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.



Check Out More

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

Buy The Book

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.