Post-Book Doldrums

Yesterday I finished reading DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. It’s been on my list for forever and I finally got to it. Loved it, by the way.

But, okay, when I read an exciting book like that and then it’s over, I get…mopey. Does this happen to anyone else? It’s not just this time. It’s happened before. I seriously get so blah that often I’m cranky for the rest of the day.

Part of my crankiness is often that the house looks like the Hulk walked in and smacked it around a little. But maybe that’s it. I read this awesome book where everything is so exciting and cool and when it’s over I have to come back to boring reality. In the book I got to do cool and scary stuff and pretend I was someone else. Back in reality I have to do things like dishes and change diapers and dump out those nasty leftovers that have been in the fridge too long. Boo.

What I looked like yesterday when I longingly wished I could be fighting for my life like Tris in Divergent instead of just washing dishes. Sigh. What a better life she leads!

So seriously, am I weird and Emo or something? Or does this happen to anyone else? Spill it. I don’t want to be alone here. :)

Book Review: CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I am a coward.
I wanted to be heroic and I pretended I was. I have always been good at pretending….God, I tried hard last week. My God, I tried. But now I know that I am a coward. After the ridiculous deal I made with SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer von Lindon, I know I am a coward. And I’m going to give you anything you ask, everything I can remember. Absolutely Every Last Detail.
Read an excerpt
(Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. New York: Hyperion, 2012.)

I got this post all ready to go months ago when I read the book, and then I never actually sat down to write the review. With everything going on, me and blog posting haven’t gotten along. So maybe once a week posts?

Anyway, the book. LOVED it. This is my new favorite WWII book (sorry, Book Thief). It’s about a young British spy who is caught by the Germans. She tells the story about her and her best friend, a British pilot. I think their friendship is one of the absolute best in YA literature.

The story itself was very different from other WWII novels I’ve read too. It was the war from a different perspective–meaning it wasn’t focused on the Holocaust aspect. I’m sure there are other novels like this out there, but I haven’t read them. This story is more focused on pilots and spies and that sort of thing.

Also, compared to other WWII novels I’ve read, it wasn’t as depressingly heavy. It wasn’t a light read by any means (believe me, I still cried my eyes out at some parts), but there was a great balance of humor and total love for these two friends that it had a different feel to it. It didn’t leave me hating human kind (which I admit happens way too often with war stories and me).

Beautiful, beautiful story. A really great read. I totally recommend it.

*news about code name verity*

Author connect: Website | Blog | Twitter
Sequels: None
Similar books: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

——–***——–

*for writers*

Agent: Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

A Page from Elizabeth Wein’s Book: So many things. But definitely the number one thing to take notes on is the friendship between Maddie and Julie. They are the ultimate best friends.

Announcing Writer Therapy!

I’m so excited to announce my involvement in a new awesome webseries about writers: Writer Therapy! Yay!

What is Writer Therapy? Well. Let me tell you. From our website:

Writer Therapy is a comedy/drama webseries (12 episodes, 4-10 mins per episode) about best friends, true love, and most of all: writing that first novel. The web series follows the life and laughs of a critique group as they (try to) finish their manuscripts and get published.

The first season kicks off with Chersti, a recent college grad who has just finished her first manuscript. Fortunately, she has her critique group to help her through the querying process. Though the groups’ crazy antics—including everything from stalking famous authors to striking out on a personal quest—might deter them from actually writing, it is perfect research for their books, which will obviously be the BIGGEST thing since Harry Potter or Hunger Games.

Exciting, right? I play a rather quirky character who is always searching for a “Writing Muse” in the oddest places.

We launch the first two webisodes on September 20th. So first you should watch our trailer:

And then, because I know you’re going to be so excited, you should visit our website and follow us! We’re going to have some great contests going, so keep checking back.

Positive attitude and other random thoughts

I’m going to make this quick because I may or may not have approximately an hour to do any sort of writing. Both my kids are napping at the same time, which seems like a miracle these days.

One of my critique group partners just had her second baby. She’s still writing. She’s still planning on querying in the next couple months. And I couldn’t help thinking, “Geez, I suck. I had my second baby and he’s six months old and I still don’t get writing done. Writing? What’s that? I suck at time management and I suck at writing in general and every time I sit down to write I suck suck suck because I just can’t get anything good to come shooting out my fingers. And I’ve been writing this same stupid book for seriously forever. And what the heck is wrong with me?”

And then I tell myself that this attitude is totally not fair. I shouldn’t compare myself to my friend. She’s amazing, I’m not. Okay, no…she has a totally different situation than I do. (But maybe I still suck?)

This weekend I had this epiphany that I have really got to change my attitude about everything. It’s my attitude that sucks. I am in this whiney acting-like-a-two-year-old rut: Boo hoo hoo, poor me. But I guess we all get into that sometimes, right?

But what happens when you feel like the rut has become a ravine that requires you to be this uber rock climbing machine just to get out of it?

Yeah, still working on that one. Rock climbing is hard. If that metaphor were real, I’d be dead from falling down too many times. Anyway…

I read recently on a blog…not sure which one it is now, sorry…that this writer makes a list about things she loves about her WIP. I totally need to do that, because right now I want to divorce it, kick it to the curb, permanently evict it. Ok, not really, but I want it to at least write itself and be awesome.

Something I like about my WIP:
1. The world is awesome, even if nothing else is right now.

Yeah, I know. Attitude. I’m working on it. Sigh.

 

The power cord to my computer broke. :-( Boo. Anyway, since I don’t feel like typing a whole post from my phone, there’s nothing from me today. Happy Wednesday!