mindheart=blown

Countdown to the end...

Counting down to the end of the semester and to the end of my journey at CWI.  A bittersweet time that I don't seem to have the time to give it the pondering it deserves.

It is down to the end of the semester and my desk has become a paper covered graveyard for fast food cups (mostly) emptied of their caffeinated beverages.  Two weeks, less than, until the end of the semester.  Until I walk in the graduation ceremony.

I went to my orientation for BSU, which kinda felt like a waste of time, as I could have done everything there from home, but at least I was on campus, and got a bit of a feel for it.  It is definitely bigger than either of the other schools I have attended.  I did run into a snag with my account (for reasons relating to: being young and dumb, being depressed, and having an avoidance mentality towards problems rather than an attack), so I haven't been able to register for classes.  Hopefully I will be able to get into classes I need to be in once it gets straightened out.

I have been doing a lot of freewriting, intended for my Cover Essay/Revision Essay.  I am hoping that it comes off as artistic rather than just rambling.  Though, personally, I feel it is interesting rambling, so maybe it won't matter.  *shrugs*

Okay, so this is short, but I don't have much else to say.  My brain is wound so tight that I am having a hard time getting anything out of it, let alone words...

The Pretentious Book List

So, in my last post I pretty much spewed a bunch of books out at you, and said "I liked these, you might, too" and left it at that.  This list is not that list.  This is the list where I get to pretend that I am all pretentious like and say, "You have to read these book or you are a terrible human being and an ignoramus" and then leave it at that.  So, here goes.  (also, I am sure that there are books on your list of these books that I haven't read, which makes me a terrible human being and an ignoramus as well)

To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee
I read this book in high school and could not put it down, even when our teacher told us not to read ahead.  I am having a hard time articulating why this book was so good, but I feel that it is very important that you read it.  Something about the struggle for justice, and how the world isn't always fair, and how the right thing isn't always the popular thing.

The Telling--Ursula K. LeGuin
About a human going to live among an alien race to decide whether they can join the cool species club by observing them and making sure they are actually as cool as they look from the outside.  It is about knowledge suppression and discrimination and abandoning your way of life because you think that someone else might want you to.  Fascinating and deep, if I ever teach a literature course on speculative fiction (which is one of my dreams should I actually become a college prof) this will be on one of my first choices.

The Chronicles of Narnia--C.S. Lewis
Because everyone should be able to dream about finding another world in the wardrobe.  Also, because it has influenced generations.  I also think it is important because it is fairly obvious as a biblical parallel, not for the inherent idea that it is biblical, but because that much allegory/symbolism is difficult to do and still be interesting and not overwhelming.

Harry Potter--J.K. Rowling
You might laugh, but I seriously think everyone should read these.  They are not just for children (actually, I feel they are mislabeled as children, and should be placed in the young adult section).  I feel that the Harry Potter series is very well written, the characters are well developed, and the world is meticulously built.  I also think that Rowling has some strong themes displaying what is right and wrong, the strength it takes to stand up for what is right, the power of sacrifice, and the importance of determination.  Harry can teach us a lot, even if we can't ever cast a single spell.

A Separate Peace--I don't remember and I am too lazy to look it up
It has been such a long time since I read this one that I don't remember who wrote it.  It is another that I read in high school and couldn't put down.  The struggles of the boys in this story to deal with competing, living, accepting, and growing up caught me.  Maybe it was just that I read it at the right time of my life, but it has stuck with me.

On Writing--Stephen King
Anyone who reads or writes should read this.  It is a book about writing that is unlike any other book about writing I have ever read (and I have read quite a few).  It is half biography and half tips and tricks and half this is what works for me.  And yes, that means there is one and a half books in this one book.  You get that much out of it.  King is a master, and even if what he does won't work for everyone, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at what it is that he does to succeed.

Bel Canto--Ann Patchett
Not because it has some great universal theme (though it kinda does) but simply because it is written so well, so tight and smooth, not a word out of place.  I started reading it because the blurb sounded interesting, I kept reading it because the language was gorgeous, I finished reading because I had fallen in love with the characters and had to see them through to the inevitable end.  The setting is a birthday party for a very successful Japanese businessman thrown by a small probably South American country.  The story begins when the party is taken hostage by a group of guerrilla rebels.  It ends the only way it could possibly end, but nevertheless leaves you breathless.  Go read it, I can pretty much promise that you won't regret it.

That's it.  (also, on the last list I left off A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin, which is a bunch of fun, and I love it).

Books and Stuff

So, we were talking about books and writing and reading in class today, and the idea of book lists/recommendations came up, so I decided that I would take a look at my book list.  The first thing that told me this could be an issue was when had to dig into a folder of files that were transferred from an old computer and never converted into the updated formats.  Definitely it has been six years since I updated the list, and I can definitely tell.  It is very much a younger reader, and while many of the books are ones that I still love, it is the love of nostalgia, not the love that says this book is super important and everyone needs to read it.  So, the list you are going to see here is spontaneous and hopefully interesting to you.  Genres range from science fiction to fantasy to young adult to horror to literary to mystery.  I tend toward fantasy and sci fic, both "adult" and YA, but I branch out when something catches my attention.

(Note: These are recommendations mostly because I really liked them and I hope that others will like them, too, not based on books I feel are "important" because of what they have to say, though some of these fall into both categories.  Also, they are in no particular order.)

On Writing--Stephen King
Contact--Carl Sagan
Catch Trap--Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Dark Tower series--Stephen King
The Telling--Ursula K. LeGuin
pretty much anything by Patricia McKillip, but The Riddle-Master of Hed is one of my absolute favorites
Dune--Frank Herbert
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson
Ender's Game--Orson Scott Card (the rest of the books in this series are good, too)
His Dark Materials trilogy (starts with The Golden Compass)--Philip Pullman
Harry Potter (because I can't not put it on a rec list)--J.K. Rowling
Abhorsen trilogy (begins with Sabriel)--Garth Nix
The Word and the Void trilogy (begins with Running with the Demon)--Terry Brooks
The Mists of Avalon--Marion Zimmer Bradley
If I Pay Thee Not In Gold--Mercedes Lackey and Piers Anthony
Possession--A.S. Byatt (mystery/romance/literary all rolled into one!)
The Giver--Lois Lowry
The Farthest Away Mountain--Lynne Reid Banks
Bel Canto--Ann Patchett
American Gods--Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys--Neil Gaiman
Brokeback Mountain--Annie Proulx (short story--much better than the movie, if you were wondering)
Sphere--Michael Crichton
Dracula--Bram Stoker
Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen
A Madness of Angels--Kate Griffin
Memnoch the Devil--Anne Rice (this comes in the middle of the series, but is my favorite of the Vampire Chronicles)
Hannibal trilogy--Thomas Harris
Practical Magic--Alice Hoffman
Fight Club--Chuck Palahniuk
Jumper--Steven Gould (yes, the movie was based on this, but very very very very loosely)
The Old Man and the Sea--Ernest Hemingway
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies--Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Darkly Dreaming Dexter--Jeff Lindsay (the first Dexter book, a bit darker than the show, which I liked)
The Road--Cormac McCarthy
Hero--Perry Moore
Good Omens--Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Stardust--Neil Gaiman
Imajica--Clive Barker (sometimes found as two volumes)

Okay, that's it for now.  Hopefully you find something you like on there, or maybe you disagree with me on some of them, either way, let me know if you read (or have read) any of these, I would love to hear what you think of them.

A War in Heaven

As I have been reading Paradise Lost for my lit class instead of grabbing interesting bits and pieces to store in my brain for the paper I have to write about it I keep fixating on the interesting ways it meshes and adds to my own mythology that I have created for The City 'verse.  I don't want to go into specifics, but have to say that I really appreciate Milton's vision of Hell.  I don't know if I will ever need to write a description of "my" Hell in one of my novels, but I do have Angels and Fallen Angels, and the War of Heaven is a crucial part of this world's secret history.  Having a picture in my head of both Hell and Heaven is probably a good idea, even if it is backstory that never makes it into a published draft of anything.

So, I feel like I have been talking and talking about writing, and not showing anything, so I am going to give you an excerpt of something I wrote.  Since we were talking about Angels and Demons, I will give you the prologue from a novel I have tentatively called To the Edge of the Earth.  Written during National Novel Month 2010, it isn't finished, which frustrates me, but I did get over fifty thousand words of it done.

Fiction and Reality

I have been flexing my writing muscles a lot in the last few months and I think they are getting tired. I don't want them to be tired. And I also can't afford for them to be tired. I feel like I am at a crucial crossroads in the planning of the serial killer story, only I can't see anything else in front of me. Probably I just need to start writing it. And I might if I didn't need to reserve writing time for other things. Like school. So I just keep making notes in my moleskine.
Speaking of my moleskine, I had a revelation the other day. I keep a notebook. I always keep a pen with me and I jot down things that come to mind, but I don't keep a notebook the way Joan didion does. When I read through old notebooks real life is peripheral. What I am reading is a progression of the way my ideas have formed and developed. This is fascinating, at least to me, and potentially to others if I chose to share. And this is where my revelation comes in. If I develop alzheimer or dementia in my old age, not unlikely given family history, I am going to be well and truly effed in the head. I already have what I call a reality crisis and I have a (mostly) sound mind. I can't imagine what it will be like when I don’t.
Reality crisis. It makes me sound crazy. There are occasions when my brain will momentarily be convinced that fiction is reality. On the flip side of this are the moments when I am convinced that if I believe hard enough fiction will be reality. That magic will be real and superheroes will exist. And I am always a little disappointed when they don't.

You want to know one of my deepest fears?

That I am a muggle.

(this got super personal, but here goes)