Hey everyone,

I'm almost finished uni for the year yet those half hour train rides twice a day have started to drive me crazy. I seem to have read everything i own. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions on books i should read.

As some of you probably know already, I'm very much into psychological type thrillers and horror books but I'm into mostly anything really. so please help me... holidays are near and i'm bored

Keep up the writing.

Holly xx

Hi Holly!

One suggestion that I think you may like are the "Anita Blake" books by Laurell K. Hamilton. There are about 9 in the set - I think!

They would be great for "train-reading" fast paced, funny, gruesome in places, has a horror crime to solve and a strong female protagonist - Anita Blake.

She is a vampire executioner with an attitude (nothing like Buffy.)And an animator - brings the dead back to life so relatives contesting wills and so forth can find out what their poor dearly departed really wanted to happen with their estate.

Also she is brought in on preternatural murder cases by the police - that's the mystery part of the book.

As each book moves on you get to know her and her "friends" more. They include a Master Vampire, Jean Claude, a sexy werewolf, Richard, a cold blooded assassin, Edward and heaps more.

I love these books, Holly. Very addictive.

The first one is called "Guilty Pleasures."

deb

Hey Deb

They do sound very interesting. i think i'll definately have to give them a go.

It would definately beat reading psychology texts over and over to cram for an exam! lol

Thanks for the suggestion

Holly, another suggestion is to give yourself ten minutes each trip just to observe the other passengers.  This is priceless for writers - being a people-watcher.  Make up little stories inside your head about them, wonder about their clothes and their shoes and why they might look happy or sad.  Are they meeting someone or on their way to work/uni - are they happy about that or do they hate their job?  Great practice for creating characters in your own work.

It sounds boring but once you try it, I think you'll be hooked.

Hey Lou

You just suggested the single most frequent activity i engage in on train rides. I'm a psych student. Naturally I am constnatly alert to other people. You're right. Its addictive. I'm guilty to admiting that its all I ever do when around other people. I cant help myself and you're right, its a good habbit for writers to get into also. Its helpful for character development, particuarlly if you see a person that in your mind matches a particular character. You can use that person, completely unknown to them, to expand on your character detail.

Eeek i think its bed time... 1:10am and ive got a raging temperature. I hate the flu! I feel like im about to black out... so if any of my msgs posted tonight make little sense, blame the flu! lol

Thanks again for the advice Lou. Its good to see im not the only person that does that. I was beginning to think I was a freak! haha

Bye

ok here are some books I enjoyed lately...

Ghostwriting by Traci Harding (ghostly short stories with an autobiography running through it.) Also anything else she has written - double triolgy starts with The Ancient Future.

The Last Albatross by Ian Irvine (set a little into the future, about the control and demise of computers/internet running our lives)

Carolan's Concerto by Caisel Mor (fantastic Irish tale)

Oversoul Seven trilogy by Jane Roberts (trilogy in one book - a bit of a spiritual based fiction, but really interesting stuff about past lives, reincarnation, OBE's and much more.

Currently I'm reading a non-fiction book (very rare for me!!) called The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls - it's about an old Native American legend that tells of 13 crystal skulls the size of human skulls that were said to contain information about the origins and destiny of humankind (so the blurb starts off). I've only read a few pages but it seems like it's not so much a legend as a discovery thats still being revealed. A friend of mine mentioned these skulls once and that she's held two of them (a few have been discovered so far). She's very spiritually based, so I will be keen to chat with her after I finish reading the book.

Cheers Fi

That last one sounds fascinating, Fi.  Do let us know how you go with it when you're finished

Hey Fi

Thanks for the tips. I've been compiling a list of books to look for on my next trip to the local library. a week of holidays gone and already I'm bored out of my brain!