First up, the goal-related news … I actually didn’t get much writing at all done in February. Even the posts you saw were mostly written in January, and I’m afraid that’ll be the case for the next couple of months, as I’ve been struck with pregnancy-carpal-tunnel – basically the same as regular carpal tunnel, but a whole lot better, because after I give birth to this kid in April my wrists and hands should return to normal and I’ll be typing away with the best of ‘em. So I’ve had to shelve most of my writing plans for these couple of months, but luckily for you I was pretty organised and have posted ahead with this blog, so you won’t be left too much in the lurch. And I’ll still be dropping by to read your comments.

However, there is one important piece of goal-related news: the next round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest was announced, and my novel Bratislava has made it to the next round of judging. YAY! This year the contest is divided in half into adult fiction and young adult fiction, so this means that out of 5,000 entries in the adult fiction section, mine is already in the top 1,000. Of course this ABNA deal is always a slow process so it’s another month before I know if I make it to the next round. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Now, while I haven’t been able to write, I have been able to read a fair bit. As you might’ve seen if you’re following my 2010 reading list (there are some blurbs about what I thought of these books on that list, if you’re curious), this is what I’ve sunk my teeth into during February:

1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfallby Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Absolutionby Olafur Johann Olafsson
3. The Book Thiefby Markus Zusak
4. Revolutionary Roadby Richard Yates
5. The Easter Paradealso by Richard Yates
6. Like Trees, Walkingby Ravi Howard
7. Henry’s List of Wrongsby John Scott Shepherd
8. Friends Like Theseby Danny Wallace
9. Anna Kareninaby Leo Tolstoy
10. The Writing Classby Jincy Willett
11. The Woman from Bratislavaby Leif Davidsen
12. Dancing Backwardsby Salley Vickers

Ishiguro’s set of stories was, of course, fantastic, but the runaway book of the month winner for me is Zusak’s The Book Thief. READ IT! You might read the blurb and think it’s just another Nazi Germany story but it’s not. It’s one of the best books you’ll ever read. Everything about it is fantastic – the structure, the choice of narrator, the characters and how they grow, the language, the everything! In case you look it up and wonder about the audience – it was billed as adult fiction here in Australia (Zusak is Australian) but for some reason promoted as young adult fiction in the US – whatever your age, you’ll love it. I promise.

On that note, I’ll sign off but will try to get back at the end of March with at least a reading update – probably not much on the goals, although by then I’ll know if my novel survives another Amazon round or not. Happy writing and reading!

Tags: ABNA. ABNA contest, Bratislava novel

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