November 22, 2009

Literary Flings & Affairs Episode 4

Filed under: Cultural Rants, Literature — Tags: Cultural Rants, fiction, Literature, novels, write — serena @ 6:55 pm

The Rebound/ Spin Off

Andrew Jones of Penn St and Mike Tisdale and Calvin Brock of Illinois contest a rebound during the game. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Darrell Hoemann .....................

We read a book that sweeps us off our feet and into another world that we never want to leave. But it doesn’t leave us a choice. The End happens, just like that.

We feel empty, hollow, and worst of all needy. Then the Spin Off comes along, promising us everything we got from that special novel – we get to see Mr. Darcy again! Or the DeWinters! The idea alone gets our hearts all a-flutter. (more…)

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October 24, 2009

Odd Couples, Episode 1

Filed under: Cultural Rants, Literature, Parenting — Tags: Cultural Rants, Literature, novels, Parenting, The Writing Life, write, writers — serena @ 1:44 pm

Shakespeare and the Swine Flu

It seems like an odd couple, but not when you really think about it. Imagine: you are locked in your house, unable to venture out into the healthy world. Two sick kids, who tend to complain and moan much louder than you, have commandeered the TV with the DVD player. What to do?

Well, naturally, you read. (more…)

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October 8, 2009

The Writing Life II

Filed under: The Writing Life — Tags: Literature, novels, The Writing Life, write, writers — serena @ 12:34 pm

The Problem with Titles

So, I finished the first draft of my second novel! (applause, gasps, sighs)

Now for the hard part – the edits, the volunteer reader comments, the …. (drumroll) TITLE.

Lucky are those authors who get their titles first and then write the book around the it. I guess I’m just not lucky. (more…)

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September 4, 2009

Literary Flings and Affairs, Episode 3

Filed under: Cultural Rants, Literature — Tags: Add new tag, Cultural Rants, Literature, novels, The Writing Life, write, writers — serena @ 12:29 pm

The Short Story

There was a time in my life when all of the sudden, short stories were all I read. Granted, they always had their place: say in school for Literature study purposes and in the doctor’s office, just to kill time. But this particular period of my life, I actually purchased volumes of collections and read one after the other.

My husband, in his younger years, suffered something similar. We call them compulsive one night stands. (more…)

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August 3, 2009

Literary Flings & Affairs, Episode 2

Filed under: Cultural Rants, Literature — Tags: Cultural Rants, Literature, novels, romance, The Writing Life, writers — serena @ 5:24 pm

Bodice Ripping Romance

I read my first bodice-ripping romance at fourteen. Don’t judge me: I did mature early, blooming into a full fledged reader a couple years prior with Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind and Grapes of Wrath secured tight under my belt. So I was ready and willing.

Imagine the intrigue when I found, at the home of the children I babysat every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, a ten foot closet shelf double packed with paperback novels. The covers depicted hard muscled men literally tearing the bodices off voluptuous women, all in historic costume. (more…)