Downton Abbey: Season One, Episode Two

I think I liked the second episode even better than the first.  SO FUN!  In the second episode Mr. Matthew Crawley, the new heir presumptive to both title and estate, comes to learn the business of Downton Abbey.  But he is a lawyer, the son of a doctor, his mother a nurse... definitely not the sort that the Earl of Grantham and his family are used to dealing with.  But Matthew isn't used to dealing with their sort either and it is with a mutual hesitance bordering on dislike that the two families try to merge.

Obviously, this does not go so well and it makes for a very interesting conversation on class.  Matthew does not like having a valet--what is the point when he is perfectly capable of dressing himself?  Matthew takes a job--a job!--to the displeasure of the whole family.  (Very telling line, Maggie Smith aka the Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey: What is a weekend?)  His mother is more open to the idea of inheriting both a title and a fortune, but she is not the gold-digging schemer you might think.  She is a war nurse and wants to make the world a better place.  Also, she is every bit a match for Maggie Smith's character, who is very opposed to Matthew (a third cousin, once removed!) inheriting Downton Abbey.

The servants struggle to acclimate to this new presence as well.  One scene I particularly enjoyed is when Cora, the Countess and American wife of the Earl (the one with the money now tied to the estate) walks in on a servant speaking of how Matthew is not fit to be an Earl.  The Lady's Maid is not a particularly likeable character (she kicks Bates's cane out from under him in the first episode), but this scene gave me a lot of sympathy for her.  She had taken the class system to heart and felt like she was defending her mistress, but her mistress--in front of all of the house staff--formally rebukes her for not respecting Matthew.  Keep in mind that Cora herself does not respect Matthew, so she is basically putting the maid in her place for not realizing that she is waaaaaaaay down at the bottom of the totem pole.  Then there is some conversation about whether they should be able to have their own opinions, especially since they were seated in the servant's quarters.

But just in case you thought this episode got smart and forgot the drama... there is plenty.  Mary does not want to marry Matthew, even though her mother and grandmother are pushing the idea on her.  Daisy, the lovable kitchen maid, fawns after Thomas (the gay footman with ambitions to be more), while William, the more likable footman fawns after her.  We also get to see Carson, the very strict and uptight Butler, deal with some very hilarious drama from his past.

Thomas, still attractive, but a little less scheming... for now.

In the end, I love all the characters.  Even the scheming ones.  And not in a love to hate way.  I seriously love them all and want them all to be happy.  I can't imagine the last time I loved all the characters, but was still content with the level of conflict in a story.  This almost never happens.  If you haven't started watching this show yet, you should seriously start.

The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Demon's Surrender is the final installment in Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon trilogy.  It was a satisfying conclusion to the series and an enjoyable read, but much different from what I expected.

Each book in the series is told from a different point of view.  In The Demon's Surrender, the narrator was Sin, a character who I would not have considered to be a main character in the series until this book.  But the solutions to the problems that have built over the course of three books were inevitable, yet not predictable to me as reader, and could only have been told from Sin's point of view.

Honestly, this book could absolutely stand on it's own, so I will try to give a summary without spoiling the (amazing) first two books.  Sin grew up in the Goblin Market, where she earned money raising demon's with her dancing.  Now she is competing with an outsider, Mae, to take over leadership of the Goblin Market even as magicians threaten to destroy it completely.

One of my favorite things about the series has been the Ryves brothers.  They are hilarious and sexy and dangerous and each represents one of my favorite kinds of male characters.  One is basically evil (**SPOILER** he's a demon  **SPOILER**), but he is reformed by love and striving to live contrary to his nature.  The other is smart, charming, tough, sweet and a total liar.  The Ryves brothers are hilarious and endearing with each other and with Mae and Jaime.  In the first two books, their banter was almost non-stop, even as the plot rocketed forward.

Sin grew up fast and now, after the death of her mother, she is responsible for both a 7 year old and a toddler.  She has a complicated relationship with the Ryves brothers, Mae has become her rival, and she barely knows Jaime at all.  So there was a whole lot less giggling in this book as Sin made her choices and tried to solve her problems.

But even though I missed some of the fun (God, I missed Jaime!), I gained a lot more as a reader as well.  Sin introduced a serious perspective that suited the end of the series.  As I said, she was the perfect character to experience the story with and I can't imagine the series ending any other way.  I enjoyed the baggage she brought with her and loved watching her grow up and fall in love.

I'm definitely excited for the new projects Sarah Rees Brennan has coming out, although I already miss those Ryves brothers.  The Demon's Surrender counts toward the following challenges:  387 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge, Finish the Series, Fantasy for the Eclectic Reader, and Support Your Local Library.  Track my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.

ROW80

I'd like to say that I'm done with the first draft of my story, but I have a little bit left to go.  I wrote more this week than I have during any other week in January, so I really can't complain.  I should finish up tonight or tomorrow, then I can jump right in to rewriting my script.

I also met all my non-writing goals this week.  I watched a movie (sadly it was disappointing), read a screenplay, and  two books.  I've got a ton of library books out at the moment, which I'm hoping to get through, because I'd like to focus my reading on my (horrifyingly large) TBR pile in February.  I'm also giving a friend notes on his manuscript this week, which is both nerve-wracking, but enjoyable, because I think it helps me as a writer just as much as I hope it helps him.

Now I'm off to the gym.  I hope you are all just as satisfied with your own weeks!

Movie: One For the Money

I'm going to keep this as short as possible, because I had high hopes for One For the Money.  And they were dashed to pieces.  I'm so depressed about it that I might not even be able to finish this post.  For me to consider a book well adapted, the film needs to save the essence of the book.  To me, this boils down to character and tone.  Change anything else you like, but if character and tone are there, chances are I'll love the movie for the same reasons I loved the book.

For Stephanie Plum, this means laugh out loud humor and over the top characters.  And I didn't get that.  At all.  The movie was bland and couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a comedy or an action movie.

Stephanie had no personality and Heigl lacked the spark and energy that made Stephanie so likeable in the books.  Ranger became a cuddly side character instead of BATMAN (which is how Stephanie describes him in every book).  Daniel Sunjata did a great job with the character that was written, but that character was not the Ranger that I have grown to love (every bit as much as Morelli).  Debbie Reynolds was great, but her character was a little too sane.  I love the characters in Stephanie Plum's world, because of how ridiculous they are, but in the movie there is nothing special about any of them.

Then there was the humor... or lack of it.  There were jokes and set pieces and a few times where I laughed out loud, but there were also long stretches of time where nothing funny happened.  Then, the film seemed to remember it was supposed to make me laugh and made a joke.  Since the bad guys weren't scary AT ALL, I spent the time where the movie wasn't funny thinking about how the movie wasn't funny.

That's not to say that the movie was bad--it was average.  But it could have been amazing.

Screenplay: Bridesmaids

I'll be honest.  I didn't love Bridesmaids when I saw it and I only read the script because it was the shortest comedy I had on hand.  However, the script is both funny and readable and I do not take either of those things for granted when reading a script.

The reason I didn't love Bridesmaids has to do with Annie.  Her dissatisfaction with life hit a little too close to home for me.  I could have gotten over it, because I really wanted Annie to succeed, but Annie throws a hissy fit, ruining her best friend's bridal shower.  I realize Annie had got to her breaking point, but her actions in this scene were selfish, childish, and felt uncalled for.  She deserved to get kicked out of Lillian's wedding.

And then... after her heart to heart with Megan, Annie isn't crazy anymore.  She went from trainwreck to grown up in one scene, but never actually took any action to make things better in her life (except make her love-interest a cake).  At the end of the movie, she still doesn't have a job or a place to live, but she has a boyfriend.  The movie got a lot of press for being made for women, but the message isn't women-friendly.  The lesson seems to be that the most important thing a woman can do is have a boyfriend.

To be fair, he is pretty cute.

Besides my dissatisfaction with Annie's behavior and change over the course of the movie, there was one thing that really struck me while reading the script: It didn't explicitly say everything.  There is a scene where the bridal party is trying on dresses and everyone gets food poisoning.  Lillian, in couture wedding dress, runs outside to try to make it to 7-eleven's bathroom, but ends up shitting in the street.  The scene is full of gross humor and I have been curious since seeing the movie about how that was written in the script.  And for the most part, it wasn't.  Very simple actions combined with more explicit dialog make what is happening very clear.  In dialog, the humor is funny in a way that would be uncomfortable if it were explicitly written in the action.

However, there were a number of times in the script where character traits were not mentioned until late in the script and there they were mentioned only in dialog.  For example, Officer Rhodes has a foreign accent.  This is very obvious if you watch the movie, but when you're reading the script, you don't realize he has an accent until Annie asks how he can be a cop if he's not American.  There were a number of times this happened, which made me wonder if some of these jokes were written in after casting was complete.  Had I not already seen the movie, I would have been very confused.

Next week I am reading a friend's script, so I will not be publicly blogging about my week's script reading.  However, I'll probably post another episode review of Downton Abbey.  I hope you are as excited as I am.

Great Writing Posts: Week of January 23, 2012

I've decided to highlight some of the best posts on writing I've seen around the web.  Many of you follow the same blogs I do, so forgive me if these are repeats.  I'm hoping to do this weekly, so you'll have to let me know if this is something worth keeping around.

What Project Runway Taught Me About Explanations by Veronica Roth.  An interesting reminder that if your reader didn't get what you were trying to say... it's your fault, not theirs.  Very timely, for me, as I contemplate writing something where my intentions did not come through as planned, but I think an excellent reminder for anyone seeking feedback on a manuscript.  Plus I love posts that use something completely unrelated to writing... to explain writing.

From Rough to Final: TEN Disections by Maggie Stiefvater.  Stiefvater dissected a chapter from her book The Scorpio Races to show the rewriting process between first and final drafts.  Apparently, she convinced other authors to do the same and links to ten more places where writers can see the many ways writers rewrite.  Kimberly Derting calls it "writer porn", which means I will now read everything she has ever written, and I especially liked Jaclyn Dolamore's post.

One for the Record by Jane Lebak.  An interesting anecdote on why record keeping is important for a writer and some advice on how to do it.

Just A Memory With Nowhere To Stay by Betsy Lerner.  For when you feel like skipping a day.

Work It, Work It: Breaking the Writing Rules by Janice Hardy.  A great post (with examples!) of how and why to break the rules.

25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents by Chuck Wendig.  Nothing most of us haven't heard before, but refreshingly HILARIOUS.


Are there any great posts that I might have missed this week?

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

All These Thing I've Done is set in a futuristic New York City where caffeine and chocolate are banned.  Anya's father ran the Balanchine Crime Family and controlled the North American Chocolate trade before he was murdered.  Now, Anya tries to distance herself from the family business in order to keep her family safe and especially because she is falling for the new DA's son.  But when Anya's ex-boyfriend is poisoned with chocolate, Anya finds herself in the middle of a situation she didn't start and wants nothing to do with.

I was a little thrown off at first because I had a hard time buying into a world where chocolate and caffeine were illegal.  I just don't buy it and talking about caffeine the way we talk about cocaine or meth seemed ridiculous.  But once I forced myself to suspend my disbelief about the chocolate and caffeine, I found the rest of the world a very believable portrayal of our future.  A water crisis has made pretty much everything hard to get a hold of (even for the rich daughter of a gangster like Anya).

I haven't made up my mind about the writing yet.  Often, I thought the prose was beautiful, but I also wondered many times why Anya was telling this story from the distant future.  She constantly says things like "Back in those days..." and seems to be aware that she is writing a book.  I couldn't figure out who narrator-Anya was addressing and why she was telling her story, but for some reason, this book made me feel like I needed those questions answered.

One thing that really bothered me was Anya's lack of change over the course of the book.  She reacted to what was going on around her, but never rose to embrace and control the situation.  I found it especially disappointing because of how often Anya was praised for being strong and grown up and responsible.  Yes, she takes care of her family, because her parents are dead, but she has a sizable bank account and a very good lawyer on speed dial.  The only reason the other characters don't realize she is a whiner is because she keeps her mouth shut.

I found the end disappointing, because I felt like things were explained away.  Anya wasn't directly involved in the story lines that I found most interesting and most pressing (again, she just continues to react).  She took care of what she had to, but mostly other people handled things for her.  The mystery of the poisoned chocolate--a huge event at the beginning of the book and the reason I started reading in the first place--was explained away at the end and Anya did absolutely no work to solve the mystery.  The last line is meant to be clever and I'm sure many readers will appreciate it, but to me it seemed cheesy and reinforced my opinion that Anya is over-dramatic.

Even with everything that left me unsettled or disappointed, I absolutely enjoyed the book.  Anya got on my nerves, but I liked her.  I liked the people in her life.  I liked reading about her dead father.  I liked learning about the Balanchine Crime Family.  I loved Mouse, a character who made only a short appearance and the DA, who is the most likable antagonist I have ever encountered.  No matter how much Anya frustrated me, I wanted to know what happened and what was going to happen.  I kept reading and I enjoyed it.  I'll absolutely pick up the sequel when it comes out.

All These Thing I've Done counts toward the following challenges: 354 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge and Support Your Local Library.  Track my progress on my 2012 Challenges Page.

ROW80 Check In

I've written about 3000 words so far this week, but I wanted to write more.  I have about 3 and a half chapters left to write, so I will definitely finish before February begins.  Then it is on to rewriting my script while I ignore this draft that I can't stop thinking about.  The fact that I can't stop thinking about it is probably the reason I haven't done a great job actually pushing through to the end.

The problem is that I am distracted by everything that needs to happen in the rewrite.  I believe that this will be the best thing I have ever written once I work on it a little more, but for now it is a mess.  That I want to clean up right now.  But I have to distance myself from the manuscript before I can attempt an effective rewrite.  I'm not looking forward to the waiting period.

As for other goals... I reread a short story and realized that feedback I didn't particularly want to hear was right on.  So that is a bit of rewriting that I didn't expect, but want to take care of this week, if I can fit it in.  I still have a lot of prep I need to work on, but it's hard when all I really want to do is work on my blog and read.  But I have to think about life after the current novel and screenplay.  I'm miserable if I don't have something creative to work on and I want to minimize the downtime between projects.  I know what the next projects will be... I just need to break them.

Downton Abbey: Season One, Episode One

Instead of a movie, this week I started watching Downton Abbey(it's free to stream if you have Amazon Prime).  I love British television and Downton Abbey was no exception.  It is basically a British soap opera following the lives of both the aristocrats and servants at Downton Abbey.  And let me tell you... drama, conflict.  It's been one episode and I'm already addicted.

The biggest problem is that the Earl does not have a male heir.  He had planned to marry his oldest daughter to the heir presumptive, but when he dies during the sinking of the Titanic, the Earl loses the ability to keep his estate and fortune in the family.  His wife is furious, since the money was hers (he married her for money before he fell in love with her) and there is no way for her to separate it out for her daughters.

Then there is the staff.  The new valet shows up with a cane, causing most of the staff to question whether or not he can do his job.  But he is an old friend of the Earl's, the two having served in the war together.  One footman in particular, Thomas, is furious that he has been passed over for promotion for someone he considers ill equipped to the job.  There is much scheming.

He's good looking for a scheming footman.

At one point a duke shows up and we hope he will marry the eldest daughter, Mary.  He's a little weird, but I didn't think he would turn out to be more than a disappointment to Mary.  But even he turned out to be far more interesting than I originally thought he would.  In several quick twists... I don't want to ruin it, but I was surprised several times.

And did I mention Maggie Smith is in it?  Also, the hair and the hats.  Can we bring that back?

I want to be glamorous.  Like this, not like Fergie.

Seriously, I love this show.  I can't wait to watch the rest of them.  I'll try to pay better attention to the next episode, to see how things worked.  Then I can talk about how I went from liking Thomas to hating him to liking Thomas again and how to not bore your audience.  But probably, like today, I will just ramble like a lunatic.

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is becoming one of my favorite authors.  Her Raised By Wolves series is one of my favorites (I can't wait for Taken by Storm to come out this year) and Every Other Day continued the trend of me not being able to put down her books.

In Every Other Day, Kali lives in a world where Darwin discovered a hydra at Galapagos and brought preternatural creatures into the forefront of scientific discovery.  The government is trying to control and contain and protect these new species (friendly species like hellhounds and zombies), which Kali thinks is ridiculous.  She is a preternatural being herself... well, half the time.  Her days alternate between being completely human and being something more, with an affinity for weapons and a big time natural desire to kill these so call "endangered species".  But when she sees a girl at her new school is marked for death by a preternatural Chuppacabra, she knows that she has to save her, even though Kali is currently having a human day.

I couldn't put this book down.  The plot is fast, with tons of twists and turns, and I don't think there is anything better than an evil research scientist, of which there were tons in this novel.  Evil research scientists are such great bad guys because they are smart, devious, and good problem solvers.  They are hard to beat, and yet, their fault is that they are so ambitious, they often create their own biggest problems.  It is fascinating.

The social dynamic between the characters in this book is awesome.  Kali, Bethany, and Skyler all have their secrets and a good deal of trust issues.  Kali just wants to save Bethany's life and be on her way, but Bethany (snobby cheerleader) and Skyler (psychic social outcast) stick by her and the three become friends as they reluctantly learn to trust each other.  They're thrown into something bigger than they ever could have imagined.

I've never been totally head over heels for one of Barnes's love interests, but because romance really isn't ever the point, it doesn't detract from the book.  Zev is like Kali, so her attraction to him is natural, because she has spent her whole life feeling alone and completely isolated.  I appreciate that she grows to like him over the course of the book and look forward to getting to know him better if there are sequels (please let there be sequels).

One of the reasons Kali feels so isolated is because she has a terrible relationship with her single-parent father.  It's not that he's mean or horrible, it's more that he's indifferent, which is worse.  I had a hard time believing how a father and daughter could become so estranged, especially when Kali's father's actions show that he really does care about her, even if he has trouble showing it.

The end was satisfying, but open ended enough for a series.  I'd love to see the fallout of what happens at the end of the book almost as much as I'd like to see Kali stumble her way through a relationship with her father.  Every Other Day counts toward the following challenges: 352 pages toward 15,000 page challenge and Support Your Local Library.  Track my progess on my 2012 Challenges Page.

ROW80 Check In

This week had unexpected amounts of running around, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted.  I didn't meet my weekly word count minimum, but like I said on Wednesday, I figured out the rest of my novel, which is a huge step forward and probably worth about two whole weeks of writing.  I probably wrote about 1500-2000 words this week (some of them long hand that I need to type up later, so not totally clear on the word count).

This week, for a change, I'm more happy with my non-writing goals.  I didn't actually track it this week, but I would say that I did meet my 4 hour minimum goal of prep (everything from rereading projects and writing myself notes to brainstorming to plotting to writing query letters).  I spent a little time rewriting a short story, read three books and one screenplay, and even though I only made it to the gym once this week, I worked out five days out of the seven.  I've also continued to be consistent with my blogging schedule this year, which I usually abandon about halfway through the second week.

Overall, I'm happy.  My goal is to finish my rough draft this upcoming week so that I can move on to rewriting my screenplay in February.

Screenplay: The Kids Are All Right

A quick post because tomorrow I am braving the bad weather to dress up in medieval garb and go dance and attend a feast and try very hard not to take myself to seriously.  So... observations I made while reading The Kids Are All Right:

-I really enjoyed reading the script--the pacing was perfect, the conflict built gradually.  But--and I have this problem with a lot of dramas, so it might be just me--the end didn't leave me satisfied.  Yes, there was change--the family pulled together at a time when they could have just as easily broken apart--but I didn't feel like anything was resolved.  Since I haven't seen the movie (this is going to change, because I loved the script), I am almost curious if my PDF is missing the last fifteen pages or so.

--The scenes were short.  There were a number of scenes less than one page in length and I would say that the average scene was maybe two pages or less.  Not only did this help with the pacing, but there was absolutely no fluff.

--It's a drama, but it's funny.  The humor was natural and never forced.  There was never a line that was thrown in because  the scene needed a joke (I've complained about this kind of humor before).  It was all organic to the scenes and the characters.

-In the script when we meet the moms, you just pick up that they are a gay couple.  There is a moment where it's drawn attention to, but it is not until an outsider is introduced to the family.  This was interesting to me, because the beginning of a screenplay is about orienting the reader into the new world of the film.  If the writers had drawn attention to the fact that Nic and Jules are lesbians, then the reader would remain an outsider for the entire story, never fully being able to enter the new world.

The point of these posts is for me to have a forum to discuss what I can learn from each script I read.  I'll have to try another list of observations next week, because it seems like a format perfectly suited to my purpose.

How to Stop Online Piracy... at least better than SOPA

On Wednesday, I posted about PIPA and SOPA and why I think they are terrible ideas.  But this in no way means that I support piracy.  We do need to do something about it.  But one person--me--deciding to completely abstain from piracy will do more to fight piracy than SOPA and PIPA could ever dream of.

I was in middle school when Napster came out.  P2P networks and Torrents are as much a part of my childhood as Rocko's Modern Life and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I'll admit that it is often easier to stream a pirated copy of a new television show than to Tivo it.

BUT.

I have a library with music, books, television shows, and movies.  They have language learning software for their patrons.  They have almost anything I could want and I can conveniently request it from the library website.  If they happen to not have it, I can request it.  They will borrow it for me from another library system. There are more than enough good books out there to keep me busy while I wait for my requests.  If I really feel like I can't spend 10 bucks on a book or CD, then I probably don't want it as immediately as I thought I did.

Amazon consistently puts musical albums that I want on sale for $5.  I can afford that.  They store it on their cloud service for free, forever.  I can access it from anywhere and play it in my browser, or I can download it (legally) and import the songs to iTunes.  This is actually a whole lot more convenient than torrenting.

E-Books go on sale all the time.  I have over 150 books that I own, but have not read yet.  I can wait.  And if I'm waiting, I might as well use this handy Kindle Price Drop Tracker.  It tells me when books I want drop in price.  Then I have a good deal, the author gets paid, and Amazon keeps the file for me, forever.

So this is me, with little confidence in our country's ability to honestly discuss issues.  I am making a public pledge not to support piracy, because I am afraid that our discussions have devolved into Piracy vs. SOPA.  I want to be part of a climate that allows us to oppose both and find a solution that is good for everyone.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

In the fourth installment, Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth leads Percy, Grover, and Tyson on a quest through the legendary Labyrinth.  They hope to find Daedalus and that he will help them prevent their former friend, Luke, from leading Kronos's army in an attack against Camp Half-blood.

Battle of the Labyrinth sees Percy on yet another quest, but it never gets boring.  These books aren't just the same thing over and over again.  Percy is growing up, things are getting worse, and beyond all comprehension, the books get more creative as they go.  There is non-stop action, mystery, and an epic fight between good and evil.

But what I most enjoy is the characters.  It's easy to love the main characters and even though you are rooting against the bad guys, you still feel for them.  The lines between good and evil are blurred, something I enjoy in books, because I think that is a realistic portrayal of the world.  And even though you are cheering for Percy and the gods, most of you is hoping for some kind of redemption at the end for the half-bloods who succumbed to Kronos's temptation.

I've said before that Nico is my favorite half-blood and he makes quite an appearance in this book.  Even though these books are about Percy, what I most enjoyed was watching Nico come to terms with his sister's death and learn to forgive.  I wouldn't consider Nico to be a main character, even though he does play a major role in the stories.  You know that these books are fantastic when even the major supporting characters have incredible story arcs.

Even though this is the first time that I've reread the series, these books are definitely some of my all time favorites.  This book counts toward the following challenges: 361 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge, Support Your Local Library (I had lent my personal copy out), and Read Me Baby One More Time.  Track my progress on my 2012 Challenges Page.

ROW80 Check In

I haven't done a ton of writing since the last check in, but I did get myself to the place where I can see the finish line.  For the first time, I tried writing out of order.  I love it.  But since I also write on the go, it means my manuscript gets a little messy.  I use google docs and  write scenes in a long document called "Future Scenes" (I'm so creative) or e-mail myself bits of dialogue using my phone.

I knew I was at the point where I had to organize what I had so that I could fill in the holes and figure out what else I needed.  I've been really worried, because I knew I was getting close to the end and I hadn't figured out how to close the story.

Last night, I ordered and integrated all my future scenes into my main manuscript draft and filled in a few things here and there.  Then I made a list of what I had left to write.  There isn't much.  Less than 10 scenes, 8-15K words.  I think that I'll finish the rough draft by the middle of next week (that's my goal).  Best of all, organizing the manuscript was the kind of creative activity I needed to figure out exactly how my story would end.

So I'm really excited.

PIPA and SOPA

Over the next week, you will hopefully see lots of posts about PIPA and SOPA, bills that major companies I trust (at least more than the government) say will effectively censor the internet.  The intent is to fight online piracy, but Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA, House of Representatives) and Protect IP ACT (PIPA, Senate) are NOT the way to do this.

I am not the best person to explain this, so here is a link to a very easy to understand blog about PIPA and SOPA and the effect they will have on the internet as we know it.  Read it, explore the issue on your own, (I am a very strong supporter of doing your own research), and if SOPA and PIPA scare you as much as they scare me, tell your representatives that you oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The important things for me are:
-Sites like Google and Tumblr will have to use censorship technology developed in countries like China and Iran.  Our government is developing anti-censorship technology to free the internet in these same countries.  To me, part of being American is being free.  SOPA and PIPA challenge that assumption.

-The technology needed for a company to be compliant with SOPA and PIPA is EXPENSIVE.  This is bad news for small businesses and start ups.  Facebook and youtube were start ups not too long ago.  I can't remember life before them.  Change isn't bad, it's inevitable.  The internet allows the common man some input into what the next generation of change will be.

-SOPA and PIPA will NOT stop online piracy.  To quote the Reddit Blog I linked to earlier in this post:
SOPA and PROTECT IP contain no provisions to actually remove copyrighted content, but rather focus on the censorship of links to entire domains.
Pirates are kind of good technology.  How long do you think it will take before they develop a workaround? Taking away freedom does nothing to limit criminal behavior.

Movie: The Sword In the Stone

 I spent this weekend with my 6-year-old nephew.  I let him pick the movies, which meant we saw Chipwrecked (which I'm never going to speak of again) and The Sword In the Stone, which is not one of my favorites because of how many times my sister (his mother) made me watch it when we were kids.

The movie is a classic, it's fun, it has a lot of great scenes, but it never particularly resonated with me.  Personally, I think it lacks structure.  Arthur/Wart doesn't seem to want anything and the only thing he struggles with is explaining to Merlin how great his current position in life actually is.  Yes, at the end he pulls the sword, but he didn't overcome anything to do it... it was ordained by God.  And at the end of the movie, he's King, but doesn't think he's better off.  Merlin is like the worst stage parent in the history of movies.

But that is not what I want to talk about.  Instead, two things that I can learn from this movie:

1. Your side characters may be there for laughs, but they better have a function as well.  Archimedes is Merlin's wise owl assistant who serves a number of purposes throughout the story.  At one point he saves Wart/Arthur's life (because, as we already covered, Wart/Arthur is insistent on not being a hero).   Later, his wise owl status allows him to give Merlin and Wart/Arthur information as they need it.  I hate characters who are there just for comic relief, and while Archimedes does serve that purpose, he is so much more.  As a character, he is one of my favorites (and not just in this movie).

2. Brains triumphing over Brawn is more satisfying than Bigger Brawn triumphing over Brawn.  The wizard duel is one of my favorite scenes.  It involves Merlin and Mad Madame Mimm changing shape and trying to destroy each other.  In one instance Merlin becomes a walrus and squashes Mimm.  It's funny, but would not have been satisfying as the conclusion of the fight.  In the end, Merlin outsmarts Mimm, which ends up being funny, but also satisfying.  It also means that nobody has to die in a kid's movie.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

This is what I knew about The Fault In Our Stars going into the book:  (ONE) It is written by John Green.  (TWO) It is about a girl with terminal cancer, who is taking a drug that stops the growth of her cancer, so that even though she still has cancer, she is dying at more or less a normal rate.  (THREE) She falls in love with a guy she meets at her cancer support group.

There are books that make me laugh (but they are never this smart) and Revolution made me cry, but only John Green can make me do both in equal measure (and there was a LOT of both).  I seriously haven't cried this much since Looking For Alaska. This is the kind of book that makes me fall in love with reading all over again.

For a book about kids with cancer, TFIOS is remarkably easy to relate to.  The characters are real people who aren't glorified and turned into saints just because they have cancer.  The book is honest, sometimes ugly, and heartbreaking.  It's about learning how to live, not preparing to die.


I love the way John Green writes.  I love the way he structures his sentences.  His trademark dark humor and quirky characters are probably the reason that I have NEVER been disappointed by one of this books.  My only complaint is Green's fondness for closing his chapters with foreboding one sentence paragraphs.


It's barely halfway through January and I am already 90% sure that this is the best book of 2012.

TFIOS counts toward the following challenges: +313 for 15,000 page challenge and Young Adult for the Eclectic Reader.  Track my progress on my 2012 Challenges Page.

ROW 80

I'm happy with what I accomplished this week.  Lowering my minimum daily word count for this year meant that it was easy to push myself to write on the days when I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.  I didn't read enough the first week of January and I'm not happy when I'm not reading, which sounds ridiculous, but it's true.  I would rather write slower and have the time to read then write really fast and only have the vague idea of books I used to read.

This week, I read more, wrote five days in a row, and met my minimum weekly goal.  The last two days, I took some time off to be an Awesome Aunt to an Awesome Six Year Old.  I spent the time after he went to bed working on outlining a story instead of writing.  I feel refreshed for the upcoming week where I will hopefully finish the first draft I've been working on since November.

Originally the plan was to attempt 4-7 hours of prep a week by working brainstorming, plotting, researching, etc for an hour a day.  Next week I am going to intentionally try to write several days in a row and then do several intense prepping sessions.  Now that I have a revised plan to accomplish my original goals, I am off to Chuck E. Cheese.

Screenplay: A Serious Man Part Two

I like screenplays, but it's sometimes hard to encourage myself to read them when it's not part of my job.  It's just the format is written so that they are easy to skim, so it's hard for me to really sink into the story and forget that I'm reading in the first place.  But I will keep reading a screenplay (or, in this case, half a screenplay) each week.  Because I like writing screenplays and writer's read.

Again, I want to point out that I am not an expert trying to make a point.  I am a blogger and I try to intellectually engage screenplays, books, and movies in an attempt to develop as a writer.  Every time I reread a book, I notice completely different things.

The Coen brothers have a very specific style and have done very well for themselves "breaking the rules".  One of my favorite professors from college talked about how to break the rules.  A lot of film students come to class with stars in their eyes, visions of making revolutionary films that don't adhere to this mainstream bulls**t that they consider a noose.  He told us that before you can break the rules, you have to understand them.  Once you understand them, you need a reason to break them.  (I'm a huge fan of structure. And also Nathan Bransford, who has a great old post on breaking the rules.)

The Coen brothers break a huge rule in A Serious Man.  Huge.  THE DON'T HAVE AN ENDING.  No, seriously, they don't.  Well... if you want a huge *SPOILER* the ending is... everybody dies (I assume)!  *End Spoiler* And that's not an ending.  But it works for A Serious Man, because the structure perfectly mirrors the theme of the entire story, which is that it doesn't matter.

Nothing matters.  The main character, Larry, struggles to find meaning in every scene.  At one point he sees his Rabbi who tries to comfort him with a story, but stops before the end.  Larry asks him what happened and the Rabbi responds: Does it matter?  It turns out it doesn't.  When we hear the end of the story, there is no answer anyway.

The script works, for me, because the screenplay itself seems to ask: You want an end?  Does it matter?  And it doesn't.  Not when the point of the story is that we struggle so hard for things that don't matter and care so much about things that are meaningless.  And even with this bleak outlook (or is my own struggle for meaning in this world shading my reading of this story), the script is funny.  It's enjoyable.  It breaks the rules, but has a great reason for doing so.

Ten Big Ones

Stephanie Plum is back for round 10, earning her paycheck by picking up bail jumpers.  This time, her biggest problem isn't with a skip, but with a local gang who she has pissed off the way only Stephanie Plum can.  Ten Big Ones is both the best and the worst of the series so far.

It's the best, because it shakes up the structure of the books.  Yes, she is still torn between Ranger and Morelli, and yes her car gets blown up, but it is refreshing that the main bad guy isn't a bail jumper.  It feels like--finally--Stephanie is becoming competent at her job.  Sally Sweet the cross-dressing rock and roller from a few books back makes another appearance and Lula and Grandma Mazur are two of my all time favorite characters.

I also liked the pull between Ranger and Morelli.  I have a hard time appreciating stories that normalize cheating (like Something Borrowed, which would have been fantastic if I could only buy in to the premise that cheating is okay if you are in love).  But in these books, it almost feels okay, because Stephanie doesn't play her men.  They treat her like an object and compete with each other to win her.  Again, not a great message, but for some reason, completely enjoyable.  In this book, Stephanie breaks into Rangers apartment when she needs a safe place to hide and that is totally worth throwing my morals out the window for.

The structure also contributes to 10 being the worst in the series.  When Stephanie pisses people off to the point they want to kill her, it's usually because she is just doing her job and really wants to pay her rent.  When the major bad guy is a gang and not a skip, Stephanie's pissing them off to the point where they bring in a contract killer is because Stephanie is stubborn and just plain stupid.  The entire book, while enjoyable, was also built upon a frustrating and avoidable conflict.

And the ending is rushed and disappointing.  Stephanie is the worst bounty hunter ever--that's part of her charm.  She always requires help with her take downs, but in the end, she does something crazy and unconventional (emphasis on the crazy), gets her guy, and has the body receipt to prove it.  No matter how much help she has, it always feels like Stephanie is successful and almost competent.  In Ten Big Ones, she kicks a guy in the nuts, then someone else saves her (there are 8 more, so I assume it wasn't a spoiler that she makes it out alive).

This is the first book that I have started and finished in the new year.  It counts toward the following challenges: 312 pages for the 15,000 page challenge, Finish the Series, Crime/Mystery for the Eclectic Reader, and Support Your Local Library.  I'm feeling particularly accomplished with this quick and easy read.  Track my progress on the 2012 Challenges page.

PS--The movie comes out in two weeks and I already have plans to buy donuts and see it with my girlfriends.  I am so unbelievably excited for it.

Movie: Crazy Stupid Love

Week two and I have been successful with my one movie a week goal.  I think it is working, because I keep picking good movies.  This week, I did not watch with a stop watch.  I had read the screenplay, but not seen the movie, so I wanted to enjoy it.  I had put off watching this movie so long, because this was the screenplay that made writing comedy click for me and I was terrified of being disappointed.

I expected the comedy to be played a lot bigger, but once I got past my expectations (as I always must) I was able to really enjoy the story.  It's hilarious and has a ton of heart.  Something that really struck me is that I cared about all the characters and all of the story lines.  The combination of great script and great cast meant that every joke was real.  There were no moments that were in there just because there weren't enough jokes in the scene (these are the kinds of jokes that jar me from the story).  Even the thirteen year old mooning after his babysitter... I laughed so hard, but I cared so much.

I loved the break into act three, where Steve Carell's character makes this big romantic gesture.  This is a staple in romantic comedies, where the main character gets the girl, but in Crazy Stupid Love, it is the point where all three of the storylines crash together and seem to go up in flames.  It was hilarious and then perfectly transitioned to the point where the main character loses everything and we don't know if the character can get it together for the end of the movie.  It is a perfect example of how to keep genre expectations fresh.

Also, it doesn't hurt that Ryan Gossling is one of my favorite actors.  Besides being the most beautiful man I will most likely never see in person, I think he had the best performance of all the (amazing) actors in this film.  I was beyond impressed.  He made me laugh at all the right times and his transformation from smooth player to nice guy in love was completely believable.  The entire movie would not have worked if Gossling hadn't been able to make me believe he had changed.

This is definitely a film I would love to see again.  Probably with a stop watch next time.

Triangles

Ellen Hopkins is known for her young adult novels, all edgy "issue" books, written in verse.  Her YA books have been on my TBR pile for years, but I ended up reading her first novel for adults.

It follows three women with interconnected lives all going through crisis points in their romantic lives.  Holly is a bored housewife who is starting to experiment sexually outside her marriage, Andrea is a single mom who has consistently been the woman men cheat with instead of on, and Missy is mother to a dying child with a husband she barely sees anymore.

I really enjoy novels in verse and Triangles is no exception.  Although Hopkins gets pretty explicit anyway, the poetry makes all the scenes feel sexier.  There is a ton of conflict and I was sucked in even though I didn't like most of the characters.  Holly was a trainwreck that I couldn't look away from and Andrea was incredibly judgmental (and eventually a hypocrite).  Both were impossibly selfish, while Missy was the opposite-totally selfless.  This made it easier to root for Missy, but it was still frustrating because she allowed her situation to get as bad as it did.

The kids were a different story.  They were all very real and had their own set of problems.  This book almost seemed like a YA issue book through the eyes of the parents.  I realize that is not what it is, but it does seem like an interesting look at why parents in YA books are absent or react the way they do.  Apparently they have far worse drama in their own lives.

As a novel, I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what I am supposed to take away from it.  Mostly, I am even more curious about Hopkins YA novels and look forward to reading one soon.

ROW80: 1-8 Check In

Last year, I had this idea that I needed to write 2000 words every single day to be a real writer.  It was really stressful and I often failed.  Even when I got a ton of work done, I was always disappointed in myself, which led to me avoiding writing for long stretches of time.

This year, I have set the bar much lower, but I'm making more progress and am happier with the progress that I'm making.  This week I wrote five days out of seven and the two days that I didn't write were because I was out of the house all day.  I met my new daily minimum easily and on four of those five days doubled or tripled my minimum word count.

The part of my plan I did the worst on was prep.  I was aiming for 4-7 hours of prep a week or about 1 hour a day.  I managed to work on prep three days, but didn't manage an hour on any of them.  I'm not sure if this is poor time management on my part or just a busy week.  But I'm going to spend another few weeks with these goals while I figure out the best way to manage my time.  Hopefully, I won't have to revise them in February.

Screenplay: A Serious Man

My goal this year is to read one screenplay a week.  When I worked in the film industry, I read scripts all the time.  Except for the actual process of writing myself, reading scripts was (is) the most important part of my development as a screenwriter.  I remember reading Crazy, Stupid, Love.  Besides it being a hilarious and enjoyable read, I had lightbulbs going off scene after scene as comedy and structure started clicking for me.

This week, I read A Serious Man by Joel and Ethan Coen.  Due to time constraints, I only got to half of it, but plan on finishing it this coming week.  The first thing I noticed is that there are no scene headings, at least, not in the way I'm used to seeing them.  Even though it threw me off at first, I was never confused.  The progress of the story and where the action takes place is always clear.  It also gave the screenplay this weird sort of flow that I don't think I've ever experienced before when reading a screenplay.

That flow may be what contributes to the screenplays "unputdownableness".  It's something we talk about a lot with books and it absolutely applies to this screenplay.  Time was the only reason I didn't finish reading it this week, and I literally had to force myself to stop reading every night before bed.  It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but this translated into "I can't look away" when filmed.

This is especially important, because the scenes in this movie are long.  I've noticed that most screenplays I read have scenes of about 2-3 pages, longer for really important moments, but generally most scenes are short and to the point.  The first scene in this screenplay was 8 pages long, did not directly relate to the main characters or storyline, and is in a foreign language with subtitles but yet... I loved it.  The scene, like the rest of the script, was able to present something sad in a straightforward way that somehow made it funny.

I'm looking forward to finishing this script next week and I hope to recreate a screenplay reading habit.  In the mean time, check out the trailer for this film:

Percy Jackson 1-3

After loving the first two books in the Heroes of Olympus series, I went back to reread the original Percy Jackson books.  I forgot how much I enjoy reading them.  The characters are real and relatable.  The plots are fast and twisty and clever (but not for clever's sake).  The books make me laugh, they make me cry.  I had read them before, so I knew what was going to happen, but I was surprised by how much I had forgotten.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief introduces us to Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and hero-in-training.  He takes the blame when Zeus's master bolt is stolen and must go on a quest to find and return it before the summer solstice in order to prevent a war between the gods.  *SPOILER* In the process he uncovers something far more dangerous than warring gods: the titan Kronos is stirring and there is nothing he wants more than to overthrow the gods.

Even though I had already read it, I couldn't put this book down.  The action is constantly moving, the situation is constantly changing.  I read this book with my brother and at one point he read ahead two chapters, so I had to go back and read them after we were done with the book.  The amount of story in those two short chapters... tons.  Until that moment, I honestly didn't realize just how much story was packed into each of these books.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters has Percy denied the opportunity of a quest to save his friend, Grover, and retrieve the mythical Golden Fleece--a magic object that can restore the dying magical boundaries of Camp Halfblood.  It wouldn't be much fun if Percy just sat around waiting for Clarisse to save the day, so obviously, he sneaks out on his own quest.

One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Annabeth wants to listen to the sirens, in order to learn her fatal flaw. Not only was it a great scene, but it also reminded me of why I love this series so much.  Yes, there is adventure in every book.  Yes, there is a big bad, and a good cause to fight for.  But the characters are so flawed.  They are tempted by Kronos, they care about the people who have already betrayed the gods.  They don't stop wanting to save the people they love.  I've said a few times already that the plot is fast, but the plot doesn't work on it's own.  Even with the hyperactive pace of the novel, the characters and their relationships develop.

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse is probably my favorite in the series.  It is the necessary turning point.  This is the part where Percy takes on the prophecy, accepts that it will be about him, even though that will make his life extremely difficult.  There are deaths and touching moments and it is the saddest of the first three books, but excellent none the less.

This is the book where we meet Nico Di Angelo.  We meet him as an inquisitive, dorky ten-year-old who won't shut up.  He's one of my favorite characters of the entire series (and he even shows up in The Son of Neptune), but it broke my heart meeting him for the second time.  He never goes bad, but his loss of innocence is one of the most haunting parts of the book for me.

I'm looking forward to rereading the final two books in this series and then I may reread the Heroes of Olympus again, just for good measure.  This series isn't better than Harry Potter, but, for me, it is as close as any series is going to get.

ROW80 1-4 Check In

It's been a couple of days on the challenge, but already I like it.  I've really enjoyed reading and commenting on the blogs of other ROW80 participants and knowing that this blog will keep me somewhat accountable keeps me from slacking off.

As for my progress, I have hit my word minimums every day and have pushed through a tough point in my novel.  I'm really excited about the next couple scenes I need to write.  Before I knew what needed to happen, but now I finally know how it is going to happen.  I have been writing this novel out of order (a first for me that I'm LOVING), but I think I'm closer to the end of this rough draft than I thought.

My other goal was to do 4-7 hours of prep a week, ideally one hour a day.  So far this week, I have done 35 minutes and spent almost all of that time brainstorming titles for various untitled projects.  Finding the time for prep is much harder than I thought it would be, but I am determined to make it work this week.  Next week, I will figure out a better way to plan it into my schedule.

Movie: Ice Age

 One of my goals this year is to watch one movie a week.  This week, I watched Ice Age, which is one of my favorite movies from high school.  Watching a movie with a stopwatch has never interested me, but I did it anyway.  My original intention was to analyze the plot points, but I did that so often for classes in college that I just can't bring myself to turn this blog into homework.  So, instead, I'm going to talk about the things that interested me.

One of the reasons I love this movie is because it always makes me laugh.  I've read that every page of a comedy should have at least one good joke, but what I found when I watched Ice Age was that there were far more jokes than that.  Sometimes, they racked up quickly because of back and forth dialog, but just as often the comedy was visual.

In fact, I only noticed TWO scenes in the entire movie where there were no jokes for the majority of the scene (approximately 2-3 minutes each).  The first is when Manny remembers his family and we learn about his tragic past--here a joke would be inappropriate, but this scene is still very powerful.  The second scene is when Manny and Sid reunite the baby with his father.  There are other scenes that are more heartwarming than funny, but even these are full of jokes.  When Diego tells Manny and Sid to go on without him, the humor makes the scene more powerful, because it prevents the scene from becoming melodramatic.

Another thing I noticed was the framing device of the film--that crazy squirrel with his nut.  The squirrel is funny and provides multiple laughs throughout the course of the film, but the two squirrel scenes that frame the film also highlight the themes.  In the first scene, the squirrel, much like Manny and Sid, is isolated and on a quest that goes wrong.  In the final scene, the squirrel misses out on his nut, but finds something better--a coconut.  This echoes the journey of our main characters, who also ended up with something completely unexpected and far better than they could have ever imagined: a family.


I'll stop here, because I'm sure others have made these points before.  Overall, I found it incredibly educational to watch a movie with stopwatch, even if the process was exhausting instead of entertaining or relaxing.  At some point in the future I am actually going to count jokes per minute.  But probably not this month.

Another of my goals is to read one screenplay a week.  This week I'm going to read A Serious Man.  I'll post about it on Saturday if anyone is interested in reading with me.

ROW80: Round 1 Goals

I posted last week about my goals for this year.  Basically, I want to write 500 words a day or 2 pages a day, if I am writing a screenplay.  Although, I hope to write more, this is the minimum I want to write every day.  Even if I break my arm.  Even if I drink too much.  Even if I pull an all nighter and can't see straight.  500 words or 2 pages.

For the first round of A Round of Words in 80 days, I want to set goals for what I want to accomplish with those minimum words.  I want to give myself a reason to write more than those 500 words or 2 pages.  And I want a mix of new writing, re-writing, and prepping future projects (This is absolutely GITS inspired).

This is what I aim to accomplish in the next 80 Days:
New Writing:
Complete the first draft of the YA novel I started during Nano (I am about 60-75% done).
Write two short stories.

Re-Writing:
Complete the second draft of the action-comedy screenplay (about 50% done).
Rewrite the werewolf short story.

Prep, etc.:
Beat out and Board the next screenplay idea.
Brainstorm short story ideas.
Brainstorm titles.
Outline the YA Fantasy novel

This feels like a lot, but I absolutely think I can accomplish this.  There is a lot of prep, but I can easily get it all done in the hour a day I have carved for prep.  The other sections will be more of a challenge, but I still think they are doable if I stick to writing every day and stay off the internet while I'm writing.

A Northern Light

In the beginning of this year, I read Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.  Even though it is very far off the beaten path of what I usually read, I loved it.  It's the reason I am now trying to read outside my comfort zone and it even made my top ten books read in 2011.  It took me a while, but I finally made it to A Northern Light.

A Northern Light is a historical novel told in two parts.  In the present (tense, that is, it is a historical novel), Mattie is working at a summer camp (more of a really nice summer hotel for rich people).  When one of the guests drowns, the incident wouldn't involve Mattie, except that this guest had given Mattie personal letters to burn that indicate her death might not be an accident after all.  Weaved into this mystery is the story of how Mattie came to work at the camp, struggling between her duty as a daughter and her desire to pursue her dream.

The novel was labeled "Horror/Mystery" at the library and that was a little misleading.  Once I got over my expectations for the book, I was able to really enjoy it.  Jennifer Donnelly's writing is always lyrical and emotional, and a story that seemed a simple tale of a farm girl deciding between her dream and her duty became something more.

We get a story about the hopes and dreams we have for ourselves, and the pressure to live up to our parents expectations.  We see the struggle to succeed in a world that wants to hold us back.  None of the characters felt like villains to me, because they were all just trying to make the best life they could with what they had been given.  And none of it is pretty.  Donnelly handles a lot of tough subjects beautifully: women's rights, racism, alcoholism, poverty.

Much like my experience with Revolution, A Northern Light broke me over and over again as the gritty reality of a 1906 rural farming town unfolded, but in the end I was left with hope.  Mattie is an inspiration for courage and one of my new favorite literary heroines.  I can't wait to read more by Donnelly and expect her books to become some of my regular rereads.

Unfortunately, A Northern Light counts for none of my challenges, as I read it in 2011.

Happy New Year and More Challenges

Happy New Year!  It's one of my favorite holidays and somehow, even though it is proof of how old I am getting, every January 1 I wake up feeling like I can take over the world.

I have some last minute challenges I am joining.  As usual, I am tracking my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.

Kate at Midnight Book Girl is once again hosting her Ready Me Baby, One More Time challenge, which I joined last year only because of the Brit reference.  But, in 2011, it was the only challenge that I completed and reminded me how much I love rereading.  Usually, rereading makes me feel guilty, because there are so many good books that I haven't read, but... this challenge was fun and I am absolutely going to to do it again!

The levels:

Trip Down Memory Lane: 1-3 re-reads

Reliving the Past: 4-8 re-reads

Back To The Future: 9-12 re-reads

Groundhog Day Reader: 13-20 re-reads

You've Got a Serious Problem and Really Need to Go Book Shopping: 21+ re-reads

This is the only challenge that I am not playing safe with.  I'm going for the top level: You've Got A Serious Problem and Really Need to Go Book Shopping (Really, I don't, but if you insist...) and attempting reread at least 21 novels.

This challenge will fit nicely with the Bucket List challenge and will also make me feel less guilty about neglecting so many of my stacks of books.  It's also kind of clever.

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile/s

I'm going for Pike's Peak because I don't want to fail this year, but I am hoping to upgrade at some point.  Also, I hope that anyone going for Mt. Everest has more than one pile/s.

And now I have 8 challenges, a goal notebook, and a clean room.  2012 is starting out great.