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Jan 1

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!

The last few weeks have been busy.  I finished up my semester and then jumped right into moving into my new apartment.  I offically signed the lease on December 19, but I didn’t move until the 26th.  It was exhausting.  I don’t want to move again for a long time.  Plus, did I mention it was snowing/sleeting/raining on that day?  If you can avoid it, don’t move during the snow/sleet/rain.  It is just nerve wracking!

My holiday was good.  My brother came in from Los Angeles just before Christmas and he flew out today.  It was good to see him.  We talk a lot over the phone, but don’t get to see each other that often.  It a hazard of living across the country.

So now it is the new year.  Usually I make the same resolutions year after year, but this year I have one new goal.

I want to be published.

It doesn’t have to be a big venue, but I would like someone I have never met to say, “Yes, I want this story!”  So I have to get off my butt and start mailing stories out.  With any luck, by June I will have good news.  A few years ago, I tried to sell my novel.  After two years of rejections, I finally gave up.  In a way, I am glad it wasn’t accepted.  When I read it now, I cringe.  I think I am a better writer now.  Will I go back and rewrite it agian? Maybe.  I have so many other ideas for other novels and short stories.  Who knows?  I have it saved, so it is there if I need it.

For now, I will work on the new stuff.  My new semester doesn’t start until the end of the month, so I have a little more free time.  I didn’t start Infinite Jest, because I packed it and I haven’t opened the box yet.  My Christmas present to myself was this (for my collection), so I am reading the bonus book right now.

Best wishes to everyone for 2013!

Dec 8

The Enchanted Garden and Other News

Is it December already?

It seems as if this year has been going so fast.  Now we’re at the end of it.  2013 is quickly approaching, so we will see what comes next.

I didn’t finish my book for NaNoWriMo.  I was doing well, but a few things came up and time just got away from me.  Mostly, it was class.  Grad school requires so much reading.  Every other week, we were discussing a new book.  I had my presentation on Kate Vaiden on Dec. 6, so I decided that was the most important priority.  I wanted to really read and study the book, not just rush through it.  I am sorry I didn’t finish (my novel), but I think I will have some time this month.

I also made a big decision last month to move.  I found a beautiful apartment building and tried in vain for two weeks to get in to see a unit.  Wouldn’t you know, the leasing office called in early November.  So between reading, work, and writing the book, I had to carve out time to see apartments (They had more than one unit available.) and fill out all the paperwork that comes with it.  It has been a while since I rented an apartment, apparently now they want everything but a blood sample.

I know I said earlier that I wasn’t ready to move.  Money has been a big concern for me this year, and I thought I would be staying at my parent’s place longer.  For the past four years I have been living at my parent’s house because my mom got a contract job out of the area.  With 2008 home prices like they were, she didn’t want to sell.  I offered to stay, take care of the place, and pay her.  It worked out well.  But now they are back… and this house is suddenly very small.

Truthfully, I miss my privacy.  I love my parents, but I miss having my own space.  I thought I could suck it up for a year and then start looking, but I only made it six months. (LOL)  I decided that even though my salary is lower, I should still look for a place.  Better if I find a place now that I can afford.  I found a great place in Silver Spring, MD called National Park Seminary (Henceforth to be known as the Enchanted Garden, because it is so pretty!).  It used to be a women’s seminary, but was renovated a few years ago to a mix of townhouses, condos, and apartments.  It’s a historical landmark, in a quiet area, and so friggin’ unique, I can’t wait to move in.  It is not in the most trendy of areas like Bethesda, Dupont Circle, or Capitol Hill.  I don’t need a neighborhood like that.  I need space to write.

And a place to hold my books.  I got lots of those…

So if you want to see a picture, here is the nonprofit organization that takes care of care of the historical aspects of the grounds.  If you live in the DC area, you should come on the tour.  I’ve taken it and it is really cool.

I’m about to take a massive break from work.  Between the 13th of December and 2nd of January, I will be off from work.  So once I move in, and get settled, I’m going to have plenty of space and quiet to work.  Hopefully I will get farther along in my novel.

Also, I want to spruce up the blog a bit too.  There will be some new stuff coming soon.  Gradually over the month, I would like to add more, like a better bio and some of my fiction (and pictures!).  So much to do!

Hope everyone enjoys the coming weeks!

Nov 9

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Reasons to Write

This is just a quick note.  November is flying by.  I have started my novel for National Novel Writing Month, but I am seriously far behind.  I’m just happy I started, but this weekend will be a serious work push.  Not only am I writing this novel, but I have a few  short pieces to write and a book to read for class too.  We are reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (the author of Seabiscuit).  I need to write up an analysis for it as soon as I finish.

Class is going well, but I feel a bit overwhelmed.  Yesterday we spent a lot of time talking about why someone chooses to write.  Why write when you could do something else creative like paint, or music?  Why is someone a writer instead of an actor?  Every answer I had just seems too superficial.  It may not be a question that I will ever answer.  I may spend the rest of my life asking myself this.  Can you imagine that? Some in the class said that they didn’t want to go too deeply into their answer.  I get that.  Over analyzation of oneself can sometimes crush creativity.  You don’t have to look a every single motive all the time.  Human being are irrational and do things that make no sense all the time.

But it bugs me that I never really thought about why I write. I don’t always enjoy it.  I don’t always have a burning passion for it.  But it is the one thing that I have stuck with my whole life.  I read a great column a few days ago, and basically the writer said that you shouldn’t do what you love.  You should love the work you have chosen.  I think that is a big part of why I write.  I am in love with writing.  Why else would I do it?  No money.  No fame.  It’s hard on realationships. People will think you are nuts for choosing something with (seemingly) little reward. It’s damn hard work and can drive you crazy…

*Sigh* I am in love.  There is no other explanation.

I will probably write more about this later.  For class, I have to write a vision statement about myself as a writer.  It is supposed to be something I revise for the rest of my life.  So a draft will make it onto this blog eventually.

Happy novel writing!  I need to get back to work.

 

Oct 24

1 Comment

October So Far

 

Beauty of Fall in MD.

This month has flown by.  I can’t believe it is almost November, especially since someone decided to turn the calendar back to May.  It was so warm today, I swore it was spring, not fall.  But all you have to do is look at the trees and you remember what time of year it is.  Spring and fall are the best times of the year in the mid-atlantic.

Class is going well so far.  I have to give an oral presentation at the end of the semester, which I am not crazy about.  The positive side is that I get to read an author I have been meaning to explore for a while now. It’s Reynolds Price. I first read an essay he wrote for Book World (Remember that on Sunday?) in The Washington Post.  I was so blown away by it, that a short time later I went out and bought Kate Vaiden.

And it sat on my bookshelf ever since.  You know how that goes…

So now I am finally getting around to reading it.  Yay!  I almost picked a few other books (The person should-be an American and a book of note, but exceptions were made for others.), but I have been sitting on this book long enough.

I also realized I’ve been watching way too many episodes of How I Met Your Mother.  I used the phrase “suiting up” in my last post.  LOL! I didn’t even realized until a week after I posted.  I also find myself humming “Let’s Go to the Mall” every now and then.  Thank you FX.  It’s a great show and my subconscious is giving you a high-five.

Interested in reading the essay?  Find it here.  It’s a great collection, and well worth the money.

Oct 5

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How My September Came and Went

It’s been a busy, sad, and thoughtful few weeks.  It’s now the end of the first week of October and I can’t believe how fast time goes by.  I’m deep into my class for JHU.  I’m still working away (and crossing my fingers for the business to do better) at my full time job.  I’m still on the hunt for great books, although I haven’t found anything good since the last post.

But last weekend was hard.  One of our cats (I say “our” because she was technically my parents, but I had been taking care of her for the past two years.) had to be put down.  She was a wonderful cat, but at fourteen, she just got very sick.  I cried when the vet told us, but I didn’t want her to suffer.  She will be missed.

Class is keeping me busy.  We just read and discussed A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.  I liked it.  The structure, voice, and characters all made it for me.  My favorite chapter, “Ask Me If I Care”, just jumped off the pages.  I also love the flash forward moments too.  This seems to be a trend in literature today.  I’ve read a few other authors that practice this technique.  I haven’t tried this yet in my own fiction, but I am excited to try one day.

Speaking of writing, I’m suiting up for National Novel Writing Month.  Lately I’ve been feeling like I need more material.  I am a very slow writer, but now that I am in grad school, I feel like I need to have more material.  I just feel as if my body of work is too slim.  So I’m going to tackle something big next month.  I also have grand plans to finish a few other short stories I have started.   We will see how far I get.  Hopefully I will have something to show at the end of the year. *Crosses Fingers*

Sep 23

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Best Book Scouting Day Ever!

So yesterday, I had an amazing day.  On 4th of July weekend 2011, I started seriously collecting books.  My main focus is scifi and horror by minority writers, but I also will pick up books by others that I really love that don’t fit into those categories.  In a little over a year, I have found some really good stuff.  Gems include:

  • Dawn by Octavia Butler (1St)
  • American Gods and Neverwhere (signed) by Neil Gaiman (both 1st)
  • Signed copies of Lady Oracle and Dancing Girls by Margaret Atwood
  • Lion’s Blood (1st) by Steven Barnes
  • Signed copy of Invisible Sign of My Own by Amiee Bender (review copy)
  • 16 signed books of Roger Zelanzy
  • The Road (1st) by Cormac Mccarthy
  • All three Dragon Tattoo books (1st)
  • A few other books by Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, and Samuel R. Delaney

Yes, this year has been good to me.  But yesterday I found a Fist Edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.  I am a huge Atwood fan and I lost my &!@% when I saw it on the shelf.  It is officially one of the most expensive books I have ever found.  So cool!

I needed the boost.  Not only is my company still on shakey ground, but it is very discouraging when you need to get your car repaired and it takes your whole paycheck.  But it had to be done.  Luckily I have perfected the art of living as a struggling artist, so I had the money to pay.  I just hate seeing it go out as soon as it comes in.

I have started my new semester at JHU.  So far so good.  Lots of reading this semester and I’m mixed in with some nonfiction students, so this is a new experience for me.  I even picked up a copy of Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking to read in between semesters.

I also picked up Infinite Jest to read over break.  Ambitious I know, but I’m feeling like I need to read more.  Just flipping through it intimidated the heck out of me.  So many dense passages!  But I may love it, so I will dive in head first in late December.

Wish me luck!

 

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