ROW80 – R2C6

I’m going to warn you now: I did pretty much nothing this week. But it wasn’t because I didn’t want to! Life certainly got in the way and there was very little I could do about it. (You’ll notice I didn’t even get a blog post up on Friday…) But, on the upside, I got to spend quality time with friends and family and even attended a wedding. So, I’m just going to report on what I did get done and cut my losses. No use worrying about it now that it’s over!

1. Exercise for half an hour each day, five days a week. Incomplete. I exercised Monday and Tuesday and then didn’t find any time during the rest of the week. If felt really good to get back on the treadmill, though, so I’m looking forward to this goal for this coming week. Listening to the sound track to Hercules (my favorite Disney movie) makes it a lot of fun, too!
2. Each Sunday, visit Writer’s Market for at least half an hour. Done. This goal is getting harder to manage, as I feel totally lost right now. What do I need to be doing? How do I go about doing it? What’s a good choice to make? There’s a lot of helpful information out on the internet, but I think that’s part of the problem – there’s too much. What’s good advice for ME? It’s all very overwhelming. There’s got to be a Step-By-Step Guide for Idiots out there, right?
3. Write every day. Incomplete. This happened only once – on Monday. I will do better this week!
4. Read every day. Incomplete. I did it on Monday and that was it. I keep pushing this goal to the last minute (before bed) so sometimes I don’t feel like doing it. I think I need to move it up to an earlier time in the day.
5. Decide what the last story in my horror collection is going to be and start writing it. Done. Actually, I came up with two new ideas and wrote one. I’m still working on the other. Some of the stories I’ve chosen for the collection don’t quite fit in with the style I’m going for. I’m not sure if this is a good thing (it breaks it up a little) or a bad thing (they just don’t belong). My next goal here is: Finish writing “Found” and then decide which stories DEFINITELY make the cut.

Here are some other things that have happened lately:

1. I saw The Avengers and you should too.
2. Karmin dropped their debut album and I could not be happier or more proud. Learn about them a bit more from this post (and note that I totally called that they’d be famous one day).
3. It’s Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day to all those moms out there – I hope it’s a good one for you. My Mom told me what I was doing for her today about a week ago (LOL), so we’re off to initiate her plans shortly.

Word Wisdom: The Beauty of Words

I’m slowly coming down off my high of just seeing The Avengers. I’ll give you three reasons why you need to watch it right now:

1. It had the highest grossing domestic opening weekend…EVER.
2. Shawarma.
3. The Hulk.

If you’re interested, here are some great reviews for the movie:

Jessica O’Neal

Ddog from Gamerscene

Jimmy from Hypable

So, because my head is still swimming with men in leotards and giant explosions, I’m going to keep this post fairly short and sweet. I read an article that said language experts generally agree that “cellar door” is the most beautiful sounding phrase in the English language.

Um, what??

Readers over at Dictionary.com didn’t really agree either. The word they chose was “serendipity,” I can’t really argue with that. I think “serenity” flows a little better, though. But that may be because I just finished Firefly (*sniff*).

There were some other interesting choices, too. But what I really want to know is this: What do you think is the most beautiful word in the English language? (You can explain why for bonus points!)

Wandering Bard: France (The Eiffel Tower)

What is it that is so poetic about the Eiffel Tower? It’s so symbolic of France, and France itself is symbolic of love and sophistication. Fine wine and food. Adventure and creativity.

But the reality is that the Iron Lady, as she’s often referred to, didn’t always have a glamorous life. She was built in 1889 and her purpose was to be the entrance into the World’s Fair. A temporary entrance. She’s over 1,000 feet tall and held the title of the world’s tallest man-made structure for 41 years.

You may have heard that the initial reaction to the tower was quite negative. There was a Committee of Three Hundred (one person for each meter of the tower’s height) that objected to its construction. They were mostly artists who thought the Eiffel Tower was a ridiculous idea. They found the tower to be useless and monstrous. They said that it would take away from the charm and historic beauty of such attractions like Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe.

Yet, look at her now! She’s become the very essence of Paris, of France in general. You can’t not think of the Eiffel Tower if you think of France. Can you even imagine what it would be like if the Iron Lady didn’t exist?

I certainly can’t. When I visited Paris, this was right at the top of my must-see list. I thought it would be spectacular and beautiful and mesmerizing and wonderful. I was wrong.

It was way more than that.

I can’t even describe the feelings that I had when I looked at it. The Tower just looms over you and you have trouble thinking that it’s real. How can something so tall exist like that? How can something you see on TV and in movies actually be there, right in front of you? And to be able to go up to it, touch it, go inside it…that’s a dream come true.

We got to get up-close and personal with the Eiffel Tower at night, which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I know it sounds a little dramatic and corny, but trust me, it’s everything I’m describing and more. And it turns out that I didn’t know very much about the tower to begin with. Like the fact that it sparkles on the hour, every hour. How amazing is that?

Or that you can actually go inside it? Even go to the very top? The world has never looked so within your grasp than when you’re standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Doesn’t it feel like the world is just yours for the taking?

This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to France. You wouldn’t think that a giant hunk of metal would be so amazing, but it is. The feeling is indescribable when I think that I was really there, really that close to the Eiffel Tower.

Here’s some cool pictures that I just have to post:

I believe that at about the time I took this picture, I was lost. (No, the irony does not escape me.) You’d think that on a circular platform with only two ways out, I wouldn’t have misplaced my friends. Wrong. (Also, I’ve never been in a windier place in my life!)

For this picture, I had to lean waaay back against the rail in order to get the top of the tower. We were as far up as you could go, so the top really isn’t as distant as it looks here.

ROW80 – R2C5

Welcome, welcome to my check-in! (Did anyone else read that in Effie’s voice?) This week sort of kicked my butt, but I’m still happy with what I got done. Let’s get right into it:

1. Exercise for half an hour each day, five days a week. Incomplete. I was good on Monday and Tuesday, but I was too busy on Wednesday. And then when Thursday came around, I didn’t feel like exercising. On Friday, for some weird reason, by left knee hurt and I didn’t want to risk running. Saturday I didn’t even attempt to get in an extra half hour. And right now I’m eating a doughnut for breakfast. *sigh* On the up side, I didn’t gain any weight this past week (though, I didn’t lose any either). Next week will be better!
2. Each Sunday, visit Writer’s Market for at least half an hour. Complete! Even though I’m only doing this for half an hour each week, it still gets fairly overwhelming by the time I reach the end of my time. I just don’t get it. I don’t really understand what I’m looking at most of the time. Plus, since the first thing I want to query is a short story collection, I don’t understand how that would differentiate (in format) from novel submissions. If anyone has any resources or tips, I’d love to hear them!
3. Write every day. Complete! I knocked this one out of the park, you guys. More on that down below.
4. Read every day. Incomplete. I just missed Friday and Saturday, so not a huge deal. Going to try to push ahead next week and knock out a big chunk of this book that I’m reviewing for a fellow writer.
5. Finish my Cinderella story. Complete! I finished it and I thought it turned out great. I even sent it to my BFF (which is who I wrote it for) and she loved it. I’m planning more in this series, but I think I’m going to put it on the back burner right now. I want to concentrate on my horror collection so I can get it ready for querying. With that said, my next goal was going to finish “Trigger”…but I already did! I knocked two short stories out this week, which is awesome. I think my next goal is going to be: Decide what the last story in my horror collection is going to be and start writing it. I’ve got nine completed so far, but I’m not sure if they’re all going to make the cut. We’ll see!

Some other things going on:

1. I’m starting to realize what the big deal about Firefly is. I’m halfway through the season and I’m really starting to get into it. The characters are just so amazing! I love them all (almost).
2. Check this completely awesome top 10 list of Doctor Who monsters that one of the writers from Hypable put together. If you saw my Who post last week, you would know that I totally agree with Harri’s #1 choice!
3. Lastly, if you’re still on the fence about seeing The Avengers, make sure you check out this review. I think it’ll change your mind!

What about you guys? Anything interesting going on? Any cool links to share?

Featured Video: Maz Jobrani

I got deep on Wednesday with this post, so I decided today I would try to make you giggle.

So, a little while ago I told you that my favorite comedian is Gabriel Iglesias. Fittingly enough, Gabe introduced me to my second favorite comedian via his latest DVD – Maz Jobrani.

This man is funny. But don’t take my word for it. Just check out this quick clip of him performing on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (another hilariously awesome guy).

(Heads up: It’s a little outdated and a little political, but definitely not something we all haven’t heard before!)

Isn’t he great!? If you guys like him, I’ll throw together a bunch of clips for you to watch. He gets better with each one, I promise.

Why Do I Write Horror?

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen that I promised a “deep” post for today. Well, you’re going to get one…it’s just a bit late. Technically, I have a little over an hour until it’s officially tomorrow. It’s been a crazy week! Anyway, here you go. Please feel free to sound off in the comments. I’d like to generate some sort of discussion with this, and I can’t do that without you guys.

You’ve probably got a pretty good glimpse of my personality through this blog. We all have our days, but I would say, typically, I’m a pretty happy person. I love to laugh and to make others laugh. I’m a geek. I have crazy ideas and plans. I like to have fun. I’m down to earth. I like talking and I like listening. I usually have trouble not smiling.

So, it’s not a big surprise that when I tell people that I write horror they’re pretty shocked.

My mom is one of them. Well, she isn’t shocked so much as she just doesn’t understand it. She told me the other day that if she were to sit down and write something, she would want it to be inspirational. She isn’t interested in some of the things that I write because she just doesn’t understand why I would want to add to the collective “crap” that’s out there in the world. If I’m going to put my mark on it, why not make it a positive one?

(Disclaimer: My mom is wonderful and amazing and I don’t mind that she has a differing opinion. Actually, I’m glad that she does because it’s made me reflect on why I write some of the things I do.)

She’s got a point. A pretty good one, actually. There’s a lot of horrible, terrible, tragic things that happen in this world. Why would I want to put those things down on paper for other people to read?

I don’t know if there’s a good answer to this. There certainly isn’t a “right” one. I’m not sure what other people have to say – why they choose to write in this genre. But here are my thoughts.

First of all, I’m a pantser (for those of you not in the know, it’s much less scandalous than it sounds – it just means I don’t like to plot my stories and that I’d rather fly by the seat of my pants). I get an image or a piece of dialogue stuck in my head and all of a sudden a story blossoms from this little seed. I start to write it down and, before I can help myself, the entire thing is unfolding in front of me. I’ve always been this way and even though it makes writing novels a little difficult, I really do enjoy my general process. So, the reason why I may write horror stories is pretty easy: it pops into my head and I write it down. Simple.

So, why do these things pop into my head? Probably because I like to watch crime shows. Law & Order, CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS – the list literally goes on and on. They’ve sparked ideas before and often that spark is all I need to put my fingers to the keyboard. The other part of this is that I am absolutely fascinated by psychology – especially the psychology of the criminal mind. Why do people do the things they do? To me, it’s something so terrible and abhorrent that I just have to get a closer look to figure it out. It might sound strange to some, but without people who have a fascination for this sort of thing, we wouldn’t be able to understand and stop these kinds of criminals.

(P.S. I have to plug Stacy Green here because I live for her Thriller Thursday posts. Here’s one of my favorites.)

And I guess that is sort of where I’m going with this whole discussion. I write horror because it’s horrible. I want to bring light to what has happened in the real world. I can’t do that by becoming a politician or a civil rights activist, because that’s not who I am. I am a writer. I write.

I also write these sorts of things because, believe it or not, there is an underlying message there – a positive spin to these often ghastly stories that I write. There’s a lesson. Sometimes you have to dig for it, but it’s always there. I write to make you think. And if I can make you think, then maybe I can make you talk. And if I can make you talk, well…maybe then I can make a difference.

So, here’s the big question: why do YOU write. And, yes, I want the philosophical answer. Whether you write romance or sci-fi or fantasy or horror or any other genre or combination of those types, I want to know why you write. What are you trying to accomplish? What are you trying to say?