Trust issues

I’ve become increasingly disinclined to read or finish books that treat me like an imbecile. There are a lot of books where the author and or characters are hiding things from the reader. The characters continually hint at big things while ‘shaking their heads’ and saying ‘but I couldn’t think of that now.”

I’m not saying that a book has to lay all their cards on the table at once. And revealing things at the right pacing is a must, but I don’t want to be spoon fed fluff while having the author dribble hints that something is very wrong. Especially if this happens over several hundred pages. First, whatever they’re ‘hiding’ is usually pretty easy to figure out so finally revealing it isn’t as big a deal as the author wants. Also, I want the whole book to feel like I’m exploring and learning about the characters and setting. I don’t want to be told, not yet, I can’t tell you yet, You’re not ready, while I read. It makes me feel like a five year old whose mother won’t let them do anything.

Reveal things as they are needed for the story. Don't have your characters keep things from the reader. Then, come up with alternate ways to increase tension. Because using the same tired piece of information to try and draw out the excitement through the whole book doesn’t work. All it does is makes the reader annoyed and causes them to look somewhere else for satisfaction.

Have you read books that treat you like an idiot? What did they do that made you feel that way?

linkage

I've got a couple links for you today.

This first one was pretty fun.  Teddy Rosevelt was a pretty well read person. This is a compilation of some things he said about reading and I have to say, they were interesting and pretty spot on.

This second link is something we all need to be aware of, the rise of plagiarism in ebooks, specifically in self pubbed ebooks. This was an eye opener to me.

And, if you like author interviews at all, there's one here with author Lori Benton.

Go forth and enjoy!

Property

In January I shared a post about lumber jacking on our new property. Well, we're still at it. The paperwork  is almost done and we hope to be breaking ground in a couple weeks. I wanted to show you some pictures of what it looks like in spring.

This is where our house will go, hopefully, in the not too distant future. It's so pretty.

And see this tree?

The Engineer cut it down, but then I de-limbed it, using both and axe and a chainsaw. Not at the same time, I'm not that talented, then I cut it into logs. All by myself. I'm quite proud of it.


We took many of the logs we'd cut and built a nice log shed.

This only shows it half done but was the only picture I could find.  It's a full shed now, with a roof, and stores a few things for us.  Also, all the snow is gone. For now.

In addition to chopping logs and paperwork, we've also been working on mowing down the 'grass' and creating a trail down the hill to the lower part of our property.

It's been a lot of fun and I can't wait to live up there full time.

Squee

Last week I signed up for the Surrey International Writers Conference. Sign up opened on Wednesday June 1 and they’re already more than half sold out. It’s going to be a big conference this year. 

This is the first time I’ll be going and I’m terrified and excited all at once.  In fact, this will be my first conference ever. In addition to all the workshops I’ll get to attend, I’ll get to do a blue pencil and an agent pitch. I’ll also get to meet a lot of on-line friends.

I’m trying to prepare, to be the most professional I can be and to make the most of this experience, I’m also hoping to just have fun. I tend to get uptight and worried at places like this. Always fearful I’ll say or do the wrong thing, that I’ll get lost, offend someone, just do it wrong. I’m trying to get rid of worry, in part by preparation, in part by just accepting the fact that nothing is perfect, including myself. I also try to remember that sometimes things that don’t go according to plan turn out to be the best.

Have any of you been to a conference? How did you prepare? What tips can you share? 

Are you interested in coming to Surrey? I’d love to meet you!

influence

Life got crazy busy, and since I'm heading out of town next week I'm taking a couple weeks off. I'll see you somewhere in the last half of June.

For your entertainment I'll leave you with this link. Be prepared, you could spend a bit of time there.  It's a series where authors talk about their favorite literary passages and how those influenced their own writing. It's quite fascinating really.

One of my favorite passages is from Anna Karenina. It's the chapter where Levin harvests grain with the peasants. It's been years since I read it but I remember thinking how beautiful and uplifting it was. I'm a much different person now so I don't know if I would feel the same way if I read it now, which is why I'm a little afraid to read it again.  

Do you have any favorite passages that have influenced you?

Flying

You've got to jump off cliffs--and build your wings on the way down.

Ray Bradbury.

This is a scary quote. Scary because, well, it's true. Birds learn to fly by jumping, or being pushed, out of the nest. 

Sometimes we need to leap. We learn how by doing. Sometimes we may crash.

But sometimes we will fly.

IWSG

I’m not officially a part of the Insecure Writers Support Group but I’m full of insecurities right now. Full of “what if” and more importantly, “What if I can’t…” 

Some days I cope with them well. Some days I don’t. the important thing is just to keep on keeping on. As long as I keep fighting, I’ll stay afloat. Hopefully. But I know if I give up I’ll sink immediately, and I can’t accept that. So there really is no other option.

Like Dori said: just keep swimming.

That movie had a happy ending, right?