Tag: goodreads

Revising My Novel, Currently Reading and Just Tired

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I’ve put my blog in the backseat for the past few weeks because I’m just exhausted. I’m tired of juggling everything, and really, I needed a break. Now we’re in the homestretch, the election is so close, and I am trying to stay positive, but damn, is it hard.

This month I have been revising my novel, really trying to tighten it up and bring it to life. I think I’ll have one of my best drafts completed by October 1st, and I’m excited.

Poetry? I’m trying to write more, but I have less energy to work on poems lately. Between revising my novel full-time and my new remote job, I don’t have a lot of energy left to work on poetry, but hopefully, that will change next month.

I’m focusing on reading these two books right now:

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage

by Alfred Lansing

Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment

by John Giorno

I’m looking for a contemporary poetry book or collection. If anyone has any recommendations, I’d be very interested to know what they are.

When it comes to world events, or I guess, in the U.S. The decision for the Breonna Taylor case is devastating and a complete disappointment. Another soul-crushing failure, and I can’t believe the response the Louisville police had, arresting protestors before the curfew on the day they announced the outcome of the case. Just total bullshit. Another blow.

I am so tired.

Stay positive, my friends, and reach out if you’d like to talk about books, writing, or anything else on your mind. I am here and happy to chat.

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay safe.

Life during Coronavirus: March 16th, 2020 Personal Update
Life during COVID-19 Personal Update: March 23rd, 2020

October Update: The Shining, Halloween, and My Novel

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

October has flown by and with less than two weeks left there isn’t much left to do but wait for November.

Image result for the shining book
Wikimedia Commons

The famous line from the movie, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was nowhere in the book. A creative add-on by Kubrick.

The Shining

Yesterday, I finished reading Stephen King’s classic THE SHINING. At about four-hundred-something pages this novel took me on the ups and downs of the Torrance family at The Overlook Hotel. What I loved about the book that was different from the movie (directed by Stanley Kubrick) was the building of tension between the characters through their POV’s. Seeing The Overlook from the perspectives of all the important characters added to the sheer terror of their situation while emphasizing how malicious the hotel really is. Plus the character of Danny Torrance is captivating, a clever little boy born with second-sight who has to fight evil forces to try and keep his mom and dad alive. This was a quick read for me and now I am planning on devouring DOCTOR SLEEP before the movie comes out at the end of the month, or at least before I see it.

Halloween

This year I haven’t done any ‘Halloween’ themed posts. To be honest, it is because I haven’t had any time. A little over a week ago, I finally quit my internship as an Intern for SG BOOK SCOUTING. After a month of working (unpaid) some 25-30 hours a week, I was worn out, irritated, and found myself with little to no time for my own writing or reading. Initially, the internship was for three months but I barely made it over one month. I found myself doing anywhere from 2-8 hours of work a day as an intern. On Fridays I would be given an assignment due on Monday morning, usually, this was to read an entire book (around 50,000 words or more) and write an extensive review. This weekend assignment wasn’t too bad except that I usually do doubles on the weekends at my job working 9-12 hour shifts, leaving me with little time to do the assignment. Since quitting, I’m less stressed out and I have had time to catch up on my daily writing and read whatever I want. I have been incredibly happy, enjoying my freedom again and I have decided that for the future any internships I apply to will have to be paid. My time is too precious for me to work for free.

I’m not sure if I’m going to have any time to write a few Halloween themed posts before the end of the month but if I do, chances are they will be centered around movies (of course).

My Novel

The last time I took a look at my novel it was September 9th, according to my google docs. Now I’m going to take another crack at it. Whenever I approach my novel, again and again, I do a read through from start to finish. Doing my best not to edit or change anything. I want to read it just to read it. When I go back over it to start the second reading, I will edit part by part (so far it’s three parts). I want to get a good portion of this done before November because I think I’m going to try to write another book (totally unrelated to the one I’ve been working on) for NaNoWriMo this year. I have a few story ideas and weird plot lines shifting around in my head and I think what I’d work on would be realistic fiction. A change of pace, something different, from the weird supernatural stories that are always floating around in my head.

I will keep you all updated and expect a new post soon in MY FIRST NOVEL series.

Thank you for reading!

-Alina

INSTAGRAM

 

My First Novel: Week #3 Break (Feb.14th, 2019)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Today is Valentines Day. I have plans tonight with my partner but for now, I am reading and reading and reading. It is my third week on a break from working on my novel. I’ve been enjoying this time, running errands, cleaning and even baking. But now I am starting to feel that I need to get back to work.

I want to wait out the rest of the week and maybe start next week by reading through my second draft again. I’ve done a good job of ignoring my draft and printed manuscript this entire time, trying to put some space between me and my work. I need fresh eyes the next time I read my draft. I’ve been trying not to think about my characters too much and I think it’s been a healthy break. During the last few months, my obsession with writing my novel and working on my characters was taking over my life. I was thinking about my characters all the time, jotting down notes and backstories, analyzing them and trying to shape them into real people. But until I get back into my obsession, I’ll take advantage of this time by reading.

Here is my Goodreads list of what I am currently reading,

What I am listening to:

Thank you for reading about my journey writing my first novel!

-Alina

INSTAGRAM

PATREON

A Wild Year: My Top Songs on Spotify, Currently Reading List and Reflecting on 2018

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

This year has gone by too fast and I feel like I am still trying to catch up. I have gotten a lot done this year from my graduation at the University of Utah with my BA (finally) to a PAID poetry reading at the Utah Arts Festival in June, to finishing the first rough draft of my book Ghost in the Woods for NaNoWriMo.

Since it’s the end of the year, I thought I would give a quick update on what I’m listening to and reading.

Spotify “Alina’s Top Songs of 2018”

IMG_20181209_233826_231

Goodreads “Currently Reading” List

Currently reading 1

currently reading 2

There are A LOT of books on my “Currently Reading” list and I am trying to widdle it down a bit before the New Year but I guess I’ll see how successful I am with that. One book that isn’t on this list that I’ve been reading every day now is Collected Sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay, my copy is really old and falling apart. I had to spend a good hour last week taping pages back together into the seam of the book. I’m about halfway through it and I love it, Millay is amazing with Sonnets and she makes it look so easy.

Highlight of my 2018:

Going to “An Evening with Neil Gaiman” last month was amazing. Gaiman had some great advice to give and thankfully many questions from the audience were geared towards writing and publishing. It was also so much fun to hear Gaiman read a little from some of his books.

Last Adventures: Discovering “Found Poetry”

Last week I sort of stumbled on “Found” poetry. It’s a form that I am sure I’ve come across before but up until now haven’t given a second thought too. Found Poetry is a form where people can find poetry in everyday life, like text, billboards, magazines etc. For instance, I was inspired to mess around and try “finding” some poetry in a local newspaper at work this week.

FOUND POETRY on my Instagram story highlights

I was pretty surprised at what I found and now I am hooked. My hands are stained from newspaper ink, markers, pens, and I have already begun putting my found poems together in one notebook making a sort of hand-made chapbook. (I will make an official post about my Found Poetry soon)

Conclusion:

I am stoked for the New Year and I am working hard to set up my work and myself for an even more successful year. What am I working on right now? Submitting my best-polished work to literary journals and magazines, putting together a small chapbook of my poems to self-publish (maybe) on Kindle, and finishing my book Ghost in the Woods so that I can start submitting it to literary agents/publishers.

What do I want to accomplish in 2019?

Honing this blog into a more coherent and substantial literary blog, maybe even monetizing it, providing more content to my followers/readers that can actually help them.

Sidenote:

A couple months ago I finally set up a Patreon Creator Page. My Patreon is different from this blog in that it provides “behind-the-scenes” access to my creative process, work (including rough drafts), and special updates. This is a more personal online venue where my followers can show their appreciation for my work by becoming Patrons and giving a little bit of $ to contribute to my writing.

Right now I am offering Help/Tutoring to those that donate $20/month to my Patreon.

Be a PATRON! Subscribe to my Patreon for one month ($20) and receive one on one help with your writing for an entire month!

It’s been a great year and I can’t wait for 2019!

I want to say Thank you to all of my Followers, subscribers, and to any readers that stumble on this post. Thank you for reading!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Alina Happy Hansen October 2018

-Alina

Review of “Writers Gone Wild” by Bill Peschel

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

 

Writers Gone Wild: The Feuds, Frolics, and Follies of Literature's Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes
photo source: goodreads.com

 

 

I recently finished “Writers Gone Wild: The Feuds, Frolics, and Follies of Literature’s Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes” by Bill Peschel. This book was interesting in that it contains numerous little facts about various western writers and poets. Most notable literary figures that are highlighted multiple times in this book include Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce among many others.

I found this book to be funny and pleasant to read after a long day. And the little fact snippets are very short making for easy and fast reading. Some snippets are just a paragraph while others are a couple of pages. The book is divided up into three parts, “On the Job”, “Off the Job” and “Everything Else”. The facts are not all ‘facts’ since most of the time possible rumors and hearsay at the time of their creation are discussed. Which I think makes this little collection all the more fascinating.

Bill Peschel writes with a humorous tone and fluid style that allows for enjoyable reading. And at the end of each little section, there is often bullet points of facts related to the story. I would say that anyone with a love for the modern classics of western literature should give this book a go. It would be enjoyed by the avid reader and book geek that finds themselves getting lost in a trail of Wikipedia pages in search of interesting speculations about their favorite authors. I recently conducted a two-hour meander on Wikipedia and online sources about one of my favorite writers, Bram Stoker. I was amazed to learn about his prevalence in the Irish Theatre scene and the fact that he was a personal assistant to the then-popular actor Henry Irving.  Of course, I don’t consider Wikipedia trustworthy but good for light curious reading now and then. “Writers Gone Wild” goes on my shelf as a good reference book that I may pick up again and skim through on a rainy day. It has an average rating of 3.3/5 stars. I honestly think it deserves better.

I hope that whoever reads this takes a little time to research the book and give it a chance. Thank you for reading my review and I hope that you will return in the future!

-Alina