Category Archives: Writing

What I Read: April

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The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus

I was really surprised that a novel about a real estate mishap could’ve engrossed me as much as this did from the start.  The switching points of view between recovering alcoholic/drug abuser Kathy Nicolo and former Colonel in the Iranian military Massoud Amir Behrani are written quite masterfully.  The last 100 pages or so let me down somewhat.  I finished reading it, but felt like the first half of the book was so much better written.  I could’ve done without switching to Lester’s 3rd person point of view later in the book.  As I was reading the last few chapters, I kept asking, “What!? But why? Seriously, why?  WHY?!?”  The characters reached a point where I just wanted to shake them. It’s a long read and can be quite tedious at times, but an interesting character study.

Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and The Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan

The Peeshwank and I read all of the Percy Jackson books together way back when they first came out.  They were some of the first “real” books he read, so they hold a special place in my heart.  Add to that how sweet Rick Riordan is in person and I can’t help but love the books.  I decided to revisit this one in particular because the trailer for the long-awaited movie (seriously, these kids are gonna be 40 by the time we get to the last movie at the rate they’re going) was released this week and although it looks like Hollywood did a typical chop job of the source material, we’ll be going to see it because…

Captain Tightpants himself as Hermes. Y'all. Seriously.

Captain Tightpants himself as Hermes. Y’all. Seriously.

And yes, they totally changed up the scene where Percy meets the Greek God of Bringing Sexy Back Thieves (and fathering lots of half-bloods), but I prefer my Captain in a suit anyway.  But, I digress.  We’re talking about the book here.  The book is… oh, who am I kidding?  Captain Mal as a Greek God.  Y’all.  The swoon is strong with this one.

The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) by Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5) by Rick Riordan

Yeah, I ended up re-reading the rest of the series once I finished “Sea of Monsters”.  It really is a fun children’s series.  I always loved studying Greek mythology in school, so it’s amusing to see how Riordan plays with it and makes it work in our modern world.  Sure they follow the Harry Potter formula – three friends battle evil and just when you think all hope is lost, some deus ex machina swoops in to save the day, but it’s fantasy fiction for kids so it doesn’t bother me.  I think my favorite of the three is Labyrinth because, Briareus y’all!  Last time I heard about how he was doing was when I read Dante.  It’s always nice to run into old friends.

Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I was looking for something to transition me back into more grown-up fare and grabbed this one out of The Peeshwank’s library.  This is one of the hundreds of YA novels The Peeshwank has picked up at book fairs over the years.  The cover intrigued me as soon as I saw it.  (I’m a DNA/genetics nerd, big time.)  It also clued me in as to what the big secret was regarding the main character’s identity.  It’s a little predictable, but it was a quick, read-in-one-sitting book.  It would be a good one for a tween/teen girl that likes to read about strong heroines.  It also tackles some deeper themes like science vs. religion that I truly appreciated seeing in a book meant for a younger audience.  That just doesn’t happen enough in YA lit.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Murakami loves to bend reality and send his readers on a metaphysical journey.  I read 1Q84 last year and fell in love with it.  I enjoy going into a book having absolutely no idea what to expect.  This one did not disappoint.  Murakami’s not for everyone, so unless you enjoy reading along and all of a sudden a main character is having a conversation with a cat, you may want to skip this one.  His descriptions of Japan and Japanese life are absolutely beautiful.  The settings in this story made me want to pack up and jump on a plane and follow in 15-year-old runaway, Kafka Tamura’s footsteps.

Kafka on the Shore

I’m almost done reading a sweeping epic of a book, but I don’t think I’ll have it finished today, so it’ll go on the May list.  Until then, read a book or two and let me know if you find any that you positively adore.

Like these.  (Another one will hopefully be joining them soon!)

What I Read: March

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The list for March is fairly short because I’ve been writing.  Wanna see?

lastgirlpart2This is part two of my soon-to-be released book “The Last Girl”.  I’ve been diligently trying to get it organized (it’s told in non-linear sequence) and edited so it will hopefully be available for public consumption in time for summer. I’m venturing into dystopian territory and I’m really nervous about how it will be received.  Kind thoughts and good vibes are welcomed at this point.

But don’t worry, I still read a handful of books, so let’s get to it…

“Naked Picture of Famous People” by Jon Stewart

If you haven’t read Stewart’s collection of essays, you should.  Just because it’s funny.  Like pain in the side, make it stop I’m gonna pee myself funny.  I decided I would read one essay a night before bed.  The first night I read about a Jewish kid’s weekend at Hyannisport with a young JFK and couldn’t stop giggling.  Even long after the better half had shut off the lights.  I decided I should probably save it for another time of day since Joe probably wasn’t too thrilled with my bursts of laughter throughout the night.  (One of the dangers of sleeping next to an insomniac – when they are lying awake and remember something hilarious, their giggling may wake you.)  I’m sure Joe was happy that I hadn’t read the piece documenting Vincent Van Gogh’s foray into AOL chatrooms.  I had tears flowing during that one.  And yes, it has been out a very long time, so some of it may feel dated, but it’s still good for a laugh.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The tale is much different from his classic “Remains of the Day”, but it’s just as beautifully written.  It’s one of those stories that doesn’t fit well into a genre at all.  It’s coming of age, Brit-lit with a sci-fi leaning.  Yes, it sounds strange, but it’s really quite lovely and dark. (Yes, to me a well-written dark book is far more entertaining than happy books.  I’m just weird like that.)  If you’re going into it expecting groundbreaking sci-fi, you may be disappointed as it’s more “fi” than “sci”.  So, willingly suspend your disbelief for this one.

I’ve not seen the movie, so I don’t know how it stacks up – in case you were wondering.

Never Let Me Go

Joe Jones by Anne Lamott

Lamott (an author I absolutely adore) calls this book her “sloppiest”.  I can understand.  The structure, dialogue and character’s actions were just… odd.  Still, I managed to get involved in it and while it’s certainly not my favorite book I’ve read, I enjoyed her descriptions of setting and character.  For my writer friends, her book “Bird by Bird” is a must-read.

Last (and definitely least)…

Persona by Amy Lunderman

I’ve made it a point not to write negative reviews.  I know what goes into writing a book, even a not-very-good one, so I don’t like to take away from what the author has done.  But I couldn’t even finish this one (which says a lot, considering some of the clunkers I’ve read in my life).  The book has a fine-enough premise which is one of the reasons I downloaded it.  It was listed as dystopian, which really piqued my interest.  The fact that the author forgot to capitalize her last name on the listing should’ve been a red flag. The grammar throughout the prologue and first chapter made me want to weep.  There were sentences I had to read and re-read several times in order to figure out what the author was trying to say.  In reading the reviews, several reviewers commented on the poor grammar and how it made the book unreadable.  Several apologists (I assume the author’s friends/family) came along and said basically, if someone loves to write then the grammar shouldn’t matter.  I say, “A big, hearty F-YOU to all of them.”  If someone loves writing, their first priority should be learning the language they are writing in.  A painter doesn’t go to paint a masterpiece without understanding how oils differ from acrylics or what brushes work best for what techniques.  They learn their craft and spend time honing it.  The language an author writes in is his/her medium and he/she should learn the ins and outs of it.

Or at least have the common decency to hire a fracking editor.

I love books, I love language, I love being surrounded by words.  I have spent my entire life on a journey to fill my head with as much information about language as possible.  Linguistics classes, literature studies, research, and reading.  It’s a never-ending quest for me.  When someone calls his/herself a writer, but has no respect for the language of their craft, it is an offense to those of us that do.  This book and others like it are the reason why so many self-published authors are not taken seriously.

So, here’s to April and a month of good books!

Getting Out of My Comfort Zone

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You know, sometimes you have these great intentions – you lie awake at night and say, “Tomorrow I’m going to challenge myself.  I’m going to do something that scares me.”  Then you wake up the next day and once the coffee starts flowing, it’s back to the same routine?  Just me?

Last week I did one of those things.  It was scary as hell, but I did it nonetheless.

In early February an acquaintance of mine put out the call for submissions for a show featuring live readings about motherhood.  Last year I envied the women involved for having the guts to get up and share their stories about motherhood to a sold-out theater.

I spent twenty-four hours pumping myself up.  I had a piece ready to go.  It had already been signed off by my partners-in-crime/rocks-that-I-lean-on, Tina and Pam.  They gave me pointers and told me I’d be fabulous.

I submitted.

Three weeks later, I was asked to attend the live auditions.  Those happened Saturday.

I got up a little early to make sure I had time to apply make-up and dry my hair (read the previous blog post for more on that ordeal).  I picked out a cute dress, realized that I didn’t have a perfect pair of shoes other than flip-flops to go with it, and quickly changed into my “safe” outfit – black sweater, black pinstripe pants, a pair of my favorite heels.

The trip down to the auditions was riddled with traffic and I showed up only minutes before my scheduled time.  A fellow author friend (Hi, Phyl!) was waiting for me to give me hugs and encouragement.  We chatted a bit and then I trekked up the stairs.

The ladies casting the show welcomed me and I took a seat, thinking, “no big deal.  I’ll just read and be done.”  But the second I started to read, my anxiety issues took the driver’s seat and for the first few paragraphs I could basically hear my voice quavering and see my hands shaking and I was powerless to do anything about it.  I was knee-deep in the middle of a panic attack.  I stopped, took a deep breath and apologized.  The ladies were understanding about my pause and I went on.  The voice shaking slowly subsided and by the second page of my story, I felt I had it under control.

I got some polite laughs from my small audience and made it through the piece without crying, passing out, or vomiting so I’m calling it a win.  As soon as I was done, I was able to chat perfectly fine, like the panic attack never happened.  I’ll never understand this body of mine.  Seriously.  I can sing to a packed bar, tap dance to a full theater, jump onstage and dance with Sir Mixalot while my roommate ceremoniously slaps his ass as he charms the concert goers with his tales of big butts, and coach a gaggle of OMers through spontaneous practice.  But sitting and reading to three people = panic attack.

So, here’s to trying something new!  Yes, it can be scary, and like me you may be turned down when it’s all said and done, but challenging yourself is rarely a walk in the proverbial park.

Now, I’m off to take The Peeshwank to yet another in a long line of auditions that he will breeze right through.  Clearly the “audition with the greatest of ease” gene skips a generation in this family.

Next time, I'll just take a flask with me.

Next time, I’ll just take a flask with me.

Yes, the Sir Mixalot thing actually happened.  And it was just as awesome as it sounds.

What I Read: February

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A short month, so a shorter list:

The Professor and The Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford, English, Dictionary by Simon Winchester

The title pretty much sums it up.  It’s not a mystery, but rather a tale of how the OED came into existence.  For any fellow “word nerds” like myself who are fascinated with linguistics and philology, it’s a must read.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

I’m a little behind in jumping on the Coehlo bandwagon, but better late than never, right?  This is a deceptively simple story of a young boy’s journey to achieve his “Personal Legend”.  While at times it’s almost too simple, the story encourages us to follow our dreams.  While I understand the popularity of the book, I too can understand the feeling of dissent amongst its harshest critics.  It’s definitely a love it/hate it novel.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time and finally took the time to sit and read it.  I thought due to its size that it would be one that took awhile to finish.  I was wrong.  I was unable to put it down for two days straight.  It’s truly a story unlike anything I’ve ever read before.  It’s sad, hilarious, ironic, hopeful and tragic.  I honestly had no idea what to expect and I loved it.  All the praise Eugenides has received for this epic is justly deserved.  And how did I not realize that he had written “The Virgin Suicides“?  He may have to move up on my list of favorite writers.

Cover of "Middlesex: A Novel"

Cover of Middlesex: A Novel

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

This is a story about an artist and her upbringing in Toronto in the 40s and 50s.  She returns later in life and is haunted by memories of the girlfriends she grew up with.  It was so gloriously haunting and infuriating and hilarious, I loved it.  Atwood has been one of my favorite authors for years and this one did not disappoint.  At first glance, the story is a world away from her more popular dystopian offerings, but dig a little deeper and those same themes start showing up in more subtle ways.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This is my third “viewing” of Huxley’s brilliant futuristic novel.  It still amazes me to think that he wrote such a frightening vision of the future in 1932 that still holds true today (even Orwell’s masterpiece, 1984, contains bits that feel dated in this era of internet/cell phones).  There’s a reason it’s considered a modern classic.  It’s definitely got staying power.

March may be a sketchy reading month for me as I really need to buckle down and finish the final edits of “The Last Girl” (my own venture into dystopian fiction).  The Peeshwank also has lots on his plate that will keep me running around like mad to keep up.  But YEAH for Spring Break!  Have a great reading month everyone!

Fun with Homonyms: Vow and Vowel

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Back by popular demand!

These aren’t even homonyms, but lately I’ve seen a string of newly engaged ladies misusing them, so apparently some clarification is needed…

When you say, “I can’t wait to say my wedding vowels…”

All I think is, “Yeah, because a wedding without vowels is just a wddng.”

Come on, ladies, we can do better than this.

the_more_you_know

What I Read: January

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To be a good writer, you have to read.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  I’ve been a voracious reader my entire life and I love recommending books to friends, family, and total strangers on the street.  I decided to use this platform to let you guys know about books I’ve discovered along the way.

This past month’s reading list is as follows:

Joe recommended these to me since we are currently writing a sci-fi YA series together that kind of follows this same theme.  The books are a lot of fun.  Lots of exploration of other worlds that are completely different from any planets I’ve read about before.  They are a little dated because they were written in the 80s before “cell phone” and “internet” were part of the everyday vernacular.

I really wasn’t prepared for the depths this book goes to.  I can’t say too much without giving it away.  If you’ve steered clear of it because the movie promo made it look like a light-hearted romp, you may want to rethink it.  It’s way darker than I imagined and a lot more grown-up than most novels set in high school.

Speaking of dark.  This book is full of serious cray-cray.  It’s another one that I can’t say too much about without giving any of it away.  Just know that it’s an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller and I loved it.  Go read it.

David Wong has a sense of humor I can totally get behind.  He’s irreverant and intelligent and foul-mouthed and grotesque.  Monsters and demons and Molly, the wonder dog.  Both books are a fun read for anyone who is a fan of the horror genre.  “Spiders” was my favorite, though, as far as plotline goes.  “John Dies” is all over the place, but it wouldn’t work any other way.

spiders

This is the sequel to Hall’s “The Line” about a dystopian future.  This is a nice follow-up to the first book.  They are short, easy YA reads if you have younger readers in your house that are looking for something exciting, but still age appropriate.  The main character, Rachel, is a tough, brave character in the same vein as Katniss Everdeen.

My favorite genre of fiction is dystopian.  Some of my favorite novels of all time are A Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, Brave New World, well, you get the idea.  This one now ranks right up there with them.  It’s positively brilliant and something I believe, along with A Handmaid’s Tale, should be read by every woman.

What can I say?  It’s Neil Gaiman, for crying out loud.  The man’s a genius.  It’s a scary, strange road trip that introduces us to the human forms of many different forgotten and not-so-forgotten gods.  It’s a study of the human spirit, mythology, and why America is “a bad place for gods”.  Very entertaining.

Take the movie The Prestige and mix it with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and you may have scratched the surface of this tale of rival magicians set against a backdrop of a mysterious circus.  It’s beautiful and enchanting and… well… magical.  One of the most inventive books I’ve read in a very long time.  Along with When She Woke, it’s going in my top 25 of all time.

It feels like I’m forgetting one or two.  If so, I’ll add them to the February list.

Happy reading, friends!

And if you haven’t yet, you definitely wanna check these out.  Wink, wink.

Getting Ready for the Globes

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The Golden Globes red carpet starts in a few short hours and I’ve finally decided on my dress.  Hopefully Buffy won’t pull another stunt like last year.  But just in case, I wanted to show y’all the dress my stylist and I decided on for tonight’s festivities.  If anyone else shows up in it, you saw it here first.  You hear that, Anne Hathaway?

Y'all know I love a print on the red carpet.

Y’all know I love a print on the red carpet.

My acceptance speech is still pretty much the same as last year.  I’ve been too busy writing new novels to revamp it.  Mea culpa.  I’ll do better next year.

Jenn and Bec: A Conversation About Writing and Grammar

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Since it’s been awhile, and I’m up to my ears in writing assignments other than blogging (clearly, judging by my absence here lately), I thought I’d put this out there to keep you sated for a bit…

My dear friend, Becca, is a writer like yours truly.  She’s also a fellow sports lover and collector of shoes.  She and I get together at various Razorback sporting events and chat about important things.  The following is an excerpt from our conversation at Sunday’s basketball game between Arkansas and Texas A&M…

Bec: You know, I labor over selecting the perfect words to convey my thoughts in my columns.  And then… I drive past the mall and BOTH sides of the sign say “Marry Christmas.”  What’s the point?

Me: Marry Christmas?!?  I’m sorry, but I think marrying holidays isn’t protected under the Sanctity of Marriage Act.  Can you imagine?  If we start letting people marry holidays, next thing you know it’ll be chaos.  People will start marrying dogs and toasters and…

Bec: I want a bumper sticker that says “Marry toasters.”

Our children pretty much ignored us from this point on.

So, welcome to 2013 and happy honeymoon to all of you who were able to marry Christmas.  (Fortunately, it’s still not legal in Arkansas, despite what the NWA Mall would have you believe.)

keep-calm-and-marry-christmas-3

 

So, I Finished My 5th Book: A Conversation with the Better Half

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Hitting “send” has to be one of the top 5 greatest feelings ever.  (It ranks right up there with trying on a new pair of Manolos, the feel of cashmere, and some other things we won’t get into here.)  You’re basically saying, “I’ve done all I can and I think this book is the best it could ever be.  Now it’s in your hands, dear publisher.  Go forth and sell it to millions of readers.  And send me a big fat royalty check.”  (They may or may not oblige that last particular demand.)

It’s a moment of joy, fear, excitement, and wonder.  I “pressed send” for the 5th time in my short career tonight.  This is what followed:

Me: Honey, the book is done and submitted.  Cover, blurb, bio, everything.

Joe: Cool.

Me: I guess this means I can start working on the next one!

Joe: Or it means you could put your laundry up.

I wonder if when Stephen King finishes a book his wife is all “Oh, that’s great honey, now go take out the trash.  It’s starting to smell.”

Yeah, you know she totally does.

Anyway, my next book is in the “approving” process to make sure everything fits on the page properly and that it’s all formatted well.  I’ll get a proof copy in a week or so and if I don’t see anything else I want to nitpick over (like I’ve been doing for the past year and a half), then we’ll approve it for sale to the general public.

If you haven’t read any of my other books, I’d recommend reading “Jump, Fall” before jumping into the new one.  If not, the new one will alert you to what happens at the end and as River Song would say, “Spoilers, darling.”

PS: Joe really is excited for me.  But he knows I’ll get upset if all my sundresses are wrinkled when I go to get dressed in the morning (we’re both Virgos).  He does it because he cares.

72-Hour Movie-Making

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This month is our city’s Artsfest.  Every year they host a 72-hour film challenge (The 4320 Film Challenge) and every year The Peeshwank and I take our talents and join a team of fellow guerrilla filmmakers to come up with something we pray entertains the masses.  (“Masses” meaning the couple hundred or so people who come out to the screening.)

This year, we partnered with three of my favorite lady friends and our offspring to make a movie.

I was elected Team Captain.  (“Elected” meaning I engaged in a coup d’ etat and completely took over.)  I went to the captain meeting Friday evening at 4:00 where I was told the specifics of the movie to be made this year.  We had to film at least one scene on our downtown square and the movie had to center around the theme word “challenge.”  I took a look at our cast – a teenage girl, 4 tweens, and a 4-year-old.  Yep.  That takes care of the “challenge” portion of the program.  Our camera guy fell through, so we ended up shooting it on my point and shoot camera.  (Yeah, we’re totally legit like that, as The Peeshwank would say).  That would be challenge #2.  Oh, and sound on our square?  Every movie we’ve made down there had the overwhelming sound of the fountain drowning out every bit of dialogue spoken.

Challenge accepted.

I wrote and storyboarded a movie that involved kids acting like turds all over downtown (this is known in the industry as “typecasting”) and getting kicked out of various establishments (up to and including our amazing new art museum, Crystal Bridges).  We filmed it as a video blog by the teen girl, so the video quality could be forgivable.  The most genius part, though?  We decided to do a silent film.  Oh, that pesky, loud fountain?  Not an issue any longer.

We spent all day Saturday filming and in another stroke of genius I had the final scene take place at our downtown splash park.  All day, when we wanted the kids to behave, we just reminded them, “Splash park later.”  (Fact: Bribery is the best way to get children to do what you want.)

We spent the next two nights in our friends’ studio, recording our lead’s voiceovers and editing the film.  We drank a lot and laughed so hard we probably should’ve deployed Depends, but at the end of the 72 hours, we had a movie and we kinda like it. It’s not professional by any stretch (other than Darryl’s awesome editing skills, yo) but we had a ton of fun doing it.

Without further ado, I give you…

“Happy Birthday or Bust!”