S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 234

Winners

We love series followers here at PBW, so it was fun to see which series "finale" books you enjoyed the most. In addition to my admiration for The Endless Forest, one of my favorite finale books that was mentioned is I Dare by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (and I agree, Joni, it's probably not the last book, but would serve well as one, as the authors wrapped up one of the major themes of the series with great skill and a fabulous twist.)

We started up the magic hat, and the winners of the Endles...

Wishing You

Officially

Only one official bio pic exists of me, the one I was forced to take during my rookie year. It was a disaster because a) I'm not photogenic, b) I hate to be photographed and c) they piled so much make-up on me that I was obliged to remove it with a hammer and chisel after the shoot. Honestly, I hate the damn thing, but what can I say. Back in those days, I was a terrified rookie who was easy to browbeat.

Eleven years have passed, and after being repeatedly bitched at asked many times to u...

Endless Possibilities

There are very few real perks to being a pro writer, but one of the ones I love and covet most is to see another, seriously talented writer's book evolve. The road from from first draft to final edition is seldom traveled by anyone but the author and their editor, but often it's where you can learn the most about editing, revising and improving your own post-manuscript skills. It's a bit like being a spotter at the Olympics; you get to see all the hard work, preparation and practice runs that...

Where's the Mothership?

I'm reading a badly-written how-to book on writing. Yes, I'm a masochist, but there you go. Writing, according to this woefully misguided little tome, is described as something like a magical process, largely unconscious, that belongs in the realm of fairies and wizards and sparkly stuff. Over the last thirty pages my state has completely shifted from utter disbelief to appalled fascination. Where are the orcs? I'm actually waiting for orcs to show up.

Oh, well, maybe they're off workin...

Strange Houses

My guy and I love to drive around different towns and look at houses. I'm always checking out the architecture, while he evaluates the property and the landscaping. Since both of us have worked in the past as house painters (there, another bit of professional trivia you didn't know about me) we always talk about the color choices and condition of the exterior paint. This is yet another way in which we're totally boring, but it's one of the few hobbies we share and we think it's fun, which is ...

Don't What?

Over the years I've been slowly building a nice collection of reference books on quilts and quilting, one I've asked the kids to donate to a public school or place of free learning if they don't want to keep them after I'm gone. My favorites are the books about crazy quilts, because to me they are the elegant renegades of the quilting universe, and probably the most artistic of all quilts.

The needlework involved in crazy quilting is advanced and quite extensive; a master crazy quilter can us...

I Heart You Ten

Ten Things to Do for Your Valentine
(that won't cost you an arm & leg)

Auld Lang Snapshot: You've probably got an unused photo album around the house, but you can also pick up a little brag-book album at practically any dollar store. Go through all your pics of you and your darling and make copies of the ones you like best. Write a caption (this can be the date, something funny, or how the picture makes you feel) under each one, put them in the photo album in chronological order, and make the l...

Arguing with Fortunes

Do you ever argue with Chinese fortune cookies? I do, all the time. Here are the ones that came with our last take-out order:



Or a warm smile is testimony to the amount of personal pleasure the owner is going to take in screwing you over. The trouble is, they look exactly the same.



To forgive others one more time means you didn't learn from the first time you had to forgive them, stupid.



You're feeling the need to think longer-term, and you're a writer? Baby, are you in the wrong business.



A ...

Winners

You all mentioned lots of excellent reads for this last giveaway; my BAM shopping list is now two pages long. Thanks to author Larissa Ione for stopping in, too; you made me get all sniffley here.

We cranked up the magic hat, and the winners of the Demons and Angels giveaway are:

SandyH, who got involved in Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Anne Velosa, who needs a new book for her TBR

Pat L., who couldn't put down Robyn Carr's Forbidden Falls

DeeCee, who refused to quit reading A Veiled...