writing

February 10, 2017

In the Image

I just finished reading St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation and my heart is full as I ponder the awesomeness of its subject: the Word of God made flesh. I especially am captivated by the beauty of the Son of God as the Image of God and the restorer of humans created “in the image of God.” … Continue reading

Faith, Musings, Poetry

athanasius, Christian poetry, faith, Image of God, incarnation, on the incarnation, poem, poet, poetry, theology, writing
November 25, 2016

Writers’ Confessions (a sequel)

I have already blogged a series of writers’ confessions, but find I must once more come clean about some things… I (somewhat) enjoyed my term papers. Yes, they were torturous and I singlehandedly contributed to deforestation when it came time to print them (all 40 pages of them….), but there is something so satisfying about… Continue reading

Literature

author, confessions, writer goals, writer problem, writer problems, writer’s block, writing
November 25, 2016

The Same Sun

“There is nothing quite like the moment when an idea strikes and you can whip out your notebook and favorite pen and scrawl away for an hour. I’ve been going nonstop for weeks now and was overjoyed to have time to write something other than my 30 page political manifesto. (*cries from post-paper-writing trauma*) Anyway,… Continue reading

Scribblings

end times, mars, mars story, Martian, Martian Chronicles, original story, ray bradbury, Revelation, short story, space, writing
August 28, 2016

Well-read and Caffeinated: 10 Ideal Coffee/Tea and Book Pairings

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all readers in possession of a good book are in want of a delicious beverage to sip. But why settle for just any latte? In my opinion, books and coffee are like fine wine and cheese; you must pair them properly so as to derive the fullest enjoyment… Continue reading

literary living

Anna Karenina, author, authors, Book, book review, books, bookworm, character, coffee, Fiction, literature, Little Women, novel, poetry, Reading, romance, writer, writing
August 14, 2016

Reflections on Writing a Novel Draft

During my journey home from Italy, I was super bored and, thus, my brain went crazy and came up with a novel idea that I am ridiculously excited about. Thankfully, I hit 50,000 words on my other novel draft, so I was able to set that one aside without too much guilt to begin this… Continue reading

Musings, Scribblings

author, authors, Book, book review, books, bookworm, brainstorming, character, essay, Fiction, first draft, inspiration, INTJ, literature, NaNoWriMo, novel, reader, Reading, romance, short story, writer, writer problems, writing
August 13, 2016

Italian Lessons

Okay, so the title of this post is a bit misleading. To clarify, I have not taken lessons in speaking Italian and, if I’m being completely honest, my Italian speaking abilities consists of basic greetings, “grazie”, and apologetically smiling and batting my eyes. Oh, and I got pretty good at ordering coffee and gelato. But… Continue reading

literary living, Musings

adventure, Book, cafe freddo, coffee, composing, cremona, espresso, explore, food, italian, italy, lessons, life lessons, musician, pasta, piano, tourist, travel, writer, writing
July 11, 2016

Writing Victories

Just had to brag a little bit: Today marks the two-year birthday of my baby novel. On this day in 2014, I was inspired to write a book about a quirky little town that I stumbled upon and, to my delight, today I reached the word count required for my manuscript to qualify as a… Continue reading

Scribblings

author, authors, Book, books, bookworm, cobbly nob, coffee, coffee shop, draft, editing, Fiction, first draft, inspiration, manuscript, NaNoWriMo, novel, Reading, tea, tennessee, writer, writing
July 3, 2016

Writing is Hard: A Lament

Writing is hard and I’ll tell you why: I am not the Bard and that makes me cry. Red pens are bloodstains on my poor first draft Despite prep-school refrains about the English “RAFT.” Well, dear school teachers, I must ask you now: Though you seemed to be preachers, I do not know how To find out my… Continue reading

literary living, Poetry

english humor, english poem, poem, poetry, silly poem, struggle, the struggle is read, the struggle is real, writer problems, writing, writing humor, writing is hard, writing struggles
June 23, 2016

Miss Darcy

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman having read or seen Pride and Prejudice, must be in want of a Mr. Darcy.” – Jane Austen and Ryanne McLaren* *Note: The above quote does not actually represent the entirety of this post, but I did think it rather apt in capturing the feelings of Austenites… Continue reading

Literature, Musings

AP Literature, author, authors, blog, blogger, Book, books, bookworm, character analysis, characters, classic literature, darcy, elizabeth bennet, great books, inspiration, INTJ, Jane Austen, literature, meyers briggs, mr. darcy, novel, pride and prejudice, reader, Reading, romance, torrey honors institute, writer, writing
June 14, 2016

A Bigfoot Story

I’m currently on vacation in Montana with my family, staying in a charming cabin near Glacier National Park. The cabin has a guestbook in which visitors are asked to record the highlights of their stay. In flipping through it I became bored immediately. Most people wrote things like this: “Ate pizza and went skiing. Fun… Continue reading

literary living, Scribblings

bigfoot, finding bigfoot, funny, glacier national park, guestbook, humor, journal, montana, sasquatch, travel, writing
June 1, 2016

Melanie’s Lemon-Berry Muffins

It seems that every year around the beginning of summer I reread or at least skim parts of Gone with the Wind. I even venture to take the 959-page tome into the pool, to the horror of bookworm friends who doubt my ability to keep from dropping it into the water. (Seriously, people, I am an… Continue reading

Recipes for Readers

author, Book, bookworm, classic literature, gone with the wind, healthy muffins, healthy recipe, lemon, literature, muffins, novel, Reading, refreshing summer recipe, scarlet o’hara, strawberry, summer recipe, writer, writing
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