Summer days drifting away...really fast! (Big Dreams Blog Update #22)

It's another Update Day!

Thanks to Shah Wharton for the banner above!

Well, it's Update Day if you're part of the Do You Have a Goal? blog hop hosted by authors Misha Gericke and Beth Fred. All you need to join the hop is a big (perhaps crazy) goal, be brave enough to post it and share it with the interwebs and work (like crazy) to reach it. 

Don't worry, you'll have 16 others of us cheering you along the way. :)

This post will be shorter because I'm on a bit of time constraint...

So, quick things then on my big (crazy) goal of writing one million words worth of stories:

For starters, I joined CampNaNo this month.

I started off planning to write one story, but by Day 3 I dropped it completely.

Why?

Another idea hooked its talon into my imagination and I cheated and ran away with it instead.

Thankfully it lead me to meet some pretty amazing characters for the last few weeks, and I'm still in awe on how it's already the end of the month. How did I reach the 31st and with 52K? Nuts!

As I'm not done my WIP I'll be continuing with it like regular -- I have a morning schedule going -- into August 1st onwards.

And that's my writing progress.

On my reading and reviewing front, I mentioned here that I've reached my goal of 53 books! ^^

But that I'm continuing to read whenever I can...because why not??

And as for the summer front...I'm walking a lot, getting fresh air and people watching. Not too many road trips though. A few, but not as much as I would have liked or planned at the start of this season.

Also it's been hellaciously hot this month.

Much, much hotter than June.

And it's only bearable outside once the sun has sorta cooled in the late evening.

Maybe I'm just too weak or something.

Or maybe I'm catching a lot of TV movies. (Anyone else got Summer Nights stuck on repeat in their heads?)

Anyways, how are you spending your summer?

Squeezing in vacation plans before September?

Let me know. I love to read a good story/comment.

CAMPNANO (JULY 2015) UPDATE #5: I survived...to see August and more writing.

CAMPNANO (JULY 2015):

VLOG UPDATE #5

Final vlog!
Yay.
We survived CampNaNo. :)

How did you do?
Check out how I did, and what I'd like to do differently as I continue to write my WIP in August.

BOOK REVIEW (69): Careful of the Company You Keep

BOOK REVIEW

Careful of the Company You Keep

Okay. Let me start this review by giving you a warning: when you first pick up Angie Daniels' Careful of the Company You Keep you'll probably want to throw the book away.
Like that first chapter (told from Renee's POV, one of two first-person narrators in the book) is so offensive, I considered DNF'ing at page 1.

Really.

There was a lot of gay-bashing, let's just put it at that, and downright nasty attitude from the so-called protagonist (again, one of two).

I promise, PROMISE, this story does get better.
It's like the Japanese dish, nattou, where acquired taste plays a large part in who likes it or not.
This book is really simply put -- IMO -- an acquired taste.

So the story follows Renee and Danielle, two friends in their late 30s (I believe they're both 38) who are unwed, bed-hopping frequently and in search of a calm in their love lives.
Mind you this is NOT a romance. I would call it women's fiction, but light-hearted, makes-fun-of-itself WF.

Anyways.
Renee and Danielle both tell the story in alternating chapters in 1st person narrative. Renee is the more ruder of the two; she doesn't have a filter. But she's also smarter. Danielle will make you want to toss the book across the room, yet she's kinder (not as potty-mouthed).

Both women end up landing in hot water with other females and poorly navigating their romantic and sexual decisions.
Eventually all of their choices -- good and bad -- comes to a head way at the end of the book. Let's just say neither woman escapes without a scar...or several.

All right what's U-G-L-Y that gives it no alibi:

1) What is up with the freaky euphemism in this novel!?
Both of these women refer to their vulvas as the "Kitty Cat" or just plain old "kitty"...as in, "my kitty is purring" (<-- paraphrased text from the book)
And Danielle calls her man's penis the "black snake". I don't have a thing against snakes, but imagine how much I don't want to be around one now. D:

2) How these women go from being downright intolerable to sympathetic figures -- if not symbols of martyrdom by the end. The change was too quick and too much for me. Not surprisingly it felt fake (particularly Danielle's relationship with her daughter and Renee's yo-yoing Good Samaritan role with her schizophrenic neighbor).

But don't forget the Good:

1) For starts the dialogue is amazing! I would kill to have the author's skill to bring to life these characters. If you're looking for a good teaching tool for realistic yet humorous dialogue, pick up Careful of the Company You Keep.

2) How the plot tied together. Like I said if you can manage to get through the first few chapters, you'll keep flipping the pages not knowing where the time is going (or at least that's how I felt!)

What you can take away then is that the book is an okay read. I liked what I liked, I hated what I hated, but it was all cool in the end.
After this review if you want to pick up Careful of the Company You Keep, and you like it, you might want to grab the other two preceding books in this trilogy (Book 1 - here and Book 2 - right here)

My verdict:

✮✮✮.5

(3.5 stars)

BOOK REVIEW (68): Love Times Three

BOOK REVIEW

Love Times Three

Another vlog review. Just rolling these out... :)

Click below to find out what I think of this read:

BOOK REVIEW (67): You, Stress Less

BOOK REVIEW:

You, Stress Less

A really great "go get 'em" guide to managing stress less.
BONUS! It's a short read. Less reading time, more getting you to start making the active changes to a better, healthier, stress-reduced life.

Here's my vlog review of it:

BOOK REVIEW (66): The Breakup Bible

BOOK REVIEW:

The Breakup Bible

A non-fiction title and a lengthy vlog review.
Enjoy.

CAMPNANO (JULY 2015) UPDATE #4: More plot talk.

CAMPNANO (JULY 2015):

VLOG UPDATE #4

What else would I talk about?

But I'm excited to share this (sorta*) new plotting method I've been trying to help me get to the midpoint of my WIP.

For more on that, click the video:

*I first found the scene/sequel method during a Harlequin contest in April 2014.

It didn't work too well for me then. I was more resistant.

This time it clicked...it REALLY clicked.