What's Up Wednesday (Actually On A Wednesday)

I'm going to actually officially participate in a What's Up Wednesday today! (Even if it's kind of late. Whatever.) I'll even do the official thing: What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch.

What I'm Reading:

I'm currently reading stuff for my A to Z Book Review Challenge, mostly completely out of order because half of them weren't available from the library yet. I just finished Corked by Kathryn Borel, which was awesome (full review to come). Now I'm starting on Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi although I might end up reading a different one first depending on which books I have to return to the library first.

What I'm Writing:

I am failing at working on my book about a world of invisible people. I'm at least thinking about it again, which is more than I can say I was doing a few months ago. I've gotten to the middle of my outline, but after that I just... can't think of where I want the story to end up. It's a lot easier for me to write when I have an ending in mind, and right now I just can't think of one that doesn't make me sigh with frustration at how incompetent my storytelling abilities are.

I also started something new (which of course is what happens when you're struggling with an MS). It is a contemp road trip/travel story, drawing largely on my experiences from when I lived in the Philippines last year. I know it will be terrible because I'm terrible at writing contemp (despite it being one of my favourite genres to read), but it sure is fun.

What Inspires Me Right Now:

Music! Through the internet I've discovered a whole bunch of random indie music that I really like. I love the band Typhoon, especially the song The Sickness Unto Death, which not only sounds beautiful but has awesome lyrics. I am also weirdly into Andrew Huang's rap music (I am not really a rap person). My favourites are For Love and Ash. Such good lyrics. (Also, the music videos are beautiful. Watch them.)

For something lighter, I love this song called "Waterproof" which is a song by one of the high school students who went to the school I worked at last year. It is about the "waterproof" Filipino spirit during Typhoon Haiyan a few months ago. If you buy it (which you can do here), all the proceeds go to typhoon relief! It is such a cute, uplifting song. You should at least listen to it, even if you don't buy it.

What Else I've Been Up To:

Freaking out that school is going to be over in like, two months, and freaking out over what I'm going to do this summer.

I'm also planning further reading "challenges" for myself after I finish A to Z. I think I am going to dub May "Marchetta Month", and reread all Melina Marchetta's books while basking in their awesomeness. I also want to reread some books I read as a kid and see if they're still as good as I thought then, and I also want to do some sort of diverse reading challenge. I want to either read a truckload of books with non-white narrators, or read a truckload of books by non-Western authors. Or both. We shall see!

What about you?

A Short List of Endlessly Fascinating Characters

Everyone is always pushing for complexity in characters. ("Everyone" being writer/publishing people I see online). Complex characters are good characters. They are good characters because characters should be complex, just like humans.

Sometimes the complexity of certain characters takes a hold of my brain and just won't let go. I cannot stop thinking about the character and their intricacies. I have to analyze everything about them. They are so very real and human to me. They are endlessly fascinating.

These are some characters that I've found (and still find) endlessly fascinating:

1. Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

I find it absolutely fascinating about how Malfoy is not just this great big bully enemy with a capital E. I mean, Harry and co obviously see him that way (especially Harry) but it's easy to see past that. It's easy to see how he's in a very similar position to Harry, but how he's failing. The scene in Half Blood Prince where Draco is crying over the sink gets me every time. He's just a boy with goals and fears and everything just like Harry. See this gifset as well.

2. Massie from the Clique series by Lisi Harrison

Yes I read all the Clique books obsessively; they were/are my guilty pleasure books but CHARACTERS. One of the things I appreciated about the Clique books (and probably the reason I was into them for so long) was how Lisi Harrison really digs into the characters. Massie is the most popular girl and leader of her group of best friends. She's responsible for holding it all together and basically being perfect, or her face goes down the drain. The chapters from her POV were always fascinating - seeing how hard she works to keep up appearances and keep everything together, even when things are falling apart. She does anything to get her way, and sometimes she does give up hope and just wants a friend. Those are her best moments, but even still she insists on returning to keeping up appearances. From anyone on the outside, it's really, really hard to empathize with Massie. For anyone on the inside (the reader), it's almost impossible not to.

3. Dustfinger from Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Dustfinger sort of just gets caught up in all this stuff with Mo being able to read things into existence completely by accident. I love love how he is not really a bad guy, but not really a good guy either. He has his own interests at heart, and will do anything to do what's best for himself. But he still ends up feeling for other's causes anyway until... well, spoilers. Dustfinger is one of my favourite characters ever and he definitely deserves his own book.

4. Quintana from Froi of the Exiles and Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

By Simini Blocker!

Quintana is one of the most fascinating characters of all, because she's absolutely horrible. She does not deserve love or acceptance from anyone, and deservedly doesn't get it. She's kind of crazy and you never really understand her. The fact that you never really understand her is part of the fascination of her character. She comes from places that are really hard to understand. By the end of Quintana of Charyn I only began to understand her character. There is so much to her, so much complexity and hurt and... gahh. She's absolutely brilliant.

Which characters fascinate YOU to no end? I'd love to know.

A to Z Blogging Challenge: Book Review Style

So a few days ago Laura posted about how she's going to be doing the A to Z blogging challenge, except instead of just random blog posts she's going to be posting 26 book reviews. It actually sounds like a cool idea, so I'm going to join her. (Although, it's in April, so things could happen between now and then).

(You can skip the following ramble about book reviews).

I think it's a cool idea. I think I need to do more book reviews, and I think one of the most important things about reading and the online book community is supporting authors. I can't afford to buy every single book that comes my way, but sharing about books I've read leads to more books being bought down the road. It's so important to share book recommendations with people!

However, because of that, I tend to shy away from negative reviews. Actually I usually only post reviews of books that I have fallen in love with, because books I love I just want everyone to read and love as much as I do. But that's not always the case - I'm sure even if I just like or even dislike a book, just by me talking about it they'll pick it up. But if I hate it... I'll just... omit some truth. :)

tl;dr Book reviews are good and I should do more of them so I'm going to!

Laura is reading 26 different books with titles that start with each letter of the alphabet. I'm going to do the same, although not in the allocated time because, to be honest, I just don't feel like putting that much pressure on myself!

So here is my list (I stole some off Laura's list, and some are my own TBR). Recommendations would be awesome!:

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Blackbird by Chuck Wendig
Corked by Kathryn Borel
Doll Bones by Holly Black
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Fragments by Dan Wells
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Stanford
Ink by Amanda Sun
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
K
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
Mind Games by Kiersten White
Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook
OCD Love Story by Cory Ann Haydu
Prodigy by Marie Lu
Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
Raven Boys, The by Maggie Stiefvater
Small Damages by Beth Kephart
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
Vicious by VE Schwab
Wool by Hugh Howey
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
Year of Biblical Womanhood, A by Rachel Held Evans
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

I'd love to do a range of genres with this, so recommend anything! And everything's subject to change.

See you in April! (For this, anyway, hopefully I'll get around to posting before that!)

Review of All the Books I Read in 2013

Happy New Year! This is the time of year when I try to make up for not posting book reviews all year and stuff them all into one post. Read through for all of my 2013 book recommendations!! You can also read back to my 2011 and 2012 review for even MORE books to read. I introduced some new lists this year, and got rid of the new releases (too much work to look up which books came out this year... I know, I'm lazy).

 

Best Books of 2013

 

Codename Verity by Elizabeth Wein - Such a clever, awesome book. Completely catches you off guard halfway through. Also FRIENDSHIP STORY. I am always asking for straight-up friendship stories, and that's what this is. And I got this, and Elizabeth Wein's second book ROSE UNDER FIRE for Christmas!! Yay!!

 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - One of my favourite things is when a book makes you think really hard, and this one did. It was so awesome how the author got her point across. The characters and the way they were used was so fascinating. I definitely need to read this book again, because I know missed tons of stuff.

 

 

 

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - This is a book about humans and dragons who live alongside each other, the dragons taking the form of humans so they can interact. It addresses discrimination, the characters are awesome, and the style of writing is similar to Megan Whalen Turner's. Such good writing. If you enjoy MWT or fantasy for that matter, read it!

 

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - I don't think I can have a "Best of" list without Melina Marchetta on it. I actually put off reading Finnikin for a while, just because I didn't feel like reading fantasy for a while. Such a mistake. It was so amazing. MM never fails at creating awesome characters. But what impressed me is the completely fleshed out world that she'd created for Finnikin (and the sequels).

 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - Best contemp I've read in a while. It didn't play on high school stereotypes, and the characters and situations were awesome and real. Rainbow Rowell definitely deserves to be the next big thing.

 

 

 

The First Third by Will Kostakis - A brilliant story about a Greek family. This also has stuff I'm always on the lookout for: diversity, family stories, focus on more than romance. Clever writing, and best of all, awesome characters and character development. You can find the review I did of it here.

 

Rereads

 

The Fault in Our Stars - Not quite as good the second time around. I am now way less forgiving of the existence of the Van Houten character.

 

Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen - I feel like this book would appeal to readers of John Green and basically any contemporary author. I wish he was more popular. Also, JERK is a very interesting look into a young teenage boy living with Tourette's.

 

 

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - This book is everything that I ever want in YA. Good characters, focus on friendship, no high school stereotypes, family. These characters are my favourite. I could spend a hundred books with the characters in this book. I love how MM can make you (and Francesca) love a character with one well places line. Ugh. So good. (If you think I'm ever going to stop talking about Melina Marchetta, you can leave now...:D)

 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - How many times will I read these? Who knows? But Suzanne Collins remains a genius.

 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I know lots of people don't like Mockingjay, but I love it. Suzanne Collins doesn't hold back for the sake of making her readers happy. I think what happens to the characters in Mockingjay is the logical next step to what happened in Catching Fire. There's an interview that TIME.com did with Suzanne Collins where she said that she wanted to write a book for every age group about war, and I think she did it brilliantly, which I think is exactly why Mockingjay is so horrible.

 

Harry Potter - I think I reread these every year. I always find new stuff. (Like when Snape is teaching Legilimens to Harry and he's saying how it protects you against Voldemort, and then I realized that that's part of the reason why Snape can be a double agent!! Of course!!)

 

Books I Bought in 2013

 

Rush by Jonathan Friesen - Awesome, quick, entertaining read with an interesting concept. I bought it because I couldn't find it in the library and I loved JERK, CALIFORNIA.

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

 

 

 

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress - Couldn't find it in the library, read the first page and seemed interesting. I've actually had this on my TBR for a while, can't wait to read it!

 

The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs - Found it in the markdown section at McNally Robinson, and A.J. Jacobs is absolutely hilarious. This book is a memoir about him trying to read the entire encyclopedia. If you like quirky, nerdy, awkward narrators that aren't ashamed, read it! (Also if you like learning interesting facts).

 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Of course I bought it. It was good, but I thought it didn't really deal with anything interesting. The ending was the only interesting thing, and I totally knew that was going to happen. I would've loved if Veronica Roth had dealt more with the issue kind of brought up in Divergent, about wanting to be the characteristics celebrated by all four factions not just striving to be one characteristic. But, subjectivity.

 

And some more recommendations

 

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King - I liked Please Ignore Vera Dietz, so I read this one. I wasn't disappointed; A.S. King does characters wonderfully.

 

 

 

Legend by Marie Lu - I'm almost done with dystopian, but this one was actually good.  I actually want to read the sequel (another thing I thought I was done with).

 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson - Awesome fantasy with a good female lead, and a diverse setting for a fantasy which I found really fascinating. The concept was unique, as was the focus on religion. I love it!

 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - There was so much hype around this book, and then lots of controversy over the writing style, so going in I had no idea what to think. I actually enjoyed it, thought the writing style quite refreshing, and thought it made sense. I think it's slightly convenient that the one person that can touch Juliette just happens to be a handsome boy her age, though.

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern  - A very cool, mysterious circus book. It took me a bit to get into it, but it actually turned out to be very interesting. Read my full review here.

 

 

There you go! A year's worth of book reviews. Now you can go out and buy some books with all the money you got for Christmas. :) Also what were some of YOUR favourite books that you read in 2013?

 

 



College Writer Blog Tag

Laura tagged me in this college writer blog tag, so here it is. (Although in Canada, college is where you go for vocational training and university is the same as what Americans would call college. Anyway)

Also I'm kind of the same as Laura, most of the group of high school/teenage bloggers I used to follow kind of disappeared. So if you're a college-age blogger I'd love to follow you! Leave a link or tweet me @asherlockwrites. :)

Now I have to answer some questions!

What year are you?

First year! I graduated two years ago, but I took a year off last year to work at an international school in the Philippines.

What's your major(s)/minor(s)?

Um, nothing, yet... will let you know later.

What types of writing do you do?

Tweets. Blog posts. Haha just kidding I do more than that... although I haven't really been writing at all since this summer, really. I'm really bad at making writing a priority when I have lots of other things, like school, on my plate. When I'm not stuck in a rut, though, I like writing anything that I have ideas for. I have a harder time writing contemp, though, and while I love pure YA romance I cannot write it without it coming across really cheesy.

What are your plans after college, both career-wise and writing-wise?

Who knows? My vision of the future is very short sighted at the moment. I basically want to be doing everything. Travelling the world, saving it, what have you. I'd love to be working at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights though. For writing... hopefully by then I'll have had the courage to go back and fix up my book and actually have something decent.

What is one thing you've learned about writing while in college?

Well so far I've had one semester, so not much. Hopefully I will learn from my mistake of not writing at all this entire semester though. Any tips for me??

Well my answers are definitely very different from Laura's but that's one thing about college-age bloggers is people are at very different places in life! I think it's pretty cool.

Are you a college writer blog? Answer the questions!

Lord of the Rings: Opinions Then and Now

A few months ago, my brother and I started watching the Lord of the Rings. I'd watched it once before when I was fourteen. I was doing a kids club in a small town during the summer, and for a couple of nights at our host's house we watched it. When I watched it then, I thought it was all right. It was a very epic story but very straightforward, journeying from Point A to Point B, which in my opinion was kind of boring.

This time, it took my brother and me a while to finish all three movies since we would watch half of each one every few weeks.

By the time we were done, I was in LOVE. They are AWESOME. I was choked up by the end of the third movie, and when everyone is in the square of the city at the end and the hobbits go to bow to Aragorn and he says, "My friends, you bow to no one", well, that was the best part of the whole series.

I'd expressed my previous feelings towards LOTR to my dad and he commented that that was interesting, but why the difference? Why do I like these movies so much now, when I didn't before?

Who knows? Maybe it's because I've read a lot more and come to a greater appreciation of character and story development. Maybe it's because of the too much time I spend on the internet reading people's crazily in-depth analyses of various movies, TV shows and books that they love. Maybe it's because last time my expectations were high, and this time they were low.

I don't have an answer. I just think it's interesting how tastes change over time, from a variety of factors, even mixed factors. Every experience in our lives influences other aspects or our lives, or the way that we consume art. I just find the whole concept fascinating.

So I ask you, is there any sort of media or art that you used to hate but now love? Why do you think your feelings have changed?

Why Do We Even Like Book to Movie Adaptations?

To get to school, I have to take an hour bus ride each way. I get motion sick, so I can't read on the bus, so I spend my time listening to a podcast called Literary Disco. It's a podcast with three friends talking about books, and sometimes pop culture stuff, and sometimes other stuff that has absolutely no relevance whatsoever but is still funny and entertaining.

Anyway, on one of their podcasts I was listening to a few days ago, they were talking about the excitement around books being adapted into movies. Rider, one of the members of the podcast, was asking why people are so excited to have something that can only exist in their head translate onto the screen. Shouldn't movies and books be kept entirely separate? Is it because we feel pleasure in judging the accuracy of it? Do people want to be pretend filmmakers, and that's why after watching movie adaptations they say "Oh yeah, they got it right"?

They only spent about five minutes on it on the podcast, but it got me thinking. I mean, I was just as excited as everyone else for the Catching Fire movie. But it's an entirely different experience watching an adaptation than just a normal movie. With a normal movie, you just enjoy the story and where it takes you, without knowing what happens. Part of the enjoyment of a regular movie is the plot and the discovery of plot points. In Catching Fire, for example, I knew everything that was going to happen and was even waiting for those events. Okay, up next is the poisonous fog. Then the monkeys. Oh, yeah, there they are! I definitely think part of the reason that I loved Catching Fire so much was because of it's accuracy in regards to the book.

So I think that judging an adaptation on its accuracy is part of why we love adaptations, but only a small part. The ultimate dream for fiction readers is that their fictions would become reality. Yes, what happens in a book happens in someone's head, but I think when a book is turned into a movie it becomes that much closer to being real. There are now real people, real voices, and real-looking events to associate with the fictional events of the book. I think those visual images are a big part of what readers are so excited about in regards to movie adaptations.

That's just my own personal hypothesis as to why there is always so much excitement around book to movie adaptations. What do you think is the reason for the excitement? Do you think book to movie adaptations should exist? Why? Why are they so important to the book community? Would it be better if we all just left books alone? And what did you think of Catching Fire? Or if you haven't seen it, how excited are you to see it?

Book Recommendation: The First Third By Will Kostakis

One of my favourite things is finding amazing books that aren't hugely popular, books that maybe not everyone everywhere has heard about (read: The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc).

Well, I discovered one of those books the other day, and I would love to share my love of it with you.

Backstory...

As you probably well know by now, Melina Marchetta is my favourite author. I especially love her books Jellicoe Road, Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son (also the Lumatere Chronicles. So yes, all her books except Looking for Alibrandi). All of her books have very strong family and friendship elements to them, which is basically my favourite elements of any books ever.

Well, a few weeks ago Melina Marchetta had an interview with this young author Will Kostakis on her blog, and she talked about this book and the family and friendship elements of it. I thought, huh. I'd probably like that book.

YES. YES I DID.

In fact, I might even have loved it.

That book is The First Third by Will Kostakis. It follows a 17-year-old Greek boy Billy while he struggles with his "yiayia" being in the hospital and essentially dying. His yiayia even gives him a bucket list to complete, which has ridiculous things on it like find his mom a husband, bring his older brother back home, and fix his little brother, who seems to not want to have anything to do with anyone but yiayia for some reason.

There are so many things I love about this book. I loved how the focus was on the family and the relationships within it. I loved how developed each character was, and how there was too many layers to count in each one.

For example, Billy's best friend Sticks at first just seems like one of those typical crazy quirky John Green-esque sidekicks, but he actually has issues of own. It adds a lot to the dimensions of his character, and also to the dimensions of the relationship between Sticks and Billy.

So, family dynamic, friendship dynamic, characters, A+.

I also just really love Will Kostakis's writing. He's definitely skilled with words and getting across elements of the story very effectively. He uses Facebook statuses in really interesting ways for plot and character development. Sometimes it's kind of hilarious.

And the last scene is perfect. But you'll have to read it to enjoy the wonderfulness of that part of the book.

I would recommend this book if you love family or friendship stories, or if you like anything by Melina Marchetta, Jonathan Friesen, or John Green.

It's only $6.99 on Amazon, and you can also visit Will Kostakis's website at www.willkostakis.com if you want to find other places to buy it. Also, I highly encourage you to read this interview that Hypable did with Will Kostakis, because the thing he said about the book are awesome.

Have a good week!

Halloween is For Book Jack-o-Lanterns!!

Two years ago, I made a Hunger Games themed jack-o-lantern, and it turned out cool.
 
(Last year, I was in the Philippines, and they don't do Halloween. Also, pumpkins in constant 30 degree weather? Gross).
 
This year, I carved a pumpkin based on The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's a beautiful book, with a really cool cover. (Actually there are multiple cool covers).
 

 

 

 

 
 
I carved the circus, and just like The Hunger Games there is a symbolism behind the circus being lit from behind my flame (I will not tell you why, you must read the book to find that out!)
 
I really enjoyed The Night Circus. The way it's written it doesn't get super in to the characters' heads so I found it hard to get into at first. However, once I got into it the distance from the characters created an awesome effect. It's a book about a magical circus, what more could you want? Actually it's interesting because it is a lot more than that. Erin Morgenstern has created this entire world and culture around this circus. Anyway, I definitely encourage you to check it out if you haven't.
 
And my mom made a jack-o-lantern based on Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, which is a silly picture book series by Mo Willems that I (and many others) love:

 

 

Happy Halloween!

What's Up Wednesday (On the Wrong Day... Again)

I thought I'd take some time today to do a What's Up Wednesday post.... on Tuesday. (I know, I already did that once). But I like the format of the What's Up Wednesday posts, so yeah, I take it and use and twist it for my needs! And my needs at this point are updating you on things like...

What I'm reading

The Lord of the Rings! I tried reading the epic trilogy way back in middle school, but I couldn't get through the Two Towers. Just recently over the course of a few weeks my brother and I finished watching all of the LOTR movies, after my brother had read the book this summer. He had some interesting thoughts after the last one that were based on the books, so I asked him if he would recommend them and he said yes. This is probably one of the only times he's recommended me a book, so that's what I'm doing. So far I'm enjoying it, even if some parts seem unnecessary to me (like all the stuff with the weird Tom Bombadil cult at the beginning?)

What I'm writing

Heheh. Nothing... right now. I kind of want to pick up an old draft I wrote last year in November and rework it. I like the concept, which is about two lonely kids, one who is so lonely that she lives inside an imaginary world in her head.

What else I'm up to

Other than school and work, I've been slowly compiling a mental list in my head for November goals. I'm not doing NaNo because, to be quite honest, it terrifies me. (One of the years I will conquer my fear, I promise). But this video inspired me to get back on top of goal-making, which is one of my favourite activities.

So far, I'm thinking:

• Blog every day in November
• Stop wasting time on Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, etc
• Eating healthier
• Revising

Obviously I haven't fleshed them out completely yet, but I'm definitely thinking seriously of trying to blog every day.

What inspires me right now

Literary Disco! It's a really cool and actually quite hilarious podcast that I listen to on the bus ride home some days. It's just three friends, chatting and discussing books. It's so funny sometimes that I have to stifle my laughter on the bus by pretending to cough or yawn or something. But yeah, you can check that out at www.literarydisco.com.

Also on the last episode they recommended this band, Typhoon, and I am really enjoying their music.

Talking About New Adult as a New Adult

First of all, for those who don't know, New Adult is a fairly new genre that is centred around those of college/university age (so I guess 20s?). Basically, it's what you would read after YA. I don't know a lot about it, but I've read quite a few discussions... and quite a lot of discussions about how it's not really a "thing" yet, etc. It's obviously not as widespread or well known as YA at this point, and there are lots of arguments against its necessity (from a few things I've seen anyway).

A few years ago, that is what I thought: New Adult? Irrelevant.

Buut... things change. Like, you get a couple years older and suddenly you aren't in high school anymore and you're almost 20 and life is a lot different than it used to be.

At this point, I have to admit that being a "new" adult is a lot different than being a young adult. You have different things to deal with than a high school student, and you think differently (hopefully more maturely) than a high school student would.

And, where else would I go but back on the topic of diversity in fiction? I mentioned before that I believe that diversity in fiction is about representing EVERYONE's experiences, regardless of how rare their experience is in the context of society.

Well, representing the experience of college/university age people is a part of that in my opinion. Why not represent those people (by this point, my) experience as a new adult? Why not have something they can relate to on a deeper level?

Do you know that feeling when you read something that was written by someone who is from the exact same place you are, and you just feel this warmth and familiarity when they're talking about the same stores and music and weather and places that you know and see everyday?

That's the feeling I want to get when I read a book, and I think it's a feeling that everyone should have the right to experience.

Just some thoughts. What are yours? On the new New Adult genre? On diversity?

Questions I Want to Ask You

Eryn tagged me in a blog award thing, and asked me some questions, which I shall now proceed to answer. Then I will ask some of my own questions, and tag more people! Fun! (Sneaky Eryn, getting me to write blog posts...)
 

1. Are you an early bird, or a night owl? Which would you prefer to be and why?

 

I force myself to be an early bird because I like getting things done early, but at heart I think I'm a night owl.

2. What's your favorite kind of story? Adventure, romance, etc. 

 

When I think of all my favourite books and authors, the one thing that dominates is amazingly well developed characters. I LOOOVE complicated, well written characters. Melina Marchetta is amazing at writing good characters. (You knew I was going to say that, didn't you). I was thinking about my favourite female characters the other day, and they are probably Katniss and Taylor from Jellicoe Road. So, basically, I love stories with really good characters.

 

3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? (Could be an imaginary place.)

 

CANADA. I love Canada. I don't care if I'm biased, it's the best country ever.

4. What is the first sentence of your current work in progress?

Crappy little handheld camera: check. (*Note: this is the WIP I want to work on, but have not actually gotten past the thought process step of revision yet. Sigh.)

5. What is your ideal writing setting? Like, time of day, location, beverages to sip during.

I find it really easy to write late at night after I've been really inspired by some artistic content which could be anything from a moving movie to a really motivational tumblr post. However, it's really limiting to have specifications for a writing time so I try not to do that. (Obviously this works so well for me as I have written SO MANY WORDS in the past two months. *sarcasm*).

6. If you could stay any age forever, what age would you chose?

Ten. When I turned ten, everyone told me it was the "golden age" and I didn't believe them but it really was. It really was.

7. What are your favorite historical figures?

 

I don't know, but you can bet whoever it is will be Canadian. ;) Maybe Lester B. Pearson? I don't know much about him yet though. Oh, I do think what FDR did for the U.S. was pretty cool.

8. What is the thing you think about most when you are writing a story?

"COME ON, FIVE MORE WORDS. YOU CAN DO IT!" Also, I love writing intense emotional scenes even if I still am not very good at them.
 

9. What is your favorite animated movie?

The Incredibles. When (cynical) adults love it, you know it's good.

10. Coffee or tea?

 

Depends on the circumstances, but I enjoy both. (Is that allowed?)

OK! Now my questions for you.

1. What in your opinion do you think YA (or fiction in general) needs more of?
2. What is something you would absolutely love to see a book about? (Be specific if possible!)
3. How many non-American authors can you name? (List them!)
4. How many non-American YA authors can you name? (List them!)
5. What are books that have made you sob and/or cry out loud?
6. What is your favourite book from childhood?
7. What do you like to do that has absolutely nothing to do with reading, writing, or anything of the like?
8. What does diversity mean to you?
9. How would you describe your style of clothing?
10. What is your goal in life? (It could be at the moment or overall).

I know some of these will produce lengthier answers... but I'm really curious to hear your answers! Also, if I don't tag you, please answer anyway and leave a link in the comments or tweet it at me (@asherlockwrites). I want to hear everyone's answers!!!

And people I'm tagging:
1. @AuthorMadison
2. @yahongc
3. @crazyredpen
4. @laura_the_wise
5. @Matt_Dodwell
6. @EmilyCasselman

Go forth and write! Can't wait to hear your answers. :)

 

(Oh, P.S. the rules of the tag are answer the questions, ask 10 of your own, tag 10 people).

(Actually, these are the rules:

Link back to the person who nominated you

Answer the 10 questions that are given to you by the nominator

Nominate 10 other bloggers for this award who have less than 200 followers

Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer

Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blogs and notifying them).)

 

(I tagged more than 10 people because I tagged EVERYONE. Hehe.)

 

 

Some Poetry For Your Monday

I don't write a lot of poetry, and most of what I do write is pretty bad. I did write a poem last year when I was in the Philippines that I kind of like. (I mean, it's not perfect). But I like it because when I read it, it brings me right back to sitting over the soccer field at the school, listening to the sounds of the city.

sounds of manila

I sit

The city
a giant star-pricked quilt
folds over my knees
and covers
the feet of my ears

I listen to the percussion,

Barking dogs
obnoxious horns
the phlegmy roar of
motorcycle engines

Together,
an indistinct monster of noise

and above that,
the tinkle of children laughing
as they play
in the streets
tsinelas slap-slapping on the bottoms
of calloused brown soles

and the music:

operatic women exalting Mary,

skirt-twirling Spanish celebration
braided roughly
into one
 
My heart does not swell at the sound because
there are no violins
 
yet
 
this is not a symphony
but the sound
of people

---

The other poem I like is not very good with language or really anything, but I like it because I figured it out that you read each line down, and then back up again to the top and it actually makes sense. It actually took quite a long time to figure out. (I think it's called a palindrome poem?) To read it, you read each individual line down and then read each individual line back up to the top.

Letting Go

Leave

I want you to never
come back
walk out of sight
don’t
tear your eyes from sunlit horizons
while you are trudging onward
open your eyes to the world
never
think of me
always
warm your heart
with the sunlit horizon
forget everything you once held here
but don’t
leave.

5 Things I Found Weird Upon Returning to Canada

A few months ago, I stood on Canadian soil again for the first time in 10 months. Those 10 months I spent in the Philippines, working at international school (if you don’t know that already). It was really good to be home, but it was definitely a switch!

 

It was a lot less of a culture shock than I expected, but that makes sense since I only spent 10 months of my life so far in the Philippines and 18 years in Canada. Still, there were a few little things that threw me (and still kind of do). I thought I’d share those things with you, and in doing so give you a glimpse into little bits of my life in the Philippines.

 

Things I thought were weird when I got home:


1.    Hearing Canadian accents.

My first entry into Canada was in Vancouver before we were to catch our connecting flight home, and there was a woman volunteer guiding us in the right direction, and the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth was a Canadian accent, but it was there! I mean, it makes no sense that I would think that, because I was in Canada but...

...the Philippines is on the other side of the world from North America, so it isn’t a popular tropical vacation destination for North Americans. Why fly for 24 hours when you can get to Cuba in four? Also, Americans are everywhere because there are so many of them, and there are not very many Canadians. Basically, if you see a white person (which is rare enough), they are American unless proven otherwise by their accent or other distinguishing characteristics.

In short, I was not used to hearing Canadian accents, so it surprised me when I did hear them! (Also, when I see people wearing Canada shirts, I still think in my head excitedly, They’re wearing a Canada shirt!! And then I remember that I’m actually currently IN Canada and it makes sense and I do not need to bond with them in my head over being from the same country and finding each other on the other side of the world).

I wore my Canada shirt climbing Mt Pinatubo... and met two Canadians as a result! Yay.

2.    A significant decrease in outdoor activity after 9 PM.

It was so weird to see stores closed and only a few people milling about on the streets once it got dark. In downtown Manila, there are ALWAYS people around and up and about, and always a lot of people, too. Seriously, you could get caught in the middle of a traffic jam at 4 AM. I guess that’s what happens in a city of around 16 million. It was still weird when I got home that the city actually quieted down and activity actually decreased at night.

3.    The weather!!!

This is probably the biggest one. In Manila, the temperature stays the same every day, and all day, only dropping a couple of degrees once the sun goes down. Once I got home, I kept forgetting that the temperature increases significantly throughout the day and decreases significantly into the evening.

In Manila, I would wake up, decide what to wear by how hot I was feeling at that moment, and be fine (albeit hot but that’s pretty much inevitable) for the rest of the day. Here, I have to think of how it might get warm later and layer and decide whether to suffer being cold or hot and remember to bring a sweater if I’m going to be somewhere after the sun goes down... the weather in the Philippines may be hot and humid, but at least it’s uncomplicated!

4.    Toilet paper in public washrooms.

There is no toilet paper in any public washroom in the Philippines, and sometimes even no toilet seat. Back home now, I keep forgetting that, and when I’m on the way to a public washroom I think in the back of my mind, Do I have Kleenex in my purse? And then realize that I don’t need it! There will be toilet paper in the stall! To be honest now that I’ve thought about it (and done it for a year), it’s not really that big of a deal to carry Kleenex in your purse and not have toilet paper in stalls. But it is a very nice luxury for North America to provide, that’s for sure.

5.    The weight of Canadian coins also threw me for a while, because it’s a lot lighter than the huge Philippine pesos and other coins.

 

So, these were a few things that threw me upon returning to Canada, but for the most part everything was actually completely normal and familiar – which was probably the weirdest thing of all!

Have you ever experienced culture shock in your own country?