Reading as a Writer: The Hounding

I picked up The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis from the library on a whim. This slim little gothic was a fascinating take on femininity and the way that male violence shapes the lives of women, even when they're doing nothing but trying to help. It was fascinating that this book was able to communicate so much about the weight that expectations can place on women, and done in a way where the POV characters were never given their own voice--making the reader complicit in the assumptions foisted on them by their community.

I also enjoyed how this book straddled the lines of speculative fiction by never confirming the answer to the community's central, gossipy question (were those girls turning into dogs??). Everything present in this book could have truly happened without any magical involvement, but the specter of the supernatural carried the plot forward.

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AMM Connect

This is my public declaration that I am officially throwing myself (bodily) in to the ring/goblet/hat as an Author Mentor Match round 7 hopeful! As someone who recently organized my google drive, I have to admit that while I've only considered myself to be writing "seriously" for about two years, I've been doing this for ... a while. I've participated in at least one Nano Camp every year since 2012. Of those, I've written "the end" on five full novels and one novella. I've queried two of those novels and the novella, and while the rejections have been very encouraging, they've all still been rejections. After spending about a year and a half working on the same WIP over and over and over, I decided it was time for something new. Currently, I'm working on a lower-YA fantasy in which a pair of 14-year olds with strange powers fight to save their town, while trying to find their places in it. Featuring giant centipedes,...

Reading as a Writer: Children of Time

A coworker challenged me to read Children of Time as part of our 2-person sci-fi book club. My heart sank when I opened the cover to read the first line: I'd tried to read this book before as an audiobook on a road trip with my husband the year before. He adored this book and was excited to share it with me, and I couldn't get through a half-chapter without falling asleep. But, since I'd committed to reading it before realizing which book it was, I sat down to finally read it. And just like my husband suggested, I flew through it. Of course, it did take three mediums to read this--I read the first third in the physical book, then switched to audio book on another road trip, then finished it on e-book during an unexpected train delay. Separate from the experience of reading the book, I felt very lucky to have access to so many different library resources to get me through the finish line! I probably would not have picked this book up if not for the joint cajoling of my hus...

Reading as a Writer: Hungerstone

I read Kat Dunn's Hungerstone because I had to. I'd exhausted all the other books in my library stack, and half of them were overdue, too. Those I read without joy, as a way to distract myself through a family health crisis. It barely worked. Everything I read for a month left me listless. So when I picked up Hungerstone, I expected more of the same. I was mistaken! I loved this book. It was exactly what I needed to pull me firmly out of reality and into the mad world of Nethershaw. It was violent without being gory, emotional without tripping any of my sensitive wires. And the voice was excellent. By the middle of this book I was debating whether I should give first person a try too on my next novel. While reading circumstances weren't great, I really enjoyed this book and will read more of this author.

Audely Bensen Writes

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