I was just reviewing the books that I've read this year in preparation for a future post, and it occurred to me that there were a lot of great reads. Action, adventure, etc. The build to the climax was generally good in all the books I've read (I'm excluding the non-fiction pieces at the moment,... Continue Reading →
Cowboy Up
Tonight I had a conversation with my mother about westerns (movies specifically).Westerns are a very traditional structure, story-wise. Hero falls into great calamity, everything looks dark, then the cowboy gets up off his duff and does the hard work/killing/etc. Sometimes it's a happy ending, sometimes it's a sad ending, but dammit, the cowboy did something.Recently... Continue Reading →
Strange and Norrell
Here's something that'll get to the friendly-neighborhood-demon (hey, she said it)...I finished reading the gigantic book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell these last couple days. First, let me say that I was very impressed by Clarke's use of language. She captured the feel of Lord Byron/Jane Austen's world very well. I felt like I was... Continue Reading →
Avast!
Pirates of the writerly kind would do well to look at the following...***Warning, you may spend your hard-earned booty ($$$)http://www.piratemod.com/
The Home Stretch
Somewhere I read that the last 20% of a novel is the hardest part to write. I'm believing that I concur.Part of it is because you say goodbye to the freshness of your characters--after this it's all editting and revising. Doesn't seem like there's any new surprises. (Unless you want to keep writing the same... Continue Reading →
Looking at the Bright Side of Life
I just handed of FJR to Shane so that he would be so sweet as to print out the copies I need for tomorrow. It occurred to me that I have been playing negative Nellie on myself. I've been so hard on myself for 'not finishing' that I've overlooked the fact that I more than... Continue Reading →
NaNo Month–I’ll Be Short
I'll be short on two fronts:1. There's no way I can finish FJR by Monday. I'll be two chapters shy. But--before the demons come out! I will give what I have to my first readers (yes, Ali, that's you!) and e-mail the final two chapters later in the month. --So far I'm only making copies... Continue Reading →
