2. I did get some fun reading done this week: One was Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld.
The thing I love about Westerfeld is that he writes fantasy/scifi like realism. His world-building skills are epic. The way he writes, you know that he has every detail of his world plotted out, that you are only seeing the tip of the iceburg. For this one, that had to involve a bunch of prior knowledge of biology and mechanics, and then he had to translate all of that into reader friendly material. I am so impressed.He also had two different POV's going on, which I normally dislike to the point of not reading. This one worked for me. I think it might be because it combines two plots that are near and dear to my heart: a) an underdog prince on the run, and b) a turn-of-the-century girl disguising herself as a boy to follow her dream.
3. The other book was Mistwood, by Leah Cypress.
I have to be completely honest. I love fairy tale stories, ie. medieval type landscapes with princes and princesses and pretty dresses and court intrigues. Robin McKinley (author of Beauty, Spindle's End, Rose Daughter, Deerskin, and Chalice - all are fairy tale retellings) is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I have a feeling that she had a major influence on my writing without me realizing it. I have a very worn copy of Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, and when Kristen Cashore's Graceling came out, I couldn't stop talking about it/making all my friends read and adore it.Mistwood belongs on the same shelf, guys. It's that good. It has it all: the moody, evocative landscape, the well-defined magic, the twists of a complicated plot, a swoonworthy prince, and a heroine that's trying to figure herself out. I loved it like whoa. I checked it out from the library, but eventually (ie. after I stop moving around every three months), I'm going to get my own copy.
4. My laptop came back, safe and sound, but sans software. (Well, and sans files, but I had those on my backup disc.) Microsoft Word is the most major loss, but they're coming out with a new Mac upgrade next month. I'm trying to make due until then.
Besides that, all files have been transferred (um, as far as I know). About half of my music needed to be transferred manually - basically, any song that I hadn't purchased from iTunes (songs uploaded from CD's and free online mp3 downloads). I don't think that this is a coincidence, but maybe, I'm getting too conspiracy theory about it.
5. I am going on a trip, starting Sunday!! (I kept thinking I had another week before I left, but no, it's already September.) First (Sept 5-9), I'm headed to NYC to visit with friends (both the college and publishing crowd), and from there (Sept 9-13), I fly to DC to visit with more friends (both college and high school crowd).
It's not really a vacation, because I'm bringing my laptop with me. But I get to see people I haven't seen for YEARS! So exciting!!
