National Novel Writing Month

OMG!!!  It's that time of year again and I'm diving in head first.  Yep, I've officially signed up to be part of this year's Nanowrimo.  I'm a little nervous, but I know I can do this because I've done it before.  It's been awhile, but I did actually finish in 2007.  If I did it once, I can do it again.

I have a couple ideas on what I want to write about, but getting the story to go from being a fleeting image in my brain to a whole thing by the end of November is something else.  I'm not sure if I can get clear to the end, but I'm sure gonna give it a good shot.

The next trick is in figuring out which of my ideas I want to go with.   Both major ideas are set in the paranormal genre.  One has to do with the world beyond; as in what happens after we die.  The other has to do with one of my favorite topics; the Ancient Alien theory.  I have to do some brainstorming and soul searching to see which one I like better.

I'll let you know where we end up.  I hope I don't get lost in thought.....or translation.  LOL

Happy writing

The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian

Alexandra Hargreaves is a happily married woman, daughter of a prominent senator, drop dead gorgeous....and the baddest of the baddest Green Beret. But missing memories of how her entire team was massacred and recurring phone calls from a mysterious man claiming to be coming to get her, drive this thriller from beginning to end.

My take on The Fey is that it's a really great read. Once I started reading, I had a hard time putting this one down. The main reason I wanted this book was because of the title (The Fey), and this is one of those times when you shouldn't just a book by it's name. It has NOTHING to do with fairies in the paranormal sense. There is no magic, no mythic beings, and none of the things I love in a book. BUT, this was one of the best reads I've come across in a long time.

The best thing about The Fey is that it grabs your attention from page one and takes you for a helluva ride to the very end. You get the feeling that you're part of the story and you can actually feel her emotions as she tries to move on from being the sole survivor of a gruesome slaughter, to finding out who and why her team was murdered.

The characters in this book feel like real people with real flaws and real emotions. The husband isn't who he claims to be, the father isn't who he's supposed to be, and there are twists and turns around every corner.

Even through all this, there was one main thing about this book that really did bother me. The sheer number of typos and missing words throughout the book was a little unnerving. I'm one of those people who happens to get tripped up when trying to read something that's filled with that many mistakes. However, the storyline was so good that I did manage to get past it. And with this being the first book in a series, I do hope author Claudia Hall Christian opts for a professional editor to get through the rest of the series.

I give this book 3.5 stars. I'd give it more but the lack of editing kind of a problem for me. It's a good thing thing the story was as good as it was or I couldn't have given it that good of a rating.

The Fey is a great read, but beware of the number of errors throughout the book.

Reading My Brains Out

Hello my little angels.  I wanted to stop in and let you all know that I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth.  I have, in fact, been reading my brains out.  I've been approved to read 2 more books through NetGalley.com, which for me is like a huge thing.  I've also been downloading a lot of free books from Amazon and reading the crap out of my poor little Kindle. 

Be on the lookout in the coming days as I'm working on some more book reviews.  I've just finished one book and am almost finished with another.  For someone who didn't read more than one or two books a year, I've been reading like a crazy woman for the past few weeks.  Don't ask me why, but I just can't seem to get enough.

I've also been spending more time with my honey and my granddaughter.  Grandpa and I have just signed papers giving us temporary guardianship over our 18 month old baby girl, so my days and nights are a lot more full.  I still have the desire to write, but I'm having a blast with Baby Girl.  Being a grandma is probably the coolest job I've ever held.

So anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I am still here and I haven't forgotten about mt angel babies out there.  Keep on keeping on and happy writing.

Character Assassinations

I'm bored.  I've tried to post certain prompts on certain days and I've become stale very quickly.  Maybe it's because I have the attention span of a cocker spaniel.  So today I'm just going to post some character names and a little something about them.  Why? Because I can.  And  because my little friend Katie said she liked some of my character names.  (Seriously, go visit Katie, she way cool).

Corbin McMillan--A retired army captain who still dreams of his days in battle.
Lily Farnsworth--A spoiled little rich girl who's just been sent out on her own.
Talia Lowenstein--A high school teacher trying to run from her inner demons.
Toby Jenson--A former football player with a heavy gambling habit.
Leesa Bentley--A cocktail waitress with a horrifying secret
Mitchell Donahue--An aspiring writer plagued by nightmares
Charity Douglas--The youngest child of parents who lived in a 60's commune
Nikko Pollucci--A police officer who's grandfather was one of the country's most feared mafia bosses
Carlos Espinoza--A father working to keep his children from becoming members of his former gang
Shelby Messersmith--A young woman working her way through a drug addiction.

There you go my little angels.  Until next time, happy writing.