Reading, Writing & Revising

Hey! It's me again. How are you today? What did you get up to this week?

Personally, I got a bunch of stuff done. Initially, I planned to concentrate on reading, and to be honest, it did start that way. On Monday, I read and thoroughly enjoyed the novelisation of The Lost Boys. I finished it in one afternoon/night because it was SO much fun. LOVED IT! There's just something about 80s movie novelisations that really grab me. Of course, the fact this is based on the screenplay of one of my all-time favourite movies might have something to do with it. 😃

Then on Tuesday, I completed the final read-thru of the monster lovin' short story that I wrote on my phone over the long weekend. Yeah, it's a shortie but definitely a lot of cheeky fun. I even read it to my husband, and by Monday night, it was sitting on my Paperwhite for one last revision/read.

Final word count is: 1,698.

During Wednesday and Thursday night, I read Retreat by Krysten Ritter. It's such a great and totally twisty psychological thriller. Lots of glitzy rich lifestyle vibes, with a good dose of scandalous mystery and plenty of attitude.

Between reading this book, I also wrote and revised another short story. This one came to me on Sunday and I started writing it on my phone. But after the initial 200 words, I stalled. It wasn't until my afternoon walk on Monday that I realised a simple format change was just what this tale needed. And it worked! Because I finished writing it shortly after that.

Tonight, I completed the read-thru on my Paperwhite.

Final word count: 3,147.

This short story ended up a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I'm not surprised because it's set in the same world as VampNovel1 & VampNovel2. Man, the characters in this world are very chatty. Every time I finish one story, another idea drops into my brain. And these side/prequel tales are deepening the overall story. 😳

Speaking of these novels, I'm hoping to get started on the revision of VampNovel2 next week. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, this was the first full working week in three weeks, and it sure turned out to be productive. My muse has been buzzing and I'm having such a great time getting to know all of these secondary characters.

Now it's time to enjoy two days with my husband. Tomorrow it's Election Day in Australia, so we'll be popping in to the local school to vote. I really hope that the LNP (conservative assholes) don't win. They just want to fuck things up with cruelty and bullshit. Wish I could trust people to be smart enough to realise this is the case, but sadly, I don't have much faith in humanity nowadays.

Hope things turn out well, like they did in Canada. Wish us luck. 

Have a great one!

PS. So far, I've written and revised 8 short stories this year.

RETREAT by Krysten Ritter

Retreat by Krysten Ritter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed Krysten Ritter's first book, Bonfire, so I was really excited about reading this one.

Liz is a con artist. She's beautiful, knows how to draw people into her orbit, and she's intelligent. She's also a chameleon and has learned a lot of trades that help her slink in and out of rich people's lives. But when she goes to Mexico for a real job, she gets caught up in the glitzy life of the rich woman who hired her...

Wow. What a great mystery! It's also a terrific psychological thriller that's full of twists, turns, and a cast of characters that keeps you guessing until the shocking truth becomes very clear.

I really enjoyed this book. It's such a great story that starts out simple enough: a con artist has built a busy life for herself that keeps her financially afloat, but when her web of lies starts to unravel, she gets the opportunity of a lifetime.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Except it's not. Nothing about this story or characters is as it seems. The Mexican setting is lovely and the vivid descriptions put you right there in the heart of the action, but there's also a sinister underbelly that creeps up on you.

This is one dark and messed-up tale full of lies, secrets, and a bunch of conniving players. And I loved every minute of it. I couldn't stop reading because the author's voice is as compelling as the awesome writing style. The ending was perfect.

Liz is such a great character. I mean, she's definitely no saint and gets up to a lot of awful shit, but there's just something about her that totally captivates the reader.

Loved it!


View all my reviews

THE LOST BOYS by Craig Shaw Gardner

The Lost Boys by Craig Shaw Gardner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's no secret that The Lost Boys is one of my all-time favourite movies. I was a teenager when I first experienced this fantastic movie and have been enthralled with everything about it ever since.

But you know what I hadn't done yet? I'd never read the novelisation. And since 80s novelisations are so much fun, I finally read this very cool book.

Lucy Emerson recently got divorced and decides to move back to Santa Carla with her teenage boys. Lucy gets a new job and fancies her boss. Michael falls for a mysterious girl who leads him down a dark path. Sam makes new friends who help when comic books come true. While Grandpa watches everything from his taxidermy room...

Amazing. Awesome. Enjoyed every minute of this great novelisation.

Not only did this book totally capture the atmosphere of the movie, but it also complements and enhances everything about it. The location, the characters, the mystery, everything!

Several deleted scenes (which we watched not long ago because they were included in the 4k ultra HD+ Blu-ray) are part of this story. And we also get multiple POVs, plus a little more about each Lost Boy. Which was a nice addition. The vamps are still intriguing and cool, but several unexpected tidbits are added to the narrative.

Anyway, I read the whole thing in one night because I didn't want to put it down. Glad it didn't disappoint. I had a blast!!

View all my reviews

A Week Full of Stories!

Hey, how are you today? I hope you're having a great week.

As you know, I finished an extensive (3-week) novel revision last Thursday night and when I woke up on Good Friday, I was mentally exhausted. Seriously drained. So I really enjoyed the four-day break with my husband. Lots of relaxing, nice food, walking, a little shopping, and even some naps. It was awesome!

I felt recharged and ready to take a few weeks off between projects.

Yeah, that was the original plan. But then I decided it was time to complete the final read-thru of the short story I finished a few weeks ago. So I did that on Tuesday.

The final word count is: 3,173.

Very happy with this story now. I changed the ending during the second draft, but by the time the third draft was done, it ended up being more like a complete rewrite. Sometimes I do that. 😅

In the meantime, I wrote a new story on Sunday night. On my phone. See, after our nap on Saturday, I woke up with the first line of the story in my head, and when I typed it out so I wouldn't forget, I didn't stop until the whole first draft was done.

This violent little tale is actually a prequel to VampNovel1/VampNovel2. Yeah, this is the world that keeps on expanding. Just when I think I'm done, another story pops up. LOL.

Anyway, I worked on the second and third drafts on my phone, and read the final read-thru tonight. And now—after marking all the problems, deleting some excess, taking care of rep words, making the changes on Word, and doing a spell check—it's done.

The final word count is: 2,966.

I'm super excited about this story because it came out of nowhere. 

So, that means I've completed six short stories this year. That's 18,720 words worth of shorties. Not bad. 😊

What else did I do? I read the first Murderbot novella and the latest Grady Hendrix short story release. I also went for daily walks, even though it rained a few times. Oh, yeah. We watched and hated the second episode of The Last of Us. Decided we're not watching anymore. After wasting our time on 10 shitty Yellowjackets S3 episodes (this season was seriously bad), we're done watching mediocre shows.

Well, that's it for today. I'm going to enjoy another long weekend with my husband. Three days this time. Nice.

Have a good one!