Billy Boyle WWII Mysteries

One of the first books I downloaded after I bought my Kindle last year was "Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery" by James R. Benn.  Granted, at the time, I was looking for free or very low-cost Kindle titles having just dropped a chunk of cash on the Kindle itself.  This looked interesting and was free at the time.  Now that I've read it, I'm hooked on the whole series (and they are definitely worth paying for).  Great action, just a hint of romance (not too much for male readers), strong characters, and lots of information on WWII incidents that are not at all well known.

Billy is an Irish police office in Boston when America enters WWII.  His mother is a distant relative of Mamie Eisenhower and believes that the family connection would be enough to keep Billy safe from harm if he could only join "Uncle Ike's" staff.  Then General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed Commander of the US forces in Europe.  Oops.  And since Billy just made Detective, "Uncle Ike" decides to use him for certain investigations best left way out of the limelight.  Oops again.  Even though Billy isn't the desk-job type, he hadn't planned on any of this.

I recently read the next three books in the series:  "First Wave", "Blood Alone" and "Evil for Evil".  Each could be read as a stand-alone although the character development from one volume to the next certainly enhances the series.  We travel WWII Europe from England to Norway to Algeria to Sicily to Ireland.  Each incident is based on actual wartime events. 

I don't write spoilers, but I do give praise when it is deserved, and this series deserves great praise.  I'll be reading "Rag and Bone" between now and September because "A Mortal Terror" launches then.  Somebody needs to make a movie/mini-series/TV series from these tales!

"The Times...They are a Changin'"

 I looked everywhere for a still photo of my favorite scene in John Water's Hairspray where Divine as Edna Turnblad is sitting with her husband Wilbur (played by the wonderful Jerry Stiller).  As much as I love the remake starring John Travolta as Edna, I miss what seems to me to be the signature line from the whole movie--"It's the times...they are a changin'".

That's my motto for 2011--the times are changing, and I need to be flexible enough to embrace those changes.  Changes at work are a certainty--a positive attitude regarding those changes helps the company realize I am an asset.  Changes are needed in my eating habits--that saying, "You are what you eat" should not mean I am fast, easy and cheap LOL.

Changes are needed here on my blog as well--a more disciplined approach to posting is forthcoming.  My intent is to post each Sunday at the very least, even if it is only what I shall call a "Sunday Snippet".  That snippet may be a quote, an interesting website I've found, a short book review, or perhaps a (totally unsolicited) product recommendation.

Stampin' Up! has given us a great opportunity to have a blog directly on our website, so my cards and other projects will often be featured there beginning this year (although I may post a picture here as well).  I intend to make my paper crafting more of a priority this year as it is the cheapest form of therapy I know other than reading.

Speaking of reading, we can tell from the list at the bottom of my blog that I failed to meet the 100+ book challenge for 2010...I did read a few more books than those listed, but rather than go back and try to recreate the list, I'm giving myself permission to move on.  Here is the link to sign up for 2011 and as I am an incurable optimist with these challenges, I'm heading over when I finish this post and signing up for this year.  Thank Heavens for my Kindle (and for Kindle for Android)!!

Finally--I am forging ahead with my writing.  Much of today was spent organizing research notes that had been stacked in various spots throughout the apartment, and a trip to the library is on the schedule for tomorrow.  As I found out during NaNoWriMo 2009, I do not write well when I am not organized, so I'm giving my OCD tendencies more control over my writing life.  I'll post pictures soon of my writing corner as I intend to spend many productive hours there this year.

If you have read this far, I thank you.  It was a long post but expressing goals and dreams becomes wordy at times.  To all of you--A Blessed New Year and may you experience many positive changes in this new decade...I wish love and happiness to you all!

Plans are Made to be Changed, Right?

When I posted early in the year I had joined the 100-Book Reading Challenge, I stated that only "fun" reading would count--nonfiction research on writing styles or historical research for my novel would not count.

Well, here I am, halfway through the year, and I have read a measly two books for fun (my challenge list is at the very bottom of my blog).  So, I am invoking the right of a woman to change her mind.  I have had so much true fun reading about the Civil War era that I cannot help but want to list the books I am devouring.

(Yes, I believe in reincarnation and I know I was a librarian in at least one past life.  I loved researching reports in school, find genealogy fascinating, and my ideal job would be as a research assistant for a historian or archaeologist). 

So, I am adding to the list all the titles I have enjoyed thus far in my travel back to the South of the 1860s.  I am also going to add the wondrous writing aids I have found and whose pages may have started out pristine but have been highlighted, underlined, and otherwise annotated.  Some have become trusted companions on this novel-writing journey.  I may even write mini-reviews of my favorites at some point in case they may be of help to others.

One thing I have not done as yet--even if the links to the book titles should point to the Amazon description (something I try to avoid--I always make every attempt to link to the author's website), that Amazon description is not a monetized link.  Any opinions on any book or product featured on this blog is a non-compensated opinion.  I have paid for the products I review.  Should that situation ever change, I will prominently announce the fact.

Scroll down and take a look at where my reading has taken me.  Since I'm not the HTML girl, I can't seem to color-code the list as I would like ("fun" fiction vs. history vs. writing guides), so I'll try a series of asterisks:

*      will mean historical research
**    will denote a writer's guide

no asterisk is "fun" (fiction, escapism)

If you are an author and know of other books I should read on the art of writing good fiction, please share the titles.  And if you are a Civil War buff and have insight on source material that would enrich my setting, I'd love to hear about it.  Thanks in advance for sharing!

The Good Life

I'm back--Most of my network problems are fixed here at the house.  The early heat wave caught my A/C by surprise, but it is now working (it looks to be a long, hot Texas summer).  My laptop's replacement battery should be here any day now.  My day job is back to "normal" after software changes and upgrades.  In other words, general living is giving me a short break LOL.

When the network was down, I managed to study the art of writing historical fiction. I also managed to do quite a bit of research the old-fashioned way, and I am now back to crafting scenes.  I do so love being productive ;-)

Several home projects are also in the works.  I've decided that the room I spend the majority of my time inside should be the largest and coolest room in the house, so I am in the process of switching my office/studio and my bedroom.  It is giving me an opportunity to cull non-Stampin' Up! crafting items (my granddaughter is a budding artist and always loves supplies) and to replace my mismatched desks with coordinating pieces.  Of course, this will take several months--and a couple of vacation days while I do the final switch as new Ethernet needs to be run--but I hope to have it all in order by Labor Day.

Speaking of Stampin' Up!  I just got My Digital Studio and I am so excited!  I'll be posting a video later this week about this great software.  We've just posted our Last Chance List for the 2009-2010 catalog year, and I have already placed my first order for 2010-2011 Idea Books and Catalogs (they go "live" July 1st).  Feel free to check out all the goodies (including info on our new Color Collections); they are on my recently updated website.

And, I must admit--I played a bit (not something I do often).  I went to see Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood.   Both are excellent in their own way; my tip of the hat goes to Robin Hood for the most realistic portrayal of the original folk tales (and this comes from a person who has loved the Errol Flynn version since girlhood).  These will definitely be added to my DVD library as soon as possible, to be watched and enjoyed again and again.  Robin Hood actually ranks up there with Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones (and my friends all know how often I watch those LOL).

It's good to be back in the blogging world.  I hope to post more regularly now that the PC issues seem to be under control.  Thanks for not leaving while I was M-I-A.

Nagging Network Nastiness

Hey, I'm online--sort of.  This PC has Internet access (at least for now).  I'm not the brightest when it comes to "geek-speak", but I can usually hold my own and am not too afraid of trial and error when dealing with electronics.

I may have to rethink that position.  My home network has now lost the ability for any of the components to speak to one another (reminds me of a family feud, actually, the more I examine the problem).  Last year, I updated my wired-g router to a wireless-g to add a laptop running Vista to the home PC (running XP) and the work PC (also running XP).  When I then upgraded my printer to a wireless model, I had no problem hooking it into the same network.

Now, my granddaughter has inherited the old e-Machines desktop (the one that ran XP), and my new HP desktop running Windows 7 was--I thought--added to the original network.  Boy, was I wrong.  To add insult to injury, in trying to make everything talk to one another last week (updating various drivers to be Windows 7-compliant, etc.), I managed to lock the laptop and the printer out of the original network somehow, and as it was password-encrypted on multiple levels, that network is out in cyberspace but I can no longer connect to it.  I could not even get any of the PCs to connect reliably to the Internet via the ethernet connection with the router.  (I'm sure some of you can hear my screams of pain and frustration; even though I am old enough to remember manual typewriters and rotary dial phones, I choose not to return to those days LOL).

Obviously, I have to work my day job, so I finally just unplugged the whole mess.  My work PC and VOIP phone are hooked directly into the router and the network connections restored to my job.  The home desktop has the printer connected temporarily via a USB connection (what a waste of resources and memory that is), and my laptop has a temporary wireless connection to the wireless router.

Hence, this post after many days of being unable to connect.  My writing has been scarce and sparce, but some has occurred because of course I still had Word; and my research has become dependent once more on the printed page.  Actually, that has been the silver lining to the cloud--I hope to post soon on some wonderful writing references I have been privileged to read this past month.

So, with a wondrous Sunday afternoon ahead of me, I will end this.  I have read the networking tutorials online for my router and will be unplugging everything and resetting in an effort to rebuild a working network from scratch.  New wireless-n routers are calling my name and one would probably be the easiest way to go, yet my pocketbook is screaming in protest.

The challenge begins--can I actually set up a new network that works with the equipment I have and give my purse the victory?  Or will my geeky, electronics-junkie alternate personality (that I try desperately to keep under control) win out and have me buy a new router?  Stay tuned for the results...

Plots that Simply Plod Along

"Don't Trust the Rain" did not start out to be a historical mystery--it began as historical fiction with a time-travel twist.  My characters are now in New Orleans in 1862 and they have survived the time warp that sent them there. They are scattered and need to be reunited.

On the surface, it sounds like I have made lots of progress--and I did with one group of characters.  The second group are being stubborn.  They simply want to plod along aimlessly and aimlessness is boring!  (And if you think it is boring to read, try writing it LOL).

So, I need to prod these folks into some action and add some excitement and period color into their journey.  That is sending me back into the realms of research.  I love researching history, and as an old geezer who learned to use printed encyclopedias and card catalogs, I'm loving the ability to research on the Internet in my pajamas at home ;-)

Speaking of research, I cannot write enough praise for Kathy Lynn Emerson's How To Write Killer Historical Mysteries.  She writes some of my favorite mystery series, and this book is an outstanding guide for all historical fiction writers (just skip the genre-specific parts).

So, when counting my 250 daily words for the next week or so, they may easily be hand-written words noting clothing and building structure and timelines and foodstuffs and communication and transportation--well, you get the drift.  Lots of notes with lots of diagrams linking those notes into some semblance of colourful plot.

Do I need to add a murder to excite my characters?  Or perhaps a theft?  I have no problem writing violent acts if necessary and some planned scenes exist in outline form between Confederates and Unionists (it is early in the Civil War after all), but I am not a reader who enjoys violence for the sake of violence or sexual assaults simply to advance the action in the book.  If I don't like to read it, I certainly refuse to write it.  Other means must be found to make my reader want to turn the page ;-)

Writing is fun.  Researching is even more fun.  Forcing characters into action can be work...

A Ray of Sunshine ends a Cloudy Week

This has not been one of my best weeks of 2010.  I am trying quite hard to get well after being exposed to several sick people last weekend (one had strep throat) and so have muddled through in spite of the aches, upset stomach and sinus headaches.  No cards made; minimal writing done on TGAN; bare bones cleaning and cooking; no laundry...the best part (until now) of my week has been that I continued my perfect attendance streak at work by not calling in even though my body said "stay in bed".  The weather hasn't helped as it has been dreary, cold and wet much of the week.

Then, I open up my blog to post a review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and what do I find?

I got this really cool award from my friend Beverly over at GottHeartArt!  I feel a bit like I won the lottery!  She and I met shortly after Hurricane Katrina sent me back home to D/FW from New Orleans.  The stamping group we met through is now defunct, but we clicked from almost the first day we met--and I feel Blessed to call her a friend.  Thanks for my first blog award, Beverly!

If I understand how this works (and if I get it wrong, blame the headache LOL), I am to list ten of my favorite things and then pass the award to five people who inspire me...

1)    Chocolate--tied for #1 with coffee (there's a reason my avatar has a coffee cup LOL)

2)    Reading--my TBR mountain has over 500 very eclectic titles

3)    Writing--even if it sometimes slogs along at a snail's pace, I can no longer imagine life without writing

4)    Cardmaking and stamping--and crafting in general, especially eco-crafting

5)    Mexican food--I love food in general, but Tex-Mex has my heart ;-)

6)    Research--sounds crazy, but I must have been a librarian in at least one former life

7)    "Green" living--not as green as I want to be, but hope springs eternal; it is a passion

8)    The History Channel/History International--that's what reality TV means to me

9)    Star Wars--tied with Lord of the Rings; I have probably 75% of the movies' dialogue memorized

10)  Vintage 40's (before me, but not by much LOL) and 50's decor (see #7 above); ADORE thrift stores

And now to my Awardees (in alphabetical order)...these ladies' blogs are awesomely inspiring to me as a writer, as a reader, as a crafter, as a "greenie"--I wish I could award more ;-)

• Christi
• Julia
• Michele
• Susan
• Taylor

Uber-Cool Site, Uber-Cool Scrubbies, Uber-Cool Bags

"Uber" is the term I use when I am super excited about something, and I am super excited about my new scrubbies sent by Christi because I sent her my stash of mesh produce bags.  These are great!  One is of the mesh produce bags, but one is made of plastic grocery bags (plarn), and I already love it for my non-stick cookware--no scratching and it is really quite sturdy.

I love recycling when I can, and I crochet when I can, so I had been saving my mesh produce bags to see what could be done with them.  My BFF Beverly over at GottHeartArt crochets the most wonderful scrubbies out of nylon net, but why buy net if something can be recycled?  So, I had been saving these bags. 

Well, crocheting is so far down my "want-to-do" list that it has almost fallen off the end.  TGAN is taking up much of my free time, and I still want to participate in card challenges when possible.  I'd love to read more (100 book challenge, anyone?).  If you read my recent post about a "To-Don't" list, you may understand why I decided to simply mail all the produce bags to Christi.  They are getting utilized and I get the storage space--what a win-win situation!

I haven't yet ordered any of her fat bottom bags, but one may be purchased soon as my new Spring/Summer purse.  Hop on over to Christi's site and look around (her blog is great, too)!

250 Words A Day Challenge

A lot of "general living" has occurred already in 2010, but I am determined to continue writing.  I am also determined to make writing a daily event.  As I cruise the various writer's blogs I have found, this great challenge badge appeared several places.

This is doable, even for someone who types as slowly as I do.  When a scene is percolating in my mind, I can write a mostly unedited 250-word section in 30-45 minutes.  If I learned nothing else from NaNoWriMo, I learned to put the words on a page.  Then if I walk away from it for a day or so, I read it thru the eyes of my audience and my editing is tighter.

So, even though my 10 for 10 in 2010 is already off track (I read nothing for pleasure in January, so I still have 100 books to read before December 31, and let's not even mention "exercise"), I am posting another public challenge to myself.  Now, if I could just fine some free widget somewhere that would keep a running counter of the number of days I succeed in writing at least 250 words...

(P/S:  this challenge is lenient, and I could count the words of this post as part of the 250.  I am setting the bar higher for myself, and the only words I will count will be those written for TGAN, aka "Don't Trust the Rain".  With that in mind, I wrote 369 in advance of posting this LOL)

Happy New Year (and new Decade)--AKA 10 for 10 in 2010

I subscribe to the philosophy that years ending in "0" start the decade (similar to the fact that a person is not one year old until they have been on the earth for 365 days).  So, this is not only a new year, but a distinctively new decade for me.

My "bucket list" is far too long to post here, and many of the items listed will rely on certain other accomplishments occurring first, so let's simply concentrate on ten things I want to achieve this year.  I figure ten achievements for each year of the next decade, and by 2020, I will have crossed off 100 "bucket list" items, and that is certainly not too shabby, especially since 2020 also brings my 65th birthday LOL!

So here are my "10 for 10 in 2010" goals (in no particular order):

1. Obtain a passport.  Travel to Canada is no longer possible without one, and I'd love to make a trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
2. Complete the manuscript of "Don't Trust the Rain" in time to start the rough draft of "Lightning Strikes Home" during NaNoWriMo 2010 in November.
3. Participate in NaNoBloMo at least one month this year, so don't be shocked at some point to find a post a day here (not until after shift bid in February at work, though).
4. Stampin' Up! has 48 exclusive colors in four color families.  I want a Classic Ink Pad in each color, and only have ten so far, so by December 31, 2010, I want to own the other 38 colors.  Bonus goal would be to also have the markers and refills.
5. Replace my glass-top dining table with a table made of real wood (and wood chairs to match LOL).  Here's the one I really want, as it will also serve as a great writing desk in my uber-tiny dining room.
6. Pay off one of my student loans, and then put that monthly amount into savings.
7. Post at least one card or other creative project on this blog each month, using exclusively SU! products.
8. Complete the annual 100-Book Reading Challenge.  I'll be posting my list of completed books here.  Just scroll to the bottom and the list will be under the HGTV Green Tips widget. 
9. Join (and attend) a local writer's group.  The challenge in this is finding a group that is available by public transportation.
10. Exercise a minimum of fifteen minutes a day at least four times a week.  I have the equipment.  I just need to establish the habit ;-)

Of course, I have minor goals as well, like figuring out how to link to other sections of my blog (the 2010 reading list for instance).  And, if these are complete prior to year's end, I can certainly add more to the list LOL.