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    The end is near …

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    So, I’m working on a second draft of the second book in my Spy series — You Only Spy Twice. I’m up to 70,000 words now, and I can see the end (of this draft at least).

    I’ve got to finish the chapter I’m working on. Write my final big action sequence, then tie everything together at the end. Sounds like a lot (and it is), but it’s a lot closer to being done than I was this time last week. I might meet my March 1 deadline after all. :bubbles:

    What about you guys? Anybody do any writing this weekend?

  • Lost in translation … again …

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    So, I’ve been watching the new season of Lost.

    Ugh.

    That’s my take on things. I had such high hopes for this season, that we were finally going to get some answers, that some things (like the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle) were finally going to be resolved. Instead, they’ve only gotten more convoluted.

    Because now, there’s some sort of giant conspiracy afoot that six of the survivors are in on together, claiming they’re the only survivors of the plane crash.

    Ugh.

    Holly Black had an interesting post up at Fangs, Fur, & Fey yesterday talking about things that drive her crazy as a fan of a book, TV series, movie, etc. Too many unanswered questions is one that bugs me — as does abruptly, fundamentally changing what a show is about.

    I’m wondering if that’s what happened to Lost. J.J. Abrams did this to some degree in Alias. Midway through season 2, he had Sydney Bristow take down her evil employer and quit being a double agent. I remember reading somewhere Abrams simply got tired of writing Sydney as a double agent almost getting caught every week. So, he changed things. And the show suffered for it. Not as dramatically as Lost has, but Alias stumbled after that, looking for a suitable bad guy for Sydney to fight (because her boss was supposed to be the worst of the worst). Alias didn’t recapture the glory of its first season until season 5 (although parts of season 3 were pretty awesome).

    I’m not saying things can’t change, that characters can’t grow and learn, but Lost has come so far from its original premise of castaways struggling to survive, I doubt it can ever recover. There are just so many dangling questions and plot threads, I don’t think they can all be answered in the 40-some episodes that are left.

    What’s the monster? Where did the Others go? What ever happened to the other island where Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were held? What’s the Dharma group’s real purpose? Why do pregnant women die on the island? What’s the deal with the creepy cabin? Where did the eye-patch man go? And on, and on, and on …

    I imagine the rest of this season will involve finding out what the conspiracy is about. Next year might be the consequences, and I imagine the final season will offer some sort of resolution to the whole mess. One can only hope.

    Also, I really hate what they’ve done to the characters, especially Locke. He used to be the coolest, most interesting character on the island (the episode where we found out he was in a wheelchair was probably the show’s best moment). But now, he’s a caricature who’s “protecting the island” — the island, not his fellow survivors. Jack is so self-righteous I hope they kill him off. And why doesn’t somebody just shoot Ben already? The man’s a snake, and they all know it. 

    I’ll still watch Lost. At this point, I’ve got too much time invested in it not to see how things turn out. But do I really care anymore? No.

    What about you? Are you still digging Lost?

  • 858 and counting …

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    Finished My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding. It’s a fantasy anthology of wedding-themed short stories.

    I like anthologies for a couple reasons. First, you can try a lot of different authors for not a lot of money. Second, they’re good to read when I’m writing my own stuff because I can still read, but not become wrapped up in a long novel. Read a story here, read a story there, and before you know it, you’ve finished the whole book.

    The book features stories by Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Charlaine Harris, and several other authors. I’m just going to hit the highlights.

    My favorite story in this anthology was Dead Man’s Chest by Rachel Caine. This one is about Cecilia, who gets married on a pirate ship, tossed overboard, and falls in love with the sexy, cursed captain. What can I say? I’m a sucker for pirates. This story had all the swashbuckling fun and romance of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I really enjoyed the story and plan on picking up one of Caine’s Weather Warden books to get another dose of her writing.

    My least favorite story? Spellbound by L.A. Banks, in which the Hatfields and McCoys wage a magical war against each other to try and keep two of their descendants from getting married. The story was funny in several places, but Banks had the characters talk in dialect. Ugh. I can see why she did it, but I just don’t enjoy reading dialect. She also portrayed the two families as backwoods and ignorant, another cliche that always makes me roll my eyes. There are backwoods and ignorant people everywhere, not just in the South. But you never seem to read about them being from New York City or L.A. 

    But overall, there’s something in this anthology for just about every fantasy fan — vampires, Greek gods, even a story about an Elvis impersonater. So, thumbs up.

    Up next: Not sure. Something from my TBR pile.

  • 857 and counting …

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    Finished Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon.

    This is a contemporary romance about Annie Parks, a photographer who goes to Hawaii to settle a score and ends up getting tossed off a yacht. Lucky for Annie, she’s rescued by sexy police chief Kane Travers.

    I read a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, so this contemporary was a nice change of pace. Con men, drug dealers, double-crosses … this book has its fair share of action. Dimon also has some snappy dialogue between her two main characters, and she really gives you a feel for the tropical setting. Who knew there were wild chickens in Hawaii? Not me.

    But one quibble I had with the book is the beginning, where Kane handcuffs Annie to his bed. Not exactly how I would expect a law-enforcement official to act when confronted with a strange woman claiming to have amnesia. If I’d been Annie, I would have brained him over the head with a lamp and been screaming police brutality at the top of my lungs. I get that Kane is curious and overprotective, but this whole scene grated on my nerves. It’s the sort of alpha-male behavior I just don’t like.

    Still, if you’re looking for something light and breezy, you’ll probably like this one. Thumbs up.

    BTW, HelenKay has a cool blog where she talks about writing. Go check it out.

    Up next: My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding anthology.

  • 856 and counting …

    Finished Ice Storm by Anne Stuart. It’s the fourth and latest book in her Ice romantic suspense series.

    This time, the story focuses on Madame Isobel Lambert, who runs The Committee, a covert organization devoted to stopping arms dealers, terrorists, and other bad guys. Her latest assignment is to rescue Killian, a mercenary who sells his services to the highest bidder. Killian plans to trade information to The Committee in exchange for a new life. There’s only one problem. Killian is the only man Isobel has ever loved — and she shot him and left him for dead years ago.

    I was really looking forward to reading Isobel’s story because she’s such a strong, capable woman in the three previous books. I wanted to see what Stuart would do with a woman who was just as much of a badass as her male heroes.

    I was so disappointed.

    Like the rest of her colleagues, Isobel is burnt out and slowly coming undone. The violence, the tough choices, the sacrifices, it’s all getting to her. That’s fine. I understand that. But Isobel comes off as so ineffective next to Killian. Despite all her training and experience, he repeatedly gets the upper hand throughout the book. He drugs, subdues, and seduces Isobel with ease. He’s more in control of the mission than she is.

    I didn’t much care for Killian, either. He was just cruel and manipulative, with no real redemption at the end.

    Stuart’s writing is still tense, tight, and beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books, especially Peter, Reno, and Genevieve. And I’ll read the next book in the series whenever it comes out.

    But Isobel was such a disappointment I have to give this one a thumbs down.

    Up next: Not sure. Maybe the graphic novel Quiver or Don’t Look Down by Suzanne Enoch.