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Visited My Old Library Haunt in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I frequented this library from second grade on in my hometown. I went there this week while visiting my folks for the holidays. I couldn't stay away. I haven't been sleeping well with all the clocks and dad's oxygen machine hissing away like a rabid animal in the next room. Plus, my back's been screaming up a storm in the cold weather. I didn't want to run out of reading material for the flight home and my book supply is running dangerously low!

I now have four books. I've settled on Christopher's Moore's Bite Me for my bedtime reading. Nothing like the angst of a Goth girl and a vampire cat stalking her hometown to help me get to sleep, right? Wish me luck! Maybe, I will get some sleep soon. If not, at least I can rest when I get home on Sunday night and I'll be entertained in the meantime. *chuckles*

What Are You Reading Between the Covers? - #19

Ridiculous! I woke up at 5AM and here I sit wide-awake at my computer. I guess I'll do my blogging for today.

I've been doing a fair amount of reading, but this week got back into a heavier writing schedule, so I only have two books to discuss, but they are really, really good.

I like to browse the new section every time I go to my library. This time I found this cool little collection of  short stories, Creature Cozies, edited by Jill M. Morgan. It's a selection of mystery pet tales written by mystery authors about their own pets. Included on the back cover, which is a nice detail, is a photo of each author with their pets featured in the stories. Now I am a total animal lover, but I don't read many mainstream mysteries. I usually like my mysteries to involve the supernatural or paranormal, but these proved to be just as entertaining. I expected the book to read like The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert, which I do enjoy immensely, but to my surprise, the book offered more than that. It's hard to pick a favorite from this book because they were all so good. I simply can't. They all won my heart.

The second book I read this week featured horror shorts for young adults, Be Afraid!: Tales of Horror selected by Edo van Belkom. Wow! Again, I loved every story in this collection, which rarely happens for me, but I seem to be having good success lately. All of the stories dealt with relevant issues for young adults today in a creative way; the topics included adjusting to puberty, teen gun violence, popularity, and other issues. I was impressed with how the authors addressed everyday issues in the horror genre, something Mr. Belkom discussed in the introduction where he mentions that horror is what happens around us in everyday life. This prompted me to think even more about my own personal experiences I could write about, something I have been doing a lot of lately anyway. It's been a weird week for me. Usually, I find I love half and think the rest are just okay. Sometimes I actually dislike a few or am indifferent, but I never am psyched about all the stories in a collection. That's twice this week!

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

In the Middle of the Night... There Are Ghosts!

If you've been following the news, you know that Texas has been hit by wildfires and severe spring weather. In the past week there have been more tornado watches than I have fingers and toes. It's crazy! I am a storm lover. Give me a good book and a cup of tea in bed and I'm happy with my cats curled up beside me, minus the husband's snoring. However, this week the winds picked up so bad I thought I'd turned into Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz! I lay in bed wondering if the storm sirens were going to go off soon. The lightning flashed so fast I could not count between strikes and the old oaks creaked outside. My writer's imagination went wild with excitement. Every burst of lightning cast odd shadows on the wall from my antique bedroom set and I could see how little children see ghosts in their room at night.

Of course, that got me thinking about my ghost story sitting unfinished, which I am dragging out tomorrow. And then I wondered about book lists. Oddly, I couldn't find a good one on Google, just lots of listings for Peter Straub, a great writer, but not what I was looking for. I hopped on over to Goodreads and found a Ghost Stories book list and much, much more, which I browsed.

I'm going to share with you some of the favorite ghost stories I have read over the years. Of course, this list is in no particular order.

1) The Shining by Stephen King. This book still haunts me and I read it over 20 years ago. I cannot go into a hotel bathroom or my own without thinking of that scene with the dead lady in the bathtub. *shivers*

2) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Anyone who wants to write a ghost story and write well should pick up her work. Great author! This is a classic.

3) Heart-Shaped Box by Joe  Hill. Wow! Writing runs in the family, so you wouldn't expect Mr. Hill to fall flat on his face, but this book I read in one sitting. It was one of those books invoking the great dragon of writer envy! How I loved it!

4) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This story traumatized me as a child, but now it is just a good read. I was horrified thinking of a guy searching for his head!

5) We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Again, a classic and so well written. I read this one nonstop as well.

6) Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker. He is an amazing author and I would read his books if they were printed on toilet paper. They are that good! This one was creepy. I loved the atmosphere of the book. Who doesn't love a good Hollywood ghost story?

7) Bag of Bones by Stephen King. People didn't like the direction his new books were taking at the time this was written. I disagreed with old King fans. This book is beautifully written and a great story. Haunting. It stayed with me. I cried.

8) Wraith by Phaedra Weldon. This book probably falls into paranormal romance in some people's eyes, but I love it. Zoe Martinique is a great female character, an investigator. These books are quick reads, but fun.

9) The Ancestors by Brandon Massey, L.A. Banks, and Tanarive Due. This collection of African American stories breathes new life into the ghost story. And I am a huge Tanarive Due fan. Her writing is wonderful.

10) The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories edited by Peter Haining. I find any of the Mammoth collections introduce me to great writers and lots of new stories. This one was a good one.

11) The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories edited by Peter Haining. Another nice collection.

12) Others by James Herbert. Truly chilling.

13) Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry. This series is one you cannot miss. It is well written and a good tale. I have so much respect for Mr. Maberry.

I'm going to stop here at lucky number 13.

What are some of your favorite ghost stories? Share some with me in a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

How Do You Pick Your Books? Do You Judge a Book by Its Cover?

How do you pick your books? I have seven ways to find a good book that work for me.

1) The cover art.

We've all heard the saying: Never judge a book by its cover. However, does this apply to you as a reader? For me it doesn't. I admit sometimes when I am in a bookstore or at the library, I will pick up a book because the artwork intrigues me. I have found many good books this way that led me in a completely new reading direction and inspired some of my own stories.

2) The title.

A good title will reel me in every time and make me read the book jacket. I don't really hunt for a particular genre most of the time when I'm looking for a new book. I just wander aimlessly down the rows until I find one that catches my eye.

3) Hardcover vs. paperback and the quality of the ink and paper.

As writers generally, we don't always have much say in the cover art or our print type or the paper a story is printed on, but all those things do matter to readers. For instance, I know I am more likely to buy hardcover for my own personal reading collection and gifts, but I like paperbacks for how light they are and easy to travel with. (Of course, with eBooks so popular, this is not an issue for people any more). 

And I know I especially love heavy papers; the way they feel and smell is intoxicating and makes for a more pleasurable read. Thin, less-quality papers rip and smudge ink easily. If the book feels cheap in my hand, it's not going home with me from a bookstore, unless I really love the author/book and this is the only edition available. However, if it's a library copy, I will check it out because it's not going on my shelves.

4) Reviews from other authors on the back of the book.

Not only do I judge a book by the cover art, but I will also judge it by the blurbs from other authors on the back, if I am not familiar with an author's writing. I can gauge how much think I will enjoy reading the book in question, if I recognize a reviewing author's comment. Sometimes, I even take stock of these quotes, if I am not familiar with the author reviewing the book.

5) The first sentence rule.

This is one of my favorites. If I open a book and the first sentence doesn't immediately grab me, I am less likely to buy it or check it out. However, if I am feeling particularly kind that day, I will open the book to the middle to see if it holds my interest, if the first sentence didn't. If it's not any good, then it goes back on the shelf.

6) Recommendations from other people or the author/editor of the book I'm currently reading.

I recently joined Goodreads and am enjoying chatting with other bibliophiles online. I've already come up with a few books to add to my reading list. It's been an enjoyable experience and I highly recommend it.

I also find that close friend and family recommendations are pretty solid. They usually know what I like.

But I love it even more if I find that an author/editor has included a "further reading list" at the back of the book I just finished. In fact, I make a copy of those lists from books I have liked and returned to the library. I keep those lists around forever. More than once, they helped me out of a funk when I couldn't find anything I wanted to read.

7) Discovering new authors through anthologies.

This is a craze I've been on for the past three years. It's a great way to take a new author for a test run. If I find one I liked, I go online for a works published list. Many a good author has found a home on my bookshelves this way or been recommended to a friend.

So how do you decide which books to read? Do you use my techniques or have others I might like to try? I'd love to hear from you.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

What's in Your Library?

I cycle through some books from my personal library, sharing them with friends and family and donating to my local library for their fundraisers, but some books are treasured and will never leave my shelves. These books would leave the house first in a house fire before my own person, in fact, I would forgo putting on shoes or grabbing my wallet to take my books with me, I love them that much!

Over the years, I've collected a bunch of books that remain in my permanent collection. My shelves are organized according to my weird writer's logic. I have a horror/sci-fi/fantasy section, broken up into author groupings and then a special section for short story collections.

There's the Native American section, the arts, gardening and cooking sections, and my world religion section, which includes everything from The Tao of Pooh to a copy of The Holy Qu'ran.

I also have a poetry and English major section, which runs the gamut from The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor to James Joyce's Ulysses and Frank O'Hara's poetry. (Toni Morrison holds a special place in that section).

And then there's my research section, which consists of books like Weird Wisconsin and Fabulous Creatures and Other Magical Beings, a bestiary of mythological creatures, Joseph Campbell's books, The Golden Bough, and lots more.

My husband has started the tradition of buying me collectors books for my library for my birthday and other special days. The very first book he bought me was a signed first edition hardcover of Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show. For the holidays this year I got a first edition signed Tick Tock by Dean Koontz. For my last wedding anniversary I got a signed copy of Postscripts # 10 with great signatures like Stephen King,  Ramsey Campbell, Graham Joyce, Lucius Shepard, and more! And a few years ago, my kind husband relinquished his already purchased and signed hardcover copy of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine to my brother-in-law for our annual gift exhange. (However, I still give my lovely husband credit for that one!) There are others in my collection, but those are my favorites.

I hope to acquire more throughout the years. Next to my family, my cats, and my pizza, I love my books the

best. I missed out on an early copy of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe last year. As Kim Harrison's character Madison Avery would say, "Son of a puppy!"

That concludes my Show and Tell today, folks.

Offtopic side note: My husband brought this balloon home to celebrate my Godzilla/Hello Kitty love story I previously blogged about. Notice the drawn on mouth which correlates to my story, now up on the Critters forum in first draft for critique, if anyone is interested. I've been getting some good feedback and am currently working on flushing out Hello Kitty's character. Thanks to everyone who has critiqued this week!

Also, Kim Harrison has a sneak preview of her new Hollows novel, Pale Demon up on her site, for anyone who follows that series.

As always, happy writing and happy reading!

David Wellington Came for Christmas - 2007

I racked my brain for a few good titles for this post.  I came up with the following:

1) The Best Damn Christmas Gift Ever (but this one didn't have Dave's name mentioned)

2) My David Wellington Christmas Gift (which just sounded lame and did NOT really tell the full story)

3) the one that I actually used -- Dave Wellington Came for Christmas 2007

I waited to blog about this until I got Dave's permission, which he kindly gave. For those of you who are not familiar with Dave Wellington's books he is the author of the popular Monster Island zombie trilogy, the Laura Caxton vampire series, and now, his new werewolf series, Frostbite. You can visit him at his site here:

http://www.davidwellington.net/

I haven't read Frostbite, yet, but when I do, I'll let you know what I think.

You're probably wondering how I managed to get Dave Wellington to my house for Christmas. He was there in spirit, not in person. Here's the story.

I have a wonderfully, sneaky, conniving husband, with only the best intentions who decided in 2007 to log onto my computer to get my unpublished, unedited stories so they could be sent to an author for review. He wrote to several authors asking them for permission to send my work. Kim Harrison kindly responded in a very nice handwritten card that he needed to run my stories through her agent. Other authors declined as well. However, Dave has a kind heart and took pity on my husband.

Dave read through six of my unpublished/unfinished stories, which I learned on Christmas Eve when I opened one of the best gifts. My husband had taken my stories and put together a book to show me what my name would look like in print and motivate me to get back into the publishing industry, which I had been out of since the late 90s.

Here's the book he designed. I found out he spent waaaay too much time researching how to put together a book from scratch, which if you know my husband, is a sign of true love because he doesn't even read the same books as I do, let alone know anything about the publishing industry.

I was puzzled when I opened my present from him and saw my name on the cover of a book with a shark. I flipped through it, wondering when he had stolen my unfinished work and I was going to get a little upset, until I saw this on the back cover:

*blink, blink* I couldn't believe what I was reading! "Was this for real?" I asked my husband.  He told me it was. Dave Wellington gave him this quote with permission to use it however he wanted.

Now imagine you're me -- haven't tried to publish seriously since the late 90s, have a lot of work in progress, but nothing finished, with no goals to publish any time soon, in a writing funk. You see this and flip!  Hell yeah, baby! An author whose books I can actually find in my LIBRARY likes my work. Of course, then utter humiliation ensued as I thought of all the typos that could be rearing their ugly heads in my unfinished work that he looked at, but apparently, Dave was kind enough to look past that and focus on the storytelling.

My book was never really for sale anywhere and now sits on my bookshelf at home, but when I have a really bad writing day and want to give up, I just look at that quote and smile.

Thanks, Dave Wellington! You went out of your way for my husband and I know you heard all this already from us, but this was really a nice, wonderful gift you helped out with.

And thank you to my loving husband, who motivated me to get back to the keyboard!

Since Dave Wellington looked at my work, I've actually published some of the unfinished stories he read and had a few news one published as well.  If any of you want to check out my work, go here:

http://norabpeevy.com/

And that's my Dave Wellington story ...

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Off topic Note: My Godzilla/Hello Kitty story I blogged about is up on the Critters writing forum for critique this week, if anyone wants to check a work in progress. It's entitled: It's About Damn Time!



What Are You Reading Between the Covers?

There's a large stack of books piling up on my nightstand at the moment because I've been a little preoccupied with my newest pet, a 3-toed box turtle.  I named him Bradbury after Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors.

It's hard for me to resist his tiny wrinkled old man face and I've been spending more time watching him than reading lately.

A lot of friends and relatives are always asking me for book suggestions.  I read about 60+ books a year and am happy to share my good findings with you.  I read a variety of genres, but mostly historical fiction, fantasy, horror, and science fiction, though sometimes I delve into cyberpunk here and there and other genres.  (Actually, as a writer I find it hard to use blanket terms like "fantasy" and "horror", etc. because there are so many sub-categories out there and I enjoy them all!  But I'll save that for another blog, perhaps).  I also read mainstream fiction, though not as much as the genres I like to write in.

I like short stories at bedtime because I can finish a tale in one sitting and go to bed completely satisfied.  If I'm reading a good novel, I tend to lose track of time and more sleep than I should!  Last night I finished reading Death's Excellent Vacation, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner.  It's a wonderful, humorous short story collection about what happens to paranormals on their vacations.  This collection was amusing and a fast read like the other collections they've edited together, which I also highly recommend.  It was so good, it actually inspired me to write my own gargoyle story, which I am currently working on.  If you like succubus, vampires, demons, and more, then this collection is for you. 

Here's the link to this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Excellent-Vacation-Charlaine-Harris/dp/0441018688

Currently, I am reading a historical novel by Isabel Allende, Island Beneath the Sea.  It's set in Saint-Domingue in the late 1700s and tells the tale of a young slave girl's journey into womanhood and her search for her own identity.  I'm about 1/5 through the book.  In fact, I stayed up later than I had planned reading because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Here's the link to this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Island-Beneath-Sea-Isabel-Allende/dp/0061988243/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294537644&sr=1-1

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a book to get back to.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Support Your Local Library! I Do!

This sign never ceases to cheer me up!  As soon as I could sign my name in cursive, I was begging my mom to take me to get my own library card.  Weekly trips to the library were a fond tradition in my mother's house and I have continued that tradition in my mine.  In fact, sometimes I go twice in one week, if I am bored at home.

Yes, electronic media is here to stay and eBooks are wonderful trip companions that take up less room than a conventional book, but your local library offers more than just books.  They offer a safe place for kids to hang out after school, free internet, an air conditioned space for low-income seniors and others in the summertime, educational classes like literacy programs, etc., enrichment programs for preschoolers and younger children, and a sense of community through numerous community events.

So, support your local library!

I wanted to share some pics of one my favorite library in Dallas.  Timberglen Library has been named a "Green Building" by the city of Dallas, which means that it's a really cool, environmentally friendly building. 

There is this nifty rainwater collection reservoir onsite used to irrigate the library landscaping.  Every year about 1.6 million gallons of rain falls on the library building and surrounding property.  This gray water system allows the library to recycle rainwater in two 50,000 gallon collection containers.  How cool is that?!

I also am a sucker for wind mobiles, of which Timberglen has two giant ones that carry a great message for kids and adults alike. 

    

If you'll excuse me now, I have to check and see if I have any library books to renew online.

As always, happy writing and happy reading!