Author Archives: Joe Hinojosa

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About Joe Hinojosa

Official account of a writer in potentia. Blogger, student, bibliophile and novice book reviewer.

Maybe I’m to blame….

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I find myself with plenty of free time to do some quality writing today. It’s sad that I don’t often have it, and when I do, I don’t always take advantage of it. I doubt I’m the only would-be novelist guilty of such a sin, but I can’t speak for the others. Today I confess my own failings as a writer.

Writing is such a chore, and because it is, I tend to put it off. You’ll rarely catch me writing in the morning, if ever. I do my best in the afternoon, or even later. When I get in my rhythm, it’s not unusual to be past midnight, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, holding exhaustion at bay.

My job does not give me a set schedule so that I can get into a routine. That’s what I need. We all love routines, though we may complain about it from time to time. Our bodies want to go to bed at a set time, get up at a set time, eat and conduct our lives at a set time. Granted, we don’t want to get into so set a routine that we fall into a rut. We demand routine and some flexibility to make life interesting.

So, I’m justifying my failure. It’s not my fault. The “Man” is keeping me from pursuing my dream. It’s better to blame my failure on someone else than to look in the mirror and realize it’s my own fault. Not going to happen. It’s the Man!

Excuses only absolve me so much, or maybe not at all. I’ve let myself get distracted by too many things. Success demands so much out of us, that most of us give up without realizing we have until it’s too late. Sometimes we never come to terms with the idea that we ceased pursuing our goals. “There’s always tomorrow, after all!”

Enough dawdling. I need to shut everything out for a while and let myself find my flow and let the words flow out of me. As Ernest Hemingway once said,

“There is nothing to writing.
All you do is sit at a typewriter and bleed.”

With all due respect to Mr. Hemingway, I’m all out of typewriters, so I hope my laptop will suffice. Also, while I’m thinking about it, I may need to contact the blood bank, you know, just in case. I’m O-Positive for future reference. Something tells me that I won’t need them.

What are you reading?

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“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
~Dr. Seuss~*

I bought the Divergent box set recently off of Amazon, and it has sat of my desk for several weeks, begging me to be read. I found some time on Tuesday to crack open the first book, and instantly found myself drawn in by the story. I stayed up until three in the morning reading the book before putting it down to sleep. I finished it the next morning.

I’ve started the second book in the series, Insurgent, and I’m loving it. I plan to be done with it by this evening, and maybe start reading the last book, Allegiant. Then there’s the movies. Divergent is in theaters, which I’m planning on seeing tomorrow after I get off work.

It’s been a long time since a book has captured my attention in this way. Rowling managed to do so with her Harry Potter series, and once I discovered it, So did Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I read the Twilight novels, and I enjoyed them as well for what they were, and I fail to see why people reacted to viscerally against them, especially since most poking fun of the series probably have never read a book.

These are just a few of the books that have entered the popular consciousness to such a degree that they become inescapable. I’ve read plenty of other books by authors that have not cracked the Best Sellers lists. I’ve enjoyed many self-published titles, many I have reviewed for you here on my blog. On of my favorite author is Morris West, author of The Shoes of the Fisherman, and The Clowns of God.

I read to escape the tedium of life. I read to lose myself to the imagination. I read to transport myself into adventure. I read so that I may know, and in so knowing, to learn, to grow, and to better myself.

I’ve encountered strange ideas, thoughts that were at once foreign and alien to me, but once read, helped shape me into the person I am today. I soaked up ideas like a sponge, thirsty for knowledge, insatiable and unquenchable. I know I’m not alone.

I read mostly for pleasure, but what I read can provoke me to think about the bigger picture. What is the book about? What is the author trying to say?  How is what I’m reading relevant to me and to the world at large? Good books promote lively discussions.

My question today – as you can probably guess by my not-so-cryptic title – is what are you reading now? What ideas are you gleaming from the book or article? Are you willing to share with us? Leave a comment and share with us your thoughts. I would love to know!

“A home without books
is a body without a soul.”
~Marcus Tullius Cicero~*

* – Quotes on reading came from ThinkExist.

Book Review: The Trinity

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Happy Monday everyone! Spring is around the corner, so I’m sending you all hopes of a warm and pleasant spring season. As promised, today I’m bringing you my review of The Trinity, by Daelynn Quinn. You can find her on her website, on Twitter, or on Facebook. Follow her and give her your support! Please note, if you haven’t read the rest of the Fall of Venus Trilogy, this review does contain spoilers. Read at your own risk!

“One’s greatest fear, when confronted,
Invokes one’s greatest strength.” ~Anonymous
-as read by Pollen McRae

the trinityPollen McRae is a young woman struggling to keep her world together. Her dead brother is alive, her niece Evie captured by the Crimson Enforcers, the militia of the Trinity, and she is pregnant with a child whose paternity is very much in doubt. All this while the world teeters on the edge of annihilation.

Most of the world population is dead, due to a virus released by the Trinity, and Pollen, her brother Drake, and Evie may hold the key to the survival of the human race. The best hope for survival is to escape and colonize a neighboring planet before the madness of the trio who seek to control the destiny of the populace destroys them all.

It’s a race against time. The planet is heating up, global warming is fast making the world uninhabitable during the summer months. All the while, the population is having to seek refuge in underground colonies called the web. Pollen is assured a seat on the first shuttle mission to colonize an alien world, but she refuses to go unless Evie is rescued first.

Can Pollen and the rest of the refugees at Ceborec save Evie and thwart the demented plans of the Trinity? At risk are the lives of everyone on the planet. Who will ultimately triumph, the power-mad self-appointed rulers of a dying world, or Pollen, a young woman striving to keep the remains of her family intact? Survival is at stake.

There is only life or death to be gained, and there are no second chances….

Daelynn created a wonderfully engaging story, filled with hope and wonder, and also pain and heartbreak. Even when I thought I knew where the writer was taking the story, she managed to throw a twist and surprise me. In the trilogy as a whole, Daelynn never allowed the reader to grow complacent with the plot, and guided us on a journey we could never expect.

At the end of the series, I was left amazed by the storytelling. Some may question why she chose to write this book, or why she chose to write it the way she did. Daelynn plays with the concepts of origin and evolution, of the Genesis stories of creation, and of theology itself to wonderful effect. It is at once controversial and entertaining, and well worth the read.

The story was highly imaginative and original. The narrative itself was well-written and exciting, The ending did leave me perplexed, but I recognized that I had allowed my own prejudices guide me to a conclusion that never materialized. Instead, my expectations allowed me to be shocked, and I appreciated it all the more.

I highly recommend not only this book, but the rest of the series as a whole. Please check all her books out. The links are at the bottom.

The Fall of Venus Trilogy
Fall of Venus
Crimson Return
The Trinity

List of Book Reviews
Next Review –  The Ship
Previous Review – Hat Dance

Checking in for the thrill of it

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Book review is done and I will post it tomorrow at noon. For now, I have no other books in the queue, waiting to be read and reviewed. It’s an odd feeling, both sad and a relief. Next up, I can start reading Divergent. The box set is sitting on my desk, begging to be read. Who am I to ignore the pleas of a book?

Right now, I’m going to get back to work on one of my books I’m writing. At the moment, I have some sense of where I want to go, so I’d better write while the writing is good. I hope that makes sense. To put it another way, I need to write while I feel inspired to do so. Some days, it’s a struggle to write my own name, but you know what that’s like, right?

Better get to work, so for now, good night and sweet dreams. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow.

Upcoming Reviews

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fallofvenusHappy Saturday everyone! I hope you’re all having a great day.

I wanted to let you know that I will have a new book review to post on Monday, the 17th. The book, Daelynn Quinn’s conclusion of her Fall of Venus Trilogy, The Trinity, will be the subject of my review this time around. Please don’t miss it.

Before then, check out my reviews of the other two books in the series, Fall of Venus, and Crimson Return. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

Until Monday, give Daelynn’s book a chance, and support her and other self-published writers. Have a great weekend!