Been Sick, Plus, an Idea

Very sick. I was priding myself on the fact that I hadn't gotten sick, when indeed half of the Seattle-Tacoma area seemed to be out sick, and then...I got sick. (I blame Tut-Tee Claire. At first it was only she and I who weren't sick, and then she fell, and then I did. Dammit.)

Anyway, whoever is to blame, I fell sick overnight on Tuesday and woke up on Wednesday with glands the size of golf balls, a headache, and the shakes. Fortunately, I had just been to the library--literally the day before--and stocked up on a bunch of fiction I'd never read: four Charlaine Harris', two each from two different series, and three non-fiction: The Tipping Point, French Women Don't Get Fat, and The Year of Magical Thinking, that last one on my mother's recommendation. I've read all four fiction paperbacks and am partway through Magical Thinking, although I've gotten distracted with The Eye of the World. Yes, the very same Eye of the World, I don't think there are two, that starts the famous Wheel of Time series, that will probably never actually end as the author just died. May Robert Jordan rest peacefully in a world beyond blood diseases and book critics. And as he would say, I'm not sure which is worse! As for the rest, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with French Women Don't Get Fat, and I've already read Blink and loved it, and so wanted to read Tipping Point. From now on, all the books I'm reading or have read will be in their own list right above the blog archive, so you can click on any title and be taken to Amazon. No, I don't make any money if you buy it...yet. (Some of the books I've read will be in Aarwenn Culture, if they're reference books I refer to often.)

Reading this much fiction--especially by authors I enjoy, although the jury is out on whether I actually enjoy Robert Jordan yet--has got me thinking (again) about my own work of fiction. I've been thinking for some time that I would post the first chapter here, on this blog, so that people can read it and hopefully give me their opinions. I hope that might spur me on to finish it, as the plot has been finished long ago, and now it just requires the words. Sadly, the words--as Robert Jordan knows--are the hardest part. The plots are easy. It's the words, and the characters, that are so hard. Anyone can describe a plot. Telling a story is the tough part.

So what do you think, readers? Yay or nay posting the novel? Would you rather wait until its finished? Anyone out there want to be my writing buddy? I can't seem to do it alone.