Alex in Wunderstrande: The Clairvoyance Clock

Hiya!!!

Below is the review I posted for a friend of mine's debut novel.  This book can be purchased on Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Wunderstrande-Clairvoyance-Clock-Book/dp/1463690304/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323060833&sr=1-1


The Clairvoyance Clock by K.M. Parr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A very clever debut novel from KM Parr.  The characters are relatable and well crafted and the story is quite a page turner.  From gadgets to funny metal creatures and brand new landscapes, KM Parr has created a world of fascination and adventure.  It's a thoroughly enjoyable read that holds many surprises and leaves you wanting to read more!

Another for November . . . barely

Yes, another post! I realize it is not yet December, but I'm breaking the pattern, if only just for today.

Today is the end of NaNoWriMo.  My final word count (for the end of the month) was 20,436.  While I didn't make it to the 50,000 word goal (a fact I blame on work and Black Friday in particular), I am VERY proud of the progress I made.  I do plan to keep working on my now "current" novel (I hope that answers that question).  I'm just going to take my time now, not that I was necessarily rushing before.  But, I'm just going to enjoy the process that is novel writing.  I enjoyed it the first time round (when I did it properly) and it only took me about a year to write that novel while going to school full time and being stage manager for a few months and that kind of thing.

Hopefully by the end of next year I will have two completely written novels.  This is not to say that they will make all the sense in the world that they need to, but that's another process altogether! 

Grad School is . . . Well, to be frank, it probably isn't going to happen for this coming Fall.  I don't know how I feel about this although it's my fault that I didn't get all the application stuff together.  Better chances for the year after or even maybe for the Spring.  That way I can get a realllly good writing sample together for the Creative Writing Programs and I can get all my other outside source stuff together (i.e. reference letters and other application stuff).  Luckily the GRE scores are good for something like five years.

Oh! Speaking of, I did fairly well on the GRE which means: NO RETAKING IT FOR ME!!!! A very exciting prospect let me tell you.  As we all predicted, my lowest score was in the Math part.  Surprised? I didn't think so.  I did well in the Verbal part and the best score came from my Analytical Writing Section.  Writing was my highest score? Surprised? I didn't think so. 

I think I'm ready for Christmas.  For certain, I'm very ready for it to be February so that work calms down and maybe goes as far back to normal as possible nowadays.  Holiday-wise, I'm ready for Christmas to be here! It's one of the only things at this point in time that is helping me keep track of what month/day it is.  It's all blurring a bit.  Retail-wise I want Christmas to just kind of . . . miss us.  Too bad that isn't possible.  Black Friday (a day I proudly survived) is over and was pretty horrible like normal.  I worked a 14 hour day, which considering how long I was standing up wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be (even though I had numb feet for a day or two after and my sleeping schedule is just now getting back to normal).  I'm not looking forward to the day after Christmas.  Returns are depressing.  And there will be a LOT of them.  My word of advice is, even though you might get something and it doesn't fit or you don't like it, keep it for a while and then return it and everyone will be all the happier for it, really.  Besides, if you keep it long enough maybe you'll grow to like it!  That's my professional opinion as a retail associate.  However much it's worth.

Going back to the subject of Black Friday, I am very happy to say that while some of my friends might have gone crazy person shopping, I did not see any of them.  This is good because I might have glared at you or thrown something and told you in a loud voice lacking kindness to go home and go to sleep, taking it as a personal insult that you were one of the people keeping me at work at three in the morning.  And, if I have to work on Thanksgiving Day next year (if I'm still working retail) there will be some choice words said to many many people.  It will not be pretty.  Just saying.

Soooo, on to happier thoughts . . .

Writing-ness

She walked into the kitchen and dropped all her things heavily onto the table.  She walked back into the living room and hit the answering machine button numbly.  It beeped and then began playing back her messages.  There were four.

“First message, Wednesday, January 17 at 8:38 AM:  Honey, it’s your mother.  I’ll try you at work.  Are you sure you’ve made up your mind?  The offer still stands,” there was a pause, then, “Well, think about it.  I’ll chat later.”

Fey moved back into the kitchen and put her blue kettle onto the stove top.  The answering machine continued rattling off its messages.

“Missed Call, Wednesday, January 17, 10:06 AM: Hiya, babe! Sorry I missed your call last night.  Me and Steve took an early night in.  I was out like a damn light.  Call me back after work.  Love you!”

Fey smiled at her best friend’s message.  They had known each other since high school and through college.  Mav knew everything about Fey’s life, and Fey was glad that someone else besides her mother knew about it all.

“Missed call, Wednesday,  January 17, 1:27 PM: It’s just me again.  I hope nothing bad happened at work today.  Call me when you get home.  I want to know what you think about my next assignment.  Love you.  This is your mother, by the way.”

Fey rolled her eyes.  She loved her mother, she really did.  But it was times like this that Fey was very happy to have her own apartment.  It allowed her to distance herself from the world her mother lived in.  She turned her attention back to the machine as it bleeped out the last message.

“Missed call, Wednesday, January 17, 4:30 PM: Hello, Ms Cabran.  This is Peter Yoreck.  You might know who I am.  I’ve received word that you were put out of a job this afternoon.  This is now becoming a pattern and I believe you have an understanding as to why that is.  What I have been trying to understand is why you believe you need to let it all continue like this.  If you have any inquiries, you have the number.  Someone will always be there to answer.  Have a pleasant evening, Ms Cabran.”

Fey sat down at the kitchen table with her cup of coffee and stared into space, thinking.  She didn’t even look up when her door opened and her best friend, Mav walked in carrying a large blue vase and an overflowing bundle of flowers.

“A little help here, Fey,” said Mav amused by her friend’s lack of reaction.

“Oh God!  Sorry Mav,” she said brushing all her things onto the floor to make room for Mav’s flower arranging.

“Sorry to bring work with me,” laughed Mav, “but this one’s gonna be a chore and the buyer’s in tomorrow for it.  Stuck up bastard.”

Fey smiled distractedly.

“You going to tell me or not?”

“I lost my job.”

“Again?  That’s how many now?”

“Eight.  She won’t stop calling me, Mav.  Even if I ignore her on my phone, she calls me at work.”

“Don’t give her your work number,” Mav suggesting plucking up a large calla lily and placing it strategically in the vase.  Fey picked up some baby’s breath and started helping put the arrangement together.  They were quiet as they worked for a while, concentrating on the placement of the beautiful pink roses, calla lilies, and colorful pale orange accent flowers. 

“Have you thought of taking them up on the offer?” Mav said after a while.

 Pettifogger

WRITING!!! WEEEEEEEE!!!

So, after the first week of NaNoWriMo, I'm very behind on my word count.  BUT, I'm planning a writing day tomorrow (Sunday).  So, hopefully I will be able to catch up (and possibly get ahead) on my word count which currently stands at 3,830.  To be honest, it isn't a bad start especially given the fact that I am working full time.  I've found if I go sit at the little coffee shop right outside where I work I can spin out about 600-ish words during my lunch break (which is only 45 minutes).  I also eat on my break, just keep that in mind.

And, to be nice (and to get you interested) here is an excerpt from my story that I am writing this month:

It was a crisp night in the middle of winter.  The crescent moon cast running shadows across the snow in a snow covered field that sat by a lazy river.  A lone owl hooted in the silence of the black sky.  It turned its feathered head slowly towards a noise across the field.  Watching intently, it waited to see if the noise was coming from a mouse or small rabbit.  It started as a woman stumbled hastily from the tree line.

            She was injured, holding her side in pain.  The woman had been running for a very long time.  Her clothes were spattered with mud and her cloak had many tears in it from low branches over many miles.  The owl continued to watch her as she fled across the field leaving deep tracks in her wake.

            The woman paused at the edge of the river.  She looked around frantically for any other option, but she saw none.  She took a step back and then leapt into the frigid water.  She only panicked for a minute as her body tried to adjust to the shock.  She was able to halfway swim across the river in a fairly straight line with the current moving so slowly.  On the other side she didn’t even look back before dashing into the trees opposite the field that led up toward the mountains.  The owl flapped its great wings and flew off into the night.

            The woman’s name startled her.  She had heard it whispered in the night.  She stopped to listen.

            “Marra?”

Oh, It's October, isn't it.

I've been working and typing.  And I had a bonfire party at my house. Which was quite successful and very fun.

That is the very short update.  But, for a bit of a breakdown, I'm fulltime, so I work lots.  I'm not hating my job as much as I did over the summer.  I've been training new associates which is brilliant because it takes off a lot of the pressure from those of us who work a lot.  Adding new people help lighten our workload, which is a very good thing.

The bonfire party at my house consisted of me inviting my friends from Western to come visit me and hang out with food and bonfire! It was so much fun and I was really glad to see everyone who came.

So, this year, since I'm not focusing on classes or anything for once, I am actually going to attempt to participate and complete NaNoWriMo.  November is National Novel Writing Month where I am going to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  In other words, November is Kat-is-going-to-be-tired-for-a-whole-month Month. Should be fun and I actually can't wait for it to be November.  I've got an idea of what I'm going to do and I think it should work out really well.  I do miss writing like I had been for the summer.  So a month of concentrated writing is going to be fun! And then, maybe after that I'll just write normally again. :)



Writing-ness

     Fey sighed again and followed her boss into the office.  It wasn’t a large office, but it had enough room to have enough space for a large desk and an even larger fish tank.  Fey had only been in the office the day she was hired and then she had tried like hell to steer clear of it.  But now, she sat with her legs crossed waiting for the speech she knew was coming.

     “Look, Fey,” Said her boss awkwardly, “You’re a great person, you’re very talented.  But, you don’t bring in enough sales.  I’m sure you have your reasons, and I’m not wanting to get personal, but I have to know if I can rely on you or not.  The people out in that room need your support as much as you need theirs and if you spend all of your time in the bathroom how are you supporting them?  I don’t know if its health reasons or if it’s just nerves that send you to the toilet all the time but its borderline ridiculous.  I took you on because of your resume and your references, but work ethic and results count for a lot in this job.  I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to let you go.  Please don’t cry.” She added as an afterthought. 

     “I understand,” said Fey reluctantly.  She gathered her coat and pulled her maroon beanie down over her hair before descending the stairs out into the January snow.  She walked down the street kicking the little drifts of powdery snow that had built up on the sidewalk.  It wasn’t a long walk, just a few blocks, but the cold bit through her gloves and she had trouble with the keys to her apartment. 

     “I always forget how much I hate winter,” she muttered as she dropped her keys in the snow at the base of her apartment complex’s door. 

     “Here, let me get that for you,” said a kind voice behind her. 

She turned to find her handsome neighbor bundled up behind her.

     “Thanks,” she smiled, inwardly cursing her numb hands.

He handed her keys back to her as they pushed through the door and they headed down the hall to their doors.

     “See you around,” he grinned as he pushed through his door into his apartment.

     “Yeah, see you,” she muttered as she walked into hers.

     “Damn,” she said seeing the blinking light on her answering machine.  

Conterminous