What I Read in June

I know. We're mostly into July but I thought I would talk about it anyways. Better late than never? Also, I feel like I read a good amount this month, thanks to the Creating and Co relaxathon (a readathon with a theme of relaxing), so let's get into the books!

• Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan - Review - This book is still sticking with me in my head because it was so well written. I truly thought it was a narrative non-fiction, because that's the way it felt like as I was reading it, but it turns out it's more based on a true story. That's fine too. It's set to be either a movie or limited series on Amazon with Tom Holland playing Pino. 
• The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin - Review - Like I say in my review, I saw the movie before reading the book. I really wish I had done the opposite. The movie collared a lot on how I saw the book and I came out liking the movie more. Then again, I'm not sure if I would have entertained watching the movie on the book alone. While it's a good book, it does suffer from letting the main male character lead a bit too much instead of making it a partnership. I can see why he did this, mostly because he wrote in a first person limited, but having both characters be strong worked to make the movie as good as it was. The book is good as well. I just wish I had read it first.
• Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - Review - I... I really think this is the first book in a long time that I've given two stars to. It was too short. He needed more pages to complete the book, which I do say in the review, and I'm hesitant to watch the movie. I wish I had DNF-ed the book, as it was very annoying with the main character and the mystery, and there's no good complete ending. It's just an ending. I feel that, if the book was longer, the ending would feel more complete. Oh well.
• Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett - Review - This was a wonderful book. Now, I do not read all that much contemporary when it's adult fiction. it's even less when it comes to YA and contemporary. However, this was an awesome contemporary book where it's got hints of Wild but toned down for teenagers and set with a backdrop of enemies to friends to much more. I don't care if it's a spoiler because if I can get you to read the book, that's even better. I touch on this in my review, but the blended family without the over explanation of it won me over in the first few pages of the book. It was just "yeah, this is my family" and it was done. Sometimes it is overly drawn out or brought up again and again, usually in terms that are spelled out in a telling not showing situation, where she just showed it. It's a reason why I want to read her other books when I get around to it.
• Closed Circles by Viveca Stein - Review - this is the second book of the Sandhamn Murders series and I'm sticking with this series until the end. That said, I really hope that, in future books, we get a stronger main female character in Nora. She took really big steps in this book, but she needs to do even more. Thomas, on the other hand, really needs to get his house in order. I hope that she keeps them as really good friends, mostly because it feels like it would be forced if they tried to be together, so I'm working on the third book in July. I hope they stay free to read through Kindle Unlimited until I get through the rest of the series.
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - there's no review for this one because it was a re-read. The second season of the Netflix series came out and I thought I would read the book again. I read it mostly in one day again and it felt good to get through it. I still haven't watched the series, as I'm not sure if I want to at this point, but I should probably give it a try. We'll see. At the moment, I'm really not wanting to.
• This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers - Review - someone in a review I read about the book said this is Breakfast Club meets Dawn of the Dead. Truer words were never spoken. Now, I picked up this book on a whim. I was like "hmm, interesting title, I'll try it" and I never read the back. This was one of the books that I couldn't put down because of the pacing and the writing. You felt like you were there, outrunning the zombies, and wondering when it would end. The tension was there and, even though it was sometimes teenage drama, it didn't feel fake or that it was there for the sake of filling pages. Everything had a purpose and it was powerful storytelling. There is a novella / short story that goes after it, told in the voice of the main male character, that I do want to read. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

So, that's what I read in June. I'm close to my yearly goal of 30 books and will up it to 50 when I hit 30. And then to 60 when I hit 50 and so on. What did you read in June and did any book just hit you in the gut? Or perhaps grabbed your brain and dragged you along for the ride? Leave a comment and, until next time, happy reading. 

Writing a Book: Plotting

Camp NaNoWriMo has been happening for a week already - with me completely behind - so here's me getting even more behind with talking about plotting. Plotting is one of those things that you can either not do, which is called pantsing; do so well a job that it's like you're writing another book; or in a way that gives you the skeleton of the book while leaving you a lot of space to move and grow. While there is no right way to do this, I like to do where I give myself a skeleton and then move and grow while writing the book. There are parts that are somewhat set in stone and there are other parts that can be changed at any given moment.

The thing that you want to do first is have some idea of the story you're going to write. Even if it's a long rambling summary, that's part of the plotting idea. In fact, there's a lot of writers who just go with the rambling plot outline for writing their first draft and then tighten it up in other drafts. For me, I usually write around three to five sentences and leave the plot rambling to another document all together. Also, this can be done on the computer or on paper. There's a few plot bunnies that I've got written down to help with the process and others that work better when typing it out in a Google Document or your program of choice. A lot of my planning goes into Google Docs because I can and will access it from anywhere. That includes my phone, since I have one big enough for typing with both thumbs. Just use what is best for you when giving shape to plot bunnies.

Now, for the next part, there's no right or wrong to what you do first. Some do characters first and some create the world first. I am known to create characters first and world second, because I'm more about a character driven plot. That means that I like the characters to steer the ship. Sometimes this is literally as in the case of Kris in Of the Sky that I'm working on a first draft of but it's more to tell their story in a way that connects everything. The entire book or series will center around them and the connections to others that they make, for good or bad, and then the plot goes from there. That also goes for creating the world. For me, I work on the world where the main character lives first and then do the rest of the world building after I have a good idea of the home country.

For novels set in the real world, as in the case of Mystery of the Dark, I really try to go off of the cities I know or I can go visit to get a lay of the land. It's why, in the first book, you see a lot of St Louis and Asheville. My great-uncle lived in St Louis, along with his home being the basis for Mark's home, and Asheville is where a good friend / family in all but blood lives. Strong connections to each help with making the writing flow easier. Knowing this is probably why I'm having such a hard time with the sequel. They had to move from St Louis due to the plot of the first book and there's no good central ground that I want to set them in. I'm really tempted to let it take on a nomad type vibe with Kate never settling down and trusting the space. But, I'm getting off the topic. For real world settings, it is best to go with what you know. It's why everyone gives that advice - it works.

Ok - you've got your idea down, you have your characters and your world. The next question goes into how much you want to put your plot down on paper or not. You could have all of what you need written down and then decide to pants the rest. You just go where the novel takes you and you'll end up at your destination eventually. What I do is take on a process that I was first taught about by erin is to number a document 1 to 30 and write out 30 scenes with the midpoint being 15-17 and your secondary plot point being 25-27. Every number is a scene or a chapter that you're writing. You could take the same idea but have the number be whatever you like between 1 and infinity as long as you get to an ending. I like doing it in terms of chapters and then shorten / make it longer as needed. For example, Mystery of the Dark is only 28 chapters while Of the Sky will probably be 30 or more. So it's a nice little system.

After that, the best thing to do is sit in the chair and write. It's the only thing that can be done, in the end, if you want to get your book out of your head and onto paper. The plotting helps to bring some order to the chaos but there's nothing stopping you from just writing. So, until next time, keep on putting that butt in the chair and write.

Bout of Books Update: Monday and Tuesday

I know I said I'd update once a day, but we all knew how that was going to go. Also, life kind of exploded. I'm working on different projects, again, querying, and trying to figure out if I want to invest in training that might lead to a job. It's on the expensive side, but, you know, it would be an awesome opportunity. So, yeah, a lot on the mental plate at the moment.

I'm still slugging through Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I can't decide what is wrong about the book, but there's something off. I first thought it was my age being so different than the characters and who the audience is supposed to be. However, as I thought on that, I realized it was a bunch of shit. I've read a good amount of fiction that is not for my age group and I've never felt like I was an outsider listening in on a conversation. I always felt that I was one of the people in the group of the main characters. It could be that I'm just not meshing with the authors' writing style, but I don't know. I'm not even half way through the book, but I'm going to keep on trying with it.

After I get some writing in, I'm going to start Beneath a Scarlet Sky and hope for the best. It seems really good and I think I could burn through it in a day or two. The after effects of an English Lit degree is that you can burn through thick books without thinking about it while retaining all the useful info. It's like having a superpower. A boring superpower, but a superpower nonetheless. After or during that, I'll probably start Moriarty because I'm itching to start that one and there's no reason I can't be reading three books at once.

So that's an extremely quick update on the reading front at the moment. I'll be back tomorrow with Wednesday's progress. Until then, happy reading.

Bout of Books: My TBR List

Hey everyone! This really is just what it says on the can. I'm going to post my video on this below, but I thought people would like to see what my to be read list is instead of just having to listen to me. Also, not listed in the video, my stretch list! Basically, it's a switching in things in case I need to or reading more because I have the time.

1. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
2. The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
3. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
4. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
5. Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

My Stretch List:
1. I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
2. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Books Review: Norse Mythology and Arrows of the Queen

One of these were on my to be read (TBR) list and one of them was accidentally finished one night when I couldn't sleep. Norse Mythology is the one that I accidentally finished and Arrows of the Queen was on my TBR list. I've been trying to get going on the Valdemar series, which I did last month with finally finishing Magic's Price, so now it's working on the second trilogy and then beyond. However, that is neither here or there at the moment. For now, let's talk books. Also, both images are thanks to Goodreads and are not mine. 

Norse Mythology is a collection slash retelling of the myths of old. Two of the reasons I was drawn to this book in the first place is written by a favorite author and I've been wanting to know more about the background of Thor as he was originally known. Now, that is because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and not because the idea just popped into my head, but knowing the original stories of some of those characters help them make more sense. Loki lying and cheating his way out of everything, even with knowing he's the God of Mischief, makes a ton more sense to me knowing his stories. I now understand why most people were saying that they were making Thor too uptight in the movies - he's so different in the stories - so, yeah, that was the two big reasons why. Going into the stories themselves, we see Gaiman's short story chops shine. While he respects the original story, we also get to see other characters have a stronger voice. For me, Hela felt that she was taken care of better in his retelling than what happened to her in the original as it felt like she was listened to instead of just cast aside like her brothers. You cared about the fact that they tricked Fenrir and felt the pain of Tyr as he had to take his part in binding the wolf. I thought the depth that he brought worked very well. 

The only two missteps of the entire book were the last two stories. The Last Days of Loki felt out of character to the extreme. Yes, he's the God of Mischief. Yes, he's going to make the other Gods mad. But what he did there with pissing the other Gods off made no sense because there wasn't any plan for it. He was doing it for the sake of doing it, which does not feel like the Loki we know throughout the other stories. In the other ones, there's always a plan and a way out. This had no way out and I wish we could have had why. Maybe he was tired of being what he was or wanted the end to come because he thought he could rule so it leads into Ragnarok? But that's speculation. Maybe that's the point of the story, but... I dunno. It feels very undone and untidy which is so not Loki. The other misstep story, Ragnarok: the Final Destiny of the Gods, felt rushed. It felt like we were rushing to the end instead of savoring the end. While the descriptions of the battle were good, I can't help but get a feeling that he just wanted it to be done. I think I'm wrong about that and Ragnarok is probably a rush job in the original story as well, but I wish it could have been more spread out. That said, the ending of Ragnarok / the entire book? I love it. I can see that happening easily and everything happening all over again is nice. 

The next book, which was on my TBR list for April and moved over to May, is Arrows of the Queen. It's set about five hundred years after Magic's Price / Last Herald Mage trilogy which is part why the series is so good. Originally, I was kind of sad that we were getting such a big jump. I wanted to see more of the characters that I grew to love in the Last Herald Mage trilogy, along with seeing the aftermath of the events of that trilogy. What I didn't expect is that I would get that in this book. I was able to see the after effects of what happened because it's tied into Talia, the main character of this book, reading about the events as it's told as a story now. It is one of the things that Mercedes Lackey does well during this book, along with the tension that's strung along until the middle of the book and it just didn't go away easily. Others might be annoyed by it, but I thought it worked well.

Talia, for all her strength and the role she's thrown into as Queen's Own (meaning she's the confidant / personal adviser of the Queen and the princess), doesn't start out that way. She starts out as a child who wants to be a Herald more than anything in the world and she gets her wish. I think, in the next two books in the trilogy, we're going to get a bit of "be careful what you wish for" as a subtle undertone. I say that because, as a writer myself, I couldn't help but put that into my own work if I set it up that way in the first book. However, Talia has to learn to trust and her gradually opening until she's forced to worked really well for character development. It helped me connect to her and trust her as the narrator of the story, even though we did POV jump, and made me not want to put the book down. The other part that made me not want to put the book down was the POV jumping because it was done seamlessly. Lackey went to another character's perspective only when it was needed to enhance the story and not hinder it. I think anybody who wants to do that in their own writing needs to read this book to see how it is done. Not forcing it at chapters but just weaving it in like it is supposed to be there all along worked wonders. 

As for missteps, I didn't really find any or I didn't have the same that others had. The only thing that I wished was changed was having Skif and Talia realize they should have been friends from the beginning. However, I'm also someone who likes it when fantasy stays away from romance all of the time, so that might be my own bias. 

So, those are my two reviews of what I've been reading so far in the month of May. I should have more coming up soon but, if you want to see my reviews from April, go check out my YouTube channel here. Until next time, happy writing and reading!

Three Things

1. Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is excellent, as is Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen, and I should have a book review up before the end of the week for both.

2. I'm participating in Bout of Books readathon next week, so there might be daily updates next week. Might.

3. I so totally wrote Justinian's proposal to Kate yesterday for #1linewed theme of humble: "I don't have all the answers, Katelyn," Justinian said. "I never will. I am asking, possibly begging, for you to simply say yes. If I have to, I'll get on my knees, but only for you. You're the only one worth it."

That's it for now. To be honest, check out my twitter at @CrescentLizzy or my YouTube channel as I update those a lot more. I'm sorry for those who read my blog but I just can't commit to updating on a regular schedule. Anyways, until next time, keep on writing.

Where have I been and where am I going?

Hello again. It's been an interesting turn of events since I last showed up here. I would apologize for disappearing, but this is always the first plate that gets dropped when I start doing a million things at once. I don't mean it to be that way, but it's what happens. Anyways, let's go into what's happening now.

1. I'm querying Mystery of the Dark - what this means is that I am looking up agents and sending out a letter asking them to please look at my novel. In some cases, it means sending them parts of the novel too, which worries me, but only because I'm sending out my baby into the world. It's taken a very long time to get from draft one to sending to agents and while I love it, I'm also anxious about making sure everything is perfect. It's kind of fun and kind of getting more gray hair at the same time.

2. I changed the name of the blog back to Words 'n Books. I'm starting to do a lot of reading again, which is a ton of fun, and I'm glad I'm getting back into the swing of it. I've also started putting videos up on booktube, which is a section of YouTube that deals with all things books, and it's been fun. I just finished Wicked Deep yesterday and will have a spoiler filled review of the book up sometime over the weekend, but I'll link it here. I'm also taking part in the OWLs readathon and I've got two of my OWLs done. One more and I'll have exceeded expectations and that's all kind of awesome. You can find my YouTube channel here.

3. I'm editing Power, which is a trip because my writing is so horrible from 2008, and working on the second book of the Mystery of the Dark series. It's slow, for both of them, but at least I'm getting towards having things done, which is always fun, and then throwing them out to readers / editors / what have you to mix it all up.

4. I have a Facebook author page now! You can find it here.

So, that's where I have been. It's been interesting and a bit insane, but let's talk about where we're going.

1. This Sunday, there's a publishers panel at my library that I'm going to. It'll be interesting to network and hear what people have to say and so on. I'm a bit worried about it, mostly because I tend to be shy and I have to put myself forward, but we'll see how it goes. I'll update on that come next week sometime.

2. I'm going to attempt to post more. I'm not going to say how much, but I will work on it. At least once a month, I think, but we'll see.

3. More querying and trying not to have panic attacks with sending emails. The worst thing they're going to say is nothing, the second worst thing is going to be no. So, really, it's not as horrible as I'm making it out to be. Damn anxiety.

So that's that. Bit of an update and a bit of where we're going to try to go from here. Until next time, as there will be one, happy writing.