Camp Fire Ghouls

*Warning* The author of this post is still coming off a Girl Scout Cookie binge and her brain is clouded with sugar. There will likely be no enlightening, entertaining or otherwise worthwhile material in this post. If you keep reading, you do so at your own risk.

That said, I figured since my last blog was in February, I ought to at least put up something. It's embarrassing. In self-defense, however, I have been extremely busy with working two, three and sometimes four jobs, running back & forth to the doctor's office, and trying to keep my juvenile delinquent out of jail. That's a full-time in itself. Most days, I'm too tired to breathe, much less write.

Anyway, in the interest of at least something book related, I read Karen Miller's EMPRESS last weekend. Jury's still out. The main character was not particularly likable through most of the book--in fact, I even began to despise her--yet I kept reading. I felt the author too often went with the cheap emotional shocks, yet I kept reading. I was annoyed by much of the language, yet I kept reading. Most likely, I will even read the sequels, because I still want to see what happens. How's that for a rousing review? Lol

Apart from the aforementioned drawbacks, I still found the overall story interesting, the pacing on target, and the secondary characters very well drawn.

From the back cover:
"In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing trader. But Hekat is not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her god, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak."

I think I'll try Ms. Miller's MAGE books and see if I like them better. Have any of you read those? I'd be interested in your opinion. Also, your opinion of EMPRESS if you've read that too. Or heck, just make some recommendations - what's the last thing you read that you really enjoyed? I'm re-reading Christopher Moore's LAMB, because it's one of my favorites.

Surfin' Saturday

My original intent to post was to give a hard time to those of you who haven't updated your blogs in a week or so, but then I noticed that my last post was nearly a month ago. (those who live in glass houses...) Hence, I've decided to just give a quick book review.

Just read A MANKIND WITCH by Dave Freer last night. As I read it, I was thinking, hmm... this reminds me of Charles. (Sword fights, fantasy creatures, a bit of romance interwoven into the plot.) :)

I found the book in the Sci-fi section of the library, though I'd hardly call it science fiction - more fantasy/adventure. I didn't even expect to enjoy it--and I'll reveal my bias here--because the cover looked as if it were geared more toward males. Teenage males, in particular. Nevertheless, I liked the title, so I brought it home. (Notice my thoughtful reasoning.)

The book is part of the "Heirs of Alexandria Series" (which I didn't discover until I got it home - also includes collaboration with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint) but it can stand alone. In spite of a few anachronisms, a typo and a couple of areas of awkward pacing, I enjoyed it. If you'd like to actually know what it's about, you can go here because I'm too lazy to type all that in. :)

Ok, now that I've updated my blog, what are the rest of you waiting for? Stop selfishly living your real life and understand that there are those of us out here who have no lives, thus must live vicariously through you. Where are you Avery? Susan? Jon? There were a couple of others, but they've posted this past week. Stewart, you're on thin ice. I know it has only been 4 days, but in the Cult of Sternberg, that's like 2 weeks to the rest of the world. Sid's been slacking a bit lately too.

Are You Up/Down with That?

Since some of you don't have subscriptions to the Romance Writers Report, I thought I'd share some gems on self-editing by Jeannie Eddy from this month's issue.

I have to admit, I've been guilty of many of the following.

(some examples mine to save space)

1. A word that you don't need.

See how many unnecessary "that's" are in your work. Could you leave some out?

Example: "It was an annoying habit that she had that signaled to him that she was tired."

"It was an annoying habit she had, signalling she was tired."

2. Are you in, out, over, up or down?

These directional words can often be deleted.

Example: He looked down into her eyes.

He looked into her eyes.

3. Finally, suddenly, you can improve your writing - by deleting finally and suddenly.

Example: Suddenly a boat appeared on the horizon.

A boat appeared on the horizon.

4. I feel you should stop telling me how the characters feel.

Example: Helen felt angry enough to hit John.

Helen's hands balled into fists as she stared at John.

5. It even seems like I have more to tell you.

Example: She didn't even know where to look.

She didn't know where to look.

6. You are almost ready to finish your book.

Read through your manuscript to see how many times you use "almost." Do you say "He was almost afraid to say something?"

Was he or wasn't he? You and your reader should know for sure.

News, Reviews and Whatnot

Well, I'm not going to review the last Harry Potter just yet. Maybe not at all. I'm still in mourning.

However, I also recently read the following:

LAMB, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD PAL by Christopher Moore, which managed to be hysterically funny and poignant at the same time. The story is as the title would suggest, the "untold tale" of Jesus' boyhood narrated by his childhood friend Levi, aka "Biff." Though there were a couple of places I felt dragged a bit, overall, Moore's writing style is so smooth that I was pulled along with the flow of the story and was sorry when it ended. I highly recommend this one as long as your religious sensibilities aren't easily offended. In fact, I think the quote by Voltaire in the beginning of the book is excellent: "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh." It made me wish the story were true.

ASHES TO ASHES by Jennifer Armintrout. This was the third in her "Blood Ties" series about a doctor turned vampire, and I've liked them all so far. I like that her heroine, Carrie, is not always perfect--she makes some questionable choices at times, but Armintrout sets up the background and characters in such a way that her choices are not only believable, you can sympathize with them even if you think it may not have been the wisest thing. Overall, I recommend the series if you like horror, romance and erotica all in one book. :)

THE UNFORTUNATE MISS FORTUNES by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, and Anne Stuart. I picked this book up about three magical sisters, expecting it to be neatly divided into the three sections by the three different authors, but to my surprise, it was told as one tale. It was a credit to the authors and editors that this book unfolded so seamlessly. Recommended if you like romance, humor and magic.

Now, in the "shameless self-promotion" category, Cimorene at Enchanting Reviews read my story and had this to say:

Unmasked – Kate Sterling

4 Enchantments

When Morgan receives an invitation to the ball on Arcadia Island, she knows the wish she wants granted: to have one more night with the love of her life… without hurting his wife.

The goddess Aphrodite sees fit, however, to throw a stumbling block in Morgan's way. She has to find Derek before midnight, at a masked ball!
Instead, Morgan finds Brianna and Marcos, a married couple whose relationship is on the skids, and Morgan wants to help them spice it up. But when the couple is unmasked the next morning, Morgan has to decide if she's going to run, or live with her new love.

I'm not much into erotica myself, but Ms. Sterling handles it excellently, making this story tastefully spicy. While there seemed to be a bit of a flow issue in the beginning, it quickly straightened out after Morgan and Brianna met.
Ultimately, this is a good read and definitely adds to the character of the book!

....My overall opinion of the book is that it is a fabulous collection of works by some very talented authors. I can't wait to read more of the Masquerade Series, and see what other gods make their debuts.

A must-read for anyone who wonders what the ancient ones might be up to today!

Cimorene
Enchanting Review
=================
When I have the link to the full review, I'll post it.

On my current, ever-growing "to be read" shelf are: "Industrial Magic" - Kelley Armstrong; "Swords of Talera" - Charles Allen Gramlich; "High Seas Cthulhu" - Stewart Sternberg; "Apocalypse Woman" - Tyree Kimber; and "Hellblaze" - Yolanda Sfetsos.

So, what have YOU been reading lately?

For your enjoyment....

I received this from my friend Amber today:

http://foamy.arthemys.net/Foamy/Form_Letter.html

And then there are those reviews...

...that make you smile.

This one from EuroReviews who gave it 5 "rings":

(By the way, the reviewer is German, so the English is slightly off)

"UNMASKED by Kate Sterling is the story of Morgan who is on a mission to find her old flame, Derek, that she left some years back when she was in fear of becoming too close to Derek. Since then, Derek had found another, who has become his wife. Morgan's wish was to be with Derek, just one more time, and for her wish to be fulfilled, she must find Derek at the Masquerade Ball before midnight. Morgan finds Brianna who is trying to find her husband Marcos to save her marriage. Helping each other without knowing who each are, the triangle of these three become an intense, sensual and loving romance story that ends with a surprising ending. The scenes within this story is sizzling! The reader will become emotionally attached to them all, wanting them all to have their love everlasting."

She had nice things to say about everyone and said she wished she could give MASQUERADE 3 higher than 5, but that's as high as they go. As soon as I have a direct link to the site, I'll include it.

Steve, I thought of you saying the German reviews of your comic were better than the English. I guess they must like us. *grin*

Everyone's a Critic...

I suppose it was inevitable. The mixed review. Here for your viewing

pleasure is the second review I've received for "Unmasked."

(The first one was great, this one... not so much...)

Here is what Two Lips had to say about it:

"Unmasked is interesting and well written. The characters are complex and their interaction intriguing. The surprise and rather untraditional ending left me with mixed emotions. On one hand I appreciated the manner in which everything came around full circle but on the other I doubt the credibility of the storyline. Overall, it was a good read though."

Overall, "good enough". I'm not bitter. (Mutter, mutter, piss midget, mutter mutter... ) I guess it could have been much worse.

All These Voices Inside My Head

I'm carrying over a bit of the rant from my other blog to here. Well, perhaps "rant" is too strong of a word; it's more an expression of my consternation.

Stewart's comment how he liked seeing people twist his assignments to their own styles is part of what made me dwell on it; the other is all the kind words and positive feedback I received on the assignment I posted. You see, I've realized that I actually have two very distinct writing styles and "voices." Each comes naturally, yet the one that receives the most praise is the one that I often think is the worst; while the one that I enjoy the most doesn't receive nearly as much attention. This isn't the first time I've noticed it, either; it's happened before. I'm starting to wonder if I should go back and dust off all those stories that I set aside without letting anyone look at them because I felt they were too serious and too descriptive.

The self doubt is getting to me. How do you know when what you're writing is good or not?

It's funny, even as I'm writing this, an answer is occurring to me. Maybe the question that I should be asking is not which of my voices is better, but if I'm using that voice to tell the truth or not. Charles recently had a good blog about truth in fiction, and Spyscribbler has posted a lot in her blog about "digging deeper" and not wanting to write superficially. Perhaps my "lighter" voice and style is the one I use to avoid the deeper emotions and hard truths, and the reason I like it is because it lets me avoid those things--yet people recognize it for what it is: shallow. The other style, the one that makes me uncomfortable yet people seem to like, is the one that's more honest.

Ouch.

So tell me, how do you buck up the courage to write about your truth?

Let 'er Rip!

I read this post this morning, and liked the mention of how Karin Tabke wrote "rip it up" on the works she submitted for critiquing.

One of the things I've been working on over the last year (and will continue into this year) is allowing myself to make mistakes and look foolish. After all, that's going to happen anyway, so why be so uptight about it?

So without further ado, here's part of the opening scenes of a WIP. It isn't the type of thing my CPs like to read, so I though t I'd post it here and let people rip it up if they want. (And if you want to humiliate me privately instead of publicly, you can always email me to say it should just R.I.P. I won't report you for violations to the TOS. Maybe. :)

Oh, and don't comment on the format - I know it's off - technical difficulties again. Blogger keeps freezing every two seconds and I don't have the patience to fix it.

-----------

“Is the old bat dead yet?”

“Not yet, and stay out of the ‘fridge, I’m cooking dinner.” Kitty glared at her brother and added a bit of salt to a pan.

“I think we should go up and kill her now. Put the leathery old beast out of her misery.”

“Just leave her alone, Bart.”

“How long has she been in that attic, anyway?”

“A few months.”

“She’ll probably starve to death if you don’t get her out of there.”

“I’ve tried, but she won’t move or eat anything I take her. I tried mice, bugs--all the things bats usually eat.”

“Are you sure she’s even still alive? It smells pretty bad in here.”

“You say that every time I cook.”

“Well, she’ll probably outlive all of us. Evil never dies.”

“Don’t talk about your mother that way!”

“She’s your mother too.” Bart shrugged and opened the pantry. “Maybe Mary can talk to her when she gets here,” he suggested, pulling a box of cookies from a shelf. “She’s the only one mom ever listened to.”

****

The colorful Christmas lights on the gray tenements made Mary sad. The dead woman next to her probably should have made her sad, but Mary didn’t spare her a thought. No, it was the cheerful lights illuminating the misery of their surroundings that she found depressing.

As for as the other woman, Mary hadn’t bothered to speak to her when they’d boarded the commuter train; didn’t ask what plans she had for the holiday; didn’t exchange names.

The woman was merely a job, and a job done well.

After they’d taken their seats and shown their tickets to the conductor, Mary quietly slipped the hypodermic into the woman’s neck, unnoticed by crew or passengers. So efficient was she that no one even noticed when she switched the shopping bags tucked under their seats.

Mary looked down at the shiny gold bags under her feet, smiled and nodded. She’d take some of that money to buy razor blades for mom’s stocking.