KW

OOooo, I loved the Kite RUnner!

Sounds interesting!

Every child's nightmare: getting lost in the woods. My first ever SK book and I was pleased to see that he is a good writer from a craft standpoint. His attention to detail brings to life every step Tricia takes in the creepy ( not really creepy of course, just from a child's POV) woods. Tricia has every "woody" thing happen to her you can imagine: mosquito attacks, wasp attacks, falling down cliffsides, into streams...enough for SK to show us how talented he is at bringing the gooey grotesque to her raw skin to "feed"...okay, though that may be true of insects my stomach rolled nonetheless. I also liked the occasional "check ins" we saw with where her family and the searchers were at thru out the book paralleling with her journey. I admit that near the end I skimmed, finding yet another "day" in the woods too repetitive for my taste. I wanted to see what happened. I DID love that he kept young Tricia's hope alive with the visualizations of Tom gordon and the games. That was a very real touch, and effective at creating sympathy for her. The bear following her was a suspense element played fairly well. I DID wonder why the creature didn't just eat her and get on with it as the beast would have in real life. Ah, but that is why fiction is lovely: it's safe. Just like the woods. KW

I just finished TMWLTG by SK. Liked it well enough. KW

Welcome, Carole! KW

My son just finished, and loved, Artemis Fowl. He's 10. Another son loves Skinny Bones, Hatchet and the Outsiders. KW

I'm going to try...

I love character driven stories and my favorites are: Cam and Anna in Sea Swept by Nora Roberts Cam, Philip, Ethan and Seth in the Quinn series by Nora Roberts Roxy, Luke, Max and Lily in Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts Cam and Reuben in Fighting Reuben Wolfe by Markus Zusak Cam and Reuben in Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

Just finished Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews. I read it in two days. Not necessarily because it was wonderfully well written, tho it was better crafted than I had anticipated. The bizarre nature of the story, though somewhat predictable, kept me going. Much better than the cheesy flick.

Is he in book 2?????????

Yes, I read the first one. I'd heard SOOOOOO much about Roark and how AMAzing he is, I was disappointed at how his character didn't grab me. Nor does Eve's. She's too rough for my liking. And he's mostly talk, throwing around his maleness just for effect... I should say Nora throws around his maleness just for effect, without much to substantiate it. I simply don't enjoy a novel where two people get it on for the formulaic sake of it. KW

I agree -- superb chemistry between them all. How many times could I have LEAPT from my seat to jump onto the screen with him??????????????????? KW

Icecream...i hope my post didn't come off as...heated. LOL. I'd never want to melt you!!!!!!!!!! We take arrows from all sides, and sometimes they are shot out without care or thought to an artist and what they are trying to accomplish, how far they have come and the struggle it has taken to get there. Promote? I join loops, forums, lists, groups, gather reviews...maintain my websites...it robs my day of everything else, even writing at this point, which I dislike very much but am wont to do if I want to meet people. Thanks for not being offended by my reply. The part of me that is frustrated by the process sometimes taints the tone of my correspondence. KW

Well, I SKIMMED through the end of the RAven Prince just so I could say I'd finished the danged thing but it was LAME. L - A - M - E. I'm onto Glory in Death, the second in the IN DEATH series and so far it's at least holding my interest which is getting harder and harder to please with each passing day it seems! KW

Not true or real or valid (?) even, icecream, but a myth. Think of it this way: a couple wants for nothing more than to have children but because of reasons out of their control, they are unable. They love children, want a family, and adopt. Are they real parents? Of course. The example shows how absurd the whole, "if you're not validated by your peers, you aren't IT" whatever it may be. Well, now that I've beaten the literal DEAD horse into the ground, lol... KW

How nice to get to know you, Kell! KW

Right now I'm using Gerard Butler, Phantom of the Opera bookmarks I got during the Phantom movie craze. Usually, I use a reciept. KW

Aw, nice thread. KW

Yes, it remains one of my fav reads of last year.

I bagged the Lord of Scoundrels and am now reading The RAven Prince which is OK... not written terribly beautifully or engagingly but...and I seriously doubt I'll stay with it. I can already tell.

Hi Michelle. My husband wanted to publish information NF books for as long as I can remember, so we opened Grove Creek Publishing. http://www.grovecreekpublishing.com/ It just happens that we're pubbing my fiction work first. It's one of many businesses my husband has started. He's quite the businessman. I've enjoy what I've learned about the publishing business so far and there is much more to learn. As with many professions, some people don't see you as a "real" writer unless you pub with a big house. Some don't see a singer as a real singer unless they have fame and a name and a CD. The lounge singers don't count. The actor that isn't on a TV show or in movies regularly isn't a "real" actor either. The cook that isn't in a famous restaurant isn't a chef, he's still just a cook. Ridiculous that we have to fight these inaccurate ideas. KW

That's better...

And will you keep reading Magic Hands?

Hi Michelle, Usually by the time I get ready to put something on paper, I know the characters intimately because they've existed inside of me for quite some time. During a project, I think about them constantly...unable to think of much else until their story is told. And I don't just visualize them within the perameters of the scenes I intend to or have already created, I see them everywhere, which helps give them depth and fleshes them out more thoroughly by the time words hit the paper. KW