Tis The Season

So today was my first real day back at the computer. I transcribed 1600 words today! What a great start. Especially since I was also doing a multitude of other things today.

I’m not sure that I like this holiday stuff. I’ll be getting a few more days of writing in before I am off to celebrate the New Year…not writing. I know, I know; why not just take the laptop with me when I go? Answer: I could but for one exception – there are way too many people I haven’t seen in forever and I would like to be the one not stuck in a corner while everyone else is having fun.

So I will get as much transcription in as possible in the next two or so days and be happy that I get to spend time with friends. And not worry about things until after the 1st of the year.

Speaking of New Years. I’ve listened to a lot of people talk about their resolutions for the new year. I will be posting my list of things shortly.

Happy Writing!

Music I am currently writing to:
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Now playing: Def Leppard – Promises
via FoxyTunes

Happy Holidays

I’d like to say that I will be posting over Christmas, but the truth is that I won’t be anywhere near a computer. So I will say Happy Holidays to everyone now. And I hope to be back by Wednesday.
Keep warm if it’s snowing. Cool if it’s hot. And for those that have had rain recently-dry.

A little smile, a word of cheer, A bit of love from someone near, A little gift from one held dear, Best wishes for the coming year… These make a Merry Christmas!

See everyone in a few days!

Friday Wrap Up

What has Cheryl accomplished this week:

• Managed to get through 1/3 of White Roses [Today I was able to get in 1300 words!]
• Read 1 more chapter of the mss from a friend
• Started playing 3 different games of Scrabble [Improves my vocabulary!]
• Lamented about my current project
• Read way too many blogs
• Downloaded Holly Lisle’s free The Professional Plot Outline just to see what she had to say. [Thanks to Kerryn Angell for posting about it originally]
• Wrote a book review [Hopefully the first of many]

I was hoping to be able to say that I finished reading Blood Lines by Eileen Wilks, but honestly I haven’t made it past page four. And it’s not the books fault really. I realized after reading the forward that Blood Lines is the third book in a series. A series that I actually read the first book of several months ago. I haven’t read second book yet, and I am somewhat particular if I am going to read a series. I need to read the books in order unless I know that it doesn’t matter what order you read them in. I am pretty sure that one of my friends has read all three books but I haven’t asked her yet and until I do Blood Lines is being set aside. Now I just have to figure out what to read in the meantime.

Happy Writing!

Music I am currently writing to:
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Now playing: Alabama – If You’re Gonna Play In Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle In the Band)
via FoxyTunes

Some Small Success

I managed to transcribe another six pages today. Of course there were parts that I completely left out-only a paragraph or two really, but I just couldn’t transcribe what I was reading.

It was with some irony that what I blogged about yesterday came up in conversation with my husband today when he mentioned that he thought this project was taking longer than he expected. His comment was that most authors cringe at their early works. I am simply not the same writer I was when I first started seriously writing all those years ago. Boy was he ever right about that.

The interesting thing I am finding as I transcribe White Roses is that this reads more and more like a loosely written outline. Don’t get me wrong it’s definitely a story, but there are plot holes and I am really beginning to wonder how in the world it deserved the grade it received when I initially wrote the mss for my college course.

And I leave you tonight with some words from Nathan Bransford, an agent that I am growing to like more and more as I read his blog. This is from todays post:

It takes an exceedingly thick skin to be an author these days, perhaps moreso than at any time in the past…

Oh so true Nathan, oh so true.

Happy Writing!

Music I am currently writing to:
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Now playing: Black Lab – New Prayer
via FoxyTunes

All The World Is Waiting For The Sun

I am ashamed to admit that today I did more transcription work than I have in the last four days combined. Six pages total so far. I realize that it doesn’t sound like a lot, but seriously, transcribing something that you wrote almost 7 years ago is quite painful and even though I really want to get the project finished I seem to be able to distract myself rather easily in order to avoid looking at this mss.

Instead of transcribing/writing I trolled through blogs and found a few more to add to my ever growing list. And edited the layout of the blog. All the while realizing that I don’t so much have two novels written but rather novellas that want to become novels.

I am beginning to get discouraged with this project and it is making it that much more difficult to get through. And I know that if I use the holidays as an excuse to not do anything I will never finish this. If I could just finish the transcription I would be happier with myself. I can do this. Just take it slow and don’t look too far ahead.

Happy Writing!

Music I am currently writing to:
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Now playing: Breaking Benjamin – Rain
via FoxyTunes

Conversations About Writing

I thought this was the funniest thing I have read in a while on how you know you are a writer. How many times has this happened to me? Too many to count.

Dante’s Girl by Natasha Rhodes

Synopsis: Kayla Steele is a girl with a problem. First of all, she’s trying to hold down her job at the perfume counter of a large department store, whilst staying on top of her pile of mounting bills. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s also on a mission to learn the Dark Arts so that she can avenge the death of her boyfriend and bring down the cabal of supernatural entities that is stalking the streets of LA. Then, of course, there’s the dead boyfriend himself, Karrel Dante. She’s really got no idea where that relationship is going at the moment…
Dante’s Girl is a dark, sexy, adventure-filled novel that explores the supernatural underbelly of life in contemporary LA — and the issues faced by a girl who really just wants to spend some quality time with her dead boyfriend.

Okay, so is it horrible for me to admit I picked this one up solely because the title and cover art caught my eye first? I thought the title rather clever on many levels. And I’m a sucker for ’supernatural’ books in general so of course I bought the book.
Let me tell you something. The synopsis is somewhat misleading. You get the impression that you’re going to be reading about this girl that is pro-actively doing something to avenge her boyfriends death. I would even hazard that at first glance from reading the synopsis that it would be written in a somewhat light hearted tone. I mean come on doesn’t the line about her wanting to spend quality time with her dead boyfriend just scream quirky? That or the guy could be a hot vampire, which was my original thought really. It’s more like you are reading her go from one situation to the next without a clue about what to do. The actual synopsis is something like this:

Kayla Steele has a plan. She has it all figured out and part of that plan is to marry her boyfriend Karrel Dante. Unfortunately for Kayla things go awry when her boyfriend is murdered on the night he plans to propose. Kayla’s perception of the world begins to fall apart as she finds herself the target of Karrel’s enemies, enemies that are not human in nature. In the city of LA it’s kill or be killed and when you don’t know who to trust it’s that much harder to stay alive.

This was fine in the end. I actually enjoyed reading the book. There were however a few problems.

I had some issues while reading this book, the first and probably most minor issue – the name: Kayla and Karrel. While on their own they aren’t a problem. But in several chapters the names are repeated so many times that I had to stop and re-read the passage just to keep it straight.

In its essence the novel presented itself as an ‘avenge my death/murder’ story but it wasn’t very clear as to why exactly it was important for Kayla to do so other than Karrel’s ghost telling her that it was “very important” that she do so. Avenging his death seemed rather secondary to her need to stay alive (which is how it should be really) and is really only mentioned in passing when one of the eight entities is killed in passing. I can only assume that there will be multiple books as by the end of the book there are still seven murderers alive and the only way to avenge Karrel’s death is to kill them all. (Isn’t it always the way it goes in these stories?)

The story flowed pretty easily until you get close to the end. You know the part where the bad guys gloat over their plans to the good guys? How does having three bad guys with three different plans doing that at the same time sound? It had to be one of the most convoluted scenes I have ever read. I had to re-read it four or five times to make sure I understood what was being said and by whom.

My last problem with the novel is again a minor one and one that is probably more of a preference issue. When a book promises me Dark Arts I fully expect to see liberal use of it; not just mentioned in passing in the epilogue. While just about everything could be explained by science there just wasn’t enough mysticism. This is where I feel the synopsis failed miserably.

Even with all its problems I enjoyed reading Dante’s Girl. The setting was beautifully done. Where else but in LA would no one blink if a hairy monster shambled down the street with a chainsaw? And the supernatural denizens, werewolves and vampires, were well thought out–and their back story was far more fascinating at times than what Kayla was doing. The author gives you just enough of the over-all plot to keep you reading and curious about what is really going on. And that is ultimately what kept me reading and, in the end, looking forward to the next book.

Friday Wrap Up

What Cheryl did this week:

• Continued transcribing White Roses, I’ve successfully moved through to chapter 7!
• Jotted some notes on the short story that I mulled over last week
• Read 9 chapters of a mss I offered to edit for a friend
• Contemplated working on some technical re-writing for a freelance gig
• Started reading Blood Lines by Eileen Wilks
• Worried over my reading habits

It looks like I had a slow week. Why doesn’t it feel like it?

Happy Writing!

Music I am currently writing to:
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Now playing: Duran Duran – Bedroom Toys
via FoxyTunes

My 2007 Book List

So yesterday I mentioned The Ten Best Books Of 2007 and that got me to thinking. How many books have I read this year that were actually published this year?
Is it sad that after going through roughly 20 or more books that I’ve read this year only 5 of them were actually published this year?

In no particular order they are:

Dante’s Girl by Natasha Rhodes
The Vampire Queen’s Servant by Joey W. Hill
Dangerous Games by Keri Arthur
You Suck : A Love Story by Christopher Moore
Dead and Dateless by Kimberly Raye

Starting to get an idea of what I like to read? Most of the books belong to one series or another that I have recently found and am following. Only one of them was an actual hard back book. I guess I don’t get to the bookstore as often as I should. Or I just don’t look in the right place when I do. It might also be that I tend to read paperback books and wait for certain hardback books to be published in paperback before picking them up.

I do know that there were at least six other books that were published this year that I intend to add to my collection. But I won’t get to read any of them until early next year most likely. I think I really just need to read more.

On the other hand if we look at all the books I have read this year, my list would look something like this:

Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (re-read for the 3rd time)
Undead and Unpopular by Mary Janice Davidson
Sebastian by Anne Bishop
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (I’ve read the entire series this year except for the most recent release)
Stardust by Niel Gaiman
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (still working on All Things Bright and Beautiful)
Light My Fire by Katie MacAlister

Sad News From A Fantasy Author

Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a ‘rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s. He had this to say on the Discworld News site:

…this should be interpreted as ‘I am not dead’. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think – it’s too soon to tell. I know it’s a very human thing to say “Is there anything I can do”, but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry…

It’s always sad to learn an author you grew up reading is ailing. But as he says, he isn’t gone yet. And that is just as important.