Busted!

Well, it turns out I gave quite a few people a good giggle, calling my teen aged self 'prim and proper.' Apparently, I've always been blunt, a little crude, and not afraid of a little rule breaking. In defense of my blog, however, I will say that compared to how blunt, a lot crude, and stubborn I am about following all the rules (motherhood does strange things to rebels) now, I was prim and proper, perhaps only a little, but by comparison, much more then than I am at present.

I should come with my own warning label...'Blunt Honesty, Communicate with Caution.'

Prim and proper my arse.

Anyways, I finished 'Catcher in the Rye' today, and loved it. I finished another book required of the class entitled, 'Revolution' by Jennifer Donnelly, which was excellent by the way, and I don't say that often. I have started 'King Dork' - which is cute so far, and the last of my required reading.

For all you avid readers out there you must, must, must, must, must read 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. It's one of those brilliant pieces of literature (it's not just a book, this is literature folks) where upon finishing it, you are a different person than the one who started it. It's THAT outstanding.

I have received a few form agent rejections all stating that none of them are interested in reading my manuscript, for varied reasons. Some were nice about saying no, some just said no and did not make an effort to be nice about it.

I will be out of town for a few weeks and hope to send out a few letters before I depart.

I'll say 'hi' to the Statue of Liberty for you.

Youthful Impressions

I've signed up for a Writer's Conference at the end of July, and as well as listening to a few speeches and having the first 15 pages of my manuscript critiqued (by some "professional," either another author or an editor) I am also taking a Masters Class for authors of Young Adult, which focuses on developing a YA voice. As homework, we were given a list of several books to read, and several movies and/or TV shows to watch.

Given that I have busy schedule, I have already begun reading and watching, while carefully taking notes so as to keep it fresh in my mind for the class itself.

The first thing I've learned is that I rarely enjoy First Person Point of View. I try! I really, really try! But nine times out of ten I am so entirely frustrated with how little other characters are developed, and how truly little the narrator is able to see with only 2 eyes, so it surprises me greatly when I find a book in First Person that I actually enjoy.

Now, mind you, the first time I read "Catcher in the Rye" I was probably sixteen, idealistic, an intelletual snob, and as prim and proper as they come. So, I can understand fully why I hated it the first time around. It's written in (you guessed it!) First Person POV by a real smart-mouthed kid who generally hates everything and everybody. At sixteen, I did not relate. I think I got frustrated with how much the guy swears and tends to ramble on.

Now, as a cynical, half cup empty kinda 'gal, who's been beat up by life a little, thirty (ahem!) something mother of two, and married for over a decade; there have been days, nay, months...well, actually, years (ok, every day) that I agree with Holden Caufield 100%. People are phony. Movies are corny. Young boys are immature bullies. Young girls are prissy snobs. Most grown ups are perverts. The world is an awful, horrible place and there are only a handful of people in it that are worth a damn, and when one of them (Holden's younger brother) dies, it throws Holden into a depression so dark he's hardly aware he's even in it. I have to say, I totally dig this book now. I have one chapter left to go before it's finished. I'm interested to see how the author ends it. If it's a happy ending, I think I might be a little too cynical to enjoy it.

Book #2 was a zombie tale, again in First Person POV called "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" and it was edited by the woman who is teaching the Masters Class. The heroine tells the story using mostly her emotions and physical sensations to describe how her village is destroyed by mindless people eating monsters, and at times, the lack of visuals got to me. It's very interesting to me how First Person POVs can be so vastly different. I can see why it was included as a reading assignment for the Masters Class. And even though I'm an avid fan of all things involving mystical monsters, I had a hard time reading this book. I will read it again before the class to see if perhaps my first impressions (as they were with "Catcher in the Rye") were shallow.

The TV show I have been asked to watch is Season 1 of "Veronica Mars." How did I miss this show? It's so cool! Free episodes are on wb.com...I advise everyone to give it a go. It's smart. It's fun. It gets a little complicated and loses it's edge at the end of Season 2 and Season 3, but I have to say, well worth a look see. And that's advice from a reader and television writer/watcher who doesn't like much of anything.

Except Buffy.

God.

I really miss Buffy.

And don't tell me Edward and Bella are the Buffy and Angel of today. It's comments like that that make me want to hurl.