Month: August 2013

Musings about pacing

On By mikaelalindIn Writing

I am 14 000 words in to the type in, right now.  And I really like what I got so far.  But I have also been thinking about the pacing.  Why? Because a lot have happened.  Too much.

So far in this book I have:

* One theft

* One crazed werewolf

* One werewolf/vampyre hybrid
* One engagement

* One murder

*One escaped villain

And I am not even half-way into the plot.   And, I cannot cut any of the plot point, since all of them support a layer of the plot. But, I think I might have  to spread them out a bit… Or maybe not, since that too would change the story.  Oh well. First I have to finish the draft.

Then I can start tearing it apart. For starters, I know I want to make Jenny the maid responsible for cleaning the library containing the more… special books.  Why? Since that way, she wouldn’t add more work for the other maids when she is running around doing other things.

 

Friday Bargains: Mostly Paranormal Romance

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

I have heard good things about Jessica Sims Midnight Liason’s  series, so when I heard that she had self published a novella I got intrested.   Single Wolf Female is 0.99 right now, and I have no idea how long it lasts.
Vivian Arend’s Diamond Dust is one of Samhain’s featured titles, which means you get an additional 30 % off with  the Coupon “SCHOOLDAYS”

( The other books is Delilah Devlin’s latest,   a book by Jayne Rylon and Mari Carr,  an historical romance by Edie Harris, an UF by RG Alexander,  an MM by Daisy Harris, and a horror novel by Kristoffer Rufty. All of them are new or upcoming, so it shouldn’t be hard to find them on Samhain’s webpage.)

Edit: And I just saw  on twitter that The Iron King by Julie Kagawa is free at Itunes UK. Not sure about the US.

Now for a couple of print deals:

Amazon have really good prices on pre-orders and recent releases right now.  I think that both Archangels Legion by Nalini Singh and Guardian Demon by Meljean Brook is just 4.99 right now, or thereabouts.  I think it is a side effect of Overstock and Amazon’s price war, and I have no idea how long it lasts.

Review: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

 

T34499he  Particulars: Fantasy, HarperTorch, available in print and as e-book

The Source: The Bookshelf

The Grade: B-

The blurb:

Sourcery, a hilarious mix of magic, mayhem, and Luggage, is the fifth book in Terry Pratchett’s classic fantasy Discworld series.

Rincewind, the legendarily inept wizard, has returned after falling off the edge of the world. And this time, he’s brought the Luggage. But that’s not all… Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son — a wizard squared (that’s all the math, really). Who of course, was a source of magic — a sourcerer.

Will the sourcerer lead the wizards to dominate all of Discworld? Or can Rincewind’s tiny band stave off the Apocalypse?

The Review:

I picked this from the bookshelf, since I was in the mood for something that wasn’t romance. And it was exactly what I needed at the time.

This is the fifth book in the Discworld series. Discworld follows rules of it own, but there are rules that are only broken at the dire need. What I like with Discworld is how it pokes fun at the standard Fantasy tropes.

It was intresting to follow Rincewind and Conina as they tried to save the world. The characters barely managed to stay on the right border of being caricatures, but that’s also one of the strength of Terry Pratchett. How he uses the standard Fantasy tropes, and pokes fun at them.

The plot was full of unexpected plot twists, that made sense once they happened. Really liked the  sense of humor that was in the book, and how Mr Pratchett twisted some scenes to make then very funny.

I’ll admit that even if I enjoyed it, and found it funny at times, I didn’t find the book hilarious.  But then I think humor is one of the hardest to write, since it is depends on who you are as a person.

 

 

 

WWW Wednesday Aug 7

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

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To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am re-reading Meljean Brook’s Guardian series, since Guardian Demon just released and I want the stories fresh before I read it. So, there are a big theme in this post :).

 

Recently finished:

Demon Bound. I think this is my favorite book in the series, since it is the book that add an epic layer to the series.

 

Currently reading:

Demon Forged. I’ll admit that I considered reading something else, but in the end I decided to read Demon Forged, since I want to re-read Irena and Alejandro’s story, and find out what happens next.

 

Reading next:

Well, by now it is obvious what I am reading next : Demon Blood, and then Demon Marked. And then… Guardian Demon. ( I really don’t want this series to be over but at the same time it is nice that Meljean Brook isn’t dragging it out. )

ARC Review: Heart Fortune by Robin D Owens

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

The Particu15985395lars: Paranormal Romance, Berkley, available in print and as e-book

The Source: ARC from the Auther

The Grade: B

The Blurb:

On the faraway planet Celta, there are some forces you cannot fight…

Jace Bayrum has always been a loner. Concerned more with getting an adrenaline fix and making money to live on his own, Jace cares little for family ties or matters of the heart. On the other hand Glyssa Licorice, Jace’s former fling and true mate, is both loving and loyal. She is determined to track down her HeartMate and have him claim her.

After hearing that Jace has been involved in an accident, Glyssa sets out to find him, departing for the excavation site of the lost starship Lugh’s Spear. Though her goal is to help Jace and finesse him into recognizing her as his mate, the excavation itself draws her in…

Thrust by fate into working side-by-side, Jace and Glyssa’s electric connection from years before sparks once more. She intrigues him, and Jace begins to realize that a HeartMate can make a difference. And one as magnetic as Glyssa could be exactly what he has been searching for

 The Review:

When Robin D Owens offered to send me an ARC of Heart Fortune as a thank you for helping her with the copy edits, I accepted.

Like all Celta novels, this was a well written novel, and for a nice change it didn’t take place in Druida. The camp setting felt believable. I really liked how there were a sense of community, and how they worked together to excavate Lugh’s Spear. But I also liked that not everyone was friends, that there were rivalry between different people.

Glyssa was born and raised in the city, but it was intresting to see how Glyssa gradually got used to life at camp, and the wilderness that surrounded it. I really liked Glyssa, and how she didn’t hesitate to stand her ground, yet she was willing to change to get a future with Jace. I also liked her with Lepid, her intrepid fox fam. And how he encouraged her to be more daring.

Jace on the other hand was used to living in camps, and to wander from job to job. I liked Jace. He had a sense of honor, and was determinded to keep his independence. This included having any relationships.  But his reluctance to form a relationship with Glyssa  made sense to me, since he had been scarred by his parents marriage.

The plot was well written. I liked that Glyssa and Jace’s romance moved slow, and that their relationship had its bumps. But I liked how they worked together to get over the bumps. And I really liked how the romance and the villain’s actions were connected.

Despite all the things I liked with the book, it wasn’t perfect. It missed that touch of angst that the best of Robin D Owens novels have.

ARC Review: Along came a spider by Kate Serine

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

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The Particulars:  Urban Fantasy, Kensington, available as e-book.

The Source: Netgalley

The Grade:  C+

The blurb:

Along came a spider…
When Trish Muffet is attacked at a grisly crime scene, the last person she expects to come to her rescue is Nicky “Little Boy” Blue. But since walking away from everything two years before, Nicky’s been doling out vigilante justice as “The Spider,” taking on the vicious predators of the night in hopes it’ll lead him to his ultimate target – Vlad Dracula. And he needs Trish’s help.

Although Nicky’s renegade style goes against everything Trish stands for, she’ll do what she must to bring Dracula down. With danger stalking her, Trish knows the only person she can count on is the one man who has the power to leave her breathless. There’s no way she’s letting this spider frighten her away

The Review:

I have wanted to give Kate Serine a try for awhile, so when Kensington offerered it as a Read Now, I broke my ” Don’t request new to me authors” rule. And I am glad I did.

The World that Ms Serine has created was intresting and unique. I liked how the Tales were transported from Make Believe to our world. It was intresting to see how different Tales found their place in US and also how the US reacted to the Tales. What I also liked was that none of the Tales were perfect, that all of them struggled with their past..

It was intresting to read about Trish and Nicky’s hunt for Dracula. I also liked how they used both Nicky and Trish contacts, to dig out clues. The book moved fast, and the twists that their search took was intriguing and unexpected. I appreciated how the book clearly wrapped up the Dracula story arc, yet it stood alone. It is possible that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books first, but all the information I needed was woven into the story.

The biggest problem I had was that I didn’t really connected to Trish and Nick. I never felt any romantic spark between Nicky and Trish, or that they were in any danger when their lives collapsed around them. But I still plan to check out the first two books in the series since I liked the world.

Feature & Follow #1

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations1 Comment

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 How do you handle a book you don’t like? Do you DNF or do you power through?

It depends. If it is a freebie, I tend to DNF  a lot.  If it is an ARC, I am power through since I received it to review, and I don’t review DNF’d ARCs.  If it is a book I have bought, I often give books several times before I give up on them.

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