Writer interruptus

Writer interruptus

Or should I say - Life interruptus.  Life has not been too terribly conducive to working on my latest WIP.  I had the choice of reading Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" (a German classic) or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Latin American classic)  for my Nobel Literature class.   Most people would have probably looked at the page numbers,  720 versus 448 and gone with the smaller book.  Me, I went with the one that sounded more interesting which was "The Magic Mountain."   Have you ever read a book that totally takes up all your brain cells and leaves them as limp as a wet noodle when you are done?

Little did I know when I started the book I was going on a two week, mind filling journey full of philosophical and intellectual debates about humanism, communism, progressiveness, spiritualism, concept of time and life and death.  Needless to say, my brain was so full, my imagination totally consumed by this book, that it was impossible to work on my WIP.   I'm enjoying the Nobel Literature class, however it is taking up much more time than expected.  Plus we've been more busy than normal with webelos stuff, 2 weekend campouts in a row, and life in general.   This week we have something planned every single day, next week is looking to be just as busy and we are all looking ahead to Memorial Day weekend, closing up the shop and just vegging for three days.   


My brain is slowly filling back up with thoughts about Eyes in the Ashes and finishing the story.  This particular story seems to be taking forever to write for some reason.  I love the characters and the story line and know how I want it to end, but it's unfolding slowly.   The desire to write and write and write just isn't there. The passion for it seems to have disappeared.  I still enjoy it, but writing has to fit into my day and not consume my day.   I was wondering what the problem was when I came across Natalie's post "When the honeymoon ends."    She went from being madly in love, passionate about writing to not sure if she loved it or not. When she realized:

"It's not passion and obsession and fire anymore, but it's still there, like a dear old friend I can't imagine my life without. I knew deep down I still wanted to write; I just had to believe in my love for it. Even if that love has become quieter outwardly, it's grown deeper and stronger inwardly. I don't have to prove it with crazy writing mania anymore. I know it."

She is so right - burning, intense passion changes to quiet, comfortable love over a period of time.  Just like a marriage - your love grows and becomes a part of you, not all consuming, but comfortable...there...always with you.  I can see that happening with my writing, but  I don't want to take that comfort for granted.  

Then, Sarah of Confessions of the Unpublished asked an interesting question over the weekend for Wannabe Writer's # 15:

Would you be disappointed if 5 years from now you still wrote 500 words everyday and weren't published? What then? 

Mercy!  I would be extremely disappointed in myself if I had not progressed past writing 500 words a day in 5 years or tried to get published. To me, that would be like standing still, treading water.  I enjoy writing...the process, imagining, the characters, surprising myself and the aha moments as the story unfolds.    5 years from now, I want writing to be as necessary to me as breathing, like reading is now. If I don't read, I get cranky.   

Hmm!  Maybe that's why I've been a little cranky lately - I haven't been working on my WIP. 

“The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.”  -- Ralph Ellison

Happy Mother's Day

 Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom -
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom -
I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life  so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.




Which makes me appreciate my mom all the more for what she did for me and my brother sand sisters.   I love you Mom.

Happy Mother's day to all you moms

Cool Sci Fi movie coming out on July 16th -- Inception

Opening July 16, 2010

Now this looks interesting, weird, but interesting.  Inception staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine. The synopsis according to IMDB

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved.

Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossibleinception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

Want to find out more - go to www.inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com

What do you think?

John Sandford Days of Prey blog Tour -- Certain Prey

Welcome to the Days of Prey Blog Tour to celebrate the release of John Sandford's latest book, Storm Prey which will be released May 18, 2010.  You'll notice my review is a tad bit different than usual.   As part of the celebration, all 20 books in the series are being reviewed in order, each reviewer discussing one book in the series, starting with Rules of Prey and ending with his newest release, Storm Prey.  Each reviewer will be answering the same 20 questions in order to give you a chronological view of Lucas Davenport and the stories.  I read the The tenth book in the series:

Certain Prey 

By 

John Sandford

Back Cover: "To whom does a beautiful and ambitious attorney turn when she needs a romantic rival eliminated?  Nowhere better than a beautiful and equally ambitious hit woman.  Trouble is, Lucas Davenport is on to both of them---and now it's his turn to be the prey."
  

Title and series number of the book you read:   Certain Prey is the 10th book in the series. 

Year Published:  Hardback May 1999, Paperback  March 2000

Tell us about Lucas Davenport:

"Lucas was tall, lean, but not thin, broad-shouldered and dark-completed.  A scar sliced across one eyebrow onto his check, and showed as a pale line through his summer tan, like a vagrant strand of white thread.  Another scar showed on the front of his neck, over his windpipe, just above the V of his royal blue golf shirt.  He took a .45 in a clip rig out of his desk drawer and clipped it inside his pants, under his jacket. He did it unconsciously, as another man might put a wallet in his back pocket" (pg 21)

What is Lucas doing when he first appears in the book?  

Lucas is sitting in his office at the police station peering glumly at a 600 page (he's on page 7)  report called "Mayor's Select Commission on Cultural Diversity, Alternative lifestyles and other abledness in the Minneapolis Police Dept: A Preliminary Approach to Divergent Modalities"  when Sloan runs into his office to tell him  one of the officers has been shot.  

Give us a sense of time and place:  Summertime, sometime in June in Minneapolis. It's warmish.

Lucas’s occupation or professional role?   He is the Deputy chief of police.

Lucas’s personal status (single, dating, married):   He's single and has just ended a six week romance with one of his detective's -  Marcy Sherrill.  Must have been interesting because she referred to their romance as "Forty Days and Forty Nights of Sex and Disputation."   They still have to work together though, so its slightly uncomfortable for the two of them. 

Lucas Davenport is a known clothes-horse; did you notice any special fashion references?  There weren't too many references to his clothing.  When Lucas is introduced he is wearing a Navy Blue silk jacket with a royal blue golf shirt. Later one he is wearing a dark blue suit. It seems he likes blue. 

Let’s talk about the mystery -  Avoiding spoilers, what was the crime/case being solved?   A prominent female attorney, Carmel Loan is attracted to married attorney Hale Allen. She decides to get rid of the competition and and hires a hit man.   The hit man is actually a hit woman, Clara Rinker.  The hit goes off smoothly and Carmel gets her man, but unfortunately for her, she makes Hale nervous.  He isn't too terribly bright but senses something is weird and talks to Lucas.  In the meantime, Carmel is blackmailed by the  person she used to hire Clara.   Carmel and Clara bond over the killing of Hale's wife and subsequently join together to solve all of Carmel's "problems."
  

Does the title of your book relate to the crime?  Yes, it does.  The hit woman is hired to killed certain people.  She stalks them, learns their routines and plans how best to kill them.

Who was your favorite supporting character, good or evil?   I actually liked the hit woman, Clara Rinker.   She was an interesting character - young, smart and beautiful.  After she coolly kills the man who raped her when she was 17 years old, the mafia hires her and grooms her to be a hit woman.  She is good at what she does and when she start making a lot of money, decides to go to business school.   She's a hit woman with a conscious and doesn't like to inflict pain. She doesn't do torture, unlike Carmel who loves to inflict pain.  She is quick and precise.   She and Carmel together sort of take over the story and the two of them are quite a pair. 


What was your favorite scene or quote?  There are quite a few scenes that had me giggling, however they aren't printable.   One scene that had me laughing was when Lucas had to drive to Wichita but didn't want to take his Porsche.  He took it in for service and requested a BMW that was on the lot to drive instead of the available Volkswagen.   The front  hood latch was next to the brake and his foot keep hitting it. He had to pull over a few times before the dealer told him about the latch.  Then....

"Thirty miles out of town, a yellow light popped on the left dash that said check engine, and he took it to the side again, fearing that he was about to blow a rod. He was still within cell phone distance, and he called the dealer again, who said the light meant that the emission system wasn't working right. "Don't worry about it; it doesn't mean anything."

"On any other car, check engine means all your oil just ran out on the road," said Lucas.

"That's not any car," the Porsche guy said.  "When the oil runs out on the road, that one says "STOP!" in big red letters."

"So the light's gonna be on all trip?"

"That's right, pal. You wanted it, you got it" the dealer said, without a shred of sympathy."

"There's this whistling noise..."

"The windshield's not quite right. We're gonna try to reseal it when you get back."

"I'm beginning to think this thing's a piece of sh**...." Lucas grumbled.

"What do you want for sixty-nine thousand?" the Porsche guy asked. "You shoulda took the Volkswagen."

Finally, how do you envision Lucas Davenport?If he were to be portrayed in a movie, what celebrity would play him?   Actually I envision him as a young Paul Newman or Harrison Ford.   But I could possibly see Hugh Jackman or maybe Edward Norton playing his part.

Certain Prey is the first book I have read by John Sandford and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He has an interesting writing style - very comfortable.    From the very beginning, you know who the villains are or in this case, villianesses are and it was very interesting to see how the whole story played out.  I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series and his newest novel "Storm Prey."   Thanks to TLC Tours and the publisher,  I am giving away an Advance Reader Copy of Storm Prey, plus a copy of Certain Prey. The giveaway is open until the end of the tour on May 18th and is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents.  Please leave your name and email address in the comments.  The books will be shipped directly to you from the publisher.

Check out the Penguin Group site  where you can find an excerpt from each of the books and stop by the tour stops to find out more about the books and for a chance to win Storm Prey.  



Monday, May 3rd:
1  Rules of Prey: Rundpinne
2  Shadow Prey: Boarding in my Forties

Tuesday, May 4th:
3  Eyes of Prey: Jenn’s Bookshelves

4  Silent Prey: Chick with Books

Wednesday, May 5th:
5  Winter Prey: The Bluestocking Guide
6  Night Prey: Books On The Brain

Thursday, May 6th:
7  Mind Prey: Jen’s Book Thoughts 

8  Sudden Prey: Starting Fresh

Friday, May 7th:
9    Secret Prey: Fantasy & SciFi Loving News & Reviews
10  Certain Prey: My Two Blessings

Monday, May 10th:
11  Easy Prey: Lesa’s Book Critiques
12  Chosen Prey: Reading with Monie

Tuesday, May 11th:
13  Mortal Prey: Musings of a Bookish Kitty
14  Naked Prey: Dan’s Journal

Wednesday, May 12th

15  Hidden Prey: Novel Whore

16  Broken Prey: You’ve GOTTA read this!

Thursday, May 13th:

17  Invisible Prey: Booktumbling.com

Friday, May 14th:

18  Phantom Prey: The Novel Bookworm

Monday, May 17th:

19  Wicked Prey: A Bookworm’s World

Tuesday, May 18th:

20   Storm Prey: Bermuda Onion

FTC Notice: Thank you to TLC tours and the publisher for sending me a courtesy copy of the book in order to be part of the tour.  I did not receive any compensation for my honest unbiased review

Scout Expo

Scout Expo

We had a wonderful time this weekend at the Scout Expo held at Beale AFB.  There were 6000 + scouts and parents camping out.   Father had to drop us and the stuff off at the drop off spot, and then we had to wait while he parked in the remote parking spots and be bussed back to us.   Once we found our spot,  we checked in, got our special scout expo shirts, set up the tent and started out on our adventure.  They had the Webebos separated out by divisions of red, yellow and blue and doing two hour rotations at the flight line, the Webelos academy area and the boy scout area.   We took the bus over to flight line and checked out the planes. 

After lunch, we headed back to the Webelos Academy area.  First up the BB Gun shooting station manned by certified gun safety experts from the local NRA.   James did pretty well considering he's never shot a gun before and hit the target twice. 

James is the one the far right.  Standing behind him is an old friend we hadn't seen in a while who is a reserve deputy and with the NRA.   He offered to give James some pointers later. 

Next up, the scientific method station.  Heat up a can and put it into a pot of freezing cold water and it compresses.  

The Mentos in the Soda experiment.   One of the mentos stuck in the tube and we all got a pretty good soda shower.

Making a wood Helicopter - part of the scientist achievement

We headed over to the boy scout area with a few minutes to spare before everyone shut down for the day at 4:00 p.m.

Guess who is in the duck blind?

Can you see me?

After a wonderful dinner of shredded pork and chicken breasts with potato chips and lemonade, it was time to head down to the flightline.   We weren't quite up to the 2.5 mile walk to the flightline so we hitched a ride on the ADA bus.   

We were entertained by Dave the Horn guy and a band called MLA, plus a retrospective of 100 years of scouting.    Got to see a beautiful sunset, although Father was disappointed he hadn't brought his nikon camera, so he could do it justice. 

After the show, we headed back on the bus and settled down for the night.  James was exhausted and fell asleep pretty quickly.  The next morning we had breakfast, packed up and headed for home.  We all were tired and very sore and very glad to be home. 

Links and Posts to Ponder while I'm at Scout Expo

Norman Rockwell Painting 1944

This weekend we will be mingling with 6000 other scouts at the Scout Expo.   It will be my first time camping out in eons so I don't expect to get much sleep.  I have the princess and the pea syndrome and can feel the pebble even through a dozen mattresses. So, you can imagine how I'll do with a sleeping bag and one of those thin sleeping pads.  Tylenol is my friend.  Since the expo is being held on an Air Force Base, I've been reading all the rules and regulations that go along with that, as well as what is expected of the boys.   Interestingly enough, no electronics.  The boys have to leave all their gizmo's at home for the weekend.   James is still trying to talk me into letting him bring his nintendo DS with him so he can play it before he goes to bed.   I imagine after a day of walking, lots of activities and noise, he's going to curl up and pass out rather quickly.   I had been considering taking my Nook but maybe not.  

So while we are whooping it up with the boys scouts, here are a few links and post to ponder. 

Congratulations to Summer of And This Time, Concentrate for making it through the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  She had stuck it out and posted every single day for the month of April.

Check out Staci's post from Life in the Thumb:  I'll read what I want, When I want and Without Labels, thank you.    A Florida mom decided that the government needs to do her job and label all library books so kids know whether they are appropriate or not.  Irksome to say the least. 

Sandra started the writer's blog chain this go round with the question:

Have you ever created a character different from yourself in some significant way, such as (but not limited to) different gender, race, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation? If so, what, if any, research did you do to portray these differences? Was this character a main character, secondary character, or walk-on? Did these differences have an impact on the story?

Jody Hedlund's been discussing Self Editing - What is it and why we do it, plus the 3 simple stages to self edit.   Very, very helpful.   She's so wise - I like how her brain works.

Jonathan at Worlds Without End has an interesting, but mind boggling quote from James Cameron (yes, the one who directed Titanic) about science fiction literature and movies. 

On April 30th, 1789 George Washington was inaugurated as our first president of the United States.   "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

I'll leave you with this question to ponder:  If you were forced to give up one of your five senses, which one would you choose? Why?  

Author Spotlight and birthday wishes for 2010 Hugo Best Novel Nominee - Robert J. Sawyer

 Happy 50th Birthday to Robert J. Sawyer

Today Robert J. Sawyer has the honor of joining me in the "50's club".   What a great birthday present - He has been selected as one of the six nominees for the 2010 Hugo Award in the Best Novel category for his book "Wake." 

Excerpt from Chapter one:  

Not darkness, for that implies an understanding of light.

      Not silence, for that suggests a familiarity with sound.

      Not loneliness, for that requires a knowledge of others

But still, faintly, so tenuous, that if it were any less it wouldn't exist at all: awareness

     Nothing more than that.   Just awareness - a vague, ethereal sense of being.

Being...but not becoming.  No marking of time, no past or future --- only an endless, featureless now, and, just barely there in that boundless moment, inchoate and raw, the dawning of perception...

Makes me want to go out and buy "Wake" right now.  Wake is book one in the WWW trilogy: Wake, Watch, and Wonder.  The first two are available now and you can read first chapter excerpts on the www trilogy web site. 

Sawyer, born April 29, 2010 in Ottawa Canada, sold his first short science fiction story in 1979 to the Strasenburgh Planetarium which they produced as part of a dramatic starshow trilogy called "Futurescapes" in 1980.   While attending Ryerson University and working on his Bachelor of Applied Arts in Radio and Television Arts, he had his first story published in  Ryerson's 1980 Literary Annual - White Wall Review.  

The story "The Contest" was included in the anthology 100 Great Fantasy Short Stories released in 1984.  After graduating from Ryerson, he spent the next six years writing mainly non fiction freelance articles for various American and Canadian magazines.   His true love however was writing science fiction and he decided to concentrate on writing novels full time.   


His debut novel was Golden Fleece published in 1999

The story is unique in that is it told from the viewpoint of the Starcology Argo's ship's computer, Jason. One of the ship's crew is murdered and the finger points straight at the artificially intelligent computer.  


After that he wrote Farseer, the first book in the Quintaglio Ascension series which revolved around the world of a group of intelligent dinosaurs.

His next book, End of an Era continued with the dinosaur theme but took us back through time travel to the beginning of the world to find out what really happened to the dinosaurs.  


Sawyer explored many interesting themes in his books including SETI, artificial intelligence, time travel, dinosaurs, psychology, murder and the nature of consciousness to name a few.  


In his Neanderthal Parallax series, he explored the question:  what would have happened if there was another world in which the neanderthals have survived and became the dominant species.   How would their world differ from ours?  He won the 2003 Hugo award for Hominids.

In his next standalone book, he went on to explore in Mindscan what would happen if in order to avoid suffering an inherited  debilitation disease that would turn you into a vegetable, if you could have your mind scanned and assume an android body while your body is shipped off to the moon.   Would the people you know accept you?  If a cure was discovered, could you be scanned back into your body?   


Which brings us to his WWW trilogy.  WWW.Watch was just released on April 6th and continues Caitlin's story from WWW.Wake.    He is currently working on Wonder and I'm not sure when it will be released.  


Sawyer has also written a number of short stories which are available to read online.  He has won many awards and accolades for his work over the years.   According to the Ottawa Citizen he is the "Dean of Science Fiction."   If you'd like to know more about Robert J. Sawyer, check out his autobiography on sfwriter.com


I have a mini challenge for you all - read all six hugo nominees this year.   I'm looking forward to reading WWW.Wake as *gasp* I haven't read any of his books yet.   


Join me in wishing Robert J. Sawyer a wonderful and joyous Happy 50th Birthday!