The Lost

This is going to be short because both my Surface and my Alienware laptops have been possessed by demons and are refusing to function correctly. Let's see if I can beat the weird on this box before it nails shut my digital coffin.

Projects. Do I abandon them? Yes. All the time.

Lots of ideas. ALL THE TIME with the ideas. But I have a strict rule. If I'm working on another book, the idea takes a number and stands in line. This means a page or two of notes and/or character information to remind me what caught my attention in the first place. Then it gets stuck in a file. When I finish a book and want another project, I rifle through my idea folders and see what jumps out at me. Some ideas were never that great to begin with and they die right there. And I will say that 90% of projects that get abandoned are abandon at the idea stage when they have very little invested in them.

But we're really asking about books. Not ideas. And yes. I do have books that I've abandoned. Completed books that will never see the light of day simply because they represent learning curve. It's painfully obvious when you look at them that I had no idea what I was doing - or that I was in the messy process of figuring out what I was doing. Maybe. We've talked about them before.

I have a book that's finished and sitting - not quite abandoned - it's stewing, I think, because it had a flaw in the telling of the story that I believe I now know how to solve. No problem. I'm just in the middle of finishing a series. It gets priority.

So while I won't say 'never' - I will say that I haven't yet abandoned a book in progress since I got published. But the temptation to do so right about now is REAL. I'm at that whiny 'but this is haaaaaaard' stage of composition and that's the point when historically, things have broken free for me in figuring out the last bits. I'm counting on that.

Assuming that at least one of the computers will cooperate. That I've made it this far without incident (the Surface likes to random close what I'm working on for reasons as yet unknown) I suspect I have a heat issue on this box. Heat death. It took my gaming box and now it's coming for my writing box.

I might as well go for a swim in the gator pond.

Three Books I'm Buying My Grandkids

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is three books from our childhood that we still remember fondly and why. This is funny, because I recently brought up the above book - THE ABANDONED by Paul Gallico - as a book I've never forgotten, and that I think I might be the only kid on the planet who read it. (Although the Goodreads listing argues otherwise!)

Then I went and bought it to give my granddaughter for Christmas. (Don't worry - she's too young to follow my blog. I'm pretty sure...) This is the perfect book for her because she's cat crazy. And this is about a little boy who becomes a cat. It contains the mantra for the ages: When in doubt, wash. It's a haunting story about being other and about finding self.

I might have to give it a reread before I wrap it up.

Because this is a blog of fantasy and science fiction writers, I feel I must mention my gateway drug to both: DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffrey. I feel that I should mention that this book has more than 40K ratings on Goodreads, as opposed to ~1,100 for THE ABANDONED. So, relatively speaking, I am about the only person who read the latter, compared to the former. DRAGONSONG is well loved and rightly so. It's the story of a young girl on the planet Pern, and how she tames fire lizards and finds her place in the world as a musician. This book lit me up to the possibilities of fantasy and I really never looked back.

There are many books to choose from, of course, but in the SFF realm, it's sad for me how few have held up over time. I loved Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising books, but the worldbuilding underpinnings don't work for me. And not just now - I went back and reread to fill in some pieces and they simply aren't there. Other books I loved turned out to have religious agendas, alas.

But one that has withstood the test of time - and has arguably grown richer for it - is A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle. And with the movie version finally coming out (after, lo, these 40+ years), this is the time to reread, and get your younger peeps to read, before the movie comes out, as we all know the book is inevitably better.

That said, the movie comes out on March 9, which is my mom's birthday. I'm thinking we should maybe go see it together, to celebrate our history with this book, this author, and all things mother/daughter. Take a look at that incredible trailer! FANTASTIC, in all the best senses of the word.

Books make great gifts! Just saying :D

In other news, I'm participating in Patrick Rothfuss's Worldbuilders fundraiser. You can bid to win a critique from me or a Tuckerization in my new series! But there's only 9 hours left in the auctions as of this posting, so hasten thee over!