Procrastination, Book Review, and Story Surfing

Hey awesome readers, I know that I haven’t been here in quite a bit, but I haven’t been completely gone. I’ve been diving into books, writing, tv shows, and cleaning. Winter is on the way (you thought I was going to type the iconic line and now I’ve disappointed you, yes?) and I’ve been trying to prepare for that as well. (Winter is coming. There, happy?)

First, Book Review: Kim Harrison – Sideswiped & The Drafter

Sideswiped is a prequel short story you can find for .99 cents (for me, on Amazon). I wanted to read the short story before I paid 9.99 for The Drafter. I’m glad I read both. Not only did Kim have to keep track of several high-octane characters she also had to keep track of more than one timeline and (as if that wasn’t hard enough) who knew what about which timeline.

I did not want to put the book down. I was enthralled and then saddened by Sideswiped. It was a devastating ending but it gave me more insight into Silas while reading the Drafter, though it took me a little longer to figure out why he didn’t explain why he quit Opti.

If you read the Hollows Saga and liked it, I think you’ll love Peri Reed. She is strong even when she has every right to fall to pieces. She kicks ass and I would enjoy seeing a match between her and Rachel if those two worlds were to collide. I was not expecting to enjoy this novel because I was heartbroken that the Hollows Saga ended (and I’ll never forgive Kim for Kisten).

So, please, take a moment and go to smile.amazon.com and look up The Drafter and Sideswiped by Kim Harrison. I’m not receiving anything at all for this review, it’s just the plain truth.

Second, Other things going on:

Procrastination has included cleaning, watching tv, and having a 14lb cat sit on my right arm when I want to write (which is quite difficult). NaNoWriMo is also coming and I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to work on this year during the event. I have a choice between three things and I haven’t outlined any of them.

I’ve also been working on a short story from the Supervisor Sexcapades to submit for an anthology. I have been working on it for months. I want to submit it before January because I’m hoping for feedback or want time for change requests (if any).

I also had an idea a while back about a book of short stories of my own and I have been working on those. I had thought about using NaNoWriMo to work on the stories there and having them end around the goal of 50,000 words total. If I don’t figure out what I want to happen in the other two novels with basic outlines, then I probably will go that route.

In case you didn’t know, I don’t consider watching tv as procrastination, even though I should. The reason I don’t is because I watch for the plot twists to see if they surprise me or if I guess them, if the problem was solved too easily or if it was more difficult than it should have been. You can use television shows for insight on how relationships work when someone is keeping secrets or how to keep track of which characters know what information. I tend to watch various shows which gives me ideas on how to write my character personalities and how to tie those threads to others.

Television and movies also are usually action-oriented. Unless it’s something educational or informational, it is meant to entertain or provoke an emotional response, (Yes, educational documentaries and infomercials can provoke an emotional response, but I’m talking about how something like Marley & Me made people tear up and grab the tissues.) Don’t pull your punches, aim for the emotional that you’re targeting, and hit it with all you’ve got. The more page-turning a book is (such as The Drafter) the better response you’ll get from your audience.

Last, Go forth and create something incredible.