Do Books Shape Your Actions And Do You Shape Theirs?

While everyone processed the news about the recent school shooting in Connecticut, one of my CP’s sent a distraught email about her WIP, which deals with… a school shooting.  Obviously her greater concern was with the victims and their families, but she also worried for the fate of her book.  This wasn’t from a selfish perspective, but out of concern that her words would lend further inspiration to a copycat shooter or open raw wounds for a country on the breaking point. 

My initial reaction was, “Wow, yeah, maybe you should change that plotline,” nevermind that even if she landed an agent and the book was acquired tomorrow, it likely wouldn’t hit shelves for several years.  Except the more thought I gave to that, the more I began to question my reaction. Books shouldn’t avoid tough topics, they should explore them, right? Her book wasn’t promoting school violence, but it did examine the incident through the eyes of the mentally ill MC, and it lent some insight into how he got to that scary place.  And haven’t we all been hearing that now is the time to have these frank discussions? Wouldn't exploring the scenario from inside the mind of the perpetrator allow a jumping off point for that discussion?

I live in a middle-class suburb where the majority of my neighbors are the same color, religion and economic class as I am.  My state even votes strongly in favor of one political party.  But when I read a book I enter the head, for a short while, of characters who are not like me at all.  They might be gay, bi-sexual, Asian, Indian, male, rich or poor. They might be terrible parents, cheating spouses, criminals, spies, heroes, or villains. And I learn something from each of them- even if it’s just a cautionary tale.  We inhabit the world of each book for a longer time and are often privy to the character’s innermost thoughts and motives in a way that other media can’t portray.  And for that very reason, books have the power to open our minds as they introduce us to people we might not encounter in our day-to-day lives.  

As much as we bring our own experiences to the books we read, sometimes the books we read bring themselves to our own experiences.

Some books shape my thinking in ways I don’t recognize. In other instances, I can pinpoint certain books that concretely shaped my real-life perspective.  MIDDLESEX  allowed me such insight into a transgender’s struggle that when my neighbor announced her sex change, I immediately had a reference point to guide me in being a supportive friend in a difficult time. The drowning scene in A MAP OF THE WORLD scared me so badly that I am now hyper-aware of the responsibility of watching someone else’s child.  Likewise, THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN haunted me every time I would have to turn my back on my children in a crowded space, even for a second. I can absolutely say these books changed my reactions in each of those instances. 

What about you?  What books have shaped your perspective or changed your actions? Have any events in the "real" world shaped your storyline in your writings?

What's a Christmas Gram? I want one!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

For me, there's nothing like an uplifting Christmas movie to get me in the Holiday Spirit. My personal favorite is ELF...

Oh, how I love that movie! Even the gifs make me all warm and fuzzy. 

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

I hope you have a great Christmas/Hannakuh/Kwanza/late December!

Putting the Silly Back in Middle-Grade (and Christmas)

My favourite author and writing inspiration is none other than the great Roald Dahl. I grew up on his outrageous and hilarious stories (my two most cherished were Witches and The BFG, but he also wrote such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach).

When I say, they don't write 'em like Dahl anymore, I'm not exaggerating. Very few children's authors have been able to re-capture his storytelling prowess, with all the weirdness, silliness, and at times, darkness that comes along with those stories. It's my career goal to achieve even a fraction of what he was able to achieve, but that's not what this post is about.

This post is a call to you middle-grade writers to try and at least infuse a little silliness back into your own writing. Don't be afraid to go the route of nonsense even. Take a lesson from Dahl. Giant peaches and industrious foxes are fair game. Turn your kids into rats! Drown them in chocolate! Let loose with your imagination to unleash all sorts of cruel mayhem on the brats of your stories. That's why we do what we do, isn't it?

Well, here's my contribution, for now. Given that it's Christmas time, what better way to celebrate the holiday season than bringing out the silliness of it? After all, Christmas isn't Christmas without  a little fear, shock, and grotesquery, am I right?

The Biggest Gift in the Universe
By Ryan Greenspan

‘Twas Christmas Eve and the Greens were in a panic;
Their daughter, you see, had become quite manic.
Loud as she was round, the brat had whined for weeks;
“Bigger!” she screamed, ‘til she was red in the cheeks.

Each year her parents had it increasingly rough;
Whatever they bought her was never enough.
Yes, shopping for her was a great deal of trouble,
‘Cause the size of her gifts always had to double.

Now, I’m not talking quantity; there was plenty;
The spoiled little terror got at least twenty.
No, it was the big gift that was always too small;
No matter its size, the sight of it made her bawl.

The Greens tried their best to please the rotten child;
The last thing they wanted was to get her riled.
They once bought her a horse, but that sent her squealing,
So they got her a dollhouse that reached the ceiling!

When that wasn’t good, her poor folks wringed their hands,
And bought her three new cars, all the biggest brands!
But that didn’t make it right since she couldn’t drive,
So they cloned a dinosaur and wrapped it alive!

“Bigger!” she squawked, crumpling up all that paper.
With nowhere to turn, they bought her a skyscraper!
“Not good!” she barked, “I want something bigger still!”
So what did her folks do? They bought her Brazil!

The Moon was too small, as was the planet Mars.
You know what else she turned down? Two neighboring stars!
The Greens were at wit’s end; this year, they were strapped.
They even thought of ways to have her kidnapped.

“Aha!” exclaimed Mr. Green, late that Christmas Eve.
He knew the biggest gift she could possibly receive!
Using all his resources he bribed Santa Claus,
Who brought something that defied all physical laws.

When Christmas Day came, the Greens held each other tight,
Hoping beyond hope that they finally got one right.
Their daughter came down the stairs, eyes ready to judge,
Her arms locked cross her chest, not hinting any budge.

She kicked the other dozen gifts aside like trash.
“I want my BIG one!” she ordered, rudely and brash.
So, the Greens led her outside into the driveway,
Where their gift made for a fantastical display.

It towered over them all, as big as big can be;
Wrapped in golden paper, it was a sight to see.
It swirled round and round and hovered in the air;
There was nothing in the universe quite so rare.

“What is it?” said their daughter, looking confused.
“Open it, dear,” said Mr. Green, rather amused.
Their daughter tore through the paper with little control,
And underneath it was a supermassive black hole!

The force of it gave her little time to react;
She was spaghettified almost instantly, in fact.
No more complaining, no more whining, what bliss!
Her parents smiled as she fell into the abyss.

But the girl didn’t perish; at least, not yet.
She found herself in a den, still as a statuette.
Above her was a tree, all decorated in light;
Other children were bound beside her, nice and tight.

Suddenly, down the stairs came the sound of stamping feet;
There appeared the strangest family one dared to meet.
You see, they weren’t human, though they had arms and eyes;
No, they were gift-wrapped boxes of various size.

The parents stood with proud smiles on their striped fronts,
While the kids gleefully rushed the tree on their gift hunts.
“I want my BIG one!” said one, grabbing a hand of hair.
And with that, it ripped the girl open in one foul tear.

THE END

What turned me on...and turned me off

For those of you who don't know, Jennifer, Sarah and I are mentors in Brenda Drake's Pitch Wars contest. This meant that aspiring writers had the opportunity to query me, like that would an agent, and send me their first five pages of their manuscript. It was like reading through an agent query box and I enjoyed it a lot. But it didn't take me long to see some definite trends, so I thought I'd share some with you with:

Sharon's Turn Ons and Turns off (in a literary sense of course):

Turn On: Humour - especially making fun of trends

Turn Off: Vagueness - I can't fall in love with your story if I don't know what it's really about.

Turn On: Gut wrenching scenes with haunting writing.

Turn Off: Starting a MS with your MC waking up

Turn On: Contemporaries that take a cultural trend and make it their own.

Turn Off: MC looking in the mirror and describing herself/himself - just don't do it.

Turn On: NA that deals with mental health issues in a respectful way.

Turn Off: Weak opening words. No descriptions of the weather, what your MC is eating for breakfast or what's playing on the radio. No Mundane. Draw us in!

Turn On: A retelling that delves into unique world building and puts an unexpected spin on beloved characters.

Turn Off: Lack of voice in a query - if your query is boring chances are your pages are boring.

Turn On: Alternate Universe stories.

Turn Off: Neglecting world building in your query (too little information or using terms only understood once MS is read).

Turn On: When duty and destiny come between love and friendship.

Turn Off: Queries that read like a synopsis

Turn On: Concepts that are left of centre.

Turn Off: Extreme word counts for category (yes I know there are exceptions like Harry Potter and Twilight, but it as a mentor it turned me off).

Turn On: Genre Mash-Ups - well I already new this, but Crystal confirmed it when her submission came in my inbox.

Turn Off: Lack of high stakes/stakes that didn't make sense/vague stakes.

Turn On: Multicultural characters.

Turn On: High concepts movie mash ups.

Turn On: MC's voice coming through in the query (and I don't mean using the MC to write the query).

Turn On: Alternate histories.

Turn On: Space Opera SciFi

Turn On: Historicals

What made me FREAK OUT: A pitch that was REALLY close to something I'm writing as a basic concept.

As you can see there was more that turned me on than turned me off with the Pitch Wars submissions. I really loved something about every query that came past me, which means the writers who pitched to me had done their homework well. A lot of times I was left thinking "if only the writer had done this" about what I read.

Other times I was completely freaked out thinking - "ow am I going to be able to teach this writer anything as a mentor. They're so good!" Even though I felt that way about my pick and alternatives, I also knew that they were the strongest pitches with the strongest writing and each of them had something that the participating agents were looking for. Pep talks from fellow mentors Fiona McLauren and Stacey Heather Lee helped me get that self doubt under control and I went with the ones that were right for me.

I can't wait to show off Crystal, Meagan and Tiffany and their writing to agents next year. I am predicting the world won't end tomorrow and they will each get a squillion requests.

Overall, this project really reinforced to me how subjective querying is. Here's my tips to help you navigate the slush:

• Workshop your query with writer friends who haven't read your MS - they'll soon tell you if they don't understand what's going on or ways to make it stronger.
• Personalise your query - it's not hard to find things out about agents with a little research.
• Hone your first ten pages and make sure you open your MS with a bang not a whimper.
• Don't giveaway the ending, but give enough that the agent/editor will want to read more.

So good luck if your on the hunt for an agent.

Theresa McClinton Blog Tour & Giveaway!

Today, we're thrilled to host Theresa McClinton for an interview and giveaway!

A long time enthusiast of things that go bump in the night, Theresa started her writing career as a journalism intern—possibly the least creative writing field out there. After her first semester at a local newspaper, she washed her hands of press releases and features articles to delve into the whimsical world of young adult paranormal romance. 

Since then, Theresa has gotten married, had three terrific kids, moved to central Ohio, and was repeatedly guilt tripped into adopting a menagerie of animals that are now members of the family. But don’t be fooled by her domesticated appearance. Her greatest love is travel. Having stepped foot on the soil of over a dozen countries, traveled to sixteen U.S. states—including an extended seven-year stay in Kodiak, Alaska—she is anything but settled down. But wherever life brings her, she will continue to weave tales of adventure and love with the hope her stories will bring joy and inspiration to her readers.

YAtopia: How many books did you write (or start writing) before you wrote the first published one? 

Theresa: The Stone Guardian is my first novel ever written, and my first ever published. I don't know what kind of debt I owe to God for such a miracle, or how He aligned the stars to make this happen, but I figure I must have done something really, really nice, and this was my payback. lol. Also, I'm really passionate about the story. I've always loved the Mayan civilization, and my characters are so near and dear to my heart. I believe this had a big something to do with getting my first novel published. 

YAtopia: Which one of your characters has the most of you in him/her? 

Theresa: I believe I am most like Ashley, with a little Jayden mixed in. Ashley is my heroine. Although she's much braver than I am, I feel we share the same 'motherly' instincts to protect our friends from harm. In only seventeen years, Ashley was born, abandoned, raised in an orphanage for the insane, told she was crazy and broken and just not good enough, fell in love, had her heart broken, and formed a friendship that she would forever be loyal to. Now, you tell me she hasn't had a hard life. If I was her, I would probably have melted into a puddle. But Ashley has loads of tenacity, and the willingness to let go of her fears to fulfill her destiny. Jayden, well, he's just a smart ass with a lot of heart. I wish I were more like my hero, Arwan, but he's much too...well, I'll leave the spoilers out of this one. ;)

YAtopia: What is the one tip you would give to aspiring authors? 

Theresa: Work really, really hard. Self teach. There's no wrong way. Don't let anything stand in your way. And if you want to write, do it because you love it, not because you want to get published. Readers can feel emotion on the page, and if you're not in love with your story and your character, the readers can tell, and your book won't be the best it can be. Also, don't be afraid to put yourself out there. I got my contract with Etopia Press by participating in a pitch contest, and then having a really good story to back it up. You have to be willing to be rejected (which I got plenty of before the one "Yes") in order to find a home for your book. I know that's more than one tip, but they're all really important, so I cheated. ;)

YAtopia: What has been your biggest challenge in writing/publishing so far? 

Theresa: I think my biggest issue was decided where I wanted to go with my writing. Did I want an agent, be published with a smaller press, or to self publish? I went with the smaller press because I realized I needed the mentoring, and wanted a more personable experience. Thanks to my amazing editor and press, I have just that. I've learned so much just from working with them.

When myth becomes reality, reality becomes a nightmare.

Like any other teenager in America, Ashley just wants a normal life. But growing up in an orphanage for the insane is anything but normal. After endless therapy and increasing medication, her nightmares have only gotten worse. 

Probably because they’re not nightmares.

When Ashley’s mysteriously abducted, she finds a reality even less normal than the orphanage. And she discovers something else—she’s no ordinary orphan. Faced with enemies thought to only exist in fairy tales, Ashley discovers she possesses a powerful Maya bloodline. She’s the daughter of an ancient Maya Guardian, whose duty is to protect the Stone of Muuk’ich, an enchanted relic blessed by the gods. But first she must get it back from Sarian, a power-hungry demigod who slaughtered the last guardian—Ashley’s mother. Without the stone, all will be lost. 

When she meets Arwan, a hot Belizean time bender, his delicious olive skin and dark eyes make her feel a little less alone. But his gentle whispers and reassuring touch might not be all they seem. How can she balance love and duty when it’s up to her to prevent the rising of the underworld? Especially when the guy she loves might be its crown prince…

Goodreads * Amazon * B&N











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Writers are Readers Too!

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? That's how I feel when deciding if I'm a reader or a writer first. What I do firmly believe is that no one can write successfully without also being a reader. I've seen some discussions on writing forums asking, but why? And the answer to that is a whole other blog post. But, being both a writer and a reader can pose its own set of problems.

1. Constant Comparison - I read a lot particularly within my own genre, not only because I enjoy these books but because it's a good way to scope out the competition, to see what's working, what's not, what other writers in my genre are doing, what's selling and why. This is essential market research but inevitably leads to constant comparison which goes a lot like this:

"OMG, [BOOK TITLE]! What a freakin' spectacular book. OMG, [AUTHOR NAME] is a literary genius and I love her! But this is my competition!? I will never be good enough! Why do I even bother?" *sulk*

It's not always easy staying positive about your own work when bombarded by so many brilliant titles out there but there is an upside to this...

2. Striving to Do Better - reading a brilliant book also inspires me. When I've really enjoyed a book I start analysing the why, was it the characters? The intricate plot? The unique setting? The prose? The well-rounded antagonist? Some mysterious magic I could add to my own writing? This is how we learn from fellow authors and how we can channel self-doubt and deprecation into something positive that will improve our writing, making our books worthy of sharing shelf space with said freakin' spectacular titles.

But beware...

3. Author Trap - there is a caveat to all this: the author trap - one in which I have often found myself ensnared. I'm happily writing my WIP when BAM! I read a spectacular book and now I want androgynous faerie kings in my story, or a troubled tattooed teen or a flying wombat with glow in the dark fangs except my WIP calls for none of those but I'll make them fit, I have to because it's just so cool! I find that reading other books too close to my own WIP in terms of style, story, setting or characters can result in me slowly but surely skewing my book towards what I'm reading with often devastating consequences. My advice here is don't stop reading while working on a story but if you're writing about flying wombats, rather don't read about them in another book at the same time.

Yes, this is a flying wombat. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Are you a reader or a writer? Do you ever find yourself starting to write what you're reading? Any tips or tricks to remedy the situation?

DEAR CASSIE by, Lisa Burstein COVER REVEAL

DEAR CASSIE official Blurb:

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

                                                                                                                                 

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

DEAR CASSIE excerpt:

We kept walking on the lake trail, the bullfrogs croaking. There was also a humming in my ears from the nicotine.

 It could only be from the nicotine. It had nothing to do with being outside, at night, alone with Ben. It had nothing to do with Ben coming to the cabin and taking me instead of Nez and it definitely had nothing to do with the stars above us shining like they were the sky’s tiara. 

I stopped on the trail and looked up, taking them in, when all of a sudden bright colored lights exploded in the sky—fireworks, one after another, on top of each other, huge kaleidoscopes of light, like sparkling rainbow spiders.

“How did you know?” I asked, my voice going softer, like if I talked too loudly they would stop. It was so beautiful, after weeks of so much ugly. 

Ben turned to look at me, the colored lights in the sky turning his skin pink, blue, green. “I’m magic.” He shrugged.

I geared up to tell him to fuck off, because that was some corny-ass shit, but then I realized that he really kind of was. In that moment he was able to actually make me forget being me.

 “I would try to kiss you,” he said, “but I’m afraid you’d kick me in the balls.”

“I probably would.” I laughed, the sky filling with noisy color like paint launching from a giant popcorn popper. “But like I said, it wouldn’t be about you.”

“I guess I’ll have to figure out how to make it about me,” he said, taking off his boots and socks and standing. “Come on.”

“There is no way I am getting near that water again,” I said.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, holding his hand out to help me up.

            I looked at his palm, open, waiting, just wanting to hold mine. For once, I didn’t think about anything except that there was a cute, sweet, smart-ass boy standing in front of me with his hand out.

I pulled off my boots and socks and took it.  

We stood at the lakeshore, our hands still clasped, the water licking our feet, fireworks decorating the sky.

I turned to him. He was looking up, his mouth open in wonder like he was trying to swallow the moment.

It was definitely one worth keeping.

 In addition to the DEAR CASSIE cover reveal, Lisa is hosting an EPIC CONTEST to celebrate DEAR CASSIE’ s cover reveal.  Lisa wants you guys to share diary entries of your favorite fictional characters with her. That’s right, choose ANY character from books, TV, movies, a cereal box and write a 500-750 length diary entry from their point of view.

We will choose the top 5 and then let the masses vote on their favorite. The favorite will be published in the final version of DEAR CASSIE. You read that right, published with the author’s name! The additional four will win $20 book buying gift cards.

So get diary-ing! Send you entries to prettyamystories@yahoo.com by January 1st!

Voting for the top 5 will begin January 7th, with the winner being announced January 14th!

DEAR CASSIE pre-buy links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13628374-dear-cassie

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/9781620612545

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620612542/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dear-cassie-lisa-burstein/1113610316

PRETTY AMY Links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy

Powells: http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781620611197-0

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/9781620611197

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620611198/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pretty-amy-lisa-burstein/1108930786

Additional links to Lisa’s pages:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/LisaBurstein

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor

Website: http://www.lisaburstein.com

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University. She lives in Portland, OR, with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Dear Cassie is her second novel.

 

What Was Once a Blog About the Hobbit Became a Blog About How I Write And Craft Ideas

When most people read a blog, short story, novella, novel, the written word of some sort; they see the finish product. Writers rarely ever show you their work, stealing a bit of from my math friends. So I decided to show you my work. I wanted to show you how an idea evolves, grows, and changes over the course of its creation.

The idea I had was originally the Hobbit. This came about because of the movie being released tomorrow and how I love this book. It is a very special book to me and I wanted to talk about it. I wanted to explain why this particular book out of the countless numbers of books out there was the one that I hold dear to my heart.

So let the experiment of showing my process begins. 

(Draft 1)

The Hobbit or There and Back Again – A Davey’s Journey as Well (I know I want to talk about the Hobbit and one of the few occasions I have a working title)

I decided this month I was going to talk about, discuss, the Hobbit. I am not even sure where to begin when talking about the Hobbit. Other than throwing out a punch of different tidbits of information as to why I decided to talk about the Hobbit and why it means so much to me.

-I am a dyslexic

-It was one of the first books I really remember reading

-Break the dish crack the plates

-It is one of the most perfect books ever written

-It is accessible to everyone regardless of age

Okay I know that looks like a mess of information, but sometimes that is how my brain process information. With that said, I believe Tolkien did something magical when he wrote the Hobbit. He created a timeless classic with the Hobbit and the world of Middle Earth. I think it is by far his superior work, though I am a huge fan of his Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. LOTR is a tough read and defiantly plays to his strengths as a professor and linguist.

.

.

.

And yes I already have my ticket in hand to see the Hobbit in IMAX. (I know this is how I want to end things)

---

(Draft 2 – You can tell how different of an attempt this was verse draft 1 and that is okay. It happens in writing all the time.)

Originally I was going to write about the Hobbit and how much I love the book. I was going to explain why I thought it was one of the best books ever written and quite possibly the most accessible book out there. I was going to talk about my learning disabilities and dyslexia. And all of this was going to tie in together wonderfully, but like any writer I got stumped as how to do it. I am not going to call it writer’s block because I had a whirl wind of thoughts and ideas in my head.

I was going to talk about how Tolkien didn’t think anyone would pay attention to the Hobbit. I was going to discus the animated film and how I saw it in its entirety in the 3^rd grade; though I had seen bits and pieces of the film before that. It was the movie, which got me to read the Hobbit in the first place.

I want to talk about how I then had to read the book again when I was college, for the first time, in a class about dragon’s in literature. This was a very diverse class of people of all ages.

I wanted to compare and contrast the Hobbit with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher’s Stone. Since I believe the Harry Potter Books in all are the closest modern equivalent to the Hobbit.

I was going to talk about opinions and how opinions are neither right nor wrong. They just are and everyone has them.

---

(Draft 3)

The Hobbit…

Why do I love this book? Why does anyone love any particular book? Who knows?

For me the Hobbit was one of the first real books I read as a child. Now I had read other books and had been reading comics for a while, but the Hobbit was something different; something magical in my eyes, which has never left me.

I remember watching the animated movie in the 3^rd grade and I was entranced by the animation, the colors, the characters, the setting, the music; basically everything about it. So I then choose to read the book and I was transported. I quickly did notice the differences the things left out of the movie. And I was okay with that because it just made the book all that much more magical for me.

You might be saying that is all fine and good but how well does the book hold up now to Davey the adult, though how much of an adult am I? I still feel like I have that childlike wondering inside of me. I had to read the Hobbit once again in college when I was taking a class on Dragon’s in Literature and it was pure and simple magic and I started thinking just how accessible the book was to all ages. I really saw how different the book was from the LOTR which I find a hard and tedious read. I hate to say it, but in my opinion it is. But I will say Jackson did and incredible job with the movies and it filled me once again with the Magic of my childhood and imagination once more.

I do find it interesting that they are taking the shortest of the books and making them into three films with the supplemental materials from other Tolkien Middle Earth materials. And I can’t wait until next year when I get to do a sit down interview with Sylvester McCoy who not only played Radagast the Brown, but was also the 7^th Doctor; another childhood and current favorite of mine.

And I really think when we really look the closest thing, again in my opinion, to the Hobbit and its long lasting quality for all ages will be Harry Potter Series of books. Everyone seemed to have read these books regardless of age. And the funny thing is once again I came to the Harry Potter Books through the movies and one of my first conventions I did as a writer.

(this is where once again I lose my train of thought and begin to wonder if I should start over with another angle. –especially since I haven’t talked about my dyslexia and learning/reading disability and I didn’t care with the Hobbit because it so thoroughly entranced me… the next thing that came close to this was the Brian Jacques and his Mossflower books, which then lead into the Wies and Hickman Dragonlance Books.)

-          I want to show and evolution of reading here.

-          Comic books and Star Wars

-          The Hobbit

-          Brian Jacques (Mossflower Books)

-          Weis and Hickman (Dragonlance Books)

-          “The Sky” became the limit

-          The becoming a writer…etc.

Again I lost sight of the point I was trying to make while getting words on the page. Again I think it is all from my passion about the Hobbit and what it means to me. I hope that other people find that book for themselves. One day I hope I write that book for other people to read and discover… though honestly the odds of that happening are slim, but I can at least say parents have let their children listen to my Amazing Pulp Adventure’s Radio Show Podcast and then their kids play as my Heroes and Villains just as I did with characters from Marvel and DC Comics or Star Wars.

(I am so lost and off track it isn’t funny… but this is how my mind works as a writer/author)

Welcome back out of the world of drafts and writings of an over active mind.

That was my work. Now you may or may not be interested in seeing the final product of my writing about the Hobbit, but it isn’t here. I didn’t want to show what came out of showing my work; at least not yet. I wanted to show my work. I wanted to show that it isn’t always pretty, golden or makes sense. It takes time and revision after you write your initial piece. At least it does for me. I know there are some people out there who have the ability to write pure magic. I am not one of them. I am a dyslexic with learning and reading disabilities and yes it takes me longer to put something together. I see the words on the page in a different way and sometimes those words and ideas only make sense to me.

In the end, I hope you get something out of this. Namely that not everything you write is going to be pretty or golden when it first comes out, but at least you have something on the page to work with to edit to mold into the story, essay, paper, report, book you want to write.