Rambling: I know, I know. I've been off my game.

But I do have a good reason:  my home internet has been iffy for the past few weeks!  *Shakes fist at Verizon.*  But, we are getting a new internet provider today!  At the moment, I am stealing a few moments at work to type this up, so let me make it quick and sweet.  

I've still been reading and have a whopping 11 BOOKS to review for your pretty little eyes.    If you'd like to know, here is the list (the latest read is on top, the oldest on bottom):

Itch

Golden 

Siege and Storm 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Openly Straight

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Eleanor and Park

Partials

Out of the Easy

Sold - Review and Book Club Discussion

I am hoping to have a new review up by August 1st, at the absolute latest, if our internet is installed soon and working.

I hope you are having a great summer!

-Mariela

Rambling: Coincidental Miracle

Today, I woke up and knew it was going to be one of those days.  As I was getting ready for work, I kept dropping things, tripping on my feet, train was taking forever, etc. Then, I got to work and it proved to be one of those days.

On the way home, I was trying to read Aerogrammes, but was having a hard time concentrating.  The day had affected my mood.  I was thinking to myself:  I really need to finish writing my book because I don't want to do this forever.  I don't see myself working a 9 to 5 for the rest of my life, nor do I want to.  

My mind was wandering and with it my eyes, which landed on an old man.  This old man had his work badge clipped to his belt and it had the HarperCollins emblem.  As an author-in-the-works, I know my publishers and their logos.  I thought about saying a few words to him, but it was obvious he worked in facilities or janitorial.  So I bit my tongue.  He pulled out a stack of scratch-off lottery tickets and preceded to scratch off each one.  I found it peculiar because I wondered:  What can he do with that money at his age?  Hope does not fade with age.  

My eyes trailed some more and focused on the teenagers sitting directly across from me.  It was a seat for two, but three were there - the girl was sitting on the lap of one of the guys.  They were huddled around her iPhone in its pink case watching videos.  I paid more attention to one of the guys, the guy without the girl on his lapped, and my heart stopped.  It was him.  It was Quail.  It was one of the primary characters of my novel Onyx IN THE FLESH!  It was as if he was pulled out from the pages of my unfinished manuscript.  The way he was dressed, his hair, his height, his demeanor, his bone structure,  his jaw... the image I envisioned in my head was sitting right in front of me!  He looks up from the pink iPhone and I immediately spot the differences that made him real and not a hallucination.  His eyes, eyebrows, lips/mouth were different than my vision of Quail's.  And he was skinnier than my Quail.  Nonetheless, there was too much of my Quail in this random teenager to even consider that it was just a mere coincidence.  

Let me tell you, I left work late, got on the wrong train and transferred to this one, so I ended up catching the exact train this guy was on and got a seat right across from him - I was supposed to see him.  I was supposed to have one of those days to get caught up at work to get off late to have my mind elsewhere to get on the wrong train to get on this train to sit across for this guy to see him, my Quail.  My book found me.  I felt my heart swell up as if it would burst at the seams because I couldn't believe it.  It was an amazing feeling.  I haven't written in the last two months and when I tried, nothing would come to me.  But since I met Quail today, I sped home form the subway station and I'm skipping dinner with my roommate tonight to work on my MS.  

I have a story to tell.

“Coincidences mean you're on the right path.” - Simon Van Booy, Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories

-Mariela

Rambling: I know it's been a while...

Hello Everyone!

I haven't posted anything at all this month because I have been uber busy.  I started a new job so I had to make sure everything was lined up for my departure at my old job and settle into my new job.  Plus I've been working a 2nd job on the weekends because I am saving up for my trip to Europe!

Anywho, things have calmed down and I have reviews coming up for books that I finished within the last two weeks:

• The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shephard
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Additionally, I will post a Blog Tour review for Wide Awake by Shelly Crane on April 18, 2013.  I'm reading Incarnate by Jodi Meadows at the moment.  Plus, I will be posting a transcript to the NYC Teen Author Festival's "Imagination" discussion panel.  

Happy April!

-Mariela

Rambling: "The Moment", a poem

It has been almost a year since I have written a poem.  I go through these spells where I write poetry every day and then I take long breaks.

I wrote this particular poem while I was working one Saturday morning, which was about 3 weeks ago.  I technically finished it that same day but I didn't like the ending - it didn't sound right.  Finally this morning, I was able to finish it.

It is a poem of the coming of age and epiphany that follows.

I hope you enjoy it.

-Mariela

THE MOMENT

The moment will come, it always does

When the world as you know it, 

Fades away 

Into a heaping pile of ashes. 

Time will               stop               • 

The seconds will crashintoeachother as they come to a screeching halt 

And the train of realization will hit you square in the chest, 

Bringing your life into focus. 

You are no longer the same, you have changed without notice. 

The mirror shows the recognizable features you concede are your person, 

But as you allow your reflection to l i n g e r 

A few m o m e n t s too lllooonnnggg, 

The moment *reveals* itself. 

(Finish reading it on my website)

Rambling: You loved this book, but I didn't.

Social media has completely revolutionized communication between people from all over the world.  We are no longer limited to befriending people in our immediate surroundings, but instead are open to meet anyone and everyone.  We are building communities online with the same capabilities of a physical community.  And us book bloggers are a part of that.  I may be a novice at book blogging, but I can appreciate it nonetheless.

As we hold conversations around books reviews, character analytics, plot examinations, and metaphorical interpretations, I, like many others, make a mental list of highly recommended books from friends or people I follow.  Then, I read them.  Sometimes I love them, sometimes I don’t.  In my case, the reason I don’t like the book is because it does not meet my expectations based on the recommendations I received.

Then I am confronted with the question:  To review or not review?  How much weight should I grant a book recommendation?  Book reviews are a great way to get a third-party synopsis of the book, which can provide more information than the back of the book.  Plus, they can give you a forewarning regarding issues in the book.  But what about the raving reviews?  In my personal case, these raised the bar too high in most cases and hindered my reading experience, leaving a gaping hole in the part of me that prepared a special place for that book.

On my own, I choose select to read books that have an interesting appeal.  I look over the Bestsellers list, Goodreads ratings, local library selection, etc.  However, there are so many books out there for me to discover on my own that I need little help from recommendations and reviews.  With the introduction of social media, I am reading more because I am learning about more books than during the days of the Dewey decimal physical catalog.  This means that my book turnover is higher and I am reading reviews constantly to keep up.  Yet, if I went through the list of books I read based on personal recommendations versus my own findings, I enjoyed mostly books I found on my own.

If you are caught in the same book battle as myself, these are some steps I take before I choose to follow a recommendation:
1. I ask the no-brainer:  Why did you like this book?  Does the person give a personal response or is it related to the craft of the book?
2. Compare Goodreads/Amazon rating and reviews – do these match the recommendation?
3. Read the official synopsis for the book.
Most importantly, instead of reading a book solely because it was recommended, I add the book to my mental “to-consider-reading” shelf and that’s it.  I base my decision to actually read the book on the synopsis and average rating, as I would for a book I find out about on my own.

Reading a book is an experience, as I repeat on and on.  We don't experience books all they same, but we still need to continue sharing our experiences with books we find.  I'm always on the quest for the next best book.  Keep tweeting/blogging/Facebooking those reviews.

-Mariela

Rambling: What makes a great book "great"?

I am reading The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  It's like a Mexican soap opera, minus the theatrics.  I am hooked.  Anywho, Celia, the mother figure in this book... I love her.  There is a part in the book that she really demonstrates her courage and it reminded me of Zana Briski and of course, my mom.

I had just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  That day, I went to my local Queens Library to return it and came across the documentary Born into Brothels:  Calcutta's Red Light Kids.  This documentary is about an English photographer, Zana Briski,  that lives in Calcutta and offers free photography workshops for children from Calcutta's red light district.  She strives to offer these students an outlet for creativity and intellectual exploration, hoping to pull them away from the harsh claws of drugs and prostitution.  

When it comes to any form of child abuse, I am the type of person that can't take it.  Just the thought of it makes my eyes burn.  Despite this, I checked it out and watched it.  I expected it to be morbidly emotional, but it wasn't.  It was realistic, it was pure.  It showed the good and bad in these children's lives.  It was about the children and their lives and their dreams.  

Briski is the narrator and appears only during her interactions with the students.  In addition to teaching these children about photography, Briski struggles to find them boarding schools in to provide the best chance of a formal education.  Some students made it in, some don't.  Despite her efforts, some students are sucked into the darkness of the world anyways. Of the students that do get into schools, a few leave by their own choice.  

Throughout the movie, one child, Avijit Halder, unravels an amazing talent for photography.  His mom is a prostitute and his father is a drug addict.  All odds are against him.  His talent earns him the opportunity to go to Amsterdam for a World Press Photo exhibit.  Briski and he went through a whole other ordeal trying to set up his visa documentation and by some miracle, it is done a few days before his trip and he is able to go.  Later, as Briski is trying to get him into boarding school, it looked like he wasn't going to do it.  He didn't want to leave his family alone; dysfunctional or not, he loved them.  But, he goes to the school.  And the credits role.

After the movie was over, I did what any other Internet savvy person would do:  I Googled Briski.  Briski started the program back in 2002, two years before the documentary hit the big screens.  She is still working hard to provide her services.  

Then I wondered, what happened to Avijit?  Did he leave the school after the film was complete?  Is he still alive?  Well...
He is alive and well.  Avijit is here in NYC studying at NYU Tisch. This child was destined to live a life in ruins and someone lent him a hand, giving him the chance to see the world in a better light.  

Towards the end of The Fault in Our Stars, Green writes: "The real heroes anyway aren't the people doing things; real heroes are the people noticing things, paying attention."  Briski noticed that these children didn't have anything to look forward to.  Of course, she is a wonder woman.  Briski didn't force Avijit to do anything.  She helped him discover who he could be.  

Now back to The House of the Scorpion, the moment I mentioned at the beginning where Celia becomes a wonder woman in heat... I literally gasped on the subway (people looked at me crazy).  As some people say, "that's when s*** got crazy".  Also, it's when Green's quote best applies to Celia.  

I think that when you are able to translate a quote or something from a book into your every day life or experiences, that's what distinguishes a great book from a good book.  In this case, I've found two great books I can reference at any point of my day.  

Today, it's nineteen degrees outside.  I feel warm inside regardless, like I can conquer the world.  A great book will do that to you. 

-Mariela

"You have a choice in this world, I believe: about how to tell sad stories..." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

"After all, what is suffering but an awareness of suffering?" - Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

Rambling: The aches of writing

It's MLK weekend.  We get Monday off (woohoo!), so you know what that means... 3-day weekend!  I'm in New York City, where all the action is - the parties, the brunches, the late night movies, the bars.  I have plenty of options for entertainment, right?  YES.

But... I'm behind on my manuscript.  I can go out and have a good time this weekend.  Or, I can stay at home to write and edit to my heart's content.  I choose the latter.

Today is Monday, Day Three.  I have spent almost every moment of this 3-day weekend sitting in front of my computer, writing, editing, or doing something related.  And although this may be t.m.i., my derriere is sore from sitting.  I've tried to lessen the soreness by sitting down only when typing and standing as I read over my MS.  I am even sitting on a pillow on top of the chair.

Who knew writing could also be exhausting?  Since I started writing this post, I have gotten up to massage myself twice, and right now, I am typing while standing up.  I guess it doesn't help that I have a full-time sedentary job.  Not only am I sitting for eight hours a day at work, but I come home to do it again.  To top it all off, my social life has been in a decline since I began to dedicate all my free time to writing this MS.  The mental blocks come every now and then, but I review my index cards (which I use for scene sequence) and it all comes back.

So to sum it all up, I have a sore behind, I haven't seen some of my NYC friends in like a year, and my mind is going bananas.  It's all good though.  My MS isn't going to write itself.

Gotta keep my mind on the prize.

-Mariela

Dor shook his head.  "You are mistaken.  I am a small and shunned person."

"Man rarely knows his own power," the old man said. - Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper