Reading Challenge Update #3

I've got two more books on my classics challenge complete and the reviews are in!

Sticking to trying to balance the bad with the good, I have The Little Prince and Jane Eyre.  I know, I know, I promised to do Wuthering Heights, but I like my balancing act and I bumped it out to update 4.

First up is Jane Eyre, which I finished at the very end of August. I gave this one two stars, which for me was "Okay, but I'd never read again." The author had a penchant for suddenly writing lengthy descriptions of things that didn't appeal to me. I'll never understand why there needs to be an entire page dedicated to describing one tiny room, especially when the room doesn't really matter and the overabundance of description ensures that I now will not picture the room at all thanks to the overload of details.

I didn't care much for the writing style, and that's a big factor. The plot was decent enough, but the main characters were rather ho-hum and Adele's tendency to always speak in French(without translation) made me not even bother with her dialogue.

Here's a clip from my Goodreads review. And this touches on my issue with Jane who I felt was a bit snobby with those she considered beneath her and star-struck by those she saw as her equals or above her. Her moaning about how much pain it causes HER to stand up to these two men when she shouldn't feel bad at all about what she's doing just made her pathetic to me.

"I know Jane's supposed to be this revolutionary character of independence, but I felt she rarely showed that. What I noticed was a restless boredom. She wanted to be constantly entertained and have new experiences. I'd hate being so dissatisfied with good things in life because they were "normal" and hence dull, but it's not a negative trait and I imagine she and Mr. Rochester traveled a lot to help her get that taste for adventure.

I also felt she had this weird thing where she didn't think much of people unless she felt them extremely intelligent. And those she did find intelligent she kind of lost her head over. It was sad how the whole time she was telling Rochester "no" after the botched wedding that all she could think about was "poor him, and I'm so cruel, blah blah". Same thing with St. John. She had it in her head that these men were suffering and it was her fault and they were like wounded lambs.

In summary, I didn't hate or love this book. It falls flatly into the okay category. I didn't love or despise any of the characters. The plot was okay, the writing style was the worst of it all(I hated it), and I thought the last bit after Jane returns was the best part and that the characters well-suited each other and I don't resent them coming together in the end
."

And then we have The Little Prince, which I'm happy to report that I loved! This was a definite five stars and I had no idea what to expect going into it. I'd never even heard of this book until it was recommended to me.

The Little Prince is a children's book, but in a lot of ways I think it'd speak more to adults. It's written in a way that is easy to understand, but also has a lot of complex themes running under the surface. The book deals with love, death, life, and being an adult. I think as adults we sometimes do miss the silliness of our actions, or get stuck in routine, or lose our imagination.

My daughter came to me yesterday with a picture and like all parents I tried to guess what she drew, and of course was wrong. Now she'd drawn the same thing over and over--a circle with a bunch of short lines spiking off the edges. Here's where the fun part comes in, despite drawing the same thing repeatedly, she informed me that each thing was different. Two were eggs, one was a daddy long leg, one was a sun, one was daddy, etc.

Now that people, is imagination. I thought they were all suns. Anyway, I think that's a good reflection of how children think versus adults. And if you have a parent in your sphere of social media or friends that shares stories, I'm sure you see this. Or of course you may have kids yourself! Kids say and do the craziest things, but at some point we lose that creativity and innocence.

The Little Prince is told from the eyes of an adult who remembers what it was like to be a child and he covers the story of the little prince who is a child also. It's hard to put into words more than that, and even my Goodreads review was rather short and didn't do the book justice. But you know, it's a short book and the best I can say is read it! It won't take long and even if you hate it, you won't have wasted a ton of time, but I hope you love it because there's a lot to love even though it ends sad.


Next update will be for Wuthering Heights(I promise this time!) and Dracula.

Author Interview with Heather Hayden

Welcome to Heather Hayden, the author of Augment.

 
By Government-enforced mandate, genetic augmentation and implant technology cannot coexist in the same human body. Sixteen year old Viki's life has depended on her implants since she was five.
Now her implants are failing.

When Viki discovers that the malfunctions are due to illegal augmentation, she is determined to find those responsible. However, Agent Smith of the Search and Retrieval Bureau is also looking for the geneticists who augmented Viki, and his orders are to capture them by any means necessary--even if it requires risking Viki's life by using her as bait.

Viki's friend Halle, a rogue AI, is doing its best to help her search, but Halle has its own problems. Agent Smith had been closing in on the AI before being reassigned to Viki's case, and Smith's partner is still on the hunt. Searching for the geneticists risks exposing Halle, but Viki and her friend must find them first--they are her only chance for survival.

Heather is currently working on a sequel, Upgrade. And here's what Heather had to say when I interviewed her.

Kristen - Which writers inspire you?

Heather - Oh dear, this question... It’s so hard to answer, because there are so many answers. Though those who have read my earlier books would definitely say I was influenced by Brian Jacques (because I spend so much time describing the food). I’d say that it’s really more a conglomeration of Jacques, Asimov, Cherryh, Beddor, Colfer, Novik, Collins, Jones... I think you probably get the idea! Most of the writers are fantasy and science fiction, though; they all introduced me to fantastical worlds.

                                  
Kristen - Haha, I never thought about how much time Jacques spends on food descriptions. I love food descriptions, though, especially when they make your mouth water.


What’s your favorite method for coming up with names for your characters and locations?

Heather - I like to choose names that have a meaning associated with the character. It’s a bit cheesy, but I find it fun! As for locations... Sometimes I do the same thing, other times the name just sort of pops up. When I’m at a loss for either, I turn to the mighty search engine of Google to help me locate potentially interesting names.

Kristen - Not cheesy at all! At least not to me, as I do much of the same thing. Even if the readers never know, it's like a private little thing that you'll see every time you read or talk about your story.



If you could be any one of your characters, who would it be and why?  

Heather - Hm, that’s such a difficult question to answer! First there’s Sharque from The Astrals who actually was me at one point—the original story was based on a role-playing game my friends and I used to play. She’s grown a lot as a character, though, and the resemblance isn’t really there anymore. Plus, she has super-awesome water-manipulation powers! And she doesn’t have to worry about drowning, and she’s a great swimmer—all things I wish I was! But then there’s Halle, the AI from Augment and Upgrade, who can do pretty much anything it likes in the Cloud (though I guess in our world, that wouldn’t be quite as useful, and limited by the reaches of the Internet.) And Viki, Halle’s friend, who’s a great runner—something I am not. And in stories I haven’t brought to light yet, there are mermaids and pegasi and cats and androids and dragons and all sorts of other amazing characters! It’s hard to choose just one. But for the sake of answering the question, let’s go with Sharque. I really want to be a better swimmer!

Kristen - I love swimming! I wish I had more time to go. I'd definitely love a pool of my own.


Do you use any references to mythology or real-world folklore in your stories, or do they contain their own folklore?

Heather - Augment and its sequel, Upgrade, are science fiction, so they don’t really have any references like that. My fantasy trilogy of magic and demons has some grounds in the religious mythology of our world, but also their own myths. Another book I’m writing, The Astrals (working title), has myths and legends surrounding various different races, including the astrals, which is the race of several main characters, and the elementals (not saying more on that to avoid spoilers!) And for an upcoming anthology, I’m writing a retelling of the selkie myth, so that’ll definitely have references to the original. As well as my own twists, of course. I love writing fairy tale retellings!

Kristen - Have you ever created your own race for a book you wrote? 

Heather- Actually, yes! I almost answered no, and then remembered that the astrals from The Astrals (working title) were in fact of my own creation. Sort of. Originally I called them goddesses/gods/deities, but in reality their powers aren’t quite the same, though they are inspired by deity myths, and they do draw power from the belief of other races (mainly humans.) However, they aren’t immortal or all-powerful and must train hard to develop their powers so they can become a “mature” astral. They also must journey through the world as their final test of their maturity—this journey is where the story in The Astrals begins, as four young astrals set out to test their powers. Unfortunately, their path has plenty of obstacles on it… But getting back to the main question, I changed the name when I decided that “deities” didn’t really work for them. I think the astrals is one of the few races I’ve actually created for a story; most of the time my stories only involve humans (and the occasional AI, android, elf, dragon, or mermaid.)

Kristen - I've done the same with races in my novels. It's fun to take races that have been already created and tweak them a little and come up with something unique to your world.

Thank you for letting me interview you and I can't wait to read Upgrade!

I've had the pleasure of reading Augment. If you're interested in my review, you can find it here.

Augment is available on Amazon!

Though a part-time editor by day, Heather Hayden's not-so-secret identity is that of a writer—at night she pours heart and soul into science fiction and fantasy novels. In March 2015 she published her first novella, Augment, a YA science fiction story filled with excitement, danger, and the strength of friendship. She immediately began work on its sequel, Upgrade, which continues the adventures of Viki, a girl who loves to run, and her friend Halle, an AI. 

Learn more about Heather on Twitter or her blog, both of which consist of equal amounts of writerly things and random stuff she’s interested in.

Author Interview with Lesa McKee

Today I have a guest post from the author of Operation Space Cats, Lesa McKee.

First a little bit about her book.

Furry crew to the rescue! When Tebbs, the curious cat discovers part of his human family is missing in space, he plans to go on a rescue mission with Granny. But first he must recruit a team to help locate them. Problem is, he’ll be sneaking the small crew aboard, and hoping Granny won’t find out. Enter the space cats … A mixed bunch of furry felines who have many lessons to learn about what it takes to make a team great. Bravery, teamwork, and most of all faith! When mishaps occur, and danger lurks ahead, they’ll need to rely on each other. Will the team falter? Or can they pull together to make their mission a success?

Operation Space Cats is now available on Amazon. A cute "tail" of kitties in space that children will love!

And without further ado! *turns on spotlights* Lesa McKee!


Kristen - Which writers inspire you?

Lesa - Other Indie writers. Those who are doing it right. Taking all the steps by getting their work critiqued, beta read, and then hiring editors, cover designers, etc.

Kristen - I love that! It is truly amazing how inspiring people can be when they're dedicated. And I'm sure you inspire other writers as well.



What’s your views on social media for marketing, and which will you try?

Lesa - It’s right up there with writing the book. An Indie writer wears many hats. Writer, editor, marketing extraordinaire, etc.
I’ll use each social site I can to some degree, facebook being #1. I have a fb author page, and I’ve joined several writing groups as well as starting a few myself. I’ll probably have a fb book release party. I’m on Goodreads and pinterest. I got excited the other day when I learned to create my own pins. Yay! I turned my book cover into a pin. Twitter is on the table, but I’m not a big fan so far. 

Kristen - I am right there with you on Twitter! I'm hoping to find a way to manage it and make it more enjoyable. Right now it feels like an overload of information.

Would you say being a writer is a gift or a curse?

Lesa - A gift. God doesn’t make mistakes.:)

Kristen - Amen to that! And it's amazing that we each get to use the gift in different ways.


For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

Lesa - Paperbacks, always. But ebooks are cheaper, and sometimes my fellow Indie writers (who I love to support) don’t offer a print version. So I read some of both.

Kristen - I love paperbacks. Nothing beats the feel of an actual book in your hands, though with some authors(as you said) not offering them I imagine I'll be attempting to read ebooks soon enough.

Would you use a PR agency?

Lesa - I don’t at this time, but that’s something (budget allowing) I would be open to in the future.

Kristen - What’s your protagonist’s favorite drink? 

Lesa - Milk!:)

Thank you, Lesa for answering a few questions! If anyone wants to know more about Lesa or would like to check out her pawsome Space Kitty stories, stop over at any of her social media sites!

Lesa McKee grew up at her Grandmother's knee, listening to the french folk-tales her animated Grandma Ida shared. A love of stories was born and her imagination took off!

She’s now living her dream as a Christian Indie writer of feel-good fiction, including a short story series of far-out space cats, titled 'Operation Space Cats'. These purrific feline adventures are filled with faith, friendship & fun!

Check out Lesa's website and blog!
Buy Space Kitties 1 or 2 on Amazon!
Check out her Facebook!
Follow Lesa on Twitter!
Follow her on Pinterest!

Reading Challenge Update #2

As the year is ticking down, I've been feeling the pressure to finish this challenge. Mostly it's pressure to finish at least one of my two challenges for the year and this one "should" be easier to complete since there's less books on it.

So I kicked it into gear and started power reading. I'm now halfway through my classic reading challenge, though this update will only have 2 books on it(this way I can keep my updates evenly split with 2 books each).

First up is book #3 - The Count of Monte Cristo.

My husband started reading this close to the same time I did. So we had to share it(and consequently renew it several times). The book itself looked like it was holding onto life by a thread. I think it's high time they got a "healthier" copy.

I absolutely loved this story, though! I thought I might, but it's reassuring to actually enjoy a story I set out to read. Books I don't care for are a real drag. Here's a clip from my review, which you can see in full here.

“I loved how at first the Count was determined to ruin everything connected with those who’d done him wrong, but he made allowances for good. He allowed his prejudice to be challenged and looked with new eyes on certain members connected with the villains and realized they weren’t defined by their relations.

I loved the wide cast of characters, the dialogue, the Count’s careful planning and intelligence. I loved the way the pace picked up as things started to fall into place and there ended up being this speeding bullet feeling all the way up to the end. I love how the pieces to help put together some of what the Count was doing or feeling where there for us to catch.

And we also see him softening as a person, but also understanding that his self-proclaimed role in the universe is just that. I really don’t want to give it away, but there’s a powerful message near the end about how things can go too far. Like lighting a fire and accidentally burning down more than you intended.”

All in all, I gave The Count of Monte Cristo 4 stars(leaving one off for the rather long slump in the middle). This is a book I definitely plan on adding to my personal library.

Next up we have book #4 - We.

To balance out my love of the Count, I was faced directly after with the evilness that is We. I hope that I have become more articulate in expressing both my likes and dislikes of books since I started reviewing at the start of 2015. Especially around the time I find myself hating a book that I know has garnered a lot of love(and hate, which goes hand-in-hand with any famous book).

It is hard putting myself out there(believe it or not) and leaving a less than glowing review. I've made it my policy to always be honest because I want people to know I mean it when I leave positive reviews. So despite the ranting, and humorous(I hope) edge I put in my negative reviews, please understand there's a certain amount of trepidation I feel that I will run afoul of some fan or the author themselves. 

And on that note, I give you my thoughts on We. Also to be seen in full on Goodreads.

“I can see the potential behind the story, but unfortunately it was never recognized. I'll start with the easily worst part of the book for me. The author's writing style. Does the author not understand . . . I mean why am I constantly expected to . . . I don't think there was a single page . . . And that's not even touching on the subject of . . .

Open the book to a random page. Stare at the number of sentences saturated in dashes and sentences where Zamyatin went to take a bathroom break partway through the sentence and then came back, couldn't remember what he was writing, so he just moved onto the next line. No really, that's how it seems. I get he's trying to show D's constant broken thoughts, but come on. It was annoying.

Then I want to know why he ever thought writing a book in first person while naming the FMC I was a good idea. I saw I but I didn't approach I. Really? Yes, there was a ~ or something after the character I, but it's not like my mind reads it as I-dash. No, there was two I's and it was confusing.

The character descriptions. I swear D just hated people. Rosy O with her big fat lips. I imagine a doughnut with chubby arms and a big gaping mouth to match her body shape. And I? I imagine her having a joker smile and the most ridiculous X eyebrows. That's not even going onto the wing-eared, double-bent S or the spattering R who you needed an umbrella around. Or the old lady with a thing for D and her fish gill face. Eww.”

As you should be able to tell from that snippet, I was thoroughly annoyed with We and rushed through the last half of it just to be done and move on.


And there you have my books 3 and 4! My next update will cover my reviews of The Little Prince(which I have read at this point) and Wuthering Heights(which I've only just started).

See all of the books on my challenge here.
And my 1st challenge update here.

Interview with Lynn Miller

This month's interview is with paranormal writer, Lynn Miller, who's working on her series The Sons of Rebellion.


Kristen - Thank you for joining me today, Lynn. When writing The Witch's Pride did you come across any specific challenges? What would you do differently the next time?

Lynn - I’ve learned so much about story structure over the course of writing this book. I’m hoping things will get easier with The Angel’s Wrath and later books. Placing the backstory and world-building became an integral part of the learning curve for me and something I hope to take forward into future stories.


Kristen - What do your family and friends think of your writing?

Lynn - I have the most supportive best friend around. She goes around introducing me as her author friend. I think she may well be more excited than I am for me to finish The Witch’s Pride. My husband is my proof reader at the moment and very supportive. Though, he does give me that blank stare when I talk about Point of View and Character Arcs. My daughter’s a teenager, the story is not about her, she has no interest.

Kristen - Don't you love the kind of friends who are more excited than you(or just as excited) about your book being finished! And I laughed about your daughter. 


When did you decide to become a writer?

Lynn - I never decided. I’ve always loved telling stories and making up worlds and characters. I would set up scenes with my Barbies every night before I fell asleep, then play them out the next day. I started committing my stories to paper in my teens but only decided to start taking it seriously in the last few years.

Kristen - We didn't have a lot of Barbies as kids, but we did have these paper dolls that we played with all the time. They had complex stories and all of this extended family. 


Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Lynn - Well, I’ve actually met Nelson Mandela. That experience was as awesome as everyone says. (I have an anecdote here, but it’s lengthy. Let me know if you want it) I would like to meet Joss Whedon. I think him and I could have a thing or two to talk about.


Kristen - Of all the characters you’ve created, who has been your favorite.

Lynn - Jet’s brother Adi. He will get his own book later down the line and his is probably the one I am most excited about. Adi is common theme in all the stories I’ve written. Sure his name and details change with each story, but there is always an Adi. Annoyingly intelligent and awkwardly caring.

Kristen - Some personalities you can't help but fall in love with and it's so cool that you've found a way to work one of your favorite's into a new character for all of your stories!


Thank you for answering some questions for me and good luck with your writing!


Lynn Miller lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her love for storytelling started before she was able read or write but she only found the time to pursue this lifelong passion once she sold her software business. Her magical tales weave the blurred grey between good and evil with love, family and friendship.When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a cup of coffee and her kindle. She has always enjoyed both Romance and Urban Fantasy, and she writes in the genre that encompasses both: Paranormal Romance. She’s an outdoorsy city girl - comfortable at a campsite with her family or enjoying cocktails with her girlfriends.

Don't forget to check Lynn out on social media!

Check out her website!
Follow her on Twitter!

Camp NaNo Results

And there it is! All pretty and shiny. Freshly stolen of the page of some poor sop who . . . just kidding! It did occur to me that someone could take that off a Google search of someone else's social media post. 

If you remember, I set my goal for 10k words. To help with some perspective in the 14 months prior to July, I'd written approx. 20k words. Granted I was editing my first novel during that time, but I was definitely in a low in terms of non-editing writing. So when I set my goal for 10k I was really nervous. It was more writing than I'd done in a long time.

This was my first camp and I got lucky with my cabin. There were a large number of people from my writing group who wanted to give camp a try and we got together and formed a cabin. 

We did a lot of writing sprints, most in the form of 15 minutes of writing and then 15 minutes off. With my first book published and no need to worry about getting it to that point, I was able to focus all of my writer time on book 2.

Knowing I had that goal was part of my encouragement, but most of it came from my friends(in cabin and out). Being able to write in tandem with others and know that they were expecting me to write during those sprints if I said I would was like . . . they were counting on me! I said I'd do something and I had to do it!

That's how I looked at it anyway. And since I'm one who tries to do what she says and not let people down, bar things I couldn't help, I sat my butt down and wrote.

And here's my stats with 2 days left to go!

My first two couple of days I was like, wow, this isn't so bad. And then at some point I kicked it up a notch and I may have hit 10k by day 8. Yeah, I was super stoked about that.

Realizing how fast 10k words went, I decided to try and hit 20k. You can see I had a fairy level climb with a few flat days and a few super ambitious days. I tried to at least do 323 words a day(my original goal).

About the last week, I just burned out(which you can probably see). But, by that point I'd flown past 20k as well and was starting to see that 30k was possible. Honestly, it took more willpower to finish that last 5k words on my way to 30k, which I hit on the 29th, than it did to accomplish the first 25k.

I may do some more writing today, tomorrow I'll be at a birthday party and probably won't get anything done, so I'm wrapping up my post for NaNo today(Saturday) as I don't imagine I'll get much more done, if anything.

Overall, I've loved the camp experience, and if I'm in the process of writing when future camps roll around, I'll probably join. I can't see myself ever doing the Nov. NaNo. 50k words is way beyond what I can do. 

If you're looking for motivation, inspiration, or just people to write with for a month, I'd recommend joining camp! You can customize your goal(min of 1k words) and choose editing or writing. Camp ins't about whipping out a perfect novel in x amount of words. It's about seeing what you need to accomplish next and challenging yourself to do that within a month. Maybe it's your first draft, maybe it's editing your final draft. That short story you've been thinking of writing, or like me it might be that novel you're in the middle of. 

I'm hoping to drag even more friends to the next camp! Because that's the next best part of camp, seeing other people accomplish their goals and/or kick out a bunch of words in a month. (There's also the letters one of my cabin mates writes to her mom. They're awesome.)

Have you ever joined NaNo? What did you think? Did you join the July camp? How'd you do?

Reading Challenge Update #1

If you remember from this spring, I had set myself two reading challenges for this year. One a generic anything I want to read challenge of 35 books. The other was a little more interesting. You can read my earlier post here if you're interested in the full details, other books on my challenge list, or my thoughts on challenges in general.

This year it took me longer than normal to get to reading. I was halfway through the year with only two books read, neither of them challenge books and one of them my own book.

Despite the slow start, I'm still hopeful that I'll finish both challenges.

Smack dab in the middle of July, I have completed my first two challenge books and once I finish the book I'm reading currently, I'll be starting on my third.

When it came down to choosing what books to read first from my challenge list, I got into this really scientific method that involved planetary alignments, weather patterns, and the rate of corn growth in the area. Okay . . . so maybe I had three bored children that I dragged to the adult section of the library and grabbed the first three books on my list that I could find on the shelves.

My husband has been reading one of them, so I picked the one I've never read in any form, Pride and Prejudice.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. I've watched the BBC mini-series as I mentioned in my April post and I LOVE it. I've watched it over and over and over.

I tend to be very lengthy in my reviews, so I won't copy the review here. But I'll share the link if anyone is interested.

So my first book was a success. I flew through it. Loved it. Gave it five stars. Absolutely loved it and I'm so happy that it was on my list and that it didn't ruin the mini-series for me.

Full review here.

Next up came Little Women. It must be said that I grew up with an abridged version of Little Women and watched the movie as well several times. Neither of which prepared me for the reality of the original, unabridged, very lengthy book.

Simply put, I HATED Little Women. I will never ever, ever pick up that evil book again. I had the combo version of Little Women + Good Wives. I never knew the stories weren't originally one. My childhood version rolled them together and therefore I know the overall plot of both books.

But since I had only mentioned the one as a challenge book, I let myself off on a technicality and quit after Little Women. The book was shockingly boring, overly preachy, and so dry I think you could throw it in a full-size pool and it would suck up every drop off water and still not be soaked.

But, but Jo! I can hear you say it now. Yes, like you, and every other girl who read the book(or version of it), I grew up thinking I was Jo and we were bosom buddies. I have 3 sisters and I gladly found matches for them in Jo's sisters.

Turns out, yep, as I said, every single one of us did that, ladies! I can guarantee we're not all Jo's. I now know that I'm not a Jo, nor was I ever Jo. She was simply the best of the worst.

I had to force myself repeatedly to go back and keep reading the book. I fell asleep several nights while reading. I can't imagine how this book ever became popular, then or now. I wonder how much of its popularity is based off people like me who remembered reading the story(abridged or not) as children and zeroing in on Jo as the character we were.

Again, I have my full review here if anyone is interested in some more details thoughts into my dislike of the book. I gave it two stars.

Next up is The Count of Monte Cristo. I've read the abridged version of that, but never the original, so I'm both nervous and excited to see what's in store for me.

What have you been reading this summer? Any challenges you've tackled? What's been your favorite book so far this year?