What are your plans for Easter?
Sunday, the Husband of Awesome and I have another wonderful communal dinner to attend. I'm excited. Gram is coming, too, and unless she feels like crap (she's still getting over a bought of bronchitis) she'll be spending the night with us.
I'm tempted to say I've been reading too much. More accurately, I haven't been reading enough non-fiction as I intended. I hope to fix that by my next post.
On the writing front, I made what I hope is the final revision of a short story. Now I just need to draft the cover letter. Urk. I hate those. I have a brand new story idea, all manner of shiny off the shelf, begging to be written but has to percolate longer before I can seriously attack it. And an old story idea is back. It even submitted to a brief outline. It's a story I'm almost scared to write, which of course means I have to write it.
And on Monday, I plan to head to Bangor where I will print out the third draft I just finished. We've been seeing a lot more sun recently. That probably has something to do with the increased productivity. Now if I can just follow through on that...
33. Ruthless, Anne Stuart
Romance--possibly the best example of my ideal of the genre I've read so far. An impoverished noblewoman accidentally snags the attention of an exiled aristocrat with an infamous reputation. It was fun; I liked it.
34. Lady Midnight, Amanda McCabe
Another romance about the daughter of a Venetian courtesan, groomed to follow in her mother's footsteps until a boating accident that leaves the world assuming her death. Beautiful characterization.
35. The Shadow Speaker, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
YA, sf/spec fic set in post-apocalyptic 2070 Nigeria. Next time I get to a bookstore, I'm hunting down this author because she is AMAZING. Seriously, go read this book. For some reason, I find very few books with an African setting accessible, but this book hooked me in a way I haven't felt for a very long time. I want to read all her books many times over. It will probably take that much for me to figure out exactly what detail(s) drew me in so completely.
36. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
I'd seen this series around and wondered about it, so when the first in the series came in, I picked it up. YA, a story about the exploits of a 12 year old genius who is also the heir to a criminal empire. In an attempt to restore his family's depleted fortunes, Artemis devises a scheme to trick gold out of fairies. The story is brilliantly written and absolutely hilarious.
37. Provocative in Pearls, Madeline Hunter
Another romance...can you tell I just reorganized that section? An heiress to a fortune is coerced by her guardian into a marriage with a titled aristocrat. On her wedding day, finding out that her cousin has lied to her, she fakes her death and runs away. The story starts two years later when her husband finds her. It was fun and touched on good points regarding women's rights of the time.
38. A Season to be Sinful, Jo Goodman
The last romance for a while, I promise! Have you noticed yet how all the ones I pick end up being regency? Well, minus that one with the medieval-ish setting. This was no exception. It was fun, but I've officially used up my patience for the genre.
39. Masques, Patricia Briggs
This was the re-release of her first novel and vastly better than anything I expected after reading a couple other of her earlier books. She had the chance to improve the novel. Patty, I believe, did an excellent job of improving the quality of the novel without offending any of her earliest readers. I loved it.
I'm tempted to say I've been reading too much. More accurately, I haven't been reading enough non-fiction as I intended. I hope to fix that by my next post.
On the writing front, I made what I hope is the final revision of a short story. Now I just need to draft the cover letter. Urk. I hate those. I have a brand new story idea, all manner of shiny off the shelf, begging to be written but has to percolate longer before I can seriously attack it. And an old story idea is back. It even submitted to a brief outline. It's a story I'm almost scared to write, which of course means I have to write it.
And on Monday, I plan to head to Bangor where I will print out the third draft I just finished. We've been seeing a lot more sun recently. That probably has something to do with the increased productivity. Now if I can just follow through on that...
33. Ruthless, Anne Stuart
Romance--possibly the best example of my ideal of the genre I've read so far. An impoverished noblewoman accidentally snags the attention of an exiled aristocrat with an infamous reputation. It was fun; I liked it.
34. Lady Midnight, Amanda McCabe
Another romance about the daughter of a Venetian courtesan, groomed to follow in her mother's footsteps until a boating accident that leaves the world assuming her death. Beautiful characterization.
35. The Shadow Speaker, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
YA, sf/spec fic set in post-apocalyptic 2070 Nigeria. Next time I get to a bookstore, I'm hunting down this author because she is AMAZING. Seriously, go read this book. For some reason, I find very few books with an African setting accessible, but this book hooked me in a way I haven't felt for a very long time. I want to read all her books many times over. It will probably take that much for me to figure out exactly what detail(s) drew me in so completely.
36. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
I'd seen this series around and wondered about it, so when the first in the series came in, I picked it up. YA, a story about the exploits of a 12 year old genius who is also the heir to a criminal empire. In an attempt to restore his family's depleted fortunes, Artemis devises a scheme to trick gold out of fairies. The story is brilliantly written and absolutely hilarious.
37. Provocative in Pearls, Madeline Hunter
Another romance...can you tell I just reorganized that section? An heiress to a fortune is coerced by her guardian into a marriage with a titled aristocrat. On her wedding day, finding out that her cousin has lied to her, she fakes her death and runs away. The story starts two years later when her husband finds her. It was fun and touched on good points regarding women's rights of the time.
38. A Season to be Sinful, Jo Goodman
The last romance for a while, I promise! Have you noticed yet how all the ones I pick end up being regency? Well, minus that one with the medieval-ish setting. This was no exception. It was fun, but I've officially used up my patience for the genre.
39. Masques, Patricia Briggs
This was the re-release of her first novel and vastly better than anything I expected after reading a couple other of her earlier books. She had the chance to improve the novel. Patty, I believe, did an excellent job of improving the quality of the novel without offending any of her earliest readers. I loved it.