November News 2014
What happened?
I’ve been somewhat absent from my newsletter/blog for a month. Writing a new novel takes a lot of butt-in-chair time.
The Work-in-Progress. You can see the “timeline” on the cork board.
I’ve heard of National Novel Writing Month for as long as it’s been around. I never thought I would actually do it. I did this time. NaNoWriMo was the impetus I needed to finally write a solid first draft of Token, that YA (Young Adult) work-in-progress that I’ve been telling you about for the last year. I went into the month with four chapters that were not good. I spent some time improving those. I had close to seven thousand words to start. I needed 50,000 words to win (or complete) NaNoWriMo. You see, it’s a national challenge. I probably should point out that now NaNoWriMo is an international challenge. Many people win. I’m not the only one. I have 53,000 words today. There will be more by December 1. I’m officially going to the big TGIF (thank God it’s finished) party at River Oaks Book Store. Yay!!
This is the end of the receipt from a Barnes & Noble in Pasadena. Do you see Deadly Thyme down at the bottom? Whoo! Hoo!
Now, the News:
Denise, Fern, Sarah, Me
November 8 was the Houston Writer’s Guild’s first mini-conference under the new leadership team. The team consists of Denise, Fern, and myself. Denise and Fern are the new owners of the Guild. I am honored they picked me to help them steer the course. Our mini-conference was a rocking success with a good showing of members and new folks anxious to learn the craft of writing. Sarah Cortez an esteemed speaker and winner of many writing awards for her poetry books, was our speaker. People said that the day went by so fast they couldn’t believe it. There was also lots of food with breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.
Now for the News You Can Use:
March 28 of 2015 we will hold a one day pitch practice conference to help members of HWG get their pitches and presentations ready for the BIG CONFERENCE. At the pre-conference we will have actual agents for members to pitch their novels, and screenplays to. More details to come.
The next big thing is the Amazing 2015 HWG conference. There will be several agents from NYC there. We will have some Texas agents and editors and publishers there. Friends, this is Big Time! There will be agents looking for folks they want to represent to the big six publishers in NYC. There will also be a lot of break-out sessions about how to self-publish, the art of craft, the business of doing it, the “how to” market it. More details to come.
Down on The Farm
One of the things I did do this month besides have some amazing books signings around town was that I took Cora to visit my brother on his farm. We picked vegetables, Jon took us to visit the menagerie, we petted his AKC Siberians, and Jon gave us some eggs (nicer than any from the store). I want to show you some pictures from that day.
And I wanted to show you some artwork that my amazing sis-in-law did. She drew this from composite photos of her trips to Egypt. She painted it with coffee. Okay, you can say “wow” too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s the end of the month and I want to thank you for sticking with me in reading my blog, especially when there are weeks between offerings. I appreciate every one of you. May God richly bless you in this holiday season.
I thank the Lord for His loving kindness, and mercy in keeping our family safe and well.
Don’t eat too much and watch out for the crazy drivers.
Currently reading
3 a.m.
I really love to laugh and I really love a good suspense. What if I can find both in a novel? Bingo - that's gold!I love the protagonist in Nick Pirog's book 3 A.M. Henry Bins has Henry Bins disease. That's right, the disease was named after him. He sleeps 23 hours a day, every day. He is awake for one hour. Sixty minutes. Three thousand, six hundred seconds. That's it.
It helps that he has a superior intellect and sense of humor.
The story was so funny at times I burst out laughing. His banter with the cat had me going.
The story itself - about the murder, the president, all those things added up to a roaring good thriller.
I would recommend this for a great quick read.
Natural Cleaning Recipes: 30 Essential Oils Recipes to Safely Clean Your Home, Protect your Children, and Save Money: (cleaning recipes, essential oil, coconut oil, cleaning house)
There are so many wonderful concoctions here, too many to discuss in a review. I have always been a person who loves to experiment with all natural ingredients so this book was a delightful find.
The Impossible Knife of Memory
Hayley has been raised by a pack of wolves. Oh wait! That's another story. The Impossible Knife of Memory is about a girl who is raised by a father who is out of his mind drunk or drugged a lot of the time. They have spent years on the road because he is a long-haul truck driver. So she hasn't been in school. But now he's decided to live in the house his mother left him so that Hayley can go to a regular high school and perhaps test into college. This doesn't seem realistic on many levels. How did he get away with this? Why didn't she put up a huge fight about having to go to school if she's never been before?Hayley has a punk attitude but covers well with being slovenly. I can't get past that she doesn't brush her teeth much. The cute guy falls for her and she him. There is a lot of angst about not letting him get close enough to know her father is a drunk drug abuser with PSD. I thought that was a bit unrealistic.
The ending was well done. I love the book cover photo for what it represents.
Miss Polly Had a Dolly
This was a well-told creepy story. The second in the Emma Frost series. Emma has now written a book about the story from the first book, Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Emma's son is autistic, but also his extra-sensory abilities has him warning his mother about the horrors that await. I found that as creepy as the other aspects of the story. The author blends three or four story lines together. The story of the lady whose daughter was stolen by the ice-cream lady, what happened to that little girl, and we learn that Emma's father has a girlfriend. These things do all work together. I had it figured out before the big reveal but that didn't lesson the impact of what happened. Recommended for those with a strong constitution.
Goodbye Morality
I had trouble enjoying this because very little action takes place for a very long time. I would recommend this for those who are in no hurry to get to the end. There are sex scenes and violence but the plethora of characters left me wondering what, who, why, where? So all in all, I didn't enjoy this read. Sorry.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
This introductory book about Emma Frost is fascinating and truly surprising. Emma has financial difficulties and is raising two children alone. Her grandmother wills her her house on Fanoe Island (Denmark). The house is large, with plenty of room. More importantly her autistic son finds the trees in the back yard endlessly fascinating, which pleases Emma. Almost immediately upon her arrival people begin dying in the most horrific way. There are several suspects as the reader progresses through the story the clues are piling high. Emma was once a journalist and has learned to hack into other people's computers. She hacks into the police department's computers to learn what happened to the murdered people because she is interested in writing a true-crime novel. Once there, she realizes that her grandmother had been the first victim of a serial killer.
Hope Was Here
Her mother named her Tulip and gave her to her sister to raise. At twelve she changed her name to Hope because, though there was a lot expected of her with a name like that, it was a name with a lot more promise. Hope and her aunt Addie had to move from the big city diner they loved to a small town in Wisconsin. Hope didn't think there was much to look forward to and missed her big city diner and her friends. After moving all over the US, she wondered how the father she never knew would ever find her now. What she discovers in this little town is a kind-hearted, honest man, and other unforgettable characters who you will root for along with Hope. Hope discovers that what she thought she always wanted wasn't at all what she expected when she got it.
Seven, Eight...Gonna Stay Up Late
It was difficult not buying the next book in the series. The story is addictive. Rebekka Franck is a reporter. She is dating a photographer. He wants a child with her and she is hesitant. Meanwhile, there is a kidnapping of a young girl from a rock concert. The kidnapper is truly horrifying as he prepares the young girl and her friend for a meal, that is, he intends to eat them. But Rebecca Frank is also on the menu. He tricks her into becoming part of his captured prey. Turns out the first young girl is no ordinary teenager. She has connections, which doesn't help her at all. In fact, her connections are what drove the killer to do what he did.
False Security
This novel was well-written and thought provoking. The first part of the book is about Rachel Thomas, a girl who keeps multiple locks on her door, teaches women self-defense, and keeps a loaded gun in the house. She believes that she jeopardizes the life of any and all of her friends so she keeps relationships to a minimum. But what to do about the cute book shop owner she has fallen in love with?The second part of the book goes back to the beginning of Rachel's strange life after her parents were killed in a car accident, and why there are scars on her back.
The third and last part of the book comes back to the present and introduces us to the horror who wants to control her. The action continues to the very last page.
Highly recommended for those who love a good suspense book.
The author gave me a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
What She Saw
This book starts out with a woman on a train and with her having no idea who she is are why she is on the train. She abandons the train in a run. The trail doesn't get any less confusing. She finds her apartment, though no fault of her own - because her neighbor spots her and takes her home. Then she discovers she has two identities, two phone, two addresses - as if she is living two lives. With help from a psychologist she remembers a terrible car accident and she has a head wound. Then her boss at work wants to sleep with her but he's a married man and she's disgusted that she would have an affair with a married man. Then the married man's senator wife threatens her. And it doesn't get any better for her but the action picks up and some pieces of her puzzle are put together and she isn't any less shocked. Good story.
Ashlynn's Dreams
This was a great read! At first, Jillian's accent threw me. But I found that it was helpful to distinguish her voice from others while I was reading the "entries". The story begins with the kidnapping. The rest of the story is written in diary and letter form with the action and events of "what actually happened" from Jillian's point of view and from her babysitter, Danielle's point of view. I really got into the action and events of what transpired. The only negative was that there were so many characters with all the scientists and the children, especially the children. I wouldn't change anything about the story. It was a fascinating way to tell it.The author sent me a copy for an honest review.
Sown in Weakness (Calladine & Bayliss #2)
A truly scary book with a ruthless, cold-hearted villain. The truth in Sown in Weakness is that there is a ticking clock as victim after victim shows up dead. There is now another missing girl. What horrors await her? Usually these things don't end well.
I really raced through the book. I loved it. The story is well structured and well paced but there are a few spelling and word usage errors.
Hushabye
This was one of the best British mysteries I've read in a long while. There was just enough action and just enough police procedural. Really enjoyable read.A baby is missing, his nanny murdered. The father doesn't seem too cut-up. The mother is a basket case. For Detective Kate Redman this case cuts to the bone as it's about a bereft mother without her baby. She can't help but recall how she felt when she gave up her baby 12 years earlier when she was 17. This book explores Kate's past life and her present life as a detective and how much she wants those two lives to be as separate as possible. But it isn't possible when a case like this comes up.
Turns out Kate's haunting past will help solve the case, but not without more loss of life.
There were a few spelling mistakes and missing words.
No Man's Nightingale: An Inspector Wexford Novel
Wexford is now retired. His life is anything but boring with the incessant chatter of his gossiping house keeper. Burden has taken his position in the police force. There is some tension between these two friends as Burden asks Wexford to be an observer and help on a case that has recently come up. The case is that of the murder of a woman vicar in her home. The woman had some trouble with a few parishioners because of her skin color and because she was using newer translations of the Book of Common Prayer and hymns. When she died she left behind a daughter who was about to turn 18. The daughter does not know who her father is but her mother was going to tell her who it is on her eighteenth birthday. There are other characters in Wexford's life that contribute to the drama. Ruth Rendell is adept at handling all these plots and subplots well. At the end I would have liked a little more about the Sam's family but one can't have everything tied up in a neat little bundle all the time. The central mystery is not cleared up until the end. I was expecting the caged bird to sing but the caged bird dies. (that's not a spoiler.) And Wexford goes back to reading Gibbon's History of the World (I think that was the name of what he was reading throughout the novel.) This was well-done. I would recommend it as I do all of Ruth Rendell's books.
Cinder
The genius of this book. That's what I was thinking the entire time I was reading it. This is a great new take on the Cinderella story. I was enthralled with every bit of it.At the end I was disappointed not to have closure. I felt that leaving the reader hanging is cheating. I must buy the second book in the series to find out what ... well, if I told you that would be spoiling your reading pleasure.
No Man's Nightingale: An Inspector Wexford Novel
Wexford is now retired. His life is anything but boring with the incessant chatter of his gossiping house keeper. Burden has taken his position in the police force. There is some tension between these two friends as Burden asks Wexford to be an observer and help on a case that has recently come up. The case is that of the murder of a woman vicar in her home. The woman had some trouble with a few parishioners because of her skin color and because she was using newer translations of the Book of Common Prayer and hymns. When she died she left behind a daughter who was about to turn 18. The daughter does not know who her father is but her mother was going to tell her who it is on her eighteenth birthday. There are other characters in Wexford's life that contribute to the drama. Ruth Rendell is adept at handling all these plots and subplots well. At the end I would have liked a little more about the Sam's family but one can't have everything tied up in a neat little bundle all the time. The central mystery is not cleared up until the end. I was expecting the caged bird to sing but the caged bird dies. (that's not a spoiler.) And Wexford goes back to reading Gibbon's History of the World (I think that was the name of what he was reading throughout the novel.) This was well-done. I would recommend it as I do all of Ruth Rendell's books.