If you possess a Kindle, I highly recommend that you buy Eternal Eden by Nicole Williams. It is only 99 cents, and well worth the price. I literally could not put my Kindle down, it was that good. I nearly cried several times while reading it, and couldn't help but wonder "How in the world is this girl not formally published?" I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.
Here is the book description from Amazon.
"College sophomore Bryn Dawson is a self-proclaimed poster child for normal. However, the day William Hayward enters her life, normalcy is the last thing Bryn will be able to count on if she wants to be with him. Too mysterious and appealing to be good for a girl, Bryn feels drawn to him in a way that seems out of her control—as if fate is orchestrating it.
Despite every red flag and warning siren going off in her head telling her not to, Bryn falls hard for William, knowing he’s categorically different from anyone she’s ever met. She never imagined how right she was. When William takes her deeper into the rabbit hole of his world, Bryn must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to be with him, knowing no matter what, fate always finds a way to have the last laugh.
Spinning a new twist on star-crossed lovers, Eternal Eden will put Bryn through a gauntlet of turmoil, challenging her to find the power within herself to become the heroine in her own story."
Please read, I promise it will not disappoint. Let me know your thoughts if you do!
Ok not really, but she makes me feel infinitely inferior. While I was watching the latest installment in the Potter world (Deathly Hallows part 1), it got me to thinking about the importance of descriptions. Now I want to state for the record, that I basically die a slow death every time I have to force myself to go back and flush out a description of a place or thing. My mind simply tires of having to illustrate every detail and nuance of a scene.
And if I'm being completely honest, in the majority of books I read, I sometimes find myself skipping over long drawn out descriptions. Some of them are ridiculous and mind numbing. Frankly who can stand reading two or more paragraphs describing the china, or the pictures on the wall, or the food on the table? I can't that's who. Do I really need a detailed list of every piece of food that a main character places into their mouth? No, no I don't.
So in my own work, I tend towards the theory less is more. Unless more is needed. If it isn't imperative to my story, I cut it out. This is a theory many writers, or would be writers for that matter, could stand to adapt. Too many times it feels as if an author is trying to fill up dead space.
But back to J.K. Rowling, she is superb detailer. She never over explains, and her descriptions pull you into her world completely. This is an example of the art that I strive to imitate. To give enough description to pull a reader into my world, but not too much to turn them off.
I'm sure many authors will disagree with me, maybe even label me a dissenter, but please remember this is only one lowly writer's opinion. I say write what works for you. After all if you don't follow my advice, I'll probably just skip over the boring overly described parts and still enjoy reading your book.
P.S I apologize in advance for any annoying overusage of the word description, but it couldn't be helped!
What can I say? Life lately has been one crazy, hectic, and basically out of control roller coaster. I've been up writing in the quiet hours of 11:00pm - 6:00am, trying to bust out the last 65-70 pages of my book. Yes, I am that close to finishing! This is being made possible by my amazing hero of a husband who has been waking up with the kiddos so that I can finally sleep. That is not to say that I will be anywhere near done polishing The Beast. Unfortunately, that will not end until it shines with a pearly white complexion. And then comes the process of writing a query...argh my head hurts thinking about it.
So anyway, since my brain is usually the consistency of mush when it comes to writing anything during the daylight hours, I've decided to list the top authors that have intrigued me in the last let's say year. Yes, I know that is a huge stretch of time, but give a girl a break! Plus I wanted to stretch it that long so I can include a favorite that I keep rereading. The following are in no particular order. Feel free to let me know if you agree with my choices, or for that matter disagree.
1. Suzanne Collins- The Hunger Games trilogy (I finally got around to reading these and they blew me away!)
2. Kiersten White- Paranormalcy (I love love Kiersten and freely admit that I stalk her on her blog, facebook, and twitter)
3. Cassandra Clare- The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series (Honestly, these books could go on for years and I would continue to read them)
4. Maria V. Snyder- Poison Study trilogy and Glass Study trilogy (If you haven't read any of her work you should, they are amazing!)
5. Lauren Kate- Fallen & Torment (I really think that her series on fallen angels are the best in the angel genre)
6. Julie Kagawa- Iron King, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen (Her fairy books are superb)
Now I want to add two Kindle Authors that I found on Amazon that I really liked. What I would like to add it that they are self-published authors, therefore there are numerous grammatical and punctuation errors within both. But if you can get around this fact, both of these series have original ideas and really pulled me into the story.
1. Imogen Heap for her Portal Chronicles
2. Amanda Hocking for her Trylle Trilogy (I wouldn't really recommend any of her other work, as I was seriously disappointed in her other series. They felt rushed and unoriginal)
Back to the grindstone, as I leave you with a little something that helps to inspire my writing.
