ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The final day! "Z"

And to wrap up the blog challenge - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Or, books that bore me. Put me to sleep. Z me into a coma.

Now I know some of these choices will annoy some (probably English teachers). Here they are:

- Anything by D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner.
- Most Japanese novels (except the Vampire D series)
- most of the Pulitzer and Nobel winners
- any literary criticism
- political satire
- any economics books

Of course, I've been bored by vampire, sci fi, dystopian, fantasy, romance, etc. It depends on the writer, of course.

Hopefully I haven't bored you over the month.

Char

YA Don't Say...

YA, YA, YA.

Or, young adult, young adult, young adult.

It's one of the hottest trends. Think Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, 13 Reasons Why. The 100, Starcrossed, Vampire Diaries, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Whether it's book, TV, or movie, everyone is reading or watching or talking about young adult stories. This is good for me, as a writer of YA, but some people think "I can't read/watch YA, I'm too old, I'm an adult with a job/kids/responsibilities...." yada yada. Since when is anyone too old to read a good story? By that logic, I'm too young to read anything with people older than me.

Ridiculous.

A good story can transport you back, make you feel younger again.

But don't go too far.

Those moms with Edward Cullen tattooed on their backs is just a little creepy...

So enjoy a good YA story.

Let me tell you about Blonde OPS...

Char

One of These Is Not Like The Other...

You know how that phrase works on the children's TV program, or on their schoolwork, where they're asked to pick out what doesn't fit?

What if I don't think another culture, another ethnicity, another custom doesn't 'fit?'

Then that would make me a xenophobe, noun, a person who fears or hates foreigners, strange customs, etc.[Definition quoted from Dictionary.com]

It's an ugly word.

Char

Word!

Words. I love the sound of them, the look of them, the sense of them, the power of them, the allure of them...

I love words.

Abominable.
Blunder.
Conformation.
Denouement.
Embellishment.
Frivolity.
Grumble.
Hullabaloo.
Ignominy.
Juxtapose.
Knave.
Loiter.
Mishmash.
Nimble.
Obtuse.
Paroxysm.
Quaff.
Rampage.
Scion.
Tenacity.
Undercurrent.
Vagabond.
Waft.
Xenophobe.
Yokel.
Zealotry.

Awesome!

Char

If We Know This To Be True...

V is for verify.

I hate when I read a book and something jumps out that is blatantly false. I'm not talking about fantasy worlds (but even the laws of physics has to apply), but I read and something I know is not true. Kind of like saying the main highway through my town is Route 66. Wrong. In central New Jersey, there are several main routes depending on where you live: routes 287, 22, 78, 80. Even in fiction, you have to verify certain aspects in order for the story to be believed.

One of the criticisms about Blonde OPS was that one person found parts unbelievable. Natalie and I researched--and all of the hacks are possible. Like TV shows and responsible writers, we're not going to give you the exact information to hack into someone's life and steal their identity or disable their car. (If you want to do that, do your own research, we're not aiding and abetting you.)

It's the same with the security around the First Lady. In Blonde OPS, there's a threat against her. I did extensive research on what types of guns the Secret Service carries, special precautions they take, even about the cars they drive. Not all of it shows up, but I've done enough so that the scenario is possible, but most likely not probable. (Because vampires, werewolves, and magic are sooooo real...) As a matter of fact, I've gotten little messages saying my browser was closed for security reasons (courtesy of the FBI. Not only was I researching the Secret Service, protection of the First Lady, firearms, and how to pick digital locks, I was also doing some research for a middle grade book on bomb detection dogs. See how this looks?).

We know (and I think history will side with me on this even though I don't have concrete evidence) that Abraham Lincoln was not a vampire hunter. But--his mother died, he was president, there was a Civil War, etc. So, even if you make it a fictional town, scenario, or alternate history, some basic things have to be true.

Or I'm just not believing it.

Char

Ugly Is As Ugly Does...

Do you love 'ugly' characters? Maybe they are/aren't physically ugly, but are unattractive in their personalities?

Sometimes I love those.

I thought Severus Snape (Harry Potter series by J K Rowling) was an ugly (mean) character- but deliciously so because Dumbledore was so nice and thoughtful and helpful.... yada. It's nice to have a contrast because humanity is a sea of contrasts. (And in the end he proved himself a beautiful person.)

Ever watch the TV show Hannibal? He's a refined, well groomed, attractive doctor who hides a horrific penchant for murder and cannibalism. Outside = pretty, inside = nightmares. I do not find him attractive in any way because he really scares me.

I think it's the hidden 'ugly' that is the most terrifying...

Char

Time... Waits For No One

Does anyone really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?

That's an old Chicago song (I can't for the life of me find who wrote it, but I give you, whoever you are, the credit).

Time--can't touch it, see it, taste it, hear it.

But you can waste it, spend it, enjoy it, find it, use it, run out of it, have plenty of it. Time defines our lives.

When people ask me how I 'find' the time to write, be a mom and wife, take care of the home, volunteer at my church, work in my garden, and accomplish a number of other things, I tell them, "I don't waste time." If I'm sitting at fencing practice with the youngest, I bring my laptop and edit. If I'm going to be waiting at the doctor's office, I bring a book. Working in the garden, I formulate new stories or work out kinks in current ones. Swimming laps, I mentally go over my to-do list.

It's almost as if I 'feel' every second. I think of how much I could, or should, do. But I have my moments of just sitting by the pool, and with cool drink in hand, enjoying a summer read. Sometimes, you need to slow things down and just be in that moment.

And that's all the time I have-

Char

That's Hot! No, I Mean Cool. Or Is It Bad?

In generic terms, they all mean good. They're slang, of course, but they've come to be accepted in general English use.

The problem with slang is that it's ever evolving. (I'm still not sure what 'phat' means...). The other day someone on Twitter asked, "Is 'badassery' a word?" I replied she should check out the Oxford English Dictionary, the bible of the English language.

Yep, badassery is a word.

She was thrilled because now she is justified in using the word (wonder if it'll make the copyeditor's cuts...) and it's obviously recognized enough that people should know the meaning. This is one of the few which I think is self explanatory. 'Phat' is not.

Slang- love it or hate it, it's unavoidable.

'Fo' shizzle.'

Char

Critic's Choice...

Reviews. No one gets glowing ones all the time. Some get none. It's the bane of artists that someone else, who may appreciate creativity, may not be creators themselves, or simply just don't 'get it' yet they get to judge us.

But, we all pass on reviews of everything around us.

(I'm known to be a bit critical.)

Don't like a lot of the Nobel/Pulitzer prize winning books--too stuffy.

Don't like VW cars--undependable and too cramped.

Don't like rum raisin ice cream--just yuck.

Don't like pretentious people--you're not that great.

Don't like the NY Giants (ex-Long Island girl, went to 2 NY colleges)--get your own stadium or change to NJ Giants.

It's in our nature.

But it shouldn't be in our nature to let critics or reviews discourage us from our art. So, VOYA hated Sirenz, didn't even look at Sirenz Back In Fashion. I have author friends who got lousy reviews, but their books sold well. Maybe critics will love Blonde OPS, maybe not.(So far, so good.)

No matter what, someone else's opinion is out of my control, but creating my art isn't--and they can't say anything to stop me.

Char

How Many....

Words in a young adult novel?

Depends. Anywhere from 50,000 to over 100,000.

How many pages in a middle grade book?

Depends. Anywhere from 60 to 200.

The right 'quantity' of words, pages, or chapters for a book vary. Some people write shorter novels, some longer. Some have their agents/editors cut/expand them.

I've been on both sides: too long, too short. I'm just as confused about how long my story should be so I simply write it. I don't worry that it's too short, because someone will say "I need more backstory about how these characters met..." or whatever. Or that someone in power will say "It's too long, cut out chapters 6-8..." or whatever.

In publishing, it's always hard to quantify the right quantity.

Char

The Plot Thickens...

It's said that there are only 10 original plot lines (don't ask me what they are). So I'm kind of confused when reviewers or readers or agents say a plot 'isn't original.' If it were, we'd only have 10 stories, right? You can't count the number of vampire books. Or ghost books. Or angels, mythology, murder, love, adventure, etc. books. No two will be alike (if they are, that's plagiarism and a whole other story although it fits with our theme of "p").

The thing that differentiates those 10 plots is in the details; is your heroine from Cincinnati and has a super power to make machines run on energy she channels? Do you use Samarian mythology? Or create your own species?

So, pick a plot--any plot--and run with it.

Char

In My (Glorious, Fabulous, Unasked for, Annoying) Opinion...

Who asked for my opinion? Well sometimes people ask.And I am more than happy to give my opinion--unless the book stinks. I can share it with my close writer friends, but am leery about telling others who might not feel the same and could be offended that I didn't LOVE whatever book they're raving about. (It happens...)

Once I made a comment about Bella in Twilight. She's not a strong female lead (until the very end, when she's fighting to save her child). It bothers me that she has no thought of what college to go to, or what she wants to study, or what she wants from life other than her boyfriend, and then she goes comatose when he breaks up with her. And she reads the same book, over and over! The person to whom I made this comment to said, "Well, you're no Stephenie Meyer!"

Nope, and I don't want to be, I have my own stories, thank you very much. Would I like Stephenie Meyers's success? You betcha. In a nano-second. Now, please. It may not happen, but I'm no less a writer because I don't have mega success, and neither are the other million writers out there in my shoes.

But success does NOT guarantee that everyone will love your book. (We've had some pretty harsh critics for Sirenz, ouch!) and it's part of the business. Even nicely put, rejection hurts but when the same critics turn around and like your next book (shameless plug- Blonde OPS), then their opinion counts, right?

When there's a book I didn't like and someone asks me about it, I say, "I read that book! I love the part about..." and bluff my way through. There's always at least one nice thing you can say.

But that's just my opinion.

Char

Name Calling

Some names just stick with us: Katniss, Lestat, Tris, Cleopatra, Han Solo.

I like my characters to have an uncommon name. My current main character in my solo work, Lethal Dose, is Dalen Steele. For Blonde OPS, our editors chose the name Bec Jackson. Other names I've used: Kara, Sun Yi, Kendra, Myca. I'll never use names like Heather, Mary, Elizabeth, John, Dave, Michael. Sure, in terms of the general population these names show up a lot. I hate alliterative names (you find a lot of that in comic books- Peter Parker [Spiderman] for example). Names have to speak to me.

How do I get names for my characters? I used to use a baby naming book, because not only did it have a wide variety of names from many cultures, but it would have the same name in various languages and the meaning. But it would take sooo much time trying to choose the name that seemed to fit.

So I cheat.

I watch the credits at the end of movies (the best: The Lord Of The Rings series because what, half a million people worked on the movies and they credited everyone...?) The right names just seem to jump out at me.

Some authors count syllables (I just listen to how the name rolls off my tongue, does it sound 'balanced?'). Others go by etymology (root of the name), and some have long complicated processes. Yet others use names of family and friends (a bit dangerous in my mind...). And there are some who even go to great lengths to make up names, especially in sci fi or fantasy novels.

What do you think are the best names of characters?

Char

Sorry to Interrupt....

But today I'm featuring another author...yes, my co-author Natalie Zaman as a bunch of us blog hop around the internet.

Natalie and I have been writing together and separately for...years! Our third book, Blonde OPS is coming out (we're sneaking it out earlier than the 'official' date of May 6th to appear at YA Fest at the Palmer Library in Easton, PA.).

We live in the same town, our kids went to the same schools, and we know a lot of the same people--we share a love of cats, too!

She's working on some individual projects and I know she'll share them with you when she can, so stay tuned!

Nat usually likes to keep things short and sweet. She writes and works her magic from central New Jersey where she lives with her family, two cats, a pair of rescue rabbits, and usually, several fine looking chickens (alas, brother fox decided to pay a visit to her flock and do take out...). Visit Nat on twitter, @Natalie_Zaman or at her blog at http://nataliezaman.blogspot.com


Here are Nat's questions to me:

What are you working on?

 How much time do you have? I'm working on a number of projects: revising a sci fi that was last year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project, revising a ghost story that's been around for over XX years (don't ask...), just started edits on my 2013 NaNoWriMo project (I've got to stop doing these challenges!) and writing down more ideas than I know I can write in my lifetime. We'll be busy with Blonde OPS coming out soon, and who knows, there may be a sequel...

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

I have my brand of humor, my perspective on the world. If I took a famous idea, like Dracula, and wrote a story, it wouldn't be like Bram Stoker's and it wouldn't be like Stephanie Meyers' Twilight. I like to think I'm uniquely twisted. 

Why do you write what you do?

Because I can't help myself. The characters, a storyline, a twist--grab my attention and my muse whispers: "What if..." I don't like to stick to one genre or one age level because there are too many interesting possibilities out there for wonderful stories. I have to go where my creativity leads me. 

How does your writing process work?

I laugh now- but I used to be a 'pantster;' a person who sat down and wrote whatever came into her head. It lead to too many lost story threads, time inconsistencies, disappearing characters and changing points of view, so once I started working with Natalie on the Sirenz series (Sirenz, Sirenz Back In Fashion), we had to sit down and plot out, chapter by chapter, what would happen to whom and why. I've since adopted that process, and it's been especially helpful when doing the NaNoWriMo challenges. Every day, I can look at an outline and know what comes next. That way, I never suffer from writer's block. It's the editing that I dislike (two, three times, okay; after that, I'm bored and want to move on). 

The next author in line is our friend (and part of our gal writers group, The Writing Wenches), Yvonne Ventresca, whose debut YA novel, Pandemic, releases the same day as Blonde OPS. I'm looking forward to doing signings together as she is also a part of KidLit Authors Club. 

Before becoming a children’s writer, Yvonne Ventresca wrote computer programs and taught others how to use technology. Now she happily spends her days writing stories instead of code and sharing technology tips with other writers. Yvonne’s the author of the young adult novel Pandemic, available in May 2014 from Sky Pony Press. Yvonne’s other writing credits include two nonfiction books for kids, Avril Lavigne (a biography of the singer) and Publishing (about careers in the field) along with various articles for teens and adults. You can visit her website atwww.YvonneVentresca.com.

It's Greek To Me-

Or Roman. Or Egyptian. Or Sumarian. Or Native American.

It's MYTHOLOGY.

There are so many cultural mythologies; some have similar tales/gods, some vastly different. While Natalie and I stayed true to the Greek mythology in our Sirenz series giving it a modern twist, there are so many wonderful novels out there that step out of the known mythologies and take the reader into new, lesser known ones.

Don't be shy. Go check out what the gods are doing. Betcha they're up to no good!

Char

Literally Speaking...

"L" is for literary.  The Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes for fiction literature always go to 'literary' books- and I hate to sound like a snob, but I can count on one hand how many I could read to the end.

I find them unappealing.


Call them classics, but some of the 'greatest literary works of our time" (according to the 'experts') I hate. Like:

Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
Anything by D.H. Lawrence
Anything by William Faulkner
Most of the Nobel/Pulitzer winners in the last 10 years

I'm an English/journalism major, so how can this be??

Here are some classics that I love:

Anything by William Shakespeare
Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
A lot by Charles Dickens

My middle grade novel, Evolution Revolution, about the intellectual dawning of a squirrel who learns to use simple machines, has been rejected more times than I'll admit, and has been labeled 'too literary' for middle graders. I don't get how editors and agents can say that when there is a lot of action, science, and adventure.

Don't let the term 'literary' scare you; it's not all angst/inner thoughts/internal drama.

It's just another label, and who listens to labels anyway?

Char

What Goes Around...

Do you believe in Karma, that universal force that evens scores, 'you'll get yours' and 'what you send out comes back to you' and 'as you sow so shall you reap'?

We all like to think that people who hurt us, or those who seem to have suffered more than their fair share, get what they deserve--either in this world or the next. And that can help us deal with difficult situations, because unlike novels, we can't see the happy ending, or at least where everything is resolved.

Does it exist? You can look at the world, at individuals, and answer both yes and no, but we can't see beyond this moment, this place, this world.

As for me, I believe that eventually, everything balances.

Char

Can You Juggle?

I never did learn to juggle three oranges because I didn't start off the right way, learning slowly.

How can you juggle slowly? Isn't there a law of physics that all objects fall at the same rate?

Like English, there are exceptions to every rule.

Would-be jugglers learn with scarves which float and descend slowly through the air, giving the student time to learn the movements necessary to keep the scarves alternating in perfect motion. The student then moves on to larger and larger objects.

It's like that with writing--juggling different storylines or entire novels. Or reading--when you have several half read novels on your nightstand; you have to start slowly and build.

Characters should juggle--no one's life is a series of issues, one after the other in a nice, neat orderly progression, making it easy for them to deal with each situation as it arises. Sometimes things happen all at once, or are a series of events with a break in between.

In literature or real life, we're all jugglers.

Char

That's Impossible

I is for implausibility. It bothers me when I watch a movie and see one person with a stick fight off an entire army with guns. Or read a book where a character suddenly develops talents, insights, or unbelievable luck to save the day or nullify everything that happened. It ticks me off because I feel "That could never happen."

Well it does--in books, movies, and even sometimes real life (I'm thinking the 'magic bullet' of JFK's assassination that was proven but still hasn't silenced conspiracy theorists).

It may have happened, but if it seems implausible, I'm not buying it without a fight.

That's why Natalie and I took such great pains to research all the hacking, places, language, and even facts about the Secret Service for Blonde OPS. Everything is possible. (And why my browser has warnings from the FBI about being blocked...)

Even if it's not real, at least make me believe it.

Char

Until We Meet Again

Due a family situation, I will not be posting or on social media for a few days. Please keep my family in your prayers, thoughts, wishes, and hopes.

Char

Don't Make Me Laugh!

I love humor. Some of my favorite movies make me giggle like a toddler. There's nothing better than watching the Home Alone series with my sons. I've said it before but one of the funniest books I've read is Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson. And puns? The worse they are, the more I love them.

Funny thing about humor though, is how it is so subjective. What makes you laugh? I find David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and even  Chelsea Handler, dull. Unamusing most of the time. (Sorry guys) It's so hard to write humor, and when you're reading, what I think is funny, others may not.

I've been told I'm a funny person (not funny looking). People tell me they can pick out my humor in both Blonde OPS and the Sirenz series. I like to make people laugh and it's so weird that it's hard to make me laugh.

Tell me your favorite funny book. Tops on my list is Go The F*ck To Sleep, which is ironic because I generally don't like crude humor. But something about this book makes me hysterical to the point of wetting my undies. Maybe because I have three kids and remember trying to get them to sleep? I don't know, but I'm seriously considering buying my own copy for those days when I'm feeling kind of blue.

What tickles your bone?

Char

"Man Up"

"Gender driven."
"Gender specific."
"Appeals to "X" gender."

All these labels mean is that there is some kind of "Do Not Enter" for one gender. A book is written for or by, or featuring one gender in the title role. While I don't care if the main character is male or female, it seems boys have a problem identifying with the opposite gender. They will read Harry Potter, the Heroes of Olympus, Ender's Game or any thing that features another guy, but trying to get them to read Twilight or Jane Eyre or any books where females are the leading character is a battle royale. My own family, consisting of three sons and the hubs, has never read any of my books for that reason. Blonde OPS has Bec Jackson, a 16-year-old girl, but she's cool, she's a hacker. Why doesn't that interest them? And the Sirenz series has a cool bad guy in Hades, and Greek mythology, the same gods in the Percy Jackson stories.

How and why do males become so sexist in their reading while females are more open minded? Maybe if they read more books with females, we wouldn't be quite the mystery they seem to think we are. I think English classes need to balance the scales a bit more and present more books that feature girls and women in leading or at least equal roles.

And the guys should just man up and broaden their horizons--females make up half their world.

Char

The "F" Word

Yep, I'm talking about THAT word. It doesn't faze me seeing it in adult books. I hear it almost everywhere I go. I say it.

But I kind of cringe when I hear it in Young Adult books. It's not that I think the little darlings are naive and innocent (the youngest murderer on Death Row is 11 years old and would frighten Charles Manson). We know they use the word frequently because you hear it in their conversations. (Yes, I've heard my own sons use it and it doesn't make me proud. The rule is if you fall and crack your head on the door and have to get stitches, you can use it. It seems to escape their lips a little more often than cracking their heads on doors.)

I'm no prude; I say it when agitated (in NJ, it's almost a requirement to swear when you drive on any road with these lunatics), but I don't think we ought to be encouraging it. It's a foul word, like a few others that I won't mention (and did you notice there are more derogatory words against women than men? But that's another post...) The "F" word is relatively common in everyday speech and saying "Oh shoot" sounds stuffy and fake. It will turn off the young adults we want to reach because they wouldn't say that.

The line I walk as author-mother-mentor-person of faith is using it in my books. In the three novels that I've co-written with Natalie (Blonde Ops, Sirenz, Sirenz Back in Fashion), we never once used it (and we don't plan on it- it just doesn't fit our style/story). But I have an adult and a new adult book and I'm wondering how to get around using it especially when it's a male character. It seems to be more acceptable (although I don't hold it as true) that girls will swear less. My 19-year-old protagonist, Dalen Steele, kills people. He's a poisoner. He's not going to say "sugar cookies!" when he gets shot, beat, and captured.

Maybe it's no big deal anymore. Should I just shut the "F" up on this?

Char

Don't Get So...

Emotional!

Do you prefer your main characters to be strong & silent, keeping a stoic mien while reading their emotional thoughts? How do you feel about characters who don't say a word even in the face of false accusations when most people would say something? 

It depends. I don't like overly chatty characters who blurt out every aspect of their current state of emotions (because we usually know what they're feeling from the situation or other characters). But, sometimes you need the character to cry, scream, yell, take a swing, shoot, or do something because the emotions are so intense.

Understated can be the perfect touch or it can be frustrating. Flat characters are as annoying as basket cases.

Do you have strong feelings on the subject?

Farewell!

Char

What a Total "D"

Diva!

I love characters (not so much people) who are divas. They are over the top, doing things even I would blush at doing. One of my faves has to be Butch O'Neal, from J.R. Ward's The Black Dagger Brotherhood. He swaggers, he fights, he dresses like a Paris runway model, he slugs back icy cold vodka. He's in-your-face and unapologetic about it.

But like all divas, there's something underneath all that attitude; a boy who never fit in with the family, the cop who's been busted for beating a suspect, a human among vampires. Being a diva allows him to cover up his vulnerability and pain.

Don't we all put on a happy or brave or confident face when we're hurting or devastated?

Et tu?

Char

You're Such A Character

Characters- love 'em, hate 'em....

To me the worst thing a character can be is boring (and/or unbelievable). Be bad, be divine, be scary-be all three!- anything but make me yawn. Some of the best characters in my humble opinion: Lestat, Interview With A Vampire (Anne Rice). He can be vicious while he's daring God to show him he has a soul even though he's a vampire. Favorite tragic hero is Susie Salmon from The Lovely Bones (Alice Seybold). I raged, wept, I hoped, I despaired. The funniest character I think is Betsy (Elizabeth) Taylor of the Undead and Unwed series (Mary Janice Davidson). I laughed out loud in the middle of Barnes and Noble reading about her shoe addiction. The ultimate hero was of course Aragorn of The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien).

There are so many wonderful, unforgettable characters. I enjoy discovering new ones-and I love the first characters Natalie Zaman and I created in the Sirenz series: Sharisse, Meg, Hades, Demeter, and Persephone (our versions of them). Now, I'm loving our new character in Blonde OPS, Bec Jackson. The reason why I love all these characters: there's something in each of them that I identify with (not being a vampire or a king of men, or a murdered girl) but some facet of their personality is kindred, and touches my soul.

What characters do you feel connected with?

Do svidaniya!

Char

Back to the Middle Again...

"B" is for backstory- you know, all that background info you need to know in order for the story to make sense, or for you to garner clues, or to fill out the character's history.

But too much of a good thing is sometimes tooooo much. Certain books (and we all have opinions which ones annoy us-I have a number of Pulitzer, Nobel, and bestsellers on my extensive list) that just bore me beyond screaming. Does that bother you as much as it does me? I don't need pages (and especially not chapters) filling me in on details I probably wouldn't miss if it was edited out.

Sometimes, though, there isn't enough, or the story's so good that you want more info, any scrap of additional info. Do you feel like that?

Check out what others "B" talking about!
A to Z Blogger List

Until tomorrow,
Ciao!

Char

Ready, Set, ABC!

Today starts the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge! Every day, except Sundays, a whole big group of us will blog using the alphabet. I'm not going to follow a theme, and I'm not going to be off the wall random. I'm going to pick a word from the dictionary (no, I won't bore you with a 'Word of the Day' schtick) and write about that word as it relates to READING, because in the end, we're all readers, but we're not all writers.  So....

A

 Angst. You know what that is, especially if you have teenagers, are a teenager, live near teenagers, or remember being a teenager. It's the perpetual state of anxiety, worry, or dread. A lot of novels are loaded with it (you know which ones they are). Do you like the angst? As a reader some is okay, but I don't like to be overwhelmed by constant fretting, self-doubt, handwringing, whining, etc. I was never angsty even as a teen, and I have little patience for people who are, although I know some is needed in the stories I write because we all have 'those' moments, teen or not.

What are your most and least favorite angst-ridden novels?

Here's five blogs (of many) blogs I'll be checking out...

Cheerful tornado blog

Delight Directed Living blog

I'd Rather Be At The Beach blog

Butterfly On A Broomstick blog

Humoring The Dark

"B" back tomorrow!

Char