Friday Wrap Up

Escapades in writing:

• I wrote 1800 words of fiction this week!
• Started two new blogs
• Realized that I really need to read the books I currently have out from the library as the option to renew them is not available-it seems that others want to read them too
• Surprised myself by writing back-story for White Roses in through a writing prompt
• Finally received some minor feedback on the 2006 Nano-Novel.
• Managed to write something for three of the prompts for the month of February

Slowly I am coming around and out of the funk! For the month of March I want to try and work two prompts per week. Now that I have gotten some feedback I think I may go back and re-read it. Perhaps start rewriting/editing in small portions.

Snap Shots

I just finished a writing prompt. I wrote 939 words. And not just any words. Words that relate to White Roses! That’s right. Three pages of back-story. Three pages on how the idea for Star Restaurant came about. [Star is the name of the restaurant that Serenity Bishop owns.] So totally unexpected.

What amazes me even more is that I’ve had a grand total of three hours of sleep [had a bout of insomnia and then Henry decided he didn't want me to sleep...he is of course now cat-napping] it’s a cohesive scene. And I don’t feel like it is crap even if I am framing the scene with the prompt in an odd sort of way.

I think I am going to try and sneak a short nap in and then perhaps try another prompt afterwards.

Music I am currently listening to:
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Now playing: Delerium – Paris
via FoxyTunes

Good Lord Are Those Actual Words

I sat down today and picked two of the prompts for this month from The Boldly Nano site today. Between the two prompts I wrote exactly 942 words of fiction. Considering my recent lack of writing in the fiction department I think this is rather a good thing.

Music I am listening to:
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Now playing: Black Lab – Remember (Alex Kemp Motorboat Drama remix)
via FoxyTunes

Words To Think On

“No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else’s draft.”

-H. G. Wells

Oh how true it is! How many times have I found myself reading something and thinking to myself : “Self, I think that we could turn this into something amazing…” Of course half the pleasure I get out of reading incomplete drafts is coming up with ideas of where the author might go with it and where would I take it….

Friday Wrap Up

Bullet Points!

• I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and am still recovering from it.
• Avoided writing on any type of story.
• Spending a lot of time on the GoodReads website.
• Joined Red Room just for the heck of it.
• Remembered that I signed up at My Writers Circle and checked back in with them. Had to point out to a poet that short fiction is not in fact a dead genre…
• Feeling kind of guilty that I haven’t been over to Kiwi Writers in a while. I really should make an effort to visit the boards there….

Hmm…perhaps I should stop putzing about on forums and finding excuses not to write and get back to what I keep saying I want to do. I am my worst enemy right now.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Synopsis: A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years–from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding–that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives–the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness–are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was one of the books I picked to read from this months NYT BSL. It is, I have to admit the first one that wasn’t something I was entirely familiar with. I haven’t read The Kite Runner, and frankly, if it is anything like this book then I am profoundly glad. Now don’t get me wrong, this book was absolutely wonderful. It was masterfully written, the characters were real in every sense of the word. And I am glad I read it. But I don’t think I could go through the upheaval a second time.

I cried. I cried a lot. I was profoundly upset by the way Miriam and Laila were treated. Perhaps more so because I was raised with a “western” ideology that women are equal. I kept thinking to myself “Why doesn’t she just leave?” It didn’t matter to me that the customs and ideology in Afghanistan are vastly different. And on an intellectual level, I do respect those differences. I’m usually really good at making that effort to understand why beliefs are different. But seriously, I had a hard time with this one. I wanted Miriam to stand up for herself. I won’t even go into how I felt about Laila and what happened with her. It was heart wrenching.

It was a rough read emotionally, and if anything it made me realize how lucky I am. It’s an amazingly timely book given world events.

Words To Think On

“What’s so exciting and terrifying about the writing process is that it really is an act of exploration and discovery. With all of us, not just writers, there is a sort of knowledge of the other. We have a lot more in common than we realize, and I think writing is really a sustained act of empathy.” — Andre Dubus, III

Friday Wrap Up

What happened this week:

• Wrote a letter that was longer than anything I have worked on in weeks
• Wrote a review
• Started reading the next book from my list
• Marveled that I haven’t read much Jane Austen

I’m thinking of writing some short pieces like I did when I first started writing Tangled Webs/Hidden Treasures. Perhaps with characters I am not so familiar with so that I actually have to give it some thought-but not too much, because obviously I have been over-thinking things and that has stalled me creatively. I am even considering posting those little bits here, or maybe over at Images and Words the Yahoo writing group that I formed three years ago….have I even mentioned that yet? Yeah, I started a writing group a few years ago. Membership is actually fairly low, and there are usually only one or two people posting something at any given time. And it’s usually me. go figure.

Anyway that’s it for this week.

The Only Way To Find A Man Like Mr. Darcy Is To Make Him Up

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

If you are having a hard time deciding on just the right gentleman, may we suggest looking through our extensive list of candidates? We are certain that you will find a most agreeable match…

I have been watching Masterpiece’s The Complete Jane Austen on PBS every Sunday for the last few weeks. Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Miss Austen Regrets (a biopic) and most recently I started watching Pride And Prejudice. After that they will air Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. And I have to admit, I am enjoying the Austen Series rather immensely. And I am wondering why I never really took the time to finish reading any of her work. I know I have several on my bookshelf. Perhaps after the series has finished I will pick one up.

*cross-posted to my livejournal.

Music I am listening to:
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Now playing: Duncan Sheik – In The Absence Of Sun
via FoxyTunes

The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Synopsis: Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black’s been catching her z’s in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there’s more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can’t very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she’d meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman—dead or alive.

Rich, powerful, and drop—dead gorgeous, Victor’s the perfect man for a novice neck—biter like Elvi. He’s willing to teach her everything he knows, but he’ll have to do it fast. Someone’s out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe—and satisfied—for all eternity.

I adore the “paranormal romance” genre quite a bit. Just take a look at my goodreads bookshelves and you will see that I have somewhat of an addiction. I jumped at the chance to read this NYT BSL book when I saw it on the list in January. I was quite surprised to find that I actually own another book in the series. According the family tree printed in the front I had already read about Vincent some months ago and didn’t realize I had picked up a book from the Argeneau Series.

I wasn’t disappointed with Vincent’s story when I read it and I certainly wasn’t with Victor’s. As with most series like this there is a pattern the author follows. If the pattern (not to mention the writing) works well then you pretty much have a hit on your hands. [Do I need to mention that the origin story has to be unique in some way?] Some of my favorite authors follow certain patterns and I can pretty much count on being able to see them the moment I read the first page. Once I realized that I had read another book in this series I caught the pattern quite easily:

• Some issue and/or situation needs an Immortal’s attention, this usually leads to the introduction of the Lifemate almost immediately.
• Attraction/denial/misunderstandings on both sides (one or the other is always in some sort of danger)
• Mythos explanation (for those that picked up the book randomly)
• Solve issue and/or situation
• Happily Ever After

It’s not quite as simple, but you get the point. What makes this pattern work is the strength in the writing.

The characters in Lynsay’s world are strong and vibrant; and I like the mythos she created for her “vampires.” The world is believable. Her writing is solid.

I’ve read quite a few books in this genre and understand that it can be very difficult to come up with something “different.” I like the fact that you don’t have to read every book in the series to understand what is going on. And if you have read every book you catch the little connections between characters. How one character is related to another in the previous book and so on. [And if you are lucky they have a family tree all printed up for you to follow!]

I realize that this is more of a technical review and I didn’t go into great detail about the actual story. Apparently that’s not the type of review I felt the need to write. Regardless. If you happen to like the paranormal romance genre give this series a try. I don’t think you will be disappointed.