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Writing Prompt: “I Never Loved Reading” Quote

To Kill a Mockingbird Scout Quote

Image via NDTV.

“I never loved reading until I feared I would lose it. One does not love breathing.” –Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Inspired by zenandpi’s blog post on this quote, I decided I wanted to write about it too.

I can relate to this quote quite a bit. I discovered my love of the written word through reading a fantasy children’s book about people being able to bring characters into the world through the power of their voice.

I’ve already mentioned this on my blog on this post, but I feel like I need to reiterate on this once more. Reading has become a very big part of my life that I can’t imagine living without it. I’ve never yet feared reading being lost in my life, but that’s because I’ve never gone through a time period where I wasn’t reading a book, except whenever I wasn’t a lover of the written word.

But that doesn’t mean the thought of losing my love of literature hasn’t crossed my mind. Because it’s something all book lovers fear. That one day, we will read a book (any book) and discover that our heart isn’t into it anymore. That we can’t take in the words anymore and the story being told to us isn’t holding a special place in our hearts. That the world we’ve discovered we love so dearly isn’t as great of a world as we thought it once was and close the door on that world for good.

All readers fear that they won’t love reading anymore. Because it means something has changed inside of us and that we’ve lost a love we once sought. Because for readers, a book is like breathing. It’s something we can’t live without. And once that’s taken away from us, what will we have left?

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Writing Prompt: Albert Einstein Quote

only-a-life-lived-for-others-is-a-life-worth-while19

I agree with this quote completely. I believe living your life for other people is worthwhile.

Everyone has someone in their life who completely cares about them. Even people who don’t necessarily believe it. Whether that person is a friend, family member, or significant other, there is someone who has always been a part of your life and made you the person you are today. Without that person, you feel as if you have no one to relate to.

That person in your life is who you should be living your life for. Not because they want you around, but because you care about that person so much that you wouldn’t want them to face any pain at your expense.

You live for them because you care about them deeply. Whenever you have moments in life where you’re facing life’s hardest challenges, you think of them. You think of what they’d do if in your situation. But you also talk to them about the situation because you know they’ll always have your back.

And you live on for this person because you’re selfless. You live on for this person because you care about them so much and believe they’d do the same for you. This person makes up all of who you are and makes each difficult day easier to breathe in.

So you live on. Even at moments when you feel too weak to continue, you push on because you care about someone so much you never want them to suffer. And by living life because of them, every painful experience is worthwhile.

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Writing Prompt: “There is Nothing to Writing” Quote

HemingwayWritingQuote

I don’t necessarily agree with this quote. Not because I don’t believe that writing involves you putting all of your emotions out there. But because I believe there is a lot more to writing than what meets the eye.

Writing is a very lengthy process. It’s not something one easily does, unless they are in the mental state where words fly off the page. Whenever you are writing, you’re not only putting your thoughts and feelings into the story/words being created, but are also creating something new. Something others might not have written about just yet. Something that is truly, deeply yours.

But you don’t just feel when putting words down on a page. You have to look into your thoughts to figure out what exactly you want to do. You have to think about what you’re doing before you do it. In order to create a story, you have to think about what you want to write.

And writing isn’t very easy either. There’s a lot that goes into it. But most of it depends on what you want to write. If you’re looking to write a poem for example, you have to think about lyrical prose and how to get words to fit together. You can’t just write a bunch of random words and hope to make a poem out of it.

The same goes for a writer who decides they want to get a book published. They have to think about what genre of writing they want to create, what story they want to tell, character development, etc. Then do research if absolutely necessary to get a better idea of the world they want to create for their novel.

But at the same time, whenever a writer is creating a story uniquely their own, they do bleed on the page. They have to if they want their voice to be heard. This occurs whenever a writer decides to write their stories based off of their own personal experiences. In these type of stories, a writer is very much bleeding onto the page. They are putting themselves out there in the hope that their audience will listen to what they are saying and understand them better. This type of writing allows the writer to connect with their readers in a whole new way and allows them to wear their heart on their sleeve.

Writers can also bleed when writing their novels. Especially when creating a character in a story that is based off themselves or is someone they can personally relate to.

The only time I believe writing isn’t so hard is whenever I’m able to write about personal experiences of my own because those are the moments when I find words easy to express.

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Writing Prompt: “Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness” Quote

MLK Quote

Only bad can be destroyed by good and only hate can be driven out by love. That is very true because the only way to destroy one thing is to do the opposite of said thing. That is the only way we’ll be able to live in a peaceful world.

You can’t drive out darkness with darkness because all that’ll do is bring about more darkness. Instead, you have to bring light into the world to push the darkness away. This can be done through doing good deeds to show that the world isn’t as dark of a place as people think.

The same can be said for hatred and love too. The only way to cast hatred out is by showing love. This can be accomplished by being compassionate and kind to the people around you, even the people trying to bring about chaos. By showing these types of feelings, positive change can be brought into the world.

But there is a problem with our society to where doing this is easier said than done. There is currently too much darkness in the world that even if people change their actions, it won’t be enough to encompass all of the bad. Because there are some bad people too who will never show light and love, being able to get rid of it all will be impossible.

But that’s okay too. Because while there is still light and love in the world, there is hope for a better and brighter future for us all. So while there is still darkness and hate, continue to fight it anyway and do the best you can to extinguish it. Only once you have given up will we be unable to fight it anymore. So do the best you can and only good things will be sure to come your way.

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Book Review: The Girl From the Well

The Girl From the Well Book Cover

Rating: 3 stars

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret – one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl From the Well was an interesting read that kept me turning, wanting to find out more about what happened.

It was an enjoyable read because I found the author’s writing to be quite amazing. I enjoyed the way she weaved her story, including elements of description that made all of the horrific elements easy to believe. I loved her descriptions of the places the characters visited in Japan and how she weaved Japanese culture into the story to make sense of what happened with Okiku still inhabiting the world. Seeing another culture in a book full of horror and terror that explains all of the supernatural phenomena going on always adds more to the story and makes the universe surrounding it all the more real. Having this information in The Girl From the Well shows that the author did a lot of research before writing this story, allowing the reader to learn something new about a culture they might’ve not known before.

Another aspect of this book I enjoyed was seeing horror and terror implemented in the story. This was incorporated during the scenes where Okiku discovers another person who has killed children and goes after them in order to bring the murdered children retribution. I enjoy these scenes because they helped me get a better sense of Okiku’s character throughout the story and allowed me even better insight into her mind. They also reminded me of the American Gothic Literature course I took during my last semester of Columbia College and brought back so many fond memories.

But, there are some issues I have with this book that made it a little difficult to enjoy. While I didn’t overall mind reading the book from Okiku’s perspective, I didn’t absolutely love it either. There were times where I found her perspective jarring and difficult to read. For example, whenever she was getting herself involved in Tark and Callie’s lives and talked about them, there were times where I couldn’t absolutely tell who she was talking about. Those moments made me enjoying her perspective a little less. But at the same time, I also enjoyed reading the story from Okiku’s perspective because the reader saw things in the story that we wouldn’t have seen if the story was told from Tark or Callie’s point of view. We wouldn’t have gotten to see her murder any of the people who killed children and understand why she kills them. It is also the first time I’ve ever read a supernatural story told from the perspective of a spirit.

I also found some plot holes while reading this book that made it difficult to swallow. Some parts of the story were just completely rushed to the point where certain things happened that were left unexplained. For example, when Tark gets kidnapped in the story, he willingly goes in the stranger’s car. That struck me as odd, considering all of the things Tark has been through in his life with his mother. Then, there’s also the lack of time being explained in the story in the sense that I thought what happened throughout took place within a couple days, not a couple months.

Another issue I had with The Girl From the Well is the characters. While I like Okiku’s character, I thought that Tark and Callie were badly developed. While I liked them both as a whole, I didn’t really like how she developed both of them and think both of them are very flat characters. I feel as if Okiku is the only main character in the story even though the story is about Tark.

Despite these issues, I found this story was an okay read. I enjoyed reading the story because of the author’s writing and all of the supernatural elements and plan on reading the sequel The Suffering.

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Writing Prompt: “Sometimes You Just Got To Stay Silent” Quote

Sometimes You Got To Stay Silent Quote

So true. My thoughts are really crazy sometimes. I don’t know what my mind is thinking half the time because it doesn’t make sense. One minute, I’ll be really happy, thinking about something I really enjoy. But in an instant, that happiness can quickly be taken away whenever something that makes me angry or frustrated happens.

But at the same time, silence can be golden. It can get a message across way quicker than saying something you might later on regret. It can convey what words can’t without you having to worry about whether you got your point across. I often deal with silence whenever I find myself dealing with someone who irritates or frustrates me. Often with people who’ve hurt me in some way because I usually don’t want to deal with them.

Silence is a good way of conveying to someone you have no words for them because you don’t want to say exactly what’s on your mind. Oftentimes, I find myself not talking to people who’ve hurt me afterwards because I know what I want to say. But I also know that if I say exactly what I’m thinking, it’ll hurt them and I’ll regret it.

So instead, I keep my words close to my heart and wonder how differently things could’ve gone if I’d only just spoken my mind.

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Book Review: Sinner

Sinner Book Cover

Rating: 5 stars

found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn’t just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It’s not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes…but what’s the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

After reading the rest of the books in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I was really excited to get started on reading this one. Not because I didn’t enjoy the rest of the books in the series, but I was looking forward to reading a story that focused just on Isabel and Cole.

And I wasn’t disappointed. Taking place after the events in Forever, Isabel and Cole are in Los Angeles. Isabel lives there because her parents made her and to escape her feelings for Cole. Cole has been to Los Angeles before, but is there this time with the goal of winning Isabel’s heart.

One of the reasons I enjoyed reading Sinner is their love story. It’s very apparent that Isabel and Cole are meant to be. Both of them are the same in the sense that they just don’t give a shit about others. They both don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves and let others see their real selves. But that’s one of the reasons why I love both of them, by themselves and together.

Another reason I enjoyed reading Sinner is getting to see the rock star life through Cole’s eyes. Having been to Los Angeles before in his band NARKOTIKA, he’s already familiar with the world around him. But he’s not the same as the last time he was there. He’s a changed man, doing the best he can to live his life the way he sees fit, despite society’s belief that he’s still the same as before. In Sinner, you see him struggle with putting on his fake persona in front of the crowd when all he needs to do is be himself. Cole struggles throughout Sinner with being himself and it’s very apparent when you juxtapose him with the rock star crowd verses being with Isabel.

But Cole is human and he’s bound to make mistakes. And he makes quite a few, despite doing the best he can to stay human for Isabel’s sake. And so does she. That’s why they are the perfect couple: both are chaos looking for their chance to heal and find peace in the crazy world around them. Both of them are sinners, looking for redemption from the one who loves them the most.

The one aspect to Sinner I wish was there was finding out more about what happened with Grace and Sam following Forever. I know this book’s main purpose was to focus on Isabel and Cole’s relationship. But I felt like Sam and Grace could’ve been more present too. Because I definitely wanted to know what was going on with them while all of this was going on and wanted to find out if a cure had been discovered. So while I enjoyed reading this story from Isabel and Cole’s perspective, I did wish we could’ve seen more of Sam and Grace in the story too.

However, Sinner is a well-crafted masterpiece. I enjoyed reading it because of the storytelling and seeing everything from Cole and Isabel’s eyes and am sad that the series is over.

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There’s Just Something About Walking

Walking Feet

Image can be found on The Glow.

There’s just something about walking that makes me feel good about myself. Every time I go for a walk, I feel pumped, ready to explore the world around me. I tell myself “this is fun, you need to keep this habit.” But I never do.

But I need to. Whenever I was in school at Columbia College, I took a blogging class the one semester. In the class, my professor asked us to blog about a topic that we were passionate about. At the time, I had discovered months before that I had really high cholesterol. I believed that there was something I needed to do about it. And that was how my old blog Healthy Body, Peace of Mind was born.

In Healthy Body, Peace of Mind, I talked about eating healthier so I could live a healthy lifestyle. And while I was blogging about heart health, I managed to do just that. I kept up with the food I was eating and spent time going to the gym at school. And I enjoyed it too.

But it didn’t last long. As soon as I was done with the blogging class, I tried to keep up with being healthier. I really did. But then, I fell into old habits again. I would go one day without going to the gym, which then turned into another until I just stopped going. And once going to the gym fell out, I started terrible old eating habits again. Things such as snacking whenever I didn’t feel like I’d eaten enough at the dining hall or drinking two or three cans of my favorite soda consecutively.

But as I went for a walk this morning, enjoying the cool breeze, a wonderful thought crossed my mind.

I need to kick these bad habits, get healthier again. Get back into the habit of eating healthier again. Because as long as I continue down the road I’ve been on, my high cholesterol isn’t going to go away.

The only way it’ll change is if I make it. So starting today, I plan on doing just that.

First by getting rid of all of my bad food habits. Need to stop snacking on unhealthy food whenever I feel hungry. I can do this by eating something healthier, such as apple sauce or drinking water. Drinking water can keep the feeling of hunger at bay because it keeps hydration levels optimal and can ward off deceiving hunger pains that are really signs of thirst, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Healthy Eating page.

Then, I need to keep track of what I’m eating. I can do this through keeping a food diary or using food apps on my phone where I can record what I’m eating throughout each day. I already have a Fitbit so I can use the Fitbit app on my phone to keep track of what all I’m eating throughout the day while keeping track of the amount of steps I walk each day. Keeping track of what I eat will ensure I stay on track and make sure I don’t indulge in any of my bad eating habits.

And lastly, I need to indulge in good eating and exercise habits and stick with them. I need to make sure I can keep up with doing a little bit of exercise each day, such as walking. Walking can lower your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes as much as running, according to the American Heart Association. But also eat healthy food, such as fish so I don’t increase my chances of getting heart disease.

I say all of this now, knowing there’s a possibility of this happening all over again. But that doesn’t mean I can’t at least try the best I can to kick my bad habits to the curb and try again each time it does. As long as I don’t give up, that’s what really matters.

 

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Terrible Minds Flash Fiction Challenge: Seven Deadly Sins

Inspired by Chuck Wendig’s blog post on Terrible Minds, I’m going to write a fictional story about a man named Jack who embodies all seven of the deadly sins. I’ve never done one of these flash fiction challenges before so I’m really interested to see how this goes.

 

Hello, my name is Jack. And I am going to hell.

I know everyone has heard of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. They are the sins that determine ones place in the deadly underground known as hell.

Unfortunately, I’ve been blessed with the unlucky curse to embody all seven.

Lust whispers in my ear at night whenever I get into bed, asking me if I’m really going to go another night without a pretty woman in my bed. I try the best I can to ignore this voice, but it never goes away. So at night, I’m out, enjoying the nightlife and looking for another woman to add to my notch belt.

Gluttony slaps me in the face every time I eat. It asks if I’m really done eating that last plate. Whispers, are you sure you don’t want any more? like a lost lover. So I always go back for more until I’m sick with disgust at what all I’ve just eaten. But I still go back anyway, knowing I’m going to regret it later.

Greed can be found in all of my latest purchases. I shop like a woman at the mall, buying all of the latest and greatest gadgets for men. Even things I don’t need I purchase, knowing I’m not going to use them but feeling the need to have them anyway. I know I don’t need the money anyway because I make plenty of it.

Sloth follows me around like a lost puppy every time I go into work. I hate my job, so I make myself look busy around my coworkers. But once their backs are turned, I go back to being unproductive. I spend my work hours doing nothing but stare at my computer screen, wishing the day was already over so I could continue with this unproductivity back in my lonely apartment. I hate work and I hate life so I don’t see the point in doing anything productive anyway.

Wrath buzzes around in my head like an angry bee every time I drink. I’m an alcoholic at heart. Alcohol is the only thing that can numb my mind until I can feel nothing at all. But it also makes me aggressively angry about everything. So I take my anger out the best way I can: smashing and destroying everything directly in my path. This normally means my precious possessions get destroyed in the process, but I make plenty of money anyway and objects can always be replaced.

Envy is my best friend. I feel it with every fiber of my being whenever I see other people laughing or having a good time. I have no interests or hobbies other than drinking, sleeping with beautiful women and buying expensive things with the extravagant money I have at my disposal. I have so much, yet own nothing worthwhile. And wish more than anything for something more. So I’m envious at other’s fortune in life.

Pride comes as a reminder that I do have a lot in life. Look at all of the things you own, it whispers quietly in my ear. And pride is right. I do have a lot of nice things in life. I mean, how many men can say they have the latest and greatest things life can afford? How many men can buy the best alcohol money can get you and buy as much of it as there’s available? How many men can have sex and eat as much as they want and still go back for more? Pride hits me whenever I’m at my lowest, reminding me of all of the nice things I own and saying that I’m lucky because not too many people have what I do. And pride is right. Pride is always right.

Hello, my name is Jack. And these are all of the reasons why I am going to hell.

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