No tears were shed

I'm back in the saddle and editing Uncertain Heirs. Thus far, I've cut over five hundred words from the first two scenes of Chapter 1. Which is funny -- the first thing I cut was a paragraph from the opening that I had painstakingly crafted over and over and over to be perfect. Only now do I realize just how detrimental it was to Chapter 1. C'est la vie, I guess.

Life update

Hi, folks, thought I would drop in and give a status update. I have a lot of priority things going on right now (transitioning to a new day job), so while I was updating twice a week, my updates for the next month or so may be limited. I'm almost ready to start diving back into Uncertain Heirs, so I'll keep you posted on that.

I have a short story in the works, too, that's unrelated to my novel, but hopefully should be just as fun. If I finish it first (it should, hypothetically, take less time than a novel), then I'll make it available on Amazon's digital download. :)

That's all for now! See you guys again, soon.

Labelling accomplishments

I've always been curious how others define themselves in the literary world. Are they "writers" or "authors"? Does one have to come before the other? Is there a specific criterion that someone must have in order to go from one to the other?

Personally, when people ask what I do, I find myself answering "I'm writing a book". I wonder if, once I have published Uncertain Heirs, my answer will change to "I write books" or if I will make it a prideful announcement of "I'm an author"? I wonder if there'll be a difference for me, or if it will even matter?

Does it matter to you now/will it matter what your label is?

Ending in the afterlife

This doesn't relate to Uncertain Heirs, but I'm wondering how people feel about books ending with a character ascending to the afterlife? Have you seen it done, and if so, how did the author accomplish it? Did they offer a paragraph to say the character went on to join whatever version of the afterlife, or did they show it completely and dedicate a chapter to it? I want to know if it feels contrived to you as the reader, or if it could be a plausible ending?

Reading achievement unlocked

I spent the holiday weekend doing what I said I would do: catch up on some reading. I finished The Hobbit (Finally!), read all of Micah in under four hours (New record!), and read through The Music of Erich Zann (Yay!). Aside from magically ripping a toenail off in my bed this morning, I had a fantastic weekend.

How about the rest of you: reading anything exciting for your holiday weekend? :)

Unfinished reading

I went through my books this past weekend, and found a few that I started reading, but for one reason or another did not finish:

• The Hobbit, for instance. I've had a bookmark in that thing since 2005, and I only ever made it to the wine barrel scene. I never made it to Smaug!
• Then there's the Da Vinci Code, which I'm about four pages in. I think I started it back the same year the movie came out -- when was that? Cripes, 2006! I must've started the book at the beginning of 2007, then.
• Micah is a book by Laurell K. Hamilton that fits into her Anita Blake series -- I bought it, but I never read it because I didn't consider it part of the series (I thought it was only a stand alone). I found out a few years ago it is part of the series. Whoops.
• The complete short stories of H. P. Lovecraft -- love those. I read them before bed because they're nice and short. I'd been reading those in the order they were written, and I left off at The Outsider. Next on that list will be The Music of Erich Zann. That puts me close to halfway through his list of short stories. After that, it'll be the novels.
• I started Around the World in 80 Days two years ago while working for a utility company, but I only made it 6% through (according to my Kindle).
• Then there's Black Beauty, which I'm halfway through.

I like reading the classic works, such as The Hobbit, Black Beauty, etc., because I think everyone should read those to be well-versed in the English language. Seriously, how much easier would Shakespeare and Chaucer (the two of whom high school students complain most about reading because "Oh, you can't understand them!") be to read if children read classics from the 1800-1900s in primary and middle schools leading up to Shakespeare and Chaucer in high school?

Ranting aside -- how about you folks? Any unfinished reading you've been itching to complete? Is there a reason you want to finish reading those stories, or did you abandon them because of how bad/boring/whatever they were?