Tag Archives: Fiction

When Harry Met Hermione

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DH1_Riddle-Harry_and_Riddle-HermioneMy Facebook feed blew up recently, as did blogs and various other websites, when JK Rowling had the audacity to spew her vile belief that Hermione should have chosen the Chosen One over the Other One. Harry Potter, and not Ron Weasley, should have captured the heart of the young, fair maiden. Evil is she, that Rowling woman, to break the hearts of all Potterdom. I hates her forever!

I thought about writing my thoughts on this sooner, but I didn’t. Then I thought that too much time had passed, and quite frankly, it didn’t matter anyway. I was wrong. I’m still finding recently written articles about this scandal, accusing the author of going all George Lucas on us Potter fans, and changing the direction of the story after the fact. But she didn’t. She made her regrets known, but she’s not rewriting the story.

To me, I really don’t care about the mating of the characters. It’s a nice little postscript to the story, but not really all that important. Also, there’s a small part of me that maybe can see what she means. Not that I necessarily believe Hermione needed to be paired with Harry, but why Ron? What does he bring to the relationship? He’s not that intelligent or talented. He’s angry, slightly embittered, and has a horrible temper. He’s definitely side-kick material.

And Hermione? She’s not. She might have made a decent equal partner for Harry, but would that have relegated her to second-fiddle? She’s a star in her own right, and maybe there’s the attraction to Ron. She doesn’t have to compete for the spotlight. That said, am I suggesting that she’s not a strong enough woman to step out of Harry’s shadow? Of course not! That’s not what I’m saying! Honest!

But what of Ginny? She married Harry, and she’s a strong, independent woman. She’s not just Mrs. Harry Potter, but an accomplished Quidditch player turned Senior Quidditch Commentator for the Daily Prophet. Not exactly a wall flower by any means. She’s strong enough of a personality to deal with marrying The Boy Who Lived, and the fame that comes with it. But if not Harry, she would have been fine with someone else. Even Bonnie Wright, the actress who portrayed Ginny came out and said as much.

But what other pairings could there be? I’ll admit that I’m a fan of a Harry-Luna coupling. Luna Lovegood is my all-time favorite character in the series, which was cemented by the casting of the amazing Evanna Lynch. Both Harry and Luna were outcasts.Luna had a way of coaxing Harry when he needed it the most. She was blunt, but never rude, and could cut through the bullshit like no one else. She could both nurture and reprimand him in such a way that it didn’t seem harsh. She’s a matter-of-fact woman and forced him to confront things for what they were.

But what of Cho Chang? Um…puh-leese! I wish I had more to comment here, but Cho was really a non-character, a filler to illustrate his desirability among girls, and to show just how clueless he was when it came to the opposite sex. True, he had more pressing matters to contend with, you know, having a sociopath gunning for him, and the future of all mankind. You know, that old chestnut?

As for the other characters, who cares. I’m really a Harry-Luna fan, but I like Ginny, too. She’s got spunk. As for Hermione, who does she have? Harry and Ron. Sure, there was Viktor Krum, but that was just a fling. Then there was Corman McLaggen, but come on, he was just a tool she used to get Ron jealous. Now Draco Malfoy, interesting, but since she’s a mudblood, he’d never go for it. Stupid Draco.

And what of poor Ron Weasley? Does anyone care about him? Who should he be paired with? I guess there’s Lavender Brown, but she did die in the movie, though she lived in the book. Hmm… I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. He’s not my favorite character, but I share a few of his worst traits, mainly his hotheadedness.

Now that I’ve taken the time to write this, I realize just how silly this conversation really is. Who cares? The characters are just that, fictional characters invented by some woman in the U.K. I think all I’ve managed to do is to demonstrate just how big of a geek I am. I should let it go. This is inconsequential, and I have better things to do.

Harry-Luna all the way!

I’m just a-plugging away

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It’s been a strange transition from writing three posts weekly to not writing at all. At some point in the distant future, I’ll start to post regularly again, but not yet. Right now, I’m letting go of the reason I began writing the blog in the first place, and I don’t miss the oppressive weight one bit. So long and farewell!

But I’ll admit that I do kind of miss forcing myself to write something, anything, regardless of how silly the subject might be. Having an outlet to express myself was healing, and it helped me figure things out. It made me confront uncomfortable truths about myself. Who am I kidding? I just bitched and whined a lot!

So have I given up writing? Um…NO! I’m stilling plugging away at my stories, trying to find that one that I will be able to publish. Maybe I’m being too picky, but I’d rather take my time to write a good novel, with a compelling story, than to rush whatever drivel that I may have ready to go.

I working on a story now, one that I’m very excited about. I really wish I could tell you about it, but this time I plan to keep quiet about it. Well, maybe a few tantalizing hints couldn’t hurt.

The book follows the a magazine writer as he searches for a story to report. His expertise is travel and adventure, but the story he finds is not one of thrills and excitement but rather a focus on one man’s life as told through a popular blog. Who is the stranger writing about the exploits of a wild youth? What skeletons are hidden in the closet? Are the stories of his varied sexual exploits fact or fiction?

I’m still in the beginning stages of this book. My main character still remains unnamed, and I’m 20 pages in! I have a vague idea of where I’m going with the narrative, and for the rest, I’m learning as I go, discovering the twist and turns as I go along. That’s what I love the most about writing!

I make no promises to have this one completed in a certain time frame, or even that I will find it good enough to publish, but I remain optimistic that this could be the one. As for the others? I haven’t given up on them either, but I’m in no hurry to rush them out for public consumption. This is a luxury that is afforded to the unpublished, and I’ll enjoy it a little longer before relinquishing my hold on them.

It’s now late. It’s after midnight, if you want the truth. I’m going to sit and write some more on my book before I turn in for the night. I wonder what I will discover tonight about my characters. Maybe I’ll find out what his name is. That would be cool.

 

Book Review: The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time

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Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone, with Seattle the victors and a very disappointed Denver in its wake. February also brings with it a reminder of romance for the lovers out there, as well as another book for me to review. Today I will be reviewing an Eli Yaakunah novel. You can find her on Facebook.

scandalImagine a not-so-distant future, when the media conglomerates are no more, replaced by an ever-present “Agency” that possess the unchecked monopoly of not only disseminating the news, but that creates and scripts the world’s realities, from sports, local news, and even elections the world over. Welcome to the world of your protagonist, Ishtar Benten, a young woman in the employ of the Agency, who is promoted to Scriptwriter, and discovers that in her, and her fellow “god’s” hands are held the (mis)fortune of the world.

The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time is her story. What resonates is the idea of a pervasive all-powerful organization, that controls what we are told and believe. The concept is not too far out of the realm of possibilities when one considers the intrusiveness of Government, (CIA, FBI, NSA), and the idea that only a few select – the wealthy and powerful – are truly in control of our destinies, only furnishing the illusion that we have a voice in our world.

The novel is narrated by Ishtar, who specializes in news stories with sexual undertones. As such, the reader is treated to several highly suggestive and graphic scenes of sex, and of violence. Many scenes come straight from her imagination, others are seen as she engages another for a passionate round of intimacy.

The story begins to gel when it becomes clear the Ishtar is beginning to question the morality and ethics of her workplace. The novel is a journey of discovery, not only of the environment around her, the characters in it, and the greater truth that lies beneath the woven tapestry that she helped fabricate, but also a personal one, where she must surrender herself quietly to the role assigned to her, or rebel against the authorities, and likely forfeit her job, and possibly her life.

The greater story is well told, and after wading through several chapters, does manage to grasp the reader. What I had trouble with was the attempt at creating a sensual image during the erotic parts of the stories. That, I feel, failed because it became labored with too many words attempting to conjure an image that is at once provocative and sexual. This is an instance where less would have been more.

Instead of allowing the reader to create the imagined dalliance, the writer tried to impose their idea of the protagonist’s sexual exploits down to the minute detail. What I found was a story that begged me to put it on the nightstand and forget it, which would have been a shame, since the story proper was actually quite good.

Understand, I am not a big fan of romance and/or erotica, so my review may be suspect. What I can say is that while I liked the story of the Agency, the erotica left me in want of something better, something more cohesive. The sex pushed me out of the story instead of enticing me in. As such, it felt clumsy, the transitions between the graphic sex scenes were not smooth, and I didn’t get hooked into the story until very late, long after I would have given up trying to read the book had I not agreed to review it.

In the end, I found the book to be a mixed-bag. I cannot assign a simple good or bad grade on it, so I’m left to flip-flop a bit and say “it’s good, but it has some problems.” Thus, I will not recommend this book to read, unless you are a fan of the genre, which is a shame. The book had promise of being a lot better than I found it, but that’s just this reader’s opinion.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review – Solid Rock
Previous Review – Crimson Return

Book Review: Crimson Return

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Happy Monday everyone! Hope the weekend treated you well. Today I’m reviewing Crimson Return by Daelynn Quinn. This is the second book of a series, and also the second book of Daelynn’s I have had the fortune to review. If you haven’t read the first book, please be advised that there may be some spoilers in this review. You can find the author at Daelynnquinn.com, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Crimson Return

Crimson Return © Daelynn Quinn 2013

Crimson Return, the second book of the Fall of Venus trilogy, picks up a few months after the events of Fall of Venus. Once again, we follow Pollen McRae, a young woman, who like all the world’s population, has suffered unimaginable loss and grapples with the new reality, that their world is now uninhabitable.

Pollen is now safe from the Trinity, three of the worlds most rich and powerful, and orchestraters of the world’s demise, in the stronghold of COPS, along with her niece Evie, and Marcus, another escapee from the Trinity’s safehouse/prison, the Crimson Survivor Refuge. In the safety of COPS, they both have found a way to contribute to the continuation of the human race, to help escape the runaway global warming catastrophe facing them.

As they settle in, Pollen’s ex-fiancee Glenn mysteriously shows up. Glenn, who had sided with the Trinity and became a Crimson Enforcer, but ended up helping his ex and her niece and new boyfriend escape, His appearance triggers a crisis for Pollen and the COPS. Should Glenn be trusted? Should he be allowed to remain?

He upsets Pollen’s certainty in regards to her new boyfriend Marcus, and begins to drive a wedge in her relationship. Later, when plans go missing, and equipment sabotaged, this confirms to COPS and to her that Glenn cannot be trusted. Before his sentence is carried out, he delivers a bombshell, someone she believes to be dead is in fact being held captive by the Trinity.

Crimson Return is about survival against all odds, and fighting for what is right and for those who you love. It’s about the struggle against the establishment that puts their own financial well-being above the lives of the poor and weak. It’s about the value of life, and the premium we sometimes are forced to pay in order to live it.

But in its essence, it’s about the struggles of a young woman trying to live her life in the midst of an epic catastrophe. Can she do what is right or will she fail at the first sight of temptation? Will she be faithful to the love of her life, or will she be seduced by the memory of another?

It is in the setting then, that we see that even when facing such adversity, the will of the human spirit to persevere is great, and the dramas of life, both big and small, continue, bringing with it both great joy and terrible heartaches. There are consequences to accept, and new realities to overcome.

Of Pollen McRae, a young woman in her early twenties yet very much a child in thought, the events of this book will push her to the precipice and she will have to choose between the naiveté of youth, and the cold pragmatism of maturity. As the fate of the world is at stake, and as life succumbs to the stranglehold of a moribund planet, this is still one woman’s journey into adulthood.

Crimson Return sets the stage for the conclusion of the series, will Pollen accept responsibility? Will she be able to fight for the ones she loves and for the survival of a people facing extinction?

Of the author, Daelynn Quinn matured as a writer between the first book and second book. While I had some trouble getting into the first book, I fell back into an easy and comfortable rhythm with this one. She has done a fantastic job creating a world and populating it with characters you can care about. Not only do I recommend reading Crimson Return, I urge you to go back and read Fall of Venus. I know you will not be disappointed.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review – The Woman Who Sparked the Greatest Sex Scandal of All Time
Previous Review – Birth of Vengeance

Just chillin’ n readin’

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I’m stuck at home on a Saturday night. Typical. It’s actually not a bad thing. I have a new book review coming out on Monday, for Daelynn Quinn’s book, Crimson Return, the second book of the Fall of Venus trilogy. I’m three-quarters of the way through with the book, and I plan to finish it before I go to bed tonight.

Work on my own book is progressing slowly. I’m not having any luck writing at home, so yesterday I left the nest and drove to Amarillo, set myself up at a coffee shop, and wrote for a couple of hours. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s a start.

Seriously, writing can be a chore sometimes, but all the worthwhile activities usually are. It’s those who acknowledge that fact, and persevere in spite of the grind that achieve their goals. I want to be one of those people, someone who can say I accomplished my goal.

Tonight, I will finish reading my book so that I can post my review as promised. I’m enjoying the book and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on it. If you haven’t already, check out my review to Fall of Venus, and come back on Monday!