Blog Post Resurrection

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so I hope you're all feeling very fond of me by now! Apologies for the extended hiatus, my excuses include:

• I'm pregnant and looking after a toddler - busy, busy, busy!
• I'm attempting to write a book which consumes all of my writing... brain... thingy
• It was my birthday! (No books for birthday pressies though. Sad.)
• I've been too social seeing friends and family just about every day. *Memo to self: Must be more of a hermit!*
• I was abducted by aliens but escaped probing - thank God!
• I tried to post reviews but my computer wasn't working 'coz the dog ate it :S

Take your pick, I'm sure I can come up with more, if pressed. Essentially, I've just been plain old busy. Sorry.
Now, on the book front, I have long since finished 'Chasing Harry Winston' which was such a complete waste of time I won't even bother reviewing it. Suffice to say it is an ideal holiday read for a woman... that is, if said woman is on holiday to recover from a recent lobotomy and is drooling into a cup. It was trite and idiotic and the intellectual equivalent of boiled cabbage. Wit schmit!
I've re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (just because I was in that kind of a mood) and The Gathering Storm (Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson) and I'm currently speeding through my first Terry Brooks book 'The Sword of Shannara'. It's been a pleasant read thus far, despite glaringly obvious LOTR rip-off's (Lord of the Rings, for the uninitiated). Also Stephen and Michael S., don't read it, you'd hate it. The character development is pretty poor and Brooks does tend to overwrite his scenes (full paragraphs to describe a character looking at flowers, no joke) but the story is interesting and the plot moves along at a nice clip. It has enough going for it to make me overlook the constant repetitiveness of 'the Valemen' when referring to two main characters. Use their names occasionally dude!
In fact, I owe my recently renewed writing endeavour to Brook's work; I can't help constantly thinking of how I would have written the scenes, or what should have happened, or how he could have built the tension more effectively, etc. Unfortunately, I tend to think aloud - often as my husband is trying to sleep - and it was his drowsy observation of "maybe you should write your own book, then" which has inspired me to continue doing just that.
Reviews are on the way, but for now fantasy topography calls! Take care xx