Divergent Faction-of-the-Week Challenge

So, I completely missed Amity and I must say I'd probably have rocked that one. The next week was Candor, and to be honest, I don't know that I would've done well with that week, because I can't be honest with myself, so how can I be honest with others?

But, this past week was Erudite and I was at the beach on vacation. First, I need to say I never really liked this faction. From day one, when it was named something different, (and a name I really didn't think much of because of Barbie) I didn't like the faction. I saw annoying Steve Erkle from Family Matters every time I read the name. Plus, they were kinda bad anyway. Then, in a later version of DIVERGENT, I decided I really needed to read it again because I might see the faction differently. Embarrassingly, the final version of DIVERGENT is still on my shelf. Well, actually two of them are on my shelf and I haven't read it yet. (Sorry, V)

So, Erudite. I love learning. In fact, I get so obsessed with a topic that I'll study everything I can on the subject. And then poor Hubby gets the entire condensed version of whatever it is I'm obsessed with at the moment. I don't think I'd fit into this faction, not only because I didn't like it, but because while I love learning, I don't want to do it all the time.

Another faction fail.

Can't wait for Dauntless, since this is where the test puts me, and from the first mention of them jumping off the train, as Tris longingly looks at them, I fell in love.

Divergent Faction-of-the-Week Challenge: ABNEGATION

So, I did it. And let me tell you, it was so easy to be selfless and altruistic. :-) I wanted to see exactly what altruistic was, (and make sure I was doing it right) so I went to the dictionary:

altruism |ˈaltroōˌizəm| noun
the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others : some may choose to work with vulnerable elderly people out of altruism.
(from Webster's dictionary)


Not. Me.


I thought about not looking in a mirror all week, but that wasn't possible. I went without make-up, but I do that anyway, sometimes. I tried to do for others without thinking of myself, and yeah, I do that a lot but find I enjoy doing things for others because it makes me feel good, not very selfless there.

I don't need others to know the things I do, but it feels good when they do know. I take care of my grandmother during the day and I do it because I love her. Not because I'm selfless, but because it's the right and only thing a decent person can do. And yeah, what goes around comes around, so when I'm old, I'm sure someone will take care of me because I've put the time in.

I realized that there wasn't anything I did this week that could be considered totally selfless, because I got something from everything.

In DIVERGENT, I appreciated Tris' struggle with her brother's being so selfless, because it was just in his nature. It made her sympathetic to me, because I can understand wanting to be something I'm not. And feeling guilty because I wasn't.

In conclusion, I hope Dauntless isn't next week. Hear that Deb? Check out where this all started, with the lovely Debra Driza and take the challenge yourself.

PS: I haven't actually read the version of Divergent that came out last week, so if I say anything in these posts that aren't true to the book, forgive me. It was true to the book over a year ago, but we all know books change and my kids grabbed my copy before I could read it.

DIVERGENT Faction-of-the-Week Challenge!

It's my birthday for another 45 minutes and I thought a blog post would be fitting. I actually finished my third book and it is out with betas. I'm participating in Deb's Divergent love.

I love Divergent and just bought it this past week. Veronica Roth is so super amazing and talented. So in honor of her epic book I'm taking on the challenge.

I'm trying to fit into Abnegation, and like Tris, it may not be for me.

Whoa, it's been how long?

This is my super-de-dooper mutt. Isn't she beeyoutiful?

Wow. I was just reading my writing buddy's blog when I saw where she gave me an award, and I clicked the link...and realized I haven't blogged since October. Which means I missed two whole months. And gained three followers. Dude...that's cool. The followers part, not the non-blogging part.

But a lot of stuff has happened in my life, and I've been super busy. I think we all get super busy at certain times. The past few months have flown by, and I've actually been writing again. One of my writing goals is to query a new project by the end of February. Why? Because the last thing I queried was Feb. a year ago. And it still has at least one full out there, so, I need to write the synop and query a few other agents for it. But in the meantime, I've a great ghost story going, which I adore, and am still plugging away on the mountain mani I started a few months ago. Plus, there's the pregnancy mani and the murder mystery. Oh yeah, my first book, which went to only eight agents (I figured it really sucked and needed fixing) which I'm re-writing as a MG.

That's a lot of WIPs. So, my betas who have ME...get me some pages, women! And those two beta projects I have, well, I am working on them. Had a family thing come up and am out of town. Plus, there's the birthday party for the Hubmeister coming up in less than a week. Why am I writing this disjointed post? I need to see in black and white (okay, green and white) what I'm working towards. Maybe it'll hold me accountable, cause one of these days I'll have deadlines and my hobby will become a job. When I get my super-awesome agent and cool editor. And book deal. ;-)

I have a shelf full of books so I'll have to do a giveaway soon, so check back. I may actually post.

Three things that made my week

Before November (and NaNo) gets here I wanted to share three things that made my week, er, weekend.

1- Someone I betaed for said, "Oh my God Jenn, the feedback you sent me is amazing!... I just want to bang my head on the desk and scream 'you're right!' at the top of my lungs."

That's the kind of stuff that makes me feel really good. I'm helping someone.

2- Finding out a friend will be signing a contract with an agent. And it's for a story I absolutely loved. G-d only knows what I'll do when I actually get an agent, because I get so excited for my friends I squee very loudly (thus scaring the kids). And jump up and down. And squee. Did I mention I'm squeeing?

3- Reading agent tweets about my crit partner's upcoming book. I may be jealous. Then again, I'm so happy for her; I don't think jealously has any room.

And yes, I did just stroke my own ego. And no, I don't need anyone else to ;)

To end Halloween:

Controversial books and schools - can there be a solution?

I went away for the weekend and read blogs, something I seldom have time to do. I read blogs about book banning and censorship and then read the comments. My friends can tell you how heated it got. I sent some links to my husband and proceeded to talk for hours with him about his opinions. He tends to lean towards conservative and I tend to lean towards liberal, although we both sit squarely in the middle.

I've thought of a solution that might work and wonder if it's been considered in the school districts. (Let me say up front, I homeschool and am an assistant librarian in a public library. Just want to throw that out there so there's no confusion.)

What about a signed permission slip for middle school and/or high school? A list of books could be placed on it, sent home to the parents and filed with the library. Some middle schoolers have the kind of situations that take place in Ellen Hopkins' and Laurie Halse Anderson's books happening in their own life. Others don't, and it may be too much for the younger kids. Plus the really (I can't think of an appropriate, non-judgemental word here but am going to take a stab at it) conscientious parents can opt out if they don't want their child reading it.

If you know of sites where compromises have been suggested, please link in the comments. Also, let me know your opinion. I'm really curious. Do you think a solution can be reached?

Book review: Firelight

I'm at the beach with two of my crit partners and one them brought a bunch of ARCs with her and Firelight was one of them. Don't worry though, it has been released so you can rush out and buy it.

First, the cover. I'm so shallow, I'll admit it. I do buy a book because of it's cover and this one is awesome. It's so puurty.

My first book has dragons in it so I've always had this fondness for them, and here is a book about a girl who is a dragon, strike that, a draki. It starts off in the very beginning with a nice action scene and she gets to meet the LI.

The voice is very nice. I did tire a little of the inner monologue about how her dragon is dying but if I were this girl, I would worry constantly about it too, therefore I understand. And that's just a thing about me, I get bored so easily. The supporting characters were developed nicely.

The love interest, Will, is so hot. He's got the whole thing about him where he hunts her kind and doesn't date the girls in school and then in comes Jacinda and he's drawn to her, which is familiar and I was about to be disappointed until it was all explained. Then I wiped the imaginary sweat off of my brow in relief. It was very believable and didn't go all emo.

The ending leaves a lot open for the next book. All in all I enjoyed this and devoured it in one sitting. I definitely recommend it. And let me add in a small note-I could tell with the love scenes that a writer of adult books wrote it and as an adult, I really liked that part of it. So thanks, Ms. Jordan for wanting to write a YA.