C. L. Norman

Reading

This week I read Caitlin Kittredge’s Street Magic. I am an avid fan of her Nocturne series and have been wanting to try out this other series for a while and finally broke down and bought a copy.  I tried to be all responsible and read it only at night after I had finished the things I needed to get done but by the third night I was heading to bed earlier for more time with my book and the next morning I finished the book before getting anything else done. It was different but exciting. The central mystery of the story was engaging and well thought out. I really enjoyed it.

Tax Season

We finally filed our taxes this week and I learned a valuable lesson. We have always had H&R Block prepare out taxes and I have always been satisfied with their work. This year, my writing is in the shady area where I might be able to claim some deductions because of it and the tax preparers were not prepared to handle those questions. I learned that I can’t trust professionals to know everything about their fields. A good lesson to know. Hopefully I keep this information in mind when I meet with other professionals in the future.

Dr. Suess

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess. It is such a wonderful thing that children across America celebrate the birth and career of an author every year. I helped with this tradition by reading Green Eggs & Ham and The Foot Book during this week’s storytime. The children never seem to tire of the words of this wonderful writer. A personal thank you to him for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I was reading this book when I was 4 years old. Dr Seuss is the author that launched me into the world of books that I live in today.

Revising/Rewriting

Up to this morning I always thought there was something wrong with me that I never rewrote on as massive a scale as everyone else I have heard of. I touch up grammar and word choice, delete repetitive sentences, and in general only clean up my first draft. I don’t delete huge passages or shift around large blocks of text or any of those other drastic measures revision seems to involve. This morning I read an entry in Dean Westley Smith’s Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing series and am now in the process of letting go of that feeling of wrongness, embracing my method, and working up the confidence to believe in my words despite them being the result of only one or two drafts.

Birthdays

My second child turned 13 this week. That brings the number of teens in the family up to two. I am bracing myself for the fallout of that event. Two teen daughters and only two parents. Things could get wild and crazy around here for a few years. I’ve been told my kids are easy and others are jealous, I have my fingers crossed that that trend continues.

How ’bout your week? Did it go well? Learn anything new?

        

Reading

This week Kim Harrison’s Black Magic Sanction was released. The last couple books in the Hollows series were slightly disatisfying for me. Not because of the writing but because I hoped certain things would happen that didn’t or vice versa. I enjoyed this book in all ways. The plot, the characters, the pacing; I stayed up late to finish it, flipping pages and holding my breath to see how Rachel would get out of her current predicament. I cried and laughed and had a blast. I fell in love again with the Hollows series.

Rivers of Ink

The local writing event to connect readers and writers is having its second go-round this October and our first planning meeting occurred this week. It is so fun and challenging to share ideas for this event everyone is so passionate about. There is a lot of anticipation that this event go even better than the last one. I personally am trying to build my writing cred between now and October (when the conference is) so that I am better prepared to sit in on a panel or two.

On TV

I’ve finally watched the episode of Heroes stored on my DVR and found that it was the Season 4 finale. It explained why my trusty DVR hadn’t recorded any more episodes since. I enjoyed seeing Hiro teleport a whole crowd of ’specials’ away from Samual, watching Tracy flow in and rescue Noah and Claire, but my most favorite part was watching Sylar save Emma and say “I am a hero.” Sylar is awesome to observe. The part I was most disappointed with is the lack of Suresh. I’ve always had a soft spot for that character and Season 4 is very Suresh-lite and the final episode lacks him altogether. I hope he comes back for Season 5.

I watched last week’s episode of Smallville as well. As I am also currently re-watching old episodes of Stargate SG-1, the episode was rather trippy. Trippy because the villain of the episode, Conspiracy, is played by JR Bourne who played Martouf in Stargate SG-1, a good guy. He did a good job playing the psycho Frankenstein’s monster type but I kept expected a plot twist that would turn him into a misunderstood good guy.

Writing

I’m working on some maps for a new story. If I can figure out how to scan it into the computer, maybe I will post one or two later this week. I have also been building some background and story elements for this story. I am excited for it. The idea behind it has been percolating in my mind for years and I am hoping to get the story down over the next few months.

RIP Boner

Actor Andrew Koenig AKA Richard “Boner” Stabone of Growing Pains passed away this week. His character was always good for a laugh and as Mike Seaver’s best friend, the couple made a fun team. It is like another piece of my childhood slipping away. My heart goes out to his family.

How was your week? Anything interesting happen?

        

Happy Valentine’s Day

Today is the day for remembering your loved ones, especially those you have romantic feelings for. As always my Valentine’s day is not filled with flowers and chocolates (that is a Mother’s day tradition) but with Magic cards and writing panels. Which leads me to my next topic.

Radcon

Every year since I was a sophomore in high school I attended the local sci-fi convention, RadCon, and this year is no different. I use to go for a mix of panels and gaming, in particular the Delver’s Bash. However for the last few years I go to attend every writing panel I can squeeze into so that I may glean every nugget of knowledge about the craft and business of writing I can.

This year I also participated in a Writing Workshop put together very nicely by Deby Fredericks. As a result of some attendance issues, I had the full attention of both Dean Wesley Smith and Darragh Metzger for the entire hour. And I’d like to thank them for the insights they gave me on my writing and on writing as a career. It is much appreciated and I hope to put your encouragement to good use.

Cavalcade of Authors

The first day of the con, or to be more precise the morning of the first day of con, an event was held for local middle school and high school students. This event had students in workshops with several authors including Patrick Carman, Ben Mikaelson, Suzanne Selfours, and more. My daughter was a participant and had a lot of fun. I helped out with Barnes & Noble, selling books and enjoyed observing the excitement in the kids at the opportunity to speak with and learn from their favorite authors. A very successful event in my opinion.

Reading

This week I reread Transformation by Carol Berg for the third or maybe fourth time. Transformation is the first book in a series of three. I adore the world building in this series of books. So many peoples and cultures are included, some are spotlighted and others fill in all the nooks and crannies around the edges. Even more I love the two main characters, Seyonne and Aleksander. They live and breathe and make mistakes. They have undesirable traits and heroic hearts. A lot is going on in this story but it is presented in such a way I don’t have to slow down my reading to keep track of it all. I highly recommend these books to fantasy or adventure lovers.

My week went well, how was yours?

        

Storyboarding and Writing Group

This week’s writing group revolved around storyboarding. One of our members taught a small lesson on it using the first act of Star Wars as an example. This is a technique I’ve heard of before and wanted to try but never actually followed through on. It seemed both easy and hard at the same time–and too much like outlining. Outlining being a technique I despise and just can’t seem to make work for me. After the mini-lesson I am all set to at least give it a try. 

Writing group is about to change its direction. We are changing the open attendance policy to a closed one. We will also be expecting more of the members and hopefully progressing forward as writers.

Reading

Speaking of storyboarding and writing group, I’ve been reading Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell in the Write Great Fiction series. I haven’t finished the book yet but seeing a breakdown on the three acts and what should go into each one is enlightening. It is also helping me understand why some author’s pacing works better than others. I look forward to finishing the book and beginning to use some of what I’m learning in my next story.

Storytime

I do the storytime for the young ones at the store on Tuesdays and for special occasions. This week I had my regular storytime and the Valentine’s Day storytime on Saturday. From my history on the stage I know that different days result in different energy in the children. My approach to storytime is to infuse it with a lot of pep and work the kids up a little bit and then give them a cookie and send them home with their mommies and daddies all sugared up and excited.

Saturday the kids were already so revved up that I was inclined to read them a bedtime story and quiet them down. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun and adore spending a bit of time with the little ones every week but for audience members to have trouble hearing me–me!–is a sign that maybe instead of the cookies and cocoa at the end, I should have given them a blankey and a pillow.

Did your week go as well as mine? Anything new happen you want to share?

        

Work

Many hours were made available to the employees at the store this last week and I took advantage of them. I took as many as they would allow and as such I kept very busy with that.

As a part of the above, I spent two shifts in the cafe for training. The first day of training on the register left me hopeful that I could get the hang of it all. The second day of training at the bar left me lost and confused. I viewed the machinery and bottles and mixing containers as the paraphenalia of the arcane. Clearly only wizards could understand the vocabulary and methodology behind the mixing of those caffinated beverages the masses crave.

And I am not a wizard. I am merely a mundane temporarily transported into the magical world of the cafe.

Writing

Grrr. Arrgh.

Those words sum it up. Time has been at a premium because of work and other draws on my time. However, I had time to write if I wanted to use it. Instead I spent that time staring at the screen, mentally paralyzed by the fear that what I would write would suck or be so great someone might notice my writing. I need to get over myself and just write those stories that swirl around in my mind and heart. Stop worrying about how bad or good they will be until after they are down and complete on my digital paper.

Open Mic Night

I participated in my first Open Mic Night this week. I read five minutes of one of my short stories aloud in front of several of the local authors. I was scared and excited and very glad I did it. I have never read my stuff to anyone before. I have read aloud to myself before but in front of others things sound differently. New, more awkward, less awkward. Hearing the feedback from audience members afterwords was a bonus. I will definitely be participating in the next Open Mic Night.

Books

I read Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder this week. While I enjoyed most the story and the characters, I found myself distracted by what I perceived as flaws or oversights in the book.

Early on, Jessie loses an eye and an arm. I thought the details about adjusting to the lack of an arm were done well. However the eye was a cosmetic injury with no affect on the character. I had to wear an eye patch in high school for 2 days and I know that it take a while to adjust to the change in vision and Jessie didn’t have to adjust. I found this oversight distracting.

The other problem I had was with the pacing. The first two-thirds of the book had a nice steady climb in tension but the last third became a frantic race to the end. A race that I had trouble keeping up with.

Macmillian vs Amazon

I read two articles today about this contretemps over e-book pricing, here and here. I am still enough of an outsider I don’t have enough information to form more than a gut opinion on the whole deal. Most importantly though I find this to be a herald of things to come. Upheavals and changes in the publishing world. Something to keep an eye on.

I, myself, am not a consumer of ebooks. Yet. I have tried various devices and feel to distanced from the words and uncomfortable with the medium. However, I do know that many others do not have this problem and ebooks will only get more popular as time goes along. This development is bound to have repercussions and growing pains.

How was your week?

        

Writing Group

Met with the group this last week. Attendance was minimal but good discussion dominated. We decided that the open attendance policy encouraged by the store is actually stagnating the group and have decided that we would close up the group, limit membership to 6 to 8. In this way we can set requirements and goals engineered towards those in attendance. The change will come in a month or so, after we have a chance to talk to the semi-regulars and see who wants to make the change. I am excited for the change and hope that the group will start working for me again.

Writing

While I was zone maintenancing (cleaning and organizing the sections) at work today, my mind was free to wander. I found myself thinking about why I am having so much trouble putting words down on digital paper. I have quit all my online games and reduced several other distracting activities to allow more time for writing and yet, I am barely putting 10 words down in a day. I have come to the conclusion that a good deal of my problem is fear of success. Or rather a strange form of stage fright.

I relish normal stage fright. That butterflies in the stomach, palms sweating feeling one gets just before they go onstage or take the podium. I look forward to that feeling the same way folks look forward to the rush they feel on the roller coaster. I have started to receive some encouraging feedback on some of my stories. No acceptances yet but it seems to be closer to happening. And that is making me nervous that I may actually have to start delivering quality work on a more regular basis. It is my dream to succeed at writing but I am not use to dreams coming true. Something to work on and overcome.

Books

This wasn’t a big reading week. I finished up the last Harper Connelly book, Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. I adored it. I think the series ended very well though the fact of it ending was bittersweet. I thoroughly enjoyed Harper and her world and am sad that I won’t be able to visit her again. At least in a new adventure. I’ll definitely be rereading this series in a year or two, if not sooner.

On TV

I caught up with my TV shows this week. New episodes of Castle, Heroes, Leverage, and Bones kept me entertained for hours on end. I adore the characters and their antics. And as always am very excited for more.

Tomorrow night, Life Unexpected premiers. The actress, Shiri Appleby, portrayed Liz in the TV show Roswell. I loved her character and the show so much I am really looking forward to watching her in a new show. My only complaint is that it is on at the same time as two other shows I enjoy. Guess that is what the DVR is for.

D&D

We have a new player in our D&D group and I have a new character. Both of us are gnomes. I am a bard named Magpie and he is a gnome barbarian/rogue. We are having a lot of fun in this game. My character’s personality is still developing and she (and I) have no idea how to react to the flirting from the half-orc monk. We will have to see how it goes.

How was your week?

        

Looking back over the last week:

Haiti

The terrible earthquake in Haiti has been all over the news and the social networking sites. My heart and prayers go out to those enduring the tragedy and those rushing in to provide aid.

Books This Week

I have finally managed to get back in my reading groove. I had been feeling like I couldn’t read like I use to because I should be writing. Instead I have ended up feeling smothered and very unlike myself. This week I am back in my reading groove.

I read Grave Suprise and An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris this week. I gotta say that Harper Connelly and her ‘talent’ is so intriguing and fun. I am thoroughly enjoying the pace of these books and the who-done-it plots are surprising but not cheating solutions. I am still not sure how I feel about the relationship between Harper and Tolliver yet but I have already found myself recommending these books to others.

I read Belle by Cameron Dokey. It is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, another of my favorites.  This tale had enough differences to make it fresh and engrossing. If you like fairytales, I highly suggest this one.

I also read Dying Bites by D. D. Barant. This combines a portal story (ie Narnia books) with an Urban Fantasy. In the world Jace, the protagonist, ends up in, humans are a very small minority and supernaturals dominate. I enjoyed this book enormously and can’t wait for the next one in the series.

Movies

Last night, my husband took me to see The Book of Eli. Wow. I loved it. It had action. Post apocalyptic setting. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. One of the big reveals at the end was awesome in that clues had been so well seeded throughout the movie that it was an “ah ha!” moment. My husband and I spent the whole drive home pointing out those clues to each other. There is every likelihood that we will be owning this film when it is released on DVD.

Writing

I am finally getting myself back in the writing groove after the chaos and vacuum that is the holiday season working retail. Stories are living in my head and pressuring me into putting them on paper. My habits are still rotten but I am working on them.

How did your week go?

        

I finished the merry romp through S. L. Wright’s New York last night with the help of her travel guide, Confessions of a Demon.

I enjoyed the city sights and fully expect to find a run down bar where the Den in C is located if I ever find myself exploring NYC. The people and demon-s that populate the city are very real. Their physical descriptions are vivid with enough hints at the personalities behind the faces to bring to life 3D characters in the landscape of my mind.

Very small thing. The demons had names like Dread, Vex, Savor, Pique, and Allay (our protagonist). This naming convention while neat and fun kept making me think that a limit would be reached where they would have to start repeating.

A slightly larger thing, (and I do have to say that it could have been my emotional state at the time that caused me to think this) the relationship between Allay and Theo was very predictible. The early attraction and devotion made the reveal towards the end expected. However the section following that was a little bit like it was treading water, waiting for another story before continuing that relationship forward. I could have used a bit more spark in their romance or more sweetness. The middle ground was unsatisfying for me.

All that said, the pacing and the unique nature of the supernatural in Confessions of a Demon was so enjoyable that I look forward to more of Allay’s adventures.

What did you think of this story?

        

I finished up the third book in the Dante Valentine series last night and I wanted to share my opinion with you.

First off I’ve gotta say that I make a terrible book reviewer as I don’t like saying much bad about a book. I admire every author who has gone through the process that ends with their novel on my shelf. That said, here it goes.

I like Dante. She is a very interesting character with a lot of flaws and interesting powers. She kicks butt and takes names and isn’t afraid to cry alone in her room when things are bad. Japhrimel, her love interest, is also kinda neat. Very mysterious and not human and as we never spend any time in his head we have no idea what is going on with him. Or almost no idea.

The setting is neat. Hover cars, plasguns, magic users, and demons all mix into a gritty world that’s a little too scary to physically visit but peaking through the window that Lilith Saintcrow has provided is exciting and gripping. I will continue to peak through and finish out the series.

Two things I had trouble with, one relatively minor and the other a bit bigger.

It is mentioned several times how the magic users are so rare in this world and yet shopkeepers, people on the street, and most other folks Dante has run into all had the characteristic tatoo on their cheeks that indicates their status as a magic user. I had to make excuse that with the idea that maybe Dante just doesn’t notice humans as much as she isn’t one. It works but it is one of those little things that niggle away at me when I am reading.

The other thing is the situation Dante gets into in this book with her demon lover, Japhrimel. She is put in the situation of being the battered woman. I am not familiar personally with this position but I believe this was very well done. The shock and depression that Dante spirals into was very moving. It was also realistic from what I have heard. Including forgiving Japh and going back with him. But Dante is a hero! I thought Japhrimel would have to work harder to attain forgiveness and a place with Dante again. It seemed all so very easy for the two getting back together. I would have liked to see that process take longer. Just my opinion.

All in all, the book is good and I recommend it to any fan of urban fantasy. Have you read this book? What did you think?

        

I like Urban Fantasy because most of the protagonists in the stories are rogues. Or at least roguely.  Urban Fantasy takes magic and puts it in worlds not too different from our own. Urban Fantasy is fun and usually a fairly easy read.

The protagonists in Urban Fantasy rarely follow the rules, rarely lack for a snarky comment, and rarely have that quality that keeps them out of trouble.  Most every one of them loves their weapons. Whether it be a gun or a sword or a knife, they take care of it and keep it close by. Most of the time the love comes from the necessity to defend themselves from the denizens of darkness at a moments notice.

They also tend to have a colorful past. Orphans or abused children growing up on the streets, these characters have story hooks written all over their backgrounds. Enough hooks to keep their authors busy for years to come. This is great if you are a fan of the character, not as great if you like the author but not the series. I tend to adore the spunky character so this is a good thing in my eyes.

Their love lives. I could stop right there. Every one by now knows that urban fantasy is a hair away from paranormal romance and vise versa. Love lives will be complicated and involved. I love it. And I am frustrated with it. I like romance in my books, I even like the occasional romance novel. These complicated love lives make the books go from ok to great. I get frustrated when I think a couple should be together and book after book comes out where they dance around each other, meaningful glances exchanged, but no one acts on it. It is sorta like a TV series that keeps finding excuses not to put the main characters together. Frustrating.

A fair amount of urban fantasy takes our common, every day, hum-drum world and twists it. Just a little, just a nudge, and then magic happens. In Lousiana there are vampires, elves, and weres living side by side with bar patrons. In my home town of the Tri-Cities there is a wolf pack down the street and a vampire nest in the hills, and down near where my dad lives is a community of fae. Magic is happening all around us in these books. And it is fun.

Other urban fantasy push today’s world into the future or make tomatoes deadly to humans or cause magic and technology to alternately work but never at the same time. And then the monsters come out to play. How cool is that?

Most all urban fantasy that I have read or perused in the process of putting it on the shelf at work has a single POV character. A lot of spunky females and a few snarky males are telling their stories on these pages. Sometimes it is in third person but most of them seem to be in first. Either way the story is usually an easy read. Lots of action, quips, and mystery drive the reader through the pages which is my favorite type of book.

 A fair amount of epic fantasy (which I love too) spends a lot of time jumping from character to character, all around the map of their world, slowly bringing together disparate threads into one single rope. I admire the authors who can do this but it requires extra work on my part to keep every thing straight in my head. The urban fantasy is easier to read when my schedule is busy or my mind is feeling overworked.

These are the reasons why I like Urban Fantasy, what are yours?