NaNoWriMo

I first came across the phrase NaNoWriMo 3 years ago. It was in Neil Gaiman's blog so of course I was curious about it. When I found out it was novel writing I got intimidated and put it out of my mind. I don't know what it is about the idea of writing a novel that seems so daunting, but every time I consider it I always dismiss it as something I'm not ready for.
But, why? I'm 24 years old and writing is something I love to do so why the hell not join National Novel Writing Month and just see what happens. I'm smart. I have ideas.
Also, I suck at writing on a daily basis. Just look at this blog. No structure, broken promises, irratic posting. I'm terrible at it and I have no idea why. Every time I sit down to write I always find a reason not too. "Oh, I need to make sure my whole house is clean first." That's seriously what happens everytime. Why does my house have to be spotless before I do anything creative? Why am I such a weirdo?
So, to ease my self into this process of daily writing for this work week and make myself sit down for 30 minutes a day to just write and then I can clean the whole house or play Plants vs. Zombies or whatever.
The other thing I'll start doing differently is typing my rough draft instead of hand writing it. As much as I love the catharsis of putting pen to paper I have so many ideas are bits of paper somewhere in the house that will never go beyond just being ideas.
How about you? Do you want to write a novel in a month? NaNoWriMo is Nov 1 through the 30th! Why not try it and see what happens?

This is so, so neat

I'd just thought I'd share this with you. I'm kicking myself because I had the chance to join in on the Twittering and I didn't. Sigh maybe next time

Comic Review: 1602

As you know by this post I love Neil Gaiman. His novels are awesome and I've read several of them twice. I read The Sandman series last year and I enjoyed it overall, but there were some repeating themes that I got tired of toward the end. I expected some of the same themes in this series, but was pleasantly surprised that he reached outside that scope. 

In this series Neil Gaiman explores a "what if" situation. What if the Marvel universe started 300 years before it did. I went into to this expecting a mirror of the Marvel characters, but what I got was characters with similar qualities but essentially different people.

Nick Fury working for the Queen and having that crazy English loyalty. When Scottish James takes the throne Fury flees out of necessity to save the universe, but nothing less would make him betray England. He struggles with that fact for the rest of the series.

Magneto, the Grand Inquisitor, was my favorite character in the series. It was interesting that he was known for burning mutants at the stake. At first I didn't think it was true to form, but when it was stated that he only burned the ones who were physically identified and hid the passable ones away it was a lot like the modern Magneto. He would do anything for the superiority of the mutant race including sacrificing his own kind.

The way Gaiman incorporated so many characters into this story was artfully done, and the explanation for the storyline was interesting and a little over my head. 

There wasn't much of a main character in the series which was how it should have been, but Gaiman did focus on Dr. Strange more than I was expecting. I don't know anything at all about Dr. Strange so all I can say is I liked the character for the story, but I definitely liked his wife the best. 

My only complaint for this series was the limited exposure (and life) of Jean Grey, it was interesting that Gaiman incorporated the Phoenix aspect in her death she is my favorite X-Men though, so I am biased.

Overall, this was an enjoyable series, an interesting look at an alternate timeline beautifully written and expertly illustrated.

Have you read 1602?

Library Love

Libraries.

I love them.

My mom took me and my brother to the library a lot when we were little.

To me, it was like being in a bookstore except I could take any of it home.

I still have that view I guess.

I always check out more than one just because I can.

 I really started to utilize the library the summer of my junior year.

I answered phones for a Feedscrew company and had a lot of down town.

I remember going to the library and just checking out stacks of books at a time.

I read almost all of Francesca Lia Block's books, and the whole Sandman series that summer.

I have an e-reader now, but I still enjoy going to the library. I like being around books as weird as that sounds.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite libraries with you.

All photos come from here

For some reason this reminds me of the library from Beauty and the Beast.

George Lucas has great taste.

Neil Gaiman's library. Duh.

I'd totally live in this loft. In Paris.

This looks like the coziest place on Earth. 

Does anyone enjoy looking at books as much as I do?

Favorite Aurthors

a person or thing regarded with special favor or preference.

I've been trying to figure out who my favorite author is so I could do a post about him/her, but as it turns out I don't have just one; I have three. Three different authors for three different reasons.

1. Neil Gaiman- I started reading Anasi Boys on a vacation and loved it. After that I started looking specifically for books written by Gaiman. Then I saw him all over the internet. He has a Twitter and Tumblr account which I both follow. Through this I know more about him than any author I've read about and I think he's a cool dude. He is my favorite author for his personality.

2. J.K. Rowling- I love the Harry Potter series so much. The re-read value is excellent. I've read the whole series several times. I'm not a fan of J.K.Rowling as a person- she strikes me as snobby and aloof, but I can't deny she is a fabulous writer. She is the author of my favorite book series.

3.Tamora Pierce- I read everything that she wrote in middle school and high school. I love her characters, she writes strong female characters that are believable. The plots in her books are full of epic adventure. She's the author of some of my favorite characters.

Six months from now this set could change, or there could be another one added on, there are so many good authors out there for some many different reasons.