2 books down...100 to go

I'm reading a book called Chapter By Chapter by Heather Sellers in which she recommends reading 100 books. The books don't necessarily have to be in the genre you want to write and it can include writing books. What she does say is that you need to read them as a writer, dissecting the story, dialogue and other parts of the book. While I have been known to highlight dialogue or passages that model techniques I'm interested in duplicating (not plagiarizing), I find it hard to read fiction with dissection in mind. I found it hard to do in school when I needed to analyze stories for papers and I find it hard now when I want to read for pleasure. But I am able to give my overall impressions of what I like about an author or story.

The first two books I read are by Sandra Hill, The Red-Hot Cajun and Tall, Dark and Cajun. Overall I enjoyed the books. I like stories that take place in Louisiana (my faves are those by Tami Hoag). Hill has some interesting characters such as Tante Lulu an 70-something aunt who changes her hair color daily. As a woman with a round butt, I appreciate reading about women who are weight-challenged. Hill's stories have a lot of humor and steamy parts. However, I found the inner dialogue and comments from St. Jude (a running theme in the stories is Tante Lulu's match-making with the help of St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes) over-the-top and distracting at times. It wasn't enough to prevent me from finishing the books and I'll very likely read the others in the series. But there were times when I felt she provided inner-thoughts that didn't need to be shared. Her characters were well-developed enough that I didn't need the extra lines to help me understand what they might be thinking.

But if you like humor ala Jennifer Cruisie, steamy love scenes ala Blaze or Temptation, and the back drop of Louisiana's Bayou and Cajun culture, then you'll likely enjoy these books.

Long time no write..

I see its been over six months since I've posted anything here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. At this point I have 3 nearly finished manuscripts. They are far from ready to be read by anyone except me, but I'm still proud of what I have accomplished.

My goal is to get back to blogging about my progress so that I can get these books finished, edited, and sold. I just have to pick which one I want to finish first. So ... hopefully... you'll see more frequent posts as I share my progress.