author

May 23, 2016

11 Writers’ Paradises

I use “I’m a writer!” to justify haunting many eclectic and sometimes downright strange locations. I visited four of the below Eleven Writers’ Paradises today, so I guess you could say it was a successful Sunday! (And yes, I know 11 is a weird number for a list, but it is my favorite number so sorry not sorry.)… Continue reading

Musings

antique, author, authors, Book, books, bookworm, cemetery, church, coffee shop, hipster, inspiration, inspiring, library, novel, paradise, poem, short story, used bookstore, writer, writing
January 30, 2016

The Shop

“Okay, what quirky place inspired this story?” asked my editor upon reading the following tale. “It’s too random not to be based on reality.” My editor (who may or may not also be my mother, but she was an English teacher/professor so it’s kosher) was right. This story sparked to life in an antique mall in… Continue reading

Scribblings

1920, antique, antique shop, author, Book, books, desire, editor, era, fashion, flapper, inspiration, literature, modern, modern woman, old fashioned, roaring twenties, shop, short story, store, story, style, the shop, thought-provoking, time, vintage, writer, writing
January 30, 2016

Please share this letter!

No, this is not some “reblog to solve a major world crisis” post and you won’t end up with bad luck for a year if you don’t share. Odds are that if you ignore this altogether, nothing bad will result. However, I truly am asking you, my fellow lover of books, to share this post… Continue reading

A Bit of Light Reading, literary living

author, Biola, biola university, Book, books, bookworm, brain candy, erin morgenstern, gift, gym reading, inspiration, kindred spirit, letter, literature, novel, pleasure reading, Reading, share, thank you, the night circus, writer
January 10, 2016

Literary Tourism

Don’t be a tourist. I don’t mean don’t travel; by all means, see the world and explore new places! But don’t be a tourist, defined as “a person who travels for pleasure, especially sight-seeing and staying in hotels.” That doesn’t sound so bad, but can one really experience a place through simply seeing sights and… Continue reading

literary living, Literature, Musings

Anna Karenina, author, Book, books, bookworm, classic literature, explorer, exploring, great books, literary, literature, london, masterpiece, novel, paris, Reading, tolstoy, tourism, travel, traveller, writer, writing
December 15, 2015

Graveyard Library

Upon finishing up my finals and juries today, I found my mind in a muddle, so I did the natural thing: I went exploring. In doing such, I happened upon a cemetery and spent a great deal of time wandering and wondering. To any outside observer, I was just another a college girl in an ugly Christmas sweater… Continue reading

Scribblings

author, beauty, cemetery, epitaph, exploring, finals, graveyard, history, inspiration, learning, library, metaphor, poem, poet, poetry, tomb, tombstone, writer, writing
October 6, 2015

The Word Crimes Inferno

In reading Dante’s Inferno, I was struck by his ability to identify, categorize, and assign fitting punishments to various sins. This is not perhaps the most cheerful observation, but it was certainly intriguing and made me think (apologies for the morbidity): what crimes I would punish were I to write a modern Inferno and how would I… Continue reading

Literature, Musings

AP Literature, author, Book, books, bookworm, dante, dictionary, english humor, essay, grammar, grammar humor, grammar nazi, grammarly, humor, inferno, literate, literature, novel, pun, punctuation, puns, Reading, syntax, the inferno, word crimes, writer, writing
August 28, 2015

#WriterGoals by Homer, Odysseus, and Ryanne

Yes, my title is a hashtag. Sometimes I like to break the trend of ordinary prose. Sorry not sorry. Ironically, however, this post is based on writing standards set waaaaaaaay back in the days of Homer. In reading through The Odyssey for my university’s honors institute, I realized two things: First, listening to Chopin’s nocturnes whilst reading makes… Continue reading

Literature, Musings

AP Literature, Art, author, authors, beautiful, beautiful wriitng, beauty, Bible, Book, book review, books, brainstorming, C.S. Lewis, character, Children’s Books, chopin, classic literature, creativity, enduring books, epic, good writing, great books, homer, poetry, prose, the iliad, the odyssey, torrey honors institute, true writing, truth, writer, writer goals, writing
August 15, 2015

Literary Living

Standing at the checkout at the grocery store, I found myself incredibly bored having forgotten both my book and my phone. Most people in such a predicament would probably do one of two things: 1) make small-talk with fellow shoppers or 2) flip idly through the magazines on the racks. Similar to Mr. Darcy, I… Continue reading

literary living

Anne, Anne of Green Gables, AP Literature, author, authors, best friends, books, bookworm, character, Children’s Books, classic literature, kindred spirits, magazine
July 9, 2015

To answer “How is your writing going?”

People often ask, “How is your writing going?” or some such question. Well, to answer that… What I think: My novel is sadly forsaken but I think if it all the time and also I need to change the entire perspective so I am rewriting it even though I was 50,000 words in and also… Continue reading

Musings, Scribblings

author, blogger, Book, brainstorming, essay, first draft, novel, practice, short story, working, writer, writer problems, writer’s block, writers despair, writing, writing practice, young author
June 27, 2015

Writer’s Despair: Part Two

Last night I was struck with a severe case of what I have dubbed “Writer’s Despair,” the cruel cousin of Writer’s Block. Unlike with Writer’s Block, I could not break through Writer’s Despair by searching through my idea notebooks or looking up prompts on Pinterest. Rather, WD hung over my head like one of those cartoon… Continue reading

Musings

author, despairing artist, first draft, ray bradbury, writer, writer’s block, writers despair, writing, writing advice, writing mentor, writing process
March 13, 2015

A Caution to Writers

Dear fellow writers, Should you ever decide to change perspective halfway through your novel’s draft, do not use Word’s “Find and Replace” feature because otherwise when you try to change “I” (the pronoun) to your character’s name (Paige, in this instance), you might find every letter “I” replaced with her name. Oops. That Paiges a serPaigeous… Continue reading

Scribblings

author, first draft, NaNoWriMo, novel, oops, typing, word, writing
February 26, 2015

Sophisticated Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ― Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci is remembered as one of the most ingenious men to have walked the earth. Even those unfamiliar with art recognize his name as the painter of the “Mona Lisa” and the innovator of ideas ahead of his time. And yet, this man, the epitome… Continue reading

Musings

Anne of Green Gables, AP Literature, Art, author, beauty, chopin, essay, john green, leonardo da vinci, literature, lm montgomery, lyrics, Music, simple beauty, simplicity, song, songwriting, sophistication, true art, writer, writing