NEW BLOG

Once again I have decided to switch things up on my blog.

I have gone with a complete relocation program over to Wordpess.com.

The new site is:  http://piscesmuse.wordpress.com/

As you can see it is no longer titled Book Minstrel; I have reverted back to Pisces Muse.  As such I have imported both my Book Minstrel and my Pisces Muse blog posts to the new site.

Enjoy, my kittens, enjoy.

Update | Moving over to Wordpress

I will be moving over to Wordpress.  Sometime in the near future.  All blogging is going on hold until I can attack that project.  With the new space will come a new commitment.  I have big plans and I am hoping to accomplish them over at the new venue.  Until then I bid you adieu.

When the move is complete I will be write a new post with the new link.  Until then my pretties.

Article | It's Monday, What are you Reading? & other weekly updates

It’s Monday, What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World Of Books to discuss what we are reading this week, as well as books completed the previous week. This will be my new Monday night routine, besides of course my writing meeting, I will check in with my reading goals too. 

This Past Week:

Finished: Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men  By: Molly Harper

Started: Nice Girls Don't Live Forever  By: Molly Harper
Started: Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles By: Robin Hobb

This Week: 

Finish: Nice Girls Don't Live Forever  By: Molly Harper
Finish: Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles By: Robin Hobb

Start: Warbreaker By: Brandon Sanderson

General Update:

This past week has been slow. I am at odds with not working, and am trying to find the perfect balance for my days.  Ideally I want to read, write, knit, and walk dogs every day.  For some reason my days have been only one of those events.  One full day of only one.  It is nice to dig deep and really put my heals into a project, but disconcerting too to not have a steady pace.  

Also, I need to do another round of job hunting/application.  I am thinking of making Tuesday my official day for this.  One day of having to do what I don't want to do, is better than trying to break it into smaller daily chunks from my experience.  That way it is over and done with and I have bought myself relax time for the rest of the week.  

I have finished the first glove of Fetching.  It is a wee bit small for me, so I think I might be gifting it to someone for their upcoming birthday, as I think they have smaller hands.  This kind of excites me.  I will of course knit the pattern again and have some tweaks I want to do with it for my second set of gloves.  

And the future of this blog.  I am seriously seriously considering moving it over to Wordpress.  I am really enjoying working with that interface for the UW blog posts that I do.  When making a links it asks if I want to target it to open in a new window or current window and I also don't have spacing issues with it either.  I have just got this place looking how I want to, but constantly having to fiddle with the HTML on every post is annoying.  

Other news, Cowboy is going back to work.  His dad pushed a little harder to get Cowboy on the job site sooner.  Cowboy wants to stay for his next gig,  but he may be flying out before then.  This is a mining contract in for 28 days out for 14.  I am on the fence about how I feel about this.  Good considering that this will help to get us out of a tight financial situation, as it pays really well.  If my past employer calls me back and offers a relocation, I am no longer in a position where I have to take it. I can bargain.  If they are willing to give me a raise I will go, if they are not my current wage isn't worth relocating over.  I have a good life here, I have a writing group, and various other things that make me happy.  Life isn't just about money, it's about lifestyle. In order for me to give up my current lifestyle, it must have a pleasing price tag attached to it.  If not I have other options.  I will take a pay cut to preserve lifestyle currently.  With minimum wage going up in March it won't be a debilitating pay cut either.  Other bright sides to the schedule is that for the 28 days he is gone I will have that time to do exactly what I like doing without feeling like I am ignoring someone in my life.  Also I can eat as much fish and spinach as I want.  Not a meal that Cowboy will partake in.  The downside is that those will be a lonely 28 days.  The good thing is that I have people in my life and a good lifestyle developed that I can get through it, without it being to long/lonely.  The bad thing is that he may need the car there.  So I may be back to bussing it for everything.  Once I go back to work/find a new job, I will seriously have to look at budgeting to buy us another car.  

Life is about change and I am not the only one currently experiencing effects of change.  I said 2010 was going to be a good year and I maintain that optimism.  Life is what you make of it.  Change is good depending on how you react to it.  Last year was definitely a trying year, and it doesn't look like this year will be much different, just with a new set of challenges. I have faith however that we'll get through this and be stronger for it.  

What I know I will always have no matter what is my writing.   I can pursue that career path from anywhere.  It is definitely consoling to have that.  I am not geographically bound, even though I really do love my life here right now.  But if it came to it, I know can forge ahead elsewhere.  

Booking Through Thursday | The Olympics

Today I am participating in Booking Through Thursday. The question is:

You may have noticed–the Winter Olympics are going on. Is that affecting your reading time? Have you read any Olympics-themed books? What do you think about the Olympics in general?

In all honesty I am not a huge sport fan. My hubby loves sports; when he wakes up in the morning he turns on the TV for highlights. I usually grab the laptop to catch up on my blogs. We have our own unique morning newspaper routine. But there is something about the Olympics that brings out both my patriotism and my competitiveness. I yell at the screen for them GO GO!!! I was very pleased when Canada won it’s first Gold on home soil. And being the modest Canadian girl that I am, I chose very pleased instead of ecstatic. Needless to say yes I have been indulging in some Olympic enthusiasm and watching.

I have also been participating in the Yarn Harlots knitting Olympics. To be clear, I am not a knitter, I own yarn, I have needles, I own other tools, and books on knitting, but I have never completed a project. And to me completion of a project is what defines the wanabes from the actual knitters. So far I have only been a wanabe. So my goal for this is to finish a project. I chose Fetching, a challenging for me project, yet easy enough to complete in the time span provided. Also it suits my writing sensibilities as I will have a pair of fingerless gloves for typing when my hands are cold. A win win truly.

Olympic reading, I have not indulged. At least not intentionally in the I am going to hunt this book down because it relates to the Olympics kind of way. In grade school I had to read an autobiography for a Canadian, and I chose one on a figure skater. I never got through it all because for a 12 years old it was utterly boring; it is also what turned me off of autobiographies for a very long time. Marley and Me is what turned me back on again. However, I think in that book the figure skater may have gone to the Olympics, although it is a very vague recollection I have of it. Also when I was younger I really enjoyed the Gymnast series by: Elizabeth Levy. And if I remember correctly one of the girls had either gone to the Olympics or was going to the Olympics. The Olympics are just not something that defines my reading, although currently they are defining my TV watching/knitting time.

Currently I am watching the Czech Republic Vs. Slovakia hockey game from yesterday, around my laptop while typing this blog post. I am a multi tasker with mean skills. Also if you couldn’t tell from above I need to pepper my sports intake with other forms of entertainment in order to get through it.

An Aside | My True Geek Confessions

Calling All Nerdblogs: What’s Your True Geek Confession?

The Alert Nerd brain trust is pleased to announce another very special Mega-Blog Crossover Event…and YOU can be part of it.

In the grand tradition of last year’s amazing “What’s Your Scott and Jean?” Day, we present…

True Geek Confessions

The Date: February 17

The Background: Unpopular opinions: we all have them. Sometimes you stand alone in loving a super niche-y run of a popular comic book series (likeSarah and her Tefe Holland thing). Sometimes you’re the only person on the entire planet to ’ship a certain ’ship. Sometimes you simply Do Not Get a movie the rest of your geeky brethren is falling all over themselves about. And because a lot of fandom is about sharing loves and hates and communing with your fellow geeks, this can feel awfully lonely. But perhaps if we confess our most unpopular opinions for all the internet to see…well, we’ll feel just a little bit better.

Here’s what you do: On February 17, write up a blog post with your own True Geek Confession. Send your link to sarah AT alertnerd DOT com. We will add you to our master list blog post and you can link back to said post. It will be exciting and wonderful and will hopefully not provoke too many “die in a fire” type arguments.

My Confession:

Pippi Longstockings.

I love her. She is my hero.

I got to know her through her movies, and didn’t end up reading the books. This may have influenced how I viewed her. Also I was very young and didn’t know what cynical meant. I was open minded and inspired by her adventures.

She really did have, what I thought anyways, these amazing adventures, and she didn’t fit in with the norm, and was always in trouble with school, but damn me if I didn’t think she was the coolest kid on the block. I grew up with kind of red hair. Not flaming red, but enough to be an outcast for it. And here there was this girl with flaming red hair who wore it in two braids sticking out from the side of her head, and you know what, she had it made. She lived on her own. She had two really good friends. She was always having adventures. She was super strong and could lift a horse over her head. I learnt that sugar came in cubes from her movies. Her adventures as a pirate are part of the inspiration for why I wanted to grow up and be a pirate as a kid. I went out for Halloween one year as Pippi Longstocking Pirate. My mom braided my hair around a coat hanger, and when some teenagers asked her how she did it, she told them it was hair spray. I thought that was the wittiest thing I had ever heard, of course only after she had to explain it to me.

Pippi Longstocking, had well really neat longstockings. They were stripped and went up to her thighs. Of course as a kid I wasn’t into this kind of fashion thing, but looking back on it, she had some crazy awesome style. That girl marched to the beat of a completely different band, each instrument playing it’s own music.

Pippi Longstocking was brave and bold, and she was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. She had confidence and she wasn’t afraid of a challenge. Authority did not intimidate her, and she always tried to do right by her friends, who she dragged through her trouble. She was good times. I don’t know if I want to re-watch the movies, because I don’t want adult me ruining child me’s perspective on her. She’s perfect in my mind, and that is all I need. When the world gets tough, find your own path and don’t be afraid.

Review | The Gathering Storm By: Brandon Sanderson

As borrowed from TOR:

Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready

The final volume of the Wheel of Time, "A Memory of Light, " was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, "New York Times" bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan's editor---his wife, Harriet McDougal---to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents "The Gathering Storm" as the first of three novels that will make up "A Memory of Light." This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era

In this epic novel, Robert Jordan's international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward---wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders---his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself

Egwene al'Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower---and possibly the world itself

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

It’s been awhile since I have read any Robert Jordan. Probably since the last book was released, Knife of Dreams. This summer I had fully intended on starting a complete re-read so that I was caught up on all the loose threads and to re-familiarize myself with the characters. That didn’t happen. I did however set up an audible account so that I could listen my way through the books again. But to be honest that kind of got sidetracked too.

The fact still remains that Robert Jordan, while not my first fantasy, was my first epic fantasy. Actually he was my graduation into adult fiction. He introduced me to a world where great things could happen. I fell in love to say the least. When I read a book, especially fantasy, especially epic fantasy, there is a part of me that is always comparing it to The Wheel of Time. He has also been a key inspiration for my writing career.

Needless to say I hold a lot of love for the book series, and while going in blind reading The Gathering Storm, I still held pockets of doubt. Not that the book wouldn’t be amazing but if Brandon has the skills necessary. I tried to tell myself else wise, that Brandon was capable, but I needed to know for myself. Of course there was also no way I was skipping any installments in the series no matter who wrote it.

Sitting at the beginning of the book, I wondered who wrote the prologue? Who wrote the first couple of chapters? Was that Brandon’s voice or was that Jordan’s voice? Who blathered on in regards to cloud detail? And as the pages started turning and I slipped back into that familiar world with my old friends, it didn’t matter any longer. It was about the story being told, not who wrote it.

I liked it a lot. I felt satisfied by the loose threads that have been tied up. And yet am left with many questions.

I found the book to be in traditional Jordan style – meet a new character have a character description. Lots of details for world building. Except now I have learnt to appreciate that a bit more. When they describe the architecture I really find myself believing it and picturing myself in that situation. The most memorable visualization was when they are sneaking back into TarValon to rescue Egwene and they are coming in by a river gateway. I love how they described the stone and how you normally wouldn’t see the slit in the rock to get in.

I am particularly happy with Egwene's thread climax, yet I know there is much work to be done before her story arc is complete. I am glad that it did not come down to a direct assault of Aes Sedai against Aes Sedai but am saddened that it took the Sanchean as the last straw for the fractions to come together. Egwene did a remarkable job of showing how to be Amyrlin in a difficult situation and I admire her tenacity and doing what needed to be done. How she was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, knowing that unity was more important than any one person. Her speech after becoming Amyrlin recognized by both fractions and a re-united White Tower was particularly good. She did not let either side off the hook, and let them know that it would not be easy sailing, that there is a great deal of rebuilding that needs to be done. I am really looking forward to playing witness to this, and also seeing how she deals with Gawyn.

Rands arc was downright frightening, yet necessary. I found myself siding with Min. It isn’t about controlling him, but about helping him. I see great things for the White Tower being able to help Rand in the last battle particularly with Egwene’s new understanding of how Rand feels towards the tower after her imprisonment under similar circumstances that he had experienced. I am of course pissed off at Cadsuane because Tam is right, she is a bully, and someone needs to put her in her place. Rand has a right to be mad at her. If she wants to genuinely prepare him for the Last Battle then she should be helping him. Holding things back and being a control freak will not earn her his trust.

Avianda. I can’t wait to see her arc with Rand. I have a very funny feeling that it will be her and Eleyne that will help him to use Calandhor. The three who will become one. He needs two women who can channel to help him, and who more can he trust than the loves of his life. However, he may try and hold them back due to his love for them and try and protect them.

I was glad that Rand learned to smile at the end, but I am also interested in seeing how he moves forward in the future with this new understanding. Does he apologize to Tam? How does he treat Min, Avianda, and Eleyne in the future? How will his relationships to the Aes Sedai be moving forward? Will he be more open to trusting them or not? Will he continue to use balefire? I am not opposed to the balefire because I understand he needs to stop this wheel rotation and put the spindle on positive tracks that will no longer involve the dark one. By burning out the forsaken from the pattern he is offering that new future.

This was a great installment. It of course left many open ended questions regarding the segments that have been resolved. It’s like throwing a rock in a pond; I am interested to see where the ripples land. There is much more to do before the last battle, and I will be a faithful follower until the end. One of these days I will get around to re-reading them all, but for now it is about moving forward for me.

Brandon did a wonderful job. Since I hadn’t re-read I wasn’t questioning voice too much. It was more questioning my recollection of things. I have questions and I had positive and negative reactions to this book and those are all good things. It means he made me think and made me feel towards this piece. I can’t wait to see how he completes this and to also explore his other worlds too.

I would be very interested in annotations from Brandon in regards to what material he had to work from and what he had to come up with on his own? What where just a few sentences and what where more complete thoughts? This is not to tear him apart but to see the process and understand what he had to work with and how he worked with it. I am very interested in the process of finishing this epic piece of work that has shaped so many in regards to the fantasy genre.

Article | It's Monday, What are you Reading?

It’s Monday, What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World Of Books to discuss what we are reading this week, as well as books completed the previous week. This will be my new Monday night routine, besides of course my writing meeting, I will check in with my reading goals too. 

This Past Week:

Finished: Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs By: Molly Harper
Started: Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men By: Molly Harper

This Week:

Finish: Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men By: Molly Harper
Start and Finish: Nice Girls Don't Live Forever By: Molly Harper
Start and Finish: Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles By: Robin Hobb 
Start: Warbreaker By: Brandon Sanderson

As you can see I have a very ambitious week ahead of me. I fully intend on using my unemployed time to accomplish these goals. I will also be knitting me some fingerless gloves during the Olympics. And I intend on getting caught up on my writing. As well as hunting for a new job. I feel good about all of this and enjoy keeping myself busy with a variety of activities.