about you folk? What were your favorite books that you read in 2008? Do you have any special categories? What book do you most recommend for me to read?

Top 10 Lists (as per Yahoo)

2008-12-31T00:07:00.003-06:00

I got bored today and found a Top 10 list on Yahoo, then I began looking at the other lists they have posted for 2008 and there's a few interesting things here.

What I stared out with, before these Top 10 lists, was a list of the banned words for the coming years. These are words to be "banned" for overuse and pointlessness. Interesting to me, was that for the first time and emoticon was listed. It was <3, which I can understand with its overuse...but I still like it. One word I'm really glad to see on that list is "Maverick". A lot of the things Sarah Palin was going on about annoyed me, the first being "Joe the Plumber," the second being "Maverick." It ended up being far overused to the point of absurdity, imo. Odd ones I didn't expect were "staycation" (which is something I hadn't heard before, it apparently means not vacationing because of high gas prices) and "monkey" (this is just odd).

The Top 10 Searches on Yahoo in 2008, I find it kind of sad that "Britney Spears" is the number one searched phrase of the year, when Barack Obama is in the #3 spot. And why, may I ask, is the WWE in #2? This kind of makes me fear for the future, when our nation cares more about drama queens & wrestling than they do about politics and HISTORY. I can easily see why Miley & Naruto made it onto the list, with their fan followings being so huge, and with Cyrus's minor dramas throughout the year. I swear, people are looking for a scandal with that girl. The media apparently doesn't like a genuine good girl, they have to work so hard to find something wrong with her. What I don't understand about this list is how "RuneScape" made the #5 spot. I thought RuneScape was old and outdated by this point? Guess I was wrong. (I'm not a gamer at all, mind you)

The Top 10 News Stories. The thing that most bothers me about this list is that Patrick Swayze made it onto the list, but the Olympics didn't. Yes, China is on there, but that's not the same thing, now is it? Now, I can see why the hurricanes might come in first, but I do think that the election should hold the #2 spot. This goes back to my Top 10 searches, same argument there. I don't understand how Shelley Malil made it on the list at all.

The Top 10 Celebrities. This is the list I got to when I decided I definitely wanted to blog this (because my Twitter followers would be annoyed at me, haha). So, the 2008 "Brat Pack" is as follows (in order): Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Chris Brown, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Jamie Lynn Spears, Hayden Panettiere, Zac Efron, & Selena Gomez. First off, for the most part, I love them all. I have nothing serious against any of them (though I don't approve of JLS's pregnancy, I do approve of her keeping the child). A trend here? Most of them relate to Disney. Now, Rihanna and Chris Brown don't trace their roots back to Disney, but they have dealt with the company a few times, and Hayden was originally a Disney star. The rest are currently employed by the company in one way or another. I suppose they know how to pick their stars (and are also masters of PR). Another interesting point here is that none of them are over the age of 20 (though Rihanna will turn 21 in February). Something else is that they all make more money than you & I will ever make.
[interesting point: I am the same age as Chris Brown & Hayden Panettiere]

The Top 10 Olympians. Now here's a list that finally recognizes the Olympics! I like this list :) Coming in first, of course, is Michael Phelps. I love him, and the world loves him. And what he did was simply amazing. He really should have been on other lists, but I guess Yahoo users aren't all like me. I'm glad to see Shawn Johnson & Nastia Luikin on that list, as well as Misty May-Treanor. I'm disappointed that Keri Walsh didn't star on that list with her partner. They are a team after all.

The Top 10 Politicians. I'm glad, first of all, that Barack Obama is #1 on this list. Sarah Palin is second, which I still find ridiculous because she was a running mate, and she received more attention than McCain did. Alternately, I'm disappointed not to see Biden on this list, because if you're going to pay attention to Obama, you should look up his VP pick as well.

The Top 10 Women. I don't have much to say about this list, but I figured at this point I may as well include all the lists. For the most part, I really agree with this list, because I can see how all of these women have been influential throughout the last year. Whether I believe they should have been or not is a different matter. I'm kind of amused that Tina Fey is on that list, though.

The Top 10 Farewells. I would really question the sanity of these list makers if they hadn't put Heath Ledger on the top of that list. His death shook the internet and the fan base response was enormous. I saw the same happen with Bernie Mac & George Carlin. Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture (I had to look it up to remember), had a large influence with his death, so I agree with him being on the list. Others, I had to look up because I didn't know who they were, or even recognize their name in some cases. But I am sure that their deaths were a big thing to talk about in certain circles outside mine own.

Yeah, fine, I skipped the economic one. It was boring & I didn't have much to say about it other than our economy sucks right now. You can go see the list here if you really want to.

Book Review: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle

2008-12-14T13:32:00.001-06:00

Let it Snow, in a way, is not one book, but three novellas. Written by three different authors, the book is split into three different parts that make up one great book. Each part follows a different character (or group) on a different part of the story, and all include a different love story. All of the parts take place in the same time period in the same town and the characters give appearances in parts other than their own.

The first part, The Jubilee Express, is written by Maureen Johnson and follows Jubilee Dougan. Jubilee, aside from having the misfortune of being named Jubilee (she assures the reader she's not a stripper or anything like that), has hit some rough luck: her parents have been arrested in a Christmas sale riot and she now has to spend the holidays with her grandparents. It gets worse, because leaving means she can't be at her boyfriend's family's annual Christmas party. And even as her train speeds towards Florida, it gets stuck in a snow storm. The train is forced to stop practically in the middle of nowhere, across the empty interstate from a Waffle House. Jubilee leaves the train and heads for the Waffle House. Unfortunately, she is followed by a squad of cheerleaders who were also on the train. This is when Jubilee meets Stuart and her luck begins to change.

In the second part, The Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, written by John Green, Tobin, JP, and the Duke have just gotten great news: a train has crashed nearby and an entire squad of cheerleaders has just arrived at the Waffle House where their friend, Don-Keun works. Don-Keun has made a deal with his co-workers: the first group of friends to arrive (with Twister) will be allowed in, but the others will not. So it's a race for the guys to get there first. Except that the Duke is a girl, but she's been promised hash browns and adventure, so she's in. The race to be first to the Waffle House is alternately intense and hilarious. In the end Tobin realizes that maybe love isn't all about cheerleaders, and finds an unexpected love.

In the third and final part, The Patron Saint of Pigs, written by Lauren Myracle we meet Addie. It's now Christmas day and Addie is not feeling the cheer. She's really messed things up this time. First, she cheated on Jeb, her perfect boyfriend. And then she dyed her hair pink. The biggest snowstorm she can remember has hit her town and she hasn't heard from Jeb in days--not that she blames him. On top of all this, she still has to work at Starbucks, because they are open no matter what. In an attempt to prove to her friends, Dorrie and Tegan, that she is not selfish, Addie agrees to pick up Tegan's teacup pig (it actually fits in a teacup) from the pet store across the street on her break. Things don't go quite according to plan, and Addie has to go on a hunt to track down who the pig was sold to by mistake. Everything turns out in the end though, as Addie is granted her Christmas miracle and her love story.

It's set apart from other books in that instead of seeing only one part of a tale, you see many, and see more than one part of that world. Each writer has their own style, but they all blend together well and are equally great reads. Each love story is unique and interesting, but more importantly, realistic. Additionally, all of the characters are enjoyable and relatable.The best part about Let it Snow is seeing how all the pieces come together in the end. This is a great book to curl up with on snowy days!

Review: Feed by MT Anderson (part 2)

2008-11-11T15:13:00.006-06:00

Feed by M.T. Anderson
Review by Jez Layman

The future looks pretty good--flying cars, colonies on the moon, more technology--everything we've been promised. But things are never as they seem. Titus is a college student in this time, spending his spring break on the Moon with some of his friends. There he meets a great girl named Violet at a club. Unfortunately a crazy activist chose the same club for his demonstration and Titus, Violet, and everyone else receives a virus from him. This virus doesn't just crash their home computer--it affects the people themselves. The Feed is a device implanted into everyone in this future, keeping them constantly connected to the digital world they live in for most of their lives. The virus can be fixed--for most of them--and after some time in a hospital without a feed connection, the teens are released without a problem. Except for Violet. Now Titus has to deal with Violet's condition, and the way she sees the world. To Titus the future is exactly as it should be, to Violet, it's a dystopia. It gives us a chance to wonder if maybe we can move so far ahead and we loose sight of who we are--or do we continue becoming more of what we already are?

Feed by MT Anderson is written wonderfully, the best part being the way the Feed is shown through the text. At points in the narration the Feed breaks in and sends you pop-up ads and news headlines. You really begin to get a feel for how the world is for someone living with the Feed. Another thing Anderson does well is represent characters in a way that we relate to them. Whether we side with Titus or Violet, it is not hard to find someone in this book we understand. The speech and actions of the teens--especially Titus and his other friends--are very realistic. The most interesting part about this book, in this reviewer's opinion, is the moral issues brought up about technology and change for the sake of change. It can be a hard-hitting book that challenges the mind, or it can be a book that touches the heart. Either way, it will have an impact on the reader. Part teenage love story, part biting satire, this book is a great read for everyone.

Related links: My favorite quotes from Feed
My original review of Feed by MT Anderson

Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green

2008-11-11T15:13:00.005-06:00

In John Green's new book, Paper Towns, Margo Roth Spiegelman did eleven outrageous things in one night. She righted wrongs, and wronged a few rights, and brought Quentin “Q” Jacobsen along for the adventure. In Q’s eyes Margo was, in a word, awesome. For sixteen years Q lived next door to Margo, and for sixteen years, he had been in love with her. After all, she was the only living legend to ever live next door to him, and was the only one to recruit him in the middle of the night to go on an adventure. It was the best and longest day of Q’s life. The next day, Margo disappeared.
Margo Roth Spiegelman had been known to run away before, but she had always come back home. This time, it didn't seem likely that she would return. But before she ran away this time, she left something for Q: a clue. He begins following clue after clue, desperate to find Margo again and bring her back home. He enlists his two best friends, Ben and Radar, to help him, but after awhile the chances of the clues leading somewhere begin to dwindle. Some of the group wonder if Margo really wants to be found, or if she even can be found. Quentin, however, can't let go and continues the mission to find Margo, but along the way, he also begins to find himself.
The author, John Green, is well-known in the world--mostly for his YouTube correspondence videos with his brother, Hank--but also for his award-winning books for teens. In his few books Green has created some of the most memorable, lovable, and realistic characters in teen literature. One of the best things about Paper Towns was reading the funny interactions between Q, Ben, and Radar. These conversations make the characters believable--they talk and act like regular teenage boys, and the dynamics of their friendship are rarely exemplified so well in teen literature. Even with three guys as the main characters, Green is careful not to make the book gender-specific, so that it can be enjoyed by all. Additionally, the plot was well done and interesting, with very few dull moments, but rather kept the story flowing in a way that makes the reader want to keep going. The story itself is a cathartic roller-coaster, with its ups and downs along the way, with events ranging from a hilarious road trip with great characters, to melancholy reflections of the world and the loss of a friend.
Overall, Paper Towns is well-written and keeps the reader interested with its adventure, mystery, and witty characters. This new book is a great read for teens and adults.

Related links: My favorite quotes from Paper Towns and Let it Snow

On Lauren Myracle, Reviews, & NaNoWriMo

2008-11-11T15:02:00.003-06:00

I've recently created a new group on Facebook: TEAM MYRACLE. This is a response to the feud between John Green and Maureen Johnson over the book they co-wrote with Lauren Myracle. Lauren has taken an inspiring position of neutrality in the matter and I believe we should all follow her example!

JOIN TEAM MYRACLE HERE
(and yes, Lauren herself is a member)

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Two reviews going up in a moment, Paper Towns by John Green & Feed by MT Anderson. You may remember that I have reviewed Feed before, but I decided to do one for my school's newspaper and wrote a new one! I included a few points from the old one, but for the most part it is brand new!
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I am very behind on my NaNo right now. I missed two days worth of writing because of my massive school projects. I have a persuasive speech due on Friday, which I have had to do surveys & an audience analysis for. My English project has taken over my life with its bibliography & electronic notes. Thesis is due on Friday, but I really need to finish these notes first! PR project is actually going along well because I have such a great group (for the most part anyway). Religion required a 7 page paper on Judaism from me, and soon another 3 pages on our Christianity readings. School is insane, it really is.
But I am confident that I can catch up--I did once already, so I can surely do it again!
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P.S. for any fans of American Girl or Abigail Breslin or cute movies or movies about the Depression--go watch Kit Kittredge! I saw it for the first time last night and LOVED it. Abigail Breslin, Zach Mills, & Max Thieriot were all amazing as usual and the plot was interesting and the movie was cute and--oh just go watch it already!

NaNo Advice: End of Week 1

2008-11-07T20:09:00.004-06:00

Good Ways to Boost Your Word Count and Keep Yourself Writing

I've learned a few tricks along the way from my own NaNo experiences (from this year as well as 06) and from other competitors ranging from first timers to old hats. I thought I'd take a little break from writing to share these with you. (btw, this is not me avoiding actual writing. This is me coping with my ADD in a positive way.)

+ Add a lot of defining words. "He said" "She said" may not always be necessary, but put them in there, an extra two words per piece of dialogue are a great way to add to your word count.

Take that a step farther. "She said, sounding offended." or "He told her with unquestionable certainty upon his face." Add as much as you want without sounding too wordy!

Of course, if you don't mind wordy, by all means, get that word count up! If the count is what matters, take a lesson from Dickens & write up a storm! Sentences that take up a full page? No problem!

+ Another great way to add to your word count is to include quotes. You don't have to wrack your brains trying to think of something new to type! Find a quote that works with your story and roll with it! John Green used "Song of Myself" at least fifty times in his NYT Best Seller "Paper Towns" and writers like Cornelia Funke, Ann Brashares, & Jasper Fforde begin every chapter with an applicable quote! There's no shame in borrowing words to raise your count.

Right now my own characters are quoting Shakespeare's famous lines from "As You Like It": "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." The best part? It fits my story perfectly. In fact, it has greatly inspired me and helps convey my theme of acting & masks in high school even more than I could alone!

+ Word wars. Timed, themed word wars with a friend. These work best through some form of instant messenger, and hey, there's one built into Facebook if you wish to use it! I personally stick primarily to MSN, so if you want to war with me through that (I still have friends on my list from NaNo in 2006 I warred with daily), leave a comment here and I can send you my contact info.

This is a great way to boost your count quickly and might give you some new inspiration for how to deal with a section if you choose to use the theme (you need not, you can just continue writing for the wars). If you have teenaged characters like I do, any theme can fit what they're talking about. Just today in the lunch room with my friends we talked about the origins of "saved by the bell" and ended the period by singing "Gaston" from Beauty & the Beast. Nothing is really far out of the realm for us college students, and the same goes for many other age groups so long as you have a good group of friends to chat with! It's okay if your dialogue is ridiculous. Sometimes it even makes the characters more believable.

+ A tip to keep going and keep up with your word counts (though admittedly I am behind because of a late start, but catching up quickly) is to set up a goal/reward system with yourself. This is what has worked best for me this past week. Prior to NaNo's kickoff this year my internet was down for almost a full week. I generally watch my favorite television programs online, so I had missed a few episodes. I would tell myself "Okay Jez, write 1000 words and you can watch Grey's. Then after you write another 1000 words, you can watch Private Practice." I even made the amount of words relate to the amount of time I'd spend not writing when I was enjoying the reward part. 1000 words for 1 hour of television. 500 words for a half hour. Or I'd get to a certain milestone before I could write up a new blog post (such as this one, I just finished chapter 10 & went over 9000 words).

+ If you're going to procrastinate, find a way to make it work to your advantage. I can honestly check Facebook every half hour or so with a clear conscience because my characters spend so much of their lives in the digital world. A fair amount of my novel consists of wall posts, instant messages, and SMS texts. So, by seeing what everyone else is doing on Facebook, I'm really researching how my characters should talk, what kinds of typos they should make, and how they'll spend their time.

When I spent ten minutes reading Michael Wesch's blog post on a look back at his famous YouTube video, A Vision of Students Today, I was gathering a teacher's perspective on how children learn today, and how the school system limits learning. One of Delilah's favorite teachers, her choir director Mrs. Rembrandt, agrees with Wesch and I was able to use his ideas to my advantage, and make them fit the story.

With a little creativity any time-waster can be used in your novel. Maybe your character likes to avoid homework by playing fifty games of Tetris just like you do. Figure it out. Make it work. I could tell you not to procrastinate at all, but that would be stupid and hypocritical for me to do. You are a writer, you are going to procrastinate. It's part of who we are. So instead of avoiding the "meaningless" ways of procrastination, make it work for you!

+ And try a program like Word Counter if you're on a Mac, or an online widget for PCs to keep track of how far you are in your novel. If you see that you are 79% of where you need to be for the day (that's where I am now, I'm behind, remember?) it seems a lot less farther away than if you were to take out the calculator & figure out that you have another 2456 words to go until you're back on track for the month. Plus it's cool to watch it update in Word Counter, it makes me feel more accomplished for those 100 little words I wrote than if I had only barely increased my word count for the day.

+ Most importantly, don't give up. So you're 2456 words behind, so what? That's exactly where I am, and I'm not letting it bother me. There are 23 more days in the month. That's just 107 extra words a day, that's nothing! You can catch up in no time at all! It's only week 1, you've still got time. Don't give up now, just keep going and even if you don't win, you can come close. Then when NaNo09 rolls around, you'll know you can get to 40,000 words and 50,000 won't seem so scary. That's what I'm doing. In 2006 I made it to 25,000 words before my computer crashed. I knew that I could have made it that year, and because I made it at least halfway that year before I was cut off due to technical difficulties, I know that I can make it this year. And I think if you really try, you can too.

I leave you now with two quotes that I hope shall inspire you, or at the very least, you can use them in your novel about someone writing during NaNoWriMo (hey, it happens).

If writers stopped writing about what happened to them, then there would be a lot of empty pages.
Elaine Liner, We Got Naked, Now What, SXSW 2006

Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment.
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, 'A Woman of Independent Means'

Other helpful links: Maureen Johnson (accomplished writer of 6 YA books!) tells you how to survive NaNoWriMo. Involves lots of pretty pictures from old movies & witty observations.
Professor Michael Wesch's blog on Revisiting "A Vision of Students Today", which I mentioned above & used in my own novel.
The Quotation Page's Quotes of the Day. You can use these or use this site to search for quotes that pertain to your plot.

(Now, if I could write this whole blog post, a full 1448 words in twenty minutes, surely you can write 50,000 words in a whole month)

Election Day!

2008-11-04T15:54:00.003-06:00

I'd be a bad blogger if I didn't post about Election Day, especially since this is the first time I've voted. I didn't register in time for the last elections or primaries, but I was on top of it for the big presidential election! This was also the first time my younger sister could vote, having turned 18 only a month ago.

My dad stopped by my house and picked me up earlier this morning around 10:30 and we went off to the polls. There was no line at all. And I didn't need to show identification, just sign my name so they could match my signature. And I had my voting card & license all ready for them to check! Oh well.

I took my ballot, filled in the circles like it were a scantron, and then fed it into the machine. I was #152 of Precinct 16 in Will County. I think my dad is the only person to care about this number, but whatever.

I'm wearing my sticker with pride.

If you haven't voted yet today, and are registered, here's why you should vote:
1. You get a sticker. Everyone loves free stickers!
2. You can give the stub to your child or a neighbor's child so they can get extra credit in school. Or if you're in my PR class, you can bring it in to get extra credit for yourself
3. Starbucks will give you a free coffee if you show some proof you voted
4. Ben & Jerry's will give you free ice cream
5. If you don't, you have to deal with people saying "If you don't vote, you can't complain" for the next 4 years
6. It's a chance to be part of history without having to put forth much effort! You need not die in battle! You can be a part of history simply by voting!
7. It's the right thing to do.

Here's something else fun for all you voters, iTunes put up the Charlie Brown shorts of Linus for President for free.

Encouraging Reading, Part 2

2008-11-03T19:36:00.003-06:00

My younger brother Joe just read Small Steps by Louis Sachar in less than a day. I just loaned him A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L'Engle, which I've been re-reading lately. I figure he'll finish before I get a chance to read it again (NaNo takes time!) so I let him have it tonight.

My brother never really was a reader, but suddenly he can't seem to get enough of books. He'll read a book every now & again, but they're usually for school. A great motivator for him though, is to see his friends read a book, or to convince him that it's the "cool" thing to do. (And btw, reading is cool)

Another great way is to find a book that he really loves, and this is usually the hardest part. His class is currently reading Holes in school, and he finished far before the class did because he liked it so much. This was only a few days before I went to see Louis Sachar at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL with my mum, so we brought him along. He seemed to really get into it and we bought him his own copy of Holes which he got signed. In his presentation Sachar mentioned Small Steps, which I had always seen around, but never knew the story of. Joe really wanted to read it, but we were already buying so much that night, we passed on it. The next week I bought one of the signed copies Anderson's had from the event. Then a few days after that my mom caught Joe reading my sister's copy of House by Ted Dekker, which she thought was too scary. To keep him from reading that, I presented my new, shiny copy of Small Steps, which he immediately devoured.

So, this just adds to my theory that all you need to do to get a child hooked on books, is to find that one right book for them. Holes is one I like to suggest, as is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (this one looks daunting, but it's half pictures & flip book! Kids love that). The other night a mother saw me looking through the children's books at the Sachar event and asked me to recommend a book for her daughter, and after talking to the woman I suggested The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by EL Konigsburg.

I think the problem is that most people don't pay attention to a child's unique interests enough to be able to pick out the right book. They'll suggest something new, or a best-seller, or maybe something they loved as a child. And sometimes these work, but some children are really stubborn and they need that exact right book for them, not for you. So talk to your child, find out what they want to read. My children's literature professor last year said that she's sometimes annoyed with the fact that all her son wants to read are Pokemon novelizations, but that she'd rather him read those than read nothing at all. If it gets them started reading, I agree with her. If they find something they love to read, they won't find books so boring or scary, and maybe they'll pick up another. And another. And another.

Just listening to your child is probably the best you can do in any situation, in my opinion anyway. I don't think parents always do that.

...Okay. Back to my NaNo, I promise. (I've written about 1700 words today so far)

NaNo08: Day 3

2008-11-03T17:16:00.004-06:00

It's day 3, with 1722 words, and I've just found a new toy. But it's actually going to help me with my NaNoWriMo challenge!

See, I'm working on my new MacBook this year, and I didn't have a good way to count words. I did a quick Google search & came up with a neat little application called "Word Counter" by Super Magnus. I just downloaded it & I'm having a lot of fun with it. I can type my novel up in Word Counter (and back up in TextEdit) and it will count my words as I go along & displays them at the bottom of the screen. I set mine to update every 15 seconds so I wouldn't keep hitting "count" and loose time. And this way it shows me how far I have to go, and how far I've come. It's a great motivator!

Another thing I like is that it has a progress tracker where you can put in a goal of how many words you want & I'll update with a little progress bar & a percentage. Right now I'm at a measly 3%, but I'm looking to fix that tonight. And tomorrow is my day off, no school, no work (my only day off all week), so I should be able to get quite a lot done then!

Also, I set up a reward system for myself. For every thousand words I'll allow myself to watch one of the episodes of my favorite shows I've missed this week when my internet was down. As soon as I finish this section here, I get to watch Wolverine & the X-Men, a new cartoon I love (I'm a big comic geek, X-Men especially). And I'll still have Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, & The Office to tempt me!

I'll update later with my word count at the end of the day. We'll see how far I can get in the next 6.5 hours!

NaNo: Day 2

2008-11-03T00:39:00.003-06:00

I am so far behind on my NaNo. I have gotten some done, but that's only what I wrote in the first 20 minutes of day 1 before my computer's battery died, and what I wrote in my notebook on train rides to & from Chicago (I wish I had a picture to add to my "where to write" series). I have reasons for why I'm so far behind & why I haven't posted.

Why I'm behind: On Saturday I worked from 6:30-14:15, then I went directly to the train station. I met up with my good friend Karina there, who is from Missouri & was only in town for the one day. I hadn't seen her in 15 months, so it was fantastic to see her again! Then she had to leave, so I met up with two of my other friends who were coincidentally in the city on the same day. It worked out really well. We had to wait in line for 2 hours for pizza, but it was good pizza. Then we went to Navy Pier where I rode the big Ferris wheel for the first time (that particular one that is). Then the train ride home. One of them, my best friend Jen, stayed the night here so my mom wasn't so nervous about me taking the late train home by myself. In the morning we had to go to this strange church as part of my field trip requirement for my religion class. And she was here all day long. I did get a tiny bit of writing done in that time, but not much. Mostly I typed up what I had written on the train...and then I made my computer read it back to me. I didn't know it could do that. I had a little too much fun with that function. It's like the YouTube audio preview, but better!

Why I haven't posted: I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I've not had internet access for the majority of the week. And I was busy, as I said in the above explanation/excuse. But I'm posting now.

My review of Paper Towns will probably be up tomorrow, since it was in the school newspaper already (I like to wait until it's published). Until then, enjoy Lizz's awesome review of it in video form. And then you can watch the rest of the video wherein she interviews NerdFighters about what salad ingredient they would be. I'm the one who makes the very dorky comment about lettuce. The one right before me is Jen, and two after me is my sister Kayla.

Being Edited & NaNoWriMo

2008-10-31T12:28:00.005-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted yet about meeting Louis Sachar, Cornelia Funke, & John Green all in one week (and I caught the tail end of Laurie Halse Anderson's speech on Wednesday night too), but I haven't had internet access in a few days. I'm going to try to get Comcast out to my house soon, but my mom won't call to set up an appointment, even though she's home a lot more than I am. I'm on the school's network right now & only have a little bit of time before my next class.

I was just flipping through the newest issue of my school's newspaper, The Blazer and read over the book review I had submitted. I realized something: I had been edited. I knew this would happen, but it still bothers me. Mostly because I sound really repetitive & unimaginative at the end. Then I got to thinking about how this would affect me as a writer. In the future, I will deal with editors who want me to change one thing or another in my books, short stories, articles, etc. that I might not want to change. But here's the difference: "big time" editors will (or at least should be) professional. They will (or should) tell me what they want changed and give me the opportunity to change it before it goes to press. They will not take that liberty upon themselves without asking me first. Some editors might, I realize, but if they do, they're not being very professional about their job and at that point, I really hope I'm not the author they are dealing with.

I'd expand, but I have to keep this short so I can eat before I go to class (I was going to wait until after, but I'm getting really hungry now).

In just a few hours, NaNoWriMo will kick off and I will again participate. You may remember I participated two years ago, but had to take last year off because of personal/family issues. But I'm back this year & I am very excited! I don't have a plot all planned out, in fact, it's not even there as much as I would like it to be before I begin plowing through, but I'll deal with it!
I'll try to make updates like it did in 2006, with tips I learn along the way, word counts, & just "I am avoiding my writing" posts. With the internet situation as it is, I cannot guarantee this, but I will try. I want to.

If anything, I might just learn how much I want an editor to change things for me, haha.

If you want to friend me on the NaNo pages, my username is once again TypesetJez and I've linked that so you can find me (the NaNo site has temporarily disabled author searches to save its server some).

Book Review: The Great Gatsby

2008-10-19T23:41:00.001-05:00

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Realistic Fiction
Review by Jez Layman

Banned books week was September 27-October 4th, but banning books is a serious topic that should be acknowledged and fought all year long. Every year schools, churches, political groups, and many others will work to remove certain books from the shelves so that no one can read them. One such book is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which has been challenged and banned time and time again since its publication in 1925. It is listed among the top most frequently challenged books of the 20th and 21st centuries, but is also listed as number 2 on Modern Library’s Top 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century. Charges have come against this book in that it is “sexually explicit” or the language is “inappropriate,” but when today’s college student compares it with television shows and movies they watch regularly, it is likely to seem relatively harmless.

In the book, Nick Carraway moves to the big city and finds a home in West Egg along the Long Island Sound. His next door neighbor is the lavish and mysterious Jay Gatsby, a man of self-made wealth, but of unknown background. Everyone claims to know Gatsby, but few have any clue as to who he really is. Really, he is simply a man trying to impress the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan (who coincidentally happens to be Nick’s cousin). Gatsby dated Daisy before he left to fight in World War I, and when he returned he found that she had not waited for him, but instead married Tom Buchanan. Tom is an untrue husband with a mistress in the city named Myrtle, that everyone, including Daisy, knows about. All of these scandals, and more, are uncovered through the eyes of Nick, who reintroduces Gatsby and Daisy.

This is a story of romantic complications and multiple instances of cheating and adultery, but even more than that, it is a depiction and reflection of life in the Jazz Age of America, during the time of prohibition. Things in Nick’s world are always more than they seem and should never be taken for granted. The characters are life-like and can easily be found in today’s society. Everyone knows a Nick or a Daisy, a Gatsby or a Tom. The plot has its twists and turns, keeping the reader interested, and the style is like no other. Fitzgerald is a master writer of his time and of all time and is constantly ranked among the best writers of the 20th century for that reason.

The Great Gatsby is more than just an English assignment. If you read it for a class, I encourage you to read it again so that you can enjoy it without the worry of the next test or assignment hanging over your head. And if you have never read it, I encourage you even more to read this novel, as well as other banned books. In celebration of banned books, try reading something new and controversial, you might just find a new view on the world, or even just simply something you enjoy reading.

Next review will be up shortly, I'm having a friend read over it for me before I send it in. It will be on John Green's new book, Paper Towns

Book Review: Peeps

2008-10-19T23:38:00.002-05:00

This is my 101st post! :)
This semester I've been writing book reviews for my school newspaper, The Blazer. I've been waiting to put them up on here so that I could link you all to read them on the newspaper's webpage, but it doesn't appear that anyone over there is updating the page anymore.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Young Adult  This year vampires are popular in literature, but with all the hype over Twilight, other vampire novels are lost in the shuffle. One such brilliant novel is Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. In his book Westerfeld puts a new spin on the classic vampire story. Forget all the folklore about crosses and silver bullets, this isn’t a mythological kind of story, this is about a parasite. The parasite works a little bit like an STD, no biting of necks necessary. Some of the old tales about vampires are explained by Westerfeld in that the parasite changes a person’s perceptions of the world & causes them to hate the things that they liked in their pre-peep days, such as crosses if they were religious.

The main character, Cal, is a carrier for the parasite--someone who has it, but isn't affected by it, except for increased strength and heightened senses. It's Cal's job to find other “peeps” and capture them before they cause any more harm or spread the disease farther. His main target is Morgan, the woman who gave him the parasite, but along the way he meets Lace, a girl who begins to involve herself in the investigations with him. But it’s a little hard to concentrate on the mission when the parasite wants Lace too, adding a little romantic conflict to the story.

The plot is well thought out, interesting, and on occasion suspenseful. And for the life science geeks out there, the even numbered chapters are about real life parasites. These chapters add to the story & make things easier to understand, but if you have a weak stomach it is advised that you skip these chapters as they can get a little disturbing and are not integral to the plot.

Part science fiction, part non-fiction this book will make you rethink everything you’ve known about vampires up until now and make you fall in love with them all over again. Scott Westerfeld has a great writing style and creates characters you’ll remember and relate to. This book is recommended to those who love vampires, science fiction, or just want a good, quick read.

If you liked Peeps, try the companion novel, The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld. New characters, new perspectives, same old parasites.

Banned Books

2008-10-05T20:32:00.004-05:00

I'm a day late to comment on Banned Books Week, but here's the thing guys: books are banned all the time. Not just in any one week. This isn't a topic we should concentrate on for a mere 7 days. This is a problem we should be aware of 365 (sometimes even 366) days a year! It's a serious problem where certain people try to govern what's "acceptable" or not for us to read. They try to control our reading habits and make things inaccessible to us. What's wrong for one person could be the absolute best read for another. So don't let those people win. Read banned books. Fight against banning books. And don't ban books yourself. Give reading a chance.

Now, I'm writing up my newest book review for my school's newspaper, and in honor of banned books, I've decided to write on The Great Gatsby. I'll put up the review when the issue comes out (and I'll put up my last one very soon), but until then, check out the list of banned books and see which ones you've read, which ones you want to read, and which ones simply do not belong on that list.

I can't find any one list with all the banned books, but if you google you can find a lot of good lists.

Banned books that I have read:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (banned for putting anthromorphosized animals on the same level as humans. go fig. I LOVE THIS BOOK)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (I didn't like this book, but my friend LOVES it)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (I have yet to meet someone who likes this book. Still shouldn't be banned though)
The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Adventures of Huck Finn by Mark Twain
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
The Giver by Lois Lowry (I just debated about this book with someone last night actually)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
The Witches by Roald Dahl (one of my favorites)
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Bible
Anything by William Shakespeare (though I have not read them all)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1984 by George Orwell (most of it anyway)
Charlotte's Web by EB White
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (more correctly, I've read The Golden Compass & part of The Subtle Knife)

Banned books I really want to read:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Freedom Writers
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Outsiders by S.E. HInton
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (I may have actually read this in grade school, but I can't remember clearly)
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Also, check out the ALA's page on Banned Books Week for more info on banned books.

Register to Vote. Seriously.

2008-10-03T22:22:00.004-05:00

Originally, Spider-Man told me to register. Seriously, he did. My friend found me an old X-Men TAS cassette tape and I popped it in & there was a public service annoucement--from Spider-Man!! It was done in the 90s and was cheesy, but Spidey told me to make sure to register to vote. Then at welcome week earlier this semester I registered. And I'll be voting later this year in national, state, & local elections.

You should register too. Now, I can't ask Spider-Man to tell you to. But maybe you'll listen to these guys instead.

I am not to be trusted

2008-09-09T20:06:00.003-05:00

I need to stop saying things on here like "I will do this for you next week" or "I'll put this up later." Because I never do, obviously.

So maybe I'll just post when I actually have something. I do want to post here more often though, so I'll put up the comic reviews--that I already have done! And possibly some shorter reviews & blurbs. When I get my new computer, well, we'll see.

But I am alive. I am reading. I am writing.

If any of you want to read a sample of my children's writing, you can read Fork Lad's Tale here. It's a short story I wrote for my brother, based off of the Whisk Pirate Adventures I've been writing for my friends. Just fun, not serious writing. It's probably more practice because it's very different from my usual writing style.

Oh and hey, if you have a Twitter, let me know! You all can follow me here.

Book Meme

2008-07-05T12:37:00.003-05:00

I'm not dead, school didn't kill me. I'm heading out of town in a few minutes here (as soon as the family is all finished packing), but when I get back next week I'll have plenty of wonderful things to post for you all. Including reviews of John Green's Paper Towns (comes out Oct 08), The first 3 (or maybe 4) Traveling Pants books by Ann Brashares, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Paton, The Witches by Roald Dahl, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Possibly some ranting over Louis Sachar's Holes and some stuff on children's literature and picture books too. My children's lit class has prepared me well and I'm more than happy to share what I learned!

Okay, until then I leave you with a book-based meme taken from Jordyn over at Page Numbered

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Maybe the House of Night series? Everyone always tells me good things about it and my friend Jess lent it to me once. I got through like 3 chapters and could not read anymore because I hated the main character so much.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
Ooh, that's tough. Um. I'm reading the pants books now and really connecting with Bridget, so let's take her along. And maybe this is a current book obsession thing, but I want to bring along Margo Roth Speigelman from Paper Towns because she's so awesome, but still really deep and thoughtful. My third guest would be Ginny from 13 Little Blue Envelopes. We'll all go on a road trip! That seems to be the best idea with these girls.

You are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, which book would you expect to be waiting for you at the end?
Crime and Punishment. I tried to read it for school and could not do it. Or maybe something by Dickens.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
I don't remember exactly, but I know I did this a few times in school. Cuz that's what honor kids do, honestly.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
Hm...I'm not sure. There most likely has been. I know I do it with manga sometimes, like the 29th volume of Naruto I could have sworn I'd read before, but as I got farther into it I found out I hadn't.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP).
Depends on the person, but either The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I recommend Hugo Cabret to non-reading kids all the time because even though it's huge it's easy to read. Half of the book is like a picture/flip book anyway. And then when they're done and like it they can fell like "I just finished that gigantic book, now I can read anything."

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
Italian, no contest. I would like French maybe because there are so many good books in French, but Italian would win out no matter what. I'm learning Italian and I love it completely.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It was the first book to get me really into reading and I still love it. I try to read it once a year anyway.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?
I found John Green through Scott Westerfeld's blog, and whereas I'm not a big fan of An Abundance of Katherines I really love Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. John Scalzi too, also through Westerfeld. I haven't read most of his stuff, but I really enjoy Agent to the Stars.
But more importantly I found Maureen Johnson through the blogosphere and she's my favorite author these days. I will read anything written by her, even if it is a blood & tears book. And I hate those books generally (Twilight is the only thing of that genre I like, but for the action and not the romance so should it count?). MJ is a writing goddess, that's all there is to be said about that. Thank you internets!

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

I wrote this library into my book, actually. It's huge, with shelves so high you need those rolling ladders around. Most are hard cover or leatherbound, but some books are paperback and falling apart. These ones are all first editions or the ones I read as a child or never truly published by written by people I know. My favorite books are signed and have personalized messages to me. And there's a huge wall of all my favorite manga, with all the volumes there. And somehow my comics would end up somewhere in a way where the could not be ruined.

Take this if you want, I won't tag anyone this time around

I'm alive and I've been tagged

2008-05-08T23:42:00.004-05:00

Yes, I am still alive. Just very busy is all. I finished up my last exam this morning (very very early this morning I might add, I've been exhausted all day) and I start May Term on Monday. Lovely.

Anyway, Jude tagged me. And then Anita tried to tag me. So here goes!
Here's the rules at a glance:
-Pick up the nearest book
-Flip to whatever page you're on or a random page
-Type up lines 6-9
-Tag 5 people

From pg 80 Generation X: Crossroads by J. Steven York:
"...And most of all, we will need one unit to operate full specs, and we will need it ready quickly, to allow for the cosmetic modifications that we require."
Bervin leaned back against the workbench, allowing a..."

I really don't know who to tag anymore, as everyone else seems to have already been tagged. But I will tag Jordyn, my newest blogging friend.

Also, Jude nonspecifically & unknowingly tagged me for a second game:
Rules are:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up

1. The first person to congratulate me today after I finished my last exam was my favourite radio DJ, Jordan, who does the all-request hour on Shine.FM (I called in to request Paul Allen's "Bring You Back")
2. I write more fanfictions for my X-Men forum than I write for my book
3. I crack my toes in my sleep
4. I am allergic to mint, which means I use kid's "sparkle fun" flavoured toothpaste
5. I am a caffeine addict, more specificly a Coca-Cola addict
6. I'm one of the few writers I know who loves editing

Again, I don't know who to tag anymore, so anyone who wants to can consider themselves tagged.

One of the classes I'm taking during May term is Children's Literature. I've already started flipping through the text book; I'm very excited for this class. We'll be reading Charlotte's Web and when the girl in the school bookstore tried to give me a copy I told her "Oh no, I have my own copy, I just read it last month actually." She gave me a very strange look.

Research help: Your Last Days?

2008-04-03T23:41:00.002-05:00

I'm working really hard on one of my books right now & I need some help! So, if you could please leave comments here about what you would do if you found out you had only a few months left to live. What would you do? What sort of things would you want to see?

Things to keep in mind:
+ These things must be inexpensive
+ These things have to be able to happen in a small suburb. Which isn't that hard, just, not something that belongs in big cities.
+ The odder, the better. I like small town oddities.
+ My characters are all about 19 years old

Thanks in advance, this will really help my research. I'm planning on a lot of research trips with my writer friend Jessica (you may remember her from my NaNoWriMo 07 interviews) to really get a feel for this book. The first is a trip to the local forest preserve, which will play a part in the story, and serves the double purpose of getting my friend to see it as she's never been. Other crazier trips are in the planning stages, as well as looking into tattoos (though my character only ever thinks about it).

Book Review: Feed by MT Anderson

2008-03-07T20:20:00.004-06:00

The feed is in their minds, keeping them constantly connected. And this story stays in the minds of the reader as well. You will not want to put down MT Anderson's Feed and even when you do, the story stays in your head. Part teenage love story and part biting satire this book is amazing. It is unlike other books and gives us readers a taste of what it would be like to be constantly connected, to advance so far ahead that we loose sight of where we came from. So far ahead that we loose sight of who we are and what's imporant and see only the barrage of banners advertising the next big thing.

If the point of science fiction is to warn us of what could be coming, then Adverson has acheived it. The story is written realistically from the point of view of a hipster teen named Titus. He goes to the moon with his friends and meets a girl, then they go to a club & are hacked. Suddenly Titus finds himself grappling with problems he'd never conceived of, and on the biggest adventure of his life: an introduction to real life.

I could recommend this book to certain groups of people based on their taste in literature, or could relate to it, but that wouldn't be good enough. Everyone needs to read this book.

Moonvertising

2008-03-06T15:09:00.003-06:00

Moonvertising

I knew this was coming eventually: using the moon as a gigantic billboard. Starting March 21st Rolling Rock will have their logo imprinted on the moon's surface with a laser. Every full moon companies will be able to do this. We're turning the moon into the galaxy's biggest advertisement.

Rolling Rock is an independently spirited beer that does things differently, which is why we're trying a new, more tasteful marketing approach this year: putting our logo on the moon -- movertising.

Tasteful? I don't think so.

My father made a good point about this, in a few years the children growing up will never know what a full moon looks like without somebody's banner plastered across it.

What has the world come to when we can't even gaze up at the stars without being subjected to this kind of media infiltration? I keep thinking of MT Anderson's Feed and how the moon was transformed into a tackier version of Vegas and there were flashing billboards at the bottom of lakes for all the "upcars" going above to see. Is that what's next for us? Because, after all, isn't the point of science fiction to prevent certain futures from becoming reality?

Another thing I wonder about is what effect will this have on the moon? If it changes things, even a little bit, it could really affect us here on Earth. The moon controls the tides, and if the tides are changed, well...just watch The Day After Tomorrow. That's the most extreme example, of course, but the moon does have affects on the tide & the tide in turn has affects on other parts of our ecosystem.

For the record, I'm against this. But I'd like to hear your thoughts, so sound off!

From Idea to Story

2008-01-28T12:26:00.000-06:00

Recently a friend of mine asked me for advice on writing & eager to help I asked if there was anything in particular she wanted insight on. She asked me how I turn an idea into a story. Wow. What a question! I wasn't sure what to tell her at first, because it was such a vague question--and a big one too! Eventually I told her a few key things & because she had to leave I promised I would blog about them to go into further detail, so here goes.

1) Ask yourself "why this story?" Why do you think this particular tale needs to be written?/Why do you want to write it? What's the point? This piece of information is the most important because its what you'll form your entire story around. You could write a good story & it woudln't be worht a snowflake in the Artic without a reason or main point. This is the hardest step in my opinion, but once you figure this out everything else will be easier. Which is why you should always do this first.

2) Okay, now you've got a point, what are you going to do with it? You need to figure out your plot, or main storyline. Every writer will tell you something different about how to go about this. Some say the best way to go about writing is to start from the beginning and continue in chronilogical order, building off each event. Others say to start from the end and work your way backwards. Robin Parrish gave great advice here* when he said to figure out the ending & key points and then play connect the dots. It really depends on the writer & the story what works best, but whatever you end up doing, always have a battle plan. If you don't, you'll charge headfirst into a war against a clan of highly trained needle ninja only to find that you're wearing balloon armor. It's not gonna go well.
So figure out where you want to go, and where you're going to start. It doesn't matter what you write first, you could write the very middle first, but know your general road map first. The plot will develop as you go along & maybe the end or beginning or something will change. As facts stand though, this is generally a good thing, so let them change. But don't try to start off without a general idea of how your story will go.

3) Characters are essential, I cannot stress enough how important characters are. No story was ever written without a character, even documentaries focus on specific animals in a group. Sometimes the characters come to you first and are the reason you get the idea for the story, sometimes you have to fit them into the story, but they always come because they need to. Make sure you know your characters before you start off--more than just their name** I'm not saying you need a full biography on each character, but at least get to know them a little. Just know who they are & why they're there; they will tell you the rest in time (and more). Every character is a story unto themselves, always remember that.
When you have a nice cast of characters, figure out how they'll interact with each other, this will help a ton in the long run.

4) Figure out your setting so the reader doesn't have to. If you leave out all indicators of setting the reader might think your Neptune space epic is in Oklahoma. Again, specifics aren't necessary at the beginning, but the basics are. As is (always) the "why" of it. Why Neptune & not Saturn? Why an abandoned cottage & not an overbooked 5-star hotel? Where are you going to make your characters live?

From there, the rest is up to you. I wish you all the luck in the world (or however much I'm allowed access to) on your bold, daring, and dangerous endevour of writing a novel. Some people can't handle it, some writers never make it, but maybe someday, you will. Writing is not for the faint of heart, at least not real writing; anyone can write a book, but it takes a true artist to write a good story.

* Max Hsu's interview with Robin Parrish
** Sometimes, as the story moves along, the character's name might need changing. Originally I had a character named Ulrich, who became Matt. I think this change was one of the best things I've done for the character.

-----

Note: I am not an expert. I think Justine Larbalestier says it best.

Juvenile Writings

2008-01-18T02:39:00.001-06:00

Recently my mum has been doing a lot of organizing & remodeling. In her quest for cleanliness she found my old notebook from kidnergarten that she saved. It was a daily journal we had to keep. I put up a few random entries here to show people my first ever writings. I also put up writings of mine from 9th, 10th, & 11th grade so I could see how I developed as a writer.

Have a look.

Also, I have another blog for quotes now. Just something fun to do with all the quotes I've compliled. You can see it here or access the LJ syndication here.

Fanfics for a good cause

2008-01-01T20:27:00.000-06:00

YO! Fanfic writers! Here's a great way to use your fanfics for a good cause!

Here's the deal, truelovepooh on LJ was diagnosed with both stage two ovarian cancer and breast cancer last year. I don't personally know her, but does that really matter? Anyway, the deal is that a bunch of people on & off LJ are banding together in a mass-fandom fanfic contest to keep her spirits up.

Any fandom/pairing is allowed, just so long as the theme is "healing."

If you want to write about Edward (or Jake) taking care of Bella when she's sick, do it.
If you want to write about Josh Foley healing..well...everyone, do it.
If you want to write about how to save Norrington, do it.
If you want to write about um...Windalf healing a pixie, do it. (...it's a fandom! Or we'll make it one anyway XD )

info here

Hope you all join me in this :D

My Top 5 Books of All Time

2007-12-30T15:39:00.001-06:00

This changes from time to time if I discover a truly remarkable book, but as of right now, these are my top 5 books.

I pick these books based on a 4-point criteria. The principles I consider are plot; characters; style; relatibility/what they mean to me & what I take away from them at the end.

Unfortunately, I have a very hard time ranking these from 1-5, so I'm not going to. Just know these are the top 5, in alphabetical order.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Plot - This story is amazing & even the smallest things end up being important. The story also doesn't drag along.
Characters - The characters in this book are very original, yet the main character Shadow is still easy to relate to. All the characters are very developed, no matter how small a part they play.
Style - I don't even know how to describe Gaiman's style, just that it would include every synonym for "amazing" I know. I would even look some new ones up. I think people would just have to read it to understand.
What it means to me & What I took away - I liked the way this book approached faith, without encroaching on any one person's beliefs. So I was still able to keep my devout belief in God, and in a strange way, actually made it stronger. Also, his style helped me with my own writing. Secondly, I think I gained a much broader idea of faith.

Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Plot - This story is great & moves along quickly. A modern "selling your soul" story, which tackles how to beat the deal someone you know enters into with a devil.
Characters - Johnson writes the best characters in my opinion, always unique but so real you probably know someone just like them. And the depth of the characters is amazing, makes them whole.
Style - Maureen Johnson is my favorite writer, so I had to include her in my top 5. Her style is witty, funny, and thought-provoking. I like to look at her style, in this book especially, as an example of amazing writing.
What it means to me & what I got from it - I think this is a great coming of age book, that shows the strength that friendship can reach. This is another book that helped with my own writing, as I said.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Plot - This is a story that never gets old, and is played out time and time again in real life. A person doing all he can to win back his true love that he lost to someone else? No one can say that hasn't happened to them or someone they know. But despite how often this story is played out, Fitzgerald manages to have something original and in my opinion, he's perfected that story.
Characters - These characters are real, original, and deep. And honestly, I fell in love with Gatsby. The rest were just like people I actually know.
Style - This book is a masterpiece. Fitzgerald has a style all his own that is on a whole other level above any other author I've ever read. And the objective stance of the narrator is fabulous, considering how involved he gets.
What it means/What I got - This book truly touched me deep down in a soul-wretching way. The ending really hurt me in a way no other book has been able to. That alone is enough to get this book into my top 5, everything else is what makes it my #1. The icing on the cake is that this book has readability. I feel like each time I unconver this book I find a new layer of meaning in it, and that I will never be able to get to the center of it.

Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Plot - I have always loved this books, it's one of the first books I ever fell in love with, and the plot is one of the reasons for it. I really like the idea of being transported to another world, but in a different way than most books have done it. And giving a cancer patient the chance to live a full life free of his pain is really touching.
Characters - The main character, Lucien/Luciano is the first character I ever fell in love with. I love his depth & sincerity. And Arianna is fantastic & relatible, as are all the rest.
Style - This was the first book I read from different view points. I think this is such a cool idea that really helps move the story along and give it new sides.
What it means/what I got - This book was the first book, and one of the very very few books to ever make me cry. It was able to reach into me and touch my heart. In fact, though I don't cry anymore, I still come very close everytime I read the end of this book. Also, I took that fabulous idea of different view points and applied it to my own writing, and I honestly believe that it has made a world of difference in my books.

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
Plot - What a cute imaginative story! This is a great story to share with anyone, especially children.
Characters - These are the most unique characters of any book I've ever read. Alice is very innocent, and the Red Queen overbearing, and the White Knight is helpful and imaginative. This book has a wide cast where every character is very different from any other.
Style - I think the most notable thing about the writing style in this book is the crossing of rivers. Every time Alice crossed a river to bring her into a new square Lewis put in a zigzag of astricks. It was the simplest way to show a change, and also looked like a river, in a way that the reader also jumps over the river.
What it meant/what I got - I had to include this book in my top 5 because it's the book that made me fall in love with reading. I re-read this book at least once a year and it never gets old. This book will always hold a special place in my heart. In fact, I was reading from my great-grandmother's leather-bound pocket edition, which was mint condition when I got it...and I read it so many times when I was younger that the cover fell off and the pages began to yellow and come out. I have a new copy now, but I refuse to get rid of my original.

My Top Books of 2007

2007-12-30T15:02:00.000-06:00

Alright, I've read 105 books, comics, & manga this year and I've gone through them again to try and decide what my top books are. This is really hard because I read so many great books this year. I don't think there were any I didn't like.

In order of when I read them, because I doubt I could rank these. I'm including first reads only.

Children's

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney -- My little brother was reading this and forgot it at home one day, and I picked it up. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. This book was hilarious! And the way Kinney wrote it, half journal-half comic, was inspiring and made the story move along easier. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages.

Young Adult

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by JK Rowling -- This is my favorite book of the entire Harry Potter series, which I read at the very beginning of the year. The plot of this book is fabulous and the entire scene in the Department of Mysteries was amazing. Do not judge this book by its movie because the movie doesn't even begin to compare in my opinion.

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier -- The fabulous first book in the Magic or Madness series which poses an interesting choice: use your magic and die young, or ignore your power and go insane. It's really cool to see the story told by three different and unique characters from two different continents.

Twilight, New Moon, & Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer -- I usually don't go for the "vampire in love with a mortal" books, but my friends finally got me to read this series & I really like it. I'm not really a fan of the main character, but its the action & vampires & werewolves that keep me going. New Moon is definately my favorite, and shows Meyer's unique style the best of the three.

Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier -- the amazing last book in the Magic or Madness trilogy. I loved the ending of this series, very interesting! But I won't spoil anything, you'll have to read it for yourself.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson -- I love Maureen's books first off, and this is one of my favorites. I love the odd coming-of-age adventure, it keeps you interested the whole way through. The ending was unexpected, and splendidly done. And Maureen's characters are always the best part of her books.

Devilish by Maureen Johnson -- My favorite of Maureen's books. This book is very adventurous & interesting. Johnson's style of writing in this book amazes me. I wrote down one of the scenes in my notebook to look back on it every now and again as an example of great writing.

Feed by MT Anderson -- I love this book. These characters seem real, because they talk like teens, even if it would be offensive to some readers. The story is fantastic and I love Anderson's style. Absolutely love it.

Extras by Scott Westerfeld -- The sequel to Westerfeld's Uglies series. This one happens after the events in Specials, in a new area, with a new character. Honestly this is my favorite in the entire series. I think it was the change of main character, because I never really liked Tally, whereas I really like Aya. And this book gets extra points from me because the whole face-rank system is interesting & satorical.

Adult

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare -- A classic play that I ended up falling in love with, despite my preconceptions of it. It was hilarious and amusing with its odd take on a love story. Seeing this play performed shortly after I read it was great too.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- This book blew me away, seriously. I'm glad to finally find a book that represents time travel as non-changing, because I'm tired of "let's go back in time & change it" stories. The disjointed way of telling this story works so well for this book & the characters are fabulous.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison -- This book is so different from anything else I usually read. Honestly, it disturbed me most of the time, but the funny thing is, that's why I liked it. It was real, unlike most books out these days--even the nonfiction stories. Morrison doesn't worry about what's acceptable or not, she just writes what's real and holds nothing back.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman -- I love this book. So much. I took a chance on this book, taking advice from one of the leaders of a local book club. Another book that doesn't hold back. The story stayed interesting every bit of the way, and nothing written wasn't important, no matter how small it seemed at first. And Gaiman's style and characters are astounding.

Reading List July-December 2007

2007-12-30T14:39:00.000-06:00

July 2007

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Civil War: Fantastic Four #541 by Michael Straczynski

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows by JK Rowling

X-Factor #21 by Peter David

X-Factor #22 by Peter David

X-Men Endangered Species by Mike Carey

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #21 by Peter David

August 2007

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

The Next Adventures of Guy by Norm Cowie

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Vol 13 by CLAMP

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Vol 14 by CLAMP

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23 by Peter David

Marvel Adventures Hulk #2

Gambit: House of Cards

X-Men #200 by Mike Carey

Uncanny X-Men #488 by Brubaker

New X-Men #40 by Christopher Yost

X-Factor #23 by Peter David

X-Men #202 by Mike Carey

September 2007

Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Feed by MT Anderson

Fruits Basket Vol 17 by Natsuki Takaya

Ouran Host Club Vol 9 by Bisco Hatori

October 2007

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Thursday Next: A First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

Piratica II: Return to Parrot Island by Tanith Lee

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Generation X: Genogoths by J Steven York

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

X-Factor #24 by Peter David

X-Factor #25 by Peter David

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

November 2007

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

December 2007

Fruits Basket Vol 18 by Natsuki Tayaka

New X-Men #44 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost

Fall in Love Like a Comic by Chitose Yagami

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Runaways Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan

Colossus: Bloodline

Spider-Man: Breakout

Chicago Ranked 36th Most Literate City

2007-12-28T15:36:00.000-06:00

For the last 10 years Central Connecticut State University has ranked America's largest cities in terms of most literate. This is done using six factors: number of booksellers; education; Internet Resources; Library Resources; Newspaper Circulation; and Periodical publications.

The top 10 are as follows:
Minneapolis, MN
Seattle, WA (last year's #1)
St. Paul, MN
Denver, CO
Washington, DC
St. Louis, MO
San Francisco, CA
Atlanta, GA
Pittsburgh, PA
Boston, MA

Living in the South Chicago Suburbs, I was curious how well Chicago ranked and was dismayed when I found it at number 40, falling from 39 last year, but rising from 46 in 2005. Overall 69 cities were ranked, so 40 puts Chicago in the bottom half. With Chicago being the 3rd most populated city in the US this puts are literacy rate low. In 2000 there were 78 libraries within the city limits of Chicago and 596 public schools (elementary & secondary). 28.2% of Chicagoans above age 25 have not received a high school diploma.

I've checked many different sources and all the data I received from each one disappointed me. What could we do to raise our rankings? What could we do to keep kids in school? What could we do to promote reading?

Support the schools. The better the school, the more likely a student is to stay through high school and the higher standard of learning the school provides.

Support local libraries. Some people see libraries as outdated because they don't have the funds available to keep up with the technological growth.

Support organizations such as First Read that help children learn to read and provide them with the resources necessary.

Or the simplest thing anyone can do:

Read to children.

As a parent, the best way to encourage education is to read to your child. Teach them how to read, how to improve their skills, and make it interesting. Also children do what they see their parents do. If a child sees a parent reading, they'll want to read. But if they see their parent do nothing but watch tv, they might not take the initiative to do anything else.
You can also read to your younger siblings or cousins or neighbors. You could volunteer at your local library or elementary school. Just read to them.

Never Underestimate Nerds in Large Groups

2007-12-19T13:43:00.000-06:00

On Monday 17 December 2007 at 12:00 (EST) the "Power Project for Awesome" hit the net, or more specifically, YouTube. What was this project? It was a fabulous idea thought up and made possible by John & Hank Green, the brothers of Brotherhood 2.0, in which they asked all of their NerdFighters (their fans) to make a video on YouTube, all with the same thumbnail center image. In these videos the brothers asked us, the video-making NerdFighters, to promote a charity. Then, over the course of the next 24 hours the NerdFighters took the web, commenting, rating, favoriting, and subscribing to these hundreds of videos in order to get them onto the Most Discussed Page on YouTube. This way, all the videos on that page would have the same thumbnail and would also help the cause to decrease WorldSuck. And it worked.

This project was one of the best uses for the internet and social networking I've ever seen. It combined viral marketing with charity in a way to decrease WorldSuck by increasing the amount of awesome the NerdFighters daily put out. John and Hank have really come upon something great here and have banded together over 4000 people worldwide and have not let them hanging. The project started out with two brothers making videos and grew to a movement. These two did not forget to be awesome.

The impact of this project--not just the Power Project for Awesome--but Brotherhood 2.0 in general--is unbelievable and I doubt we've even seen the full extent of its affect yet. In the beginning, John and Hank were fun to watch and gave us entertainment, then they gathered a following which grouped every weekday in the comment threads on the videos (both on YouTube & Brotherhood2.com). And then it grew to a large, awesome community with the creation of the Brotherhood 2.0 forum, My Pants. In My Pants (that joke never gets old) the NerdFighters were able to connect with each other and talk about ways to decrease WorldSuck and generally spread around the awesome. But the Power Project was a whole other level of awesome. It took a great idea and great people and combined them with an even greater cause. All it took was a mailing list and a few thousand devoted NerdFighters. YouTube didn't know what hit them.

It all goes to show you, don't underestimate the power of nerds (or rather, NerdFighters) in large groups.

Brotherhood 2.0 is winding down to its last days now, ending on the 31st of December 2007 with the end of the year. It's been a good run, but all good things must come to an end. We will miss the daily videos, but I don't see the end of the NerdFighter movement anywhere in sight. These are the kinds of things that last. Trekkies will never give up their costumes and stop going to conventions and the NerdFighters will never stop their fight against WorldSuck.

Thank you, John and Hank Green, for giving us something special.

And now, I will link to my favorite videos involved in this project, as well as more articles & information on it.
Hank Green's explanation of the project
John Green's video on the project
Power Project for Awesome: italktosnakes, cause: First Book
Power Project for Awesome: skystreak22 in which they show us a computer from 1985, cause: Hearts & Horses
Power Project for Awesome: ransriggs, causes: one laptop for child; Reading is Fundamental
Power Project for Awesome: SongsfromaHat which features an awesome song, cause: Mr. Holland's Opus
Power Project for Awesome: Charlieissocoollike, cause: Teenage Cancer Trust
Power Project for Awesome: Johnnysmooth, cause: SOS Children's Villiage (we share this cause)
Power Project for Awesome: Namlhots in which Tom donates a kidney, causes: Red Cross & Locks of Love (we share this cause)
Power Project for Awesome: ObsessiveJez, hey that's me!, causes: Locks of Love & SOS Children's Villiage (part project/part Insomniac Theatre, my infrequent vlog)
All of the videos involved in the Power Project for Awesome
Brotherhood 2.0
The Brotherhood 2.0 channel on YouTube
The My Pants Forum

Notice

2007-12-13T03:57:00.000-06:00

I will not be posting about the controversy with The Golden Compass. I really, really want to, but I made a promise that I wouldn't because I get very upset about it.

But in short, I think it's stupid and ironic and without justification.

(but you are free to ask me to defend my stance via email or MSN messenger)

For anyone who wants to read about this on-going debate, I suggest you check out this thread on Scott Westerfeld's blog & his own commentary here. I will be printing out a copy of Scott's argument & giving it to my aunt the next time I see her.

NaNoWriMo Participant Interviews Part 3: Casye

2007-12-13T03:50:00.000-06:00

And now we come to the third and final installment of this year's NaNoWriMo participant interviews (unless any are out there who want to be interviewed...email me). Up to bat now is Casye who in my opinion is a spectacular writer. Unfortunately she did not finish her NaNo this year because she was too busy with her work in Children of Eden (which I can't wait to see btw), but she did find the time to answer my questions.

It's very hard to keep writing when you realize how bad it is, but the best thing to do is ignore it and continue. Remind yourself that you have no deadline for editing, just one for word count.

Like I always say: November is for writing, December is for editing (and/or burning)

My advice to other writers is write about what you love. If you pick something that you think will make millions of dollars, but you don't absolutely adore it, you're gonna go nowhere. I advise people to write what they really want to say and the things that they have always thought privately, but have been too afraid to say so outloud. Don't be afraid! Say exactly what you feel in novel form. It can even be social commentary.

I love that piece of advice, it's very true. This is probably why our research papers are so boring...

You can read the full interview with Casye here or go back and read the previous interviews with Anita and Jessica.

NaNoWriMo Participant Interviews, Part 2: Anita

2007-12-10T23:49:00.000-06:00

Here is the second interview, in which I talk to published author Anita about her first year participating in NaNoWriMo. She tells us about pushing yourself to write and about how she managed to write an entire children's novel in a month.

A few snipets from the interview:

After my NaNoWriMo experience, I would say to any other writers wishing to give it a go – just be true to yourself and not worry about what everybody else is doing. I knew I was never going to write 50,000 words, as I was writing a children’s book. It was never destined to be that long. Once I realised and came to terms with this, it was a lot easier to just write.

I had come to a grinding halt, with doubts about my story and characters and even more concerns about the word count not rising as fast as desired. That was when I plotted the story and got on with it. I don’t like letting people down.

Thank you, Anita, so much for your input! Congratulations on your finished piece and good luck during the editing process. I think the best thing someone can do in this challenge is end up with something completed, despite its word count. You did a fabulous job your first year!

You can read the full interview with Anita here or read the first interview, with highschooler & winner Jessica here.

Hopefully I will hear from our third participant, Casye, soon & can post her interview as well.

NaNoWriMo Participant Interviews, Part 1: Jessica

2007-12-10T23:27:00.001-06:00

November was a hectic month for 101,729 people in 2007. Not because Thanksgiving was coming and the local grocery was sold out of turkeys. Not because of doorbusters on Black Friday. The entire month was hectic for those people because those thousands were all writers participating in NaNoWriMo. I myself participated in NaNo last year, but was unable to join in the fun this year because I had a book to finish & working on something you started before November was not allowed. So I sat along the sidelines and cheered my friends and thousands I didn't know, on to victory! Many finished, many did not, but they all had a fun time while they laboriously pushed towards that golden 50,000th word in their new novel.

When the excitement ended, I took the opportunity to interview a few of those participants on their rushed writing experience, asking about hard deadlines, pushing yourself to write, and writing tips.

First off, we have Jessica. 2007 was her fourth year for NaNoWriMo and her first time to finish!

You can read the full interview here.

Here's a few highlights from this interview:

What was the hardest part about getting yourself to write?
We all have lives, friends, and just things we want to be doing. Not only do we have things we want to be doing, but things we have to do... like essays or family gatherings. I love being out of the house, so sitting down at my computer can be a pain...A new setting helped a lot.

My best advice to other people, especially NaNo-ers and other people who have a limited time to write something would be to just have fun. If it's not fun anymore, move on to another fun part. Get advice from friends, even if you never use it, it could inspire a great idea, the missing piece for your story.

Everyday, just write 10 words. They don't have to be good, or interesting, or anything much at all. Just ten words. Just put in a little effort every day. If you're stuck those ten words might get you unstuck, or at least for that day you know that you would have tried.

Jess had more to say about how to defeat the dreaded writer's block, characters not cooperating, and how her story has no end yet. You can read all of it here.

Congratulations on that and on getting over 50,000 words this year! Thank you for answering my questions, Jess, and I wish you the best of luck with your trilogy. I hope to be able to read the first part soon!

MIA lately, sorry//More on gifts

2007-12-02T01:39:00.001-06:00

I've been a little MIA lately on the internets, I appologize. I posted here once and it was kind of a downer post on Christmas. Truth be told, I love Christmas, I just don't like buying gifts.

Why don't I like buying gifts? I'm going to blame my father for this one, my father & people like him.
See, my dad, gets up bright & early on Black Friday for all the great sales. And what does he do? He buys everything he wants for himself. How are the rest of us supposed to get him something when he's already gone and bought it all for himself? Not to mention he's hard to shop for to begin with.

I need his gift by Friday because that's when I celebrate Christmas with my dad this year. I think when I go shopping at the mall with my friend today I'm going to go into Sears or somewhere & go up to some normal looking dad kid of guy and ask him "If you were my dad, what would you want?"

Because I am not afraid to ask those kinds of questions. I think I proved that today when I asked anyone around me (including my sister) what kind of ornament they would want to receive from their boyfriend's daughter. I ended up with two very nice silver ornaments...and the lady next to me ended up with a rustic Moose I said I liked but wouldn't buy for my dad's tree. So, we helped each other. Communication is the key.

I will be catching up on blogs & all that this week, so please excuse my lateness on anything!

Also, I'm doing a little survey thing for people who participated in NaNoWriMo this year or any past years. Just a few questions for my blog here about writing, pushing yourself to write, & deadlines. If you want to help me out, please email me at lyokofans at yahoo dot com

Christmas Shopping

2007-11-28T01:37:00.000-06:00

First off, thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on the question in my last post about whether or not I am required to give a present to my dad's girlfriend. A special thanks to my good friend Eliza who suggested I get a nice ornament for the tree at their house, that way I'm able to give them a gift without it going specificly to any of them. It will go to my dad & his new family.

And now, on to more about Christmas shopping. So far we have survived Black Friday & we've also survived the biggest internet shopping day of the year (Black Monday?). I mostly survived my staying indoors because my car is in the shop, honestly. But here's the thing: where is all this shopping getting us? Are we better people because we went out and spent hundreds of dollars on things?

I was thinking about this long before Hank Green (of Brotherhood 2.0) brought it up, but he makes a very good point. People don't want our stuff, they want our time. Your family does not love you for your income & the things you might buy for them with it. Neither do your friends. And if they do, well, I'm sorry, they're not really your friends. Call me a cynic if you will, but I don't like the idea of going out and buying gifts for people, I'd rather not give gifts. And here's the truth: most people don't want more stuff. They will have it out for awhile, put it in storage, or maybe they'll throw it away, unless they're nice and give it to Goodwill or Juvenile Diabetes or any other such charity. I'd much rather give my money to a charity instead, to the people who actually need it. Because, let's face it, my family does not need another anything that I would buy them. They would like it, yes, but they don't need it.

When did Christmas become so materialistic anyway? That's not the point of the holiday, no matter if you are Christian or not. I believe that Christmas is to celebrate Christ, but if you do not believe that, well, I'm still willing to bet that you think of Christmas as a holiday to be spent with your loved ones. Why does our environment pressure us so much to give gifts at the holidays? Why do we give into that? What's the point?

The only gift I know I'm giving this year is a CD to my friend Katie of me singing 15 of our favorite Christmas carols. It's something I make for her because I love her and it's something she wants. Plus, it doesn't take up an awful lot of space.

Rejection Letters + Question

2007-11-07T00:24:00.000-06:00

First off, I got past the query letter and they read over my short story, but in the end I received a rejection letter. I have to say though, I don't mind. I didn't really expect anything big my first try. But I did gain a lot from this. First off, I've already written my first query letter, so the fear factor is gone and I'll have a chance to make that better next time. Secondly, a publisher read my work, which is a lot farther than I'd gotten before. And thirdly, they gave me a lot of great feedback and ways to fix it up, which is what I've been looking for all along. No offense to my creative writing teacher, she helped me out tremendously, but she was always afraid of giving me criticism. She would always talk about what I did really well or the parts she liked, but she never once mentioned something she didn't like or how I could make it better. I actually like getting criticism, it's constructive. Plus, it takes an awful lot to get under my skin, so no one should fear hurting me by saying they didn't like something. I know my work is not perfect, and it's strange but, I like hearing that every now and again because it helps me see what parts need fixing and how I can fix them.

So yes, I was rejected. But I now have a tiny bit of experience, which is good.

Secondly, I need some feedback on something completely unrelated to my writing. Just let me know what you think.
My dad is currently living with his girlfriend & her 3 kids and they've been together a few months now. My question to you is: do my siblings & I have to buy Christmas presents for his girlfriend and/or her kids? I know we're getting presents that are from my dad and his girlfriend together, so does that obligate us to give them presents too?