Bouchercon Guest Blogger #4 -- Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace

It's one woman with two names -- and while she deals in miniatures, she's sharing her big thoughts on Bouchercon with us today. Take it away Camille. Or Margaret.

Elementary in Indianapolis
By Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace

Only about 2 months and I'll be in Indianapolis! There are so many attractions to be excited about. The famous Motorway. The impressive Monument. The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the fifth largest in the country. And I'm picturing myself navigating that amazing network of skywalks I've seen photos of. (Can you say, "shopping?")

Let's not forget the seventeen hundred or so readers and authors I'll meet at Bouchercon. And all the book dealers. And walking around talking about Rex Stout's "Some Buried Caesar," feeling very literary.

This year's program promises many new and interesting features. I'm looking forward to sessions designed around group discussions and conversations, an author's bazaar with free books for attendees, and (my favorite) a crafts room.

I'll have a chance to demonstrate the craft I write about: miniatures. "Mourning in Miniature," the 4th in my miniature mystery series will be out by then (released date October 6). If you've ever wondered what could go wrong at a 30-year high school reunion, it's all here!

In the crafts room we'll have a "make it and take it" session where attendees can make a simple mini or two on the spot and take them home. Here's a sample of what I'm planning: mini vases (beads) of flowers (colored foam). The photo shows the scale, with many mini vases surrounding a life size vase that's about 3 inches in diameter.

I've donated a miniature scene to the Charity Auction, always a very satisfying endeavor. A preview is shown: a reading corner with mini versions of some of our favorite books!

There are a lot of parallels between making a miniature scene and writing a novel. In each case I'm creating a model of reality, a fictional world where things can be easier and often make more sense than in the life-size world. In the world of dollhouses, the bathrooms never need cleaning, and the whole house can be recarpeted in less than an hour. In my (cozy) mystery novels, the sleuth and her loved ones always survive and justice is always served.

What could be more satisfying?

I'll also be sneaking away from the conference for 2 other Indianapolis attractions, but the IRS need not worry, since they're "work" related. First, I'm eager to see the Dillinger exhibit at the Indiana State Library. (What? He didn't look like Johnny Depp?)

And I can't miss the Museum of Miniature Houses in nearby Carmel. I hope a native will tell me how to pronounce this. CarMEL, as the town in California? Or CARmel, as with camel or (almost) the chewy candy? The museum has more than 50 miniature houses and room boxes. The website displays some of them at http://www.museumofminiatures.org/photogallery.html. I know I'll leave with a camera and notebook full of ideas, for books in the miniature mystery series and for mini projects at my home crafts table.

My passions for crime fiction and miniatures will come together in the Hoosier State. I can hardly wait!

By the way, Camille/Margaret, it's CARmel, just like the candy.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #3 -- Julie Kramer

This pre-Bouchercon mystery author bloggers thing has gotten such a great response, Word Nerd is moving this feature from one day a week to two days a week! Twice the pre-convention fun! Twice the inside look at writing from a slew of authors! So, Thursday will be another author, but kicking off the Tuesday schedule is Julie Kramer, who you can also catch this Thursday at the Mystery Company in Carmel.

Not only am I going to Bouchercon in Indianapolis this fall, but I'm coming to the Mystery Company in Carmel on August 20 at 7 pm to speak, sign and rub elbows with owner Jim Huang. Though I'm a Minnesota author, I'm going to get to know Indiana pretty well over the next four years because this Friday I'm dropping my son off at Notre Dame.

But instead of maternal gushing, let me tell you about myself and my books.

I'm a career television news producer recently turned novelist. Often, when I was writing news, I found myself thinking life would be easier I wasn't bound by facts. But when I tried to write fiction, I found myself wishing I had some facts. Because making things up felt like cheating. But once I worked through that quandary, I found news to be an excellent background for writing novels.

For example, I've interviewed hundreds of people, many on the best or worst day of their lives. And I think that helped give me an ear for dialogue.

And of course, every day of our working lives, journalists have rubbed in our faces the fact that truth is stranger than fiction. And I think that gives us the chutzpah to press farther in character and plot development than might initially feel believable. For those of you who insist fiction is stranger...well, let's take a woman out to kill a rival for her lover's affection. Say she has to drive across the country for the deed, so to save time let's put diapers on her. And why not make her an astronaut while we're at it? See what I mean?

My debut, STALKING SUSAN (just re-released in paperback and an Anthony nominee for Best First Novel) was inspired by a couple of cold cases I covered a decade ago. Two women, both named Susan were strangled on the same day, two years apart. In my novel, I invented a TV reporter who discovers a serial killer targeting women named Susan. Last summer, as I did book promotion, I always mentioned the victims and reminded folks that the cases remain unsolved 25 years later. You see, journalists like closure in our stories, so I hoped to shake loose a few long buried tips. But instead of calling the police with leads, people called to say, "When are you going to catch that Susan killer?" So the homicides were assigned to the St. Paul Cold Case Unit, which recently announced that new forensics tests on the old evidence have found DNA. That DNA shows that both women had different killers. So instead of a serial killer, two people have gotten away with murder for a quarter of a century. And now the cops are closer to solving the cases then they've ever been.

For my latest book, MISSING MARK, I didn't want to write back to back serial killers (although now I'm told they sell very well.) Because I've covered numerous missing people, I wanted to share with readers how newsrooms decide which cases get publicity and which don't. It can be a provocative discussion. So my TV reporter answers a want ad reading "Wedding Dress For Sale: Never Worn" and finds a jilted bride who doesn't know whether her groom got cold feet or is a cold case himself.

New authors are always insecure, so when People Magazine recently gave MISSING MARK a rave - "Smart dialogue and a fleet pace make this second outing in Kramer's fledgling series a crowd-pleaser" - that gave me a big boost in author confidence. Now I'm looking forward to Bouchercon with a big smile on my face, unless you think crime writers are better off sporting a scowl.

Book Banter -- The Poet

Title: The Poet
Author: Michael Connelly
Genre: Mystery
Length: 598 pages
Plot Basics: Jack McEvoy is an ace reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, crafting his beat around getting the story of murders, the victims and their families. But when his twin brother, Sean, commits suicide, Jack becomes part of his own reporting. His doggedness with the case reveals startling information that lands Jack with the FBI and a nationwide manhunt for a serial killer obsessed with police officers and detectives. As the FBI closes in on the killer, known as the Poet, and Jack gets closer to the story of his career, the danger to him becomes very real.
Banter Points: Word Nerd started reading Connelly a few months ago to gear up for Bouchercon, reading his famous Harry Bosch series. After four of those, she's sold on Harry as a character, but sticking with publication order, picks up the Poet next, even though it jumps characters. And is she glad she did. Word Nerd was blown away by this one -- tight plot, vivid characters, spot-on pacing that kept her turning pages. Given her past career, Word Nerd doesn't normally like books with reporters as main characters, but Jack McEvoy is perfect, owing, no doubt, to Connelly's own background in newspapers.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd wishes more Connelly's backlist that she's still working through was Jack McEvoy instead of Harry Bosch.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Not ready to commit to another long series of mysteries? Skip right to this one. Perfect as a standalone read.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #2 -- Debbi Mack

Welcome to the second installment of the Bouchercon guest bloggers series. Next up on the tour: Debbi Mack.



How I (Accidentally) Became a (Sort of) Short Story Writer
by Debbi Mack

You know, when I started making serious efforts to write and publish fiction, I intended to be a novelist.

The first novel I wrote was a hardboiled mystery featuring a lawyer-sleuth named Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae. After it was critiqued by another author, who said, "I like it. This is publishable," I sent queries out to every agent I could. Got a few nibbles, even one request for the full manuscript—but no offers. Mostly what I got were rejections.

While I was doing all this, I got an idea for another Sam McRae novel. So I went to work on that. Finished it, sent it round to agents—and got more rejections. Not even nibbles this time.

As for short stories, I'd always heard they were HARD to write, that your story had to be told in the fewest words possible, resonate with readers in a profound, unforgettable way and end with a terribly clever twist. Sounded really hard! Plus how many markets were there for short story crime fiction? Let's see . . . one . . . two . . . (Are you counting the same two magazines I am? Yeah, I thought so.) Not a lot of markets, in any case.

Even so, I dashed off a short story for a contest. Didn't win, but placed third. Not bad, I thought. Maybe even something worth cleaning up and submitting elsewhere.

Then, the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime took blind submissions for its first anthology, CHESAPEAKE CRIMES. So I revised the story a bit and submitted it. And—what do you know—my first acceptance!

So, I started thinking—hey, maybe I should do a few more of these. So (in between novels, which I continued to write and pitch) I worked on several more short stories. I submitted to CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 2, but didn't make the cut that time. Oh, well, can't win them all.

Still there are many benefits to writing short stories, even if you want to be a novelist.

First, they're short. So even though that makes them tougher to write in some respects, it also means it won't take you forever to finish one.

Second, they can be a great way to break into publishing. After CHESAPEAKE CRIMES, I could finally say I was a published crime fiction writer. A big step, in my opinion.

Third, if you publish a few short stories now and then, it's a good way to keep your name out there between books. So even if some time lapses between novels (like, for some of us, several years?), you can claim active status as a fiction author by adding more short stories to your resume.

As a result, when a short story idea would hit me (and that's usually the way it felt—like it came to me in a flash), I'd sit down and start typing. Just get it down, see if it went anywhere. I've done this five or six times now—followed through and finished five. Of this number, three have been chosen to be published. And I'd like to polish up the others and submit those, too.

Meanwhile, I did finally find a publisher who accepted that second Sam McRae story, which was published as my first novel, IDENTITY CRISIS. I've written a third one and have lots more ideas for a series.

Now, three published short stories are, at best, a good start to a short story writing career. Nonetheless, it's occurred to me that my ratio of short stories to novels either published or pending same is 3-to-1 at this point. Which makes me primarily a short story writer—I guess.

And I sort of blundered my way into the whole thing.

I have to say I've learned several things from this. First, I actually enjoy writing short stories. They're fast, they're fun, they're challenging—I feel like I've really accomplished something when I write one.

Second, there's no money in short story writing. The markets are limited—two major crime fiction magazines, perhaps a few other less-obvious publications, some online ezines, the occasional open anthology and other than that, it's invite only, folks. And the pay? Well . . .

Third, I will do anything to be able to say I'm a published crime fiction writer, including writing short stories for a limited market and lousy pay.

And, if that's not devotion, what is?

Debbi Mack's novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, is a hardboiled mystery featuring female lawyer Sam McRae in a complex case of murder and identity theft. The novel was recently reissued in print and as an e-book. She's written other Sam McRae stories and would like to publish a whole series of them—when she finds a new publisher, that is. Her short stories have appeared in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES and BackAlleyWebzine.com. Debbi will have a short story in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 4 to be published by Wildside Press in March 2010. Meanwhile, she keeps on writing more novels and, of course, short stories.

Book Banter -- Killer Summer

Title: Killer Summer

Author: Ridley Pearson

Genre: suspense/thriller

Length: ~370 pages

Plot Basics: Sun Valley, Idaho -- Sheriff Walt Fleming's on alert because of a prestigious wine auction happening at a high-end resort. As a group of thieves try for the wine, Walt realizes that the wine theft is a cover-up for a more serious crime: kidnapping. Only the plot goes awry and his nephew is caught up in the kidnappers plan. Walt has only a few hours to foil the plot and rescue his nephew before the FBI is called in and Walt doesn't trust them to keep his nephew safe.

Banter Points: Halfway through the book, the action really picked up and reminded Word Nerd of the other Ridley Pearson books she's read. Pearson writes great action sequences that keeps the plot moving and keeps the reader turning pages.

Bummer Points: Overall, Word Nerd found this title disappointing. She was excited for the chance to review a Pearson book because her past experience (The Seizing of Yankee Green Mall, the Peter and Starcatchers books) was good. But, she hadn't read of the other Walt Fleming books, but was figuring that wouldn't matter and she was reading an ARC of this title. Word Nerd felt for the first 100 pages at least that she suffered from character whiplash in Pearson's super-short chapters, bouncing from one to the next and never getting a feel for any of them. Ditto with plot. She gets it that it's supposed to feel unbalanced, but when the wine heist came up out of nowhere, Word Nerd felt really stupid. Also stupid was thinking she could drop in on the middle of the series -- but unlike some series, she has no interest in going back and filling in the gaps. She really has to wonder just how advanced this ARC really was and hopes that perhaps some substantive changes were made between this version and the version now on shelves.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Based on the ARC, skip it. Go back to Pearson's earlier titles.

Book Banter -- The Last Coyote

Title: The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, bk. 4)

Author: Michael Connelly

Genre: mystery

Length: ~400 pages

Plot Basics: LAPD detective Harry Bosch is on a forced leave from the department after attacking his supervisor. Required to go to counseling, Bosch starts delving into his psych and why he's a cop. What comes to the forefront is the need to solve his own mother's brutal murder. Harry takes on the investigation off the books, endangering his career, his friends and himself. As the case progresses, it becomes clear that the murder was never solved for a reason and Harry stirs up trouble everywhere he goes.

Banter Points: This might be Word Nerd's favorite of the Harry Bosch books so far. Bosch has always been a rich character, but this book takes him to a new level. It's neat to see a character forced into so much introspection with a plot to go along with it. The book is still the high action expected from a Harry Bosch story, but it's got great depth too.

Bummer Points: Word Nerd just didn't like the girl who becomes Harry's new squeeze in this one. There's no good reason for it...other than Word Nerd was still rooting for Sylvia.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd wishes she had more time to get more of Connelly's books read before Bouchercon. As it is, she's really glad that the convention got her to pick up this great series of mysteries instead of just keeping them on the someday list. If you like mysteries and haven't read these, the question is, "What are you waiting for?"

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #1 -- Beth Groundwater

Since Bouchercon is coming to Indianapolis in a few months and since Word Nerd is in Indianapoils and attending Bouchercon, she decided to allow some Bouchercon-bound authors to take over her blog in the coming weeks.

Kicking things off this week is Beth Groundwater. Take it away Beth...

Many thanks to Bethany for inviting me to submit a guest article to her blog prior to my appearance at the Bouchercon conference in Indianapolis.

My mystery books feature a Colorado Springs gift basket designer as an amateur sleuth who solves murders that fall in her lap (literally, in the first book!). The first book, A Real Basket Case, was released March, 2007 and was nominated for a 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award (named for Agatha Christie). To Hell in a Handbasket, the second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, was released May 15th this year. Claire has a part-time gift basket business in the basement of her home and puts together different types of gift baskets in the books.

I’d love to answer any questions you have about what it’s like to write a craft-based mystery series, so please submit them in a comment here. To whet your appetite, here’s a favorite gift basket recipe that I hope you’ll enjoy and use for someone who adores all things mysterious.

Recipe for a Mystery Lover's Gift Basket
Color scheme: black, red, and either white or gray
Container: black-painted basket, bucket or box, with a lid or handle sticking up, from which you hang fake spider webbing
Stuffing: dried Spanish moss or red-dyed tissue paper, shreds, or wood shavings
Contents:
- A Real Basket Case and/or To Hell in a Handbasket mystery books
- CD of eerie music such as Mystery Movie Scores or Mystery Sound Effects
- Pocket-sized mystery party game or travel Clue game
- Movie DVD: Clue, Mousetrap, an Alfred Hitchcock or Sherlock Holmes movie, or a movie collection (Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack)
- Chocolate or bubble gum coins or other mystery-related chocolate shapes such as blood drops, knives, or guns (see http://www.chocolatepen.com/pieces.html for a sample vendor)
- And a selection from the following list:
-- Magnifying glass
-- Pair of play handcuffs and/or sheriff's badge
-- Rubber knife
-- Glasses, nose, mustache disguise
-- Skull-shaped/logo item(s): tea-light candle holder, squeeze ball, notepad, drinking cup (see the Halloween collection at http://www.orientaltrading.com/)
-- Bottle of stage blood from a costume or makeup supply store, or make your own (see chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/fakeblood.htm)

Unlike my amateur sleuth, Claire Hanover, I do not have a gift basket business of my own. My business is writing mystery novels! I live in Colorado Springs, where I defend my garden from marauding mule deer and wild rabbits and try to avoid getting black-and-blue on Colorado’s black and blue ski slopes. I have loved to read since I was a child and savor those monthly meetings with my Book Club, and not just for the gossip and wine. For more information about me and my books, and to sign up for my email newsletter and enter a contest for free mystery books, go to: http://bethgroundwater.com/.

Book Banter -- The Historian

Title: The Historian

Author: Elizabeth Kostova

Length: 676 pages

Genre: Literary horror

Plot Basics: A girl grows up under the shadow of her father's research in Vlad Tepes, the man behind the Vlad the Impaler/Vlad Dracula legends. When her father disappears one night, she takes off after him in a mad-cap pursuit to find him before Dracula does. As she travels, she reads her father's diaries and letters about his hunt for the Dracula years early, through eastern Europe during the height of the Cold War.

Banter Points: This was a refreshing break from the current pop culture vampire fiction. Even though Kostova's tome is only a few years old, it reads like Stoker's Dracula, with letters and diaries and documents providing the foundation for the story. And, like Stoker, Dracula is a bad guy... not the book's love interest. Additionally, Kostova's own historical research figures in prominently and smoothly to this book -- it's hard to tell where the legend leaves off and her imagination begins.

Bummer Points: The only drawback to this book is its length. Because it's so long, it takes the plot a little while to really ramp up and get going. Additionally, there are parts of it that read almost more like a history book than a novel when the background gets really thick.

Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like quiet horror, and history this is a must-read. This is another top contender for Word Nerd's top ten books list this year.

Book Banter -- Fade to Blue

Title: Fade to Blue
Author: Sean Beaudoin
Genre: YA
Length: 190 pages
Plot Basics: Sophie Blue is a hardcore Goth-girl whose paranoia that somebody's out to get her might just be real. Of course, there was that time she got hit by an ice cream truck... Now, a year later, Sophie is trying to find her dad who mysteriously disappeared, motivate her comic-book loving brother and deal with her breakdown suffering mom, all while working on her Suicide-Bunny-esque drawings and nursing her crush for Aaron Agar. Sophie's paranoia isn't misplaced -- that ice cream truck is still out to get her and she got to figure out what's real and what isn't about her town and her life.
Banter Points: Fade to Blue was an interesting premise -- a little bit Matrix, a little bit Veronica Mars, a little bit Quantum Leap. It also had this unique feature of a mini comic book halfway through that was important to the plot and moving the story ahead. Also, while Word Nerd isn't always a fan of chapters leaping between different characters POV (particularly the switch between multiple first person POV), it really worked for this book. She'd say more about this, but it might get into spoiler land, so she'll refrain.
Bummer Points: As a whole though, Fade to Blue just didn't work for Word Nerd. There could be lots of reasons -- she was reading it outside while staffing a golf outing, she was put off by the f-bombs (not expecting those) and the snarkiness of the characters, the cast of high school student characters felt stereotypical, Word Nerd's not a teenager, she was getting sunburned while reading it outside at a golf outing... Whatever the case, Word Nerd was disappointed that she was disappointed. The book looks cool, it's got neat plot twists, but Word Nerd just wasn't captivated by it.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you are a teen reader and you're done with Gossip Girl and over Twilight, Beaudoin's story is original and worth an afternoon if you like sci-fi. Grown-ups, this a YA that doesn't cross over well.

June Bibliometer

June ended a while ago, but Word Nerd finally crunched her bibliometer numbers for the month.

9 books
2,513 pages
83.7 pages/day

YTD
48 books

This is three books fewer that 2008 at the same time, but she's guessing at some point, she'll make that up.

Beach Reads

NPR has compiled a list of the 100 best beach reads. This was quite the process with editors and reviewers first culling a HUGE list down and then putting out the top 200 or so up for a vote to their listeners/website users. Everybody got 10 votes in the poll (Word Nerd voted) and she thinks the results are interesting.

The full list of winners is here.

Word Nerd is sort of surprised to see the Harry Potter books as the top beach read and wonders if that pick was influenced at all by the release of the new movie. (Like say, had the list come out in May before the movie, would HP have still been number 1?)

Of the top ten, Word Nerd voted for #'s 7 and 8 (The Great Gatsby and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.) She doesn't think she voted for HP, but honestly, can't remember. (Voting was a few weeks ago.)

She knows she also voted for #20 -- Water for Elephants, #24 -- The World According to Garp and #28 -- The Princess Bride and is a little disappointed to see them that far down in the list. (Not to disparage Gone with the Wind at #16, but who wants to lug that tome with them to the beach...)

What do you think of the NPR listeners rankings? Are there books you would put higher? Lower? Think should be off the list altogether?

Book Banter -- Conspirator

Title: Conspritor (Foreigner #10)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Length: ~350 pages
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: Word Nerd probably can't do this without spoilers for the first nine. Sorry.

Bren Cameron, translator to the atevi aiji, is back from space and the attempted coup is over. But, internal shufflings at the legislative apartments means Bren is losing his home there, so he retires to his country estate. However, the aiji's precocious son -- Caijeiri -- sneaks away to join Bren at his coastal home. Only the politics in that region aren't as stable as they think, and Caijeiri's escapades puts them all at risk.
Banter Points: A trip back to the Foreigner universe is always welcome; even though it's an alien culture, after 10 books, it sort of feels like a home coming. Great political machinations in this one that reminded Word Nerd more of the first trilogy.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd's not thrilled with half the story being told from Caijeri's POV. Cherryh started that a few books back and it's been a change Word Nerd could have done without.
Word Nerd Recommedation: As she's said before, this is top notch sci-fi. It's not space opera and is more akin to a thoughtful political novel than sci-fi. Nevertheless, it's a must-read series for sci-fi fans.

Book Banter -- Naamah's Kiss

Title: Naamah's Kiss
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Length: 600+
Genre: fantasy
Plot Basics: Carey returns to her alternative Europe for her latest book. This one picks up several generations after the adventures of Phedre and Imri in the Kushiel series. The story follows Moirin, a child of the Maghun Dhonn in Alba with a D'Angeline father. She's set on an adventure that takes her to Terre D'Ange and then lands beyond as she searches for her destiny, and wrestles with her dual nature of have D'Angeline passions and Maghun Dhonn magic.
Banter Points: It was fun to return to this lush world that Carey obviously has lavished much attention on in creating it. Moirin is an interesting protagonist -- very self-assured in ways that Imri wasn't. It was also nice to see Carey again push the boundaries of the known world in the books with taking Moirin to China (Ch'in) and discussing the discovery of Terra Nova.
Bummer Points: This book was really slow to get going. Word Nerd understands that it takes time to maneuver through a complexly built world (she's dealing with this in her own writing...) but, she really didn't engage with the book fully until the second half. Additionally, the romance in this book between Moirin et al. featured a lot of lesbian relationships which Word Nerd just doesn't prefer to read about. (Actually, there's a lot of straight relationships in this book too...Moirin gets around... and unlike Phedre, the sex in this book felt superfluous to the story many times.)
Word Nerd Recommendation: On the whole, not as captivating as the first six, but worth it for Carey fans. Word Nerd will definitely read the next one when it comes out.

Everybody needs an editor

Copy editing is important.

Word Nerd isn't getting political here, but check out this story that Vanity Fair did about Sarah Palin's resignation speech.

They assembled a top-notch team of editor/proofreader types to correct the speech for publication. Look up "proofreader marks" to decipher everything they fixed.

Word Nerd's not saying her pages look like this as she's revising, but it gives you the idea. Taken to the extreme.

Losing another Great

Word Nerd hasn't read any Frank McCourt herself, but they are books that are always on her reading list.

It always makes her sad to learn when authors who have been recognizable pass away.

The full story is here.

New writing schedule

Word Nerd is trying something new....

Lately, she's been lax about writing. Not much word nerd-iness going on here, or at least not much related to the WIP because writing at work has been on full steam since late May. But, she's been feeling the lack of creative work. Many people who are artists and writers can attest to this... how it's an internal feeling of misdirection when not producing material.

In the past, Word Nerd's writing time was about 6-8 p.m. She wrote two novel rough drafts during this general time frame. But as of this spring, that time isn't working... disappearing most of the time into other projects, late evenings at work and no head space left for creative work. This time frame was a holdover from graduate school when those two hours were the ONLY two she had to complete her Creative Fiction class projects. It just took her a while to realize that a schedule that worked six years ago wasn't working anymore.

So, this morning Word Nerd began the process of switching her writing time to the morning before work. The alarm went off at 6 and she got out of bed then, no hitting of the snooze button. The goal is to gradually work that time back to 5, to give her two hours of writing time in the morning when her brain is fresh.

This morning, she managed to carve out a few minutes even in the compressed schedule and it felt good. Word Nerd talked to several other writing contacts about their schedules and found that 5-7 a.m. (or earlier) was popular and productive. She really hopes this solves the lack of productivity problem and makes for some good writing time.

She's curious though --- who else writes in the early morning? Or how did you establish the writing schedule you have?

Guest Blogger -- Sean Beaudoin

Word Nerd is gratefully turning the reins over today to YA author Sean Beaudoin to talk about his new book, Fade to Blue. She's got a lovely copy of the ARC which she's looking forward to reading. In the meantime, as she tries to get her own writing back on track, do her real job and read through a friend's WIP, she's leaving you (for today, at least) in Sean's hands.

Take it away, Sean Beaudoin....

Hey, Fade To Blue is a book about losing it. Your mind, some weight, your best friend, your father, a conception of reality, and a dog. Where did the dog go? Hint: Don’t look in the trunk. There’s zombies. But for only about 10 pages. There’s Sophie Blue, possibly not her high school’s most popular student. There’s Kenny Fade, possibly his school’s owner of the coolest red Jeep. Sophie’s got a brother named O.S., which could stand for any number of things, like Outstanding Student, Original Sin, or Obese Sity. At least according to his cafeteria detractors, of whom there are many. O.S. has a bit of a weight problem, and is overly fond of comic books. He also has a big frizzy perm. Or does he? No, actually that’s another book. O.S. is bald. Shaved right down to the scalp.
Man, it was fun writing Fade To Blue. I hope it’s a lot of fun reading it. But I didn’t want it to be too easy. So, it’s also a puzzle. There’s a mini comic in the center that gives clues as to what’s going on. Or what’s not going on. I keep getting emails from people asking “Wait, so, if Sophie did this, did she do that?”
My answer is usually maybe. Which is guaranteed to annoy 33.4% of the reading public. But, as marketing studies show, the other 66.6% really likes to unravel the knots on their own.

WARNING: There are no vampires in this book. Unless you count wearing black lipstick and staying up late at night by yourself and maybe sitting on the roof while you watch cars zoom down the overpass at the edge of town.

My only piece of advice for potential readers is: BEWARE THE NURSE! You can’t trust a nurse as far as you could kick a lemon pie.

Unless your mom or dad is one, in which case they’re under-appreciated and underpaid.

Just a Note

Book Banter -- Judge

Title: Judge (Wess'har Wars, bk. 6)
Author: Karen Traviss
Genre: sci-fi
Length: 391 pages
Plot Basics --- SPOILER ALERT






The Eqbas Vorhi have arrived at Earth, ready to restore the planet's climate, ecology and reduce the human population to more suitable levels. But it's politics as usual on Earth, and the world's superpowers are not so happy about this plan, even though they had time to prepare for it. Moreover, Shan Frankland and the detachment of Royal Marines who originally went to Cavanaugh's Star, are trying to find the last of the government officials responsible for the cobalt bombing on Bezer'ej -- and trying to keep Shan, Ade and Aras out of the hands of those who would use the c'naatat organism for bad ends. Unbeknownst to them, there is one more carrier of c'naatat on Earth with the power to ruin the entire mission...

Banter Points: Word Nerd really enjoyed this series. The science fiction was great (no moments of super-gadgetry that got our heroes out of a jam...). One of the things that made the science fiction good was that it was easy to imagine the current state of things evolving (devolving?) to the point where they were in the series. The characters were terrific throughout, adapting and changing giving the situations they found themselves in.
Bummer Points: Another spoiler alert here... Word Nerd lost it when one of the characters died. She didn't realize at all how attached she was to this character.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Top-notch sci-fi for fans of the genre.

Airplane books

Word Nerd taking several trips in the next few weeks involving jet planes, so it's time for some airplane books again.

She's pretty set on her reading list for her first trip. The books she's packing are:
Running Blind, Lee Child
Judge, Karen Traviss
The Last Coyote, Michael Connelly

She's got a second trip in three weeks and she's not as sure for this trip. What she's thinking so far is:
The Masque of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde (this would be a second reading)
??
??
??

It's a trip to the west coast which means she'll have PLENTY of reading time on the plane.

Any other suggestions for the second trip?

Book Banter -- Perfect Fifths

Title: Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling, bk 5)
Author: Megan McCafferty
Length: ~250
Genre: chick-lit
Plot Basics: It's been a few years since Jessica turned down Marcus's proposal. Now, she's rushing through the airport to try to catch a flight to the Caribbean for a friend's wedding, when she literally runs into him. Stuck for a while at the airport, they talk about what's gone before and what might be next for them.
Banter Points: This series just makes me (me, yes, me) smile. (if you've read the books, you'll understand why Word Nerd needed to drop the third person for a moment there...) Jessica's voice is so strong and Marcus is such a compelling character. Also -- the haiku section. Wow.
Bummer Points: Part of this book is written from Marcus' perspective which is a departure from the other books in the series which are only from Jessica's POV. It adds something, but on the other hand, it sort of changes the feel of the books.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like romantic comedies, this is a series for you.

Book Banter -- Ally

Title: Ally (Wess'har Wars, book 5)
Author: Karen Traviss
Length: 388 page
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: The wess'har from Eqbas Vorhi are determined to clean up the overpopulation and pollution on Umeh -- as a precursor to their voyage to Earth to fix its environmental problems. But to do that, they bring in yet another alien species, one that Shan Frankland dubs as being eco-jihadists for their radical commitment. Meanwhile, it's getting harder and harder to stop the spread of c'naatat and keeping it from heading back to Earth with the Eqbas.
Banter Points: Traviss continues to deliver in her sci-fi series here. Shan, Ade, Aras and the rest of the gang continue to have to make moral choices about the environment and the spread of c'naatat when those choices become less and less clear cut.
Bummer Points: This isn't the most dynamic book in the series. Some crazy stuff happens (Word Nerd won't spoil it for anyone), but it largely felt like a set up to book six which, since it ends the series, she think will have to be awesome.
Word Nerd Recommendation: This is some top-notch sci-fi. No super scientific gadgets to save the day. Just a bunch of aliens and a crazy virus.

Book Banter -- The Gargoyle

Title: The Gargoyle
Author: Andrew Davidson
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Literary fiction
Plot Basics: This captivating novel tells the story of a former playboy who is burned and disfigured in a fiery car accident. As he struggles to recover in the burn unit of the hospital, he meets a woman named Marianne Engel -- a possible psychiatric patient -- who tells him stories of loves found and lost... and a compelling story of their past lives when she was a nun and he a mercenary in Germany and the exquisite love story that blossomed around them. As she descends farther into her illness, he may just recover and learn what it is to love for real.
Banter Points: Word Nerd remembers reading really good reviews of this book when it first came out and it just took her awhile to get to it. The reviews, it's fair to say, were spot on. The Gargoyle is Davidson's first book, but it reads like a masterpiece. The characters are vivid and lyrical, the writing nimble and poetic as the story moves across time periods, countries and lifetimes.
Bummer Points: At first, Word Nerd really didn't like the fact that the narrator never has a name. By the end of the book, it was clear why he didn't.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Thumbs way up on this one. Definitely a top-ten book of 2009, with plenty of potential to be in the number one or two slot.

Mo*Con

Word Nerd went to her first ever writers conference this past weekend. (And life has been really busy, which is why no blog until now...)

Mo*Con is put on by the Indiana Horror Writers Association. No, Word Nerd is not switching genres. And yes, it was still really fun and valuable.

The panels were good, but the best part was the amount of time left open for just talking to people. Word Nerd met several other burgeoning writers (is it pretentious for her to put herself in that category?), some published authors, a book buyer and a publisher. All in one day.

She's heard for a long time that the cons are the way to make connections and she sort of thought yeah, well, maybe someday. Not anymore. She needs to make time for the conventions now. Really. Even this relatively small one was hugely helpful.

And motivating.

Now, back to chapter 1 of the WIP.

Book Banter -- Deathwish

Title: Deathwish (Cal Leandros bk. 4)
Author: Rob Thurman
Length: ~370 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Plot Basics: Cal and his brother Niko are hired to find out who's stalking an old vampire, Seamus. At the same time, Cal is being watched by Auphe "cousins" and trying to keep ahead of them as well. When another younger vampire shows up, on the run for her thieving activities, Cal and Niko realize they can't keep all the people they care about safe with the Auphe still around and they launch a crazy plan to go up against the Auphe.
Banter Points: Word Nerd got in on the ground floor with this series and is glad she hung on to it. Thurman definitely has something to offer the urban fantasy niche with her wiseacre heros and fast, fast banter and action.
Bummer Points: This series had a note of finality to it, but Word Nerd checked on Thurman's website and the news is this isn't the end of Cal Leandros.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like this sort of thing, these are a worthwhile read.

Book Banter -- Turn Coat

Title: Turn Coat (Dresden Files)
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Plot Basics: When the Warden Morgan shows up at Harry's door claiming he's innocent of a crime he's been accused of, Harry takes him in -- despite Morgan's past persecution of Harry. But harboring a fugitive from the Wizard's Council is no easy task. And Harry decides rather than just to try to keep Morgan safe, he's going to prove the Warden is innocent.
Banter Points: Word Nerd is just a big Harry Dresden fan and this one didn't disappoint.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd's caught up with the series, so now she has to wait like everyone else who's been reading this series for year until the new one comes out.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read them.

Book Banter -- Silk

Title: Silk
Author: Alessandro Baricco
Length: 132 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: In 1861, Herve Joncour undertakes a journey to Japan to get new silkworms to keep his French silk-making town running. While there, he sees a woman who completely captivates him -- although they never speak -- and Joncour changes his life because of it.
Banter Points: Word Nerd stumbled on this book while browsing shelves at the library and is grateful for this happy accident. Silk is beautiful for how short it is and the reader can't help but be swept up in Baricco's powerfully understated writing.
Bummer Points: Over too quickly...
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read it, preferably all in one sitting.

Beta reading

A few months back, you may remember that Word Nerd talked about asking a few trusted readers to read her whole WIP and give feedback.

Well, as has been said, turnabout is fair play and so now Word Nerd is doing this for a writer pal and she's realizing just what hard work she subjected her friends to. This is a different kind of reading than just reading a book for fun. It's harder because you have to pay more attention and figure out how to tactfully explain problems and still give praise where praise is due. (It's so much easier to pick on the negatives.)

What this really brings Word Nerd to is a big THANK YOU for her magnificent seven who have read/are beta reading her WIP. She really didn't know what she was putting you through and you absolutely deserve every ounce of thanks and credit possible for helping make the WIP better.

Book Banter -- Matriarch

Title: Matriarch (Wess'har wars, bk. 4)
Author: Karen Traviss
Length: 381 pages
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: SPOILER ALERT



Things continue to deteriorate around the planets of Bezer'ej and Wess'ej as the Eqbas Vorhi ship prepares to restore ecological balance to the iseni before moving on to Earth. Meanwhile, as hard as Shan Frankland has tried to keep the c'naatat contained to herself, Aras and Ade, she is furious to learn that Rayat and Lindsey were infected. Shan struggles to keep her own moral compass as the Eqbas contemplate unleashing bioweapons on the iseni and what they will do to Earth when they get there.
Banter Points: The plot basics don't really cover this book very well. As Word Nerd has discovered in the past, writing these for the books well into a series is hard. Nevertheless, the series just keeps bringing it, adding plot twists and forcing characters to grow and adapt to the alien environments they find themselves in.
Bummer Points: Some of this book seemed a little light on action and a bit heavy on the philosophy.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Top-notch sci-fi here. Read it if you are a fan of the genre.

Book Banter -- Greywalker

Title: Greywalker
Author: Kat Richardson
Length: 341 page
Genre: urban fantasy
Plot Basics: P.I Harper Blaine dies for a whole two minutes after the vicious attack of a small-time crook she's chasing. When she recovers, she discovers that she can see into the Grey, the shadowy realm between life and death. Her Greywalking ability leads her into the territory of vampirs, ghosts and one terrifying antique that could destroy much of Seattle if Harper doesn't figure out how to stop it.
Banter Points: Word Nerd was jonesing for some good urban fantasy and had seen the Greywalker books while browsing at a book store. The concept of the Grey is cool and again, its nice to see a book with vampires in it where they are still scary guys and not the main squeeze of the female protagonist.
Bummer Points: This book sort of screamed first novel. There were lots of info dumps and lots of places where Richardson had to spell out how the Grey worked. Word Nerd felt like she didn't get to know Harper well enough, or that the stakes were never high enough for her personally.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd will tackle the next two books in the series, hoping that Richardson improves with time. There's enough good about these to make it worth it.

March and Literary Year Bibliometer

Word Nerd crunched her reading stats a week ago, but just kept forgetting to post. Here are the salient numbers.

March 2009
8 books
2743 pages
88 pages/day average

2009 YTD
23 books

March also saw the end of the 2008-09 Literary Year. Word Nerd's seventh such LY was right on par with the others. (The Literary Year marks when Word Nerd began keeping her book list during her last year of college).
LY 2008-09
96 books
Seven Year Total = 573

Book Banter -- Illegal

Title: Illegal
Author: Paul Levine
Length: 367 pages
Genre: legal mystery
Plot Basics: Hot-shot lawyer Jimmy "Royal" Payne is watching his career go down the drain after he was set up on a sting operation to bribe a judge. But when he finds a young Mexican boy, Tino, who was separated from his mother during a border crossing, Payne takes it upon himself to reunite the family, amidst a growing wave of anti-immigration sentiment.
Banter Points: This is definitely a book for the times, given the political debates about immigration. Jimmy Payne was reminiscent of Levine's other lawyer hero, Steve Solomon from the "Solomon v. Lord" series, but had his own set of hang-ups that made the two characters different. Tino was a great character, full of a youthful feistiness, that made him a treat to read about.
Bummer Points: This is definitely a book for the times. Levine's cultural references (to things like the flop of the last Indiana Jones movie) were very specific and likely will lose their punch in a few years. The plot is rather predictable as well and while Jimmy Payne is not Steve Solomon, the characters are quite similar. Overall, it seems like Payne is sort of recycled from Solomon.
Word Nerd Recommendation: It's a good airplane read, but if you are looking for a gripping legal thriller, this isn't it.

Book Banter -- The Domino Men

Title: The Domino Men
Author: Jonathan Barnes
Length: 382 pages
Genre: modern fantasy
Plot Basics: Henry Lamb is a file clerk for the national civil service archive. When his grandfather has a stroke, Henry is recruited by a shadowy agency called the Directorate to continue his grandfather's secret work -- which Henry knows nothing about. He ends up on a mad-cap search for a woman named Estella and pursued (or led) to her by the mysterious Domino Men, all in an attempt to stop London from falling victim to the Leviathan, who is owed the whole city from a Faustian bargain made years ago by Queen Victoria.
Banter Points: So, the plot summary sounds weird, that's because the book's weird, but it's AMAZINGLY so. The plot unfolds very naturally, actually, and brings the reader along so gently that you forget just how strange this whole set-up really is.

Word Nerd is amazed at Barnes' sophomore offering after she was less than thrilled with his debut, "The Somnambulist." Henry Lamb is a delightful character, sort of Arthur Dent-ish in his approach to suddenly having to save the world. The whole book has a bit of a feel of Hitchhiker's Guide to it... if you infuse that with a big does of H.P. Lovecraft and a splash of "V for Vendetta."
Bummer Points: Word Nerd can't say what she thinks is a bummer without ruining the book. Sorry. She's staying spoiler free here today.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Two thumbs way up. Fans of quiet horror and modern fantasy, this is a must-read. Watch for The Domino Men on Word Nerd's Top Ten in 2009.

Rewrites

Word Nerd worked this weekend on finishing rewrites to chapters 27 and 28 of the WIP. She was really hoping she was past this point of ripping out sections and adding new, but that wasn't the way of it. In fact, this weekend, she wrote in a new minor character (!) to really bring the scenes to life. A little bit of back work will get this person into some earlier chapters too, until her big scenes in these chapters.

This new character isn't long for this world, but giving her a few scenes and a name keeps her from being a throw-away character. It would be easier to just make her a nobody, but doing that deprives the main character of some actions and reactions to a real character. Giving a minor character a bit of a personality helps to make the story feel less wooden and gives minor characters some bit of purpose and motivation.

Word Nerd knows enough about this character that were she so inclined, she could write a separate short story about her. One of the other minor characters from the WIP may just get her own short story because she won't leave Word Nerd alone.

The editing now is back on track and Word Nerd hopes to be done with this process soon.

Book Banter -- The Black Ice

Title: The Black Ice (Harry Bosch, bk. 2)
Author: Michael Connelly
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: mystery
Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch doesn't get the call about the apparent suicide of another cop, because the department is determined to keep it under wraps. Bosch realizes there is more to the case than what it seems, particularly as it intersects with another murder investigation he's working on. Soon, Harry is tracking drug smugglers running black ice from Mexico into California and the cartel is gunning for him as he tries to figure out who really killed whom.
Banter Points: It was nice to get back to Harry Bosch soon after reading the first one in this series because the bigger plot line about what happened to Harry was fresher. Word Nerd didn't like this one quite as well as the Black Echo, but it was still a good series mystery read.
Bummer Points: See above.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd's sticking with the series, largely in preparation for Bouchercon.

Back to the paper and pencil

Word Nerd has barely written anything in the past two weeks because everything has been so busy.

Last night, knowing she needed to get back into revisions, Word Nerd pulled out the paper and pencil to use to rewrite a chapter or two of the WIP. It's a section she's not sure about -- whether it needs a rewrite at all, or just pretty major edit. So far, it's a mix of both, keeping some sections of the chapter and overhauling the boring parts.

It's sort of ironic, that these two chapters were the last one that Word Nerd wrote by hand before switching to writing on the computer to finish off the book, and now she's redoing them by hand. The few pages she wrote last night went well. There's something more visceral about writing by hand than on the computer.

Hopefully this will get her back in the swing of things to finish off this last set of revisions. Somebody tell her that she needs to finish this book again.

Book Banter -- The Black Echo

Title: The Black Echo (Harry Bosch, bk. 1)
Author: Michael Connelly
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Mystery
Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch gets a call on a weekend afternoon about a dead body in a drainage tunnel. The police believe that the man OD'ed, but Bosch recognizes the man from serving with him in Vietnam and thinks the case is really a murder. The case takes Bosch deep into his past as a 'tunnel rat' during the war and helps the city and FBI solve an bank heist.
Banter Points: Word Nerd picked up the first of the Harry Bosch novels because Connelly is going to be the guest at Bouchercon this fall, which she is really hoping to attend. She thought it was a good idea to read some of his stuff before then. This was a good idea too because it was a good book. Bosch is the classic loner detective character, but Connelly does this well and makes Bosch likeable (sort of) despite his attitude.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd is looking at a long back list to get through all of the Harry Bosch novels.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Mystery fans, this is a well-known series in the genre that's worth exploring at least a little bit. Non-mystery fans, this is a pretty good heist story.

Book Banter -- Land of a Hundred Wonders

Title: Land of a Hundred Wonders
Author: Lesley Kagen
Length: ~280 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: Gibby McGraw is the local town reporter in her small Kentucky town... all part of her effort to become QR (quite right) after a devastating car accident killed her parents and made her NQR (not quite right). In her investigative reporting efforts, she stumbles across the biggest story possible in her town... but her easily distracted mind makes it hard for her to report and leads her to learning that those she thinks are QR have their own secrets.
Banter Points: Kagen is a master of colloquial dialogue. Many times this just comes off and strange in books, with characters dropping consonants/vowels, etc. but Kagen does it so well that it work.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd was really excited for this book after loving Kagen's debut novel, but was a little disappointed with this one. The book moves along fine until the end, which feels like one great big infodump of information that the reader had no clues about throughout the book. While it does a good job of disorienting Gibby, it's too deus ex machina for the reader, to reveal that many truths that were un-hinted at all along.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read Kagen's first book first and then read this one, if you want.

Book Banter -- Tripwire

Title: Tripwire (Jack Reacher, bk. 3).
Author: Lee Child
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: mystery/thriller
Plot Basics: Reacher is tracked down in the Florida Keys by a low-level PI. A few hours later, the PI turns up dead and Reacher decided to find out who sent him and why he was killed. The trail takes Reacher back to Jodie Garber, the daughter of his former CO and a girl he's always been sweet on. Together, they start to unravel an MIA case from Vietnam that could make them pay for information with their lives.
Banter Points: Word Nerd has enjoyed the Reacher books so far, and she thinks this one may be the best of the ones she's read. What was nice about this was the Reacher/Jodie plotline and how this relationship could change Reacher. Oh, and the plot has a good twist at the end.
Bummer Points: Apparently, Child writes some of the Reacher books in 1st person and some in 3rd person. This was a 3rd person book and Word Nerd wants back into 1st person to find out what's really going on in Reacher's head.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read the series.

My interview

Jennifer, over at Adventures of Badgergirl, was offering to send interview questions to fellow bloggers. Since I normally interview people as Word Nerd, I thought this would be fun.

1. What's the best part about your Starfish job?

The best part about my job at Starfish is getting to tell people about the great kids we serve. A lot of people write off low-income kids as all being headed for trouble and up to no good. But for the kids I know, that's not the case at all. They are bright and smart and funny and talented and happen to come from homes that don't have the financial resources. It's so rewarding to know that what I'm doing -- even as a fundraiser -- is making it possible for Starfish Scholars to get the kind of help they need and radically change their future and their family's future.

2. You left Wisconsin to move back to Indiana. What's your favorite thing about Indianapolis?

My favorite thing about Indianapolis -- wow, this is a tough question. Indy is a great city. There's lots of culture here, but it's still got the friendly feeling of a smaller town. I love the how accessible the arts are here, from the art museum being free to the First Friday gallery nights. Even though I'm a writer and not a visual artist, it's very inspiring. And, Indy's closer to home.

3. You're the Word Nerd. I have to ask a question about books. What's the best one you've read in the last year or so?

Do you know how hard this question is? In the last year or so, I've read more than 100 books, which is an insane number. If I go by my "Word Nerd" award list, the best book in the last year was "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. However, during the last year, I've devoured almost all of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, and I have to say, as a collected body of work, those are some darn fun books -- mystery, magic, monsters, a wise-cracking wizard, how can you go wrong?

4. We admit it. We all swoon when we get to talk to everyone's favorite state Representative here in Oshkosh. Are you jealous I still get to hear his voice on a fairly regular basis?

If we go just on voice alone, perhaps a little bit. But when combined with all the stress of government reporting and combing through campaign finance records and covering elections, etc. etc., I can't say I'm jealous at all. I haven't met my state rep. here in Indy, but I'm guessing her/his voice wouldn't be as good.

5. In a fight, who would win? A T-Rex or 10,000 5-year-olds lead into the fight by a battle-hardened 7-year-old riding a St. Bernard?

Oh my. Where is the world did this question come from? I think this is a tough one. The T-Rex obviously has some offensive advantages, such as being able to eat and squash 5-year-olds. However, under the guidance of that kid on the St. Bernard, I guess it's possible that the 5-year-olds could surround the T-rex and do some real damage. On the other hand, I think I'm going to have to go with the T-Rex as the winner, because I don't think the 5-year-olds would really do well in battle -- I think many of them would be paralyzed with fear and unable to act after seeing some of their fellow warriors get gobbled up. Yeah, the T-Rex.

Anybody else want to play? Leave a comment and I'll send you fun interview questions too.

Author Answers with Kelly Parra (redux)

Word Nerd's taking the day off from blogging and letting author Kelly Parra talk about her new book and the writing life in this edition of Author Answers. Kelly's been here before, when her first book "Graffiti Girl" came out. Now, she's talking about her sophomore effort, "Invisible Touch."

WN: What's "Invisible Touch" about? Where did the idea for this story come from?
PARRA: Invisible Touch is about Kara, who after experiencing a tragic boating accident where she lost her father, awakes with a gift or more like a curse. She begins to see "signs" or symbols on individuals and learns to piece the signs together like a puzzle in order to help save them from unfortunate fates. Because no one believed what she was seeing, she keeps her gift secret and blogs about it anonymously on a Secret Fates blog. The stakes are risen higher than ever before when she sees a gun on a classmate and the clues lead her to a boy on the wrong side of town. There's romance, suspense, and mystery.

WN: Was it harder or easier to write your second book? Why?
PARRA: This book was harder for different reasons. Invisible Touch is a mystery while my first book, Graffiti Girl was not. I had to keep the reader guessing and according to some feedback, I accomplished that. :) Also there is a level of grief in this novel that was emotionally draining to write.

WN: What are you currently working on?
PARRA: I'm working on a book that is even more challenging than the first two. It seems I challenge myself more and more. My current work-in-progress is a young adult novel based in the future. That means I have to create my own world which has been a lot of hard work, but exciting at the same time. I hope to share more once I find an interested publisher.

WN: YA fiction has had a huge boom in the last few years. What do you see as the causes for that and the challenges for the future of YA fiction?
PARRA: Many writers and readers can thank J.K. Rowling for opening the door for the latest great boom of YA fiction, then with the success of the Twilight series and more adapted films have helped to bring these exciting stories to more readers. I think with the rush of YA fiction hitting shelves some of the little guys can get overlooked and with the hardships on the economy, I believe editors will become more hesitant taking on new authors in the future.

WN: What piece of advice has helped you the most as a writer?
PARRA: Its always been to READ and to STUDY what you read. When you read your favorite authors, you learn what you enjoy about a book: the characters, the story, the voice? And it helps you to develop your own writing style.

WN: What's your favorite word and why?
PARRA: "and". haha! I'm not all that sure it's my favorite but its the one word I find myself having to edit out as much as I can when I write. :)

Book Banter -- Love in the Time of Fridges

Title: Love in the Time of Fridges

Author: Tim Scott

Length: 347 pages

Genre: Sci-fi

Plot Basics: Huckleberry Lindbergh returns to the city of New Seattle to try to pick up the threads of his life. He used to be a New Seattle policeman, but he left that life to try to escape personal pain. Now, as returns, he finds the city run by the Department of Health and Safety, with their inane warnings "Don't die for no reason, there's really no point." Within hours of arriving, he's helping a girl move some contraband, sentient fridges (and a tumble dryer), getting head hacked and wondering why he returned at all.

Banter Points: Word Nerd found this book just browsing the new sci-fi books section at the library. Admittedly, it was the title that made her pick it up and she found a great story within. The "plot basics" section makes the story sound strange -- which it is -- but it also has some really tender moments. Moreover, this is sci-fi in the vein of "Brave New World" not space opera, and it was really plausible to see how our hyper-safety conscious world could turn into the manic safety drive New Seattle. This is a title is an early front-runner for Word Nerd "Best Books of 2009" list.

Bummer Points: So far, Tim Scott only has one other book out. Word Nerd was hoping for a really long back list because this is one of the freshest, quirkiest sci-fi books she's read in a long time.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Fans of Jasper Fforde or Douglas Adams should gravitate to Scott, who add a depth to his silliness.

Last four chapters. Again.

Word Nerd is rereading her own book and marking it all over with purple pen after her beta readers provided their feedback.

First, it is important to note that the pages aren't bleeding as much as the last time through.

Second, it is important to note that in fixing things a second time, Word Nerd thinks these edits will be much harder. She took care of the easy things the first time. This time will require real sleeve-rolling-up, nose-to-the-grindstone attitude to get done.

Third, there is a chapter, or possibly two, that might get completely excised and rewritten to include more Danger! and Conflict! because they are seriously lacking in these areas and Word Nerd was close to bored by her own novel when reading them. This can never be a good sign.

But first, she must read the last four chapters. A note to all future readers -- when you get to the last four chapters of Word Nerd's book, make sure you have time to read them all at once. Her book is sort of like a roller coaster where somehow the engineers have figured out how to save the Really Big Hill for the very end. Everything comes hurtling down to the conclusion all at once.

Word Nerd, as a reader, sort of wishes she could skip at least three of them and just jump to the end. She could skip all the big emotions, all the stuff that happens to the characters in the last three chapters.

As a writer, Word Nerd takes her own reaction to this as a wonderful sign. This means, she thinks, the set-up works. The emotions are true. The plot holds together.

She hopes. Because she still has to reread these last four chapters. Again.

January 2009 Bibliometer

The readings for the last month were:
9 books
2,177 pages
70 pages/day

The YTD totals are obviously the same.

Book Banter -- Lord of Misrule

Title: Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, bk, 5)

Author: Rachel Caine

Length: 247 pages

Genre: YA paranormal

Plot Basics: Claire Danvers and friends are up to their elbows in an all-out vampire war between Amelie, the Founder of Morganville and her father, Bishop, a particularly nasty vampire. Humans and vamps are taking sides and getting into position for this showdown. One the first night of fighting, Amelie disappears, leaving Claire and Co. to figure out how to deal with Bishop and avoid his traps on their own.

Banter Points: Caine's world of vampires is a good one... it's nice that the vamps are still the bad guys and the so-called good vamps could turn at any time.

Bummer Points: This book was sort of a set-up book for the next one. It wasn't until the last 50 pages that Word Nerd was eager to find out what happened. It was still a good book, but it didn't hit the caliber of the other Morganville books.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Fans of Twilight really should check this out and see how cool other vampires stories are.

Book Banter -- Brighton Rock

Title: Brighton Rock
Author: Graham Greene
Length: 247 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: Newspaper contest man, Hale, is murdered in the seaside resort town of Brighton. The crime does not go unnoticed and Ida Arnold, who only met Hale briefly, takes it upon herself to find justice. Her quest runs into Pinkie, the juvenile leader of a local gang/mob, who is determined to get away with him crime. Pinkie's single-mindedness runs afoul of his mob and one crime leads to another...
Banter Points: Word Nerd LOVED this book in college when she had to read it in "Valuing through Literature" class. In fact, this book turned her on to all of Graham Greene and she's read most of his famous works since then. This is the first one, though, that she's gone back and reread. She didn't like it as much the second time through -- maybe because she knew one of the big twists. It was still good, and a remarkable piece of writing.
Bummer Points: This book felt less accessible than the first time Word Nerd read it. Of course, the first time was right after being forced to read Tess of the D'Urbervilles and ANYTHING can be more accessible than that, in Word Nerd's opinion.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you want to tackle Greene, this isn't a bad place to start, but not necessarily his best.

Book Banter -- The Graveyard Book

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Length: 307 pages

Genre: Juvenile fantasy

Plot Basics: A murderer goes after an entire family, but the youngest member -- just a toddler -- manages to slip away... and toddle into a nearby graveyard. There, the toddler becomes Nobody "Bod" Owens and is raised as a living boy among the dead. Bod is taught the secrets of the graveyard, how to Fade and frighten people, but he craves human companionship. As he grows up, it becomes clear that those who originally wanted to do Bod harm want to see the job finished.

Banter Points: This is another one of those books that shouldn't be labeled as a kid's book, because grown-ups really should read it too. Gaiman's spooky riff on Kipling's "The Jungle Book" is great storytelling, with a full cast of delightful characters. Bod's struggle to figure out what it means to be human among a graveyard full of dead people from different times is poignant and surprising.

Bummer Points: A few plots threads aren't ever full explained, but Word Nerd's holding out hope that this means she'll get to visit with Bod Owens again.

Bonus News: This just in. The Graveyard Book was named as the Newberry Award winner for this year. Neil Gaiman's got the whole story about how he learned of it up on his blog here.

Word Nerd Recommendation: A sure bet for readers of all ages.

This just in

Jasper Fforde has a new book coming out in July.

Jasper Fforde of the Thursday Next and the Nursery Crime serieses (serieses? ... oh boy...) has a new book coming out in July that has nothing to do with either of those storylines.

Word Nerd will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

2008 Words of the Year

Word Nerd's a bit tardy on sharing these this year, but she still finds it interesting to see what words topped dictionary lists in 2008.

For Merriam-Webster, the word of the year was "bailout," a sure sign of the financial/political times we're in.

The release and the other top ten words can be found here.

The Oxford New American Dictionary crowned their own 2008 word of the year, and it's also a sure sign of the times. Their top pick is "hypermiling." Word Nerd knows, she's never heard it either. According to the dictionary's website, "hypermiling" means: to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques. Rather than aiming for good mileage or even great mileage, hypermilers seek to push their gas tanks to the limit and achieve hypermileage, exceeding EPA ratings for miles per gallon.

Can somebody bailout us out of this crazy lexicon lesson?

Book Banter -- Backup

Title: Backup: A Novella of the Dresden Files

Author: Jim Butcher

Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal

Length: 70 pages

Plot Basics: Thomas Raith, Harry Dresden's full-vampire, half-brother, gets to take the leading role in this novella. He's got the inside scoop on the latest trap that Harry's going to walk into, but if Thomas lets Harry in on what's going down, it's likely Harry will start another war. Thomas decides to take care of things from behind the scenes.

Banter Points: Word Nerd has always liked Thomas (ok, from the point in the series we readers find out he's Harry's bro), so seeing him as the leading man was awesome. If anything ever happens to Harry, Thomas could easily become the full time protagonist. In addition to the great writing, the book had several awesome illustrations from graphic novel great Mike Mignola.

Bummer Points: The story was only 70 pages, or about 12,000 word (so said the book jacket.) Word Nerd would have gladly read another 100,000 words about Thomas in a full-length novel.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Dresden Files fans, you can't miss this book.

Beta Readers and the End of the Hiatus

Word Nerd's beta readers are starting to chime back in with comments about her novel. Word Nerd is finding this to be an exciting process, to hear what they had to say.

So far, they have made some good catches with a few timeline problems and some transitions that aren't clear, but overall (and not to get too excited here), they are responding positively to the book.

Word Nerd's taking a look at the book again herself and getting ready to dive back into full-on editing mode. She visited an old set of characters during the Christmas holiday just to keep writing. It was a fun side jaunt, but she's really ready to get back to her novel and the characters she's created there.

Book Banter -- Obedience

Title: Obedience

Author: Will Lavender

Length: 287 pages

Genre: literary fiction/mystery

Plot Basics: The students in Logic and Reasoning 204 at Winchester College have six weeks to solve the greatest puzzle of their lives -- find a missing girl named Polly, or she will be killed. Three students -- Mary, Brian and Dennis -- take the problem especially personally, particularly after they each have run-ins with suspects associated with Polly's story. It sets them on a dangerous path of wondering what is true, what are the lies being spun to them by their professor and how long they should be obedient to their class assignment.

Banter Points: Word Nerd picked up this title because the fictitious Winchester College is in a small town in Indiana and she thought it would be cool to read some Indiana-related fiction. The plot itself is great, with lots of twists and turns, but...

Bummer Points: ...it's execution leaves a lot to be desired. The characters of Mary, Brian and Dennis are fairly flat and hard to care about, as is the alleged victim, Polly. Additionally, if you have any background whatsoever in psychology (even a good recollection of a Psych 101-type class), you'll likely start to put together some of the clues and figure out at least a piece of what's going on. Word Nerd didn't exactly unravel the whole plot twist, but when the reveal came, she wasn't all that surprised.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd was really hoping, based on the jacket cover, that this could be a top 10 book of 2009. As it is, she's recommending to skip it.

Book Banter -- The Dairy Queen

Title: The Dairy Queen
Author: Alison Rushby
Genre: chick lit
Plot Basics: Dicey seemed to have it all -- booming pajama business and a gorgeous husband. But somewhere it all goes wrong. Her sister, Titch, isn't having any luck getting pregnant with IVF and their best friend Sally, breaks her foot in a night of partying. The three decide to return to their cow-themed hometown of Moo to get away from it all. Once there, they are roped into helping with a Girl Scouts-like group and the group's activities force them to take true stock of their lives and rediscover their dreams.
Banter Points: This is a light, breezy read, which when Word Nerd picked it up, was exactly what she wanted. Looking back, the characters seem 2D and the plot sort of slow, but at the time, she didn't notice it.
Bummer Points: See above.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you need a break from mysteries or suspense or something and like chick lit, this will do the trick.

Loss of a Great

The mystery genre has lost one of its great contributors with the death of Donald Westlake.

Word Nerd started reading his series about the bungling thief John Dortmunder a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The full story about Westlake can be found here.

December 2008 Bibliometer and 2008 Bibliometer Totals

Well, Word Nerd's pretty pleased with how the Bibliometer stats turned out for this year (technically, last year now, since today is Jan. 2).

Here's the final tallies.

Dec. 2008
8 books
2,803 pages
90 pages/day

2008 YTD Grand Totals
98 books
32,805 pages
90 pages/day yearly average