Books and Writing

Sorry about the delay folks, but yesterday I was completely beat and had no time to update the blog.

On to this week’s post!

Books

Last week was a good one for me both in my writing and in my reading. I finished 3 books last week, Laurel K. Hamilton’s Blood Noir, Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings and Patrick Rothfuss’ The name of the Wind. Three very different books but well worth the time.

Blood Noir was not entirely to my liking. For starters, it felt too short and the first half of the book was too slow for me, especially after reading The Harlequin and Danse Macabre, which are filled with action. I am not saying that the story in Blood Noir is not interesting, it is, but I just did not like the pace, although the end is action packed and sheds a lot of light about the changes Anita and her partners are going through.

The Way of the Kings is just massive. I loved it but I have to admit that it took me longer than it usually takes me to read any book, because it has so much information at the beginning and it is written in a manner where all of the characters in the book have the information needed to understand the world. So the first half of the book is difficult to process, although the whole book, the universe Sanderson creates, his characters, are all very, very good. This is the first book on what it is believed to be a long series, a 10 to 13 book series, so I understand the author’s need of presenting us the foundations of the world, which can be a bit tedious and confusing at times.

The Name of the Wind was a pleasant surprise. I had heard about this book when the characters in Penny Arcade’s web comic mentioned its protagonist: Kvothe. The plot moves slowly at times, but the characters are well written and the story really integrates into the world created. I really liked it.

Now, you all know that I am big fan of George R.R. Martin’s work, and the Song of Ice and Fire series is one of my all time favorites, however the series has also transformed me into a paranoid sociopath with my reading, and I am waiting for someone to get whacked or looking at the political angle of things. So reading through the Way of Kings was nerve-wracking, I saw a Littlefinger in every character; a Varys huddled in ever darkened corner.

Writing

This was a very productive week. I have written 12 Chapters so far, and I will finish Chapter 13 today. It has been easier to write shorter chapters and using the overview has also been fantastic. However, I still had to fight with myself, because I just wasn’t letting go. I wanted every word to be perfect, every description to be epic, and that is just no the way to go about it, at least not for me. So I just let go, all of the self doubt, all of the apprehension, all of the tension…and it worked wonders.

What I am posting, usually on Wednesdays, is the first draft of my work. After I have written all of the novel I will re-read the chapters, one by one and re write or edit as needed, but I don’t want to become the edit monster that I know I can become, so I will take things slow. Hopefully this week will be as productive as the last and my goal of finishing the novel before the year is over can be met.

Updates

I will update the blog on Mondays and Thursdays now, with the latter being the day where I post my work. There is another section of the page, separate from the blog, where you can check out my writing.

Games

Well, I just cannot wait to play Star Wars: The Old Republic, for two reasons. One, I love MMO’s so the idea of playing one again is exciting and frightening at the same. The second reason supersedes all others though, I will be playing with my real-life friends again, so it wont only be about the grind, about leveling, about dungeons and raids, it will be about being with friends, sharing, laughing and building a guild together, building and strengthening our friendship and learning to play to game together.

This will be the first MMO that I will play after it is released, so I won’t be the noob anymore, we all will be. I wonder how that will feel like?

See you all on Thursday!

Have a great week!