One of those days

A post about nothing at all. Plus a little writing inspiration.

I ran a Twitter poll recently asking if you wanted more or fewer book not-reviews.

The results were:

11% think I post too many not-reviews

19% think I post just enough reviews

11% think I should post more reviews

and 59% want chocolate.

I interpret these results to say that I can keep posting about whatever comes to mind as long as I give you chocolate.

This is for you. Now stop complaining about my not-reviews.

What comes to mind right now is that I’ve drunk too much port. It was very good port, which makes the whole thing somewhat better.

At the vet today I met a crazy chicken lady. She had a sick chicken, and she explained how she’d been comparing its poo to the chicken poo she looked up on the internet. It turns out there are a lot of different ways chicken poo can look.

Figuring out what it means sounds like reading tea leaves, except you might not want to do it at the dinner table.

Or drink from the cup afterwards.

You probably don’t want to read about chicken poo. I didn’t give you enough chocolate for that. So, a book…

I’m reading another book by Jodi Picoult at the moment–it’s called Plain Truth and it’s about an Amish girl who gets accused of murdering her baby.

I picked it up because Jodi Picoult’s writing in Leaving Time was so smooth and touching, and I have a certain interest in non-mainstream lifestyles.

Plain Truth reads like earlier work. Acccording to Amazon as I look right now, it was published in 2009, whereas Leaving Time was published in 2014.

The difference hits you in the face. Not that Plain Truth is bad, but the writing is vanilla at best and jarring at worst, and I’ve been thrown by a number of head-hops.

Again, there are no dragons, but there is a hint of the supernatural.

I think I’ll stick around to the end, but I might need to wash my brain out after I finish.

Plain Truth is a bit of a disappointment, but in some ways it’s encouraging. It shows how much writers improve over time.

Maybe right now your writing isn’t as compelling as the writing of the masters and you can’t figure out why.

Sorry, I don’t know why either.

What I do know is that it can improve if you keep at it. Read good books. Pick apart why they work. Dissect the sections that bring tears to your eyes and bribe the dragons in them to abscond and come play in your world instead.

Your writing will get better, and one day it may even attain the heights you aspire to.

I feel like I ought to write more, but I’m not going to because I’m sad because we had to get one of our chickens put to sleep today. I’m also sad because it cost $110 dollars.

Hubby keeps asking if I’m okay about it. I am, I think. I grew up surrounded by chickens, and you know how the old saying goes: sometimes monkeys die. It applies to chickens too.

Sorry this post turned into a bit of a downer. Have some cute kittens.

Kittens fix everything, right?

Get more of my ramblings right in your inbox. Because kittens.

Author: A.S. Akkalon

By day, A.S. Akkalon works in an office where the computers outnumber the suits of armour more than two-to-one. By night, she puts dreams of medieval castles, swords, and dragons onto paper.

21 thoughts on “One of those days”

  2. As a side note, some of your blog posts I simple can’t “like” as the like button is continually “loading”. Not sure why that is, but I figure you won’t know unless someone tells you 🙂

    1. Thanks for telling me. I’ve seen this on other people’s WordPress sites too. I think it’s something buggy in the code, and unfortunately I have no idea how to fix it. :/

  3. Sorry to hear about your chook friend. It always hurts our hearts when we have to say bon voyage to an animal companion.

    For a post written with ‘too much port’ on board, you did smashingly. 🙂

  5. I’m sorry about your chicken. As much as we know we only get to have our feathery or furry friends around for a limited time, it’s still hard.

    And good post-port writing!

  6. I haven’t read any Jodie Picoult since My Sister’s Keeper, which always seemed like a little bit of cheating at the end. I have that dark feeling that Plain Truth may end with an unresolved ending, too. (But then, I’ve spent a few random hours looking at anabaptist genetic diseases on the internet. There’s a database.)
    I’m sorry about your chicken. It’s tough to let go.

    1. I just finished Plain Truth and you’re right. The ending wasn’t exactly unresolved, but I certainly didn’t find it satisfying. I’m definitely seeing a pattern with Jodi Picoult’s books – endings that don’t sit right with me. And you say My Sister’s Keeper (which I haven’t read) is the same. Hmm.

  7. All the kittens and chocolate in the world can’t replace a chicken-friend, although they do help with the adjustment to his/her passage. As does port. I commend you on your self-care. Your posts about nothing in particular are my favorite, although I am quite fond of your not-reviews because they are so very not reviews and they help me decide if that’s a book I want to allow into my brain. This is writing heresy, but there are very few book reviews that make for enjoyable reading in themselves, IMO (my O’s are never H). Yours are. Your reviews, I mean. Enjoyable, I mean. And no, I have not had port this morning, but I have had caffeine, which accounts for my lack of concision. I typed this really fast, though.

    1. Haha. I’m impressed with your caffeinated writing. You almost did sound drunk for a moment there.

      I’m glad you enjoy my posts about nothing in particular. I like them too, but at times I do ask myself why anyone would want to read them. 🙂

      Shh, but I tend to agree with you about book reviews. I’ve read good ones, but most of them are dull and rather uninspiring. We’re writers and we should know what makes a good scene or a good blog post: conflict. Hence two characters who can’t agree on much and aren’t afraid to argue. Plus then I don’t have to pretend that I actually understood the book. 🙂

  8. Wow, quite a dizzying post! I find it interesting that Jody Picoult’s writing changed so much in five years. I have some jarring moments looking back on my writing for five or ten years ago. Usually it’s some flavor of embarrassment (especially if the piece was submitted or published and I wish I could go in a change it in retrospect). But every now and then I read something old of mine and think: “Wow! That’s amazing. How did I write like that? Pretty sure I can’t do that anymore.” Anyways. Thanks for another amusing blog post!

    1. I’m the same – a lot of cringing mixed with little “How did I ever write like that?!” Also sometimes, “I never recall knowing that.” I guess I’m getting old. 😉

  9. We absolutely do get better the more we write. I’ve read a few first-books that were fantastic, but most authors do seem to improve with experience. That is a good thing!

  10. Condolences on the chicken, and thanks for the chocolate and kittens. I’ll send over more port in gratitude.

  11. It really is cruel when you leave the vet without your animal friend but with a bill. I’m facing almost $1000 on my sweet Nutmeg.

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