As part of my quest to further explore the fantasy and horror genres, I just read Libba’s Bray’s duet A Great and  Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels. Set in the late 1800s, they are the story of Gemma Doyle, a British girl raised in India, whose world is turned upside down when she begins experiencing disturbing visions at the exact moment of her mother’s murder. Sent by her father to a British boarding school, Gemma must contend with bratty classmates and a dreary roommate. However, she soon discovers a mysterious diary that tells the story of Mary Dowd and Sarah Rees-Toome, two former students who experienced visions like Gemma’s. Determined to find the two women and understand what is happening to her, Gemma begins to explore her power. She, along with three other students, seeks out the magic of the Realms, a mysterious world that was once controlled by a group of sorceresses called The Order. Heady with their newfound powers, the girls use their magic recklessly, but the consequences soon catch up with them. Gemma is being stalked by a mysterious group called The Rakshana, and eventually discovers her mother’s own terrible connection to The Order. But things turn even worse when Pippa, one of her friends, becomes trapped in the Realms, perhaps forever.

Rebel Angels picks up the story here; it is Chrismastime, and Gemma and her friends Felicity and Ann are spending the holidays in London. But their vacation will not be carefree; in addition to a whirlwind of balls and social engagements, the girls must restore order to the Realms, which have grown wild in the absence of the Order. Gemma must also contend with the attentions of the attractive Simon Middleton, her father’s depression and drug use, and the fate of her friend Pippa, who is still trapped in the Realms. She is also desperately trying to decipher the ravings of a madwoman who knows the secrets of the Realms, all the while dodging the ever-closing net of the evil witch Circe, who longs to take the magic for herself.

An intriguing pair. I’m curious to see whether Bray will make them a trilogy.

So, how many of you have ever toyed with the idea of writing a novel? My guess is a lot. I know I have. I’ve dreamed of writing a novel for years; and while I’m pretty sure I have the technical skill, I never seem to have any good, complete plot ideas. My husband has the opposite problem. His idea is so complete, so in-depth, I think it’s intimidating to try to write. It’s grown beyond his control.

Enter nanowrimo, which actually stands for National Novel Writing Month. Held every November, this is what it’s about:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

This is especially cool for me, since my birthday is in November. Perhaps I’ll write a book as a present to myself.

I just finished Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, a book that I had been waiting to read for several weeks. This one was worth the wait; I devoured all 498 pages in a matter of hours. In this haunting, almost heartbreaking love story, we meet Bella, a high school junior in a self-imposed exile in Washington. Bella longs to return to her mother in sunny Phoenix, and hates living with her father in the small, rainy town of Forks, where she is the lone new kid in school. But as she begins to settle in, she meets Edward, an unusual boy from a respected but strange family. Although forced to be lab partners, Edward is intent on keeping his distance from Bella, and makes it clear to her at every opportunity that they should not be friends. Nevertheless, Bella finds herself helplessly fascinated by his cold beauty and mesmerizing eyes, and despite his warnings, the two gradually become close. As they come to know each other, Bella begins to understand that there is something special about Edward…and that he isn’t quite human. As Edward repeatedly saves Bella’s life, they are pulled deeply into love, but face complicated circumstances: Edward must constantly fight his predatory nature, which compels him to kill her, and Bella discovers that she would rather die than be without him. They manage to delicately make their way together, but just as she grows closer to his incredible family, an unexpected danger throws them all into chaos.

This book was mesmerizing, and I am eagerly awaiting its sequel, New Moon, due out in August!

It was a rainy Sunday morning, and we wanted out of the house, so we did what any couple would do. We went to Big Lots. We have always had an affinity for this low-rent store; you never know what you’ll find. Sometimes it’s garden tools, sometimes it’s a free hot dog. But today, I found the most amazing thing yet.

While tracking down my honey (I knew he’d be in the chip aisle) I wandered through Big Lots’ “spice” section. They had normal things, like salt, weirder things, like French Fry Seasoning, and the weirdest of all…May I present “Flavor Enhancer.” What does it enhance, you ask? Everything! Fish! Chips! Macaroni! Cookies! What does it taste like? Well…apparently, MSG. Yes, the lone ingredient in the Flavor Enhancer is monosodium glutamate. I bet the 1974 Weight Watchers Folks are drooling over this stuff. Yuck.

While I was reading the July issue of Shape magazine, I ran across a little blip about geocaching (pg. 42), which is somewhat like an athletic treasure hunt. The article describes geacaching as follows:

“Participants use GPS devices and often traverse rocks, mountains, and creeks to locate caches–usually a stash of trinkets and clues to the next location–that have been hidden by other geocachers.”

Shape also directed me to geocaching.com which explains the sport in greater detail, and allows you to seach by zipcode for caches in your area.

Sounds like fun.