Tag: reading

What I’m Reading Now

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Every year I participate in the Reading Challenge on Goodreads. I’d like to read 100 new books each year, but that’s just too unrealistic! So I start out with a goal of 25. If I’ve read at least 22 or 23 by September-October, then I consider raising the goal to 30. I’ve been doing this since 2011, and so far I’ve managed to meet my challenge each year. This year I’m starting out a bit smaller: 20 books. I still have a lot of other projects I need to work on, and I may not have as much time for reading as I would like. So, 20 it is.

I’m currently reading 3 books right now (because I can’t seem to focus on only one thing at a time. Two of these books have been on my mind for a while, and the third literally fell into my lap. Literally. I was at my desk at work, putting stickers on new books, and it just slid off the desk and into my lap! It’s a Chuck Palahniuk book, so I couldn’t say no.

Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith

I must confess, I purchased a copy of this book last year when it came out, and I’m finally reading it. I’ve read some of Patti Smith’s other books, such as Just Kids, Auguries of Innocence, The Coral Sea and M Train. She’s one of the reasons I got into punk rock. Her writing style is a reflection of her musical style: visual and poetic, and profound. She’s very descriptive, even when it comes to the simplest of things, such as walking to a restaurant. I’m nearly finished reading it, and I will post a review here and on Goodreads.

The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene

When I worked in a bookstore, I had a lot of people asking for Robert Greene’s books. My store was forced to keep copies of Mastery and The 48 Laws of Power behind the register, because they were high theft items. I came across The 50th Law and decided to give a try, since I am a fan of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Plus, I wanted to see what was so special about Robert Greene’s writing. From what I’ve read so far, it takes fearlessness to get things done. This can be applied to so many different areas of our lives: succeeding in business, achieving higher grades in school, asking for a raise, etc. I’m about half-way through.

Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life after Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk

I’m only on the first page, but I can already tell I’m going to like it. The first two books I read by Palahniuk were Fight Club and Haunted. I’ll let you know how this one goes. 

The Finale of Lucia and the Saints

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Everything has a beginning and an ending. The same is true for my novella series, Lucia and the Saints. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but here it goes: the sixth and final volume of the series will be available next week. Yes, folks. The series is coming to an end.

The first volume was released on July 5, 2019. Readers were introduced to a young John Rafferty, when he was attempting to become a business man. This is not the John Rafferty we know (and potentially hate) from the Valentine series. Older Rafferty is cruel, vicious and uncaring. Younger Rafferty can be a bit of a wuss. 

But forget Rafferty for a moment. The main character is Lucia. Everything that happens, and every character in the world of Valentine can be traced back to Lucia. She’s bold and outspoken, and thirty times braver than Rafferty. Truthfully, between the two of them, she should be running the Syndicate.

I used to think prequels were useless. However, writing this series has given me a deeper appreciation for prequels. It’s interesting to find the connections between characters and events from the other series. With Lucia and the Saints: Volume Six, there’s a pivatol moment in which Lucia makes a decision that affects the lives of every other character in both the Valentine series and the Valentine Apart series. 

The entire series is available in ebook form. I will release the paperback versions by the end of the year. 

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I’m Over My Dry Spell

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I went through a bit of a dry spell after I published my last ebook. Lucia and the Saints: Volume Four came out on August 2 of this year, and I haven’t released anything since then. My plan was, to keep on writing and publishing. But, sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to. I didn’t feel like writing, even though I have a ton of material to work on, and books that I need to finish.  Experiencing a dry spell was not a good thing.

Last week, I forced myself back into writing. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is literally around the corner, and I’m hosting an event at my local library. This means, I need to get myself back in gear. I need to finish editing my mother’s latest book, A New England Serial Killer, and finish Jo Fuentes: Project Sleep and Lucia and the Saints: Volume Five and Volume Six. The good news is, I’m nearly finished with editing Mom’s book, almost ready to edit Jo Fuentes, and Lucia Five will be ready by Saturday. So, the dry spell has ended!

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The Top 12 Books That Influenced My Writing

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Every writer can look back at some point in their life, and recognize the person, place or thing that encouraged them to start writing in the first place. Or, something that had an impact on their style of writing. For me, there have been many, many books which have influenced me. The number one book: Bunnicula by James Howe. My second grade teacher read it out loud to my class, and I was instantly hooked. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was receiving a lesson on personification (giving human attributes or qualities to a non-human object). I was already creating short picture books for myself, but this book made me want to be a WRITER. 

The actual list of influential titles is too long to post here, so I managed to narrow it down to 12. I still feel like it should be 15 strong, but we’ll stick to 12, for time’s sake. Here it is, in no particular order:

  1. Bunnicula and Nighty Nightmare by James Howe (couldn’t have 1 w/o the other)
  2. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz (all 3 in the series)
  3. Hellsing (manga series) by Kohta Hirano
  4. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  5. Revolutionary Girl Utena (manga series) by Chiho Saito, Be-Papas
  6. The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
  7. Grey by Pete Wentz
  8. Just Kids by Patti Smith
  9. Sailor Moon (manga series) by Naoko Takeuchi
  10. Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers and Emo by Andy Greenwald
  11. The Haunting of Grade Three by Grace Maccarone
  12. Odyssey from River Bend by Tom McGowen

this book made me want to be a WRITER. 

It’s a pretty eclectic list, isn’t it? Childrens’ chapter books, Japanese manga, horror stories and fiction. I have to give an honorable mention to Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman as well. 

So, which books would make your list? Feel free to share in the comments below!

New Theme For October

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NovocaineImage

With September drawing to a close, and October just around the corner (that corner is literally next Tuesday), I decided it was time to update the theme on this blog and the Woolaston Entertainment site. When most people think of October, they think of Halloween. Businesses and homes begin to display their Halloween decorations, and everything seems to be pumpkin flavored. I’m not a fan of pumpkin flavored anything, however, I will admit the Cheesecake Factory has a pumpkin flavored cheesecake that’s pretty good. But, back to the point of this post…(damn, now I want cheesecake…)

Halloween is one of my FAVORITE holidays. I watch horror movie marathons, wear a lot more black than usual (I wear a lot of black anyway, but during this time of year its more legit), and focus on anything scary. Last year, I released my first holiday inspired book, Erin Michaels: Spooky Bitch, which features Erin from the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series. So, Erin, my little feline Goth queen, is W.E.’s official mascot of the month of October. You’ll be seeing much more of her during the next few weeks. 

To celebrate the month, I’m having a special sale on copies of Erin Michaels: Spooky Bitch and The Witch of Fulton Lane. Plus, I’ll post some more snippets from the upcoming Age of the Daughter, the sequel to The Witch of Fulton Lane. And if you want to share any info about the things that scare you, feel free!

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What Do Your Characters Sound Like?

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When you sit down to create a character, whether it’s for a book, short story, or a graphic novel/comic, what comes to mind? Your character’s appearance? Their behavior? What about their voice? What does your character sound like?

Every chapter is an episode, and I’m just watching them and writing all the details.

I mentioned this on a previous post, but I’ll say it again here. I’m a visual person. When I write, I picture the story taking place in my mind, and basically write what I see, the same as you would if you were watching a TV show or a movie and writing down all the events taking place. For me, Fortune’s Wing and Valentine aren’t just books, they’re TV series. Every chapter is an episode, and I’m just watching them and writing all the details. This means, all of my characters not only have a physical appearance, they have voices, too. So, I’m going to share some of the voices I hear, whenever one of my characters speak. This would serve as a potential cast list, of any of my books ever become animated movies or series.

Fortune Oyama
Valentine

Fortune Oyama of Fortune’s Wing: Leonardo DiCaprio. I dunno why, but each time I sat down to work on FW and I wrote Fortune’s dialogue, that’s the voice I heard.

Demetri of Fortune’s Wing: Orson Welles. Yes, I know he passed away in 1985, but he would have made a perfect Demetri. His voice also would have worked for John Rafferty of the Valentine series. Both characters are large men, and they’re both villains. I first heard Orson Welles’ voice in Transformers: The Movie (the animated one from 1986). He provided the voice for Unicron. I was enamored with how deep and booming his voice was, and he actually inspired both Demetri and Rafferty.

Valentine of Valentine: Charlize Theron’s voice has always been in my head for this character. She’s actually the reason I made Val so tall in the series (she’s between 5 foot 9 and 5 foot 10).

Dee Seybrook of Our Lady of Righteous Rage: Taraji P. Henson would HAVE to be the voice of Dee, if this book series became animated! Hands down! Her voice is perfect for Dee: the voice of a petite female who doesn’t take any crap.

Aidan Sirci of Our Lady of Righteous Rage: Ryan Renolds. Period. Tall, good looking, and sarcastic….pretty much describes Aidan, too!

Of course, your characters’ voices don’t have to belong to celebrities. Mine just happen to. Since I modeled Nyda Summit of Our Lady  after my mother, I tend to hear my mother’s voice when Nyda speaks. And Erin Michaels of Our Lady? That’s all me.

Woolaston Entertainment

The Dark Side of Jo Fuentes — ebunnygirl

Nicole Woolaston, my favorite indie author, is preparing to release the sequel to her 2017 book, Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen. The sequel, titled, Jo Fuentes: Project Sleep, picks up where the Valentine series left off (if you haven’t read the series, I promise I won’t spoil it for you!). Jo is still working for Kelly McCormick, and she’s still wondering […]

via The Dark Side of Jo Fuentes — ebunnygirl

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June E. Parris’s Author Pages

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I recently updated my mother’s (and fellow author) author pages on Goodreads and Amazon. She just wrote her third book, A New England Serial Killer, and I’m editing it and preparing it for publication. With that being said, I wanted to be sure all of her pages are up to date. You can visit her Amazon Author Page and Goodreads Author Page to check out her books and follow her! 

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