Review: The Hunger Games

 The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 9/08
Source: Purchased
Author Website

This is one book I was really not sure about. I'd seen it talked about in the YA book blogosphere for months before I purchased it, and honestly? I only purchased it because I was joining a book club to get Swagbucks and it was a selection. Then I started reading it and I STILL wasn't sure. I gave it the rudimentary first thirty pages, and I'm so glad I did.

The book starts out following Katniss and her daily life in the ruins of what was once North America, now called Panem. It's a pretty depressing life to say the least. Katniss is a strong female character, and that's a big reason I stuck out reading the book. I've read far too many a YA book where the female protagonist is just a damsel in distress, waiting for the male character to save her. Katniss is not that girl. In fact, she could probably kick the ass of any boy that tried to save her!

Each year, two teenagers from Panem must compete in The Hunger Games. When Katniss' little sister's name is called, she volunteers to go in her place, along with the other tribute from her district, Peeta. The book follows their journey to the Capitol, where they prepare for the games. If you forget that the games are actually a fight to the death, this part of the book is pretty glamorous, as they're treated like reality television stars.

But all too soon, the games start, and Katniss has to survive, as all the other tributes want to win just as badly as she does. Without giving too much away (even though I realize I'm probably among the last people to read this book), I will say the plot is fast-moving: featuring not only Katniss' trials to survive the games, but the blossoming love story between her and Peeta. I finished the last hundred pages of this book in a single sitting, because I just had to know what was going to happen to the characters.

I've already started the second book in this trilogy, Catching Fire, and can't believe I have to wait until August to read the third! :groan:

So, in short, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I've pushed my mom to move it up her to be read pile. She's in her 60's and loves YA books as much as the next person!

Books on Deck: March 29th

Books on Deck is a weekly feature where I talk about the books I've recently purchased and are next up on my reading list.

Neil Gaiman-The Graveyard Book

I've read Neil Gaiman on and off throughout the years, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a huge fan. I heard him talking about this book on CBS' Sunday Morning program, and the concept intrigued me. A young boy is raised by a community of ghosts after his family is murdered. Sounds very interesting, and since it's a middle grade book, it's a pretty slim volume, so it won't take long to read.

Amazon


Witchling (Sisters of the Moon, Book One)-Yasmine Galenorn

This series was recommended to me by a co-worker who has similar reading tastes. The series follows the D'Artigo sisters, who are half-human, half-faeire. Camille (witch), Delilah (werecat) and Menolly (vampire) The sisters work as operatives at the Otherworld Intelligence Agency, and when a murder happens at a popular human/faerie hang-out, the sisters investigate.

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Her Fearful Symmetry-Audrey Niffengger

I have heard mixed things about this book, which is by the author of one of my all-time favorite books, The Time Traveler's Wife. The story is a ghost story, about Elspeth, who leaves her London flat to her two nieces. They move in and adjust to their new lives. Elspeth adjusts to the after-life.
I've heard the story is a bit convoluted, and frankly I can see that even from the description. But, the book was a gift, and I figure I'll give it a go, and hope for the best.

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I Took the Pledge!

I found this pledge through Swimmer's blog and thought it was too good not to take part in myself.

I,Tara, take The Aspiring Writers Pledge to write a book in 2010 with the intent of publishing. I promise to update my progress weekly, ask when I need support and encourage others to complete the task at hand.


Want to take the pledge too? Learn more about it here.

Musical Inspiration

After I read a book I really love, I usually head to the author's website. I find myself gleeful when the author has a playlist of the music that inspired them during the writing process. Music is critical to my writing. I almost never write without music in the background. Usually when I start a new project, creating an Itunes playlist isn't too far behind. For my current WIP, I have two playlists, for the two romantic relationships in the story. Certain songs just make me think of my characters, and can sometimes prove as the spark I need to break free of writer's block.

Here are the few of the songs I've been listening to over the last few days as I write.

You Must Be Out of Your Mind-The Magnetic Fields
Romantic angst: there's some of it going on between two of the characters.



14 Forever-Stars
The characters dealing with passing from youth to adulthood.



Lovers In A Dangerous Time-Barenaked Ladies (Bruce Cockburn cover)
The title says it all. Romance during a time of conflict.


So, writers: do you have playlists? If so, what are some of your most inspirational songs?

Word? I don't need no stinkin' Word!

Unless you write longhand, you're going to need a word processing software of some sort to write your novel. Most people use Microsoft Word, and I was among them until my computer died, and I no longer had access to an install CD for the Word '97 my sister had installed on my computer. For awhile, I made do with no word processing software, as I wasn't working on any writing project. But as I wanted to get back into writing, I figured it was time to pony up the dough for Word, as it's currently going for $113 at Amazon. Thankfully, I did a little research before making that purchase!

This is where Open Office comes in. I've been using Open Office as my primary office suite for the past year and I find it to work very similarly to Microsoft Office. A lot of the processes are even simpler. I use their spreadsheet software to manage our household's budget, and I use their word processing software to write my novel.

If you're worried that your Open Office document won't be compatible with Word, no worries. One of the many options to save your document is to save it as a .doc file, which is the Word file format. Open Office was created by Sun Microsystems, a well-known name in the industry.

I also recommend using Google's Docs feature as a back-up, or if you want to access your story from another location. I keep a back-up of my story on my Google Docs, that way if I'm feeling inspired and away from my home computer, I can write. I do a daily back-up on mozy.com, but that's not enough for me, as I'm terrified of losing my WIP! I feel better having two back-ups of my novel. Perhaps I've watched the episode of Sex & The City where Carrie's computer crashes one time too many!


PS-No, I was not paid or otherwise compensated for this post! I just love the software.

Wannabe Writers #9

Wannabe Writers is a weekly event held by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-Published.

Where I am in the writing process: Since I just did last week's wannabe writers yesterday, I'm in about the same place. About 46,000 words in. I'm hoping to get some writing in between loads of laundry today.

My current problems: My current problem will probably stay the same over the course of the next three odd weeks or so. We're closing on a house on Wednesday, so I am going to have a hard time fitting writing in with all the work that we need to do before we move in!

My question this week: Writing Romance? How to develop a relationship out of thin air and make it believable? (And not just lust)

In my current WIP, two of the characters have liked each other since they met, but complications prevent them from getting together right away. I tend to write romance as I do any other new relationship in a novel, the characters get to know each other, and then things develop from there. I enjoy building a certain amount of romantic tension between characters, so when they finally do get together, the reader is generally excited. I'm not talking about 400 pages of lead-up to the actual romantic event, but a little tension can go a long way. I generally don't write two characters meeting and fireworks going off the second they lay eyes on each other. It is a believable device-but only when used sparingly.

Books You Should be Reading if You're Writing

As a writer, I'm more of a doer than a planner. I can remember being forced to outline in a creative writing class in high school, and being so frustrated that it put me off the process for the rest of my life. I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" type of writer, so I tend to hate when the process gets too structured. So, reading about writing can be a frustrating experience for me, but one that I force myself to do because it is always beneficial. The more you know about writing as a craft, and publishing as an industry, the better writer you'll be. Here are a few of the books I've found helpful throughout the years.

Writing Great Books for Young Adults-Regina Brooks

This book should be at the very top of your reading list if you're writing a YA novel. It's a pretty slim volume, so it won't take much time to get through. While it does go over some of the general fare you'll find in just about every writing how-to book, the core subject is writing for a younger audience, and of course targeting your book to the right professionals in the YA publishing world.

Amazon



Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life-Anne Lamott

Hands-down, the best book on writing I've ever read. It's not so much an instructional manual, as a make you laugh out loud when the writing process makes you want to throw yourself off the nearest tall building sort of manual. I bought this book in the late '90's and it has been my friend ever since.

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Your First Novel-Laura Whitcomb & Ann Rittenberg

If you're looking for a practical how-to guide, this book will be more up your alley than my previous two recommendations. The book is split into two distinct sections, with each of the authors writing about their specialty-writing (Whitcomb) and publishing (Rittenberg). I just started reading the publishing section and it's a bit more slow-going than the writing section, but that could be just me, as I'm nowhere near publication ready!

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Blog Hop

Since I'm new to blogging, I decided to participate in the Blog Hop over at Crazy-for-Books. Unfortunately, I feel a bit daft since my browser crashed as I was entering my info and it appears I entered my link in the wrong format. :head desk: Oh well, I still thought I'd pass along the info, and look for some new blogs to follow!

On My Wishlist March 26th

On My Wishlist is a weekly feature ran by the great book blog Book Chick City. To learn more about this meme, get the details here.

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate #1)-Gail Carriger

Okay, seriously, what's not to like here? Soulless is a steampunk screwball romance that takes place in 19th century London. It features werewolves, vampires and Victorian mannerisms. This is the first book in this series, the second, Changeless, comes out on Tuesday, with the third book, Blameless, following in September. This book is at the very top of my wishlist, and I've dropped heavy hints to my husband to pick it up for me for my birthday!

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After Life-Jaron Lee Knuth

Alex has been in love with Morgan since they were children. They find themselves having to wait out the Zombie apocalypse in Alex's apartment, on a diet of canned food and illegally downloaded movies. They must decide if they should hold on to the lives they once lived, or adapt to the new world. I love the tag-line in the Amazon review: Love, blood and the undead.


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You Are So Undead To Me-Stacey Jay

I love the concept of the Megan Berry books: Megan is a a zombie settler, which means she's a part-time shrink to zombies with issues. It's her job to send the undead back to their final resting place. Needless to say, this is cramping her social life. When the zombies start attacking humans and threaten Homecoming, it's up to Megan to come to the rescue.

Amazon

Wannabe Writers #8

Wannabe Writers is a weekly meme ran by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-published. It's a writing group for the un-published and anyone is welcome to join. It's a place where future authors can ask questions, share stories, and get feedback. Click (here) to find out how it works.

Where I am in the writing process: I have been working on my current novel since January, 2010. My word count is at about 46,000 at last count. I'm hoping to be at about 80,000 when all is said and done.

My current problems: My biggest problem this week is finding time to write. I have been sick for the last week and of course this illness has hit me right in the middle of a huge burst of inspiration, after a few very, very dry weeks. I'm thankful that I was able to get about 30 pages written over the last weekend, but I've been in bed and too drugged up to write anything. Today, I'm hoping to take my meds and pull the laptop under the covers with me to at least work on some nagging edits if nothing else.

My question this week: Dual narratives? Has anyone ever attempted to write a book where you have two Main Characters--switching voice with each alternating chapter? Likes/Dislikes on that?

I like this approach, but only dual narratives. I think it gets confusing if you have multiple characters switching off between chapters. I haven't been able to get into the last Blue Bloods book because it cuts between three different characters each chapter. It's kind of hard to keep what's going on with who. I think dual narratives can be an interesting way to tell a story.

Why This Time it's Different

I am one of those people that's known I wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember living. I still have some of my first stories, some :cough: New Kids on the Block fan fiction :cough: and while everything I wrote then was more school girl fantasy than fiction, it was a start down the path I find myself on now.

I've written more fan fiction throughout my teenage and adult years, but I'd never managed to write more than a few short stories with totally original characters. I thought I was on the right path two years ago when I decided to write a novel about time travel, after being inspired by a truly creepy building I walked past in downtown Washington, DC. Inspiration is strange like that. I wrote about fifty pages of that novel and I do think I'll get back to it one day, but unfortunately I got engaged in the middle of writing it, and it fell to the wayside.

Flash forward to December, 2009. I have a few weeks off work and become consumed with the video game "Left For Dead". If you're not familiar, it's a zombie shooting game. I start to read every last thing I can get my hands on about zombies. I've always liked zombies, if you can say that, but now I find myself having a bit of a fascination with them. One night I had a vivid dream that featured one girl, two boys who were arguing over said girl, and the most important part of that dream: they were in a shelter at a high school hiding out from zombies. When I woke up, I told my husband about the dream and he said it would make a good story. It took another three weeks to actually get it down on paper, but once I started, I haven't given up on it, which for me is a huge accomplishment. Writing has always gotten pushed to the back burner when other things came up, but not this time. I do admit to putting it on the back burner for a week or two, but I always come back to it. The characters are compelling me to tell their story.

This time I've also changed my writing style. Instead of trying to edit every little bit before moving on, I just write, knowing that some things will probably be deleted, moved around or what have you. My internal editor seems to be at peace with this project, and is not hindering me from moving forward. I've written over two hundred pages for this novel so far, and I'd say about seventy percent finished with it. When I do finish, I plan on editing and refining for publication. If I never get published, I'm truly okay with that. I am happy for the inspiration coming to me and for just being creative again.

Books On Deck: March 23

Last night I found myself in the emergency room waiting room (starting to feel better now, thankfully) and as my husband returned from the bathroom, he found me reading. He said, "You brought a book?" I replied, "When do I ever leave the house without a book?" The answer to that question would be: almost never.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've felt naked without a book on hand. Because of my fear of being stuck somewhere without a book, I always seem to have a large pile of books on deck, sitting in the bottom pile of my book shelf. I get a bit anxious if I don't have at least 10 books sitting there, spines facing out, enticing me to drop whatever I'm reading to give them a go instead. I figured this would be something interesting to talk about to get this blog going, so each week or so, I'll talk about what books I've purchased and can't wait to read!

Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins

I'm currently reading The Hunger Games, and to be quite honest, I wasn't sure about it at first. I didn't feel comfortable in that world. It was a dark, depressing place, and I wasn't sure if I was in the right mood to immerse myself in that world. Thankfully, I followed my mother's rule: give a book as many pages as you are old. So, if you're 22, give the book 22 pages before you move on. I followed this rule, and found myself absolutely in love. I see what everyone has been going on about about these books! I'm about half-way through The Hunger Games, and can't have Catching Fire sitting on my book shelf, just waiting to be cracked open!


The Forest of Hands and Teeth-Carrie Ryan

I bought this book using Amazon gift cards I acquired through Swagbucks. I feel much less guilty about dropping money on books when it's not coming out of my pocket!
Anyway, I'm really interested in reading this book because it features "zombies". I use the quotation marks because the author calls them The Unconsecrated, which is very clever. I'm always interested in books that feature a dystopian outlook, and any kind of undead/infected character element, since those themes are featured heavily in the novel I'm working on. Hopefully I'll love this book as much as I think I will, and I'll be able to snatch up the companion novel, The Dead-Tossed Waves with more Swagbucks!

Blackout-Connie Willis

My husband introduced me to Connie Willis' work when I was going through a time-travel phase last summer. He prefers "hard" sci-fi, full of space ships and scientific jargon, which I just don't favor. He pressed me into reading two of Connie's previous books, The Doomsday Book, and To Say Nothing of the Dog. Both were fantastic. They are hard sci-fi, but not off-putting in any way. They're funny and even feature a bit of romance here and there.
So, when I was looking through the Sci-Fi book club's website and saw Connie Willis had a new book out, I had that baby added to my cart faster than you can say Bishop's Bird Stump.

At the Beginning

After many years away, I find myself back at Blogger. I first started blogging here ten years ago. I can hardly believe how the time has flown! I moved on to Livejournal, Wordpress, and now here I am, back where I started.

I suspect this blog may be slow-going at first, but I'm looking for this to be an outlet for my creative thoughts. I'm currently working on my first novel, a dystopian novel that features romance, super powers and the odd zombie (or "infected" as I like to call them) or two.

I also plan to write about what I'm reading, and a little bit about my life as a newlywed and new home owner. I look forward to sharing my ideas here, and hopefully with others that happen to stumble by, sooner rather than later!