Tuesday, September 07, 2010

I Went on Vacation

Gasp! I did it. Sadly, I think August is the one time of year I go on vacation and actually stay on vacation. It’s August so it helps that pretty much everyone else in publishing is away too. For 10 blissful days I stayed away from email, submissions, or proposals of any sort. Okay. I lie. I did my best to stay away, but it’s almost impossible.

Before telling you a little about my August, I want to apologize to Sally MacKenzie, because while I fully intended to get to her proposal during that time, it did take me an extra week. I’m afraid I just couldn’t get out of vacation head long enough to give it a fair read, so I waited.

Since I was closed to queries in August I had a lot of extra time to actually read books. Such joy. Here’s what I read:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’m not kidding when I say that agent Ginger Clark told me I had to read this a year ago. I finally got to it and am glad I did.

Hunger Games. The book Kim handed off and I dropped everything to finish, then immediately read Catching Fire and waited impatiently for Mockingjay, which I read.

Wicked Lovely, which I enjoyed, but after reading Hunger Games had trouble truly dropping the world for, which is what I wanted.

I started a few more, but didn’t finish them yet. Still working on them.

Jessica

10 comments:

Creepy Query Girl said...

Glad to hear you got a 'real' vacation! Glad you enjoyed the books and are back refreshed and ready to dive back into the slush. Bon courage:)

funny in the 'hood said...

I'm still struggling with GWTDT. I read really fast and I was very impatient waiting for something to happen and I started skimming and missed some important details. Then I skipped way ahead to a part my husband told me about and now, well, I've kind of ruined it for myself. I also read the very end. I don't know what *happened* with me and this book.

Loved Hunger Games trilogy however. Absolutely loved it.

Tracey

The Writers Canvas, Author Elaine Calloway said...

Glad you enjoyed your vacation :)

I haven't read Hunger Games yet but people seemed to love the series. For the Wicked Lovely fans, it's going to be released as a movie sometime in the future. Screenplay is written so it'll likely make it to theaters in upcoming years.

Glad you had a chance to relax :)
Elaine

Kathye Quick said...

Hi Jessica-

I always seem to have good intentions too, but don't get around to reading as much as I should.

Vacay is great, but the back to work reality sometimes hits you right on the head!

Peg Cochran said...

Glad you had a good vacation! Didn't you feel that a good editor could have vastly improved GWTDT? I found that it could have been shortened by a couple of hundred pages. Swedish version of the movie is fantastic--also The Girl Who Played With Fire. Definite must sees!

Kim Lionetti said...

Back to work, Faust!

Spy Scribbler said...

Yay for vacation! I sympathize with how hard it is to take vacations without working, but when I finally do, it's such a great recharge.

The Hunger Games trilogy and the Kushiel series were my favorite reads this year. Everything else seems to pale in comparison. I couldn't get into GWTDT, but everyone says I need to keep slogging and it'll eventually get great. I saw the movie, and while Lisbeth is a great character, the story felt to me like it was a meager justification and attempt at compensation for a writer who was turned on by sexual violence. It seems to eroticize sexual violence while at the same time denouncing it.

I know it's unfair to judge a book by the movie, so I can't truly judge, but apparently the book is no less graphic with the sexual violence. And I don't mind reading a rape fantasy or whatnot, but this rubbed me the wrong way.

Still, I intend to give it another go!

Kate Douglas said...

So glad you had a "real" vacation and now have a clear head and mind in order to read Sally's proposal AND mine, which I'm totally rewriting after the muse kicked into high gear yesterday...and then I need to start that book that's due in six weeks, and then...oh, well, you know! Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you had a vacation. I'm really mean that. I do.

But while you were away, and while most of publishing, as you stated, was closed down, there were writers, editors, and e-publishers working twice as hard for their readers. There were writers collecting checks on e-books. And there were millions of people out there buying brand new e-readers.

Kimbra Kasch said...

I LOVE to read but that doesn't sound like much of a vacation. You must be a speed reader.