2012 Friends For Life Bike Rally

2012 Friends For Life Bike Rally

Hey all,

I'm going to attempt this little thing they do here in Toronto, every year.  400-ish people ride their bicycles from Toronto to Montreal to raise money to fund services to people living with HIV/AIDS.

I'm doing it for that, I'm doing it for the camaraderie and I'm doing it for personal reasons, as well.

It's been seven years since I ran a marathon. 

I have a friend that says that if any of your stories are older than five years then it's time to get new stories.  By that reasoning I shouldn't talk about the marathon anymore.  I should have new things to entertain people with.

So I step back into the realm of the original story.  Of taking back my dialog and creating a current identity. 

Please click on the link above and sponsor me.  I have a goal of raising just over 2000 dollars, currently I'm at 145, so you see...I have a long way to go. :)

Thanks.
Patrick

A Feast For Crows...

While not part of my 52 books of 2012 I'm currently reading George R.R. Martin's "A Feast For Crows".  The first few books in this series, The Song Of Ice And Fire or Game Of Thrones (as HBO would have you know it), were page turners full of plot twists and characters that you feared might not make it to the next page.  This book, however, the fourth in the series, seems much maligned and hence separated from the rest of the series.  I'm getting the sense, here, that George hadn't planned this far ahead and was feeling the pressure to keep the series going.  Characters are wandering around to no avail, asking after other characters that are wandering around, lost, to no avail.

I'm going to get through it because I have faith in the next book in the series "A Dance With Dragons" redeeming this book.  But to do so I feel I might have to turn this book into a drinking game.  Anytime Brienne asks someone if they've seen her sister or Jaime says to his sister "I love you too, sister"  I'll have to take a shot.  At this rate, I know, I'll be passed out by the time a good chapter stumbles upon me.

Any hints out there, for me, in the interwebs, on how to approach this book?  I have until Saturday to finish it, as that's when the challenge I've set out for myself begins and I'm only half way through.  :(

Patrick

I Had An Idea

Okay, so my idea isn't original.  I've seen others do this, as well.  But I wanted to read one book a week for the next year.  The only reason this idea seemed 'novel' was due to the fact that 2011 is just about over and 2012 is approaching.  So, of course, with or without the Mayan curse, this idea of a book a week came at the right time.

I'm gonna forgo the 'about me' part of everyone's first post on their blogs.  This isn't my first blog and you can see, by clicking on my name or some link somewhere on this page, that I have a fairly well visited blog about my own writing projects.  If you want to know a bit about me then I would suggest giving that other blog a visit.

I use a Kobo Touch ereader and an iPad to do almost all of my reading these days.  Not because I hate paper bound books but because I live with a person that considers books and bookshelves dust collectors and clutter. Ebooks saved our marriage.  Thousands of books, not that I have that many ebooks...but I could, if I wanted, without having to build an adjoining library to the house.  I'm only saying all this because I'll be selecting books that can be found on either the Kobo books website or Smashwords or Diesel.  Basically open source ebooks, where I'm not bound to one company in order to enjoy 'said' book.  I'm not calling out anyone here, both routes have their perks.  I refused to buy an iPod when they first came out for the same reason.  At the time you could only play iTunes music on your iPod, MP3's weren't supported.  When the doors are opened and Epub is supported then I'll probably get a Kindle (there, I said it).

My first book will be Susan Hill's "Woman In Black".

 I've not read any of her other books but am interested, not because of the movie coming out, but because I, myself, am writing a ghost story, right now.  I went into it with the idea that it would be fun to write.  Bumps in the night and ghostly moaning, or something of that sort, and instead found that there were whole aspects that come off quite tricky.  Plotting and planting of seeds, are just a couple.  For research I've decided to bone up on my haunted house stories.  "Woman In Black" seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  Anyway, I won't write more until I've read it and posted my comments, otherwise I'll have said everything here and left myself with nothing for later.

Any hints or tips for books I should read, at any time, are greatly appreciated.  Feel free to use the comments on the posts, that's what they're there for.  :)

Patrick