Writers' Chasm

I decided to set goals for myself this year instead of doing resolutions, since--like most people--I just throw those out the window within the first month anyway. It was a good but crazy year for me. Unfortunately this was not true of my goals. 1. Read 100 books.  This obviously did not happen. In fact, it was the worst reading year for me since I started keeping track of exactly how many books I've read in 2010. 2. Read 10 classics.  I was a lot closer with this one. I read six classics over the year. Most of them were assigned for class, but it still counts.  3. Complete 25 hours of volunteer work This one was complicated by my lack of access to volunteer opportunities that are local enough that I can walk to them. 4. Do push-ups every morning for a month I think I made it a week in the beginning of the month. Push-ups aren't really my thing. 5. Do five things I've never done before This one I actually accomplished! I went to a jazz ensembles perfo...

This year saw my worst reading record since I started keeping track in 2010. I'm not really sure what happened but I'm determined to do better next year. Grand total: 37 A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin I finished this one on February 25th. My friends can attest (as they were there for most of my reading it) that I spent a lot of time in a state of insanity. Like at the end when I screamed and pushed it off the couch. The fact that I've had the fourth book for almost as long as I've been done with this one and still haven't read it is almost a crime. Fantastic characters, as usual, and plot twists that I certainly never saw coming.  The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien I took a class on Tolkien one semester and, of course, it included the reading of the entire LOTR trilogy. This one was my favorite. I love the story and I love Aragorn and Legolas and Frodo and Sam and Merry and Pippin and Eowyn and Faramir.  Darkness Becomes Her...

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch. What I'm Reading:  I'm only two chapters away from the end of Return of the King so I'll be finishing that today. Sadly I didn't get to read Allegiant over the weekend because it was delayed in the mail and didn't arrive until Monday. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to start it tomorrow or Friday, but I will definitely be reading it this weekend. What I'm Writing:  Hopefully, after I finish RotK, I'll have some more free time on my hands and I'll be able to start up daily revision goals again. What Inspires Me:  I stayed up until one last night watching Pacific Rim for the first time and I can honestly say that I don't know what took me so long. Just everything. It was weird because I fell in love with the music first and to see it in the movie was disconcerting, but also awesome in a way. What Else I've Be...

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch. What I'm Reading:  I finished The Two Towers last week and now I'm into Return of the King. The first few chapters were a little slow but now I'm really getting into it. I'm totally jealous of everyone who is currently reading Allegiant. My copy won't be here until Friday, which is probably for the best, but I have every intention of taking a break from everything to read it this weekend. Can't wait to get my hands on it! What I'm Writing:  Nothing as of right now. I spent a good bit of yesterday afternoon writing a paper comparing the One Ring to the Elder Wand. I've been doing a fair bit of brainstorming lately but nothing concrete. I've considered giving NaNoWriMo a shot, just to get myself writing again, but revisions come first. What Inspires Me A friend watched Pacific Rim and recommended that I listen to the theme son...

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch. What I'm Reading I am well into book 2 of Tolkien's The Two Towers and hoping to finish it by Friday. After that, I'll be immediately leaping into Return of the King. I thought I would have time for House of Hades by Rick Riordan this weekend but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. It arrives in the mail tomorrow and will be my reward for finishing the LOTR trilogy. I'm also making my way through B.F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior for a research paper and, I have to say, it's fairly fascinating. What I'm Writing Papers for class. CK revisions have been put on hold while I read LOTR and write a paper for Tolkien and another paper for Grammar. Hopefully in another day or two I can get rolling again. What Inspires Me There's a song, Light 'Em Up by Fall Out Boy, and I'm completely obsessed with it right now. It ...

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch. What I'm Reading I finished Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien last week and I was kind of surprised how much I enjoyed it. I was told as a kid that Tolkien's novels are slow and full of too much description, so I never gave them a shot. Now I'm glad I haven't continued to let that deter me, because I'm really getting into the series. I'm into The Two Towers now and would probably enjoy it more if my Tolkien professor hadn't told us that we have a quiz over Fellowship and Book 1 of Towers on Monday. In addition to that, there's also a stack of books on neurolinguistics sitting on my desk for a research paper. What I'm Writing Not really much of anything the past couple of weeks. I'm still making steady progress on CK's revisions, but classwork is consuming my life. What Inspires Me This might sound kind of stra...

Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility.  All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, ...