A Book Review: How to be Lovely-The Audrey Hepburn Way of LIfe.

I love Audrey Hepburn; her style, her grace, and she is so classy. I was so excited when I got this for Christmas.

Title: How to be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life

Author: Melissa Hellstern

Number of Pages: 208

Publisher: Dutton Adult

Genre: Biography(esque)

Rating:

This is just a simple great little book. It is not a long read, it is quite enjoyable. It is basically filled with little quotes that have to do with each topics that are discussed in each chapter. You could say it is filled with Audrey's words of Wisdom on life.

No, this is not a long book. It is one of those great coffee table books or you could use it as a a daily thing to look over for fun.

Who Doesn’t Want to be Famous?

My first book review for this year!

Title: How to become a Famous Writer before you're Dead

Author: Ariel Gore

Number of Pages: 288

Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Genre: Writing Reference

Rating:

I remember this when I picked it up from McKay's (an amazing used books, music, movies and more store that exists in Tennessee). The title is what caught my eye. After all I want to become famous for something before I die, not after. I want to reap some of the benefits from my hard work.

It is an enjoyable book, with exercises and interviews from authors. Granted I have not heard of most of these authors, but I think that was her point, to expose us to authors that we have never heard of and to give the authors more publicity.

Before I found this book while wondering through McKay's I had never heard of Ariel Gore. My first thought that occurred when I came across this book was, 'What right does this person have to write a book about becoming famous writer when I have never heard of them?'

I have been proven wrong, somewhat. No, she is not famous like J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer. But she gives great advice that is very beneficial that does not give way to the old idea that it takes luck and chance to become famous.

Her whole idea is that if you want to become a famous writer, you have to work and work hard. Work your butt off. Writing, like everything is a job she said throughout the book and you have to spend a great amount of time dedicating to doing your job. Yes,the benefits are not as quick as with other tasks and other jobs but nevertheless it is necessary.

In the book she discusses everything for those that are beginners, tips on how not to procrastinate, self-publishing (yes such a thing exists), to everything else in between. The most important thing is this, write and get your name out there. And no, I am not talking about taking the Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton way. It involves sending in comments to newspapers, magazines, etc. Writing for school newspapers, literary magazines, etc.

I had no problems with this book. My only hope is that she comes out with a book of writing prompts and exercises.

This is a definite read for anyone who wants to become a famous writer.

I'm thankful I'm a Writer because....

I’m thankful I’m a writer because it helps me to talk with people and deal with my emotions. I have a hard time in the past expressing my emotions because I have always felt and have been taught that a person should not wear their emotions on their sleeve. So I have only had a few outlets in life to help express myself emotionally. First it was dance, then music, and now for quite some time writing. I started dancing when I was 5 years old and have loved it ever since. With music, either through playing my flute or singing, I still have a love hate relationship with flute and singing, well I have been told that I can sing well, but I still feel self conscious. With writing though, it is a whole other story.

With writing I have always loved the thought of writing books and having other people read them and love them as I have when I pick up a book. I have so many ideas that I simply want to share with the world. I don’t want to just write fantasy, I want to write sc-fi, historical fiction, nonfiction, romance, biographies, self-help, religious, poetry, short stories, essays, etc. I want to write in ever field of writing that exists, why because I have so many amazing ideas and I know I can blow the world away with my writing.

I am really good; when I actually apply myself; when I do, I feel like I have really accomplished something amazing and spectacular. In my mind I hear a voice say, ‘yes there is something that I am good at that I know I can make a profit off for the rest of my life’. Is that the reason I write, because I want to make a profit and become famous, YES! If any writer says that it is not for the fame or profit, or both, I would say they are lying or they have been writing for many years in the business and don’t care about all that anymore. I could be wrong though.

There is another reason why I love writing and therefore I am thankful. I am great at writing, I really am. To be honest I want to be great at everything I do whether it involves music, art, athletics, etc. It is that same with writing. It does come naturally to me and whenever a person is naturally gifted at something, it should be cultivated and shared with the world; take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Most of all, I am thankful for being a great writer because the best part is that you can talk about everything. That is a very good thing because I find everything interesting and fascinating. Few things in life bore me and this is a perfect outlet for me to be able to explore the world and express myself as well; all for the sake of my next book. I am truly thankful.