Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Sunday, December 14, 2014
10 Major Challenges of Writing a Book
I always thought being a writer would be my ideal job, because it comes pretty naturally to me, I enjoy it, and I have a never ending imagination!
It's the toughest thing though. Here's why:
1) You are your own boss - no one is going to tell you when to write and what to write, and the deadline. It's up to you. You have to find that motivation, even when writer's block isn't an issue.
2) Creating a GOOD story is tougher than you think - so you have a plot, you have an outline, but now you have to fill in the details. Or you have the details of your characters, and the world they are in but you have to create a good story, that includes growth of the character and change. Etc. etc. etc. It's amazing what Jane Austen, and the Bronte sister's did. Oh goodness! We still have material - social issues in our world to base our stories on, but their characters development was so well done!
3) Its gonna take time, a whole lot precious time - to do it, to do it, do it right! yeah, so as we grow older we find we have less time. Time begins to slip away so easily. Yet when we are children a day seems to take forever. I wish I had that type of time now. Oh and then there are random chores, obligations that need to be taken care of like an oil change, or cleaning! So making time, and committing time to writing is tough as a grown up adult. Like the saying goes- "health is wasted on the young" so is time!
4) Remembering what you wrote yesterday - few chapters in and you forgot the deets from chapter one, and then 30 chapters in you forgot the details from chapter 15! Creating a timeline, or some sort of organization of characters is important. For instance, I know the world well, and I know my characters, but sometimes I forget what I put in her bag. At the time i put the things in her bag I knew what they were and why they were, but then 4 chapters later, I forget. Kind of like, you have a list of things to tell your significant other at the end of the day, and then you see them and you forget half of it. Then you remember it just when you are both about to fall asleep!
5) Setting deadlines and goals - these are hard to stick to, because of all of the above. So kick it out the window. You'll find that once you do that, you'll be able to write more, and then you'll set a goal, 'I want to finish it by the 20th of Jan'. Then once you set it, it get's tough again.
6) Thinking of Publishing? - these thought or worries rather, come and go; for me, more often than not. Self publish, or find an agent, or approach a publisher? Which one is right for you. I say finish writing, have a manuscript. Edit it twice and then worry about publishing. Maybe do some research in your free time, yes that time which is so hard to come by. I will be posting information on that soon! So stay tuned!
7) Worries of failure - you could be the next JRR Tolkien of JK Rowling or George RR Martin, but it's such a competitive world, and you're better off making video games honestly, cause I rather play video games than write cause it's easier :-P kids today rather play video games than read. There are those who read, but I fear those numbers are decreasing rapidly. Then there are those who write for Movies... aaah! Worries of failing will plague the author, but to write knowing the chance of success is very low, is quite comforting. Accept that and write.
8) Atmosphere from noisy to quiet, finding a balance for writing - so I've always dreamt of writing a novel at a cafe, where there's a fire sizzling, and I got me some hot chocolate. I am brandishing my wonderful ink pen, and writing on some wonderful parchment... scratch that. Over full Starbucks, noisy, Christmas music, no fireplace, and yeah the baristas shouting about. Nope, need to find that ideal setting, yet. It's hard to find a perfect atmosphere or ambiance that nurtures writers. The right amount of noise, as to not being distracting, as well as not to quiet to be creepy. Yes silence can distract me, so I find playlists that inspire but also help keep me focused (so different from my running play list, or driving play list!). Then there's the internet, def don't connect to the WIFI, and if you need to look something up use your phone, keep it to the minimum!
9) Prioritizing writing, life, friends, balancing? Maybe not balanced but being smart about it - writing is important, but if you have a different job that sustains you while you are writing, that should take priority. Then there are life things, as in a friend needs you, friendship is very important, don't ditch your friend, then again a good friend would understand. So setting these priorities and working around them. Sometimes you might prioritize and set up a schedule, that schedule will change! Be flexible. I set time to write, but sometimes it doesn't flow well, until my head hit's the pillow at 11:30 pm and then I get mega-inspired. I have to teach at 8 am the next morning, but I go with the flow and deal with it. Its the only way it's going to get done, sometimes I just write it on note-cards, and try to pick it up later. When I do stay up late to write, I suck it up although i am tired, and I deal with it the next morning, and drink tea and look awesome (somehow) and make sure I teach well (tea does the job for me).
10) Word count goals - so publishers have set an average word count for various genres. Fantasy / sci-fi fiction lands at about 80,000 - 100,000 words. So with length in mind, and matter of course, it's good to pace yourself, and build. Setting a word goal per day/ week is good but eventually I've found that difficult to work with.
Lastly: editing, but since I'm not there yet, I'll leave it for the next blog entry. So stay tuned!
And yes I have not really edited this blog!
:-P
Breathe
(always remember to breathe while writing!)
It's the toughest thing though. Here's why:
1) You are your own boss - no one is going to tell you when to write and what to write, and the deadline. It's up to you. You have to find that motivation, even when writer's block isn't an issue.
2) Creating a GOOD story is tougher than you think - so you have a plot, you have an outline, but now you have to fill in the details. Or you have the details of your characters, and the world they are in but you have to create a good story, that includes growth of the character and change. Etc. etc. etc. It's amazing what Jane Austen, and the Bronte sister's did. Oh goodness! We still have material - social issues in our world to base our stories on, but their characters development was so well done!
3) Its gonna take time, a whole lot precious time - to do it, to do it, do it right! yeah, so as we grow older we find we have less time. Time begins to slip away so easily. Yet when we are children a day seems to take forever. I wish I had that type of time now. Oh and then there are random chores, obligations that need to be taken care of like an oil change, or cleaning! So making time, and committing time to writing is tough as a grown up adult. Like the saying goes- "health is wasted on the young" so is time!
4) Remembering what you wrote yesterday - few chapters in and you forgot the deets from chapter one, and then 30 chapters in you forgot the details from chapter 15! Creating a timeline, or some sort of organization of characters is important. For instance, I know the world well, and I know my characters, but sometimes I forget what I put in her bag. At the time i put the things in her bag I knew what they were and why they were, but then 4 chapters later, I forget. Kind of like, you have a list of things to tell your significant other at the end of the day, and then you see them and you forget half of it. Then you remember it just when you are both about to fall asleep!
5) Setting deadlines and goals - these are hard to stick to, because of all of the above. So kick it out the window. You'll find that once you do that, you'll be able to write more, and then you'll set a goal, 'I want to finish it by the 20th of Jan'. Then once you set it, it get's tough again.
6) Thinking of Publishing? - these thought or worries rather, come and go; for me, more often than not. Self publish, or find an agent, or approach a publisher? Which one is right for you. I say finish writing, have a manuscript. Edit it twice and then worry about publishing. Maybe do some research in your free time, yes that time which is so hard to come by. I will be posting information on that soon! So stay tuned!
7) Worries of failure - you could be the next JRR Tolkien of JK Rowling or George RR Martin, but it's such a competitive world, and you're better off making video games honestly, cause I rather play video games than write cause it's easier :-P kids today rather play video games than read. There are those who read, but I fear those numbers are decreasing rapidly. Then there are those who write for Movies... aaah! Worries of failing will plague the author, but to write knowing the chance of success is very low, is quite comforting. Accept that and write.
8) Atmosphere from noisy to quiet, finding a balance for writing - so I've always dreamt of writing a novel at a cafe, where there's a fire sizzling, and I got me some hot chocolate. I am brandishing my wonderful ink pen, and writing on some wonderful parchment... scratch that. Over full Starbucks, noisy, Christmas music, no fireplace, and yeah the baristas shouting about. Nope, need to find that ideal setting, yet. It's hard to find a perfect atmosphere or ambiance that nurtures writers. The right amount of noise, as to not being distracting, as well as not to quiet to be creepy. Yes silence can distract me, so I find playlists that inspire but also help keep me focused (so different from my running play list, or driving play list!). Then there's the internet, def don't connect to the WIFI, and if you need to look something up use your phone, keep it to the minimum!
9) Prioritizing writing, life, friends, balancing? Maybe not balanced but being smart about it - writing is important, but if you have a different job that sustains you while you are writing, that should take priority. Then there are life things, as in a friend needs you, friendship is very important, don't ditch your friend, then again a good friend would understand. So setting these priorities and working around them. Sometimes you might prioritize and set up a schedule, that schedule will change! Be flexible. I set time to write, but sometimes it doesn't flow well, until my head hit's the pillow at 11:30 pm and then I get mega-inspired. I have to teach at 8 am the next morning, but I go with the flow and deal with it. Its the only way it's going to get done, sometimes I just write it on note-cards, and try to pick it up later. When I do stay up late to write, I suck it up although i am tired, and I deal with it the next morning, and drink tea and look awesome (somehow) and make sure I teach well (tea does the job for me).
10) Word count goals - so publishers have set an average word count for various genres. Fantasy / sci-fi fiction lands at about 80,000 - 100,000 words. So with length in mind, and matter of course, it's good to pace yourself, and build. Setting a word goal per day/ week is good but eventually I've found that difficult to work with.
Lastly: editing, but since I'm not there yet, I'll leave it for the next blog entry. So stay tuned!
And yes I have not really edited this blog!
:-P
Breathe
(always remember to breathe while writing!)
Monday, November 25, 2013
Winter Is Coming: Reading
Nope not the Game of Thrones books, but let's revisit the classics. Which of these have your read? Looking to gift someone a present? You can't go wrong with a classic!
I began reading classic by the time I was in 4th grade, I loved Shakespeare (go figure). I loved going to my school library and devouring an entire book in a week, feeding my imagination. Now there are video games, but the knowledge, awakening that happens from reading is lacking in video games, and movies... so pick up a book this winter!
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - as much as Mark Twain is loved, as a girl, growing up in India, I couldn't identify much with Tom Sawyer, however I did dream of being a "lady" in the arms of Darcy in the old days when men were gentlemen and women were elegant... It's a must read for all young girls, whether they are a tomboy or girlie, it puts life into perspective.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes is always an amazing adventure and mystery. He teaches us to think in new ways. It's amazing what we can learn from his methods of deduction! Heck when I first read a Sherlock Holmes book, I had no idea what deduction meant, but it was so well written one could easily deduce what it meant! ;-)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - my mother first made me read the Grimm's Fairy Tales, and well they weren't fairy tales, more like horror stories. Still highly recommended, interesting, intriguing!
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - this is an awesome witty story, much like a comedy of errors. It had me laughing.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - When reading it for some reason, I took the whale's side. It was always about the whale. I really had no attachment to anyone, except the whale and all the other whale friends. It's interesting what goes through a child's mind when they read books for the first time.
Ulysses by James Joyce
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
The Republic by Plato
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- One of my favorite classics this one, I don't know why I was so drawn into it. Maybe I was there, but Dickens works his magic through a political plot, to the most... Ok i can't say but its one heck of a book.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Dubliners by James Joyce- A spinet of life in Ireland. It's so cultural, and a different type of adventure, living in other people's shoes.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - the most amazing romantic- tragedy ever. I saw the play after reading the book, and it made me cry as students acted it out.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Emma by Jane Austen
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad- my most favorite book of all time. I have so many copies of it. I love this story for the darkness it so truly captures.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin
Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - I recently began reading the Horla and oh boy! Maupassant had a way with horror, so creepy, dark and macabre!
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe - With all the rave about the show the Following, one must pick up some Poe. The Raven, The tell-tale heart... More darkness and Macabre!
The Iliad by Homer
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - Read this book and find out why Wonderland is really creepy and scary. It's like Stephen King's IT if not scarier. I had nightmares as a child.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - if that much Shakespeare is an overdose, my favorites are a Winter's Tale, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth (as a kid this gave me nightmares), The Tempest, As You Know It, A Twelfth Night or What you Will and of course the popular ones such as Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Othello...
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Call of the Wild by Jack London - this was another childhood favorite of mine. If you love dogs, the wilds, read this! Also great winter reading.
Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - of all the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Homles' stories this was always my favorite because it involved dogs. It's a great mystery and a great ending, and a lovely trip to the dreary countryside in the bogs, and other lovely geography found only in England!
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop
Thus Spoke Zarathustra. by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
The Odyssey by Homer
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien- with the second installment of the movie based on this book coming out, it would be great to revisit the story. Mostly because how did they drag out a simple story into 4 movies?! It's a classic to read over and over again, and now we can watch it.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Slaughter House - Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Where the Red Ferns Grow by Wilson Rawls
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
White Fang by Jack London
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The Time Machine by HG Wells
The Litttle Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson
The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - another period story of women in England, women who weren't nobility, and how they lived. It was a very important book in my life, and Tess is one of my favorite books, characters, and its so well written.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - Another classic, and favorite. A book about cruelty to animals, however also teaches us about loving, living and treating animals. Although fantastical it was a wonderful book to read as a child.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Hunchback of Notre- Dame by Victor Hugo
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein
Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Bhagavad Gita
The I Ching
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Medea by Euripides
The Mahabharata
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
Selected Short Stories by Anton Chekhov
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - as much as Mark Twain is loved, as a girl, growing up in India, I couldn't identify much with Tom Sawyer, however I did dream of being a "lady" in the arms of Darcy in the old days when men were gentlemen and women were elegant... It's a must read for all young girls, whether they are a tomboy or girlie, it puts life into perspective.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes is always an amazing adventure and mystery. He teaches us to think in new ways. It's amazing what we can learn from his methods of deduction! Heck when I first read a Sherlock Holmes book, I had no idea what deduction meant, but it was so well written one could easily deduce what it meant! ;-)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - my mother first made me read the Grimm's Fairy Tales, and well they weren't fairy tales, more like horror stories. Still highly recommended, interesting, intriguing!
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - this is an awesome witty story, much like a comedy of errors. It had me laughing.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - When reading it for some reason, I took the whale's side. It was always about the whale. I really had no attachment to anyone, except the whale and all the other whale friends. It's interesting what goes through a child's mind when they read books for the first time.
Ulysses by James Joyce
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
The Republic by Plato
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- One of my favorite classics this one, I don't know why I was so drawn into it. Maybe I was there, but Dickens works his magic through a political plot, to the most... Ok i can't say but its one heck of a book.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Dubliners by James Joyce- A spinet of life in Ireland. It's so cultural, and a different type of adventure, living in other people's shoes.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - the most amazing romantic- tragedy ever. I saw the play after reading the book, and it made me cry as students acted it out.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Emma by Jane Austen
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad- my most favorite book of all time. I have so many copies of it. I love this story for the darkness it so truly captures.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin
Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - I recently began reading the Horla and oh boy! Maupassant had a way with horror, so creepy, dark and macabre!
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe - With all the rave about the show the Following, one must pick up some Poe. The Raven, The tell-tale heart... More darkness and Macabre!
The Iliad by Homer
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - Read this book and find out why Wonderland is really creepy and scary. It's like Stephen King's IT if not scarier. I had nightmares as a child.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - if that much Shakespeare is an overdose, my favorites are a Winter's Tale, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth (as a kid this gave me nightmares), The Tempest, As You Know It, A Twelfth Night or What you Will and of course the popular ones such as Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Othello...
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Call of the Wild by Jack London - this was another childhood favorite of mine. If you love dogs, the wilds, read this! Also great winter reading.
Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - of all the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Homles' stories this was always my favorite because it involved dogs. It's a great mystery and a great ending, and a lovely trip to the dreary countryside in the bogs, and other lovely geography found only in England!
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop
Thus Spoke Zarathustra. by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
The Odyssey by Homer
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien- with the second installment of the movie based on this book coming out, it would be great to revisit the story. Mostly because how did they drag out a simple story into 4 movies?! It's a classic to read over and over again, and now we can watch it.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Slaughter House - Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Where the Red Ferns Grow by Wilson Rawls
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
White Fang by Jack London
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The Time Machine by HG Wells
The Litttle Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson
The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - another period story of women in England, women who weren't nobility, and how they lived. It was a very important book in my life, and Tess is one of my favorite books, characters, and its so well written.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - Another classic, and favorite. A book about cruelty to animals, however also teaches us about loving, living and treating animals. Although fantastical it was a wonderful book to read as a child.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Hunchback of Notre- Dame by Victor Hugo
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein
Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Bhagavad Gita
The I Ching
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Medea by Euripides
The Mahabharata
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
Selected Short Stories by Anton Chekhov
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Painting with My Fingers
 |
| Pick up a book! |
The spark of creativity
Thus unfolds
The innocence and naivete
That imagination often holds.
To frolic and dance,
To paint trees and mountains,
To play with unicorns perchance,
And to swim under magical fountains...
From my mind
To the paper or screen,
Do my fingers tap dance, in kind,
To make what never was, to have always been.
That spark of creativity,
Awakens my mind,
In my heart an raging energy,
With words giving vision to the blind.
Tingles in my fingers
Longing to paint and dance on paper with a pen,
Creating amazing imagery, and stories that linger,
Tales of fantasy, fright, women warriors and loyal men...
This spark of creative energy
What will I create today?
Where will I travel?
Who will I meet? What adventures will I embark on?
Will you share them with me...?
-Breathe-
 |
| Falling Water's reading room... |
 | |
|
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Re-post: The Importance of Reading
A sweet friend of mine re-posted this article, which of course I loved It emphasizes the importance of reading fiction in a world of cell phones, movies and video games. My favorite line "Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. "If you want your children to be intelligent," he said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand."
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreamingA lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens
It's important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members' interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I'm going to tell you that libraries are important. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I'm going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things.
And I am biased, obviously and enormously: I'm an author, often an author of fiction. I write for children and for adults. For about 30 years I have been earning my living though my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down. It is obviously in my interest for people to read, for them to read fiction, for libraries and librarians to exist and help foster a love of reading and places in which reading can occur.
So I'm biased as a writer. But I am much, much more biased as a reader. And I am even more biased as a British citizen. And I'm here giving this talk tonight, under the auspices of the Reading Agency: a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. Which supports literacy programs, and libraries and individuals and nakedly and wantonly encourages the act of reading. Because, they tell us, everything changes when we read. And it's that change, and that act of reading that I'm here to talk about tonight. I want to talk about what reading does.
What it's good for. I was once in New York, and I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons – a huge growth industry in America. The prison industry needs to plan its future growth – how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? And they found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read. And certainly couldn't read for pleasure. It's not one to one: you can't say that a literate society has no criminality. But there are very real correlations. And I think some of those correlations, the simplest, come from something very simple.
Literate people read fiction. Fiction has two uses. Firstly, it's a gateway drug to reading. The drive to know what happens next, to want to turn the page, the need to keep going, even if it's hard, because someone's in trouble and you have to know how it's all going to end … that's a very real drive. And it forces you to learn new words, to think new thoughts, to keep going. To discover that reading per se is pleasurable. Once you learn that, you're on the road to reading everything. And reading is key.
There were noises made briefly, a few years ago, about the idea that we were living in a post-literate world, in which the ability to make sense out of written words was somehow redundant, but those days are gone: words are more important than they ever were: we navigate the world with words, and as the world slips onto the web, we need to follow, to communicate and to comprehend what we are reading. People who cannot understand each other cannot exchange ideas, cannot communicate, and translation programs only go so far. The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them.
I don't think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. Every now and again it becomes fashionable among some adults to point at a subset of children's books, a genre, perhaps, or an author, and to declare them bad books, books that children should be stopped from reading. I've seen it happen over and over; Enid Blyton was declared a bad author, so was RL Stine, so were dozens of others. Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy. It's tosh. It's snobbery and it's foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. A hackneyed, worn-out idea isn't hackneyed and worn out to them. This is the first time the child has encountered it. Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you. Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child's love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian "improving" literature. You'll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant.
We need our children to get onto the reading ladder: anything that they enjoy reading will move them up, rung by rung, into literacy. (Also, do not do what this author did when his 11-year-old daughter was into RL Stine, which is to go and get a copy of Stephen King's Carrie, saying if you liked those you'll love this! Holly read nothing but safe stories of settlers on prairies for the rest of her teenage years, and still glares at me when Stephen King's name is mentioned.) And the second thing fiction does is to build empathy. When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals. You're also finding out something as you read vitally important for making your way in the world. And it's this: The world doesn't have to be like this. Things can be different.
I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed? It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.
Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different. And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it's a bad thing. As if "escapist" fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in. If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn't you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with(and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armour: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real. As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.
Another way to destroy a child's love of reading, of course, is to make sure there are no books of any kind around. And to give them nowhere to read those books. I was lucky. I had an excellent local library growing up. I had the kind of parents who could be persuaded to drop me off in the library on their way to work in summer holidays, and the kind of librarians who did not mind a small, unaccompanied boy heading back into the children's library every morning and working his way through the card catalogue, looking for books with ghosts or magic or rockets in them, looking for vampires or detectives or witches or wonders. And when I had finished reading the children's' library I began on the adult books. They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader – nothing less or more – which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old. But libraries are about freedom.
Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally. I think it has to do with nature of information. Information has value, and the right information has enormous value.
For all of human history, we have lived in a time of information scarcity, and having the needed information was always important, and always worth something: when to plant crops, where to find things, maps and histories and stories – they were always good for a meal and company. Information was a valuable thing, and those who had it or could obtain it could charge for that service. In the last few years, we've moved from an information-scarce economy to one driven by an information glut. According to Eric Schmidt of Google, every two days now the human race creates as much information as we did from the dawn of civilisation until 2003. That's about five exobytes of data a day, for those of you keeping score. The challenge becomes, not finding that scarce plant growing in the desert, but finding a specific plant growing in a jungle. We are going to need help navigating that information to find the thing we actually need. Libraries are places that people go to for information. Books are only the tip of the information iceberg: they are there, and libraries can provide you freely and legally with books.
More children are borrowing books from libraries than ever before – books of all kinds: paper and digital and audio. But libraries are also, for example, places that people, who may not have computers, who may not have internet connections, can go online without paying anything: hugely important when the way you find out about jobs, apply for jobs or apply for benefits is increasingly migrating exclusively online. Librarians can help these people navigate that world. I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, more than 20 years before the Kindle turned up, a physical book is like a shark.
Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is. Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them. They belong in libraries, just as libraries have already become places you can go to get access to ebooks, and audiobooks and DVDs and web content.
A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it.
That includes health information. And mental health information.
It's a community space. It's a place of safety, a haven from the world.
It's a place with librarians in it.
What the libraries of the future will be like is something we should be imagining now. Literacy is more important than ever it was, in this world of text and email, a world of written information. We need to read and write, we need global citizens who can read comfortably, comprehend what they are reading, understand nuance, and make themselves understood.
Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open. According to a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, England is the "only country where the oldest age group has higher proficiency in both literacy and numeracy than the youngest group, after other factors, such as gender, socio-economic backgrounds and type of occupations are taken into account". Or to put it another way, our children and our grandchildren are less literate and less numerate than we are. They are less able to navigate the world, to understand it to solve problems. They can be more easily lied to and misled, will be less able to change the world in which they find themselves, be less employable. All of these things. And as a country, England will fall behind other developed nations because it will lack a skilled workforce. Books are the way that we communicate with the dead. The way that we learn lessons from those who are no longer with us, that humanity has built on itself, progressed, made knowledge incremental rather than something that has to be relearned, over and over.
There are tales that are older than most countries, tales that have long outlasted the cultures and the buildings in which they were first told. I think we have responsibilities to the future. Responsibilities and obligations to children, to the adults those children will become, to the world they will find themselves inhabiting. All of us – as readers, as writers, as citizens – have obligations. I thought I'd try and spell out some of these obligations here. I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing. We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future. We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we are already tired of. To do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. Use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.
We have an obligation to use the language.
To push ourselves: to find out what words mean and how to deploy them, to communicate clearly, to say what we mean.
We must not to attempt to freeze language, or to pretend it is a dead thing that must be revered, but we should use it as a living thing, that flows, that borrows words, that allows meanings and pronunciations to change with time. We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are.
Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all. We have an obligation not to bore our readers, but to make them need to turn the pages. One of the best cures for a reluctant reader, after all, is a tale they cannot stop themselves from reading. And while we must tell our readers true things and give them weapons and give them armour and pass on whatever wisdom we have gleaned from our short stay on this green world, we have an obligation not to preach, not to lecture, not to force predigested morals and messages down our readers' throats like adult birds feeding their babies pre-masticated maggots; and we have an obligation never, ever, under any circumstances, to write anything for children that we would not want to read ourselves. We have an obligation to understand and to acknowledge that as writers for children we are doing important work, because if we mess it up and write dull books that turn children away from reading and from books, we 've lessened our own future and diminished theirs. We all – adults and children, writers and readers – have an obligation to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing: an atom in a wall, a grain of rice in a rice field. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different.
Look around you: I mean it. Pause, for a moment and look around the room that you are in. I'm going to point out something so obvious that it tends to be forgotten. It's this: that everything you can see, including the walls, was, at some point, imagined. Someone decided it was easier to sit on a chair than on the ground and imagined the chair. Someone had to imagine a way that I could talk to you in London right now without us all getting rained on.This room and the things in it, and all the other things in this building, this city, exist because, over and over and over, people imagined things. We have an obligation to make things beautiful. Not to leave the world uglier than we found it, not to empty the oceans, not to leave our problems for the next generation. We have an obligation to clean up after ourselves, and not leave our children with a world we've shortsightedly messed up, shortchanged, and crippled. We have an obligation to tell our politicians what we want, to vote against politicians of whatever party who do not understand the value of reading in creating worthwhile citizens, who do not want to act to preserve and protect knowledge and encourage literacy.
This is not a matter of party politics. This is a matter of common humanity.
Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. "If you want your children to be intelligent," he said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand.
Friday, September 06, 2013
More Game of Thrones with Family
Dad- I knew she would tear the paper
Me- The queen?
Dad- yeah and then they captured Ned Stark, what a shame.
Dad- The guy who saved Tyrion is the true king isn't he?
Me- Bronn? No he's a sellsword.
Dad and Mom- What?
Me- A Mercenary. Basically if you send him to assassinate someone, and the supposed victim offers him twice the amount, he'll come back and kill you.
Dad- So the Catelyn gave him money and job no?
Me- But Tyrion can offer twice or thrice as much and more.
Dad- Oh. He prefers stock option... hmm.
Oh Boy!
Me- The queen?
Dad- yeah and then they captured Ned Stark, what a shame.
Dad- The guy who saved Tyrion is the true king isn't he?
Me- Bronn? No he's a sellsword.
Dad and Mom- What?
Me- A Mercenary. Basically if you send him to assassinate someone, and the supposed victim offers him twice the amount, he'll come back and kill you.
Dad- So the Catelyn gave him money and job no?
Me- But Tyrion can offer twice or thrice as much and more.
Dad- Oh. He prefers stock option... hmm.
Oh Boy!
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Game of Thrones Takes on the Family
My parents finally began watching the TV show "A Game of Thrones". I first tried to get my grandparents and parents watch the show by telling them that George RR Martin based the story on the War of Roses, the history of Britain's succession. By episode 3 everyone was intrigued, my grandmom was grossed out by the gore; not a surprise since she does enjoy softer films. My grandad was hooked, and my mom loves anything BBC or Masterpeice, or British Period films, so she was keen on watching it. My father tags along on whatever my mother watches. At the end of the day she who runs the kitchen runs the remote!
Dad is in and out of the first episode, he's on a business call, then he snoozes, and suddenly I catch him giggling to something Bran says. He is up and watching. My mom is engrossed in it, and has lots of questions, 3 seconds after she asks the question, the question is answered. Episode 2 she asks who's knife was sent to kill Bran? Just as Catelyn has the same question. 3 seconds later, Petyr Baelish says "it is my knife". This happens many times.
Every time they show Bran, my father asks- is this the guy who fell? So now he is known as the boy who fell. Tyrion is ofcourse the dwarf, although they kept asking me who the imp was, whenever the characters referred to Tyrion as the imp. Cersei and Jaime Lannister were named the Incestors by my mom. The King's council became the Venture Capitalists of the olden days; they find investors, and throw large grand parties to run the King's Kingdom. They are both convinced that the the entire King's council other than Ned Stark, is bad, evil, and up to no good. By now they are hooked.
Sansa became Sasha for a while, and the names got confused with Cersei. I have no idea how! They both like Ned Stark, and my dad likes the fat King Robert. I hope they come to like Arya as much as I do. My mother is Jorah Mormont's biggest fan, she might have a crush, and my dad is fearful of Khal Drogo...
Dad: is he Indian? (referring to Khal Drogo and what culture he represents on the show)
Mom: no he's not. He might be french.
Dad: He is Indian!
Mom: No he isn't! If anything he might be middle eastern.
Dad: You know the Syria issue...
Mom and I: Not now!
On the topic of Khal and Dany, on their wedding night, the Khal whisks Dany away on her horse and consummates the marriage on the beach. The entire time my dad was convinced he was murdering Dany in pretense of marriage. Later in a different scene she is shown alive, and he asked surprised: "I thought she was killed!? Is this a flash back?" Awkwardly I had to explain that it was sex and not murder. Later that night he dreamt that the Khal and his blood riders were trying to take my mother away and he punched and kicked in his sleep to fight them off and keep her safe. Unfortunately my mom had to feel the kicks and pushes!
They are both so hooked, that on Wednesday at lunch break this was the conversation:
Mom- I can't wait to watch the rest tonight!
Dad- don't start the cinema without me!
Me- it's not a cinema!
Dad- it is so long, it's more than cinema!
Then Catelyn took Tyrion prisoner at the inn, both my parents exclaimed shocked: "Why did she do that? He did nothing?"
I had to explain, however the evidence was clear, Catelyn made her first idiotic move.
They predict that Jaime will kill Ned Stark, or Ned will kill Cerse and Jaime. If it was only that simple. Right?
Mom just texted me: Why did the sister still breast feeding?
Me: they are psycho? she has post partem issues?
Mom: Oedipus comlex.
She has a point, but also she coddles her kid too much for some reason.
Mom- who is Baratheon...
Me the dead king and his brothers... (oops i let a spoiler slip)
Mom- K
Mom- how many chpters in each cd?
Me- 2
Mom- thanks. we are on episode 7... omg your father is so hooked on this. he loves it.
Me- what happened on 6?
Mom- the brother got killed. he gets his golden crown.
The joys of getting people hooked on something so good!
Breathe
Dad is in and out of the first episode, he's on a business call, then he snoozes, and suddenly I catch him giggling to something Bran says. He is up and watching. My mom is engrossed in it, and has lots of questions, 3 seconds after she asks the question, the question is answered. Episode 2 she asks who's knife was sent to kill Bran? Just as Catelyn has the same question. 3 seconds later, Petyr Baelish says "it is my knife". This happens many times.
Every time they show Bran, my father asks- is this the guy who fell? So now he is known as the boy who fell. Tyrion is ofcourse the dwarf, although they kept asking me who the imp was, whenever the characters referred to Tyrion as the imp. Cersei and Jaime Lannister were named the Incestors by my mom. The King's council became the Venture Capitalists of the olden days; they find investors, and throw large grand parties to run the King's Kingdom. They are both convinced that the the entire King's council other than Ned Stark, is bad, evil, and up to no good. By now they are hooked.
Sansa became Sasha for a while, and the names got confused with Cersei. I have no idea how! They both like Ned Stark, and my dad likes the fat King Robert. I hope they come to like Arya as much as I do. My mother is Jorah Mormont's biggest fan, she might have a crush, and my dad is fearful of Khal Drogo...
Dad: is he Indian? (referring to Khal Drogo and what culture he represents on the show)
Mom: no he's not. He might be french.
Dad: He is Indian!
Mom: No he isn't! If anything he might be middle eastern.
Dad: You know the Syria issue...
Mom and I: Not now!
On the topic of Khal and Dany, on their wedding night, the Khal whisks Dany away on her horse and consummates the marriage on the beach. The entire time my dad was convinced he was murdering Dany in pretense of marriage. Later in a different scene she is shown alive, and he asked surprised: "I thought she was killed!? Is this a flash back?" Awkwardly I had to explain that it was sex and not murder. Later that night he dreamt that the Khal and his blood riders were trying to take my mother away and he punched and kicked in his sleep to fight them off and keep her safe. Unfortunately my mom had to feel the kicks and pushes!
They are both so hooked, that on Wednesday at lunch break this was the conversation:
Mom- I can't wait to watch the rest tonight!
Dad- don't start the cinema without me!
Me- it's not a cinema!
Dad- it is so long, it's more than cinema!
Then Catelyn took Tyrion prisoner at the inn, both my parents exclaimed shocked: "Why did she do that? He did nothing?"
I had to explain, however the evidence was clear, Catelyn made her first idiotic move.
They predict that Jaime will kill Ned Stark, or Ned will kill Cerse and Jaime. If it was only that simple. Right?
Mom just texted me: Why did the sister still breast feeding?
Me: they are psycho? she has post partem issues?
Mom: Oedipus comlex.
She has a point, but also she coddles her kid too much for some reason.
Mom- who is Baratheon...
Me the dead king and his brothers... (oops i let a spoiler slip)
Mom- K
Mom- how many chpters in each cd?
Me- 2
Mom- thanks. we are on episode 7... omg your father is so hooked on this. he loves it.
Me- what happened on 6?
Mom- the brother got killed. he gets his golden crown.
The joys of getting people hooked on something so good!
Breathe
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
The Game of...
Everyone plays a game;
There is the game of love,
Until you become jaded and frayed.
Some play silly games, innocent as a dove,
Until your heart is broken from all the games played.
Men play the game of thrones
Across cities, countries and continents,
How the people weep,
When the Rich play their games.
There is The Game,
That no one can never be win,
No throne to claim,
No prize at the end. Just naught. Fin.
Valar Morghulis.
The game of life,
Some are aware of it, Some call it strife,
Some are caught up in the petty,
To worried about wealth, or looking pretty.
The game of life,
We all seem to play,
Some play it with ethics and morals,
Some with another man's wife.
The game of life,
A tricky one it is, some play it with a knife,
Some play it well, some play you for a fool,
Some are conniving, while others... pure evil.
Some play bravely, others are loyal and true...
Which one are you?
What game do you play?
Oh hark, you will pay you toll at the end of the day.
Valar Morghulis.
There is the game of love,
Until you become jaded and frayed.
Some play silly games, innocent as a dove,
Until your heart is broken from all the games played.
Men play the game of thrones
Across cities, countries and continents,
How the people weep,
When the Rich play their games.
There is The Game,
That no one can never be win,
No throne to claim,
No prize at the end. Just naught. Fin.
Valar Morghulis.
The game of life,
Some are aware of it, Some call it strife,
Some are caught up in the petty,
To worried about wealth, or looking pretty.
The game of life,
We all seem to play,
Some play it with ethics and morals,
Some with another man's wife.
The game of life,
A tricky one it is, some play it with a knife,
Some play it well, some play you for a fool,
Some are conniving, while others... pure evil.
Some play bravely, others are loyal and true...
Which one are you?
What game do you play?
Oh hark, you will pay you toll at the end of the day.
Valar Morghulis.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Of A Broken Heart
What is to become of me?
Me...
Of a broken heart I shall die,
The end is nigh.
I see no reason,
struggling season after season.
Wat is to become of us?
Us...
Of what significance am I to you?
Of my pain and strife you have no clue.
The end is nigh,
For what other reason should I live for other than to die?
You strike me down
You wear your crown
So proud so perfect
You crush me like a mere insect.
The end is nigh,
You sit so high.
You see it not,
That this is all for naught.
What is to become of me?
Me...
A shattered heart
Bleeding black.
Of dreary darkness and cold depression
There is no lack.
What is the purpose,
When all men must die,
Valar morghulis,
So you agree? The end is nigh.
Breathe
Me...
Of a broken heart I shall die,
The end is nigh.
I see no reason,
struggling season after season.
Wat is to become of us?
Us...
Of what significance am I to you?
Of my pain and strife you have no clue.
The end is nigh,
For what other reason should I live for other than to die?
You strike me down
You wear your crown
So proud so perfect
You crush me like a mere insect.
The end is nigh,
You sit so high.
You see it not,
That this is all for naught.
What is to become of me?
Me...
A shattered heart
Bleeding black.
Of dreary darkness and cold depression
There is no lack.
What is the purpose,
When all men must die,
Valar morghulis,
So you agree? The end is nigh.
 |
| The Trident - By Jayson Mondola |
Breathe
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 69 - End (Spoiler alert!)
After much analysis, and reflection... I am Sansa. I thought life, this world would be this amazing place, what a bunch of bollocks. In other aspects I am like Arya, but it takes us a while to wake up from childhood, and break free from fairy tales. It can go the other way too, one might think life is harsh and rough all the time, and when they reach a moment of tenderness they are as much in shock as a person who thought the world was flowers and butterflies. Right?
Kids grew up faster back in the day, mortality was shorter for humans then too. Now a days we keep are kids protected from the big bad world, longer than we should. The darkness, the winter, the evil, has ways of seeping in however. I learnt young, to be wary of men; what I didn't learn was how to play the game, the game of thrones. I never liked politics, but it is important to be aware of, kind of like the game "Risk", where we take over countries and such.
It is true, maybe there was some sort of entitlement with the whole middle-class-college-educated-generations. We were told by our parents and society: "get a degree and you'll get a good job", at least that's the way of success since the 70s. Then the colleges began handing out Master Degrees like hot cakes in every field whatsoever. Then catastrophe, economic downfall, war, and loss of jobs occurs. Which gives birth to the "occupy wall-street" movement by the "99%". We forgot we have to work hard to get the job, and keep working harder still after that. What will the Joffreys, Sansas, Margearys, Briennes, Cersei,s Jaimes of the world DO! They have to be like Tywin and write letters, or be like Tyrion and deal with WHATEVER LIFE hands you.You were Sansa one day, and the next day you are a fallen Sansa. Or one day you are Tyrion, and then the next- Tyrion the traitor.
So much to learn from this book, so much. An article I read recently, reflected the racism in the series. Dany the beautiful white haired, white skinned lady, who tames a bunch of brown skinned barbarians. The story has been done before in history- British and the Indians... both the Native Americans and Indians from India. Same story different age! ;-)
This was an amazing book, the epitome of the series although there is a book 4 and 5, and a rumored book 6 and 7! For once I shall not give you any spoilers although I stumbled across many on the internet while reading, however I will say, before going the easy route and watching the show. Read the books, there's more IN it.
Breathe!
Kids grew up faster back in the day, mortality was shorter for humans then too. Now a days we keep are kids protected from the big bad world, longer than we should. The darkness, the winter, the evil, has ways of seeping in however. I learnt young, to be wary of men; what I didn't learn was how to play the game, the game of thrones. I never liked politics, but it is important to be aware of, kind of like the game "Risk", where we take over countries and such.
It is true, maybe there was some sort of entitlement with the whole middle-class-college-educated-generations. We were told by our parents and society: "get a degree and you'll get a good job", at least that's the way of success since the 70s. Then the colleges began handing out Master Degrees like hot cakes in every field whatsoever. Then catastrophe, economic downfall, war, and loss of jobs occurs. Which gives birth to the "occupy wall-street" movement by the "99%". We forgot we have to work hard to get the job, and keep working harder still after that. What will the Joffreys, Sansas, Margearys, Briennes, Cersei,s Jaimes of the world DO! They have to be like Tywin and write letters, or be like Tyrion and deal with WHATEVER LIFE hands you.You were Sansa one day, and the next day you are a fallen Sansa. Or one day you are Tyrion, and then the next- Tyrion the traitor.
So much to learn from this book, so much. An article I read recently, reflected the racism in the series. Dany the beautiful white haired, white skinned lady, who tames a bunch of brown skinned barbarians. The story has been done before in history- British and the Indians... both the Native Americans and Indians from India. Same story different age! ;-)
This was an amazing book, the epitome of the series although there is a book 4 and 5, and a rumored book 6 and 7! For once I shall not give you any spoilers although I stumbled across many on the internet while reading, however I will say, before going the easy route and watching the show. Read the books, there's more IN it.
Breathe!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Story of a Blogger Blogging
5 years of blogging, and this year is the year I have written the most number of blogs. The year isn't even done yet. I began this blog for many reasons, mostly to encourage myself to write, write often, make writing a habit, and not to be afraid of criticism. It inspired and led to much more.
Now I am looking to make a change... rename the blog maybe, change the design. I love using blogger though... it's nice. I'd love ideas and suggestions. It would take place over a period of time though, so much going on. Also I plan to start writing my book soon, so my blogging will slow down a lot. At least that's the plan.
Stitch, Shudder, and the A song of Ice and Fire series has really helped motivate and inspire me to do my own work. Take that leap of faith, stop all other distractions, do my thing and write. I am very excited about this. My world is transforming to bring everyone this story... and I am excited to take all my readers there.
A little bit about my book idea: based in Ohio, strong female lead,and a very mysterious, supernatural, horror/thriller and dark plot! Maybe even a bit macabre. That's all I can say right now!
I am excited, because fall and fall adventures, will help inspire and set the tone.
Remember:
Winter is coming!
Breathe
Now I am looking to make a change... rename the blog maybe, change the design. I love using blogger though... it's nice. I'd love ideas and suggestions. It would take place over a period of time though, so much going on. Also I plan to start writing my book soon, so my blogging will slow down a lot. At least that's the plan.
Stitch, Shudder, and the A song of Ice and Fire series has really helped motivate and inspire me to do my own work. Take that leap of faith, stop all other distractions, do my thing and write. I am very excited about this. My world is transforming to bring everyone this story... and I am excited to take all my readers there.
A little bit about my book idea: based in Ohio, strong female lead,and a very mysterious, supernatural, horror/thriller and dark plot! Maybe even a bit macabre. That's all I can say right now!
I am excited, because fall and fall adventures, will help inspire and set the tone.
Remember:
Winter is coming!
Breathe
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 56 - 68 (Spoiler alert!)
If you thought the Red Wedding was big... well especially for all those that didn't read the book... Mr. Martin has more in store for us.
Remember what I said in my previous blog post about Melisandre saying that if Joffrey is killed while still safe behind walls, with all his guards present, then truly the Lord of Light is working. However Joffrey lives and thus Davos argues. Well Joffrey falls drops down dead at his wedding, after humiliating Tyrion over and over again. I say, he got what was coming for him, or you can think poor little rich blonde boy. Eh... I beg to differ, he deserved it for no lesson would set him right. In fact after the way he insulted Tywin I would hope it was Tywin who slipped him the poison, but we still don't know who poisoned Tyrion.
Sadly though Cersei is first to blame Tyrion and he is awaiting a trial and for sure execution. The trial goes horribly, because there is no witness For Tyrion, everyone is against him, because the ever so beloved king is dead. They see that Joff beating Sansa was righteous, etc. Come on people this was a King who was a boy, he didn't even FIGHT. The only blood he ever shed was disciplining slaps from his uncle Tyrion. I am glad to say he suffered, and choked and died. How could Cersei spoil a kid so much, ugh. Worst. Mother. Ever! So we shall see about Tyrion's fate. I hope he kills his sister, and gets vengeance.
However this was waaaay bigger than the red wedding... Joffrey is the sickest #@$%#er ever and he finally gets what is rightfully his! Such a relief, catharctic moment. Oh and while everyone is fussing about Joffrey dying, Sansa slips away... but more on her later. Joffrey is dead! Joffrey is Dead! The wickedest King there ever was, the enemy of all of us here in the North is DEAD! Goodness! No one Mourns the Wicked! Ok that was from Wicked - Broadway musical... check it out if you haven't! He's DEAD!
Jaime gets to King's Landing, Brienne is taken in custody cause Loras Tyrell still blames her for Renly's death. Jaime visits Cersei who is crying at the sept for Joffrey and they do it right there. She kind of is weirded out by his hand, or lack their of, and she estranges herself from him. Keeps him at bay. So I hope he got her pregnant just then cause he did EVERYTHING for her, and this is how she repays him, especially sleeping around with other men. Tywin wishes Cersei to wed a Tyrell or a Martell, doesn't matter. Tywin wnats Jaime to renounce the Knighthood, marry and take up Casterly Rock. However, Jaime has had it, he wants to marry Cersei and rule openly, but instead he just says he will never give up knight hood and Tywin renounces Jaime. What a family I tell you. Jaime asks the kingsgaurd after Tyrions really bad trial if they really think Tyrion is guilty, also if they did swear to protect the king, how the heck did he die? So they all give excuses. In the end I feel Jaime feels the "imp" is innocent, and convinces Loras that Brienne is innocent. Whoopdido.
I forgot what Dany was upto... Oh right! She is still trying to en-capture cities, and people are still trying to kill her. Oh and she find out that the two blokes she trusted the most Mormont, and the other dude Barristan Selmy who called himself Arstan, were actually traitors. Mormont fought for Robert once upon a time, and Selmy was a knight for Raegar and then bent the knee to Robert when the House of Targaryen fell. So she's so angry at them, she tells them she never wants to see them again. Also she finds out the Mormont had been sending Varys stories about her, until he fell for her, and then he stopped. She is super pissed.
Arya is stuck with Sandor Clegane, although the last chapter made you think she fled for him. As the red wedding took place, war sprung about. In the chaos Arya found out 1- her mother and brother were dead 2- she wanted to see them 3- perfect opportunity to run. So she ran. Clegane hit her up-top her head, she passed out. They escaped safely. She took to being a nobody. Then Clegane wanted to take her to the Eyrie which would be good cause... wait for it.... Sansa was being taken there by Petyr! When she escaped after Joff's wedding (ofcourse she was sad to 1-be wed to Tyrion, and 2-that her mother and brother were killed, but glad to escape to WHAT?), Dantos took her to Baelish who then killed Dantos, and they were off to the Vale, so that Petyr could marry Lyssa, the nutty lady! That's the only drawback Lyssa Tully now Aryn is nuts! Arya has it in her head to head to Jon. Jon is infected and delirious about life, and is made Commander in Chief... oops ... Lord Commander of the Black Crows by the maester. In the mean time Sam, Gilly and the baby cross the wall in a secret underground tunnel. They bump into Meera, Jojen, Hodor, Bran and Summer! Fun times. They cross to the North side of the wall, and who knows ... Sam goes back to Gilly?
That's all folks!
Remember what I said in my previous blog post about Melisandre saying that if Joffrey is killed while still safe behind walls, with all his guards present, then truly the Lord of Light is working. However Joffrey lives and thus Davos argues. Well Joffrey falls drops down dead at his wedding, after humiliating Tyrion over and over again. I say, he got what was coming for him, or you can think poor little rich blonde boy. Eh... I beg to differ, he deserved it for no lesson would set him right. In fact after the way he insulted Tywin I would hope it was Tywin who slipped him the poison, but we still don't know who poisoned Tyrion.
Sadly though Cersei is first to blame Tyrion and he is awaiting a trial and for sure execution. The trial goes horribly, because there is no witness For Tyrion, everyone is against him, because the ever so beloved king is dead. They see that Joff beating Sansa was righteous, etc. Come on people this was a King who was a boy, he didn't even FIGHT. The only blood he ever shed was disciplining slaps from his uncle Tyrion. I am glad to say he suffered, and choked and died. How could Cersei spoil a kid so much, ugh. Worst. Mother. Ever! So we shall see about Tyrion's fate. I hope he kills his sister, and gets vengeance.
However this was waaaay bigger than the red wedding... Joffrey is the sickest #@$%#er ever and he finally gets what is rightfully his! Such a relief, catharctic moment. Oh and while everyone is fussing about Joffrey dying, Sansa slips away... but more on her later. Joffrey is dead! Joffrey is Dead! The wickedest King there ever was, the enemy of all of us here in the North is DEAD! Goodness! No one Mourns the Wicked! Ok that was from Wicked - Broadway musical... check it out if you haven't! He's DEAD!
Jaime gets to King's Landing, Brienne is taken in custody cause Loras Tyrell still blames her for Renly's death. Jaime visits Cersei who is crying at the sept for Joffrey and they do it right there. She kind of is weirded out by his hand, or lack their of, and she estranges herself from him. Keeps him at bay. So I hope he got her pregnant just then cause he did EVERYTHING for her, and this is how she repays him, especially sleeping around with other men. Tywin wishes Cersei to wed a Tyrell or a Martell, doesn't matter. Tywin wnats Jaime to renounce the Knighthood, marry and take up Casterly Rock. However, Jaime has had it, he wants to marry Cersei and rule openly, but instead he just says he will never give up knight hood and Tywin renounces Jaime. What a family I tell you. Jaime asks the kingsgaurd after Tyrions really bad trial if they really think Tyrion is guilty, also if they did swear to protect the king, how the heck did he die? So they all give excuses. In the end I feel Jaime feels the "imp" is innocent, and convinces Loras that Brienne is innocent. Whoopdido.
I forgot what Dany was upto... Oh right! She is still trying to en-capture cities, and people are still trying to kill her. Oh and she find out that the two blokes she trusted the most Mormont, and the other dude Barristan Selmy who called himself Arstan, were actually traitors. Mormont fought for Robert once upon a time, and Selmy was a knight for Raegar and then bent the knee to Robert when the House of Targaryen fell. So she's so angry at them, she tells them she never wants to see them again. Also she finds out the Mormont had been sending Varys stories about her, until he fell for her, and then he stopped. She is super pissed.
Arya is stuck with Sandor Clegane, although the last chapter made you think she fled for him. As the red wedding took place, war sprung about. In the chaos Arya found out 1- her mother and brother were dead 2- she wanted to see them 3- perfect opportunity to run. So she ran. Clegane hit her up-top her head, she passed out. They escaped safely. She took to being a nobody. Then Clegane wanted to take her to the Eyrie which would be good cause... wait for it.... Sansa was being taken there by Petyr! When she escaped after Joff's wedding (ofcourse she was sad to 1-be wed to Tyrion, and 2-that her mother and brother were killed, but glad to escape to WHAT?), Dantos took her to Baelish who then killed Dantos, and they were off to the Vale, so that Petyr could marry Lyssa, the nutty lady! That's the only drawback Lyssa Tully now Aryn is nuts! Arya has it in her head to head to Jon. Jon is infected and delirious about life, and is made Commander in Chief... oops ... Lord Commander of the Black Crows by the maester. In the mean time Sam, Gilly and the baby cross the wall in a secret underground tunnel. They bump into Meera, Jojen, Hodor, Bran and Summer! Fun times. They cross to the North side of the wall, and who knows ... Sam goes back to Gilly?
That's all folks!
Thursday, August 08, 2013
A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 31- 55 (Spoiler alert!)
Amazon has paired up with Audible to give us these synced audiobooks- to ebooks! How cool right? I mostly listen to the audiobook though, and the narration is great. Because I hear the story (unabridged), its like seeing it in my mind, while I drive, get ready, cook, clean, pack, exercise. I am living this. So closely entwined am I, that the loss of my great Aunt, was in time with the loss of Robb and Catelyn Stark. The Red Wedding, they call it.
What happened was that Edmure was to marry Rosalin Frey, this would help make amends with the Freys. Since Robb marrying Jane Westerling had spurned the Freys so. Anyway Tywinn on his end won the war with letters as he had promised and told Tyrion. He wrote to the Freys, won them onto his side, and then when the wedding and bedding was on way, everyone else was killed. Bastards. (To get over this Samantha Durante - yes the author I recently interviewed- sent me this link which basically has steps to get over the Red Wedding. It helped - buzzfeed FTW). Anyway I'm glad by reading the books, I won't be shocked and surprised like other people who were astounded by the Red Wedding. Ha! Also I will know what happens in Season 4 and 5 and 6! Read!
Honestly what more is there to say? I feel drained of all my energy thinking of this great loss. What's more... Tyrion's POV, Joffrey the King is acting like HE'd done it. Bragging and all proud. He tells Tywinn, "you write to Frey and tell him I want Robb's head! I will present it to Sansa, and make her kiss it..." What a dou@#$bag! Tyrion will not have any of this, so Tywinn sends Joff to bed, literally! Joff retaliates saying Tywinn is a coward or something to that effect. Cersei apologizes on behalf of her son, and Tywinn sends her to bed too! Anyway Tyrion is set to a new task of entertaining the guests, and keeping them from killing each other before Joffrey's wedding. I hope Joffrey gets his, soon. I'd love to give him my own taste of justice, oh yes. Those Lannisters.
Before Robb died he signed a will sort of thing that decreed his heir... I think it's Jon Snow... but we shall see... oh the cliffhangers!
Arya has her own journey, and finally she flees from Sander Clegane who had taken her from Beric Dondarion. So now she's a free bird, except her brother and her mother are dead. Dead and gone, and to her knowledge Bran and Rickon are dead too. Sansa married off to Tyrion, so it leaves Jon Snow in the North. Should she go there. Ofcourse Arya, and no one else, has a clue that Bran is on his way North, and is holed up some place safe with Meera, Jojen, Hodor and Summer. Bran is like Frodo, they are taking the wolf dreams north to the three-eyed crow. By now Bran can slip between Summer and himself really quickly. He sees Jon craven out of killing an old man, cause them wildings have crossed the wall. So Yigrette (who Jon has been bedding ALOT), does the honors, saying "you know nothing Jon Snow". She has a Irish accent, according to the narrator. Jon Snow rides off to Castle Black, or one of those castles by the wall. He meets up with his Black Brothers, and they trust him after he explains to them why he killed his buddy, and on whose instructions. Now they are preparing for the wildings attack. See the wildings strategically attacked the wall at many places, thus spreading the Crows thin (Crows- Black Brothers- Night's Watch). So this will be a cluster fudge.
Davos receives a letter from the Night's Watch, and guess what he learns! Oh the wildings are crossing south. Blimey, he says this is too troubling, and puts the letter away. Yeah lets ignore the important stuff since we live on an island. In the mean time Stannis discusses with Melisadnre, his wife, and Davos ... Davos is now his hand... whether or not to sacrifice the Robert Baratheon's Bastard (the one who was at Storm's end and Davos saw his taken by the shadow etc.) to give life to a Dragon. Kind of like how Dany had done. Previously Melisandre had done a spell to have the Greyjoy King killed, Robb Stark Killed, and Joffrey Killed. So far two are dead. Joffrey remains. Melisandre says - imagine if Joffrey is killed while he is safely behind his walls, with guards... that would truly mean the lord of light is at work. I hope she does it!
Dany is winning city after city... yes she bought an army of Eunochs and then had them kill their masters. Then she has been conquering all.
Here are some good maps:
Jaime gets away from Harrenhal after striking a deal with Bolton. Bolton and Frey (REMEMBER) ganged up on the Starks, so they aren't good. Jaime leaves without Brienne, leaving her to the Brave Companions, however he goes back for her, and they travel to King's Landing together. Which is decent of him, he only does this, because 1- he has lost a hand 2- he's been having bad dreams 3- in his dreams only Brienne remains to protect him.
Oh Sam! I almost forgot Sam! He was caught up in the whole take over by the wights at the camp. Then he got to Caster's Castle, and there there was a mess, and the old Bear Mormont was killed. He forgave Jorah before he died. Then Sam took Gilli, and was heading to the wall, when they were surrounded by wights again, and a man on a Stag or some sort of Deer creature rescues them. My guess or prediction is that he is Benjen Stark or a OH RIGHT... ELK!
So that's the big news so far!
Another 25 or so chapters to go!
Breathe
What happened was that Edmure was to marry Rosalin Frey, this would help make amends with the Freys. Since Robb marrying Jane Westerling had spurned the Freys so. Anyway Tywinn on his end won the war with letters as he had promised and told Tyrion. He wrote to the Freys, won them onto his side, and then when the wedding and bedding was on way, everyone else was killed. Bastards. (To get over this Samantha Durante - yes the author I recently interviewed- sent me this link which basically has steps to get over the Red Wedding. It helped - buzzfeed FTW). Anyway I'm glad by reading the books, I won't be shocked and surprised like other people who were astounded by the Red Wedding. Ha! Also I will know what happens in Season 4 and 5 and 6! Read!
Honestly what more is there to say? I feel drained of all my energy thinking of this great loss. What's more... Tyrion's POV, Joffrey the King is acting like HE'd done it. Bragging and all proud. He tells Tywinn, "you write to Frey and tell him I want Robb's head! I will present it to Sansa, and make her kiss it..." What a dou@#$bag! Tyrion will not have any of this, so Tywinn sends Joff to bed, literally! Joff retaliates saying Tywinn is a coward or something to that effect. Cersei apologizes on behalf of her son, and Tywinn sends her to bed too! Anyway Tyrion is set to a new task of entertaining the guests, and keeping them from killing each other before Joffrey's wedding. I hope Joffrey gets his, soon. I'd love to give him my own taste of justice, oh yes. Those Lannisters.
Before Robb died he signed a will sort of thing that decreed his heir... I think it's Jon Snow... but we shall see... oh the cliffhangers!
Arya has her own journey, and finally she flees from Sander Clegane who had taken her from Beric Dondarion. So now she's a free bird, except her brother and her mother are dead. Dead and gone, and to her knowledge Bran and Rickon are dead too. Sansa married off to Tyrion, so it leaves Jon Snow in the North. Should she go there. Ofcourse Arya, and no one else, has a clue that Bran is on his way North, and is holed up some place safe with Meera, Jojen, Hodor and Summer. Bran is like Frodo, they are taking the wolf dreams north to the three-eyed crow. By now Bran can slip between Summer and himself really quickly. He sees Jon craven out of killing an old man, cause them wildings have crossed the wall. So Yigrette (who Jon has been bedding ALOT), does the honors, saying "you know nothing Jon Snow". She has a Irish accent, according to the narrator. Jon Snow rides off to Castle Black, or one of those castles by the wall. He meets up with his Black Brothers, and they trust him after he explains to them why he killed his buddy, and on whose instructions. Now they are preparing for the wildings attack. See the wildings strategically attacked the wall at many places, thus spreading the Crows thin (Crows- Black Brothers- Night's Watch). So this will be a cluster fudge.
Davos receives a letter from the Night's Watch, and guess what he learns! Oh the wildings are crossing south. Blimey, he says this is too troubling, and puts the letter away. Yeah lets ignore the important stuff since we live on an island. In the mean time Stannis discusses with Melisadnre, his wife, and Davos ... Davos is now his hand... whether or not to sacrifice the Robert Baratheon's Bastard (the one who was at Storm's end and Davos saw his taken by the shadow etc.) to give life to a Dragon. Kind of like how Dany had done. Previously Melisandre had done a spell to have the Greyjoy King killed, Robb Stark Killed, and Joffrey Killed. So far two are dead. Joffrey remains. Melisandre says - imagine if Joffrey is killed while he is safely behind his walls, with guards... that would truly mean the lord of light is at work. I hope she does it!
Dany is winning city after city... yes she bought an army of Eunochs and then had them kill their masters. Then she has been conquering all.
Here are some good maps:
 |
| Essos (Essos on Left) and Westeros |
 |
| Westeros |
Jaime gets away from Harrenhal after striking a deal with Bolton. Bolton and Frey (REMEMBER) ganged up on the Starks, so they aren't good. Jaime leaves without Brienne, leaving her to the Brave Companions, however he goes back for her, and they travel to King's Landing together. Which is decent of him, he only does this, because 1- he has lost a hand 2- he's been having bad dreams 3- in his dreams only Brienne remains to protect him.
Oh Sam! I almost forgot Sam! He was caught up in the whole take over by the wights at the camp. Then he got to Caster's Castle, and there there was a mess, and the old Bear Mormont was killed. He forgave Jorah before he died. Then Sam took Gilli, and was heading to the wall, when they were surrounded by wights again, and a man on a Stag or some sort of Deer creature rescues them. My guess or prediction is that he is Benjen Stark or a OH RIGHT... ELK!
So that's the big news so far!
Another 25 or so chapters to go!
Breathe
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 1-30 (Spoiler alert!)
"I'm crying because we never found the horn of winter. we
opened up half a hundred graves and let all those shades loose in the
world, and never found the horn of Joramun to bring this cold thing
down!"
So now we know what those cold dead zombies are!
Since the last book many a thing has taken place... Dany has gone to the city to buy slaves. She buys an entire army, in exchange for everything and her dragon - drogon. She claims the army, and then she kills all the slave traders. Her army is the unsullied- they are all eunochs, who are disciplined and only kill for her now. She will soon be ready to amass an army and take over Westeros. Jorah creeps her out, however she has needs, and takes to pleasuring herself.
I was wrong last time, I thought Davos, was captured by the Lannisters but he was stranded on a rock. A ship found him and took him back to Dragonstone, where he learned that Stannis has slunk away into his castle with the red lady, and everything was a mess. He went to Stannis with the intention of killing the red lady, and instead found himself in the dungeons. Then the red lady visited him, and they spoke and the conclusion was he was full of doubts about her, but his loyalty was with Stannis.
Tyrion and Sansa get married. Why!? Why!?!?!? Do you ask Why!?!!??! Because they fell in love! He is her ideal Prince, Knight in shinning armor, Handsome and Gallant! Obviously a perfect match!
Margaery Tyrell comes to Kings landing with her whole family of Tyrells from High Garden. She is to marry King Joffrey. She also makes sure she befriends Sansa. She learns that Joffrey was absolutely ghastly to Sansa. The Tyrells come up with a plan to wed Sansa to their eldest cripple son, Wyllis. However Cersei gets wind of this. She can not let this happen, because then Winterfell will fall into the hands of High Garden. So Lord Tywinn forces Cersei to marry Wyllis, and Sansa to Tyrion. If Cersei marries Wyllis, it will make the bond between their houses stronger, she will be able to put to rest the "lies" of her incest, she will produce more heirs... So one night Tyrion and Sansa are wed, then they eat with everyone, and Joff whispers to Sansa that he will still bed her, for he is king and is allowed to have whores, even if it is his uncle's wife. Ugh. I hope this kid is beheaded soon. Anyway Tyrion does not bed Sansa that night, and says he hopes she will get to know him and one day maybe love him.
Jon Snow gets laid! oh yes! With the wildling who works under Mance Raider - Yigrette. He seems to have bought most of their trust, and they climb the wall ... yes THE WALL, and that's when Yigrette says the above line. So now we know. Jon, for a 1/2 stark is a little slow sometimes, although very kind, and noble at heart. Waiting to see his moment. I don't think it has come yet.
We suddenly read a few chapters from Sam's perspective. He's being a craven as usual, after sending some crows off with messages. The waits have attacked the Crows/ Watchmen's camp from all sides. Everyone begins to retreat to the wall. Disaster! Let's hope Sam survives.
Catelyn has been cooped up in Riverun, ever since she let Jaime Lannister go. Robb comes back, and totally apologizes to her for letting Theon go. Also eh comes back with a wife, but not one of Fray's daughters. She is pretty but she was the daughter of the enemy they had come to take over. They were sworn to the Lannisters, but now this. So I suspect they will take the wolves down from the inside. Shucks Robb, shucks!
In this book we are introduced to Jaime Lannister's POV or perspective. What a shocker aye? yep! HE turns out to be very decent to Brienne who is trying to get him safely to King's Landing. We learn everything he has EVER done has been for Cersei. ALWAYS. Super gross right? He's slept with no other woman, but Cersei. GROSS!!!! Anyway they seem to be making their way to King's Landing, but on the way they are intercepted by bandits, and after which Jaime gets the sword from Brienne and they are captured by the Brave Companions who work under the Wolf and Roose Bolton at Harenhaal. He warns Brienne that they will rape her, and she tries to say she was sent by the wolf. No one listens.
Bran is making really slow progress up to the wall. He's listening to stories from Meera, and Jojen, and unable to control his warg dreams. He's a cute kid who just wants to live, and be normal. He loves living through Summer.
Arya Arya Arya! I love and am partial to Arya POV chapters. Arya escaped from Harenhaal in the last book, and she is on her way to Riverrun. On the way they are coguht by some "Kingsmen", one whom she recognizes from her Childhood at Winterfell. He used to work for her father, but after he died, he switched to the side of the realm, of the side of Ser Berick Dondarion. Anyway they are at some little town, in a ... before which Gendry and Sansa have a little tickling fight, almost brotherly, but seemed like there was some chemistry there... I could be wrong. Anyway they are at the Peaches Brothel for some reason, and GEndry says Arya is his sister to protect her....
Just read the book... aaah!!!
1- how big do these dragons grow? really as big as a man riding a horse may pass through it's mouth?
2- will Gendry and Arya get together?
3- Will Sansa learn to love Tyrion?
4- Will Joffrey die?
5- What will happen to Theon?
6- What about Davos?
7- What will Robb do?
Breathe!
So now we know what those cold dead zombies are!
Since the last book many a thing has taken place... Dany has gone to the city to buy slaves. She buys an entire army, in exchange for everything and her dragon - drogon. She claims the army, and then she kills all the slave traders. Her army is the unsullied- they are all eunochs, who are disciplined and only kill for her now. She will soon be ready to amass an army and take over Westeros. Jorah creeps her out, however she has needs, and takes to pleasuring herself.
I was wrong last time, I thought Davos, was captured by the Lannisters but he was stranded on a rock. A ship found him and took him back to Dragonstone, where he learned that Stannis has slunk away into his castle with the red lady, and everything was a mess. He went to Stannis with the intention of killing the red lady, and instead found himself in the dungeons. Then the red lady visited him, and they spoke and the conclusion was he was full of doubts about her, but his loyalty was with Stannis.
Tyrion and Sansa get married. Why!? Why!?!?!? Do you ask Why!?!!??! Because they fell in love! He is her ideal Prince, Knight in shinning armor, Handsome and Gallant! Obviously a perfect match!
Margaery Tyrell comes to Kings landing with her whole family of Tyrells from High Garden. She is to marry King Joffrey. She also makes sure she befriends Sansa. She learns that Joffrey was absolutely ghastly to Sansa. The Tyrells come up with a plan to wed Sansa to their eldest cripple son, Wyllis. However Cersei gets wind of this. She can not let this happen, because then Winterfell will fall into the hands of High Garden. So Lord Tywinn forces Cersei to marry Wyllis, and Sansa to Tyrion. If Cersei marries Wyllis, it will make the bond between their houses stronger, she will be able to put to rest the "lies" of her incest, she will produce more heirs... So one night Tyrion and Sansa are wed, then they eat with everyone, and Joff whispers to Sansa that he will still bed her, for he is king and is allowed to have whores, even if it is his uncle's wife. Ugh. I hope this kid is beheaded soon. Anyway Tyrion does not bed Sansa that night, and says he hopes she will get to know him and one day maybe love him.
Jon Snow gets laid! oh yes! With the wildling who works under Mance Raider - Yigrette. He seems to have bought most of their trust, and they climb the wall ... yes THE WALL, and that's when Yigrette says the above line. So now we know. Jon, for a 1/2 stark is a little slow sometimes, although very kind, and noble at heart. Waiting to see his moment. I don't think it has come yet.
We suddenly read a few chapters from Sam's perspective. He's being a craven as usual, after sending some crows off with messages. The waits have attacked the Crows/ Watchmen's camp from all sides. Everyone begins to retreat to the wall. Disaster! Let's hope Sam survives.
Catelyn has been cooped up in Riverun, ever since she let Jaime Lannister go. Robb comes back, and totally apologizes to her for letting Theon go. Also eh comes back with a wife, but not one of Fray's daughters. She is pretty but she was the daughter of the enemy they had come to take over. They were sworn to the Lannisters, but now this. So I suspect they will take the wolves down from the inside. Shucks Robb, shucks!
In this book we are introduced to Jaime Lannister's POV or perspective. What a shocker aye? yep! HE turns out to be very decent to Brienne who is trying to get him safely to King's Landing. We learn everything he has EVER done has been for Cersei. ALWAYS. Super gross right? He's slept with no other woman, but Cersei. GROSS!!!! Anyway they seem to be making their way to King's Landing, but on the way they are intercepted by bandits, and after which Jaime gets the sword from Brienne and they are captured by the Brave Companions who work under the Wolf and Roose Bolton at Harenhaal. He warns Brienne that they will rape her, and she tries to say she was sent by the wolf. No one listens.
Bran is making really slow progress up to the wall. He's listening to stories from Meera, and Jojen, and unable to control his warg dreams. He's a cute kid who just wants to live, and be normal. He loves living through Summer.
Arya Arya Arya! I love and am partial to Arya POV chapters. Arya escaped from Harenhaal in the last book, and she is on her way to Riverrun. On the way they are coguht by some "Kingsmen", one whom she recognizes from her Childhood at Winterfell. He used to work for her father, but after he died, he switched to the side of the realm, of the side of Ser Berick Dondarion. Anyway they are at some little town, in a ... before which Gendry and Sansa have a little tickling fight, almost brotherly, but seemed like there was some chemistry there... I could be wrong. Anyway they are at the Peaches Brothel for some reason, and GEndry says Arya is his sister to protect her....
Just read the book... aaah!!!
1- how big do these dragons grow? really as big as a man riding a horse may pass through it's mouth?
2- will Gendry and Arya get together?
3- Will Sansa learn to love Tyrion?
4- Will Joffrey die?
5- What will happen to Theon?
6- What about Davos?
7- What will Robb do?
Breathe!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Shudder by Samantha Durante 2013 Blog Tour - Interview!
Back in March I wrote a short review (click to read synopsis) on Stitch. I recommend this series - the plot line is amazing, and just keeps getting better. If you like zombies, post-apocalyptic stories, politics, suspense, little bit of romance, adventure, and a strong young woman protagonist, then this is book is for you. So if you haven't read the first book in the series, you can check it out on :Amazon and Goodreads. Just $0.99!
I recently got the opportunity to interview the author on the release of the second book in the Stitch trilogy - Shudder! I am so excited about this!
Hi Sam! How are you today?
Hey Pree! I’m doing
well, very excited to be here! :-)
I just finished
reading Shudder last night. :-D it was
so intriguing I want to ask you what Stuck is going to be like, but aaah! I
know you won’t tell me.
Glad you liked it!! I
actually couldn’t tell you about
Stuck even if I wanted to, since I haven’t started writing it yet, haha. However, I will tell you that there’s still plenty of excitement in store for
Alessa and the gang, including some big setbacks that will require them to
think creatively about how to take down Paragon...
Ah! But you did write
the epilogue, and that was pretty intense as it is!
Yes, the epilogue definitely sets the stage for some major
conflict coming in the third book...
I was wondering if you
could give our readers a small synopsis as to what Stitch leading to Shudder is
about?
Sure, for anyone who’s not familiar, the Stitch Trilogy is a
YA/NA dystopian series with some romance and paranormal elements mixed in. Stitch starts out seeming like a college
ghost romance, but there’s a BIG sci-fi twist in store for our protagonists - I
can’t say too much without ruining it - but suffice it to say, nothing the
characters think is going on is real.
Shudder is the continuation of their story and reveals a lot more about
the background of their world and is more of an action-packed thriller with
lots of surprises for our characters!
So Shudder was very
different – stylistically- from Stich. Can you explain? I loved both, but
Shudder definitely shows how you have matured as a writer. Which means Stuck
can only be super awesome.
Haha, well hopefully I haven’t set the bar *too* high! But thanks for the compliments. :-)
Stitch was my first book, and due to the nature of the twist, it’s more
of a slow burn - there’s a lot of build-up as you get to know the characters
and their backgrounds, until eventually you’re knocked over the head with this
huge revelation right along with Alessa.
The book pretty much takes off at lightning speed from there, and Shudder
picks up right where Stitch leaves off.
So in Book 2, it was easier to keep the pace high since all the
world-building and character introductions had already been taken care of in
Stitch. And of course, I’m always
listening closely to reader feedback, so I tried to tailor Shudder to what
readers were looking for - more action, more romance, more interactions between
the characters, etc. Naturally, the
genre-bending twist in Stitch was hard to top, but I think Shudder does a good
job of keeping the story engaging by filling in all the details and dropping a
few new bombshells.
What inspired the
story behind Stitch? What inspired the ideas?
The idea for Stitch came from my attempt to give a happy
ending to a ghost romance. How could I
get the ghost and the girl in the same place at the same time, given that he’s
been dead for 100 years? The solution I
came up with was a *little* out-of-the-box, but the more I thought about it,
the more excited I became about the story.
I just kept wishing someone would write this book, so eventually I
realized that maybe I should do it, lol.
And from there on out, I just looked at different stories that I’d
enjoyed and tried to borrow elements I loved and piece them all together to
create something new.
That makes so much
sense... :)
Are you a fan of
apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, zombie, science fiction, supernatural,
psychological, thrillers?
Yes, yes, yes, and more yes!
I love ALL of these genres - hence the ginormous mash-up of all these
genres in the Stitch Trilogy. :-) I couldn’t choose just one!
What are some of
your favorite sci-fi books? Fantasy books? Adventure/horror books? Your
favorite books as a teenager?
I became a fan of the dystopian genre in middle/high school
when we read classics like The Giver, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World,
etc. I also got into sci-fi kind of
young with A Wrinkle in Time, which was kind of mind-blowing as a kid. Some more recent favorites include The Hunger
Games, the Divergent and Delirium series, and on the fantasy side, Twilight,
Game of Thrones, the Eragon series, plus classics like Harry Potter and The
Chronicles of Narnia. I actually haven’t
read too much horror, which is surprising b/c I’d consider that one of my
favorite genres - I definitely watch a lot of horror movies, but in terms of reading,
it’s mostly been short stories. I guess
I’ll have to add some more to my TBR!
I've never read
"a wrinkle in time" but I think I saw the movie...
Hmm, I don’t think I’ve seen the movie - I can’t even
imagine how they’d film some of that stuff!
I’ll have to check it out. :-)
If you could be a
character from Game of Thrones who would you be? (random question) and why?
Game of thrones Spoiler alert :-P
Game of thrones Spoiler alert :-P
I would be Daenerys Targaryen, because she’s so goddamn
FIERCE. And she’s kind and fair and a
good leader. I hope she marries Jon Snow
and takes it all - Westeros, Beyond the Wall, everything over the Narrow Sea
- in the end. That would make me SO happy.
I love Dany too. She
isn't too exciting in book 2 but I hope it picks up in book 3. I can see you as
Dany.
Aw, thank you! I’d
have to get a lot blonder though, lol.
In this book we are
introduced to the people that run Paragon. Are they the “ruling class”?
Shudder brings you up close and personal with the Engineers,
the previously faceless leaders behind the “Ruling Class.” While they’re definitely part of that class,
there *is* an important distinction to make - whereas most members of the
Ruling Class are generally good citizens who have just gone a little wrong by
abusing their privileges, the Engineers are another story. They’re the masterminds behind the whole
scheme of Paragon, and while they might think they’re trying to do good towards
the people of Paragon, I think most readers would agree that they have an
interesting way of showing it. So even
though the Engineers are the de facto rulers of Paragon, I wouldn’t lump them
in with the Ruling Class as a whole.
They definitely have their own motivations and agenda, beyond what the
Ruling Class is trying to achieve.
The Developer, the
Engineer, the Economist and so on. In one of the chapters they are explained in
detail. Is there a reason they are all male? Can you tell us more about these
guys, their qualifications, their ideas and what makes them the expert in their
field (ie. who were they before paragon?).
Check out this guest post (an Engineers “Cheat Sheet” if you
will) from earlier in the tour for a full run-down of who each of the Engineers
are and where they come from. As far as
why they’re all male (and white, I might add), that’s because who else would come up with such a
barbaric idea as Paragon besides rich white men who think they know better than
everyone else? I’ve never met a woman
with little enough empathy or compassion to ever
consider doing something this extreme, and unless you’ve spent your entire
life under a cloak of privilege like white males in our society generally do,
you would never even conceive of the kind of ideas that the Engineers have
enacted. I know that’s generalizing -
and there’s always an exception to the rule - but at its core, the Stitch
Trilogy is about one powerful class of people oppressing everyone else. And in the real world, let’s face it, it’s
usually men doing the oppressing.
Amen sister! :)
Personally I found
these guys intriguing because they essentially, like you say in the book, play
god. Their arrogance is what really moves me, cause like Phoenix, I am somewhat
brainwashed too.
Yeah, that was something that was important to me to dissect
a bit in Shudder - I didn’t want the bad guys to just be evil for the sake of
evil. I wanted to explore how evil is really perpetrated, even by otherwise
normal people who might even believe they’re doing good. Passion and arrogance are a very dangerous
combination. We see it all the time with
religious extremists, whether they’re Muslim terrorists or over-zealous
Christians hating on gay people (or pretty much anyone who’s different than
that they consider “normal”). Anyone who
believes so strongly in their own viewpoint that they refuse to acknowledge
others’ - and especially anyone who can communicate well enough to win new
believers over to their side - is a threat to all of us. There can be no peace without tolerance, and
there’s no tolerance when you think everyone else’s opinions are invalid.
I totally agree with
you... So well said.
Thank you. :-)
Question for Janie-
Janie do you hope to meet a real nice guy soon? I understand that now is not
the time or place to look for a boyfriend, but do you hope? Also describe your
ideal man.
Thanks so much for inviting me along today, Pree! Of COURSE I’d love to meet a good guy. Like you said, Paragon is not exactly an
ideal dating pool, but hey, love happens - I’m certainly keeping my eye
out. I don’t have a “type” necessarily,
I just want someone fun and trustworthy, someone who makes me laugh. You know, the usual. :-)
The usual? You're a
special girl Janie! But I hear you def someone as energetic as you! Where do
all the characters work out at?
Haha, if mandatory labor counts as working out, then Paragon
is a very effective fitness program!
Janie- do you resent
Alessa sometimes for 1-escaping 2-being happy with Isaac? I know she’s your
sister, but there is sometimes sisterly rivalry. I was just wondering how the
events have affected your relationship with Less.
Well, naturally, I love my sister and I want what’s best for
her. It wasn’t easy to stay behind and
let her go, but I knew the rebellion needed her, so I did what was asked of
me. And Isaac is amazing, but yes, I
certainly feel like a third wheel around them sometimes... Less and I fight like any other siblings, but
in the end, I know she’s always trying to protect me, so I try to let stuff
go. She’s the only family I’ve got left,
after all. She’s a pain sometimes, but
she means well.
Third wheel sucks!
But as a sister you get used to it... I know from experience!
Janie- what do you
hope for the future of paragon? The rebels? And you?
I just hope that
someday we can all get along and live happily ever after!
Janie- if a movie
was made about your life who would you have play you?
Willa Holland, but
she’d have to get a good bob.
She acts in Arrow the
TV show. I love that show- guilty pleasure! Do you watch it? Almost
dystopian...
Ohh, I haven’t seen it, I’ll have to update my DVR!
We’ve seen a lot
from Alessa’s perspective, Isaac, Nikhil, and Lizzie, but will we see anything from
Janie’s perspective next book?
(This is Samantha answering again!) We’ll definitely see a lot more Janie next
book, but I’m not 100% positive yet if I’ll write any chapters from her
POV. It’s definitely not off the table,
but I try not to bring in extra POVs unless the story warrants it. We’ll have to see how things go. :-)
I'd love her
perspective... although similar to Alessa, her character has grown to a
personality of her own.
Questions for
Phoenix- what was it like when you faced the various founders of paragon? Were
you scared, awestruck?
I was definitely a little freaked out. I couldn’t remember who I was, and with all
the injuries I’d sustained, I was having trouble processing everything...
Information overload!
I was scared they were going to physically hurt
you more... As in...
Phew, yeah, luckily I was too out of it mentally to even
consider that possibility... otherwise I would have been a lot more worried!
Phoenix- how can you
knowing what you know, think what you think is superior to those of experts, ie
the founders of Paragon? They are obviously older, more educated, experienced
than you are, how does knowing that make you feel what you think is right? (I
hope this question is clear) :-P
I think I get what you’re saying. Well, I guess the short answer is I think
everyone’s entitled to an opinion. You
should certainly take what the experts say into account, but it’s impossible to
agree with everyone, so sometimes you just have to go with your gut.
What's the long
answer? Or is that for Stuck? ;-)
Let’s save the long answer for Stuck ;-)
Phoenix- if a movie
was made about your life who would you have play you?
Katheryn Winnick!
What did she act in?
I def saw you as a Regina from mean girls... But Ms. Winnick is quite on the dot too...
I think Katheryn Winnick is best known for her role on the TV show
Vikings. Oh wow, Rachel McAdams is gorgeous so that’s quite a compliment!
But she’s very thin - I’ve got a little more going on in the curves department. :-)
Samantha- seeing
this book is for young adults, would you ever expose them to the brutal reality
of 1-politics 2-loss and death (especially of characters we’ve grown to love)
3-heartbreak?
Absolutely - these things are part of life, and experiencing
them through characters we love is part of how we learn how to cope with these
things in our own lives. Young adult or
not, we all need to face these hardships at one point or another. Reading can be cathartic in its own right.
Oh no now I'm going
to be worried...should I be? Please not Janie. :(
(Janie butting in) PLEASE NOT JANIE!!!
Where is Paragon? is
it in USA? or is this left unknown on purpose? I like it like that but would
love to see maps someday!
I didn’t want to tie Paragon to any one real place so that I
could have total freedom in setting up the geography/history, etc., but Paragon
and the surrounding area is based on the Northeast US (NY/NJ/CT/PA) where I
grew up, since I know that area best. I
do have a very rudimentary map that I whipped up in PowerPoint to help me
measure distances and make sure that Isaac and Alessa’s timelines were
realistic while traveling outside Paragon, but it’s not pretty. I would need to hire an artist or something
if you wanted a real map!
I love that you did
that. I'd totally help you do a map! I am a cartographer/geographer! let me
know.
Oh awesome!
If you have to pick
one character to be in Shudder, who would you be and Why!?!?
Alessa, because she’s already a lot like me, so it’d be an
easy transition!
This makes sense, I
can almost see the similarities... so are you an empath too?
Haha, NOT quite... but I do like to think I’m
pretty intuitive and good at reading others’ feelings.
Thanks so much for
doing this Sam! I hope to do more author interview with you, or if you would
want to do a guest blog sometime about motivation, writing, women
entrepreneurs, leadership etc. I’d love to have you guest write!
Thanks so much for hosting today!! I’d love to come back for a guest post
sometime!
Lots of Love!
-Pree
 |
| Author Samantha Durante |
About Sam:
Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband,
Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha
left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams
and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology,
Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media
Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant.
The Stitch Trilogy is her debut series. Learn more about Samantha at www.samanthadurante.com.
 |
Length: ~80,000 words (348 pages)
Sample Chapters: Ch1-4 (31 pages)
Release Date: June 15th, 2013
|
Links
Facebook: Stitch Trilogy | Author Samantha Durante
Goodreads: Stitch | Shudder | Author Samantha Durante
Twitter: @SamanthaDurante | Hashtag suggestions: #Stitch, #StitchTrilogy, #Shudder
LibraryThing: Stitch | Shudder | Author Samantha Durante
Shelfari: Stitch | Shudder | Author Samantha Durante
Breathe!
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