March Book Haul

I know. I know. Technically today is supposed to be a book review post, but I've slowed down on the reading a bit in order to get ready for Camp NaNoWriMo. Plus, since I've spent the past couple months having a post about the books I've purchased during the month, it's about time I share my March Book Haul anyway.

Compared to last month's book haul, this will seem a bit small. I only purchased eleven books, three of which were paperback. I guess we should jump right into the list and then we can go about our regularly scheduled Fridays, right?

First up, the paperbacks:

So, I finally got around to reading some Jim Butcher, namely the first of The Dresden Files series, and I really enjoy Dresden's voice. It makes the story pretty fun to read. About 2/3rds of the way through the first book, I decided that I wanted to keep reading, which meant buying book two: Fool Moon and book three: Grave Peril. A wizard living in Chicago, and helping the police solve crimes. Yep, sounds like the kind of thing I like to read...and watch. (Also, the show is fun too, but I can see how it differs from the books. I'll just enjoy them separately without trying to compare/contrast).

Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder was one of my most anticipated books from the first part of the year, and I'm so glad to have it with the rest of the Chronicles of Ixia (the three Study books, then the three Glass books, and now the start to the Soulfinders books). Anyway, I have to wait to read this because I'm still struggling to get through the Glass books, but I will get back to you Yelena and Valek, I promise. Opal Cowan isn't as interesting a narrator as Yelena so the Glass books are not my favorites--in fact, I've still only managed to get through the first.

That's it for the paperbacks. As usual, it's now time to list off all my e-book purchases.

- A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
- Endless Knight by Kresley Cole
- Colorworld by Rachel Kelly
- Teleworld by Rachel Kelly
- iZombie, Vol. 1 by Chris Roberson
- Beyond the Veil by Pippa DaCosta
- The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
- The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

I love it when a book on my to-read list pops up as being on sale for my NOOK. That was the case with Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons. Plus, I love reading about dragons so it should be pretty good. I thought that Kresley Cole's Poison Princess was pretty decent, and so I'm curious to see what's next for Evie and the other Arcana characters in Endless Knight. Again, I think this one was on sale so that's great. Next up is Colorworld and Teleworld by Rachel Kelly, and yes guys, I do already own these as signed paperbacks, but I enjoy them so much that I always want to have them on hand in case of a re-read. Plus it helps to support an author who is self-published, which I love doing. Most of the time I don't read a lot of comics or graphic novels, and I typically avoid zombies, but before I watched the pilot of iZombie, I really wanted to have an idea of what it would be about, so I picked up the first volume. Guess what? This is one of the few times I prefer a show or movie to the source material. The last three on my list all sound decently interesting, and I downloaded Beyond the Veil, The Rest Falls Away, and The Accidental Demon Slayer for free, which means that even if I don't really enjoy them, at least I'm not out anything. But if I do enjoy them, then the authors have several more books I will be able to buy. This is why having the first book for free can be quite helpful to attract new readers.

That does it for my March Book Haul blog post. I'll have more book review posts up in April, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo update posts. Thanks for stopping by everyone.

Camp NaNoWriMo April 2015 Final Prep Countdown

Less than a week until the start of Camp NaNoWriMo. I am super excited everyone. Time keeps on ticking by and I'm trying to keep myself occupied by reading books so I don't try to start writing early. Though Camp is a bit more flexible and it actually allowed to continue working on an earlier project, I'm really trying to follow basic NaNo rules this time, which means no work on Project Death: Redemption until April 1st.

I guess speaking of time, it is important to discuss continuity, especially when dealing with a series with a rotating cast of characters.

It was interesting enough for me to work on the second book in my series, because it is both prequel and sequel at the same time. The story continues right where it left off from book one, just from a different POV. But Thanos is also recounting the story of how he became Death. That was made much easier by having flashbacks, rather than just having him do extremely lengthy monologues.

What gets really fun is that when I reached the epilogue for book two, the timeline jumped forward by about two months. Thanos does a quick recap of what has happened with him and Tamesis, but there are so many other characters who have done other stuff he doesn't know about.

Remember in my prep post a few weeks ago when I talked about thinking on the beginning of Redemption and how I had tried a few different options but wasn't really liking any of them? Well, I think I figured it out. At work I mused on the idea and a possible first line came to me, which then led to me thinking about exactly how the first chapter would pan out.

The problem with my first chapter idea is that most of it takes place in Julianne's head. There is no real character interaction...unless I slightly bumped up my timeline to bring in some people. And when I thought of that, I could picture a conversation between Damir and Sitara, which led me to a continuity issue with certain events in the second book.

I guess that means that the beginning of this third book starts in the middle of the second book. In edits, I'm sure that will be a bit more interesting. I'll have to make sure that events happen in the right order and that it all sounds plausible in the timeline I have to work with.

Certainly it is doable, but boy does it make thinking about the story line a bit more convoluted.

This is what I'm thinking about now, but really, I just want to focus on getting as much of the first draft written in April as I can. Fine tuning it all can wait until afterwards. That's when I check to make sure that the character growth is gradual and as organic as possible, and that my mythology and timeline are all consistent with what has been presented before.

Project Death: Redemption is shaping out to be a fun story, and I can't wait to introduce you all to Jules and to reintroduce you to Damir.

Camp NaNo April 2015 Mythology of a Story

A lot goes into the mythology of a book, and that is especially true when working on a series. The more I write, the more I learn, and frankly, the world continues to expand the further I get into it.

So, here we are at another Camp NaNoWriMo prep post, and I know that there are a few different camps when it comes to this part of preparation...usually tied to the general writing camps as proposed by NaNoWriMo.

First are the planners, and I imagine they would have about 85% of the world-building and mythology figured out before they started writing. Planners are the people who have to know what's going to happen and know how deep the water is and how quick the current is before they jump in. I've tried to go the planner route before, and honestly, as soon as I write up such a large compendium on the characters, the plots, the settings, the mythology, all the desire to actually write the story is gone, because it feels like I already wrote the dang thing.

Then there are the pantsers. They are the people who just sit down and write, and figure things out as they go along. Now, sometimes pantsers don't fly by the seat of their pants, and have a vague 10% idea of what might happen. Again, I can't go wholly along with the pantser mentality because when I sit down to write, you can bet that I've been thinking and dreaming about the characters, the world, and the story for a while and now feel that it is time to actually put the words on the page.

So a couple years ago there was this proposal of a third camp of writing, and honestly it fits me quite well...the percolators. Much like the name implies, those belonging to this camp will consider the story and its aspects and muse/think on/percolate about the options before writing. I find that percolating has elements of planning and pantsing. It is a nice middle ground, and I do some of my best percolating while I'm at work...because there isn't much else to do with the mind while the body repeats the monotonous tasks of an assembly line.

For the most part I have basic character details scribbled down...height, hair, eyes, name meanings, etc. in case I need a quick reference at some point or another, and then I may have vague details for what might happen within a chapter. For instance, while writing on Project Death: Revelation, the second book in my Project Death series, I regularly would have a chapter number with bullet points saying stuff like "-Thanos Reaps person here" and then a couple other points to round out a chapter. That way I have a general idea what I need to do, but it isn't planned to the point that I feel like I've already written it.

As I've progressed through the series, I've realized that perhaps I should have written down more about the overall mythology of the beings within. Book two really gets into the creation of Death and highlights a bit about the purposes of the Resurrectors. Plus, Fate becomes a relatively important character in person instead of just in name. And in the third book there will be even more details about Fate, and possibly about how the Resurrectors were created in the first place.

Though I never really wrote it down or anything, I had been thinking about how the whole system worked for quite some time. I actually have drawn from several different areas of mythology and from some areas of spirituality to create this world. When Resurrectors heal, they place their hands on two of the chakras of the body. Fate obviously hints towards a possible link to mythos found in many systems of mythology, and I would say specifically which one, but you'll learn that sometime in the Project Death series...probably soon. I do have a novella planned that is focused on Fate.

What's really exciting is that though I've utilized Fate, Death, and the Angel of Death in my own way, and then created the Resurrectors, I'm not quite done introducing "mythical beings" just yet. Just as Tam helped to create the Reapers and bring them into the world, another new classification will be introduced in Project Death: Redemption.

My Project Death universe keeps expanding and it adds so much more realism and depth to the world overall. I can't wait to see what happens next, and I hope you all enjoy the world as much as I do.

Next week will be the last Camp NaNoWriMo prep post...but I still haven't quite decided on a topic yet. I'll figure something out by then...I hope.

Camp NaNo April 2015 Character Development

All right...here we go with another Camp NaNoWriMo prep post. There are only a few more weeks until the insanity is upon us once more. As usual I am attempting to write 50,000 words in 30 days, though with Camp, it is easy to change the word count goal lower or higher, depending on the project you are working on.

I already mentioned that I'll be continuing work on my Project Death series. I can certainly admit that progress has been a little bit slower than I have wanted the past year, but I am trying to make up for that by sitting down and writing, even if it's only a paragraph or two a day. This series will be written and published, but I have to balance that desire to free the story into the world with the need to write the story properly. Rushing will only make the book a disappointment, to both myself and to the readers.

Anyway, that's not what I really want to discuss today. In this post, I want to talk a bit about what sort of character development I am working on in regards to Project Death: Redemption, the third book in the series.

In particular I want to discuss the big new character being introduced, a minor character from the first book who will playing a much larger role, and a fairly important character from both previous books who we learn a lot more about this time around. Each of their developments has been a bit different.

First we have the brand new character, who also happens to be the narrator for this third book. If you've paid attention to my talk about this series, you know that a different character takes the lead in each book. The first book was told by Tamesis, and the second by Thanos. This time around we are introduced to Julianne Mason, who commonly goes by the nickname Jules.

I think it will be quite refreshing to return to a female POV. Thanos was incredibly difficult, which somewhat explained pushing back his release date a few times. But the difficult part comes from Jules actually being a bit more removed from the whole situation with Resurrectors and Death. See, Jules is a human who has died, without being saved by a Resurrector or collected by a Reaper or the Angel of Death. This leaves her soul/spirit wandering the Earth. Perhaps luckily, Julianne does know of the existence of the Resurrectors, due to the stories she was told as a child. Unfortunately she quickly learns that she maybe should have paid more attention to those stories, because she doesn't remember much.

This means I kinda get to look at this world with new eyes. On the downside, I've been living in this world almost constantly for the past three years or so and that makes it a bit difficult to back away and give it that freshness. I'm hoping when I start writing that it will sort of flow.

Character-wise, Jules has changed quite a bit from when I first imagined her about eight years ago. Originally she was going to be a keep to yourself bookish type, but I realized that characterization would actually make her wandering period not as difficult because she would be used to being alone. Also, that would once again give me a character who is separated from her peers in some way. The challenge now becomes that Jules has evolved into sort of a popular self-centered girl. So as the story unfolds, she is going to have to redeem herself, and I think she will.

After all, dying and trying to survive when seemingly nobody can see or hear you might just give her some perspective.

Okay, next is the minor character who will be making a reappearance. I knew when I was starting to halfway plot this book in my mind that I wanted to have a Resurrector Jules could connect with. Originally it was going to be another new character, but as I re-read Project Death: Resurrection I realized that there was a character in there who I wanted to see redeem himself, and that was Damir. I wanted to see if he could become better, and develop. More than that, I wanted to see what else I could learn from him, because he only had a few scenes in the first book.

Who knows...maybe while writing, I'll start to have a book crush on Damir, much like I already do on Thanos.

Finally, the important character who we get to learn more about is Addie. When she jumped onto the page in the first book, I knew she had secrets and that she was totally manipulating Tamesis, but she refused to tell me why. Sometimes characters withhold information for so long that I wonder if the truth will ever come out. The second book revealed more about her role in the whole war between Resurrectors and Death, but I wondered if I would learn more about her personally. It turns out that the answer is yes, and what comes out in this third book should actually humanize her a bit.

Addie is seriously one of my favorite characters and getting to learn about her over the course of a few books is actually really cool for me. It shows what a complicated character she is, and actually makes it more of an interesting story.

So..while this wasn't as in-depth on character development as I originally thought, I think it gives you just an idea of the character chaos swarming around in my mind. Hopefully I'll have a lot more teasers and snippets ready after April.

See you next week, when I will discuss my Camp NaNoWriMo preparation in regards to the mythology of the Project Death universe.

Camp NaNo April 2015 Beginning Prep

It's no secret that I love NaNoWriMo. I have participated in every event since 2006.

Now, for those who do not know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November and participants attempt to write 50,000 wprds in only 30 days. The success of NaNo led to expansions, first with ScriptFrenzy (now defunct) and Camp NaNoWriMo.

Camp NaNo has a few basic differences from NaNo. First, the word count goal is adjustable, which is nice for people who either can't hit the 50K goal or for those who need the challenge of a higher goal. Second, instead of having forums divided by geographical locations,Camp has cabins whoch house up to 12 campers.

I have enjoyed Camp just as much as NaNo and so I look forward to April and July almost as much as November.

This year for the April session I am hoping to write most of the third book in my Project Death series.

So that brings me to the main point of this blog post...the beginning. Books one and two both started in similar manners and it works. The first book is told by Tamesis, a Resurrector who becomes the Angel of Death, and the second book is told by Thanos, also known as Death.

The third book is told by Julianne, who is not like my other two narrators. She is a human and she is being caught in the middle of the growing war between the Resurrectors and Death's forces. For this reason the book needs to have a different beginning.

I have tried to start the book a few different times, but it is not quite working. The trick is going to be in introducing the characters and the world in a way that doesn't feel stale to those who have read the first two books but can also bring new readers up to speed.

So that is what I am focusing on in this next week as I prepare for the start of Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2015.

February Book Haul

Well, here we are with another book haul post. The month of February showed me just how many books I can buy in some months. Honestly, I blame the winter weather, because all I want to do is curl up in bed and read all the time. Unfortunately work and such gets in the way so I don't read as much as I'd like, but that doesn't stop me from buying books.

First up, the Hardcovers.

I love anything written by Richelle Mead. I practically own every single book by her, so I went out as soon as I could after work on the release day for The Ruby Circle to find a copy. And yes, I had to try three different local stores before I found a copy, but I have it and that's what matters. On the other hand though, I am so sad that the Bloodlines series is over now.

The picture for Talon by Julie Kagawa does not come close to doing justice to the cover. It is textured so you can actually feel the scales. Plus, shiny...something dragons like, you know? Anyway, I had to finally just cave and get this in hardcover. I don't want to have to keep waiting an extra year to finally read books by Julie Kagawa just so all of my books will be in matching paperback. Fine, I'll upgrade to the hardcover copies...just as long as my Iron Fey new releases continue to be paperback.

Today I had the opportunity to go to my local library for an author signing by Brian McClellan. I had hoped to have a shipment of books from B&N including the first book--Promise of Blood--in paperback, but it didn't arrive in time. Fine guys, I spent the money and got the whole trilogy IN HARDCOVER just so I could have them all signed by the author. Plus, I love having author signed books. I've lost count of how many I have total. Anyway, these books look totally awesome. They are fantasy but sort of American Revolutionary War-esque with Powder Mages, people who can control stuff like bullets and cannonballs, which sounds pretty darn cool to me, so I'm looking forward to reading them. Plus, again, they are signed. Basically this means that I won't let just anyone borrow these books from my personal library.

Next we have all the paperbacks.

Forged in Desire is the fourth book in the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster and I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have read so far--aka 1.5 books. I really like steampunk books, and when there are vampires and werewolves and nice romances involved as well, it is really easy to grab my interest. I look forward to seeing how this world continues to expand.

Glamour in Glass is the second book in the Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal. Really, I just have one thing to say about why people should pick up this series: It is Jane Austen meets magic! Seriously, I so very much enjoy these books.

I picked up Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell after a recommendation from author Jennifer Estep. It seems a bit similar to the Dresden Files series, but instead of a wizard, the main character is a fae. Also, the series takes place in the 1930s, not modern day. I love all the old lingo involved. The voice of the story is interesting, at least the first chapter or so. I'll read the rest of it soon enough.

I love Veronica Mars, everyone. Really, I don't even try to hide it. And getting even more Veronica Mars books is awesome. I actually still need to finish reading the first book, but when I need my fix from Neptune, California, this series is what I'll pick up (or I'll start re-watching the series again. That is why I own the DVDs).

I'm not going to list the why's for all of my e-books this time, because this post is already super long, but some of these books were free or cheap, and some I picked up thanks to purchasing a brand new NOOK. My new NOOK came with a $5 gift from the NOOK store (Ilona Andrews), and then B&N had a special so buying my NOOK got me a $20 gift card, which I used to get some new books (Mercedes Lackey).

- Death Sworn by Leah Cypess
- Observations of a Curious Governess by Viveka Portman
- Soulfire by Juliette Cross
- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
- Waterfall by Lacy Danes
- Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer
- Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
- The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
- The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey
- The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey
- Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
- Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
- Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

I also bought a paperback copy of Beautiful Redemption by Jamie McGuire, but it was a gift from a friend (that she let me read first). Oh, and the paperback of Promise of Blood, when it comes in, will also become a gift to another book loving friend of mine.

That's it for February. Sorry this was such a long post guys, but I am seriously a book addict.

Most Anticipated Books of 2015 - March, April, and May Edition

Okay, so a couple months ago I posted a few upcoming book releases I was looking forward to. It seems only right that I continue with that by posting a few more I'm excited about. I imagine that I am probably forgetting some books, but these are the ones that I know I keep checking up on. (One book had to be removed because it was supposed to come out in April, but has been pushed back AGAIN, this time to August--I hope). Anyway, here are the books I'm anticipating for the months of March, April, and May. My next post will probably cover the summer months, and then I'll have a fall post and maybe an end of year release post.

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein 

So far I have read and loved Elizabeth Wein's latest WWII historical books: Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, but I've also noticed she wrote other books before these. Anyway, while CNV and RUF take place during WWII, BDWR is set just before, as it is clear that something is coming. I love the depth of emotions from the characters in these books, and the stories contained within the pages. They seem so incredibly vivid and honestly leave you thinking for a long while after you read. This book follows Teo and Em, who are basically siblings, though they have different parents. Teo's mom and Em's mom raised them together until Teo's mom dies, and Em's mom takes the two kids to Ethiopia so she can raise them together without judgment, seeing as how Teo is black and Em is white. I'm assuming it gets a lot more complicated after that. Netgalley has graciously given me approval to read this book, so I'll have a review up for it as soon as I finish.

31 March 2015

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1) by Jennifer Estep

Jennifer Estep has the YA series Mythos Academy, and the Urban Fantasy series Elemental Assassin. While I've only read the first Mythos Academy book, I am currently reading the sixth Elemental Assassin book. What I find interesting about this upcoming YA release is that in some ways it seems to combine both these series together. The covers also look pretty cool, and I'm hoping they stick with the same cover concept throughout the series instead of changing it a few books in. I'm excited about this scrappy heroine who lives illegally in the library (awesome) in a very magical town, and has to go up against the mob. Sounds interesting to me.

28 April 2015

The Shattered Court (A Novel of the Four Arts #1) by M.J. Scott 

I completely and utterly loved M.J. Scott's Half-Light City series. I own all four books and devoured them so quickly. So to hear that she has another series coming made me super excited. Based on the book blurb, in this world if a woman of the royal line is gifted with magical abilities then those have to be tamed in a marriage ritual. In this book we follow Sophia, who is thirty-second in line for the throne, but something happens that makes her flee the court before she discovers if she is magical. And then her magic arrives. Being unbound by marriage means that she is a huge threat. So, what happens next? I have no idea but I can't wait to find out. I'm sure it will be amazing.

28 April 2015

Grave Phantoms (Roaring Twenties #3) Jenn Bennett 

I still need to read the second book in this series, but the first one was so good! Basically what I need to say about this one is that I am a tiny bit obsessed with the 1920s and this also includes spirits and steamy romances. This one follows Astrid Magnusson, who is the sister of Winter Magnusson (from book one), and her off-limits romance with Bo, who happens to be her brother's right-hand man in the bootlegging business. The second book follows Lowe Magnusson, so I'm wondering if there will be any more Magnusson's to follow after this book, or if it will be the last in the series. I guess I'll just have to wait and find out.

5 May 2015

Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2) Amanda Hocking 

Okay, so I haven't read Frostfire yet, but I think I may want to re-read the Trylle trilogy first, just to refresh my memory on it. Still, I am looking forward to this book as well, because I have enjoyed every Amanda Hocking book I have read. Plus, the covers are absolutely gorgeous. This book is supposed to continue the story started in the previous book, and I'm trying not to read too much about it in advance in case of any random spoilers.

5 May 2015

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) Sarah J. Maas 

Sarah J. Maas is absolutely amazing. I cannot say enough about her Throne of Glass series. And now she is releasing another series, one that supposedly combines elements from the classic Beauty and the Beast story with faerie lore. It sounds intriguing to me. It follows a huntress named Feyre, who kills a wolf in the woods, but then is dragged into a magical land and held captive basically by Tamlin, who just happens to be a faerie. What I've gathered from reading up about this book is that the wolf is a faerie or part of that world and so Feyre has to give her life to that world for taking one of their lives, but they don't kill her, just make her a servant or something. I don't know. I don't care. I just want to read it.

5 May 2015