The White Plague by Frank Herbert has nothing to do with the Dune Series. In case you out there didn't know that Herbert wrote other things besides Dune.
 
This novel is about a man named John Roe O'Neill who loses his entire family in one day. O'Neill is a molecular biologist who has the knowledge and education to get back on those who killed his family, and those who he sees as responsible. His revenge, a plague that only seems to kill the females of the species. The question then becomes how does the world protect itself or save itself when there seems to be no cure, or any way to stop a plague that kills within a few days of one being infected. Of course, this is something they have to deal with after they come to the realization that the plague, and O'Neill's threats, are not a joke.
 
Overall, this was a pretty interesting book. My only issue with it was the length, as it was 467 pages and at least one third of those pages could have been condensed. I do know that a lot of Herbert's books are long and intense, so I guess I should have expected this to be long and full of information. There was a lot of talk between the male characters, which wasn't all necessary. Some of it could have been cut down as it only involved what the characters needed or wanted to do. There was too much dialogue and it really didn't get the characters anywhere.
 
I would have preferred a little less medical dialogue as well. It was a little overwhelming, which was strange as I have read several Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, who are both well-known medical authors. I think if Herbert had taken out some of the medical jargon, and had a little more fun with the story, it would have been a better book.
 
It does have some of the edge A Handmaid's Tale has, but it isn't as violent. One does wonder about the future, especially a future where there are only a handful of women left who feel the need to help bring more humans into the world. Procreation has become first and foremost, although in this case the women, at the moment seem to have the power. They get to choose who they have sex with, and who they procreate with. So, in this case they seem to have the ability to continue to control their own lives, for now. The ending of the novel leads one to believe that there are some sinister things that may go on behind the scenes or later, as things progress.
 
It was an interesting book. I thought the idea was more interesting than the actual book, only because there were times when the book was dull and excessive. It wasn't bad though, and I did enjoy the idea of it, and some of the characters were entertaining. Overall, if you are interested in disease progression try this out. It might be the science fiction, dystopian apocalypse you are looking for, even if it was written in 1982.

After awaiting the long, drawn out arrival of the novel The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, I was sad to say I was disappointed in it. The novel follows several different characters, Miranda - the princess, Katie - the quiet one, Heather - the one who takes care of the lodge, Doug - the gamekeeper, and Emma - the outsider. The group of friends, Miranda and her husband Julian, Giles and his wife Samira, Mark and Emma, Nick and Bo, and Katie, has decided to come to a lodge for some hunting and a chance to have a fun New Years Eve. Instead, one of the characters ends up dead.

This book had almost nothing to offer. It went back and forth in time between the present and just a few days before the murdered body was discovered. The nuances of a book like this is generally in the way the characters are written and the secrets of the characters who narrate the story. Unfortunately, the characters in this book aren't very well developed, nor are they at all interesting. Katie is bland and over and over laments the hard work she has to do and how difficult and dull her life it. Miranda is constantly pushing and asking questions she shouldn't, often being a total bitch. Heather is a little dull, and her character is often left questioning something. Doug is a military veteran who is at the Lodge because he can't be anywhere else, and he enjoys the solitude it provides. Emma is a young woman who emulates some of the characteristics of another character.

When one character discovers her cheating partner she bounds off and tries to make sense of what is going on. When that character dies I am not upset, I felt they deserved to die. Also, the murderer seemed to be obvious to me from the beginning of the party.

I will admit that when books like this came out (books that reveled in not revealing anything, not even who the body was) it was a little exciting, but now it is overdone and dull. When you don't find out who the body is until almost three quarters from the end of the book, I get frustrated. Also, characters who no one can like is also overdone and dull. Lastly, the fact that we change characters so often is overdone. I don't mind changing points of view, but I'd rather if it were fewer characters.

I won this in a goodreads giveaway, that took too long to get to me. I was disappointed in many things. I can't recommend this book.

I will most likely not be posting anything on this blog this coming week. I am participating in a writer's retreat, which means I will be fully immersed in my novels. I plan on spending all of the days, and all of the hours, and every minute I am a awake and not showering or eating, working on editing, and writing, and editing, and proofreading, and writing.... so much writing.

I hope that by the end of the week I have between 50-100 pages written, which I know is a hefty goal, and it is also why I will not be posting anything. Nor will I be on social media, or email, or really anything that is distracting. If I do this, I will likely have a complete first draft of my last zombie novel, I will have a complete second draft of the science fiction book I wrote last year, I will have a complete draft of my stupid things people say after someone dies book, and I will have my conversations with my cat book in the proper format for if I have to self-publish it.

After all of this, I may be on lightly, as I have work and a medical issue that I am currently taking care of. I will know more in in the next two weeks about where my life is going, and what I will be doing int he future.

But, before I go, I'd like everyone out there in internet land to wish me luck, as I've never participated in a writer's retreat, and have no idea what to expect. I have also never taken the time to immerse myself in my writing for a week, uninterrupted, 100% of the time.

So, lovely internet people, adieu, see you on the flip side of the week.

Out of the Dark stars Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, and Stephen Rea as American's who live and work in Columbia. Julia Stiles is the daughter, Sarah, of Stephen Rea, Jordan, and she has moved with her family to Columbia to take over part of her father's paper mill. They live in a fancy house with a nanny, who takes care of their young daughter, Hannah. Once their daughter disappears they realize that things are not what they seem, and their house is haunted by the past, as houses often are. Jordan has kept a dark secret from not only his daughter and her husband, Paul, but also the town surrounding the mill.

The only reason I watched this movie was because I had some time to kill while I worked on grading papers. I often have movies or music or something on in the background so that I am not sitting in silence, which annoys me. I should have chosen to sit in silence rather than watch this movie. It wasn't that it was a bad movie, but it wasn't developed and it didn't make sense why the daughter, Hannah, was the one being tortured by the ghosts when it was her grandfather, Jordan, who knew why the house was haunted.

I often don't like movies for one of two issues, one is the acting, and the other is often the plot or story, or lack thereof. The acting in this was just so-so. I thought Julia Stiles was wasted, in fact most of the characters were wasted in this movie. Stephen Rea plays another man looking for answers who is willing to sacrifice himself if he needs to, just like in the movie Fear.com. Julia shows a variety of emotions, but we don't know why she has decided to uproot her family from London to live in Columbia and work at the mill. We get almost no information about Scott Speedman's character, Paul, except that he is an illustrator for children's books. This is basically all of the information we are given about the characters. The problem with this is that I am given no reason to care about the characters, and at an hour and a half there should be a reason to care about the characters.

The plot of the story revolves around the deaths of a few children twenty years earlier, and a ritual holiday that is put on for them. The children disappeared after or just before their deaths, and no one knows where the bodies are. This movie tries to build up suspense, but the scenes are often so dark that it is hard to even tell what is going on. When the climax happens it is almost impossible to tell what is really going on because the scenes shift too rapidly between Paul, Sarah, and Hannah, and everything is dark. I don't know if it is really ghosts haunting the couple or if it is real people who are running around terrorizing the family.

The ending is predictable, which is not good for a horror film, and doesn't make it any more interesting. We never really find out why Hannah was the one who was focused on. I can't recommend this movie, This seems like one of those movies that the actors do just so they can make some money. It is too bad that this wasn't better than it was because often movies set in a foreign land can use the backdrop of that place to build fear. There are often local legends or legends that can be built upon to strike fear into the souls of audiences.

So, maybe skip this one and watch a movie like Zombie Strippers or the weirdly popular ZomBeavers.

Next week I am going to my very first Writer's Retreat, and I am both excited and nervous. I have never been to one because they have always been very expensive and I am often broke. Unfortunately, recently I have come into a little bit of money, and decided I must do one. It is close to home, only an hour away, but I will be staying in a cabin and camping is fun!

I am currently writing 3 books, editing one, and formatting another. None of them relate to each other. Of the books I am writing one is horror, one is a murder mystery, and one is non-fiction. Of the other two books, the one I am editing is a science fiction book I wrote last year for NaNoWriMo, and the other is a humorous novel about conversations I had with my cat. I am all over the place because none of my character will shut up.

I don't know what to expect from this retreat. I was expecting some homework, but I am unable to get onto their website, so I guess I should email the developers. I have a packet that I am reading slowly. I am freaking out about if my work is good enough. I am bringing a copy of each of my published zombie books, in case I need reference materials. I am gathering all of the information I have that is for the zombie series. I am starting to plan the placement and the pictures for the humorous book. I am going insane, or edging past that line.

Then there are the life issues. There has been a mass found in my lung. It is a four centimeter mass in my upper quadrant, and we don't yet know what it is, so I am distracted. Some days I am overwhelmed by anxiety and stress and I want to stay in bed crying. Some days I can't sleep because of the stress and anxiety. In a week I will have an MRI, then I am off to the retreat, then I get to talk to the doctor to find out what the mass may be. I'm distracted.

I don't sleep anymore and I worry that this affects my writing. I was an insomniac before, but now I have to find drugs to help me sleep so I can work, or I don't sleep.

I worry that I am failing my students.

I struggle every day, but I hope this retreat will help me get back on track. I don't think anyone understands what the last three months have been like. I was told about the mass back on December 17th. I have been distracted since December 17th.

This is all the honesty I have in me right now, because if I focus too much on it I may not sleep again tonight. I have students to think of, as this is the last week before SPRING BREAK! But I am nervous.

Does anyone have any tips of what to do at a writer's retreat? I am really nervous. I am always nervous. I think it is probably imposter syndrome. Then again, don't we all struggle with it?