Movies based on books...hmmm...

Yesterday I went to the movies for the Breaking Dawn part 2 and some thoughts came to mind about movies and series based on books.

Well, first of all I must say that I love Twilight saga and I was too excited to see the movies. After all I started reading it after I had seen the first movie and I had adored it. Now, some years after, I have read many books and I have seen the movies or the series that people have make based on books and an opinion has formed into my brain.

Letter to a child never born...

Few days ago I wrote a small review on Goodreads and I would like to talk a little about this book. The title is: “Letter to a child never born” and it is a unique book which sold four million copies worldwide. If you haven’t the chance to read it yet, I totally recommend it.

Well, as I said this book is different from every other I have read. It was written by Italian author and journalist Orianna Fallaci and it is like you are reading a personal diary. There are no chapters; no titles only entries marking events form her life.

Small Chapters-My choice.

Yes, it is official. I prefer small chapters in books. And by small I mean up to ten pages. As much as I like a book I have to admit that when a chapter is too big I kind of get tired sometimes.

In smaller chapters I get a feeling of integration as it is clearer to follow the events and my curiosity, anxiety, wonder are increasing so I want to read the next one and the next after that. As a result I caught myself flipping the pages and reading the chapters more eager than reading only one. I don’t know if you understand me so let me explain.

Are you thankful?

It is Thanksgiving Day in US today so I was thinking that we all should be thankful for something. So I am asking you…what are you thankful for?

I believe that the most important thing in life is health. If we are healthy we can work and we can fight the battles that life is bringing us. After that there are a million things that we should be thankful like family, friends, kids, work, money and countless other things. I am thankful that I have the time to write my stories despite the difficulties that I face. It is really important being able to do what you love even if it is just for a few hours in your busy day. I don’t know how long I will have the ability to write my stories in everyday basis and I try to enjoy every minute of it. I don’t even know if anyone will ever read them, but I love writing and that is enough for me. Every day is a new day and you never know how it will turn out to be. So, I say that we should be thankful even for the tiny little thing that is happening to us because life moves fast and it would be a shame to waste it with sad thoughts. 

Get Focused.

Last week I was searching blogs, reading posts, trying to learn how the marketing world is working and I realize that it is as hard as I was expecting. I have read a tweet some days ago where someone was saying that writing and marketing your novel along with all the other things you have to do and keeping your sanity…is really remarkable. And I agree.

With all that I hadn’t the time to write and I hated it. When I write everything seems better as the reality fades a little and I get to live along with the characters I am creating, who most of the times are even surprising me with their decisions. So, today when I woke up I said to myself. “Now you will write and nothing will stand in the way.” And so I wrote and I am close to finish my second novel which is going to have a sequel and maybe becoming a trilogy but this is too far away.

To my point, for an indie author like I am, it is really easy to lost track in the chaotic book industry while the best we can do…is write! That’s what I am going to do. I will be more focused on writing because that’s what I love and that’s what I want to learn better.   

Why book series?

It is a nice Sunday and my thoughts are about series of books. Over the years I noticed that the books I enjoy the most are those that don’t stop at book #1. Frankly the books that I have read, and aren’t a part of a series, are a few and I believe there are many people this moment who caught themselves nodding as they read my post.

So, I was wondering. Why we choose to read series? For me the answer is simple. I love it when I finish a book and I already anticipate the arrival of the next one. It makes me thinking how the story will continue, what the writer is thinking about it, what new adventure the characters will have to face. Many times I am creating my own scenarios about the story or I try to imagine how it is going to be. There aren’t few the times when I discuss it with friends and we share our opinions. This is a magic that a book without a sequel can’t give you. Not because it will not be good but because you will not be able to discuss it as much as you’d like since the story will finish and then all your questions will be answered. At one point I decided not to read any series and so I went to the bookstore to find something new. You know what the result was? I bought a book and when I sat down to read it I saw those little letters which said that it was a part of a series!! Not a big one and not that you couldn’t read it without reading the first, but it was a part of a series. Two things I got from this. Either I should pay more attention at a book’s cover or subconsciously I was craving for another series. I bet it was the second one.

I believe that the reader loves the characters more when he follows the journey from one book to the other. This is something amazing because the author is creating a world which loved and cared by people and somehow behind the pages, the paragraphs, the sentences, the letters, that world materializes and take its place in our hearts like it happened in real life. And that is the magic of all the books but I personally sense it a little more alive when it is about series. Don’t you?

Are Hunger Games...just an imagination?

Currently I am reading the Hunger Games trilogy and now that I am closer to the end I decided to talk about those books that triggered something inside me. I guess more or less everyone knows about the Hunger Games and especially now that there is a movie too. So, give some time to read and if you want to comment on this post because I believe there are some things that must to be said.

Well, these books have something that is more than a nice read. Especially the first one where you learn about Katniss, the districts and the way people are leaving. It really shocked me. I guess it might be because the days we are living are difficult for people all around the world. The idea of Panem rising through the ashes of what used to be North America and the way Capitol was desperately trying to keep people in order, isn’t too science-fiction in my head. I am worried how the world will be in the future and I just hope that it will be a nice place for the next generations.

Suzanne Collins created a new reality which at the end wasn’t too strange. Poverty exists around the globe and year by year it keeps increasing and people are struggling for the necessary when there are those who have more than they need. OK, I know that this isn’t new and I don’t want to judge anyone, but I am just wondering how those people can keep living in their bubble when the world rises its hands waving for survival?! I don’t know about you, but I could easily see a Capitol pattern floating on air. Don’t judge me wrong, I am not saying that something from the book will really exist but I realize that in a gentle way we do live in some districts and we do ruled by some Capitol. I haven’t felt a book so alive before and Suzanne Collins succeeded to make it stick in my head. Some may think that I am exaggerating but spend a moment to really think about it. I don’t know…I just felt it that way and I’d like to share it with you.

Feel free to tell me your thoughts about this and correct me if you believe I am wrong. After all…this is just my opinion. 

Writing is a very lonely procedure.

I don’t know about you, but I was always a lonely girl. I am not saying that I don’t enjoy company or spending time with friends and family but I adore those moments where I get to sit alone and just write. Those are the moments where my emotions and thoughts, are coming to surface effortlessly. Either I am writing a novel or a post, or just a diary, it is an important part of the day. For those moments, which can last either half an hour either four or five, the world around me fades and nothing really matters. Sometimes in the sound of a beautiful song or in perfect silence, I get to be me and just put random words on paper which in the end turn out to be a story hidden between my lines.

For me writing isn’t something I have to do or someone expects for me to do. Most of the time, no one knows that I am writing and very few are those who know how I really feel about it. Deciding to share my stories and even creating this blog wasn’t easy, but as I said again, publishing my novels is a way to fulfill their destiny, which is to be read and maybe loved. And if none of the above ever happens it’s OK, because I will know that I did my part. I completed my stories and I put them there…in plain sight in case someone will decide to read them…and I have made my peace with that. J

Writing makes you a better writer.

It is a fact! Writing makes you a better writer.

When I was writing my first novel I was reading articles around the internet and there were many opinions that the more you write the better you become. Of course I agreed and I couldn’t wait to see it happening to me. And…it happened. 

Now that I am writing my second novel, I see the differences. First of all I write faster. I guess that with the first one I was hesitating, I was afraid but then it was coming more naturally and now that I have written all these pages, is even better. Then I noticed that the descriptions were easier to write and generally everything was coming without effort. As everything in life, writing needs practicing too. Either we write a novel, a post or a review it is good. We learn how to put out thoughts on paper, to express our feelings and spread the word out to others.

For me, writing was always my way out and paper was my closest friend. The things I didn’t want to share with my actual friends I was glad to write them down. I want to continue writing and I am just dreaming that someday there might be someone who will like what I have to say. I know it’s not easy but I also know that writing is what I love that’s why I will not give it up. So, if you are having second thoughts or you don’t trust the way you write, don’t give up. Everything will be better with time. 

Game of Thrones makes me shiver...

Today I want to talk about a series of books that I believe will stay in history and that is Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I have read the three of them and I am definitely going to read the others too. What can I say about those books…they are just amazing!

It was the first time I ever read that kind of book and I don’t regret it. I mean…George Martin has written a masterpiece!! All the details, the characters, the places, it is like I am reading something that really exists and I want to go visit Winterfell and all the Seven Kingdoms. I like the way he writes, showing the cruelty and the beauty of living in such a place. I adore Daenerys and her dragons and I am anxious to see them growing and help her take the kingdom.

What makes me shiver in those books is that they are so unpredictable. I don’t know who the main character may be in the future since they keep dying!!! And I like that nothing’s given, because that’s life! We don’t know what a new day will bring. Every book has its own magic and up to the third everything changes. I don’t have a clue what is happening in the fourth and don’t even ask me about the rest. What I know is reading this series it's a unique experience! They're long books I know, but I don’t believe this is a reason not to read them. I know many people who say that they are too big and they can’t read them and many stuff like that, but I always tell them that they are missing a wonderful experience.

Reading Game of Thrones isn’t just reading a book…you got to live in the Seven Kingdoms and you know everything and everyone. When I'm reading I feel like I open a portal and travel with the writer in his amazing world.

If you having second thoughts about reading those books…just go for it!! Trust me you'll not lose!

Don't lose your will.

Today I am too excited. I don’t have a particular reason to be, since I have many things troubling my mind but…being able to write and continuing my story makes me happy.

Being an indie author isn’t easy but I believe there is a particular beauty to it. Writing a novel on your own it might be difficult, and speaking of myself, there are many times that I lose my strength. Those are the times I doubt if my stories will ever reach a reader and that is one of the difficulties for being an indie author. We have to do everything alone, editing, promotion and of course there are things we shouldn’t do alone. But I will not talk about that.

I am writing this post because I want to encourage everyone I can, including myself, to keep doing what they love. I am too stubborn to stop because sometimes I am disappointed or because I read an amazing novel and I believe that the world doesn’t need my story. Who knows, there might be one person who will love my work. Isn’t that enough? I believe it is and I am not talking about friends and family who will be supportive and optimists. I talk about unknown men and women who will search the internet and even by chance they will decide to read whatever I have to tell them. And they may end up like it!

So when you feel sad, disappointed or pessimist, don’t give up! The difficulties exist so we can overcome them and keep going. So, sleeves up and keep writing.

My first short story!

I finally did it! I uploaded one of my short stories and I would like to talk about it.

The title is “The angel of Christmas” and it is a very old story, meaning that I wrote it thirteen years ago. I was eleven years old and it was one my favorites, still is. I didn’t want to do many changes because I like it to be a story from a child to another.

It is a Christmas story but not in the “typical” way. It describes a family where the father is focused on his work and he isn’t willing to be with his wife and daughter even for Christmas. But life is unpredictable and everything can change in a single moment. The story shows the importance of family, the way people react when things are going wrong and the need to help others and not being selfish.

I hope for people to read it and let me know with a review or a feedback even if they didn’t like it. I have mixed feelings since it is the first time I have something in public and I know that someone might read my story but…I hope they do! :)

Random thoughts about NaNoWriMo.

November is here and since yesterday has started the National Novel Writing Month. The rule is simple, write the first draft of a novel in a month. 50,000 words at least and you are in! It is a project that started in 1999 and since then many-many writers participate every year.

I was so excited about participating too in NaNoWriMo but that would mean I have to stop writing the one I am working on and start another. That’s makes me sad since I am so focused on the YA I’m creating. I don’t know what to do…continue writing what I already have or start a new one? The clock is ticking and I have a decision to make.

I know that writing a novel in a month will be a unique experience since I will be able to talk with others who experiencing the same and it will be fun but I want to finish my novel and write the sequel since I am planning to make it a trilogy (I hope!)

If only I could participate with what I already have but…rules are rules and I know that some of you out there are wishing the same…right?