I have to give a shout out to a website called www.in2books.com. It's a pen pal program that matches students with e-mentors. The students get to pick the books they read, the mentors read the books, then they exchange emails about the books. I am an e-mentor for the first time and am really enjoying it. I just finished the first book, A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young. It was an engaging book, and I have already written a letter about it to my student. I realize this post isn't really about my writing, but reading helps writing and helping young people love and think about reading is important to me. It's a super easy way to volunteer and help a child and I am able to do it on my own time.
On another side note, I had a great time at Disney World and now have friends staying with me. It's actually been a very side tracked month, but I am settling into a schedule. Hopefully that will allow me to focus more on writing, and all of the other things I should be doing.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Trip to NY = SUCCESS
Well I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I went up to NY to visit family. It was nice to spend quality time with family, but I am glad to be back in my own bed, with a backyard for the dogs to go run around and relieve themselves in. Walking them three to five times a day was getting a bit of a nuisance. It is so much easier in the middle of the night to stumble out of bed in my nightdress, open the back door with my eyes half open and let them in the yard. I will never live at a house without a fenced in yard.
Getting to the good stuff: why was my NY trip such a success? One of the places my 'novel' is set is an old farm house outside Batavia, NY. The house is largely based on my father-in-laws parents farm. I never sat down to write about the house, but when I began thinking about where my character would live, I thought it was the perfect setting. I have been to the farm a handful of times, but had not ever really studied it like I would need to in order to describe it. I knew it was beautiful in a way I couldn't create, because I don't know much about architecture of old houses. So, I did what any good writer would do, I asked my father-in-law if he would bring me up there and show me around. It was better than I could have expected, he is very knowledgeable about the house, and antiques in general. He let me snoop around the attic, basement, and barn. He drove me around the property, so I could have a better picture of the land size and layout. He answered questions I had about the house and gave me information I would have never thought to ask. I took pictures for reference, since a sixteen hour drive every time I wanted to see the exterior would be a bit extreme. I am really excited about the information I gained and the adventure I got to have with my father-in-law. While I am sure, some things about the house or property may very well be modified in order to fit in with my character's personal preferences on style, overall it is perfectly quirky as is.
I did work some, albeit, not much, on the reformatting and writing of my 'novel' while I was in NY, but I really do need to get my butt in higher gear, since my goal of having a 'complete' first draft done by the end of the year will approach faster than I expect, I expect. However, this weekend I am headed to Disney World (FOR FREE) thanks to my awesome cousin who works there currently.
Note on names: I try not to use names of people in my blog posts. This is a personal preference to protect their privacy since anyone in the world could see this if they wanted to. I do however occasionally give shout-outs to people who are 'public figures' when the information I am giving out is fairly common knowledge (ie: author comes out with a new book).
Oh, one more thing. (Hey it's been two weeks, I have a lot to say. Walden Books went out of business in my hometown (sad). However, happy for me! I got TWENTY books for FIVE dollars. It was their last day of business and the selection was well picked over, there may have only been like 60 different books to choose from total with at least ten in Spanish. With that said, I didn't look at them too much, and a couple of the books are in the process of being given to people who may appreciate them more than I. One book is on the chopping block for recycling. I normally love all books for what they are, however, this book can NEVER fall in the hands of one of my future children. I thought it was a book of vegan recipes for children (and while I am not vegan I do eat food without meat/animal products sometimes). However, when I got home and opened the book up, it was a children book promoting veganism. Which, in itself is fine, but it basically tells children that drinking milk (beyond babies) is unnecessary, and that shearing sheep for wool is cruel. So the book must go.
Getting to the good stuff: why was my NY trip such a success? One of the places my 'novel' is set is an old farm house outside Batavia, NY. The house is largely based on my father-in-laws parents farm. I never sat down to write about the house, but when I began thinking about where my character would live, I thought it was the perfect setting. I have been to the farm a handful of times, but had not ever really studied it like I would need to in order to describe it. I knew it was beautiful in a way I couldn't create, because I don't know much about architecture of old houses. So, I did what any good writer would do, I asked my father-in-law if he would bring me up there and show me around. It was better than I could have expected, he is very knowledgeable about the house, and antiques in general. He let me snoop around the attic, basement, and barn. He drove me around the property, so I could have a better picture of the land size and layout. He answered questions I had about the house and gave me information I would have never thought to ask. I took pictures for reference, since a sixteen hour drive every time I wanted to see the exterior would be a bit extreme. I am really excited about the information I gained and the adventure I got to have with my father-in-law. While I am sure, some things about the house or property may very well be modified in order to fit in with my character's personal preferences on style, overall it is perfectly quirky as is.
I did work some, albeit, not much, on the reformatting and writing of my 'novel' while I was in NY, but I really do need to get my butt in higher gear, since my goal of having a 'complete' first draft done by the end of the year will approach faster than I expect, I expect. However, this weekend I am headed to Disney World (FOR FREE) thanks to my awesome cousin who works there currently.
Note on names: I try not to use names of people in my blog posts. This is a personal preference to protect their privacy since anyone in the world could see this if they wanted to. I do however occasionally give shout-outs to people who are 'public figures' when the information I am giving out is fairly common knowledge (ie: author comes out with a new book).
Oh, one more thing. (Hey it's been two weeks, I have a lot to say. Walden Books went out of business in my hometown (sad). However, happy for me! I got TWENTY books for FIVE dollars. It was their last day of business and the selection was well picked over, there may have only been like 60 different books to choose from total with at least ten in Spanish. With that said, I didn't look at them too much, and a couple of the books are in the process of being given to people who may appreciate them more than I. One book is on the chopping block for recycling. I normally love all books for what they are, however, this book can NEVER fall in the hands of one of my future children. I thought it was a book of vegan recipes for children (and while I am not vegan I do eat food without meat/animal products sometimes). However, when I got home and opened the book up, it was a children book promoting veganism. Which, in itself is fine, but it basically tells children that drinking milk (beyond babies) is unnecessary, and that shearing sheep for wool is cruel. So the book must go.
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