What I Am Reading

I’m currently reading Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann which reminds me once again why my husband is willing to read romance novels by her. Brockmann is extremely talented and has established herself well enough to get away with the first person POV of a dead man in a romance novel. I can’t wait to get to the end, and I’m dreading it being over.

Fair Ladies by Theodora Goss (on Apex Magazine) is a melancholy, compelling story about young men and changing times. Very powerful.
http://apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2010/08/short-story-fair-ladies-by-theodora-goss/ (more…)

Welcome to Friday the 13th. Hope you’re all having a magical, rather than mundane, day.

What I Am Reading

Nearing the end of Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and so far it’s holding up well. I’m interested in seeing how she’s going to pull this all together in the end.

Just finished Public Affair, Secretly Expecting by Heidi Rice (part of a Harlequin reader reaction program I’m in). This one is from one of their “hotter” lines, which clearly plays a big part in the story, but at the same time, there’s a surprising complexity in the history of both main characters, affecting how Juno and Mac interact, and driving their interpretation of circumstances. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Life

Not sure where to place this one, but I wanted to share. It has suggestions for writing, for project management, and for a focus on success. Well worth the time to read this analysis of Pixar’s process:
http://www.copyblogger.com/pixar/
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What I Am Reading

Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars is proving to be a complex and rather fascinating read.

A Stroke of Dumb Luck By Shiloh Walker, on Tor.com, is a fun urban fantasy story that does an excellent job of establishing the world all the while maintaining tension:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/07/a-stroke-of-dumb-luck.
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What I Am Reading

I finished Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy this week. It was everything I’ve come to expect of her writing and more. I’ll try to get my comments up next week.

I also finished the Irlen book. A lot to think about, but nothing that changed my mind about going forward with the lenses. If just having my monitor tinged green has helped my focus and online reading, how much more will having that ability all the time?

This has not been a heavy reading period for me because I’m writing a complex computer program that tends to grab what concentration I have, but I don’t last long without reading something .

Publishing

Tips on how to study the market for a manuscript:
http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2010/07/how-to-study-the-market.html
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If you haven’t read my summaries of the Muse Online Writers Conference, click the “Home” button at the top of this page and go look under appearances. It’s a wonderful conference that is now in its sixth(?) year where you have the opportunity to meet editors, authors, and publishers all online and all for free. Starting last year, the mastermined behind it all, Lea Schizas, also worked with various agencies and publishers to offer pitch sessions in chat, and therefore a written medium many authors find more relaxing…I know I did.
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Note: Sorry for the slim pickings this week. I’m heading off to Canada and so am scheduling this post. Between last minute work on my goals and packing, I didn’t have much time to read blogs and articles.

What I’m Reading:

I forgot to mention that I finished Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl last week. I haven’t had time to write up my comments, and I didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. This one takes the series one notch higher, and besides, it involves one of my favorite characters from the first novel.
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I am coming to understand just how much brain is involved in teaching my youngest son to drive, and it means I lose track of the simple things…like Friday. So here, better late than never, are this week’s links.

What I Am Reading:

My dear husband got me a copy of Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl for our anniversary, and I’ve been enjoying the read. It’s amazing how her style is the same and yet different for this new series in the Darkyn world.

Research

A musical look at library research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98
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What I Am Reading

This has been a crazy week, so I didn’t get much reading time, but I have finished Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Katie MacAlister and will be posting my review next week.

Submitting

While I’d be cautious about some of the style tips at the very end, this process for constructing a synopsis is similar to what I taught in my synopsis class and can be quite effective:
http://www.writing-world.com/publish/synopsis.shtml
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What I Am Reading

I’m in the middle of Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Katie MacAlister. It’s not quite what I expected, but I’m enjoying the ride so far. Ballsy characters in a neat setting make for a fun read.

The Last Stand of the Ant Maker by Paul Jessup on Apex Magazine is a bizarre almost prose poem. I skimmed the first few lines, thinking I wouldn’t like it, but ended up reading the whole thing, pulled in by its surreal nature. I wanted to know what was going on even though I could tell I never would be able to exactly.
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2010/05/short-story-the-last-stand-of-the-ant-maker

Writing

Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to create character conflict:
http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/77
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What I’m Reading

This week I finished Her Vampire Husband by Michele Hauf. This is not the first one of hers I’ve read, but this one surprised me on several levels. It was closer to an erotica than I’d expected, and was a little too detailed on vampire love making for my comfort, but what caught my attention the most was the overall story where two distinct culture groups with a lot of reasons to hate each other have to face up to their similarities and change. This is definitely worth a read.

I received an order I’ve been waiting on forever (stupidly put some prereleases in a B&N free shipping order) and have to make a tough decision as to what to read first. Changeless by Gail Carriger won and I’m devouring it already.

The Freedom by K.M. Lawrence is an odd story that doesn’t quite explain itself but at the same time gives enough to draw me in and keep me reading through to the end. I wonder if this is a glimpse at something bigger just because there’s so much not explained, but that’s not a problem for the story. It’s an amazing study in how to say almost nothing and yet reveal a whole lot. And besides, I enjoyed the story itself. http://www.strangehorizons.com/2010/20100426/freedom-f.shtml
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