that is a crazy amount of ink.

Okay so, I have a few things I realize I needed to remedy from before on one of my last blog posts, and then post more stuff that may or may not ever be read by anyone other than me, my boyfriend Tim (I know you creep my page, honey) and a few friends.

Remember how I said I had multiple things go talk about after the whole WSJ article? Well, I originally did.
I don't remember them now. Moving on! (In restrospect, this sounded funnier in my head than it is on here.)

But honestly, I do have a thing or to I wanted to write about. First, I'm crazy beyond excited to say that I'm going on vacation next week! Five days of beach and the boy, and I'm a lady melting into a puddle of water on the floor just thinking about it. We keep reminding each other every day as we count down to the big day. This Tuesday, we celebrate our year anniversary together. Is it weird that I never actually thought I would spend a year with someone without strangling myself or my cat? (I promise you my cat is still alive!) Either way, it's going to be great. He even promised me tons of foot rubs and back rubs while I finish Illumine so I can actually start posting teasers for everyone to find online! And tons of seafood (my kryptonite) and maybe Red Bull? Mmmm, Red Bull. So yeah, I can promise-promise-promise that I will post my big teaser of Illumine in early July! Are you as excited as I am?! /happy twitch

But because of the whole vacation thing, I probably won't be chatting up with everyone on Twitter or compulsively searching for new inspiration. I probably won't really post on here for those five days, either, unless I have the utmost awesome thing to show everyone (which I'm sure will happen. I'm at the beach where shiny things come into my sight all the time. Wh doesn't love shiny things?!)

Then there's this little idea I'm pondering about posting a strictly online story, just a short one, like novella sized, and making a blog just for that but linking to it here so others can read and comment/suggest what could happen next. I love this kinds of interactive things. I actually started a lot of my intensive writing after spending years on RPG boards creating people from thin air and embodying them. I even ended up dragging a few close friends into the mix during Middle School and High School. If I ever grow the courage to some of the old stuff I have in the many notebooks in my bedroom, I'll post them up so you can see the insanity we created between classes.

...my sister's listening to the Glee version of Friday by Rebecca Black. /twitch

I'm gonna go find the power box and claim we ran out of power. Ahem.

so many topics, so little time.

I think my brain's been trying to explode on me for the last few hours between the few things I wanted to cover in my next post on my blog, and it's really taken about two days for me to finally straighten it out and say, "Okay, I think I got this now. Quick, write it before it changes its mind."

The first thing I wanted to talk about was the whole post here from WSJ (@wsj via twitter). Being a little new to the whole Twitter network and blogging lifestyle as a whole, I turned on my iPad Sunday morning to find my newsfeed in the process of a nuclear warhead explosion. Some of my favorite writers were sounding of on the article. So what did I do? Well, I went and read it, and I have to tell you, it made perfect sense why every one of my favorite authors were frothing at the mouth over it. Saying that a YA book is 'too gruesome, scary, or destructive for children to read' made me want to start spamming my own little 160 character attacks right back at WSJ.

Did anyone ever stop to think what kind of world we live in today? Welcome to 2011, home of murder every day, robberies closer than you know, drug addictions around every corner, and abductions if a child isn't careful enough. If parents think that just because you can shun a child through some books that accurately tell close-to-home tales like a girl cutting herself or another one refusing to eat to stay in her comfort zone, people need to open their eyes. Kids are exposed to this way earlier than when a kid can pick up a book and read it front to back without using a dictionary or asking a friend what something means. School, the internet, and their own parents are just as destructive as a book can be to the hands of the wrong child.

Then you have to contend with the other part. You know, no one ever forces a kid to read Harry Potter or Twilight. The books on YA shelves weren't put there to complete a summer reading list or made a parent happy that they'll be ahead of their class by reading something advanced. They're there for a reason; it's what they want to read. And kids pick them up for a reason too; they want to read it. I'm not going to say that peers don't factor into it, because I know first-hand that they do, but it certainly isn't the whole iceberg.

Overall, it really boils down to an individual basis. Not all kids are going to digest Fallen the same way, just like not all kids are going to read the Blue Bloods series and not take the same thing away from it. Each child, teenager, young adult, adult or what have you, is different, and will read and interpret everything different too. So for WSJ to say that we need to watch out for those 'Darkness Too Visible' books, shame on them. I can't tell you how many books I read longing to feel like I held self-worth or value, or that it was normal to be weird and not fit in. Reading those fantasy and paranormal books that gave me a new world to dive into provided me with that escape that kept my sanity in check and left me feeling better than ever.

What about you? Sound off on the #YAsaves hashtag either on Twitter (you can follow me on the right side of the screen) or post something in the comments!