About Books

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    Turn, turn, turn …

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    Is it just me or has this year flown by so far? It seems like I get up in the morning … and then I’m getting up the next morning … and then I’m getting up the morning after that. Almost like I’m stuck in a time loop like in Groundhog Day or something. Or this one episode of Xena: Warrior Princess that I remember was pretty cool.

    When I was a kid, the days (especially school days) seemed to drag on and on. Now, I blink, and I’m a week in the future — and not quite sure how I got there to start with. And the previous week? Well, it’s pretty much a blur.

    It’s mid-April — already. And I’ve accomplished very little of what I set out to do this year. I’ve only finished one book — and I wanted to finish at least four.

    I did get the Web site updated (finally), and I’ve been on a pretty good reading clip recently. But still … ack! Too much to do, not enough time. Must be more productive.

    What about everyone else? Are the days flying by for you too?

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    It is done … for now …

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    I e-mailed a new book to my agent yesterday. Well, not really new. It’s called You Only Spy Twice and is the second book in my proposed urban fantasy series about Abby Tome, a Druid and bookstore owner who’s forced to become a spy to stop some magical terrorists.

    I’ve been working on the book since last summer and had about 87,000 words. My agent wanted to see some pages, so I kicked it into high gear and finished the whole thing so I could have a break for the RT convention. Final word count: 98,000 and change.

    My agent also wanted a bunch of synopsi for various projects we’ve been talking about. In addition to finishing You Only Spy Twice, in the past two weeks, I’ve also written:

    1) Spy 2 synopsis — titled You Only Spy Twice

    2) Spy 3 synopsis — titled A Spy Never Dies

    3) Assassin 2 synopsis — titled Gin With A Twist

    4) Heist synsopis — titled The Southern Cross Affair (about a group of Robin Hood-like thieves who steal from the rich and give to the poor)

    I’d guess this all adds up to about 25,000 words total. Whew! My wrist needs a break before it, you know, actually breaks. :bubbles:

    Now, my goal is to decide what I want to write next, while I wait for my agent to read and for other stuff to happen. I’m leaning toward Assassin 2 or Heist, although there’s one problem with Heist — I haven’t come up with a supercool way to do my actual heist yet.

    Plus, I have two more ideas — a Southern romantic comedy about a high school reunion and assorted hijinks. That one’s called Do Me Over. Then, I have an idea for (yet) another urbanish fantasy titled Charm Queen. That one would have an Old West vibe crossed with fairy tales.

    Argh! Too many ideas, too little time … What would you guys be interested in reading from me (or in general)? More fantasy or something else?

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    Another event …

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    While I’m talking about events, I want to mention that I’m going to be one of about 25 authors appearing and signing books during Lora Leigh’s Reader Appreciation Weekend. The event will be held in September in Huntington, West Virginia.

    I’ve never been to RAW before, but I hear it’s a lot of fun. There are lots of great authors attending, like J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh, and I know I’ll be just as much of a fangirl as anyone else. I’m looking forward to it! :cool: 

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    Librarians make the best friends …

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    So I’m going to Romantic Tmes convention in a couple weeks’ time. My friend Amy happens to live up that way. And she happens to be a librarian. Author … librarian … librarian … author … instant event! 😎

    So the plan is for me to sign books and chat with folks at the Corry Public Library in Corry, Pa. from 6 or 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 15. If anyone’s going to be up that way, we’d love to see you there.

    And if there are any western Pennsylvania authors out there, Amy would love to have you come by her library some time, too.

    Anybody else gearing up for RT yet? I’ve got a ton of stuff to do. Finish my workshop and print out 100 copies of it, practice said workshop, drag out my suitcase, pack up some bookmarks. Oh yeah, I need to finish a book and send it to my agent before I leave too.

    No pressure or anything … :rolleyes:

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    Bookish guilty pleasures …

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    I’ve talked about television, movies, and music. Now, let’s look at books and guilty pleasures.

    Probably my main guilty pleasure when it comes to books is westerns. I. Love. Westerns! In my younger years, I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books too many times to count. (Although for some reason, Alonzo’s book was always my favorite).

    I also discovered the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross at my library. These books are part historical fiction, part action, and part soap opera about the settling of the American West. Most of the titles are state names, like Oregon, Oklahoma, Tennessee, etc. There’s something like 24 books in this series, and I read them all — again and again and again. In order. Ross also wrote a couple of spin-off series, but I never read those. Maybe I will now …

    And I used to read historical romances set in the American West like crazy. I’d go to the library and get as many as I could find. Cowboys! Cattle rustlers! Epic love stories! Sigh …

    Then, there’s fantasy. Another love of mine (as if you couldn’t guess). I’ll read just about any fantasy book if there’s a) magic, b) swords, or c) dwarves it in. When I discovered fantasy, I started with folks like Tolkien, Terry Brooks, and David Eddings. Now, most of my TBR pile is fantasy, paranormal romance, or some combination of the two. I’m especially digging the surge of urban fantasy books and folks like Jim Butcher and Kim Harrison.

    I don’t really care for sci-fi, though. I know it’s really just a different kind of fantasy, but spaceships and aliens have never appealed to me. I’ve read some of the Star Wars sci-fi books, but that’s about it.

    I also like cozy murder mysteries. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that take place in a quaint, charming small town that just happens to have the highest murder rate in America — where the same person stumbles over a dead body every other week or so. M.C. Beaton writes a couple of murder mystery series set in England, and I’ve read most of those books, along with all the old Agatha Christies.

    Then, there are folks like Robert B. Parker, who writes the Spenser private investigator series, among others. I’ve read every single one of those, even though the characters don’t really change or grow that much and it’s really easy to figure out who the bad guy is (Spenser almost always knows by chapter 10). But the books have great dialogue and one-liners. So whenever there’s a new one, I always get it from the library.

    What about you? What are some of your bookish guilty pleasures?