Next up on my list of things to try in life: triathalon!
Now, those of you who know me know that that really is ridiculous, because my asthma prevents me from doing any sort of running (seriously - I can't even follow rule number 1 from Zombieland. I'd be in the first round of zombites). And I haven't done any serious bike riding, well, ever.
BUT, one thing I am remarkably good at (given the proper training and practice) is swimming. So I have decided, with a couple of my co-workers, to relay a triathalon this summer. I already have my wetsuit, so now I just need to get in the water and practice!
I'm actually pretty excited for this. I miss swimming, and the training will be great exercise. Hopefully I won't let my teammates down!
Karla
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Twiddling My Thumbs
Well, I've finished the first draft of my novel!
It's been sent off to my mentor and my second reader, as it's my creative thesis for my MFA program (Stonecoast MFA through the University of Southern Maine) and needs to be signed off on by two faculty members to be accepted for graduation. Which I think is a great setup, but now I have nothing to work on while I wait for comments.
It's funny. I've been working on this novel for so long and there have definitely been times that I wanted to abandon ship for a day or two and start something completely different. In fact, that's how this novel began - I was working on a different project, got fed up with myself, and started this piece. But now that I am forced to work on something different, all I want to do is return to my character and the world that I've spent so long with.
At first, all this sounds like laziness or writer's block or whatever term you want to give it, but I don't think that's the case. I think that this means I'm not done working with this piece. Well, obviously I'm not done - it's just the first complete draft. But I'm raring at the bit to get back to it!
That being said, I definitely have ideas for something new. Don't be surprised if you see me reading more chick lit than normal in the near future...
Karla
It's been sent off to my mentor and my second reader, as it's my creative thesis for my MFA program (Stonecoast MFA through the University of Southern Maine) and needs to be signed off on by two faculty members to be accepted for graduation. Which I think is a great setup, but now I have nothing to work on while I wait for comments.
It's funny. I've been working on this novel for so long and there have definitely been times that I wanted to abandon ship for a day or two and start something completely different. In fact, that's how this novel began - I was working on a different project, got fed up with myself, and started this piece. But now that I am forced to work on something different, all I want to do is return to my character and the world that I've spent so long with.
At first, all this sounds like laziness or writer's block or whatever term you want to give it, but I don't think that's the case. I think that this means I'm not done working with this piece. Well, obviously I'm not done - it's just the first complete draft. But I'm raring at the bit to get back to it!
That being said, I definitely have ideas for something new. Don't be surprised if you see me reading more chick lit than normal in the near future...
Karla
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
When Sports Fans Become Tasteless, Classless Idiots
You got it - I'm talking about this guy:
(Photo linked from the USA Today story)
Really, dude?
I get it. You like your hockey team. I like my baseball team, as well. But "Boston Strong" has nothing to do with the Bruins. Or the Red Sox, or the Patriots, or the Celtics. It has to do with the fact that three people died in a horrific bomb attack on April 15th at the Boston Marathon.
Now, I am all for sports rivalries. I have to be - I'm a Red Sox fan. But when September 11th happened, the Red Sox honored the Yankees when baseball finally resumed (tried to find a link, but the Sox news archive doesn't go back that far). And when the marathon bombings happened, this is what they did in New York:
(Photo from the Atlantic's website)
That is how you stay classy.
Rivalries are great - they can make the game more fun. BU vs. BC, the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, the Patriots vs. the Colts/Jets/the rest of the NFL, the Giants vs. the Dodgers, hell the Army vs. the Navy.
But the slogan that was born out of healing from a vicious attack against innocent people being used to cheer on your sports team? That's just trashy and cruel.
There are some things that transcend a sports game. Bombings are one of them. That's what "Boston Strong" is about.
Karla
(Photo linked from the USA Today story)
Really, dude?
I get it. You like your hockey team. I like my baseball team, as well. But "Boston Strong" has nothing to do with the Bruins. Or the Red Sox, or the Patriots, or the Celtics. It has to do with the fact that three people died in a horrific bomb attack on April 15th at the Boston Marathon.
Now, I am all for sports rivalries. I have to be - I'm a Red Sox fan. But when September 11th happened, the Red Sox honored the Yankees when baseball finally resumed (tried to find a link, but the Sox news archive doesn't go back that far). And when the marathon bombings happened, this is what they did in New York:
(Photo from the Atlantic's website)
That is how you stay classy.
Rivalries are great - they can make the game more fun. BU vs. BC, the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, the Patriots vs. the Colts/Jets/the rest of the NFL, the Giants vs. the Dodgers, hell the Army vs. the Navy.
But the slogan that was born out of healing from a vicious attack against innocent people being used to cheer on your sports team? That's just trashy and cruel.
There are some things that transcend a sports game. Bombings are one of them. That's what "Boston Strong" is about.
Karla
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
I Love Boston
How do I say how unsettling and surreal it is to see the Boston bombings on the news? I used to live there. I can't count how many times I walked down that street, or rode the Green Line underneath Copley Square, or watched the marathon (though not from the finish line). I know that incidents like this are supposed to breed terror and fear and unease and all that, but it seems so unfathomable to me why someone would attack a road race of all things.
Of course, I'm also reading Columbine by Dave Cullen right now, which probably doesn't help. It's a fascinating book, and as someone who was in high school during the height of the school shooting trend and ensuing paranoia, I can relate to those students who were witnesses. (Obviously not Harris and Klebold. So far, they just seem like sociopaths. No sympathy from me for them at all.)
There used to be a theory that one huge, world-altering event happened every other decade or so: the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the stock market crash in 1929, Pearl Harbor in 1941, JFK's assassination in 1963, the Challenger explosion in 1986, September 11th 2001 - but now it's almost like horrible tragedies are happening once a month. What gives?
Karla
Of course, I'm also reading Columbine by Dave Cullen right now, which probably doesn't help. It's a fascinating book, and as someone who was in high school during the height of the school shooting trend and ensuing paranoia, I can relate to those students who were witnesses. (Obviously not Harris and Klebold. So far, they just seem like sociopaths. No sympathy from me for them at all.)
There used to be a theory that one huge, world-altering event happened every other decade or so: the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the stock market crash in 1929, Pearl Harbor in 1941, JFK's assassination in 1963, the Challenger explosion in 1986, September 11th 2001 - but now it's almost like horrible tragedies are happening once a month. What gives?
Karla
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Felicity Saves the Day
I was at my parents' house today, for my mom's birthday. And, down in my old bedroom, I came across my American Girl books. Let me tell you - I adored those books in elementary school. Felicity was my favorite, Molly was my least favorite, and Samantha and Kirsten fell somewhere in between. Even now, I remember the stories fondly.
It made me think about the responsibility that we as authors have towards younger audiences. Since I am working on a YA novel, I consider a lot what or how the things that I'm writing will be interpreted by readers.
Back when I was working at the bookstore, there were certain young adult books that I swore never to recommend to parents of teenage girls. Books about catty, rich, mean girls do nothing to encourage young girls to explore their potential. I'm not anywhere near being feminist, and we have come a long way towards women being equal in several aspects of life, but girls still need role models better and stronger than Bella Swan. (Though I will say that Bella at least gets badass when she finally becomes a vampire.)
Where is the line between responsibility and creativity? I've never been one to place blame for violent acts on things like movies or television, but children do emulate the characters they love. After all, who of us DIDN'T try to start their own Baby-Sitter's Club?
Karla
It made me think about the responsibility that we as authors have towards younger audiences. Since I am working on a YA novel, I consider a lot what or how the things that I'm writing will be interpreted by readers.
Back when I was working at the bookstore, there were certain young adult books that I swore never to recommend to parents of teenage girls. Books about catty, rich, mean girls do nothing to encourage young girls to explore their potential. I'm not anywhere near being feminist, and we have come a long way towards women being equal in several aspects of life, but girls still need role models better and stronger than Bella Swan. (Though I will say that Bella at least gets badass when she finally becomes a vampire.)
Where is the line between responsibility and creativity? I've never been one to place blame for violent acts on things like movies or television, but children do emulate the characters they love. After all, who of us DIDN'T try to start their own Baby-Sitter's Club?
Karla
Friday, April 12, 2013
Inaugural Post, reposted
Originally I had set up a blog on Tumblr, but I like the way that Blogspot works so much better. So this is the first post that I wrote a few weeks ago, imported to here, which will be my permanent blogging home.
My goal for this blog is mostly to be a jumping off point for my professional life. I graduate with my MFA in just four short months, and then…what? You’re welcome to find out with me.
There will be pop culture-ish mentionings throughout, as I like to stay tuned in, especially to books (obviously). I just attended AWP in Boston last month, which was a great conference, if a little overwhelming. 11,000 attendees with 600+ panels in three days. Yikes. But I got to see quite a few of my Stonecoast friends (my MFA program - links soon) and got to play in my old home city.
Recently, I finished reading The Inverted Forest by John Dalton. I find these things through places like EW, add them to my immensely long list, and then don’t remember what they’re about. This one, it turns out, was about a summer camp for the developmentally disabled, at which something ominously “tragic” almost happens and then there are repurcussions. I wanted it to be good. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t going to go exactly how I thought it would.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t good and it did go exactly where I thought it would. There was a bit of a twist in the second part, but a twist gone horrible wrong. You know the kind - a serious monkey wrench that makes you question whether the author even knew what was going on. Unreliable narrators are great; unreliable authors are not.
So welcome! "Buckle your seatbelts - it's going to be a bumpy night."
Karla
My goal for this blog is mostly to be a jumping off point for my professional life. I graduate with my MFA in just four short months, and then…what? You’re welcome to find out with me.
There will be pop culture-ish mentionings throughout, as I like to stay tuned in, especially to books (obviously). I just attended AWP in Boston last month, which was a great conference, if a little overwhelming. 11,000 attendees with 600+ panels in three days. Yikes. But I got to see quite a few of my Stonecoast friends (my MFA program - links soon) and got to play in my old home city.
Recently, I finished reading The Inverted Forest by John Dalton. I find these things through places like EW, add them to my immensely long list, and then don’t remember what they’re about. This one, it turns out, was about a summer camp for the developmentally disabled, at which something ominously “tragic” almost happens and then there are repurcussions. I wanted it to be good. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t going to go exactly how I thought it would.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t good and it did go exactly where I thought it would. There was a bit of a twist in the second part, but a twist gone horrible wrong. You know the kind - a serious monkey wrench that makes you question whether the author even knew what was going on. Unreliable narrators are great; unreliable authors are not.
So welcome! "Buckle your seatbelts - it's going to be a bumpy night."
Karla
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