To Brooklyn and back....a promise to myself!

New York holds a special place in my heart; and no matter how many times I visit the city I always come away feeling the same clarity about life as I did the last time I visited. I know what your thinking - how can someone find clarity in a city of nearly 9 million people. Easy; be a young woman from a small town, who is a dreamer and an aspiring writer New York always leaves me facing questions about my life. Such as: Am I doing what I love? Am I giving up on my dreams? Am I living my life in a grand way? The short answer to all of these happens to be a mix. I'm not doing what I love. I have given up on my dream of writing full time - this one is a mixed bag. Money, location, and lack of a staple support system has helped this dream die a slow death over time. And am I living my life to the fullest, no I'm not. I chalk this up to location and a lack of money to travel and experience the world the way that I really truly wish that I could.
Trips to New York always remind me of the importance of taking a leap of faith. Of showing up and showing out and doing everything with a little sparkle and a bit of grit. It was on this last visit with my family that I became actuely aware that I needed to look beyond the small confines of home to find inspiration. As a highly creative person I see a need to reignite the spark that lit the fuse on my writing dream. For years I've played around with this project or that project only to scrap it because I was lazy, got bored, or was busy. But I am devoting myself to cultivating my creativity, and holding myself accountable for walking away from a God given talent that I have no right to throw away. The past two days have been a reminder of the reality that my life can be so much more than what its become. So...Heres to setting new goals, living more fully and writing from the heart.

I am going to Camp....Are you?

Every year I tell myself I am going to write more. I am going to be more productive in my creative life; and then I flop. I get lazy etc. Mainly I just allow self doubt to stop me. So as a part of my mission for the year I am going to commit myself to writing and I what a better way to kick it off then with Camp NaNoWriMo? I am very excited. 

I have finally worked out the beginning of the book I have been wanting to write for years. This book is deeply personal, and this journey will most likely not be easy. Anyone that writes knows just how personal the process is. I am going to be blogging about the journey once a week here beginning in April. I will also be creating an online writing group in May. Anyone interested in joining can email me at thebookbabe84@gmail.com! Also, if you are also going to be at camp let me know! We can keep each other encouraged. Good luck bookies! 

More Diverse Reading Choices

I am adding some diverse and  multicultural reading materials on to my ever growing reading list. And I am starting with African Authors; primarily female, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is most widely known for her speeches cameo in Beyonce's Flawless. But she is a women's rights activist and a writer of fiction. Here are several of her books that I just added to my wishlist/TBR Pile...

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com) 

With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene. Half of a Yellow Sunis a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com)

Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland. 

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com) 

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They're completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home―a home that is silent and suffocating.

As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together.

A Witch, A Vampire and a book; whats not to Love?

The Bookbabe Reviews: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I can not believe that I let this gem sit on my shelves for so long (almost three years). I remember it as one of the last books I purchased from a closing Walden Books location. What can I say about this book? I feel like I was taken away to England on a sea of wonderfully and imaginatively written prose. Deborah Harkness delivered everything you can expect in a Paranormal romance.  There is a very likable main character,  a distant and shadowy love interest and lots of drama. What I enjoyed most about the book was that Harkness has such and amazing way at describing the places and people that both Matthew and Diana interact with. Harkness also is very careful to slowly reveal bits and pieces of the characters at just the right time. The way she builds  the intensity of the drama is awe inspiring. It goes without saying that I have not read a book this good in sometime; especially in this genre. One thing that I really loved about the story was that Harkness was in no rush to get Matthew and Diana into bed; in fact she has the couple "married" off but they have not consummated their marriage. In so many paranormal romances readers often see the characters taking to the sheets in no time flat. I loved that Matthew Clarimont takes on the role of a night and shining armor and wants to protect his lady love; and is okay with "courting her".  Even though this frustrates Diana to no end no doubt. I can honestly say I was in love with Matthew Clarimont's character from the moment he decided to protect Diana in the library. I was also even more in love with him after we are introduced to his family; we get a get to see his devotion to them and we start to learn a little more about our lovable vampire. I really can not wait to see if some of my theories (which I can not post here because they would spoil a good read) about the characters come to past. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in a complex story with complex characters and high drama. If you love all things witches, vampires and daemons then check this out at the library or buy it at your local bookstore.

Quotes I loved:

"the smell of the library always lifted my spirits-that peculiar combination of old stone, dust, woodworm, and paper made properly from rags"

"As far as I can tell, there's only two emotions to keep the world spinning, year after year......One is fear. The other desire."

Bookish Quote of the Day for Feb. 28th, 2015

One Keystroke at a time!

I am working on a romantic comedy now. Hope to have it done by the end of 2015! I believe writing is the thing that sets me free! 

Reading thankfulness

I am most thankful for all the books I have ever loved. All the characters. All the love books have given me. My most beloved characters...Fern (Charolette's Web), The Little Prince, Addy, Robert Langston, Jay Gatsby, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. All the wonderful authors..Dickens, Fitzgerald, King, Tan, Rowling and many more. I have found such love hidden amongst the pages of many books and may I continue to find even more in the years to come

Book Haul October 2013

Here are the new books that I purchased last month...I am trying to keep a budget of 30$ a month for books.

Total amt spent in October: 19.24$

I think I did really well don't you :) 

The Racketeer List Price $9.99 Purchased for $ 7.49 (Target Stores)

The Bone Setters Daughter (used) List Price $16.00 Purchased for $ 5.75 ( Acorn Books)
Brida (used) $5.00 ( Acorn Books)
Have a Little Faith (used) List Price $14.00 Purchased for $2.00 (Dover Public Library)
Daughter of Fortune (used) List Price$ 16.95 Purchased for $0.50 (Dover Public Library)
The 19th Wife (used) List Price $15.00 Purchased for $1.00
The Memory Keepers Daughter (used) List Price $14.00 Purchased for $1.00 (Dover Public Library)
The Time Traveler's Wife (used) List Price $14.95 Purchased for $0.50
The Kitchen House (used) List Price $16.00 Purchased for $1.00 (Dover Public Library)

Happy halloween <3

NaNoWriMo 2013 Participation

Okay so...I am in the middle of my last year of my masters and I decide to do this....NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month. I have decided to give it a shot and write 50K words in one month. This will be my first shot at a book. It is pure ambition and a love for words and a need to write whats in my heart and to want to share it with the world. I will be tracking my progress at www.nanowrimo.org. I will also try to participate in some of the local write ins. Here is a brief overlook of what I am writing....

Synopsis:
Song for Marie is a story about three generations of women. The story opens with a young woman at odds with her emotions towards her mother, who left her at the five months and never explained her absence. The story also has several over strong female voices. A grandmother seeking absolution for not raising her own children. A young mother trying to come to terms with her mothers secrets and a sibling at odds with them all because she feels unloved and unwelcomed among a family that she thinks are strangers. She seeks comfort in religion and her own family. The common tie between these women...a name...Marie. To each the name defines them differently. One is strong, One bitter, One lost, and another abandoned.

Review....The Strain (Book one) by Guillermo Del Toro And Chucnk Hogan

This book rested on my book shelf collecting dust for some time. If memory serves me right I have had this book for the better part of about three years. After reading so much young adult lately I wanted to dive back into the realm of good old hard core fiction/horror. So I started off with this. When I first started off reading the book I was pretty sure that I would like it. I truly believed that it was going to be "another one of those" vampire novels. You know the ones...all talk no bite (lol). Well this turned out not to be the case. I actually found the book to be rather rad. Del Toro and Hogan were influenced both by Stephen King and Bram Stoker. Stokers influence is evident in the way that the vampire uses dirt from him home land to travel across the sea to the Manhattan. They use one of our most populated cities to show us what a vampire out break could look like. And man does it turn into one hot mess. I loved the way that Del Toro and Hogan set this book up as back story for the trilogy. It is obvious, even within the conflict of this book that there is something bigger coming. Something much more dangerous is lurking in the dark and there is nothing that anyone is going to be able to do to stop it because the wheels are already in motion. Another really great thing about this book is that all the characters are flawed. The main character Doctor Eph Goodweather, is a recently divorced, recovering alcoholic who is in the midst of a fierce custody battle with his ex wife Kelly. Kelly has been eclipsed by her ex husbands shadow for way to long. She uses their son Zack as a way of hurting Eph. Eph finds some comfort in his on again off again fling with co-worker Nora; who has to take a backseat to Eph's job and his love and devotion to Kelly and Zack. And there is the old man; the professor. The professor is the most interesting of all the characters. He holds the kings to the kingdom so to speak. He knows all the dirty secrets about the vampires but somehow you get the feeling at the end of the book that he is still holding out. Still holding back from Eph, Nora and Fet. The Professor has been on the hunt for the "master" for some time. He has devoted his life to hunting him down and killing him. Of course we know that this is because of his past or at least that's what we think so far. However, I get the feeling that there is a deeper cause for this hatred of "the master". Maybe he took the life of someone the professor deeply cared for. That is the beauty of a well paced series...all the secrets are not given at once. I must say that I was deeply surprised by this book. I expected something all to different and I can not wait to read the next two in the series. I only hope that the books are as good as the first and that the magic captured in the first book continues until the very last page of The Night Eternal.

Interesting scenes: Gus in the police van....that was most likely the best vampire kill of the book...not going to write any of the details...but damn the kid got the job done right. Can't wait to see what he does in the rest of the series. The vampire in times square (also with Gus) was rather intense.

Creepiest Scene: When Zack was unable to sleep, looks out the window to see a naked man standing under the street lamp. He knew that it was weird and perhaps even a little funny, a homeless, naked, possibly drunk dude just chilling outside under the lamp light. Until the guy turns and locks eyes with him. Later Zack thinks back on seeing the "Y" shaped incision in the mans chest and knowing what that means (he thinks that the guy is a zombie).

New book Purchase

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Why I bought this book: Of course I standing there in Walmart looking at books and there's this sign that says..."Done reading the Hunger Games? Want to find you next favorite book? Try Divergent by Veronica Roth".  Of course I loved Hunger Games so I decided to pick up the book and read the description. I was like wow, this looks different. Of course the society Beatrice lives in kind of reminds me of other books I've read; with that being said I am going to have to approach this book with a fresh set of eyes and no preconceived notions.   Also the books had a "GoodReads choice award" sticker on it (Which kinda sealed the deal for me).

Of course I have a timeline for when I plan on reading this book. I'll probably get it to in May...I have Cleopatra to get through this month and W.E.B Dubois and one other to get through next month. Hopefully this book lives up to all the hype.

He always speaks the truth

One of my favorite authors says that in order to write (and i would add to write well) one must read...if you don't read you will not have the tools to write. For a long time I have always believed that I was a strong writer, well at least of research papers (lol). However, from time to time I have been known to pen a good story or write a pretty poem; but I have never been content with anything that I've written. I always (as with most things in my life) find the flaws in my writing. It could be that the story is not paced correctly, or even the name of a character I just have to find something wrong with it. I believe that any good writer has to shovel some major BS on to paper sometimes just to get something out; however, most often a good writer will go back and rework the BS in order to come out with something extraordinary. However, some authors (which will remain nameless) often  take this BS and give it to their agents/ editors; and it ends up on the shelves of libraries and book stores across the country. Of course, we readers go out and borrow or buy these books because they are best sellers or because someone recommended this author to us because he or she enjoyed their latest literary feat....however once we read it and put it away in the book case (or in my case throw it in the trash) we find ourselves wondering why did I waste my money and time reading this crap! My point is this....when I finally take the leap to send something to an agent/publisher I want to be able to say that I'm proud of the story that I've worked it out the best that I could and that the finished/polished piece is what I got for my trouble. I am a creature that likes their writing (as well as my reading experience) to be uncomplicated. I want my reader to understand the character, their motives, and the plot clearly. I think this is what stops me from reading bestsellers or even books people recommend. Lately, I've found myself being dissatisfied with the books that are out there. It seems like authors are running out of  ideas.....so what to do when this happens...Stephen King puts its simply....if you finish a book believing that you could write something better than that's exactly what you need to do (paraphrased). So...hey, at age 28 I am asking myself why the hell not write or develop something that might lead to something better, greater than I've ever produced before.

Another quote from King that I love...
“There are books full of great writing that don't have very good stories. Read sometimes for the story... don't be like the book-snobs who won't do that. Read sometimes for the words--the language. Don't be like the play-it-safers who won't do that. But when you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book.” 
― Stephen King

The Hunger Games....

Wow...I've been missing out. After reading several young adult series...such as House of Night, the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter I have finally gotten to the Hunger Games. I can say that I really enjoyed the book and found myself really drawn in by the plot and really rooting for District 12. I think that what really made me a fan of the series is the strong female protagonist. Katniss Everdeen is strong and determined, she's intelligent and has the ability to do what it takes to make it out alive. In the book her task is simple....to keep here promise to Prim and to come back home a victor; which by default will give her sister (and mother) a better life. However, her teams win will also cost her greatly. I am really looking forward to seeing how the relationship between Peeta Mellark and Katniss works out. I'm hoping that Katniss comes to her senses about him, but you never know. One thing I can say about this book is that not sense the Harry Potter series have a found myself so drawn to a series. To me Suzanne Collins comes a very close second in writing and plot pacing to JK Rowling.