• 905 and counting …

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    Finished Swine Not? by Jimmy Buffett. Not sure if I’m mentioned this on the blog before or not, but I’m a huge Parrothead. I’ve got all his albums and all his books, and one of my dreams is to see him live in concert. So anytime Buffett comes out with something new, I buy it. (Much to Wheezley’s chagrin. He is not a fan of the Buffett, although he was nice enough to buy me this book anyway).

    Buffett’s previous books have been about kooky characters doing kooky things in the tropics. But Swine Not? is actually a kids’ book about a Tennessee family who moves to New York. The family has a pet pig named Rumpy, and since their hotel has a no exotic pets policy, they’re forced to hide Rumpy from the hotel staff — including a psychotic chef who’d like to make tenderloin out of poor Rumpy.

    The story is sort of in the vein of Stuart Little, as Rumpy explores New York and looks for his twin brother. There are talking pigeons and more. Also, the chapters alternate between Rumpy’s point of view and that of Barley, one of the kids who’s obsessed with soccer.

    It’s a cute story, but nothing really new or different happens. If you’re looking for another life-in-the-tropics novel by Buffett, you’ll want to skip this one. But if you or your kids like pig tales or talking animal stories, you might want to pick this one up (or try the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, which is quite good). But overall, Swine Not? was cute enough for me to give it a thumbs up.

    Up next: Thrill Me to Death by Roxanne St. Claire.

    Books in my TBR pile: About 18.

    What about you guys? What are you reading right now?

  • Just a reminder …

    That I’ll be signing books on Oct. 18 (this Saturday) during the annual Women’s Expo at the Meadowview Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn.

    The event starts at 10 a.m. I should be there for most of the day (although I will be taking a lunch break at some point). Other authors scheduled to attend include Julia Quinn, Teresa Medeiros, and Lora Leigh. Should be a good time.

    Also, I’ll be signing books on Nov. 1 at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn. Not sure about the time yet (got to figure out my work schedule first). More details to come.

    Hope to see you there! 😎

  • ·

    Unstuck for now …

    So I did some work on Assassin 3 this weekend. I didn’t get a lot of writing done, mainly because I got stuck — and basically rewrote the same three chapters three different times. Sigh.

    I usually don’t do that. I just go on my merry way, keep writing, and make a note to fix it later. But this time, I felt like I couldn’t go on without fixing the scenes — right then and there. I needed to know what I was doing with the story at that point so the rest of it would flow smoothly. I was stuck, in other words.

    So how did I change it? Well, first I had Gin (the assassin) eating dinner in a restaurant while she’s waiting for a guy at another table to go the bathroom so she can kill him in there. Boring, I thought. I needed a better setting than that. So I changed the restaurant to a riverboat casino. Much more unique and interesting, and much more in keeping with the Southern flavor of the series.

    Which, in turn, meant I had to change who Gin was eating with from her love interest to Finnegan Lane (Gin’s best friend/handler). Only since they were on a riverboat now, they weren’t even eating dinner. I’ll stop here to keep the confusion to a minimum. But the changes went on from there.

    But now, I feel like I’ve finally gotten a handle on things and can write the rest of the story. At least until I get stuck again. :rolleyes:

    What about you guys? What do you do when you get stuck on something or at work? Do you plow on through or spend time fixing it until it’s just right?

  • 904 and counting …

    Finished Burn Notice: The Fix by Tod Goldberg. This book is a tie-in based on the TV show of the same name. I really enjoy the show, so when I heard there were going to be some companion books, I snapped this one up.

    Note: I’ve got to give a shout-out to HelenKay Dimon for first posting about the book on her blog. Otherwise, I don’t know that I would have found out about it (or the others that are planned). So thanks, HelenKay! 😎

    In true Burn Notice fashion, this book finds Michael reluctantly agreeing to help a wealthy socialite find her wayward husband, who turns out to be a con man who’s stealing all her money. Michael also has to deal with a deadly Russian spy who thinks Michael is a drug dealer and responsible for some of her problems. She demands that Michael come up with $3 million for her to pay off her bosses — or else.

    If you like the TV show, you’ll love this book. Goldberg really nailed Michael’s voice and the overall tone of the TV show. I could almost hear Jeffrey Donovan doing his usual sardonic voice-overs in many places. The voice was definitely the best part of the book and really made you feel like you were reading an episode of the show.

    I also enjoyed getting a little more insight into and background on Michael’s relationship with Fiona, his spy missions with Sam, and his memories of his father.

    The only thing I didn’t quite get was the ending. The con man husband has been impresonating a real hardcore, black-ops military type. Michael deals with the husband, then he gets the black-ops guy involved in his own deal with the Russian spy. Michael takes the black-ops guy down with the Russian spy. But I didn’t really understand why Michael needed to do anything with the black-ops guy. The con man husband was the one using the black-ops guy’s name/identity, making him the victim of identity theft. I think I missed something when I was reading. (And I hope this paragraph wasn’t too confusing).

    But overall, if you love the TV show or you’re just looking for a fun, breezey afternoon read, pick up The Fix. I enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to the other books in the series. Thumbs up.

    Up next: Swine Not? by Jimmy Buffett

    Books in my TBR pile: About 17 or so.