What I'm Reading

Here's what I'm reading right now, for those who are interested:

Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan. This is a Future Noir story in the mold of Blade Runner or Neuromancer, which for me is a very good thing. It makes use of the classic SF "one weird idea" approach where there is one unusual concept, social institution, or technology that plays a major role in the story (even if the book isn't about it per se). Here, the idea is sleeving, or moving one's consciousness between physical bodies in order to travel between planets or even live forever. The implications of this technology are quite important to the novel, but I won't give them away here. Overall, I'm pleased with this book and will probably want to read the rest of the series (this is the first book of a trilogy), though it seems like it will end up being about 100-150 pages longer than it needs to be.

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. I've been working on this beast of a novel for a very long time -- over ten years, as a matter of fact. I read it for a while and then leave it for something else; I enjoy it a lot when I'm in the mood for Hugo's obsessive detail and narrative meanderings, but sometimes (okay, most of the time) I want something more to the point. Plus, I'm already quite familiar with the story, having seen the stage play once, the musical twice, and listended to the original cast recording I don't know how many times. I'm not reading this one to learn what happens; I'm reading this one for the language. I'm quite a ways through, so my goal is to finish it by the end of January.

Successful Writing at Work (Concise Edition), Philip C. Kolin. This was the textbook for my class that ended two weeks ago. We didn't get through all of it in the seven weeks of the course, so I'm finishing it now. It's pretty good as books on writing go; even though it's the "Concise Edition", it still manages to cover topics in sufficient depth. It makes me wonder what the "Verbose Edition" is like.

Once I finish these, there's a lot more on deck, including The Last of the Mohicans, The Elements of Technical Writing, and Naomi Novik's Temeraire series.

Checking In Again

Just a quick note to let you know that I haven't forgotten about the blog, and will try to post something early this week, but I make no guarantees. This would be easier if I could figure out how to use Blogger on my smartphone, too.

I finished Just a Geek this morning, and I can't wait to post a review of it. It's very relevant to not just anyone who wants to write for a living, but everyone who is struggling to make it in their field and is burdened by self-doubt. It's not a book on writing per se, but since writing is such a key part of Wil Wheaton's personal journey as described in the book, I certainly think it's worth picking up.

editTeach (and other stuff)

I'm still reading Just a Geek, so the review of it is forthcoming. In the meantime, I came across a great editing resource while doing some research for my class (technical writing and editing, in case anyone's interested) called editTeach. It's a site that is geared towards educating people to be editors, and it's very informative not just for students, but working editors and writers as well.

I do want to start writing some more, well, substantial entries soon, and there's some topics I want to address once I get time, such as when to not take a writing gig, education and being a professional writer, grammar and spelling Nazis, and another review, this one for Michael Bremer's UnTechnical Writing. Links are great, but they're no substitute for content.

National Novel Writing Month

It's time to think about doing National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), coming up in November. If you've ever wanted to write a novel but needed the motivation and support to do it, now's your chance!

Sadly, I will not be participating this year (I tried last year, but didn't make the goal). I have class all month and thus probably would not have time to do it on top of that and my day job. But if you have the time, I say you go for it!

P.S. If you do choose to participate, I recommend No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty. It's a great guide for anyone considering participating in the event, but it's also a great book on fiction writing period and worth checking out even if you don't do NaNoWriMo.