September is Over!

Where has the time gone? 

Can you believe that September is OVER? October starts tomorrow! When did that happen? 

I was driving to work today and I saw the first telltale signs that Fall was here. The colors. Against a smooth green leafy backdrop was the vivid yellows and oranges that are starting to take over the trees. I'm in love with Fall. *sighs dreamily like an anime girl with little hearts over her head*

Okay. I'm back in my own right mind now ... moving on...

Guess what? I've. Got. ARTPRIZE PICTURES! You're psyched, I'll bet. You want to see what Angela and Danielle and I did while we were out and about in Grand Rapids. Prepare to be photo bombed!!! 

Polar Expressed (in the top 10)

DUCKIES

Freedom (Supporting Wild Horses sculpture)

Glittery Ocean (something like that)

Abstract Painting (thought it was really pretty and voted)

Yarn on Division (I think)

Me and Danielle (I was cracking up)

Roomies Anga and Danielle 

Angela and I being silly

So there you have it! I kept my promise and gave you photos to peruse. I really liked the Polar Bears! I kinda hope they win! They were completely done in acrylic and the artist made them look so lifelike that until I got up close ... I first thought they were photographs. 

I loved that trip to Grand Rapids!

Since it's Monday, I suppose I'll give you a Book Review! What do you think? 

The book I'm going to throw at you is one of those 'controversial' books I was telling you about in one of my very early blog posts. 

This book is suffering from a very BAD case of "Cover Judging". It's cover is quite raunchy and the title is quite bawdy. But ignoring those two factors ... this book is HILARIOUS!!!!! 

Ready for the title? 

Are you sure? 

Okay ...... 

Here it is .... 

Told you it was quite bawdy! 

Don't judge this cover! For the Renaissance Faire junkies, this book is the equivalent of the Bocca Musical show. Bawdy but funny! For everyone else, this is just a good natured comedy filled with clumsy foibles by the heroine and innuendo that will make you CRACK UP. 

Caroline Reynolds has just moved to San Francisco as an up and coming Interior Designer. She hasn't even unpacked her new apartment yet when she is awakened in the middle of the night by her ... not so quiet neighbor, Simon Parker. Thanks to paper-thin walls, she gains some - um - intimate knowledge about her neighbor's nocturnal adventures. 

One night ... it pisses her off so much, she strides over to his apartment and starts banging on the walls as loud as she can, starting a platonic friendship with her new neighbor, but enough chemistry between them to make the readers BEG for them to just admit they like each other already. 

Alice Clayton, the amazing author has written a book that seriously makes you laugh out loud ... in public ... and it's impossible to put down once you start. Guaranteed. I will DEFINITELY be picking up another one of her comedies. 

So there you have it, folks! A book review for Monday. 

I don't discriminate against literature. Or what people THINK isn't literature. Didn't I tell you that I'll read anything? 

Books aren't something that can be cast aside like nothing. People form their opinions on their favorite genres and titles and that's okay ... but I don't believe that you can judge someone based upon what they CHOOSE to read either. 

I'm just putting my two cents out there for what its worth. I'm a reader. I read the titles that people say are raunchy, the ones that are 'wrong' or banned, the ones that are forgotten, the ones that are ignored, the bestsellers, and the unnoticed.

Books are books! And they should all be respected. 

I leave you with this quote from Oscar Wilde. 

"The Books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame"

Until next time,

Taryn

Down The Rabbit Hole Again!

Life = tricky! 

I think I've mention that before. But it's true. It's really, really true. 

I've come to take it in stride, trying not to let the worst things get to me. However, since I am a nervous person, I do tend to look TOO FAR ahead in the future. I'm talking, WAY too far in the future where there are ridiculous outcomes that couldn't POSSIBLY come to light unless I made some very, very, very bad choices.

For example, I failed my Theology class when I was in my second to last year. Here's how my train of thought went.....

"Oh my goodness. I failed that class. I can't believe that happened. Now I'm going to fail college and then be forced to drop out and then I'm not going to get a good job and then will be kicked out of my parent's house and then live on the street in a cardboard box and then get robbed of my cardboard box and then I'll DIE" 

Yep! Dramatic little lady, aren't I? 

The truth is that I suffer from Anxiety! And the above is almost LITERALLY what will go through my brain with every decision that I have to make. I get held back from doing a LOT of things because of the sequence of events that goes through my head. 

So since I do suffer from these ... weird thoughts ... I try to take it ONE. DAY. At a time.

I kinda think this is the reason why I became a writer. My thoughts don't get so jumbled when I'm working on a novel. Granted, my characters can be a little odd ...

It's also the reason why I READ so much. Books are an escape from the craziness in my own mind. 

So here's my next book recommendation for the day! It's Wednesday after all! 

Everyone has been reading this book. I have too and now I know why. 

Hazel Grace Lancaster was diagnosed with cancer and is now 16, a three year stage IV cancer survivor and ... pretty much is depressed. Her life revolves around doctor visits and hoisting around a portable oxygen tank. To help her, the doctors send her to a support group. That's where she meets Augustus Waters. Together, the two of them form a bond that can't be broken. But ... what happens when cancer comes to claim one of them?
This is a story ... not about death ... but about life. And living it to the fullest despite its challenges. Hazel has to learn how to LIVE again. This book is both funny and sad. It's one I highly recommend for anyone who sometimes thinks that life is unfair or cruel. John Green gives readers a whole new perspective!
Read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. 

From my fascinating book recommendation, I'm going to go into .........

THE WEDNESDAY WRITERS WORKSHOP!!!!!! *cheers ensue and confetti is thrown and cake is eaten somewhere*

First, our quote of the day!!!!

"The first sentence can't be written until the final sentence is written" -Joyce Carol Oates

So let's begin the Workshop. Last week's Topic: Characters! 

This week's Topic: Where Does Your Creative Energy Come From? 

What I mean by that is this. (To clarify, this is a lesson that my Fiction Writing Professor Cynthia Beach asked our class. So don't think for one second that I'm SO brilliant that I came up with this on my own). 

Where do you find most of your passion for writing goes? The Beginning, Middle, Or End of your story?

J.K. Rowling said that she wrote the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows first. 

When I BEGIN a novel, I'm all fired up! I get into the first chapter, introducing the main character, the secondary characters, the setting, building up the plot. I get to about the fifth chapter and then I fall down flat. Energy gone. Inspiration seems to have zeroed out and I get bored. 

Some writers get their passion from writing the MIDDLE of the book first. They KNOW where their characters are. They're already developed and ingrained into the story. But ... they hate STARTING the book. The beginning and the end aren't so fun for them.

Then you get the writers who get their passion from the ENDING of the book. It's drawing their characters to the end of their story. You get to the end of the story and everything seems good and happy. 

So where do YOU get your energy? Do you feel like you're failing if you've reached your 'bad' spot? What makes you feel like you can't go any further?

I challenge my fellow writers to look at this lesson and think on it. I challenge you to look over your old manuscripts. Especially the incomplete ones. As you're perusing them, think about WHERE your story is. Where did you stop or get stuck? Once you realize where your creative energy comes from, you'll see your manuscript in a whole new light.

Okay ... now here's your homework. Yes, I give you homework. No, you don't have to turn it in. 

If you get your passion from writing the BEGINNING of the novel ... think of a scene that you KNOW you'd want included in the MIDDLE and write it. 

If you get your passion from writing the MIDDLE ... think of how you originally thought the book would end. Write it!

If you get your passion from writing the END ... think of where those characters started from? Write your main characters introduction! 

That's my Wednesday Writers Workshop for the day! 

In case you're thinking, "What the heck? Is she going to do this?" Have no fear. I will actually do my own assignment. And next Wednesday, I'll share it! 

Until the next post my delightful readers,

-Taryn

This Past Weekend

Guess what?

I went to ArtPrize on Saturday. It was awesome. Danielle, Angela, and I had a blast walking all over Grand Rapids and seeing all the exhibits. 
And true to form, I WAS going to post all the pictures on here...
Just one teeny tiny problem...

I left my camera at home. So pictures will have to wait. For now, I'll just leave you with that scant bit of information. Went to ArtPrize 2013. Loved it. :P 
And I really will post the pictures next time. 

Anyway ... it's Tuesday. I would have posted yesterday, but something came up and it got delayed. Oh well. You get two posts in a row from me. For tomorrow is the next segment of my Wednesday Writers Workshop. 
I am really looking forward to it. I'm already scouring for some of my favorite quotes. 
Today, I got to work for a while behind cash register on book floor. That was fun. I got to see the new Stephen King novel plop on my counter several times. And I just have to say this ...

KUDOS to whoever did the cover art. It's eerie and pretty all at the same time. No other way to describe it.

Pretty cool huh? And it's a sequel to his book 'The Shining'. This book is going to be all about Dan Torrance, now a middle aged man living under the shadow of nightmares left over from his experiences at the Overlook Hotel where he lost his father. And of course, true to Stephen King, this could be a standalone novel by itself.  According to early reviews, if you haven't read 'The Shining', Dan Torrance could stand by himself as his own character. 

Maybe I'll wait and get it from the library though. As if I need any more books added to my growing 'To Read' pile. 
As I'm saying that, a friend of mine, Emily was finally able to give my birthday present ... which was over a month ago now. And ... she only added to my Bibliophilia. She got me a copy of 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth. Has anyone read this? I've only read a chapter and it's pretty good so far. I can tell that I'm going to like it. I am one of those horrible people who judge books by the cover. I can't help it. I just do. 

See? It's not exactly a book cover that would make me go "Oooooooh" 

So what do you think? Anyone read it? It gets phenomenal reviews, but reviewers are one thing, people who've actually READ the book are another. Feel free to leave a comment about it.

Let's move on, shall we? Next topic! 
Remember how I told you that I would keep you updated on my life? Here's a big chunk of news. I might have found a job. 
In Anchorage, Alaska. As a copy editor. For the Anchorage Daily News. Obviously, this isn't set in stone. I have no guarantees or job offer yet. But I sent in my resume, attempted to get a phone interview (long story), and even got a killer cover letter made up. 
As a copy editor, I get the finished product of an article and I go over it for any grammar and punctuation mistakes. Like the really big ones that can get overlooked. It's perfect for me. 
So I am definitely asking for prayers or even someone's heavenly pull *cough* Faith *cough* 
I'm hoping something good happens soon. 
I've come to learn that waiting on God's timing can be hard, but the wait is well worth it. Even through the hard times that I've had to go through, the good things God gives us are a gift and I cherish those gifts. 

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV"

This is a good reminder for me! Through hard times come God's gifts. Persevere and we will receive them. 

I think that's how I'll leave you for this evening. But do not fret. You'll get your Wednesday post still. 
I wish you all the best! 

Until Tomorrow,
Taryn

ArtPrize And Weekends

Welcome Back! 

It's Wednesday. Want me to share a secret with you? My weekend technically begins tomorrow after 11:00am. I'm kinda psyched (not going to lie about that). 
I am driving to Grand Rapids to hang out with my very good friends, Angela and Danielle. I think it's been long overdue. I also realized something. I have, like, ZERO pictures of me WITH them. So hello, Lady Penelope (my camera's name)! 
AND since we're going to be in Grand Rapids, I'm going to use my wits and wiles to convince them to go downtown for ArtPrize on Saturday. 

Last year's pieces were beautiful. I loved the glass carousel and the winner of the very first year? Open Water? I loved that. If you stared at it long enough, you kinda started to think you WERE in the ocean. 
I have very high hopes for this year as well. A friend of mine has a piece in ArtPrize. 

Amber is unstoppable with knitting needles! If you're in Grand Rapids, check out her space and vote! 
Anyway, I'm looking forward to going and I couldn't sleep at ALL last night because I keep thinking about it. 
Angela and Danielle and I are going to have so much fun. Look at these cuties!! Don't they look like they're awesome? And go figure, this pic is from the 2011 ArtPrize! *laughs*

Angela (on left), Danielle (on right)

Can't wait to spend some quality time with them! For a whole weekend. These visits are few and far between these days. And I dislike that. 

In case you couldn't tell, this is going to be a lengthy post to make up for the fact that I didn't get to post on Monday. So yay! Get reading! 

Today's Wednesday! As you know. 
So for those who don't know, I've started a section of my blog that will be entitled Wednesday Writer's Workshop. This is the part where I will post a quote from a favorite/famous author and then go into my topic on writing. Last Weeks topic: Getting Started with writing. This week's topic: Characters. 

"The Writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is NOTHING that does not require his attention." -Flannery O'Connor 

Flannery O'Connor (I wish I could have met her)

Characters are the bread and butter of a novel. 
Without a character, what do you have but a setting? For how can you have a plot, even without characters? 
You can't. In every NOVEL in the world, even the obscure Ayn Rand novels, there are characters. What you do with them creates a story. Many authors talk about characters like living, breathing entities. I believe it was Stephen King who said "Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings." 
What he was saying in his book "On Writing" is that you can 'create' and 'breathe life' into your character until you're blue in the face ... but until you actually DO SOMETHING with them, a story will not emerge. 
Personally when I write, I want my character to jump in there. They usually do. 

"Alice was terrified. How had she gotten there? The room was dark and cramped with so many bodies. It stunk of stale body odor and the air was stale and stagnant. They received no food or water, except what was haphazardly thrown into their cage. Alice never touched them, despite her protesting stomach. They were scraps and she wasn’t going to fight the other women for them. Usually, it was something like the crust of a slice of bread or the leftover meat on chicken bones. There was no way that she’d stoop so low."

This is from the very beginning of my novel. I let Alice take over from the first sentence and let her talk. Immediately, what do you see? Alice doesn't know where she is. She describes the room she's in. She describes what her situations looks like. Above all, the reader can see that Alice would rather starve to death than eat the scraps thrown to her from her guards. She's strongwilled and stubborn. 
I choose to let my characters speak and have their way with the story. Others make their way into the story and some live and some do not. But I think that any writer must take their chances with their characters they've created and let them go. Write for them. Create situations and as your situation moves along, let your characters decide what they will do. 

 Say your character encounters THIS (above)! What is your character going to? Do they charge forward into the dark? Or do they pull back and get out of there? Ultimately, that's up to you. If a waning sense of curiosity is pulling at the back of your mind ... let your character go forward. The plot will sort itself out as you allow your character to leave to do what they want. 

This has been another section of the Wednesday Writers Workshop. 
I hope that it was informational and as always, you can take my advice or leave it. Or you can send me YOUR ideas. 

I wish you the best, everyone. Until next week ...
-Taryn

Writing Up A Storm Lately

I'm a writer. 

I'm sure I've mentioned that. The past few days, I have spent so much time at ChocolaTea ... just pouring out my passions into a frenzy fueled fiction. I shudder to think that I'm going to share this. But here's an overly dramatized picture of me in 'Writing Mode' 

Attractive photo, huh? *snickers* 
Posting this clearly shows that I have no shame. I officially am going to start a wall of inspirational quotes from favorite and famous authors. Something to put in my room. Not that I have any space on the walls. Maybe the closet door? I don't know.
I'll probably begin with this quote. 

"You must write every single day of your life. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. May you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world." -Ray Bradbury. 

Ray Bradbury (the man was a genius)

Writing is an outlet that I find to be soothing as well as maddening. Unless you write daily, you will never understand it. But it's the only true explanation of what I do. 
Creating a world takes time, energy, practice, trust in yourself, and faith to jump off the cliff without knowing what's at the bottom. 
Sometimes you find a gem among all that chaos. Sometimes, you just hit hard rocks and you've got to backtrack. But in the end ... all that struggle ... is worth it. Every moment of writing that consumes you so completely that you don't know how much time has gone past ... it proves that you're willing to go that distance to write that sentence. That paragraph. That chapter. That novel. 

And I do give advice for anyone that has that bug to begin, but can't seem to get their ideas off the ground.
So here is my ONE piece of advice to start with.

Are you ready?

Start writing! That's it! Forget about the fear of spelling or formatting or grammar. Just write. You never know. Something amazing could sprout and grow from there and it can be edited and revised later. Just write. 
After all, no one can stop you but yourself, right? 

I hope you enjoyed the Wednesday Writer's Workshop edition. 
I may even make THIS section a feature on this blog. After all, this is a blog called Books, Tea, and an Overactive Imagination. 
Until next time, I remain faithfully yours,

-Taryn

A Case of the Mondays.....?

Good Afternoon All,

As it turns out, I woke up and it's apparently Monday. When did that happen? 
I only had a four hour shift at work and when I was done, it was like, 'oh ... I'm done. Guess I'll go to the tea shop'. 

Not sure what it is about the Fall menus all the coffee shops get in, but they're addictive. And you mix Chai tea with Apple Cider ... Amazing. And they're all called something different. At Starbucks .. it's just called a Hot Apple Spice with Chai. At Biggby and ChocolaTea ... it's called a Chider, and at Water Street Coffee ... it's called a Witches Brew (that last one is my favorite) 
There's also this Mobile coffee shop that is often seen at our local Farmers Market. It's an old ambulance vehicle that was converted over and it's called Coffee Rescue. Catchy, huh? And so far, whenever I catch them ... they make this FANTASTIC Iced Chai that I put in a pump of coconut. 

So if you ever find yourself in the Kalamazoo, MI area ... check these guys out! They usually post their location for the day on their website. The Coffee Rescue

Moving on from my typical name dropping ... 

I love the Fall. If you're a native to Michigan, you know immediately where I'm going with this. If you're not, let me explain. In the Fall here, the leaves start changing colors rapidly. So you only get a few days to TRULY appreciate it. The temperatures rise and fall from the sixties to seventies. The apples are growing full and plump and that means apple picking at my favorite orchard in Grand Rapids with my bestie, Ashleigh. In the Fall, it means that the Fair comes into town and the air is filled with the smells of cotton candy, fried snacks that no one should technically be consuming, and more apples. 

For me, this is my favorite time of the year. It's also such a good season for holidays. Like Halloween. Which I won't go into right now because seriously, as we get into October, you're going to get NOTHING but my Halloween favorites. But there's the pumpkins, and the decorating, and the Fall raking and the new book releases. Fall book releases RULE. Just saying. 

Mackinac Bridge

Yep! This Monday's entry was all about Fall. 
Now I'm going to go back to sipping my Chider and watching the ducks swim in the stream outside ChocolaTea! I hope you guys have an excellent start to this week and I wish you the best.

-Taryn

Good Days At Work

Today at work, I looked into a man's cup of tea. I saw he'd ripped open the tea bag and the leaves were floating over the top and sinking to the bottom. 

In the leaves, I saw the image of a cat near the top of the cup. I was nearly tempted to run after him and tell him to beware of any pranks or tricks coming his way. 

Might not be the best way to read someone's tea leaves, huh?

I could see the flyer now. 

Come to the Barnes and Noble Cafe. We have a diverse menu of drinks and confections. Oh and if you see your barista, Taryn ... she'll see your future in your chamomile. Whether you want her to see it or not. 

Customers really shouldn't just leave their half empty tea cups just sitting on the tables like that. Way too tempting to take a peek. 

With this particular tea cup ... which I did just take from Google ... you can see the head of a mouse at the top of the main clump at the base of this tea cup. A mouse means that you have a long term problem in your life. A thief or a trickster in your life. And please, let's remember that I'm only an amateur tea leaf reader. Still, when a person tells you that have 'the gift' for reading them, you tend to let it go to your head *coughs* Not me! 

Moving on, 

I have something I must confess to my dear readers.
Remember when I was flipping out about the movie release for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones?
Yeah, I've seen it four times and I need to see it one more time. I think I confess to a problem.
I have all these awesome visions in my head of being there in the Hotel Dumort, seraph blade (Cassiel) flashing as I fight against vampires in full Shadowhunter gear. I know it isn't possible, but what I would give to be able to use Alec's bow or Izzy's electrum whip. Sometimes, I let my imagination get the best of me and then it makes me want to read more. Hence the obsession part. Hence the creation of fandoms today. Fandoms are proof that I am NOT the only one who gets this into a book or movie. At least I'm not like the CRAZIES who stalk the actors to their doorsteps and wear shirts demanding they get full access backstage or anything. 

(Crying fan over meeting someone from Twilight)

Now THAT would be a bit overdramatic, don't you think? (look above) I don't think I'd EVER be like that. 

Between reading tea leaves, covering crazy fandoms .... and the tea shop closing and Polly probably wanting to kick me out ... I'm going to call this quits for now, but I am glad that you're all reading and liking what's been written. 

Until again my dear readers, I remain your faithful weekly blogger.

-Taryn