Breaking out of Your comfort Zone

Crossed the line, I have. I have begun the journey that I did't realize I needed to take. The one that wove me me in and out of several books at once without any tying together of thoughts other than "What book am I reading again?"  I am fairly proud of myself, though, for actually picking one and finishing it.  It is one reason I wanted to share with you this morning. But another reason is that I want you to rejoice with me that stepping out of my 'comfort zone' didn't really kill me. It just delayed the comfort.

So today I wanted to share a little of what I leaned after crossing that "comfort zone" line.

Lesson #1 - Sometimes you cannot rely on another's recommendations. Case in point:

I started reading it and was completely lost withing the first few chapters.  I tried, I honestly did. But I just couldn't follow along. So, I did what any non-reading person might do - I watched the "movie." Well I started to anyway. What in the world was HBO thinking!?!?! OK, so I got the gist of the story line but all the gratuitous nudity, sex, and violence - completely uncalled for! Anyway, I decided that since I could now safely say I can follow the story line I will continue to read the book but it will always come second, or even third, in my "to-read' virtual pile. I will eventually finish it but I am fairly certain it will not become a series in which I will read every book.

Lesson #2 - Sometime I bite off way more than I can comfortably chew.

What a great story line. I have never read anything that has has to do with time travel. The author is wonderful at explaining everything. I have no doubt that he is very knowledgeable. After all, he did write the book about writing the book. ("Writing Fiction for Dummies") I am very interested in the book and am enjoying the content. But when I think I am about halfway done, I look down and see I have 800 pages to go...well, let's just say I am feeling a little defeated. Hopefully I will be able to finish the book this year and actually give you a small synopsis.

Lesson #3 - Sometimes I need a break from all the fiction and need to focus on...well...writing...fiction. Hmmm. That's an odd thought. Anyway, my Muse and Sweetheart (fortunately one in the same) saw my stagnant position in writing and lent me a copy of a wonderful book.

(Not only is he encouraging when he is around me but he is also when I am alone - how can that be?) Well, he saw that I was at a standstill in writing my characters and that I needed a little 'push' and this book was the ticket I needed to continue. I am only half-way through it and I have become more knowledgeable about my craft and I look forward to one day reading what YOU have to say about my stories. If any of you have any interest in writing, I HIGHLY recommend this book.

And my last lesson...

Lesson #4 - Sometimes crossing the line of comfort is bittersweet.

I thought I was buying a fan fiction book about "Pride and Prejudice", and I guess I could find a few links to that classic, but all I read was an author's attempt to educate the world on British society.

The dialogue and descriptions were totally British and that was the "sweet" part of the book.  I gained some insight to their "phrase-ology" and lifestyles. But the bitter came in with all of the foul language. Why does profanity even sound classy when written by an English person? OK...so I broke out of the comfort zone by reading this style, and I actually finished it because I enjoyed the story line.  A spoiled rich girl, who was handed everything, including her Prada handbags, on a silver platter, goes broke and has to learn how the average "Joe" makes a living. Throw in the mix a handsome rescuer who teaches her about the value of money, a best friend who is pregnant and whose husband is a  blackmailer and hits on every woman he sees who can fatten his wallet, an ex-boyfriend who is a rock star and secretly a lord's son, and a grandfather who is about to see his company go under, and you have the makings of "Prada and Prejudice."

I didn't learn any valuable lessons, or find any reason to recommend this book. But I did want to say I actually finished SOMETHING! And since this was the shortest, it became, by default, the one I chose.

Sadly, in the last month I have probably acquired at least at least 40 more free books from Bookbub and I have no idea which I will read next, if any of them, since I have at least that many on my bookshelves that have gone unread so far. I am really wondering where that comfort zone line is and if I like it there or if I need to come back to what I find familiar.

I still have several books - count them, nine - books that lay started and not finished on my shelf. Maybe I could finish them? Well, I could, but then again, I have my Muse giving me even more books to read that are suppposed to "expand my mind". I appreciate that, honestly. But sometimes a girl needs her comfort. So, please hand me my blanket, a cup of coffee and a sweet story about romance, or maybe a murder, or maybe a psychological thriller, or maybe a fantasy or maybe...Well, maybe I AM ready for whatever genre is put in my hand. Just give me time and caffeine to keep me awake for the thousand pages it takes to tell the story!

E-books vs. hard copies

Last night I posed the question to my Facebook friends and families -

"I am taking a quick poll - for all of you readers out there...
Nook/Barnes and Noble , Kindle/Amazon, I-Pad/Mac or hard copy of the actual book. AND why? I really want to know and there will be NO judgements!"

The answers will not surprise anyone. Some preferred hard copies and some preferred e-books. Some were ambivilent, enjoying both. Some were adamant about their choices. I was taking an informal poll at work and found the same kinds of answers. I am not here to judge, merely share my own point of view. And this is what I intend to do.

There are some thing that I refuse to debate - books have been around for thousands of years, and e-books are recent. Those are given facts. It is the passion about such things that I wish to explore today. Why are people so passionate about things? That is why I asked, in the original question, "why?"

Please allow me to expound on a few things here: Whether iPad (mini or other) or Kindle or Nook,

E-readers are here to stay. They have become part of the school systems in many parts of the country, and for good reason. The young people today are caught up in electronics and likely will be more likely to pick up an e-reader to read a book than they are a hard copy. (I am generalizing here, of course because I know there are many kids and young people who prefer hard copies.) In addition, it is less expensive to place all of the books as well as textbooks on devices. Easier on the backs of those kids so they won't have to carry fifty pounds of books on their backs every day.

E-books on a device take up no extra space than the device themselves, and in today's economy, many homes have no room to walk around, much less store the hundreds and thousands of books that we own. E-books can be accessed anywhere and can be bought at any time at much lower prices than hard copies.  All of this is fact. But there is a 'downside' to e-readers. Other than the Kindle Fire, e-readers cannot be read outside in bright sun because of the glare. So, there you have it. The electronic book.

 

Now, on to the hard copy book.  No one is debating (not here anyway) the legitimacy of an authentic book. Some are old and some new. They have been around for ages and have affected many people. They are great additions to shelving, which have been created for the sole purpose of storing these treasures - it's not called a "book"shelf for nothing!  I mentioned in one of my more recent posts that I have had a love of books since I was knee-high to a tadpole - as many of you. They have been a part of our lives for so very long, haven't they. No, you cannot open the actual leafy pages of a kindle and smell the musty smells of a hard copy. Hard copies require some sort of book mark, and DO NOT dog ear the pages. (Not sure why that is but that is what my mom told me as a child and I refuse to do that.) No, you won't be able to 'crack' open a new book and be the first person to thumb through the pages on an e-reader. These are wonderful characteristics of a hard copy alone.

 

So, what, you may ask, is the point of this post then? I cannot refute any facts. Facts are facts. And passion is passion. A person loves their e-reader or hard copy for a reason. As some answered on my FB page, they are around electronic devises all day long and don't want to read their books on one. Others love the portability of their electronic reader. Everyone has a preference, don't they? I just want to offer some words of wisdom to those who 'nay-say' others' preferences, "Please don't do that." You never know why a person picks up their worn, tattered copy of "Lord of the Rings." Perhaps they spent many hours escaping a circumstance in the confines of a bedroom. And please do not mock a person for using their e-reader on a constant basis. Perhaps they don't have a place to store all the copies of a particualr series and the cost associated with it.

 

Personally, my favorite place to go is a bookstore. It's always been like that.  I like visiting each section and fingering the spines of each, dreaming of owing my own bookstore. I love walking into a used bookstore and smelling the aroma of 'age' and knowing that the books have touched thousands of lives. I love trying to find space on my bookshelves for more books and I absolutely cannot refuse buying books, even though I ran out of room long ago.

 

That said, I love my e-reader. I have almost 300 books totalled on my kindle and nook.  I am constantly getting more and more to add to the collection as well. I cannot stop myself.  Books are books, after all! The thing is, I don't mind not finishing a book in my e-reader, but I feel extremely guilty if I bought a hard copy. I feel like I wasted money (in a small way).

 

The bottom line, my friends, is that it doesn't matter what form you use, it's the fact that you are reading. You can be transported to new worlds and new adventures, or you can be reading the latest how-to book on either. The point is that you are reading. That's the most important thing, isn't it? Be passionate about your reading and don't let others stifle that enthusiam.

 

Wishing I could stay home from work and read,

 

Petra

 



OK....I stayed up late last night and finished the book.  Are you impressed?  That's okay, I didn't read it for you. I read it for me and it was delightful!

This book is about a young woman whose dream is to marry a man "Just like Mr. Darcy" from the movie "Pride and Prejudice." And not just any character, but the combination of the fictional character and the real Matthew MacFadyen. (I personally quite prefer Colin Firth, but it wasn't a story about me, was it?) The story , although fun and fast, causes a person to think about what happens when reality strikes and it doesn't match up to your dream.  The main character, Elizabeth Barrett (named after Elizabeth Bennett), falls for one man and then the perfect "Mr. Darcy" walks into her life and she must now face the dilemma of breaking up with the man she fell for in order to pursue the man she has always dreamed of being with. There are ups and down and the author, Karie White, does a wonderful job of making the characters both believable and interesting. I will not spoil the ending for you, however.

I wanted to discuss a certain topic that has to do with this book, but more importantly it as to do with life. It is the idea of having a dream. Not just any dream when you sleep, but having a desire. A desire so strong that you live FOR that dream, forgetting reality. I know, not everyone is as crazy as I am but I am also sure that there are more people out there like me who do this, either consciously or subconsciously.

The reason, I think, that I enjoyed the book as much as it did is because it had a very close similarity to my own life on a few levels. First, I had a very real dream of going to Italy a few years ago, and when I did, I needed to decide if the dream in my head matched up to the reality of my actually being there.  I was very nervous about that for a few months. Well, I was nervous about it for a lot longer because it kept me from actually wanting to go for a while. Anyway...I went and the reality was SO much better that my dream. In fact, I read an article recently about Italy and it took me there once more in my mind and it was is if I was there! You can read it if you have time:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/travel/28Venice.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The other way it rang true was because I, like many other single woman in the world, have an 'idea' of what the perfect man would be.  I had formed it when I was a young woman, before I had met my ex-husband, and I specifically looked for a man with those features and characteristics. I had based it on someone that I loved and it just seemed like nobody could measure up. Even the man I married didn't 'measure up.' And as I went through twenty-three years of marriage, I changed the qualities I wanted and desired. Sometimes I think doing that made me dissatisfied with the one in my life, but I was deliberately trying to take away any negative qualities. (I mean who doesn't want a 'Mr. Perfect'?)  After the divorce I tried chasing that 'dream' of a man again, never finding him. Then I met Gerald.  He had a few of the things I was looking for in a partner, but not many. (Sorry, Babe) He was smart, caring, loving, and funny as all get out! There are so many qualities that he had that never made my list, but possibly should have, and he had some qualities I found kind of annoying, but I cared for him deeply. However, he wasn't that Mr. Perfect I had built up in my head.  Then THE Mr. Perfect came into my life - the one I had compared every man to - and I thought I had everything.  Well, I couldn't have Gerald and this other man, now, could I? So I hurt Gerald very badly in order to give Mr. Perfect a shot.  And guess what? He completely dashed all my dreams.  I had built him up so much in my mind that even HE couldn't live up to it, not even a little. And he turned out to be scum! I mean Mr. Wickham kind of scum (read "Pride and Prejudice"). And now I had nothing except a dashed dream and a broken heart. But there was something I had not couted on. That Gerald had the ONE quality I needed most - unconditional acceptance. He actually allowed me back into his life and we are now planning a future together.

See? Sometimes dreams come true (Italy), and sometimes they don't (Mr. Perfect). Does that mean we shouldn't have dreams?  I don't think so. But I do think that we should always remember that reality is so much better than any dream.

Read the book if you have the chance - you will not regret it. http://www.amazon.com/Own-Mr-Darcy-Karey-White-ebook/dp/B00DY6QP3I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1401793088&sr=1-1&keywords=my+own+mr+darcy

And stay tuned...because my next topic will be the difference between Kindle/Nook/hard copy books. Care to weigh in your opinions now?

Looking at my next book in the TBR pile,

Petra

 

Finding My Song in "Voice"

 

 

I have been doing way more reading about writing than actual writing lately and that stinks to me. I just want to write, but the more I read about it the more I wonder if I am ready. Yeah, yeah, yeah....I know that I should just do it. But most writers I know (not that I personally 'know' any) understand that it really isn't as easy as the Nike commercial suggests "Just Do It."

 

I have a song I want to sing. It's a song about pain and redemption. It's about love and forgiveness. It's based on my own life.  It's a difficult song to sing because I find myself in the throngs of the pain, as if I am a Thornbird, singing my most beautiful song as I die...not literally of course. I find myself dealing with emotions and thoughts that mean I need to 'die' to in order to write them with the passion that is truly needed. This song hurts to sing, but I must sing it, because if I do not, I cannot move forward and sing my next song.

 

Some of you may understand this kind of agony. You too have a song you must sing.  And no matter the style or venue, you must find "you". You must find your voice.  And this dilemma has been plaguing me this past week as I struggle to write my "song". You see, I need to find my voice.  I need to find what makes me uniquely 'me.' And once I have those ideas down, only then can my song be unique to me.

 

I have been reading lately - taking a break from my writing for a piece. I have read several different styles by several different authors. Once you read a certain author a few times, you will begin to see their 'way'. I can read one author and say to myself, "that is just like me." Or, "that is something I would say." Or, "That is just how I would word that sentence."  So now I am just a little befuddled. If I am seeing my style in others' writings, how am I ever going to find "me"?  This is a question that keeps me from singing my song, I suppose.  Because I do not want people to read my work and say, "She writes just like so-and-so." I want to be Petra.  That's all.

 





And so as I continue to learn more about myself and how I relate to the world around me, I am finding it increasingly more important to not only to find my voice but be able to communicate in such a way as to be understood.  So as I continue on my journey of discovery and write about life as I see it, I ask that you would, if you are the praying kind, to pray that I will find my voice before the words I need to share all but disappear into a foggy memory, not to be shared.

And if you are so inclined, I would ask that you too share your song using your beautiful voice - whether that be through the written word, a piece of art, a craft, or through the spoken word - because the world needs YOU!

Preparing to crouch on my "thorn",

Petra

P.S.  If you have not heard about the Thornbird, I suggest you Google it or watch the movie. The movie will take much longer but is very good and insightful.

Books are part of my life - they always have been.  And although I cannot brag about the great literature I read in high school, I can certainly say that I have read more than the average person, and that's saying quite a bit since, if you know me at all, I am a social butterfly and I seem to have very little time to read.  I remember growing up and not having much money to spend on books, but mom would always find a way to give me some money for those Scholastic book sales we had on a regular basis.  I also spent hours at the library. I will even admit to my first and only "theft" right here for all to see. When I was in kindergarten I stole a book from my class library because I wanted to take it home and reread it over and over again, even though my teacher specifically told me that books were not to be taken from the classroom.  Needless to say, I did suffer the consequences - I have a guilty conscience 43 years later.

Anyway, I honestly believe that I am who I am today because of the books I read because I formed opinions of the world around me based on what I read. I see the world through different eyes, I believe.  If you are a reader, you know what I mean. And pair my love of reading with my desire to write and I am a different "animal" altogether. But that's for another blog.

Today is the first of June and although I have a full time job, I still think of it as "reading season" because everyone tends to take vacations and catch up on some of the reading that they have been putting off other times of the year. So, in the next couple of days I am going to batten down the hatches and read voraciously and turn around and put a few book reviews here so that maybe you can start your own list of books to add to the "TBR (To be Read) stack."

(Please ignore the additions to pic)

 

 

I just finished reading this book, "The Carrie Diaries" by Candace Bushnell.  I bought it for a quarter at the Peddlar's Mall this past week and had to dig right in.  If you find foul language offensive or of you have no interest in the tv show of the same name, you will likely not enjoy this book. But I love reading all genres and this one appealed to me for several reasons.  First, I happen to enjoy the 'adult' series of the show on occasion and I find my style of writing similar to that of the ficticious Carrie Bradshaw. Therefore, this book intrigued me.  I was not disappointed in it all.  I enjoyed reading about a young woman struggling to be herself and find her place in the 'place of her dreams", doing that which she loved to do - write. I find myself on a similar journey, albeit in Kentucky and not NYC, although I would love to "make it there." This book was the first book I have read, that I can recall, in some time that was written in the present tense. This appealed to me as a writer and therefore I will expound upon it further in another blog. But I found the book to be a quick read - can be read in a long evening - and very enjoyable.

 

 

So, I wanted to let you know the reason, in case you cared to know, why I placed that introductory picture at the top. Because that is what I feel as if I have sitting on my 'nightstand.' I pile of opened books waiting to be finished. Sad, but true. In fact just last night I started not one but two books and I am going to enjoy them both equally. I hope that I eventually will actually be able to finish the stack of twleve plus books that I have started and not finished in the last few months, but that will be a cross I will have to bear I suppose. I can think of worse things in life.

 

I am in hopes to share the next two reviews on "Heart of the Matter" by Emily Giffin and "My Own Mr. Darcy" by Karey White with you next time. Until then, here's hoping your stack of TBR books shrinks this summer. (I am hoping mine will shrink in direct proportion to my belly but THAT is a whole other subject!)

 

Going through life one page at a time,

 

Petra

 

 

And in case you want to know some of the titles I hope to attack this summer:

 

Anything my James Patterson (Have never read anything by him yet)

Anything by John Grisham (Have never read anything by his yet either, although I love all the movies)

Something  by C.J. Box - in the last two years I have been atuned to his name and thoroughly enjoy his style of writing, done mostly in first person)

I want to re-read something by Mary Higgins Clark

I want to try a Horror/thriller and MAY tackle something by James Rubart

I want to re-read Ted Dekker's Circle series, adding "Green" to the mix

And I would also like to read "Rhett Butler's World"

 

This is just the beginning, as I KNOW I will find other titles that intrigue me enough to buy either the kindle/nook or paper versions and start, if not finish, even more.