Distraction Friday

Check out this list of “disturbing” books. I’ve not read all of these, but I’ve heard of all of them. Disturbing? Well, perhaps for some people. I thought LORD OF THE FLIES was vicious, but it didn’t bother me. A SEPARATE PEACE wasn’t disturbing at all (just really, really boring).

Actually, some of the books on this list I read on my own, not as part of a school assignment. I read CATCHER IN THE RYE and ANIMAL FARM because I heard things about them and wanted to see if they were true. As South Park illustrated, I’m not sure why CATCHER IN THE RYE was banned. Yes, there was a scene with a prostitute but…it was barely anything in the whole of the story. It kind of brings me back to the subject of “why is sex a no-no when violence is okay?” I mean, LORD OF THE FLIES was brutal! Kids attack and murder each other! And it was required reading for ninth grade! 

Let’s see Holden Caulfield survive on that island for a day.

If you haven't guessed, I didn't enjoy CITR so much. It was okay, just not for me. ANIMAL FARM was a lot more fun and I didn't find it "disturbing" in the least.

But I suppose all that is beside the point. What are your thoughts? Are these books disturbing? Are there any that should be on this list?

Distraction Friday

First of all, I'm glad Blogger is working again. Unfortunately, it screwed up my post yesterday. Grrr...Anyway, I'm sure you'll see it (again) some time next week. Now, back to the action!

How many of you know what “thinking outside the box” means? Whenever I hear that phrase, it makes me think of this:

And that’s an example of lateral thinking. You come up with a solution that is only confined by the limits of your imagination. Take a look at this site for some great questions.

One example: A man and his son are in a car accident. The father dies and the son, gravely injured, is taken to the hospital. Upon seeing him, the attending surgeon proclaims “I can’t treat him! He’s my son!”

Come on. This is an easy one. Put your answer in the comment section!

Distraction Friday

It’s in the title. Be prepared.

Today’s distraction is a cute little game I found on Newgrounds called William and Sly. In it, you play as the fox Sly and your job is to activate these rune stones all around William’s house.

Overall, it’s a simple game where you run back and forth exploring the area. While the main point of the game is to gather “fairyflies” to activate the rune stones, there are a lot of little extras to do. You can gather mushrooms, open chests, gain “wings” to float a little when you jump and use the brief charges from the rune stones to destroy monsters known as darklings. These have nothing to do with the main game but rather involve the wonderful pastime of gaining points.

Visually, the game is quite stunning. The fox’s movements are fluid, the scenery detailed. It doesn’t look like a flash game! And it’s a lot of fun to play, but not too distracting (I suppose it depends on how obsessive you are about getting points ;). So enjoy!

Distraction Friday

I was very disappointed last week when one of my favorite webcomics came to...well, not a close, but I guess you could call it an end . I’d been following since almost the beginning in 2004 after I saw a piece of fan art done by the creator. The link below her name said “The Bunny System” and I went “Hey! I like bunnies!”

Even better, these were snarky, inappropriate and violent rabbits. The two main rabbits once massacred an entire squirrel army (don’t worry; apparently, squirrels can regenerate a la the T-1000). It was exactly up my alley. I can’t believe it’s been almost seven years!

Audrey Soffa is a very talented artist and writer. Occasionally, she posted bits of her art school work (nice) and sometimes, other cartooning work. There was one month where she had a storyline about a young witch named Agatha Crawley. She’s a little girl with a witch like appearance and often the object of torment of the older, glam-witches. It’s cute and funny and unlike the Bunnies, entirely age appropriate.

So, I’m a bit sad it’s gone. If you have the same sense of humor as me (and if you do, I pity you) I’d advise you to go check it out.

EDIT: The contest is now closed. Winner announced tomorrow at 1 p.m. EDT.

Distraction Friday

I don’t know how many of you know Kate Hart, but she is entirely too awesome. She came up with this flowchart that should really be stapled to every would be writer’s laptop/monitor. 

Currently, I’m stuck above TIME TO QUERY. Sigh…someday...Probably after I get someone to hold my hand while s/he explains each and every little problem with my manuscript.

Well, I guess this is a short post! But check out the rest of Kate's website for more goodies. She has quite a lot, each more amusing than the last.

Distraction Friday

Today's distraction is just a small one! I Write Like is a cool site where you paste in a sample of your work and it analyzes it to determine what famous author you write like.

It was fun to paste in different samples of my work and see if I wrote like different authors--I do, by the way. My blog posts are, apparently, like H.P. Lovecraft. Considering most of his work is dense and full of racist undertones, I'm not entirely sure this is a compliment.

When I put in the short story I'm editing, I received Margaret Atwood. While I have nothing against her, I do find it a bit odd that the writing style YA horror story would resemble that of an essayist and poet. I have to say, I wonder what exactly they use to analyze it.

So enjoy seeing who you write like! Maybe you'll be as baffled as me.

Distraction Friday

Today for Distraction Friday, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite webcomics: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner. The name is ambiguous for a reason. There is no plot, characters or story between strips. Every single one stands alone, which, on one hand, means that anything can (and does) happen, but on the other, means each one must connect with the audience without relying on history to build trust. One of the attractive points in writing a sequel is that bond you’ve already created with the audience. This comic doesn’t do that at all.

It still manages to be pretty damn awesome, too. 

There are more than two thousand comics, so I’m just going to focus on what I think is the best one for us writing types. It's one of those things that's all too true...

Distraction Friday

Addendum: The greats over at YAtopia are holding an Agent Pitch Contest. In two sentences, hook them with your Young Adult MS. Well? What are you waiting for?

I mentioned on Twitter how my mom has a friend who wants to write a book about her “struggles” in a lawsuit. This friend is convinced it would be a best seller. God help me if she ever finds out I’m a writer. She’ll want my help getting it published, or worse, to write it for her.

Yeah…no. Not a chance in hell. I don’t want to get sued. In fact, I’m afraid of revealing too much detail because I might get sued. Litigious isn’t a strong enough word for this person.

So in that vein of obliviousness, here’s your distraction Friday, first tweeted to me by Blank Slate Press.

Get Published!: So You Want to Be a Writer Cartoon:

Distraction Friday

Brace yourselves, it’s another game. Because I’m mean like that.

It’s my fault for visiting Newgrounds so much. Check out this game Interlocked, which is a puzzle where you electronically pull apart a series of shapes.

It’s pretty neat. There are only twenty levels, but they can be tough. It’s hard to see how some of them are connected, so you have to try moving them until one works, and then be cautious with your next move lest you lose track of your steps. I was able to figure most of them out (a clue can be accessed in every level) although for a few, I had to peek at the video walkthrough. Yes, I do that. A lot.

Have some fun with it, then when you get frustrated, go back to writing ; ).