Friday, August 26, 2005
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Novels I have read
Linda and I got on the topic yesterday of novels we have read. She seems to read about one a week. I have a long way to go to catch up. I guess my excuse is I spend more time trying to write my own than read others.
Anyway, here's the list. I hope I'm forgetting some. This in no particular order after number one. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is the only children's book I will list, even though I do remember several others. I do not remember how old I was when I read The Phantom Tollbooth the first time, but any wordsmith, regardless of age, should read it. And wordsmith or not, you should read it. It's still one of the most enjoyable, comical books I've ever read. A true classic.
1. The Phantom Tollbooth (several times) _ Norton Juster
2. Shoeless Joe (after seeing the movie "Field of Dreams") _ W.P. Kinsella
3. Catcher In The Rye _ J.D. Salinger
4. A Tale Of Two Cities _ Charles Dickens
5. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court _ Mark Twain
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn _ Mark Twain
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer _ Mark Twain
8. Deep Six _ Clive Cussler
9. The Great Gatsby _ F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. McTeague _ Frank Norris
11. The Scapegoat _ Daphne DuMaurier (twice)
12. The Fly On The Wall _ Tony Hillerman
13. A Painted House _ John Grisham
14. Skipping Christmas _ John Grisham
15. A Time To Kill _ John Grisham
16. The Firm _ John Grisham
17. The Pelican Briefs _ John Grisham
18. The Client _ John Grisham
19. The Chamber _ John Grisham
20. The Rainmaker _ John Grisham
21. The Runaway Jury _ John Grisham
22. The Partner _ John Grisham
23. The Street Lawyer _ John Grisham
24. The Testament _ John Grisham
25. The Brethren _ John Grisham
26. The Roses Don't Ask (unpublished) (twice) _ Joseph Gus Fitzgerald
27. The Eiger Sanction _ Trevanian
28. The Scarlet Letter _ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Some other books I have read include:
All The President's Men _ Bod Woodward and Carl Bernstien
The Boys on The Bus _ Timothy Crouse, forward by Hunter S. Thompson
Small Sacrifices (actually, I need to read it again. I never finished it) _ Ann Rule
Hey, Wait I Minute, I Wrote A Book _ John Madden with Dave Anderson
Anyway, here's the list. I hope I'm forgetting some. This in no particular order after number one. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is the only children's book I will list, even though I do remember several others. I do not remember how old I was when I read The Phantom Tollbooth the first time, but any wordsmith, regardless of age, should read it. And wordsmith or not, you should read it. It's still one of the most enjoyable, comical books I've ever read. A true classic.
1. The Phantom Tollbooth (several times) _ Norton Juster
2. Shoeless Joe (after seeing the movie "Field of Dreams") _ W.P. Kinsella
3. Catcher In The Rye _ J.D. Salinger
4. A Tale Of Two Cities _ Charles Dickens
5. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court _ Mark Twain
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn _ Mark Twain
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer _ Mark Twain
8. Deep Six _ Clive Cussler
9. The Great Gatsby _ F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. McTeague _ Frank Norris
11. The Scapegoat _ Daphne DuMaurier (twice)
12. The Fly On The Wall _ Tony Hillerman
13. A Painted House _ John Grisham
14. Skipping Christmas _ John Grisham
15. A Time To Kill _ John Grisham
16. The Firm _ John Grisham
17. The Pelican Briefs _ John Grisham
18. The Client _ John Grisham
19. The Chamber _ John Grisham
20. The Rainmaker _ John Grisham
21. The Runaway Jury _ John Grisham
22. The Partner _ John Grisham
23. The Street Lawyer _ John Grisham
24. The Testament _ John Grisham
25. The Brethren _ John Grisham
26. The Roses Don't Ask (unpublished) (twice) _ Joseph Gus Fitzgerald
27. The Eiger Sanction _ Trevanian
28. The Scarlet Letter _ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Some other books I have read include:
All The President's Men _ Bod Woodward and Carl Bernstien
The Boys on The Bus _ Timothy Crouse, forward by Hunter S. Thompson
Small Sacrifices (actually, I need to read it again. I never finished it) _ Ann Rule
Hey, Wait I Minute, I Wrote A Book _ John Madden with Dave Anderson
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Loving the weather now
This week has been great. Highs in the upper 80s to low 90s, heat index just over 100, little to no wind, except during thunder storms. And best of all, the novel is back on track and vacation is next week.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
No more spring!
The two-year anniversary of the start of my latest attempt to write a novel has come and gone and I really haven't made any progress. I've thought about it some, but that doesn't really count. I can't remember the last time I added something substantial to it. So I'm going to complain about something else, something I have no control over, but that won't stop me from complaining about it: The weather.
On average this spring, and I think every spring, temperatures run at least 10 degrees below normal. And it's windy. There's the occasional tease of a sunny, 80-degree day, and then it's right back to a stretch of 50s, cloudy and windy. I'm tired of spring. In fact, I was tired of spring on March 21. If I had any control of the seasons, there would only be three of them: summer, fall and winter.
Summer would last five months: five months of 90-degree days and 70-degree nights, a good dose of humidity and an occasional light breeze, no wind, except for during thunderstorms. But no tornados or hurricanes.
Fall would last four months and would feature daytime highs in the 70s, nights in the 50s and less humidity. The perfect conditions for keeping the windows open.
Then three months of real winter, or nine weeks to be more exact. Nine weeks of knee-deep snow, logs on the fireplace and lots of hot chocolate. The last three weeks of winter would make up for March, April and May. Three weeks should be long enough for the body to adjust from winter to summer, and for the plants and animals as well. Three weeks of misery; 49 weeks of the stuff I like.
On average this spring, and I think every spring, temperatures run at least 10 degrees below normal. And it's windy. There's the occasional tease of a sunny, 80-degree day, and then it's right back to a stretch of 50s, cloudy and windy. I'm tired of spring. In fact, I was tired of spring on March 21. If I had any control of the seasons, there would only be three of them: summer, fall and winter.
Summer would last five months: five months of 90-degree days and 70-degree nights, a good dose of humidity and an occasional light breeze, no wind, except for during thunderstorms. But no tornados or hurricanes.
Fall would last four months and would feature daytime highs in the 70s, nights in the 50s and less humidity. The perfect conditions for keeping the windows open.
Then three months of real winter, or nine weeks to be more exact. Nine weeks of knee-deep snow, logs on the fireplace and lots of hot chocolate. The last three weeks of winter would make up for March, April and May. Three weeks should be long enough for the body to adjust from winter to summer, and for the plants and animals as well. Three weeks of misery; 49 weeks of the stuff I like.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Will I ever get started again?
May 10 will be the two-year anniversary of when I started my latest attempt to write a novel. If all had gone according to fantasy, I would be getting ready for a promotional tour right about now _ to promote my second best seller. Then it would be off to some paradise for a well-deserved month-long vacation, maybe even two months, to rest up and collect my thoughts for best-seller number three. Long gone would be the days of the 9-5 job (really 8-5 with that all-important lunch hour). The only schedule I would keep would be my own, or perhaps that of an editor or two. Dream on. I was hoping the blog would get me motivated to start working on it again. I think the end is in sight, if I could just get going. There's no good reason not to work on it. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, it just needs to be done. I keep telling myself that and then get right into bemoaning how awful it is. Well, that's all I can stomach for now. I'll probably be writing something very similar next week, unless I actually make some progress before then. How's that for motivation?
JMU86er
JMU86er
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