Fangirl

More Book Talk

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m sure it’s lovely somewhere. Here, it’s hot and humid and generally blah. But the cicadas are doing their screeching thing, so that’s nice. Anyway, today I’m here to ramble about the last “Ask me about…” thingie. Unless someone picks another number before July 4th (feel free). So far, we’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 31, 41, and 54. Today, we’re doing number 7: Ask me about my favorite book.

I think you all know my reading tastes by now. Anything Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Rick Riordan. Stuff about gods and demons. I’m not picky about genre, though I do lean towards fantasy or horror or cozy mysteries. Adult, YA, MG. I don’t particularly care about the target age range. As long as I enjoy it, that’s all that matters. But if you’ve been reading my blog, you know this, so I think I’ll approach this question in a different way and tell you a little about my favorite book that I’ve written so far.

None of my novels have been published (not for a lack of trying), but I do have a couple that are query ready, one that’s ready for revisions, and a handful of others that are at least partially written. Out of all of those, I’m particularly attached to one tentatively titled A Taste of Cyn: A Dreamscapes Novel. It’s a darker version of a cozy mystery with paranormal elements (vampires). And it has been rejected… a LOT, but I keep sending it out. Any personal rejections it’s received boil down to “We love the characters and idea, but have no idea how to market it.” I’m gathering that’s code for “it crosses some weird ass genres and we don’t know what to sell it as.” Which I thought might be a problem when I started writing it. Then again, it might just suck and no one wants to say that (I wish they would). But I still love it.

Here’s the blurb I’ve been using when querying:

Love bites and stalkers suck.

Lucynda “Cyn” Moseman wants nothing more than a quiet life running Dreamscapes, the first and only host club in Dallas. Unfortunately, Cyn’s life is anything but normal.

When she was eighteen, Cyn used college as an excuse to flee from Marfa, an awkward relationship, and her dysfunctional family. It’s been twelve years since she left, and she rarely looks back.

Three years ago, Cyn opened Dreamscapes, and now, the cozy nest she’s built around herself is being torn apart. Someone is picking off her customers and draining them of blood. With a staff consisting primarily of vampires, Cyn fears the worst.

Dragged into the middle of a murder investigation despite wanting nothing to do with it, Cyn’s life is spiraling out of control. Throw in a detective she may or may not have feelings for, the unexpected arrival of her clingy ex, and a box of hair appearing on her doorstep, and Cyn tells herself things can’t get worse.

She’s wrong.

I like it. I guess that’s what really matters. The second book in the series is actually plotted and partially written. It has more beasties than just vampires. I like it too, but stopped working on it after so many rejections. Maybe I’ll get back to it. Or maybe I’ll start working on the slightly more traditional cozy mystery that’s been banging around my head. It has ghosts, but I don’t think that’s too far out of the genre to make it unsellable. I mean, they have ones with talking dogs and others with witches now, so why not ghosts?

Anyway, that’s my current favorite book that I’ve written. I’m sure that’ll change. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!

Swoon

~ shawnaborman ~ 3 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing? How are your holidays going? I’m just sitting here sipping peppermint mocha coffee and procrastinating writing this post. I don’t know why I have no motivation. It’s another number thingie, so it’s not like I have to think of a topic. I’m just lazy. This week’s pick is courtesy of the amazing Olive (a fellow Stonecoaster)! She chose number 6. I’ve done 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, and 10. I’m down to 14, 11, and 1, so only a few more weeks (plus a couple of book reviews and a possible birthday post) before I have to think of things again. Ugh. Anyway, this week’s prompt is “Tell me which book had the most swoon-worthy romance.” Le sigh…

I’m going to be completely honest. Romance has never been high up on my lists of must haves for a good book. I don’t mind the whole romantic subplot thing. In fact, it’s usually expected in a lot of the genres I read, but it’s very rarely the point of the stories. I’m actually a bigger fan of the found family trope. Enemies to lovers is fun. Angsty doom and gloom personality vs. sunshine and glitter queen/king is nice too. But how do I pick? And it doesn’t help that I gravitate toward the psychopathic characters. In other words, I’m having a really hard time thinking of actual swoon-worthy romances that won’t get me weird looks. Books. I need to think of books, not manga/manhwa. This is hard.

I’m going to go with Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell as an example of a relatively healthy (from what I remember) budding relationship. Sure, there’s the conniving asshat that we all know isn’t the endgame romance interest and a bunch of missteps with the actual endgame dude that could be cleared up with a simple talk, but for a college first love thing, it has all the right warm and fuzzy moments. And when they finally get together… -chef’s kiss-. Plus the book sets up one of my favorite dysfunctional romances: Simon and Baz (from the Simon Snow books). I know I shouldn’t love them, but I do. They make me squee, which is as good as a swoon.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is weirdly one of my favorite romantic subplots. Why? Because it’s barely there. You can feel the growth and changes in the relationship between Puck and Sean, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t important. Life is happening and things are kind of nuts and this subtle shift into love is there, but other stuff is taking priority over it and that’s fine. It’s more realistic to me than those stories where love overpowers everything else.

Don’t get me wrong, I do occasionally go looking for obvious romances, but it’s usually just fluffy gay stuff that gets all the d’awwwwwwwwwwwws. Or really dark stuff, like The Beast Must Die by Lee Hyeon-Sook. Yeah, I had to slip a manhwa in here. Sorry, not sorry. I’m not fond of the trope that brings the two main characters together (woman they both know kills herself because of bad things and they set out to avenge her), but all the murder is fun. Kang Moo is one of my favorite little psychopaths. I swoon over him. But yeah… it gets dark fast. Don’t read if you’re delicate.

So, since I’m not very well read when it comes to romance and romantic subplots, feel free to suggest books. Or manga/manhwa/webtoons. Whatever. Or just tell me what some of your favorite romantic tropes are. As always, feel free to share your comments or questions or whatever here or on my social media pages!

What Book Scarred Me: Adult Edition

~ shawnaborman ~ 6 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this first Wednesday of December? I’ve been procrastinating writing this even though I already know the topic. I just have no motivation. Like usual. Anyway, it’s time to continue with the number thingie! The wonderful Heather Vendetti picked 3 for this week. I’ve answered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, and 8 so far. Numbers 10, 6, 14, 11, and 1 are all coming eventually. This week’s prompt is “Tell me which book had a profound effect on you as an adult.” Eh… let’s see what I can ramble about for this.

Honestly, I feel like I should have some kind of mature answer for this. Like I should pick one of those books that no one actually enjoys, but say they do to impress their pretentious asshat friends. The Great Gatsby, which I’ve read three times and will never understand why people insist it’s good. Anything by James Joyce. I bought a used copy of his short stories for class and have never agreed with a margin note more than the one at the end of “The Dead” where the person drew a rainbow coming out from behind a cloud with the caption “Hallelujah, it’s over!” Shakespeare, though I admit he’s grown on me. He’s a pervert and super over dramatic, so that’s fun. But people get so serious about him and I’m just sitting here giggling at the dick jokes. C’mon. But yeah, I’m not coming up with any serious answers for this question.

I read the Percy Jackson books when I was in my 20s. Does that count? Is it adult enough? At least I don’t think I was 30 yet. Who knows. But they were awesome and entertaining and I kind of want to read them again. They helped shape my interest in mixing mythology with YA coming of age stories. It wasn’t a life changing thing, but those books have influenced some of my writing.

By Velinxi. I love Nico.

The only other books I can think of that have stuck with me fairly recently are The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (that book made me ugly cry in the best way), Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and the Simon Snow books (also by Rowell). I guess you can tell I read a lot of YA for an old lady. It’s not something I’m ashamed of, but none of it seems like things that have any profound effects on me either. I just like reading and writing about angsty teens/young adults making stupid decisions before getting their happily ever afters. Preferably with some kind of monster/demon/supernatural being involved. I like other genres too (cozy mysteries for example), but they don’t seem to stick with me in the same way.

So, a handful of books have stuck with me as an adult, but I don’t have any profound insight as to why. I just like what I like. Ask me again in ten years and maybe I’ll have a better answer (I doubt it). What about you? Have any books scarred you as an adult? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Obsessive Reading

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! We’ve survived the first month of 2022. Good job! How’s everyone doing? Things are okay here. I finished the first draft of a story, but I haven’t started revisions yet. I need to read through it and decide whether it wants to be a novella or a short story because it’s currently that weird length that no one wants. Too long for most short venues, but not long enough for novella venues. Probably just needs a hefty trim. I’ll figure it out. But I keep getting distracted by reading, which is what I want to ramble about today. Obsessive reading. When books take over everything. You know what I mean.

When I was younger, pretty much everything I read pulled me in. Except the stuff I was forced to read. But Harry Potter, anything Stephen King, Neil Gaiman. Stuff like that. I’d get obsessive over it. The books were all I thought about. If I wasn’t reading, I wanted to be reading. And eventually, I burned myself out. I even went a few years without reading anything except the books I was assigned in school. It was hard to start reading for fun again. Even in grad school, I read every day, but I wasn’t particularly into it. It was weird.

Honestly, it’s still weird. I’ve been out of grad school far too long and reading is still mostly a chore. I’m usually reading two books at any given time, one to review and one for fun. If I finish either of them ahead of schedule, I have another book ready to go. But it is a schedule. For the review books, I literally count the days and figure out how many pages I have to read to finish with enough time to write the review. And it’s rare for me to deviate from that plan unless the book is super good. My for fun books usually get my attention for half an hour before bed. And I’m okay with this. Usually.

But occasionally, I run into a book or series that demands my undivided attention, like the series I’m reading now (the Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell). I’m seriously obsessed. You have no idea how much effort it took to pull myself away to write this post. I’m a little ashamed of it, to be honest. But this feeling makes me so very weirdly happy. It’s an escape. And it’s so rare lately that I forget what it feels like until it happens again. I can only remember two other series (the trilogy with Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor) and a stand-alone (Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell) making me feel this way in the past fifteen years or so. I have to enjoy it while it lasts.

And now, I’m going to force myself to read the two chapters I need to read in my review book, then slip back into Simon and Baz’s world until dinner. What books or series have you obsessed over lately? Are you the type to obsess? If not, what drives you to read? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or comments or questions here or on my social media pages!

A Year of Reading

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing? I spent far too much time trying to fix something unfixable before I realized it was Amazon’s fault, so it’s late and I’m cranky. In other words, this post is just going to be a lazy one. It’s a recap of what I’ve read this year, plus the last two I plan on finishing. It’s pretty much what you would expect from a reading list from me.

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. It’s still my favorite of the series.

2. One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon. You can see my review here.

3. Take Joy by Jane Yolen. It was a nice little craft book, but nothing spectacular.

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. A little more rambling than I remembered, but still in my top three HP books.

5. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. You can see my review here.

6. Dark Shadow by Danielle Rose. A good series.

7. Vasilisa by Julie Mathison. You can see my review here.

8. Dark Descent by Danielle Rose. A good series.

9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Probably in the bottom three of my favorite HP books.

10. Down World by Rebecca Phelps. You can see my review here.

11. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. Somewhere in the middle of my favorite HP books.

12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Probably my least favorite HP book.

13. Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur. You can see my review here.

14. Dark Power by Danielle Rose. A good series.

15. Death in Bloom by Jess Dylan. You can see my review here.

16. Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien. I love this cozy mystery series.

17. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I was super disappointed by this one.

18. Bound for Murder by Victoria Gilbert. A little description heavy, but a cute cozy series.

19. Walking Through Needles by Heather Levy. You can see my review here.

20. Watch Her by Edwin Hill. The series is on the darker end of the cozy spectrum and worth checking out.

21. Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron. You can see my review here.

22. A Crafter Hooks a Killer by Holly Quinn. A cute series, but nothing special.

23. Murder in the Village by Lisa Cutts. You can see my review here.

24. Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw. A lovely read, if a bit predictable.

25. A Time to Swill by Sherry Harris. Another cute series.

26. Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran. Beautiful illustrations, but the fairy tale retelling was just meh.

27. The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher. You can see my review here.

28. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I freaking loved this book and I have no idea why. It’s not my usual genre, but it gave me all the feels and I can’t get over how much I enjoyed it.

29. The Christmas Dress by Courtney Cole. You can see my review here.

30. Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins. Another super cute cozy series and it features a corgi.

31. Storm the Earth by Rebecca Kim Wells. I probably should’ve re-read the first book in this duology, but things eventually came back to me. Definitely recommend it.

32. Flying Angels by Danielle Steel. You can see my review here.

33. Midnight Spells Murder by Mary Angela. It’s not a bad cozy series, but not great.

34. Currently Reading: Shackled Fates by Thilde Kold Holdt. I am in love with this trilogy so far.

35. Currently Reading: A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw. I couldn’t find a book I wanted to review this month, so I decided to buy Ernshaw’s newest book and review it later this month.

What Should I Read Next?

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How is everyone doing today? I hope your plans for St. Paddy’s day include sitting around and reading or something equally fun/relaxing/socially distanced. I’ve been slowly rereading the Harry Potter series. After I finished book five a couple of days ago, I had this weird urge to binge read the last two books. I haven’t had this desire towards books in a long time, so I’m giving into it despite the other 20+ unread books judging me from my Kindle app (not to mention the hundreds of books in the other room that I haven’t read yet). It’ll take me a while to finish these two (a month and a half or two), but I want some help deciding what to read afterward. So, I’m going to list all of my currently downloaded ebooks and whatever hardcopies I can think of that I’m interested in right now, and let you all tell me what I should read next.

1. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

2. Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

3. Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

4. A Crafter Hooks a Killer by Holly Quinn. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

5. Geisha, A Life by Mineko Iwasaki. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

6. Fantastic Creatures: A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology by multiple authors. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

7. Death in Neverland by Isadora Brown. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

8. Arterial Bloom edited by Mercedes M. Yardley. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

9. Killer Cruise by A.R. Winters. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

10. Belinda Blake and the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Heather Day Gilbert. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

11. Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

12. The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction edited by Ellen Datlow. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

13. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

14. Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

15. Storm the Earth by Rebecca Kim Wells. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

16. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

17. Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

18. Bound for Murder by Victoria Gilbert. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it. I also have the next book in this series if you think I should read it too.

19. Watch Her by Edwin Hill. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

20. Swift for the Sun by Karen Bovenmyer. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

21. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

22. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

23. Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

24. The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it.

25. Dark Power by Danielle Rose. You can go to it’s GoodReads page for the description if you don’t know anything about it. Technically I don’t have this one yet, but it’s pre-ordered and will be out before I finish Harry Potter.

So, what should I read after I finish HP6 and 7? I certainly have my preferences, but nothing strong enough for me to make up my mind. Leave your votes here or on my social media pages. Also, feel free to recommend books you think I might like (I’m not too picky about trying new things), but I should probably get through some of the books I already have.

J-Rock: How I Became A Fangirl

~ shawnaborman ~ 4 Comments

Howdy all!  Last week, I asked for some suggestions on what to blog about, so Lew and Joe asked how I got into J-Pop/Rock.  It’s not really that long or interesting of a story, but they wanted to know.  So, please excuse me while I fangirl (get overly excited, squee, and babble on about a certain subject) over some of my favorite music and musicians while I relive those early days.

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And there are definitely some pretty men.  That’s Miyavi, by the way.

 

I guess I got into Japanese music the same way a lot of people do: anime.  I grew up with the Americanized version of Sailor Moon, then Pokémon and Digimon and Cardcaptor Sakura and all of that came along.  But it wasn’t until I was sixteen or seventeen (around the time I started looking to the Internet for friends instead of hanging out with my sister and her friends) when I began searching for fansubs and the original versions of the shows that I started my brief voyage into the world of J-Pop, then my descent into J-Rock.

It wasn’t just anime exposing me to the music, but also the friends I was making by hanging out in anime chatrooms.  (Do you even remember those?  The Yahoo chats?  Oh how I miss those days.)  It takes a lot for a theme song to entice me into looking it up, so I was a total n00b to the music compared to most of the people I met.  So, I listened to every song people recommended.  For example, one of the people I hung out with was a rabid fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, so for a while, I knew every song (and every version) in that series because he would insist I listen to them.  It wasn’t that I enjoyed everything I heard, but I was open to the possibility that I might like it.

Then, I got into YouTube.  Back in the day, before Google and Vevo and all of the legal stuff, YouTube was a wonderland of obscure music.  Plus, it was great about recommending things based (no matter how remotely) on whatever you were watching instead of just suggesting whatever happens to be popular that week, which is how I found my way into J-Rock and all its lovely subgenres.  I had my first brush with bands like Dir en grey (awesome if you like metal), Buck-Tick (kind of an 80s vibe), Versailles (symphonic metal), and Miyavi (guitarist).  From there, I just kind of dug around on my own to find things that I adore.  It also doesn’t hurt that most of the beautiful women are actually men (a fangirl topic for another day).

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Versailles.  They’re all men.  Yes, even him.

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Exist Trace.  And they’re all women.

 

It was just something that happened.  There was no big plan involved.  It was just a new obsession stemming from an old one, like a slow descent into madness.  We all have these types of love, so tell me about yours.  What’s your random obsession that makes people wonder how you got into it?  And how’d it happen?