A sudden rush of ideas to the head

I've got so many ideas at the moment that I just keep churning them out. Which is really cool in one way but easy distraction in another. But I really need to concentrate on my main project. Yesterday was critique day and as usual I got a bunch of feedback and ideas it really is amazing how a fresh pair of eyes can pick out something or better yet fix a problem you've been wrestling with for months. Dialogue is my key strength but I need to balance it with the other elements.

I'm trying to figure out how many people it is ok to use in a chapter without confusing the reader. Also trying to get these changes complete before I go off on vacation. This is why no books this week. Although there is one called Ice Station by Matt Reilly which I've been meaning to read. The editor I talked with recommended it (80 - count them - page action sequence at the start of the book) he said it was a good example of pacing. I'll read it when I get back. Break out the Bikinis and Margaritas:-)

Life - Thud!

This isn't about books it's about life. If you have one - and I do. It sometimes rears its ugly head in all the wrong places and when it does you put down the books and jump in to help. Well I do.

How the Irish Saved Civilisation and Smoke and Mirrors

The Cahill book was a fluke - I was about to shelve it when I read the back. I grew up with "the troubles" as they so charmingly called such a dirty situation. IRA was a swear-word, incident equalled bomb and innocent people were fair game. I watched a policeman get blown off his feet by a bomb in London and the building I worked in was one of many "soft targets". None of that endears you to a people. But this book goes a little way to re-dressing the balance. After the fall of Rome the Irish scribes saved a lot of manuscripts from destruction and transcribed them. This is the first of Cahill's Hinges of History series - fascinating.

I bought Smoke and Mirrors sight unseen. I love Neil Gaiman's work - especially the collaboration with Terry Pratchett on Good Omens. It's a collection of his short stories and I highly recommend it.

Diane Ackerman and Jasper Fforde

V strange bedfellows! Ackerman is a good read but very dense full attention required for that one. She's non-fiction just FYI. Jasper Fforde on the other hand is a hoot - since I tentatively picked up The Eyre Affair I've never looked back. Nursery Crimes which are his new series are just as good as the Thursday Next novels. Roll on "The Maltease Cockatoo" or whatever he's going to call the follow up!

This week I've got a real mixed bag. Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman, The Dancer Upstairs, Nick Shakespeare - recommended by the same girl who tipped me to The Oxford Murders by Martinez. How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle.

Writing Today

Got to get my act together today. I need to have five pages ready for critique. This morning I only had three ready and by the time I'd finished fiddling with them it was down to two and a half!! I had to expand a scene and slow it down a little more. I think I managed to do that but I'm still about a page short. Plus I got hung up on French police call signs!

Secret Asset - Stella Rimmington

Why is it that 390 pages can seem like a hard slog with some books and a walk in the park with others? Secret Asset is a really quick read not that there isn't a good story. Liz Carlyle from "At Risk" returns and this time she's tracking down a mole within MI5. There are enough clues to guess the mole's identity before the end of the book but that isn't the point. Once you know who this person is you can see the damage they can do. Ending weakened the book a little but hopefully Liz will be back.

Books for this week

I have three on the go this week.
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde - second in the nursery crime series - I want the Dorian Grey warranty on my Subaru! - On second thoughts no I don't! The Pippa Piper thing just cracked me up - I couldn't stop laughing and I couldn't say it out loud either. Cuclear energy - priceless.
Secret Asset - Stella Rmmington - I love "At Risk" so lets see how this one works out.
A Natural History of the Senses- Diane Ackerman - not a thriller but a girl has to have options and we've got an event with her coming up - call it homework.

Blurb - Mark Frost - List of Seven

When you discover an author you want to read all of his or her older books. Well I do - and because I got given a WW2 thriller to review called "The Second Objective" by Mark Frost, I sourced and bought his first two books. The List of Seven is a cracker. Frost's main character is Arthur Conan Doyle - a struggling young Doctor with a passing interest in the occult. Almost losing his life at a seance Doyle gets tangled up in a plot to - well that would be telling. Along with way he encounters Jack Sparks, the twins Barry and Larry and the feisty Eileen Temple.

Frost grounds the lightening paced action using real people and throws in nods to characters and vices Doyle later writes into the Sherlock Holmes novels. The author has a way of creating characters you care about and then doing the most terrible things to them. There was a follow-up. The Six Messiahs which is set 10 years later and while it's a good read, it's not as gripping as List of Seven.

Hooked - and you will be!

A year after Annie's death, journalist Nat Idle can't seem to move on. Until he gets a note, telling him to leave the cybercafe he's sitting in. Seconds after he gets outside he's blown off his feet. Who gave him the note? Who blew up the cafe?

Matt Richtel hooks you on the first page of this tech heavy thriller - I couldn't put it down.

Will I be buying it? Definitely!




Update - I met Matt yesterday and he signed my book!

Intro

Hello world. This is kind of no-brainer. I've had a personal blog for nearly 3 years. So when I've read a book that I love - and I read a lot of books - I'm going to review it on this blog. Most importantly at the end of the review I'll say whether I bought the book or just read an advanced copy.

Because I'm also a writer (unpublished) I'll blog about that too. Feel free to send me your comments, book recommendations (I'm a sucker for a good thriller) and if you ever figure out who I am feel free to come to the bookstore and challenge me. I'm signing my posts as mystery girl.

First review will be Hooked by Matt Richtel.