I’m in the middle of two series right now: the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, and the Twilight Reign series by Tom Lloyd. I’ve just finished the second book of  each, and am taking a break to read some other things for a little bit before I tackle book 3 of each one.

Of the two, the Dresden Files are my definite favorite so far. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a wise-cracking narrator/protaganist. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a wizard after my own heart. Sarcastic hard-ass on the outside, big old chivalrous, fight-for-good softie on the inside. It’s classic detective fiction meets all things paranormal/fantastical. The characters are well-rounded and engaging; the plot is believable without being predictable, and moves along at a nice pace; the narration is great. I’ve yet to find something I don’t like about this series, other than book 3 not being available at my library yet.

That’s not to say that the Twilight Reign series isn’t good; it definitely is. I read a LOT of fantasy, so when I say this series does something new and interesting, I hope that carries some weight. The whole series is based around the concept of white-eyes, beings who are human but amplified through the attention/favor of a god. They aren’t elves; those have a separate place in the story, though they haven’t shown up much yet. The plot is very intricate, and the character list quite long – this is definitely one of those series that would benefit from including a map of the world, and a list of the cast of characters. It includes neither, so I do get a bit lost sometimes as to who/where the chapter is focusing. But I’m intrigued enough so far that I’ll keep reading the series, just to see where it goes.

Wow, so it’s been awhile since I’ve written on here. Note to self: must do better about updating blog. Part of the problem is that the Font o’ Ideas where my writing springs from has been alarming low of late, and I’m not sure how to go about remedying it. Obviously, waiting around for the muse to return on her own is not working, so I’m going to try a more proactive approach. I’m getting a couple of books from the library all about writing and creativity and writing exercises, and am going to try those out, see if it helps.

On the other hand, I have been creative in non-writing form. For my most awesome boyfriend, I made this nifty wood carving for Vday. He had been saying he needs art for his walls; voila, I provide.

If you’ve checked in on my official NaNoWriMo page at all, you know that I am FAR behind on my quota of 50,000 words by the end of this month. In my defense, I do have a great deal of the entire novel (which will likely be more than 50,000 words) outlined, I just haven’t actually written it out yet. This is due to several factors, summarized below.

I have determined that it is practically impossible to keep up with NaNoWriMo when:

1. You run your own small business and holiday season (aka. The Gauntlet) is starting.
2. You lose a week and a half by being out sick and then having to catch up on real work before you can devote time to writing.
3. Said real work leaves you stressed out and exhausted, and all you want to do with your limited free time is relax with good books or your boyfriend, instead of writing a novel about a topic that stresses you out and is occasionally sad.

The last point is admittedly the most controllable, as I could’ve just picked a different topic to write about. But writing a book is hard work no matter the topic or angle, and sometimes my day job just doesn’t leave me with the energy to tackle that.

I may do my own version of NaNoWriMo in a less hectic time of the year – perhaps May (MayNoWriMo?). Regardless, I do plan to keep plugging away at this novel in small chunks until then, and ultimately completing it, as it’s a story that I feel is important to see told.

My birthday was this past weekend (the 23rd, for those of exacting curiosity) and my geeky bookworm side was indulged to the max. Witness below:

On the left, you see 3 books that I purchased just today from Austin’s wonderful BookPeople store with a gift card from my friend Nicholas. I picked a good mix: a modern sci-fi, an epic fantasy, and of course a book all about dragons. I’m eager to dive into them, but my reading attention is currently taken up by the other half of the picture above.

On the afternoon of my birthday, the doorbell rang, a box was delivered, I near broke my back picking it up expecting something lighter, and then I open it. The ENTIRE Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. Sent by none other than my awesome boyfriend, who gets bonus points for being clever and absolutely surprising me. See, I’d first stumbled on this series when I chanced to watch an episode of Legend of the Seeker and got hooked. I found out it was based on this series, which I’d been meaning to read for awhile anyway. I got the first one from the library, thoroughly enjoyed it, and requested the 2nd one, which was checked out but they could put on hold for me when it came back in. And then I waited. And waited, and waited. Longest library hold EVER. I commiserated with my boyfriend on the long wait more than once (he, too, is a fan of the series), and he decided to end my wait and make me squeal girlishly in birthday book excitement all in one fell swoop.

I’m halfway through book 2, Stone of Tears – witness the crease down the spine – and the bookworm inside me is rubbing its hands together maniacally in anticipation of tackling the rest of this haul.

If you’ve checked out the sidebar, you know that I’ve recently been reading a book called Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, by David Gerrold. Well, one of the exercises in it is to figure out what a story is to you. You’re just supposed to sit down with a notepad or at your computer, write ‘A story is…’ and then finish the sentence. There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s just an exercise to help you clarify what you think a story is.

My answer took awhile to come up with, but I think it works, for both non-fiction or fiction stories:

“A story is the framework through which we teach each other about the world and about ourselves.”

What do you think? What is a story to you?

Saw this on a Twitter post recently. Resonated a bit too strongly.

They say you shouldn’t let someone into your life who inflicts pain. Have you ever worried about someone who didn’t worry back? How to stop?

Would love to know the answer to that last one.

Tomorrow I head to sunny (hopefully) Florida for a week to visit my sister in West Palm Beach. It’s to be a week of relaxtion, girl-time, beach-time, and ideally writing time when my sister is at work. I’m taking a bunch of books on writing, my laptop loaded with all of my current writing projects, and I’ll be in a nice lakeview apartment with a balcony and a puppy for company.

If this doesn’t kick my muse back into action, I’m not sure what will.