A little bit of housekeeping, and an announcement!

Now I don't make these posts very often, but just wanted to take a second and let you guys know a few things!

First of all, thank you for reading. I know that as something gets familiar, it gets boring, so I have been working for the past couple of days on the first step of my revamp of An Epic Liz for the new year, that being my About page, which you can see here! I have been working on this blog for over a year now, and have come to realize something: I am not really all that personal in my writing, and I intend to change that. How can I expect readers to want to get to know me if I don't let anybody know who I am, how I feel, and how I spend my life? So, first, there's that.

Have you found An Epic Liz on Facebook and Twitter yet? Just in case you haven't, check out those links!

I know you were reading holding your breath waiting for my announcement, and here it is: I have decided to write my first e-book! A couple of weeks ago, I was planning to do a How To Tuesday on starting a handmade business to do craft shows, but it quickly overtook my comfort level for length on a blog post, and definitely wandered into e-book territory. I am shooting to release it at the beginning of March, so keep your eyes peeled!

Back to your regularly scheduled blogging!

Book Club Monday #17: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

After reading Gone Girl, I knew I had to check out the rest of Gillian Flynn's novels. Luckily, I got both Sharp Objects and Dark Places for Christmas from my sister! I opted to take the plunge and go for the longer one first, that being Dark Places. 

The book had the same familiar, haunting tone that Gone Girl did, and the same intriguing voice. One voice being that of Libby Day in the present, and the other being of Ben Day, her brother, and her mother, Patty Day. They switched off, very similar to the way Gone Girl was written.

Libby Day is the only survivor of a massacre in her family's home when she was a child, which took the lives of her mother and two sisters. As an adult, she lives a troubled, sheltered life mostly by herself.  Her brother, Ben, who was fifteen at the time, was sent to prison on Libby's own testimony of his guilt. The murders were called "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas" by the media, as two members of the family had been killed via axe, and one had been strangled. Libby had been living alone for many years, on a fund created by a book she wrote as a child. A group called the Kill Club found her twenty-five years later. The Kill Club is a true crime enthusiasts' group, who finds Libby and who, after meeting her and purchasing both memorabilia and time from her, start to convince her to follow the truth behind that night - the night she referred to as 'darkplace'.

This being the second book I've read by Gillian Flynn, I can say that I really and truly enjoy her writing style. I enjoy the varying viewpoints, with the story coming from two different angles and continuing to move and build up. Dark Places and Gone Girl both used the same writing style, but both told completely different stories. As the end of the story grew closer and closer, it was easier to see what the truth behind the murders was, but it was not one hundred percent obvious until the last hundred pages of the book, at least. One thing I absolutely love about Flynn's style is her way to maintain interest and not let a story get drab or old. Her writing style haunts, much like her stories, and it's a rare quality to find in a lot of authors - a quality I admire about her books most of all.

Sunday Social: Week 34

It's been a long weekend, but not long enough to forget the Sunday Social. Here are this week's questions!
What is your ideal way to relax? Reading a book or sitting in a bath for as long as I feel like. Best ways for me to decompress.
Where is your favorite place to be? My apartment with my cat kids. Sometimes on a ride in the car - depends on the day!
Who do you consider your biggest role model? My parents. They did the best they could to reach and raise me the best they could (even though I was a bit of a jerk growing up), and they did it the right way. I feel very lucky.
What does your life look like in 3 years? Great! I'm hoping to stay in my current job, which I love, and have a more successful business!
If you could go back and change one decision, what would it be? Not be a financial moron between the ages of 18 and 21.
What is your biggest accomplishment in life so far? Never giving up.
More questions next week!

Book Club Monday #16: Columbine by Dave Cullen

Have you ever read a book and not really known why you wanted to? That is how I feel about Dave Cullen's book Columbine. The April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine High School was just one national tragedy I've lived through via the media. It was something that made me rethink going into high school, seeing as I started high school in the year 2000. Even then, I didn't know why anyone would shoot up their school. And really, there is no way to figure out why these people do what they do, but with all of the recent shootings, it made me remember what went on on that particular day, and, being one of those people that's into true crime, I remembered seeing this book and decided to pick it up. 

Now I, like a lot of other people, had a view of Columbine that varied exponentially from what actually happened. I thought it was two kids who were picked on and treated badly who snapped, basically. What Columbine did for me was throw it out the window. Dave Cullen is a journalist, and one who followed the massacre from day one on. What Cullen did with this book was simple: debunked the media representation with the facts of the matter. 

It did what you'd think it would - outlined the day's events, 

and what led up to the massacre itself. Columbine went into the minds of both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold - exposing Harris as a psychopath who no amount of drugs could help, and Klebold as a suicidal hanger-on, desperate for love and affection from one of many girls who barely knew he existed. 

Columbine explained, in detail, profiles of both the killers and some of the more talked-about victims, from Cassie Bernall, the girl the media said 'said yes' when Harris asked if she believed in God, and the 'boy in the library window', Patrick Ireland. Bernall's story was found to be untrue, but still a message of hope and martyrdom carried out through a book written by her mother, called She Said Yes. Ireland suffered for three hours with two shots to his head and one to his foot, his body going half numb before throwing himself out of the library window without realizing that first responders were scrambling to catch him at the ground. It is people like this that made Columbine such a great story, whether or not those stories were true. 

Reading the book made me uncomfortable at times, and made me angry in others. So often, something awful like this tragedy happens and we just want to sweep it under the rug and forget about it. Truth be told, I had basically forgotten about all of the newscasts and the media blitz surrounding the case. This book was, as weird as this sounds, the perfect thing to make me feel the exact same way I did on that day. It separated the truth from the lies and brought it to the forefront. Separated into five sections, Columbine dissected the events leading up to the shooting from both the viewpoint of the shooters and their story, and the other main characters (such as Frank DeAngelis, or "Mr. D" the school's principal). It took a quiet, Christian setting, and went painstakingly into the who's and the what's and the why's of one of the nation's first school massacres. 

Did I enjoy reading the book based on the subject matter alone? Not really, but of course, I didn't expect to. Did I enjoy it based on how much I learned? Overwhelmingly yes. Is it the only information out there on the case? Of course not. And, really, this is just one journalist's view of the case, albeit a well-researched, well-written view. In closing, I would say that if you have an inkling of interest, like I did, this book is worth your time. 

Sunday Social: Threes!

This is Week 33 of the Sunday Social blog hop, but I recently found out about it and always meant to do it - and sure it's a little bit late on a Sunday for a post, but I wanted to do it and not just think about it! I'm also doing next week's right away, so I won't have to worry about forgetting next week!

The Sunday Social is hosted by Ashley Lately and A Complete Waste of Makeup, and as I said, I'll do my best to participate every week going forward! This week's questions were all related to threes, so here goes!

1. Top 3 favorite kinds of food?

For me, I always go for a pasta or Italian dish, followed by soup and/or grilled chicken. Those are my absolute, go-to favorites. 

2. First 3 things you do in the morning?

Hit snooze about 4 times, brush my teeth/wash my face, and throw my hair up in the best five second ponytail possible.

3. Last 3 things you do at night?

Wash my face/brush my teeth, read a few chapters of whatever book I'm on, and usually fall asleep watching a true crime show or episode of Ghost Adventures. 

4. TV shows you never miss?

I may not catch them right when they're on, but Justified, Sons of Anarchy, and Gator Boys (most recently) are usually waiting for me on my DVR. I have several guilty pleasures as far as TV shows go, but I'll wait for a different post for those! :)

5. 3 places you want to visit?

Australia is a place I have always wanted to go to, as well as California and another trip to Las Vegas. 

6. 3 people you can always count on?

My dad, and my two best friends Tiffany and Laura. 

My dad and I riding on a race car at a Christmas in July event in 2012.

Tiff and I on Milwaukee's lakefront!

Laura and I at my birthday party a couple of years ago. I had a couple.

Thanks for checking out my first Sunday Social post! Come back next week for more!