They say acceptance is the first step...

This quiz comes courtesy of Liana Brooks from www.lianabrooks.blogspot.com/ and a moderator at AgenQuery Connect.

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"In my desire to help others, I have created a quiz with some of the common symptoms of book slut behavior. If you have one or more of these symptoms, you too, may be a book slut."
Does this sound like you…

1. You read more than one book at a time, sometimes even more than one in a day. (For a while I wasn't doing this, but I recently backslid. *cough* I currently have six books on the go?)
2. You can’t pass a table of discounted books without feeling that you might be missing out on something really good. (People pass tables of discounted books?)
3. You belong to at least one book club. (Sadly, no. Unless you count goodreads?)
4. As you are nearing the end of one book, you are already thinking of the next one. (*Combs hair out of eyes* Yes? And?)
5. It stresses you out that there are more delicious books in the world than you can possibly read. (Um. Food is optional, right? I can, I mean, I'll live a long life! I'll stick to only a few genres! I'll read fast! *weeps as reality strikes*)
6. You will read anything. If it is a book, you’ll read it. And probably even enjoy it. (No, I have standards! I won't read trashy romances- anymore. And I don't like horror, unless it's written by certain authors, and uh, Christian Fiction! I don't like Christian Fiction! Unless there's nothing else to read...)
7. Book workers, i.e. booksellers and librarians, know you by name. (I've been offered three jobs, they know my file from memory, and they knew me when I was twelve. *pause* Whut? Whut?)
8. For you, reading isn’t just an in-bed-before-you-fall-asleep activity, you will also read in public if the opportunity arises. (I've been told off for reading in the middle of parties, but come on. That conversation just wasn't interesting!)
9. You carry books with you–just in case you find an opportunity for a quickie. (You mean you don't?)
10. You try to hook others by gifting books or by promoting your favourites by saying things like, “Everyone is reading this and they love it. Just try it.” (Not just one, very much. Well, only with my close friends and cohorts.)
11. You will take a free book even if you aren’t interested in it. (Don't knock it till you try it!)
12. There aren’t enough bookshelves in your house to hold all your books. (Heck no. I'm using orange crates and banker's boxes and the top of my dresser and the floor.)
13. Friends describe you as an ‘avid reader.’ (No, friends describe me as insane. People who don't know me either think I'm a reader or photographer, weirdly enough.)

If you replied ‘that sounds like me’ to 1-2 of the above, you have begun exhibiting signs of being a book slut. There is no immediate cause for concern.
If you replied ‘that sounds like me’ to 3-5 of the above, you are in significant danger of developing into a book slut. If symptoms worsen, seek support. You do not need to go through this alone.
If you replied ‘that sounds like me’ to 6-9 of the above, you are a book slut. Seek support immediately.
If you replied ‘that’s sounds like me’ to 10-13 of the above, you are a book slut of the highest order. There is no hope for you. Embrace your book slutishness and repeat with me (loud and proud), “I am a book slut!”

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I am a book slut!

(Srysly so. heh.)

"Soon I'll be out of my mind, and you'll be out of ideas..."

So I was going to dance class today, thinking about plastic. What, you mean you don't do that? Surely you jest! You lie! *cough* But here's the thing. I'm doing a steampunk world in Karma Police, and there's a floating town in the ocean. (Which makes me happy inside, btw.) And because I'm just like that, I need to know why it's there, and how it's there. My first thought was, of course, plastic floats! Then I went, uh, wait just one second here, plastic? In steampunk? That doesn't really sound right, not for the amounts I'd need to float a town...

I will spare the the rest of the stream-of-conciousness wherein I thought about rivets and Kipling, Star Trek, gears, the American Civil War, greasing methods and child labour and submarines and Kipling again and mining and ice caps and fishing and- I'm telling you about it. Anyhow, wow, I love my little town, and I can almost smell it, I know how it works so well. While thinking about this, I realized that the piece of tech that I'm starting out Karma Police with, does not jive with the rest of the story. (If you're read it, you know what I mean when I say "Harbour Tree." If you haven't read it, I'm sorry you missed the benefits of my insanity.) It was semi-organic, and everything else I'm writing is mechanically minded.

This made me sad, because I loved that harbour tree. HOWEVER, before I became too broken-hearted, I realized it actually belongs in my Medusa/Fire/Fantasy/SF/Pick One/War/Children/blindness/SO MUCH SHINY story that keeps hovering behind my head dropping maddening hints. So I squeed over that revelation and nearly walked into the barre at dance. I had everything plot-wise figured out and it was wonderful!

This lasted about ten minutes, till we were talking about costumes. This was when I realized that my plot order for Karma Police is all backwards and knotted, and I narrowly kept from beating my head off the floor.

You see, my plan was to start writing with a big event, throw in some flashbacks to explain why they were there, have a big realization, and then End triumphantly at 50,001 words. That- did not work. I'm currently halfway through the flashbacks, and halfway through the strange little plotlines that insisted on appearing between the Big Event and the Big Realization. One of those is the floating town, actually. *takes a moment to love floating town* My realization was that my story actually is in three parts.

1. The flashbacks.
2. The Big Event and the cunning plotlines.
3. The Big Realization and outfall.

Also, the cunning plotlines are supposed to help with the Big Realization, and I need to research metal working, specifically Ship Building, Zeppelin Design, Hydrogen safety, turn of the century Prisons, Rebellions and Guerilla Warfare, Class Structure, High Schools, Bank Security, Catholic rites for the almost-dead, oh, and gas mining. That's what I know about now, more will undoubtedly come later.

Remind me again why I ever thought that writing fantasy would be easier than "real world?"

Anyhow. As riveting as I'm sure you found that, I actually have a question for you, my lovely readers! (I know you're out there, I check my stats occasionally, and some of you even comment. Shocking, I know.) Here it is.

Should I go back now and write out the flashbacks that have revealed themselves to be Part 1, or should I fight on to the end before re-writing?

Part of my brain is saying Never Go Back!!! Resist the urge to edit! Resist! RESIST!!!!!

And part of my brain is saying Wait, you don't even know why your characters are doing things! Go back, figure out what you're exiling doing, THEN continue.

I'm not sure which plan is better, so there is the question of the hour.

What do YOU think?

My Discovery Of England, Stephen Leacock

This book was published in 1922, and since it deals with Current Culture and Affairs, it's a bit like looking into a time machine.

Mr. Leacock published this volume of his impressions of the British Isles after going on a humorous lecture tour there, and he covers Prohibition, Education, Publishing, Capitalism and Humour, among others, in very amusing fashion. I read some of this aloud, and it is even more dryly hilarious when spoken.

I can't say I agreed with all of his views. The suggestion that women not be educated made me glower just a bit, for example. (But I'm willing to take that as opinion from a different time and move on, since his descriptions of traveling made me chortle out loud.) Worth reading just for the descriptions of traveling and education, (as well as prohibition.)

I gave it three stars out of five.

Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr

I hadn't been reading, and I mean for months. Since I want to be a writer, (as you may have noticed,) this seemed unwise. I finally went to the library and stared at the YA section, and then pulled out a book with a shiny blue-purple cover.

The shiny-cover-method did not let me down. The enclosed book turned out to be exactly what I wanted; exciting, adventurous, romantic (and salacious at times,) and frothy. I can't say that it was the deepest book I've ever read, but I liked it a lot. *beams at shiny book*

*cough*

The plot is thus. Aislinn has always seen the Fair Folk, which is a bit of a family tradition- her grandmother can too. But, given the faeries' lamentable history of gouging out the eyes of people with the Sight, she knows not to ever aknolwedge that she can see, hear, or does in any way notice the hordes around her.

This becomes harder when a beautiful/tasty man name Keenan shows up at her school and shows obvious interest in her- and she knows that he's faery. Court Faery, none the less, and he's been stalking her outside of school too. Of course, it is slightly easier for her than it is for the rest of us mere mortals, because she has an even more beautiful/tasty man friend named Seth who lives in a steel house and is also showing obvious interest in her. *Sigh* Amusingly, we're seeing this from inside Aislinn's head, so Keenan's pretty smoothness is barely even mentioned in the face of Seth's piercings and ink. (Soooo much hawter. *smirk*) From there, drama, court intrigue, and romance happen, and it's really lovely.

While this book was wonderful and I want my own copy, it feels a little bit disjointed and or/muddled. I know it's arrogant for me to say this, given my own skills, but this was a debut novel, and I think it shows? Certain plot points didn't mesh into each other as seamlessly as I would have liked. Once I thought about it things were clear, but I did have to stop and think about it. However, the one part that really irked me because it wasn't explained turned out to be a herald of the next book. So I'll forgive that. :D And any disjointedness just made me more eager for the next story, to see how she improved!

Which next book is currently on order at the library. HURRY UP POSTAL SERVICE. *cough* I gave it four stars out of five.

Watchmen, Alan Moore

I was trying to think of how to write a coherent review of this one. Then I realized it was impossible, so I should stop fretting.

This was terrible, a horrible book. But also SO GOOD.

I can't even talk about the plot, because it sounds like it's on drugs. Oh, you think I should try?

Uh, okay, there's murder, a giant squid, floating dead bodies, sex, rape, blue men, history and time and freaky things, a plushy deadly giant cat and red snow- NEVER TRUST PRETTY MEN. ESPECIALLY SMART PRETTY MEN. Squids will save the world by killing you all.

...

I told you.

ANYHOW, possibly reading half of it in a stolen hour in a library and the other half after midnight in a hotel room didn't help my mental state much. I was staring at random walls and shuddering, and my dreams were, uh, rather imaginative. But circumstances of my reading notwithstanding, the book is vivid. You just get images stuck in your head. Like the view down a skyscraper. Or boiling oil. Or red snow in a pattern. Or- *shudders* I think I need to read something fluffy before I go to bed. *searches for fluffy books*

I can't talk about the plot because of the aforementioned drugs, but I have to mention the different POVs. As different characters were followed, different styles of delivery were used for the story. For example, the Night Owl's story was told in excerpts from his autobiography, and Rorsarch's tale was from the point of view (nominally) of the physiologist assigned to work with him. Dr. Manhattan's part of the book was told in his freaky stream-of-conciousness. Oddly enough, that was the part of the book that convinced me that I had to finish it. I was seduced by time-manipulation and prose style, what can I say? (No, nudity was not a point in any way for me. I read Sandman too young, and that permanently warped my mind.)

I would be very careful who I recommend it to, as it's very graphic. But if you can get past the death, and despair, and death, and sex, and rape, and death, and nihilism, and death, and nudity, and death- it's good. (Did I mention the persistent presence of death? Several kinds of death?) ^_^ I gave it five stars out of five.

The Dragon Seer, Janet McNaughton

I'm going to put my jugemental hat on now and do some reviewing. This is part of my plan to think about what I'm reading. I'll tell you how that works out for me. ^_^

I found this story really hard to get into, simply because of the author's voice. Small words and simple descriptions just don't do it for me, sorry. I actually assumed at first that the story was MG, (though later plot points (romance, death) supported the idea that it was YA,) because of the simplistic story telling.

However, once I adjusted to the fact that this was not going to a thrill-a-minute tale, and the prose was not going to make me shiver with glee (yes, I do that occasionally) it turned out to be a mild and fun story. Madoca is a slave in an abusive household until she is chosen by the dragons to be the next dragon seer! (OMG FOR REALZ???) Once accepted into this prestigious position by many kind people, she learns that the job is more difficult than she thought, (Magic is hard? Lol Whut?) but also more rewarding. Life unfolds happily, she makes friends with a cute boy (though she doesn't know that's what she's doing, *blush* *cough* *scuff toe*) and then the Vikings arrive, and it all goes to heck in a hand-basket.

I really don't feel the need to spoiler the ending, but it was sufficiently unexpected and worked well.

Overall, the romance was talked of in simple terms for simple readers, but it was believable. It even had several "awwwwww" moments which made me happy. The two respective important death scenes were well done, and the bad guys were Very Bad. We know this because they kill helpless animals and make small boys cringe, also they have a magician who can turn into a raven. (Like Woah.) The dragons were small, clever, arrogant, pretty and awkward. They also talked mind-to-mind, which is is IMPERATIVE for YA dragons. Unfortunately, I found myself not really caring about Madoca's five years of being beaten and starved, or her dragons dying out, or even the terrible Vikings come to destroy our affinity with the land. I felt like I should care, but I was just annoyed at the sanctimonious tone of the tale whenever awful/stressful things happened.

This book did not catch much of my attention, but I think that is because I am not the target audience. I wouldn't be distressed to find my little sister reading it. I gave it two stars out of five.

NaNoWrapO

I need to stay away from "clever" titles. This is clear. But I'm going to let that one stay, for teh lolz. *cough* It's time for the tradition, the wonder, that is Nano Wrap-up! WHOOOOO

(I just washed two hours of dishes and now have tea, can you tell?)

I'll start with a shout-out to my characters. *beams*

• Adam - It just gets worse. I'm sorry. But you're so FUN to break. *cough* I'm sorry about the girls. And the torture. But really, it wasn't THAT bad...
• Nanami - You'll feel better later. I'm sorry. I really am sorry, but sometimes the only way is to break and re-form. You had shiny travels?
• Laura - I didn't want to like you, but I do... You haz mad skillz, woman. I don't want to know what they are, but still. Props to you.
• Ewan - Heh. Heh. Don't look at me like that! You KNOW you asked for it. You just attract violence! I uh, don't know what's going to happen to you. I think fights are gonna be involved. Aren't you HAPPY? Don't use language like that around me, young man. You love it, I know.
• Ethan - You're a jerk. Too bad I keep liking you! Stupid dis-loyal jerkface pretty boy. *growls* I'm gonna make you PAY.
• Mr. Theyneker - Stay away. Seriously. You scare me. Seriously. AWAY. I mean it. *hides behind anything large and locked*
• Amelie - *salutes* You were random and I like you. I like your back story. I like your distain. I like that I'm never going to see you again, Lord Willing.
• Dijimon - Jerk. Go away.
• Claude - You're a random pretty boy who keeps morphing roles and I named you to annoy a fictional characters, what can I say? I'm going to make you fail, soon. Enjoy your life.
• Katie - Hi, you're pretty. Let's break Adam together.
• The Duke - I will find a way to involve you later, Fop. I WILL.
• Islay - You're sweet, and awesome! I'm sorry I'm using you. Er, have a new pair of shoes?
• Sidney - You are still my favourite bit characters. I'm gonna bring you back. ANd then the Bad Girls can fight to see who you are married too, cause you're awesome. *hugs* I'm sorry about the whole prison thing.
• Mrs. Swallow - I'm sorry about your son. You're lovely. I really, really am sorry. *cringes*
• Hana - You're WAYYY to perky. Go perk over there kthnxbai.
• My Bad Girls - I less than three you all. I'm sorry about the whole prison thing. I'm gonna get you out? GJ with the torture and kidnapping and all. I promise it'll be better in the edit, too.
• The Train People - I thought you were my favourite bit people. Then I realized that you're actually another novel. Someday...
• Jim - I'm not sure yet if you're a good guy or you just killed a bunch of kids. But you're pretty. Um. *unsure* I'm sorry the flirting lines I gave you were so lame. I'm sure you're MUCH smoother than that.

I think that's everybody! Aren't they wonderful, and doesn't my story sound cheerful?

Now to go over what was actually accomplished. (And what I learned)

1. I wrote 66,690 words on a story that doesn't show any signs of stopping any time soon. There is srysly a LOT that has to be revealed and dealt with. *I take a moment to weep* (My plots are weeds. They grow in directions I don't want them too, take root in strange places, and Do. Not. Die. Also I'm wordy.)
2. The story started as a fantasy which was shiny and full of teenage fun, and it became, well, steampunk featuring betrayal, deception, and death. I mean, if you start with your MCs being terrorists, there are only so many ways it can go. (I'm pretty sure that I'm still writing YA, but I have a potential to get dark. You want hope? You're going to have to WORK for hope. Also, teenagers are so flexible for one reason only- to heal faster after they've been broken. There will be breakage.)
3. I tried to keep continuity, and keep plotlines under control. I failed. (WRITE A DETAILED OUTLINE AND KNOW WHAT YOUR EVER-LOVEING PLOT IS. I AM NOT EVEN JOKING, SELF.)
4. I realized today that I came up with most of this plot a.) when a family member was moved to palliative care b.) while waiting around the hospital for this person to die, and c.) while being attacked by normal life after the death. (When in a setting like this, you will think your plots will be nice and light and frothy. They won't be. You'll do things like putting a main character on death row for a murder they didn't commit- for the sake of character development- and seriously consider not getting them off- and think it's just normal and cheerful teen drama. Be Aware Of Your Mental State When Plotting. Also, what was up with the invisible kids that I cut on the first day? Srysly, brain, sleep is good for you.)
5. After, I think it was 18 days straight, I burned out, and needed to take a break. This felt awful, but I did write better after taking a day off! (Writing is wonderful, we know this. I still need to give my mind time to catch up and develop sub-plots that make any kind of sense.)
6. And finally- After much non-production in the final days of nano, I turned off my internet for six hours and wrote over 5 thousand words. (I am easily distracted, I shouldn't try to stay on twitter, facebook, chat and blogs- and write at the same time. It will not work.)

There you have it! My profound wrap-up. Now if you'll excuse me, my family hasn't seen me in a month.