A Writer Who Doesn't Read

I used to read a lot. My Mom will still talk about how she couldn't get me to go outside and play - I always had my nose in a book.

I haven't been much of a reader, as an adult. What I mean is, I haven't been much of a book reader, as an adult. I read plenty online.

That wouldn't matter a whit if I didn't "worry" every time I read writing advice in the vein of: "to be a good writer, you need to read, and read a lot". So, occasionally, I start to feel uneasy, or guilty, or something, about not being a "true" reader, anymore, and I start the search for something to read.


Whilst in the throes of one such attack of writer-ly conscience, I picked up "The Book Thief" after seeing a trailer for it at the movies. CLICK HERE to read my review. For fun, I wrote it in the style of Markus Zusak, who wrote "The Book Thief". I hope you enjoy my review.

Bravery and Compassion, "back in my day".

As a young person, you hear old people all around you bemoaning the state of things. You know, the diatribes older folks go on, which start with the phrase: :"nowadays", or, "back in my day". Well, I suppose I have crossed over to the other side of the bridge of youth, for I find myself, more and more, considering the changes of this here world and longing for the era of my youth.

Nowadays, it is "brave" to end ones life. Nowadays, it is "compassionate" to kill someone based on an arbitrary standard for quality of life. Well, back in my day, killing wasn't compassionate, it was abhorrent, to the degree that folks argued over whether or not to kill convicted murders. Back in my day, it was "brave" to risk death fighting for a cause that you believed in, or to lay down your life for another person.

Of all of the things that I would go into my old age lamenting, I never in a million years would have expected it to be our society embracing A Culture of Death. 
Isaiah 5:20

You Learn Something Every Day.

They say you learn something every day. Yesterday, I learned TWO things.

Bonus! 

Here is what I learned:

Fact #1 - if you forget to put the salt in your sourdough bread, it will have no flavor.

pretty...but tasteless.

Fact #2 - if you notice the Genesee District Library says you still have a ($15) book in your posession, which you know you returned, you have no recourse. You will be told, by the librarian, "It (the book) is not where it is supposed to be. You are welcomed to look for it, yourself."

Today

• This morning, I remembered to put the salt in my bread dough (trying sourdough RYE this time). 
• I have purchased (online) the books my children and I have planned to read. 
• Should I ever use the Public Library again, I will stand there and make them check the books in while I watch.

After all, what is the point of learning "the hard way" if you do not, actually, learn?

How Weathering Conflict Makes You a Better Person

 Dig, if you will, the picture, of a large stone sitting on the beach.

The stone has tumbeld down to its current resting place from the top of the craggy mountainside above. On the long trip down, the rock bounced and smashed agianst other rocks, causing chunks of its surface to ping off, leaving gashes and pits and blemishes all over.

It sits now, ugly, abused, and angry-looking, with all of its sharp edges sticking out everywhichway, 

Imagine how, each day, the stone disappears under the water as the tide rolls in and out.. Consider that the sediments in the water will wear on the surface of the stone, and will work like super-fine-grade sandpaper, wearing away all the rough patches on the stone and creating a smooth, almost polished finsh. The stone looks so much better than it did when it sat high up on the mountainside!

This, my friends, is what I believe happens to us when we endure conflict.  Someone, or something, or some situation lambastes us, and we feel just like that rock, tumbling, out of control, down and down, smashing against one hard situation after another, hurling toward an uncertain landing place - a new reality. 

Unlike the rock, who reaches the bottom and sits, hard, on the ground, it is often difficult for humans to realize the moment when we have gotten through, or overcome, the adversity that originally beset us. We seem to transition into the polishing phase with very little thought given to the fact that the original, emergent offense actually happend quite some history ago, and the fact that we actually survived a seemingly world-ending crisis is typically not as celebrated as it should be.

Also,  we usually don't see our own freshly formed jagged edges, blemeshis, or craggs. In humans, these are oft manifested as jaded attitudes about and waryness of others, or in fits of depression, rage, or apathy (among other things).

Mercifully,  the refining is on its way and begins almost immediately - the tidewaters here are the ebb and flow of life, which will cover us with new, fond memories. Hugs from our children, firefly lit summer picnics, meals shared with good friends, and a million other tiny moments of blessing will wear down the sharp places, slowly...slowly.

Soon those new craggs and jaggs brought on by that trip down the mountainside will be nothing more than a lesson learned, or a story to pass on to others about conflict resolution. 

If we are truly honest, they will be stories of "a thing that made me a little bit better".

So, as I sit in the ebb and flow of the tide of life, waiting for my most recent jags to become evened out, and to see what new shape I will take as a result of this process, I am trying my human best to appreciate conflict.

It is always  more easily done from on the other side.

I Am Confusing Myself. Or, I Am Making Things Too Complicated.

Sometimes, I post stuff to my Author's blog that I would also like to post here, but I don't want to bore you (awesome, wonderful, supportive, fantastic, valued) followers of both blogs by re-posting.

So... do I just link each of those posts to a post here?

How do I go about "re-posting" a blog from WordPress to this here Blogger blog?

These are the mysteries of the blogging universe I shall set out to solve...someday.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the latest installment of my Author's Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Won a Writing Contest!

I like writing "flash fiction" (very short stories), so I was moved to enter the August 11, 2014 Prompted Writing Contest.

The challenge: write a short story (500 words or less) with irony as the theme andwhich included the word "dandeliony"

The Prompted Writing Contest was a great motivator to get something done and submitted, already.

I am pleased to announce that I am the winner of the challenge, and have had my story published on Tipsylit!

Read my winning story, "Financial Security", HERE

My book is too short. (?)

In the past couple of weeks or so, I have accomplished the goals I have set for myself. 

• I have written or edited some every day
• I have updated my blogs
• I have tweeted 
• I have researched and submitted to Literary Agents
• I have educated myself about some of the techniques scammers use to rip-off writer

And,

• I have researched the writing/publishing business to the point that I may despair.

The reason for my despair is that my book is, well, too short. I mean, it is too short to be considered for publications in the traditional sense.

I just went through and did a mini-edit. I took out an entire character who plays a small role in the beginning of the book and never makes another appearance. It kind of felt a teensy bit like murder.

It had to be done.

It make my book even shorter

The solution seems simple: "Your book is too short. Add stuff. Put in more descriptions. Weave in a subplot or expand on a currently existing subplot."

The problem is, I don't feel the story needs any of that. I feel that "padding" the book, simply for the sake of reaching an arbitrary word count, will make it bogged down and tiresome.

Now, I have considered that this is, perhaps, short-sighted on my part. I am very open to the idea that I may need to go back to this book, re-work it, and "beef it up" for marketability.

However, I have come to the realization that I am pretty darn sick of this book. I am way too close to this project right now to be objective. Trying to re-write at this point would be a mistake. I need to have a bit of distance from the work.

Where does this leave me?

I have determined that I will continue to shop this book, too-short-for-its-genre or no. After all, there are some "needle in a haystack" options out there for me. Meanwhile, I am going to keep working on editing another 2 projects. One new project is Young Adult, and  the other is New Adult, both genres that support a much lighter word count than typical commercial fiction.

And, I am going to keep on writing. I enjoy writing from flash fiction prompts very much. It is so satisfying to have something done so quickly. I will share the ones appropriate for self-publication on my Author's bog, and will submit others to literary magazines and other publications. It will all help someday (hopefully!), to actually give me something to put in my "Author's Bio".

I will find a home for my little book, either now, or in the future. Perhaps I will end up self-publishing all three books in the series one day. There are so many voices out there lauding the merits of self-publishing, but the thought of all that is involved with carrying the full-weight of promotions makes me feel queasy.

 

Let me tell you, it is great to come to this blog and see your supportive comments. They encourage me to keep going. Thank you!