I can’t be the only one who loves that scene in The Secret Window when the Johnny Depp charter erases everything he just typed and says “no bad writing.” Good God can I identify with that.  And it’s become my motto more and more lately.  Have working really hard on Indigo Heart in the past week (77 pages in one week… and though they need to be brushed and polished a bit, I can truly say ‘no bad writing’).

In part, it was the reason I almost past up The Harlequin by Laurell . Hamilton when I was in the book store last week.  Like many, I feel in love with Anita Blake and all her undead and furry friends over the last fifteen books.  Over the last two or three I had become increasingly disenchanted.   Though I wasn’t real happy with the evolution and resolution of the last couple projects, I felt as though the characters were my friends, and just had to give the series one last chance.  Am I ever glad I did! A lot of what has been lacking in the previous two — the story, the mystery — is back. If I had one complaint it would be too see a bit more of Asher (I think he got a half dozen mentions and like one line in the whole 422 pages) and that the ending could have been a bit stronger. (Ha! another lesson from The Secret Window!) I’ve always felt that about these books though, that there is a wonderful slow build of action and then the end resolves so quickly it makes your head spin.  Overall, I was happy with the reading experience though and hope this is a sign of things to come with the Anita Blake books.