Midlist Writer: Reading in preparation for National Novel Writing Month

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Reading in preparation for National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month is starting this Friday, and I'm getting busy. Not only am I mapping out the plot, setting, and characters in my head, but I've been reading to get prepared.

My novel is called Radio Hope and is a post-apocalyptic tale set in the near future. No zombies, no mutants, just a shattered world where some people are trying to pick up the pieces and others are trying to grind those pieces into dust.

So what have I been reading to get psyched up for this writing marathon? I finally picked up Hugh Howey's Wool. Yes, I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but a great book remains a great book. And what a great book it is. Surreal yet believable, with well-rounded characters you can care about. I'll be writing a review on Goodreads and sharing it here. Suffice it to say, if you have any interest at all in science fiction, grab this book!

Now I'm reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. This collection of small-town stories, first published in 1919, at first seems like an odd book to pair up with Wool, but both are essentially tales of the interactions you find in small and isolated communities. Both are character-centered. My own novel is centered around New City, one of the few settlements left after the fall. The characters in New City are trying to survive in a harsh and pitiless world yet still manage to have all the little obsessions, rivalries, frustrations, and dreams you find in a small town.

What are you reading right now? I'm always looking for my next good read!

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

3 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...: Everyone says Wool is great - it's on my long list of books to read.; 29 October 2013 at 08:24
D.G. Hudson said...: I'm reading 'The Greater Journey' by David McCullough (about all the important people who have lived and studied in Paris) It's great if you like history. There were many American artists and doctors who gravitated to France in the 1800s. For lighter fare, I'm reading some genre fare from a blogger, R. Yeomans, paranormal set in New Orleans.

'Wool' I've never read. Perhaps I should remedy that.; 29 October 2013 at 08:59
Rita A. said...: Those both sounds like good books. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them. I'm reading "Jim Courtright of Fort Worth" by Robert K. DeArment. I'm not doing NaNo but I am working on a historical book that "Long-Haired" Jim Courtright plays a minor part.; 29 October 2013 at 09:07

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?

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Tuesday 29 October 2013

Reading in preparation for National Novel Writing Month

3 comments: