Despite my better judgement, I'm going to throw this one out there and see where it goes. It was Lunar New Year on Monday and as I'm Asian we celebrated with heaps of food and stuff (normally I would go into detail but it's not really the point of this post. Sigh!) So anyway, I opened up my fortune cookie and guess what it said?:
"THE KEY TO HAPPINESS IS TO ADMIRE WITHOUT DESIRE"
I don't know you about you guys but I happen to believe in karma and all that jazz. So it felt like the universe was trying to tell me something. Two days later, I started reading Angelfall by Susan Ee and the whole thing started to make sense. Clearly, I am suffering from a huge huge dose of writer's envy and the universe saw fit to give me a heads up.
Do you guys ever read a book and go "Sonofabi@ch. I wish I'd written that?!?" It happens to me all the time. Angelfall is just the latest in a long line of books which are so totally out of control awesome, that they kind of make me take a look at my MS and get so psyched out that I consider not writing anymore.You should have seen me after The Hunger Games. That was a long writing dry spell! I don't begrudge any of these authors their success. I'm just having a huge case of the green eyed monster. (I swear, I'm working on this. Seriously)
I've been chatting to Cathy from Abnormally Paranormal Reviews and have come up with only one possibly solution and that is to read other books which are hugely popular, but aren't exactly my thing so I might not get to riled up. Any ideas? So far I've got the following as backup pick me up books:
Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Evermore by Alyson Noel
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Any recommendations?
Wow, Lan! That is some serious karma going on! I believe in it, very much so, and it IS the Universe speaking to you. But, I could do well to listen to your karmic advice, myself. After all, I got so discouraged after reading Harry Potter, lol.
ReplyDeleteHappy Lunar New Year, and Happy Year of the Dragon! I was born in the Fire Dragon year, so I'm ALL dragon-lady. That can't be good, right?
Anyway, YES, definitely read the books you've listed. Read Halo, too, since I had just mentioned I will never read that on my blog. Hush, Hush was another popular one I'll never read. Honestly, Shatter Me needs to be on the list. Very popular, but it's just not all that great in my opinion.
Hmm...see, I tend to do the opposite. I read an amazing book, and it makes me want to write my heart out...not that writing my heart out translates to anything other than lots of writing. LOL But I do find I spend a lot of time analyzing the work of writers who inspire awe - I always come away with new ideas. Rachel Vincent taught me the importance of grounding characters in a physical world, Ilona Andrews reminds me that high stakes and a strong character are a powerful combination, Kevin Hearne inspires me to hold onto humor...I could go on and on. Don't know if my rambling makes sense or not...LOL
ReplyDeleteBahaha . . . your fortune could also describe my love life right now :) Maybe "Nightshade" by Andrea Cremer or "Unearthly" by Cynthia Hand? I haven't read either of those, but they seem like really popular ones that might not be your type.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do have to say that I LOVED Scorpio Races to death. The writing was so freaking amazing. Anyway, good luck on your hunt.
I absolutely have author envy. Sometimes? I'll finish a book, and a few days later I try to write and...I just feel like "why do I even try?" Sometimes at that point I take a few days off of reading. Sometimes I read something WAY outside my favorite genres. Sometimes my confidence booster comes in the form of getting an idea for a new plot or character!
ReplyDeleteMolli | Once Upon a Prologue
I have no idea what kind of book would suit your needs! I think sometimes instead of recommendations you should just take some quite time in the bookstore and let a book pick you. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog recommendation btw! so great!
No joke on The Hunger Games! I felt the same way. Sometimes reading a book I wish I'd written makes me frustrated, sometimes it inspires me. That's not a bad idea to read those books. My suggestion would be to maybe read a little bit of poetry. Not that you have to, but it's been good for me lately.
ReplyDeleteProse, prose, prose. I don't actually read what I write. I read a huge chunk of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and I write fantasy(sword and sorcery or epic(ish)) So when I see a writer with prose to die for I want to steal the skill!
ReplyDeleteAs for books you should read I agree with .alana. Pick up what looks good to you, or maybe spend some time in a section you don't read to give you a taste of something sooo different than what you do. It might give you some perspective.
Beth ^_^
Hmmm, I don't have any recommendations because things I hate everyone else tends to love. But I'm not worried about your MS. I know it'll be great! I know the feeling, though.
ReplyDeleteLol I feel the way pretty much all the time especially when I read the VA series. I wish i could recommend things that are not your norm, but honestly I don't know. I'm in such a reading slump (it could have something to do with my priorities are elsewhere right now. :) ) I did finish reading A touch morbid by Leah Clifford the second book to a touch mortal which I wasn't thrilled with, but others loved. I'm about to finish wither which again alot of people loved but I'm like ok. Then I have Sorpio races which I started the end of December and I'm still on page 100 and something (not holding my attention) then I have Mara Dyer which I cant say much about because i've only read about 50 pages. So yeah.
ReplyDeleteRead Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson. It's MG Fantasy, so not what you write, it's interesting, and hilarious. The best part, is that a ton of the humor is humor that only authors will get! (Or that authors will ESPECIALLY get.) I swear, it is a book written for authors to help remind us to have fun doing this. :)
ReplyDeletethis is off your topic but i had to butt in and tell you that I read the Ilona Andrews series - (Kate Daniels) and I loved it. I raced thru the first three books in two days and Im so frustrated because the others are not available as ebooks on amazon so i have to wait till i get back to NZ so i can hunt them down in a store. And 'Kate Daniels' as a character, reminded me a little bit of you....no Scratch that, I mean, your narrative voice/persona in Iron Willed. Tough-as, kickbutt attitude, fiery, feisty, funny, able to beat people up everywhere. Thanks for the recommendation/book review which led to me discovering a super cool series.
ReplyDeleteAngelfall is the BOMB! I am so glad you're loving it.
ReplyDeleteOh, I heard Carrier of the Mark is God-awful. And the author attacked my friend who left a negative review and called her a "stupid cow". So go with that one, lol.
Is that a good sign or a bad sign that the Universe is talking to you? *L*
ReplyDeleteI'm not a writer so can't help you with writer envy, but know that it's hard when others seem to do something awesome with ease. I have blogger envy every now and again, so I allow myself to be jealous, wish I had thought of that great post idea/design/etc, then move on. Good luck!