Books of 2010

Since it's the last day of the year, I thought I'd do a little poll of the books I read and offer a little poll for y'all to participate in.

In the glorious year of 2010, here's what I read:

83 books total (84 if I finish this new Monica McCarty)
75 of those were written for adults
3 were YA
5 were MG

Here's how the genres broke down:

Urban Fantasy = 22
Paranormal Romance = 17
Speculative Fiction = 7
Science Fiction = 7
Romantic Suspense = 6
Fantasy = 5
Historical Romance = 5
Nonfiction = 4
Political Thriller = 3
Romantic Fantasy = 3
Suspense = 2
Mystery = 1
Romance = 1

Not surprising when you consider that I spent most of 2010 writing urban fantasy, which is the cousin to paranormal romance.  Thinking that, however, lead me to wonder if my reading habits change depending on what I'm writing.

In 2010 my top five genres were Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Speculative Fiction / Science Fiction, Romantic Suspense and Fantasy / Historical Romance.  With what I'm writing, all of that fits.  (Or I can make it fit if I think hard enough.)

In 2009, my top five didn't change that much.  Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance were still one and two respectively.  The next three change a little, rounding out the top five with SF, Suspense and Romantic Suspense.

In 2008, though, we see I was reading a little more broadly.  Paranormal Romance takes the top, followed by Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Urban Fantasy and then General Fiction.

Back in 2007, when I started keeping track of my reading material, the top five were totally different with General Fiction taking the prize.  Mystery was second.  Paranormal Romance, Romantic Suspense and Suspense tied for third.  Urban Fantasy was all the way back at fourth and SF took fifth.

It was an interesting exercise.  If nothing else, it gave me something to do between breaks in shoveling snow.  UGH. 

So, for the reader poll, tell me what you read most every year - either in comments or using the poll I'll be putting up in the sidebar momentarily.  Or both, if you like.  Have your reading habits changed over the years and how does your choice of reading matter reflect what you like to write?

Searching for WiFi

So, yesterday, Daughter and I did what I like to call 'searching for WiFi' in this godforsaken outpost.  We did get a couple piddling signals here in the house, but nothing strong enough to register her Nook and let her see what it was all about.

Grab the car keys and the Nook, and off we go.

There's nothing quite like driving slowly down the road, with Daughter riding shotgun, waiting for a WiFi signal to grow stronger.  Until she says, "I got one!" and I quickly pull over so the Nook can work its magic.  It registered itself and life was good - until I moved the car.  We made it another couple blocks before the signal pooped out on us.  :shrug:

Here in tiny town USA, you take what you get.

It was like a treasure hunt.  After our little tour, we discovered there's free WiFi signal at the coffee shop, the pizza place, in front of the post office, and at the library.  (Well, the library's was password protected, but the lovely librarians gave us the key.) 

Thankfully, Daughter only needs the WiFi to download books, not read them.  Unfortunately, in order to do a lot of the other fun things a Nook does, she needs to be online - like listen to Pandora from her Nook or surf the web.  She's bummin' about those things, but once she's off to college, it won't be a problem.  I imagine the whole freakin' campus is 'hot'.

Do you have any gadgets that need WiFi?  If you're like us and live in nowhereland, how do you survive being on the short end of the techno stick?

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Since a few people thought this sounded interesting, I thought I'd pass along the recipe.  I found the basis for this over at Allrecipes.com, but like always, I tweaked it.  I hope you all enjoy.


Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

1 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 butter or margarine (melted)
1/4 c sugar
dash cinnamon (to taste)
dash ground cloves (to taste)
dash walnut extract (to taste)

Filling:

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree, solid packed
1/2 c whipping cream
1/2 tsp brandy
1 tsp cinnamon
dash ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter standard 9" diameter pie pan.  Mix together cracker crumbs, spices, extract and sugar.  Add in melted butter and stir until well combined.  Press crumb mixture into pan as evenly as you're able - along bottom and up the sides to the edge.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  (Some shrinkage will occur.)  Allow to cool completely before adding filling.

Re-preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat cream cheese with brown sugar until smooth.  Add in eggs, cream, brandy and pumpkin - beat until smooth.  Add in remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake 35-45 minutes or until center is set.  Chill overnight, slice and serve with whipped cream topping.

Any questions, let me know.  =o)

Post Christmas

Well, the holiday part is over.  I didn't mention it, but I've taken the past week or so off - partly because the publishing industry shuts down over the holidays and partly because I felt like I needed a break.  I don't know if I'm going to take this week off of writing, too, but I do feel like the break is doing me some good. 

As for yesterday, it went really well.  The duck turned out great.  The pumpkin cheesecake worked this time (mainly because I used a recipe instead of improvising like I did at Thanksgiving).  Husband and I didn't get each other much, but Daughter made out like a bandit.  It must be nice to be an only kid.  Once the parent presents are done, the answer to "Who's gift is this?" is always "Mine". 

Her big score?  We got her a color Nook.  I did a lot of research and it seemed like the best one for what she needs.  If only my research had let me know it's useless until it can uplink via WiFi for the first time.  You can't even read what comes pre-loaded until it registers itself.  Bastiges.  Living in the middle of nowhere has a decided disadvantage there.  Good thing we're going toward the city sometime this week, so if nothing else, she can uplink from inside a Barnes & Noble and use the damn thing.

My big score?  A new CrockPot.  Hey, it's what I asked for.  Now I can make chili to my heart's content without worrying about burning it or myself.  (I think my old crockpot's temperature thingie was going.)

Of course, the biggest score of all was spending the day with the people (and cats) I love most in the world.  :cue 'awwww' sounds:  Seriously, though, Christmas wouldn't mean a damn thing without my husband and daughter to make it special.  And even though the rest of my family is far far away, a few long telephone calls make me not miss them so much.  

How was your holiday?  Did you get to spend time with the ones you love?  What was your big score this year? 

Merry Christmas

I hope you get everything you want this holiday season.  I know I have what I want*, and we haven't even opened presents yet.  

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Everyone.

*okay, so I didn't get an agent for Christmas like I wanted, but Santa can't do everything.  ;o)

Twas the Night Before

And memories of Christmas dance in my head.  I spent most of the first thirty years of my life in Michigan, and whenever this time of year approaches, I miss my home state like mad.  The snowy landscape, the trees frosted with white, having family close...  Okay, so I left Michigan to escape the cold (don't ask how I ended up in CO - it's a long story), and while it was always beautiful to look at from the warmth of my homes, I inevitably had to go out in it.  Call this the rosey glasses view of the past.

Anyway, I did have the good fortune to grow up about 45 minutes from the most Christmas-y place I've ever been - Frankenmuth.  Every year before the Holidays - sometimes before Thanksgiving, depending on Dad's schedule - we'd pile into the car and head up for a day of window shopping, fudge and long walks through town.  Mom and Dad would take us to drool in front of the fudge shop window, and then the older kids would herd us down to the penny arcade to play games while Dad & Mom went to the beer-garten.  We rarely spent much money - we didn't have any to spend anyway - but it was a wonderful trip all around.

Maybe because the whole town is a Christmas wonderland all year long. 

There's Zehnders Restaurant with it's fabulous fried chicken...

and across the street is The Bavarian Inn with it's glockenspiel (and world famous fried chicken)...

but the most Christmas oriented place in town has to be Bronner's...

A child's dream and now an adult's fond memories.  =o)

Is there anything from your childhood holidays you'd like to reminisce about tonight?  Ever been to Frankenmuth?  If you're close enough to drive there, I totally recommend it - if only for the fudge.  ;o)

(As an aside, I was an adult before I could afford to eat at either Zehnders or The Bavarian Inn.  The menus are very similar, but I prefer The Bavarian Inn's ambiance better.)

 *All images deleted due to possible copyright infringement*

Beware the Contagion

Scanning the interwebs this morning, I noticed that it seems like there's a rash spreading like a bad case of poison ivy.  Now, I don't know if you can really catch something across the internet, but this seems to be a contagion of some sort, so beware.  It sounds like a debilitating malady and I sure as hell don't want to come down with it - especially not so close to the new year.

What the hell am I talking about, you say?

Some people call it The Squirms.  Over at Killer Chicks, Joann referred to it as Suck Filteritis - wherein, if I read it correctly, one's suck filter breaks down and the feeling of total suckage comes pouring through.  Whatever you call it, the contagion has the ability to wipe a writer out.

And it spreads.

It starts out with a little niggle of self doubt.  "This sentence sucks."  Then it grows.  "I can't write this scene."  And grows.  "I can't believe how bad this is."  If left untreated, a small case of it can turn into full blown Writer's Block.

Back in 2005, I caught a bad case of it from the rejection letters off my first book.  I hated myself and everything I wrote.  Partway through my second book, I just stopped writing.  I didn't write a damn thing for nine months.  It was like being pregnant.  I was moody and bitchy and bloated with words.  The only difference was there wasn't a biological clock ticking down where I knew eventually the pregnancy would be over and I'd have something beautiful to show for all my suffering. 

In my case, I had to force a delivery.  PUSH!  And the words eventually popped out.  The contagion had turned my words into malformed monsters, but they were at least coming out again. 

Okay, enough of that analogy.  I'm grossing myself out.  The point here is this contagion thing is awful and needs to be taken care of at the first signs.  Kill it quick before it spreads.  Because the longer you leave it, the worse it gets. 

How do you kill it?

In my case, it took a wise person telling me to give myself permission to suck.  (Sorry, I don't remember exactly which wise person.  It was years ago, after all.)  Now when I feel the disease taking over, telling me how much I and all my writing sucks, I acknowledge my suckitude.  I embrace the suckage and move on.  I can always fix the crap later, but I can't fix a damn thing if I don't put words down on paper. 

And when I've finished and it still sucks?  Well, I haven't experienced that yet.  I figure if it still sucks after I'm done with the edits, then I haven't edited enough, or I'm too close to it to see the way to fix it.  I put it away and hope to come back to it someday.  (Like the manuscript I call Justice - my attempt at writing a mystery.  It's 80% done with editing.  Maybe someday I'll see the way to fix it and actually finish it.)

So, how about you?  Are you feeling the first niggles of the contagion?  Is there something about the end of the year that makes this crud creep up on the writerly populous?  What do you do to kill the disease?