Re-Reading Old Favourites

I love to re-read old favourites from my collection. But then, we all do. It's something of a comfort to do this kind of thing when you really don't want to be delving into anything new right now.

A lot of the times we do this when we have had a huge thing happen in our lives. When we've been dumped by that person who we thought was 'the one', we delve into our romance novels or the favourite Stephen King novel (and imagine the person who dumped us as the first person who gets killed in it. I don't know why, but this is a comforting thing for us to do). 

But re-reading our old standards is like slipping into a comfy pair of slippers on a cold night. It's the fact you know what's going to happen in each chapter, to each character and what's going on throughout the book. It's like rewatching your favourite television series, years after it's been yanked off the air... it's nice because it's a safe place to be. It's nice to see those actors at the very beginning of their careers and see them so young.

I like re-reading 'The Stand'. It's an old favourite of mine when I just want to sit back and read something in the middle of Winter. You see, this book is set in the middle of Summer, so it pulls me out of the blues and right in the middle of a horrendous cold and flu season, which turns lethal... but it does have a good lot of twisting and turning before it turns out right - as all books do.

Re-reading your old favourites is a good thing for you. It's not that you can't move on from them, I think it's because you want to set yourself up for something different; something more and something lovely in the future. Re-reading great books - just like re-watching old tv shows - is relaxing and fun. And it's something to kick back and chill out with... it winds us down and lets us know that we don't have to be working the old imagination all the time. Until my next post, happy reading.

Christmas Holiday Reading List

Wow! It's that time of year again... you know that time, where Christmas Carols are heard pretty much everywhere and you never have enough money to do anything but buy presents for people in your family. It's either stinking hot during the day, with lightning storms in the middle of the night; or freezing cold with 6 feet of snow and closed schools and roads and no way of getting to the store.

Either way, we all have to celebrate Yule, Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, St Nicholas Day... and really, it's the biggest thing on our calendars. 

I plan ahead for presents for my family - the immediate family; as I can't afford to really buy anything for cousins and Aunts and Uncles - and so, I make sure I have my immediate family covered first. If I can score a few little presents for others, I'll do that. I buy for myself last... if I can't afford my presents, I'll get myself those presents at the After Christmas Sales. 

But what I look forward to at this time of year is reading something decent. You see, I head to the coast and chill out with a couple of books in my hands; and I'm hoping to get in and do some serious reading at Brunswick Heads while I'm here. You see, they don't really have a decent bookstore... and that's not a great thing for a place with such a colourful public library. So, I take down my own reading material.

'The Haunted Bookstore' by Christopher Morley
'Good Reading Magazine' (monthly publication)
'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson
'Magical Thinking' by Augusten Burroughs

Yep, three books and a magazine. I'll also be taking my notebook computer to edit my novella as well which I wrote during NaNoWriMo. Otherwise, I'm hoping to get a bit of reading done during the day and editing done at night - the best time of the day to do anything is in the cool of the night. 

So, what are you going to be reading over the Christmas and New Year period, once all the overeating and celebrating is over and done with? Anything wonderful, relaxing or chilling? Or are you all going to just take a well-earned break by the pool, river or fireplace and enjoy a rest from the words on the page? Until my next post, happy reading. 

Now.... the Fiddly Part

Or is that the fun part?

It all depends on how you look at book-writing. Some people enjoy the editing and fleshing out of a book, while other detest it.

I love it.

I can fill in the details of people's lives, the feel of a city or the countryside, what they're wearing, how people stand, what colour their hair really is and how their personality really is like. It really is the fun part for me... and it also means that the word count fluctuates in huge way.

I am heading towards the 20,000 word mark and - if you count up the words on the sidebar - you'll see I'm well on my way to making my book what I hope it to be; even if it's just a little novella and not a proper novel. 

Well... I've got another few books to read over Christmas and I'll get my nose into them over the next few weeks. Until my next post, happy reading!

NaNoWriMo Is Over!

Yep! National Novel Writing Month is over for another year. Now, for those of you who have been battling with writing your novels or novellas, and you've hit the 50,000 word mark, way to go!!! 

As for me? Well, I've past the 15,000 word mark on my novella and am well on my way to the 20,000 words I was initially aiming for! It's all in the editing, fleshing out and making the book into something somebody will want to read.

But... I don't have a title. Yes, I've been stuck for a title this whole time and have just been calling it 'That Travel Guide Romance Time Travel Thingy'... a bit wordy and not really something somebody would want to read. So, if you guys have any ideas, I'd love to hear them... I can tell you the premise of the book:

Annabelle Wilson works in a book exchange in the very centre of Brisbane City, Australia with two wonderfully eccentric store owners, Richard and Millicent. She never thought she'd be working in a bookstore; as it was a temporary thing to get her out into the world of business. But it's been five years and she's loving it. One day, she and Millicent are going through a box of books and Annabelle find a 5-book series of travel guides called 'MacIntyre's Tour Guides' and asks Millicent about them. Her employer tells her that they are old-fashioned, hand-written tour guides which went out of style years ago; and they didn't sell well. So, Annabelle took the 5 home after purchasing them.
Soon, she spends her nights reading about Scotland, Wales and the UK with a lovely tour guide, Darcy Wentworth, as her guide. Little does she know, Darcy knows she's reading his books from another dimension; and can see her and hear her. 
As time goes on, both Annabelle and Darcy's worlds begin to collide in the most unusual ways. Annabelle's employer's turn out to be people she never thought they'd be, a neighbour she had become close friends with passes away with a secret she never knew she shared with her and an old man who lives not far from her helps all of them by telling them all who he is. But as all of this happens, Darcy is on the run in his world. He's in love with Annabelle - which is against the rules of his employment - and to be safe, he must find a way to Annabelle's world to be with her. A storm is brewing in their lives... will they be together in time to thwart the authorities? Or will Annabelle and Darcy lose each other in the storm?

So... there you go. The premise. I hope you guys can get an idea of what's going on and how hard it's been to get a title working for this book. It's been great fun writing something about time travel and books in it; but the title not coming to me at all is weird; normally I have one by now.