My Summer Reading List

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Michelle

Reading treeI’ve got my favorite summer reading place, a tall glass of iced sweet-tea, and a few hours of quiet.  Now, all I need are the books.

In the summer, I want light reads, and I want a variety of genres and styles to pick from.  This year, with so many books on my TBR pile, it was hard to choose, but here are a few of my favorites:

  1. Rumors of Savages by Carrie Regan.  I picked this up on a tip from Pixel of Ink.  It involves reality TV, a mystery, and a trek through the jungle.  I hope it lives up to its blurb!
  2. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.  I started my first Lehane novel the other day, and I’m hooked.  I love discovering a great author who has a number of books I haven’t read yet.  I have a feeling Lehane is destined to be one of my favorite writers.
  3. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs.  I’ve loved the first two books in the Mercedes Thompson series, and I’m looking forward to number three.
  4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner.  Last summer, I submersed myself in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I was told that The Maze Runner books are similar.
  5. The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett.  I first met up with the wonderful Ivy Quent in the book The Magicians and Mrs. Quent.  Think of it as Jane Eyre meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
  6. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  I have a love/hate relationship with Oprah’s book picks.  Some of them, I’ve loved while others have made me think, “Really??”  I’m taking a chance that Franzen’s novel will be something that I enjoy.

 






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Happy National Flash Fiction Day

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Michelle

Call it micro or call it flash, it’s all fiction pared down to the bare essentials.

Today marks the first-ever celebration of the flash genre in which 150 words or fewer tells a complete story.

Curious about the best way to write flash?  Author David Gaffney gives 10 tips for aspiring authors.

I haven’t written a lot of flash fiction because I find it harder to write than the longer stuff.  However, writing flash is a great way to hone your skills, and I recommend giving it a try!

Now, this is what I call flash-blogging!

 

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That is Not a Shawarma

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Michelle

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to see the movie The Avengers over the weekend.  It was an enjoyable film, but they made a major error that pulled me right out of the movie.  Luckily, it happened during the end credits…but, still.

The error has to do with an Arabic sandwich called a shawarma.

Living in Detroit has given me an appreciation for fine Middle Eastern cuisine, and shawarmas are as fine as it gets.  To the uninitiated, a shawarma is a kind of wrapped sandwich that includes marinated, grilled meat such as chicken, lamb, or beef, pickled turnips, onions, flat bread, and garlic sauce.  Lots and lots of garlic sauce.   Shawarmas look like this:

My objection to the movie is that food the Avengers were eating was not shawarma.  Granted, this is a small point, but it’s been haunting me for days now.  Just because you call a pita-wrap sandwich a shawarma does not make it one.  Nothing else would be as delicious.  Trust me.

Avengers: if you are reading this blog, I invite you to come to Detroit and get a real shawarma.  You’ll never again be satisfied with an inferior imitation.

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Spirograph – the Movie

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Michelle

Over the weekend, I went to see The Avengers with my family.  I don’t mind when movies are based on novels, or for that matter, comic books.  I’m even okay with movies being based on TV shows.  But while I was watching the upcoming attractions, one of the previews began with the sentence:

Battleship: a movie from Hasbro, the people who gave you Transformer toys…

A movie from Hasbro?  Since when is a toy maker the driving force behind a feature film?  It was bad enough when movies were based on Disney rides (Pirates of the Caribbean), but now we’re basing movies on toys?

Okay, maybe there are no creative minds left in Hollywood.  Or maybe there aren’t any new writers who can write a decent screenplay.  I don’t know.  But I’ve decided to get on the bandwagon and suggest a few movies based on toys.

Spirograph – the movie

A lonely teenager discovers a mysterious drawing device and ends up calling a malevolent spirit into the world.  This is followed by screaming, fake blood, and mass panic.

Lincoln Logs

A heartwarming tale of a young man with a pioneering spirit leaves the east coat shipyards to find a home in the Appalachian mountains and then leaves it all to run for President.

 

Magic 8 Ball

An outrageous comedy about two college frat boys who decide to pass their exams by relying on the powers of the Magic 8 Ball.  Add to the mix a vengeful dean, a host of hot sorority babes, and a keg party, and you can bet that hilarity ensues.

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Columbines

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Michelle

I just had to show off my beautiful columbines today!

With our strange, early warm weather followed by a few weeks of cold temperatures and frost, most of my early plants either didn’t bloom, or had very few blooms.  It’s wonderful to see something do well for a change.

This plant came from a friend of mine.  The one she gave me was about the size of a pencil and so scraggly that I didn’t think it would survive the two-hour trip home.  Not only that, but the poor thing was stuck in the trunk of my car for about twelve hours while I visited another friend.  Luckily, this was a very hardy strain.

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E-Books for a Buck

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Michelle

Looking for some great reads at a great price?

Check out E-Books for a Buck .  Not only is it a great site to check out discounted e-books, but they’re also featuring Straight to Hell today!  Yay!

Also, Bear Mountain Books has created a list of good books that are $.99 and under.  The books are listed by category, so you can easily find your favorite kind of book.

Summertime = readingtime

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My Backyard Getaway

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Michelle

It can be hard getting back to nature in my part of the suburbs where the neighbors are so close that I can hear six different conversations at once when I’m in my backyard.

Even so, I love to be outdoors in warm weather.  I garden a little (most of my gardens are perennial, so I don’t have to invest a lot of time in them), but mostly I love to go outdoors and read.

Six years ago, my family bought me a swing as a Mother’s Day present, and I love reading books (and taking naps) on that thing!  The Michigan climate has been hard on it, though.  It’s so covered in mildew that even looking at it makes me sneeze.

I was ready to get a new swing this spring, but when my husband and I went looking for a new one, he wondered if we should just cut the sewn-in cushions from the old one and replace them with new ones.

It worked like a charm!  Not only was it much cheaper to replace the cushions, it also allowed us to save resources by recycling the swing’s frame.  Now, my yucky old swing looks new again, and I still have money left over to buy more books.

By the way, did I mention that I married a genius? :)

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Straight to Hell – Only $.99 in May

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Michelle

To herald the next installment of the Lilith Straight series, I’m offering e-copies of my urban fantasy/chick lit novel, Straight to Hell, for only $.99 during the month of May!  This includes all e-formats at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

In only two weeks, the second book in the Lilith Straight series, Straight to Heaven, will be launched with a fabulous blog tour hosted by my friend Dani over at my favorite book blog, Pen to Paper.  There will be character interviews, guest posts, and giveaways, including a grand prize of an iPod shuffle.

Hope to see you all there!

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Lost…Again

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Michelle

LOSTThe only thing I hate more than getting lost is getting lost over and over again in the same city.

That’s what happened to me last weekend.  The city I was visiting isn’t very large, and I’ve been there several times before, yet every time I go, I get lost!  I can see the expressway I want, yet I can’t find my way there.

As much as I hate this, however, I’m becoming more and more familiar with the town and am starting to recognize a few landmarks.  Luckily, I was able to make it back onto the expressway in only ten minutes rather than  my normal twenty or twenty-five.

At times, I feel lost when I’m writing, too.  Although I’ve been writing for over twenty years, I always reach a certain point in my novel where I can’t see the end.  I know there’s an end, but it remains hidden.  Talk about frustrating!

What I’ve come to realize, though, is that getting lost is a part of the journey.  Although it feels like a waste of time, it isn’t.  In fact, it’s necessary.  When I lose my way, I’m forced to backtrack and look closely at where the story  is headed.  Also, some of my favorite parts of the story get written when I’m lost.  I also know that, when my mind gets really snarled up, that usually means that I’m very close to the end.

All I need to do is hang tough, keep my eye on the ending, and have faith that I will find my way out.

 

 

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Licorice

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Michelle

Licorice has always been a joke between my husband and me.  Both of our families had Dutch origins, and one of the favorite candies of our Dutch grandmothers was a particular kind of licorice called zoute which is salty (yes, salty) and as tough as shoe leather.  Needless to say, both my hubby and I thought it was disgusting!  We like to joke that our Dutch ancestors were so stern that even their candy was bitter.

Until recently, I’ve never liked black licorice.  But now, for some reason, I’ve been craving it!  Every time I go to Trader’s Joe’s, I slip a few boxes and bags of their licorice into my cart.

I know there is some research that points to the benefits of dark chocolate, so I was curious if the same thing went for licorice.  The answer seemed to be yes and no.  Yes, real licorice has medicinal qualities (such as aiding digestion), but unfortunately, most licorice candy most likely does not contain real licorice (it contains anise oil).

Ah, well.  To get those health benefits, I’ll have to work up my courage to eat the nasty, salty kind offered in the Dutch stores.  But my research also led me to a wonderful blog called Candy Blog which, as the name suggests, reviews all kinds of candies.  Including my new favorite: Trader Joe’s licorices.

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