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Tis The Damn Season, I personally feel, holds so many opportunities for storytelling.

♡ ︎

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idk if any of y’all watch the bachelorette but this season is CHAOTIC and I hope the women fall in love with each other

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Julian: How was school today?

Richard: It was good but someone pushed Bunny off the Ravine.

Julian: And where were you?

Henry: I was collecting Ferns.

Julian: And what did you do?

Francis: Nothing. He was collecting ferns.

Julian: But you saw what happened?

Camilla: Yeah, ’cause I was watching Henry collect Ferns.

Julian: So you saw what happened and you did nothing?

Francis: Yeah, ’cause I'm allergic to ferns.

Julian: Let me ask you this. In Nazi Germany, when people saw what the Nazis were doing and did nothing, were those good people?

Camilla: No, those are bad people. You gotta stop the Nazis!

Julian: But you saw what they were doing to Bunny and you did nothing!

Richard: Because Henry was collecting ferns!

Julian: Just explain to me this. How are you better than a Nazi?

Charles: I made salad with crasins!

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Seriously! The itching I’m going through might be more uncomfortable than the Persuasion adaptation!

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I don’t always read non-fiction but when I do it’s about hilarious badass women!

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I've been toying around with turning one of my 15 year old Harry Potter fanfictions into an original piece. It's a story that I have hung onto for all these years but have been scared to explore. Will it still be interesting to readers without the aspects and characters of the original? What are the rules? Are there rules? How do I follow them?

I found this article super helpful.

Like most of us, fanfiction was my escape as a teenager. When I was a teaching assistant for a kids summer writing program, I led a lesson on fanfiction. I had the students write stories deriving inspiration from Greek mythology, but read them excerpts from my Harry Potter fanfiction. I was surprised by how hooked they were. While the other classes played kickball at recess, my kids wanted to sit under the shade of a tree and listen to my story about Draco Malfoy falling in love with Hermione's muggle cousin. At the end of the session, their final project was to make a board game based on their favorite book or story they read in class. A group of girls chose my story!

The type of enthusiasm these students had for my little fanfiction on HPFF.com has stuck with me all these years. There had to be something there that transcended the popular Wizarding World already known. The terrifying part is going back and figuring out what it is.

The truth is, fanfiction is where a lot of us writers got started and where a lot of us writers ended. Writing back then was effortless and fun. Unabashed words poured out like a heavy rainfall. Now, everything feels too hard, overdone and critiqued.

Maybe it's time to go back to the basics. It's not too late to pick up where we left off.

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“Books, for me, are a home. Books don’t make a home - they are one, in the sense that just as you do with a door, you open a book, and you go inside. Inside there is a different kind of time and space. There is warmth there too - a hearth. I sit down with a book and I am warm.”

— Jeanette Winterson

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Can't wait to watch this documentary about Dolly Parton's literacy project, the Imagination Library. Since she began the book-gifting project in 1995, Parton and local community partners have donated over 160 million books to almost two million children (from birth to age five) in the United States, Canada Britain, Ireland, and Australia. It's streaming July 9 on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and Google Play.

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Is my story too fantastical? Too romantic? Too comedic? Just too much? Come at it laterally! Don’t be afraid!

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Luna is really feeling her lovegood vibes today! #lunalovegood #daniffofinstagram #harrypotter #imjustassaneasyouare (at Chagrin Falls, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgZguhAOEl_F8YxKGTqxmNlBitiUybGx3VA69Y0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Reading everyone ripping the Netflix adaptation of Persuasion to shreds!

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I've read very few reviews of the Netflix Persuasion, but I'm already sick of reviews that imply everyone who dislikes the adaptation is a "purist". As if we all fall into a dead swoon if the characters aren't in perfect historical bonnets and sedately mince their way through a word-for-word recreation of the book. As if we're too closed-minded to accept creativity and innovation and just want the exact same thing every time.

I sure don't demand purity. I don't know anyone who does. Any adaptation makes changes, and I welcome creativity and innovation. Give me something I haven't seen before! Figure out a creative way to present this story to the audience! I just demand that anything that calls itself an adaptation actually adapts the book it's based on.

If you're going to adapt a book, you should at least like it. You shouldn't be aiming to "make the book less boring". You can emphasize certain parts of the text. You can draw unique character readings. You can even critique parts of the original. But you should at least appreciate what the original is doing. You should understand why it makes the choices it does so you can adapt or alter them in ways that make sense to a modern audience. You can't be like, "The original is boring so we're going to mash in a bunch more interesting stuff," and expect people to accept it as a valid adaptation of the original. If you want to make an original movie, make your own dumb movie. Don't drag Austen's work into it and then claim it's the audience's fault when they object to the fact that the movie's nothing like the book you vandalized.

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I’ve just started sinking my teeth into the third book from the Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series, A Killer Sundae. Set in the real town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, my new hometown, we ride along with Bronwyn in her brand new ice cream truck, sleuthing around town to catch who really poisoned the former Harvest Time Festival Queen!

I found this series on a Buzzfeed list starting with A Deadly Inside Scoop. I was immediately perked up by the scenery of Chagrin Falls, a place I have visited every summer for almost 10 years and now reside in. Author Abby Collette gives Chagrin Falls a real Cabot Cove feel and to me, Abby is a real life J.B. Fletcher!

I love these books because they make you feel right at home. All you need is a glass of red wine, a cozy blanket and of course a pint of ice cream to accompany this adventure.

Bronwyn is a very relatable heroine, reluctant but always answers the call to action to catch the real killer and save the town. Add in some fun and fiercely loyal friends, family and a slow burn potential romance (not that she needs it! She’s got a lot on her plate between ice cream and murder!) and you have a recipe for a sweet mystery novel!

Thoughts?

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My First Post - What Are You Reading?

Reading books is a very personal and quiet experience that only requires you and the author’s words. It’s not like going to the movies with a throng of movie-goers sharing the experience with the ability to praise or commiserate together. With books, it’s been harder for me to find that sense of community. When you walk into a room full of people, it’s safe to say that the majority have probably binged watched the latest Stranger Things or have controversial thoughts on the newest Jurassic World. But books don’t normally make it into mainstream conversation unless it’s been adapted (ahem – Persuasion).

I want to talk about books. What am I reading? What are you reading? Have you read that? I want to know.

I’m starting this with Abby Collette’s “Killer Sundae.” The third installment of her wholesome, hometown series known as The Ice Cream Parlor Mysteries. What do you think?