So many books, so little time...

It's hard for me to say exactly what I'm reading now. Well, not hard to say, I can say it very easily. It's hard for me to say what I'm reading now by naming one book, is the problem.

I tend to have several books on the go at once. Usually it's a combination of fiction and non, with various magazines thrown in as well, and whatever comic the hubs decides I absolutely have to read, too.

Yesterday I read Marian Keyes' "Anybody Out There". It's a lovely book--I love Marian Keyes--but so, so, so, so, so sad. Seriously. I cried. Be warned, if you plan on reading it. The trademark funny moments are there--one or two of which I'm still giggling over--but man. SAD.

Finishing it put me in the mood for more Keyes, but cheerful Keyes, which ruled out my favorite Keyes book Rachel's Holiday. So I grabbed her Under the Duvet instead, which is non-fiction.

I'm also reading Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel. And Julie Burchill's The Guardian Columns 1998-2000. And Five Families, a book about the rise of the Mafia in New York (research).

I'm about to start reading a new mystery I just grabbed which looks interesting called The Red Dahlia about a Black Dahlia copycat killer in the UK, and I can't remember the author but it looks pretty good.

How many books do you read? Are you fickle like me, or are you actually grown-up? :-)

Caution! Falling books ahead!

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Just Finished Reading Pile, not time for TBR

I just got back from vacation in Mexico (have the going on 5-day food poisoning to prove it), and had such a great time catching up on a few of my TBR books. I read Laurell K. Hamilton's latest Anita Blake offering since I got a killer discount on it at Barnes and Noble. It was....okay. Not as good as the first books, and I might have skipped it if I weren't writing a lot of urban fantasy stuff these days and wanting to get a vibe for what's going on in that world now. (I have a bunch of other UF books in my TBR pile, but don't know if I'll get to them before the summer is through because all my kiddies will be home again soon, which cuts down on the reading time.)



Also read this book, "Rhymes with Witches" by Lauren Myracle. It's Young Adult, and it totally rocked. I've been reading a lot of YA the past year because I wrote my first YA. As I'm hoping to get started on my second this July/August, I thought I deserved a little YA treat to get me in the mood and this one was just great. One part horror, one part "Mean Girls", it just...well I highly recommend it is all I'm saying.

Have a great Wednesday!

Anna J. Evans

Coming up next on TBR

The TBR pile, that is. Lately, I've been doing a lot of reading for an award committee I'm serving on for my day profession. So, I'm not going to be talking about that :) For fun, I've been poking my way through Megan Hart's Broken (wunderbar!), Sherrill's Damnation from the Edge of Night anthology (fabu!), and the conference program. I'm at the big conference for my day profession, and the program's helped me keep my sanity.

These days, my life's gotten pretty full and reading time is a premium. I do make the time because it's been a constant pleasure in my life. I'm going to take a moment to make a quick plug for your local public library. Librarians like it when patrons ask about books and what's available. Make sure your librarians know what you like to read because they won't purchase it for the library if they don't know someone in the area likes it. And a service the great majority of libraries offer (even if they don't call it this) is reader's advisory. This is where you tell the librarian what you've liked reading in the past, what you're interested in reading next, and she works her magic and comes up with a suggestion or two for you. That's one of my absolute favorite parts of my job.

What I'm Reading

Right now I'm making my way through Passionate Ink, a how-to book by Angela Knight, one of my all-time favorite erotic romance authors. The advice she gives on plotting, characterization, etc. is good for whatever type of book you're writing. But she also gives information specifically on how to write an erotic romance, and it's really, really good info. If you're a writer of ero-rom, I highly recommend this book.

For pleasure, I just finished up a romantic suspense book by Brenda Novak. The next one in my TBR pile is a Silhouette Nocturne by Linda Howard titled Raintree: Inferno. I can't really tell from the back cover blurb what the book's about, other than it has wizard bad guys and the hero can do something with fire. And, of course, the heroine messes with him. But it's a Linda Howard. Can't go wrong.

What about you? What are you reading right now?

So many movies, so little space!

Comfort books are easy. Anything by Maeve Binchy or Barbara Michaels. Guaranteed to make me forget my troubles.

Movies...a little harder. There's so many, you see. Depending on why I'm down, or what I'm in the mood for...

I love The Color Purple. When my Grandpa died almost twenty years ago, I was sitting on the couch, dazed and upset, and this was on. It took me about forty-five minutes to realize I'd gotten so caught up in the movie I'd actually stopped being upset. I was lost. It always effects me that way--a stunning film, really.

The Godfather is another one. I especially like the "Godfather Saga", which was a re-edited version Bravo (I think) aired at one point. They put it all in chronolical order, so it started with young Vito Corleone, and moved forward to the end. (I pretend Godfather III doesn't exist, btw.) But I can always watch this one, I adore it.

Lord of the Rings, of course! The entire trilogy. It never gets old, never.

The hubs and I both love Free Enterprise, which is a great movie if you're a bit of a geek like us. (I'm not linking to most of them because I'm assuming you've heard of the others.) Very funny, very sweet. And Bill Shatner plays himself. Awesome.

Die Hard. Speed. Any John Woo films starring Chow Yun-Fat, especially The Killer or Hard Boiled. The Dirty Dozen. Miller's Crossing. About A Boy (LOVE that movie!) Pride and Prejudice (the real BBC version, not that travesty with Kiera Knightley).

I love movies. There are so many movies I could name, but--oh wait, I forgot Bad Santa and The Ref, for Christmas comfort--that's a list of my biggies.

What makes a movie a comfort film for you? Is it a happy ending, or lots of action, or just something absorbing, or do you look for a really funny film?

Who'd ever have thought Christopher Walken could be so sexy?

A normal guy. Just an everyday, hardworking, normal guy. Fundamentally decent. Warm-hearted. Caring. And so blinded by grief he can't even see what's standing in front of him.

When I think "tormented hero", the first character that springs to my mind is Jacob Witting. We see him raising two children alone, battling almost surmountable odds to keep a farm going single-handedly... Nothing extraordinary here, no saving the world, no power, no wealth -- just a farmer trying to survive the loss of his wife and keep himself going for the sake of his children.

How could I not fall completely, totally, and utterly in love? How could Sarah Wheaton not? I don't think there's another movie I've ever seen where I've rooted as hard for the two characters to get together as I have in this movie. Every single time I watch it.

Who's your favorite "Everyman" hero? Not the Darcys or the Rhett Butlers or the Robin Hoods of the world -- just the plain, ordinary guys who completely steal your heart?

Best Comfort Movie of ALL time

http://www.bbcamericashop.com/default.asp?cpa=product&id=4199&ctl=81&cc=21247&tt=

I've never posted the link to buy ANYTHING on a blog (except my books ;)), so I hope you realize the significance of the link below Anne of Green Gable's picture. It's the link to the bbc america shop where you can purchase this miniseries. (But only buy the firsts two, the last movie was made like 10 years later and the actress who plays Anne's voice sounds weird and both she and Gilbert look so much older and it depressed me. I wanted them to stay the same forever. Plus it's just flat out not as good.)

If you don't know the story of Anne of Green Gables, originally a series of books by Lucy Maude Montgomery, I'll sum it up quickly--Orphan girl is farmed out to work as not much more than a slave, bumped from foster home to foster home and finally ends up on Prince Edward Island with an old brother and sister, neither of whom have ever married, and together they learn to be a family amongst much mayhem (or 19th century mayhem anyway.) And there's a great romance with the boy who used to pull her pigtails in school.

I love this miniseries for dozens of reasons, but mostly becuase it was the first time I ever saw a character portrayed who...well...how do I put this...was as crazy as I was? Not crazy, but eccentric maybe. Even years later, I finally convinced my hubby to watch it with me and he was like, 'dear god, she's so much like you, a little crazier but...' To which I replied, 'you should have met me when I was seventeen.'

Anne was my kindred spirit when I was a girl and still is today (though I think she does a better job of focusing on the bright side than I have of late). Everytime I'm sick or need a little mood pick-me-up (when Roo is visiting his dad and I get to missing him so horribly my guts hurt), I start up the Anne of Green Gables mini-series and immediately feel better.

There are other movies I like to power up when I'm feverish (Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Wedding Date because Dermot is HOT in that movie), but nothing is ever as good as Anne.

Sigh....I'm not here right now because I'm in Mexico...but when I get back, I'm feeling a marathon coming on.

Have a great Wednesday!

Anna J. Evans

http://annajevans.com

My favorite books

Yeah, I've got a lot of comfort books. Probably why I have 66 feet of shelving full of fiction books. Hmmm...I think my top comfort books are Mercy by Julie Garwood, Now You See Her by Linda Howard and Northern Lights by Nora Roberts. Well, Northern Lights is more my audio comfort book. I'm planning on chilling out to it on my road trip in two weeks.

My second tier of comfort books are Welcome to Temptation by Jenny Crusie, any number of Nora Roberts/JD Robb books, the newest book by Lynn Kurland, Kay Hooper, Amanda Quick/JAK, Julia Quinn, Christine Feehan's Ghostwalker and Carpathian series, Sherrilyn Kenyon's Hunters series, Stephanie Laurens' Cynster series, and a few more. I'm always picking up new authors, and I'm also willing to leave authors if they no longer bring me comfort. Hate to do it, but sometimes, it's needed.

Like I said, I've got about 66 feet of fiction titles and probably about 40 feet of non-fiction. As for electronic books, at last inventory, I've got over 100 titles. Did I ever mention how much my brother and one cousin cursed me as they helped me move a few months ago? Just being around books gives me comfort. A lesser reason why I became a librarian as my day job :)

Comfort Movies

When I'm feeling a little blue and need a bit of a pick-me-up, there are a few feel-good movies that I might pop into the VCR or DVD player. Many of them are classics and, depending on whether I want to laugh or just go "Awwww," I might watch any or all of these. Here they are, along with my favorite line from the movie:

The Wizard of Oz ("These things must be handled delicately, delicately.")

The Sound of Music (No favorite lines on this one. I just love the music and the story.)

Arsenic and Old Lace ("Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.")

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ("I saw what I saw when I saw it." I don't know why that strikes my funny bone. It just does.)

Casino Royale (I actually have a few favorite lines from this one, which I've blogged about before, but here... Okay, I'll admit. This one's here for the eye candy value.)

Comedy of Terrors ("To paraphrase that venerable adage, we'll be able to kill two birds with one pillow.")


What about you? Any favorite movies you use to get you out of an emotional slump?

The Bad Guy

I actually really like villains. And I'm not necessarily someone who needs the villain to have big deep motivations, either.

If he's a big part of the story, then yes. He can't be a cookie-cutter psycho. That would be rather dull, sure.

But in a shorter story, or a story where the villain is unseen or even unimportant for most of the book?

Let me put it this way. My medieval romance (release date TBA from Cerridwen Press) has a bad guy. But I didn't spend a lot of time on him, because I honestly didn't see the need. He's a minor character; in fact, he only comes into the story because of the acts of a different bad guy who did have motives and thoughts etc. No, this bad guy is essentially a contract killer who enjoys his work. He's...empty. His motives are purely selfish; he wants what he wants, and he has a job to do that he plans to enjoy, and that's the way it goes. Think of James Gandolfini in True Romance--although my bad guy isn't as amusing, I don't think.

My friend Erica Ridley posted this list about villains as her Thursday Thirteen yesterday, and I thought it was pretty interesting. Very good stuff to keep in mind, as well.

My favorite movie movie villain, I think, aside from the Nazi guy who had his face melted in Raiders of the Lost Ark, is Hans Gruber from one of my favorite movies of all time, Die Hard. (Incidentally, I had the distinct pleasure of showing this movie to my thirteen-year-old stepdaughter at Christmas [because it is a total Christmas movie]. It was awesome; she was enthralled, just as I had been when I saw the movie in the theatre when I was about her age.)

Why is Hans so awesome? Because he's so smooth. He has a plan. He's very smart, he's cultured, he's just the kind of man I normally write as a hero; he's sexy, self-assured, wealthy and powerful, and...okay, yeah, selfish and arrogant.

In fact I've wondered if my Hans-lust hasn't gone so far that my heroes are Hans, just slightly less larcenous.

Point is, what separates a hero and a villain is only where their actions take them. Something to keep in mind, eh?

We have met the enemy and they is us

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Wicked, evil, naughty...bring it on

I'm a villian-lover from way back. They were always my favorite characters in books and movies, and were my favorite to play when I was an actor. My first leading role in a drama was as Rhoda Penmark, the little girl in "The Bad Seed", a play from the 1950's that explored the possibility of evil being a genetic trait. I was nine years old and had a BLAST playing a murdering little sociopath who managed to wrap everyone around her finger with her sweetness while killing off her classmates at the same time. After the play was over, my sweet father told me he wanted to turn me over his knee, which he hadn't done since I was four or five. I knew then that I had succeeded in being a really good villian.



Which brings me to the point of this post. I have a point, you ask? I know...shocking right :). For a villian to be one that really gets under my skin and provides all the proper loathing enjoyment that a good villian should, he or she has got to be wicked with reasons. I want to see that spark of humanity that shows they weren't always so awful. I want to see their hopes and dreams and feelings beyond world domination.

The evil overlord is only amusing on Saturday morning cartoons. If I don't feel the villian as a three-dimensional person, then the entire story will be flawed. This is a reason I have a hard time with villian POV in novels. They're always almost...too evil, which doesn't enrich the experience. But if done well, it can be chilling and wonderful (MJ Rose's "Halo Effect" has a great villian POV, you really feel how the psycho wants to save the women he's murdering.)



I love villians so much that I did a whole series on the wicked women from popular fairytales. The Perfectly Wicked series (book one, "Main Attraction", now available at Ellora's Cave) tells the alternate sexy stories of the bad girls everyone has loved to hate. Thus far, I've done the stepmother from Cinderella, the wicked queen from Snow White, the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and the dark fairy from Sleeping Beauty, and had such fun with each novella.

So much fun, I recently tried to convince my CP/WP, December Quinn, that we should write the story of the wicked woman villian from our urban fantasy menage, "Demon's Triad" (coming January 200). But she was judged too wicked for a redemption story...but still...I wonder....being a villian lover...is there any such thing as too wicked? ;)

Happy Wednesday,

Anna J. Evans

http://annajevans.com

What makes a good villian?

This is a hard topic to discuss (especially as it's taken me over three hours to write). As Sherrill talked about yesterday, a weak villain makes a weak story. Even in romance, a villain is needed. Sometimes the villain can be ephemeral, like the hero's or heroine's past that he or she must overcome to in order to have a healthy relationship, or the villain can be a person actively working against the hero and/or heroine's health and happiness. Villains can be likable. I remember the outcry for a romance for Louis Ronsard, the villain from Linda Howard's "All the Queen's Men". A villain who had done so many bad things, Ms. Howard said, to the effect of, "no freaking way!" She had created a character so vital, readers wanted him to be redeemed.

As a reader, I always like sinking my teeth into a good villain. I think it helps when you do see the more non-villainous parts of the villains life because it makes them a more well-rounded character. One of the most chilling books I've ever read was Nora Roberts' "Divine Evil". The dual nature of the villain was beautifully exposed.

When I think back on what villains made an impact on me in my formative story absorbing years, these are the ones that especially stand out: ignorance and racism in "To Kill a Mockingbird", Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty", Hedley Lamarr in "Blazing Saddles", and greed and self in "The Good Earth". I've lost myself in those stories, and they wouldn't be nearly as good without a strong villain. Sherrill asked who your favorite villains are, so be sure to share. My question for you: what stories do you think would have been much better if the villain had been stronger?

Villains Are Important People, Too

When's the last time you read a book that had a villain who really got under your skin, a villain the author made into a living, breathing person that scared you? It's not easy to do, believe me. But it is necessary to make the story come alive in a very real way.

I'll admit, I have a difficult time giving my villains enough screen time, and making them as complex as I make my heroes. But the villain must be more than just a mustachioed figure cackling in glee over whatever problems he's just caused our main characters.

In Dragonfire, my villain is a magical Druid. One reviewer said the buildup of the villain was great, but then the resolution happened too quickly and wasn't satisfying. So I did a good job ramping up the tension, but instead of slowly easing it down, I let all the air out of the balloon at once. The reviewer, at least, felt cheated. (Other than that, though, she gave the story a good review.)

In the full-length book I'm working on revising (per the request of my agent), a comment I received from her regarding the villain of the piece was that he was almost "cartoonish; over-the-top". Ouch. But you know what?


She's right.

Damn. I guess there's a reason why no one has told me this writing gig is easy. 'Cause it ain't. It's frickin' hard!

The thing authors need to remember is that the villain is the hero in his own world. Whatever his goals are, whatever his motivations for obtaining those goals, it's right and just in his eyes. Someone in a recent workshop I attended said that the best way to create a villain is to take your hero, take his strongest quality, and amplify it. Because even a good thing taken too far can be bad, but it still can have a noble quality to it.

So, what do you think? Who are your favorite (or hated) villains (books or movies)?

Well, like Sherrill, I never go anywhere. We can't afford to travel, and we don't have babysitting, and vacations with little kids usually aren't all that great.

I do like to travel, though. We went to Edinburgh on our honeymoon, and it's still one of my favorite cities in the world. It's beautiful. It's full of history. The people are incredibly nice. We walked the Royal Mile and drank tea and watched a piper in full highland regalia outside the new Scottish Parliament building. We saw the spot at Holyrood House where Riccio was killed and walked in the gardens and had a fantastic time. I want to go again and do a ghost walk one of these days.

My favorite American city is Washington DC. I've been there a couple of times and just loved it, everything about it. It's a beautiful city. There's tons of interesting things to do, many of them free or very cheap. I went last time with an ex-boyfriend and we sat and ate lunch on the steps of the Supreme Court building. I saw Lincoln's bloodstain on the pillow at the house where they took him after he was shot. I can't remember if we went into Ford's theatre or not, though. I've been to the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian and...I just love Washington. I'd love to live in that area but it's sooo expensive.

Where do I want to go? Hmmm. Ireland. The hubs and I have been talking about going to Tunisia, because it's apparently safe and inexpensive, and they still hjave some of the Star Wars sets there. And you can ride a camel.

I'd love to go to Russia too, and Holland. I'd like to go to Munich because Elizabeth Peters set a few books there.

Where would you go?

If there is one place I have to go before I die...

Actually, I already know what Heaven looks like. It looks like this:

County Galway, Ireland.

I know what angels look like, too. And their names aren't Gabriel or Raphael... though some are named Michael! :-) And Seamus, and Sean, and Liam and Aedan and Tadgh and Brendan and Donal and Colm and Eamon and Finn.

Oh my, yes.


I've even got my house all picked out:

(Can I just move in now?)




Although I suppose it wouldn't kill me to live in a city for once, like, oh, Galway...

In fact, I know it wouldn't. And if it did, at least I wouldn't have to go far -- I'd already be in heaven.

Yup.




How about you? Where's the one place that for you is Heaven on Earth?

My favorite thing to do EVAH!

Vacations....I LOVE them. Travelling is way up there on my 'to do' list and I go as many places as I can possibly manage on my budget, and with as many kidlets as we have around here.

If you want to see some super in-depth Anna-travel-action, follow the link:
http://annajevans.blogspot.com/2007/05/thursday-thirteen_24.html

(Because I JUST blogged about this not too long ago, and I don't have much more to say on the subject that isn't covered in that post. Still....I'll throw up a few of the pics I had on my desktop *g*)



Ahhh...Cancun. We went in February for 4 days. It rocked. We were lazy and drank beer and ate yummy food and completely neglected to take pictures except these kind of lame shots on the last day.


Patzcuaro Mexico. Awesome day of the dead festival! Would go back again any time.



Disneyworld...we went there on our honeymoon :). (You'll notice me and the hubs aren't much taller than the mouse, lol.)

Happy Wednesday,

Anna J. Evans

http://annajevans.com

One year ago...

...I was preparing for a 10 day trip to Ireland with assorted immediate and extended family members. First, 14 adults together on a trip where there's only a loose time/organizational structure can be *quite* interesting! It is also a lot of fun as I do enjoy spending time with my family :) We've got a long history of taking family trips in cars and this trip just added to the many shared memories. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

My Dad, Mom, brother and his fiancee and a guy with his dog at St. Declan's Well in Ardmore, Co. Waterford.



My brothers horsing around on Inse Strand, Co. Kerry.



Dingle Bay, Co. Kerry



My mom and dad at St. Kevin's in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.



Almost skinny-dipping young men at the falls in Glendalough.



View from the top of Blarney Castle, Co. Cork.

What are some of your favorite family vacation memories?

Vacations

I have to say, I think this post from me is going to be rather short, because I just don't take vacations and go anywhere interesting. Well, not usually. Before I moved to Arizona, I'd come out here on vacation, so I'm completely happy taking time off and just staying at home. So maybe I'll just share some pictures of special places around where I live.

This is a gorgeous view of natural hot springs called Agua Caliente:


And, of course, there are the mountains:


And the canyons:


The San Xavier del bac mission:


Old Tucson Studios:



And lots of other places to visit within just a few hours. I consider myself to be one lucky woman to live in a place where I love to vacation!

How about you? What's your favorite place to go on vacation?

The Grumpy Blogger

"Oh, December," you say, your sweet brow wrinkled with concern. "Why are you grumpy?"

"Because," I say. "Because my husband decided to come home sick from work today."

"But that should be a good thing! You like it when your husband is home."

"Not when he flops around on the couch all day, thus making it impossible for me to work."


Yes. Like Sierra, my workspace is the living room couch and my laptop. So when certain inconsiderate husbands, who've been told that I have a lot of work to do today, decide to spend the day watching Star Wars on the couch with every pillow in the house piled up around them, it makes me grumpy.

(I love Star Wars--except he insists on watching Revenge of the Sith, which, I just don't like any of those new ones. But the big problem is that with him watching that, out little Faery doesn't have her Playhouse Disney to distract her, so guess who gets to play with her for hours? Yep. Me. So not only am I not working, I'm having little toddler feet shoved in my face while she giggles. For hours. Yay.)

We also have a desktop upstairs, bought back when the faery poured juice in the laptop last fall. But for some reason my internet access won't work up there--his does, mine doesn't, clicking on the icon does nothing, I can't explain it--and more importantly, his stuff is all over that desk. The desk and desktop were bought for me, but it wasn't long before my lovely clean expanse of desk was covered with action figures and CDs and various other man detritus.

He's upstairs taking a nap now--finally!!!--but I have to go pick up Princess from a friend's house so don't have time to stay and whine more. I'm sure you're very disappointed.