C. L. Norman

This week can be summed up in one word “Busy”.

I don’t have much to report unless you are interested in hearing about all the mommy duties and extra hours I worked this week. However there are a couple neat things to report.

Work

I work at the nook desk one to three times a week and this week was no exception. Monday the news came down that the price on “nook original” was being dropped and a new “nook lite’ was coming in and it’s price was even better. So lots to learn about at work and now nook is even more tempting. I find it incredibly easy to spend money and my job is one big temptation and they keep sweetening the pot.

Proud of my Brother

My baby brother graduated from Perry Technical Institute on Thursday and I am so proud. He has always struggled with school and to see him walk up in his cap and gown; receive his certificate; and walk with a smile on his face  was a great moment. My baby sister graduated last month and now the youngest of us (and there are 8 in the family) has made it through some form of higher education. It is a very cool moment for the family.

Hopefully next week will be a bit more interesting to share. At the very least I’ll be wishing you a Happy 4th. Have a good week.

        

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads and Dad-like folks out there. I hope your loved ones showed you their appreciation today with cuddles or food or a phone call. I just finished making my husband breakfast for dinner; I worked this morning and wasn’t able to make him breakfast in bed. He eyeballed the bacon and promptly made himself a bacon sandwich. <shrugs> At least he enjoyed the food.

Reading

Eat, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss: I’ve been reading this book during my breaks at work for the last few weeks and I finished it up today. I’ve been told several times “you should read it” and I finally did. It is a hilarious look at those pesky punctuation rules, trends, and history. I found myself laughing out loud, literally, many times. As an American, I also found it very interesting to look at writing from a British perspective. To sum up, you should read this book.

Writing

Writing group met this week and, while it wasn’t my turn to submit, I learned some things from the critiqued pieces. Both of them were too heavy on backstory, in my opinion; my stories have been lacking on the world-building, or at least on communicating the world building. I detest info-dump-type sharing of the setting and history of the story. I suppose in response to that I have been leaning too far the other direction and not sharing enough of the details of the setting with my readers. Seeing the other end of the spectrum was helpful. Maybe my writing will improve.

        

• DO come in with a smile. Your’s might be the only one the bookseller sees that day.
• DON’T come in in the middle of a conversation on your cell phone and ask for help: or talk loudly on your blue-tooth. We don’t care to hear about your personal life and we will hear it.
• DO bring as much information about the book, you are looking for, as possible: title, author, and, for the best results, the ISBN.
• DON’T ask for the book with the red cover, about this big, that was up on one of the tables about three months ago. If you can’t remember the specific book, don’t expect someone who handles hundreds of books in a day to remember.
• DO feel free to be cleverly funny. We all like a laugh now and again.
• DON’T approach the customer service counter and say “I’m a customer. Service me.” and smirk. Especially to a female employee. It’s not funny. It’s creepy. Eww.
• DO browse the shelves and take your time. You never know what you might find.
• DON’T rearrange the books on the shelves as a joke. It isn’t a joke, it’s annoying.
• DO feel at home in the store. Books are friends. You want to be comfortable bringing your choice home with you.
• DON’T leave your used gum anywhere near the books; or anywhere other than the garbage can. Please.
• DO ask for help; either by phone or in person. Putting the book in your hands is the best part of working at a bookstore.
• DON’T say “I’m looking for a book.” and stop. We know you are looking for a book. You’re in a bookstore.

        

Hi, guys. Another week, another post.

Reading

Daemon’s Mark by Caitlin Kittredge. The fifth in the Nocturne City series and another heroine shapeshifter. Luna Wilder is the main character in these books and she heads up the Supernatural Crimes Section of the police department. In this book, (despite the mistake on the cover blurb) Luna gets caught up in an investigation into a Russian sex slave ring. Young supernatural women are going missing and Luna is compelled to help them. An ex makes an appearance and her new boyfriend asks a question complicating Luna’s already full plate. This book is one I could not put down, and why would I even try? It is that good.

Revenant by Phaedra Weldon. Mental note: Ask Zoe Martinique how she keeps track of all her mental notes. Zoe Martinique started off this series as a plain old investigator who just happened to have the little talent of being able to go Out of Body (OOB) and spy on people incorporeally. Handy trick that. By this time, as a result of a connection with a certain Vin Diesal look-alike from the Abysmal plane, she is now Wraith. Wraith with a capital W, complete with scary black wings and killer bunny slippers on her feet. Irreverent and funny, Zoe’s friends are being threatened by a series of attacks on Revenants AKA vampires (but not the kind you’ve been reading about) and is off to save them. By the way, you can blame Zoe for my Sunday post being posted on Monday morning.

TV

Lie to Me. Cal is back in business, rooting out the liars and having fun doing it. In the season opener, Cal is after a serial killer. Everyone else doesn’t see it, but Cal pushes forward and proves himself right, again. Doctor Johnny Fever saw a UFO and his career was saved. Ok, so maybe it was the actor, Howard Hesseman, playing a professor who saw the UFO and as everyone thought he was crazy his career was in jeopardy. This show is one of my favorites. The team dynamic, the irreverent Cal, and the “who-done-it” aspects of this show hit all the right notes with me and I am happy it is back for the summer.

Good Guys. I’m on the fence about this new series. On one hand it is a cop and partner show. Two partners who are completely different are out there solving crimes. On the other hand it is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of a cop show, poking fun at the genre with a lot of strange, but funny, flashbacks.  ”I finally figured out how to use the computer machine.”–Dan Stark as he wedges the laptop into the car to hold down the accelerator.

Stargate SG-U. Wow. Season finale and it won’t be coming back until October. I think there were tears in my eyes when I knew how long it would be before I FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO EVERYONE! The season finale has the potential for new faces (and another faction) to be added to the Destiny. It also has the potential for several favorites to be leaving. I am loving this show and I am going to be counting the days until the next season starts.

Writing

You might think with all this reading and watching of the TV, I didn’t have time to write. You would be wrong. While my word count might not be that impressive, I did make progress on my current story. I am also seeing the path I want to start down with the next scene or two which is always nice. The path is fog shrouded and murky, and I think I hear some creepy music playing, but there is some excitement down there I can’t wait to explore.

Movies

Karate Kid. I told you that I wanted to see this movie and so I took the family with me to celebrate the kids’ last day of school. I really enjoyed it. There was enough of a balance between the familiar and new, that everyone could have fun with this movie. Jaden Smith has a lot of his dad in him (or at least a lot of what his dad shows on the screen) and Jackie Chan is, as always, awesome. Fun, fresh, and most importantly, this movie teaches kids to do their chores and respect their elders. You should see it.

How was your week? Any summer plans you are jumping into already?

        

I took yesterday off from the computer. I needed a break from my normal routine and so this post is a day late.

Reading

I read Ilona Andrews‘ Magic Bleeds, fourth in the Kate Daniels series. I enjoyed this book, as I did all the others, greatly. The pacing, the voice of the character and author, the setting; all these things suck me in and keep me reading until the last page. And then looking for more pages and being disappointed when I couldn’t find any.

Writing

I turned in the first 10 pages of my rough draft for group and it was critiqued last week. I was hesitant to turn in something unfinished and so rough but I am determined to finish a novel length project this year and so I didn’t want to write a short story just for group. My critique raised a bunch of questions and pointed out some holes in the story so far that are helping generate new ideas. I will have to remember how that helped and try showing some pages to a close friend or two when I get stuck in this story.

Movies

My daughter begged for some time with me, asking to go see Letters to Juliet. Y’all know I wanted to see that movie and to spend time with my oldest daughter just sweetened the deal. Together we went and laughed and cried and enjoyed the story. The movie is fun and watching the relationships between Sophie and Claire, and Sophie and Charlie, develop was very entertaining. The one sour note for me was that I couldn’t believe Sophie had ever been in love with Victor, her fiance.

That was my week. How was yours?

        

Or maybe the day after Monday. Here goes. June’s here and new movies will be popping up in theaters everywhere. Here is a list of the movies I would like to see, if I had the time and money to see them all.

The A-Team opening on June 11: I was/am a fan of the original. From that stand-point, I am wary of seeing this movie and having it suck, ruining my fan status. Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper are marvelous actors and clearly, the makers of this movie are fans of the original. With that in mind, I know this movie will be fun and full of gratuitous explosions. And if they put Liam Neeson in a Swamp Thing costume smoking a cigar, that won’t be a bad thing.

The Karate Kid opening on June 11: June 11 is an unofficial take back the 80′s holiday and the theaters are jumping into it with both feet with this second remake. When I first heard that they were remaking The Karate Kid, I reacted with revulsion. No way can they re-do Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi, and if they tried, I wasn’t going to go see it and I would actively tell anyone who would listen to go watch the original. Luckily, this is a whole new kid and a whole new teacher. The trailers look fun and fresh, and who wouldn’t want to see Jackie Chan show a kid some kung-fu moves? I will even try to take my kids to this show and maybe after we will come home and I will have them ‘paint the fence’.

Wow. June is a slim month for movies. I know, I know… Toy Story 3 is opening on June 18th but to be honest I am one of the very few who never got excited about those movies even though I love Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. They are fun and well done but just not something I ‘have to see’.

So what movies will you be sitting down, in front of a big screen with a gallon of popcorn, to watch?