Recent Read

Having been an avid fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Series I never hesitated to pick up and read her newest installments even in spite of the fact that I believe the series is taking a serious downturn by becoming more involved in metaphysical relations with several men at once and less on Anita's abilities to function independently as a necromancer. That aside I picked up Flirt at 11:30 pm and by 1 am I was finished. Laurell definitely has a gift for storytelling in that it's nearly impossible to stop reading her books because you're so eager to see what happens next.

The best part about Flirt wasn't the story, although that was good too. The best part was the after notes where Laurell explains not only her writing process for the entire book (why she stopped writing Divine Misdemeanors to bang this one out, what music she listened to, etc), but she also gives the inspiration for the story and the names of everyone involved. According to her Flirt was inspired by one scene which took place in real life while she and her husband, Jonathan, were visiting with THE Jennie Breeden, creator of the web comic "The Devil's Panties", and her husband. The four of them were at a restaurant and Jennie's husband accidentally began flirting with the waiter, which made Laurell wants to find out if the waiter responded to women as well. The result was a funny series of strips in the Devil's Panties web-comic as well as a familiar scene unfolding within Flirt. In the web-comic, Laurell makes a joke about putting the scene in one of the books. To see this amount of intimacy where a writer exposes part of her writing process and inspiration to the reader makes the reader really feel as if he/she is part of the author's world if only for a few minutes, as they recall their own misadventures in flirting.


On a bit of a downside, I did finally finish the loosely based trilogy penned by Lois Lowry: The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. I have to say I was wholly disappointed with the final installment, especially with the ending. There were some loose ends tied up and some left untied. The narration did not seem to flow as well as the previous two books and I felt less invested in the characters and more interested in where the plot twist would be appearing. You're left disappointed. Stop at Gathering Blue and you'll get a good sense of fulfillment if not closure.