Advice to Writers: William Trevor

By the End, You Should Be Inside Your Character

By the end, you should be inside your character, actually operating from within somebody else, and knowing him pretty well, as that person knows himself or herself. You’re sort of a predator, an invader of people.

-WILLIAM TREVOR

The characters are the most important part of the book. You need to think like the character as you're writing them. This brings me to an article I saw on writer's digest. There was a writer who was a theater actor and he was able to do his characters much more easily because they have been accustomed to be someone else everyday of their life. I think this is where my minor in Theater comes in handy.

Advice to Writers: Paul Auster

Becoming a Writer is Not a “Career Decision”

Becoming a writer is not a “career decision” like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you're not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days.

-PAUL AUSTER

I really liked this quote, it has some facts, being a writer is not something that should be made into a career full of money and power. A person should be a writer because they want to tell stories and entertain people with the universes they make up. I love writing because I love writing stories and I want people to read them.

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter. With The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle yet as she explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and questions whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime -- or if your mistakes are carried forever.

No one knows how much I love it when I am on spring break! It gives me time to read more books. This is another one of Picoult's wonderful books. I also saw it's a lifetime movie as well, which sparked my interest to read it. As usual, Picoult's writing was simply fabulous and it makes me so happy to see that all her wonderful books are being made into film! The film changed things from the ending. I liked the book better! I always prefer the book.  I am looking forward to more of Jodi's books.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Picoult now explores the complex choices of the heart for a young Amish woman -- the compelling journey of discovery for an urban lawyer who befriends and protects her. The small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, is a jewel in Lancaster County -- known for its picture-postcard landscapes and bucolic lifestyle. But that peace is shattered by the discovery of a dead infant in the barn of an Amish farmer. A police investigation quickly leads to two startling disclosures: the newborn's mother is an unmarried Amish woman, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher. And the infant did not die of natural causes. Although Katie denies the medical proof that she gave birth to the child, circumstantial evidence leads to her arrest for the murder of her baby. One hundred miles away, Philadelphia defense attorney Ellie Hathaway has achieved an enviable, high-profile career. But her latest court "victory" has set the sands shifting beneath her. Single at thirty-nine and unsatisfied with her relationship, Ellie doesn't look back when she turns down her chance to make partner and takes off for an open-ended stay at her great-aunt's home in Paradise. Fate brings her to Katie Fisher. Suddenly, Ellie sees the chance to defend a client who truly needs her, not just one who can afford her. But taking on this case challenges Ellie in more ways than one. She finds herself not only in a clash of wills with a client who does not want to be defended but also in a clash of cultures with a people whose channels ofjustice are markedly different from her own. Immersing herself in Katie Fisher's life -- and in a world founded on faith, humility, duty, and honesty -- Ellie begins to understand the pressures and sacrifices of those who to live "plain." As she peels away the layers of fact and fantasy, Ellie calls on an old friend for guidance. Now, just as this man from Ellie's past reenters her life, she must uncover the truth about a complex case, a tragic loss, the bonds of love -- and her own deepest fears and desires.

This is one of my absolute favorite books! I was also happy when Lifetime made it into a movie! I found the idea of this novel to be intriguing mostly because the Amish don't commit murder, and the fact that an Amish teenager was convicted for murder is such an interesting plot. I also liked how in the the film the casting director chose Mariska from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (my favorite show) she nailed the part to the core. This was an intriguing book.