Knitting and Writers Block.

As I've stated several times in that past, I'm a writer. I tend to believe that there are several groups of writers. There are the aspiring writers, the weekend writers and the ones who are writers, but no one ever see's their work and its a mystery. There is also the regular writers, the ones who write and write because its part of their job.

I don't want to be a weekend or aspiring writer. I want to be Stephen King worker writer. I want to write because when I do I feel better mentally. Writing has been something that I wanted to do since I was in second grade and won the James Madison Creative Writing Contest. That's right, I won it. I was at this moment a writer.

I dabbled in poetry, I had a teacher who loved my poetry. My mom was a HUGE fan. She would say with that wistful look in her eyes that I was born to be a writer.

I lost my way. I would get great idea's, I would write screenplays. I believed that my lack of knowledge of perfect grammar, that I would suck at being a writer. I always knew that there were novels in me. Tons of novels. I allowed my own inner demons stop me from writing.

About six years ago I decided to give it a try and its been work since. I want it to be my job, my livelihood. I want to be paid to do this, but having said that- I don't do it to get paid. I do it because I need to.

OK. So today. Right now. I have a great story. I have a character that I love to write. I have not one, but three outlines for novels. Big novels.

I also am suffering from writers block. Writers block isn't just, "Oh, I can't writer I have no ideas." It's also, I have a two year old who needs supervision all the time. I have literally thirty minutes a day to write. As I am writing this right now my two year old is trying to yank out the disk drive tray.

Also the characters are quiet. They aren't talking to me.

In January I signed up to do a crafty pay it forward and I'm so glad my friend Jennifer sent me knitting needles and a book. At first I was pretty incredulous and figured that it would go the way of my crochet hoot, but I love it. I caught the bug. Knitting is filling the hole of not writing for the moment, it relaxes me and soothes me and helps slow my brain down. Thankfully it's a forgiving hobby and while I can throw it down to chase my kid.

Hopefully soon I can get back to doing what I need to do. I need to figure out my schedule so I can be kind to myself. Why am I always so hard on myself? Why is anyone.

Anyway there it is why I've been gone for so long. I'm thinking I might fill in some blogs with knitting posts lol you've all been warned.

Sour Grapes and Bashing Your Profession

On February 21th, 2014, a blog was posted that sent every Harry Potter fan "to the mattresses." I’m using that Godfather reference because this blog post angered so many so fast that the Potter Fan base went to Amazon.com to do the kind of damage that they can. They started to give the author of the blog, Lynn Shepherd, 1 star ratings on everything she's ever had published. Had they read anything she's ever written? Nope.

This blog was posted via Huffington Post UK, so it was bound to get a ton of attention. I am almost sure that she knew that going in. She wrote a blog basically saying that J.K. Rowling, the author of the much beloved Harry Potter series, should give up writing for profit. Well no, that’s not exactly the gist of what she wrote was- Rowling could keep writing her children books, but she needed to get out of the adult market because she's had her turn. (Don't worry; I'll link the original blog by Lynn Shepherd so you can read it yourself in all its glory.) 

Who hasn't heard the stories of Ms. Rowling writing Harry Potter in a coffee shop, while cuddling her infant child? That she took Harry Potter to several publishing houses and got turned down more than once. I think she is the ultimate success story. She fought hard and got published. Her story was good on its own and it became a success. 

 Obviously, I have few problems with Ms. Shepherd's blog post.

She has a big problem with adults who read "children’s stories." The books/movies she has posted she has neither read nor seen one minute of. She hinted at this in the first part of her blog. She didn't really go into it, but I'm thinking based on other statements in the blog she has a problem with adults who read children stories because they aren't reading "adult" books like those she writes. She does make the back handed statement that "any reading is better than no reading." 

I got angry just reading that again to get the quote right. I read. I read everything I can get my hands on. I feel it is the very job of a writer to read as much as they write. I'm currently writing this blog, with my two year old son helping me - and by helping me he is handing me his Legos so I can pull them apart for him. I do this every couple of minutes. My point is that tonight after he goes to bed, and when I get a quiet moment to myself I'm going to read. I think a writer who doesn't read whatever is out there is doomed to be a boring writer. Reading is like training is to a runner. You train, you run. I read, I write. 

I have read all of the Harry Potter books. When I read them I didn't have a child. Now that I do have a child I am very excited at the idea of reading them to him. Ms. Shepherd has no idea what she is missing. She is going by a label on a shelf in the book store. I wonder if she just walks in and passes up the fun stuff and goes straight to her little section of the bookstore. That sounds kinda lonely. When my husband and I go to the bookstore it's like a mini vacation. We are tourists in the land of make believe. I'm sitting here trying to think of one section of the bookstore I haven't checked out. 

This isn't even really the biggest problem I have with her blog post. 

The fact that she tells Ms. Rowlings to go back to children's writing, because that is not in a market that is her target, angers me. She had her run in the adult world and she needs to step down. Why did she attack J.K. Rowling and not Stephen King? He writes adult fiction and spends a great deal of the time on the top of the charts. She did it because she writes what she calls "Literary Murder." She references all the authors that she is inspired by and not one of them are alive today. She's Charles Dickens and Jane Austin all the way and she decided to throw in some Law and Order for good measure. If J.K. Rowling hadn't been revealed for writing a good Crime novel "The Cuckoo's Calling,"  it might not have went from selling poorly to being a huge hit. 

I am almost amused that Ms. Shepherd is calling her out on this.  I mean she wrote it, used a pen name and I think was happy to let it sit there. But word got out as it often does and it becomes a hit - not to mention it is actually a good read. 

To sum this up, Lynn Shepherd went from the highest amount of comments on her blog being 3 to over 600. That's a huge jump. Now people are talking about her.  Did she realize it would possibly be career suicide by pissing off readers and other authors? Even Anne Rice had some pretty great things to say and by that I mean she put the smack down in words on Lynn Shepherd. 

I'm a writer. I've said that. I can't imagine ever asking anyone to stop writing so I could have my shot. No, I think of J.K. Rowlings cuddling her baby and working on the magic that is Harry Potter. I think about Stephen King keeping all his rejection letters and using them to make himself work harder. In this world that you get a medal for just showing up I think some people have forgotten about the hard work and absolute determination it takes to get published. When my novel is finished, and it's a Sci-Fi/murder mystery, I will not ask Dennis Lehane to give up writing or call my local bookstore and insist they remove all of the works of Robert Heinlein. I will be grateful for the rejection because when it's finally there the reward of being publish will be so sweet. Even if it never happens I write for myself and I write to do better than the last story, to learn something new every time I sit down at my keyboard. Isn't that the point? 

Lynn Shepherd to me is doing this for the fame. She's basically written a blog post the same as a "celeb" drops a sex tape. It's pretty shameful she can't enjoy the fact that she has novels for sale on Amazon.com and just enjoy that she gets to do what she loves for a living

This is how this writer-writes :)

Here is the Shepherd Blog

Deus Ex Machina to the rescue! !bang! !pow!

This blog entry is a book review. Not exactly what I was thinking it was going to be, honestly I thought that I'd write this review and it would be great and people would love me. Love me... But alas, it's not that great of a review. Love me... 

It's that old trap. A friend recommends a book. You share similar love of books. She gave it 5 stars, you read the first page and double (in this case triple) check to make sure it's the right book. Thankfully my friend (Hi Angie) and I have agreed to disagree on this book. It's a simple case of... This book just wasn't that into me. It wasn't the books fault lol it was mine. It was a bad break up. I just hope it doesn't drunk text me. 

 The book in question is Branded, by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki. Now this book has great ratings. So this is strictly my opinion so before you little Branded lovers come and flame me for not liking it, I'm an old school troll and I flame back. Lol as if anyone will find their way to my little blog. 

 So if you plan on reading this dystopia tale of woe please stop here. Otherwise you've been warned about spoilers. 

 

 This story starts with a very awkward first person opening that left me baffled. Ok, she's six feet under but she's not, she's glaring at death and death is glaring back as she is about to hang herself. Ok so she's buried but not yet? I got the impression from the opening that she lived alone in a horrible shitty rat trap apartment. That she was going to off herself but she saw the ring her dad gave her with the longest ring inscription I have ever seen on it. It inspires her to live. (Pow!)  Just as the fuzz busts in to drag her without a trial to... Drum roll.... The Hole. Dumdummdum. This is a place where the sinners are left to fend for themselves. I was thinking a literal hole. Kinda like the last batman movie and batman is in a prison in the ground, cause its a hole. But I get the impression this hole is more like a slum. 

 Lexi, our main character is branded with a blue band. She never fights, she just takes it. The blue color represents the sin of lust. Her guard is a hunky muscley guy named Cole. His dog, Zeus was my favorite character in the whole book. She lives in a crappy room with what must be the worst gas station like bathroom ever. She's given scrubs and hospital slippers and the ring her dad gave her is gone. She's warned that there aren't a lot of blue branded people because they don't last long. She's not given a job as a hooker, but she's given a job at the hospital. There she meets Dr. Sutton who looks vaguely familiar. She is told to befriend a dying girl, she does, they bond, the girl dies. Even Hugh she is branded as a sinner of lust, she listens to no one, and is almost killed by guards who try to rape her. Cole and Zeus just manage to save the day (bang!) Dr. Sutton is all hey Lexi I did a rape kit on you and you're a virgin, wow you must innocent! 

 Now Cole has reasons he's supposed to guard her. He doesn't say. His room is attached to hers and while her room is slummy his isn't. He feeds her, bagels. I guess hell has bagels. Everyone know they are in love before they know. He wants to know her story but she's too full of shame to tell. He admits he is going to go on a hunt for her brother that she literally just mentioned to him. Her brother is also in the hole. Lexi writes her story for him. All about her pervy step dad and how he was from High Society and after her dad died he came in, made her momma a pill popper. He also peed in her face. Let me say that again. He pissed in her face. It was 3am when I read that 4 times cause I was seriously what the fuckitty fuck fuck was that.

 Cole comes back even more in love, doesn't kill her brother. Oh and he had her ring the whole time, what this old Hamilton heirloom I forgot I had...my bad. The big guard in charge knows who she is and wants her brother. Suddenly Dr. Sutton is like you two are fools in love, we got to send her to John Connor, I mean her brother the leader of the resistance. 

Her brother is a big scary bad ass full of rage. Kicks Coles ass to the curb. Dr. Sutton is a friend of her fathers. This info makes the whole you're a virgin more creepy. If he was her fathers friend, wouldn't it be assumed she's innocent? He's known of her, her whole life. Good looking out for her Doc. 

They have a command center, they train. I kept waiting for the mockingjay to show up. They attack. Her bro dies. Dr. Sutton is wounded and surprise! the commander (the secret dude in charge)is her step father who abused her! Surprise twist two! It's Dr. Sutton's brother omhegeee! 

The rebels didn't win, but the book ends with a trip to the beach awww. 

So that's my review. I gave it 1.5/5 stars. The whole branded idea was great, I wish they had fleshed it out. The dialog was flat and there was no character development. She's beautiful and innocent and this harden guard falls like from the moment he sees her. She's been molested for years, abused and nearly raped but she's in bed with him pretty fast. I didn't believe the characters and didn't like them. They are pushing this as a first in the series so why rush it all? 

Anyway that's my review. Love me...