Allegiant (2013 Read)

I suppose I am now at a place where I can write about this awful book.

So, this review is going to be chock full of spoilers, just thought you should know.

When I first learned that Divergent was going to be a series I was incredibly angry at the fact that I’d fallen for the YA trap again. I loathe when books carry on for decades so kids can buy more books/the book companies make more money and everyone feels so satiated. I loathe series of any kind and hate that I fell for this series hard.

So, when an ending like the ending this series has occurs I usually find myself ready to cuss at the heavens through my puddle of tears as I throw the book across the room or vow to burn the author in effigy. None of that has happened, why? Well, while a crap ton of people die and I MEAN A LOT of people die I felt close to none of them--I neither liked nor disliked them. That includes irrational, fierce Tris.

Yeah, I said it. I’ve never liked Tris. I looked at my old reviews to see if this was actually true and I noticed that I gush about Four and give accolades to Tris. From the first page of the first book her character never changes. Even in this last book, she’s still trying to prove that she’s right, she’s still trying to prove to herself that she’s stronger than everyone. I didn’t buy it. Even worse, I didn’t care...wait, I don't care. Hence, the problem with writing this review.

So, I’m reminded of one of my favorite post by Veronica Roth, Likable Schmikable in it she talks about how she doesn’t have to like a character in order to appreciate something. She said that she doesn't mind if characters aren't likable as long as they are "fascinating. Complicated. Believable" I realized at the end of Insurgent that she was holding to true to her word, she was trying to make characters that were fascinating, complicated and believable and there are aspects of these three tenets in her first two books. At the end of the series not only is she holding true to her word, but she must believe that the rest of the world feels that way too. Most importantly she thinks that she has given us enough fascination, complication and belief to make us buy the whole lot. In some ways I may be too old (ie. English major, English teacher, well past the years where YA fiction may be applicable to my life) and in some ways, I think she isn't an experienced enough writer to pull off what she needed to so I would feel vested in the story and her characters past the first book.

I joined this conversation on Goodreads so I could talk about it. The question and subsequent discussion can be found here, but here's the break down of my major points:

1] I have never been more disappointed in a writer, his/her story line or character development or lack thereof. The fact that Tris would die at the end shouldn't have been news to anyone, Roth sets us up with that from the very beginning.

2] The ending is deplorable in its execution and weak in its explanation. Her blog post only proves that...no good writer has to defend their book. A writer who's afraid of losing the money because there's a whole hoard of people who no longer want to watch the movie series does though. 

3] I think to rewrite the ending to suit a certain audience is just as bad as manipulating a series to suit a certain audience. There is no win. I wish this book would have come out after the movie. I wish I would have read this book after the movie. Veronica Roth already took away from her story the second she started this book without giving it a thoughtful conclusion. I will not be watching the movie. I am done with Veronica Roth...And, while I hate to bash someone who wrote a book and published a book and who is more successful at being a writer than I will be (writing is bravery after all), I like what one of my friends said, "Ok Veronica, you've had your fun. Now go back to Northwestern and get that degree. You still have lots to learn about writing." 

4] Veronica has lots to learn about audience and awareness...every good creative writing class does tell you to take the criticism, I'm assuming that also means "don't blog about it." 

So, I now have three books on my "I hate your guts out" List:

1] The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

2] Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackray

3] Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Trust me, this book doesn't even deserve that company, at least those books mean something in the canon of literature and the foundation of man. I hate those books because they are written so well they make me feel for the characters, the setting, the situations. They are made to serve a purpose. Heck, she isn't in the same league as Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, or, gasp, Stephenie Meyer. And, if I throw Stephenie Meyer in there, at least those books and its author are what you see and they perform in a way true to their genre/character development/audience awareness. Edward, Jacob, Bella and the crew are fascinating, complicated and believable and act within the confines in which Meyers places them.

I dislike this book because it doesn't seem to be as thoughtful as the other two, and, yet I'm supposed to believe that it is. Divergent is one less movie I am chomping at the bit to go see...I have to like my characters, to like my story and the tasty, conflicted Four won’t be enough for me to sit through it.

30 Day Writing Challenge: Write A Fanfiction

I haven't written creatively in years, not thoughtfully since I taught a creative writing class about 10 years ago and it wasn't until NaNoWriMo 2012 that I realized that I still had it in me. While the book that I wrote in a month is not anywhere near ready for publication (it doesn't really have an ending or a beginning per se) it did make me realize I want to write more. At My Creative Writing Challenge and Yellow Brick Road Fiction) I found creative writing challenges, I've messed them together and here's what I've come up with for my next challenge. I'm combining the best of these two challenges to let the creative juices flow.


Write a Fanfiction

I've been reading fanfiction trying to figure out how to pull it off. I've found that there are two types of fanfic writers (although sometimes they blend) those that just want all the characters to get it on with one another, even if that's not remotely possible (cue all that "Sherlock" fanfic-don't click unless you really, really, really want to, and don't even get me started on "My Little Pony"), or they know the canon so well that they bark at any fiction that deviates from this canon, so the fanfiction is meant to enhance, even if it blends all of these different stories together, (cue most X-Files fanfic) the story or creates the ending that everyone wanted, but the author didn't give. I am intimidated by Fanfiction. If I were to write it I will be showing you, the audience, how much I love a given show or movie or book and it may show me that I'm a little more obsessed than I thought. I'm afraid I might like it, it also feels a little bit like stealing while writing a very possessive love letter and I don't know where to begin as there are so many things (you've read the blog, you know) that I can get just fanatical about.

And, there's fan fiction for EVERYTHING!

Julia Child Doesn't Make House Calls
Ernest Hemingway Parody

And, here's a cite where you can find 46 more!

Want to know more? Click here or here.

Wikipedia Definition (totally intimidating!!!)

Fan fiction, or fanfiction (often abbreviated as fan fic, fanfic, or simply fic), is a broadly defined fan labor term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published. Due to these works' not being published, stories often contain a disclaimer stating that the creator of the work owns none of the original characters. Fan fiction is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe. Most fan fiction writers assume that their work is read primarily by other fans, and therefore tend to presume that their readers have knowledge of the canon universe (created by a professional writer) in which their works are based.

Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couch-bound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.

—Lev Grossman, TIME, July 18, 2011

Here's my story (Ok, so for real this isn't my favorite part of the challenge):

Type: Drabble...although it's more like 150 words...
Genre: Cross-over
Topic: "Psych" meets "The Moonspinners"

I may like this...

"The Moon Spinners of...Death"

Gus saw the two on the beach first, but it was Sean who decided to go over.

"I'm Sean and this is my partner Aristotle Onassis Jones. I'm sensing that this hotel isn't just your regular Crete bed and breakfast, although the boygotsyou is quite good."

"Bougastsa," Gus corrected.

"I've heard it both ways." Sean continued, "The innkeeper's brother is lying and there is treasure to be found!"

Nikki looked up from the obviously injured Mark, "How did you...?"

"It doesn't matter," Sean continued, "It would seem that we're staying at The Moon-Spinners of...". He paused for dramatics, "...Death?"

Mark nervously laughed and held his hurt arm. Gus began to protest, "I said I wanted to go on vacation Sean, not solve a hotel mystery."

"Oh, Gus don't be the left-over milk in someone else's cereal bowl. Of course, we're going to help investigate!" He dashed off leaving the others to follow, baffled.

The prompts are:

Day 1: Re-write a classic fairy tale
Day 2: Write a fanfiction
Day 3: A story that takes place pre-1950
Day 4:  An important conversation, in the style of a movie script.
Day 5: A story revolving around an object in your room
Day 6: Start your story with: “He glanced at his watch impatiently…”
Day 7: Create a superhero. Have he/she save the day.
Day 8: Write a prequel to that Superhero. Pre-Superhero life. Maybe their childhood.
Day 9: A story in 250 words or less about your favorite city
Day 10: Start story with: “She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled…”
Day 11: A story where the characters go without power for a day.
Day 12: Describe a significant place, allowing the details to reveal why the place matters. Describe it from a tree or rooftop or from a hawk’s point of view. Describe it from the height of a dog or a turtle.
Day 13: Begin with “I thought I saw…”
Day 14: Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites, of humans in uncertain conditions. Write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.
Day 15: Write about a stranger you see. Either their back-story or what they are thinking in the moment you see them.
Day 16: Go to iTunes, put your music on random. Write a story about the first song that comes up. (250 words or less)
Day 17: Use time travel in a story
Day 18: A story set in a ghost town.
Day 19: Describe a “first” (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting).
Day 20: Use these words in a story: grandfather, photo album, post office, and folder
Day 21: Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.
Day 22: Write a story based on a dream you had
Day 23: Describe/fictionalize a childhood memory
Day 24: Write a story that takes place 100 years in the future
Day 25: Write a story about a mythical creature.
Day 26: Write about the 30th picture on your phone or computer. Write about the story behind it, or make up the story behind it.
Day 27: Story taking place during a sporting event (any sport)
Day 28: Story on a ship. Past, present, or future. 
Day 29: Story about space
Day 30: Story or poem about ice

Winter Weather Cookies

My mother and I have a fondness for ginger bread cookies...or, maybe it's just me and she plays along. Whatever the case may be, when she comes to visit during late Fall/early Winter we always end up making/buying gingery items. This time around those cookies you buy in a tube were on sale, so we bought 2 rolls of gingerbread goodness and they sat in my fridge and sat and sat and sat...all throughout the Holidays until her last day here. I mean I meant to make them for Thanksgiving or for school. I meant to buy all that icing and crap so we could decorate them. I meant to...yada, yada, yada.

You see we had a two week Christmas break, which is usually par for the course (actually if we don't get two weeks we usually get pretty upset and kids start missing lots of school and so on and so on...), but then we added on three, yes, three, extra days because of snow. There was so much snow and muck that we had to reschedule my mother's flight...twice.

So, on the day we were supposed to leave, I opened the refrigerator door saw the cookies and thought...those would be great to make to go with lunch and on our trip to and from St. Louis. 

So we started out with the cookie dough. Lila helped me roll it out and make it into Gingerbread men...um, you can't have Gingerbread Cookies unless they look like men and women, so you can eat their heads and limbs off before tackling their delicious torsos (hmm...maybe I watch too much "Dexter").

We still didn't have the icing and stuffs so I was trying to figure out a way to make them tasty and delicious. Enter this recipe...I obviously didn't make the gluten free Molasses cookies (for another day, perhaps), but I did make the every so amazing, like I want to slather it on my face right now, salted caramel goodness. It's ingredients are simple: brown sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt. Note to you: when it says it firms up if you let it sit, what she means is like OVER NIGHT, not in a few minutes, or hours.

Modern Day cookbook: Chromebook in the kitchen.

The kiddo helped me put them on the pan and we baked about 24 of them.

She also helped by licking the salted caramel yumminess off of the spatula. "Hey Mommy, did you know this has a cupcake on one side and sprinkles on the other? I'm going to eat the cupcake side first."

Then we put the salted caramel in thick layers in between two cookies and then we ate the crap out of them.  She's putting her pinkies up so she can be 'danity' (say with a British accent), at least that's what she told me. I don't know where she gets her ideas sometimes *whistles, backs away* Um, yeah, we also got dressed...sure it was lunch time, but we also knew we had a long, long, long car ride (thanks Chris for driving) ahead of us...on roads that were still an icy mess. Ugh.

The kiddo also learned that when you leave the food on your chair the kittens swat it down (they're still in training  and it was too cold for them to be outside) and eat it. It was a sad lesson, but, um, did any of you know that cats like gingerbread and cream cheese salted caramel? I took this picture before throwing away what was left of the cookie and banishing the kittens (Lizzie and Katie) to their room.

Pecha Kucha

[Source]

Ok, so my honors kids usually do a literary timeline about a month into this semester. We do them on the Promethean board and the info and results can be seen here and here. We usually spend a long class period (hour and 28 minute class period) on it, I monitor their progress as they use their books, notes et cetera to label and move things on the board. The results are nice, but over the years the timelines have morphed into something that I'm not sure is helping the students as last year they used their phones more than their notes and they argued more than they collaborated. I spent Christmas Break (show me a teacher who doesn't work on school stuff when they should be having time off and I'll show you how that's not really the case at all) trying to find a way to square that circle. I found this-a Pecha Kucha presentation. I'd like to give credit to the person who created this gem, but alas I can't as their name is not on it...anywhere. I decided that Pecha Kucha would be the way to go for literary timeline discussion this year...it only took a little bit of research...the short of which can be found below:

Pecha Kucha A gathering of ideas where each presentation consists of 20 images (at the least 14 images) for 20 seconds apiece, for a total time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds, if you have all 20 slides or images.

Can't figure out how to pronounce it? Start here! 

The long of which can be found here. This is an excellent place to get everything you need and more. There's not only the history, but there's also:

Getting Started
General Design Tips
Practicing
The Big Event
Ingredients and Video Examples

And, in bullet form:

• The Pecha Kucha style comes from Japan; it means "chit chat".
• Pictures only, no bullet points...programmed to rotate 20 seconds per slide.
• Just because you have 20 slides doesn't mean you have to have 20 points...what are the five-ten essential things you want to say.
• In my case, because there are no bullet points the students listening get to decide what is essential.
• There's no one way to give a pecha kucha (hmmm...is that supposed to be capitalized?).
• Look at Youtube for examples...here, here or here...these are examples I like (Pecha Kuchas explaining Pecha Kucha *mind blown*).

I created my own version of the Pecha Kucha guidelines from the ones I originally found (calendar can be found here), eventually I will perfect this Pecha Kucha I made to present the idea to the students.

I can't wait to see the literary timeline results!

50 Books in a Year Book #4: The Sign of Four

The second novel starring the illustrious Sherlock Holmes is a mash up of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and The Moonstone. In it you will find many of the tropes of any awesome detective story. It's still a pretty darned amazing and entertaining book.

Things That Surprised me...although, I suppose, they really shouldn't have:

1] Mary is a pretty awesome character, she is more than Conan Doyle's Yoko (sorry, Yoko). I like that she is calm and patient. I like that she is reserved and understated and pretty. I'd never really thought of Mary as a character to be fleshed out, she doesn't ever seem to be much of the story and in this novel she is the story. She's so smart.

2] It's lovely the way that Watson talks about and to Mary.

3] I'd always heard about, but didn't really remember reading any drug references and this book starts and ends with casual cocaine use. I didn't really expect that.

4] How easy old Detective stories are and how much new Detective stories and procedural dramas owe to these inventive stories.

Why Sherlock Holmes is pretty cool (evidence from this book, of course):

1] He says what we are all afraid to say.

2] He does what we are all afraid to do.

3] He's pretty darned cocky.

4] He doesn't seem to need people, although he needs Watson.

And, a couple of notes on Watson:

1] He is a good friend, quite patient, kind and thoughtful.

2] I'm sure these qualities also make, in him, a good husband.

The only problem I had was the fact that I probably watch too many mystery shows and read too many mystery books for me not to know the ending (I mean I didn't get it all, but I definitely got the gist). I wish I would have read this the same year I read The Hounds of the Baskerville (I think I was in 6th or 7th grade), boy that book amazed me every second!

50 Books in a Year #3: The Lost Souls Companion

Ok, so the full title of this book is The Lost Soul Companion: Comfort and Constructive Advice for
Struggling Actors, Musicians, Artists, Writers, and Other Free Spirits and I received it for free from a lovely friend who was moving and needed to down-size.  She actually gave me a whole pile of books, but this is the only she said anything about as the author is from Bloomington, a town where she used to live and a place I'd been to visit with her.

At first, I wasn't really sure about this book as its chapters are filled with drawings and words that propel each point along and I didn't know if I should take it seriously and then there were times that the book got way too serious talking about suicide and anti-depressants for those who struggle with the day to day task of living.

And, then I found the part of the book that spoke to me directly:

1] You only have enemies if you allow yourself to have them.
2] Spreading positive energy around take effort, but the effort is worthwhile.
3] Have good movies to uplift you.
4] The best part of travelling is coming 'home'. You always return a little bit changed--a little bit more than you were before you left.
5] The Bad Day Box...just the idea that there is a box to help you get over bad days is such a pleasant idea.

While I can honestly say that I would never have picked this book on my own, I am glad that I read it, as some of the quirky advice spoke straight to my little lost soul.

This is an autographed copy and the inscription reads: "May you find inspiration in these pages." I suppose, without meaning to, I did.

30 Day Writing Challenge: Re-write a classic fairy tale

I haven't written creatively in years, not thoughtfully since I taught a creative writing class about 10 years ago and it wasn't until NaNoWriMo 2012 that I realized that I still had it in me. While the book that I wrote in a month is not anywhere near ready for publication (it doesn't really have an ending or a beginning per se) it did make me realize I want to write more. At My Creative Writing Challenge and Yellow Brick Road Fiction) I found creative writing challenges, I've messed them together and here's what I've come up with for my next challenge. I'm combining the best of these two challenges to let the creative juices flow.

Re-write a classic fairy tale
"Hansel and Gretel"

OK, so I've been trying to think of a way to re-write "Hansel and Gretel" ever since I watched "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters"...I'm still pretty disturbed.

Summary of the original according to Wikipedia
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children save their lives by outwitting her.

Here's my story:

Once upon a time there lived a man and his two adorable children. Their mother having died at child-birth, the man felt he had to have a mother for his children and he married the first woman that seemed interested. This didn't really work as the woman was evil and selfish. One night while the man and his two adorable children were asleep, she sneaked the children out of the house and left them in the woods to die.

When the children woke up they were lost and disoriented. Just when they thought they were going to perish from lack of food and sunstroke, they stumbled upon a house.

Thank goodness it wasn't one of those houses made of food, instead it was filled with every food imaginable, all they had to do was think about it and the type of food they wanted would appear. They feasted on tacos and biscuits and gravy and bacon and spaghetti with meatballs, ice cream cones, hot dogs, pot pies, salad and apple tarts. Sated they went upstairs to sleep but were excited to find that they could watch satellite television and check their emails on his and her laptops while relaxing on the most comfortable bed known to man. Gret sent an email to their father telling them what happened and Hans watched "X-Files" reruns on Netflix. Soon they fell asleep. This house seemed too good to be true, and it was.

Not long after they dosed off, there was a light tapping at the bedroom door and then in walked most hideous woman the children had ever seen. She had brownish green skin and warts and smelled like sewer, rotten eggs and cat farts. They knew enough to know that she was a witch and they began to scream, which made her scream and run away dropping the plate of warm cookies and glasses of milk she was carrying.

"A witch carrying cookies?" Hans questioned aloud. Gret looked at him skeptically.

They left the room to investigate, crept slowly down the stairs and found the smelly, brownish green skinned woman crying at a delightfully decorated breakfast nook. The smell of cookies blended with the smell of the nasty witch.

"We're sorry to frighten you," Gretel said. They crept closer.

"Have you had enough to eat?" croaked the lady, she really was frightful.

"Yes, thank-you," the two adorable children chimed. "Thank-you for your kindness," they whispered.

Hans, never one to mind smells and always the braver of the two especially when cookies were involved, gave the woman a hug and Gret, never one to be upstaged by her younger brother, did likewise. The smelly, brown-skinned lady turned and kissed them each on the forehead, got up from her chair, twirled three times and became the soccer mom of their dreams.

See, the witch wasn't really a witch at all and the love of the two children broke the curse that had been placed on her and set her free. She showed them the way back to their house, where she immediately fell in love with their father. Which wasn't a surprise to anyone as they were both so nice and good-looking. Their father had called the police and had their stepmother arrested as soon as he'd received the email message. The father and the now sweet and not so smelly woman were soon married and moved in to the house deep in the woods. After all breaking the curse didn't stop the perpetual supply of food and who doesn't love food?

They, of course, lived happily ever after.

Want to find a fairy tale for your own writing challenge? Or, just want to read all sorts of lovely fairy tales? Here's a list complete with links.

The prompts are:

Day 1: Re-write a classic fairy tale
Day 2: Write a fanfiction
Day 3: A story that takes place pre-1950
Day 4:  An important conversation, in the style of a movie script.
Day 5: A story revolving around an object in your room
Day 6: Start your story with: “He glanced at his watch impatiently…”
Day 7: Create a superhero. Have he/she save the day.
Day 8: Write a prequel to that Superhero. Pre-Superhero life. Maybe their childhood.
Day 9: A story in 250 words or less about your favorite city
Day 10: Start story with: “She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled…”
Day 11: A story where the characters go without power for a day.
Day 12: Describe a significant place, allowing the details to reveal why the place matters. Describe it from a tree or rooftop or from a hawk’s point of view. Describe it from the height of a dog or a turtle.
Day 13: Begin with “I thought I saw…”
Day 14: Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites, of humans in uncertain conditions. Write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.
Day 15: Write about a stranger you see. Either their back-story or what they are thinking in the moment you see them.
Day 16: Go to iTunes, put your music on random. Write a story about the first song that comes up. (250 words or less)
Day 17: Use time travel in a story
Day 18: A story set in a ghost town.
Day 19: Describe a “first” (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting).
Day 20: Use these words in a story: grandfather, photo album, post office, and folder
Day 21: Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.
Day 22: Write a story based on a dream you had
Day 23: Describe/fictionalize a childhood memory
Day 24: Write a story that takes place 100 years in the future
Day 25: Write a story about a mythical creature.
Day 26: Write about the 30th picture on your phone or computer. Write about the story behind it, or make up the story behind it.
Day 27: Story taking place during a sporting event (any sport)
Day 28: Story on a ship. Past, present, or future. 
Day 29: Story about space
Day 30: Story or poem about ice