Words by Sooz

Love can happen in any number of ways, even when it’s the last thing you want. Even when the world is screaming at you that love is just around the corner, it can be hard for people to accept. Shaynie Gavin finds herself in that moment when Divinity and The Python starts. She’s a young Canadian woman who is connected spiritually to nature. She’s senses things around her from the way the wind blows or a candle moves, and allows nature to guide her. Shaynie doesn’t seem to want to listen to the part where it says that local hockey hero Cameron Weste is the one for her. Although, he’s known to get around the party scene, it seems much of her reluctance has a lot to do with self-loathing from what she calls “Hellnight,” an alcohol-induced night that Shaynie can only grab bits of memories. Bonnie Randall created an interesting heroine. She’s not perfect. She’s independent. Even when she makes the wrong choices, it seems Shaynie does so knowing there will be consequences. However, ...

I've started writing. Well, I'm always writing, but this is for me and not for work. I spent the last several days reading old stories of mine -- all those stories I started and somewhere between 3,000 and 7,000 words I abandoned. The sad part is some of the scenes are really good. Some of the stories are also similar. Since I have already written 7K words on a story I really like a lot and think about often, this the one I am pushing myself to finish. I am also taking scenes from other similar stories that can definitely fit. It's funny to read some of the stories because the characters are similar in like three of them. I actually think they are the same characters with different names (sometimes). So, I have a story working here by adding other short stories. Well, it's time to get it done. I've read if you want to get things done, you should put it out there for the public and announce it to people because you are more likely to follow it. So, here...

Breaking Bad is back tonight. You already knew this. I’ve never been so excited for the return of a television show. Of course, there were shows when I was younger that I hated going into summer hiatus with those silly cliffhangers. However, as an adult, I feel this is the best show I’ve ever watched. I need to know how the end begins. This is the only time I have ever had to wait for Breaking Bad. I didn’t watch it through its first four seasons.  I was only turned on to it about two to three months ago after my boyfriend watched the entire run of the series in about a week when was away for work. He told me I needed to watch and I don’t regret that decision at all. It took me a little longer to watch than a week – about two months. I would watch a show or two at a time and then go three to four days without watching for work or other reasons. But I never felt as though I had to wait. I’ve now been waiting for two weeks – which really isn’t a long time. ...

It didn’t take long to realize Larry Doyle had a background in television while reading “I Love You, Beth Cooper.” His book tried to be a John Hughes like teenage rom-com with Superbad mixed in. You couldn’t help but see the movie playing in your head while reading the book. There was fighting, police cars, kissing, beer and a wild party. However, at the end I didn’t find myself rooting for the hero. I was just happy to be done with it. The characters were flat and I found them mostly sad and pathetic. Doyle included every one-note stereotype he could think: the dorky virgin, the head cheerleader, the kind-of-gay best friend, the slutty ditz, coke-up steroid freak and even  a black guy who sells drugs (Doyle actually called him a black wigger and was one of just two black people in the school). What is meant to feel like a night of discovery is left feeling like a night of stupid choices. It feels like a night that has gone horribly wrong where a concussion or a brain ble...

Through my job, I have met some amazing people. Some in passing and others I got to know well.  Pat Summitt was someone I interviewed a couple of different times while I covered the Rutgers women’s basketball team from 2005-2007. In all, I wrote eight articles for The Press of Atlantic City that included Pat Summitt, including one in 2011 when Summitt had stopped doing post-game interviews.  To me, she always seemed larger than life. In control of it all. Summitt was the face of women’s college basketball. The first and last person you thought about when it came to the topic.  The last article on Summitt was the toughest. The all-time winningest women’s college basketball had publically announced she was suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She was in New Jersey to have her Tennessee Vols face Rutgers and C. Vivian Stringer, one of her best friends.  That night gave me goose bumps and I had to stifle a few tears. The Scarlet Knights wore t-shirts honoring ...

The Fever Series has thrilled me since the beginning. I loved following Mac’s story and the people who came in and out of her life. That wasn’t any different with Dani O’Malley, 14-year-old with special abilities. She was good supporting characters, giving Mac a chance to have a sisterly relationship. So, I was concerned with Karen Marie Moning’s new Fever series starring the flippant, cocky teenager, starting with Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel (Fever Series) . Reading the book didn’t ease any of those concerns. KMM books have explicit sexual scenes in them. Having a 14-year-old as the main character gave me an icky feeling from the beginning. I know some 14 years olds engage in this behavior, I just don’t want to think about it, much less read about it. SPOILER (go to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know): Dani doesn’t actually have sex in the book, which is good considering two of three love interests are way too old for her. As in 14 will get you 20 ki...