2013 Rewind (January/May/September): Writing Inspirations...

So there are lots of things I have been meaning to write about...but I haven't.  I have been keeping a list...since late winter.  My training took a huge amount of time and brain power...so now that I'm getting back to my new normal...I have a lot of blogging to catch up on.  This is the first installment of my "2013 Rewind" entries.  It seemed fitting...since it is December...and it is the perfect time to think back upon the past year.

Back in January, one of my very first writing friends had her first book published.  It was the first in a three book series.  Her next book comes out later this month!!  I remember the first time I read Ellen Oh's words in a writing workshop (which was how we met).  I knew she was going to be published someday and have a book or books on upon a shelf.  I will never forget walking around the Barnes and Noble looking for her book.  Seeing it on display was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.  Going to her book reading and signing was more than I could fathom...I may have got a little wispy eyed (but don't tell Ellen...although I don't think she would not be surprised).  We had not seen each other in a few years...and agreed that we needed to get together sometime soon to catch up.

Schedules are crazy...but we finally got together in May to write together (like we used to) and then chat over lunch.  It was nice to talk about writing and life in general.  Before we finished our meal, she relayed that there was something she wanted to tell me, but she was not sure how I would take it.  I told her to go for it...I'm all for being direct and learning.  She asked if I had ever thought about writing Young Adult Fiction...because she thought my writing voice was most suited for that genre.  It was welcomed.  I had been thinking/wondering that myself.  I had not read much Young Adult fiction...so I was floored when we went back to the Barnes and Nobel looking through the shelves.  She told me about two novels...Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  I devoured Eleanor and Park and enjoyed every moment of it.  I got through my teenage/young adult years with music...it was my everything...well that and writing.  I loved how music was incorporated throughout the novel between Eleanor and Park.  Mixtapes...is there anything better?  I'm slowly reading The Fault in Our Stars because it is so perfectly done I can only take it in small doses.  It is brilliant.  I don't want it to end.

Me and Rainbow Rowell

When I saw that Rainbow Rowell was doing a reading and signing at Poltics and Prose in September, I knew I wanted to be there.  Before I even took my seat, I knew that I was in the right place at the write time.  I randomly ran into Susan Coll (a local fiction author whose books I adore). Susan taught the class that I Ellen and I met in.  It  I was not sure what the audience would be.  Was I going to be the only adult?  I was surprised that the majority of participants were adults.  Not only fans but fans who were also writers.  The questions were fascinating and not far off from questions that I wanted to ask but was to shy to even raise my hand.  Rainbow was so sincere and endearing...it was so refreshing to hear her talk about her writing and the types of writing she adores to read and music...yes the music.  It was inspiring, I love hearing writers talk about writing.  It reminds that deep beneath all the layers of what I do, I am a writer.