It’s a strange, strange world

And we all live in it. Some of us even invent ways to make it even stranger, hehe.

I was going through some files from stuff I had written pre-bad times. The thing that struck me about those writings was that the most powerful had to do with not belonging, not fitting in. There might have been things that went bump in the night in my stories, but they were rather glossed over. I didn’t go into too much detail.

Now, looking at my starts and stops and completed things, the thing I notice is that there is something that goes bump in the night and often— it’s something that the character loved once, or someone who should have been a protector.

Harsh.

But somehow, I’m getting to a middle ground. I’ve always been a Pollyanna, looking for the bright side. While searching through the remnants of the me that I used to be (both for good or ill), I realized that I like being a Pollyanna. I like looking for the good, whether in real life or in fiction. It’s one reason why I like romance so much– you are almost always guaranteed a happy ending.

But I also know that there really are things that go bump in the night. And sometimes, the boogeyman is someone you love.

Those two things are mashing up in me right now, and I’m kind of enjoying it. It has also given my fiction a depth it didn’t have before. Since I write fantasy fiction, where often you’re fighting against something other…. I do believe that the boogey man just grew fangs.

Red by Kate Serine (Transplanted Tales)

I didn’t know what to expect when I started Red, by Kate SeRine. The titular character is Little Red Riding Hood, and both The Big Bad Wolf and the Grim Reaper are hanging around, as well as other very familiar characters.

It’s scary reading something like this, especially if you are a writer who has been involved in any sort of writing class, group, etc. Because there’s always, every single dang time, someone who thinks they can take their favorite stories, mash them together, and make something great. *eye roll* please.

Kate SeRine deftly makes the Transplanted Tales work because the characters are so much more than their tales. While their tale might be the popular version of things, it isn’t always the way things are. And you know, the characters are actual people in the here and now, so they’ve grown and changed beyond what everyone thinks they know.

I think that’s the key. You have to pay homage, acknowledge the original while still putting your own spin on the story. Because otherwise you end up with a mish mash of … other people’s words and worlds.

Of course, it also helps if you can write *grins*

So… all in all… it was a great read. I actually picked it up on the Nook while I was sick and it had me both engrossed and laughing so hard I nearly coughed a lung out. If you look for Red on the Nook Book site, you need to go by the author’s name… Kate SeRine. Otherwise it’s a pain in the backside to find.

In other words, go find it! The second one just came out— The Better to See You. I think it’s on sale for the Kindle, but not so the Nook right now. SIGH. But that’s ok, cuz it’s worth every single virtual penny I spent on it.

You should feel sorry for my Words with Friends friends… Cuz I ain’t playing until I finish this book!

I’ll post again later this week— Kim Harrison or Romances? Make your vote now, or forever hold your peace!

What has she gotten herself into now????

The title for this blog could just as easily be “what’s she done now”, All the people who know and love me can tell you that I have an aptitude for clutziness and am “highly intelligent, no common sense” as one brother puts it.

That being said, i am having an utter blast.

Last weekend I was feeling so much better that I started cleaning out the books and clutter in the garage. Then I went to tackle Ray’s bedroom. By Sunday, when I normally post, I was so disgusted and tired that I wanted to weep. No stamina.

This weekend however, not only did we go to the Mickey Grove Zoo (which should be billed as a min-zoo… not a whole lot there right now), I watched Ray’s little cousin T and ran around with the boys out back. We then proceeded into much birthday foolishness, since T’s birthday is coming up in the next week or so.

Today, it was hanging out with T. and L. Then playing in the back yard with Ray. When I say playing, I don’t mean the sitting on my butt being “base” to his army guy, either. I mean I got up and we kicked a ball around, ran around chasing aliens… generally having a grand old time.

In the past week or two, I also came to a hard decision on my not quite rock opera. I’m not ready for it. At 2 years, I’m still going through it and I was so angry and frustrated. Part of that was being sick for so long, but a lot of it was forcing myself to go through everything again. It might be that I need to deal with it in fiction when I get down to it, too, instead of a first person monologue.

I’ve started world building on Alex’s new story. Alex was the heroine of my Master’s Thesis. She was a kick butt kind of heroine, as Mistress of the Dragon’s she kind of has to be LOL. And a new story is perking and bubbling patiently, waiting for me to figure out the details.

Oh. And starting in March, I’ll be posting over on Mocha Memoirs’ blog, which I believe is linked on the side over there. I’m going to be posting on the 10th of the month and decided to do it Ten by Ten. So… Ten stanza poem, ten paragraph story/viginette etc etc. Any ideas for this? I’m not a great poet, but I love what I consider writing games.

I do have a few books to talk about, but I’ll try to get to them during the week.

Till later, my lovelies!