A Reading Life...It's back!

I figured since I'm failing hugely at doing any writing for my Sit Down and Write 4 (except for a couple of reviews and blog posts), that I could at least start back to posting this on Mondays. I haven't done since June. Wow!

Listening To:  I bought an adapter that allows me to play a portable device (mp4 player, CD player) through the radio in my car so I can now listen to audio books again without it skipping and having errors every few seconds. So, I'm listening to Blood of the Lamb by Sam Cabot

Books finished last week:  
The Tudor Conspiracy, C.W. Gortner (REVIEW)
Magnolia & Lotus, edited by Ian Haight (REVIEW)

Reading: 
City of Bones, Cassandra Clare
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (TuesBookTalk)
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova (read-a-long)
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Classics spin)
The Arrow Chest, Robert Parry (read-a-long at Castle Macabre)

Coming Up:  
I have review books this month, but I'm also hoping to pick up a couple more...possibly...
The Man in the Picture, Susan Hill
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
Lives of the Monster Dogs, Kirsten Bakis
Contact, Carl Sagan

Watching: Just finished watching Longmire last week. Such a great show! Also, the season finale of True Blood was quite a revelation. Still watching Dexter and Ray Donovan on Showtime and The White Queen on Starz. Great shows all around. Copper and Broadchurch on BBC America. I'm still watching Under the Dome, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Oh, and Silk on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery is excellent! At the theater, I've recently seen The Conjuring, Man of Steel, The Lone Ranger, Elysium. I liked them all a lot with Conjuring and Man of Steel being the stand outs for me.

Making:  I'm still cooking regularly. Mostly in the slow cooker. I found a great recipe for slow cooker Lasagna. But this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff is definitely the stand out. Slow Cooker Cheesy BBQ Chicken Bacon Sandwiches. They are delicious! My sons love them. I use wheat slider buns and make smaller sandwiches. Not sure what I'm making this week. I go grocery shopping on Wednesdays so I have to make my list.

Grateful for: the long weekend we just had. After my work week last week, I was SO ready for an extra day off work.

Looking forward to:  Fall, cool weather, the gorgeous colors, all the fun, scary events going on around the blogosphere, including mine! Also, Insidious 2 coming out in two weeks!

Picture: Dollar Tree finds! The Ambassador's Mission, Trudi Canavan and The Kingdom of Ohio, Matthew Flaming

So, what's been going on in your Reading Life?

HFVBT: Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle {Giveaway} #QueensGambitTour

GIVEAWAY WINNERS: LisaMarie and Lara

About the book
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover; 432p
ISBN-10: 147670306X

Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. However, obliged to return to court, she attracts the attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII, who dispatches his love rival, Seymour, to the Continent. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives—two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth—Katherine must wed Henry and become his sixth queen.

Katherine has to employ all her instincts to navigate the treachery of the court, drawing a tight circle of women around her, including her stepdaughter, Meg, traumatized by events from their past that are shrouded in secrecy, and their loyal servant Dot, who knows and sees more than she understands. With the Catholic faction on the rise once more, reformers being burned for heresy, and those close to the king vying for position, Katherine’s survival seems unlikely. Yet as she treads the razor’s edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

View the Official Book Trailer: http://videos.simonandschuster.com/video/2472116122001

Praise for Queen’s Gambit
"This is a superbly written novel... Fremantle is surely a major new voice in historical fiction and this book is the answer to the question about what Hilary Mantel fans should read while waiting for the final part of her trilogy." - The Bookseller

“Wildly entertaining…lively, gamey, gripped with tension…one of the best historical novels I’ve read.” - Liz Smith

"Elizabeth Fremantle's rich narrative breathes vibrant life into Henry VIII's most intriguing, intelligent and least known wife, Katherine Parr." - Anne Easter Smith author of A Rose for the Crown and Royal Mistress

"Queen's Gambit is an earthy, vivid portrait of Tudor England seen through the eyes of Henry VIII's last wife Katherine Parr and her loyal maid servant. Elizabeth Fremantle has added a richly written and engrossing novel to the endlessly fascinating story of the Tudors." - Stephanie Cowell author of Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet

"Queen's Gambit is a lovely, sensual, subtle read, telling the story of Katherine Parr with both rich imagination and scrupulous attention to factual detail. After reading this historical novel, you truly comprehend what it would mean to be the sixth wife of a dangerous man wielding absolute power. Katherine is no selfless nurse here, nor religious fanatic, but a complex and compelling person who both men and women were drawn to. This is a very impressive novel." - Nancy Bilyeau author of The Crown

"Beautifully written and finely observed, this suspenseful tale of Henry the Eighth's last wife expertly conveys all the dangerous intensity and passion of the Tudor court." - Rachel Hore, author of A Place of Secrets

"With a painter’s eye for detail, Fremantle brings the dazzling, dangerous Tudor court to life and sheds an intriguing new light on Katherine Parr, one of history’s great survivors. An enthralling tale of power and passion, loyalty and betrayal." - Elizabeth Wilhide, author of Ashenden

"Fremantle...navigates Tudor terrain with aplomb." - Publishers Weekly

"Sins, secrets and guilt dominate the landscape of British writer Fremantle’s debut...[her] emphasis is on intrigue, character portraits and the texture of mid-16th-century life. Solid and sympathetic." - Kirkus Reviews

“Intrigue, romance, and treachery abound in Fremantle’s debut novel . . . . This compulsively readable fictional biography of the ultimate survivor is infused with the type of meticulous attention to historical detailing that discerning fans of Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory have come to expect in the Tudor canon.” - Booklist

About the author

Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first class degree in English and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College London. She has contributed as a fashion editor to various publications including Vogue, Elle and The Sunday Times. QUEEN'S GAMBIT is her debut novel and is the first in a Tudor trilogy. The second novel, SISTERS OF TREASON, will be released in 2014. She lives in London.

For more about Elizabeth and her future projects see www.elizabethfremantle.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #QueensGambitTour

GIVEAWAY:
Two copies of Queen's Gambit to winners in the U.S. only. Please leave a comment and be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win (email address, Twitter handle, etc). Last day to enter is Monday, September 16 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!

Wheel of Fortune Spin and R.I.P. VIII Lists

We are doing what is called a "Wheel of Fortune Spin" in my Fantasy Project challenge (thanks, Classics Club for the idea!). We make a list of 15 books from our lists and I will draw a number randomly tomorrow. Here is my list:

1. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Amanda Grange
2. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
3. Sunshine, Robin McKinley
4. Season of the Witch, Natasha Mostert  My spin selection
5. Prophecy of the Sisters, Michelle Zink
6. The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong
7. Marked, P.C. Cast/Kristin Cast
8. Blue Bloods, Melissa De La Cruz
9. Nightwalker, Jocelynn Drake
10. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
11. Good Omens, Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
12. Dead Witch Walking, Kim Harrison
13. Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klaus
14. Evermore, Alyson Noel
15. Book of Lost Things, John Connolly

Check out my entire list for The Fantasy Project HERE. Check out the The Fantasy Project challenge HERE.

Click image for details and to sign up

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, VIII

Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the R.I.P. categories.

I'm going to read at least two (plus the group read):

• Joyland, Stephen King
• Wheel of Fortune Spin selection- Season of the Witch, Natasha Mostert (curious? Look here)

This is for those of us that like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows or Midsomer Murders, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on to the Review Site as well.

Insidious 2, anyone? I'll be seeing it the first weekend it's out. I can't wait! I'm also hoping to see a film called We Are What We Are. See the trailer HERE. It looks off the hook! I'm sure I will be watching more scary, as I LOVE horror films and anything remotely scary or creepy.

Finally, there's this...

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This will be a re-read for me, but it's one of my favorite books and I've often thought I would read it again someday. Why not join in with others in reading it this time? Too right!

This goes perfectly with my Gothic September and Season of the Witch over at Castle Macabre this Fall!

Thanks to Carl for hosting once again. I look forward to his "challenges" every year!

#TuesBookTalk September Selection: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

TuesBookTalk Read-a-Longs on Twitter (@tuesbooktalk #tuesbooktalk) and on Goodreads will be reading, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, in September. Our first discussion will be on Tuesday, September 3. Our chats take place on Twitter at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT on Tuesday nights (see hashtag above). If you can't join us on Twitter, feel free to share your thoughts in the Goodreads group. Get the full reading schedule HERE. Hope you will join us!

Magnolia & Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim: Review and Guest Post

Please welcome Ian Haight, one of the translators of Magnolia & Lotus.

For Beginning Writers: The Slush Pile and How to Deal with It

The dreaded slush pile: the place where unsolicited manuscripts for publication and query letters go. I’ve heard junior editors say they will read the slush pile only to make amends with a senior editor. If you’re a writer, avoiding the slush pile or learning how to stand out in it is something you want to do.

Why is ending up in the slush pile such a negative? It depends on the press, publication, agent, etc. you’re submitting to, but the slush pile mostly contains work that has no chance of being accepted for publication, or in the case of an agent, for representation. Why is that? The majority of writing in the slush pile doesn’t follow submission guidelines or simply lacks accepted professional presentation norms. A lot of the writing in slush piles is unformed or unfinished, and so not ready for publication. Another problem with the slush pile is even if the writing is good, follows guidelines and looks professional, it may be unsuitable for what the press or magazine wants to publish at that very moment. Readers of the slush pile know all this going in, so the pile is often avoided or approached with disinterest, when read at all. For a writer, facing a disinterested reader via the slush pile is not good. So what can you do?

Slush piles for book-manuscripts have been all but done away with in this day and age. Except for one or two genres like Romance or Children’s Literature, most major publishing houses will not accept unsolicited manuscripts from anyone except an agent. This is also true of query letters—major publishing houses don’t even want unsolicited query letters. Mid-level presses still accept unsolicited queries, but usually only for genres they specialize in and know how to market (like cookbooks, health, or parenting). Small presses have in some respects followed the example of the major publishing houses: generally they too are closed to unsolicited manuscripts, though sometimes they will read unsolicited queries. So when we’re talking about slush piles, we’re really talking about slush piles for query letters and periodical (magazines, journals, etc.) submissions.

The rules of the game for query letters and periodical submissions with respect to slush piles is still the same: large respectable journals approach unsolicited submissions with trepidation and may not even accept them; agents often view query letters as a necessary burden to their business. Which brings us back to the original question: how to avoid the slush pile, or if you are unavoidably stuck in the slush pile, how to stand out in it?

If you’re a beginning writer the easy way is to pay your dues. You have to build a reputation. Start with smaller publications (like with press runs of 100-200) and build up. Determine press runs and the kind of market you’re dealing with by buying one of the Writer’s Market books for your genre (poetry, fiction, etc.). After ten publications (in poetry—with fiction maybe 1-2 stories is enough) with journals at that level, move up to journals with higher press runs, and do not submit to the easier journals. Continue until you get to journals whose publications appear in award anthologies, like the Best American Short Stories. After some years of dedicated work in this manner of publication and you have a sense of your own writing and a possible audience, you might try to query an agent, enter a writing contest, or approach a small or mid-level publisher with a book for publication. 

What attracts the slush pile reader to your unsolicited query at this stage of the game is a publication record. The reader can see you’ve been writing for a while and have some decent publication credentials, suggesting you may know what you’re doing as a writer. This encourages the slush pile reader to give your writing a little extra care and attention than normal. If you’re lucky the dominos fall and maybe in the end your manuscript gets accepted for publication.

Barring this, networking is another good way to avoid the slush pile and potentially a quick pathway to publication. Agents and editors attend conferences where they actively seek out new writers to represent and publish. Attending one of these conferences and personally speaking with an agent or editor encourages them to engage you and your writing at a more personal level with the added benefit of completely avoiding the slush pile. Some agents acquire the majority of their new manuscripts at writing conferences. If you meet an editor at a conference, you can address a submission or query letter straight to him or her, completely avoiding the slush pile. 

When you think about it, the slush pile is one of the big reasons why writers need to be tough-minded people who have patience and tenacity. Until you have an agent for your book, there are few conventional short-cuts to avoid the slush pile. Technology is making self publication via e-books more acceptable, and it is true agents are considering self-published e-books with more seriousness, as are publishing houses. But even with e-books and self-publication, developing a reputation (usually with sales or a large social network) is what helps a writer stand out from the crowd.

My thoughts on Magnolia & Lotus
When I signed up for this tour to review this book, I had no idea that not only would I be reading a wonderful book of poems, but would be getting a history lesson as well. Hyesim (Chin'gak Kuksa Hyesim, 1178 - 1234) was the first Zen Master dedicated to poetry in Korea. Hyesim was a monk and a scholar who became the Chief Abbot of Songgwang Temple in 1210. He was a prolific writer, penning such works as The Enlightened Mind, The Sayings of Chin'gak Kuksa of the Chogye Order, Readings of the Diamond Sutra, Elements of Son School, and Poems by Muuja.

I have always loved poetry. I'm especially fond of poems that have a motivational or inspirational nature. Many of Hyesim's poems are meant to enlighten and inspire. I enjoyed reading his poems. The poems about nature seemed to paint a picture in my mind. However, the inspirational poems were my favorites. Here are a few that I especially loved...

The Delight of Contentment

Being rich and noble, like a floating cloud, means what to me?
Following one's sphere in life is in itself beautiful.
If I have no worries, why do I need wine?
To achieve a tranquil heart is to have made a home.

Small Pond

No Wind, no rippling:
the surface, reflecting all, fills my eyes.
What need is there for so many words?
Observing one another is enough.

Again, a Poem Given at Departure

The somber sky portends rain--
the miserable mountain bears a weary face.
Fortunately, friends of the same practice release clasped hands easily--
but with such heartfelt friendship, it is difficult not to shed tears.

Water Clock 

A breeze of winter--
the months of this year draw to an end. 
Every leaf in a forest eventually falls, yellowing a mountain--
only pine and bamboo retain an inborn breath of emerald.

How many years will a human live?
Time is fleet as lightning.
Details of self ought to be examined--
then the empty dream will not endure.

About the book
Enlightenment as a process: what might it have been like for a Korean Buddhist monk who lived hundreds of years ago? If enlightenment is an unfolding of wisdom, what progressive awareness is suggested by that unfolding? Imagine, then, this same monk becoming the leader of the nation’s most important Buddhist Order: the Chogye. Magnolia and Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim suggests what Hyeim might have valued in life; as a monk; and as an early founder of Korea’s largest Buddhist sect. Despite his achievements, this collection asks, did Hyesim eventually relinquish his position? If so, why? What were Hyesim’s thoughts in his final years? Each of the translated poems, attentive to the nuances of Hyesim’s Buddhist and Confucian background as well as the landscape of Korea, posits the point of view of Hyesim, his voice, and his time.

About Ian Haight

Ian Haight is a writer, educator, and consultant to students, professionals in education, and schools. As writer, Ian was a co-organizer and translator for the United Nations' Dialogue on Poetry series in Pusan, Korea; was given a Citation for Translation Excellence from the Korea Literary Translation Institute (KLTI); and has won five grants from KLTI, the Daesan Foundation, and the Baroboin Buddhist Foundation to translate, publish, and edit classical Korean poetry and Buddhist literature.

Ian is the editor of Garden Chrysanthemums and First Mountain Snow: Zen Questions and Answers from Korea. With T’ae-yŏng Hŏ, Ian is the co-translator of Borderland Roads: Selected Poems of Hŏ Kyun and Magnolia and Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim. All his books have been published by White Pine Press. 

Ian's own poetry has placed in or won several award contests, including the SLS and Pavel Strut Fellowships, and Atlanta Review and River Styx competitions. His essays, poetry, interviews, and translations have appeared in literary journals and periodicals both in Korea and the United States, including Writer's Chronicle, Barrow Street, Hyundae Buddhist News,JoongAng Daily News, and Prairie Schooner.

Visit him on his website.

This book tour was organized by Pump Up Your Book.

A copy of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for providing it.

HFVBT: Age of Desire by Jennie Fields--Review and {Giveaway} #AgeOfDesireTour

GIVEAWAY WINNER--EMMA 

My thoughts
I sometimes find myself enjoying historical fiction based on authors more due to the simple fact that I know so little about their lives. As a former history major and history buff, I have read about numerous historical figures and so, I know at least something about them (usually) before embarking on a historical read about them. However, in the case of most authors of the past, I have not read much about them and so reading a novel about them is like a journey of discovery.

What I liked most about The Age of Desire was the development of the characters. I found myself feeling very sympathetic toward Edith and the situation of her marriage to Teddy. Basically, I felt that she went straight from a loveless childhood (due to her mother) and straight into the same in her marriage. She poured this inner pain into her writing, along with her experiences with the upper crust of society. I know many will feel that I'm wrong in my judgement of Edith due to her actions in the book, but I still feel that Edith was a sympathetic character. In the future, when I read Wharton's novels, I know I will find myself thinking of the Edith in this book.

Anna is a contrast to Edith. Because of their difference in values, Edith's actions disrupts their long friendship. I appreciated Anna's steadfast nature and loyalty to Edith, even if she did disagree with Edith's choices. The men in the book...what can I say. Not very impressive. However, I can't help but think that things could have been far different for Edith and Teddy simply if Edith's mother would have been a kind mother who discussed what it means to be a woman (and married) with Edith and prepared her for what was to come, instead of being cruel and indifferent. Morton? Well, I just won't go there. I knew from the moment he was introduced that he was trouble. Would that we could warn characters to stay away. But then there wouldn't be a story, would there?

I enjoyed this novel and I look forward to reading more from Jennie Fields.

About the book
Paperback Publication Date: May 28, 2013
Penguin Publishing
Paperback; 384p
ISBN: 978-0143123286

For fans of The Paris Wife, a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship.

They say that behind every great man is a great woman. Behind Edith Wharton, there was Anna Bahlmann—her governess turned literary secretary and confidante. At the age of forty-five, despite her growing fame, Edith remains unfulfilled in a lonely, sexless marriage. Against all the rules of Gilded Age society, she falls in love with Morton Fullerton, a dashing young journalist. But their scandalous affair threatens everything in Edith’s life—especially her abiding ties to Anna.

At a moment of regained popularity for Wharton, Jennie Fields brilliantly interweaves Wharton’s real letters and diary entries with her fascinating, untold love story. Told through the points of view of both Edith and Anna, The Age of Desire transports readers to the golden days of Wharton’s turn-of-the century world and—like the recent bestseller The Chaperone—effortlessly re-creates the life of an unforgettable woman.

Praise for The Age of Desire

“Somewhere between the repressiveness of Edith Wharton’s early-20th-century Age of Innocence and our own libertine Shades of Grey era lies the absorbingly sensuous world of Jennie Fields’s The Age of Desire . . . along with the overheated romance and the middle-age passion it so accurately describes, The Age of Desire also offers something simpler and quieter: a tribute to the enduring power of female friendship.” —Boston Globe

“One doesn’t have to be an Edith Wharton fan to luxuriate in the Wharton-esque plotting and prose Fields so elegantly conjures.” —Kirkus

“Delicate and imaginative . . . Fields’s love and respect for all her characters and her care in telling their stories shines through." —Publishers Weekly

Beautiful ... an imaginative tour-de-force with the best-written naughty bits I have ever read." —UK Daily Mail

Inspired by Wharton’s letters, The Age of Desire is by turns sensuous . . . and sweetly melancholy. It’s also a moving examination of a friendship between two women. —Bookpage

“A fascinating insight into the life of my favorite novelist. Fields brings a secret side of Wharton to life, and shows us a woman whose elegant façade concealed a turbulent sensuality.” —Daisy Goodwin, author of The American Heiress

“With astonishing tenderness and immediacy, The Age of Desire portrays the interwoven lives of Edith Wharton and Anna Bahlmann, her governess, secretary, and close friend. By focusing on these two women from vastly different backgrounds, Jennie Fields miraculously illuminates an entire era. . . . I gained insight into both Wharton’s monumental work and her personal struggles—and I was filled with regret that I’d finished reading so soon.” —Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance

“In the vein of Loving Frank or The Paris Wife, Jennie Fields has created a page-turning period piece. Fields portrays a woman whose life was hardly innocence and mirth, but passionate, complex, and more mysterious than one might ever imagine.” —Mary Morris, author of Nothing to Declare and Revenge

About the author

Born in the heart of the heart of the country – Chicago -- Jennie Fields decided to become a writer at the age of six and produced her first (365 page!) novel when she was eleven. She received her MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop and published her first short stories while spending a postgraduate year at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. But needing to feed her family in the era just post-Mad Men, she became an early female copywriter at an advertising agency, soon rising to creative director and moving to New York. In her 32-year advertising career, she wrote and produced many well-known and award-winning commercials. People even now can embarrass her by telling her they grew up dancing to one of her McDonalds’ jingles.

Still, fiction was her great love. Writing during her lunch hour and after her daughter’s bedtime she penned her first novel, Lily Beach, which was published by Atheneum in 1993 to much acclaim. Since then, she’s written three more novels including Crossing Brooklyn Ferry and The Middle Ages. Her latest, The Age of Desire, is a biographical novel based on the life of the author dearest to her heart, Edith Wharton. An Editor’s Choice of the New York Times Book Review, it describes Wharton’s mid-life love affair with a younger, manipulative man. Why the affinity to Wharton? Because she wrote about people attempting to break society’s expectations for them – which is something Fields has been yearning to do all her life.

For more information, please visit Jennie's website. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #AgeOfDesireTour

GIVEAWAY:

One copy of The Age of Desire to a winner in the U.S. Please leave a comment and be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win (email address, Twitter handle, etc). Last day to enter is Thursday, September 12 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!

Cat Thursday: Random funnies

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

Well, folks...the unthinkable happened. I almost forgot to post this week. It has been one of those weeks! Thank goodness it's almost Friday and we have a long weekend coming up. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. Now, enjoy these hilarious kitties...

(I had to come back and add this...I wanted to thank everyone for your lovely comments regarding Alice and Arya last week. I told them what everyone said and I could hardly abide them, they're heads grew so big. HaHa! Anyway, I do appreciate it and I'm sorry I didn't respond in the comments. I meant to and then...well, busy is such a common word...how about swamped. *hugs* to you all!)

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