Quick post from sick writer

Dear Readers,

I've been sick this week. I finished Daggerspell and really enjoyed it. I'll write a proper review next week.

I've written like 10,000 words of backstory scenes for the main character of the World Striders novel. It didn't seem like that much. I'd just write whenever I felt like it. It felt good to write. None of it is actually going in a novel or anything probably. But I've enjoyed writing.

That's it. Thanks for reading. (cough, cough)

Writing update, no review

Hello, Readers!

So yesterday was a day off for the family, so I forgot it was Monday. That might happen on Monday holidays, so be warned.

I'm a little more than halfway through Daggerspell by Katherine Kerr. It's an enjoyable read so far.

As for writing, I did a tiny bit of world building for WorldStriders, and hashed out a little more backstory. I am working on the villain's backstory right now. I've also had several moments of doubt. Do I really need to do it this way or that? My goal for this week is to write 20 minutes every evening, whether it's about the story or the actual story itself. Just to really write, to exercise my creative muscles. I feel like I'm holding back a tide right now. It only hurts, and why bother?

Of course, I will finish Daggerspell and get started on other reading by next Monday as well.

Thanks for reading!

The King of Elfland's Daughter and On the Edge

Greetings, Readers!

This week I read two books. I finished The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany, and I read another book, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews.

I loved reading The King of Elfland's Daughter. The prose was so beautiful, like an old faerie tale. Which is sort of what it is. The language is a little thick and flowery, so it was not a quick and easy read; it made me slow down and savor. That's the kind of book it was. The urban fantasy I've been reading is fast and exciting and hard to put down; this book almost needed to be put down between chapters to let it soak in. I wish I'd read it when I was younger, a child, on one of those rainy autumn afternoons in Forestville, when it didn't matter how small the cabin was because I was worlds away in Elfland and Erl.

On the Edge was more urban fantasy. The story was predictable and a little too pat, the romantic subplot even more so, and the love scene cringe-worthy. There was so much backstory I double checked to make sure this was the first in it's series. Some of the backstory points would have made a better novel than this one! However, I loved the world and the characters and the way they interacted, especially the protagonists little brothers, enough to want to read the sequels if/when they come out. Maybe they'll be about the brothers.

As far as my writing goes, I did accomplish the character backgrounds for the two main characters. This week I'll work on worldbuilding for the fantasy realm and start playing with plot and writing up some background scenes to explore the way the characters interact.

I started rereading Ejuridae but I've read it so many times I go cross-eyed. I have to edit the last few chapters to get it ready for first-readers because I'm just not able to see it anymore. I'm too familiar. There's a big chance I'll put it aside after I give it to a few people to read, I just want to be able to say I've finished it.

Thanks for Reading!

Review of 7 Wonders and a Goal for the New Year

Good Evening Readers!

I finished Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher on New Year's Eve. I'm glad it didn't follow me into this year. I loved Christopher's previous effort, Empire State. The actual prose itself in Seven Wonders was as good, and that kept me reading, but the story fell short in my opinion.

I really wanted to like this book. There was a lot of good stuff in it: the superpowers, the moral ambiguity, the realistic treatment of untrained superheroes, some great flashy action scenes. What it lacked was a protagonist. Not just a sympathetic protagonist, but any at all. It starts off with Tony Prosdocimi, but then it's off everywhere else, and nobody is right or innocent, nobody has clear motivations. It's great to keep a reader guessing, but what if they don't care to? If the reader is so divested from the characters that each new twist makes them shrug and say, "Oh. Okay. Whatever." That's how this book made me feel. The writing itself was good enough to keep me going through the end, but I can't say much else for it.

I am currently about three-quarters of the way through The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany. The review for that will have to wait until next week, but I am enjoying it.

As for writing, I have two projects. One is the new one I discussed before, the Worldstriders one. I have not moved on that yet but I do have a couple of goals for it. One, I'd like to finish it, a whole novel, before NaNoWriMo comes around again this year. I'd like to spend November mad-writing a brand new novel. This week, I plan to do detailed character creation on the main characters and plan out a (very) rough plot. I will do some writing, but it will largely be backstory and may or may not end up as an actual part of the novel itself.

The other is a D&D homebrew I'm running for my daughter. This is a creative writing project as much as anything I've ever written. We game on Fridays and there's a ton of world building to do.

There is also an editing project. I want to get the Ejuridae novel ready for first readers by the beginning of summer.

And that's that for reading and writing. Thanks for reading and I'll be back in a week!