I recognize I’m a solid two years late to the bandwagon on this one, but I read Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch over the summer and I have very mixed emotions. Rather than write out a book report, allow me to compile a list of what I loved and what left me peeved: The Good: Holy…
I’ve been rather silent lately, but not without good cause: my classes this semester are incredibly challenging and time consuming. I’m not complaining; in fact, it’s the opposite – I’m loving every minute of it. Since I haven’t shared any academic writing in a while, I decided to share my position paper on The Iliad…
Anyone that has followed this blog for more than a few weeks knows I am a huge fan of Jack Kerouac. He is my literary inspiration and, in all honesty, the reason behind several of my major educational moves in the last five years. Don’t believe me? Check this out. Or this. Yeah, I’m a…
A good friend introduced me to Tom Robbins a few years back with a used copy of Jitterbug Perfume and the note, “You’ll love it, but give it time.” He was right. Robbins is an eccentric writer, highly philosophical and downright playful with his use of language, structure, and syntax. Reading a Tom Robbins’ novel…
OK, I’ve skipped it the past two years, but I’ve finally decided that I’m going to participate in NaNoWriMo 2014. For those of you not familiar with it, I’ve basically just signed up for a month of self-hating masochism …all for the love of writing. NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month.” Simply put: I’m…
I just recently finished the short novel And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. This was a very unique story, told in alternating perspectives of two prominent characters in the story: Mike Ryko, written by Kerouac, and Will Dennison, written by Burroughs. It was written in 1945…
In Spring 2013, I attended a Short Story Writing Workshop through the Urban Rethink Foundation in Orlando. The teacher, Jamie Poissant, was great: attentive, patient, and passionate for his craft. In less than four hours, I took a nine page story (that felt like it needed to be a novel) and trimmed it down to…
After hearing so many of my friends rave about the work of Gillian Flynn, I decided to download a copy of her debut novel, Sharp Objects, to my Nook. I’ll admit that I went into the novel a bit aporetic, as I’m not a huge fan of suspense/thrillers, but so many of my well-read bibliophiles…
“Nothing behind me, everything in front of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road. I was in the first year of my bachelor’s degree when an instructor encouraged me to read On the Road. My professor had witnessed my struggle to find a balance between self-expression and my…
I’ve been missing in action for several days on both of my blogs. Despite my personal life slowing down [no more brothers or sisters to get married, woohoo!] and my school schedule leveling off, I’ve not found time to post on here in several days. Why, you may ask? A few nights ago, after getting…
Victoria Elizabeth Ann 