5 Great Books For Writers

I’ve written all my life, but I only seriously started writing a handful of years ago, and I didn’t know nearly as much about writing or what it takes to get published as I thought I did.

In part, that might be a good thing. Sometimes being naive when starting a journey can be helpful. After all, when you don’t know how difficult something is, it can be easier to begin.

While there’s no substitute for putting your butt in the chair and actually writing, there are a lot of books out there that can help point you in the right direction. These are some of the ones I’ve found most helpful.

On Writing, by Stephen King

Part how-to, part encouragement, there’s so much great advice in this book. Whether or not you actually like Stephen King, this book should be on every writer’s shelf.

Story Engineering: Mastering the Core Competencies of Successful Writing, by Larry Brooks

This book is my writing bible. No, seriously, it really is. It’s highlighted with tons of post-its stuck to the pages. It lays the structure of a story out in a concrete, simple way that works for my literal brain.

Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint, by Nancy Kress

My writing critique group told me that my characters needed more agency until I was ready to explode. They also told me that my main characters were “wishy-washy” and “gray.” It’s not that I didn’t agree with them; it’s just that I had no idea how to fix the issue. This is the first book that actually made sense to me as to how to build good characters and sustain them through an entire book.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert

As much as I love writing, sometimes I just get burned out from doing it. I do it because I love it, but sometimes keeping all the balls in the air of juggling plot, character, conflict, etc drives me a little crazy. I read this book at exactly the time in my life that I needed to, and it helped me remember why I fell in love with stories.

Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, by Laura Vanderkam

This isn’t technically a book on writing, but if there’s one thing I hear from most people who write, it’s “I wish I had more time to write!” This book has an excellent practical and philosophical take on how to get more done and make the most use of the time we have.

If you write, are there any books you’ve found especially helpful?

11 Scary Books To Read For Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday, hands down. I love dressing up and playing around. I love handing out candy. I love horror movies and scary books.

I was looking back and realized I’ve never done a Halloween book list. How is that even possible?

I have no idea, but I’m fixing it now.

In no particular order, 11 fun and scary books:

‘Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King

This is classic vampire horror set in a claustrophobically small town. As more people become vampires, a small group needs to figure out how to survive. The body count is high and the vampires are nasty. If you’ve never read it, it’s held up to the test of time pretty well.

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

It’s a terrifying story about a haunted house, and demonstrates beautifully how an author can use a reader’s imagination against them.

Rebecca, by Daphne duMarier

It’s a classic for a reason. The unnamed narrator is stuck in a creepy house with the shadow of her husband dead first wife and a housekeeper who hates her. What really happened to Rebecca?

Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris

The Silence of the Lambs gets more love, but I found the first novel in the series to be the creepiest. A serial killer is killing families, and Will Graham has come out of retirement to hunt him. Alternating between Graham’s point of view and the serial killer’s, the book ups the tension until the terrifying climax.

Hell House, by Richard Matheson

This book combines two of my favorite things, haunted houses and psychological horror. Not only do people go into this house voluntarily to investigate creepy things, but the house begins to attack their sanity.

The Girl From the Well, by Rin Chupeco (YA)

Okiku is a restless spirit who kills people who kill children. She’s single-minded and perpetually furious. But then she meets Tark, a teenaged boy whose body contains a barely contained evil spirit. Okiku decides to help him fight this spirit contained inside him. This is more creepy than terrifying, but it is fantastic.

House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski

Reading this book is a serious commitment.  Not only does it clock in at 705 pages, but it’s also got footnotes, pages that need to be turned to be read, and other weird things. It’s a crazy story of a guy who finds a manuscript referring to a haunted house that gets larger than it should be, and what happened to a family who tried to investigate their new house. The manuscript says it really happened, but as Johnny tries to find out more about if the haunted house really existed, he becomes more obsessed with the manuscript and begins to lose his mind. It’s crazy and creepy and a fantastic reading experience.

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, edited by April Genevieve Tucholke (YA)

It’s a YA anthology of short stories. Many of the stories are creepy and pull zero punches. It’s good, solid horror that runs the gamut from bloody to psychological (and some of the best stories had both).

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black (YA)

When Tana wakes up after a party, she finds everyone there dead except for a chained up vampire and her ex-boyfriend (who’s been bitten). For reasons she can’t even fully understand, she rescues them both and takes them to Coldtown, where vampires have been quarantined. The vampires there have their own TV show, and while the present a glamorous, sexy face to the world, the truth is that their world is just as bloody and terrible as you’d expect from a bunch of vampires.

And the Trees Crept In, by Dawn Kurtagich (YA)

Like House of Leaves, this is another book written in an odd style, with journal entries and odd formatting. When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt’s house, all they know is that they were fleeing from their abusive father. They didn’t know that the house was cursed or their aunt was crazy. After their aunt retreats to the attic, Silla and Nori try to keep the land going, but nothing grows. And the trees are creeping closer. It’s magnificently creepy, especially if you live surrounded by trees, as I do.

The Mask, by Dean Koontz

When Jane ran out in front of Carol’s car and had no memory of where she came from, Carol and Paul immediately feel connected to her, and take her in. But as strange things begin happening, they realize that maybe there’s more to Jane than they originally thought.

 

Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive list. I could do an entire list of just Stephen King books. And I left off all the classics, like Dracula and Frankenstein because those are too obvious.

What are your favorite scary books?

Book Challenges- Week 22

Popsugar Challenge

(18/50)

A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist: None of the Above, by IW Gregorio (YA LGBTQ+): Krissy is a popular girl, the homecoming queen, with a super hot boyfriend. When she finds out she’s intersex, her world changes.

Overall, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it, and I could have. I’m going to keep this review spoiler-free, so read on, if you’re interested.

What I liked: The book was written by a doctor and was inspired by what she imagined it would be like to find out you’re intersex, after meeting an intersex teen girl. That means that the doctor parts are probably accurate. I didn’t know anything about being intersex before reading this book, other than information I peripherally heard from the Olympian who was challenged as being female based on her chromosomes. I thought it was just about chromosomes and didn’t realize that there can also be internal male sex organs, which just complicates the issue more. I thought it was well done as far as imagining some of the emotions that someone, on finding out their diagnosis, would go through.

What I didn’t like: When Krissy’s secret gets out, she’s bullied. (That’s on the back cover, so it’s not a spoiler.) And that was fine. We all know kids bully anyone different. What I didn’t like was how some of her other relationships changed because of her diagnosis and reaction to it. It felt written just to create drama. I also thought her romantic relationship was way too convenient and predictible. I definitely wanted her to find love because I think that books should set a good example, and positive relationships are part of that. And her romantic interest was great. But it all came together too conveniently for me. (My full review with spoilers is on Goodreads, so if you’re curious about what I’m specifically talking about, feel free to check it out.)

What I’m not sure of: I read the reviews on Goodreads, and though I didn’t see a review from anyone identifying as intersex, many members of the LGBTQ+ community didn’t like it. In my mind, that’s not a reason to skip it. Some of their reasons didn’t resonate with me, but others did. I just wish that when the author talked about her expereience writing the book, she had mentioned if she had anyone who actually was intersex read the book. I wish I knew how close the experience is to the story of someone who’s been through it.

While I Was Reading Challenge

(4/12)- No progress this week

The Unread Shelf

Running Total: 14

5 Classic Books

(1/5) Finally!

The Stand, by Stephen King (horror): I read the uncut version, which clocked in at 1153 pages. Though I enjoyed it, there were times I honestly started to wonder if I was ever going to get through it. Why is it that reading one 1200 page book takes so much longer than four 300 page books?

This book never got boring, to me, but it did drag on a bit in spots. It was great getting to know all the major characters in such a deep way, but I don’t know if I would have missed it if some of that had been cut out. I probably would have liked the original version better because for most of his books, I think Stephen King’s editor is asleep at the wheel. I still love his books, but I’d like them more if there were less of them.

Even though I knew good had to triumph over evil, this book still kept me on the edge of my seat, and I was desperate to know who’d live and who’d die, if Frannie’s baby would live, and what would happen to Tom. I can tell you that the ending was one of the most satisfying ones I’ve ever read.

I’m so glad I read this and irritated with myself for putting it off as long as I did, but it was an endeavor. It took me almost a month to get through, though I did take breaks and read other books in between. I love to read, so usually, when I’m done, I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished any particular thing. With this book though, I’m totally giving myself a pat on the back!

Miscellaneous Reading

The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins (YA dystopia/ fantasy): I was traveling, and I needed a good audiobook. Since I do best with rereads, The Hunger Games seemed like the perfect travel book. It really was great to relive it on audio, though I didn’t love the narrator at first. She had an English accent, and I kept thinking, “Wasn’t Katniss from what used to be the US?” Eventually, the narrator grew on me because she differentiated voices so well. She slurred Haymitch just enough to show he was drunk, but not so much that I coudln’t understand him.

The only thing that annoyed me with The Hunger Games on audio is that I didn’t like the present tense narration. I never even noticed it when I was reading the books, but on audio, it stuck out in a bad way.

I did enjoy the reread though, so much that I came home and read the other two. The books are just as fun as I remembered.

Abandoned

None this week.

2018 Running Total: 66

Have you made any progress on your TBR or book challenges? What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

Book Challenges- Week 19

 

My 75-pound lapdog…

 

I didn’t finish a single book last week! Weird, right? I’m halfway through The Stand, and while I’m enjoying it, it’s one of the longest books I’ve ever read. I’m over halfway through, but I’m starting to think I’m going to be reading it forever. So, tune in next week, because I hope I’ll have it done by then!

Popsugar Challenge

(17/50)- No progress this week.

While I Was Reading Challenge

(4/12)- No progress this week

The Unread Shelf

Running Total: 3 Um… is that really all? I’m not doing so well on this one.

5 Classic Books

(0/5) I’ve started reading The Stand.

Miscellaneous Reading

None this week

Abandoned

None this week.

2018 Running Total: 53

Have you made any progress on your TBR or book challenges? What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

E is for (Books About) Evil #atozchallenge

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

This is the last grim topic for a while. The next few days will be much more positive and uplifting!

Evil is one of those timeless topics, as we all like to see good triumph over evil. Good doesn’t always win in horror novels though. For many of us, there’s something exciting and interesting about exploring our darkest fears. After all, what’s worse than evil?

Pet Sematary, by Stephen King (horror): This book starts with a simple premise, a local graveyard, where if you bury something, it comes back (though not the same as before). Locals have used this for pets, to ease the transition for their children. But when the Creeds’ son dies, Louis buries him there and isn’t prepared for what returns. Horror, at its finest, takes a simple, familiar idea and makes it terrifying. This book is one of my favorite Stephen King books, and one of the few books that actually scared me sleepless. (I was a teenager at the time… but it still counts.)

House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski (horror): Johnny falls into possession of a book that claims to be an academic study of a documentary, The Navidson Record, though he can’t find any documentary by that name. The book draws him in, sending him spiraling further and further into an obsession. Both what happens to Johnny and what happens inside the house in The Navidson record are terrifying. It’s a fresh and awful spin on the haunted house trope.

A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay (horror): Merry’s older sister claims to be possessed by an evil demon, and no one is sure if that’s true or if she’s mentally ill. She does terrible things. The family is broke, and to fund her mental health treatment, they allow a documentary crew to come in and film her possession and exorcism. The ending of this book is unforgettable.

Hideaway, by Dean Koontz (science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, etc.): When Hatch Harrison dies and is revived, he becomes psychically connected to a serial killer who believes he’s doing Satan’s bidding. As the book goes on, it gets weirder and weirder, blending religion with science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There’s also a love story and the adoption of a sassy and interesting child. Koontz books are never just one thing.

What are your recommendations for books about evil?

C is for (Books About) Children

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

My list only contains books about kids for adults. Younger children as main characters add a whole different dimension to books for adults.

Me & Emma, by Elizabeth Flock (literary): This book was so unexpectedly good! It was one of those that someone gave me, and I had no idea what to expect. The narrator is 8-year-old Carrie, who lives in a bad situation and just wants to protect her younger sister, Emma. They decide to run away from home, which doesn’t go as plan. This book has a huge twist at the end that’s disturbing but makes for wonderful reading. You’ve been warned.

Firestarter, by Stephen King (horror): This has been one of my favorite books forever. The experiments that Charlie’s parents participated in, giving them psychic powers, seem like something that could have happened. Charlie has pyrokinesis, so of course, the government wants her. Stephen King is a master of horror, and in my mind, this is his masterpiece.

Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens (literary): I didn’t know what to expect before reading this, but it’s really good. I learned some things about Victorian London and got to read an entertaining story at the same time. Oliver is a great protagonist, and I enjoyed following him and seeing the events that happened through his eyes.

Lightning, by Dean Koontz (horror? thriller? romance? really, I never know how to classify Koontz books): I read that Koontz had a hard time selling this book, as the first section is the main character, Laura, as a child. The whole book isn’t like that; she grows up and we follow her from there. If you’re someone who likes books that don’t just do one thing, this one may be for you.

What’s your favorite non-children’s book about a child?

B is for (Books About) Blood

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

If you’re like me and love horror, eventually, blood is going to show up. Vampires, zombies, murderers… they’re all out for blood. (Well, technically zombies are out for flesh, but it makes blood, so…)

Anna Dressed In Blood, by Kendare Blake (YA horror): This one is so bloody, it’s even in the title. Cas hunts bad ghosts and kills them all the way. When he hears the legend about Anna, he goes looking for her. She kills everyone who walks into her house, but for some reason, doesn’t kill Cas, and he doesn’t want to kill her either. Romance + horror = a fun read.

Guilty Pleasures, by Laurell K. Hamilton (fantasy): For me, this is one of the best vampire series of all time (the first 10 or so). Anita Blake’s “day job” is as a necromancer, reanimating the dead to pay the bills. As a side gig, she’s a vampire hunter who knows the dark underbelly of St. Louis and gets way too cozy with the monsters around her. There’s romance, politics, adventure, mystery, along with an interesting and kick-ass main character.

The Coldest Girl In Coldtown, by Holly Black (YA horror): Tana wakes up from a party to find just about everyone slaughtered by vampires. It’s not supposed to happen because vampires live in Coldtowns, away from everyone, so it should be safe. Only her boyfriend and a strange vampire seem to be around, so she takes them both away before they’re slaughtered by the bad vampires lurking in the basement. I love Holly Black, but this book is my favorite of hers.

Carrie, by Stephen King (horror): It’s an old book, but still one of the best horror novels out there. I loved both the 1976 and 2013 versions of this movie, but the book is still the best. Carrie is an unpopular teen with a crazy mother. When Carrie develops powers, her high school will never be the same.

What are your favorite bloody books?

10 Reasons Why Stranger Things is Fantastic Entertainment

As I pretty much always am, I was late to the cultural phenomenon that is Stranger Things. I’m sure I was aware of it because it’s on Netflix, but there are so many awful shows out there that I don’t always pay attention.

I assumed it was based on a Stephen King novel. I think I got Stranger Things confused with Needful Things, and then the font of the title (which matches early Stephen King novel font) clinched it in my brain. (For those of you who don’t know, the show pays homage to Stephen King and much other 80s pop culture but isn’t actually based on any single thing King wrote.)

What caught my attention was when a friend, who hates horror, started posting how much she loves this show. This friend is such a scaredy cat that when I took her to a mild haunted house, she was so terrified that she dug her fingers into my arm and left bruises.

I made a casual comment to my husband that we should watch the first episode. We had no idea that we wouldn’t be able to stop until we were done.

If you’re reading this without having watched Stranger Things, I’ll keep the spoilers mild. I will make references to Season 2 characters and situations.

So, what’s so great about it?

1. There are few one-dimensional characters. The main characters aren’t perfect. They have flaws and problems, but at the end of the day, they’re interesting. I wanted them to win, and my heart started racing when they were in danger. The one-dimensional characters we see are not onscreen long enough to develop them. Even Billy (who was pretty close to being a one-dimensional bully) got some screen time showing slightly more depth.
2. The groups of kids (and adults) mostly work together. The four main characters, Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dusty, work as a team to solve problems. They argue sometimes, but ultimately they manage their disagreements. Nancy and Jonathan don’t always get along, but they put aside their differences to try to kill the big bad guy. I hate when, in movies or TV, the main characters are so busy arguing that they forget to focus on the real enemy. That doesn’t happen on this show.
3.  The female characters are strong. Every main character on this show, male and female, have agency. At times, everyone thinks Joyce is crazy, but all she cares about is communicating with her son. She vigorously defends herself and doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks. Nancy is concerned about buying a new blouse and getting the popular guy to like her, but when she starts to realize bad stuff is going down in her town, she doesn’t hesitate to grab a gun and go hunting. She’s scared afterward and asks a friend to stay in her room with her, but it doesn’t stop her from fighting. El wants to look pretty so Mike likes her, but is the definition of badass. I read a criticism of the show that Maxine (Max) is only there so that Lucas and Dusty argue over her, trying to win her affections. The thing is that kids develop crushes in real life, so I felt that it was realistic. Max didn’t hesitate to get involved when they needed to help Will.
4. The male characters are strong without being chauvinists. At one point, Max asks Lucas if the boys won’t include her “because I’m a girl?” Lucas looks genuinely confused before exclaiming, “No!” The boys and girls all protect one another. Hopper is probably the male character who most often insists that he take the lead into danger. But it makes sense, because he’s the sheriff, and he protects everyone. Plus, his character makes it clear that he’s protective not because he thinks others are inadequate, but because he doesn’t want to lose anyone else.
5. The characters’ relationships are sometimes messy. Friends don’t get along all the time in real life. At one point, Lucas and Mike even get into a physical fight, as boys that age sometimes do. Barbara and Nancy argue over how Nancy is acting to get Steve to like her, but Barbara supports her anyway.
6. The 80s references. I see all kinds of articles talking about how my generation is nostalgic and loves 80s pop culture, and while I think that’s true, I think that everyone loves entertainment set in the 80s. It was such a colorful, interesting time. There are so many iconic things that signal the 80s that it’s hard not to love that decade.
7. The references to other horror movies/ books. People talk about how this show is “derivative,” as if that’s a negative. For my husband (who’s a huge movie buff), half the fun was saying, “That’s from Aliens!” or “That’s a reference to The Thing!”
8. It’s more about the characters than about the scary. When I asked a different friend why she liked the show, considering that it’s horror, she said that it wasn’t scary all the time. Mostly, it’s about a group of friends trying to find their missing friend. She said she just covers her eyes during the scary parts and makes sure her boyfriend watches it with her. I agree with her; the story has fantastic character development and I loved all the characters’ storylines.
9. The acting is fantastic. I am in awe of how talented these kids are. Millie Bobby Brown as El has only 42 lines in Season 1, so most of her acting is using body language and facial expressions. She does a fantastic job and is a nuanced character even without dialog. Will also has a lot of subtle things going on with him, and he does an amazing job of conveying it. The adult actors are great too. Winona Ryder does crazy without being over the top about it, and David Harbour plays the tortured sheriff in a way that made me want to slap him and give him a hug. I loved the addition of Sean Astin and Paul Reiser in Season 2.
10. The music! I almost never go out of my way to find TV show soundtracks, but when they include songs like “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash and “Heroes” by Peter Gabriel, I’m all in. Even the second season soundtrack, which is mostly instrumental, is great.

So, there you have it, all the reasons I loved Stranger Things and have spent the last four days binge watching it. Have you seen it yet? Did you love it or hate it?

My Crazy, Bookish Adventure Weekend

Some people are going to read this post and be like, “Book stuff isn’t an adventure.” If you’re one of those people, this post might not be for you.

For those of you who are like, “Books? Tell me more!” read on.

Always Raining Here

My bookish weekend started on Friday when I finally got my copies of Always Raining Here.

It’s a webcomic that ran from 2012- 2016, a story about two teenage boys’ quest for love. (Okay, it didn’t start out as a quest for love… but they’re teenage boys!) I’ve been waiting for these books for awhile, so it was a nice surprise to finally get them.

The Texas Teen Book Festival

Saturday was the Texas Teen Book Festival with a few authors I’d heard of, and many more who were new to me. The authors sat on panels such as “You + Me = Fate” and talked about themes in their books, writing process, the importance of diversity in books, and other interesting topics.

Though I could have bought these books cheaper elsewhere, I bought a bunch at the festival for a few reasons.

1. It’s important to support other authors. One day I hope to make a living from people buying my books.
2. They’re signed! Signed books are always better!
3. If I don’t buy them immediately, I put them on a list and forget that I really wanted to read them.

(I’ve already read When Dimple Met Rishi, and it was lovely.)

The Library Sale!

I love the sale at my local library. Not only are books cheap, but I love used books. Part of it is that I just love owning things that other people owned, that have wear marks and maybe writing in them. The other part of it is that I’m conscious about waste, so when I can buy used, I feel good about my purchasing decisions.

I went for the YA/ children’s books first, and was immediately perplexed. Instead of stacking the books so the titles could be read, they looked like this:

My apologies for the blurry picture. Please don’t tell my husband… he’d be appalled.

Why would you stack books so that you can’t see the spine?? It’s incomprehensible to me, and reminds me of that weird backwards bookshelf trend (which will be the subject of Friday’s blog… stay tuned).

From there, I moved into the main room with all the other books. I was briefly distracted by a copy of The Annotated Alice, an annotated version of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland from 1960. I actually own the exact book that was being sold, but I don’t have much willpower when it comes to Alice in Wonderland. I want to own multiple copies of every version of this book ever made.

Yeah, I don’t understand it either. Moving on.

I acquired some great finds, including an old Stephen King anthology with “Rage,” a rare short story that King himself asked to be pulled off the shelves.

The leather-bound book is a copy of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. Now, to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have bought this book, except that someone had put it with the religion books. I know volunteers run library sales, and someone just put it there because it looked like it belonged, but it made me laugh, so I had to buy it.

I bought Girl On A Train because it sounded better than The Girl On the Train, which I disliked, though everyone else seemed to think it was great.

There was also a book I spotted called, “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.” This raised so many questions for me. Is there also a “Manly Art of Breastfeeding”? Is the implication that someone isn’t womanly if they don’t breastfeed? What if I don’t have children? Should I breastfeed other people’s children in order to be more womanly?

I didn’t buy that one though. I figured someone else needed tips on being womanly more than I did.

Did you have any bookish adventures this weekend?

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Annie Wilkes Had a Point

I love a good antihero, but don’t normally sympathize with villains. And Annie Wilkes (of Misery, by Stephen King) really was a villain. After all, she captured an injured man and refused to release him, making him write stories for her, then injured him when he made her mad. That’s firmly in villain territory.

One of the things that made her really mad was “cheating.” You know, when an author promises one thing and delivers another? Or when the author says one thing happened, but then backtracks and says “It was all a dream” or “It didn’t really happen that way.” I mean, when those things happen, I kind of understand her desire to break the ankles of the offending author.*

(*I’m not actually advocating violence here. Please don’t go out and break anyone’s ankles.)

I recently read a book that I love and hate at the same time. It was good, and it paid off all the promises the author made. But the ending was sad. I don’t want to like the ending. I want to demand the author take it back. Kind of like when JK Rowling went on a killing spree in Book 7.

But it was the right ending.

The author gave the book the ending it deserved. No flinching (well, probably flinching), no cheating. It hurt. I mean, if it hurt me, it probably hurt the author more.

It’s just that I was so emotionally invested in the book. I wanted everyone to be okay, to have a magical happily ever after. And while a lot of books do end like that, not all of them do. And not all of them should.

As a writer, I wand to give all of my characters happy endings. After all, technically, I can. I could write a happy ending for everyone because I’m the one typing the words on a page.

But stories are a living thing. The good ones breathe life into the reader, and the reader breathes back. If a writer forces the story into a corner, it will do what it’s told, but it won’t breathe magic anymore. Maybe in the moment, the ending will be satisfying, but ultimately forgettable. Because if the ending isn’t real, right, alive, then there’s no point to writing it.

And sometimes real, right, and alive hurt.

The logical part of me knows this. But the emotional part? Well… I think I’m going to go reread Misery.

Are there any books that ended in a way that felt right, but still hurt? Or any books you’re still mad about because they “cheated?”

(On a side note, for those of you who follow my blog, I’m going to try switching to a Monday/ Friday update schedule. Sunday/ Wednesday just wasn’t working for me.)