Book Review: “The Ranger’s Apprentice” series by John Flanagan

I’ve read the first four of “The Ranger’s Apprentice” series and I have enjoyed them.  I don’t know that I can say I absolutely LOVED them, but they were definitely good and I didn’t want to put them down.  I think the first and second were the best, but I am excited to read the fifth.

The basis for this story is that a young boy who is too small to be a knight gets chosen to be apprentice to a “Ranger.”  Rangers are a group that serves the king and works more behind the scenes.  The boy finds that being a ranger entails more than he initially thought.  He acquires skills he never would have imagined and becomes good enough to participate and help the kingdom and his friends.

I like the characters here, especially those of Will and Halt — and Horace in the later books.  The stories are creative and the world feels real.  I would recommend it to those who like fantasy.

Finally, I can get back to work on book 2…

I’ve spent most of the past few months editing my manuscript for my first book.  It’s been long, but it’s also been good because so much of what I changed is a lot better.  There are scenes I just love.

During all of that revision, I’ve had so much I’ve wanted to write in book 2.  I have various scenes just floating around in my head that need to get on paper.  Sometimes I’ve stopped to write a few notes so I wouldn’t forget, but I haven’t written a lot of what I know is going to happen.  Now, I can do that.  I could have done some of it all along, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around two books at the same time. 

So my goal is to have the first draft of book 2 done by the end of April (which is when I am having a baby).  I think it’s completely manageable, especially since I already have about 1/3 of it written.

One last piece of news (at least I think so) is that I’ve had an idea for another book — completely separate from the trilogy I’m working on.  I like the basic premise, so I’ll have to see where it leads.

10,000 hits and some random thoughts…

So I officially reached 10,000 hits today.  Thank you to everyone who has visited and especially to those who keep coming back.  I know it’s been a little slow around the blog lately but I’ve been trying to get a few writing things done, and with Christmas and everything (my kids are out of school for almost the entire month of January), I haven’t had time to do a lot.  Hopefully one day I’ll have great news about my book being published or something.  Cross your fingers.

As you loyal readers know, I’ve been sending out queries for my novel.  I did very few in December and January but I’m ready to get going again.  Anyway, from a few comments I’ve received back, I made some changes to the manuscript.  Nothing major, but things that I think have made it a lot better.  As I went back through, I realized there were a few things that needed additional clarification or more emotional connections with the characters.  I think it’s strengthened the book.  I hope others will think so too.

On that note, and for anyone who doesn’t already know this, writing is a lot of work.  It’s not just like you can sit down and have a great story and you’re done.  The rough draft may go smoothly, but all the revisions take a lot of time and hours and hours of work.  And it’s not always fun.  Tedious is a word I would definitely use to describe the revision process.  The only consolation is that after it’s all done and you sit back and think “wow, I really like that,” then it’s all worth it.

Sometimes, when I’m not writing, I get the best ideas…

So, let’s face it, Christmas is a busy time of the year.  I also had a family funeral a few days later.  Consequently, I haven’t hardly done any writing in about a month.  It was probably good.  I was at a point where there were a few things about the book that were bothering me, but that I didn’t quite know how to fix.  And so the title for this post.  Sometimes, when I don’t know what to do, it’s better if I do nothing at all and let the problem sit in my brain for a bit.  I usually think about it as I’m falling asleep at night, and more often than not, the problem sorts itself out. 

In my current case, I think I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I think it will make it better.  It just kind of came to me one night.  I had a scene in the very first chapter where I needed certain things to happen, but the way they were happening just seemed a little forced to me.  I knew I couldn’t really cut something, I had to present it differently.  And now I know what to do.  The second section that was bothering me was  a scene where essential information was presented in dialog, but it seemed to drag.  Again, everything that was there needs to be there, it just isn’t presented right.  And now I think it will be.  So…long story short.  Although I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done, I have solved two problems that have been bothering me for months.

Anyone else ever feel the same?