Favorites of 2011

I’m not a book blogger, and only do occasional reviews over on GoodReads, but I am a reader. An avid one, at that. My goal this year was to read 125 books, and while I didn’t quite make it (I’ll be at 114 when I finish the one I’m currently reading, and doubt I will read another 11 books in the next 4 days), I came close. I might have made it if I hadn’t published Destined this year: editing and formatting that took me a couple of months, in which I didn’t read much else. Still, I read a lot, and will probably get at least one, if not two, more books finished before the year is out. I’ve been eagerly waiting to read Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead for months now, but always had library books to get through first. I’m finished my last library book tonight, so I can FINALLY read it. I predict some lost sleep, as I tend to read books I’m really excited about in one late-night marathon reading session.

But enough about that. I wanted to do a quick listing of my favorite books this year. They may not necessarily have been released in 2011, but most probably were.

My top favorite:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I don’t know what it was about this book that I loved so much. Maybe it’s my inner Child of the 80s? All the nostalgia was fantastic, but the story itself was really original and engrossing. If you like dystopian books and the 80s, you’ll probably love this one.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Speaking of dystopian novels, I have to include this one. It didn’t win GoodReads Favorite Book of the Year for nothing. Plus, I’m originally from Chicago, so the setting only added to my initial interest. I loved this, and can’t wait for the next one to come out.

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Holy crap, do I love this series. Each book only got better than the last, and I really didn’t want it to end. You can’t even imagine how thrilled I was to hear Karen was going to return to the Fever world and write more! (Okay, maybe you can, since I imagine many of you loved this series as much as I did!) Iced is already at the top of my “can’t wait” list for 2012.

 

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I read this one at the start of the year and almost forgot about it (I have a bad memory for what I’ve read, no matter how good the book). But going back through my GoodReads lists, I saw that I gave it 5 stars, and I now remember why. This YA dystopian was disturbing. But it was also very good, and I only wish the second would come out sooner than September.

I know there’s a lot of dystopian YA on this list, and if you saw my full read-in-2011 list, there’d be even more of it. It’s been one of my favorite genres the last few years, and for the time being, I don’t see that changing much. Granted, some of the dystopians that have come out lately aren’t as good. That happens when a genre explodes like that (it happened with vampire romances, too), but for the most part, I’ve been pretty happy with the ones I’ve read. And while I didn’t read it this year, I have to give a quick nod to the book that got me back into dystopians in the first place (besides 1984, which I read many, many years ago).

LIfe As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

You know how sometimes, when you go tot the movies, when you come out of the theater you feel sort of weird and disconnected, like you’re not quite ready for reality to come back? It’s not often a book does that to me, but reading this one did. I had to read most of it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down until I knew how it ended, and once it did, I wasn’t ready to let it go. It was a disorienting feeling to go back to “real life” once I closed the cover, and the story stuck with me for a long time afterward. I also cried, which is something I don’t do very often with a book. Movies and TV, no problem: I bawl like a baby pretty easily with them. But not with a book. This one was a rare exception, and I have devoured dystopians ever since. There are 2 more in the series, both also fantastic, but nothing quite compares to the first. I highly recommend it.

So what were your favorites this year? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

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I fail at blogging

So much for my promise to do a Titanic Tuesdays post this week. I have no excuse other than I completely forgot. Also, I had to do a bunch of graphics work yesterday and spent most of the weekend either editing Bloodstone or reading 11/22/63 (which was great). So I've been busy, even if some of that busy was devoted to relaxation.

Then again, have you seen 11/22/63? Holding that sucker up for hours on end is hardly relaxing. But it was worth it, because it was a great read. Stephen King has been one of my favorite authors ever since I was old enough to read "grown-up" books. As a matter of fact, I think he's just about the first adult-novel author I ever read. When I was a kid, I was addicted to his books. I've always liked horror. My favorites in the kids' genre were by Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine, after all. (Now I'm getting kind of nostalgic for the old Pike books. Remember Me was a particular favorite, as was The Chain Letter.)

Horror movies, on the other hand, are a different story. I still love them, but I'm easily freaked out. I don't know why movies scare me more than books, but I suspect it has something to do with them being more visual. The idea of things don't scare me as much as actually seeing them. I had to sleep with the lights on for a week after watching The Ring, and I was well into my 20s then. I'm a glutton for punishment too, because I watched it again after it came out on DVD. I thought surely the second time it wouldn't be as scary. In a way I was right. I only slept with the lights on for 3 or 4 nights that time.

I've always thought it would be fun to write a horror novel. I even have a vague idea for one, but never got around to starting it. Maybe one day I will. Though with my luck, I'll wait too long and someone else will get the same (or similar idea). Kind of like writing about vampires on the Titanic, waiting 10 years to finally publish it, and someone else publishing a book about werewolves on the Titanic a few months later. What were the odds? (Given the popularity of paranormal romance these days and the upcoming 100-year anniversary of the wreck ... pretty good odds, I'd imagine. Still, I had to laugh at my luck the first time I saw the news about the other book.)

Forgive the rambly post about nothing. I felt like I needed to put something up this week to make up for missing Tuesday's post yet again, but I didn't have a whole lot to say. I brought my laptop out by the pool this afternoon with the intention of editing some more, but got sidetracked. Not the first time that's happened. It's lovely out today (low 80s), and the cats are having a great time chasing squirrels. Poor cats don't seem to get the concept of screens: they can chase the squirrels all they want, but they're never going to catch them from in here. Still, they persevere. You've got to admire the dedication. I could use a little of it myself today.

Another thing I did today, which goes to show just how easily distracted I've been.

I have no idea what to do with the site now that I'm registered. Mainly I just wanted to see which district I'd get. Masonry wouldn't have been my first choice, but I suppose there are worse jobs than Plasterer. Now if only the movie would come out. I'm anxious to see it.

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Most-read authors & other randomness

Hello out there! I apologize for the lack of blogging lately, and the missed Titanic Tuesdays this week. It’s been a crazy week at the day job, so I haven’t had as much free time as I’d like lately. I also spent the whole weekend working on my next book, which meant I didn’t get a TT post ready as I usually do. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with it.

Anyone a member of GoodReads? Well, they have a new feature (or at least, new to me, as I didn’t notice it until I saw it mentioned on another blog today) that shows you who your most-read authors are. It’s kind of neat. I was going to link to it, but the link is personalized to your account, so the best way to get to it is to go to any of your shelves, and in the left-hand column, there’s a section called “tools.” The link is in that group.

My most-read is interesting. I have 833 book on my “read” shelf, so that’s a lot of authors to organize. (I’m going by my personal account, which I’ve had much longer than my writer account, and therefore has more books recorded.) According to GoodReads, my #1 most-read author is Nora Roberts and #2 is J.D. Robb . Since Nora and J.D are the same person, that means I’ve read 91 of her books. Damn! That woman is impressively prolific, because that’s not nearly all the books she’s written. Here’s the rest of my top ten, just for giggles.

1. Nora Roberts (49 read)
2. J.D. Robb (42 books—man, has the In Death series really got that many???)
3. Janet Evanovich (31 read)
4. Stephen King (29 read, though that will be 30 soon, as I’m getting ready to start 11/22/63 this weekend!)
5. A tie between Charlaine Harris (25 read) and V.C. Andrews, who I haven’t read in ages, but used to love when I was younger.
6. Laurell K. Hamilton (22 read) She was once my favorite author – her Anita Blake series was pretty much my main inspiration to write vampire fiction, but lately the books have gotten away from what I loved most about them. Still, I’m loyal, so I continue to read, hoping one day they’ll get back to the good stuff.
7. Sherrilyn Kenyon (21 read)
8. Anne Rice (17 read) My original favorite vampire series, until it, too, got too weird. I haven’t read her more recent stuff, but I did like her Mayfair witches series.
9. Lynn Kurland (15 read) I love her time travel romances.
10. Another tie at 14 books each. This time between Victoria Laurie (she has two great series: Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye and her Ghost Hunter series) and Lynsay Sands, who writes the fantastic Argeneau Vampires series. It’s an original twist on the vampire myth that I love, and is lighter than most vamp romances.

Okay, so technically that went into #11 on the GoodReads list due to the ties, and was really 12 authors. Close enough.

Since it’s Veteran’s Day and therefore the banks and post office are closed, I was able to duck out of work early. This is good, because maybe today I will actually get that final revision started on my next book. Once I’ve done that, I can send it off to be read by someone that isn’t as close to it, who can hopefully help me work out the kinks and maybe slim it down a little more. (While I’ve done a good job hacking it down for it’s original 200,000+ word count to only 134,000, I’d still like to shave another 20k off if possible.) But before I do that, I need to rework the opening, tweak one of the characters some and remove an element from the ending I don’t like. If I can get that all done this weekend, I will be very happy.

While I’m doing this last read-through, I also need to keep my eyes out for possible titles, as it looks like I’m going to have to re-name it. *sigh* I’ve always been terrible at titles, but this was the ONE book that practically named itself. I was so happy that I wouldn’t have to struggle with naming it … until a few weeks ago when I discovered two other Urban Fantasy novels that came out recently with the same title (Bloodstone). Grr. So either I need to find a way to add to the title to make it more unique, or come up with a new one altogether. I have a similar issue right now with my current book, as Destined is not only the latest in P.C. Cast’s fabulous House of Night series, but another paranormal romance book is being released this month with that title. It doesn’t help that Destined is a common word, and therefore not easy to search without adding my name. So I want my next book to have a more unique title.

Since it’s also the first in a series, I want something I can use as a naming convention for later books. With Bloodstone, each subsequent novel was going to have a gemstone in the title. Maybe I can come up with something that refers to the setting (Miami) instead. I need something different: too many other UF series with vampires use “blood” or “death” in the titles, so I’m making an effort to avoid that. Another reason to toss out Bloodstone, I suppose. One option could be to change the bloodstone in the book to a different stone and use that, but I haven’t found one that would work yet. It doesn’t have to be a bloodstone, just a stone that isn’t commonly used in jewelry (so not a birthstone). I liked that the name was a wink to the vampire element in the book, and that it was kind of ugly, making it stand out. (It’s part of a murder case, so it needs to be recognizable.) I’m sure there’s another stone out there I could substitute if I can’t come up with another title idea. Either way, I’ll keep thinking. Eventually something is bound to come to me!

See what I mean? It’s not exactly pretty (some are more green than black), and it’s very distinguishable. If anyone has any suggestions for a good alternate, I’m open to them!

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First rejection and random tech rant

I got my first query rejection this week. I was prepared for it, so it didn't crush me or anything. I've done enough research about the publishing industry by now to know how difficult it is to get an agent's attention, and I know even some of the best writers out there got rejected dozens of times, if not more, before landing that first agent. So I'm all right about it. Disappointed, sure, but not discouraged. Yet. I'll probably send out another small batch of queries soon, now that it's almost been a month since the first ones went out. I know not all agents reply if they're passing, so I can't sit around waiting forever. Got to keep on trucking.

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It's hot

I know it's summer, and it's pretty much hot everywhere (unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere, that is), but I live in Florida, where it is really hot. According to the Weather Channel's site, it's 88 degrees with 49% humidity, but I swear, it feels hotter than that. Maybe it's the heat of the sun beating down? I don't know, I only know that it's HOT. The highs this week are forecast anywhere from 91-95, and with humidity and whatnot, the heat index (aka "feels like") tends to be a few degrees above that. So we could be nearing heat indexes of 100 later in the week. And it's still only June. Ugh. In the winter, I love it here. I grew up near Chicago, and I do not miss those winters AT ALL. The summers, on the other hand, can get pretty miserable here. The price we pay for mild winters, I suppose. Though this past winter was hardly mild. We had a few big cold snaps (low 20s sometimes) that killed a lot of the plants. Yards looked awfully sad for a while there.

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Where I kick my own butt just a little

So, as the title of this blog states, in addition to being a writer, I am also a designer and a crazy cat lady.  In a perfect world, I can juggle all 3 in total harmony.  Sadly, the world is not so perfect, and sometimes things have to take a backseat.

All month (more than that, really), one of my cats (Ana) has been having an allergic reaction to something.  Most likely a flea bite, but really, it could be anything, even the pollen in the air.  Whatever it is, it's making her extremely itchy, and she's licking off a good amount of her fur.  The other cats have also been somewhat itchy, but not to the extent she has.  I've tried everything: flea collars, other flea treatments, bug bombs in the house.  Finally, this week I decided to bite the bullet and take her to the vet.  She'd been getting worse, and was clearly miserable.  She'd taken to sleeping on top of me every night, as though she was trying to find solace from her troubles in me.  It was sweet, but also heartbreaking to know she was suffering and I couldn't help her. Then she started shaking her head all the time, sometimes rather violently, and I figured it was time to get medical attention.  Her sister had also had a weird balance thing, so I thought maybe there was an ear infection going around, and hauled them in.  They were not happy.  And at the end, neither was I.  $400 spent, and no real answers.  Just a few shots (for the cat, not me) to help the itching and heal some scabs from all the scratching, a box of Revolution flea treatment, a couple of ear tests that came up with nothing substantial, and a bottle of ear medication to give them anyway, just in case.

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