Snownami? Bless you!

Okay, so the weather has been lame so far. Yeah, we had the Thundersnow, which was kinda cool. We did get like 8-10 inches of snow dumped on top of a thin sheet of ice. Yeah, the kids were out of school for four days.

But that was no Snowpocalypse.

I see from the weather forecast that there is NO snow predicted at all. You do realize that President's Day is coming, right? We always have bad snows between Valentine's Day and President's Day. You aren't going to actually pay attention to that dumb ass groundhog, right? 'Cuz, we want our pants

DROWNING in that white stuff, okay?

I want to dig a snow tunnel for the Boy. I want to have to dig snow trenches so my dog will be willing to go outside to pee. I want to be grateful that I shop in bulk, and have like five gallons of organic milk frozen in my freezer, right next to the packages of dead animal that the Husband bagged last December.

Yup. It is official. I think I may have to finally hand in my Texas birth certificate. I actually know what winter looks like, and I kinda like it.

In other news. The Boy and I went to the library today and checked out a bunch of books. Most were for him. Dang, that kids loves to read. It pleases me to see him lost in his books (it means I have longer to be lost in mine.)

My new books were all... about vampires. I shit you not. The next two Sookie Stackhouse books, and then the next two Anita Blake books (those will take no time at all, since I know how to skim LKH's books). Additionally, I requested The Strain, another vampire book.

Sensing a theme? I don't know why I read them. Well, probably the same reason I read Douglas Adams, or Stephen King. Sometimes, I want to be transported to another world, and I like being a little scared of things that aren't real. Makes reality a little easier to deal with.

Not that I ever get scared by any of this now. Stephen, you have let me down. I had to put down The Shining when I first read it. Same with Salem's Lot. Didn't get scared by The Dome. Sorry. And Doug is dead, so I cannot berate him. Although, dammit, his description of Ronald Reagan STILL gives me the creeps.

Okay, so, back to winter. I am good on reading material. I am good on writing material. (The editing is done, I think. I will be contacting a handful of special folks out there...)

...and really? I was kidding about the snow days. A five day Snowpocalypse would ruin my writing routine. So, make sure you hit on a Friday evening, okay? That way the Boy can get to school on Monday.

Thanks...

A Weird Week, With Vampires

I think I hate winter weather- three snow days this week! It interrupts my writing. I must also hate company... it also interrupts my writing. Life interrupts my writing.

But, I am reading. I have checked out several books from the library. You may wonder, if I have the time to read, why can I not write? Well, I can pick up a book and put it down. I don't have the be in the mood to read. I don't have to have silence, or a computer, no boy jumping on me. You get the picture.

The Enchantment of Lily Dahl blew big time. I kept wondering why I kept reading. I kept hoping it would get better. I kept being irritated at the writing. "Oh, I mention a burp, and a tampon! Oh, I am a serious writer! Let me add an amateurish detail about someone's past! Oh, wow, I am writing." It did make me feel better about my own chances of getting published, lemme tell ya.

I Am Legend was a revelation. This is a good writer and a good storyteller. I love a good story. This book was a collection of short stories, and the title novella. (Will Smith movie, you might remember it.) I can totally see how Stephen King (a darn good storyteller) learned from this writer. Richard Matheson. I will be reading more of his work, and have A Stir of Echoes in my bag right now. I love finding new authors... (not like that Suri Hustvedt who wrote that POS I mentioned. Gees, that author pissed me off with crappy writing... I am ranting.)

Dead Until Dark is the first of the Sookie Stackhouse series-- the books that True Blood is based upon. Nice vampire world storytelling, and not bogged down in the sex (unlike Laurel K. Hamilton, the woman who brought us a 90 paged sex scene that kinda sorta had something to do with the plot? Gawd, really, 90 pages. Cuz, we need to know each and every... sorry, ranting again, and I have learned how to skim her novels anyway.) So, the writing is light, and funny without overdoing it, and the plot skips along without feeling like you are bouncing from Important Scene to Important Scene. I like her characters so far....

The Passage is what I am reading right now. Wow. More of a vampire sci-fi tale so far, but man, can you get caught up in this. He is like a slightly more literary King. By that I mean, he tells a good story, and gets you caught up in the characters and the plot, but he also has a kind of Serious Author feel to him. This books reminds me somewhat of The Stand. I just wish he had a good editor.

Which brings me to my next rant. I come across so many fucking typos in novels!! It makes me a little insane. Now, the translations I read: Carlos Ruis Zafon, Isabel Allende, Arturo Perez Reverte... nary a typo. It makes me crazy to see typos. Laurel K. Hamilton? Typos all over the place. She even changes the spelling of character names in her series! Makes me insane!

Okay. Wow. Quite a bit of ranting going on. Lots of insanity. Maybe I need to put down the vampire books. Cuz, I just realized that the three books I mention... all have vampires. Gonna go suck down an iron pill.

Oh, and I don't recommend The Enchantment of Lily Dahl. No vampires.