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.

WWI Read: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Book # 5 in the War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle.

I was on the fence about whether or not I wanted to read this one. I knew it wouldn’t really have anything to do with Downton Abbey. What tipped the balance? This review on Amazon:

 … did not think the book would be 3/4 about war war war and her nursing abilities.

And I was all: Sold! Because that’s exactly what I wanted to read about. This is also why authors shouldn’t sweat the negative reviews. That being said, there’s controversy in some of the other reviews about how sanitized this version of Lady Almina’s life happens to be.

I suspect there might be some truth to this. The narrative is fairly scandal free, the author glossing over the fact Lady Almina remarries in the same year Lord Carnarvon dies and only briefly mentions the court case she becomes involved in (see Wikipedia for more info).

However, I did enjoy learning more about what went into running a private hospital during WWI and the problems encountered. Although in Lady Almina’s case, she solved a great many of these problems by throwing money at them–which seems to have been her SOP. Also fascinating was the time the narrative spent on the Earl’s interest (more like an obsession) in Egyptology. I hadn’t realized he was Howard Carter’s backer, and that together they discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Was the read worth it? From my point of view, yes. If you already know a bit about WWI, you won’t learn a lot here. And of course, the narrative doesn’t contain swoon-worthy scenes between Matthew and Mary or one liners delivered by Dame Maggie Smith. However, it is an interesting look at a certain strata of British society before, during, and after the war.

And just because the book doesn’t have any Maggie Smith doesn’t mean this blog post will go without. Enjoy.

Unidentified Funny Objects Table of Contents Reveal

Look at this! It’s the Unidentified Funny Objects Table of Contents reveal! Twenty nine stories will make up this 80,000 word anthology.

Even the titles have me cracking up.“The Velveteen Golem” by David Sklar? I can’t wait to read all the other stories in the anthology. It’s not too far away. Click through to pre-order your copy in paperback or e-format.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Conversation overheard on a Sunday evening:

Me: Kyra can watch her show and I’ll stream an episode of Doctor Who. Then, we can read.

Andrew: No, no, no! Mom, don’t become one of those people!

Me: You mean a Doctor Who fan?

Andrew: Yes!

Me: Are some of your friends fans?

Andrew: Kind of.

Me: Little obsessed, are they?

Andrew (eye roll): …

Me: Well, I just started watching it. I like it.*

Andrew (head in hands, muttering into the pages of his AP World History book): No, no, no, no, no.

Kyra: Dr. Seuss? Can I watch?

* Yes, I know. As of last night, I’ve only watched two episodes of Doctor Who. I have now given up any pretense of nerd/geek cred.

Sleeping Beauty finds a home

I’m so excited to announce that my short story The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty will be part of the Unidentified Funny Objects anthology, due out this November!

The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty combines cell phones and swords with a really sucky sweet sixteen.

I’m positively thrilled that Sleeping Beauty was considered both funny enough and fantasy enough to be included. It’s a great way to start the week.

Five years later and George Clooney still hasn’t moved in

Once upon a time, I TP-ed George Clooney’s house. On paper–and not even toilet paper. I wrote a short story called TP-ing Casa de Clooney. When the Long and the Short of It review site posted it as their free read, I made mention of it here.

That resulted not so much in people reading the story (I think maybe three people have done that), but an avalanche of people searching for Mr. Clooney’s house. Amused by this, I wrote a post a month later about the impossibility of George Clooney living in my blog. I even included some photos of Mr. Clooney’s charming abodes.

This, as it turns out, was a mistake. The hits on that particular post, the one with the photos? Skyrocketed. It comes in waves, based, I assume, on spikes in celebrity gossip about Mr. Clooney. Does he have a new girlfriend? (I don’t know; it’s not my week to watch him.) Break up with said girlfriend because she used the word “marriage” in an interview? (You’d think they learn, no?)

So, just as I know when it’s high school book report season (hits on my review of Tamar by Mal Peet also skyrocket), I know when it’s open season on Mr. Clooney.

I suspect I’ll regret writing this blog post as well. Still, I’d like to make one thing clear:

It’s been five years and George Clooney still doesn’t live here.

A new (old) release!

Or should that be an old (new) release? I’m not sure, but hang on and I’ll tell you why.

A few months ago, I received the rights back to my short story The Trouble with Firsts that appeared in the 2009 Debs e-anthology The First Time (per the contract). I didn’t think much of it until I remembered that I had another YA short story that didn’t currently have a home. What if I used those two stories to walk through the process of publishing something online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble?

Advantages? Here’s what I thought:

  • Clean, edited manuscripts pretty much ready to go
  • Short length, making the formatting and technical review easier
  • Low risk

It was surprisingly fun along with being educational. My goal isn’t to earn a lot of money with these stories–or even much at all–but to learn how the process works.

And it is also a low risk way to have some of my writing available to new readers as well. A 99-cent short story sampler versus $8.99 for Geek Girl? Some readers might want to go with the 99 cents to start. It’s nice I can give them that option.

So, without further ado, I give you: The Trouble With Firsts:

The e-book contains two short stories:

  • The Trouble with Firsts: a story about first dates, prom, and humiliation–not necessarily in that order.
    First published as part of The First Time e-anthology, October 2011
  • Speechless: a story about not speaking up–and what happens when you finally do.
    First published online as part of the launch for The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading.

So, there you have it. My new (old) release. Or my old (new) release. It’s available on:

  • Kindle
  • Nook (forthcoming ~ I’ll update this post when it goes live)

Blogging as part of Classics Carnival: Why Pride and Prejudice is not a love story

Pride and Prejudice

My guest blog post is up at Book Angel Booktopia. Go read why Pride and Prejudice is not a love story.

No, really. Go see why. I’m not going to tell you about it here.

Synchro Fever

Pictograms of Olympic sports - Synchronized sw...

Since I don’t talk a whole lot about works-in-progress or completed works that have no home, some of you might not know that I wrote a YA novel where part of the plot revolves around a high school synchronized swimming team. I based some of it on my high school days, and some of it not. Synchro has changed a lot over the years.

In the story, my main character and another girl swim a duet. In my mind, it looks like the video below. In reality? They wouldn’t be swimming at Olympic gold medal level.

I’m sure some of you have seen this. If not, click through and take four minutes from your day and enjoy.

Ishchenko and RomashinaWin Duet Gold

Mid-year-ish Reading Recap

I meant to write this one up at the end of June or beginning of July, but it has been a whirlwind of activity around here: horse camp, the Betsy-Tacy convention. I’m almost never this much of a social butterfly. July has been one hot, busy month, but totally worth it. In fact, I almost don’t know what to do with myself this weekend.

On to the reading (and watching) challenges!

Fifty/Fifty Me challenge

The challenge here is to read fifty books and watch fifty movies during 2012. Where I’m at:

  • Books: 52
  • Movies: 12

Yes, try not to laugh at that. All I can say is if I’m awake enough in the evenings to enjoy entertainment of some sort, I’m almost always going to reach for a book rather than fire up a movie. That’s just how I roll.

If you want to see what I’ve been reading, check out my Pinterest board. It has a list (minus the seven I read for the Rita contest and can’t disclose) of what I’ve read so far this year.

If you want to see the (limited) number of movies I’ve watched, look here.

War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge

I’ve made my goal! And by mid-year! However, I do hope to read a few more WWI books (at the very least).

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.

That’s it! I hope everyone else is keeping on track with their reading/watching challenges so far this year. Hey, there’s still plenty of time to make your goals.