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Bad books...
We here it all the time. You can have an alpha male hero, but you must make him sympathetic. There has to be something redeeming to make the reader (or if it's a movie, the watcher), root for him. Fail to gain my endorsement and you lose any ability to keep my attention. Which is what happened over the weekend. Thank goodness I brought another book with me. I tried. Honestly. I read 100 pages. But by page 100, I still couldn't stand the hero. He was an arrogant jerk with no redeeming qualities that I could find. And I looked. Hard. The heroine was nice enough. But even she began to wear thin. If the hero had been more likeable, I would have gotten past it pretty quickly.All of this wouldn't be quite so sad, except the author is one I usually enjoy a lot. That I couldn't read more than 100 pages of her latest tells me that maybe I won't be reading too many more. And that makes me sad. So word of advice for all my writer readers, make me like the hero. It can make all the difference.Labels: books
Relax...
This weekend, for the first time in almost two months, I was forced to sit back and relax. No cell phone (couldn't get reception), no email (no computer), no where to be, no meetings/appointments, and no rushing around to be anywhere. I got to sleep in (okay, fine, tried to sleep in), laze away the morning, eat a leisurely breakfast, write, read, wander around a quaint little town...in general? Relax. Why is relaxing such a foreign thing to me? Is it my upbringing? My school years? My intense need to feel productive? Who knows. What I do know, is that I have a severe problem. Hello, my name is Erin, and I can't relax. It's really not right. Friday night I practically had to do a wedding service for my shoulders and my ears. Not because of anything uniquely awful, just because of anxiety, worry, and running around. By Saturday morning they were halfway to their normal positions, and by Sunday morning? My shoulders comfortably rested where they belong. Let's just hope I keep this good feeling going.Labels: random musings
And the winner is...
Yan! Congratulations. Keep your eyes on the mail. Labels: books, contests
Life returns to normal...I hope.
The last month of my life has been a complete whirlwind, followed by a tornado. The first month of school is always hectic, but for some reason, this month seemed crazier. Is it because we started two weeks late, so the Jewish Holidays that would have fallen in the 5th and 6th weeks of school, actually fell in the 3rd and 4th? Or is it that the Emerald City Writers Conference also fell during that first month? Maybe it's the wedding I happily agreed to act as bridesmaid for...Either way, I took it all on this month, and came out limping. Now that it's all over, it's back to work, ladies and gents. Back to my newest book, a YA set in a small college town. Back to parent conferences (they start next week). Back to blogging. Labels: festivities, life, writers aren't crazy
Help! I'm being buried...
...under a pile of books. How is it that no matter how quickly I read, the book pile grows faster? Is it an addiction? Do I simply lack the ability to say no when it comes to buying more books? Does it have to do with the belief that if I don't buy the book RIGHT NOW it won't be there when I want it? Or am I simply the weakest link and dependent upon a pile of papers to keep me happy?Yeah, I don't have the answer either. But share with me your weakness, and I'll share with you a book I picked up a the recent Emerald City Conference (and yes, pics coming soon). I'll pick a name at random from comments left. Contest ends Friday, Oct. 24.Labels: books, contests
Books, books everywhere...
Why is it that my TBR pile never seems to shrink? It only grows. Exponentially. Which is why even though I've read several of the books I brought back with me from Nationals, I still have more than my fair share waiting to be read. Books like The Queen's Bastard by C.E. Murphy, and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. But they'll have to wait while I finish off Tempted by the Night, Elizabeth Boyle's latest. ***Be sure to check back next week for the story of this year's Emerald City Conference, or how I spent my weekend.Labels: books
The one where you don't eat...
Anyone who reads my blog even semi-regularly knows that when it comes to the Jewish Holidays, I'm all about tradition. There are special foods, special prayers, special rituals...you get the idea. Of course, my favorite traditions are the special foods. Especially if those foods involve anything with the word "kugel" in them. My least favorite holidays are the ones where you don't eat. The ones where we are expected to fast from one time to the other without even a drop of water. Me and not eating? Yeah, bitter enemies isn't a strong enough description. Ask any Tiara and she'll tell you exactly what happens if I'm not fed regularly...and it's not pretty. However, on those holidays where we don't eat, there is a shining bright light...FOOD! See, before the fast begins it's tradition to eat a big meal. Then it's tradition to Break the Fast with another large meal at the end. So tonight I'm off to Mom's for Kol Nidre dinner, which involved me baking an apple kugel. Hopefully this time the center will actually cook. And maybe, while we're at it, the cleaning fairy will come take care of my kitchen. Yeah, you're right...I better keep dreaming. So here's to an easy fast for those of you fasting. And to a happy and healthy new year. Shanah Tovah!Labels: food, Jewish musings
Bad blogger...
No, I'm not yelling at the blogger system. I'm yelling at myself. Bad, Erin, for not posting for almost a week! I can't believe how fast this week went by. I apologize profusely. I have no excuse, really, other than a very long week including the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah (pronounced Roshe, not Raaaash or Rash). Somehow it led me to Friday without a posting in sight. And since you're all (okay, Rachel and Mom are) clamoring for my zoo post, here it is: The problem with having family who visit you approximately once a year is that you run out of cool things to do with them after the first few visits. There's only so many trips to the Ballard Locks, or the Seattle Waterfront, or Pike Place Market one can take before losing their mind completely. So when my grandparents (from here known as GP) came to visit, I had to scramble for something to do with them. We started out at lunch, where they were amazed by the bi-level (right word?) Target across the street. "Two floors? How do they do that?!" From there we took the long way through Ballard down to the Woodland Park Zoo. Please keep in mind, I love the zoo. I'm basically a giant 5 year old at heart. Take me to the zoo and I'll ooooh and ahhhh all day long. So off to see the lions and tigers and bears (insert: Oh my!). Actually it was more like zebras and hippos and gorillas, really. We slowly (hey, the GPs are in great shape, but they don't walk quite as fast as they used to) made our way through the zoo. We marvelled over the elephants, the zebras and the fake ostrich eggs. We watched the raptor soar through the air after the fake "prey." We narrowly (and in Nana's case not at all) escaped getting pooped on by a bird. We cleaned up after getting pooped on by the bird. We stopped to read every sign between the enterance and the exit. Sometimes we read them twice. And we asked multiple questions of every zoo employee we found. (Please note, this is more a Royal we, meaning the GPs.)By the time we left, we were all ready to go to the hotel where they promptely changed for dinner (because let's be honest, bird poo is such a turn off), and we relaxed while listening to someone on one of the 24 hour news channels interview John McCain at top volume. Ah, a lovely day indeed.Labels: family, happy times, random musings
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