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Friday Five – Hello Again!

September 8, 2017 by Suzanne

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Where do the weeks go? I’ve been reading and writing, and August is crazy, but now it’s September, so here we are. Hello! How have you all been?

Here are five things that have caught my attention/amused me/made me think:

  1. I read many good responses to the Nashville Statement (which I didn’t find as surprising, given the source, as others seemed to), this one being my favorite.
  2. What do you do when you are trapped in a bakery, held hostage by a hurricane? You make pan dulce, of course, for all the people who are going to be hungry afterwards. I love this story!
  3. I added to my to-read list. There are several on this list of non-fiction I’m interested in checking out.
  4. Lord of the Flies as an all-female remake…written by zero females? The people respond, and it’s hilarious.
  5. And because you need more absurd dog pictures in your life, here are dogs masquerading as people you may know.

Happy Friday!

Posted in Books, Friday Five, Fun | Leave a Comment »

Harvey Help

August 28, 2017 by Suzanne

You’ve probably seen this already floating around your social media accounts, but here are some ways to help in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s damage:

  1. The best way to help is to send money to organizations already doing the work unless they specifically ask you to send other things. Texas Monthly has a list of groups that have been instrumental in relief efforts.  Also HEB has been badass.
  2. My friend’s church in Webster has an Amazon wishlist if you want to take a step out of the process of donation-receipt-deposit-buy for them. The address is
    Hurricane Relief
    Heritage Park Baptist Church
    2732 FM 528 Rd.
    Webster, TX 77598
  3. If you’re in Denton, one of our HAs is working directly with the Rockport fire department to deliver and sort donations. There will be donation boxes in the resident halls at UNT and at Rockin’ Rodeo.  You can also donate money here.

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The Story Cure – A Review

August 28, 2017 by Suzanne

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The Story Cure is a how-to manual from a book doctor on fixing your manuscript. This book can do for your manuscript what a physician’s home reference book can do for what ails you physically.

According to Dinty Moore, a book doctor is “a person who will take a book manuscript…and diagnose why it is not yet working.” He then goes on to detail what aspects you might need to address during the editing process. The goal of this book is to help writers get from “I finished/started/proposed a manuscript” to “I have a real book that people might actually want to read.”

When I am evaluating writing books, I look at three things:

  1. How many notes I take
  2. How many ideas I scribble in the margin for current or future projects.
  3. How long it takes me to get through it or how often I come back to it while editing

Judging from my five pages of excited jottings, this book was a success. I read it straight through once and then went back to start some of the tasks Moore lays out. It has improved my focus on my main fiction project and has inspired new ideas for a novel I’m going to start in November. It’s been so helpful, I may have to give him credit in my acknowledgements section when the books are published.

It should also be noted that I said “when” – not “if” – they are published, because The Story Cure has armed me with tools that I’m confident will lead to publication.

Elements that I found particularly helpful include

  • character motivation/development questions to focus your characters (and thus your story),
  • a massive amount of examples and advice from other writers (complete with reference list), and
  • adaptations for people who write fiction vs. nonfiction and for people who are at varying steps in the writing process.

I also appreciate his writing style, particularly when it includes gems like this when referring to why we fix bad writing – “So Roland is safe after all, but unfortunately not everyone is safe, because it is at this point that the reader pulls out a gun and shoots the author at point-blank range.”

The Story Cure is a helpful tool for people who are in the midst of editing a story that isn’t quite where they want it to be. This book can help get you there.

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Books, Writing | Leave a Comment »

Friday Five – What I’m Reading This Week

August 18, 2017 by Suzanne

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We are in the midst of Mean Green Move-In (which technically starts tomorrow, but let’s be real – we’re in the midst). As students come to campus with concerns about safety and questions about how they can get involved, opportunities for listening and conversation abound.

Here are four things to read that can also help:

  1. Dr. King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail – his reasoning behind his activism.
  2. Reading list for those interested. Some of you might feel defensive about the title. For me, a good way to fight defensiveness is to look beyond it and press on – to read something by someone with whom I don’t have a lot in common with the intent to understand and try to empathize. Maybe that will work for you, too.
  3. Literary examples of the tu quoque fallacy (or why “but both sides!” is not a logical argument and often breaks down what could have been a productive conversation).
  4. If you are not following Osheta Moore from Shalom in the City, you should. Her latest newsletter gave advice on what to do if you are disappointed in your church’s response to Charlottesville events. It’s also good advice for those of us who flocked to our churches because we knew we could expect the topic to be raised. As someone who is frequently “that person” in various circles, I often find her words encouraging. She is also a reminder to me that firm conviction can also be kind.

Speaking of good advice, don’t stare directly into the sun, even during Monday’s eclipse. Enjoy it safely, please.

Posted in Friday Five, Revolution | 2 Comments »

To White Supremacists

August 13, 2017 by Suzanne

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In the Firefly universe, the crew of the Serenity was always trying to avoid Reavers, the ones that had an adverse reaction to their environment and lost their damn minds, giving in to hate and every vile impulse that comes with it.

It’s hard to avoid them in this world, though. They have jobs and pay taxes. They’re raising children. They hold rallies at our universities and on our town squares.

Oh…is that harsh? My bad. Full disclosure – if you need me to be gentle about this, you are not going to like what I have to say here.

I have tried. I have been reading the news and scrolling through social media and racking my brain to find a gentle way to say this, but I have come up empty.

Gentleness is just not an appropriate response.

I would find it curious if an outspoken white supremacist enjoyed reading my blog. Maybe we have the same taste in food? But if you are reading this and are a person who attends white supremacist rallies or sympathizes with those who do, then this post is for you. You wanted attention, and for the next few paragraphs, you have mine. Congratulations, I guess.

I know in my head that you are as fully human as I am, but I have a difficulty seeing any trace of humanity in how you think and act. You may have an endearing characteristic, but I cannot see it through the stinking fog of your white supremacist beliefs. This is not a difference of opinion. I will not agree to disagree. White supremacy is evil and detrimental to the world.

I believe in a God who can redeem anyone, but I also believe that God waits for people to turn their hearts in repentance before doing so. I harbor immense cynicism that you have the willingness or maybe even the capacity to repent.

I agree with Nelson Mandela that no one is born hating whole chunks of humanity. I also know from personal experience that viewpoints that are revealed to be false and bad behavioral habits can be unlearned. In order to have those experiences, however, I have to be open to them, and I don’t see that openness in you.

But just in case I am wrong (and I hope that I am), I have a little advice on how to begin.

[One of my limitations in this conversation is that I don’t know how to fix this without Jesus. So if atheist friends or friends of other faiths want to give advice on where to start, please feel welcome to do so in the comments.]

Since it seems that most outspoken white supremacists, particularly in the southern regions of my country, profess the Christian faith, let’s start there.

That you are wrong about this is not up for discussion. You are wrong. Period. Get on your face before the God you serve and repent. Ask God to help you change. Beg God to help you change. Do not let go until God answers you. Do this every day until you no longer hate the people you hate today.

Next, I know you are really good at being angry. Anger is not wrong, but it needs to be pointed in the right direction. Get angry at white supremacy. Get angry at how it invaded your mind and heart and warped your soul. At some point, were you forced to choose between outwardly embracing white supremacy and being disowned by your family? Doesn’t that make you furious? Lean into that fury. Turn your hate toward this mindset that poisoned your life and every relationship you have. When change seems hopeless – and there will come a time when it does – that anger may be the only fuel that keeps any hope of redemption alive.

I and many others have a lot of ideas on where to go from there, but frankly, I would be surprised if you ever bother to get to this point.

So that’s what I have to say to you. Change. Start to do so immediately. You want to be a person who deserves to be heard? Become a person who says and does worthwhile things.

Posted in Church, Feminism, Revolution | Leave a Comment »

Super

July 24, 2017 by Suzanne

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Incredibly, this is the closest thing I have to a picture of me in a cape.

I really like knowing things. And I like being helpful. These are both good traits by themselves. But with their powers combined, they can be really annoying.

In conversations, I will often give advice. Sometimes, it’s welcome, and it’s a positive experience for both of us. But other times, I know as soon as I say it, it’s unwanted. One might think that at this point I would stop talking. Unfortunately, one would be mistaken. Despite the clear signs of disinterest – the pressing together of the lips, the glassy eyes, the faltering eye contact – I storm straight ahead, not exactly oblivious but not quite sure how to make my mouth stop moving.

It doesn’t help that my career choices act as enablers. No matter what my job title is, I tend to end up in the role of teacher or trainer. I like teaching, but when imparting knowledge is your job, it’s sometimes hard to shut those floodgates.

My habits are enablers, too. I read voraciously, broadly, and deeply. My side hustle is SEO writing, which requires me to learn about things I normally wouldn’t choose to learn, like car parts and marine cargo insurance. When I read the news, I try to read from various sources that lean toward different parts of the political spectrum so that I can pull out the things they agree on (that’s the news – everything else is commentary) and wrestle with my own conclusions. I like reading the work of writers and journalists who are similar to me, but I learn more from reading the work of those who aren’t, so I try to keep a healthy balance of both.

Most people will say reading is a good thing, and I agree and also love it, so I’m not going to stop. But when someone is talking about a topic I’ve read a lot (and thus thought a lot) about, it’s excruciatingly difficult not to interject my two cents, even if it’s clear they aren’t interested in it.

Hello, my name is Suzanne, and sometimes I act like an insufferable know-it-all.

[Aside: I only consider this a weakness concerning unwanted advice. If you ask my advice, I will give it, and I will give it thoroughly, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Fair warning though – if you ask for my advice a lot and consistently don’t take it, that might be my kryptonite – the one thing that can make me refrain from giving you advice at all. Don’t be an askhole. I mean, you have the right to live your life and make all your own choices, free of my input (which, frankly, is a lot healthier than depending on me – or anyone – to tell you what to do). So if that’s what you want…do that and quit asking what I think.]

[Aside P.S.: If you are wondering if the statement above is about you, rest assured that if it is, I have already said it to your face. Possibly in those exact words.]

Occasionally, though, there comes a golden moment.

I’ll be rambling on about what they should do, see the signs that they aren’t open to what I’m saying, and manage to stop. They’ll usually proceed – cautiously – and when it’s my turn in the conversation again, I get to ask them questions about the things they said so that I can really understand where they’re coming from. Once I’m able to catch myself, it’s pretty easy to shift back into the role of listener. Because at its root, listening begins with gathering information.

And I’m super at that.

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My #24in48 Recap

July 24, 2017 by Suzanne

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*theme music to Rocky playing in background*

I have been excited about this weekend since I heard about it in early July, and it lived up to my every expectation. The only way this weekend could have been better is if I had taken my books to a hotel with good room service near a beach. Maybe next time.

To prepare to read for 24 of the 48 hours in a weekend, I gathered a lot of books. I expected that I would read a little bit from most of them, switching things up as my attention waned. This was not the case for most of the time, though. I finished A Year in Provence, and then I savored Milk and Honey, reading it slowly and in the case of some of the poems, over and over. I finished the day (erm, next morning – it was definitely after sunrise when I went to sleep) devouring Love, Loss, and What We Ate. My reading on day two, however, was a little more like I’d planned. I listened to most of Roxane Gay’s Hunger on audio while cleaning, read the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Nayyirah Waheed, and spent a half hour here and there on several other items on my read-next list.

What I learned from reading all weekend:

  1. Is there a job where I can do this all the time? I feel like I’d be fantastic at it.
  2. 24 hours, even with breaks, is a loooong time to sit. Fine. I relent. Audiobooks can be your friend.
  3. It’s been really easy to eat well this weekend. It turns out that holding a book distracts me/keeps my hands busy enough that I don’t eat mindlessly. I’m almost annoyed that my secret to eating better is something as fun and simple as reading a lot. It seems I could have figured that out a while ago.
  4. I need poetry. I’ve been super stressed out lately, but halfway through Milk and Honey, I was completely relaxed. And those are not exactly soothing verses. There’s something about the way poetry captures language that slows me down and quiets me. I prescribe more poetry reading.
  5. I can’t speak for all writers, but for me, reading inspires writing. In addition to reading for a whole day, I have written more – poetry, my fiction WIP, future blog posts – this weekend than the rest of the days this month combined. I’m thinking of starting a practice of one wordy weekend a month. Oh, introvert bliss!

I loved this weekend. It was just what I needed.

 

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Hour 42 of #24in48 – Literary Dinner Party

July 23, 2017 by Suzanne

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This is how the best dinner parties start.

“Which five bookish people (or animals, I’m not picky) would be around your perfect literary dinner table?”

  1. Britt-Marie, from Britt-Marie was Here. She would be right on time, and she would approve of my cutlery drawer. We could be nerdy about that together.
  2. Ernest Hemingway. I would seat him next to Britt-Marie. They would either go to great lengths to hold each other in detached but respectful regard or they would despise each other, resulting in her prim, passive-aggressive jabs and his outright roguish responses. Either way, entertaining for all. Dinner and a show.
  3. Peeta from The Hunger Games. He would be a charming, polite dinner guest. Someone to balance out the chaos happening across the table. Also, he would probably bring fresh baked bread.
  4. Mark Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. But only if he looked like the Colin Firth version. Because Colin Firth.
  5. The Dormouse from Alice in Wonderland. Perhaps the reason he had so much trouble staying awake at the tea party was that he simply wasn’t getting enough caffeine. Let me introduce you to my coffee, sir.

Who would be at your literary dinner party?

Posted in 24in48, Books, Food, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Day 2 – #24in48

July 23, 2017 by Suzanne

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This was my favorite challenge thus far – spine poetry.

It’s Day Two of the 24in48 Readathon, and I’m going to make it! I’ve finished three books:

  • A Day in Provence by Peter Mayle
  • Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
  • Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi

Today’s reading is going to be a combination of

  • The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
  • The audiobook of Hunger by Roxane Gay (because 24 hours is A LOT of sitting)
  • Pieces posted in my mastermind group’s Google drive

I’ve consisted on a diet of spinach and goat cheese lasagna, potatoes dressed with onions and various sauces (inspired by Padma Lakshmi), oatmeal, and all the coffee I have in the house.

Thanks to all that coffee, I reached hour fifteen early this morning before napping.

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Nine hours to go!

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Hour Zero – The #24in48 Readathon Begins!

July 22, 2017 by Suzanne

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This is what the majority of my weekend is going to look like.

Intro Survey:

Where in the world are you reading from this weekend?
In Denton, Texas – at home with the air conditioner

Have you done the 24in48 readathon before?
Nope – first time!

Where did you hear about the readathon, if it is your first?
A friend posted about it on Facebook.

What book are you most excited about reading this weekend?
Jasper Fforde’s The Big Over Easy

Tell us something about yourself.
I write and read mostly fiction, but I like something from most genres. Winter is my favorite season. And if coffee were a person, I would marry it.

Remind us where to find you online this weekend.
Twitter (@coffeesnob318), Instagram (@_coffeesnob_), and here on the blog.

Posted in 24in48, Books, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

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