Run For Your Lives, It's The Romance Genre!

Hmmmmmm, I feel another book review in the works. Not in this post, but definitely upcoming, and soon, because I have had my eyes opened today ladies and gentlemen. I read, for possibly the first time in my 30+ years if memory serves, a Romance novel......from start to finish. That's not too shocking I suppose because I do love to read and don't like to give up on any book I start without giving it what I deem a fair shot. The fact that I actually liked it is what shocks me beyond belief.

I generally don't go for all that wishy-washy romance stuff in my books. I mean, there's not even one action scene in the whole thing (the nerve!), so I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. I wasn't even sure I was going to read the whole thing. I got it on my Kindle in yet another of my "I'm broke and want to download tons of free books I've never read" moods. (I do that a lot since I don't sleep well.) I was even surprised that I chose that book as one, but hey, why not? There's nothing wrong with expanding our horizons once in a while, ya know?

So I get the book, along with five others (all of the rest in the Fantasy genre). Read three of them in a few hours because they're kind of short, then turn my eyes to the fourth and don't even get past the first page. Just not feelin' the vibe on that one right now, perhaps another day. Great, now I can't even put off reading the dreaded Romance novel anymore. I get like that sometimes, where I HAVE TO read new books rather than the old standby's, and since I don't have local access to my storage unit, all my paperbacks/hardcovers are not an option at the moment. I can hardly go to the library at 10 o'clock at night and browse for some books.

Here we go, might as well get it over with. I will say up front that when I read the blurb on Amazon.com it seemed not as "bodice ripping" as I would normally come across. I'm sure that's at least part of the reason why I snatched it up. I don't do those kinds of novels, period. There's something that repels me from reading about a helpless female being entranced by a man wearing a kilt, and sex scenes every five minutes (and no, I'm not talking Erotica here, these were Romance novels) with every euphemism for male and female genitalia that a writer can think of tossed into one paragraph. OK,  OK,  I know they're not all like that, but they're just not my thing. I try to keep an open mind when it comes to my reading, but we all have our likes and dislikes. To each their own and more power to you if like those kids of books. Read a few for me, won't ya? ;-)

As is turns out, Double Trouble written by Deborah Cooke, isn't all that bad. I rather enjoyed it to be honest. Now I crave to read more about these Coxwells. They are an intriguing bunch to be sure. Partly because they are so out of the league of my "norm", partly because of the narrator's voice. I'm not sure it's just one thing, it never is for me, but a lot of things all rolled in together that made me appreciate the book. Thankfully there are more books on the Coxwells, this actually being the second book in the series. Alas, I didn't have to read the first one to understand the second one.

That's another first for me. Not only have I skulked into a new genre, I've gone against every belief I have about reading a set of series books, I didn't read the first book first. For shame! I'll just cover my head while you throw things at me and quietly explain that 1) I didn't realize this was the second book until after I'd already downloaded it, and 2) it was made very clear to me that I didn't have to read the first book of the series before the story even started. Score points for the author on that one! I enjoyed reading a "series" book that I wasn't required to start somewhere else. Like I said, I'm expanding my horizons here people.

I'll get more in-depth on the book itself during my review, but this post is more to help me understand my shock factor. Seriously, what's happening to me as I grow older? I've never been interested in reading this genre before. Don't get me wrong, there is an element of romance in a lot of the books I've read in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, in the M/T/S genre, etc., but mostly it's about world crisis and saving someone or other, things of that nature. This is the first time I've ever stepped into the flowery world (or so I like to see it) of the Romance genre, willingly, and enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, wanted more of it. What the- ?!?! Thankfully this book was devoid of what I mostly think of the genre to be filled with and perhaps that went a long way in my feeling for the book/genre in general. As I've said, I've had my eyes opened today, but in a good way. Is it so wrong that I want to read a Romance novel that's not about some head-over-heels-in-love scenario? Where it's automatically love at first sight and these two people just HAVE to be together? That I want to read a book where, although there may not be physical fight scenes with vampires and were-creatures and witches or dragons, but actual real world problems that middle-class girls like me can perhaps relate to...on some level? Oh hey, look what I found. A book that has just that...

Here's the clincher for me. In my past (and admittedly limited) experience with the Romance genre, I've mostly read, as stated above, the tragic inconvenience that somebody couldn't be with who they wanted to be with, sprinkle in those euphemisms and all those "hot spots", and it's the same old thing over and over again for a few hundred pages. I can't even get past the first few chapters without wanting to rip my hair out. I understand that a lot of these kinds of books are character driven, (almost have to be really because what's the point in a Romance novel if there's no romance right?), and I love character driven stories. But give me some meat (no pun intended), give me something to sink my teeth into as it were. I want a reason why I should care that these people are struggling to be with their "soul mate" or whatever frilly term you want to put on your can't-live-without-you-other-half. (And by the way, I have one of those myself. He is the other half of my circle, and without him I fall over and don't roll properly. So, I'm not adverse to being wishy-washy all of the time. I'm quite sure in fact that I annoy him sometimes with my massive amounts of cheesiness  but I just can't seem to help myself around him.) Give me something to work with here, ya know? That's all I'm saying. That can be said for any genre though. We have to care about these people who's lives we are delving into, and we have to have a reason to care about them. You can't just tell me to and expect me to go, "OK, as you wish, no questions asked, I care immensely about why this poor woman/man can't be without the most wonderful man/woman on the planet."

Yeah right, like that's going to happen. Point being, I need some kind of substance to pull me in and something to hold me there. Much to my surprise, I have found it in the Romance genre. Perhaps it takes a special kind of author or book to do this for me. Perhaps I'm getting mushier as I get older. I'm not really sure. I'm inclined to explore this a little further though and see how it turns out. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll even start putting Romance novels on my bookshelf with those monsters and future technologies I covet so much. After all, anything is possible when it comes to love.

And yes, I really did just say that :-P

The Temple: Part One - Excerpt Of My Attempt At A Short Story

Please keep in mind that: a) this is only a small part of a short story, b) I don't self-edit well, c) nobody has critiqued or done a beta on the story, and d) I'm still attempting to work on my writing style/technique...which has many flaws. All that being said, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The breeze cooled the sweat on his body. Goosebumps popped out on his skin as a chill descended his spine. He was bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath and keep down his meager dinner. A twig snapped to his right.

"Great, here we go again," he moaned.

"Samuel, wait! I just want to talk to you for a minute," Edgar yelled.

Samuel was so tired of running. Seemed to him that's all he'd been doing for the past few years. Running from one thing or another. And now this. Betrayal by someone he'd known since they were babies. Best friends, training partners, practically brothers. How Edgar could have done this, Samuel still didn't understand. He had no intention of waiting around to find out though. He gathered his strength and pressed on towards his destination. The only salvation he had left to him.

As Edgar ran through the small group of trees and bushes at the edge of the forest, he saw Samuel run across the field toward the temple. He swore under his breath. He had to explain, but Samuel wouldn't give him the chance. It wasn't betrayal that he'd committed, but an act of kindness, a necessary evil. Obviously, Samuel didn't agree. And now he was headed for the one place he should have avoided at all costs.

"You will have to listen eventually. There's more to the story than what you know," Edgar sent out telepathically.

Samuel hesitated in his stride at the thought in his head, but only for a brief moment. It didn't matter what the murderous monster said anymore. He had to get to the Temple of Beor where he would be safe.

*********************************************************************************************

I will post more...eventually. Please feel free to leave any comments/critiques. And don't worry about hurting my feelings if you think it's horrible. I have tough skin and I welcome any and all criticism, particularly harsh criticism.

Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound) Review

Available on amazon.com

Hera, Queen of Gods (Book One of Goddess Unbound) by T.D. Thomas, published October 2012.

A wee bit o' history on how I found the book first. I was recently browsing the Kindle Store for a new Fantasy book to read when I came across Hera, Queen of Gods. At the time I downloaded it, it was free. Funds were low at the time, so what the heck, why not? Couldn't hurt to check it out right? Exactly! Didn't hurt one bit. Although it did sit on my Kindle for about a month before I read it as I'd downloaded some other free books at the time. I kept putting it off because it was the one that interested me most, and it was the longest one I'd "purchased" that day. Plus, I procrastinate reading books I'm really interested in sometimes, strange but true.

So here I am yesterday, early morning and can't sleep anymore. Not wanting to read any of the other books on my Kindle, I decided to dive right in and give it a try. I ended up reading the whole thing, couldn't go to sleep until I'd finished it last night. Perhaps it shouldn't have taken me that long to read as it's only a little over 500 pages, but I've been told before I'm a "slow reader"...whatever that means. Allow me now to attempt to review the book I enjoyed so much (forgive me if it's bad, this is the first book review I've ever done). Also, please forgive me if I sound all fanboyish (er fangirl, that is) about it, but there was much I liked about the book.

Here we have various gods and goddesses; Hera, Athena, Zeus, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes, descending from the Heavens into mortal teenage bodies so they may find the Fates and keep the balance between Order and Chaos intact. If you're not up on your Greek Mythology you may want to do a little reading on the subject beforehand, but that just depends. I don't recall everything on the subject from my long ago high school days, but I remembered enough to give me an idea of who each character is. (In truth, I don't think new readers will need to do the "research" as the author does a good job of giving us an idea of their personalities right off the bat.)

At first I was a little iffy about them using the bodies of teenagers, but the prologue gives good insight as to why it was written this way. Turns out it's not really all that bad as a concept and the story seems to flow well. It does have a tendency to take the reader back in time, if they're out of high school, and make them feel like they're right there roaming those halls again. Scary concept for those of us so long out of those times, but effective nonetheless.

Justin's character is probably my favorite after Athena. He's a mortal, but he's different than the others in some way Hera can't quite figure out...until later. I won't give anything away here, but I will say that I enjoyed watching his character develop and grow throughout the story. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed all the characters, even the bad ones, but some stuck out with me more than others did. Hermes was another that caught my attention quickly. Besides his love of mortals, his everlasting humor kept me giggling and cracking a smile, even when I wasn't expecting it.

I have spoken to a few other people that have read the book, as well as read some of the reviews on it, and one thing I would like to mention is the amount of fight scenes in it. This wasn't a problem for me. I love a good character driven novel, but I also like ones with action in them as well. This, I thought, was a good combination of both. While at some points there was more dialogue than I thought necessary, it didn't take me away from the scene so much that I was annoyed by it. I enjoyed reading about one struggle after another while the characters were attempting to accomplish their goal. I didn't see a problem with them having to fight all of the time. We are talking Fantasy here, filled with gods, goddesses, monsters, you name it. I expect there to be a lot of fighting in a piece of work like this.

All that being said, there is one problem I had with the book. There are some grammatical and spelling errors that did in fact jar me out of the moment when I felt like I was just getting into it. While these were few and far between, it was still enough sometimes to make me have to read back a sentence or two, or a word or two, to make sure I was understanding it right. This can be a big turn off for a lot of readers, but honestly I've seen misprints like this at times in novels on the best seller list, so I wasn't bothered by it so much to stop reading.

Overall, Hera, Queen of Gods, is a good read, and one that I now consider a favorite. There are struggles between right and wrong, good and evil, and so many "what if" situations to really make a reader think what it would be like to be in any of these character's shoes...particularly Hera and the other gods/goddesses. During my time reading it, I kept looking down at the progress bar on my Kindle screen and hoping I wasn't getting close to the end yet. I just wanted it to keep going. It wasn't too long (though I don't think I've ever considered any book I read too long) and it wasn't so short that I felt like much had been left out of the story that the reader should have been given. Hopefully Thomas will be coming out with more of the Goddess Unbound books soon because I would like nothing more than to read what happens after the ending of this book.

Check it out, maybe you'll like it too. Maybe you won't. We all know that as writers we can't please everyone, but this book certainly pleased me.

Random and Cluttered Thoughts

So much going on, so much to talk about, so much to do, and I can't keep my thoughts on one thing for too long. So today I've decided to randomize my blog post and see if some of this stuff just goes away. Hopefully it works.

First off, the February Blog Chain for Absolute Write this month is gonna be a tough one for me. The person going before us gets to pick our topic. This means I have two days to write about something completely random. Wha......... I don't do so well with short-term writing goals. Hence the nerves. Granted, I didn't HAVE to sign up for it, but I love doing the blog chain and it's fun to read what others write about our suggested topics. So, I WILL TRY!

I'm looking for suggestions for a Fantasy epic I haven't read yet. I suppose it doesn't have to be an epic, could be a stand alone book, a trilogy, whatever. But I prefer an epic. Those are my favorite. Nothing like being lost is someone else's world for over a week...or more if possible. I can only read the Lord of the Rings, Dark Tower series, and Shadowmarch series so many times back to back. It's time for something new.

Ugh, Anniversaries has been taken out of submissions and is strictly in revisions at the moment. I know I just said this in a recent post, but it needs repeating. I've been working on this novel for years now and it's beginning to become frustrating. I've put a lot of work into it. Perhaps it will have to sit for a while without me touching it or thinking about it. Though the not thinking about it part will be difficult, I shall do it!

I finally made a Twitter account today to link my blogs to. Yeah, go me! Hopefully it will give them a bit more exposure. Only time will tell.

Oh goodness, I was napping today (horrible, I know, but I couldn't help it) and some wank in the apartment complex was blaring his car radio right under my window. So what do I do in my cranky-first-waking-up stage? I go to the window and yell that people are trying to sleep. My man comes in the room shortly after laughing so hard that even though I was still a bit cranky, I couldn't help but smile. That's one of the only things I don't like about living here. I'm a country girl at heart, I dislike city living. And I dislike music when I'm trying to sleep even more. I get it from my mama that I just wanna get up and dance when I hear music. Always have, always will. Real talk, it wakes me up from a dead sleep every time. Something that I'm sure annoys my significant other because we have different sleep schedules (for the most part) and he likes to listen to music when he's bored. I try not to let it bother me, but it's like a television being too loud in the background when I'm trying to read. It can be partly tuned out, but not completely.

Oh, I've come to a bad place in The Dark Hand. Bad as in meaning I can't seem to write anything more on it and nothing much has happened yet (not even 9,000 words on it to this point). I was hoping it wasn't going to be yet another of those stories that I start to write and it fizzles before I get even a quarter of the way through it. That's what it's looking to be though. I have more ideas in my head, in my notebook, on my computer, and on my phone, but I was more excited about this one than the others. What to do, what to do??

I need to find better, more effective ways to promote my blogs. I know essentially they are the same thing as I post the same on both of them. And maybe that's where part of the problem is, that they're far too much alike. They are on two different blogging networks so I thought at least one of them would have more exposure. But I think I have something like three followers (which I am thoroughly grateful for) on one of them, and when I look at the stats for both, they are horrible. Well, I'll give it more time and try to get more people interested in them, and we'll see what happens.

And lastly, I never thought I'd say this, but I love Texas winters. I'm originally from Michigan so the move down here was a bit of a shock when it happened this past August. My goodness was it hot, even then. I know the temps then were nothing compared to what it's going to be like when summer is in full swing and thankfully we have central air and swimming pools in the apartment complex. Being in Texas is such a huge change for me. Mainly being away from my mom, older brother, sister (sister-in-law technically but that's a fine distinction I don't pay attention to), my nephews, and of course all my fabulous friends and their amazing kids. I miss everyone a lot some days. That being said, I couldn't be happier with the choice we made to come and live here.

There ends my random and cluttered thoughts. Incidentally it did help to clear my head a little bit so that's good. Hopefully I haven't bored you so much you've fallen asleep mid-post.

Why Do Writers Put Themselves Through Hell?

I'm sitting here thinking about all the rejections I've received for my M/T/S novel and wondering when it's ever going to be ready. Maybe it won't be. Perhaps that particular book just isn't a good idea. But it got me thinking about the hell we writers go through when we spend our time writing something, then revising it, then sending it off to beta readers, then revising again, then finally the hell of query and submission. Sometimes this can be the span of only a few months, sometimes years.

Oy vey, why do we do these things to ourselves? Particularly when we know how difficult it can be to have a book published. The answer is simple, because we do what we love and we love what we do. That does not, however, diminish the amount of hell we put ourselves through to try and get our work out there to the general public.

There are some authors that are lucky and have their books published, and when we read them, we sit there scratching our heads and saying, "I could have done a much better job than that." Then there are authors that are genuinely talented at what they do and get published in a shorter time than even they expected. Of course there are also those that go through the self-publishing route, which with the technology we have these days is a lot easier to do than it ever was in the past. I sometimes feel for these people because even one bad review of their book could send it from high sales down to almost nothing. But I suppose that is true for any book that's published, regardless of how it came about.

I had the (not so) fabulous idea of continuing to revise my M/T/S novel and continue with submissions at the same time. Turned out not to be the best choice I ever made. Live and learn. So, now that one is just in revisions at the moment and I'm doing the best I can to take the massive amounts of advice I've been given by the many critiques.

I've spoken to writers that told me stories to give me nightmares about their query and submission efforts. Sometimes it's enough to make me consider giving it all up. Who wouldn't have that feeling once in a while though? Considering all we do for the small chance that someone else will one day read and enjoy our work, it doesn't always seem worth it in the long run.

Ah, but here's the clincher. We take pride in what we do, even when we know we've written junk. Because it's something we love. We dislike the pain and trouble at times, but at the same time we love it. There's no better feeling than realizing you've accomplished your goal, or at least part of it, by finishing your novel or short story or whatever it is you're writing. Hell, some days I'm delighted I've managed to write a coherent and semi-decent blog post and give myself a pat on the back for it.

If you're committed enough to put in the effort from beginning to end, and to learn from other people where your work needs improvement, then the hell you put yourself through to get to the end is definitely worth it.

Finding The Time

Just as the title says, it's sometimes hard to find the time to write. Whether it's a blog post or my current WIP, it's such a pain for me some days. I've gotten the advice (multiple times) to set aside a time every day to write. Fifteen minutes, an hour, three hours, it doesn't matter what the limit. For some reason I can't bring myself to stick to this when I try.

I'm a fairly organized person so I like to have a schedule throughout the day to keep me on top of things. For the most part it works. I stick to my list, I manage to complete my tasks. EXCEPT when it comes to my writing.

Why is that? I'm not completely sure, but I think at present my biggest problem is that I'm just not into my current book the way I was when I started it a few weeks ago.

Oh no, here we go again. Unfortunately, that happens to me a lot. I try to stick with it, but it's just not flowing for me. Ok, time to put it away. Maybe only for a little while, maybe forever. Who knows?

I think a lot of writers run into this problem, though some don't like to admit it. It's not about dedication to what you want to achieve in life. It's more about feeling like this...Why would anyone else be interested in my story when I can't even be interested in it?

Writing prompts and exercises can sometimes help get me back in the groove, but not always. Sometimes we just need a little break. But taking a break isn't always a good thing. Let's say you walk away from your WIP because you're just not feeling it. It's good to get some distance sometimes. What happens when you come back to it and realize you don't really want to write this particular story anymore? No big deal because there's always another idea out there waiting for you to put your twist and own personal flavor on it.

Maybe the breaks really are a good thing. Maybe they tell you that no matter how good you thought the story was when you started out, it wasn't all that great really. Maybe there's another one you realized you'd like to tell more. Or maybe you just realize that writing isn't going to be your calling in life.

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I refuse to believe it. Because even if I don't create a work that perhaps someone else will one day love, I know I'm doing something that I love. So what if I'm never published. Pfft, who needs that anyway. The way I see it, if it makes me happy, I'm going to do it. Regardless of whether or not I finish a book, I will continue to write until I can't do it anymore.

It's what makes me happy, so why not?!?!

So, here's my suggestion. If you can't find the time to open up your computer file and write every day, or week, or whatever, at least do yourself a favor and jot your ideas down on the fly. In a notebook, on your phone, wherever is convenient for you to do so. Don't let them slip away into the abyss, because some day you may just end up regretting it.

Where Did My Words Go?

Sad fact: Sometimes articulating the thoughts in my head is easier said than done. I know what I mean to say, but when I try to put them down on paper, or computer, or in everyday conversation, they don't come out as well as I'd hoped.

Take for instance some of my blog posts. I have this idea in my head, but by the time I've published it, it's not really what I initially expected it to be. There's lots of words to be sure. Are they putting the message I want to convey out there? Hardly. Or at least it's not happening quite the way I wanted it to...or thought it would. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. But it sometimes feels like I start out with a specific intention and end up making the post something else.

This can also extend to my writing at times. Generally I have the feeling that the book is writing itself through me and I don't run into this problem (except for when it comes to "show vs. tell"). It's when I try to force the writing that I bump into the problem of being able to get my descriptions, dialogue, etc. across. What to do then? Stop...just stop. Go on to something else. Maybe another writing project, maybe go read for a little while. Just step away from it and come back to it when my fingers aren't trying to override the voices of my characters screaming in my head.

I have one book that I haven't touched in over a year because it no longer feels like it's being written through me. I think I've given that one up as a bad job, but you never know. I may come back to it in the future.

Another problem: You ever get this story idea that you think just totally kicks ass, get partway through it, then realize you just don't have anything else? That's happened to me countless times. I think there's something around twenty or so books on my computer and/or USB that I don't think I'll ever touch again. Regardless of how good I thought the story was when I started out, it turned to nothing more than just a few ideas or specific pieces of dialogue. You can't make a novel out of something if you can't really see where it's going...or where it's been. I can't anyway, maybe someone else can.

I have begun a few stories of mine from just bits and pieces of dialogue, or a particular scene that I couldn't get out my head, and in these cases most have worked out well and become finished works........but not all of them. I think the main reason it doesn't work out so well is because in some of these I am not as attached to my MC as I am with others. I like the idea of their story, but I can't bring myself to really delve into it the way I think a writer should. If I can't go there, what makes me think anyone will be able to?

There are a lot of writers out there who will agree with me and a lot that won't. Everyone has their own style and methods when they are trying to compose a novel. For this girl at least, one thing is certain...if I have to force it, I must walk away from it. At least for a little while.

The Number 13

January 2013 Blog Chain

The Number 13

Here we go in 2013, starting the Blog Chain from Absolute Write off with a bang! As you will see some of those participating in this month's Blog Chain have written stories that revolve around the number 13, but I can't do that. As I said before, and will undoubtedly say again, I don't do well with short stories in a short amount of time. I ramble far too much for any coherence in that regard and nothing I could produce on the subject would even constitute a short story. So instead, I give you what I can do...

The number 13 doesn't hold much significance for me really. It happens to be half of what my birth date is, and the birthday of one of my favorite cousins, but not much else comes to mind when I think of 13...other than the fact that it creeps me out. The number is just wrong somehow. So let us explore this mystery. After some time thinking about it and doing a little work on my phone browser, this is what I have for you to enjoy. (And yes, I did go to the almighty Google gods for some of my inspiration on this one, forgive me.)

• I'm thinking first off, for no reason I can explain, what it would be like to have 13 kids. That's a lot of mouths to feed!
• Why aren't there 13 months in a year and only 12?
• Why don't humans have 13 fingers and toes instead of 10?
• Why had I never heard of Triskaidekaphobia (hope I spelled that right) until this month's prompt came up? (I honestly didn't know people had an actual fear of the number 13 and the fear was given a clinical name.) This caused me to do a little research on the subject because I find tidbits like this interesting. Apparently some believe the number is bad luck (not that I disagree on that point) and avoid anything to do with the number 13 whenever possible. Interesting. Even some buildings and larger hotels will go out of their way to not label the 13th floor as such. Even more interesting.
• Ok here's an obvious one I should have thought of right away, Friday the 13th. Perhaps, some will say, the unluckiest day of all.
• In some countries 13 is a lucky number.
• People have a 13 tattooed on themselves to represent good luck.
• 13 stripes on the American flag (another one I should have thought of right away).
• Apollo 13 of course, who could forget that?
• If memory serves, 13 is when Jewish boys have their Bar Mitzvah.
• The 2001 version of Thirteen Ghosts (didn't know there was one made in 1960, thank you Google).
• In the span of 100 years we will have 13 full moons (for some reason this also creeps me out).
• The number of Cylon models in Battlestar Galactica......oh wait, there's only 12. 

That's just my little list of interesting bits I've found on the number 13. I did enjoy some of the information I found when looking around to see how people treat the number 13 in regards to good/bad luck. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like the number 13......even though I can't truly explain my reason other than the one given above, it's just wrong somehow. However, I don't go out of my way on Friday the 13th to avoid a black cat that might possibly cross my path, or walking under ladders, or anything like that. I don't think bad things happen on that day in particular just because of the date, bad things happen every day. That's just my opinion. I'm sure bad things occur for some folks on those days and it feels like the worst omen in the world though.

There are a lot of interesting facts about the number 13, these are merely the ones I enjoyed the most, and the ones I was most curious about. On that note, happy 2013 everyone and may it be a good one for you.

EDIT: 1/22/2013 updated participant links Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
SRHowen - http://srhowen1.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
areteus - http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
angyl78 - http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Amanda R. - http://www.twoamericansinchina.com/ (link to post)
randi.lee - http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
ConnieBDowell - http://bookechoes.com/ (link to post)
writingismypassion - http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Araevno - http://www.simonpclark.com/ (link to post)
Kewii - http://kellyneeson.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
katci13 - http://www.krystalsquared.net/ (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes - http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)

Beware, The Thesaurus Has Taken Over!

One of my biggest pet peeves when I read is feeling like the author has supplanted a dictionary or thesaurus into their book. I don't mind vivid description, please don't take my meaning here wrong, but I do mind when I read something that makes me feel like Webster wrote half the book.

I don't mean I need something "dumbed down" for me. I'm a fairly intelligent person. I just don't like the feeling sometimes that some people write using words they wouldn't normally use in normal conversation.

There are some exceptions to this. If an author is writing a genius as their character I expect it. You can usually tell if an author sat there writing his/her book with a dictionary and/or thesaurus open next to them. It has a tendency to turn off my enjoyment of the book fairly early on. And it feels, to me anyway, as if they're trying to sound smarter. I'm not sure if that's rude or not, but it's generally the perception I have. I know some people in the world talk like that, but not the majority of us...

In my opinion anyway.........

Disappointment in Reading

We write because we love it. Right? Right! So why do some books feel like zero love was put into them? I've only come across a few books like this in my life, but they were major disappointments to me. They seemed to read like the authors rushed through them just to meet a publication deadline. It felt like their hearts and minds weren't in the story they were trying to tell.

Oh, tears of sorrow and rage. How could I possibly put a book down thinking it had no heart, no life of it's own? That's truly how I feel about books. They are a world unto themselves. I want to feel like I'm a part of it, warm in it's light and cold in it's dark.

Some books, I feel, are incapable of creating that complete immersion for me. Though they are few and far in between. But when it does happen, I at least try to figure out why I feel that way. Sometimes it has to do with technique, character depth (or lack thereof), plot issues... The list goes on and on. I've even found this to be true for authors I've read most of my life. When I put my finger on it, I try to learn from it.

Not everyone has the same tastes though. We can always chalk it up to this; it's only my opinion and I'm sure others would disagree with me. But we could also say...it happens. Nobody is perfect and not everything is going to please everybody.

I only hope that if by some miracle I am published sometime in the future, nobody gets that feeling from my book..........

Going Back Again and Again.....and Again...

What is it about some books, or series of books, that makes us want to go back to them time and again? I don't think it's any one factor really, there are many reason and they vary from person to person. But while I couldn't sleep last night I was thinking about this...right before I picked up my Kindle to read The Gunslinger for (I kid you not) the hundredth time or so. I decided to bore everyone with my reasons for reading some books over and over and over to the point where I know some parts of them practically by heart.

First off let's start with The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Some of you may think, typical she likes King. I didn't read any of the DT series until I was in my twenties. (The seven book series also happens to be the first books I bought for my Kindle.) I committed the crime of reading Wizard in Glass before I read the first three. Only because the tiny library I had access to didn't have the previous books on the shelves, I had to wait, and I was impatient for a new book to read. What the heck, why not?

I loved it. Being able to read the foreword to have a small idea of what came before was helpful. Within the next few days the first three came in and I made sure they had the others on the shelf and grabbed them all. So, I started from the beginning and even read the fourth again. By the time I finished all seven books I knew I would come back to them again. Right off the bat Jake was my favorite character. Loved it when he came back in The Waste Lands. Cried in The Dark Tower. Eddie is a trip, Susannah is bad ass in all her personalities, and of course there's Roland.....and we must NOT forget Oy! Needless to say they all hold my attention in one way or another. Some of my favorite parts have to do with Roland's memories/stories that include Cuthbert and Sheemie. There are a few things here and there that I dislike about the individual books, but not many. They keep me coming back because, regardless of the fact that I know how it all turns out, I want to see it happening all over again. There are so many lines that make me smile, giggle, even have goosebumps (the scene in Wolves of the Calla in the woods with Roland and Jake does this every time), when I read them. I love how it ends. King got a lot of grief from his readers for the way he ended the series, but I thought it was the best possible solution. (On a side note I do read many of his books more than once as I own at least twenty outside DT, but these are my favorites.) I don't think I will ever stop reading this series.

On to the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. There's Shadowmarch, Shadowplay, Shadowrise, and Shadowheart (the last two should have been only one but we all know how these things go sometimes). Love this series! I grabbed the first two from the library without even bothering to check if there was another one coming, the covers alone made me want to read them. So I take them home and start reading about Barrick and Briony Eddon. I was sucked in from the beginning. Finally, after a torturous wait, the last two came out and I was able to finish them.....and not long after they were the second set of books I bought for it. I thought then, and sometimes still think, that Briony seems a little too full of herself at times, particularly when she's thinking about Vansen. But I still adore her. Which leads me to one of my favorite people in this series and I can't even tell you why. Vansen, there's just something about him that I'm drawn to. Barrick is my absolute favorite of the whole bunch. I look forward to reading about his parts of the books more than any others. Then there's also Shaso, Qinnitan, all the Funderlings, Skurn, Yassamez, Ynnir, Sanasu, all the Rooftoppers, all the various Qar.....and let's not forget the countless Gods and Goddesses in the story (I'm a sucker for those kinds of tales). So many others. The story intrigues me, the characters make me want to step into their shoes and go through these experiences. Even the bad ones.
EDIT: I forgot to mention his Otherland series, as well as Memory, Sarrow, and Thorn series. Tad Williams is definitely in my top five favorites.

Anne Rice: The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches. Enough said. I am partial to the witch stories, but still love the vamp stories as well. Granted, I don't like the way Lestat's character evolved in VC but, it is what it is. I also own and reread 95% of John Grisham's books. About fifteen or so of Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas is epic) grace my shelves. I adore James Patterson and have many of his books on my shelves and my Kindle as well. I don't think there's one book I own that I won't go back to at some point in my life. I will never stop buying paperbacks, no matter how much I like my ereader. There's nothing like the feel of a book in your hand.

All in all, for me it's a combination of the story lines and the people involved, that's what keeps me coming back again and again. Some people prefer plot over character, or vice versa. I want both. I do enjoy more character driven stories without a ton of action. Just depends on the author, writing technique, many things really. When I delve into these worlds, it can feel like I really know these people, that I'm walking by their sides. To me, that's the best part of a good book. It's what makes me keep going back again and again.....and again...

A Little Bit 'O History

I'm always curious about how other people began their career, or attempted career, in writing. Mine isn't all that interesting to anyone but myself...but I suppose that would be true for most people. For as far back as I can remember I've always loved reading. I don't remember when exactly it happened, my youth is foggy these days, but I do remember after reading The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time I realized I wanted to write something that, maybe, other people would enjoy.

And so it began. I don't think I put much effort into writing until I was a freshman in High School. I submitted a story for a school contest, only got an "Honorable Mention", but hey, it was something. Shortly after I began to read even more diligently as I realized my writing definitely needed some work.

Fast forward to my mid-twenties (because many factors caused me to step away from the dream of writing), and there I am sitting in my favorite chair one day and this idea for a story just kept running through my head and refused to be silenced. (Keep in mind that while I absolutely LOVE the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, I read pretty much anything I can get my hands on...even if it's horrible.) So my first attempt at writing was in the Mystery/Thriller/Suspense genre. Anniversaries was born. It took me months to write it, long hand mind you, but I was so excited the whole time I couldn't stop. We're talking two 5-subject notebooks filled with story, backstory, notes, etc. Finally I get a pc and transfer it all to the computer. I can't explain to you the level of joy I had when I was doing that.

About a year later I decided to submit queries and see if I could get it published. No dice, obviously. I found out a lot of information in that time, and it really opened my eyes to how difficult it can be to have a book published. Then one day I get an answer saying that someone wants to publish my work. Ho-ly crap, NO WAY! After I did a little research I found out that it was possibly the worst way to have your work published and knew it wasn't going to happen.

Enter the fabulous web site, Absolute Write and their outstanding forum. Truly, anyone wishing to be an author should at the very least browse this site for the mass amounts of information they have there. What I found when I went there was a ton of writers that have been published, some that haven't, but from my experience all were willing to help fledglings on their way. Fantastic if you ask me. I browsed and I studied and I tried to make myself a better writer based on advice from the people there. Finally, I got up the nerve to submit some of my first book for critique. For the record, regardless of how good I thought my book was, I knew it needed work and I was prepared for some really nasty comments, suggestions, etc. Not all were nasty, but all were truthful. I needed to work on my technique, more than I realized actually. (I had, and still have, a problem with "show don't tell" and it was very evident from my first attempt at writing.) Taking all the advice I was given, I went back to Anniversaries and revamped my story.

After a while I couldn't do it anymore, it just wasn't working. So I put it away and started working on the sequel to that book...but that wasn't working for me either. Oh no, what now? Ok, let's look at other genres I've enjoyed reading all my life because maybe M/T/S just isn't for me. Turns out that was THE BEST idea I've ever had. Sci-Fi/Fantasy, that's my thing. Love to read about, love to write about it, and found out that I enjoyed this genre more than M/T/S. Awesome!

A few months down the road I have three or four different works going at once and am having the best time at it. Still reading up on other writers and helpful information. Then I had to take a break for a while, from some things anyway, and focus on other aspects of life. Real life sucks sometimes, these things happen. In that time I continued writing a little, jotting ideas down, bits of dialogue, anything to keep the dream alive.

And here I am back at it again. This time with a better idea of what I need to do and how I need to do it, but by no means thinking that I don't need to learn more. I know I do, we always have room to learn I think. Anniversaries is once again in revisions, but still being submitted to publishers. But my Sci-Fi/Fantasy work is  what I enjoy the most. I don't know the number of stories I have finished or are in the works for this genre at this time, but I now only allow myself to work on one or two at a time so as not to burn myself out.

Maybe one day I will be able to walk into a bookstore or library and see my name on the shelves, maybe not. Either way I don't care really. I do what I love and I love what I do. It's as simple as that.

And Away We Go!

So here's my first attempt at blogging...from my phone. One thing is for sure, typing with one finger drastically reduces my rambling.

Just a quick update on my writing activity as of late:

The Occult Collection is currently in edits. Oh yeah! But on the downside, my laptop screen decided to black out on me so it's technically on hold. Probably a good thing to step away from it for a little while.

Rework on Anniversaries (the first book I wrote, it's not even a Fantasy. For shame!) is still ongoing. Again, on hold due to electronic malfunctions. Still submitting that one to publishers. No dice but I shall not give up!!

Current WIP, The Dark Hand (a huge thanks to Chad for that title) is at just over 4,000 words out of an approximate 80,000...though that could change. Slow going with pen & paper but I've been transferring to my USB when I can get access to a comp.

Remind me again why I didn't backup my other works on a USB?!?!

So...that's it for now. Thrilling, isn't it?