I'm Watching You

I have been all over the page lately. My brain on overdrive.

Maybe it’s the change in weather.

Maybe it’s the month.

Maybe it’s just that my imagination feeling rather hyper.

The way my brain feels.

Anyway, I thought I’d do a little review piece to further send the synapses into acceleration.

Anyone know John Reeves? No? Well, you should.

He’s the hero of an action/thriller series by Kirkus MacGowen. The book I’m going to talk about in this post is Wrath, the second book in the series. The first one is The Fall of Billy Hitchings if you want to read them in order.

Wrath picks up with John Reeves return to his hometown where he’s dealing with a little bad family blood, working with an accountant and wannabe, although inept, private detective, and a vengeful, psychopathic, serial killer.

Wrath is a visceral read. It makes you feel the action and some of it doesn’t feel that great if you’re a little squeamish. I found myself drawn in with most of my senses, the descriptions acutely visual.

The one issue I had with it was I wanted a little more John Reeves. This book dealt with his relationship to his ‘estranged’ brother and I felt there was enough of the brother, but not quite enough of John. If you read both books, you’ll see what I mean.

However, that one issue doesn’t keep me from giving Mr. MacGowen’s book a huge thumbs up. I’m looking forward to reading the next John Reeves adventure.

The psychotic in this novel got my appetite ready for the Halloween season. The next two reviews are witchy in nature. Although both have a little vamp and ‘other’ supernatural in the mix.

First is A Discovery of Witches, a supernatural tale woven by Deborah Harkness.

Diana is reluctant to embrace her witch heritage, but when the historian of alchemy stumbles on a ancient manuscript that only       opens for her, the supernatural world around her closes in.

Deborah Harkness creates a rich world of witches, vampires and daemons in this book, the first of three. I did not want to put this                    down. It kept me engrossed and pulled me from England to France to New York and then into time itself where it left me, anxiously waiting for more.

I guess I have to get the next book, huh?

Next is The Forever Girl: Sophia’s Journey by Rebecca Hamilton.

This was an intriguing read about a young Wiccan who discovers that she’s a descendant of elemental witches and a forever girl. I’m not going to go into all that because I want you to read and find out for yourself.

There is mystery aplenty in Ms. Hamilton’s first book of the series. Cruors (vampiric beings), Strigoi (shifters), and many more paranormal beings. There’s also an unsolved murder or two.

This is more of a YA or New Adult read, but I enjoyed it immensely. I did have one issue. The ending. I wish it had left me with a stronger feeling that there is more to come. It did and it didn’t, so I would be okay if it was a stand alone or a series. Since it’s billed as Book #1, then it needs to be a little more leading.

That’s it for book reviews. I would like to throw in a theatrical review even thought the musical is ending this week.

I recently saw a production of Three Penny Opera at the Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden, Colorado. I just want to say Bravo! Also, if you love the arts in any way, shape, or form, check out your local theatre productions. The big stage is not the only place to see excellent theatre. Support the little guy.

Well, I succeeded in throwing my head into a more frenetic tail spin. Anyone have something they’d like to recommend?

Frustration & Release

I haven't been on here for about a month. This is one of my frustrations. It's completely with myself, because I know that I should make time to blog. I have many of these niggling, nagging, frustrations and I could put them off on other things, people, etc., but there's always going to be a little 'me' in the mix.

I've been job hunting, missing my daughter, worrying about both my kids, cheering my son's promotion efforts from the sidelines, worrying about my parents and sister, trying to write at least a little, finally getting to this blog, etc.

You can't totally get rid of all life's worries, but you can find a release.

I found mine in June of 2010. Well, maybe not found, but set it free. The strange thing is, I had been thinking about a story that was sparked by a song. Thinking about putting it down on paper, but not acting on it. Then . . . I got an invite to a group on MeetUp.com. The Golden Wannabe Writers Group. In retrospect, it came to me at the perfect time. Something I strongly believe in. I attended the first meeting to see what it was about and got hooked. The week before, I had put down the first words of my story. Through the tutelage of Janet Roots and the support of this group, I finished my first manuscript in September of 2011. I am revising it now. Taking it to two different critique groups to help me polish it and working toward publication.

There are those who think this is strange. That it's a passing fancy. That I might be slightly off.

The truth is, I've always lived in my head. I've always been making up stories for myself going as far back as the little, red timeout stool that I sat on--a lot.

It's hard to explain to someone what it's like for me to write. Let me try.

Some people like to watch sports or participate in sports, some like to scrapbook (I do as well) or do other types of art. Others hike, bike, ski, do yoga, work (yes there are some that find this a release), sew, drink, smoke (insert tobacco of choice here), knit, cook, the list could go on and on. My point is, think about what gives you release from your frustrations, think about how it makes you feel.

This is what it's like for me to write. It's exhilarating and yes frustrating in a good way. To create a world that I hope someone else will get caught up in as I did writing it.

And then there's the reward. The excitement I felt when I first saw the anthology my poem, My Heart's Song, was published in, sitting on the shelf at the Tattered Cover Bookstore. The rush of pride at second place in the Creatively Crazy short story contest and having that story read by actors at the Miner's Alley Playhouse in Golden, CO. The giddy elation that I recently had when I learned I won the September 2012 short story contest at Darker Times Fiction with my entry, No Lights, which will be published in their anthology and available on Amazon.com in the next couple of months.

I know this is not something that only happens to me, that there are people in all walks of life experiencing the frustrations and releases that go with life.

What's your greatest frustration and how do you release it?

#iamwriting ~ RG