Good Books | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, December 28, 2014

We had a nice Christmas, but like always, I’m glad it’s over. I am blessed in that there is not a lot of drama in my family, and though I host dinner, everyone chips in with the food and no one complains about anything (well, nothing related to dinner or each other). My husband and daughter went to Staples to shop for me, LOL. They got me a new desk chair for my Internet computer, which was sorely needed, and filled my stocking with things like pens, sticky notes, and a few small treats. Money from my parents will undoubtedly go for writing workshops–always appreciated!

She borrowed Isis’ clothes

Isis got a candy-cane-shaped rawhide, which allowed everyone else to eat without being bothered.

The next day, we got a houseguest–a furry one with four legs and a tail. We are dog-sitting for a neighbor, and their dog and Isis get along well together, so we just brought her back to our place.

They had a sleepover

Our guest really enjoys GerbilTV

She enjoys TurtleTV too

She wants to play, but Isis is ready for a nap

What I read this week: One thing nice about having a few days off work is more time to read! I read several short works, both fiction and nonfiction, that I’ve had for a while. I also finished the novel I started two+ weeks ago, Blood Brothers by C.D. Hersh. This is urban fantasy, and the sequel to The Promised One, which I really enjoyed, and discussed here. I like the shapeshifter mythology in these books, because it’s different: rather than people who shift into one type of animal (i.e., werewolves), these folks can mimic other people as well, so you can imagine the kind of havoc that power raises in the hands of less ethical folks. Add in a good twin-evil twin scenario, and things get even more interesting. In addition to continuing the relationship between the main characters from the previous book, it also had a nice romance subplot featuring an older couple, which I find I like more as I get older LOL.

I also read a couple of short stories. One I’d been wanting to get to for a while, “Forever Thirty-Two” by Stacy McKitrick, was the prequel to her vampire romance, Bite Me, I’m Yours, which I beta-read probably a year ago and really enjoyed. So I knew this wouldn’t disappoint, and it didn’t. “Forever” is the story of how the vampire hero in Bite Me was turned, decades before the novel takes place. Fun to see the background, and I loved the bit of justice in the circular plot ending. You can download “Forever Thirty-two” for free from Stacy’s website.

I’m not a big reader of holiday stories, but I do like one occasionally, and on Christmas night, I was in the mood for one, so I downloaded Meg Cooper’s erotic romance short story “The Hunky Elf.” Very cute, and definitely a fun read that perfectly fit into the Santa mythology and feel-good spirit of giving, along with some good steamy stuff.

In nonfiction, I went through some of the books from the NaNoWriMo Writer’s Pack that StoryBundle offered a few weeks ago. These included Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing by Dean Wesley Smith, The Pursuit of Perfection and How it Harms Writers by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing by David Farland. The first two are collections of blog posts but updated and organized, which made for a very worthwhile read even as a repeat. The Resonance book brought up some concepts I hadn’t thought of or even heard in workshops before, and while not as immediately useful with my writing process, was also worthwhile.

ROW80/Writing Update: ROW80 is on hiatus until January 4, but I’m still writing! Why? Because it’s fun! Of all my writing goals for this year, one of my primary ones was to find the fun in writing again, and I have. I’ve written something every day this week and the one before, even if only a couple of sentences, and on Christmas, I got 1500 words written after my family left, my daughter went to visit a friend, and my husband and brother went to the garage. Other than that, it was one of those weeks where it didn’t feel like I got much writing done. But when I checked my log, I’d completed a new scene, and it added up to 3500 new words. So a big win! So this week’s plan is to keep up that pace. I only have to work Monday and Tuesday, so that will help.

What about you–did you have a nice holiday? Any houseguests? If you celebrate Christmas and exchange gifts, what did you get and/or give? Read any good books lately? And what are you looking forward to in 2015? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, December 7, 2014

The holidays are the most stressful time of year for many of us, with all of the extra things to do on top of our already too-full to-do lists, plus all those things we want to (or have to) tie up by year-end.

Adrenal fatigue is largely caused by stress, whether a single event, or more commonly, chronic overdoing it, so those of us who’ve reached this state need to be extra mindful when dealing with more stress. So, the best way to begin to heal from adrenal fatigue (or prevent it in the first place) is to avoid unnecessary stress whenever possible.

So to that end, here are some things I’m doing to be kind to myself–and reduce stress–for the holidays:

Decorating: stop worrying about outdoing or impressing anyone, and just put up those decorations that are meaningful to us and those we care for. Less is more!
Cooking: Nothing wrong with simplifying! Again, stick to those dishes that are particularly enjoyed, and skip the stuff we’ve been doing just because we’ve been doing it for years.
Parties: Go to the ones we enjoy, skip the ones we just feel obligated to attend when at all possible. And do we need to bring something? If not, don’t. If so (or if we really want to), get something easy we can just pick up. No need to bring a “famous” homemade dish that takes a lot of time and effort, unless it’s one of those things those we care about will really miss.
This year’s Christmas card photo
Shopping: I hate crowds and traffic, so I do as much as possible online. And whether we go out or online, planning ahead helps us not only do the job faster and with less stress, but also helps us to spend less money we didn’t intend to (another source of stress).
Cards: This used to be one of the most stressful aspects of the holidays for me, because I used to design fancy, custom ones and printed my own. Invariably, the designing took far longer than necessary, and the printer would jam several times before I got them all printed, and maybe would run out of ink, too. I now just upload a few photos to Shutterfly and order them there. Not cheap, even with the special offers, but still uniquely ours and sooooo much easier.
Addressing cards: I buy Avery shipping labels (or similar) and use Word templates and a mail merge to fill ’em in. Much easier than hand writing!
Gift wrapping: I still can’t stomach paying Amazon $3.49 to wrap a gift, but my wrapping has gotten much simpler over the years. When I was in school and had much less stress (not to mention no job), I loved to wrap fancy gifts with tons of extra ribbons and bows. Now they get wrapped, and maybe a bow, and about half just go into a gift bag. I remember one high school friend whose parents used to wrap each kid’s presents in a one specific paper. No gift tags; everyone knew which was theirs just from the paper. And it was the gift that mattered, not the wrapping job. Brilliant!
Treating yourself: I got a haircut this week. That may be no big deal to many of you, but I hadn’t taken the time to do this one simple thing for over six months! So I went to Square One Salon, where they include a mini-facial with the cut, which was so relaxing and worth it. I will not wait so long to go back.
And yes, I also spent plenty of time reading!

What I read this week: I finished the novel Speak of Love by Linda Madl. This is a historical romance set in the 17th century Scottish isles. The characters were well-drawn, interesting, and believable for the time period while still sympathetic, but what I especially liked about this book was the real history that was worked in. This did not have a lot of steamy stuff in it, but was definitely not a “sweet” romance either–IMO the sensuality level was just right for the story, the characters, and the other things going on. If you enjoy historical romance, pick this one up!

ROW80 Update: I’m going to consider this week a “failing successfully” week. I was completely not thinking when I set a goal of making the big picture changes in the rest of my WIP. Turns out it needs two more scenes, which I realized as I reworked the last one, not to mention that making the big-picture changes is more of a job than I thought, given the scope of the major change introduced 3/4 through the first draft. So my goal for this week is to complete one of the new scenes, or 1500 words–a reasonable goal, as I also still need to finish Christmas shopping, and I have a party to attend that I am really looking forward to.

What about you–do you find yourself stressed over the holidays, or are you good at being kind to yourself? And in what was do you do that? Got any additional tips or ideas? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing-related or not? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, November 2, 2014

Isis as Loli Rottie

Sometimes we all need one of those! I’m sure for many, it wasn’t uneventful, simply because Halloween was part of it. Me, I haven’t really gotten into Halloween much for many years. With our daughter away at school, neither me or my husband even thought about it much this year–to the point that, the day before, we realized we hadn’t even bought trick or treat candy! That was just as well, because buying it too soon = we eat half of it before trick or treat comes. So DH bought it on Friday, we had all of maybe 15-18 trick-or-treaters, then plenty of leftovers. 🙂

Isis did dress up a bit, however. We found this Sweet Lolita hat in our daughter’s room, and it was too perfect not to try on her.

It got cold here in Ohio this week! Taking Isis for a walk yesterday was quite chilly, and today, the Camaro gets its winter tires put on. I remembered to bring in the daughter’s potted roses, so now they are sitting beside my writing computer. They must like it there, too, because within days, they started sprouting tons of new leaves.

What I read this week: The Slots of Saturn by Dean Wesley Smith. This is the full-length novel that’s in Smith’s Monthly #7, and is the origin story of his superhero character Poker Boy. What’s interesting about the Poker Boy stories is how fun and entertaining they are to me, who has almost no interest in poker. That’s a testament to the worldbuilding and storytelling: Poker Boy’s superpowers relate to the skills he has that make him a champion poker player–his ability to read people, for instance–but there’s very little actual poker in the stories. And lots of details about the world of casinos that work with his powers that make the stories just plain fun.

ROW80 Update: My goals were to write 5 out of 7 days this week, and to get 3,000 words down. I got the 3,000 words (barely!), but wrote every day. For some reason, it was a struggle to stay in the chair, even though writing is fun. Next week, I have a lot going on Saturday, so won’t be able to put much, if any, time in on the book that day. So it will be a push, but I’m shooting for the same goal.

What about you–do you enjoy Halloween? Do you dress up, or go to parties? How’s the weather been where you are? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, October 5, 2014

No, not quitting the blog. I mean that more as a summary. Also another kind of closing, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

ROW80 is officially on hiatus this week, and will start up again tomorrow, Monday the 6th. I didn’t get near what I wanted on my goals, mostly due to “life happenings.” One of those was my husband breaking his arm, but my continued working on fatigue and my own productivity was in there as well. When life happens, you can’t beat yourself up over it, just dust yourself off, get up, and move on. Easy to say, not always so easy to do. One thing I learned was that even opening the file and saying, “just write 100 words” always adds up to much more than I expect, so that’s a tool I plan to use again when life happens.

The other happening was that DH and I bought another apartment building, and had our closing last week. That brings us up to three buildings. Managing them is DH’s job. Fortunately, much of that is talking on the phone, something that doesn’t require the use to two arms. This building is right next door to the first one we bought and have owned for over ten years, and we bought it from the real estate agents who handled the sale of the other two, and the price was right so it was a no-brainer. Where it became a life-happens event was that we somehow got saddled with a loan officer who was totally incompetent and dragged the process out much longer than it should have been, and caused me to keep having to dig up additional paperwork (sometimes the same thing more than once), when it should have been once and done. But it’s over now, so all is good. We went over there one evening and met the two tenants who’d lived there a while, both really nice people who seemed like the good kind you want–i.e., take care of the place and pay on time.

What I read this week: Kill Game, the novel in Smith’s Monthly #6. This is a cozy mystery, and I’m not quite done with it, but enjoying it very much! There is a nice bit of romance in it, common for cozy mysteries, and I like how this one is very genuine, not forced, and works perfectly with the characters and the story. I also like that the main characters are in their 50s and 60s–retired cops who play poker and solve very old, cold cases. This one has lots of fun twists and surprising things that weren’t discovered when the case was initially investigated, much due to advances in technology. While poker playing is what brings the characters together, there’s none of it in the book, which also suits me, since I don’t find it interesting and the actual play wouldn’t affect or impact the story. The novel should be out standalone in a couple months–a good, fun mystery read!

I didn’t get much writing done at all until last night, when I managed to get almost 1,000 words. It’s amazing how fast and easy the writing goes when you can kick the internal editor out of the way and keep them out. That is what I want to work on this coming ROW80–to kick the internal editor, critical voice out of my head and keep it out so I can get a lot more written this time.

Which leads me to this round’s goals, which I am again keeping simple: Finish the current WIP and get it to the beta readers. That’s it. I also like ROW80 founder Kait Nolan’s goal of writing 20 days out of 30, so I’m adopting something similar: I want to write–something, even if only 100 words–5 days out of every week. So we’ll see how that goes!

What about you–how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or not? If you’re participating in ROW80, what are your goals for this round? And have you had any “closings” or openings recently? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, September 21, 2014

Last week was not a good one to say the least. This one, at least, is getting better.

My husband’s surgery on Tuesday went well. Many thanks for all the good wishes and prayers–it never hurts! It did take longer than the doctor estimated, which was making me anxious. Then we found out why: his arm and elbow were broken not in five places like we were originally told, but in eight! So glad he’s on the mend, and the very next day was taking much less of the painkillers than prescribed.

The pain’s still with him, but his biggest problem now is that he’s bored to death. He’s watched every movie on Netflix that interests him, and has gotten to the point of spending money to play Clash of Clans (he’s played for months without spending a penny). DH is not much of a reader–he’s dyslexic, and it takes him like, forever, to get through a novel. But now, he has plenty of time, so I offered to recommend a book to him, but he said he wouldn’t be able to read on the painkillers. But maybe now… hehe! I bet he’d like Holly Lisle’s Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood, or maybe something by Bob Mayer…

On Friday, we went to visit his friend who had the stroke, and wow, I could not believe how much he had improved, given how bad it was to begin with. His speech was slurred, but mostly understandable, and he could move all limbs. He said he could walk with assistance, and his parents told us he’s being moved to a rehab facility this week. So very encouraging!

DH also had his very, very, brief follow-up visit with the plastic surgeon who stitched up the cut near his eye the morning after the accident, and the doctor was impressed with how well it had healed. So more good news. It helped that DH is well-acquainted with cuts and bruises from his years playing high school football, and knew how to take care of it (and was something he could do one-handed).

Our daughter was here to visit from the university last weekend, and the only downside all week was that she brought me home the “Miami Plague.” So I’ve had a nasty cold all week, but thankfully, it’s not like the awful flu I had back in March/April that took three weeks to recover from.

What I read this week: a historical romance, Indentured Hearts, by Hannah Meredith. Usually, I find the books I read on blogs, and therefore, most are by authors I “know,” at least online. This one, I found on a mailing list, where they were discussing book covers. With my graphic design experience, I like to check them out sometimes, especially when someone who says they have no design experience created a great cover after taking one class. Sometimes that can happen; usually it doesn’t. In this case, This cover is decent for amateur work, but what really drew me was the product description: it was a colonial romance about an English noblewoman who winds up an indentured servant, to a man who once was the same. I was especially interested because my own WIP is set in the same time period (mid-1700s), although on the frontier. I downloaded the sample, and was immediately hooked. Writers, if you want to see an example of a fantastic opening, go get this now! The rest didn’t disappoint, either, and I had no trouble clicking the Buy Now link at the end of the sample. Historically accurate, with real chemistry between the characters, I’m 85% through the book–and still hooked! I hope the author writes more in this series soon.

ROW80 Update: I didn’t expect to get much done this week, writing-wise, with DH’s surgery and all–and that was before I got sick. But I surprised myself! While it’s not as much as I’d have liked, I was surprised to see that I wrote over 1300 words this week. I started out just shooting for 100 words a day, and didn’t even do anything for a couple of days when I felt really crappy. But those words added up! Still going to take it easy this week, and shoot for finishing this scene plus getting a start on the next.

How has your week gone? If you’re working toward goals–of any kind–how are you doing? Anything you need to recover from? And how do you find the books you read? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, September 14, 2014

It has been a crazy week. Two or three people might’ve noticed that I didn’t post a blog last week. Rather than wax lyrical, I’ll get right to the action: I was at the hospital with my husband, who broke his arm Saturday night.

The short version of how he did it is, he fell some ten-twenty feet or so down a ravine leaving a festival. I was with a couple of friends and had planned to meet him in the parking lot. He shouldn’t have gone into the dark, wooded area between the festival and parking area, and a rent-a-cop security guard definitely shouldn’t have directed him there, but that’s what happened. He came stumbling up out of the woods on the other side looking like he’d come out the wrong side of a UFC match, and his arm is broken in five places.

The creepy thing? In my second novel Time’s Fugitive, a guy fell down into a ravine because it was dark, and broke his arm. I wrote that probably eight years ago, but still… weird! At least there weren’t bad guys chasing my husband.

He is due to have surgery Tuesday–couldn’t have it last week, because his arm is scraped up and that needed to heal somewhat first. So I have been playing nurse and not getting much writing done.

It’s amazing how many things are difficult, if not impossible to do with only one arm. Opening a granola bar package. Getting toothpaste. Tightening a loose towel rack. All things he tried to do while I was at work, things most of us take for granted. But he’s doing OK, and he’s keeping a good attitude about it. We are grateful to have family and friends to help, too.

We are just thankful it wasn’t worse. To put things into perspective, one of my husband’s best friends had a major stroke a couple days earlier and most likely will never walk or speak clearly again. He’s only 51.

What I read this week (and last): Revelation, by Maria McKenzie. This is Book Three in the Unchained Trilogy, and mostly focused on Selina, the granddaughter of an escaped slave whose actress mother appeared white and “passed” as such. At the end of Book Two, Masquerade, she’d convinced Selina that life would be so much easier for her if she did the same and pretended her black relatives didn’t exist. Revelation takes Selina through the second, third, and fourth decades of the twentieth century, through marriage, motherhood, and reconnecting with her dark twin brother. Unlike her mother, Selina is a sympathetic character, for we see how she’s constantly torn by the choice she made, up to where the book ends with her great-grandchildren in 1998. A fantastic, enjoyable read and highly recommended!

ROW80 Update: Before my husband’s injury, I finished a scene, and most of another, which I finished this past week. I hope to get another done this week between helping him, so we’ll see how that goes.

Do you have any examples of life imitating something you’re read (or written!) in a book? Have you read any good books lately? How are your goals going, whatever those may be? Please share–I’d love to hear from you! Also, any prayers and good thoughts for my husband and his friend are welcome!

by Jennette, August 24, 2014

There is something about “back to school” time that gets people back into a frame of mind of getting things done that aren’t yard work/fixup type of tasks. Even those who don’t have kids in school–either theirs are past that, not there yet, or they don’t have any (or just have the four-legged kind)–seem to drift back into a regular routine way of thinking once the yellow school buses hit the road come August.

That is definitely true for writers, particularly those with kids. Dean Wesley Smith calls summer the “time of great forgetting” for writers–as in, they forget all those goals and great plans, and he has very few people signing up for workshops, fewer emailing or asking questions on his blog, etc. Having the kids home from school definitely slowed my accountability buddy. Easy to understand, as she’s a stay-home mom and her kids are young enough to need the extra attention. Mine is in college, so that wasn’t as much an issue for me (especially since she seemed to spend most of her time at friends’), and I managed to ramp up overall output (though not to what I’d like yet), and took a couple workshops too.

But we took the daughter back to college yesterday, and even I feel that sense of needing to get into a more solid routine. DH and I want to do more meal planning, something we’ve been really bad at lately, resulting in a lot of conversations like this:

Him: You hungry?
Me: A little. You?
Him: Yeah. Anything sound good to you?
Me: I can’t really think of anything. What about you?
Him: I don’t know.
Me: Well, what do we have? All I can think of is a bunch of frozen stuff.
Him: Yeah, me too. So what sounds good?
Me: I don’t know. Anything sound good to you?

Isis after bath So we end up going out to eat far too often. That needs to stop.

The house already seems quieter with the daughter gone, even though she spent a lot of time away at friends’ places over the summer. I will admit I don’t miss her clutter, though. DH and I have enough of our own.

We kicked off the new routine by giving Isis a bath. She didn’t like that too much. No photos, because I was busy holding her while he hosed her down and washed, but she seemed none the worse afterward. 🙂

What I read this week: Forbidden, by Zoe Winters. This is the latest in her Preternaturals paranormal romance series, one I’ve enjoyed for a long time. Ms. Winters is excellent at pulling together couples who have tons of conflict between them–in this case, a vampire priest and an angel who was the vampire who turned him. Though I’m not yet finished with it, as expected, this book does not disappoint!

ROW80 Update: I spent the earlier half of the week reading Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat and planning what scenes I need to add in to my WIP. It’s a book on screenwriting, but 90% of it applies to commercial fiction as well. Lots of good stuff there and already useful. My other goal was to get one of my new scenes written and I did, though it was a short one. Still a win! This week, I want to continue with the new scenes, and am shooting for two.

What about you–whether or not you have kids, do you feel ready to settle back into a routine once school’s back in session? Do you plan for dinner, or do you have conversations like me and my husband? Read any good books lately? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing with whatever goals you may be working on? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, August 17, 2014

The week started out last Sunday with a family birthday gathering. My daughter’s 19th birthday was the week before, and my brother’s was this past week, so we always celebrate them together. When I asked my daughter what kind of birthday cake she’d like, she said “something fruity–maybe one of those Jello cakes.” When I found this Rainbow Layer Cake online, I couldn’t resist, and since my brother also likes fruit-flavored cakes, I knew it would be perfect. Sure enough, it was easy to make, and a big hit after our cookout.

A couple days later, our daughter left for GenCon (a gaming convention, for those not in the know), so it’s been quiet around here. She leaves to go back to school next weekend, so time to get used to it. DH and I ate out several times, and he got a lot of work done in the garage, while I did a lot of reading–and a lot of writing.

What I read this week: We’ve all seen them on TV, and maybe read them in books: the character who’s totally self-centered, manipulative, and who goes through life without a care for anyone but him/herself. There is nothing about this character we relate to or sympathize with. We love to watch to see this character get her come-uppance, or if a criminal, be brought to justice, and be triumphed over by the characters we do like and root for.

In my case, this is seldom a main character–I don’t want to spend that much time with someone I’d so despise in real life. That’s especially true for a novel, where we’re talking several hours, rather than 40 minutes or so (not counting commercials), or maybe two hours for a movie. But this week, it was exactly that kind of character that pulled me in, in Masquerade, by Maria McKenzie.

I don’t know why this book sat on my virtual to-be-read shelf for so long—Masquerade is historical fiction and a family saga, set in my favorite time period, the turn of the twentieth century. I loved both of McKenzie’s prior books, one of which was Escape, the prequel to Masquerade. Maybe it was because Lavinia, the main character in Masquerade, was introduced in Escape, and we already saw how manipulative she was when she convinced a wealthy theater owner to marry her. He was smitten by her beauty, but she was only interested in his money and connections, to start the career she craved in acting.

I couldn’t find any sympathy for this woman. And I couldn’t put the book down. After thinking about it, I realized I found her so intriguing because she had a secret vulnerability: Lavinia was “passing”–meaning she appeared white, but had African ancestry (her mother was black, an escaped slave). This secret would destroy her career if found out. I’ve found it intriguing to learn that “passing” was not all that unusual in the early 20th century–a surprising number of yesteryear’s stars we always thought of as white actually had African or Asian ancestry, as noted on McKenzie’s blog–and fascinating fodder for her book. Revelation, the third installment of the trilogy, just came out a couple weeks ago, and I know this one won’t wait on my TBR pile for long!

ROW80 Update: My goal this week was to finish the ending scene for my work-in-progress, and I did! It ended up being much longer than I thought–actually, it was two scenes, to the tune of 4,300 words, more than I’ve written in one week in a long time. But most importantly, they both got written, so I’m very happy about that. One thing to note, I’m saying “finish the ending scene” rather than “finish the first draft” because I know there are several scenes to add in. Normally I write in order, but the romance plot just wasn’t gelling for me early on in the book, so I wrote around it. On the plane on the way to Puerto Rico in April, I realized what the romantic conflict was (the change I mentioned that would require massive work to implement, but would make the book so, so much better). So now it’s time to work that in. My goal: List the scenes, and write the first one, where the couple meet.

Fun fact about Isis: sometimes DH fluffs her pillow. No, our dog is not spoiled at all. 😀

What about you–made any cool new recipes lately? Who are some characters you loved to hate, either in books or TV/movies? Were you familiar with the idea of “passing?” If you’re participating in ROW80–or even if you’re not, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 27, 2014

I had an interesting conversation with a couple coworkers the other day. One woman is about my age, and has a daughter in college, and one in high school. The younger daughter is supposed to read Catcher in the Rye over the summer, and is struggling to get into it, to the point she’s just about decided to just read the Spark notes. My coworker says this is unusual; her daughter is an honors student and usually doesn’t have trouble with assignments, but just doesn’t enjoy reading any more. She wonders if the material they read in school is part of the reason.

Our other coworker is 26, so remembers her own experiences pretty clearly. “So much of it just isn’t relevant,” she concluded. “We had to read a Jane Austen book–I can’t remember which one, not Sense and Sensibility, the one with Mr. Darcy…”

“Pride and Prejudice?” I asked.

“That’s it!” She went on. “I mean, it’s all stuff no one can relate to today. Arranged marriages… and the language.”

Now, I need to point out that this coworker is a highly intelligent woman, with a master’s degree, and one who isn’t afraid of doing hard work. My other coworker and I agreed that the archaic-sounding English also put up a barrier to relating to the story and characters.

So we went on discussing books we had to read in school and didn’t like–Moby Dick, Old Man and the Sea, anything else by Hemingway. One of them didn’t care for Shakespeare, either. (Interestingly enough, my college-student daughter loooooooves Shakespeare, but somehow does not enjoy reading a lot of fiction). Yet both of my coworkers like to read. The one just couldn’t figure out where her daughter, who used to like it when younger, lost that joy. My daughter also used to enjoy more fiction when she was in elementary and middle school, but has moved on more toward nonfiction.

However, one thing that somehow never gets old in my family is bodily functions jokes. Yesterday, my dad emailed me a link to this video. Only the Brits could’ve come up with the fart noise heard across the English channel!

What I read this week: I started Smith’s Monthly #5. I’ve followed Dean Wesley Smith‘s blog for a long time, and especially enjoyed his “Writing in Public” blog series that he started almost a year ago. It was fun reading about a long-time pro’s writing process in putting together his own magazine, and the stories sounded good, so I subscribed. It’s been especially neat to see the end product after reading about his creation of the works. Dean writes in the tradition of the old pulps from the mid-20th century, so this isn’t deep, thought-provoking literature, but they are fun, entertaining stories. I’m about 1/4 of the way through the novel in this one–a science-fiction romance. The hero in it is totally yummy, not creepy-looking like the guy on the cover! (And has only two arms. :))

Sorry, no puppy picture today. I didn’t take any new ones this week. Puppy pics will be back, though!

ROW80 Update: I finished the scene I wanted to finish last week, and started sketching out this week’s scene. That went okay, until a character tossed a plot bunny (aka, new scene) at me. So I will be working on that this week, with the goal, once again, to complete a scene, whichever one it may be. My accountability buddy returned home from vacation, but did not lash me with a wet noddle because she didn’t get her scene done, either (vacation + kids = I could’ve predicted that). So back to work for both of us this week.

What do you think–does reading too many books we don’t enjoy in school kill the joy of reading? Which books did you have to read in school that you didn’t like–or what are some you did? Is the video something your family would laugh at? If you’re a writer, do you follow Dean Wesley Smith’s blog? (If not, you should! Great info there, both on the writing and publishing business). Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 8, 2014

We’ve all been there–somehow, a project that was supposed to be easy, turns out to be not so much. For us this week, that project came in the form of what we now refer to as the storm door from hell.

We needed a new storm door for a good couple of years now. Twenty years of Rottweilers banging on our back door had taken a toll on the one that came with the house, and it was literally falling apart. So my husband ordered a new one. It didn’t occur to him to ask me how to measure for it (in my previous life as a graphic artist, I designed advertising and related materials for the home improvement industry). It apparently didn’t occur to the salesman from whom he ordered the door to ask either, even though DH mentioned that he’d never done this before. The salesman assured my husband that it would be easy to install, and should only take a couple hours.

You can guess where this is going. Yup, DH got the hinge frame in, the door hung, and… it was too wide. He’d ordered a 32″ door, and we needed a 30″ one. Worse, it was a special order door, so there was no returning it, even if he hadn’t already drilled holes to mount it. He’d also chosen a very nice, top-of-the-line, most likely to be Rottweiler-resistant one, so it cost a bit too much to just toss or give away (or sell cheaply). The other thing is, when my husband decides to do something, he is nothing if not determined…

We ended up going back to the store for lumber, and bolting another frame onto the exterior of the existing one–fortunately, there was room inside the brick edge. There’s a gap around it, but it’s on the back of the house that few ever see.

But we weren’t done yet. Even after we got the frame right (this took several tries), that door fought us every step of the way, it seemed. My husband had to go buy a larger drill bit to install the handle, and even after that, the handle didn’t go on right. There was a big gap at the bottom of the door, and the expander was barely large enough (this had been the case with the old door, too). Because of the way we’d had to frame the door, my husband had to chisel out sections of the old door’s frame to install the brackets for the closers.

But finally, we got it in there, and it is a nice door.

What I read this week: I’m Too Young for This by Suzanne Sommers. Here’s the description from Amazon: Why Wait to Feel Good Again? If you’re in your thirties or forties, your body is changing, and so are your moods, sleep, health, and weight. Tired of being at the mercy of your hormones? Armed with the knowledge in this book, you don’t have to be. Perimenopause can be enjoyable if you know what to do. I’m Too Young for This! details how you can get your body and mind back on track, safely and without drugs.

I’ve read a few similar books, and this is definitely worth looking into (and I am). This book is written in conversational, easy-to-understand language, with a bit of humor too. Recommended for any woman in this age group or older, or the men who want to know what’s going on with them!

I am also reading a fantasy novel, but didn’t finish it, so will blog about it when I do.

ROW80 Update: Writing went well this week. I kept up with my workshop, figured out my ending, and wrote 1700 words. Still not a lot, word-count-wise, but exceeded my goal, so that’s a win! This week, I want to do the same, preferably more, but I don’t want to push it just yet.

And now for the obligatory puppy picture, because you can never have too much cute:

byebye

What about you–what have you taken on that should have been easy, but wasn’t? Have you read any good books lately? Do you think Isis is ready to get her driver’s license? If you’re participating in ROW80 or set your own weekly goals, how are you doing with them? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!