Laci Maskell's Blog

I Am A Book Snob

           I own a lot of books. I buy a lot of books. And when it comes to buying new books there are a lot of things to consider. And when it comes to this, I am a snob. I am not exactly proud of this, but my goal is to have my own library and as bad as this sounds, I want it to look good.

Yeah I suck.
The thing is, my book snobbery gets better and worse and changes all the time.
Some of the things I think about when I buy a new book are what kind of cover it has, who the author is, what type of pages it has, and so forth.
I buy a lot of books that are new releases, because of this, most of them are hardcovers. When I first fell in love with books and for a long time, I thought I needed hardcovers. I thought hardcovers were the prestige of book owning. After a while I didn’t think I cared about hardcovers and started buying paperbacks. Paperbacks are easy to read, they are easy to carry around, they are light weight. It was a no brainer. I bought paperbacks. But every few months I change my mind. Hardcover, paperback, hardcover, paperback. And so on. I have entire series where either the first book is a paperback and the rest are hardcovers, or half of them are paperbacks and the rest are hardcovers. A few months ago I was on a paperback kick. Right now I am on a hardcover kick. Part of the reason I buy paperbacks instead of hardcovers is the price. Paperbacks are cheaper. Everyone knows that. So when I want multiple books and only want to spend so much money I buy paperbacks to save a little money. Now, I honestly don’t care about the money, plus I get a lot of coupons so buying hardcovers is fine by me. One big perk to buying hardcovers is fancy endpapers. Most books just have solid colored endpapers. Some special books have designed endpapers. And they are fancy and special and a great treat to book buyers. When you buy a hardcover book you need to undress your book. And by this I mean taking the dust jacket off and seeing if you will find a surprise. Besides the words of the book, this may be one of the best things about hardcovers. Taking the dust jacket off to find things like imprinted words or designs on the hardback are great. They show that the publisher really wanted to give the reader a treat. And I really appreciate that.
Another thing to consider when buying books is the covers and dust jackets. Like I said before, I buy a lot of new releases. Sometimes after the first book is released and the publishers don’t think it’s selling well enough, they change the covers. I have several series where the first book has one cover and the rest of the series has different covers. I really hate it. You can’t even tell on the shelf that they belong together. I really don’t like it when they change the covers from hardcover to paperback. When I am in my paperback phase I want the hardcover cover, I like the hardcover cover, but then they change the cover and now I have to get the hardcover when I’ve waited so long for the paperback. It’s really a never ending issue. Dust jackets are an issue as well. I love owning hardcovers, but when it comes to reading them, I never read them with the dust jackets on. I don’t want to hurt them in any way so I take them off and read them naked. This usually ends with me with black fingers. Alas I’d rather have black fingers than a ripped dust jacket.
One of the less important things about book buying is the type of paper. Lots of people, non-excessive readers, like deckled edges. Avid readers do not like deckled edges. Sure they look nice, but they make reading that much more difficult. Trying to turn the pages of a book with deckled edges wastes precious seconds that could be used to read a few more words. This goes hand in hand with thin pages, what we in the book world call bible pages. They are thin and decently see through and easier to rip.
Have you called me a snob yet?
One of the last things I consider when buying a book, and have only recently considered are exclusives. Book exclusives are a relatively new thing. Some of these include designs or posters on the insides of the dust jacket. Others include special or deleted scenes not found in other editions of the book. I love these. I seek them out. Others include interviews and author insights.
All of these things add up to how I am a book snob and am not about to change. I know there are people who share my views. I’ve seen the video proof of these people. So I don’t feel so bad. There you have it, the reasons I am a book snob. I embrace it with open arms. I hope you do too.

10 Things you should never say to a book nerd

1. You read too much.

2. You own too many books.
3. You should only read the classics.
4. YA has no literary merit.
5. I’ve never read Harry Potter.
6. Why not just wait for the movie?
7. Reading is boring.
8. Why are you crying? It’s just a book.
9. You can’t bring a book with you.
10. You read too much.

Rereading Harry Potter

            I have recently reread the Harry Potter series. Over the years I have tried to reread them, I have even reread one or two of them. But never the whole series. I have just accomplished that. And I have some feelings.

First, I was so fucking happy I could not stop smiling. It took me weeks to reread the whole series and I had a smile on my face the entire time. As I’ve mentioned in a past blog, Harry Potter basically saved my life. Rereading it brought back so many emotions for me. My love for Harry Potter has not wavered in the slightest. I knew it hadn’t, but rereading the books and being reminded of that love was the greatest treat.
There were so many things I remembered about the books, and so many things I’d forgotten. Those books are so big and filled with so much stunning detail, it is hard to remember absolutely everything. But I did remember most things. The things I didn’t were great fun to read. There is a thing online where people say they could have selective memory loss so they could go back and reread their favorite books with fresh eyes. I would choose Harry Potter if I got that chance.
My favorite Harry Potter character, besides HP himself, is Fred Weasley. Now, I knew that the twins were featured proximately in the books, but I’d forgotten how much. I also forgot that Fred was so much more of a character than George was. Fred got three times more lines, and jokes, and actions than George. Fred was funnier, he was more loving, caring, protective. He was more important than his twin brother George. I had originally thought they were equally as important to the stories, had equal lines and actions in the books, but when I reread them, I realized JK Rowling’s love for Fred was far more than it was for George. And then she killed him. Reading Fred’s death for the second time was nearly as hard as it was the first time. The first time I read it I wept. This time was not as bad, but I was just as heartbroken.
And that’s the thing, I already knew all the deaths, all the sad things that happened, but that doesn’t mean reading them for the second, third times, wasn’t any less real or gut punching. Like my hatred for Dolores Umbridge. I might have hated her more this time around. Ugh. And Snape. I know he turns into a hero in the last book, or was one the entire time, but that doesn’t mean that I still hated the way he mistreated Harry, Rom, Hermione and everyone else. Well, all the other Gryffindors.
I had wanted to reread HP for the longest time. I was also in a bit of a reading pickle. I still loved reading, but I wasn’t exactly in a good place with my reading life. I was reading a lot of books, but it felt like I was just reading them to reach a reading goal, to get them done so I could move on to the next book. It was almost as if I wasn’t truly enjoying reading. But then I started rereading HP. I fell back in love with reading. I realized that I could take my time with books, take my time to fall in love with them and appreciate them properly. I didn’t need to burn through books. So not only did Harry Potter save my life when I was younger, HP has now saved my reading life. Harry Potter will forever be the best thing that has ever happened to me. Always.

My Harry Potter Story

            Harry Potter is and will always be my favorite book series of all time. And it’s not just because it is such a good story, even though it is. My love for Harry Potter runs much deeper than just liking the story. I am going to share that story with you.

When I was a small child I could not read well. I struggled like no other. Like I was the captain of the struggle bus. I was the driver and all the passengers. And because I couldn’t read very well, I struggled in many other areas. I had to go to a special class every day. A class my school called Title. In this class I was joined by two boys from my class. Every day I sat in that class and got extra help on my reading. When I say I struggled and had to go to a special class, you may think, oh, good, she got help and was able to exit that class in a short time. You are wrong. I was in Title FOREVER! At least to young Laci, it seemed like forever. I hated Title. I hated school. And because of all that, I hated reading. I didn’t read in school or out of school because it was hard. And because it was hard I was being punished for it and sent to Title. I remember hating Title, but I don’t remember how much I hated it. it wasn’t until I’d graduated high school and was working as a summer janitor for my school that I found my Title folder. In said folder I read notes from my parents and the Title teacher saying how much I hated it and didn’t want to go back. The number of notes that said pretty much the same thing, about how much I hated it, were staggering. And yet I still had to go to Title.
Eventually I got out of Title. I’m not sure which grade. I at least know I was no longer in Title when I was in junior high. I could now read at a decent level. I do know that junior high was definitely the worst time of my entire life. And I’m not even exaggerating a little. I had been bullied my entire life. So this was nothing new. What was new was the bullies themselves. The bullies were not only in my class, but now they were in other classes. I was bullied about everything from my clothes to the glasses I wore to everything else bullies bully a child for. And not only was the bullying getting worse, my grades were getting worse. Now I tell you, I was a bad student to begin with, but I wasn’t the worst. In junior high I may as well have been the worst. In two years I nearly failed every one of my classes. There was on class in particular, Nebraska studies, were I very nearly failed. It was a nightmare. And I remember my mom getting on me so hard about how bad I was doing. And because I was doing poorly, I hated everything more. I was moody, emotional, didn’t care about much of anything. And that included reading. I don’t remember reading anything in junior high. At all. Not even anything for class.
Then, the summer between my eight grade and freshman year, when I didn’t have much to do with myself besides babysit my cousins, my sister hands me the first four Harry Potter books, because those were the only ones out. Now, I don’t actually remember reading them, which to this day depresses me, but I emerged from that summer a new person. I had fallen so deeply in love with Harry Potter and reading in general. I was in love with everything about Harry Potter. I wasn’t just in love. I was obsessed. I knew everything about the characters and the world and Hogwarts and just everything. I had to know everything. But when I’d finished reading those four Harry Potter books and had to wait for the fifth book to be published, I needed something else to read. When I started back up my freshman year of school I started it as an avid reader. I read anything I could get my hands on. I didn’t know it at the time but I was too young for the classics, though that didn’t stop me from trying to read them. I tore through those, but wasn’t satisfied. I tried reading popular tween books like goosebumps, but wasn’t satisfied. I tried reading a bit of everything, but wasn’t really satisfied. But at least I was reading, because I needed to read.
But not only did I become an avid reader, I became a better student. From the time Harry Potter touched my eyeballs to the time I graduated high school, I had never gotten a grade below a B. I studied harder, I paid more attention, I cared more. And I was a better person, a happier person. I got along with my teachers. I was friends with my teachers. I was no longer bullied. I participated in more activities.
Every year after reading the first four Harry Potter books I craved each new book. I waited the years between books. Every year waiting for a new Harry Potter was like Harry Potter himself waiting to go back to Hogwarts. I was waiting to go back to Hogwarts. Harry Potter gave me a home. It gave me friends like myself who made me feel like I wasn’t such a freak. It gave me hope. It made me happy. It still makes me happy. The other day I was reading book two while watching movie five and I had the biggest, stupidest grin on my face that ended up hurting my cheeks. Because I was so happy.
Harry Potter is not just a book series. It is not just a love, or an obsession. It was not just something I could enjoy for a few hours to escape my world. Not to me. Harry Potter changed my life. It changed my life for the better.
To this day I read an average of ninety books a year. I am also an author. I owe all of that to Harry Potter. And to my sister. I’m not sure what her motivation for handing me Harry Potter was. I’m not sure if she saw me struggling through life and thought it would help. I’m not sure if she saw an unhappy kid and thought hey she could use an escape for a little while. I’m not sure if she just thought I might like them. I’m not sure what motivated her to do it, but from the bottom of my heart I will never be able to thank her enough for changing my life. I’m not being even a little over dramatic when I say that JK Rowling, Harry Potter, and my sister, not only changed my life, but they saved it.


Always.

Fun Author Facts

1. I write chronologically. Never out of order.

2. I’ve gotten book ideas from dreams, lines of dialogue from TV shows, other books, movies, work.
3. I like to write in multiple points of view.
4. I write better when typing as opposed to writing long hand.
5. I write almost exclusively from my couch.
6. When I outline I use a binder with a sheet of paper for each chapter. Each page has three different colored sticky note, one for the plot of the chapter, one for specific dialogue I’d like in the chapter, and one for specific scenes I’d like in the chapter.
7. I love to drink hot chocolate while I write.
8. I have a notebook, a binder, and a word doc for almost all of my books.
9. I love to own multiple copies of my own books.
10. I always sign all of my books in purple sharpie.
11. I sell a lot of my books out of my car.
12. I used to be able to write with music in the background but now I need silence to write.
13. I don’t ever work on more than one project at a time.
14. I have several ideas for books I’m just waiting to write.
15. I have a set of four people I give all my books to, to read before I publish them.
16. I don’t like people on the cover of books.
17. I don’t let my cover designer put pink on any of my covers.
18. I honestly miss my characters once I’ve finished writing a book.
19. I no longer like to write short stories. I like to write a lot and short stories are just too short to contain all of a story I want to tell.
20. My two biggest author dreams are to become a New York Times bestseller and have at least one of my books become a movie.

My 2017

           I had all these plans to blog in 2017. One of my goals for the year was to write at least one blog every month for 2017. Strangely enough, I did this. I just didn’t publish them. So anticipate reading those blogs in the coming months. But, in the plan to publish blogs for all of you to read, I failed.

I had a crazy, intense, busy, and several other adjectives when it comes to my 2017. I honestly can’t believe I survived the year without more anxiety attacks.
Now, I could just tell you I had a busy year and leave it at that, but I am honestly proud of my year and I want to share it with you.
I started off the year with a bang. On January 17th, I published my third book. And while this was my third book, which was awesome, it was also the first book in my very first trilogy. I was really excited to have a new book out and to see what people thought about it.
On January 23rd, I had my first ever official author/book signing. The signing was held at the library and would be over a period of 2 hours. I was hyped and so excited to sell some books. I had my new book and copies of my first two books. The signing started and people came to buy my books and talk to me about my books. My parents came, my aunts and uncles came. My grandmas came. Friends came. It was a great time. At the same time I was very nervous by the fact that it was my first signing and that it was all about me. I ended up selling quite a few books, and I was so happy about that. At the end of the night, my parents and I went back to my house to eat pizza and hang out. Once they left and I was home alone, I had one of the worst headaches of my life and literally could not remember a single conversation I’d had that night. Now, I don’t talk about having anxiety a lot, or being an introvert, but this is one thing that I have to deal with. But I love writing and getting to talk to people about books, and I LOVE when people love my books. So it is something I can deal with.
In the following months I worked on writing the third book in the trilogy as well as editing the second book for publication.
On June 27th I published book 2 in the trilogy. I kept on working on selling the books and getting people excited about my books.
After I did the book signing at the library, the librarian from Tilden contacted me and asked if I would be interested in traveling to her library and having a presentation and a book signing. Obviously I was down for it. Then, the library had a presenter that I went to. The guy who was giving the presentation was going to be attending a workshop in Ponca for 150 years of storytelling and asked if I would like to attend and sell books. Again, I was down.
On July 29th, I had the Tilden book signing. It didn’t go as well as I would have liked, but I did end up selling a few books and I got my name out there a little more.
On August 4th I finished writing the third book in the Phoenix trilogy. It was the day before my birthday. I almost couldn’t believe it. I had been working on this story for five years and it was finally. Not to mention that I had written a full trilogy. It was something I am so proud of.
On August 7th, I went to Ponca for the 150 years of storytelling. Again, it didn’t go as well as I would have liked, but I did sell a few books and again, I got more exposure.
In the months that followed, I decided that as much as I had liked working at a daycare for the past three years, it was time for a change. My local library had a position open and you all know how much I love books. I couldn’t pass it up. So I traded in the babies for books. I can’t say that I regret my decision. I am thankful every day I get to work in the library.
After that, I decided that buying my house was a good idea. I hope at least some of you catch the sarcasm there. So In August or September I began the process of buying my house. Let me tell you, it is a lot more work than I thought it would be, and more work than I was ready for.
I don’t regret buying my house, but it was a big girl thing that I wasn’t sure I was ready for. I didn’t want to be that fully of an adult yet.
On December 1st, I published the final book in the Phoenix Trilogy. By the way, if I haven’t mentioned yet, the covers for the phoenix trilogy are amazing. I love them so much. Especially book three. If you haven’t gotten your hands on them yet, you totally should, just to have pretty books on your shelves. But, yes, book three of the trilogy was now out and I could take a breath. I was very proud of myself and proud of the fact that I had published three books in one year.
So, to sum up, this was my 2017, and why I didn’t get much (or any) blogging done; I wrote one book, published three books, had four book signings, changed jobs, and bought a house. I am probably leaving things out, but I think that is enough.
Like I said in the last post, I plan to write more and publish more in the future. I will post a blog with links to all my books in hopes that some of you will take a chance on them and help this staving author. I will also be publishing the backlog of blogs I wrote last year but didn’t publish. I hope you will enjoy some of them.
That is all for now. I will write again soon.


Laci

Hello . . . From Another Year

     Hello. Wow. It has been a while. I apologize.
     However, last year and the beginning of this year have been a bit crazy for me. I've been working two jobs plus writing in my free time.
     I would like to get back to blogging and sharing my writing and reading life with you.
     In 2017 I published an entire trilogy. That is right, I published and entire trilogy. That would be the Phoenix Trilogy. Those books include Phoenix Born, Phoenix Burn, and Phoenix Rising. I encourage you to check them out, as well as my other books, Still Life Moving, and So . . . That Happened at any online book retailer.
     I do have some ideas for upcoming blogs and will hopefully start some kind of regular schedule with this again.
     For those of you who actually read this, first of all, thank you, and second, I'm sorry I've been gone so long.
     Anyway, I don't have much to say at the moment. I will be posting a blog about how the last year or so has been going for me and what my writing has been like. However, I wanted to just on here now and let you all know I am coming back!
     Yay me!
     Good bye for now, but not for long.

My Love Affair With The Lord of the Rings

When I was eleven years old my dad and sister dragged me to the theater to see The Lord of the Rings. And like all good love affairs that is how mine began.I was a wayward child. I had many interests and few hobbies. I was a townie who rode her bike through main street. I played basketball with my brother at the local park. I hated reading books. I liked music but wasn’t a junky. I liked movies but didn’t have a passion. Then, one fateful December day my dad and sister asked if I would like to join then in going to see The Lord of the Rings. I declined thinking that the movie looked weird and was not my thing. They insisted that I join them and seeing no way out of it I tagged along. We got our tickets, our popcorn and pop, and found our seats. And for the next two hours and fifty eight minutes I was glued to my seat sitting as still as a statue. I was enthralled by the picture before me. I was taken in by the world. I was awed by the characters. I was in love. When Frodo and Sam reached that high rock and Frodo told Sam he was glad Sam was with him I truly didn’t want it to end. So when the credits rolled I was stymied. I was heartbroken. I felt sucked away from something that had claimed my soul. How could the movie be over when the fellowship had been disbanded? How could it end when Merry and Pippin were captured by the orcs? How could we be left hanging when Frodo had not delivered the ring to its demise in Mt. Doom? But end it did. My dad, my sister, and I exited the theater and retreated to our vehicle. I was in an emotional state and I didn’t know what to do with myself. My feelings were rising in my chest and choking me. But I held myself together. There was no way I was walking through the mall with tears in my eyes. However, once we got to the vehicle was a whole other situation. Try as I might, I could no longer hold back the tears that were attacking me. So I sat in the front seat of our pickup truck and I began to cry. I tried so hard to cry silently. I did not want my sister or my dad to know that I was crying. But alas, I was discovered. My sister turned to me and asked why I was crying. I only had one response for her.“It ended.”Those words sealed my fate to The Lord of the Rings.I think my dad and sister were so stunned they just stared at me. Until my dad chuckled and said, “There will be two more movies.” From then on I was a sucker for all things LotR. I bought the books and devoured them. I bought books about the movies. I bought action figures and toys and games and you name it if it pertained to LotR I bought it. I knew everything about everything. I knew the actors. I knew the characters inside and out. I’m not kidding you when I say I became a monster. I was addicted. Daily I searched the websites dedicated to LotR. I asked for anything and everything LotR for my birthday and Christmas. The VHS for the first movie came out right before my birthday and you best believe that is what I wanted. Now, my birthday falls August 5th, and school started approximately August 17th. I am not even lying a little when I tell you I watched that VHS tape three times a day every day until school started. My family was so sick of that movie by then. But I was in love. I still am to this day. When each of the second and third films came out in theaters I saw each no less than three times. I had the third movie memorized the first time I watched it. In the likely hood I got my mom to join me in the theater I got so upset every time she tried to lean over and ask me a question. There was no way I was missing even a second of those movies, even if I had already seen it twice. I can’t tell you exactly what it is or was about The Lord of the Rings that pulled me in. I can’t explain to you why I was so immediately and lastingly in love with this story. It may be the world. It may be the characters. It may be a sprinkling of everything to do with LotR. I can tell you that I have never been so utterly taken by something since then. I can tell you that I do love LotR above all else. I can tell you I’ve never seen a movie since that has so absolutely bewitched me. And I can tell you that I am so thankful to have been so moved by something like The Lord of the Rings because not everyone is lucky enough to be so deeply in love with something. But I am.

Twilight Vs. Harry Potter

The boy who lived.The girl on fire.The girl who did nothing.
Who cares?
I have recently joined Pinterest and have been experiencing fandoms like never before. But, never before have I found such hate and animosity between fandoms. And none so much as Harry Potter and Twilight fandoms. I’m not trying to call out the Harry Potter fans, because I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, but I have seen too much Twilight hate from the HP fans for my liking. I don’t understand the hatred. I don’t understand why we can’t like what we like and not fear criticism for what we like. When has it ever been a bad thing to like a book? If we start hating on anyone who likes a certain book we don’t like we are going to turn those people off of reading for eternity because they will fear no matter what they like they will be criticized for it. Aren’t we supposed to be bringing readers to books, not turning them away? Several times I have seen a quote from Steven King that says, “Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.” This quote sickens me. Especially because it comes from an author. I completely understand that it is his opinion. I also am a huge advocate of having our own opinions. However, when you start spouting off your opinions only to bring people down, that is not right. I have never been a fan of Steven King, merely because he doesn’t write stories that interest me, however, I’m not about to bash him or his fans for it. I’m not about to call him out for having a bad message in his books or for teaching people the wrong things.Sure, Harry Potter is about all of those things, but as a writer who doesn’t put blatant messages in her books, I would like people to read my books and for people to not attack my readers for liking my books when they don’t have a message. Harry Potter is my favorite series of all time and that will never change. But I also quite enjoyed the Twilight series. The Twilight series has gotten a lot of flak for teaching girls they need a man. For teaching girls that if their man leaves them, they must jump off a cliff. For encouraging teen sex and pregnancy. As much as I enjoyed the Twilight series, I never once felt the need to follow them as gospel. When did reading change from doing something for enjoyment to doing something to learn a lesson and learn how we should live our lives? Now, I believe books can do that, but seriously, why can’t some of us read for enjoyment? Maybe some people are reading the Twilight series for enjoyment. Maybe some people are reading the Twilight series not because they want to learn how to find a man and how to live their lives, but because they like the story? Tell me this, when did it ever become wrong to enjoy a book? Because I would like to know. I may be in the wrong profession if that is so. Twilight may not be the best story in the world. They may not be the most well written books in the world. But its fans should not be harassed merely for enjoying the story. Please leave these people alone. Let them enjoy their stories without fearing they need to hide their enjoyment of them. No one should ever have to hide their love of a book. Twilight, or any book for that matter, may not be the best book in your opinion. It may teach people the wrong things. It may not mean anything to you. But please keep your opinion to yourself because it may mean something to others. It may mean the world to someone. It may have saved someone’s life. And when you attack that or try to bring it down, you are invalidating it to that person. Books are to be loved, not bashed.

Extraordinary Means Tag

I would give up the internet for a month for a signed first edition of this book.Easy, The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.
I would give up pizza for a year to sit next to this author on a long plane ride. Again, easy, JK Rowling. She always gets her best ideas when she is traveling.
I would sit through 1000 commercials if this book was made into a movie. It is more than likely going to be a movie, the rights have been optioned, but for me that would be Red Rising by Pierce Brown.
I would never read a new book again if I could live inside this book.This is the toughest question to answer but I think I will have to go with Narnia.
I would make my Google search history public if I could be besties with this author.I’d say either Maggie Stiefvater or Rachel Higginson.
I would donate everything I own to goodwill if I could date this book character.I think I have to go with Patch from the Hush Hush series. He was my first ever book boyfriend and will forever be my favorite. But Agustus Waters comes in a close second.