Month: October 2007

Clairvoyants, Anyone?

I haven’t done much reading in the last week. In fact, for me, two books is quite sad. I read Keri Arthur’s Kissing Sin, which is the second book in the series. I actually like the main character, Riley, and her brother Rhoan quite a bit. She’s a pretty independent woman, which is always a good thing, in my opinion. A lot of the mystery from the first book , Full Moon Rising, is carried over, and some of the questions actually get answered. There are a lot of strong secondary characters, all sorts of strange critters, along with plenty of murder and mayhem. My only real problem with the book was some of the more…physical aspects, which seemed to be thrown in without regard to plot relativity. I understand that these werewolves are very sexual creatures, I just found it odd that Riley would be that fixated on sex (and with a stranger, at that), while she was running for her life. Maybe it’s just me. It’s certainly a lot tamer than anything Laurell K. Hamilton writes.

I also read Touch the Dark, by Karen Chance. I really liked this book a lot! The MC, Cassie, is a clairvoyant running from her old vampire master. The vampire senate turns up to help her, but she thinks they have ulterior motives. And she’s right. Cassie’s pretty funny at times, and her sidekick, a ghost named Billy Joe, is a trip. I like most of the vampire characters, and there’s even a war mage. All in all, a pretty cool book. I like the worldbuilding. I’m currently reading the sequel, Claimed by Shadow. It’s great, too, and I’m determined to finish it before NaNo starts!

Slightly off topic, but does anyone else watch Moonlight? I like this show. Surprisingly. I usually have issues with vampire movies/TV shows, but I enjoy this one a lot. It helps that the MC, Mick, is pretty attractive, but leaving that out, I think they do a pretty good job. Not terribly original, I guess, but still entertaining. And I hardly ever watch TV! Normally, all I watch is Lost (which of course, isn’t back on until FEBRUARY!). Now I’ve also added Moonlight and The Big Bang Theory, which completely cracks me up. Last night I laughed so hard I almost fell on the floor. (The line about Home habilus discovering his opposable thumbs almost did me in.)

One last thought. I’m going to try to post my NaNo progress here every day. My goal is to at least get my daily word count and total word count posted, along with any other thoughts. Good luck to any of you doing NaNo!

And the Week Goes On…

What have I been doing this week, you ask? Okay, maybe you didn’t ask, but I’m sure you were wondering. You were wondering, right? Right. Okay. Well, so what I did this week…

I only wrote about 1500 words in the 2YN story. Not what I wanted, but more than the week before. I’ve decided not to worry so much about not writing in this story right now. I’ve got a lot going on in my personal life that’s making it rather difficult to write (Have you ever tried to work on the computer with insanely excruciating sharp, shooting pains in your neck? Not an easy task, let me tell you. Not to mention the potential for an out-of-state move.). So, I’m just not worrying about it. I will be attempting to get my word count this weekend, though, since it’s the last week before NaNo madness ensues.

And speaking of NaNo madness, I have all but two phases of my outline done! Yay! Of course, I have to go back and flesh out a couple of the phases (more like 5 or 6), to make sure I have all the necessary details included. At first, I was a little sketchy on some of the important things, but I think I have it figured out now. I’ve decided that it’s Hades who is trying to overthrow Poseidon. And I’ve always like Hades as a character (Admittedly, most of that liking is based on the cartoon Hercules. But still.) So, now that I’ve figured that out, I get to go back and add the really cool details in (like the Underworld scenes). I’m planning on finishing all that up tonight. Oh, and I stocked up on caffeine and chocolate: three kinds of chocolate, two flavors of coffee, two different flavors of energy drinks, and two more flavors of tea (in addition to the five or so I already have). I am ready!

Also on the slate for this weekend: New chapter in the zombie story (needs to be done tonight or early tomorrow morning), do a crit for one of my writing group, do the next assignment for the 2YN story, word count for 2YN story, print out the “new” chapters for Witches, make an outline for the new version of Witches, make an editing plan for Witches, and get the little things ready for NaNo (spreadsheet, disk). And that’s all!

Also posted in: A Figment of My Imagination.

More of the Paranormal

I haven’t had quite as much time to read this week as I’d like. Still, I did get a little bit of reading done, most of it quite enjoyable.

I finished reading the Kitty books by Carrie Vaughn, Kitty Goes to Washington and Kitty Takes a Holiday. I enjoyed both of these way more than the first book in the series. Kitty developed into a character I actually liked and cared about. Some of the developments in the third book caught me off-guard. (Ben? Didn’t see that one coming.) Plus, there were some pretty cool additions to the world. I like the skinwalkers concept a lot.

I also read Something Wicked by Catherine Mulvany. I don’t normally read a lot of things that are marketed as romance, even paranormal romance. Not that I have anything against romances. I started reading them at a young age, and I’ve read a ton of them. There are some very talented authors out there writing romance, and I still enjoy a good one every now and then. That said, I don’t pick up a romance unless it has another strong element to it (mystery, historical period or place I’m interested in, etc.). In addition to loving the title, Something Wicked, I liked the premise behind it as well. A vampire searching for a spring of miracles? Interesting. A vampire biker gang with a vendetta against said vampire? Even better. I liked the MCs in this book, and the history/flashbacks as well. Regan is a strong female character, which of course is always a good thing. And Nash was suitably conflicted and noble. This is actually the first book by Mulvany I’ve read, but I think I’ll be picking up more of hers in the future.

Non-Progress

Confession time: I haven’t been very productive this week. Not at all. I haven’t done any work on the 2YN story. None. Shadows is in limbo right now. Witches, well, I hope to do a little something with it this weekend.

The Atlantis story is the only thing I’ve worked on at all this week. I’ve done a little bit of outlining. Then I hit a wall, with no motivation or reason for my character to be doing what she was doing. But then I had an idea that would solve the whole issue. So now I just have to do some more research. Anyone know which god would be jealous of Poseidon?

Oh, I did do a tiny bit of work on the zombie story. I fixed a couple of things in my chapter. We decided that I needed another chapter to show how nasty one of the males in my original chapter is, so I’ll be working on that tonight.

And that’s all I’ve done this week. Sad, really. I think I needed a mental break.

Also posted to: A Figment of My Imagination.

A Site to Remember

There are a lot of resources available on the internet to writers. Everything from dictionaries to blogs. One of the best websites I’ve seen for writers is Forward Motion. I’ve been a member there for about three years, although the first year or so I spent basically no time there. Then a friend of mine, Tamara Siler Jones (If you haven’t read her books, you should! She writes forensic murder mysteries in a fantasy setting, and she’s wonderful. You should check out her first book, Ghosts in the Snow.), suggested I look for a crit group on Forward Motion. I was fortunate enough to get accepted to a group, and in the two years I’ve been a member of the group, I’ve learned a tremendous amount. Seriously. I owe that group a huge thank you for how much they’ve helped me grow as a writer.

Forward Motion has pretty much everything you can imagine that a writer might need. Chats (Not that I’ve ever joined one. Chatting isn’t really my thing.) There are message boards for every genre you can imagine, and for anything else you want. Grammar questions. Research topics. A place to rant. A board for keeping track of agent searches. There are dares to do (outlining, word counts). Marathons to compete in. You can find worldbuilding help. Market reports. Even discussions on writing techniques. (And now I feel like I’m trying to sell real estate. See the lovely view from this window…)

Seriously, though, if you’re looking for a great, supportive community for writers, Forward Motion is a place you should check out. Everyone I’ve met there is friendly and helpful, and if they don’t know the answer to something, they can usually point you in the right direction.

Shopaholic Vampires and the Reaper

I’ve actually had some time to read this week. I read some things I really liked, too, which is always a good thing. Hmm… Where to start?

I read Kimberly Raye’s Dead End Dating and Dead and Dateless. They were both pretty funny. I like Lil, the main character. She’s a trip. I’m not much on shopping or name brands, myself, but it’s such a life-or-death matter to her that it’s hysterical. Sometimes she’s shallow, and she makes no apologies for it. And her family! Whew. Makes me tired just thinking about it. I loved that her mother is just horrified her brother is getting serious with a human woman. And her dad’s feud with the werewolf next door is a hoot. And the bounty hunter, Ty, well, he’s a great character.

I’ve also read Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. I liked it, although I really didn’t care for Carl and Meg. Not a bit. Plus, the end was sad! Good character growth, though. Kitty changes a lot over the course of the book, and I liked that.

The best thing I read this week was The Bone Garden, by Tess Gerritsen. I’m a big fan of her work, and I really enjoyed this one. I likedthe two-stories-in-one aspect of the book, although I was really entranced with Rose and Norris’s story (set in the 1800s). It was appropriately bloody, and kept me guessing as to who the killer was (always a good thing). This one made me cry, though. But I do highly recommend it. Gerritsen is always a pleasure, and this one was no exception.

TGIF!

Ah! Thank God it’s Friday! How do five days feel so looooonnnggg? I don’t know, but I swear this week lasted an eternity. It’s been a good week, though. Let’s see, what have I accomplished?

Got the word count on the 2YN story. I met an unexpected character as well, who has a beautiful house. I really had no idea she was going to show up, and she just sort of popped up, waving at me and saying “Hello, there! I’m over here!” I love it when characters do that. They just spring to life on the page, fully formed and ready for action. She’s great, too.

I finished this round of edits on Through Shadowed Stone. I got all the edits keyed in (Yay!). And I’m about to email it to one of my crit group partners who agreed to read it (Thank you, Myriddin!) It will be good to get an unbiased opinion of it. Even if it’s a negative opinion. I’m really okay with that.

I haven’t started writing the zombie story yet. Maybe tonight. If not, definitely tomorrow, since I have to have the first chapter done for our Sunday meeting. I did do a little brainstorming last night, on paper, so I think I’ve got a good grip on what needs to happen. I just haven’t quite had the time.

I also started outlining my NaNo story. I actually have three phases fully outlined, and a basic idea of the next two. After that, your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully, it will all come to me. At least, that’s the plan. I’ve found that thinking about the story right before I fall asleep helps a lot. I usually wake up with whatever problem I’m wrestling with resolved to some extent.

And that’s about it.

Duology

I’ve never written with another person before. See, my best friend came up with this great idea for the two of us to write together. Sort of The Stand, with zombies. (Okay, so I guess it’s kind of a cross between The Stand and Cell. Go figure.) Although we’ve just started on the project, I can tell it’s going to be a learning experience for both of us.

First obstacle: She hasn’t done much writing in years (but she has the most wonderful daughter in the world, so I know why she hasn’t had much time or energy for it). Me, on the other hand, I’ve been writing all along. Much more regularly over the last 2 ½ years. I know I’ve learned a lot, and that’s made my writing stronger than it was (thank God). So she has to get back in the habit of writing, and I get to add another story to my juggling act (I love to multi-task).

Second obstacle: Staying away from familiar territory. Which means doing away with as many as possible of the similarities to The Stand (Yes, we’ve both read it and loved it. Multiple times.) I think we’re overcoming that. No old ladies in rocking chairs having visions from God, and no Walking Dude in boots has appeared yet. Which is a really good thing, because he totally creeped me out. Also, no zombie-raising necromancers, and no sacrificing of animals.

Third obstacle: How to go about the whole two-people-writing thing. We settled on this: She’s writing the female MC’s chapters, and I’m writing the male’s. Of course, we may kill him off, so then I’ll be writing someone else. Sounds like a case of schizophrenia waiting in the wings.

I think it will actually go really well. She’s got some great ideas, and things I’ve never thought of. Then she gets stuck and asks me for help, and I usually can come up with something to get the ball rolling again. We actually balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses quite well. Now the real question is, what are we going to call it?

Reading Bliss

I haven’t read a whole lot of this week (I know, I know. Horrible.). I finally finished The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart. Not a bad ending, just sort of sad, full of horrible misunderstandings and mistakes. I didn’t cry, but it was still sad.

Then I finally got Betrayed, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (a mother-daughter duo). It’s the second book in the House of Night series, and I am really loving these books! I devoured this one, just like I did the first one, Marked. They are YA urban fantasy about vampires, but their take on vampires is completely unlike anything I’ve seen before. A vampire finishing school? Completely wonderful idea. I adore the characters in these books. Betrayed was awesome, but I wouldn’t really recommend reading it without reading Marked first. Everything will make more sense if you read them in order, and you’ll be attached to the characters as well.

Zoey Redbird is a great teenage character, full of self-doubts and insecurities, but knowing she’s something special and wanting to live up to that potential. Her group of friends are all well-realized and realistic teenagers as well. The Twins are interesting (Not the same race, but definitely separated at birth.) Damien is great (A gay fledgling vampire who acts like the fashion police?). And then there’s Stevie Ray (Now, who ever heard of an Okie vampire with a name like that?) And Neferet, the High Priestess of Nyx, really creeps me out. There’s a lot going on in this book, enough to keep me turning the pages even though there were a thousand other things I needed to be doing (Hello, working on my own writing?). It made me laugh several times, and made me cry as well. The third book in the series, Chosen, comes out in March 2008, and I can’t wait.

I’m also well into Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. I enjoyed the first book in this series, Moon Called, and this one is shaping up to be good as well. I like the idea of skinwalkers, and the fact that neither the local werewolf pack or the vampire seethe know what to make of Mercedes Thompson. And she’s a mechanic, which is definitely an unexpected twist. Plus, the cover art is cool, with all of her tattoos and attitude on display. In this book, she’s after a demon-possessed vampire sorcerer, which is almost more than I can wrap my brain around.

So, that’s what I’m reading now. I’ve you’ve never tried P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, or Patricia Briggs, I highly recommend them.

Also posted to my personal blog, A Figment of my Imagination.

Writing Progress

So, it’s halfway through the week. Time for an update, I guess. I hit my word count goal for the 2YN story (Really going to have to come up with a name for that sometime soon.) The first person POV is getting so much easier for me to write! Samantha is really coming alive, which is great, since I think she’s a wonderful character.

I’m keeping up with my editing goals for Shadows of Stone. The plan is to be through on Sunday, and it looks like I’ll be able to hit that. Then I’ll key in the edits next week, and hopefully find some beta readers. (I’ve got one lined up, at least!)

No progress on Witches. That’s slated to begin the week after next. I promise. Just in time to get distracted with NaNo. Oh, and I’ve finally started researching names for the NaNo book (aka the Atlantis story).

And as if I don’t have enough to do, my best friend came up with a fabulous story idea for us to work on together. She even sent me the first nine pages, which completely intrigued me. It’s The Stand, and some zombies, and…some other stuff I can’t talk about yet, until we get it all straightened out. But it’s cool, and I’m excited about working on it with her. It should be a lot of fun.

I know this looks like a ton of stuff on my things-to-do list (and it is), but I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t have a lot going on. I’d just get bored and slop around all day watching TV. Sigh. So boring.

Also posted in my personal blog, A Figment of My Imagination.