Category: Reading

Ten day challenge day 4: writing books

10 Day Write Blog Challenge button200So for yesterday’s Ten Day Writing Blogger Challenge I decided to take the day off, since I didn’t take a day off on Sunday. Make sense? Well, it worked for me. My daughter was sick (germy camp is germy) and I wasn’t feeling all that great either.

So she spent the day reading in the living room fort she constructed and I sat in a nearby chair and did much the same (reading, not fort construction). In the evening we watched an episode of Doctor Who. As sick days go, it wasn’t too bad.

But I’m back at it today with books on writing.

Today’s prompt:

Profile 3 to 5 top writing craft books.

I’ve picked the three below because they each changed something about the way I write. In video game terms, I felt I leveled up after working through each book. That being said, I think the key word in that sentence is work. I’ve read a metric ton of writing craft books (no, really, I bet if you stacked them all on a scale, they would weigh a metric ton), but some I just skimmed, some I got halfway through, others I did read and maybe did some of the exercises, but I wasn’t militant about it.

The three below? I threw myself into the process. My mindset was: I am going to do this thing, no matter the outcome. It’s very much how I’m approaching Write 1/Sub 1 this year.

Anyway, my three books are:

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook

Interestingly enough, the outcome of this was the spine for The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading.

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

The jury is still out on this one, at least where the product piece of it is concerned (we’ll see, we’ll see–and that’s all I’m saying about that). I used it to write/revise Speechless. I will say this particular craft book is not for everyone. It’s dense and intense and a completely different way of looking at building a story. Still, I got a lot out of it.

Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance

This is less a how-to book and more of a how-to-get-writing book. Some days all it takes for me to start my writing session is to acknowledge that I’m feeling that tug of resistance. The author, Rosanne Bane, has a terrific website, The Bane of Your Resistance, if you want to try before you buy. I recommend both the book and the website.

Coming soon: Unidentified Funny Objects 2!

Photo-mainComing soon (as in September 2013) another volume of funny science fiction and fantasy stories will hit the shelves.

Want to know more? Head on over to the Kickstarter project page to see who is headlining this year’s anthology and all the bonuses for helping to support its launch.

If you’re a writer with a funny speculative fiction story, check out the guidelines here.

I was thrilled to be involved with the first anthology. Will I submit again? I might. I have a story I think might fit. At the moment, I can’t decide if it’s humorous or merely crazy. With my stories, it can be hard to tell.

 

Booking through Thursday: Baby, it’s cold outside

I haven’t booked for a while and today’s topic caught my attention:

It’s the depth of winter here where I live right now … what books do you like to read when it’s snowy and white? What books do you read to evoke a real feeling of winter (good or bad)?

I’m not sure I have a particular type of book I read during the winter. For the past couple of years, I’ve been a reading fool during the winter months since I was reading for the Rita contest–but I didn’t sign up this year. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all this time I have now that I’m not charging through eight/nine novels in six weeks.

Cover via Amazon

As for a real feeling of winter, the first book that comes to mind is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Want to forget how cold you are? This is the book you reach for. And it comes with one of my all-time favorite lines:

How can you expect a man who’s warm to understand a man who’s cold?

The world would be a better place if we tried to.

2012 Reading Challenge wrap up

WWIchallenge

So last night I finished my last book for the War Through the Generations 2012 WWI reading challenge.

I read seven books in all, which is the most I’ve read for this challenge since I started doing it. I signed up for the “wade” level of 4 – 10 books, so I accomplished that quite comfortably. And I still have more WWI books I want to read. Even so, I plan to sign up for the 2013 challenge: The American Revolution.

It’s perfect timing since this spring, Kyra’s class does a huge unit on the American Revolution and we plan to do the reading challenge together.

To sum up 2012, here’s a quick overview (with links to some reviews) of the books I read:

To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild (review here)

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Fantastic middle grade novel that should appeal to adults as well. One of my favorite constructs–the story within a story. This one is on audio as well and would make a good summer road trip book.

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

I discovered this one thanks to a Facebook post. Yes! Facebook! Good for something.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

WWI mystery. If you like the Maisie Dobbs series, this is a good choice for historical/WWI mysteries.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon (review here)

Not really connected to Downton Abbey, but still interesting.

World War One: History in an Hour by Rupert Colley (review here)

This book is exactly what it claims to be: a concise overview of World War I that you can read in an hour or so.

Not So Quiet … Stepdaughters of War by Helen Zenna Smith

Interesting if ultimately tragic (what else could it be) story about female ambulance drivers on the Western Front in WWI. Helen Zenna Smith is a pseudonym for Evadne Price, who had an interesting and varied writing career. Read more about her on here on Wikipedia.

Read the Unidentified Funny Objects Press Release!

Read a bit more about how the Unidentified Funny Objects Anthology came to be, the Kickstarter campaign, and its brush with Hurricane Sandy.

And, of course, you can always pre-order a copy (or two) directly from the publisher–it’s the perfect holiday gift for someone who loves funny science fiction and fantasy.

World War One: History in an Hour ~ a short review for a short book

Book #6 for the War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge, which means I have thoroughly “waded” into the challenge–and feeling quite proud of myself.

World War One: History in an Hour is exactly what it claims to be: a concise overview of World War I that you can read in an hour (or so–I spent about an hour and a half reading). It is also a better book to read at the start of a WWI reading challenge, not closer to its end.

That being said, it’s a great place to start if you don’t have a passing familiarity with WWI, or haven’t done any serious reading on the topic since 11th grade world history. The narrative style is engaging, and the book itself is broken into sections, which makes it easy to set down and pick back up again. The author doesn’t go into any great depth, but again, that’s not this book’s purpose.

The book also includes short biographies of some of the major players in the war along with a timeline.

So, if you’re looking for an introduction, or need a quick read to round out this year’s challenge, you can’t go wrong with this one, especially if it continues to be free on Kindle.

October-ish review

So I was looking over October, now that it’s over, and discovered something. I managed, without even trying, to send out four submissions this month. Four different submissions that no one has ever read (well, I’ve read them …). And I thought: Whoa. How did that happen?

It was magic.

Actually, when you work a little bit at a time, put some small words on the page, then a few more, and then a few more after that, they grow. It’s only after the fact, after the manuscript is written and revised, after you put a stamp on it (or click submit), that you realize how much you’ve done. Even then, you might sit back and think:

It was magic.

Cover of "84, Charing Cross Road"

Speaking of magic, reading in October was full of it. I don’t know why I’ve never read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. I don’t know why I decided I needed to read it right now, in October. But I did.

And I fell in love. Predictably, I immediately gobbled up Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Q’s Legacy. Charming, wonderful, meandering books with no high concept, no high stakes, and yet I was glued to the page, kept turning the pages, stayed up way past my bedtime to read.

It was magic.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

New books on the block:

Kiss, Kiss, Bark!A while back, I entered a Twitter contest to win Kiss, Kiss, Bark! from Tanglewood Press–then figured that would be that.

This week, I found out that I won a copy. Kyra was thrilled. So was I.

It looks like a cute and fun read. We both can’t wait to dig in.

Flashing again

So earlier this year, when I wrote The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty, it reminded me how much I love the short form. Sure, selling it to the Unidentified Funny Objects anthology didn’t hurt either. But the writing and the love came first. And I wondered:

Why did I stop?

Um. I don’t know. Because I can write longer forms and the short forms without my head exploding. So that’s not the issue. Since there doesn’t seem to be a reason, I’ve jumped back onto the short bandwagon with both feet (and a cliché or two in my pocket).

I decided to take In a Flash: Short-shorts, Micro-memoir and Prose Poetry from The Loft Literary Center. (Note: They have a great selection of online classes, so you don’t even need to be local to the Twin Cities to take a class.)

Some ideas really lend themselves to the short form. Maybe they just fit better there, or it’s an idea you want to have a fling with, but don’t want to marry (so to speak).

Sometimes it’s what we don’t know that truly makes the story–how many blanks we need to fill in. Because filling in the blanks can be fun. The ad below is an example of this less is more genius.

Yes, I know I’m not helping my “George Clooney doesn’t live in my blog” cause (see posts here and here), but I can’t help myself.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

  • Finished Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle. My take here.
  • Working my way through the big fat book on the Russian Revolution (yes, that’s what it’s called). I’m on page 107. This means I’m 13% the way through the book. (I told you it was big and fat.)
  • Finished The One and Only Ivan, book #70 for the year. Terrific and charming, perfect for animal lovers of all ages. Passing it along to Kyra now. Pretty sure it will make her cry–not that it made me cry or anything.

Out this week:

Fabulous 2009 Deb Kirstin Cronn-Mills has a new release out this past week (October 8th).

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is available in paperback and on Kindle.