Brandy Hunt's Blog, page 2

Book binging and reading New Coastal Times by Donna Callea

So I got my book binge on this weekend.  I was on a book fast, completely willing to finish all of the books I picked up from Blog Tour de Force from my fellow participants, but then I read a sample for Take the All Mart by J.I. Greco, and had to have it and several others.  And no, I haven't read Take the All-mart yet — I'm saving it.

Anyway, reading New Coastal Times by Donna Callea was an eye opener.  This is kind of how I imaged some of what happened to make the world of Promise Kept.  It is a fabulous book.  If there hadn't been quite so many large chunks of info dumped in the beginning of the book, I would have given it five stars.  The info dumped really slowed down the beginning of the book, and I started to get frustrated until it picked up.

Anyway, it is a really great read, and if anyone out there is actually interested in how global warming might kill the world, I would suggest reading it.

Back to the book fast.  I have so many books to read!

State of the Writing

I'm slowly getting through the last writing commitment I have for September.  I'm still not sure if it what I want to write, but hey, I have another week or so .

As for other projects, well.  Writer's block is a horrible concept and does extend to editing.  I'm hoping to get something going before the end of the month, or I'm going to have to resort to the heavy guns — rewriting something from the trunk .  If I keep standing still, I'm just going to start moving backward.

State of the Writing

Evangeline is no longer talking to me.  I'm not sure if it is the cold meds, but I have hit a stone, cold wall.  Even my muse isn't showing up anymore.  Time to put Evangeline back on a back burner and let her simmer for awhile.  Maybe I can pick her up again for Nanowrimo.

This sinus infection is kicking my ass and trying to move into my lungs.  Asthma thankfully is no longer acting up.  I hate my body most of the time, but right now, it has beaten me into submission.  I just wish I could sleep on my back instead of drowning whenever I lay down.

Operation E-book and the surprise email

As some know, I am all about Operation E-book.  I love the idea of giving soldiers books, since it is such small way to give them some relief from their daily grind, and it makes the idea of self promotion more palatable to me when I have to do it.  Put a quarter in, take a quarter out, sort of thing .

Anyway, I got a my first thank you email back today from someone in Afghanistan.  This lovely young woman took time out of her schedule to thank me for some thing so small compared to the service she give our country.  I cried a little, then I emailed her to tell her she didn't need to thank me, it was the other way around.

Sometimes people surprise you so much.  I don't know how many emails I've sent over the last year for Operation E-book, but I do know this is the first thank you.

I don't need thanks.  I need for our soldiers to come home.  They don't deserve to have their service squandered on the political agendas of such horrible men.

New review — 3 stars from 1000 + Books to Read

I just got a really great review from the very nice woman over at 1000 + Books to Read.  Thanks so much.

My interview with John Rakestraw

So I had my first official interview, and it was with John Rakestraw.  He is a wonderful interviewer.  He just seems to get it, ya know?  He also is great at making it just you and him.  I completely forgot that people were listening, and I was being recorded.  I don't actually have stage fright, but I have to admit the idea of calling in and talking to this guy I've only exchanged email with was kind of tough.  However, it quickly became just me and my new friend John talking about what I like to do, which is tell stories.

If you ever get the chance to be interviewed by John, take it.  He won't let you down.  Also, take a moment to go over and listen to my interview.  There is a comment section, and I'll try to keep checking there for those who might leave comments.

State of the writing

So, for those following my twitter feed, you already know I'm working on something new.  Not a lot of words yet, but I'm planning a blitz attack with Write or Die over the weekend.  I figure with the red screen of doom and the horrible banana phone song, I should be able to get some nice wordage in.

As for the weekend, I'm going to be interviewed by John Rakestraw on his podcast "John Rakestraw Talks."  It will be live 10:30am Pacific time (1:30 pm East Coast time).  I also plan to get some of my other writing commitments out of the way – an essay for Nanorwrimo and some critiques for other authors.

And yes, feeling better from the wibbly wobbly stuff, so hopefully, more writing will be going on.

SPOILER WARNING: A Chemical Fire by Brian Martinez — a proper review — 5 stars

The basic plot of A Chemical Fire by Brian Martinez is that this guy, John, is your average school teacher.  He narrowly survives a hold up, then when going back to the police station the next day to give his statement, he gets creamed in a hit and run right in front of the police department.

During the course of his recovery, he becomes addicted to prescription painkillers.  And as he struggles to maintain his addition and his life, things slowly go pear-shaped, resulting in an arson case.  To make a long story short, he possible od's the day of his court case because he snorts heroine in the back of a police cruiser, and when he does, the world burns, for everyone except him and three other people.

The world is populated by Victims, zombie like creatures that want to eat the living but who looked like they have been burned to death, and these four very fucked up people.

At the very beginning, I did have a moment of, "Did he overdose?"  But I quickly got embroiled in the story.  You wouldn't think that John would become such a sympathetic character, but as you meet the other three people involved, his problems sort of become the least worrying.  Adena is an anorexic dietician, Janet is a drug dealer/necrophiliac, Daniel is a murderer/hoarder/hatemonger.

You quickly come to see that Adena, Daniel and Janet are all connected to each other, just as they are all connected to John in some way — a really twisted web of denial and enablement that just keeps chugging down the tracks as long as John can find a vehicle to hot wire and the right drugs to drown out his pain.  As the plot moves ahead, I came to realize three things after John reaches the Hoover Dam.

It really doesn't matter if John overdosed in the police car.
This book is less about the world as we know it, and more about the world according to John.
The entire book seems to be Martinez's way of saying, "Addiction is always the end of the world for someone."

Now, let me explain why I think this is true.  The easiest point here is the last one.  Addiction is a terrible thing that destroys lives.  Using a version of the zombie apocalypse to talk about that, well, it is an applicable theme because of point number two.

People who have addictions can rarely see how their lifestyle affects others.  By the time a person gets to the point of snorting heroine in a car, that person has probably already done something she or he has sworn to never do.  I would say that is one way to destroy, if not your world, then your sense of self.

Now that first point — it really doesn't matter if John overdosed in the police car.  Because if he did, and all of this is in his head, then becoming Death is still destroying his world — or at least the way he experiences it — his brain.  Or if he did overdose in the police car, and the burning of the world was caused by it, then he is still Death, and he will destroy the world he lives in.

Either way, he has released the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.  It is up to the reader to decide if limiting the horsemen to the world in John's head makes for a better read, or to take the novel word for word.  Personally, I think it might be some of both, considering what we hear people whispering as John comes out of his rages.

State of the Writing

The State of the Writing is there has been no writing.  The last week has been full of wibbly wobbly bits that I said that this blog wouldn't ever really be about.  If you want to know more about my wibbly wobbly bits that don't necessarily pertain to writing, you can jump over to atuinsails.livejournal.com and find out what has been going on.

State of the Writing

I have the first third of Promise Kept edited.  I'm waiting on more from my editor at this point.  However, I have put off the sequel to Promise Kept, because I'm working on something I want to submit for an anthology.

Busy, busy bee working her stinger off over here.