Anna Adler's Blog, page 4
April 30, 2017
RELEASE BLITZ: AVARICE UNLEASHED BY A.C. MELODY
AVARICE UNLEASHED
Release Blitz
Hell hath no fury…
Saphiel’s gone and it’s all Kami’s fault.
Panicked and riddled with guilt, she turns to the only one who can help, only to fall into the wrong hands time and again. It seems opportunity has knocked, and not a single enemy is willing to miss out. Everyone wants their dues and Kami’s the perfect bait.
All she wants is to reunite with Saph and she’ll face off with the Devil, himself, to do it. Facing herself and the reluctant truths of her heart are a whole other matter, especially when it could be too late. Will the unforgiving Avarice ever pardon her for endangering them both?
As the calendar races toward Beltane, sickening plots of greed and single-minded obsessions continue to unravel all around them, but their greatest challenge awaits in the aftermath of retribution. Can they find some semblance of redemption in one another at last, or will the demon within change everything?
…like a Devil unleashed?
NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZJZ2YP
Amazon UK: http://amzn.eu/8DSPs02
Amazon CA: http://a.co/7BKtCQt
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B06XZJZ2YP
ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS TBR:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34751434-avarice-unleashed
The final third is finally out! I’m so excited I don’t even know how to phrase my thoughts here. The Avarice trilogy is actually not a trilogy but one novel split into three parts. I had the immense pleasure to beta read these parts, so I’ve known about this story for about a year now, and I’ve been eagerly looking forward to seeing it released. The complete Avarice is the hottest piece of M/F paranormal romance I’ve ever read.
There’s so much to like about this story, but I particularly enjoyed the characters and their chemistry. I like Kami’s personality, her interactions with the supporting characters are funny and witty, the dialogue is brilliant, and I love Zoe. I want more Zoe!
“Oh my God, you’re such a whore, I love you,” Zoe laughed even harder. “So, the tabloids were right, you totally slept with your boss. You just didn’t know it was gonna land you a job.”
The passion between Kami and Saphiel is off the charts. Their relationship is what happens when the ultimate masochist meets the ultimate sadist.
“Oh, my tortured love,” he cooed, dragging his fingertips over her lips. “You’re so fucking beautiful in agony. What am I to do with my little goddess of pain now?”
Or maybe my favorite aspect is after all the world-building. I sucked up all the details about the paranormal world and its laws, its customs, its characters, how they tie into the human world…the mythology is well-researched and I desperately wanted to keep finding out more.
Avarice comes with a heavy set of warnings about religious theme, paganism, etc. etc. I personally didn’t find the themes the slightest bit offending or even particularly religious. Avarice is not trying to convert you into anything. Neil Gaiman writes about similar themes all the time, be it the Abrahamic, Norse, or Egyptian mythology, or simply some deities he made up, and I don’t see his books carrying warning labels for religious themes. His books are simply classified as Dark Fantasy, and that’s where I would place Avarice as well.
Well, except that there’s of course an insane amount of graphic sex in Avarice…that’s what you should watch out for. If you’re not okay with some really hardcore BDSM, you should stay clear. For example, the BDSM scene at the end of Avarice Vol. 1 is absolutely mind-blowing. Avarice Vol. 2 features one kinky sex scene after another, and Avarice Vol. 3 continues down the same vein. My nose remained glued to the screen all the way through. Kami and Saphiel actually can’t consummate their union the traditional way, no matter how badly they want it. So instead there’s oral sex, anal sex, bondage, impact play, knife play, asphyxiation, you name it. Ultimately, however, this is a story about love and destiny. Kami and Saphiel are two pieces who belong together. They are exactly what the other one needs.
I heartily recommend Avarice the complete story to anyone who enjoys Dark Paranormal Erotica. Start from Book 1 because you need to read them in order! Take a deep breath…and get ready to submit.
Now available on Kindle Unlimited
BOOK #1
Devils Only.
It was a permanent note-to-self tattooed right above Kameo Kross’s panties, because anything less was a disappointment. Had anyone cared to issue the warning: Be careful what you wish for, she might have thought twice before wording it like an actual invitation.
Kami doesn’t fear pain, death or eternal damnation. She fears only submitting completely. A matter she usually has well in hand…until an unexpected detour into kink and a relentless bastard of a new boss decide to put all of her resistance—and chosen ink—to the trickiest of tests.
Warning: This is a work of Dark Erotic fiction with possible triggers. If you are faint of heart, easily squeamish, or sensitive to religious world views and violence, please do not read this book.
Cliffhanger warning: This is the first of three books and ends in an abrupt cliffhanger.
Amazon: http://a.co/5IcCQpd
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31422788-avarice
BOOK #2
Run.
That’s Kami’s first instinct when shit gets a little too real for her piece of mind.
Kink was supposed to be an escape, a release, but her mysterious Dom robbed her of that and there’s no going back. Her job was supposed to be an accomplishment, a step forward, but Mr. Kress took that from her and twisted it to his own design.
They want her to submit.
If Kami had her way, they’d both be kissing her ass on her way out the door.
Now, there’s a new threat hanging over her head. An unknown enemy wants to expose all of Kami’s sordid, depraved secrets to the media. Little do they know, that even she has no clue who in the hell she really is…but someone does.
Someone who’s about to reveal an incomprehensible tale. A truth that will unravel Kami’s entire life at the seams. Everything she’s ever believed will be altered as she’s thrust into a world she’d never feared existed, and only one undeniable fact will ring through the loudest:
Running had never been an option.
Trigger/Content Warning: This book contains unorthodox religious views, graphic anal sex, explicit language, dark eroticism, BDSM, violence and references to demonology, paganism and the occult. Intended for mature 18+ audiences only!
Amazon: http://a.co/2RaMsMI
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32862924-avarice-unforgiving
A.C. Melody is a quirky, unconventional and often contrary (mostly to her muse) hybrid author, both traditionally and self-published. She has a soft spot for hard ass alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts. Her favorite part of writing is having the ability to explore her favorite subjects from unique angles. Also, she loves putting her characters through the ringer one way or another, to expose all the various facets that make them tick. She’s guilty of putting all her money on the underdogs, the anti-heroes and the shameless whores.
Outside of writing, A.C. is a confessed javaholic who loves reading, music, gaming, American Football, ancient civilizations, foreign cultures and everything supernatural. She has an insatiable curiosity that tends to earn her more hobbies than time. You can find her in the beautifully green Pacific Northwest with her two teenage sons and two blue-eyed, Himalayan-Siamese mixes who think they own the joint.
Blog: https://acmelodyblog.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @AuthorACMelody
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AC.Melody.77
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.c.melody/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/acmelody77/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9835277.A_C_Melody
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B011PTY1PO
Hosted by: Saints and Sinners Book Promotions
The post RELEASE BLITZ: AVARICE UNLEASHED BY A.C. MELODY appeared first on Anna Adler Books.
April 23, 2017
COVER REVEAL: HERS, UNTAMED BY ANNA ADLER (THAT’S ME!)
Hi everyone!
I’m finally ready to share the cover of my upcoming, super steamy scifi romance novel Hers, Untamed. Without further ado, here it is.
Meet Jax and Alyssa.
March 21, 2017
MY TROUBLES WITH PICKING A BOOK TITLE
I’m terrible with titles. I can come up with a story easily enough, but I can never think of what to call it. The WIPs on my hard drive have names like The Italian Holiday, The Free State, Berlin Underground… Sounds great, if I was writing travel guides. But I write steamy, fast-paced romances about brooding alpha males and their ladies. I need my book titles to reflect that!
WHY A GOOD TITLE IS IMPORTANT
The book’s title and the cover image are the first things the potential reader sees. We shouldn’t be sloppy here. When a new reader comes across your book, you only have a few seconds to catch their interest before they move on.
A good book title
sounds cool
gives an idea what the book is about
fits the genre (IMPORTANT)
I can’t stress point number three enough; a good title heavily depends on the genre. A great fantasy title wouldn’t necessarily make a great romance title and vice versa.
I love the book title guideline Tucker Max gives in his blog. Ask yourself this question:
If you were to tell someone the title of your book at a party, would they have to ask what it’s about?
If the answer is yes, you might want to rethink your title.
A reader who stumbles upon your book is like that stranger at a party, except that the reader is not going to stick around and wait for you to explain what your book is about. A few seconds, remember.
But like with all guidelines, you shouldn’t take this advice too seriously. It’s probably impossible to come up with something that instantly gives everyone the right idea. Think in broad strokes—can they guess the genre? And the tone? Or will they confuse your horror novel for something light and humorous?
MY WORKING TITLES THAT DIDN’T WORK
CASE NO. 1: My debut novel, a contemporary erotic romance about a woman who falls in love with her kidnapper
The original name of the manuscript was The Long Weekend of Evelyn Moorland. I thought it was such a great title and I was so proud of it I already had it on the cover, ready to be published.
With a little more experience (ahem) I see now that it’s too long, too vague, and not particularly sexy. It might be a good title for another genre, but it doesn’t really work for a steamy kidnap fantasy.
A lot better, isn’t it? This says more about the genre and the actual plot. It’s way more dramatic, too.
It’s funny that I’ve tried so hard to learn about book titles, and yet I have such a hard time coming up with good ones. I thought The Long Weekend of Evelyn Moorland was brilliant. It was my beta readers (bless them!) who pointed out that I should switch my title to a better one.
The credit for the title His Hostage actually goes to my critique partner, friend, and fellow author A.C. Melody. Her suggestion was, “…’Hostage’ or something like that…not only is Evie Hal’s hostage, she also ‘plays’ his hostage a few times to get him out of sticky situations.”
So hence the title His Hostage. Thanks A.C., you rock!
CASE NO. 2: My second novel, an erotic science fiction romance about a woman who buys herself a sexy man from a pet shop
The manuscript originally went by the working title Her Alien Pet—cute, right? If you search this title on Amazon, you’ll come across a bunch of cartoons for small children. Do I want my super steamy scifi romance to sound like a children’s book? Um, no.
I tried Captive Alien next, but my beta readers shook their heads. Unappealing.
What about Untamed? Turns out this is such a popular title that there are at least twenty different books on Amazon called Untamed.
After some further brainstorming with my betas, I decided on Hers, Untamed. This reflects the plot, the relationship dynamic, as well as the genre pretty well. At least I think so. And as a cherry on top, there are no books with this title yet!
WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR BOOK TITLE RARE OR WELL DONE?
It’s a bit of a balancing act to find a catchy, genre-appropriate title that is also unique. A one-of-a-kind title helps your book to stand out from the crowd, but landing such a title can be tricky, as I discovered.
In spring 2016, when The Long Weekend BlahBlah became His Hostage, I immediately went and searched the title on Amazon and Goodreads—no matches! No existing books by that name. I bought an ISBN, did the formatting, published the book…and then I realized that someone else had just published a book also called His Hostage.
So my title didn’t end up being as unique as I’d hoped. Bummer.
If this happens to you, no need to panic.
The truth is that these accidents are fairly common. Think about those twenty plus books called Untamed I mentioned above. Search any short, dramatic title and see how many hits you get. Certain titles are already used many times over, and if you come up with something new, the odds are that someone else will independently have the same idea before long.
Rights of Writers has an excellent related post that I think every author should read: Titles and the Law: Can I Call My Novel “The Great Gatsby”?
(No, don’t call your book The Great Gatsby, stay the hell away from famous titles.)
Book titles are not copyright protected—thankfully, because imagine the mess we’d have on our hands if every author had to come up with a never-used-before title for every single book. A lawsuit nightmare about who had what idea first. I think we’re all very lucky this is not the case.
In a nutshell, it’s okay to use the same title as someone else, as long as you’re not misleading the readers. You never want to imitate someone else’s brand. It’s very important that the readers can tell the books apart and grab the one they want.
In my case, it appears that the cover, the author name, and the subtitle are enough to distinguish my His Hostage from the other. No reader or reviewer complained about confusion so far, so I’m perfectly happy with the title and I’m happy with the situation in general. I will strive to come up with unique book titles also in the future, but if I end up sharing a title with another author, or twenty other authors, so be it.
Do you ever have difficulty naming your stories? How do you come up with your book titles? Is your book title one of a kind, or are there also other books by that name? Let me know in the comments, I’m interested!
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March 15, 2017
COVER REVEAL: AVARICE UNLEASHED BY A.C. MELODY
AVARICE UNLEASHED COVER REVEAL
Hell hath no fury…
Saphiel’s gone and it’s all Kami’s fault.
Panicked and riddled with guilt, she turns to the only one who can help, only to fall into the wrong hands time and again. It seems opportunity has knocked, and not a single enemy is willing to miss out. Everyone wants their dues and Kami’s the perfect bait.
All she wants is to reunite with Saph and she’ll face off with the Devil, himself, to do it. Facing herself and the reluctant truths of her heart are a whole other matter, especially when it could be too late. Will the unforgiving Avarice ever pardon her for endangering them both?
As the calendar races toward Beltane, sickening plots of greed and single-minded obsessions continue to unravel all around them, but their greatest chalenge awaits in the aftermath of retribution. Can they find some semblance of redemption in one another at last, or will the demon within change everything?
…like a Devil unleashed.
Now Available on Kindle Unlimited
BOOK #1
Devils Only.
It was a permanent note-to-self tattooed right above Kameo Kross’s panties, because anything less was a disappointment. Had anyone cared to issue the warning: Be careful what you wish for, she might have thought twice before wording it like an actual invitation.
Kami doesn’t fear pain, death, or eternal damnation. She fears only submitting completely. A matter she usually has well in hand… until an unexpected detour into kink and a relentless bastard of a new boss decide to put all of her resistance—and chosen ink—to the trickiest of tests.
Warning: This is a work of Dark Erotic fiction with possible triggers. If you are faint of heart, easily squemish or sensitive to religious world views and violence, please do not read this book.
Cliffhanger Warning: This is the First of Three books and ends in an abrupt cliffhanger.
Avarice
Amazon: http://a.co/5IcCQpd
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31422788-avarice
BOOK #2
Run.
That’s Kami’s first instinct when shit gets a little too real for her peace of mind.
Kink was supposed to be an escape, a release, but her mysterious Dom robbed her of that and there’s no going back. Her job was supposed to be an accomplishment, a step forward, but Mr. Kress took that from her and twisted it to his own design.
They want her to submit.
If Kami had her way, they’d both be kissing her ass on her way out the door.
Now, there’s a new threat hanging over her head. An unknown enemy wants to expose all of Kami’s sordid, depraved secrets to the media. Little do they know, that even she has no clue who in the hell she really is…but someone does.
Someone who’s about to reveal and incomprehensible tale. A truth that will unravel Kami’s entire life at the seams. Everything she’s ever believed will be altered as she’s thrust into a world she’d never feared existed, and only one undeniable fact will ring through the loudest:
Running had never been an option.
Trigger/Content Warning: This book contains unorthodox religious views, graphic anal sex, explicit language, dark eroticism, BDSM, violence and references to demonology, paganism and the occult. Intended for mature +18 audiences only!
Avarice Unforgiving
Amazon: http://a.co/2RaMsMI
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32862924-avarice-unforgiving
A.C. Melody is a quirky, unconventional and often contrary (mostly to her muse) hybrid author, both traditionally and self-published. She has a soft spot for hard ass alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts. Her favorite part of writing is having the ability to explore her favorite subjects from unique angles. Also, she loves putting her characters through the ringer one way or another, to expose all of the various facets that make them tick. She’s guilty of putting all her money on underdogs, the anti-heroes and the shameless whores.
Outside of writing, A.C. is a confessed javaholic who loves reading, music, gaming, American football, ancient civilizations, foreign cultures and everything supernatural. She has an insatiable curiosity that tends to earn her more hobbies than time. You can find her in the beautifully green Pacific Northwest with her two teenage sons and two blue-eyed Himalayan-Siamese mixes who think they own the joint.
Blog: https://acmelodyblog.wordpress.com
Twitter: @AuthorACMelody
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AC.Melody.77
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.c.melody
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/acmelody77
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9835277.A_C_Melody
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B011PTY1PO
Hosted by: Saints and Sinners Books
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February 27, 2017
OVERWHELMED BY THE INDIE AUTHOR BUSINESS?—YOU’RE NOT ALONE
I’m currently trying to wrap my head around the mystery called a newsletter. On top of the other things occupying space in my head, it kind of leaves me feeling like this:
Can you spot the overwhelmed Anna under the pile?
Do you ever feel like you’re buried under the pile? I know I do.
In 2015 when I decided to start publishing my stories, I thought being an author was about writing books. … Well, writing books is definitely the heart and soul of it, but it’s also about writing an author bio, blurbs, synopses, beta reader requests, review requests, advertisements, blog posts, newsletters, social media content, etc. It’s a lot of writing.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against additional writing. It’s just that these are pretty specific tasks; figuring them out from scratch is a lot of work for my poor little brain. A year ago I didn’t know what a synopsis was, let alone how to write one.
And then there’s the other stuff…where do I even start?
I feel like I’m simultaneously trying to be a writer, an editor, a graphic designer, a book formatter, a webdesigner, a blogger, a marketing manager, and a social media specialist. Eventually I guess I’ll also do customer service. Being an author is a multitasking experience times ten.
(I don’t have kids. Maybe those of you who have children are better at multitasking than I am.)
Some might argue that if you hire an editor you don’t have to edit yourself. I definitely use an editor, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do any self-editing. There’s only so much that an editor can do for me if I don’t have a clue how to polish my own text. So I try to do the best job I can even though I hire a professional on top.
Some might also argue that if you pay a graphic designer to do your covers, you don’t have any problems in that department. I don’t think it’s that simple. I suck at graphics, so I buy my covers from a pro. But I’m still the one who has to make the decisions. The designer is not going to read my book and choose the best fitting cover for it. It’s up to me, so I need to do the research to know what works best for my story and the genre I’m writing. No matter how beautiful the cover is, if it indicates the wrong genre, I’m in trouble.
Ebook formatting is a can of worms. I didn’t know before I tried it myself that the same ebook file can behave completely differently on different software. It’s quick and easy to get someone to do your formatting for you, and it’s relatively cheap. But what if you need something changed later? Maybe you have a new book coming out and you want to add a teaser to the back matter of the old book. Or maybe you finally got your [insert expletive] newsletter up and want to mention it in your already published ebook. Do you pay someone to format it again? I decided to rather do my own formatting, even though it drives me stinking nuts.
In addition there’s stuff like blogging, marketing, social media…alien concepts to me. I was confused when I heard that I should build an author platform. I never used social media before I turned serious about my writing (I’m just not that social. I’m actually pretty shy and awkward.). Joining Twitter in May 2016 was a big step for me. My fellow writers also mentioned things like blog tours, Facebook parties, and Kindle Countdown Deals. I didn’t have the faintest idea what these meant. I know now what a blog tour is and I’ve done two Kindle Countdown Deals. I still have no idea what a Facebook party is, but I guess I’ll just find out a little later.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that I’m confused and overwhelmed nine days out of ten, and I’ve been in this state for over a year now. The newsletter is merely the next step in my heap of challenges. My head wants to explode from all the information I cram in there all the while trying to write my next book. And I want to scream at my fellow writers who make it look so easy.
But I try to tell myself that it’s okay. Deep breaths. This is normal. If we are sometimes overwhelmed, it’s simply because being an author is a lot to digest. Seriously. If you got into this like I did, without any prior experience with putting a book together, or with social media or blogging or anything, the odds are you feel like you’ve been dropped into the deep end.
And in case you’re wondering, no, my sales figures are not that excellent; I’m still working on the whole marketing thing.
Here’s my quick motivation talk for overwhelming situations:
As an indie author you’re doing the multiple jobs of an entire publishing house singlehandedly—feeling overwhelmed is normal. Embrace it! It means you’re in business.
Every tiny step counts! No matter how tiny it is, it counts in the big picture. Don’t worry about the mountain of tasks looming over you, simply do one little thing today and another little thing tomorrow. Create content for your platform. Be happy about every little bit of progress you make with your next book. Remember to look back frequently and see the progress you’ve made. I realize I’ve come a long way over the past year and I’m excited to think how far I’ll be next year at this time (I might actually have my newsletter up and running!).
We all start from zero. Every single bestselling author you see out there started from zero. There’s no magic bullet to success, but thankfully the writing community is full of friendly and helpful people.
Are you overwhelmed? I send you warm and encouraging hugs! You are awesome and you can do this!
You’re not overwhelmed today? Leave me a hug in the comments, I need it!
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January 28, 2017
BETA READERS – WHERE HOW WHY
My WIP is currently in the hands of some new betas, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about where to find beta readers and why they are awesome.
WHY USE BETA READERS
Writers tend to turn blind to their own text. This is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s a simple fact. It doesn’t mean that you’re a bad writer. It’s simply hard to say how the story you see in your head comes across to the readers. Beta readers are the test audience who can tell you if the plot needs work, how the characters come across, if the pacing is good, and so on.
It’s not just about this one book that you’re working on; beta feedback can help you improve your overall skills as a writer. English is not my first language, but everyone always told me how excellent my English is…that is, until I gave my first manuscript to my first beta reader who told me that grammar is not my strong point and that hiring a professional editor is a must. After a lifetime of praise it was a bit of a shock to hear that, but man, I’m so grateful for it. Because she was absolutely right.
The beta readers for an early draft of His Hostage also reported that entire chapters were boring, the story content didn’t fit the intended genre, the character motives didn’t make sense, and that the sex scenes had pretty much everything wrong with them—too much telling, too little showing, lacking heat, the main character was emotionally disconnected from the whole thing, etc. etc.
A quote from beta feedback in November 2015: “I liked this up until the sex.”
Can you imagine anything more embarrassing to an erotic romance author than writing lame sex scenes? I felt like such a dumbass, but at the same time I felt blessed because I would not have realized this myself. Thank heavens I asked for honest feedback before I published the book! I worked hard to correct this matter (and all the others!) and a good six months later the book that actually went out to the world was on a whole new level.
A quote from a review by an Amazon customer in December 2016: “This author writes the best sex scenes I’ve read in a long time…”
I can honestly say that without the help from my beta readers I would be publishing rubbish.
BEFORE LOOKING FOR A BETA
Make sure you have the right attitude; you want to improve. Beta readers are not supposed to be cheerleaders; they’re supposed to give feedback on whether your story delivers or not. Many wannabe authors seem to be after unconditional praise and get offended when the beta reader offers suggestions for improvement. But seriously, if your book still needs work, would you rather hear about it before or after you publish?
Brace yourself for honest feedback and love the beta reader who gives it. Your book is worth it.
WHERE TO FIND BETA READERS
My favorite place is Goodreads. I’ve found my beta readers mainly from these groups:
Friends and family are not the best choice for betas. Of course there are always exceptions, but the problem with friends and family is that they don’t want to hurt your feelings, so they might not be honest with you even if your story sucks. And if they happen to be honest with you, it might be the end of your friendship, depending on how badly you lash out. Strangers make better beta readers because they have less pressure to please you and you won’t take their opinions too personally.
HOW MANY BETA READERS SHOULD I GET?
More than one.
One beta is of course better than no beta at all, but different people have different opinions. One beta reader might love how bossy your male protagonist is, but three others might find him an offensive jerk. It’s entirely possible that you get polar opposite opinions (has happened to me), so the more betas you have, the easier it is to see where the problems are and what you should do about them.
HOW TO ASK FOR A BETA
For example, my post on Goodreads’ Beta Reader Group on January 14th:
Nobody actually replied to this one, but no biggie. Post your request in several groups to improve your chances. Always include the genre of your work, the word count, and the blurb. This is a good way to figure out whether your blurb is attractive (mine still needs work, I think…
December 5, 2016
BAD MOVIE SUNDAY: STRANDED (2013)
I love movies and sometimes it’s fun to watch something completely random without knowing what it’s about. We had this Canadian scifi horror lying around, so hubby and I made it our Sunday evening entertainment. I’d never heard of Stranded before, but I’m eager to watch small-budget scifi for its originality. I’ve come across some real gems. And this had Christian Slater in it, so how bad could it be?
Well, it was terrible. We found out afterward that this movie has 3.5 on IMDb, and that’s 1.5 points too many in my opinion. I give this movie 2 points out of 10—the soundtrack was beautiful and the lunar base interior looked nice (the exterior was so obviously a miniature they might as well have built it out of Lego, but that’s beside the point), but the rest was a complete disaster.
WARNING, this angry rant contains spoilers and bad language.
So what do we have? The movie starts off okay. We have a small base on the surface of the Moon, manned by four people—three men and one woman. A meteorite bombardment destroys part of the base and the crew loses communications with Earth. They also end up with elevated levels of CO2 in the air, which might lead to hallucinations. They grab one of the meteorites that fell on them and decide to take a closer look at it. So far so good. The acting isn’t mind-blowing and the dialogue is a bit weak, but I’m still on board. I can enjoy run-of-the-mill scifi; just tell me a story and I’m happy.
The doctor of the mission splits the meteorite in half and discovers organic material inside that starts to replicate like crazy. In a few minutes he’s looking at a mess like this:
I would be alarmed, but he merely seems mildly curious as if he encountered stuff like this on a regular basis. He shows it to the science officer and she puts some of the alien cells into a centrifuge. She cuts her finger on a broken test tube. I rolled my eyes at this, but what the heck; this is how the virus spreads in most other movies, too. But then the woman—supposedly a competent crew member—just wipes her finger and doesn’t tell anyone that she just got contaminated! A moment later she’s dizzy, but when the guys question her, she claims she’s fine. The low IQ of the entire crew is starting to bother me. The woman doesn’t seem to want medical attention, and the doctor who actually sees her feeling ill only shrugs and goes back to minding his own business.
And it just goes downhill from there. The woman passes out in the hallway. She wakes up in the sickbay where the guys have carried her. She has a swollen belly as if she was pregnant. By now it should be obvious that something has infected her, but she still doesn’t say anything to the doctor! She merely freaks out and whines that the guys shouldn’t leave her alone, never mind that she’s compromising their safety.
The guys should totally put her in quarantine, but the doctor is of the opinion that they can’t leave the dumbass lady by herself because she’s so scared. Seriously? But he also claims he doesn’t know what’s wrong with her and he doesn’t know how to treat her. So why the hell should he stay with her then? If all he can do is hold her hand, why can’t he go do something more useful? Plus, it never occurs to anyone to wear sterile suits when around her.
Then they leave the woman alone after all—completely without supervision. I guess the doctor had more important things to do, after all. The freaky alien pregnancy comes to full term in a matter of hours, and the woman gives birth to…something. The guys find her in a puddle of blood and other fluids. She’s alive, so they only pick her up from the floor and put her back to bed. The doctor doesn’t bother to examine her more closely or look for the thing that came out of her. He thinks that she might have simply had a cyst that ruptured.
At this point I started to desperately hope that the movie isn’t as dumb as it appears to be—maybe the doctor is a double agent. Maybe he’s under secret orders to breed alien life, which is why he’s so sloppy and gives false information to the rest of the crew. Nothing but wishful thinking, I’m afraid. Unfortunately no one was acting stupid to cover up a hidden agenda; they were all just PLAIN. STUPID.
Then there’s the engineer guy. The alien spawn bites him in the leg. The engineer tells the doctor that something bit him, but the doctor doesn’t believe him. The doc patches his leg. He tells the engineer he must have cut himself on some glass and is hallucinating due to the CO2 in the air. The doctor’s ever more blatant incompetence makes me want to scream. Not only can’t he tell a pregnancy from a cyst, he also can’t tell a glass cut from a bite mark. WHERE THE HELL DID THIS IDIOT GO TO MED SCHOOL? WHY IS HE ON THIS MISSION?
But anyway, back to the engineer. After the science officer gave birth, the engineer is up to his elbows in her blood.
He goes around popping pills and boozing, practically licking the infected blood off his hands in the process. No one tells him to stop drinking on duty or even go wash his hands. The funny thing is, I expected this to have consequences. The woman in this movie got one nick on her finger and got instantly pregnant, but apparently the guys can go around eating, drinking, and inhaling alien cells without a care in the world. But whatever.
The alien grows into a human-like thing. It kills the doctor and the engineer (excuse me for not caring). The leader of the mission and the science officer decide to escape the base.
They prep the escape pod, but then the alien gets into the pod first and flies to Earth, leaving them behind. At this point I hoped to see these two idiots die simply because they deserved it, but no. Just as they’re running out of oxygen in the damaged lunar base, a miracle rescue ship arrives. The movie ends with the alien landing on Earth and mutating into something monstrous—an obvious cliffhanger, as if they hoped to make a sequel to this dumpster fire. When the credits rolled, my topmost thought was WHO SCRIPTED THIS SHIT?
I was majorly pissed off. I wanted to be entertained; not to be pulling my hair out and groaning at the dumb plot and the dumb characters. But there’s definitely something positive to be gained from this experience. A silver lining! I realized that I could write a better movie script than this, and my dear fellow writers, so could you!
Ladies and gents, I give you THE 3 BIGGEST FUCK-UPS IN THIS MOVIE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM:
1. GROSS INCOMPETENCE AS THE MAIN PLOT DEVICE
The entire plot in Stranded is driven by the characters’ utterly flabbergasting incompetence. I didn’t even get to Christian Slater’s character and his complete inability to impose discipline on his crew. The only reason why the hostile alien gets to transform from a few cells on the Moon to a bloodthirsty monster on Earth is because the humans let themselves get infected, don’t bother to investigate it or contain it, and in the end they even show it the way to the escape pod so that it can go and infest their homeworld. What were the creators of this movie thinking? Nobody wants to cheer for such idiots!
…HIDDEN AGENDA AS THE MAIN PLOT DEVICE
Ridley Scott’s fabulous Alien (1979) does it better. You have the explorer guy with the infamous facehugger on his face, and his concerned buddies try to bring him back into the ship. The crew member in charge of the ship, Ellen Ripley, says no; you’re not bringing that shit on board. She refuses to open the door because she’s observing regulations and she’s prepared to sacrifice the lives of the three people outside in order to protect the ship and the rest of the crew inside. That’s a competent badass character right there!
But then the science officer Ash lets the infected guy in against Ripley’s orders. We find out later that Ash is under secret orders from the company to bring an alien specimen to Earth—the human crew is expendable. Do I even need to underline how brilliant this is? You have characters with opposite interests and they’re all doing their best to achieve their goals. Shit hits the fan because you have a traitor on board—not because you yourself are too stupid to recognize danger. Learn from the master!
2. NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
There’s no character development in Stranded, unless if you count the alien—he went from a few hibernating cells to an intelligent creature, which is quite an accomplishment, actually. Maybe I should cheer for the alien. The four humans start and end equally boneheaded, and two of them even die of their combined stupidity. Maybe that’s development?
…ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
You know why I love Pitch Black (2000)? It’s not because of Vin Diesel’s first appearance as Riddick, even though he’s super hot in this movie. What I loved the most was that this movie had character development. The badass female protagonist Carolyn Fry starts off as someone who cares more about her own ass than about the lives of the passengers on her ship—but in the end she’s prepared to sacrifice her life for others. Riddick, similarly, starts off as a selfish criminal who only cares about his own survival, but he too, in the end risks his life to protect others. This movie makes me FEEL something! I love these characters because they go through personal journeys in addition to fighting an alien menace. They learn good qualities from one another. This is what all good stories are about: characters bonding and growing.
3. GET YOUR SCIENCE RIGHT!!
This should be self-explanatory, especially in a science fiction movie. Do I want to bring up again the stupid doctor who doesn’t seem to know the first thing about medicine? No, let me mention something else instead. At the end of Stranded where the leader of the mission and the science officer are sitting and waiting to die, a rescue ship lands outside the lunar base. He perks up and goes like “Do you hear that?”.
The film audience is given a shot of a shuttle landing accompanied by impressive roaring and hissing of engines.
Sigh. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yup. Sound in space. The makers of this movie conveniently forgot that sound does not carry in space because the distance between two molecules is too great for sound waves to make it. So there’s no way Christian Slater’s character (or the film audience) would hear anything. At most C. Slater might feel the floor vibrate if the rescue ship makes a rough landing, but considering the weak lunar gravity…it’s a bit so-so.
You don’t have to be a scientist to figure this stuff out. Google will already get you pretty far when you don’t want your “science” fiction movie laughed out of the theatre.
Anyway, I was angry because I wasted an evening on this, but I actually feel a lot better now that I ranted about it. Do you need to vent? Tell me which movies made you want to explode. It doesn’t have to be scifi.
And afterward everybody, go write! If rubbish like Stranded is made into a film, you have a real chance to see your own—much better—works on the silver screen. I want to watch the movies based on your books!
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December 1, 2016
COVER REVEAL: AVARICE UNFORGIVING BY A.C. MELODY
Title: Avarice Unforgiving
Author: A.C. Melody
Series: Hell on Earth #2
Genre: Dark Erotic-BDSM-Paranormal
Run.
That’s Kami’s first instinct when shit gets a little too real for her peace of mind.
Kink was supposed to be an escape, a release, but her mysterious Dom robbed her of that and there’s no going back. Her job was supposed to be an accomplishment, a step forward, but Mr. Kress took that from her and twisted it to his own design.
They want her to submit.
If Kami had her way, they’d both be kissing her ass on her way out the door.
Now, there’s a new threat hanging over her head. An unknown enemy wants to expose all of Kami’s sordid, depraved secrets to the media. Little do they know, that even she has no clue who in the hell she really is…but someone does.
Someone who’s about to reveal an incomprehensible tale. A truth that will unravel Kami’s entire life at the seams. Everything she’s ever believed will be altered as she’s thrust into a world she’d never feared existed, and only one undeniable fact will ring through the loudest:
Running had never been an option.
Trigger/Content Warning: this book contains unorthodox religious views, graphic anal sex, explicit language, dark eroticism, BDSM, violence and references to demonology, paganism and the occult. Intended for mature 18+ audiences only!
Pre-Order Your Copy Today!
A.C. Melody is a quirky, unconventional and often contrary (mostly to herself) hybrid-author, both traditionally and self-published. She has a soft spot for hard ass Alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts. Her favorite part of writing is having the ability to explore her favorite subjects from angles she’s never read before. Also, she loves putting her characters through the ringer one way or another, to expose all of the various facets that make them tick.
Outside of writing, A.C. is a confessed javaholic who loves reading, music, gaming, American football, ancient civilizations, foreign cultures and everything supernatural. She has an insatiable curiosity that tends to earn her more hobbies than time. You can find her in the beautifully green Pacific Northwest with her two teenage sons and two blue-eyed Himalayan-Siamese mixes who think they own the joint.
Connect With A.C. Melody
Blog: https://acmelodyblog.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AC.Melody.77
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorACMelody
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9835277.A_C_Melody
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.c.melody
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ACMelody
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B011PTY1PO
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November 12, 2016
3 TIPS TO MAKE EDITING EASIER
I used to think that writing was 90% first draft and 10% editing—after the grueling experience of writing my first book, I now know it’s rather the other way around. Editing is still prone to give me a headache, a self-pitying crying fit, and make me binge-eat all the licorice in the household, but it’s getting easier. I’ve even learned to love editing. Here’s how.
1. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE—POLISH THAT DIAMOND!
We like to think that our precious book is so perfect that it doesn’t really need editing, right? I certainly used to think this way. Try to abandon this delusion as soon as possible. Every book needs editing. This is simply a fact of life and the sooner you accept it the easier your author career will be. You don’t want to receive emails from your readers listing your typos and informing you about missing words, pointless chapters, and character arcs that don’t go anywhere. Having to edit doesn’t mean your book is bad; it just means you have to put in the work to bring out its shine.
Think of your book as a diamond. Yes, your book is precious and awesome, never forget that. Love your book! But rough diamonds need cutting. When diamonds come out of the earth, at the very best they look like this:
It’s a valuable piece of material, but it doesn’t look very impressive. I might confuse it for a glass shard. It’s the same thing with first drafts. Your first draft is a lump of good material, but you wouldn’t want to wear it on a ring. It needs work to bring out the shine. Diamonds have to go through some serious cutting and polishing before they can be put on display at the jeweler’s.
This is what you want your published book to be like, right? And this is what the readers want to get their hands on. Don’t take editing as an insult; see it as a service to your book. You want your baby to be beautiful, so cut and polish as viciously as you can!
2. DON’T DELETE YOUR DARLINGS—WRITE A NEW DRAFT
Probably the best editing advice I read somewhere (I can’t remember where because I’ve read so many writing blogs it’s all a blur in my head) is “kill your darlings”. This is probably also the hardest advice to take, at least for me. As a writer, you fall in love with your work, especially some word or a phrase or a character or a plot twist—and because you love it so much you insist on keeping it in your story even when it actually doesn’t fit the story very well.
When I first wrote His Hostage, I had a reference to Space Odyssey 2001 at the end of the book. I revealed that the male protagonist had picked his name from the movie’s infamous AI HAL. I just thought it was a brilliant idea at the time. My beta readers weren’t really convinced by the ending. One after another kept saying that it didn’t work, but I didn’t want to listen. Thankfully in the end I did listen and I rewrote the ending—bye bye Space Odyssey 2001 reference—but it felt like killing my favorite part of the book. But the thing is, I suspect nobody else cared about it except me. I was in love with an unfitting concept and when I kicked it, the book turned a lot better.
Listen to your beta readers—get rid of ideas that don’t work even if they’re your favorites. But here’s how to make it easier for you: when you rewrite a scene, don’t delete the old material; save the new version as a new draft instead. I have 11 versions of His Hostage saved on my hard drive because that’s how many drafts it took to get it right. Every time I made significant changes, I saved it as a new draft. I didn’t delete any of my mistakes; I merely left them behind. This eased my pain significantly and I was able to make bolder decisions when rewriting. I used to be hesitant to rewrite anything because I thought, “But what if I regret this later?”. Now I’m thinking, “Well, if Draft 7 doesn’t work, I can always go back to Draft 6 and try again.” I haven’t lost anything. I can any time read the old versions that used to mean so much to me.
(Guess what, my old darlings make me cringe now. Thank goodness I left them behind!)
3. EDIT ON PAPER
A frequent problem of mine: how do I recognize what needs editing? Which words are unnecessary? Which chapters lack punch? Which characters come across weird? My two favorite solutions are beta readers and ProWritingAid, but because I don’t want to dump just any garbage on innocent people or innocent software, I first of all edit and revise on my own.
I write on a PC, but I noticed that the story somehow looks different on paper than it does on screen. I discovered this by accident because hubby and I were going out of town for a week and I had to leave my PC behind, so I printed out my WIP to work on it while we were away. Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but to me it was a revelation—editing was easier on paper! I could pick up repetition and clumsy sentences much better, not to mention plot points that didn’t deliver. Now, whenever the text starts to look good on screen, I print it out and see if it looks good on paper as well. Usually it doesn’t.
To me the best thing about editing is when I actually notice the story has improved. I think I have written a good one, but somehow through editing I’ve turned it even better. This feeling is even more amazing than the relief of finishing the first draft, so yes, I love editing. It’s so rewarding in the end!
I also love learning new stuff. Do you have editing tips for me? How do you cope with hacking and slashing your manuscript?
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October 13, 2016
WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING PHASES?
I have this nifty plugin on my site called MyBookProgress. Basically it’s just a progress bar you see there on the right, but it lets me customize my own writing phases. It’s not just about hitting a certain word count and off you go – at least in my system reaching the goal length has only to do with the first draft, which has absolutely nothing to do with how “ready” my book is.
So when setting up this plugin, I actually had to sit down and define what my writing phases are. I’ve always had stories in my head. Coming up with stories is not the problem. My problem was always how to put the stories into words, and this was a huge issue. Like, HUGE. My writing usually ended in me tearing up the manuscript, stomping on the manuscript, torching the manuscript, or abandoning the manuscript and going off to have a five-year writer’s block.
How the heck did I manage to write and publish a book? With my debut novel His Hostage I finally found a system that works for me (it took an insane amount of reading and writing and reading about writing to discover this, but that’s beside the point for now). It goes approximately like this:
First draft – this can be whatever drivel I come up with. Trying to edit while writing was my biggest mistake ever. Now I do my best NOT to edit or revise or even think too much (otherwise I get blocked). I try to hit a certain word count (50-60k words), but other than that, whatevs. As long as the story has a beginning, an ending and a rough character arc, I’m good.
First revisions – I rewrite the story a few times, trying to fix all the plotholes and make the characters come across right. I add new scenes and cut out useless ones. I try to turn the drivel into a coherent and interesting story.
Beta readers – Once I’m out of ideas and blind to my own text, I ask beta readers to pick it apart. This is crucially important. I trust my betas to tell me when something is boring, incoherent, or plain unnecessary. I’m also eager for advice on better wordings, typo elimination, etc. There’s bound to be plenty to fix that I just wasn’t seeing on my own. Feedback from betas helps to gain perspective and blows new life into the project.
Second revisions – I rewrite the story again based on the beta readers’ suggestions. I’m prepared to repeat this cycle several times, asking for feedback and making changes, asking for feedback again, etc. Once I’m done with rewrites, I polish the text. I use an online editing tool called ProWritingAid (https://prowritingaid.com) to comb out repetition, passive tense and other style issues.
Final edits – I hire a professional editor (I’m rather fixated on Laurie Skemp (http://www.bookeditingpro.com) who did an amazing job with my first book) to line edit the manuscript. There are authors who self-edit their work, but I’m not in that league. For someone like me, hiring a pro is a good investment.
So these are my steps in writing a book. I don’t make any notes beforehand; I start with the first draft. I do research on the side if necessary. I often see the story kind of like a movie in my head, and I write down what I see. Mind you, writing still doesn’t come easy to me, but at least this kind of approach prevents the project from going up in flames.
What are your writing phases? I find myself spending more time revising and editing than actually writing. What about you?
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