I finally got my two jobs to settle down for a while. Now, after finally getting some sleep for the first time in a few weeks, it feels like, I did some more writing.
And even better, because work was forcing me to take a break, I worked out some serious plot holes, I hope.
Anyway, I noticed what I liked best about the lisa kleypas books (new author I started reading. Very, very good.) is the characters and the writing. Writing is very key for me.
Does you sun set, or explode in an array of colors? Does it gently kiss the ground, sinking in to rest after the end of a long day?
I just started tom piccirilli (horror writer, usually) and he writes a lot impact into the scenes, giving the writing a hard edge. Also, there's cliff hangers in the sentences, hints of darkness to come. Overall, the writing has been very good.
That said, I just started a jo davis book. Mostly, because it's about firefighter and I love fire. I know beginner writers shouldn't complain about others that clearly are better (she's published in print, I'm not. Sob.) but, as a reader, she uses a lot of clichés and that makes the books very hard to read, I think. event he characters seem typical and the book just isn't doing it for me, which is a shame, because I love firefighting books. You know what I love about firefighting books? Fires. The men. Fires.
As a volunteer firefighter, I'll be honest. Not that many men have great bodies under the bunker gear. I've seen a lot of beer guts sucked in and gear stretched to cover it.
I still want to write my own firefighting book soon. Because, well, firefighting is one of the few fields I do now well. And I hate reading something like he unreeled the hose toward the structure fire.
The only hose on reel sis usually a booster reel, ie garden hose, and is strictly not allowed to be an only hose at a fire. A preconnect at least is required, and back up lines have to be same size or larger. Period.
The only time I saw a garden hose used was because there was nothing else available. it did keep the fire at bay, but did not do much else.
Okay enough complaining. No clichés in my books, I can't stand them. it works for some, drives me nuts. And always, always, search for the right words to describe action, etc.