Why the Editor Isn't the Bad Guy

It seems in Hollywood and even in other circles (not to give a rap and not to say that all self-pubbed authors are like this but this is frequently the case in self-published circles), the editors are the bad guy. They're the evil grumps that keep the writers from writing freely. I noticed this trend particularly when I watched How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days with a friend. Contrary to what the story was trying to portray, what the editor was asking for wasn't that unreasonable. In the media examples I have these women are not the purest of character (which I also don't like since I know many editors who are some of the nicest people you could meet), so I'm not defending their attitudes, but I do want to point out that the "obstacles" they're giving the protagonist are really just what it takes to make a career as a writer. 

A Book Review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Buy from Amazon!

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Series: Harry Potter (Book 3)
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (October 1, 2001)
Page Count: 448 pages

Prisoner of Azkaban is a resounding favorite among Potterheads and I remember enjoying the film (though I forgot about most of it so I enjoyed the twists all over again), so I'm happy to say that this is definitely my favorite Harry Potter book so far (I've read up to Goblet of Fire at this point). 

So Your Character is From Hungary ... Featuring Dorka @ Berries & Books

It's time for this week's So Your Character is ... Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's  So Your Character is from Russia ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.


(None of the Images are Mine)

Writing Lessons from Movies: Summer Wars

My friends suggested I watch this anime film and I did a few weeks later and I fell in love with this movie (Also the soundtrack is amazing)! It's one of my favorite anime movies I've ever seen. I love the creativity of the cyber world of Oz, the formidable villain, and the big ensemble cast. I loved it so much I wrote an article about it for Geekdom House. I watched it again recently (for the fourth time) and I realized how many things it has to teach us about writing.

In Summer Wars, there's a giant cyber world called Oz that hosts most of the world's communication, businesses, bank accounts, data, etc. and it boasts the best security in the world. Kenji goes on a paid vacation with Natsuki to her grandmother's big 90th birthday but while there he accidentally helps break the security code for Oz, allowing an artificial intelligence called Love Machine to wreak havoc on Oz.

Warning: Spoilers (Biggest one is 5)

Beautiful People: Favorites Edition

Hold the presses on the regularly scheduled blog post for this! This is going to be the last Beautiful People for a while. Sadness. :( I've participated in every one for four years, so I have to finish off the series with this! If you'd like to participate too head on over to Paper Fury!

So Your Character is From Russia ... Featuring Sofia Marie @ Teens Live for Jesus

It's time for this week's So Your Character is ... Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's  So Your Character is from The Czech Republic ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

The Significance of Nudity in Stories

Knowing that part of my audience is conservative Christians, there may be some of you who are nervous about the subject of this post. No, there are not any fully nude pics in this post. XD Also I'm not a fan of an overabundance of nudity (It's why I don't do Game of Thrones), but I believe it can be a useful tool at the right time. I'm also not going to be talking about nudity in the overtly sexual sense, but instead, I'm going to tackle the symbolism nudity can present if done in a tasteful manner.

Especially after watching the second season of Attack on Titan, I was really spurred to write about how brief scenes of nudity or even partial nudity can be impactful in a story. Most of the subjects have nothing to do with anything sexual, but there's a certain feel that nudity gives in a scene and I want to expand on that in this post.

Now I'm 25 ...

I'm officially a quarter of a century old! This is weird ... My birthday was last week and because most of my friends live out of state or country, I like inviting them up for the weekend. Since my birthday was on a Friday this year, my friends Casey and Amy could actually come on my birthday and we had a great time and I also want to reflect on my 24th year as well. :)

So Your Character is From the Czech Republic ... Featuring Marky @ Books Are My Life ..., Karolína Melounová, & Anna Alatriel

It's time for this week's So Your Character is ... Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's  So Your Character is from Poland ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Creating Classifications for Your Stories

If you've had any kind of social media account then you've seen and/or participated in a personality quiz. Most of these are related to popular fandoms: "What Middle Earth race are you?" "What's your Divergent aptitude?" "Which Supernatural race are you?" (In case you're wondering I'm an elf, amity, and Charlie.) There are even official ways to find out where you're classified like on the Pottermore website for which Hogwarts House you are or in the back of special editions of Divergent for your aptitude. 

Classifying where we would be in these worlds pulls us directly into the story. In a way, I believe it allows us to imagine where would we be if we lived in those worlds. Would we have grown up with Tris or Christina? Would we have been sorted with Harry Potter or Cedric Diggory? Would we have lived in District 12 with Katniss Everdeen or District 4 with Finnick Odair? 

Today I'm going to help you develop classifications of your own that maybe one day you'll see on Facebook or Pinterest. ;)

Revisiting Old Journals Tag

It's my birthday today and I'm going to talk about that in a post next week, but today I'm celebrating with some of my closest friends! For now, enjoy this tag!

When Melissa tagged me for this it actually brought up a lot of old memories. I used to carry that green journal around all the time then I'd archive stuff in that big black binder. I'd wear out the binders I kept my notes inside to the point of breaking and then I'd have to get new ones. One time I left my binder on the top of my dad's truck then he drove off to go somewhere and it actually slid off onto the side of the road. I was so devastated that I couldn't find it, but they discovered it soggy and wet in a ditch (that's why some of these pages are water-stained), but I was so overjoyed to have it back and because I wrote in pencil most of the writing is okay. 

So Your Character is From Poland ... Featuring Ola @ Ola Reads Books

It's time for this week's So Your Character is ... Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's  So Your Character is from Kenya ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

I found a couple months ago that I'm a quarter Polish (This explains my love for borscht and pierogies), so this post is super timely! My great grandparents came over from Poland, so I'm super excited to learn more about this country!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)