Tuesday 30 August 2011

WR Recommends - Must Read Urban Fantasy

It's always tricky to place some books into certain genres - so for this, I am following a guideline that if a book is set in our world and if the characters are humans from Earth, at least partially, then it's Urban Fantasy. 




  1. Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
  2. Sookie Stackhouse - Charlaine Harris
  3. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
  4. On a Pale Horse - Piers Anthony
  5. Kate Daniels Series - Ilona Andrews
  6. Ysabel - Guy Gavriel Kay
  7. The Courts of the Feyre - Mike Shevdon
  8. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
  9. Kate Daniels Series - Ilona Andrews

Thursday 25 August 2011

Two New Blogs


Hello Peeps! 

A little advertisement is in order...

I have two new blogs. 

Four Hour Body - A Vegetarian Experiment
Is to record my experiment with slow-carb diet based on Tim Ferris' book "Four Hour Body" plus general comments about weight loss, fitness, healthy eating. Hoping this to be a record for striving for a long-term healthier habits. 

Language Dabbler 
This is a blog to record my love of languages, and attempts to learn new ones. Methods, madness, resources, facts and fun....anything to do with any languages. 

If you have interests in either of those areas, I hope to see you at my new homes too. 

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Word Count Going Up - AFTER EDITING

You know how when you edit, you are supposed to cut words? Well, I trimmed A LOT. Yet, after this  version of editing, my word count has gone up from 94119 to 94574. Not a big change no - but it's much bigger change when you consider that the original draft was about 89000 words.

However, I know exactly why this has happened, so no panic necessary. My first drafts, and especially my speedy first draft (this was for NaNo) are always sparse. Description especially is usually quite lacking in these drafts, so that had to be amended. On top of that though I deleted several scenes, I also ended up adding a few, so overall, the numbers make sense. 

What about you? When you edit - which way does your word count travel? 

Monday 8 August 2011

WR Recommends - Must Read Science Fiction

Please read this post to understand why these particular books are selected.



Ten Must Read Science Fiction

  1. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
  2. The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C. Clarke
  3. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
  4. Journey Into Space - Toby Litt
  5. Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy - Douglas Adams
  6. The Dancers at the End of Time - Michael Moorcock
  7. Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
  8. The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
  9. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
  10. Tau Zero - Poul Anderson

Wednesday 3 August 2011

WIP 2 - Nearly 40% Done

Ever since I started with regular daily goals on WIP2, I've been sailing through the writing. It was never actually an issue about writing itself, but without clear goals, I always ended up focusing on editing or worrying about it. So now, with minimum daily word count to write, it's been fun. 

What's interesting about this is that I've gone back to almost seat-of-the-pants writing. I know, I raved about outlining with the previous book. And the fact is, I would ideally like to have a complete outline. But with this one, outline thing just wasn't working out. I knew key points of the plot, but that's about it. So I decided what the hell...let's get started. And at least so far, I don't find myself floundering. It's nice to know the end point, but it's also good to have the freedom to let imagination run wild. Of course it will only be after the end of first draft I will find out if it works out or if there are plot holes to fill. But so far, like I said, I'm really enjoying it. 

Now I'm just getting it impatient, because I want to finish the first draft already, and run with the story. But that will be done before end of October, so not too long. 

How about you? How are your projects coming along?