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Posts tagged ‘writing’

Apr 19

April 19, 2013

It’s been a busy 6 weeks or so.  I’ve got to catch you up.

First, I don’t have a new fiction piece for this month.  Last month I started writing a new short story, which has now become a monster story.  It is bordering on novella length, something that completely surprised me, so all of my effort has been focused on writing and finishing this story.  The piece that I planned to post I presented to my grad class back in Feb.  I got wonderful feedback and now need to rewrite it before I post.  I only have a few more weeks left of the semester, so the rewrite will happen soon! First order of business is finish the novella (or novelette, not sure yet), then rewrite.

Then, I’ll start on the thousand other stories that are patiently waiting in my head.  Sometimes I wish I was more like Ray Bradbury.  The man wrote an new story almost every week…

I was once asked where I get my ideas.  Lot’s of people always think about writing, but when they go to sit down and write, their minds go blank.  My advice, if this happens to you, is to do one of three things:

1) Use a writing prompt.  If you Google this, you will get plenty of ideas for a story to write.  I heard a good one last week.  It read, “There once was a __________, who ___________.”  There, now you have your first line! Don’t worry about whether it is good or not.  That’s what rewriting is for!  Just get the story down.

2) Write a story like someone else’s story.  This is only an exercise.  If you like Lord of the Rings, try writing something like that.  Don’t try and publish it.  Technically, you are committing plagerism, but if you just keep it for yourself and don’t try and publish it, why not?  It will get your creative mind working.  Then you will be surprised how the ideas will flow.  Soon you will have your own unique story and you will dive right in.

and finally 3) Write somethig from your real life.  We all went to school (or maybe you were home schooled), have family (or not), or go to a day job.  You may think your life is dull, dull, dull.  So what are the strange funny moments that make your life unique.  Maybe you live somewhere odd.  Maybe you know someone interesting.  If nothing interesting is happening, write about that.  In college, I once wrote a page and a half about how I had nothing to say.  LOL!  I kid you not…

Open yourself up and don’t be afraid.  It’s just you and the page.  No one else is there.  If you really hate it, to the recycle bin it goes!  Then start on something new.  One great thing I have learned since being in grad school is to open yourself up to everything.  Read everything and try writing it.  That’s why I’m posting a lot of the books I read.  You can see I read a lot of different people.

Here’s what I have read since my last post:

1)Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
2)A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
3)Cover Her Face by PD James
4)”Hell is the Absence of God” by Ted Chaing (short story)
5)”Smooth Operator” by Darnell Cansilla (short story)
6)”Bright Morning” by Jeffrey Ford (short story)
7)”Lull” by Kelly Link (short story)
8)”You Have Never Been Here” by M. Rickert (short story)
9)”Answering the Call” by Brian Freedman (short story)

Some of the short stories were out of this anthology.  I read it a few years ago, when it first came out.  The stories are so good, I find myself revisiting them every now and then.

Currently I am reading Karen Russell’s St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.  A friend lent it to me, before I decided to buy her other collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove.  After that, I will start on 50 Shades of Grey.  Yes, you read that right.  I want to know what all the fuss is about!

Happy writing, and I will post again soon after the semester ends.

P.S. — I got my book mojo back.  I found Harry Potter #2, first printing, first edition on the shelf at the thrift store last week!

Mar 1

New Fiction for March 2013

So I made my deadline.  Yay!

If you look over to the right side of the screen there is a category called “Fiction”.  There is now a new short story up.  I hope that you enjoy it.  I did plan on posting another story, but I decided to workshop it for class and I haven’t finished the rewrite yet.  Once that is finished, I will put that one up next.  It probably won’t be until April.

Still no fun stuff found while book collecting.  Oh well.

I finished Parable of the Sower.  It was a great read.  The plot is about a young girl named Lauren, who lives in the near future.  The infrastructure of the US is crumbling and Lauren lives in one of the last safe havens just outside Los Angeles.  One night, her home is destroyed and her family wiped out.  She decides to set off into the world and to start over.

It is a gripping story.  Recently there are a lot of near future, everything bad is going to happen, books, but this one is different because it suggests a new religion (No it is not preachy. It  just doesn’t ignore religion.).  If you have ever read any Octavia Butler before, she tends to write very diverse futures where people are neither all good, nor all bad.  I have the next one in the series Parable of the Talents, but I am waiting to read it.

Right now I’m reading Jonathan Lethem’s Wall of the Sky, Wall of the Eye.  It’s a short story collection.  I’ve read one of them before (Light and the Sufferer).  So far I like most of them.  I have both the British and American versions (which are a bit different).

Once again I hope you enjoy my story!  Thanks for reading.

Feb 16

1 Comment

Four Years with the Unlucky and Lucky Girl

In some ways, I am a very lucky girl.   I have great family, great friends, a cool home, a job, and my health.  The basics are covered and I know that I’m not struggling like a lot of folks out there.  But sometimes I find myself bummed that I can’t have everything that I want.  Those wants sneak up on me and, suddenly, all I want is what I want.

When those moments hit me, I have to take a breath and count what is good in my life.

I’ve been feeling bummed, because ever since I found that Margaret Atwood book last fall, I haven’t found another great book when I go searching.  I know.  I know.  It was such a high to find it and I’ve been chasing that high ever since.  Now I realize I may never get it back.  So instead, I am going to chase the other high I get.

Writing more stories.

This is a bit of a secret, but I actually feel good when I finish writing a piece.  I can’t sit still.  I get giddy…yes I used the word “giddy”!  I feel so proud that I finished what I started.  I just can’t wait to finish something else.

This year I had a goal to get published.  But I also want to get stuff done.  I have so many half-finished pieces.  Things that need a rewrite that sit on my desk.  I stare at it and wonder why I am not chasing this high.  In the long run it is better for me (and my wallet).

I started this blog about four years ago, because I wanted to put my work up for my family and friends.  So far I haven’t put anything up.  I know.  I flaked.  But I want to do better.  Last post alluded to some secret projects that I am working on.  They are still not done, but hopefully by March 1, I can make some announcements.  There, I have given myself a deadline.  Let’s see if I hold to it.

I also want to thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog.  I actually have people who aren’t related to me, or that I don’t know reading my thoughts.  Thanks for sticking with me.

I may have hit upon an unlucky streak with books, but I can feel my luck changing with my writing.

I really am a very lucky girl.

Feb 2

Writing and Reading — February 2013

Even snow days look pretty at my new place!

Snow Day!

Snow Day!

It has been a little over a month since I moved in to my new place. I still need a few more bookshelves, a chest of drawers, and some nightstands, but all in all, I am moved in. The biggest change has been how much more productive I have been. It may not seem like it, but I have actually done a lot more writing.

Which is good, because my class this semester is a fiction workshop class. Over the course of the class, I have to turn in three pieces. All of them cannot be things I have used in workshop previously. So I went through my stuff and found one finished piece that I haven’t looked at in a few years. I have one that is about 1/3 finished. Finally, I have a new piece that I just started, but is so interesting, I’ll be done writing it in a week or so. I’ll save that one for the end of the semester.

Almost as exciting is the news that I have been steadily working on my novel. After years of believing I had no more novels in me, last year I found myself wanting to start a new one. I tried the NANOMO. But we all know how that ended… Still I’ve been plugging away and now have a few thousand words.

It’s amazing what a little piece and quiet will do for your writing soul.

I do have one more work that I am almost finished, but I don’t want to talk about that too much. It is not for class. It was just something fun I decided to do, with a very personal motive. Once it is done, I’ll make an announcement.

I didn’t talk about this last year, but I did have a reading list. After sorting through all my books, I realized that there were a few I never got around to reading. Kate Vaiden was one of them, but there were quite a few more that I read and crossed off the list. Let me give you a rundown of those I can remember:

 

  • The Windup Girl – by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • His Dark Materials Trilogy – Philip Pullman
  • Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
  • Origin Stories – Kelly Link

 

And of course there were the five I read for class:

  • A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
  • Charming Billy – Alice McDermott
  • Isaac’s Storm – Erik Larson
  • Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
  • Kate Vaiden – Reynolds Price

Of those, my favorite was Flowers for Algernon. I thought that was a wonderful, unique story. For those who don’t know, it is the story of a man with a very low IQ, who volunteers for an experimental surgery to make himself smarter. The story is told through his diary entries and charts both his joy and sorrow in his new life. It was a great read and I recommend it.

Infinite Jest is still sitting in the to be read pile. I packed it early and just didn’t pick it up over the break. Now? I just started reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. She is one of my favorite writers, but I never got around to reading this series. I’m only thirty pages it, but I’m having a hard time putting it down.

But I must. I have writing to do.

Anyone else found a new favorite book last year? Let me know!

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!

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