KonMari: It's Okay to Keep All Your Books

At the onset of the New Year, I did what I do every year and got rid of old stuff I no longer needed or wanted.  My rules are thus:

1. Do I like this item? If not, toss.
2. Do I have an actual, planned, scheduled use for this item within the next six months (or within a year, if seasonal)? If not, out it goes.
3. Exception to the rule: Family heirloom or something of great, exceptional value.

Things I got rid of this year:

• Clothes that don't fit.
• Shoes I never wear.
• Old sheets, blankets, bedding, towels, etc.
• Fabric scraps
• Mismatched plates
• Mismatched plastics
• Christmas decorations to which I have no sentimental attachments
• Household ornaments that I had no idea I was holding on to. Unless it does something, why keep it?

It's amazing how free the house feels when you get rid of useless stuff.

Two days after I started my mighty cull, the Marie Kondo memes exploded on the internet.

Marie Kondo has about thirty books in her home that truly 'spark joy' for her.  A lo of people mis-interpreted this to mean, "You can only keep thirty books and must ditch the rest."

Boy, the uproar.

What I found interesting is that the Great KonMari Uproar was only about one thing. It wasn't about clothes or kitchenware. It was about books.

BOOKS.

This is one of my many bookshelves:

We like, no, we LOVE books. They spark a great joy in us. There's something wonderfully magic in a book. I hold it in my hand and I can feel marvelousness. This could be because books saved me from reality when I was a child.

Reality was a not-nice place for me growing up. Thank goodness my parent were bookworms and had plenty of books at home. I read every single one I could lay my hands on. My folks took me to the library regularly. Even got me my first library card at age 3. (I may still have it tucked away somewhere. It's yellow. You can't miss it.) I'd come home from the horror known as school and I'd lose myself in books.

So yeah. Books spark joy. Opening the cover of a book is like opening an escape hatch. I can't imagine getting rid of any of our print books.

I've been asked if I'd get rid of any books I won't read again. My answer: I won't know I won't read it again until after I'm dead. I've gone twenty years between readings of certain books.

Now, there are books I've read once, and I know for sure I'll never read again. Those books have already left my collection because they proved their unworthiness to stay.

The rest are there for a reason.

* * * * *

I did my research and watched a few episodes of Marie Kondo. It was surprisingly good. She took a different approach to determining what to keep and what to toss, compared with other shows of similar genre.

I did learn one thing. You keep something because it brings you joy. You don't keep something because you're afraid to lose it.

Reviewing book in 2017

As you know, I took December off from pretty much everything (except getting better). This gave me a little extra time for doing some of those thing I never get to do...

...like indulge in books.

Not Wanting To Go Out meant I couldn't raid a library or bookstore, so I stayed at home and downloaded a whole lotta freebie novels.

I'm into Fantasy and Romance, so I got a whole bunch of those and started reading.

Since I am an advocate of posting book reviews, I am going to review those books I start.

Be warned: I plan on being honest.

Having started at least twenty books,  I have this one thing to say about indie freebies: a lot of them were not ready for publication. Some of them were, and they held my attention to the end. A couple of them even enticed me to buy more in the series, and one of them is seriously pushing my "Kobo-preferred" policy by being good enough to get me to buy the rets of the series on Amazon, though I dislike reading on a laptop.

Of the ones that weren't ready, if I couldn't see any value in my reading on, I didn't finish the book. There's far too many books out there for me to waste time finishing a bad book. If I didn't finish, I will explain why.  Also, I reserve the right to refuse a book purely because of taste. I might not like a book other readers love. If so, this doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of the book.

I plan on posting reviews here, and, depending on reasons, will do the author a solid and post reviews to Amazon. While it can hurt hearing not-so-good things about a book, every author needs to hear that sort of thing. It's just best if said author can hear it before the book is published and not after.

__________________________________
Her Grace has a few beta mss she needs to read as a favour to a couple of fellow authors.

You NEED fiction.

Get absorbed by a good book.

So here I am in the first week of NaNoWriMo and not doing too bad. (Check out my progress.)  As a professional author, my time is not only about the wordage. It's about the rest of the craft as well, from editing to publishing to marketing to developing a relationship with my readers.

As I'm reading through a marketing blog, I came across this quote from the (non-fiction) author:

"Nobody NEEDS fiction. It doesn’t solve any of life’s problems – other than an escape from boredom."

At this, my eyes bugged out, my jaw dropped and my inner child threw a toddler tantrum.

THAT IS SOOO NOT TRUE!! We need fiction very much.
Fiction serves a very necessary need in our society. It provides a very necessary mental health benefit. You ask many a dedicated fiction reader and they will tell you why they read. It certainly is not to relieve boredom. No way.

Reading fiction provides the following benefits:

• Escape from reality. Reading a book is like taking a little mental vacation. We have work, we have school, we have housework, paying bills, driving in traffic, parenting and a whole slew of Adulty things that need doing and that demand our spoons. Losing oneself in fiction lets you refill the cutlery drawer--essentially, recharging one's mental batteries.
• Outside-the-Box thinking. The reason we love fiction is because it is so different to our lives, and yet so similar to our lives. Here was have different characters in different situations, maybe even different worlds, yet they have problems just like us. Problems they need to solve. By looking at how they solve their problems, we might learn different methodologies or different approaches, solutions we could take back into reality with us and possibly apply in our own lives.
• Stimulates our Creativity. When we read fiction, we need to imagine the characters, their world, their situation and more. This exercises our creativity. Creativity is a necessary life-skill for problem solving and personal growth.
• Improves brain connectivity and function. Or so say the neuroscientists, especially if the book has a strong narrative line.  (Note to self: construct strong, intricate plots.)  Here's the study.
• Develop a better understanding of Humanity. To be strong members of society, we need to have a strong understanding of our fellow human beings. Fiction helps with that, especially if you read a variety of genres. Thomas and Ernestine get this.
• Teaches us the skills of Empathy, Curiosity and the Acceptance of Change. The plot of a book is all about change. It's inevitable. By reading fiction, we learn that Change is normal and to be expected. When you read, you're curious about what's going to happen. Curiosity is a good thing. It makes you pro-active. Change is going to happen to the characters. As we undertake this journey with them, we might recognise elements of them within ourselves. This empathy improves our inter-relational skills.

To that non-fiction author who thinks that reading fiction is merely a boredom reliever, fie on thee! Do thyself a favour and go read more books.

Here's a few to get thee started:

As Good As Gold | For Richer, For Poorer | Marry Me | A Lady of Many Charms (free!) | Her Endearing Young Charms | The White Feather

Question of the Day: Why do you read fiction?

______________________
Her Grace has just polished off a 40g bag of Jelly Belly.

Reading

By 橘川琉璃 

Admit it. You're here because you enjoy reading.

Me too.

There's something addictive about reading a book. I read for escapism, to be entertained and to be educated.

Growing up, I was used to everyone around me reading. It wasn't until I got to university that I encountered people who didn't read. (!!!OMG!!!) It astounded me. How could anyone not read? That was like, how can anyone not eat every day or sleep? I always had a novel in my bag.

Reading is not like chocolate, where, if someone doesn't like reading, it means more books for the rest of us. Quite the opposite. Books thrive on having lots and lots of readers. The more readers there are, the more books there are. They feed off each other like symbiotes.

By gum, everyone should read, even if their reasons for reading differ.

Question: Why do you read?

During and after university, I found myself in a world that had fewer and fewer readers. Soon, it seemed like nobody ever read. However, once I became an author, the readers came out of hiding. "You've written a book? I'd love to read it."

Sure. Go right ahead. I've written several.

_______________________________
Her Grace shall always be surrounded by books, no matter their format.

New Books

Onderwijsgek loves a new book.

There is a certain thrill I get when I see a new book out by an author I enjoy. I go all fangirly and I must have it.

'New' doesn't necessarily mean recently published. If I've discovered an author who's been around for yonks, read everything of theirs I could find, and then something else of theirs shows up--a previously unknown series--that's just as good as if they'd newly published something.

Rather, it's a blend of something new with something old. I know and love certain authors. They're familiar and comforting. So when they have something new come out, I have a pretty good idea what I can expect. But it's a new story taking me to new places in the company of someone I know. A literary road trip with friends.

I don't feel the same when I see a book by an author I haven't read, even if it's a book with themes I adore. It's like I'm a bit skeptical until I can meet the author's work and fall in love.

Then the second book? Squee.

Question: What makes you get excited over a new book?

_______________________________
Her Grace used to feel like this over every book she's never read. But now she's settling in her old age and her tastes are refining and defining themselves.

Indie Books

Yes, I will read Indie Books.  Why not?

What works for me:

• Price point. Indies are often cheaper than commercial books. Some of the more clever indie authors also lead with a permafree, giving me a chance to get hooked on their series with no financial outlay.
• Daring-ness. I've found indie books who have taken chances with their characters or plots in ways that would make a commercial publisher cringe. I'll read whack-a-doodle, if it's constructed with skill.
• Release schedule. Back in the Old Days, I had to wait a year for the next book to come out. (I'm looking at you, Wheel of Time!)  But indies release on a quicker schedule. I can get two books a year, or even four books a year in a series. This quicker release schedule means I can get my fix faster. Also, if you're one of those annoying people who will only read a series if the whole thing is out, indies will release the whole series, regardless of how bad sales are. Commercial publishers have a reputation about not releasing the whole series because sales were poor for the first two books.
  If you are interested in a series put out by a commercial publisher, please buy the first book, even if you don't read it at the moment. If sales aren't good, the rest of the series might not ever be released, and you and the rest of the world will miss out.

What doesn't work for me:

• Quality control. This is left entirely up to the author. Some treat the indie publishing process with a level of professionalism. Others don't, and it shows.
• bad editing
• bad layout
• bad cover art
• bad plot/characters
• Availability. I read .epub on a Kobo. Sometimes I come across an author who is only on Amazon and their books are on Kindle DRMmed. (secret: without DRM, I can convert a book I purchased on Amazon to .epub and read it on my Kobo. I have a hard time reading Kindles on my laptop, and have bypassed exclusive Amazon books with DRM.)
  I guess 'availability' could extend to ebook vs hardcopy. I know some of my (potential) fans have asked if my TWRP books are also available in hardcopy. Alas, they're not, but that's a decision of the publisher, and one I understand from the back end. Fret not, Her Endearing Young Charms (out 20 May 2016) will also be out in paperback as well as ebook.

Question: What do you love/hate about indie books?

____________________________________

Her Grace is going hybrid, but still enjoys the teamwork of commercial publishing. Some day she'll make an agent very happy.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Okay, under pressure from my fellow Reiders, I am participating again this year. I will also take on board the lessons I learned from last year for a better blogging experience.

Goals this year:

• Short and sweet posts.
• Interesting is optional.
• All AtoZ posts will be connected to reading books in one way or another.
• Questions for visitors are mandatory.
• TASE Day is always on-topic here.
• Will I ask you to read my books? Yes I will.

__________________________________

Her Grace is questioning her sanity and may rant from time to time. She finds it most interesting to note that at the time of signup, she is blog # 1701. This is a very cool thing. (Guaranteed this number will change, but for today, she is the Enterprise.)

What will make you put down a book?

While Agent Extraordinaire Janet Reid (aka Miss Snark, aka Query Shark, aka Queen of the Known Universe) is on vacation, she left some topics for us exiles of Carkoon to mull over.

Today's topic: What'll make you not finish reading a book?

Yup, we went to town in the comments.

As Heidi-come-lately, I weighed in with my opinion at the very end, as I'm 12 hours out from everyone else. I thought I'd expand on those thots here. Also, I would like to know what would make you put down a book?

Some of us readers are die-hards. Once we start a book, we are committed to finishing it. (I was once like that, then I got old.) For most of the rest of us, we realise that life is too short to waste on books that simply aren't doing it for us. I have no compunction over not finishing a book if it's not working for me.

Things that'll make me put a book down:

• Voice'n'style that's difficult to read (including too many grammar/spelling errors--common in indie books published before their time, alas). I love a voice with rhythm and pace, something that carries me along. It's got to have a certain cadence. 
• Too many swear words. Swear words are powerful, especially the F-bomb. That's why they're used as swear words. Because of their strength, I feel their use needs to be limited. If a text is peppered with them, it throws off the power balance and ruins the tension of the scene for me. But the occasional one, placed for best effect, in my opinion, works very well. 
• Unlikeable characters. Why on earth would I want to know their story? If I find a character unlikeable, I don't want to spent too much time in their company. And that may mean putting down the book for good. 
• Rape scenes, more for the unlikeable character aspect, rather than the violence (though that is also a big factor). A rapist is a pretty nasty character. Why would I want to spend company with him or have to cope with the emotional devastation he's racked on his victim(s)? 
• Sex scenes that don't have significant impact on the plot. I know, I know, I'm a Romance author, but sex scenes for titillation's sake just doesn't do it for me. If a sex scene furthers the plot, I'm okay with it. (Currently, I have no sex scenes in any of my Romance novels, but have a few in my Fantasy novels, and they do serve to forward the plot.) I will skip through some of the more graphic sex scenes in Romance novels as I tend to find them dull. If the novel is mostly sex scenes and the plot or characters aren't working for me, I'll put it down. 
• Lack of optimism--One of the reasons I refuse to read most literary novels. I've encountered far too many that are all doom'n'gloom with no light at the end of the tunnel. If I'm reading any book (regardless of genre) and it's not got any hope or light or hint of positivity, I'll give up. I read for escapism. I've got enough grief in my life; I don't need to add to it through fiction.
• Pacing too slow. Ain't nobody got time for that. I like my fiction groove to moove. 
• Dull plot with no other redeeming characteristics. I love plot. If you don't have a good enough plot, and you don't have anything else to make up for it, it's bye-bye.

I recently read an indie author who had a hooky voice'n'style and appealing characters, but was absolutely hopeless when it came to plot. I read to the end, but felt disappointed in the tepid plot arc. As his voice was a MAJOR redeeming feature for me, I attempted another of his novels. This one was more character-based, and worked better. Still, I believe he could have been one of our literary greats, if it wasn't for his appalling plot skills. So sad.

_________________________________________
Her Grace wants to know what will make you put down a book?

eBook readers

I've always loved sci-fi gadgets. They're so cool!

And now that we're in the 21st Century, many of the sci-fi gadgets I dreamed about as a child are a reality (except for lightsabres. I'm still waiting for one of those).

One of the nifty things I love is an eBook reader. I read on a Kobo Aura HD. It's got a touch screen and the most beautiful backlighting I've seen on an electronic device. 

I could read the thing for hours. (Waitaminnut. I do.) I've got nearly 900 books on my little cutie, and more are added every week.

While there is an old-school charm about print books, how they look so good on a shelf, how you can easily loan them to friends who never return them, how you can drop it in the tub and not worry about electrocution (or the mad, wet dash for a tub of dry rice), I must confess I prefer the convenience and ease of ebooks.

What I love about ebooks:

• Lightweight. A thousand books weighing about 200 grams? Awesome. Not to mention the ease of carrying an ebook reader around. Few single books weigh less than my ebook reader, even with its protective cover.
• Convenience. My ebook reader boots up as quickly as it would take for me to open to a bookmarked page in a traditional book.
• Night reading. My Kobo Aura HD has a lovely easy-on-the-eyes backlight with adjustable brightness. Perfect for reading in bed at night. And should I fall asleep, the ebook reader will turn itself off after bookmarking my page. If I had had an eBook reader as a child, I would never have gotten any sleep!
• Access. If I want to read the next Mary Robinette Kowal, I can. My Aura HD connects to the KoboBooks bookstore and I can have any book I want in their catalogue in less than a minute. As for library books, it's a little bit more of a song-and-dance, but even so, in under five minutes, I can check out eBooks from my local library.
• Go-go-gadget coolness! Those readers who are nostalgic for the old-world charm of a print book can be nostalgic for that. However, as a child of sci-fi, my skiffy soul is thrilled with the sheer gadgetryness of an eBook reader. You can be nostalgic for the past. I long for the future.

Currently AS GOOD AS GOLD and FOR RICHER, FOR POORER are available on KoboBooks, and other good eBook retailers. So if you're a Kindle fan, a Kobo lover (like me) or a Nook addict, you can read my books.

My next three novels will also be available as eBooks.

__________________________________

Her Grace is looking forward to the day when books can be uploaded directly to one's brain.

The Memory of Love

Someone I know is re-reading one of David Eddings' books (Book 3 of The Elenium). I hope she's enjoying it. I did when I first read it.

I am afraid to go back and read Eddings' books. I read them in the 80's and loveLOVEloved them. They, especially The Belgariad, were formative books for me and my writing career. I remember them as fun, adventurous and eucatastrophic. They occupy a warm spot in my heart next to The Great Adelaide and Granite Youth Symphony.

A few years ago I came across a couple of Piers Anthony's Xanth books, another series I loved as a teen. So when these short little books showed up unexepectedly, I snagged them and dove into one, hoping to relive the exuberant and silly fun of my youth.

What. A. Mistake.  I read the first book in ever-growing horror. Were these books truly this bad and teenage me hadn't a clue when it came to taste in literature? In case I got the One Bad Xanth Book, I abandoned the first and began the other.

Nope, it was as bad as its companion. My lovely childhood memories were shattered. How could I not see the appalling plotline, the sexist characters and trite style in my youth?

Since then, I've been afraid, almost terrified to revisit any book I once loved. While I would love to read them again, and fall in love again, I have no guarantee. Sometimes the memory of love is better than the chance of losing it.

_________________________
Her Grace has lost many things she's loved, so she's doing her best to hang on to the ones shes got left.

"A book did put me in hospital once..."

Had an interesting chat with the phlebotomy nurse who interviewed me for my blood draw last week.

When she learned I was an author, naturally, she was interested in my books, especially as she loved historical romance. Yay!

Alas, when she learned my latest book was ebook only, she winced.  "I prefer real [dead tree] books. There's just something about a real book."

I don't blame her. There will always be something romantic about the print format that ruled a half-millennium.

Young Elspeth in Bed with a Book
by Robert Sivell

"That said, A book did put me in hospital once."

Normally when books put people into hospitals, it's because they've dropped a Biology textbook on their toes, or someone whacked them across the back of the head with a Literary Classic (those litrachoor books can make for some very violent readers). Also, authors are committed by the handful, as they work on One Too Many Edits.  Sends one round the bend, it does.

This lovely bibliophile had come across a beautiful old copy of "Wuthering Heights", so old that the pages cracked apart as she read it.

Alas, this moldy old tome was, well, moldy. As she devoured this Bronte, she also inhaled mold spores that made her very sick--thus, the trip to the hospital.

We had a chat about eReaders (especially how much I love mine) and how convenient they were.  Their convenience makes up for the lost romance of  "romans".  I told her about eInk and how an eReader could hold hundreds and hundreds of books.

By the end of the conversation, she was leaning towards giving it a try, especially if it meant she could take several books with her when she travelled.

Next time I shall have to show her this ebook cover:

This one Run For Cover is available from Red5.

Or this one:

Strawberry Roan made her own. Clever!  Must try.
She's got step-by-step instructions.

Naturally, I pointed her in the direction of my book, which, coincidentally was free last week.  I hope she picked it up and enjoyed it.

That's why I write books; I want to make readers happy.

And not to infect them with mold spores.

_________________________
Her Grace confesses she would like to infect readers with an insatiable thirst for her novels.  She's had that disease in the past before and highly recommends it.

What to read next when you loved what you just read?

When I worked at the library, we'd often get readers in who said something like, "Man, I absolutely LOVE Georgette Heyer!  But now I've read all her books? Who else writes like Heyer?"

We had a loffly little reference booked called "Who Else Writes Like...?"  We could look up a favourite author and make some recommendations. Granted, we didn't need it too often, because each library staff had their areas of expertise.  But sometimes someone would throw us for a loop.

Now, Who Else Writes Like...? is online. If you didn't know that Marion Chesney is similar to Georgette Heyer, Who Else Writes Like...? might be for you.

It is a paid service if you're getting an individual membership. (They do offer a free trial.)  However, if your library has a membership, you can get access through them. Check with your local library for details.

WEWL only lists authors who have a minimum of three books published (with the exception of major prize winners), so if you're looking for a debut author, you might have to rely on the old-fashioned method of asking a mate.

___________________________
Her Grace goes through phases of adoring a certain type of storytelling and will search out authors of a similar nature.

I'm on Goodreads

I've recently joined Goodreads.  I've also added "As Good As Gold" to Goodreads.  Go add it to your Want to Read, Currently Reading, Read list, depending on status. If you've read it, please leave an honest review.  Ta muchly.

Meanwhile, I'm reading and rating books on there. I'm happy to take recommendations.  I'm always on the lookout for more good books.


___________________________________
Her Grace has always been an avid reader.  Fond of bookshelves and libraries, she'll take any opportunity she can to read a book. 

Any Time But Now

I am not into contemporary romance.  It just doesn't sing for me.

I love historical romance. I love futuristic romance. I love otherworld romance. Anything, anytime, anywhere but here.

Maybe this is because I read for escapism.  Historical fantasy paints an idealised picture of romance in a different time period, safely glossing over the majority of social woes, disease, war and more. Futuristic and otherworld also aim for a more idealised portrayal of worlds that don't exist.  Worldbuilding in these categories can be done well enough for readers to suspend their disbelief.  Ignore the ubiquitous poverty and rampant chauvanism of Regency. Forget the disease and war-torn Mediaeval. Bypass burnt-out humanity in the future.  Get to the good stuff--love never dies.  We're all in it for the HEA.

With contempo, everything has to be as real as the author can make it. Anything that's not honest and real feels fake. You can't get away with tweaking the worldbuilding.  And I love me some good worldbuilding, larger-than-life.

Also, I think the dialogue may have something to do with it.  Contemporary dialogue simply isn't romantic enough for me.  "Hey, Baby," might be a commonly-used pickup line, but it doesn't do anything for me.  If anything, I find it a bit of a turn-off.

So give me romance in some setting other than the Here and Now. Take me to someplace I can never go. Thrill me. I live in the contemporary world every day. It can be a bit tedious at times and downright disappointing.

Sometimes I just wanna escape.

_____________________
Her Grace has always wanted to visit Narnia.  Ever notice how a wardrobe and a TARDIS are similar?

Influencing Quality Regulation in Self-Publishing

With so much self-publishing going on, is there any way of influencing quality? 

It does come down to individual taste.

One method could be by reviews.  

This system already exists but is, I believe, under-utilised.   

Why?  Maybe because people forget that they are allowed to rate books.  We +1 Google posts. We favourite Tweets. We Like Facebook posts, and the list goes on.  So why don't we rate books more often?  Amazon allows it.  GoodReads allows it.  Heck, my local library allows it on their catalogues.

eBay, that ginormous online garage sale, uses a self-rating model to improve the quality of its transactions.  If nobody knew you were an asshole, you'd probably get away with poor service, ill-described products and other sins for quite some time.  But because of feedback for our transactions, everything is open and (mostly) honest and aboveboard.  Sure, there's a bad transaction here and there.  Nobody is perfect. Yet to see most sellers and buyers with 99.X% positive feedback is heartening.

Perhaps when it comes to books, as readers we need to up our game, especially for the small press, the indie publishers, the self-publishers.  Honestly, why are we bothering to give a review of Twilight or Hunger Games or Harry Potter when there's so many other midlist and debut authors whose work is in greater need of our honest feedback?

Are readers afraid of leaving a bad review?  How many of us were raised with "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"?  In casual face-to-face conversation, this is a very good rule.  In business, maybe honest is a better policy.

As readers, we're consumers of a product.  Providing feedback in the form of reviews lets us share our opinions.  If a book's good, we need to say it's good. If it's bad, we, likewise, should say something. 

Three Stories

Story #1:  Once upon a time I came across a blog somewhere about Really Bad Book Covers. (Forgive me, I can't remember which one.)  One post was dedicated completely to one self-published author.  Yes, his covers were truly hideous.  But it wasn't a case of good author/bad artist.  I looked up the author on Amazon and had a quick peek inside several randomly-selected novels.

Oh dear.  Spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and a few other issues that even a half-drunk editor would have picked up on.  The work had not been edited and it showed. 

And the poor guy had written and self-published a good thirty-something novels.  I checked out early novels and his later novels.  I did not notice any significant changes between the early works and the later works.  This guy was getting no feedback.

Not a single review was posted at all under his Amazon page.  Have no idea how many copies he's sold.  Apparently nobody wanted to admit they'd bought one.

I checked out his books on GoodReads.  Five stars across the board, except for one, which was three stars.  

Oh, really?  How come?

When I had a look, the guy had self-reviewed and had rated himself highly. He was the only reviewer on his books.   The one book with three stars had two ratings, his, and another reader's. The reader had rated the book a low one star, mostly because of plot reasons.

Had he received several bad reviews, would this author have considered revisiting his [many] issues and create a better product based on consumer feedback?

Story #2:  As an apprentice writer and university freshman, I had the opportunity to attend a creative writing class at university.  Before that class, I thought I was a pretty good writer. I'd written several short stories, personal essays, poems, even three novels by then.  I thought I was doing rather well.

Then I workshopped a piece.  

Oh, one had never seen such terrible destruction of a piece of writing!  Had my vocation not been The Word, that class alone would have turned me off writing forever. (But I persevered throughout my university career, through even worse classes than that.  I survived.)

One thing I did learn was that I had not enough master of the craft to see the blatant mistakes I was making. Feedback gave me that. The taking apart of my work was not done maliciously.  The feedback was correct and justified.  I am a better writer today because if it.

Story #3:    Harry Potter.  The reason it did so well out of its initial first print run of only 500 hardcovers was because people read it AND TALKED ABOUT IT. 

They gave their honest feedback.  And look what happened.

Word-of-mouth is one of the best marketing tools there is.

We should use it more.

_______________________

Her Grace likes telling people about the good stuff she's read.  Likewise, she'll also express her disappointment in a novel that didn't strike her right.

Read Someone New

We always have our favourite authors--comfortable go-to stories we enjoy over and over again.  I love drinking through a Marion Chesney or Julia Quinn.

We might have discovered these authors based on someone's recommendation, or we might have been hooked by the cover and/or back cover blurb.

As I spend an occasional hour or two working at a library, I have access to all the new fiction that comes through the doors.

Because of this, I'll often read someone new.

How often do you seek out new authors, especially ones you've never heard of?

Kind of scary, isn't it?  What if I don't like their book? What if their style doesn't gel with me?  What if I don't get along with their characters?

And I say, how will you know unless you give them a try?

Every author, EVERY. AUTHOR, was once a debut author with no backlist, no reputation, nothing.  Yet they made it because plenty of readers thought, "Ooh, I ought to read that book."

Today, with the advantages of the Internet, we can scout out a potential author's online presence.  Maybe they've got a few short stories you can read.  Amazon and GoodReads might have reviews.  Also speaking of Amazon, there might be a preview of the first chapter of their debut book.  You can have a taste. If it hooks you, give that author a chance.  (If you give them a chance, do them a favour and leave an honest review of their work somewhere.)

Jennifer Jackson gave me a copy of an Ace/Roc Sampler, featuring several debut authors.  Being in Australia, I don't get as much exposure to debut authors from the US.

This is who they are:

M.L. Brennan  Generation V (American Vampire #1)--urban fantasy.  First page caught my interest not because the main character Fortitude Scott (what an American name!) was a vampire, but because he had a degree in film theory.  (My degree is in film studies, essentially the same thing, only my degree featured a whole lotta hands-on film experience.  Extras don't end up on the IMDB, but film crew does. Not much street cred, but street cred nonetheless.)  Also, the voice was fresh, flowed well and was hooky.  Would I read this book based on the first page?  Absolutely.   M.L. Brennan is a win.

Stella Gemmell  The City--epic fantasy.  Turns out this is the wife of the late David Gemmell.  The style is very rich, and didn't quite hook me at first.  would I read this book based on the first page?  Probably not.  But that doesn't mean I wouldn't persist for a few pages to see if it grabbed me.

Django Wrexler The Thousand Names--epic fantasy.  Now, why do I know this name? Wracking my brain to figure out where I've seen him before.  (Possibly the Online Writing Workshop? Or maybe Podcastle? Can't recall.)  Anyhow, his epic fantasy style is not as heavy as Gemmell's, so it hooked me better.  Also immediately, we meet three weary soldiers with very different personalities.  Yeah, I'd read on.  (Man, I wish I could recall where I've heard this name before!  Driving me nuts.)

Luke Scull The Grim Company--quest fantasy.  Ooh, wizards challenging gods. I likes me some of that.  Also a sucker for quest fantasy, as long as there's interesting twists in there.  I was spoiled by the quest fantasies of the 1980's.  This, however, didn't grab me as much as I wanted it to.  Still, I'd persist in hopes that it would grab me. The character Brodar Kayne might appeal to me on further reading. He's a man with baggage.

Alan Averill The Beautiful Land--urban time travel sci-fi.  The plotline sounds wonderfully complex.  Takahiro O'Leary's Day Job is to investigate other timelines for his company.  Then his company wants to exploit some of the info he brings back, thus threatening the existence of the woman he loves--who has PTSD from the Iraq War.  Then a third party comes along and wants to destroy everything so they can get to one of the alternative realities called The Beautiful Land.  Man vs everything that wants to mess up his life. First page caught my interest, but the genre isn't my cup of tea.  Would I keep reading?  Probably not, purely because of my personal taste.

But then I read this.   And this completely changed my mind.  It's a star-crossed love story!  I'm totally up for that.

Also been scrolling through his blog.  I like this guy.  Go check him out.

Anthony Ryan Blood Song--epic fantasy.  Battle monks.  Deprived heritage and family abandonment (with reluctance).  The chance to lose oneself in the saving of the world. Oh, the conundrums!  The premise sounds good, and the first page was even better. I love a good blend of setting, character and plot. This was well-balanced and drew me in.  I'd definitely read more of this.


Overall, these look to be fascinating books, regardless of my taste.  I am sorry that there was only one woman among the five men. I would have liked to see more female debut authors in the mix.

____________________
Her Grace wishes she had more time in the world to read.  There are so many good books out there waiting for love.  Because she can't read them all, she encourages you to help shoulder the burden.  Go find a debut author and read them.  Be kind, leave honest reviews.

Read lots, says Teddy.

Book Riot had an excellent post from Jeremy Anderberg on American President Teddy Roosevelt's thoughts on reading.

Framed into about ten rules, it covers topics such as, "Read what you want."  "Read lots."  "Don't be ashamed of what you read."  "Novels are good for you."

I found it interesting that a man as busy as Teddy Roosevelt managed to read an entire book before breakfast. (Meanwhile, I have a hard enough time believing in one impossible thing before breakfast, ne'ermind six.)   Hint: he was a speed reader.

Thus, today's questions:

Can you speed read? If so, do you enjoy devouring your books in that manner?

Me, I prefer a nice, leisurely pace when I read.  I'm a movie major and picked up the habit of slow reading for pacing from school.  Sure, it takes me longer to read a book, but I like it like that.

_________________
Her Grace once learned how to speed read.  It is, however, a skill, like tap dance, she failed to retain.

Read Non-Fiction

They read non-fiction in Victoria.

Read non-fiction.  I do.  And not just for research either.

I can hear several of you out there going ick!  (Take a moment to list the reasons why you don't like non-fiction.  Then go find books that don't have those reasons.)

If you don't like non-fiction, you're reading the wrong kind.  Believe me, there's a wide variety of non-fiction out there.  If there is not a selection of non-fiction out there that would appeal to you, you must be a very dull person indeed. (Now, I doubt that, so it must be a case of you not having found it yet.)

When I say non-fiction, what are you thinking?

Have you considered:

Memoirs
Biographies
True-Crime
How-To/Manuals
Self-Help
Financial books
Magazines and Newspapers
and more?

These are all non-fiction.  Essentially anything found in the "Dewey Decimal Classification" shelves at the library are non-fic.  (Technically, fiction also belongs in DDC, under numbers such as 813, etc.  But they are often shelved separately, as some people have issues telling fantasy from reality.)

If you are not a regular reader of non-fiction, how about you go browse the non-fiction section at the library and select something.  Everything's arranged by category, so like stuff is easy to find.

Don't be afraid of non-fiction.  It has its advantages:

1.  You don't have to read the whole thing.  Really.  You can read bits and pieces and get out of it exactly what you want.
2.  There's always another book just like it, if you do choose to read the whole thing, or want to know more.
3.  If you don't like one book, go find another.  (oh, wait. That works for fiction as well).

So... gonna give it a try?  If you browse through my TBR piles, you'll often see some non-fic in there.
_________________________________
Here's some long-winded opinion on a few of the above-mentioned non-fiction categories:

Memoirs:  These are real-life stories of people who have lived and shared this blue marble with you.  Personally, I find it difficult to read memoirs, especially contemporary memoirs (as my preferred genre is escapist fiction).  However, every once in a while I'll come across a memoir with a subject and theme so compelling I can't help but read it.

Truth can be stranger than fiction.  Frex, I read a memoir last year of a mother who travelled to Central America in search of an exorcism for her rather obnoxious child.  The exorcism worked.  (I know a few children who could benefit from a Central American exorcism.)

In the memoir field, I prefer memoirs from history, or something so other-worldly it takes me away from my contemporary life and satisfies my escapist desires.

Biographies: Biographies are different from Memoirs.  Memoirs are a single story from the life of a person.  Biographies (and their evil twin Autobiographies) are The Story of the life of a person. There are plenty of biographies of people living (Frex, Dawn French's "Dear Fatty". hint: Fatty is the nickname for someone else.) and no longer with us (like Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire).

I'm not terribly into the biographies of living people (with the exception of Dawn French.  And I would completely read Richard Armitage's biography, simply because he keeps so much of himself a mystery).  I prefer the biographies of those who are dead, the longer, the better. Again, it's that escapist in me expressing their preference.

Now, a word about autobiographies. I have a prejudice against them.  I once railed against referencing an autobiography in a series of articles I once wrote.  A miffed reader with a stick up her butt, a chip on her shoulder and an axe to grind took me to task.  "How can you refuse to reference [a particular source].  It's [the article's subject]'s autobiography!  You can't get more authentic than that!"

I strongly beg to differ.  I dislike autobiographies as an "authentic" source mainly because they are auto.  They are self-written.  Unless they have been vetted by a Very Good Editor (which too many of them are not), they are coloured by the author's distorted view of themselves.

I'm sorry, Humanity, but far too many of us do not have an authentic picture of ourselves.  I've read enough autobiographies to know that the authors are trying to present themselves as they wish the world to see them, and not necessarily as the world sees them.

That said, autobiographies do a very subtextually good job in presenting a person as they are.  Y'all remember the kid from high school who thought he was so great?  We all knew he wasn't.

True Crime:  I consider this a cross between memoir and journalism.  Lots of people enjoy true crime.  Those sorts of people like keepin' it real.

I confess I read very little because I'm not a fan of crime on the whole, I dislike reality, and there's never enough info to satisfy my desire for a complete plot arc.  Details go missing, and sometimes the crime does not get solved.  This annoys me.  I'll keep my Crime fictional, thank you very much.  I wanna know whodunnit and that they get their just desserts.

How-To, Manuals, "For Dummies":  Wanna know how to do stuff?  This is the stuff to read.  I especially recommend the "For Dummies" (or "The Idiot's Guide") series.  These things are great!

Everyone can use a few more skillz.  Can you change the oil on your car?  Grab a manual and give it a go. Many libraries have them.  Play the guitar?  Guitar for Dummies, naturally.  Want to make a beautiful three-egg sponge?  Hah!  Cookbook!

Pretty much anything you want to do, there's a book out there on how to do it.

Do manuals and How-To feel a bit overwhelming?  Go lite and google life hacks for some clever and easy stuff.

Self-Help:  Actually, the thought of anything to do with psychology makes my skin crawl (unless you're a neuropsychologist who loves scanning brains to see what makes 'em tick.  That's cool).  Yet there are so many self-help manuals out there.

I confess, I've read a dozen or so, usually at the insistence of other people.  I really should read more, as they do give an interesting insight into how Humans tick.

Reading one and adhering to its principles is, in my opinion, a one-way ticket to Nutsville.  Reading a dozen and gleaning wisdom from the chaff, that's not too bad an idea.

Now, Finance manuals.  How-To or Self-Help?  Dunno.  I absolutely adore them, especially Paul Clitheroe and Mr Money Mustache.

Magazines and Newspapers:   Yes, folks, the majority of these are non-fiction.  And you read them.

Now, go expand your reading repertoire.
__________________
Her Grace is awfully fond of reading.  She hopes you are too.

Cluey enough?

Last week some fellow book-lovers were complaining about how a book kept spoon-feeding them clues.  They felt a bit disappointed that the author didn't trust them enough to figure out what was going on on their own.

Several years ago a contemporary short story came through our workshop for critique. I quite enjoyed it, but several other readers didn't.  They didn't "get it", they said.

The poor author then had to explain what she was trying to do with the story.  99% of the time when this happens, "If the audience doesn't get it, you didn't write it right."

But this time, that wasn't true.  I loved her story. It was creepy and subtle and made me shiver in delight.  How could the others not get this?

They weren't the audience.   Alas, that author didn't listen to my solo opinion, but the opinion of the masses.  She rewrote her story and pretty much ruined it.  It needed to be subtle to be creepy to be delicious.

At what point is a story too blatant, at what point is it too obscure, and where is the sweet spot in between?

As an author, I struggle with this issue.  I want my readers to get the whole enchilada. I want them to marvel in the subtleties and the nuances of the story.  But if I'm too blatant in my explanations, I'm talking down to my readers.  But if I am too subtle, they miss the clues and miss out on a lovely undercurrent.

I wanted to shake my fellow workshoppers and shout, "Don't you get it?  It's the roommate!  She's doing all this! Don't blame the text!"  But they did blame the text. And that was a shame, because their blame led to the death of the text.  Alas.

Poorly written is poorly written, but if you don't get it, it doesn't necessarily mean a story is poorly-written. You might not be its audience.

Text is written for a certain audience.  Fr'ex, remember the MG series Encyclopedia Brown?  Drank those in whilst a wee lass.  It always amazed me how Leroy always managed to figure out the mystery (especially when so many adults around him could not).  I couldn't figure out the mystery.¹  I squirmed in amazement and loved those books. Many years later I gave them a read again.  This time, the clues were laid out so obvious, I wonder how on earth I could have missed them back then.

Eight-year-old me was Sobol's audience.  Forty-something me, not so much.

Ultimately, it all depends on the audience.  If something strikes you as too simplistic or too obscure, you're not its audience.
____________________________
¹ I don't know it was so much that I wasn't clever back then, but more that I was too painfully aware that being clever (like I wanted to be) wasn't The Done Thing.  Little girls like me weren't supposed to be smart and clever and able to solve Encyclopedia Brown mysteries, so I think I might have deliberately dumbed myself down to fit in.  Oh, how I desperately wanted to fit in to the homogenous culture of my childhood!  (I didn't, no matter how hard I tried.)  

Pretty much everyone who surrounded me was neither smart nor clever.  And that hurt.  I never realised just how much it hurt until I grew up and found the smart and clever people.  It was like coming home.

Why I Post My TBR Pile

Someone asked me why I regularly post my TBR (To Be Read) pile.

Yeah. Sometimes the TBR Pile
looks like this.

First and foremost, because I want to share what I'm reading. Sometimes it's really good (Like Scott Westerfield's Leviathan series), sometimes it's not so good.  But something about the book hooked me enough to want to read it.

For me, it is not enough to just read a book.  I wanna talk about it. I want to share why I liked it (or not).  I want to talk craft, reader reaction, and more.

Also, I want to help my writerly peeps.  We've worked hard on these books.  They've filled our souls to breaking point and we want to share that with the world.  When I read a book that makes me happy, I'm going to talk about it so other people can read it and be happy as well.

Author Katherine Addison explained why it's so important we buy books, read books and talk about books.

Feel free to share stuff you've read and liked in comments.
_________________________
Her Grace adores books.  While she can't buy as many as she wishes (for they are rather expensive in Australia), she does her best.  Her bookshelves are full.  She needs more bookshelves.