Hey guys! Remember the last time I posted on here? Me neither. O.o My posts are becoming few and far between. Sorry for that. I blame it on my hectic college schedule.
I am at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. and I have to admit that at first, I abhored the idea of coming here. I really wanted to go to Kenyon, a well-known writers college that I was accepted to. I kind of still want to go to Kenyon, but you know what? I am at Gallaudet for now and I might as well make the best of it.
And it's not horrible. Not at all! Although I still have to work a lot since the teachers assign a lot of homework, the classes are fairly easy (hang on, is that bad?). My scary college math class is a piece of cake and so far my hardest class is French. My French teacher is insane, but he's sure entertaining and he does challenge us.
I am also joining the swim team. People who know me well know that my favorite thing to do (besides writing) is swimming. I'm so happy that I'll be able to get back in the pool this year as a competitive swimmer.
I also have made some good friends. I met a girl from the Honors Program who I have a lot in common with, and I have been reunited with old friends. Yesterday, I went to Georgetown and watched a scary movie with my good friend from good, old NMSD. We came back with tons of stories.
Oh, and Washington D.C. is amazing. Everything is so deaf-friendly. I went to a restaurant in Chinatown the other day and the guy who was cooking my food was signing, "would you like cheese on your pasta?" It was just such a cool experience. The museums also have ASL tours and the movie theaters have Closed Captions glasses. I feel like it's not hard to be deaf anymore. It never was extremely difficult, but now everything's just so...convenient.
Okay, I'm babbling. You can tell I'm happy. So far the only damper on the experience has been swimming in jellyfish-infested waters when I went camping with the Honors Program...and the weird guy I was talking about in my previous post...I think swimming with jellyfish is an adequate metaphor to describe him.
What about writing though? All I can say is that I'm trying to find time, and I'll find it. Even if it's just one Saturday out of a month, I'll find time. Right now though, things are a little hectic.
That's college life for ya!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
YA...A Break Sounds Good Right Now
I just had an amazing weekend with a very good friend of mine and we were talking about countless poems and books. Most of the books were classic books and we talked about some that I've read, many that I haven't. For example, we talked about The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (which I've read) and talked about how much we hated Peter Keating and Howard Roarke.
And then we started talking about Hamlet (which I've never read) and his face was an expression of shock. You haven't read Hamlet? I told him that I never did. I never read any of Shakespeare's stuff except for some of his sonnets. What I know about Shakespeare's stuff (and I know a lot) was from Academic Bowl.
That kind of made me sad. I've been reading books about vampires, lovestruck teenagers, and children that kill each other for the past four years. I don't really regret my choice in reading material, but still...I never thought to pick up the actual Pride and Predjudice instead of the one with zombies in it. It's time for a change.
This may seem random and rather out of the blue, but the change has been gradual. I haven't been reading very much since I'm kind of getting tired of reading about teens so now I'm reading the top 500 poems on poetry.com along with Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre is still sort of a YA novel...Just more sophiticated, thoughtful, and...old. It's still good and I find myself laughing at it since Charlotte Bronte actually had a good sense of humor.
However, just because I won't be reading a lot of YA doesn't mean I won't still be writing YA and MG. I love writing YA and MG and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
But for reading...I think it's time for a change in the scenery. Have your reading tastes ever changed all of a sudden or even gradually? If so, did it effect your writing?
And then we started talking about Hamlet (which I've never read) and his face was an expression of shock. You haven't read Hamlet? I told him that I never did. I never read any of Shakespeare's stuff except for some of his sonnets. What I know about Shakespeare's stuff (and I know a lot) was from Academic Bowl.
That kind of made me sad. I've been reading books about vampires, lovestruck teenagers, and children that kill each other for the past four years. I don't really regret my choice in reading material, but still...I never thought to pick up the actual Pride and Predjudice instead of the one with zombies in it. It's time for a change.
This may seem random and rather out of the blue, but the change has been gradual. I haven't been reading very much since I'm kind of getting tired of reading about teens so now I'm reading the top 500 poems on poetry.com along with Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre is still sort of a YA novel...Just more sophiticated, thoughtful, and...old. It's still good and I find myself laughing at it since Charlotte Bronte actually had a good sense of humor.
However, just because I won't be reading a lot of YA doesn't mean I won't still be writing YA and MG. I love writing YA and MG and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
But for reading...I think it's time for a change in the scenery. Have your reading tastes ever changed all of a sudden or even gradually? If so, did it effect your writing?
Monday, August 6, 2012
Dangerous to Know
I named this post after a song by my favorite singer when I was younger: Hilary Duff. Now, she writes YA, retired as a singer and actress. However, this isn't about Hilary Duff, it's about dangerous people in life and writing.
I'm usually a pretty good judge of character. I can tell who's a good or kind of shady person within five minutes or so, sometimes faster. It's just acting on those instincts that I'm really bad at. Once, I met these two boys that were older friends of my brothers that I would play baseball with everyday. Immediately, I knew these two weren't any good, but I never acted on those instincts. Something happened one day and my dad banned them from ever seeing my brother and I again.
I don't want to make that mistake again. Next time, I could end up being raped or dead in a gutter.
In fiction, it's usually pretty easy to spot the bad guy even if the MC doesn't know if he's bad since you have time to analyze the characters' behavior from the safety of your own home. A good example of this is "Do You Want to Go Private?" by Sarah Blahblahblah. The bad guy's behavior was authentic and we could tell he was up to no-good even when the MC didn't.
Now, I just met somebody who will be going to school with me at Gallaudet this fall (and he's in the Honors Program as well). I only know him through Facebook and the online discussion board for Honors students. When I first saw the way he acted on the Gallaudet Class of 2016 group we're both in on Facebook, alarm bells went off right away.
I've read some of the "Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker and I learned a lot about how to recognize potential stalkers, murderers, and rapists. I learned how a man might manipulate a woman into staying in an abusive relationship. Although this book is factual, it reads like fiction a lot of the time. It is an interesting book and who knows? Someday it might save your life. I know it's probably saved me some trouble several times.
So this character, who is in the frigging Honors Program (ugg!) has zeroed in on me and I am scared. Everything Gavin de Becker taught me bubbles to the surface...
And I'm not exactly sure what to do. O.o
So how do you handle potentially dangerous people in writing and life?
I'm usually a pretty good judge of character. I can tell who's a good or kind of shady person within five minutes or so, sometimes faster. It's just acting on those instincts that I'm really bad at. Once, I met these two boys that were older friends of my brothers that I would play baseball with everyday. Immediately, I knew these two weren't any good, but I never acted on those instincts. Something happened one day and my dad banned them from ever seeing my brother and I again.
I don't want to make that mistake again. Next time, I could end up being raped or dead in a gutter.
In fiction, it's usually pretty easy to spot the bad guy even if the MC doesn't know if he's bad since you have time to analyze the characters' behavior from the safety of your own home. A good example of this is "Do You Want to Go Private?" by Sarah Blahblahblah. The bad guy's behavior was authentic and we could tell he was up to no-good even when the MC didn't.
Now, I just met somebody who will be going to school with me at Gallaudet this fall (and he's in the Honors Program as well). I only know him through Facebook and the online discussion board for Honors students. When I first saw the way he acted on the Gallaudet Class of 2016 group we're both in on Facebook, alarm bells went off right away.
I've read some of the "Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker and I learned a lot about how to recognize potential stalkers, murderers, and rapists. I learned how a man might manipulate a woman into staying in an abusive relationship. Although this book is factual, it reads like fiction a lot of the time. It is an interesting book and who knows? Someday it might save your life. I know it's probably saved me some trouble several times.
So this character, who is in the frigging Honors Program (ugg!) has zeroed in on me and I am scared. Everything Gavin de Becker taught me bubbles to the surface...
And I'm not exactly sure what to do. O.o
So how do you handle potentially dangerous people in writing and life?
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Olympics
As a hardcore swimmer, you can bet that I'm watching the Olympics avidly. I also used to be a gymnast and was even trained at a facility that an olympic gold medalist trained at. Her name, I believe, was Kerri Strugg. So I'm watching gymnastics as well.
I really loathe Michael Phelps as a person, but I can't help cheering him on so he can get that gold medal and become the most decorated olympian of all time...However, to my surprise, he lost the 400 IM to Ryan Lochte. He didn't even get a medal! On the TV, he was just speechless, like, "how did this happen?" He didn't even congratulate Ryan at all either until later after his coach (probably) told him to.
Phelps and Lochte were also in a relay together and got silver, losing to the French, unfortunately. I felt bad for them. Lochte looked pretty depressed.
As for gymnastics...It is absolutely heart-wrenching to watch. These little girls are going out there and being criticized for every, little mistake they make. The Fab Five are all best friends, yet they're competeing against each other for a spot in the all-around competition.
One girl didn't get in and was bawling her eyes out, poor thing. The camera kept zooming in on her and I finally couldn't stand watching her pain anymore so I just turned away. Seriously though...These girls aren't no fairy princesses. They're tough as nails to be able to compete against each other and still be able to be friends afterwards. Of course they're also tough because of their general awesomeness at the sport.
So what's your favorite sport to watch? Do you think the Olympics could have any correlation whatsoever to writing? There is that same fierce competition...
Oh! Remember how I said I would post that video of me singing Iris? Well, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgi2fQmMK5U&feature=g-upl. Enjoy. :)
I really loathe Michael Phelps as a person, but I can't help cheering him on so he can get that gold medal and become the most decorated olympian of all time...However, to my surprise, he lost the 400 IM to Ryan Lochte. He didn't even get a medal! On the TV, he was just speechless, like, "how did this happen?" He didn't even congratulate Ryan at all either until later after his coach (probably) told him to.
Phelps and Lochte were also in a relay together and got silver, losing to the French, unfortunately. I felt bad for them. Lochte looked pretty depressed.
As for gymnastics...It is absolutely heart-wrenching to watch. These little girls are going out there and being criticized for every, little mistake they make. The Fab Five are all best friends, yet they're competeing against each other for a spot in the all-around competition.
One girl didn't get in and was bawling her eyes out, poor thing. The camera kept zooming in on her and I finally couldn't stand watching her pain anymore so I just turned away. Seriously though...These girls aren't no fairy princesses. They're tough as nails to be able to compete against each other and still be able to be friends afterwards. Of course they're also tough because of their general awesomeness at the sport.
So what's your favorite sport to watch? Do you think the Olympics could have any correlation whatsoever to writing? There is that same fierce competition...
Oh! Remember how I said I would post that video of me singing Iris? Well, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgi2fQmMK5U&feature=g-upl. Enjoy. :)
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Writing Horror
Those that know me well know that I LOVE being scared. When I was four, I would watch slasher flicks instead of Dora the Explorer. Yes, my parents were that cool. I also go to haunted houses every halloween and read Stephen King books.
For whatever reason though, I have a hard time writing horror. I was so fustrated, I had my dad get me Stephen King's book "On Writing" for a graduation present, hoping it would help. Although his book is mostly about technique, he did provide some useful tips about writing horror.
One tip he had was that the horror genre and being conservative don't mix. Bring on the profanity, gore, and human suffering! Don't hold back! He said that what he liked most about writing was that he got to sort of become his characters. Is Stephen King normally racist? Is he foul-mouthed and evil? Nope. He has the potential to be, but he chooses not to live like his characters.
And I think that's what scares readers. That the author has the potential to become a horrible person and that scares them so they start accusing the author of being things that he isn't. I think that was why I was handicapped in writing horror. I don't want to become an awful person through my writing and have readers view me as a shadowy, awful person because I'm not. One time I wrote a story about a psychopathic murderer and I never shared it with anyone because frankly...I was ashamed.
One time, when I was in middle school, I wrote a story about a boy who had imaginary friends that told him to do horrible things and I showed it to my mom. Her response was this:
"Oh, Paige, why would you want to write stories like this? You should write about happy things."
My bubble burst and I never attempted to write horror until recently. I realized that I wanted everyone's respect and now this is mattering less and less. I should be able to do what I want to do and not care about what others think unless it's important.
So I am now writing a horror story called "Dreams of the Haunted." I am posting it as a serial story on tumblr. If you want to check it out, go to this address: www.pagebypaigeisalltherage.tumblr.com. Let me know what you think.
Have you ever had any problems with writing horror? If you don't write, what do you think about horror writers?
For whatever reason though, I have a hard time writing horror. I was so fustrated, I had my dad get me Stephen King's book "On Writing" for a graduation present, hoping it would help. Although his book is mostly about technique, he did provide some useful tips about writing horror.
One tip he had was that the horror genre and being conservative don't mix. Bring on the profanity, gore, and human suffering! Don't hold back! He said that what he liked most about writing was that he got to sort of become his characters. Is Stephen King normally racist? Is he foul-mouthed and evil? Nope. He has the potential to be, but he chooses not to live like his characters.
And I think that's what scares readers. That the author has the potential to become a horrible person and that scares them so they start accusing the author of being things that he isn't. I think that was why I was handicapped in writing horror. I don't want to become an awful person through my writing and have readers view me as a shadowy, awful person because I'm not. One time I wrote a story about a psychopathic murderer and I never shared it with anyone because frankly...I was ashamed.
One time, when I was in middle school, I wrote a story about a boy who had imaginary friends that told him to do horrible things and I showed it to my mom. Her response was this:
"Oh, Paige, why would you want to write stories like this? You should write about happy things."
My bubble burst and I never attempted to write horror until recently. I realized that I wanted everyone's respect and now this is mattering less and less. I should be able to do what I want to do and not care about what others think unless it's important.
So I am now writing a horror story called "Dreams of the Haunted." I am posting it as a serial story on tumblr. If you want to check it out, go to this address: www.pagebypaigeisalltherage.tumblr.com. Let me know what you think.
Have you ever had any problems with writing horror? If you don't write, what do you think about horror writers?
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Writing and The Goo Goo Dolls
I have just discovered how awesome the Goo Goo Dolls are so I just had to write a blog post dedicated to them.
"I just want you to know who I am..." -Iris. Remember that you want your charaters to be 3-D instead of 2-D so when writing, make sure that you want the readers to know exactly who your characters are personality-wise.
"I wanna wake up where you are. I won't say anything at all...So let's let it slide!"-Slide. Remember if your character does something wrong, karma needs to get back at him/her...It's nice to have a moral to your novels sometimes, if you're into that sort of thing.
"I'm killing myself from the inside out and all my fears have pushed you out. I wished for things I don't need..." -Sympathy. Usually at the climax or falling action, your protagonist realizes his/her mistakes, yadayadayada. Find whatever meaning you want in here.
"...It hurts because I was always trying to be honest in whatever I was doing." -John Rzeznik on the media. Sometimes agents reject you and you feel that you have done absolutely nothing wrong. Remember that the business world is a cold, cruel place where honesty is not always the best policy. Sad, but true.
"You need to surround yourself with people who are better than you...That way, you grow." -John Rzeznik. Always seek help from fellow writers and just read, read, read!
That's some writing wisdom I found in the lyrics and words of The Goo Goo Dolls. I'm sure none of this advice is new to you all though.
I was so inspired by their music, that I actually did a cover of Iris! It actually turned out pretty well. Maybe I'll share it sometime.
"I just want you to know who I am..." -Iris. Remember that you want your charaters to be 3-D instead of 2-D so when writing, make sure that you want the readers to know exactly who your characters are personality-wise.
"I wanna wake up where you are. I won't say anything at all...So let's let it slide!"-Slide. Remember if your character does something wrong, karma needs to get back at him/her...It's nice to have a moral to your novels sometimes, if you're into that sort of thing.
"I'm killing myself from the inside out and all my fears have pushed you out. I wished for things I don't need..." -Sympathy. Usually at the climax or falling action, your protagonist realizes his/her mistakes, yadayadayada. Find whatever meaning you want in here.
"...It hurts because I was always trying to be honest in whatever I was doing." -John Rzeznik on the media. Sometimes agents reject you and you feel that you have done absolutely nothing wrong. Remember that the business world is a cold, cruel place where honesty is not always the best policy. Sad, but true.
"You need to surround yourself with people who are better than you...That way, you grow." -John Rzeznik. Always seek help from fellow writers and just read, read, read!
That's some writing wisdom I found in the lyrics and words of The Goo Goo Dolls. I'm sure none of this advice is new to you all though.
I was so inspired by their music, that I actually did a cover of Iris! It actually turned out pretty well. Maybe I'll share it sometime.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Right and Wrong
Have you ever had those scary thoughts that tell you that Right and Wrong are not really concrete, established rules? After all, everything's relative and in the end, we're just people.
I love philosophy. I like to think of big questions that I couldn't possibly answer and wouldn't expect anyone else to either. It's fun to explore "what could be".
In YA books, normally all characters go through Right and Wrong dilemmas, but when I'm writing these scenes, it usually takes me forever to finish them because I don't really want to believe that these things are just black and white.
Don't be scared, I have a good moral compass. I was raised with a very strong believe system so I'm not like a sociopath or anything.
What annoys me sometimes when reading YA is that some authors take the Right and Wrong thing too far. Their characters will discuss what's Right and Wrong about everything. One specific situation really annoys me sometimes. One character wants to go off and save someone alone, but another group of people want to come along and the character says no, that it's not right for them to risk their lives.
If you ask me, that person just has a really big ego and needs to learn to accept help sometimes. The character still ends up with the other group of people usually, but why waste words on that silly situation? Nobody likes being alone in a danger zone, plus characters are only human. Sometimes they need to cross into the gray zone.
You know, sometimes authors include that situation in there for a reason. Perhaps their character is really stubborn and headstrong so they put them in that situation so that they can grow from the experience. That's okay by me most of the time.
We need to remember that our characters are not saints. Sure, we want them to be role models, but who says saints are? Part of being human is making mistakes and learning from them so that you can acquire that moral compass. Make your characters step into the gray zone once in a while.
You know who is a master at creating those gray zone situations? Ilsa J. Bick. Read her book "Drowning Instinct" and be astounded by the humanity of her characters. You'll learn a lot from her writing.
So yeah, I'm just saying...Remember that you want your characters to be good people, but also remember that they're human even though they're fictional.
I love philosophy. I like to think of big questions that I couldn't possibly answer and wouldn't expect anyone else to either. It's fun to explore "what could be".
In YA books, normally all characters go through Right and Wrong dilemmas, but when I'm writing these scenes, it usually takes me forever to finish them because I don't really want to believe that these things are just black and white.
Don't be scared, I have a good moral compass. I was raised with a very strong believe system so I'm not like a sociopath or anything.
What annoys me sometimes when reading YA is that some authors take the Right and Wrong thing too far. Their characters will discuss what's Right and Wrong about everything. One specific situation really annoys me sometimes. One character wants to go off and save someone alone, but another group of people want to come along and the character says no, that it's not right for them to risk their lives.
If you ask me, that person just has a really big ego and needs to learn to accept help sometimes. The character still ends up with the other group of people usually, but why waste words on that silly situation? Nobody likes being alone in a danger zone, plus characters are only human. Sometimes they need to cross into the gray zone.
You know, sometimes authors include that situation in there for a reason. Perhaps their character is really stubborn and headstrong so they put them in that situation so that they can grow from the experience. That's okay by me most of the time.
We need to remember that our characters are not saints. Sure, we want them to be role models, but who says saints are? Part of being human is making mistakes and learning from them so that you can acquire that moral compass. Make your characters step into the gray zone once in a while.
You know who is a master at creating those gray zone situations? Ilsa J. Bick. Read her book "Drowning Instinct" and be astounded by the humanity of her characters. You'll learn a lot from her writing.
So yeah, I'm just saying...Remember that you want your characters to be good people, but also remember that they're human even though they're fictional.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Between the Lines
I just bought this new book today and it's called "Between the Lines" by Jodi Picoult and her daughter. I've always loved Jodi Picoult's work so when I found out she wrote a YA book, I couldn't resist buying it.
They write about this really interesting concept though. It's about this girl named Delilah that re-reads this fairy tale over and over again. The fairy tale is about a prince named Oliver who is anything but brave, but still he rescues his princess, Seraphina. However, Oliver is not happy in his fictional world. He wants to bust out of this scripted place.
I haven't finished the story yet, but I'm sure he busts out somehow.
I think everybody wishes that some books were real and more tangible than words in their heads. Every girl is in love with some fictional character (for me, it's Augustus Waters and Erik from the Phantom of the Opera).
And sometimes there are times when you wish that some characters were never thought up by the author. The characters that make you scream at the book: WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID!?!?!?
However, in "Between the Lines" those characters may not be as they seem. Oliver actually has more than an ounce of bravery in him and if that's true, maybe Luce from "Fallen" actually has some common sense!
I've lost you, haven't I? Regardless of what you think, I think this psychobabble I'm writing about characters that could actually be someone else actually makes sense in a way.
Do you know someone who said "All the world's a stage and we are merely players."? I used to think that quote was deep and wise in a way, but now I think it's depressing. I don't want my life to already be written by some Shakespeare in the sky. I want to be me, not some dork who is just reciting lines because they feel they have to. Stay true to yourself.
Now, let's get back to my point. Fictional characters don't have a choice as to who they want to be. You do. Maybe you do believe that some ultimate creator has written your story for you, and if you do, that's cool, you'll recieve no judgement from me. Who says you can't re-write some of the pages that you don't like though?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have the pen in your hands. Write your story the way you want it to be.
They write about this really interesting concept though. It's about this girl named Delilah that re-reads this fairy tale over and over again. The fairy tale is about a prince named Oliver who is anything but brave, but still he rescues his princess, Seraphina. However, Oliver is not happy in his fictional world. He wants to bust out of this scripted place.
I haven't finished the story yet, but I'm sure he busts out somehow.
I think everybody wishes that some books were real and more tangible than words in their heads. Every girl is in love with some fictional character (for me, it's Augustus Waters and Erik from the Phantom of the Opera).
And sometimes there are times when you wish that some characters were never thought up by the author. The characters that make you scream at the book: WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID!?!?!?
However, in "Between the Lines" those characters may not be as they seem. Oliver actually has more than an ounce of bravery in him and if that's true, maybe Luce from "Fallen" actually has some common sense!
I've lost you, haven't I? Regardless of what you think, I think this psychobabble I'm writing about characters that could actually be someone else actually makes sense in a way.
Do you know someone who said "All the world's a stage and we are merely players."? I used to think that quote was deep and wise in a way, but now I think it's depressing. I don't want my life to already be written by some Shakespeare in the sky. I want to be me, not some dork who is just reciting lines because they feel they have to. Stay true to yourself.
Now, let's get back to my point. Fictional characters don't have a choice as to who they want to be. You do. Maybe you do believe that some ultimate creator has written your story for you, and if you do, that's cool, you'll recieve no judgement from me. Who says you can't re-write some of the pages that you don't like though?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have the pen in your hands. Write your story the way you want it to be.
Monday, July 2, 2012
What I Want to See More Of
Everybody knows what they don't want to see more of in YA writing: vampires and werewolves. I think the world has gotten the message. I personally am getting a little tired of dystopia, which is a little strange since I'm a big fan of the genre. I have Insurgent on my bookshelf and I thought I would just jump at any chance to start reading it, but I find myself going "meh." It took me a month to finish "The Ask and The Answer" by Patrick Ness (part of the Chaos Walking series) and it was an awesome book too, so I don't get why it took so long for me to finish. I guess dystopia's getting old for me.
Dark fantasy and some urban fantasy is getting old too, but I never really read a lot of it. "City of Bones" kind of ruined it for me. I really did not like that book for some reason. Angels are also getting old and I usually HATE the stories (like the Fallen series by Lauren Kate).
I'm not writing to bash other authors though. My purpose to to inform what I as a reader don't want to see more of. Let's move onto what I do want to see more of.
Ghost stories! Have you read "Anna Dressed in Blood" by Kendare Blake? Awesome book! I read it in two days. I am also addicted to the TV show "Supernatural" although it's more about angels now instead of ghosts so I'm starting to hate it. I love me a good ghost story though. I can't wait to read "Girl of Nightmares"!
Good contemporary stuff. My new favorite author, John Green, wrote an awesome book called "The Fault in Our Stars." I read that one in two days. I also want these contemporary books to be "important," which means I want to learn something from this book.
I also want more science fiction, emphasis on the science. A lot of dystopia books are sci-fi to some level, but it's more about government problems. Maybe scientists just terraformed Mars and a few pioneers have to go explore the newly transformed planet. Things that occur in space. That stuff. My teacher just wrote a great sci-fi book, which I read in two days.
Zombies will probably never grow old for me. I don't see a lot of zombie stuff out there except for "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" books (which are amazing!).
Psychological thrillers would also be really cool. How come no one has written "A Beautiful Mind" for teens? Give your protagonist an Annie Wilkes-like boyfriend! The more disturbed the person, the better!
New fantasy concepts would also be cool. Who says you have to write about fantastical creatures already imagined by other people? Throw something completely new at me. One time I wrote a movie script about Nexolins and Lumens, creatures from a different dimension!
Okay, I think that's it for now. I write what I want to read and these are the genres I've been writing in lately. "The Dead and Dying Embers" is a zombie novel. My next novel will be a sci-fi novel taking place in the Degenerative Era of the universe. I'm writing a contemporary novella about a boy with Hemophilia. I've written several short stories that are psychological thrillers, such as "Trick or Treat." That one was about a psychopathic murderer so it was kind of scary getting into his mind. O.o I haven't really written a good ghost story yet, but I've always wanted to.
Hope this helped! I have no idea if agents agree with me, though I have heard that they do want to see more psychological thrillers.
TTFN!
Dark fantasy and some urban fantasy is getting old too, but I never really read a lot of it. "City of Bones" kind of ruined it for me. I really did not like that book for some reason. Angels are also getting old and I usually HATE the stories (like the Fallen series by Lauren Kate).
I'm not writing to bash other authors though. My purpose to to inform what I as a reader don't want to see more of. Let's move onto what I do want to see more of.
Ghost stories! Have you read "Anna Dressed in Blood" by Kendare Blake? Awesome book! I read it in two days. I am also addicted to the TV show "Supernatural" although it's more about angels now instead of ghosts so I'm starting to hate it. I love me a good ghost story though. I can't wait to read "Girl of Nightmares"!
Good contemporary stuff. My new favorite author, John Green, wrote an awesome book called "The Fault in Our Stars." I read that one in two days. I also want these contemporary books to be "important," which means I want to learn something from this book.
I also want more science fiction, emphasis on the science. A lot of dystopia books are sci-fi to some level, but it's more about government problems. Maybe scientists just terraformed Mars and a few pioneers have to go explore the newly transformed planet. Things that occur in space. That stuff. My teacher just wrote a great sci-fi book, which I read in two days.
Zombies will probably never grow old for me. I don't see a lot of zombie stuff out there except for "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" books (which are amazing!).
Psychological thrillers would also be really cool. How come no one has written "A Beautiful Mind" for teens? Give your protagonist an Annie Wilkes-like boyfriend! The more disturbed the person, the better!
New fantasy concepts would also be cool. Who says you have to write about fantastical creatures already imagined by other people? Throw something completely new at me. One time I wrote a movie script about Nexolins and Lumens, creatures from a different dimension!
Okay, I think that's it for now. I write what I want to read and these are the genres I've been writing in lately. "The Dead and Dying Embers" is a zombie novel. My next novel will be a sci-fi novel taking place in the Degenerative Era of the universe. I'm writing a contemporary novella about a boy with Hemophilia. I've written several short stories that are psychological thrillers, such as "Trick or Treat." That one was about a psychopathic murderer so it was kind of scary getting into his mind. O.o I haven't really written a good ghost story yet, but I've always wanted to.
Hope this helped! I have no idea if agents agree with me, though I have heard that they do want to see more psychological thrillers.
TTFN!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Freedom is Never Free
I stopped by my friend's Facebook wall to wish him a happy birthday, posting this message: "Have a very happy 17th birthday! You can blow out the candles this year knowing you are finally free!"
He responded back, saying: "Thanks, Paige. Unfortunately though, freedom comes at a cost."
I just sat there thinking a bit before replying: "Ahh...It always does. Is freedom worth the cost though? I guess that's up to you to determine."
I find it funny how the rules of society correspond with the laws of science. Newton's third law of motion says, "For every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction." You get what you give. If a teenage boy harrases a girl, he gets a broken nose. Action, reaction.
It's the same with freedom. If you push to get towards your goal, something's going to try to shove you to the ground. Freedom comes with a price. For Katniss, she had to kill Cato to win "The Hunger Games." In "127 Hours," the guy had to cut his frigging arm off to obtain freedom.
In writing, that struggle to obtain freedom is called conflict and readers just gobble it up. I'll admit, I feel bad for my characters sometimes and forget that I'm trying to write the next great American novel so I just give them a break when I really shouldn't.
However, I'm getting better. Outlining my novels helps a lot. There are still moments when I have to stop myself from handing my character freedom on a silver platter though.
Remember this when writing your novel: freedom is never free. Learn it, believe it, and accept it because that, my friend, is life.
He responded back, saying: "Thanks, Paige. Unfortunately though, freedom comes at a cost."
I just sat there thinking a bit before replying: "Ahh...It always does. Is freedom worth the cost though? I guess that's up to you to determine."
I find it funny how the rules of society correspond with the laws of science. Newton's third law of motion says, "For every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction." You get what you give. If a teenage boy harrases a girl, he gets a broken nose. Action, reaction.
It's the same with freedom. If you push to get towards your goal, something's going to try to shove you to the ground. Freedom comes with a price. For Katniss, she had to kill Cato to win "The Hunger Games." In "127 Hours," the guy had to cut his frigging arm off to obtain freedom.
In writing, that struggle to obtain freedom is called conflict and readers just gobble it up. I'll admit, I feel bad for my characters sometimes and forget that I'm trying to write the next great American novel so I just give them a break when I really shouldn't.
However, I'm getting better. Outlining my novels helps a lot. There are still moments when I have to stop myself from handing my character freedom on a silver platter though.
Remember this when writing your novel: freedom is never free. Learn it, believe it, and accept it because that, my friend, is life.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Random Post
For some reason, I've been having a hard time writing lately. I'm even having a hard time writing poetry and I usually crank poems out within minutes. As you can see, my sentence fluency is a little off. I don't think it's a lack of ideas, I have plenty of those. I think it's more about getting the right idea out. I can feel the idea, it's there, but I can't get it out.
How weird. I don't really think it's a writerly thing, it's more of an emotional thing. Now it's getting sort of hard to write this blog post so I'm just going to spurt out random things. You may stop reading if you wish because the stuff that follows is completely pointless.
I hate writing e-mails on my phone. I find it hard to be grammatically correct while typing on that tiny keyboard. It fustrates me immensely. Also, sometimes my phone glitches and I lose the e-mail I've been working on avidly. That makes me fustrated and angry at the same time. I'm so glad I'm writing this blog post on an actual computer.
My brother is incapable of eating even 1/4th of a 72 oz steak. There's this steak challenge in Amarillo, TX where you try to eat a 72 oz steak, a salad, a potato, and 2 rolls in an hour that I want to see my brother do. I think I may end up doing the challenge because I don't want to pay $72 if my brother fails (and he will). I am more likely to win the challenge. DON'T underestimate me. I'm a teenage girl, but I eat like a man!
I want to buy an underwater video camera that will connect to my goggles when I'm swimming in the ocean. I bet footage of me body surfing and waves crashing on top of my head would look awesome on the big screen TV! It would be awesomer if I were filming California waves though, North Carolina waves are puny.
My friend Jason sent me a beautiful crystal cube with a piano in the center, but it got lost in the mail. Curse the New Mexico postal system!
I hate bringing my dog to the beach. He always poops in the exact same spot: right in the center of a public walkway. My brother and I have to give up our sandwich bags to pick up Bear's doo-doo. He also digs and flings sand into our stuff. I think he does it to annoy me. I still love him anyways.
My friend Eric and I are having a hard time finding a time to get together. Since I write the e-mails to him on my phone, the situation is twice as fustrating.
I can't believe you read my completely pointless statements. I just wasted your time because I simply am having a hard time writing something. I wonder if writing this post even helped me. I hope it did.
Good night. I hope this post at least entertained you. :-)
How weird. I don't really think it's a writerly thing, it's more of an emotional thing. Now it's getting sort of hard to write this blog post so I'm just going to spurt out random things. You may stop reading if you wish because the stuff that follows is completely pointless.
I hate writing e-mails on my phone. I find it hard to be grammatically correct while typing on that tiny keyboard. It fustrates me immensely. Also, sometimes my phone glitches and I lose the e-mail I've been working on avidly. That makes me fustrated and angry at the same time. I'm so glad I'm writing this blog post on an actual computer.
My brother is incapable of eating even 1/4th of a 72 oz steak. There's this steak challenge in Amarillo, TX where you try to eat a 72 oz steak, a salad, a potato, and 2 rolls in an hour that I want to see my brother do. I think I may end up doing the challenge because I don't want to pay $72 if my brother fails (and he will). I am more likely to win the challenge. DON'T underestimate me. I'm a teenage girl, but I eat like a man!
I want to buy an underwater video camera that will connect to my goggles when I'm swimming in the ocean. I bet footage of me body surfing and waves crashing on top of my head would look awesome on the big screen TV! It would be awesomer if I were filming California waves though, North Carolina waves are puny.
My friend Jason sent me a beautiful crystal cube with a piano in the center, but it got lost in the mail. Curse the New Mexico postal system!
I hate bringing my dog to the beach. He always poops in the exact same spot: right in the center of a public walkway. My brother and I have to give up our sandwich bags to pick up Bear's doo-doo. He also digs and flings sand into our stuff. I think he does it to annoy me. I still love him anyways.
My friend Eric and I are having a hard time finding a time to get together. Since I write the e-mails to him on my phone, the situation is twice as fustrating.
I can't believe you read my completely pointless statements. I just wasted your time because I simply am having a hard time writing something. I wonder if writing this post even helped me. I hope it did.
Good night. I hope this post at least entertained you. :-)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
The Fault In My Stars
I am convinced that John Green is the best writer that has ever lived. Faulkner, Shakespeare, and Hemingway have nothing on him.
I have just read his amazing book, The Fault In Our Stars, which is about kids with cancer. I could go on to tell you the whole plot, but just click on this link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars
Yeah, it's a cancer book. The topic's been done to death, but yet it's not a cancer book. It's a book about making your mark on the world, making sure you mean something. Making my mark on the world has been an issue I've been struggling with for a while now. I have dreams, and as I told John Green in my fan letter to him, I have deadlines for those dreams.
Some of those dreams have not come true yet or they just died. One of my dreams was to go to Duke University, but I didn't get in. I also hoped to be agented or something by now, but I'm not.
Some would look at me like I'm crazy saying, "You have lots of time to make your dreams come true, why do you need deadlines?"
Here's what I say to them: some infinities are bigger than other infinities (as John Green says). Some of us have more time, some of us don't. I am here on bought time. As a little kid, I was pretty sick. I had lungs that sucked at being lungs (like Hazel's) and there were many times when I could have died. Now, I'm considerably healthy. I have muscles that sort of suck at being muscles due to a muscular disease, but I am doing pretty damn well.
Still though, I have a muscular disease. That will shorten my life span. The heart is a muscle and if my disease decides to attack it, I'm done for. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. I'm sure as hell going to squeeze a bigger infinity into my smaller one.
Augustus wrote to Hazel, "I like my choices. I hope she likes hers."
I've made some choices that I did not like at all in the past year and as a result, I feel bitter and resentful a lot. I think the message John Green was trying to convey was: if you like the choices you make, you will be happy and you will have made your mark on the world in your own unique way.
I guess that was the fault in my stars. (metaphor! Stars are choices.) I don't like all the choices I have made so I'm unhappy.
So I am going to start liking my choices.
I have just read his amazing book, The Fault In Our Stars, which is about kids with cancer. I could go on to tell you the whole plot, but just click on this link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars
Yeah, it's a cancer book. The topic's been done to death, but yet it's not a cancer book. It's a book about making your mark on the world, making sure you mean something. Making my mark on the world has been an issue I've been struggling with for a while now. I have dreams, and as I told John Green in my fan letter to him, I have deadlines for those dreams.
Some of those dreams have not come true yet or they just died. One of my dreams was to go to Duke University, but I didn't get in. I also hoped to be agented or something by now, but I'm not.
Some would look at me like I'm crazy saying, "You have lots of time to make your dreams come true, why do you need deadlines?"
Here's what I say to them: some infinities are bigger than other infinities (as John Green says). Some of us have more time, some of us don't. I am here on bought time. As a little kid, I was pretty sick. I had lungs that sucked at being lungs (like Hazel's) and there were many times when I could have died. Now, I'm considerably healthy. I have muscles that sort of suck at being muscles due to a muscular disease, but I am doing pretty damn well.
Still though, I have a muscular disease. That will shorten my life span. The heart is a muscle and if my disease decides to attack it, I'm done for. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. I'm sure as hell going to squeeze a bigger infinity into my smaller one.
Augustus wrote to Hazel, "I like my choices. I hope she likes hers."
I've made some choices that I did not like at all in the past year and as a result, I feel bitter and resentful a lot. I think the message John Green was trying to convey was: if you like the choices you make, you will be happy and you will have made your mark on the world in your own unique way.
I guess that was the fault in my stars. (metaphor! Stars are choices.) I don't like all the choices I have made so I'm unhappy.
So I am going to start liking my choices.
Friday, June 8, 2012
My First AQC Chat!
Last night, I had a great chat online with some people from AgentQuery Connect. When I entered, I knew I would learn things from these people since they were talking about the best season to query agents. I never thought about when the best time to query an agent is. What I learned from that conversation: winter is a big no-no for querying.
I also got the chance to ask some questions that were on my mind such as: what is the significant difference between a query and synopsis? The answer? A query is agent bait (come here, fishy!), and a synopsis is a detailed description of your story.
I was quiet most of the time, just hanging out and reading along with the conversation. I still benefitted from hanging back and people-watching though.
And while I was people-watching, I noticed that there was a real sense of community among the authors. All of them were really excited that their friend, R.C. Lewis, got agented (I'm very excited for her too! Yay!) and they were all saying "hi" to people as they entered the chat room.
Was I overwhelmed? A little, but I felt very welcome.
That was my first chat on AQC! Hopefully during the summer I'll be able to get more involved on the site.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Now I'm on Twitter! Apparently it's a good website for writers since they can follow agents and such. I already had an account, but I found the site confusing so I left. Hopefully this time around, I'll be able to navigate the site better. Tomorrow I'll probably be doing some research on who to follow.
I also got the chance to ask some questions that were on my mind such as: what is the significant difference between a query and synopsis? The answer? A query is agent bait (come here, fishy!), and a synopsis is a detailed description of your story.
I was quiet most of the time, just hanging out and reading along with the conversation. I still benefitted from hanging back and people-watching though.
And while I was people-watching, I noticed that there was a real sense of community among the authors. All of them were really excited that their friend, R.C. Lewis, got agented (I'm very excited for her too! Yay!) and they were all saying "hi" to people as they entered the chat room.
Was I overwhelmed? A little, but I felt very welcome.
That was my first chat on AQC! Hopefully during the summer I'll be able to get more involved on the site.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Now I'm on Twitter! Apparently it's a good website for writers since they can follow agents and such. I already had an account, but I found the site confusing so I left. Hopefully this time around, I'll be able to navigate the site better. Tomorrow I'll probably be doing some research on who to follow.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Food for Thought
I've been sitting here at home pretty immobile and I've had nothing to do but watch TV and think about all the strange food commercials they have on TV. Especially the cereal commercials. Here are some examples:
1. I think everyone has seen the cannibalistic Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercials out there and would agree with me when I say they are so wrong. O.o There's also another thing wrong with the commercial. When a cereal square eats another cereal square, their stomaches don't get bigger AT ALL. They're the same size too so when a cereal square eats one of it's brothers, they should grow at least a little, right?
2. Hebrew National takes pride in their hot dogs because they are kosher. Yay, good for them! Do hot dogs normally have dairy products in them?
3. Lucky Charms and Trix commercials always fustrate me. You know why? Because the leprechaun and rabbit never get the dang cereal! I think the kids need to stop being so selfish and share the cereal.
4. When you eat Fruit Roll-Ups, your tongue is supposed to grow according to the commercials. Well, when I eat Fruit Roll-Ups, I wait a long time for my tongue to grow, but it never does. Isn't that false advertising or something?
5. Last, but not least is the very disturbing Pops cereal commercial I see every once in a while. Aliens invade this farm and with their abduction beams, they flip a cow over and beam the milk right from the udders. The cow is mooing for it's life so I want to jump right into the commercial and give those aliens a piece of my mind!
Those are my thoughts on some of the food commercials. Are there any commercials that you think are kind of odd? If so, please share! You will not be discriminated against. :-)
1. I think everyone has seen the cannibalistic Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercials out there and would agree with me when I say they are so wrong. O.o There's also another thing wrong with the commercial. When a cereal square eats another cereal square, their stomaches don't get bigger AT ALL. They're the same size too so when a cereal square eats one of it's brothers, they should grow at least a little, right?
2. Hebrew National takes pride in their hot dogs because they are kosher. Yay, good for them! Do hot dogs normally have dairy products in them?
3. Lucky Charms and Trix commercials always fustrate me. You know why? Because the leprechaun and rabbit never get the dang cereal! I think the kids need to stop being so selfish and share the cereal.
4. When you eat Fruit Roll-Ups, your tongue is supposed to grow according to the commercials. Well, when I eat Fruit Roll-Ups, I wait a long time for my tongue to grow, but it never does. Isn't that false advertising or something?
5. Last, but not least is the very disturbing Pops cereal commercial I see every once in a while. Aliens invade this farm and with their abduction beams, they flip a cow over and beam the milk right from the udders. The cow is mooing for it's life so I want to jump right into the commercial and give those aliens a piece of my mind!
Those are my thoughts on some of the food commercials. Are there any commercials that you think are kind of odd? If so, please share! You will not be discriminated against. :-)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Writing Wise
I'd like to say that I'm very wise for the average eighteen-year-old. At my school, I was pretty much the school psychologist, imparting thoughtful tidbits to wailing girls. My problem?
I can't write like Yoda without sounding cheesy. Okay, maybe Yoda's a bad example, but whatever. It's kind of hard for me to write like I'm an all-knowing person when I am not. When I have to write like a shaman, I just try to recall what other wise people have said and put what they have said on paper (in a different way, of course. Plagairism is not my thing). This is where "writing what you know" comes in handy.
What happens when I need something completely original? Something from my inner "Paige the Sage?" I have a hard time getting what I want to say on the paper.
Before I start writing the next chapter of my book (which will include lots of wisdom), I'm asking for help from my fellow bloggers. Do you have any words of wisdom for writing words of wisdom? If so, please let me know.
I just got my wisdom teeth pulled (harharhar) so I'm sort of fresh out of the stuff. :-)
I can't write like Yoda without sounding cheesy. Okay, maybe Yoda's a bad example, but whatever. It's kind of hard for me to write like I'm an all-knowing person when I am not. When I have to write like a shaman, I just try to recall what other wise people have said and put what they have said on paper (in a different way, of course. Plagairism is not my thing). This is where "writing what you know" comes in handy.
What happens when I need something completely original? Something from my inner "Paige the Sage?" I have a hard time getting what I want to say on the paper.
Before I start writing the next chapter of my book (which will include lots of wisdom), I'm asking for help from my fellow bloggers. Do you have any words of wisdom for writing words of wisdom? If so, please let me know.
I just got my wisdom teeth pulled (harharhar) so I'm sort of fresh out of the stuff. :-)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Stressed-Out Grad
Today was graduation day and that day is pretty stressful for most people. Your friends and family come so you have to make sure you look good, that you don't trip across the stage, and even making sure you turn the tassle around the corner of the hat. I worried about all of those things, but there were even more things that happened that added unneeded stress to the day.
The stress started before the big day when I found out I was valedictorian and had to prepare a speech. Writing a speech is no problem, but presenting it is another thing altogether. I am not the greatest speaker in the world. Especially if I have to present in ASL since I am not the greatest signer in the world either. I practice that speech avidly with my public speaking class (thank you, Vicki and Cal!), ASL specialist, and the interpreters as well. I'm going to be speaking in front of the governer of New Mexico so my speech better be written and presented pretty damn well.
Then comes graduation day. I am so nervous, I don't eat breakfast. I want to make sure I don't forget anything. Especially my earplugs and valedictorian sash. My family leaves at 7:30 and halfway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, I realize that I forgot my sash. Smooth move, Paige. Pancho says that we can't go back and get it since I have to be at school at a certain time. I have the brilliant idea of calling my dad and asking him to bring it with him on his way up, which he was able to do.
Later, I'm in a back room with the graduates and I'm pacing across the floor I'm so nervous. My stomache is growling and a guy from a newspaper is interviewing all of us. I give halfhearted answers since my mind is preoccupied with my speech and sash and food and aaaaah!!!!!
Luckily, the governer is late so graduation is delayed a little bit and the principal comes rushing in right before we go walking into the auditorium with my sash. I later found out that there was construction on I-25 and the road closed for an hour about ten minutes after my dad drove through. Luck was apparently on my side today.
We all walk into the auditorium and sit down. Dr. Stern, the superintendent, welcomes all of us and then it's time for the salutatorian address. My friend and future roommate in college did a wonderful job and after her, it's my turn...
And my speech surprisingly went well. I only made one minor, undetectable mistake. My job is done and relief floods into me. Pancho speaks after me and he gave a wonderful speech. He cried so I almost cried and I think a lot of people cried during that speech.
The governer is up next and gave another great speech. She even quoted my poem in her speech so that was kind of cool. A celebrity likes my writing! Yay!
The rest of the graduation ensues and soon I am finished with high school. Finished. Just knowing that sent another wave of relief through me.
The rest of the day was filled with lots of hugs and goodbyes as well as a lot of laughter at a post-graduation BBQ.
I will miss NMSD. I had a great five years there and it's definitely a place I owe a lot of gratitude to. If I ever come back to New Mexico, it will be to visit NMSD because there's no way anyone could ever get me to come back unless someone dies or gets married.
So yeah. Today was a pretty stressful day, but it was definitely a memorable one that will replay over and over in my mind even when I'm old and have Alzheimers...
Congratulations Class of 2012. We did it. :-)
The stress started before the big day when I found out I was valedictorian and had to prepare a speech. Writing a speech is no problem, but presenting it is another thing altogether. I am not the greatest speaker in the world. Especially if I have to present in ASL since I am not the greatest signer in the world either. I practice that speech avidly with my public speaking class (thank you, Vicki and Cal!), ASL specialist, and the interpreters as well. I'm going to be speaking in front of the governer of New Mexico so my speech better be written and presented pretty damn well.
Then comes graduation day. I am so nervous, I don't eat breakfast. I want to make sure I don't forget anything. Especially my earplugs and valedictorian sash. My family leaves at 7:30 and halfway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, I realize that I forgot my sash. Smooth move, Paige. Pancho says that we can't go back and get it since I have to be at school at a certain time. I have the brilliant idea of calling my dad and asking him to bring it with him on his way up, which he was able to do.
Later, I'm in a back room with the graduates and I'm pacing across the floor I'm so nervous. My stomache is growling and a guy from a newspaper is interviewing all of us. I give halfhearted answers since my mind is preoccupied with my speech and sash and food and aaaaah!!!!!
Luckily, the governer is late so graduation is delayed a little bit and the principal comes rushing in right before we go walking into the auditorium with my sash. I later found out that there was construction on I-25 and the road closed for an hour about ten minutes after my dad drove through. Luck was apparently on my side today.
We all walk into the auditorium and sit down. Dr. Stern, the superintendent, welcomes all of us and then it's time for the salutatorian address. My friend and future roommate in college did a wonderful job and after her, it's my turn...
And my speech surprisingly went well. I only made one minor, undetectable mistake. My job is done and relief floods into me. Pancho speaks after me and he gave a wonderful speech. He cried so I almost cried and I think a lot of people cried during that speech.
The governer is up next and gave another great speech. She even quoted my poem in her speech so that was kind of cool. A celebrity likes my writing! Yay!
The rest of the graduation ensues and soon I am finished with high school. Finished. Just knowing that sent another wave of relief through me.
The rest of the day was filled with lots of hugs and goodbyes as well as a lot of laughter at a post-graduation BBQ.
I will miss NMSD. I had a great five years there and it's definitely a place I owe a lot of gratitude to. If I ever come back to New Mexico, it will be to visit NMSD because there's no way anyone could ever get me to come back unless someone dies or gets married.
So yeah. Today was a pretty stressful day, but it was definitely a memorable one that will replay over and over in my mind even when I'm old and have Alzheimers...
Congratulations Class of 2012. We did it. :-)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
My depressing final exam.
The entire world would be shocked at the grade I got on my calculus test today: a D+. Yes, for the first time in her life, Paige Foreman got a D+ on a final exam. I'm definitely not proud of it and I hope it'll never happen again.
My math teacher assured my class that F's and D's are normal for calculus, and she even said that my grade (sadly) was one of the highest she's seen in a calculus class at my school. Still...I couldn't help but feel depressed because I spent a lot of time studying for this test. In P.E. I would be doing the treadmill and figuring out calculus problems.
It's not only that. I love calculus. With the exception of geometry, it's the only math class I've ever really liked and to be that horrible at it is really depressing. It just goes to show that I can love derivatives all I want, but that doesn't mean they'll love me back. It doesn't mean I'll have a natural talent for intergrating.
It means that I'll just have to work even harder at figuring out those math problems. I don't think I'll ever take the time to get really good at calculus since I'll be an English major. However, if I decided to go to RIT and dive right into pre-med, I would have had to spend the whole summer with a "How to Ace Calculus" book and graphing calculator.
That's if I cared enough to and I'm not sure if I do. Writing seems to be my calling and not math. I know some writers have had to work really hard at learning to be good at writing. Writing was not their natural talent, just as calculus is not mine, and they had the stamina to keep pushing on even though the thing they loved fustrated them.
I really do admire those people for their strength and willpower. Trust me, there are some times I wish I had half of that willpower.
That's my thoughts on my math test. Thank god I got a 95% on the physics test or I would be a wreck!
With finals out of the way, I am now focusing on studying my valedictorian speech. The governer of the state of New Mexico will watch the speech...
No pressure at all! Yeah, right.
My math teacher assured my class that F's and D's are normal for calculus, and she even said that my grade (sadly) was one of the highest she's seen in a calculus class at my school. Still...I couldn't help but feel depressed because I spent a lot of time studying for this test. In P.E. I would be doing the treadmill and figuring out calculus problems.
It's not only that. I love calculus. With the exception of geometry, it's the only math class I've ever really liked and to be that horrible at it is really depressing. It just goes to show that I can love derivatives all I want, but that doesn't mean they'll love me back. It doesn't mean I'll have a natural talent for intergrating.
It means that I'll just have to work even harder at figuring out those math problems. I don't think I'll ever take the time to get really good at calculus since I'll be an English major. However, if I decided to go to RIT and dive right into pre-med, I would have had to spend the whole summer with a "How to Ace Calculus" book and graphing calculator.
That's if I cared enough to and I'm not sure if I do. Writing seems to be my calling and not math. I know some writers have had to work really hard at learning to be good at writing. Writing was not their natural talent, just as calculus is not mine, and they had the stamina to keep pushing on even though the thing they loved fustrated them.
I really do admire those people for their strength and willpower. Trust me, there are some times I wish I had half of that willpower.
That's my thoughts on my math test. Thank god I got a 95% on the physics test or I would be a wreck!
With finals out of the way, I am now focusing on studying my valedictorian speech. The governer of the state of New Mexico will watch the speech...
No pressure at all! Yeah, right.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
I'm already a writer! What now?
I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was eleven, but the truth is, I already was a writer a long time ago when I wrote my first novel. I already am a writer.
So what is my goal? To be published! I'm looking up how to publish my book, but Google doesn't really say how I get into the publishing business. So I compare myself to other aspiring-to-be-published writers. They apparently all have blogs so now I have a blog!
But no one reads my blog! There's only one fourteen-year-old that reads this and occasionally I show posts to my friends. That's my entire audience.
How sad. That just goes to show how introverted I am. If I was good with people and everything, I'd be diving head-first into the writing world, but people kind of scare me. In order to be published though, I must deal with people no matter how much I don't want to. For the first time in my life, I will have to figure out how to be popular becuase the well-known people are the ones who get published.
Also, there's another problem I have with the publishing industry. You're not writing for you, you're writing for everybody else. You start to become insecure and wonder if so and so will like the story. You try to figure out what they may not like and try to correct it, but you realize that what you did was not fixing anything, but making it worse. Ick!
No wonder J.D. Salinger drank his own urine.
When I get insecure, I just hand some of my manuscript to someone else to look over and ask if anything needs fixing.
Just writing about the publishing industry makes my heartbeat quicken. There should be a college degree specifically for authors that want to learn the ropes of the publishing industry. I will think of a name for that degree later.
-Sigh- I'm a writer. Yipee. How do I become more than just a writer?
So what is my goal? To be published! I'm looking up how to publish my book, but Google doesn't really say how I get into the publishing business. So I compare myself to other aspiring-to-be-published writers. They apparently all have blogs so now I have a blog!
But no one reads my blog! There's only one fourteen-year-old that reads this and occasionally I show posts to my friends. That's my entire audience.
How sad. That just goes to show how introverted I am. If I was good with people and everything, I'd be diving head-first into the writing world, but people kind of scare me. In order to be published though, I must deal with people no matter how much I don't want to. For the first time in my life, I will have to figure out how to be popular becuase the well-known people are the ones who get published.
Also, there's another problem I have with the publishing industry. You're not writing for you, you're writing for everybody else. You start to become insecure and wonder if so and so will like the story. You try to figure out what they may not like and try to correct it, but you realize that what you did was not fixing anything, but making it worse. Ick!
No wonder J.D. Salinger drank his own urine.
When I get insecure, I just hand some of my manuscript to someone else to look over and ask if anything needs fixing.
Just writing about the publishing industry makes my heartbeat quicken. There should be a college degree specifically for authors that want to learn the ropes of the publishing industry. I will think of a name for that degree later.
-Sigh- I'm a writer. Yipee. How do I become more than just a writer?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Romance...How Awkward
Earlier today, I was watching a conversation two teachers were having and it sparked some writerly thoughts. They were talking about student relationships here at school and how they can go...Err...A little overboard.
"We were very close to seeing something happen," one teacher says.
"Yeah, I swear, sometimes I think couples are practically making babies right in the hallway," I add.
The other teacher just laughs hysterically, like she normally does when something is funny or even when nothing at all is funny.
Anyways, there are a lot of relationships at my school that just aren't healthy, just like some relationships in YA novels aren't that healthy. A classic example is Edward and Bella in the Twilight books. Edward is very controlling of Bella and Bella doesn't know how to be happy without Edward. In "New Moon," she jumped off a fricking cliff just to hear the guy's voice. There's something wrong there.
So in my YA books, I try to set a good example for teens. At least one heroine is strong emotionally. In "The Dead and Dying Embers," the strong heroine setting a good example was Skye. If one character was falling apart, she was always the one to pick up the pieces and show them the right way to do things. If there even is a "right" way to do things. She was a good example for everyone.
Until she got a boyfriend, that is. One day, I was writing another chapter in the story and everyone was at a ski resort close to Denver. Skye and her boyfriend ended up in a hotel room together and...I stopped writing because I knew where things were headed. I started yelling at my characters inside my head.
"Really, Skye?! Really?! You're going to have...that, with him?!" I scream at her.
"Yes," she replies.
I scowl. "Fine! Have it your way." I begrudgingly write the rest of the chapter. I didn't put any mature content in the story though, I just put in a very subtle, "love the night away." Okay, maybe it's not THAT subtle, but I'm not ruining anyone's innocence, am I?
Am I? Maybe I'm just ruining my own. I have only had one boyfriend and that relationship wasn't really a relationship. We barely had conversations! I called him Mr. Oh. Here's what our conversations looked like:
Me: (asks a great question)
Him: (answers and says nothing else)
Me: (Not sure what to do so I provide my own answer to the question, hoping a conversation will start)
Him: Oh.
So writing about relationships, for me, is really awkward since I've never really been in a relationship myself. I know what I've learned from other people's relationships and books. So for my character to have such an intense relationship and I have to put down the words for her is really scary because I am pretty conservative.
So much for Skye (and me) being a good example.
"We were very close to seeing something happen," one teacher says.
"Yeah, I swear, sometimes I think couples are practically making babies right in the hallway," I add.
The other teacher just laughs hysterically, like she normally does when something is funny or even when nothing at all is funny.
Anyways, there are a lot of relationships at my school that just aren't healthy, just like some relationships in YA novels aren't that healthy. A classic example is Edward and Bella in the Twilight books. Edward is very controlling of Bella and Bella doesn't know how to be happy without Edward. In "New Moon," she jumped off a fricking cliff just to hear the guy's voice. There's something wrong there.
So in my YA books, I try to set a good example for teens. At least one heroine is strong emotionally. In "The Dead and Dying Embers," the strong heroine setting a good example was Skye. If one character was falling apart, she was always the one to pick up the pieces and show them the right way to do things. If there even is a "right" way to do things. She was a good example for everyone.
Until she got a boyfriend, that is. One day, I was writing another chapter in the story and everyone was at a ski resort close to Denver. Skye and her boyfriend ended up in a hotel room together and...I stopped writing because I knew where things were headed. I started yelling at my characters inside my head.
"Really, Skye?! Really?! You're going to have...that, with him?!" I scream at her.
"Yes," she replies.
I scowl. "Fine! Have it your way." I begrudgingly write the rest of the chapter. I didn't put any mature content in the story though, I just put in a very subtle, "love the night away." Okay, maybe it's not THAT subtle, but I'm not ruining anyone's innocence, am I?
Am I? Maybe I'm just ruining my own. I have only had one boyfriend and that relationship wasn't really a relationship. We barely had conversations! I called him Mr. Oh. Here's what our conversations looked like:
Me: (asks a great question)
Him: (answers and says nothing else)
Me: (Not sure what to do so I provide my own answer to the question, hoping a conversation will start)
Him: Oh.
So writing about relationships, for me, is really awkward since I've never really been in a relationship myself. I know what I've learned from other people's relationships and books. So for my character to have such an intense relationship and I have to put down the words for her is really scary because I am pretty conservative.
So much for Skye (and me) being a good example.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Hate your characters? I do too.
One of the hardest things about writing novels, for me, is that after a while, it gets hard to stick with the story. You get bored of writing about the same thing and another thing I've noticed is that you start to hate your characters.
Horrible characters? Terrible plot? Total buzz kill. It's hard to reach back in the past and recover the enthusiasm you had for writing this story in the first place. After all, if you hated the story back then, you wouldn't have written it, right? So how come you hate it now?
I think I've found the reason. Growth. Whether it's you or your character, one of you is changing. When I was writing "The Dead and Dying Embers" I slowly began to hate Shane. When I first started writing the book, I thought he was a great guy. He was sensitive, philosophical, kind, and emotional, but now when I look at Shane, I see a whiner who doesn't deserve the girl he's going after.
What sucks is that I based Shane on somebody I know so I began to hate the person I based him on too, which I was not happy about because that person is a great friend.
Note to self: don't base characters on people you know. That's really not what this is about though. When you get to the point where you hate your character, do what I do with real people. I looked at my friend again and "cut off" the bad parts of him to see what was left, what was good. What was left saved my friendship with that person.
So if I can do that with a person, I should be able to do that with a character. I don't hate Shane anymore.
Horrible characters? Terrible plot? Total buzz kill. It's hard to reach back in the past and recover the enthusiasm you had for writing this story in the first place. After all, if you hated the story back then, you wouldn't have written it, right? So how come you hate it now?
I think I've found the reason. Growth. Whether it's you or your character, one of you is changing. When I was writing "The Dead and Dying Embers" I slowly began to hate Shane. When I first started writing the book, I thought he was a great guy. He was sensitive, philosophical, kind, and emotional, but now when I look at Shane, I see a whiner who doesn't deserve the girl he's going after.
What sucks is that I based Shane on somebody I know so I began to hate the person I based him on too, which I was not happy about because that person is a great friend.
Note to self: don't base characters on people you know. That's really not what this is about though. When you get to the point where you hate your character, do what I do with real people. I looked at my friend again and "cut off" the bad parts of him to see what was left, what was good. What was left saved my friendship with that person.
So if I can do that with a person, I should be able to do that with a character. I don't hate Shane anymore.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Lame Lyrics
Attention, please! I have a confession: I cannot write song lyrics to save my life.
Yes, I am primarily a fiction writer, but I write A LOT of poetry. A LOT. There's capital letters and repeats people, so I must be serious. However, I love music (even though I'm kind of hard-of-hearing) and I like to sing (hey, just because I'm deaf doesn't mean I'm tone-deaf, got it?). I have Youtube covers to prove I'm alright.
And my stuff on Youtube? They're just covers and that's it. I want to be able to compose my own music and write my own song lyrics. One time I actually did write some of my own music my sophmore year for ArtSign. I put together a few guitar chords and came up with lyrics. It was AWFUL though. I strummed my guitar too loud so it drowned out my voice, and the song lyrics were pretty horrific too. I wrote the first verse and chorus down here:
I'm in a plaid shirt
And my old blue jeans
Tied up in a bandanna, all the things I need.
Don't know what this means, But I'm walking away...
From everything and everyone I know.
Then I find myself in nowhere
And I don't know what to do or where to go...
Chorus:
'Cause I'm a...Stranger in a strange land
I'm a thousand miles from home.
Everyone speaks a language I don't understand.
The moon is shining bright, brighter than the sun.
The people here push me away
Like a distant memory-
They don't wanna stay...
As you can see, it's very much a country song and a bad one too. Look at all the trite phrases in there along with the Heinlein references...-shudder- After I realized how horrible it was, I practiced writing lyrics and I have to say, I've improved. However, they're still not even close to being Grammy-worthy. A sample of my best set of lyrics is below:
Her sanity...Is sitting on a house of cards.
And reality...Is playing with the Queen of Hearts.
She's falling down the rabbit hole
Doesn't know who she is and it's getting cold.
Then she goes and hits the floor...
Drink me, she shrinking now,
But who knows if she'll fit through the door?
She wants to go through, but she doesn't know how...
Chorus: Caterpillars and crazy twins,
It's all the same in Wonderland.
Created by the Author's sins,
It's spiraling out of control and
Who knows if she'll ever get out?
She doesn't know what her story is about.
This world will swallow her whole,
She may never get out of the rabbit hole.
She'll be lost to Wonderland...
These lyrics are pretty awesome compared to "Stranger in a Strange Land." Still...It's not great. I just have to accept that I'll never be a Taylor Swift or John Lennon. I am doomed to being a terrible lyricist.
You know what though? No matter how terrible I am, I will continue to write song lyrics simply because it's fun. With this, I diverge a little. Even if I don't make it as a writer, I will still continue to write for fun because you know what? I love writing!
And my stuff on Youtube? They're just covers and that's it. I want to be able to compose my own music and write my own song lyrics. One time I actually did write some of my own music my sophmore year for ArtSign. I put together a few guitar chords and came up with lyrics. It was AWFUL though. I strummed my guitar too loud so it drowned out my voice, and the song lyrics were pretty horrific too. I wrote the first verse and chorus down here:
I'm in a plaid shirt
And my old blue jeans
Tied up in a bandanna, all the things I need.
Don't know what this means, But I'm walking away...
From everything and everyone I know.
Then I find myself in nowhere
And I don't know what to do or where to go...
Chorus:
'Cause I'm a...Stranger in a strange land
I'm a thousand miles from home.
Everyone speaks a language I don't understand.
The moon is shining bright, brighter than the sun.
The people here push me away
Like a distant memory-
They don't wanna stay...
As you can see, it's very much a country song and a bad one too. Look at all the trite phrases in there along with the Heinlein references...-shudder- After I realized how horrible it was, I practiced writing lyrics and I have to say, I've improved. However, they're still not even close to being Grammy-worthy. A sample of my best set of lyrics is below:
Her sanity...Is sitting on a house of cards.
And reality...Is playing with the Queen of Hearts.
She's falling down the rabbit hole
Doesn't know who she is and it's getting cold.
Then she goes and hits the floor...
Drink me, she shrinking now,
But who knows if she'll fit through the door?
She wants to go through, but she doesn't know how...
Chorus: Caterpillars and crazy twins,
It's all the same in Wonderland.
Created by the Author's sins,
It's spiraling out of control and
Who knows if she'll ever get out?
She doesn't know what her story is about.
This world will swallow her whole,
She may never get out of the rabbit hole.
She'll be lost to Wonderland...
These lyrics are pretty awesome compared to "Stranger in a Strange Land." Still...It's not great. I just have to accept that I'll never be a Taylor Swift or John Lennon. I am doomed to being a terrible lyricist.
You know what though? No matter how terrible I am, I will continue to write song lyrics simply because it's fun. With this, I diverge a little. Even if I don't make it as a writer, I will still continue to write for fun because you know what? I love writing!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Graduation Pains
I'm officially eighteen now, old enough to vote and officially be kicked out of the house. I don't think my parents would do that to me though, no matter how much my inner donkey tempts them to.
However, the number eighteen is also associated with graduation from high school, which is really what this post is about. Let me tell you, at the beginning of the year, I wasn't exactly sure if I was ready to graduate. Now though, I am certainly ready! I can't wait to get out of New Mexico. -Sigh-
The past few weeks have been hectic though. I have had to go to four award ceremonies (not that I'm complaining about getting awards) and it has been exhausting.On top of that, I have had to come up with a valedictorian speech worthy enought to be presented in front of the governer. I'm pretty satisfied with my speech topic, "The Difference Between Finding and Creating Meaning." I think I brownosed my school's superintendent enough in my speech too.
There's also little, trifling things that are making an impact on my life. My friends constantly complain about the saludictorian and how she doesn't deserve the title. I disagree with them immensely, this girl deserves the title, but yet I still get in trouble for supposedly "destroying her reputation" simply because I am with my friends when they complain about her.
We also have to select ten pictures to use at graduation and let me tell you, it's hard picking pictures! I have a sense of humor and a personality so I don't want my pictures to be the boring ones where I'm just smiling and looking pretty for the camera. I have to be careful with my selections though because the governer will be there and showing a picture of little Paige jumping off her roof into the pool probably is not the best idea. By the way, enjoy the totally awesome picture below:
All of these problems make me curse society and how it forces us to attend these dang ceremonies. I guess without all of this fuss though, no one would feel important. I wouldn't feel important. I'm one of those people that like power and recognition for some reason. I don't seem to be that way because I'm so quiet, but it's true and it always will be. I'm not exactly proud of that trait, but eh, I try not to let it get to me a lot.
The part of me that likes power will help me push on through all of this graduation crap though. Something has to.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Wannabe Traveller
Let's face it: I love adventure and I won't be happy if my life is calm and boring. I don't want my life to be the typical, generic story: grow up, go to college, work, start a family, retire, and then DIE. If my life were like that, I'd kill myself before I'd even start a family. Today, I researched jobs that would allow me to travel. The jobs I liked best were:
1. Au Pair (nanny) for kids around the world.
2. Working on cruise ships. (Now that...I like).
3. A travel writer (hmm...it's hard to make money doing that).
4. A teacher for an international school.
5. Peace Corps (I like that too).
6. Work for a Non-Governmental Organization (very competitive).
7. A travel nurse.
I really like the idea of being an Au Pair when I graduate. I'll be young with a college degree ad hopefully know a foreign language like French. During college, I could work summers on a cruise ship (unless I have DVR).
But...I found another marvelous option: being a volunteer crew member aboard a sailboat. I have my license so I might as well use it for something! Besides, how cool would it be to say that I sailed to Australia or some ridiculous place like that? If I work out medications, it's definetly do-able.
Sigh...I'm already dreaming about doing that.
I also want to see if I can get a job as a janitor or something in Antartica. I hear it's REALLY hard to get jobs there, but hey-McCurdo Station needs to get clean somehow. It's not like the important scientists are going to be the housekeepers. I'm going to keep exploring options though.
Still...Wouldn't those jobs be awesome?
1. Au Pair (nanny) for kids around the world.
2. Working on cruise ships. (Now that...I like).
3. A travel writer (hmm...it's hard to make money doing that).
4. A teacher for an international school.
5. Peace Corps (I like that too).
6. Work for a Non-Governmental Organization (very competitive).
7. A travel nurse.
I really like the idea of being an Au Pair when I graduate. I'll be young with a college degree ad hopefully know a foreign language like French. During college, I could work summers on a cruise ship (unless I have DVR).
But...I found another marvelous option: being a volunteer crew member aboard a sailboat. I have my license so I might as well use it for something! Besides, how cool would it be to say that I sailed to Australia or some ridiculous place like that? If I work out medications, it's definetly do-able.
Sigh...I'm already dreaming about doing that.
I also want to see if I can get a job as a janitor or something in Antartica. I hear it's REALLY hard to get jobs there, but hey-McCurdo Station needs to get clean somehow. It's not like the important scientists are going to be the housekeepers. I'm going to keep exploring options though.
Still...Wouldn't those jobs be awesome?
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Decisions, Decisions...
I'm sick with (possibly) the flu and I'm pretty much comatose. All day I've been watching TV and blowing gunk out of my nose. It SUCKS. I'm also trying to study for Academic Bowl as well.
Last night, I had the WEIRDEST dreams too. I knew I was dreaming and since I am obsessed with lucid dreaming, I was trying to alter it like in Inception, but I could only alter it in a few ways. I suppose that's one good thing about being sick, I get cool dreams!
But that's not really what this post is about. I've had a lot of time to think (since I can't really do anything else) and I've realized that I have no idea what I want to be when I "grow up." I love to write, but how many writers actually make it? Not a lot. I have a scholarship to a college of science and I've put down my major as Biochemistry since I've always wanted to be a doctor growing up. Now that I think about it though, I think I would like to be an environmental scientist and save the sea turtles or be a naturalist. I've also considered nursing and teaching.
I think that I'm going to be one of those people that spontaneously join the circus after college or something. I have all of these plans, like joining the peace corps, hiking the Appalacian Trail, going to the Univerity of Edinburgh for a summer and getting a certificate in Parapsychology, and going on a road trip across America to visit haunted houses and amusement parks.
I've always loved to learn and as a result, I have so many passions and I have no idea if that's a good thing. Does it make me unstable? Restless? Even dangerous? I don't know. Right now though, it just makes decisons even harder.
Decisions, decisions...
Last night, I had the WEIRDEST dreams too. I knew I was dreaming and since I am obsessed with lucid dreaming, I was trying to alter it like in Inception, but I could only alter it in a few ways. I suppose that's one good thing about being sick, I get cool dreams!
But that's not really what this post is about. I've had a lot of time to think (since I can't really do anything else) and I've realized that I have no idea what I want to be when I "grow up." I love to write, but how many writers actually make it? Not a lot. I have a scholarship to a college of science and I've put down my major as Biochemistry since I've always wanted to be a doctor growing up. Now that I think about it though, I think I would like to be an environmental scientist and save the sea turtles or be a naturalist. I've also considered nursing and teaching.
I think that I'm going to be one of those people that spontaneously join the circus after college or something. I have all of these plans, like joining the peace corps, hiking the Appalacian Trail, going to the Univerity of Edinburgh for a summer and getting a certificate in Parapsychology, and going on a road trip across America to visit haunted houses and amusement parks.
I've always loved to learn and as a result, I have so many passions and I have no idea if that's a good thing. Does it make me unstable? Restless? Even dangerous? I don't know. Right now though, it just makes decisons even harder.
Decisions, decisions...
Monday, January 2, 2012
Book Reviews
It's January second and I am sorry to tell everyone that I did not reach my goal of reading the 13 books on my list. No awesome day for me. -Sigh- I am patting myself on the back for not trying to self-decept myself into thinking my complete failure was not completely my fault. I read eight out of the thirteen I planned to read. However, I did not stick to the list, I changed some of the books. The books I read are listed right here: Night by Elie Wiesel, Dawn by Elie Wiesel, Significantly Other by R.C. Lewis,Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, and Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman.
I will commence with the book reviews.
Night:
Night by Elie Wiesel was a very succinct, but very vivid and powerful memoir of his time in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. At the beginning of the book, Elie was a deeply observant and still very innocent Jew. However, as the book progressed you could see how his soul transformed into the darkness of night. I applaud him for somehow retaining his humanity through that despicable era in human history. As I reached the end though, I knew that Elie would never have that childhood innocence back.
Dawn:
The story is about a yound holocaust survivor named Elisha, who is a terrorist in Palestine and has been ordered to kill a man at dawn. This book tells the story of the hours before and slightly after his act of assassination. Elisha struggles with ghosts from his past, guilt, and God before the assassination. The writing in this book is, I think, superior to Night and it is well worth reading. Like Night though, the character also transformed into a darker version of himself. My favorite line is the last few sentences, "The night lifted, leaving behind it a grayish light the color of stagnant water. Soon there was only a tattered fragment of darkness, hanging in midair, the other side of the window. Fear caught my throat. The tattered fragment of darkness had a face. Looking at it, I understood the reason for my fear. The face was my own."
Significantly Other:
This book is by far one of the most orgiginal books in YA science fiction I've read for quite some time. Ziv is living in the not so distant future and is part alien so she has the mind-reading abilities and superior intelligence of the Grexul, the aliens. However, Ziv was a subject of a cruel experiement at the hands of Dr. Epstein so she has a slight case of PTSD. The story follows Ziv as she prepares for battle with aliens and tackles school (and boys) at the same time. Author R.C. Lewis makes Ziv a very believable, likeable, and relatable character. Simply put, she's a master in this genre and deserves to be published.
Full Tilt:
Neal Shusterman weaves a tale about a phantom carnival and the only boy who can defeat it--a boy who has been scarred by a traumatic event in his past and is chasing his little brother into the carnival. The boy has to finish seven rides before dawn--piece of cake, right? We'll just see how easy it'll be. Neal is easily one of my favorite authors with a wonderful writing style, original stories, and complex characters.
Unwind:
Unwind is one of my favorite books of all time. It's about how in the future, parents may choose to have their kids between 12 and 18 Unwound, where their organs and body parts are harvested for donor banks so technically, they never die. The story follows three Unwinds on the run, Connor, Resa, and Lev. This is a slightly disturbing, but facinating book that I would reccommend to anyone. I even wrote a fanfiction of it.
Anna Dressed in Blood:
I adore ghosts so I knew I was going to love this book. The story follows Cas, a ghost hunter and his kitchen witch mother as they try to take down an especially violent ghost, Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna has taken the lives of everyone who has stepped into her house and she mmight have killed Cas as well, but for some reason, she spares his life. This was a breath of fresh air in the YA genre with it's awesome sense of humor and facinating storyline. Read it in two days!
Jonathan Livingston Seagull:
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is about a seagull who pursued perfection in flight and being limitless. Jonathan loved to learn and the Flock told him wings were just to help them get food so they exiled him. That is not where his story ends though, he goes on to become a limitless bird in a later life and eventually comes back to teach the Flock who once exiled him to fly. A very deep book with some complex thought that teaches just what life is for. I had a strong bond with Jonathan Seagull in this book and I think anyone who feels the same way would.
Want to Go Private?:
This was a very disturbing book that I would not recommend to anyone below seventeen. Abby is a very insecure, but likeable girl who is just starting high school. She meets someone in a chat room named Blueskyboi and forms a relationship with him. However, things start to get a little odd and then the day comes when she's just gone and her family is left behind, wanting to get her back. Yes, we've been preached at about creepy men that stalk young girls on the internet in school, but this really opened my eyes. This is VERY realistic guys and the author does such a good job that you might just stay away fom your Facebook account for a few days...
Those are the books I read, and I'll post something about my novel in the writing tab. Right now, I'm reading Pride and Predjudice and Zombies so I'm actually liking this classic...
Goodbye!
I will commence with the book reviews.
Night:
Night by Elie Wiesel was a very succinct, but very vivid and powerful memoir of his time in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. At the beginning of the book, Elie was a deeply observant and still very innocent Jew. However, as the book progressed you could see how his soul transformed into the darkness of night. I applaud him for somehow retaining his humanity through that despicable era in human history. As I reached the end though, I knew that Elie would never have that childhood innocence back.
Dawn:
The story is about a yound holocaust survivor named Elisha, who is a terrorist in Palestine and has been ordered to kill a man at dawn. This book tells the story of the hours before and slightly after his act of assassination. Elisha struggles with ghosts from his past, guilt, and God before the assassination. The writing in this book is, I think, superior to Night and it is well worth reading. Like Night though, the character also transformed into a darker version of himself. My favorite line is the last few sentences, "The night lifted, leaving behind it a grayish light the color of stagnant water. Soon there was only a tattered fragment of darkness, hanging in midair, the other side of the window. Fear caught my throat. The tattered fragment of darkness had a face. Looking at it, I understood the reason for my fear. The face was my own."
Significantly Other:
This book is by far one of the most orgiginal books in YA science fiction I've read for quite some time. Ziv is living in the not so distant future and is part alien so she has the mind-reading abilities and superior intelligence of the Grexul, the aliens. However, Ziv was a subject of a cruel experiement at the hands of Dr. Epstein so she has a slight case of PTSD. The story follows Ziv as she prepares for battle with aliens and tackles school (and boys) at the same time. Author R.C. Lewis makes Ziv a very believable, likeable, and relatable character. Simply put, she's a master in this genre and deserves to be published.
Full Tilt:
Neal Shusterman weaves a tale about a phantom carnival and the only boy who can defeat it--a boy who has been scarred by a traumatic event in his past and is chasing his little brother into the carnival. The boy has to finish seven rides before dawn--piece of cake, right? We'll just see how easy it'll be. Neal is easily one of my favorite authors with a wonderful writing style, original stories, and complex characters.
Unwind:
Unwind is one of my favorite books of all time. It's about how in the future, parents may choose to have their kids between 12 and 18 Unwound, where their organs and body parts are harvested for donor banks so technically, they never die. The story follows three Unwinds on the run, Connor, Resa, and Lev. This is a slightly disturbing, but facinating book that I would reccommend to anyone. I even wrote a fanfiction of it.
Anna Dressed in Blood:
I adore ghosts so I knew I was going to love this book. The story follows Cas, a ghost hunter and his kitchen witch mother as they try to take down an especially violent ghost, Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna has taken the lives of everyone who has stepped into her house and she mmight have killed Cas as well, but for some reason, she spares his life. This was a breath of fresh air in the YA genre with it's awesome sense of humor and facinating storyline. Read it in two days!
Jonathan Livingston Seagull:
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is about a seagull who pursued perfection in flight and being limitless. Jonathan loved to learn and the Flock told him wings were just to help them get food so they exiled him. That is not where his story ends though, he goes on to become a limitless bird in a later life and eventually comes back to teach the Flock who once exiled him to fly. A very deep book with some complex thought that teaches just what life is for. I had a strong bond with Jonathan Seagull in this book and I think anyone who feels the same way would.
Want to Go Private?:
This was a very disturbing book that I would not recommend to anyone below seventeen. Abby is a very insecure, but likeable girl who is just starting high school. She meets someone in a chat room named Blueskyboi and forms a relationship with him. However, things start to get a little odd and then the day comes when she's just gone and her family is left behind, wanting to get her back. Yes, we've been preached at about creepy men that stalk young girls on the internet in school, but this really opened my eyes. This is VERY realistic guys and the author does such a good job that you might just stay away fom your Facebook account for a few days...
Those are the books I read, and I'll post something about my novel in the writing tab. Right now, I'm reading Pride and Predjudice and Zombies so I'm actually liking this classic...
Goodbye!
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