What's up Wednesday

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. Should you wish to join us, you will find the link widget at the bottom of Jaime’s post. We really hope you will take part!

What I'm Reading

I've got a few on my reading list this week. I've just started Zombie Fallout, but I'll probably put aside for Kitty in the Underworld. I'm going to start The Little Prince with my Daughter and we are just finishing up Ender's Game in anticipation of the movie.

Wow... that's a lot to read.

What I'm Writing

Blogging: So I'm about 5 books behind on my reviews. So look for some more post soon :) I also have a feminist rant that I've been writing for a few days about Feminism, Erotica, and Sex. Once I'm sure I've got some good content and something more substantial (not just a rant) I'll post.

Other Writing: I've finished my first draft of the Anthology story I've been working on. It was a real stretch for me since I'm not an erotica writer, but the project is for a good cause (all proceeds are going to charity) and since the project was my idea I thought I should at least try and write a story for inclusion. I'll have to see if my story makes the final cut. (even I'm not immune to the editing room floor)

Novel: With my short finished I'm back to my novel. Last week I only managed to rearrange some chapters and add some detail, but I still haven't been able to move the story forward. BUT last night inspiration struck in the middle of the night (doesn't it always?!?!) and I got up re-outlined my plot and have a better idea of how to wrap this baby up.

What Else I've Been Up To

I've been very domestic this last week, cleaning out the pantry and organizing the closets. I'm not sure what that's a sign of... I bought a chainsaw, to dismantle the play structure in the back yard, but I imagine it will be useful for that zombie apocalypse too!

I've also been making a larger effort to be social. I've been hanging out with my new tribe of writers that I've found in my small Midwest town, and I've also managed to socialize with some non-writer types.  (oddly enough we spent dinner talking about what we were reading...)

What Inspires Me Right Now

Ted Talks. Right now I'm on a bender.  Here's a link to some great ones: 20 Talks That Could Change Your Life.

There are several talks I'd love to do blog post on. Here's one of my Favorite:

The World's End, Dark and Twisty... Just Like I Like It.

So after some strategic schedule planning with my husband and kids, I managed to find some adult time for my husband and I to go see The World’s End.

Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman,
Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike
 

I’ve been anxiously anticipating this movie since I saw the first trailer. My love of Simon Pegg is not a secret and his reunion in this movie with Nick Frost had me nearly giddy with excitement. But for Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz fans, if you were expecting the snarky, light hearted fun we’ve come to expect, you’re in for a shock. To be honest there is only a mild similarity to these movies (namely the stars, England, and a passing reference to Cornetto ice cream). The World’s End was dark and unexpectedly wrought with deep emotions about being friendship and adulthood. 

The movie starts with Gary King, the leader of a rowdy band of mischief making boys, getting ‘the band back together’ to finish the famous pub crawl of their youth…the one that got away. It might seem like a simple midlife crisis—let’s relive our youth—movie, but even from the early scene we get hints of the trouble in our main character’s life.

Everyone in this merry band has grown up, moved on with their lives; everyone except Gary. Unlike Shaun of the Dead, where our lovable Shaun is a man in desperate need to grow up, but we love him anyway, Gary leave a lot to be desired. It’s clear from the beginning he is damaged on a fundamental level. Even his old friends are hesitant to spend any time with him.

 

The movie is awkward at first, and slow to reel you in. It throws you of kilter, and you might even secretly want Gary to fail. But by the end, due in no small part to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s on screen chemistry, you’re rooting for them despite their flaws. You want them to not only finish their pub crawl despite the Robot invasion, but to bridge the deep emotional chasm that has developed between these two friends.

While Shaun is still my favorite from these two, I loved The World’s End. It has definitely won a honored space in my small movie collection, and I look forward to watching it again.

Zombies, Run!

Wide ass can be an occupational hazard for a writer. I spend most of my day in front a computer processing medical claims and dealing with my business financials. Then at home and spend my evenings, head buried in a computer pouring out my heart and soul. So I spend a lot of time not being physical. This doesn’t even include the bad eating habits and my proclivity to drink. 

So in a effort to improve my health (okay that’s a lie. I’m headed to Italy next summer and want to look hot on the beaches…) I started working out. My gym is across the street from my office and I really have no excuse. I walk and do some weights, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. My husband says I should run…my thought, “not unless someone is chasing me!”

With that in mind, I was chatting with a friend and she suggested Zombies, Run.  Yes that’s right a phone app about being chased by zombies!!!  Why am I just now hearing about this?!?!?!
 

 

So I downloaded Zombies, Run and started my ‘couch to 5k’ training. The narration is great and the sound effects had me checking behind me on more than one occasion (hey, you can never be too careful). I’ve really been sucked into the story and look forward to my work out. My only complaint is I get too involved. Vivid imagination at work! It’s gotten to the point that I think the gym is going to ask me to leave, because the other members are worried about my mental health.

 

Don’t worry about not being a runner.  The app starts you out slow and you go at your own pace...at least where I'm at now.  The next installment (part 2) is meant to be more interactive, rewarding you for longer workouts/runs. But I'm sticking with the training sessions. 

There is plenty to nitpick about the app. Some have said the radio 'chatter' can be distracting, but you can listen to your music (from your playlist) mixed in with the story so it’s not like listening to an audio book.  There's also the fact that the app is episodic, with each workout being a mission. I can see how this will limit the apps potential once I've listened to all the episodes. 

But let's be honest, this app is meant to help you ease into running, and for that reason I think it's worth the money.  And we all know the first rule of the zombie apocalypse is, right?  CARDIO!

Monster by A. Lee Martinez, Book Review

 

As promised, my review of Monster by A Lee Martinez.

The Main character is Monster, a crypto-biological animal control agent…AKA the dog catcher of the magical world) isn’t a lovable character.  Heck, Monster is not even a very likable character. He borders on being a sociopath, with an apathetic attitude towards life.  And he has good reason. He’s in a dead-end job, has a dysfunctional relationship with a succubus who doesn’t enjoy sex with him, and barely makes ends meet. But hey, can’t many of us relate? 
 

So What's it about?

The story start when monster is called into help Judy: a cynical, unmotivated woman who’s stuck in a going nowhere life. Judy, who’s not part of the paranormal world, finds a Yeti eating ice cream out of the store freezer where she works. Once the job is done Monster goes on with his life, but Judy keeps popping back up with more issues. They are thrown together to save the world from events completely out of their control.

Not everyone will enjoy Monster.  Even readers who have enjoyed Martinez’s other books. While it does have the witty, sometimes dry sense of humor he’s known for, Monster has a deep thread of sadness that seems to run through the book.  It starts with the characters and their complete apathy, almost as if they themselves have given up on life, and continues with the theme of magic dying in our world (a fact that most people just can’t see).
 

My Take?

For me, I liked Monster.  It was a fun read, probably because I love unlikable characters, but I also appreciated a UF without a romantic subplot. (Judy and Monster don’t even particularly like each other).  Monster was a fast read and the plot moves along at a nice pace. The secondary characters were interesting. Chester, a paper gnome and Monster’s partner.  Monster’s succubus girlfriend. Even Judy’s alpha female sister, who ends up having to fend off a sphinx on her commute into work one morning. I’d love to see some short stories by Martinez with these characters.

So, while I would recommend this book to people who love UF but might be looking for a change from the series and romantic plots, please be aware...you might hate it. 

“BUT…what about the ending?  You said the ending had issues in your last post…”

No I didn’t forget.

The Ending. Yes the ending left a lot to be desired. The main drama of the book…you know the fate of the universe didn’t have enough drama to it. I’m not sure if it was the apathy of the main character infecting my own psyche by the end of the book or the fact that the ‘conflict’ seemed anticlimactic.  Whichever it was, by the end of the book I found out that I didn’t really care if they achieved the goal and saved the world.

 

photo via: Jake Waage

But if you’re on the fence about whether to read this book, don’t let the idea of a disappointing ending stop you.  I enjoyed the ride, and found the story fun and funny. Martinez did a wonderful job in world building and I became engaged with the world. I did go out and get Gil’s All Fight Diner, so we’ll see how that one goes.   I’ll have to wait and see if A Lee Martinez becomes one of my go to authors.

Married with Zombies, Book Review.

Approaching the end of my WIP, I was very dissatisfied with with the ending and decided my issue was chapters back (read half the book).  I went back seven chapters (25,000 words) and started rewriting, changing the plot, and abandoning the majority of the work I’d already done.  This has been particularly hard, but just as the beginnings of books are important to sell the story to your reader, the ending is equally important to sell your next book.

Oddly enough, my writing issues seemed to line up with my recent reads. The last two books I've read both had some ending issues, both for different reason.

The first book was Married With Zombies by Jesse Peterson.

I’m quite the connoisseur of zombie media, and Married With Zombies is  written as a ZomRomCom in the manner of Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland. It’s cheeky and fun, but with plenty of gruesome, violent details that make the zombie genre fun.

The main characters, Sarah and David, a married couple with serious relationship problems, find themselves at the epicenter of the start of a zombie apocalypse.  One of the things I found charming about Peterson’s book was the start of the book.  Sarah and David are on the way to their weekly marriage counseling appointment, both contemplating the possibility of divorce when they encounter their therapist eating the couple that had the appointment before them (a fact that’s especially rewarding since the couple with the appointment before them are annoyingly perfect).

photo by Hang_in_there

At the beginning we find our couple fight zombies and each other, but as the book progresses they come to appreciate each other more and rekindle the love they once shared.  The book is written with humorous chapter titles straight out of relationship guides, but with a zombie twist.  Practical advice such as: Build mutual friendships. Just be ready to end them when your friends start trying to eat you.

I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the others in the series. I was with Peterson every step of the way, until the ending. The ending was more of a non-ending. There’s a dramatic arch and a conclusion to their primary goal (getting out of town and finding David’s sister), but after that it wide open. 

I understand the reasoning…This book was written as a series, and the ending leaves things wide open. There was very little explanation about how the outbreak occurred, but enough to know that it spread fast (toppling major West Coast cities within three days). We are left with the idea that more rural areas of the country would be safer, and that’s where our couple head off…riding into the sun set (well maybe sunrise since they are heading East), but not before setting up a humorous and yes, gimmicky plan that sets up the next few books. 

But my preference for solid endings had me screaming.  I wished the author would have had the couple settle down with a “now that we were safe” type ending, but instead we’re left with the “tune in next time and see what happens when this zany couple hits the Midwest”.

Don’t get me wrong. I liked the book and will definitely get the next one.  It was campy and fun, and while very predictable it was nice to see the zombie apocalypse happen around a married couple with common problems. Just because zombies are trying to eat you doesn’t mean that all your relationship problems are going to disappear.

I highly recommend this book, especially if enjoy campy humor along with your blood and gore.

Next up will be of Monster by A. Lee Martinez.

Quickie Book Review Geekomancy

Quickie Review...

Unfortunately I didn't finish Geekomancy. I should have loved it. I wanted to love it. It's cheeky and geeky. It's filled with all the random references that I love, but I found it to be too cliche. There is a lot for fellow geeks to love in the book, but I found the everything and the kitchen sink approach too much to handle. Once the author mentioned Firefly getting canceled I started to feel like he was working off a list of geek trivia and wanted to see how much he could add in a single book/chapter...heck sentence.

I'm going to give it another try...some time later, but for now I have to say I'm not feeling the love.

Working with a Critique partner. Guest Post Kristia Quintana

 

I'd like to welcome Krista Quintana from my online Critique group. Today Krista is going to talk about working with a critique partner.

Our books are our babies. I think we’ve all heard that at one point or another. Whether we see it in Faulkner’s famous quote: “kill all your darlings,” or in the overprotective way we nurture and love our words, we all know that it’s true.

That’s why having someone else read our work can be so difficult. I hadn’t heard of critique partners, or betas, until I found Nathan Bransford’s site , where various writers could connect and simultaneously critique one another’s works. I wrote back and forth with the brilliant and talented Jennifer M. Eaton and we swapped first chapters.

I had no way to prepare for what came. She tore my work to shreds. My little darling, my baby! She hated my MC and she told me my writing was too telly! I was enraged after reading her critique. I wanted to fling my computer across the room, but all I could do was burst into tears.


Photo from Joanna Penn

I avoided her emails for several days, I avoided writing or even thinking about writing. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t see how brilliant my story really was. After all, I’d been writing for years. I read the critique again, and still, I couldn’t understand a word she wrote. She wasn’t being fair, and that was that.

But just to be sure, I sent her critique to a friend to see what she thought. To my surprise, my friend agreed! What was I to do? I finally swallowed my pride, and we exchanged two more chapters.

I decided to prove to her that she was wrong. I took my first chapter and rewrote it, just to show that there wasn’t a better way. But my plan backfired. She was right. Suddenly, my writing improved in ways I’d never imagined. Vivid imagery, believable characters, everything else I didn’t know I lacked.

Photo via Ed

That’s when it clicked.

Critiquers don’t tell us to change just because they like to see us squirm. They give us advice because they can see what we can’t. We’re too close to our writing, and we’re never going to see it objectively like they can.

And just because I need lessons to be reinforced, later she told me a scene didn’t work. An entire scene! One from my original draft of years before. But since she’d been right before, I attempted a rewrite. And I can honestly say that that new scene is one of the best I’ve ever written, and a personal favorite. I’ve had other betas tell me that it’s the strongest in the entire WIP.

And what have I learned from that experience?

Critiques can be our best friends, and it’s worth the effort to search for the right ones. I love mine. Every time I get a new critique, I open it up with the thought, “bring it on!” I don’t take every piece of advice, but whenever they make a comment, I try to find a way to use it in a positive way. I’ve become a better writer for it.

And to make the best of a critique, we need to be specific about what kind of feedback we want. Questions like:

• What sections don’t work?
• Where did you get confused?
• Where did you get bored?
• How does the writing make you feel? (Yes, that is important. If the reader finishes with the feeling of meh, then there’s something that needs to be fixed.)

How about the rest of you? What have your experiences with critiques been and what do you ask? How do you find your betas?

 

 

 

Krista Quintana: I am a twenty-something female finally focusing on her dream of writing. I’ve written stories since kindergarten, but it’s been only recently that I’ve decided to pursue this seriously. I have several hobbies that I’ve picked up, including piano, singing, coloring, cake making and spending time with the hubby.  Professionally, I am a nurse, a job that is more fun than work!

 

Masculinity: A State Of Confusion. Raising A Boy In Today's World

I've blogged about issues surrounding my daughter, but I think it's fair to say that boys also have to face a lot of gender issues. My husband recently shared the following blog post with me:

What happened when my son wore a pink headband to WalMart

M. sporting his pink lei

I can relate to the horror this mother feels. We live in Indiana.  A state not known for it's tolerance and enlightened view points. My son (age 11)  loves purple and pink. He often asks for shirts and jackets in those colors. His favorite shoes are purple. He constantly has to defend his choices to some of his "friends" that live in our neighborhood. It makes me sick to think something as trivial as a colored shirt can make him a target of bullies.

I honestly don't understand. Boy's today seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Some in the media with more conservative, "traditional" leanings have started beating the drum against the loss of masculinity in our youth. They decry our culture is emasculating and feminizing our boys.  On the other side of the spectrum they sport the mantra that masculinity is a bad thing and to be masculine means you're a misogynist and hate women.

Picture via gingerpig2000

But my question is: Why must we stick to these preconceived notions of what it means to be feminine or masculine?

Truthfully, I don't think masculinity is the issue here.  It's the Boys Will Be Boys mentality that has been the norm for centuries, or as the American Prospect terms it  toxic masculinity:

It’s a masculinity that defines itself not only in opposition to female-ness, but as inherently superior, drawing its strength from dominance over women’s “weakness,” and creating men who are happy to deliberately undermine women’s power; it is only in opposition to female vulnerability that it can be strong. Or, as former NFL quarterback and newly-minted feminist Don McPherson recently put it, "We don't raise boys to be men. We raise them not to be women, or gay men." This starts in childhood for many boys, who are taught young that they’ll be punished for doing anything “girly,” from playing with dolls to crying, or even preferring to read over “rough housing” outside.

I'm not an expert. I'm just a mom. My children will likely grow up and have their own issues (don't we all...) Still, I say let's raise our children to be happy, to love themselves, and not be ashamed of what they like or how they play.  We need to stop trying to fit them into a societal mold, and simply make sure they have the skills they need to be stable, and dare I say it...happy adults.

By Gina Drayer