In Which I Read Books

Well, I finished my goal of reading 55 books in 2011. For awhile there I thought for sure I wouldn’t make it, but I read like 10 books in November which helped a lot. Natch.

I actually finished out the year with 58 books read. Which is pretty awesome. And I thought I’d share my top picks from the year.

In no particular order, here are my top 5 books of the year (I could’ve easily spread this to 10, but I wanted to keep this list succinct)

Divergent

Have you read this book yet? No? Why not? Because it’s excellent. I’m pretty particular about the dystopian I like, but throw in a lot of action and badassery and I was hooked from page one. I was lucky enough to snag an arc of this and have passed it on to other members of the fam to read.

Soulless

Steampunk, Victorian paranormal?  Yeah, sign me up. LOVE these books! It’s such a refreshing take on the same old Vampires and Werewolves paranormal we’re all used to. I mean, I love Sookie as much as the next person (though I’ve officially give up on Anita Blake) but these books made me fall in love with the idea all over again.

The Liar Society

I used to read mystery when I was in middle school. Then I moved onto horror, then SFF and the rest is history. If not for “knowing” L and L through the blogosphere, I don’t know that I would’ve picked this book up if I’d seen it in a bookstore. Just because it’s not my usual cup of tea. And that would’ve been a travesty. I LOVED this book. Could not put it down. Who knew YA mystery could entertain me so much? I cannot wait for the sequel(s)

A Companion to Wolves

Sometimes I read YA to the detriment of everything else. I forget that I love adult SFF. This book reminded me, hard, how much I love it. And I don’t know why. Lot’s of guy on guy action, giant wolves, Vikings, etc. Loved this book. I made Twin read it right away and she also loved it. Can’t wait to read the sequel (it’s in the mail, shipping from B and N as I write this)

Blood Red Road

I picked up this book at a Border’s closing sale. It was the last weekend and I though I’d pop in to see what they had for extra cheap. They had a whole stack of these books and though it sounded kinda meh, it was only a few dollars so I thought I’d give it a shot. Great decision. Completely different that the back cover made it seem and I loved it. Love the voice of the MC, loved the plot, loved everything about it. Will definitely be buying the sequel.

So, that’s the top 5. Many were close to making the list. What about you? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What was your favorite book you read last year?
.

Friday Fun

Yvie's back, babies! Because it's Friday, natch, and I'm here to load you up with some good stuff. Good stuff.

Let's get this Friday STARTED!!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

In Which I Make New Goals

All right, time to get going with these 2012 goals! Time’s a wasting!

2012 Goals

1. Query Glimpse of Another Shore
2. Query Break Free
3. Finish another novel
4. Sell another short story
5. Attend a writer’s conference
6. Join a new crit group or find some more crit partners
7. Go on a date
8. Lose weight
9. Read 60 books

      1.  I stopped after two months last year to make some changes on the MS. But because I was in 

           the middle of writing Break Free, and then had NaNo, the revision got pushed back more than

           expected. BUT I think it’ll be ready to give the agent waters another test starting in February.

           Maybe a bit earlier.

2. Once I start querying Glimpse again, I’ll work on finishing this bad boy up. It needs line edits and beta readers, but I think it’s very strong. I’m hoping for a late spring/early summer query date, but we’ll see where we’re at with Glimpse. I don’t know if people query more than one novel at a time but I don’t know if I could handle the confusion and the double roller coaster.

3. I’ll probably tackle All That Remains, even though I still have rough feelings about it. I mean, I’m like 50K in. It shouldn’t take much just to push that baby through to the end. I also plan on writing my Shiny New Idea in 2012 as well, but whether I’ll do that for NaNo or not, I’m not sure. Time will tell

4. Again, like last year, I don’t have much control of this. The best I can do is submit some stories and see if I get any bites. I’ve got 3 in the wings that I plan to submit this year, hopefully. I’d also like to see if I can get into SFWA, though the horror markets that grant you membership are few and far between.

5. I’ve gone to Fourth Street Fantasy the last two years, but that’s not necessarily a writing conference. This year, I’m going to hit one with actual agents and junk. I’m aiming for Wiscon, so let me know if you’re planning to hit it up to. I WANT TO MEET UP WITH YOU if you do.

6. I’m part of my existing writing group with Hannah and Teebore, and I love it, but I’d also like to get to know other writers as well, especially locally, so I’m going to see what I can do. If I can’t get in one locally, through SCBWI, then I’ll probably be looking online for some more crit partners especially people who may be at the same stage as me (querying, etc) (hint hint, if you’re looking)

7. Yep. That’s just what it sounds like. Even if it’s just a single date, that’s fine by me.

8. Always a goal. We got new treadmills this year, which is awesome, but our poor elliptical died on us. We'll be tackling Couch to 5K in our hopes we can hit a Warrior Dash this year. Anyway, excercise is not really the problem, nor is eating healthy. It’s just portion control. Once more into the breach 

Warrior Dash, here we come!

9. 55 Books was touch and go, but I made it. So I have to raise the bar. Will I be able to hit 60 books read? I have no idea. Guess we’ll find out this time next year.

And that’s it!  How about you? What are some of your goals for 2012?
.

In Which I Met Goals

Well here we are, 2012. Much easier to say than 2011. Man, the years go by fast, right?

You know what else happened with the passing of the year? My Blogoversary! That's right, I've been blogging for over 2 years. Yay! I blogged 148 times in 2011, which is not too shabby, if I say so myself. I have no clue what I’ve been talking about.

Also with the new year comes new resolutions!

I know some people are anti-resolutions. And I guess I understand why. But for me, that’s not an issue. My resolutions are actually goals I aim for. I like lists and goals. Goals are cool. If I don’t reach them, *shrug*, then I don’t reach them. It doesn’t upset me in the least. They’ll just be waiting for when I give it another shot.

Anyway, let's take a look at my resolutions from last year and see how I did:

2011 resolutions:

1. Query Glimpse of Another Shore (check. I only queried for 2 months before I paused, but it went much better than expected. No agent, yet, but that’s OK. I’ll keep working)

2. Finish another novel (check. Finished Break Free, which I utterly love. Like 1000x more than Glimpse.)

3. Get Hole-Ridden published (Super check!!! Sold that baby to Dark Moon Digest #6 (now available here)

4. Lose Weight (uncheck. THOUGH, I didn’t gain any weight. Which is a plus)

5. Read 55 books (check! It was close, but I pulled it out at the end)

So, not too shabby. Not at all. Wednesday I’ll list my 2012 goals, which are both the same and different. They’re at least more numerous.

Friday Fun

All right ape-friends! Yvie's here so we can get this weekend started with some laughs! ZOOM!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

In Which I'm Published

Besides the awesomeness of Christmas and New Years over these last few weeks, something else exciting happened:

I'm officially published, yo.



My Horror short story Hole Ridden has been pubished. Dark Moon Digest #6 is available for purchase through Amazon or Barnes and Noble and will release as an ebook later in the year.

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited when it arrived in the mail. And my super cool parents bought 8 copies to pass out to members of the fam over Christmas.

Since it's also Insecure Writer's Support group today, I'd like to point out to anyone feeling the blues about their writing that I'd been sitting on this story for years. YEARS, before last year I made a goal to start submitting it. It only takes that one decisions, guys, to get you on the right path.

Sometimes you just have to take the plunge. What's the worst that can happen? What's the best?
And, seriously, you'll never experience the best if you don't take a chance and risk the worst.

So how's your writing going?
.

No-Kiss Blogfest

Yay! It's time for the 3rd annual No-Kiss blogfest!!

This is when you get to write a scene or post one from your favorite books, movies, or TV shows that show the almost kiss-- the rising, crushing, excruciating, longing, tension that comes when two characters get oh-so-close to kissing that you can just feel it, want it, NEED it....and then...they don't!


I've chosen a piece of a scene from my WIP novel Break Free (which I lurrrve, btw. Seriously in love with this novel, guys)

Setup:

Kiel (MC) has been tasked to lead Izzy (love interest) through a jungle of deadly wild magic. He wears a collar that's attuned to Izzy, so it forces him to intervene whenever she's in danger.
In this scene, they just escaped from a bounty hunter who was looking for Kiel.

As always, this is still a rough draft. I haven't even started line edits yet, so please overlook any rough spots.

Onto the fest!!


"This way,” I yelled, pulling her down another game path. We zigged and zagged until finally the pulse in the collar began to dissipate. Izzy took another left and I followed into a clearing with a large tree. The hot breeze shook the tree’s branches and moisture dripped off its leaves; a mini rain-storm brought on by the wind.

“We can hide beneath it,” Izzy said.

The ground surrounding the tree was scraped clear of any sort of vegetation, a circle of dirt. Moisture from the leaves sizzled in an oily sheen before it soaked into the earth. The drops had a strange golden glow to them, similar to the stone in Izzy’s chest. Something wasn’t right.

Izzy stepped to the edge of the dirt circle and the collar flared up again. It jerked me forward, faster than my own reaction time, until I was pulling Izzy away from the tree, yanking her so hard that we stumbled to the ground, landing away from the tree and its rain.

“What the hell, Kiel?” Izzy yelled, trying to pull herself out from under me.

I didn’t even notice, the pounding in my head from the collar was so loud. “It’s not safe,” I managed to get out. The pounding slowed, then stopped. Damn collar. I didn’t need it jerking me around. If it kept up, it would get us both killed. And then who would protect Izzy?

“That’s not water,” I said. “It’s something else. Acid, I think.”

She paused, then peered over my shoulder at the tree and the liquid which dripped off its branches. “How did you know?”

“The dirt surrounding it. Where are all the plants? A tree that big should have some stranglers or other undergrowth below it. There’s nothing but dirt.”

She watched the liquid drip onto the ground. “Huh. Well, that would’ve been bad, but do you think you could get off me now?”

Only then did I realize the collar had forced me to cover her in protection. Interesting. The collar controlling me pissed me off, but I had to say, I wasn’t too terribly upset at my current predicament.

I watched her for a moment, just enough time for her skin to start to flush. It was surprising how easy it was to get that color to spread across her cheeks and neck.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m pretty comfortable.”

“You’re also pretty heavy…”

I sighed and pushed myself off. I offered her a hand and pulled her up. She stumbled into me but I held her before she fell. I caught a whiff of her perfume, still exotic, still tantalizing. Did she taste as good?

She blushed again and dropped her gaze. “We should probably find Dayre…”

No. Screw Dayre. The heat her off her body rivaled the warmth of the jungle. I wanted to pull her closer, feel that heat pressed against my skin. I inhaled deeply, trying to imprint this moment on my memory. Then I breathed out. “Yeah. I guess so.”

She stepped away from me, her fingers still gripped in mine.


 
 
Bam!! There you have it! Now I'm off to read the other entries!
How about you, did you participate?
.