Category: Book Topics

Here you’ll learn about a particular book or find a discussion about books and various genre.

To write is to be a pantser #MFRWauthor

Hello. My name is Dee, and I am a pantser.

Honestly, I’ve tried so hard to be a plotter but it just doesn’t happen. The closest I come is to plan things in my head. And maybe a little closer is a class I took on using motivation to plot. (Laurie Schnebly Campbell, Plotting Via Motivation, writeruniv.wordpress.com/classes) It’s a great class and Laurie is a wonderful teacher, but I still haven’t wrapped my head around how to apply it beyond the “classroom.” I think it needs practice, and if IA plotter weren’t a pantser I’d be better at practicing stuff.

I believe my biggest problem with being an organized plotter is that I procrastinate, and I tend toward the lazy. Plotting—actually thinking through the course of the book and characters and sticking to (pretty much) the plan takes discipline and effort.

And me? Listen. I agreed to marry my husband on the spur of the moment while we were driving along the highway. We had a nine-day engagement. When we decided to drive truck, we didn’t check out the company, just finished our lease, sold our furniture, and took off through four states, trusting things would work out.

So you see, I’m not much on planning, and never have been. When I climb in the car, I don’t mind taking a map but I don’t want to plan to ruin the fun Starting point, ending pointof driving wherever the spirit takes me. And like my driving, if I didn’t write by the seat of my pants, I wouldn’t write at all. Being a pantser is for better or worse, just like my marriage.

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!

Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!

Wicked Wager by Beverley Oakley!

Wicked Wager
By Beverley Oakley

♥♥ GiveAway ♥♥ 
Beverley is giving away a signed print copy of The Duchess and the Highwayman during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember there is a chance to enter everyday so be sure to follow the Blog Tour. You may find the tour schedule and locations here https://goo.gl/XTRwwr

About Wicked Wager:

Can innocence survive the machinations of a malevolent society beauty and a charismatic rake?

 Two weeks before her nuptials to her cold, harsh cousin, virtuous Celeste Rosington finds herself in the arms of notorious libertine, Lord Peregrine.

 The unexpected encounter is, at first, shocking, but as Peregrine’s charm weaves its magic, becomes a welcome distraction from Celeste’s troubles. Isn’t she already the subject of whispers due to her involvement in the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy plantation magnate? It was a role orchestrated by her demanding husband-to-be in which Celeste had failed spectacularly.

 Nevertheless, Celeste has no intention of sacrificing all of her scruples for a man she knows is only toying with her. One kiss from handsome, charismatic Viscount Peregrine will surely be enough to give her the strength to fulfil her marital obligations?

 But what if one kiss is not enough?

 With her reputation in the balance, Celeste must navigate the treacherous waters of envy, intrigue and deadly secrets, unaware she’s the unwitting pawn in a wicked wager between a ruthless society beauty and delicious, dissolute Lord Peregrine.

 Could Peregrine really be a party to such perfidious plans? Will his reckless charm be the final undoing of a young woman once respected for her virtue and piety?

 Or will Peregrine discover that true love is more powerful than greed and ambition in time to save Celeste from the terrible fate that otherwise awaits her?

Genre: Georgian Historical Romance

Buy Links:

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Excerpt:

The last of the applause drifted away and for a few seconds the shrill cries of the orange sellers held sway. Rising from his ironic bow for the benefit of his companion, Lord Peregrine held back the red velvet curtain that had afforded them privacy so that Xenia could pass through and join the throng of theatre goers descending the sweeping staircase.

 He saw that she had fallen into conversation with a club-footed general whose more than interested eye swept appraisingly over Xenia’s abundant assets, and once again Perry felt again the familiar heating of his loins that only Xenia could inspire with a mere incendiary glance.

The contours of her sack-back gown, adorned with a row of bows the length of her stomacher, recalled the more lascivious of those thoughts he’d entertained for the past decade: what it would be like to undress her, layer by layer by layer. He could only imagine how many layers there might be, but the prize would be worth the exquisite torture of restraint. He’d not revealed quite how much her proposition tonight had taken him by surprise, and the fact he’d agreed fuelled him with an odd combination of conflicting sensations: raging lust tempered by the knowledge that he’d just sunk to depths of moral depravity that might make even his uncle squirm in his grave: seduce an innocent on the eve of her nuptials.

 Except that Xenia maintained the young woman’s ingenuousness was a ploy. Still, Miss Rosington retained her standing in society as a paragon of virtue. What right had he to assume otherwise, just because it was convenient?

 He was diverted by a squeal to his left. Xenia was moving ahead, caught up by the crowd, her head bent to absorb the admiration of her club-footed general. Peregrine meanwhile found himself unable to continue, due to the fact the young woman in front of him had snagged her skirts on what appeared to be a nail or splinter protruding from one of the supporting beams. No one could move until she’d freed herself, and as Peregrine was directly behind her it was incumbent upon him to act the gentlemen and so enable the rest of the pulsing crowd to forge ahead.

 ‘Please be careful, sir, it’ll tear and it’s the first time I’ve worn it,’ the young woman warned as he took a handful of stiff silk in one hand. ‘It’s my finest.’ She twisted her head round to address him.
As her lips parted, revealing a set of near perfect small white teeth, and her worried blue eyes bored into his, Peregrine felt a jolt of something unidentifiable plummet like a stone to the pit of his stomach. No, further than that, for without a doubt his groin was reacting with something akin to roiling hunger. And, surprisingly, with an intensity that exceeded the dull throb of ten years of wanting Xenia like a frustrated schoolboy.

 Close to, Miss Rosington was exquisite, her pale white and rose-blushed skin far more lustrous than when seen from a distance through opera glasses. Her powdered coiffure, dressed to fashionable heights, accentuated high, rounded cheekbones; and with growing excitement he followed the sweep of her graceful neck to a bosom that was rising and falling with surely greater rapidity than fear of what peril her gown might face. He liked to think that was so, as her candid look met his and the connection between them seemed like the sharp tug of some inner cord, forcing him forward, his hand brushing hers, nestled beneath a froth of silken furbelows, as they both reached for the undamaged silk petticoat, now released.

 ‘No harm done,’ he murmured as she drew herself up, her companion, the black-eyed viscount to whom she was affianced, returning to claim her, drawing her away with the barest of thanks.

 All over in a matter of seconds, and at what cost? For while silk skirts and dignity had escaped with minimal damage, Peregrine was the first to concede, as he watched her graceful back with pounding heart and aching groin, that a great deal of harm had indeed been done.

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

About the Author:

Beverley Oakley is an Australian author who grew up in the African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, married a Norwegian bush pilot she met in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and started writing historical romances to amuse herself in the 12 countries she’s lived as a ‘trailing spouse’ (in between working as an airborne geophysical survey operator, a teacher of English as a Second Language, and writing for her former newspaper).

 Her Scandalous Miss Brightwell series was nominated Best Historical Romance by the Australian Romance Readers Association. She is also the author of the popular Daughters of Sin series, a Regency-era ‘Dynasty-style’ family saga laced with intrigue and espionage.

 Under her real name Beverley Eikli, she writes Africa-set romantic suspense, and psychological historical romances. The Reluctant Bride won Choc-Lit’s Search for an Australian Star competition and her Regency tale of redemption The Maid of Milan was shortlisted in the Top Ten Reads of 2014 at the UK Festival of Romance.

 Beverley lives north of Melbourne (overlooking a fabulous Gothic lunatic asylum) with the same gorgeous Norwegian husband, two daughters and a rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback.

You can read more at beverleyoakley.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fangs and Fists 3: Victor: Kate Hill

Fangs and Fists 3: Victor
By Kate Hill

♥♥ GiveAway ♥♥ 
Kate is giving away a $10 Amazon GC during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember there is a chance to enter everyday so be sure to follow the Blog Tour. You may find the tour schedule and locations here.

About Fangs and Fists 3: Victor: 

Werewolf gladiator Victor vows to escape captivity by demons or die trying–which nearly happens when his latest opponent takes him by surprise.

 Jolanda is a member of a secret pack of wolf witches who want to free their kin from the dreaded demon tower. Strengthened by the power of her pack, she defeats Victor in the arena and demands that he be given to her as a mate.

 Alone, they surrender to their overwhelming lust for each other, but Jolanda needs him for more than sex. She’s been sent to rescue the captive wolves and Victor is the Alpha she needs to help her. Together he and Jolanda plan a mass escape from the tower, hoping to strike a blow the demon masters will never forget.

Genres: Dark Fantasy, Futuristic, Paranormal, Romance

 Buy Links: 

*♥*♥*♥*15% off any order when you shop Kate Hill *♥*♥*♥*
Code: Fangs-and-Fists
Will work on the entire cart, as long as there’s one Kate Hill book in the cart. 
Only at Changeling Press

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Excerpt:

Two demon guards clad in black body armor entered the barracks. Their red eyes glowed behind dark face shields. They approached Victor and one guard said, “Get up and come with us.”

 All the guards sounded and looked alike. They were even the same height and body structure.

 Victor knew better than to refuse. There would be no point in fighting, even if he was so inclined.

 He guessed he would be going to one of two possible places. It would either be the punishment chamber because he’d killed Slate too quickly or — and this was more likely — to the demon masters who had bargained with him to kill for their entertainment.

 The guards brought Victor out of the barracks and down a steel corridor to an elevator at the end. They boarded it. Except for the soft whir of the elevator descending, there was silence.

 It stopped with an almost imperceptible lurch. The door opened and Victor, accompanied by the guards, stepped into a spacious room with an enormous glass ball in the center of it. Several couches surrounded it. While the upholstery resembled leather, Victor’s sense of smell told him the couches were covered with material that hadn’t come from any four-legged animal.

 He’d been in this room before. Here, the demons had bargained with him for the lives of his fellow gladiators, their mates, and their cubs. Here, he’d traded his integrity and his soul for their lives.

 The guards disappeared into dark corners of the room.

 Since he had no intention of sitting on the foul furniture, Victor stood near the glass ball and waited.

 The ball glowed faintly at first. Then it brightened. From within, two demon masters — one male and one female — stared at him. He knew they weren’t actually there. The ball was similar to television. He could see and hear them, but they were far away.

 The male had ink-black, elbow-length hair. Tall and slim, he was dressed from head to foot in red. The female had short white hair. Her skin was nearly as pale as her form-fitting white dress. Both demons stared at him with black eyes.

 “Your game has improved, Victor,” said the male, “but I’m afraid you still haven’t mastered the art of performing. Your kills aren’t entertaining enough, but for now that’s beside the point. We haven’t called you here to critique your style, but for another reason.”

 “We have something special planned for you,” the female continued. “There’s a new contender in the tower — one who has seen you fight and wishes to face you in the arena.”

 ~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

 Other Books in the Series:

 Bolt (Fangs and Fists 1)
Fangs and Fists 1: Bolt Buy Links:

    • Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WPqPsA


 Grit (Fangs and Fists 2)
Fangs and Fists 2: Grit Buy Links:

    • Amazon – https://amzn.to/2Umj4gP

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

About the Author:

 The child of a painter and a psychic dreamer, Kate Hill feels spirituality and storytelling go hand-in-hand. She loves the scent of gardenia, the sound of wind chimes and the taste of honey. By listening to what isn’t said, she creates works based on unspoken desires. Kate prefers blurred gender lines and many varieties of romance. In a world where passion must at times be restrained, she believes erotica is a pleasure to be shared. With her stories she would like to make her fantasies yours and hopes you enjoy the ride. She also writes under the name Saloni Quinby. Please visit her online at:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jazz Baby is part of the #RRBC blog hop!

Jazz Baby by Beem WeeksWhile all of Mississippi bakes in the scorching summer of 1925, sudden orphanhood wraps its icy embrace around Emily Ann “Baby” Teegarten, a pretty young teen.

Taken in by an aunt bent on ridding herself of this unexpected burden, Baby Teegarten plots her escape using the only means at her disposal: a voice that brings church ladies to righteous tears, and makes both angels and devils take notice. “I’m going to New York City to sing jazz,” she brags to anybody who’ll listen. But the Big Apple–well, it’s an awful long way from that dry patch of earth she’d always called home.

So when the smoky stages of New Orleans speakeasies give a whistle, offering all sorts of shortcuts, Emily Ann soon learns it’s the whorehouses and opium dens that can sidetrack a girl and dim a spotlight…and knowing the wrong people can snuff it out.

Jazz Baby just wants to sing–not fight to stay alive.

Find more books on the RRBC blog hop here.

Davida is part of the #RRBC blog hop!

Davida by Karen IngallsAugustus Saint-Gaudens was the premier American sculptor from 1880-1920. Though married he fell in love with his model, Davida Johnson Clark and their love affair lasted more than twenty-five years. This fictionalized account will introduce the reader to some of the great art, historical facts, and the moral values of that era.

The author is the great-granddaughter from this union and her purpose in writing the book is to bring recognition to Davida and remove any negative stigma to her. Her grandfather suffered his whole life from being labeled a bastard while growing up and this story is intended to remove that label.

How can a love affair last for such a long period of time? What affect did it have on his career? How did his wife and son cope with their being a second family?

This is a compelling and beautiful love story that has needed to be told.

See more books in the blog hop here.

To clone or not to clone…? #MFRWauthor

A friend as characterBy cloning here, I mean using traits of friends or family as part of your characters’ personalities. It’s a touchy thing, for sure!

I wrote a blog post years ago about five of us friends working at a company in New Jersey. I felt so close to these women—they were work sisters. One of the group died of cancer at a very young age and I wrote about how I’d first met them (they were already a working team when I joined). My first impressions were of “a blonde,” a “woman with big hair and pictures painted on her nails,” and “an aloof woman who I thought hated me.” That was exactly how I pictured them when we first met. I didn’t know them. I didn’t yet know how smart, caring, beautiful they all were, inside and out. That wasn’t the point of the blog post, either, but when they read it and responded, I had to see the post from their perspective. One woman wrote and asked was her hair really that big? Another asked “So I guess I’m the aloof one?” I felt terrible!

Now granted, a blog post isn’t the same as using friends as a basis for a book character, but the result can be the same. I have a friend whose friends asked her to make them characters in one of her books. She used different Angry friend names but some physical and personality features as secondary characters, and two out of three were angry over how she’d portrayed them. They didn’t like the parts in the book she assigned them, didn’t like how she portrayed their personalities, didn’t like… Well, you get the picture.

Another friend told me that she based a cheater and womanizer on a former boyfriend and that he would recognize himself immediately. I advised her against going that route! No need making enemies on purpose when life throws enough roadblocks our way to begin with.

In Passionate Destiny, I broke that rule. I used a former boss as the basis for Margaret. If he read the book (which I’m certain he did not), he would have recognized himself in a skinny minute. The difference is, he would have laughed! He was the nicest man in the world, but he did have a snobbish side and he wasn’t afraid to show it. That’s what I drew on for Margaret as she moved from a professorship at a New Jersey college to rural Virginia, where people have to pump their own gas and folks chat at the grocery check-out counter. So maybe the trick in having characters resemble friends or family is to be sure they have the temperament to laugh at themselves.

Creating charactersWe all view people around us—their looks, their quirks, their actions—as fodder for rich characterization for our books. We can’t help it! But when it comes to those closest to us, maybe have a talk about what you have planned before writing.

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!

Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!

History, mystery, love, intrigue: Jan Selbourne!

This month my friend and partner in crime shares a view into her real world in Oz and her writing world in the mists of history. Welcome to Nomad Authors, Jan!

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book, The Proposition?
JS: In 2015 I visited the WW1 battlefields in Belgium and France where The Propositionmillions of young men perished in that awful war. Thousands of those war graves bear the inscription Known Only to God. That made me wonder if it was possible for a soldier to swap identity discs with another whose body was unrecognizable. London’s Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial told me it was indeed possible although very risky. If caught, the soldier could face the death penalty. That was enough for me to begin The Proposition.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write The Proposition?
JS: First, emails to London’s Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial. I researched the huge Battle of Amiens which helped turn the tide of the war. I researched the military demobilizing process, post war London and the value of money at that time. I walked London’s streets, visited the pubs and inns and train stations featured in the book to ensure the background was as authentic as possible.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from The Proposition?
JS: I want readers to feel they are there with the characters.

NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
JS: I’m retired now. My working years were in the dry world of accounting.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
JS: I’ve always had the urge to write but career and family came first until a change of direction in life five years ago. I had stories to tell and the time to tell them.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
JS: I think most of them were very surprised I actually published a book!

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
JS: My books start with an idea and I am a seat-of-my-pants writer.

NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
JS: Definitely the lovely, positive reviews, they make it all worthwhile. And, I must say the biggest thrill I had was holding a copy of my first book, Behind the Clouds, [that became] Perilous Love.Perilous Love

NA: Do you have quirky writing habits?
JS: Not that I know of. Perhaps what I think is normal might be very quirky to others!

NA: Which kind of scenes are the hardest for you to write? Action, dialogue, sex?
JS: Sex scenes are the hardest.

Jan Selbourne books

NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
JS: Travel, if I can afford it.

NA: What are your top three favorite books of all time?
JS: Heck, I have dozens of favorite books but three that come to mind now are: Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, the biography of Sir Edward (Weary) Dunlop.

Perilous Love

NA: A pet peeve.
JS: Someone sniffling.

NA: Why did you choose the shirt you have on?
JS: It was at the top of the pile this morning.

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
JS: I’ll lie here for one more minute.

NA: What errand/chore do you despise the most?
JS: Ironing, although I avoid that like the plague. Coming home from shopping and realizing I must go back because I’d forgotten the main item.

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
JS: Sir David Attenborough.

NA: What are you working on now?
JS: This interview. Oh, other than that I am working on a story set in Boston and England during the late 18th century.

Lies of Gold

Thank you for this interview, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jan

Author bio:

Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales

Website 
Facebook 
Twitter
LinkedIn

Buy links:

The Proposition
Perilous Love
Lies of Gold

A Duty to History

History was my favourite school subject and I guess its never left me. It’s fascinating to learn how each era played a part in shaping our world today. Historical novelsThanks to those scholars and writers with their quills and artists with brushes, we have priceless records of empires and monarchs, exploration of unknown continents, heroes and traitors and medical breakthroughs. The Magna Carta is an excellent example of history with us today.

That puts a big responsibility on authors writing in the historical genre. If we are writing a biography, we must research the facts or be shot out of the water by a history buff. If we write historical fiction, we must research that era to provide an accurate as possible background. We can’t put our characters into the Tudor era, for instance, without portraying that period warts and all. It was colourful, turbulent and brutal.

The Regency period is popular with authors and readers because it was a renaissance of fashion, architecture, literature and music. Beneath the glossRegency couple was poverty, a rigid class system, bigotry and ruthless punishments for petty crimes. An Irish ancestor of mine was transported in chains to Van Diemen’s Land penal colony (now Tasmania, Australia). The thirteen-thousand-mile journey, with appalling food and conditions, took over three months. Her crime was stealing fifteen shillings. Granted, it was a lot of money then and the penalty of fifteen years transportation was better than a public hanging.

Perilous LoveWhile writing Perilous Love, I visited the war memorials in Belgium and France. The devastation and brutality inflicted on those countries during World War One is faithfully preserved, and visiting the area helped me portray that terrible time in my book. I walked among the thousands of immaculately kept war graves, with so many bearing the sad inscription, “Known Only to God.” One was particularly poignant. An unknown Australian lay in an unmarked grave for 75 years before he was Australian soldier's slouch hatbrought home to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.

That made me wonder if it was possible for a soldier to take the identity discs of a fallen comrade who was virtually unrecognisable. In those days, war service records were hand written with basic details of name, marital status, religion, height, colour, weight. I was sure such a thing (exchanging identities) did happen, but I had to do my research. I contacted London’s Imperial War Museum and the World War One memorial plaqueAustralian War Memorial with that query. Both very kindly replied that yes it was possible, although the chances of being caught were high and the penalty very harsh. Neither would admit it did happen but it was good enough for me to begin writing my third book, The Proposition where one man enlists to avoid prison and another enlists to avoid the money lenders.

Thus, on the bloodied battlefields of France, Harry Connelly collapses beside the corpse of Andrew Conroy. It was a risk. A hanging offence, The Propositionactually. But it was also Harry’s only hope for a future. Harry swaps identity discs—and falls into more than he ever bargained for! Shortly after his return to London, a letter arrives with a proposition which plunges him into a nightmare of murder, jealousy and greed. To survive he must live this lie without a mistake.

Could I have written both Perilous Love and The Proposition without benefit of visiting the battlefields and museums of World War One, or without writing official organizations? Sure. But the realism which I add to my books would be missing. An historical author owes her readers accuracy and realism, and I do my best to provide both!

Thanks for reading!
Jan

Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales

Contact Jan:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Break out the champagne! #MFRWauthor

For me, typing The End (literally or figuratively) has always been reason to celebrate. I love my characters, I love my plots, I love writing a book that I’m happy Celebrating The Endwith. But the thing I love the most? Getting to the end! By the time I’ve told their stories, my characters go away. I’ve never been interested in carrying on their stories into other books. A reviewer once asked me to write a sequel to my paranormal erotic romance Passionate Destiny, and while I’ve considered it, I haven’t made a move on it (yet).

Sometimes, “the end” can be something sad or distasteful. The conclusion of a relationship, for instance. Or the end of the circus parade, if you’re a Elephantscleanup person Often, “the end” means the unknown, which can be pretty scary. Is that light at the end of the tunnel something good, or the The end of the tunnel or a train?headlight of a train heading right for you? You might not know until it’s too late!

But the end of a book? It represents the completion of a creative process, the culmination of a lot of work and maybe a few tears. It’s something to be proud of—something not all that many people can do! Typing The End should be a celebration. It should be a chance to sit back and enjoy the moment for all that it means: the good, the triumphant, the zenith of writing a book.

Or maybe, as with a sequel to Passionate Destiny, it could mean something else. *sigh*The dreaded sequel

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!

Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!

Bad Reviews #MFRWauthor

I’m reminded of Shakespeare’s line in Henry VI, “…let’s kill all the lawyers!” except in my mind it’s “…let’s kill all the reviewers!” (Just kidding!) The line in the play is a mockery of what would happen if those who are meant to represent the accused are done away with. Chaos would result, along with the justice system. The writing world without reviewers would also suffer, though perhaps not collapse.

Reviewers present one person’s snapshot of a book, one person’s truth as he or she sees it, at the time they read the book, and so is not the end all, be all for the book or the author. Authors shouldn’t take it as such, either. So here are a few things to remember after you thrown a pillow against the wall (throw only soft, non-breakable stuff!) and cry into said pillow after you retrieve it.

  • Reviewers point out things wrong with our books that we can fix in our next book. Characters not cleanly drawn? Descriptions lack depth? Not enough (too much) emotion? Do better next time. Reviewers give us a chance to improve.
  • Reviewers aren’t God. They can make mistakes. They can be wrong. They can be totally off their rockers and… Well, let’s leave it there. Read what a reviewer says, evaluate it objectively to see if you feel they’re right, and then move on. Rehashing a criticism does no good.
  • Reviewers provide as much joy saying nice things as they do saying negative things. When I reviewed (yes, I’ve spent my time on the Dark Side), I always tried to say something nice even when I wasn’t particularly fond of a book. I also tried to phrase the good comments in a way the author could use it in a snippet for their website.
  • Reviewers are people, too. They appreciate being thanked for their work, even if you don’t feel like thanking them. Maybe they were having a bad day when they reviewed your book. A polite word might make all the difference the next one of your books they decide to read. Like chicken soup, it can’t hurt.
  • Reviewers are one way to publicize your book, so take everything good from a review that you can and (as my brilliant author friend, Jan Selbourne, says) flog it for all it’s worth!

Reviewers are good for the writing industry. If we are blessed with good reviews, thank goodness! If we are cursed with bad reviews, get the angst out of your system and keep on writing, taking any useful advice from the review that you can. Good luck!

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!

Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!