Free Writing Courses

Say you haven't written at all or you haven't written in about a year, due to illness or life being especially cruel or busy.

Well the BBC has some nice mini-courses to give yourself a kickstart or a refresher. And, they're free, which can come in handy. :-)

They're split into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced courses (with exercises), and these might just be the thing to help you out when you're sitting scratching your head, wondering, What the hell do I do now?

You can find them here.

~Nancy Beck

What I Was Going to Do...

I was going to offer up a review of the latest book I finished, but as I'm fighting sinusitis ::sigh::, I'll instead just list here the next book I've started up.

(Yeah, I have an insatiable appetite to read books. Kinda takes my mind off my cruddy personal life.)

But I digress.

I'm a huge House fan, and I was surprised to find that Hugh Laurie actually wrote a novel back in the 1990s. (I also didn't realize he'd been in Blackadder, among other British series; I did know he was in the Stuart Little movie.) Since he has an extensive comedy background, it's no stretch to find out that his novel, The Gun Seller, is a humorous take on the suspense/thriller.

The opening chapter really made me laugh. Nice. :-)

Of course once I'm done I'll throw up (if you've read the book, you'll know that's a bad choice of words) a review of it.

~Nancy Beck

Nathan Bransford's Paragraph Contest

Well, he and someone named May have chosen 6 finalists...I wasn't among them, alas, but now you get a chance to vote on the one that really grabbed you.

I voted for Sophie W and her imps. It just sounded like the fun beginning to a fun story. My 2nd choice was Regan and her SF entry...really creepy. But I guess I'm in a "I wanna read fun stuff" mood, so that's why I chose Sophie's.

They're all good choices, by the way, and they're not all spec fic, either, lol.

Why don't you join in the fun and leave your comment/vote? The post is here.

~Nancy Beck

What I'm Reading Now - Part Whatever It Is

It's cloudy, it's raining, my endo is acting up big time, and the personal crap is still up in the air. (Just a really fine day all around, ya know?)

So I'm in a cranky, sarcastic mood, in case you hadn't noticed. (Which is why I made the prior post, to at least make up for my crankiness.)

Having just finished a really great fantasy novel, I'm now forging ahead and...reading another fantasy novel. :-) Actually, it's pretty good so far, and what hooked me into it was a good review (a surprise to the person reviewing it) another blog. The main thing in this particular story is that the place where it, um, takes place is a cage.

No, this isn't about werewolves or some kinky sexual thing, but the idea here is that Princes of the Golden Cage (which I can't link to because I have to use freakin' Internet Exploder because Firefox isn't working here at work, and this Exploder version doesn't have tabs) holds all the princes of the sultan until one of them is deemed worthy of becoming the sultan's Number One Heir. Oh, and keeps the princes from doing naughty things, like killing the sultan and his yes men.

Yeah, it's actually based on something in Turkish history (or somewhere thereabouts), and the author, Nathalie Mallett, thought it sounded interesting and turned it into a fantasy/mystery.

Yum. Nice. My two favoritest genres. Kinda like the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cups commercials (you know, the ones where two people "accidentally" bump into each other, one holding a jar of peanut butter, the other with piece of chocolate).

I just started it, and it'll be interesting to see where Ms. Mallett takes this (another debut author for me, as was Lisa Shearin).

~Nancy Beck

The Joys of Falling Underwear

Need a romance fix?

Strike that. Need a weird/creepy/cheesy romance fix? (It's not porn, I swear!)

Then you must check out this section of the lileks.com site. (ETA: Changed the link, which hopefully works now.)

It's the art(?) of Art Frahm, a dude who liked to paint sexy chicks (in the 1950s) in every day garb, with one exception: Their panties were always shown falling about their ankles (or thighs). Oh, and the dude had a thing for celery, too.

No, not that. Get your mind out of the gutter. ;-)

Have a good, cheesy time with the, uh, art of Art Frahm and have a chuckle or three. And then check out the rest of the site, and see if some of it doesn't make you want to pluck out your eyeballs.

~Nancy Beck

News on the Fantasy Front

I received an email from Amazon this morning about Diana Pharaoh Francis (don't you just love that name? Oh, how I could go on and on about people's names...) and her latest, which is due out on November 6. It's called The Cipher, and I remember when I sent her an email about her Path series (also excellent and recommended, especially her first one, Path of Fate), that she thought this next series, Crosspointe, was even better than Path.

It's another water-based society (yes!), and it sounds intriguing. Hop on over to her website for a peek at the first chapter.

What is it with me and water? I just think I'm a water person and have been for most of my life. Nothing would thrill me more than to chuck it all and buy a houseboat. Imagine going to sleep at sea...

But I digress, heh. The next bit of news is one I found out by accident.

I've read C. E. Murphy's first book in her Walker Papers trilogy, Urban Shaman, just this past year. As I have mucho books in the To Be Read pile, I'd bought the next book in it, Thunderbird Falls, but I haven't read it as yet (and I haven't yet bought Coyote Falls). Well, she's out with her next, The Negotiator trilogy, starting off with Heart of Stone. It's about a Legal Aid lawyer coming to the defense of a gargoyle (heart of stone - yeah, I get it :-)) who's been charged with murder. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

Ah, so many books, not enough time!!

~Nancy Beck

Magic Lost, Trouble Found - A Review

Ace, 352 pages

Raine Benares is an elf and a fair-to-middling sorceress in the world of Mermeia (think of a big version of Venice populated with elves, goblins, and magical "experiments"). She's also a seeker, which means she finds things for people who want things found (although sometimes those people later regret that). Raine's first problem is to keep an eye on Quentin Rand, who's breaking into a necromancer's house. Raine doesn't know what Quentin is after, but she wants to make sure he makes it out of that house in one piece; she's used him on a few jobs before and trusts him - sort of.

One of Raine's cousins, Phaelan, joins her in the alleyway across the street, ready to help, if need be. Raine slipped a tracking stone on Quentin, and it allows her to see things from Quentin's point of view. He's in the necromancer's bedroom and takes out a white stone box.

Raine falls over when Quentin opens the box.

Phaelan helps her back to her feet, and she severs the connection to Quentin. But it's not long before all hell breaks loose. They hear a lot of glass breaking and Quentin's shouts. They head to the back of the house and scramble to the top of a wall. Then Quentin is on the bedroom's balcony, except he's not alone: The Khrynsani, an old goblin secret society and military order, has joined him, and it's not to enjoy the night air.

Quentin jumps into some bushes to get away from the goblins, but they follow him. Raine and Phaelan take care of the Khrynsani as best they can, with a minimum amount of blood shed. When Raine asks what Quentin stole, he's hesitant until he pulls out a chain from under his shirt. It's holding a strange but plain amulet...

...an amulet, Raine finds out, that has unbelievable power, which was taken from a soul-stealing stone. And, when she puts it on, to hold it for Quentin, she finds she can't take it off without dire consequences.

The Khrynsani aren't the only ones after her. There's also the current goblin king's brother-in-exile, and a slimy character named Sarad Nukpana. She hopes to survive with her relatives and friends giving her help, specifically, her brother, Piaras, Garadin, her godfather and former Conclave mage, Paladin and spellsinger-extraordinaire Mychael Eiliesor, and Tamnais Nathrach (Tam), a shaman of royal blood.

Can they keep Raine safe and put the amulet back where it belongs? And if the amulet is put in the box, will that be the end of Raine's troubles?

This is a well-crafted and fun story, with interesting characters and many hints of romance (which adds to the story but doesn't overwhelm it). Raine is a kick-ass heroine but no Mary Sue; she has her faults, gets nicked up from time to time, and at times her romantic feelings nearly get the best of her.

As a wannabe author, what I liked (and envy!) is how succinct Ms. Shearin is with her descriptions: They're always just right, which means I get an idea of what something looks like without it being too skimpy nor too wordy.

Take this passage from the first chapter:

The city of Mermeia in the kingdom of Brenir consisted of five islands that had been forced into existence by the determination of its founders, and kept from sinking by the greed of its merchants. A powerful force, greed. It made solid ground where there had once been marsh; built palaces and trading houses where there were reeds; and inspired humans, elves, goblins, and magic users of all races to live together in a city separated only by the canals that marked their respective Districts. Sometimes we even got along.

So we get an idea of the lay of the land, what sort of people/species we'll be reading about, and the MC's cynicism in one paragraph. Nicely done!

This is Ms. Shearin's debut offering, and it's hard to believe, because it's so well done. (And did I say how much I loved the kick-ass, cynical Raine? Ah, oops, yeah!) Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until next year for the next in the series ::sniff::, but Ms. Shearin has graciously included two chapters from her second book, Armed and Magical. Chapter One is here, and Chapter Two is here.

I can't wait! :-)

ETA: Armed and Magical is coming out in April 2008! Must. Wipe. Off. Drool. ;-)

~Nancy Beck

I Decided to Redo the Beginning

And I can blame it on Nathan Bransford's contest. He's very nicely (and courageously!) offered to look at the first paragraphs of works in progress, with a further offer of a partial crit going to the winner.

A bit of background. This is a time travel novel, with the protag, Rita Fuentes, an adoptee who wants to find out who she really is. Her adoptive mother, Margaret, has provided her with a last name of her birth mother, but little else. The phone call she's on will decide where she goes from here.

So here it is, from my WIP which is now titled (I think for about the 5th time), Yesterday's Gone.

Rita Fuentes paced around her adoptive mother's kitchen table until she was sure she'd leave a groove in the linoleum. She stopped in front of the wall phone, staring at the calendar next to it. Just tell me you've found me, Rita thought, flipping through the months with her free hand until she reached September 1974. She froze when she heard the other woman say, "Sorry."

The genealogist coughed, then said, "Don't have all my papers. Be right back."

Rita unfroze long enough to clench her teeth. "Take your time." Wrapping and unwrapping her finger around the phone cord, she turned her gaze to the nearest wall. What was her adoptive mother, Margaret, thinking when she put up that bright green and orange wallpaper? "Guess she had to make sure one part of the house fits in with what passes for decorating." Fitting in. For seven long years, since the hippies' Summer of Love, she'd wondered where she fit in.

"Thanks for holding, Mrs. Fuentes."

Rita held her breath.

"Unfortunately, I can't find anyone in Los Angeles with that last name who had a baby named Rita on September 28, 1942."

Rita blinked, but tears already pricked her eyes. "But adoption records--"

"Usually aren't available to the public, Mrs. Fuentes."

That's not the entire 1st chapter, but it's a nice chunk of it. The time travel takes place not long after this exchange. BTW, Rita is into mythology, and it's through knowing some mythology - and some mythological beings - that she's transported back in time...

~Nancy Beck

I Miss Miss Snark, Too ::sniff::

I saw a post on Patricia Wood's blog about how much she misses Miss Snark.

That's the "too" part of the title of this post. Every day, almost without fail, I would start out my work day at Miss Snark's blog, and lament either when she didn't post for a few days or my work computer would go @&*$&! on me and wouldn't connect to her blog.

It was soooo much fun, esp. when she got going on some subject or another. Yanno, there just isn't anyone else out there with the combination of snarkiness and fun (of course, it helped that she was anonymous).

::sigh::

Just one more time I'd like to have her post about Killer Yapp, or Grandma Snark.

Oh, and it's Miss Snark, not Ms. Snark! ;-)

~Nancy Beck