We've been having a lot of fun playing around- who knew the thirties could feel so great? It's supposed to be down to single digits when we get back to Alaska. Sigh.
I'm anticipating finishing Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series tomorrow on the plane, provided that the three-year-old monkey cooperates. I'm going to be sad- those books are awesome and I don't want them to end. If you haven't read them, you must. Yes, that's a direct order. For some reason I feel like JeanLuc Picard saying that which is totally unrelated, but whatever. Make it so.
Why do I love these books? The voice. Voice will make or break your novel. It's what makes one novel shine and another fall flat. Another book that I loved for voice is Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees. I adore characters with quippy (might have made up a new word there, but I don't care- just don't try to use quippy to win Scrabble) little one-liners and great zingers. Both of these books (well, really, six since the Percy Jackson series has five books) are written in first person and have oodles of zingy internal dialogue. I've tried to incorporate zingers (I just like that word today) into HATSHEPSUT, but it's a little different since it's written in third person.
So, two questions for you today. First, what books have you read with phenomenal voice? And second, do you like to read/write in first or third person. Or do you care either way?
Also, Shannon is having a killer giveaway contest on her fabulous blog, Book Dreaming. You should enter if you haven't already!