in the pursuit of books

I did it. I graduated. I didn’t graduate with the GPA I had worked so hard to bring back up after two knee surgeries, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and every other hardship I’ve had over the past four years. Nothing stopped me from attaining my goal. 

But now I find myself lost, listless, a boat without a rudder. I’ve spent all my time concentrating on getting to this point, that I haven’t thought about what to do past it. I’m looking for a job, hoping something will give me a goal. I know what I want to do with my life, but I have to start small first. I have to get the experience that will put me on the track to my goals. I guess that’s the next step. I just have to convince someone to take a chance on me, give me the opportunity to prove my worth.

If I don’t find something soon, I’ll start saving for a Walkabout, a journey of self-discovery. Maybe I’ll write a book about it like that Eat Pray Love lady. :)

I picked up the first book of the Axis Trilogy, “Battle Axe” when I was 16 years old. Since that day, since that first somewhat tattered, well-read paperback book, I’ve been in love with Sara Douglass’ characters. In America, her Wayfarer Redemption series is actually all 6 books of the Axis Trilogy and the DragonStar Trilogy.

Reading the Australian fantasy queen is what originally inspired me to become a writer. Sara’s books have been my comfort and my inspiration for years. It saddened me to learn today she had passed away yesterday at 5 a.m.

Sara had been feeling ill for some time. She’s left behind a legacy I can only hope for. I tore through every one of her books with a need to read unlike any other book series. After reading Sara, my passion for books was reignited to a new level. She has a talent for creating epics I can only dream of.

Sara will be greatly missed. If you get the chance, read her books. I gave her a chance and fell in love. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Honestly, I love Pride and Prejudice. I do. I love Persuasion. The problem is Persuasion is depressing. I think it’s depressing because it is so believable as a true story. People can really relate to Anne’s story. We all have the people in the family that think they are the bee’s knees. We’ve all had the heartbreak of first, lost love.

It’s a story that can span the ages. Pride and Prejudice is more of a Cinderella story that we women can all dream of, hoping we can have our own Mr. Darcy. Above is the cover of the book. The woman on the front is Anne, the main character. I have to say I can honestly relate to her life in most areas.

I’m taking a Jane Austen class this quarter, and absolutely love it. This class feeds my need for intelligent conversation about a book I am actually interested in. I’m not really into non-fiction. I love this class because we discuss each character and the motivations behind it. I don’t really have a lot of friends that read the same things I do. Most of my friends do read but each is into something different. I would recommend finding a book club or class like this or a club of people who are interested in the same thing you are. Even among friends, sometimes a person can feel lonely because she doesn’t have someone to discuss her favorite book with.

I’m currently in Memphis, TN. Yesterday, I was in Tupelo, MS. We, meaning my mother, grandmother and two great-aunts, left Wednesday afternoon from Oak, Grove. We drove to Jackson, MS. We left Jackson the next day on our ridiculous adventure. We took the Natchez Trace which is a historic trail of Native American landmarks such as “Pigeon Roost,” “French Camp,” and the “Choctaw Boundary.” My family is Choctaw, well part. We had quite a few hilarious times along this route, stopping at each big sign that we could.

One memorable stop was at “Witch Dance.” Supposedly, long ago witches were thought to roam that area and dance in the moonlight.

My Aunt Blanche, pictured below, is doing her very own “Witch Dance.”

There were other tourists there using the restrooms facilities. This other group of tourists were a family of four; a young boy, his mother, father and a grandparent. At this point, I had wandered off, exploring the little monument. The little boy sees Aunt Blanche and yells, “Daddy! Daddy!” Aunt Blanche, being the instigator that she is, called me by my first name (something my entire family insists on doing to my great annoyance) “Megan! Megan! Hurry! We only have an hour until sunset!” The little boy had the best shocked face I’ve ever seen. His mother picked him up and threw into their truck. They then gunned it away from the little historic spot as quickly as possible. My aunt and I haven’t laughed so hard in quite some time.

We saw not only the historic sites but also places touched by disaster. The pulled over to ask fore directions because Bertha, our GPS, lost her mind and thought we were still on the interstate when we were in backwoods because of a detour. This is an area that had been hit with some sort of natural disaster of some sort. The school had to be completely relocated due to the obstruction in the Main Office and hallways.

After several stops and several hours, we finally managed to get to Tupelo. We spent the night and toured Elvis’ birth place the next day. Afterwards we made our way to Memphis. This two-hour drive involved discussions of muscle-builders, a Hooters for Women, (something in which all the waiters are buffed up men wearing only pants,) “vaggazling” and bikini waxing. It was certainly interesting. I only laugh that hard when my family gets to talking.

Today, we toured the Graceland shops. Yes, the shops. We’ve toured Graceland itself at least 3 times. This is not our first trip to Memphis. We floated around the shops and listened to the other tourists talk. I heard more mothers yelling at their kids than I ever thought possible. I also had a little boy wiggle his fingers in my face and make strange faces at me… . . It was very odd. People are strange; very strange.