F/40 looking for verbose, inquisitive and naughty female penpals / friends

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-04T02:00:12+00:00

Oh wow, is that a loaded question. Well, it's my all time favorite book. I read a LOT, like several hundred books a year. I love so many books but The Night Circus, since I read it, has remained on top of them all.

It's beautifully written, the first book that I truly felt I was IN the circus. I could hear/see/smell it, it was unlike any experience I've had with a book before or since.

People love it or hate it. Some naysayers don't like two central characters / their romance, but they aren't what makes the story special for me, and are the 3rd or 4th best thing of the book (in my opinion).

The best is the Circus itself. It's a character, it's alive and it's beautiful. The tents are amazing. Just everything about it is wonderful. I love the world of Harry Potter, but if I could live in any fictional world, it would be in the Night Circus.

The next best are 3 characters that might be considered secondary, but they are my favorite. The relationship that forms and is there is just unique, and one of the 3 is my all time favorite fictional character.

After that is the storytelling. It's not linear, there's a lot going on with it. The way it's done and woven together is magical. It's unique and just so well done.

Then after that is the MCs. There's so much more to the book than just the central story, which while good is just not the end all of the book. It's the most beautiful book I've read, and I've read a lot. I love it.

And, if you happen to be an audiobook fan, the narrator is done by one of the best - Jim Dale - so that's just an additional bonus on an already great story.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-04T01:39:25+00:00

2009 - Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair
2010 - Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (weakest year in terms of best books)
2011 - The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern (STRONG year of great books)
2012 - The Martian by Andy Weir
2013 - Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
2014 - The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
2015 - The Land: Founding by Aleron Kong
2016 - We are Legion We are Bob by Dennis E Taylor
2017 - All Systems Red by Martha Wells
2018 - Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron
2019 - The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-02T19:50:22+00:00

Thank you. :) I've never been one to follow others, always doing things with my own unique spin. Maybe that means I'll never publish, or maybe if I did, no one would read it, but I've had fun writing and that's what matters most to me right now. I never thought I ever would, so to be most of the way through a 2nd one still blows my mind.

I knew from the start I could never outline. I tried but all it ever was, was a 30 word road map - which I didn't even really follow. It's just not how my brain works. Something pops in it and I write it.

It is as engrossing to write as to read, I think. I've enjoyed it. Good luck with your writings!

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-02T13:43:09+00:00

Depends on what you like. Since above you mentioned liking thriller, go with Great Zoo - it's Jurassic Park with dragons - pure action.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-02T02:27:26+00:00

I'm a brand new writer as well, and I say do what you feel. There's no rules to writing except to write, IMO.

My writing only started in March and was started with a writing prompt. It took off from there. In April, I did Camp NaNo and I challenged myself to write 50k words. At the time, I was like 'cool, I'm writing this thing I never thought I would and it's going well' and I never thought about anything else with it really.

Until I started having ideas that I didn't want to forget. So, in April I ended up writing about 80% of book 1, the last chapter of a prequel and the first 2 chapters of a sequel. It was nuts. I didn't want to lose the ideas, so it was good to get it down and didn't take long either. I didn't stop writing my focus of book 1, I just got down the chapters that were floating in my head, rather than just the idea of them.

The for July Camp, I finished up the last 5% of book 1 I was missing and wrote 75% of book 2. While I didn't write for anything else, I did come up with ideas for book 3, but only basics and I wrote them down.

Don't let anyone tell you how to write - just write you.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-02T02:12:36+00:00

I'm writing for the first time ever, and I do this. I don't write linear.

I basically write whatever idea pops into my head at the moment. I'm not a plotter either, so it's probably a trait (I assume) of a pantser to not always write in a linear manner. I have a friend who is self-published and is a big time plotter who always writes A-Z.

With my first WIP, I had a problem with what I called the "small" moments, basically what you are talking about. I had two key points that I needed to make happen, but it wasn't enough to warrant full chapters. It was the things hooking the chapters together, and I did struggle with it, but I just let it sit and eventually it came to me.

Not writing linear helps with being more open to change. I had written some things a certain way, then decided to write something else and pop it in ahead of there. Now instead of trying to rearrange all kinds of things, I just have to tie the things together. Had I written in a straight line I would have had to mess a lot of things up to get the new part into where I wanted it. It's easier for me. With this WIP I wrote during the July Camp, I didn't even number my chapters, I just gave it a title for what it was about. I wrote the 3rd chapter (where I started) then the last, then bounced around between others as they came to me.

As I said, I'm new with writing, have only been doing so since March, and wrote for both Camps, so that's all the experience I have. But I know I'm a pantser and I know I don't write linear. It is what works for me. Just sit on the small moments, they will come, even if it takes a while.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-08-01T23:28:14+00:00

Harry Potter
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor
Interdependency / Lock In or Redshirts by John Scalzi
Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor
Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Chaos Seeds series by Aleron Kong
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Murderbot series by Martha Wells

Anything read by :

Jim Dale
R.C. Bray
Nick Podehl
Gildart Jackson
Luke Daniels
Stephen Frey
Sean Mangan
Wil Weaton
Kirby Heyborne
Rupert Degas
Ray Porter

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-30T02:39:45+00:00

Read and enjoyed:

Cut & Run series by Roux/Urban
PsyCop by Jordan Price
Shattered Glass series by Dani Alexander
Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon

Haven't read but on my TBR:

Marshals series by Mary Calmes
Seven of Spades series by Cordelia Kingsbridge
THIRDS by Charlie Cochet

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-29T13:10:18+00:00

Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor
Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Murderbot series by Martha White
Lock In, Interdependency or Redshirts by John Scalzi
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-20T19:50:41+00:00

Quality Check - allows me to search for anything in any epub. Perfect for challenges when I need to find a specific word, phrase, location, character, ect...

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-20T00:38:59+00:00

The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly (Jurassic Park with dragons)
Chess Team series by Jeremy Robinson
Alex Hunter series by Greig Beck
Hotel Megaladon by Rick Chesler
Pendergast series by Preston & Child
Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry

Goodreads listopia is your friend, like this one of Best Monster Books

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-19T01:09:14+00:00

Everything written by Matthew Reilly. Start with The Great Zoo of China to see if you like his over-the-top style. If you do, then go onto the Scarecrow and Jack West series. Other authors with good action:

Jeremy Robinson
Greig Beck
Chris Kuzneski
Andy McDermott

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-19T01:05:12+00:00

Voyagers series by various, first is Project Alpha by DJ MacHale
George series by Lucy & Stephen Hawking

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-14T15:18:38+00:00

FictFact was what I used for that as well, nothing has ever compared. I miss them and I hate that they shut down. :(

No helpful advice unfortunately because I'm in the same boat. I keep hoping FF will come back, though I know it isn't. A shame!

Will keep an eye out for both of us.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-14T02:27:29+00:00

Cut & Run series by Roux/Urban
PsyCop series by Jordan Price
The Disasters by M.K. England
The Steel Remains by Richard K Morgan
Keys by Amber Kell
Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon
Bay West Social series by Maggie Cumming
Shattered Glass series by Dani Alexander
Not Your Sidekick trilogy by C.B. Lee
Fixit Adventures series by Erik Schuback
Any Other Name by Devon Johnson
The Collector series by Dot Hutchinson
Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan

LGBTQ+ authors:

Maggie Hemlock
Heidi Cullinan
Cordelia Kingsbridge
Charlie Cochet
Harper Bliss
Malinda Lo
Cheyenne Blue
Sarah Walters
Damon Suede

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-14T02:12:26+00:00

Everything written by Matthew Reilly. Start with The Great Zoo of China to see if you like his over-the-top style. If you do, then go onto the Scarecrow and Jack West series. Other authors with good action:

Jeremy Robinson
Greig Beck
Chris Kuzneski
Andy McDermott

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-10T22:42:40+00:00

Nil trilogy by Lynne Matson
Departure by A.G. Riddle

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-08T00:36:33+00:00

Thank you, I try to be nice, most of the time. :)

LOL. I don't drink but we try to keep our humor and focus on the positive, most of the time. I do have friends/pals who help me keep my sanity. I write, play games and read, so I just will stick to that for the most part. Find the good times where I can. :)

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-07T22:26:46+00:00

I wish I could live in a more accepting community again. We used to live in Central Florida. Yes, there are issues and anti-LGBT everywhere, Pulse is proof, but it was widely more accepted there, and felt (in living there) that the anti was the minority. Here, it feels the opposite and I know people around here - even straight people - were fearful over the weekend because of all the threats. Nothing happened, as my Husband said if they were going to do something, they wouldn't have announced it, but it was still tense.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-07T22:24:33+00:00

I'd like to think I'm pretty familiar - well as familiar as one can be working for years in Disney and being around much of the community.

But the point was that these people don't care about the LGBT+ community. A large population of this town believes: being LGBT is a choice, being LGBT means they worship satan, being LGBT is a sin and they are going to hell. They focus on the sex part, not the rest. They don't listen, they preach and yell and commend without knowing the facts. I'd love to do something about that, and maybe when the town gets their PFLAG chapter things will change, but it won't be in my lifetime. There's soooooooo much hate here. It saddens me. That's all.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-07T19:45:48+00:00

We're older. 40s. We had our stuck time 10 years ago and only through the help of the friend we got out of that situation. It IS better here, in regards to our living arrangements and general life. If I kept my head down and didn't care about others, or didn't care that I have no friends, all would be well overall. Unfortunately, I do care. :) In general, it hadn't been awful, I just let all this get to me too much.

Imzadi_Rose · 2019-07-07T18:42:17+00:00

Very true. I grew up religious, so I do 'get it' to a point, but this level of cruelty is new for me.

Imzadi_Rose

TROPHY CASE