Review of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Description (From NetGalley)

cover links to amazon

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was--that I couldn't stick around--and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart--obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick (Author of The Silver Linings Playbook) unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made--and the light in us of all that never goes out.

My Review

This book manages to deal with several very difficult subjects with such raw honesty that you can't help but be moved by it. Although the story is dark, there are glimmers of light here and there that you pull you through and give you hope.

As a mother I found it particularly heart-wrenching and wanted to reach through the pages of the book and do anything I could to help the main character. It really brings home just how important it is to take the time to really listen to our children.

I think this is a very important book that could teach us all a little something about looking out for others. I highly recommend it.

I give Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.

Can You Write A Novel In 30 Days?

It's that time of year again. On November 1st thousands of people will embark on the seemingly impossible task of writing a novel in 30 days as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). If you have never heard of this challenge I strongly advise checking out the website here.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / freedigitalphotos.net

The first time I took part back in 2009 I had never written anything longer than flash fiction. I had always wanted to write but at that time it was a dream I had kept hidden for years, jotting down flash fiction pieces every now and then but never really taking it seriously.

So what changed in 2009? I had my son. I wanted him to grow up to believe that he could do anything if he set his mind to it and put in the work and when I heard about the challenge I figured it was my job to lead by example. With only a week to go before the start of the challenge I played around with a few ideas and jotted down some notes but I basically started with very little idea what I was going to write. Even so, I did it. At the end of November I had a completed first draft of my first ever novel, I was over the moon and so proud of myself. I even admitted to those closest to me that I dreamed of being a writer.

Unfortunately, when I read back through what I had written, I hated it. There were some great elements in there but it was too meandering and there wasn't enough structure to it. At the time I didn't really know enough about the craft to even start fixing it, so I put it away in a draw with the promise I would get back to it one day.

Roll on November 2010 and while I had written a few more flash fiction pieces and worked a little on craft, I still hadn't really achieved very much. I decided to give NaNoWriMo a go again. This time I plotted out quite a bit of the novel before hand and once again I finished the month with a complete draft. Although much better than my first attempt at writing a novel, it still needed a whole lot of work and probably a complete re-write.

A little disheartened I decided I would concentrate on learning the craft before attempting another novel length piece. Unfortunately, reading about the craft seemed to take over and I spent less and less time actually writing. If anything, I think I read so much writing advice that when I was faced with the blank page I became paralysed, how could I ever live up to all that advice? Everything I wrote felt wrong.

This year I decided it was time to make a drastic change. I stopped keeping my dream a secret and told everyone. I started this blog to try and encourage other writer's to have more belief in themselves and their dreams as I was trying to do. I took several writing courses that actually involved me writing instead of just reading about the craft, and the feedback I received really boosted my confidence (one short story was compared to Stephen King!!!). I became a book reviewer (another long held dream), and with all of the craft knowledge I have gained over the past couple of years I could easily work out what worked or didn't and why. In fact, being a reviewer and picking these books apart to see how they tick has probably been the best training yet. I also discovered #ROW80, and the goal setting and support that comes with it has been immensely helpful.

Now, November is nearly upon us again. I have a fully formed story road map and I am better prepared than ever before. This time I am confident that I will come through the other end with a draft that I will actually be able to work on and polish into something great.

Although those earlier attempts were cringeworthy, they were a necessary part of the process. Writing them taught me so much and with every project I take on I get better and better. 2012 has been a great year for me professionally, but it was that first NaNoWriMo that kick-started it all. If you have never taken part before, I can highly recommend it.

How about you? Are you taking part this year? Have you taken part in the past? If so, what was your experience like? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear from you.

If you want to connect with me on the NaNoWriMo forums my username is Polgara.

Sunday Check-In - #ROW80

I had to really push the boat out this week as next week is half term and I will have my four-year old at home, and we have plans for every single day of it, so I know I will struggle to get as much done. Over all, I ma really pleased with how it went.

Weekly goals:

• Two book reviews a week. Done. I managed to read and prepare the reviews for 4 books this week. I also read a third of another but have since declined to review it. The writing itself was beautiful but nothing actually happened and I was so bored and disinterested I couldn't bring myself to finish it, and I will never review I book I haven't read all the way through as that would not be fair.
• Write a minimum of 100 words of new fiction every weekday. This didn't happen every day as my planning for NaNo and reading took priority again, but on the days that I did I far exceeded the word count goal, so I ma considering this as a success.
• 5 blog posts a week. Done
• Visit and comment on the blogs of at least 5 other #ROW80 participants every week. Sadly not this week, but I will make up for it by doubling this goal for next week.
• Concentrate on one room a day and have a good clear out. Not completely finished, but only one room left.
• Exercise at least three times a week and eat more healthily. I managed the exercise and there is not a single part of me that does not hurt, but in a good way, and I feel much better for it. The healthy eating on the other hand went completely out of the window this week.

Monthly goal

• October - Complete the NaNo Road Map course. Done. Just waiting for feedback on a few points and a little bit of last minute prep before it all kicks off next Friday.

How about you? How did you get on this week? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you. And remember, if you want to visit others in the #ROW80 blog hop you can use the links below.

Review of The Divided Hearts by Karla Darcy

Description (From Amazon)

cover links to amazon

At the death of her mother Lady Judith Hallowell decides to visit her father in America. She agrees to find out if her Godmother's grandson is still loyal to England. Despite her father's high praise of the man, she is stunned when Nathanael appears as a pompous dandy with powdered hair and peacock clothing. As she falls in love with a new country, she can't understand how she can have feelings for someone so shallow and yearns to find someone like the mysterious Palatine who is considered a hero in the fledgling colonies on the brink of war?

My Review

I'm a little bit on the fence with this one. I really enjoyed the romance aspects of it, and the characters were all great and individual (I especially liked Patrick and Simon). However, I found that the descriptions of the surroundings and the historical aspects seemed to drown out the rest. Until the last quarter of the book, there just didn't seem to be all that much going on (including romance) and I found myself skimming a lot of the needless details.

That being said, for the price of it, I still think it is worth a read if you are a fan of historical romance.

I give The Divided Hearts 3 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.

Weekly Inspirations #30

Image from Animal Talk

Here are my favourite links from the past week. Have a great weekend.

Showing Up and Paying Attention (#blogboost) http://wp.me/p18YYd-m2  via @onehandtyping So true & something I need to keep reminding myself

Freedom is the Best http://goo.gl/aO9MCe  via @singingfool1224

Random Thoughts: When my writing is bleah http://goo.gl/Fj8fEc  via @barbbradley

Protagonists Should Climb in the Front Seat http://buff.ly/1ifkaML  via @elizabethscraig

Modern Storytelling http://buff.ly/165Cp4Y  via @mooderino

Why Voice Is Becoming More Important in Today's Market http://buff.ly/1bZ84pv  via @JodyHedlund

Writing and the Creative Life: What if… | The Creativity Post http://buff.ly/19ziMTt  via @CreativityPost

Use Camera Angles to Supercharge Your Novel http://buff.ly/1acveYa  via @LiveWriteThrive

Nothing to do with writing, but hilarious:

Cats Versus Dogs http://www.animaltalk.us/cats-versus-dogs/#.UmoZOrTUUa0.twitter … Brilliant!!

Review of Dreamlander by K.M. Weiland

Description (From Amazon)

cover links to amazon

What if it were possible to live two very different lives in two separate worlds?

What if the dreams you awaken from are the fading memories of that second life?

What if one day you woke up in the wrong world?

Only one person in a generation may cross the barrier of dreams to reach the other world—a world of war-scarred countries and fallen faiths. When a Chicago-born journalist finds himself on the far side of his dreams, he must hurl himself into battle to save a princess from her own people, two worlds from annihilation, and himself from a dream come way too true.

My Review

I have read K.M. Weiland's writing craft books and really enjoyed them, but this is the first of her fiction books that I have read and I wasn't sure what to expect. Let's just say, now I know why her craft books (especially Structuring Your Novel) are so good. This is one writer who really knows how to structure a good story.

At 546 pages, Dreamlander is far from a quick read, but at no point did the story feel like it was dragging or that it could be sped up in any way. The plot, and the characters, had me hooked from the first page to the last. A large cast of characters can sometimes be a little confusing, but K.M. Weiland handles this perfectly. Each character is so unique, with their own set of quirks and way of speaking that I could easily visualise each and every one and never got a single one of them mixed up (this has to be a first for me with a cast this size).

The story world became so real for me that I can still picture every detail. Someone needs to turn this book into a film.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dreamlander and, if you like fantasy, I highly recommend it.

I give Dreamlander 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.

Groping Around In The Dark

"How do I work? I grope." Albert Einstein

Image courtesy of papaija2008 / freedigitalphotos.net

This is exactly how I feel at the minute. I am trying to work through a beat sheet for my current wip in preparation fro NaNo next month and it is going excruciatingly slow. I have a lot of the basic scenes worked out and quite a few in between but there are some pretty big gaps that I need to fill and I do feel like I am groping around in the dark, trying to make my way out to the other side.

I am taking comfort in the fact that if this is the way Einstein worked, it can't be all bad!

How about you? Do you ever feel like you are groping around in the dark? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.