Category Archives: books

January 26, 2014

ROW80 Update– Back To Work Edition

I just had a lovely weekend with my parents. Actually, just a lovely 24 hours– they live about five hours away by car, and they drove out yesterday morning. This was quite the novelty for me. They just moved to Corner Brook early this month, and before that it had been nine years since we lived within driving distance of them.

Well, you know. SANE driving distance.

It was a lovely visit, and it was nice to be able to say goodbye without tearing up. Heck, we’ll probably see them next month!

But… I got nothing done yesterday, and so far nothing today. Obviously I preferred to spend time with them while they were here, but I’m going a little cross-eyed. Things are going really well in my little writing cave right now. Even if I didn’t earn gold stars every day this week, I got a lot done. I’m about 2/3 of the way through the ms, and then I’m not touching it again until after it’s been professionally ~~ripped apart~~ dealt with.

Writing– I’m up to chapter 23 now, got through the whole “change a character’s gender” thing (which made a lovely difference in the feel of a few scenes), and should be pretty well into smooth sailing now. I need to make a few small changes here and there, but I think all of the big restructuring is done for now.

Reading– Read The Sowing by K. Makansi, which is the first part of a trilogy of… novellas, I guess? More like three episodes of one book than three complete stories, I think. This one was heavier on back-story than on action, but I liked the characters and I’m very curious to see where the story is going, so I’ll definitely be picking up the next episodes.

Life– I’ve been quite good about cleaning up this weekend. That had nothing to do with the fact that we had company. *cough* Still, I’m proud of myself for having the place cleaned up enough that my mom didn’t feel like she needed to do it. Doing pretty well with the meal planning. Saw the chiropractor (finally!) on Thursday, and HOLICARP, he’s some kind of miracle worker. He actually got my back to move in spite of the extreme tension in my muscles, and I’m now off of the painkillers completely. I go back on Tuseday for a follow up. SUPER HAPPY. You never know what you’re going to get when there’s only one of anything in the phone book, but I lucked out this time.

I guess that’s about it for today. I have some blog reading to do, and AJ is working tonight, so I’m going to work. The only question is whether to have the Grammies (Grammys?) on in the background while I do so…

What have you all been up to? Did I miss anything important on your blogs or elsewhere? Tell me!

Chillin’ with the family. Literally.

5 Comments | posted in book reviews, ROW80

January 8, 2014

A Round of Words Goals, Vandaleyes edition

By Kate Sparkes

Round one of “A Round of Words in 80 Days” started on Monday. I meant to do my goals post on Sunday, but we were away. Better late than never, right?

No WIPpet Wednesday post from me today. All I’ve been doing is reading over a manuscript, trying to figure out edits, so there’s no new writing to share. I haven’t been getting much done recently. The kids were home for two weeks, and we’re now on their third day of no school when they should have been back. It’s not the weather; skies are clear here, and the roads are fine. Temperatures aren’t even that bad right now. But our part of the province (as in, the entire island portion) is having something of a power crisis, and all schools are closed to conserve.

Long story.

So here we are, still at home, still together 24/7. We’re getting a little bored. There are books to read, of course. The kids and I are almost through Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and they’re enjoying it. There are new toys, but even they lose their appeal after a while, and Ike has perfected his “annoy everyone while also playing with new toys” technique. In light of this, today seemed like a good day to break out my new self-adhesive googly eyes and vandaleyes some stuff around the house.

Oh, eos, you so cute!

I’d look like that, too.

I am Aslan, hear me google.

…you get the idea. It kept us busy for a while, anyway.

So here’s hoping that school schedules and power supplies get back to normal soon, and I get a chance to get back to work!

ROW80 Goals, Round 1 – 2014

Round one runs from January 6 to… some time in March, I guess.

Writing goals:

Edit Bound, get it ready to go for editing by February 10 (I know, that sounds like cleaning the house before the cleaners come. Just trying to save myself some money and get as much educational value out of this as I can). Spend 2.5 hours per day on this while it’s the main focus.
Work on short stories, unrelated projects while that’s away. 1.5 hours’ work per day, or 1000 new words.
Outline book 3 of this trilogy

Reading Goals:

Read ARC I received recently and review for February 10
Read over another friend’s book for him
read one novel and one non-fiction book per month (more if possible, this is the minimum goal)

Personal Goals:

Put phone away when kids are around (no Twitter, Facebook, etc. when I should be spending in-person time with family), block Twitter and Facebook during writing time.
Once my back can handle it, exercise four times per week (walk dog when it’s nice out, Pilates when it’s not.)
Make short, prioritized to do list every evening before bed
Make weekly meal plan and shop accordingly to try to eat better (and save money by not eating out/wasting food)
Prepare everything we need for taxes so I can get that in as soon as AJ gets his forms from work.
Talk to my dad (who’s a finances-and-tax type guy) about what I need to keep track of for business purposes
Get out to visit my parents once they’re settled in Corner Brook
Get a chiropractor
Plan our garden (you really can’t plant here before June, but we can plan!)

I guess that’s enough for one round.

Who else is doing ROW80 this round? Either way, what are your plans for the near future? And what do you think I should stick googly eyes on next?

9 Comments | tags: #ROW80, #vandaleyes, A round of words, fun, goals, google eyes, planning, writing | posted in books, Photos, random, ROW80

November 4, 2013

Happy Book Birthday to “Breakable” (multiple exclamation points)

By Kate Sparkes

Aimee L Salter is one of my favourite writing bloggers. She’s fun and nice, and she offers kick-ass tips on self-editing.

Know what she did? She went and released a book today!

Go, Aimee!

Check out her post here, including links to some places you can enter to win the book. I probably won’t enter, unless someone’s giving away a print copy. I already bought my e-book copy off of Amazon today, and HOLYCRAP am I excited to read it. Reviews have been excellent so far, and I know Aimee won’t drive me insane with adverbs, so there’s that. 😉

COME ON, CHRISTMAS KINDLE!

Product description from Amazon:

When seventeen-year-old Stacy looks in the mirror she can see and talk to her future self. “Older Me” has been Stacy’s secret support through the ongoing battle with their neurotic mother, relentless bullying at school, and dealing with her hopeless love for her best friend, Mark.

Then Stacy discovers Older Me is a liar.

Still reeling from that betrayal, Stacy is targeted again by her most persistent tormentor. Only this time, he’s used her own artwork to humiliate her – and threaten her last chance with Mark.

She’s reached breaking point.

Literally.

I can only imagine the excitement, fear, nausea and mind-blowing pride that must accompany releasing a book, especially to rave pre-release reviews.

Congratulations, Aimee.

Everyone else, check it out, why don’t you?

6 Comments | tags: book release, breakable | posted in books

October 23, 2013

One Last Night (WIPpet Wednesday and ROW80)

By Kate Sparkes

Good Wednesday, friends. Are we all healthy? Happy? Warm or cool as is seasonally appropriate in our parts of the world? Good. Have a seat, and let’s see what we have to share today.

*flips through imaginary papers*

First up: WIPpet Wednesday, and today I’ll be sharing from the first draft (sorry!) of my NaNoWriMo project, which will be further work on the second novel in a planned trilogy. This isn’t your first look at this story; this scene takes place not long after this one, which I posted way back in June.

Let’s have some mood music:

WIPpet math: October 23 = 2+3 = 5 paragraphs from Aren’s perspective.

—

She slipped the chain over her head and rubbed her thumb over the pendant’s surface, admiring it before she let it settle against the skin over her heart. “What do you think?”

“Perfect,” I whispered. I think she knew I wasn’t talking about the necklace.

“The story’s not over, though, is it?”

“Not remotely.”

She left the necklace on all night. Maybe it was all a mistake. Maybe her coming to my room only made it harder for me to leave the next morning. I needed sleep before I started a long journey, but I needed her more. She didn’t have to use words to tell me she felt the same way.

—

*sniffle*

To see what the other WIPpeteers are up to, head on over to the ever-convenient linkie-poo and give them all of your clicks and comment love, and say hi to our host K.L. Schwengel on the way by. To join in, choose a sample of your own work in progress that relates to today’s date, whether it be the chapter or page number, or something more creative. Because, you know.

OK, ROW80 update!

I… I missed my Sunday update again. Oops.

Still not much progress in the writing department, but I did read another non-fiction book. I gave Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World, by Kristen Lamb, five glittery unicorn stickers out of five. It’s a fascinating look at the dynamics of how we interact with people on social media, and it answered a lot of the questions I’ve had about Twitter and other sites. She explains why it’s more important than ever to make a personal connection with people, and how to do that without going crazy. I learned a ton about marketing, and I was entertained the whole time. It’s NOT a book about how to sell books by blasting people away with automated tweets and having a million Facebook fans, and it’s NOT a list of marketing techniques that will be outdated next week. It’s about being real, and I think (based on some of the accounts I follow on Twitter) that this is something we all need. These are tips and techniques that will apply long after we’ve all moved on to whatever the next social media juggernaut turns out to be.*

The chapters on blogging are valuable, too. I was happy to learn that it’s okay that my blog’s not all about writing. In fact, Ms Lamb recommends that we share our other passions and reach out to a wide variety of readers, since they’re the people who might just (perhaps, maybe, some day) decide to check out our books. So if you’ve been wishing I’d quit posting about ponies, Newfoundland, and my failed attempts at gardening… well, I’m sorry.

So yes, highly recommended read for anyone with a book coming out, however you’re publishing. It’s about so much more than just social media, but I’d say it’s worth the purchase price just for the section on “Twitequette,” which should be required reading for everyone on Twitter.

As for writing… well, I made some notes while I was waiting (FOREVER) at the doctor’s office yesterday, so… yay? Maybe this afternoon, when I’ll finally have the house to myself for a few hours… I hope.

—

*Also, tweeting about how much I was enjoying the book got me two twitter responses from the author herself, which was really fun. She walks the talk, guys. 🙂

16 Comments | posted in blogs, book reviews, ROW80, Torn, WIPpet Wednesday

September 3, 2013

Banned Books: What Will YOU Be Reading?

By Kate Sparkes

Howdy and hello, fellow blog-type peoples! (And a heart-felt “Aloha” to you non-blog types, too. You can pull up a chair and make yourselves comfortable here any time.)

It has come to my attention (which can be rather difficult to grab) that Banned Books Week 2013 will be September 22-28, and until today I hadn’t even given a thought to my reading materials. *GASP!* I try to read at least one new-to-me banned or frequently-challenged book every year during this week. More work their way into my reading list during the rest of the year, but I make them a priority during this week.

Banned Books Week celebrates the fact that we are free to read these books that have been challenged or removed from schools and libraries, and that we are able to make our voices heard, even if our thoughts and ideas aren’t popular. A book isn’t necessarily good or worthwhile just because it’s banned, but there are a lot of great books on the list, and I’m certainly glad I have access to them (yes, even the ones I’ll never read).

This year, I’m going to read James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl to the boys at bedtime (and Captain Underpants if we have time), and I’ll be reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak to myself at other times. It’s not a long book, so I might be able to fit something else in there, but what? Hmm… I want to read Looking for Alaska (John Green) and 13 Reasons Why (Jay Asher), but I refuse to pay $10.99 for e-books, so I’ll have to decide whether I want to order paperbacks to live on my shelves.

Just for fun (and in case anyone’s looking for recommendations) here are a few of my favourite banned or challenged books that I’ve read over the years, in no particular order, some with links to outside commentary:

Harry Potter (series) by J,K. Rowling
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Giver by Lois Lowry (OK, I haven’t read it since 9th grade, but it was great then!)
1984 by George Orwell
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (HOLY CRAP SO GOOD)
Carrie by Stephen King
The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus trilogy #1) by Jonathan Stroud
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Lorax by Dr Seuss

Looking for more? Here’s the ALA’s list of the 100 most-frequently banned or challenged books for 2000-2009, and a list of books that have been banned by governments at some time (it’s Wikipedia, so double-check if you’re concerned about authenticity).

So tell me: Do you care about banned books week? Do you make an effort to give these books some attention? Do you try to avoid books that get this kind of negative attention, or that are challenged for specific reasons (language, sexuality, violence, religious views, etc.)? If you’re planning to celebrate this year, what will you be reading?

And have you read 13 Reasons Why or Looking for Alaska? Are they worthy of shelf space?

11 Comments | posted in books

July 24, 2013

Childhood Books (Blog Challenge day 24)

By Kate Sparkes

*cracks knuckles* What’s next?

“Your favourite childhood book.”

Wow. There are too many.

The My Book House series was huge for me, particularly volume 2, which was filled with fairy tales. I remember crying when I realized that the books were geared toward different ages, and I was afraid that I was going to have to leave the fairy tales behind. If you’ve read my work, you know that I never did.

image from Amazon.com; this is the version I had

I wish I still had these books for my kids, but they were sold at a garage sale when I was in high school. I think I’m going to have to save my pennies and buy this set, though. Old books are like old friends, and opening them is always like coming home. The set runs about $70 these days… though I can’t imagine what shipping here would cost!

Side note: I came across something when I was looking for pictures. Normally I say if you own something, do what you want with it (heck, I customize un-restorable toys myself), but having lost my own set of these books, this made me want to cry when I first ran across it. I wouldn’t hold it against this person, or say she’d done something wrong; art journals are important. But man. The value of a thing really does lie in the heart of the beholder, doesn’t it? 🙂

1 Comment | posted in 31 Day Blog Challenge, books

July 3, 2013

WIPpet Wednesay: Dressing Up

By Kate Sparkes

OK, Wednesday again! I chose this snippet last Wednesday while I was editing (and having a great day with it, I might add!). Seventeen lines (in WordPress, on my computer) for our first entry in the seventh month. 1+7= 17… in WIPpet math. 😉

Rowan is getting ready for a party with a whole bunch of mer-women (who are currently wearing legs, I should add), and she’s trying to enjoy herself in spite of the fact that she’s having mixed feelings about how things are going in other areas of her life. She’s lost confidence in herself, but it’s hard to be un-cheered when you’re surrounded by new friends like these. 🙂

–

The mer women were calling for me to come back and find a dress and have my hair done, and to admire the beautiful mother-of-pearl necklace that Niari wore. I’d never enjoyed dressing up and going to parties; I always felt like I had to impress someone, but no one here seemed particularly concerned about that. They were excited to have an excuse to wear beautiful clothes and to make themselves look good, but there was no sense of competition, of deciding who looked the best. It seemed impossible; in my world there was always a competition, always someone wondering who you were good enough to marry. I decided to go along with it, to try to set my sadness aside for a while and have fun with my new friends.

I joined in admiring what everyone else was wearing. When Dianna said a dress looked beautiful on me I said “thank you” instead of deflecting the compliment like I normally would. When I looked in the full-length mirror, I saw that she wasn’t wrong; the strapless dress was an incredible peacock blue color that flashed green when I moved. It ignited the normally dull red undertones in my hair, and added a blue tint to my grey eyes. The fabric wrapped tight at my waist and fell straight from my hips to the floor in folds of rich color. Even before Niari found me a pair of gold shoes that matched the stitching in my dress and swept my hair back in a sapphire and emerald comb, I felt more beautiful than I ever had before. The girl in the mirror looked like some princess I’d never met, until I smiled and recognized myself.

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Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop and see what the other WIPpeteers are offering today at this link. Big thanks to the fantabulatastic KL Schwengel for hosting this carnival of crazies! If you’d like to join in, just post a section of a work in progress that relates in some way to the day’s date, then add your own link to the list. Don’t have a WIP? Start one!

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Mmmkay, ROW80 update.

I got nuthin’ as far as writing goes, because I was a fool (a FOOL, I tells ya!) and picked up this book*. what was I thinking? This one kept me awake way too late two nights in a row. I guess this counts as my book for the week, so there’s one goal accomplished. On the other hand, I was so tired this morning that I forgot about the oatmeal on the stove, and this happened.

Burned oatmeal =/= one of my goals. Not for this round, anyway.

But yeah, loved the book. After I’ve finished two other first-in-trilogy books recently, I’ve said “yeah, I’ll pick up the next one some day.” With this one I’m going “WHY DON’T I HAVE IT NOW?!!” in that really whiny voice you should all be glad you can’t hear.

So that’s my update. Need to get back to writing, but big old check-mark on the book for this week. DONE.

–

*If you’re not feeling clicky, I’ll tell you that it’s Unwind by Neal Schusterman

18 Comments | tags: Bound, dress, fantasy, friends, YA | posted in books, Bound, ROW80, WIPpet Wednesday

June 30, 2013

Writing and Reading and ROWing, Oh My!

By Kate Sparkes

Hey, look at me, being ready to get in on something at the beginning!

Since I already have two posts scheduled for tomorrow (the actual start date for this round of “A Round of Words in 80 Days”), I’m going to post this today. It’s Sunday, right? Regular update day.

GOALS

Writing:

Bound: finish editing this draft and have it out to readers by August 1. This should leave time for the fine-toothed comb treatment if I use my time wisely, but will depend on what I can get done before we go on holidays at the end of the month.

Torn: finish a full draft by the end of this round. This is a challenge for me, as this is another thing that was lost when I my own computer broke, so I’ve been starting from scratch. Big changes were coming, anyway, but it would have been nice to have my road-map…

Super Secret Project: Remember when I had those vampires bouncing around in my head, and I used them to take a break from my fantasy world? I have the beginnings of another world rattling around in my brain, and it all started to come together when I was walking the dog yesterday. No promises or goals, except to say that if I need a break, I’ll be working on this, and possibly offering an opening scene some time for WIPpet Wednesday. It’s not a genre I’ve had anything to do with in the past, so this could be interesting…

Disregard the Prologue: Yes, blog goals! I’m going a 31 day challenge in July, to keep me going through vacation and to allow me to schedule posts (because everything else is just going to be going SO WELL that I won’t need the distraction of this blog. HA!). So for July, I’ll make it a goal to post every day. After that… Well, I’ll readjust, and stop bombarding y’all with myself.

Other Stuff:

Art: I need to do a couple of custom My Little Ponies by the end of the summer, so I’m throwing that goal in here, because they’ll never get done otherwise. Two by the end of August, for sure, and if I can find time, there’s a personal project I’ve been itching to get to. This is what happens when you have a friend who sells doll hair, and you can’t stop yourself from buying all the pretty colours.

Family: Throwing a few more personal goals in here. Meal planning every week, one big, fun outing with the kids every week of vacation, reading one book (or chapter of a book) with each of the kids every day. Yes, we’re sometimes bad about that, especially when they forget to remind be until it’s quarter-past bedtime.

Reading: A book a week. Shouldn’t be too hard, but sometimes I get off-track when nothing’s grabbing me. I’ve got a ton of books waiting, though, so it should be fine. I have one book I’m alpha reading for someone this summer (I didn’t even know that term until she asked me… I’ve only used beta readers. You learn something new every day, don’t you?), I have my new paperbacks, I have a few books to finish on my kobo, and a bunch stranded in the Kindle app on my computer… plus the library. This should be doable, especially if I sit outside and read when the kids are playing.

–

So that’s the big, overarching goals. As far as time spent/word count, those goals will have to be broken down as I go along. My word count goal for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo session is only 25,000 words, and I’m cheating (editing/partial rewrites), so my goal should be 1,000 words a day… unless you account for vacation… so still 2,000 words a day. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll go easy on myself in August, or maybe I’ll have to write my poor little heart out to distract me from the torment of hearing back from beta readers (who I love. Have I mentioned that I love you all?).

Wish me luck… and let me know if you’re participating so I can be sure to stop by and offer encouragement as the round goes on! I don’t always get updates on the blogs I’ve signed up to follow…

4 Comments | tags: #ROW80, goals, reading, writing | posted in Art, books, Bound, domestic goddess stuff, Family, NaNoWriMo, ROW80, Torn, writing

June 30, 2013

Cleverness Has an Expiration Date

By Kate Sparkes

Great post from Jae at Lit and Scribbles, if you missed it earlier in the week.
I started reading Frankenstein a while ago and thought, “Wow, you can’t get away with that kind of exposition these days” before I gave up completely because I found it boring. Classics are classics for a reason, and they have great value; that doesn’t mean that because something has worked in the past (whether that’s 100 or 5 years ago), we can or should try to emulate it. Yes, Mary Shelley got away with starting with letters that had nothing to do with monsters. That doesn’t mean you should try it with a modern audience that has a thousand other (more compelling) books in your genre to choose from. Know why the old things work, and try something new.

(Yes, I know I just revealed something horrible about myself as a reader and as a person. I don’t have the attention span for many of the classics. I don’t need a book to start with explosions, and John Steinbeck can hook me with pages and pages of descriptions… but a lot of the old writing and the old gimmicks don’t grab me, and I have a lot of other books to read)

*runs and hides in the closet before the Classics Zealots can start hurling heavy, dusty volumes*

Lit and Scribbles with Jae

I’ve been watching a lot of stuff on Hulu lately (especially FMA, thanks a lot Gloria!), so I see way more commercials than I have in a long time—especially since I gave up cable.

I’ve noticed an interesting movement between two competitors, namely Geico and Progressive. They want your money, folks, and they don’t mind bombarding us with ads in the process. Let’s face it, now Hulu is a good chunk of their age range.

Now before you start to *yawn* and click to another page, understand there’s a lesson about cleverness here. And that lesson is, cleverness always has an expiration date. It just may last a little longer for some things than others.

PROGRESSIVE

I don’t even remember the days of Progressive before Flo. According to Wikipedia, she started making her appearance in 2008—and she’s still here 5 years later folks. (Though some are speculating she may…

View original post 739 more words

3 Comments | posted in blogs, books, writing

June 27, 2013

Book Review and an Interview… elsewhere

By Kate Sparkes

OK, first of all: I got no writing done in the past 24 hours because I couldn’t stop reading Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. My mother-in-law likes the TV show, so I thought I’d give the book a try. I did NOT expect to end up on the kitchen floor with a cup of tea and this book, sobbing over the lives of people 30 years before I was born and an ocean away. I laughed, too, and felt afraid, and was amazed by the beauty of humanity (even as I was enraged by its ugliness).

Absolutely phenomenal, and entirely deserving of one of my 5-star reviews (which, like fine china, are saved for special occasions).

THIS JUST IN: It’s a trilogy. Somebody tell my productivity it’s getting a vacation as soon as I get my paws on the other two books.

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In other news, here’s my interview with Fel Wetzig at The Peasants Revolt. She’s been interviewing JuNoWriMo participants all month; my answers are from back in May, but they still hold. 🙂

http://scotzig.com/2013/06/26/kate-sparkes-junowrimo-interview/

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Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go curl up on my bed and cry again, and then go scream at my library if they don’t have those other books…

3 Comments | posted in about me, book reviews

disregard the prologue

Category Archives: books

ROW80 Update– Back To Work Edition

A Round of Words Goals, Vandaleyes edition

Happy Book Birthday to “Breakable” (multiple exclamation points)

One Last Night (WIPpet Wednesday and ROW80)

Banned Books: What Will YOU Be Reading?

Childhood Books (Blog Challenge day 24)

WIPpet Wednesay: Dressing Up

Writing and Reading and ROWing, Oh My!

Cleverness Has an Expiration Date

PROGRESSIVE

Book Review and an Interview… elsewhere

Vines and Vices (All the Queen’s Knaves book one)

Urban Fantasy (writing as Tanith Frost)

Bound (Bound Trilogy Book One)

Torn (Bound Trilogy Book Two)

Into Elurien

At Any Cost (Bound Trilogy prequel novella)

The Binding (Short Story)

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disregard the prologue

Category Archives: books

PROGRESSIVE

Vines and Vices (All the Queen’s Knaves book one)

Urban Fantasy (writing as Tanith Frost)

Bound (Bound Trilogy Book One)

Torn (Bound Trilogy Book Two)

Into Elurien

At Any Cost (Bound Trilogy prequel novella)

The Binding (Short Story)

Follow via Email

Kate Sparkes

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