This week, my blog will be focusing on Diana’s thesis-in-progress presentation. I really enjoyed it and thought she did a wonderful job at bringing the characters to life. The way she writes is very similar to my preference, in terms of being descriptive and allowing the reader to envision what she imagines as a writer. I am looking forward to reading her thesis and hopes that she decides to publish it once she’s ready. The images she starts each chapter with is my favorite part of what she shared with us, and I start realizing more and more the power and impact a black and image can have. Its simplicity has so much to say.

I am also glad that I have been given the responsibility to share with my peers my experience of self-publishing on Amazon. I intend to do that on our “last” class after all the presentations are done, and I hope that my understanding of it will help the writers in our graduating Class of 2022 to publish and have their work out there for people to purchase and enjoy. In the meantime, I encourage my classmates to write down any specific questions they have in the two weeks so that I can make sure I can help everyone to the best of my ability. Also, my personal copy of my novel finally came in on Saturday, and I got the hardcover version for myself and my family. My mom has started reading the book, with the foreword completed. She just entered Chapter 1, since she already read the short story and skipped it. I also used black and white images. I wanted to use color, but just like Diana’s work, maybe sometimes color can create confusion and divert the reader form what you really want them to see. The images I felt looked best without color were the ones I kept in the book. And maybe, just maybe, the beauty will show in something as straightforward, obvious and unambiguous as black and white.