Her writing space on the internet
Yesterday Jim C. Hines tweeted about his newest blog post but I didn’t get to see it until later in the evening. It points out the silliness of some of the covers of fantasy books. Jim really put himself out there. This gave me a giggle and I hope it makes you giggle too. Without further ado, here is Jim C. Hines Striking a Pose.
Title: The Ninth Wife
Author: Amy Stolls
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Source: Netgalley
Thirty-five-year-old folklorist and amateur martial artist Bess Gray is a single woman living in Washington, D.C. who falls in love with Rory, a charming Irish musician with a secret. When Rory asks her to marry him, Bess, who had nearly given up hope of marrying at all, is horrified to find that he has eight ex-wives. She sets out on a cross-country journey with the intention, unbeknownst to Rory, of seeking them out. In alternating chapters, Rory ruminates about each of his ex-wives and how he became a serial spouse.
Along for the ride are Bess’s grandparents who’ve been married 65 years and fight constantly, her gay neighbor (himself an utter mystery), a Shar-Pei named Stella, and a mannequin named Peace. Will Bess say yes to Rory? Would a sane woman really consider becoming any man’s ninth wife?
Stolls perfectly captures the voices of Bess and Rory. Bess is hoping to have something more in her life while Rory is a hopeless romantic. They couldn’t meet at a better time in their lives.
The chapters about Rory’s wives demonstrate how seriously he takes marriage. Every marriage could’ve been reduced down to a line or two to sum up why it didn’t work out.
Parallel to the main romance is Bess’s grandparents who have been married a long time. Their tale shows that sometimes, even if your marriage is a long lasting one, there are problems under the surface.
If you’re a romantic then you’ll like this book. If you’re a cynic then you may want to read something else.
On one of my mailing lists, Sharon Pickrel sent this out:
Once again I am scheduling blogs for the Savvy Authors Learning Center page. If you’re a published author willing to write an original blog on a subject related to writing – craft, promotion, publishing, etc. – I’m scheduling for January 3rd and forward (dates are first come first serve).
We ask for a blog of between 750 and 1500 words – negotiable. Our blogs include, as requested, book blurb and cover. The Learning Center Page gets thousands of unique hits per day, the blogs are promoted in our newsletter, which is sent to over 4500 people weekly and will soon also be included in our weekly events mailing.
And, while I’m at it, I’m also looking for workshop proposals for April 2012 and forward.
Please feel free to forward and/or repost this announcement.
If you have any questions or are interested in scheduling a date to blog, or submitting a proposal for a workshop please write to me directly at sharon @ savvyauthors.com
Let’s see… first I went to this place for a week:
We stayed at the same beach house we’ve been going to for years. This year the internet connection was nonexistent. Even being plugged directly into the router didn’t work. I wrestled with it off and on the entire week with only my cell phone to provide a lifeline to the outside world.
When I got back, I rebelled against the internet, I think. I didn’t read my Google Reader, visit blogs or even check all of my email accounts.
For about 20 years I’ve wanted to learn how to knit. Since this is a milestone year I decided this would be the year to learn it. First I took a basic knitting class. We were supposed to make an iPod Cozy but really we just made swatches and began scarves. I’m still working on one for a sister-in-law as a Christmas present.
The instructor’s pep talk gave me enough confidence to do the intermediate class. I learned how to make a hat.
Now that I can work with double pointed needles, I’m knitting a rabbit for my 8-month old niece. If I don’t finish it in time for the holiday, I can have it ready for her 1st birthday.
There’s a backlog of reviews to do. While on my beach vacation I started and finished quite a few books. Since all my holiday shopping is done, I expect my time over the next few weeks will be knitting a rabbit or writing a review and doing some year-end posts.
A big thank you to Marcia at A Girl and Her Books for originating Mailbox Monday. This weekly meme is now on tour with a new host each month. December’s host is Let Them Read Books.
I won A Small Furry Prayer: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life by Steven Kotler as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.
Everything else arrived via electronic copy. First was Alice in Deadland by Mainak Dhar. Imagine Alice in an apocolyptic wasteland and I think you’ll be close to the plot of this book.
My last book was Give Me – A Tale of Wyrd and Fae by LK Rigel. A young witch tries to save two lovers in mortal danger but the spell ends in disaster.
What arrived in your mailbox this week?
A big thank you to Marcia at A Girl and Her Books for originating Mailbox Monday. This weekly meme is now on tour with a new host each month. December’s host is Let Them Read Books. The Tour Stops for 2012 are already posted and I look forward to meeting some new blog owners.
Some of these I picked up as reads while vacationing in North Carolina. I actually spent most of my time reading my Kindle with a paperback or two thrown in for good measure.
The Cookie Swap Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch. This was a free ebook that’s very appropriate for this time of year.
Jenny Pox by J. L. Bryan. A paranormal story about a girl who can’t touch anyone or else they’ll get the pox and die.
A Touch of Greek: Out of Olympus by Tina Folsom. Described as a romantic comedy, Titan is cast out of Olympus and can only re-enter once he finds a woman who loves him for his personality.
And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields. I haven’t read much of Vonnegut’s work but he’s certainly someone who shaped modern literature and I want to know more about him.
What arrived in your mailbox this week?
Title: Absolutely, Positively
Author: Heather Webber
Publisher: St. Martins Paperbacks
Source: Columbus Metropolitan Library
“Exposed” by a Boston Herald reporter, Lucy is suddenly the talk of the town. Long back-story short: Even though the rest of her Valentine ancestors were blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, Lucy’s only special power lies in her ability to find things. This skill has proven quite a blessing for those who come to her matchmaking agency in search of finding their long-lost loves. Now that Lucy’s secret is out, she has more new clients than she knows what to do with. But soon a certain man of mystery steals Lucy’s spotlight…
No, it’s not Sean Donahue, the sexy fireman-turned-private-eye who’s stolen Lucy’s heart. It’s a masked man in a cowboy hat, dubbed “The Lone Ranger,” who’s been throwing handfuls of cash across the Common. Now all of Beantown’s abuzz. Can Lucy unmask the mysterious money man, track down all her clients’ old flames, and turn up the heat on her love life? Absolutely, positively…
This is the third book in the Lucy Valentine series. I love the covers for the series and the titles.
Lucy is still going back and forth between her heart and her mind. The Valentines are cursed in love. She’s a romantic who thinks she’s found “The One” in Sean but she lets her belief in the curse hold her back. Her grandmother and mother are getting a little cranky while waiting for a new baby to join the family.
Absolutely, Positively doesn’t have the magic of Truly, Deeply but was still a worthwhile read. The series seems to be back on track. Lucy is moving towards a major life decision and may get there in the next book or two.
If you’re a writer who wants to see how threads of plots and subplots come together, this is a nice read to see how it’s done.
Title: Deeply, Desperately
Author: Heather Webber
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Source: Columbus Metropolitan Library
The irrepressible star of Truly, Madly, is back in business. This time, Lucy Valentine will go to the ends of the earth to find true love for her clients…and maybe even herself.
Lucy wants to breathe new life into her family’s Boston-based matchmaking company. But how? Even though she comes from a long line of ancestors blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, a freak accident left Lucy with only one special skill: finding things. Car keys, socks in the dryer, needles in haystacks…and now, in a stroke of professional genius, lost loves!
It’s not long before Lucy’s on a winning streak, helping old flames reunite and create new sparks. Business is booming. But when Lucy finds herself involved in a possible case of murder, she realizes she’s in too deep. Enter Sean Donahue. Lucy’s handsome fire-fighter turned private-eye neighbor, Sean is just the man she needs to help her on the job. Could he also be the man she’s been looking for all along? When it comes to Valentine, Inc., falling in love is always serious business…
This is the second book in the Lucy Valentine series. It never recaptures the magic of Truly, Deeply for me. This is a little bit darker in tone because someone is threatening Lucy. And she’s not really confiding about it to many people because she doesn’t want them to worry. Lucy’s father has a secret and with his strange behavior she wonders if it’s a sibling she never knew about.
There’s a lot of light fun when she and a best friend go spy on their best friend’s fiance. It could have been amped up a bit more. I’m not giving up on the series yet, though, because Lucy is a great character surrounded by a great supporting cast.
Title: Kitty Goes to War
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Publisher: TOR Fantasy
Source: Columbus Metropolitan Library
This book doesn’t stray too far from some of the other plot lines in the series. Kitty is the only one who can save innocent people from being ravaged by X (in this case army soldiers turned into werewolves) but this time she’s got help from Ben and Cormac. And she’s being sued for libel by the owner of a convenience store chain that seems to be a magnet for the supernatural.
I was hoping this would be related to whatever the vampires have brewing but they take a backseat in this story. The alpha in the soldiers’ unit is dead and they find it difficult to adjust. They break out of their treatment facility and Kitty tries to bring them to a point where they can try to balance their wolf and human selves. In summary, Kitty saves the day, the lawsuit is handled and we’re given a new piece of information about Cormac’s time in prison that’s sure to be needed in the other books in the series.
It was well written but seemed formulaic to me. At least two more Kitty Norville books are on the way.
Vaughn included her writing playlist so you can get into the mood of the novel while reading it yourself.
Johnny Nash, “I Can See Clearly Now”
Deacon Blue, “Fergus Sings the Blues”
Too Much Joy, “Magic”
Dressy Bessy, “Shoot, I Love You”
Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs, “Li’l Red Riding Hood”
New Order, “Love Vigilantes”
Oingo Boingo, “Stay”
Big Brother and the Holding Company, “Roadblock”
Led Zepplin, “When the Levee Breaks”
Pink Martini, “Autrefois”
Fairport Convention, “Farewell, Farewell”
Paul Simon, “Late in the Evening.
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