Reading Stuff and MUCH More (You won't be disappointed!)

Sometimes I use my car as my office.  That's what I'm doing right now and the library is so kind as to give me free wi-fi, even when they're not open.

Reading Stuff
I am coming along not so swimmingly with my library reading list.  I have been keeping up in two of the four books I'm reading right now.

1. Nicholas Nickleby
2. Dickens: A Biography

I must say I find his biography more interesting than his novel at the moment.  I was enjoying it at a level 5 tizziness, but the next day the chapters were arduous, the descriptions painfully long, thousands of unnecessary words per page (maybe not quite that many, but the print is small so it might be possible).  Maybe the book became my fo-o-e-e because of how thick it is and I'm thinking "I've got to finish my library reading list!  I've got to keep up!  And YOU, Nicholas Nickleby, are making it so. much. harder!  You horrid thing!  Ok, I detest you now.  You're going from a 5 to a -5.  Ha!  How do you like that????"

Yes, I do think that is what happened with me and poor Nicholas.  Well, it cannot be helped.  It's more important to complete your reading goals than to enjoy what you're reading.  (BIIIIGG sarcasm alert there.  If I had a siren, button, thing, I would make it howl very loudly right now.  EAH!  EAH!  EAH!  EAH!  That's supposed to be the siren, button, thing.)

In Closing
Well, that's all I have for you today.  Think of me while I read N-i-cho-las Nick-le-by--heh-ee *sobbing a river...sobbing like a river?*.  After that I'm going to read A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn which is actually not too bad (even though it's published by Harlequin).  No "defense" (as my brother says) to them but they usually publish very fruity (as in light, fluffly [I meant to spell it that way *sarcasm!*], boring plot) or very sexual stuff.  

I'm not a huge fan of sex scenes in books.  I mean how embarrassing is that to be reading in a public place and feel your cheeks getting hot and your pulse racing and you think "Oh my word!  Everyone can SEE me!  It's like I'm doing it with a BOOK or something!  This is so odd and EMBARRASSING."  I mean, the person that is reading it might as well be acting it out cause it jars all the same bodily responses.  And in public??!!  To me, private is not any better.  It's still just as embarrassing.  But that's me.  Maybe you like that kind of thing.  I'm just not that into it.  

I cannot show my face because my skin will sparkle.  Ha!

That's why I'm liking A Spear of Summer Grass right now.  Deanna writes about a very racy woman who sleeps around a lot.  The woman "did it" once already and I've never been more impressed by a sex scene.  You knew they did it, but the way Deanna wrote it, it was quite clean.  And keeping it discreet, vague, clean, whatever you want to call it, did not make the story or the character one bit artificial.  I feel like Deanna allowed readers to choose what they would imagine.  And I like that.  

There are some books that are really great plot-wise, but then they are filled with sex scenes.  So where do (that was on purpose) one go to get a good story without sex scenes?  The Christian Romance genre does not automatically fit the bill because, yep, no sex scenes there, but hard to find a plot that is interesting.  I'm not busting on them.  I'm a follower of Christ.  But I don't think you have to be boring because of it.  And I don't think adding sex scenes to a book makes it automatically interesting.  In fact, it does the opposite for me.  

The closest example I can pick of interesting without literal sex scenes would be in screen form, and that's Downton Abbey.  There is scandal time after time without everyone sleeping with everything (oops, I meant everyone) else and showing entire steamy scenes about it.  I think discretion and modesty go a long way in creating an interesting plot and characters.  All that excitement over sleeping around is for teenagers.  Sorry, teenagers, that's how I feel.  (It just doesn't work in real life.  It's HURTFUL, not exciting.  *in stage whisper so I don't bweak their wittle hearts*)

Ok, enough of that.

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My Aside Reading List

In addition to that hilariously massive Library Reading List that I talked about yesterday, I have an “aside” reading list.

1. After Tex (by Sherryl Woods)
2. Garden Spell (by Sarah Addison)
3. Desperation (by Stephen King)
4. Your Best LIfe Now (by Joel Osteen)
5. Eyes Wide Open (by Ted Dekker)
6. The Gate House (by Nelson DeMille)

Books 3, 5 and 6 are from a store called Ollies.  There were two of these stores where I lived in Pennsylvania, one on the east end and one on the west end.  Here in Clinton, NC, there are none.

A couple weeks ago my boyfriend Jorge and I went to a town called Goldsboro where we were indulging in Sheetz (nope, none of those in Clinton either; what is in Clinton, you ask?  Nothing!).  Down the hill from Sheetz was an Ollies.  Praise be!  Jorge was intrigued by my enthusiasm, so he had to check it out.  For any who don’t know, it’s a store that sells stuff cheap.  They even have some name brands in there like Paula Dean, Jack Links jerkey, and I already mentioned Stephen King!

Jorge fell in love.  We bought two packs of beef jerkey, a toilet brush (odd, I know), and six books, all for $20.  Now we try to think of excuses to go to Goldsboro so we can stop at Ollies.  First, we go to Sheetz.  He orders sliders from their MTO menu and I get a cream soda (another thing they don’t have in Clinton, not in the gas stations, that is) and we eat and walk down the hill to the Ollies.  We throw our containers in their outdoor trash and enter the cheap heaven of Ollies merchandise.  They even have a coffee pot at the back of the store where you can get a cup for free and sip and shop.

I meant to write about my Aside Reading List, which are the books I want to read after my Library Reading List is complete.  I have started three of the six.  I’m reading one of them on an almost daily basis right now (Your Best Life Now) in addition to my library list.  I just wanted to give you a small taste of the things I put myself through.  Haha!

And one more thing.  A cool girl named Olivia in the UK invited me to do a guest post on her blog today, so go over to Lovelaces to check it out.  She reviews books and writes about other fun stuff.  I like the way she writes.  She makes me want to read the books she reviews.  I have added Tiger Lily to my Goodreads reading list just because of her review.  You can follow her via Bloglovin’ on her site.

Thanks for reading.  Remember to subscribe by email in the right hand panel and follow my story Innocence being released RIGHT NOW chapter by chapter via Wattpad and Tablo.

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If You Like Books, Read This; If You Don’t, Look Away

I seem to like getting started when everyone else is getting off work.  I woke up from a short nap thirty minutes ago, took a walk and still don’t feel awake.  There is a tree removal service currently removing trees in our neighborhood that I find far more fascinating than trying to rouse myself into the editing mood.  

Today’s subject is my ridiculously long Library Book Reading list, that I posted about a while back, put upon myself by no one other than...me!  In case you don’t remember, the story goes like this…

I had fourteen books checked out from the library.  Some I’d had out a month while others were going on three months.  (Our library is great, in that, if you aren’t finished with the book and you’ve already used up your three, three-week allotted renewals, you can simply ask the librarian to check it in, then check back out to you immediately.)  Because of the aforesaid liberalness of our wonderful library, I knew I was never going to finish reading these books when the due dates meant absolutely nothing.  So I came up with a plan.  (Here’s where it gets good!)  I vowed to read ALL fourteen of the books I had checked out before their next CHECK-IN DATE.  That means that if I can renew them online (those three allotted renewals), I may.  But by the time the last renewal has run out, I must have the book read because I’m not allowing myself to check it in then check it right back out to extend my borrowing period.

That said (and if you’re utterly confused by now just abandon ship), I launched into my reading.  Within the first couple days, I realized the awful truth:  I was not going to finish three of the books that were next due.  The only way was to read ALL DAY LONG, but I couldn’t do that and forsake my writing.  That was making this challenge far more important than it should be.  So I made myself a few allowances.

1. That I could renew 2 of the 3 books due since I still had over 500 pages EACH to go in them.
2. That I could return the one entitled Harry, A History about the phenomenon behind the Harry Potter books.  My reasoning: I am currently reading through the Harry Potter series for the first time and don’t want to accidentally read any spoilers.  So I felt it ethical to return this book until such time as I had finished the series (books and movies, btw) and could enjoy reading about Harry’s history fear-free.

My list is currently at eleven titles.  Since I began the challenge (on August 20, 2015) I have completed two titles

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (by I’m Pretty Sure You Know Who, but not You-Know-Who from the books of course)

(This one made me cry.  Maybe I’ll tell you some other time why.)

2.) This Wicked Magic (by Michele Hauf)

(Don’t ever read this one.  I would have to write a full review in a blog post to explain why, but there are so many other WONDERFUL things I’d rather write about.  So you’ll have to suffer for eternity not knowing.)

Here are my remaining books to be read (roughly in the order I plan to read them).  Those with one * are ones I have started (I like to read one chapter of a book then set it aside to do the same to two or three more).  Those with two **’s are ones I am currently reading out of every day.

1. Anybody Out There (by Marian Keyes)**5
2. Nicholas Nickleby (by Charles Dickens)**4
3. Dickens: A Biography (by Fred Kaplan)**3
4. From First Draft to Finished Novel (by Karen S. Wiesner)**5
5. Guilty Pleasures (by Laurell K. Hamilton)
6. A Spear of Summer Grass (by Deanna Raybourn)*
7. The Secret Keeper (by Kate Morton)
8. Silent in the Grave (by Deanna Raybourn)

I should hope those in the graves are not making sounds!!

9.) Twilight (by Stephanie Meyer)*

10.) Vampire Academy (by Richelle Mead)*

11.) The Fire Sermon (by Francesca Haig)*

What do the numbers on the right mean:  Here is my scoring system for how much I like the books I’m currently reading.  One (1) is a little bit, 5 is a lot bit and you understand the numbers in between.  These numbers may change as I read.

Well, that’s it for now.  You can follow my reading progress on my Goodreads profile.  See you later! I got a-a-a-all these books to read. I better get started.

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My Current Reading Selections

I have several library books that I've been renewing and re-checking out since June. So I decided it's time to finish them before they're due.

1st is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Second, Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

And third, Dickens A Biography by Fred Kaplan

I have to read about 9 chapters a day to get each of these done by their due date. Do you think I can do it? I'm already behind, so probably not. But what's more fun than giving yourself unrealistic goals and failing to reach them??

Gonna cut this post short cause I'm heading to Raleigh--a real treat after "dinky" Clinton, as the boyfriend calls it. I'm gonna get some Starbucks and feel like a REAL person for a day!!

See ya!

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It's a New Year

It's a new year!  And new years call for new things like changes to your life.  I am making the change from talking about what I want to do to DOing what I want to do.  So here is a list of some things I will be doing this year (don't know how they'll happen, but...).

1. Writing full time

2. Making my living off of writing alone

3. Loving every moment of it

I'm excited about the book I'm working on, Protecting Innocence.  I already have a carrier for it.  Her name is Deborah and she has a shop called Simply NC, where she carries all things made in North Carolina (where I live).  This story had flowed for me from chapter one and it's still going.  I plan on self-publishing it via ebook format and print.  Deborah challenged me to have the book finished and in her store by Easter.  I can't wait to see it in print.  I also can't wait to see it in ebook form.

If you check earlier posts in this blog, you will see a lot of ups and downs.  While perhaps downs cannot be avoided, I decided to add more ups to my life.  And one of those is going after my dream of making my living off of writing and writing full time.  I'm excited about doing this.  Some other amazing people in my same situation have already done it.  I can too.  Hearing their stories is so inspiring.

So, next thing I have to do is finish the manuscript.  I love working on this story.  It reawakens the feel of emotions that we tend to put aside as adults in the name of maturity.  Writing about the life of a teenager will do that to you.  I never thought I would write a YA book.  I never cared for them in the past.  They always seemed too light and unrealistic.  But for some reason, they are exactly what I need right now.  I have been reading Amanda Hocking's Watersong series and Kiera Cass's Selection series.  I also have borrowed from the library the famous Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.  (I think she's the only Stephanie I've see with an e instead of an a.)  I'm also reading Amanda Hocking's blog, starting from the beginning before she was published.  Now that's an inspiring read!  Google her.  You'll be amazed at her story.  Self-published millionaire is the line that pulls you in (especially if you're a writer!).

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, and thank you to my friends and family for the years of support you've already given me.  

Adding Reading to My Schedule

I woke up this morning, probably around 7 am.  It's Saturday.  I don't normally wake up that early, but with my boyfriend's work schedule, I had gotten used to getting up at 6 am or so.  Sometimes I would go back to sleep, sometimes not.  But now I wake up thinking about writing.  I want to go to the computer to see what I can do today.  I also have been starting my mornings with reading.

Reading has always felt like a real treat to me because, as a child, I could not read until my chores and homework were done.  I was always trying to get in a moment to read.  Many times I read while my chores waited (and my sisters got mad at me because they were already working).  I felt guilty, but I did it anyway.  As an adult, I feel guilty when I read because I learned as a child that it's a past time meant to be done when the work is finished.  But for a writer, it's not a past time, it's part of your job.

I still find it euphoric to believe that I really can read and I must read every day.  It's been a while since I've really gotten wrapped up in a book.  Though I have begun reading again, I don't immerse myself in the stories yet the way I did as a child.  It will come back though.  I might just be afraid to get into a good thing then have to feel that wonderful, terrible feeling of suspense in between reading times or while the author is writing the next book.  Perhaps it's because I made myself wait for years for something that never happened.  (Maybe I will write a book about that someday.)  Suspense turned from pleasure to agony.  I will learn again that suspense is a fun thing.  Suspense and curiosity drive life and make it exciting.

So here's what I'm reading this morning.  I may read parts of each, or just one book.  I don't know.  And that's part of the fun.  I'm still finding my groove with reading.  I'm settling into my life-purpose and it feels so good, even the learning curve I'm on.