A plan! A plan! Look, Boss, I have a plan!

Or at least I'm trying to get one lined up.

I'm holed up for the week with the hopes that by the end of it I can have an outline for a mystery, along with a couple of excellent chapters. Also, I would like to emerge from the end of this week looking like Angelina Jolie. A little magical thinking never hurt anyone, right?

At the moment I'm reading a book called HOW TO WRITE KILLER FICTION by Carolyn Wheat, and already it's saved me from thrashing about for several months, trying to figure out what I'm writing. Turns out I am writing a "novel of suspense" instead of a mystery. There's a distinction--sort of like there's a distinction between fantasy and sci-fi, although the two are always lumped in the same category. Basically, in a mystery, the detective is always several steps ahead of the reader. In a novel of suspense, the reader is often several steps ahead of the hero--or at least the reader is swept along with the hero as he/she is plunged into chaos and confusion.

Yes! I love chaos and confusion!

Other points worth noting: Wheat paraphrases one of Salinger's characters who says you should figure out what book you want to read and then write it. Well, of course! That seems so obvious! And yet I realize that for the past few years I've been trying to figure out what book my editors want to read. Hopefully I can find a plot that'll satisfy me and an editor. Who wants to pay me money.

What I'm Reading Now

We have that on our e-mail at TKE--"What I'm Reading Now"--and really I'm always so impressed with fellow employees. I feel like I'm in the remedial reading group (let's call ourselves "the Bluebirds," shall we?) compared to them.

BUT! I just finished NAKED ONCE MORE by Elizabeth Peters. Peters writes a smart, sassy mystery, so that was good times. And now I'm reading a new YA novel by an actual YA. It's edgy--plenty o' sex and profanity. But I'm reading it because I'm interested in what an actual YA chooses to emphasize in terms of issues. I'd say this novel deals mostly with the desire and search for self-worth.

On the non-fiction front I'm dipping into STATUS ANXIETY by Alain de Botton. The first three pages have been very interesting.

before i forget

please keep posting about mexican foodage below. but before i forget i have to mention the books i've finished reading in the past few weeks because that's my goal this year. to read more. to read as much as i eat. yes. i know. the impossible dream.

KNOWN TO EVIL by walter mosley--second in a new series. new york noir. i liked quite a bit but don't feel compelled to read another

THE CRIMES OF PARIS by the hooblers--historical true crime. the hooblers, who are novelists, know how to give their history narrative arc. SO interesting. loved learning about the theft of the mona lisa and the underworld of belle epoch paris.

DEATH OF A VALENTINE by beaton--why do i love this series so much? but i do! i think i like the cozy-with-malice thing going on. i also like hamish's record of what he eats (mostly sandwiches, coffee and tinned beans). i like his pets, too.

am currently reading SEDUCTION AND BETRAYAL by elizabeth hardwick for my book group. title is much more thrilling than actual book, which is a collection of essays about women writers. you know. brontes. virginia woolf. sylvia plath. the usual suspects. i'm interested because of being an old english major. but i can't really imagine anybody else caring very much.

I'm . . . confused

So THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson is a book that's gotten a LOT of buzz since its translation from Swedish into English. And since I always love me a mystery written by a depressed Scandanavian person, I decided to buy a copy and heft (it's thick) the novel along with me on my trip to oh la la France. Anyway. I read it. And here's my short review: I'm conflicted.

I wanted to love it, but I didn't really. There's a lot of sexual torture in it, and while the novel could have certainly been more graphic, it was graphic enough for me. Also, I kept having these moments where I wanted to go INFORMATION DUMP! Or SHOW DON'T TELL! In other words, the novel caused the creative writing teacher in me to go on full alert.

On the other hand, the lead female character, Lisbeth Salander, is truly compelling. I keep thinking about her, and I want to find out more about her. What's her back story? What's the deal with her mom? Will she stay out of the clutches of her creep social worker? Only I don't want to read the other books (which look to include more sex and torture) to do it. So if you read them, let me know.

Okay?