Books Books and more Books!

Hello again! I know, I need to update more frequently. The good news is, I'm almost out of my writing lull. The bad news is I'm ALMOST out of my writing lull.

But, that's not what this post is about. I need some advice, more specifically, I need some book buying advice.

Some of you may remember (although there's no blog post about this) back in January 2008 the flooding of my apartment and subsequent ceiling collapse. Yeah, not pretty. Anyway, pretty much the entire bookshelf and its contents were irrevocably destroyed along with a handful of books laying around my living room. Our renters insurance gave us 2 years to replace our damaged stuff and we've saved the books for last. Why? Because they didn't give us any seed money for the books so our replacement cost is out of pocket then we're reimbursed. However, we only have until January to get this done.

So here's what I need, suggestions on which books to purchase. We have about $1200 (yeah, the damage was THAT bad) we can spend on new books and we are not required to get exact titles. I will be replacing some exact titles, but I don't need to do all of them and I don't want to replace all of them exactly. So, anyone know any good books? :D

You can visit my Goodreads website here which has a decent list of books I've read in recent years. So, if you want to take the time, maybe you could suggest books NOT on that list?

Thanks for your help! I appreciate it!

You have chosen...wisely? Poorly?

So the network my studies are on has been taken offline for the next 30 minutes or so and therefore I can't work and have time to post something. The past couple months has given me little time to do much outside of work. Additionally, since work has been extra soul-sucking I haven't had any creative mojo to write, post or really do anything except veg and watch some TV while trying to stuff my soul back in. I'm pretty sure that my office has Dementors floating down the cube rows during our most stressful times just so we are that much more depressed.

Enough about that, I've not written too much lately due to the above but I have decided much to the chagrin of those who have voted in the poll to go with Option 3. I've decided to definitely not work on BoR during November. I need to think about something else completely. I also really want to write something that i can finish within November, something shorter and much much less complex. I have zero desire to write an epic, high fantasy novel during November-even one that's half way through. The truth is, I'm not even sure if I can finish BoR during November, everytime i think about the thing it just gets even bigger in my mind.

I thought for a long time about going with Option 1 but there are complications there. First of all a 10k word short story is very long and 5 of them together in a series are unlikely to be published in the type of magazine I want. But in order to reach the Nano goal I'd have to write each one that long which is a bad idea. Plus, I'd also have to come up with 5 unique plots and weave them together-a daunting task, even for short stories.

So we're going with Option 3, which has changed quite a bit in my thinking since I first wrote about it. It's not going to be a 3 part YA novel. I'm kind of excited about it actually, I'm pretty sure that it's going to be something akin to the love child of JJ Abrams and Neil Gaiman-if they could infuse their thoughts and ideas into my head. I'm hoping to spend the next 6 weeks planning it carefully so that it doesn't run away with me. We'll see what happens, it should be fun though. I'm looking forward to thinking and writing about something else for a change.

Even the best and most successful authors can take years to write a BFF, and I am certainly neither of those. I imagine that even when I finish BoR, it'll take years to edit and revise and rewrite. In the meantime, I really don't want to squeeze my brain so narrowly that I only think of the BoR world and nothing else. Writing this novel in November should (in theory) be short and easy when compared to my epic BFF. It's certainly a lot simpler and since it's going to be set in modern times it'll be a million times easier to figure out things (like distance, location etc) that you constantly have to think about in fantasy. There's a danger with that because you have to be sure of your facts, but with the google and wiki machines that's fairly easy to do.

But since it's me, I can't stray completely away from Fantasy so my main characters will have special powers. But it's going to be like government agency type of thing and it'll be very cool I think.

Sorry to disappoint any of you fans out there but don't worry, it isn't like I'm stopping writing BoR. I'll also continue to work on it up until November, planning won't take up all of my creative time-although again, work might suck my soul out some more. That beast [Blood of Renatus]will be finished eventually and it should be awesome when it is. But in the meantime I'm going to take a break from the BFF world and work on something else.

Also, if anyone reading this is interested in Nanowrimo please don't hesitate to ask me any questions. It really is a great way to get started writing or to jump start your creative juices. I'd certainly recommend doing it, not only is it fun but it does give you a huge sense of accomplishment.

vacations, pneumonia, iphone and books

So it's been quite some time since my last blog post. Many factors have contributed to this, well not many really just two main ones.

1) I was on vacation for nearly a week
2) I've had walking pneumonia for the past 2 weeks.

I've been feeling very grumpy, probably due to the whole pneumonia thing. It certainly makes you appreciate a good pair of lungs when things like going up the stairs make you winded and doubled over in a coughing fit. Walking Pneumonia is basically Pneumonia lite, which means I don't have to be hospitalized and I can "walk" around....but not hike (i found that out the hard way). I've had the worst cough ever for two weeks, and I'm not exaggerating even a little bit. I coughed so hard one morning that I made myself vomit. Supposedly the cough will linger for quite some time although the breathing problems should go away soon, that part is getting better. I haven't used my Albuterol inhaler all day!

Being sick has stifled the creative process greatly. In fact, pretty much all I've been able to focus on is keeping my coughing under control and you know...breathing. However, while I was in Washington I did have an opportunity to set my laptop up facing a beautiful mountain lake and do some very peaceful writing. I'm happy to say that during that afternoon in between coughing fits I filled out the rest of my book. I now have a chapter summery for every chapter from here until the end. Isn't that lovely news? Also I did a lot of actual writing but that's not nearly as exciting to me as having everything down plot-wise for the rest of the book. I have something like 50-70k MORE words to write. It's a higher number than I originally thought but probably more accurate given that it's all planned out now.

Of course it's a bit sad that the reason I spent the afternoon writing was because I couldn't go on the hike with my friends. I went on a short hike the previous day and thought I was going to die so the longer hike was out of the question. My lungs still haven't forgiven me.

In other news, I finally got my iphone. Huzzah! BTW, Todd I couldn't respond to your comment because you don't have a blog on which I could comment! Yes I got my iphone, yes it's the same phone number (unlike yours, what is it again?) so you have no excuse not to call me! Seriously, it is THE coolest piece of technology that I've ever owned and I don't care what anyone says it's the coolest PHONE ever. All you blackberry fans out there may think the blackberry is "better" but it is certainly not cooler! Or sexier. So Fie on you Blackberry!

I'm going on vacation the first week of august, this time to a much warmer climate. It's kind of cool that I will have visited the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean in less than a month. I'm going to Myrtle Beach and I sincerely plan to spend the entire vacation on the beach, unless it's raining. I'll do lots of writing I hope, but I'm going to also focus on soaking up the sun.

I've read a couple books during the past week or so. It was kind of nice to actually read something, I didn't have the brain power to do anything creative myself but I haven't sat down to read a book in ages. The first book I read was Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman . I'm not interested in doing a book review but I enjoyed it. I did struggle, at first, with the main character. He just seemed exactly like Arther Dent from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. But I got past that fairly quickly and really enjoyed the book. It's very clever and well done. The second book, which I read this weekend actually, was Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I liked the book but it was written in 1st person which sometimes throws me off (not always though, she did a good job) but there were a lot of internal that felt very long and wordy. However, it was probably one of the funnier vampire stories I've read and the "romance" is pretty atypical. Also her depiction of an "Earth gone bad" is very cool. They're both good and I'd recommend them both. Especially if you like the supernatural as they both deal with that.

Well it's after 10 and I have a very uncomfortable pressure on my chest which means it's time to take my steroid inhaler and get some sleep. I'm sure I'll write again before the week is up.

Books that have changed my life

In the spirit of Group blog #2 I'm going to write about a few books that have changed my life. For a look at other memes on this subject take a look at Sarah's blog and her friend's blog. So in no particular order here they are...

Sweet Valley Twins The Magic Christmas by Francine Pascal

So this book I remember reading sometime in elementary school. As a child I was a voracious reader (I still am) I read books faster than my parents could buy them for me. Part of that meant I didn't really remember all the books that I read unfortunately. However this book I remember in vivid detail. I loved the Sweet Valley Twins series as a whole and this one in particular left me with love and devotion for books that was previously unknown to me. It also introduced me to the world of fantasy. Jessica and Elizabeth are transported to another world in this book with two handsome princes that were trapped in dolls. They venture to a magical world where they can do magic and have to save a kingdom from the evil doer who has taken over. It was also about a rift between sisters and how the little things aren't as important as they seem. This book influenced not only my burgeoning love for the fantasy genre but also taught me moral lessons on how to get along with my sister-especially at Christmas.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

So this book I don't remember quite as well as the above. This was however the first book I remember being moved to tears. It's about two best friends living in Denmark during the German occupation. This book shaped how I feel about equality among people and their religions and anything else for that matter. Being different faiths did not matter to these little girls to the extent that the girl of Jewish faith was taken in by her best friends' Christian family. It's a powerful book, especially to my 10 year old mind. It taught me lessons about the value of friendship and the importance of realizing that people are different and that's okay. There are huge moral lessons in this book, I would encourage everyone of all ages to read it but especially children. Everyone should know about the Holocaust and everyone should learn about true friendship and doing whatever it takes to help them.

The Eye of the World, Book 1 of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

This book has probably been the most influential in regards to both my reading and writing habits. I'm pretty sure I've read this book at least a dozen times and it is still just as good-if not better-than the first time I read it when I was in Jr. High. The first "epic" fantasy that I've read by arguably the most influential authors in the genre. The entire series is fantastic, although some of the later books (particularly book 8 and book 10) are very weak when compared to book 1. If you've ever had an interest in reading epic fantasy then you must start with this book. Complex characters, a huge world, unique magic systems, quest to save the world, talking trees, expansive action scenes, secret societies...it's all there and all awesome. I started writing before I read this book however it was The Eye of the World that made me want to write fantasy. It stirred a passion in me to read every piece of fantasy I could get my hands on. Sadly Robert Jordan passed away from a blood disease prior to completing the Wheel of Time series. However the wonderful Brandon Sanderson is currently taking on the task of completing it using Mr. Jordan's extensive notes and he was personally selected to write the final book by Mr. Jordan's wife. Anyway, if you only ever read one fantasy novel in your whole life you should read this one. It's fantastic.

The Iliad by Homer
I'm pretty sure that if you haven't read the Iliad or the Odyssey then you need to. The Iliad was one of the few books that I refused to throw away after my ceiling collapsed onto it. The poor book was drenched and probably should have been disposed of but I simply couldn't do it. Every page of my water damaged copy is covered in notes from the class I took on it. The Iliad is chock full of morals and lessons on how to act proper in Greek society. It was a how to guide for ancient Greek and is largely still applicable. It's not just a classic story, it isn't just one of the most ancient pieces of literature out there. You can watch all of the movies about the fall of Troy and Helen and Achilles and still only grasp the tiniest bit of all of culture and life that is in the Iliad. I remember one of the (many) battle scenes in which the entire scene is written "Bob son of George son of Frank killed Sam son of Harry son of James" and it can be pretty tedious to read those parts. However if you don't then you'll miss tiny lines that go like this "Bob son of George son of Frank was about to kill Sam son of Harry son of James but they recognized each other and realized that Sam son of Harry son of James had dinner with Bob's family before the war started so guest right still stands and so they did not kill each other". Tiny little gems of wisdom, the struggle Hector faces fighting for his family and country but knowing he will die. Achilles battle within himself for glory or long life-he cannot have both. Books like the Iliad withstand time not because of their age but because they are still relevant. So go read this book, buy it and love it and let it teach you about life and group settings and sociology like it did me.


Those four books are not at all the only books that have influenced me, but they are the ones that jump out clearly. I certainly have a huge number of favorite books and I think it would be impossible to pick out what has influenced me out of each of those books. Books, like anything else can have whatever impact you want it to have. Some books are there only for entertainment value but others teach you things or influence your choices and thinking. Sometimes you don't realize the impact a book will have on you until much much later. So everyone, keep on reading!