It's November First

And just about every writer knows what that means....NaNoWriMo!!

I am participating this year for the first time :). I spent just about every November since I found out what NaNoWriMo was making up excuses about why I didn't have time and other yadda yadda , but no more! I have joined the fast foray of scurrying fingers on keyboards for the next month to produce a first draft of my next novel.

My first NaNoWriMo will be spent constructing the sequel to my first finished novel A Servant and Her Princess. I've spent a lot of my time wondering whether that novel was a waste of four years writing. I have only had two dedicated readers. One of these was a professor at my Uni who helped me work through and do the biggest editing job of my life. I used that novel as a Senior Writer At Work project, the final creative writing class credit I needed for my major. However after that, no readers I asked were really biting, so I wondered if I should give up on it. The novel itself needed a sequel to end properly, a sequel I had not written. I went back and forth on whether the endeavor was futile and if I shouldn't even bother finishing it. Why finish something if it was going no where to begin with? As the first approached I decided to use a more recent project as the one to be written this month. I had made my decision, even posting the title, summery and snippet of the story to come on my NaNoWriMo page. And then 15 minutes before November 1st I knew I wasn't choosing the right path. I logged back onto the page I had created 40 minutes ago and edited my new novel info. The story to be written would be the sequel to my first novel. And then I went to bed.

Now why would I write a finish for an already possibly dead end novel? Well, the easy answer is that I'm not going to give up, not ever. I do a fair amount of down talking on my own writing, but I have to admit, no matter all the flaws of my first novel, I love it. I love the characters with their juvenile behavior and the plot with all it's holes, I love it all. It is a flawed thing, but I worked very hard on it and it is the first finished novel generated by me and only me. I learned a whole heck of a lot and both me and it came a long way from the seventeen-year-old who started to write a story she had told her friends for fun.

Yes I want to get published some day. Yes I want my stories to be read and shared by more than me and my friends. But I don't think it is the most important thing anymore. Sure it is a very big life goal, but it isn't everything. The story, my creativity, THAT  is everything to me. As long as I have those things I will always be fine and always carry on. Being published would be great but as I've iterated many times before, there are many authors I have read that are unpublished and absolutely amazing and their writing brilliant. Not being published doesn't mean a damn in the face of the greatness that is their story. So sure, maybe this story and it's sequel won't be published, maybe it will be written and finished just for me, and that is absolutely fine by me. Because I learned so much writing the first, and I think I will learn even more finishing the second.

I have no regrets about my decision. I wrote my first 1751 words (84 over my daily goal!) in less than two hours. Everything just flowed out. I hadn't even really made a concrete plan on where I wanted to go with things, but like the first time, the story just began to happen. I am absolutely sure it is going to get harder every day and I will have many points where I want to give up, but I am still happy with this choice because I feel like this story wants to be written.

I would go on even more on the subject, but it is November 1st and it's time to write!

Smoke by Ellen Hopkins

I give this YA novel 5 out of 5 

Pattyn Von Stratten is still breathing, even though her heart is still with the love of her life and their unborn child, ripped from life by a car crash. Living a life far from home under an assumed name Pattyn tries to move on, but remains weighed down by the guilt of what she now considers ill sought revenge. Back in their Mormon home, Pattyn’s sister Jackie reveals the struggle of a family trying to knit itself back together, but can something that was never really whole be fixed? Can either of these sisters ever find peace and move forward?

Raw and arresting, Smoke is the Burned sequel every Ellen Hopkins fan has been waiting for. Hopkins picks right up from where the story last ended in its devastation and weaves a tale of hope and renewal. Still filled with twists and unexpected turns, Smoke is not short on excitement or drama. It is a careful line to be drawn, but somehow Hopkins always manages to hit it just right, delivering narration and story that seems so real and human that a reader can’t help but connect to it.

Though her eleventh book written and a sequel to boot, this poem novel is equal to her best writing. It seems with Hopkins’ writing it only gets better. And in the case of Burned, Smoke gives Pattyn and her family the resolution they always deserved.

A forever fan of Hopkins’ books and style of writing, I’ve always recommended Burned as a great read, only warning that its end is harsh and can really take it out of a reader emotionally. However, with an end-cap like Smoke to depend on, the story is even more worth the read.

By Alissa Tsaparikos

Etiquette and Espionage: Finishing School Book 1 by Gail Carriger

I rate this book a 4 out of 5

Equipped with the most atrocious curtsy and a propensity for breaking all the rules, Sophronia Temminnick is the exact opposite of the proper lady her frazzled mother wishes her to be. At wits end, her mother does what any troubled mother of a wayward daughter must, send her to finishing school.  But what first seems to Sophronia as the worst fate of all, soon reveals itself as a blessing in disguise, because Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not at all what it seems. With instruction on the proper way to flutter one’s eyes and curtsey followed by knife throwing and the correct way to poison, Sophronia learns quickly there might be many other ways to “finish” than she first thought.

Taking place in the same Victorian Steampunk alternate universe as Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate adult novel series, Etiquette and Espionage is the young adult precursor to those novels events.

Written with the same wit and dashing adventure as her previous books, Sophronia’s shenanigans are quite a bit of fun to read. Though the character names are a bit of a mouthful, the Victorian semantics laid on a little thick, and the plot somewhat predictable, the novel is overall very well done and well worth the read. Not done with as much diligence to the time as her previous series, Carriger still brings out a great amount of historical reference, making the novel educational and fun, much like the finishing school within the story.

As I read there was a distinct feeling of YA about the narration, one that almost seemed over emphasized at times. However it wasn’t too distracting from the story, and though the Parasol Protectorate remains my favorite of her writing, I still very much recommend this book and look forward to reading the next ones in the series.  

By Alissa Tsaparikos

The House of Chimes

So I know that I've been in the middle of far too many writing projects to even try starting a new one. But I don't think I'd even know how to do things if I wasn't in the middle of 500 things at once. I just can't let go of good ideas when I am lucky enough to get them.

Though I have been writing other things and working on a few big baddies in the novel-esque department, this one fell into my lap and I am very excited about it.

This will be to date the first children's novel I have ever attempted. YA, adult fiction, and adult non-fiction are all familiar genre's for me. I have not, however, attempted anything of substantial size that was specifically aimed at children. This character just feels twelve years old. There is no getting around it. So I'm not fighting and just seeing what happens.

So far I have fifteen or so pages, some large plot points laid out, and some major character back story and development. It's a lot more than I can say for some of my projects so I am pretty happy.

Story line so far includes a house that runs on an inner clockwork all it's own and is inexplicably alive, a young girl who doesn't listen and refuses to accept the transparent excuses given to her and the other children who live in the house, and a mystery that once discovered can't be forgotten or turned away from.

It's definitely in it's begging stages, but I can't wait to see what happens.

A Modern Re-vamp Re-vamped: My Take on Pride and Prejudice in the 21st Century

                       So as most every one has noticed, the modern day reinterpretation story is very in at this point in time. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries web series modeled as a blog took this by storm, gaining thousands of subscribers and viewers and much notice and acclaim while they were at it. I myself was an avid fan and viewer, watching all 100 of the videos of the series and then following the cast and writers' progress all the way to the Emmy's where they won for the amazing job they all did. Now the team is back at it again with Emma Approved, their next vlog type series based off Jane Austen's Emma.
                     
                        But what exactly is it that they are doing? They are doing what has been done so many times before, but with a twist refreshing and engaging enough that still pulls everyone in and keeps them coming back for more. The LBD project was a definite success. There are of course many similar attempts that don't quite hit the mark.

                       A next big project I've started to work on and want to aim towards is to do as they and many other have before them have done. I want to to take the bare essentials of Austen's Pride and Prejudice and make it a new story, one that works in today's world. I have no idea if I will hit that mark or get anywhere near it. My initial reaction is to say I won't, but I'm trying to just write and not think about that quite yet. If it never makes it any further than the internet, I'm not sure I will even be upset. As I have already mentioned here and here, I believe that writing and the sharing of a story should not be confined merely to the whims of the publishing industry. Nor do I believe that a person should be barred from writing on a story or in a specific world just because another author came up with the original idea. If it worked for Shakespeare, I think that it can work okay for me too. So I'm going to try writing this story my way and see where it leads me.

Tell me what you think of this idea. :)

Beautiful Darkness and the dreaded reading slump

                 True to my word I did indeed go from reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl to the next book in the series Beautiful Darkness. I had high hopes that the story would start giving some of the answers that left me wondering as a reader at the end of the last book. However to my disappointment the befuddlement and over-mysterious cloud that Ethan constantly wanders through during these books only becomes more dense and aggravating. Then to my dismay I found myself in the reading slump. Nothing about this book could hold my attention. I have renewed it and renewed it on my card at the library over and over, and still I seem to make barely any head way with the story.

                 Now as reading funks go, it can be hard to tell if it is the particular book you are reading that has caused it, or if it is just one of those times that reading just isn't on the menu, no matter how good the story (at least that's how it goes for me). However, with this book, I'm starting to wonder if it is really the culprit. I am a little over 100 pages into the book and practically nothing has happened, and the communication between characters has become, if anything, even worse. I've become fed up with how little the authors are giving the reader as far as information and the story goes. Until I finish the book I'd have no way of knowing if these problems resolve themselves, but already discouraged the forecast for finishing doesn't look good.  As well as this, the reading slump isn't be so slumpish either. I have been reading. Perhaps not conventional published book reading, but reading nonetheless.

                  All this being said, I've decided to give it a rest. This book is not to be read at this moment. Perhaps I will get back to it later. Perhaps not. We shall see.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

I rate this YA novel 3.5 out of 5

This is a semi-spoiler review. Nothing hugely important is given away, but proceed with caution.

            I approached this novel with a sense of intrigue. Like most book lovers, I enjoy watching (and judging) adaptations of books when they are set to film. However, I also love watching a film and then pursuing it further to the book it is based off. To me it is an excellent way to further delve into a world I am already interested in due to the films presentation. This is how I found myself in the case of this novel. I had heard much upset from fans of the book when it came to the movie, so I was not in the least surprised when I found the book to be vastly different to that of its film counterpart. If this is one of those books you wish to hurriedly read so you can watch the movie, stop now. Watch the movie, enjoy it (or not) for what it is and then read the book and enjoy it (or not) for what it is. They are definitely two different entities. The stories, though similar, hardly coincide.

This is a book review however, and so on to the review! I did enjoy this book. It was well written and very interesting. The story is intriguing and the narrative choice of Ethan really made a difference in the normal supernatural teen romance adventure types. The advantage of this, the main character and reader being out of the loop and questing for information, makes for great reading incentive. However there were some parts of the story that just didn’t seem fully explained. I wanted more and even at the end of the book there were important pieces of the plot that I didn’t understand. These included things such as: why Macon was what he was and not a Castor like everyone else, why exactly Lena was so special when she turned sixteen unlike all the other Castor’s, and what the heck was up with her connection with Ethan in the first place. I understand that Lena being a Natural made a big difference with the whole claiming herself part of the plot, but if that was the long and the short of things being so different I wish that there could have been more questioning about their extreme measures over her in comparison to say Ridley, who just ran off into the night and that was the end of that. I know that all these questions and maybe more might be discussed in future books, therefore I am willing to let them go, for now.

All in all it was a pretty good book. It wasn’t the most amazing thing I have ever come across, but it had good plot and great characters. I fully plan to read on through the rest of the series. 

By Alissa Tsaparikos