Weekend Review: Black Flame Novels

I didn't get a chance to finish Horns this week either, and truth be told, I'm probably going to give up on it. It just isn't one of those books that holds my interest. I've also been busy with school, I have to go daily. I decided to review something I mentioned, but didn't go into detail about: Blame Flame Novels. Most people have never heard of Blame Flame novels, but I collected them. I might do a collection post in the future. Black Flame was a book publishing company in Britain that had a deal to publish books about the movies from New Line Cinema. New Line Cinema used to be the go to for horror movies, I suspect it's lionsgate now. Most of these books were original, but some were novelizations of the movie. They were all poorly written with tons of typos. I'm not sure the books were ever edited. Most of them are worst quantity than a self published novel. I'm not dissing self-publishing, that's the route I've picked for myself, but these were clearly not edited. Most of the books went for shock value. There was a whole relationship added between Wendy and Kevin in the Final Destination 3 novel. The best one was the one with the models, where one model had to kill the rest to have her looks restored. I think it was only because I had always wanted someone from Final Destination to go crazy (like they finally did in the 5th installment). The only place you can find Black Flame novels now is amazon or ebay, which is why there's no link at the bottom of this post.

Background noise

It's raining outside. When I was younger that used to be my favorite weather to write to. A lot of people like to listen to music, but I just love the sound of the rain beating on the windows. Now that I'm adult, I have to write and edit whenever I get the chance. It's not as fun as just randomly writing while cars are zooming by outside in the rain. I don't listen to music when I write either, but when I do I keep the radio tuned to the Halloween channel on Slacker radio. I don't think I could write in complete silence, so I always have the tv on, usually on the syfy channel, like it is now. I'm sure there's a movie on about some giant cg monster, but I'm not paying attention. I'm about to open a word document and start editing, or maybe I'll open my draft about the grim reaper and add to that.

Casual Friday: Let's Talk Comics

If you've been reading my blog for any period of time, you know that one of my dreams is to be able to create a comic book. I can't draw, but I do have the perfect idea for a comic. I even have everything written down in a notebook in case I ever get to create said comic. It's actually a lot darker than I usually write, probably straight up horror that I've decided to call scifi. Anyway, as you have probably guessed, I love comics. I don't own as many of them as I would like, and the ones I own are mainly horror, but I do like to keep up on some of the storylines. I collect the 30 days of Night comics, and I have the first Crow comic (I would love to get the newer ones, but my budget won't allow). I also have Spiderman, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider. Maybe a Punisher or two. People always ask who are my favorite superheroes, so I guess I should go into a bit of detail. The horror comics will always come first (wanting to check out the Dexter comic and the Freddy and Chucky comics), but I like Marvel way more than DC. My favorite Marvel heroes are Daredevil, Elektra (her movie still sucked), the Punisher, Spiderman, Venom (I know he's not a hero), Captain America (huge crush on Chris Evans), Ghost Rider, Wolverine, sometimes Blade. The only comics I really like at DC are Batman and Harley Quinn. I'm not sure what attracks me to comics, or the characters that I like, but I do know that I would really like to cosplay one year. I'd love to go to comic con (I probably want to go to Hollywood Horror Nights a little bit more though).

The track I'm on

As far as getting the word out about my blog, I'm on the right track. When I started this blog I knew nothing about blogging, and had maybe five hits. Now I average about 24 hits a day. I hope when I finally finish editing that those hits translate into sales. I still plan on sending my book to reviewers, and I might make business cards. I'm almost sure that I'm going to have to buy a little ad space somewhere, but I have to research that. I'm not the type to throw my money into something that I'm not sure of. I'm probably going to make a few youtube videos, one about my main character's name, and some other random ones, like answering questions if anyone has them. Maybe a book chat for those who have read my book. If I get good at Spanish (which I doubt), I'll make a Spanish edition of my book. I'd really like to have as many people reading it as possible. I'm also going to use kindle, nook, and createspace to publish. The werewolf novel that I am writing now is actually the first in a trilogy, but I plan to take a short break to write a really silly grim reaper novel, which I don't have any plans to make a series out of, but I could. I think live chats would be key in getting people interested, and I will also have to make a facebook page. I've been putting off making a website, but I know I need to do that too. Twenty four is a lot of clicks, but I still want my audience to grow. I'm also considering changing my hair to match a character's if I sell enough books. It would have to be the grim reaper book, she's got some interesting hair.

Crazy Day

Today was a very hectic day, so this will be a more personal post. I missed a whole day of writing because of the events today. I woke up early to go to school, checked my schedule before I went since one of my classes says TBA. So when I got to the school they sent me to the math building. It turns out they had put me in a class in a far away city. I was not pleased. I had to register for a class and go to said class five minutes after registering. The class had already started yesterday, so I was a day behind. I had to take a test to bypass some of my homework. After school I had to turn in some forms and waited forever. After that I ate and went to walmart and the gym. I know, dull day, but it held me up from editing. Tomorrow I have work and school, but I hope to get some writing done. I also have more than an hour between classes and it makes no sense to go home and come back. I may bring a notebook with me and work on something new.

Distractions

I thought that I would be further along in the editing process by now. As it stands, I'm only on chapter six. There aren't that many chapters, since it's closer to a novella than an actual 300 page book, but I'm still a good way away from where I need to be. I've been letting myself get distracted. I started school today, and I've been applying for new jobs (I can't take the one I have anymore). I have an interview tomorrow, and I'm hoping all goes well. I am also letting myself get distracted by things like the internet, and I can't. Writing is my dream and has always been my dream. I also know that I have to be realistic. I probably won't make very much from writing, which is okay. I didn't get into writing to make tons of money. It would be nice, but it's not realistic. I have to have a job so I can support myself.

Weekend Review: Mockingjay

With each page of this book, my hatred for Gale grows. Gale does a few decent things, like rescue Peeta, but he also does some pretty horrible things. He kills innocent people. He's pretty much just like President Snow and President Coin. In the other books we mainly got to see Gale through Katniss's flashbacks, but here we get to see him doing all these horrible things. Almost everyone in this novel comes back damaged. It's no longer just the nightmares from Catching Fire, it's Peeta's confusion and madness, Finnick's defeatedness. Finnick was one of my favorite character's in this book, he was the only one who could actually relate to Katniss. I liked him in Catching Fire, but he was more developed here. The Peeta and Katniss scenes were almost painful to read. I missed their old relationship, where he would hold her and make the nightmares go away.



Four Out Of Five Stars

Buy The Book

Let The Right One In

For those of you who don't know, Let The Right One In is a Swedish film and the basis for Let Me In. I watch a lot of foreign horror movies. I've seen all the ones that got American remakes (all the Asian ones anyway), and after reading about this one I had to see it. I'm sorry to say that I did not care for it. I was told it was a must watch vampire movie, but for me it was an avoid at all costs snooze fest. The story is slow, and even the violent parts drag on. It's the story of a little vampire girl befriending a regular boy. A boy who is bullied. You've probably figured out where this is going, but if you haven't, she kills the bullies. I never finished watching the movie. I just couldn't get into it. I knew her guardian was actually a boy she befriended who grew into a man. I don't know much other than what I've written. The American remake is on now and it looks much better. I might actually have to watch it. The movie does raise some questions for me, like if I was a young vampire how would it feel to make these friends who grow up and die? How would I feel if I was the bullied kid who befriended the vampire? Would I care that she killed the bullies? I'm sure I'd feel a lot of guilt. What would it be like to live a life where you can never grow up, fall in love, or support yourself?

Casual Friday: What's been going on

I've lost a lot of editing time this past week. I've had to deal with school, loans, things of that nature. Today I had to get my student id and books. I still have a lot of things I need to do to prepare. I'm going back on Monday, which cuts my editing time even more. Other times I've been too busy with work. Today I haven't even opened a word document. I got stung by a wasp this morning and took some medicine that made me tired. I feel ok now. I might try to edit.

Treating Writing Like a Job, Because it is a Job.

When I first got into writing I treated it as a hobby (I was only in second grade lol). I think a lot of people still treat it as such. Something they do for fun. Writing is fun, but it's also hard work. You have to edit over and over again. You have to research. You can't just make someone a British solider without doing some research first. You have to sit at the computer, even when you don't want to, type out words until they make sense and then edit them. You have to force yourself to write when you have no inspiration. I remember an episode of Supernatural that featured Chuck. He said that writing was hard work and he would never pick that career on his own. I'm sure a lot of people didn't think about the comment, but writing is hard work. It is fun for a lot of people, but that just means you enjoy what you do. I enjoy writing, I don't enjoy editing. I enjoy making up new worlds and characters, but I do not view it as any less of a job. If anything, it's more work then my 'regular' job.

Urban Fantasy...

I wanted to start off by saying that I agree with this article 100%. I write urban fantasy. For those of you who don't know what urban fantasy is, here's the definition:

Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Urban fantasy exists on one side of a spectrum, opposite high fantasy, which is set in an entirely fictitious world. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods, and the settings may include fictional elements. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.

I haven't released my first novel yet, but I'm about to. I am running a little behind on editing, so I may have to move back the expected date. As a result of date being so close I have been getting asked so many questions about my novel. I usually answer by saying, "Well, it's about a female werewolf who works for the FBI and has to investigate the murder of her ex boyfriend." Yesterday a guy told me that it was the kind of thing that women would love to watch, if it were a tv show. What?? How can he put it in that category without having read it? Just because the main character is a female? I went on to tell him that it wasn't romance. There is a romantic interest, but the romance is not front and center in the book at all. His comments didn't bother me much. He said he doesn't read much and has only read one book cover to cover. The problem is that most men think like that. Most men won't pick up a novel and read it if it is told from a female point of view. I don't understand this. I have read plenty of books told from a male point of view. The one I'm reading now is told from a male point of view. I feel like this automatic categorization should stop. People are missing out on great books because of this.

I'm no Gatsby.

Yesterday I showed someone the first few paragraphs of the werewolf novel I'm about to publish, and the first chapter of a zombie story that I have no idea what to do with. He sent me back an alternative opening which changed the main character to a man who liked to get drunk, and the dead ex-boyfriend into a drunk who only wore boxers. He then said that my writing was awful because it did not compare to the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a classic, not many things compare to it, but it is not what I am going for. I write urban fantasy. I write about fun things like werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc. I don't write about anything too serious, but that doesn't mean my writing is bad. He also compared me to Stephanie Meyer. I have never read her work so I have no comment, but she has made a huge profit from her work so I won't take it as an insult. What the guy who insulted my writing failed to understand is that there are different genres of writing. Not everyone is going to like every genre, and I'm okay with that.

Weekend Review: Catching Fire

For some reason I really dislike Gale. I dislike him in the movie as well, but I thought that was because the actor that played him was dating Miley Cyrus. Now I think it's because Gale is incredibly boring. I don't usually like love triangles in books, but this one isn't overly lovey. Katniss thinks she either has to be with Gale or has to be with Peeta. She's not sure how she feels about them. She doesn't have time to figure it out, since she's thrown back into battle. This book seemed much shorter than the Hunger Games. Maybe it was because the library gave me the large print addition. The more I read about the other tributes, the more I wished I could read their individual stories, not just Katniss's.





FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS

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Ranturday: School

I don't think this will become a regular thing. I just needed a place to vent. For the past two weeks I've spent every one of my off days at the school. When I leave they assure me everything is taken care of and I am ready for school. I get home or get an email the next day and know I have to go back to the school. I just spent over an hour waiting in line to turn in a paper that I needed for school, only to come home and have an email waiting for me. I need more stuff. It's never ending. I'm sick of it.

Casual Friday: My Thoughts On Being Human American and UK

Sorry about the lack of decent blogs lately, I've been doing a lot of school related stuff that has been cutting into my free time. Not that I really view this blog as a hobby. I would love to write as a career, and that's what I'm trying for, but I am realistic and know I need to have a back up plan. Anyway, for this blog I wanted to talk about one of my favorite shows, Being Human (American). I fell in love with the show after watching the first episode on syfy and decided to check out the UK version (the original) when it was cancelled. I've only seen up to the forth season, but that's when they replace all the original cast in the UK. I've watched the entire American version, and really thought the last season felt rushed. The first season follows the storyline as closely as they can without turning the show into a comedy. The UK version did have more laugh out loud scenes, like when the werewolf (George) tried to rid himself of the wolf by sedating himself, only to find that he'd made himself aggressive and couldn't stop cursing. I don't miss the humor, although it did work for the UK show. In the American show my least favorite character is Aiden (the vampire), who's plot involves more romance than anyone else. I thought his character was dull until he started a relationship with Sally (the ghost), but I would have liked to see the relationship tested like it was in the UK. The ghost and the vampire can't have a physical relationship, and that's sort of a major plot point in their storyline. It was never really thought about in the American version. I did like the outcome of that relationship more in the American, but it was too quick and didn't have as much meaning as the UK one did. I also would have liked to see Aiden go crazy and attack a train car full of people like Mitchell (the UK vampire) did. Aiden barely does any harm to anyone in the present. My least favorite UK character was the wolf (George), while my favorite American character is the wolf (Josh). George doesn't seem to care much about anyone other than himself. He cheats on Nina (UK female wolf), disrespects her, yells at her. He was just an all around horrible person. Josh is kind, caring, and seems to love Nora. His plot line was also more interesting than the UK one. I think Sally and Annie are the most different of the bunch. Annie can't posses people, but she can be seen if she is feeling confident enough. Annie can make tea, Sally is excited when she figures out how to clean. Annie also has a lesser part in the adventures, while in the American one they all have their own storyline. Sally is much more focused on love than Annie. I think Annie always loved Mitchell and that's probably why.


I will review the UK season 4 and 5 when I finish watching them. So far they are playing out in a monster of the week format.

How my editing is coming along

Well, I said that I would edit a chapter a day and I lied. Once I got to chapter three there were so many problems. I had to stop and almost rewrite the entire thing. That's where I am now. Chapter three. I might not get to release my novel when I wanted. I did add a bunch of cool new things, which means a bigger word count, which means if I make it available in paperback the name will be displayed on the side.

Writing Dynamo Review

As I'm editing, I've had to use tools to double check my writing. One of those tools is writing dynamo. It's an ok tool, but it's designed for essays and not with fiction in mind. Sometimes when it corrects me I have to ignore it because I know it's wrong and would make my writing sound silly. I plan to keep it around. I'm Going back to school and it might come in handy. Maybe... I'm taking math and Spanish.

What it's like being a writer with ADHD.

I wasn’t planning to share this, but I know there are others who share my struggle. When I was in first grade, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which means I have trouble paying attention and keeping still. It affected my schoolwork so much that I had to be put on medicine. The medicine made me pay attention, which helped me get better grades, but I hated taking it. Now that I’m an adult, I don’t take it. I’m in college so it makes things more difficult for me, but I can usually force myself to pay attention. When I’m at home, it’s a different story. Sometimes I can write for a long time, usually when I’m writing something new. Other times, mostly when I’m editing, I can write for a little while and then I have to take a break. I don’t like it because I think it hurts my writing. It could be better, if only I could sit still and finish what I’m doing. I try not to look online, but even people without ADHD have trouble avoiding the internet when they’re supposed to be working. I feel like having ADHD makes my projects take longer to complete. I need to set deadlines for myself and hold myself accountable for them.





For more information on ADHD

Why did I start writing this book?

I feel so many emotions each day that I draw closer to unleashing my werewolf novel into the world, but most of all I feel the need to share information about it. I have always loved werewolves and elements of horror. I've watched the Nightmare on Elm Street movies since I was three. When I started writing I noticed that I enjoyed writing about vampires, and ghosts (in high school I wrote a poem about Freddy Kreuger that I wish I still had. It was cute). When I got older I noticed that I still loved those things, but when writing horror I had no idea how far to go with it. Did I kill all my characters? Some of my characters? What kind of monster would scare me? I noticed that most of my writing was humorous. There was a period after high school when I stopped writing. I didn't write any stories, poems or songs. I wish I had kept writing, there are so many things that you teach yourself through writing. I had stopped reading too. By the time I was twenty-one I hadn't written for awhile. I had a job, and at my job I met a guy. I bet you know where this is going, but at first I thought he was sweet. He seemed nice, and everyone he worked with seemed to like him (at least in front of his face, behind his back they were all telling me to break up with him). I won't go into the details of our relationship, but I soon realized that I should have followed the advice of others. He treated me poorly, and said it was okay because he didn't think I liked him that much. He even ended up getting me transferred to another department because he wouldn't stop visiting me at work. I told him not to, but he did what he wanted. It took me a long time to get over the way he treated me, in some ways I'm still not over it. I almost became a person I didn't like. I dated a few guys that I wasn't really interested in just to help my self-esteem (which he had pretty much killed). I realized that wasn't the way to go. I was wasting my time by being in relationships I didn't take seriously. I decided not to date unless I found someone I actually cared about. I started writing again, but I wasn't as good as I should have been. I wrote about a girl who turns into a fox and transports blood for vampires, but my computer crashed and I lost it. I might still have the notes, maybe I'll do something with them. I took a writing class. I wrote about werewolves, but not Anyssa. I wrote about a wolf named Leah, but I realized her story probably wasn't going anywhere. In August of 2011 I was having a rough time. I couldn't pay my rent, my school work was behind (my school was ok with that), I had no money for entertainment and ended up just staying home and staring at my walls. When you do that you end up thinking of past events. I thought of the way my ex had treated me and the impact he had on me. I hadn't spoken to him in five years. I didn't know anything about his current life, but I decided to base a character off of him. I thought of it as a way to kill the lingering feelings I had toward him. I ended up making him the main character's ex who dies before the novel starts. She had to figure out why someone would have killed him. I've never wished ill on him, and don't now, I just needed a way to get rid of my feelings toward him. The story itself turned out okay, until I did a very dumb thing. I sent my ex a message on facebook. I did it mostly to tell him about my novel. I wasn't sure how I expected him to react, but he was okay with it. He wanted to hang out again. He said he changed, he said a lot of things that I hoped were true. I still had feelings for him, so I agreed, but he was still the same jerk he'd always been. I had to stop writing the novel. The hurt was too fresh, and it's never good to write about something when the hurt is that fresh. I did fill up several journals because of him, so I was getting my feelings out. I started working on a zombie novel. I really liked the zombie novel, but something about it just didn't work. I still kept working on it, it helped me grow as a writer and find what I like to write about. In 2013 the ex who inspired the character of Trevor came back. He had a girlfriend, but wouldn't stop flirting with me, texting me. He said he'd found his sd card and he said my display picture made him miss me (somewhere along the line did he forget what I looked like?). I told him I'd give being friends a shot and agreed to hang out with him (I'm too forgiving I guess). It was the last time I saw him. I thought I'd have feelings for this guy forever, since he hurt me so much, but I didn't feel anything when I saw him. He tried standing close to me, I think he tried to hug me once, but I still felt nothing. I couldn't believe how happy that made me. When he drove me back to my car I realized that I was doing most of the talking. I had nothing in common with him. I asked him about his goals and he said he wouldn't mind working the retail job he was at for the rest of his life. I was shocked. How had I dated a man who had no goals for himself? I kept working on the zombie novel for awhile, until I took a look at my files and saw the promise in this werewolf novel. I had finally distanced myself enough from my feelings that I was able to work on the story. The character of Trevor still dies, that's how the novel starts, but he's more loosely based on my ex. It wasn't to make him seem like less of a jerk, I could care less about him, it was for me. I wanted the story to be less personal. None of the other characters are based on anyone that I know, and I don't plan to ever base another character on someone I know. I am glad that something positive could come out of a relationship with so much negative. Sorry if this is too personal for some, I just thought I should share it so that maybe more people will put their feelings into art. To be honest, Trevor is such a small part of a bigger story. Yes, she has to find his killer, but is it meant as a threat to her? Can she protect her pack from the threat? The novel isn't a romance, and I don't wish anything ill toward my ex.

Weekend Review: I am Legend

I was reading Horns, by Joe Hill, but I stopped when the library emailed me to say that Catching Fire was in. I still plan to review both books, but I haven't finished reading either one. I decided to look through my books and see which one I would be most likely to recommend to a friend. I am Legend by Richard Matheson is one of my favorites. It's the first book that I've read by Richard Matheson, but I do plan to read more. I must have read the book about the same time as the dreadful movie came out, since I have the movie cover. The movie is a joke in comparison to this book. Imagine being the last person on earth in a world dominated by vampires? Yes, vampires, not zombie-like weirdos. Imagine that they would pound on your door every night. That's what happens to Robert Neville, who is immune to vampirism because he was bitten by a bat who carried the disease. He is forced to kill his wife and daughter and burn them in a pit of fire. He stakes vampires during the day, unlike in the film where he goes to the video rental place. He researches vampires at the library, reading everything he can get his hands on. He has two brief glimmers of hope in this book. One is when a dog wanders onto his land and he befriends it, but that dog dies :(. Another is when a woman finds him. He thinks she's just like him, but she's just an evolved vampire who is wearing make up on her visible skin. At the end of the book he realizes that he is the only living man, making him legend like the vampires were. That was the movie I wanted to see, but the movie I got to see was horrible. A poor excuse for a sci-fi movie. I would have loved to see it the way it was written, as a horror novel. Anyway, this is one of my favorite books and I suggest for anyone who hasn't read it to read it as soon as possible.



FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Buy the book

Anyssa

Someone asked me about the pronunciation of Anyssa's name. I realize it's not a common name, since I've only encountered one person named that. He asked if it was pronounced Alyssa, but it's not. It's Anyssa, and one of the other werewolves in the book calls her Nyssa. I might make a youtube video about this, but right now I only have a cell phone to record myself, plus I'm not that interesting. Basically the Y makes an I sound.

Casual Friday: My Little Editors

My pets are such a big part of my life that I can't believe I haven't posted about them before. The picture above was taken when they were about seven weeks old. We had to get them one of those baby play pins because they would walk around the house and eat food, making a mess. Now that they are older, they are always by my side when I'm writing. I almost always have one of them on my lap when I'm at my computer. Whenever I have a bad day I can't wait to get back to them, since they cheer me up.

 I dressed Sayu up for Halloween one year.

How do the werewolves in my novel compare to other werewolves?

Someone recently asked me how my werewolves compare to other werewolves. Do they walk on two legs or four? Are they normal wolves or some type of monster hybrid? How are they created? Are they born or bitten? Since it's getting closer to the day when I'll finally be able to publish my novel, I decided to talk about my werewolves. Anyssa Marshall, the main character of my book is a werewolf, and she was born that way. Since she's a purebred she can transform at will, and she doesn't have to transform her entire body. She does transform during the full moon, but she is always aware of her wolf. That doesn't mean she has full control, but she can sometimes stop the wolf from doing something she does not agree with. The werewolves in my story can also be created through bites or scratches, but they are not welcomed into a pack and usually die fairly soon after being bitten/scratched. They also can not transform at will. Anyssa and the members of her pack transform into 'regular' wolves, only a little bigger.



Also, here's some trivia for those of you wondering where I came up with the name Anyssa: A customer at one of my past jobs handed me a check and when I checked her id I noticed her first name was Anyssa. I had never heard of the name before and asked her to pronounce it. I loved the way the name sounded, and it must have stuck with me. I met this customer in 2009, and didn't start writing this book until 2011. I took a break from this book to write about zombies, but started writing this again when I saw it on my laptop and started reading through. I kept thinking, this is the kind of story that I would love to read.

My LEAST Favorite Books

I've done a bunch of posts on my favorite books, and books that have inspired me, but today I wanted to do a post on books I hate. Some of these books I've actually read to the end. I also want to say that just because I didn't like these books doesn't mean that you will dislike these books. I've already had someone bashing me for my amazon review of one of these books, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I got this book because Barnes and Noble suggested it to me after I bought the Sookie Stackhouse books. I was waiting for the new Sookie Stackhouse book to come out and thought it would be cool to read this while I waited. I wasn't aware that this was the second book in a series, but you can read this book without reading the first. In the book Elena Micheals, the only female werewolf, is captured to be part in a crazy game where supernaturals kill each other. The entire book is Elena wishing Clay would save her, or whining about missing Clay. She came off as one of the weakest characters I had ever read. I also hated the tv show, which is basically just a rip off of true blood.

This is the book I got attacked for my review on. Another amazon reviewer said that I must not be very intelligent if I didn't like this book. Sorry to break it to you, but intelligence is not measured by what books you enjoy. I honestly think a better name for this book would be the art of forcing you to get on anti-depressants. This book is told from the point of view of a dog. The book actually starts off with the dog about to die!! I have two dogs and didn't want to read that. The dog follows his boring master through college and onward. His master falls in love, has a kid, his wife dies of cancer. After the man's wife dies he gets accused of having a "relationship" with an underage girl, so his daughter also gets taken away. I had to read this book for school, I never would have picked something like this on my own.

What's a Stephen King book doing on this list? Well, it's not that it was poorly written, or anything like that, I just didn't like the book. Stephen King has always been kind of a hit or miss author for me. I like some of his work, but hate some of his other books. This and Insomnia are the worst two Stephen King books I've picked up. I didn't finish either of them.

I bet a lot of people have never seen these books before. Sometime around the time when Final Destination 3 was released New Line Cinema partnered with Black Flame Publishing to give you these crappy books. I actually collect them, not because I like the stories, but because I'm a huge fan of horror movies. The content inside the books is mostly original, there are a few novelizations. These books are basically poorly written fan fictions. The ones by Natasha Rhodes are the worst of the worst. Some of the Nightmare on Elm Street ones actually had decent ideas behind them, but these books are still poorly written. I might do a collection post on them in the future.

Weekend Review: The Hunger Games

I know I'm way behind in reading this book, and I couldn't say much about the book without spoiling it for those who haven't read the book or seen the movie. I probably put it off because I didn't want to read about war, but this book wasn't really about a war. The entire time I was reading the book I kept thinking that the hunger games could happen. I loved the movie too, but I probably do need to rewatch it, since I couldn't spot many differences. The scene with Rue (in the book) is one of the most heartbreaking scenes I've ever read. Peeta was a sweetheart, doing things to help Katniss because he was in love with her. I did wonder what the capital was up to while the kids were fighting to the death, since the book was told from Katniss's pov, we didn't get to see what they were up to. I loved this book, but I don't want to say much about it, since that would spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it/seen the movies.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS



BUY THE BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

Casual Friday: Weekend Plans

I couldn't really think of anything to blog about today, so I guess I'll just leave you with my weekend plans. Since I don't get out much they will be pretty bland. I'm going to be reading Horns by Joe Hill (I've actually already started, it's pretty good), I'm going to watch Thor the Dark World. I know I'm behind in seeing that, but I like Captain America way more than Thor. Thor is actually one of my least favorite heroes. I'm also going to try to watch Bedlum, it's a British tv show about ghosts, and Being Human, also a British tv show about ghosts (and vampires and werewolves). I am going to work the rest of the weekend.