Jasper Fforde and the Eyre Affair

I think I'm ready to talk about Jasper Fforde now. Well, not just about him, although I'm sure he's a lovely person, but about his character Thursday Next and her first novel, The Eyre Affair. My first beef with this book is the flap, but since Mr. Fforde had nothing to do with that, I'll go ahead and leave it alone.
Most of you already know how I feel since I've been spouting opinions since I started the book a week ago. Now that I've finished it, I've got more to say.
My overall feeling: the plot was good. It was original, it struck a cord (chord? what is the origin of this phrase?) with all readers who enjoy classic literature, and it ended well. As for character, I loved Thursday. She was the regular tough girl with a gun without feeling like a cliche. She had depth and a good reason to want to shoot things, but at the same time, she didn't want to shoot things.
But I cannot get over how poorly this tale was told. The first line begins, "My father had a face that could stop a clock." Forwith, her father keeps popping in, stopping clocks all over the place. But is her father relevant to the story? No. Does he give her a bit of insight that gives her a clue to the antagonist's whereabouts? No. Does he embody this lovely sub-plot that is a metaphor for everything else that's going on in the story? I don't think so. He's just there, asking random and irrelevant questions.
For the first twenty or so pages, my thought process was on a repeated loop of, "What the heck is going on?" Fforde does a great job of not explaining that he's in this reality. Well, I guess the dodo bird kind of gave it away, but it is not that easy to just jump into an alternate reality like that and figure out what's going on. Then for the next hundred or so pages my loop became, "Oh, this is where the story begins." But it never did. That frustrated me. I would get really into what was going on, and then it turned out it was just a seguey into the real plot. Louis L'Amour says, "Start in the middle of the action." It's even a term, in media res. It doesn't mean start in the middle of one action, then make it turn out that that action isn't really important to the story. The actual point of the book, the "Eyre Affair" as it were, doesn't even really begin until over halfway through the book. Granted, I liked the point of the book, and as aforementioned, I thought it ended really well, but I didn't like taking forever to get there.
The last thing I'm going to comment on, and to me the most irritating, is the mechanics of the book. Mr. Fforde proves that he has a great knowledge of Point of View through his discussion of Jane Eyre and how it is written in the first person. Why, then, does he break these rules in his own book? Maybe he thought it was funny. I did not. There's nothing funny about a first person book suddenly switching to third person and telling us things that the main character couldn't possibly know. Dramatic irony is not an option in first person narrative. (Unless it's like Forrest Gump.)

If you have read this book and agree or disagree with me, feel free to comment. I welcome discussion. I would like to like this book. I really would. Convince me that it's worth it.

Janus at the door: looking behind and ahead

I thought now would be a good time to look back at where I was a year ago in my life. Well, weather-wise, we have seen some definite changes. There was no blizzard on Christmas, and it has hardly gotten below freezing this winter. Global Warming must be true! In more good news, my house is already tree-less. We might have hung on to our Christmas tree longer than recommended last year.
My resolutions for 2010 were as follows (verbatim a blog last January):

finish writing on one novel.
read more books this year than I did last year. (count for 2009: 28)
get my house more organized. a place for everything, and everything in its place.
clean the house more often.
read more Greek!

Did I succeed in these goals?
1. I sort of/not really finished writing one novel. I wrote "the end" on Into the Flames, but I skipped a lot of plot development, and Bracken and John's characters have changed dramatically. This year my resolution is to fill in these gaps, straighten out the boys' roles, and get a good second re-write in.
2. In 2010 I read 37 books, so that I definitely succeeded in. This year my goal is 55.
3. Eh, what is a "place" really? I think my house is more organized than it was a year ago, but there are still a few things looking for homes.
4. I have no idea. I don't really record how often I clean the house. So we'll go with yes.
5. I did not read more Greek in 2010 unless you count the few words that "scholarly" authors tried to teach me while I was reading their books at work. And I knew all those words already. Because I took two years of Greek.

Anyway, here's my goals for 2011, so I can hold myself accountable and what-not.
1. Be an awesome Consortium artist! THis sounds vague, but that's because I'm not quite sure what all I'm going to be required to do as the year progresses. But don't worry, my spreadsheet and I are completely ready to aid and abet Aaron and all his Consortium needs! My January list is already full.
2. As aforementioned, really work hard on finishing Into the Flames.
3. Improve myself as an editor. Not because I'm bad right now, but because we can always find ways to improve ourselves.
4. As aforementioned, read 55 books. I picked this number because that's how many Mara read in 2010, and I can't have her beating me.

And that's all I have for you today. I'm about fifteen pages away from finishing my first novel of 2011; but I'll write more on that later.

List of Books

Oops, I forgot to add the entire list of books. Here it is.

01. Heat Wave –“Richard Castle” (1-3)
02. About a Boy –Nick Hornby (1-8)
03. Pirate Latitudes –Michael Crichton (1-10)
04. Rebecca—an American Girl (1-15)
05. Pretties –Scott Westerfeld (1-17)
06. Anthem –Ayn Rand (1-25)
07. Rest You Merry –Charlotte MacLeod (1-29)
08. Specials –Scott Westerfeld (2-9)
09. Ice Palace –Edna Ferber (2-15)
10. The Hand of Mary Constable –Paul Gallico (2-20)
11. One for the Money –Janet Evanovich (2-24)
12. The Forgotten Garden –Kate Morton (3-4)
13. The Secret Life of Bees –Sue Monk Kidd (4-25)
14. Beastly –Alex Flinn (5-10)
15. Mistborn –Brandon Sanderson (5-23)
16. Love of Seven Dolls –Paul Gallico (6-27)
17. A Kiss in Time –Alex Flinn (7-17)
18. Wuthering Heights –Emily Bronte (7-28)
19. The 10 p.m. Question –Kate de Goldi (8-8)
20. The Nanny Diaries –McLaughlin and Kraus (8-15)
21. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson 1) –Rick Riordan (8-16)
22. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson 2) –Rick Riordan (8-24)
23. Electric Literature #2 –et al. (8-25)
24. The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson 3) –Rick Riordan (8-28)
25. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson 4) –Rick Riordan (8-29)
26. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson 5) –Rick Riordan (8-30)
27. Jane Eyre –Charlotte Bronte (9-6)
28. The Hunger Games –Suzanne Collins (9-15)
29. The Catcher in the Rye –JD Slinger (9-28)
30. Gods Tomorrow –Aaron Pogue (9-30)
31. Light of Eidon –Karen Hanock (10-6)
32. Portal –Imogen Rose (10-19)
33. The Blue Sword –Robin McKinley (10-30)
34. 100 Cupboards –ND Wilson (11-26)
35. Elantris –Brandon Sanderson (12-8)
36. Code Blue –Richard L. Mabry (12-16)
37. The Lost Hero –Rick Riordan (12-29)

Books of 2010 in review

have read a total of thirty-seven new novels during the year of 2010. The entire list is printed below for your perusal, with the numbers at the end of each being the date I finished them. But I’m only going to talk about some of them here—the ones that impacted me the most. That’s not to say that the others had no impact on me at all, just that I have to pick and choose in this review.

First, let’s talk about Anthem. It’s a short book, barely a hundred pages long, and yet it impacted me even more than Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World. This dystopian novelette is based on the theory that our society will digress if we begin to see ourselves as a collective unit rather than unique individuals. I haven’t read Ayn Rand’s longer works, but I can see how this theory could prove to be true if put into action. So much of a child’s development stems from competition. It’s so much easier to be selfish and push yourself to be better than your siblings or your classmates rather than take yourself out of the picture and strive to make others better. If you’re working for someone other yourself, the motivation is gone. Anthem is similar to Brave New World in that these people have been conditioned since birth to believe in the greater cause, to squash that individuality and creativity within them. And that is much scarier than the idea that Big Brother is always watching.

The only thing I have to say about Specials is that it made me regret wasting my time on the entire Uglies series. The other books were thoughtful and interesting to read, as well as packed with some nice action. This one just made me want to throw it across the room and slap someone’s face.

Let’s talk about the Bronte sisters for a moment. Bella says in Twilight that she reads Wuthering Heights for fun when the rest of her life is dismal and depressing because Edward is not paying enough attention to her. This leads me to believe that Stephenie Meyer knows even less about Wuthering Heights than I did before I read it. Nobody in their right minds would read Wuthering Heights for fun, especially not some shallow girl who has nothing better to do than moon over some random guy she hasn’t even met yet. The story is told in this stupid flashback sequence like an awkward, contrived movie, there is no protagonist because all the characters are insipid and whiny, and Heathcliff isn’t even dashing or witty to make up for how horrible he is to everybody else. At least Edmond Dantes ruins everyone’s lives with style. Heathcliff is just a jerk. So anyway, since I’d heard more people talk about Wuthering Heights than Jane Eyre, I figured that meant it was the better of the two novels. I don’t know what possessed me to attempt Jane Eyre based on that reasoning, but I am glad I did. Jane is a truly likeable character, and Mr. Rochester rivals Mr. Darcy in witty banter (although not in chivalry, sadly). And their relationship wasn’t the only thing driving the story, either. I loved reading about Jane’s childhood at the orphanage, the encounter with the gypsy woman, and even her awkward relationship with St. John and his sisters. The ending was a little corny, but the rest of the book made it worth it.

The Percy Jackson series obviously was a big deal to me, as I read all five books in less than a month. I think I finally noticed them because of the movie release, and of course, I went to the text first to see what all the hype was about. Now, when it comes to writing, plot, and character development, Rick Riordan is no JK Rowling. And yet that doesn’t stop me from greedily flipping the pages of his novels, desperate to find out what happens next. I love the way he re-invents mythology, and I especially love the modern characterization of the gods. Poseidon wear a fisherman outfit. Ares is a tough biker dude. And even though Riordan makes sure that there is plenty of mythology being retold in each book, the overarching plot still is different and exciting to read. I’d recommend it to any one who is a young adult fantasy fan, and even some people who are not. My final book of this year is another Riordan, The Lost Hero, which I think I actually liked even better than his first series just because the main character, Jason, is way cooler than Percy.

Elantris is worth noting because I loved it so much more than Mistborn. Sean went on and on about how great Brandon Sanderson was, and so I read Mistborn, but I couldn’t really get into it. Now I think that it is primarily due to his main character in that series. I loved both the male and female main characters in Elantris and also the world, the magic system, and the plot. I was gripped until the end. I had no idea how it was going to work out, but I had undying faith in Raoden’s abilities to figure it all out. I will be reading more Sanderson from here on out.

I also have to give a nod to a book that didn’t make it on this list—Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I’m ashamed to say that I thought I could make it through the unabridged version, and I couldn’t. Thirteen hundred pages is just a bit too much for me. Although it wasn’t really the size of the book that daunted me, overall, it was the amount of the book that was dedicated to the history of France. Yes, the novel is about France. That is why I chose to read the unabridged version, so I could get at what Victor Hugo was trying to say about his country. But all I got was an extremely long and boring history lesson. It was during the hundred-or-so-page description of the Battle of Waterloo that I knew I was never going to finish.

The Young Adult Series Conundrum

It bothers me how many young adult novels are part of a series. I guess this is great for you if you’ve been in the young adult section for years now, perusing its shelves with eager anticipation as each now tome is produced. You know which authors you like and you know that what they come out with next will be worth your time and money. You know which ones are bad and to avoid. But I’ve been out of the book scene for four years, and am only just now daring to inch myself out there to see what’s available. After years of assigned reading and another year of trying to catch up on some classics (and polishing off the entire Percy Jackson series in a couple of weeks), I’m finally ready to being reading the new stuff. Since I’m planning to review books for the Consortium starting in January, it kind of makes sense that I stay on top of the books that are coming hot off the presses. Nobody wants to read a review of a book that is a few years old. Most everybody has already read it and reviewed it by that time. That’s where these series really do me a disservice. When looking at the “hot new” books that are coming out in 2011, almost all of them are part of a series. I don’t want to have to go back six years or so to find the first book. And what if it turns out to be good, I don’t have time to waste on reading all the subsequent books. Whatever happened to stand alones? Even if they turn out to be dismal books, at least I can read them by themselves and not feel guilty for not picking up the sequels. I don’t have to wait and see if the series will improve.
As it is, I am going to be trudging through the young adult (my genre of choice) and other novels of 2011 with care, searching for ones I feel worth my time. And who knows, maybe I’ll come across a series I find worth reading through the entire thing.

Books I've Read Survey

I got this survey from a friend on facebook. I thought it was a good way to end the year. In most of the questions I tried to pick books that I've read in 2009-2010 so that it was like a year in review. By the way, books read for this year total thirty-five so far. I'll give you a real overview of them next week or so.

1. Best book you read last year?
in 2009, Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobbs. In 2010, Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.
2. A book you've read more than three times.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
3. Your favorite series.
Harry Potter. It's one of the very few series I've made all they way through. I usually stop around book four or five.
4. Favorite book of your favorite series.
Probably Prisoner of Azkaban. Although Half-Blood Prince was pretty good, too.
5. A book that makes you happy.
Beastly by Alex Flinn
6. A book that makes you sad.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It's like Vanity Fair in that there's no hero, and that makes me sad.
7. Most underrated book.
Nick Horby pre-2007. I think people (in the US at least) are just starting to notice him, and he was great all along. Or maybe that was just me not noticing him. Hmmm.
8. Most overrate book.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
9. A book you though you wouldn't like but ended up loving.
Jane Eyre by CHarlotte Bronte. After what her sister wrote I unnecessarily set myself up for disappointment.
10. Favorite classic book.
Emma or Pride and Prejudice
11. A book you hated.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover
12. A book you used to love but don't anymore.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (I still like it as a book written by a 15yr/o, just not love.)
13. Your favorite writer(s).
Jane Austen, Orson Scott Card
14. Favorite book of your favorite writer.
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card (since I already listed my two fav Austen books)
15. Favorite male character.
from 2010, Raoden from Elantris
16. Favorite female character.
from 2010, Jane Eyre
17. A book that disappointed you.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld.
18. Favorite book turned into a movie.
Holes by Louis Sachar
19. Favorite romance book.
from 2010, Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico, although I don't know if it actually classifies as a romance book. I don't have a general romance book because that would imply that I read them on a regular basis.
20. Favorite book from your childhood.
I shouldn't pick just one, but I'm going to go with Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. I must love it if I bought it for Sean to read last year.
21. A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven't.
Lord of the Flies
22. A book you wish more people would read.
Gods Tomorrow by Aaron Pogue. Read it, people!
23. A character you can relate to the most.
Henry from 100 Cupboards by ND Wilson
24. The most surprising plot twist or ending.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld.
25. Favorite title.
This question is too vague. Is it my favorite because I like how it alludes to themes within the book? Because it sounds clever? Because it's clear and to the point? Because it uses a funny word like eponymous? I generally don't have favorite titles.
26. A book many people hated but you liked.
THe Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Well, I think it's about even between people hating it and liking it, but the terrible movie gives the book the aura that everybody hates it.
27. Your favorite book of all time.
No idea. Why limit myself to one, anyway?

Post NaNoWriMo Plans

Now that the frenzy of NaNoWriMo is over, most people like to breathe, take a step back, and then delve into revision everything that they've just spewed out over the course of November. For me, while Bracken may one day become his own novel, nanowrimo was more the process of understand Bracken's backstory so that I could more richly develop his character in Into the Flames. December is a busy month, and I'm feeling starved for some good reading, so here's my personal game plan for my writing:
Christmas and finishing a good book in December and looking for more good books to read
Easing into working on Into the Flames in January, filling in a few scenes
Forcing myself to finishing writing the extra scenes in February and March
And then printing out my story and really cracking down on that third draft in April and those sultry summer months.
Oh, and let's not forget those book reviews I should be writing for the Consortium. Know any good recently published Kindle books for under $10? Let me know and I'll read and review it. And hopefully my blog will be up soon (hint hint, Sean) so that I can start reviewing books on there as well. Wow, just writing all this down makes me feel so busy. I better get started reading!

-So many books, so little time.-

Non-fiction works at Tate

You know it's going to be a bad day when you have to read this:
The practice of students dropping out and re-enrolling in high school or General Educational Development (GED) programs has recently gained the interest of researchers, public officials, and school administrators due to the low academic achievement of high school students across the nation (Berliner, 1).

Then you force yourself to get through 7,000 words of this:
Zechariah’s second and third visions are closely tied together. In them, God is still dealing with the Gentile nations. He is still “sore displeased” with them because they have “helped forward (increase) the affliction” of his people. Zechariah sees the four empires (“four horns”) which have increased the affliction; and then he sees the “four carpenters,” which represent God’s power (and method) of destroying these four empires. The Lord says that the carpenters have “come to fray them, to cast out the horns [power] of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn [power] over the land of Judah to scatter it” (Zech. 1:21).

Only to find that what you've been waiting to "reward" yourself with later is this:
The book explores how a company can successfully alter its strategic policies and organizational methods in response to or anticipation of environmental changes without provoking instability or increasing the undue stress experienced by people.

**Copyright 2010 Tate Publishing and/or their authors.**

Book update for August

Number of books read for 2010: 23
I know, terrible, especially for someone who claims to love reading as much as I do. But give me a break here, people! Not only do I read for a living and am trying to write my own novel, but I got stuck trying to finish Les Miserables for four months (and I still haven't given up hope that one day i will finish it, I've just put it on the back burner in favor of more interesting things). So thanks to Mara and me going to the library at least once a week, and agreeing to read books for Aaron, I've picked up the pace a little this month.

August's accomplishments:
The 10 pm Question by Kate deGoldi
The Nanny Diaries by McLaughlin and Kraus
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Electric LIterature #2 (a magazine of short stories)

Next on the list:
The last three in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

Check me out on good reads if you want to recommend any books or see what I'm reading.

A day in the life of.....a copyeditor :)

Alarm goes off at 6:30. I think it's part of my dream, but then finally startle myself awake by yelling, "Sean, it's time to get up!"
He agrees, then rolls over and hits the snooze.
Two snoozes later, Sean gets up and gets ready for his new job. I remind him his lunch is in the fridge; he goes to work.
I let Bella in from her morning romp in the yard and play on facebook. Then I get up, get dressed, and stare at the fridge for something to eat. I sit around the house looking for something to do until Mara picks me up at a quarter to eight.
Today, Thomas picks me up. Sun is shining, temperature is already in the eighties.
Get to work a little early, grab my water bottle from my cubby and fill it from the water cooler in the cafe. Mmmmm, coffee smells good. Sit across from Brittany, plug in my computer, get to work. The two Laurens come in a bit later; one is my boss and is in the adjoining office a few feet away, the other Lauren sits next to me and also gets to work.
At ten, every single employee from Tate trickles into our office (because it is the biggest) and we have to shove our table back to make room for them. It's time for the monthly meeting. yay. Meeting stuff happens, Ryan inspires us, and we have awards and announcements and all that jazz. Then we get to move our table back and try to kill time for an hour before lunch.
Lauren asks Brittany (because Brittany's been here the longest) about a grammar question and we talk about our manuscripts and discover mistakes we've been making (surprise, we going to have to go back and fix our work! Even grammar nazis aren't perfect).
Lunch rolls around, we all scatter.
Eat, play on our computers, talk, do some work, paychecks are handed out, we talk while we work.
Boss Lauren, per my request a couple days ago, has gone over my previous manuscripts. Oops, I made some mistakes. But it's okay, it's only my first week so it's good we've caught these early on! I go back and fix them and then do PPCs for Kalyn. I used to do PPCs as an intern, but I still have the email and have been keeping up with it, and probably will until a new intern turns up. I know Kalyn is too busy for it and plus I already have a good system worked out for it.
"Bye, have a good weekend," resounds around the office as people start to leave. There's only about five or six people left in the office by four because Ryan said we could go home an hour early today and most editors have flex hours and get off at four anyway. I'm staying because Sean can't get me until five, and Brittany and Lauren are trying to get in a couple extra hours. So we sit around and work a little bit until five and Sean is here to pick me up.
Sean shows me his new security cards and we go home.
Peek in the freezer and find some pork steaks.
Dinner is cooked, eaten, and leftovers put away by 6:30. Reading, playing on the computer, and catching up with each other's days. If this were a weekday, I would be making Sean's lunch and maybe ironing a pair of slacks for him. Instead, we're waiting for Caleb to arrive from Tulsa.
And that is what I did today!

Book update for July

Just finished Wuthering Heights last night. Now my currently reading list consists of:
Les Miserables
Jane Eyre
The 10 PM Question
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English

also, I'm almost done with my first draft of Into the Flames. Just about two thousand words to go, really, if I end it where I think I'm going to. THen it's time for a complete re-read and mock-up/brainstorm to get motivated for the second draft!

My last day of work at Sonic is next Wednesday. Hopefully will be hearing more about my potential job at Tate today or tomorrow.

books books books

Why has no one told me about goodreads before? I know it's just another social networking site, and there's probably a lot of them out there for just books, but it's so exciting! The girls at Tate were playing on it this morning so I decided to check it out. Apparently you can also win free books there.
Some other thoughts from Tate:
Why are there twenty books of matches in the bathroom? There are no candles or anything else flammable. Seven weeks and this still confounds me.
Shadow editing with James this week. I have grown in confidence as I have read over some of Kalyn's edits so I hope I'm doing well.
I've become distracted. I don't know what else I was going to say. So back to work!

Summer's in full swing in Mustang

This week's source of entertainment:
Thomas' second draft of the the Last Prince.
Simon and Simon, a recently discovered 80s PI show.
An exciting twist in Les Miserables.
The development of Bracken's character in Into the Flames.
Anticipation of this week's Family Reunion.

And that's not even counting the 45 hrs. I'll be working this week.
btw, Mara, I don't look tanned at all! We should go swimming this weekend A LOT.

Goals for May

Short term goals:
Drink/eat a TON of vitamin C and stop being sick!
Read two more books (at least) by the end of May. (Book count to date an abysmally low 14)
Eat all the random food in the back of my fridge and freezer.
Spend more time with my animals.
Wash my blankets and get ready for summer by putting away my long sleeves.

April updates

Let's see...where am I right now?

Only a third the way through Les Miserables.
Another pile of books to read is forming around my bed, and that's not even counting the other books queued up on my Kindle.
Need to wash dishes.
Need to wash Sonic clothes.
Need to get away from Sonic!!!! I could spend a very long post just talking about everything that went wrong at work this week...but I shall refrain.
Just got a summer internship with Tate Publishing which will start next month.
Trying to be supportive of Sean who will be graduated by two weeks from today.
My house smells like wet dog right now.

And that's what you've missed on.....the life of Jessie!

Time to eat

You know they always say that you should never go grocery shopping hungry, but I've found that I shouldn't go shopping when I'm well rested and feel like I have plenty of time to cook. Today I bought salsa, ice cream, eggs, chips, yogurt, and a TON of fruit. I got kiwi, nectarines, plums, and pears. I'm just so excited about this sudden onslaught of new fruit choices. Yay spring! My mind was filled with ideas about sack lunches, snacking on carrots, and boiling eggs.
So this whole week was really boring because all I did was work, sleep, and watch television. I didn't have anything to talk about on here and my brain was dead because I was so tired of dealing with the drama at work. But now that I got a chance to sleep in and do nothing today, I finally have something to talk about, and maybe I really will get to work on Rahab today!
Today I got up, made waffles, read Les Miserables on my patio, vaccuumed, discovered that Bella had ripped her claw off, cleaned up all the blood that this created, welcomed Cory Giles, went to the store, come home and ate a Klondike bar. Mmmmmm.....now I'm ready for some chips, salsa, and hard core typing.

It really sucks that I still am coughing and have a runny nose when it's so nice outside. Maybe all this fruit will help.