Personal Thursdays: What Harry Potter Means to Me

Tonight at midnight, I’ll be sitting in the movie theater watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with my sister. It’ll be my third midnight viewing of this series, and I’ve seen all the movies on the first day.

For ten years, I’ve read the Harry Potter books and watched the movies and it’s hard to believe it’s over. A third of my life was spent with Harry Potter and the wonderful world JK Rowling created. I owe a lot to her.

I probably wouldn’t be a writer without JK Rowling and her world. I roleplayed Harry Potter for ten years and wrote Harry Potter fan fiction. I learned about characters, plot, and setting by exploring her world. Some things I wrote even appeared in the later books—not that I think Jo noticed or anything—but it was still cool to have that validation that our minds were linked.

No one could beat me in Harry Potter trivia either, and I won the last two books at the Harry Potter parties at Walmart.

I most likely wrote as many words in her world as she did when you think about it. I know I wrote over 150,000 words in fan fiction, and that’s not including the hours I spent every day in roleplaying Harry Potter. Yeah, as you can tell, I had no life during my twenties. *laughs*

Tonight, I’ll head to that movie with tissues in hand. I’m proudly going in my Ravenclaw outfit, and I’m going to immerse myself in her wonderful world. It may be for the last time, but it means the world to me.

And, I can still visit that world in Orlando. Must get to Florida...just not in summer. No, summer + Florida is bad.

Personal Thursday: Why I Write YA

I’m sure by now most everyone has read or heard about the WSJ’s article about the darkness in YA fiction. I’m not going to link you to the article, but it did make me question why I write YA fiction.

There wasn’t much YA fiction when I was a teenager. The Judy Blume books the article mentions, I read in elementary school. To me, they will always be children’s books. By 7^th and 8^th grade, I branched into Stephen King, Michael Crichton, and many, many murder mysteries.

I love the books I read when growing up, but I can’t say they were teen fiction. I learned about love from Shakespeare’s tragedies; it either ends in murder or suicide with a hearty scoop of madness. (Maybe that’s why I don’t date.) I read Heller’s Catch-22; the only thing I remember about it is the guy cut in half by the airplane propeller. I read really terrible things that I very much enjoyed. Things that prompted me to keep the lights on at night and cringe at my vanilla-coated world.

And I did grow up in what I call a “vanilla-coated” world. I was sheltered, so when bad things happened, I didn’t know how to process them. My self-defense mechanism was to ignore what happened. To forget. I got good at that. When my grandfather died at age 13, I didn’t cry. I internalized the pain and did my best to forget he ever existed. I did the same for my grandmother to the point my dad called me a “cold, heartless bitch.” I loathed my own emotions, so I acted like nothing bothered me.

I remember when the first time I saw Titanic and cried at the end. We were on a bus ride heading to Florida perhaps and my friend wished she had been awake to see my cry. She wanted to see my humanity. I guess when you don’t show emotions, people don’t think you have any. I just didn’t want to be viewed as weak, not that I thought other people were weak when they showed their emotions. No, that was just for me.

I internalized it to the point that it eventually leaked out in my early twenties in the forms of depression and high anxiety.

I don’t internalize things quite as much. Now I’ve been known to cry at commercials, I’m embarrassed to say. But I think YA could’ve helped me as a teen. In YA bad things happen, but it’s the process of how to overcome such things that’s wonderful.

I didn’t realize it until this article on why I wrote Virtuoso. It’s about grief and how Nadia overcomes it. A lot of my novels deal with death. Perhaps it is my own way to work out my own problems and help teens too.

Perhaps that’s why I love reading YA fiction today. I still need it.

Personal Thursdays: Why I Love My Jobs

If it weren’t for my jobs, I don’t know what I would do. I work as a library assistant, freelance editor, and writer.

Library Assistant: This is where I found the time to write. I work full-time for a small academic library. My work load is rather light, and I’m quite efficient in getting it done in a timely manner. If I’m not at the circulation desk, I’m in my office or proctoring a test in our Educational Testing Center. It’s a quiet job, and when I don’t have other work to do, I can do whatever. It’s where I started my first novel. I haven’t looked back since. Honestly, even if I made enough money to support myself as a writer, I would like to keep this job.

Freelance Editor: The bad thing about my library assistant job is I am worried that we’ll lose funding and I’ll be out of work. When budget cuts were iffy, I mentioned it to my friend Lisa, and she found out the small publisher she worked for was looking for someone to freelance with them in proofreading, editing, and critiquing. I emailed the senior editor, received my editing test, passed, and became a freelance editor. This job is invaluable because I’ve learned so much about what makes a good manuscript. When you really have to focus on one, you learn fast. I was always rather talented when it came to grammar/spelling. I’m slowly learning the other, and I have a lot of your blogs and writing advice to thank in that department. I’ve been told that I’m versatile as an editor and always keep the author’s vision in mind while trying to do the best I can to improve the manuscript. As soon as I finish one project, they send me another one. So it’s giving me extra money and skills I can use later on. Plus, I get to find some really great manuscripts out there. The only downside is that it cuts into my own writing time. Some days I spend hours working on a manuscript too. Although it’s part-time, it’s often more like a full-time job. The same wonderful Lisa who told me about the one editing job created her own editorial services, so I'm a freelance editor with Hazard Editing as well.

Writer: Don’t tell the other two, but I think I love my writer job the most. Shh! When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing and new ideas. I blog. I follow other people’s blogs. I twitter and Facebook. I follow other authors. I soak in everything they have to offer me as a forever learning writer. I try to promote myself and others. I write. I create worlds and people I’d like to meet. I like to entertain people. I like to entertain myself. I get down about rejection, excited about acceptances. I stress over how to phrase a sentence or if something is missing in a story but I can’t tell what. I freak out a bit over query letters, but I’m working on that. I learn, learn, and learn some more. I am a writer. It’s a full-time job, even though the pay checks so far are pretty lousy but appreciated. *grins*

So what do I do other than these jobs? I read and review. I play with my cats. I spend time with my family. I watch TV. Of course, I do that stuff a lot less than I used to, but that’s okay. I love my jobs.

Personal Thursdays: How my cat is like Adrian Monk

I don’t know how many of you watched Monk when it was on TV, but my mom and I really enjoy it. We’ve watched it in re-runs, since we don’t have cable. The more I watch the show, the more I realize my cat Cinderella is very Monk-like.

1. She has a phobia of germs. If someone touches her, she immediately has to lick off those germs as fast as possible. Can we say towel wipe?

2. She’s pretty picky about her food. Doesn’t like milk, but she’ll eat cheese. She loves bread. Unfortunately, she prefers Romeo’s kitten food to her own.

3. She solves crimes. No, really she does. She has a feather toy she loves. I can put it anywhere in the house, and she’ll find it. Even when I hid it in the closet, she found it (with the closet door shut).

4. She’s clever but quirky.

5. She’s a bit terrified about people.

6. She’s quite neurotic.

7. If she could see a shrink, she would, but she’d also have a phobia of seeing one.

8. She’s black and white. Okay, Monk isn’t black and white, but he has dark hair. 

9. She also has to touch things sticking out, like a finger or the corner of a couch cushion.

Monk wouldn’t probably like her, especially since she has her little smudge on her nose. He’d want to wipe it off. Plus, he doesn’t seem like much a cat person, but they have their similarities.

Even though she may be a bit crazy, I love her.

Personal Thursdays: X is for X-Files

Every Sunday night at 9:00 PM for many years, I tuned in to watch the next episode of The X-Files. If I could only watch one television show for the rest of my life, it would be The X-Files. Nothing was better than the relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they investigated the strange, weird, and downright creepy.

I have all nine seasons on DVD. I own the two movies. I have several X-Files books. My ring tone is even the X-files theme music.

I even really enjoyed The Lone Gunmen spin-off. I’m still sad when they died.

The reasons I love The X-Files: the mystery, the paranormal, the Smoking Man, the government conspiracies, the Lone Gunmen, Mulder and Scully’s relationship, my crush on Mulder, etc.

The list could go on and on.

Did you watch The X-Files? Favorite episodes?

Personal Thursdays: L is for Lion Tamer

In fifth grade, we were asked to draw a picture of ourselves in the occupation we wanted to do when we grew up. As an eleven year old, it was a daunting task. What do I want to be when I grow up? In fact, I found the answer only within the last year or two (i.e. be a writer), but when I was eleven, it seemed like a much harder question to answer.

I ran through many ideas, but the picture I drew was of my being a lion tamer. Yes, you read that correctly. I wanted to be a lion tamer. No, unfortunately, I don’t know where that picture when to.

I would’ve given anything to work with big cats. They’re majestic, beautiful, powerful, and so cute. Okay, I would’ve likely been eaten while trying to hug it. Oh, well. Now, I tame little cats…or rather they tame me. 

 

I suppose writing isn’t too different than being a lion tamer. You have a majestic, beautiful, powerful idea, and you have to find a way to tame it and put it on the page without it eating you alive.

So perhaps I’m a bit of a lion tamer after all. 

Personal Thursdays: I Want to Write Like That

I finished reading Beth Revis's Across the Universe on Sunday, March 13. You can read my review here.

Before that Sunday, I read 38 pages of her book. I enjoyed the beginning. The first chapter is horrifying, but I ran out of time, set it down, and left it.

Then March 13th came, and I was going to read until my laundry finished. The laundry was done, but I wasn't. I couldn't stop reading. I didn't want to do anything else, including eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. I wanted to read and find out what would happen next to Amy and Elder. I had to read.

When I finished the book, I realized something: I want to write like this. I want to write a book that people can't put down. I want to write a book that changes how you see the world around you. I won't look at stars or the sky the same after reading Beth's book.

Now I'm not saying I want to write a book exactly life Beth's. I just want to write something that good. Beth's book goes into a few I've read basically in one day, including several of the Harry Potter series and the first book in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. Books I had to read.

The question comes to how to write a book like that, and I don't know. There must be some universal truth to it. There must be a distinguished voice. The characters, setting, plot, theme, etc. must speak to a reader. I can tell Beth researched carefully (although I knew she did from her blog). And, she broke rules. Yes, I did see adverbs and the verb "to be," but you know what, I didn't care. Nope. Those little things didn't distract me one bit, despite the fact that they do in other people's writing. It was different in Across the Universe.

In the end, Beth did a frexing awesome job, and I hope one day to be able to write a book that will touch someone like her book did me.

Personal Thursdays: Go Steelers!

Personal Thursdays

Go Steelers!

Yes, I will admit it. I am a football fan. Come Sunday from the end of August to the beginning of February, I am sitting in front of the television and watching the NFL. The team I love the most: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I live in Virginia, and I grew up with "are you a Redskins or Cowboys fan?" I was neither. Still hate both those teams. Why a Pennsylvania team? Why the Steelers?

First off, my ancestor William Penn founded Pennsylvania. Yeah, I have cool ancestors, and when I have traveled in Pennsylvania before, I fell in love with it. I felt a strong connection, and it is as much of a state I love as my very own Virginia. If I could live in any other city, it would be around Philadelphia, I loved it so.

So, why not be a fan of the Eagles?

It's because of one man. Number 43 of the Steelers. Troy Polamalu. 

The first time I really watched a NFL football game, it involved the Steelers and someone else. Troy Polamalu intercepted the ball and ran it for a touchdown. His abilities and catlike grace sent shivers up my spine and goose bumps up my arms. From that moment on, I knew the Steelers was my team.

I have to admit I didn't know Troy's name for a long time. He was affectionately known as "Furry Guy" to me. He really does have such beautiful hair. *sighs* And, I've never seen a better defensive player.

Since I grew enamored first with Troy and the Steelers and then football in general, I can speak with the best of them on the subject. I remember names, games, teams, and the NFL commentators have to stop saying the same things I do seconds after I say them. I'm wondering if I'm being watched. The same thing used to happen with me and Simon Cowell when I watched American Idol. Weird, right?

And, I do have some Steelers gear. I own a shirt, jacket, and keychain. I even have a Steelers tissue box. *blushes*

Anyways, you have to imagine how excited I am that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl. Come February 6^th, I'll be sitting at home watching the game and cheering on my team.

Go Steelers!