Sunday Post #amreading #amjoy @kimbacaffeinate

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

           LOOKING FORWARD TO MARCH

This week I didn't do a whole lot.  I went to play Frisbee golf at Red Oaks Park and was greeted by woodsy areas that you wouldn't want your Frisbee to get caught in, and huge hills. 

I also went to a big indoor playground with my toddler.  It's a good thing I'm extremely short because I was able to fit in a lot of the tiny spaces.

 I did  see a play at the University of Minnesota, put on by the MFA program.  It was pretty good.  One of the scenes was absolutely fantastic.  It had to do with a real estate agent and a buyer.  They real estate agent shows the buyer a condo and begins to vent about how hard it is to be a part time actor and agent and get paid, even though his girlfriend told him that selling property is all about acting.  Then the buyer gets in his business and tells him, he has no girlfriend and he's been stalking him and knows that he's in fact gay and saw him in a romantic entanglement through his bedroom window.  They end up fighting on stage and I love fight scenes-they're so dramatic!

But that's about it.  Not much else, please do comment about your week though.

CURRENTLY

Reading: Scythe by Neal Shusterman and Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Listening: Carpool Karaoke with James Corden (my favorite is the one with Paul McCartney)

ON THE BLOG

Current: The Sunday Post, Stacking the Books

Up Coming:

Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.

Author Zachary Ryan

Author, Zachary Ryan is with us to talk about his writing. Ryan grew up in Maryland, before moving to Chicago to start a new life. There, he found that he was accepted for his misfit status—and learned that it’s perfectly normal to spend your twenties feeling lost and confused.



(Zachary Ryan pictured above )

Ryan writes coming of age, LGBT, and Young Adult novels. He likes to write books with heart. He's written several novels with a coming of age and heartfelt aspect. His novels include: Letters, Long Lost Friend, and The Fifth Coupon, along with his newest: Highschool Queen.Through his writing, he hopes to help other broken souls find comfort amid the chaos. 


Zachary, can you tell us something about your main character/s?

The main characters... I honestly truly enjoy Danielle and Calvin. I wanted to have a friendship that was pure and good among all the lying and backstabbing. I see a lot of myself in Calvin. I try to figure out my life, and I see the relationship between Calvin and Aman as much of what I had with my ex. I enjoy the idea of people trying to protect themselves. The characters are ruthless, and I want to be as cold-blooded as them sometimes. I enjoyed the idea of telling people off and not worrying about hurting people's feelings.


Tell us about your writing process and the way you brainstorm story ideas.

My writing process comes back to when I was in college and a professor told me to create these characters and follow them around and write what they do. I'm extremely character driven instead of plot. I write down some ideas of what I want to happen in the novel beginning and end, but the middle takes me for a surprise sometimes. I love when a character does something unexpected that I wasn't planning on them to do. I love being the writer and the reader at the same time. The beauty also is when I'm close to finishing a novel the next book will come to my mind, so I'm blessed that I don't get writer's block too much.

Where do your ideas come from?

My ideas come from music I listen to, books where I'm like I wish it went that way, so I'll do something different or just random life situations that would be a good book. I don't like drawing from my real life too much because I feel like that puts me too much into a box. I'll try to keep the person as real as them, and I find that very boring. I want to create someone so people fully love them or hate them without it affecting my personal relationships with people.

What were you like in high school?

I was actually popular and well known in high school. I did broadcasting, so people saw my face on the tvs once a week. I also worked a lot, so I didn't get to go to that many parties. My high school reunion is coming up, and I can't wait for it. I will say I won biggest gossip so maybe that's why I write these scandalous novels because I love the drama of it all.


Your book cover is intriguing how was it chosen?

My publishing company picked the cover. I fell in love with it instantly.I like that it's sexy, bitchy, and overall exciting. I wanted a cover to show these pretty girls doing campy things. Nothing says drama like putting on red lipstick and blowing a kiss to a person you just stabbed in the back.

That's all the time we have today folks. Ryan, thanks for being with us.

Sunday Post @seinlanguage @kimbacaffeinate #amreading

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

looking forward to april

This week I went to North Dakota to spend some time with my brother in a city called Wahpeton.  Small cities always fascinate me because I live in such a big city like St. Paul.

I also started listening to an audiobook based on the Seinfeld show called Seinfeldia. It gives a lot of neat facts about the show's writers and producers.  It tells you interesting things about the sets of the show and how one of the restaurant's was based on a real life Greek restaurant in NY which the show renamed it:Monks. I was surprised to learn:

•  The Seinfeld show is very popular! ( now you must understand I was about nine or ten when this show first aired)  
• Seinfeld went a whole year, never missing a day, to go and see comics in New York. (learning trade secrets)
•  Producers decided to film the show with three cameras instead of one; bringing in a live audience, similar to how films were staged in the 50's.
• There also dozens of websites for Seinfeld trivia.

Well that's all for this week folks, I hope you have a good week.

CURRENTLY

Reading: Dash and Lilly's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn

Listening: Bobby Kennedy's biography

ON THE BLOG

Current: The Sunday Post, Stacking the Books

Up Coming: Interview with author on Friday

Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.

Happy Bastille Day

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Today's post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves for weekly updates.

LOOKING FORWARD TO JULY

Happy Bastille Day!

This week I've been looking for a new job with some success.  I think I just need something new, you know what I mean?  But job searching can be scary when you've been in the same line of work for so long.  I've been looking on Indeed.com, but if you know of any other places let me know in the comments below.
My brother was supposed to come to visit from Wahpeton, and hang out but he couldn't come so I'm sort of bummed out about that.  We're really close since I spent a lot of time taking care of him as a kid.

Either way, I also went kayaking on Bde Maka Ska, and I didn't sink the kayak so that's pretty good. The lake's pavilion was recently damaged in a fire which was pretty sad to see.

While kayaking, I saw some pretty cool canoes and kayaks. One canoe I saw was made of plastic, which probably means it's a lot lighter in weight.  Another one I saw was foldable. 

CURRENTLY

Reading: The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger,

Beautiful Boss by Christina Lauren, Fake Like me by Barbara Bourland, I'll Eat When I'm Dead by Barbara Bourland,The Night Moves by Jessica Hopper

Watching: Wine Country (Netflix)

ON THE BLOG

Up Coming: Weekend Writing Warriors

Readers please comment below.

Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 07/07/19

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up below with your name, blog and email and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Your post needs to be live between 12:00 noon on Saturday 07/06/19 and 09:00 AM on Sunday 07/07/19. Visit the other participants on the list and read, critique and comment on their 8sunday posts.www.wewriwa.com

    Blurb  ****Sandra is struggling to find purpose in her life after she's fired from her job. She was able to get some part time work in health care when comes across an ad on craigslist for free dresses. She hopes at least one of the dresses will bring her luck for her next job interview, but it's only after she picks up the dresses that she realizes there's a mystery to be solved.

Snippet

**

This must be a mistake. Get your shoes on everyone,hurry up. Make sure John’s awake. ”

“Where we going?" Resident, George, asks.

Where are we going?

I flick the cursor over the page. Watson. I search for my phone. Damnit, where's that? I flip over my backpack to see if it’s under there, the contents spill out from the unclosed zipper: my compact falls to the ground but I catch my chromebook that’s sitting next to it. Jeez that was close.

Wordless Wednesday