Friday, April 27, 2012

Just a quick post . . .

In order to give you a better reading experience, I corrected a couple of typos in Unchanged, as well as a minor formatting issue, and uploaded it. The "new" version should be available soon, if it isn't already. So check it out! I think you'll find it's not half-assed or poorly written, but I would really love to know what people think of it.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Mini-review by Text Message

A friend of mine finished my book recently. He isn't a reviewer, but he sent me a "mini-review" over text message because he's nice like that. And I decided to share it here because while he liked the book, he was able to offer some criticism as well.

"Overall the story is creative and interesting. It's well written. If I am going to nitpick there are a couple of times where specific words feel shoved into the writing, like dourly, paid heed, or pontificate. Not that most people don't understand those words, they just feel awkward in the otherwise natural flow of the writing. That's all personal taste though, I guess. Storywise . . . <<<SPOILER>>> The part where they think they can only be reincarnated a third time is smart for the story. I wanted more of it. I would have liked it if that was introduced earlier in maybe a more gradual way. It's key for the feeling that there is something at stake. By the time you are going through the second flashback it's kind of like, okay she can just be reincarnated again. <<<END SPOILER>>> I don't know how you could do that but it was something I thought while I was reading it. I am very mixed on whether you need the epilogue as well. I apply that to all books though. Overall, a very good and creative story. You should be proud."

Thanks, friend!

Monday, April 2, 2012

April

It's April! My friends are working their way through copies of Unchanged. Most of them have been really supportive and spreading the word for me. For the most part, I've been getting good feedback about things like unexpected twists and character names and grammar! Haha. (I've heard about friends of other indie authors writing [perhaps undeserved] good reviews and messing up the rating system, but I promise my friends won't do any such thing just because they're my friends.)

I'm excited about some of the books I'll be reading this month. Here are the next few I'm picking up from the library:




I've heard AWESOME things about Graffiti Moon and Cinder. I've been avoiding the reviews on Everneath since I'm afraid I'll find it's just another one of those paranormal young adult novels. The cover is so gorgeous this may actually be the case, but in the meantime I'll keep my hopes up. I'll also keep my hopes up for the weather, which has been ridiculously not-quite-warm-enough-to-not-wear-a-sweater and windy as heck. I drove by a tree yesterday that the wind had pulled up. I'm pretty sure the types of winds we've been having would warrant tornado warnings in certain states.

Happy pre-Easter! I hope your moms give you lots of candy. My mother-in-law certainly will!