Told you there would be more Ketchum. Joyride went quickly, too – even faster was the wee short story at the end, Weed Species. Cover calls it a novella, but it’s a short story.
Jan2
Category Archives: Books
Jan1
New For 2017 – Books I’ve Read #1
I don’t actually keep track of how much I read! So from today on, every time I finish a book, I’ll post it here.
Today I read Jack Ketchum’s The Passenger. I just discovered Ketchum so there will be more of his to come. Ketchum was recommended highly by many members of a Stephen King FB group I’m a member of. So far, I agree (Girl Next Door is gut wrenching).
It was very short, hence being done in a few hours. Should I do a rating scale? I read too fast to do a review, really. So out of 10 – a 7. Would have gotten more if it wasn’t so short.
Sep12
Xeelee?
Have any of my fine friends read the Xeelee Sequence? Because I’m loving the hell out of it, and stretching my brain in the process. I’d love to talk to someone else who has done the same. I’m nearly done, and my head is swimming with naked singularities and quantum fissures and wormholes and alllll of this amazing stuff. Is Stephen Baxter a genius? I have trouble wrapping my head around some of these ideas, and that is a rare feeling -I love it!
Aug6
I’m reading ‘Dune’ finally!
I know, how silly – I’ve never read Dune! I did see the movie version, with whassis name, the singer… Oh yeah, Sting. I didn’t care for it much, as I knew I was missing a LOT.
Super excited to be starting it, and I sure hope it doesn’t drag like that movie did. Blargh.
Oct24
Stephen King has a webcomic!
Okay I’m a bit late in, but you have plenty of time to catch up!
My writer-hero, Mr King, has a webcomic in the works right now. It’s called The Little Green God of Agony.
Drawn by Dennis Calero and adapted from a twice-published short story, Little Green God will update Monday, Wednesday and Friday for eight weeks. We’re still barely into week two, so if you love King, jump on board!
I just leave the page open in Safari and check it daily, as I barely know what day it is anymore…
Oct20
Oh, just write something FFS.
Yes, just write something, anything, get the fingers moving and the brain-juice flowing! I don’t mean you, I mean me!
I finished all of the published Game of Thrones books. I had seven titles in my library, and Wikipedia informed me that there were seven books, and they all have titles, etc. and then I finished book five and went to open book six… and it’s not even written yet. My other two titles were short stories. DAMMIT! So… I’m having withdrawals.
And I also had a root canal yesterday. Go, me. I went to the dentist Tuesday eve, because I’ve been fighting off a toothache for a few weeks, and then while chewing some gum one tooth did this horrible sucking pulling suction thing with the gum and it hurt. So I gave up on fighting it off with Listerine and floss and got an appointment that day. I knew my efforts weren’t working anyway – my glands have been swollen and my ear hurt and I got my first cold sore in over a year. Definitely had an infection going on. DAMMIT.
Had three X-rays and a new dentist at the practice. He was less than impressed with the quality of my fillings and told me the sore tooth needed a root canal (me, not surprised, I know my teeth are shit) and that there is infection in another tooth as well on the other side of my mouth. And the filling on that one is so big that once the old filling came out, the root would be right there, and probably turn into another root canal. And he’d like to fix at least six other teeth.
DAMMIT.
Ok, sez I, this does not surprise me. I know my teeth are shit, sez I (to a bit of eye-widening from New Dentist who probably expected an American to not say shit, or have crappy teeth). This is why I have dental insurance and kept it even when I didn’t have a job, sez I. Let’s just fix the one that hurts and we’ll get to the rest, sez I.
Okay, sez he – and sends me out to make an appointment. Um, no work to be done today? No? Right, okay…appointment.
Earliest they could get me in was November 23rd. What what what? Right, okay – I understand, and I’m not in pain unless I use that side of my mouth, and I’ll keep up with the mouthwash and floss until then… I’ll be grand.
Until I got home and starting thinking about the fact I have an infection in my head. And it already bothers me. And I’d have to put up with it for over a month. I decided to ring the dentist the next day to ask for antibiotics.
It didn’t quite work out that easily, and I don’t feel like typing all that out. But I got a call around noon on Thursday asking if I could come in for stage 1 of root canal the next day. Why yes, yes I can.
So that’s me half-done, I have a temporary filling in and still have the Nov 23rd appt to finish it off. But… It’s a lower, back tooth that has gone bad and the poor fella can not get to it. I can’t open my mouth any wider to make room.
Insert joke here.
My jaw is sore as hell from the 1.5 hours I already had, and he’s frustrated too. I’m a good dental patient, I don’t fight or fuss and I don’t hate him for doing what he has to do. I even can, and do, turn my tongue sideways to keep it out of the way. I just have a small mouth.
Yes, yes, go ahead and laugh some more.
And I still have another bad tooth, and I’m fresh out of cash… anyhoo, this whole thing might be part of why I’ve been off my game lately, here and elsewhere.
I’m going to post pics of kitties having a bad-ass battle next.
Apr23
I’m Reading ‘The Hunger Games’…
Hubby got me all three of the Hunger Games books…you might not see me for a few days. I didn’t really know what they were about, other than everyone is talking about it because of the movie. And what hubby said, which is its just a retake of ‘Battle Royale’. Donno if that was ever a book first, but I thought the films were just an excuse to kill pretty kids in interesting ways. Not much different than Friday the 13th was back when it was new.
But, I’m over half done with the first book. It’s well-written, believable, and the characters aren’t horrible stereotypes. There’s not pages of annoying descriptions of scenery or people, which I appreciate. And while I think, and thought from the first, that I have a good guess as to how it ends, I’m still trusting the author to throw me a curveball and surprise me.
I think I see what all the fuss is about.
Feb12
Perhaps it is time to get serious…
First, let me swear on whatever you find worthy of swearing upon that I have not ever clicked on my own blog link after doing a search for ’11/22/63 art.’ (Proof: it isn’t purple in my browser!) I only ever looked because I kept seeing it pop up in my stats, along with ‘Siamese cat drawing.’ So, being curious, I wanted to see where I ranked. The last time I looked, I ranked just below the official Stephen King website. Today, I rank above it.
WTF WTF WTF.
I actually feel a bit ill seeing this. It scares me. What if King finds me? I might have my first-ever panic attack… and then invite him to Ireland to drive around Mayo on a rented Harley with me (on my own bike, of course). I know better than to ask him to the pub.
What if the publisher sees it, or the person who did the book jacket, and says I’ve infringed on copyright by reproducing the first page? I want to do more of these, and I even started one for ‘IT’ but the movie’s images kept getting in my way. I’ll have to read it again (oh darn, the hardship) and find a good image to use. So right now my idea is to do a couple more, then go ask the publisher if I’m in trouble and need to stop…
Jan25
This is awesome!
I was just looking to see the search terms people used to find my blog, and an unusual one came up. So, for the hell of it, I Googled it myself, ‘11-22-63 art.’ Here’s the result!
I am over the moon. Second result after the official King website!!!!! Maybe the man himself will come have a look one day? If so, please let me say to him: I’d gladly do a picture of every book you’ve published, with joy and great love.
Dec18
New art… 11/22/63
Art inspired by Stephen King’s latest book, 11/22/63.
Hey there hi there ho there! I’m going to share my first attempt at something I’ve been thinking about for a while.
First, I have to apologise for the quality of the background photo: I used the iPad. The iPad camera, as we know, is terrible. The color is all wrong, and the page is curved at the top from holding the book open to take the picture. This is, without a doubt, an experiment in progress. But the hubby loves it, so I think I can eventually get where I want to go with this…
Now, I’ll tell you just what the hell this is! It is the first page of Stephen King’s latest book, ’11/22/63′, with John F Kennedy’s head (from the US fifty-cent coin) drawn between the text.
I got the idea from how occasionally on a typed page I will see a pattern in the white space between words. My desire and intent is to do a drawing relevant to the book (say, a whale on page one of Moby Dick) but in one continuous line, not broken like this one.
’11/22/63′ is about someone getting the chance to go back in time and stop the Kennedy assassination so I found a good, and easy, picture of Kennedy. I really wanted to use a horribly gory one of his autopsy – it seemed to fit with King so much better! However, the pics I found could be of anyone’s black and white brains and hair on an autopsy table. Anyway, with this picture from the coin as a first attempt the subject is indeed recognisable but still not what I wanted. As always, a learning process!
Ps: I’ve not finished the novel yet, so no spoilers please!
heretherebespiders 