Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Category: Writer’s Journey

  • Interview with the Vampire… Obsessed Girl

    I have been fascinated with the idea of vampires since I was an itty bitty weird girl checking out books on the supernatural and mythology from my elementary school library. Beautiful immortal beings who feed on blood, what’s not to love? I loved to read about the mythologies that lead to the idea, the legends and especially the amazing fiction about vampires that are available for teens and adults who love them. Here are some of my favorite books, or at least some of the most memorable to me.

    The Silver Kiss – Annette Curtis Klause: I remember reading this at 10 or so and loving it. I have read it again as an adult and it is still pretty good. It features a vampire child, which is super creepy, and a lightly goth over tone. The ending made me cry.

    Lost Souls – Poppy Z Brite: An interesting book that presents a very different idea of how vampires are created.

    Interview with the Vampire/ The Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice: She rewrote the genre. Lestat is pure wickedness. I once used a monologue from Queen of the Damned for an audition piece.

    Dracula – Bram Stoker: The original. Renfield is the creepiest. Lucy is heartbreaking. And Mina is a goth girls dream.

    The Hollows/ Rachel Morgan books – Kim Harrison: Rachel is a witch and a bad ass. Her roomate Ivy is a Vampire. They live in a church. Chaos ensues.

    That is what I can think of off the top of my head. Do you have a favorite vampire book?

  • Bucket List For the Rest of 2019

    This is the list of things I would like to do before the end of 2019. Some of these may seem easy, but have issues associated. Many involve a lot of moving parts, so that makes them challenging. Let’s see how many I cross off. I will revisit as I get things done.

    • Wench photo with the Queen!
    • Get my major changed to creative Writing.
    • Attend both days the last weekend of Ohio Renaissance Festival
    • Finish Blogtober strong (I get a book if I do)
    • Rennie outing to Book Loft?
    • Participate and succeed in NaNoWriMo (Are you participating? Link me BetsySnowWhite)
    • Photo with Krampus!
    • Photo with Santa and the Wenches
    • Wench invasion of Columbus and Cincinnati Zoo.
    • Set up Christmas trees.
    • Christmas Party
    • Roaring 20s New Year Party

    I think that is it…though I may add and subtract things as I go along.

  • The State of My State…update.

    The State of My State…update.

    So…I have spoken with my advisor at school and as soon as I get my personal statement to her I will be officially changed to a Creative Writing major. I am so relieved and excited to get started on the right path for me.

    I am also going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I have never even tried this before, but I feel very drawn to write this year. I am trying to decide if I want to share what I am working on here or not. What do you think? Are you interested in reading my very rough drafts? Let me know.

    This week I am going to see Heels of Horror XII by Nina West on Friday, back to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, a Halloween party Saturday Night and David Sedaris on Sunday. Whew! This is going to be chaotic fun. I have decided to be one of the gang members from The Warriors, specifically a Bowery Punk. Overalls, a rugby shirt and roller skates for the win!!

    My older sister will also be in town this week, so I get to meet her boyfriend who none of us have met. It is going to be a great week.

    Any big plans this week?

  • Word Nerd – Spooky Edition

    Word Nerd – Spooky Edition

    I have mentioned previously that I am a certifiable word nerd. So for October
    I present my list of fun and unusual words for the Halloween season.

    1. exsanguinate : verb. Drain (a person, animal, or organ) of blood.
    2. necrophage : noun. An organism that eats dead or decaying flesh.
    3. lycanthrope : noun. A werewolf.
    4. therianthropic : adjective. Combining human and animal form.
    5. macabre : adjective. Disturbing because concerned with or causing a fear of death.
    6. revenant : noun. A person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.
    7. viscera : plural noun. The internal organs in the main cavities of the body, especially those in the abdomen, e.g. the intestines.
    8. vivisection : noun. The practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research.
    9. sepulchral : adjective. Relating to tomb or interment. Gloomy; dismal.
    10. charnel : adjective. Associated with death.

    Now you can liberally sprinkle these through your Halloween conversations and appear the smartest and most macabre revenant of them all.

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  • Confessions of a Certifiable Word Nerd

    Confessions of a Certifiable Word Nerd

    I love words. I love the sound of them, learning the meaning of them and the joy of finding just the perfect word when I am writing or speaking. I love to play what my family calls Dictionary games; where you open the dictionary to a random page, find a word you don’t know and tell everyone all about it. I love that moment when I am reading a book and find a word I don’t know. I eagerly run to the dictionary or to google if my dictionary isn’t handy (I prefer the Webster’s Collegiate personally, but Oxford English is nice too!) and find out more about the word, and often write it in my planner if I really like it. My word of the year for last year was pulled straight from Neil Gaiman speaking about his friend Tori Amos, Coruscate which means to sparkle or reflect the light back. As an amateur etymologist and self professed word nerd, I thought I would share with you ten of my absolute favorite words. All definitions are pulled from Google Dictionary because my Websters is not handy at the moment.

    1. Zeitgeist : noun. origin – German, meaning: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.  “The story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s”  Literal Translation: Time Spirit
    2. Kerfuffle: noun. origin – British, meaning: a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views. “There was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship” 
    3. Petrichor: noun. origin – English, meaning: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. “other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying grass, there was not a trace of evidence that it had rained at all.”
    4. Onomatopoeia: noun. origin – Greek, meaning: the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named (eg. cuckoo, sizzle)
    5. Schadenfreude: noun. origin – German. meaning: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. “a business that thrives on schadenfreude” 
    6. Metanoia: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. “what he demanded of people was metanoia, repentance, a complete change of heart” 
    7. Susurrus: noun. origin – Latin. meaning: whispering, murmuring or rustling. “The susurrus of the stream”
    8. Brazen: adjective. origin – Old English. meaning: bold and without shame. “he went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance” 
    9. Hyperbole: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: exagerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. “he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles” 
    10. Quixotic: adjective. origin – English. meaning: exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical. ” a vast and perhaps quixotic project” 

    What are some of your favorite words? Why? What do you love most about words; the sounds, the meanings, the way they feel when you say them?

     

  • Wednesday Ink Therapy

    Wednesday Ink Therapy

    My little sister and I have been sitting on a couple of gift cards to a local tattoo parlor for months, and had been putting off a plan to go get the tattoos done for almost as long. Something always came up, or one of us was sick, or the weekend was just too busy. Well finally early this week she texted me asking if she took Wednesday off if we could finally go get our tattoos. As Wednesday is my day off (I work 4×10 MTThF at the moment) I was in.

    We agreed to meet at Defining Skin at noon on Wednesday since that was when they opened, and we would figure things out from there. I was, of course, twenty minutes early as is only right and proper so I sat in my car taking selfies until Traci arrived. It turns out she had the foresight to call ahead and Charles Martin (@tmberwolf) would be able to get us in, but not until 1:30. That meant we had some time to kill.

    Traci hadn’t eaten yet and I only had maple pecan puffs, so we decided to go get something to eat and since Brewdog Franklinton was nearby it seemed an obvious choice to us. Because you have to get a beer if you go to Brewdog I decided to try their Franklinton Dumpster Fire (The night before this location opened the dumpster caught fire very dramatically and they thought they may not get to open) which is a sour gose. It was delicious with berry and a lovely smoky aftertaste. Traci got a Sucker Punch Cider from Mad Moon, which was delicious and much too easy to drink. For lunch I got cauliflower wings with blue cheese dip. They were so good. I could have moved into that dish and lived happily for some time.

    We headed back over to Defining skin where we filled out all our paperwork and waited for Charlie to be ready for us. Traci and I were both getting text; Traci a quote from Kingdom Hearts – “One Sky One Destiny” and for me one of my favorite words and a tattoo I had wanted for a long time “Bibliophile.” I wanted mine to look as much like typeset as possible, and Traci wanted hers to be script. He got them together, made the stencils and I was up first. I was afraid that the wrist would be super sensitive and uncomfortable, but it really wasn’t bad at all. All in all the whole tattoo took about 15 minutes, which is so much quicker than all my other pieces. Traci was up next and she wanted hers on her chest under her collar bones. He got it lined up and spaced out, and then got to work on her. Hers took 30 minutes or so, not very long at all. She said the chest didn’t hurt badly either, but I don’t know if I believe her.

    We are both so happy with our new ink. The only sad thing about it is that I am going to a pool party tonight and I can’t get in the pool with my fresh ink. Oh,well. It is worth it for the awesome. I am just going to put my feet in and look at my beautiful and long time coming tattoo.

     

     

  • She’s an Impostor!

    She’s an Impostor!

    Recently, I was attending a party at my brother and sister-in-law’s house, when a friend of theirs whom I have met a couple of times but never really spoken to asked me what I do. I told him that I am currently working at a bank, and that I am about to finish my degree in English-Creative Writing. He said, logically, “So you are a writer?”. And, my brain froze, I internally stuttered over calling myself a writer. I am roughly two terms away from a degree in Creative Writing and I am hesitant to call myself a writer.

    What the ever loving hell is that?

    Oh, I know what this is, Impostor Syndrome. That feeling that you are not good enough, smart enough, or enough enough. How can I claim to be a writer? Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Charles de Lint, J.K. Rowling, hell even V.C. Andrews are writers, are authors. I am, what, a dabbler, a student, a learner, but not a writer.

    But why not? Why not a writer. I have written poetry and stories since I was old enough to do so. I have hosted a blog on one platform or another since 2008. I have written essays with depth, and meaning. I have grown and learned, and written so much. When do I become a writer then?

    In the end I told him I am a writer. I told him about my blog, and how I had just bought my domain. He loved my “brand” and told me that he works in publishing for companies. We had a lovely talk about publishing, self-publishing, and self-promotion. It was nice to get outside validation of some of my choices as a writer.

    Because I am a writer.

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