Recommended Reading - October

October is almost over, but I believe you can read dark and creepy novels all year long. Hmm... unless that's just me?

And for those of you who enjoy a good historical-mystery-love story, look no further than the list below....

*****

Books Read in October:  6

Total Books Read in 2013:  78

Standouts:

Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly - Fast-paced and twisty, this novel takes an already terrifying premise and proceeds to bump it up a few more notches. Add good writing and well-drawn characters to the mix and you've got a novel you won't want to - or be able to - put down.

*****

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - It's no secret around here that I'm a huge fan of Stephen King. More suspenseful and creepy than outright scary, this novel is full of King's usual complex characters, who really are the heart and soul of the story. It helps a bit for background's sake if you've read The Shining, but I don't think it's necessary in order to enjoy this one.

*****

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes - I'm going to start this mini-review with a complaint, if you can even call it that. I enjoyed the "historical" aspect of this book so much so that I practically groaned every time I was taken out of it to spend time in the "present day" part of the story. That's not to say the present day story isn't good because it is, absolutely. I just fell in love with Sophie's story and was positively desperate to find out what happened to her! This novel's got it all - history, mystery, love, sacrifice, power, pain, hope. Don't miss it!

*****

Do any of these Standouts sound good to you? Have you read anything lately you'd recommend? If you're participating in a reading challenge, like through Goodreads, how on track are you? I'm a few books behind, but this is one goal I love striving for!

Maybe Someday - Every Day Fiction

Halloween brings out the monsters and zombies and creepy crawlies, and yes, I'm scared of all of them. (My Halloween costume should be a chicken suit.)

But one non-Halloween related thing that frightens me is the thought of making the wrong decision. I have to remind myself that I do not make my decisions lightly, that I take many things into consideration, that I am doing the best I can at the time and that's all I can do. Still, it's scary.  

So, on this day before Halloween, I give you a horror story of a different kind - Maybe Someday at Every Day Fiction. I hope you enjoy it.

Motivational Monday: An Ebook Release!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming - Motivational Mondays - for...well, for me actually practicing what I preach....

Here it is: the release of my first ever ebook. This collection has been a long time coming, mostly because I've been too anxious to take the plunge. But I did it. Finally. So please, use me and my ebook as an example, a motivator, to go ahead and take that chance, that next step, that plunge. Take something you're passionate about and do something creative and wonderful and fulfilling with it.

I just want to say thank you to my wonderful, supportive husband who is truly my best friend, and to all of you who read my stories and are moved by them - whether to tears or to terror. Thank you!

*****

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The stories in this flash fiction collection are like day trips - brief, illuminating journeys - across the landscape of the human condition. 

An old woman, with the help of a neighbor and a terrified dog, challenges a young punk disturbing the peace. 

A middle-aged woman confronts a former lover as he holds her at gunpoint. 

A boy learns the meaning of true friendship as a baseball game takes a terrifying turn. 

A runaway searches for her own face among a wall of Missing posters. 

Some of the characters find the strength to move forward while others struggle to just move on. Old. Young. Grieving. Lost. Alone. Smart. Funny. Tough. They are us. 

This collection of 17 stories contains both new and previously published work. It includes "Hungry," winner of the Writer Advice 6th Flash Prose Contest and "A Quarter for Your Thoughts," winner in the Published Flash Fiction category of the Florida Writers Association's Royal Palm Literary Awards, 2008.

HOW TO BUY:

Available exclusively through Amazon

[If you don't have a Kindle or a Kindle App, click here for PC, here for Mac.]

Motivational Monday

THE BEST WAY TO LOOK AT AGING

IS TO SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY

TO LEAVE WHAT DIDN'T WORK BEHIND

AND STEP BOLDLY INTO A BRAND NEW FUTURE.

(Oprah Winfrey)

So much of what I hear about aging is related to loss. We lose the tautness of our skin, bone density, hearing, the color in our hair (hello, gray!) We lose mental acuity, memories, friends. We lose hopes. We lose dreams. 

And to some degree, that's true. That's aging. That's life. 

But.  

Read the quote again. Really read it. Think about it. 

Now, what are you going to "lose" this time around? Sure, maybe some muscle tone but what else? What are you going to choose to lose? Those "thin clothes" from when you were 22 that you will never, ever fit into again? The compulsion to say "yes" when you mean "no"?  The tendency to agree, to go along because it's easier? Will you finally let go of those dreams and those goals you've outgrown the way you have those "thin clothes"? 

The more we let go of the past, of what didn't work, the more space, the more strength we have to welcome the new, the bold, the sometimes scary, the challenging, the breathless hopes, the exciting dreams. We become reborn. We become renewed.

Let's keep this in mind not only this week, but also as birthdays roll around and as each year slowly draws to a close. 

*****

I'm taking a blogging break this week to put the finishing touches on my ebook and to prep for NaNo. I might even - gasp! - relax and do something fun. But I'll drop in here and probably pop around the blogosphere now and then. Have a good week!  

As NaNo Nears . . . .

I have a story idea for NaNo. Okay, it's really just a scene. Not even a scene. More of an image, like a still from a movie. 

I've tried to rewind it to see what happened before.... Nothing. Fast forward to see what happens after.... Nothing. I know a story exists; I feel it.

I sorted through my folders of ideas - news stories, scraps of overheard dialogue, shreds of dreams scribbled down in the gray morning light - wondering if anything would shake something loose, would make that still move. 

And move it did. Only not in the smooth flowing way I'd like. No. Instead, I'd come across an idea, an article, a character sketch and I'd feel that ping, the one that says "Yes, I belong in this story. I don't know why or in what capacity exactly, but I belong here. Trust me."

And so I do. 

I still don't know what my story is about. I don't have an outline or a timeline. I don't have a working title. I do have a main character. I have a sense of foreboding and fear. I have more stills than I care to count, but I also have blips of movement, of actual scenes. I have the essence of the story, and for me, for now, that's enough.

How do your ideas come to you - fully formed or in pieces? Do they arrive visually, like in images, or do you hear your characters' voices? Do you get a ping or something else? If you're participating in NaNo, how prepared are you?  

Motivational Monday

I HAVE ALWAYS FELT EXTREMELY WEIRD.

BUT I AM VERY HAPPY WITH MY WEIRDNESS,

AND I WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO BE

VERY HAPPY WITH THEIRS.

(Alice Sebold)

When I was a kid, I made up a game called "Teenager," which included prancing around the dining room table on the way to "work," fielding phone calls on the plastic phone from potential "dates," and ultimately getting married while wearing a blanket as a veil. This game was played by only three people - me, my little sister...and my maternal grandmother. (Before you all say how sweet that was, keep in mind, I also made up a game called "Plane Crash" where my friends and I utilized the dining room table for survivor-like purposes.)

When I eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I eat the insides first then separate the crusts and eat them one at a time, like french fries. (This is not from when I was a kid. This happened the other day.)

I do not like crowds. At all. The noise, the press of bodies, leaves me wanting to claw my way through, out. I will brave a crowd if necessary or if it's an event I really want to attend, but it sucks so much energy out of me that afterward, I am totally exhausted. 

I absolutely hate to not return library books on time. I tell myself that the fines are small or that the money goes to the library, but it doesn't matter. It just somehow feel like a personal failure. 

I talk to the tortoises throughout the day. A lot. Even when they're sleeping. Even when I bet they wish I'd be quiet.

This week, let's celebrate our quirkiness! Go ahead and share some of your "weirdness" in the comments.  (The tortoises would really appreciate it because it would give me something to do other than talking to them. They need a break.) 

Year of Yes - The End

Well, I'm closing in on my Year of Yes. Or, as I am now calling it, my Year of Yawn.

It all started here, in October 2012. I did an update post in February 2013, then another one in June 2013. And now here we are, October again.

I wouldn't say my goal of doing 40 new and different things was a complete failure, but it certainly wasn't the success I'd hoped for. I did do some fun stuff, and I did manage to say "no" to others on occasion which meant saying "yes" to me. I just didn't open myself up to the experience the way I'd thought I would. Instead, I often felt pressured to do and to be and to push. It was exhausting.

But I did learn a few things: I like my comfort zone. I like my home and the area where I live. I enjoy "quiet" things - reading, watching favorite TV shows, going to the movies during off times, walking on the beach early in the morning. I'm not so keen on crowds and traveling all over the place and doing/thinking/feeling what I'm "supposed to." And all of that is okay!

Don't get me wrong. I'm still going to stay open to the new and the different. I'm still going to challenge myself. The difference is in the attitude. For example - the idea of hurtling down a mountain on skis scares me, but since I honestly have no desire to ski anyway, I'm not going to force myself to get over that fear. Now, the idea of swinging from a trapeze also scares me but that is something I would love to do, so I'll put my effort and energy into conquering that fear (and into building some upper body strength!)  

I am no longer trying to fix what I often thought was a cracked, broken base. Instead, I am going to improve upon a foundation that is flawed but is already pretty good to begin with. I am not broken. I do not need to be fixed.

So, as my birthday rolls around later this month, I hope to give myself a gift that has been a long time coming: the gift of my messy, sharp, weird, quiet, and, ultimately grateful self.

Motivational Monday

SURE, I HAVE ADVICE FOR PEOPLE

STARTING TO WRITE.

DON'T.

I DON'T NEED THE COMPETITION.

(Robert B. Parker)

This quote made me laugh out loud. Don't get me wrong - I totally appreciate true, constructive advice from successful people. But sometimes it's just nice - and a relief! - to hear out loud what a lot of people maybe/sorta/kinda think every once in awhile. 

These words are also a great reminder that our stiffest - and best - competition is really with ourselves. Sure, on some level we're competing against other people - for promotions, for money, for awards, for recognition, etc. But we can't control a lot of that. We can't control what the guy in the next cubicle does or doesn't do, or what the woman in our writing group achieves or doesn't achieve. 

But I know that if I continue to work on my craft, to watch what I eat, to exercise, to read and learn and grow, that in six months I will be "ahead" of where I am right now. It doesn't matter if someone else is way ahead of me or if someone is right behind me. If I am better - somehow, in some way - than I was two months ago, two weeks ago, yesterday, then I have already "won." I am already a success. 

The same goes for each and every one of you.

Recommended Reading - September

I cannot wait to dive into the piles of books I've got waiting for me - fiction, nonfiction, purchased books, ones from the library, ebooks, novels, novellas, stories, big names (hello, Stephen King!) and debut authors! Whew!

Here are some of my Standouts from September - 

Books Read in September:  10

Total Books Read in 2013:  72

Standouts:

Night Film by Marisha Pessl - if you're in the mood for a dark, creepy, complex novel, this is it. Although I found it a little long, I loved how Pessl used almost a mixed media format, including the protagonist's notes and pages from old newspaper articles and screen shots from websites. Pessl also does a fantastic job of creating memorable and unique characters. (Nora is one of my favorites.)

*****

Hate List by Jennifer Brown - this is one of Brown's older titles, and it's already been nominated/won numerous prizes and received acknowledgements all over the place, and deservedly so. I enjoyed her more recent work better, but Hate List is an important read and extremely well done.

*****

Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn - if you like dark, layered YA novels, definitely check this out. There's something about it that draws you in and compels you to keep going even though the closer you get to the truth, the more you want to close your eyes so you don't have to see it coming.

*****

What are you looking forward to reading over the next few months? Do you plan on checking out any of the Standouts? What are you currently reading? Any recommendations?