Hitting the Books

25,067 baby!

Past the half-way mark!

I have hit the lofty heights of 20,000 words as of 3 a.m. Woohoo!!! At this rate I shall be half done by Tuesday!

Now I have to go finish packing ‘cuz I’m heading out to WV tomorrow. Hope I can keep up the 2,000 a night whilst out there.

Happy writing to all of you!

I did it. I got up the oomph to attempt NaNoWriMo again. I faltered a bit coming out of the starting gate. I originally started working on a book that I had only two scenes written in, and I thought if I didn’t count them in the word count it would be okay. But I still felt guilty since there’s not supposed to be any story written, so I started another one later that day. Despite that blurp, I’ve managed to meet my 2,000 word goal the past three nights. (Or rather mornings. Very early mornings. I tend to do my writing between 11pm and 2am.) I figure if I aim for 2,000 a day, I should have words to spare (since I’m not sure how NaNo’s counting and Word’s counting differ) by the 30th. Lord willin’ and the crik don’t rise.

Well, the only reason I have a moment to post is because I’m waiting for bread dough to rise before plopping myself in front of my laptop for this evening’s session. Don’t want to be interrupted by beeping timers.

Good luck to those of you who are also trying!

TTFNNWM (that’s Typie-Typing for NaNoWriMo)

Yup, NaNoWriMo is just around the corner.

That mad, wild, crazy time when billions and billions (okay, well, just lots and lots–last year 79,000+) of writers, aspiring writers, and plain ol’ lunatics attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. That’s from midnight November 1st to 11:59pm November 30th. From scratch (sorta–background info, character sketches, etc., are allowed).

I did my darndest in 2005, but life got in the way.

I was going to last year, but procrastinated too long.

So the question is, do I try again this year? Or just assume that having a Punkin underfoot will make it an Impossible Dream (To dream the impossible scene, to write the unwriteable book, to try when your arms are too weary, to type with a Punkin underfoot… Sorry–random “Man of La Mancha” moment.)

That is my dilemma. I’m having a rough enough time right now with health issues on top of the usual full plate. Do I really want to add one more thing?

I think I do. I mean, even if I only write 25 pages worth of story, that’s still 25 pages more than I had November 1st. Right?

Write!

Let Them Eat Cake

Sandra Byrd

SUMMARY (as given by the publisher):

Lexi Stuart is at a critical crossroads. She’s done with college but still living at home, ready to launch a career but unable to find a job, and solidly stalled between boyfriends.

When a lighthearted conversation in French with the manager of her favorite bakery turns into a job offer, Lexi accepts. But the actual glamour is minimal: the pay is less than generous, her co-workers are skeptical, her bank account remains vertically-challenged, and her parents are perpetually disappointed. Her only comfort comes from the flirtatious baker—but even may not be who he seems to be!

So when a handsome young executive dashes into the bakery to pick up his high profile company’s special order for an important meeting—an order Lexi has flubbed— she loses her compulsion to please. “What am I going to do?” he shouts. “Let them eat cake!” she fires back with equal passion and a nod to Marie Antoinette. And then, something inside Lexi clicks. Laissez la révolution commencer! Let the revolution begin! Instead of trying to fulfill everyone else’s expectations for her life, Lexi embarks on an adventure in trusting God with her future—très bon!

Lexi – and Let Them Eat Cake- will entertain readers with wit and great fun, but also explore the universal coming-of-age themes of separating from one’s family of origin, establishing self-esteem, and making healthy choices.

Okay, so knowing myself and my reading habits, I shouldn’t have liked this book.

• As I stated in my last review, I don’t like the first person (except Madeline Brent’s novels–for some reason, those are different)


• I’m not into the whole “chick lit”/Bridget Jones’ Diary-type book. I’m also not big on present-day settings (I used to tell people that anything after 1945 was “after my time”)


• The book doesn’t have a really-o truly-o Happily Ever After.


• Although I am a Christian, I often cringe when reading Christian romances because:
  

1. They tend to cram the Gospel down the reader’s throat (which is a sure way to make most people dig in their heels or run away screaming)


2. Nine times out of ten, they’re terribly, terribly cheesy.

That being said, I will admit quite loudly that I really, really enjoyed Let Them Eat Cake. I read it in one delightful evening of eating cookies whilst soaking in the tub (a nice cheap Mom escape).

I’ll try to answer my own biases.

• Lexi is written so naturally that I had no issues whatsoever with the first person point of view. I actually think the book wouldn’t have worked near as well if written in the third person.


• True, it’s set in the present day. But I have so been there, that whole situation of out of college, with a degree I couldn’t find a job with, living at home, no bank account, and the only dates I had were the pitted and boxed kind. Even down to the Meat Market singles group at church. Sigh. Reading Lexi’s thoughts so often felt like I was reading my own diary.


• Yes, there’s no set-in-concrete HEA, but the story does end happily, and there’s the promise of a possible HEA in the future, so I wasn’t disappointed. An out-and-out HEA would have turned the story to Cheez-Whiz.


• Lexi’s Christianity is so much more realistic than I usually find in these books. She has her doubts, but they’re not OH SO DRAMATIC! She hears that still, small voice without it turning into some mountaintop experience. She tries to be a good witness, sometimes fails, but asks forgiveness, picks herself up, and keeps on going.


• And the cheese factor just wasn’t there.
  

What else to say? The humor was great. I especially liked Lexi’s modern version of casting lots. The pacing was not too fast, but fast enough. The secondary characters are well-defined; I could almost hear myself thinking, “Hey, that sounds just like so-and-so.” The story crosses generations well–I gave it to my mother to read, and she liked it too. I know enough about cooking to get most of those references, I’ve even lived in Washington state. About the only thing that got a bit on my nerves was all the French thrown around, but that’s probably because I’m not too interested in France.

So, to wrap this up, Let Them Eat Cake is a delightful mouthful of a book. Not too much, not too little, not sugary-sweet, and just the right amount of spice. I definitely recommend it .

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