In one of my book stack, is The Venus Week. The subject matter grabbed my attention immediately, as I’ve always been intrigued by how women’s bodies work. It’s really a shame that most women don’t really know their bodies, but then again, the very subject matter has been highly elusive to even members of the [...]
Entries from November 2008
November 22, 2008
Something About Winter
Somehow, frigid temperatures seem to compel the muse to emerge. It was during the winter of 2004 that I began blogging, which basically jump started my pursuit of writing. The demise of my fourth child that summer, while still in the womb, was the catalyst, as I felt the intense need to write about it. [...]
November 17, 2008
Strong Verbs
She talked animatedly.
He looked at her longingly.
They walked determinedly towards her.
She hurriedly looked up.
Enough with the ‘ly’s already! I have read about the preferred and recommended use of strong verbs in place of adverbs again and again over the years, yet I sometimes still find myself using the adverbs in place of strong verbs. I [...]
November 17, 2008
Libraries, oh, Libraries…
The masjid, a halal grocery store, and the library. Those were the three things we would look up whenever we moved from state to state here in the United States. Food for the spiritual, the physical, and the intellect. I have to be honest. I can’t imagine living without easy access to a well equipped [...]
November 6, 2008
The Hook
How do I begin?
I don’t think I was ever taught this in school. But I was fortunate enough to learn of this through perusing writing magazines like The Writer and Writer’s Digest along with many other writing books I’ve read over the years. And oh yes, how could I forget…the course with the Institute of [...]
November 6, 2008
As a Reader…
I realize that I get very annoyed when reading obscenities in what I read. Alhamdulillah for that. I had picked up a novel at the library, along with Kite Runner, and tonight, I picked the book off the shelf and started reading, standing up. (If I had sat down, I’d probably be reading through the [...]
November 4, 2008
A Thousand Splendid Suns
I must say I will sorely, and I really mean, sorely, blistering and oozing puss, miss easy access to well-equipped public libraries if we return to Malaysia. I can cry just thinking of this.
There is a reason why I’m predisposed to writing. I read. I read and I read, and of course, my mother’s genes. [...]
November 4, 2008
Up to what?
It has been a while since I posted anything here. Well, anything of essence that is. I’ve been busy blogging away at the group food blog, at the Joy Luck Kitchen, and I find that I’m rather enjoying food blogging. I realize that my mass emails to my poor friends seem to always contain lengthy [...]
November 1, 2008
It’s November! Nano, Nano!
I nanoed last year. Shamefully, my 9 year old daughter wrote more words than I did. This year, we’re in a bit of a mess. We are about to be somewhat uprooted in early December, but maybe, maybe I can still nano this year. I actually forgot about this, and happened to check in and [...]
