What I've been up to lately

Just a general update on all things Matt.

I started writing a new novel a few weeks ago. I've written in spurts here and there and have gotten 5,000 words out. That's not bad, but a standard novel is 80-100,000 words. So I've got some time to go. It's interesting that when I work on one project, I start getting ideas for others. For example, I'm engrossed in this (to the point that I often am thinking about the characters as I'm trying to go to bed) but on the way to work I started thinking of the other book I wrote and ways to make it better. Hmm... At least I'll have something to do when I'm done with this project.

I've read a few books and can give comment.

I finished Flyte by Angie Sage last night. This is the second book in the Magyk series. The first book had the irritation of me feeling like I was being treated like an idiot by the author. This one I just felt the author was an idiot. She changes point of view several times in most scenes, she goes into detail about little tangent ideas that aren't vital to the plot, and she sometimes gets into the point of view of an animal or even an inanimate object. Her biggest offense is she just doesn't know how to write. She had a lot of different storylines building towards a climax, the climax hit, then she spent seventy pages building to a smaller climax. I'm sorry, but you need to climax then slide to the end. Another beef I have is that she commits the cardinal sin of fantasy writing, she has characters doing things just because That's the Way They're Done or when the Time is Right. And she is pretentious enough to capitzlize like that too. I really don't think I can read the other books in the series, even though I'm told they get better. Life's too short to read crappy books.

A much better book, perhaps the best book I've read this year, was Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. The idea is there was some sort of apocalypse after which humanity decided that all problems in the world involve people being different. To correct this, everyone, at the age of sixteen, has an operation to turn you into a Pretty. Before that you are considered an Ugly. Everyone believes the idea that being Pretty is superior, and that everyone who isn't a Pretty really is ugly. This is until the main character meets a girl who doesn't want to get the operation. She learns of an outcast society that lives outside the city and refuses to get the operation. The main character is forced to follow and learns the truth about the society and what becoming a Pretty really does to you. Uglies really reminded me of Stephenie Meyer's The Host, at least in tone. Uglies is the first book in a trilogy.

And last of all is The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The idea here is that the Greek gods are still around and living in NYC. Most of the children of these gods attend Camp Half-blood each summer, and some are powerful enough to attract the attention of a lot of monsters and are forced to remain at the camp all year. At the camp, each Greek god has their own cabin and you live with the other children that god has produced with mortals. The big three gods, Zeus, Hades, and Poseiden all made a pact not to have any more children because they all end up too powerful and end up causing world wars. Our hero, Percy Jackson, learns he's the son of Poseiden and then is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt. The Lightning Thief is a really good book that resembles Harry Potter in tone but very unique in plot.

And just a blog note, I may be changing my blog address. I set this blog up when I had hotmail. Now I've changed to gmail and blogger won't let me change to my gmail address. So when I comment on your blogs I do so with my gmail account so I can receive follow up comments on my gmail account. So, if I change addresses, I'll put up a post with the address.