The Silence of Saturday Morning

Okay, it's not actually morning. It's noon. So sue me. It's still nice and quiet in my apartment. I love waking up to the quiet, on a chilly, almost-spring morning. It's calming, somehow. Soothing. Although I woke up later than I intended to. Much later. Sigh. Why can't weekend days be thirty-six hours long, instead of twenty-four? Then I could get plenty of sleep and get done all the things I want to do.
Anyway. Last night was a late one because I had dinner at my partner-in-crime's place, and then went to a friend's apartment for a while. I thought I was only going to stay for an hour or two. Wrong! I was there until after 3 am! Good thing she's only a thirteen-minute walk away. I came home and fell right into bed. Set my alarm for 10 am, like a good girl, but did I get up then? No. Let's just say I developed a close relationship with my snooze button this morning. . . .
Anyway. My thirtieth birthday was two days ago, and it was quite the lovely day. Chocolate chip cookies, interesting office gossip, girl scout cookies, Battlestar Galactica Season 1, followed by a nice dinner out with my partner-in-crime and some Framboise at home. Perfect! A few people have asked me if I feel older now that I'm in my thirties. I said no. See, your birthday doesn't make you a whole year older. It's just one more day. So I'm not much older than I was before my birthday, really.
I did go to Vegas for a few days. A pre-birthday celebration with my sibs. It's lovely down there, all desert and cacti and sun. I really enjoyed sitting on my sister's back patio in the morning sun with a cup of coffee and a book in hand. Her house is great, too! Very put-together, so far. Made me want to give my apartment a makeover, or at least spend some serious time sprucing it up. Besides enjoying her house, we went to Red Rock and hiked one morning, wandered the Strip some (Bauman Rare Books, I love you and your gorgeous first editions and rarities!), spent a day with our grandparents, saw two Cirque du Soleil shows, did some shopping, watched The Fall . . . It was a great visit.
And New York has been good since I've been back, as well. Pretty mellow. I've got two freelance projects on my desk right now. As soon as my sister sends me feedback on my edits, I'll dive into round two of editing my novel. Spring is finally on its way; I can feel it in the air. Tonight, I'm going out to one of my favorite bars to celebrate my birthday with a bunch of friends. And things with my partner-in-crime have been good. Life is pretty simple, but I'm enjoying it.
I should really run and get some work done. But first, a plethora of book blurbs for you, o readers! I've read four books since we last spoke, which puts me at twelve for the year. Ready?
Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales by Valerie Paradiz. This is a great read for anyone interested in the history of fairy tales. Accessibly written, with a lot of good information about the life and background of the brothers Grimm and the women they collected their fairy tales from, this is definitely a keeper for me. However. The title and the jacket copy let me to believe that this book would be about the women they collected the stories from, which isn't entirely true. It's a lot of Grimm brothers history, and then a decent amount about how they met the women and what their relationships with them were like. There wasn't very much directly about the women. And that was disappointing to me. I could read any number of books out there about the brothers Grimm. There isn't nearly as much about the women. So, I was disappointed that it was about the women through their relationships with the brothers. Nonetheless, as I said, it's got a lot of great information in it, and some fantastic variations on well-known and obscure fairy tales, and it's definitely staying on my bookshelf.
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. This is a companion book to Wicked Lovely, which I read a year or two ago and loved. This is the kind of urban fantasy that really strikes a chord with me; lush language, complicated emotional entanglements, and characters who are truly shades of gray. Things are never black-and-white in her books, and I love that. This one is about a girl with a terrible home life who decides to get a tattoo. And the tattoo she decides on opens her up to a crazy connection with the dark fairy court in her city. The main characters from WL have secondary roles in this story., which is a nice grounding touch for people who have read WL, but Ink Exchange stands on its own perfectly well. This one is also a keeper. And she's got a third one coming out next month that I'm very excited to read!
Envy by Anna Godbersen. This is the third in her Luxe series, set in 1899 Manhattan among the young elite of the upper class. And with every book she really just ratchets up the angst, the tension, the betrayal. Still great, juicy guilty-pleasure reading. Beyond that, I think it's great for readers to see through this window to how it was then for young people, when women were much more limited in what they could do with themselves, and the decisions that they made for the good of their families and/or themselves. Great fun. The fourth and final book doesn't come out until next year, which feels like forever away from today, because I can't wait to see how she wraps everything up!
Second Skin by Caitlin Kittredge. The third Nocturne City book about Luna Wilder, policewoman and werewolf. This one was also a great read. I really feel like Caitlin's writing gets more consistent with each book that comes out. (And I am so jealous of the fact that she is a full-time writer while I'm plugging along in my day job!) Luna is volatile and certainly has her share of issues when it comes to men and communication, which leads to some really interesting situations for her, both on the job and in the bedroom. I like the overall arc of this series so far. And I like how Luna is growing as a character. But so far, in every book I've had one or two instances of "Would that character really react like that to that situation? I'm not convinced." And that's a little frustrating to me because mostly, her characters are consistent. But I like her writing, and I like her snarky, complicated characters, and I like Luna's sassiness. So it's a keeper, and I look forward to the next book by her (June, I think).
And now that I've rambled on and on in the lovely silence of my apartment, it's time to get moving and get some work done. As always. Maybe someday I'll stop being such a workhorse. . . .

Sleepy Morning

I really struggled with getting out of bed this morning. It was so nice and cozy, and I was sleepy, and comfortable . . . Oh, well. Maybe sometime I'll give myself a staycation day that is mostly laying in bed, but today is not that day. Today is yoga, lunch with an old neighbor, some cleaning, maybe some writing, and maybe a movie.
(By the way, I tried to get here earlier this week. I really did. But it was another one of those weeks when everything that landed on my desk was urgent, and that does not leave a lot of time for things like blogging.)
That concert I went to last week? It was Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin. At the Beacon Theatre. Gorgeous, gorgeous music. Just . . . amazing. I went with a good friend from work, and we were both utterly absorbed in the music the whole time. I need more music like that in my life. Really, if you're not familiar with their work, run out and get some!
Books: I was mistaken last time. I've read SIX books as of the last blog post, not FIVE. Only now I've read two more. First, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It was lovely. Lush writing, a twisty plot, interesting characters. High recommended. I was quite surprised by some of the things that happened in it, some of the paths the plot went down. But. This book deals with the nature of the relationship between twins. And I disagreed with it quite a bit. One character talks about losing her twin in terms of being an amputee. Two halves of a whole and all that. And being a twin, I beg to differ. Of course, if I lost my twin, I'd be devastated. Just like I'd be devastated if I lost my younger sister. Or one of my parents. But I wouldn't feel like part of me was missing. Does that make sense? Just because you share a birth with someone doesn't mean you're any more a part of each other than any family member is, and I get tired of seeing twin relationships represented this way in literature. However, that aside, this book really is beautiful, and you should all give it a try.
Second, Rumors, the sequel to Luxe, by Anna Godbersen. Again, so much fun! Drama, teen angst, love affairs, all set in the beauty of 1899 Manhattan! She stepped it up a bit this time. Now there's coercion, blackmail, and death involved. It's lots of fun, total guilty pleasure reading! And the descriptions of the dresses are divine. . . .
Oh, no! I just realized what time it is. Time for me to run. I've got to leave the house in half an hour for yoga and haven't taken a shower or anything yet. Have a good weekend, all!

Briefly

I spent a decent portion of this afternoon wandering through the somnolent whispers and sad summer haze of The Virgin Suicides. Such a lovely book. I wish I could say I'm reading it, but I'm not. I'm working on a new edition of it. Which is almost as good, I suppose.
Anyway. Life has been busy. I've been managing a smidge of writing almost every day, which is grand. And I've read two books recently.
First, The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. So much fun! Serious teenage angst, secret love affairs, demanding parents. Secrets, lies, seductions, hidden desires . . . And set in historic Manhattan! Really, truly, this is great guilty-pleasure reading. I promise. And I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Second, Leonard Cohen's Collected Poems of the 1950s and '60s. I tried really hard to like the man's poetry. I read most of the collection. I just can't quite bring myself to jump on the Cohen bandwagon though. I kept expecting him to say a little something more, to be a little tighter, a little less . . . I don't know. I just felt like most of the poems were missing something.
So, that's books four and five. Maybe in the future I'll remember to number them as I go.
And now, I'm off to a fun-filled evening with a good friend from work. First, hummus and dolmas for dinner, followed by cookies. Then a great concert at the Beacon Theatre. I'll try to get back here tomorrow to let you know how it is. In the meantime, have a lovely evening!

Quick link

I'm buried in work right now and should therefore not be here at all, but I just wanted to post this really quickly. Jay Lake talking about what it takes to make it as a writer. Really, readers of mine, read it. He makes a really great point or two. Because, in the end, it is about hard work and discipline and persistence.
And as an aside, a really brief book blurb for you. I just finished reading Pale as the Dead by Fiona Mountain, and quite enjoyed it. The book was a bit of a departure for me; it's a rather gentle thriller, with the main character, Natasha, being a genealogist. But that just let to all kinds of historical tidbits woven around and through the particular problem that Natasha was trying to puzzle through. I thought it was very well done; the history was well researched, the writing was tight, the characters well rounded. I would definitely read more by Fiona Mountain. (This was book #4 in 2009, if anyone is keeping track of my thirty-books-in-one-year goal!)
And now, speaking of mountains, back to the one made of work on my desk!

Look!

Twice in one week, aren't you impressed? I am. I'm also sneaking time at work when I should be working on the gazillion projects on my desk, but oh well. I would rather sit here drinking my ginger hot chocolate and blog for a bit.
Things are fairly quiet in my corner of the world right now. It is snowing like crazy here in NYC. It's given my day a muted feeling. Everything seems quieter when it's snowing. Even inside a busy office building. It's so calming to watch the snowflakes squall past the window. I love it! I wish I could be out in it. I suppose I will be soon enough, on my way home. . . .
I've started a new freelance project and am frustrated by it. Not because it's bad. Because it's merely competent. The story itself is pretty good, but the writing doesn't quite have the necessary edge for this type of thriller. It's grammatically correct; everything makes sense. But I still just feel like it's missing a little oomph. Sigh.
I wonder if I can convince my partner-in-crime to head over to my house for the evening. Once I get there, I'm not going to want to leave again! The unfortunate part of tonight is that there are many things I should get done. All I want to do is put on some tea and curl up with a good book. Ah, well. I suppose there'll be time for that this weekend.
I'm chipping away at some dream-based short stories while awaiting feedback on my revised novel. So far, I don't feel like it's going very well. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy to put pen to paper regardless of what's coming out. But short stories are hard. And I haven't gotten back into a good rhythm with them yet. Give me another one or two, and then I'll be writing something worth talking about. For now, it' s just good to stretch the writerly muscles.
Hmm. I just got really sleepy. Must be the amount of extremely rich hot chocolate I've consumed in the last hour or so!
Okay. I'm covering for my work spouse while he's on vacation, so I should probably get back to it. As long as I stay fairly focused, things should stay well under my control. Happy snow day!

Late

I know, it's late in the month and I've barely said a word! Apologies; it's been another busy month and my Internet at home has been intermittent at best. So. Here I am.
January has been cold. Cold. Recently one morning it was 9 degrees. Brr! I am definitely a winter child and enjoy the cold, but I do hope that this doesn't go on for too long. However, I love that we've gotten some snow this winter!
I finished another book today: Mirrors of the Unseen, by Jason Elliot. And I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would! It's basically a travelogue about Iran, only so much more. Jason talks at length about the people, the history, the art, the religion, and the architecture. Of course he touches on the politics of that part of the world, as well, but that's not what it's about. Not what he dwells on. It was like a kaleidoscope of his impressions of this beautiful, ancient culture that most of us don't know a whole lot about. There were moments of description that were so keen I could almost have been there with him, it was so clear to me. This one is definitely a keeper. I'll revisit it next time I have a yearning to travel somewhere foreign to me.
I have a lot more to say but unfortunately I've got to keep it brief this evening. So have a good night, and I'll be back sometime in the next couple of days. Ta!

A New Year

So on the New Year theme, I thought I'd make up a list of goals. Not resolutions, mind, just goals. So here we go:

• Read thirty books (not hard, if you know me at all)
• finish working on Nor and start another novel
• three to five short stories
• spend more time outside
• treat my body better
• make music more consistently
  

I think that's a good list, don't you? Not too much, not too little. What about you all? Any brilliant things on your horizons sparked off by New Year?
On to other topics . . . my holiday trip was quite good, overall, with the major exception of what I discussed in my previous entry here. I saw my godchildren, saw my whole immediate family, spent some time with my partner-in-crime's parents, and saw some of my friends. Not enough of them and not for long enough, but that's the way it goes on these trips. Of course, having my flights messed up in both directions wasn't great, but I seem to have bad luck with holiday travel, so oh well. It was a pretty good Christmas. I even saw what-if boy on my last night; we watched a movie together, and then slept next to each other, as chaste as brother and sister.
In regard to my goals for this year, I've already read two books. The first was Greywalker, by Kat Richardson. I love good, dark urban fantasy! This one is about a woman named Harper who has a near-death experience and afterward sees the world differently. Literally. She can now see a place called the Grey, which is a sort of limbo between our world and the otherworld. Which means, of course, that her life immediately gets complicated through the presence of vampires, witches, and ghosts, none of which she believed in before. This book was dark, and gritty, and the interactions between the characters was natural and believable. Beyond that, Harper's transition from total disbelief to accepting the change in her was also believable. And it's the first book in a series, which means I have several more stories about Harper to enjoy!
The second book is called Freaks, by Annette Curtis Klause. It's about a boy born and raised among circus performers who are physically different in all sorts of ways. Eventually he feels too normal for his extended circus family and sets off to seek his fortune on his own. It's a really fun read; there's some good teenage angst, and a great love story between Abel (main character) and a three-thousand-year-old Egyptian mummy, and some great secondary characters (particularly a gaggle of children Abel saves from an evil circus man named Dr. Mink). I really enjoyed this book, but still, somehow, I'm not sure that it's a keeper. It just didn't catch me as much as some books do.
Anyway. Twelve minutes left of the workday, so I should probably wrap things up before it's time to go. I also need to pick a new book to read, since I finished Freaks on the train this morning, and that always takes a few minutes!