February 2011
26 posts
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Why Do I Write? (One More Time with Feeling)
Since this site’s readership has greatly expanded since I last posted this in September, I’m going to be [insert deservedly critical adjective here] and repost it one more time for the enjoyment of all the readers who don’t want to scroll through all my previous months of book updates and random musings.
I don’t quite know the answer to that, other than the vague understanding...
January 2011
30 posts
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Letter to a Young Novelist
You don’t learn love from listening to people who have loved telling you what to do and not do. You lay in bed with a person and do or not do things. You spend time in the nooks and crannies of who they are. One person at a time you decide what you love in people.
You don’t learn to write from the didactic (if well meaning) advice of teachers. If you want words to grab a hold of you...
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The Next Danielle Steel, Perhaps?
They say everyone’s got a book in them. Well, now that a book has worked its way out of me, I’m wondering how many more I’ve got inside, and more importantly what kind of books they are. Book one falls under the literary fiction genre, book two is a secret for now. Somewhere down the line a cookbook is brewing. Do I have a trashy romance novel somewhere inside? I’d like to...
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Anonymous asked: I'm an obsessive writer and I dream to books published as soon as I'm out of college. If you don't live near Cali, New york etc., then how would you get your book noticed ?
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The Day That Inspired the Right Side of the...
I asked my Facebook fans for a writing prompt. The following story is a response to this request from my friend Cassie, whose awesome year-long project is to make an Abe-A-Day throughout 2011: You know I need a Lincoln story! Preferably one where he’s magical.
The presiden’ts famed afternoon strolls had long ago ceased to be simply walks through the park. Unhindered by the...
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A Sex Scene Excerpt from Somewhere Over the Sun →
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Old People and their iPhones
I asked my Facebook fans for a writing prompt. The following story is a response to this suggestion: I always wondered what it will be like for the elderly during the aftermath of the end of modern civilization. write me a story about how they will survive, when everyone’s homeless and dieing, but still have iphones.
Selina looked at Charles. In the faint blue glow of the screen, his...
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The Calm Before the Ants
Antsy is a good word. It so satisfactorily describes the feeling it defines. The emotion has six tiny legs that never stop. Something needs to be done, it tells you, tickling its way up your spine and around your fingertips so that it feels like it is not one emotion but dozens. I cannot remain motionless.
For nearly a week now, I’ve been relegated to a living, closed-eyed extension of the couch...
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Let's Tell Each Other Stories
The more I live, the more I think telling each other stories is why we live. We look forward to our next breath, eager for life to write us a story that we can retell to the characters that shape our lives. We call each other on little devices that were once the stuff of science fiction and we say to each other, “Let’s meet here or there, now or later.” And then we drink things...
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Another Interview! →
1. What’s the most important thing about your writing environment? Does it change regularly? Or do you require consistency?
I thrive in coffee shops. I don’t know what the most important thing is because I do change it up pretty often. I don’t prefer to write at home, but sometimes that happens. I’m now officially living in my third city since I officially began my career as a writer, so even...
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A Review and a Giveaway! →
Another positive review of Somewhere Over the Sun and a chance for you to win a free copy. Don’t miss out on the opportunity!
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Yo y Yo
This seems to be my week of posting old pieces of writing. This following story I wrote in my first day living in Israel when I was 18, after a long day and a half of traveling and not much sleep.
I spent three months in Israel and on some level I thought I’d write a book, or just write a lot while I was there. Turns out I was too busy being an 18 year-old on my own for the first time.
The...
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Purchase Issue Two of Line Zero, a Quarterly Indie... →
The journal has tons of great literary and art pieces, including an article by me entitled “The Written Life.” It’s definitely worth the $10, so I hope you’ll support indie artists by ordering a copy. Have a lovely day, all of you.
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Someshoe
The following is a short story I wrote a few years ago which I thought you might enjoy, dear readers. I think it does a decent job of showcasing my writing style (although I feel I’ve improved in the three years since this was written), particularly the personification which I love so much and employed pretty heavily in Somewhere Over the Sun. Enjoy.
Have you ever befriended a shoe?
My...
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Shameless and Necessary Self-Promotion
Praise for Somewhere Over the Sun
“…By page 5, I was hooked. By Chapter 3, I was in love. By the end, I had decided to recommend the book to every reader I knew.” -Stephanie Seifert, freelance editor
“…manages to create happiness in the smallest moments, visionary imagination in the ordinary, and beauty where you didn’t think it could be. It is whimsical and uplifting: the best kind of...
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We are Silly Putty
Silly putty is a miracle.
Someone very recently told me that. I’m not about to go do the research to possibly disprove it ( “Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful.” −The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde). Silly putty, chemically speaking, should not be able to exist. It’s a pretty pointless miracle, allegedly...
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Zen and the Art of "Journalism"
Today, I’d like to share with you an article I wrote for the UNLV Rebel Yell back in 2008. I’m not entirely sure why they allowed this writing (which though of decent quality is far from journalistic) in a newspaper, but I happily cashed the paychecks anyway. You can search for my other pieces with the Yell, but I warn you that they range from the downright silly to the...
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A Review of Somewhere Over the Sun by Loryn Marie →
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My Favorite Tree
Humans adore to steal glances at each other. How pleasant is it to just sit near people and look at them? Not even pay close attention to who they may be or the kind of life they’ve lead. Not even to imagine them in your life. Just to be among them, immersed in their obvious humanity. It’s strange how the air feels different around people you haven’t met.
On a different note,...
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Somewhere Over the Sun Giveaway/Contest! →
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A Little Bit Louder Now
I’m going to reward you guys with an excerpt from Somewhere Over the Sun. All you have to do is shout. If at any point you have read something you’ve liked on this site, share it with the world. If you haven’t read something you’ve liked on this site, I encourage you to look around until something strikes your fancy. According to Google, there are over 168 million books....
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cynicsanon-deactivated20110115 asked: Do you think "Somewhere Over the Sun" would have been a better book if not for the constraints of time?
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Down the Drain
It has been so long since I’ve seen this toilet that I’d forgotten it is black.
We miss people, their scents and laughs. We walk past a stranger one day and recall an outfit that we used to see a few times a month, notice with a very specific kind of sadness that the body which used to wear the clothes is no longer in our life. We miss snacks, favorite restaurants that have gone...
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Working with Writers: An Editor’s Perspective
Today, I have a guest coming by. Carrie Bailey, an editor with Peevish Penman talks about working with writers, particularly for The Handbook of The Writer Secret Society.
The most common misconception I encounter as a content editor is that some people assume I have a talent for editing. It’s not true. Fortunately, the writers I work with are not prey to that delusion. They know I can’t see my...
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You Are What You Read →
My latest virtual book tour guest post.
I like the thought of words invading us without us realizing it. I have a whole document full of quotations, little snippets that I’ve taken from the books I’ve read.
Click through the link for the entire article.
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“Adi!
I just finished your book. All I can do right now is hug it closer to me...”
– -Katie, a reader I’m very happy and fortunate to have.
Now, c’mon Amazon ranking, drop/climb (depends on your definition or perspective, I guess) a few hundred thousand spots. To clarify: buy my book, please!