Book Haul

Saturday, was quite the busy day for me. I woke up around 8am and had breakfast with mom. She made some bomb ass spaghetti with salsa roja and had butter spread over toasted wheat bread.  It was delicious. Soon after I was done eating, I began sorting dirty clothes and had a load washed while I showered. I had it dry while I began getting ready for my dental appointment, which I had been avoiding for a good two months.  Today, the left side of my mouth is sore and my teeth feel weird. I find myself feeing the tooth that got filled with my tongue. I was supposed to go in for a cleaning and a follow up on my invisalign plan which I have not used in two months, but had mentioned one of my tooth's was bothering me, turns out I needed a filling.  Why? Procrastination, that's why.  I don't know when I became so damn lazy that I couldn't even pop in my invisalign tray.  Today I suffer from the consequences, and I have to go back a tray because it hurts when I pop in the tray I should be on.  My teeth have moved back slightly so therefore if I continue using the current tray, my mouth feels extremely sore and my teeth hurt immensely.

After my dental appointment, I decided I really wanted to buy a book on writing.  I made my way over to Barnes n Noble and sure enough, I walked away with more than what I had intended. My original intent was to buy a book on creative ideas to get my writing going. A book as in one only. I wanted to buy a book that offered writing exercises, subjects, topics, and random ideas to help eliminate writers block and allowed me to have more things to write about in this blog.  Like anything else, I ended up buying more than one book.  I love reading and writing and I found it difficult to just pick one book.

While at Barnes n Noble I met a really nice lady named Ven.  She is from Vietnam and we were both looking at the same section in books.  It's amazing how long I can be at Barnes n Noble and how I soon lose track of time. It's like a safe haven for me, a place I can go to relax, and become lost and distracted without a care in the world. Barnes n Noble to me is definitely a way of relieving stress. Books are such an amazing thing and I can be in there for hours and not realize how time has flown by.  There I was, standing in front of what to me was writing paradise. How to choose one book. I found myself skimming through books, browsing, and picking and choosing. Suddenly, a woman came to the very same section I was in. That same woman, Ven, ended up sitting down, browsing through books and I ended up kneeling down beside her as I was on a quest to find the "perfect" book.  Ven noticed I was leaning in her direction and then decided to move over a little so I can keep browsing books and that is how we began talking. I told her she was fine, she didn't have to move and the conversation began.  We shared a common interest; writing.  Ven asked me what kind of writing I liked and did. I responded by telling her I had a blog and I planned on writing a memoir on my mothers life. She then began to tell me how much she enjoyed writing and how she wanted to become a librarian because she loved books so much. She also mentioned she didn't write so much because her english and grammar was not great and because it was her second language.  I told Ven she shouldn't be concerned about her grammar or how great her English was or not, if her passion was to write, then she should let her mind go and write, write, write.  Ven was so pleased to hear this. She made me feel really great when she told me I had inspired her to continue writing. She told me she would begin to write and let her mind go. It was such a great pleasure sharing words with Ven. She told me a little about her father, and how she wanted to write a memoir on his life and her life as well.  I shared a picture of my mother and I when I was a toddler and a picture of my sister and my family the day of her wedding. I could tell she really enjoyed me sharing a piece of me with her. She mentioned I looked a lot like my  mother and thought I was very beautiful and I was very flattered when she told me I looked like something from out of a magazine, thank you Ven, that was very wonderful of you.

Ven and I exchanged emails and I gave her the address to my blog and we agreed we'd get together sometime in the future for some coffee at Barnes n Noble (B&N) and I look forward to it very much and I hope she does not get offended by the offensive language I sometimes transmit through my writing.

Now, onto my book haul.

Before leaving B&N I walked away with six books. Five of which relate to writing and one, an Erotic Romance by Maya Banks, one of my favorite "heat" writers.  I couldn't help pass up the deal, I purchased her book Temptation for only $3.99 (original $15.00).  I own a few books by Maya Banks, and I love how detailed and vividly she describes scenes and characters and of course the romantic, emotional yet erotic stories she writes.  Maya really has a way to get your creative imagination flowing and her books are an easy, enjoyable and hard to put down read. At this moment, I don't know if I'll blog about the story, or if I'll incorporate into my videos. I'll decide what to do, once I begin the story.

Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg, is the book I began reading instantly. Already, I've followed through on the exercises she has as you read the book.  The first exercise was to write about what "I'm looking at", not necessarily a white wall or a dresser, but she suggested you be more detailed and informative. What kind of dresser, how many drawers, is it old or new, big or small.  The second exercise was to write about what "I'm thinking of." Each exercise was ten minutes and I found myself amazed at how fast those ten minutes went by and how freely I was able to write.  So far, I've only read the fist 5 pages and I've already fell in love with the creative process it is giving me.  I bought this book to help me write a memoir on the life of my mother and maybe even my own.  She explains a memoir isn't based on dates or a timeline but random memories and so far the writing exercises definitely help in bringing forth those memories we forget even existed.

The Daily Writer by Fred White is another great book I picked up. This book offers "366 meditations to cultivate a productive and meaningful writing life" (White).  The first thing I noticed was that the book has entries by date. For example, January 1st is "Uses of Allegory".  Now, I know for a fact I probably wont use this book by date, because the year is almost over, but I could hold off and begin the writing process this book offers at the beginning of the year. I then think why wait and therefore figure I should just write and just do it. The book offers "Try This" exercises in which you are given an assignment. For example, in "Uses of Allegory", you are given the ask to create an allegory and he gives you subjects and examples to lead by and follow through with. I can already tell you the first exercise on writing an allegory is already becoming a challenge but I'm excited and looking forward to taking on new challenges and see where this will lead me to and how it can help my creative process and improve my writing skills.

Lastly, I picked up two books on styling and sentence structure and another based on grammar.  I am considering returning the two books on styling and structure because they were $10 bucks a piece and I can easily find them on Amazon or ebay for much less. I know I can find all these books easily for half the price I paid for, but I really wanted something I can read now and not have to wait around a week for them to arrive. The Art of Styling Sentences by Ann Longknife and K.D. Sullivan offers 20 basic sentence patterns and how to write clear, coherent, eloquent sentences. By skimming through the book, there are examples given that demonstrate and clarify how and when you should use particular patterns and the grammar involved to make such distinct sentence structures. I feel as a writer, I am good but with practice comes perfection and although nothing or no one is perfect, practice makes better and that's my intention, perfect my writing skills, take them from good to better to best.  This book also offers ideas on how to express your thoughts in imaginative, figurative language which is something I truly enjoy doing and look forward to perfecting that skill as well. Finally, The Wrong Word Dictionary is just that, a dictionary of words that are most commonly confused.  I honestly picked it up because it was a "bargain", although Im sure I could have found it far cheaper online. In the end, it's a great reference to have and reach for when I find myself confused or when I need clarity on a particular word.

And now, it's Sunday afternoon and I must finish this blog post so I may begin to get ready for a dinner we are having this evening. My Tia Petra, sister to my mother got married and today is the celebration. I will come back with an outfit of the day and share my day with you.

xoxo
Mayra