Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

I'm impressed when I think of how much work this book was to write. It's detailed, well planned, well executed, and demonstrates a great understanding of character.

It's just the subject matter that is boring, to me at least. Politics. Anyway, if politics excites you, by all means, go for it.

Itty Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews

I read this for my book club. Didn't buy it, so it's not in my librarything.com database. Not my usual fare, of course, but it was enjoyable. You just have to suspend disbelief with these light novels and have fun. The author did a very good job, craft-wise, of keeping the suspense building and the reader turning the pages. It was a little contrived, as all of these novels are, so that's not really a criticism. You have to write like this in order to sell these books, and Andrews did a great job with it.

My only real criticism is the large amount of dialog. I would estimate the novel at about 80% dialog - that's a lot. Settings, description, action, all suffer. But that's a minor criticism - it's probably just her style. She has a lot to pack into her 90K word joy ride.

GWA November contest - first place

My short story "Common Ground" won first place this month. This is the last monthly contest of the year, of course. Overall result for the year was first place also, as I wrote in a previous post.

Devil's Walking Stick update

Currently at about 72k words. This started out during NaNoWriMo, of course. It's code named "Devil's Walking Stick", after the thorny plant that grows around the South. At this point the plant has only a minor role in the novel, so I may drop it totally in the rewrite.

Now it's time to decide what direction to go in for the ending. Originally I intended two deaths, now I'm not so sure.  One death for sure, but the second one may not happen.

Final word count? I can't predict it. There is still a lot that needs to happen to wrap it up. Of course, 90k is a good target length, since anything longer than that will have difficulty getting published by a first time author.

GWA monthly contest - first place for the year

Attended the GWA Christmas party last night, where the awards for the monthly contests were given out. I got first place! Details of the stories I entered and the places I won are on my writing page. The award was cash - $50. The first money I have ever received for writing.

The tally for the year was first place - six times, third place - twice, fourth place - twice, and fifth place once. There were eleven contests, with no contest in December. Not bad for a year's work. I love these long projects, especially when I can look back and see actual progress.

The party was great. Laurie had a good time. I was my usual quiet, reserved self. Some things never change.

Now if I could just get a short story published. I think my New Year's resolution will be to work hard on that part of my writing.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

I read something silly, just for a change of pace from all the Pulitzers. Silly is the right word. The novel is not serious in any way, and as a result it's hard to get excited about it, but it is fun to read. There's no point to it either, which is a little misleading, since the blurbs seem to imply satire or parody. If anything it is a parody of fantasy novels. This is the very first one in a long series of loosely connected novels. Maybe someday I will read another one - anything can happen.

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener

A strange, unique form for a work of fiction. Is it a series of short stories with a similar setting, or a novel? Some of the characters continue throughout, others are seen only once. The "narrator" is the strangest aspect. We never learn anything about him, yet he sees all and knows all, even when he is not present. He is a character, not just the voice of the author, yet we learn nothing about him. Very strange.

It's also a lot more graphic and realistic than the sanitized musical that we have all seen on TV or sung in High School. Worth a read, but I can't rate it very high among the pulitzers. It takes more than an interesting sequence of stories to make good fiction.