Dan Brown

…………………..Where Was I?

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Movies, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

Okay so I havent posted on here for a good 4-5 days, I hit almost total exhaustion.  What with the extra life stresses that we all encounter from time to time that I have at the moment, add in work, trying to hit over ambitious targets, blogging, trying to read a book that had not seduced me and  not having had a decent nights sleep in close to three months all struck home and I think it was thursday that I just lost all momentum with everything.  So since then I have just chilled out, aside from work that is.  I had a damn good Saturday night around a good friends house and watched Dead Silence which I really enjoyed.  Both the company and the film 🙂  Sunday I literally spent the day watching Futurama and relaxing.  I havent turned off my mind to this extent in such a long time, maybe that has been the problem. I’m not making the time to relax the mind as well as the body.

I think I’ll give myself another few days rest before getting back into the swing of things.

Getting Back On Track

 

At the start of the year I set myself a target of 5000 words a week, I’m halving that to a 2500 minimum.  That I should be able to hit with my eyes closed.  The story that I am working on is still my main project and  give me a few days and I’ll dive into it again.  After a chat with a mate today I’ve had a few good ideas for the wider universe so I think in a few days I’ll be raring to get going at it again.

As for reading I’ve given up with Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.  It just was not captivating me, maybe it was where I’ve been tired but I’ve since started reading Scott Sigler’s The All-Pro and I’m at page 33 in just two days (I’m a slow reader) But this normally indicates that I am getting into the story.

With this blog, I have some great little ideas that I hope that you will all enjoy reading when I put them up and keep you all up to date on how I’m getting along and my random thoughts.

After a rocky start this year is beginning to look up, how about we all make it a year to look back on 🙂

 

This Book Is Not Seducing Me

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Sci-Fi , , , ,

When I read a book I need it to properly grab me, to seduce me and I always give a book a hundred pages and I’ve got to admit that to my surprise Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol has not grabbed me. I’ve felt a little robotic as I’ve read it which has surprised me as I have liked Brown’s previous books. My friend Louise suggested that I try again in a few months as she’s gone back to books that had not grabbed her the first time and really enjoyed them the second time.
So now I’ve got to decide which book from my to read shelf I am going to read now, I’ve got it down to two choices, Scott Sigler’s The All Pro or Chris Stocking’s ESTRA Corp. I’ll have to decide when I get home.

Here’s An Update

Peter Germany Books, Movies, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , ,

This week has been a bit of a write off because I’ve not got much done.  It’s been a prime example of life messing up with my writing.  I’ve not been that well and I’ve had some quite tough days at the day job in addition to some everyday life irritations that keep popping up.  I seem to be having one good week and then one bad week with writing at the moment.   I’ve written maybe a 1000 words of fiction which bearing in mind some of the walls I’ve hit this week I’m not too disappointed about.  It’s not just about the writing though, I have done a little editing on my later part of the year project which I showed an excerpt to a fellow blogger who loved it! 😀 that made my day 🙂 and I’ve worked on a couple of future blog posts, I’ll have a surprise for you in one of them, a little change from my normal format  😉

Tomorrow night is going to be a movie night around some good friends of mine and Sunday I am taking my Grandad to spend the week with his sister so by the time that I get back itll be late in the afternoon but if I’m not too tired then I’ll try to get some fiction written.

I’ve had my ups and downs recently but next week I will be getting into a routine with writing.  With some of the kind words that I am receiving here I am feeling a little expectation beginning to weigh down on me so I want to get some fiction written, editing, proof read and once it is all polished up then we’ll get it out into the world for everyone to see.

I’d just want to mention a film, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  This was a pretty good film but some people who I’ve spoken to about it have said that the Swedish version is much better so I think I’ll have to get it and see.  In my limited experience of film remakes in this sense the American version is rarely better than the original.

I’m also watching Predators as I’m writing this post and it’s given me a few ideas for a story that I’ve had in my head for a few months now that I may scribble some notes down for before I go to bed.

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol still hasn’t hooked me in the way that makes me want to turn the pages but I’ve not got to the magical Hundred page mark yet so there’s still time.

Today’s Summery

Peter Germany Books, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , ,

Despite having been in an odd mood all day I have managed to knock out just over 1500 words which I’m quite chuffed about because aside from a busy day at the day job I’ve had a weird evening.  Shortly after getting home I had the distinct feeling that something very bad or very good was about to happen.  That feeling has diminished a little but it’s still there so I’ll be on guard! lol.  Generally though I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a trance tonight, or was it just that I managed to focus in on what I was doing? Either way I got a lot written tonight so does it matter?  Today has probably been my best day for writing fiction this year, and easily goes back to late November.  So after the burn out of NaNoWriMo and my rough start to the year maybe I’m getting back into the swing of writing now.  I’m back in the habit of writing daily and I feel like I’m pulling myself out of my little rut.  I’ve also started on the 2nd third of the story we’re working on.  At the moment its only an estimate that it will end up at about 30k words so we’ll have to see where the story takes us.  Tonight’s writing was not so dialogue heavy and I had to put in a lot of detail which I love doing.

Now I’m off to dive into Dan Browns The Lost Symbol which I havent fallen in love with yet but I’m not that far into it either.

 

Have a Good One Everybody 🙂

 

How Reading Infuences What I Write

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Movies, Sci-Fi, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have heard lots of writers say that they don’t read books when they’re writing because their work could be contaminated by what they are reading.  I never really paid much attention to that idea and I have always read books while I’ve been writing, but it did affect what I was writing.  I first got into reading in my late teens after I brought Tom Clancy’s  Rainbow Six, this is still one of my all time favourite books and I really want to read it again but I have a big back log of books to read so it’ll have to wait.  As there was a ‘2 for £10’ I brought The Bear And The Dragon as well, also a great book.  I started writing a few years later and  had been reading Clancy’s books which are international espionage,  technology,  heavy fiction and so forth and I found that was the sort of thing that I was trying to write.  The first thing I ever wrote is military based and it holds a lot of technology aspects (We’ll hopefully be re-writing that in the next couple of years)  I then started reading The Da Vinci and Dan Brown’s other novels and I found that I was trying to put little puzzles in the story for my characters to try to solve, it didn’t go well!  But it was still writing, it was still getting the words out of my head so I think that in the long-term I have benefitted from that.

I’ve been writing for about seven years now and as I’ve said in previous posts I have only really gotten serious in the last eighteen months but I don’t seem to be as affected by what I am reading anymore, although since reading Scott Sigler’s books and listening to his podcasts I have noticed that what I write has a little more horror in it.  As a general rule though what I am reading does not seep its way into my writing, I think lol.

What I think that I take from what I’m reading now is more the craft of writing and some inspiration in what I write.  Obviously I’m not going to copy, plagiarise any of what I read but ideas are sparked from what we discover.  It’s the same with films.  I was watching the film 127 Hours and a tiny bit from the beginning gave me a great little idea for part of one of my stories, I’m not sure if I can use it but the idea is there and if I cannot use it I’ll recycle it and put it somewhere else.

Someone I used to work for would say about rival companies that it does not matter what they are doing, what matters is what we’re doing.  Because if we’re doing our job right then we don’t have to worry about anyone else.

When he said that to me it really sunk in and i think that no matter what anyone else is doing, or what the market place may be doing if what we are doing is great, then it will win through.

My ‘To Read’ Pile

Peter Germany Books, Random Thoughts, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , ,

I have almost finished reading H.G. Wells novel War Of The Worlds, so I’m half thinking about the next book that I will read.  Now here is where I have hit a little bit of a road block because I have twenty six books waiting to be read! (Must stop buying books) No I dont mean that, I think that I just need to learn how to read quicker.

Although I love Science Fiction I think that I’m going to read something which is not sci-fi.  Of the last six books that I’ve read five of those have been sci-fi and I think I’ve OD’d on Sci-Fi so I’ll probably read one of the Kathy Reichs books that I havent read yet or Dan Browns Lost Symbol.  Although I do have Scott Sigler’s The All-Pro…………but that’s Sci-Fi, And I have Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Sheep? Again that’s Sci-Fi.  Okay maybe I’m not Over Dossed on Science Fiction but I do think that I’ll read a non sci-fi novel next as it’ll give me a different world to delve into.  I know that sci-fi is probably the genre that has the most possibilities of discovering new worlds but I think that being remineded of how our world is may give birth to some new ideas.  Although I write mainly sci-fi much of what I write is set in todays world so seeing how other people write it opens up my mind a little.

Something I thought that I always needed out of a novel is a good, strong story line.  If its not igniting my imagination then it’ll take me a longer time to read a book, but my short story series that I am putting together is turning out to be much more character driven.  I’ve written seven or so of these stories and they are told from the first person in a sort of monologue.  So maybe not having a strong plot, but strong characters will have the same effect on me and make me want to turn the pages faster.  Which, at the end of the day is something that every writer wants.  Last year I had my fantastic proof reader say that something that I wrote ‘choked her up’ (Brought out emotions), which is also something that every writer wants.

Back to the ‘To Read’ pile.  I am a spontaneous book buyer, there is nothing that I like more then to go into a bookstore, normally Waterstones and browse through the sci-fi section, and when I do this I always buy a book, but also when I go to my local Sainsburys I often buy a book or two there.  This is where I tend to get my Kathy Reichs books from, but because there are often 2 for £10 type deals I’ll often walk off with one by an authour that I wouldnt normally buy but I’ve not had one which I’ve regretted buying.  That is the one thing that cannot be done with online purchasing.  I am a little old fashioned in this sense,  I do like feeling the book in my hands, the weight of it and being able to read not only read the write up or the first few pages but any random little segment of it that I want.

I’ve written this over a few days as I’ve had a few things to sort out but I’m steering towards reading Scott Sigler’s The All-pro, then Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol.