Challenge Tuesday – Unmotivated!

I am not motivated to read, right now.  I have put The Sucker’s Kiss on top of Calamity Physics, and realised I have read about the same amount of each book.

I haven’t given up on it yet, I just don’t feel the urge to pick it up.

So for this week, I am having a brain break – only my writing can fill my skull… I am trying to fit too much in again, so reading has to take a little bit of a back seat.

Hopefully if the writing group goes well on Thursday I will be back to the books, ready to explore another writer’s imagination. But until then, it’s all about (writing) me!

Happy reading,

EJ

🙂

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Challenge Tuesday – Ongoing

I haven’t yet finished the book I talked about last week, in fact I am not very far into it considering I’ve had a week already!

What I can say so far is I found the first couple of pages painful to read but since them, it’s been much more enjoyable.  And so far it seems that the quote last week was not reflective of the book as a whole!

I will aim to finish by next Tuesday but that’s all I can share about it today. Let’s see where the rest of the story goes!

Happy reading,

EJ

🙂

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Missed Post/Challenge Tuesday

I didn’t write on Sunday because I forgot it was Sunday – bank holiday weekends always confuse me! Suffice it to say I was still on a high from Thursday and spent some time chatting about the open mic.

I am also going to report a book reading break: I have been reading as I said I would, but the book is languishing on the side awaiting some interest.  I find it a bit too verbose and not particularly entertaining so will decide this week whether to read on, or reject.

I am especially tempted to reject when I think how much writing time I could gain back!

I will decide by the weekend but for now the focus is on reviewing and refining work to share!

Happy reading and happy writing!

EJ

🙂

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Challenge Tuesday – Taster

As I still haven’t got a book on the go, I decided to pick one from my ‘to read’ pile, open it at random, and share a quote.  If it makes me want to read, it’s all for the good, and if not, it’ll save me some time.

I chose Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl. Not sure if I started this once before but I definitely haven’t finished it.

So here goes:

Hannah was wearing a housedress the color of sandpaper, crudely scissored off at the hem so tiny threads hula-danced around her shins when she opened the door.  Her face was as bare as an unpainted wall, but it was obvious she hadn’t been sleeping.

There’s a lot of description and I cut off before the metaphors got too jumbled – I don’t generally appreciate work that is tightly packed with this kind of description.

However, I love, love, love the name of this book, and the synopsis blurb sounds interesting.  So I think I will give it a go.

I should be reading comedies, but for my long weekend this might be a good choice – it’ll keep me occupied anyway.

I will not be working on poetry per se during the break, although if something comes to mind obviously I will note it down – but there will be no pressure to work, only relax and have fun.

500 pages of a possibly YA novel is a start!

Happy reading,

EJ

🙂

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Wham Bam, Thank You Spam!

I am sure I am not alone in getting all sorts of strange comments sent to me at the blog.

Recently there has been a decided change because they are nearly all in Spanish.

Normally I just check and trash but having them come through in a different language is quite educational. I try to read them, at least basically, to learn a little.

I am sure you have seen the ones in English that look like random words have been picked from a dictionary; the Spanish ones may well be the same, but at least a word or two are sticking in my brain!

Long term readers may remember that I was trying to use words from other languages or with different roots to English for a mini poetry project. Sadly, after a few efforts it felt a bit forced, and it didn’t last as a concept.

In reading the Spanish spam, I remember that languages have different sound and feel different when you form them in your mouth – that perhaps linguistic choices have to be made differently for a performance piece.

So, once our slightly shortened open mic is done I can think about something new, something with a Spanish feel, for the next time.

And I am already working on the next time.

So when you next clear out your spam, have a quick look at what’s appeared: who knows if it might actually be worth reading!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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