Sara Codair's Blog, page 2

Book Review: Anya and the Dragon

[image error]I took a big hiatus from reviewing books here, really from reading in general, but I’m back!

Anya and the Dragon had been sitting in my NetGalley queue for a long time. It is the first novel I have read since August, and it was like getting a nice cold drink of water after being really thirsty on a long hike. I missed reading, and this was a great story to sit down with after a very  stressful semester. 

Anya and the Dragon was a story about a girl, her goat, a new friend, a dragon, and tough choices. I loved most of it, but there was one little thing that bothered me.

I’ll start by telling you what I loved about this book.

I love novels with Slavic folklore, and this one was filled with it. I loved how the Domovoi’s personality.

Speaking of personality, Zvezda the goat was my favorite. He was adorable. He was brave, stubborn, loyal, and always chewing on something. 

I loved how the plot seemed to meander for a little while, letting the readers really get a full taste of the characters and the world before the plot really picked up the pace. Shortly after I reached the half-way mark, the story flew by and I couldn’t put the book down. 

The voice, imagery, and the friendships that developed were beautiful. 

The story felt very grounded in historical context and how in spite of that context, I didn’t feel completely smothered by some of the social issues and prejudices of that time. 

Anya seemed certain she didn’t want to get married, not even when she was older. While adult characters may have seemed a little skeptical when it was mentioned once, no one was telling her she had to get married when she was older. No one was every telling she could or couldn’t do something because she was a girl. I loved that the adults in town didn’t treat her any different than the treat the boy characters her age. Sometimes historical fantasy gets bogged down in alleged period sexism. This story didn’t. 

Sexism may not have been an issue in this story, but it didn’t completely ignore other prejudices of the time. The narrative discussed the antisemitism of the time. One of the antagonists was very anti semitic, but then he  got what deserved in the end…or maybe a kinder fate than he deserved. 

I feel like with historical fiction, addressing some of the prejudices of a time period is necessary, to an extent,  and when done right, it can drive home how bad that kind of hate was. 

The problem comes when it becomes gratuitous and/or the narrative doesn’t criticize the hate.

Which leads me to the one little tiny problem I had with this book. 

There was one scene in Chapter 6  where the narrative hinted that Ivan, the second most prominent human character, isn’t straight, but it came up in the context of his brothers making fun of him for having water-magic, like his mother, and for thinking a boy was cute once. 

Nothing about the narrative voice seemed critical of these bothers. There are much kinder ways to hint that a character is possibly gay or bi. 

I was excited to learn Ivan once thought a boy was cute. I’m always excited to see LGBTQ+ rep in books, especially middle grade books. I just wish the author could’ve found a better way to work it into the narrative. Using this casual homophobia as a way to say “this character isn’t straight” is not cool. 

That is the reason this book has 4 stars and not 5, because honestly, I loved just about everything else about it.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Life Minus Me by Sara Codair

Thank you LGBTQReads for hosting the cover reveal of my novella, Life Minus Me.

LGBTQ Reads

Today on the site, we’re happy to welcome back Sara Codair to reveal the cover for their upcoming new adult contemporary fantasy, Life Minus Me, releasing from NineStar Press on December 23rd, 2019! Here’s a little more about the book:

Mel is half-angel, but despite her ability to heal and read minds, she feels powerless to help anyone. When a prophecy shows a local pet supply store owner driving their car off a bridge, Mel sets out to stop it.

Baily, owner of Barks and Bits, is barely holding it together. Things keep going wrong, and their depression spirals out of control. Just as they start wondering if they’d be better off dead, a new friend provides a glimmer of hope. But is that enough to keep living?

Mel never thought saving Baily would be easy, but she can’t figure out when, where, or why Baily’s suicide will happen…

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2019 Publications Round-Up

I’m sorry for my silence this fall. It’s been busy with a full course load, conventions, edits, and writing. Actually, this whole year has been super busy, and my list of publications is so much smaller than last years.

My first publication of 2019 was a poem called “Is Listening Visiting.” It was published in Vulture Bones, which is an online publication.

Contention Warning: Mention of death.

The rest of my publications were reprints.

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“The Suitor Sorter” was reprinted in Echoes of the Past. This was Fantasia Divinity’s Best of 2018 anthology.

This story was about a young lady trying to fool a steampunk dating machine and the automaton that ran it.

Content Warning: Homophobia

 

[image error]One of my favorite short stories, “Red Tide Rising,” was originally published as a serial in Helios Quarterly. was reprinted in a anthology of weird westerns, Gunsmoke and Dragonfire. This anthology was released on March 15, 2019.

“Red Tide Rising” is an outlaws vs sheriffs  western set on Mars, but it is also about an estranged couple finding their way back together.

Content Warning: Violence

 

[image error]“Ink and Ash” was originally released as a stand alone ebook in the Society of Misfit Stories series. Now, it is included in their print edition of The Society of Misfit Stories Volume Three.

This story is about two siblings, one who is a magician, and one who isn’t, grappling with whether or not their society should ban the use of wands as weapons for civilians.

Content Warning: Violence, Death

 

I have one more original story scheduled to release in December. Life Minus Me is a novella set in the same world as Power Surge.  Mel discovers Erin had dream predicting a suicide, and Mel sets out to stop it.

Content Warning: Depression, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Attempt

I’ll add a cover and pre-order link and cover when those things become available.

Book Review: The Time Trap

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The middle grade reading spree continues with a digital ARC of The Time Trap that I got from NetGalley. 

The Time Trap did have a good message for kids whose parents are going through a divorce, but it all seemed very cliche. Telling kids that acting out won’t make their parents get back together, and telling them that they have to accept what happens and move on, is fine, is important, but it felt like the message was too loud. It took precedence over everything else. As a result, voice and character development suffered.

I almost stopped reading after the first chapter because of the lack of voice and personality. The sentences tended to be repetitive. However, I can very rarely bring myself to mark a book DNF.

Usually if I DNF, it’s because I am completely lost or because something bad happened to a dog. Neither happened with this book. I was just bored.  A couple nights later, I picked it up again, hoping it got better. It didn’t, but it only took me an hour to finish it. 

One thing I did like was the method the character used for time travel. That seemed a little original. But the rest was a little too cliche for me.

I know I’m not the target audience for this book, but I think as a kid, I would’ve had similar problems with it. I would’ve gotten bored. Back then, I didn’t care about finishing books unless I had to for school, so I would have stopped reading and I wouldn’t have known how to explain why I didn’t like it. 

I can understand adults making things a little more obvious for kids, but this was too heavy handed. It’s a good example of what I want to avoid doing with my own middle grade novel. I think some telling is okay, but characters, their arc, and the actual story have to be more prominent that whatever message the author is trying to send.

Instead of smothering everything with the message, bring the story to life and pick a few relevant moments to have the character really stop and reflect on it.

When you start querying one manuscript, start writing a new one.

I remember reading on websites, forums, and social media that once I started querying a manuscript, I should focus on writing a new one. The advice was that unless I was getting multiple rejections on fulls, or multiple rejections with similar feedback, I should just leave the manuscript alone.

The first three times I queried, I mostly disregarded this advice. I worked on something new for a little, but was constantly going back to the thing I was querying and editing and revising.

This got confusing very quickly.

Which version of the first chapter did I just get a request on? How many other agents did I send that one too?

There were a lot of times I thought things like, “if only I waited longer to query this or that agent!” or “Why didn’t I just keep the opening how it was?”

One of the few benefits was that sometimes, if agents who had already rejected my query requested a query because of a twitter pitch, they were willing to take another look once they realized I had revised. Unfortunately, all of these second chance queries ended in rejection. In the end, it wasn’t much of a benefit.

Not wanting to go through all that stress again, I took a different approach to querying my fourth manuscript. As soon as my first batch of queries was out, I decided to focus on other projects. I started writing a sequel for Power Surge, but I wasn’t ready yet. I wrote prequel novella, Life Minus Me, which will be published this winter. I worked on revising a space opera, but got bogged down in the revisions and put it aside. Then I went back to the sequel, finished it, and worked on short stories while I let it rest between drafts. I wrote the first draft of a middle grade novel and started revising.

I have to say, this was the least stressful bout of querying I’ve had so far. I did make some changes to my opening chapters after a slew of rejections, but I haven’t read through the entire manuscript since I sent out my first full.

I was more productive in the past year than I was in the year or two I queried my first three books, and spent a lot less time stressing and obsessing over my query.

If I look at this in terms of success? The answer isn’t as clear cut. I am still unagented.

Queries from both batches resulted in offers from small publishers.

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Power Surge, the second novel I finished and the first I queried, ended up with two offers from small publishers, and ultimately, I signed with NineStar Press. It was published last year. The prequel novella and sequel are both under contract with NineStar and scheduled to be released Dec 2019 and Feb 2020.

Song of the Forest, the first book I finished and second I queried, did get an offer, which I turned down because the contract was bad. I did not get any other offers and shelved this book. Honestly? I’m glad it didn’t get published. It has some potentially problematic content that would need to be revised and then looked at by a sensitivity reader and revised again. However, back when I wrote it and started querying it, I hadn’t really looked far enough outside my white, privileged bubble to realize. I know better now. I hope.

I have open R & Rs on this from small publishers. One day I might try to fix the problematic content I think is there, and the world building issues mentioned in several rejections. But right now? It’s low on my priority list.

The third one I queried, Like Birds Under the City Sky, got no offers. It was a strange little book where I experimented with form, and ultimately, it just didn’t work. Its currently shelved.

My fourth book, Earth Reclaimed, was the one I left alone while querying, and in 2021, it will be published by Aurelia Leo.

Revising while querying versus leaving the manuscript alone didn’t have an impact on how successful the query was, but the level of stress and anxiety was much lower when I focused on writing new things.

The new projects not only distracted me from worrying about the querying, but they assured me that even if this round of querying failed, there would most definitely be a next time, another chance at getting an agent or a contract from a small publisher.

My recommendation is to be working on a new book while your querying.

However, I understand that what works for me might not work for someone else, and in the end, it is important for writers to do what is best for themselves.

IWSG Day: Rebellious Character Surprises!

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The first Wednesday of every month, the IWSG posts an optional question, encouraging members to read and comment on each other’s blogs.

August’s Question is:

Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you’d forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?

For me, writing is full of surprises, mostly because my characters tend to take on a life of their own.

For example, with my current WIP, I told myself the mc was a girl because that story would be easier to sell than one with a non-binary main character. However, before I realized what I was doing, the character was telling someone that they use “they/them/their” as pronouns and thinking about being neither boy nor girl.

I thought I could control the gender of my main character, but that character decided they were non-binary (like me) whether I liked it or not.

The idea of characters I’m creating doing unexpected things always seems odd to me, even though it is something many writers have experienced. 

I often find myself wondering why things like this happen. Why do my creations surprise me? Am I really surprising myself? How come I feel like I am not in control of these characters as I create them and make them do things? Shouldn’t I be more deliberate? What is the point of craft advice if my characters are just running around doing their own things with me putting zero thought into how that affects the story on some technical level?

I can maybe  answer one of those questions.

Craft advice is for revision, not first drafts. At least, that is how it is for me. Other writers might be able to think about plot and scene and characterization while they draft. I can’t. I can only think of the characters as living entities and the story as something unfolding as it happens. If I outline, it’s because the story is unfolding in my head much faster than I can really write, and even then, when I start writing, I don’t usually stick to exactly what I outlined.

I think I get surprised because a lot of what I’m doing is not happening on a conscious level. It’s like dreaming. When I draft, my subconscious does the heavy lifting, so it feels like my creations have more agency in the creation of the story than I do.

When I was younger, part of me wanted to believe there was something supernatural about writing. I don’t think that now, but I do love writing about supernatural things.

I always surprise my self when I’m drafting.

My revisions, on the other hand, are far more deliberate and conscious. The biggest surprises there are how patient I am. In real life, I’m not known for my patience.

What kind of surprises do you find when writing?

 

Photo Credit: The back ground photo on the header was taken from Simone Scarano on Unsplash. 

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Book Review: The Bone Garden

[image error]The middle-grade reading spree continues with The Bone Garden. I got a free ARC of this creepy but cute little book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t think necromancy could be the cute, but alas, it was. In spite of its cuteness, I wasn’t as engaged with The Bone Garden as I hoped to be, but I still enjoyed it.

The main character, Irréelle, was adorable even though she was essentially made of dead people’s bones. For a creature most would label as a “monster” she was kind and often put others before herself. Early in the book, I got very annoyed at how she loved her creator even though the woman was cruel and abusive, but towards the end, I was very happy when Irréelle learned to stand up for herself. 

However, the side characters were flat and didn’t have much of an arc. They were good friends for Irréelle, but they didn’t change or grow like she did. Even though I loved seeing Irréelle’s friendship with them bloom, I got a little bored watching them stay the same while she developed. 

The antagonist, Miss Vesper, was too cliche for me. 

The story and plot were a little more complex than I expected, and there were a couple times where I was actually surprised. There were some scary moments, but for the most part, the book was just morbid in a cute way. There was necromancy and bones were the morbid part, but the character and her friendships were the cute. 

The prose were accessible but not bland. 

The Bone Garden would be a great story for a kid who likes things like bones, worms, and dirt, but doesn’t want to be too scared by what he/she/they are reading.

Book Review:All the Impossible Things

[image error]Alright, so I’m back to that middle grade reading spree! Granted, it hasn’t felt like much of a spree yet since this is only the third middle grade book I’ve read this summer…

Spree or not, I received a free copy of All the Impossible Things from Netgalley  and read the whole thing in one night.

The first thing I want to say is that I want to meet Gandalf the dog and give her treats and play fetch and be her friend. Really, I want to meet and befriend all the animals.

Second, this book was beautifully written and made me cry more than once. Even though at times it was heart-breaking, it was also heart-warming and up lifting. 

In some ways, All the Impossible Things was a book of contradictions. There were times when on the surface, it felt like not much was happening, but below the surface, everything was happening. There may not have been much as far as external action or adventure, but the internal growth was incredible. 

All the Impossible Things is a story about a girl with magic wind adjusting to life in a new foster home, one with two loving retired people and a whole bunch of amazing animals: dogs, goats, horses, a donkey, chickens, and a giant tortoise. The author did a fantastic job bringing the setting and all its four-legged inhabitants to life. The sense of wonder never flagged. Additionally, there was never a page with no emotional beat. Red/Ruby was constantly learning, growing, being set back, and moving forward throughout the book.

As someone who is used to reading genre fiction, this book was quieter than what I’m used to, but I was never bored with. I was invested enough in the character and her arc that despite its quietness, I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen to Red. It was a good reminder to me that the action in a story can be small as long as what is happening inside a character is compelling.

I can’t really comment on the accuracy of the foster-related representation. I have no first hand experience with foster care, and only have acquaintances who have adopted children through the foster care system.

I can say the sentences, character and story are beautiful, thought provoking, and emotional. Based on that, I’d recommend All the Impossible Things.

Book Review: Waking Up the Sun

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Waking Up the Sun was a cute romance set in a dark yet enchanting forest where two people, the only two people in the forest, gradually fall in love with each other. 

My favorite part about this was the mental illness representation. The main characters panic attacks, combine with his description of his cycles of anxiety and depression, felt true and relatable. 

More importantly, both the main character and the narrative voice had a positive attitude towards medication. The main character had a potion that helped him manage his mental illness. When he was in the forest without it, he coped, but realized he did better with it, and took the initiative to make more of it. Once he was back on the medication, his symptoms were clearly easier to manage. They didn’t disappear, but they were more manageable, which made it feel very authentic.

I read so many stories where medication is portrayed in a negative light, that I was happy to see a book where it was shown as something helpful. 

I also enjoyed the forest setting. That, combined with the story itself, had a fairy-tale feel.

At times, the story and dialogue felt a little contrived to me, but I often find myself thinking that when I read romance. I wasn’t always as engaged with the voice as I wanted to be and I would have liked a little more tension or high stakes. 

Still, it was a nice relaxing read after a stressful week.  Waking Up the Sun is a good choice if you are looking for a calm, sweet fairy tale or something to help you unwind after a busy day.

Get your copy here.

Book Review: City of Ghosts

[image error]For the next couple of weeks, while I try to finish my own middle grade novel, I’m going to be on a paranormal middle grade reading spree. City of Ghosts is the second title I’ve read since I started and it was so much better than the first book I read off my middle grade list.

City of Ghosts had everything I look for in a book while still being accessible for younger readers. I think had I picked this up when I was twelve, I would’ve happily read the whole thing.

As far as characters go, Cass and Jacob won me over right away. I loved their friendship, how Cass was charging into danger while Jacob was warning her away. I loved his comic book obsession. I loved the tension created by introducing Lara to the  mix. The only issue I had with the characters was that I kept thinking they were a few years older than they actually were. I kept thinking Cass was fourteen or fifteen, not twelve.

A few times, the narrator broke the third wall and started talking like she was reflecting back on events. I’m thinking maybe part of why I kept thinking the character was older was because the narrative voice was supposed to be older than the character. I’m not a huge fan of narrators breaking the third wall to say “If I’d known…” but there was so much else to love about the book that I can deal with it.

On the surface, on the sentence level, this book was a work of art. Schawb wrote sentences that were beautiful while still keeping them accessible for a younger reader. She didn’t dumb the language down like some middle grade authors, but didn’t make it overly complicated or wordy like some adult authors do.

I was able to picture every little detail of the city without getting bored or bogged down. The description of the setting and its history made me want to go and visit Edinburgh.

The involvement of Cass’ parent’s was a nice touch. They were entertaining and they actually cared about her. At times, they helped the reader better understand Cass. At other times, they created more tension.

I’m really looking forward to the sequel, and might buy my ten-year-old cousin a copy of City of Ghosts for her birthday.