When the Heart Lies by Christina North

Jenny runs out the front door, and shouts back to me while taking her coat.
"I'm in a hurry, uncle. Don't forget to post that review. See ya!"
Oh, that review. I want to tell her it's not fair, she could write a much better one, because she is a woman, and understands those strange emotions much better than me, but she is already at her car, jumping in. I sigh, close the door, and go to my computer. I sit down, strech my fingers, and stare at the blank screen for a while. Then I stand up, pace the room for a minute, thinking hard. Finally I decide I cannot write a review of a romance as Jenny could, so I should do it my way. If Jenny won't like it when she's back, she can write her own review. So here it is:

"OK, this is a review from a guy, who is not the most romantic creature on the Earth - at least my wife says so. I like this book for two reasons.
One: Kinsley, the heroine took revenge on the
a$$holesbad guys. This is what Jack Reacher would do (if you know who I'm talking about). The bastards who beguile, deceit and finally kidnap her are finally punished. The good wins, and gets away with it.
Two: the chemistry between Jackson and Kinsley worked surprisingly well for me. There was wanting, there were obstacles, there were fighting emotions, there were misunderstandings. I'm not an expert in romance, but I found myself turning pages more quickly when they found the love in each other. You know what I mean.
Three (it just came into my mind, so I like the book for three reasons): there were some twists and turns I didn't expect. I don't want to spoil the book, you will have to read it yourself, but there are surprises along the story.
At first I found Kinsley week in character, indecisive, not knowing what she wanted, but later I realised that this is her personality, this is why she made bad decisions, and this is why she had a chance to stand up and get out of the trouble. Besides, who said a protagonist always has to be a strong-willed one?"

Why I write 1000 words a day

The short answer is: to have something written.

The long answer is more complex. (Of course. It always is.) First I should tell you why I write at all, but I really cannot. I just have this feeling that words want to come out. I'm an introvert by nature, so it takes a while for me to make friends, I cannot just jump on the "social wagon". I'm not fan of parties, and when I go to one, I'm not easily involved in conversation. This is the way I am, and I think there is nothing wrong with that. But still. There are these words wanting to come alive, so I obey, and help them to be born. I write them down to get rid of this strange, urgent feeling. Of course, at the end, it never goes away. And I'm happy about that.

Why 1000 words? Because it is a nice round number, and there is a secret satisfaction when I go over the three digit number of word count. And because if I write 1000 words a day, I can write a book in three months. (I admit, on some weekends I have other plans, or I'm just too lazy to write, so settle with the idea of a short book.) I just finished the draft of my second novel. The first one was so bad, I didn't bother to edit it. (However the idea and the concept still poke me, and beg not to let them fall in the hole of forgetting.) This second one is more promising  and I will try to give it the shape of a worthy novel, by editing and polishing. But I did not stop writing my 1000 daily words, and I'm working on the next project. If not a book, I can write several short stories, book reviews, blog posts, you name it.

Pssst, come closer, I tell you a secret: yesterday I didn't write one thousand words. I wrote two thousand one hundred and eighty.

There is another reason why I write so many words. They say, you need to spend ten thousand hours to learn a profession. I beleive that I have a spark of talent, but I need to learn writing well, because I want to publish books. A lot of them. So every day I sit down and do my homework in the school of writing.

Do you write every day? How many words?

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

When I enter the room, Jack is sitting in my armchair, earphones in his ear; he is listening to something on his mobile. Since he is not drumming with his fingers, nor humming, I suppose it's an audiobook. I stand in front of him, looking at him expectantly. I can tell, he doesn't see me, his eyes are watching an imagined scene somewhere in the ether. I keep watching him, and finally his eyes focus on my belly, then slowly go up to my eyes. He holds up one finger, like saying "just a moment". I'm waiting, I'm a patient man. Finally he looks at his phone and starts tapping. I can see that the Audible application is running, and he just finished an audio book. I know this one, I recognise the cover, even if it's upside down: white letters on black background, it says 'Reamde by Neal Stephenson'.
"Hi uncle Gyula, sorry, I just wanted to finish this book" says Jack.
"I don't have problem with that." I emphasize on the word: that.
Jack finally realizes that I want to sit down in my armchair. He knows very well that this is my favourite place to read, in the semi-circular nook next to the window, with the view to the park.
"Oh, sorry uncle, please, have a seat. Really comfy chair you have here." He pats the armrest, and then stands up.
"Did you like it?" I ask, gesturing towards his mobile, while making myself comfortable.
"Reamde? Yes I did. I enjoyed it a lot."
"Interesting story, isn't it? With the computer game involved."
"Indeed" says Jack, taps his phone a few times, than puts it into his pocket. "Actually the very seed of the whole story is the the T'Rain game. I play a few role-playing games myself, and I would certainly give this one a shot. If it existed, I mean."
"True, everything started because of the game. It was a compelling addition to the story of fighting against terrorists."
Jack walks to the other armchair facing mine, and sits down.
"What do you think about the characters?" he asks.
"Sthepenson did a nice job drawing them. Actually, the plot and the characters work together just fine. You know that I hate when an action is forced on the characters just for the sake of the story. It's not the case here, not at all. The guys and gals acted exactly as their inner character dictated."
"Yeah, the plot seemed very logical. But I'm having trouble identifying the main protagonist."
"Why do you need one? I mean, why do you need only one? Reamde proves that more than one protagonist works well."
"Maybe. By the way, there were some interesting names, like Zula, Yuxia. I bet you liked Csongor."
"Sure." I smile. He knows we are from the same country.
"The terrorist, Abdallah Jones, he's a really compelling figure. Bad guy, but quite a personality. Smart, too."
"Did you realize that he spoke like an Englishman? "
"Of course I did. It was nicely done."
"My favourite was Richard. He did everything in his power to save Zula."
"Yeah. I liked that they weren't heroes, yet they showed exceptional spirit."
Jack seems to be lost in thoughts for a while. He finally says:
"You know, uncle, this one is not really like the other books of Stephenson. Very far from The Diamond Age, or Snow Crash."
"I know some people have problem with that. The Baroque Cycle was a big hit too, and while Reamde is very different, I don't mind it. Stephenson wrote something else, and I liked it. To be honest, the Snowcrash was too much for me, too abstract. Reamde was closer to the real life."
We sit in silence for a minute, then Jack says:
"Well, I should go to search for Jenny. She needs some help with her laptop. I should have helped her an hour ago, but you know how it is when you listen to a book like this?"
I know exactly. Jack stands up, and leaves the room. I gaze out of the window for a while, and then I switch on my e-reader. The next adventure is waiting for me.

The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs

Recently I'm having problems writing reviews, so I asked Jack and Jenny to help me out. They are friendly folks and they love chit-chatting. Today they talk about The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs. (Funny, I just realized that the main character in the book is also Jenny.)

~ o ~

Jenny comes in the room, finding Jack in front of the bookshelf.
"Hi Jack. What's up?"
"Hey, Jenny."
"What are you hiding?"
Jenny peeps behind Jacks back.
"Me? Nothing. Just a book."
"Let me see, I love books."
Jack hesitantly pulls his hand from behind.
"Oh, it's just a book I finished."
Jenny puts her hands on her hips.
"Oh, my! Jack, I didn't know you are into romance."
"I'm not" says Jack. "Not really. Well, I read this one, because someone asked my opinion."
"I love this book" says Jenny, grabs the book, and starts paging through it. "The characters are so deep."
"Actually I find them well drawn, myself" admits Jack.
"It's like they became my friends by the end of the story."
"Indeed. But there is a lot of telling instead of showing."
"Yeah, some more dialogue wouldn't hurt."
"And some more showing."
"Maybe. But I think the telling has the purpose to give so detailed backstory that you get to know the characters very well."
"Possible" says Jack and scratches his head. "But what do you think of these recipes? I cannot cook, so I tended to skip them."
"I can cook, you know that" Jenny smiles at Jack. "I made some of the cakes, and man,  they are delicious."
"Really? Would you mind to prepare the chess cake for me someday?"
"I knew you would like that one. Anyway, did you realize that these are not only recipes, but they have a deeper meaning?"
"What do you mean?"
"Attached to each of them, there is an insight of human emotion."
"Now, as you say that, I liked those parts."
Jenny is silent for a moment, reading a few sentences.
"What do you think about jumping back in time, then coming back again to the present days? Sometimes it bothered me."
"I'm fine with it, but I read more time travel science fiction than you."
"Come on, Jack, it has nothing to do with time travel."
"I know, I know, what I mean is that I could totally follow the story. And it makes the book better that the past unfolds parallel to the main plot."
Jenny closes the book, and looks at the cover.
"I bet you liked the last part in the lodge."
"Sure. Finally Jenny and Rourke made sex."
"Men..." Jenny rolls her eyes.
"And there were guns involved too. It could have come earlier, however. To have some more excitement."
"It couldn't. Because it was the consequence of what happened before."
"OK, you're right. It's not a thriller, so the fight was quite adequate for a romance story."
"Jack," Jenny points her finger to Jack's chest "did you even realize that they were in love with each other the whole time?"
"I'm not blind" says Jack, hurt. "I know what love is, girl. Yes, there are a lot of emotions in the book. Eventually, romance is all about that, isn't it?"
Jenny looks up to Jack, her head tilted.
"So, finally, you liked the story."
Jack hesitates for a moment.
"Don't tell uncle Gyula, but do you have more books of Lakeshore Chronicles?"

~ o ~

Did you read The Winter Lodge? What do you think?