I gave up on The Lion of Senet, by Jennifer Fallon. [edited] Of course, tastes differ, so if anyone else wants to give it a shot, let me know and it's yours. Who knows; perhaps it gets better. I possess not the patience, especially with Warbreaker calling my name. [EDIT: I'm going to finish The Lion of Senet after all... and I apologize if I disappointed anyone with my cruel words last week, which were over the top, and uncalled for, in dismissing the author's work.]
Actually, before I hit up Warbreaker, I'm reading a non-fiction book on the art of tracking, as in tracking human fugitives and/or lost people, by a Special Forces tracking expert called Dave Diaz. Research for my fantasy novel that I'm writing. Rebekeh's character is an expert tracker, but Shannon and one other character will have tracking skills as well. I want to have it ring true, if I can...
Had another awesome writing session the other night, working on the novel. It flew. I love when that happens. Great scene(s).
My work machine still sits here, in limbo. I had a friend contact me today who is a computer guru (Carey) who swears it won't be a problem to remove the virus and keep the machine as is. I'm skeptical - not of his ability as a computer dude, but because I've seen how hard the virus locked up my rig. Anyway, he's coming over Tuesday to see if he can clean the system. If he can't, I'll take it to Vye on Wednesday and have him nuke the HD and reinstall Windows.
In fact, I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to Windows 7... or even having Vye build me a new work rig. It would be substantially cheaper than my gaming rig - it doesn't need that much power, really. And it's a tax write-off in any case. Or maybe I should just get an iMac, who knows. We'll see. Bottom line, I have options if my work rig can't be fixed, or should be retired. It's been a good rig, but I've had it for 4 years now? Maybe 5... I'd have to talk to Chaos and see if he remembers when he built it for me. It might be time to retire it, and spend a couple hundred on a new rig. I already have the monitors, and peripherals...
Wow, how boring is that? Computer talk! YAWN!
Well, I could whine about other stuff... like my Anniversary on Tuesday, which promises to be a bummer. Bah, I can't go into details, really... I'd have to get too personal. But let's just say that 19 years probably sounds impressive, but I don't really view it as an accomplishment worthy of congratulations. Our marriage is a very complex, multi-faceted situation, rife with as many difficulties as it is with treasures. But the positives are strong enough to (barely) outweigh the drawbacks, and so I (we) persevere.
In any case, I'll be taking Wifey out to dinner tomorrow, thanks to the generosity of dear old mom. I'm a little broke at the moment... plus, I still have movie passes that I got as a gift on my birthday from the Otts, which I have yet to use. Perhaps we'll go see a flick as well. After that, who knows...
I'll be happy one week from now, when the Christmas play is over (and a success). That will leave exactly 4 days to try and relax and enjoy the home stretch to Christmas. I hope it's a good holiday... and dangit, I hope someone has a New Year's Eve party this year. I'm feeling like being social for some reason. Usually I prefer to hide in my office and while away the hours, but I'm getting Cabin Fever...
The year's almost over. Dang. I guess I should reflect and reminisce at some point, at least in regards to the daily blogging thing. Did it accomplish what I thought it would? Do I even know what I was trying to accomplish? Are you all as sick of me as I am of myself? I think we all had a bunch of laughs and got to share some cool randomness. Hopefully, my whining was kept to a bearable minimum and didn't drive too many people away... if anything, the exercise proved that I could do something if I set myself to it (without reference to quality, lol).
What will 2010 hold? Yeah, right, like I'm a prophet... probably more book reading, more novel writing, less frequent blogging, more work on Wagnervana and Rug Care Central, and hopefully a relatively stable economy... Hopefully a spurt of strong spiritual growth, perhaps a breakthrough or two in a couple different areas (personal, spiritual, work-related). Hopefully a few LAN parties. Hopefully sleeping in my own bed again (after a year on the couch). I'm going to need a breakthrough or two to help shore me up in time for my 40th birthday in August, when I anticipate a rough stretch, for a variety of reasons, most of which you can probably guess...
All that to say, I just don't know.
Isn't that an awesome tattoo? It will only work with long hair, though...
Yeah, banal, meandering post today, sorry... especially to my new followers... hey, nose through the archive, there's some good stuff in there...
Until tomorrow, I hope you are all doing well...
Actually, before I hit up Warbreaker, I'm reading a non-fiction book on the art of tracking, as in tracking human fugitives and/or lost people, by a Special Forces tracking expert called Dave Diaz. Research for my fantasy novel that I'm writing. Rebekeh's character is an expert tracker, but Shannon and one other character will have tracking skills as well. I want to have it ring true, if I can...
Had another awesome writing session the other night, working on the novel. It flew. I love when that happens. Great scene(s).
My work machine still sits here, in limbo. I had a friend contact me today who is a computer guru (Carey) who swears it won't be a problem to remove the virus and keep the machine as is. I'm skeptical - not of his ability as a computer dude, but because I've seen how hard the virus locked up my rig. Anyway, he's coming over Tuesday to see if he can clean the system. If he can't, I'll take it to Vye on Wednesday and have him nuke the HD and reinstall Windows.
In fact, I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to Windows 7... or even having Vye build me a new work rig. It would be substantially cheaper than my gaming rig - it doesn't need that much power, really. And it's a tax write-off in any case. Or maybe I should just get an iMac, who knows. We'll see. Bottom line, I have options if my work rig can't be fixed, or should be retired. It's been a good rig, but I've had it for 4 years now? Maybe 5... I'd have to talk to Chaos and see if he remembers when he built it for me. It might be time to retire it, and spend a couple hundred on a new rig. I already have the monitors, and peripherals...
Wow, how boring is that? Computer talk! YAWN!
Well, I could whine about other stuff... like my Anniversary on Tuesday, which promises to be a bummer. Bah, I can't go into details, really... I'd have to get too personal. But let's just say that 19 years probably sounds impressive, but I don't really view it as an accomplishment worthy of congratulations. Our marriage is a very complex, multi-faceted situation, rife with as many difficulties as it is with treasures. But the positives are strong enough to (barely) outweigh the drawbacks, and so I (we) persevere.
In any case, I'll be taking Wifey out to dinner tomorrow, thanks to the generosity of dear old mom. I'm a little broke at the moment... plus, I still have movie passes that I got as a gift on my birthday from the Otts, which I have yet to use. Perhaps we'll go see a flick as well. After that, who knows...
I'll be happy one week from now, when the Christmas play is over (and a success). That will leave exactly 4 days to try and relax and enjoy the home stretch to Christmas. I hope it's a good holiday... and dangit, I hope someone has a New Year's Eve party this year. I'm feeling like being social for some reason. Usually I prefer to hide in my office and while away the hours, but I'm getting Cabin Fever...
The year's almost over. Dang. I guess I should reflect and reminisce at some point, at least in regards to the daily blogging thing. Did it accomplish what I thought it would? Do I even know what I was trying to accomplish? Are you all as sick of me as I am of myself? I think we all had a bunch of laughs and got to share some cool randomness. Hopefully, my whining was kept to a bearable minimum and didn't drive too many people away... if anything, the exercise proved that I could do something if I set myself to it (without reference to quality, lol).
What will 2010 hold? Yeah, right, like I'm a prophet... probably more book reading, more novel writing, less frequent blogging, more work on Wagnervana and Rug Care Central, and hopefully a relatively stable economy... Hopefully a spurt of strong spiritual growth, perhaps a breakthrough or two in a couple different areas (personal, spiritual, work-related). Hopefully a few LAN parties. Hopefully sleeping in my own bed again (after a year on the couch). I'm going to need a breakthrough or two to help shore me up in time for my 40th birthday in August, when I anticipate a rough stretch, for a variety of reasons, most of which you can probably guess...
Isn't that an awesome tattoo? It will only work with long hair, though...
Yeah, banal, meandering post today, sorry... especially to my new followers... hey, nose through the archive, there's some good stuff in there...
Until tomorrow, I hope you are all doing well...
15 comments:
Warbreaker sat on my shelf for a few months calling out to me. Now that I'm actually reading it I'm liking it quite a bit. It seems on a different level, but still very Sanderson-esque, and it's fun.
Best of luck in everything, friend.
You're giving up on The Lion of Senet? What a shame.
I was so looking forward to your review, too:)
Congrats on continuing to ride your writing high. Most people I talk to that have done NaNo are so sick of writing after November is over that they never look at their novel again.
OK, this is interesting.
Now, the odds that the person in Comment 2 is really the author, and not someone having a little fun at my expense, are slim, but not impossible... I mean, Joe Abercrombie left a comment in my blog back in April, which blew me away, since I'm basically a nobody blogger with a tiny audience and zero influence... so there's an outside chance that it really was Jennifer Fallon...
So if we assume it really was, that poses some interesting questions (to me, anyway). I assume authors realize that not everyone will love their books - in fact, some self-important literary elitists (like myself) might even rudely dismiss a title without even finishing it - a work that represents untold hundreds of hours of writing, sweat and turmoil for the author to produce... just casually dismiss it with a "it's going on the Bad Book Shelf - anyone want it?"
You'd think that someone actually trying to write a novel - for the second time, actually - would have more understanding than that, and be a little less rude in his opinion, realizing the work that goes into a novel, regardless of the results. So for that, I apologize, on the very off chance that that really was the author leaving the comment. I shouldn't assume that what is said here stays here, bouncing around inside this little bloghouse, eventually settling on the floor, to gather dust.
And so, actually, I think I will finish the book and write a review - but I'm going to be honest and be specific. If the first 150 pages are any indication of what lies ahead, I'm not sure much will change, as far as my level of embracing both the story and the style. BUT again, the reason I bought the book to begin with was upon the multiple high recommendations of the series by people who said they enjoyed it tremendously, so who knows, perhaps it will settle in and take off. I think I owe the author at least that much.
So there it is: I'll take it off the shelf and finish it, and review it, for better or for worse.
I think it's really her. You might want to check out her blog today.
Yeah, I saw that. Ouch. That, I'm afraid, is well deserved. I've written an apology and sent it to her, but I think the damage is done. I'll be stinging for a while after this one... man, what an idiot I am...
Don't beat yourself up too hard, David. Just another example of why we need to be careful on how we word negative reviews. That's life in general though. We must try to be tactful. Sometimes I find that with books I'm struggling to enjoy that if I give myself a little time and then start again I enjoy it the second time around. Like certain songs are good on certain days, certain books are good during certain seasons of life. Good luck.
Now to go find that Abercrombie comment...
ouch is right... but, i like her tact. She was very gracious and honest. That is really a good lesson for all of us! Can I read it after you dave? I have time until the 19th of January, when school starts up again.
And keep up your writing! Don't let this instance drag you down: repent, learn your lesson and be inspired!!! :) I'm excited for you just cause YOU got mentioned in an established author's blog!!! How cool is that!! Yeah, she chastised you, but then she encouraged you, and thats a good way of discipline, lol :D
Yeah, you're right, Abbie. Though it's kind of hard to be inspired by realizing how thoughtless I'd been... bah, oh well, live and learn. But if I don't beat myself up over it, the lesson probably won't stick...
Logan: Abercrombie's quick comment was actually on the Feb 4th post.
If you went to the Feb 4th post to see Joe Abercrobie's comment, raise your hand.....
I agree with Logan and Abbie, don't beat yourself up (for too long). This is a great lesson, not just for you, but for all of us who blog. You never know who is reading your post.
But I also think it's important to review a book based on your honest opinion of it. If you didn't like it, say so. But, like Logan said, we need to use tact. I'm sure you're not the first person to say something negative about her novels.
Now I want to read this book....
I guess that's the issue... It's not like I suddenly have changed my mind about what I've read thus far... just the way I so casually insulted/dismissed it. I should have been a little more polite, without sacrificing honesty. I should have just said the writing was "very safe and tired" or something... and left it at that until/unless I finished it and could give it a proper review.
Anyway, maybe a safe style is just fine with others, but it's hard for me to summon the momentum to continue reading a book that has a hard time hooking me. There's been other books I've abandoned this year, for the same reasons... I just didn't insult them on the way out. The Briar King (Keyes), Hawkwood's Voyage (Kearney) and A Cavern of Black Ice (Jones) all didn't last long with me this year.
Yeah, I totally found that Abercrombie post and read a few archived goodies, too, on my journey. It's interesting how the blog world connects folks. It's kind of like a real-world application of Lost.
Like Crystal and Abbie, I, too, now want to read this book.
I reviewed a book a few months ago, Dan Simmons' The Terror, which I did not have the will to finish. It's the only book I dropped that I started this year. Despite its acclaim, it did nothing for me.
Live and learn, my friend. :)
Happy Anniversary!
Yeah, Happy Anniversary!! :D
what an adventure today!! lol!
First of all, I've never heard of a Google Alert - cool & creepy at the same time.
Second of all, what a painful lesson. When I say/do something thoughtless, I ask God to erase it from peoples' minds! I'm sorry that it happened to you, I hope she accepts your apology.
Third of all, since your blogging year is almost up, let me say that I've enjoyed reading your posts and I will most definitely buy your book when it's published - and read it cover to cover, I promise :)
A.
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