A follower

Well, it’s happened. We have, at long last, reached the final edition in our series about, well, me. I hope that you’ve all learned a little something about who I am as a person, and that you’ll stick around to read what I have to say about anything and everything writing and reading based, as I so often do here in Too Many Books to Count.

I feel as though I’ve shared more about myself in this series than I’ve shared in a very long time, so I truly hope you feel like you know me a little better than you did before this series began.

For today, I have one last thing I want to tell you about me. One thing that probably could’ve (or should've) been first on the list, for how important it is in my life. It’s at the core of me, even before being a writer or an editor. It’s who and what I am, and it’s part of why I’ve chosen to write the things I write, and the way I write.

Who is Rani Divine?

Well, I am a Christian

I know, however, that this means many different things to many different people. I don’t mean to say that I don’t like some people, that I want to bash a bible over your head until you believe what it says, or that I’d shout your head off for disagreeing with me.

No, in fact, I’d be one of the first people to tell you that you have a right to believe whatever you’d like to believe, and to choose whatever lifestyle you wish. But I will also tell you that I believe this is a God-given right, a right that He would not take away from you, and a right that means there is darkness in this world, because God would never take your ability to choose whatever path you will follow. Some choose dark, some choose light. He won’t force your hand.

For me, in my life, Christianity means love. It means that I love you, whoever you are, reading these words. It means that I think you’re awesome. I think you’re amazing. I think you’re the coolest person on the planet. It means that I’d like to get to know you, to be your friend, because that’s seriously how cool you are.

Yes, it means that I want to teach you about Christ, about God Almighty, but it doesn’t means that I’ll force it on you. If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t. I probably won’t even bring it up when we meet.

Christianity, for me, isn’t about parading wildly for Christ. It’s about being a kind person, a loving person, a helpful person, someone who isn’t constantly putting others down or trying to propel themselves above every other person.

I don’t want to see you put down. I want to see you shine to your fullest potential. I want to see you be awesome, because I know that you are awesome.

So, that’s who I am.

That’s who Rani Divine, the writer of Too Many Books to Count, is.

And I hope you stick around, for a very long time. We’ll have fun, I promise. ;-)

[love]

{Rani Divine}

A sponge, is it?

We have, at last, reached the final week in our series about me. You’ve no idea how glad I am to see the back of this series. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s been fun to tell you all about me, but it’ll be nice to get back into the nitty-gritty of things, next month (speaking of which, I’ll be back at the RADblog again next month, with a nine-week series on character creation—don’t forget to stop in and check it out).

All month long, I’ve been reintroducing myself, specifically because we have so many newcomers to Too Many Books to Count, and I didn’t want anyone to feel left out. So if this is your first time, check out the rest of the posts from this month so you can get to know me a little bit better.

Who am I?

I am a learner

But I don’t mean that I’m in school all the time. Oh contraire! I graduated from college several years ago, with a degree in English, and I’ve never looked back. I don’t believe school is the only way to learn. No, no, no, learning happens every day, everywhere you go.

I’m the type of person who loves to learn. I relish sitting down at my computer and researching a new theme, especially when it even remotely relates to the story I’m currently working on. But I also like to research things about writing, which is how this blog actually came about. I like to watch people and listen to them, to learn from their experiences. And I like to know as much as I possibly can about writing, about readers and what they’re looking for, that I can’t help but share what I’ve learned with all of you.

I like documentaries, I like reading science books, I like researching historical topics that I might be able to use as inspiration for a novel or short story… I like doing anything that will expand my mind, make me think, and teach me to better understand the world around me.

And really, it’s a lot of fun.

I would honestly say that I’ve been this way since I was fairly young. I always liked to learn, and I didn’t always want to go about it by simply doing my schoolwork. And don’t get me wrong! I was homeschooled until college, and I usually did all my school for any given week on Mondays and Tuesdays, then took the rest of the week off to do whatever I wanted to do. I did my schoolwork, and I did it fast and well, but that wasn’t the only way I wanted to learn.

I’ve always liked to go out and learn, to listen to people telling their stories and talking about the things they’ve learned and come to understand, and I love asking questions. I love coming into my own understanding of any given thing.

Give it a try. Especially if you’re a writer, it’ll come in handy for your craft.

:)

[love]

{Rani D.}

A geek, you say?

We’re past the hump in the week! The weekend is nearly here (as is my mum’s birthday, fyi), so it’s time to continue in our series on… well, me.

I know it may not seem like it to you, but it really is very strange for me to spend a whole month talking about myself like this. I usually take time to research and write these posts based on what I’ve been learning in the writing and publishing field, so this is very different. But, I hope that you’ve enjoyed, and I’m glad that we’re getting to know one another. :)

I am a geek. There, I said it.

If you’ve been watching me online at all, you probably already knew that. But if you’re new here, well, there it is.

Now, you might’ve already guessed that I’m a little geeky, by the fact that I write science-fiction and fantasy, but it really goes deeper than that, and it all boils down to my brother. See, he really liked sci-fi/fantasy, when we were growing up, and I really liked my big brother and wanted to be as much like him as I could… and then discovered that I really, really, liked the stuff too.

That’s how it was born.

I grew up on Star Wars, Stargate, Jurassic Park, and dozens of other shows and movies that showcased this geekery, and it only got worse as I got older. I started watching Star Trek in college, found myself primarily focusing on these genres in my writing, and even delved a bit into gaming before deciding that I had to give it up in favor of getting my work done.

I like my sci-fi.

I just do. It’s been at my core since I was a little girl watching Star Wars with my brother. It was one of the ways that I bonded with him, one of my best friends, and I could never turn my back on that. Seriously. Never.

As for fantasy, well, that started a little differently.

It started with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie. The one that came out in the 2000’s.

My brother had a friend who made a bet that we couldn’t figure out Legolas’ name. In case you didn’t know, his name is actually only said twice in the whole film, and once is in Elvish. Well, I figured that out, won the bet, and never looked back.

That was actually the first that I’d ever heard of The Lord of the Rings, but it ended up being my gateway into the world of fantasy. From there, I started writing my first novel (which was sadly lost during a computer rebuild), and began my journey into the world of writing.

I love it. I love what I do, and I love that I primarily focus on the genres that have meant so much to me since I was a little girl.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[love]

{Rani D.}