Well folks, I have returned to the blog, (is anyone even reading
this stuff?) with a vengeance. I know last week I promised you I would
review the writing on one of my favorite shows The Following, but
truthfully, I'm reserving judgement based on their new season. They have
a lot of opportunity, both to make it amazing or a royal flop. Once
I've made up my mind I promise to update you on that.
Normally
I do a book review at the end of my blog, but today I'm going to start
with it becaue it comes with a story. I recently started a job which
takes me into the heart of downtown Houston. Anyone who has spent more
than ten minutes on Houston roads will tell you that our worst problem
is traffic. Houston is a major metropolitan area, and it sprawls like a
languid fat whore, taking in anyone and anything on the outskirts of its
smelly folds (that is not to say that I don't love my city more than
anything). Because of this, and the massive amounts of population, one
can never predict how long it will take to get from one place or
another. On any given morning it can take you an hour for a ten minute
trip or fifteen minutes for something that normally takes half an hour.
Therefore everyone in Houston is always late, rushing and annoyed with
absolutely anyone and everyone else on the road. Which makes for mighty
poor drivers. This means that by the end of the two hour commute from
anywhere to anywhere during rush hour traffic (yes, even if you're
running to the corner store for a pack of smokes, it may take you five
minutes, it may take you sixty-five), you are not a very pleasant person
to be around.
Well fear no more, I have the
solution. We spend all of our money on phones and tablets, GPS's and
on-board communications, and we use them all (sometimes concurrently)
while driving. The reason for this being that sitting in traffic for two
hours can get downright dull. Of course this causes more accidents,
more traffic and more annoyance for everyone involved. The Solution?
AUDIO BOOKS!
Before
you go EWW those are for my Grandma, just give me a chance. First of
all, who doesn't watch Game of Thrones, or isn't waiting for the new
Insurgent release? You don't have to listen to Pride and Prejudice or
Beowulf anymore, the world of audio books has expanded. There are books
on every subject read by some of our most famous actors of stage and
film. It's like being read the plot to your favorite movie by Morgan
Freeman. Choose something that will hold your interest. Consequently,
your nearest Half-Price books has Clearance audio books for no more than
two or three dollars! What a bargain!
I was
really concerned that I would not be able to survive the two hour drive
(which should only take me fifteen minutes) every day on my way home.
Now that I have audio books, I don't even feel the time pass. If you can
arrive home relaxed, inspired and having learned something, instead of
feeling like you just wasted hours of your life sitting in a car, I
promise you will feel much better about driving, in Houston or anywhere
else. I actually look forward to traffic now, because it gives me a
chance to catch up with my favorite characters!
Audio
books are now available on all your favorite listening devices and some
even come free. Tired of Disc Jockeys and commercials? Not enough money
for Sirius Sattelite Radio? Can't stand the latest Taylor Swift song
(they play the damn things every two minutes I swear)? Then invest in an
audio book on your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Nook, Android and a multitude
of audio book apps. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.
REVIEW
That
being said, I've been listening to this audio book by Sam Cabot named
Blood of the Lamb. I read the synopsis and felt so excited to read this
book. As those of you who know me can attest, I Loooooooooooove Dan
Brown. He cannot write fast enough to accomodate my addiction to his
work. When Cabot's book was described as a Dan Brown type thriller with
vampires, I had some minor reservations but was thoroughly excited.
Well.........
What can I say about Cabot's work except that I'm on the seventh CD
(out of eleven) and I honestly would prefer the traffic. Dan Brown's
genius (am I gushing?) is that he's constantly propelling the plot
forward. It takes him one to two chapters flat to give you all the
exposition you need and then it's right into the thick of it. There's
always some kind of ticking clock and insidious villain ready to impede
Robert Langdon's progress and we absolutely NEED to know what happens on
the next page. With Cabot, I'm over halfway into the book and the most
that's happened is they found a secret notebook. By now Robert Langdon
would have solved the mystery and run off to some exotic place with his
stock attractive female sidekick. Cabot is too busy waxing poetic about
how judgy religion is and how they don't accept vampires to keep us
going. I'm going to stick it out simply because I have a masochistic
streak, but I can't say I highly recommend it.
NEW WORK
I
recently joined the Bay Area Writers League. We meet every two week at
Barnes&Noble to share and critique our work and I have to say they
are a wonderful group of people. Sure they tend to talk over each other
and sometimes bicker like a little family, but their individual talent
and unique voices make for a strong critique group. I was truly
impressed by some of the work I read from them and honestly can't
believe some of them aren't published. I have asked a few of them for a
full copy of their work as I can't NOT know what's going to happen next
in their story. That is one of my top pet peeves (are you listening
George R R Martin???? What about you ABC?), is gripping me with an
outstanding and exciting story, and then either cancelling the show or
taking your sweet time publishing the next book. It makes you a
cock-tease. Don't do it. Just don't.
Anyway, I've started work on a novella entitled "Diary of a Caveman" (a copy of the first few pages is under the Short Stories & Blurbs section,
and I am hoping to finish it in a few months. I will be self-publishing
this novella on Amazon and you will be able to purchase the entire
thing for no more than three dollars when it launches. I will post
excerpts here as I go.
Next time I'll talk
about my forum WritersBeat and one of my new favorite sites Archive of
Our Own to which I am now a contributing writer. If you want to check
out the Bay Area Writer's League follow them on Facebook Here
Until Next Time
READ ON!
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