When the biometric scanner at work won’t scan your hand. Evidently, my hands are as cold as death today. :rolleyes:
I really need to make myself a pair of gloves with the fingertips cut out so I can still type and keep my hands warm. Yeah, I think I’ll be rocking some hobo gloves at the office soon …
Finished No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole. This is the second book in her Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series about vampires, Valkyries, and other magical creatures.
This one focuses on Kaderin the Cold Hearted, a Valkyrie who was granted her wish to feel no emotion after her sisters’ deaths, and Sebastian Wroth, the vampire who falls in love with her and makes her feel again. To be close to Kaderin, Sebastian enters a mystical scavanger hunt called the Hie alongside her. But they both want the prize — a magical key that lets the user travel back in time. Too bad only one of them can win it …
I’ve heard a lot of folks buzzing about this series, so I bought a couple of the books to read. I liked this one even more than the first book in the series, A Hunger Like No Other. Why? Mainly because of Kaderin. She was everything that I like in a female character –Â strong, tough, and a kick-ass warrior who can take care of herself just fine, thank you very much.
I also thought the plot was nicely balanced between the Hie contest and Kaderin and Sebastian’s developing romance. The contest also set up the next couple in the series and gave the reader more glimpses of the different types of creatures in the series. That’s hard to do without shortchanging the main couple’s romance, but Cole did it well in this book.
There was also a nice role reversal in this one. Because instead of being your usual alpha male vampire who is irresistable to the ladies, Sebastian’s large size has always made him feel clumsy, and he hasn’t had much luck with women in the past.
In fact, I really liked Sebastian’s shy character — until he decided that he was going to force Kaderin to, ahem, service him because he thought that she had wronged him. I know this is a fantasy book, and the world building makes it clear just how crazy Sebastian is to make Kaderin his. But still, I just never think that this kind of thing is sexy or attractive. It’s a pet peeve of mine. And what’s worse is that Kaderin was going to submit to him, until Sebastian changed his mind at the last minute.
But other than that, if you’re looking for a new paranormal romance series to try, you might want to consider this book. It’s got a lot of action and a lot of romance, which are always two of my favorite things. Thumbs up.
Up next: Runner by Thomas Perry.
Books in my TBR pile: About 20.
To give you guys an idea of what I’m talking about, here are the opening paragraphs for both the new and old versions of Quiver. (A caveat: The formatting is probably going to be wonky. For some reason, WordPress doesn’t like me posting in info from other programs, like Word. Ah, well):Â
NEW VERSION
 I never set out to be an outlaw.
As Gwendolyn Frost, my days and nights were filled with the duties and responsibilities of any young duchess of my wealth and station.
I never meant to become a vigilante, a ruffian, a fiend. Cheered by some, cursed by others, hunted by many. I never meant to rescue a hero, take down a tyrant, save a kingdom.
It just sort of . . . happened.
And it all started, innocently enough, deep in the forest with a simple bow and a quiver full of arrows . . .
The gruff voice sounded close to my left ear. Footsteps smacked on the cobblestones behind me, and a body leaned forward, brushing against my own.
“And miss badly,†the flat tone continued in my right ear.
I blocked out the voice. Blocked out the constant scuff of footsteps circling around me, the gloomy words of doom, the warm breath tickling my ears and nose with its sharp flavor of liver and onions. I blocked it all out until there was nothing left but the smooth bow in my hands and the small red smear of the target in the distance.
I lifted the bow to my shoulder, notched the arrow, and drew back the string with one fluid movement. A comforting motion, as familiar to me as a waltz or reel might be to any other young lady of my station.
“You’re going to miss,†the voice repeated, but it was a mere murmur now, a buzzing bee in the background of my mind.
My green eyes narrowed as I studied the target, using the faint cool spark of magic that I possessed to pull it into focus, until the red smear filled my vision with crystal clarity. A breeze gusted through the stone courtyard, barely a whisper against my cheek, but I adjusted my aim accordingly. My fingers rested on the bowstring the way a musician’s might on a cherished violin.
“You’re going to miss—â€
I let go.
The arrow sliced through the air, a flashing silver blur, before hitting the target a hundred yards in front of me. Dead center.
So what do you think? Good, bad, indifferent? Craptastic all the way around? Share in the comments.
So I cranked out 15,781 words on my young adult fantasy Quiver this weekend (I’m now up to 33,000 and change). Keep in mind that these aren’t good words or final words, just words that are making up my rough draft. There is little artistry to them at this point. It’s more like a really, really detailed outline right now than anything else.
I’ve never written a YA before, and I’m a little unsure about things — the voice, the violence level, if the plot is too hokey. I got about 25,000 words into Quiver and thought it was utter crap — so I started all over again, weaving in some scenes from the old version. And yes, I’m still thinking that the new version is crap, although perhaps not quite as smelly as what I wrote before.Â
Everything was going fine on the new version … until Wheezley told me that he liked the old version better. Argh! And then, of course, I started second-guessing myself. Was the first version better? Is the new version the really craptastic one? What should I doooo?
In case you haven’t guessed by now, us writers are a crazy, paranoid, neurotic lot. Seriously. We should all be wearing straightjackets. 😈
But I’ve decided to keep going on the new version and finish the rough draft. It’s always easier to fix things if you have something to work with — no matter how craptastic the words may be. So I’ll be slogging through the rest of the rough draft over the next few weeks and probably tearing my hair out in the process …
What about you guys? What are you working on, writing-related or otherwise?
1) Write some more on Quiver, my young adult fantasy. I’m up to 16,000 words and change, and I want to crank at out least 10,000 more (craptastic) words this weekend. We’ll see how much my carpal tunnel wrist actually lets me get done.
2) Finish reading No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole. I’m so digging her Immortals After Dark series.
3) Start reading a new book.
4) Resist the urge to go to Books-A-Million and see what’s new. Must … resist … shiny … covers …
5) Drag Wheezley to Office Depot. Because I have coupons and there is a serious dearth of Sharpies on my desk. Wha-ha-ha! 😈
What about you guys? Got any big weekend plans?
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