by Christine | Observations
I’m beginning to think people are divided into two distinct sections (okay, more than that, but go with me here!); those of us who tear through books and pass them on to friends with no intention of rereading them, and those of us who read. And reread. And reread again and again and again and again and…am I boring you?
I used to be a library girl. The Bookmobile that came to our neighborhood was my Nirvana…and the librarian loved me, because my 8 year old self would check out the thickest books available for my age group (The Phoenix and the Carpet, Five Children and It, eventually hitting up the Nancy Drews I didn’t already have). Of course, I didn’t realize at the time that publishers made the books fat and small for small hands and big minds. But I digress.
I love the Kindle that my husband bought for “us” (read, me, but hello, he’s absconded with it, the cad!); it can hold all the books I love to reread. Every single one (that’s available for Kindle…). All that lovely bookish indulgence, right there in the palm of my hand. If I ever got my hands on it, that is. (But that’s okay. I’ve got the Kindle App for my iPod Touch. Life Is Good!!!)
But how does the Kindle (and other e-readers, for that matter) sit with those who read, give away, and forget? I know there are a lot of folks out there, and some of them in what used to be called “straitened circumstances” absolutely love their local library (when it’s open, of course) because they don’t have to KEEP the book. They read it, they return it. Why would these folks even bother with a Kindle, or a different e-reader? They read. They give away, or never, ever re-read. So why would they get an e-reader?
Perhaps folks will eventually check out e-readers from the library, set up with just the books you know you want to read. When you’re done (after a year or so, lol), you return the e-reader and pick up another one, already pre-loaded with the latest Oprah picks (okay, or whomever replaces her in the must-buy-this-book world). Maybe that’s what will happen.
However it turns out, I find I’m fascinated with the thought.
I’ve got to run, sorry! But…it’s October. That’s when I re-read The Lord of the Rings each year…in hardback…
by Christine | Writing
So I passed the first chapter test with the editor, and she wants me to send the full! It is nice when someone else likes what you’ve written. Much nicer by far than the more-typical “doesn’t do anything for me” or “doesn’t quite fit what I represent” , which I’ve seen a lot this year.
That’s okay. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. After looking over the second book in the series, I know I’ve got a lot of rewriting to do (yeah, been lazy on that one) but it’s all there. I just need to align it with the changes I made in the first book and expand, expand, expand. Easily done, and in a world I’m truly in love with, so there’s that. Not a hardship, at all!
Then there’s Kellan’s story, which I haven’t even started on – and I think that one should come before Mephisto’s story, in the grand scheme of things. Of course, I’ve got the short story that kicks the whole thing off, but that too could use major rewrites. Or even, maybe, a full novel…we’ll see.
There I go, dreaming again…as long as I’m dreaming, I may as well dream with my fingers on the keyboard, yes?
by Christine | Writing
I am no longer over the moon when I get a request from an agent or an editor, as I’ve been rejected a lot this year and the bloom is off that particular rose. However, it does put a tiny spring into my step for the rest of the day.
One of the professional organizations I belong to had a blog pitch session with an editor of a highly regarded publishing company. While I didn’t totally wow said editor, I did manage to impress enough that I was asked for a partial. Rather than rush to send the partial last night, I did some thinking, rewrote the query letter, sent it to a friend who has not read the book, and finally got the okay on the query. So this morning (after another read-through of that all-important first chapter) the partial will be sent. Officially off my plate and out of my memory. On to the next project.
So for a hard slog of a year, it’s not all rejection, all the time. Which is enough to put a smile on my face.
by Christine | Life
I’m headed off to my dear friend Tammy in Snowmass, Colorado, in just a couple of days. One, I want to disappear for awhile. Two, it’s no hotter than the low to mid-70s in Snowmass right now. Three, there may still be mushrooms to be found! YUM!!! (I am definitely a hobbit when it comes to mushrooms.)
I will, however, be taking my laptop and my camera, and may end up posting photos if I can figure that part out. If not, then I’ll contact my guru Jenn and figure it out when I get home.
The writing is going well. Focused on the play right now, as I want to finish it before I leave on Thursday. But I have ideas on how to change up the paranormal novels that don’t seem to be going anywhere. Which reminds me, I need to update my books page to prove I actually AM writing novels, and not just saying I am. Maybe I’ll get to that tomorrow.
In the meantime – dinner is over, the family is happily off to either bed or reading before bed (because we’re big on that), and I too must head off to read in bed for awhile.
Tradition, after all, must be kept at all costs.
by Christine | Life, Writing
Just when I was getting used to, and loving, the cooler weather we were enjoying in So Cal, Mother Nature turns up the heat. It’s close to 100 in my little valley and I’m less than thrilled.
On the productive side, however, my office is air conditioned, which is encouraging me to write. Plus, my windows computer’s internet is down, which means I can’t play Flowerz (don’t ask me why I love that game, but I do), and since hubby put in a Blu-ray machine last night, our cable box gave up the ghost which means I can’t watch TV in the other air conditioned room. So that leaves writing on my beloved new MacBook Pro.
I really want to finish up the play I’m working on, and I’ve got, minimum, 15 pages to go. I am a dialog diva – I really am good at it, and I’m enjoying the all-dialog, all the time of writing a play. My guess is it’ll take me two more writing sessions to get it finished, then two or three days of rewriting before sending it out to readers.
But if I don’t start, I can’t finish…
