Thursday Blather

In a recent bout of silliness a freshly hatched author decided to lecture readers about how to review books. KJ Charles' post pretty much sums up how I feel about this, so I won't keep kicking the dead horse. However, I have a few stray thoughts on the subject.

1. Reviews are for the readers not for the authors. This seems obvious, but even some of the reviewers themselves seem to be confused about this point. No, sorry, you're not providing constructive feedback to the author. That ship has sailed with critique partners, beta readers, and editors on board. There's no guarantee the author will ever see your analysis of their work. They are under no obligation to read it. If you're writing your reviews for them, you're on the wrong path.

2. There's no wrong way to read a book. The creative process doesn't end with the author. Every single reader brings themselves to the story and bring it to completion. Consequently, no two people experience the same piece of art the exact same way. Without an audience, any artwork is the proverbial tree falling in the forest. Of course, every once in a while you get an interpretation way out of left field. C'est la vie; best to find the humor in it.

The book either stands on its own legs or it doesn't. Once upon a time I went to graduate school, studying art. It might have been a mistake. We spent a lot of time standing around, discussing each others' work using post- and post-post-modern lingo. Or at least the others did, because I sucked at it. My opinion is the same now as was then: if the artwork doesn't draw me in on a visceral level, no amount of smart talk will help.

3. Authors don't need to read the reviews of their books. I'm too curious not to, but I don't blame anyone who doesn't. When I was an undergrad art student, we spent a fair amount of time discussing each others' work without using big words and art theory. And it was good, but it took time to get used to. You go there, proud, showing your creation to your peers and they start picking it apart. It fucking hurts. But if you listen you learn from it and get better.

I have grown a much thicker skin thanks to this experience, but when I receive that constructive feedback from my beta readers, my first instinct is still to kick against it. However, when I begin to consider their points, 99% times I have to admit they're right. The story will improve, but it's a painful process. No wonder authors who are too young and/or inexperienced can't deal with criticism. However, criticism will happen whether you like it or not, so you better buckle up.

Wednesday Word: Bollocks

bollocks |ˈbäləks| (also ballocks or bollix)vulgar slang chiefly Brit.noun1 [in pl. ] the testicles.2 used to express contempt, annoyance, or defiance.ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: plural of bollock, variant of earlier ballock, of Germanic origin; related to ball.

This is another word I want to liberate from the Brits.

I recently got rights back from a book, Academic Pursuits, and republished it myself. Of course, Amazon bollocksed it up, and I lost all my original reviews. Normally, that's exactly what I'd expect, but when I did the same thing with Hanging Loose, all my all reviews magically transferred to the new edition. There's no rhyme or reason.

So here comes the begging part: Dear Reader, if you've read and liked--or didn't--Academic Pursuits, would you please post a review on Amazon? It doesn't have to be long. Mucho Gracias!

Manic Monday

I spent the (long) weekend in Seattle, at GRNW. Tracy (ttg) did a superb job organizing the event. She has my admiration.

It was a strange and exciting experience to meet people I'd only known online before. I have slightly anxious the whole time, especially before and during my panel appearance, but I managed not make a huge ass of myself, and that's good.

By the time I got home on Sunday night I was exhausted and still recovering. No rest for me though—I have a crap ton of stuff to do.

At the time it sounded like a good idea to time the release of Dead in the Desert with GRNW, but it meant that I was mostly off-line during the release day crazies and now I'm still catching up.

It was great to see glowing review of the book at Reviews by Jessewave and Mrs. Condit & Friends Read Books.  They certainly put my mind at ease. The romance in Dead in the Desert is low-key, and I've wondered/worried if I was slipping out of the genre too much for the readers. All seems well, however.

True Romance

 

(intentionally cheesy image)

"Great romance" is full of larger than life elements. You love each other at firs sight but you can't be together. You hate each other at first sight but are forced to be together. Your separated by an impossible socio-economic gulf.  Your love is kidnapped by pirates. You have amnesia, being blackmailed, and the object of your affection doesn't know you exist. Your love is forbidden yet it is unstoppable. 

 

Fittingly, on classic romance covers the heroes and heroines with perfect skin, heaving bosoms, and lustrous hair strike dramatic poses in front of dramatic backgrounds. Contemporary, photographic covers are not quite as theatrical but the idea is the same.

 

Okay, I admit, these over the top stories can be a lot of fun. There's nothing wrong with enjoying them. I have one little problem though: I can't imagine those couples beyond the wedding bells.

 

Ordinary life doesn't fit them. Domesticity seems so unromantic—no grand gestures, moon-lit beaches, and raging seas. I doubt those couples would last long.

 

I happen to think that real romance lives in the small things. To me the most romantic scene I've ever seen is in Fargo: Margie, the pregnant police chief gets a call at dawn. She has to get up to go to the crime scene, and her husband insists on getting up too to make her breakfast, even though he's barely conscious. Now, that's true love. The movie ends with them—two ordinary people—in bed, talking about duck stamps.

It was only recently, reading Cole Riann's review of Hanging Loose that I drew a connection between my fondness of the above-mentioned scene and the type of romance I tend to write. I'm not capable of composing stories with grand gestures and grand emotions. It's just not in me, but I take pleasure in exploring love in the details. And that's pretty much it.

Release Day Ramblings

Dead Man and the Restless Spirits is officially out today, although I had a soft release yesterday. (I needed buy link for reviews so I sneaked it out.) The print version should be available for purchase in a couple of days, for those weirdos who like their books on paper. I kid. I like physical books and keep bringing them home, but I'm swiftly running out of room for them. Just the other day I had to dash to IKEA for new shelves.

There have already been a handful of reviews, mostly good, but even the ones with lower ratings had good things to say. An author responding to reviews is a minefield—some reviewers like it, others don't, and it tends to come across as chest beating. So I try not to do it, but I do appreciate the time and thought reviewers invest in their articles. They're for readers and not the author, but they often give me food for thought.

One review for Dead Man brought up Jordan Calstillo Price's Psycop series. It was bound to happen. When you write about vampires it's given that your mythology will be similar to somebody else's. However, protagonists who commune with the dead are less common. The Psycop series was among the firs m/m books I read, and a major reason why the genre sucked me in. I couldn't un-read them if I wanted to, and I wouldn't want to, unless to be able to read them for the first time again.

JCP is a hard act to follow. When I started working on Dead Man I was painfully aware that I had to watch my step not to end up in JCP territory. Some similarities are simply unavoidable, because ghosts are ghosts, and white light has its long established role in spirituality. On top of everything, both of our stories take place in Chicago. That's because the Windy City is the location of Spirit Sanguine. I've been to Chicago and love the city—except in winter—and it seemed like a nice place for vampires. LA with all its sun would've been cruel.

Overall though, I believe I created my own world. Not that I'll ever stop being a fan of Jordan's. She really needs to write that next Psycop book.

Aight, I'm done rambling. Tootles!

Random Ramblings

I lost internet connection for almost a whole day earlier this week, and I hated it. The sad part is, I should've been thankful for the break from forums and other venues of procrastination, and I could still check my email on my phone. Instead I got irritable, and went grocery shopping in a huff. Well, at least I have food in the house now.

It's hard to believe there was once a time without internet, yet I'm old enough to remember it. Hell, I can remember typewriters clearly.

 I rarely comment on reviews, but I have to say I'm very pleased with how Last Stop has been received. Not everyone liked it of course, but the books got good ratings from Joyful Jay, Tam, Smexy Books, Pants Off Reviews, Joyfully Reviewed, and Well Read. Reviews are for readers, not authors, but I picked up a few useful morsels for future reference from critical comments. 

The biggest surprise was a smacking 5 heart rating from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.  It's not a site I knew, and I realized why when I checked out the review policy page—they don't accept m/m. Yet, somehow one of their reviewers not only read Last Stop, but really liked it. That put a smile on my face.

I have a suspicion a lot of women who haven’t read m/m but find the idea of it odd would really like it if they just gave it a try. It worked for me.

 In related news: I've written a free short story in the vein of Last Stop. Its title is Seduction, and it's available on Smashwords, All Romance eBooks, and on Goodreads. I plan to make it available on Amazon too, but not till it's approved by Smashword and sent to the various retailers, including Barnes & Noble.

Making a book free on Amazon is not a simple process. You have to make your book free elsewhere first. When you upload to Amazon you're forced to price it at least at $0.99. So next you need to ask all your friends to click on the "tell us about lower price" link. Then you wait for Amazon to match it, and set the price to zero. Sometimes it never happens. There's no knowing why, but I suspect it might have to do with which other retailers carry the book.

So that's the news form Lake Wobegon LA-LA Land.

Breaking My Own Rules…

…but it doesn't count, because it's not about writing, not mine at any rate.

Over at Jessewave JL Merrow got a nice 4.5 star review on her novella, A Calling for Pleasure. It's a title she got back from the publisher and decided to re-self-publish, and asked me if I could help with the cover design. We kept the font from the original and changed everything else.

To my surprise and delight, the cover got a brief mention at the end of the review: "The cover artist, Lou Harper, has a sly sense of humor. Giggle: look closely."

Can you spot what she meant?

The Tricky Business of Reviews

Winter Warmers have received a good number of favorable reviews. I'm truly stoked about it, but it also brings me to the dilemma of how to react to them. It's a potential minefield.

Back when reviews of my first novella appeared on Goodreads, I innocently clicked on the "like" buttons. I thought of it as a gesture of gratitude. Little did I know some reviewers saw it as the author trying to schmooze in hopes of future favorable treatment, while other GR members thought I was shamelessly self-promoting. Duh!

Later on I got to see this issue from the point of view of reviewers and readers, and learned a few things. Obviously, reviewers' main concern is to remain impartial and professional—something much harder to do when you get chummy with authors.

I also discovered readers freak out when a writer butts into their discussion of his or her books, even when said author is being pleasant. I can understand it: it must feel like being stalked. Considering the recurrent author meltdowns over bad reviews, it's even more understandable.

Sure, bad reviews sting, but it comes with the territory. If you can't take them, you best ignore reviews altogether. Authors going after the reviewer only serve to make those authors look like juvenile prats.

Many authors post about good reviews on their blogs. I haven't been able to bring myself to it. It feels like patting myself on the back in public.

So I'm left with one choice: not to respond to reviews at all. Naturally, I've already broken this rule when I posted about May-December relationships, but at least it wasn't about my like or dislike of the review, but my desire to explore the subject it brought up.

I still wonder if some reviewers end up thinking of me as  a snob for not thanking them, but I can't help it. Anyway, reviews are for the readers, not the authors.