I read: The Offering

The Offering by Kimberly Derting 
(Book 3 in The Pledge trilogy)

I'm glad to be finished this series.  I didn't dislike it, but I'm happy to be done.  Something about this one just didn't let me be drawn into it the way I had been to other series of similar genre. It's well written, and the characters were well done, but there was just something missing.  The individual novels weren't very long which could have limited the depth of the story.  But I do think the conflicts and tension could have been more extensive.  Each conflict seemed to take longer to become something than it took to be resolved.  Maybe that caused me to gloss over them a bit.  It didn't really feel like I had much at stake.

I'm giving it three stars.  It wasn't bad, but not one of my favourites either.

I write: character description

For week 3 of the course, we were writing 200-250 words that included description of our character, their location and something they might be doing.  It was described as a paragraph of each thing, but it felt simpler to write it as a cohesive scene that dropped elements of each of those into it. 

This is my second version because my character changed - so the character study from the last class isn't even the same person as this one.  Things shifted as I was thinking about her.  And after hearing about plot things adjusted again.  I know all of these elements already, but it's refreshing the knowledge that I have and reinforcing how I should be handling the story.  I'm always trying to rush ahead, write the scene, write the dialogue.  But focusing on the character is giving me a good place to start that directs my story. 

I read: Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

FINALLY!  I've been trying to read this book for years.  And years.  It's been on my Goodreads Currently Reading list for at least three years, if not more.  I hear often around the internet what a wonderful book it is.  But honestly, I don't understand.  Everyone just seems very selfish and self-absorbed.  Which I guess isn't that far from being true to life.  People are pretty selfish, and more interested in their own life than anyone else's.

I Write: character study

In the class I'm taking, we did a 10 minute writing exercise based on The Proust Questionnaire which asks several questions and expects you to describe the answer as a way to build your character.  Essentially answering the question as your character.  3 of the questions are:
1) What is your idea of perfect happiness?
2) what is the trait you most deplore about yourself?
3) what do you consider your greatest achievement?

I took it as my character pondering the questions and answering as if she'd been asked it directly.  It's a bit rambly, but I wrote from her view, and it seemed consistent with her.

My unedited character piece is below...

I read: The Essence

The Essence  by Kimberly Derting
(Book 2 in The Pledge trilogy)


I don't dislike this series, but I can't say that I absolutely love it either.  The story is interesting, but it absolutely has to be a series.  Which to me means that it really should just have been one longer book.  In my opinion and experience, if a series is well written, you could read each book on its own, but the writing makes you not want to. So far, each book hasn't really had its own story at all; it's all part of the grander scheme. 

New Challenges

This week, I begin a course in Fiction Writing through Continuing Education at a local University.  There is potential to earn a Creative Writing Certificate if I take 5 other classes including one required class. 

I chose to take this class because I needed something to motivate me to write.  And I needed something to confirm whether I should even bother or not.  I still feel like I need to write, and I want to write, but I don't find myself writing or making myself even want to try.  By taking the class I'm challenging myself to do what I've talked about doing for my entire life.   Write.

I plan to post things that I've written for the class here.  I'm not looking for encouragement or critique - I just want to make sure that I'm actually doing something with the writing.

As of Wednesday, I will be a practicing author again.  Let's see how this goes.

I read: The Pledge

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting  
(Book 1 in The Pledge trilogy)

Another dystopian series, which I would describe loosely as a combination of any other dystopian series with the twist of The Selection added in.   It's an interesting concept, and I was carried easily through the novel - I did read it in one day, so it's either that easy to read, or I was just that motivated to find the ending.

I read: A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying

A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying by Kelley Armstrong 
(Book 1 in series of same name)



Written by one of my very favourite authors, I had no doubt that I would enjoy this book.  It is a bit different than other things she's written, but it's enjoyable and still has well-developed characters and a plot that you know is headed somewhere big, even if you don't know exactly what that will be.