This post is inspired by The Rejectionist's post yesterday.
Today we're going to talk about lust. Book lust. Because we're not just writers, we're also readers. A lot of my friends, while not being writers, are voracious readers. Obsessive readers form their own little crazy subgroup. We have our own quirks. Some people call us obsessed, I think we just really like books.
Warning signs of being a compulsive readers are as follows:
*People always remark on your vast quantity of books.
*You carry a book with you everywhere you go.
*You will never have enough books.
*People who help you move complain about your massive boxes of books.
*You check the book section wherever you go. Goodwill, the grocery store, the pet store.
If any of these warning signs apply to you, don't worry. You're already hooked on books. There's no backing out now. The advent of Ereaders is only enabling your book buying habits. Less space, easier ways to hide them. Click the button, boom. Another book in your hoard.
I had to order a rain CD from Amazon so I could sleep at night, so of course I thought it would be a great time to order some more books. Since the CD almost put me at getting free shipping. Then I heard about Borders's amazing going out of business sale. So I bought a bunch of books from there.
Mind you, I have a huge stack of books I already need to read. It's like a sickness. A wonderful sickness. The Rejectionist was right. We're all going to be on Hoarders some day, unable to move because our mountain of books will be so large.
At least being a writer gives me an excuse. I have to stay current in the market. I have to be well read. I have my husband convinced of this, although he still objects to my incessant need to fill my bookshelves up with books. He jokingly told me that when I have the baby, we're going to have to buy diapers instead of books.
I told him I'd rather starve, thank you very much.
I don't know what it is about books. But I love them. I love owning them. I like looking at them on my bookshelves. It fills me with great joy.
What are your crazy book stories? I know you have them.
Showing posts with label The Rejectionist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Rejectionist. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Earthquakes and Inspiration
I really wanted to write a poignant and insightful blog post today. Honestly.
When I opened up Blogger though, I found that there were earthquakes moving around in the blogging world.
First, Sarah Zarr's keynote speech. You might have seen it mentioned before, and thought you would click on the link later. And then forgot. I know I did. But I read it this morning, and it touched my heart. So go read her speech.
Second, Natalie Whipple has a great post today about finding herself as a writer, and taking advice or leaving it, and other Eye Opening Things.
Lastly, big news from the Rejectionist. Go on, read. I will wait.
.
.
.
Wow. I mean, it takes guts to quit your day job to start writing. I feel so inspired. It makes me want to write my book with newfound glory.
I think I will.
Have a great day everyone.
When I opened up Blogger though, I found that there were earthquakes moving around in the blogging world.
First, Sarah Zarr's keynote speech. You might have seen it mentioned before, and thought you would click on the link later. And then forgot. I know I did. But I read it this morning, and it touched my heart. So go read her speech.
Second, Natalie Whipple has a great post today about finding herself as a writer, and taking advice or leaving it, and other Eye Opening Things.
Lastly, big news from the Rejectionist. Go on, read. I will wait.
.
.
.
Wow. I mean, it takes guts to quit your day job to start writing. I feel so inspired. It makes me want to write my book with newfound glory.
I think I will.
Have a great day everyone.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Past the Point of No Return
It is a lovely Friday to behold!
I am still in love with my novel. It feels perfect and wonderful and I have a great feel for the voice of my characters and love the story. Needless to say, I am approaching the middle. Soon I will be posting dark thoughts about burning the book and dancing on it's ashes, but for now, the romance is still young. Ahh young love.
I have been getting migraines recently, which is hindering the writing process. I have really bad TMJ problems as I have previously mentioned and I am working with an oral surgeon to correct the problem. In the meantime...migraines!
Writing is helping me in the sense that it gives me something to focus on other than the feeling that I have mistakenly placed my head in a vice. Sort of like a two for one: I get a novel, and a distraction from my headaches.
I am really enjoying writing steampunk. It's my first foray into the genre, and I have to tell you: it's a lot of fun. I've also woven some gothic elements into the novel, which seems to fit really naturally with steampunk, given the Neo-Victorian era was the time frame for both.
I really enjoyed Rachelle Gardner's post today. She talked about coming to the end of herself, and just when she thought she couldn't go on, she found that she had more to give. Writing is like that for me. I start the book, excited about the plot and characters but eventually I loose steam (see what I did there? Huh? Huh? Anyone? *cricket*).
I worry about the characters, the setting. I think that it's the worst thing I have ever written and no one could ever love it. I should go back to doing...something else (my inner critic has a hard time with this insult because I have always wanted to be a writer. I have my day job to support my writing. So there's really not a profession for me to go back to. But that doesn't stop her from insulting me!).
But then I reach down deep into myself and realize that there's more to give. I am invested more than ever in this story being told. I find the strength to continue on. This strength helps me through the revision process, it helps me through the critiquing process, and it's going to help me through the query process.
Oh yeah, the Rejectionist has this post today with a funny cat video. I have watched it a bajillion times already. I keep rooting for that cat...
So, have you ever reached a point where you thought you couldn't go on...and then discovered in fact you can?
I am still in love with my novel. It feels perfect and wonderful and I have a great feel for the voice of my characters and love the story. Needless to say, I am approaching the middle. Soon I will be posting dark thoughts about burning the book and dancing on it's ashes, but for now, the romance is still young. Ahh young love.
I have been getting migraines recently, which is hindering the writing process. I have really bad TMJ problems as I have previously mentioned and I am working with an oral surgeon to correct the problem. In the meantime...migraines!
Writing is helping me in the sense that it gives me something to focus on other than the feeling that I have mistakenly placed my head in a vice. Sort of like a two for one: I get a novel, and a distraction from my headaches.
I am really enjoying writing steampunk. It's my first foray into the genre, and I have to tell you: it's a lot of fun. I've also woven some gothic elements into the novel, which seems to fit really naturally with steampunk, given the Neo-Victorian era was the time frame for both.
I really enjoyed Rachelle Gardner's post today. She talked about coming to the end of herself, and just when she thought she couldn't go on, she found that she had more to give. Writing is like that for me. I start the book, excited about the plot and characters but eventually I loose steam (see what I did there? Huh? Huh? Anyone? *cricket*).
I worry about the characters, the setting. I think that it's the worst thing I have ever written and no one could ever love it. I should go back to doing...something else (my inner critic has a hard time with this insult because I have always wanted to be a writer. I have my day job to support my writing. So there's really not a profession for me to go back to. But that doesn't stop her from insulting me!).
But then I reach down deep into myself and realize that there's more to give. I am invested more than ever in this story being told. I find the strength to continue on. This strength helps me through the revision process, it helps me through the critiquing process, and it's going to help me through the query process.
Oh yeah, the Rejectionist has this post today with a funny cat video. I have watched it a bajillion times already. I keep rooting for that cat...
So, have you ever reached a point where you thought you couldn't go on...and then discovered in fact you can?
Labels:
real life,
The Heart's Remains,
The Rejectionist
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
New Year's Eve Resolutions (In December)
I was going to participate in The Rejectionist's early resolutions uncontest, but I was busy freaking out over losing my book, moving, and working.
But I still want to make some resolutions! I like to have goals; goals are good. Goals force you out of bed in the morning when you feel like just laying around until it's time to go to sleep again.
So here are my goals. I have specifically made some of them impossibly hard, so when I make REAL New Year's Eve Resolutions, I will feel more confident about my abilities to actually achieve lesser goals.
The purpose of these goals are to do these through the month of December. Then when January rolls around, I will revise my goals accordingly. Think of this as a trial run.
1. Finish my current WIP.
And then revise it, and send it off for querying. Before January 1st.
(the GOOD news is that I am loving my current WIP! Even though it's scary to not have a good idea where I am going! I wrote 6,754 words yesterday! Huzzah!)
2. Memorize every single rule for grammar ever.
3. I will FINISH UNPACKING. I have three or four boxes left, that are filled with random stuff it's hard to find a place for.
4. I will write for twelve hours every single day.
5. I will go through every single one of my old binders from high school. I wrote longhand in high school before I got my own computer, and I have been meaning to transcribe and get ride of them for YEARS now.
6. I will go to bed at a reasonable hour and get up at a reasonable hour. I will use this extra time to write.
7. I will write a query letter that will make agents weep for joy.
8. I will read Kristin Nelson's ENTIRE backlog.
9. I will update my agent list, as it's been a couple of months since I have obcessed over looked at it. I will add a thousand new agents to the list.
10. I will worldbuild three completely brand new planets in anticipation of all of the novels I plan to write there. They each will have complete ecologies, a thousand years of history, and multiple cultures with each country completely fleshed out. I will know the density and gravitational constant of each planet. I will then brainstorm ways to get those numbers into the books without it being obtrusive.
11. I will go through my clothing and get rid of those old shirts I never wear anymore.
12. I will buy my domain name! And then make a website! Even though I don't know HTML at all! My website will be a work of breathtaking beauty that will make the Internets weep for joy.
And those, ladies and germs, are my December Resolutions. There's an element of truth in all of them, but I certainly don't expect to do all of that in a month. Maybe two.
What about you? Have you thought about making New Year's Resolutions?
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Engine of Your Doom Hath Been Set Into Motion!
I am staring at the computer, thinking vainly of something to blog about. But as I am working hard my on WiP and work was particularly long today, it seems my brain has taken a hiatus.
Therefore, I shall perform the ultimate fencing move, sure to produce a victory: the 11th Parry.
I give you a hilarious short play, written by the Rejectionist: The Saga of the Office Mouse
I was shouting, "The engine of your doom hath been set in motion!" all afternoon.
I give you a funny story in which a young girl quests for cake. It's amazing what she does with MS Paint: The God of Cake
Mia is having a blogfest on her blog that is appropriately Halloween themed! I plan to join the festivities, since I adore Halloween more than I probably should.
(P.S. Lo, I searched the Internet in vain. The 11th parry is when you use your friend to block the blow. I cannot find it on teh Internets, and cannot remember where my friends and I first heard it. So you'll have to do with an un-funny explanation here, instead of me directly linking to someone else defining it for me. I apologize for my FAIL.)
Therefore, I shall perform the ultimate fencing move, sure to produce a victory: the 11th Parry.
I give you a hilarious short play, written by the Rejectionist: The Saga of the Office Mouse
I was shouting, "The engine of your doom hath been set in motion!" all afternoon.
I give you a funny story in which a young girl quests for cake. It's amazing what she does with MS Paint: The God of Cake
Mia is having a blogfest on her blog that is appropriately Halloween themed! I plan to join the festivities, since I adore Halloween more than I probably should.
(P.S. Lo, I searched the Internet in vain. The 11th parry is when you use your friend to block the blow. I cannot find it on teh Internets, and cannot remember where my friends and I first heard it. So you'll have to do with an un-funny explanation here, instead of me directly linking to someone else defining it for me. I apologize for my FAIL.)
Labels:
blogfest,
the engine of your doom,
the funny,
The Rejectionist
Monday, September 27, 2010
Uncontest: Public Humiliation
Today the Rejectionist is having an excellent uncontest in the form of public humiliation. Since there's nothing better than a good public embarrassment every once in a while, I thought I would participate.
For your viewing displeasure I bring you two entries: one, a teenage love poem. Yes, you saw that coming, didn't you?
Let me preface this little disaster with:
a) I was writing under a pen name composed of three of my favorite poets, Sara (as in Teasdale) Butler (as in Yeats) and Autumn because it rhythms with Auden (as in W. H.) and
b) I was going through a hard core e.e. cummings phase. This entry is not the worst that came out of it, but I think this selection is both sappy and angtsy, without having any sort of redeeming qualities, unlike some of the other poetry that came out of this phase.
Even more "special" than that little bit of angry poetry, I give you a few paragraphs of one of my early attempts at writing a novel.
I started trying to write novels in high school, and attempted this feat even though I knew next to nothing about how one went about such a task. Concepts like word count and genre didn't enter into my vocabulary, and I wrote with reckless abandon. Most of it is drivel, but I can see some of my style coming out.
Apparently my style at the time was overwrought imagery. I can't tell you how many times I was told I "walllowed" in my imagery. Since that's what I was going for at the time I took this to be a compliment. (what can I say, I experimented a lot as a teenager. We all go through a phase. Or two.)
My font of choice at the time was Book Antiqua, but apparently Blogger doesn't support my nostalgia. This description of my character went on for eleven more paragraphs. I wish I was joking. I really wanted to make sure that reader knew what she looked like, so I described her in painstaking detail.
I swear I have learned valuable lessons on "show don't tell" since then. Honest. Please don't judge me.
Better yet, join me! Let today be a marker as to how far you have come! Post some sappy journal entries, teenage love poetry, and old "novels". Link back here, and on the Rejectionist and join us in our embarrassment!
For your viewing displeasure I bring you two entries: one, a teenage love poem. Yes, you saw that coming, didn't you?
Let me preface this little disaster with:
a) I was writing under a pen name composed of three of my favorite poets, Sara (as in Teasdale) Butler (as in Yeats) and Autumn because it rhythms with Auden (as in W. H.) and
b) I was going through a hard core e.e. cummings phase. This entry is not the worst that came out of it, but I think this selection is both sappy and angtsy, without having any sort of redeeming qualities, unlike some of the other poetry that came out of this phase.
Player
Sara Butler Autumn
I take no comfort in knowing
that mine are not the only
tears that have ever shed.
Nor does the thought that I
am not all alone in my grief,
in my sorrow. I know you
have hurt many just like
me; their numbers are stacked
high up, like checkers. But this
does not make the pain less;
does not stop the tears from flowing.
This does not stop the meaning in my
life from going.
Even more "special" than that little bit of angry poetry, I give you a few paragraphs of one of my early attempts at writing a novel.
I started trying to write novels in high school, and attempted this feat even though I knew next to nothing about how one went about such a task. Concepts like word count and genre didn't enter into my vocabulary, and I wrote with reckless abandon. Most of it is drivel, but I can see some of my style coming out.
Apparently my style at the time was overwrought imagery. I can't tell you how many times I was told I "walllowed" in my imagery. Since that's what I was going for at the time I took this to be a compliment. (what can I say, I experimented a lot as a teenager. We all go through a phase. Or two.)
"The young women stepped with one black, high sandaled foot in front of the other, cat-like, a tigress, using every curve and shape of her exquisite body to her advantage. Her bronze doeskin pants were laced with black leather up her long coltish legs to her hips, with a tan leather belt encircling her waist, the fringe from the end of the belt bouncing back and forth with her cat-stepping.
She wore a beige shirt, two or three shades lighter then her pants, that had a broad neckline, and showed her ivory shoulders, so pure-looking in the burning desert. Most people had never seen anyone without a deep tan, and that alone made her unequaled in their eyes. A black leather choker circled her neck, with tan, beige, and fawn colored beads woven into it. Matching beaded bands circled her wrists. A light cloak that matched her pants in color and material was tied loosely at her neck."
My font of choice at the time was Book Antiqua, but apparently Blogger doesn't support my nostalgia. This description of my character went on for eleven more paragraphs. I wish I was joking. I really wanted to make sure that reader knew what she looked like, so I described her in painstaking detail.
I swear I have learned valuable lessons on "show don't tell" since then. Honest. Please don't judge me.
Better yet, join me! Let today be a marker as to how far you have come! Post some sappy journal entries, teenage love poetry, and old "novels". Link back here, and on the Rejectionist and join us in our embarrassment!
Labels:
public humiliation,
the funny,
The Rejectionist
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace
It’s Tuesday, and I have decided that I am going to try to post about other media on Tuesdays. Kinda like a Shout Out day. I talk about poetry, or music, or other authors, or the bread mold I found inspiring…you get the idea. There are many, many influences that goes into a writer’s mind, and I thought Tuesdays would be a great day to talk about them. Because let’s be honest: no one really likes Tuesdays. Actually I don’t mind them, but I have a weird work schedule. I am off Sundays and Wednesdays. Most people, however, work Monday through Friday, so Tuesday doesn’t have the fresh start of a Monday, nor does it have the middle of the week buzz that Wednesday does, Thursday is beloved because it’s almost Friday, and everyone loves Friday, because, well, it’s Friday.
But I remember a time where Tuesday had some respect (actually I don’t, I am just using hyperbole). It’s named after the Norse god Thor, for crying out loud! Thor’s Day! Let’s take Thor’s day back…wait, crap. Thursday is Thor’s day isn’t it? Well, Tuesday was named after Tyr, also a Norse god. He was the god of single combat, heroic glory, and victory. He allowed the other gods to tie up Fenrir (a REALLY big wolf) by sticking his hand in Fenrir’s mouth. He subsequently lost his arm, but that did not stop him from being cool.
So, ahem. Anyway, a day for shout outs. Here goes mine:
Natalie Whipple: This writer chick is seriously sweet! I want to just squeeze her! She blogs about all kinds of stuff, from straight writing advice to really meaningful topics that plagues writers and most don’t want to talk about, like self-confidence, and comparing yourself to other people, and staying positive. She’s my daily pep talk. I absolutely cannot wait until she gets published. Also, I think she might be Wonder Woman. I’m just saying.
Nathan Bransford: He’s an agent that has demystified the query/agent process. He’s funny, and also gives updates in the publishing industry, and talks about mistakes writer can avoid. Basically, he helps you look smarter. Which is awesome. I am querying him first the second my book is ready. Hopefully he’ll think my book is brilliant, and sell it to a Big Publishing Company, and I can quiet my day job, and…there goes that fertile imagination again.
The Rejectionist: Hilarious, with a perchance for the royal we, this blogger is an assistant to an agent she refers to as “Steve”. She’s a slush pile warrior, with the battle scars to prove it. Also another way to get savvy to the whole publishing biz, and make yourself seem smarter, and doing that nasty thing we writers like to call “research”.
So. Go forth and check these people out. Your writing will thank you.
Anyone else have some great shout outs? Places with indispensable writing advice? People who are hilarious and great for a good laugh?
But I remember a time where Tuesday had some respect (actually I don’t, I am just using hyperbole). It’s named after the Norse god Thor, for crying out loud! Thor’s Day! Let’s take Thor’s day back…wait, crap. Thursday is Thor’s day isn’t it? Well, Tuesday was named after Tyr, also a Norse god. He was the god of single combat, heroic glory, and victory. He allowed the other gods to tie up Fenrir (a REALLY big wolf) by sticking his hand in Fenrir’s mouth. He subsequently lost his arm, but that did not stop him from being cool.
So, ahem. Anyway, a day for shout outs. Here goes mine:
Natalie Whipple: This writer chick is seriously sweet! I want to just squeeze her! She blogs about all kinds of stuff, from straight writing advice to really meaningful topics that plagues writers and most don’t want to talk about, like self-confidence, and comparing yourself to other people, and staying positive. She’s my daily pep talk. I absolutely cannot wait until she gets published. Also, I think she might be Wonder Woman. I’m just saying.
Nathan Bransford: He’s an agent that has demystified the query/agent process. He’s funny, and also gives updates in the publishing industry, and talks about mistakes writer can avoid. Basically, he helps you look smarter. Which is awesome. I am querying him first the second my book is ready. Hopefully he’ll think my book is brilliant, and sell it to a Big Publishing Company, and I can quiet my day job, and…there goes that fertile imagination again.
The Rejectionist: Hilarious, with a perchance for the royal we, this blogger is an assistant to an agent she refers to as “Steve”. She’s a slush pile warrior, with the battle scars to prove it. Also another way to get savvy to the whole publishing biz, and make yourself seem smarter, and doing that nasty thing we writers like to call “research”.
So. Go forth and check these people out. Your writing will thank you.
Anyone else have some great shout outs? Places with indispensable writing advice? People who are hilarious and great for a good laugh?
Labels:
Natalie Whipple,
Nathan Bransford,
shout out,
The Rejectionist
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