Blah

Do you ever have the feeling that working on your MS is like being in quicksand?  The more you struggle the more you sink into its suffocating depths, never to return.  There's no way out, and nothing you can do to save yourself. 

I think part of my reason for feeling like this is the fact I've been sick for 12 days.  I don't want to be sick anymore.  I want to have energy, I want to be able to think, I want to be able to talk.  OK, not that last one so much.  I didn't notice how much I appreciated those things  until I didn't have them.  I'm going to go take a nap.  Hope you are all doing well. 

Ereader-itis

A friend’s husband approached me last fall on the subject of Christmas presents for his wife.  His wife and I are both book junkies and pushers and we trade books back and forth constantly.  He wanted to get her a kindle but when approached she had been adamant about saying she didn’t want one.  Well, I got really excited and listed all the benefits of ebooks and ended by telling him “If you get one I’ll teach her to love it”.  She did get one for Christmas and does like it, though she still prefers “real” books. 

I have a kindle app on my netbook. While I, too, like the feel and heft of a book in my hands I love, love, love, my kindle app.  It is so convenient, especially with all the travel we’ve been doing this summer.  There’s only two problems I see with it.  One: whenever I sit down to read with it Truck Boy just assumes I pulled it out for him to watch Disney Channel’s Dance a lot Robot on.  Two: it’s just too easy to buy books. 

I recently read this post about the book Still Life With Murder.  It sounded interesting and since it was only $0.99  I purchased it.  It took me a little bit to get around to reading it but once I did I couldn’t put it down.  Eagerly I looked up the next book, it was only $2.99. One click of the mouse and it was mine and I could spend all night reading it.  Third book I bought late one Saturday night so I could purchase it before Sunday since I knew I would finish book two.  Books three through six are all $3.99.  So in such a small amount of time I had spent $20 on books.  I know this isn’t so very much, and hey I got six books, but I do try to stick to a budget and the kindle is all about instant gratification of the What Next Readers Syndrome.  Back in the day when I had to wait for enough time to pack the kids in the car and drive to the bookstore it was just as easy to drive to the library instead.  And since I’d had to wait a day or two my self control would have time to catch up to my coveting.  (Am I the only one like this?  Please tell me I’m not, even if you’re lying)  Despite that, or maybe because of it if I’m honest, I still love my ereader.  Yes, I still buy print books.  And honestly there are books I want to own in all formats, print, eprint and audio.  I’m an addict I tell you.  Someone help me. 

Do you have an ereader?  Love it or hate it? 

Under Construction

This morning I watched Truck Boy build a train track complete with perilous bridge.  Every time he went over the bridge it collapsed.  Every time he would cry then rebuild it.  The exact same way as before.  He’s only two and a half so I hardly expect him to think “hey this didn’t work before maybe I should try something different”.  But it was interesting to watch how surprised he was each time.

Sometimes I’ve had a scene that didn’t work.  I’ve rewritten it again and again without changing much.  A few words here or there, more description, less description, or maybe they’re angry instead of surprised.  I’m sure more experienced authors would have looked at me in confusion or amusement thinking “how many times will it take before she realizes she needs to completely rebuild the scene”. 

Like my son’s bridge sometimes scenes need to be torn down and completely changed.  Maybe it should be told from a different pov, or it needs different characters, or the information we thought so important to impart maybe isn’t.  Try changing the setting, the time of day.  Make it in a barn at midnight instead of a funeral home at tea time.  How does that change your characters reactions and revelations?  And of course we always need to make sure the scene is needed, does it advance the plot?  Or should we cut it entirely?  I’m sure my son’s train track would have been a lot more stable if he had just removed the bridge.

Walkabout

 Here are some links to blogs that made me think this week.  No, no, it's a good thing, I promise. 

Scalzi has some interesting things to say on publishing.  It's a few years old, and he definitely has a voice but I found it fun none the less. 

Beth Revis tells us why it's a good thing that writing never gets easier.  She says   "If the artist--no matter what the art is--sits back and accepts her work as "good enough," that means she's satisfied. And, well...I don't want to be satisfied. I want to constantly struggle to be even better than I was before."  Interesting post.  She also discusses how critiques make us better.  There's a graph. 

Behler Blog has some interesting posts.  One on e-book rights  and one on perspective in publishing.  Both of them gave me a lot to think about. 

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day everyone!  We're celebrating by laboring in our basement, painting the walls.  And possibly taking our sick kids to the doctors.  If they're open.  Anyone doing anything fun? 

I'm the kind of person that always finishes a book.  At least I used to be.  As I've gone deeper and deeper into writing and editing, as I see how many books there are and how many I haven't read I, sometimes, put down books if I find they are poorly written, or predictable. 

It used to be a challenge.  If I started it, I HAD to finish.  (The Engineer thinks I'm just a little OCD. I think he's crazy, I mean has he seen our house lately?)  Even now I usually finish because they must have done something right to get published right?  Each read, good or bad is a learning experience.  Even so, some books I just can't get through. 

I recently read a book that I had downloaded onto my kindle as a free promotion.  The second book in the series had just come out and that was one of the ways they were advertising.  The first chapter was horrible. The people were cliched and over the top.  The voice felt off, and it just wasn't interesting.  It felt the same as everything else on the market.  I was so close to putting it down but gave it one more chapter. As I read on the book did improve, and while I still think there was a lot more the author could have done I enjoyed it.

This is one of the reasons I have a hard time putting books down.  What if it gets better, what if the author redeems himself and I don't know it? Sometimes I read a horrible book just hoping that something changes.  But it makes me wonder, there is a lot of emphasis on good beginnings but maybe, just maybe, it's ok to have a mediocre beginning and still get published.  But how many readers do they loose when people put down the book and don't give them a second chance?

Do you finish books or put them down after a chapter, or page, if you don't like them? 

Oops

Sorry I missed my post yesterday.  We're finally able to come home, so we've been traveling.  I'll be back on Friday.