Movie Review: Young Adult
The movie Young Adult with Charlize Theron was not at all what I was expecting. Being about a YA author, I thought it would be zany and fun, an upbeat comedy. It came up on Netflix and I watched it last night, discovering that it was anything but upbeat. It’s actually very difficult to watch. The main character is struggling with depression and her behavior can be very difficult to empathize with. The only thing that kept me watching was discovering a character played by Patton Oswald who has a disability. The story is that Mavis leaves the big city of Minneapolis to go back home to Mercury, Minosota when she sees her ex-boyfriend’s announcement that he and his wife have had a baby. Mavis becomes convinced that Buddy, her ex, is trapped in his...
Read MoreReview: The Boy Next Door by Annabelle Costa
I love this book. I fell in love with it right from the start, as soon as Tasha began to narrate. She is witty, sassy, and hilarious. At the same time she doesn’t understand love nearly as well as she thinks she does. After some wild years, she’s finally ready to settle down, but she still can’t see that the right guy for her has been there all along. It’s frustrating in the best possible way to watch her screwing up her life. The book has some flow charts at the ends of some of the chapters that are laugh out loud funny. Costa really understands humor, that’s for sure. And she also knows how to reveal an endearing vulnerability just below the humor. It’s a real talent. I’d read anything at all that she wrote! Jason is...
Read MoreWorks in Progress
I thought I’d give everyone an update on what has been filling up my time lately!  Be(Longing) I’m redoing the outline for this novel about a paraplegic singer who convinces his brother to pretend to be him in order to get a record contract. I’ve written about 22,000 words, but I’m still working on bringing out Dylan’s character and getting to know him and what makes him tick. Our friends Annabelle and Lee have read portions of the rough draft and have been very encouraging, so I think it’s going to be really good once I get it finished. My plan is to get the outline reworked in January and then finish the first draft in February.            Homework and Homicide This is the novel that I wrote for Nano. It is a...
Read MoreReview: A Slow, Cold Death
A Slow Cold Death by Susy Gage This book was sent to me so I could provide a prepub blurb. What does that mean? Take a look at this… Yup, that’s my name on the back of the book. You know what? It’s just about as exciting as having my name on the front of a book. This book was a lot of fun. It’s a murder mystery set in an academic university. I’ve never read a book about the crazy world of PhD researchers, though I know a little bit about it from my friends and family who are academics. The story takes place in a physics department and one of the things I most loved about it was the kooky cast of characters. Particularly Lou, who was paralyzed in a car accident fairly recently and it comes to light that his accident may not have been...
Read MoreNano-ing
Sorry you haven’t heard from me in a while! I’ve been Nano-ing like crazy and met half of my insane goal. I wrote 50,000 words in 15 days. I did not manage another 50k in the next 15 days, however. Still, I got a lot accomplished. Looking forward to polishing up what I wrote and getting it published as soon as I can. There’s a lot going on and it seems like it’s better to focus my energies on writing more stories and books and less on updating this blog. Hope I have something new to show you really...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
