Kelly Oram's Blog, page 23

I love it when a book surprises me!

I was complaining last week that I was desperate for a really good book because I'd read just a string of really blah, just okay, not memorable books, and I wanted something fabulous to recharge me. Well this week I got a little more than I asked for with three in a row. (Love!)


First I read Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer, which is of course the sequel to the awesome book, Nightshade. I knew I would like this one seeing as I'd enjoyed the first one so much and had been patiently waiting for the last year to read it. And, no surprise, Ms Cremer didn't disappoint. I loved the next installment of this exciting and romantic adventure and loved all the new characters. Of course I want to stab the ending cliffy as much as I love it for making me need to read the next one, but hey, this blog entry is not supposed to be a rant about cliffhangers. (for once! lol) The third book is titled Bloodrose and is slated to release January 24, 2012. Which feels like forever but is actually a lot sooner than I thought it would be so I'm not complaining. (Much :P ) Anyway, Andrea Cremer = the Nightshade books = Kelly is a very happy reader! 5 stars!  

Next, I Breezed through The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller which I liked more than I'd expected. Not one of my all-time favorites but still a worthwhile read. I finished it thinking better than the blah books I'd been reading lately. I teetered between three and four stars with it and since there's no 3.5 I decided to go with four. 
I liked the concept even though I think the subject reincarnation and soul mates is very hard to accomplish. I think Kristen Miller did a good job handling it by adding the mystery element of the story. The lead wasn't just automatically totally head over heels in love with this guy she remembered from another life. (Well, okay that's a lie. She was. But it was somehow different with the I-don't-trust-you factor.) I loved that she started questioning her reasoning of why she kept finding him in all her lives and I think that's what kept the story appealing to me. I recently read another book that dealt with a character recalling past life after past life and seeing her romance play out over time and I seriously gagged several times and wanted to stab something by the time I was finished with the book. It was the biggest disappointment I've had this year. But, like I said, Ms Miller did a great job with this and I really enjoyed her book. 
I think the reason I hesitated between three and four stars instead of a solid four was because I didn't really care for the main love interest. (I know, right?) How can Kelly love a book if she doesn't have a fictional boyfriend to steal away from the main character? I got frustrated with him a lot, but I didn't completely hate him, so it wasn't enough to ruin the book. Just enough to leave it a little less satisfying. Do I think everyone reading the book will feel that way about him? I doubt it. I'd definitely say give this book a chance.
And finally, the book I actually started this blog to gush over....
I absolutely LOVED Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan! To get back to the title of this blog entry (finally, yes, I know) I LOVE it when a book surprises me! I can't believe this book sat on my shelf for almost a year and I hadn't read it until now. This book was one I'd picked up randomly off the shelf at the bookstore having never heard anything about it and being unfamiliar with the author. I was simply sold by the summary, but obviously not enough to read it immediately. Well, I finally got to it and just.. YAY!
This book was simply nothing like the story I'd expected from it. It was nothing like anything I've read for a long time. I expected the same old supernatural adventure. You know, new girl coming to new town, new school, new people--then she realized something's different, she's special, she's in danger---cue completely hot, mysterious, and all around perfect, tall dark and brooding Mr Right to come in, sweep our heroine off her feet, and let her save the day with her awesome newly-discovered powers. Don't get me wrong, I love that story, I've read it a bazillion times and I don't get tired of it. But this book, while it is like that a little, it's really not. 
This book is really about a girl struggling to find herself. It's a beautiful, emotional, coming-of-age type of story told in a unique exciting supernatural way. With Immortal Beloved, Ms Tiernen took everything I love about contemporary fiction and mashed it together perfectly with everything I love about fantasy. The combination was a surprising book that felt so completely exciting and refreshing and touching all at the same time. Kudos to Ms Tiernan! 
I was intrigued with the world she'd set up, in love with the idea of Immortal rehab roughing it style. Loved that the character was going through all of her trials because she herself had decided to face her inner demons. I loved learning the history of the main character and seeing how all of her 450 years of existence had shaped who she had become and I loved how her story of self realization and personal growth was the main focus of this book. I cried like five times. (Though I feel the need to warn you that I am pregnant right now and beyond overemotional. I cried like fifty times yesterday over things like my kids telling a joke, and a commercial I'd seen, and stubbing my toe, so I'm not sure how valid my tears throughout this book were.) 
So, but thumbs up for Immortal Beloved. I was so sad when I got to the end. (Of course it ended just as things were getting really, really good!) But I immediately went and looked up the release of the next book and was so relieved to hear it's less than a month away! (Sweet!) The book's called Darkness Falls and is releasing August 5th! Woohoo! Guess who will be buying it on August 5th and most likely have it read by August 5th. lol
So now my dear readers... Assuming I actually have readers, and assuming that you made it to the end of this blog that wins points for being the longest entry ever. (You're totally awesome if you got this far, btw!) My question is this...   
Cate Tiernan is the well known author of the best-selling SWEEP series. I admit I've heard of these books so many times and have heard people rave about them but for some reason always figured I wouldn't like them. Am I stupid for thinking this? Have you read the Sweep series? Did you like it? How does it compare to Immortal Beloved? Should I give them a try??? This inquiring mind needs to hear your opinion! Thanks in advance!

Later.
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First trimester blahs...

Um yeah... Obviously if I'm suffering the first trimester blahs then I am--you guessed it--pregnant. Yes, again. I know, I know, I just got done being pregnant, but, Oram baby number four is on it's way nevertheless. And I am so tired of being tired. And nauseated. And scatterbrained. And irritable. And nauseated.

Yes, I have the first trimester blahs in a big way. On the bright side I'm only a little bit pregnant in these hot Arizona summer months as opposed to last summer when I was bursting at the seams pregnant in the miserable months. And on the other bright side I'm almost done with the first trimester.  I'm due Feb.17th and am just about 12 weeks now so I should hopefully be feeling better soon. (Wishful thinking really if I compare with the rest of my pregnancies, but I'm going to will it to be so this time.)

SO... I blame my lack of reading, writing, blogging, exercising and well, just about everything these last few months on little baby D. (As in A B C D. Actual name to be determined later...)

Also I blame it on summer break. But in that there is also a bright side. Summer break is almost OVER. Oh, yeah. School starts on Monday for my rugrats and not that I don't love them to pieces, but Monday can't come fast enough!

And you want to know the best news of all? My husband is done traveling!!!! (YAY!!!) For the last two years he's been doing the long distance commute thing. We live in Arizona and he works (or I should say worked) in Los Angeles. He kept an apartment there and came home on the weekends. So we had him home for about a day and a half of every week for the last two years. Can I just tell you that that totally sucked? It was a necessary evil, but now it is over and I feel like I am no longer a single parent! (Of course I am going to have to learn how to stay on my side of the bed again but there are worse things.)

Okay, so now that this blog is completely all over the place (which of course I blame on my pregnancy brain) I will end your suffering and stop blabbering. 

The kind of person people love to hate.

I have seriously got to be the kind of person people love to hate.

I'm the girl who usually loathes every film nominated by the academy awards and rags on the film makers for their "use of craft" or the "message" of the film. I say, make me laugh, blow some stuff up, and for heaven's sake make sure your leads are freaking hot. When I watch a movie, I want to be entertained. I don't really give a lick whether or not I have been enlightened to some important issue or whether or not my mind was stimulated. What I care about is was it fun? Did I have a good time?

Well guess what, it is the exact same with the books I read. Right now I'm reading a book that is supposed to be intelligent and amazing and has won a bunch of different awards and I'm having a difficult time finishing it. Be advised--this is not the first time this has happened. Not by a long shot. But give me a fluffy, fast read that can in no way be construed as "important" or "life-changing" and I will rave about it forever. I am a fairly intelligent woman and a writer to boot and yet I simply can't appreciate the books that all the critics tell me I'm supposed to love.

I'm sorry, but Twilight will always be one of my favorite books and Meg Cabot will always be one of my favorite authors. I will probably never read a single nonfiction book in my entire life and will purposefully avoid books that I know made it on Oprah's list. And don't get me started on the books that are "required reading" in high school.

Not that I don't appreciate good story telling. Don't get me wrong. I am really really picky when it comes to characters or story structure and pacing. I do enjoy books that are well written. I just think that "well-written" means something different to me than it does to a lot of other people.

I'm not saying that the people who love the classics and cannot see the value in a vampire/werewolf/human love triangle are bad people or that their opinion is wrong in any way. I'm just saying I don't fit in. I will never fit in with them. And what's worse, I have absolutely no desire to ever fit in with them. I'm sure that to these people I must seem like an idiot and it kind of makes me giggle. People like me must be baffling to some.

But I am not alone. Oh no. I'm not. I know I'm not. That's why I write fun fast not necessarily important but always cute books. So that I can hopefully entertain those like me. Also, because the person I like to entertain the most is myself. (Hey, if I'm going to invest months in writing a story you can bet it's going to be something I had fun doing.) No, I don't expect to win a bunch of (or necessarily any) prestigious awards in my lifetime--I know what I am--but I do aspire to end up on a best-seller's list some day. That would be fun.

The End.


PS. Happy endings rock and ironic, downer endings piss me off. That is all.

City Of Fallen Angela by Cassandra Clare

I read: City Of Fallen Angels
I rated it: 5 out of 5 stars. (teetered on the edge of 4 out of 5)
The summary from Goodreads is: "City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone's killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary's plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels."


My overall thoughts:
When I heard there would be more to the Clary and Jace saga I was worried that since the first three books told such a complete story, that Clare was only extending the series because of it's popularity. I was worried that the characters would feel tired and worn out and that the story would have that sequel syndrome where it can't really pull me in and I begin to think the author should have just quit while they were ahead.

But I still had faith though in Clare's ability to tell a story, so I anxiously anticipated this book with high hopes. I was not let down.

For me, Clare was able to use the same characters we know and love and come up with a new adventure that captured me almost as much as the first. I can totally envision the beginning of a new saga and yet she was able to do that and still pull elements from the first three books into the plot.

I think what I liked best about it all was that Simon was pulled to the front and used as essentially the main character. You got to see more to him and what he's going through and I was just fascinated with all the scenes with him and Jace and the fun new character Kyle. (LOL I'm almost team Kyle and Jace) I think this is what kept everything from feeling old and repetitive for me.

My one complaint about this book, and the reason for my almost 4 instead of 5 stars was Clary and Jace's relationship. This is the one aspect of the book that felt redundant to me. I can understand the need for Jace to have some inner turmoil as he has to come to terms with everything that happened in the first three books and his lovely identity crisis. But the way he constantly punishes himself by pushing Clary away got so tired by the end of the book. All his "I don't deserve you because I'm so evil and I'm Valentine's son and blah blah blah..." got so exhausting and frustrating. By the end I was wanting to bang my head against a wall whenever Jace and Clary had a scene alone together. And as for the way the book ended it feels bittersweet to me because while I'm fascinated by the idea of where Clare took the story and think there is so much potential for some interesting and amazing developments I'm just worried that it will only heighten my sensitivity to the Jace and Clary drama.

That being said, this is a great book and I think the fans of the Mortal Instruments series will not be disappointed. I definitely wasn't! And of course I'm anxiously waiting for the next one. Hopefully the release of these book will offset the release of the Clockwork Angel series and I can get twice the Cassie Clare fix!

I'm Finished! (Which means I'm back.)

Look everyone, I'm back! I apologize for having disappeared for nearly two months, but in all honesty I'm not really that sorry. I basically went nuts and just wrote an entire novel in 6 weeks. CRAZY! I had a lot of fun with it though and am actually about to start the second book. (And really excited about it.)
During that time I had so much writing momentum that I was afraid to let myself get distracted with things like twitter, facebook, my blog, the ever-addictive Goodreads, and mostly READING. I'm finished with my first draft now though, so I can come back. Starting with this blog. (Yay.)
My brain is programed as such that either I write a lot or I read a lot. I have a hard time doing both at the same time. I get too sucked into the world of the book I'm reading and then have a hard time getting back into the world and characters of the book I'm writing. So, since I suddenly had an idea that had to spill out of me I essentially grounded myself from reading until the first draft was done.
That's right, I haven't read a single book in nearly 2 months. In Kelly time that's the equivalent of probably about 15 books. I feel like my life is somewhat incomplete. HAHA. But now that draft one is complete I am so excited to get back to reading and boy do I have some catching up to do! Being grounded from reading books didn't keep me from buying them. Oh, no, not at all. Especially since my local Borders is going out of business and all the books were on sale. 
(Let us have a moment of silence for dear Borders Books. I am so sad about this you don't understand.)
Anyway, since being grounded, here is the To Be Read pile that I have acquired...

As you can see I have my work cut out for me. I also have Angelfire, but I let my sister borrow that one so it's not in the picture. (Also, I should probably belong to some kind of book buyers anonymous.)
Anyway, I am starting off with the lovely Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins followed by Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr. I am so crazy excited to read these books! I'll let you know my thoughts when I'm done. And, let's not forget that City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Claire comes out next Tuesday and then The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong comes out the week after that and both of those will be a must-buy-and-read-immediately deal. Wow, I'm an addict. 
Anyway, happy reading to me!

Redhead Jokes

My mother sent these to me in an e-mail.I have no idea where they came from, but I found them highly amusing and thought I'd share.


Q. How do you get a redhead's mood to change?
A. Wait 10 seconds.
Q. What do you call a redhead with an attitude?
A. Normal.
Q. How can you tell when a redhead has been using a finicky computer?
A. There's a hammer embedded in the computer monitor.
Q. Why aren't there more redhead jokes?
A. Someone made the mistake of telling them to a redhead.
Q. What is the difference between a redhead and a terrorist?
A. You can negotiate with a terrorist.
Q. How do you get a redhead to argue with you?
A. Say something...
Q. What's safer: a redhead or a piranha?
A. The piranha. They only attack in schools.
Q. Why do redheads really like their hair color?
A. It does the same thing for the men it does for the bulls.
Q. Why didn't Indians scalp redheads?
A. They knew better.
Q. What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is every night?
A. A redhead.
Q. How do you know when your redhead has forgiven you?
A. She stops washing your clothes in the toilet bowl.
Q. How many redheads does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. One -- she holds the bulb while the world revolves around her.
Q. What's the difference between a redhead and a barracuda?
A. Nail polish.
Q. What's the difference between a redhead and a pit bull?
A. The pantsuit.
Q. What do redheads make for dinner?
A. Reservations.
Q. What's black-and-blue and lies on the sidewalk?
A. A guy who tells too many redheaded jokes.
Q. Why is it better to date a blonde than a redhead?
A. You can ignore a blonde safely.
Q. How do you remember a redhead's birthday?
A. Forget it once.
Q. How is a redhead like a tennis racquet?
A. They're both high-strung.
Q. What do redheads and razor-wire have in common?
A. Handle both with care.
Q. Why do guys date blondes?
A. All the redheads are taken.
Pretty sure none of these apply to me. ;P

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The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

The book is: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
I rated it: 5 out of 5 stars!  (LOVE)
The summary from Goodreads is: Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.



In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.
Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.
The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?
My Overall Thoughts: I loved every page of this book. I liked The Maze Runner, but I LOVED the Scorch Trials. I felt this was a stronger book than the first because while the plot was every bit as complex and exciting and mysterious, I thought the characters got a little more attention and development. I also liked that there was a tiny bit more romance in this book. (What can I say, I'm hopeless.)
I was sucked into The Maze Runner and was anxiously waiting for The Scorch Trials to come out, but after reading it, I dare say I'm as sucked into this series as I was The Hunger Games. In fact, if the third book isn't some EPIC disappointment, then I'll probably like the Maze Runner series better than the Hunger Games series. (Anyone who's read The Hunger Games knows that's saying something...)
The wait for the third book (which according to Goodreads will be called The Death Cure and is set to release in 2011) is going to kill me. Really. (So if I die this year, it's James Dashner's fault. Or Cynthia Hand's because I also have to wait for the sequel to Unearthly. Grrr....)
The best thing about these books is that they are completely and totally unpredictable. You can never truly guess where Dashner is going to take the story, and it's a situation that is like none I've ever read before. So original! So creative! So visual! So creepy! So worth reading!
I'd say  that if you like things like the tv show LOST you'd like these books. Not that the stories are the same, but the tones are similar in that you never know what's going on and when one question is answered it raise ten more.  I vote they make these books into movies!
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My love for writing has been renewed!

I've totally been slacking on the blog entries! Once a slacker, always a slacker I suppose. lol. I'll have you know though, that even though it's taken me too long to get to this blog entry I've still been loosing that weight, reading my book a week, and am working like crazy on a brand new story that I'm super excited about.(The exercise goal, though, has been a huge resolutionFAIL. Oops! Better luck this month, right?)

It feels good to be excited about a writing project again. After finishing my latest manuscript I went back to see what I had, and planed on finishing a story that I've had in the works for a while. But I just couldn't get myself motivated to do it. Writing can be tricky like that. If you aren't excited about your project it's torture and will drag on forever. (And if you're me, it will make you really cranky and turn you into Momzilla.) BUT when a project clicks, you learn just how productive you can be and you remember why you like to write. That's where I'm at right now.

It used to be that I only wrote as a hobby because I thought it was a fun time filler when I was stuck at home with no car and two small babies. I loved writing my cheesy fan fiction and fictionpress stories. But after Being Jamie Baker was published something changed. I was no longer just writing to write. I was writing to accomplish something. There was suddenly all this pressure and a feeling of expectation. Writing became a job. It was work.

Don't get me wrong, I've definitely grown in my writing since deciding to take it seriously, and I'm grateful to feel like I'm making progress. But it has been a lot harder to relax and just love what I'm doing. I haven't been able to write just for the sake of writing.

Until now.

I decided that since I was having such a hard time getting into my other work in progress, why make myself do it? It's an old idea that's been in my "story ideas" notebook for years. Yes, I think it's fun, but it is also a little dated to my tastes. I'm not the same writer I was back when I came up with that idea. I have different tastes now. So I decided it was best to just shelf the old story and ignore the "story ideas" notebook this time, and come up with something completely new.

BEST. DECISION. EVER.

I have been having so much fun developing this new idea that I am finally writing just to be writing again. Yes, I'm still analyzing every line and being anal about the structure and outline, but even that has just been fun. I'm excited to be writing again. FINALLY.

            Let's all do a happy dance to celebrate this momentous occasion! 


FYI: I found the dancing frog here.

Looking for some advice.

I NEED YOUR HELP!
My dilemma of the day is the summary for my latest manuscript. I am putting together my "pitch" so that I can get busy sending out queries and hopefully find an agent. 
Basisally summaries are the death of me. I hate them. They are so vital and so hard to write. I'm never satisfied with what I come up with so I'm asking for advice from anyone willing to put in their two cents. (Especially any advice from other writers or the book bloggers out there because so many of you summarize every book you review. You've done it a million times and many of those times it's your summary that makes me want to read the book, not the one I find on the book itself.)
This is the pitch I have so far...
Ellie's sweet sixteen is a summer of firsts. First car. First kiss. First boyfriend. First serial-killing stalker?
Hockey-obsessed tomboy Ellie Westley has never been the object of a guy's affection before. So when the hottest boy she's ever seen moves in across the street and starts treating her like she's the center of his universe, naturally she's going to be a little skeptical. But everything starts to make sense when girls who look just like Ellie start dying all around the city. Obviously the new guy is the killer, and of course he only likes her because he wants to slice her into tiny pieces. Right?
The more Ellie gets to know Seth the more she's convinced he's a psychopathic killer. The problem is he's the sweetest psychopathic killer she's ever met. Not to mention he's brutally hot. No matter how hard she tries, she can't help but fall for him. 
Will Ellie's summer of firsts turn out to be a summer of lasts?
Sure it tells the basic plot of the story and I think it even shows a little of Ellie's voice and character. My problem is that it doesn't say anything about what I consider to be the "heart" of the story. It doesn't mention the identity crisis Ellie faces in the story. It doesn't hint about the best friend she finds in her older sister or any of the "coming of age" aspects of the story as Ellie discovers her inner girl and falls in love for the first time.
My question is, is mentioning those things important in your pitch? Or do you simply stick with the main "plot" of the story in order to keep it short and simple? I would love to hear any and all thoughts people have not only on this summary but any experiences you've had in writing your own pitches. Any tips you'd like to share?
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The Scarlet Pimpernel... I just don't get it.

Well, I totally reverted back to high school this week. I started to read the Scarlet Pimpernel, got about 130 pages in and then gave up and rented the movie. HAHAHA I guess I'll just never be "classically" minded. I tried, I really, really tried. But I just could not get in to it.

And I don't even really understand what makes this book a "classic." I mean, yeah, the language is old and British sounding, but who's to say that makes it "better?" It sounds different, and I guess some people like that, but I just don't know what's so special about it beyond that. I still had the same old problems with the story that I have with the current new releases I read.

The pacing in this book killed me. We spent the first 40 or so pages being introduced to this inn keeper guy and his daughter and all the regular visitors. Their characters, the location and even relationships were set up. They had personalities, a romance was sort of introduced. 40 pages invested in this just to learn that none of them were the main characters or even relevant to the story. After those first 40 pages they're not even in the rest of the story. So yeah, that should have been about 40 lines to set up a scene and get to the real story. In fact, I was 130 pages in before I quit reading and I still wasn't sure who the main character even was. My husband had to tell me.

Then I had that frustrating problem where there was an exciting story being hinted at and for some reason I was being shown really boring scenes and then told about these exciting adventures through some other character. Lame. It was frustrating.

Anyway, not to knock all the classics, but I really honestly just don't get it. Not my thing. But I'm still glad I gave it a shot because now I know. I really truly know that those kinds of books are just not my style. It'd been so long since I'd tried to read one that I wondered if I'd only hated them because I was a lazy rebellious high school student at the time. Well, not the case. Maybe if we'd read interesting books in high school I might have been a better student. They need variety! I vote The Hunger Games be let in to the "classics" and integrated into school curriculum. Who's with me?


ps. My husband is rolling his eyes at me as I post this. He is very much a fan of the classics and thinks I'm lame.