Book Appreciation Month

I love books! Books have taken me to some of the most amazing places. Books have let me take part in so many adventures and live lives totally different than mine. Books have entertained, educated, challenged my thinking, and sometimes just let me escape from reality for a while.

Books have also gotten me in trouble. Like the time I in 5th grade. I had a book hidden in my textbook and got so involved in the story I didn't hear my name being called by the teacher. Not good. :-)  And of course, there were the many nights Mom found me reading with a flashlight under the covers.

As an author, I have a love/hate relationship with books. Unless the story is awesome, I tend to see typos, logic errors, and such. It's one of the issues with being an editor too. It's hard to read for pleasure...at least for me. I tend to look at the writing more than the story sometimes.

That said, I just read an amazing historical novel. And honestly, I don't like historical fiction. But I loved this one.  It was for an edit so isn't available yet but you can find the first in the series (I loved it too.) and get ready for the one coming soon. I'll add a link so you can just click over. If Amazon says this isn't available, you can get it from the publisher's website.

On a side note,  I've decided to start blogging here again. I'll be featuring authors, books, publishers, editors, along anything else dealing with books and writing.  If you would like to be featured, let me know.  It's been a while since this blog was active though I've still been getting visitors on a regular basis. Check out the archives for some great reading suggestions.

Also...comment on a post during the month and you'll be entered to win a book. I'm not sure which one but it will be a good one.

No Excuses Blog Challenge Post 1

I'm terrible with blogging. I really enjoy it, when I get going but sometimes I have a hard time getting started. So, I've decided to take part in a 21 day, no excuses blog challenge. I'll post links later. One thing I like, they are giving suggested topics for each day. Which really helps.  Today's topic is "hooks". I'm not going with their suggested discussion about hooks, but that's okay.

As a writer, hooks are hard. There is so much a hook has to accomplish. I mean, it has to get the reader to continue reading, and in this fast paced, go-go-go world, that's harder than ever to do.  As I thought about how I wanted to go with this topic, I pondered some ideas. For example...

She leaned over the balcony, staring at the ground only 4 floors below, and wondered if she'd survive the fall.

Is that a good hook? I'm not so sure. Would someone read on to see why she was pondering this? Maybe, if they didn't have anything else to do.

She leaned over the balcony, staring at the ground only 4 floors below, and wondered if he'd survive the fall.

Al little better. Who is she? Who is he? What did he do that would make her want to push him? Did he deserve it? Or, is she a victim?

Hooks must cause the reader to ask questions. And those questions must drive the reader to continue to the next line, the next paragraph, the next page, the next chapter.

So, as a writer, how do you handle hooks?  And, as a reader, what are some of your favorite hooks?

Share in the comments for a chance to win some free stuff. I'll give away a couple books along with a critique.



Check out these great blogs participating in the blog challenge.

R is for Reality

I don't know about you but I've about had it with all the reality shows on tv.  I mean, how unreal can they get?  Real Housewives for  example, you know any housewives who act like that?

Thing is, I get enough reality every day by myself, I don't need to watch it, or what some producer thinks is reality.  I deal with the reality of finances, high grocery prices, higher gas prices, children, cats, dog, deadlines, cooking and cleaning.  It's my own version of Survivor every day.

So, I read to escape my reality for just a while.  And I think that's why many, many others read.  Starting as low as .99 I can find a book on Kindle (I don't have one but I have the kindle for pc thing) and read on the computer.  I can pay a little over $5 at walmart for a paperback, then sit in the shade outside and read myself away.  It's like a vacation but not near as costly.  Sure, there's no hunky pool boy to rub suntan oil in for me and bring a cool drink with an umbrella in it but at least I don't have to pack and unpack.

Which brings me to my point today.  We have to do our very best to deliver the kind of story that takes the reader on vacation.  But many times, we mess that up.  We throw in humongous words when small ones will do.  We have sentences that run on for paragraphs and are hard to understand.  We hop from one character's head to another without warning the reader or we leave out dialogue tags so it's hard to keep up with who's saying what.  All these things distract the reader from the story and we don't want that.  Reading shouldn't be hard.  Sure, there's times and topics that are hard to read/understand but those aren't escapism reading.

It's been a while since I found a book that totally swept me away.  One that sucked me in and didn't let go until the last page, that made me forget about everything but the characters.  But, I'm still looking.  And I'm seriously trying to write one. 

What about you?  What have you read lately that made you forget reality for a while?

E is for Expectations

I don't know about you but when I buy a book, there are things I expect.  For example, I expect to be transported to another world.  I want to leave the reality behind for a bit and go on an adventure.  I want to experience something I've not done before and might never get the chance to do.  I want to meet characters who become real to me, that I'd like to sit down and chat with over a glass of tea or cup of hot cocoa.  When I read a book, I want to go someplace I might never get the chance to visit.

Back as far as I can remember, I've loved to read.  I remember reading under the cover with a flashlight cause the book was so good I couldn't wait to read the next page.  In school, I used to read during class by putting the book on top of my textbook and holding it up so the teacher couldn't see.  Of course, that worked fine until I got so involved in the story I didn't hear the teacher call on me and a classmate had to get my attention. 

But, when I read a book, I want to get that involved.  So involved I forget where I am, that I need to fix dinner, or put the laundry in the dryer.  I want to keep turning the pages until I reach the end at three in the morning.  And when I get to the end, I want to feel satisfied but also a little sad.  Satisfied cause it's a fitting ending but sad because my time with the characters has come to an end.  I want to put the book on my keeper shelf and know I'll be reading it again soon. 

What do you expect from a book?  And got any recommendations?

Chex Mix, Writing & Reading

Today I had chex mix for breakfast. It's the "traditional" flavor and overall I enjoy munching on it. In fact I'll probably have the bag close by and nibble off and on most of the day. That's one of the reasons I don't buy it often...I tend to nibble on it way too much.
But as I pondered blogging today, I glanced over at the bag of chex mix and realized that yeap, I can make the chex mix and writing relate. So, bear with me:--)

There are a lot of different parts to good chex mix. The bag I'm nibbling on now has two kinds of cereal, two different pretzel shapes, two kinds of bread and a little breadstick thingy. Not to mention the spices. And for the most part, I like it all. Of course, I pick around the wheat chex and the pumpernickle bread pieces and eat the rest first.

A good story has lots of ingredients too. Great characters, interesting setting, and realistic dialogue are just a few those ingredients. Then there are those "spices" that each writer adds...his or her own voice. Each of us have something special we bring to the story.

And just as I pick through by bag of chex mix picking out my favs, readers will have their favorites too. Not everyone will care for the pretzels.

Plus, there is a chex mix for just about every taste now. Turtle, cheddar, BBQ, sweet & salty and of course traditional. All of them are tasty in their own way. And there is a genre for every reader too...mystery, romance, fantasy, just to name a few.

Which leads me to reading.  As writers we need to read.  We need to read outside our genre.  We need to read nonfiction, we need to read romance, mystery, thrillers, fantasy and science fiction.   We even need to read literary and mainstream novels.  And while I enjoy a good horror every now and then, I won't insist we all need to read them.
 
When we read, we get a chance to see how other writers play with the language, how they do descriptions, dialogue and action.  We see what we like and what we don't then can apply it to our own writing.
 
So, go grab a bag of chex mix, a book you'd not normally read and find a comfy chair.  Now, enjoy.