Monday, June 21, 2010
Freak
I've just added a new author to the blog - author of soon-to-be-published novel Freak, Katie Barrett. Let's all give 'er a hand folks! You can find the blog to the novel here: freakiverse.blogspot.com . Check it out :)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Shameless Salesmanship
I'm taking advantage of Amazon Associates - which means that if I put a link here, and you buy a book because of it, I get moneys :) Don't worry, though. I wouldn't ever take advantage of your readership by promoting books I didn't believe in.
Which is why I'm starting out with a list of books I've read this past year which are worth your while!
Number one: Interview with a Vampire. NOT your average vampire book. I truly believe Anne Rice is a genius. Written in first person, it chronicles the life of Louis, a nineteenth-century plantation owner who is faced with a difficult choice - and must therefore live with the consequences. Truly, one of my favorite books there is out there. If you read a single book this summer, read this one.
Number two: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer. Read this one for a class, and I think it's an essential read for -anyone- in this modern age. Its main character, a nine-year-old boy, frankly and unabashedly deals with grief and unanswerable questions that come with it. Hilarious and tear-jerking, I give you half an hour of reading before you want to throw the book against the wall (to quote my dear Prof. O'Dougherty) - not because it is a terrible book but because it holds a mirror to your confusingly condemnable spirit and emotions and makes you face yourself. Oh, and it'll make you laugh. A LOT. Buy it :)
On to bigger and better things. I'm finally going to finish Gaiman's American Gods this summer. Honest. Not only because it offers little hints and tips on how to write about gods when nobody believes in them (a huge theme in my current work-in-progress) but because it's just damn good. Filled with mystery and self-searching. I can't wait to finish it :)
Okay folks. Enough advertising. On to the impossible task of outlining. After beginning yesterday, I regretably came to the conclusion that one of my newest, but no less dear, characters had to be cut. Brevity is the soul of wit, so they say (You-know-who), and if that's true I must be among the most witless.
Cheers. Updates on progress forthcoming.
Which is why I'm starting out with a list of books I've read this past year which are worth your while!
Number one: Interview with a Vampire. NOT your average vampire book. I truly believe Anne Rice is a genius. Written in first person, it chronicles the life of Louis, a nineteenth-century plantation owner who is faced with a difficult choice - and must therefore live with the consequences. Truly, one of my favorite books there is out there. If you read a single book this summer, read this one.
Number two: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer. Read this one for a class, and I think it's an essential read for -anyone- in this modern age. Its main character, a nine-year-old boy, frankly and unabashedly deals with grief and unanswerable questions that come with it. Hilarious and tear-jerking, I give you half an hour of reading before you want to throw the book against the wall (to quote my dear Prof. O'Dougherty) - not because it is a terrible book but because it holds a mirror to your confusingly condemnable spirit and emotions and makes you face yourself. Oh, and it'll make you laugh. A LOT. Buy it :)
On to bigger and better things. I'm finally going to finish Gaiman's American Gods this summer. Honest. Not only because it offers little hints and tips on how to write about gods when nobody believes in them (a huge theme in my current work-in-progress) but because it's just damn good. Filled with mystery and self-searching. I can't wait to finish it :)
Okay folks. Enough advertising. On to the impossible task of outlining. After beginning yesterday, I regretably came to the conclusion that one of my newest, but no less dear, characters had to be cut. Brevity is the soul of wit, so they say (You-know-who), and if that's true I must be among the most witless.
Cheers. Updates on progress forthcoming.
Getting Active
And not just in the physical sense.
I recently bought some books and references on writing that are in the mail, but yesterday I bought two magazines geared toward writers (especially aspiring/struggling writers). So you can now find me on writing.com :) (username: tenmuses). Awaiting approval for one more site. But I shall post some interesting things here, i.e. one dream that rather amused me.
Dream:
Our scene opens on a church courtyard, where a loud three-person pirate crew manning a replica pirate ship, complete with wheels in the absense of water, rolls in and begins to demand audience attention. Of course, the attention is granted, in which case the pirates begin to drag audience members onto the ship to start swabbing the decks! In any case, it's a hilarious and compelling crew of swashbucklers who end up winning the hearts of onlookers. Somewhere in the middle of the show one of the pirates shouts "Where's Swabby! Where's that son-of-a-bilge rat?" And, right on que, a rather large rat scampers onstage. "Swabby ol' boy!" The trained rat takes a bow, delighting the audience with his rodentine antics. After some banter he goes on to scamper up some poor audience member's leg. "Swabby!" cries one of the pirates. "Careful, now! Don't get fresh, or I'll toss you overboard."
...Anyways.
Last night's dream I shan't divulge because it is more heartbreaking than I have effort to deal with, but needless to say I've been having particularly plotted dreams recently and don't think I don't steal from my subconscious for story ideas :)
Peace.
I recently bought some books and references on writing that are in the mail, but yesterday I bought two magazines geared toward writers (especially aspiring/struggling writers). So you can now find me on writing.com :) (username: tenmuses). Awaiting approval for one more site. But I shall post some interesting things here, i.e. one dream that rather amused me.
Dream:
Our scene opens on a church courtyard, where a loud three-person pirate crew manning a replica pirate ship, complete with wheels in the absense of water, rolls in and begins to demand audience attention. Of course, the attention is granted, in which case the pirates begin to drag audience members onto the ship to start swabbing the decks! In any case, it's a hilarious and compelling crew of swashbucklers who end up winning the hearts of onlookers. Somewhere in the middle of the show one of the pirates shouts "Where's Swabby! Where's that son-of-a-bilge rat?" And, right on que, a rather large rat scampers onstage. "Swabby ol' boy!" The trained rat takes a bow, delighting the audience with his rodentine antics. After some banter he goes on to scamper up some poor audience member's leg. "Swabby!" cries one of the pirates. "Careful, now! Don't get fresh, or I'll toss you overboard."
...Anyways.
Last night's dream I shan't divulge because it is more heartbreaking than I have effort to deal with, but needless to say I've been having particularly plotted dreams recently and don't think I don't steal from my subconscious for story ideas :)
Peace.
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