The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse

Johanna is just a maidservant living in the house of Dame Margery Kemp, a woman who loudly proclaims her faith and pious nature to any and all. Beside her Johanna is nothing save someone to order around. But her life get's turned upside down when Dame Margery decides she wants to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and that Johanna must accompany her. Suddenly Johanna is faced with foreign lands, a man with a devil inside him for a traveling companion, and a mistress who might not be as good as she likes to think. Johanna starts to wonder if she will survive this journey, and if she does, how in the world will she ever get home?

Based on The Book of Margrey Kemp,the first autobiographical English text written in the 15th century, Barnhouse takes what was once just the story of a very high and mighty pilgrim and turns it into the story of her maidservant that is often mentioned throughout the journey. Barnhouse gives Johanna life, taking historical fact and filling in the blanks.

I have to say I quite liked this little book. It was interesting, and though it was a novel, it still had quite a bit of reality to the description of the life and times of someone traveling by foot all that way. Johanna as a character was a little bit mousy and timid, but she finds her own in the end and I liked the development of her character. 

Barnhouse states in the back of the book that there is no real way to ever know exactly what happened to Johanna, but I think this story is a nice way to give that maidservant more than she probably ever imagined. True this Johanna is a fictional character, but sometime, somewhere a girl like her was traveling over mountains and trying to survive and I find that very interesting.

I recommend this book as a good read for any interested in historical fiction or medieval times.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a fan. More importantly she is a Simon Snow fan. But who isn't in love with that magical world? However Cath is more than just the passing fanatic. Simon Snow is her life. She reads and re-reads the books. She has loads of internet friends met at Simon Snow forums and chat sites. She herself is a fanfiction writer of Simon and Baz fics, and her writing is so good she is known the world over among fic readers. However things are changing. She and her twin sister Wren are off to college and unlike Cath, Wren is no longer interested in the enclosed fan life she used to lead or the sister she once was so close to. Wren wants space. So while Cath struggles to adjust, dealing with a scary roommate and said roommates always there, always happy boyfriend, Wren is out getting drunk. Worst yet, the Simon Snow series is coming to an end, the last book due out at the end of the year. Can Cath survive college until then? And if she does, what about life after Simon Snow?

In this poignant and wittily told novel, Rowell builds the perfect modern day coming of age story. Because though there has been every type of reclusive geek meets world version of this scenario since it became a popular story trope, the online world and it's prevalence in today's culture is one that is largely ignored. After all, what could be interesting about the reclusive and anxiety ridden night blogger/ fanfiction writer. What's more, fanfiction is such a touchy subject in the writing world. In most cases many literaries have problems accepting genre fiction, let alone unpublished fan work posted on the internet. The fact that fanfiction also has a bad rap because of numerous badly written renditions of stories overly loaded with sex doesn't help the case either. And that's where this novel comes in and creates a beautiful thing. Rowell writes a story in which you get to see that world, the online one, how enticing and magical it can be, as well as how easy it is to lose touch with reality when given the chance to chose. Another wonderful thing this story does is highlight how amazing fanfiction can be. It is not a useless past time or a place to vent out horribly written smut. It is story telling. It is, yes taking, an already established idea or world or set of characters, and building it into something new and unique. It is not a waste or wrong. It is creative expression and that is how Rowell shows it through Cath.

Now as I think you can surmise, I already have a lot of opinions on this subject and I have written about it before. So if you want to hear more about what I have to say on this subject, you can find those writings here and here.

Now, interpretation of the fanfiction world aside, I loved this book. It had great character and plot. I never got bored even when the characters were doing mundane things, which is a lot of the time considering how long the book is. I got very emotionally involved. Here again is yet another example of writing that does it right. You aren't just reading it, you're feeling it. It is a very identifiable story for anyone who has gone away to college and had a hard time fitting in, who has felt what it's like to grow apart from friends and family and not know how to fix it. It is a book that any type of fan can catch onto, especially the generation who grew up loving Harry Potter. I don't think I'd be too far from the truth if I surmised that the Simon Snow books elaborated on in this novel was a mimicry of the Harry Potter sensation that swept the world. Another subject that is addressed is anxiety. The novel is an amazing characterization of Cath and the anxiety that she deals with. It isn't overdone, it's real. I live with anxiety and I also have a best friend who struggles with it even more than I can ever fathom, so I can say that this is a very realistic painting of what it is like to live with it.

There are a lot of  hard subjects tackled in this book and they are all approached with grace and executed fantastically. This is a novel well worth reading. I plan to look into other books the author has written simply because I was so blown away with this one.

So all in all I give it a high recommend. It was a fun read and a touching story that staid fresh from beginning to end. And don't let the length scare you. It is a big hunk of book, but I zoomed through it in a day or two.

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

Mormon housewife Becky Jack has been lucky a lot in her life. She has a happy loving family, a husband she can't get enough of even after years and years of marriage, and three beautiful children and another on the way. But when she meets her number one heart throb actor, Felix Callahan, while selling her first screenplay (a fluke event in itself), she has to wonder where the line between coincidence and fate is drawn, and not for the reasons anyone would think.

This isn't a story documenting how good wife  Becky leaves her husband for a debonair actor, this isn't about love at first sight followed by affairs and angst. They meet and the most unexpected thing happens: they become friends, best friends. This friendship sets Becky out on a path she never imagined and defines her life in new ways, both good and not so good. Told in the witty and absolutely hysterical voice of Becky a she tries to find her way in a world that says women and men can't just be friends, it is a story of love and friendship and how it makes us who we are.

I would like to state first of all that I absolutely loved this book. I loved it from a writer's point of view and on a personal level. This story resonated with me particularly because I have very strong and important relationships with people I consider to be my best friends. One of these people is a man. The way I feel about my best friend  is simple: I love him completely and totally platonically (yes this is a word, I made it up just now). I understand exactly what it feels like to be in the position that Becky finds herself in. I think it is absolutely possible to have a significant other who is the light of your life, but also have a friend who is an integral part of your survival as well. Love doesn't see gender, race, age, or the number of other things that make us unique. When you click with someone, you just click. And it doesn't mean you have to sleep with them either, So I guess you could say I brought a lot of my own baggage and opinions to my reflection of how much I liked this story, but there it is.

Besides this, I think the novel was amazingly well written. Dialogue and narration flowed flawlessly, making even the normal and more mundane happenings in the novel funny and arresting, It was not a short book by any means, but I read it in a few days, hardly able to tear my eyes away. If not for work and the day to day responsibilities of being an "adult" I wouldn't have stopped. I didn't want to do anything other than read this book. It is also very poignantly written. I was laughing out loud all the way through and when it mattered most I was crying right along with the character. I think this is one of the most important and greatest gifts of storytelling: not just telling a story, but making the listener or reader feel it. I felt this story all the way to my bones. Also, in reflection oft he story's message, in some way I think it says something very important about out society and out skewed views of what is and is not okay when it comes to the tricky subjects of love and friendship

There wasn't a part of this book I didn't like. From beginning to end I was wowed. I highly recommend it to any and all readers, though I will warn that the main character's Mormon background is present because you are seeing this all from Becky's point of view. It is a big part of her life and therefore can't be ignored completely. If anyone is uncomfortable with the ideas of this religion, or reading a book with any kind of religious reference, they might not want to read this book. However I feel like there is a big difference between a book that describes and observes the goings on and lifestyle of a certain religious type, and a book that has religious overtones that try to persuade the reader to follow that doctrine. It can't be helped that we see what Becky feels, she is the main character! Personally I found the story refreshing in that I actually got to look into that community type of life and for once it wasn't being demonized as it so often is. In this story it is more a look into Becky's life and ways rather than a preaching for the religion. There is nothing I hate worse than an author trying to use their story to shove their own ideologies down my throat. This was not that kind of book. If anything I could admit that there could have been more information about the LDS church and I wouldn't have minded.

So all in all, if you have an open mind and are up for a really great story, this is an amazing book.

Mental Spring Cleaning

Hello! It has been awhile since I've actually posted anything on here pertaining to my life. This is due to a rather heroic amount of melancholy and laziness. However, it's time to stop the indulgence. I am no stranger to my depressive moods and I know full well I could try harder to get out of them. So here it is, time for some spring cleaning on my brain!

I know full well I could be done with my sequel (started in November during NaNoWriMo), but I've been lazy. I've put it off. I fell out of my routine and didn't get back in. 

Bad, Alissa! Bad.
If there was anything that I learned whilst abroad, as well as during NaNoWriMo, excuses and complacently can be the death of writing. Giving yourself the excuse that you aren't feeling it that day, or that you are too busy, or that you have writers block (possibly the biggest enabling excuse ever). Whatever it is, that's what stands between you and being an actual writer. Writer's write. Every day. It doesn't matter if it sounds horrible, or if you think it is crap. Not even if you scrap something and have to start from scratch. If you want to write you have to do it every day. This is how you grow, this is how you get better. You can have the grandest and greatest ideas, but until you write them down they are worthless to you. There is a really simple quote I love about writing that I have pinned up in front of my desk at work, "1) Write 50 words. That's a paragraph. 2) Write 400 words. That's a page. 3) Write 300 pages. That's a manuscript. 4) Write every day. That's a habit. 5) Edit and rewrite. That's how you get better. 6) Spread your writing for people to comment. That's called feedback. 7) Don't worry about rejection or publication. That's a writer. 8) When not writing, read. Read from writers better than you. Read and perceive," (Ajay Ohri). These steps seem imbicilicly easy to say and infinity harder to do. But the thing is, no one said writing would be easy. Writing is horribly hard. Every day is a struggle. It is a struggle when battling against the cynicism of other people (You mean you actually think you can publish a book? You majored in English? That must mean you're going to be a teacher, right?). It is a struggle to keep going getting rejection after rejection. And biggest of them all, it is an all out war inside yourself to keep going and prove all the naysayers wrong, including yourself. 

There are a lot of reasons excuses as to why it happened, but I let myself fall off the horse. I've gotten out of touch with my story and my drive to move forward has dwindled to a snail's pace. 

What does one do when they fall off the horse? Either never ride again or get back up there and go. Running isn't an option. Go it is.

I've been pulling books for my research as I near the finish line of the story. My plan is to research rigorously and apply the knowledge to flesh out the story in places that I was unwilling to slow down for whilst writing. Mostly I've concentrated on plot, character, story direction, and dialogue.  I have yet to know whether this approach will work. So far in my writing, everything either involved things I've made up myself or things I am familiar with and understand. Sailing and ship life is not one of those things. *Spoilers* this sequel takes place a majority of the time on ships. Therefore it would probably be good to know what the heck I'm talking about! 

As the books I've gathered for the research come in I can feel the excitement building in me. It isn't there in force, but the echo of the feeling I felt before while in full writing mode is there. I could reach out and grasp it. When I held those books, making plans on the research and knowledge I would gain and that would help me with my story, I realized I was smiling like an idiot and could even feel pin pricks of emotion stinging my eyes. How could I have let myself forget what it felt like? The excitement? The anticipation? The drive? It is so easy to fall into the slump. You convince yourself that it will feel better to just watch a show or scroll for hours through tumblr instead of write. It's easier, lulling. Soon you aren't writing every day, and then only a few times a week, sometimes less. Pretty soon you've lost touch with your story and you wonder what happened. This may not be what happens for everyone, but it is definitely something that I've fallen prey to. 

Thankfully, as the sun shines forth and warmth has begun to filter through the air, I've found some strength to pull my head out of the dirt and take a look around. It is well passed the time I get back on the ball.

I have many new goals, including doing a little research every day and getting back into writing as a daily commitment. The biggest goal is to finish. I plan to have this novel wrapped up, with a 'The End' and everything, before I go on my trip to England in May. It sounds lofty considering the first of the series took me four years to complete, but I don't think it's impossible. I also hadn't yet realized my potential as a writer or the drive to make it a reality when I was writing the first one. I didn't even really think I would ever write that novel until I was finishing it and looking over it all just thinking, 'Hey look I made a thing....I think...'. If this book is finished in May then it will have taken me about 7 months to write it, and I don't think that's too shabby. And once finished...it's on to editing!!! (aka ripping to shreds and then sewing back together what I just worked so hard to finish). I'll also be doing a final edit of the first book. Looks like my summer plans are all made and ready for me... As well as editing I'm going to start sending out query letters to agencies and perhaps publishing companies. If I can get representation then there is one major writing hump out of the way. From what I've gathered through research and observation, if you want to get your novel published, the first thing you need to do is get an agent. 

On a related note, gee wouldn't it have been nice if my school's writing program taught me about agencies, their importance in the industry, and how to get my own solicitation... Because that isn't important information at all to know. It's only integral if you want to get published... Then again, I'm talking about my University writing program that actively snubs all genre fiction and leads a program taught to primarily produce literary fiction, never mind that literary fiction is one the hardest venues of writing to get published in while working an already difficult industry. I somehow don't feel at all surprised that in all my workshop classes and writing instruction there wasn't one lesson on getting an agent or writing a query letter. The very closest we got was a section in my fiction workshop dedicated to submitting short literary fiction stories and poems to lit mags and contests. In that case we were thoroughly educated, though all the good it did you if you wanted to publish a novel. Thank God for the internet and authors willing to give tips to emerging writers. I many times feel that publishing can almost feel like a secret industry that you have to self-instruct your way into. However it is always nice when those who have actually made it leave the ladder down behind them.

So, prognoses of sweeping out the cobwebs in my frontal and temporal lobes? I have a lot of lists to make, a ton of research to do, some consistent writing to keep up with, a butt load of editing, and a fair amount of bucking up to do within myself. I know this is a lot of talking about my personal life, but it is my blog about my writing, so I figure everyone can just ignore this if they want. Or they can satisfy their insatiable need to stalk other peoples lives and get their fill. Whatever you like. 
To all those writers out there in similar situations, keep soldiering on! Don't give up! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, especially if the person saying it is yourself. I sometimes feel like so many people believe being a writer is an impossible dream simply because so many give up before they get there. You'll never know unless you try. It could be the 50th query that gets the publication, but you'll never know if you give up after the 49th rejection. Think of it this way, go into a bookstore or a library and look at all the books. Every one of them represents an author that had to start out just like you. If there is that many who made it, then you have to know it isn't an impossible thing if you just keep trying. And even if you don't get published, it isn't the end of the world. Let's remember how many famous authors who weren't published or recognized until after their death. I'm not saying that every one of us is an Emily Dickinson, but if you write a book or a collection of stories, or a bunch of poems, at least you know what you're leaving behind. Published or not you will leave a mark on the world, one that lasts past the mortal confines, and proof that you lived your own dream no matter what anyone else has to say about it. Really that's what it's all about: telling a story and trying to share it with the world. It's why we write, because we have something to say. So write on my friends, and live your dreams. Or don't. I'm not published so you still reserve the right to say I'm full of crap.

Fin for now

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Keir Sarafian is a good guy. At least that's what he believes of himself. But as the reader follows his first person narration leading up to a life altering event, it becomes clear that everything is not as he would like it to seem. He describes over and over again the things he finds 'inexcusable', but can never see that what he does is the most inexcusable thing of all.

Reading this YA book was like putting on a pair of drunk goggles and then trying to ride a unicycle in a straight line. Not to say it was badly written or that I couldn't get through the book. Quite the contrary I finished it in a day or two, partly due to shortness. However, reading this story through the delusional and under the influence haze that the main character lives in is exceedingly difficult. I felt like I was trying to get a handle on characters and plot with a layer of thick fog over my eyes and three layers of cotton balls in my ears. I kept getting a headache from reading it simply because of how purposely thick this person was. By the end of this book I felt like I'd glimpsed into the mind of a psychopath. For someone to really not understand that they have done a truly heinous thing was pretty disturbing and sickening. On the other hand it was also kind of eye opening in seeing how warped society can be in excusing people for their wrongdoings and letting them go on believing that what they do is okay.

I think the topic was relevant and carries a good cautionary message. However I didn't really like the book itself. Keir drove me up the wall, the choppy back and forth between flashback and present action was disorienting and distracting, the ending was kind of anti-climatic, and to be honest I have never been a fan of stream of consciousness narration, which this pretty much is. As a novel it has a decent amount of acclaim and authors I really like have recommended it, but I can't really say the same. I was hoping this would be a really great novel that I could get into but I'm left feeling disappointed and unsettled.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Charlotte Kinder is a good woman. She is kind. She is dependable and hard working. When her husband leaves her she puts up very little fuss and just let's her emotions turn numb. After all that does make it easier when she thinks about her ex's new wife Justice. But suddenly she fears that she will never feel anything at all. What was the last thing that made her feel anything? Not the blind dates her friends and co-workers keep shoving her into, that's for sure. Now that she thinks about it the last good feeling she can remember comes from reading Jane Austen's books as it happens. So she goes in search of more of this feeling and finds herself on her way to Pembrook Park, England, and a full immersion into the world of Austen. Soon her heart is beating, and thrills are running through her. But is it from the actors paid to faun upon her? Or a dangerous secret lurking somewhere through the park, nesting in secret rooms. Who can Charlotte trust in a world of make-believe? Is she so caught up in things she can't tell fiction from reality, or will she rise up to be the Austen heroine she always wanted to be?

This novel is a somewhat sequel to Hale's previous book Austenland, somewhat being that it had reoccurring characters from the first and continues to take place at Pembrook Park. Other than that it is pretty unique with a brand new main character and a new story of intrigue.

I really liked this novel and sped through it. Again I was enchanted by Hale's writing style and her character's narration. It was really a hoot to read and I found myself giggling throughout. The story was also interesting with much more action than the first and a whole new set of interesting quirks to explore. I really liked this because though Hale is revisiting a world she has already led the reader through, she doesn't try to tell the same story. She is mindful that we as the reader know what's going on here and therefore dips in and changes things up in a way I might not have expected but thoroughly enjoyed. Charlotte as a narrator is fresh and very different from the previous narrator Jane. I found that I really liked Charlotte more and it lent me more interested in the story. Charlotte has spunk, and though she struggles with finding and accepting this part of herself, she gets there eventually.

I wasn't as impressed with the romantic plot in this one. It wasn't uninteresting and I definitely didn't find it a chore to get through. However I was more impressed with the female camaraderie in this story. I felt like I was seeing the friendship that was alluded to in the movie Austenland turning up here rather than in the book the film was based off. Charlotte and Miss Charming really hit it off and there is some definite friendship between them. It was refreshing and fun to learn more about Miss Charming and I liked seeing more of her in the story.

All in all I'd say this is another great Shannon Hale story and highly recommend it to any Austen fans.