kevinhiggins.org

Time to back off from work...and WORK!

I just finished a week's vacation, where I actually got a chance to do some serious catch-up reading. It was a beautiful week with my wife, on the beach in Naples, FL...and between that time and the 16-hour drives each way, I managed to read five books. God it felt good. Did some Steven Brust, pure-enjoyment immersion, including the two latest (though not very recent) books in the Vlad Taltos "Jhereg" series (Dragon and Issola), which I highly recommend. I also read his latest in the Dragaera-history series (where he writes as "Parfi," in fine Alexander Dumas style)--The Paths of the Dead. That was a kick, too. I'm looking forward to his next book, which I've just found in hardcover ("The Lord of Castle Black")--though I must admit I can only take so much of his "Dragaera History" writing as "Parfi" in one sitting. Mostly I want to get to the next book, "Sethra Lavode," because she's been so fascinating in the Jhereg series, as well.

I also highly recommend running out and grabbing two of Dan Brown's books. His two books Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code are simply sit-up-and-say-whoa fantastic (apt description plagiarized from Steve Marvin). If you only read one, read the latter one, but if you read both, read them in the order written (and presented here).

The bottom line is that so much reading REALLY makes me want to buckle down and write again. My problem is that I have a damned hard time doing the plotting I need to do before really giving my "Raiders" work the kick in the pants it needs. I think I need some Bailey's, some blueberry muffins, and about a 3 hour conference call to bounce around some ideas of where in the hell I should take this book, which I think has some very cool possibilities, but which I'm having a hard time inserting into a plot that I find compelling.

I seem to do so much better plotting with another. A natural born conspiracist, I guess.

-Kato