"Armageddon" in the Springtime: A Tiny Book Review of Leon Uris' Novel & Other Chloe Thrills

Published in 1963.

March is here! How utterly fantastic is that? *happy spring dance*

Not the reason you’re here, of course, but…

March is here! *happy spring dance remix*

Apologies.

Moving on… The Ticker from Madness count for today is impressive, although it was another work day of picking out chunks of story that really interested me. I had zero motivation to strap in and work on Chapter One. Yeah, yeah, I know. Bad Chloe. But just remember this number…

                                               3,000 words

Actually, I went way over that today but I’m counting all the extra wordage toward tomorrow when I’ll be taking the afternoon off…

*The world gasps*

*The nuts in the back room of my mind go crazy and start throwing chairs*

*My dog whispers “Thank God. Get her out of here.”*

Yes, I’m even leaving the house on this rare, rare afternoon off. I’m heading to a baseball game on a day that promises a high of 76 and sunny, bright skies. I am incredibly excited! *happy spring dance, version 2.0*

In other news that does not strictly require dancing, I finished reading Leon Uris’ Armageddon two nights ago.  It’s the story of Germany, particularly Berlin, right after the end of WWII. Written in 1963, the amount of research Uris must have done for this massive historical fiction novel even I can’t imagine.

He painted the picture of a war-ravaged city brilliantly. Uris captured the air of distrust and fatigue all parties from all sides (German, U.S. and Russian, in particular) must have felt during those years exceptionally well. Wow.

I had trouble connecting with a few of his major players, however. I don’t know why, either. Usually, I’m a sucker for a guy in uniform, but the U.S. soldiers in the book never struck a chord with me. It’s a shame, too, because Uris made me feel every emotion of the defeated Germans. Even the Russian soldiers I had more empathy for than some of the Americans. Funny, that.

I rated it 3 stars out of 5 over on Goodreads. I’d read it again just for the historical aspects of it, if not for the characters.

Now that have I bored you sufficiently for the evening, I leave you all with one final…

*Happy spring dance!*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

When Putin Comes Knocking...

This is NOT Avon calling.

Friday night arrives on a chilled gust of wind from the former Soviet Union. Quick! Grab your Tom Clancy novels and buff up on your Cold War fears. This could get bleak.

Putin’s timing is either brilliant or mad. Just days after Russia holds the Olympics, Putin sends his troops in to “visit” the Ukraine. Really? That’s just cold.

Yeah, I’ve got to keep this light or I’ll start worrying, fretting and wringing my pretty little hands… and nobody wants that, right?

Right.

So, deep breath, everyone while Chloe takes a chill pill… with a shot of Scotch.

Just kidding.

Back to the tiny speck of humanity I can control.

Progress on finishing Book One of the “Lion & Steed” series (Remember, title reveal tomorrow!) went a little choppy today. I got all my words done though. See…

                                                                                     3,179 words

Told ya.

But, as for the orderly progression from Prologue to The End, that particularly plan was shot to hell today. I got about 500 words done on that “bump” in Chapter One I spoke of this morning, but that was it. I high-tailed it out of those bumps lickety-split and settled my editing butt down in the softest, easiest, most finished scenes I could find.

Yep, not only did I bail, I belly-flopped into a pile of fluff.

Ah! The life of a writer.

Tomorrow, I promise to be more orderly.

I promise to get at least half of my 3K done on Chapter One, alone.

I promise to barrel my way through any bumps, potholes or suspect checkpoints I come across.

I promise not to “visit” the Ukraine with my army.

*smirks*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

The U.S. on Olympic Ice & Other Questionables

An old-fashioned ice skate.

Somehow, I managed a good day of writing despite the dark, dank, dismal skies and a general malaise hanging around my neck for most of the afternoon. As a side note, I keep picturing this “malaise” thing as either a snow white albatross or as a string of really ripe garlic a la Dracula-deterrent. Why? I have no idea. *sighs* Time to check the prescription bottle for side effects again, I suppose. Lol

Over five hundred words were pounded out of my “Lion & Steed” Book One (the title of which I plan to announce March 1). I even managed a little work on the “Sicily” short story which is slowly but surely beginning to sprout nice, pretty flesh on its outline bones.

In the bummer category, the United States lost to Canada in men’s Olympic hockey. While I like the Canadian team, it would have been nice to see the US make it to the gold medal game. The United States speed skating teams rounded out a truly awful performance in Sochi today, closing out their two weeks without a hint of a single medal. That kind of epic failure can’t be blamed on the high-tech suits, especially since the skaters went back to their old tried-and-true wear and still lost badly.

On one more Olympic note, the so-called “scandal” over the Ladies Figure Skating gold yesterday is being blown way out of proportion, in my opinion. I watched the whole competition live (with Tara and Johnny: the best figure skating commentators ever! Really, they were phenomenally entertaining. If NBC doesn’t move them up to first string, the network really is as stupid as I fear).

Back to the gold medal controversy… the anonymous judging thing is crap. No accountability does not equal fair play. But, even though I think the judges bumped the Russian skater’s score up a few points, I still think she could have won the gold on truly neutral ice. Would she have? I don’t know. It would have been very close if the South Korean was scored with the same measuring stick as the Russian.

In short, I think it’s something to chat about over meatloaf but hardly a scandal worthy of international outrage…

For what it’s worth.

Until tomorrow, a day with nary an albatross or a clove of garlic in sight…

Chloe

Putin in the House & Gay Romance Update

As the U.S. and Russian hockey teams battle on Olympic ice this morning, my lingering headache and I greet you. The fiery poker has been replaced by a brass-knuckled fist to the eye but other than that I’m fine and dandy. Hope you are the same (without the broken occipital bone that is, lol).

Now that the construction dust has settled at my house for the time being, I can return all my attention back to my writing.

Surprisingly, I haven’t gotten too far behind on my novel for the “Lion & Steed” series for Ravenous Romance. With exactly one month to go until it’s due, I’m only 5k under the bare minimum word count. Excellent! I’ve still got so many little scenes to write to connect all the big scenes, not to mention all the filling out of dialogue (adding the he said, he smiled, etc.), my main concern will be not making the finished book too long. What a lovely dilemma that is for a writer, I must say. *grins quite happily*

When we move our attention to the “Sicily” short story for Carina Press, well, the progress on that did take a nasty hit. The last two days, I’ve gotten basically zero work done on it, which, of course, puts me behind my self-imposed schedule (deadline for completion I’ve set at March 8). If I don’t get considerable wordage done on it today, I’ll get truly concerned. But I refuse to shift the deadlines until there is no choice. I’m basically a stubborn ass, if you hadn’t picked up on that yet.

Less than a week (2/20) until contracts are supposed to be sent out by Dreamspinner Press for their “Mended” anthology. I’ve heard nothing on “Ravenscar” (my short story submission) which is not surprising but still terribly nerve-wracking. At this point, I’m almost dreading getting the word. I really, really want this, but I don’t think the world-at-large gives a shit about that, lol. I’ll survive either way it goes, but… I really, REALLY want this.

Time for a quick OCD check. I’m keeping a rather even keel on checking my business email. If I’m online, once every 3-5 minutes is holding as the norm (a pitiful, embarrassing norm but a norm, nonetheless). Checking the visitor count to my website and blogs is wavering from just bothersome to a little bad. Again, as long as I’m not online, I don’t have a problem. The fact that I worry continuously about whether I’m just wasting my time doing these blogs, feeling foolish at even trying to pull off successfully two fresh blogs a day, we won’t mention, ok?

Well, the U.S. is now losing the hockey game to Russia 1-0 in the second period. I’m one of those hockey fans who only really watch the sport during the playoffs and the Olympics. I admit that’s pretty sorry but I do enjoy a good game on the ice, especially when the announcers are good (yeah, yeah, I know, not a true hockey fan, then).

Putin is at the game. Can you imagine the security? I don’t think I want to…

U.S. just scored!! The game is tied! (Putin, I’m sure, is not happy with the stupid penalty the Russian player committed that gave U.S. the power play they scored on… Yeah, I don’t think I want to think about that either.)

Until this evening…

Chloe