I've just posted chapter 14 as promised. All characters have now been introduced and the story picks up quite a bit from here on in. Keep reading, and come back on Friday for chapter 15.

I've just posted chapter 13 of Amaranthine so check it out. I think I will switch it up a little and post another chapter on Sunday just to help speed things along. The next chapter kicks things up a bit so stay tuned. See you Sunday.

If you watch trends or read publishing blogs, you'll know that vampires are out. They hit their peak  a few years ago and now it is nearly impossible to sell a vampire novel to any of the major publishing houses, or interest an agent in taking one on.  Which is of course hugely disappointing to me and one of the reasons why I am here hawking my book on the internet and looking at self publishing instead of spending time trying to get an agent. But that's a different story.

I love the vampire genre, but I don't really like the turn they have taken over the years.They've become watered down pansy ass versions of themselves and are boring. No wonder no one reads about them anymore. They have lost their edge. They are supposed to be faced with the ethical dilemma of killing to survive, but instead they are written as bagged blood drinking teenagers with girls chasing after them, baring their necks saying "bite me, bite me!"  Vampires, in my opinion should burn in the sun, not sparkle. They should not be able to drink blood from a bag or from animals or sip a bit here and there without hurting people._ This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Am I the only one who remembers that if you get bit by a vampire you turn into a vampire? They have to kill or else they just keep turning more and more people into vampires.  That's the deal. They get to live forever by taking the lives of others. Immortality isn't free, bitches.

I hope vampires make a comeback soon, I'll be waiting with open arms.  In the mean time I wonder what the next genre du jour will be. Vampires had a peak, then werewolves, then zombies, now it seems to be dystopian. I have no crystal ball to see what is next.  Fairies? Steampunk? Time travel? who knows, but I will be reading.

Friday's chapter has been posted at last. Enjoy, everyone.

So, funny story; moving didn't go as planned. My main computer with my manuscript files is still packed and I am still hip deep in boxes. We had 2 weeks to clean out the old house and move everything into the new house and it looks like we will need every day. The house looked clean while we were living in it, but now that all the furniture and decor are out, and I can see every wall window nook and cranny, I can see just how much work needs to be done. As tired as I am, I will make a supreme effort to post the next chapter at some point this weekend.

I decided to post two chapters today, simply because they were both so short it seemed cheap to just put one. I'm off now for the weekend, and will be back on Monday from my new house with it's very own study and book room. I'm very excited. Have a great weekend everyone and see you soon.

Today has been very eventful, and I have been running around like crazy trying to tie up loose ends. Hubby and I just bought a new house and we take possession on Saturday, so today we had a bazillion appointments and papers to sign, not to mention the packing and cleaning and organizing, and now I'm pooped. So, no witty repartee today folks. I am going to post Fridays chapter tomorrow since I probably won't have internet or time to do it on Friday or Saturday so check back tomorrow for new pages. 

It is now time to drag my tired bones onto the couch for some TV and then off to bed.

I really have no idea what fan fiction is. I hear about it, but what I hear makes little sense. Fifty Shades of Grey is Twilight fanfic? OK, that's weird.  I know I could Google it, but I'm going to wait, write this post about what I think it is, and then look it up.

When I hear fan fiction, I think, 'someone likes a story or characters so much they write a short story or an epilogue or something, using those characters.' For example, Gone with the Wind had an ending that left us all in the lurch, is Rhett coming back?  Can Scarlet convince him that she finally figured out that she really loves him? etc. So as a fan I would write, for my own enjoyment, a short novella or story concluding the book the way I would love to see it ended, with Rhett and Scarlet together and happy. But apparently that's not it, because Fifty Shades doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with Twilight. It's actually very different. Where Twilight had no sex at all, Fifty Shades is chock full of it. So, how in the world does that equate to fan fiction?

So this is what I found on Wiki to define  fanfic.  "Fan fiction is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe." So it appears as though I was generally correct about what fanfic is, but I don't see how Fifty Shades falls into this at all. But, I have to admit I haven't read those books, so maybe there is a link that I just don't know about. Is Edward a co-worker of Christian Grey and they say hi at the water cooler every day? Who knows. If you do know feel free to tell me.

Well I hope this clears it up for all of you, and you now have a better understanding of what fan fiction is. I know I do...

I have just posted chapter 9 of Amaranthine, for everyone who is reading. I'm building up quite the following but still no comments. If you are reading, please leave a comment I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Have you ever read a book that other people raved about and thought, 'that's what all the fuss was about?'  I'm sure it's happened to me lots but the two books that really stick in my head as being major letdowns are The Historian and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. 

The Historian started out well, it built some good tension from the very beginning, and I kept turning pages to see when the big event would happen, but...it never did. Nothing actually happened in the whole book. And it's a long book. Really long, and nothing happens ever. I remember being on the last few pages and thinking, 'OK there's going to be some big reveal or exciting moment at the very very end,' but nope, it was just the end. It felt like a waste of time.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle was similar in that it started well, but about halfway through it veered left and went off the rails. Now, I'm the first to support an author's right to write whatever he or she wants, and to tell the story they want to tell, but if I am going to invest time and money reading something I want it to at least make sense. The actions of the main characters and the not so main characters were so contrived and unrealistic that I just couldn't invest in them. When the phrase, "as if" is the thought that goes through your mind over and over while reading a book, it's a bad sign.

I still don't understand why both those books were so highly praised. A case of the Emperor's new clothes maybe. I'll probably never know, but if you haven't read them and were thinking about it, I would give them both a pass.