Puppies and Pens

    So I know this is a writing blog, but it's also my blog and I like to talk about what I'm doing week by week.  Last week was Banned Books Week.  This week is, "Hey look everyone!  I got a puppy!" Week.  So because I've had a bit of a distraction the past few days, I figured I'd share these pictures with you instead of some writing.  Because who doesn't love puppies?!?!
    Her name is Astrid (yes, after the character from How To Train Your Dragon, it's my favorite movie), and she is 9 weeks old.  She was born the day after my birthday.  Her favorite things are sleeping, her tug-o-war rope, and sleeping.  I can't really tell what color she is.  She's brown and black in the same spots, and looks kind of ashy.  She's got spots all over her nose, chin, tummy, and paws.  And her favorite spot is under the coffee table.

Another Banned Book

    I was not planning on doing another blog post this week (since I've already surpassed my weekly quota and you people are probably sick of hearing from me about banned books), but then I found out about another book that's been banned and I knew I needed to post this since it's banned books week.
    I'm sure everyone has heard of John Green's bestselling book (and now a movie), The Fault In Our Stars, or TFIOS as it has been nicknamed.  If for some reason you've been living under a rock in Antarctica and haven't heard of TFIOS, here's the blurb.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

"Just Like Everybody Else"

    After my first post this week about my third grade teacher, I talked to my mom about my elementary school teachers.  I don't really remember much before third grade, but my mom told me some stories about the different types of teachers I had.

    (No, that is not me, but I'm sure my mom has a bunch of pictures of me similar to this one.)
    In Kindergarten, my teacher was Mrs. Friedrich.  I knew how to read and write long before I went into Kindergarten, so the regular assignments were boring and repetitive for me.  After a few days of school, she pulled me and my mom aside after class and opened up her special classroom closet and pulled out a book.  I don't remember exactly what she said, but basically she said that my learning level was above that of the rest of the class and I shouldn't do the regular homework assignments anymore.  She handed me a book, I don't remember what it was, but she said that reading that book was my homework for the night.  My mom told me yesterday that for the rest of the year she made me specific homework assignments to help with my mental development.

Banned Books Week Facts

Just some random facts I compiled about Banned Books.

1.) The most challenged book of 2013 is the Captain Underpants Series.  It was also the most challenged book of 2012.

2.) Anne Frank : The Diary of A Young Girl was banned simply because it was "too depressing".

3.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which has been challenged countless times for "Satanism" and "religious views", is the fourth most popular book of all time with over 107 million copies sold since it was released in 1997.

4.) Parents are the most common challenger of books at 6,103 challenges between 1990 and 2010, with Patrons in second place at only 1,450 challenges during the same period of time.

Banned Books Week

    In honor of Banned Books Week (September 21-27th), I decided to do a blog post about banning and challenging books.
    There are many reasons parents challenge and attempt to ban books from schools, the most common being "unsuited to age group" (989 challenges), "offensive language" (1,291 challenges), and "sexually explicit material" (1,577 challenges).  While I do not personally enjoy reading books with bad language and explicit material, I do not agree with the idea of banning books.

    A few days ago, this City Weekly article was brought to my attention.  Shannon Hale's books were banned from a number of Elementary Schools simply because they were "unsuited to age group", the reading level recommended for 6th-8th graders.  Shannon's Hales Books of Bayern are my favorite books, but that isn't why this article made me upset.

Scrivener

    Scrivener is my new best friend.  

    Now, I've only been using it for two days so I haven't had time to really go through everything and experience any troubles (the only trouble I'm having is changing the standard font color from red to black, because I'm so computer oriented).  It's got some mixed reviews, but I have discovered I love the set up of it.
    It breaks down bigger texts (novels, scripts, longer school papers, etc.) into smaller chunks.  I'll show you a picture.

Rose Ch. 1 (Rewritten)

    I know, all my readers are like, "What?  You've already posted the first chapter of Rose, silly Alyson."  But this is not the old first chapter of Rose.  This is a much better version of the first chapter.  I love the new perspective much better.  It adds so much more than the old one had.  I've had a lot of struggles with perspective in writing Rose, so I'm trying to sort those out before I get any farther in the writing.  Yes, perspective, just like that double perspective prompt I promised I'd write like two weeks ago.  Don't worry, that's coming very soon.

Rose

Chapter 1

     For a while after it was all over, Rose struggled to cope with her new life.  Everything she ever thought she knew about her family, her life, and herself was shaken up and tossed around.  It took almost a year for the nightmares to stop.  She would scream in her sleep until I woke her.  Then she would cry until the morning light streaked through the embroidered curtains and burned away the image of those haunting green eyes.

     I tried to be there for her as best I could.  I didn’t sleep well either, so it was easy for me to stay up in one of the large red chairs next to her bed, and rub her back while she slept.  I was plagued with nightmares too, but they weren’t of malicious green eyes and never waking up.  They were of losing her.  I stayed awake and rubbed her back while she slept because I needed to know she was still breathing and that she would wake up again.  It was my fault she had these nightmares.  I was the one who dragged her out of ignorant bliss in Domfront because I was stupid and in love, so selfishly in love.