Send Me on A Blog Hop

I love to blog hop and see what other writers are blogging about. There are so many great blogs out there and I always feel like I'm following all of them, but then I get an email from Kelley (my critique partner) and realize I'm not. You can find her blog here. She has a great contest going on right now.

I also try to follow back all of my followers. It's a community after all and we need to support each other. So today I am asking all of my followers to post the link to their blogs, so I can make sure I am following you and also list blogs that you follow and love.

The blogs that I check every day are: 

http://yaconfidential.blogspot.com/
http://www.yahighway.com/
http://yatopia.blogspot.com/
http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/
http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/

Though, I'm sure if you are a YA writer you are already a follower. I feel my choices are the obvious. I need help. Who else should I be following?

~Weekend Post~

How's NaNo going for everyone? I'm here to cheer you on. Think of me as your personal cheerleader, except I don't do the uniform and pom poms. Sorry. I will, however, be here for moral support and tough love. If you need a push to get past the writer's block I will be more than happy to shove :) Pretty funny considering I was stuck for a day or two. At first I was like, No! How can I be stuck? It was going so well. I was pumping out words like Henry Ford pumped out cars, but it happened. So instead of stressing over it I took it as my brain telling me to take some time and relax. I finished reading a book I have been reading forever. Started reading a new book. Caught up on all my favorite TV shows and didn't think about where my characters are going to go and what is going to happen next. All I needed was a day of pushing it aside to get right back on track.

So if you are stuck, don't stress. You just need to give your brain a little breather. Go out for a walk, watch a movie, call an old friend, have a drink :) and when you go back you will have a clear mind and will be ready to pound away on your keyboard.

The chapters that were giving me a hard time is a key point in the book and I want to share with you the pictures I used for inspiration. (If you haven't figured it out by now I"m obsessed with photos)

I'm Brilliant! No. Not really.

Have you ever had an amazing idea that you can't wait to start writing but once you do you start noticing your idea everywhere? And when I say everywhere I mean books, TV shows, commercials, magazine ads, blogs, movies. I feel like this happens to me all the time.

When I finished writing Uncharted Territory, a story about a homeless boy who ran away from the foster care system, I turned on one of my favorite television shows, Pretty Little Liars, only to see Caleb, a homeless boy appear. My boyfriend happened to be sitting in the room on his computer this day and he turned to me and said, "Didn't you just write something like that?" *Insert ten minute long rant here*

Just recently I was trying to come up with a title to another WIP when I came up with a title I really liked so I put it on the list of possible contenders. A week later I was hopping around the blogosphere and found a post from a debut author announcing her book cover and low and behold the title I thought I was so brilliant to come up with was staring back at me. *Attacking possible contender list with a red pen*

My current WIP as most of you already know takes place in the 1920's. I decided to read Vixen by Jillian Larkin just to see how she handled the time era. It is completely different from what I am writing but the further I get into the book I'm starting to notice a few similarities. Not many, but one or two that had me going, "Oh". I guess it's normal considering it takes place during the same time period, but it's giving me reservations. I've seen people get rejected from agents solely based on the fact that their work while great is too similar to something else. As if there wasn't enough to worry about.

So what I've learned is that you may think you're brilliant and you have a great idea, but there are a hundred people if not more out there with the same idea. I'm coming to accept it because regardless I have this idea in my head and if I don't get it on paper the characters are never going to shut up.

Has this happened to you? I'd love to hear some examples?

First Day of Nano.

Happy November! And we know what that means. It is the first day of Nanowrimo. I'm not pulling my hair out. Yet. I'm sure I will get there soon. And when I do I will be sure to keep you all posted. For the next month my mind will be in 1925. I hope it goes according to plan. In the meantime I thought I would fill you in on what my book is about. Here is a summary of my WIP: (As for the hair pulling -I wrote this last night before my laptop got a virus *insert sad face* hopefully I will have it fixed soon)

Summary:
Millie torn between the guy her parents want her to date, Jimmy, and the guy she loves, Shane, chooses to date both. When Jimmy brings her to a Roaring Twenties themed charity event at one of the Newport Mansions she is transported back to August 1925 where everyone thinks she is her great grandmother, Mildred Covington. Mildred lost everything on this night including the boy she loved and now Millie has the chance to make it right. Soon Millie is over her head with a secret lover, a fiance who is not only a tobacco magnate but also a silent partner to one of the top bootleggers in Rhode Island, a crooked sheriff, and The Klan. Can Millie wrong the rights of the past? Or are these wrongs meant to be a bigger lesson for the present?

And the first 250 words: (Yay I'm getting somewhere)

1925

            The hot August air of Newport clung to her skin as she ran from the cottage she had been spending her summers at since she was born. The blaring jazz music being played in the grand dining room faded. The house, while she loved it, had a habit of making her feel as if she was suffocating.

            Summers were supposed to be relaxing and fun, but when your parents were trying to pawn you off to one of the most eligible bachelors of Newport’s high society it was exhausting. Richard Hollingsworth was eldest son to tobacco magnate John Hollingsworth and his socialite wife Helen.

            Richard was everything her parents wanted for her. Though, if Millie had to spend one more second listening to Richard and her father discuss their investments and the stock market, which her father couldn’t ever say enough about, she was going to scream.

            Instead of screaming she chose to sneak away. After all she didn’t want to make a spectacle of herself. As she rounded the gardens, the beaded dress, her mother insisted she wear to the dinner party, to draw Richard’s attention, weighed heavy on its delicate straps. A shock to Millie since her mother was usually against anything ‘flapper’ like. Her mother still preferred the elegance of the early part of the century as Millie did not.

            “Darling it’s Coco Chanel,” her mother had said to her as she hung it in her dressing room as if it being designer made it okay.

 

What are you working on for Nano? And if you aren't participating in Nano, how are you spending your November?

Pumpkin Picking

For me, pumpkin picking is a tradition. I am huge on traditions. As soon as the calendar changes to October I have to go. And not to break tradition I go to the same farm my parents brought me to every year since I was a baby, Helen's.

The thing about Helen's is it's not just the fact that I have been going my whole life it's the fact that you actually pick the pumpkins off the vine. They are not randomly thrown in a field where you go pick out the best looking one and leave. Oh no. Going to Helen's is an adventure. You get a wheel barrow and you head into the actual field where the pumpkins are grown. Through mud, vines and more times than not rotting pumpkins, you keep your eyes open looking for the perfect pumpkin to pick off its vine. Some times You can find the perfect pumpkin already taken off its vine, but I leave those there for the people that are looking for convenience.

This year I went with the limit of three pumpkins set. I should know by now that no matter how many times I set a limit I will never stop when I get to that limit. So in true Theresa fashion or what I like to call tradition I went above my limit of three and returned home with six pumpkins and a pot of mums. It was a blast. Fall would not be fall if I didn't go pumpkin picking.

Do you go pumpkin picking? Do you have any fall traditions?

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, And the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz

When reading this book I was shocked at the amount of people that asked me, "What is a Flapper?" It wasn't just people in their twenties that had no idea what a Flapper was but people in their late forties as well.

The Flapper defined a generation and helped steer women away from uncomfortable and more times than not hazardous corsets. They also paved the way for women's rights, doing away with the Victorian mindset and pulling America towards a more modern time where women acted just like their male counterparts.

The book focuses on many of the individuals that helped define the flapper. The most popular being Zelda Fitzgerald, wife to F. Scott Fitzgerald, the writer most known for his novel The Great Gatsby. He is even credited for inventing the flapper, as his stories included rebellious woman who he based solely on one person, his wife, the ultimate flapper. It was interesting to read about the beginning of their relationship and how their love for the careless freedom of the era was ultimately the thing that ended them. It's in a way a tragic love story, but a love story nonetheless. And I really enjoyed reading about their rise, fall and their undeniable love for each other.

Lois Long is another person that this book focuses on. She was a young twenty something journalist who worked for the New Yorker and became famous with her column about New York nightlife. She partied at the speakeasies, drinking through the night, sometimes even showing up to work drunk, in the same clothes she wore out the previous night. Girls all over read about her exploitations and wanted to be her or at least be part of the scene that she glorified in her writing.

Hollywood helped put the Flapper on screen, first with Colleen Moore than with Clara Bow. With their dark bobs and shorter hemlines they brought to life the women that until that point were only imagined from magazine articles and advertisements. Both stories are interesting especially the time in which they were stars and the time after.

If you are interested in the time period and the people that defined it, I would highly recommend this book. While it took me some time to read, every time I picked it up I was captivated by the stories of these remarkable people.

Ahh! Not the Lunchroom Scene!

Recently I started reading over one of my WIPs I had put off and a few chapters in stumbled upon the dreaded cafeteria scene. Ahhh!! You know which scene I'm talking about. The one where your main character walks into the cafeteria and then gives a rundown of all of the cliques and where their designated area is. In my defense I started this WIP about three years ago and that was before I knew much about the YA book world. Now I can't even tell you how many times I have read a tweet or a blog from an agent that specifically points to this type of scene with a big red X through it. 

I've also read that it is not true and high school cafeterias are not set up this way. Um. This is where I disagree because my high school cafeteria followed this seating arrangement to a T. All the jocks sat together, the so called Goth’s all gathered at the same table, the trouble makers at another, the "Skaters" close by and then tables like mine where there was no defining characteristic among us but we didn't fall into the other categories. I'm not saying that there was no interaction with the other tables there definitely was, but every day for most of the period people sat with their cliques. So you can say it is cliché but for me it was reality.  


So I guess you can say I am on the fence about it. I can see both sides and I agree with both sides. On one hand it seems cliche to categorize students. But on the other isn't that how it really is? 

My WIP is about bullying and basically the hierarchy of high school and I feel like the cafeteria scene is important, especially since something big happens during it. I'm just thinking I may need to go about it a little differently. Kind of take the cliche to a different place. 

What do you think...Are the lunch scenes overdone? Did your high school cafeteria sit in cliques? If so what clique were you a part of? 

   

~Research~

In previous posts I've mentioned that I am working on a new WIP and part of it will take place in the 1920's. 1925 to be specific. PBS just had a three night special on Prohibition and it could not have been better timing for me. If you didn't get a chance to watch it I know PBS has been rerunning it and I would highly recommend it. The period has always interested me (I'm a huge history buff) and I finally decided that I would try and write a story set in that era. I have done research on the internet which to my surprise hasn't really given me what I have been looking for. Go figure. I've bought several non-fiction books about the era, one of which is, Flapper A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, And the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz, that review will be coming soon. The more research I do the more prepared I feel to finally be able to sit down and start writing.

But. I think you've come to realize with me there is always a but. I have currently on my bookshelf, Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen and Vixen by Jillian Larkin and I want to read them. I do. And I'm really curious to see how they handled the era and if their research is evident on the pages. But I always hear/read writers say how they try to avoid reading books similar to theirs because they don't want to be influenced in anyway. Aren't you supposed to read books similar to yours to see what is selling? Such a stupid thing but it really got me thinking.

I'm curious what your research methods are. Do you stick to the non-fiction books? Or do you also take a look at fiction? Do you read other books that are similar to yours? Or are you afraid like other writers that it may influence your own work?

Our Modern Day DaVinci

If you knew me you would know that I'm not huge on technology. I don't need the newest phone or the newest computer. It just needs to work. I have the original iPod Nano and to be honest I have a strong love hate relationship with Mac computers and I tend to lean towards the hate side. However, so many of my friends and family rely on their iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Mac computers. Steve Jobs was an innovator. A master of technology and our modern day DaVinci. He was the epitome of an icon, technological, historical. Not many people can say they have changed the world. Steve Jobs can because he did. 


One of my favorite quotes from him is:


"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."


These are words that anybody can relate to whether you are an inventor, designer, writer, teacher, and they are words that strike a chord within me. Fear and embarrassment of failure tend to hold me back and for what? In the end all fear and embarrassment will mean nothing and if you let it control you when it comes your time all you will be left with it is regret. I don't want to regret any of the choices I make. And for that to happen I have to stay hungry and stay foolish. 


Even though I'm not a diehard Apple fan like most of the world I still gasped when I read the headline that Steve Jobs passed away. He was 56 years old. Too young. Way, way too young. So I just want to take this time to say F U Cancer. You took another life way too soon. 

~Writing the First Chapter~

The first chapter of your book is probably one of the most important aspects of it. If a reader can't get through the first chapter then how are they supposed to get through the whole book? Also if you have started the querying process or are about to you know that some agents request sample pages from your manuscript. The sample pages usually consist of the first five to ten pages. Now this is where the first chapter begins to scare me because those five to ten pages could mean your road to publication or the dreaded rejection. 

I have always read that you want the action to start immediately. Drag the reader in as quickly as possible. With all of my finished manuscripts I have not done that. Personally I like the buildup of a story, getting to the action instead of being thrown into it. There are hundreds of published books that don't follow the action immediately policy and they have done very well, possibly even better than the books that do follow the policy. I feel like the first chapter needs to tell the story. Basically make the stage for the rest of the story to play out on. But does that mean all of the action has to be dumped into the first few pages? When I was watching X-Factor last night this came to my mind. How do the two have any relevance? It's simple. Each person had a chance to sing acapella and it was their one moment to show what they had. One woman stepped up and belted it out. And when I say she belted it out, she held a note that seemed to last forever. Impressive, yes, but as Simon Cowell said, "Way over the top," and completely unnecessary. Sometimes more doesn't necessarily mean better.  

I will admit that I do have two first chapters that I started with the action and to be honest they are probably my favorite thing I have written. However, after I finished the first chapter and got it to exactly where I wanted it to be, action but not over the top, I put them aside and have never gone back to them. I have every intention of going back to them but this in my dilemma; I love the first chapters so much that I am afraid the rest of the book will be a letdown. Has that happened to you as a writer and also as a reader? Have you read a book that the first chapter was undeniably amazing and then the rest of the book failed to live up to your expectations? 

Agent Hannah Bowman has a great post about first chapters on her blog: http://hannahbowman.tumblr.com/ This is part of what got me thinking about this in the first place. You should check it out. 


My most recent WIP I sent to my wonderful critique partner, Kelley and she sent it back to me immediately. She read the first chapter and thought it needed to be reworked. I had characters and a back story but as she said, "Why should she care about them?" She was so right. I gave no reason for the reader to give two shits about the characters. So I had to go back and add a little something extra to achieve that. If it wasn't for her I would have thought that the first chapter was great without seeing that it was lacking the connection that is needed in order to hook the reader. So I added a little action, not a lot, just a little and it transformed the entire beginning. So I do agree with having a little action in the beginning but is it necessary to throw all of your bells and whistles into the first few pages? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Do you believe in action right out of the gates? Or do you prefer a more subtle approach with the buildup? 

  

My Biggest Fear: A Flat Main Character

My mom finished reading the first draft of my WIP and I know what most of you are thinking, your mom really? And the answer to that is yes really. If anyone is going to be brutally honest and rip my story to shreds it will be my mom. So of course when she told me she finished I was excited for the feedback but at the same time I braced myself for her response.

She started off with the good stuff. She always does. It's a good story. She liked the concept. It held her interest. But... and this is when I braced myself. "Your main character," she said. "Well, I couldn't really get a sense of who she is. When you read a book you should be able to visualize the characters and even when I was done reading I couldn't picture her. And she was kind of flat."

As far as the visualization I had to agree with her. While all of the other characters were described my main character lacked their similar description. Now the book is a first person point of view and instead of falling into the category of where the main character describes herself in the mirror I randomly made references to her appearance. Obviously it wasn't enough. Going back and reading the first three chapters I agree with my mom completely. I usually do. 

I don't know about any of you but my biggest fear when writing is creating characters that are no more than cardboard cutouts. I want my characters to jump off the page and make the reader feel as if they know them. So when my mom told me my main character was flat I immediately started going over her personality traits in my mind and thinking how I could amp it up to make her more real.

It is my first draft though, and first drafts are your starting point. Now I just need to go back and inject my main character with personality and find subtle ways to describe her without having her stand in front of a mirror and run down all her imperfections. To me this is the fun part. You spend so much time with your characters and you want the reader to be able to see them as you do. As a friend of mine said, when she called me while reading this particular WIP, "Oh that makes sense but not every reader is going to have the luxury to be able to pick up the phone and call the writer in the middle of the day and ask." The reader is not dumb but they are not mind readers either. Sometimes while in the middle of writing I forget that. Luckily I have people who point these things out to me. And when I finish the first revision I am going to annoy my critique partner, Kelley (Hi!) and ask if she will do me the favor of ripping it apart.  

I want to know that I am not alone. Am I the only person who fears creating less than stellar characters that fall flat? Do you find it difficult to describe your main character when the story is in 1st person? And how many drafts do you typically go through before declaring your manuscript as finished? Would love to hear what everyone has to say.

Hopefully by Monday I will have a review of The Hunger Games up. For some reason I'm having a hard time getting into it, but it seems like it's picking up now. 

~Choosing My Next WIP~

As I have mentioned a few times already I finished the first draft of one of my WIP's. And while it sits I need to start working on something new. I cannot go a month without writing. I've already gone two days and it's weird not to be thinking about character traits and plotting. My problem is I have several ideas and I'm torn. I don't know which one to start working on.

When you have three ideas and have already outlined each of them and in addition are excited about all three, how do you choose? The funny thing is all three other than being YA are very different from each other and anything I have attempted before. All require research and I know will take me longer than my usual three months to complete the first draft. That's also been holding me up as well. Knowing it's not going to be as easy as my past projects where little research was required. But like my mom said to me today, "Not everything can be easy," and she's right. Not saying that completing a manuscript is easy because that is far from the truth, just meaning that my past projects I was comfortable with and these new ideas I have reservations about my ability to transfer my ideas from my mind onto paper.

To give you a sense of how different the three ideas are; one is a mystery about a boy who was framed for murder, another about witchcraft and the other one will take part in not only present day but the 1920's as well. So as you can see all three are worlds apart from one another.

So how do I choose? Has anyone else been torn between two or three ideas? If so how did you choose?

~August Wrap-Up~

Books Read:

I almost made my goal. I'm 44 pages away from my goal of 8 books. Unexpected houseguest and a writing session kept me from completing it. So close.  

 

Favorite Book Read in August:

Best Second Book in a Series: Tie between:

Favorite Mystery:

Most Interesting, Informative and a Book I Would Recommend to Any Writer:

Goal for September:

 

Overdone in YA

Recently I read a blog, a popular blog, but I can't seem to remember which one. Anyway on the blog they had people submitting their lists of what they think is overdone in YA lit. I decided to write my own list after stumbling upon one of those in the current book I am reading.

1) Fencing. I have a friend, one friend, that did fence in high school, but she is the only person I have ever met that even had the option to do so. Whatever happened to soccer and volleyball?

2) Boarding Schools. Do you know anybody that actually went to boarding school? I don't. Maybe Catholic School but definitely not boarding school.

3) A girl falling in love with a guy that is not human. Switch it up. I think that is why I like Beautiful Creatures so much. The girl is the supernatural not the boy. Take note.

4) A girl falling in love with a guy that is not human and if they consummate their relationship something horrible will happen. The Immortal Series, Hush Hush, Haunting Emma, I can keep going, but you get the point. It has been done and it has been done well so move on.

5) Absent parents Though, I admit I fall into this category. However, in reality my parents were a huge part of my teenage years they were huge pains in my ass actually. I'm sure most teenagers would agree to this.

6) Love triangles when it is obvious who the girl is going to pick in the end. Boring and aggravating.

7) Damsel in Distress. I don't know if you've noticed but it is 2011. Girls are strong and independent they don't need a guy to save them every five seconds. If you want a little damsel in distress fine, but don't let that define who the girl is.

8) Red Hair. Is red the new blonde?

9) Series. Whatever happened to stand alone books? I admit that I wrote a series myself and I do love series, but having to wait up to a year for the next installment, well to be honest, it sucks. I read so many other books in between by the time the next book comes out I have a hard time remembering what I read in the first book.

10) Lab Partners. I don't think I even need to elaborate. I'm sure you all can name at least five books where the lead character falls for her lab partner.

I'm sure I can think of more but these are the ones that have been standing out the most to me. Do you agree with my list? Are these ten overdone? Do you have any to add to the list? I would love to hear your thoughts.

A Day with Penguins

If you follow me on Twitter you most likely read one of my tweets about planning my boyfriends, Eric, birthday. If not let me explain. Last year for his 30th birthday I got him the day off of work, which was easy since he works for my dad, and planned a day of birthday fun. Though, I didn't tell him until he was outside in his work clothes ready to start his day. It made it that much more of surprise when he found out he didn't have to go to work. I had handed him a piece of paper with a silly poem I created that basically informed him that it's his birthday and did he really think I would let him go to work and then it told him we would spend the day at  the NYC Aquarium (If you haven't been don't go. I know that might sound terrible but it is one of the worst aquariums I have been too.) After the aquarium we walked the Coney Island boardwalk and I gave him another piece of paper that told him we would be going into Manhattan for dinner at Sushi Samba (this place I would definitely recommend especially their mojitos). As we ate I handed him another piece of paper and tickets to see Blue Man Group. We ended the night meeting the performers then driving home listening to music. It was an awesome day. An awesome birthday. So of course this year all I could think was how am I going to top that?

It was days of looking up things to do/places to go and on a smaller budget than last year. Eric loves aquariums. He loves marine life and can spend hours staring at a fish tank. On Long Island we have the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium (which is worth the trip. It's a beautiful, clean aquarium) and just recently they opened up a new butterfly exhibit. Granted we've been to the aquarium more times than I could count, but figured what they heck. It's something he loves so why not. On the website I came across a penguin encounter. How cool is that? We could actually hang out with penguins for forty five minutes. Sign me up. So naturally I did just that.

The day of his birthday I let him get dressed for work (I get amusement out of it) he said goodbye and was about to walk out the door when I yelled "Wait!" He came in and I handed him a piece of paper with a number one on it (I have a thing for Publisher). It basically told him we would spend the day at the aquarium. I then cooked breakfast and if you knew me you would know this was a big deal. We headed out once our plates were clean (breakfast was darn good if I do say so myself). I didn't give him another piece of paper detailing the penguin encounter until we got to the aquarium. 

We were put in a group with five young girls and of course I got a look or four from him. I just rolled my eyes and focused on our guide. She brought us into the actual penguin exhibit. So we were behind the clear walls of the tank with the penguins while people watched us from the outside. It was so cool. We met all the penguins that were all named after Seinfeld characters. At one point one of the penguins, Mona I believe, was staring down Eric's flip flop. She literally was crouched down looking like she might attack. He asked the obvious question "Uh is she going to attack my foot?" The guide told him no that she was just focusing on the reflection my camera was making on the ground. Then she disappeared and came back with a mirror. She held it up until a bright reflection shimmered on the rocks and suddenly every penguins (13 in all) head snapped up and in sync moved back and forth following the shimmer of light. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. She said for some reason they love reflections and try to chase them.

After we finished with the adult penguins we went to Penguin Preschool where we met Pam, Kevin and Angela (All named after characters from The Office). All three were younger than two years, but already full grown. However, they were sweeter and friendlier and even more adorable. They listened to our guide as children listen to their mother. She said come here and they waddled over to her. She told them to go swimming and they jumped in their pool. She brought them around and we were able to pet them and then at the end we got to take pictures with Kevin. And yes I always look that awkward in pictures.

After Penguin Preschool we said goodbye to our friends and explored the rest of the aquarium. The butterfly exhibit we saved for last and it was awesome. We stepped into a peaceful indoor garden and there were hundreds of butterflies flying around us. Eric was hoping one would land on him and right before we walked out a beautiful yellow and black butterfly landed directly on his chest.

From the aquarium we went to The Long Ireland Brewery tasting room that just recently opened as well. We got to taste the four beers they had on tap and then got to taste them again. We bought a growler of raspberry wheat and headed home. I took a nap. Hanging out with penguins is exhausting. After my nap we went to his favorite sushi restaurant, Kotobuki, and had an amazing dinner. So all in all I think this year came very close to topping last year's birthday. Below are a few more pics. 

Enough is Enough!

The riots in London are making me sick. Every time I see a new picture of a burning building or a person carrying a television down the street I want to scream. It is absolutely ridiculous. I understand that people are upset over the shooting of Mark Duggan, a father of four, but two wrongs do not make a right.

In an interview the brother of Mark Duggan said that, his brother was a good man and would not have wanted this. Shouldn't that be enough to get the people to stop? Obviously not because at this point it is no longer about Mark Duggan, but about themselves. For example I watched a video where rioters were kicking in a stores window and doors and there was no suffering on their face, no hurt and no despair. Instead they were smiling and laughing. These people were enjoying their contribution to the destruction of a city and it wouldn't surprise me as their foot made contact with the glass that Mark Duggan wasn't even a thought in their mind.

If violence is what you are so mad about then why are you using that as your means to express your contempt? I don't understand. I really don't. It's time to stop. Your point is made. Enough is enough.

On Writing by Stephen King

The back of the book calls Stephen Kings On Writing part memoir and part master class and that about sums it up. I've been putting this review off because honestly I didn't know what to write. I'm going to try and put my thoughts into words.

First off I loved it. At times I enjoyed his stories more than the actual lessons on writing. I found myself laughing out loud and marking pages to read to my mom and boyfriend. My favorite story of all is when he talks about Carrie and how he had originally thrown the WIP in the garbage. And it would have stayed there if his wife didn't happen to see it, uncrumple it, read it and then insist that "You've got something here".

I actually teared up at the part where he found out the paperback rights were sold and then laughed out loud when he was determined to get his wife the best mother's day gift possible at the local drugstore. And when he finally told his wife about the sale I shed a few tears. I read that part over a few times to myself, once to my mom and another time to my boyfriend and every time I teared up. Pathetic? Maybe. But what it comes down to is he explained every moment leading up to that one single moment and it made the moment that much bigger. There were times he couldn't afford to get his kids medicine and then there he was being told he just made two hundred thousand dollars on a book he almost gave up on. There is a bigger message than the money. It's never give up and when something proves to be difficult stick to it because the outcome will be more rewarding than anything you thought possible even if it is just the knowledge that you were able to finish it.

His main advice is read a lot and write a lot. Basic. Simple. So important. Probably the best advice any new writer can receive. Stephen King can't teach you how to be a good writer that is something that grows with time, practice and determination and even still as he notes might not help. He basically says you either got it or you don't and it can come off as harsh, but I don't think you can argue the point. He's right because it is more than just getting words on a page. It's getting them on the page and having them make sense and lead into the bigger picture and having your characters come to life in the readers mind. If you can't do that it doesn't matter how many words you can get on paper. Without the life, the story and the flow you have nothing but words.

If you are a writer or even if you are just a reader I would highly recommend this book. It had my attention from the minute I picked it up.

Currently Reading: