Adan Ramie's Blog, page 43

Word a Week | Week #11

Welcome to theeleventh installment of Word a Week. You can find some other Word a Week words here.

When I was reading Middlesex, I came across over a dozen words that I loved, but that were unfamiliar to me. The following is one of the many that caught my eye.

This week’s word is:

pergola– [per-go-la] (noun) 1. arbor, trellis. 2. a structure usually consisting of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of girders and cross rafters.

Italian, from Latin pergula

First Known Use: 1675

I’m l...

Round 2 | Maladaptation in Beta Again

In April, I wrote about the slow progress I had been making on my work in progress, Maladaptation. At the time, I was disheartened; I felt like I had so much work to do, that I might not even finish it by the end of the year.

Well, I finished the edits I needed to make on the story. The holes in the manuscript have been filled, and I’m awaiting replies from some people who had offered to beta read for melast time. (That being said, if you feel you’ve been passed over, shoot me a message and w...

Review 8 | TBR Pile Challenge | Bones of Betrayal

Of all the books I’ve read for the TBR Pile Challenge, this novel has been one of the most enjoyable to read. This is the second book I’ve read by the collaborative team (Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson) that publish under the pseudonym Jefferson Bass. Bones of Betrayal is the fourth book in the Body Farm series that follows forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton.

Not having read the book before Bones of Betrayal, I can’t speak for continuity or consistency of characterization. I can say that...

Word a Week | Week #10

Welcome to thetenth installment of Word a Week. You can find some other Word a Week words here.

The following term was coined by the director of the Houston Police Department’s Crime Victims Office, if Wikipedia is to be believed. I’ve heard it about a hundred times on CSI, and it always strikes me as such a strange term to have even been created.

This week’s word is:

murderabilia– (noun) 1. collectibles related to murders, murderers or other violent crimes.

Let’s see some responses in the c...

For My Mother on Mother’s Day | A Poem Made of Wounds

This started out as a response to my own challenge, but somewhere along the line, it morphed into something of a cathartic exercise. Today is Mother’s Day in the U.S., and while I wish most of the mothers inthe countrya happy day filled with love and family, I can’t help but think about my own mother, her recent illness, and my traumatic childhood.

For My Mother on Mother’s Day

From the first day — no, scratch that
Even before I was born
I wasn’t enough for her.

Looking back, I think
What sh...

The Cost of Going On | WOW 555 Flash Fiction Challenge

With finals upon me, I’ve found myself beset by the urge to madlyprocrastinate. Thankfully, I’ve been able to channel some of that manic energy into writing. Here’s my contribution to the WOW 555 Flash Fiction Challenge for this week. It’s a sort of prequel to this story I wrote a while back.

The Cost of Going On

There’s some small comfort in being dominated. To have someone tell you what to do, who you can spend time with, and even who you are — to a kid who’s never had anyone take interest...

Word a Week | Week #9

Welcome to theninth installment of Word a Week. You can find some other Word a Week words here.

I thought I would do a little something different this week. This week’s word comes with an actual challenge. Use the following word in an unfamiliar format piece. If you normally write short stories, write a poem. If you normally write lyrics, write a limerick. Or whatever you choose – the possibilities are endless.

This week’s word is:

peripatetic– [peripəˈtetik] (adjective) 1.traveling from plac...

Procedure for Departure | Five Sentence Fiction

I haven’t had a lot of spare time for writing lately, so I’m a little surprised that I managed to pull this together tonight. I’m really not sure where this flash fiction piece came from, but here is my contribution to this week’s Five Sentence Fiction:

Procedure for Departure

When it happens, you find that a hollow thickness falls over your hearing. The voices of the men and women tracking back and forth in front of and around you sound like they’re coming down a long, dark tunnel, because...

Review 7 | TBR Pile Challenge | Bossypants by Tina Fey

This will be the seventh book I’ve reviewed for the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge, and it’s one of my favorites so far. For the first time in what seems like years, I started reading a book and finished reading it on the same day.Sure, part of the reason I finished it was that I had more time than usual to lie around, thanks to a recurrence of back pain that left me stranded for a while on a heating pad. But it was more than that. I genuinely enjoyed this book from the first page to the last.

My w...

Word a Week | Week # 8

Welcome to theeighth installment of Word a Week. You can findprevious words here, here, and here.

In this semester’s math class, I don’t often find words that draw my eye. Between theorems and formulas, there isn’t a lot of room for fun vocabulary detours. However, a term from arecent chapter caught my eye. What got me about this word wasn’t as much its definition, but the root, which I’ve alsoincluded below.

This week’s word is:

amortize– [ˈa-mər-ˌtīz] (verb) 1. to pay money that is owed for...