Whatcha Reading Wednesday (WRW)

Whatcha Reading Wednesday (#WRW) is a weekly meme hosted by Yours Truly (Genevieve Rule)

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

*Grab your current read

*Open to the last page you've read

*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

*Share the cover, blurb, title & author, too, so that other #WRW participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 The Childe

 by C.A. Kunz

*Gretchen released a mixture of herbs into the bowl and a brilliant green light emanated from it, illuminating their somber faces.

*Across town, a brilliant blue glow emanated from Cat's dresser.    

Blurb
Cat Colvin is pretty much your typical run-of-the-mill teenager. Sure, she's taller than most girls, has a mane of fiery red hair that's impossible to tame, is left-handed, and her eyes are two different colors, but that's where the differences end . . . unless you include the minor detail of her slow transformation into a Childe. High school can definitely be challenging, and for Cat it's no different. This is especially true when she's faced with the daunting task of trying to hide her budding Childe traits as they begin to reveal themselves at the most inopportune times. To make matters worse, her family is oddly dead set against Ryan, the boy she grows to like. But everyone has their secrets: is Ryan really what he seems to be, and what is Cat's family not telling her?The Childe is the first book in this coming-of-age fantasy series which follows Cat's life through the twists and turns toward finding out whom and what she really is. Come and take the plunge with Cat into a world filled with mystery, biting humor, and the paranormal.

What are you reading?

#2 Begin With The End in Mind

 

How many of us do that - begin with the end in mind? Not just on a small scale either. Think about it for a minute... Are you who you want to be? Doing what you always dreamed you'd be doing? Be honest. As I was reading and studying habit number two, I couldn't help but see the correlation of this with the writing process. After-all don't we as readers and writers begin with the end in mind? Before we purchase a book don't we look at the synopsis to get an idea of where the story is headed? As an author, I always begin with the end in mind, because if the end is weak there really is no story at all. Not only can this help me in my personal life balance attempts, but also directly applied to my writing!

According to Dr. Covey-"Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It's about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself. Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen. "

Now is the time. Not next week. Not tomorrow; but today. It's time to make a mission statement and begin with YOUR end in mind!

XOXO Genevieve Rule

What's In a Genre?

Adventure • Comic • Crime • Docufiction • Epistolary • Erotic • Faction • Fantasy • Historical • Horror • Magical Realism • Mystery • Paranoid • Philosophical • Political • Romance • Saga • Satire • Science • Speculative • Superhero • Thriller • Urban

     I don’t know about you, but to me; the literary world seems like an ever changing machine…. a computer actually. The genres that I grew up with seem obsolete in their simplicity. When I went to the book store growing up we had Children’s – Mystery - Classical Literature – Fantasy – Fiction & Non-Fiction. That’s it. Now there are too many genres and sub genres to mention! Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that there seems to be a genre for EVERYONE… it’s keeping track of those changes that are tough! To remedy a little of the confusion, I have decided to shed some light on the subject. With the help of my friend Wikipedia, I am going to define what some of the most popular genres are. :)

YOUNG-ADULT (often abbreviated as YA) is fiction written for, published for, & marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 12 to 21. Themes in YA stories often focus on the challenges of youth, so much so that the entire age category is sometimes referred to as problem novels or coming of age novels.

DYSTOPIAN The story usually centers on a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intuitively that something is terribly wrong. The hero comes to believe that escape or even overturning the social order is possible and decides to act at the risk of life and limb; this may appear as irrational even to him or her, but he or she still acts. The hero's point of view usually clashes with the others' perception, revealing that concepts of utopia and dystopia are tied to each other and the only difference between them lies on a matter of opinion.

URBAN FICTION, also known as STREET LIT, is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity, sex, and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction.

CHIK LIT is a genre comprised of books that are mainly written by women for women. Chick lit is told in a more confiding, personal tone. It’s like having a best friend tell you about her life. Or watching various characters go through things that you have gone through yourself, or witnessed others going through. Humor is a strong point in chick lit, too. Nearly every chick lit book has some type of humor in it.

The list goes on and on… and I know I’ve only touched on a few because It is my hope that you will share what your favorite Genre is & its definition (if it hasn’t already been defined), & what your favorite book from that genre is, so this discussion can continue! :)

Until Next Time,

Genevieve

The Glass is Always Half Full

     I have always been an optimist. I was blessed with being a happy and carefree person, and even in stressful or tumultuous times, I have been able to plug away un-phased by the hurdles that lay before me. Some would call me a trooper, others a survivor, and a few would call me just plain ol crazy LOL! The eternal optimist that I am has really been put to the test the past few years; the feeling of being under a dark cloud and the shadow of bad luck cast in every direction lay before me. My attitude and outlook changed to one of pessimism and cynicism and I just felt like a big ball of ICK! Why? How can I make this better? How could I go from being the conqueror to the victim/the driver to the passenger, without even realizing it? The Answer: Being out of balance. 

Life is a balancing act, and sometimes taking on way too much and not compensating for it can have horrible and lasting side effects. No one wants to be a failure, or to feel like they are suffocating.... but many of us find ourselves feeling this way. Sure there are things that are beyond our control, such as health problems, family emergencies, computer viruses, and such... but that doesn't mean you surrender and give up control of your life. You must give yourself permission to live life to its fullest, and in doing so, you must balance work and pleasure. My children were fortunate enough to attend a fantastic school that is based on Steven and Sean Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. The curriculum is amazing and the opportunities endless, but what I love most is the fact that these seven principals have been instilled in my children so that they might not have to suffer and learn the lessons the hard way.... like me. We, as a family have decided to make a concentrated effort to adopt these Seven Habits into our lives, and it has already made a huge difference on my outlook. I have decided to share with you one of the 7 Habits each week. Week 1: 

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow

Your life doesn't just "happen." Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure. You choose courage. You choose fear. Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results. Habit 1: Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. You can't keep blaming everything on your parents or grandparents. Proactive people recognize that they are "response-able." They don't blame genetics, circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. They know they choose their behavior. Reactive people, on the other hand, are often affected by their physical environment. They find external sources to blame for their behavior. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn't, it affects their attitude and performance, and they blame the weather. All of these external forces act as stimuli that we respond to. Between the stimulus and the response is your greatest power--you have the freedom to choose your response. One of the most important things you choose is what you say. Your language is a good indicator of how you see yourself. A proactive person uses proactive language--I can, I will, I prefer, etc. A reactive person uses reactive language--I can't, I have to, if only. Reactive people believe they are not responsible for what they say and do--they have no choice. Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which they have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control. The problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas--Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence. Proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about: health, children, problems at work. Reactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern--things over which they have little or no control: the national debt, terrorism, the weather. Gaining an awareness of the areas in which we expend our energies in is a giant step in becoming proactive.

So this week, let's practice being proactive. Let's turn those I cant's into I cans, lets say I will, instead of I have to. Let's think about our response and our actions before we react. Balance begins with ourselves, we are the foundation.
Wishing you a happy healthy and proactive week!
XOXO - Genevieve Rule 

The Awakening of a Muse

The Nine Muses

We all have muses. Whether you are a writer, artist, musician, singer, or even a CEO, we all have muses. We all have a voice that whispers words of inspiration in our ear, the encourager, the one that reinforces our ideas…. And if we are lucky enough we recognize that voice and heed its words.

As children, our muses sing songs loud and proud; and we happily listen. Our creativity is at its peak and we draw and color and sing and play; our imagination soars to new heights… it’s the joy and wonder of being a child. Do you remember coloring trees purple, and dogs green, and grass blue? Do you remember coloring outside of the lines? Do you remember giving those drawings to your parents, grandparents, and/or your teachers? Do you remember how proud they were of your “masterpiece”?

Somewhere along the line, someone or something tells us to color in the lines, and that trees aren’t purple they are green. We start to be praised for being common and for containing our imagination. The ordinary takes place of the extraordinary and our poor muses voices get muted. Now, I know that there is the exception…. Some people are lucky enough to not lose that sing-song companion; but for most of us, we are expected to fit inside a pretty little box packaged all the same, and sent down the conveyor belt of life.

As a child, I was super imaginative and precocious. I told stories to anyone who would listen. I would raid my sisters music collection and record over her “Tears For Fears” song “Shout” and did my own little squeaky voiced version of the song (keep in mind, when I was 5, she was 17). To say she was angry would be an understatement. I always knew I would either be a Writer, Journalist like Barbara Walters, or the first woman President. I was confident in everything I did and creativity oozed out of every pore.

When junior high rolled around, I along with all of my classmates were told to get serious and grow up; and to let go of “unrealistic dreams” of becoming models, actors, writers and famous politicians. We took career quizzes to see which job suited us and were told to think about college. My muse was suffocated by my attempts to “grow up” and she went silent. I didn’t notice at first because there were plenty of fun distractions like boys, sports, and did I mention boys? However, when college rolled around and then a career, I was uninspired and unhappy with everything. I felt lost and inadequate. I was a Wife, Mom, and career Student (because every major I chose was unfulfilling)…. But who was I, what was I?

My Husband and parents knew that I was a talented writer and story teller, so when I announced that I was going back to writing; I received nothing but support and encouragement! That is the day my Muse woke up. My old sweet friend had returned to whisper sweet something’s in my ear, and as I listened she became louder and louder. She now sings to me. I have learned in these last few years, that if I don’t use her I lose her. If I feel emotionally exhausted, or physically exhausted, I lose her. She is a very sensitive Muse that needs to be nurtured. I also learned a very valuable lesson about myself. I am a reflection of my muse. I need to take care of me, I need to value me; and I will always encourage my children and others in their creative pursuits.

~Until Next Time…
Genevieve Rule