My name is Karen. And I’m a bookaholic.

I’ve been this way all my life. I blame my mother who took me to the library as a kid. We would literally stay until it closed. One of the highlights of my life was turning 13 and getting the “big girl” library card, which meant I could check out any book I wanted without restrictions.

I think I’m reading at least 10 books right now. Not counting the six craft books that I checked out from the library last weekend. On average, I read about maybe 40-60 books a year. I’ve been keeping a “book inventory” spreadsheet since 2002 and as of now I have about 350 books listed.

And that’s just the fiction books.

Right now, all of my free time is spent on the Summer Challenge, but I usually try to read a few pages before I go to bed. I choose the book depending on how I’m feeling. Right now, I have 2 fiction books, 1 craft book, 1 history and the rest are non-fiction.

What can I say? I LOVE books!

So anyway, I’m really psyched about all of the good fiction coming out and/or has recently been released. So I have a growing “To Be Read” list.

Here’s what on my list (so far):

The Waters and the Wild by Francesca Lia Block. This story centers around Bee, a 13-year-old who has begun seeing her own doppelgänger. Just that premise itself is intriguing to me and you know that her “twin” will want something from her and it probably won’t be good.


When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This story centers around Miranda who starts to get mysterious notes from someone who knows all about her—even things that haven’t happened yet. Plus, references a Wrinkle in Time? Yep another premise that gets me—who is writing these notes? How do they know all this stuff? Very intriguing. This novel is also set in the 70’s and has gotten many starred reviews.

Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas. I want to read more novels in verse and I saw this in the bookstore and was taken away. The story centers around Anke and her abusive father. What interested me about this book is the journey Anke takes to find her voice.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier. I read an excerpt off the author’s website. The story centers around Micah, who’s a compulsive liar. When a friend dies mysteriously, the questions start. Was she dating him? Did she kill him? It got me interested. Micah describes herself as bi-racial but some people are saying that the cover art doesn’t match. Hopefully this isn’t another bad cover not depicting the character right. I’ll have to read the book first. Micah is a liar, after all.


And of course, for those who know me, they already know that I’m waiting anxiously for the second installments of two trilogies.


Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey






Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins






I’m excited about my TBR List. I’m sure that I’ll add more to the list!

I love reading and hearing other writers talk about writing. I think it’s fascinating. One of my writer friends, Neesha Meminger, is having just this type of series on her blog.

This is what Neesha says about the series:

“I will feature writers who’ve inspired me–writers of color, lgbtq writers, working class writers, women writers and other “other” writers, and their thoughts on writing, creativity, art, activism, politics, feminism, and whatever.”

I think it’s a good thing to hear about writers from various backgrounds and cultures. Writing is the common thread that unites us.

You should go over and check out the Neesha’s Writers on Writing series. You won’t be disappointed.

When I took my afternoon break from the day job, I stumbled across a blog written by novelist Christina Baker Kline. I love reading about how other writers work on their novels.

She also has posted some great writing tips. I love the Writing Tip #1, Use the First Five Senses Right Away.

You should check out her blog, A Writing Year, and the rest of her writing tips.

Your protagonist is given a great honor.

Questions to ask about this scene spark:

*How does the protagonist feel about the honor?

*Are other characters jealous of the honor?

*Does the protagonist deserve the honor?

It isn’t like I didn’t know that writing a novel would be easy. And it doesn’t get better the more novels that you write since each novel is different and has its own challenges.

Right now, I’m in the middle of my novel (again) and it’s really wearing me down. Last night, it took me about an hour just to get started. I stared at the blank computer screen with The Bachelorette on TV (it was on mute but I could still tell that there was some major drama going on).

When I finally got some words down for the Summer Challenge, I felt like it was just in exercise in spinning wheels. I’m already thinking about how to revise my Act 1 chapters and I haven’t even finished writing new draft chapters for Act 2 or Act 3.

Go figure.

One of the craft books I got from the library, Writers Block and How to Use It by Victoria Nelson has been interesting reading. This particular quote stood out:

“Think of tapping your creative gifts as you would establish a relation with another person. If you try to possess or control that person, he or she will elude you; if you form a friendship based on mutual respect, over time, with love and patience, you can forge a secure bond.”

So maybe I should just get a grip and not be so hard on the progress of this novel. It’s obvious that I’m trying to control the outcome. So, I’m going to start to give my novel some respect and let it tell me where it wants to go. It may take me a much better place.