literature
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David Copperfield: Intro
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery. This is the original title of Charles Dickens’ eighth novel, published in serial form in the year 1850. Now sold as a 700-page book, it was originally released in 19 monthly one-shilling installments. This makes for a delightfully long story…
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On Dusty Bookshelves
Last year in August, I started a reading journal. It is literally a list of books I read and when I finish them. As the list started to grow over passing weeks, I realized that when I pay attention–real attention–to what a book is saying, there is a lot between the lines that a skim…
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12/22/2017
i believe in honesty – x is x and y is y – like frost on snowy days, and also in the off-key notes that every artist plays, half-developed photographs, barely thought out rhymes, and in the bizarre colors that you see when you take time.
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New Plans for The Autumn Prince
This year has not been my greatest writing-wise. I finished one draft of a novel I’m happy with; everything else turned out to be a mess. Perhaps 2017 has been too emotionally loaded for me to connect with characters. Maybe it’s more optimistic: it could be that I’ve improved so much, I can’t be happy…
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Every couple of years, I find myself in the mood once more to read the Harry Potter series. The story never gets old; it’s earned itself a special place in my heart. I think people are still drawn to these books because they feel like home. When thousands of people gather to read a story,…
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Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Occasionally we find books so beautifully written that it seems the style, not the plot, keeps us turning pages. Though translated from its original French, Swann’s Way did not lose its beauty in the process: every sentence reads like a verse from an old, nostalgic poem. As an example: Meanwhile the scenery of his dream-stage…
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Adventures in French
They say to pay attention to what interests you most, because it is part of you. In the past, if asked what my passion was in life, I would likely have responded, “Writing.” I would have said without hesitation that I lived for story, nothing more and nothing less, but as we grow, we learn.…
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Is it Writer’s Block?
Recently I asked myself why I never update my blog, even though I have so many ideas. Writer’s Block is portrayed as blankness; it’s the absence of a muse, staring at a notebook without hearing her sweet whisper. We claim the Block as a reason why we have nothing to say. I wondered, Do I…
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A Writer is Never Finished
One is never truly finished writing a story. I’m not an expert on technique; my attention span does not allow me to study complicated books on style. My muse shies from the idea of outlining, flash cards don’t help me at all, and I follow the 7-point method very loosely. The one thing I know…
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Book Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
I have spent two weeks with my nose in this book. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a thousand pages long, but its spell extends beyond the pages. Its charm is bolder than its eye-catching cover; this book provides complete immersion in a story I wished would last longer. It tells of the movement to…
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The Autumn Prince Returns
In October of 2015, I released a serial on my blog called The Autumn Prince. It became more popular than I had anticipated; one reader called it the “highlight of her month,” and I am still humbled by that. The following year it was adapted into a short story for the Crows on Heartstrings anthology,…
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On Mermaid Tales & Short Stories
I may have completed edits for Serenade (which I still expect to release sometime in October,) but that doesn’t mean I’ve stepped away from these characters and their adventures. It has been a fun week of world-building and character profiling. My personal copy of Dissonance is currently full of sticky notes! They were placed to…
Mariella Hunt & the Tearoom 