1.
I just went through a weird spate of reading books that didn’t do it for me. Here are a couple of notes from my list of books read:

“Meh.”

“Simultaneously icky and overly cute. Didn’t finish.”

“Bad chick lit that is rife with cliché and not even funny, despite the blurbs. Gave up after 30 pages.”

“It may be a classic, but it’s boring.”

“Stuck with it for 120 pages before throwing in the towel.”

That last one was an adult mystery by an author whose books I have previously enjoyed very much. I don’t know what the heck happened with this one, but I finally put it down, probably never to pick it up again.

Finally I picked up one that my sister had sent me, and was immediately pulled in by the fresh language and characters. Whew! Saved by the book! I highly recommend Love Walked In, by Marisa De Los Santos. More “women’s fiction” than chick lit, I would say. More in the style of Joshilyn Jackson than Jennifer Weiner, for the sake of comparison.

I’m relieved that the next book in my to-be-read pile is E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. As I have said before on this blog, you always know you’re in good hands with E. Lockhart.

2.
I hear it’s National Poetry Month. You know we prose-y (as opposed to prosy) types envy the poets. They can pack a whole story into 600 words. It takes me 60,000.

I haven’t stretched my poem-y muscles for awhile. Maybe I will do that this month. But more likely, I will be receiving my editorial letter soon, and will immerse myself in Blake’s world once more. A couple of years ago, I spent an entire April working on a narrative poem, as a self-imposed assignment to step outside the comfort of prose. It was HARD. I am definitely a novelist.

But I’m not ashamed of my effort, and since I don’t have anything new to offer, here’s the two-years-old poem:

http://lkmadigan.livejournal.com/42590.html

3.
My son asked me to download Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” for him today. Hee. I got “Fantastic Voyage” for him, while we were at it. Blast from the past! He’s oddly fascinated by Michael Jackson’s old hits, too. I blame Weird Al Yankovic: he parodies the songs, my kid loves the parodies (in this case "Amish Paradise,") then he wants to hear the originals. I’ve caught him (my son) trying to do that twisty-knee move from “Beat It.” :-D

4.
I’m going back to my WIP now, so let’s leave it at four. Have a great weekend, my friends.

Edited to add:

I just remembered!

I DO have a 5.

I have fan art!

FAN ART, people.

From my favorite (don't tell the others) Deb, Saundra Mitchell:

http://anywherebeyond.livejournal.com/23964.html

Don't get upset, Heidi! I'm just kidding! I love all my Debs. xo