So, I decided a short while ago that I was having issues finishing my outline because I wasn’t firm enough on my characters. So, the next step was to create better developed characters. The only problem there, was I was having trouble knowing where to start.
Solution: Holly again. I nabbed her “Create a Character Clinic” from her e-store and last night I started working with it. Now, I have barely scratched the surface with the tools that are in this book. (I know, because I’m on chapter 3 or something early.) And yet I have already found some good advice and good character building tools to work with. And that’s a very good thing.
If you have problems with your characters, go check it out. Very good resource.
In more of an update blog post part, I haven’t been working on much lately. I’ve been so tired that it’s hard to focus on much. And oh, it was so hard to get up this morning. I guess I probably stayed up too late. And then of course I’ve been having to get up for work in the mornings. So no sleeping in. But it’s really hard to have to deal with work, and sleep, and food, and visiting with the boyfriend, and the commute. Those of you who are married (or co-habitating) and don’t have to commute to visit with your significant other, feel very lucky. And give said SO a big hug. Because that’s probably the thing that I miss most about having been married before and not being married now. Yes, I like the rest of it, too, but the thing that is the most taken for granted, from what I’ve seen, is the physical presence of just having someone there.
To wake up at night from a bad dream and hear someone breathing softly next to you.
To feel safe when you hop in the shower because there’s another person in the house who can handle emergencies (in theory).
To look up over the morning paper and receive a smile that lets you know you’re loved.
Just to not be alone.
Now - I like my alone time. Don’t get me wrong. But I like to have alone time because I have something to do or am relaxing rather than to have alone time because M is at his home and I am at mine. I don’t like being physically apart when we have our phone conversations at night that run on until one of us is out of battery.
Anyway. That’s totally not where I started this post. But the mind will wander where it will.
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Week 26 ~ June 25-July 1, 2007
Ill Wind
by Rachel Caine
(urban fantasy)
This was a highly amusing book, and one I'd been meaning to read for months before I actually got to it. I'm glad I read it, sad I waited so long, and happy that there is more to the series already waiting for me.
I liked the fact that Caine seems to be sticking to a limited number of paranormal creatures. Wardens (weather and otherwise) and djinn. At this point, that's it. And I like that. I'm not against vampire novels, or werewolf novels, or whatever. But I'm getting sick of books that seem to throw them all in merely because they seem unable to figure out which ones to leave out.
I also liked the way each individual paranormal was limited. Weather Wardens can't control fire, unpartnered djinn aren't as powerful as djinn with Warden Masters, etc. Limits and balances are nice.
The ending had a nice semi-twist, one that I sort of saw coming even though I didn't expect the exact end result. I did see some of the mini-twists coming, though the identity of the Bad Guy was one that made perfect sense afterwards and yet I didn't anticipate it. It was nicely written, and the series will make a nice addition to my bookshelf.
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Week 19 ~ May 7-13, 2007
No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld, book #7)
by Kelley Armstrong
(fantasy, paranormal romance-ish, some – not me – will tell you horror)
Ah, back to the Otherworld. I love this series. A lot. It’s well developed, well-rounded, and well written. The heroines are strong and yet versatile, and the relationships make sense. A very nice series indeed.
This specific book could, if you chose, be read out of order without much confusion. Jaime, the narrator, hasn’t been a huge part of the previous books, and the parts she has played are touched on as good reminders of her background or ways to introduce new readers to her. (I suspect that the format change from paperback to hardback made it a priority that this book be able to support readers who are new to the series.) There are plot points from prior books that will be spoiled if this one is read first, and there are nuances to character that will be missed, but the book should hook new readers as well as old.
As to that hook, it starts off with Jaime preparing for a séance to raise the spirit of Marilyn Monroe and discovering that she’s going to be staying in a house where she’ll be required to eat her meals inches away from a hanged man – only he’s a ghost, so she’s the only one who notices. Jaime is a necromancer, and her powers of being able to see and contact the dead alert her to the presence of half-ghosts in the garden… ghosts which shouldn’t exist in the fashion they do. It’s written with a good blend of humor and substance, romance and action and thought. This is possibly my second favorite book in the series, possibly my third fav. But it’s definitely near the top of the series, and comes with high praise from me.
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Week 18 ~ Apr 30-May 6, 2007
Spin to Knit
by Shannon Okey
(non-fiction)
Well, this is a bit of a different type of book for me to post here. But I read it, and I enjoyed it, and if anyone else shares my hobby interests (which is likely, on this blog), it's well worth recommending.
Spin to Knit basically does what the title says: it shows you some ways to improve your spinning (or learn to spin) to make yarn that is usable when knitting. If you have tried spinning, you know that it's not always easy to get even results that will then work for knitting projects.
I have tried a few of the techniques described in this book, and they were useful. Very nicely described as well, with pictures that are good at demonstrating the steps.
There are also some fun brief bios of the spinners and knitters who helped with the various projects in the book, which are fun to read. And, of course, we have the projects themselves, which have a variety of looks. Some I will eventually try, and others are on my list of "wouldn't be caught dead wearing or even making" items. But that's to be expected when so many people have different ideas of "cool," and it makes for some colorful reading.
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Week 17 ~ Apr 23-29
Night Echoes
by Holly Lisle
(romantic suspense, some paranormal)
This is the fourth of Holly's paranormal romantic suspense novels, and probably my second favorite of the two. (Last Girl Dancing is almost definitely the favorite. And they are not really related to each other, so do not have to be read in order.) It has a better (IMO) paranormal slant than the others, with a haunted house and a form of reincarnation as a large plot motivator. Very well done, however, and as real-feeling as some of the non-fiction things you read about haunted houses.
As to the romance angle, I like the way the reincarnation angle adds to the attraction factor. I tend to get sick of the romance stories that seem to have no explanation for why the hero ends up with the heroine. The ones where everything about the hero is manly and ruggedly handsome, and the heroine is ravishably gorgeous, and they have nothing in common. As a contrast, this plot has Holly's trademark dose of realistic characters, and the romance works really well for me.
And the writing? I love Holly's style. I think this is one of her best written books. (She only gets better with time.) So I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Go. Read. It. Great novel. Plus, the cover's pretty. 
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Week 14 ~ Apr 2-8
Shore Lights
by Barbara Bretton
(fiction)
I'll be honest. I'm not completely done with this book yet. (That's what comes of trying to read 3 books in a busy week.) But I know that I will like it, because I've read (or skimmed) most of it (and I will be reading the rest). It's a feel-good fiction story about an estranged mother-daughter pair, but it also touches on other relationships. The (divorced) daughter and her relationship with her own daughter. Her relationship with her extended family and the town she grew up in. Her relationship with a man who bid on the same item (online auction site, picture eBay without the copyrighted name) she did. The POV does shift a bit, and we get to see many people's take on the situation. Including the man, which lets us see his relationship with his own daughter and mother.
Looking at the description, you would think "oh, it's a romance." You would be wrong. It is not a romance in the sense that romance is taken today. It is not a "get the couple together already so you can write the sex scene" type of book. It has depth to it (and, in my pre-review skimming, I didn't find a sex scene between the main characters). It has substance. It has a love story to be told - several, in fact - but if focuses on the story, and not on getting the characters into bed.
I would highly recommend this book. It seems to be one that can cross genre-preferences, too, because normally I don't think I would have picked it up based on genre. (I read very little straight fiction. I like fantasy, of one kind or another. Sci-fi too.) I actually picked it up because of the author's group blog, Romancing the Yarn. I'll be slowly making my way through the other authors there, too. (Slowly only because of the genre preference thing.)
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Week 13 ~ Mar 26-Apr 1, 2007
Her Majesty's Wizard (Wizard in Rhyme, book 1)
by Christopher Stasheff
(fantasy)
This is a fun book. Just - pure fun. Yes, it has some morals to it. Yes it has religion as the foundation for magic and the magical world that a hero from our world finds himself in. But at the heart of it, it is a fun book.
Pieces of this book fit a male-written-fantasy-from-the-80's-or-early-90's. Some of the women are described in anatomically dubious detail. But, it's a fantasy world, so I guess that's to be expected. There are not the angsty, heart-wrenching dramas that are found in many of today's fantasies, but there is character depth. There is not impossibly steamy sex, but there is a very believable pair of romances. It is, actually, quite a refreshing change of pace.
This book is similar to Piers Anthony's Split Infinity which I mentioned earlier, but only Anthony's fantasy world. Not his futuristic sci-fi world. But the style is similar, though I prefer Stasheff's writing. The method of using magic is also similar, though I prefer Stasheff here as well (though it is not music in Her Majesty's Wizard, like I had thought before, but poetry). I do greatly recommend this book.
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Week 11 ~ Mar 12-18, 2007
The Lark and the Wren: Bardic Voices #1
by Mercedes Lackey
(fantasy)
This book is a comfort book for me, though it's rare that I read the whole thing in order from start to finish. I usually flip through, and read a bit here, a bit there and only read the parts that I truly enjoy. As such, reading it straight through again made me look at it in a different way than I have been.
The story itself follows Rune, a young girl who wants to be a musician. Her biggest problem is that she's the daughter of a tavern wench, and is getting to the age where rape or an unwanted marriage have become all too likely. So, to follow up on a bet, she goes to play her fiddle for a murderous ghost - and since that all happens in the beginning of the book, I think it's safe to tell you that she survives.
It is a cute premise, if not a hugely original one (kid wants to prove him/herself, runs away from home, finds a kindly mentor, and succeeds in the face of opposition). And I like the way music factors so large in the story. I love music, and Lackey's knowledge of it shows.
But on a re-read, I find that the novel-as-a-whole isn't as interesting to me as it once was. It was disappointingly easy to put down to go to sleep at night. Now, to be fair, this is quite likely because I have read the story so many times (in pieces) that I know what's happening with no doubt whatsoever. But a part of it is that the writing itself doesn't seem to be as well polished as some other novels I have read lately, and so I get jolted out of the narrative too often.
I will, of course, be keeping the book. I will also be re-reading it again, I'm sure. But I think that I will be returning to my random reading style for this one, when I do go back to it.
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Week 10 ~ Mar 5-11, 2007
Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4)
J.R. Ward
(paranormal romance)
Wow. Just - wow.
I devoured this book. (Read it in 5 hours, forgoing sleep and everything.)
What can I say without giving spoilers? Well, first of all, this is the 4th in the series, and while you could probably start anywhere and understand the plot (the author's good like that) you will not enjoy the books that come before as much if you read them out of order, because there are definitely spoilers in each book for the series that has come before. This is not a read-out-of-order type of series.
Those of you who are not already fans of the series, go here and here and here to read my thoughts on the previous books in the series. I highly suggest that - unless you don't like vampires or won't read romances - you go pick these up and read them. RIGHT NOW. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Ok, you're back now? Didn't I tell you that this series was that good? So: now I can go into Lover Revealed a bit. Here's what I can say about book #4 without giving anything (major) away...
- If you didn't like Marissa before, or if you thought she was weak and unworthy of Butch, change your mind now.
- Any doubts you have about Butch and V's relationship should be cleared up in this book. And wow, what a bond they share.
- There are great scenes with nearly all of the favorite characters from past books. And some not-so-favorite characters. But great scenes, the lot of them.
- Butch gets his due in this book. (Rightly so, as he's its hero.) He meets up with the lessers and the Omega, has a test of loyalty, and comes to terms with whether or not he's good enough for the woman he loves. And he also reconnects with his family a bit, too.
I have a hard time placing these books in an order of which of them is my favorite. The only one I can do that with is #3, which is my least favorite of them, and that's because it's so raw and deals with issues that are so painful to the characters involved. This book, while no walk in the park for the characters, has a healthier feel to it. I will certainly be re-reading it at least once this year alone. For someone with a TBR list as large as mine, there isn't much higher praise than that.
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I am exhausted. And with good reason. What reason, you ask? This one:
Five hours. Starting at 10:00 at night. Which means I was up until 3:00am.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am so going to be falling asleep at work today.
But the cover is so shiny-pretty, and I couldn't NOT start reading it. And once I started, I couldn't stop. And it was so worth it.
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Week 9 ~ Feb 26-Mar 4, 2007
Private Demon (Darkyn #2
by Lynn Viehl
(fantasy, paranormal romance)
This is the second book in Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series. It follows up If Angels Burn with the same semi-predictable but still very enjoyable plot style, yet there is nowhere near the unsettling feeling that comes from the torture scenes in the first book. This is still a dark fantasy, or perhaps an urban fantasy (the definitions blur a little), but there were no scenes that I will skip when I do a re-read (as there was in the first one).
I enjoyed this book, probably more than the first one. I like the heroine in If Angels Burn better, but she shows up in Private Demon as a supporting character, so that made me happy. In fact, many of the cast of the first book recur in the second. It was an easy sequel to read: a few new characters, the return of old favorites, and not too much re-telling of the previous plot. It had been several months since I read the first book, and Viehl blended the summary with new plot so seamlessly that it seemed I had just finished reading the previous book.
There isn’t a lot of the plot that can be told without giving away things from If Angels Burn, but I can discuss the heroine, who is a new character. She seems pretty realistic to me, yet there were a few aspects of her character that I had to take with a grain of salt. It seemed that she was focused on different parts of her illness than I would have been in her position, and while I can understand it from a plot viewpoint, it did leave me rolling my eyes at her a few times.
Also, there are almost two heroes in the book, which was a twist I found interesting. That part worked better for me than the heroine did. Most people who I’ve spoken to who have read this book favored one of the men as the one who should win the lady, but I found myself disagreeing with them. The “popular favorite” may have been better for her, but the situation was creepy for me. He’d known her and watched her for ages, ever since she was little – he was too much a father figure to her for me to want him to be her lover.
Anyway, it was an enjoyable book. The series flows well, and seems to have plenty of momentum to carry it through the other books which have been written and the couple of others that have been contracted for in addition. The only problem I have with the series is that it’s shelved in the romance section. I don’t see these as romances: they are urban/dark/paranormal fantasy. Yes, they have romance elements, but they are not – to me – true romances.
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A wonderful friend on a forum I frequent has started up a group of us reading and reviewing a book-a-week. That makes 52 books in one year.
So, rather that just posting them on the forum, I'm going to post them here, too.
Since I started the 52 weeks with January 1, I'm going to back-date the initial ones to their proper week.
Enjoy!
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Week 8 ~ Feb 19-25, 2007
The Smoke Thief
by Shana Abe
(fantasy, some romance)
I expected to like this book when I read the blurbs in my Sci-fi/Fantasy book club pamphlet. But then I read the prologue, and I wasn't sure. The style of the prologue is nice, but a bit omniscient for my tastes. And then I read the first chapter. And I was hooked.
I guess it makes sense that the prologue is more omniscient than I generally like, since it's giving the rather long background of a mythical people. These people, the drakon, are magical beings. (And I feel really stupid for not reading it aloud and realizing early on in the book that "drakon" = "dragon". I thought they were just similar.) The drakon are very good at adapting to avoid persecution, and when the story starts their rulers are concerned that they have gotten *too* good at it. None of the females can Turn. (From human to dragon. They have both forms, as well as an in-between one. Smoke.)
(The book is set in 18th century England, in a world that has magic without realizing it. The drakon value their secrecy, and the average Londoner has no clue the dragons exist. For a casual observer - me - it all stands up nicely to reality. For a history major, who knows?)
Over the course of the book, we follow the hero, Kit, and the heroine, Rue. They both have to learn how to deal with another Alpha - Kit, as the ruler of the drakon, is the Alpha male; Rue, as the only female who can Turn, by default becomes the Alpha female. Some of the happenings in the book (like the identity of the Smoke Thief and the happy ending) come as no surprise. However, the wonderful voice that Shana uses to tell the story makes the obvious parts of the plot very enjoyable, and there are still twists that have the potential to confuse.
I'm very glad there's a sequel. I can't wait to read more.
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