NaNoWriMo Coming Up!

Ok, I just wanted to share that NaNoWriMo is coming up and I am extremely excited for it this year. This will be my first year of participation in this event.

Here is the link to the website:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

My screen name on the NaNoWriMo website is: PaigeRay23

Be my friend, the more the merrier.

I sure hope that many people decide to do this endeavor. It seems to be great fun.

Links to Great Stories: Lorna

Ok, here is another excellent writer to showcase.

Her name is Lorna and I just met her in Goodreads about a month or two ago. I know I don't really keep track of time. Anyway, I read some of her work and I was amazed. She is a great writer and I am so thankful that she decided to share her writing with Goodreads so that I was able to read it. Please visit her writing below.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/1935279

INTERVIEW:

P: Why do you write?
L: I write simply because it's fun. Hmm...I've just read what I wrote and it's all true, but I think there is something else. I need an escape ALL the time, when I can't read, when I'm doing the shopping, at work, etc. When I'm writing a story, it gives me something to emerse myself in when I need it the most. It's a distraction I can use no matter where I am or what I'm doing. Maybe that's why people think I'm ditzy! It's not because I'm clumbsy or forgetful, it's that I'm inventing, picturing, changing, planning my story!

P: Who is(are) your favorite author(s)?
L: Anne Rice is my absolute favorite. I also admire J.K. Rowling, Joanne Harris, Jane Austen, Gary Kilworth, John Marsden, Jean M. Auel, Douglas Adams, Anne Holme...among others.

P: What do you plan on doing with your life?
L: I am studying to be a copyeditor, and after that I hope to be an editor, maybe with my own business. Then when I'm rich enough (lol), I'd like to open a new and used book shop.

P: What is your favorite type of writing to write?
L: Period, some fantasy. Adventure, mostly.

P: What is Australia like to you?
L: Hot, and unwelcoming. It is a beautiful country, but I don't feel I belong here. Sounds silly, but I miss the country I was born in even though I don't remember it. I want to move back there (Scotland) in the hopes that I will acquire some sense of belonging.

Thank you.

Poetry

Links to Great Stories: Kyle

Ok, yet another showcased author.

Kyle is a writer on Goodreads, like all of the other authors I have met. He is an excellent fantasy writer and he was recently published in an arts magazine out of Davis, California. He is a very nice, easy-going person and I feel as though his writing somewhat refelects that characteristic. Please, check out his writing.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/2183713

INTERVIEW:

P: Why do you write?

K: I write because it gives me a creative release. Ideas flow in my head constantly and leaving them there would drive me crazy so they have to go onto the paper.

P: Who is(are) your favorite author(s)?

K: My favorite authors are Maria V. Snyder, James Joyce, Richelle Mead, and Fitzgerald to name a few.

P: What do you plan on doing with your life?

K: I hope to be a writer, but if I can't do that, I want to be a teacher or a pediatric physical therapist, jobs to have before I hopefully become a writer.

P: What type of writing do you like to write"

K: I love Urban Fantasy, but Young Adult is also fun because I think it's good to write a story that other young adults would find interesting. Also, Realistic Fiction is a passion on mine.

P: What is your favorite season?

K: Fall because of the changing of the leaves, and the cool weather is very inspirational, not to mention, that's also when football starts. :)

Thank you.

Links to Great Stories: Davis

Ok, here is another great writer to showcase.

He is on Goodreads, and his writing is fabulous. He is very opinionated and sometimes to the certain type of person a bit over-bearing and overly outspoken, but he is an amazing writer. It is so hard to believe how young he is when you read his writing. It's very inspirational for authors that want to write in another genre or are thinking about trying a new style of writing. Anyway, here is a link to his writing and I hope you enjoy.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/2160575

INTERVIEW:

P: Why do you write?

D: I just feels natural. I love language, and playing with it, which writing clearly allows me to do. I've always had an active imagination, so writing fiction allows me to explore that. I'm very outspoken, so through essays, I am able to eloquently express my views. I could prattle on about this question for days.

P: Who is(are) your favorite author(s)?

D: John Steinbeck, David Foster Wallace, and James Joyce are my top three, usually. I'm recently into John Blarth, Pynchon, and some of the other post-modernists. John Updike is a recent love of mine, an idol really. He was so prolific! Mark Twain, of course, the American Bard, as they say. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is one of the greatest pieces of fiction of all time. Hemingway, grace under pressure, great stuff. Charles Bukowski, the poet from the gutter. Great, raw stuff. He really is very, very, very under-appreciated. Kerouac, On The Road really inspired me to start writing. Of course, the Russians, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Kafka, because he was post-modern when Modernism was just getting started. My guilty pleasure would have to be Pat Conroy. Prince of Tides is an amazing book, everyone should read it.

P: What do you plan on doing with your life?

D: Hopefully, complete an English Ph.D program at a prestigious East coast college. and then write for a living.

P: What is your favorite type of writing to write?

D: It's a tie between the short story, critical essay, and free verse poem. I love all of them.

P: Who is your idol?

D: David Foster Wallace, without a doubt. Steinbeck, Joyce, and Updike(for the sheer volume of work he produced) as well.

Thank you.

Upcoming Book Review: Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

I just read this book a few weeks ago and I tell you, it was amazing. But I still have to put together the actual review for it. I should have this up in the next week.

Links to Great Stories: D.B. Pacini

Once again, here is a link to a writer.

D.B. Pacini is an excellent writer. I haven't read her book The Loose End of the Rainbow as of yet, but I have read a few things that she has written and I am in the process of reading The Loose End of the Rainbow. Here are a few links to her, her writing, and her blog.

http://www.astarrynightproductions.com/

http://www.astarrynightproductions.com/creative/creativeartisits.html

http://www.goodreads.com/dbpacini

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2920536.D_B_Pacini/blog

Thank you.

Link to Great Stories: Marley

As promised, here is my first link to a great writer.

I met her on Goodreads and I have loved every bit of her writing from the first time that I have read any of it. Her screen name for goodreads is Marley and her writing is full of emotion. It takes great talent to be able to write with such emotion. Her writing makes you feel what the character is feeling. I absolutely love her random, emotional writing. I can't wait to see what she does with her writing in life, because she is a true talent. She has oked the use of the link to her writing for anyone to read. Please feel free to read her writing and post a comment about it.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/1715064

INTERVIEW:

P: Why do you write?

M: I write because, sometimes I think things that are to strange too say out loud. I am far too nervous to just say how I feel, so the only other way to let it out is to put pen to paper. When I am writing fiction, it is to get away from my own reality, and being myself in another one...

P: Who is your favorite author?

M: I am not very sure of this. I like Sarah Dressen when I am in the mood for a romance book. When I am feeling naive, I read Jerry Spinelli, though they are much too short for me. My favorite book of his is 'Milkdweed.' I enjoy reading anything and everything that interests me.

P: What do you plan on doing with your life?

M: At the moment, I am considering being a teacher, teaching what else but my favorite subjects, Reading and Language Arts. Though, over time, I may change my mind.

P: What is your favorite type of writing to write?

M: I love to both read and write realistic fiction. But I am even more likely to write poetry.

P: Do you like spaghetti?

M: Every once in a while, with some nice cheese on top it's good. Ravioli and Tortellini are better though, as far as pasta goes...

Thank you.

Links to Great Stories

I have read so many great stories on the website goodreads.com. I have decided that I would like to post links to those great stories and any other stories that I find on goodreads, that I like. I will make sure to get author permission and maybe even do an interview for the blog. Look for links in the future to great writing.

Thank you.

A Disappointing Trip to the Library

So, I had it planned that my son and I were going to go to the dinky library here. Well, about ten minute before we were about to head out the door, it dawned on me. A new schedule was put out for this month on the county library system. Yeah, so Mondays are the furlough days for library employees. Just great! My son was so disappointed. So, instead, we went to the grocery store and as we were walking into the front doors my son said, "Mommy, this the book store?" I felt so bad. Oh well, daddy is off tomorrow, so we get to go to the library as a family. Kachow!!! My son wanted more dinosaur books as that is his current fad, although, I'm sure he would go for the Lightning McQueen books if he didn't already own every one every created.

All in all, we got out of the house, which can be good for us...sometimes. :)

Upcoming Book Review: Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

In the very near future, I will post a review of the incredible book, Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. This book has really made a difference in the way I think. It has been one of those books that you read that leave you questioning everything. Look back in the next month for my review on this book.

As a preview, here is what the inside jacket of the book says:

"A masterpiece of philosophy and of literature. Thus Spake Zarathustra is the fulfillment of Nietzsche's belief that 'the object of mankind should lie in its highest individuals.' In his thirtieth year Zarathustra-the archetypal Ubermensch representative of the highest passion and creativity-abandons his home for the mountains, where he lives, literally and figuratively, on a level of experience far above the conventional standards of good and evil. His poetic testimony is a vivid demonstration of the genius of Nietzsche's thought and language."

Upcoming Book Review: Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut

Oh, this book has been amazing so far. I absolutely love Kurt Vonnegut's writing. Stay tuned to my blog for the updated review once I have finished this book. I have a feeling that a lot of Vonnegut's narrators of his stories are along the same lines of person. Since this is only my second of his books that I have read, I can't quite be sure yet, but it seems as though the narrator of Galapagos is very close to the narrator of Hocus Pocus.

Here are a few comments regarding this book:

"Vonnegut's touch is light, but his satire weaves a web of black humor that almost startles you by the gathering force..." -Seattle Times

"Every bit as humorous as Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, or any of Vonnegut's other comic masterpieces...Vonnegut envokes the cynical chortle, the knowing grin, the inner laughter that soothes our troubled reflections...He's mad as hell and laughing all the way to the apocalypse." -Playboy

Upcoming Book Review: Consider The Lobster by David Foster Wallace

I'm really looking forward to posting the review for this book. It has so far been quite an interesting read and David Foster Wallace was that genius that nobody knew about. Too bad he is long gone. Look for it in the coming month. David Foster Wallace, "Consider The Lobster."

The back of the book:

"Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult-video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of a vicious presidential race, plunging into the wars between dictionary writers, or confronting the World's Largest Lobster Cooker, Wallace projects a quality of thought that is uniquely his and a voice as powerful and distinct as any American letters."

Upcoming Book Review: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Probably in the next month, I will put up a book review for James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." So far, I am really enjoying his style of writing. It's like nothing that I have ever read. Look for the review.

The back of the book:

"A masterpiece of modern fiction, James Joyce's semiautobiographical first novel follows Stephen Dedalus, a sensitive and creative youth who rebels against his family, his education, and his country by committing himself to the artist's life. 'I will not serve,' vows Dedalus, 'that in which I no longer believe...and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can.' To Dedalus, the artist is like god-one who 'remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails.' Joyce's rendering of the impressions of childhood broke ground in the use of language. 'He took on the almost infinite English language,' Jorge Luis Borges once said. 'He wrote in a language invented by himself...Joyce brought new music to English.' A bold literary experiment, this classic has had a huge and lasting influence on the contemporary novel."

Book Reviews

Ok, I have also decided that I will put up reviews for all of the books that I read also. It seems like something I can do for fun and it might help others in deciding which book to read. I will start by placing some old reviews of books that I have read recently and when I start on a new book, I'll keep it posted where I'm at and how I like it and that the full review will be coming soon.

Goodreads is Awesome!

I joined a website a long time ago. One of the best websites that I have had the pleasure of frequenting. Please visit if you have a chance. www.goodreads.com


Also, here is a link to some of my writing if you're are so inclined.
http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/2300728

Thank you!

Poetry

Poetry

Ok, so I don't know how to write any form of poetry, but I like to write short little spurts of random words every so often and so I will post them too, because they are weird. LOL Anyway, I'll start posting them tonight.

Snazzy Little Man

My son was the ring baring kiddo in a friends' wedding recently. The girl he is standing with was the flower girl.

Rants