Skip to content

Philosophical

Zen and the Art of Tolerating Bad Manners

TalkSo you go to an event or meeting where you don’t know 95% of the attendees. Being one of the first to arrive, you sit down in the middle of the row so that late-comers don’t have to crawl over you to find a seat. Someone you don’t know sits next to you and introduces himself, so you extend your hand for a handshake and reply in kind, but before you can finish the sentence, the woman in the row in front of you turns around, grabs the man’s hand, and boldly–one might even go so far as to say flirtily–cuts you off to introduce herself and strike up a conversation. Curtain closed. From that moment on, you might as well no longer exist.

You’ve just had a taste of what it’s like in my world. Welcome! Pull up a seat and have a cookie. 🙂

Read More »Zen and the Art of Tolerating Bad Manners

The Feels! They Are Everywhere… Wait, what?

I don’t know when it became acceptable to use “feel” as a noun, and I’m not sure I care for it much. I am still hoping it’s one of those trends that will naturally wither and die with time. You know, like “twerking.” O.o

file0002042640992

Anyway, the topic of today’s essay is emotion. We all know those sappy people who always cry at the ASPCA commercials and can’t watch The Notebook without falling into a depression for a week after. Incidentally, I happen to know someone who doesn’t seem to evince much empathy at all. I will be using person X as a guide for this post, because it seems there are Xs on both sides of the equation I am studying, and even some in the middle.

Read More »The Feels! They Are Everywhere… Wait, what?

Some Things Can’t Be Duplicated

Late night conversations never go the way I expect them to. A couple nights ago, I had one that reminded me of someone I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I hope you’ll forgive me this little stroll down memory lane. 🙂 Years ago, almost a decade now, Serendipity veered me off my la-dee-da straight and narrow to cross paths with a singularly fascinating man. He wasn’t just smart, he was wise–a quality not easily borne by people so young. Brilliant man. Beautiful writer. He used to keep this blog where he would document his travels and experiences. Nothing special on the face of it, but his style was so unique, he could draw you into the scene, make… Read More »Some Things Can’t Be Duplicated

Vampires vs. Werewolves

So I recently had this long conversation with a vampire in my head. Don’t be alarmed, it’s just one of the many weird things authors do. Seriously, I’m not crazy. My mother had me tested. But since it’s Halloween season and I’ve already exhausted the alien angle, I figure I’d touch on some old age-y lore for a change. It’s a topic of great interest to me because I’m a die hard werewolf fan (especially in romance). I used to be a vampire fan also, before the concept of the vampire got dragged through mud. However, recently the two species have been getting pitted against each other (again, especially in romance) and I don’t think it’s a fair comparison.

Read More »Vampires vs. Werewolves

Alien vs. Predator: The demons within and without

The other day I posted a Facebook update about the different psychologies of fear associated with movie monsters, specifically Alien and Predator. It was just a weird, random thought that happened to pop into my head, but after giving it some more thought, I realized there is more to it. There’s a reason why this was on my mind, and it has to do with identity crisis. Now, bear with me, because this is coming together in my brain as I am typing it.

I was born, and lived the first thirteen years of my life in a small European country, going to school with the same group of twenty kids from the first day of kindergarten to the day my family packed up and moved across the ocean. I was a straight A student, with a steady group of friends, I was on a swim team, and I had a tight-knit family around whom I spent a lot of time. I knew exactly who and what I was.

And then we moved.

Read More »Alien vs. Predator: The demons within and without

The Triad of Storytelling: A Listener’s Point of View

Triad

Ask a hundred different people what makes a great story, and you’ll get a hundred different answers. That’s because no two people read alike. For that matter, no two authors write exactly alike. And many of us don’t exactly see eye to eye. But odds are, if you ask enough of the right “Why?” questions, the answer to what makes a great story boils down to the balance between three things: Plot, Characters, and Delivery. Now, I’m not saying this as a writer. I’m saying it as a reader. And as a reader, I have  a few opinions on this matter.

Read More »The Triad of Storytelling: A Listener’s Point of View

Post-Apocalypse and our Fear of the Unknown

WolfenA brief announcement before I begin this week’s post: Wolfen is well on the way with edits, and doing great! I should have a release date to share in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! =)

Having said that, and on counsel of my editor and betas, I have amended the genre classification for Wolfen from Horror to Post-Apocalypse (which, at least on one storefront is filed under Horror, so I’m not sure how much difference it will make, but there you have it). This is because as shudder-worthy as many scenes in the book are, none of us felt it was frightening enough as a whole to warrant a full horror standing. I blame Aiden’s relentless sense of humor. The guy just can’t take anything seriously for most of the book…

Anyway, this got me thinking, because Post-Apocalypse seems to be all the rage these days, especially in YA fiction, and often combined with dystopian themes, and it kind of begs the question why? Contrary to the bandwagon theory which suggests authors hop on to make a buck, I don’t think that is the case. I think the theme is one that is on everyone’s mind these days, world wide, at least in some subconscious capacity. Again, why? Well, in my humble opinion…

Read More »Post-Apocalypse and our Fear of the Unknown

On Readers, Reading, and Literary Snobbery

As you might have noticed, a lot of my recent posts revolve around books and reading. It’s not so much because I am a writer and reader myself, but because I often encounter blogs and articles online featuring subjects that prod at my “This is not okay” meter, and I feel the need to rant. Thanks to this wonderful invention of a blog, I can do that, and you all are forced to hear me out. Muahahahah!

So let’s get to it, shall we? Today’s rant is about literary snobbery and should have an alternate title (which unfortunately did not fit into the title field):

You Are NOT What You Read! (unless you want to be)

Read More »On Readers, Reading, and Literary Snobbery