It's been a while...

Wow. I've been taking a writing break, so I guess I took a break from writing my blog, too! Honestly, I've been so busy with editing my forthcoming novel that I haven't had time for much else (besides my day job, cleaning up my flooded house, throwing a bridal shower for my sister, and having a family, eating, sleeping, etc).
Many writers suggest reading a book aloud to find mistakes. Well, I find mistakes any way I read, but wow. This is the most time consuming edit I've ever done! I hadn't realized how long it took to read a book aloud. Much, much longer than just reading it to myself. I also made my voice scratchy from reading aloud so much. Ha. Well, it will all be worth it when those nickels and dimes start rolling in. ha.ha.ha...

The Waiting Game (again)

Must exercise patience. Yes, much patience is required in this business of trying to become a writer. I've found the best thing to do when waiting for anything....is to edit. I'm not a big fan of editing, but I'm a big fan of the results. So while I wait on queries, wait on cover artists, wait on a million other things...I will edit. And later, I will be happy I did. (Or that's the hope, anyway). At least it will keep me from all that banging my head on the wall. And it's productive, in a not-as-glamorous way. Writing is the big fun. Editing is the work that goes into making it look like the writing was big fun. Haha. A writer joke. At least I amuse myself.

Weekly blehhh...

Sometimes you just have one of those days/weeks/months/years. Everything goes to bleh and you just want to drum your head against the blehing wall.* But if you don't, or even if you do, you might get something else done, too. You might knock out your blehs, or some brain cells at least. You might shake loose an idea. Or you might just get a headache, if you didn't already have one.
You might learn a valuable lesson while you try to knock out your blehs. You might learn that it takes 26 good knocks before you get a headache, or only 6. You might learn that this is time well spent, or not. You might learn that you now can't remember why you started banging your head to begin with, and you'd rather go back and force yourself to do something more productive. Or you might just stand there thumping your head against the wall until the neighbors come over to complain. But that could be a learning experience in itself.

*I in no way condone banging one's head against the wall, nor do I claim responsibility for either positive or negative effects resulting from this activity if at any time you decide to do this because of or not because of reading this or any other blog entries I have posted previously or may post in the future.

Fifteen Books Everyone Should Read

Currently Reading: Sophie's Choice, By William Styron

This is just my opinion, of course. But here are fifteen amazing books (in no particular order) that I would share with absolutely anyone, regardless of age, genre preference, or any other factor.

1. House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
2. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
5. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
6. Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
7. His Dark Materials Trilogy, by Phillip Pulman (cheating to pick 3 books, I know, but they are all too AMAZING to pick just one).
8. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
9. The Stand, by Stephen King
10. Jane Eyre, By Charlotte Bronte
11. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
12. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
13. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
14. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
15. Outside Over There, by Maurice Sendak

I love the public library.

Whether you go for free internet access, amazing book sales, or to check out the thousands of books, movies, audiobooks, etc, public libraries are AWESOME. And since I can't say it nearly as well as Saralee Rosenberg, I'm just going to let her do the talking. Please read her blog. It's awesome.

http://girlfriendbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/librarians-are-heroes-in-my-book.html?showComment=1302104803516#c3801902635311180280

De-sensitized.

Yes, so as I was growing up and throughout my teen & college years, I always thought that watching disturbing movies and stuff would eventually make me less sensitive. Actually, the more disturbing a movie or book was, the more I liked it.
Among my movie favorites: American History X, Boys Don't Cry, Seven, just to name a few. In fact, although certain horror movies grossed me out (too much gore, not enough story), I never found anything TOO disturbing for me to enjoy. I'm not sure if this has changed for me, as I'm too scared to watch those movies anymore.
Strangely (to me anyway) I've gotten much MORE sensitive to disturbing movies, and especially books. I do remember reading a few books in college that may have disturbed me for life (Bastard Out of Carolina and The Beans of Egypt Maine stand out in my memory). But now, pretty much every book with anything at all disturbing upsets me.
I started reading an Oprah Book Club pick this morning that I got on sale at my local library for $0.20 (yes, that's twenty cents. Can I just say I love the library?) This book has many accolades and was highly reviewed by critics. But I just couldn't read it. This may be the second book I've ever put down and just could not read. (The first being Cujo--I love Stephen King, but even in high school I just couldnt stomach bad things happening to innocent children. Though I did read Pet Semetary, and dozens of other Stephen King books, and loved most of them).
I'm just too old to spend hours reading through 500 pages that make me feel sick to my stomach. I'll have to pass this book along to a younger, less sensitized person. Or at least someone with a stronger stomach.
I'll just stick with young adult...maybe middle grade for my next selection.