IWSG: What's your favorite genre?

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 5 posting of the IWSG are Diane Burton, Kim Lajevardi, Sylvia Ney, Sarah Foster, Jennifer Hawes, and Madeline Mora-Summonte. Be sure to stop in and visit them!

June 5 question: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

As usual when I don't have much to share about my writing, I love to answer the optional IWSG question! Except, wait. I don't think I KNOW which genre I most like to read and write. I seem to do a lot of mysteries, and that might be my favorite to read, except for historical children's fiction and science fiction and fantasy and...

But as for writing? I've been doing more mystery writing than anything lately, but I'm feeling the itchy pull toward fantasy again. Perfect: the 2019 IWSG Anthology will be Middle Grade fantasy/adventure! My mind is starting to curl around the ideas, and I'm hoping to come up with a strong entry. Once we are settled.

 At the moment, though we have finally reached what will be home, it is chaos. My in-laws are moving out, leaving most of their stuff behind at this stage, and our things remain in storage. So basically I'm still living out of a couple of duffel bags, and still beat to the socks. My mantra is "it will get better." My brain will return. I will find a quiet corner and set up my computer and get back to work. I must!

Because not only do I need to prove to myself that I still am a writer, but edits for Death By Library have come back from 3 beta readers so far, and I need to get to work on them!

So put me down for SF/Fantasy and Mystery as my favorite genres, reading or writing. What about you?
 

Middle-Grade Monday: Far From Fair

(The Ninja Librarian knows this post is late. It's been that kind of summer in Skunk Corners).

Title: Far From Fair
Author: Elana K. Arnold
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2016. 240 pages.
Source: Library

Publisher's Summary:
Odette has a list: Things That Aren’t Fair. At the top of the list is her parents’ decision to take the family on the road in an ugly RV they’ve nicknamed the Coach. There’s nothing fair about leaving California and living in the Coach with her par­ents and exasperating brother. And there’s definitely nothing fair about Grandma Sissy’s failing health, and the painful realities and difficult decisions that come with it. Most days it seems as if everything in Odette’s life is far from fair but does it have to be?

With warmth and sensitivity Elana Arnold makes difficult topics such as terminal illness and the right to die accessible to young readers and apt for discussion. 

My Review: 
At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book, because at first I really didn't like Odette. She is whiny and complaining about the changes in her life, with no interest in adventure and no sensitivity to what her parents are dealing with. As the story went on, though, I realized a) that she is a pretty typical 11-year-old (which is still pretty annoying), and b) she has a chance to redeem herself. So that saved the book, mostly, and in the end I didn't hate Odette.

That said, I wasn't wild about the book. Too much of it was taken up with Odette's self-absorbed complaints, and that got old. The issues of right to die and dealing with terminal illness, as the publisher says, are handled pretty well (again, from the perspective of an extremely self-centered 11-year-old; I have to say that I know many children that age who are a great deal more capable of thinking about people other than themselves). But the main focus of the story still feels like it's Odette's resentment about being uprooted, a single note that simply can't carry the story.

Recommendation: 
I give this one a lukewarm recommendation, and credit mostly for being an okay "issues book." That, and the road trip is kind of cool, or maybe just fun for me because they go up the West Coast, visiting places I know, some pretty well (including Orcas Island, where they end up).


FTC Disclosure: I checked Far From Fair out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

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Final week for the 99 cent special on Halitor the Hero!

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