Monday Meanderings - March 2nd

First Meandering - books I read in February ...

Here are the books I finished in February.

Second Meandering - books I'm reading right now ...

What am I reading right now? Actually three books at once. Two are audiobooks -- I'll explain.

Larry's books are always high action. I love the characterizations and the dark humor, but the action wears me out. Add in that right now he's got super beings going up against each other and it's become action overload for me. For example, one fight scene took twenty minutes to listen to.

That's twenty minutes of two guys beating the crap out of each other.

This is the second break I've had to take with this book. Love the series, but I can't get through the books anymore without breaks. I have about three hours to go to finish.

So I listened to Legion: Skin Deep (see my February list) and now I'm listening to this one. What do I think? I'm still at the beginning. It's SciFi and I love that YA is now getting into SciFi.

The third is an ebook. It's the first in Julie Bellon's Hostage Negotiator series. Started with a bang and is moving right along.








Third Meandering - movies we saw this weekend ...

Finally made it to the theater last week. Saw TWO movies even. One was Jupiter Ascending. Um ... Since I was already on action overload from Nemesis that wasn't the best choice for me. What can I say? Hubby picked.

And talk about a disjointed film. It couldn't seem to make up its mind what it wanted to be. Lots of plot holes.

Then we finally saw The Hobbit 3. It was okay, but I can see why my daughter hated it. There were also plot holes galore, especially in places where stuff might have been edited out--but not completely--so the point of showing something was removed. Jackson had a problem with that kind of thing with King Kong too.

It's a case of - So, why are you showing me this since you didn't do anything with it?

Seeing the movie once was plenty. It won't be one I'll buy.


Fourth Meandering - oral surgery ...

I'm having the implant surgery done tomorrow that I had to put off last month because I was sick. Ugh. Not looking forward to this.

What did you do this weekend?

Monday Meanderings - February 16th

In the US, it's a holiday here.

First Meandering ...

I like what Canda Mortensen does at the beginning of each of her blog posts where she comments a little on what she's currently reading. So here's what I'm listening to.

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

What do I think? I'm really enjoying it. The time bending is a little mind blowing, and I love the characters.

This better not be a cliffhanger ...



Second Meandering ...

I got to review the next three chapters of the Torn Canvas audiobook.

I'm seriously holding back a squeee here. It's wonderful to hear someone, who gets your story, read it aloud.


Third Meandering ...

Brother in law returned home yesterday. I don't know about what he and my hubby think, but I'm thinking we're going to have to find bare land and build what we want. I don't know why it's so hard to find.


Fourth Meandering ...

I attended LTUE for three days last week. It was wonderful to be with my tribe.

Besides being energized and inspired, I also came away with some concrete goals to help me.

1. Calendaring my personal time for better use of my writing time. I've already got my first week up on Google Calendar and it's synced to my phone. *crosses fingers*
2. John D. Brown and Larry Correia did a fabulous job in showing how to plot an action story. 

Something John said that really struck me was that the author isn't just writing a book. S/he is providing a guided experience for the reader. You have to ask yourself what experience you want the reader to have.

Kind of brilliant, isn't it?

So, what did you do this weekend?

LTUE

So, things are nuts, and I'm sick. This post will just have some pictures from the event. I took tons of notes and will rehash some of that information in subsequent posts.

Panel on Marketing

Authors Bree Despain, Lynn Hardy, Jenn Johansson, and Elana Johnson

Panel on Queries and Pitches

Lisa Mangum (author and acquisitions editor), Chris Schoebinger (Shadow Mountain), J Scott Savage (author), Kirk Lovell Shaw (Covenant Publishing), Donna Milakovic (moderator)

Panel on Making a Book Trailer

Heather Monson, Angela Corbett, Paul Genesse, Lani Woodland, Dan Wells

Author Michael Young on Avoiding Cliche

Author Andrea Pearson on Indie Publishing

Writing Excuses

Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, Larry Correia, Brandon's brother Jordy, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson

Panel on Why We Love Horror

Nathan Shumate, Michael Brent Collings, Michael Collings, Robin Weeks (moderator), Jenn Johansson

Panel on What I Wish I'd Done Differently

Mette Ivie Harrison, Author Andrea Pearson, Brad R. Torgersen and Elana Johnson.

Panel on Plots, Subplots, and Foreshadowing

Brandon Sanderson, Stacy Whitman (editor), James A. Owen, J Scott Savage and Bree Despain

Panel on Urban Fantasy

Natalie Whipple, Bree Despain, Kasie West and James Dashner

Lotsa Peeps

Elizabeth Mueller, ?, Kasie West

The Schmidts

Leigh Covington, Brenda Sills, Me

Melony Pulley, Kenzie Pulley, Amy White, Me, Stephanie Kelly

Lotsa People

Peggy Eddleton, Leigh Covington, David Powers King

Heather Cole, Betsy Love, Theresa Sneed, Kari Pike

There were tons more classes and people. These were just a few of the ones I was able to attend or connect with.

Book Giveaway - "Variant" by Robison Wells

Last week I participated in the book bomb hosted by author Larry Correia for the book Variant by Robison Wells. It gave me a thrill at the number of my friends who participated as well.

Why?

First, because it was a good cause. But second because I really enjoyed this book. You can read my review here.

Even though I already owned a copy of the audiobook and gave away a paper copy for Rachel Harrie's Campaign, I ordered two more copies, intending to give them away here.

Here's what you have to do to be entered into the drawing for the first copy (chosen randomly):

1. Follow me (if you're not already a follower).
2. Comment in this post that you'd like to be entered.
3. Tweet about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link, sorry).
4. Facebook about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link for this, too).

Since I'm approaching the big 500 follower mark, I've decided to link one of the books to that. I will put the names of everyone who does all the above AND blogs about the giveaway. Please provide me with a link to your post.

On black Friday I will do the drawing for both books.


On a side note, my hubby and I are driving to Wyoming for my uncle's funeral tomorrow, and I'm nervous. Years ago, on my way to visit them for Christmas, I was riding with another college student and we hit a patch of black ice. We nearly went over a cliff, but the driver's quick responses got us into a snow bank instead. I've never been comfortable driving in canyons since and especially not in bad weather.

And, to be honest, hubby's driving scares the crap out of me. His reflexes are great, but he's one of those driving multitaskers. I usually read to him when we drive, so I don't have to watch. It's better for my nerves and definitely better for our relationship.

So if you're prayin' folks, I wouldn't mind being included in yours. If you're not, positive vibes would help.

Have a great weekend.

I hope I'm here.

ETA: No trip to Wyoming. My cousin called to say they were forecasting 100 mph winds in the canyons.

I SO wish I could apparate.

Mother of all Book Bombs

Author Larry Correia is doing a book bomb today, November 10th. You can read the details on Larry's blog here.

What's a book bomb? Larry explains it:

What is a book bomb? Well, Amazon has its own bestseller list. It is calculated hourly and you are given a sales rank based up on how you stack up against the other six million books on there. It is some sort of strange rolling average algorhythm, but what it comes down to is, the more books that are purchased during that particular time frame, the higher you rank. The higher you rank, the more of their top 50 or top 10 lists you show up on. The more of those you show up on, the higher you go, the more attention you get, the more books you sell.

Who's it for?

Robinson Wells
You can check out his blog here.

What's the book?

This is from my post on October 19th.

But I just finished listening to Robison Well's book Variant. Oh, my freakin' heck! I LOVED it! Kept me right on the edge of my chair all the way through. Crisp writing, lots of action, but it really got me into the characters, which is a big deal to me.


From amazon:

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong. 

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive. 

Where breaking the rules equals death. 

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.

You so have to check out this book.


I'm just sayin'!

This is a great cause and an excellent book to be pushing. One of my sons struggled with anxiety attacks a few years ago. It's a miserable thing to experience.

Amazon link to Variant:  http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0062026089&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

I've ordered to more copies that I'll be giving away in the next couple of weeks (continental U.S. only--sorry). I've already purchased the audio and given a hardcover of it as a prize for the Third Campaign.

I've got a favor to ask. If you were thinking of buying this book, I strongly encourage you to do so today. Whether it's for yourself or as a gift for the upcoming gift-giving season. Not only is the purchase for a good cause, it's a great read. 

If you're not in the position to make a purchase, I would ask that you tweet, Facebook, email, and whatever else to get the word out about this cause.


Thank you!!