About Books

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    Today’s post …

    Is over at Fangs, Fur, and Fey. The site is doing something new and running a topic of the month that members are asked to write a post on.

    This month’s topic asks how authors write — if they start with a synopsis or outline before they start a new book. You can see my post and several others over at the site. Enjoy! 😎

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    Pick-me-up …

    So I had my monthly critique group meeting last night. It’s always fun just to hang out with the other gals in the group and talk about life, writing, books, or whatever. And since we meet at a Barnes & Noble, it also gives me a chance to browse through the books and lust after the yummy-looking (if overpriced) desserts in the cafe. 😀

    Despite my TBR pile at home, I usually give myself permission to buy one book before my critique group. Last night, I picked up Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I’ve been trying to read some more young adult titles since that’s what I’m writing these days, and I don’t think there’s a hotter YA author out there right now than Mead. I’m looking forward to reading it.

    And frankly, I needed the little pick-me-up of buying a shiny new book. Mainly because there were more layoffs at my newspaper this week — and I expect there will be more to come before the year is over with. Sigh. (Unless, of course, there is some kind of miraculous economic turnaround. Not holding my breath on that one.)

    But wandering through the B&N aisles last night and looking at all the shiny covers made me feel a little better. I really do believe that books can pick you up when you’re down, whether it’s re-reading a favorite title or just buying a new release you’ve been looking forward to for a while. Even with money as tight as it is, books (especially the $8 paperbacks) are still pretty affordable — and even more so if you hit the used bookstores or your local library.

    So I plan on escaping into some young-adult worlds this weekend by reading Vampire Academy (or The Hunger Games) and working on my own book, Quiver. Because I know the story I’ve created in Quiver is going to have a happy ending — no matter how uncertain the real world is right now.

    Happy endings — I suppose those are the real pick-me-ups of books, aren’t they? So here’s hoping y’all have time to settle down for a good read this weekend.

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    Fool me never …

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    So today is April Fools’ Day. I have to say that I’ve never gotten the point of this so-called holiday. (Really, it’s not a holiday if I have to go to work, now is it?)

    But then again, I’m not much for practical jokes anyway. For the most part, I think they are pointless and not funny. Yeah, I’m a grump when it comes to jokes. 👿

    But if you do like that sort of thing, head on over to Dear Author and Smart Bitches for some pretty funny book stuff.

    Other random links of the day:

    Jim C. Hines has a very thoughtful post up about rape.

    HelenKay Dimon and some other authors are holding a contest with some pretty awesome prizes.

    I spotted this over at The Good, the Bad, and the Unread about author Jo Goodman penning a western and decided to share. Just because I love me some westerns.

    And Smooth-Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas is finally out. Huzzah! I’ve been looking forward to this book for a while now.

    Anyway, that’s all for today folks. Have a great day! :ww:

  • Smooth-Talking Stranger …

    So the folks over at Dear Author and Smart Bitches are doing another Save the Contemporary book campaign, this time for Smooth-Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas. There are free books to be had, so go on over and check out how you can enter and help spread the word. 😉

    Now, I don’t keep a lot of books (simply because I don’t have room) and I don’t re-read that many books either, but Kleypas’ other two contemporaries, Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil, are two books that have gone up on my keeper shelf and that I will re-read. The voice, the stories, the characters, the simple elegance of the writing — I loved both of them. Sugar Daddy was my favorite read of 2008, and so far, Blue-Eyed Devil is my best read of 2009.

    Kleypas makes me want to write my own contemporary. To me, that’s the mark of a great book — it gets me excited about reading more and even writing in that genre.

    And what’s even better is I gave Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil to my mom. She’s really picky about what she reads. She doesn’t like historicals (except for westerns), and she doesn’t like paranormal. But she loved these books just as much as I did. We had a lot of fun talking about them, and we’re both looking forward to Smooth-Talking Stranger. We’ll probably be fighting over who gets to read it first …