Review for Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) by Charlaine Harris

4.5 Stars. Quirky and Engaging.

Living Dead in Dallas, like Dead until Dark is a fast paced story with an action packed plot. New supernatural creatures and elements are introduced in this book, many of them much scarier than vampires. However, like the first book, what makes this story special is its characters who are each unique and well written. Even some of the bad guys have you rooting for them at one point or another. 

As with the first book I love Sookie’s personality. She’s quirky and a little strange, but her oddities are endearing. Bill continues to have his secrets, but his relationship with Sookie grows in this book and despite the fact that he keeps things from her I enjoy seeing them together.

As for Sam however, I find I like him less and less as this series continues. He’s constantly pushing himself on Sookie, and it feels like he doesn’t respect her boundaries at all. However, there were some interesting developments in his storyline in this book that relate to his love life and I think it will be fun to see how that develops. The supernatural world Sookie was introduced to in the first book in this series is growing for everyone in Sookie's life, particularly Sam.

Eric continues to make his way deeper into Sookie’s life as well, but I don’t find his methods as disrespectful as Sam’s. He and Sookie have developed an interesting friendship, and I do enjoy watching them interact. However, sometimes I think Sookie lets him get closer to her than she should knowing that he has feelings for her. At a few different points in this book both she and Bill make you question just what exactly counts as cheating in their relationship.

Overall I enjoyed this book, and will probably continue with the series.

Read my Review for Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1)

How to Make Time to Write

I've said before that if you wait around to have time to write that you'll never find it. You have to make time. However, sometimes that's easier than others. Life gets busy sometimes and when things in your life change it can throw off any rhythm you've fallen into with your writing.

Over the last few month's I've graduated with a BA in Psych, bought a house, and started a new job. For those of you who follow my blog I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been posting as regularly as I used to. I fell out of my rhythm, and it's gotten a lot harder to make time to write. But, I'm working on getting my groove back.

bookofjoe

Below are some tips I've been using to make time to write with my increasingly busy schedule.

1. Use what's going on in your life to inspire your writing, like blogging about how to find time to write when your life seems to be getting busier.

2. Schedule time to write. Put it on your "To Do" list every day, and set reasonable goals, like write for 30 minutes or even just 15. It's more important to write a little every day than to knock out a large chunk of words. You want to be able to accomplish the goals you set.

3. Make sure the time you do have to write is distraction free. Don't multi-task writing and catching up on your favorite TV show. Devote whatever chunk of time you set aside for writing for just writing.

4. Be flexible. Life changes, schedules change. If you can't write for your 30 minutes at your normal time try to fit it in later in the day or adjust your schedule for the next day. Don't give up just because you missed your usual writing window.

5. Don't give up. If you fall into a slump where you haven't gotten any writing done for a while, it's never too late to start up again.


I hope these tips help. If you have any advice to share on how to make time to write please comment below.