Sunday 27 September 2015

[SEPT UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals






I read five books this month. I was travelling, so I had a bit more time to devote to reading. Also, I was trying hard to catch up on my reading goals (I was 6 books behind at one point). This is one of the books I downloaded for free (or very cheap... can't remember which) in recent weeks. I have been on a bit of a 'free books' binge, which is helped by a mailing list I'm on for free / discounted books. There is quite a lot of mediocre stuff out there, but this was one that I really liked (one of three this month actually!).

The book did have some (but not many) typos and things that could be fixed with a good line edit, but they weren't enough to piss me off particularly. I loved the story so much - and the writing! and the characters! - that I could move past the imperfections fairly easily. I love the whole zombie apocalypse theme - and the fact that Adrian takes that on board with enthusiasm. Reading the very first scene, I did wonder, IS this book actually about a zombie apocalypse? But soon enough I found my footing and knew there were no zombies about.

I loved Deanna Eshler's witty writing, and I really love the character of Keegan. Adrian, of course, was totally adorable, and it was great seeing their story unfold. I haven't read Book #1 (which focuses on different characters), but having read this one I hope I will find #1 to be just as entertaining, when I do get around to reading it! For now, I recommend this book if you like quirky humour and wacky characters (like Robert. That guy was hilarious too).






Last month I reported that I had been doing some work on SUNDOWN III. This is still the case, but it's been slow going. I did manage to do a bit while I was travelling. The latest thing I did, was remove all of the hero's POV chapters. I want to try doing this book with just one POV. But I will do something with the hero's scenes, it just might not be a full length novel. So now I have some gaps to fill, from the heroine's POV.

I am also still in the midst of editing it back to 3rd person. I always go back & forth on this. Deanna Eshler's book that I reviewed above is written in 1st person, and I really do have a soft spot for that perspective. But I've committed to 3rd person for SUNDOWN III, and it does seem to be working quite nicely.

Next month is October, "the month before NaNoWriMo". So I'll be doing some gearing up for NaNo during October. But I hope to have a lot more to report on my editing of SUNDOWN III too, for the October check-in.

Thursday 3 September 2015

IWSG #15 - I'm (almost) back!



Usually this IWSG post would count as late, since back home in Perth, WA, it's 2:52pm on Thursday. But as I'm in California right now and it's not quite midnight on Wednesday, I'm not really late with my post!

I've had a pretty crappy year or more, when it comes down to it - at least in terms of making progress on my creative stuff! I did participate in NaNoWriMo last year, and wrote most of a new novel, which I finished in the post-NaNo months. So that's one significant achievement. But other than that, I haven't done much at all. This last month though, I've actually been working on editing! I mentioned this in my previous post for my Goals update, so I won't go into any detail. I'll just say that this time around, I'm feeling a lot better about my creative goals than I have in quite some time. I'm even looking forward to this year's NaNo, and have my novel idea picked out.

Anyway, I'm gonna leave this post short and sweet, since it's now six minutes away from midnight. But it's a pleasure to report something positive instead of my usual grave insecurities about being a total slacker who is achieving nothing of creative note. :) I hope you have all had a great month too!

P.S. THANK YOU so much to those who Blitzed my blog in the last week.
I feel very honoured indeed, and I'm glad to be part of such a great group!
Also, thanks to the organisers of the IWSG who put on such a great event every month.