I'm Not Dead

Listening to: Neko Case- Blacklisted

I've loved writing for as lon g as I can remember. When I was around 8 years old I invented a character named Izzy the Dog. My parents liked the first story enough to send it to my relatives, and they seemed to get a kick out of it so it became a series. The last story was the opus, Izzy Goes to Hollywood. Izzy was discovered and put in a dog food commercial, which I apparently thought was pretty big time as a kid since Izzy started going around Hollywoodland in a convertible and flashy sunglasses.

In my senior year of high school my class for my english credit was Creative Writing. I couldn't tell you how excited I was for this class as I had mainly been doing writing for the school newspaper, which made it that much more heartbreaking when I met Mrs. Sepulveda. Everyday we had a journal topic, which was great except she had a system of the date being in say, green, the topic in blue, and your entry in black. If you didn't do every color you got a ) grade. When we had our story assignments we were given hyper specifics on how far from the margins the type could be, if it was off by even .01 you would recieve 50% off your grade. Great enviroment for creativity, eh? That year I also started getting sick, and missing a lot of school. I ALWAYS had a note, never caused any problems and always made up my work, but Sepulveda seemed to be personally afronted by my absences. I think the main thing was that I could miss her classes and still turn in a paper that would get an A. She started altering grades (most infamously to 96% to 69%. When I went to talk to her about it she "mysteriously" could not find the original paper.) I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (which was later re-diagnosed as systemic lupus) and was put under so much pressure I was making myself sicker. Writing was my one big escape, and Sepulveda ruined that for me. I had a bhreakdown the last day of the first semester, and did not return to school. I finished by doing at home courses and did not have a graduation.

So for years I haven't written a thing besides emails and reviews and that sort of thing. Just recently I've started writing fiction again, and it's been so wonderful. It reminds me that I do have at least a little talent in something, and I can escape for a little while when I write. A big part of that goes to my wonderful boyfriend, who is a musician and songwriter. His writing and encouragment got me going again, and his continued support means the world to me. I've also re-discovered reading "heavily" and regularly, and that's also helped my writing so much. I'm in pain pretty much every moment of my life, but if it's a good book I can leave my flawed body for a little while and "become" someone else. I don't just enjoy reading/books, they are literally my lifeline. Whenever I become very depressed or lonely I usually like to go to a bookstore (used or a B&N or Borders) or the library. Just being around books calms me- running my fingers over the spines, taking in the scent of old pages... it's just magic to me.

I love anything and everything that's sincere. I tend to be most interested in mysteries and general fiction, though recently I've discovered a guilty pleasure in historical romance. My all-time favorite books (not counting childhood ones, which would need its own entry) are The Princess Bride by William Goldman and The Time-Traveler's Wife by Aundrey Niffenegger. My next entry will detail my favorite reads of 2007. Thank you for reading!