Laura's blog

There's a lot on my mind as we approach the new year. For me, this isn't "New Year" so much as it is mid-year. I'm halfway through my first semester of graduate school. For most of my life now, I've been accustomed to the start of summer feeling more like the new year than New Year's does.  But this year feels more like New Year's than it usually does. Earlier this year, I was in a pretty crappy living situation with some people who turned out to be bad roommates. Things were fine at first, but as the weeks wore on and the "shiny" of being in a new place wore off, they basically started to care less and less. The risk of rooming with two other people is, of course, that they will gang up on you, which is pretty much what happened there. The house itself didn't really help us get along. It was bigger and built so that we could go for days without even having to see each other. There was a lot more to it than that, but basically, they...

So, Ferguson. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened there. Or rather, didn't happen. A grand jury didn't charge a man who shot down a teen.  Though I think it's misleading to call it a lack of action or something that didn't happen. It was a choice that people made, a clear choice not to pursue justice.  I don't often write about these things. I am made uncomfortable by the reactions afterwards, the cultural quagmire I have to sift through in my Facebook feed, the racism, the self-righteousness, and the confusion as to what is supposed to be my reaction. I am made uncomfortable by writing about my own emotions and reactions to these kinds of events. I don't know what the right reaction is. I don't know what is acceptable for me to express or admit. Today I saw several posts on Facebook. One status: "If you are white and you are not angry about Ferguson, you are the problem." I had an ex who constantly criticized me for n...

I keep stumbling across posts along the lines of, "Write the Thing That Makes You Bleed." That theme is present even in posts that don't specifically focus on that topic. The message? Writing hurts. You should write the painful thing, the thing that makes you bleed, the thing that scares you . You have to bleed to make it real. It must hurt you to be valid. I do acting things. In my experience, that method of work is unhealthy -- dangerous, even. You should take care of yourself and your mental and emotional health. You come before the work. It doesn't always have to hurt, and it certainly doesn't have to be painful to be valid. Writing, to me, is like a more static form of acting where I get to be all the characters. Some of those characters have almost nothing in common with me. Do you know what I do when I don't "feel it"? I pretend. It's called acting, after all. I can pretend and sometimes that is safer than bleeding. I got onto t...

Brief update, not on writing, because I'm mostly not doing that at the moment, but on the other side of my life: theatre. I'm facing an odd problem in rehearsal. The scene is done with a spa concept. And everyone is talking about spa things and props and stuff you stick between your toes, face masks, pedicures, what people always do when they go to the spa. What spa days are like, what they look like and feel like. The process. The atmosphere. Things that are not my "normal." Pedicures and manicures were a treat for me, for special occasions. I have had one pedicure and one manicure in my life, both before junior prom. In high school. Never a spa day. I've never been to a spa place. And as for the dinner party exercise we did, well...nope. Not much experience with those, either. Now, I don't need to go all "method actor" and have a spa day just to be able to understand this scene. I pick things up, take cues, and besides, I've seen plenty o...

I haven't been active on the blog or on my Examiner book review channel, or even on twitter and Facebook. I wish I could say this is because I'm busy with "real life." Graduate school and a part-time job are time-consuming, yes, but the main reason is because I was sidelined by illness. When I get sick, my body goes into full-on pouty brat mode and refuses to get better or do anything. And everything is so hard to do that I find myself slacking not only on online stuff and writing, but on my homework, reading, job performance, and various other functions. Basically, everything that requires effort. I had tonsilitis, lost my voice, got it back in raspy form again, am still coughing a lot, had an asthma attack last Tuesday, and a migraine on Wednesday (probably partly due to coughing so much) and I hurt all over and *insert paragraphs of whining here.* I don't really want this blog to become my diary, so I'll leave off there, with the promise that as soon as...

A little while ago, I wrote a post inspired by the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag, begun by Ellen Oh (@elloecho).   Today's review is Mind Games by Kiersten White, which I chose for its depiction of disabled protagonists. Both main characters have superpowers, but I didn't think it was handled in an insulting way to disabled people. If you think otherwise, please feel free to share in the comments. What it is Mind Games is a science fiction/paranormal-ish novel about seers, empaths, and mind readers who are controlled by a Big Bad Corporation that uses their psychic talents to its own benefit. Fia is a unique psychic who has the gift of intuition; her gut feelings and instincts are always right. Annie, her sister, is a seer who is blind. Bid Bad Corporation holds Annie hostage to get Fia to spy, steal, and assassinate for them. Meanwhile, they train Annie to spy on Fia, since no other seer can predict her actions. I didn't like this all that much but hey ...

It's September 1st and still far too early to be thinking about NaNoWriMo, yet I find it on my mind as I wait for November. I'd like to attempt it this year, even if I don't finish the 50k goal.  Source. Why? While I do like racking up the word count, the best thing about National Novel Writing Month has been the writing community. I love hanging out on the forums. It's a place to post questions, answer questions, pick and choose ideas, and chat. I've found critique partners and some other interesting people there as well.  There's a whole writing community that I never would have found if I hadn't done NaNo, and my writing would be the poorer for it. NaNoWriMo is helping me get over my intense fear of sharing my writing. I used to be exceptionally paranoid even among other writers I knew when it came to sharing my writing. This is helping. It hasn't been entirely positive, and the forums can be an extremely distracting place. However, the ...

To those of you doing the ALS ice bucket challenge, I applaud you. It's quite a clever idea, especially for a summertime activism/awareness campaign. The most effective of these campaigns make something trendy in order for it to spread farther faster.  It works a hell of a lot better than guilt-tripping or shock value. It requires donors to participate in a way that's more active than sharing a status. Take the challenge, donate some money, share, post, challenge others. Most people -- judging by the admittedly limited sources of my Facebook and twitter feed -- seem to enjoy taking part in a big cause in a small way. Then there are those who scoff at it as "slacktivism" and refuse to participate. Opposite the "too cool for this" group are the few people who appear to believe that dumping a bucket of ice water on one's head makes them an expert on ALS and is the most important thing they'll ever do to help the ALS cause -- whether they donate or n...

Some of you may have been wondering where I've been all this summer. I've barely posted any reviews to examiner, I've been completely absent from here, and I said I was going to do that Ready. Set. Write! thing. Unfortunately, I haven't had Internet access for most of the summer. Sigh. This is probably the part where I'm supposed to wax eloquent about what a relief it was not to be so busy and connected, and how being shut off from social media and the web was a blessing in disguise. I've read enough posts about taking Internet breaks; I know how it goes. Something-something, enlightenment, the corruption of the modern world... Well, it wasn't. I understand Internet breaks, but I'll be very happy to get my Internet back. It's been annoying at best and at worst, has interfered with my job. I couldn't email my supervisor (or my mother), or go online to check important life kinds of things without taking myself to the library (where I am n...

This summer kicks off Ready. Set. Write! Hosted by Jamie Morrow, Erin Funk, Katie Upperman, and Allison Miller, Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog hop about summer writing goals. Anyone can participate, and we all give help and encouragement along the way.  This is the goal-setting week (which I'm coming slightly late to). For this week, I will: Return to my editing journal for The Book  Add 500 NEW words -- not edits or revisions -- to The Book Add another 1,000 words to Contracted In the following weeks, I'll update with these headings:  How I did on last week's goals Goals for this week   A favorite line from my story The biggest challenge I faced that week Something I love about my wip Since I will be moving this weekend, I am not sure how much I'll be able to get done. I might have problems with updating the blog as well. When things settle down a bit, I'll be back. Until then, have a great rest of the week! :)

Everyone has their writing "thing." Some people like notebooks -- college-ruled only. Some people have to listen to the same song over and over again while writing. Others make playlists. Some people use only pen, some pencil, and others only type. I've heard from people who prefer to use typewriters when drafting. Some people have to find the "right" font for each story. I used to think that a lot of this was just silly at best, and ways to procrastinate at worst. Weird writing "things" seemed like just more stuff to get in the way of actually writing. What did it matter if you used blue or black ink? Did it really make a difference to use Arial instead of Times New Roman? It all seemed like a lot of sugar pills to me. I don't believe the "Muse" is real or necessary to start writing, and I used to think of all these writing "things" in exactly the same way. I thought people just made them up to make themselves look special,...

The  #WeNeedDiverseBooks  hashtag began as a way to draw attention to the importance of representation in publishing, whether it's representing a diversity of characters or publishing a more diverse array of authors.  This blog tag's rules were: 1. Post a diverse book. 2. Say why you liked it. 3. Explain what the diversity meant to you. 4. Link to the post that tagged you and tag someone else! My book is: Mister Monday by Garth Nix What it is/Why I liked it This is the first book in The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. It's an MG fantasy series of 7 books about a kid named Arthur who's chosen to be the heir to the universe because of a bureaucratic hiccup.  Arthur unwillingly attempts to fulfill his Chosen One role in order to get the minions of his competitors to leave him, his family, and Earth alone. I really enjoyed the extremes of imagination that went into this book and the whole series. It was a wild ride from start...

What's Up Wednesday is hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk, to help writers and bloggers keep in touch as we scribble. :) What I'm reading I'm relishing the chance to sit down with Fragments by Dan Wells, the sequel to Partials.  It's a post-apocalyptic science fiction YA series, and it's phenomenal. Dan Wells' world is the most well-thought-out, detailed, and possibly most scientifically accurate vision of the post-apocalyptic Earth that I've ever read. Also, I love these characters, and my recent favorites are some new introductions. I love seeing how the changing circumstances affect these characters and their relationships. What I'm writing I'm on break from writing right now. I wrote up until when I would have to write the awkward sex scene and the really complicated public event scene. Those scenes will be harder technically. I don't have writer's block; I'm just avoiding them. I'll admit it. In the meantime, I'm p...

Yesterday, I graduated from college with my B.A. Hooray! Finally. Thank God.  I wish that I could say college was the "best four years of my life," like people kept telling me it was going to be, but first of all I hate that saying, and second of all, it wasn't. It was good, of course, but it wasn't the best. Trying to classify parts of your life as "best" just leaves you constantly disappointed. So I try not to think of things in terms of "best." I had a post planned out about things I did and learned while in college, but I'd like to keep some of that to myself for now.  I started this blog as a freshman. Somehow, I managed to keep it up. If I could do it again, I'd rename it something less cheesy and more truthful. The "voices" in the title were meant to refer to the different characters I had knocking around in my head -- yet, specifics about my writing are one of the things I hardly ever talk about on here. When I...

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Jaime Morrow. What I'm Reading I've been assigned The Covenant with Black America by Tavis Smiley for class. It's an engaging read. It's different from other non-fiction works I've read in that it is a proposal for a plan of action, on the individual, local, state, and federal levels. Other non-fiction I've read has mostly been "here is this cool true story" or "did you know these facts?" or "you should do this thing here do it based on my opinion no really it's totally the thing you should just do." The Covenant beats all of them out of the park. (Is that the correct expression?) I also finished The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand. I have a soft spot for angry characters, and Olivia's arc was complex and emotional. She was a character I related to on a more personal level than I usually do.  At one point, she's being taunted by shades who fling insults at ...

Well, it's been a while since one of these. I thought I'd ease back into blogging with a What's Up Wednesday, a weekly blog hop hosted by Jaime Morrow. What I'm Reading I'm nearing the end of The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand. I really love this one, and I also loved Ms. Cavendish's Home for Boys and Girls. The Year of Shadows is an MG ghost story, while Ms. Cavendish is MG horror. I have a feeling that Claire Legrand will become a favorite author of mine. Both these books are so good, and so different. What with this and the new Nick and Tesla, I've been reading mostly MG. However, I still have a big TBR pile to get to, which includes a mix of genres and age ranges. What I'm Writing Reviews and blog posts! I just reviewed the ARC of Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle, an MG mystery. I'm also getting ready to jump back into writing Contracted . I was really overwhelmed with spring semester stuff, but now that it's the s...

Hello! I'm back from my blogging hiatus. I've been on a horror kick lately, and most recently, I watched the first two episodes of Netflix's Hemlock Grove. I'm a bit late to this series, but for what it's worth, here's my review. I have some...issues.  Pacing It's based on a novel, and you can tell. Once the show introduces something that might be interesting or lead to tension and conflict, it snatches it away like a precious plot-gem that it doesn't want you to see. There is way too much exposition and filler. The plot hangs together pretty well, but not much really happens. Case in point, it should not have taken two whole episodes to find out Main Character is a werewolf. Especially since everyone seems clued into this fact and accepts it as truth -- except the viewers. Then suddenly Rich Boy is asking if he can watch the transformation like it's understood that Poor Kid Main Character is a werewolf. No warning, no lead-up, nothing. ...

Things are getting down to the wire with classes and my senior project, so I'll be turtling into my anti-social shell until after my thesis defenses. I have two. One for my major, and one for my Honors qualification. The performance of my project goes up on April 5th, and the defense will be sometime after that. Err, I should probably schedule that. Soon. Unfortunately, my schedule is full of things like that that I should have done yesterday. Until I do all of them and get this thing over with, no more blogging for me!  I might still publish the odd review on Examiner just to keep my active status -- and I have a big backlog of reviews to get to, anyway -- but more likely I'll hold all that off until April. Also, I am still beta-reading for two people right now, but I will not have your stuff back to you until mid-April at the earliest. I'm really sorry about that. I'll still be checking email, so you can send me questions related to your MS and I will respond. H...

I'm currently reading in anticipation of April, and it looks like there's going to be another love triangle. Several more love triangles. Their reactions, if they'd known then what puberty had in store. (Image credit) Sigh. I do like love triangles -- sometimes. Everything in moderation. I've read plenty of books that don't have a love triangle, too. But Eternity had a love triangle, even though the main character tries to pretend it doesn't exist. The Lord of Opium also ended up having one, albeit a very unusual one. I'm also really hesitant to read Throne of Glass  because I know there's a love triangle in that as well, and it plays a central part in the story. Even Fire and Hemlock had a sort-of love triangle. More like a love Twister. That one was weird. The love triangles I see most often are:   Girl torn between obvious right choice and bad boy. The girl usually has some kind of savior complex that makes her fall for the bad boy...

Whew! Thank you to everyone who recommended some books for me to read and review this coming April. I still have a couple of spaces to fill, and my list has changed a little bit. I've started, but...this is quite the list. I'll get as far as I can. If nothing else, this has forced me to read a lot more than I normally would be reading right now. Here are some mini-reviews and thoughts, in case I don't have time later. Have finished: Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones: Fairy Tale Retelling/urban fantasy This one was good, but...weird. In a surreal way. It took me a while to figure out what the ending meant. Also, the undercurrent of pedophilia was icky. Tom is set up as a father figure for Polly from the beginning, but then she has a crush on him, and he turns into a love interest after she's 19. And he says "at least I can ask you now," implying that he's had feelings for this underage girl for years. It wouldn't be so bad except that Tom...

Hey, I remember when I used to do these regularly. WUW is hosted by Jaime Morrow. What I'm reading Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones is everything I hoped it would be. :) I am also reading various academic sources I need for my senior project. Next up on my TBR is, well... this post should explain it. I'm doing the #AtoZChallenge in April, but with book reviews. Which means I have 26 books to read between now and then. I still need some recommendations, so please feel free to drop off a book on that post! Also, CP's, I swear I have not forgotten you. I am working on your stuff. Very slowly. But it is happening.  What I'm writing Contracted got another 1k added to it last week. I have had almost no time to work on my non-college, non-work writing. Part of the problem is that now that there's no immediate threat to my MCs, it's harder to write. Faster-paced sections are always easier.   The Book is coming along well in re-writes. I am lazily not w...

As I said in my last post , I will be doing the #atozchallenge this April -- with a twist. I will write a book review each day.  Next step: find 26 books to review, one for each letter of the alphabet. They have to be books I haven't read yet. Also, examiner.com requires members to publish one article minimum per month to retain active status. I've recently read The Republic of Thieves, Eternity, and something else, the title of which escapes me right now. I'll review those in the months between now and April, as well as books I've read before. But for April, I need a reading list asap. *cracks knuckles* Here's what I have so far: Apollo Academy by Kimberly P. Chase Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas Double Dead by Chuck Wendig Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King Fragments by Dan Wells Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson H Iscariot by Tosca Lee Jack 1939 by Francine Matthews Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson The Lo...