3/24/2010 St. Albans

My Fiance invited me to go to one of his classes with him yesterday, because they were having a medium come in. The class was Religion and Death, incase anyone was wondering.

Anyways, I thought it was pretty cool. Some of the stuff the medium said was really interesting. Other parts, in my opinion, were total crap. Do I think spirits might be hanging around any given place at any given time, sure. I’m cool with that. Do I think scribbling on the mirror is going to call evil spirits into my home? Nope, that seems ridiculous. And unlikely, considering how many scribbles have been all over my own mirrors over time. If random marks called evil sprits in, I’d have had a lot more problems to deal with in my life.

Oh. Wait. Maybe that explains everything. Hahaha.

The medium (I’ve forgotten his name. Woops.) mentioned this place near here called St. Albans. Apparently it used to be a mental hospital and before that it was a boys school. The building is, as far as I know, standing empty right now. Local legend says its haunted. The medium described a room that is covered in papers with kids hand prints all over, finger-paint style. He said he was creepy. A student in the class confirmed that it was a creepy room, and mentioned some hallway that “seemed out of place” in the building. The medium then told a story about how he met with the spirit of a former student in the attic/bedroom area and the boy was looking for his mother and playing on a dumbwaiter.

Does this sound like an awesome setting for a book? For some reason, despite all the medium said, and the supposed “Creepiness” of the hand print room, it doesn’t feel like a horror story to me. Of course I’d have to go there myself to be sure, but my Fiance said he might take me there. I think that would be totally awesome. I’d love to see the hand print room. The whole place seems like it would be interesting. I plan on doing a little research on the place sometime this evening. I tried to last night, but the internet was down. This place had definitely sparked my interest. I have a thing for old buildings. :)

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I'm adding backdated posts

I have, besides this blog, a personal blog. My daily rantings and ramblings about my family, friends, and general life. I have posted a few very writing-related posts on there, which I'm going to also copy over to here.

I'll format them with the date I originally wrote them in the subject line. If you see strange things pop up, now you understand.

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I'm Writing a BOOK

I was about ten when I decided I was going to be a writer. I started writing a book called Erica Herenn (which by the way is pronounced HERN, it rhymes with fern.) I would talk about my book, or my novel, or Erica Herenn. I was excited. A young writer who was proud of herself. The more I devoted myself to writing, the more I talked. I probably drove people crazy!

I was told, on more than one occasion, that I wasn't writing a book. I was writing a story. Books are published, and they're written by professionals. I was just a kid, so I didn't write books. I wrote "novel-length stories." This made sense in my 10, 11, or 12 year old brain. I got into the habit of referring to my stories. And you know what? That is what I do. I write stories. But I also write books.

The difference isn't in the fact that one is published and written by a professional, the difference is all in the presentation. A book can have a story, but that's not all it is. A story can just be one sentence. But you certainly wouldn't buy a book that was just a sentence. That would be a waste of money. You'd spend more time at work earning enough to pay for it, than you would actually reading it. One sentence stories can be good, but they aren't what makes a book.

Books aren't just stories. They're about everything. I'm not really sure how to define what a book is. It's a story that can keep your attention. It's sometimes about the subtle difference between two words that are otherwise considered synonyms. Sometimes its about the editing. A poorly edited book is HARD to read.  Sometimes it's more about one character than the actual plot, the actual story. A book is long. You have to sit with it writing out all these words. It's time consuming and sometimes tiring. Sometimes it hurts, and makes you cry. Sometimes its lovely and makes you laugh, or even  get up out of your chair to dance.

Anyone can tell a story, and anyone who knows their ABCs can write a story. But not everyone can write a book.
Or rather, not everyone is willing to put forth the effort to write a book. I think anyone CAN write a book, but very few people have the drive to put it through.

I got a little off track...... Must watch for that.

My point is, a story is just a story, but a book is more than that. I'm writing a BOOK! A BOOK and putting in all the extra effort that goes along with it.

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Side note, story is different from Short Story. A short story is a comment on length, whereas story just by itself is intended as a diminutive in my experience. They are different things.

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