Reena Jacobs's Blog, page 4

Novel Review: MacRieve by Kresley Cole

It’s probably been a year since I’ve read any books for personal pleasure. It’s odd. Reading had been such a large part of my life, I almost feel a since of wrongness by not doing it. A little straight talk before the review.

I officially log 2013 as the worst year of my life. I spent pretty much the first half of the year depressed and in tears. It’s amazing how depression can sap the motivation right out of a person. Though no longer depressed, I spent most of the last half of 2013 recuperating from the first half and trying to get my feet under solid ground.

And here we are today. I only mist a little when I talk about the first half of 2013. I love what the future holds. Lately, I’ve been reintroducing the things I enjoyed in the past into my life. I smile and laugh spontaneously. And now… I’m reading again.

Since I’ve been out of the book world so long, I didn’t want to ruin the experience by choosing just any book. So, I went with my favorite author… Kresley Cole. And, I tell you… she didn’t disappoint.

I picked up MacRieve last week and finished it this morning. So my thoughts.

This story didn’t progress The Ascension along as much as I’d hoped. In fact, I can’t say it did anything for the big picture. Well, I learned of a couple behind the scenes deaths… or maybe it was one. We get a bit of a cliff hanger of a major player from Torture Island. Other than that… nothing really to progress the overall plot.

As for the romance (Chloe & Will), there wasn’t anything unique or special about it. Nothing to stand out. It was Kresley Cole’s basic, guy finds life mate and screws things up royally with her. He treats her like trash because of his past but won’t give her up. Then he has to find a way to win her over again. Same old, same old.

The sex seemed a bit different. It was more like something I’d imagine in a porn movie. Spankings, dirty words, and rough.

So if nothing is unique about this book, why did I like it? Well, it wasn’t bad… just not overly special. I think I liked it so much because I’ve been out of the book world for so long. It’s like watching horror movies to the point that nothing phases you. Then going on a horror movies sabbatical for a few years, only to cringing at everything. I think that’s where I am.

So I’ll give this book 3.5 stars. It’s definitely not my favorite. However, it was well written and enjoyable.

On another note. I told my husband I wanted another book. He said, “Maybe you should savor books rather than reading it all in one sitting.” What gives?

NaNoWriMo 2013

Congratulations, everyone! We made it! 2013 NaNoWriMo

So, yesterday I realized it was the day before big day, and I’d done NOTHING to prepare. No real story idea, no outline, no nothing. *sigh* What’s a girl to do?

Well, I played with DAZ Studio 3D.

I lay in bed last night/early morning, thinking about NaNoWriMo. Normally, I’m ready to put words on paper by the time I wake up, November 1. Today, would be the first day, since participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2010, I wasn’t ready. I said to myself, I couldn’t even consider my lack of preparedness a setback. After all, it doesn’t take forever to come up with a story. In fact, I have oodles of story ideas sitting on my hard drive, just waiting to be cultivated. An outline might take a few hours, but the actual writing would only require an hour of my a time, if you refer to my last post on writing.

I finally settled on an idea… an apocalyptic, supernatural story I’ve wanted to write for a couple of years now. But as I lay in bed, I acknowledged something. I really am not in the mood to write. Yet, even as I type this, I feel my muse stir a bit… telling me to participate in NaNoWriMo.

I’ve tried to tell myself that it’s only an hour of my time each day. What’s an hour? Then I think of all that’s happening this month (moving halfway across the country, starting a new job, house hunting, driving my husband nuts) and don’t even want to bother with the extra stress of working on a book.

Things I’d Rather Do

Then I think about all the things I rather do than stress. I’m really enjoying my artwork (as amateurish as I am). I’m loving K-Drama, and I’ve even decided to get serious about becoming a bit fluent. I think about sacrificing an hour of my life each day for writing, and I’m just not feeling it.

Without making excuses… the bottom line is I just don’t feel like writing right now. haha Right now, this girl just wants to have fun.

So this year, I’m bypassing NaNoWriMo. Tell me, what does the month of November have in store for you? Are you participating in NaNo this year? Share your story idea.

Korean Drama (K-Drama) Trends (Part Two)

The list of trends in K-Drama are never ending. In a way, it makes K-Drama rather fun. If you didn’t catch the last 5 on my list, feel free to do that now. For the rest of us, the trends continue.

Men have egos bigger than the moon

I’m surprised the men in the dramas don’t have broken arms with all the time they spend patting themselves on the back. They’re constantly telling the women of their dreams why she should love him or why she’s so lucky to have him. Because all women love egotistical jerks, right? NOT!

Men LOVE ugly women

How do I know this? Because when he never fails to correct her when she or someone else mentions she’s pretty. And if that’s not enough, he’ll flat out tell her she’s unattractive.

Koreans can put away the food like it’s nobody’s business

Okay… that’s only half true. Korean women can put away the food like nobody’s business. I don’t know if they think they’re in a race to the finish, afraid someone will take their food away if they don’t gobble it down as quick as possible, or fear it’ll be their last meal so pack away as much as possible before it disappears, or what. The thing I don’t get is how actresses stay so skinny, especially when every other scene includes shoveling away food.

Koreans can drink like it’s nobody’s business

The evenings are filled with Gunbae! (cheers in Korean) and one shot as shot glass after shot glass of soju (Korean rice wine) is consumed. I will note, Koreans are not immune to the effects of alcohol. And a scene of binge drinking often transitions to a scene with a piggy back ride.

It’s not a K-Drama without a piggyback ride

Which brings me to the last notable mention for this post. The piggyback ride. No K-Drama is complete without the piggyback ride. Once in a while, the lucky (or rather unlucky) lady will find herself on bottom, as she struggles up hills and suffers flights of stairs to tote her drunken fella home. But by the end of the series, she’ll get her piggyback ride too, even if she has to twist her ankle to sucker him into it.

Into Korean Drama? Check out my list of favorites!

Writing a Story: Start Writing

So you know your characters, you’ve created a summary or outline, and now you’re ready for NaNoWriMo!

For those who aren’t familiar with NaNoWriMo, I’m here to give you the down and dirty. Basically, it’s a yearly event which happens in November. The idea is to write a novel in a month. Technically you don’t have to write a complete novel. Rather, you write 50,000 words of a novel in a month from start to finish. It comes out to be approximately 1,667 words a day for 30 days. You are allowed to do prep work before you start, such as creating characters and plotting. Just no writing the actual novel.

In all honesty, this is often the most difficult part about winning NaNoWriMo is writing. It’s easy to fall behind and quite difficult to catch up. A lot of writers are motivated the first few days, but the task of keeping at it day after day can get tiresome. It’s not just of NaNoWriMo, but it can be that way with writing in general.

Just Do It!

One of the things I’ve learned over the past few years is when it comes to writing, you just have to do it. I know, I know… it’s something I haven’t serious done since last NaNoWriMo, but still… that’s what it takes. Writers write. If NaNoWriMo is too much, start small. In fact,I finished I Loved You First by dedicating 100 words a day to the story. Some days I wrote more, but I committed to just 100 words each day for about 3 months, and voila! one day it was finished.

Wondering Mind

The thing with writing (at least for me) is it’s so easy to get distracted. I sit down to write for an hour and my mind spends 45 minutes of that time wandering. Even if my mind isn’t wandering, I can waste a significant amount of time just thinking about what I should write. Ah! Distractions! The bane of productivity.

I don’t know about others, but I have a short attention span. I’m the type of person who will “multi-task” to keep things interesting. Why in quotes? Well, multi-tasking really is just a way of jumping around from activity to activity, never really giving full attention to any one thing. In effect, it’s less efficient, but it can keep things interesting.

Helpful Tool

A couple of years ago, I found an awesome tool called Write or Die. I loved it so much, I purchased the desktop version for $10. It was one of the best $10 I’ve spent when it comes to writing. Here’s how it works. You set a word count goal for a set amount of time, then go for it. If you stop typing for a given amount of time, Write or Die will send you an attention getter. It can be a mild one, such as the screen slowly turning red (this works best for me) to obnoxious, loud noises (breaks my concentration and distracts me more than helps).

What I like about it is, it forces me to concentrate for a set amount of time. For me, that set amount of time is 15 minutes 500 words. Since 1,667 words a day will win NaNoWriMo, that means, I only have to dedicate 1 hour worth of writing time each day in order to win NaNoWriMo. I typically scatter those 4 15-minute blocks throughout the day as not to be so much of a hassle.

So, I highly recommend Write or Die. I honestly didn’t realize how distracted and inefficient I was, when it came to writing, until I started using Write or Die. It alerted me to the fact I was sitting down to write, but not writing. By the way, I started with the online version, which is free. Give it a shot, if you’re afraid to part with your $10.

Using allotted time effectively

So, you’ve set aside your time to write. You might have even picked up Write or Die. Here’s the thing, it’s hard to be efficient if you don’t know what to write. That’s one of the reasons I like breaking my slots into 15 minute increments. It allows me to consider what I’m going to write when I’m not writing. Then when it’s time to write, I just hit it. 15 minutes of putting down what I’ve been thinking about for hours.

So! Don’t waste time sitting in front of your laptop thinking about what you should write. When it’s time to use your writing time, write, and only write. You can think about what you should write while you’re washing dishes, doing menial tasks at work, changing diapers, or driving in the car. But when you dedicated time for writing, keep your fingers flying across the keyboard.

Only a few days left until November 1. Hope you all are ready. haha I’m not.

Share with us some suggestions you might have when it comes to writing.

Eat to Live (Rambling Alert)

I mentioned a few posts ago about my newfound addiction to Korean Drama (K-Drama). One of the things they do often in the series is eat. Now I have to admit… I’m typically a big fan of eating. I LOVE meat… particularly steak.

A while back, my father-in-law (hater of all meats other than hotdogs and hamburgers) and I were talking about food. I mentioned I could eat steak EVERY night. He was quite skeptical and told me no I couldn’t. Crazy man… I assured him I could. In fact, I’ve been on steak binges from time to time. Day after day of grilled steak… yum!

So, steak… Yes! Enter K-Drama. Besides rice, noodles seem to be a big thing in the K-Dramas, particularly Ramen. Now, I’m not a ramen fan. However, I am fond of other noodles. So, I headed to my local Korean market and picked up some goodies.

Over the course of a couple of months, I found there are different types of rice noodles, even though they may look the same before cooking. For example, there are clear noodles (vermicelli) and another type which turn opaque after cooking. Originally, I started with rice noodles, which turned opaque white after cooking. Along with the noodles, I picked up some seaweed and miso soup mix stuff.

The first morning I had a bowl of the rice noodles and soup mixture was so satisfying. It was like comfort food. I had this wonderful full feeling… not the overstuffed bloated feeling that makes me feel like I’ve made a horrible mistake… but just very satisfied and cozy.

My rice noodles became my new steak. My late night snack would be rice noodles, and sometimes I’d slurp some down for breakfast. Oh, happiness. Sometimes I’d mix things up by adding some meat into the mixture… chicken, smoked turkey, fish, shrimp, poached egg. Oddly enough, my preferred meat (beef) didn’t make it to my concoctions.

So, I ran out of rice noodles and headed back to the Korean store. This is how I learned rice noodles were not all the same. I picked up vermicelli instead of my opaque noodles on that trip. One difference was vermicelli took a lot less time to cook… 3 minutes. In fact, I originally thought the first rice noodles were the 3 minute ones and was surprised they took so long… even more surprised when they turned opaque. With vermicelli, adding hot water is enough to cook them in 3 minutes, and they’re really easy to overcook… falling apart if left in heat too long.

After tasting the difference between opaque rice noodles and vermicelli, I have to say I prefer the opaque ones (whatever they’re called).

Odd thing has happened recently though. The last week or so, I’ve had very little appetite. Food just isn’t very appealing these days. I still enjoy my noodles. They’re tasty, and I eat quite the serving each time. But then there is the family dinner. I sit down to eat, and it’s just a huge chore.

It’s not that I’m not hungry. In fact, I’m hungry right now. I was hungry before dinner. Yet, I didn’t want to bother with it. If not for my family, I probably would have skipped it. The odd thing, it was one of my favorite meals.

Apparently, pizza is rather popular. My family loves it. Me? Not so much. However, I’m quite fond of Pizza Hut’s Spicy Asian wings. So when my family wants pizza, I put my own order of wings… and usually, I don’t share. They’re mine! All mine! Mine, I tell ya!

Tonight was pizza and wing night. I didn’t really want to eat when the food arrived. But like I said, I have a family, and dinner happens to be our family time. So, off to eat I went.

I decided to have a slice of pizza with my wings. However, after eating my slice of pizza, I no longer had the motivation to continue and skipped the wings, which explains why I’m hungry. Right now, what I’d really like is to not be hungry without having to eat.

Really, I have no idea what’s going on with my head. Have my noodle and seaweed meals met my needs to the point I have little to no cravings? Lately, I feel like I’m eating to live rather than living to eat, like I used to. Family meals are just a big hassle. The menu options are just so uninspiring, and I’ve yet to convince my husband and son to go on my Korean diet. I suppose it’s a good thing. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to the physician without hearing the polite suggestion to lose 10-15 lbs. Perhaps this will be the way to do it.

Have you gone through a phase where you’ve lost the passion for your favorite foods?

Writing a Story: Basic Outlining

Writing a Story: Basic Outlining

Last post we talked about creating a plot summary. Personally, I’m rather fond of outlines. My preference to outlines comes from my college days. I realized back then that creating an outline allowed me to skip around in a paper. Later, I applied the same techniques to my stories. A great outline means there’s no need to write a story chronically.

A while back, I found a program called Character Writer, which includes a section for plotting a story. Since then, I’ve used its formula as a guideline for developing my stories. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll point you in that direction.

What makes Character Writer really useful in terms of an outline, is it allows a writer to use somewhat of a snowflake effect. It begins by prompting the writer to come up with 8 plot points which are later divided into 3 acts, similar to what I suggested in the last post. What I like is it doesn’t leave you on your own when developing those plot points. It provides hints, such as your character is living his/her life and is unhappy/happy with the situation and is seeking/not seeking an adventure. Simple enough, but a little something to get you thinking and a place to write specifics about your characters and story.

Once the plot points are completed, the outline is generated… but it goes further. Character Writer makes a suggestion of how many scenes should be for each plot development. This allows a writer to be as detailed or generic as necessary.

So, today I’ll leave you with an online tool from the same characters of Character Writer. For the most part, it’s just an online version of the downloadable program. It’ll give you a quick feel for how it works and hopefully get you started on your outline for NaNoWriMo.

Character Writer Online Story Tool

Writing a Story: Plot Summary

Writing a Story: Plot Summary

With NaNoWriMo on the horizon, it seems like a great time to continue with the Writing a Story series I started last month. If you’re looking for a refresh, check out the last post on Creating a Character here.

Writing a novel comes easy for some folk, not so easy for others. I consider myself one of those people who falls in between. Typically, a scene comes to me from out of no where… a dream, every day life, etc. From there, I start formulating an idea. For the most part, the idea is incomplete and needs time to cultivate in my mind… kind of like yeast.

One way to help the idea grow into something more substantial is taking the time to plot a summary. Take your characters on a mini-journey. Since it’s a summary, it doesn’t have to be in detail. Save the detailed scenes for the real writing process.

Dividing your summary into parts

Start by dividing your summary into parts. Think of it as a 3-part play with a beginning, middle, and end. This will help ensure your storyline is balanced, while avoiding a saggy middle.

Part One – The Set Up

The Introduction. Consider how you want to bring your main character(s) into the story. What are the relationships between the characters? How do they interact with one another? This is a time to show your characters’ flaws and strengths. Let the readers really get to know your characters and start to feel for their situations.

Attention Getter. How do you plan to capture the audiences attention in the first few pages. Keep in mind, many readers decide if they’ll read your book after reading just the first few hundred words. You don’t have a lot of time to pull the reader in. So the way you decide to start your story is extremely important. Again, your summary isn’t about details, but creating the over all feel.

The Problem. Part one is also the place to introduce the major problem into the story. You might also consider subplots, but for the summary, try to focus on presenting the main problem. Exactly what is you character facing? What is keeping your character from finding happiness or completing their goal.

Part Two – Avoiding the Saggy Middle

The Adventure. Once your character(s) have a problem and a bit of direction, it’s time to set them on their path. This is where you develop a general plan for your characters. This is where they do the bulk of solving their problems or reaching their goals. This section should be filled with ups and downs, successes and failures.

Character Growth. This is also the place where your character(s) experience changes. They start to learn about themselves through the adventures they experience. Determine what your character(s) should take away from the experience. And don’t forget, the villain is the hero/heroine of his/her own story. So don’t forget to show villain’s character changes also. Also keep in mind, the hero can fall into evil  just as villains can find goodness.

Part Three – The Conclusion

The Resolution. Your characters have come to the end of their adventures and now to set things straight. Misunderstandings are resolved, characters overcome major challenges (which may or may not lead to happy ending), and the solution to achieving their ultimate goal is revealed.

The Final Showdown. This is the moment your characters have some kind of victory. If you’ve read any of my works, you probably know I don’t always write perfect endings. However, the heroes of the story NEED to win on some level… and that something should be big and worthy. That win might even be the realization that letting go is the best outcome. Or as many Westerners like… lead to a happily ever after or happy for now ending.

Wrap up. And then we have the wrap up. This is the moment you get to send your character off into the sunset.

It’s Not Concrete

One of the things I love about plotting is it really gets me thinking about the story. And though the plot is written, it doesn’t have to be followed exactly… or even at all. Subplots form and characters get a mind of their own. What’s important (at least in my creative mind) is plotting gives a little direction and can really help a writer get started.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2013

Half a month left until National Novel Writing Month 2013 starts. I’ve been in a writing slum for about a year now. In fact, I don’t think I’ve made any serious progress with my writing career since last NaNoWriMo. I’ve been doing a lot of lip service lately, talking about finishing the edits on Chasing Shadows but not doing anything with it. I’d even announced my plans to complete the edits by November. At this rate, I doubt that’s going to happen.

Really, I’ve just been in an unmotivated slum, boggled down by all the stresses in life. Last week, I’ve felt myself emerge a little. Not really when it comes to writing, but rather when it comes to other activities in life. I’ve started playing around with 3D art again. I’ve felt a little motivation when it comes to writing, though I haven’t ventured into it. I’ve even started to blog a little, as you can see. Granted, I’ve only written a few posts. Still… it’s a start.

For a while now, I’ve been toying with NOT participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Like I said… I’ve lacked motivation all around. Tuesday was the first day I’ve actually thought I might give it a try. The first day I seriously thought to myself, I don’t have a story idea.

Story Idea

A few years back, I started a story about a witch named Trinity. Some of you might remember her short appearance at the end of I Loved You First. I wrote a pretty hefty chuck of book one (Trinity’s Awakening), but it being one of my first ventures into writing, it wasn’t all that great. The story line is descent… but it needs A LOT of work in terms of style and bringing the work to life. Well, I know where Trinity’s Awakening ends, and I have an awesome ending for the book  two cooked up.

What I’m thinking is doing the same thing I did with the Striped Ones series and just knock out book two out of order. Not sure how many people realize this, but I actually wrote book 3 of the Striped Ones series during NaNoWriMo 2010, before I’d written book 2 (Chasing Shadows). Pretty sweet deal if I ever finish editing Chasing Shadows… Book 3 is already written and ready for editing.

Same thing would go for Trinity’s Destiny. I can get book 2 (Trinity’s Descent) out of the way, then return for an overhaul on book 1 (Trinity’s Awakening). Maybe NaNoWriMo 2014 will be the first draft of book 3 (Trinity’s Redemption).

So that’s what I’m thinking right now. If my motivation continues to increase over the next week or so, I see myself preparing an outline for November.

That’s where I am these days.

The Joys of Procrastination (Congress Sucks – Part One)

I admit. I’m one of the least informed person when it comes to news… including what’s happening in the government. I don’t watch the news, and I seldom read the news on the internet. Typically, I find out what’s happening through my husband. Once in a while, some random person will fill me in. Other than that, I’m in a boat, coasting along… blissfully ignorant.

Because I live in a military town, I’m aware of the sequester. Apparently, they’re making/made LOTS of cutbacks at the post near my home. As a result, we’re likely to see a trickle effect which is bound to make our local economy sad. My household economy is already sad, though it was sad before the sequester.

I’m also in the know about Congress failing to pass a budget. Today, I decided to read the news and found the partial government shutdown has pushed into week 3, which has me saying WTF.

The budget comes around once a year. It’s not like it’s some big surprise date. Even someone as ignorant as me knows October 1 is the date. So, why oh why, do they wait until the week before October to start fussing about the lack of a budget. On top of that, why do people have to be pulled back from vacation to deal with it?

It’s almost as if the date approaches, and someone mentions it in passing. “Don’t forget we need to get the budget out next week.” “Oh? Was that next week. I completely forget… we’ll be on our family vacation.”

Apparently, Congress has had the President’s Budget proposal since April (shame on you Mr. President for being late). So, why are they just getting around to the budget in September?

I don’t know when they’ll get this budget passed, but it makes me wonder. How is it Congress is able to get a budget together in a few weeks, but they couldn’t accomplish in the prior 5 MONTHS?

Could you imagine treating your job like that? How long do you think you’d last. You get hired for a 2 year contract to complete a set number of tasks. You dink around for the first 8 months. Other than thwart the work of others, the only thing you manage to do for the year is complete reimbursement forms for fake business expenses and conspire with other co-workers to sneak in a hefty raise your company can’t afford because of some other underhanded bribes you managed to weasel from company funds.

You know the company can’t afford the financial choices you’re making for it. Instead, you consider further leveraging the company in debt to pay for your special spending interests, while passing the blame to someone else.

Finally, the week before a major deadline (passing the company budget) you’ve known about since… well, since you where hired 8-9 months ago, you pretend to panic. You tell the people you’ve been trying to screw over for the past 9 months, if they don’t cater to what you want, you’ll stop signing paychecks for company employees and blame everyone else for being uncooperative.

You refuse to compromise right up to the deadline, then go through with your threat… no more paychecks! Well, no more paychecks for everyone but you… cause only a lunatic cuts his own throat.

I just don’t get it. If I worked the way Congress worked, I’d be fired the first month. Failure to do my job would negate my contract.

Korean Drama (K-Drama) Favorites (Part One)

So last post I mentioned a few trends I’ve come across in Korean Dramas. Today, I’m going to share some of my favorite K-Drama Series. Before I mention the series, I have a confession. I have little say about the women. You see, I’m a bit boy crazy.

A bit of rambling. My husband and I were talking about an old foreign series called Lexx and how it’d be interesting to see a remake of it. Of course, my thoughts ran to: who’d be able to pull off the sexy undead Kai. Something about Kai just used sex appeal. My husband, on the other hand, asked: who’d play Zev/Xev. My response? “Who cares?” ha ha

I mention this now, because you might notice my comments are lacking when it comes to the female actresses.

Gu Family Book

It’s a historical fantasy which features the Korean mythical creatures called nine-tailed foxes AKA Gumiho.

I absolutely LOVED this series. More than that, I fell in love with the actors. Choi Jin-Hyuk is so sexy as Gu Wol-Ryung (a nine-tailed fox). I’ve watched a few other shows with Jin-Hyuk, but he totally lacks the sex appeal he has a Wol-Ryung. *sigh* Since Gu Family Book was his last show, I’m really hoping it’s the start of a brand new sexy Jin-Hyuk. I’ve seen him talk on reality shows and he’s so goofy. Apparently, he’s always working out though… keeping his boy sexy hot for me.

Then we have Lee Seung-Gi who plays Choi Kang-chi (Wol-Ryung’s son — a half-human/nine-tailed fox). Love him too. Not so much sexy… well, not sexy at all. Instead, he has a goofy charm to him which shows through pretty much all the series I’ve seen him in.

Sung Joon was kind of sexy too. However, I haven’t found him any good lead roles, so I’ve been in a rather “screw you then” mood when it comes to him. I did start watching a series where he plays in a flower boy band, but there were too many people being introduced at once, and I couldn’t keep track. Maybe I’ll come back to it, but he didn’t seem sexy at all.

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox

This is a contemporary fantasy, romantic comedy featuring the Gumiho. I absolutely fell in love with a couple of the songs. Fox Rain by Lee Sun Hee and Losing My Mind by none other than Lee Seung-Gi. Did I mention he’s also a K-Pop Singer?

This time around Lee Seung-Gi plays Cha Dae-Woong, a rich jerk who is beyond selfish. Even so, he keeps his goofy charm and is highly amusing. It makes him sexy in a not so sexy way.

His counterpart and girlfriend is a Gumiho played by Shin Min-Ah. Now the reason she made such an impression with me is because of her enormous dimples. I’ve only seen her in one other show Arang and the Magistrate, and it didn’t make it to my favorite lists. Oh well. Still, I loved her in this. Very few Korean shows feature a strong female lead. Usually the female are the type who attract abuse. Yeah… I know, I know… no one deserves to be abused. However, we all know some women are more prone to be abused than others, just like some people are more likely to be bullied than others. Now this gal is tough. So tough, most of the time Dae-Woong is about to piss his pants trying to keep her happy as opposed to becoming her next meal.

I can’t wait to see what’s next on Lee Seung-Gi’s list of shows to play. Gu Family Book came out this year, and I’ve seen nothing else on his schedule. Poo.

Faith

Faith is another historical fantasy. Just like my reads, I’m quite fond of supernatural romances. This time around, we get a time-travel romance. I love these historical time-travels. My favorites are when the past comes to the future, but this one, the present goes to the past. Beyond the time travel element, it also has some magic happening.

I actually did like the female lead in this series (Kim Hee-Sun who plays Yoo Eun-Soo, I haven’t sought her out in any other roles. Mostly because she’s not a sexy hot guy.

But Lee Min-Ho… he is so yummy. Broody, sexy. Did I mention Yummy?

One other guy who stood out was Phillip Lee. Something about his calm demeanor just does it for me. I’d like to see him in a lead role, but I get the impression his career is that of a supporting actor.

Personal Tastes

Personal Tastes is about an architect who pretends to be gay in order to become roommates with a woman who lives in a famous building. The woman also happens to be the daughter of a famous architect and the designer of her home.

Yes, I love looking at Lee Min-Ho, which is why I sought out Personal Tastes. Again, he plays the brooding type as Jeon Jin-ho. This time he’s a little more fun and smiles a whole lot more. Still, he’s serious. The guy has the weight of the world on his shoulder. But he’s so sexy… even when he’s wearing high water pants and walks like he’s squeezing his butt cheeks together.

And of course, some woman other than me plays the lead role.

I’ve watched several series featuring Lee Min-Ho, but they didn’t make it to my favorite lists. If I’m not mistaken, his next series — The Inheritors — starts in a few days. I’m excited. It will also feature Choi Jin-Hyuk from Gu Family Book. From the looks of it, Jin-Hyuk will have a supporting role.

Nine: Nine Time Travels

Nine: Nine Time Travels is very much like the Butterfly Effect. Only he uses incense sticks to time travel to the past exactly 20 years from the present, right down to the last second. Unlike the Butterfly Effect where Ashton Kutcher screws everything up even worse, each time the lead goes back in time he gains a bit more insight into his present.

This series was intriguing and dealt with paradoxes in a reasonable way… for the most part. It really left me with a bittersweet feel. Still it was satisfying. It was because of this series that I started seeking Korean time travel shows, since I’ve never really been big in that genre.

I don’t know what it was about Lee Jin-Wook in this role, but he made a blip on my sexy radar. It’s odd, because I watched him in another Korean Drama and despite him having the lead role, I totally was rooting for the other team. Still he was sexy in this one. It’s probably because he didn’t play a jerk like he did in the other K-Drama I didn’t like him in.

Lie to Me

Last but not least, Lie to Me. I happened upon this one by accident. In fact, this is likely the series which got me on the K-Drama rampage. I was searching for the American Lie to Me and happened to come across this. I was so excited my cable company carried it on demand. Watched that, then started seeking other Korean shows.

Basically, this circles around a gal who turns a misunderstanding into a lie and runs with it. I’m talking olympic running. It’s one of those Cinderella stories. Now that I think about it, a lot of Korean Dramas are Cinderella stories. Rich man meets poor girl and they beat all odds for their happy ever after.

Now I have to admit, I’ve watched so many Korean Dramas, I’m not sure it belongs as a favorite. However, since it’s what drew me in, I can’t help but be fond of it.

So that’s enough for now. This list is not all-inclusive. They’re just the ones which come to mind and have a special place in my head at the moment. Hope you enjoy!

Are you into K-Drama? What are some of your favorites?