No Motivation

I sat down the other day with my trusty computer and opened my writing file. It is a woeful mess that makes me blush in shame when I look at it. It accurately reflects my writing life at this point, though, so I didn't do anything to organize it. Sounds odd, doesn't it? I leave it a shambles to remind me that my writing self is in shambles. You would think I'd put some type of order to it with the hopes that it would motivate me to writing success. I find, though, that I don't even want to touch the files. It's kinda like those cooties we were so scared of getting from other kids when we were little. I don't have a full writing cootie suit so I keep my distance. One day, when I feel empowered, I will jump right into the middle of the sludge and start slinging the muck everywhere.

I have been reading just about everything I can get my hands on in recent weeks. I will recommend Tasha Alexander and her mystery series in this post. They are not terribly deep mysteries but there is potential there for greatness if she ever decides to go deeper. She is a wonderful storyteller and her style of description not only lets you see the scenes with clarity, they are cleverly done so as not to burden you with the narrative of them. The romance of the stories is a bit overdone for the true mystery lover and I'm not sure her characters would actually have existed in their time but its nice to dream. If you need some light reading with an unexpectedly good murder thrown in, "And Only To Deceive" is the beginning. Happy reading.

In other news, Em has her new computer and is thoroughly enjoying not worrying if the next keystroke will be the last one for her. She's also waiting till May when she'll get her permit and start driving with supervision. YIKES! T is eagerly waiting for the new "Portal" game to come out. They've been advertising it a lot lately. Gams is doing well, though work has been tough on her this week. And I'm struggling with UNIX. Such is life.

Deanna Raybourn's Mystery Series

I've been reading the mystery series by Deanna Raybourn with her lead character Lady Jane Grey. "Silent In The Grave" is the first in the series and does a good job of introducing the family to you. The mystery itself is a bit slow in starting and the fact that it is set in the 1880's severely curtails the amount of action the main character sees. She is, after all, a lady of high society and she is trying not to become an outcast. The murderer was a bit obvious but Raybourn does a nice job in making him evil at the end. This was someone I did not mind seeing get burned.

"Silent In The Sanctuary" follows the first book rather nicely although it is more of a romp at the family home than a really good mystery. The story is pleasantly written and I found myself smiling more than once at the ridiculousness of the March family. The mystery is fluffy but the book is enjoyable.

The third installation of the series is "Silent On The Moor". The headstrong Lady Julia is warned not to go to the moors where her wannabe lover is, so, of course, she packs up and goes. This mystery is more deserving of the title mystery than the other two books combined. Not only is there a fairly good mystery happening but the murky background of Lady Julia's true love are revealed in this one. The question of who Mariah is and why she is important is finally answered.

I am currently reading the fourth in the series, "Dark Road to Darjeeling". Thank goodness Raybourn quit with the silent theme in the titles. It was getting irritating. Lady Julia heads to India after her sister's lover and to find out if a murder happened. That's as far as I have gotten.

I will say this about the author, she has a writing style that is enjoyable. She knows how to string out a romance to keep you wondering if the two will ever get together, she writes a great murder scene with all the clues but not obvious pointers to the murder, and she keeps the story moving so that even though her mysteries are not hard core suspense they do keep you entertained. Obviously, this works for me even though I love the grittier works as well. I would recommend this author and her works to anyone who just wants a bit of light reading with a cute murder mystery thrown in for good measure. We all need to be entertained. Enjoy.