Kate Copeseeley's Blog, page 5
March 8, 2014
George, Mary Sues, and Epic Fantasy
I think I've mentioned before that series are HARD WORK. If you didn't read that post, I'm just gonna sum it up for you: whining, bitching, moaning, and a little resolve toward the end. Or if you like that sort of thing, here's the gif:
The hardest part, though, is keeping track of all that character growth that's supposed to be happening. As I get to the end of the third book (OMG, did I just say the END? I did. Check out that wordcount on the sidebar, readers!), I start to think about what the character is going through. I have a nice peek at where they've been and where they might be headed in the next couple of books.But mostly, I wonder to myself: What Would George Do? That's right, when I think about character work, I always go to the definitive expert (in my humble opinion, of course). He can take the most sniveling, backstabbing character and turn them into a hero by the 5th book. So, what would George do?
Wellllll... let's just say he likes to make things difficult for his characters. So, okay. Why? Because that's how we grow as people, right? We grow and we change and we face hardships that melt us down and purify us and turn us into bright, shiny versions of ourselves (or horrifying nasty versions, too).
Luka is probably the best example of this, but let's look at Nikka, who is kind of the reason for this series. Nikka is a fun character to write, but let's be honest, she can get a bit Mary Sueish. I mean, she scores a 27 on The Mary Sue Test. Which, you know, isn't the highest score she could get (50+), but definitely in the mildly Mary Sue range.
And what's so wrong about being a Mary Sue, you ask? Besides the fact that she pisses off reviewers everywhere? Nothing much. I mean, in reality, people will give you crap about your heroine being a Mary Sue, but if she works in your story, you won't hear me complaining.
Anyway, the reason I don't want a Mary Sue in my writing is because a lot of times, she can turn out flat, if you're not careful. I consider it my job, as the writer of this series, to keep her from heading down that road, to make things difficult for her.
I keep George in mind when I decide what to do with Nikka. I push her, pull her, make her question herself, her abilities, her relationships, and even her gut. Because even though she is obscenely powerful and full of sass, she is not infallible. She sometimes reacts too quickly, or has too much confidence in herself and it turns out that she can't just do anything she wants with the powers she's been given.
So yeah, gonna have to keep that in mind during the editing I'll be doing very very soon. (Hopefully.)
Happy Reading!
The hardest part, though, is keeping track of all that character growth that's supposed to be happening. As I get to the end of the third book (OMG, did I just say the END? I did. Check out that wordcount on the sidebar, readers!), I start to think about what the character is going through. I have a nice peek at where they've been and where they might be headed in the next couple of books.But mostly, I wonder to myself: What Would George Do? That's right, when I think about character work, I always go to the definitive expert (in my humble opinion, of course). He can take the most sniveling, backstabbing character and turn them into a hero by the 5th book. So, what would George do?
Wellllll... let's just say he likes to make things difficult for his characters. So, okay. Why? Because that's how we grow as people, right? We grow and we change and we face hardships that melt us down and purify us and turn us into bright, shiny versions of ourselves (or horrifying nasty versions, too).
Luka is probably the best example of this, but let's look at Nikka, who is kind of the reason for this series. Nikka is a fun character to write, but let's be honest, she can get a bit Mary Sueish. I mean, she scores a 27 on The Mary Sue Test. Which, you know, isn't the highest score she could get (50+), but definitely in the mildly Mary Sue range.
And what's so wrong about being a Mary Sue, you ask? Besides the fact that she pisses off reviewers everywhere? Nothing much. I mean, in reality, people will give you crap about your heroine being a Mary Sue, but if she works in your story, you won't hear me complaining.
Anyway, the reason I don't want a Mary Sue in my writing is because a lot of times, she can turn out flat, if you're not careful. I consider it my job, as the writer of this series, to keep her from heading down that road, to make things difficult for her.
I keep George in mind when I decide what to do with Nikka. I push her, pull her, make her question herself, her abilities, her relationships, and even her gut. Because even though she is obscenely powerful and full of sass, she is not infallible. She sometimes reacts too quickly, or has too much confidence in herself and it turns out that she can't just do anything she wants with the powers she's been given.
So yeah, gonna have to keep that in mind during the editing I'll be doing very very soon. (Hopefully.)
Happy Reading!
February 15, 2014
Progress is Progress
It's kind of a good news/good news day around here, for once! First of all, sorry about the lack of updates. I don't know what that's about. It's certainly not because I've been watching Kdramas instead of blogging. Nope.
Seriously, though. I've been sick twice in the past month. Like lay on the couch, cry for mommy, pray that my children really WILL watch another episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, sick. Then we were gone for a weekend, then the in-laws came up for a weekend. Basically my new weekend writing chunk of time took a huge nosedive.
I know what you're thinking here. What exactly is the good news here, Kate?
Welp, this morning I was sitting down, mapping out some newly changed details for the rest of the book, and I realized I only have about SIX CHAPTERS LEFT FOR EACH CHARACTER!!! And okay, that's about 60,000 words, which is like another month straight of really stellar writing, especially when you only have your lunch break to write during. (Wow, I'm really bringing down the good news here, aren't I?)
But there's another bit of good news! I have successfully coaxed the children (with the use of a very clever wake up alarm) to sleep in to the reasonable hour of 6 am. It took some doing, and it isn't always perfect, of course, but it works well enough that I can get up at 5 now and write for an hour before they wake up.
So that is my second bit of news, I've added an hour on to my writing time. It's fabulous. And it works so well, because mornings are when I'm at my best, creatively and mentally.
So yeah, 63% done, 6 more chapters of each character left, added an extra hour of writing time most mornings! Yay!
Keep visiting and hopefully the news will just get better. :)
Happy Reading!
Seriously, though. I've been sick twice in the past month. Like lay on the couch, cry for mommy, pray that my children really WILL watch another episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, sick. Then we were gone for a weekend, then the in-laws came up for a weekend. Basically my new weekend writing chunk of time took a huge nosedive.
I know what you're thinking here. What exactly is the good news here, Kate?
Welp, this morning I was sitting down, mapping out some newly changed details for the rest of the book, and I realized I only have about SIX CHAPTERS LEFT FOR EACH CHARACTER!!! And okay, that's about 60,000 words, which is like another month straight of really stellar writing, especially when you only have your lunch break to write during. (Wow, I'm really bringing down the good news here, aren't I?)
But there's another bit of good news! I have successfully coaxed the children (with the use of a very clever wake up alarm) to sleep in to the reasonable hour of 6 am. It took some doing, and it isn't always perfect, of course, but it works well enough that I can get up at 5 now and write for an hour before they wake up.
So that is my second bit of news, I've added an hour on to my writing time. It's fabulous. And it works so well, because mornings are when I'm at my best, creatively and mentally.
So yeah, 63% done, 6 more chapters of each character left, added an extra hour of writing time most mornings! Yay!
Keep visiting and hopefully the news will just get better. :)
Happy Reading!
January 19, 2014
It's WOTY Time!
Every year about this time, I make myself a mini-pledge of a sorts. I pick a word that I want to exemplify my writing life and stick with it like a goal, to spur myself through another year of ups and downs, stops and starts. Last year, if you recall, my WOTY last year was FEARLESS (with Fighting! being a close runner up, of course). I tried a lot of stuff last year. I also failed at some and succeeded at some. I put out four audiobooks, I wrote some obsessive kdrama fangirl fiction disguised as contemporary fiction. I wrote over half of Terris, the next book in my Five Tribes series. I got a new job. I wrote Buzz Worthy News for Cuddlebuggery while they were on hiatus. And it was fun. So fun. I had a great time last year, for sure.
This year, my Word Of The Year is FLEXIBLE.
If only. I pretty much suck at yoga because I'm the total opposite of this girl right here.A short explanation: since getting my job, my time has been really limited in the writing dept. I have lunch break and naptime on the weekends and that's about it. I don't have time to sit down and lose myself in the world I've created as I did in the past. And that's cool, you know. I'm rollin' with it. But I need to let go of the idea that writing has to be done a certain way, at a certain time, with a certain plan in mind.
This year is the year to let freedom reign. Let my preconceived notions of what being a writer means GO, once and for all. My task for myself is just to be as flexible as I can be with the writing times I've been given. Do I have an hour, here or there? Awesome, I'll just squeeze some words in, if I can.
Overall, my goal this year is to FINISH TERRIS. Because of my writing, I hesitate to give an actual set in stone month deadline (as I have a feeling that will lead to epic amounts of FAIL), but here's hoping that by say... August, I've got the rough draft done. If I can just get to THAT point, then the rest will follow. I'm also hoping to have one more CR under my belt by then, but if it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen. I'm fully committed to Terris, at this point.
Anyway, that's all from me, for now. Happy Reading, all!
This year, my Word Of The Year is FLEXIBLE.
If only. I pretty much suck at yoga because I'm the total opposite of this girl right here.A short explanation: since getting my job, my time has been really limited in the writing dept. I have lunch break and naptime on the weekends and that's about it. I don't have time to sit down and lose myself in the world I've created as I did in the past. And that's cool, you know. I'm rollin' with it. But I need to let go of the idea that writing has to be done a certain way, at a certain time, with a certain plan in mind.This year is the year to let freedom reign. Let my preconceived notions of what being a writer means GO, once and for all. My task for myself is just to be as flexible as I can be with the writing times I've been given. Do I have an hour, here or there? Awesome, I'll just squeeze some words in, if I can.
Overall, my goal this year is to FINISH TERRIS. Because of my writing, I hesitate to give an actual set in stone month deadline (as I have a feeling that will lead to epic amounts of FAIL), but here's hoping that by say... August, I've got the rough draft done. If I can just get to THAT point, then the rest will follow. I'm also hoping to have one more CR under my belt by then, but if it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen. I'm fully committed to Terris, at this point.
Anyway, that's all from me, for now. Happy Reading, all!
January 1, 2014
Suspending Disbelief
A bookish friend of mine (a person who is only a friend in the sense that we communicate online and commiserate over books) recently read a book that I love and well... let's just say she didn't enjoy it as much as I did.
And while I try hard not to take it to heart, it does have me wondering why she didn't like the book. Specifically, why wasn't she able to get lost in it, like I was.The thing is, in her review, she talks about a lot of details the book has: the magical characters use wands when they don't seem to need to, the prophesied main character seems to be insanely good at everything (she plays a perfect game of cricket when she just picked up the paddle), etc.And these are all valid notes. In fact, when I read her notes and thought about it, I realized that I had completely overlooked all of these in my own reading. I was so immersed in the story that I didn't care about the little plot problems along the way. I had suspended disbelief somehow and gotten lost in the story.But, see, I care about plot problems, too. The book Across The Universe by Beth Revis, had all sorts of issues that drove me CRAZY when I read that book (calling me to revoke its 'scifi' label), but my bookish friend read it an loved it. None of its issues were a problem for her.
So what is it about a story that connects with our imagination, our heart, our deeper self, and has us clamoring for more, even when the story itself isn't perfect? And why did I read the entire Twilight series, when there are several eye-rolling aspects of it that made me want to punch the wall?
The answer? I really have no freaking clue! I wish I knew, because that would be a freaking gold mine. Not the sell as many books as Twilight thing, but the 'what makes people love a book despite all odds' thing.
Something I will be thinking on for a while, I can assure you.
I have not been writing over Christmas break. I have been planning and stewing and germinating, but not writing. Hopefully it will pay off when I go back to work next week. Also, the Cuddlebuggery ladies are back from their hiatus, so I'll have like 6 more hours a week to write. This is good.
One final thing, a present for the new year...
I now have copies of Aeris to give away, too! I've still got a few copies of Compis audiobook left, if you want to get on board with a copy of both for free!!! The audible books cost $15 bucks a piece, I think, so this is a pretty good deal. And already I'm hearing rave reviews about my voice actor, so that's good, too.
Happy Reading and Happy New Year!
And while I try hard not to take it to heart, it does have me wondering why she didn't like the book. Specifically, why wasn't she able to get lost in it, like I was.The thing is, in her review, she talks about a lot of details the book has: the magical characters use wands when they don't seem to need to, the prophesied main character seems to be insanely good at everything (she plays a perfect game of cricket when she just picked up the paddle), etc.And these are all valid notes. In fact, when I read her notes and thought about it, I realized that I had completely overlooked all of these in my own reading. I was so immersed in the story that I didn't care about the little plot problems along the way. I had suspended disbelief somehow and gotten lost in the story.But, see, I care about plot problems, too. The book Across The Universe by Beth Revis, had all sorts of issues that drove me CRAZY when I read that book (calling me to revoke its 'scifi' label), but my bookish friend read it an loved it. None of its issues were a problem for her.
So what is it about a story that connects with our imagination, our heart, our deeper self, and has us clamoring for more, even when the story itself isn't perfect? And why did I read the entire Twilight series, when there are several eye-rolling aspects of it that made me want to punch the wall?
The answer? I really have no freaking clue! I wish I knew, because that would be a freaking gold mine. Not the sell as many books as Twilight thing, but the 'what makes people love a book despite all odds' thing.
Something I will be thinking on for a while, I can assure you.
I have not been writing over Christmas break. I have been planning and stewing and germinating, but not writing. Hopefully it will pay off when I go back to work next week. Also, the Cuddlebuggery ladies are back from their hiatus, so I'll have like 6 more hours a week to write. This is good.
One final thing, a present for the new year...
I now have copies of Aeris to give away, too! I've still got a few copies of Compis audiobook left, if you want to get on board with a copy of both for free!!! The audible books cost $15 bucks a piece, I think, so this is a pretty good deal. And already I'm hearing rave reviews about my voice actor, so that's good, too.
Happy Reading and Happy New Year!
December 10, 2013
Oh, Christmas. Why are you always so busy?
Christmas and the summer are the two busiest times of my life. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Anyway, that, along with some surgery and birthday stuff, is the reason for my couple weeks absence. But again, I have good news! Call it an early Christmas present, if you will.
ACX just sent me another couple dozen coupons for Audible books. So if you have an Audible account and you like full length novels, I have Compis available for FREE for whoever is interested. Like "The Angel and Her Gun" these are only available for a limited time. So while they last, shoot me an email at katecauthor (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send you a coupon code. The audiobook is normally about $18, so this is a great deal!
I'm really excited to have Em Eldridge as my narrator and I hope you all enjoy her, too. She is an amazing talent!
Other than that, I'm still plugging away. I've got some final editing stuff to finish up this week and then I'm back on board with Terris. I've been writing some exciting stuff on that front. Oh, the yummy goodness with Luka's storyline is what's got me going lately. I think you may be surprised at some of the events in his timeline in this book. A definite change from Aeris.
Anyway, Happy Reading!
ACX just sent me another couple dozen coupons for Audible books. So if you have an Audible account and you like full length novels, I have Compis available for FREE for whoever is interested. Like "The Angel and Her Gun" these are only available for a limited time. So while they last, shoot me an email at katecauthor (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send you a coupon code. The audiobook is normally about $18, so this is a great deal!
I'm really excited to have Em Eldridge as my narrator and I hope you all enjoy her, too. She is an amazing talent!
Other than that, I'm still plugging away. I've got some final editing stuff to finish up this week and then I'm back on board with Terris. I've been writing some exciting stuff on that front. Oh, the yummy goodness with Luka's storyline is what's got me going lately. I think you may be surprised at some of the events in his timeline in this book. A definite change from Aeris.
Anyway, Happy Reading!
November 17, 2013
Who Likes Free Stuff?
I think we can all agree that I suck at marketing. So I'm just going to do this the Oprah way.
Everyone gets free stuff!!!
My audiobook for "The Angel & Her Gun" is finished and ACX has sent me a crap ton(24) of free copies to distribute to whomever I choose. And guess what, readers... if you send me an email, at katecauthor(at)gmail, then I will send you one. I will do this until they run the heck out.
Here is a synopsis of the short story(it's about an hour long):
On a ROW80 note, I've been plugging away at Terris. It's not fast, but it's happening and that keeps me in my happy place. I've written about 3 chapters per character at this point. There will be a small lull this week and next, as my sister is out visiting from Wyoming. Hopefully, I will still be writing, but with family around, I don't want to make any promises I can't keep.
That's all for now! Happy Reading!
Everyone gets free stuff!!!My audiobook for "The Angel & Her Gun" is finished and ACX has sent me a crap ton(24) of free copies to distribute to whomever I choose. And guess what, readers... if you send me an email, at katecauthor(at)gmail, then I will send you one. I will do this until they run the heck out.
Here is a synopsis of the short story(it's about an hour long):
Samora is a gunslinger in the Wild West, but she doesn't just carry a gun. She also carries the cross ring that designates her as an angelic agent, sent from God himself to battle over mortal souls on earth with the demons who seek to win their ages long battle.She has two problems: her propensity for getting screwed over by conniving mortals and her love for Gideon -a fallen angel on the wrong side of the law.Be warned, there is some PG-13 material enclosed.
On a ROW80 note, I've been plugging away at Terris. It's not fast, but it's happening and that keeps me in my happy place. I've written about 3 chapters per character at this point. There will be a small lull this week and next, as my sister is out visiting from Wyoming. Hopefully, I will still be writing, but with family around, I don't want to make any promises I can't keep.
That's all for now! Happy Reading!
October 28, 2013
Being a Super Genius is Tough, but I Manage.
I don't want to be all full of myself today, readers, but I can't help it. I'm a genius. When it comes to scheduling, anyway.
For the past few weeks, since I started my new job, I've had serious issues scheduling time to write. Like, I had none. Not even a minute. I get up, get the kids ready, work, pick the kids up, work some more, hang with the kids, eat dinner, get the kids ready for bed, and hang with the hubby, then go to bed myself. That's it. If (and that's a big if) I had any free time at night, I was so exhausted, I just had nothing to put in. Zero inspiration.
It was really a drag, pretty much. I mean, if you wanted, day after day, to write but you had no time, it would make you depressed, too.
Then one day I was sitting in the car eating my lunch and I had a zing of inspiration! I had like a 45-1 hour window of eating time that I was using to read/eat. But now, I write instead!
It's fantastic and it makes me so happy! Yay! It's not a lot of time, but it's some. And it means I can keep writing. I was honestly about to give up.
In other good news, Compis the audiobook is finished. As soon as ACX is done reviewing it, that is. We're knee deep in Aeris right now and it is sounding great. :)
One final gift from me. I ran across this randomly yesterday and I wanted to share it with you, because it's so cute. It made my day. (In case you're not a Kdrama addict like me, the guy is Lee Min Ho, probably one of the most famous stars in Kdramaland.)
Enjoy and Happy Reading!
For the past few weeks, since I started my new job, I've had serious issues scheduling time to write. Like, I had none. Not even a minute. I get up, get the kids ready, work, pick the kids up, work some more, hang with the kids, eat dinner, get the kids ready for bed, and hang with the hubby, then go to bed myself. That's it. If (and that's a big if) I had any free time at night, I was so exhausted, I just had nothing to put in. Zero inspiration.
It was really a drag, pretty much. I mean, if you wanted, day after day, to write but you had no time, it would make you depressed, too.
Then one day I was sitting in the car eating my lunch and I had a zing of inspiration! I had like a 45-1 hour window of eating time that I was using to read/eat. But now, I write instead!
It's fantastic and it makes me so happy! Yay! It's not a lot of time, but it's some. And it means I can keep writing. I was honestly about to give up.
In other good news, Compis the audiobook is finished. As soon as ACX is done reviewing it, that is. We're knee deep in Aeris right now and it is sounding great. :)
One final gift from me. I ran across this randomly yesterday and I wanted to share it with you, because it's so cute. It made my day. (In case you're not a Kdrama addict like me, the guy is Lee Min Ho, probably one of the most famous stars in Kdramaland.)
Enjoy and Happy Reading!
October 14, 2013
Don't Tell Grandma
I was AFK this weekend, as we all drove down to my grandparents' house to meet up with my sister who was visiting from Seattle. Let me tell you, a great time was had by all. I haven't seen my sister since Christmas, so this was a happy homecoming.
But while we were at my grandparents', sitting around chit-chatting, my grandma came up to me and said, "I know about your books."
And for about a minute I was thinking, "Oh boy. Is Grandma hitting that age where I have to worry about her memory? She did send me that 'cute kitty' video link in an email twice."
I mean, of course she knows about my books. She gets to read the freaking rough draft before anyone else does.
Then she smiled at me and winked and suddenly, I knew that she meant those books. You know the ones that I'm talking about, right?
Oh yeah...
So it turns out that some BIGMOUTH in my family spilled the beans about my extracurricular writing activities. That's right. Someone told my grandma about the sexytime stories I made sure to write about under a whole different name so she would never ever find out. And she found it highly amusing.
Ah well. I guess we're never as sneaky as we think we are. Either that or my family has the busiest grapevine on the planet. (Probably true.)
So anyway, I didn't get my update in, so this will count as my ROW for Wed.
Thursday was a good day, but it was the only one. I got about 3 hours of work done and a little more on Friday before I left. So yay! Been writing Zyander, because, well, his voice is the strongest in my head right now. I've been listening to the audiobook (which BTW sounds AWESOME!) and it brought me back to all the emotional hardships that he's been through and how strong a leader it's made him. Fun stuff.
So let's hope I get more done this week.
Happy Reading!
But while we were at my grandparents', sitting around chit-chatting, my grandma came up to me and said, "I know about your books."
And for about a minute I was thinking, "Oh boy. Is Grandma hitting that age where I have to worry about her memory? She did send me that 'cute kitty' video link in an email twice."
I mean, of course she knows about my books. She gets to read the freaking rough draft before anyone else does.
Then she smiled at me and winked and suddenly, I knew that she meant those books. You know the ones that I'm talking about, right?
Oh yeah...
So it turns out that some BIGMOUTH in my family spilled the beans about my extracurricular writing activities. That's right. Someone told my grandma about the sexytime stories I made sure to write about under a whole different name so she would never ever find out. And she found it highly amusing.
Ah well. I guess we're never as sneaky as we think we are. Either that or my family has the busiest grapevine on the planet. (Probably true.)
So anyway, I didn't get my update in, so this will count as my ROW for Wed.
Thursday was a good day, but it was the only one. I got about 3 hours of work done and a little more on Friday before I left. So yay! Been writing Zyander, because, well, his voice is the strongest in my head right now. I've been listening to the audiobook (which BTW sounds AWESOME!) and it brought me back to all the emotional hardships that he's been through and how strong a leader it's made him. Fun stuff.
So let's hope I get more done this week.
Happy Reading!
October 6, 2013
Gettin' my ROW on...
If you're a writer in the know then you know that this week the last round of the year for ROW80 starts. Round of Words in 80 days is a self-created goal of some sort that you as a writer make for yourself. I've been mulling this over for several days, folks and I can't seem to come to a personal goal.
My Word of the Year this year is FEARLESS and I think I've lived up to my goal so far. Audiobooks, news blogging, I even started a new job. But unfortunately, some of those things interfere with my writing time. (Mostly the new job) I'm lucky if I have an hour a day right now.
If it were just a matter of getting up earlier, I could do it. Getting up at 5 in the morning is no problem for me. I did it every day when I was writing Aeris. The problem here? My kids get up at 5!
So, should I be getting up at 4 then? Goodness me!
So, I think my goal has to be this:
WRITE EVERY DAY.
I'm gonna try my best. I'll keep that doc file open and whenever I have a free moment, where my kids are sleeping or my hubby is distracted, and I'll put some words in it.
Terris might not get finished as quickly as I want it to, but at least I'll make progress, right? And it's halfway done, so that's good also.
Yeah, so I guess I've made my goal.
Happy reading!
PS- Don't forget to head on over to Cuddlebuggery.com and check out my latest Buzz Worthy News!
My Word of the Year this year is FEARLESS and I think I've lived up to my goal so far. Audiobooks, news blogging, I even started a new job. But unfortunately, some of those things interfere with my writing time. (Mostly the new job) I'm lucky if I have an hour a day right now.
If it were just a matter of getting up earlier, I could do it. Getting up at 5 in the morning is no problem for me. I did it every day when I was writing Aeris. The problem here? My kids get up at 5!
So, should I be getting up at 4 then? Goodness me!
So, I think my goal has to be this:
WRITE EVERY DAY.
I'm gonna try my best. I'll keep that doc file open and whenever I have a free moment, where my kids are sleeping or my hubby is distracted, and I'll put some words in it.
Terris might not get finished as quickly as I want it to, but at least I'll make progress, right? And it's halfway done, so that's good also.
Yeah, so I guess I've made my goal.
Happy reading!
PS- Don't forget to head on over to Cuddlebuggery.com and check out my latest Buzz Worthy News!
September 29, 2013
Still Obsessing...
You know how when a relationship ends you still can't stop thinking about it. You start obsessing about what went wrong, and how much it hurt.
Goodreads, I can't get over you. I think about you and it still hurts. I don't know why we can't work things out? Can't you reconsider?
You know, when I first opened my author account, some of my author friends were like, "You're not still going to review books, are you? You're going to make yourself a target." I laughed and told myself it wouldn't matter. After all, I was a reader first. I'd already been a member of goodreads for 3 years before I added the author part.
And you know, mostly, it's been a good experience. My readers have been fantastic. They send me little messages and comment on my blog posts. I've had a couple of weird experiences where author's have friended me over my reviews or commented on them and it made me feel uncomfortable, but that's about it. On the other hand, I had author friends who wrote a book and subsequently deleted all their reviews.
And until Goodreads new policy, I've never considered what I review or how I review. Now I find myself hesitating to discuss what I read. Especially if it's in a genre I write myself.
Why? Well, now that my reviews aren't safe from any little bit of attention, it places me at risk. If I want to maintain my author status on Goodreads, and keep my author account, then I need to make sure none of my reviews are questioned.
You may be thinking, "That seems a bit dramatic, Kate." And you're right. It does! But until now, there was never any fear of the dramatic. Goodreads just left the users reviews alone (unless the content was extremely bad). But now the rules are so vague and arbitrary, I'm suffering nerves whenever I post.
Here is an example, just to put things in my perspective. I read a LOT of YA. It's always been my favorite age range for reading and writing. I also review a LOT of YA. Sometimes I'm not really that impressed by the content I read and I may give the book a review accordingly.
Well, what if an author doesn't like my review? What if they go snooping around my account and see that I'm an author, too, one who writes in the same genre? What if they decide that the only reason I reviewed the way I did was because I wanted to eliminate the competition?
You might pipe up here and say, "But Kate, as long as your review CONTENT speaks only of the book, you'll be fine." Well, no, because as Goodreads has made evident, the content of the review is also in the INTENT of the reviewer. If they arbitrarily decide that my review is unduly influenced by the fact that I'm a competing author in the same genre, then my review WOULD be about the author, and not the book itself. Do you see?
"But, Kate," you might say, "You've been a member of Goodreads since 2008! Surely, Goodreads would take the time to look at your reviews and your record and see that you're a reviewer in good standing before they delete your reviews and put your account under notice."
Uh, well, there are people who've been on there for YEARS and Goodreads didn't give a DAMN about their loyalty and their overall review record. They were summarily deleted.
I hate to say this, but Goodreads isn't a safe space for me anymore, as a reader. And so, I won't be reviewing YA books with stars anymore. I will still put an overall review in place, but since stars are what seems to trigger authors, I will be leaving them out. If that gets me into trouble, then I will most likely not be reviewing YA books any more either.
That is where it stands right now, and I'm so sad about it. But they made the rules and I just want to keep hanging out with my Goodreads friends.
Other, happier news:
The Angel & Her Gun and The Lost Flame will soon be up in audiobook form, as well.
I've been working on the outline for the second half of Terris and I'm very pleased. I had outlines made before I started this book, but things have changed (as they always do for me, hahaha) and so the outlines had to change accordingly.
I'll have another Buzz Worthy News segment up tomorrow, so head on over to Cuddlebuggery.com and check it out!
Have a great day, and happy reading!
Goodreads, I can't get over you. I think about you and it still hurts. I don't know why we can't work things out? Can't you reconsider?
You know, when I first opened my author account, some of my author friends were like, "You're not still going to review books, are you? You're going to make yourself a target." I laughed and told myself it wouldn't matter. After all, I was a reader first. I'd already been a member of goodreads for 3 years before I added the author part.
And you know, mostly, it's been a good experience. My readers have been fantastic. They send me little messages and comment on my blog posts. I've had a couple of weird experiences where author's have friended me over my reviews or commented on them and it made me feel uncomfortable, but that's about it. On the other hand, I had author friends who wrote a book and subsequently deleted all their reviews.
And until Goodreads new policy, I've never considered what I review or how I review. Now I find myself hesitating to discuss what I read. Especially if it's in a genre I write myself.
Why? Well, now that my reviews aren't safe from any little bit of attention, it places me at risk. If I want to maintain my author status on Goodreads, and keep my author account, then I need to make sure none of my reviews are questioned.
You may be thinking, "That seems a bit dramatic, Kate." And you're right. It does! But until now, there was never any fear of the dramatic. Goodreads just left the users reviews alone (unless the content was extremely bad). But now the rules are so vague and arbitrary, I'm suffering nerves whenever I post.
Here is an example, just to put things in my perspective. I read a LOT of YA. It's always been my favorite age range for reading and writing. I also review a LOT of YA. Sometimes I'm not really that impressed by the content I read and I may give the book a review accordingly.
Well, what if an author doesn't like my review? What if they go snooping around my account and see that I'm an author, too, one who writes in the same genre? What if they decide that the only reason I reviewed the way I did was because I wanted to eliminate the competition?
You might pipe up here and say, "But Kate, as long as your review CONTENT speaks only of the book, you'll be fine." Well, no, because as Goodreads has made evident, the content of the review is also in the INTENT of the reviewer. If they arbitrarily decide that my review is unduly influenced by the fact that I'm a competing author in the same genre, then my review WOULD be about the author, and not the book itself. Do you see?
"But, Kate," you might say, "You've been a member of Goodreads since 2008! Surely, Goodreads would take the time to look at your reviews and your record and see that you're a reviewer in good standing before they delete your reviews and put your account under notice."
Uh, well, there are people who've been on there for YEARS and Goodreads didn't give a DAMN about their loyalty and their overall review record. They were summarily deleted.
I hate to say this, but Goodreads isn't a safe space for me anymore, as a reader. And so, I won't be reviewing YA books with stars anymore. I will still put an overall review in place, but since stars are what seems to trigger authors, I will be leaving them out. If that gets me into trouble, then I will most likely not be reviewing YA books any more either.
That is where it stands right now, and I'm so sad about it. But they made the rules and I just want to keep hanging out with my Goodreads friends.
Other, happier news:
The Angel & Her Gun and The Lost Flame will soon be up in audiobook form, as well.
I've been working on the outline for the second half of Terris and I'm very pleased. I had outlines made before I started this book, but things have changed (as they always do for me, hahaha) and so the outlines had to change accordingly.
I'll have another Buzz Worthy News segment up tomorrow, so head on over to Cuddlebuggery.com and check it out!
Have a great day, and happy reading!
