Rory's Story Cubes - Roll Your Imagination

I got a fun gift in my stocking last Christmas.  Well, I thought it was fun but then again, I am a dorky writer.  The gift was, "Rory's Story Cubes" with the tag line of, "Let Your Imagination Roll Wild".  I was so excited, I wanted to use them RIGHT away, but my husband pushed me back into my chair and said, "Not now honey, no one else wants to play."

I poured over the short list of directions:
1) Roll cubes
2) Pick an image that will be your starting point
3) Begin with "Once upon a time..." make up a story that somehow links all 9 cubes.

You can also use a theme first (my summer vacation, worst trip ever) roll the dice and then make up your story.  You can play in a group, the possibilities are endless!

I like using them for my 15 minute-a-day writing prompt.  Roll 'em and write for 15 minutes, linking the 9 items together. 

The pictures are fairly generic.  As you can see - there are things like a bridge over water, a key, an apple, and I am not really sure what that is behind the little kid (bottom left).  You could the sleeping face as just that, asleep.  Or, it could be snoring or napping etc.  The apple could be fruit, or a poison apple, see what I mean.

Have you used these cubes?  Or do you have another writing prompt tool?  I would love to hear about it.

Book Review – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I haven't actually finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins yet. But, I am so enthralled by the story; I can barely bring myself to put the book down. Yes, the book is geared toward young adults, but so is the Twilight series. And yes this book is a bit below my reading level. This book came highly recommended to me by a fellow young adult author, her words to me, "You must read The Hunger Games! Put that at the top of your list to read." Yeah, yeah I thought to myself, I have about 50 books at the top of my list, and I don't really like fantasy/science fiction. So instead I read Twilight, Speak, Burning Up and Wrinkle in Time, all excellent books in their own right.

I don't want to give the plot away for The Hunger Games, but I will tell you that it is the story of a sixteen year-old girl, Katniss. The setting takes place in the future, North America has been divided into twelve districts, and Katniss is from the lowest of all the districts, District Twelve. The Hunger Games take place every year. It's a televised "game" where 24 contestants (2 from each district) fight to the death. It's not just a fight where they throw them into a ring and let them go at it. You will have to read for yourself, why Katniss is such a special 16 year old.

I also enjoy Suzanne Collins writing style. When I read science fiction/fantasy books, I usually get lost. Too many made up names and places, too many facts to keep track of. Suzanne has made me feel like I am in the story with Katniss. I don't have to go back 50 pages to figure out what's going on (which I hate doing). Her style is simple, but she doesn't dumb down the reader – which I love!