Agonies of a Young Author

This is me right now. I feel like Princess Extraordinaire. Or Queen of Everything. Goddess of All She Surveys. Empress of Every Living Thing.

Why, you ask?

Because the Paternal Voice just got me a plane ticket.

To Portland!!!

To see the Triple Mistresses of Authorial Awesomeness, Ilona Andrews, Lilith Saintcrow, and Devon Monk.

Zee. Oh. Mm. Gee!!!!!!

I wanna be Lilith Saintcrow (she inspired my blog). I wanna write like Ilona Andrews (she inspired.. well everything). And I wanna come up with plot twists like Devon Monk (she inspired one of my many WIPS and one of my favorite characters).

AND I'M MEETING ALL THREE!

*faints in overflowing joy*

See the pretty, pretty poster?



So me. Portland. Rain. Authors. Books.

Awesomeness.

Write Now:
What I'm listening to: "Send It Up" by Vertical Horizon
What I want most: to be in Portland!!!!

No, no, not the little black dress, but the little black book. Okay, well, perhaps not so little, but my new journal (which comes in at a smidge over 8 1/2 x 11) is definitely my favorite "go-to" item of the moment.

For my Life Writing class I have to create a journal-- normal enough, considering that I am in a creative writing class, except this has to be a visual art journal. While words and writing have their place within this journal, they take a distinct back-seat to collage, sketches, photo montage and other forms of visual self-expression. All in the form of a journal, so self-reflection is key. At first I was a little skeptical, and thought it wouldn't add anything meaningful to my life, but then I went shopping at Barnes and Nobles for my journal. Tired by the long day of class, frustrated at the bookstore's inability to stock my textbooks, I was ready to grab a $1.50 lined spiral bound notebook and call it a day. Then I decided to wander over to the art department's section, and fell in love with a hardcover sketchbook-- with black pages. The unusual color grabbed my interest and must have sparked some sort of creative bug, since I bought it without hesitation and have hardly put it down since. The need for nontraditional decoration (I can't exactly write in it with a normal black ink pen, now can I?) has really shaken up the mental cobwebs. The first page I drew with metallic gel pen, the kind that was all the rage in the elementary school era. The next page I used white-out. Yes, white-out, drawn in diagonal stripes. Then colored pencil, that shows up against the black in varying degrees of success. And then gum wrappers, flattened out and glued to page, the bight silver metallic gleaming beautifully against a field of black.

I'm really starting to love this journal. And I can delude myself into thinking that this, really and truly is homework that I'm doing, because I really and truly actually have to turn it in for review.

See why I love being an English major?

Right Now:
What I'm listening to: "Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce
What I what most: more time.

I have found a TV show that I absolutely ADORE. Mostly, I suspect, because of the main character, Castle, whose writerly antics I recognize within myself. Certainly the humor qualifies along the lines of British humor, except geared for writers, because I'm rolling on the floor while the Best Friend and the Maternal Figure shot me uneasy glances from the corner of their eyes. Oh well.

So may I present to you all, Castle!!!

Official blurb:

Richard “Rick” Castle [Nathan Fillion], a rock star of the literary world, is suffering from a case of writers block after killing off the main character in his novels and is struggling to come up with a replacement.

Castle had grown weary of having it all, “fame, fans and females”, when he was approached by the attractive Detective Kate Beckett [Stana Katic] of the NYPD to help catch the copy-cat killer staging murders based on scenes from his novels.

Castle is not a traditional investigator and his approach to solving the crimes conflicts with Beckett’s conservative approach leading to much tension and a hint of romance.

SUCH a good show!!

My favorite is the subtle humor found EVERYWHERE, like in the opening credits:

(A bleeding fountain pen? It decends and strikes through the A in the show, as well. So images of revision as well. Oh, goodness, I love this show.)
Or the DVD cover:
(C'mon! A book squishing the dead body? The tag line "A whole new chapter..."? Tell me you don't love that.)

But best I think is the scene where Castle plays poker with a couple buddies... that just happen to be James Patterson, Stephen King, and Sue Grafton. I about died with laughter at this one.

(Sorry, it's a little dark, but ...oh wait, it's a bunch of mystery writers having a poker game. Of COURSE it's dark. Also, not entirely sure if the lady on the left actually IS Sue Grafton, but on the website that's who they say she is. Maybe a representative?)

See why I love this show?

But, please, don't take my word for it. Watch the trailer, watch the series at Surf the Channel, buy the DVD come September 22... because you know I will!

Full Cast of Castle:



Right now:
What I'm listening to: (I guess I should say watching, but semantics, semantics) The Castle trailer. Again.
What I want most: The Castle DVD set. I just may have to pre-order from Amazon...