Rita’s Comments (group member since Jul 23, 2010)

Rita’s comments from the Unlocking Books group.

I am reading Zombies vs. Unicorns. It's a YA anthology. Personally, I am a dragon fan and care little for zombies or unicorns, but zombies have always seemed like the worst possible monster out there. Therefore, if I have to choose between zombies and unicorns, unicorns win for me.

ocean. Down below the water's surface, there are...

you stop glowing like a Christmas tree. When the sun rises...

With a cast list like that, I would love to read your novel. That could make for an interesting plot.

Jeanne, that would be beautiful. I don't think I could incorporate that exact picture in my current WIP, but it has given me another idea. I'm working on Symbiote as a full length novel, and in this story, there are a lot of broken people, refugees who hide in the city, scraping by to survive.

I could see an old man who is lost in the music that only he can hear. He lost his CD's when the corporations took over America, but he still hears them in his head. Everyone thinks he's crazy, but he's just remembering. Perhaps he was the conductor of major orchestra. Or maybe he had once been a concert pianist. I see him as being beautiful poetry in a mad world.

I will save the sympathetic man who conducts music for another story.

I have a great love for both symphonic and symphonic metal. I love electric violins & cellos.

My dad was very proud of his musical abilities. He played saxophone and clarinet and taught himself how to play the piano. His dream was to go to school for music, but he gave it all up for the ministry.

I think he was always disappointed in me because I didn't have his drive for music, especially when I liked rock more than classical. I played flute in high school, but it wasn't until college that I actually began to excel. Private lessons went a long way. Sadly, my dad never got to here me play when I was good.

One thing my father instilled in me, and that was a love for classical music. He doesn't know how much he affected me, but I appreciate my ear for music that I got from him. When my dad was home, there was always something playing, and he was always conducting the music, whether he was in the car or in his living room.

Music actually plays a major role in my writing. I let myself "sink" into the music, let it surround me. It's got to be just the right music at the right volume.

magic juice. If you drink it, it will ...

...take over the library in order to ...

turn and face them. No one could make me run, but as I watched them approach, I ...

a woman with a yellow flower growing out of her nose, carrying a ...

Jeanne wrote: "And now that we are remembering our love for fictional animals, we must include Peter Rabbit and all his friends and Brer Rabbit and all his friends!"

And how about the Velveteen Rabbit? But I remember that one always seemed scary to me.

I loved Princess Academy. The thing that stuck out to me most was the lessons the young lady learned along the way, about leadership, about her place in the world, about her family, and about what it really means to be a princess. One of the best coming-of-age books for young ladies I've read.

That's why I also like Fever 1793, which we are reading this month. I got through the first two chapters with my daughter, who was devastated about the ending of chapter two. I had to explain to her that there is a lot of heartache in this book, but that's what makes the ending so much more beautiful.

Jeanne wrote: ""They (the rules governing literary art) require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the o..."

Dead characters. This reminds me of my first novel that I wrote three years ago. One of my beta-readers complained that my characters were all flat. So I reread one of the scenes and noticed this:

Character One: We should sneak into his laboratories and find out what is he up to.

Character Two: Yes, that is a good idea.

Character Three: I agree.

Anybody see what's wrong with this? I call it the yes-man syndrome.

And here's a slightly different approach to the topic of animal stories: fantasy stories featuring humans who have the gift to speak to animals.

The Princess and the Hound is a more recent story and for an older audience, but I enjoyed it. A bit of a dark fantasy with a mystery thrown in.

The Goose Girl is based on a fairy tale, but Shannon Hale did an excellent job with it.

I read Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I remember how it made me cry, and yet it had one of the most beautiful endings.

Jeanne wrote: "S.M.,

I can see you as Jo. She doesn't fight monsters, but she has a heroic quality. She thinks for herself, speaks her mind, and is always her own person."

Good description of both Jo and S.M.

I liked Jo in Little Women. Then you can be the writer who creates these fantastical epic stories...

But then you already do, don't you?

Okay, you win. Even if he wasn't a sloppy kisser, now I couldn't think of anything other than slugs if someone forced me to kiss him. *shivers*

What's wrong with Ron? Red hair's kinda cute, though I'm partial to black hair myself.

Hi Makani! Welcome to Unlocking Books. You can set up your own folder to talk about what your reading and / or writing. Hope you like it here.