Muse's Whim

I am now an official fan of Game of Thrones - in book form and the HBO series. While I am a bit ashamed that I watched the series before I read the books, I am not ashamed that I like both. I'm nearly done now with Clash of Kings , and I am really impressed with Martin's writing. I think the characters are really well-rounded even though there are so many of them, and that the wealth of individual stories weave together into such a rich and vibrant tapestry that I can't put it down. I think the world of Westeros and The Free Cities is well wrought, and I like that Martin didn't rely on a lot of exposition at the beginning to familiarize readers with the world - we were simply placed in the world and got to know it's differences as we got to know the characters. At the point that I am, I have to say I'm rooting for Daenerys to come back to Westeros and win her throne back to stop all the infighting amongst The Seven Kingdoms, but I also really like all the Stark

I know everyone is talking about this issue, and I know it's been a week basically so I'm a little late to the subject. But I watch a show on Hulu called Spoilers with Kevin Smith. It's a weekly online only show where Kevin Smith takes an audience to see a movie together and then brings them back to do the Spoiler show where they talk about how they felt about that movie. The people in the audience aren't critics; they're normal people who like movies and have opinions. In the most recent episode, Kevin Smith talked about how this most recent episode was supposed to be his favorite because he knew that he was going to see The Dark Knight Rises, and he had been looking forward to it for so long. When the tragedy hit, the people at Spoilers were at a loss as to what to do because the show is normally very upbeat, excited, even silly sometimes about the movies that they see and obviously that wouldn't be appropriate. So Kevin and his people decided to still go see

I must think of this blog as a journal, because I do the same thing with journals. I start off with a gung-ho attitude, the best of intentions to write on a regular basis and to put my thoughts to paper.  Then in a few months my entries are fewer and farther between until I feel that I have to write an apology entry for going so long without writing. The sad part of that is, it's a journal - no one is reading it but me, so who am I apologizing to? I wrote an apology post on this blog as well, but let's be honest, with two followers, no one cares that I'm not posting regularly here either. I would feel more worried that I'm not making the commitment to writing on my blog, except for the fact that the reason I'm not writing here is because I'm actually writing a lot more often on my novel. I'm almost to the point where I can plug in some scenes from the short story, and when I do, I'll have over fifty pages written and five chapters done. I'm actually

I am so sorry to any of my readers for being so remiss in my postings. May has been a crazy month for me health-wise. I am still in the process of seeing doctors to try to figure out what is going on and how to fix it. Also, I am unsure what to post now because I am reading much older books that would be silly to review at this point and haven't seen any recent movies that I am passionate enough about to review. I do hope to see Snow White and the Huntsman soon, so perhaps I will review that. I am torn whether I should post any of my current work on my novel, Gayle . The reason I hesitate is because the work is nowhere near complete and therefore nowhere near being published. So if I post the first chapter or two that is complete and readers enjoy it and want to read the whole story, they will be out of luck because there will be nowhere where they can get it to read. I'm not so naive or overly confident to think that there will be hundreds of people who will be complaining tha

My cousin, who has been a lifelong lover of books, recently turned me on to a book called The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman. He thought that I would like it and that we could possibly work together to turn it into a screenplay. I liked the idea of working on a project with someone else, so I picked it up. I just finished the book, and I love it. I don't know how I didn't come across it in all of my reading in junior high and high school. There are so many things about the book that would make it a really good movie; I just am unsure if I can write a screenplay that would do it justice. I'm going to have to look into books or possibly even classes about writing screenplays, because while I know how to write stories, I don't know all of the conventions and writing rules that are unique to screenplays.

I had a dream the other night where a young man who had autism found out that federal agents were trying to find him to take him into custody. He thinks it is because his best friend, who also has autism, has been having strange visions and has been afraid that the visions are actually telling him something if he can only figure it out. The young man tries to hide from the agents in his home, and to avoid detection, he has to be very quiet and very still. This is when his own visions begin. The premise is that in the future certain individuals with autism have the capacity to detect subtle and wide-ranging patterns in people and society thereby attaining the possibility to predict the future. I can't tell yet if the government wants to use these individuals for their own gains or if they want to eliminate them because they could potentially predict things that make them a threat. It could probably be both depending on the individual. I really like this idea and could see myself exp

What is it about substitute teaching that makes me write more than anywhere else? Is it the academic setting? Is it the amount of free time I have during prep periods and while waiting for students to complete homework or tests without the possibility of any other distraction? Or is it the big desk without all of the clutter usually found on my own writing desk that just tantalizingly says "wriiiite ..." I wonder what I can do to my own desk/writing room at home to make it as inviting so that I can actually make some real progress on Gayle  everyday not just substitute teaching days.

So I finished the entire Hunger Games series a while ago, but when my husband finally decided to give it a try, I picked it back up again so that we could discuss it together. We both really enjoy the series and can't wait till we go see the movie (see my review of the movie coming this Friday). However, I was quite disappointed in how it ended. *SPOILER ALERT* I understand that Katniss went through quite a lot throughout the course of the books and that it had emotional ramifications, but in my opinion, Peeta went through much more than Katniss. Yet he's still able to work through his issues toward some semblance of a normal life. It seems like a bit of a cop out that Gale just goes away, Katniss marries Peeta, and that she finally caves and has children even though she admittedly does it just for Peeta. What is it? Their both so damaged that it forms a bond between them that eventually turns to love? And how can Katniss love someone, let alone live with someone or much worse

I'm currently working on a story - actually writing it. I've only got one chapter finished, and I'm not writing often enough. I get distracted easily with family life (husband and five-year-old son as well as my mom's extended illness and my grandmother now living alone), but I also second-guess my ability too often. It's going to be a novel or series of novels for young adults, a work of fantasy. The story is centered around a young woman of 17 who has a special ability. In this world, the elements of fire, water, and wind can be detected by gifted individuals whom I call Elementals (because they can see the animal representation of the elements and therefore talk to and manipulate them). The protagonist's name is Gayle. I envision (much because I haven't gotten to that part yet) that the conflicts she encounters will be with an authority figure named Lord Stormwind. He has quite a back story as well, and the second book will probably be a prequel about how