As you might have guessed with us hard-working pirates, today is another day off, but tomorrow we should be back to your regularly scheduled programming, starting with a book review by Terri. (She writes, she reads, she's superwoman!)

In the meantime, there are two very important birthdays on this ship: The Bo'sun's and the Captain's pirate daddy, Captain Hellion, Sr. (He's 91.) It must be tough to have a December 31st birthday...you have to wait all year for it.

Today, Captain Hellion Sr is being taken by Captain Hellie Jr to the local steakhouse for his usual round of rare steak and a slathering of steak sauce. And Bo'sun is celebrating having her little Bo'sun Jr back again and writing like a fiend--so both of them will probably be checking in later to see the Happy Birthday well wishes.

So the questions today are:

What are you most looking forward to in 2013?

How do you eat your steak? (Mine is always rare or medium rare--as is Hellion Sr's.)

And what drink are you toasting the birthday kids with today? Something old or something new?

Happy New Year's, my favorite pirates. I hope this year brings you good health, happiness, and prosperity, and this year brings you closer to your dreams coming true. I'm honored and glad to know each and every one of you!

It's Christmas Eve and many here on the ship celebrate the season.  We'll be doing seasonal things. Like drinking too much rum punch and singing off-key carols. I'll be baking and keeping kids from spazzing out waiting for the guy in the red suit. Tonight, my family will watch Christmas Vacation and It's a Wonderful Life and I'll drink some champagne.

I'm a little late in raving about it, but as you know, that wild and wicked trio of bestselling authors: Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway, did it again. They collaborated another book, THE LADY MOST WILLING, every bit as delightful as the last. To make it even more delicious, it's set at Christmas time, and if that's not enough to up the stakes for you, they even threw in a kidnapped duke to amuse you.

And you will be amused, my good friends. You. Will. Be. Amused.

Because kidnapped dukes are horribly cranky.

There are four delightful potential brides: Miss Marilla Chisholm (the BONNIEST lass in Scotland and rich); her sister, Miss Fiona Chisholm (also rich but with a slightly dubious reputation); Lady Cecily Tarleton (English, but you can't have everything); and Miss Catriona Burns (neither rich or famous and they apologize profusely for inconveniencing her). Okay, confession time: three of the women are delightful--one of them is so irksome that I as the reader was seriously hoping she'd marry a butcher for her behavior--think Lydia from Pride & Prejudice only more irksome. Yes, that bad. Four guesses which one she is.

So the first third of the book, the duke goes from being horribly cranky to wonderfully in love. And it couldn't have happened to a better girl. And then the second third, one of the grooms: Lord Oakley meets the girl who sweeps him off his feet; and in the last, the younger brother, but half-French (so hottie!) picks a girl from the remaining two. Don't worry, the fourth girl also gets a groom. You'll never guess.

It is a comedy and a romance...so there is always plenty of weddings to go around.

So if you haven't read it yet, and you need some romance novels to take with you for Christmas with the family (which I always do), put this one in your tote bag! I hope I didn't ruin it for all of you by revealing all the girls end up with a husband--believe me, there is enough entertainment seeing it unfold that you'll enjoy it just the same.

What's your favorite Christmas set story you've read or read this year?

I've had some things on my plate lately; and I'm battling a cold, writer's block (which probably doesn't really exist but try telling my word count that), and stress. I've read a couple books in the last two weeks (a lot slower than usual, just let me say), and neither of them was so brilliant that I wanted to rave about them to you guys. I'm sorry. They weren't bad, just okay, and I just couldn't get up enough enthusiasm to write a blog about either of them. Or both of them.

But I did make some smoked salmon dip last night. Now that I can rave about.

I love those little crisp breads with a bit of salmon, a bit of horseradish and sour cream, and a sprinkle of onion. Pop it in your mouth and it's like a little Russian davai goolyat!

So here is the recipe:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
4 oz smoked salmon, minced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 Tablespoons capers
1 teaspoon dill weed (or to taste, I just sprinkled it in)
1 Tablespoon horseradish

Mix up really really good. Serve on crackers. Tastes better if you let it hang out in the fridge for a while and do its thing, but I have eaten it straight out of the bowl just fine.

So today instead of books, we're going to talk recipes. What is your go to recipe for the season, or what is your favorite snack to eat (with recipe link)?

The season finale of Boardwalk Empire was this weekend. It's a violent, slightly depraved, awesomely written show. I can't watch it. My husband, however, loves it, and invariably, I end up in the room during scenes of it.

This week, I was walking through when I saw a creepy conversation between a man and a woman who did not look so comfortable. The conversation was sexual . . . and disturbing. I wasn't really listening to the words, but as the conversation went on, she grew viably frightened.

It's set in the 20s, it looked to be a woman without much personal power, in the presence of a man who clearly had the advantage and looked willing to take it.

Frankly, I got creeped out and bolted. I knew what was coming next. I got my water, grabbed my bedtime snack, and started to sneak back through the living room without actually looking back at the screen.

But you know those train wrecks? When you just can't help but looking?  I looked . . .

This frightened, powerless-looking woman was in the process of strangling the man with his own belt.

I burst out laughing (which believe me, drew a strange look from the hubs). But it was just exactly what I never expected. I was prepared for the cliched female victim, who is run-over by the powerful male. I was prepared for some horrible assault.

Instead, she took the power, and flipped the whole scene on it's head. It was amazing.

Now, as anyone who does watch the show already knows, and which I found out later, it was actually some kinky sex they were having, rather than her killing him as I had assumed (rooted for?), but that didn't lessen the emotional ride the brief moments took me on.

I was emotionally ready for, and expecting, one thing, and bam! I got hit with the exact opposite. It's an emotional roller coaster I would love to take my readers on.

Anybody have any examples of when a cliche is turned on it's head? Ever get hit emotionally by a surprise you never saw coming? Do you love it or hate it when you get the opposite of what you expect? Got any scenes in your book where you lead reader's one way, and then whack them over the head with the opposite (and any advice for the rest of us trying to add one in)?

I've been a fan of Libba Bray's books ever since I read A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY, which fortunately was the first of a lovely trilogy that was smart, suspenseful, evocative, and funny. The other two books in the trilogy were equally good. I'm seriously hoping there will be more books associated with this cast of characters in THE DIVINERS.

Here are my list of reasons why you should run out and read this book. Immediately.

1.) John Hobbes: he is the creepiest, nastiest villain I've read ever. I swear I felt he could exist now and it was almost a trial to sleep at night, wondering if John Hobbes was going to come through my door. But then again, he was associated with a religious cult, and I don't know about you, but serial killers with religious backgrounds ALWAYS creep me out more than the typical homicidal maniac.

2.) Evie O'Neill: a most hilarious young dame who is always looking for a good time. Her small town in Ohio was just...too tame for her, and through some fortuitous circumstance, she is sent to live with her uncle in New York City (at least until the scandal blows over in her hometown.) No sooner does she land in Manhattan than she starts new scandals. She's a pistol.

3.) Uncle Will: the sober uncle who runs the Museum of Creepy Crawlies (actually it's named something more formal, but everyone calls it the Creepy Crawlies...). This is an ideal place for Evie to live because she in fact is a special girl with special talents; and it's good she's in NYC because there are a lot of "talented" souls there, if you know what I mean.

4.) The Best Friend: Evie (or "Evil" as Theta calls her) can be a bit much, but her best friend Mabel is the breath of normality who balances out Evie. Mabel isn't in the current heel of fashion; she's not as rebellious or keen for adventure as Evie is. But like any good friend, she is right there with Evie when they go to jail.

5.) Jericho, Memphis, and Sam: the handsome heroes of the book. They've all got their own dark pasts, but you want to kiss them all. There's enough to go around!

6.) The New Best Friend (Theta): she's a Ziegfield girl and struck me as the glamorous Catherine Zeta-Jones friend we all have. She's more than just beautiful though--she's had a complicated life and watching it unravel in this book is a thing of wonder.

7.) All those dead bodies: You get to meet everybody--and you have a hard time figuring out where John Hobbes is going to go next or how the next "sacrifice" will be met. I found myself holding my breath at every killing, hoping against hope someone would get away.

8.) The spooky stuff: everyone's talents (many of them are diviners in some form or another), the story of John Hobbes, the cult, the haunted house, the widow of John Hobbes...there is spooky crap on every page. And you're going to want to read it as fast as you can.

9.) John Hobbes: I only mention him again because well, he shows up twice. The man will just not die. I told you this was spooky!

10.) Because I said so. And really that's the only reason you need.

Yes, it's another YA novel, but there's really nothing wrong with that when authors are writing YA novels as awesome as this.

Be warned: Evie (who's 17) is a bit of a drinker, and that might be a turn off if you're oh, a mother of a teenage girl...or an aunt who has nieces who are this age and probably just as willfully drinking at all hours. It's not that it's unbelievable, it's just that it's almost TOO believable.

Now I'm off to see if there will be more books to follow. I sincerely hope so!

What have you been reading lately that you're excited about?

What's Your 2013 Goals Cocktail?

It's getting toward the time of year that some look at with hope and a renewed sense of purpose, and others will gawk at and hide under their covers...it's time to set your 2013 goals.

Today I want to focus on the three main guidelines I'm going to use this year.

1. What Worked 
2. What Didn't
3. Things I Know I Need To Change

At first glance these might seem like a cop-out as guidelines but there is much depth to these three points that should be explored before any smart author goes into making a new set of goals for writing and for their career. I'm going to put myself out there a little today and go through each step. At the end I won't have my list of goals yet for the year, but I will have all the information I really need to understand to set goals that are more tailored to me and my needs and abilities. I hope my examples will help you take a good look at yourself and your process. With a deep breath, let's start.

1. What Worked

• Writing at lunchtime worked when I actually left my desk
• Setting aside 2 hours min. a weekend worked - there was at least 2 hours one day all for me
• Having my laptop on the couch so I could write while I spent time with hubby "watching" TV 
• Writing at the bookstore 
• Writer Chats - I wrote more, brainstormed more, etc - BUT need to work on time 
• Knowing my average word count and being pleased when I made it
• When my writing area/desk is clean I write more on the fly

2. What Didn't Work 

• Trying to write at my desk at lunch 
• Thinking I could write on both Saturday & Sunday - it happened but was rare
• Writing on vacation - NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN - GIVE IT UP!
• Trying to keep my review blog full time and write too - SO not working 
• Set writer chats - might need to see if we can rotate days sometimes 
• Setting outrageous word goals for myself and then getting depressed when I missed the mark
• Spent too much time on craft books - JUST WRITE 

3. Things I Know I Need to Change  

• Limit Book Review blog to 2-3 Days a week and forget about the other days. 
• Limit myself to 1 craft book every 3 months 
• Don't focus on big conferences - attend smaller regional ones this year 
• Stop letting my office be the catch all for the house - keep it clean 
• Stop avoiding sharing my word counts - or lack thereof 
• SHARE MY WORK - it's time to put on the big girl panties

So that's a rough look at the start of my process. I'm going to take these 3 main areas and add to that my average word counts per week, what months I can look back on and see I NEVER write, what months I'm the most productive, what special events I have coming in 2013, etc. All of that will come together for me to really set an outline for my year and what my expectations should be. And let's not forget what my hopes will be as well - you have to hope beyond the norm.

My 2013 Goals Cocktail?  A shot of reality, a dash of hope, a spritz of inspiration and success being the oh-so-awesome olive I enjoy at the end.

Now it's your turn: Give me at least 1 example from each of the 3 guidelines just to help start you off. How do you go about evaluating how your year has gone before setting your new goals? Or do you never look back and just press on? Don't go hiding from setting goals. It's a cliche  for a reason - a goal without a plan is just a dream! 

This is part of a series that has a tinge of steam punk—have you read any novels that feature steam punk that you have enjoyed? 

I attempted to see Lincoln on Friday, but it was sold out, so I chose to see Life of Pi instead. Okay, I had to be talked into it by my other two friends, but once I had popcorn in my lap and a soda at my elbow, I was quite content with the movie choice. Besides the director was the guy who did Sense & Sensibility. It would be gorgeous no matter what.

It totally was.

But it was the story that moved me. The story was about how a boy found God out in the Pacific Ocean while he was shipwrecked and fighting for his life. Oh, and how he did this while taking care of a Bengal tiger who was sharing the boat with him.

Originally on the boat there had  been a zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan, but through a series of events, only the tiger remained; and it is the boy and the tiger who finally make it to land in the end. You know this because well, the adult version of the boy is the one telling this story to a writer who is in need of a story, and a friend hooked him up with this shipwreck survivor for a chance to tell this story.

Watching the tiger and the boy come to a "truce" of sorts is engaging--great dramatic action in the middle of an ocean where there is nothing that goes on for days and days. You wonder how the boy manages to survive as long as he does, but he confesses it is the tiger who keeps him going. If he didn't have the tiger to look after, he would have lost the will to survive.

When he finally washes up on a shore with actual people on it and is rescued, the tiger disappears and the boy mourns. As he is healing, some men who belong with the company who had the ship that sank (that's how he got stranded out in the middle of the ocean--a sinking ship) and asked him what happened. So he told the story about the zebra, hyena, orangutan, and tiger--about the story we all experienced with him and what we believed. The men look at each other and ask, "What really happened?"

After a bit, the boy tells another story, something completely different, something darker and grisly, a tale of survival. Your heart breaks as you realize this is probably what really happened, but he had created this other tale for his sanity, of sorts. The men leave. The writer who listens to this new story pieces together where the "real" story and the "made up" story overlap. Finally the boy-adult asks the writer, "Which story do you prefer?" "The one with the tiger," the writer confesses. "And so it is with God," the boy-adult says.

It is a treatise I think on telling your story BIGGER. If you want thematic meaning and magic, you'll have to tell the Whopper instead of what "really" happened. The story of how the boy really survived was also an interesting story--and just as sad, if not sadder, but without the tiger, it is just a grim story of survival and not a triumphant story of survival and the human spirit.

I'm not really sure how to do this of course. I think we're all adding tigers in our own way, what with love that conquers all and true love lasts forever. The reality tends to be a bit grimmer without the magic, but we are still looking for the shine. I like the idea of being given permission to tell your story as you wish to create the truth you know. That sticking with the "facts" isn't always the best way to tell a story and that in doing so you may be missing some of the magic.

Any movies you have seen lately? Have you read the book Life of Pi? Truth or embroidered fiction?

A funny thing happened on the way to Thanksgiving... I stayed home. With the dog. But it's fine, we had a good day and I made my favorite crock pot recipe so all was peachy.

It's done with and maybe next year we can manage a day together with a turkey. Though I have a new friend who owns chickens and by next year, she may have me converted to not eating our feathered friends... She's working on it!

So, Black Friday... Me? A movie, maybe. Shopping? Not a chance! Now, it's possible the husband will want to venture out. He does have my birthday to buy for...

Which is the 7th of December, by the way.

;-)

So...once upon a time, Black Friday meant other things...

This will be short since this is the holiday season and I've been running my butt off all day.

Monica McCarty's THE RECRUIT is probably the best of the series and I didn't think I'd say that. I've loved every book; and my heart belongs to the sailor named Erik for goofy, personal reasons, but Kenneth Sutherland is Hawt-Hawt-Hawt and the love story between him and Mary was passionate, lovely, and did I mention it was hawt?

Like really HAWT. Or Hot, because I'm driving myself nuts purposefully spelling that wrong.

Kudos to Ms. McCarty who researches her history thoroughly, but when she needs to finagle a bit with the history to make it work, she does so seamlessly and explains afterwards in case there are those of us (we know who we are) who might go, "That didn't happen." But I love these women who are women--who act true to their time period, but are still a little spunky and bold with the men who love them in return.

If you love history, you'll love this book.

If you love romance, you'll love this book.

If you love hot, sexy sex scenes, you'll LOVE this book.

If you love happy endings that feel real, especially in a time period where happy endings for women were probably pretty rare, you'll love this book.

I think there might be another four or so books left in the series. Ms. McCarty has had an end sight for this series, but each book in this series still feels fresh and interesting. I'm going to be really sad when this series ends for real.

What are you reading now? And what series do you hope will never end?

That was one interesting movie! And I understand it was a book first. One I may need to read. What’s not to love? Six stories, with reoccurring souls, over six time periods, which dance a mad polka back and forth across time and space.

No, it doesn’t involve Dr. Who.

Though it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.

This is the sort of movie, and I’m sure book, that would drive a great many people insane. Convoluted, dropping one storyline to explore another, boomeranging back to it, then gone - hinting at connections, teasing that this part is history, this part is fiction…this part is…??? Philosophizing all the time about how we continue to meet the same people over and over as we are born again and again.

This move appealed to me because I have a very skewed view of history and how people relate to each other. And, Terrio can bear witness to this, I love to mess with linear time when I write. Hop and skip and back and forth…that is me. The swing-set of keeping a straight timeline.

I like how electronic books are pushing the evolution of the reading experience. I can foresee a time when a writer can assist the reader in keeping storylines straight with using different fonts, or font colors or…offering options. And before you all run screaming for the gangplank, remember that the readers coming behind us have different expectations and attention spans. Nothing would surprise me.

Look at the prose of decades past and see how little you can tolerate how they wrote then. I bet it will be the same thing in the decades to come. Writing has become a very fluid thing. No, it’s always been that way. But the speed at which that current flows is speeding up.

There were a few copyeditors in the audience who died that day. A little bit.

A part of me considered the perception that the language is being dumbed down…but…I bet every generation has thought this. Will I recognize the novel in fifty years? If I live that long? Will it be filled with text-speak and references that are totally alien? Will the cross-genre and POV shifts grow so convoluted and commonplace that the readers of tomorrow will be groaning about how they wrote things in the past?
Of course!

Me, I love a good twisting in time and space yarn. I just wrote in my newest WIP, as my character considers the realities of traveling through time… She accepted that there was no line between truth and fiction, history and story. The two bumped up against each other, swapped DNA, fell apart, came back together… None of it made a lick of sense.

But I realize that I am not the normal reader, or writer, in this sense. So, I watched Cloud Atlas and didn’t fight the drifting from one story/time to another.  The reading experience is different. And I am as resistant to some things as the next person. Not a fan of alternating first person POV, for example. But someone will do it well and I’ll be convinced it can work!

Do you suffer from bouts of depression? How do you deal with it? Does it keep you from writing or does it help?

Musical Influence: "Transcendence" Audiomachine (Epica,  2012)

I've been reading historical romance since before I became a teenagers. History fascinates me and has since before I can remember. The way that historians can wax poetical about war, famine, political strain in a way that keeps people intrigued is certainly some sort of art form. And to hear a country with rich history like England tell their side of the story (while an American listens in the background) amused me. But history is recounted in just one side of the story. Rarely can you hear all sides without exaggeration. This is why I made a list of places in London I wanted to see.






I've always wanted to take a stroll through Hyde Park. I'm a lover of the outdoors. I like to be surrounded by just the rustling of leaves and the tweet of birds. I love the sun beaming down over me and feeling like I'm alone. The sun was starting to set over the horizon, the air was brisk. Lovers held hands as they strolled down the paths and disappeared into mazes. Kids giggled as they roller skated past with their parents riding slowly behind them on bicycles.



In a bustling city, where people are constantly streaming by and cars are honking and zooming past, it was a place of solace and beauty hidden away for someone to stumble upon it.






I've always wanted to see Covent Garden as well but by the time I dallied at the pub where GPS met her across the pond twin, Yvette, and promptly made a new drinking buddy we'd drank the daylight away. So we headed into Covent Garden where the roads were lined in stone and the store fronts were lit up to entice patrons inside. I didn't get any pictures of the Royal Opera House or pictures of the lit up lined roads. I stared in awe at everything, soaking it up and storing it in my memory for later thought.



I'm in the middle of writing for NaNoWriMo and my fantasy story is based off legends and myths. I walked up to Stonehenge, the wind whipped around me. The magic of Stonehenge stole my breath away. There was something about stepping onto those hollowed grounds. I'm unsure I can explain it. To feel the grass beneath my hand, to step around the circle memorizing the pattern. How many people have done it before me? How many people stood in that same spot and fed their energy to the spirits. Awe-inspiring.



Have you ever wanted to visit a place you read in a book? Do you prefer to make up places when writing or use the actual city? To my NaNo writers, how are you doing so far this month?

Congratulations to JUANITA DECUIR who has won a copy of Blythe Gifford's new book! Please email romancewritersrevenge @ gmail dot com with your mailing details so I can forward it to Blythe.

Thanks!

Fran

I am reading some fantastic books right now. My latest finding--okay, it came in the mail from the publisher--was Cathy Maxwell's THE SCOTTISH WITCH. This is the second book in the trilogy of The Chattan Curse, where a faithless young man who had been handfasted to one lady, marries a rich heiress and betrays his love. The betrayed lady kills herself, and the mother curses the young man and his family in revenge. In a most dramatic fashion.

The first in this series, LYON'S BRIDE, was quite wonderful (and I've been on quite a streak with Ms. Maxwell--ever since the book with the vicar who was a highwayman!)--and this one was just as good. I'm sure Terri can provide the emails of me saying, "I'm reading the best book!" and "This book is so good!"

At the beginning of this novel, the hero, Harry, is in Scotland to find the witch--or someone who can help with breaking the curse that is now affecting his brother (the hero in LYON'S BRIDE) and his health. He doesn't want to lose his brother; and he certainly doesn't want this curse extending beyond his generation (assuming the heir his brother's wife is having is a boy and therefore cursed). Harry isn't having a lot of luck finding an appropriate witch; the folks there are rather unwilling to help him, due to some Scottish grudge.

The heroine, Portia, is in a bit of a bind. She needs some money fast to pay rent for her family (her sister and mother), or they're going to be evicted. The owner of the cottage they live in doesn't really care for them--and would use this as a ready excuse to get rid of them. Therefore when she finds out a young lord is tossing money around, looking for a witch, and she just happens to find a book in her attic that has a few spells written in it, she decides she can pass for a witch long enough to get rent. And she does.

It all goes downhill from there. Well, conflict wise for the characters. For the reader, it's a delightful read.

And the love scene is pretty darn awesome.

Due to this being a three-book series, the curse doesn't get resolved in this book--and on top of it, yet another Chattan is in love (and thereby cursed as well), so it will be up to the third Chattan sibling, a sister, to figure out how to break the curse before her brothers succumb. Like the previous novel, it is a Happy For Now ending and the theme that "you don't know how much time you have; be true to your feelings" is prevalent. I tend to gravitate to themes where love conquers all (and I'm sure that will come into play in the third book) and redemption, but I have to say this theme is a nice change of pace. It's a good reminder.

So if your TBR pile is dwindling, move this one to the top. It's spooky, a little paranormal, romantic and nicely dramatic (what with what the mother does to create the curse). A great escape.

What great escapes have you been reading lately?

I've been reading a lot, and wondering at all the various things that impact my final feeling toward a book. The final question I ask myself at the end of a book isn't if I was surprised, or if I loved the characters . . . it's "did this book take me away?"

At work, I deal in research questions. I love answering questions. Most of the research I do is in the area of public policy, so it's looking at why people use or don't use services, what people need, what they want from local government, etc.

So I got to thinking . . . what if we applied those same questions to the books we love, and the books that we don't quite love as much. What's the difference between a book that takes you away to some far away, magical romantic place, and drops you off breathless back onto your couch where you have jobs and bills and families and pets . . . and a book that's just a book?

I'm thinking there are a variety of factors which affect "likeability", which I'm using to cover the "swept away and taken on a magical ride" feeling, since it's shorter and easier to abbreviate. Some of those factors are external to the reader's environment, some are internal to the reader's state of mind, and then there's the really important part - what's in the book.

External factors - I think the external factors may be the least powerful. Where is the reader sitting? Are they comfortable? Are they holding a paperback or on an e-reader? Does it matter? I've noticed, when I've downloaded a few library books at at time to my e-reader, that I'm more likely to start skimming, or give up on a book (i.e., NOT get swept away) if I'm on an e-reader. I have no idea if that's true for other readers, but I find it interesting.

Internal factors - what's the reader's state of mind? Do they feel what they paid for the book was fair? What about their opinions toward the genre or subgenre? If you decide to give Western romances a chance, for example, do you find yourself approaching the book with more skepticism than a subgenre you know you love? How about the popularity of the author -- if it's someone who's been hailed as the 2nd coming of Nora Roberts, are you more or less likely to keep reading? Do you ever read with a cut off point in mind? (like, If I'm not really into this by chapter 3, I'm putting it down).

Book factors - voice, characters, and to a lesser extent (I believe) plot. Of the three, at least, the voice or characters are more likely to sweep me away than the plot. Though I will say, a book that keeps throwing really intriguing questions at me can keep me sucked in.

What do you think? How do you define that feeling when you've forgotten you're reading a book? What are some internal or external factors that I might have missed that can affect a reader? Do you agree that the external are least important, or do you think I'm crazy for skimming on an e-reader?

So today’s discussion: have you ever read a series where you lost “faith” in the author but eventually they brought you back again? How much world building is too much world-building for you in books?

They really do.  I'm indebted to them, really I am.  I'm just kind of ready for them to stop now.  Please. 

Okay, that sounds kind of schizophrenic.  I'm not crazy.  It's just time for the voices to take a vacation.  Maybe to Maui.  For a month.

I'm kind of full up on ideas.  My folders overfloweth with ideas.  I have so many books started that I get overwhelmed when I sit down to write. 

And the fact of the matter is, I need to focus on one idea until it's done.  But I seem to have trouble in that area. 

"Oh, take a notebook to bed to write down your ideas in the middle of the night" they say.  Bastards.  I've filled tons of notebooks with jibberish.  Apparently, when I wake up in the middle of the night to write down the idea that's surely going to make me a bestseller - I find in the morning stuff like "banana partridge orangutan goo."

As for the coherent ideas - there's just too damn many of them.  And on any given day, a different one sounds better than the rest.  That's great, and that's also not good. 

I've also tried ginko - blahblahblah, mental exercises and one really weird audio tape that sounds like static that is supposed to boost productivity and focus.  Nothing works.

I'm going to have to take drastic measures. 

I'm asking for an author sitter for Christmas.  Someone who will turn on my computer, make me sit down, choose a file for me, and sit across from me looking menacing until I crank out 20 pages. 

I'm taking suggestions for this position.  Clearly it needs to be a man, and eye-candy is a must.  Any ideas?

The Assassin