Maegan Provan's Blog, page 23
July 1, 2014
How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method- Writing Tip Tuesday
http://www.ehow.com/how_4681591_write-novel-using-snowflake-method.html
I don’t use this method, but every author has different ways that they write. If you’re still trying to find a way that works out for you, check this page out!
June 30, 2014
Vlog 29- Tips for dealing with Scam Publishers and Scam Beta Readers/Reviewers
1.Copyright your work yourself
2. Read your contracts
3. Keep all communications with the publisher
4. Research any potential publisher before signing
June 29, 2014
I need your input guys!!
So I have had a lot of fun filming my book review videos but right now, I am out of 4-5 star reviews to film. It sucks because I am getting the feeling that you guys are really enjoying them.
That being said, I need y’all’s help. Would you like for me to film my lower reviews, or just keep filming the higher reviews? I am hesitating filming the worse reviews because I don’t want any of those authors that I didn’t like to feel like I am calling them out or anything. Of course, as I say, negative reviews are not personal. But what do you guys think? Please comment to let me know what you think and as soon as I get the general consensus, I will let you know!!
June 27, 2014
June 26, 2014
Beware of Love in Technicolor by Kristie Collins Brote- Book Review Thursday
Beware of Love in Technicolor by Kirstie Collins Brote
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Greer Bennett wants college to be a fresh starts for her. Having been a bit of a chubby, overlooked girl in high school, she sees it as an opportunity to be a whole new person. After meeting John Cunningham, her straight edge, naive out look on like is thrown for a loop.
There is a lot needed to be said about this book. I wanted to like this book more than I can actually say, and I read all the way through hoping it out get better, which it didn’t. I kept waiting for something to actually happen , I don’t know how to explain that. I mean, the book seemed to be written as an attempt at one of those Friday night teen dramas that used to air on Fox or something, but it didn’t work in the book setting. Perhaps with the right background music and pretty actors, this story, exactly as it is, would have worked. It felt like an attempt to cross Freaks and Geeks and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist , and it didn’t succeed. A big part of what drew me into the book was the mention of pop culture in the synopsis. A few mentions of popular books and movies, and a few musical artist doesn’t really hit the “pop culture” nail on the head.
Greer, as a character, was completely unlikable to me. She was overly shallow and skanky. I mean, the whole book was laced with her essentially being attached to John and making out with other guys, plus, she would get mad at him for even getting a phone call from his ex-girlfriend. I mean, that is a bad thing, but her guilt over the situations she got herself into was almost non existent. I get that when you’re in college you want to explore the world and yourself and, you know, the whole self-discovery thing, but you don’t get attached to someone right off the bat if you want to do that. Plus her attitude towards her dorm mate, Molly, was completely unnecessary. She would refer to Molly as a “nightmare” and a bad roommate, but it really sounded like Greer was in need of a reality check. The dorm mate didn’t do a damn thing to anybody.
There was a big emphasis made on the dorm mate at the beginning and she was mentioned here and there, but I felt like with the lack of the dorm mate in the actually bulk of the story, it wasn’t worth building up who she was, or really even having scenes with her. She felt more like a filler than anything else.
The relationship between John and Greer was forced, at best. It wasn’t believable in the slightest. Yes, she thinks he’s “cute” but they had so little in common. I understand that he was her first boyfriend but the back and forth, the mistrust, and all of that seemed more like something to fill 200 pages than to make an actual story. This is where the feeling of Freaks and Geeks comes in. It felt like the author was attempting for a very “Lindsay and Nick” type of relationship, but it fell flat.
The other side of that is Greer’s inability to have an orgasm, a la Nick and Norah . While every woman experiences this at some point, and it is mentioned in the blurb, it didn’t make sense. I mean, not in the way Greer handled it. There was a big to-do about it after her and John’s first time, but then it was a forced mention through out the story.
The editing and formatting issues were the icing on the cake. As a self-published author, I understand that it’s hard to find someone to help you edit, or beta read, but friends could have gotten involved or something. Heck reading back to yourself helps a lot. There are free formatting programs out there as well. I don’t like leaning on “oh they’re self published” as an excuse to not take the time with your book that it needs. I did that, and my book suffered, so I recently had to re-release my book because it was just bad. So I don’t think that any self-published author should let their book lack in the editing and formatting department. We have to work 10 times harder to make a book readable and well put together because we do it all ourselves.
All in all, I picked up this book because I wanted to read it, but I was extremely disappointed.
June 24, 2014
How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction- Writing Tip Tuesday
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Credible-Villain-in-Fiction
I always say that you know a good actor by how much they make you hate their character (when they’re playing a baddie) and I feel the same goes for books. If the author can make you truly hate the antagonist, then they’re a good writer. I don’t typically like sharing Wikihow pages for something like this, but it’s still pretty awesome
June 23, 2014
June 20, 2014
June 19, 2014
City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments Book 6) by Cassandra Clare- Book Review Thursday
Click the picture above for the buy link!
Ups, downs, tears and triumphs. In this last installment of The Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare, the impending war with Sebastian is brought to a head. Clary, Jace, Alec, Isabelle and Simon are forced to take the fight into their own hands.
I could not have asked for a better ending to this series. I laughed, I got angry, and I cried. It was so well done. I will say there were, surprisingly, a few grammatical and editing issues, but they were easy to over look. I hate to see this story end because it has been a big part of my life the last few years, but I understand that it’s time to move on.
