Day 46 and 47 – Blogging

This is an irrelevant picture of Seattle that I took a few weeks ago.

Day 46

We didn’t really do all that much that day. In the evening, however, we watched The Shawshank Redemption. I thought it was an absolutely incredible movie. My two friends thought it was pretty good but not absolutely incredible. So I threw a figurative glass of cold water in their faces and had them cower on a couch while I held a literal speech about freedom, truth, and hope at midnight. It was arguably one of my best speeches I had ever delivered.

Day 47

We met with a blogger at Starbucks somewhere on the outskirts of Pasadena. It was… nice. I couldn’t really learn much from him because what he told us I had already learned in 2011 after high school while working with those marketing and sales companies in the States and in Germany. But it was fun to learn about his history, how he became a blogger, why he writes columns for the local newspaper and why he thinks writing for TV shows and the radio are conducive to becoming a better writer. He also said that there’s hope for the continued existence of newspapers because some people do prefer holding a newspaper in their hands instead of reading about it online.

I’m currently reading Dean Koontz’s book Intensity. It’s pretty intense. Bet you didn’t see that pun coming. The opening scene seems to be dragging on and on forever. For the first couple of chapters, you see the entire world through the eyes of the protagonist, Chyna. I’m kinda craving a different view for at least a few paragraphs. But oh well. I shouldn’t be complaining. Dean has written dozens and dozens of novels whereas I’m not even published yet. But that will change by the end of this year. I hope. God, I really hope so.

I used “hope” in all three paragraphs. That’s pretty cool. Well, make that four now. Boom.

Day 42, 43, and 44 – Meeting Authors

Day 42

We went to church again. Honestly, the more I go to church, the less I’m encouraged about Christianity. Mainly because what I find in church is not what I find in the Bible. But I’m done talking about church and Christianity for today.

We watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers in the evening and had a good, British laugh. If you don’t know what Fawlty Towers is, then you need to look it up right this second and bask in its glory for the next few hours, regardless of what you’ve got planned. I’m serious.

Day 43

Joe and I met with author and YouTuber, Robyn Schneider. Super fun, super cool lady. She told us some crazy stories about past experiences at Comic-Con and VidCon, and her writing and publishing adventures, and her funny relationship with author and YouTuber, John Green. Talking to Robyn was so much fun because she shared a lot, gave some advice, as well as some connections, and she was so down to earth and easy to talk to.

Day 44

This was definitely one of the highlights of my entire USA experience. Joe and I drove to Beverly Hills to meet with the famous German author of Inkheart and Fearless, Cornelia Funke. We spent two hours in her beautiful house and got to see her handwritten manuscripts and stroll around in her study / writing nook. She also gave us three signed copies of the two Fearless books and Inkheart (Tintenherz) in German. Pretty neat. The advice we got from her was really inspiring, too. She basically told us to do what we love and not worry about business yet. So if you want to write, go ahead and write the damn thing. If your mind is fixed on money, you might as well take that pen and stack of papers and strategically jettison them out the window.