*A journal entry by Alexander Delané*

I found a most interesting tome this morning. I'm quite sure I should have turned it over, but curiosity took hold of me. The clarity in the handwriting and such interesting diagrams! While minding some records for father, I had lost a metal orb I had been fidgeting with. When I bent to retrieve it from beneath a nearby bookshelf in the library, I felt the old book touch my fingers I pulled it out. It gave me quite the sneezing fit to clear it from the blanket of dust and dirt time had covered it in down there.

I had a job of puzzling out some of the antiquated spellings, words, and phrases. There are several passages that I am most curious about, but they are written in a language I haven't even seen before. If I had to guess based on a few of the diagrams, I would say this book has become quite forbidden. The name that penned it is familiar, but I cannot quite place him. Perhaps he was a former keeper of the household? Or perhaps he was merely a random visitor that sought to stow his illicit knowledge and records where he thought they might be safe from discovery. What happened to him? More importantly, what does this mysterious language say? Is it one of the forbidden tongues? I think it must be, else I'd have seen at least some samples of it before in my studies.

It's possible I have some answers to questions of the past that have always plagued me. Are the myths true? Demons, angels, walking dead and corrupting magic...it seems rather fantastic. But when I hear Ceraia play...I could almost believe in magic. Perhaps it still exists in lesser, pure ways? I should find a good hiding place for it and my journal.

--Alexander Delané

And so a new record begins. Reading is just as important as writing for a writer. I need to do a lot more of it than I have been. I'm starting the record late again this year so the works I read prior to May will not get listed. I list a variety of readable works, pretty much the only thing I don't list are profiles, website/blog entries, discussion posts and replies from class, every article I read for my classes (though I may remember to list some), my own writing, stand alone poems, food labels, text in games and on the tv, stuff like that :P

Currently Reading

The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain by Alice Weaver Flaherty
I still haven't finished this one. I keep stopping for one reason or another, reading a section one month, and another a few months down the road.


The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts compiled/written by Judika Illes
Still reading this one too, leisurely, not much at a time and mostly hoping it will spark some interesting stories.


War of the Races Book One: Gnome by Delos E. Rifenburgh IV
Wow, it's a great story, I can't believe I forgot to keep reading it ^^" reading by computer file is hard for me though, I prefer to curl up with the book in hand (it hurts to print that much).


Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman
Pretty darn interesting so far, written by a man who studied the Bible out of faith and uncovered several mistakes in the process. Whether or not your christian, if you have interest in the Bible, history, and/or ancient writings, this one might be something to pick up.


What Would Your Character Do: Personality Quizzes for Analyzing Your Characters by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. and Ann Maisel
This one seemed like a lot of fun to play with, and I like extra exercises without intent to publish, so I bought it April 19th (2007) and am starting it at the same time as all these other books ^^"


Creating Character Emotions: Writing Compelling, Fresh Approaches That Express Your Characters' True Feelings by Ann Hood.
Slowly working through this one. Though dialogue has always been my true weak point, I figured a book to help me improve how I transcribe emotion to page can't be all bad, plus, it had some exercises, which I find good for practice in the event that I'm having a block with publishable ideas.


The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine E. Aron, Ph.D.
I had actually heard about the trait of HSP (highly sensitive person) in my psych statistics course and checked it out. Turns out both myself and very likely my son have this trait. Since it is causing some problems for my son, and occasionally causes me problems as well (though I have already learned several ways to help me enjoy the benefits and combat the drawbacks), I figured I'd pick up her book and see what she has to say on the matter.

Reading finished in May
The Writer Vol. 122 Issue 5 by various (finished 05-20-09)
This was a decent issue of The Writer. I had been reading it through an article or two at a time since I picked it up about a month ago. It actually included some links in an article to free software for writers, I've only used open office so far.


Psychology Today June 2009 Issue by Various (finished 05-10-09)
The 3rd magazine I picked up about a month ago and the first one I finished. It was a very good read, relevant to my studies and career goals. I have ordered a subscription, the subscription jury is still out on the two writer mags I picked up.


3 flash fiction pieces based off of player character stories in World of Warcraft. by various authors (finished at various times)
It basically amounts to fanfiction, but some of them are really good.




Readings finished in June
Applying Psychology: Individual & Organizational Effectiveness 6th ed. by Andrew J. DuBrin (finished 06-03-09)
The book I read for my business psych class. It's rather common-sensish for me, but it has enhanced my familiarity with this area of psychology quite a bit. It is a text, but I think it is a rather good one.


Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You by Ray Bradbury (finished 06-10-09)
A book that compiles (nearly?) every piece Ray Bradbury has ever written on writing. I'm not necessarily a Ray Bradbury fan, though I enjoyed what pieces I have read. Either way, I found this book to be, if nothing else, a very interesting read and at times a little inspiring.


Writer's Digest May/June 2009 Issue by various (finished 06-11-09)
Awhile back I swung some cash to buy 3 magazines (I had actually wanted 3 I didn't buy as well :P). After reading the other two front to back, I got around to this one. A pretty good issue, had a lot of prompt and other websites listed that I found. I'm really enjoying Twitter in particular. I resisted this website at first, but they and my friend Greg convinced me to join in the end. Even when I can't think of anything to say in it, I enjoy the colour and background theme I was able to throw together.


Writer's Digest Yearbook 2009: Writing Basics by various (finished 06-26-09)
Another magazine I picked up recently. At first, I thought it was a new writing magazine called Writing Basics until I got it home and in further reading saw it was some sort of yearbook edition of writer's digest. Either way, it was an interesting read. It gave me quite a bit to think about, including directions in which to take my website.




Readings finished in July
I did a lot of spread out reading this month and only really finished one book, I did not read all of my required test for the class I had during this month.

Why You Shouldn't Pick Your Nose and Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body by Francesca Gould (finished 07-28-09)
Okay, the title may be completely gross, but as I was shopping for books, I realized I wanted to expand my knowledge, rather than buy new fiction (particularly since I have old fiction I still haven't read) or a new book on writing. I admit to being curious about "useless" facts like this and found the book to be extremely interesting. I've even wondered about the title, mostly because this activity seems to be a culturally universal thing that many children do naturally. It definitely made for good bathroom material hehe.




Readings finished in August
Working on it




Readings finished in September
Not September yet...




Readings finished in October
Not October yet...




Readings finished in November
Not November yet...




Readings finished in December
Not December yet...