tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48726728955855756872024-03-17T19:59:49.557-07:00HS WritingThe blog of author H.S. Stone - I write, therefore I am... I think.H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.comBlogger422125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-84206024403616849972024-03-14T06:48:00.000-07:002024-03-14T06:48:20.186-07:00Long books that would be 5 stars if they were shorter<p>I just finished reading two long books, each over 800 pages in length. Both books are good but would have been better if they were shorter. The stories were great, I liked the characters, and I liked the writing. It just felt like a chore sometimes to wade through all the pages.</p><p>I have nothing against long books. Some of my favorite books ever are over 500 pages long, but they were books that managed to hold my attention throughout. The challenge with long books is that there are bound to be sections that are less engaging than others, and in some cases, those parts of the book drag me out of the story.<br /></p><p>Curious about which books would have been 5 stars if not for their length, I looked at the 4-star books I read in the past three years to see if length was the main reason any of them didn't receive a 5-star rating. For purposes of this post, I define a long book as one greater than 500 pages in length. That's an arbitrary number since some people consider anything longer than 300 pages to be long, and others devour 500-page novels without blinking. <br /></p><p>I've rated 128 books as 4 stars since the beginning of 2021, and here are the ones that could have been 5 stars if they were shorter: <br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Gilded</i> by Marissa Meyer - The description on the book jacket was interesting, and I wanted to read about the premise, but it took a long time for me to become invested in the protagonists.</li><li><i>Seasparrow</i> by Kristin Cashore - I found it interesting that the first two books in the <i>Graceling Realm</i> series were under 500 pages long, and I rated them 5 stars, while the last three books were over 500 pages, and I rated them 4 stars. Correlation? Causation? You be the judge. </li><li><i>Don Quixote</i> by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - the first 100 pages or so of this book were great, but by about page 200, it felt repetitive. If the book ended at less than 300 pages, I would have likely given it 5 stars. </li><li><i>Gunmetal Gray</i> by Mark Greaney - I started reading the <i>Gray Man</i> series after the first book (which was less than 500 pages long) got me hooked. <i>Gunmetal Gray</i> is an example of an entry in the series that was still good but felt repetitive after a while. </li><li><i>The Dragon Reborn</i> by Robert Jordan - I've read the first three books in the <i>Wheel of Time</i> series, and I feel like they're all too long, but I'm choosing <i>The Dragon Reborn</i> because this could have been 5 stars if it were shorter.</li><li><i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i> by Samantha Shannon - This is the book that got me thinking about the topic. Whenever I sat down to read it, I would be engrossed for a while, and then it felt like a chore to continue reading. It took me longer than normal to finish this book, but I'm glad I did.</li></ul><p>Obviously, length is not the primary concern when I rate a book, but this exercise reminds me that a book of any length needs to capture and maintain a reader's attention throughout, no matter how many pages it is. It's just a lot harder to do so when a book is long.<br /></p><p> <br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-85372129014268324912024-02-04T06:34:00.000-08:002024-02-04T06:34:51.508-08:00Forget romantasy, what about romantorror?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GIaTaBgSE55o3b5gviI4HqPKwIYChyphenhyphenPiTnPL33J71bM5BF8k_YGJNdjKWcD_QqbAABQ1jlx1g27MFZMs9O6tCjcWkt8RJL56t9ECnrYbV7AN6hIWgij3BTXulmHAcpmUx78oHWzdGIWI_fz0LqXRLJ5_w9JNZWxl_Z1kh_erd0UUCbVPeShPPgsCJuJz/s1514/Screenshot%202024-02-04%20at%206.28.05%E2%80%AFAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1514" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GIaTaBgSE55o3b5gviI4HqPKwIYChyphenhyphenPiTnPL33J71bM5BF8k_YGJNdjKWcD_QqbAABQ1jlx1g27MFZMs9O6tCjcWkt8RJL56t9ECnrYbV7AN6hIWgij3BTXulmHAcpmUx78oHWzdGIWI_fz0LqXRLJ5_w9JNZWxl_Z1kh_erd0UUCbVPeShPPgsCJuJz/w400-h239/Screenshot%202024-02-04%20at%206.28.05%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Romantasy, or romantic fantasy, is huge nowadays. The bookish part of the internet is flooded by posts showcasing books by Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros, and others. Last year, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-romantasy-books-2023" target="_blank">Romantasy</a> even became a category in the Goodreads Choice Awards. (The winner, not surprisingly, was <i>Fourth Wing</i> by Rebecca Yarros.)</p><p>The popularity of this genre that mixes romance with fantasy made me wonder if I've been missing the boat on other genres that are combined with romance? What about romance and horror (romantorror?) Romance and science fiction?</p><p>To learn about other Romance+ genres, I searched for Goodreads lists that contain books with romance and another genre. Some other Romance+ genres I found include:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Romance Horror (yes, Romantorror!) - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-horror">https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-horror</a></li><li>Romance Science Fiction - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15867.Best_Adult_Science_Fiction_Romance_Science_Fiction_with_Romance">https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15867.Best_Adult_Science_Fiction_Romance_Science_Fiction_with_Romance</a></li><li>Romance Mystery - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-mystery">https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-mystery</a></li><li>Romance Thriller - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-thriller">https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/romance-thriller</a></li></ul><p>Judging by the small sample size provided by these lists, other Romance+ genres exist, but they aren't nearly as popular as romantasy. For example, I've only read two books from the Romance Horror list, two from the Romance Science Fiction list, four from Romance Mystery, and three from Romance Thriller. Perhaps Romantasy's popularity will result in greater interest in these other genres, or maybe romance+fantasy is unique to itself. It's hard to say, but I think I'll try out more romantorror.<br /></p><p><br /></p><br />H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-78478067218870169742024-01-04T06:24:00.000-08:002024-01-04T06:24:14.677-08:00Re-reading five-star books<p>With the number of unread books out there, I rarely get to re-read the ones I love. This year, I want to change that by turning re-reading into a reading challenge. This is partly because I want to revisit some of my favorite books, but another reason is that, after 2023's Year of Sanderson, I want to refresh my memory of the Cosmere. It will also be a good way for me to prepare myself for the release of Stormlight Archive #5 in December. </p><p>My current plan is to re-read a past five-star book during each month of 2024. Some of these will be Cosmere books, and others will be favorites that I want to read again. The biggest problem I foresee will be deciding which of these great books to include since I'm constraining myself to just twelve in 2024 because, after all, there are still a LOT of new books to read. :-)<br /></p><p>These are the Cosmere books I'm contemplating:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Elantris - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson</li><li>Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson <br /></li></ol><p> The other favorites I'm thinking of reading this year are:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss</li><li>Wool - Hugh Howey</li><li>The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins <br /></li><li>The Invisible Life of Addie Larue - V.E. Schwab</li><li>Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell </li><li>Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor<br /></li><li>Bad Luck and Trouble - Lee Child</li><li>Find Her - Lisa Gardner</li><li>Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn</li><li>The Wife Between Us - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pakkanen <br /></li></ol><p>Since these books are among my favorites, I anticipate that this reading challenge will be one I'm guaranteed to enjoy. Depending on how it inspires me, I can see myself doing the same challenge again in the years to come so that I can re-read the five-star books I couldn't get to this year.<br /></p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-62349993522733329182024-01-01T06:34:00.000-08:002024-01-01T06:34:43.544-08:00Favorite reads of 2023<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EdsUookyNImL6DFhslFNqAJ0TNqFIxv-UDbPRMjMEUptRfZ5secy_NtzNfKjoeECcRGBXSn7_yQBP5pDoVP05y0PY0DhIzBY0vZASRcTy1Sg6jM30xf2dlk6SyUrAZeD2tctAXjkgFXGGdAFz1DOGuPwkJrQ9UGrdXry7bDsrf9cVaruGSL0Q-iVZ609/s1876/Screenshot%202023-12-24%20at%206.41.33%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1876" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EdsUookyNImL6DFhslFNqAJ0TNqFIxv-UDbPRMjMEUptRfZ5secy_NtzNfKjoeECcRGBXSn7_yQBP5pDoVP05y0PY0DhIzBY0vZASRcTy1Sg6jM30xf2dlk6SyUrAZeD2tctAXjkgFXGGdAFz1DOGuPwkJrQ9UGrdXry7bDsrf9cVaruGSL0Q-iVZ609/w640-h394/Screenshot%202023-12-24%20at%206.41.33%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="560" /></a></p><p> </p><p>2023 was truly the year of Brandon Sanderson for me. Not only did I receive four Secret Project novels (and a surprise short story) and other monthly swag from his <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/31/authors-record-breaking-kickstarter-campaign-closes-at-41point7-million.html" target="_blank">record-breaking Kickstarter campaign</a>, but four of his books ended up on my list of favorite reads of 2023. </p><p>Without further ado, here are my top 10 books read in 2023:</p><p><i>1. The
Lost Metal</i> - Brandon Sanderson </p><p>My favorite book from 2023 was the only Brandon Sanderson novel I read that wasn't a Secret Project. Just as <i>The Hero of Ages</i> was a great conclusion to the first era
of <i>Mistborn</i>, <i>The Lost Metal </i>was an awesome way to end the second era.
All of the usual elements of a super Brandon Sanderson book were present
in this one. More than any Sanderson book I've read, however, <i>The Lost Metal</i> referenced
other parts of the Cosmere, something that any Sanderson fan will
appreciate. I know it'll be a few years before we'll see <i>Mistborn</i>'s third era, but I'm
already looking forward to it!</p><p><br />2. <i>The Final Gambit</i>
- Jennifer Lynn Barnes </p><p>The conclusion to the <i>Inheritance Games</i> series
and winner of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult
Fiction was as good if not better than the first two books (both of
which made my list of top ten favorites of 2022). Once again, the
puzzles and mysteries in this novel were what set it apart from other YA books I've liked, and the whole story of Avery and the Hawthorne
family was truly engaging. I recommend this series to all YA fans.</p><p><br />3. <i>Legends
& Lattes</i> - Travis Baldree </p><p>Who knew that a fantasy tale about
opening a coffee shop would be so fun to read? I never thought a fantasy
novel could feel warm and cozy, but that's how this book left me. I
breezed through <i>Legends
& Lattes </i>because I was so absorbed in its simple story
about a tough orc who hangs up her sword to open a coffee shop,
discovering menu items like iced coffee and cinnamon rolls along the
way. This was a refreshing escape from the real world, and it's no
wonder the book was a 2022 finalist in the Goodreads Choice
Award for Best Fantasy.</p><p><br />4. <i>Yumi and the Nightmare Painter</i> - Brandon
Sanderson </p><p>Brandon Sanderson is known for his world building, and <i>Yumi and the Nightmare Painter</i>
has some of the best world building I've read in any book. It was a hard
call which of the Secret Project books was my favorite, but <i>Yumi</i> just
edged out <i>Tress</i> because of the world building reveal near the end of
the book. I liked both Yumi and Painter as characters, and the way their
relationship grew seemed natural if predictable. It was fun trying to
figure out what was happening in the book, and when some of the big
reveals came, it reminded me of one of my favorite movies of all time.
(I won't spoil it by naming the movie, but I'm curious if anyone else felt
the same way.)</p><p><br />5. <i>Tress of the Emerald Sea</i> - Brandon Sanderson </p><p>What do you get when Brandon Sanderson writes a fairy tale narrated by
Hoid? Answer: <i>Tress of the Emerald Sea</i>, the first of his four Secret Projects. Although this book is unlike his other Cosmere novels in tone, I
thoroughly enjoyed it, and Tress has become one of my favorite Brandon
Sanderson characters. Sanderson said that he was inspired by "The
Princess Bride" when he wrote this story, and I can see the
similarities. Whether you're a fan of Sanderson, "The Princess Bride," or a
good fairy tale in general, this book is for you.</p><p><br />6. <i>The
Grace of Kings</i> - Ken Liu </p><p>I may have found the next fantasy series to
rave about. I've heard that <i>The Grace of Kings</i> is a retelling of
the founding of the Han Dynasty, but since that is a period in China's
history
I'm unfamiliar with, I read the book like any other work of fiction. In
that respect, I enjoyed it greatly. It took some time for me to get to know
the characters, but once I did, I found it fascinating the way they were
all portrayed as well-developed individuals with their own desires and
moral codes. This was also one of the most thought-provoking books I
read in 2023, as it
made me ask myself what I considered right and wrong and what I would do
in the shoes of the characters. I definitely want to continue reading
the rest of <i>The Dandelion Dynasty</i> series.</p><p><br />7. <i>Upgrade</i> -
Black Crouch </p><p>As with other Blake Crouch books I've read (<i>Dark Matter </i>
and <i>Recursion</i>), <i>Upgrade</i> blends intriguing science concepts with a
fast-paced plot that held my interest throughout the book. The topic is
particularly timely, given the COVID pandemic and climate change. Without
giving away more than what's in the book's description, I'll leave you
with this quote from the book: "If nothing changes, we will die off
for the stupidest reason imaginable--because we refused, for so many
childish reasons, to do the obvious things that would save us." If that
resonates with you, you should read <i>Upgrade</i>.</p><p><br />8. <i>Lessons in Chemistry</i>
- Bonnie Garmus </p><p>In 2022, I read <i>The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo</i>,
even though I didn't think it'd be my cup of tea, because of great
things I heard about it, and it turned out that I enjoyed the book
immensely and became a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. In 2023, the same
thing happened with <i>Lessons in Chemistry</i>. Despite the praise from book
bloggers, I didn't have high expectations before I started reading the
book, but it sucked me in right away. Elizabeth Zott was a protagonist I
immediately related to, and the story itself was thought-provoking,
insightful, and entertaining. I really appreciated the way it tackled
the injustices of the 1950s and 1960s (many of which are sadly still
present today) in a serious yet entertaining way, while weaving a
gripping story about Elizabeth Zott's life. I understand now why so many
people loved this book.</p><p><br />9. <i>The
Sunlit Man</i> - Brandon Sanderson </p><p>It's a testament to how great the Year
of Sanderson Secret Project books were that my third favorite of the
four books still made my top ten list. <i>The Sunlit Man</i> is the Secret
Project book with the most direct tie to the Cosmere, and it was a joy
to read it. As a standalone novel, it worked well, and it made me
consider re-reading some of Sanderson's prior books so that I can
remember the full background. Sounds like a good idea for a reading
challenge in 2024. :-)</p><p><br />10. <i>Carrie
Soto is Back</i> - Taylor Jenkins Reid </p><p>Speaking of Taylor Jenkins Reid (see #8 above),
she is a master at characterization. I've now read four books written by her,
and with each one, I feel like I know the characters as well as I know
any fictional character. They are complex and flawed, but I can't help
rooting for them, and I miss them when I finish the books. The winner of
the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction, <i>Carrie
Soto is Back</i> is my second favorite book by Taylor Jenkins Reid (after <span><i>The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo</i></span>), but that still makes it better than most other books I've read. I highly recommend it.</p><p> </p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-33181971439371336252023-12-30T06:10:00.000-08:002023-12-30T06:10:37.928-08:00What I read in 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1tKGtxtKKJhyphenhyphenHJWVKW0N8rm-YMHRVfSkyGNOAIMhQG0fvthpdEY_AmmXDGdkNT8TS8gZTIApVV703zepfQys2DsEvpoMlpZ_muDOAm7iq8veVknZApG8n8aKKDcTNj-edmp6ai1Sk2b_V_TTzKnVzArjBgqPTTH6tUltrdJrBZVHk9http3uJ1Jev_qA/s1172/Screenshot%202023-12-28%20at%206.41.12%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1172" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1tKGtxtKKJhyphenhyphenHJWVKW0N8rm-YMHRVfSkyGNOAIMhQG0fvthpdEY_AmmXDGdkNT8TS8gZTIApVV703zepfQys2DsEvpoMlpZ_muDOAm7iq8veVknZApG8n8aKKDcTNj-edmp6ai1Sk2b_V_TTzKnVzArjBgqPTTH6tUltrdJrBZVHk9http3uJ1Jev_qA/w400-h335/Screenshot%202023-12-28%20at%206.41.12%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>We've reached the end of another year, so it's time to review the books I read in 2023. At the start of the year, I set a goal to read
at least 100 books, and I finished the year with 102, the same number of books I read in 2022.</p><p>The
average rating for the books I read was 4.01 stars, slightly lower than the 4.04 average from 2022's books read. The breakdown by star rating
was:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>5 stars - 31 books</li><li>4 stars - 41 books</li><li>3 stars - 30 books</li></ul>As I mentioned in my <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2023/12/reading-challenge-recap-books-to-read.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, the reading challenge I undertook this year (to read classics that everyone "should" read before they die) did not go as well as my previous reading challenges. The 3.58-star average rating from those twelve books dragged down my overall average for the year. Without the books from the reading challenge, the other books I read this year came in at 4.07 stars, which is higher than 2022's average rating. <br /><p>In my next post, I'll list my top ten reads of 2023. Stay tuned! </p><p><br /></p><p> </p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-90679235934444101682023-12-17T06:33:00.000-08:002023-12-17T06:33:33.323-08:00Reading challenge recap - books to read before I die<p>The reading challenge I selected for 2023 was to read a dozen of the "classics" that <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2023/01/2023-reading-challenge-books-to-read.html" target="_blank">everyone should read before they die</a>. As I mentioned less than halfway through the year, it turns out <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-classics-are-not-for-me.html" target="_blank">the classics are not for me</a>. For the sake of formally closing out the challenge, here are the books I read (listed alphabetically by title):</p><ul><li><i>The Bell Jar</i> - Sylvia Plath </li><li><i>Catch-22</i> - Jospeh Heller </li><li><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> - J.D. Salinger </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><i>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time </i>- Mark Haddon </li><li><i>Don Quixote </i>- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra </li><li><i>Frankenstein</i> - Mary Shelley </li><li><i>Gulliver's Travels</i> - Jonathan Swift </li><li><i>Moby Dick</i> - Herman Melville </li><li><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i> – Gabriel García Márquez</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><i>Pride and Prejudice </i>- Jane Austen </li><li><i>Ulysses</i> - James Joyce </li><li><span><span><span><span><span><span><i>Wuthering Heights</i> - Emily Bronte</span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><p>Not one of the books on the list received a 5-star rating from me. Seven of them were 4-star reads, and the remaining five received 3 stars, for an average of 3.58.</p><p>As far as reading challenges goes, this one didn't produce any great books that I enjoyed very much, but I still feel a sense of accomplishment in having read some of these "classic" works of literature. </p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-4528158887354360522023-11-18T05:21:00.000-08:002023-11-18T05:21:02.643-08:00After Z-Day #1 and #2 ebooks are 99 cents on Black Friday<p>On Friday, November 24, starting at 8:00 am PST, the Kindle versions of Book 1 and Book 2 of the After Z-Day series will be only 99 cents. While you can always get Book 1, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PHJ49F/" target="_blank">Hopeless</a></i>, for 99 cents, this is a 75% savings on Book 2, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5NLWDK8/" target="_blank">Relentless</a></i>. </p><p>If you miss the Black Friday price, <i>Relentless</i> will be $1.99 on Saturday, November 25, a 50% savings. The price increases to $2.99 on Sunday, November 26, and reverts to its normal price of $3.99 on Monday, November 27, which is still a bargain!</p><p>For all fans of zombie apocalypses, check out the After Z-Day series!</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hopeless-After-Z-Day-Book-1-ebook/dp/B094PHJ49F/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyctlFafsPNdQEWXwYiPHAXaDiQ8TJ8V5Xh4C9eokxVqXLaM9tEIowUfKCxmRgfz7I-pICgbd6-ymDWds8HMENLsLutliwAVZoTBiGqKF2XabXnV_LtMHDlN-Mp4JVeIwEjrKfOE-Or3wt/w400-h640/Hopeless.jpg" width="250" />
</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5NLWDK8" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lttevP3E0S5B27Z0KoN5pRe7JwANNUX8nEntMuigF24pw0xSuva1ZKv4uiN1J13-B-T2FjCdtS72NaMw_LjyTiBIljltioAXskb_QNW1N3GKGn8cTjHtPhwS2J2nHpSzM_ZZdkzED4kiBBKG8HwzhZKHxdhwC3LAbGFQ65rQBen3e4WyJuie7I8KPw/w400-h640/hswriting_Relentless.jpg" width="250" />
</a> </p><p>Get <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PHJ49F/" target="_blank">Hopeless</a></i> here.</p><p>Get <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5NLWDK8/" target="_blank">Relentless</a></i> here.</p><p>Get <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM1C7X27/" target="_blank">Soulless</a></i>, the newly released Book 3 in the After Z-Day series, here.</p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-45908378036652316362023-11-04T06:34:00.000-07:002023-11-04T06:34:24.452-07:00Soulless is available for pre-order<p>Book 3 of the <i>After Z-Day</i> series, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM1C7X27/" target="_blank">Soulless</a></i>, is now available for pre-order on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats! The official release date is Friday, November 17, just in time for the holiday shopping season. :-)</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQzVTbBklBo8GVDqGhNc79Z8KSwdFkIfO0GwhYde_8KX9-qCV4Clxv6NVFAaGJjA68T7GffesrTvjxrzRpWl3MD_HOLBfZVvE5YOX7tWK5IERvwLQOeGDXavQspHFG9smBH6PdK9JXezUAG1oAv7mbyGkOK0kWiz6Q3muRWfILyH8UPRW43VhcIuWIhb_/s2560/hswriting_Soulless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQzVTbBklBo8GVDqGhNc79Z8KSwdFkIfO0GwhYde_8KX9-qCV4Clxv6NVFAaGJjA68T7GffesrTvjxrzRpWl3MD_HOLBfZVvE5YOX7tWK5IERvwLQOeGDXavQspHFG9smBH6PdK9JXezUAG1oAv7mbyGkOK0kWiz6Q3muRWfILyH8UPRW43VhcIuWIhb_/w400-h640/hswriting_Soulless.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>Description:</b> </p><p><i><span>With San Benito Army Base overrun by zombies, Sara and her group
of survivors attempt to take back the base. However, they have a more
urgent problem. Sara’s infected friend will turn into a soulless zombie
if they don’t make more doses of the serum to treat her.</span></i></p><p><i><span>Unfortunately,
the means of manufacturing the serum has been lost along with the base.
The only alternative is to seek a solution elsewhere. Sara and a small
group of volunteers leave the safety of their encampment in search of
the required ingredients and tools for making more of the life-saving
treatment. In a zombie-infested world, they don’t know if they’ll find
what they need or what they’ll encounter along the way. But what choice
do they have?</span></i></p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-85449770789728456112023-10-22T05:14:00.002-07:002023-10-22T05:14:57.464-07:00Owning multiple copies of the same book<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7g32XJiFqram0qRR3BiQgG9kRwt15ryHI-hl3xnoDQhjF4jftF4TdDqO5h0R-12qCZgdz1PJUWdE_qbx1HsgFJDNQr_2ORYpr8AfVLj7jY0K8XGY6bjanDvBVrxh3zucsrCe5oEjDl_PShk0N0FExjj8k3JXL461zIcDvCb_Hsl9GZRFxYnBwFqpXdoiy/s640/IMG_4643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="640" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7g32XJiFqram0qRR3BiQgG9kRwt15ryHI-hl3xnoDQhjF4jftF4TdDqO5h0R-12qCZgdz1PJUWdE_qbx1HsgFJDNQr_2ORYpr8AfVLj7jY0K8XGY6bjanDvBVrxh3zucsrCe5oEjDl_PShk0N0FExjj8k3JXL461zIcDvCb_Hsl9GZRFxYnBwFqpXdoiy/w400-h355/IMG_4643.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I recently bought a second copy of a book I already own because it was available in a different format than the first one I had. This is not the first time I've done this. When I was younger, the books I bought were mostly paperbacks because they were smaller (and therefore easier to carry around and store) and cheaper. As I've gotten older, I've appreciated hardcovers more due to their durability and, frankly, the way they look on my bookshelves. Sometimes, I'll come across a special edition that I like even more than the hardcover, and I'll buy that too.</p><p>No book exhibits this shift in my taste than <i>The Way of Kings</i> by Brandon Sanderson. When I first wanted to read the <i>Stormlight Archive</i> series, I bought a box set of the first three books in mass market paperback. I loved the books so much that I wanted to own the hardcover versions of them, so I bought all four books in the series in hardcover. Then Brandon Sanderson published a leatherbound edition of <i>The Way of Kings</i>, and I had to get that too. Finally, I came across a larger paperback edition of the book at a sale. It only cost a dollar, so I figured why not? It'd be good to have an extra copy to loan to people. So now I have four copies of <i>The Way of Kings</i> in four different formats!</p><p>The other reason I end up with multiple copies of a book is because I forgot I already own it. I'm embarrassed to admit how many times this has happened, so I take care to review the books on my shelves before I make purchases online. However, that isn't feasible if I happen to visit a bookstore while I'm out. Maybe I should take pictures of my bookshelves as reference for future shopping trips?</p><p>How about you? Do you own multiple copies of any books? If so, how did you come to have more than one copy?</p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-89751327551305138692023-09-17T08:26:00.001-07:002023-09-17T08:26:13.027-07:00Reading Time vs Writing Time<p>I’m an avid reader who averages about 100 books read per year. That’s roughly two books a week, which means I spend just about every minute of my free time reading. It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I love to read.<br /><br />With the little free time I have available to me, I have to make a conscious choice whether to spend it reading or writing. (I certainly don’t go out partying, especially since the pandemic.) While I’d love to make more progress with my writing, I choose to prioritize reading over writing for three reasons:<br /><br />1. <b>I love reading more.</b> Yes, it’s true. Even though I enjoy writing, I enjoy reading even more, and if I had to give up one activity for the rest of my life (which I hope I won’t ever have to do), I’d give up writing before reading.<br />2. <b>I’m not under any writing deadlines.</b> One advantage of being an independent author is that I don’t have publishers giving me deadlines to meet. However, this could also lead to procrastination. Fortunately, I have enough self-motivation to keep making progress on my manuscripts, just not as quickly as I’d ideally like.<br />3. <b>Reading is good for writing.</b> One of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen for writers is to read, and I agree. How can you be a good producer of anything without having consumed it first? How can you tell good writing from bad if you don’t read both? In other words, I’m reading for the sake of my writing. :-)<br /><br />Nowadays, my writing time takes place primarily on the weekends. With the demands of my day job, it’s very difficult for me to find time to write or edit during the work week, and the few spare minutes I have during the work week are spent reading rather than writing. I’m OK with this balance since I’m continuing to make progress on my books, and my next book is still on track to be released this fall. If things slip significantly with my writing goals, I'll reevaluate, but so far, I'm able to both read and write in proportions that suit me.<br /><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-43938024207668818262023-08-27T06:35:00.003-07:002023-08-27T06:35:25.285-07:00Lies, Damn Lies, and Plot Contrivances<p>For the past year, I've been <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2022/09/changing-reading-tastes.html" target="_blank">reading more thrillers and fantasy/sci-fi</a> rather than YA books. When it comes to thrillers, I gravitate more toward psychological thrillers, where the suspense occurs in characters' minds more so than in physical acts of violence. While you don't need an unreliable narrator for a good psychological thriller, the plot often hinges on lies or omissions of truth. One of the most popular books in the genre, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19288043-gone-girl" target="_blank">Gone Girl</a></i> by Gillian Flynn, does a superb job of this. (I won't say more about the lies for fear of spoiling the story.)</p><p>The problem with some of the recent thrillers I've read is that I find characters lying or keeping a secret for no good rational reason other than that there would be no plot if they told the truth. In one book, the logical course of action for the protagonist was to tell the truth because that would benefit herself and everyone around her, but she inexplicably chose to lie, and the only reason I can think of is that there would be no story if she didn't. One of my pet peeves is when characters act in ways that don't make sense in order to advance the story. This is something I'm cognizant of when I write my stories. Are my characters making rational decisions? Do they do things that a person would realistically do in their situation?</p><p>I understand that lies are part of the thriller genre, but as <i>Gone Girl</i> and other great thrillers have shown, there are ways for characters to lie and still be believable. This won't make me read fewer thrillers, but I am more likely to look unfavorably upon those where the characters lie only for the sake of advancing the plot.</p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-67699257737754073282023-07-22T07:07:00.001-07:002023-07-22T07:07:49.220-07:00Soulless cover reveal<p>I'm on my second round of revisions for Book 3 in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PRL1L1" target="_blank">After Z-Day</a> series, which will be called <i>Soulless</i>. While I can't provide a release date yet, it will most likely be sometime this fall. In the meantime, I want to share the cover of Book 3 with you all. </p><p>I'm looking forward to the release of this new book, and I hope you are too!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYt8wZUIkCh5Ijo7j3zfv-daynBk7naHBaLDI4hAf84gxmDYMSFTqh2EnZWsfk8lA8BsJman908mNQ6u6CLqV-8UwuZUqoPDhqhD5NN4zQORfGdfb6hYqxutdIDQ9rq9tVzfk4Xm714OlG2tUNoz71rOYLhgERUe_QnvduymrydsK6u-orrV5nMYEF5WYy/s2560/hswriting_Soulless.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYt8wZUIkCh5Ijo7j3zfv-daynBk7naHBaLDI4hAf84gxmDYMSFTqh2EnZWsfk8lA8BsJman908mNQ6u6CLqV-8UwuZUqoPDhqhD5NN4zQORfGdfb6hYqxutdIDQ9rq9tVzfk4Xm714OlG2tUNoz71rOYLhgERUe_QnvduymrydsK6u-orrV5nMYEF5WYy/w400-h640/hswriting_Soulless.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-46637358988354683452023-06-24T06:32:00.000-07:002023-06-24T06:32:19.817-07:00Counting Sheep<p>Last weekend, I had trouble sleeping. I tried counting sheep, thinking that was supposed to help people fall asleep. After a few sheep wandered across the imaginary field in my mind, my thoughts drifted to a story about counting sheep. I wound up spending way too much time working on the story in my head, and hardly slept as a result. Such is the life of a writer. On the other hand, I have a story that I can share with all of you. It's only about 1,000 words long, so it won't take long to read. I hope you enjoy the fruits of my insomnia!</p><p>Note: You can also find this story and others on my <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/user/hswriting" target="_blank">Wattpad page</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Counting Sheep</b></p><p>The shift leader brings me into a room with a desk pressed against
one wall. A monitor and a keyboard are the only objects occupying the
desk. Their cables disappear through holes in the wall so that I can't
see what they're connected to. An old leather chair sits next to the
desk. There is nothing else in the room.<br /></p><p>"This is where you'll be working," he says.</p><p>He
taps on the keyboard, and the screen lights up. It shows an image of an
empty field. Green grass fills every pixel except for a layer of sky at
the top. <br /></p><p>The shift leader points to a button on the keyboard labeled START.</p><p>"When
you're ready to begin, just hit this. Then keep your eye on the
monitor. Occasionally, you'll see a sheep cross the screen. If it
travels from right to left, add one to the total. If it travels from
left to right, subtract one."<br /></p><p>"So I'm... counting sheep?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"Aren't you afraid I'll fall asleep?" I chuckle, but he doesn't laugh.</p><p>"Your profile indicates that you will not fall asleep during the task."</p><p>I've
never read the information that the State has collected about me. I
have no idea how they know that I won't fall asleep while counting sheep
when that's exactly what you're supposed to do in order to fall asleep.</p><p>"Are
you sure this is the job for me? I understand that all Citizens are
supposed to work when they turn eighteen, but I think there'd be a
better fit. I did well in my math classes."</p><p>"Counting is math," the shift leader says.</p><p>"It's math that a four-year-old can do."</p><p>"There are quite a lot of sheep."</p><p>"OK, maybe a five-year-old."</p><p>"We're certain this is the right job for you to start with."</p><p>Start with? Does that mean this won't be a permanent assignment? "What happened to the last person who had this job?"</p><p>"She was promoted."</p><p>"Oh, this job leads to promotions? What does she do now?"</p><p>"She works in Accounting."</p><p>"That's nice. I think I'd like Accounting. I can use my math skills."</p><p>"We'll see." He points to the START button again. "Are you ready to begin?"</p><p>"I guess so." My finger hovers over the button. "Just press it?"</p><p>"Yes, whenever you're ready."</p><p>I hit the button.</p><p>Nothing appears on the screen. I see only the empty field. <br /></p><p>"Nothing's happening. Are you sure it's working?" I ask.</p><p>"Give it some time. The sheep aren't going to start moving just because you hit the button."</p><p>Which is exactly what I thought would happen. "How long does it take?"</p><p>"A few seconds. Maybe minutes. Assuming they move at all."</p><p>"Why exactly would they be moving? What did the START button do?"</p><p>"It releases a pheromone at the other end of the field."</p><p>"A sheep pheromone?"</p><p>"Yes,
that's what we're testing. We want to see how many sheep are attracted
to various sheep pheromones and how quickly they respond."</p><p>"Why are we testing sheep pheromones?"</p><p>"To determine which ones are most effective."</p><p>"And why do we need effective sheep pheromones?"</p><p>He stares at me like the answer should be obvious. "It's obvious. The State thinks it's important."</p><p>I want to ask why the State thinks effective sheep pheromones are important, but I keep my mouth shut.</p><p>A
sheep suddenly appears on the right side of the screen. "There's a
sheep!" I say. It moves at a leisurely pace across the field to the left
border of the screen before disappearing from view. "It went from right
to left. Add one?"</p><p>"Correct."</p><p>I enter 1 on the keyboard.</p><p>The
screen resumes its empty-field state again for a few more seconds. Then
a second sheep crosses from right to left. I add another 1 to the
total.</p><p>Every few seconds, one more animal traverses the length of
the screen. They all move from right to left. None travel in the
opposite direction. The section of the field that the monitor shows
doesn't let me see where the sheep are coming from or where they're
going.</p><p>I ask the shift leader, "How do I know it's not the same sheep over and over?"</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"What if, after a sheep leaves the left edge of the screen, someone picks it up and carries it back to the right side?"</p><p>"We'd see them if that was the case."</p><p>"Not if they walked behind the camera."</p><p>"Why would they do that?"</p><p>"How should I know? I'm just a lowly sheep counter."</p><p>"No one's carrying the sheep back. Besides, the sheep all look different."</p><p>"They look the same to me."</p><p>"They're
different. Trust me." A sheep appears on the right edge of the screen.
"See, that one is larger than the one we saw before."</p><p>"That's because it's closer to the camera."</p><p>"No, it's larger."</p><p>I
don't argue. We watch in silence as the sheep crosses the screen. I add
one to the total. Shortly thereafter, another sheep comes into view.</p><p>"This one looks just like the last one, and the one before that," I say.</p><p>"No, it's smaller."</p><p>"Because it's farther away from the camera."</p><p>"No, really, it's smaller."</p><p>I close my eyes. There's no point in arguing with him. <br /></p><p>My eyes open when he says, "You forgot to increment the count."</p><p>I tap the key to add to the tally. "What happens if I miss one? What if I enter the wrong number or if I doze off?"</p><p>"That's OK, they'll do a count of the number of sheep on the left side at the end of the trial."</p><p>"What? Why am I here then? Wouldn't it be easier if they just counted the total number of sheep themselves?"</p><p>The
shift leader scratches his chin. "Well, maybe. But then you wouldn't
have a job, and it's important for all Citizens to have a job after they
turn eighteen."</p><p>"Is this just busy work? Do I serve a meaningful purpose to the State by being here?"</p><p>He glances at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. Your shift is up. See you tomorrow."</p><p>I can't have been in the room for more than ten minutes. "Are you sure?"</p><p>"Of course, I'm the shift leader. It's my job to keep track of such things."</p><p>"If you say so. See you tomorrow."</p><p>He
waits for me to leave, but he stays inside the room. I wave goodbye. He
waves back. I have a feeling I'll have a new shift leader tomorrow.</p><p> </p><p></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-46113350258024235942023-05-06T06:32:00.007-07:002023-05-06T06:34:12.756-07:00The classics are not for me<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4w-jNNB3LOhpmQO-vSgx89qkaZdZHj3HRzdL235owKO5svruF6tE6WE3cedjsz8Mr1wEmIxvoJXWLaMxae5sQMv4qp078Ntw1eD6s7xp1tyFtl4_Y1Zbr1_FGcV4tNCfTmhuYDVet1N2RhbVhMFP2r1YidMcTfGid27SR0iul-xC_cA7N1uOViPFLw/s695/97276747.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="695" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4w-jNNB3LOhpmQO-vSgx89qkaZdZHj3HRzdL235owKO5svruF6tE6WE3cedjsz8Mr1wEmIxvoJXWLaMxae5sQMv4qp078Ntw1eD6s7xp1tyFtl4_Y1Zbr1_FGcV4tNCfTmhuYDVet1N2RhbVhMFP2r1YidMcTfGid27SR0iul-xC_cA7N1uOViPFLw/w400-h254/97276747.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>In January, I embarked on a <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2023/01/2023-reading-challenge-books-to-read.html" target="_blank">new reading challenge</a> to make my way through the classics I haven’t read yet. I’m on my fifth book now, and so far, I admit that I’m not enjoying this reading challenge. <br /><br />The classics are not for me. They remind me of books I had to read in high school English classes, probably the only time in my life that I didn’t enjoy reading fiction. Part of it is the writing style and language. English has evolved since the 1700s (the earliest publish date of the books I've read as part of the challenge), and the way authors write has also changed in the past 300 years. However, I didn’t enjoy books written in the 20th century either. Perhaps some of the classics I’ll read later in the year will be more to my taste, but I’m not optimistic about the prospects.<br /><br />On a brighter note, I’m also reading books that were finalists for last year’s Goodreads Choice Awards winners, and I like them much better. Some will surely wind up on my list of favorite reads of 2023. It’s good to know that I can turn to one source of recommendations for books I’ll enjoy!<p> <br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-76988953716639910032023-04-15T14:26:00.001-07:002023-04-15T14:26:47.400-07:00Finally done with first draft of After Z-Day Book 3<p>I'm over three months late, but I finally finished the first draft of Book 3 in the <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PRL1L1" target="_blank">After Z-Day</a></i> series. My initial goal was to complete the first draft by the end of 2022 so that I can release the book around the middle of 2023. Since the first draft is so late, I'm now targeting a late-summer or early-fall release.</p><p>There were two key reasons for the delay in finishing the first draft. The most obvious is that my day job has been crazy busy for the past year. It's been busy for years now, but the level of busyness reached new heights in the second half of 2022. It's been hard to find a consistent writing rhythm when I'm often working mornings before breakfast, evenings after dinner, and weekends, so I'm proud of the fact that I still managed to write the first draft, even if it took longer than expected. </p><p>More so than any first draft that I can remember, this book also went through a lot of changes as I wrote it. I ordinarily make a big deviation from my initial outline about a third of the way through a first draft, and then another pivot two-thirds of the way into the story. With this draft, I was constantly changing things as I wrote the back half of the book. I think each change made the story better (or I wouldn't have changed it), but I'm curious to see how coherently everything flows once I start editing.</p><p>I'm planning to take a short break from the manuscript to reset my brain, then start the revision process with what I hope will be a new set of eyes. I hope the revisions won't take longer than planned so that you all will get to read this book in a few months.</p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-91241733659488574352023-03-11T05:30:00.003-08:002023-03-11T05:31:12.004-08:00Why ChatGPT won't be writing my books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZwg2dDg-vUloERa7Cm8Ps6_ZViFNT7Yv3EnZFi0K-TsdVPwiLGrNE-QWrrSBkYYJIrOamGKot1e5skAsraks2AzsBzErq_mYnqYTmFm7cyOoJg8RYDrg-PN1O5Mqz7yEqo90s1bUyRqDrVtb-Gd77jTMrczIlfM_1u-bX_nAw7b0Zk4Vtam9VFSmYg/s1920/technology-g0ce0d5a01_1920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZwg2dDg-vUloERa7Cm8Ps6_ZViFNT7Yv3EnZFi0K-TsdVPwiLGrNE-QWrrSBkYYJIrOamGKot1e5skAsraks2AzsBzErq_mYnqYTmFm7cyOoJg8RYDrg-PN1O5Mqz7yEqo90s1bUyRqDrVtb-Gd77jTMrczIlfM_1u-bX_nAw7b0Zk4Vtam9VFSmYg/w400-h214/technology-g0ce0d5a01_1920.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt" target="_blank">ChatGPT</a> is all the rage these days. In a nutshell, it is an AI chatbot that has been trained and can be trained on any library of existing text. As a result, it learns how humans write and can imitate that writing. Since its introduction, we've seen a <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/more-people-using-chatgpt-to-create-publish-books/6975941.html" target="_blank">growing</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-launches-boom-ai-written-e-books-amazon-2023-02-21/" target="_blank">number</a> of <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/21/chatgpt-launches-boom-in-ai-written-e-books-on-amazon/" target="_blank">books written</a> by ChatGPT or through the aid of ChatGPT. In some cases, the situation has gotten so out of hand that magazines such as <i>Clarkesworld</i> have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1159286436/ai-chatbot-chatgpt-magazine-clarkesworld-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank">stopped accepting new submissions</a> due to the deluge of ChatGPT-written stories.</p><p>I won't dive into the moral and ethical ramifications of books written by AI. Instead, I want to let my readers know that none of my books will be written by ChatGPT. The reason for me is simple, and it's based on why I write in the first place. I don't write to make a lot of money (although I certainly won't complain if that ever comes to pass), nor do I write to see my name on book retailer shelves. I started writing and continue to write because I have stories I want to tell. They are <i>my</i> stories, and <i>I</i> want to tell them. That is what brings joy to my writing. If ChatGPT wrote a story for me, the story would be its story, not mine. I also won't get to derive the joy from writing it, which defeats the purpose of writing in the first place.</p><p>One day, writing may stop being fun for me, or I'll run out of stories I want to tell. If that should happen, I'd most likely stop completely rather than turn to an AI to write on my behalf. In the meantime, I'll continue to write my own stories because that's what brings me joy.</p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-19400801546432406582023-02-18T06:31:00.000-08:002023-02-18T06:31:12.913-08:00When you won't read a book because the cover is too scary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvPwIwvPmNF4dnxzrQuiqafKpruApA3SbKbCMHDhF0YG7x7HdbJqY_krv_cBGkuqx7F_7iMvDWiuW7_tqU08WnuKKxwxUZ0FXFcChLmZFzPOUok13O_0wXO88_vW-FHqectcIBZzlgxvU0_KApLxCDCR_JCRZcOwkAYH1cGDZlI1Rg9uP4FmSKFN-fA/s482/Screenshot%202023-02-18%20at%206.25.49%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="482" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvPwIwvPmNF4dnxzrQuiqafKpruApA3SbKbCMHDhF0YG7x7HdbJqY_krv_cBGkuqx7F_7iMvDWiuW7_tqU08WnuKKxwxUZ0FXFcChLmZFzPOUok13O_0wXO88_vW-FHqectcIBZzlgxvU0_KApLxCDCR_JCRZcOwkAYH1cGDZlI1Rg9uP4FmSKFN-fA/w320-h259/Screenshot%202023-02-18%20at%206.25.49%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>When I published the first two books in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PRL1L1" target="_blank"><i>After Z-Day</i></a> series, one of my considerations was how the book covers should look. I wanted to convey the genre of the series (zombie apocalypse) in an immediate and obvious way, but I also didn't want covers that were too scary for someone who isn't a fan of zombies to be afraid to pick them up. </p><p>The reason why that's important to me is that there are books I won't read because I'm too scared of the cover. For example, one of upcoming books that I'm seeing a lot of hype for is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784841-she-is-a-haunting" target="_blank"><i>She is a Haunting</i></a> by Trang Thanh Tran. Something about the flowers coming out of the woman's mouth creeps me out, and I can't imagine wanting to hold that book or see the cover lying around the house. Other books that I won't read because of scary faces on the cover include <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50358142-horrid" target="_blank"><i>Horrid</i></a> by Katrina Leno and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48560025-what-big-teeth" target="_blank"><i>What Big Teeth</i></a> by Rose Szabo. It's a shame because, based on the descriptions of these books, I might like them.</p><p>Even worse for me than creepy faces are insects and spiders. I have an irrational fear of them in real life, so I won't touch a book with them on the cover. This is unfortunate because <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1857440.John_Dies_at_the_End" target="_blank"><i>John Dies at the End</i></a> by David Wong is a book I really liked, but the second book in the series is called <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12924261-this-book-is-full-of-spiders" target="_blank"><i>This Book is Full of Spiders</i></a> with spiders on the cover. There are now four books published in the series, and while I can skip the second book, it's more likely that I won't read beyond book 1.</p><p>There are cases when I can tolerate an insect on the cover. For example, the cover of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26836910-the-diabolic" target="_blank"><i>The Diabolic</i></a> by S.J. Kincaid was fine with me. Maybe because I find butterflies to be less scary unless I look too closely at them, or maybe it's because it's not a lifelike picture of a butterfly.<br /></p><p>Which brings me back to my first point. I hope my covers for the <i>After Z-Day</i> series aren't too scary for readers. Moreover, the covers of the remaining books in the series will look similar. Hopefully, I manage to convey the genre effectively without scaring off potential readers.<br /></p><p> <br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-90481325272711469932023-01-28T06:27:00.003-08:002023-01-28T06:27:30.175-08:002023 reading challenge - books to read before I die<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4w-jNNB3LOhpmQO-vSgx89qkaZdZHj3HRzdL235owKO5svruF6tE6WE3cedjsz8Mr1wEmIxvoJXWLaMxae5sQMv4qp078Ntw1eD6s7xp1tyFtl4_Y1Zbr1_FGcV4tNCfTmhuYDVet1N2RhbVhMFP2r1YidMcTfGid27SR0iul-xC_cA7N1uOViPFLw/s695/97276747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="695" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4w-jNNB3LOhpmQO-vSgx89qkaZdZHj3HRzdL235owKO5svruF6tE6WE3cedjsz8Mr1wEmIxvoJXWLaMxae5sQMv4qp078Ntw1eD6s7xp1tyFtl4_Y1Zbr1_FGcV4tNCfTmhuYDVet1N2RhbVhMFP2r1YidMcTfGid27SR0iul-xC_cA7N1uOViPFLw/w400-h254/97276747.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I read a lot of great books in 2021 and 2022 as part of my <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2021/01/goodreads-choice-awards-reading.html" target="_blank">Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge</a>, and I plan to continue reading finalists from last year's Goodreads Choice Awards. However, for 2023, I'm going to change the formal reading challenge that I track. </p><p>As I get older, I'm thinking more and more about bucket lists. When it comes to reading, there are lots of lists of books to read before you die, and 2023 seems like as good a year as any to start plowing through the classics. The question is: which of the many lists to choose from?</p><p>I started with Peter Boxall's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/452208.1001_Books_You_Must_Read_Before_You_Die?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=89wlNrquSt&rank=1" target="_blank"><i>1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die</i></a>. This appears to be the most referenced source when I searched for bucket list books. Not all books on the list are novels, and there are quite a few I've already read. That said, it still leaves a lot of books. </p><p>Then I found <a href="https://1001bookreviews.com/the-1001-book-list/" target="_blank">this handy list,</a> which categorizes the 1,001 books by time period. It helped me organize the reading challenge because what I've decided to do is to read one book a month from the list, using the following criteria:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 book from the 2000s</li><li>5 books from the 1900s</li><li>4 books from the 1800s</li><li>1 book from the 1700s</li><li>1 book from pre-1700s</li></ul><p>Next, I looked through some other lists of books to read before you die, namely <a href="https://medium.com/world-literature/creating-the-ultimate-list-100-books-to-read-before-you-die-45f1b722b2e5" target="_blank">this</a>, <a href="https://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/169" target="_blank">this</a>, <a href="https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-books-to-read-in-a-lifetime" target="_blank">this</a>, and <a href="https://www.joincake.com/blog/books-to-read-before-you-die/" target="_blank">this</a>. My plan is to cross-reference Peter Boxall's list with other lists and select ones that appear multiple times. I already know that I'll read these three books because they appear on all of the lists:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Pride and Prejudice</i> by Jane Austen</li><li><i>Ulysses</i> by James Joyce</li><li><i>Frankenstein</i> by Mary Shelley</li></ul><p>(That's right, I haven't read any of these books. Please don't judge.) <br /></p><p>Given the number of books on the list, and that I'm only reading twelve of them in 2023, this sounds like a reading challenge I'll continue for many years to come, even if I don't formally track and report my progress.</p><p> <br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-79091779636483213472023-01-01T06:17:00.002-08:002023-01-01T06:17:52.846-08:00Favorite reads of 2022<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6WwGZrz3vKrZOJU7WvQU-n0lGNhrQFurDYAYRc8FnLrJTlpoc8J6FVbmvzeKnLx1qe9F3o2ZUD5Sd0yqczjEFJygOlOh25qtwc7COP5NTvfct0wcgIuvMA6QTP_VushnE5SPQ-oPLoOnwHwKfQTaNszlnnWD15zs-cAOwNAlfEAc6RPxfH18rh6x3A/s2106/Screenshot%202022-12-27%20at%209.11.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="2106" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6WwGZrz3vKrZOJU7WvQU-n0lGNhrQFurDYAYRc8FnLrJTlpoc8J6FVbmvzeKnLx1qe9F3o2ZUD5Sd0yqczjEFJygOlOh25qtwc7COP5NTvfct0wcgIuvMA6QTP_VushnE5SPQ-oPLoOnwHwKfQTaNszlnnWD15zs-cAOwNAlfEAc6RPxfH18rh6x3A/w400-h243/Screenshot%202022-12-27%20at%209.11.01%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Happy 2023, everyone! Before 2022 recedes too far in the rearview mirror, I want to share my favorite reads from last year. Without further ado, here are my top ten:</p><div dir="ltr"><span>1. <i>Warbreaker</i> - Brandon Sanderson </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span><span>My
Brandon Sanderson journey continues into 2022, and it shouldn't come as
a big surprise that one of his books--albeit an older one--landed at
the top of my list of favorite reads. (By the way, this is the second year in a row where my favorite read was by Brandon Sanderson.) Not only does <i>Warbreaker</i> contain fantastic world-building and magic systems that are a trademark of his
books, but it has possibly my favorite </span>Brandon Sanderson
character of all time in Lightsong. As an added bonus, <i>Warbreaker</i> is a
standalone novel (so far), so anyone who wants to be exposed to Sanderson's awesomeness can read it without committing to a series.<br /></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><span>2. <i>One
Step Too Far</i> - Lisa Gardner </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span>I've mentioned before that Lisa
Gardner is one of my favorite authors, and her latest novel is further
proof of her writing greatness. I admit that I wasn't too thrilled
when I found out that her new release was a continuation of the Frankie
Elkin series instead of returning to D.D. Warren (nothing against
Frankie Elkin, but I miss D.D.), so I was pleasantly surprised when <i>One
Step Too Far</i> invoked many of the joyous feelings from reading her best
D.D. Warren books. There wasn't a dull moment in the novel, and while
most of the story took place in the wilderness, she nailed the suspense
associated with the remote location. I recommend this and several of her
other books to any reader, whether or not you're a fan of thrillers.<br /></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div>3. <i>The
Inheritance Games</i> - Jennifer Lynn Barnes </div><div>This first book in the
<i>Inheritance Games</i> series was fast-moving and fun to read. The best part
of the book for me was following Avery as she tried to piece together
the clues left behind by Tobias Hawthorne. I enjoyed the mystery, and I
didn't figure it out until the book revealed the answer at the end. The
Hawthorne boys were a bit too much like caricatures, but I liked Avery's
character and rooted for her throughout. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><span>4. <i>The
Hawthorne Legacy</i> - Jennifer Lynn Barnes </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span>It was hard to choose whether
to rank <i>The Inheritance Games</i> or <i>The Hawthorne Legacy</i> higher, so let's
call it 3a and 3b. The second book in the <i>Inheritance Games</i> series, and
also a nominee for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult
Fiction, was just as good as the first. Once again, I was drawn in by
the mystery, most of which I didn't figure out until they were revealed.
I can't wait to read the third book in this series.</span><br /></div><br /><div>5. <i>Arcanum
Unbounded</i> - Brandon Sanderson </div><div><i>Arcanum Unbounded</i> was a gem that I
didn't know existed until I came across the book in the library. This is
a collection of shorter works by Brandon Sanderson that take place across the Cosmere. My
favorite was "Mistborn: Secret History", which tells the story of the
Mistborn series after Kelsier's death from a different point of view. It
made me want to re-read the series to see how it all fits together. I
recommend <i>Arcanum Unbounded</i> to any Brandon Sanderson fan.</div><div><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><span>6. <i>The
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo</i> - Taylor Jenkins Reid </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span>Despite the
accolades, I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did because
I'm not the type of person who enjoys reading about celebrities or
memoirs. But Taylor Jenkins Reid wove such an intriguing story about the
life of Evelyn Hugo that I was completely absorbed by everything that
happened to her. The book took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I
had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of fiction, not the
biography of a real person. </span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">7. <i>My
Imaginary Mary</i> - Cynthia
Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows </div><div dir="ltr">One series that has yet to let me
down are the YA novels by the Lady Janies, and <i>My Imaginary Mary</i>
carries on the tradition of awesomeness. With Mary Shelley and Ada
Lovelace as the protagonists, this book actually featured historical
characters I knew something about, but as with all Lady Janies books,
actual events are changed, leading to hilarious and happier results as compared
to real life. Like the previous books, there were also many subtle,
funny references in this one,
and I wonder how many more I missed. I highly recommend <i>My Imaginary
Mary</i> and all of the Lady Janies books.<br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div dir="ltr"><span>8. <i>The
Kaiju Preservation Society</i> - John Scalzi </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span>This was such a fun book to
read that I breezed through it in a weekend. An action-packed
Godzilla-meets-Jurassic-Park story, <i>The Kaiju Preservation Society</i>
resonated with the boy inside me who watched too many Godzilla and
Gamera movies as a kid. There was also a good amount of humor and deeper questions to ponder, so you don't have to be a kaiju fan to enjoy it. <br /></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><span><span><span><span><span><span></span><span></span><span>9. <i>The
Rose Code</i> - Kate Quinn </span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span><span><span><span><span><span>This Goodreads Choice Award finalist for
Historical Fiction was a great blend of intriguing plotlines and
interesting characters within a setting that I've wanted to learn more
about (thanks to "The Imitation Game"). The author did a great job
creating distinct but well-developed protagonists, all of whom I could
relate to and root for. I also appreciated learning more about the
events that occurred during World War II that don't appear in textbooks,
and it was interesting to read about Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
before Elizabeth became the queen. I'd never thought of her that way!</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><span>10. <i>Come
With Me</i> - Ronald Malfi </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span>A finalist in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
Horror category, <i>Come With Me</i> is a murder mystery and even a love story
as much as it is horror. While the hunt for a serial killer was enough
to keep me enthralled, the injection of elements of horror as well as
the ways in which the protagonist reflects on his life with his wife put
this book at the top of the list among the 2021 Horror category finalists I read.</span><br /></div><br /><br />H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-53846528019539537022022-12-30T06:23:00.001-08:002022-12-30T06:23:35.205-08:00What I read in 2022<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigv-sSHrWEO71acZTGjwSjX7IT6QgbSpRQi6L3NEianYtvwB8NfsZjw0EaZGzfxYGrkbOg9lAYBqUP8J8bYRF-eBlQ07M-U6AkdBZvJ_DoGUGM3xyjm9xQott-OApD-H99SjKaStjf0RuC3KnF5PNNjY--jSY4nf9B3A-LDbXk6vs-HFWcRZAUDOkWtg/s1130/Screenshot%202022-12-30%20at%206.18.42%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1130" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigv-sSHrWEO71acZTGjwSjX7IT6QgbSpRQi6L3NEianYtvwB8NfsZjw0EaZGzfxYGrkbOg9lAYBqUP8J8bYRF-eBlQ07M-U6AkdBZvJ_DoGUGM3xyjm9xQott-OApD-H99SjKaStjf0RuC3KnF5PNNjY--jSY4nf9B3A-LDbXk6vs-HFWcRZAUDOkWtg/w400-h339/Screenshot%202022-12-30%20at%206.18.42%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>As 2022 draws to a close, it's time to revisit the books I read this year. Once again, I set myself a goal at the beginning of the year to read 100 books. I managed to hit that goal, with 102 books read this year.</p><p>The average rating for the books I read was 4.04 stars, a hair higher than the 4.03 average from 2021's books read. The breakdown by star rating was:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>5 stars - 33 books</li><li>4 stars - 40 books</li><li>3 stars - 29 books</li></ul><p>The numbers are uncannily similar to <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2021/12/what-i-read-in-2021.html" target="_blank">2021's</a>, the difference being that I read one fewer 3-star book in 2022.</p><p>As I mentioned in the last post, the books I read as part of the Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge did not make as great an impact to the yearly average as it did in 2021, but it did skew the distribution. The percentage of 4-star books would have been even greater if not for the reading challenge since there were more Goodreads Choice Awards books that I gave 5-star or 3-star ratings to than 4 stars.</p><p>I'll list my top ten reads of 2022 in my next post. Stay tuned! </p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-50314247550790071182022-12-23T06:35:00.001-08:002022-12-23T06:35:21.736-08:002022 Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge recap<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPCze6Bqtd1e0w8giyi9zeLCI6b6qWEmG7TfDUmtnD7JmSwN9wFBtvZhY9vKfLg_0h2T2puNWnFYpbySVPAZqaan6mvDIbr6CYmpF86_SMjIwyihyQJrlVfnwi6NGOaCExxGkP5BOKNLLC6mwE2n6tOVuqeL980F3Dw7YZ9qcNrmeJeo5oAbmhALJRg/s450/gr-choice-2021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPCze6Bqtd1e0w8giyi9zeLCI6b6qWEmG7TfDUmtnD7JmSwN9wFBtvZhY9vKfLg_0h2T2puNWnFYpbySVPAZqaan6mvDIbr6CYmpF86_SMjIwyihyQJrlVfnwi6NGOaCExxGkP5BOKNLLC6mwE2n6tOVuqeL980F3Dw7YZ9qcNrmeJeo5oAbmhALJRg/w213-h320/gr-choice-2021.png" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<p></p><p></p><p>After reading all the great books from last year's <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2021/01/goodreads-choice-awards-reading.html" target="_blank">Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge</a>, I decided to do it again. My goal was to read at least two books a month from the list of 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards finalists, for a total of 24. I ended up reading 28.<br /></p><p>The books I read were (in alphabetical order by title):</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green</li><li>Apples Never Fall - Liane Moriarty<br /></li><li>Appleseed - Matt Bell</li><li>Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney <br /></li><li><span>Bewilderment - Richard Powers</span> <br /></li><li>The Book of Accidents - Chuck Wendig <br /></li><li>Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr</li><li><span>Come With Me - Ronald Malfi</span> <br /></li><li><span>The Cousins - Karen McManus</span></li><li><span><span><span>Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner</span></span></span><span> </span> </li><li>The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix <br /></li><li>Golden Girl - Elin Hilderbrand</li><li>The Good Sister - Sally Hepworth</li><li><span>The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes</span></li><li><span><span>Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao</span></span><span> </span> </li><li>The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward</li><li><span>The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave</span></li><li><span>Local Woman Missing - Mary Kubica</span><span> </span></li><li><span>The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner </span><span> </span></li><li><span>Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid</span><span> </span> </li><li>My Heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones</li><li><span>The Night She Disappeared - Lisa Jewell</span> <br /></li><li>The Push - Ashley Audrain</li><li><span>Rock Paper Scissors - Alice Feeney</span></li><li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The Rose Code - Kate Quinn</span></span></span></span></span></span><span> </span> </li><li><span>The Sentence - Louise Erdrich</span> <br /></li><li>A Slow Fire Burning - Paula Hawkins </li><li><span>Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Klune</span></li></ul><p>Of the 28 books, I rated 11 as 5 stars, 8 as four stars, and 9 as three stars. The average rating came out to be 4.07, which is higher than my overall average of about 4.0 stars for the books I read outside the challenge. However, it wasn't as high as the 4.11 average from last year's Goodreads Choice Awards finalists. Still, this was a great way to read books that I wound up liking.<br /></p><p>I made two observations from last year that held true again this year. The category winners didn't perform as well as the other finalists, and there were more 5-star and 3-star ratings than 4-star ratings. This seems to just be how the list of finalists work for me. </p><p>A new observation this year is the shift in genres I read. As I mentioned in a <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2022/09/changing-reading-tastes.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, I've found that I read more thrillers in 2022. This was reflected in the reading challenge since eight of the 28 books were part of the Mystery & Thriller category. <br /></p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-40417869447668141972022-11-30T18:46:00.002-08:002022-11-30T18:46:56.038-08:00NaNoWriMo 2022 recap<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXFCQRpOm1vTMYypLjzdPzG6YLo1rx4bXYx5YtDTNcEXjIbyEhWqHe1AZFqEPrT1M7HY2yqrBN3e0jGi5ok0X9iey-mdCHdZ8QAzQu0wj7uwM36_SDlvfrS1yzxeiXcGtXjoOOTbqz4s5/s364/nanowrimo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXFCQRpOm1vTMYypLjzdPzG6YLo1rx4bXYx5YtDTNcEXjIbyEhWqHe1AZFqEPrT1M7HY2yqrBN3e0jGi5ok0X9iey-mdCHdZ8QAzQu0wj7uwM36_SDlvfrS1yzxeiXcGtXjoOOTbqz4s5/w220-h320/nanowrimo.png" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p>We've reached the end of November, which means the end of another NaNoWriMo. In my <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2022/10/playing-catch-up-aka-nanowrimo.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, I mentioned that I wanted to write more than 20,000 words this month because I'm behind in the first draft of my WIP. Well, it didn't happen. :-( I only managed a little over 15,000 words. Between an extremely busy day job schedule and a very welcomed vacation over Thanksgiving week, I had less time to write this November compared to previous Novembers.</p><p>While my word count wasn't what I hoped it'd be, NaNoWriMo did help my story along. In addition to the words added to the manuscript, I had several new ideas that made the story better IMHO. The most significant one led me to change the ending. I didn't throw away my original ending completely. Instead, most of what I had planned for the ending will now take place earlier in the story to make room for what I believe will be an even better ending. I hope my readers will agree when they read the book.</p><p>I still have faint hopes of completing the first draft by the end of the year. It means that I will have to conduct a personal NaNoWriMo writing challenge during the month of December. I don't have a word count goal because I don't know how many words it will take to finish the novel. Let's see if I can write "The End" by the last day of 2022.<br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-27685368895521268762022-10-23T06:19:00.000-07:002022-10-23T06:19:09.023-07:00Playing catch up, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXFCQRpOm1vTMYypLjzdPzG6YLo1rx4bXYx5YtDTNcEXjIbyEhWqHe1AZFqEPrT1M7HY2yqrBN3e0jGi5ok0X9iey-mdCHdZ8QAzQu0wj7uwM36_SDlvfrS1yzxeiXcGtXjoOOTbqz4s5/s364/nanowrimo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXFCQRpOm1vTMYypLjzdPzG6YLo1rx4bXYx5YtDTNcEXjIbyEhWqHe1AZFqEPrT1M7HY2yqrBN3e0jGi5ok0X9iey-mdCHdZ8QAzQu0wj7uwM36_SDlvfrS1yzxeiXcGtXjoOOTbqz4s5/w220-h320/nanowrimo.png" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p>In 2020 and 2021, when I wrote the first drafts of the first two books in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PRL1L1?" target="_blank"><i>After Z-Day</i></a> series, I had written at least 20,000 words by the end of October, used NaNoWriMo to add another 20,000 words, and wrapped up the first drafts by the last day of December. That was my plan this year as well.</p><p>Except that I've written less than 10,000 words of book 3 so far. I still have a few days left in October to make progress, but realistically, I'll be starting November with a little over 10,000 words written in my first draft. Even if I add another 20,000 words during NaNoWriMo, I'd only be about halfway done with book 3. As I see it, my options are to (1) increase my output in November, (2) write even more words in December than in November, or (3) give up on my goal to finish the first draft by the end of the year.</p><p>The second option seems extremely unlikely. Throughout my writing career, November has been my most productive month, thanks to NaNoWriMo. Although nothing prevents me from writing even more during another month, the psychological kick in the pants of NaNoWriMo has been undeniable for my productivity. I also don't want to give up on my plan to finish the first draft by the end of this year, even if I'm behind right now. Which leaves me with option 1. It's not out of the question that I can write more than the 20,000 words I wrote the past two years. After all, I've "won" NaNoWriMo before by writing 50,000 words. </p><p>So this year, I'm going to shoot for more than 20,000 words in November. How much more? 25,000 words? 30,000 words? I don't know. This will be an interesting NaNoWriMo for me because I'm planning to ramp up from writing less than 3,000 words a month the past three months to over 20,000 in November. Will I be able? Stay tuned and find out!</p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-83137991950419941352022-09-03T08:23:00.000-07:002022-09-03T08:23:09.501-07:00Changing reading tastes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjheX8Fb-4oyWuCnTFscgoCRe2ky4zg8LbX-lX6rA5qt9wrKHqgcU_TOhlfawIci7QFXEhXNMms15MSdHos7JW0NBQdj2LyamJoNb9tZ96J5Bq15o8V_XD0KZZhnNGJFHhosNujwbTtEdMsq9MaMxDGxwSgN0XOqRf7I_pC7SjCGE_CNG7nQOQIyXYquQ/s5715/pexels-pixabay-159711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3800" data-original-width="5715" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjheX8Fb-4oyWuCnTFscgoCRe2ky4zg8LbX-lX6rA5qt9wrKHqgcU_TOhlfawIci7QFXEhXNMms15MSdHos7JW0NBQdj2LyamJoNb9tZ96J5Bq15o8V_XD0KZZhnNGJFHhosNujwbTtEdMsq9MaMxDGxwSgN0XOqRf7I_pC7SjCGE_CNG7nQOQIyXYquQ/w400-h266/pexels-pixabay-159711.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p>If you're a long-time follower of my blog, you know that I've been a fan of YA books for many years (despite growing out of my "young adult" phase in life long ago). YA is the predominant genre I write in because I also love reading YA. When I came up with <a href="https://hswriting.blogspot.com/2018/07/my-favorite-series.html" target="_blank">my favorite series</a>, for example, 7 out of the top ten fell in the YA category.</p><p>This year, however, I found my reading tastes changing. I've read more books for adults than for young adults in 2022 so far. The top two categories are thrillers and fantasy/sci-fi, which are two genres that have been among my favorites for a long time, just not more so than YA. I attribute the rise in reading fantasy to my newfound fondness for Brandon Sanderson, as well as the general surge in interest in the genre through shows like "The Wheel of Time" (which I'm starting to read) and "The Rings of Power."</p><p>It's too early to say whether my shift in reading preferences signals a declining interest in YA or an increased interest in other genres. I've still read some really enjoyable YA books this year (e.g., <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/282828-the-inheritance-games" target="_blank"><i>The Inheritance Games </i></a>series comes to mind), so it still holds a special place in my heart. I also don't have any plans to stop writing YA stories. Maybe next year, my reading preferences will revert back to YA. We'll see. <br /></p><p><br /></p>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4872672895585575687.post-81793133894857959822022-08-13T06:22:00.001-07:002022-08-13T06:23:33.495-07:00Hopeless is free this weekend!<p>For a limited time, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PHJ49F/" target="_blank"><i>Hopeless</i></a>, the first book in the <i>After Z-Day</i> series, is free! Download the e-book from Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094PHJ49F/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>If you enjoy it, try the sequel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5NLWDK8" target="_blank"><i>Relentless</i></a>, which is free to read for Kindle Unlimited members.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7uvKjFDpeZ9pMIlgKJvmybtRhBr1Lt1H716i27P_4pXEYsHQ3bmUfC8HNZiCfYxqY4bRlvTNRHMkKuDahVGB33gk74QErPILrO0NaCJhkDyG5IGKb9ZlypbTPGN67eGPWMXEvH5mHQI590vugZeJUzdCF0s9Zt0k-dPHEBMuZ6_GmsoOBkRMwg6VUw/s2560/hswriting_hopeless.0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7uvKjFDpeZ9pMIlgKJvmybtRhBr1Lt1H716i27P_4pXEYsHQ3bmUfC8HNZiCfYxqY4bRlvTNRHMkKuDahVGB33gk74QErPILrO0NaCJhkDyG5IGKb9ZlypbTPGN67eGPWMXEvH5mHQI590vugZeJUzdCF0s9Zt0k-dPHEBMuZ6_GmsoOBkRMwg6VUw/w400-h640/hswriting_hopeless.0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>H.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08987000341078496576noreply@blogger.com0