Christine Amsden's Blog: Christine Amsden Author Blog, page 56

Why do I read?

This question was posed the other day on Book Blogs, and I wanted to expand upon the most common, and most true answer: To escape.

There are lots of ways to escape, including TV and movies, but more often than not, I choose books. The reason is, that when I watch a TV show, though it might make me laugh or cry, it is always about someone else. I'm a passive observer, not an active participant.

With books, on the other hand, I can become the characters. I get to know them intimately. This is why I am particularly fond of points of view that deeply penetrate a character's mind. It is, IMO, what books can do that movies cannot.

It is also why, unsophisticated as I know it makes me, I don't often read classics. There are many great stories out there, and I sample enough of them to be tolerably well-read, but I think books have served a different purpose over time, and I often find it difficult to engage these wonderful old stories on their level. I tend to appreciate them rather than truly enjoy them.

So give me science fiction, or romance, or fantasy, or mystery. Genre doesn't matter to me. Just give me a character I can lose myself in.

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Writing Tips: Info Hunt

I'm sure you're familiar with the dreaded info dump: that ocean of background and setup which causes even the most talented swimmers to drown beneath waves of irrelevance and get swept away by tides of boredom. If you'll just throw me a life preserver — a tidbit of conflict that makes the information more meaningful, I might survive.

But perhaps you have never heard of the info hunt. This is more of a jungle setting, filled with insects that buzz and bite, and if you drink the water, you may end up suffering from dysentery. This would be more obnoxious than boring, except that you suddenly realize you're lost, and can't find your way out. You're not sure where you are, and in the worst cases, you may not even know who you are.

The info hunt is sometimes a fear reaction to the info dump, in which a writer is so determined not to dump any information that he or she holds it all back, simply writing the story as if the reader already knows what's going on. Unfortunately, we don't.

Other times, the info hunt is more intentional — an attempt to be mysterious, to entice the reader with tidbits without filling in the big picture in hopes that the reader will turn page after page, looking for answers. And perhaps some people will, but I'm not one of them. Confusion drives me crazy. Obviously, you can't tell me everything at once, but you can give me a starting point, and build from there.

Learning to write a good beginning, especially in science fiction and fantasy, is a balancing act between these two extremes. Often, the only way to know for sure which way you're going is to give it to readers and ask: Are you bored? Are you confused?

But generally speaking, you can avoid both the hunt and the dump with one, simple concept: relevance.

If we need to know it, tell us about it. That's our roadmap out of the jungle. As long as you've thrown us a life preserver (or a hook, if you prefer), don't worry about the ocean. If the waves aren't too high and the tide isn't too strong, it's just water. The waves are formed from irrelevance. The tide from boredom, which is less likely to be a risk with relevant information.

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Book Review: Nebula's Music

Nebula is a cyborg, a machine manufactured from a donated human body. She should have been reborn with a clean slate, knowing only that which happened from the moment of creation, but when she plays certain songs on the piano, she has flickering memories of a time before.

Radian is not initially a part of those memories, but the instant she sees him, a rebel and prisoner dragged aboard her ship, she knows him. And he knows her.

What follows is a story of self-discovery. Nebula is more than what she is programmed to believe, but she isn't Mirilee, the woman she was before. Who and what she is becomes apparent as she fights the Gryphonites and tries to expose their evil deeds to the human race.

Nebula's Music is an enchanting space opera that explores that age-old question: What makes someone human? I recommend it to scifi fans with a romantic heart.

4/5 stars

Title: Nebula's Music

Author: Aubrie Dionne

ISBN: B00305CYLA

Genre: Science Fiction

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Nebula is a cyborg, a machine manufactured from a donated...

Nebula is a cyborg, a machine manufactured from a donated human body. She should have been reborn with a clean slate, knowing only that which happened from the moment of creation, but when she plays certain songs on the piano, she has flickering memories of a time before.

Radian is not initially a part of those memories, but the instant she sees him, a rebel and prisoner dragged aboard her ship, she knows him. And he knows her.

What follows is a story of self-discovery. Nebula is more than what she is programmed to believe, but she isn't Mirilee, the woman she was before. Who and what she is becomes apparent as she fights the Gryphonites and tries to expose their evil deeds to the human race.

Nebula's Music is a space opera that explores that age-old question: What makes someone human? I recommend it to scifi fans with a romantic heart.

4/5 stars

Title: Nebula's Music

Author: Aubrie Dionne

ISBN: B00305CYLA

Genre: Science Fiction

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Website Upgrades

Over the weekend, my husband and I updated the website in order to allow us to use the most recent version of wordpress. This means, among other things, that you can follow my blog with the click of a button. (On the righthand side.)

It also means I have a new theme, after all these years. I went with messy desk, despite other more elegant looks, because it seemed more honest. :=)

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Book Review: Shadowfever

As Shadowfever is the final installment in a five-part urban fantasy series, this is really more of a series review. It's hard to say too much about the last book, in particular, without throwing spoilers at those who have not yet had a chance to pick up the first book. And you really should pick up the first book.

This series sets a new standard for urban fantasy. Mack is a terrific character whose life is truly changed by the events of the story. In each book, she is a slightly different person than she was in the previous volume, so that by the end we have Mack v 5.0, tormented and on a mission. Yet there is a core part of her that remains true to her original self.

With each book, the stakes get higher. The world is in danger, no holds barred, and only Mack can save it. By her side is Jericho, a man whose origins and nature remain a closed secret until the final volume. He's a dark hero in the truest sense of the word, a dangerous man of mixed morals and private purposes. He's an easy man to hate, both as a character and as a person, but I found him to be refreshingly daring, and perhaps the best dark hero I have ever run across.

As for the final book in this series, all I can say is: I didn't see it coming. Where "it" is most of what happens. Oh, there was a thing or two I guessed correctly, but there were twists and turns enough to exhaust me by the end.

I cannot recommend this series enough to those who enjoy adult urban fantasy. This isn't for kids, and in this case, I like it that way.

5/5 stars

Title: Shadowfever

Author: Karen Marie Moning

ISBN: 0385341679

http://shadowfever.com/

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Twisted Endings

Sure, I like a good twist as much as anyone. It's thrilling when you make a discovery that is both unexpected and, in retrospect, makes absolutely perfect sense. Sometimes, it feels like, "Aha!" and sometimes, more like, "Ohhhh…." Either way, it's fun.

BUT (you knew there had to be a but), not every story needs a twist ending. In fact, as the twist ending gets more and more popular, the aforementioned moments of thrilling discovery get weaker and weaker. Feelings like, "Oh, I saw that coming a mile away!" or "That's been done before!" replace the more enjoyable reactions.

In fact, I recently read a short story that thrilled me because it failed to produce the expected twist at the end, thereby, ironically, feeling pretty twisted to me. (Not wanting to spoil the ending, I'm afraid I can't give you the details, but perhaps you've run into something similar?)

Trends and fads occur in literature and movies just as in anything else, and right now, there is a tendency to want the ending to be a twisted surprise. Yet, for me, it's far more important for the ending to be satisfying, rather than surprising.

If I love a character and feel for his or her predicament, I can enjoy living their journey alongside them, even if I'm pretty sure I know where it's going. Even if it turns out I'm right.

The romance genre is full of predictable endings. The whole point of the genre is the HEA, or happily ever after. We know that the hero and heroine will get together, and yet millions of people enjoy the ride. When I put such a book down in frustration, with my mind going, "Uh huh, and then they fall in love and live happily ever after, yadda, yadda, yadda…" it's because the characters and stories aren't interesting me, not particularly because I know how it will end. (Although there is a level of predictability that can defy even the sought-after HEA.)

I would also like to point out that a shocking ending can only be experienced once, whereas a satisfying ending can be enjoyed over and over again. (Kudos to you if you can do both.)

So writers, if you can't come up with a thrilling twist at the end of your story, it's ok. Most stories don't need it, and by not adding unnecessarily to the overabundance of twists out there, you may inadvertently help the stories that do need it to be that much more surprising.

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On a Scale of 1 to 5…

When you're asked to rate your feelings about something, are you the type of person to gravitate toward the middle, or do you tend to the extremes? We each tend to approach these types of questions differently, and yet when a large enough group is sampled, we get fairly meaningful averages.

I've been rating books on a scale of 1 to 5 for years now, first on goodreads, and more recently on my own blog, but what do I mean? I'll be honest with you — the answer has changed over time.

At first, I saved the coveted 5-star review for books that were not only excellent, but somehow deeply meaningful. Books that were merely extremely good for their type, but were essentially fluff, got only 4 stars.

In the last year or two, I began to realize the unfairness of such a system. If a book is an absolutely wonderful mystery that kept me hanging until the end, even if it did no more than offer me a challenging puzzle, then why not give it 5 stars? Or if a book is a captivating romance, that had my heart thumping with anticipation, why not give it 5 stars? Honestly, these books represent far more of my reading choices than the more profound books, the ones that change my view of the world in some way. So maybe it becomes a challenge to discuss books like Middlesex, which I recently acknowledged needed a different dimension of rating altogether, but generally speaking, books should be rated based on how well they do what they are attempting to do.

My view of the detestable 1-star review has not changed: I hate giving them out, but I do it anyway. I'm sure not all of you feel the same way, and you're welcome to call me a softy, though perhaps my distaste has more to do with the fact that I, too, am an author whose books are not universally loved. But when I click that lowest of all possible ratings, I can't help but think that someone must like it, and that maybe I've missed the point, or that I'm simply not in the target audience, or…mostly, I think that I'd hate to hurt the author's feelings. I hope I don't. I hope they realize that not everyone will love every book, and accept my opinion as just that — an opinion. I've even given 1-star reviews to some of my favorite authors: Orson Scott Card and Catherine Anderson, for example. I love them both, especially Mr. Card, whose writing advice to me has been invaluable, but a couple of his books really didn't work for me at all.

But here's the thing: It is my opinion. I give it freely, in part to recommend certain books and discourage others, but also as a reflection of myself. This is what I like. This is what I don't like. Talk to me, share your opinions, and maybe we can become friends. Or at least respectful adversaries.

This is also why I don't just rate, but leave reviews. Because it's not just about a number, which can only say so much, it's about a thousand little things that are far more meaningful.

So, to summarize, on a scale of 1 to 5…

1: AWFUL! I probably didn't finish it, and if I did, the experience was painful. I at least skimmed heavily. Something in it truly repulsed me, not just bored me. I do not recommend.

2: Not good. I probably finished it, but was unmoved, bored, or annoyed. Perhaps the characters fell flat.

3: The most difficult rating to define. This can either mean a book that I was perfectly neutral about, finding it a decent way to pass the time but little more, or else it can mean a book with both positive and negative attributes that cancelled one another out.

4. I liked it. Maybe I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it immensely and definitely recommend.

5. Yes! Read this! This is among the best ____ (type of book). Great book.

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Four-Leaf Clovers: Uncovering the Magic

Last summer, researchers from the University of Georgia discovered the gene that can turn a three-leaf clover into the luckier four-leaf variety. Science Daily

A reminder that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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First Person: Present Tense

[image error]My fingers dance across the keyboard as I search for the next word to type. First person present tense annoys me, I think, because one cannot usually record events as they are happening. At the moment, my butt is in a chair, my eyes fixed on the screen before me, my fingers tap, tap, tapping their familiar, soothing rhythm.

Some people believe writing in the present tense makes the events more immediate. I disagree. I feel this technique makes the events more dreamlike. This may be because I am used to reading in the past tense, and so a departure from the norm is an emotional and psychological oddity that my subconscious translates into a sort of dream state. Or it may be because I know these things are not happening now. The narrator has to have lived through them already, because one does not go into battle, mounted on a white steed, with a typewriter balanced across his knee. (Note: Please feel free to create a situation in which a microchip is implanted in a man's brain, recording his every thought and action as it takes place. I don't mind.)

Perhaps, as the narrator sits down to record his thoughts, he is so caught in the moment that he flashes back, reliving as he relays. Sarcasm aside, this is what I usually feel when I read first person present tense stories — and it is, in fact, a dream.

I find first person present tense to be an uncomfortable form to read, especially in novel-length stories. I would have put down Suzanne Collins' "The Hunter Games" after a page or two if a friend hadn't sworn it was good. In the end, I was glad I finished it, but I never could shake that surreal feeling, like I was in a dream. Even during the most exciting moments, it created in me a palpable lack of energy. Surreal.

Maybe surreal is exactly what you're going for, but before you choose a viewpoint that goes against the grain, think about why, and the affect it may have on people.

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