Words Upon Words

Wanderlust and wanderlove

The summer holiday (or post-college incubation period for yours truly) really makes me want to buy a ticket and fly to a strange land with nothing but a backpack with all the essentials—the essentials including five-inch heels, naturally.

No matter how many books you read or classroom lectures you attend, the wit and wisdom you gain from traveling is peerless.

I believe that the fundamental facility of travel is to act as a conduit of learning. Visiting unfamiliar territory can either change your perspective or solidify the one you already have. Do you see things more clearly, or do you need another pair of glasses?

But truly, the heart of travel lies in its enigmatic way of leading you all over the world then showing you that in the end, there’s always one place to which you’ll always belong.

slnrdz21 asked: wow!! thanks so much for posting the Fifty Shades of Grey books, I've been hearing a lot of comments froms this books but half of them say they're good books and the other half not so much, and I really didn't want to waste money in case they weren't good.

You are very welcome! Glad to be of help. Please do let me know what you think of it. Thanks for taking time to pass by! :)

Marga

aliveinthisbed asked: Thank you for posting the Grey series!! I read the first book and I was really indifferent about it but I wanted to finish the series without spending money on the books themselves. You are my hero!! :D

You are very welcome; glad to be of service. Let me know what you think of the rest the books when you finish, yeah? I am sincerely curious. :) Thanks for dropping by!

All the best,

Marga

50 Shades of mommy porn

Have you ever heard of “mommy porn”? Neither did I, until I read about “50 Shades of Grey” by EL James.

That is my “Mommy porn?!” face

As a struggling writer (you know, I never got why unpublished writers are described as “struggling” but I use it anyway, which proves that I really am “struggling”…k whatevs), I was intrigued about the book, not only because it depicts graphic sexual acts with sadism and masochism but mostly due to the fact that it was originally a piece of Twilight fan fiction, pejoratively known in geeky circles as Twific.

Believe it or not, I’m a huge fan fiction geek. HUGE. I loved them so much that at one point in my life, I started writing some of my own. (I thought they had been left to rot in the abyss of literary horror, but a friend mentioned to me a couple of years back that she found something I wrote on fanfiction.net. Oh, the horror.) While my own fan fiction could literally make one retch, I’ve read a fair number of fan-made work that made me wonder why in the world publishing houses would ignore such genius.

As far as I know, there haven’t been a lot of writers whose claim to fame started out in fan fiction. In fact, I can only think of Cassandra Clare, who became extensively known for a Harry Potter fanfic that had Draco Malfoy wear tight leather pants. Aside from her, I haven’t the foggiest (though I’m sure there are others).

Okay, totally lost my point now. Going back to mommy porn, which is how EL James’s 50 Shades trilogy is described. 50 Shades is the story of college student Anastasia Steele who enters into a relationship with young billionaire Christian Grey, who apparently has a penchant for S&M. Am I the only one who thinks this sounds a lot like Secretary starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal?

(“Secretary” is awesome, by the way.)

This brief feature I saw on CNN this afternoon showed married couples rekindling ~the fire~ of their ~relationships~ because of these books. Scores of grownup women talk about it in their book clubs. People line up in bookstores just to meet EL James. It is seriously becoming a phenomenon, and that’s with consideration to what I hear is terrible writing on James’s part.

You know, I’m pretty sure EL James couldn’t care less if her writing’s total crap. She’s too busy rolling around in her pile of money with a chain and whip. Shudder.

What is mommy porn, anyway? What makes it so different from regular porn? Do you have to wear mom jeans to enjoy it? I honestly don’t know, and if you do, I fear for you life. (Just kidding.) I am curious about it, that much I’ll admit. So I am writing about this now because this whole mommy porn business is exceedingly intriguing, and I didn’t want to get into it alone at the risk of looking like an asinine sex offender.

On a more professional level, I am intrigued because 50 Shades might just hold the secret to becoming a respectable published writer. Who knows, I could be the future voice of my generation from writing sleazy fan fiction based on High School Musical! (Cue hysteria)

Now that you have been made aware of this depraved book’s existence, I invite you to take a gander and read it as well (because I really, really, really don’t want to look and feel like a weirdo). Now you’re probably thinking, “How am I gonna read it, Marga? HOW AM I GOING UNDERSTAND MOMMY PORN???”

Chill, dude. I got you:

50 Shades of Grey

50 Shades Darker

50 Shades Freed

Enjoy, and I seriously want to know what you think so leave me a message. I’m gonna start reading it as well, so wish me luck. I hope I come out alive and free from trauma.