If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad

Good Afternoon,
Today is going to be an all day writing day for me. I figured I might as well since classes start tomorrow and I don’t know what my new work load will be. so I thought I’d have fun today. Any who…. I was looking for a good writing quote to put as my facebook status and I came across a lot of really good ones so I’m just going to post them here cause they rock! Enjoy!

• If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
• I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
• Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum. ~Graycie Harmon
• There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley
• The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
• Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
• I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard
• Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain
• Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
• Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov
• Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Emme Woodhull-Bäche
• I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. ~James Michener
• A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one. ~Baltasar Gracián
• The only cure for writer's block is insomnia. ~Merit Antares
• If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
• You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke. ~Arthur Polotnik
• Pen names are masks that allow us to unmask ourselves. ~C. Astrid Weber
• How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. ~Henry David Thoreau
• Read a book and give you imagination wings. ~ Taylor R. Vangclear

Laters,
T.V.

Growing Up

Salut,



So today is my last day of winter break at home. I move in tomorrow and classes start on Tuesday and I’m crossing my fingers that I have enough money for my 18 textbooks this semester plus lab gear for bio. If not…then I’ll make friends with someone who wants to share! Haha any how this is going to be a HUGE rant that I just feel like posting.

So I’m sitting in front of my compy (obviously) and I’m thinking. Now I just finished the second part of The Snowy Waste so I’m ecstatic mostly because the third and final part is so insanely short! And I cannot think of stuff to write currently… so I’m thinking about the whole going back to college and growing up deal. Normally I don’t think about this but I’m babysitting tonight for two little boys I’ve babysat since the older one was a few months old and he’s nearly four! So I feel a wee bit old watching them grow up. But mainly I was thinking about how the older one likes to play with my cell phone and when I first started babysitting I had that dorky old phone and I always hated it. It was mostly because all the “grow ups” had cool phones like the blackberry and other such nifty phones. Now mind you I was a sophomore in high school. And I couldn’t wait to “grow up” because I equated to being older to having a cooler phone.

Middle of junior year I got the Alias that flipped the two ways. Ya that was cool till everyone else got it and I felt like a kid again. Then as I started to get ready for college and what not I got the LG Dare and then I got to thinking that I have a cool phone now and I’m in college so that makes me almost grown up right? This is totally weird to me because I still feel like the same old me. Yet every one must seem someone different cause I went to visit the Aftercare I worked at last year and all the kids wanted to know about college and then they had to tell me how grown up it was that I was going to college and I was floored that they now saw me as a grown up simply because I was in college.

Because last year they knew I was in high school so I guess I was still a kid to them and now… well I must say it doesn’t feel much different. Well actually I lie a wee bit. I still talk to kids who are in high school and it seems sort of awkward to be a college student chilling out with high school kids. Sort of a creepy weird but not really it’s hard to explain. But here I am striving to become a well known author which is something “grow ups” do and I’m still in college! Man it’s just a jumble of me feeling like a kid yet being lumped into that “grow up” group. And then that also raises the once you get out of college what are you going to do… talk about rushing things. People are asking me this and I’m like I’m still a freshman and I have the ambitions I had as a senior which might not all work out in reality so come talk to me when I graduate. So I’ve decided that you’re only a “grown up” when you stop enjoying you job and other things you do. Why you ask? Because all the “grown ups” (excluding my parents) I knew when I was younger hated their jobs and lived for the weekend so I saw them as “grown up” because they did things they didn’t like and kids always get away with only doing the things they like. So that’s why if still feel like a kid because I was always that one kid in the class who LOVED school. And now in college I choose my classes and the time I take the class so it’s fun and I want to go to class. The same goes for, as I call it, my job. A.K.A. my writing. I love doing it and I doubt I’ll ever get tired of it. I’m more than happy with where I am in life and where I am going so I’m along for the ride at this point. One more point! As I was just getting ready to post this Weightless by All Time Low started playing on my compy and the line “If I could just find the time, Then I would never let another day go by, I'm over, getting old” I tots def agree!

Laters,

T.V.

Oh College

Happy Saturday Night!



I decided that it would be a good idea to log and finish registering for spring classes. Turns out I can’t. FML! I have two holds on my account for I have no clue why! Which means I only have three classes worth 9 credits. Thus I will be kicked out of my campus housing this Friday if I do get these holds off my account and register for the rest of my classes because I need 12 credits to continue to live on campus. Good thing I found this out on a Friday night when I have to wait till Monday to fix it. FUUUUNNN BEANS!! Hahaha not. And what’s even more frustrating is the fact that all the classes I want to take have openings!! This is frustrating me because I can see the open classes but I cannot register. So I hope no one registers and closes the classes or I will promptly hunt them down and throw jello at them… actually I probably just cream at my computer and curse my school and be happy that I am transferring to NYU for the fall. I have made plans to go to campus Monday and rectify this situation! I also realized that I have seven days of break left and I am very close to broke which means no textbooks unless I babysit this week… must make phone calls…. Haha oh college how I love and hate you. But I’m tots def looking forward to moving back to my lovely quiet dorm. I love being home but I love being at school more. I just hope when I get back to school that I can keep up my epic writing streak because I am UBER close to finishing my first draft! Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!


Laters,
T.V.

Book Reviews!!

Book Review Time!!

It’s been a long time since I did my last reviews so I thought it would be cool to do another. I’m going to Review The Daemon’s Curse and The Darren Shan Saga. Now Darren is a series of 12 books… but they are amazing!

First. The Daemon’s Curse is by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. It’s the first in a four book series… so I guess I’m reviewing two series. Haha. But they’re really good books if you’re looking for some gore. I don’t know about you but sometimes a good gory book beats out a good plot. But there’s also a decent plot that goes with the hack and slash. But just a bit more basic info before the plot. It’s a Warhammer novel which means it’s written off of the miniatures game of Games Workshop. Which is actually how I found it because I play as Dark Elves and Malus Darkblade is a Dark Elf figure I LOVE to use cause he kicks major butt. I was tot def excited when I found that there was a whole book series about him! The series goes as thus (1) The Daemon’s Curse (2) Bloodstorm (3)Reaper of Souls and (4) Lord of Ruin.

So The Daemon’s curse starts the epic journey Malus must make to save his soul. Now among the Dark Elves of Naggaroth it’s common for one to conspire against your siblings and kill to get to the top. Epically if you are the youngest child of the Vaulkhar of Hag Graef. So what better way than to travel to the Chaos Waste to a temple that holds “great power”? Too bad that “great power” was in the form of a Daemon. Malus becomes possessed by the ancient daemon Tz’arkan. Now Malus has two options either live with Tz’arkan slowly taking over and poisoning his body……or…… find five artifacts that have been lost in time within a year. So Malus embarks on a journey to try and find these five artifacts that have only been seen in tales over the last centuries. In the next three books Malus travels the known world looking for the artifacts. In his wake he leaves blood and hate. Will Malus find the artifacts? Or will he loose his soul?

Now lately there has been a craze about vampires. Now I hate to tell people that vampires were cool before their image was turned into that of a cute sparkly thing. Besides I hate to tell certain authors that REAL vampires don’t sparkle in sunlight, they die. I have a gig and a half of research to prove it… but I diverge, but only a tiny bit. Because I’ve been an avid vampire book reader for years now. And the Darren Shan saga is a fantastic way to demonstrate thus. It’s actually a vampire series but Shan does an amazing job of making his vampire’s all his own yet not diverging too much from “traditional” vampire. So The Saga of Darren Shan is by Darren Shan. The order of the books is as follows (1) Cirque Du Freak (2) The Vampire’s Assistant (3) Tunnels of Blood (4) Vampire Mountain (5) Trials of Death (6) The Vampire Prince (7) Hunters of The Dusk (8)Allies of The Night (9) Killers of The Dawn (10)The Lake of Souls (11) Lord of Shadows and (12) Sons of Destiny

It’s about a young boy (Darren Shan) and it follows him through the motions of growing up… as a vampire’s assistant. It was never his plan to be turned into a half vampire but when Darren attends a freak show and falls in love with Mr. Crepsley’s spider Madame Octa. Now Darren loved all types of spiders but Madame Octa is a large and way cool spider. So Darren steals Madame Octa and that’s when everything changes for him. The young boy gets swept up into a whirl wind of adventure as he goes with Mr. Crepsley who turns Darren into a half vampire.

Ya… that’s a rather shitty review… but I can’t say too much without giving away a ton. So apparently it was made into a movie… I watched the previews and I spotted at least 20 things that were wrong with it. Hahaha. Aaannnnd it’s also a manga (http://www.onemanga.com/Darren_Shan/) pretty nifty. I checked it out and it looks cool. And check out Darren’s website (http://www.darrenshan.com/) cause his other series (The Deamonata Series) is awesome too. Oh yes and I need to say a special thanks to my friend Luke (who leant me his name for The Cycle of Zantor) because he was the one who told me to read this series.


Laters,
T.V.

Why I Write

Greetings,



I was talking to an old high school friend today and we got onto my writing and they asked me why I write. I can’t remember quite what I told them but I think it was rather lame and along the lines of because it’s fun. Then I really started to think about it. And I sort of came up with a much better explanation as to why I write. True it is fun but there are also a lot of other things that drive me to write. I thought of four good reasons that I write so here they are. Here’s why I write!


(1) Immortality
Now the allure to immortality is something that we have all felt at one time or another I’m sure. Just the whole thought of being able to see the world grow and change over millions of years seems fun. But I gave up the idea of living forever quite a while ago. But immortality to me now no longer applies to me living forever. Now it applies to my writing and what I’ll leave behind. I’m going to become immortal through the words that I write. Because no matter how you look at it writing is never going to be a dead art and reading is never going to be a lost talent. So I write because I want to be immortal through my words. I don’t care if people 1,000,000 years from now don’t know my life. But if they read my books then I’m immortal. Look at The Epic of Gilgamesh which (epic poem) it was recorded on 12 clay tablets in Ancient Mesopotamia and the earliest versions of the Epic date as early as 2150-2000 BC. People still read it today so whoever wrote it is, at least in my eyes, immortal.


(2) Escape
I have a fantastic life and I’m happy with it just as it is. Yet I still want to escape it. And when I get to escape it is when I write. I have the ability to put myself into whatever world I very well please. I can escape the life that I’m in now and paint myself a brand new one with words. If anything ever goes wrong in that escape of mine I can always shrug it off, rewrite it, or just forget about it. When I write I easily slip into my words and forget everything that is going on around me and I can come back whenever I want. No matter how fantastic your life is we all need an escape sometimes and writing is my escape.


(3) Fun
Writing is and always will be fun for me because I have control over everything that happens. Sometimes when I read books I wish I could make changes but since it is not my work I just have to hang on for the ride. But when I write I can change anything at anytime I want. Plus I can make things up. I can make a new language or a new land all of my own. If I really wanted I could make my humans purple and green. The fact that I can add or subtract tings is what makes writing fun because I make all the choices.


(4) Accomplishment
Writing always makes me feel accomplished even if I don’t get it published. When I write a good short story I feel accomplished… you know that warm bubbly feeling in you stomach. Haha. Or when I work on my book I feel accomplished every time I look at the page count! It’s just so cool to know that I’m making progress towards something that I want. Or even better then the page count would be the word count. You guys saw my posts for 100,000 words and how I was excited. Its things like that which make me feel accomplished. And heck getting published is an added bonus to finishing things.


There you have it. I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me. And perhaps it’s given you something to think about. Maybe you’ll pick up a pen and write.


Laters,
T.V.

The Oatmeal

Good Morning,



I was on facebook and one of my friends had posted this on their wall and I thought it was soo funny because at one time or another slash all the time I’ve made all these mistakes. It’s titled “Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling”. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling.


Okay so I started looking around the sight and I found so absolutely hysterical things. Like The Motherf**king Pterodatyl. I never knew Pterodatyl was spelled with a P so I just got totally made fun of by Spencer and his friend Ryan. Yes I know fail on my part I can’t spell… but that’s what editors are for right? Haha. Look through the site cause it’s my new favorite.


Laters,
T.V.

"Interview" With Patrick Rothfuss

Happy New Year all,



Today I woke up in a fantastic mood. New year. New start. New page count to start. Haha. Any how I was just looking at Patrick Rothfuss’s blog and I was reading two interviews that he did with Nnedi Okorafor and Joe Abercrombie and I totally thought that the questions he asked were amazing. And being the total dorky freak that I am I thought that it would be funny/cool to take some of the questions from the interviews he did and answer them as if he interviewed me. Haha. And yes it’s true I have no life… I mean I sit around and write after all. Read the real interviews here (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/2009_12_01_archive.html) they are December 7th and December 30th. But you should also read all of Pat’s blog cause he pretty much kicks butt. Any how here’s my “interview” with Patrick Rothfuss.


Heya Taylor. Let's say you're at a party and you meet someone you wanted to impress. What sort of things about your writing career would you casually drop into the conversation to prove that you're awesome?


I’d probably start with the fact that I was a published author before I graduated high school and now as a college freshman I’m preparing the first book in my series for publication.


If you had to pick your favorite book of all time, what would it be?


That’s a hard question… so I think I’ll judge my favorite book by the ones I’ve read the most and that would be The Thief Lord and your book Name Of The Wind.


Really Name Of The Wind? What makes you keep rereading it?


It’s epic… haha. And it’s just addicting cause of the way you lay out the plot and the whole story within a story deal and your writing style is so eloquent. Plus Kvothe is a really nifty name.


Do you have a particular piece of grammar that you screw up regularly?


Then and Than always mixing up when to use Than. It used to be Fallow and Follow (cause I thought phonetically follow should have an A in it cause I say it fall-o… I know silly me) but I’ve got it just about straightened out.


I recently made a joke about Transition Putty on my blog. That being, of course, what we writers buy at Home Depot to smooth out our rough transitions. If you could have some sort of handyman tool like that, something like Plot Spackle or a Character Level, what would it be?


I could really do with some Epic Paint. For those bits where you need epicness but can’t quite come up with something cool enough so you’d just paint the epic onto the scene.


If you could punch one literary figure, who would it be?


Hehe this is probably going to offend a lot of people so I’ll just say why I’d punch this person and you can guess who it is. Vampire’s don’t sparkle. Nuff said.


Alexandre Dumas wrote his nonfiction on rose-colored paper, his fiction on blue, and his poetry on yellow. Do you have any little rituals that help you write?


I put on my “Writing Tunes” playlist. It’s a wonderful plethora of songs that inspire me and it changes every now and again to accommodate scenes and what not.


What's the best compliment you've ever received?


Okay so with my novel I had left a question sort of unanswered throughout the whole novel. And you know as the writer you know how it all plays out and I wasn’t sure if I was being as subtle and suave with it as I thought till one of my friends (who I met working at aftercare and is in middle school) asked me the question. I was sooo excited it made me really happy that I pulled it off. And I got to give her the “Well finish reading and you’ll find out” cocky response.


Which would you rather do: cut out 20% of your current book, or insert a wacky talking animal sidekick (a la Disney movie) into half the chapters because the marketing people think it would make the book sell better.


I’d probably go with the Disney character. Only I’d make it some random animal like a platypus or a llama so it would just be hysterical then I’d kill it halfway through the book and get back to the seriousness. Hahaha


That's all I've got. Thanks so much for the interview.


Thank you Pat this was mad awesome fun.





Oh goodness I’m such a dork! But I love it! Haha. I hope Pat doesn’t mind………
And I’d just like to say that I loved Ms. Okorafor’s response to the transistion putty question. She said “Natural-Looking Filler for those tough glaring gaps between the exciting parts of the story where crazy sh*t happens.” I can’t agree more slash I would love to have some right now… which I should be getting back to writing…


Laters,
T.V.