I'M ALIVE!

Okay, guys, you're going to have to forgive me. I had a brain surgury a couple months back, and until my mom told me about my blog last week, I had no clue I had one. Well, no, not really. Truth is, I've been procrastinating. A lot. As you can probably see.

But, that doesn't really matter right not, does it? Because the fact still remains that I haven't blogged for three months. Sorry . . . ?

Anyway, updates! First off, I've officially started revisions on LUX and should be done completely within the next few months; at which I'm going to attempt to get an agent. I know. No one gets their first book published, but do I care? No. Not really. I've decided that there's absolutely no harm in trying, you know? I might as well try; see if I don't get any nibbles. If I don't, then oh well. No big deal. I'll move on ---

which brings me to item number two: my new project. You've probably been wondering what I've been doing for the past two months, yeah? Well, school and four straight seasons of Stargate: Atlantis aside, I've started a new novel. It's (as of yet) titled TIME LOCK. I'm not going to give many details on it at the moment, other than: the idea is a hell of a lot more original than my first book, it's a Science Fiction novel, it's going to be approximately going to bee 120 K words long, and it's fraking amazing (well, to me, anyway). From the day I finished the first draft of LUX I've been plotting --- it's got 13 subplots, BTW --- world building, character building, and just plain thinking. I'm about 14 K words into it, and it's going fabulously. For now, however, it's going to take a back seat as I revisit my first book with a fresh look and try to make it as good, clean, crisp, and heart-wrenching as possible.

In addition, to keep my writing juices flowing --- and I don't want to work on TIME LOCK at the moment because of the magnitude of the project --- I've got a really good idea for a Science Fiction short story that I'm going to try and get published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction . 

Also, in almost exactly a week is an even that I've been waiting for almost a year. It's Life the Universe and Everything and Utah Valley University in Orem!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't freaking wait. Can you tell? Can you tell I'm excited? Probably not . . . AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, that's enough. But, yeah, it's a three week writing conference at UVU (though usually at BYU) and some of my favorite authors in the world are going to be there. Will definitely be blogging about it.


What's next, you ask? Why, book of the week (or would it be month? Year? IDK)!

The book of the week is The Help by Kathryn Stocket.

And if you don't know what the hell that is I'm going to smack you. On the off chance that you don't, however, here's the synopsis:

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

I don't normally read realistic/historical fiction, but this is just such a damn good book! If you've seen my twitter lately, you'll see that I'm "addicted to it." Highly recommended! Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a debut novel this good --- well, with the exception of Harry Potter, of course. 

Here's the author's website.

Well, I hope you guys had an amazing Christmas and New Years! Sort of . . . after a month. =$

I promise I'll get better at this blogging thing. I need to.

Until next time (hopefully sometime within one or two weeks).

~Jared Peterson