Still alive... barely

So, I've been sick. Not for the entire two and a half weeks since I last posted, but it's a good excuse right? This won't be a long post but a quick update. I've been working on my writing. I'm heading to the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference this week and I'm really excited about it. I hope that I get a lot of great feedback on my novel and get to meet some new people! Should be fun.

I've been reading Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write, loving it so far. I'm also reading Portrait of a Lady for my 100 Books Project. Didn't get very far in that one before Coelho's latest, The Winner Stands Alone, showed up for me to review. So... hopefully I'll have some reviews soon. :)

In knitting news... well, not much actually. I'm working on a project for a friend. I don't think she reads this blog, but just in case, I'm going to keep it stealth. It should be cute though.

And panicking, yep good dose of that. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing for work next year. I have a job teaching 6th grade Language Arts if I want it, but it's full time. So, I'm waiting around to see if any half time jobs come up that I might like better.

At any rate- I'll try to blog more about the conference when I get there. Also, I have a website going live soon. It will really only link you back here- but I'm increasing my web presence. Building that ever-important platform. :)

Hilarious! :)

This is just too awesome not to share... and it's sort of knitting related, so maybe it makes up for my lack of knitting pictures recently. :) 

Project Fill in the Gaps

So I'm stealing (well, not stealing as she asked people to do it with her) this directly from Moonrat, but she stole it from a friend of hers... so really it's not stealing any more right? :)

Anyway... this is Project Fill in the Gaps. If I can figure it out, I'll be putting a button on this blog for it; that's big if though. At any rate, Moonie put together a list of books that she feels she should have read at some point. I'm copying her rules exactly for this project, so here they are. Feel free to steal from me if you wish.
I'm giving myself 5 years starting now and rounding up (ie almost 6 years...) so my goal will be to finish 75 of these 100 books by New Year 2015. There is a 25% accident forgiveness. So if I finish 75 of these books, I'll consider myself victorious.

Here are my criteria for selecting the books that appear on this list:
1. They were on the bookshelf in my bedroom and I hadn't read them.
2. They were on the bookshelf in my office and I hadn't read them. (I didn't venture to the basement with the 8 other bookshelves because I didn't feel like dealing with stairs.)
3. They were on some of the "books I should read" lists that I've printed over the years.
4. My husband rambled books at me and I choose some of those as well.
It was a very scientific method of choosing.

Without further ado... here's the list. If I misspelled or mis-authored something please let me know. I'll be posting reviews of these as they are finished both here, on Goodreads, and on The BookBook.


1. Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy
3. Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
4. The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. The Crucible- Arthur Miller
6. The Infinite Plan- Isabel Allende
7. The Pilgramage- Paulo Coelho
8. Obit- Jim Sheeler
9. Siddartha- Hermann Hesse
10. The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver
11. Anthem- Ayn Rand
12. Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer
13. Robinson Crusoe- Daniel Defoe
14. Jasmine- Bharati Mukherjee
15. A Room with a View- E. M. Forster
16. The Garden of Eden- Ernest Hemingway
17. The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
18. The Reivers- William Faulkner
19. Breakfast at Tiffany’s- Truman Capote
20. The Bluest Eye- Toni Morrison
21. Bee Season- Myla Goldberg
22. Cat’s Eye- Margaret Atwood
23. The Divine Comedy- Dante Alighieri
24. Les Miserables- Victor Hugo
25. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha- Roddy Doyle
26. Anna Karenin- Leo Tolstoy
27. The Canterbury Tales- Geoffrey Chaucer
28. Eldest- Christopher Paolini
29. Citizen Hughes- Michael Dronin
30. Guns, Germs, and Steel- Jared Diamond
31. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
32. Vanity Fair- William Makepeace Thackeray
33. The Matamorphosis- Franz Kafka
34. Persuasion- Jane Austen
35. Portrait of a Lady- Henry James
36. Travels with Charley- John Steinbeck
37. Violin- Ann Rice
38. The Man in the Iron Mask- Alexandre Dumas
39. Caramelo- Sandra Cisneros
40. Another Roadside Attraction- Tom Robbins
41. Titus Andronicus- William Shakespeare
42. Uncle Tom’s Cabin- Harriet Beecher Stowe
43. Gulliver’s Travels- Jonathan Swift
44. The Time Machine- H.G. Wells
45. Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson
46. The Invisible Man- H.G. Wells
47. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court- Mark Twain
48. The Importance of Being Earnest- Oscar Wilde
49. Catch-22- Joseph Heller
50. Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
51. Waiting for Godot- Samuel Beckett
52. The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde
53. Absalom Absalom- William Faulkner
54. The Bridges of Madison County- Robert James Waller
55. Wuthering Heights- Charlotte Bronte
56. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austin
57. Across the River and into the Trees- Ernest Hemingway
58. Under the Banner of Heaven- Jon Krakauer
59. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood- Rebecca Wells
60. Sula- Toni Morrison
61. Beloved- Toni Morrison
62. The Fifth Mountain- Paulo Coelho
63. A Star Called Henry- Roddy Doyle
64. The Inferno- Dante Alighiere
65. Islands in the Stream- Ernest Hemingway
66. The Valkyries- Paulo Coelho
67. Mansfield Park- Jane Austen
68. The Long Valley- John Steinbeck
69. The Winter of Our Discontent- John Steinbeck
70. Tortilla Flat- John Steinbeck
71. Portrait in Sepia- Isabel Allende
72. Ines of my Soul- Isabel Allende
73. Don Quixote- Miguel de Cervantes
74. On Writing- Stephen King
75. Wonder Boys- Michael Chabon
76. An American Childhood- Annie Dillard
77. The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold
78. Tuesday with Morie- Mitch Albom
79. Dune- Frank Herbert
80. The Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follett
81. The Clan of the Cave Bear- Jean M. Auel
82. Angela’s Ashes- Frank McCourt
83. Ender’s Game- Orson Scott Card
84. Interview with a Vampire- Anne Rice
85. Love in the Time of Cholera- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
86. The Little Prince- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
87. The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
88. Native Son- Richard Wright
89. Animal Farm- George Orwell
90. Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh
91. Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
92. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest- Ken Kesey
93. Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
94. The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
95. Beowulf
96. Wonder Boys- Michael Chabon
97. The Mysteries of Pittsburg- Michael Chabon
98. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay- Michael Chabon
99. If You Want to Write- Brenda Ueland
100. Mumbo Jumbo- Ishmael Reed

I doubt that I'll read them in this order. Starting with War and Peace and Crime and Punishment seems like a little much. I'll try to remember to cross them out here as I go. :) And re-link this post in my reviews, but we'll see. Let me know if you plan on doing Project Fill in the Gaps too; I'd be really interested to see other people's lists. :)

Afraid- Jack Kilborn

Afraid by Jack Kilborn

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'll preface this review by saying that I don't read horror. I also don't read thrillers, but I loved the Jack Daniels books, by JA Konrath. And since JA and Jack Kilborn are the same person, I was excited to read his latest novel. Afraid is all out horror, and is designed to play on any fear you might have.

In the town of Safe Haven, something terrible has landed. A team of Red Ops has "accidentally" landed in this small town with one mission, kill everyone. An aging sheriff, lone firefighter and single mother are fighting for their lives. I don't want to say too much more, as it is a twisting and exciting plot. You really just have to read it.

I really liked this book. I'd heard that some thought it was too gory, and over the top, but honestly, Kilborn leaves a lot to the imagination, which just makes it that much scarier. I finished this book in one day, and while freaked out, didn't immediately think it was that scary. I was able to remove myself from the scenes in the novel. Or so I thought. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I realized the reason I'd been having a hard time sleeping was because of scenes from the book. It definitely lingers... and scares far beyond the pages. Read it with the lights on.


View all my reviews.

JA/Joe/Jack Reads, Writes and doesn't Panic

Infamous and amazing writer extraordinaire JA Konrath, aka Jack Kilborn, is taking his one man show on the road. JA writes the fantastic blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, which is essential to any writer's RSS reader. Konrath also writes the thrilling Jack Daniels series. Seriously... awesome. I don't read thrillers and I loved his books. I honestly thought they were far superior to the James Patterson book I read (I know, blasphemy). I'm a huge fan of JA, so when he was asking for people to review his new book Afraid (coming out March 31) written under the pseudomyn Jack Kilborn, and going on a blog tour, I knew I had to get in on that action. Check out my review of Afraid here. And read on for an interview with JA/Joe/Jack (hereon referred to as J^3 [that's J cubed for you non math nerds]). He's always funny, and sometimes serious. :)


Dana: As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
J^3: An adult.

Dana: What else do you do in all your spare time? Besides scare people and write funny Facebook statuses. Any hobbies?

J^3: I collect hair.

You should come to my house. Between me and the cat, you'd be set for life.


Dana: You've said many times that it took 12 years and 500+ rejections before you were published. What kept you going through all of that? Was there ever a point where you just wanted to throw in the metaphorical towel?

J^3: My wife was a huge source of support and inspiration. That's why, when someone asks what they need to do in order to get published, I tell them they have to marry my wife.

Also, liquor helps.

Again... come on over. The bar is always stocked. :)


Dana: Obviously, you probably like to read thrillers, but what else is on your list of favorites? Any books that you just couldn't make it through? If you had to recommend three books (not by J.A., Joe or Jack) that everyone should read what would they be?

J^3: I gotta send a shout out to my peeps here. Three books that everyone should read this year are Pressure by Jeff Strand, Abandon by Blake Crouch, and Killing Red by Henry Perez. These are all books I got to read prior to their upcoming publication, and I loved them

As far as my three favorite books of all time, they'd be The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, The Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker, and Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.

If we're talking about classic literature, then I'd be walking away, looking for an exit.

Dana: What is your favorite brand of pen?

J^3: Black Sharpies.

Dana: Which would you rather be, the letter a or the number 7? Why?

J^3: I'm a writer. Gotta go with the letter.

Dana: While you were amassing all of those rejections, what was your day job?

J^3: I had many. My favorite was assisting a brewmaster. What a great job. Where else can you get paid to drink beer at nine in the morning?

Dana: There is a new trend in authors (okay, I know of you and Paulo Coelho, but two a trend can make) to give away free texts on their blogs. Do you think this has helped you? Hurt you? Would you recommend it for newbies or should we wait until the cow's been purchased before giving the milk for free?

J^3: Eventually, print will go digital the same way music did, and people will be downloading books for free anyway. But I believe it has helped my sales, and helped spread brand awareness.

I can't make any decisions for newbie authors. Well, wait a sec, actually I can. Send your book to every big agent in NY. If it has been rejected by all of them, go ahead and offer it for free on your website. At that point it can't hurt, only help.

Dana: And finally some very random questions- they'll be used for your psychological profiling later:
Mittens or gloves?

Gloves. The fingers need their freedom.

Spring or Fall?
Spring. I prefer things to get warmer than cooler.

Home or away?
Home. My wife calls my house "Joe's Little Playland." I've got over ten thousand books, movies, CDs, videogames, and magazines. If I didn't have to leave the house, I wouldn't.

Black or blue?
Black and blue. With multiple contusions.

And your favorite burger toppings?

Cheddar cheese, bacon, and a roll of fifty dollar bills.

A huge thanks to JA for coming over to my humble little blog. If you don't already own his books, go buy them. All of them. You won't regret it.

I am Awesome :)

Dana just took the What are you born to do? quiz.

Best at Everything: You are the social person who makes useful contacts. You introduce important people to influencial people and always reap some sort of reward as a result... but you dont enjoy the spotlight as much. You prefer to stay in the back as there is more room to stretch and you like the feeling that you are the one with the power and most of the time that is true... You will do well in almost any field. You know how to flatter without being too obvious and you can make just about anyone like you!



Fantastic... if Facebook tells me I'm awesome, it must be so. :)

Seven Steps on the Writer's Path- Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott

Seven Steps on the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment by Nancy Pickard

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Books on the craft of writing are a tricky bunch. I've found that I either think they are amazing and want to live by them, or that they're sort of useless. For once a writing book fell inbetween.



Seven Steps on the Writer's Path describes the journey that each writer (supposedly) takes from Unhappiness to Fulfillment. When I first started this book, and just glanced through the steps, I thought that I would be somewhere in Wavering or possibly Letting Go. As I read however, each step felt like exactly where I am in this moment. While it was nice that the steps were all very relatable, it also made it hard to really understand where I was and how I could apply the authors' suggestions to my writing life.



I really liked their examples of a writer's feelings and actions at each step and appreciated the interviews and comments from established authors. I wanted more concrete exercises to help work through each step. Some writing exercises would have been nice as well. Overall, it was okay, but it didn't motivate me at all and didn't give me a better understanding of myself as a writer. It might be a nice book to own, simply so I could read it at a more leisurely pace and only focus on the step that I think I'm currently in. It felt a little weird to read the whole thing straight through. A decent book to check out, but not a must read.


View all my reviews.