Blue Eyed Devil by Robert B. Parker

Today I read Blue Eyed Devil by Robert B. Parker.  I can't lay this one at the door step of my Learn to Read by Writing Project. 

Blue Eyed Devil is what I call popcorn fiction.  It's a snack.  Light and salty.  Fun!!

The dialogue between Hitch and Virgil is awesome.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly

Today I finished 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly as a part of my Learn to Write by Reading Project.

The book jacket described the book as a mystery thriller.  A term I wasn't aware existed.  But it was a good description. 

I have read praise of Connelly's protagonist, Harry Bostch, which put him in the same league as Lee Child's Jack Reacher.  When I learned that Bostch was a police detective, I thought to myself.  I'm not sure I'm going to like this.  (I don't usually like the police procedural genre.)  But, I was very pleasantly surprised.  It was a great story and Harry is a great character.

I also re-started writing Bon Secour.  My NaNoWriMo break lasted a week not counting the last ten days of November when I wasn't on break but didn't write either.  Managed a paltry 602 words.  But, I was sitting and writing.  Yeah!

I started a style exercise based on John Hart's Edgar Award winning novel, The Last Child.  What I am doing is copying a scene from the book.  Then breaking it down to identify the goal, conflict and climax of the scene.  To pick up on which emotions and which senses are called on in each scene.

I studied painting for about ten years.  The artist I most wanted to paint like was Richard Schmidt.  I studied techniques by copying the paintings of artist's I admired.  I got good at copying, but I never even got close to being able to copy one of Schmidt's paintings. 

If I could wave a wand and be able to imitate any one's writing style it would be Hart's.  When I compare some of the scenes I wrote during NaNoWriMo to The Last Child, I cringe.  His style is so different from mine.  I'll never be able to write like him.  But maybe I can grow in that direction.

Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter

Today I read Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter. 

Learn to Write by Reading Project.

Stephen Hunter is one of my favorite authors I have enjoyed reading all of his novels.  This one is set in Bristol, TN at the time of a NASCAR event.

I love his protagonist, Bob Lee Swagger.  In fact, I've felt a little guilty using Bob Lee as the name of my antagonist in Bon Secour.  Hate to besmirch both the name of his protagonist and Gen. Robert E. Lee.  But, there you go.  The point of my antagonist is that he is a likable soul gone wrong.

Anyway, after studying how to write this year and reading novels analyzing why they work and why they sometimes don't, I found that I didn't like this story as much as I had enjoyed his previous stories.

Hunter's gimmick is that Bob Lee Swagger was a USMC sniper.  He knows everything about guns, ammunition, and shooting.  These topics are heavily embedded in every Bob Lee Swagger story.  I don't know that much about these topics.  And I don't care to know that much about these topics.  I'm not a hunter and I haven't fired a rifle since I wore Uncle Sam's green fatigues.  My readers may feel the same way about some of my protagonist's knowledge.  When I tell my story, Bon Secour, I need to keep my knowledge gimmick at a safe level.  My reader probably doesn't want to know the details of how to adjust a carburetor, just because my protagonist does.  It may add authenticity to the story but it isn't the story.

Night of Thunder ends with a surprise on the last two pages.  Sounds good.  But, my mind rebelled.  My story needs to have an ending that has been sufficiently set up.  One that seems right.  Not pulled out of a hat.  Tell me a character would finger his brother as the villain.  OK, I can believe that.  Tell me the character will say he thinks the villain might be his brother and then two pages later kills him.  I don't believe that would happen.  This means that my story must show a logical link from a character's knowledge to his emotions to his actions.  I can't leave any of it out.

Bob Lee Swagger is a cool dude.  He is a weapons superstar.  I get it.  Near the end of this novel, he stands over the body of the bad guy's boss whom he just beaten in a fast draw showdown.  He brags about being a fast draw champ, "Nobody ever called me slow."  Come on.  That is just tacky.  Bob Lee never bragged like that in a dozen previous novels.  Why make him a narcissist now?   I must make my protagonist likeable if I want my reader to identify with him, to take a fictive journey as my protagonist.  I must do this all the way to the end of the story.

Running Blind by Lee Child

Learn to write by reading your preferred genre.  Solid advice I've read in How-To books and magazine articles.  And, most importantly, much more fun than actually writing.

Today I finished Running Blind by Lee Child.

It is a well written book.  However, I didn't like the final twist that revealed who the murderer was.  The choice left me scratching my head.  Except for a foreshadowed hypnosis clue it just didn't work.  It just seemed to be dumped as the solution.  Was that because it the story didn't support that choice. 

Or, was I disappointed because I didn't figure out who the killer was?

Story vs. me.  Probably me.

Or maybe story.  "Some of the concluding elements to Child's fourth Reacher outing how the killer gains access to the victims' homes, as well as the revelation of the elaborate MO fall into place with disappointing convenience."  - Publishers Weekly

Anyway, even if it isn't Child's best work, it's still a fun read.  And I'm supposed to be learning more when an author disappoints than when they write a perfect novel.  In this case, I learned I'd better get the ending right if I don't want to disappoint the reader.

The Associate by John Grisham

Today I read The Associate by John Grisham instead of pressing NaNoWriMo.  Shame on me.  Maybe tomorrow I'll put some glue on my butt and sit down and write.

NaNoWriMo Day 30

NaNoWriMo got left in the dust. 

Ultimately it couldn't compete with food, football, and family. 

I've gotten about 30,000 words on paper.  Vowing to self to complete a first draft of Bon Secour by New Year's Day.

Little Saigon by T. Jefferson Parker

Today I finished Little Saigon by T. Jefferson Parker.  A thriller set in the Southern California Vietnamese community.  It was a welcome respite from a four day family Thanksgiving.   A today I'm going to do something for myself moment.  I love how you can enter a new world with a book and be carried away. 

Thanksgiving Holiday was a lot of food, football and grandchildren.  I love them all.  I'm glad to be back on my diet and the familiar path of everyday living.

Bama came close but in the end we beat ourselves and Auburn will be representing the state in the National Championship if they get past "the old ball coach."