Annette Allison

On Writing

2010-02-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

In the past six months I've tried my best to dissect the writing process. I've read an endless number of blogs, articles, and books on the subject. The only consistency I can come up with is that there aren't any. No right way to do it. Which is great because it means I haven't been doing it wrong, but thats still not very helpful when you're stuck. And for the past month I have been "STUCK". I've barely written a word that I haven't later deleted. So this morning I had a thought. Maybe writing is the thing I hate about writing. And yes I know how that sounds. Let me explain. I love the staring off into space while a story plays in the theater of my mind. I love talking to my husband about my characters and what kind of mess I'm going to get them into and out of. I love those moments when I figure out how to piece together the puzzle that is my plot. But I really don't look forward to putting my butt in a chair and my hands on a keyboard, while twisting words to fit the images in my head.

So what do you guys think? Is there a good way to trick myself into liking the BICHOK?(butt in chair, hands on keyboard)

Still alive...

2010-02-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

but winter is just killing the socially active me. I will return...let me just find a nice warm blanket first.

Weekly Review: Betrayals by Lili St.Crow

2010-01-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Well, my intentions to give you guys a weekly book review was swallowed up by the holiday monster. So to figuratively get back on the horse I give you my opinion on a new young adult series by Lili St. Crow.

Betrayals is the follow up to Strange Angels, a vampire/werewolf/teen angst themed load of fun. It has all the trappings of high school drama meets the strange and unusual. The main character Dru is somewhat reminiscent of Buffy, but with a lot more grit and common sense. One of my favorite things about this character is you don't get the typical urge to slap yourself on the forehead whenever she makes a decision. She's smart and savvy about what she calls the "real world".

However, in the second installment Betrayals Dru discovers just how much of a noob she is to the "real world". Its nice to see her off balance a little after how surefooted she was in the first book. Her sidekick and possible love interest Graves is a character to love. He is the constant in her ever changing world, and a friend to make any girl envious. There is also a character to lust. Christophe fills the story with mystery and tension, as well as, giving Dru and the rest of us some butterflies.

The story is getting deeper and the twists more precarious. I will definitely be picking up the third book of the series Jealousy in 2010.

Pretty, shiny things...

2010-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Oh, the siren's call of a new idea. That first excited rush of possibility. For the last seven days I have been caught up in pursuing a new book idea. I've fleshed out an outline, developed a few characters, and wrote a three page synopsis. After working on a single story line for the past six months the change up has felt great. However, it has also been a distraction. I'm into the middle of my first novel, (aka TSC) and now all of these great ideas keep tugging at my brain that have nothing to do with TSC. Now the fear of never completing TSC is creeping in. For now, I'm letting the ideas come. Satisfying myself with just jotting down the concept. I'll give it a few more days and then dive back into TSC...hopefully.

So does anyone have some advice on staying focused? Is this deviation from TSC a good thing or bad? Let me know what you think.

Merry, Merry

2009-12-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

I hope you guys have a wonderful tomorrow in whichever way you celebrate the season. I'll be headed down south to meet up with my family. This is my first Christmas as a vegetarian so it will be interesting to see what I can find to eat amongst my family of carnivores. See you guys in a few days.

Some giveaway fun.

2009-12-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

If anyone is interested in winning a signed copy of Rachel Vincent's soulscreamers series go here www.urbanfantasy.blogspot.com to enter. I haven't had the pleasure of reading this series yet, but I plan to in the near future.

Goodluck to all that enter!

Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton

2009-12-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

Not only do I love writing UF, I LOVE reading it. The author responsible for getting me into this genre is Ms. L.K.H. I just finished her current Meredith Gentry book Divine Misdemeanors. I hope to give you guys a weekly review on a variety of Urban Fantasy books, and I can't think of a better author or book to begin with.

(Please note that these reviews are purely my personal opinion. I am not a pro. by any means, and the reviews are meant to be helpful to readers, not critiques on the authors.)

I haven't included any big spoilers, so you should be safe reading on if you haven't read the book yet.

DM gives us a look at life after happily ever after for Merry and her crew of lovers/bodyguards/baby daddies. It was a nice change of pace to see other Fey outside Merry's inner circle in danger for this round of magic and sex. The previous books were so focused on assassination attempts directed at the princess so the change up was a breath of fresh air.

It was a joy to see Meredith back in the role of investigator although politics (human and fey) tend to get in the way. The book moves fairly quickly with only a few sections getting bogged down by to much detail on the surroundings and sexual encounters.

I felt like the ending was a little abrupt, but it still managed to satisfy me. Enough so I'll be looking forward to the next installment in the Meredith Gentry Series. It is due out in 2010 along with TWO Anita Blake books.

What did you guys think of this book or any others from Luarell K. Hamilton? I'd love to hear your opinions pro or con.

You can't get there from here...

2009-12-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

Whenever I admit to another soul here in No-where Oklahoma that I'm writing a book I usually get the look. The one that says what a silly unrealistic goal that is. I don't know where this attitude comes from, but it seems to run wild in small town America. Maybe its because things like becoming a published author only seem to happen to people in larger cities. So from time to time I can't help but feel like the idealistic dreamer that everyone else is shaking their heads at. But regardless, I will keep on keeping on. And who knows maybe someday I'll prove them wrong. And if not, well at least I tried.

Wish me luck...

Rewards

2009-12-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

Well, for the past month the day job has pretty much taken over. Its nothing new and always expected as the latest semester comes to a close. But this week is finals and I'm almost done giving tests. Which means my 3 weeks of down time is just around the corner. Three weeks to get the creativity back on track and some major word count accomplished. Last month was officially NaNoWir, but my month to write is December.

Wish me luck...

Lilith Saintcrow

2009-11-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hey guys one of my favorite authors is having a giveaway and chat/interview over at http://.bittenbybooks.com/?p=13113. Go check it out and leave Lili a question at the very least :D

Is anyone out there?

2009-11-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

Since I've started taking my writing seriously I've spent a great deal of time researching it. The ins and outs of publishing, genre, and writing methods. My research has not been in vain. I've found dozens of great sites like www.deadlinedames.com that are full of helpful information. The one thing I've struggled to find is other authors in my neck of the woods that write Urban Fantasy. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. So to fulfill the need to interact with other writers I started a local writing group. The membership has narrowed down to 6 consistent authors from varying genres. But no surprise I'm the only one writing under SF/F. So if anyone out there reading this is living in Oklahoma and feels the same toss me a line and let me know I'm not alone.