One of my places is the North Carolina outerbanks, and–I know this is gonna sound crazy–but I like the banks of a hundred years ago even better.  But, since I can’t visit them physically, I’ve decided to do it vicariously through my characters.  The banks of those days were untamed, filled with sun and sea and a hefty dose of danger.  What more could a writer want?

Well, how about a dash of steampunk, an apocolypse, seven girls marked by fate, and a pirate or two?  For those of you who follow this blog, you know what that means–I’m back to work on my Seven Seals books, and loving it!  Right now it’s mostly research.  I’ve picked up a few books on place:

• The Pirates of North Carolina
• The Outer Banks of North Carolina
• Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony
• The Inner Islands
• The Coasts of Carolina

Plus three books on Ocracoke I’ve already read.  I’ve also got a smattering of books to help with the time period and general mood I’m going for:

• Sherlock Holmes
• The Temple and the Lodge
• Secret Societies
• Victorian Days
• Queen Victoria

Plus of course, any steampunk novels I can get my hands on!  Today I picked up Gail Carriger’s Soulless from the library.  I had to put in a hold for it and wait a couple weeks, so I’m excited for my reading feast tonight!  Clearly I’ve got enough books lined up to keep me busy for at least a day or two, but if you have any suggestions of nonfiction, period fiction or steampunk I should pick up, give me a yell in the comments!

Instead, I’m sending out a happy birthday note to a man who has been my friend these many long years, J. R. R. Tolkien.  Many of my warmest memories from childhood come from sitting in a patch of sunshine while my mom read aloud from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  As a young teen as my family structure began to unravel and my world tipped sideways, I read the books on my own and found reason and hope in the reading.  I came back to the trilogy again during my pregnancy with our son, and was able to escape the discomforts of a body fighting preeclampsia.  I took our daughter to see the first of the movies release just one week before she was born, and have read the books with my kids as they’ve grown.  When my brother was killed in a car accident a couple years ago, I once again immersed myself in Tolkien’s world.  There have been many other books I’ve loved through the years, but none so well as these.

My thanks to the man who created them!

I know how Tolkien felt about biographies, but I’m thinking of picking one up.  I’ve read On Fairy Stories and his other essays, and would enjoy learning about the particulars of his life I haven’t yet heard.  I’m thinking of Carpenter’s ‘authorized’ biography.  Anybody read it, and can you recommend?

Then here, as my gift to you, is a list of my most beloved books on the craft of writing!

The life-alteringly good books:

• Who Dares Wins by Bob Mayer–this was one of those books that really blows the mind wide open.  The Green Beret/Warrior approach to writing really worked for me, and the exercises were great.  This book helped me delve deeper into my psyche, then clean up on the inhibitions lurking there.  What power my writing has must be credited at least in part to the tools taught in this book.
• Character and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card–the first time I read this book I whipped through it, nodded thoughtfully, and passed it on to a writing friend.  The second time I went slowly and highlighted.  The third time my study was guided by Scott while I was in attendance at his literary bootcamp, and believe it or not, I still found unexplored gems.  I’m looking forward to the fourth time.
• Save the Cat by Blake Snyder–I tend to write at a break-neck speed, and my plots reflect that.  I knew I needed to provide some structural support to hold up all that adrenaline, but it wasn’t ’til I read Save the Cat that I could find a structure book that made sense to me.  I imagine this was the kind of how doctors felt when they discovered x-ray machines.  Suddenly, no one had to be cut open when you wanted to look at the skeleton!

The books that plugged in my lightbulb:

• Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton–this one I’m still working through, but it’s already had quite the impact.  Voice tends to be one of the most poorly explained writing subjects, and yet is of utmost importance for a writer to master.  This book does the best of any I’ve found at explaining voice so you feel enlightened after the explanation.
• Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wainger–I know, I know, you’ve heard (or said) that ‘romance novels are trash.  It doesn’t take skill to write a romance.’  Well, that’s nonsense of course, and every writer will benefit from exploring the trade secrets employed by bestselling romance writers.
• 20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias–back in the yonder years when I first wrote a novel, I had no idea plot was even needed.  You just started off with a story idea, and wandered around til it went somewhere or died, right?  Uhm, no.  At least, not if you have 20 Master Plots on your bookshelf.  For the beginning writer out there still trying to get the story past chapter four or five, this book will feel like a life preserver.
• On Writing by Stephen King–sometimes we need a little nudge, or a cheer, to get us of on the path to bravery.  This book was that nudge for me.  It’s a fascinating look into Stephen King’s life, but most importantly it demonstrates that a writer’s personal demons can be put to work earning the writer’s bread.
• Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell–did I mention I’ve had a bit of a structure problem?  Well, sometimes it takes a second book to get the message across.  Sometimes it takes three!  This was my first book on structure, and can take a large chunk of credit that I ever finished my first novel.

The books that I’m reading now (besides the voice book, mentioned above):

• Description by Monica Wood
• Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress
• Conflict, Action and Suspense by William Noble
• Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham

You’ll notice that out of these last four, three are books from the Element of Fiction Writing series, as is Character and Viewpoint, mentioned above.  This isn’t a fluke.  If you’re heading to the bookstore to buy yourself or your dear one a writing book and somehow commit the gross oversight of leaving home my list, go with this series and odds are good the book will hit the spot.

After setting aside the books I’ve listed above, I still have seventeen writing books beside me.  Plus more I couldn’t lay my hands on right now.  That’s a lot of books!  I think, come January, I’ll report on on the writing books I’m reading now and also list the books I have on freelancing as a writer.  Just in case any of y’all are broke from buying writing books and looking to earn some cash!

But first–a disclaimer:  I didn’t come up with this ”Top YA” list, so it’s sure to be missing stuff and I can see it also includes plenty of books that are actually middle-grade or not YA at all.  If I had made the list, it would be perfect, of course!   It’s also true that some of the books I’ve read I only remember in fractured pieces, and some I’ve missed I know I really want to read.  So this list isn’t meant to be a recommended reading list, either!

With that in mind, here we go:

Bold = I’ve Read It

Italics = I Own It

Underline = Started, but Didn’t Finish It

• 1. Alex Finn – Beastly
• 2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
• 3. Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 4. Ally Condie – Matched
• 5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
• 6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
• 7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
• 8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• 11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
• 12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
• 13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• 15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
• 17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)
• 18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
• 20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
• 21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
• 22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
• 23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
• 24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
• 25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
• 26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
• 27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
• 28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
• 29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
• 30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
• 31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
• 32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
• 33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
• 35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
• 36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
• 37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
• 38. John Green – Paper Towns
• 39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
• 41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
• 42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
• 43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
• 44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
• 45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
• 46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
• 47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• 48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
• 49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
• 50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
• 51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
• 52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
• 53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
• 54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
• 55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
• 56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
• 57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
• 58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
• 59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• 60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
• 61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
• 64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
• 68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
• 69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
• 70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
• 71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
• 72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
• 73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
• 74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• 75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
• 76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
• 77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
• 79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
• 81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
• 82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
• 83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
• 84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• 85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
• 86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
• 88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
• 89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
• 91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
• 92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
• 93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
• 95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
• 96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3) 97.
• Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• 98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
• 99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
• 100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

 What a lot of good books I still get to read!  That’s a cheerful thought, for a Monday!  Let me know where you think I should start, and which are your favorites.  Also–because I can’t let it pass unsaid–I may not have read the Terry Pratchett books on the list, but I’ve read everything else Terry Pratchett!  Just so you know I’m not totally dissolute.

In searching for a submission backdoor I chatted with James Maxey and found that he and authors David Drake, Mark L. Van Name and Lisa Shearin were doing a panel and book signing that night in Cary at the B&N.  Accordingly I went by after my swordfighting class.  Here’s the evening in summary:

• James’s new cover of Dragonseed is awesome–check out the detailing on the shotgun.  Very nice.
• I have my own signed copy of Dragonseed, and yes, I feel special.
• Lisa Shearin fences, and she liked my dagger earrings.  The lady is in!
• David Drake continues to astound with the range of stuff that can come out of his mouth.  He’s wise on the writing front, I’ll grant him that, but I think he’s overly fond of making women blush.  I’m happy to say I didn’t give him that satisfaction.
• I was late and so missed most of what Mark had to say.  I’m still curious as to what the ‘L’ in his name stands for.
• I found it interesting to watch the authors interact with their fans.  My takeaway pointers were to let the reader/fan drive the direction of the conversation and its duration, so long as the line was still moving.

As a followup on the evening I went to James’s website and found he’s running a contest to support breast cancer research.  Go check it out and get your own copy of Dragonseed!

I read Magic Lost, Trouble Found a couple years ago and enjoyed it.  I always meant to pick up the next one…so Tuesday I got the second book, Armed and Magical, and got it signed by Lisa.  I heard her recommend it as a great beach read, but I can testify that it’s also a great recovering-from-the-dental-variety-of-torture read!  I was very thankful for my new books as I moaned my way through the remainder of my Wednesday and nursed my three new fillings and one new crown prep.

I’m afraid my only gratitude on leaving the theater after the movie Twilight was that I’d only lost two hours, and that the movie was so bad it crossed over from dull into laughable.  There were lots of little problems with the flick, such as the tangent story lines which only made sense if you’d read the book, the ridiculous ‘flying’ moments when you could almost hear the gears whirring, and the cuts from the mc’s life which left her much less likeable.

But the great strength of the book was the intense if a bit dangerous attraction between Bella and Edward.  Likewise the great flop of the movie was the total lack of chemistry between the actors playing Bella and Edward.  If there was one truth absolutely essential to the book it was the crackling energy of these two and the spiraling possibilities around them as their relationship developed.  In the movie, you’d find more sexual tension in a pair of poseable dolls.  It was sad, really, because if the movie had gotten that right, I might have forgiven it everything else.

But amongst my gleanings was a fun little sf novel aimed at the mid-grades–The Winds of Mars, by H.M. Hoover, and let me tell you, she packed a lot of punch into this novel.  I found the main character very likable, the reader sympathy well set-up.  While the protag experiences the semi-standard loss of a parent (or parents) that is so commonly used to increase sympathy, the woman who provides for the protag is so loving when placed in contrast to the mother of the protag’s half brother that one feels it was the mothered child who got the worse deal.  And yet, the sympathy for a gutsy girl making her way without a mother to fight for her is still there.

The plot has some nice twists, too, so that I was still unsure as to how some particulars would tie up right until the end.  And the sociological structure of the martians, while not dwelt on excessively, was interesting and well-played.

I’ve always enjoyed YAs, but lately I’m also picking them apart and taking notes, so it’s especially nice to come across one that is such an excellent sample of what a kid book can be.

One of the novels was Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson.  I finished it in the early morning hours of the 27th, so it obviously wasn’t any easy book to put down.  I thoroughly enjoyed the magic system, and the characters of Prince Raoden and Prencess Sarene were compelling and likable.  The pov sections given to Hrathen were often the points where I took a break, but that’s not really surprising.  He was just likable enough that he failed to be an extraordinarily compelling bad guy, but in the end that payed off.

My only gripe with the book were that once in awhile I had little sense of an over-arching plot drive, an immediate threat which I didn’t feel the characters could handle.  This was due, I believe, to the slow shifting of who was our antagonist.  Somewhere in the middle the obvious antagonist just wasn’t that scary, and the unseen antagonist hadn’t begun to give me chills just yet.

Still, as my two-day marathon read indicates, the story still had a firm grip on my interest.  My strongest desire when I came to the end was to go get the next one, but while the book leaves an opening for a sequel, it works as a stand-alone.  I guess instead I’ll just have to go get Mistborn. 

But I stopped talking about reading it and finally read it because I don’t want to sound like a dweeb if I run into James Maxey at Trinoc this weekend.

So what did I think of the book?  It was difficult to tell.  In the beginning, I was impressed with the fast hook and enjoyed the fantasy world structure, but wasn’t thrilled with the pov switches.

In the middle, I was getting annoyed with the inundation of characters and pov switches, bored with the hippity-hoppity plot line, and hanging in there cause the prose was great, the world fabulous, and I didn’t want to look like a dweeb.

By the ending I was a little confused as to who I was supposed to identify with, but was embracing the schezophrenic scattering of characters.  By then each individual pov had been built up to the point that I knew them all and cared about them all, so I didn’t mind that so much.  I was also surprised to find myself content with the closure of the ending.  I still wasn’t sure why this book was generating chatter, though.

A day or so passed.  The characters continued to linger in my mind, I found myself taking the story/plot out and turning it over to look at again, and I was feeling more than content with the ending.  Satisfied, like sitting back to look at a large and complex puzzle after placing the last piece.

I may or may not bump into James Maxey this weekend, and my general dweebishness is in the hands of fate, but I can unequivically join the ranks of people who smile and chatter about Bitterwood.

Introducing Spots

Rebecca Lickiss and J. Simon

Jon Skovron and Jason D. Wittman

Wen Spencer

Christopher Anvil

Barbara J. Ferrenz and Edward M. Lerner

S. Andrew Swann and Gregory Benford

Gene Wolfe and John Barnes

Mike Resnick

So there are the story reviews.  The overall illustration quality was good, and often excellent.  I was a little surprised to find that several of the illustrators and all three of the newly introduced writers had little or no internet presence.  Of course, if they had a common name it is possible that I missed them.  If that’s the case, feel free to put a note in the comments and I’ll add the link.

I used the download (pdf), and found it clear and easy to use.  One nicety, given the size of the zine, was the page numbering.  Not only at the bottom of the page, but also on the tool bar, so I could take note of the page I wanted to come back to, then move the cursor up and down (for instance, if I wanted to see the ToC), and slide the cursor along the tool bar to the page number I wanted when I was finished.  Very nice.

In fact, this is the highest concentration of web-based content I’ve taken in, as I usually prefer to read on paper, and I found the experience much better than I could have guessed.  Great magazine, good content, I’ve added them to my blogroll and I’ll enjoy recommending the zine to friends and family.