I am trying to broaden my reading horizons by reading a variety of genres. I made progress toward that goal in November, as you will see from three of the books I read.

Unexpected Passion, by Barbara Strickland

Reading Unexpected Passion, by Barbara Strickland was a reading stretch for me. I’m not usually drawn to romance novels.

Unexpected Passion is Book 2 in Barbara Strickland’s Unexpected Love Series, I love the book’s premise. Ricardo, part owner in a tour company, comes across as a real lady’s man, but his trust issues make it difficult for him to have a meaningful, honest relationship. Lexi is not a “spring chicken” either. Her friends are determined to pull her out of her comfort zone. She finally gives in and agrees to go on one of Ricardo’s tours of Greece and Italy.

The novel follows the hot and cold relationship between Ricardo and Lexi as the tour takes them to fascinating locations in the two countries. Ms. Strickland weaves in references to the places we have always read about, seen pictures of, and would love to visit while following the flirtations and misunderstandings/wrong assumptions made by Ricardo and Lexi about each other along with their interactions with others on the trip.

I felt like I was on the tour myself, which is a sign of a good book!

Radar Girls, by Sara Ackerman

Radar Girls, by Sara Ackerman is a novel about the women who did top-secret work in Hawaii during the early days of radar use by the US military in World War II. The women could, of course, tell no one what they were doing. And, being women, they had to claim to be doing clerical work when pressed about their occupations.

The novel follows the private lives and individual stresses of each of the women.

They had personal stress and collective stress and worry over the troops they were directly responsible for supporting. They were responsible for guiding US bomber pilots for safe landings upon the planes’ return to the base after bombing runs. The books includes their individual worries for husbands and other loved one serving in the war zone.

Carol of the Reading Ladies Blog did a great job of reviewing the novel. I think you would enjoy reading Carol’s review: http://Radar Girls [Book Review] #HistoricalFiction @HarlequinBooks #NetGalley #WW2 #BookTwitter #BookBlogger – Reading Ladies. Carol’s 5-star rating of the historical novel prompted me to get on the waitlist for it at the public library.

Character & Structure: The Easy to Follow Novel Planner – Quadrilogy Edition, by Chris Andrews

As I will explain below, I am attempting to write a novel series. Originally, I thought in terms of writing a trilogy, but then the story said it needed at least four books. I was thrilled to find this book by Chris Andrews. It is a wonderfully-organized workbook for outlining a four-book series. I’d never seen or heard the word “Quadrilogy” before, so I immediately felt this was just the workbook I needed.

This workbook is a companion to Andrews’ book, Character & Structure: An Unholy Alliance, which I read a couple of years ago. In the workbook’s 64 pages, Andrews walks the writer – whether a novice or a seasoned published author – through a systematic way to make sure the novel they envision or are already writing is constructed on a structure that will support it from beginning to end.

The workbook prompts the writer to give appropriate attention to subplots and how each one fits into the larger picture. It helps the writer to plan each chapter and to map out how the characters and plot flow.

Novel outlines are not set in concrete. Characters sometimes balk at the writer’s plans. In some cases, the characters have better ideas for the plot twists and turns than the writer, but having the big picture of a novel quadrilogy down in black and white will certainly help the author stay on track with structure. The workbook also has pages for you to jot down dialogue ideas. (You know you will forget those jewels if you don’t write them down!)

In case you’re writing a trilogy, Chris Andrews also have a Trilogy Edition of this workbook. Look for his writing books and his fantasy novels on Amazon.

Since my last blog post

Did last week fly by, or was it just me? It’s already December. How is that possible?

I got down to brass tacks outlining my novel series. Yes, I said series. As you probably already know, the main character in the first novel I drafted had so much backstory that I concluded her life as a younger person needed a separate book. I also finally worked out a plot problem in the second book in the series – the one for which I’ve already written 90,000+ words. It was a part of the plot dealing with the freedom of a slave. After stewing over this particular plot point for literally years, I took a walk last week to talk through it with myself (for the hundredth time) and concluded that George, the slave has to instigate his own path to freedom – or his attempt at freedom. Hmmm… do you think George will be successful? Geoge is a strong character. He and I have wrestled over his actions for years.

I had already toyed with continuing the main character’s story in two or three books in addition to the first two. I have outlined a total of five novels for the series. Now I have to figure out a way to write a lot faster or I can’t possibly live long enough to write all five! Time will tell if I have enough writing skill and imagination to write that many novels.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have at least one good book to read this week. Support your local public library and your local independent bookstore.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine.

Janet