Lyra Selene

AUTHOR

Lyra Selene

Dirt, and Growing Things

by | Mar 14, 2012 |

Oh, I have been a bad, bad bloggerina. I am aware of this. Self-flagellation starts…now.

I can only blame my lack of regular writing on the cock-eyed monster I call editing. Editing is like…cleaning the house, or weeding the garden, or trimming your hair regularly. That is, absolutely necessary, but hardly an enjoyable task. As a writer, you have to make time for sweeping the dust out of the corners of your plot, pulling out the weeds of stale dialogue and sloppy description, and snipping off those scraggly loose ends that make the rest of a healthy story look like poop.

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Dreams, Drugs, and the I Ching

by | Dec 16, 2011 |

Hello again, my lovelies!

The other day was absolutely beautiful in London. I found that I was physically incapable of staying inside and writing while precious daylight seeped away, so instead I put on my coat and hat and gloves and boots and made the trek into the city. It was the perfect kind of winter day; cold and crisp with a pristine blue sky stretching into infinity.

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O Time, Thy Mirrors

by | Dec 15, 2011 |

The passing of time always seems thinner, somehow, this time of year. More malleable, perhaps. As though the tense intervals of the infinite cycle relax, soften, and waver as if in the soft light of a flickering fire. Yes–life seems firelit, this time of year, and the shadows lengthen and recede unpredictably in the tenuous brightness of the passage of time.

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Are My Characters Too Real?

by | Dec 13, 2011 |

Today I read a clever essay by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Choke, Fight Club, and many other gems of modern literature) called 13 Writing Tips. As the title suggests, the essay deals with thirteen of the things Mr. Palahniuk finds most useful when writing, revising, and reading his own work. I found the essay engaging and constructive, but it wasn’t until I reached Number Eight that I really started to think about how the tips applied to my own writing.

“If you need more freedom around the story, draft to draft,” writes Mr. Palahniuk, “change the character names. Characters aren’t real, and they aren’t you. By arbitrarily changing their names, you get the distance you need to really torture a character. Or worse, delete a character, if that’s what the story really needs. “

I read that suggestion and physically reeled, a bit. Change my characters’ names, Chuck? Delete  my characters? Surely you jest!

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Where is the wonder, I wonder?

by | Dec 11, 2011 |

Hello, lovelies!

Do you remember the way you felt the first time you visited a new place? Somewhere beautiful, or interesting, or so new you could hardly bear it. Do me a favor, and think about that place for a moment; really think about it. Conjure it up in your mind until you can see every detail, taste the scent of the air in the back of your throat, hear the small sounds that are everywhere.

Isn’t it wonderful?

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25 Things About Lyra

by | Nov 30, 2011 |

Greetings, lovelies! Be you a stranger or a friend, a gentleman caller or a lunching lady, an angel or a demon, I am overjoyed that you have paused upon my small and meager blog-thing.

While this blog will mostly be devoted to the pursuit of literary excellency, transmigratory phantasmagoria, and bookish wanderings, I thought I would make my first post a sort of introduction. Many of you will know me well, and others will not. In an effort to remedy the latter, I thought I would compile a list of various and sundry facts pertaining to my person. Peruse it as you will! I hope it will lend you insight into my character and whet your appetite for future ramblings.

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Caress

by | Jun 9, 2011 |

And the center never holds.

With every glimmering kiss, with every heat-laced word or tender phrase, with every caress or careless glance, we carve away tiny pieces of our hearts. And in the end, our hearts float on without us, and we are left naught but a small sliver of what was once our potential to love.