Z is for...Zigzag

It's the last day of the A to Z Challenge! Wow, that went by fast!

I've really enjoyed visiting all the blogs participating in this challenge. That being said, I'm so glad it's over! LOL! I'm an author and authors are told to blog, so I created a blog. I've been zigzagging all over the place for almost a year, not entirely sure what I want to blog about or even if I want to blog at all. The biggest thing I've learned from blogging every day is that I can't blog every day. I write every day. I write fiction. Blogging is something else. Will I keep doing it? Yes, I think I will. But right now, I'm ready to settle down with a chocolate martini and dive into my favorite place - the unpostable fictional world of my dreams! Tomorrow I might do some blogging, just to see how it feels to blog without the restrictions of A to Z! :)

And I will happily enjoy your future posts, A to Zers...I'm addicted to quite a few of your blogs and I'll be watching you to see which way you zag!



Y is for...Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone: A Novel

I recently read Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone: A Novel by Stefan Kiesbye. I didn't like it, and yet, I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews I read on Amazon. I didn't like it, but I want to read it again. It's that kind of book. It leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth and a desire to run away from what it's telling you.

It's a book about evil and what it means to be human, to be part of a group, to be a child, a parent. It brings up questions of love, of greed, of sacrifice and the answers aren't pretty. The problem is, the answers are also very real and plausible.

Kiesbye's writing is enchanting. It's simple and straightforward, yet I found myself re-reading passages after realizing I missed a deeper meaning. The story details the relationship of four residents of Hemmersmoor, a small village in Germany. The setting is post-war Germany and it calls up some uncomfortable issues facing the generation of Germans growing up in a post-Nazi world. I liked this part of the book, having gone to school myself in Germany during the 1970s and catching a glimpse of these things. I found Kiesbye's references to the supernatural unique, complex and refreshing. This is not a fun read, but it's also not a book I can ignore. I'll read it again before I decide what I really think of it. Maybe this time I'll enjoy it.

X is for....X words and Words With Friends

Once again, I'm late getting my post up. I've discovered that weekends are not a good time for blogging! I'm just too busy having fun!

Anyway, X is obviously a tough letter, so I headed for Google to see what x words were available. Lo and behold, at the very top of the search are all these sites for scrabble words! I have been playing Words With Friends for quite a while now and I had no idea these helpful sites existed! No wonder I never win. :)

So I'm wondering...is that cheating? I know there are cheats available for Words with Friends because I have teenagers and they know how to get cheats for everything! I'm 'too bloody sporting' to download cheats, but is it cheating to look up X words? What do you think?

W is for...Write a Novel in a Week?

I was going through some tweets this morning and came upon an interesting article by Kathryn Kane about ugly duckling first drafts and writing a novel in a week. Okay, I've done Nanowrimo, which involves writing a novel in a month, and that's crazy enough. Writing a novel in a week? You know what? I like it!

I've been stuck in a writing wasteland for the past few months and this idea appeals to me. I think I can write an "ugly duckling draft" in a week. I have a novel that's been spinning around in my head for more than a year. Certainly I can get the bulk of it down on paper if I'm not worrying about perfection, right? And this is the perfect time to do it. The A to Z Challenge is almost over. The kids are still in school. We have no birthdays or other family events on the immediate horizon. The planets are aligned and I'm ready to write.

There is an official Book in a Week group, but they aren't accepting new members at the moment. So I'll go for it on my own...unless you'd like to join me? I'm going to begin this insane challenge on Wednesday, May 1st. The A to Z Challenge will be over and I like the idea of starting on the first day of the month. Post a comment or visit my contact page if you want to join me in one crazy week of writing! And yes, I just made this decision about ten minutes ago! That's the way I roll! :)

V is for...Vacation

Whew! The A to Z Blog Challenge is almost over and I guess that's a good thing, since I'm having trouble keeping up!

With all this unusually cold weather we've been having down here in south Texas, I'm thinking about the summer and our vacation to St. George Island, Florida. This is my favorite beach, mostly because it's so isolated. :) Last year we were there the week that Tropical Storm Debbie arrived...

Here it is rolling in! The kids and I were collecting shells, thinking we had some time before the storm hit. Then towels and beach chairs started flying and by the time we got back to the house, we were drenched, our skin stinging from the sand. So hopefully this year we won't get a tropical storm or hurricane! And now I guess I'd better get my head out of the clouds...time to go back to work. A-ha! W is for work?

U is for...Undecided: What to Read Next?

I've been on a reading binge lately, doing a little research for my next book. The Monster at Water Castle (tentative title) is going to be a Gothic historical suspense, so I've been delving into lots of old Gothic novels and a few more recent books like Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger and Wendy Webb's The Tale of Halcyon Crane.

Any suggestions? I'm looking for something published within the last five years, a little dark, possibly historical.

T is for...Texas Book Awards 2013

 

The 2013 Writers' League of Texas Book Awards Contest is underway. The contest is open to Texas authors of books published in 2011 or 2012. The deadline is April 30th and you must submit two copies of your book. The contest is also open to self-published books.

 

Click here for more information!