First Poem of This Semester

Fragile Things

It’s a plump, white, fragile thing the breeze bobs on a stem that’s too thin,

Obscuring the success of a snapshot lacking the blur.

Clouds blot out the sun, the off white petals darkening with an unheard sigh,

my itchy finger is livid with a perplexing sensation caught somewhere between

rage and impatience.

It’s a momentary determination to be perfect, in the shadow of the greater things,

like a being, a predecessor, or an unspoken standard.

It won’t survive long.

The plump, white, fragile thing hangs on a weakling stem, perpetual sun drenched 

skies impregnate the air with an age long procession of starkly rewarded endeavors. 

It’s dying now.

The sun won’t come so the face is tilted, wilted, a lie. The camera snaps a fib of a plump, white, fragile 

thing whose stem is held by deceit for the turnout of only one.

My Continuing Love Affair....With Novels!

     So last year I discovered my favorite author, Libba Bray, had begun a brand new series of books! A few years back I read the Gemma series and fell deeply in love with the story Bray printed beautifully on its pages. In fact, I'd like to know the font she used in these books because the overall design make these books look breathtaking. 

The Gemma Series by Libba Bray 

     For those of you who are curious about this book series, I'll provide a summary below and a trailer, as I did for my review of the Fallen series in my last post, here: A Great and Terrible Beauty.

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

     Libba Bray's new series starts with a book titled, The Diviners. Naturally as soon as I got a hold of this book I abandoned socializing with my loved ones and had a private date with an adorable protagonist to the streets of New York in the nineteen twenties in pursuit of a frightening killer. The book of course was yet another masterpiece written by the pos-i-tute-ly wonderful Libba Bray. Bellow is the summary of the book, provided for your convenience and a trailer, here: The Diviners.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

     I can confidently say I am once again deeply in love with Libba Bray's wonderful writing and as fortune would have it the sequel, Lair of Dreams, can be expected to arrive on August 5th, 2014. I'll be actively waiting with much anticipation for more information to arise about this sequel, and once it does I'll be sure to share!

My Review of the Fallen Series by Lauren Kate

The Covers of each book of Lauren Kate's, "The Fallen Series."

     The Fallen series by Lauren Kate is a series I discovered in my high school career and also one that I recently finished only last weekend. Now, due to silly delays and distractions I didn't get to finish this series as early as I'd hoped, but once I finished the last book I can happily admit that I'm glad I finished the series as late as I did. Now, there will be no spoilers towards this series if you read my review, only my sincerest hope that you pick up this series as soon as you possibly can because it is not to be missed! This fiction series takes place in a world of the supernatural (what this entails I refuse to reveal because it's definitely worth the surprise) and is by no means a story of a girl who is simply trying to impress "the school hottie."

     I'll begin my formal review with the summary for the first book (so as to avoid spoilers completely) :

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where all cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. 

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce-and goes out of his way to make that very clear-she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret...even if it kills her.

     Here as well, is the trailer for the first book. I provide this for your pleasure if the summary has already intrigued you: Fallen By Lauren Kate

     In my teen years I quickly found out that the genre of "teen romance" wasn't entirely my thing (with the release of the Twilight series especially) but Lauren Kate's Fallen series is certainly not limited to a simple love tale. 

     Instead, Lauren Kate weaves together a thoroughly interesting story with a very fresh take on a romance set in a world of the supernatural. Lucinda Price is a very relatable and realistic protagonist who is in constant pursuit of Daniel Grigori's secrets, which ultimately drives the story to reveal it's very interesting plot. Along the way Lucinda meets a batch of colorful and charmingly unique characters who seem to hold secrets of their own.

     Overall, Lauren Kate's series is a thoroughly interesting read and will have you turning page after page, desperate to follow Lucinda as she unravels the mystery of Daniel Grigori. Admittedly I will say that this book series has easily earned its place as one of my favorites, so I highly recommend this wonderful read to each and every one of you!

My Three Constant Writing Tormentors

     As the title suggests, today I finally want to approach the topic concerning the difficulties many writers will face when they write. Writer's block is the most popularly known among writers because we believe that from time to time we experience such a thing.

     Interesting Idea About Writer's Block: According to my creative writing professor, writer's block is all about having too much ego to motivate yourself. Admittedly, I believe she could be right. I hope this idea changes your perspectives on your writing habits like it did mine because being stuck in that horrible little rut where you think: "I can't write anything" just sucks!

     The biggest trouble I personally have (or believe to have) concerning my writing is really just deciding what I want to write about. Generating a plot has never really been a problem for me, or character building (though I can admit I might need a little work in this area too), but it's what genre I'd like to follow and how I want to go about it that becomes a hindrance.
     My most successful attempt was a story I thought of even publishing. It's genre was supernatural and admittedly inspired by the book Fallen by Lauren Kate. This is an excellent book series and quickly became one of my favorites! I'm working on the last book now, and thankfully getting back into the habit of reading.
     Anyway, This book I was writing ranged to a few hundred pages so it definitely did range to the length of a novel. Unfortunately, this led to my second biggest struggle with writing: I'm overly critical towards what I write. I ended up deleting my prologue fifteen million times, took out chapters and left chunks I thought I wanted to keep. All in all, I ended up discouraging myself with my over critical outlook and lost track of my over all goal. It's an awful thing to admit but it did at least help me learn what habits I need to combat in order to further my ability.

     Now something you all can help me with especially is my third struggle and the worst of my torments: is spelling and grammar. I know this is no shocker to any of you whatsoever, but I will openly admit it anyway. This has been another factor that has discouraged my motivation to write. Mind you that I have been diagnosed with ADHD, and dysgraphia.

Definition: Dysgraphia - is a learning disability that affects writing, which requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills. It can lead to problems with spelling, poor handwriting, and putting thoughts on paper. People with dysgraphia might have trouble organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page.

     Not that I believe anyone reading this is stupid enough that I had to post a definition, but it isn't as popularly known or heard of as dyslexia and who knows? Maybe someone else suffering from the same thing will get on here and be provided with the convenience of my posting a definition.

     So, I'd like to know what struggles you all face with your writing, and of course I would love any and every piece of advice I can get! Until next time!

Entering the World of Blogging to Publicize a Dream

Introduction

     I was inspired today by my dear younger cousin Andrew to finally have the courage to start up a blog. My intention with this blog is to connect to other writers who share my dream to write for a living. I realized this was my goal at a very young age, as I was quite the fibber and had a creativity that made it difficult to focus on other things. Ever since I've read books to learn from, subscribed to writing magazines and anything else that could inspire me. I hope that with this blog I can exchange ideas with other great talents who will be willing to share ideas and advice.

     Although, this blog will not be simply limited to my writing career.

     Books, video games, movies, anime and television shows. I love to get on board on all of these and hear y'all's opinions. 
     Expect the following television shows to show up a lot: 

     I watch all three of these actively and love to discuss the bold storytelling each seem to offer. Don't we all though? My favorite videogame titles will be surfacing soon, as will other categories of media and topics I enjoy. I do write on two different websites for the sake of juvenile writing. These two websites are Fanfiction.net, and Fictionpress.com. I also submit short stories to The Barker's Voice which is run by a professor I had at Lone Star College. This online magazine takes submissions from anyone and everyone. The only reason there is not a link to this website yet is because I prever above all else to have permission to share links instead of blindly sharing what might come with consequence. If I do get the "OK" then I will absolutely share that link!

*Update*

So I did get the "OK" to share the link so here it is: The Barker's Voice

SO

If you are all still with me, I hope to share engaging conversations with you all, learn a lot and pray I can give back to all of you who are reading and giving to me. Until my next post!