Writing project

They say one of the ways to fight procrastination is to make your project public. So here I am, shouting into the internet crowd: I'm writing a novella.

I'm studying the craft of writing for a few years now, and it's time to take it to the next level. I have written several short stories, some of them got nice feedbacks. I have written two novels, which stay in my drawer until I decide if they're worth the effort to edit and polish them. (There is a chance that hey will remain in the drawer for good.)

Now I'm concentrating my creativity and knowledge to craft a publishable story. So far I created the plot and the main characters. The story takes place in Brussels, Belgium, which I hope will be somewhat exotic for the readers.

And the big thing is: I'm writing a romance.

I'm an introvert by nature, and according to my wife I'm not the most romantic person in the world. Usually I read sci-fi, fantasy and thriller, but occasionally I venture into other territories such as romance and paranormal. Until now I wrote sci-fi and thriller stories, these are the genres I'm comfortable with. But I struggle with the romantic scenes. (Even sci-fi and thriller stories have romance in them, right?) I decided that I have to improve, and what is the best way to do that? Yep, jumping right into the deep water. So I bought a few how-to books on writing romance, and asked my wife to suggest some of the books she liked. And I plunged into them. At this point I cannot say if it's a good idea, but there is one way to know it: I finish this story, and ask a few beta readers for their opinions. Then I will see what will I do with the manuscript. Shred it or send it out.

I will give updates time after time on the Current Project page, I even placed a word count bar in the side column on the right.

Fingers crossed, I'm back to writing.

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?"

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?

Where is the pure genre?

I recently read the novella titled His Name In Lights by Patty Jansen. It was refreshing. This is the review I wrote on Amazon:

Real science-fiction story. This is what came into my mind reading this novella. I'm tired of novels I read lately, mixing romance, paranormal and SF. His Name In Lights is a refreshingly original sci-fi story, reminding me of Asimov's robot novels. It raises questions I'm not sure ever would be answered, like: what makes us human, our body, our soul, or both together?; what is the relation between creator and creature?
The story has some aspects reflecting to the desire for political power, which is again, an attribution the mankind cannot get rid of.

I was thinking about the phenomenon I see in more and more books: mixing sci-fi with fantasy, paranormal with sci-fi, romance with paranormal, and so on. I member of the Goodreads and The LibraryThing community, and I received several books for free in exchange of reviews. Some of them were good, some others were average. There were some of this "mixed genre" type books, and while I did enjoy reading them, I could not get rid of some strange feeling.

When I considered one aspect of these books, I didn't find it compelling enough. They were not really sci-fi. They were not really paranormal. They were not really romance. Something was missing, those things which make you say "aha!" or "ooh!". You would think that when all of the aspects are put together, they compose a complex and interesting story. Strangely, it didn't work for me as it should have. I think it's because non of the genre lines were exploited in great depth, like you do writing a pure genre book.

Maybe it's just me, remembering the pure sci-fi books of old days. This is why I enjoyed the book His Name in Lights more.

Jewels by Lakisha Spletzer

Author: Latisha Spletzer

Description: "Special Lieutenant Jewels Enbran, a human telepath unable to shield her mind from thoughts, uses telepathic anchors who protect her vulnerable mind. Her current anchor, Colonel Jeremy Lingley, is nearing burnout. An alien race is seeking an alliance with Earth and the pair are assigned the mission of discovering the aliens' secrets.

Crown Prince Dex LoudRoar is a Gatoan warrior and a royal with a terrible secret. His people wage a constant war against their enemy, the Lupinious empire. But the tide of battle is turning and his people seek help from a new source: the humans of Earth.

With an interstellar war looming, Jewels and Dex seek salvation for their planets and find their destinies changed forever." (Amazon)

What I think

I discovered the Adopt an Indie website, and I thought I gave it a shot. I love science fiction, so I picked up this book. Attention: spoilers.

First, I must say I expected a science-fiction story. Telepaths, aliens, warriors, space war - what else it could be? Actually it is more. It is a paranormal romance science-fiction book. Yes, there are telepathy involved, but in a higher level than just "talking with your mind". Yes, there are aliens in the book, though it is funny that cat-like aliens fight with dog-like ones. And yes, there are space ships and war, though that part could last longer for my taste.

Being a man, I'm not expert in romance (didn't I say this earlier?), but as far as I can tell, the romance worked just fine. At the end, I believed that the human woman fell in love with the cat prince, and their love and desire became fulfilled.

I liked that the telepathy was taken to a higher level. Those characters possessing this ability, not only communicated with each other, but could apply bigger mental forces. I found the mental shielding mate role interesting.

I missed some more sci-fi, though. But I know it's just me, being science-fiction fan.

There is one thing I should mention: there were too much telling instead of showing. I would have appreciated more showing during action, it would make the book more dynamic and enjoyable.

My rating: I give three stars. This is just because I'm fan of pure sci-fi. If you like romance and paranormal stories more, you may give it better rating.

Divine Intervention

Author: Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Description from Amazon: "CFBI agent Jasmine McLellan leads a psychically gifted team in the hunt for a serial arsonist--a murderer who has already taken the lives of three people. Jasi and her team members--Psychometric Empath and profiler Ben Roberst and Victim Empath Natassia Prushenko--are joined by Brandon Walsh, the handsome but skeptical Chief of Arson Investigations. In a manhunt that takes them from Vancouver to Kelowna, Penticton and Victoria, they are led down a twisting path of sinister secrets. Sifting through ashes and clues, Jasi realizes that there is more to the third victim than meets the eye. Perhaps not all the victims were that innocent. The hunt intensifies when she learns that someone they know is next on the arsonist's list. Unleashing her gift as a Pyro-Psychic, Jasi is compelled toward smoldering ashes and enters the killer's mind--a mind bent on destruction and revenge. And in the heat of early summer, Jasi discovers that a murderer lies in wait...much closer than she ever imagined.

What I think

Where should I start? I was thinking whether it was a paranormal, a romance or a thriller story. Or all together. The CFBI agents had paranormal abilities, and the way they used their gifts and made contact to the paranormal dimensions was interesting in itself. Some investigators would give anything to be able to sense, feel and see how the crime happened, just by touching objects of the crime scene. It would revolutionize the investigation process.

I like thrillers, I like twists and turns, and I like suspense. I got these all in Divine Intervention. As the story unfolds, the team is trying to catch an arsonist and killer. Soon they realise that they are after the wrong person. The team discovers the awful series of events that led to the murder they were investigating.
There was an exciting chase at the end (I could enjoy some more in the book), almost costing the life of McLellan. And there was a real twist at the end, the killer was somebody not expected. I had a small problem with that, though: there should have been some clues along the story, so it would not feel somewhat like deus ex machina.

Being a sci-fi fan (and being a man), I'm not really into romance stories, so it may be only me, but the romance started strangely: Agent McLellan hated Walsh right when they met. Of course Walsh was assigned to the investigation, and they had the chance to argue with each other. I was confused when it turned to love. Ladies, if you read the book, please tell me if I'm wrong on this, and the turn was believable.
Anyway, they fell into love, but then McLellan turned down Walsh when he tried to make love with her. Not that I wanted a sex scene, but after the trouble they went through, they merited to have a good time together.
I liked the romance subplot between the other two agents, Prushenko and Roberts. Two grown ups, who like each other, discover that their feelings can be deeper than they thought, and give it a try.

I found the characterisation well done.

Format / Typo issues: There was an issue with the font size, smaller and bigger parts of the text were alternating, sometimes paragraph by paragraph.

My rating: I give three stars, because it was an OK read, but could be better.