Book Review: Altered by Laura Burks

Jenna Larson is an eighteen year old, who tends to leave typical teenage trouble to the other teenagers, relying on her sweet and fun-loving side to get through most days.  She's looking forward to spending the summer in a small town with her grandfather, who is also known as Pops.  When Jenna's curious, high spirited side, discovers a mysterious book filled with blank pages, she thinks nothing of it.  Until words begin to appear, bringing with them a curse from another time and putting the whole town and her Pops in danger. Yet, it also brings with it a budding love. Can she alter the curse to save her Pops and her new love?

There were times when the anticipation of what would happen next had my stomach tight with fear, other times a laugh out loud and a few crying spells along the way too.  Ms. Burks' ability to bring you into this novel is nothing short of amazing. Her writing style and finesse have you transfixed on Jenna's world, not just wanting, but needing to encounter whatever it was that Jenna was about to face, cheering her on.

This is a wonderful novel that will appeal to both the young adult as well as the cross over to adult. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I tip my hat to Ms. Burk for her fine showmanship of her writing skills in her debut novel.

I can't wait to read the next...sequel, perhaps?????C. Elizabeth

Why Do I Write

The above question was posed to me yesterday and I found myself tripping over my tongue trying to give an answer. So of course, I pondered it all day, thinking about all my blogs, things that I've talked about, things the way I see it... Looking for the answer in one or all of it. Then I moved on to the next big question -- is there actually one answer? No, there isn't.

As with most things subjective, the answer will be different for every writer. As for me -- why do I write? I write for the same reason you read. To delve into a different world, to meet new people, to embark on a journey, to maybe go to a place where I can be alone, or have a sword fight with a horde of pirates (no, I'm not writing a book about pirates), but most of all, find a place that is mine and mine alone, if only for a moment, before life is real again.

Have a great day. 
C. Elizabeth

The Hazards of Writing

As I've said before, our job as writers is to show you the story, explaining things in such a way that you can see everything as we do, unfortunately sometimes that's one of the hazards of being a writer. Our visuals of a scene or world can get in the way of the words.  Allow me to explain (I hope).

As the author, we go back numerous, numerous times and re-read, most times our words will rebuild the scene in our mind exactly as you would see it. Yet on a few occasions, with a re-read, I've scratched my head, truly wondering what in the H.E. double tooth picks I was thinking when those words were put down -- in those cases, nine times out of ten it was because I was so focused on the visual of the scene, that I missed the mark for the words. At the time of writing it, it makes sense because I had a vivid picture in my mind's eye, but when I read it later, as the reader, it makes no sense at all, the words not building the scene as it should, also sometimes me forgetting completely, what the scene was in the first place. Wouldn't you call that a huge hazard, when a whole scene doesn't make sense to the writer and they don't even know what they were trying to portray in the first place? Yikes! I'll never confess when that happens, truly I won't.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is this: Remember to take the time to re-read your work no matter how long it takes, because if there is so much as a paragraph that a reader is unable to understand and gets confused, they'll put the book down, never to return and  never mind the word of mouth review.

Does this make any sense?  Well it does to me... Maybe I'll just quit while I'm ahead.

Happy Monday and have a great day.
C. Elizabeth

A Daily Peace

Again I have discovered something, (I know, I know!). I've said  before that writing gives me peace, how much wasn't really known until my discovery yesterday as I wrote. 

As you all know the summer and the past weeks have been a drivel and a dabble of writing for me, only squeezing it in where I could. Well this past week I've been on holidays and at first my days were getting filled with appointments and errands, until at the last minute I decided to clear my whole schedule to write.

My discovery -- I have to write every day. It's as much a necessity for me as my full-time job, eating, and sleeping.  Why?  Because when I write, I am in tune with my whole heart and whole soul, no outside elements matter at that moment, the only thing real are my inner emotions and the story going on within me. How many of us can say that we have delved so deep within ourselves, that we actually immerse ourselves in peace, allowing us to discover without fear -- to me that is writing. With such peace, I fear nothing for which I will discover of myself.

Have a great day and weekend. 
C. Elizabeth

Running out of Hours

There are 24 hours in a day and out of that we need to take away at least 7 for sleep and that's stretching it. Then we take away 8 for work, another 1 for commuting to and from work (and that's being generous it's more like one and a half hours), say another 2 for meals, on average 1 on errands, maybe 2 at the gym, at least 2 on marketing Absolute Obsession (writing the blogs, articles, etc.) and then time to be with the family.  This is an average work day for most people, the things that have to be done may be different, but it's a pretty good assessment.

If this is how we run our days, where is the time for us to do things simply for ourselves? All of our days are scheduled around doing what needs to be done or has to be done. Is that living or just simply existing?

Today, make an hour just for you, to do as you want, no one telling you what to do, where you need to be, no schedule. Take it, after all, it was yours to begin with before life got in the way.

Have a great day

C. Elizabeth

Trying to Get There

They've done it again. They revealed a scene a couple of months ago that has been in the back of mind and which belongs to the third of the Absolute Trilogy -- it being the scene that sets up the end.  However, that scene needed all the defining factors to come into play before it could been written out at all.

It is also a scene that I luv and am extremely excited to write.  So much so, that I find myself wanting to get to it so badly, I'm hurrying through most of the prior story, leaving out details and emotions, simply writing down the skeleton. The plan  is to go back and fill in those very, very important elements, but until my masterpiece part is written, it will stay a skeleton. That's not to say that the gang isn't telling me what those details are as I hurry through -- there are many small pieces of paper, piled in a specific spot, that will eventually complete Rose and Michael's finale'.

Have a great day. 
C. Elizabeth

Writing and Reaction: A Turn of the Tide

It was a wonderful weekend, I hope you all had a good one as well.  My article was published on Blogcritics this past weekend, please have a look and leave a comment if you like, or like it on facebook. The link is below.

Writing and Reaction: A Turn of the Tide

Have a great day.
C. Elizabeth