Winter’s Harvest
Today, is a quick catch up:
Writing – I’ve finished the rough draft of HELL BENT, which is book 1 of the Broken Magic series. The book is told exclusively through Shame Flynn’s point of view, and while it is a spinoff of the Allie Beckstrom books, Shame isn’t Allie. His story and point of view is alternately darker and more humorous, I think. We do get to see Allie and Zay and many of the other characters in HELL BENT, but we see them through his eyes, which is a chuckle. 😉
I’ll get the first draft cleaned up, then send it off to my editor on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that she likes it!
Reading – I’ve said for years that my reading habits have been cannibalized by the amount of time I put into writing. Usually by the end of a long work day, the last thing I want to see is more lines of words. 😉 But this year I have a goal and a plan to read a lot more. The first book on my (random) TBR pile is THE ENCHANTMENT EMPORIUM by Tanya Huff. I’m looking forward to getting into it.
Apple tree – We have an old apple tree that has been producing apples since our property was nothing more than a hill in a cherry orchard. They are the perfect sweet/sour mix, full of juice, and crunch beautifully. They put most grocery store apples to shame. One of the things I’ve always loved about the tree is the apples don’t ripen until late September-October and it holds fruit on its bare branches until the end of November. We always pluck a few off the tree to add to our Thanksgiving meal.
This year, perhaps due to the late snow and rains in the spring, the old apple tree bloomed even later. There were an abundance of apples on it for Thanksgiving and more than enough for our fresh snacking needs. Now that it is mid-January, I’m surprised to see it still has a couple dozen apples on those spindly gray branches. The tree has have become the favorite lunch spot for flocks of robins, sparrows, starlings, blue jays and other birds looking for winter food.
While watching the birds congregate has been fun, I guess it just makes me happy to see that the remaining fruit isn’t going to waste. The old apple tree might have had to adapt a bit to a change in weather, but I like to think the birds are pretty happy to have those fresh, sweet red apples in the below-freezing weather.
6 Comments
Readsalot81
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I cannot wait for Shame’s book. 😀
On reading though..I do have a question : Are you more critical of what you read or are you able to sit & enjoy a story regardless of what issues may arise when you read it? I’d seen this on a couple of writers’ blogs and it made me curious.
Devon
I am *horribly* critical while I am reading, not because other writers aren’t good at what they do, but because I can not turn off my editor/writer brain. I am either thinking “well, that didn’t work” or “I like how they foreshadowed that…although now I know how it’s going to end” or “that dialogue isn’t flowing” or “stupid character–no one would make that choice” or “oh, that was smooth! How did they do that, let me deconstruct their approach by analyzing their word choice and emotional infliction in the sub-text,” etc, etc.
However–when a book grabs me and makes me forget all the gears and pulleys that must be in the right places to make a story chug along, when they hook my emotions and make me forget being a writer and turn me instead into just a reader…well, then I love them and the book forever!
AYates
Can’t wait for the Broken Magic series! Will Hayden and Maeve be some of the other characters we see? I would love to see some interactions between them and Shame. I think they’d be hilarious.
What genre of books do you prefer to read and what are some of your favorites?
Mmmm apples. When I was younger and went to my dad’s house I used to love eating the fresh fruit off the trees. We had an orange and a cumquat tree not apple, but there really is no comparison to them fresh off a branch to those from the store.
Mashiara
Suddenly want an apple and only have a bag of sour patch kids. :-/
DeAnn Rossetti
We have fruit trees in our backyard and side yard, cherry trees out back that feed the birds and squirrels and winter and Asian pear trees in our side yard that produce so many pears, we give away bags full of them every year. This year we had pears into December, and were able to give away a bunch of them to some families who can food for the winter and who make pear butter, so it was quite satisfying to know that we not only fed ourselves but fed others.
Meanwhile, congratulations on your book getting to the editor so quickly! I can hardly wait for another of your wonderful volumes to hit the shelves! 🙂
Ali
Looking forward to Hell Bent, enjoyed the teaser you posted the other day. Thanks!
Enjoy The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff it is a great book by a wonderful author. She is an old favorite of mine.
It does make me curious as to what else you have in your “to be read pile”? I always want to hear what others are reading, in case they have good suggestions.