Reading

It’s a Matter of Focus

~ Shara ~ 8 Comments

So lately, I’ve been having trouble focusing. Not in all areas, mind you: I’m doing well keeping up with the elliptical and my daily walks. My daily installment of Hellblazer is coming along without much fuss. The husband and I have dropped both DirecTV and our land line, and we’ve been using Netflix like it’s going out of style — I’m just now getting to watch Arrested Development for the first time, and we’re working through House of Cards too. Great stuff. Also, movies: World War Z was this past weekend, and Man of Steel the weekend before.

So it’s not like I don’t have plenty to do outside of my day job. But I haven’t been able to focus on reading. I read a page or two, get distracted and do something else. Even if I’m wanting to read the book, my brain is still churning a million miles an hour, thinking of other things.

Namely writing. But instead of THINKING about writing, my brain is pre-writing: in the past week-and-a-half my brain has been swimming in the world-building of Telepathic Soulmates***, working out details for future fixes of that draft while also trying to find the real story in the sequel, Prison Planet, for which I now have a promising arc for, thanks to my good friend Michele. And lastly, I’m writing (yes, writing) a page-a-day, but it’s what I’m calling Not a Prequel Novel. Because I’m not going into it with any sort of real STORY in mind. Rather, I want to take two characters who are supporting characters in Telepathic Soulmates and tell their story. Their story takes place chronologically before Telepathic Soulmates, so it gives me the opportunity I need and want to really explore the world-building in ways I won’t get to do in revision. So it’s fun. I think.

It is funny: when I’m REALLY into whatever I’m writing, I don’t have much brainpower for reading. Which goes a long way in explaining how, when I was book-blogging and reading all the time, I didn’t have any brainpower for writing. The book blog has been closed for month now, and I’m just now able to pore my energies into creating my own fiction instead of absorbing the fiction of others.

Don’t get me wrong: writers have to do both. I’m just trying to find the balance.

*** = as always, these titles are actually aliases for the novels I’m working on, not their REAL titles. Except for Not a Prequel Novel, because it doesn’t have a title and what I would call it would make no sense to anyone who hasn’t read Telepathic Soulmates

Weekend in Review

~ Shara ~ 20 Comments

1) On Saturday, my hubby and I visited his grandmother in the nursing home. The nursing home cat fell in love with me and tried to follow me home. An elderly lady resident fell in love with my hubby and wanted to keep him. Fun times.

2) On Friday night, I finally looked at my big toe on my right foot to see why I’d occasionally have a pinching pain on the side of it. Turns out, there was a blister UNDERNEATH a pre-exisiting callous. How does that even happen (I know now, but then, I didn’t)? So for my Saturday walk, I was so focused on the blister itself that I ended up walking funny and therefore rubbed the back of my right ankle raw. Also gave myself a SECOND blister beneath the callous. Go me! Took Sunday off from walking (sadly). I don’t think the blisters will be a problem (one’s already gone) but I want to let the back of my ankle heal.

3) Got a LOT of laundry done over the weekend, which always fills me with a sense of accomplishment.

4) Got a LOT of reading done over the weekend, including John Scalzi’s The Human Division (John Scalzi book = fun reading times) and more important, Jeff Smith’s epic graphic novel fantasy BONE, which I’d highly recommend. It’s unique, it’s fun, it’s original and different. The omnibus I read was nearly 1500 pages long (I started it last August and ended up taking a break because it’s such a LARGE volume), so for anyone who decides to read it, I suggest getting the trade paperbacks of the various volumes instead. 🙂

5) Watched a few movies: Cars 2, finally, and while I still think it was an unnecessary sequel, it was fun. Also watched (finally), Trouble with the Curve, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Not sure what the critics are gnashing their teeth over, unless they don’t like that the movie’s more about the father/daughter relationship and the daughter’s potential new romance (all set against a backdrop of baseball), but I liked it a lot.

6) We were supposed to have met with friends on Sunday evening for dinner, but plans changed, which was good: I had a weird headache all Sunday afternoon, and while I managed to chase it away before bedtime, it came back at 1:30 this morning and I ended up staying awake for over two hours. No elliptical this morning!

7) But while awake, I’ve decided that my cat’s snoring/wheezing is both cute and worrisome.

8) I also discovered he (my cat) considers my head his own personal teddy bear.

9) Ann Aguirre (author of Grimspace, a favorite of mine) posted a fantastic but utterly disheartening post about the existence of sexism in science fiction (I don’t not use that term as science fiction AND fantasy, just science fiction) and how it’s affected her. It’s a great post, and I encourage everyone to read it here. The bottom line: if you’re a guy, don’t be a douchebag. If you’re a girl, don’t be afraid to stand up for your rights (easier said that done, as evidenced by the backlash poor Aguirre is getting).

10) This past weekend was my 10-year college reunion. I did not go. I’m sorry that I couldn’t, and felt rather wistful looking at all the pictures on Facebook. A friend of mine posted some fantastic thoughts about reunion and out alma mater here (great food for thought, especially given that we went to all woman’s school), and I feel like I need to comment on my own experiences as an undergrad. Not today, of course. But soon.

But now the week is starting, so happy Monday! How was your weekend?

May Reading

~ Shara ~ 4 Comments

Happy June!

For those of you who followed me over from the book blog, I promised I wouldn’t completely cut books out of my discussion topics. One way to do that is to let you know what books I’ve read during the previous month. So without further adieu, here is a list of my May reads. No ratings attached, nor any reviews; however, I’m happy to talk about any of the titles, so feel free to comment!

Finished Books: May

Forbidden Fruit (2013)
Written by: Ann Aguirre
Genre: Novella/Paranormal Romance
Pages: (Kindle)

The Autumn Castle (2003)
Written by: Kim Wilkins
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 94/552 (Mass Market Paperback – Did Not Finish)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012)
Written by: Susan Cain
Genre: Nonfiction/Psychology
Pages: 368 (Trade Paperback)

Chill Factor (2005)
Written by: Rachel Caine
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 338 (Mass Market Paperback)

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void (2013)
Written by: Tim Lebbon
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 320 (Hardcover)

Dime Store Magic (2004)
Written by: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 464 (Mass Market Paperback)

Kushiel’s Chosen (2002)
Written by: Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 687 (Mass Market Paperback)

Fringe: The Zodiac Paradox (2013)
Written by: Christa Faust
Genre: Science Fiction/Media Tie-In
Pages: 368 (Kindle)

Heat Stroke (2004)
Written by: Rachel Caine
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 352 (Mass Market Paperback)

A Dance with Dragons (2011)
Written by: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 1040 (Kindle)

It wasn’t a bad month, if I do say so myself, especially considering two of the books were ginormous epics (Martin, Carey, I’m looking at you!). Of course, I also snuck in a novella, which was short, and added another book to my DNF pile, so there’s that. Still, very fruitful!

Starting a New Era….

~ Shara ~ 6 Comments

Today I did something I’ve been considering for a long time: I closed my book blog. It was a hard thing to do, but I didn’t feel any guilt when I posted the announcement, and I’ve felt amazingly lighter today for having that… project… off my shoulders.

I discussed my reasons at the blog that will soon be no more, but I wanted to go into a bit more depth here. When I do something, and by do, I mean REALLY do, I obsess over it. And with book blogging, I was constantly reading, thinking about what I was going to read next, figuring out if I had enough variety to please my readers, making sure the length and time commitment for each book would keep the review schedule running smoothly rather than bogging it down. Any time I wasn’t reading, or writing a review, or planning the blog, I felt like I should be, even when I was at my job that pays me the “big bucks” to afford those books!

Closing it, after 7.5 years of straight reviewing, is something of a huge relief. I can skip a few days without reading and not feel bad or stressed about it. I can read 10 Star Wars books in a row and not worry about losing readers because they aren’t interested in those reviews. I can sit down and read all of my brick-sized books all at once, and not worry about not having enough reviews for the week.

In short, I think this will be liberating.

When I was still posting at my book blog, I tried really hard to keep any book-related topics out of Calico in Transition. Now that I’ve consolidated everything HERE, you’ll see me talk about books far more often. Hell, it may be a bit lopsided, because when it comes to blogging, that’s what I’m used to talking about, you know? But what I foresee is the following: if I read a book that I really want to let people know about, I’ll talk about it. It won’t be a review: it’ll just be a “HEY!!! Here’s this BOOK!!! YOU SHOULD READ IT FOR REALZ, YO!” And that’ll be that. I also plan on posting a monthly list of what I’ve read, that way if you’re not following me on Goodreads (or even if you are) and you want to pick my brain on a title, you can.

So that’s that. It’ll take a few days to clean things up, but it’s official: I’m not consolidated to ONE BLOG. God helps us all….

Our Daily What?

~ Shara ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday, I was Skyping with a friend of mine and I was telling her how I have a small list of things I’d like to do and/or am doing daily. They are:

1) Read one issue of Hellblazer.

2) Walk the neighborhood (weather permitting).

3) Write one page in current project (which is Space Vampires).

4) Write a blog entry at Calico in Transition.

So, how’s that working out for me? Continue reading →