This title is awesome I am so proud!
So I am dying in IT audit class…Its hot and I did not get much sleep as Sam’s reckless partying kept me up late. I lost the internet an hour ago so I finished Katie’s book. What a lifesaver, thanks Katie! It really made my day much more enjoyable. I really loved it. It played out like a perfect rom-com except it was even better because while there was a sad part in the middle or problem it really never got my spirits down too much because I knew Spain would be coming eventually. Ah Spain… And the ending was perfect!
I can’t quite describe why I loved this story. It just had a certain charm about it. The setting was awesome; I loved how Europe was described. The characters were quite amusing, Olga had a great personality and the supporting characters felt well developed and all had a funny quirk about them.
Where do you go next with Olga and Fernanado? I am looking forward to your next book Katie.
Jill your book is next :D…has high standards to live up to!
Also I am quietly compiling a list of areas where I would like my book to take place…and clues left behind…I will hold out on the info because I don’t want to make a list yet…. I’m being a little weird about this.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Can you hear the Drums if you're a pimp?
Okay, I am loving Katie’s book so far but I came across a line in it that definitely needs to be commented on.
"I was still undecided as to how I felt about the sex trade. It seemed pretty fair here, with male bodyguards that protect the women, and help to negotiate the prices."
Male bodyguards that protect the women and negotiate prices and perhaps get a cut of it…Sounds like a Pimp to me…reminds me of scrubs! or this one
So far its been a fun ride with lots of hilarious one liners that have had me chuckling.
"I was still undecided as to how I felt about the sex trade. It seemed pretty fair here, with male bodyguards that protect the women, and help to negotiate the prices."
Male bodyguards that protect the women and negotiate prices and perhaps get a cut of it…Sounds like a Pimp to me…reminds me of scrubs! or this one
So far its been a fun ride with lots of hilarious one liners that have had me chuckling.
Monday, April 27, 2009
A story begins to form...
Exciting revelations in my novel planning process and I need to get them out before i forget about them...I have a terrible memory more on that later... I think my novel will begin with a funeral (a common theme across some novels)...A father or uncle or someone close to the main character will have died and will have left a mission/mystery that the main character will want/have to solve in order to get their inheritance or something along those lines. But the best part is that it is a mystery surrounding something I have lots of knowledge of and can have a fun with, hockey lore. That's right a mystery surrounding hockey...bringing the screech owls back to the forefront.
I think it will be fun and I will be taking historical liberties which I don't mind it's my story and I can do what i want with it.
Some acknowledgments of ideas...From Katie's book of a character just needing to do something to change her/his life...jill's funeral idea (although I am not sure if I will include that yet)... and the mystery that was in Indigo's book
I think it will be fun and I will be taking historical liberties which I don't mind it's my story and I can do what i want with it.
Some acknowledgments of ideas...From Katie's book of a character just needing to do something to change her/his life...jill's funeral idea (although I am not sure if I will include that yet)... and the mystery that was in Indigo's book
Scrap Mental!
Wow…Wow…Wow…Wow… so I also had a restless night yesterday. For some reason I couldn’t sleep so I picked up Indigo’s Rogue Intelligence. A fantastic read followed and it certainly didn’t help me get to sleep.
So instead I am writing you this blog instead of going to class….it doesn’t really matter anyway.
Some thoughts on the novel…It was very gripping, I actually had trouble putting it down because it was paced very well. I was really impressed with how Indigo was able to describe the setting. I felt like I was really there. The whole Bay area sounds like a really intriguing place.
A sign of an enjoyable novel I find is that you are sad when you are done. I didn’t cry but there was a glimmer in my eye.
But I also have some questions that I hope my readers will be able to answer. Forgive me for being slightly (or completely) ignorant but the world describe is not one that I have much experience and I was hoping to have some terms explained. Nelly, Butch, Femme, Futch, and boi (style?) are some terms I came across that I have never heard before.
Any thoughts or answers from Readers would be helpful!
Also Jill and Katie if you comfortable sending me your novels I would appreciate the opportunity to read over your works of art as well.
I refuse to make a list (just trying to be different) but one thing I will certainly try to put in my novel is a game of catch…simple perhaps but one thing adds to another…no idea on what my novel will be about but I expect that it will have a male lead who plays hockey and maybe works for CSIS or maybe not who knows…
So instead I am writing you this blog instead of going to class….it doesn’t really matter anyway.
Some thoughts on the novel…It was very gripping, I actually had trouble putting it down because it was paced very well. I was really impressed with how Indigo was able to describe the setting. I felt like I was really there. The whole Bay area sounds like a really intriguing place.
A sign of an enjoyable novel I find is that you are sad when you are done. I didn’t cry but there was a glimmer in my eye.
But I also have some questions that I hope my readers will be able to answer. Forgive me for being slightly (or completely) ignorant but the world describe is not one that I have much experience and I was hoping to have some terms explained. Nelly, Butch, Femme, Futch, and boi (style?) are some terms I came across that I have never heard before.
Any thoughts or answers from Readers would be helpful!
Also Jill and Katie if you comfortable sending me your novels I would appreciate the opportunity to read over your works of art as well.
I refuse to make a list (just trying to be different) but one thing I will certainly try to put in my novel is a game of catch…simple perhaps but one thing adds to another…no idea on what my novel will be about but I expect that it will have a male lead who plays hockey and maybe works for CSIS or maybe not who knows…
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Too intense? Try this!
I came across an amusing website while doing a group project. Clearly the best part of my group project. It is called FailBlog. This is clearly one of the best websites that I have ever seen and is one of the ultimate time wasters.
While glancing over the website I came across the greatest joke gift ever. This was actually a real product and would be perfect for those crazy Esmonde gifts that you give away at Christmas. Or perhaps your Dad would have liked it for his trip to Florida.
There are some things that people create that just boggles the mind. Who in their right mind would buy this and think it is useful. Though you have to admit they did think it through by including that towel. What I would give to see someone actually using this.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Do you know where your food comes from?
Seeing as I am the only one without a blog today I thought I should post. I am currently kind of reading the Omnivore's Dilemma which is a book that goes through a story about where our food comes from and is a commentary on the food industry as a whole. I think he does a good job of describing the process with little bias and then commenting on it afterward. This allows the reader to develop their own opinion prior to reading his, which is mostly slanted against larger corporations (shocking!).
There are three things I am wonder about after reading this novel. He argues that there has been a lot of knowledge lost as a result of the move from the country to the city ( within the farming communities). I agree, as both the US and Canada have seen the demographics of their country change significantly this century. The number of city people has grown considerably compared to the number of country folks ( for these purposes Barrie is consider a city Jill). What I wonder with this is how do we replace our farmers? Do you think that anyone growing up in Waterloo aspires to be a farmer? Even if they were a farmer how would they even get started. Farm knowledge is learn from working day after day, year after year. Who wants to that when the allure of the city is so much better? I can't think of anything that would motivate people to become/want to be farmers and it could be a pressing issue in the future (even now).
The second thing I wonder is how much more would you be willing to pay for groceries? Food prices have risen the past year more than inflation and you hear grumblings. However, a lot of farmers are barely making anything and have to work a second job just to pay bills. A corporation buys their food, would they be willing to raise prices? Not likely. I for one am unsure of how much I would be willing to pay for my food (I am pretty cheap about it already). Maybe it's because food has always been cheap we are ingrained with a sense of entitlement. Can society handle an increase in food prices? People in my class always seem to think they would but they still complain when gas increases in price... I don't think they have thought about it very hard. It would certainly change how many people live their life.
My third pondering is how the effect of being so far connected from the source of food has affected people. There is a lot of ignorance out there. A lot of people do not seem to realize just where their food comes from. People cannot connect cow to steak or sausage to pigs. I wonder how many people would be vegetarian if they had to kill their own food. I think a lot would. I think it would be really hard to do; taking the life of another living being. If we were more connected to our food would we enjoy it more? I think so, because you would appreciate more than just the taste, you would appreciate all the hard work that went into delivering your meal.
So far it's a good read and I would recommend it.
There are three things I am wonder about after reading this novel. He argues that there has been a lot of knowledge lost as a result of the move from the country to the city ( within the farming communities). I agree, as both the US and Canada have seen the demographics of their country change significantly this century. The number of city people has grown considerably compared to the number of country folks ( for these purposes Barrie is consider a city Jill). What I wonder with this is how do we replace our farmers? Do you think that anyone growing up in Waterloo aspires to be a farmer? Even if they were a farmer how would they even get started. Farm knowledge is learn from working day after day, year after year. Who wants to that when the allure of the city is so much better? I can't think of anything that would motivate people to become/want to be farmers and it could be a pressing issue in the future (even now).
The second thing I wonder is how much more would you be willing to pay for groceries? Food prices have risen the past year more than inflation and you hear grumblings. However, a lot of farmers are barely making anything and have to work a second job just to pay bills. A corporation buys their food, would they be willing to raise prices? Not likely. I for one am unsure of how much I would be willing to pay for my food (I am pretty cheap about it already). Maybe it's because food has always been cheap we are ingrained with a sense of entitlement. Can society handle an increase in food prices? People in my class always seem to think they would but they still complain when gas increases in price... I don't think they have thought about it very hard. It would certainly change how many people live their life.
My third pondering is how the effect of being so far connected from the source of food has affected people. There is a lot of ignorance out there. A lot of people do not seem to realize just where their food comes from. People cannot connect cow to steak or sausage to pigs. I wonder how many people would be vegetarian if they had to kill their own food. I think a lot would. I think it would be really hard to do; taking the life of another living being. If we were more connected to our food would we enjoy it more? I think so, because you would appreciate more than just the taste, you would appreciate all the hard work that went into delivering your meal.
So far it's a good read and I would recommend it.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
First time fail to second time success!
Hmm it was a slow day on the blogging pages, I checked hourly. I know Sam was trying to study, I assume Katie is likewise, Indigo is travelling (I think), and Jill lives in Barrie (like they have computers there psh) ;). Anyway I decided as I am doing nothing I would try and amuse some people with my blog.
Today I will be talking about why my last novel failed. I may even pull out random passage to make my blog seem longer. Who knows?
Anyway the first mistake I made when writing my novel was writing about something I had absolutely no knowledge of. Now I am not saying that you can’t write about anything you don’t know but it certainly helps to have even the basic knowledge of what you are writing about. Foolishly, I thought that I could make up not one but four (five? I can’t even remember) different worlds. Not only that I had to come up with different societies on each world. What was I thinking? Am I that creative? Not even close. I can generate ideas fairly well but I can tell you that was out of my realm of possibility. I remember thinking that it would be easy to come up with original ideas and creating worlds with their own personality. Not true. Like I needed another reason to respect some of my favourite Sci-fi writers (Tolkien, Scott, Lucas) but creating whole believable (maybe not the best adjective) worlds is really difficult. Here is a paltry description of one of the worlds, Ellesar.
Dominic was wandering the forests of Ellesar with his best friend looking for local fleeces to hunt. These days due to Lord Rever huge taxes there was not much food in the Hugro household and Saleer’s family was not doing much better so they had decide to go to the forests looking for game. The game they feared might be suffering as much as their cities but to their pleasant surprised once they were 7 kilometers removed from the city centre they found a good flock of fleeces. It surprised them so much that they did not have their weapons out in time to catch one and they all flew away.
Mistake number 2. I created too many characters that I did not know anything about. Maybe it’s just me but I find it easier to write characters that I can understand their motivations. One of the things that annoys me the most about some books, movies, TV shows, etc is when characters do things that are completely out of character and wrong. It’s like last nights Bones when Booth and Cam, two fairly law-abiding citizens, let Bones steal a dead person at a funeral. What! I know it is a TV but it’s so out of line of the characters that arghh I am so annoyed. I made this mistake myself. The way I developed my characters was not the same way that I wanted to develop my story. I forced my characters into positions that they never should have been and then force them out of character to get them out of these situations. This aspect of writing greatly frustrated me and made me dislike my characters (and it wasn’t even their fault). It didn’t make me want to write because I never felt the excitement for my characters that Katie, Jill, Indigo felt about theirs. It also did not help that I never had a true main character to shape my story around. In any case, this time my characters will have identities that I understand.
Mistake number 3. Not forcing myself to write. At school I am a very concise writer. I write as few words as possible. It’s not the best strategy when you are writing a novel and are desperately trying to reach 50,000 words. This time I will be forcing myself to write if I have to skip work and stay up until late to make sure I get those words.
Overall I think I need to ground my story on Earth and keep it to things I know about. This will help me narrow my focus and have a more character focused story which I think I will enjoy writing more. I am currently thinking of how to incorporate “Bruin” into my story. Updates tomorrow!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Bruins Hockey Rules
Katie ranted against this video already but I feel her opinion is a little biased. The video seen here (note the hyperlink) is a playoff commercial telling Bruins fans to not date within their own division.
Firstly, I think it shows just how pathetic Bruins fans are. The Bruins' fan in this commercial found a reason to date within the division. To me this is a testament to how low the Bruins can go. As a Leafs fan, I know that there is no reason why we would ever date within the division! Not happening ever. Imagine a Leafs fan dating a Senators fan. Its almost unspeakable. lol
Secondly, I think the bear was more upset because that Bruins fan was clearly trying to serve the the Canadien's fan American beer or even worse light American beer! No wonder he snapped.
Thirdly, I am certain this commercial would be even better if it had involved Carleton the Bear. It would mean the Leafs are in the playoffs and I miss that.
There are two other commercials involving said bear. These commercial are more universally hockey rules commercials. This one shows what happens when you tuck in your sweater. The other is more directed at me and shows what happens if you spend too much time on your cell phone.
Needless to say I have a source of inspiration. This bear that I have nicknamed Bruin (clever no?) will most certainly be making an appearance in my novel.
Firstly, I think it shows just how pathetic Bruins fans are. The Bruins' fan in this commercial found a reason to date within the division. To me this is a testament to how low the Bruins can go. As a Leafs fan, I know that there is no reason why we would ever date within the division! Not happening ever. Imagine a Leafs fan dating a Senators fan. Its almost unspeakable. lol
Secondly, I think the bear was more upset because that Bruins fan was clearly trying to serve the the Canadien's fan American beer or even worse light American beer! No wonder he snapped.
Thirdly, I am certain this commercial would be even better if it had involved Carleton the Bear. It would mean the Leafs are in the playoffs and I miss that.
There are two other commercials involving said bear. These commercial are more universally hockey rules commercials. This one shows what happens when you tuck in your sweater. The other is more directed at me and shows what happens if you spend too much time on your cell phone.
Needless to say I have a source of inspiration. This bear that I have nicknamed Bruin (clever no?) will most certainly be making an appearance in my novel.
First Blog!
Following a couple of Ezmondee blogs about their second novels, I am blogging about my second attempt to finish a novel of 50,000 words in one month. The first attempt actually went better than I thought it would. I got to 38,000 words, which for me was pretty remarkable given my writing skills. Trust me, on my sports blog, I have Sam do all the editing.
In any case, my blog leading up to NaNoWriMo will be fill with my musing on whatever I feel like and may include ideas and thoughts about my novel but its unlikely. I may just use this as a platform to rant against the Canadiens and send small messages to targeted people.
Follow along if you dare delve in to the deeper aspects of my mysterious mind.
In any case, my blog leading up to NaNoWriMo will be fill with my musing on whatever I feel like and may include ideas and thoughts about my novel but its unlikely. I may just use this as a platform to rant against the Canadiens and send small messages to targeted people.
Follow along if you dare delve in to the deeper aspects of my mysterious mind.
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