This will be a super short post, because I literally did nothing new this past week. Between Christmas shopping and other holiday events, and my sister and her family coming in for a month-long visit from the Dominican Republic, plus the fact that I hadn’t yet taken a break after NaNoWriMo, which I know from experience can lead to burn-out, I just didn’t push to work on revision of “Outcast.” Even though I know I am on a (self-imposed) deadline to get this 2nd book in the series finished, the rest of December will probably be pretty sporadic in having time to work on it too; it’s always like that for me in this month. I’ll definitely be making it a priority at the start of 2020 though.
Month: December 2019
Book Review: The Christmas Box
The Christmas Box
by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christmas drama
A young family of 3 move into a mansion to be companion and helper to an elderly widow named MaryAnne. As the Christmas season progresses, the narrator–husband & father Richard–uncovers MaryAnne’s painful secret, and in turn, is reminded of what is truly important in life, and what Christmas is really about.
I read this in about an hour and a half, and it was a decent read. The writing was clear and simple. The characters weren’t very fleshed-out, but for a story of this length, I wouldn’t expect them to be, so it didn’t bother me. The plot developed in a way that made it seem like I was meant to be surprised by some reveals near the end, but it all seemed pretty obvious to me.
The message about why it’s important to spend time with your loved one while you can was portrayed clearly, if not a little heavy-handedly. I must admit, though, that the Christmas box itself seemed like a much smaller element than I would have expected. There are also some pseudo-supernatural elements that weren’t explained.
The thing that confused me the most is that apparently the book is set in the late 1940s, but it’s almost like it was a secret. The only way I realized it is by doing some math from some passing comments and a date shown on a letter.
The book is the first in a trilogy, which are all included in the collection copy that I have. The later 2 books are apparently both prequels to the first one. And each installment basically doubles the size of the previous. I think this first book would be enjoyed by those who are looking for a poignant book about love, loss, and the importance of family.
Find out more about The Christmas Box
See what I’m reading next.
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Book Review: Little Women (adapted for younger readers)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, adapted by Lucia Monfried
My/my daughter’s rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic children’s, coming of age
The classic tale of the March sisters as they become women around and after the time of the American Civil War is adapted for children around age 8-10 in this book, complete with an illustration for every 2 pages. I read the book aloud with my daughter, who is 9, and am writing this review based more on her opinion of the book than my own.
I knew the story fairly well already, having seen the 1994 movie adaptation, though I’ve never read the original book (yet). My daughter was new to the story though, and overall, she really enjoyed it. The rating reflects how much she liked it, and the missing half a star was because she was super disappointed with a particular pairing that did not happen in the book (I know this book is old, but I can’t seem to bring myself to spoil it anyway, just in case).
Though I worried that much of what I was reading to her was going to go above her head, even with the adaptation, she was able to understand most of it as we went. Or if she didn’t understand something, she didn’t really realize that she didn’t. Now and then I’d stop and explain something that I thought she might not get (usually because of vernacular that is not in use these days) or that she questioned as we went.
I would recommend this book for children around 8-12, with the extra note that with younger kids, it might be helpful (and enjoyable) to read it with a parent or older sibling/friend.
Find out more about this Little Women adaptation
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Writing Wednesday: Prompt
Here’s today’s Writing Wednesday Prompt:
Write a scene from this picture:
(Picture from Story World: Christmas Tales)
If you write something from this prompt, by all means let me know! Feel free to share what you wrote, if you want!
**If you’re looking for more like this, you might want to check out the story seeds posts I wrote for NaNoPrep a few years ago. They are not specific to NaNoWriMo, and each contains a list of several different types of prompts or ways to generate story ideas. You can find them here: Story Seeds 1, Story Seeds 2, Story Seeds 3, Story Seeds 4**
Book Review: Skipping Christmas
Skipping Christmas
by John Grisham
My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christmas farce
With their adult daughter gone for a year near the beginning of the Christmas season, Luther and Nora Krank get it into their minds that they don’t need to do Christmas this year. Instead, they plan a Caribbean cruise, set to leave on Christmas day. But they find out that it’s not so easy to remove themselves from all of the trappings of Christmas and will have a difficult time making it to their cruise without giving in to at least some of the seasonal traditions.
This was a quick, easy read that was mostly enjoyable. I can’t really say I connected with the main characters, but I did identify with them in some areas. There were some parts near the end that I didn’t predict, though I suspect many would, and one thing that I saw coming a mile away. Probably the most frustrating thing about the book is how unrealistic it seems.
To be fair, I can’t personally judge how realistic some parts of the book are, because the Kranks live in a type of neighborhood that I’ve never been part of, and run in circles the likes of which are foreign to me. However, much of what happened seemed quite over the top. But where that was a huge problem for others, I took it as a farce. Even if it is exaggerated, I think a lot of this might not be far from how a family (one that normally celebrates Christmas) would be treated if they tried to completely skip the holiday. There were also some things that the Kranks did in their quest to completely cut out all things Christmas that I felt were a bit ridiculous. However, I also agree with some of the commentary this book offers on how commercial Christmas has gotten, and how people seem to think that they can push certain boundaries during this season, just because it’s Christmas.
In the end, I am glad I read the book. The ending made me smile, even while I knew that it was trite and a bit too easy. There were some heartfelt moments in there. I do recommend this to anyone who wants a decent Christmas-themed read, especially for those who want to avoid the romance and sap of the more prevalent stories. I plan to watch the movie that was based on this book, Christmas with the Kranks, with my husband soon, and to be honest, I think he’s going to hate it. But who knows.
Find out more about Skipping Christmas
See what I’m reading next.
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Weekly Writing Update: December Week 2
Last Sunday, I listed 3 goals to be working on. In the week since then, I finished 2, plus another task that I decided needed doing, and have just started into the 3rd:
1. Remove NaNo fodder from 2019 NaNoNovel – This took a couple of days, but it’s finished, and now this draft can be filed away for a while.
2. Update Kindle version of “Pithea”, upload it to KDP, add Kindle version to Goodreads – This also took a couple of days, and now I have very little left to prepare for publishing my first novel! (Read the first chapter here!)
At this point, I decided that I needed to make a minor edit (which of course turned out to be some major work) to the paperback cover, which took about 45 minutes, but the cover should be set now.
3. Finish first revision of “Outcast” (book #2) – This particular goal is going to take a bit longer than the others. I’m already about 90% of the way through the revision, according to the math I did for a post back in August when I was last working on this revision. However, I hit on an idea some time in the last month for a way to cut out a character that I’ve realized isn’t very important to the story by giving the little bit that he does do that’s important to a bigger character, so I’m making that change before I go back to the rest of the revision. This is what I will be continuing with for the next week.
Book Review: Catching Christmas
Finished Reading: Catching Christmas
by Terri Blackstock
My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christmas romance
Cab driver Finn Parrish picks up 80-year old Callie Beecher to take her to a doctor appointment. Callie is barely aware of what is happening, which leads Finn to be concerned about her and find out that the appointment was made by Callie’s granddaughter Sydney. A first-year law associate, Sydney is struggling to keep her job when the company is going through downsizing, and she has been saddled with a case that goes against her own ethics. As her grandmother’s health goes downhill, Sydney is stuck at work, and Finn is stuck helping Callie find a Christmas date for Sydney. As Christmas approaches, secrets are revealed and lives are changed.
Continuing my seasonal reading, I was looking forward to a feel-good Christmas romance, even welcoming some sap and cheesiness. What I got was a sad story with an emotionless romance and flat characters.
The book goes back and forth between Finn’s and Sydney’s 1st-person points of view, which I still don’t really get, but realize might just be Terri Blackstock’s style (the other book of hers that I read was like this too). Fortunately, most of the time it was from Finn’s POV, because at least him I could stand. His characterization was weak, as the type of person I thought he was supposed to be didn’t jive with how he talked and acted in the 2nd half of the book. But Sydney barely had any characterization. She was a weak female stereotype, despite stating once near the end that she wasn’t the weak type. But she let everyone walk all over her, and everything happened to her. She didn’t do much of anything herself.
Callie would have been my favorite character, as a cheerful, friendly woman who believed so strongly in God and Heaven that her only regret about dying some day was that her granddaughter would be alone. Except that she tended to say really mean things about other people, things that were laughed off because she’s just an old lady with no filter (fat shaming, for example). On a positive note, I would love to pass on the kind of legacy that Callie strives to, pointing others to the God that I serve even in casual interactions.
I don’t read pure romance novels all that often because, though I love a good romance, I prefer subtle, slow builds, and of course in a romance novel, the genre itself tells you that the male and female MCs are going to end up together. I’m okay with that to a point, but that makes it too easy for the author to get lazy. So yes, it’s clear that Finn and Sydney are destined to end up together, but at least make it make sense! They barely had any interaction in the first half of the book, and the romance that developed between them made no sense and was flatly written.
Between the cute cover, the promise of a “feel-good Christmas book,” and the other Blackstock book I read being pretty good, I was excited about this one. Unfortunately, I feel like I wasted some of my limited Christmas reading time on this book. Thankfully, it was short. I wouldn’t really recommend this book to others, but if you don’t have a problem with the issues I mentioned above and are looking for a Christian romance, you may want to give it a try.
Find out more about Catching Christmas
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Book Review: Claiming T-Mo (DNF)
Did Not Finish: Claiming T-Mo
by Eugen Bacon
My rating: DNF, no rating
Genre: Sci-fi
This book was really not for me. Based on other reviews, I think I can safely say that it was personal preference that led to me deciding not to continue reading this book. The style of prose is not my preference, and up to chapter 9, I was having a difficult time caring about the characters or understanding what I was even reading half the time. I also didn’t care for the child-bride angle, and even moreso, the description from her perspective of physical contact with her husband (it wasn’t exactly graphic, but still uncomfortable for me). I have decided not to continue, but perhaps someday I will try it again.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
Find out more about Claiming T-Mo
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Book Review: The End of the Magi
The End of the Magi
by Patrick W. Carr
My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Biblical historical fiction
Myrad is the adopted son of a Hebrew magi in ancient Persia. After having a dream of a star in the sky that didn’t move throughout the night, Myrad is brought into the order of the magi, just in time for a massacre. Barely escaping, Myrad now must outrun his pursuers while also attempting to discover the meaning of his dreams about the star and the prophecy of the Hebrews Messiah that his father taught him about.
With Christmas looming, I loved the idea of reading a book about the advent of Christ from the perspective of the magi that visited Him not long after his birth. This book really hit the spot, easing me into the season. With great characters and some fun relationships, following the star with Myrad was an adventure that highlighted some important Biblical truths.
Myrad himself is a decent protagonist, young and inexperienced, learning everything around him along with us. He has a clubfoot, which gets in his way quite often. Walagash is now one of my favorite characters ever. And the relationships between Myrad and Walagash, Roshan, and Aban are enjoyable to watch develop along the way.
One of the main reasons for 4 stars, instead of 5, is that there was a lot of politics in the book, which is the main thing that caused the story to drag in parts. It does make sense, given the state of the empires in that region at the time. But it wasn’t terribly interesting to read the characters discussing it.
(Warning: the following paragraph contains spoilers.) What I loved most about the book, though, was that it went past the birth of Christ to the real root of Christianity–His death and resurrection. We see the rift form between those Hebrews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah and those who don’t, because he didn’t conquer the Romans like they thought he should (or because he died and they left before his resurrection). And when the magi who stayed in Jerusalem even after the resurrection because they felt there was more for them there got exactly what they were looking for, they left changed.
For me in particular, the book really drove home the importance of trusting that God’s way is the best way, even when we can’t see what He’s doing. It’s a reminder that He can and does use anyone He chooses for his plans, even those people who think that they are worthless–even those people who don’t follow Him. We can only do our part and accept His will in our lives, and in this, we can have peace in stressful times. This has been really important for me lately.
While this book could easily be pigeon-holed as a Christmas book, it is so much more than that. I recommend it for all fans of Biblical fiction. In truth, I think it should be read by anyone who enjoys historical fiction or quest-driven stories, because the message contained within is important and should be heard by everyone.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Find out more about The End of the Magi
If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!
Writing Wednesday: IWSG Dec 2019
The optional question for this month’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post is quite timely for me, and very close to the topic I was considering writing this post about anyway. Here is the question posed for today’s IWSG post:
Let’s play a game. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream?
With the impending release of my first full-length novel, I have started to dip my toe into marketing. I am the absolute worst person to be self-publishing, as I have 0 social skills and don’t know how to carry a normal conversation even in everyday life. Add to that a very small budget and every common writer insecurity, and well, all I can do is the best that I can.
Last Saturday, I took part in a Local Author Book Sale at the library in a nearby city. It was part of a holiday shopping extravaganza downtown. To participate, you basically have to have a book you can sell, so I qualified with The Triangle. I took some copies to sell and some items with which to promote my future novel Pithea in advance of its release.
I did hand out some promotional bookmarks and talk to some people who showed interest. But I think the biggest thing I got out of this event is an understanding of what to do better/differently next time.
There was a man at the table next to me, younger than me, who had something like 6 books to sell (mostly novella-length from the look of them). When he arrived and started setting up, he lamented how many things he had forgotten to bring (we loaned him our masking tape). He said he used to do events like this all the time, but has gotten busy with school recently and didn’t take much time to prepare for this.
With him as an example, as well as other authors I met or studied during the event, I commented to my husband that someday I’d like to be as confident as he was with the people walking by his table (though I’ll never be the talker he is), but that I’d never want to get to the point where going to an event like this is so run-of-the-mill or unimportant that I don’t still do my best to prepare for it and make it a great event.
That’s me at my table with my pitifully meager display compared to most of the others. My husband insisted on the banner, which was a splurge for our tiny budget, but was well-received. I was dealing with imposter syndrome pretty heavily the whole day, and questioning why they even let me come to this event. But I was really glad I did. It was a huge step up from the only other event like this I’ve been part of, and yet, still small enough to give someone like me a chance to attend and learn.
All of that said, I don’t want to end this post without saying that I am not as disheartened as I may sound. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I’m definitely just starting out. I may never get to the point that I’d like to, regarding confidence and self-promotion, but I do know that I’ll get better than I currently am with practice. And if along the way, I can find an audience of whatever size for my books, people who enjoy the characters and their stories and want to know what happens next as much as I do, then I’ll be pretty happy.
For my fellow writers, what does your future writer life look like?
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