A Book Review, of Sorts

As I am occasionally wont to do (generally for the laughs), I browse the paperback section at whatever passes for a grocery store/drug store and pick out something that catches my fancy. In this case, I grabbed Crave, by J.R. Ward, an author I'd never heard of, so I picked it on the basis of the cover alone.

I also, in all truth, have completely exhausted my supply of books at home (which numbers about five, currently).

Halfway in, I've decided that I actually kinda like it. It's the second book of its series, which I didn't know when I got it, but since I wasn't going for brilliance in writing, I don't much care. It's certainly not the best piece of fiction out there, but it's decent. The universe sticks to its own rules, and there's hot men who have wings and fighting and general manliness.

On the other hand, the author used 'symbology' as a word. I just about died. Plus, there's a demon called 'Devina', which just makes me think of that bit in Rabb Nesbit when David Tennant guest starred as a soon-to-be woman. And Devina goes to a mortal therapist for actual therapy, which seems a bit odd, for a demon who's trying to take over heaven and earth. She also won't kill kids, but isn't above sacrificing virgins. Seems a bit inconsistent, but then, there's no reason why a demon wouldn't have foibles like being squeemish about killing kids, but not adult virgins.

In terms of writing style itself, it's an easy enough read, though there are waaaay too any sentences with strung-together-phrases-like-this-one, which I would have pounced on had I been editing. And most of the men are actually just the same man in different clothes and with slightly different backstories, except for a couple of the side characters, one of whom is actually interesting, which is a little annoying, but then again - I wasn't reading it in the hopes of finding loveable characters so much as hot men who could fly.

Still - over all, it's performing its function admirably, and entertaining me enough that I don't mind falling asleep while reading, or go stir-crazy with nothing to do when crocheting socks doesn't hold any interest for me. The universe is intreiguing enough to hold my interest (but not my ability to spell, it seems), despite the character flaws, the smut didn't devolve into the 'throbbing member' nonsense that most romance novels go for, and if it wasn't for a...brusqueness and a bit too much modern-world-name-dropping that always ends up dating a book (like tossing in a reference to eHarmony), it'd move out of the 'decently tolerable' category and into the lesser levels of indifference.

That said, 'symbology' was almost a deal breaker - all I could hear is Willem Defoe saying "Ssssssymbolism."

I kinda want to watch Boondock Saints, now...

EDIT: Fixed sentences, cleared up thoughts, and generally mopped up the mess I made when I wrote this while half asleep yesternight. Jan 10, 2011

Three Days 'Till NaNoWriMo 2010

...

O_O

Who's ready? Because I know I'm not...

Eep.

The NaNo Post, a Shameless Plug and a Plea for Advice

dI guess it's not that time of year again yet, but August is always the time when NaNoWriMo is foremost in my mind. I didn't participate last year and I've been regretting it for 10 months. This year, I'm definitely going to take part.

My problem, as ever, is deciding which story I want to write. With Aigaion Girl, I picked the story that I thought was least-marketable, which I liked least of all the appropriate-length* ideas, which I still thought was worth writing.

This time, the story I've picked (or at least mostly picked) a story that is actually among my favourites (of stories I haven't started, at least). It's (loosely) based on my own experience, and I think I've got two of the three main characters nailed down. The only reason I'm not sure about it is because it promises to be a research-intensive story and the library here would fit in my living room at home - so I'm not sure how much help it will be. I'm writing this while at work; that should give you an idea of the situation with the Internet at my apartment (non-existent). It's mostly a drama, with a touch of the supernatural (of course) and a bit of romance (double of course). Also, I've decided to go with a style that's a bit different, and switch between 3rd Person Omniscient and 1st Person... um, nonomniscient.

I'm not sure if I'll post this one up on FictionPress. Part of me wants to, just to keep people reading my stuff, but I think (*knock on wood*) that I might actually have a chance of getting this published through an actual publishing house and having it available for free would severely reduce my chances of that.

*as in, which would, once complete, be an appropriate length for the contest.

Now, as for my plea for advice... I really wanted to have a book signing/release party for Aigaion in the fall, but there was no way I could get the money together for that at the time. Even though it would have been better for me to do it right after the book came out, it's not like it's famous, or like most people would have any idea that it existed before this party anyway. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead with that for sometime in the winter, in my home town, and maybe have a similar sort of thing here, sometime around my birthday.

What I wanted to ask you guys is, what are your thoughts on blog tours? I don't know how many people actually go searching for book reviews online before buying a book. Is this common, do you think, or do people just buy based on word of mouth, bookstore displays and TV? Basically, my marketing budget is approaching $0, and I want to spend it as wisely as possible.

I think that's everything for now, except another friendly reminder to invite all the writers you know to check out Devereaux Court, and to join if they're interested :)