Dragon Tattoo
Multi-Tasking
Oh my goodness! With my birthday now over (but very
happily celebrated) I find myself with a fistful of
reading and writing priorities staring me in the
face.
I finished Dick Francis' Blood Sport, a novel I very much enjoyed for the pure detective work in it. Set mostly in the US, this one involves a trio of missing horses and the cold trails leading to them. Francis' hero, Gene Hawkins, struggles with severe depression as he works to piece together what happened to a prize stallion that went missing on its trip from New York to Kentucky, the third such disappearance in the past ten years. Although the depression stuff is a little heavy-handed, the mystery is a good one and the personal stories are also finely developed.
But now I've had to put my journey through Francis aside for a short while to focus on other pressing tasks. First, my sister and brother-in-law have sent me Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, an international best seller that will soon come out in movie form here in North America. Larsson's sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has just appeared in paperback form and my sister assures me it's on its way to Fredericton as well. Having finished Blood Sport last night, I'm only 42 pages into the first Larsson book but so far it's pretty good. I like the main character and the prologue promises an intriguing story.
At the same time, I've received my friend Ross Pennie's draft second novel in electronic form with a request that I give it the writers' group treatment. So I'm trying to spend some time with that book as well, mostly on my lunch hour at work. I've gotten well into it already and am really enjoying it but, since it's still in draft form, I won't go into much more detail than that.
My third major project is the review and revision of my own Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I finished writing the first draft in December and promised myself I'd set it aside for a while, asking only Patti to review it. Well, Ross indicates that he's looking something to occupy his time while people review the draft of his own novel so I figure I better do at least a quick review and then send it along to him. John Hewson has also indicated a willingness to read it for me; I value both of their input and plan to strike while the iron is hot.
Once I've got those projects finished, I'll turn my attention to another gift I received for my recent birthday: Voltaire's Candide, in the original French. My understanding of French (written and spoken) is passable but I'm interested to see if I'm up to the task of reading this classic. We'll see, I guess.
So it's a busy time out here in NB. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
I finished Dick Francis' Blood Sport, a novel I very much enjoyed for the pure detective work in it. Set mostly in the US, this one involves a trio of missing horses and the cold trails leading to them. Francis' hero, Gene Hawkins, struggles with severe depression as he works to piece together what happened to a prize stallion that went missing on its trip from New York to Kentucky, the third such disappearance in the past ten years. Although the depression stuff is a little heavy-handed, the mystery is a good one and the personal stories are also finely developed.
But now I've had to put my journey through Francis aside for a short while to focus on other pressing tasks. First, my sister and brother-in-law have sent me Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, an international best seller that will soon come out in movie form here in North America. Larsson's sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has just appeared in paperback form and my sister assures me it's on its way to Fredericton as well. Having finished Blood Sport last night, I'm only 42 pages into the first Larsson book but so far it's pretty good. I like the main character and the prologue promises an intriguing story.
At the same time, I've received my friend Ross Pennie's draft second novel in electronic form with a request that I give it the writers' group treatment. So I'm trying to spend some time with that book as well, mostly on my lunch hour at work. I've gotten well into it already and am really enjoying it but, since it's still in draft form, I won't go into much more detail than that.
My third major project is the review and revision of my own Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I finished writing the first draft in December and promised myself I'd set it aside for a while, asking only Patti to review it. Well, Ross indicates that he's looking something to occupy his time while people review the draft of his own novel so I figure I better do at least a quick review and then send it along to him. John Hewson has also indicated a willingness to read it for me; I value both of their input and plan to strike while the iron is hot.
Once I've got those projects finished, I'll turn my attention to another gift I received for my recent birthday: Voltaire's Candide, in the original French. My understanding of French (written and spoken) is passable but I'm interested to see if I'm up to the task of reading this classic. We'll see, I guess.
So it's a busy time out here in NB. I'll keep you posted on my progress.