Karen and I had our critique day today--meaning we went to our neighborhood cafe and I had pie while we read ten pages of each others' works. Bottom line--what I'd written was sort of interesting but mostly boring. There was a lot of information but it didn't all need to be there. Karen was able to set me straight and I ended up cutting most of the scene and adding a bit to make what was left a lot more visual and active. Sometimes I'm too close to the story to see its problems.

I posted a review today of Brandon Sanderson's really solid WARBREAKER. Of the Sanderson books I've read, this is the strongest. He's always had good world-building and magic systems but now he's adding some interesting characters (although there were times I wanted to strangle the older sister). I'm reading FIRE RAISER by Melanie Rawn which, I'll have to say, had better perk up quickly or it'll never make it to the point of getting reviewed. Here's my review for WARBREAKER: www.booksforabuck.com/sfpages/sf_09/warbreaker.html.

I'm going to make WITCHY WOMAN by Karen Leabo the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. She was a pre-teen television witch until she saw visions that she really didn't want to see. Now she's trying to live as ordinary a life as a witch can when a reporter spots her and decides to do a 'where are they now,' story. When an ancient curse kicks in, the two find themselves working together to stay alive. Sexy and fun--only $3.99. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, eReader and Microsoft Reader formats). Here's the link: http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2004/witchy_woman.html. Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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