R E A D I N G / The Orphan's Tale: In the Night Garden

“Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.” - THE ORPHAN'S TALE: IN THE NIGHT GARDEN, Catherynne M. Valente After properly sitting down and shutting off the laptop, I managed to finally finish the rest of In the Night Garden. This is the second book that I have read from Valente, and in its overall presentation, it did not disappoint me. What I expected from the novel was the writer's unique and uncanny ability to string words together so beautifully that it became my food source. My stomach only craved her writing and my brain could only digest those sentences and question: how in the world did you come up with that? Did you gain your talent by selling your soul to the devil? The imagery of the tales were so vivid and rich, set in a place familiar to fairytales I've read as a kid, but also very different. Valente uses this to flip familiar and often damaging tropes and stereotypes towards female characters such as the damsel in distress, the beautiful dead queen, the woman reuniting with her long lost lover. This brought about engaging and different character dynamics. However, just as I want to continue praising how wonderful the novel was, there were some issues I found while reading it that lowered my opinion of the overall quality. First and foremost, the arc of the book itself resembles that of The Arabian Nightes: Tales from One Thousand and One Nights where the female character tells stories to the male character, and enticing them through it. Though I can't comment on how One Thousand and One Nights dealt with the actual present day arc, I had a sense through reading brief summaries that the actual characters themselves--Scheherazade and Shahryar--play a much larger role, especially in the content ratio of them versus the tales. The Prince and the orphan girl here however take a minimal amount of space compared to the stories, taking a backseat even though they were the main protagonists. Because of this, though the stories themselves were developed (perhaps overdeveloped), the actual framework for the tales fell incredibly flat, the characters static and seemingly unnecessary. Similarly, the tales themselves proved difficult to swallow as tales endlessly spiraled within one another. Minor characters were given grand plots and storylines when I didn't really want to read up on them, or thought their story needed to be told. Valente also used these minor tales to bridge the two main stories together. Though it was an interesting concept, it was poorly executed. The ending "connection" in its attempt to be a twist became contrived and poorly fleshed. I thought it was thrown in just to see how clever it could be. Lastly, though I praised her for this earlier, Valente in this particular work through her attempts at empowering her female characters seemed to be shaming others. Such things kept on being emphasized like beautiful women were weak and it was the ugly ones that truly held power. While its nice to see female empowerment, there shouldn't be a need to look down on femininity. Who said you can't be both beautiful and strong? Overall, the book was a great read. It definitely taught me the importance and strength in developing a character's background to secure that unique voice that they themselves carry. No one is the same, and we all have a tale to share. Ratings: ★★★☆☆ BUY IT HERE | AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE

L I F E / Batman Versus Harry Potter

“Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.” - George R.R. Martin Last Friday, as part of a mini-treat for working on the yearbook and working on a collage for this family reunion, my sister and I got to go to the WB Studios lot to take a look around, babysit my cousin's kids and let them see their aunt who works there. It was cool learning which shows were filmed where and there were quite a handful of shows. Unfortunately, since it's summer, most of the shows have wrapped up and not many were filming that day. Wouldn't it have been cool to run into someone? My sister basically fangirled over most of the Pretty Little Liars set and I fawned over the partial True Blood and Batman set scenes. We got to also see the Batman exhibition that was just opened to the public a day before and the Batman vs. Harry Potter museum featured on the lot. Oh and we took a quick breather at the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. set, chilling on the couch at Central Perk! It was pretty awesome, believe me. Hopefully, we'll get to go again around the fall when shows start up again! But seriously though, if Batman and Harry Potter had to battle, who would win? I feel like they'd just compete over who has more dead on their side.

L I F E / Mid-Year Resolutions

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” - Ernest Hemingway (image credit) Is it weird to finally make some resolutions even hough it’s half way through the year? Well, better late then never. Also, I work better under pressure so setting resolutions when the year is coming to an end gets me motivated. What I’ve learned from the past two years of college so far is that procrastination and last minute attempts always turn out the best. (KIDS, DON’T DO THIS AT HOME) So, since this is my last summer before senior year, I’ve decided to set up a focused resolution list to prepare myself for the application process of grad school and also, improving myself because I’ve felt very stagnant lately. PREPPING FOR GRAD SCHOOL Just like anything, even if you’re procrastinating, it’s important to prep. I know this seems a bit…counter to what I said about last minute and procrastination but, once the groundwork is down, it’ll be at least less stress and burden on the mind. So, what do I need to do at least over this summer break? Samples, Samples, Samples | Samples take up a big chunk of the application process especially for MFA programs. While I was doing some casual researching, most MFA programs required sample(s) of at least 20-30 pages worth of writing for the portfolio. Depending on the school, this can be for one work or two or even more works. Even though it's better to just work and revise on a piece already written during the course of the year, I haven't been able to get into creative writing/fiction oriented classes (90% of that is the university's fault for not offering more classes for this area, 10% of this is my fault since I didn't want to attend night classes though my tune has changed since I'm taking a workshop very late at night this upcoming year). So, it's important for me to start cranking out some work that I displays my capabilities and also my potential to the committee. Crossing my fingers that I don't dig myself into a terrible writer's block rut that hinders me to do anything.  Finding 10-15 Schools | This is an obvious one. I mean, can't go to a school if you don't know which ones offer what and whether it's a good fit for you. This is similar to choosing an undergrad college to attend. However, what I'm changing in method for the first time around that I applied for colleges is whether or not the universities that have MFA programs require GRE scores. I'm so done with standardized testing and luckily, there are great schools that offer this option. The range of 10-15 is just so that I have at least a few backups (hopefully). Or I'll be faced with a large amount of rejections--perhaps an insight into my future life when all my queries get rejected by agents too? Hmmmm. CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF Little things that I need to do to just better myself in terms of a writer that I have been horribly neglectful of this past years, using poor excuses as justification. Write |  It's pretty pathetic how I tell others how I want to be a writer that this is my dream but I do absolutely nothing to try to achieve it. I haven't written anything the past year. A lot of it is because I keep believing that my work isn't good enough, or that something about it is bad. It seems I have my editor persona on at all times that it stops me from doing anything at all. But, I need to remind myself that naturally, all first drafts will suck. So long as I can just write it out, and get it out of my system, it will be better than nothing. And anyways, that's what revisions and drafts are for, right? Read |  Can't have one without the other! I have been majorly slacking in this field (although it's a bit better than my writing activity). I have ordered and bought so many books that I tell myself I want to read or will get to reading as soon as I have the time, but I continue to let the pages collect dust on my dresser. Now is time for change! I will force myself to get through more books and read a greater variety than I have before. If I want to be a better writer, it's only natural to learn from those who are successful. If anything, if I don't learn anything, I'll still be expanding my library with beautifully written and wonderfully crafted characters and plots from the best!  Internships |  If everything goes down the drain, I need to fall on something. Internships are crucial in gaining experience and skills that will be marketable in future careers. It's a stepping stone to actually witness the career and field you want to enter. Plus, no one would really be open to hiring a fresh college student with little to no work experience. If my dream as an author disintegrates, I need to seriously think about other career paths. While my dream is like my dream guy (COUGH someone like Richard Madden perhaps COUGH), internships are like the small dates and relationships that I have the option of settling down with because even though the guy isn't that exciting (or Scottish and the King of the North), they're stable and not too shabby. Since I'm going to be a senior in a couple of months, I have to find something since I don't have that much time. Internships are usually more widely offered to college students and that clock is ticking pretty quickly now that I look again.  Trying to stop myself from screeching is taking a lot of my strength but hopefully, for the sake of my future, I can get through this!