Far Away Settings

I am financially happy with where I am at. I can afford to buy books, to have Netflix, to have a car, and a to rent an apartment (though maybe I need to rethink this priority list). I don't want for anything essential, and I have a few things that are positively extravagant (I'm talking to you, Contessa the Roomba). I don't quite have the funds I would like when it comes to novel research, though. Specifically, I'm talking research for settings.

A Bit of Feminism Sneaks Up on Me

I have just finished watching, of all things, Private Benjamin. Yep, the '80s Goldie Hawn movie. It was a Netflix recommends and I had the evening open and nothing else to do, so I figured I'd give it a go.

The woman's hero's journey sure has come a long way! I often forget the work of the women who came before me, the women who brought equality in the workplace (almost) and who changed the way the country thought about women, who changed a woman's role from being something tied to someone else (a wife, a mother, a daughter) to just being a person in their own right.

Number One Novels Debut Authors of January 2009 Update

At the start of the year, finding new debut authors for NON was difficult. Partially it was because of the downturn in the debut releases around Christmas and the beginning of the year: the publishers try to get the debut authors out to the shelves in time for holiday buying, but by late December and early January, mostly only big-name authors are releasing novels. It makes business sense, even if it made it hard for me.

Writing as I Like

I've gotten back into the swing of writing after my wedding. Today makes the fourth day this week, and I did four days last week. That's a total of 19.5 pages of progress! Man, that feels good! I'm back to working an hour a day, and whatever I produce in an hour is what I'm happy with. Some days that's 2 pages, some days it's close to 4.

Making My Life Better, One Book at a Time

Have you ever had an author or an author's world affect your daily life? Have you ever read something and had it put you in a different frame of mind for the duration of the novel? I've had this work both ways. I've had books that are so intense, it feels like the rest of my life is dull by comparison and not worthy of my time. I've had books that get me so tense that it takes me a while to relax outside of them. And now, I've found an author that makes me feel more peaceful just from reading her books.

It's All About Harry

Netflix recently recommended The Dresden Files for me, and the name of the series tugged at my memory. After reading the synopsis, I immediately added the show to our queue. The Dresden Files is based on Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels, of which I'd read a total of one when we started watching the TV show. I liked the first a lot, but for some reason, I'd never gotten back to reading the next in the series. I took a look at my novel-tracking spreadsheet, and I was shocked to see that I read the first in the series in 2007, and apparently there have been 162 other novels that needed reading more than Fool Moon (book 2).

Familiar People Who Don't Exist

The other day Cody and I were having a conversation about a serial killer Cody likes, and I wondered aloud if an ex-spy we both know rather well would get along with him. We determined that they wouldn't get along at all, but the ex-spy would probably be best friends with a CIA operative we're both fond of who's currently on a long-term babysitting mission.