Sunday, August 12, 2012

Reading, Writing, and High School Football

Happy Sunday fellow NaNoWriMo Campers and ROW80'ers! I hope ya'll had a productive week of writing this past week. I didn't fare as well as I wanted to, only writing 2,500k (PARADIGM) since Wednesday, but they were important scenes and I feel as though my story is finally coming together. 

I didn't get any writing done yesterday, which is why my word count is low. I held a yard sale in the morning, then headed off to a high school football scrimmage (my friend's son's team was playing), so there went my day. And speaking of high school football, my good pal and fellow ROW80er Tiffany A. White has just published her first book, Football Sweetheart (YA Mystery), set in the world of Texas high school football. As a fellow Texan myself, I can't wait to read it! 



So, while I didn't get much writing done, I did get a chance to read. I hadn't read anything in a couple weeks, and my mind was craving some good brain candy! Here's what I read these last few days:


Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson

As a writer, I should know better than to read reviews. Sure, they're often helpful when trying to determine whether or not to read a particular book, but in this case, I should have just ignored all the horrible 1 star reviews (116 of them!) and read it two years ago when it first came out. I had been a fan of the series and when this book came out, readers were p*ssed. I decided to ignore the reviews and read it for myself. Personally, I loved everything the other readers hated about the book. I thought it was actually pretty brilliant of MJD to do what she did. That and I'm a sucker for time-travel stories! If you've read the series up to this point, it's worth forging ahead.


Demon Hunter and Baby by Anna Elliott

I picked this one up free on a promotion day and finally got around to reading it. The premise was good and I loved the storyline (a demon hunter with a baby, of course). It took me a couple days to finish this, as I had trouble with the author's writing style, but the world building kept me intrigued. All in all, it was a good read. 


Wuthering Frights by H.P. Mallory 

I finally picked up book four in the Dulcie O'Neil series by H.P. Mallory and as usual, it was a fun quick read. While I absolutely love the characters, I always find myself thinking there's something missing. There's a beginning and an ending, but no middle. I guess it's my way of saying..."make your books longer!" The book leaves us with more questions and I'll certainly pick up the fifth one to find out what happens next! 

That's it for today, folks! Happy reading and writing this week!! 

5 comments:

  1. Hey, when writers are reading, it's research...right? :)

    I don't depend on reviews to decide which books I'll get. I've actually bought books with bad reviews just to see if they are really that bad. And they are usually not. I can usually tell right away if I like a writer's style just by the few pages Amazon or Smashwords will let you read before buying. Reviews are way too subjective.

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    1. I use that excuse when I watch tv too...research! And yeah, I should have known better than to read the reviews. I tend to like a lot of books that didn't garner good reviews (and the opposite too)! Perhaps I'm just an easy reader to please :)

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  2. I love MJD's Undead. The time travelling ARC was risky but it did it's purpose and that's to shake the readers from being too comfortable (which often leads to boredom) with the series.

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    1. It was risky, but that's what I loved about it! I really want to believe that readers thought it was the last book in the series, which is what caused the upset. The only good thing about waiting 2 years to read it, is that there are 2 more that follow that are already out!!

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  3. Well done on the writing you did get done and I agree with the above, reading is our research!! Good luck catching up this week! That is my aim too!!!

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