Holidays

They came quickly this year, yeah? It seems weird that Thanksgiving is already done and over with and in another month from today Christmas will be a thing of the past as well.

Another New Beginning!

Its been quite a while since I have last posted here. Sorry about that. Things on my end have consisted of eating, sleeping, writing, and preparing for our newest addition, which will make its tiny debut in March!

Wasting Time

Why is it that when you have the most time to dedicate to writing you want to do everything but write? Can anyone tell me why? I get so irritated with myself over it. I am excited for this story I am working on. I have ideas and feel as though it is actually going somewhere. But you'd think to make me sit and write it was the biggest punishment that ever was. I need to stop that.

Slacker!

Thats me lately. Well mostly anyway. To be fair, I have been very distracted lately. I can't tell you why for another 3 weeks, but some exciting (I hope) changes are getting ready to happen. I have read 10 books since I have been away. But for the most part they were meh. I'll tell you about a few of them in a minute. First I want to show you a picture of my new chair!

My husband is the best! I have been complaining about my work chair since November when I did NaNoWriMo and worked all around the house trying to find a comfortable place to write my 50,000 words. Finally, in a last ditch attempt I posted it on Facebook, did a little tagging, and whalla, new chair! 

As well as being completely distracted, a good friend and myself have started a little writing group. Its been really fun and helpful. I have completely enjoyed her company, and have learned a lot from her. 

Ok, onto books. I finished the 50 Shades series, which, I have to say, are completely overtaking. They overtake your life until you've finished. Also, the writing does get better. A bit at least. 

The Great Gatsby, which was just kind of meh for me. I had never read it and I wanted to love it. I just didn't. I did finish it in a day, but that was mostly because I kept reading in hopes that something was going to happen. Things did, but I still was just kind of meh about it.

Where We Belong -Emily Giffin. I have to say, she did it again. I have loved absolutely every single one of her books, and this one is no exception. SoBo SoBlue, will always be my favorites I think. But I will read anything she puts out because I love her so!

Such a Rush -Jennifer Echols. She is one of those authors that I stumbled upon and fell in love with. I haven't read everything by her yet, but everything I have read has been great! She has a way with emotion. She makes you truly feel for her characters, like you are in them. I enjoy reading, and figuring out how she does it. If you have never read anything by her I would suggest Going to Far to begin with. That for me was just. Ah! Just read it if you haven't already! But Such a Rush was really good too. I have enjoyed everything I have picked up by her so you can't really go wrong.

Another book I was enthralled with, and couldn't put down until it was done, was, Something Like Normal -Trish Doller. Here is the synopsis according to Amazon. You'll want to read it, promise. 

"When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero."

And of course, my Lauren Dane. She is usually my fall back girl because she never disappoints!

The author I want to talk about though, who has really stuck out to me, and I have read two of her books since my break in blogging, is Abbi Glines. I read The Vincent Brothers which was really captivating. You couldn't help but root for the bad boy. Although, I always do. Its a curse. Then I read While it Lasts. Wow. WOW. I literally couldn't put it down. According to her Twitter, she is working on a sequel, which I am oh, so excited about! She is another one that gets you involved, completely in the story. I think you should read something by her if you haven't already!

Anyway, I have to try to work on my own novel now. Then off to coffee with a friend. Cleaning the house, and grocery shopping. Oh, days off.

Sick....

I've got the sickness. I didn't even go to work today, thats how miserable I am. Those who know me know that I NEVER call off. I slept 15 hours yesterday. Finally I'm starting to feel a bit better today. Z is working afternoons this week, so he has already left for work and I have the house to myself. Sometimes thats so nice and other times the quiet is disturbing. Today its a little disturbing. I've got Pandora going and I think I'm going to try to write a little today to distract myself.

Anyway, books. I have been reading like a crazed person lately. 6 books since my last post. The two I want to focus on in this blog are Rachel's Holiday -Marian Keyes, and Fifty Shades of Grey -E.L. James.

First, the one and only Marian Keyes. Once again, she writes another fantastic novel. This one takes on one of the sisters from the book Watermelon and tells her story. Its a book about addiction. Rachel's story is my favorite out of the Welsh sisters, so far. It was just one of those books where I got all of the characters. It was heartwarming and funny, but also very sobering and serious in places as well. I just really enjoyed reading it.
One of the things that I adore about Marian, yes, I'm going to pretend we are on first name basis because I love her so, is her openness and honesty. She has never tried to hide that she used to be an alcoholic. She has never tried to hide that she deals with depression. And I love her for it. I think that her writing is stronger for it.
Its very scary to be open about things like that, especially when you have a product that you have poured your heart and soul into and you just want people to like it, or like you, so that they will buy it. It makes being yourself hard, I believe. But Marian is just so sweet about it. She arrives on the scene saying, "Here I am take it or leave it." And unfortunately for you if you choose to leave it you are missing out big time. Her books, as I have said before, are some of my favorites. Pick one, any one, and try it, you'll be addicted too!

Now, onto Fifty Shades. Wow. Ok. I wasn't exactly sure what it was all about when I got it. I knew that it was a New York Times Bestseller, and that it was everywhere, I also knew that it was a pretty dirty book. Well, yes, its dirty. And there is a ton of sex. Sex on practically every page. There are orgasms flying around everywhere. To be honest with you, and if my mother ever reads this she would disown me, but to be honest, sometimes those books are exactly what I need. Although normally when you read explicit books they are light and fluffy, everyone falling in love and winning things and perfect lives, which is fine if thats what you need. In Fifty Shades that isn't the case at all. Christian Grey is a messed up man. In more ways then just his sex life.
My honest thoughts, and I never like to knock writers because at least they are writing, where I usually just think about writing, but I thought that this book was poorly written. I felt that there were phrases that were WAY overused, and it was just kind of generic. From a writers standpoint I couldn't understand why it was a bestseller.
However, the story itself is absolutely captivating. I couldn't put it down. I just had to know what happened. As soon as I finished I bought the other two in the series because I couldn't wait to find out what goes on. So, from a readers standpoint, I can see it being a bestseller in this regard.
If you are squeamish or don't like dirty, don't even try this book. While the characters are fantastic and the storyline intriguing, there is no way around the sex. So don't bother. But if you don't mind reading stuff like that give it a try. I really enjoyed it. I'm almost done with the second book now and the writing seems to have improved a bit.

Well, I'm off to finish reading that book and get some writing done. Have a good day everyone.

“A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.”

- Abraham Lincoln