2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I'm a couple of months late signing up for the challenge over at Historical Tapestry,  but hey, better late than never LOL.  After all, we all know I love historical fiction and this challenge isn't limited by sub-genre, so I can flit between romance, mystery, young adult or straight historical fiction.

There is also no restriction on reading format that I can see, so I have the option of Audible, e-reads (I've collected a lot of historical fiction on my Kindle, NOOK and I-Pod Touch), or the piles of paperback/hardcover historical fiction scattered throughout my home.  I just need to stop collecting and start reading ;-)

I still have a couple of weeks left before Camp NaNoWriMo begins April 1, so I hope to get a few books read before I hunker down to write some more, and I want to be more diligent in posting reviews, so don't be surprised if book reviews start popping up from time to time ;-)

If you enjoy reading history, come on over and join us!

FOCUSing on Social Media

Remember how I said my word for the year was "FOCUS"?  Well, between my day job and my part-time job as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I am trying to learn more about social media.  Marketing my SU! business more effectively would be wonderful, but the main reason for studying the various platforms out there is because once my novel is ready for publication, I will need to market both the book and myself. 

I'm preparing to attend my first-ever writer's conference in May, and the classes cover both the writing aspects and the publishing/marketing aspects of being an author.  Since my novel is still unfinished, my focus for this conference will be classes on craft; however, I would be totally remiss if I refused to take any class on the use of social media for authors.

I've posted here before that I don't have a Facebook page or a Twitter account and some of my reasoning behind the decision of not participating in those forms of social media.

Face it, I'm not always the greatest at keeping a schedule with this blog, and I am ashamed of that fact.  It's not that I have nothing to say (my friends will attest I am seldom quiet LOL), but I feel I have too many things I want to share. 

For instance--I managed to cover several notebooks lately, but haven't found the time to get out the camera, take the pictures, crop and edit the pictures, and then post them here.  They are really pretty--I'm not ashamed of my work--and yet they still sit at the table awaiting a post.

I wanted to post something for St. Patrick's Day, and the first day of spring.  On both occasions, once I was off work, general living took precedence over the blog.  Looking back--I haven't posted since my March 1st rant--so we can see no focus on social media here :-(

There are several books I have finished this month that need to be added to my 100-book challenge at Goodreads and also need to be listed here (preferably with reviews)...

Anybody else see a pattern here?  How could I reasonably expect to interact with multiple social media platforms if I cannot even  stay consistent with this personal blog?  So, until I learn more discipline and begin to focus more on improving this platform, I choose not to string myself out any further.

Baby steps...

New Year and New Reading Goals

Since my reading the past few years has not met the massive challenges I have joined for 100+ books, I've decided to not publicly humiliate myself by setting my 2012 reading goals that high again. 

I read a lot--especially while researching the Civil War for my novel-in-progress.  I also read a lot on the art/craft of writing.  Much of this reading is piecemeal--magazine articles or certain chapters from various texts.  As an example--I currently have seven partially read Civil War books and five writing guides all in various levels of completion and I work back/forth and between them as I need the particular chunk of information.  So, these are not yet added to my "Books I've Read" pile on Paperback Swap because they aren't yet finished...yeah, I know, I'm an obsessive-compulsive nerdy geek LOL (and let's not talk about the software manuals I am currently wading thru since upgrading to Office 2010 and Windows 7).

So, I'm doing something new with my TBR mountain and reading list/book reviews this year.  Let's see how this works (and I'd love feedback either now or later on as the year progresses).  I'm adding a new page to my blog for my 2012 Reading.  As I start a book, I'll add it to the list.  As I finish it, I'll add a review (or at least a star rating).  If I post a review on Goodreads, Paperback Swap, Amazon, or anywhere else--and if that review is not a copy/paste of what I post here--then I'll add a link to the review.

Although I think the definitions I use are pretty standard among readers/writers, here's a quick glossary of my (personal favorite) acronyms:

• DNF - Did Not Finish: this seldom happens for me and I always give a book 100+ pages before giving up on it, but if I rate something DNF, I'd rather have surgery without anesthetic than finish this book--YMMV so I will always give specific reasons why I could not read to the end
• YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary: most people's opinions and tastes are quite different from mine, so please remember that I am only expressing my opinion and I'd love civilized discourse if you have a different experience with an author/title/genre
• CTT - Crime Thru Time: not only is this a great website devoted to historical mystery as a genre, but there is a very active Yahoo Group associated with the site.  Members are both readers and writers and my membership there is one reason I have a TBR mountain rather than a TBR pile LOL.  If you love historical mystery, come join us!
• TBR - To Be Read: these are books I currently own, either as an e-book (and I'm trying hard to purchase more of these, especially for pleasure reading) or as a physical tome.  My master lists of these are on Paperback Swap and my Kindle account and I try to keep the lists current to keep from buying duplicates unawares (some books I have in both formats for a reason, and some I also have on Audible so I can listen while doing other things).
• HM - Historical Mystery; HF - Historical Fiction: I read a lot of both, but since some readers enjoy one but not the other, I will always try to note which genre a title fits into best (IMHO)
• IMHO - In My Humble Opinion: an alternate for YMMV

Since this post has become a novella in itself, I'll post my system for assigning stars soon.  And once I learn how, I'll try to link this post to my 2012 Reading page as a reference (guess I'm pulling out the "Google Blogger for Dummies" guide again LOL).