Tag Archives: YA

Donna Reads: Deep (Stage Dive #4)

09 Saturday Apr 2016

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deepIn Deep (Stage Dive Series #4) by Kylie Scott, we finally get to hear Lizzy and Ben’s story. Lizzy is Anne’s little sister (Anne being the heroine from the second book in the series). Ben is the bass player in the band. Lizzy has been chasing Ben right from the start. Of the four guys in the fictional band, Stage Dive, Ben is the one that I liked the least. I was hoping for more from this story, hoping that Ben would somehow redeem himself and we’d see that there was more there lurking beneath the surface. Lizzy was great as the kid sister, but as the protagonist of the story, I think she also fell a little short.

It took me a while to review this book. One reason is because I was sad to see this series end. Another reason is that after I finished it, I put it aside and didn’t want to think about it again. I enjoyed the first three books a lot, and I’ve re-read them several times. This last book is not one that I’ve re-read. I don’t know why. Ben and Lizzy just didn’t appeal to me. I liked her better than I did him once the story got going. He remained a jerk as far as I could tell. They do get a happily ever after, but after the crappy way he treats her, I wondered why she was trying so hard to hang on to him. Maybe I should re-read it; maybe there’s something I missed here the first time. I was strangely dissatisfied with this book after loving the others.

Lizzy starts a texting relationship with Ben early on in the series. She chases him like crazy. Their texting was cute. They end up sleeping together at one point, and she gets pregnant from that one time. They then have to figure out what to do with their lives. He keeps wanting to party and does. He was an idiot. That was the basic premise of the book. Since it was the last book in the series, I was hoping that Ms. Scott would write more of an epilogue for the other characters. They were there, but since Ben and Lizzy were so one-dimensional I felt she should have had more of the others throughout their story. It would have made this a more satisfying conclusion for me.

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I Just Don’t Know Yet

16 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by in #reading, #sitsblogging, #truckerswife, Blogging, Books, creative writing, Inspiration, Me, Progress Report, Reading, Trucker's Wife, Writing

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manuscriptHow much is too much? I continue to write on in my draft of a novel. I love every minute of writing it. It’s not perfect, and it may never see the light of day. I may be the only one who every reads it. I just don’t know yet. My characters are still talking to me and telling me to write more. I am obsessed with them.

So I continue to write – usually at noon and at night, sometimes in the middle of the night. I almost always write something every day. I put it aside a few weeks ago while I read novels instead of writing one, and I missed it! It was good to take a break from it for a bit, but the characters kept talking to me. I couldn’t wait to get back to them.

I’m up to 262,000+ words. They’re not all good words so don’t let that number startle you. The story hasn’t reached its conclusion yet. It’s had lots of things happen in it. It has lots more to come. Ideas occur to me, and I add them. How do I know when to stop? I just don’t know yet. I’ve just been going with the flow and letting it go on and on until I reach the point where I’m either bored with it, tired of it, or it reaches its logical conclusion. I know it needs massive editing, but I don’t want to do that until I reach my quit point. It also needs someone kind to read it when I’m ready so they can tell me if it’s any good or not. I just don’t know yet.

I think my effort runs on and on because I never could work from an outline. I always found an outline to be too restricting. If I try to work from one, I never stick to it. At some point, when I get all my ideas out, I will probably go back and do a reverse outline and structure the story I’ve got to fit the outline so that the book has a beginning, a middle and an ending.

Who knows? Maybe this isn’t a novel. Maybe it’s two. Maybe it’s just an exercise in creative writing. Whatever it is, it’s been good for me and I don’t regret all the time I’ve spent on it. It’s been a confidence booster. I’ve enjoyed creating characters that feel like real people to me. They are funny with unique personalities of their own.

I don’t think this is going to be the next great American novel. That’s okay. Heck, I’d be satisfied with publishing a trashy romance novel. What I have so far is part romance, part ghost story, part Young Adult and part erotic novel. Will all those genres remain in the final version? I just don’t know that yet either.

Prior to this novel and this set of characters, I made several starts and stops and attempts at writing a book. Nothing ever worked. They were childish and trite. Even the children’s book I wrote starring a squirrel, as the main character, didn’t work. I got quite a bit of that one written before I got tired of it. For some reason, the characters I’m writing about now stuck. I kept going. Does that mean something? I just don’t know yet.

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Donna Reads: Through the Ever Night

16 Friday Jan 2015

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evernightIn Through the Ever Night (the second book in the Under the Never Sky series) by Veronica Rossi, we continue with the story of Aria and Perry. In this dystopian society, a solar flare has destroyed Earth’s magnetic field and massive electronic storms threaten to destroy the planet. Aria was raised as a Dweller, living inside an artificial, enclosed pod community. Perry was raised as an Outsider, living in a more primitive, tribal society. In this second book, they spend a great deal of time apart. Perry introduces Aria to his tribe, and they are slow to accept her. An attempt is made on her life. Aria leaves with Roar, Perry’s childhood friend, to try to rescue Liv, Perry’s sister. Liv has been “sold” by Perry’s older brother, Vale. She has been given in marriage to a cruel man in exchange for food for the tribe. Perry struggles to maintain control of the tribe while keeping them safe from the Aether storms.

I raced through this book. Given that I work full-time and go to school part-time, I still managed to finish this one in three days. I couldn’t put it down, and when I did start reading it, I was totally absorbed in the story and the characters. As I stated in my review of Under the Never Sky, the author does a fantastic job at keeping the characters real and true to their given personalities. I love that about these books. You can trust the characters to do what you are thinking and hoping that they will do. There is heartbreak, romance, action and lots of excitement in this story. Aria’s character continues to grow and get stronger as she adapts to and thrives in life outside the pod community. I can’t wait to begin the conclusion, Into the Still Blue, but I will be sad and sorry to see the series end.