Wed Reading Meme...

1. I'm writing again. Have about three books that I'm working on at the same time. One a heck of a lot further than the others...about 200 pages and counting. Two just in the beginning stages. For three years, while Doing Time was nagging at my head, making me feel guilty for ignoring it, I couldn't write. But it didn't stop the stories from coming. They came just the same. Without typing, or pens or paper or computers. So I told them in my head. And now, I've decided to put them on the page. What changed? Self-publishing Doing Time (my absurdist noir mystery novel) and getting it out there, and allowing myself to just write, without worrying about whether people read it or liked it.
What was stopping me? I got caught up in writing what I thought other people wanted to read or what would be "publishable". I can't write like that. I can't write stories that don't come from inside me.
I've always written stories because I couldn't find them any other way. The only reason I wrote any fanfic, was because I was curious about something that I couldn't find elsewhere. If it was already out there in some form and I found it, I saw no need to write it.

For me, writing was always about finding the story. Before I wrote, I would tell them aloud either to myself, my brother, a friend, out loud and orally. Changing my voice for each character. Used to spend hours bouncing a ball outside and telling myself stories. It took forever it seemed to figure out how to write them. And longer still to find my own distinct voice or way of conveying each tale.
I read a lot. Took a lot of courses. Wrote a lot. Still haven't quite convinced the traditional publishing world to take a chance on me. But on the bright side, it may not matter -- there's electronic publishing and self-publishing. All you've done is cut out the middle man or woman as the case may be.

Still doesn't matter. I'm writing again. Telling my stories in printed form. If only to myself.

2. Wed Reading Meme

*What I just finished reading?

The fifth installment in the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series by Patricia Briggs.. or what I'm calling the spunky coyote mechanic with a heart of gold. This one was called...god, I can't remember, and I just read it. It wasn't Bone Crossed. Oh, Silver Borne.

I like the main character, who feels a bit more like Faith than Buffy actually. She does not get along well with women. And to date, has no female friends. Men, yes. Women, no.

This book, suffice it to say, would not pass the Alision Bechdel test - ie. do woman have conversations that are not about the men in their lives or relationships that don't focus on me?
Really not. Which is becoming an issue, and making me wonder about the writer. Some female writers have issues with their own gender. I've noticed this reading a lot of female genre writers. I don't know why this is...might be a reflection of our society and culture. After all, women feel the need to paint their face and nails daily, while men don't.

Other than that, it's a good read. The author's main theme - is loss of agency, or owning one's choices, not being a victim in one's own life. Let's face it we have no control over other people, the environment we live in, or generally speaking, what happens, but we do have control over ourselves and how we choose to react to it. We can either be a hero in our own lives or a victim, it's up to us. These novels show how the heroine takes charge of her life, confronts it head on, and doesn't allow someone else to take her choices away from her.

The plot? A fairy queen creates havoc trying to get hold of a powerful artifact. Mercy's first love, Samuel, a centuries old werewolf, tries to commit suicide, fails miserably and mopes until he rediscovers his first love, a fae who can work with metals, but is afraid of werewolves. I actually liked that subplot and wish the writer had fleshed it out a bit more. It was far more interesting than the pack politics, where Mercy is dealing with a bunch of jealous female and her power hungry boyfriend in Adam's pack. Also that subplot was disappointing because the jealous female was a fireman and the only other half-way interesting female character with any potential in the story. Like I said before, Briggs has issues with women, a definite pattern is emerging.

* What I'm reading now?

The next installment, or episode 6, River Marked -- where Mercy marries Adam and they go off on their honeymoon. This book is supposed to delve into Mercy's walker or coyote heritage and her father. So, it should be a bit different than the previous novels which focused mainly on vampires, werewolves and fae.

*What I'm reading next

I have two more in this series to go before I stop. Frost Burned and Night Broken. I don't know if I'll read Fire Touched, it's a wee bit expensive for the old Kindle.

3. Making headway on the book lists. But nothing postable as of yet. Assuming of course, that I decide to post anything.

Upstairs neighbors have been noisy the last two nights, they like to blare their television and music between 10-1am. I've no idea why. Anyhow this lead me to hunt for a speaker for my ipod touch, so I can blast classical music to drain them out. But alas, neither Best Buy nor the Apple Store had them.
So, I went to Amazon, and not to promote Amazon or anything, but it did. Up came about 100 different products. All available within two days shipping. And affordable. All sizes shapes and colors.
Seriously, you can get anything on Amazon, while you can't get anything outside of it. This is just sad.