Kelly Swails's Blog, page 10
January 26, 2011
Five things make a post
1. Finished a draft of a short story last night. I poked at a few projects tonight, but didn't get much accomplished. Must need to refill the tank.
2. Read BEFORE I FALL last week. One of the reviews I read called it a mash up of Groundhog Day and Prep. I agree with that assessment if Thirteen Reasons Why is thrown into the mix. It's an unabashedly literary YA novel about a Mean Girl who dies in a car accident then relives her last day until she figures out what she needs to change about it. Hint: it's not just herself she needs to fix. While it's hard to like the protagonist--she is a bitch, after all--the prose is gorgeous and the story is by turns funny, poignant, and brutally honest. It's a good look at how our actions or inaction affect others. I loved it.
3. Watched The Edge of Darkness last week. While there were problems with the script, it was a decent way to spend a few hours. It's a classic Big Bad Corporation Doing Bad Things kind of movie. Surprisingly I was able to put aside my loathing of Mel Gibson long enough to watch it, probably because it's relatively easy for me to separate a person from their work. Just don't ask me to pay full price.
4. I'm knitting a halter top. Fingers crossed. In other news, I learned how to knit cables but have yet to use this skill for anything. After the halter I'll knit a set of fingerless gloves with cables.
5. I'm so over winter. The snow and the cold and the overcast sky can all just stop now. I want warmth and sun and green grass and flowers.
2. Read BEFORE I FALL last week. One of the reviews I read called it a mash up of Groundhog Day and Prep. I agree with that assessment if Thirteen Reasons Why is thrown into the mix. It's an unabashedly literary YA novel about a Mean Girl who dies in a car accident then relives her last day until she figures out what she needs to change about it. Hint: it's not just herself she needs to fix. While it's hard to like the protagonist--she is a bitch, after all--the prose is gorgeous and the story is by turns funny, poignant, and brutally honest. It's a good look at how our actions or inaction affect others. I loved it.
3. Watched The Edge of Darkness last week. While there were problems with the script, it was a decent way to spend a few hours. It's a classic Big Bad Corporation Doing Bad Things kind of movie. Surprisingly I was able to put aside my loathing of Mel Gibson long enough to watch it, probably because it's relatively easy for me to separate a person from their work. Just don't ask me to pay full price.
4. I'm knitting a halter top. Fingers crossed. In other news, I learned how to knit cables but have yet to use this skill for anything. After the halter I'll knit a set of fingerless gloves with cables.
5. I'm so over winter. The snow and the cold and the overcast sky can all just stop now. I want warmth and sun and green grass and flowers.
January 15, 2011
Being a writer and having a life? Surely you can't be serious!
My blog post about fitting writing into an already full life is up at the SFWA blog. Be sure to check it out!
January 12, 2011
Boondocks Review
A friend pointed me in the direction of this lovely review for Boondocks Fantasy. I think you need to go right out and buy it, and not just because my tale is "enjoyable," but because there are lots of great stories by some really fabulous authors.
January 10, 2011
I'd Tell You That I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter--Book review
Last night I finished I'D TELL YOU THAT I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU. I picked up the book as market research--my Shiny New Project is a potential series set in a high school for world domination--and I wanted to see what sort of books were out there. I'D TELL YOU ... is a fun read narrated by Cammie Morgan, who attends the all-girls Gallagher Academy (a.k.a. spy school) where the students study Covert Operations and crack codes for the NSA for extra credit. Her mother is the Headmistress and her father was killed on a mission. She's a girl with a history who is destined to join the family business. That fact that she's good at it is a secondary consideration. In this book, Cammie meets a regular, average, nothing-special-about-him-except-he's-her-soulmate-boy while on a school assignment. She's undercover, so she tells him lies about her life. At the end of the semester her cover gets blown and she has to decide if she wants to be a normal girl or a spy.
Since there are several more books in the series, it goes without saying which life she chooses. While I enjoyed reading this--Cammie's voice is fun and believable, as is the setting--my adult self had a problem with the falling-in-love part of the book. While I understand Cammie's lies about herself are a part of being undercover, the underlying message of them was "like what he likes, don't be yourself, do whatever it takes to get him to like you." This message is complicated by the spy angle. All of those actions are acceptable (and dare I say necessary) to a spy winning over a subject. However, I had a problem with a strong teenage girl who knows fourteen languages and can kill a man with uncooked spaghetti picking a favorite ice cream flavor, not because it's her favorite, but because she knows it's his. In the end, Cammie stays true to herself by revealing her lies to her boyfriend (ultimately sacrificing the relationship), which I felt redeemed the story.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, quick read.
Since there are several more books in the series, it goes without saying which life she chooses. While I enjoyed reading this--Cammie's voice is fun and believable, as is the setting--my adult self had a problem with the falling-in-love part of the book. While I understand Cammie's lies about herself are a part of being undercover, the underlying message of them was "like what he likes, don't be yourself, do whatever it takes to get him to like you." This message is complicated by the spy angle. All of those actions are acceptable (and dare I say necessary) to a spy winning over a subject. However, I had a problem with a strong teenage girl who knows fourteen languages and can kill a man with uncooked spaghetti picking a favorite ice cream flavor, not because it's her favorite, but because she knows it's his. In the end, Cammie stays true to herself by revealing her lies to her boyfriend (ultimately sacrificing the relationship), which I felt redeemed the story.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, quick read.
October 11, 2008
Thus endeth the run ...
Sort of.
Fine. Livejournal wins. I'm going to blog mostly at livejournal now--the "Copyright infringement" linky is on the left. Or, you can access the blog from my webpage at www.kellyswails.com. Or go straight there at kelly_swails.livejournal.com.
I'm not going to delete this blog, because there's some cool stuff in the archives. And you never know, someday if I become a writer full time I might want to upkeep two blogs again.
Why the change, you ask?
Well, LJ has lots of cool features, and I feel like more people read that blog, anyway. Also, I've had a hard time separating my "writing" self from the rest of my life. Keeping two blogs for different aspects of my life has become increasingly cumbersome.
So, goodbye, blogger. It's been a good run. And we can still totally be friends.
Fine. Livejournal wins. I'm going to blog mostly at livejournal now--the "Copyright infringement" linky is on the left. Or, you can access the blog from my webpage at www.kellyswails.com. Or go straight there at kelly_swails.livejournal.com.
I'm not going to delete this blog, because there's some cool stuff in the archives. And you never know, someday if I become a writer full time I might want to upkeep two blogs again.
Why the change, you ask?
Well, LJ has lots of cool features, and I feel like more people read that blog, anyway. Also, I've had a hard time separating my "writing" self from the rest of my life. Keeping two blogs for different aspects of my life has become increasingly cumbersome.
So, goodbye, blogger. It's been a good run. And we can still totally be friends.
October 2, 2008
Politics -R- Us
Watched the VP debate tonight. While I feel Palin redeemed herself a bit, I don't know that this debate changed any minds. The Obama supporters will love Biden; the McCain supporters will love Palin; and who knows what the undecideds will do. Almost a month away from the elections, and I think it's still a coin toss.
Interesting article by Glenn Beck. Something to think about. Politicians are so busy being partisan that democracy itself is in peril. It's crap like this that almost--almost!--makes me want to run for public office.
Interesting article by Glenn Beck. Something to think about. Politicians are so busy being partisan that democracy itself is in peril. It's crap like this that almost--almost!--makes me want to run for public office.
September 21, 2008
Busy Weekend
Friday: Me and Ken's 10th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by making a big flowerbed (brick edging, fill in with topsoil) and scattering sand around our backyard to help alleviate our drainage problems. Afterwards, we ate an unsatisfying dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We then commenced to ... lounge ... at home.
Saturday: We finished up the yard work and then headed to Chicagoland to visit Ken's college friends. One of them had been named on of the "top 40 Illinois attorneys under 40", so we attended a nice dinner party complete with wine, appetizers, and dessert. We pretend this is our anniversary dinner instead of the fiasco from the night before.
Sunday: Traveled home only slightly worse for wear. Ken is watching sports while procrastinating on schoolwork; I am doing laundry, cleaning, and contemplating a walk. I also foresee a trip to the grocery store. Later I will polish a flash fiction piece and send it off.
All in all, quite productive. I'll sleep well tonight, I think.
Saturday: We finished up the yard work and then headed to Chicagoland to visit Ken's college friends. One of them had been named on of the "top 40 Illinois attorneys under 40", so we attended a nice dinner party complete with wine, appetizers, and dessert. We pretend this is our anniversary dinner instead of the fiasco from the night before.
Sunday: Traveled home only slightly worse for wear. Ken is watching sports while procrastinating on schoolwork; I am doing laundry, cleaning, and contemplating a walk. I also foresee a trip to the grocery store. Later I will polish a flash fiction piece and send it off.
All in all, quite productive. I'll sleep well tonight, I think.
September 14, 2008
Soggy Sunday
The remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Central Illinois today. I have no idea how many inches we got. I heard predictions of 6 to 8, and that would probably be about right. Earlier I tried to drive to McDonald's to get breakfast and the highway had standing water. I probably could have made it through, but why risk it for an iced coffee? I didn't want to do laundry because I didn't want to overtax the sump pump (which has been working overtime to keep our basement dry, thankyouverymuch). So what have I accomplished today? Nothing, and it's been wonderful. I read a book and knitted and slept. There is something so decadent and marvelous about a Sunday-afternoon nap.
The rain has no passed and so I must try to get some laundry done. A girl's gotta have clean underwear, don't ya know.
The rain has no passed and so I must try to get some laundry done. A girl's gotta have clean underwear, don't ya know.
September 11, 2008
Ah, fall.
Fall is my favorite time of year. Yesterday was 75 and sunny and perfect. Today is drizzly and 75; tomorrow will be rainy and a bit colder, I suspect. I love love love when the trees start to turn and the weather turns chilly and it's jeans-and-sweatshirt weather. I love when it's too cold to sleep with the windows open but not cold enough to turn on the heat. I love the mums and the high school football games and the pumpkins. I love pulling out fall and Halloween decorations. I love baking oatmeal cookies and buying candy "for Halloween" a month in advance.
This is the time of year I feel most alive.
Last week when I drove past our local high school the lights were on over the football field and a pack of girls crossed the street in front of me, on their way to the game. Back when I was that age, the Friday Night Football Game was the place to be. My friends and I would pour wine coolers into 32-ounce "Hawk Mugs" the local Hardee's sold and sneak them into the game. We'd walk around the track while the game happened so we could See and Be Seen. The cool kids hung out behind the home goal posts. The stoners held court underneath the bleachers. Some kids lined the fence around the field and actually watched the game. The liquor made the lights brighter than they were and now makes some of my memories surreal. We'd wear green and white and sing the fight song and drink our drinks fast so we wouldn't actually get caught with the goods. Afterwards we'd drive around the back country roads and try to find the after-game party, or we'd hang out on the square and be obnoxious, or we'd drive to Jerseyville to get pizza. Anything to sober up before curfew.
This is the time of year I feel most nostalgic. It's weird, too, because I didn't really like high school all that much. I don't keep in contact with hardly anyone I went to high school with. All I wanted was to graduate, leave, and never go back. I have no intention of ever living there, but when I think about my hometown, this time of year especially, I get the warm fuzzies.
This is the time of year I feel most alive.
Last week when I drove past our local high school the lights were on over the football field and a pack of girls crossed the street in front of me, on their way to the game. Back when I was that age, the Friday Night Football Game was the place to be. My friends and I would pour wine coolers into 32-ounce "Hawk Mugs" the local Hardee's sold and sneak them into the game. We'd walk around the track while the game happened so we could See and Be Seen. The cool kids hung out behind the home goal posts. The stoners held court underneath the bleachers. Some kids lined the fence around the field and actually watched the game. The liquor made the lights brighter than they were and now makes some of my memories surreal. We'd wear green and white and sing the fight song and drink our drinks fast so we wouldn't actually get caught with the goods. Afterwards we'd drive around the back country roads and try to find the after-game party, or we'd hang out on the square and be obnoxious, or we'd drive to Jerseyville to get pizza. Anything to sober up before curfew.
This is the time of year I feel most nostalgic. It's weird, too, because I didn't really like high school all that much. I don't keep in contact with hardly anyone I went to high school with. All I wanted was to graduate, leave, and never go back. I have no intention of ever living there, but when I think about my hometown, this time of year especially, I get the warm fuzzies.
