Moment

Yes, this is me and my brother. From the back, to conceal our identities, obviously.

Make way for memoir! Make way for memoir!

Yes, I have as of recently been exploring the treacherous waters of the nonfiction genre, if by "recently" you mean "in July, at Smith," and have made a wary but definite peace treaty with personal experience writing, if only for a little while. I've actually been meaning to post this for some time, but I couldn't figure out how to get the picture in until today...

Posted to the Teen Ink website August 1st, 2012. And even featured on the front page of the entire Nonfiction section! I have a screencap as proof.

With the little VIP sticker next to my name, no less!

I hope you enjoy it!

Moment

Where the Heart Is

Picture from http://lovesagame.com/wp-content/uploads/love_poem.jpg. Image depicts a very pretty heart-shaped light pattern on a book. In case you couldn't tell.

Another one pulled from the recesses of my computer, although it was written more recently--for a summer writing program at Smith College. One of my very few pieces of realistic contemporary fiction, though I did consider an alternate version with magic involved before realizing it would betray the integrity of the story. Enjoy, and by all means, comment!

Note: contains LGBT romance. If for some reason you're uncomfortable with that, it is certainly your right to have that opinion, but please refrain from starting a flame war on my blog.

Where the Heart Is

Falling Rocks

From http://community.sparknotes.com/index.php/2009/11/24/blogging-lord-of-the-flies-chapter-5-beast-from-water/, regarding Lord of the Flies. It doesn't quite fit with the seriousness of this piece, but it's one of the few things that made reading that book bearable.

This has been hanging around on my computer for quite some time now, and I just realized today that you all might want to read it.

I don't actually like Lord of the Flies. In fact, I hate it, almost as much as I hate The Old Man and the Sea. Actually, scrap that. The Old Man and the Sea is much, much worse.

Anyway, you may be wondering why, if I hate LOTF so much, why am I writing essentially a fanfiction about it? Good question. My answer is that the book's ending simply doesn't settle it for me. Being a person who believes in the goodness of humanity as opposed to its evil, I wanted to show a more balanced view of the universe. William Golding may disagree, but then again, I'm not writing to please him.

This piece also has the honor of being tagged with both "dark" and "optimistic." I'm not sure which outweighs which. Oh, and disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Flies, nor do I want to. Also, spoilers if you haven't read the book.

Falling Rocks

Bountiful Butterfly Blessings

Picture taken from http://images.paraorkut.com/img/pics/glitters/b/butterfly_rainbow-8184.jpg. Image depicts butterflies and a rainbow. I think it's a gorgeous picture.

In May, I wrote and posted a poem called "To Sing to a Butterfly". Here's what that particular poem's been up to since:

• Posted on the Old South Church Forum
• Used by Rev. Dr. Debbie Clark in a worship service at Edwards Church in Framingham
• Inspired an in-progress piano prelude by composer Erik Gustafson
• Used by Rev. Don Remick at the opening worship service for the UCC Mass Conference
• Shared by at an Interfaith Spirituality group at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and:
• Published in the Summer 2012 edition of the Old South Reporter

So thank you Anonymous, for giving me the prompt that started it all, and all of you for your continued support!

A Beginner's Guide to THE OMNISCIENCE

Image taken from http://www.freevector.com/site_media/preview_images/FreeVector-Futuristic-Machinery.jpg, courtesy of The Internet. It depicts some cool piece of futuristic machinery.

I'm mostly posting this so when I write fanfiction for my own original work on Runaway Tales I can link back here and people will know what I'm talking about. Oh, and also so I can give all my lovely blog readers another taste of my novel-in-progress. Enjoy!

A Beginner's Guide to THE OMNISCIENCE

Remember

This photo was taken from http://www.bestourism.com/img/items/big/530/Boston_Boston-skyline_2104.jpg, courtesy of The Internet.  It shows the Boston skyline.

This was written for the "Opportunity for Readers" challenge in response to Allison Corman-Vogan's prompt (via Facebook), "How about two characters who were classmates in high school and meet again ten years later in a new city?" Sorry it took so long to write, and I hope it doesn't disappoint you!

Posted to the Teen Ink website on May  23, 2012.

Remember

To Sing to a Butterfly

This was written for the "Opportunity For Readers" challenge in response to Anonymous's prompt: "I would love to read a poem about how to sing to a butterfly." I hope you love it as much as you thought you would!

To Sing to a Butterfly