Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Maybe I’m Not A Pantser

Ok, so I am trying to work on my newest novel, and I’m on page 25 of it, and I’m just so frustrated with it.  One, I’m still sucking, and two, it just seems like it isn’t flowing right.  But the thing is, if I were to leave this alone and come back to it in a couple of months I would laugh my ass off at the things I wrote…that’s a good thing.  So I guess I’m not that bad, just needing to figure out ahead of time what I want these people to do.  I hate outlining, but if I could just have a general idea what I want to happen in each chapter that would be good I guess.  I’m liking this story, just needing to know how to get to the end point.  But I worry having an outline might take away from the writing for me.  Ugh!  Just not sure what to do.  Ok, I’m going to try to do an outline for this current chapter and see how it turns out for me.  More soon.

Writing away,
M.

Monday, May 23, 2011

I Give Myself Permission To Suck

So I am hard at work on my new novel that I decided to pick up after I made peace with myself for putting “Jumper” on hold.  This new novel is coming along, just I still have the stress of not knowing what’s going on in the novel and the stress over thinking that what I am writing sucks.  This is when a video by Maureen Johnson popped into my head where she talked about sucking.  I went back and watched it and it made me feel a little better about sucking.  So for public knowledge, I give myself permission to suck!  And now you can too.

Writing away,
M.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Jumper…

So for those of you who don’t know, I’ve been working on my first Nanowrimo winning novel “Jumper” since 2008.  I am currently in the process of rewriting it, but the story is just not there for me yet.  So I am going to put it away for now and focus on something else.  I feel the time I am wasting avoiding working on it because the story is still locked away in my head somewhere is wasted time that could be dedicated to a story that is brimming and ready to come out of me.  So I am working on something new for now and will return to “Jumper” at a later time.  *sigh*  That is all.

Writing away,
M.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

You know this movie is going to be so sad yet so exciting at the same time.  I honestly can’t wait to see it, but I am also sad to see it.  I was so sad when I finished the Deathly Hallows knowing that was it for the world of Harry Potter.  Honestly thinking about it almost makes me want to get weepy.  I’m sure those of you who have read the books can agree that you feel you have put an investment into this world.  You “made friends”.  You “made enemies”.  You’ve “fallen in love”.  This world was alive in the minds of so many and to see it end was so sad.  I know all good things come to an end, but I am truly sad to see it end and I’m truly sad to see the last movie ready to roll out.  I know we can always revisit the world, but we already know what happens.  I’d like to know what happens after all was well.  But alas, I suppose that I’ll just have to make assumptions and come up with my own story in my mind.  *sigh*

But I am looking forward to the last movie.  I haven’t been feeling well lately so I couldn’t go see the last one in the theater, so this one I have to go see.  I plan to see the midnight showing even though I know it’s going to be super expensive, but oh well, it’s the last epic hoorah and that’s when everyone dresses up and whatnot.

But this does make me think about one thing.  This was kind of like J. K. Rowling’s big Super Bowl win.  The movies and whatnot were like her trip to Disney World.  What now?  I know she said she’d write under a different name, but does she have anything else to tell?  I mean this was an epic story.  What is left?  What other ideas has she got?  I’ve love to know what other worlds or people have formed in her mind since she bid farewell to Harry and his crew.  It’s sad to know that if she does write under a different name we may not know for a while and may miss out on reading her new work.  I know eventually the beans will spill and we will find out, but it could take a while. *sigh*  Well I suppose I need to stop worry about what she’s writing now and worry more about what I’m writing now.  I’ll make a new post about that in a second.  Until then, enjoy this Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Script Frenzy

I completely forgot to mention it here, but I took part in Script Frenzy this year.  It was my second attempt at it.  I tried to do it the first year it came out, but I dropped out early on.  This year I started strong, then fizzled in the middle, then came out winning in the end.  It was an interesting experience for me, but I do not think script writing is my thing except for personal fun.  I’ll stick to novels.  They are more fun to write for me.

I saw a debate one whether or not Script Frenzy was easier or harder than Nanowrimo.  Here’s my take on it.  I think it flows a lot faster because you are writing 100 pages and now 50,000 words.  It just seems more doable in my mine.  A lot of the page can be filled up with white space and/or dialogue so that speeds things up too. If you outlined, which I didn’t, I imagine things speed up for you.  My experience, it was fun and fast and I wasn’t stressed when on the last day I was still finishing up my page count and came in with a mere few hours to spare.  Now with Nanowrimo, I am so stressed near the end when I still have some words to write and it’s the last day. Not sure why there was such a difference for me, but I found Script Frenzy fun and light where I find Nanowrimo work and stressful.  But I like both, I just don’t see myself do Script Frenzy again unless I want to have some fun or do something for a personal project related to a hobby of mine.  That is what my script this year was for, a hobby comic/photostory of mine.  So maybe it was easier because even though I didn’t outline I kind of knew where things were going.  Don’t know.

But yeah, just wanted to tell you guys I won it this year and when I use the script in the near future for my comic/photostory you are more than welcomed to check it out.  Well that’s all for now.  Talk to you all later.

Writing away,
M.

The Blue Mirror

The Blue Mirror by Kathe Koja

So my sister bought some discount books for a dollar each at Books-A-Million the other day, and one of them was The Blue Mirror.

Here is the book's synopsis: Some guys are more than bad news.  Sixteen-year-old Maggy's life consists of trying to be invisible at school, taking care of her alcoholic mother, and spending all the time she can at the Blue Mirror, a downtown cafe. She can lose herself there for hours with a cappuccino and her sketchbook, in which she creates a paper world she calls "The Blue Mirror." But everything changes when she meets Cole, a charismatic runaway. Maggy is intrigued by Cole's risky life on the streets and by the girls who follow him, childlike Jouly and strange Marianne. And when Cole says that he loves her, Maggy comes alive. But as Maggy becomes more entwined with Cole and looks at him with all her heart, she sees something far more dangerous than she may be capable of handling…

In poetic and evocative language, Kathe Koja draws us into the haunting, passionate world of The Blue Mirror.

Ok, so this book starts off kind of like every lonely girl's fantasy. She is having trouble at home, hates school except for art since she loves to draw, and just feels out of place everywhere she goes. So she goes to a cafe called The Blue Mirror, where she is friends with a guy on staff there and she feels like she belongs there. She has a booth by the front window she always sits in to look out the window and uses what she calls her z-ray to seeing the world outside the window. She draws what she sees in her sketchbook and calls her sketchbook “The Blue Mirror”. Now this right here is where I got a little thrown off. Why call the sketchbook the same names as the cafe? I think this story might have gone a better way if the cafe was called something else, and she called the sketchbook The Blue Mirror because the glass had a blue hue to it to keep out sun rays or what have you, and looking through the window the saw a world that mirrored our own. It's just how she made it in the book, it just kind of seems cliché to me.

Anyway, in the opening of this book, she sees a cute guy hanging out outside that was brought to her attention by a scene she saw when she first walked into the cafe. She thinks he is just amazing and rushes to draw him but he and his friends disappear before she can. This leads the story on to her coming back the next day to see him, sees him walking by with his friends, they come into the cafe and sit down with her. Here she learns they are homeless teens on the street, which in turn turns into a whole homeless community in the downtown area that this girl hangs out. She gets swept up by the attention her new guy friend is giving her and these leads her into a roller coaster of events she does and doesn't want to happen. In the end she is able to get away from Mr. Hunk by showing him who he really is and how everyone views him as.

Now this story is still very confusing to me because it is never really revealed who the guy is. He seems to be a normal guy who is homeless on the street just looking for the next girl he can use, but he also seems to have supernatural powers. But supernatural powers aren't really discussed in the book, she just kept focusing on how he held a sort of lusty power over her, but that made me think more of teen cravings than supernatural powers. So I'm not sure if the author meant for him to be supernatural or what. Another thing that made me wonder about the supernatural part is a lipstick he gives to all the girls he likes. It stains their lips blue, and it stays for a long time and has to wear off if you are with him and use it long enough. It just doesn't make sense.

I think this story has some good bones, but I feel like it was rushed and not thought out completely. The author is award winning for some young adult novels, so maybe I need to try reading some other ones before I decide completely if this author is not for me. Right now, it's standing at a no. But I'll try another book by her. Maybe this was just a one off.

So on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest I give this book a 4. It has some strong bones, but it just fizzled out in the middle and end of the book. Another reason for the 4 rating is I hated how the dialog was written. It just did not flow well and I had to sometimes pause to figure out who was speaking. That's not something I want in a book. I want smooth reading to keep me in the moment. So yeah, like I said, strong bones, not enough meat. I would say if you want to read this story, go to the library, or try to get it super cheap second hand or at Books-A-Million if they have it at yours for a dollar. I think you will feel cheated if you spend the 7 dollars it originally cost. Unless you are a fan of the author then you may feel differently. Both my sister and I felt that the plot was good but the story was seriously lacking. But I think I may try reading the author's novels Buddha Boy or straydog. I hear they both are good. So we'll see.

Writing away,
M.

Dead On Town Line

So I’ve been trying to decide if I want to do my own personal book reviews anymore since I do want to eventually start actively looking for an agent and trying to become a published author.  But right now since my life is at a point where I am focusing more on my health and still working on my manuscript, I feel I will go ahead and do my reviews.  I might delete them later if it’s suggested to me when I do start looking for an agent, but for now I just want to get my thoughts out there for my own personal use to reflect on what I like about stories I read and what I don’t like.

Also I plan to make a page soon with cover pictures of the books I’ve read so I can keep a tab.  I’d get one of those bookshelf widgets but some of my books are really old and a lot of those widget places don’t have cover pictures on file for them and I really want them all to have cover pictures because I will be getting rid of some of the books I don’t see myself ever reading again.  I’m thinking about holding on to some of them and offering them as a giveaway on my blog in the future.  Still deciding on that.  But for now, on with the review.  Enjoy.

Dead On Town Line by Leslie Connor

Here is another one of the novels my sister picked up for a dollar at Books-A-Million. So this story was written in a very interesting way. It's completely in prose, as in poem. Each poem is a new chapter of the story. This story reads super fast, like a hour tops for fast readers.

Here's it's synopsis: Of all the revelations her afterlife brings, perhaps the most startling thing Cassie Devlin discovers is that being dead isn't being done. Murdered by a classmate, Cassie finds herself stuck on the edges of the world she once knew and a realm whose tug she feels but can't quite find her way to. And . . . she is not alone.There's another like her, who arrived earlier and who, like Cassie, has some unfinished business.

Beautifully crafted in electrifying free verse, Dead on Town Line offers teens an emotionally provocative, can't-put-it-down reading experience that will linger long after the last page is turned.

So I like the plot of this story. It does become easy to figure out who killed the main character in the story pretty early on, but it's still worth sticking to the story to find out how the murder was pulled off. The main character starts off the story dead, retelling her story from a while back. She explains what happened to her and why she is currently dead. However, along the way in her story she jumps back to present time as she and her new friend, an also dead girl who's mystery is unsolved, try to find ways to get the living's attention so their bodies can be found and they can move on. They practice using ghost tricks to try to make this happen.

This story kind of read like a Lifetime or after school special movie for me. There's the drama of past events that leads up to the person wanting to kill the main character, to the assumed and expected ending. It really wasn't a bad story. I dare to say I might be tempted to read it again some day.

So on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best I give this story an 8. It was a decent little story with an interesting plot and decent ending. It's not the best story out there, but I find a story being told in prose very interesting. It makes me want to experiment with my writing and perhaps try writing a novel in prose to see how it turns out. If you can find this book in your local library or used for super cheap or have a Books-A-Million close by, totally pick this one up. I think you will find it very interesting. I am curious to read more books by the author to see how I like them. The hunt is on.

Writing away,
M.