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    ‘Tis done … for now …

    So I got my butt in gear, wrote 13, 248 words, and finished the rough draft of Assassin 3 this weekend. Huzzah! :ww:

    Word count: 90,016.

    How long it took me to write: About 6-8 weeks.

    Finishing the craptastic first draft: Priceless.

    I’ve written/revised the three Assassin books back-to-back-to-back since June, so I’m taking a couple of weeks off from heavy-duty writing before I start doing revisions for my editor on Assassin 1 and hear what my agent thinks about Assassin 2. I think I’ve earned it.

    I’m planning to dive into my TBR pile and whittle that down a little before Christmas rolls around. I also need to do some other housekeeping stuff, like clean my house and update the Web site (and finally post the first chapter of the Assassin book for you guys to read).

    But I’m looking forward to a little break from writing — at least until I get another idea for a new book. 😉

    What about you guys? Anyone do anything fun this weekend?

  • Prime time decisions …

    8 Comments

    So most of the new fall TV shows have premiered now, and I’m deciding what to give a season pass to and what to give up on.

    Of the new shows, I’m enjoying The Mentalist and Privileged the most. I also think Valentine is cute, but I doubt it will last the season since the viewership is so low (which makes me sad). So those are the new shows I’m going to keep watching.

    My Own Worst Enemy is okay, but I like Christian Slater better as the bad-ass character than the regular family man. I’ll probably watch a few more episodes to see if it gets better. Fringe didn’t really hook me, and I didn’t care for The Ex List at all. Those two have already gotten scratched off my schedule.

    Of the returning shows, I’m still absolutely loving Gossip Girl and Chuck — both are just excellent every single week. I’d also forgotten how much campy fun Dirty Sexy Money is (it’s like a grown-up version of GG).

    But some of my old favorites are starting to feel, well, just old. My Name Is Earl and Grey’s Anatomy haven’t wowed me at all this year. Seriously, does there have to be some sort of external crisis every single week on Grey’s? First, it was the car wreck, and then the busted water pipe, and this week, it looks like it’s some super-duper surgery.

    I think Heroes has gotten a little better (I love Daphne the speedster character). But Robert Forster doesn’t seem to have much personality as Papa Petrelli, and they killed David Anders off last week (or at least reduced him to a pile of ash). Why couldn’t they have offed Mohinder instead? I would have been much happier to see him go than Sark. Sigh.

    Ah, well. I’ll keep watching — for now. :rolleyes:

    What about you guys? Which shows are you loving or hating? Share in the comments.

  • 907 and counting …

    4 Comments

    Finished Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter. This is another one of his Southern thrillers about the Swagger family. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually work with Hunter’s daughter, although we are in different departments of the newspaper.

    This book is about Earl Swagger, an Arkansas policeman who journeys down to Thebes, Mississippi, to rescue his friend/father figure/lawyer Sam Vincent. Sam went to Thebes to get some legal documents from the infamous prison and realized there was something very wrong with the prison/town. Rather than let him leave, the town sheriff framed Sam for murder and is about to let him have a deadly “accident” when Earl comes along to rescue Sam.

    Sam escapes, but Earl doesn’t. Earl is taken to the Thebes prison, where he’s tortured, beaten, and more. Earl eventually manages to escape the prison and its horrid conditions, and he decides to gather up a posse of men, go back to Thebes, and burn the place to the ground. There’s a pale horse coming to Thebes, and his name is Earl Swagger …

    This book is hard to classify. It’s a rescue mission meets The Great Escape meets The Magnificent Seven. But it’s all done beautifully. This is definitely one of Hunter’s better Swagger books (although not quite as good as Point of Impact).

    The beginning drags a bit, but once Earl is captured, the plot really kicks into high gear. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Earl travels across the country and gathers up his crew of old gunmen. Plus, there was a secondary character with a secret motive I didn’t even guess, and it worked in well with the rest of the action.

    If you like action-adventure thrillers with lots of talk about guns and weapons, especially those set in the steamy South, you should enjoy this one. Thumbs up.

    Note: One thing I do want to mention is that the action is set in 1951 in the South — a time of racial turmoil to say the least. The N-word is used a lot in this book, among other things. I’m not saying it’s right — just how some people spoke/thought at the time and that Hunter is trying to capture the era to tell his story. But if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one.

    Up next: Quantum of Solace (a book of James Bond short stories) by Ian Fleming.

    Books in my TBR pile: About 18.

  • Stand up and be counted …

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    So I went and voted yesterday. Thought I’d do it early and avoid what are sure to be long lines on Nov. 4.

    Overall, it was pretty painless. Stood in line a few minutes, waited for a crashed computer to restart, and then got my ballot. I filled out a paper ballot that was scanned through a machine after I was finished. (The election workers told everyone several times not to mark outside the boxes — wonder if they’ll be any hanging chads this year?)

    Once the ballot was scanned, a little message popped up that said “Your vote has been counted.” And I was done.  

    Anyway, I just want to encourage folks to get out and vote — early like I did or on election day. People in other parts of the world long for the freedoms we take for granted here in the U.S. Voting is one of them. So whatever your political affiliation is, go make your voice heard. It’s what Wonder Woman would do. :ww:

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    A good time …

    7 Comments

    So I attended the book events that were part of the annual Women’s Expo in Kingsport, Tenn. this weekend. There was a dinner Friday night and then a book signing Saturday. (Some folks also signed books Sunday, but I was busy working on Assassin 3).

    I got to meet several authors, including Julia Quinn and Teresa Medeiros. They both write historicals, and both of them were super-nice. Very funny too. Lora Leigh was also there, but unfortunately, I didn’t really get a chance to talk to her, and I only got to talk to Kay Stockham for a few minutes before the signing on Saturday. (If you’ve ever seen Kay in person, you know how gorgeous she is). I’d always like more time to chat with folks. Ah, well. Maybe at the next event I see them at. 

    I also got to speak with some readers and other folks I know, like fellow Smoky Mountain Romance Writer members Jessie Verino and Trista Ann Michaels. And then, I got to talk to folks at the expo who stopped by the table where the book signing was.

    I thought the dinner on Friday night was especially fun thanks to the guest speakers Valerie Ramsey and Joanna Campbell Slan. After raising her kids, Valerie got into modeling — in her 60s! And Joanna reminded us all how very blessed we are with her funny talk. Seriously, Joanna was hysterical and had everyone laughing out loud. If her books are as funny as she is, you will be giggling the whole time you read them.

    Overall, it was a very fun time. I plan on attending again next year (it’s always held the third weekend in October). Jim Butcher is scheduled to be the big guest author next year, and the organizers are hoping to bring in some more urban fantasy writers. If any author or reader out there wants more details, just send me an e-mail, and I’ll get you in touch with the event organizers.

    Note: I actually took some photos this time, but for some reason, WordPress isn’t letting me upload them. Grrr! 👿

    What about you guys? Did anyone do anything fun this weekend?