Laura's blog

I got a blog award!!! More than that, I got a blog award for one of my favorite things -- comments!!! Brooke R. Busse, a young writer at Paper Mountain (a blog I really enjoy) gave me this award. Head over and check out her blog. :) Seriously, comments are my favorite thing about blogging. I can scream into the void all day, but I'd much prefer to have a conversation. Comments are important. Without discussion, I don't really see the point of blogging. That's one of the things I liked so much about NaNoWriMo -- the forums. In blogging, I've encountered a bit of an attitude of, "Well if you disagree, then just get off my blog! I only want 'you're fantastic and all your opinions are gold!'" comments. Yeah, no. As much as, "I loved this! I want to read more!" comments make me smile in self-satisfaction, I like comments with a little more depth. I also try to leave comments with a little more depth. Why did I love this post? What ...

This year, I made a resolution that I was going to read as few books for fun as possible -- the better to focus on the chaos of college. Well, I'm miserable. The only "for fun" book I brought along was Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, and I've already finished it. I'm itching for new books to read. I'll have to wait until Monday for the library to open, sadly. Specifically, I'm dying to read: Ahh! Look at those costumes!!! The Republic of Thieves is the sequel to Red Seas Under Red Skies , and what with the way that one ended, I need to read the sequel. It's not a want anymore. It is a NEED. RSUR was a fantastic second book, but the ending was just...depressing. While The Lies of Locke Lamora could be read and enjoyed by itself, Red Seas Under Red Skies is clearly a part of a series that is meant to continue. So far, my only complaint about the series is that amazing characters from the first book got dropped for the second. That ...

I feel like a zombie lately.* Symptoms manifest most commonly in first period music theory class. Pale skin. Dark, baggy circles under my bloodshot eyes. Slack-jawed drooling. Blank stares. Groaning "Uhhhh...." in response to questions and conversation. Always looking for brains, more brains, brainsbrainsbrains. (I hear you're supposed to have those in college.) I think I'm so sleep-deprived that my body and brain are staging a revolt. Hence the zombie-like symptoms. Not strange, then, that I'm thinking of the zombie apocalypse when I should be sleeping. If the zombie apocalypse happens, we're all screwed. But not for the reason you probably think. You see, we have nuclear plants all around the country. Maintenance of these plants is performed by highly trained crews of professionals who have to meet extremely high standards. For example -- radiation diving. It's a thing. Divers repair and maintain the parts of nuclear plants that are underwater -- i...

This blogpost is going to be something of a PSA, inspired by Kiersten White and Ilana at Mommy Shorts. (They're both pregnancy PSA's, but no, I'm not pregnant.) Mainly, I'm writing this because I don't want other people to do the same bad things that I have done. What's the phrase? "If you can't be a good example, then be a warning." Ahem. I hereby acknowledge my hypocrisy before you even read this. I'm working on it, OK? Anyway, it's my blog and I can write what I want! Nyah. Ahem. So. Down to business: I went to the doctor yesterday. Wait, let me repeat that. I went to the doctor yesterday, instead of ignoring my symptoms in the hope that they'll go away, or in the delusion that I can take care of them myself. I know no one wants to go to the doctor, but I have been practically pathological about it to the point where it's almost self-destructive. To give an example: One time in high school, I knew my parents would take...

This may be the best idea for a blogfest I've stumbled across yet. Mina Lobo, a follower of mine and a romance writer at Some Dark Romantic , is approaching her first blogaversary! To celebrate, she's hosting the Resurrection Blogfest . You can still sign up until Wednesday, November 7, 2012. The idea is that during that first year of blogging, it's hard to build your audience. Your favorite posts languish with no comments. People don't really read your blog yet, so your start-up posts with all those brilliant thoughts get neglected. Doomed to a dusty grave in some obscure corner of cyberspace. The Resurrection Blogfest is an opportunity to resurrect some of your posts from your first year of blogging! A blast from the past, as it were. I'm really excited, myself -- although I will admit, some of the stuff my overenthusiastic first-time-blogger 18-year-old self wrote makes me wince. :P There's also a contest and a giveaway, judged by Mina and her lo...

I've discovered a miraculous new writing trick this summer. Whenever I'm feeling stalled on a project -- be it short story, longer WIP, or even a poem -- I force myself to write three sentences. Or, in the case of poetry, three lines. Three sentences isn't much. So it's pretty easy to do, no matter how frustrated and stalled and emotionally strung out I am. "Just three sentences, and I can stop. C'mon. Not that hard." And if I honestly can't think of anything else to write after period #3, I allow myself to put down that project...until I have to write another three sentences, of course. However, that doesn't happen very often. The three-sentence trick often gets the wheels turning just enough to launch me into pages and pages of writing. It's a great way to trick your own brain into thinking you're not going to write very much. It's just enough to get you started, to ignite the "OMG I forgot I actually love doing this!...

I had quite the interesting conversation with my mother on my way to work yesterday. I am currently stage managing for a production of Shakespeare's Richard III. Stage managing isn't all that different from babysitting in some ways...except that the actors never try to redecorate the bathroom with poop. At least, not yet. Before you ask, no, I don't get paid. Not in money. Also, that's not really any of your business (but I am getting to my point in a minute, I swear). So why do anything -- if not for the money? A million reasons. Job experience. Internship credit. Because I love the theater (and Richard III ). Because it gets me out of the house this summer, even though it's not a paying job. Because I can put it on my growing resume. Even because other opportunities for employment might come out of this, directly or indirectly? Well, yeah. All that. But mainly because I've decided that theater is going to be my career. I am going to work in the the...