All posts by yoadrienne1@gmail.com

I'm a writer, a content creator and a compulsive blogger. I'm currently attending the Master of Fine Arts program for Creative Writing at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA.

Candor Is Divine #IWSG @theIWSG #AmWriting

It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. Join HERE!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. 

The awesome co-hosts for the October 6 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett,J Lenni Dorner,Cathrina Constantine,Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Mary Aalgaard!

October 6 question – In your writing, where do you draw the line, with either topics or language?

Fantastic question. I’m excited to read other’s posts!

I find myself cringing when euphemisms are used in place of unsavory hard truths. Candor is divine. This is how I write. I’m also not into shock value and gratuitous details unless it moves the plot forward. The most depraved things one can imagine have already been committed to the page. While working with friends as booksellers in indie stores with access to every book both in and out of print we would challenge each other to find the most depraved, the most cursed, the most outlandish books ever written. It’s a popular conversation when shelving and placing orders to warehouses all over the world.

What I thought would be cool to read was in reality a terrible idea. I’ve since learned to look around the sun instead of staring directly at it. If I’m interested in a read that isn’t in my bandwidth, and I’m not talking about Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom or Henry Miller’s Under The Roofs of Paris, I go to their reviewers. While the books just mentioned aren’t digestible for me either, the ones I’m referencing here are much more depraved. I’ve discovered I can learn just as much reading other people’s writings on the uneasy pieces. There’s no back space delete button in our brains. The scholars have already suffered through it so I don’t have to.

That being said, I absolutely hate euphemisms. They scream shame and disgust at whatever act the writer is describing. Writing the sex scene is difficult. But when it’s necessary I find less is more, and direct and to the point is better than the flowery side-stepping of what is actually taking place. If his telescope erects from his submarine in search of her sandy shores, delete that shit.

Looking forward to reading everyone’s hard lines when it comes to writing. What’s yours? Happy IWSG Day!

4 Signs Of Success #IWSG #AmWriting @TheIWSG

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group was started by writer, Alex J. Cavanaugh aka The Blog Father. Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Join us https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

September 1 question – How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?
The awesome co-hosts for the September 1 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin @Journaling Woman, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn, and C. Lee McKenzie!

We all have different ideas on what defines success. As a writer, these are my Top 4

1. Permission

Writing is about exposure. Giving ourselves permission to express ourselves and command an audience can be crazy-making. It’s different for everyone. I keep my eye out for what it means to each artist. For some it’s about getting traditionally published. Others, it’s receiving public feedback from readers. Like the dead beauty queen DMV-styled receptionist in Beetlejuice said, “It’s all very personal.”

Permission gives us the deep inner strength to persevere through the inevitable pitfalls. Sleeplessness. Time away from more lucrative endeavors. Guilt free demands for isolation to meet a deadline while others around you protest. The list goes on. And on. And on.

2. Finding Your Voice

It takes a lot of bad writing to get to the good stuff. We tend to imitate our favorite writers, until their voices slowly fade away as our own unique sound and expressions emerge. You know it when you got it. The eureka! moment exists.

3. Collaboration

Nothing sends a shiver up my spine like another artist reaching out to support my podcast, shorts and novel endeavors. I’ve collaborated with directors, writers, musicians and visual artists. I’ve been working on a graphic novel with an artist I respect and admire, spoken with a screenwriter and director overseas and gotten comments on articles I’ve written from authors who concur. This might seem small to others, but makes me want to pinch myself every time.

4. Vision

Getting labor out to an audience you’re confident represents your strengths and vision is no small feat. I have bad work I wish to bury forever. I’m set on throwing piles of better work on top of it. It’s a struggle. Having a path cleared and a steady pace to run it defines success for me.

How do you define success as a writer?

Episode 45 – Cursed Books Part 3

Leo and Adrienne do a run down of the top 5 most cursed books in the Western canon juxtaposed to the top 5 books they loathed selling at the bookstore. Did you know the author of, Rich Dad Poor Dad filed bankruptcy? You could have bought a candle Gwyneth Paltrow made to smell like her vagina, but it sold out. Click the link below to see how modern Satanism is founded on the philosophy of Ayn Rand. The top 5 most cursed are listed in order by general consensus. 

Free wherever you listen to podcasts. Click links below 

Episode 44 – Cursed Books Part 2

Leo and Adrienne go further down the rabbit hole in Cursed Books Part 2. As we explore deeper into the depths of depravity please heed the warning not to actually read some of the books mentioned. These aggressive tales go beyond the banned books and extreme erotica categories.

Trigger warnings and spoiler alerts galore. Do forbidden books intrigue you? If so, this will be fun.

Free wherever you listen to podcasts. Click links below

#GrandGrimoire #AdrienneReiter #GhoulsJustWannaHaveFunPodcast #GeorgesBataille #SamuelRDelany #forbiddenbooks #bizarre #erotica #cursedbooks #library #bookstore

Riding other writer’s rainbows. #Inspiration #IWSG @TheIWSG #amwriting

It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for another of our blog father’s (Alex J. Cavanaugh) Insecure Wrtier’s Support Group Post! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. To join us go to https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
August 4 question – What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time you read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?
The awesome co-hosts this month are PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, and Sandra Cox!

What good would it do to mention Stephen King’s soul-baring memoir, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft? His first work, and in my opinion the best he’s ever written, completed after he almost died from a serious car crash. Should I even mention Anne Lamott’s, Bird by Bird? Her book on writing has gotten me through tough times, but so much ink has been spilt on these books. Precious ink from pens more important than mine.

Here’s what I can share. One of my treasures discovered after years of working in indie bookstores. How I Write is an essay anthology of writers like Jonathon Franzen, Joyce Carol Oates, Nicole Krauss and A.S. Byatt. It’s a collection of thoughts and epiphanies. The photography invites you into private work spaces filled with notebooks, walls of post-its, sacred squeaky chairs and more.

Why are there inverted commas around Oxford in the sign? Perhaps Inspector Rebus can be put on the case.
Joyce Carol Oates may have a talisman.
Bourdain wasn’t shy about his process.

How I Write is edited by the creator of the cult-literary magazine Zembla, and designed by art director Vince Frost. How I Write and Strunk, White, and Kalman’s illustrated version of The Elements Of Style are what I hold to my chest when I’m feeling lost in a sea words. It’s like flipping through coffee table books filled with glossy pictures of castles and pretending one’s a princess.

The Elements of Style – illustrated version. “He noticed a large stain right in the center of the rug.”

What is your favorite book on writing? Happy IWSG!

Episode 43 – Cursed Books Part 1

How do you get a book to go flying off the shelves? You could put a provocative cover on it, or try old-fashioned reverse psychology – warning readers to beware. The books we’re about to mention don’t need help with marketing. According to cursed owners they literally throw themselves off the shelves. 

Join Adrienne and Leo in Part 1 of Cursed Books as they discuss the creepiest manuscripts in the Western canon.

Free wherever you get your podcasts. Links below –

 

#AleisterCrowley #Bookstore #Haunted #CursedBooks #Cursed #Books #LesserKeyOfSolomon #VoynichManuscript #BookOfSoyga #CodexGigas #GrandGrimoire #Necronomicon #H.P.Lovecraft

Compulsion to commit to paper. #IWSG @TheIWSG #amwriting

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month! Time to rock The Blog Father’s neurotic writing world.
Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. To join us click https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
The awesome co-hosts for the July 7 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, Chemist Ken, and Louise – Fundy Blue!
 

July 7 question – What would make you quit writing?

Nothing. Reading and writing since I can remember, I’ve given up on projects. I’ve let collaboration opportunities with potential slide. Wrote and failed to create. Shine has come through cracks here and there. Despite all the ridicule and rejection I never quit writing.

After 8-year-old shoulder knots from carrying piles of books became unbearable I now buy a monthly, weekly and daily sectioned all-in-one planner. I need room to record dreams, detail deadlines and set goals while keeping my more mundane appointments. Working at indie bookstores made me a Moleskin addict.

Cheryl Strayed said, “Write like a motherfucker.”

Faulkner said, “Read everything.” Oh, Faulkner. You permission giving southern gothic mother-lover.

Ray Bradbury said, “You fail only if you stop writing.”

I want to obliterate my first two books out of the cybersphere. I wish I could squash published articles forever one click away, but I’ve been paid. The money spent. I look at my MFA degree and see a seriously expensive piece of paper declaring I survived bootcamp. Ugh.

Even with the growing plethora of reasons to put down the pen, projects and rejoin the corpo world, I never stop writing. I try to hide my insecurity under a mask of enthusiasm due to dumb stubborn pride. Funny how quickly pride and shame alternate.

What would make you quit writing? Happy IWSG Day. Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!

#IWSG #AmWriting #CherylStrayed #WilliamFaulkner #RayBradbury #CIIS #MFA #novels #journalism #writing #AlexCavanaugh

Episode 42 – Cyber Hex

Episode available on iTunes, Podbean and wherever you get your podcasts. Refer to links below.

https://ghoulsjustwannahavefun.podbean.com/e/41-organism-46-b/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ghouls-just-wanna-have-fun/id1296677450?mt=2

https://player.fm/series/ghouls-just-wanna-have-fun

What is a Cyber Hex? Think of any meme, trope and/or conspiracy theory gone viral with deadly consequences. Shannon and Adrienne discuss Pizzagate, QAnon, the murder attempt motivated by the wish to join Slender Man and the unexpected violence brought on by Wrinkles The Clown. The Ghouls reference articles and documentaries for a makeshift foundation to contemplate the cosmos. 

Links:

https://www.hbo.com/q-into-the-storm

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/989241933/q-a-documentary-unravels-twisted-knots-of-qanon-movement

https://abcnews.go.com/US/investigators-slender-man-case-discuss-chilling-interviews-12/story?id=66320806

Wrinkles The Clown Official Trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOt0Ks97_E

#GhoulsJustWannaHaveFunPodcast #ShannonJones #AdrienneReiter #WrinklesTheClown #QAnon #Pizzagate #SlenderMan #CyberHex 

Episode 41 – Organism 46-B

Episode available on iTunes, Podbean and wherever you get your podcasts. Refer to links below.

https://ghoulsjustwannahavefun.podbean.com/e/41-organism-46-b/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ghouls-just-wanna-have-fun/id1296677450?mt=2

https://player.fm/series/ghouls-just-wanna-have-fun

Ghouls love cryptids, an animal claimed to exist but never proven. Adrienne and guest, Leo Buckley of San Francisco Bay Area band, Hazzard’s Cure objectively debate about a giant squid attributed to have murdered a few Russian scientist upon its discovery. Sticking to the tropes of a really good (or really bad) B movie it can hypnotize, shape shift and shoot deadly venom. Don’t forget the part where Putin has designs to use it for military purposes.  

Links:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130205-antarctica-ice-life-moons-science-environment-lakes

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/120208-russians-lake-vostok-antarctica-drilling-science

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/735175/vladimir-putin-killer-octopus-organism-46-b-russian-army-secret-weapon-russia

Hazzard’s Cure

#Organism46B #Cryptids #Horror #BMovie #Military #MilitaryTesting #Putin #GhoulsJustWannaHaveFunPodcast

Re-drafting in 3 Steps #IWSG @TheIWSG

It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group posts! We support each other by releasing insecurities offering and asking for advice. Join us by clicking https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

June 2 question – For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?
The awesome co-hosts for the June 2 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria!

My writing style changes depending on the project, but here are my Go To 3 Steps.

Step 1Pencil & Ink

I write everything by hand and have the calluses to prove it. Writing longhand allows the story to create its own neural pathways. I’m a lefty. Pencil and ink coats the side of my pinky and palm daily. It spreads, but studies have purported pencil/pen helps to better absorb and retain information versus typing. I don’t know if that’s true for everyone. It works for me. When I pause on a project to work on a new one (which is often) it’s easier to circle back around and jump back in. I’m a scheduler/outliner in theory, and a pantser in denial.

Step 2Every. 10. Pages.

My first edit is typing my long and short hand out. Typing is a different delivery system and allows me to flesh out my characters and refine dialogue, adding and subtracting as I go. How often do I spell check? Every. 10. Pages. King jokes in Room 1408 about the banality of evil and the boring monotonous hotel room being the 7th Circle of Hell. No. Spell checking an entire novel from beginning to end is the 7th Circle.

Step 3Seek and Destroy

I go through a plethora of pages multiple times with red ink and kill my babies. Scenarios I thought were great, but now find cliche. Sarcasm I swore was hilarious somehow fell lame. I seek and destroy. Once it’s tidied up enough I pass it onto beta readers. Bless you all! After I get feed back I’m scanning through their red ink. Some suggestions I take. Some I ignore. Filled with crippling self-doubt, second guessing the entire plot and character arc I send out the manuscript to be rejected over and over until (if I’m lucky) it finds a home. If it doesn’t I shelve it, contemplate on how to fix it while hoping in vain the answer will come to me in a dream.

What does your editing/re-drafting process look like? I hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend, and Happy IWSG Day!