Category Archives: General

Thoughts on Books

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I’ve read a lot this year- an amazing 98 books.  I’ll definitely hit 100 next month- if I read anyway, which I probably will.  Knowing me, and my obsessively large (495 books and counting) to-read list, I’ll definitely read some number over 100.  I need to start making a dent in that to-read list after all.

A majority of the books I’ve read this year can be classified as either children’s books or young adult books, and there’s something I’ve noticed.

Why does everything seem to have at least a sequel?!  Some books have had a sequel, others are a part of some sort of series.  Some of the “Adult” books I’ve read have been a part of series too, so it’s not just children/young adult arena that’s guilty of this.  But children/young adult being the largest genre I’ve read…that’s probably why I’m noticing it.

*Random, but very important note: From here on out, a series will refer to books that have at least 2 books in it.

How hard is it to come up with an idea that’s contained in one book?  Why is there a need to have so many series?  It’s really overwhelming, especially since a lot of them don’t seem to have some kind of numbering or ordering system.  Like, the Vampire Academy Series or the Pretty Little Liars series.  There doesn’t seem to be any indication on the covers as to which number in the series it is.  At least there’s a “here’s what’s coming next” at the end of each Pretty Little Liars book.  But since I’m requesting a lot of books from other libraries, I’m utterly clueless as to which book is first and second and so on.  I seriously need to have a list of the order right next to me.  Google and Wikipedia help, since I can google the series to figure out the order.  It’s really not that much work, but it’s still frustrating.

But back to why everything I’m reading seems to be part of a series.  Is it because series are just insanely popular, or is it the types of books I’m reading?  I am reading a lot of historical fiction/fantasy/historical fantasy and supernatural/paranormal books.  Do these genres lend themselves to being a part of a series or are young adult authors really unable to wrap up their story in a few hundred pages?  Some of the authors I’ve read or want to read seem to have multiple series.  It’s like their mind works in series, and not in something that stands alone.  A combination of all of these questions seem likely- a mix of reading certain genres, series being popular, storylines that can’t be wrapped up in one book, and quite possibly marketing.  Honestly, I don’t want to think about the role marketing has.

And why is there a lot of title: a novel?  Is adding a novel after the title necessary?  I think not, because I feel like I’m pretty good at figuring what is a novel and isn’t a novel.  Is it a way of distinguishing themselves from all the series out there?  Or is there some other reason?  I just don’t understand!

I think that’s enough ranting and raving for now…I’ll need to save up my ranting and raving energy for November, when I’ll need it the most!

I Like Everything!

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Seriously, there’s some good tv on right now.  Pan Am is growing me, and so is Person of Interest and Revenge.  House is going to be interesting, America’s Next Top Model is full of drama and I’m not sure about Terra Nova, since it’s really starting to remind me of Lost. 

I love Lost, but as Terra Nova goes on, it’s really starting to remind me of Lost.  I think it’s a combination of the Sixers (hello, the Others!), the mysterious runes on the rocks near the waterfalls and the fact that there is some mysterious purpose to Terra Nova.  You know, something besides the fact that they’re trying to save humanity by going back in time.

I’m getting to used to watching tv online, and it’s really not as bad as I thought.  There are ads, of course, but either way there’s going to be commercials.  I don’t really mind commercials since they’re good for bathroom and snack breaks. 

Going back to Person of Interest for a moment, it did give me some ideas for NaNo this year, so even t.v. can be provide inspiration. 

There’s not much else to talk about t.v. wise, so I’m off, and have a great day!

A Very Happy Birthday

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Today is a very special birthday.  Not mine.  Nope.  Not my birthday.

It is the one year anniversary of my blog!  I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for a year.  When I started my blog a year ago, I had no idea where it would take me.  I was honestly planning to blog just during NaNo, but I liked it so much that I wanted to keep blogging.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts of the last year, in no particular order.

  • Of course, my very first post.  A year and 300+ posts later…I still can’t believe it!  Who knew I’d still be at this?
  • My first NaNo post makes the list.  After all, if it weren’t for NaNo and my ridiculous idea of wanting to chronicle 3 novels, I probably wouldn’t be here.
  • Another NaNo post, where I write about the things that randomly ended up in my novels.
  • And one more NaNo post, with hilarious typos.
  • Actually, this is the last NaNo post I’m going to have: a general wrap-up.
  • The 100 book challenge.  I  am a mere 2 books away, and I’m sure I’ll keep reading anyway.  I wonder how many I can read next year?
  • An open letter to my muse.  It’s entertaining.
  • My finger!  How could we forget about the time that I thought it would be a good idea to stick my finger in a vegetable slicer?  Goodness, I’m never doing that again!
  • Month one of Camp NaNo.  It’s my winning post.  And month 2 of Camp NaNo.
  • Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was a pretty big event.  My feelings, Part One And Part Two, as well as Part One And Part Two of my movie review.
  • And my final favorite post, where I talk about getting into Pottermore.

There are so many other posts I wanted to share, but I think those mentioned above are my favorites.  I skimmed over a years worth of blog posts, and I talked more about writing than I thought I did.  Hopefully I can get back into that once I start talking about NaNo again.  It’s been fun, and I’m hoping that I’ll have another great year of blogging!

Podcast Awards!!!

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We all know how much I love podcasts.  And it’s time for the Podcast Awards.  It’s now time for voting, and I’ve been voting almost everyday since voting opened.  Some of the podcasts I listen to didn’t get nominated but some of the ones I do listen to got nominated so I guess it all balances out.

I’ve been voting for Cocktails and Creampuffs under People’s choice, Greetings From Nowhere under General, and The History Chicks under Education.  They’re some of my favorites, and I hope they win!

One if my (new) favorite podcasts is Kevin And Ursula Eat Cheap.  They eat, rate and talk about different processed foods each week, and it’s always entertaining.  The episode titles are great too- my favorite one so far is “it should be banished to the bowels of the earth.”  It makes me giggle.

I really like the Colonial Williamsburg Podcast too.  It’s a short podcast, about 10 to 15 minutes long, and each episode focuses on a different aspect of Colonial Williamsburg.  Recent episodes include Benjamin Franklin, Blacksmiths, and Spies At Jamestown.  It’s pretty interesting, especially for people who like American History.

Another favorite, which I’ve been listening to since June, is Weird News Radio.  It’s completely dedicated to all the weird news out there, and it’s a funny, disturbing, and sometimes gross head-scratcher.

I think that’s it for the podcast talk, and thanks for reading!

Can’t Wait For Once Upon A Time

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I’ve settled into my “tv watching schedule” now, and I’m really enjoying everything so far.  Once Upon A Time is being pretty heavily advertised, and I can’t wait!  Jennifer Morrison on House was okay, but I can’t really tell whether her character is similar to Dr Cameron or not.  I guess I’ll find out in a week-ish, when it premieres. 

I really liked NCIS this week.  We learned Abby was adopted, and she meets her biological brother.  It was nice learning more about her and her family, and I hope we learn more about them.  First a McGee-centric episode, then an Abby one!  I wonder who’s next…I hope it’s Ducky or Jimmy.

Everything is going okay, but I’m behind on Person of Interest and Revenge.  I’m positive I’ll catch up, since it’s only the last couple episodes for each one that I need to watch.  I have to say, this watching tv online thing is really interesting, and the great thing is that it’s not hard to catch up.  My problem is that I like to sit and watch it on a tv, and it’s a little hard sometimes getting myself to sit down and watch it.  I have no idea why, since I’m (essentially) watching it on some sort of screen.  But there’s this part of me that’s insistent tv should be on a tv, and not a computer.  I’m sure in a few months I’ll be raving about how amazing watching tv online is…or maybe not.  Who knows?

But I really like everything so far, and it’s keeping me entertained.  Go good tv!

Outlines

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Outlines.

I try really hard to avoid them.  I am more of a panster, and by all appearances, outlines and winging it don’t seem to go together.  But is it possible to find a balance between winging it, and having an outline?

I think so.  My problem is that I would want to outline EVERYTHING.  I just need to find the right balance between outlining and giving myself enough freedom to keep things interesting.

In other words, I need to have enough wiggle room to pants it.  A general structure, you know?  Outlines were always this mysterious thing that happens in the distant future after I’ve written a first draft.  How could I be expected to write an outline when I don’t know what I want to happen?  It would be easier to outline after the first draft, when I have a better idea of what I want to keep and discard.

But maybe a very vague outline wouldn’t be such a bad idea.  A general idea of things that should happen.

Like that’s actually going to happen.  I can barely get myself to settle on plots and work on my characters.  How the hell am I supposed to motivate myself to do even a vague outline?

But this year, I think I’ll have an outline of some sort.  For both novels!

The one I’m doing about the family who only sees each other at funerals?  I have quite a few narrators. I think I might have more narrators than funerals…or maybe it’s more funerals than narrators…either way, one has more than the other.  I definitely need to figure out who goes in what order or who will be narrating which funeral.  I’m leaning towards the second one.  It’ll be a lot easier to go through it if I have groups.  There doesn’t need to be a specific order for each group, but as long as I know who’s narrating which funeral, I think I’ll be good.

As for the fairie mermaid girl who dies, I was thinking about shifting between letters/journal entries and the present time.  So it doesn’t need an outline or anything, not really.  But I should probably give it some thought.  You know, the progression of letters and journal entries, and what’s going on with her while seeing what’s going on after she dies.  I just got an idea!  Her journal could be a parallel story!  We see what happens to her while she’s alive and we also see what’s going on in the wake of her death.  I’ll have to get working on that.

I’ll have everything ready to go by the 24th, because that’s when my 8 day NaNo posting extravaganza starts.  I’m off to bed so I can be all rested up for a day of planning.

TV!

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Pan Am and Terra Nova- I like these shows for now, but I’m still not sure about them, so I’ll keep watching them for now.  I’m not sure about the flashbacks for Pan Am, but maybe they’ll ease up on them once the show gets going.  And we did learn about what happened to Bridget, the one who disappeared.  Terra Nova really reminds me of Lost. 

I’ve also been watching Unforgettable, which is about a cop who remembers everything.  It’s interesting so far, but I can’t imagine remembering every single thing that’s every happened to you.  I really like Revenge too, and the plot is definitely thickening.  And Person Of Interest is getting good too but it’s definitely a show you need to pay attention to so you don’t miss what’s going on.  I think it might take me a while to get into it.

House!  This was another show I’ve been waiting all summer for.  Looking back on last season, I didn’t like it too much, and I’m hoping this season is better.  House is in jail.  Raise your hand if you’re surprised by that.  I’m not raising my hand right now, in case you’re wondering.  The episode was okay, but House does try to solve a mysterious case…silly House for thinking it was lupus at the beginning of the episode.  It’s never lupus!  I am surprised that House wanted to go to jail, but it looks like he’ll be out next week…and no one wants to talk to him.  Maybe this season will be really interesting, and I hope that we find out happens with Cuddy.

NCIS was great this week.  I’ve been excited about this episode ever since I heard that Lily Tomlin was going to be playing McGee’s grandma.  Wheat grass squares…that made me giggle.  And post-coital embrace…that got another giggle.  It was great- McGee’s strait-laced, and his grandma seems to be a hippie!  It seems like they’re close, maybe it has to do with the issues he had with his dad that they alluded to.  I really wanted to give McGee a hug- first his sister is accused of murdering someone a few seasons ago, and then his grandma knew the dead sailor and was connected to his murder because of something that she worked on a few decades ago.  I love McGee-centric episodes, seeing as we don’t get seem to get them as often as the Tony, Ziva or Gibbs-centric episodes.

Grey’s Anatomy- My favorite line of the episode was big accident at the convention center…human stampede at a comic convention!  That’s certainly an image that hilarious and entertaining.  Especially with a zombie nurse and a stormtrooper making appearances!  I have to say, it’s sad Richard stepped down but at the same time, Richard as a regular surgeon and not as chief is slightly entertaining.  He seemed a little out of his element at first.  It’s all dramatic and over-the-top, but that’s why I love it!  Next weeks episode looks really good…

I think that’s it for today, so have a great weekend!

What To Talk About?

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First, I really want to talk about t.v.  I watched Pan Am on Sunday and Terra Nova on Monday.  That just leaves the premiere of House and Once Upon A Time.  So, I’m not really into the whole retro tv show thing, but Pan Am has been hyped up, and it’s the only one that’s really jumped out at me.  I liked it, and I think I’ll keep watching.  It was better than I expected, and I’m really curious about one of the character who had more mentions than appearances in the episode.  Hopefully, we’ll see more of her over the course of the season.  If we don’t see her, I hope they at least explain a little more about her.  And Terra Nova!  Another show that was really hyped, and while I liked it, I’m still not sure.  I was reminded of Lost when I was watching the premiere, since there’s something odd about Terra Nova.  Seriously, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s definitely something weird.

NaNo’s getting really close!  A month and a few days…and I still need to work on all my plot bunnies.  Since I have a few weeks left, I really need to get into gear and start working on this.  That might actually mean something if I hadn’t been saying that for the last few months.  But this time, I really mean it!  Because, you know, I have 3 ideas, and there is no way I can absolutely wing it this year.  I have a general idea for each one, but I actually need to work out the details, since they’re all the sort of novel that need to be planned.  At least to a certain degree, because if I don’t, it’ll be a hysterical mess that will make me want to bang my head against the wall.  Oh wait, don’t I do that already?  Why, yes, yes I do, but even more than normal.  If I don’t plan, it’ll end up being like that year when I just started writing a novel feeling inspired by a song.  As entertaining as that was…I really need to not do that again.

I do have an announcement to make.  Next month (which is really this week), I’ll be switching to a 5 day a week posting schedule, and I’ll be introducing some specific columns.  Music Mondays, Writing Wednesdays, TV Fridays, and Tuesday/Thurdsay…I have no idea what’ll be filling those 2 days…probably book reviews and stuff that doesn’t really fit with the specific columns.  I might be posting on Saturday or Sunday every once in a while, but I’m not promising anything.  In November, I’ll be posting everyday, but that’s because it’s NaNo, and NaNo is a really big event in my life.  Monday/Wednesday/Friday should be kind of obvious right?  I’ll talk about music (or podcasts) on Mondays, writing-related things/updates on Wednesdays, and recap the week in t.v. on Fridays.  I may deviate from that schedule, but if I do, it won’t be very often.  Because what’s the point of having a schedule with different features and stuff if I’m not going to stick to it?  The last week of October will be devoted solely to NaNo, and maybe the first week of December too, as a pre-NaNo special, and a post-NaNo wrap-up.

What is bringing about this change?  I really want to do something different with my blog, and while I’m not running out of things to say, sometimes…I just don’t want to post something.  And yet I do post something.  There is another reason why I’m trying out something different.  When I started this blog 11 months ago (has it really been that long?), it was to talk about my writing, and to chronicle my attempt to write 3 50k novels in one month.  Sure, I talked about food, and music and some other stuff, but I tried to connect it all to writing.  But nearly a year later, I talk about everything except writing.  I wanted to update my “posting schedule” and introduce new columns on specific days to reflect everything that I talk about.  Everything I talk about will still be around, but on specific days.  I feel like I’m lost a little bit of my blogging focus, and hopefully an actually schedule with specific things on specific days will help me regain some of that focus.

So, that’s it for today…I should have a book review posted sometime this week.  Have a great day everyone!

More TV Talk!

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Grey’s Anatomy and Person Of Interest are next up on my season premiere recap.

First off, Grey’s Anatomy.  It was a 2-hour premiere, and Meredith loses her job, the board at the hospital deciding a suspension wasn’t good enough.  She sticks around the hospital though.  Kepner is chief resident, but no one listens to her, and Bailey tries to find a gunther, which a patient used as a team-building activity to get the residents to work together.  Everybody’s made at Alex because he ratted on Meredith.  Let’s see…there’s a giant sinkhole in Seattle, so all the injuries go to Seattle Grace or Mercy West, or whatever the hospital’s called now.  Christina ends up getting an abortion and Owen supports her decision, which is a big change from the end of last season.  And with Meredith getting fired, the separation from Derek, and the “red flags” raised by the interview with the social services lady, the baby Meredith and Derek adopted is taken away, and will be placed with another family while they re-evaluate the life Derek and Meredith could provide for Zola.  Richard covers for Meredith, saying it was him who switched the results instead of Meredith, and so she gets her job back.  I have no idea if he’ll still be working there but not as chief, or if he’ll be gone completely.  He did hand off his clinical trial to Bailey, but we’ll find out next week.

I didn’t see Richard stepping down, but considering how much Meredith gets away with, and his relationship with her mom, I really shouldn’t be surprised.  And that is why I love Grey’s Anatomy.  It is dramatic, and over the top, and in general, it’s fairly predictable, with an occasional twist thrown in.  I’ll be tuning in next week, that’s for sure.

As far as Person Of Interest goes, I watched the pilot, and I really like the premise of the show.  It was interesting, but I’m not sure about it.  I think I’ll keep watching it online to see if it’ll keep me interested.  It was definitely hyped up, but I don’t know if the show actually lived up to all the hype.  Maybe it’s one of those shows that takes a while to get into, like The Event, which was weird at first, and then I got into it.  So maybe the same will happen with Person Of Interest.  For the moment, I’m glad that that Grey’s Anatomy was higher up on the priority list of tv shows to watch.

So, I’m not at all done talking about tv yet, so I’ll be back with a few more season premiere recaps!

So Many Shows…So Little Time!

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What a week for t.v.!  On America’s Next Top Model, the girls got makeovers, which is always one of my favorite episodes.  There was a meltdown, which always seems to happen, and one girl was so happy she cried.  Not much else to report, though, but I’m really glad Kayla didn’t get eliminated.

We also have CSI and Revenge on Wednesday nights.  I was really torn about which one to watch.  A DVR would really come in handy, and I’m not sure if I can convince my grandma to get one.  If I had a way to pay for it myself, I totally give her the money every month for it.  I wasn’t up to going back and forth, so I figured I would watch one and watch the other online.  CSI won out, mostly because it’s the first time I could actually watch it…the only problem is that I have no clue what’s going on, since I’ve only seen the first season in it’s entirety, and random episodes from the subsequent seasons.  On the plus side, though, it’s one of those shows where you can randomly pick up and generally get the gist of what’s going on.

I watched Revenge online, and so far, it’s really good!  It’s definitely something I’m going to keep watching.  I like how it flashed back to her childhood and the present.  You get little bits and pieces of why Emily returned to the Hamptons and what happened, but you don’t get the full story right away.  It’s all very mysterious, and I can’t help but want to know what happened.

And NCIS!  That fanfic I wrote back in July for Camp NaNo?  There was a lot that I unknowingly got right!  It wasn’t E.J., just like I thought, but the microchip she took out of Levin’s arm was definitely connected.  It turned out that it was Cade…but not really.  There’s some guy named Stratton, who said he worked for the FBI, but the FBI has never heard of him, and he’s not showing up in any kind of database.  Another person had the microchip, which I had written back in July, and Tony does disappear for a while, like I had written.  And the FBI is kind of but not really involved in the pilot, while they were featured a lot more in the fanfic.  I definitely need to rewatch it, since it goes back and forth between past and present, which reminded me of the episode where they go looking for Ziva in Somalia.  I feel like I missed a few details, but I can tell you right now that this micro-chip thing is going to be a season-long arc.  It all comes down to something called Phantom 8, which the new SECNAV, Director Vance and this Stratton guy are connected to somehow.  Good lord, everyone being involved in Operation Frankenstein at the end of the last season was enough, do we really need more secret projects that people are involved in?  I don’t trust the new SECNAV at all- he’s definitely up to something.  I really wish they’d go back to the stand-alone episodes- the whole “grab-your-gear, there’s a dead marine” thing.

I’m waiting for House and Once Upon A Time to start.  The season premiere for House is in October as is Once Upon A Time.  I think House is October 3rd, but I’m not sure about the date for Once Upon A Time.  I think it’ll premiere at the end of October.  And Terra Nova starts on Monday, so that’s another one I’ll be recapping.

I watched Grey’s Anatomy yesterday, but I haven’t had a chance to watch Person Of Interest, which was on at the same time, so I’ll give a recap for both tomorrow.