A little bit about me

I have quite a stack of books that I'm reading though right now, Young Adult wise.
Let's see... there's:
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak (also by Anderson)
This World We Live In (by Susan Beth Pfeffer). Sequel to Life as We Knew It.
Lark by Tracy Porter
But wait, that's not all!
I'm also working on
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Fallen by Kate Lauren
Switched by Amanda Hocking (re-read)
Eon by Alison Goodman
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams (finished tonight, review coming tomorrow)
 Here's the proof -

I'm not at work tonight. I should be, except that I felt very very sick so I was sent home early. Shortly thereafter I threw up. Probably a good thing that I wasn't at work when that happened. It wasn't pretty.
So I curled up with my hubby (okay, on the coach across from him), a movie (The Change Up, for the record, I didn't like it), and a book (The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams). Good reading choice for being sick. It really pulled me in and (almost) made me forget how awful I felt.

First, because this blog is new - we need to start at the beginning.
I am a writer... not a consistent one, but I'm working on changing that. My adaption of The Hobbit into a play was produced, and at age 15 I made my first (and so far, only) paycheck from writing.
However, due to a number of circumstances, I've read very little Young Adult Literature. I'm working on changing that. See the stack of books above. That's just my Young Adult reading stack. I also have a stack of classics and books on literature and creative writing that I'm working on. I need to know my market before I can ever hope to be published.
I've been working on the same novel (versions of it) since I was about 14. This year though, I'm going to branch out and explore some new topics and genres.

I'm sick of feeling sorry for myself and using excuses as to why my writing isn't the absolute best it can be. Reading more is the first step in the right direction. Remember.... every step, no matter how small, is a step in a direction. You chose the direction. You chose your own fate.

L Finch

Blade Silver by Melody Carson

This is a book that I've been excited to read for quite some time now. What would a Christian's take on cutting be?
Synopsis:
Ruth knows that cutting will not make her problems go away, but it feels so good. Her verbally and physically abusive father drives her to the edge time and time again.

Pros:
I liked this book a lot better then "Cut" by Patricia McCormick. I have several friends who are still cutters, and I used to self harm, so it's still a struggle to read books that deal with this issue. I found "cut" was triggering, where as Blade Silver was very non-graphic. Even the parts with her father are mostly a word here or there, without much description. It also followed the typical Young Adult books right now, reading in a fast paced manner. I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Cons:
I would have liked to see more ways for her to cope with her cutting. Maybe introduce other characters who had the same issues and looked at how they coped. I feel like there needs to be a point where we can help people who are not Christian deal with their cutting in a healthy way. Examples - finding another way to help them learn how not to cut. Also, I felt like the end was a "cop out" with no real resolution. I would have liked to see how she handled life after she was away from all the support that she was getting. It's "easy" to stop self harming yourself when you are around supporting people, but the urge never goes away, so you need something to do instead.


Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Not enough to add it to my collection, but it was good to check out to read.

Coming back to writing

I was browsing Barnes and Noble the other day for new books on writing when it struck me - I've been doing a whole lot of reading about writing lately, and not so much writing.
I set out to change that.
So far I'm on chapter three of my newest novel. Words are coming easier than ever for this novel, and I hope to keep it this way. Getting my sh*tty first draft out of the way.
I am very optimistic about this book. I might never get it published, but at least I'll have it off my chest. The words have been weighing on me for so long, begging me to actually write it. Have you ever had a book like that? Something that begged and begged to be written, something that you just had to write?
I'm also trying to read more - my reading has been honestly lacking.
I'll be bluntly honest with you  - reading books nad looking at YA Fiction really intemidates me. It's just the thought that there's so many "fish out in the sea" that who would care about my little book?
The truth is that I care about my book, maybe others will care for it too, maybe not. But at least I wrote what I had to. And at the end of the day, isn't that what all of us writers want to do?

Cheers!
Elizabeth