good books | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, July 21, 2015

I seem to be leaning toward a “blog on Wednesday” rather than Sunday lately, so let’s go with it. Sundays have been busy of late, so that’s the main thing. This past Sunday, I worked on formatting a print book for a friend, and by the time I finished, it was pretty late and I didn’t feel like blogging. The print book turned out nice, though!

That was the last of several days in a row devoted to friends–a good thing!

Mondays and Tuesdays are usually pretty quiet around here. Mondays, in particular, I spend most of the evening doing bookkeeping for my husband’s small business. Tuesday is for catching up other things, and maybe some writing!

Last week’s friend activities began with a special, four-legged friend in need–and no, not my dog Isis. No, this time it was another of our critters who needed attention–as in, a visit to the vet, for Sanddollar, our turtle.

Sanddollar is a Red-eared Slider, an aquatic turtle. She came to us six years ago in the form of a request to pet-sit, for one of my daughter’s friends.

The turtle was surprisingly inquisitive and interested in whatever we were doing when around her container, and DD and I quickly grew fond of her. At the time, she was maybe four inches long, and arrived in a plastic container barely large enough to turn around in. DH and I thought, “that can’t be right,” and did some research on the ‘net. It turned out Sanddollar needed a 40 gallon aquarium! Not to mention lights and a platform on which to bask. It also turned out that DD’s friend wasn’t really that into the turtle anymore, so the turtle stayed. She is an enthusiastic eater, and often swims to the side of the tank when someone comes in the room, and splashes to get our attention (and hopefully, a snack).

Except that for the past couple of months, her appetite has been diminishing, to the point where she hadn’t eaten anything–even her turtle pellets–for a week. She was also doing nothing but bask–which she’s always loved to do, but not to the point where she even slept on her basking platform. Reptiles can go a long time between meals, so in itself this wasn’t a big deal–but this wasn’t like Sanddollar.

So to the vet we went, where Sanddollar got poked, prodded, x-rayed, and injected with vitamins and antibiotics. Let me tell you, that was one ticked-off turtle! But we also went home with a new bag of a different brand of turtle pellets, and when we dropped some in Sanddollar’s tank a few hours later, she ate! And was also back to being her more active and curious self.

Oh, and I learned something new–how to give a turtle a shot! She needs a full course of antibiotics, so every three days, DD has to hold her and restrain her from biting (plastic cup works really well here), while I pry the turtle’s front leg out and give her the shot. Definitely a bit tricky!

The next few days were more standard fun with friends. I saw my writing group on Saturday, and then had one of my best friends from high school over for dinner. Then on Sunday, one of my best friends from college came over and went to lunch with us. The rest of the day was spent formatting that print book, for a good writing friend.

And now for the FREE: To spur interest in my Saturn Society books, my publisher has made the ebook version of Time’s Enemy, the first in the series, FREE on Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, and Google Play Books. Click the Buy Now button below for links. Barnes and Noble wasn’t yet free last time I checked, but will be soon. So if you’ve thought about trying my series (or maybe you are now? :D), now’s a great time to give it a read!

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Saturn Society Book 1

ISBN: 978-0983909729

One unwanted gift.
Tony Solomon never wanted to be a time traveler. But a brush with death leaves him a time traveler—and an unwilling initiate in the Saturn Society, a secret society of those with his ability.

One great wrong.
Tony vows to use his gift to prevent his daughter’s murder—if he could figure out how. Never mind that this violates the Society’s highest law, branding him an Enemy for a crime he has yet to commit. Determined to thwart the Society, he seeks help from Charlotte, the woman whose life he saved decades before he was born.

One chance to make things right…
Tony jumps to 1933 in search of answers, but lands on the wrong side of the Society, a fugitive on the run. Thrilled, yet terrified to see her childhood hero, Charlotte offers him sanctuary…and unexpected love. But Charlotte hides a terrible secret: loyal to the Society, she must bring to justice those who manipulate time for their own gain. By sheltering Tony, she faces a terrible choice: condemn the man she loves and to whom she owes her life, or deny her deepest convictions by helping him escape, and risk sharing his sentence.

Not your typical time travel romance, Time’s Enemy creates a wonderful blend of romance and science fiction, an exciting adventure through time rich in action, romance, and history.

More books in the Saturn Society series

What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #10 by Dean Wesley Smith. I read the short stories and serial segments last week, and this week, read the novel, Heaven Painted as a Poker Chip. It’s a story about ghosts, with a really unique treatment of the ghosts and their abilities. It also had next to nothing to do with poker (not a bad thing for me), other than it was mostly set in Las Vegas. This story is also available standalone. I’m really looking forward to reading more in the series. Highly recommended!

ROW80 Update: I finished the outline for the new novella, so that’s a win! For this week, the plan is to go through the beta readers’ notes on my upcoming WIP, and get the revisions made from at least one of them, preferably more.

What about you–what kind of pets do you have, and do you have any interesting stories to share? Learned anything new this week? Can you imagine giving a shot to a turtle? O.o How are you doing on whatever goals you may have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–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, July 8, 2015

Once again, I’m a day late and… never mind. Let’s just say last weekend was a busy one with the holiday and all, and I didn’t realize until almost midnight that I hadn’t yet put up my blog. And it was the start of Row80 Round 3! But now that the round has begun, I should be good with my usual routine.

I took the week before off, since there was no ROW80 to report to, and also because there wasn’t much to report.

It is exhausting to be so beautiful!

But the following week–at least the weekend–plenty was going on. For starters, Isis got another Goddess Treatment on Wednesday. When I got home from work, she was crashed on the couch! Such an ordeal, LOL!

We went to some friends’ house for a party on Friday night. These friends really go all out, with fantastic, catered food and major fireworks. We took Isis last year, and the fireworks didn’t bother her, so we figured she’d be fine this year, too.

WRONG. Of course, the fireworks started while DH was off talking to someone on the other side of the house, and Isis freaked! And of course, I was holding her leash, trying to keep her from running.

That wasn’t happening, and I ended up playing George Jetson until one of our friends joined me, right as Isis dragged me through a flowerbed.

I felt like Isis in the photo above by the time my husband got there to calm her and take over.

But otherwise, the party was fun.

We went to my brother’s on the actual holiday, where we had our typical (with him) very late cookout, then more fireworks. This time, we left Isis in the house. When we went to look for her, she was on my brother’s bed, in the farthest corner from where we were setting off fireworks! DH brought her outside, and she actually started to get acclimated to them by the time we left. Then again, our fireworks were nowhere near as big or loud as our friends’ the night before.

The main thing I’ve been working on lately is to get my newsletter signup system in place. Yes, I have one! A few of you may have even signed up for it, eons ago, and have yet to receive a newsletter. That will soon change. If you’re not already on the list, sign up and get a free ebook of “Time’s Holiday,” my Saturn Society short story prequel. If you’re already on the list and haven’t read “Holiday,” just let me know and I’ll be glad to send it to you.

What I read this week: Son of the Moonless Night by C.D. Hersh. This is the third book in their Turning Stone series, which features a very different take on shapeshifters. Also an excellent follow-up to the first two, as well as a great lead-in for a fourth book, which I am looking very forward to!

ROW80 Update: It’s time to set goals for Round 3! Most of mine are stuff that didn’t get done last round. But even so, I still accomplished a decent bit. So let’s hope for more of that here. This is what I plan to do:

Work with my publisher to get Time’s Enemy made free for promotional purposes.
Make changes suggested by my beta readers that I agree with on my upcoming release, and submit it to my publisher (it’s already contracted, so no worries about acceptance).
Make changes suggested by my editor, and approve for publication!
Dig back in to my next Saturn Society novel that’s about half finished, revise the outline, and complete the first draft.
Send out newsletter once a month (maybe twice if I have major news).

Not ambitious at all, huh? 🙂 Actually, this stuff should be quite doable if I don’t get sick, have a family member injured, or anything like that.

This week, I am helping my publisher get my existing Saturn Society books reformatted (so they’re prettier and work better on a variety of devices), and re-published at the various retailers. I also want to review my beta readers’ comments on my upcoming work, and start revisions on that.

What about you–if you’re in the U.S., did you have a fun Fourth of July (Or July First, if you’re in Canada)? If you’re participating in ROW80, what are some of your goals for this round? And even if you don’t do ROW80, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 14, 2015

This week went a bit more slowly than last, as far as getting things done. It’s been a bad one for headaches, and also the second week of the month, which is the busiest in terms of bookkeeping work for my husband’s business. Although, when I look over what I did get done, it’s more than I thought.

I was hoping to finish decluttering in the kitchen; that didn’t happen. I did get three more cabinets done, leaving two to go, plus the drawers. I also did the freezer last Sunday. So that’s something. It actually wasn’t bad, except one of the door drawers’ bottom was covered in a greenish-purple Popsicle sludge LOL. Didn’t even know that was there–it’s been a long time since we’ve bought Popsicles! But it’s done now, and great to be able to find stuff!

Isis had more play dates, too, but no new photos.

What I read this week: Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode 12 by Athena Grayson. Wow, what a fantastic finale to the series! Full of surprises, and some I’d guessed, though there were also plenty of questions still unanswered. This has been such an awesome read, one of the best I’ve read this year (if not longer). I’m honored to have been the cover designer for these. I’m so looking forward to the next season!

ROW80 Update: This is the last full week of Round 2. I did get that third book formatted, but not until today, so it doesn’t quite count. And I did not get any of the mailing list stuff done. But still progress, so that’s good. This week, I want to finish the website and mailing list stuff. When it’s ready, I’ll announce it here first!

What about you–ever have one of those weeks where things just don’t get done? Or one where you feel like you didn’t accomplish much, but when you really think about it, you did? Read anything good lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, May 11, 2015

This has been a good week for the writing–enough to make up for the last, lousy week. I spent about two hours on Sunday trying out the Pomodoro method, as suggested in Write Better, Faster. One thing I liked about that book was that it also gave suggestions on applying the efficiencies therein to other aspects of writing beyond the first draft: outlining, editing, and publishing tasks like cover design and formatting.

Monday was Dog’s Nite Out at the ice cream shop. Isis was so eager for her doggy cup that she almost launched herself into the window when we went to order!

Isis orders ice cream

She also saw her Rottie friend there who we met last month:

Isis and rottie

And she made some new friends, a pair of Irish Wolfhounds, and an Ibizan (in back, in the photo below) who was also named Isis!

Isis makes new friends

What I read this week: Blind Temptation, by Stacy McKitrick. I was mostly focused on my own writing, so have not yet finished this book, but close! This is a really different vampire story in that the vampire is a girl who was turned as a teen, so that’s what she looks like, even though she’s over 300 years old. The hero is blind–a totally capable and lovable guy, and a nice change from the typical “alpha” male that typically is found in vampire books. How his sightlessness works with the romance was well-done, and effectively demonstrates the theme. It is book 3 of a series, but these each stand alone and do not need to be read in order. If you like vampire romances but enjoy something a bit different, definitely get this one! Disclaimer: this was published by my publisher–hey, they have great taste! 🙂 But I bought my copy.

ROW80 Update: My goal was to finish writing in the revisions for three chapters–I did five and finished the book! So this week’s goal is to type in the changes, and complete this draft. This coming weekend will be a busy one, so I’m hoping to get 10 chapters. That may be a bit ambitious, but with the Pomodoro method to help me stay focused, is doable, I hope!

What about you–have you ever tried, or at least heard of–the Pomodoro technique, and if so, how did it work for you? Have you made any new friends this week, in person or otherwise? What would you do if that was looking in at you through an ice cream shop window? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing or not? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, April 19, 2015

This has been one of those weeks where not a lot has been going on, and… not a lot of writing, either. Not really any reason for it other than just slacking. One thing I did was meet with my fiction writers group on Saturday.

It is always fun to see my writing friends, and one thing we talked about was our writing process. As one might expect, there were as many, or more, different processes as there were writers in attendance. Some of us outline; some don’t, some do sometimes and not others. One has recently found that her process lends itself much better to flash fiction (very short stories, of 1000 words or less). One friend writes groups of scenes, but not in order otherwise, and has to figure out what stays, what goes, and in what order. “I would not recommend this process to anyone,” she says. One friend has a different process for every book – some were written with no outline and just an idea; others he wrote with a very detailed outline. Still others fell somewhere in between.

I am for the most part an outliner. However, my outlines are not very detailed, and there are always gaps in them. The gaps are where cool stuff shows up, a place for ideas that will make the story better. Not that I slavishly follow what I’ve outlined, either–with each book, I find that the outline is more and more just a guideline, and can (and should) be deviated from whenever a better idea occurs to me. This is where I really take issue with people who say outlining is not creative; I would say it just isn’t in their case. It’s especially not un-creative when I start by simply writing everything I know about the story, in a sort of free-form, free-flow brain dump where I never fail to find surprises in what comes out, and what I do know.

Last night, my husband was out of town, and you’d think I’d have gotten a lot done. Nope. It was really strange when I went to go to bed–I couldn’t find Isis anywhere! I knew I’d just let her in, and looked all over the house, most places twice. How easily can a Rottweiler hide? Then I heard a scratch on the patio door, and there she was, outside on the second story deck! I hadn’t seen her out there and had shut the door. Boy was I glad to find her! I was also glad to see DH when he got home this morning. Isis certainly was, as you can see here:

Isis hottub

What I read this week: Huntress of the Star Empire, Episodes 9 & 10 (yes, I get them in advance! :)) by Athena Grayson. All I can say is wow! This series keeps getting better and better. Even better than that, she’s informed me there will be a Season 2, though that’s a way off. Which is just as well, because I just finished the covers for Episodes 10-12. They are fun to do, but Athena knows I can use a break!

ROW80 Update: As you can tell from above, nothing to report. So same primary goal as last week: finish the current chapter.

What about you–did you do anything fun this week? Have you had nice weather where you are? Ours has been great, maybe that’s why I’m slacking! If you write, are you an outliner, or a just-sit-down-and-writer? And how are you doing toward whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 15, 2015

As you can guess from the title, nothing major has happened this week, but there were several other things going on. For starters, we’re finally getting some nice weather here in southwest Ohio, with some sunny and some rainy days in seasonal temperatures in the 40s and 50s. I especially love the first few days when it’s warm enough to drive with my windows down! We had two or three of those last week, and more to come this week. It’s also been good weather for this:

Isis ball 2

…although the field in the photo has been kind of soggy with the snowmelt and recent rain, so not too much throwing the ball in there yet. My husband is a good, devoted dog person who will walk Isis no matter how cold–it has to be a blizzard, a torrential downpour, or a foot of snow on the ground before he skips the dog walk. I, however, am a fair weather walker, but this week has been nice enough even for me. In fact, that’s probably what I’ll do this afternoon.

My husband got Lasik surgery yesterday, and has nice, clear vision now. Well, at least in one eye–the other isn’t quite there, but he called the doctor and goes for a follow-up tomorrow. The doctor didn’t sound too concerned, so here’s hoping that’s a good sign. Not wearing glasses will be a nice little change for my husband.

I also went to a write-in yesterday with some local writing friends and my new laptop that came last week. It worked like a champ, and connected to the library’s wifi right away! I got half of a new scene written, plus enjoyed some social time with my writer friends.

My other main focus in writing is an online marketing course I’ve been going through this week. That’s been taking a lot of time, but good stuff that I think I can actually use. To that end, I’ve been making some small changes in my website. Most of those have been on a copy that just runs on my computer, but if you look at my Books page, you can see one change I’ve implemented here. My next task is to make a more mobile-friendly version of my site.

What I read this week: I finished Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode Four, by Athena Grayson. Another thrill-ride that has me looking forward to the next installment! This episode features a new cover design I did for Athena a couple of weeks ago, too. After finishing that, I read the short stories and serial segments in Smith’s Monthly #9, and started on the novel therein, which I’ll discuss next week.

ROW80 Update: I did not make as much progress here as I’d hoped, partly due to spending more time on the marketing workshop, and partly because one scene I needed to revise actually was three scenes, two of which were new ones I had yet to write. I got both done, but along with those, only revised two chapters, in addition to one more new scene I did know I needed. So this week, I have one more new scene to write, and would like to get the rest of the revisions done for two more chapters. I also want to get through one more segment of the marketing workshop. I have a couple of things going on later this week, so that may be pushing it–we’ll see!

What about you–are you getting any nice weather in your part of the world? Any recent changes in your life, big or small? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing or not? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 8, 2015

No, not mine. Well, not my birthday, but I did get myself a present, and it came this week: a new laptop. I do most of my writing on a big ol’ desktop computer (actually, I have two–one for writing new words, and one for everything else), but the laptop is nice when I want to go somewhere to write, take on vacation, etc. For this, I had a netbook that I bought in 2009. But the netbook was really showing its age, and last time I took it to a write-in, took so long to start up, find Wifi, and find my flash drive, half my writing time was gone.

laptop-inspiron-3000-magnum-pdp-module-1 So I came home and ordered a fun little 2-in-1, a laptop that can fold back on itself and function as a tablet. It weighs the same as the netbook, and cost a bit more (but still very reasonable), but wow is it faster! And so much fun to use both with the keyboard, and as a tablet at other times. I now know why I hardly ever used the netbook–it was too slow and un-functional. This computer is useful for when I’m sitting on the couch and want to look something up, or just surf the net. Even better, this particular computer was on sale at the time, and came with a free 7″ tablet. Can’t beat that!

And birthdays? There were two, and both fell on the same day, March 4th. One was my Great-aunt Marie (yes, I’m named after her), who turned 98. No photos, because she’s always hated having her picture taken! My family went to her house and had a nice, quiet celebration with her and her grandson, who lives with and takes care of her.

The other birthday was our dog Isis! She turned one year old. Now she’s no longer a puppy! Of course, she hasn’t looked like a puppy in a long time. Isis got a trip to the pet store, where she got to pick out several squeaky balls and got a box of treats. She also went to the vet to be weighed: 88 lbs. of cute! We took a photo to compare this year to right after we got her, with the same toy:

IsisYear1-Year2.-smjpg

What I read this week: I finished Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode Three. Wow, what a ride this story is turning out to be! And it works perfectly as a serial–each episode concludes its own action, but ends with a cliffhanger or big question that definitely makes you want the next one ASAP. I guess it doesn’t annoy me because I expect it–and that’s a big part of being an author: fulfilling reader expectations. This one does it all: a fascinating world, with complex characters that we learn a bit more about with each episode. If you like science fiction with some romance mixed in, get it now!

ROW80 Update: My goal was to get edits written in for 7 chapters this week. I knew that was a bit ambitious, and it turned out I was right. I got five chapters written in, but the last two turned out to need more work than I anticipated. So I’m going to back down to five chapters this week. Those five chapters include two completely new scenes, so I’m going to shoot for getting everything else done during the week, then getting those done on Saturday, when I attend another write-in. At least I know my computer won’t take 1/2 hour just to start up!

What about you–have you gotten yourself a present lately? Even if it’s something small–mine usually aren’t this “big.” Any recent celebrations, or ones coming up? Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might be working on, whether writing or otherwise? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 15, 2015

On Monday night, I participated in a panel discussion at the Dayton Metro Library on romance novels and writing, along with Athena Grayson, Stacy McKitrick, Catherine Castle, and C.D. Hersh. There wasn’t a huge crowd, but the ones who did come asked some very good questions, and it was a lot of fun! Some examples of their questions, with my answers:

Q. Why and when did you start writing?

A. I’ve always loved to read, and decided to write when I read a really lousy romantic suspense, and figured I could do better. But I’ve always wanted to write. I used to tell myself stories to go to sleep at night (maybe that’s why I don’t sleep well to this day), and started actually writing in high school, and took a creative writing minor in college. It just never occurred to me to actually write for publication until I read that bad romantic suspense novel back almost 20 years ago.

Q. Where does “write what you know” come into fiction writing?

A. Most of it boils down to universal, human emotions and experiences, that don’t matter whether you’re in Dayton, Ohio today, or in the past somewhere else, or in a fantasy world, or in outer space. Some of it is “write what you want to know” and research it. But it’s not a matter of limiting oneself to writing about one’s own, actual experiences and knowledge, because for most of us, that would make for some pretty boring fiction! They also asked us to each read a passage from one of our books where we illustrate this, which was fun to hear and do.

Q. My daughter writes, and has written two complete novels, but struggles with revision because she hates it. Any advice?

A. (Athena and I answered this one in stereo, LOL) “Then don’t!” We directed her to Dean Wesley Smith’s website. Smith encourages writers to trust their own voice and only revise if required to by an editor, a la Heinlein’s Rules. Instead, just pass a work on to a trusted reader, and address any problems they find, then go to a copy editor and proofreader if one is self-publishing. This writer’s mom was really happy to hear that revision is not necessarily a must for all writers.

One more question: why does my dog always stuff her toys under the furniture (aka the ball graveyard)?

Of course, the panel was time to coincide with the week of Valentine’s Day, which brought up its own questions from my husband a couple days earlier:

DH: So, what do you want for Valentine’s Day?

Me: Uh… same thing you got me last year?

DH: Good, because that’s what I want too!

Then we both had a good laugh, because we don’t get each other anything!

Which was just as well, because I spent Valentine’s Day–at least a couple hours of it–with my writing friends. It was writers’ group day, and we had a “write-in.” Or more accurately, a couple hours of socializing alternating with some actual writing. Always great fun!

What I read this week: Ghostly Liaison, by Stacy McKitrick. This was a really fun and different contemporary romance/romantic suspense, featuring a matchmaking ghost. The ghost just wants the heroine’s help gaining justice for her own death so she can move on, but in doing, ends up helping the heroine do some moving on of her own. While it’s a light read, it still deals with some emotional issues such as moving on after personal loss and accepting love. While it does have a paranormal element, it’s not heavy-handed, and this book is something I think readers who don’t normally read paranormal would still enjoy. Highly recommended!

Huntress1 I also mentioned last week that I designed a cover for another writing friend. Well, as it turns out, Huntress of the Star Empire Episode One, by Athena Grayson, will release this week! It’s a science fiction romance, about a female bounty hunter who’s after a psychic–which is illegal in their star system. Athena saw that this story lent itself well to the serial format, and has good break points throughout, so she is releasing this as a serial, with one episode coming out each week for the next twelve weeks. I’m about halfway through the first episode (I got a preview copy, :D), so will blog about it next week.

ROW80 Update: I’m still making progress on my revision, though not as quickly as I’d like. I realized one reason this book has been challenging is because it takes place in two historical time periods, not contemporary and one historical time, as my other books have. So there’s more research. And I tend to leave blanks and leave these details to fill in at the revision stage. This helps me do only the research I need, but still takes time on the back end. So with the panel on Monday night, and a lot of paperwork to do on Tuesday, that cut my week short, and I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped. This week I need to collect all the tax info for our accountant, but I don’t have anything else going on (that I know of), so I’m going to shoot for getting two chapters revised.

What about you–do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? If so, what did you do? If you’re a writer, what would your answers be to the questions our library guests asked? And whether or not you’re a writer, how are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 25, 2015

It has mostly been a quiet week around here. I’ve been making good progress on my writing (more on that below), and my daughter went back to university today. Isis has also been quiet and laid back, so we were starting to leave her out of her crate when going out for a short time, like to dinner. That worked out fine a few times, until last Sunday night she decided to chew up the AC adapter to the daughter’s Nintendo WiiU system.

We were not amused, and Isis got a good scolding. After that, she went upstairs to pout, as dogs do oh so well:

Naughty Isis

But within a few days, she’d made up with DD, and even allowed her to use her as a lapdesk while she watched the turtle:

Isis lapdesk

For DD’s last day before going back to school, one of my friends from college and her partner came over for our annual belated Christmas get-together. We always do this a few weeks after Christmas, so we can get each other stuff we didn’t get–great fun! Afterward, we spent a few hours at Carillon Historical Park, which is the place to go for Dayton history and to see what’s so cool about it. They live in Columbus and had never been there, and my husband hadn’t since he was a kid, and everyone had a great time. Then we went to dinner, which also turned out to be something special as it was Restaurant Week, which was a great chance to try something new and tasty at the Hawthorn Grill. Everything was wonderful, and we all went home stuffed (and with several take-home boxes)!

What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #8, which included the novel Life of a Dream. A really enjoyable issue, especially with the way the same character from the first short story ended up being one of the main characters in the novel, which took place some 15-20 years later. Amazing how a story that takes place in a nursing home can end up so positive and uplifting, and also very entertaining! Parts of the novel also took place there as well, and the same is definitely true for it. What’s interesting is reading it after reading about his process in writing it. This novel actually started out as four connected short stories, and it was obvious when reading it. Not in a bad way, and maybe it wouldn’t have been so much if I hadn’t known that. Just interesting, that’s all.

ROW80 Update: My goal last week was to do an overall scene review, then begin the markup for revision. The scene review went quickly, since I did a lot of notes on that after writing each scene, and I also grouped them into chapters. As for the markup, I tend to write fast first drafts (yeah, I know, this one didn’t feel fast, but it was), and jot notes where I need to fill in some research detail or whatnot. There are a lot of these since it’s a time travel, but one where the time travel is between two historical periods, not one contemporary and one (or more) historical, with one main character from each. So I have to make sure both time periods are accurate, and both characters say things appropriate to his/her time period. The good news is I got through 7 chapters, so making good progress there. So this week’s goal is to get the markup done through Chapter 20, or the end of the book (Chapter 25) if I’m extra-productive.

What about you–have you tried anything new or fun lately, whether it’s someplace to go, or something to eat, or something else? Read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing-related or not? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 18, 2015

This has been a mostly uneventful week, one of those that we all need every now and then (at least I do, preferably more often). It started out with me adding a plugin to my website that will enable users to get notification of subsequent comments on a post by checking a box, so now if you want to do that, you can! This plugin came with a bunch of other stuff I spent way too much time messing with, my favorite means of procrastination. Oh well.

One thing I did do a lot of–more than usual, it seemed–was throw the ball to Isis:

OK, I brought you the ball. Now what?

I do not care if you happen to be eating. Throw the ball, now!

It has been one of those weeks where I feel like I was busy for most of it, yet I don’t feel like I got a lot done. So for now, I’ll move on to What I read this week. I finally got around to trying out a New Adult romance. I’d been wanting to try reading one of these for a while, but have always been put off because they are almost always in first person present tense, which I detest. Once in a great while, I can get past it with a great voice or really gripping story, but most of the time, it just serves to remind me that no, I’m not actually there with the narrator as the story events occur, and takes me out of the story immediately. So when I ran across this one on a blog, and for some reason decided to check it out on Amazon, I found that it was in past tense, and wanted to do a happy dance. I didn’t, because I was at work, and was also too tired to do any thing more than chair-dancing. But the premise looked interesting, so I bought it.

AtAnyPrice The book was At Any Price by Brenna Aubrey. This is a book that big NY publishers offered a six-figure deal for at auction, that the author turned down to publish independently. And it is easy to see why they’d want it–it had an interesting premise (college student auctions off her virginity to pay for med school and mom’s medical bills) and a voice that did a good job pulling me in (in past tense, thank you!). It also has a very current feel, with obvious appeal to younger readers (main character is getting ready to graduate college, is into gaming as a hobby, and blogs about the latter). Like in YA, these characters did some stupid impulsive things, or sometimes refused to talk about stuff they should–things that seem obvious to those of us their parents’ age, but can remember engaging in the same kinds of stupid at their age. I liked these things, because it kept the book interesting and helped make the characters real, but what made it really shine was the emotion.

This book was in first person, which I’m normally not fond of in romance because I like to see both characters’ points of view. However, it totally worked in this book, because a lot of the conflict came from the female protagonist not knowing what the guy was thinking.

One thing that surprised me was to find that the follow-on to this book is about the same couple. It was surprising because At Any Price had a very satisfying ending, and felt very complete with no unanswered questions, to the point I’m not particularly compelled to get the second book. But I very well may anyway, just because the emotion was so well done, and to see where the author goes with it. My book Time’s Fugitive follows the same couple as its predecessor Time’s Enemy, but while Enemy ends satisfyingly (I hope), it definitely leaves some unanswered questions. At Any Price is free on Amazon right now, so if you’re curious as I was, this is a good time to give it a read!

ROW80 Update: My goal last week was to go through my WIP and find all the notes about where I needed to add or change something in another scene, and move those notes to where the changes would need to go. It didn’t feel like I did much, but I did get that done (and identified two more new scenes the book will need). This week, I want to go through the whole book and make sure each scene holds together (protagonist, antagonist, conflict, setting, and something that changes), and then begin the in-depth markup of the first three scenes, more if possible.

What about you–how was your week? Have you ever read a New Adult book, whether romance or another genre, and if so, how was it? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

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