Editing = Visiting the Dentist

January 30, 2016January 30, 2016Leave a comment

Recently I had a dental appointment for a filling, and it is not the most pleasant experience, and it reminded me how similar it can be to editing my new novel…

Knowing I need to edit nearly 500 pages of text is a daunting task, as is the thought of needles and sharp tools being waved around in my open mouth. You put it off as long as possible. Until your tooth aches enough that is noticeable every time you sip your coffee. Just like my friends and family keep asking me when the book is going to be finished – the peer pressure to have it ready for publication finally forces me to pull up the document and start.

The horror! Sometimes you sit there wondering how you could write such tripe, just like the sting of anaesthesia and an ache of your jaw being stretched wide for so long. Will this pain never end? The thought that it is just the beginning and you have to suffer through more of the same is disheartening. Thoughts of leaping from the dental chair and disappearing through the door with hair flying and numb mouth drooling is just the same as wanting to toss my manuscript across the room demanding why I wasn’t a better writer.

Then the pain killer kicks in, or the nitrous-oxide takes hold, and things are much better. Whether you get used to the ache, just like you settle into your writing, the dental visit becomes tolerable. You hit your editing stride and fly through the chapters, red pen in hand making the changes – the excitement starts to return you had when first writing it as the story is only getting better.

As the dental appointment finally draws to a close, you are rejoicing how you survived such an ordeal, eager to get back home; like when you get to the last pages of your first draft thinking what a mammoth task, yet resplendent in how wonderful this novel is.

Don’t forget the weird fluctuations of remorse you get afterwards: is it good enough, there are still more changes I could make… Just like the moments when you have a sip of tea and it dribbles past your numb lip to stain your favourite top.

But ultimately your smile is pearly white and beautiful, just as is your completed novel – a marvel for any reader!!

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – Safe by Mark Richard Zubro

January 29, 2016January 29, 20161 Comment

A cross between Veronica Mars and Donald Strachey.

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, GLBT

No. of pages: 208

From Goodreads:

In an unsafe world, death and danger stalk gay teens, Roger Cook and Steve Koemer.

Roger Cook is in the middle of his senior year when Kyle Davis, the most picked on kid in his high school commits suicide. Roger agrees to write an article on Kyle for the school newspaper. As he gathers information, Roger realizes the dead boy was gay and may have been murdered. Gay himself, Roger wants to find out the truth, but this leads him to danger and the possibility of love. Roger opens himself to even greater risk while trying to make those around him safe.

A real case of don’t judge the book by its cover – I nearly dismissed this title because of the crappy PhotoShopped dust jacket, but I’m glad the blurb intrigued me enough to overlook that failing and settle in for a cozy afternoon reading.

The main thing that attracted me to ‘Safe’ was that the protagonist, Roger, is on the school newspaper. YA – check; a blogger, reviewer or school newspaper – check; and a GLBT theme – check!

An issue I had with the narrative was that there was something clinical about this novel. For a high school student struggling with his sexual identity, Roger seemed very together. At one moment he was purporting to never tell anyone about being gay, and then he blurts it out to someone with little emotion or anxiety… it felt very unrealistic to me. (I began to wonder if Roger wasn’t a little bipolar)

Additionally, I had major problems stemming from the background and emotional motivations of Roger, pertaining his sexual orientation and coming out. It’s obviously connected to the point above about the inconsistent tone of the narrative. But these were the worst aspects I had with ‘Safe’ and even these are more nit picking than irreconcilable flaws.

The relationships and character development is second to none, even though it felt all wrong for a High School setting – they all seemed so much more mature, like this should have taken place on a University Campus. Especially with Roger being so cool calm and collected in some of his keystone events in the coming out process and places we find him in. Though I can see why Mark Zubro included them, in trying to shed a light on the shadier aspects of homosexual culture.

I really appreciated the statement this novel made, I just wish Zubro had either moved the landscape to an older demographic, or omitted the more difficult parts of Rogers culture to something more common and appropriate to teens. Ignoring that, ‘Safe’ is very enjoyable – think Veronica Mars.

The mystery and sleuthing was paced so well, I really felt like I was there with Roger tracking down clues, following leads. Even though I had nothing much in common with Roger, Zubro had me caring about him and eager find out the truth about Kyle, not an easy task.

On issues of bullying and making new personal relationships in the throes of being outed in an educational setting, this novel really bangs it on the head. And I’m not ashamed to admit, it gave me strength to know that all types of people are bullied in some form or another and it’s how we rise above it that defines us.

I read the entire book in a day, average-ish rating, but leaves you with a warm hug…

Overall feeling: I barely put the book down.

Book Review – Safe in My Arms by Janice Sims

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016Leave a comment

Genre: Romance

No. of pages: 224

From Goodreads:

Operation: love.

Former army pilot Mina Gaines isn’t looking for a hero. She’s too busy running her grandfather’s remote mountainside hotel to bother with love. That is, until a private plane crashes and brings danger to her doorstep…and a sexy stranger into her life. There’s no mistaking that a serious threat is near, but when faced with no other way to survive, can she trust that there’s more to Jake?

Bringing a drug kingpin to justice is undercover DEA agent Jake Wolfe’s top mission. Now, with the beautiful Mina caught in the criminal’s crosshairs, he’s ready to take any risk to protect her—and keep her in his arms forever.

I wanted to read something I don’t normally; step out of my comfort zone, so I selected this title at random out of my collection of ebooks… let’s just say the desired outcome wasn’t anything pleasant.

‘Safe in My Arms’ did not get off to the best start, the introduction of all characters with their full names, did not flow naturally and ultimately came off clunky and poorly written. I should have expected, this being romance, a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek, but the cheesy premise and a big case of telling instead of showing left a bad taste in my mouth. It was close to something I would’ve whipped up as a first draft in a pain-killer haze while in hospital.

I like an occasional soppy romance, but this did not reach the calibre of book I usually read – it’s my own fault for a completely random pick – usually I am much more discerning on how I spend my reading time.

Our protagonist and her love interest have got to be the worst written characters I’ve read to date. Mina was boring and kind of gullible considering someone with her military background. Jake just felt leery. I didn’t relate to either.

The antagonists were just as unimaginative and two dimensional.

There were some redeeming aspects to this novel – the corny jokes had me rolling my eyes or smiling and did a great job at breaking up the monotony. Also Jancie Sims wasn’t bad at building the angst and tension. I just wish she had spent a lot more time developing this story and its characters. It’s such a shame to blast the writing given the racially diverse cast.

One other note: there is a sex scene that gets quite graphic, yet sadly, generic Unoriginal slop.

And the ending… gag me with a spoon! No more random romance picks for me.

Overall feeling: URG

Book Review – Glitches by Marissa Meyer

January 25, 2016January 24, 2016Leave a comment

Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction, Adventure

No. of pages: 32

From Goodreads:

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In Glitches, a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch…

In the lead up to reading ‘Winter’ I wanted to read all of the novellas in the Lunar Universe – ‘Glitches’ is the first of three that have currently been released.

This story provides a look into Cinders childhood, with her step father Garan bringing her home for the first time. It was great to get a glimpse into the family before real hardship was dealt.

Cinder was really a blank slate, Peoney (younger stepsister) was a beautiful accepting and playful child, and Adri (adoptive mother) although held some distaste for Cinder, she had yet to start abusing her. Although not altogether a pretty picture, it was a realistic setting from which to start the downfall leading to the beginning of ‘Cinder.’

This story was also about the birth of Iko (Cinder’s android best friend)… my favourite character in the Lunar Chronicles

It ended on a broken beautiful note and well worth the read – and it’s only 32 pages, so it won’t consume a lot of your time.

A great addition to the Cinder franchise.

Overall feeling: Cool!

Book Review – Bossypants by Tina Fey

January 24, 2016January 23, 2016Leave a comment

Anecdotes that had me chortling off my chair.

Genre: Memoir, Comedy

No. of pages: 272

From Goodreads:

Before Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon—from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

This was a surprise read for me. Mainly because it was much funnier than I had expected, and its approach to the narrative gloriously feminine and unique.

Tina Fey broaches a lot of relevant topics of being female without being aggressive and feminist. It’s a human approach for a human experience. And I loved that message.

It was also fantastic to hear anecdotes about periods, childbirth, breast feeding, parenting, career vs motherhood dilemma, and the perception/expectations male colleagues in her industry have… it felt like – finally an intelligent voice was given to topics that have most people sticking their fingers in their ears and singing ‘la la la la la.’

Additionally, it was interesting to hear about the behind the scenes goings on around improv and acting, be it in clubs, theatre, television or film. The creative process, and creative people working in such a fast paced regimental industry offers a unique juxtaposition. All of Tina’s narrative is thoughtful and intelligent. As was the topic of identity and sexual orientation. But you’ll have to read it to hear how she feels about this in her own words. It led me to think of her as a visionary, and someone who is an example for everyone’s attitudes towards life.

It’s all delivered in her sarcastic and satirical tone. Deadpan and humorous.

I’ve loved some of the movies I’ve seen her in, but after reading ‘Bossypants’ I have much more respect and adoration for her as an artist, business woman, comic and human being.

She is goofy awesomeness at its best.

Overall feeling: So much funny

Book Review – Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

January 23, 2016Leave a comment

Equal parts mystery and spookiness in this uniquely haunting tale.

Genre: Y/A, Paranormal, Mystery

No. of pages: 233

From Goodreads:

Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer’s Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she’s not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world’s sweetest boyfriend, behind.

But when Cryer’s Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn’t get close to… the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she’s always loved, Kendall keeps up the search—and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can’t stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried….

After enjoying ‘Dead to You’ and it completely restoring my faith in Lisa McMann, I decided to give ‘Cryer’s Cross’ a go – the only other title of hers remaining unread on my shelves. No disappointment here. While it did not blow me away, ‘Cryer’s Cross’ is a pleasantly spooky supernatural tale.

What I’ve found as typical with Lisa McMann, some sort of mental illness comes into play within the plot – in this case, OCD affecting our protagonist, Kendall. McMann’s descriptions of how this disorder affects behaviour and thought patterns is bang on, and despite this affliction, I found Kendall to be a compelling character. Growing up in a small town surrounded by boys, she’s a bit sporty, a bit country, but still a girl. She is a quite hero. Cherishing her town, her friends and her family. It is endearing.

Nico, her kind-of boyfriend is equally as endearing, and it was beautiful to read how they interacted with each other. He is so devoted to her.

The new student in Kendall’s tiny school, Jacián was a mixed bag for me: although cliché, I did end up liking him. Kendall’s narrative can lead opinion swinging from left to right. Though, upon reflection I’m not sure I was sold on their ‘ship.

I liked how the mystery is built around a missing girl, feared kidnapped and quite possibly murdered.

The story line also develops organically with a slow burn. Such a constant intriguing pace with an easy to read narrative that kept me glued to the page and I completed this novel in one sitting.

The plot is mostly predictable. I didn’t get any surprises. But the conclusion is something else. It was very satisfying and equally creepy.

I am unsure if another reader would get more of the feels from this, and while there is definitely a lot of emotion wrapped between the book covers, it did not have me tearing up, or the hair raising along my arms – though there were hints of it.

Really enjoy McMann’s stand alones much more than I do her series. And would recommend this for a cozy afternoon on the front porch 🙂

Overall feeling: Just as good as an episode of Doctor Who

Glitch – Pause – Loop

January 23, 2016Leave a comment

It’s like someone jammed my pause button the last few weeks – there I was, all ready for the new year with a plethora of blog posts and a writing schedule ready to fire away… and nothing happened.

It has just been one of those things, where businesses are closed, and building projects on the house slow to a crawl and you do your best to help them along yourself. Family and friends stop in for the annual catch-up. And well, I’ve been babysitting my sick puppies and tackling a bad case of Hayfever.

Oh – and I marathoned ‘Glimore Girls.’

It was just a whole lot of little things that kept me away from writing…

I guess that was my version of a holiday, or break from work, but nonetheless it’s time to get back to my regularly scheduled programming.

I fell behind last year in my editing goals – trying to get ‘Smoulder’ ready for beta readers has proven a little more challenging. I’m going through that awful process of disgust in my writing and undertaking numerous re-writes. It’s so much fun wondering what the hell drugs you were on when writing that first draft. Half the time I’m scowling at the screen WTF? But not to worry, it’s all part and parcel of the creative process and I’ll definitely have it finished along with at least another 3 novels this year.

I started this blog to hold myself accountable, connect to the outside literary world while I’m locked in my office like a forced slave to type a manuscript… and of course book reviews. Boasting how much of an intelligent and wide reader I am… yeah, they are all guilty pleasures and evidence of how little time I actually spend writing. But it is fun connecting with other bookworms and fangirling over different ‘ships and universes.

So don’t look here for any new year’s resolutions, I always have the same goals in mind and try to get a little closer to achieving them each day.

So without further ado – bring on the regularly scheduled posts…

Book Review – The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

January 8, 2016January 8, 2016Leave a comment

The other Other Guys..

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, GLBT, Fantasy

No. of pages: 336

From Goodreads:

What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.

I fell into the hype before reading this book, and unfortunately my expectations were set too high. And although came out of the novel thoroughly enjoying it, I was not wowed beyond belief.

‘The Rest of Us Just Live Here’ broaches varied topics all at once, treating race, (supernaturally) gifted, and sexual identity as an everyday thing. Which is comical and amazing into itself; it has a bit of that X-Men feel, or what you get after 5 or 6 seasons of ‘Buffy’ or ‘Charmed’ – the novelty has worn off and it seems nearly everyone has something special about them. This mix of issues woven into the world created by Patrick Ness added a dash of something extra.

Loving the melodrama – everyone is on the edge of something – and this novel is chock full of it. Even the stuff that goes down behind the scenes (brief descriptions in the chapter headings). But did everyone in the main cast have to have some sort of disability? It felt a little overdone. I know the ‘normals’ are meant to juxtapose against the special ones, the chosen ones; but really? I kinda wanted more grittiness to the main characters to balance out the fantastical elements of this story.

A big plus for me was the fact the parents are at the forefront of the story line. Not the typical single parent family where the caregivers are mostly absent. Maybe it’s because we are dealing with ‘everyone else’ and bucking the trend of a typical Y.A. stereotype and serving up a big plate of irony, but nonetheless, I enjoyed the involvement of the family unit as a whole.

We get to experience a truly unique antagonist in the form of the Immortals – though only really a subplot, and dealt with directly in the main story line – but their presence and influence affect the world of our cast. It was a refreshingly brilliant way to tell a story.

Light-hearted and a fast read – I completed it in a day. Though it took a while for the pace to pick up, as it was setting up each character. A great conclusion that gave me a lot of satisfaction – a salute to the fact that we can have great impact on other people’s lives without even being aware of it.

Would have rated it higher if it had more comedy/irony and dragged out some more intense feelings, overall it was simply enjoyable like an afternoon at the movies.

Overall feeling: Pleasing

Film vs Novel – Total Recall

January 8, 2016January 8, 2016Leave a comment

You never decide to die – but you must decide to live!

I can’t believe I haven’t compared this trio yet… one of the first books I ever read back in high school when I was mad about all things Piers Anthony.

Now I didn’t picture the Mars landscape or Douglas Quaid quite like they are in the film adaptations, but nonetheless I geeked out over all three. The closest character I’ve come across in the literature to Douglas Quaid would have to be Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt – they both have that rugged, balls-to-the-wall leading man vibe (so if you enjoyed one, you may get a kick from the other.)

The book is certainly true to the classic sci-fi adventure, and is woven with plenty of mystery and intrigue, gadgets and an alien planet… and for the young pimply teen, I ate it up!

The 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger remains pretty true to the novel, while the 2012 release with Farrell, Beckinsale and Biel is clearly a loose adaptation. Although I can’t fault the special effects and storytelling of the latest cinema release – I was definitely engrossed. But I did miss the traditional ending that brought in a whole other dynamic into the story… because it’s all about the twist!

I can see how the Farrell version kept with the secret agent/ political intrigue trope and left Mars out of the equation completely to give it an edgier feel and concentrate on the action scenes. Although when picking up the book, the fact it took place on another planet was the big draw card. But still, this mammoth film was able to produce top quality entertainment with some of my favourite actors. I’m just sad I didn’t get to a new experience on many of the other elements this film left out.

With Schwarzenegger’s adaptation, although cutting edge effects at the time, seems somewhat camp now – and even when I first watched it I laughed out loud… especially the suffocation scene. In the book I remember the desperation as they were losing consciousness – instead I was giggling away at the bulging eyes and comically horrified expressions. I’d could explain the scene more, but given it’s near the conclusion of this story I don’t want to spoil you… and those of you who’ve only seen Farrell’s version will have no clue what I’m writing about. So go read the book, or watch the earlier film adaptation, the original story line will blow your mind!

Another notable mention – we also got Sharon Stone while still blazing the trail of her burgeoning career (Playing Quaid’s wife).

This franchise is also famous for the three breasted woman (which they keep in both films) although the context in how he appears is completely different in each, illustrates just how different each creation is. So this is by far the most difficult comparison I’ve done to date in picking a winner. Farrell’s film adaptation has the eye candy, SPFX and political intrigue going for it, Schwarzenegger’s remains true to the original story, but loses some of the seriousness of Quaid’s dilemma through the limitation of SPFX, but the performances are great from all actors – (not like now, when all that runs through my head every time I see Arnold is ‘I’ll be back,’ or ‘It’s not a tumour.’)

The novel captured my imagination about being a spy, walking in the shoes of a big action hero, and exploring life on Mars (if only we had a female lead).

Hmmm… I guess it will have to be the novel for the win by a very narrow margin, but really it’s like comparing apples, oranges and a banana! Because really, all of them are awesome!