Fiction Friday Phoenix!

That’s right, I’m bringing sexy Fiction Friday back. In fact, it’s already been brought. For the past few weeks, I’ve subtly been setting aside each Friday to blog about literary type things. I’m sneaky like that. Since I don’t have any literary type thing in particular to blog about this Friday, I thought I’d go ahead and announce the rebirth of Fiction Friday.

In the past, before it died in a weak, sickly pile of ashes, the Fiction Friday blog was dedicated to unofficial book reviews, rants about my favorite fictional characters, descriptions of old favorite literary works, and so on and so forth. In its glorious rebirth, Fiction Friday will now encompass pretty much anything to do with writing, editing, and literature. And sometimes Dragons.

When I first started writing Poor Reflections, it was primarily a blog about my writing. As I have grown as a blogger, the blog has also grown to encompass different aspects of my thoughts and life. I no longer feel it appropriate to dedicate all my blogs to writing and literature, but since so much of my life is about writing and literature, I need to set aside one day a week for it. Thus, Fiction Friday has returned in a blaze of awesome. Yes, I just used “awesome” as a noun. On a side note, I’m hoping to do a lot more book reviews in the future. If anyone has read something good (and relatively clean) lately, let me know. (I’m also open to receiving free ARCs of books in exchange for honest reviews—just throwing that out there!)

This blog has made many changes since I started it about a year and a half ago, and I want to take a moment to clarify the basic format (you know, just to kill some blogging time). Right now, my blogging format usually involves three weekly posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Monday is kind of a “this is how I’m doing” blog, in which I discuss my weekly achievements and/or failures, and my hopes and goals for the near future. It also might include some deeper things about how I’m feeling about my life as a whole. I call it “Monday Blahg” because 1) It’s Monday. Blah. 2) It’s often just a boring list about all the stuff I’m doing or trying to do. Again. Blah. 3) “Manic Monday” was already taken. Now that song is in your head. You’re welcome.

Wednesday is a kind of free-style blogging day. I leave Wednesday open to blog about whatever is on my mind (I almost want to call it “Whatever Wednesday,” but while I am obsessively in love with alliteration, I sense that my readers can only handle so much of it before running on a rambunctious raucous rampage). Often, this will include something about what God is teaching me through Scripture, or my thoughts on a given subject, or my thoughts on nothing in particular. It might be a funny blog. It might be a sad blog. It might be a sunny blog. It might be a mad blog. It might be a blog entirely made up of bad Dr. Suessian type poetry. It might be a blog about how much I love alliteration (although that might be more appropriate for a Fiction Friday blog—you can expect it to come out next week). There aren’t really any rules, here, because my mind needs a space to vent about once a week. And I figure other people might be interested in hearing my mind vent. If not, then, well, it at least makes me happy.

Fridays are now, once again, Fiction Friday! Reborn from the ashes, Fiction Friday lives again! I feel as though John Williams should compose a new melody appropriate for this great occasion, but I don’t know how to reach him.

…And I’m only about a gazbillion percent sure that I couldn’t afford him.

Fill-in-the-Blank Friday...wait...this is Friday, right?

"I never could get the hang of Thursdays." -- Arthur Dent, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

I almost forgot I was supposed to blog today; that's because I almost forgot today is Friday.  Again.

Yesterday was Thursday, but I went practically the whole day thinking it was Friday.  I somehow managed to remember that I was supposed to go to my "Thursday morning job" instead of my "Friday morning job," but I'm not sure what happened after that.

I blame part of it on the fact that I don't have a normal routine.  Most of the time, I like my crazy schedule.  I think of the poor saps who sit in the same little cubicle prisons 40 hours a week, and a little piece of my heart dies (either that or I have indigestion).  But part of me really likes the idea of routine, of knowing where I'm supposed to be without having to think, "Okay, what day is it?  Thursday?  Am I sure?  No.  I'd better check my cell phone/calendar/calculator/back-up brain." 

And yesterday I spent 2-3 hours sitting in the auto shop getting my brakes fixed, which is not something I typically do on a Thursday.  I had to shell out most of my rent money to pay for them, and now I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to pay my rent next month, but that's a problem to deal with on another Thursday...

And last night, the Cardinals lost to the Rangers in Game two of the World Series, which just put me all out of sorts.  Thursdays are not days I tend to think of as good days to watch the Cards lose a game in the World Series, not that any day would be a good day for the Cards to lose a game in the World Series, but I just don't think of Thursdays as days to watch televised sports at all.  But then, the only time I watch televised sports (unless you count the Olympics, and for some reason I never do seem to count them--they always seem more like a world-wide talent show than a sporting event) is when the Cards are playing in the World Series.  So what do I know about televised sports? 

And right now I'm sitting at work (don't judge me; there aren't any kids here yet), and I'm actually at my Saturday place of work even though it's Friday morning.  And I'm supposed to be here right now (always exceptions to my normal schedule), but it's giving me this weird feeling that today is Saturday instead of Friday. 

So when I show up at church tomorrow and find the parking lot empty, I'm probably going to think that the Rapture has occurred and I've been left behind. 

The impardonable sin is not being able to remember my schedule? 

Who knew?

Fiction Friday: This Space for Rent

I've got a couple of confessions.

1) This isn't really Friday.  Yes, this will be published on a Friday, but I'm actually writing it on a Thursday night.  I've started doing that because my Fridays have been fairly hectic.  So if I've wanted to get the blog out before late Friday night, I've had to write it on Thursday night and schedule it for Friday morning.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.  Big time bloggers do it all the time.  In fact, if I were smart, I'd start writing TONS of Fiction Friday blogs and stockpiling them for moments like these.

2) This moment, and most other Thursday nights lately, have been difficult.  I've been dreading them.  It's because lately I've been having to rack my brain to come up with a topic.  It's not that I don't read fiction.  I definitely do.  But, for the most part, I've already blogged about the fiction that I want to blog about.  That's not to say that I won't want to write blogs on fiction in the future, but it's becoming clear to me that Fiction Friday is slowly dying. 

So I'm putting it out of its misery.

I think this is the beginning of some changes for this blog.  Sometimes I start thinking of myself as a bad blogger if I keep making changes, but maybe I've got the wrong attitude about it.  My life keeps changing, so maybe the way I blog should also change.  And, if things go the way I'm hoping, I might have a new "real" blog soon, and I'll be devoting a little more time to that.

I won't be getting rid of this blog, though.  I need a place to blog about what's going on in my life.  I need a place to just write something random that makes me feel happy.  Sometimes I even need a place to write about a work of fiction that I love/hate/think about.  I just don't necessarily need to do that in an alliterative weekly fashion.

I still plan on blogging mainly on just Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  It's been a pretty good system, and I've gotten used to it.  Sundays are the updates of what's going on in my life and writing.  Wednesdays are kind of a wild card where I blog about whatever I feel like at the time.  I'm just not sure what to do with Fridays, at the moment.

I'll let you know when I figure that out.

Thanks for reading!

No Fiction Friday This Week

Yes, I'm aware that today is Saturday.  I didn't write a Fiction Friday this week because I was really out of it yesterday from being outside in the sun too much during the morning hours, and I just spent the rest of the day laying around moaning.   I didn't get any sunburn or anything serious, but my body doesn't react well to too much sunshine.  I think it's some kind of defense mechanism because I'm pale as a vampire. 

So maybe next Friday I'll blog about vampires or something, but no Fiction Friday (or Fiction Saturday) this week.