It's December. Finally.

I think I heard a sigh of relief at midnight from about half of the people I know.

I'm relegating the NaNo novel to the back burner for the moment because I'm just not feeling it and I've got the revisions and editing to do on the Tower!Guy novel in light of the comments and critiques I've gotten back so far.

Having a printed out copy of the novel really helps when it comes to line editing. The only good thing about line editing is that I can stop and start it when I need to because it's not a strictly creative process. Writing, however, if I stop in the middle of a good run, sometimes I just can't get back in the groove for the life of me.

Also? Wow, I am really terrible at grammar when I'm not paying attention. Especially homophones. I think it's because I'm very sound oriented when it comes to reading and writing. Which is why a lot of visuals in novels and stories are so boring to me. I don't visualize what I read very much, thus making flower descriptions tedious in the extreme.

Come to think of it, I think this explains why I could never get through more than ten pages of Tolkien at a time without falling asleep. I wonder if Tolkien could get published in today's market.

Of course, that's a hard question to answer, because a big chunk of the market he'd be submitting to is based on his work in the first place.

More randomly, I wish that LJ made editing your tags as easy as LibraryThing does. It would really help. But this is LiveJournal, and that's just a bit too much to hope for.

(no subject)

Buy Books For the Holidays.

I know a lot of folks, mostly via LJ or online places but a couple in real life, who are published authors who have books that would make great christmas gifts. I think books as gifts have been underrated for a long time. I know that people want to go for the gusto, and want to give big impressive gadgets and electronic devices and other such things, but a book really can be the gift that keeps on giving.

Especially if those you're giving the gift to have a long flight to look forward to when they return home. Nothing makes a crowded airport and a miserable flight more bearable than a good book to distract you from the Obligatory Unstoppable Crying Baby that's two seats behind you (there's one on every flight).

If you're into a certain author, what better way to convert your friends than giving that author's books as gifts?

Sometimes the best way to say something is to say it with a copy of the "Dummies For..." version of whatever you're trying to say.

I do plan on buy books (new, even) this holiday season, if only for myself. I'm definitely asking for giftcards to bookstores so that I can go and purchase said books.

A question for anyone who knows: if you buy a book with a giftcard, does that register any different or is just the same as if you'd bought the book with cash/credit card? Just wondering. I wouldn't think so, because the book would still have been marked as sold.

I think to support the cause, since I can't buy all the books I'd like to buy, I'll get around to posting those book reviews that I've been meaning to post for the last few months but have kept putting off. Because if I can't buy 'em, I can at least encourage other people to.

So, expect some book reviews in this space sometime soon.