Friday Five

1. I had a reading Wednesday night--my first not for school, and it was AMAZING. The audience ended up being mostly my friends, but I think I would have enjoyed it just as much if it had been strangers. I love reading my work to people--I used to hate it, but now it's one of the only times I get to use my acting mojo. Also, it wasn't just my school friends who came. A veritable contingent of my coworkers from the summer attended. I felt so incredibly supported. I cannot wait until I get to do these on the regular.

2. In that vein, I got a rejection email only about half an hour after the reading. A big one. For the R&R I spent the summer working on. And that sucked. It made the evening bittersweet, in a way, but the reaction of my friends, both to the reading and to the email, made me all the more determined to get back into the submissions world, and keep trying. It's all part of the writing life.

3. I finished The Casual Vacancy last night at two o'clock this morning. I don't want to spoil anyone, but if you've read it EMAIL ME. I want to talk about it! Full disclosure: I really loved it. I thought JKR built the world of Pagford as well as she built the wizarding world, and her obvious knowledge of contemporary society made the connections to politics, emotions, and the human condition in Harry Potter all that much more powerful.

4. Tonight I get to eat sushi and see The Perks of Being a Wallflower with my roommate's friend (and my new friend) Anna. i am super-stoked! I read the "we were infinite" passage of Perks as my banned book at the reading on Wednesday, and it reminded me again of how powerful simple sentences can be.

5. If any of you know any good sources for Harry Potter trivia, let me know. The next gathering here at Ravenclaw Tower is going to be a Harry Potter themed one, and the only trivia we can find online is way too easy for our band of nerdy friends.