Review: The Writers Afterlife By Richard Vetere (This Blurb Is From Goodreadsbut My Review Is After The

Review: The Writers Afterlife by Richard Vetere (This blurb is from goodreads but my review is after the line ;)

The Writers Afterlife is the story of Tom Chillo, a 44-year-old writer on the verge of fame, who suddenly dies of a stroke and finds himself transported to a place where all writers are sent after they die. After mingling with “The Eternals” — including Shakespeare, Wilde, Keats, and Tolstoy — he discovers that his true peers in this new world are all haunted by the same regret: they never achieved the fame they felt they deserved during their lifetime. There’s still a chance, though. Every writer has the opportunity to return to earth for exactly one week and convince someone to set the wheels in motion to give their life’s work widespread notoriety. The trick is to come up with the perfect plan the first time. Failure is not an option. The Writers Afterlife is brimming with warm humor, New York street sensibility, and an underlying commentary about the drive for fame in contemporary culture. With a deft hand, Vetere explores the deceptions that people employ to achieve at all costs. A string of eccentric New York characters fly off the page and make for a striking, memorable book that is a delight to read.

This book was amazing! I enjoyed reading Richard Vetere's book, "The Writers Afterlife." As someone who mostly read Y.A. books, I'm used to over - the - top conflicts and characters who struggle with learning the process of growing up. But, with this adult fiction novel, Richard Vetere talks about how we still struggle and do our best to adapt even as adults, no matter what our age may be. What's best about this book is how brutally honest it is about the world. It doesn't fantasize or romanticize with a writer's life instead, it shows the struggles and risks a writer makes as they devote their whole lives to their passion and talent. For the most part of this book, I was anxious when I was reading it. I felt pure anxiety as I wondered if Tom Chillo could achieve his dream of his work being glorified and appreciated, especially now that he's gone. It wasn't like the kind of suspense you would feel in a mystery - thriller novel, it went deeper than that. Richard Vetere is spot on with our fears regarding the decisions we make, the results from our choices, and anxiety of waiting to see what happens next. He understands how life just keeps bombarding us with so many events that it's hard to keep up and easily be overwhelmed as everything happens all at once. This was such a difficult book to get through but it wasn't because it was bad, oh no, it was because it just forces the reader to take a look around as all of our fears and frustrations are being pushed to the surface. Through Tom Chillo, Richard Vetere teaches us life really is the most unexpected event that we can ever encounter, but so what? We will always be writers and we will always be a witness to this crazy world.<br> Yes, we can be stupid, we can be fools, and those doubts can really take control of us, but we're still hopeful creatures anyway. This book was still fun to read. Its tone was sarcastic, cynical, whimsical, doubtful, confused, honest, profound and hopeful. What I loved most was the way Tom Chillo, even though he did have a plan and used the experience and advice from other writers to help guide him to ever - lasting fame, he still improvised and did things his way. While he was constantly on the edge, with his head never really quiet, being jumpy for the next opportunity, and keeping his guard up for what's next, he still had time to have fun and enjoyed the people and his work that surrounded his life during his last week with the living. I think that's what makes this book so unique; the truth doesn't always hurt and reality can be as much fun as fantasy. Vetere did a really great job with his characters. There wasn't anyone who was one - dimensionally evil or annoying, he gradually, with good foreshadowing, gave us moments of vulnerability and how life can be so complicated even if we don't mean to be. Vetere didn't give us a character whom we can solely put the blame on, he gave us all these realistic conflicts that were genuine since you never know what will happen as you work with what you're given. <br>Personally, I enjoyed this book. Not only did it give us something to relate to like, "we're not the only ones who are dealing with this" but it gives us something to look forward to as the next day could possibly be better. Tom Chillo was the personification of the phrase "go big or go home" as every choice he made, some he had to make on the spot, he did it with conviction, he did it with some doubt, he did it out of a whim because it was funny, was all perfectly human for a ghost. I think if the author wants us to learn anything from Tom then it would be this: just be human and be proud of the work you've done. This can really help you be flexible and tough with whatever happens next. However, there were a few things that just bothered me while I was reading. First off, I felt like there was too much summarization. I mean, okay he wanted us to see the images and visions right away regarding the other writers in the afterlife, but it made me miss this elegant prose that I was used to. Secondly, there were moments where I wished he would just elaborate regarding other characters. Such as, he made them complex and vulnerable but I wanted to see how that happen and why! We were given some good foreshadowing and glimpses but that didn't seem enough for me, especially for characters like Jennifer and Allan Roth. They weren't just decoration to give flair to the conflict, they were more than that but we weren't given enough moments with them. Although we do get to see that they are fully human. I liked the tone as it was fresh and easy to go along, and I was so happy with the twist and turns of this book. While some of them were expected, I loved the execution of them. The ending was a little bit ambiguous and convenient, but like I said before, life is unexpected and take what you can. As a writer, adapting what's given to you is very useful but enjoying what's there is even better. It was so much fun and inspiring to know that our work can be appreciated and acknowledged in the long run. When it comes to talent: when it makes a statement, it makes a visible impact. And the best part is talent can be anything so ling as you have confidence and devotion to your work.

Ultimately I give this book 3 and a half stars but, seriously people, give it a try! You won’t regret it!

My sister talks to me in this monotone, disinterested voice. It sounds frigid and gravelly as she delivers these clipped answers to me, but I can always catch a hint of impatient annoyance during those rare moments when we share a conversation together. As if I’m a child she has to tolerate and she can’t wait for our conversations to be over.

I know she doesn’t respect me but it still hurts to hear her openly admit it to me. She didn’t even have the decency to look me in the eyes when she told me this. She was too busy playing with her new Nintendo Switch.

She’s 19 years old and I’m 25, but I still don’t know what I’ve done to make her hate me to such a degrading degree; She refuses to talk to me, refuses to listen me, refuses to even look at me when ever I try to include her into my life. She’s trying to erase my existence from her life as she ignores me everyday.

I told her that I don’t want us to be distant, I don’t want us to be such a broken family, but she just dismissed me with a shrug and a snide, clipped answer: our brother and our dog are enough for her. I’m replaced by a dog. I’ve been replaced by a dog.

I still love my sister. I admire her confidence, her intelligence, her unfiltered mouth. She enjoys so much freedom in her life without ever compromising her independence or submitting to authority. She’s always in control and if she can’t figure something out, she’s undeterred. She never stops that vivacious way of living.

I try to respect her. I try to give her space. I wait for her to come to me and let her know that she can lean on me, no matter what. But I’m tired of this indifference. I’m tired of feeling like the dismissive employee she can’t wait to fire. It’s hard being on the receiving end of this treatment, especially from family. It’s nice to feel like she can rely on her big sister, but that’s when she needs to find extra cash from somewhere.

I think, at this point, it’s better to be strangers with her than family. She’s always been nicer to strangers. We’re already at that point and I’ve just been slow with the uptake this whole time.

We shouldn’t take our hatred out on a group just because we’re in pain. Please, pray for peace and pray for the safety of innocent lives who are still with us.

#prayforhumanity #paris #restinpeace #prayforparis #prayforgaza #prayforpeace #terrorismhasnoreligion

This was a beautiful and tragic story. I know that it’s real so it makes it that much more profound. I’m simply just amazed and in awe by this. Thank you to the person who posted this up and was nice enough to share this inspirational event. I’m glad I was able to find something like this on tumblr. It’s good to know that there are wonderous things out there. 

This post/comic was not made by me. I’m reblogging it so even more people will know about this.

A hero in more ways than one

I'm so obsessed with Zootopia! XD I totally love these two!

This reminds me what something that George R.R Martin said before, and he’s right! History offers so much inspiration! There’s nothing more exciting and surprising than real life itself. 

Jeanne de Clisson (1300-1359): the Lioness of Brittany

More historical details and footnotes up later today when I have more time. The short version is: we know she existed, that she led forces against France, that she became a pirate, and that she was protected by England. The extent of her feats varies greatly based on the telling – estimates of the length of her career as pirate range between five months and thirteen years! – but whatever the heck she actually did left quite an impression.

And here’s a quick link to buy the book!

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