Agonies of a Young Author

There are no words for the love. No words.

Right Now:
What I'm listening to: football game
What I want most: I'm completely happy! =)

I thought to inform you all of one of the reasons I have not been posting much lately. See, there's this new author I just discovered, and well . . . I might (just might, mind) have disappeared to read (and re-read, and then re-read again) her books. At last count, I think I might have been up to 4 complete read-throughs. And there are two books in the series.

Yes, I know. No, you don't need to point out how obsessive I am. Yes, I am aware it's not normal behavior. No, I don't need a shrink. Thank you, I'm fine.

I call it research. Friends and family cry bullsh*t. But the series is really good, and has a main character- Gin Blanco- that really appeals to me, in the same way Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels appeals. What can I say- an assassin with a love for cooking really hits all my soft spots.

Because the description from Jennifer Estep's website outmatches anything I could write about the books, I'll just leave you with this:


My name is Gin, and I kill people.


They call me the Spi­der. I’m the most feared assas­sin in the South—when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cook­ing up the best bar­be­cue in Ash­land. As a Stone ele­men­tal, I can hear every­thing from the whis­pers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibra­tions of the soar­ing Appalachian Moun­tains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for mak­ing the occa­sional knife. But I don’t use my pow­ers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it pro­fes­sional pride.

Now that a ruth­less Air ele­men­tal has double-crossed me and killed my han­dler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exter­mi­nate any­one who gets in my way—good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trou­ble, since irre­sistibly rugged Detec­tive Dono­van Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this cold­hearted killer needs when I’m bat­tling a magic more pow­er­ful than my own is a dis­trac­tion … espe­cially when Dono­van wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

Oh, yeah. *shiver*

I won't post the blurb for the 2nd book, because it gives away a few spoilers, but I promise- if you read the first, you WILL read the second. heheheh.

I CANNOT wait until Sept 28th when the 3rd in the series (Venom) comes out. *eyes calender maliciously*

Write Now:
What I'm listening to: Shuffle on iTunes has popped up with ... "Bendicion" by Zeri. I dunno how I got that. Or where. Is this Spanish? Hmmmmm.
What I want: Venom. Definitely Venom. Le sigh.

Life is still crazy. I am also still crazy and broken. But the Muse might be coming back to life (somewhat) and so in amazement and wonderment I thought I would post about what miracle created such an inspiring (half) spark.

Ekphrastic poems are based on art (usually paintings, but sometimes photographs and sculpture), and in my opinion, are as much to enhance the painting and understanding of both works than a description of the painting. The latter is reactionary, static, after the fact. The former, and the most successful examples of ekphrastic poems, all capture and further define the emotions of the artwork, drawing on and expanding them to encompass the meaning that the poet wants to convey. These poems are symbiotic, complementary, equally weighty and/or visionary.

We are doing this form in class at the moment, and I have been dreading doing my own because the examples of art available in class were to the professor's preferences-- landscapes, Impressionists, calender images. Beautiful, but nothing I want to write about.

So I put off writing my own (for homework).

But then the deadline came nigh, and I had to write SOMETHING, and frantically I Googled "paintings," resigned to another Van Gogh or Monet.

And I discovered Bonni Reid.