Reading and Reviewing

Okay, I have taken several days off from writing. I was begining to feel selfish expecting people to review my work when I have reviewed none. So I took to smashwords and read some books.

I won't say which ones, but one left me unimpressed and the other seemed to have potential. Unfortunately the review I wrote for one came back to me in an email. I couldn't really determine if the Author was upset. I sited several obvious grammatical errors. I admit my English is less than perfect, but when grammar problems prevail in a document, well who wants to read that.

The other book started out interesting, and the English was perfect. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! However, I eventually lost interest and skipped to the end.

Obviously my writing is not as captivating as I had hoped...and I feel like a harsh critic. I have not found anything that has really made me excited.

However, I am still reading Battle Royale and I love the book. I can hardly put it down. It's fast paced, explores the POV of several characters (one POV is just plain boring). And the gore is first class.

Anyway, off to continue reading BR!

Blah

Working on my next book. It's a novella...horror/thriller. So far it is going well. Charlie's Haunting is not one of my better works, but it has received a decent amount of reads. I still wish people would comment. I would love to hear some thoughts. This next one is sure to be excellent. Just need to find time between work and family to sit down and keep working on it.

Also, brainstormed a few more exciting storied with my family. This is starting to be fun. I toiled a lot with Exterium and was very happy with the final product, but only 1 purchase. What a shame!

Short Story Published

I decided to post one of my first works for free on smashwords. It's called Charlie's Haunting. So far 21 downloads and one linked to library. I wasn't sure what linked to library meant so I, of course, googled it. Apparently, someone liked my story enough to keep it in their library.

Ah...You know you are getting old when the technology gets harder to keep up with. But hey - it's all great stuff...Working in the field of IT - it's imperative to keep up!

I hope everyone who read the story enjoyed it. I am looking forward to the reviews, but none so far. I would really appreciate some reviews. Good or bad...it all helps.

I admit the story is a little strange and you have to like Metallica and the Rolling Stones to get the songs I quote in the book. The songs are important - they have meaning.

Anyway, here is the link to my book Exterium:
http://www.amazon.com/Exterium-ebook/dp/B005DSUV3A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311429026&sr=8-1

and Charlies Haunting: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75825

Thinking

Okay, I have been keeping a secret for a very long time. I wrote a young adult science fiction book. I spent about 4 years writing it. Then, I created the query letter and synopsis. I spent hours putting it all together. I edited and re-edited. Then I blindly searched for agents who I thought may be interested. Naturally, I received one rejection after another. Some offered hopeful words. Others, while not particularly rude, had a pretentious feel to them. I set the rejections aside, and read every book I could find about how to write. I learned the do's and dont's and tried to apply it to my work. However, I don't particularly agree with some of the rules. For example:

1. Do not use adverbs - it shows weak use of verbs. I re-read one of my favorite books, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and discovered adverbs are used, all though not excessively. Even the Harry Potter books use adverbs.

2. POV - no head hopping. Okay I learned that early on from a peer review site. I think it makes sense. I don't want to confuse my readers. However, I sometimes like to know what's going on in the heads of other characters. Most books focus on one person. I am currently reading Battle Royale and he does explore the thoughts of one other character. I haven't read too far into the book, but I will be watching for more.

Anyway, I reached a happy medium with my book. I use adverbs on occasion and I took a neat approach to my characters. I first start off in one characters head, but as the story progresses and begins to focus more on another character, I switch to him.

I went ahead and published my book on every free site I could find. I looked at other books out there, and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't get through most descriptions. Even some of the top selling books had poorly written descriptions. That begs the next question. What makes those books sell?

That's my rant for the day. The kids are starting to go wild. :)

The Begining Blog

Okay, I decided to create my own blog. I think this can be a lot of fun.