First of all, I promise that I have not stopped reading. I'm just a strange combination of swamped and lazy, so I haven't posted since...well, you know better than I do. Probably.
Second, I am currently in the process of PhD school research/applications, adding to the giant to-do list I already had (which includes taking the GRE--in two weeks, preparing a chapter of my thesis for publication, editing my novel manuscript, querying for another novel manuscript, traveling to and presenting at RMMLA, attending a mystery writer's conference in Santa Fe, teaching three sections of English 104, getting ready to perform a show this weekend with my band, making paper bead bracelets for a local craft/food festival, and tutoring at a local community college).
What does this mean? I pretty sure it means that I hate myself, because I was rarely ever this busy even in graduate school. It also means that my reading has been sporadic and all over the place. Right now, I'm reading The Sorrows of Satan, Vanity Fair, and How Novels Think: The Limits of Individualism from 1719-1900. There are also a few books in my currently reading pile that I hope to finish soon but have set aside for other, more pressing, reads.
It also means that if I can pull all of this off I will be one happy camper come the middle of December. And one waiting-with-baited-breath camper, because once I submit those PhD applications I know I'll be checking my email every day even though THE LOGICAL PART OF MY BRAIN KNOWS BETTER. Sorry. Just yelling at myself...
Showing posts with label mysteries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mysteries. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Book Twenty-Two: OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL: MAP YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS
Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, by K.M. Weiland, 2011.
TTR: A day and a half.
Comments:
If you're a writer, this is most definitely worth a read. It helped me jumpstart my mystery novel (which I've been struggling with and rethinking for at least the past four years). I am now almost halfway through a fresh draft (and I only had three-thousand words when I read this at the beginning of June) and am looking forward to having a polished draft by the end of the year.
Yep.
TTR: A day and a half.
Comments:
If you're a writer, this is most definitely worth a read. It helped me jumpstart my mystery novel (which I've been struggling with and rethinking for at least the past four years). I am now almost halfway through a fresh draft (and I only had three-thousand words when I read this at the beginning of June) and am looking forward to having a polished draft by the end of the year.
Yep.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
In Case of Curiosity: Upcoming Books on Read, Scribble, Revise
My dear, at this point mostly imaginary, readers:
I write you this semi-formal and semi-facetious letter in case you've become concerned for my literacy.
I have not stopped reading, I just slipped in a puddle of lackadaisical behavior and started puttering in several different books of varying sorts. In fact, I'm between forty- and fifty-percent done with several books at the moment. So...my literacy is alive and well. Thanks for asking.
What's that, dear readers? You'd at least like to know what they are so you'll know what to look forward to in the upcoming week or so? Fine. I suppose I'll have to tell you:
1. Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter by Steven Rinella. In case you hadn't guessed, it's about hunting. According to my Kindle, I am currently 45% done with this book. Also, don't take my lackadaisical behavior the wrong way; I really, really, really like what Rinella has to say, I'm just extra puttery of late.
2. The Female Barber Detective, or Joe Phenix in Silver City by Albert Aiken. This is a book that I'm writing about for my thesis. Unless you are incredibly lucky and have a lot of money to spend (or you can find it at a good Research Library) you will probably NEVER stumble across this book. It's a dime novel, and it has never been reprinted or turned into a facsimile edition or anything useful of the sort. It's about a female detective who happens to also be a barber (mostly because she has to shave her own mustache every morning. Yes, she is a mustachioed sleuth). I am about a third of the way done with this book, and it's only slow going because I'm typing a readable version up for my thesis committee to read.
3. Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. It's a bunch of short stories based in the world of the Dresden Files. I LOVE Butcher's work, but I'm taking it slow because it will probably be awhile before the next novel comes out... I'd say I'm about a fourth of the way through, maybe a bit more.
4. My Antonia by Willa Cather. This is a classic text in terms of migration/eco crit studies. It's also the second time I've read it, so I guess I could just cheat and post notes from the first read-through. But I am a woman of integrity, so you will get new notes and THEN old notes. Did I mention I am also a woman of awesome? Yep, that's right. I'm hovering right at 50% through, and I just started re-reading it yesterday. Awesome-sauce.
5. Sherlock's Sisters by Joseph A. Kestner. This is another book for my thesis, and I just started reading it today. I am only 24 pages in. But if I do fake math, I've read the first of three chapters, so I'm a third of the way done (hurray for fake math, it makes me look like a superstar). I think Kestner's book will be very useful for me...
6. Place: a Short Introduction by Tim Cresswell. Now, this is not by any means the first time I've worked with Cresswell, or even this particular text, in grad school. It's just the first time I plan to read through the entire text in a semi-consecutive manner. I'm only a page or two in (hey, I was reading the last item on the list today, in between working...).
7. Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. There's just something about food-related books that appeals to me this month, I guess. Once again, I'm only a few pages in. Just picked this lovely book up on a free-book table today. I am addicted to free books (although not to the point where I'll just graby anything). The book is pretty funny so far--and, at the risk of being repeptitive, I am ONLY a few pages in. This hilarity bodes well.
Well, those are all of the upcoming posts I am going to make. If you are scoffing at my apparent over-eagerness, or overkill, or overestimation of my own abilites, I have this to say: seven books at once is child's play. Child's play, I tell you. You do not want to see the complete list of books I need to read before February 15th (the deadline for the first draft-chapter of my thesis). But I, like the brave little toaster, know the power of perseverence. So, good night and good reading.
Sincerely,
The Bookworm.
I write you this semi-formal and semi-facetious letter in case you've become concerned for my literacy.
I have not stopped reading, I just slipped in a puddle of lackadaisical behavior and started puttering in several different books of varying sorts. In fact, I'm between forty- and fifty-percent done with several books at the moment. So...my literacy is alive and well. Thanks for asking.
What's that, dear readers? You'd at least like to know what they are so you'll know what to look forward to in the upcoming week or so? Fine. I suppose I'll have to tell you:
1. Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter by Steven Rinella. In case you hadn't guessed, it's about hunting. According to my Kindle, I am currently 45% done with this book. Also, don't take my lackadaisical behavior the wrong way; I really, really, really like what Rinella has to say, I'm just extra puttery of late.
2. The Female Barber Detective, or Joe Phenix in Silver City by Albert Aiken. This is a book that I'm writing about for my thesis. Unless you are incredibly lucky and have a lot of money to spend (or you can find it at a good Research Library) you will probably NEVER stumble across this book. It's a dime novel, and it has never been reprinted or turned into a facsimile edition or anything useful of the sort. It's about a female detective who happens to also be a barber (mostly because she has to shave her own mustache every morning. Yes, she is a mustachioed sleuth). I am about a third of the way done with this book, and it's only slow going because I'm typing a readable version up for my thesis committee to read.
3. Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. It's a bunch of short stories based in the world of the Dresden Files. I LOVE Butcher's work, but I'm taking it slow because it will probably be awhile before the next novel comes out... I'd say I'm about a fourth of the way through, maybe a bit more.
4. My Antonia by Willa Cather. This is a classic text in terms of migration/eco crit studies. It's also the second time I've read it, so I guess I could just cheat and post notes from the first read-through. But I am a woman of integrity, so you will get new notes and THEN old notes. Did I mention I am also a woman of awesome? Yep, that's right. I'm hovering right at 50% through, and I just started re-reading it yesterday. Awesome-sauce.
5. Sherlock's Sisters by Joseph A. Kestner. This is another book for my thesis, and I just started reading it today. I am only 24 pages in. But if I do fake math, I've read the first of three chapters, so I'm a third of the way done (hurray for fake math, it makes me look like a superstar). I think Kestner's book will be very useful for me...
6. Place: a Short Introduction by Tim Cresswell. Now, this is not by any means the first time I've worked with Cresswell, or even this particular text, in grad school. It's just the first time I plan to read through the entire text in a semi-consecutive manner. I'm only a page or two in (hey, I was reading the last item on the list today, in between working...).
7. Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. There's just something about food-related books that appeals to me this month, I guess. Once again, I'm only a few pages in. Just picked this lovely book up on a free-book table today. I am addicted to free books (although not to the point where I'll just graby anything). The book is pretty funny so far--and, at the risk of being repeptitive, I am ONLY a few pages in. This hilarity bodes well.
Well, those are all of the upcoming posts I am going to make. If you are scoffing at my apparent over-eagerness, or overkill, or overestimation of my own abilites, I have this to say: seven books at once is child's play. Child's play, I tell you. You do not want to see the complete list of books I need to read before February 15th (the deadline for the first draft-chapter of my thesis). But I, like the brave little toaster, know the power of perseverence. So, good night and good reading.
Sincerely,
The Bookworm.
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