Do you need a college education to become a writer?

Recently I wrote a blog about the long ridge writer's group, but something else has been on my mind recently, college writing courses. I am currently in college studying liberal arts. I've taken a few writing classes along the way and know that I have many more to take along the way, but do I need these classes? To go into my chosen profession I will, but to be an actual writer I will not. While my dream is to be a writer, I have chosen to go to school and study journalism. Both jobs involve writing, but I only need a degree for one. I don't believe you need to go to college to write a book, as long as you know enough about grammar and spelling and you have natural talent. There are lots of authors who didn't go to college, some of which have made their way to the best seller's list. The few college classes on writing that I did take only served to heighten my confidence. There was one class I took where the teacher had us read boring short stories instead of writing. I honestly don't think that class helped me at all. College writing classes may help some, but you don't have to attend them to write a book. It's easier now with self publishing.

Long Ridge Writer's Group

I've seen a lot of blogs, articles, and comments on the internet about the long ridge writer's group. It's an online class that's supposed to earn you a few college credits. A lot of the reviews I've read say this school is a scam and to stay away from it. I don't know if that's true, but I would like to share my own experience with the school. I sent off for their test in 2009, and they told me that I had potential and sent me information about the school. They even showed me who my teacher would be. It was a romance author that I'd never heard of. I'm not sure how they picked her for me, but after taking the course they switched me to another teacher who had only written articles, not books. I enjoyed the class anyway. It wasn't like a regular class. The due dates weren't as strict. It worked for me, since I was working two jobs at the time. Do I think the classes actually helped me? Yes, they brought to my attention some things that I was doing wrong. The writer's group actually helped me more than the class I took at a community college, but I will go into that in another post. I do think there are better classes out there, but long ridge isn't all bad. Very few of the assignments were specific, most just included adding on to what was already written. I think the program did work for me, but it may not work for everyone.

Casual Friday: Small Book Haul

I took advantage of the black Friday sale at bookoutlet.com, which is pretty much my favorite place to buy books. I didn't buy much, what I did buy is pictured above. I haven't been posting as much as I would like, or editing for that matter. It's almost like I've given up, but I haven't. This is my dream. I'm just struggling to find balance. I suppose we all go through that phase and our lives. There are a million things to do and such limited time to do them in. I'll figure something out.

Building my audience

I haven't been doing enough to build a following lately. Most of my time has been spent at work or school. I do know that I need to get back to that, just like I need to get back to editing. I was on the right track to publish and then I let myself lose track of everything. It's easy to do, but disappointing. This is my dream, I can't allow it to slip away. Anyway, I knew there would be a time when I would have to do this. I made myself a facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/jademcc120/ Please follow me.

Book Covers

I just wanted to use this post to spread the word about an artist who is willing to do book covers for self published authors. I think it's important for everyone to follow their dreams, so please check him out on facebook!

Reading Challenge

When I was younger my mom used to bring me to the library at least once a week. During the summer there was a summer reading program where you read books and you got a prize. I think I even won a prize before. It used to be really fun to see how many books I could read, since I usually filled up the paper that I was given. I found a 2015 reading challenge online. You don't get a prize for completing it, but it did look really fun and I think I will do it. Click this link to see the challenge

Building Character

Recently I stumbled upon a blog written by a woman who was a single mother. Her blog was supposed to be about issues that she couldn't talk to her young son about. It seemed like a pretty good idea, until I actually read the blog. It seemed as if the woman's entire identity was that of a single woman. It was very important for her to express how happy she was to be alone and how much she didn't need a man. Every post, other than one on recent events was about her as a single woman. I felt like she only had one layer to her. I thought about what it would be like to write a character like that, and at first I thought it wouldn't be very useful to write a character like that. It probably wouldn't be much fun either, however, sometimes you need to write a character who is only made up of one layer. Sometimes you need to add a character who just has one mission, or mindset. Maybe it's the post man who delivers a life-changing letter, or maybe it's a cashier who warns someone of a person following them. I could go on and on, but I think anyone reading this would understand. Sometimes it's useful to have those single layer characters around, as long as they serve a purpose.

Casual Friday: What it's like to work retail on Black Friday

As I'm typing this, I realize there are only thirty minutes left in the day. I'm still recovering from working a ten hour shift in a retail store. I thought almost everyone had worked retail at some point in their lives, but today I came across some people who clearly had no idea what it was like to work on Black Friday. I had to cut my Thanksgiving plans short because I had to get up early to go to work and stare at my coworkers (who were just standing their since we didn't have a great sale). When the customers finally started to come in they asked things like, "Can you explain to me what twenty-five percent off of everything means?" I thought that was self explanatory. As the day wore on I began to feel exhausted. My feet and back ached and I had a headache. I wanted a break, but the company I work for only gives us a thirty minute lunch break. Around the halfway point of my shift, I felt like I wouldn't be able to make it through the day. During my lunch break I walked around, checking out the sales I couldn't afford to buy from. Nothing seemed good enough to be at the mall. I wouldn't have been there if I didn't have to be. I didn't get to sit during my lunch break, since all of the tables were full (including the outdoor ones). None of the customers were rude, but some really didn't understand the sale. Being around that many people for so long with no breaks was pretty bad itself. I'm grateful I didn't need any food from the food court, the lines were wrapped around. The reason I decided to write this blog is because I would love it if everyone treated each other well this holiday season, instead of being rude. The person working in the store may not have gotten a break, be working without holiday pay, have an empty stomach, sore feet, or be wondering how they are going to pay their rent. Please be kind to everyone you encounter.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving. Make sure to tell the people you care about that you're thankful for them.

How much should an author share?

I've been thinking a lot about how much I want to share with readers. As a writer I want to build a relationship with my readers. I want to let them know a little bit about my life and I also find myself wanting to consider them friends. I want them to feel comfortable commenting on my blog/twitter/facebook/socialmedia, but I also want to have a personal life. While it's easy for me to determine how much I would share with the people in my offline life, I find it hard to determine how much I should share with future readers. Should I tell them anything about my personal life? Should I tell them the bare minimum? Should I try to find a place in the middle where I talk a bit about myself? I'm not sure. I've seen authors who post things about their husbands and children. Should I post things about my boyfriend? What would I even post? It's hard for me to share a lot about myself to began with. I just feel awkward talking about myself. Even at a recent job interview. I think it's the reason I didn't get the job. Overall I think I just need to get more open to talking about myself.

Weekend Review: The Hunger Games Mockingjay part one

This weekend I went to see the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 with my boyfriend. We were both fans of the previous movies, and I had read the books. I enjoyed the first two Hunger Games books more than I liked Mockingjay (though I did like that she ended up with who I wanted her too). As it turns out, I also enjoyed the first two movies more than this one. I found that this movie followed the book a bit closely (the only major difference was Effie played a larger part). There were parts of the movie that may not have made sense if you hadn't read the book. I had to explain at least three things to my boyfriend because he hadn't read the books. Things like who taught Katniss the song and why it was important. I also found her relationship with Gale to be almost non-existent in the movie. In the book he kept whining about her talking to other men, He even got jealous of Finnick, who was clearly the only person who could understand what Katniss was going through. Her relationship with Finnick was also lacking. He was one of my favorite characters in the book, but in the movie they never displayed him as the damaged man that he should have been. There also wasn't much action in this movie, and sadly, I think the cat may have been the most interesting part.



Two Out Of Three Stars

The problem with windows 8 and writing...

Today I logged onto my computer, in hopes of doing some writing and editing, only to discover that the writing program that had come with the computer had expired. If I wanted to keep it I could have paid 6.99 to subscribe, but I decided that I couldn't afford 6.99 a month. I took to eBay and found a writing program that I think should work. This delays my writing even more, but once I finally have it I will be back to where I was before.

Picking an author picture

As a self-published author, there's a lot you have to do for yourself. The things you have to do go beyond just writing a book and releasing it to the world. You also have to market the book. Part of marketing is picking out your picture for your author bio. A traditional author has a team helping them pick this, but you don't. The picture above is not the picture I've picked for my author picture, but the only picture I actually had on this new computer. I have been using this picture to represent me on other mediums though. It's a more updated picture than the one I use on here. So why did I pick the picture I use as my author photo? The answer is a bit amusing: It got the most likes on facebook.

Casual Friday: My Christmas wish

It's only November 14th, and there are already Christmas decorations everywhere. I'm not complaining, since I love Christmas and it is more lively than Thanksgiving, but there is something that's been on my mind. I've been dreading the holiday season. Why? Well, I work retail for the time being. I'm not looking forward to hunting for a parking spot that's all the way on the other side of the mall, or being pushed around by the crowd. I'm not looking forward to the long lines in the food court, or the lack of places to sit in the food court. I'm not looking forward to staying late so the customers can have extra time in the store, even staying after the store is closed in some cases. I'm not writing this blog to complain, since I am grateful that I have a job, but I do feel that I have to address my Christmas wish. My Christmas wish is that people would be nicer to those who work in the retail stores, or waitress, because you never know when they had a break, or got to eat. You don't know how long they've been standing in uncomfortable shoes, or how long they've been waiting for a bathroom break. You also don't know their situation. Some people pick up an extra job for additional Christmas money, but some pick one up to feed their families.

Laziness

I realized that lately I have a real problem: laziness. I want to write and self-publish my work, but I can't seem to find the time or energy to sit down and do it. I'm going to, I just need to push myself harder. Maybe work on my writing when I get home, or when I finally have a day off.

About the weekend review

I have decided that I want to take submissions for my weekend reviews. I'm a writer first, but I also enjoy reading and reviewing. I think it would be a good idea to figure out a way for people to submit books for me to review on my blog. I would prefer self published novels, since I'm about to step into that world and I know I will need all the help that I can get. I hope when I finally decide to release my novel into the world that there's someone there to help me. Now, if I do decide to review self published novels, that does not mean they will get a positive review. All novels will get the review they deserve, which is what I would want for my own book. If you're interested please find a way to contact me.

Weekend Review: Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

I decided to do something a little different for this week's weekend review. I normally review books, but I thought it would be cool to download a game that I was able to play a demo of. I'm already a big fan of the Pokemon game boy games, so when I got an email giving me a free code for a demo I downloaded it as soon as I got the chance.

The demo is very short, and basically showcases the graphics and fighting style. You start off by meeting Team Magma, and learning about Mega Evolutions. You have to fight almost as soon as the demo starts and are told to pick one of three starters. I picked the fire type, which defeated my enemy with a single hit.

After fighting you can explore a little, which has always been my favorite thing about Pokemon. I love exploring and catching Pokemon. You aren't given any pokeballs until the end of the demo, where you catch your first Pokemon. 

You don't even get to pick your character for the demo, which is okay, it's a demo, but I enjoy picking a character and leveling up my own Pokemon. I'm also not sure what the news thing on the bottom screen, since I didn't use it. I don't know if it will be a big part of the game, or if it's just something to give you hints or tell you where to go. I didn't really get to explore much, since all the doors were locked and there was only a few patches of grass to explore, but I did notice a few familiar faces among the Pokemon that I encountered. I just hope Pikachu is in this one, since Pikachu has always been my favorite. 

The graphics were great, about the same as X and Y. The fighting system was the same, and the mega evolutions were the same. Although the demo was short, it made me more excited for the full length game. I plan on picking up Sapphire (probably because I like the color blue more than red). 

The thing about deadlines...

Sigh...it's November already. Time to put away the Halloween decorations and start thinking about turkey or turkey alternatives (I'm a vegetarian). It's also the time where I realize that I've missed the deadline that I gave myself. When I decided to become a self-published author I knew that I had to set deadlines for myself. I also know how hard it is for me to work with a deadline. I was doing well until life got in the way. Now I am more than two months behind my deadline. I'm not as organized as I would like to be. If I was more organized I may have been able to finish editing by now. I'm a bit angry at myself for not having my novel finished by now. It's my dream and I'm letting it pass me by. I'm not sure how things would have gone if I would have actually decided to go through a literary agent. I guess I would have had someone pushing me, but I'm not sure if that matters. I've never been good with deadlines. I remember waiting until the last minute to finish school assignments. Now that I'm juggling work, school, and writing I will have to find a balance. I have to push myself to edit, write, and work on pushing my work out to the public.

Casual Friday: Happy Halloween

Today is one of my favorite holidays, Halloween! I'm either going to spend the day watching horror movies, or go to a "haunted house". I decided that today would be the perfect day to post about some of my favorite Halloween movies.

The original Nightmare on Elm Street series is one of my favorites. I didn't really care for the remake. It just doesn't feel the same without Robert England as Freddy.

I think this was one of the first horror movies that I ever watched. I love all the movies in the series, other than the newest one.

No Halloween would be complete without zombies. I love both the remake and the original.

This is also a fun movie to watch on mother's day. Fun fact: When I caught a Cubone while playing Pokemon I named him Norman Bates.

I love watching this on both Halloween and Christmas.


Honorable Mention:

The Halloween movies, because you just can't have Halloween without Micheal Myers.

Firsts

To be a writer you must live your life and draw experience from it. I recently went to the first bar I've ever gone to, and it made me wonder about other firsts that I should experience, even if they are purely for the sake of improving my writing. I've been considering sitting down and making a list, maybe even youtubing a few of these firsts. I know I need to go out and seek more adventure to better myself not only as a writer, but as a person.

What will it be like when it happens to me?

I noticed that HP Mallory is having a book release party online today. I know she'll do well, she's an amazing author. I can't wait to pick up the book myself. I also can't help wondering what it would be like to be in her shoes. I always wonder what it's going to be like when I finally self publish my first book, but I don't think I've ever allowed myself to wonder what it would be like to be successful. I guess I never dared to dream that people would be interested in reading what I write about. I always thought other things might get in the way. I go to school and have a new relationship, so it's hard to find time to blog. I also have a full time job, which I need to keep. All of that cuts into my writing time. I'm already into the month where I had planned to release my novel, and way behind. It would have been the perfect time to unleash it into the world, but I had so many things get in the way.

Halloween Reads

It's one of my favorite times of year again. Scary movies are on nearly every channel and costumes and creepy decorations are in stores. Halloween is Friday. Although this holiday gets a lot of love from the cable stations, it doesn't really get a lot of love in the bookstores, so I decided to make a post featuring a few of my favorite Halloween reads.

I don't read a lot of Stephen King, but I do love Carrie. It was the first Stephan King book that I ever picked up, and it's also the best one that I've read. I've already posted a review on Carrie, so I'll spare everyone the gory details. The review can be found with my weekend reviews.

Blood red is a great vampire novel, but it's a little hard to find. I was able to find it on amazon, but not on regular book sites. Blood red is basically the story of a town where strange things happen after a strange man moves there.

One of my favorite comic series, 30 days of night, is the perfect Halloween read for someone who loves comics.

Finally, there's the Hannibal series. If you're a fan of the tv series I highly recommend you check out the books.

Favorite Places To Write

My favorite place to write is my desk. The pink and gold paint is familiar, and sometimes I find myself longing to sit at it and edit, or work on something new. I love the desk. Everything about it screams me, but sometimes I get writer's block. When I get writer's block it helps to go somewhere else to write. Sometimes I go somewhere as simple as school or the library, or a coffee shop. Sometimes I have to ring the laptop outside. I love to be around water, and would love to own a house by the water someday. I would pick a room with a large window to be my office. 

New Computer, Same Stories

I think that I've finally adjusted to my new computer. I haven't been able to use it for much other than school work, but I did upload all my writing that needed to be edited or worked on. I've only used the writing program a few times, but hopefully I will be able to edit with no problems. Windows eight is a huge jump from windows vista.

Casual Friday: Dracula Untold

********Warning There Will Be Spoilers********

Tonight I went to see Dracula Untold. I rarely go to the movies, but decided to see this, since I have a love of supernatural creatures. I almost changed my mind after seeing the ratings for it. For some reason no one liked this film, but I did. I was caught off guard by Dracula being a hero. He actually sought out a vampire because he wanted to save his family. For a vampire movie, especially one about Dracula, there was very little blood. There was an exploding vampire, which was a pretty cool use of special effects. It was probably the coolest thing in the entire movie. The plot of the movie shows how Dracula became what he is, but didn't paint him to be a monster. He had human emotion, even when he's killing his enemies. That's the only thing I didn't like about the movie, we don't get to see Dracula the monster. Even at the end of the movie, he's driven by human emotions, primarily a love for his wife. The special effects were cool, but sometimes weird, and there was enough action to keep me entertained.

Yet Another Update

I haven't been editing much, or doing much of anything besides homework lately. Hopefully I will have more time soon. Math finals are on the 13th. I will still have Spanish class, but I will have more free time to blog and edit and actually do book reviews. I have a book that I meant to review just sitting on my desk. I think I cracked it open once, but it's overdue now. I am also going to see Dracula untold tomorrow, which I plan to review here.

Casual Friday: Being Human season 4 uk review

I promised that I would review the remaining two seasons of the UK's Being Human (which came before the American). I just finished watching season 4 a few days ago and have one more season to go, but I think I should review them season by season. I have mixed feelings about season four. I found Hal and Tom to be more interesting than Mitchell and George, but I didn't like how they killed Nina off screen and then killed George in an early episode. Tom was introduced in season 3, and I have always found his story to be intriguing. He has been a werewolf, since the man who raised him attacked his family when he was an infant. He survived, so the werewolf who attacked decided to raise him out of guilt. His upbringing caused him to be regarded as a child, despite his eagerness to slay vampires. Hal is a vampire who doesn't drink blood. He has rituals he goes through to keep his mind busy and stop him from hurting anyone. I found him to be a more interesting character than both Mitchell and Aidan. I think parts of his back story were mixed with Mitchell's to create Aidan. Anne the ghost is still there, but she's on babysitting duty the entire remainder of the show. Her story is what bugged me the most. It's clear she wanted a baby, however, they don't show her human side. She never once says something about how she'd always hoped to have a baby, she's void of any personality. All she does from that point on is care for the baby. She does get a happy ending. She gets her door, but we never see who's behind it. I can only guess that it was Mitchell, George and Nina.

Apps

I'm still in the process of setting up my computer, but it has apps along with programs. I'm trying to sort out the best apps and programs for a writer. I also have to think about what I need for school and if I can use an app for both school and home. I think it'll take me awhile to fully transfer everything.

Setting things up

My old computer was awful. The drivers were gone and I had to type in the name of whatever file I wanted to open to open it. That made it nearly impossible to do school work on. I decided that it was time for an upgrade, and I have been spending the past few days setting up my computer. I'm still having some issues transferring my writing, but hopefully, it won't set me back.

Weekend Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Yet another book that I didn't finish. I read fan girl and loved it, so I decided to pick this up, but I just couldn't get into it. The story is about a guy who falls in love with a girl after reading the emails she sends at work. Don't worry, he's not a creeper, he's been hired to read the emails and make sure no one is sending anything they shouldn't be. I found that I was unable to get into this book. The characters were flat and boring, the email formats were annoying. I couldn't even get far enough to see if anyone had chemistry.






Two Out Of Five Stars

Buy The Book

Goosebumps?

I've been thinking a lot about the old Goosebumps tv series. I used to love it as a kid, but now that I'm an adult my feelings may have changed. I have been considering re watching the series and posting a review of what my adult self thinks of the show I used to love as a child. Will I think it's silly, or will I love it as much as I did then? I know what I thought about it as a kid. I never missed an episode. I think that I actually read the books first, and I remember watching the first episode about the Haunted Mask. That has always been one of my favorite episodes. I introduced the series to my sister when she was old enough to watch them, and to give myself an excuse to still watch them. Maybe I could watch them with my sister and see if they are as great as we remember.

Casual Friday: My future plans

I post a lot about my plans as a writer, but I don't really post about my plans for myself. Right now I'm going to school for journalism. I was going for billing and coding before, but I don't really have a passion for that. I couldn't really see myself doing the same thing over and over. I need something different. Right now my job is the same thing over and over, and the days pass slowly. I'm grateful that I have a job, but I know I can do better. Journalism is something that I was drawn to. I already love writing, working for a newspaper or blog site would be great. I'm also looking into tv journalism, which means a job like the evening news. I'm not sure how I would like being on tv, but I know the job wouldn't be boring.





By the way, I made a few edits to the books page. Nothing big, just a brief synopsis.

Another update

I'm posting from my phone, so please excuse any errors. I think this thing has a mind of it's own. I was planning on posting a throwback Thursday post with pictures of me through the years and updates on what I was like at those ages, but I'm not really sure anyone would want to see/read about that. Maybe next Thursday. I just wanted to give a brief update on my upcoming book, hair of the wolf, which I had planned on releasing this month. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. I'm halfway through with the final edits and aiming for an October release, which is probably better considering the content. I'm not sure I will be able to do it with school, but I'm going to try.

Paper Perfect Characters

This weekend I was supposed to go on a date with a guy who seemed perfect on paper. If I had asked him to fill out an application to be my boyfriend he would have gotten the job. He was into art and seemed to be a nice guy, until it came time to go on the date. He wasn't there at the time he was supposed to be there, in fact, he sent me a text saying he was leaving ten minutes before he was supposed to be there. After waiting for awhile I sent him a text saying not to worry about it. He got angry and instead of rescheduling he demanded I go to him next time. He lives an hour away and I have issues driving to places I've never been. I can understand his anger, since he had already started driving toward me. Anyway, when I tried to make plans to reschedule and make actual plans he sent me a rude text saying he was busy and wasn't going to be around his phone (probably code for out with another girl, don't bother him), but if I wanted anything to do with him I would have to go to him. Before his rude text I would have had no problem going to see him, if I decided that I liked him, but we never went on that first date. I just had a picture of what I thought he was like. What does this have to do with writing? Well, he wasn't what I thought he was, and sometimes characters aren't either. People/characters are complex and have many layers (am I quoting Shrek?). In writing, just like in real life you have to peel back those layers and get to know what's underneath. When you write characters they have to come to life. They have to do things that make them reveal their layers, just like my date revealed another layer of his personality when he sent me a rude text. You have to put characters in situations where they reveal more things about themselves, the good and the bad. Readers won't keep reading a book where they can't they can't relate to the characters, that's one of the main things I see in book reviews. People talking about the characters and their actions and being driven crazy by them. The characters have to be real to the readers. Who wants to read a book they can't get lost in?

Weekend Review: Horns by Joe Hill

I admit that I didn't finish this book. I got further in this book than I thought, but I didn't finish it. After about eighty pages I stopped reading. Why did I decide to review this book if I haven't finished it? Well, I feel like I got enough of the book's overall tone. I had been wanting to check out Joe Hill's writing for a long time, and I thought I would check out his comic book first, but then I saw the trailer for the movie Horns. The book and movie are about a man named Ig who is accused of the murder and rape of his girlfriend. The story starts a year after her death when Ig wakes up with horns that make people confess their darkest desires to him. I would have kept reading the book if it had the same pacing that it had from the start. Unfortunately, the book went into flashback mode to show an old friendship/the relationship between Ig and his girlfriend. They met in the church when she was using Morse code to tell him to stop looking at her legs. I get the impression that Morse code was something big for her because the book had Morse code all over the inside. After the church scene I lost interest. I thought about picking up the book again and skipping around, but I couldn't do it. I had already been taken out of the experience I was having.



Two Out Of Five Stars

BUY THE BOOK

How much of myself do I put into a character?

When I was in middle school my art teacher told the class that everyone puts a bit of themselves into their artwork. I can paint, but I can't draw, but I consider my art to be writing. While I've never based a character on myself, I do find myself using things that I've experienced to influence my characters. I might put a little of myself into them. I might give one of them a joke that I would usually tell or have one of them wear a shade of lipstick that I love. There's no one character that I've written that I think of as like me, but I can see parts of me in them. I think every writer draws from experience. I don't know if you can have a character go through something you haven't. Well, I don't think it would be believable to the readers. This is the very reason I'm looking to try new things, because I want to be the best writer that I can be.

Casual Friday: Poems from the past

This might be cheating because this is sort of about writing. When I was in high school I used to write songs and poems. I joined the library club because we got to do this open mic coffee house poetry reading where they gave us snacks and coffee and let us read poems. I think we had a weekly meeting, and almost everyone in the club was my friend so I had no trouble getting on stage and reading in front of everyone. I decided today would be a good day to share something I wrote along those lines. Please keep in mind that these are very old and emotionally driven. I haven't written a poem in about ten years.


I wonder what happened to make things so wonderful,
so wonderful that it's pitiful.
I caused you pain, I caused myself pain,
I meant for happiness to remain.
I wanted you,
you claimed you wanted me too.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
I never thought it would hurt so bad,
you were the best relationship I ever had.
Then I did something wrong,
then all your feelings for me were gone.
Everything disappeared,
everything was the way that I had feared.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
Everything's destroyed,
I destroyed something that I enjoyed.
I destroyed the person I cared for,
I made his feelings towards me not exist anymore.
Everything was so wonderful,
now it's all miserable.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
I guess I should just let you go,
I wanted my feelings to be known.
I wanted to tell you that I care,
if you ever need anything I'd be there.
I don't want you away,
I wish you would chose to stay.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.



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Why I give up on books, or what I don't like in a book.

I finally gave up on Horns, by Joe Hill. It had been in my possession for over a month and I didn't find myself tempted to read it. It started out good enough, with a promising idea, but it started to bore me. It seemed interesting enough, guy accused of murdering his girlfriend grows horns and people start telling him their darkest secrets and desires. I kept thinking of what it would be like if that happened to me. I probably wouldn't want to know every one's dark secrets and desires, just like I wouldn't want Sookie Stackhouse's ability to read minds. Anyway, the book lost me when it got off track and went back in time. I'm sure there was a point to that, but I didn't feel like reading to find out why. I'm sure it introduces the girlfriend and shows their relationship, but at that point I would have preferred to see what was going on with the horns. I don't like when stories take me out of the story to show me something else. In horns there were plenty of nods to the way the girlfriend behaved. I didn't read too much about her to see if any of those things were true. I also don't like when stories get too silly. They have to have some level of believability.

Update

I didn't do a weekend review this weekend, because my internet was down, and I didn't read anything new. I didn't even get to finish my homework because of my internet. I did work on my writing a small bit this weekend. I also missed going to the gym this morning, so I had a rough day and a rough weekend.

Watching The World

Part of my job as a writer is observing. I'm always observing. When I'm at work I'm observing, trying to figure out why people do what they do. When I'm at lunch I usually sit outside under a large umbrella and observe the world around me. When it rains I sit by the window and watch the weather. Rain is my favorite type of weather. I love watching the sky darken and having the first few drops of rain wash over me. I love the scent of the air before it rains, and the drop in temperature. I love coming inside after being soaked with rain and putting my hair up, before changing into pajamas. I love the sound of the rain beating on a tin roof, which I used to have to hear in art class during my senior year of high school. We took art in a small building that had a tin roof. I hate the winter and how the weather chills me to the bone. I hate wearing bulky clothing, I hate layering my clothes. I hate the sad excuse we have for snow that gets in my shoes and clings to my socks. It's more like wet, muddy, mush. Creative types see the world differently than regular people. Something that means nothing to a regular person could inspire a song, a poem, a drawing, or even a book.

Casual Friday: My drawings

I wish I had a talent for drawing. I have a few drawing books, and I do try every now and then, but I can't do it. Even when I follow the guides my work doesn't come out as great as it should. I took four years of art in high school, I even joined the art club, and my drawings still look like this. I'm more of a painter anyway. I remember painting the windows for Halloween at McDonald's as part of the art club. For whatever reason, I never seen McDonald's painted for any holidays anymore. I kind of miss that. I had a blast painting those windows. Anyway, here are my few drawings.

Creating Characters

When I took intro to fiction writing, my teacher us that writing was like playing God. I didn't know until recently that she stole that quote from a tv show. I had never really given that quote much thought, but it is true. When you write you build the world and the characters. You give them actions, personality, motives. You're the reason they succeed or fail. For me the hardest part about creating a character is forming their personality. Their motives and actions are always clearer to me than their personality. I have to think about the way they talk, dress, and act. I have to think about their reactions to things and why they feel that way. It's like looking at a real person and trying to figure out everything about them. The character has to have interests, even doing something like making them wear a band t-shirt develops them a little more. They usually wouldn't wear a band t-shirt unless they liked said band, or if there is another reason they would usually explain that in dialog. Example: I'm wearing my friend's shirt, I spilled something on mine. If they have no interests outside of the story they are not interesting, and no one will want to read about them. Although building characters is the hardest thing about writing, I also enjoy it the most. I like getting to know my characters. I usually keep a notebook and make notes for each character and just refer to it when I need to.

Learning English

Since I'm in a class devoted to learning Spanish, I've been thinking about how it was to learn English. It's almost the polar opposite of the way I've been learning Spanish. I remember having a list of vocabulary words that we were required to learn. We had to learn to spell, often by writing the words repeatedly. Grammar was an entirely different story. We had a whole class devoted to it until about forth grade, then the two merged. I used to love my grammar class, where I got to write poems about Freddy Kruger and ghost stories that were similar to what R.L. Stine was writing at the time. Spanish is completely different. There are no spelling words, no grammar, you are expected to learn how to hold a conversation quickly. How can I learn Spanish so quickly when it took me so long to "master" English?

I'm a blank canvas

In the original draft of Hair Of The Wolf (my werewolf novel), there was more romance than there is now. Sure, there's a little flirting, but no real romance. There's a love interest, but again no romance. It's an urban fantasy, so it doesn't need romance, but I do want Anyssa to end up happy. She's been through so much that she deserves it. Why did I cut out the romance? The first answer to that is that Hair Of The Wolf is going to be part of a trilogy, and I didn't want to rush the romance. I hate reading a book where the romance seems rushed, or watching a movie where the two leads have known each other for three days. It takes time to build a relationship, even a friendship takes time to develop.  Another reason is that I have never been in love. I've been in relationships before, but never any where I thought I was in love. I've had strong feelings towards someone before, but I knew it wasn't love. Part of me isn't sure how to write about love if I've never been in love. Do I write about what I think love feels like? I am pretty much a blank canvas when it comes to life experiences. I've had some, as you can tell by reading this blog, but not as many as I would have liked. I need to have more. I need to be more carefree and experience more things. I need to think about what it means to be in love, and what it means for Anyssa to fall in love. I'm going to write about her falling in love, in fact I already have the whole second book outlined. I just need to get out more and do more things. I've heard of authors going on road trips, or doing extreme things to find themselves and experience more. Maybe that's what I need to do. I need to force myself out of my comfort zone. 

Weekend Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I'm trying to read more books that are outside of my comfort zone. I usually don't read romance, and that's what this is labeled as. Although, it does have some romance, that's not what I would label this. I'm not sure what I would label this. It's really a character driven novel. I've never really read a book that was character driven before. The main character is Cath, a social outcast with a popular twin sister. She has trouble making friends, and would prefer to lock herself in her dorm room than go out. I could relate to her in a lot of ways. People don't always treat her the best, and she's even drifting apart from her sister. She finds a guy she likes and he kisses another girl! Every lady has gone through similar things to what Cath went through in this novel. Cath is also obessed with Simon Snow, who is basically Harry Potter. There are inserts throughout the book of Cath's fan fictions and the from the "Simon Snow novels". I skipped over those, since I was more interested in Cath's story. This is a great book, I suggest it to anyone just starting college, or just going to a new college.






Four Out Of Five Stars

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Casual Friday: Out Of Ideas

I had an idea for a blog and I forgot it. It was a good idea, but I thought of it when I was at school and I forgot it by the time I'd gotten home. Since I forgot my idea, I'm going to write about school. It's interesting for me to go back after missing a semester. It's interesting for me to take Spanish. I have no idea how to speak Spanish, and it's really confusing for me. My teacher is nice though. I like her, even though I have no idea what she's saying when she speaks Spanish. Math class is another story. I've never liked math to began with. The only thing we do in math class is go to the computer lab and go to mymathlab.com. The teacher doesn't teach us. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in that class, but I do know that I have to spend two hours in that class that I am not scheduled to be in that class. It's required. I haven't met any cool new people. I'm not really a people person.

This is why I write

If you follow me at all you know how big of a Supernatural fan I am. I remember one episode where Chuck told Sam and Dean that he wouldn't have chosen to be a writer if he could help it. I have to agree that writing is difficult. You have to make sure everything makes sense, and things are spelled right, and there's also that pesky little thing called grammar. I get asked why I want to be a writer every time I express my interest in writing. I have always had an interest in writing. When I was in elementary school I used to write stories about vampires, ghosts, and werewolves. I was the only kid in my class who spent my spare time coming up with stories. Every year for my birthday I was given a diary, or a journal. I still keep a journal to this day, but I don't write in it as often. As I got older I took an interest in writing poems and songs (some of which got published in a poetry book in high school). My favorite poem was a recipe poem I'd written about a Nightmare On Elm Street. I wish I still had it so I could share it. The teacher loved it too. After that I went through a phase where I didn't write at all. No poems, no stories, no songs, nothing. It took a really bad break up to get me to start writing again, and even then I didn't think it would amount to much. I thought I was just doing it to escape from reality for a little while. There must have been a point when I realized that I loved writing, and that's what I was meant to do. I don't remember when that was, but I do remember starting to be inspired by everyday things. People's names, their actions, I was taking note of it all. Everything in my life inspires me, from the people around me to my dogs. I think I was meant to write.

First two paragraphs: Hair Of The Wolf

Happy Labor Day!! Unlike most of the working world, I have to work today. Not only do I have to work, but Monday is the most demanding work day of the week. There's always extra stuff to do. At least I didn't have to go to school today, although I thought I did. I got up early, went to the gym, cut my gym visit short, all to find out I didn't have to go to school. Oh well. Anyway, if you lucky people who actually have the day off are looking for something to do, why not read the first two paragraphs of my upcoming novel? I'm trying to get it out by September, but with my busy schedule I may not be able to.








The room was clean, aside from the body that lay covered on the table. I had seen more than my fair share of corpses, but something about this one set me on edge. My stomach was in knots by the time the mortician pulled back the pristine white sheet. The man on the table had grown pale with death, so it took me a minute to realize that I knew him. I hadn’t seen Trevor in five years. I thought I would never see him again, but here he was, his honey-colored eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. I reached over and touched his cheek, instantly wishing I hadn’t. His skin felt ice cold, and his body remained lifeless.

I took a step back, letting my eyes sweep over his body. He was so tall that his feet hung over the end of the metal slab that he laid on. He’d lost at least twenty-five pounds since I’d last seen him, but his stomach was still marred with stretch marks. His head was freshly shaved, just like it had been the last time I’d seen him. His wide mouth was set in a permanent frown, which was an expression he seemed to wear more often than not. Four long cuts dissected his neck, they almost looked like claw marks, but I doubted they were what killed him. I felt a pang of guilt as I studied the wounds, knowing that I’d once wished for him to meet this fate.

Weekend Review: Black Flame Novels

I didn't get a chance to finish Horns this week either, and truth be told, I'm probably going to give up on it. It just isn't one of those books that holds my interest. I've also been busy with school, I have to go daily. I decided to review something I mentioned, but didn't go into detail about: Blame Flame Novels. Most people have never heard of Blame Flame novels, but I collected them. I might do a collection post in the future. Black Flame was a book publishing company in Britain that had a deal to publish books about the movies from New Line Cinema. New Line Cinema used to be the go to for horror movies, I suspect it's lionsgate now. Most of these books were original, but some were novelizations of the movie. They were all poorly written with tons of typos. I'm not sure the books were ever edited. Most of them are worst quantity than a self published novel. I'm not dissing self-publishing, that's the route I've picked for myself, but these were clearly not edited. Most of the books went for shock value. There was a whole relationship added between Wendy and Kevin in the Final Destination 3 novel. The best one was the one with the models, where one model had to kill the rest to have her looks restored. I think it was only because I had always wanted someone from Final Destination to go crazy (like they finally did in the 5th installment). The only place you can find Black Flame novels now is amazon or ebay, which is why there's no link at the bottom of this post.

Background noise

It's raining outside. When I was younger that used to be my favorite weather to write to. A lot of people like to listen to music, but I just love the sound of the rain beating on the windows. Now that I'm adult, I have to write and edit whenever I get the chance. It's not as fun as just randomly writing while cars are zooming by outside in the rain. I don't listen to music when I write either, but when I do I keep the radio tuned to the Halloween channel on Slacker radio. I don't think I could write in complete silence, so I always have the tv on, usually on the syfy channel, like it is now. I'm sure there's a movie on about some giant cg monster, but I'm not paying attention. I'm about to open a word document and start editing, or maybe I'll open my draft about the grim reaper and add to that.

Casual Friday: Let's Talk Comics

If you've been reading my blog for any period of time, you know that one of my dreams is to be able to create a comic book. I can't draw, but I do have the perfect idea for a comic. I even have everything written down in a notebook in case I ever get to create said comic. It's actually a lot darker than I usually write, probably straight up horror that I've decided to call scifi. Anyway, as you have probably guessed, I love comics. I don't own as many of them as I would like, and the ones I own are mainly horror, but I do like to keep up on some of the storylines. I collect the 30 days of Night comics, and I have the first Crow comic (I would love to get the newer ones, but my budget won't allow). I also have Spiderman, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider. Maybe a Punisher or two. People always ask who are my favorite superheroes, so I guess I should go into a bit of detail. The horror comics will always come first (wanting to check out the Dexter comic and the Freddy and Chucky comics), but I like Marvel way more than DC. My favorite Marvel heroes are Daredevil, Elektra (her movie still sucked), the Punisher, Spiderman, Venom (I know he's not a hero), Captain America (huge crush on Chris Evans), Ghost Rider, Wolverine, sometimes Blade. The only comics I really like at DC are Batman and Harley Quinn. I'm not sure what attracks me to comics, or the characters that I like, but I do know that I would really like to cosplay one year. I'd love to go to comic con (I probably want to go to Hollywood Horror Nights a little bit more though).

The track I'm on

As far as getting the word out about my blog, I'm on the right track. When I started this blog I knew nothing about blogging, and had maybe five hits. Now I average about 24 hits a day. I hope when I finally finish editing that those hits translate into sales. I still plan on sending my book to reviewers, and I might make business cards. I'm almost sure that I'm going to have to buy a little ad space somewhere, but I have to research that. I'm not the type to throw my money into something that I'm not sure of. I'm probably going to make a few youtube videos, one about my main character's name, and some other random ones, like answering questions if anyone has them. Maybe a book chat for those who have read my book. If I get good at Spanish (which I doubt), I'll make a Spanish edition of my book. I'd really like to have as many people reading it as possible. I'm also going to use kindle, nook, and createspace to publish. The werewolf novel that I am writing now is actually the first in a trilogy, but I plan to take a short break to write a really silly grim reaper novel, which I don't have any plans to make a series out of, but I could. I think live chats would be key in getting people interested, and I will also have to make a facebook page. I've been putting off making a website, but I know I need to do that too. Twenty four is a lot of clicks, but I still want my audience to grow. I'm also considering changing my hair to match a character's if I sell enough books. It would have to be the grim reaper book, she's got some interesting hair.

Crazy Day

Today was a very hectic day, so this will be a more personal post. I missed a whole day of writing because of the events today. I woke up early to go to school, checked my schedule before I went since one of my classes says TBA. So when I got to the school they sent me to the math building. It turns out they had put me in a class in a far away city. I was not pleased. I had to register for a class and go to said class five minutes after registering. The class had already started yesterday, so I was a day behind. I had to take a test to bypass some of my homework. After school I had to turn in some forms and waited forever. After that I ate and went to walmart and the gym. I know, dull day, but it held me up from editing. Tomorrow I have work and school, but I hope to get some writing done. I also have more than an hour between classes and it makes no sense to go home and come back. I may bring a notebook with me and work on something new.

Distractions

I thought that I would be further along in the editing process by now. As it stands, I'm only on chapter six. There aren't that many chapters, since it's closer to a novella than an actual 300 page book, but I'm still a good way away from where I need to be. I've been letting myself get distracted. I started school today, and I've been applying for new jobs (I can't take the one I have anymore). I have an interview tomorrow, and I'm hoping all goes well. I am also letting myself get distracted by things like the internet, and I can't. Writing is my dream and has always been my dream. I also know that I have to be realistic. I probably won't make very much from writing, which is okay. I didn't get into writing to make tons of money. It would be nice, but it's not realistic. I have to have a job so I can support myself.

Weekend Review: Mockingjay

With each page of this book, my hatred for Gale grows. Gale does a few decent things, like rescue Peeta, but he also does some pretty horrible things. He kills innocent people. He's pretty much just like President Snow and President Coin. In the other books we mainly got to see Gale through Katniss's flashbacks, but here we get to see him doing all these horrible things. Almost everyone in this novel comes back damaged. It's no longer just the nightmares from Catching Fire, it's Peeta's confusion and madness, Finnick's defeatedness. Finnick was one of my favorite character's in this book, he was the only one who could actually relate to Katniss. I liked him in Catching Fire, but he was more developed here. The Peeta and Katniss scenes were almost painful to read. I missed their old relationship, where he would hold her and make the nightmares go away.



Four Out Of Five Stars

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Let The Right One In

For those of you who don't know, Let The Right One In is a Swedish film and the basis for Let Me In. I watch a lot of foreign horror movies. I've seen all the ones that got American remakes (all the Asian ones anyway), and after reading about this one I had to see it. I'm sorry to say that I did not care for it. I was told it was a must watch vampire movie, but for me it was an avoid at all costs snooze fest. The story is slow, and even the violent parts drag on. It's the story of a little vampire girl befriending a regular boy. A boy who is bullied. You've probably figured out where this is going, but if you haven't, she kills the bullies. I never finished watching the movie. I just couldn't get into it. I knew her guardian was actually a boy she befriended who grew into a man. I don't know much other than what I've written. The American remake is on now and it looks much better. I might actually have to watch it. The movie does raise some questions for me, like if I was a young vampire how would it feel to make these friends who grow up and die? How would I feel if I was the bullied kid who befriended the vampire? Would I care that she killed the bullies? I'm sure I'd feel a lot of guilt. What would it be like to live a life where you can never grow up, fall in love, or support yourself?

Casual Friday: What's been going on

I've lost a lot of editing time this past week. I've had to deal with school, loans, things of that nature. Today I had to get my student id and books. I still have a lot of things I need to do to prepare. I'm going back on Monday, which cuts my editing time even more. Other times I've been too busy with work. Today I haven't even opened a word document. I got stung by a wasp this morning and took some medicine that made me tired. I feel ok now. I might try to edit.

Treating Writing Like a Job, Because it is a Job.

When I first got into writing I treated it as a hobby (I was only in second grade lol). I think a lot of people still treat it as such. Something they do for fun. Writing is fun, but it's also hard work. You have to edit over and over again. You have to research. You can't just make someone a British solider without doing some research first. You have to sit at the computer, even when you don't want to, type out words until they make sense and then edit them. You have to force yourself to write when you have no inspiration. I remember an episode of Supernatural that featured Chuck. He said that writing was hard work and he would never pick that career on his own. I'm sure a lot of people didn't think about the comment, but writing is hard work. It is fun for a lot of people, but that just means you enjoy what you do. I enjoy writing, I don't enjoy editing. I enjoy making up new worlds and characters, but I do not view it as any less of a job. If anything, it's more work then my 'regular' job.

Urban Fantasy...

I wanted to start off by saying that I agree with this article 100%. I write urban fantasy. For those of you who don't know what urban fantasy is, here's the definition:

Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Urban fantasy exists on one side of a spectrum, opposite high fantasy, which is set in an entirely fictitious world. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods, and the settings may include fictional elements. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.

I haven't released my first novel yet, but I'm about to. I am running a little behind on editing, so I may have to move back the expected date. As a result of date being so close I have been getting asked so many questions about my novel. I usually answer by saying, "Well, it's about a female werewolf who works for the FBI and has to investigate the murder of her ex boyfriend." Yesterday a guy told me that it was the kind of thing that women would love to watch, if it were a tv show. What?? How can he put it in that category without having read it? Just because the main character is a female? I went on to tell him that it wasn't romance. There is a romantic interest, but the romance is not front and center in the book at all. His comments didn't bother me much. He said he doesn't read much and has only read one book cover to cover. The problem is that most men think like that. Most men won't pick up a novel and read it if it is told from a female point of view. I don't understand this. I have read plenty of books told from a male point of view. The one I'm reading now is told from a male point of view. I feel like this automatic categorization should stop. People are missing out on great books because of this.

I'm no Gatsby.

Yesterday I showed someone the first few paragraphs of the werewolf novel I'm about to publish, and the first chapter of a zombie story that I have no idea what to do with. He sent me back an alternative opening which changed the main character to a man who liked to get drunk, and the dead ex-boyfriend into a drunk who only wore boxers. He then said that my writing was awful because it did not compare to the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a classic, not many things compare to it, but it is not what I am going for. I write urban fantasy. I write about fun things like werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc. I don't write about anything too serious, but that doesn't mean my writing is bad. He also compared me to Stephanie Meyer. I have never read her work so I have no comment, but she has made a huge profit from her work so I won't take it as an insult. What the guy who insulted my writing failed to understand is that there are different genres of writing. Not everyone is going to like every genre, and I'm okay with that.

Weekend Review: Catching Fire

For some reason I really dislike Gale. I dislike him in the movie as well, but I thought that was because the actor that played him was dating Miley Cyrus. Now I think it's because Gale is incredibly boring. I don't usually like love triangles in books, but this one isn't overly lovey. Katniss thinks she either has to be with Gale or has to be with Peeta. She's not sure how she feels about them. She doesn't have time to figure it out, since she's thrown back into battle. This book seemed much shorter than the Hunger Games. Maybe it was because the library gave me the large print addition. The more I read about the other tributes, the more I wished I could read their individual stories, not just Katniss's.





FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS

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Ranturday: School

I don't think this will become a regular thing. I just needed a place to vent. For the past two weeks I've spent every one of my off days at the school. When I leave they assure me everything is taken care of and I am ready for school. I get home or get an email the next day and know I have to go back to the school. I just spent over an hour waiting in line to turn in a paper that I needed for school, only to come home and have an email waiting for me. I need more stuff. It's never ending. I'm sick of it.

Casual Friday: My Thoughts On Being Human American and UK

Sorry about the lack of decent blogs lately, I've been doing a lot of school related stuff that has been cutting into my free time. Not that I really view this blog as a hobby. I would love to write as a career, and that's what I'm trying for, but I am realistic and know I need to have a back up plan. Anyway, for this blog I wanted to talk about one of my favorite shows, Being Human (American). I fell in love with the show after watching the first episode on syfy and decided to check out the UK version (the original) when it was cancelled. I've only seen up to the forth season, but that's when they replace all the original cast in the UK. I've watched the entire American version, and really thought the last season felt rushed. The first season follows the storyline as closely as they can without turning the show into a comedy. The UK version did have more laugh out loud scenes, like when the werewolf (George) tried to rid himself of the wolf by sedating himself, only to find that he'd made himself aggressive and couldn't stop cursing. I don't miss the humor, although it did work for the UK show. In the American show my least favorite character is Aiden (the vampire), who's plot involves more romance than anyone else. I thought his character was dull until he started a relationship with Sally (the ghost), but I would have liked to see the relationship tested like it was in the UK. The ghost and the vampire can't have a physical relationship, and that's sort of a major plot point in their storyline. It was never really thought about in the American version. I did like the outcome of that relationship more in the American, but it was too quick and didn't have as much meaning as the UK one did. I also would have liked to see Aiden go crazy and attack a train car full of people like Mitchell (the UK vampire) did. Aiden barely does any harm to anyone in the present. My least favorite UK character was the wolf (George), while my favorite American character is the wolf (Josh). George doesn't seem to care much about anyone other than himself. He cheats on Nina (UK female wolf), disrespects her, yells at her. He was just an all around horrible person. Josh is kind, caring, and seems to love Nora. His plot line was also more interesting than the UK one. I think Sally and Annie are the most different of the bunch. Annie can't posses people, but she can be seen if she is feeling confident enough. Annie can make tea, Sally is excited when she figures out how to clean. Annie also has a lesser part in the adventures, while in the American one they all have their own storyline. Sally is much more focused on love than Annie. I think Annie always loved Mitchell and that's probably why.


I will review the UK season 4 and 5 when I finish watching them. So far they are playing out in a monster of the week format.

How my editing is coming along

Well, I said that I would edit a chapter a day and I lied. Once I got to chapter three there were so many problems. I had to stop and almost rewrite the entire thing. That's where I am now. Chapter three. I might not get to release my novel when I wanted. I did add a bunch of cool new things, which means a bigger word count, which means if I make it available in paperback the name will be displayed on the side.

Writing Dynamo Review

As I'm editing, I've had to use tools to double check my writing. One of those tools is writing dynamo. It's an ok tool, but it's designed for essays and not with fiction in mind. Sometimes when it corrects me I have to ignore it because I know it's wrong and would make my writing sound silly. I plan to keep it around. I'm Going back to school and it might come in handy. Maybe... I'm taking math and Spanish.

What it's like being a writer with ADHD.

I wasn’t planning to share this, but I know there are others who share my struggle. When I was in first grade, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which means I have trouble paying attention and keeping still. It affected my schoolwork so much that I had to be put on medicine. The medicine made me pay attention, which helped me get better grades, but I hated taking it. Now that I’m an adult, I don’t take it. I’m in college so it makes things more difficult for me, but I can usually force myself to pay attention. When I’m at home, it’s a different story. Sometimes I can write for a long time, usually when I’m writing something new. Other times, mostly when I’m editing, I can write for a little while and then I have to take a break. I don’t like it because I think it hurts my writing. It could be better, if only I could sit still and finish what I’m doing. I try not to look online, but even people without ADHD have trouble avoiding the internet when they’re supposed to be working. I feel like having ADHD makes my projects take longer to complete. I need to set deadlines for myself and hold myself accountable for them.





For more information on ADHD

Why did I start writing this book?

I feel so many emotions each day that I draw closer to unleashing my werewolf novel into the world, but most of all I feel the need to share information about it. I have always loved werewolves and elements of horror. I've watched the Nightmare on Elm Street movies since I was three. When I started writing I noticed that I enjoyed writing about vampires, and ghosts (in high school I wrote a poem about Freddy Kreuger that I wish I still had. It was cute). When I got older I noticed that I still loved those things, but when writing horror I had no idea how far to go with it. Did I kill all my characters? Some of my characters? What kind of monster would scare me? I noticed that most of my writing was humorous. There was a period after high school when I stopped writing. I didn't write any stories, poems or songs. I wish I had kept writing, there are so many things that you teach yourself through writing. I had stopped reading too. By the time I was twenty-one I hadn't written for awhile. I had a job, and at my job I met a guy. I bet you know where this is going, but at first I thought he was sweet. He seemed nice, and everyone he worked with seemed to like him (at least in front of his face, behind his back they were all telling me to break up with him). I won't go into the details of our relationship, but I soon realized that I should have followed the advice of others. He treated me poorly, and said it was okay because he didn't think I liked him that much. He even ended up getting me transferred to another department because he wouldn't stop visiting me at work. I told him not to, but he did what he wanted. It took me a long time to get over the way he treated me, in some ways I'm still not over it. I almost became a person I didn't like. I dated a few guys that I wasn't really interested in just to help my self-esteem (which he had pretty much killed). I realized that wasn't the way to go. I was wasting my time by being in relationships I didn't take seriously. I decided not to date unless I found someone I actually cared about. I started writing again, but I wasn't as good as I should have been. I wrote about a girl who turns into a fox and transports blood for vampires, but my computer crashed and I lost it. I might still have the notes, maybe I'll do something with them. I took a writing class. I wrote about werewolves, but not Anyssa. I wrote about a wolf named Leah, but I realized her story probably wasn't going anywhere. In August of 2011 I was having a rough time. I couldn't pay my rent, my school work was behind (my school was ok with that), I had no money for entertainment and ended up just staying home and staring at my walls. When you do that you end up thinking of past events. I thought of the way my ex had treated me and the impact he had on me. I hadn't spoken to him in five years. I didn't know anything about his current life, but I decided to base a character off of him. I thought of it as a way to kill the lingering feelings I had toward him. I ended up making him the main character's ex who dies before the novel starts. She had to figure out why someone would have killed him. I've never wished ill on him, and don't now, I just needed a way to get rid of my feelings toward him. The story itself turned out okay, until I did a very dumb thing. I sent my ex a message on facebook. I did it mostly to tell him about my novel. I wasn't sure how I expected him to react, but he was okay with it. He wanted to hang out again. He said he changed, he said a lot of things that I hoped were true. I still had feelings for him, so I agreed, but he was still the same jerk he'd always been. I had to stop writing the novel. The hurt was too fresh, and it's never good to write about something when the hurt is that fresh. I did fill up several journals because of him, so I was getting my feelings out. I started working on a zombie novel. I really liked the zombie novel, but something about it just didn't work. I still kept working on it, it helped me grow as a writer and find what I like to write about. In 2013 the ex who inspired the character of Trevor came back. He had a girlfriend, but wouldn't stop flirting with me, texting me. He said he'd found his sd card and he said my display picture made him miss me (somewhere along the line did he forget what I looked like?). I told him I'd give being friends a shot and agreed to hang out with him (I'm too forgiving I guess). It was the last time I saw him. I thought I'd have feelings for this guy forever, since he hurt me so much, but I didn't feel anything when I saw him. He tried standing close to me, I think he tried to hug me once, but I still felt nothing. I couldn't believe how happy that made me. When he drove me back to my car I realized that I was doing most of the talking. I had nothing in common with him. I asked him about his goals and he said he wouldn't mind working the retail job he was at for the rest of his life. I was shocked. How had I dated a man who had no goals for himself? I kept working on the zombie novel for awhile, until I took a look at my files and saw the promise in this werewolf novel. I had finally distanced myself enough from my feelings that I was able to work on the story. The character of Trevor still dies, that's how the novel starts, but he's more loosely based on my ex. It wasn't to make him seem like less of a jerk, I could care less about him, it was for me. I wanted the story to be less personal. None of the other characters are based on anyone that I know, and I don't plan to ever base another character on someone I know. I am glad that something positive could come out of a relationship with so much negative. Sorry if this is too personal for some, I just thought I should share it so that maybe more people will put their feelings into art. To be honest, Trevor is such a small part of a bigger story. Yes, she has to find his killer, but is it meant as a threat to her? Can she protect her pack from the threat? The novel isn't a romance, and I don't wish anything ill toward my ex.

Weekend Review: I am Legend

I was reading Horns, by Joe Hill, but I stopped when the library emailed me to say that Catching Fire was in. I still plan to review both books, but I haven't finished reading either one. I decided to look through my books and see which one I would be most likely to recommend to a friend. I am Legend by Richard Matheson is one of my favorites. It's the first book that I've read by Richard Matheson, but I do plan to read more. I must have read the book about the same time as the dreadful movie came out, since I have the movie cover. The movie is a joke in comparison to this book. Imagine being the last person on earth in a world dominated by vampires? Yes, vampires, not zombie-like weirdos. Imagine that they would pound on your door every night. That's what happens to Robert Neville, who is immune to vampirism because he was bitten by a bat who carried the disease. He is forced to kill his wife and daughter and burn them in a pit of fire. He stakes vampires during the day, unlike in the film where he goes to the video rental place. He researches vampires at the library, reading everything he can get his hands on. He has two brief glimmers of hope in this book. One is when a dog wanders onto his land and he befriends it, but that dog dies :(. Another is when a woman finds him. He thinks she's just like him, but she's just an evolved vampire who is wearing make up on her visible skin. At the end of the book he realizes that he is the only living man, making him legend like the vampires were. That was the movie I wanted to see, but the movie I got to see was horrible. A poor excuse for a sci-fi movie. I would have loved to see it the way it was written, as a horror novel. Anyway, this is one of my favorite books and I suggest for anyone who hasn't read it to read it as soon as possible.



FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

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