Adventures in Life and Books

Review: Mastiff

2012-02-03T03:52:00.001-08:00

Book Name: Mastiff: A Tortall Legend

Series: Beka Cooper (book 3)

Author: Tamora Pierce
Publisher(s): Random House

Format: Hardback

Genre(s): Fantasy

ISBN: 978-0-375-81470-9

Release Date: October 25, 2011

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The long awaited for third book of Beka Cooper by Tamora Pierce was released late in October of 2011. Many people had this as one of the must reads for this year and upon finishing it... it did not disappoint.

The beginning of the book starts out on a low note with the death of Beka’s fiance. The emotions from this loss play a vital roll through the rest of the story as well. But, to take her mind off of such, she and her partner Tunstall, along with her hound Achoo, are given a secretive assignment which takes them out of the city. They quickly find out there are very few people they can trust due to the sensitivity of the investigation. A time or two it causes stress among companions who are old and trusted and new ones.

The language is absolutely wonderful and the scenes with which Tamora Pierce paints are vivid. Her fight scenes are very clear to follow and enjoyable to picture in your head as you read. Some are slightly graphic, but this is a book for teens and up at the very earliest. While the book has a teen reading level, adults will find it also a page turner and unable to put down.

While a slightly longer book, every page is jam packed with either description of events or description of the characters growth. There is never a dull moment and the quirky dialogue will have the reader laughing out loud at times, while at others, wishing to strangle someone.

Tamora Pierce is a wonderful writer and brings to life the world of Tortall within these pages. She has done so in the past with her other books and hopefully this will not be the last.

View all my reviews

Review: The Alloy of Law

2011-11-21T14:30:00.001-08:00

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few months ago it came across Twitter and Facebook that Brandon Sanderson’s new book was coming out in November, and if you acted quickly enough you could even get him to sign one for you. This was something that I could not pass up with both my husband and I being fans of the Mistborn series. I ordered it and having that securely done completely forgot about it. Then, on November 8th, a package arrived that was book sized and after fighting with the wrapping on it (three layers, plus tape!) I was able to reveal which book I had ordered.

While it was for the both of us, I was able to read it before my husband and I have to say... Brandon Sanderson did not disappoint me. The story has the same allomantic properties and theories as the first three Mistborn books, but this one takes place 300 years after the original trilogy. With this fact, one of the great things Brandon Sanderson did was include technology advances. Within the story you find that automobiles are brand new, people are just receiving electrical lights within their homes and replacing candles. There are trains coming and going as normal transportation. The world has changed from the first Mistborn books and the reactions of the people living within that time period to the changes echo that of people in our world when these same changes happened.

Within the book there are also sections of newspapers which express what is happening within the main city. While some pieces of information are conveyed through the telling of the story, these pieces also hold short little stories or ads, which add small details to the world Brandon Sanderson has created and grown. There is even some stories which, unless you read, you will not understand parts in the story itself.

The story itself is very classic and easy to follow along. The allomantic powers are similar and yet different from the original trilogy and also show some slight metamorphosing from the original metals. There are also a couple of metals which are used in this stand alone, which were not used in the original trilogy.

All in all a wonderful read and great addition to the Mistborn books. The ending leaves the opportunity for Mr. Sanderson to write another book, but as of now it appears to be a stand alone. If you have not seen Fantasy Factions interview with Brandon Sanderson, please take a moment and check it out at: http://fantasy-faction.com/2011/brandon-sanderson-interview.

View all my reviews

(S)mythology

2011-10-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

When contacted about doing an interview with Jeremy Tarr on his debut book (S)mythology, there were quite a few emotions. Excitement that someone had purposefully wished for me to do one for them, but also being scared that I was not going to like the book. But, I made my list of questions and while I felt bad that I had not finished the book by the time I had conducted the interview, I was not worried about not liking the book any longer.

Taking from the classic stories about Gods and Goddesses Jeremy wrote a modern story about a girl who was born from the sea and was lost to her parents. The life of a girl who did not know what her past had held walked through her future with eyes only partially open. As she found the disadvantages her life held for her she struggled through them and showed the strength that a God would be proud to have his daughter hold.

Not only are there witches who change their ways, the main character struggles through a life she does not understand and comes out strongly by the end. With the inclusion of the long truthful saying that “Love is Blind” and taken to a different extreme.

But, lets also not forget the magnificent illustrations done by Katy Smail. They are unique and while often sad, fit the storyline so very well. When the question was brought to Jeremy Tarr if he had told her which images to provide he had said for the most part no. She had read the storyline and then provided images that popped to her while she was reading. Her illustrations showed the extra that, while not necessarily needed, improved upon the story all the more.

While not a long book there is so much that happens within it that providing a review of the book without giving anything wonderful away is nearly impossible. Each page held something that was looked forward to from the page previous. The story included love, death, right, wrong, family, struggles, and so much more.

No, you probably have not heard of Jeremy Tarr before, but if this book shows anything of his talent, I cannot wait to see other things coming from him. When I spoke to him during his book signing he told of a graphic novel in the works along with other things in the works with the illustrator Katy Smail, the illustrator of (S)mythology.

NaNoWriMo Event

2011-09-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, Family, and Righteous Supporters,

On November 20, the Office of Letters and Light will be bringing together the most mighty of endurance novelists for an event that will define our generation forever.

I'm speaking, of course, of National Novel Writing Month's Night of Writing Dangerously. It's a write-a-thon, and it will take place at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco. I will be there, writing my heart out and raising money for the Office of Letters and Light, NaNoWriMo's parent nonprofit.

Attendees like me must raise $250 to get in the door, and from there, a rich array of prizes, delicious food, and sumptuous writing time awaits. But this is not about me getting a treat-filled night of literary abandon. This is about children and adults getting the encouragement, structure, and inspiration they need to achieve their creative potential. Proceeds from the event will fund National Novel Writing Month's free creative writing programs in hundreds of schools and communities around the world.

The Office of Letters and Light does inspiration like nobody else (did I mention I'm writing an entire novel this November?). And on their behalf, I am asking you to donate.

This is an opportunity that will help me get a novel written in a short amount of time and will help push me into finishing it. November starts a marathon of writing for many people where we all write 50,000 words which is equivalent to a short novel. With this event it will give me the final push for the month along with allowing me to collaborate with other authors and have people backing me and helping me during the event.

Also, I will let you touch my raffle prizes if I win some.

Thank you for supporting me in my novel-writing quest, and for helping the Office of Letters and Light create a more engaged and inspiring world.

Kickstarter - A Polaroid Adventure in Marrakesh, Morocco

2011-08-25T13:08:00.001-07:00

Some of you may have seen this before, but the artist has FIVE DAYS left to earn the amount of money she needs to go on her dream trip. I am pulling for her because she is a friend, yes, but also because she is a FANTASTIC artist and deserves this chance. Please donate even a dollar and it will help her on her way.

One of the great things about Social Networking is I am able to meet wonderful new people and introduce others to these wonderful people. I have had the great fortune of knowing a few artists before I even began to write this blog and their skill and beauty has grown through the years and it is wonderful to be a part of that growth. One of the great things about having a blog like this is I can share with you all the wonderful people I have met through the years and also help them out with projects they may be doing or at least get their information out there.
I have had the good fortune to have known Briana Morrison before I really even got into doing these blogs and I have watched her work grow and become more of who she is through her Etsy.com store "The Dizzy Pixie". She recently posted on her Etsy.com store and on her Facebook of an excursion she is wishing to undertake which she needs some help on.
Three of her mentors: Susannah Conway, Amanda Gilligan, and Jen Altman, are a part of a 12 like-minded group who, for a week, will be roaming Marrakesh, Morocco and documenting their experience. They will have workshops and work with one another to grow their talents and share their gifts with each other in hopes to be able to share the experience and their talents with all of us.
Brianna has already taken it into her own hands to be able to attend this excursion in February 2012 by putting down her $500 deposit. She is asking me and anyone else to help her on the rest of the expenses. She has started a Kickstarter project and is asking to raise $5,000 which will cover air fare, the workshops, film, and other material she will use once she comes back from this magnificent journey to put it all together into an exhibit she wishes to share with all, up and down California.
You do not need to break the bank to help her out on her dream, it only takes $1 to donate and if you share this information with others we can get her out to Morocco and help her with her dream. If you do not have the means to donate, please share this information on your Blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Email, etc. Every little bit of money will help.

Great Imaginations: A Huge M.R Mathias Giveaway! 3 winners, 9 books! Signed paperbacks!

2011-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Wonderful opportunity to a great Giveaway. Three winners and NINE books! Check it out:

Thanks to M.R. Mathias, I have another great giveaway to offer you. Let me tell you a little bit about him first, just in case you are unaware who he is. He is an indie fantasy author with a HUGE fanbase. He is the author of two great fantasy series, The Wardstone Trilogy, and The Dragoneers. Book 2 of the Dragoneers Series, Cold Hearted Son of a Witch, will be out in September. I am a huge fan and have read all of his fantasy novels that he has put out so far.

Go to the Great Imaginations website to enter into this wonderful Giveaway!

Interview with Jeremy Tarr author of (S)mythology

2011-07-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Tarr, debut author of (S)mythology, will be doing two book signings in the Sacramento area come Saturday, July 30th. But, before he sits for hours signing books he sat and answered a few questions about his book and about who he is.

Thank you Jeremy Tarr for taking the time in sharing a few minutes of your time in answering some questions about yourself and about your book, (S)Mythology. I know my readers will enjoy this interview immensely.

Question 1: Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself and how it came about that you wrote (S)Mythology?

In the Autumn of 2004, I fell completely in love with a girl – head-over heels, violins-playing, clichéd “in love.” She was going through a rather tough period in her life, so I wrote a short story for her called “A Tale for Sophie” to cheer her up. That story consisted of much of the first Act of (S)mythology. I started writing it on a Friday night and I’d finished it by Monday morning. I spent the next several days drawing illustrations for it and gave it to her by the end of the week.

Question 2: What is (S)Mythology about and who do you believe will enjoy it?

At heart, it’s a fairy tale about love and the mythology that we interweave into the process of falling in and out of love. But because it’s a fairy tale, it’s also about witches and sorcerers and devils and heroes and villains and mermaids.

I think the book can be enjoyed by anyone from ages 10 to 110 with any sort of longing for whimsy and a liking of the fantastic.

Question 3: Where did the idea come from, to have such a tragic occurrence happen if someone looks at her?

I blatantly ripped it off from Medusa. No doubt, I’ll be expecting a lawsuit from her shortly.

Question 4: Did you know Katy Smail before the project or did the project bring you together?

I was shown Katy’s work by a friend of mine in 2007. If it’s possible to fall in love with illustrations, I did right then and there. She was living in Edinburgh at the time and I was in Los Angeles. We wrote back and forth. I’d send her short stories and she’d send me illustrations. We share a lot of the same loves and inspirations, so our work seemed to instantly connect. I brought (S)mythology to her in December of 2008, by that point she had moved to Brooklyn. We worked on it through all of 2009 and we didn’t actually meet each other face to face until last January in the dead of freezing winter in the East Village in Manhattan. We drank gin and talked for hours.

Question 5: Had you always wanted to have illustrations in your book or did that come later?

As I mentioned earlier, I’d originally created my own (somewhat crude) illustrations for the book – so I always knew it needed them. But it wasn’t until I saw Katy’s work that I knew it not only needed them, but they had to be hers!

Question 6: Was there any other consideration to location for this story or was London a serious part of the story?

I was living in London when I wrote the book, so it just came about naturally.

Question 7: Now that your book has been published and been out for a few months have you gotten used to being a published author? or is it still surreal?

Writing is such a private and lonely thing, that it’s a bit weird when others – strangers – read what I’ve written. Until now, all the characters in the book lived exclusively in my brain and they had their adventures and conversations up there – it’s a bit schizophrenic, really – but now they’ve popped out and people read about them, so it feels very odd for strangers to know who my imaginary friends are.

Question 8: Was writing one of those things you had always wanted to do? Had you always wanted to be published?

I’ve written for as long as I can remember. It’s one of those things that have always made me happy.

Question 9: And just to get to know you a little bit better, If you had a yard sale tomorrow for all but 3 of your belongings, what 3 items would you absolutely keep?

There are so many practical things that I’d have to keep, like my phone and laptop. And I wouldn’t sell my underwear as I wouldn’t want shoppers rummaging around through my unmentionables. My father gave me a fountain pen that I would have to keep. And I’d also keep my grandfather’s pocket-watch and my other grandfather’s wristwatch. That’s more than 3, isn’t it? Let’s sell the underwear then!

Question 10: When you aren’t writing, what authors do you like to read and did any of them inspire you to write (S)Mythology?

My favorite author is Anthony Burgess, specifically Earthly Powers, the Enderby series and Kingdom of the Wicked, but he didn’t inspire any part of the book. I’d say the books that most inspired (S)mythology are Alice in Wonderland, The Little Prince and Master and Margarita. Some of Terry Southern’s nonsensical insanity may have rubbed off in the book occasionally as well.

Question 11: Are there any books you are currently reading? Which books are your top favorites? And what authors would you recommend to people who read your book (S)Mythology?

I go through phases where I read a book a week and then I don’t read anything for a couple of months. I’m currently slogging through Tropic of Cancer because it’s one of those books you’re supposed to read. I just recently finished Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton and Augustus by John Williams. Patrick Hamilton and John Williams are two of the most underappreciated writers of the 20^th Century. Everyone ought to read Hangover Square by Hamilton and Stoner by Williams – they’re unbelievable, out of this world, mind-shatteringly amazing! There aren’t enough adjectives to describe how amazing they are.

Question 12: I know a lot of Fantasy writers love to play Dungeons and Dragons or like to participate in Role Playing Games, are you one of those writers and which games if so?

I’ve actually never played a role playing game in my life. Though I did go to the Renaissance Faire a couple months ago. When I was a kid, I was always more into comic books than role playing fantasy. I used to be obsessed with comic books – mostly the villains: I always found them more interesting. Especially Dr. Octopus, the Red Skull and the Penguin. Batman was the only superhero I liked – mainly because of the Tim Burton movie. All of the other superheroes I thought were ridiculous: too gumdrop, go-get-‘em, goody-two-shoes.

Question 13: There are a lot of my readers who are writers and have the dream to be published one day, what are your words of wisdom to them?

You will meet rejection and you will meet failure, and it will hurt like hell – but writing is one of those things that some people just have to do. We’re like drug addicts. So, you keep going, like the last line of The Great Gatsby, “so we beat on, boats against the current…” That’s maybe a little cynical – but I would say, don’t worry about being published, just worry about writing well. Don’t try to please anyone but yourself. And, it’s a cliché, but you mustn’t give up.

Question 14: Has your life changed at all since you published your book and how?

Not really. Sometimes I get fan mail – that’s new.

Question 15: Are there any other books brewing in that brain of yours and will they be similar to (S)Mythology or are you going to try something different?

I’ve finished writing a book that will be part novel and part graphic novel. I’m working on it with one of my oldest friends, Louis Pieper, who’s a comic book artist. The novel is written and Louis has designed all of the characters, and now we meet weekly at a pub to thumbnail the actual boards. It’s completely different than (S)mythology and is about mobsters, terrorists, musicians and fashion models.

Katy and I have discussed a few ideas, as well, as we both want to work together again. I’m also about two chapters into something new, but I really don’t know what it is yet.

Question 16: Do you have a process for writing and can you describe it to us?

One of my favorite lines from Alice in Wonderland is when the King of Hearts instructs Alice on how to read a poem by saying, “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” That’s pretty much how I write.

Question 17: Do you believe writing is a skill or a talent? Do you have any suggestions to beginning writers which will help them on the path to becoming published?

I think the writing aspect is a bit of a skill – you can learn by writing and writing and writing some more. You can be taught, or you can teach yourself, how to string together some interesting sentences. I think storytelling is more of a talent. Scholars can debate on and on as to whether or not JK Rowling or Stephanie Meyer or Dan Brown are good writers – are their prose beautiful and meaningful and substantive? – but it’s undeniable that they have a certain amount of genius to be able to tell stories that can completely captivate millions and millions of people across a wide swath of ages and races and socio-economic statuses. And when the talent of storytelling and the skill of well-honed and beautiful writing come together, that’s when you get the best kind of book: that’s when you get that rare thing that goes on the list of “classics.”

Question 18: Was there anything that had to hit your proverbial cutting room floor when you were working on (S)Mythology, which you really wish you could have incorporated better? And will you use it in another book down the road?

There were a few chapters that were tossed – some bits about a doppelganger, something else about a strange snowstorm in Los Angeles – I have no idea if those things will pop up again, but probably not, because I don’t think they were all that interesting.

Question 19: Is there anything else that I have forgotten which you would love my readers to know about your book or about yourself?

Let me think… Oh! I know…. I’m not English. Some people think I’m English. I wrote (S)mythology as if I were an Englishman. But if people want to think I’m English, I’m very happy to indulge them in their beliefs.

Again, thank you for this opportunity. I hope your trip to California is safe and enjoyable. We will see you in Sacramento on July 30th at 4p and in Davis at 7:30p.

Sacramento Book Signing
Date: July 30, 2011
Time: 4:00p - 5:30p
Where: The Avid Reader at the Tower
1600 Broadway, Sacramento
Telephone: 916-441-4400

Davis Book Signing
Date: July 30, 2011
Time: 7:30p
Where: The Avid Reader
617 Second Street, Davis
Telephone: 530-758-4040

Kickstarter project for artist to go to Morocco to grow

2011-07-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about Social Networking is I am able to meet wonderful new people and introduce others to these wonderful people. I have had the great fortune of knowing a few artists before I even began to write this blog and their skill and beauty has grown through the years and it is wonderful to be a part of that growth. One of the great things about having a blog like this is I can share with you all the wonderful people I have met through the years and also help them out with projects they may be doing or at least get their information out there.

I have had the good fortune to have known Briana Morrison before I really even got into doing these blogs and I have watched her work grow and become more of who she is through her Etsy.com store "The Dizzy Pixie". She recently posted on her Etsy.com store and on her Facebook of an excursion she is wishing to undertake which she needs some help on.

Three of her mentors: Susannah Conway, Amanda Gilligan, and Jen Altman, are a part of a 12 like-minded group who, for a week, will be roaming Marrakesh, Morocco and documenting their experience. They will have workshops and work with one another to grow their talents and share their gifts with each other in hopes to be able to share the experience and their talents with all of us.

Brianna has already taken it into her own hands to be able to attend this excursion in February 2012 by putting down her $500 deposit. She is asking me and anyone else to help her on the rest of the expenses. She has started a Kickstarter project and is asking to raise $5,000 which will cover air fare, the workshops, film, and other material she will use once she comes back from this magnificent journey to put it all together into an exhibit she wishes to share with all, up and down California.

You do not need to break the bank to help her out on her dream, it only takes $1 to donate and if you share this information with others we can get her out to Morocco and help her with her dream. If you do not have the means to donate, please share this information on your Blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Email, etc. Every little bit of money will help.

(S)mythology book signing in Sacramento and Davis

2011-07-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

It is always a pleasure to meet someone who has the same dreams and hopes as you might have. It is especially wonderful to find someone who has been able to accomplish some of those dreams. The author of Sacramento Fantasy Literature Examiner has been given the opportunity for an interview of one such author and while that interview is put together here is a small taste of who this wonderful author is and what he has accomplished.

Jeremy Tarr is a writer who came out with his debut book in January of this year, entitled (S)mythology. Described as "Charming, poignant and absurdly funny, (S)mythology is a contemporary fairy-tale that whisks you on a wild adventure from the streets of London to the far reaches of the globe from haunted islands to African villages, from the peaks of the Alps to the depths of the Underworld." The style of writing is reminiscent of when stories were told to one another rather than read. Action moves quickly and whisks you away into the story and into the life of one Ms. Sophie. A twenty-one year old who has her life turned on its head when her adoptive father dies suddenly and she had not stepped foot out of the house she had grown up in within the past sixteen years.

Mr. Tarr will be in Sacramento and Davis come July 30, 2011 for book signings. The interview will be posted here about who and what makes Jeremy Tarr, the writer, tick in the very near future. Subscribe to this authors posts to keep up to date on local Fantasy writers and books.

Sacramento Book Signing
Date: July 30, 2011
Time: 4:00p - 5:30p
Where: The Avid Reader at the Tower
1600 Broadway, Sacramento
Telephone: 916-441-4400

Davis Book Signing
Date: July 30, 2011
Time: 7:30p
Where: The Avid Reader
617 Second Street, Davis
Telephone: 530-758-4040

Review - Tiassa by Steven Brust

2011-06-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

BOOK NAME:	Tiassa
AUTHOR:	Steven Brust
PUBLISHER(S):	Tor Books
FORMATT:	Paperback
GENRE(S):	Fantasy
RELEASE DATE:	April 2011

The latest of Vlad Taltos books has finally reached our hands and if my husband and mine’s reactions are anything to go off of… it is about time! We love Steven Brust’s style of writing due to the fact the characters are not stock characters. Vlad is so much more than just a character, he has true emotions along with a wit that seems to get him into trouble one way or another. But, Mr. Brust also does not make the struggles of the characters abstract; we know exactly what is going on with the characters as they themselves voice their frustrations or at least voice to their familiars their frustration.

Another thing which makes these books absolutely fantastic is the world in which he places his characters. It is not your Tolkien fantasy world, nor is it your Camelot, it is its own creature. Speaking of creatures, while he may borrow from our world, none of the creatures which are in his books are anywhere near anything that has been made as of yet. The latest of his books, Tiassa, is a continuation of a series which he has written which references a cycle that the characters deal with, but which are also actual creatures which can be found in this world. A Tiassa, for example, is a tiger type of cat with wings (examine the cover for a better idea). There is also Jhereg, which just happen to be our main character’s familiars; these are venomous lizards with wings.

This particular story comes in three parts, the first part is told by our dear Taltos and takes place back in time from the other books to when Vlad has just bested fate and not only stayed alive, but also became engaged to one of the assassins who had been sent after him. The story is a very typical Taltos story in which he runs a small part of the town and while owning a few businesses has a problem arise which could risk his status of living. He comes up with an ingenious plan which at the end of the story works perfectly, but we are only told parts and pieces of it as they are need to know. The bantering between characters and his familiars is hysterical at times and dumbfounding at others.

The other two sections of the book take us back to the style which is found in the Khavreen trilogy where the storytellers is a historian. While this can become quite dry at times the strange colloquial keeps one from wishing to put the book down. For while it is from a historians point of view there is much action and especially mystery. For some, like myself, the question of how true are these facts we are being told. Especially when it comes to addressing characters we have been introduced to in other of his books. For example, there is a scene in which Vlad Taltos is speaking with another and the speech patterns which are given to him are definitely not the same ones we recognize from the first part of the book. That unrealistic telling lends us the uncertainty of how events actually took place and with the first part can lead us to put things together differently than how the historian is putting them together.

Review - Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

2011-05-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

BOOK NAME: Alanna: The First Adventure
AUTHOR: Tamora Pierce
PUBLISHER(S): Random House (USA) Scholastic (UK)
FORMATT: Paperback
GENRE(S):Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: 1983

After reading Tamora Pierce’s most recent book Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection of Tales, I wanted to reread her other pieces. Of course that means starting at the beginning and what a beginning it is.

The basic story is a 10 year old twin boy and girl decide to go against their father’s wishes and do what they want to with their lives. The boy was supposed to go to the palace and learn to be a knight while the girl was to go off to a nunnery to learn to be a Lady and be married off to someone at court. Instead, the boy goes off to learn to be a sorcerer while the girl goes to the palace in her brother’s stead to become a knight.

You maybe wondering how they planned to pull this off, but these two were identical twins with the difference at 10 years old only being the length of their hair. Alanna cut her hair and joined the other pages at the palace. It wasn’t until a couple of years things began to become difficult to pull off this charade; Alanna began to come into her womanhood. After cursing her fate she found out a way of hiding this fact as well.

The friendships she makes while a page are strong, but she worries if her secret comes out they will hate her for lying to them. Through the story you learn of different things she does to keep this secret as deep down as possible. A line which sticks out when one of the pages asks her, “have you thought that your friends may like you for being different?” and she scoffs it off as impossible and as the book ends this possibility comes to light. She learns if this could be possible or if she will be shunned for lying to her peers and to the kingdom.

The story is basic in the idea of women only being allowed to be one type of person and not being allowed to do a “man’s” job. Tamora Pierce tackles this stereotype and deals with as a young woman growing up in a society such as that.

A wonderful book for teenage girls and is a fairly easy read. But, still fun as an adult to read as well even as a quick read to refresh one’s mind. I highly recommend it for any women who feel they are being compared wrongly to males or even just as a book of a young woman trying to find her place in a gender strict society.

Giveaway - The Forgotten Locket

2011-05-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

Nichole Giles is giving away a copy of The Forgotten Locket which isn't even out yet! Go check out her blog and join it to win. She is very enthusiastic about her reviews of books and this one is just the same. What are you waiting for... Go check it out... oh right, you need the link :D http://nicholegiles.blogspot.com/2011/05/scorching-june-another-hot-release-and.html

Social Networking and Writing

2011-05-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about the internet is the vast amount of people you can meet without ever stepping outside of your house. With being on Twitter I have met some extraordinary people and people I probably would never have met otherwise. Due to this fact the connections I have met with other authors has been fun and rewarding. I only have recently, as in the last few months, even started writing regularly to this blog and even started up my own Facebook page. Now, granted, I have more followers on Twitter than on either my blog (though thank you for you who do follow me) or on my Facebook page, but I am sure those things will slowly grow as I, myself, continue to write.

I started this whole adventure by saying yes to Fantasy Faction, which has taken off quickly. From there I joined up with Examiner and have been writing similar things to what I was writing for Fantasy Faction. None of this really pays me (though I do get some money from people checking out Examiner), but it is more for the experience and to get my name out there.

My husband has really no idea on how to use any of this for social networking. He is a computer programer, but does not have a Facebook page, a Twitter, or even had a MySpace when that was the thing to have. He just does not get in to this nearly as much as I do, but his comment to me when I asked him if he was proud of what I had accomplished in just a few short months was, "I don't get this social networking thing, but it seems to be working for you, so keep it up" which was a wonderful feeling.

There seems to be many tricks to make sure you are followed by people you want to be followed by and to start gaining a wonderful following, but I more care if they find what I am saying interesting and wish to follow me for that reason. I don't want people just to follow me because I am following some large names. I want people interested in what I am saying and for who I am.

The next step I want to take is actually to start to write again and perhaps post small snippets about what I am writing to have people interested in it before it is even published. I have seen many people do this for second, third, and seventh books/novels, but rarely do I see someone who is just starting out. I want to have people follow me from the very beginning of the birth of the idea and see it grow into the book or novel which is put out onto the shelves of a bookstore and made into a file for eReaders.

I hope you who have read this entire post will be some of those who will follow me through that journey and help me along when I stumble. Follow me on my FB page and on Twitter as well to make sure you are around for everything. And if you are in the Sacramento (CA) area, check out my posts on the Examiner as well or if you just want to know some great books I have read, check out my posts on Fantasy Faction.

Lucky 13 fantasy books to read this summer

2011-05-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

With Summer practically here, school ending, and free time finally around the corner, why not fill it with some adventure and fantasy. Here are books recommended by Sacramento residents for that summer pile to read. If you read any of them or something different, send HallerWriter@GMail.com an Email to let her know your thoughts.

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
The third novel by Hope. It continues the author's exploration of the themes of Life and Art, by a method already described in the preface of her first novel, Madeline: One of Love's Jansenists (1919). (Summary from Amazon.com)

A Fine and Private Place by Peter S Beagle
This classic, mesmerizing tale from the author of The Last Unicorn is a journey between the realms of the living and the dead, and the eternal power of love. (Summary from Amazon.com)
Corsets & Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances Editor: Trisha Telep
Dark, urban fantasies come to life in the newest collection of Steampunk stories. Young heroes and heroines battle evils with the help of supernatural or super-technological powers. (Summary from Amazon.com)

Bullet by Laurell K Hamilton (Publish date May 31st)
Latest Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. The Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire, wants to enter into a new human body... and the one she has in mind belongs to Anita Blake. (Summary from Amazon.com)
Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton (Publish date June 7th)
A much looked forwarded to Anita Blake story in which word has leaked to Anita Blake that hit men are headed for St. Louis and that she, Jean-Claude, and Richard are the targets. (Summary from Amazon.com)
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
A young adult book which focuses on a girl, Helen Hamilton, at the age of sixteen who has tried to hid how different she is and the fate which brings and takes Lucas Delos from her path.
White Cat (Curse Workers, Book 1) by Holly BlackCassel, the straight kid in a crooked family, is the only one who does not have the curse touch which is an illegal power his entire family has. As his life becomes abnormal with him sleep walking to find out what the white cat has to tell him. He has to deal with his brothers who are being secretive, as well, and is caught up in a con game... can he out-con the conmen of his family.
Red Glove (Curse Workers, Book 2) by Holly BlackAs Cassel starts realizing he is more powerful than he thought he was he also starts realizing how backwards his world is from what he thought was going on. When his oldest brother is murdered the Feds recruit him to find out what actually happened. But, who can he trust when he can't even trust his own memories.
Neverwhere by Neil GaimanWhen helping a bleeding strange girl changes the world of Richard Mayhew he isn't sure what to do. No one knows him, his bank cards don't work, he has become invisible, and a part of London's shadows and darkness. Fallen through the cracks of reality and into the Neverwhere.
The Converted by C.R. Hindmarsh

Dr. Anton Springmann has fled his homeland after his genetic research lands in ruins and he is cast out as a fugitive. But his old enemies pursue him over the seas to New Alania looking to destroy him for his sins. A slight taste of steampunk in a fantasy book brings everything that the wild west could have been.
Tiassa by Steven Brust
The latest in the Vlad Taltos books it brings the comedy only Vlad Taltos can bring in the first section of the book while then flashing back to the Khaavren Trilogy with a more historian telling in the last two sections of the book. The timelines bounce between books and it is recommended to have read the previous books before coming to this one.
Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce
Stories from across the Tortall lands and at least one set in our world. Old and new characters surface within the different stories bringing smiles to the faces of Tamora Pierce's fans. While a lot of the main characters do show in these stories it is a lot of secondary characters which these focus on and it is fun to see how they interact with people and how they have grown since we last saw them. (Review)
Kushiel’s Legacy Series by Jacqueline Carey
A tale about the violent death of an old age and the birth of a new. It is a novel of grandeur, luxury, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers, and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travellers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess...all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine. (Summary from Barnes and Noble website)

Blog Giveaway

2011-05-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Nichole Giles is a wonderful person I found on Twitter who also has a great blog in which she is constantly giving things away for free. She has an awesome giveaway that is ending at midnight tomorrow night and you should definitely get into. Just go to her blog at: http://nicholegiles.blogspot.com/2011/05/in-which-i-vlog-with-elana-johnson-and.html follow her instructions and enter to win some great items.

Friday in Chico has awesome music

2011-05-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about Chico, California is the fact that on a Friday night there is no lack of live music. I came to Chico for a particular performance by a professor of mine, but while I awaited this show I sat in Naked Lounge and heard of at least three other performances I could go and see. There was even a performance in which people were walking around giving away tickets to the first 50 people who were interested.

Live music is a wonderful thing as it brings people together and allows others to perform to a group of people who are friends and people who were introduced to their music in some way shape or fashion. While I sit here listening to Jeb play a slightly sad piece I watch people slowly trickle in and realize I don't know half of them and the other half I know know from going to CSU, Chico. My professor seems to know most of them, but there are some he does not even know. There isn't enough chairs in Bustolini's to accommodate everyone, but people don't seem to mind standing in the back.

Part of the reason for the big turn out, I know, is the fact that my professor, Geoff, has a new CD coming out and this is his "Release Party". He has been planning it for months and we are here to congratulate him and hear some of his new music.

Personally, his music got me through a hard drive I had to do a few years ago when I thought moving from California to Florida would be a good idea. Needless to say I knew all of his songs by heart by the time I arrived in Florida.

Music in any form can be a powerful thing. Live music can be even more powerful as the artist tells a story behind a song they have written or becomes emotional while playing. I personally love live music. If you have a chance go and see... anyone. It is an experience worth participating in. And it doesn't have to be a big band, just someone who enjoys playing, and has a decent voice or can play decently.

Review - Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection

2011-04-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Tamora Pierce has been entertaining teens for years, especially those who are female. Most of her books have avery strong feminine main character who struggles through the world of men to show that they are just as good as any male. Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection of Tales, doesn't focus on any particular character as it plays with many different characters in its many short stories. Many of the main characters are still female, but that is not the purpose of these stories, these stories take characters who are not centralized and puts them in a more center position.

The first short story is called “Student of Ostriches” and while it does not deal with any characters we may know from her other books it is placed in a location we are at least semi-know about. Based in the savannah outside of the Tortall kingdom with a Shang warrior making his presence known in the last third of the story. We are put into a familiar world with unfamiliar people. The basic premise of this story is learning to fight not from a teacher, but from the nature and animals around the main character. She is a mere girl who watches the savannah animals around her and learns ways to fight from them. The end of the story shows how she takes what she learns and puts it into practice to protect the honor of her sister and her family.

The second short story is “Elder Brother” and was hinted about in one of the Immortal Quartets when Mage Numair has to do a devastating bit of magic and turns an enemy into a tree. The knowledge is given that halfway around the world there would be a tree who all of a sudden was a man to keep the balance of nature. This is the story of this tree-man and how he deals with being human. Not only is the story about this, but also about a “boy” who finds him and the challenges of a world who believes females should be hidden behind veils. There are a couple of female characters in this story who show you two different views of women in this world. One wishes to escape and the other embraces it and shows the advantages of being hidden behind a veil.

The final story is completely different and is loosely based on her experience as a house mother in a group home. Showing a different side to her writing. She takes her experience and instead of telling you exactly what happened, compresses it and changes the way she handled it to fit the way her character would have handled situations. She says in her note about the story that what she writes about were similar to things that happened to her, but thankfully they had not happened over only a week long trial as what happens in her story.

While I could go through all of the stories and give you an idea of what is going on in all of them, it just isn’t as fun as actually reading the stories. The one thing these stories did all have in common is making it incessantly hard NOT to pick up Tamora Pierce’s other books again. While it is not necessary to have read all of the other books before reading this one and actually this would make a wonderful introductory book for anyone who has not read the other series yet; it does make understanding what is going on a little easier to understand. There is a story which includes Darklings and if you have not seen what they have done for the kingdom of Tortall, then there is a disconnect of why these blobs are not immediately feared and fought with.

I am a fan of Tamora Pierce and cannot wait for her next book in the Beka Cooper books. It comes out in October of this year and while I await for that one I will reread the rest of her books now that I have a taste of the stories again in my mind. Love it when a book makes me want to read the rest of the series again (and thankfully they are not very long… well most of them).

BOOK NAME:	Tortall and Other Lands : A Collection of Tales
AUTHOR:	Tamora Pierce
PUBLISHER(S):	Random House Children?s Books
FORMATT:	Hardcover
GENRE(S):	Young Adult Fantasy
RELEASE DATE:	February 22, 2011

Defining Fantasy Literature

2011-04-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

I recently was accepted with Examiner.com as the Sacramento Fantasy Literature Examiner. It should be an interesting experience and when trying to figure out my first post I realized that the title was an oxymoron if one thought about it. Because of this, I decided to write my first post on that:

The Genre Fantasy is normally characterized by Elves, Fairies, Dragons, Castles, Princess and Princes, Kings and Queens, and majorly anything to do with Magic. While Literature is more characterized by the classic great works by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Charlotte Bronte, just to name a few. So, how does the title Fantasy Literature work with these two generalizations? The word Literature has taken place many times as a fancier way of saying books or writings, which is, I believe, how these two are going to have to work together with this author's column.

What is most enjoyable about Fantasy books is the vast imagination of the writer and the opening of your own mind as the reader. There are many styles of Fantasy out there from books to video games to live action games to art. Books are one of the ways everyone can enjoy the world of Fantasy and the vastness in which it entails. There is no one way Elves are supposed to look, which is the same with Fairies, and any other mystical creature. There are guidelines, but as with real life humans there are different characteristics to every being and they change between stories and even change between readers. Unless what is being read has pictures the style and characteristics for a mystical creature can be different from one reader to the next.

With the idea of Literature being something to read or even that of the classics the idea that a lot of these stories can transcend the times and still be enjoyed twenty or forty years after they were written holds true. There are many authors who wrote years ago and have passed on, but new readers are picking up their books and enjoying them as much as when they first came out.

This in mind, the following column will deal with books across all times and different sub-genres of Fantasy. There will also be news of Fantasy related book things happening in the Sacramento area, which will include also the surrounding areas.

Review of "Storm Front" by Jim Butcher

2011-04-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

“My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I’m a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I’m the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under ‘Wizards.’ Believe it or not, I’m the only one there. My ad looks like this:

HARYY DRESDEN – WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other
Entertainment”-Page 2 & 3

This is the first in a series of books which brings magic into this world. The idea is it has always been here, but most people just cannot wrap their minds around something they do not understand. Harry is our main character, but he has a few reoccurring characters throughout the different books in the series. One of these is Detective Karrin Murphy who is the Director of Special Investigations in the Chicago Police Department. The two’s relationship is purely professional during this first book and a few times Harry is on the wrong side of Detective Murphy as he tries to hide the disturbing facts of his world. Murphy understands there are things out there that actually go bump in the night, she may not understand or know what those things are, but that is why she has hired Harry to be a consultant on most of her cases. If there is something strange going on, these two will be on the case.

Harry has another side which Detective Murphy knows nothing about, but this is due to the fact that it would be most likely negatively received by her as it would be the same as having served time on death row while somehow getting parole. Harry’s past hangs over him and he has to watch his steps as he investigates the particular murder in this book. It could possibly be conceived as breaking one of the laws of magic which all wizards must follow or be condemned to death. Harry has already missed the executioner’s axe once, but this case could be the one to bring the axe again upon his neck and through it.

Of course, what better than to have a “parole officer” to be looking after Harry for such a disturbance in the balance of magic. Unfortunately, this guy thinks Harry is just a sneaky smart wizard who has figured out how to pull the wool over the eyes of the council. Harry could breathe wrong and could possibly be condemned if it accidentally killed a fly. It is quite entertaining to watch the two “duke” it out, though, and this is only the first of many times Harry has to prove he is not using magic for ill reasons.

The story is well written and Jim Butcher is very good at adding comedy to some very dark and scary scenes. Harry is very human in this series with all the qualities and flaws that come from being so. You will get to love the character and hate the ones who discriminate against him. Once you read Storm Front you will want to pick up the next book Fool Moon because you will want to know what other antics Harry Dresden is going to get into.

And remember:

“Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.” - Page 9

(Posted on Fantasy-Faction.com April 12, 2011)

Life is an Adventure

2011-03-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

As I was driving around town I started to think about how I had changed over the years. From the really depressed and self-absorbed teenager to the confused young adult to the wife that was starting to feel like an actual adult. I then started thinking about being a parent since that is about where I am in life and remembered the old idea of a manual for life. My mother always said that she wished she could just tell me the stuff not to do that made her life hard so I didn't have to go through the same shit. However, that is the sort of things that made her who she is today and if she hadn't gone through those things I wouldn't be the way I am. That is for another post entirely. I wish to more focus on the idea of not being able to learn from a book what life is about.

Reading is one of my favorite things to do. For the longest time I took how I was supposed to act at certain ages from books and tried to put it into my own life. Needless to say, this did not work out so well. There are multiple reasons that this did not work out well for me. One of them being that I was not the characters in the books I was reading. Another being, I had a hard time listening to people tell me how I am supposed to act. Oops. I always wanted to know the books that other people were reading though that made them who they were. There were the girls that had the attitude problems, who never seemed to care how others looked at them. There were really pretty people that actually cared for others, which made them even more irresistible to the opposite sex. All of these different types of people and I had read about every single one of them and yet not been able to pull any of them off as well as the people around me had. For the longest time I thought there was a book out there that I just had not read that explained all of this to me.

But there is no manual to life. It is all trial and error and as I was driving I realized that while we can hope that childhood is where trial and error is and stays, that is surly not true. To this very day every day is a trial and error on how to live. Especially with what others expect out of you. I wish it was not so, or at least I wish others saw it as well and gave a little slack. All you can do is try the hardest that you can to do the best that you can. If you aren't doing that, then you aren't truly living and you are just letting the stream of life carry you on. There will be plenty of time for that sort of thing when you die and you must pass the river of dead to get to whatever awaits you.

I have decided to start looking at life more as an adventure and as life is trial and error they are all minor adventures to the big finale. The big finale being, of course, what happens at the end. It has never been one of those things that I wondered about or was scared about. I just know it is going to come around at some point or another and while I hope it is a very far off thing, I know it can happen at anytime. That is also where a manual would not come in well. What happens if your manual is shorter than everyone else's? You would know then that you would not live the whole time. And if it were a book, could you hold off from flipping to the back or even to the next chapter before that one is done and ruin the surprise that is life?

While there may not be a manual for life and there seems to be no rhyme nor reason either. Life should be an adventure and you should enjoy every minute of it because of it. Don't let the mistakes get you down, learn from them and keep on heading forward. Look back every now and then to know where you have come from, but don't dilly dally upon them too long.
Originally posted on Orble.com March 25th, 2010

Review - His Majesty's Dragon

2011-03-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have been selected as one of the writers for Fantasy Faction, a website which reviews fantasy books, authors, and even has a forum area to talk about many different topics. I had my first review posted on March 12th of this year. I hope you find it interesting and I hope it will give you the wish to pick it up and take a look at the other website.

I was handed this book by my husband and was told that I would like it. I was a little unsure of this since there were many history references along with many battles, which I thought I would become bored with. This turned out to not be the case, however. Yes, there are many references to history as this takes place during the Napoleon wars and mainly focuses on the English side of things. However, the fantasy that is thrown into the story makes the events of history a lot more interesting to read about. It is almost too bad that there were not dragons to make our history more interesting.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik is the first book in the Tremeraire series. Starting , it should be noted the story takes place during the Napoleonic Wars with the English being the main focus. Captain Will Laurence taking the sword of a French Captain who they had just defeated in a battle. At the time Laurence did not understand why the French Captain had engaged them in battle when it was very obvious that the french ship was in bad shape as were the men aboard. It is soon discovered, however, they are carrying a treasure on board which had been worth fighting for… a dragon’s egg. The naval men find the egg to be a wonderful bounty, but are afraid if it should hatch. The aviation department of the military is not looked upon kindly as they seem to be more barbaric in manner than the very polite and respectful naval men, who normally come from better off families. Aviators come from, normally, lower class families and are considered outcasts by the general populace due to the need to seclude themselves to take care of their dragons.

The egg hatches and a black dragon is born into the midst of the naval men. A harnessing of the dragon is supposed to take place, but this dragon is smarter than most dragons and has declined the normal ritual. The naval men unsure what is supposed to be happening look to the captain for his advice and the dragon says he chooses him for his Captain as he would not have anyone else. To Captain and crew this is as if the dragon has just killed him in front of them. But, the Captain accepts his new position and leaves the Navy to raise the dragon who names himself Temeraire.

At first the aerial corp are cold to Laurence because normally you are born into or at least are raised in the aerial corp. It was very abnormal for such an older gentleman to become a part of the corp. However, both Laurence and Termeraire grow through out the book and grow through the obstacles. After participating in a few battles it is soon shown that while Laurence and Termeraire have a different look on how to deal with their new lives they are good at what they have been thrown into. Because of this they soon gain friends in the other captains and their dragons.

As Temeraire grows he is given a crew to take care of him which includes a girl who Laurence did not realize was a girl since she dressed in boy clothes and worked with the boys. Laurence’s upbringing gets in his way in the corp through out the book and he still has trouble with it at the end, but begins to accept how different the naval life and the corp life are different.

There is so much more to tell you about this book and the relationship which Laurence and Temeraire have, but it would be ruining the enjoyment of the book if I told you everything. I strongly recommend this book and the others in the series to anyone who loves characters who grow and seeing how cultures can clash.

I really enjoyed this book due to many factors, but mainly because it was easy to follow while still giving an authentic feel of the accounts to battle. The battle scenes were not stuffy nor were they too long. There were sections which seemed to drag on, but they were necessary for the story and due to the fact of the perspective we are seeing, that of a well-bred naval officer, it makes perfect sense for those scenes to be slightly less entertaining and more stale feeling. There are many more books Naomi Novik has written for this series and I hope you will pick this one up and then continue on further with the others. The changes which both Laurence and Temeraire go through are very interesting and fun to follow.

Petty and Selfish

2011-03-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

While growing up our parents tried their best to prepare us for what there was to come. They knew what had been hard for them and tried to make it less hard for us, but there was alway something that didn't quite make sense.

I have realized over the years that while my parents tried to make everything understandable while I was growing up, it wasn't until I was grown up and I had to deal with those things that I understood. Perhaps it is just due to my learning style of actually doing something rather than learning from just listening, but certain things made no sense or were very difficult for me to understand, which are now fairly simple and ordinary.

I think of when I have kids and how I will deal with that same sort of thing. I will probably do exactly as my parents did and try to make it easier on them, but knowing that it will not work and that they will have to learn for themselves eventually. If we try to hand our children everything then they will be too soft or unable to handle things without us there.

Which brings me to some people I have met in my adult years. I have noticed that there are certain people out there who either got everything that they wanted when they were a child or they just assumed that the world was theirs and that it would be given to them. Now, some of these have learned through the years how to deal with difficult situations but I have seen so many of these people get very petty and act absurd when they do not understand something. It is like they revert to their young teen years or younger and throw a tantrum and want everything handed to them. Normally these people are either house wives or others who are living on someone else's money. I am sure they could work some where if they really tried hard, but I just cannot see them working anywhere, or anywhere for very long.

Which brings me back to one of the things that I said in a previous post: I wish everyone would see that we are all living beings in the same world as each other and I wish we could just help each other out to survive rather than be petty and so petty and selfish. But, I know that human nature does seem to be those two things: petty and selfish, but that does not mean I have to like it or that I have to be a part of it. I try my hardest not to be either of those things and when I realize that I have been I try to make up for it.

Originally Posted on Orble.com March 27th, 2010

Live Like You're Dieing

2011-03-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio today and the line "Live like you're dieing" was said and it got me to thinking about what life would be like if people actually lived as if they were not to wake the next morning. There would be two type of people I think. Those who would be all about themselves and want to do everything and anything to just do it and want people to pay attention to them because they were dieing. Then there would be others who would want to spend all their time with friends and be nice to others because what is the point of being rude and pushy if you are going to die and have to answer for it all soon.

Now I am not saying that all the nice people would be religious and all the non-nice people would be non-religious, however that would be one way of looking at it. However, both my husband and I are non-religious and I know both of us while we would be wanting to do everything and anything, we would also not loose sight of the fact that life happens and why not be nice to those that you deal with on a day to day basis. There is always the chance that you will last another day and have to deal with those people again.

Some people believe that customer service has gone down the drain in this new technology age and there is probably some justice in saying so. However, partially why that is is because no one treats those in customer service like human beings. If something doesn't go perfectly they do not think of the people trying to make it better as human beings but more like broken computers. If we did act as if we were all dieing perhaps we would all be a little nicer and enjoy life a little bit more. Enjoy each other and try to help each other out a little bit more.

Helping others seems to have gone by the wayside through the years and partially I think that is because people think that there will always be a tomorrow and plans must be made. They think they can deal with it later or it will be forgotten in the rush of the every day to day things. However, people's emotions are delicate, even in this harsh non-responsive world. Compassion is always enjoyed rather than the bitterness of a grumpy, egotistical person.

Just food for thought

Posted on Orble.com March 29th, 2010

Realism Bending Life Out of Order

2011-03-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is another one which was written for Orble.com. I was living in Florida and it was definitely where I would consider home.

I haven't been feeling very philosophical lately due to me having way too many realistic things going on in my life. My mother was recently visiting me from California and while she was visiting my husband and I found out that he had received his new job and we are now moving back to California. The past few days have been hard with packing, my birthday, my mother in town, and the fact that my mother and husband don't seem to mesh well for whatever reason. However, with moving and me all of a sudden needing a break from people I have again let my brain adrift and while nothing extraordinary has surfaced the idea of moving and what is considered home has been brought to the forefront.

The old adages goes "Where ever you hang your hat is home" or "Home is where the heart is". These are two different ways of looking at home; one being from the spiritual sense and the other being from a physical or comfort sense. Which one do you normally call home? Do you call being back in the comfort of loved ones, let that be your family now or the family you grew up with, or even the neighbors that you spent all your time with. Or, is home where you come back to after a hard days work and are able to sit back and relax and while there may be something to do around the house you can look around and smile upon what you have?

With moving across the country I have found that while I am quite the loner my need for people is a lot stronger than I thought it was. I miss my family, even if they do drive me crazy, and I miss my friends. I have never had a place that I have called really my own and when I think of a home it seems to be just where-ever my stuff is and where my husband and my cats are. However, one of the things I catch myself doing all the time is when I am embarrassed or just tired of the day is say "I just wish I were home" but when I think of back with my parents or back at what ever apartment I am living in currently I shudder. Not that there is anything to shudder about, but it isn't the comfortable place I really want to be. My "home", as it were, I believe is within my own head and while I have not had the chance to sit back and just let my thoughts drift in quite sometime, that is where I seem to be the most relaxed.

So where is home to you?

Originally posted on April 12th, 2010 on Orble.com

Feelings that Come from The Idea of Home

2011-03-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

I recently moved, again, and have found the feeling of home permeating from this new location more than I have anywhere else. Why that is I have yet to discover, but I am sure over time I will.

Growing up, I was from a small town which and which I was on the outskirts there of on top of it. I had no way of riding my bike into town nor did I even have the courtesy of having a bus stop nearby to take me anywhere. I relied on my parents and my own ingenious to keep my occupied. My parents wonder why it is that I am very introverted and I while I would like to blame my father's own hermit tendencies for this, I know that it has to do more with the idea that I really had no other choice. Being such is not the worst thing in the world, but it does make certain situations hard to maneuver through.

When I moved away from my parents I moved into a small clique of people and have yet to really move away from them. I even married a member of this clique, which, in hindsight, may have been rash, but has not, so far, been a bad thing. He, ironically, is more outgoing than I am even though he did not have anymore advantage of being able to go out into the world than I did. We are both introverts and this sometimes gets into the way of being together and becoming extroverts with each other.

We moved to Florida to try out something different and it showed us a little bit more of who we were. The feeling of not belonging was harsh with us and the idea of being home never once entered either of our minds. This is probably why it took us only ten months to decide that this was a bad choice. It is a choice that I am glad we had gotten to take, but it had not been what we were looking for.

We then moved back to California and while my husband was worried that he had picked out somewhere that I was not going to like... I have loved it the most out of all the places I have ever lived. There is a feeling of home that I have never felt before. I hope I continue to feel this way and am able to stay here for a long time.

That feeling of home is like a warm blanket that I just want to lay in without ever getting up. Sleeping in my bed is the most comfortable I have ever had it be and that is hard to say since my bed is already extremely comfortable. However, there is something about the way the sun hits the cement and the air that is outside. Just a comfort that makes me smile even on days that it is hard for me to smile.

Written on Orble.com May 15th, 2010

Self Esteem in Gamers

2011-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am a "Gamer Chick" and what this means is that I like to play RPGs (Role Playing Games) which I like doing on the computer, as table top games, and as LARP (Live Action Role Playing). One of the things I have noticed from this is that the people who play or associate themselves with these games, especially those who are younger, seem to have a lack of respect or at least self-esteem for themselves. Now, this is not ALL the people who seem to play, as I know a few people who are very good at what they do and are happy individuals, I am more speaking of the ones that while leaving fairly normal lives have the problems with image or social awkwardness. Gamers have been known to be socially awkward no matter what game they play. This is most likely caused by the stereotype that is/was associated with these individuals as they grew up. They were not in the popular group and were normally among the loners. The popular students would sneer and make fun of them as they passed a game or saw an individual near their locker.

Being female and a gamer was even more awkward as most of the people who were gamers were guys who were so awkward around girls in the first place that they would then shun those who wished to join their little space. Female gamers would push and learn on their own. Normally there was only a single gamer per group as she had made herself "one of the guys" and had overcome the guys awkwardness. However, these females, as they grew up, would have the same body issues of any other girl in school, but because they were a part of the gamer group would most likely not date until she was out of high school. Not because guys thought she out of bounds, but because the popular guys would not see her a part of their group and the gamer guys would see her as "one of the guys" with boobs and be unable to approach her in that fashion. As the gamer chick left high school and entered the workforce or college (more than likely college as most gamers are relatively smart) they would be introduced to different people and more people who grew up as they had. They would be able to join together with larger gamer groups which would then have more than the single female gamer.

Being only at this point myself I cannot say exactly what the next step for the gamer chick growth is, but I do know that I met another gamer chick last night who while gorgeous in all the socially acceptable ways (skinny, beautiful features, nice teeth, etc) she was very self conscious of her midsection and actually said to a guy that she did not think herself pretty and even made sure to cover her stomach when complimented (she had a shirt that showing her midriff which is what begun the conversation). This made me realize that while she was in her mid-twenties, she still had the unfortunate feeling of a high school student growing into her skin and accepting who she was. While some gamer girls know that they have looks and will flaunt said looks during game, put them into normal everyday positions in which they could do the same flaunting and they will cower away from the experience.

These are observations I have personally made with groups of friends that I have. This is not meant to be a scientific study in any way due to the small sampling size. However, if you do find these words to be of use to you, I am pleased.

Written for Orble.com on May 24th, 2010

Portia Di Rossi on Ellen DeGeneres and My Reactions

2011-03-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

The following is a piece I wrote after a very different Ellen Show. Portia, her wife, had just come out with her story of being a model and they had done an entire segment on the book and it was very emotional. The following were my thoughts on the entire thing... I have the book and have yet to read it (don't hurt me Ellen or Portia, I will get to it, just so many books!)
(This was written right after the show, but I waited on posting it, not sure why... but written on November 4, 2010)

I watched Ellen DeGeneres today and it was different than her other shows for her show. She had her wife Portia on who had just written a book about her modeling career that started at 12. She goes on to talk about her extensive body issues and how they created her need to be anorexic and how she talked herself into it being alright. There was a point in which she even walked through her old apartment and showed us where certain things had been and how they had attributed to her disease.

One of the things that really hit me was the fact that while she was talking about certain thigns she did I caught myself thinking, “hmm... yeah that would work.” And while I would never say that I am anorexic or have an eating disorder it was unnerving how my mind was handling that information.

Another thing that was said on the show that really resonated with me was when she was talking about when she was 13 and she had gone into an audition for a modeling shoot and they had asked her to turn around and lower her pants. They needed to see her behind due to what they were shooting and one of the women actually looked at her and said, “You have quite a flabby behind for a girl of your age, do you exercise?” and this just hit hard since we are always being told now that saying something like that to that young of a person is a strict no-no, but not too long ago it was alright to say. I think to when my husband had commented on some of my flabbiness and how I had worked so hard before our wedding to minimize it as much as possible. It had gotten bad enough that while I wasn’t purging or starving myself, I was trying NOT to eat during the day at all.

There was one year when I was much younger in which I had lost a ton of weight between my freshman and sophomore year. My mother had asked if I was eating and she said yes and she had never seen me purge. I had always chalked it up to an awesome timing for a growth spirt but I know there was something else that was going on at that point. I had just broken up with the first guy that I had sex with which meant that he was much more to me than just ANOTHER guy. That summer I had pretty much shut down. Every morning I had eaten three bites of my cereal, drained the milk, and tossed the uneaten cereal in the garbage, sometimes hiding the pieces so if someone ever just looked in they would’t be able to tell. I thought it was just due to me not being hungry but that not being hungry feeling was due to the mental distress I was under and unable to handle and so my body was so wound up that I was unable to eat correctly. I would cry for hours in my room which were practically the best sit-ups I have ever done since they were serious wrenching sobs.

It was also the year in which my mother told me that I should not cry, “unless something important happens such as a funeral”, which at the time I did not understand. I stopped crying by the time school started again and through the year I gained a little weight back due to the food at the high school not being the greatest for you. My mental stress was still there so I was still not eating as much but I wasn’t eating as well as when I was at home. I wasn’t having the sobbing sessions so I wasn’t getting the exercise in that way, but I was a part of the volleyball junior varsity and while I was messing up my social life I was still getting some exercise done.

I have had my own variety of disorders along with a self-esteem issue and I think this also comes from my parents not wishing to invade my space. While they were trying not to invade my space I was going through things in which I really could have used a helpful ear. There was a time in which I asked to talk to my mother about what was going on and I had mainly wanted her to hold me and calm me but instead she sat across from me and waited for me to talk. It was unnerving to try and get her to sit next to me, after all that was the reason I sat on the couch and hadn’t taken the rocking chair myself, but I finally got her to sit down but I think by the end I was more frustrated because it felt like breaking plaster to get her to hold me and to emphasize with me.

That has always made a raw spot for me, but I think it has also shown me things about my mother that I can see in myself. My husband and I were recently talking about how I don’t seem to have a bone for apathy which would also make it understandable why one of my classes I almost failed because they wanted me to apotheosize with a group and I just couldn’t. I tried coping everyone else’s model of their projects but I just could not wrap my head around what he wanted. All I could do was be very scientific and give the facts of what I was seeing was going on with the group. Perhaps this is also why I had thought I would go into science but the numbers, for whatever reason, confused me and I decided against it.

But back to Ellen and Portia. The entire interview was very touching and it brought up good points and while it was different from Ellen’s other interviews I think it was also more powerful too.

Posted on Orble.com on November 13th, written November 4th

The Reason I Write

2011-03-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

I think this makes a pretty good next post for my blog. I had written this for my Orble account, but have not posted to that account for a while. This piece is still pretty accurate.

This month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and while I signed up last year to do this I didn't write one word due to not having the courage or the push to start. This year I began, got to 8K words and accidentally deleted my entire thing. I have not had the will power to start it back up again, but am wishing to do some sort of writing each day to keep myself going.

When I was in school I used to write to ignore my studies. I would be writing a paper or reading a section in a book and have an epiphany for a story. I would jot down notes and then never get back to them. I have so many notebooks that are not completely filled, but have so many random notes and one or two pages of stories in them, that if I could get them all to work together I would probably have the 50K words that the NaNoWriMo group normally wants for that month. I have wanted to pull out all of my notes and put them into one notebook so I could reference them more easily, but I fear that will probably not happen until I have a house in which I can actually find all my writings.

However, what I wished to talk about in this posting was the reason that I write. It seems to be a common question for most authors to receive is either "what got you into writing" or "where do you get the ideas for what you write?" While, I have not been published, I am still a writer as I do write. And where I get most of my ideas are from those epiphanies that I have which now-a-day come to me in between wake and sleep. While they do not come nearly as often now, now I have more time to sit down and actually do that thing that I love oh so much... WRITING. The only draw back that I seem to have is the stories that unfold for me in my head never seem to do so well when I try to put them down onto paper. I never can seem to get the same sway of a character or same demeanor of the bad guy that I had in my dream. Or I will have ideas in which it is just scenes, but how do I get there? That is when those are the one or two pages written.

The other thing that I love is when I have a very vivid scene unfold for me in my mind and I follow it all the way through, but when I go to write it down the vividness doesn't seem to be as transparent on the paper or I forget details as I am writing. I really wish they would invent a machine in which you can just think and it puts it down on paper. I think quicker than I can type or write and because of this I loose some of the awesomeness of what I am trying to portray. Which is quite upsetting.

Do you write? What are some of the things that you have difficulties with and what gives you your ideas?

First published on Orble.com on November 20, 2010

First Post on a New Blog

2010-12-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have had many blogs over the years, but hopefully this will be my last one that I make. I will try to keep most of my personal life outside of these entries since that is not my intentions for this blog. It will be more information on what I have found to deal with situations, such as, I am currently in the process of buying a home and would love to share all the ins and outs that I have found over the process. I am also a lover of reading and will be posting my thoughts on books that I finish. I am a constant learner as well and hopefully my views on certain things will interest you as well.

This is a short post I know, but I wanted to post something. I am going to try and go through old blogs I have posted to and post things that I still find interesting and hopefully you will not mind that either. I hope you let me know what you wish to see more of and what you do not care to see. I am a decent kind of person and will take any considerations seriously.

For now, I will bid you adieu.