WOTW: Abattoir

Abattoir: (noun) a slaughterhouse

Found in NOS4A2 by Joe Hill:
"He began to scream incoherently--the sound of a cow in the abattoir, slipping in the blood of those who went before."

What a great image!

WOTW: Portentous

Portentous:  (adjective) Ominous

"I could be dead, she thought in a hollow, portentous voice"
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
It makes me think of the movie announcer voice :)

A Belated What I'm Reading Wednesday: Joe Hill

Recently I have been reading Joe Hill.  First I read Horns which has been made into a movie.

Horns is a strange story about a man who wakes up with a pair of horns growing from his forehead.

I really liked how Hill approached the flashback scenes about an important event from the past. He retold the same story from multiple characters' viewpoints, each time revealing new details.  It was a really interesting technique.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie.




Image source:  wikipedia.org

Next I read Heart-Shaped Box, the story of a man who buys a ghost.

Wow, this book could be a movie!  Hill wrote the scenes with such vivid description that I felt like I was watching a movie as I read.  The story captured me immediately and held my attention all the way to the end.

Captivating!

Image Source:  joehillfiction.com

Now I am reading NOS4A2.  I just started reading this morning and I don't want to put the book down.  It is already a captivating story.  I am really looking forward to seeing where this book will take me.

What are you reading this week?

IWSG: NaNoWriMo

Visit other writers participating in IWSG at Alex Cavanaugh's blog.

NaNoWriMo.  This will be my fifth year participating, and I have yet to write 50,000 words in one month.  This year, I debated whether I actually wanted to try again for months.  Why bother trying to spew out all those words when they probably won't be any good and I most likely won't make my goal anyway?

But when November 1st arrived, there was no question in my mind.  I changed my Facebook cover photo to a NaNo participant graphic and instantly started planning what I would write this year.

I have realized that it doesn't really matter if I achieve the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days.  It doesn't matter if I complete a manuscript or not.  It doesn't really even matter if what I write is good or bad.  That's not the value of NaNo for me.

For me, NaNoWriMo is all about getting into the habit of writing daily.  Every November I begin a practice of writing every day.  Somewhere around summer break, I lose the habit and I have a really hard time getting back into my groove.  Then November rolls around, I join NaNo, and all of a sudden I am writing again.  That is why I love NaNoWriMo.

Are you participating in NaNo this year?  What do you love or hate about the project?

WOTW: Mandala

Mandala:  from the Sanskrit word meaning disk or circle, mandalas are a form of spiritual artwork that use a circular shape as their overall structure.

I have found recently that drawing mandalas can be very relaxing.  It has been a great stress-relieving activity.  I even found an app on my Ipad that allows me to draw pretty mandalas :)