This is a writing update, since it's been a while... or rather, a non-writing update. I have all these grand time frames of how I'll get writing done and then life gets in the way. Or I go on vacation for two weeks and come back sick with a new computer to figure out and a mountain of work to do. Take your pick. Both options resulted in the same thing: no writing.
Ugh... Well, May wasn't a total loss. I revised 1 chapter in Fire and Ash. Seriously, 1?!? Yeah, it's sad. But one is better than none. Most of the time.
But the lack of writing is making my brain do weird things. Those weird things have turned into ways to fix plot holes for Fire and Ash, as well as Chaos Rising (I know, I haven't mentioned that one in a while. I'm trying to finish Fire and Ash first). And, because working on 2 novels isn't crazy enough, I started plotting this year's NaNoWriMo novel. In June.
So actual writing: a sad little number not worth mentioning.
Ideas: Multitudes.
If only thinking of ideas got the writing done.
Let's hope June is more productive.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Again With the Books
No matter what kind of trip it is, vacation = reading time. All of these were kindle reads and all I picked up on the daily deal or monthly deal.
Books 2013 update:
#41: Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy
This was about Mary, Henry VIII's younger sister, who was married off to the king of France. He died off soon after, leaving her free to marry her long time love Charles Brandon. I read this in almost one sitting on the long plane ride overseas. It was entertaining, though not among my favorite of historical fiction.
#42: Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
This was another historical fiction about the early days of Julius Caesar. We read about him growing up and how he first became involved in the politics of Rome. It was interesting to read about this perspective, as most stories I've read tend to take place after he's become an important figure. Again, like the book above, the book read okay but was not my favorite historical fiction.
#43: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
This book was my favorite by far of the ones I read on my trip and I don't know why I waited so long to start reading this series. It's about a druid who was born a few thousand years ago and made a pact with the Morrigan to keep him alive and young. He looks like he's 21 and he currently lives in Arizona and owns an occult book shop. He stole a sword from a Celtic god and has been hiding from him ever since. The story is about what happens when that god decides it's time to get the sword back. I couldn't put the book down. It's quirky and humorous and full of great characters.
#44: The Hedgewitch Queen by Lilith Saintcrow
#45: The Bandit King by Lilith Saintcrow
These are books 1 & 2 of the Romances of Arquitaine, about a girl named Vianne who's raised as a friend of the princess of the realm. Early in the books the princess and king are murdered. Vianne rescues the man wrongly accused of committing the crimes, which sets them on a desperate race to flee the kingdom. It's full of sorcery, intrigue and drama. It's very different from the other books I've read by this author, but in a good way. I found them just as delightfully entertaining as her other series.
#46: Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma
This is the sequel to the Map of Time that I read a few weeks back. It follows H.G. Wells in Victorian England. This time he's just written War of the Worlds, only to discover that he's actually laid the groundwork for a real alien invasion. It weaves in characters from the first book. These books are unlike most others I've read in the way the stories are told. Much of it is the narrator speaking directly to the reader, followed by a lot of exposition. It's a refreshing change from the norm. My only criticism is that the author hinted at the end of the book in the middle of it, which made it easy to guess what was going to happen.
Books 2013 update:
#41: Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy
This was about Mary, Henry VIII's younger sister, who was married off to the king of France. He died off soon after, leaving her free to marry her long time love Charles Brandon. I read this in almost one sitting on the long plane ride overseas. It was entertaining, though not among my favorite of historical fiction.
#42: Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
This was another historical fiction about the early days of Julius Caesar. We read about him growing up and how he first became involved in the politics of Rome. It was interesting to read about this perspective, as most stories I've read tend to take place after he's become an important figure. Again, like the book above, the book read okay but was not my favorite historical fiction.
#43: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
This book was my favorite by far of the ones I read on my trip and I don't know why I waited so long to start reading this series. It's about a druid who was born a few thousand years ago and made a pact with the Morrigan to keep him alive and young. He looks like he's 21 and he currently lives in Arizona and owns an occult book shop. He stole a sword from a Celtic god and has been hiding from him ever since. The story is about what happens when that god decides it's time to get the sword back. I couldn't put the book down. It's quirky and humorous and full of great characters.
#44: The Hedgewitch Queen by Lilith Saintcrow
#45: The Bandit King by Lilith Saintcrow
These are books 1 & 2 of the Romances of Arquitaine, about a girl named Vianne who's raised as a friend of the princess of the realm. Early in the books the princess and king are murdered. Vianne rescues the man wrongly accused of committing the crimes, which sets them on a desperate race to flee the kingdom. It's full of sorcery, intrigue and drama. It's very different from the other books I've read by this author, but in a good way. I found them just as delightfully entertaining as her other series.
#46: Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma
This is the sequel to the Map of Time that I read a few weeks back. It follows H.G. Wells in Victorian England. This time he's just written War of the Worlds, only to discover that he's actually laid the groundwork for a real alien invasion. It weaves in characters from the first book. These books are unlike most others I've read in the way the stories are told. Much of it is the narrator speaking directly to the reader, followed by a lot of exposition. It's a refreshing change from the norm. My only criticism is that the author hinted at the end of the book in the middle of it, which made it easy to guess what was going to happen.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
My Scandinavian Adventure
So the radio silence these last two weeks have been for a very good reason. Bill and I spent 12 days on a Scandinavian adventure. People are asking for the details, so here it goes:
We flew out Thursday night, landing Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark. Both flights arrived early, putting us at our hotel by noon. The first night we stayed at the Hotel Bethel, which is right in the heart of the Nyhavn area of downtown Copenhagen. For those who have not been there, this area of town is equated with Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It's a canal bordered by cute bars, restaurants and hotels. It was too early to check into the hotel so we dropped our bags and got a great recommendation for lunch from the hotel staff. We walked to Skindbvlesen (yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the correct spelling but don't ask me how to pronounce it) for lunch. They had a mini lunch plate that Bill and I shared that consisted of pickled herring, fried white fish, chicken salad, pork with pickled cabbage and pickles. And of course, we had the first beer of the trip. Everything tasted delicious. By this point we were pretty tired, having been awake long enough for Thursday and Friday to blur into one long day. We walked around the heart of Copenhagen just long enough to kill time until we could check into the hotel. Then we took a much needed nap. Feeling refreshed, we walked around the downtown area a little more, stopping at a few bars along the way for whiskey and beers. We had no agenda that day, so we walked around and got lost in the maze of streets that make up the downtown. It was fun. We ended the night by getting take out food (shwarma for me, big mac for Bill*) and called it a night.
On Saturday we woke feeling refreshed and on the correct time zone. We walked around downtown Copenhagen a little more and found a restaurant called Cafe Sommersko for a fabulous weekend brunch buffet. We walked around a little bit more just enjoying the city. Then we decided to pick up our luggage, hail a taxi and head to our home for the next week: Royal Caribbean's Voyage of the Sea. Yep, a cruise. This marked my fifth cruise and Bill's first. Vision of the Sea is one of the smaller ships and this was the first cruise of the European season, which meant it wasn't packed. At times it felt like we had the ship to ourselves, which was nice. We spent the rest of Saturday unpacking our stuff and exploring the ship to find our favorite bars. The goal, according to my parents, is to have a drink at each bar on the ship early on so you can figure out which is your favorite. So we did. This ship didn't have that many bars. We ended up favoring two of them: the Schooner Bar in the afternoon and the Some Enchanted Evening lounge after dinner.
Sunday was spent at sea all day, so we had plenty of time to get to know the ship and try out several cocktails on their bar menus. The weather was too cold to go on the outer decks, so we spent the time reading in the bars and walking around. This was the first of the "formal" nights for the dining room. We opted to save the space it took to pack for that and skip it, eating dinner at the buffet instead. We did not go hungry.
Monday we docked in Tallinn, Estonia at 9:30am. We opted out of any shore excursions here, or any other port except St. Petersburg. We followed Rick Steves'** self-guided walking tour around the city. It's a cute city and felt to me like a typical Renaissance-type city. It had the cobblestone streets and winding roads. The walking tour took us to several key spots in the city, including churches and palaces. It ends at the base of a large stone wall where all the grandmas gather to sell their knit sweaters (we didn't buy one). We had a tasty lunch at a local bar. We did stop at two different bars to try Estonian beer, which we enjoyed. Then we headed back to the ship as it left the port around 4:30pm. So it was back to our afternoon bar with our books to read and relax. We went to bed early because we knew we were in for a long day on Tuesday.
Tuesday we docked in St. Petersburg, Russia. The only way to get off the boat is to take a shore excursion, so we booked a 9 hour one. We had a hectic start to the day. Russia is the only place on the cruise that requires you to go through customs. There's a form you have to fill out to give them, and I wasn't paying attention and filled it out wrong. That led to us running back to the cruise ship for another one and getting through customs just in time to see our tour bus leaving. Fortunately, there was another bus doing the same tour, so we were able to get on that. Traffic in St Petersburg is horrible, so it took a very long time to get anywhere. Our first stop was to the Hermitage, which was the Winter Palace of the czars that became a museum. We toured through it, admiring both the art collection and the buildings themselves. It reminded me of the Louvre. The highlight was the Italian wing that had two Da Vinci paintings. After a two hour tour, we got back on the bus and went to a restaurant for a mediocre lunch, then back on the tour bus to go way out of the way to get to a cheesy souvenir shop. We spent way too much time there, which meant we were hurried the rest of the trip. Our next stop was to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built on an island. There's a cool cathedral at the heart of it that we walked through before getting back on the bus. We stopped at a couple of other landmarks just long enough to take pictures before heading back through customs and onto the boat. The 9 hour trip took closer to 10 hours and most of it was spent on the bus in traffic. St Petersburg is an interesting city to see. The heart, near the Hermitage, is full of brightly colored palaces. The outer fringes were full of colorless, featureless buildings, many is disrepair. After the long day we headed straight to our afternoon bar on the ship for several cocktails and good conversation with fellow passengers.
Wednesday we landed in Helsinki, Findland. We opted to walk from the ship to downtown, which proved to be a lot longer than we thought. Once downtown, we followed the Rick Steves' self-guided walking tour. It started in the market at the harbor, which is a wide open area full of tents with vendors selling fresh fish, prepared food, arts, crafts and more. We then walked down the Esplanade, a large street with a park in the center strip of it with bars, restaurants and shops on either side. The end of the walking tour was the Finland Museum, which we toured through. Then we back tracked to the market for some fresh fish plates for lunch (tasty & cheap!). We stopped at a bar for Finnish beers and ran into a couple from the cruise ship. After chatting with them, we walked around the city a little more then headed back to the ship. We chatted with fellow passengers in our afternoon bar for a while, had dinner, and met up with the couple we ran into in the city at our evening bar. It made for a fun night.
Thursday we woke up very tired and landed in Stockholm, Sweden. This turned out to be our favorite destination of the trip. We landed in a different port than we thought, so it took us a while to figure out how to get downtown. Stockholm has the Gamla Stan (Old Town) in the heart of the city, which is on an island. We did the Rick Steves walking tour of the old town, which we loved. It very much looked like a Renaissance town. We toured through the Palace and walked up and down the streets. One of the stops on the tour was to find the smallest statue in Stockholm, which is of a boy the size of your fist. It's considered good luck to drop a coin before him and rub his head. We stopped at a place for a touristy type of lunch that turned out to be fabulous. After lunch we went to the Vasa museum, which was one of the highlights of the trip. The Vasa is a huge 1600 sailing ship that sank and was raised 333 years later. A museum was built around it to preserve and showcase it. The details and the story around this ship fascinated me. After the museum, we stopped at a cute outdoor bar on the harbor for a beer. We walked around the city for a while, soaking up the sights. We both decided we loved the city and want to go back some day. Finally we headed back to the ship and back to our favorite bar. We crashed early that night.
Friday we spent all day at sea. I woke up feeling sick, so it was nice to have nothing to do that day. We spent the whole day reading our books and taking it easy (witch cocktails, of course). We said farewell to our favorite staff members and packed up our gear.
Saturday we disembarked from the cruise in Copenhagen bright and early. We took a cab to our second hotel - Hotel Guldsmeden. It was way too early to check in so we dropped off our luggage and headed into the downtown area. This hotel was on the opposite end of the downtown than our first. We did the Rick Steves walking tour of downtown Copenhagen and then toured the Rosenburg Castle. We had lunch at a place called Bof & Oust, where we had the traditional Copenhagen 3 small sandwich lunch (all very tasty). Then we headed back to the hotel to check in and take a quick nap. Once refreshed, we walked to the meatpacking district, which is an area outside of the touristy downtown section. It's a series of old meatpacking buildings that have been converted to stores and restaurants. We stopped at 2 different places for beers, then went to a place called Mothers for very tasty pizza. We then walked towards the heart of downtown Copenhagen, which was packed due to the Gumball 3000 race starting the next day. There was a street lined with the race cars and all kinds of people gathering around to celebrate. We found 2 different Irish bars for more beer, then returned to the hotel.
Sunday I woke feeling like utter crap. My allergy attack turned into a full-blown cold. But I was determined to make the best of it, so we took a train to a town just north of Copenhagen to visit the Louisiana museum - which is Denmark's every-changing museum of modern art. It's a neat museum and was worth the trip. We didn't get back into Copenhagen until 3:30pm. Originally we wanted to tour the Carlsburg brewery, but getting back that late didn't give us enough time, so we walked to the Danish National Museum instead. It's a neat museum, but it was way too hot in there, so we gave up and went for a beer instead. We had dinner at a local burger & fry place, then retired early to the hotel.
Monday we flew home. All flights again landed early, but it still made for a very long day (and I was still sick).
So that's the details. The weather co-operated with us most of the trip. Temperatures averages high 50s-low 60s. We had sprinkles in Estonia and a morning of rain the last day in Copenhagen. We never had a bad meal and all the beers tasted good. They're all similar to Carlsburg - mostly lighter lagers and pilsners. Bill and I liked the cruise, though we both agreed that we prefer to do a trip on our own schedule so that we can experience the night life in a town and aren't so rushed. Still, a cruise is a great way to get a taste of a lot of different places and we had nothing but great service on our trip. We do have pictures, which hopefully I can post soon.
Coming home sicker than a dog was not at all fun. I tried to ignore the cold the last few days of the trip, which meant I spent my first few days at home feeling significantly less than human. Small price to pay though.
Yay Scandinavia!
*Bill always feels the need to try a Big Mac in non-US cities just to see how they compare. This one tasted... well.. like a Big Mac.
**Rick Steves is our travel god when in Europe. I can't recommend his travel books highly enough. It's where we found our hotels, picked most of the restaurants, and saw the sights. His tour books are the only ones I need when traveling through Europe. He has an easy way of writing that makes you feel like he's your friend suggesting things to do. Some of my most memorable European experiences have been from things I've found in his books.
We flew out Thursday night, landing Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark. Both flights arrived early, putting us at our hotel by noon. The first night we stayed at the Hotel Bethel, which is right in the heart of the Nyhavn area of downtown Copenhagen. For those who have not been there, this area of town is equated with Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It's a canal bordered by cute bars, restaurants and hotels. It was too early to check into the hotel so we dropped our bags and got a great recommendation for lunch from the hotel staff. We walked to Skindbvlesen (yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the correct spelling but don't ask me how to pronounce it) for lunch. They had a mini lunch plate that Bill and I shared that consisted of pickled herring, fried white fish, chicken salad, pork with pickled cabbage and pickles. And of course, we had the first beer of the trip. Everything tasted delicious. By this point we were pretty tired, having been awake long enough for Thursday and Friday to blur into one long day. We walked around the heart of Copenhagen just long enough to kill time until we could check into the hotel. Then we took a much needed nap. Feeling refreshed, we walked around the downtown area a little more, stopping at a few bars along the way for whiskey and beers. We had no agenda that day, so we walked around and got lost in the maze of streets that make up the downtown. It was fun. We ended the night by getting take out food (shwarma for me, big mac for Bill*) and called it a night.
On Saturday we woke feeling refreshed and on the correct time zone. We walked around downtown Copenhagen a little more and found a restaurant called Cafe Sommersko for a fabulous weekend brunch buffet. We walked around a little bit more just enjoying the city. Then we decided to pick up our luggage, hail a taxi and head to our home for the next week: Royal Caribbean's Voyage of the Sea. Yep, a cruise. This marked my fifth cruise and Bill's first. Vision of the Sea is one of the smaller ships and this was the first cruise of the European season, which meant it wasn't packed. At times it felt like we had the ship to ourselves, which was nice. We spent the rest of Saturday unpacking our stuff and exploring the ship to find our favorite bars. The goal, according to my parents, is to have a drink at each bar on the ship early on so you can figure out which is your favorite. So we did. This ship didn't have that many bars. We ended up favoring two of them: the Schooner Bar in the afternoon and the Some Enchanted Evening lounge after dinner.
Sunday was spent at sea all day, so we had plenty of time to get to know the ship and try out several cocktails on their bar menus. The weather was too cold to go on the outer decks, so we spent the time reading in the bars and walking around. This was the first of the "formal" nights for the dining room. We opted to save the space it took to pack for that and skip it, eating dinner at the buffet instead. We did not go hungry.
Monday we docked in Tallinn, Estonia at 9:30am. We opted out of any shore excursions here, or any other port except St. Petersburg. We followed Rick Steves'** self-guided walking tour around the city. It's a cute city and felt to me like a typical Renaissance-type city. It had the cobblestone streets and winding roads. The walking tour took us to several key spots in the city, including churches and palaces. It ends at the base of a large stone wall where all the grandmas gather to sell their knit sweaters (we didn't buy one). We had a tasty lunch at a local bar. We did stop at two different bars to try Estonian beer, which we enjoyed. Then we headed back to the ship as it left the port around 4:30pm. So it was back to our afternoon bar with our books to read and relax. We went to bed early because we knew we were in for a long day on Tuesday.
Tuesday we docked in St. Petersburg, Russia. The only way to get off the boat is to take a shore excursion, so we booked a 9 hour one. We had a hectic start to the day. Russia is the only place on the cruise that requires you to go through customs. There's a form you have to fill out to give them, and I wasn't paying attention and filled it out wrong. That led to us running back to the cruise ship for another one and getting through customs just in time to see our tour bus leaving. Fortunately, there was another bus doing the same tour, so we were able to get on that. Traffic in St Petersburg is horrible, so it took a very long time to get anywhere. Our first stop was to the Hermitage, which was the Winter Palace of the czars that became a museum. We toured through it, admiring both the art collection and the buildings themselves. It reminded me of the Louvre. The highlight was the Italian wing that had two Da Vinci paintings. After a two hour tour, we got back on the bus and went to a restaurant for a mediocre lunch, then back on the tour bus to go way out of the way to get to a cheesy souvenir shop. We spent way too much time there, which meant we were hurried the rest of the trip. Our next stop was to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built on an island. There's a cool cathedral at the heart of it that we walked through before getting back on the bus. We stopped at a couple of other landmarks just long enough to take pictures before heading back through customs and onto the boat. The 9 hour trip took closer to 10 hours and most of it was spent on the bus in traffic. St Petersburg is an interesting city to see. The heart, near the Hermitage, is full of brightly colored palaces. The outer fringes were full of colorless, featureless buildings, many is disrepair. After the long day we headed straight to our afternoon bar on the ship for several cocktails and good conversation with fellow passengers.
Wednesday we landed in Helsinki, Findland. We opted to walk from the ship to downtown, which proved to be a lot longer than we thought. Once downtown, we followed the Rick Steves' self-guided walking tour. It started in the market at the harbor, which is a wide open area full of tents with vendors selling fresh fish, prepared food, arts, crafts and more. We then walked down the Esplanade, a large street with a park in the center strip of it with bars, restaurants and shops on either side. The end of the walking tour was the Finland Museum, which we toured through. Then we back tracked to the market for some fresh fish plates for lunch (tasty & cheap!). We stopped at a bar for Finnish beers and ran into a couple from the cruise ship. After chatting with them, we walked around the city a little more then headed back to the ship. We chatted with fellow passengers in our afternoon bar for a while, had dinner, and met up with the couple we ran into in the city at our evening bar. It made for a fun night.
Thursday we woke up very tired and landed in Stockholm, Sweden. This turned out to be our favorite destination of the trip. We landed in a different port than we thought, so it took us a while to figure out how to get downtown. Stockholm has the Gamla Stan (Old Town) in the heart of the city, which is on an island. We did the Rick Steves walking tour of the old town, which we loved. It very much looked like a Renaissance town. We toured through the Palace and walked up and down the streets. One of the stops on the tour was to find the smallest statue in Stockholm, which is of a boy the size of your fist. It's considered good luck to drop a coin before him and rub his head. We stopped at a place for a touristy type of lunch that turned out to be fabulous. After lunch we went to the Vasa museum, which was one of the highlights of the trip. The Vasa is a huge 1600 sailing ship that sank and was raised 333 years later. A museum was built around it to preserve and showcase it. The details and the story around this ship fascinated me. After the museum, we stopped at a cute outdoor bar on the harbor for a beer. We walked around the city for a while, soaking up the sights. We both decided we loved the city and want to go back some day. Finally we headed back to the ship and back to our favorite bar. We crashed early that night.
Friday we spent all day at sea. I woke up feeling sick, so it was nice to have nothing to do that day. We spent the whole day reading our books and taking it easy (witch cocktails, of course). We said farewell to our favorite staff members and packed up our gear.
Saturday we disembarked from the cruise in Copenhagen bright and early. We took a cab to our second hotel - Hotel Guldsmeden. It was way too early to check in so we dropped off our luggage and headed into the downtown area. This hotel was on the opposite end of the downtown than our first. We did the Rick Steves walking tour of downtown Copenhagen and then toured the Rosenburg Castle. We had lunch at a place called Bof & Oust, where we had the traditional Copenhagen 3 small sandwich lunch (all very tasty). Then we headed back to the hotel to check in and take a quick nap. Once refreshed, we walked to the meatpacking district, which is an area outside of the touristy downtown section. It's a series of old meatpacking buildings that have been converted to stores and restaurants. We stopped at 2 different places for beers, then went to a place called Mothers for very tasty pizza. We then walked towards the heart of downtown Copenhagen, which was packed due to the Gumball 3000 race starting the next day. There was a street lined with the race cars and all kinds of people gathering around to celebrate. We found 2 different Irish bars for more beer, then returned to the hotel.
Sunday I woke feeling like utter crap. My allergy attack turned into a full-blown cold. But I was determined to make the best of it, so we took a train to a town just north of Copenhagen to visit the Louisiana museum - which is Denmark's every-changing museum of modern art. It's a neat museum and was worth the trip. We didn't get back into Copenhagen until 3:30pm. Originally we wanted to tour the Carlsburg brewery, but getting back that late didn't give us enough time, so we walked to the Danish National Museum instead. It's a neat museum, but it was way too hot in there, so we gave up and went for a beer instead. We had dinner at a local burger & fry place, then retired early to the hotel.
Monday we flew home. All flights again landed early, but it still made for a very long day (and I was still sick).
So that's the details. The weather co-operated with us most of the trip. Temperatures averages high 50s-low 60s. We had sprinkles in Estonia and a morning of rain the last day in Copenhagen. We never had a bad meal and all the beers tasted good. They're all similar to Carlsburg - mostly lighter lagers and pilsners. Bill and I liked the cruise, though we both agreed that we prefer to do a trip on our own schedule so that we can experience the night life in a town and aren't so rushed. Still, a cruise is a great way to get a taste of a lot of different places and we had nothing but great service on our trip. We do have pictures, which hopefully I can post soon.
Coming home sicker than a dog was not at all fun. I tried to ignore the cold the last few days of the trip, which meant I spent my first few days at home feeling significantly less than human. Small price to pay though.
Yay Scandinavia!
*Bill always feels the need to try a Big Mac in non-US cities just to see how they compare. This one tasted... well.. like a Big Mac.
**Rick Steves is our travel god when in Europe. I can't recommend his travel books highly enough. It's where we found our hotels, picked most of the restaurants, and saw the sights. His tour books are the only ones I need when traveling through Europe. He has an easy way of writing that makes you feel like he's your friend suggesting things to do. Some of my most memorable European experiences have been from things I've found in his books.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
A Quick Book Update
Books 2013 update:
#37: Alison Wonderland by Helen Smith
This was one of the kindle daily deals and is a bit of a switch from my usual fantasy and science fiction. This one was more of a mystery. The main character is Alison, who after discovering her husband is cheating on her, divorces him and joins the detective agency she fired to find the truth. She gets mixed up in a mystery her boss has asked her to look into which mingles with a friendship with a bizarre woman looking for an abandoned child. It was well written and easy to read. I still prefer magic or sci-fi, but it was a decent switch.
#38: Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell
This is a YA book and reminded me very much of some of the Tamora Pierce novels. It's about a girl who's studying to be a cadet in a world where magic is strictly regulated. She's having a tough time keeping up with the others and gets mixed up in political intrigues threatening the kingdom. It's an engaging story and I look forward to reading more in the series.
#39: Walking Dead by C.E. Murphy
This is the 4th book in the Walker Paper series and is a reread for me. This is the series about Joanne, a Native American and Irish shaman, who's coming into her power while fighting forces trying to stop her. Honestly, this series is probably my favorite urban fantasy series. I love the characters and the author's writing style.
#40: Spinneret by Timothy Zahn
This I picked up from the kindle daily deal, and as with his other books, it's an easy to follow and interesting sci-fi story. This takes place in the not too distant future when humans have discovered viable space travel. They set out to explore other planets, only to find other races have beaten them to it and there's no uninhabited planets left. They lease an unwanted planet from another race, a planet that has no metal whatsoever. A group is sent to colonize the planet and discover why there's no metal.
#37: Alison Wonderland by Helen Smith
This was one of the kindle daily deals and is a bit of a switch from my usual fantasy and science fiction. This one was more of a mystery. The main character is Alison, who after discovering her husband is cheating on her, divorces him and joins the detective agency she fired to find the truth. She gets mixed up in a mystery her boss has asked her to look into which mingles with a friendship with a bizarre woman looking for an abandoned child. It was well written and easy to read. I still prefer magic or sci-fi, but it was a decent switch.
#38: Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell
This is a YA book and reminded me very much of some of the Tamora Pierce novels. It's about a girl who's studying to be a cadet in a world where magic is strictly regulated. She's having a tough time keeping up with the others and gets mixed up in political intrigues threatening the kingdom. It's an engaging story and I look forward to reading more in the series.
#39: Walking Dead by C.E. Murphy
This is the 4th book in the Walker Paper series and is a reread for me. This is the series about Joanne, a Native American and Irish shaman, who's coming into her power while fighting forces trying to stop her. Honestly, this series is probably my favorite urban fantasy series. I love the characters and the author's writing style.
#40: Spinneret by Timothy Zahn
This I picked up from the kindle daily deal, and as with his other books, it's an easy to follow and interesting sci-fi story. This takes place in the not too distant future when humans have discovered viable space travel. They set out to explore other planets, only to find other races have beaten them to it and there's no uninhabited planets left. They lease an unwanted planet from another race, a planet that has no metal whatsoever. A group is sent to colonize the planet and discover why there's no metal.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Checking In
Hi! I'm still here. Haven't fallen off the planet yet. Still not feeling a whole lot like talking, which is why the blog has been a little quiet as of late. But spring has finally reached us (at least where I am) and the sun is shining and vacation is looming, so I'm feeling like coming out of my shell at last.
So first the writing progress:
I've started draft #3 of Fire and Ash and I tell you what. It's hard. The hardest part is getting started. I'm trying to do it a chapter at a time, and so far have only finished the first 3 chapters. But that's okay, it's not a race and the revisions are going well. I think. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
I've also written a few short stories lately. They were also both hard. I don't know if it was because I was a little out of practice on short stories, having focused so much time on novels lately. Or maybe it was just something in the stars this time of year makes my creative brain a little sluggish. Who knows. But I have 2 new stories and I want to polish them up a bit until they're shiny and submit them. It's been a while since I've done that.
On vacation:
Coming up soon! Mums the word on when and where, but I promise to tell you all about it when I return.
On weight loss:
Still sucks and I'm still at the plateau. With vacation coming up, it's not looking good. Especially since I need to order the last piece of my costume for dragon*con shortly after returning from vacation. Oh well. The good news is I had to do some clothes shopping for my trip and I fit into a size I haven't seen in a while! So 15lbs does make a little bit of difference. That made me happy.
Hmm... anything else? Well, not that comes to mind right now...
So first the writing progress:
I've started draft #3 of Fire and Ash and I tell you what. It's hard. The hardest part is getting started. I'm trying to do it a chapter at a time, and so far have only finished the first 3 chapters. But that's okay, it's not a race and the revisions are going well. I think. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
I've also written a few short stories lately. They were also both hard. I don't know if it was because I was a little out of practice on short stories, having focused so much time on novels lately. Or maybe it was just something in the stars this time of year makes my creative brain a little sluggish. Who knows. But I have 2 new stories and I want to polish them up a bit until they're shiny and submit them. It's been a while since I've done that.
On vacation:
Coming up soon! Mums the word on when and where, but I promise to tell you all about it when I return.
On weight loss:
Still sucks and I'm still at the plateau. With vacation coming up, it's not looking good. Especially since I need to order the last piece of my costume for dragon*con shortly after returning from vacation. Oh well. The good news is I had to do some clothes shopping for my trip and I fit into a size I haven't seen in a while! So 15lbs does make a little bit of difference. That made me happy.
Hmm... anything else? Well, not that comes to mind right now...
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Radio Silence
I'm an introvert. That means I don't always know what to say. It's easier to write than to speak, but even then sometimes I don't have the words. The last few weeks have been like that. Sometimes I feel fed up with social media. Too many words are being said and not enough content. Seriously. I don't care what my friends had for breakfast or where they checked into. Don't get me wrong, I hope their lives are full of good food and great adventures. I just don't really need to know the daily details.
When I first joined facebook I felt compelled to post every day. Same thing with twitter. Since then I go through phases. Sometimes I post quirky little tidbits of my day. Other times I decide the world neither needs to hear it nor particularly cares, so why bother. I've been in the later phase lately, which is why I haven't posted much in either format or written much here.
As with the moon, that will shift. Stay tuned and the words will return.
When I first joined facebook I felt compelled to post every day. Same thing with twitter. Since then I go through phases. Sometimes I post quirky little tidbits of my day. Other times I decide the world neither needs to hear it nor particularly cares, so why bother. I've been in the later phase lately, which is why I haven't posted much in either format or written much here.
As with the moon, that will shift. Stay tuned and the words will return.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Books, books and more books
I think the internet is afraid of me. It's been trying to prevent me from writing a post the last few days. Therefore I must have some secret hidden super power that it fears. It must have given in today. Either that or it discovered someone else with a bigger superpower and is now blocking them.
And for all of that hassle, the only update I have right now is on the books I'm reading. Sheesh, the internet is a scaredy-cat.
Books 2013 update:
#33: The Homecoming Masquerade by Spencer Baum
This is one of the books I picked up from the kindle deal of the day (or monthly deal, I don't remember). It takes place in an urban fantasy world where vampires have come out of hiding and are part of the elite society. They run the government and prefer to be called immortals. There is an elite school that holds a contest every year that starts at the homecoming dance. Any girl who wears a black dress is entered into the contest. The winner gets turned into a vampire at the end of the school year. The loser gets eaten by the winner. This story is about a plot between two students to undermine the girl everyone assumes will win. I liked the book. It's a quick read and kept me engaged the whole time.
#34: The King's Bastard By Rowena Cory Daniells
#35: Always Coming Home by Ursala K. Le Guin
But wait, these are two different authors. Why are they clumped together as if part of a series? Well, because I have the same comment for both of these. They weren't for me. For a bigger explanation, see this post.
#36: Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn
This was another book I picked up on the kindle daily deal. It takes place in the future after an alien race completely conquered earth and all human-inhabited planets. It's about Caine, an earth human who is charged with carrying out a secret mission to try and restart the war between humans and the aliens, sort of an underground move. The story takes him to another planet where he meets up with the blackcollars - men who were specially trained in the first war to be super soldiers. Overall I enjoyed the book. It jumps right into the story and is the kind of sci-fi story I can easily follow along.
And for all of that hassle, the only update I have right now is on the books I'm reading. Sheesh, the internet is a scaredy-cat.
Books 2013 update:
#33: The Homecoming Masquerade by Spencer Baum
This is one of the books I picked up from the kindle deal of the day (or monthly deal, I don't remember). It takes place in an urban fantasy world where vampires have come out of hiding and are part of the elite society. They run the government and prefer to be called immortals. There is an elite school that holds a contest every year that starts at the homecoming dance. Any girl who wears a black dress is entered into the contest. The winner gets turned into a vampire at the end of the school year. The loser gets eaten by the winner. This story is about a plot between two students to undermine the girl everyone assumes will win. I liked the book. It's a quick read and kept me engaged the whole time.
#34: The King's Bastard By Rowena Cory Daniells
#35: Always Coming Home by Ursala K. Le Guin
But wait, these are two different authors. Why are they clumped together as if part of a series? Well, because I have the same comment for both of these. They weren't for me. For a bigger explanation, see this post.
#36: Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn
This was another book I picked up on the kindle daily deal. It takes place in the future after an alien race completely conquered earth and all human-inhabited planets. It's about Caine, an earth human who is charged with carrying out a secret mission to try and restart the war between humans and the aliens, sort of an underground move. The story takes him to another planet where he meets up with the blackcollars - men who were specially trained in the first war to be super soldiers. Overall I enjoyed the book. It jumps right into the story and is the kind of sci-fi story I can easily follow along.
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