One More Chapter
A twenty two year-old's view on life, death,
and Taylor Swift conspiracy theories
and Taylor Swift conspiracy theories
2/2/2014 0 Comments Growing Up With A Writer"Remember when last year no one got flu shots because there was a rumor they’d turn you European?" -Ben from Parks and Recreation As many of you know, my father, Dan, is a published author. It's not his primary source of income though. He also works as a computer analyst (or something of that nature) full-time to bring home the bacon. But growing up with someone with such a love for novels and story telling can lead to a rather interesting childhood. Perhaps it is all writers, or maybe it's just my dad (or even the men in my family in general since him and his brothers Paul and Micheal are very similar to each other) but we grew up with, what I think, is a very different atmosphere than most families. For one, me and both my siblings were brought up to love books and reading from the second we popped out of my mother's stomach. It was a privilege to be allowed to finally join my brother for his nightly readings. For a long time we were read to separately since my brother was reading far more advanced books with my dad than I was being allowed to such as The Lord of The Rings trilogy and Artemis Fowl. He also started the Harry Potter books before I joined the group. I remember trying to find excuses to come in the room whenever the were reading, and after my excuse ran out I would just linger and listen to what they had been reading, every so often posing questions like "What is the mirror of Erised?" and "Who's Dumbledore?" Soon a middle ground was found with the Series of Unfortunate Events novels by Lemony Snicket. So every night before bed all three children were gathered into my father's bed (even my younger sister, Audrey, since my parents loved her more than me...just kidding...kind of..) and listened to my dad read to us about the Beaudelaire children and their horrible tragic tale. Has anyone read those books? They're incredibly depressing, yet they're for children! Soon my father caught my sister and I up on the Harry Potter series so that we could read those together as well, and we settled into a great book reading rhythm. My father was also very supportive and encouraging of my siblings and me when we wanted to express ourselves as well. We all tried to write stories like daddy's, only we had no idea what his were actually like since we were allowed to read them. My father writes horror novels. To this day I have only had the courage to read his collection of short stories. I plan to finish his other three very soon. So we each took off in our own directions. My brother wrote mainly funny comics, or sci-fi/superman stories. My sister wrote them about happy puppies and sparkles. I wrote horror stories. Like really messed up. I remember, in fourth grade, I wrote a "short story", though it was more like a poem, about a girl who was adopted and found out her mother was a mermaid that was chopped up by a boat's propellers...WHAT?! I'm literally scared of my old-self. It's odd though because I was a very happy child, I never acted weird, I just wrote horrible morbid and sad stories. I'd like to assure you though that the book I am write now (and I use that term "writing" very loosely here since it is extremely slow going) is just as happy and sad as any average story. I must have been going through a Sylvia Plath phase or something. In addition to these stories and comics we wrote we were also avid filmmakers. Can you guess who directed these fabulous films? Yup, it was me! I was a horribly bossy director with a whiny voice, so most movies were never finished due to my siblings trying to strangle me in the end or my father taking the camera away because everyone was crying. But they were gems, I don't have them on this computer but once I do you can bet that you will be seeing them. My father was a huge advocate for us being creative, using our imagination and expressing ourselves. He also loved to make cameos in our videos as headless zombies or the helpless victim of my younger sister's mad scientist experiments (try and picture a six foot something man with a heavy beard cowering in fear from a wicked tiny (yes, I am from Massachusetts, why do you ask?) two foot girl with a voice similar to the shrimp from Shark Tale. It was quite a sight to see. Almost all of my friends that meet my dad fall absolutely in love. Is it his unruly beard choices and long shaggy hair? Is it the fact that he even stranger than I? or is it the fact that he is always trying to do something new and creative to his house? Who knows, I'm not them. But let me tell you, growing up with a writer is quite a trip, and I can't wait for my children to experience the same thing. Thank you for reading, Amanda Lucille Song of the DayI Lived by OneRepublic
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About This Blog:I started this blog as a way to challenge myself to write more over the 2014 year, but it has blossomed into so much more than that. I use it to let people in on what's happening in my life, talk about things I find important and to spread the news about amazing people, places and art. Archives
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