By W. J. Howard » nonfiction

Monday’s Whine: Sick…AGAIN!!

W. J. Howard — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:00:49 +0000

This week, I’m whining about being sick for the third time this year. What’s up with that?!? Totally ruined our Valentine’s Day weekend. Had to cancel our dinner reservations yesterday.

This is certainly no way to start the new year. So I’ve decided I’ll get it all over with for the year by the end of February. No more illnesses this year. No exceptions! But how the heck do I avoid getting sick when everyone keeps bringing home virus after virus. Luckily no one’s brought home H1N1. Maybe I should move into one of those bubbles. Okay, a little drastic.

I don’t think I can get any more organized than I am with my index card system, so health has to be my next challenge. I even have index cards for working out, although they haven’t been used much this year. I stopped my workout program the end of last year. Bad move! Being ill has made it too hard to get back into it though. I’d rather sleep…zzz. I’ve also started another detox using my favorite book, Detox Yourself. Oh, and the workout program is P90X. If you know anything about it, it won’t be fun getting back into it. It kicks butt!

Stay tuned, this will be the topic of posts for a few weeks, at least.

Filed under: Weekly Whine Tagged: nonfiction, writing

Book Review: How to Write a Damn Good Novel

W. J. Howard — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:06:50 +0000

Finished reading How to Write a Damn Good Novel this week. Damn good book! It’s a quick read that keeps your interest and is filled with great info for anyone writing a novel. Frey’s instruction on “damn good novel” writing centers around three elements of a good novel: character, conflict and conclusion. The manner in which he explains these three elements have simplified novel writing even further than Stephen King’s “On Writing.” I got it from the library, but will be picking up a copy for myself.

RATING: 5 out of 5

Posted in Review Tagged: authors, books, nonfiction, read, writing

Book Review: On Writing, by Stephen King

W. J. Howard — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:33:00 +0000

Again…I’ll say it. Stephen King…love his work or hate it. This time around, I LOVE IT!!

I have been incredibly inspired by this book. King has given me a new outlook on completing Purloin, a novel of mine that I’ve been working on for five, yes 5, years. I guess five years isn’t so bad. Better than saying life long work.

Anyways, On Writing reminded me that writing can be easy. Hell, I did it for almost 20 years, writing nonfiction, and writing was always fluid once I understood the subject. King says to just sit down and write 1000-2000 words of new story a day to get your first draft done. I know I can do this. I’ve done it during my career. Now, for the past couple days I’ve done it and boy has the pressure released. WHOO HOO!! It’s working!!

If you’re an author, read this book.

RATING: 5 out of 5

Book Review: Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

W. J. Howard — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:40:00 +0000

I read this book a couple months ago with mixed feelings. I never would have picked it up if it weren’t for the book club.

Getting through the first part of the book was tough! The author goes into great detail about her life leading up to her trip to Italy, India and Indonesia. She’s very open about how neurotic she was while going through a divorce after realizing she didn’t want the traditional family lifestyle. Frankly, I wasn’t interested. The book got better after she left for Italy, the first country on her journey. Gilbert is a clear example and reminder of how we can make our lives difficult to live. While she grew on her spiritual journey, the end of the book leaves you thinking she has a long way to go. Hence the book deals for further journeys with the new husband she met in Indonesia.

All-in-all, I do recommend this book to women who are in a similar place as Gilbert at the beginning of the book.

RATING: 3 out of 5