Notice for Review Requests

I receive review requests weekly. However, my personal schedule is hectic and I no longer review actively. (I also manage another blog called The Toronto Cafe and Food Blog). I do read every request sent but I apologize in advance that I do not reply to them all.

If I do take on a request, I will forewarn that it may take some time before I can review it. I am now looking to review adult fiction and self-help books instead of young adult fiction because I have grown out of it. If you are to request a review for either adult fiction or self-help, I will more likely to give it a shot.

In the meantime, Stop, Drop, and Read! serves as an archive book review blog. When I have the time, I may post a review. Thank you for understanding.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Lori Culwell: Things I wish I knew back then

Lori Culwell, Author of Hollywood Car Wash

Things I Wish I Knew Back Then

I was just talking to one of my friends from high school (who I’m still friends with even now), mostly about how the more time goes by after high school, the more a couple of things happen:

-- You look back at the high school version of yourself and think “what a bonehead.”

-- You stop making such a big deal out of everything because, frankly, you’ve seen most of it before and you know that eventually things get better.

I don’t mean to be blasé in my attitude toward high school students, because frankly, I find today’s teenagers to be much more mature and worldly than I ever was. In a way I guess that’s also kind of sad, because whereas I had years to marinate in life experience before I did anything like, say, start a business, or write a blog, or have a real relationship, it seems like everyone is doing all of those things these days, all before they get out of high school. That’s too fast, man! I didn’t do any of those things in high school (at least not successfully) because, as I have mentioned, I was a bonehead back then.

Actually, if I have to be honest, I feel more like myself now than I did back then, mostly because I have a better handle on my emotions. I can actually laugh at things that are ridiculously frustrating. If there is an emergency, I’m pretty confident I can figure out a solution. I have done things like get books published, work at jobs for long periods of time, buy real estate, and travel to many and various locations. I have driven across the United States—by myself.

Here are some other pieces of insight I wish I could have told myself back when I was 17:

1. Calm down. No really—calm down. Things are going to turn out ok.

2. Relationships are important. Don’t take people for granted. If you have regrets later in life, they will be based not on material things you did or didn’t do/ get/ achieve, but on time—time with people, with loved ones, with friends. That is the one thing you never get back. Take the time. Do nice things for people when you think about it.

3. One day, you might face a hard choice on the road of your life, and there will actually be no clear right answer (no matter how many people tell you to “trust your gut”). If this occurs, the solution is simple: take the option that is the shortest and least painful, put your head down, and do the time. The lesson: sometimes things just suck, and then they don’t.

On the bright side, the more years you get in your rearview mirror from high school, the more opportunities you have to reconnect with people who meant something to you then (and who mean something to you now). That is one of the things I love most about the internet—everyone is connected in a way we never have been before, and really, it’s good to still be friends with people who met me when I was a bonehead. It is even nicer to know you again now that I am an even better version of myself.

~~~

I absolutely adore Hollywood Car Wash! An amazing novel that I highly recommend! Read my review of it here.

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 2 copies of Hollywood Car Wash
# of Winners: 2
Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

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15 comments:

Liviania said...

+2 Old follower
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Y'know, I really fell out of touch with high school friends.

Cass said...

+2 Old follower
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Thanks for the giveaway! I haven't really heard of this one, but it looks good.

cc932005 at hotmail dot com

Sharli said...

"What a bonehead" LOL
Sounds really good :D

+2 Old Follower
+1 Added you to my blogroll

Dovile said...

I'd love to enter too.

+2 old follower

spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

deltay said...

That's really good advice, about time and stuff. :)

+2 Old follower
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Laina said...

+2 Old Follower
+1 Linked here: http://bookcontestlinks.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-31st-2010.html
+1 You're on my blogroll here: http://lainahastoomuchsparetime.blogspot.com/

Aik said...

+2 Old follower

+1 Link on Twitter
http://twitter.com/aikchien/status/23046438124

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to my blogroll
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Kulsuma said...

Count me in please!

+2 Old follower
+1 Added to blogroll
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Bunny B said...

Great tips! Especially the one on having good relationships. We should always be nice to people, but it is hard!

+2 Old follower
+1 Stop, Drop, and Read!'s on my blogroll: bunnymoney9.blogspot.com

bunnybx at gmail . com

buddyt said...

2+ Old Follower via GFC

Please enter me in the giveaway.

Thanks

Carol T

buddytho {at} gmail DOT com

Anne R. said...

+2 Old follower
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll (http://isabookwhore.blogspot.com)
=3

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Gaby G said...

Great advices. I wish someone would have told me those when I was in high school.

+2 old follower

magabygc(@)gmail.com

FrozenCampari said...

+1 new follower
sine_home@gmx.net

Cielo Azul said...

Hey! This book is on my wishlist!!

Count me, please.

Thanks for the contest.

+2 Old follower
+1 blogroll
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itzel_library@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

+1 - new follower
wandanamgreb(at)gmail(dot)com