Summer Distractions 2013 Edition

Hey All,

So i've been pretty inactive for a long time, and there's a bunch of reasons for it:

1. I have a class this summer.

         It's a cool class, and I really like it, but it has me reading a lot of stuff for it, so there's not a lot of time to work on my other blog (theblondereviews)






2. I have two jobs this summer.

        They both suck.

3. I'm on an InuYasha kick.

          Anyone who doesn't know what InuYasha is, it's a pretty great anime, but it's really long...like, 200 episodes long. plus four movies.

UPDATE: Boston Marathon, Summer 2013, EVVYS 32, Writing Projects and More!

Hello All!

That's right, I'm not dead! Happy Day!

Actually, that's scarily accurate, due to the jerk who thought it was a great idea to place a bunch of bombs around Boston during the Boston Marathon this Patriot's Day.

Not. Smart.

I want to take a moment to send a prayer to all the victims of today's bombing, and the families of everyone effected by this tragedy.

I'd also like to take a moment to repost a friend of mine's words about today, because I think they are right to the point and unintentionally beautiful and touching.

"Today I witnessed for the first time something so horrible that I didn't know what to say. I dont understand how human beings think it's acceptable to take the lives of others, and I may never understand this. However, in times like these - I think its best to focus on the positives. The runners who kept running after a 24 mile run to the nearest hospitals to give blood to the victims, or the countless servicemen who gave their time and lives to keep us safe. These are the people that I will be thinking about tomorrow, not the assholes that don't deserve my thoughts or care. Instead of giving these people the attention and media coverage they want, i will choose to focus on the positive people that give back to this great country, and the people that sadly have to suffer and have lost loved ones in this tragedy. Overall though, its incredible to see such good come out of people, even after something so bad occurred. It proves who we are as a country, and I refuse to let the handful of bad overweigh the good that I can clearly see shining though. Even after all the crying and craziness i observed today, its refreshing to know these people are still there. I will continue to pray for all the victims of this malicious attack, and the family members that have injured or scared loved ones. Thank you to all the friends and family who reached out today just to make sure i was okay - if nothing else today, i really felt the love around me, and it hasn't went unnoticed. I continually pray for Boston, and for the city that I know will always be here, through the good and bad."

Now, on to some more cheerful topics:

This summer my life is still sort of up in the air, which kinda sucks on this end because I'd really like to know that I have some way to make money or not...so far I just have a "great" way to spend two of my weeknights -in class!

Whoop-ee.

But I have intel from a reliable source that it's an easy A, and it fills one of those elusive requirements I need for graduation in the Spring, so YAY!

Next, as the script supervisor for the 32nd Annual EVVY Awards on MAY 10TH, 2013 -the first FRIDAY EVVYS in a long long long time -I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that we are now 25 days away from the largest student-produced awards show in the nation!

Seriously, if you have nothing else to do on a beautiful Friday night in May, long onto The EVVY Awards site, or The Emerson Channel to watch the live stream of the show. It's going to be a great night of comedy with a TON of alumni coming in to be funny and stuffz...and three live sketches by the coolest comedy troupes on campus.

We've spent all year working on it, so how about just taking 2-3 hours out of your year and looking it up, huh?





On to my projects that I'm currently working on;

I have three main projects that I'd really like to see move forward, but every time I start putting a lot of energy and research into one, I start to doubt myself and wonder if anyone else besides me would want to read this. Ultimately I write to entertain myself, but I'd really like to entertain others with my work, too, so to make something that no one else liked would hurt my heart.

So here are my three project proposals. If there's anyone out there actually reading this, I'd really appreciate some feedback about what you think you'd like to read the most.


The Weaver Journals

      Phyre is a fire weaver, a person who can create and manipulate fire to her whims. To be a weaver is a crime against nature, and all weavers must be eliminated. Thanks to her royal status and the loving nature of her Valley home, however, she is able to live, in secret, for twenty years.
      After an invasion by a nearby country, the Valley's soothsayer sends Phyre on a journey to find three other Weavers, water, earth and air. She is to gather all of the elements together and fight back the forces that are destroying the Earth -whatever that means. Phyre doesn't get all of the details before she and her best friend/lady-in-waiting, Gloriana, are forced from their home and set on a journey to find the impossible -other weavers.
     Then Phyre will have to figure out exactly what they're supposed to do in this dying, polluted world of theirs.


Libby Mackmoore Stories

     Libby Machmoore was just a normal girl going to college for journalism -until the accident that kept her locked in a hospital, trying to learn what was wrong with her blood. When she is finally released, Libby finds that she has been given financial support and automatic acceptance to to the Westmill State College in Westmill, Connecticut, where she immediately packs up and goes. Living in a house by the shore with four other students, Libby begins to forget that the doctors thought she was different.
   
 The more time she spends in this town, however, the more Libby notices the little strange behavior from some of the students and teachers. News of a blood drive coming to town reaches Libby's house, and everyone at school goes into panic-mode. The school shuts down, but no one can keep out this blood drive when people start turning up dead. Libby's journalistic instincts lead her to investigate the deaths and she finds the Blood Drive is run by a pack of vampires -that's right, vampires! Before Libby has a chance to freak out, she is attacked, then saved by two of her roommates, who are surprised she is so in-the-dark about the supernatural situation at the school.
     Turns out they think she should be a witch?

Phoebe Caswell Stories

     Phoebe never thought her hometown could be dangerous until a string of murders goes through the town, the victims seemingly having no relation to each other. Only when Phoebe's best friend is brutally murdered in their school does Phoebe begin to panic. Her body starts feeling strange, and she herself is assaulted outside her home, to be rescued by her best friend's ex-boyfriend.
   
 Then everything changes on her eighteenth birthday.
     Wings, dark as night, spring from her back and her friend David is telling her that there are more than humans walking this earth, and plenty of people looking to eliminate those creatures, as well. Now Phoebe knows why she is being attacked, but how can she stop the murders that are still happening in town? Is a friend the killer? Will she have to work with an enemy to take them out?


So yeah, I'd really appreciate some help figuring out which project I should focus my energies on, so any feedback would be lovely.

I think that's it for now,

Thanks for reading,
Amy Liz

Book Review: Gracling

Hey All,

I've gotten the chance to do a lot of reading lately, and I just want to talk about one of the books I just finished recently.

Graceling -Kristin Cashore

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

I had been looking at Graceling for a long time, usually in favor of a series sequel I'd been looking for in the first place. But again, it kept getting my attention, and for good reason.

This book had a lot of elements that I'm fond of, and I'll go through these in order: 

[WARNING: there may be spoilers in this review.]

A strong heroine: Katsa is a strong, stubborn, intelligent protagonist, with a formidable sense of righteousness. Being socially isolated from those who fear the Graced (and fear her killing Grace, in particular), Katsa had to develop a thick skin, and has few friends in her life. Those she does have -her cousin, the Prince Raffin of the Middlums, her uncle's best spy, and one of his commanding officers -are completely loyal to her and she to them. Together they start an organization called The Council, which helps to right the wrongs of the rulers of the seven kingdoms.

A vibrant and unique world: Graceling is set in a fantasy world much like it's in a renaissance-era. The lands' politics are laid out in a simple-to-understand way and the landscape descriptions are vivid yet unobtrusive. The secondary characters are believable, with unique personalities that keep them from becoming flat, despite their brief roles in the whole of the book.

A great writing voice and a surprise twist: The writing and storytelling is clear and easy-to-read. Cashore doesn't bother with over descriptions and long and winded prose. And the twist 3/4s of the way through the book was, to me, unexpected and brought the story to a huge new level.

Things I didn't like so much:

There were some boring parts that I found lasted a little too long, like the section of time when Katsa and Po are simply training and fighting each other and nothing much is happening story-wise besides Katsa's obvious affection for Po growing. There were moments that would prove useful later, but these could have been brought up in other ways. The walking through the woods also lasted a long time, as well; it gets to a certain point when you begin thinking "okay, it's cold, you're ill-equipped and you might die -either get out or die already." Maybe this is a bit harsh, especially because Cashore does eventually have Katsa strap Bitterblue onto her back and run over the top of the mountains, probably as a way to hurry things along.

I still haven't decided if I like Katsa's relationship with Po. I understand that you can't always help when you fall in love, but I think with her realization came a sudden leap in dependency on Po's strength and his Grace that she had never felt she needed, even after she'd figured out what his true Grace was. While the romance didn't really alter the storyline or delay the major events, I wonder if it was necessary? I don't know, some days I don't mind it as a sprinkling of entertaining romance, and other times I wondered why Katsa was suddenly so infatuated that she couldn't think of anything other than this boy she's known for a few weeks, or how quick she was to give over her control of her mission to Po.

Overall Impression:

Despite my annoyance at some points, these bits were the smallest of blips in this 500-page story, and i have to say most of the times my romantic side gets the better of me in the end. However, this romance between Katsa and Po is hardly the main event in this action-packed book, and it's merely a minor hindrance in the story, if you're not into that kind of thing. Cashore really takes you into this world of Graces and kings and unique personalities, and I will definitely recommend it to others.

Amy's Rating: 4/5

Average Amazon/Goodreads Rating: 4/5

I hope you guys pick up this book, as I did, and I hope you find it as enjoyable as I did. I'm currently reading the second book in the Graceling series, Fire, which seems to be taking place before Katsa and Po's and Bitterblue's time, and in a different part of their land overrun with colorful and powerful versions of normal animals called "monsters." So far it's pretty exciting, and I hope to have a review of that up soon.

Thanks for reading,

Amy Liz

Review of Black Dawn; Morganville Vampires

Amazon summary:

Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.

Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite. 

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

The Morganville Vampire books by Rachel Caine are a great way to lose yourself for an hour or two. They are quick and easy reads, and Caine really knows how to write fast action and make the reader's pulse race with excitement and anticipation. 

The plot for the 12th book of this series, I felt, moved in circles. Morganville is being terrorized by a vampire-eating monster called the draug that showed up in the last book (Last Breath), and for some reason Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael are the only (semi)normal people still in town. Morganville Founder Amelie is dying from getting bitten by the Master Draug, Magnus, and no one knows how to fight these water-infesting monsters. The fights between the main characters and the draug got very repetitive very quickly. 

The self-hating Shane that we experience for the better half of the book reminds the reader that Shane's character has addressed most of these issues in other books, and I wondered how much those dreams/nightmares really could have messed up his head in such a short time. 

The sidelines story with Naomi and Oliver fighting over power that supposedly hasn't been relinquished yet came out of no where. Naomi wasn't really in many of the books, despite Claire meeting (rescuing) her in, like, book 4 or 5. So this sudden run for the title of queen seems random, and a radical change of the character she's been the few times we did hear from her after first meeting her. That demi-plot also went in a wide circle, as well, with Naomi saying she deserves to rule and being shot down, to trying to kill for it -then being shot down again, to thinking she has a little more power than before -to being shot down yet again. To me this just looked like a roundabout way to make a new possible enemy for Claire (and Eve, due to Naomi's weird obsession with Michael) to have to worry about later.

The final twist with Myrnin kidnapping Claire to use her as bait for Magnus came out of no where. I don't understand why Claire couldn't have been forewarned about his plan, if nothing else than for her own safety. What if Magnus had showed up and killed everyone before Claire regained consciousness? Then everything would have been ruined. 

The added bit with the teen psychic Miranda read like it was a last minute inclusion. It looked like Caine needed a way for Claire's friends to all get to the Glass house without just "guessing" that's where Myrnin took her. Oh, and she needed someone else to die that wasn't one of the Glass house roommates. I don't like the idea of Miranda being the new ghost/spirit of the Glass house. I personally didn't like Miranda's character and internally groaned whenever I saw her name coming up on the pages throughout the books.

Overall, I still like Caine's writing, and she really has a talent for making me feel the action of what is happening in these stories, but I think Morganville has run its course.

Personally I give this new edition of the Morganville Vampires 2 out of 6 stars. 

I think the draug-plot had the potential to be a big Morganville finale, but instead we "found" a new attitude in Amelie to be afraid of. I am still interested in where this story will end up, especially if someone else is influencing Amelie's new attitude and how the town will be rebuilt. 

Review of: Linger, Wolves of Mercy Falls

Front Flap Summary: (from Amazon.com)

the longing.
Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

the loss.
Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of a human.

the linger.
For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human--with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

Amy's Review:

I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing. If you've never read anything by her, go pick up "The Scorpio Races" -that's my Stiefvater favorite right now. She has this weird style of writing, like everything is a musical poem. Most books in first person "speak" as if the character is talking to you, but even through the multiple views that The Mercy Falls books take us through, there is the rhythmic quality that makes the writing beautiful.

As for the plot of this book, it moved a little slowly. There was a lot of exposition from two previously secondary characters (Isabel and Cole) that was, plot-wise, next to useless. It interrupted the flow of action between the main characters, Grace and Sam, and made the book seem a lot longer than it needed to be. The first 200 pages moved a little slowly because we had to be introduced to Cole St. Clair and his moody, depressing and drug-filled rock star background, but I would have appreciated more about his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and his best friend and bandmate, Victor, whom he also had made into a wolf -"for the high of it." More details on these characters and Cole's relationships with them would have made me feel more sympathy for Cole later on in the story. The story following Grace and Sam moved a bit faster, especially because Sam had to rediscover all of the possibilities life can now offer him and his wolf-less state. Grace's parents needed more of a reason to dislike Sam (at least before they found them in bed), and more of a reason to become so overprotective and authoritative. Also, Grace's illness/the wolf's death at the beginning needed more connection. The reveal at the end that they went hand-in-paw was a little far-fetched because in 300 pages it wasn't brought up after the initial discovery of the dead wolf.

The emotional impact of this book is powerful, especially if you've been with Sam and Grace since Shiver. I found myself crying at the end in a few places, mostly when Sam couldn't bring himself to change back into a wolf to be with his Summer Girl. Stiefvater definitely knows how to squeeze a few tears out of a reader, and she did it well in the conclusion of this book.

Overall, I give Linger, Book 2 of the Wolves of Mercy Falls 3 out of 6 stars. Despite its slow beginning and questionable attempt at a connection to science, the characters of this world have intricate and beautifully tragic personalities and lives, and the musical quality of the writing kept me reading until the end. I will most certainly be picking up the final book in the series, Forever, to see if Grace and Sam can be together for, well...forever.

Thank you for reading.

Help Me Get Some Writing Done

Hello All,

So it seems like my biggest problem with writing is that I'm easily distracted and start working on another project just as I start growing bored with the one I'm working on.
So I need some help.
I'm going to introduce you to three different characters from three different novels. One is from a possibly trilogy, a "journey" story, and the other two are fairytale retellings.

Tell me what you think when you:

Meet Maya:

She's wanted for a crime she didn't commit.

She's trapped in a castle with a self-loathing monster.

She's timid and loyal to a fault.

She will risk her future, her life, and her love.

She can see beyond the exterior and understand a person's true soul.

She will be forced to choose between being with the one she loves, or allowing him to live.

Meet Maya Frye, a beauty stuck in a beast of a situation.

Meet Phyre:

She's a princess, with a dangerous secret:

She's a fire weaver.

All of the weavers of the world have been killed because they are too dangerous for normal society, especially the fire and earth weavers, who have the ability to cause so much destruction.

She's been sent on a mission to save her people and her kingdom.

She's on the brink of losing everything.

She's scared, but she keeps moving forward.

She is in a lot of danger if anyone finds out what she is, and who she is looking for.



Meet Phyre, the Valley Princess of Fire.


Meet Cordelia:

She's looking for her sisters and trying to break a curse that she's lived with all her life

-she turns into a swan.

She knows her father isn't quite what he seems, but she never thought it could be as bad as it is.

She knows she shouldn't trust anyone with her secret.

She knows her father will be furious when he finds out what she's been doing.

She knows the woods are dangerous, but
she also knows that Samuel will die if she doesn't help him find his way out.

She doesn't know that she's falling in love, and
that's the most dangerous thing she doesn't know.

Meet Cordelia, the Swan Princess.


So what do you think of these lovely ladies? I know it's not much to go on, but I can't reveal much more of their characters without divulging too much of their stories and plots, and I don't want to do that just yet.

So please please please! Comment or FB or Twitter or Tumblr message me what you think of my girls, so I can pick a story to stick to this summer!

Thank you for reading,
Amy Liz

One Giant Summer 2011 post

Hello all,

So...... I've been pretty much AWOL since the semester ended, and I wanted to apologize for that. This was supposed to be a way to help me keep writing a little bit every day, but I'm not very good at keeping up with it. I'll try to work on that.
On the upside, I haven't really had time to update the blog very often because I've been -dun-dun-DUN! -distracted!! That's right, for almost four months, I've been distracted by a large number of things that have prevented me from updating my posts. For example, I have two jobs to juggle this summer; I've been helping a dear and wonderful friend through a tough time in her life; I'm constantly keeping track of the weather so I know when I can spend all day at the beach; and let's not forget the recent liquidation of my favorite store, Borders.

Mini-Post I: Retail "Therapy"

People suck.
Let's just make that clear.
You are probably thinking that I'm just a hermit holed up by her computer all day, but really I like being with my friends, and going out, dressing up, and having fun just as much as the next person. I'm not exactly a social butterfly (in fact I'd classify myself as socially awkward), but I put myself out there, so it's not like I hate the world or anything dismal like that.
But I do hate people. Especially people who go into stores and think that it's "okay" to steal, or leave things that fell off their hangers on the floor, or ask for a thousand different shoes to try on, then dump all of the boxes on the floor and not buy a single thing (despite a great sale), or return a shirt you bought ten minutes ago because you "wouldn't have enough money for the train ticket home" if you kept it. (All of these are true scenarios, btw, experienced firsthand by yours truly).
I love working at Charlotte Russe, I really do. I love the clothes and the shoes, and the people I work with are very diverse and interesting in their personalities and habits (they're chill). The time passes quickly when I'm working, especially if I happen to be working the register. But come closing time, I remember (if I hadn't been physically reminded face-to-face) just how much I don't like customer service.  I don't like working for other people because those people are dumb. Seriously, if you pull out a shirt to get a better look, put it back WHERE YOU FOUND IT and in the condition you found it it. Don't let it drop to the floor, or put it down on the shoe bench, or place it back on the rack sideways. That is making my job harder, and it makes everyone working there that day lose faith in humanity just a little bit more. The worst part: until you are out of earshot, I have to pretend like I enjoy kissing your ass, and if I can't, I at least have to be polite when I'm telling you to get lost.
For example, when I work with the shoes in the store, I have no choice but to interact with no less than (but not limited to) 20 to 80 people in a single shift, because the customers cannot get a full pair of shoes themselves. I don't know how many times I've had someone come up to me and ask "can I have this -shoves shoe in my face- in a size 8 and a half?" I tell them we don't stock any half sizes in our shoes because WE DON'T. They say "oh, well then can I have the 6?" That's quite the size difference in what you're asking, besides, the smallest size we have in that one is an 8, like the one in your hand. "oh....can I have a 5 and a half?"
Dumb dumb dumb dumb.
That has been more than half of my summer. Dumbass people spending way too much money on clothes they don't fit into.

Mini-Post II: Books

I'm a writer, so obviously one of my favorite pastimes is reading books. Mostly I stick to young adult novels (it's what I write, so I should experience as much of it as I can -that's my justification, at least). At the beginning of the summer I had a list of all of the books that I owned that I was going to read before going back to school in the fall. I got to maybe four of those books before the news of Borders closing hit me, and now I have more books than I have room for, and no time to read most of them.

I do, however, have a new fascination with Rachel Caine's YA series, The Morganville Vampires. It's an interesting new way to do vampires, similar to Charlaine Harris's mainstreaming vamps, but normal humans only know about vampires in this one town, Morganville, and it's because the vamps rule it. They're more like mobsters, or the mafia than police and politicians, and there's about an equal mix of the old vampire lore and new Caine-vamp "science" to make these monsters seem new and exciting. Definitely worth a trip to Morganville if you enjoy vampires and twisted, semi-political fiction power struggles.

I didn't get a lot of reading down this summer aside from what's been released of the Morganville books, but I did read "Girl in the Arena" by Lise Haines; "Along for the Ride" by Sarah Dessen; "Crescendo" by Becca Fitzgerald; "Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris; and a variety of graphic novels, including "From Far Away", "Ouran High School Host Club", and "Pandora Hearts."

That's all I can think of updating right now (it's 3am, so I really don't want to be thinking anymore) so,

Thanks for reading!
Amy Liz