Summer Readin’ and Writin’

Summer writing, had me a blast
Summer writing, didn’t happn so fast

I wrote a book that made me crazy
I miss the days when I could be lazy

Summer days drifting away
To, write every summer night

Well-a well-a well-a, huh
Tell me more, tell me more
Did you get very far? (yes ½ of Prodigal is done)
Tell me more, tell me more
Like are there any tzar’s? (funny you should ask…)

I typed too fast, then got a cramp
Then when I stretched, I broke a lamp
My wife looked at me, and simply frowned
Then she said, go walk the hounds

Summer sun, the writing has begun
During all of, the summer nights

Well-a well-a well-a huh
Tell me more, tell me more
Was there love at first sight? (Not really, you’ll have to read it)
Tell me more, tell me more
Did you write a sweet fight? (Yep, a bunch)

BUT seriously, I did find some time to read in between writing and life. Here’s what I’ve read so far.

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life–her father’s death years ago, her mother’s medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her–seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she’s gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they’re a happy couple… a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying “Happy Anniversary”… and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship’s doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she’s warned that these “alternate realities” could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

Fate isn’t something to mess with… and now, neither is Alex.

Alex has always feared two things: losing herself in the Awakening and being placed on the Elixir. But love has always been stronger than Fate, and Aiden St. Delphi is willing to make war on the gods—and Alex herself—to bring her back.

The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.

I just started Kelly Hashway’s Stalked by Death.

Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi–a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac–will fall on her shoulders… and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

Unfortunately, Jodi has only convinced one Ophi to join her school: A hot guy named Chase who jeopardizes her relationship with Alex. Jodi loves Alex, but Chase can enhance her powers with just a touch—making her stronger than any Ophi has ever been.

Her mixed emotions send her powers surging out of control, and the dead start rising without her conscious summoning—exactly what Hades doesn’t want! If she chooses Alex over Chase, she may lose the battle to Hades, leading the Ophi race to extinction. If she chooses Chase, she might be able to stop Hades for good… but lose everything else.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast–because death is stalking her at every turn.

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Take it to the bridge …

This month’s topic is transitions, and my most eloquent fellow Scene13 bloggers have pretty much touched upon every possible angle one could think of on the subject. So instead of repeating what they all said (and coming off as a copycat), I decided to change things up a bit (see what I did there?) and post a video spoof of an aspiring writer attempting to transition into a published author by pretty much begging someone in the publishing industry to take a look at her book. In song.

Yeah.

Writers can be dramatic like that. Just sayin’.

The love of story

I have loved story from as far back as I can remember. I was a very early reader (3 yrs old) and my mother never could say no to me when I wanted a book. She’s a book lover too and she instilled the love of story in me from the very beginning. One of my early memories of being her bed while she read me stories from Wind in the Willows – I loved all the animals and their adventures.

So I figure most people are going to talk about books because well, we’re writers and that’s where stories live, in the pages of books. With that in mind I want to take a slightly different angle and talk about my literary love and how it manifests itself in a different medium….music.

Now I’m a Texas girl so it’s not really a huge surprise that I’m fond of country music. But I really don’t think it’s the twang or the trucks or the cowboys that works for me though the cowboys don’t hurt… In any case, the primary reason I love country music is because no one can tell a story better in three and a half minutes than a country song. Consider the song “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” from the 70’s, it tells a complete story about a murder trial. It’s a fascinating song. Or what about Taylor Swift’s “Teardrops on My Guitar” all about a girl in love with her best friend. Hell, any of Taylor Swift’s songs tell a great story. Say what you will about her dating life, the girl can write a good story and do it with a catchy tune to boot!

You can find good stories outside of country music, it seems all the 70’s rock bands had great story songs, “Hotel California,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and even “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Stories told in a mere moments. Stories that evoke emotions, make you care about what happens to the characters. It’s fascinating, the art of song writing. It’s a skill I greatly admire and envy.

So how about you? Are you a fan of story music or do you just like to groove to your tunes?