Confession Time

Burn Baby Burn Baby Blog Tour 2014 Mass Opinion Of The UnRead

Confession Time

I have a confession to make. While everyone is making New Year’s resolutions and trying to stick to them, I’m going to confess.

Forgive me, dear readers, for I have committed the ultimate writerly sin; I have not been reading. There I said it. And now that I’ve said it, I realize it’s not entirely true. I have been reading. I have read a number of new works by up and coming writers. Writers brave enough to trust me with the infamous “shitty first drafts”. Keep an eye out for Kate Arms Roberts: The Red Oak, Connie Di Pietro-Sparacino: Daughter of God, Samantha Banik: The Pirate and T obin Elliott: Cycle of the Aphotic World trilogy!

I have also been reading my own writing over and over and over again…

Normally I am a voracious reader. I would stay up late into the night, trapped between the pages of a good book. But since I started writing and since the i-products have insinuated themselves into my nightly routine with Netflix, I have barely read.

I am trying to get myself back to no electronics at night. (Keep your minds out of the gutter, people, this is a kid friendly show). I have a few books I have started that I need to finish and a number of books I really want to read.

First I have a few books by writers I know who write in genres outside of my normal reading field of comfort. Let me get this up front, I don’t read Romance (any variety thereof) or Historical (see previous). Now before you jump all over me, I will admit that I let the bad stereotypes of those genre taint my perspective. Because of that, and because I write Horror, which is a melting pot of all the genres, I feel it is my best interest to read outside my comfort zone. In the interest of research and because I know these writers and they do good work.

So on my reading list is, in no particular order;

Kevin Craig: Burn Baby, Burn Baby. I’ve read his book, Summer on Fire and if this is YA, then I like YA. And I know Kevin. He’s the most humble writer you’d ever meet.

Claire Gillian: The Pure. I’ve actually started this and while it is labelled a romance, it is not heavy-handed and the main character is instantly likeable and relatable. While I don’t like comparisons, if you like Janet Evanovich, you’ll like Claire. She is one of the writers I meet through Absolute Write and she can write dark and humour. Sometimes at the same time.

Diane Dooley: Blue Galaxy. This one may be too Sci-fi romance for my tastes but I also know Diane from Absolute Write, and she can write. She is another romance writer that can write dark. I love her darker stuff. So I will read this.

Elaine Cougler: The Loyalist’s Wife. Another book I am hesitant on because of the genre, but another one I will read anyway. I meet Elaine at the Algonkian Writer’s conference. Are all writers really nice people or is it only the ones I know?

And, of course, on the list are the books in the genre’s I’m more familiar with, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, The Divine Comedy, Faust, Paradise Lost. All of which I have read bits and pieces of. And my standard gotos like Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley and Charles Dickens.

Then there are the anthologies. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas in Canada: 101 Stories about the Joy and Wonder of the Holidays, WCDR’s Short Short Fiction Renaissance, Tomes of Terror. Filled with writers I know.

And I have a number of series I need to catch up on. Terry Goodkind: Sword of Truth. Dan Brown: Inferno. (Don’t judge me, I actually liked Angels and Demons). Andrew Pyper: The Damned. Dean Koontz: Odd series.

There are so many more and I’m afraid my night table is not rated for the weight that sits on it.

So that’s my confession and I suppose my resolution.

I’m excited. This feels like it is going to be a productive writing year. A building on the momentum of this past year. Here are a few pictures of what I was up to and why I wasn’t blogging.

The Muskoka Novel Marathon July 2014.

Three Ships for Three Kings was written here.