In this blog post I will be giving a reaction to Maledicus by Charles French or as he likes us to call him Doc Chuck. Maledicus was the first horror/suspense book I had ever really read so I did not know what to expect, and when Doc Chuck warned us to not read it before bed if we got scared easily it furthered my worries about reading it. All that unknow was thrown out the window as soon as I started reading it because I found that I was looking forward to reading it and talking about it in class. The book jumped around to different time periods and different characters from chapter to chapter, and it was a little confusing at first I came to really enjoy that part and it kept me really into it because I wanted to keep reading so I could see what happened with each story line and how they would finally all come together. Throughout the book we were constantly seeing foreshadowing that either hinted at how the three main characters were going to defeat the evil demon, but we were also given stories of what Maledicus the demon had done in the past. The foreshadowing that hinted at how the IPS (the group the three men created) was planning to take down Maledicus gave us hope, while the stories of the tragedies that Maledicus had caused in the past created suspense and horror as the book came to a close. This book used the main characters deceased loved ones a lot throughout. When they first encountered Maledicus, he had used their loved ones against them to try and get in their heads. In the end though the true memories of the people they had cared for prevailed and helped lead them to triumph over Maledicus. The book ended with a huge cliffhanger in the final epilogue, and it leads us the readers to believe that Maledicus will be back. This final epilogue played off of the suspense throughout the whole book, so it is only fitting that the book ends with some suspense as well. Overall Maledicus was a very enjoyable read, and I am looking forward to reading the next book to see what the final epilogue was hinting towards.

For my second blog post I was given the task of writing about a book we read as a class  Frankenstein. Having never read the book or watched the movie I had many things to be surprised about. The first and most obvious is that Frankenstein is the doctor and not the creature that was created. The second and more important is that Doctor Frankenstein was not pleased with his creation. Up until reading the book I had pictured him having an evil laugh while his creation rose up off the table and then wreaking havoc on the world with the monster. As it turns out the doctor was repulsed by the monster he created, and even drives him to an illness. Another thing from the book that surprised me was the monster’s ability to adapt to the outside world. The end of Frankenstein is an interesting one and it plays off of my reaction from the first half of the book. What surprised me the most from this book was the developed humanity of the monster. Throughout the book the monster continually shows his attempts at humanity. From learning English to the need for a companion, the monster showed growth throughout the book. This was shocking to me because I had no real background knowledge about the book, so when I picture the monster Frankenstein created I think of a monster who just lives to destroy and kill. When he was first created, this is what happened, but those seemed to be the monster just not understanding how the world works, and also having some pent up anger at Doctor Frankenstein.

I am not really sure how to start one of these, so I will start off by introducing myself. I am a freshman at Lehigh University from Kennett Square PA which is around 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia. My hometown’s claim to fame is it is the mushroom capitol of the world. Kennett produces about a million pounds of mushrooms a week which is about half of the mushrooms in the United States. I have three siblings, two sisters and a brother. My sister Maddie is 17 and a senior in high school and is committed to Drexel to play lacrosse. My brother Luke is 15 and is a freshman in high school, and my sister Claire is 13 and in 8^th grade. I also play lacrosse at Lehigh. I have played lacrosse since fourth grade, and it has always been a dream of mine to play at a division one school. Playing lacrosse at a D1 school can be a lot of work. I have class all day and then head over to our locker room around 2:30 or 3 o’clock. From there we have practice and usually do not get back until 8:30. It is a huge time commitment and a lot of work, but it is all totally worth it because of the guys on the team. I was a little worried about heading into college and making friends, but with 50 guys on the team making friends was not too hard! That is all I have for right now, but I am looking forward to seeing where this blog is going to go!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.