Writer's Digest Contest

The Q at Writer's Digest has a new contest asking its readers to answer a question and then blog about the contest. You could win a free Writer's Digest subscription for a year.

The Q asks: Define What Writing Means to You

You can read the rules and the contest's description here.

Have fun and good luck!

Internship and Book Reviews

I started my internship at Hawthorne Books this week. During the ten weeks I will do various projects associated with James Bernard Frost's A Very Minor Prophet. The book will be released April 1st, 2012. Currently, I am finding venues where Frost can do readings and promotions for the book.

On another topic, I've read a few books lately and I started my 2012 book challenge that I mentioned in another blog post. I finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami which I read for Japan, and I wrote a book review on Askmissa.com. I didn't like the book all that much. I thought it was too long and needed some serious editing. So many details are repeated over and over again and the ending was unsatisfactory. Overall, I give it two stars out five because the plot and characterization had potential, I just wish he would have made better choices as the story progressed.

Another book that I finished is The Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavitch. This autobiography of the author takes the reader on a journey through Lydia's abusive childhood up to her most recent past. Despite the chaos and the numbness in her life, two things always remained constant: water (and her ability to swim) and writing. By following those two things that gave her purpose and happiness, she finally finds the strength to heal her wounds. The book contains such a wonderful story and Lydia has a strong voice and style that make it impossible to put it down. With the very first paragraph I was sucked into her story and I'm so glad that I read it. The Chronology of Water is my favorite book of 2011 and I give it five out of five.

This week, I began The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. So far, I enjoy the book, but I'm only 50 pages into the story. Next week I will give an update or a review, it just depends on how quickly I read it.

With that, I leave you. Have a great three day weekend.

Flash Fiction Piece

I want to send a thank you to Karen at Bibliographic Blather for featuring my flash fiction "The Loss" on her blog.

And to my readers and subscribers, sorry for the lack of posts. With the holidays and my graduate application due soon, I've had a crazy past two months. And next week, I'll begin an internship with Hawthorne Books, too . However, starting Friday the 13th (oh no! I hope no one is suspicious who's reading this.), I will post something every week.

I look forward to hearing from everyone and best of luck with your new year.