Thicker Than Blood by C.J. Darlington is a story about a pair of estranged sisters. Their parents died in a car accident when they were just teens. One went to live with an elderly relative, and then grew up to become a rancher, starting off as a field hand and working (and investing) her way into full partnership. The other ran away from her pain, ended up making some hard decisions, some bad decisions, and more or less mucking up her life.

The twist comes when Christy (the messed up sister) tries to rectify one of those old bad decisions and it puts her life in danger. She ends up escaping into the loving arms of her sister, though the reunion is anything but hugs and kisses.

Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is a book about relationships. Relationships between sisters, between close family friends, between those of us who are totally messed up and God.

Now, it’s a common misperception that is founded in truth  that Christian books are nothing but sermons in thin polyester disguise. This is very true of many older Christian fiction books, and even currently of some particular genres and publishing companies. This is certainly not true of all of them, and most of the Christian fiction I read certainly doesn’t fit that category.  It’s also a hard line for truly talented Christian writers to walk. Many feel that it would be a betrayal of their faith to NOT put in a sermon or two, and others fear that allowing any shred of their personal beliefs to shine through might spoil the story or limit their market. For many others it’s simply a part of the story since it’s a part of them.  I bring this up, because there is a bit of overt Christianity in Thicker Than Blood. I can’t call it preaching, because it’s not. It’s something that’s kind of hard to explain, but in my opinion it was handled very well- not detracting from the story but adding to it. Your opinion may differ.

A common complaint that I heard about Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is that there wasn’t enough romance. And this is true, in my opinion, but since I actually know CJ, I was personally surprised to find as much in it as I did!  Of course, I know who the main character ends up with in the next book, but honestly, I couldn’t help pulling for a certain different character. *sigh*

There are a few sensitive spots for a some people. If you’re vehemently Pro Choice, this book will probably irk you. There is also a physically abusive man in the book (the one that the main character-Christy- is running away from). This might be a little sensitive for some, although if you can handle it, CJ wrote that character really well. I mean really, really well. I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or not, but I actually think the abusive ex-boyfriend (Vince) was the best fleshed out character in the whole book. I’ve told her before that she should be a suspense writer (Thicker Than Blood is simply labeled as “Contemporary”), and his character just proves it. Although, maybe that would be more suited to a thriller. Not sure.  What I do know is that if you struggle with writing genuine, realistic baddies, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this book as a study guide. If you’re anti-Christian, just ignore the parts that irritate you and study his character.

I echo the sentiments of the many other reviews and comments that I’ve seen on my friend’s book- it’s really, really good. Maybe I’m biased, but with so many others saying the same thing, I think it probably doesn’t matter.  I noticed a missed opportunity to add a little more suspense to a section of the novel- a rare first edition Ernest Hemmingway plays a large part in the plot- if a part of the reveal had been left out till later, the suspense would have been raised for the next chapter or two. It’s not a big deal, but it could have made a big difference in the pacing of the book.

Also, I noticed, as did another reviewer, that most of the internal thought scenes were basically digesting the action that had happened in the previous scenes. No new information seemed to come out of those, and as a result, I felt as though the space was being wasted. I didn’t get to know the characters any better than I had through watching them act. I would have enjoyed a little more time spent learning about the secondary characters instead in the same space.

As far as I’m concerned, CJ’s debut novel is really strong, with a great story, no cardboard characters, and some really great insider info on the rare book trade (it’s her day job). Even though it’s not in the genres that I normally read (chick lit and fantasy), I did find it rather hard to put down at night. My mother said the same, and even told me that at one point she had to put it down over night before continuing because she found a Vince scene too intense to read before trying to sleep. She also told me that she’s planning to buy a copy for a friend of hers because she’s afraid that if she lends it, she won’t get it back.  She also found it amusing that Christy’s drug of choice was sherry.  Very amusing. I think she spent about 10 minutes giggling about Christy drinking sherry to me.  Yeah, mom’s cute.

I suspect that the fact that her book has just gone into its third printing (remember, it was only released at the end of December), and the fact that Amazon has actually raised its listed price by almost $1 means that other people quite like it too! Check out some more reviews of Thicker than Blood, then buy a copy, or come back here and leave a comment. If you’d like to win an autographed copy, put in your comment that you’d like to win a copy (Travis can’t enter because he already won a copy when I posted about TTB before- though it hasn’t been sent because I haven’t had a chance to get CJ to autograph it yet- but I should have that on Saturday- sorry it took so long Travis!). To win, you must leave a comment stating that you want it, have a blog or website where you will mention the book (you don’t have to review it, but you do have to at least say “Hey, I won this book over at Vixen’s blog!” though a review would be appreciated. You also have to live in the continental USA cuz I’m cheap, and leave a valid email address (the one you use to leave a comment is fine) so that I can contact you and get your mailing address if you win. Entries end some time around 11:59pm Thursday, March 11, 2010, give or take a few minutes either way. I’ll try to announce the winner that Friday, but I tend to be lazy and sometimes things happen to prevent me from actually doing anything that I should be doing. But, I’ll still notify the winner so I can get their mailing addy.

Aaaaaaand, I think that’s it! I really wish I could write a better review than that, but my writing brain just hasn’t been functioning lately.

In Andrew Peterson’s On The Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness, Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby live under the oppression of the horrible Fangs of Dang- lizard-like creatures who delight in torturing humans, and in eating maggotloaf and other such culinary treats. These bad boys work for Gnag the Nameless, who (whom?) the book refers to as a nameless evil… Yeah, you can see why I liked it from the start.

Unfortunately, the Igiby children manage to draw an undue amount of attention to themselves, and in order to avoid death or enslavement, they, along with their one legged ex-pirate grandfather, and sensible mother, have to escape.

The book is interesting from the start, but mainly because of the humor, which is a cross between middle school boy humor (aka: booger jokes), and Terry Pratchett. It’s an odd mix, but I love it. The majority of the book is almost like back story, however, and doesn’t really pick up the pace until the final third of the book. It’s well worth the read, but is absolutely essential if you plan to read the much more active book 2. At the very least, the secondary characters and the humorous footnotes should keep you entertained until you reach the exciting bits.

This is a middle grade fantasy, so if you’re expecting Robert Jordan, give this a miss. If you like both Narnia and Terry Pratchett, this may be worth your while.

The Vanishing Sculptor is a story about Tipper, a young emerlindian girl (an interesting take on elves) who is forced to sell her father’s masterful works of art in order to pay the house bills for years after her father disappeared. Unfortunately for her, and the world, it turns out that 3 of the sculptures she’s sold were carved out of one of the foundation stones of the earth! She must now set out on a quest (those pesky things, awfully uncomfortable these quests are- according to Wizard Fenworth) to retrieve these statues to prevent the total disolution of the world… and her father.

Even though I really miss Sir Dar, who, in this book, has not even been born yet, I love that Wizard Fenworth is back. Yes! There is nothing better than a wizard who drops off to sleep in mid sentence and who grows bark and leaves during his snoozes, not to mention the bizarre logic he follows that would make a sidewinder jealous with all the zigs and zags it takes.

Donita K Paul writes YA fantasy, and does it very well. The quality of her writing has improved with each book, and, surprisingly, each plot is remarkably fresh. Not all stories are particularly gripping, some are naturally better than others. But they’re all unique.

Happily, she’s gotten over her habit of over-naming things. In the first book of the DragonKeeper Chronicles, EVERYTHING had a weird name. It made it extremely difficult to follow the story, or even a train of thought. Particularly when the things being named didn’t actually have anything to do with the story at all.

This began to taper off until the last few books in the series were a good standard of fantasy naming. No more than is necessary.

In The Vanishing Sculptor, Paul continues to only name what’s necessary. There are only two things that I can really find fault with (aside from the lack of Sir Dar, which was necessary), and that’s that sometimes the quest seems a little too normal. As in, they go here, and then this happens, and then they go here.  So, in my opinion, a couple of scenes could have been removed with a mention of “they continued on to such and such, obtained such and such, and then proceeded to reach the such and such”. That would have left more room for what I consider to be the good stuff to be fleshed out a bit more.

The other thing that I take issue with is that they eat daggarts in Chiril. Which, as we know, is a common treat in Amara a few centuries later. I’m willing to forgive this point by telling myself that Wizard Fenworth and Librettowit brought daggarts back to Amara from Chiril and that’s how they became popular in Amara. Remember, Chiril and Amara are across the world from each other, and so travel is prohibitive. The odds of the same cookie-type treat being popular across the world when people didn’t travel across the world is pretty slim. It’s a minor point, I know, but it irritated me while I was reading.

If you’re interested in ordering The Vanishing Sculptor, it can be ordered directly from Random House, or from your favorite large bookstore.

Addendum: Donita K Paul answered the question “If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?” on Christian author C.J. Darlington‘s blog.

Also, I forgot to mention my other The Vanishing Sculptor review at TitleTrakk.com

Thing is, I received a review copy of Sushi for One by Camy Tang for review on my sushi stuff blog. That blog has received some decent traffic in the past week thanks to one or more Stumbles, but they’re mostly going to one post and then leaving. So because the author was gracious enough to not only send me a free copy for review, but signed it and everything- I wanted to give her more exposure than she would get on just my little niche blog. After all, this is fiction, and no one loves fiction more than another writer!

Lex Sakai is a devoted Christian who is seeking her soul mate with the help of a list from the book of Ephesians. The problem is, the guy who fits the list best isn’t Christian, and the Christians don’t fit the list!

That’s difficult enough, but when her Grandmother threatens to pull funding of her beloved junior girl’s volleyball team if Lex doesn’t have a “real” boyfriend in time for her cousin’s wedding in four months… Well, the pressure’s on! Mix in a new job that makes the immature boys drool, and Lex has a harder time fending off the Mr. Wrong’s than in finding Mr. Right!

To be honest, I wasn’t so sure of this novel at the start. For the first 1/4 of the book, the “hints” that Lex was recovering from rape were, um, constant.  This is thoroughly excusable to me since the beginning of a novel can be so difficult. You’re trying to get a handle on the character and story yourself, and still trying to get across to the reader what you want them to know. But like I said, it was a little off putting.

What I did like was how realistic most of the book was. Things that really could, and probably do happen. The friendships between Lex and her cousins were totally believable, and I’ve heard stories of psychotic grandmothers who would actually make threats like that to get what they want.

The pace wasn’t ramped up unnaturally. This might be a negative point to some, but honestly? When I choose a book that’s based in a culture that’s not my own- it’s because I want to immerse myself in the culture, and learn about it. It’s why I love fantasy- the cultures in them are so detailed! Now, I wouldn’t say that Sushi for One is as detailed as a good fantasy novel, but believe me, I’ve read some chick-lit that was supposed to be based in various cultures that turned out to be nothing unique aside from maybe an outfit here and there or a statue placed somewhere (or worse, a Coke drinking guru- OK, the Coke drinking guru was funny).

Sushi for One is set in/near/around San Jose (can’t remember the exact location, but I remember that Lex attends a church in Santa Clara), and unlike most chick-lit- I actually feel like I got to know something about the area! Not geography, mind, but about the area. Ya ken?

So what would I recommend this book for? If you want to learn steady pacing, if you want to learn how to write about a culture without being heavy handed or slip-shod, and if you want to learn how to write about difficult subjects like rape without making the reader geek out. She really handled that well, introducing the horror of it, and the nasty aftermath WITHOUT making you go “Ew, I don’t want to read about this anymore!”. She didn’t just magically recover in time to kiss the hero- it was a path that had to be worked through just as with everything else.

So, Sushi for One is the first of the series. Will I be reading Only Uni and Single Sashimi as well? Yup. Sushi for One was a strong first novel, and quite frankly, the cousin in Single Sashimi interested me a lot! Will I review them? I dunno. Cuz I’m putting my own money out there to order them. And sometimes I just like to read a book for fun!

For more normal reviews, read the Sushi for One review on TitleTrakk, or click the ad above for Amazon reviews.

Of the three books, one I felt was so bad that it was painful to read. The story line and characters felt weak and a little too cardboard. The writing was mediocre at best.

Another, I thought the setting was quite good, and the story was good. However, the pacing was pathetic, staying more or less the same throughout the whole book. Too much information was given to actually drive up the tension, and I just didn’t care about any of the characters. It was set in the court of Catherine de Medici, and the only character I cared about was her daughter who I believe was meant to only facilitate the plot. All of the mains were… well, I couldn’t care less. I was more interested to see if the hero became truly friends with Henry de Guise than if he hooked up with the girl. On top of that, the author used “became aware” “caused her to recollect”, and other such annoying phrases to turn subjects and info-dump.

And the third? Actually not bad. It was a little touch and go in the beginning. One good page followed by a bad one. The bad guy was evil enough to be terrifying, yet had a streak of goodness (or perhaps just gratitude) strong enough to make you wonder if he couldn’t be redeemed. Of course, you know he won’t be since writing a scene like that is so delicate only a pro could truly pull it off- but you sense that it could happen. The characters weren’t developed enough for my taste. My interest mostly lay in the bad guy and a character who is more or less insignificant in this book, but whom I expect will be the love interest in the second. I liked the cover best out of the three, and it makes me wonder if you really can judge a book by its cover.

Still, what the author did well, she did very well. What she didn’t do well, was acceptable. This is the only book that I felt was worth my time reading and the cost of buying it remaindered. However, it was not worth my investing the cash to buy book 2 new.

Now, all three of these authors have quite the career writing, and so I make allowances for time constraints in their writing. Obviously, most working writers have to produce a book in a relatively short period of time to keep their editors happy. I still think the industry would be better served as a whole to allow authors sufficient time to perfect each story.

Yes, people like to buy from authors they’re familiar with and like, but if each book published was as strong as it could be, would the consumer not be more inclined to take a chance on an unknown? I know that my fear in purchasing from a new author is “I’ve read so many dreadful books, do I want to take the chance?”, surely that’s how most reader/buyers feel. If editors didn’t rush their authors to keep pumping out books, and instead used the lull to publish other great writers, surely the market would only be improved by this?

Ok, rant over.

Here’s the common denominator in all three of the books. I just didn’t care about the characters. I didn’t feel that any of them were real (except the princess in book 2, and the bad guy in book 3), and I’m not spending my cash on people I don’t care about. I don’t lend money to my co-workers, and I’m not going to pay you to bore me. I don’t have to like your story, but I do have to like the people in it. And stop using lazy phrases!

Oh, and one more thing. Don’t tell me that someone is funny, friendly, or has a cruel streak. I already saw it in their actions and words, I don’t need a nanny telling me what I already know.

This book is 905 pages long. Plus glossary, list of characters, foods, etc.

Normally I condense the premise of a book into a sentence or two. That’s not really possible with this book. For starters, it has 10 main characters. And that’s just the good guys.

Throughout most of the book this isn’t much of a problem since they’re usually paired up, and once you reach the middle-ish part of the book, the story is strong enough to pull you along.

The problem is the beginning. You get introduced to each character separately. You know how most books do that, and it’s a good thing? Yeah, this book is 905 pages, remember? And you’re meeting 10 characters. It’s not easy to keep track of in the beginning, and the story hasn’t really started yet. Wait till about page 200 or 250, then you’ll be fine.

The idea is something of an alternate history of Venice. It’s set in the 1530′s, where religion is more or less based on magic, demons can take over world leaders, and mages can, and do, run amok.

The transitions between authors is relatively smooth. Since the POV changes scene by scene, you’re left with a stronger feeling of character than of “oh, this author’s writing this scene” since the authors’ voices are different to really help separate the characters’ voices.

However, there were a few issues.

1. Certain characters had a habit of using more modern slang. There were no references to modern… things… but the way certain characters spoke made it hard to remember that this was 16th century Venice.

2. There were a lot of “as you know”‘s. Irritating.

3. I noticed two slip ups that should have been cleared up before going to print. The way two items were described was very heavy handed in a “I’ll write this down for the first draft and fix it up later- oops, I forgot” kind of way. One was actually useful, however, as I didn’t know that laudenum is opium mixed with alcohol. Interesting tidbit.

4. Waaaay too many repeats. I don’t think this was a case of the authors assuming that the reader had forgotten what was said before, though. I think the authors just repeated themselves because they, themselves, forgot. This is a very long work, and there are three authors involved. It’s very easy for them to forget what has been said either by themselves or by one of the others.

I do think that they could have easily chopped off 100 pages or so by cutting out the as you know’s and repeats, and tightening the plot and characterization a bit. Several “incidents” weren’t necessary to the plot, and a few POVs could have been reduced.

The Shadow Of The Lion is the first book in a trilogy. It certainly serves as a stand alone in every respect but one. One of the romances ends more tangled than it is during the height of the story. While that romance was a big deal to me, as a reader, I did not find myself as enthralled by the story as I would like to be when reading a book that’s this long. I spent entire evenings mostly reading this book so that I could get through it and on to the next novel in my stack. I just don’t have any interest in picking up the next book in the series unless I run out of books to read, and can’t find the books that I actually want to buy.

I can recommend this book, but only as a “if you have the time, money, and inclination” recommendation. If you’re looking for an example of the pit falls of collaborative work aside from transitioning, go ahead and pick this up. But set aside plenty of time in your schedule before you do.

Accursed, undead witch meets charming, devoted to purity White Knight, and saves him from Horrendous Evil (and probably Horrible Death) by corrupting him most thoroughly.

I held off on my writer’s review of this novel because, while I loved it, I couldn’t derive much in the way of a lesson on writing from it. What I did learn, however, is more in the lines of marketing a novel.

At the time that I purchased A Nameless Witch, I’d been spending nearly every weekend for a month at Barnes & Noble perusing the fantasy section. And every time I passed this book, it just screamed “Pick me up! Buy me! Read me! Now! “. And every time, I refused to so much as touch it for fear that I’d give in and buy it when my To Be Read pile was already over 30 books deep (plus the classics).

I’m not sure what intrigued me more, the title, or the cover design. But eventually I was at B & N with my friends, who innocently picked it up and said “Hey! This looks like you! Check it out!”. And so I did.

In fact, I’d merely turned it over and glanced at the back copy (hoping against hope that it would sound pathetic), and noted the term “demonic duck named Newt”. I didn’t even bother reading the rest of the cover copy- I simply transferred it to the pile that was going home with me.

Now, after getting the book home, I fell in love with the entire back cover copy, and eventually the book itself.

But what did I notice? The mere phrase “demonic duck named Newt” tells me 5 things.

1. If the entire book is not entirely different, it has at least a unique enough twist that I will probably not be wasting my time.

2. It’s very likely funny. And we all know how much I love humorous fantasy.

3. The author has a very unique bent, again indicating some fresh take on the genre.

4. The writing itself is probably excellent, or at least quite good, as attention to a detail like that indicates attention to detail elsewhere.

5. Even if I hated it, it would be fun to pass around to my friends and talk about demonic ducks named Newt.

I can honestly say that the first 4 are perfectly true, and that I have not had an opportunity to find out if the 5th is as well.

Now, I’ve seen a number of fantasy novels that have made a great effort to be “different”. Only one other actually succeeded in surprising me in a positive way. While I can’t say that I liked everything about the book, I can say that it was excellently written, very well contrived, and should definitely be on the reading list of anyone who intends to write fantasy, or humorous novels of any genre. It’s a good book to use as an example in really thinking outside the box.

Admittedly, the main characters were a bit flat. Both the witch (she really is nameless) and the White Knight are great, but when compared to the secondary characters, they’re just lacking the flair that would have taken this from a great book to an outstanding book.

Despite that flaw, the antagonist is my hero. I love him. He’s certainly insane, but in that courteous gentlemanly sort of way. Once I reached the parts with him in it, I couldn’t stop laughing. I swear, he got all of the best lines. Or, at least most of them.

I just want to say one more thing for the record: I totally love Gwurm (the troll) and Priscilla (her broom). Awesome characters.

This isn’t going to be a complete writer’s review since I’m mostly discussing how much I love it. Seriously, I didn’t expect to. It’s a YA about a girl who’s mother is in jail- while she (the girl) is sent to live with foster parents who have issues of their own. Throw in a wacky stalker grandma and a friend who’s freaky perfect (in Katie’s opinion), and you’ve got the makings of In Between.
Here’s the thing, I discussed this book with two writer friends of mine (ok, they’re also the people that gave me the book in the first place), and we all agreed. There’s nothing wrong with it! Seriously! Nothing. We couldn’t find a single thing. We tried. We looked. The only thing that mildly annoyed me was Katie dressing goth to shock her foster parents because goth generally gets such bad press. But it really wasn’t played up that way, so I couldn’t even fault that. Katie even says that just because someone dyed their hair purple or has a Mohawk, that doesn’t make them a bad person. So even there it’s good.

Oh yeah, and I think I found one typo. Yes, one.

The character arc is beautiful, the story arc is… well, not flawless, but pretty close. Characterization is good, wording is excellent and occasionally brilliant. Dialogue, good. Narrative, good. All in all an excellent example of what YA should be (though it’s not edgy, so it depends on your taste), and absolutely hilarious. I laughed the whole way through. As did my friends who sent me the book (and I believe they said both their mom and dad read and loved it), and the reviewer who got the book to review for TitleTrakk. Can I possibly recommend this book any more? I don’t really need to because she’s got 5 stars across the board over at Amazon.

I’ve been a fan of Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series ever since a friend let me borrow The Fire Rose . While I did enjoy this book very much, it was my least favorite of the series so far. There are a few reasons why this could be, and I’m not sure if it’s the cumulative effect, or if it’s one in particular that bothers me.

The first problem that I have is not an actual “problem”. This novel mostly focuses on two young girls. While they have interesting personalities, I didn’t find it as easy to relate to them as I do to most of Mercedes Lackey’s characters. I’m not sure if it’s a problem in the writing of the children, or if it’s simply their age that makes them unrelatable to me. I like kids, but I’ve never understood them- even when I was one.

The second problem that I have is that the novel revolves around five main characters, with four more strong supporting characters. The viewpoints switch between all five throughout the book, aside from one who we only see closely towards the end. Basically, there are three protagonists, an antagonist, and an unwitting antagonist. I found myself relating well to the three adults, and I rather wish that she’d focused more on them.

The other thing that disappointed me a bit about this book, is that while it’s part of the Elemental Masters series, the focus is on characters that have “Talents”, not elemental masters. Instead, the elemental masters are the antagonists. It’s not that it’s a bad thing- in fact, I thought it was a very interesting tie in to the series. However, I personally feel that it should have been a separate series with the elemental tie in. I picked up the book thinking it was about an Elemental Master, as all the rest have been, and I find that it’s only about something related to elementals.

However, Mercedes Lackey never disappoints on providing a full, rounded story. All of the arcs are in the right places; she’s very neat in making the story satisfying. While it’s usually easy to pick out who the antagonist is turning out to be, she always takes the story to places that I never expect. She tends to follow similar themes, but the details are what makes her work stand out. Who else would have Puck actively involved in a story line? Besides Shakespeare.

And there’s something about her wording that I just love. She throws in phrases that you just don’t expect. For instance, when Nan’s class mates were going to view the crown jewels and she wanted to watch the ravens: Nan nodded; going up another set of stairs along with a gaggle of other silly gawpers just to look at a set of big sparklers that no one but the Queen would ever wear was just plain daft.

For some reason the phrase “big sparklers” in relation to the crown jewels set me off laughing out loud. Poor hubby was trying to sleep.

Here’s another thing that she does well that most people probably never notice while reading her books. As she’s writing about the raven that chooses Nan, she gives the raven a voice. He doesn’t actually talk, but she puts in “Quoark” and “Awwrr” in all the right places to make you feel as though she’s communicating with the raven. In fact, you can actually hear him “speaking” in your mind when you read his parts. Had she simply written “Neville quoarked his approval” or some such, it wouldn’t have the same feel. Since he and Nan could communicate telepathically, she could have simply had Nan reading his thoughts as many authors would do. But that would have done a disservice to Neville’s very distinct personality.

Even though I’m a fan of all of Mercedes Lackey’s work there are two things that I’ve noticed. One, is that her best work is when she co-writes novels. They’re always so smooth that they’re nearly seamless, and her innovative way of looking at things keeps the novels fresh. And two, I really think that historical fantasy is her best genre. I love Valdemar as much as everyone else, but no one can do historical fantasy like she does.

It’s almost like reading Emily Loring, in England, with a set of fairy tales, and magical lore.

The other reviews however, are all me. The CDs that I review on BandVox are just because these are bands that I love and I want to see them succeed. I get a lot of thank you notes from the bands which makes me feel great- but mostly I just want to spread the word around.

The Writer’s Reviews that I post up here are for another reason. I’ve already addressed a few in an earlier post, mainly that I was frustrated with not being able to properly express how I felt about a given book on my TitleTrakk reviews because they were written for readers rather than other writers. But that’s only part of it.

I’ve been reviewing for so long (has it really only been a year?) that I’m not longer able to just sit down and enjoy a good book. Or a good movie. Or a good CD. My mind won’t quit and constantly takes notes. Part of that may be from all of my study on the art and craft of writing, but part of it is definitely because I have to pull apart the varying elements of each story for the ones that I’m supposed to review. And my mind just won’t let me rest until I put that gathered information to some sort of use.

The other reason, is because I’m an aspiring novelist, and so are most of the people that read this blog. The rest already are novelists. Either way, we’re all working at improving our writing. So, say your crit group is telling you that while your protagonist is fascinating and loveable, she doesn’t arc well, and neither does your story. You know what the story is in your head, so you need an outside example so that you can see it from someone else’s point of view.

So, you think “didn’t WordVixen review a book like that last month?”, and you search through my reviews and find it. Aha! Perfect! Lovable character, fun to read, lacking arc. And now you know the perfect book to check out to compare to your own work. You read it, notice where the story falls apart in the other person’s novel, and a lightbulb flashes.

Obviously, none of this is likely. But it does make me feel useful. I may not succeed everytime- probably because I’m easily distracted- but it’s what I’m aiming to do with the Writer’s Reviews. Plus, it’s cool to get attention like this. Hm… I sound smart in quotes.