Random Tuesday Thoughts on Books and Writing

I spend most of the day thinking about books and writing in some shape or form. Right now 80% of my reading and writing is dedicated to grad school requirements so my TBR stacks are rapidly growing and my story ideas are stockpiling. I’m still sneaking in some personal reading on the side because I think I’d go insane otherwise. 

My soul craves all things book and story related. I yearn to one day share my own stories. I live for sharing the amazing stories I’ve read from other people. Some books I read and I can’t shut up about them, to the point I’m buying copies as gifts and contemplating going door-to-door. “Excuse me, do you have a few moments to learn about this amazing book?”

I read to get lost in another world and another life. I read to learn about writing and to learn more about myself. Reading is life to me. Writing used to be on the same level with reading until an incident in high school.

I wrote a short story to submit to our school’s literary journal. It was about a girl attempting suicide. It was based off an event from my own history years prior. In hindsight I should have written something else or talked to my teacher in advance about the subject matter because it caused some major freak outs with nearly every adult of authority at the school. 

My parents were called, I had to talk to teachers, guidance counselors, the principal, it was not fun. My English teacher informed me it was well written but could never be published because of the subject matter. In my head, I thought I was using a personal experience to write a story with enough detail to create an engaging story. Apparently, it was too realistic. That incident caused me to quit writing for a long time. I no longer trusted myself to write and I didn’t think I could trust anyone to read something I may write. 

The story ideas have never stopped. They continue to dance around in my head. Waiting. I’m finally starting to write fiction again and it feels good. I mean really good. So, be on the lookout for more posts about me reconnecting with my writing!

I’ll also be doing more book chat type recommendations. Books I’m shoving into the hands of friends and family will also be shared here because books can always use more sweet lovin’.

As always, happy reading and enjoy your day! Now go buy a book and hug a friend. 

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Did you miss me? Well, I missed you!

Greetings readers!

It has been way too long since I last made a post and despite my ambitious plans for maintaining a rigorous posting schedule life had other plans. Apparently moving into a new place, starting grad school, working full time, and pursuing additional opportunities (to be announced shortly) makes for a very crammed/jammed/packed/squisheded schedule.

So, I have tweaked my mentality, shifted priorities, bought a new planner (the third one for 2015 already so this one better flippin’ mesh with my brain dammit), put in a standing desk, rearranged all sorts of things, and just generally tried to get myself back on track.

And that brings me to here! The place I might have missed most of all. I have wanted a blog for so long so I could take my book shouting to a bigger stage so making sure I find time to post here will be a priority without a doubt.

I will be sharing my book reviews in the form of more “Book Chats” because I am sharing something I enjoyed and not analyzing it from a critical perspective (I do that enough in class). If I didn’t enjoy it, I won’t share it. Simple.

Highlighting short fiction and works in translation will also be a key focus for me in my posts. Having been stationed in Japan for nearly four years I feel in love with the literature and want to continue to explore East Asian literature in translation but also branch out to experience other cultures and places. I subscribe to “World Literature Today” to help me find authors and titles. I also subscribe to nearly a dozen, if not more, magazines and journals to satisfy my short fiction addition.

Instead of trying to stick to a rigid schedule of certain topics on certain days I am going to just have fun, post based on what is striking my fancy, and just generally post more frequently. So, here we go and let’s get to reading!

*Ninja smoke bomb*

UNTIL NEXT TIME!