Well, the sequel to Outback Stars which was The Stars Down Under, was good, but not really my thing. The story goes from a military space opera adventure in the first book to a bizarre alien encounter metaphysical approach in the second. Kind of reminds me of the direction Orson Scott Card's Ender series took after the first book. The main female character, Jodenny, is as entertaining as ever, but the focus isn't on her. It's on her husband, Terry, whom I found to be somewhat annoying in the first novel, and who became even more needy and frustrating in the second.
As has been clear in previous entries, I prefer strong female characters, but that doesn't mean I want the males to be too weak, either. And while Terry's character has reasons for being so needy, he's just a little bit too out there for my taste. I guess I like my heroes to be larger than life. They can suffer, and fail, but not consistently. I want to see them rise above obstacles in the end, and while I wouldn't say the ending of this novel is complete defeat, I certainly wouldn't call the characters triumphant, either.
If there is a third book in this series, I will probably read it, but I'm hoping McDonald will return to the strength and action seen in the first book, and have a little less of the dream-like sequences which the reader is never certain are real or imagined.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Book Review of the Day - Laura E. Reeve
Finished Peacekeeper by Laura E. Reeve today. This is apparently a debut novel, and an impressive one. It takes awhile to get going. That's its primary flaw. I didn't really get into it until around page 149. However, once it caught me, it really caught me, and I flew through the rest of the novel, barely able to put it down. And since it is clearly the first of a series, I can see why it might take a while to start flowing, but have high hopes that the next book will dump me right in the middle of the action.
On the frustrating side, Reeve does a lot of things in her book with her main female protagonist that I am attempting to do with mine. It's good in that I can see ways to improve from her strengths. It's frustrating, because I can see why her agent likely wasn't interested in my book. Though they are different from one another, there were enough similarities to dissuade an agent from taking on a second book in that vein.
Reeve has great skill in writing deep third for her main character, something my mentor has been working on with me. To quote my mentor, "You need to open a vein and bleed all over the keyboard." Reeve does this. I can feel what her character feels. Good stuff.
On the frustrating side, Reeve does a lot of things in her book with her main female protagonist that I am attempting to do with mine. It's good in that I can see ways to improve from her strengths. It's frustrating, because I can see why her agent likely wasn't interested in my book. Though they are different from one another, there were enough similarities to dissuade an agent from taking on a second book in that vein.
Reeve has great skill in writing deep third for her main character, something my mentor has been working on with me. To quote my mentor, "You need to open a vein and bleed all over the keyboard." Reeve does this. I can feel what her character feels. Good stuff.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Book Review of the Day - Sandra McDonald
The Outback Stars is the first novel in a new series by author Sandra McDonald. Although I had some issues with the spiritual direction the book seemed to take by the end, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and have already ordered the sequel in hardback.
Ms. McDonald's knowledge of the military shines through in this science fiction novel. Her action is fast-paced and engrossing. Her main character, Lieutenant Jodenny Scott, is a wonderful heroine, strong, yet feminine, vulnerable, yet self-sufficient. I wasn't as enamored of her male protagonist who was a bit on the weaker side, in my humble opinion, but Jodenny more than made up for that.
I enjoyed the Australian cultural touches. Reminded me a bit of Marianne dePierres. While the spiritual aspects threw me off a bit towards the end, I am suspecting that we will see an alien connection that will explain these aspects. That will certainly be interesting and is the reason why I am eager to read the second book in this series.
Ms. McDonald's knowledge of the military shines through in this science fiction novel. Her action is fast-paced and engrossing. Her main character, Lieutenant Jodenny Scott, is a wonderful heroine, strong, yet feminine, vulnerable, yet self-sufficient. I wasn't as enamored of her male protagonist who was a bit on the weaker side, in my humble opinion, but Jodenny more than made up for that.
I enjoyed the Australian cultural touches. Reminded me a bit of Marianne dePierres. While the spiritual aspects threw me off a bit towards the end, I am suspecting that we will see an alien connection that will explain these aspects. That will certainly be interesting and is the reason why I am eager to read the second book in this series.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Book Review of the Day - R. M. Meluch
Well, I wouldn't want to be this author. (I mean, I would, but there have been some serious setbacks for her that she might not even be aware of.) When I went to multiple bookstores searching for the latest book in the Merrimack series, none of them had it in stock. And none of them planned to. There was only one Barnes and Noble in the entire Orlando area that was carrying the hardback, and it was far away from me. I ended up ordering it from Amazon. Hate to think what her first week's sales were like.
That said, it was a great read, as has been the rest of her series. This one, called Strength and Honor, continued the development of her wonderful characters and the ongoing battle between the Americans and the Romans, along with the ever present threat of the alien Hive. I don't usually read novels in which the protagonist is not a strong female. But I thoroughly enjoy this series. The main character, I suppose, would be Farragut. He's completely likable and believable as a hero. But I would call this more of an ensemble piece. It's full of heroes, some male, some female, all well-written.
If I had to make one complaint, it would be the constant rehashing of the old threats, the Romans, the Hive. However, Meluch does it all so well, that one barely notices and gets caught up in the characters which are her strength. I also love the number of "Ah hah!" moments that come at the end of her novels. Looking forward to the next one.
That said, it was a great read, as has been the rest of her series. This one, called Strength and Honor, continued the development of her wonderful characters and the ongoing battle between the Americans and the Romans, along with the ever present threat of the alien Hive. I don't usually read novels in which the protagonist is not a strong female. But I thoroughly enjoy this series. The main character, I suppose, would be Farragut. He's completely likable and believable as a hero. But I would call this more of an ensemble piece. It's full of heroes, some male, some female, all well-written.
If I had to make one complaint, it would be the constant rehashing of the old threats, the Romans, the Hive. However, Meluch does it all so well, that one barely notices and gets caught up in the characters which are her strength. I also love the number of "Ah hah!" moments that come at the end of her novels. Looking forward to the next one.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
FWA Conference
Didn't win the Royal Palm Literary Award. At least I was a finalist. And the banquet food was good. Congrats to the winners.
The conference itself had a few interesting lectures. The topics were of value, although presenters really needed to stop looking at their notes and perfect those presentation skills. It would have been better if the allotted times were shorter. Often it felt like the presenters were stretching their material and purposely speaking slowly to fill their time slots. The only other complaint I have is that some of the talks seemed to be thinly veiled commercials for people's services. One was offering to be a writing "coach". Another was pushing self-publishing (and owned a self-publishing operation). Go figure. I really prefer conferences where the speakers are ONLY writers, agents, and editors of legitimate houses. Their only agendas are helping/finding new writers. If I'm paying money (and in this case, it was rather a lot of money) I don't want to watch someone try to sell me something.
On the up side, both the hubby and I pitched an agent. She was extremely nice and wanted to see chapters from each of us. And since she is in the process of opening her own agency (leaving a very legitimate one) she is looking for new clients. When she found out I had an author mentor whom she had heard of and respected, that increased her enthusiasm. She even started talking about where and to whom she would pitch my novel, if she took me on as a client.
We also met some very nice people and did some networking.
The conference itself had a few interesting lectures. The topics were of value, although presenters really needed to stop looking at their notes and perfect those presentation skills. It would have been better if the allotted times were shorter. Often it felt like the presenters were stretching their material and purposely speaking slowly to fill their time slots. The only other complaint I have is that some of the talks seemed to be thinly veiled commercials for people's services. One was offering to be a writing "coach". Another was pushing self-publishing (and owned a self-publishing operation). Go figure. I really prefer conferences where the speakers are ONLY writers, agents, and editors of legitimate houses. Their only agendas are helping/finding new writers. If I'm paying money (and in this case, it was rather a lot of money) I don't want to watch someone try to sell me something.
On the up side, both the hubby and I pitched an agent. She was extremely nice and wanted to see chapters from each of us. And since she is in the process of opening her own agency (leaving a very legitimate one) she is looking for new clients. When she found out I had an author mentor whom she had heard of and respected, that increased her enthusiasm. She even started talking about where and to whom she would pitch my novel, if she took me on as a client.
We also met some very nice people and did some networking.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
mentor meeting
Wow, two posts in one day. I'm setting a record here.
Went to see Linnea Sinclair yesterday at a writing conference in Tampa. I'm assuming it's ok to mention that she is the one mentoring me here, since she announced it publicly to the conference goers. If she's not happy about it, I suspect she reads this blog and will probably tell me. I don't think I've mentioned it before, as I didn't want her to be hounded by people hoping she will mentor them as well. Anyway, I hope it's ok. Several of the conference goers stopped me and my husband to tell us how fortunate we are to have her as a mentor. Believe me, we know.
Linnea is awesome. She gave a great talk on conflict development that nearly had me spitting my soda at the humorous moments. We had a chance to talk at the signing afterward and she offered some new suggestions on my opening chapter. My protagonist needs a more personal moment in that opening, something emotional that grips the readers and gets readers to know her on a deeper level than is currently available to them. I've got another request for a partial, so I need to get working on that.
She also had fashion advice for me. The Royal Palm Literary Awards are this coming weekend, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a finalist. And a fashion disaster. I don't do clothes. I don't do hair. I don't do make up. Thank God I found a husband who is into the "natural" look. He doesn't care for make up or trendy styles either. Whew!
Anyway, she had some suggestions on clothes and hair. I went shopping. The clothes suggestions didn't really work for me. When I looked at the "twin sets", I just didn't feel comfortable. But I did go with the black pants she suggested. Then I found a lovely mid-thigh length gray and black sweater with a wide collar. Very figure flattering. And I FINALLY found some black suede flat black boots that FIT. I've been looking for those for years. Everything always had too pointy toes or were too narrow around the legs to fit me comfortably. Yay! I'll also wear the lovely Indian bear bracelet she gave me this weekend. It's gorgeous, and exactly my style. I wear minimal jewelry, but this was perfect.
For make up, I've finally found colors that work with my complexion. Only took me about 36 of my 38 years to figure them out, but I've got that covered.
Hair. Well, she suggested I dye it a bit lighter. The dye would also contribute to the volume, which is always a problem for me since I have very thin hair. And a shoulder length cut. And some better hair care products. Well, I'll do the cut and the products. The dye job will need to wait until Winter Break so that if I don't care for it, I won't have to wear it to work right away.
So, I think I'm covered for the awards dinner. At least I hope so. I've sent Linnea a description and links to the outfit. If she hates it, I'll wear it on Thanksgiving.
Went to see Linnea Sinclair yesterday at a writing conference in Tampa. I'm assuming it's ok to mention that she is the one mentoring me here, since she announced it publicly to the conference goers. If she's not happy about it, I suspect she reads this blog and will probably tell me. I don't think I've mentioned it before, as I didn't want her to be hounded by people hoping she will mentor them as well. Anyway, I hope it's ok. Several of the conference goers stopped me and my husband to tell us how fortunate we are to have her as a mentor. Believe me, we know.
Linnea is awesome. She gave a great talk on conflict development that nearly had me spitting my soda at the humorous moments. We had a chance to talk at the signing afterward and she offered some new suggestions on my opening chapter. My protagonist needs a more personal moment in that opening, something emotional that grips the readers and gets readers to know her on a deeper level than is currently available to them. I've got another request for a partial, so I need to get working on that.
She also had fashion advice for me. The Royal Palm Literary Awards are this coming weekend, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a finalist. And a fashion disaster. I don't do clothes. I don't do hair. I don't do make up. Thank God I found a husband who is into the "natural" look. He doesn't care for make up or trendy styles either. Whew!
Anyway, she had some suggestions on clothes and hair. I went shopping. The clothes suggestions didn't really work for me. When I looked at the "twin sets", I just didn't feel comfortable. But I did go with the black pants she suggested. Then I found a lovely mid-thigh length gray and black sweater with a wide collar. Very figure flattering. And I FINALLY found some black suede flat black boots that FIT. I've been looking for those for years. Everything always had too pointy toes or were too narrow around the legs to fit me comfortably. Yay! I'll also wear the lovely Indian bear bracelet she gave me this weekend. It's gorgeous, and exactly my style. I wear minimal jewelry, but this was perfect.
For make up, I've finally found colors that work with my complexion. Only took me about 36 of my 38 years to figure them out, but I've got that covered.
Hair. Well, she suggested I dye it a bit lighter. The dye would also contribute to the volume, which is always a problem for me since I have very thin hair. And a shoulder length cut. And some better hair care products. Well, I'll do the cut and the products. The dye job will need to wait until Winter Break so that if I don't care for it, I won't have to wear it to work right away.
So, I think I'm covered for the awards dinner. At least I hope so. I've sent Linnea a description and links to the outfit. If she hates it, I'll wear it on Thanksgiving.
Book Review of the Day - Kat Richardson
Another one. Yep. Underground may be her best yet, although her "monster" was rather hard to accept at first. Throughout the reading of the book, the line, "Alligators in the sewers," spoken in the little girl's voice from E.T. kept going through my head, and it was darn distracting.
Other than that, though, the main character, Harper Blaine, is extremely well-developed and enjoyable to read. She is strong, yet sympathetic. Her needs and wants are clearly demonstrated, along with her determination to do the right thing despite what it may cost her personally. It was also nice to see the new love interest developing. Oops, that was a touch of spoiler, I guess.
All in all, a good read.
Other than that, though, the main character, Harper Blaine, is extremely well-developed and enjoyable to read. She is strong, yet sympathetic. Her needs and wants are clearly demonstrated, along with her determination to do the right thing despite what it may cost her personally. It was also nice to see the new love interest developing. Oops, that was a touch of spoiler, I guess.
All in all, a good read.
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