Archive for the ‘reading’ Category
March 21, 2007 | friends, reading
Paranormal romance writers Kathy Love and Erin McCarthy have done something cool…
They’ve got a vampire band!
Both Erin and Kathy are writing books about members of the band. They’ve set up this excellent website about it, too, with blogs from members of the band. It’s interesting to see what an undead musician thinks about life…
The whole thing is lots of fun so go check out The Impalers!
February 25, 2007 | reading
Because I have so much reading time while I’m feeding the baby, I’ve been trying out some new authors. So far this has worked quite well–I really enjoyed the children’s fantasy/adventure/comedy Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, and fell in love with the hero of chick lit novel Making Mischief by fellow London RNA member Liz Young. I’m halfway through another children’s book, The Wind Singer by William Nicholson, which like Artemis Fowl is also fantasy, but of a very different sort, much more epic and serious.
I’ve also read a thriller by a mega-bestselling American author, and it was CRAP. Really, really awful. The characters were wooden with little motivation, and I saw the plot twists coming a million miles away–despite the fact that they made little logical sense. The writing was at about a fourth-grade level, only both clumsy and stupid; the children’s books I’ve been reading have had more sophisticated writing. There were continuity errors (people suddenly changing rooms, or what they looked like)–and yet despite this the author felt the need to repeat information over and over, in case you might have forgotten a major plot point over the course of ten pages.
What could have been potentially interesting plot or emotional development was skimmed over. At the risk of giving the identity of the book away, an example of this was when one of the main characters, a priest, is the only survivor of a plane crash. This should be an exciting, harrowing, thrilling incident, right? The entire scene takes about a page to recount; there are no details, and the priest sort of staggers off when it’s done without seeming to have really noticed what’s happened, or trying to help anybody else.
I only read to the end because a) I couldn’t move as had baby attached to me, and b) I wanted to know if I really had guessed the ending about fifty pages in. I had.
Yet this guy sells millions of books. It truly makes no sense.
November 13, 2006 | about me, reading
I’ve been a bad little blogger recently–too lazy, and too much in love with that photo of Mr Tennant, below. I am enjoying pottering around the house, running little errands, taking naps, cooking good things, and every now and then thinking about my book. I’m trying to write 1000 words a day, which should give me a good strong start by the time the baby comes. Really if I were very efficient I would try to write a lot more than that, because who knows when I’ll be able to write again after the baby arrives, but I’m figuring it’s important for me to relax and potter, too.
I confessed to a fellow novelist the other day that I had never read any Nora Roberts, ever. She was shocked and promptly leant me some books. I started Birthright yesterday and haven’t been able to put it down at all. I think I’ll read just one chapter, and then I find I’ve read three. So the day goes. I find it difficult to get to sleep at night–because that’s when the baby starts headbutting my pelvis and stretching out my rib cage–and Nora isn’t helping much, either. I need to read something more boring.
September 29, 2006 | reading, writing
I mostly procrastinated yesterday…did a bit of tidying, played around on the internet, talked on the phone for an hour and a half with Kathy, walked into town to buy a birthday present for Biddy and ended up trying on maternity jeans instead (I had no success, but did find a top and some leggings), then had to lie down for an hour because I was so tired and sore from walking up and down the hill and around the shops. Pregnancy really does for your feet.
I did call my agent. I’d sent her the synopsis for Close Encounters (that’s the erotic science fiction romantic comedy I wrote with Kathy), and she thought it was hilarious. Both of my editors have heard about the book now, and both of them think it is very funny, but unfortunately there isn’t much of a market for funny erotica in this country, so I guess we’ll be concentrating on submitting it in the US. The market is definitely different there, and we’ve had requests from three publishers (two big print houses and one e-pub) so we’ll see how it goes.
I picked up a copy of Alison Baverstock’s Is There A Book In You?. I was one of the many authors who Alison sent a questionnaire to when she was preparing this book, so I was thrilled to see myself quoted talking about writing along with such authors as Katie Fforde, Phillip Pullman, and Stephen King. (I’m not worthy, but I’ll take the association however I can get it!)
It looks like a very good book, though I haven’t read it through yet–full of little nuggets of information, advice, and experience. It’s the second general “how-to” writing book I’ve bought recently, because my friends Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner, of Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, have written a book called How To Write a Blockbuster. The books are different–the Blockbuster book is more about clearly explaining technical aspects such as structure, genre, characterisation, and submission, and Book in You is more about discovering how you, personally, fit into the world of writing and publishing. I think they compliment each other quite well and I think they’ll both be very useful for reference and enjoyment.
I also wrote 1300 words, which is over my minimum, though not quite as much as I wanted to. I couldn’t figure out my hero’s motivation. I’m having a little trouble balancing the conflict for this book, possibly because my attention span is about ten minutes long. This morning I got up and wrote nearly 900 words of just musing about what the hell my hero thinks he’s doing dragging the heroine hundreds of miles to see his mother. I’m still not entirely sure it’s correct, but I’ve got enough to work with now, and maybe I can change in the edits. It’s not bad enough so that I think it sucks. Yet.
July 2, 2006 | reading
Yesterday went well. It was a hot day in Birmingham and I have to admit that the venues were not ideal–one was a very dark night club and one was a very hot meeting room. But the people were all very friendly and everyone who attended my talk was the best–fun, intelligent, considerate people.
I’m glad I went–I enjoyed the talk, I met some lovely articulate people who love reading and discussing books, and I got to see Rosie. And they gave me ice cream. I have to say I’m still undecided about BookCrossing. This isn’t meant to be something inflammatory–I think the people at the convention were fantastic, and I believe they are idealistic and kind. I also believe that the reasons behind the group are, on balance, well meant. It’s fun to find a book “in the wild” and to set it free for someone else to read. I could see first-hand that the convention allowed all the participants to share the joy of reading with each other, and that’s got to be a great thing.
But there is that tricky issue of authors making a living, and publishers staying in business. A BookCrossing book has many readers, and the author only makes his or her very small profit on it once. A book traded is a book not bought. It’s also not a book taken out of a public library, which pay authors PLR and which need everyone’s support.
On the other hand, I’ve borrowed many books, enjoyed them, and then gone out and bought the author’s other books. If this is what BookCrossers do, then that can benefit authors. Is it?
Let me make it clear again–I’m not in any way questioning the validity or benefits of the organisation to its members. I saw that yesterday. And personally, the convention was an opportunity for me to get my work more well known, which will benefit me. But how about authors in general?
What do you think?
April 11, 2006 | reading
With the teaching job and the writing job I’m finding I have less and less time to read, so one of my resolutions for this holiday was to do some reading.
I’ve read three books since Saturday–or rather two and a half. The first one is called Stuart: A Life Backwards
The second is my April shelfmate Kate Hardy’s Modern Extra The Cinderella Project
Right now I’m reading The Ship of Brides
I’ve also bought The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred
This isn’t really helping me get my book written but I am having a wonderful time.
I also received an email from a reader yesterday who said she rarely has time to read, and yet she read my Featured Attraction all in one sitting, and then emailed me at 1.30 am to tell me so…so I am inspired by that .
