Inquiring minds want to know what my new novel is about, so I thought I would make a video to explain it. Maybe…
Don’t forget that Children of the Planes is available starting February 1st!
Tag: Reading
Children of the Planes
The Kindle Edition is Now Available for Pre-Order
Maybe it is his video game withdrawal or the fact that he is not used to being outside for such lengthy periods of time, but Zane finds himself under constant surveillance of an alien named Jax. Jax never stops talking, trying to convince Zane that it is able to travel to an Inner Plane of the universe where an Aged is King is destroying civilization to find his lost jewel. Jax has plenty of stories to share about how the children of the Inner Plane are fighting back:
An orphan forced work in the textile factories within the Walled Cities who learns to read.
A warrior girl of the Arikara Tribes that reunites her people with the Great Herd.
An elemental boy who rescues a baby bear from wolves and learns they share a special connection.
The youngest sea captain who crashes on an island that reveals memories that had been purposely taken from him.
Are these children real, or is Zane going crazy?
Book One of the Children of the Planes series.
In Memory of William Goldman
I am a child of The Princess Bride movie. The witty banter, the belief in true love… the passion for adventure.
It’s crazy that my literary week has been consumed with William Goldman only to hear that he passed away.
It wasn’t easy explaining that to the kids. I had them fall in love with an author only to have him pass away.
Last night we got to the part where the man in black is climbing up the cliff.. and the rope is cut! But dang if that doesn’t stop him! Up he climbs, the true spirit of perseverance. But who is he?
And being 10, she kept saying “Inconsiderate” instead of inconceivable. My constant corrections were driving her crazy, but this is something you have to get right! It’s these small details that stay with you forever.
Of course, I corrected her by saying “You keep saying that word! I don’t think it means what you think it does.” Which cracked me up immensely, but irritated my little young reader. And when she got to the part were Inigo says it, the look on her face was worth it…
Not knowing how the tale unfolds, my daughter mourns the death of Westley. She was upset that he died because Buttercup loved him. Westley will be reborn… he will live on and will continue both his own legacy but Goldman’s as well. As writers, isn’t that one of the finer ironies in life? Your characters will live again and again within the minds of the reader long after you’re gone.
Thank you William Goldman for helping to shape my childhood, but helping me pass on memorable moments to my children.
NaNoWriMo and Caffeinated Rebellious Adolescents
My son’s school is expanding, which kind of sucks because my property taxes went up, but it’s exciting because it looks like my kids now go to the school of the FUTURE. Seriously, I think they modeled the look of the school to be like a building on the Jetsons…only firmly cemented on Earth. Could you imagine the taxes needed to keep up a building that defies gravity?!
Now, I don’t know if this really makes sense, because you figure that if the school is expanding, so is the library, but they recently did a purge of books. I am proud to say that my book squirreling fanaticism was passed off onto the eldest, for he came home with more than his fair share of free books.
He had me in mind when he snagged one:
The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson.
coffee… social activism… rebellion… angsty characters..
Yup that about sums up my needs as a reader.
I will be making sure that every adolescent that crosses my path knows of this book’s existence. In a world that is so politically charged (and divided), this book inspires our next set of social justice activists. Now, the main character didn’t exactly set out to be a political revolutionary, but I’d wager neither do most social activists. It’s one of the consequences of seeing the need for change in the world you live in and realizing that no body is going to bring about that change but yourself.
More importantly, you don’t need to be older, smarter, or richer, in order to create change in the world. Young people are doing amazing things each day.
For example, The Stoneman Douglas Highschool Activists on creating safer gun control:
Malala Yousafzai advocating for women to receive equitable education:
Sophia Cruz on humane immigration practices.
It’s truly amazing whether you agree with their stances or not. Every day, no matter what your age or position in society, you have a voice!
And writing is a great tool for becoming empowered!
Stevenson wrote The Latte Rebellion during a NaNoWriMo challenge, which given that it is the Eve of NanoWrimo, should inspire those embarking upon National Novel Writing Month. I’m surprised that so many writers around me have not heard of this, so let me do a quick clarification. November (yikes that’s tomorrow) is National Novel Writing Month, and there is an organization called NanoWriMo that challenges writers to spend this month plugging away at a project. The goal is to get to 50,000 words, which is the smaller side of an average book. They have an online forum page, regional chapters who host events, web series, and word sprint mini challenges to keep writers engaged. They also host CampNanoWrimo events twice a year that allow you to set your own goals.
I find it incredibly useful to build up your writing muscles, but more importantly to NETWORK! Writing is incredibly isolating, and so it’s healthy to find a community of writers to support and to be supported by. I’ve found a lot of my online community by being a resident CampNaNoWriMo member. This will be my first official attempt at NanoWrimo itself. I have faith that if Stevenson can be successful, I can be as well!
You Are Weird, but That’s Why We Love You.
I would like to personally thank Felicia Day for her memoir, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). I know her from her internet show, The Guild, but my mom, and most everyone else, know her as Charlie from Supernatural.
I’ve always loved her because she outwardly owns how I feel on the inside – an awkwardly adorable nerd. I could tell right away that she was a kindred spirit.
When I saw her memoir was on audible, it became my summer jam. Audible books are great, especially memoirs being read by the person themselves, because it feels like you are having a conversation with them.
I finished Day’s book while recovering from eye surgery. The memoir felt like she was saying “Yeah, you crying tears of blood is a bit weird, but have you heard about how I was homeschooled?” <~ It was the perfect distraction to help me re-coop.
I thought my right eye was literally going to pop out of my socket. I essentially laid on the ground thanking gravity for its existence, because I felt it was the only thing keeping my eyeball on the inside of my head. It wasn’t paranoia; it was science!
I really identified with her needing to get that 4.0 in college. Sadly, in both community college and in my four year institution, I did not maintain it. And you know what, I’m still bitter. The classes that took me down were supposed to be easy and fun ~> Looking at you Digital Photography and Introduction to Mythology! Felicia’s ability to keep her 4.0 is proof that she deserves to be put on a pedestal that I will forever worship.
Comic from FowlLanguageComics.com
There were other gems found in that memoir, specifically the issue involving GamerGate. I admired Day’s incredible strength in defending all gamer women. I’ve been accosted myself a few times playing games, and as one who has taken numerous sociological classes with a focus on gender, I can attest that these conversations are not only vital but well over due.
I am, however, disappointed because she mentioned that a PDF should have been included with the audio book, yet I never received it. I missed out on glorious visual elements that would have fully engaged my experience with this memoir.
Also, never mind, a quick google search can save embarrassing whiney moments such as this…
Being partially blind for an entire week made me a bit crazy, but since the whole point of the novel is to own what makes you a weirdo, I feel comfortable sharing this with you all. Crazy and weird are practically synonyms right?
At the Beach with the Written World
Dear Beach,
Unfortunately, we need to temporarily break up. Fall is here, and our summer of slacktitude, although brief, will forever be on my mind when the leaves drown my grass, and I get diabetes from drinking too many Pumpking Spiced Lattes.
My last visit to you will be remembered fondly, even though there were nasty seaweed bits which got stuck in my daughter’s hair and had to be combed out. Your parting gift of sand in every nook and cranny of the car cannot be undone.
The book I began to read, and with a fanatical dedication will refuse to read further until I am in your embrace again, will be stored safely until the warm rays of the sun once again beat steadily upon the surface, causing seventy or higher weather. And if this doesn’t show my love for you, beach, nothing ever could. This book is amazing! It is the holy grail for anyone who loves to read, or like me has a passion for reading AND being nerdy.
I will dream of you when the frost coats the ground, especially of getting to see the wives of a submarine flock your piers to watch the first glimpse of their sailors’ return.
And lastly, I will wonder how our mutual friends the sea gulls are and what they eat when the concession stand is closed.
Bad Navy Guys and Awesomely Feral Navy Kids
Over a month ago, the kids and I went to this amazing summer fest that they have on the subbase.
They had paintball- which got super heated because you had grown men serving in the military either pairing up with or going against children. My son was accepted into this super alpha group of guys, and I now think he assumes being the in the Navy consists of drinking, cursing, and playing paintball.
Rock Climbing- the guys that manned this station were so great with kids. I saw more than a fair share of kids get halfway up, realize that heights could lead to impending doom, and freak out. These guys deserve hazard pay..
Inflatables galore- Most of these involved waiting in a line until an unspecified amount of kids cycled through. This one little kid was like NOPE. He barreled through the line and monkeyed his way up the slide and then proceeded to hide within the innards of this Ironman bouncehouse. My daughter was asked by the attendant to perform a special ops mission to retrieve said kid, which she agreed to do, but then didn’t. She left the kid to be feral for another 10 minutes before the kid came out his own. I can laugh about it, because it wasn’t my kid…
They also had a pretty cool archery set up, but most of the little kids couldn’t wield the bows, so they were natural targets for the bigger kids… <~ I’m really starting to see that Navy kids are both brutal and fierce creatures O.O
And fireworks: The best I had seen in years!
But what got this military spouse happy was the FREE STUFF! And imagine my extreme giddiness when my daughter, knowing that I am huge nerd for books, snagged me a free book by James Patterson.
I had given the book a good home, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to ever read it. Action Thrillers aren’t what I normally read. But then Alycia asked me if I would go to a book signing to meet Patterson. Naturally, you should read a book from an author before you meet them right? I remembered that I had one of his books! It felt like the book was free twice over!
Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend, but I was motivated to finish his book. Once you start an action thriller book, it’s really hard to put it down.
One thing I really liked about Patterson’s work was how he seamlessly combined three different crimes into one flawless experience. It wasn’t just a “ME SMASH ACTION TOGETHER,” but rather each crime had a key element that connected each to the next one. There was a continuity, so to speak, that kept up the pace of reading that, dare I say, made it enjoyable?
Like so enjoyable that I feel kind of sad that I didn’t start the series from the beginning? Patterson, what have you done to me?!
There is also some pretty hilarious irony in the fact that two of the main bad guys in this book are Naval Academy Officers, and this book was given out for free at a Navy Family event….
Although,
Can we take a second to look at this guy’s photo on the back of the cover. Is this really the photo they liked and felt should take up the entirety of the back of the book? Over the few days it took me to read, I felt like this guy was staring at me confused..
Like he was asking me how to fix his computer and couldn’t understand what I was talking about when I suggested turning it off and back on. He knows what that means, but can’t fathom why it works..
Or was that really the top I wanted to wear to work?
Another cup of coffee, Faith.. really?
Or it looked as if he was trying to figure out if a certain vampire was his son…Pattinson is obviously the British version of Patterson.. AND look, they both share that confused browed scowl! No DNA test required!
(Photo curtesy of http://www.robsessedpattinson.com/)
Ok, I think the connection is all in my head. I clearly just wanted a reason to browse 100’s of Pattinson photos….
