Sunday, October 30, 2016

Weekly Goals 31-10-16

This week it's all about NaNo!

I start tomorrow and my goal is to hit 10K by Friday.  Which is ambitious, but I think I can do it.  Assuming my characters play nice and agree to submit to my will.

Anyone else doing NaNo?  You can friend me.  I'm Vampyr14.  I have a feeling I'll need all the spurring on I can get!

What are your goals this week?

Friday, October 28, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things 28-10-16



This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!  I know it was a short week with Monday a public holiday, but somehow those weeks always seem the busiest when you get back to work.  It's been a particularly crazy week and I'm definitely glad for a couple of days to relax - although I do I have a lot of reading to do for work.

I've been enjoying my sort-of-writing break and intend to make the most of this weekend because come Tuesday, I'm starting my new book.  I have no idea how it will go because I really only have a skerrit of an idea of the actual plot, but the characters are people I feel like I know really well, so all I really need to do it keep throwing walls up in front of them and watch them react.

Or at least, I think that's all I need to do….  We shall see how it all pans out on Tuesday when I sit down to start writing.  Which I really can't wait to do!  It feels like a long time since I wrote anything completely from scratch.

Bring on NaNo!

What are you celebrating this week?


Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Books I've Loved: Girl On A Wire



I really enjoyed this book.  I mean, circuses, mystery, family rivalry, forbidden romance?  It's all there!

Essentially it's a re-telling of Romeo and Juliet (and not that subtle; the MC is Julieta and the love interest is Romeo) in a circus.  But it's more than that because the source of the family rivalry is something of a mystery.

I loved the circus setting, especially that it's a modern day circus yet is so deeply rooted in its traditions that each night's performance could be from 100 years ago or more.  That people in this environment still believe and trust in magic is completely believable.

Jules is a likable protagonist.  She's ambitious and headstrong, but not uncaring.  Her relationship with Remy unfolds in a realistic and satisfying way, especially given there are so few people their age in the circus.

The only thing I didn't like was the ending.  After ratcheting up the tension in the mystery about the family feud, the eventual solving of it felt like a letdown.  And not a big surprise given how few people had any stakes in it in the first place.

There is also a big event that happens toward the middle of the book that felt like it was there mainly for shock value and didn't really add anything (in fact it took out a character I'd really loved up until that point).

But for the most part, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it, despite the weak ending. The journey to it is so enjoyable, it almost doesn't matter that the book ends more with a whimper than a bang.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Jules Maroni’s dream is to follow in her father’s footsteps as a high-wire walker. When her family is offered a prestigious role in the new Cirque American, it seems that Jules and the Amazing Maronis will finally get the spotlight they deserve. But the presence of the Flying Garcias may derail her plans. For decades, the two rival families have avoided each other as sworn enemies.

Jules ignores the drama and focuses on the wire, skyrocketing to fame as the girl in a red tutu who dances across the wire at death-defying heights. But when she discovers a peacock feather—an infamous object of bad luck—planted on her costume, Jules nearly loses her footing. She has no choice but to seek help from the unlikeliest of people: Remy Garcia, son of the Garcia clan matriarch and the best trapeze artist in the Cirque.

As more mysterious talismans believed to possess unlucky magic appear, Jules and Remy unite to find the culprit. And if they don’t figure out what’s going on soon, Jules may be the first Maroni to do the unthinkable: fall.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Weekly Goals 24-10-16

While I'm still officially on a writing break, I'm still doing little tweaks to SHOOK as I get notes from my CPs.  I've just spent the afternoon of my extra day off (yay long weekend!) fixing up a few things in the middle of the book and I think they work much better now.

It always amazes me how a few lines here and there can make such a huge difference to a story.  Or a single scene.

So this week I will continue to tweak SHOOK as notes come in.  And I will hopefully think up some good stuff for the new book.  I'm struggling a little bit with where to start because potentially there are two inciting incidents in this story.  I'm not sure if I should include both or start further along in the story with the second one.

But because it's a NaNo book, I guess I write both and figure out if it's the right choice later, when I revise….

What are your goals this week?

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things 21-10-16



This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

It's a LOOOONG weekend!

Yes, Monday is Labour Day here, so we get an extra day off.  And boy am I looking forward to that!  I've reached that time of year where I really, really, really need a break.

I have no plans for the long weekend (other than getting my older son's bike fixed so we can go bike riding) and I have a pile of library books to read.  I also want to do one last read-through of SHOOK to make sure everything makes sense.  I'm going to print the whole thing out and read it on paper because I always see things differently on paper.

I also hope to do some thinking about the new book I'm going to write during NaNo.  I have a bunch of characters I love and can't wait to spend time with, and the skeleton of a story, but I'd like to work out a few more details before I start. Not too many, because if I know too much about the story ahead of time, I get bored and don't want to write it…  But I do like to have a few key scenes in mind so I know where I'm aiming, even if I don't actually ever get there.

What are you celebrating this week?