Slave to Sensation

I read about this book in Nobody asked me…Then it took a week for me to remember to print the title and carry it with me because I kept forgetting the title. I’m really glad that I did. this book is a great read. It’s refreshing to have the new world that Singh has created. Set in the future, this book introduces a world divided by differences. Here’s the publishers remarks:

“In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…” (Penguin publishing).

I found the pages just whipping away. The conflict is believable and the plot sets a quick pace. I knew who the killer was early in the book but I’ve been reading for so long that I can’t totally dog her on that. Sascha is a character who I wanted to succeed, especially when she refused to give in the the alpha males’ every demand.

Okay, if I had to rate this book I’d give it 4.5 stars.

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Added Page and Bad Guys

I decided to add a page entitled Second Chance. This page contains a very small portion of my short story (you’ll never guess this) Second Chance. It’s not a traditional romance but I loved every minute of writing it and hope you’ll enjoy it too.

On a different note, I’ve been working on my story (the one in first person) and have introduced two characters, Mr. Sadistic and the Weasel. If you can’t tell by the names they are bad guys.  Here is a short exert from the story…

It was already dark as I approached my car and in my hurry to get to work I neglected to do my normal visual sweep. If I had I would have noticed that the light above my car was out. It was the only light not lit in the parking lot. I would have noticed the two men standing in the shadows. But as I said, I didn’t so I was unprepared when they began stalking towards me.

One was about five six with a wiry build. His hair was slicked as if it were wet and as he came closer I noticed the pockmarks on his face.  There was a large concentration of  boulders around his mouth making his appearance macabre. He reminded me of a weasel. The Weasel turned his head to glance at his partner who was taller, probably six one. His hair was blonde and shoulder length. He looked much cleaner but more dangerous. It was he who terrified me. He had a look upon his face that can only be described as sadistic.

Broken

Kelley Armstrong  has managed to bore the life out of me with her book Broken. This story tells about the only known female werewolf, Elena, who is dealing with pregnancy.  Because there are no other females it is unknown how a werewolf pregnancy should progress or if the baby will be a werewolf. Add a Jack the Ripper letter and an unintentional opening of a time portal and you have a great idea. 

Idea. The characters spend lots of time eating and making plans of action. The secondary plot is nice but I’m left knowing that it will not be the next novel written. The best thing about this book, other than being done with it, is the very real emotion that Elena displays. I guess in other books she’s fought having a baby and being with her mate, in this book she deals with not knowing what is to come with herself, motherhood, the baby. She fights an inner fear that is compelling and if you remove the werewolf, not unlike what many soon to be first mothers feel.

When all is read and done, Broken is not the best book I’ve ever read. At times it was down right boring. The book is unfriendly to new readers of Armstrong. If I had to give it stars (1-5) I’d give it a 2 because it just didn’t keep my attention.

More than one at a time

I know people who have more than one story being written at a time and I know the folks with only one. I had decided long ago that I would write as I read, one story at a time. I really haven’t stuck with that. When I decided to try writing my story in first person I found it mutating. It is transforming into a piece that I’m in love with. I want this hero to be an Asian male and the heroine is biracial. I don’t know if I want the same storyline or not yet. This goes against what I’ve been reading in  that it is important to be organized. Basically she says that you should write one story at a time and she has many worksheets configured to organize the stories. There’s one for characters and settings, ect…  All in all it is’nt a bad book. I just need to read the whole book and finish at least one story to garner some inner confidence in myself.I think I’ll see where the first person story takes me and when I finish it I may be far enough removed from Mina and Stone to try again (my were-tiger story).

I Know more than it seems

I really do know more than it seems. After reading some comments I felt it necessary to shed some light to a few things about myself.

1. I’m an English major who’ll be graduating in December with an emphasis in literature and writing.
2. I’ve researched tons of papers from English and History to Chemistry.
3. I’m a single mother of two kids.
4. I’ve already buried one of my best friends and my first love.
5. I’m not afraid of hard work.
6. I will write this novel.
7. This blog is just a portion of the thoughts that run through my mind at a random point in time.

Playing with Fire

 I’ve been putting off reading Gena Showalter’s Playing with Fire ever since I found out that it was published by Harlequin. Many of their stories are predictable and in a way so was this book. The difference is the banter that takes place throughout the story glosses over any other fault I have with the story.  Anyways, I finally read it last night (stayed up until 3 a.m) and laughed my ass off.Showalter wrote the book in first person and it worked great. She makes her heroine, Belle, down to earth and lovable. Belle isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Pair her with a sexy mysterious man and you have the making of a great book.  Of course there are areas that don’t work so well, such as the neatly wrapped up end, but the dialogue is so realistic that it over powers the negative aspects of the novel. I didn’t even think about problems in the book until I was through laughing at this crazy heroine’s antics and repartee.

Belle is a waitress who is always late. She supports her father financially by working jobs that she doesn’t like. One day at work a man comes in wearing a lab coat and begging for help. Belle is the only person willing to help him and runs in the office to call 911. While away the man slips a secret formula into her mocha latte making Belle seriously ill later in the day. After awaking Belle finds a strange man in her room and finds out that the drug she ingested has altered her so that she now can wield the four elements (earth, fire, water, air).

The man in her room,  Rome, is a secret agent that has been sent to neutralize her but decides to help her. The two end up on the run and eventually pick up another sidekick. Belle must learn to control her powers if any of them are to have a shot at a normal life.

First Person or third?

One of the first decisions I made when begining my book was whether or not to use the first person. I chose to use the third person because that is generally the most common form found in print, or is it?

While rereading my manuscript I began to notice that it was lopsided. I was only telling what was going on with my heroine and it needs to change. Better yet, I need to change. Change from writing in third person and take a stab at first. It’s not a new concept. Authors like Lori Handeland, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn use it with great success. Lori Handeland has five books in her Full Moon collection and is adding another book to the series in January. Carrie Vaughn has two books in her Kitty series. I’ve only read book one in Keri Arthur’s Guardian series but it too leaves room for a sequal.

What I’m trying to say is that over the last few years we seem to be more accepting of reading books in the first person (granted I didn’t flip any pages before I bought the books to see what person they were written in and I prob. wouldn’t have bought them if I knew that they were in first person). But hey, if I’m going to write the best romance a little experimentation is called for.

Setting and what you know

So we’ve probably all heard the saying “write what you know”. I’m just wondering how this applies to writing a novel. I know the obvious-if you know nothing of sports don’t write a story about sports. So you’re prob. wondering what the problem is, huh? 

I know nothing other than small town Indiana. 

I’ve read about big cities but have never been there.  That brings me back to my characters and their setting.  I’m writing a paranormal romance book.  My hero, Stone, lives in the Tangier’s hotel in Vegas, while my heroine, Mina, lives in small town Indiana.

I’m having trouble deciding whether to move Mina to a small town outside of Vegas, or have Stone traveling the world and just so happen to be passing through Indiana on his way some where else. Until this is decided I’m basically at a stand still in my book. Okay, that wasn’t completely honest. I’m a little bit lazy when it comes to writing. I have a hard time making writing a priority in my life and this setting issue is feeding the problem.

So this leads me back to the question, Should I write what I know for this first book? or should I do a little research and take on the challenge of the unknown?

Writer’s Block

Sometimes it is really hard for me to write. Not because I have nothing to say, but because I’m just not fealing it. Take this week. I’ve written down many ideas and many places for my story to go which makes me proud of myself.

Yesterday I wrote nothing.

Why? Because I finally received two books that I’ve been waiting for:                  and                        

First, it’s important that I tell you about one of the major flaws to my character. If there’s something that I want to read (like one of the above books) I have a hard time doing anything else. I can’t focus on studying, doing chores, nada. I have self control but when it comes to self deprivation, I’m not doing it if I don’t have to.

So that said, last night I stayed up late and read both books. I was like a kid with Ward’s novel; Ididn’t want to put it down.The book was great. Bella, a civilian vampire was kidnapped by the Lesser’s (bad guys) and Zsadist, along with the Brotherhood, has been searching for her. Zsadist suffers horrendous abuse in the past and has no knowledge of what true love is. Can these two tortured souls find peace, happieness, and satisfaction with one another? or will the past shadow their future?

If you like the darker side of life (vampires) this series is awesome. They aren’t the vampires of old (evil creatures).  Feehan on the other hand disappointed me.  I didn’t get half of the rush that I normally do from reading her books. The book was a setup for more novels that are soon to come, a way of introducing at least three new stories.

I’ve waited since March of this year to read these books and the anticipation was killing me. It was like being a druggie and feining for a fix. Ward’s book was definately the fix I needed and now I’m ready to get back to writing.

What’s wrong with writing romance?

What’s wrong with wanting to write a romance?  I’ve been reading them since I was in the fifth grade (without mom knowing) and now I want to write one.  Problem:  people ask me what I’m writing and I have a hard time telling them.  Forget the fact that romance novels make up over half of all paper back book sales in the United States and Canada, there is still a social stigma sticking to the writer of ‘smut’.  When I do tell people about what I’m writing the next question that is asked: what is it about?  It’s a paranormal romance… is all I can get out before I’m interrupted by exclamations of disbelief. 

So here goes, I’m writing a romance novel about a biracial were-tiger who finds her mate (another were-tiger) where she least expects it.  She is a strong woman who doesn’t need a man to save her but definitely doesn’t want a man that she can push around.  In the same world there are tons of issues:  mixing races, absent families, redemption, love, danger, excitement.  I don’t think that I need to go on. 

It takes just as much if not more to write a romance novel than it does to write a “normal” novel.  The women of romance face criticism for writing about sex even though it’s written in westerns, science fiction and most forms of literature.  I guess it goes to show that society isn’t as accepting as it pretends to be.