Mary E. Thompson's Blog, page 13
October 22, 2017
Writing Tips: Character Flaws
Last week I talked about liking your characters and how if you care what happens to them, your readers will care also. This week, we need to talk about the things you don’t like about your characters. Their flaws that make them real.
Think of yourself. You have good qualities and qualities you wish you could change. Same with your significant other, your best friend, and your kids. We all have characteristics that make us who we are, good and not so good.
Why do your characters have to have traits that are less than desirable? Why should they have a flaw? Or a few?
None of us are perfect. No matter how much we’d like to be, we have flaws. Giving your characters flaws makes them feel more real. And if they’re real, they’re relatable. The key is finding the right flaw so your characters stay on the right side of the line between relatable and too stupid to live.
So what’s the right flaw?
What do you think about the alpha male who has a soft spot for his mom?
Or the kick-ass tattoo artist with a blind cat at home.
Or you could go with a billionaire who anonymously donates to a children’s center.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
What are the defining elements of your character? Is he a cocky asshole? Or a quiet guy who keeps to himself? Or is she a confident new business owner? Or uneasy about where her life is going because she just got fired?
With each of these characters, balance their strength with a weakness. The cocky asshole had an abusive dad and volunteers at a homeless shelter for women and children to help the kids learn not all men are bad. The guy who keeps to himself is a rock star in private and sings to thousands of people. The new business owner is a disorganized mess. And the woman who just got fired plays roller hockey on the weekends with a name like Punky Bruiser.
The most effective character flaws are not really flaws. They feel like flaws to the main character, but they’re really just new layers to the character that helps make them who they are. Do you see how each of the traits were toned down by the opposite trait? How something that might make them hard to relate to is offset by something that makes them very approachable. Or how someone who seems very down to earth is given a complexity by something they’re hiding.
Think of your favorite characters. What about them did you love? What made you connect with them? Share in the comments below!
If you have a question, about writing or anything else, send me an email (mary (at) maryethompson (dot) com) with Q&A in the subject, or post it in the comments below, and I’ll answer your question right here on the blog!
The post Writing Tips: Character Flaws appeared first on Mary E Thompson.
October 20, 2017
#FiveOnFriday with Elizabeth Harmon
Hi everyone, and thanks Mary, for having me as a #FiveOnFriday guest!
My new release Shining Through is a sports romance set in a sport that lots of people aren’t familiar with—competitive figure skating.
Figure skating takes a high profile every four years as one of the Winter Olympics’ most popular sports. But there are a lot of misconceptions about figure skating, one being that it isn’t actually a sport at all! (It is.)
In addition to being graceful and artistic, it’s demanding physically—not to mention dangerous. Imagine jumping into the air, spinning four times and landing not just on one foot, but on a sliver of steel less than a quarter-inch wide. That’s tough enough on solid ground, but on hard, slippery ice? Yikes!
With the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongchang coming this February, it promises to be an exciting skating season. So for this #Five On Friday, I thought I’d share Five Things You May Not Know About Figure Skating. (All photos were taken by my friend Roseanne Pontillo at Skate America, 2014)
#1 – It’s more than just the Olympics
While figure skating gets the most attention in Olympic years, the sport has an annual competitive season that runs from August through April. In addition to national and world championships, there’s a series of six international competitions known as the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which takes place over six weeks in six different countries! Though skaters compete in just one or two Grand Prix events, that’s still a lot of miles.
In Shining Through, American skater Tabitha Turner is competing in Star Spangled Skate when she first meets Russia’s Bad Boy of the Ice, Daniil Andreev. Sparks fly and when Daniil tempts Tabitha to take a secret walk on the wild side, both get more than they bargained for.
#2 – It’s young and done
Like gymnasts, figure skaters, especially in the women’s discipline (“ladies” in skate-speak) keep getting younger. Tara Lipinski won a World figure skating title at 14 and an Olympic gold medal at 15. Karen Chen, one of the U.S.’s current top ladies’ skaters, medaled at U.S. Nationals when she was 16. Polina Edmunds competed for the U.S. in the 2014 Olympics before she had her driver’s license. Japan and Russia also have a number of rising teenage stars, like 14-year-old Elena Radionova, shown above.
Twenty-three year old Tabitha knows that the window on her competitive career is closing fast. The Grenoble Games are her last chance to reward her family’s sacrifices with Olympic gold. But a determined 16-year-old rival isn’t going to make it easy.
#3 – Skaters perform the same program throughout the season
I once thought skaters created new routines for each competition. In reality they work for months with their coach and choreographer, as well as specialized coaches to refine their jumps and presentation. In competitions, the programs must be performed perfectly for skaters to obtain the maximum number of points for each trick (“elements” in skate-speak). Not only do the programs showcase the skaters’ athleticism, they also tell a story.
Daniil’s powerful, angsty program to Imagine Dragons “Radioactive” captivates Tabitha, who longs to bring more passion to her pretty, but lifeless skate to music from the opera, “Antigone.” A week working one on one with him in Vancouver helps her unleash her passion on the ice, and off.
#4 – It only looks easy
Elite figure skaters make their sport look effortless, and some people believe that it actually is! In reality, skaters usually start as children and spend a decade or more before they reach the elite Senior level. And just because a skater falls, doesn’t mean that he or she isn’t “good.” Just as strike-outs and errors are part of baseball, falls are part of skating, especially when you’re performing crazy-difficult moves like combination jumps and 4-rotation “quad” jumps. Skaters learn to fall safely, in order to avoid injury.
#5 – The scoring is confusing
Actually if you watch figure skating you probably know this. ☺ While I’m not an expert I’ll try to give a down and dirty explanation. Skaters receive two sets of scores. Grade of Execution is for how well they perform the moves in their program. Program Component relates to the program content, the skater’s skills and overall performance. The two are added together for a skater’s segment score. Segment scores (for the short and long programs) are added together to determine who wins the competition.
Sounds simple on the surface but its not uncommon for a skater who fell to receive a higher score than one who didn’t. The reason usually has to do with the skater who fell having a higher Program Component score than the one who didn’t, either for a better artistic presentation OR more difficult content. A friend who competes in the Adult division of figure skating often jokes about ‘spin to win,’ because certain spins are worth more than jumps.
Are you a figure skating fan or just getting to know the sport? Leave a comment below and add Shining Through to your Goodreads To Be Read list, and you’ll be entered to win a digital copy!
Thanks for reading! Elizabeth
* * *
When the sweetheart of American figure skating falls for the bad boy of Russian figure skating, it puts her quest for Olympic gold on thin ice. Dirty Dancing meets Olympic figure skating in this sweet and sexy sports romance!
The Biggest Season of Her Career…
America’s sweetheart Tabitha Turner is on track to win figure skating gold in the Winter Games. Her family has sacrificed everything for her career, but the pressure is taking its toll. Burned out and living a lie, can Tabitha let off a little steam without melting the ice?
The Last Chance of His…
Russia’s bad boy of skating Daniil Andreev is determined to prove the toughest thing about him is his competitive fight. When Tabitha tempts him to help her take a secret walk on the wild side, he gives her a taste of the freedom she craves, never expecting that one unforgettable night could turn into something more.
Two Hearts on Thin Ice…
Chicago, Vancouver, Paris… the international figure skating season unfolds. Tabitha and Daniil compete and fall in love, but as the pressure mounts in a make-or-break season, can they set aside their painful pasts and spiral into a shining future together… or will their dreams shatter like thin ice?
At the Winter Games, the torch isn’t the only thing burning…
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Contemporary romance author Elizabeth Harmon loves to read and write romances with a dash of different. She is the author of the Red Hot Russians sports romance series. Her debut novel Pairing Off is a 2016 RITA® Award Finalist.
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October 17, 2017
Ample & Alluring, reviews
All I can say is thank you. Maybe wow, also. Holy shit, you guys! The reviews on Ample & Alluring are so amazing! Thank you for sticking with me through this series. It’s been so much fun to write, but we’ll talk about that more next week!
If you haven’t grabbed it yet, read this review from Stephanie. Maybe she can convince you to check it out!
The last of its series, yet did not disappoint. Peyton and Wyatt have jobs that are high demanding. Mayor Wyatt though extremely busy, makes time for the Christmas holiday. Dr. Peyton never saw the joy of Christmas. Baffled by Peyton feelings of Christmas, Wyatt is on a mission to get Peyton to fall in love with Christmas. What they thought was a full proof plan, turns into something else completely. These two together have me laughing and crying in happiness. It’s hard to find romance that tugs at your heart strings and gives you butterflies in your stomach. Mary E. Thompson has done it again and you won’t be dissappinted when reading this book. This last book was bitter sweet. I loved this series and I am sad to see it ending. But Mary E. Thompson has a spin off to this series coming soon. I can’t wait!!!
Are you ready to read it? Go grab your copy now!
Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords
Print on Createspace | Amazon | B&N | Books A Million
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October 15, 2017
Writing Tips: Crafting Characters
Today let’s talk about crafting characters. In romance, characters drive the story. If readers don’t care about your characters, the story is no good, no matter how good it is.
What you have to do is figure out how to make readers care about your characters. Want to know how I do it?
I care about my characters!
It’s simple, right? But how much I love my characters comes through. Every single one I’ve written has had a piece of me. Maybe not a similarity to me, but definitely a piece of my heart. I spend months, years, with these people. They live inside my head. I’m the only one they talk to. It’s up to me to tell their stories.
There’s more to it than that, of course, but you have to care about your characters to make your readers care. Which means you have to find characters, stories, people you want to write about.
Do you have a friend that you wish could find The One? Does your kid have a teacher you think is sweet? Maybe one of your grandkids has a coach that you think would be a great hero.
Find someone who inspires you. Yeah, someone in your world. No, I’m not telling you to write the story of a person you actually know, but to get yourself started, use someone you know to inspire you.
I’ve written characters based on men I saw in church (Davoli brothers Matt, Mark, and John from Paradise Park), a guy at the gym (Graham from Puffy & Precious), and even my best friend (Charlie from Fluffy & Fabulous).
Once I get a feel for who they might be, who my inspiration is, I go looking for a picture. Pinterest is a great resource because it’s free, and I use the photos for my use only so it’s legal.
With my picture and my inspiration in hand, I start to figure out who my characters are. What they want, what they’re looking for, who they’d fit well with. I go through a character interview to learn more about them. I ask about their background, how they grew up, who their family is, what they studied in school, what they drive, where they live, what scares them, what inspires them, what they’re proud of, what they’re embarrassed by. I dig deep and get into who each character really is. I need to know what makes them tick, and what ticks them off.
Because at the end of the day, a book will be boring without some kind of conflict.
By the time I’m done with my interview, we’re good friends!
Which makes it a whole lot easier for me to care what happens to them.
If you’re writing a book that has a character driven story, make sure you know your characters better than you know yourself. They can’t have any secrets from you, and you have to want them to find their happily ever after. Otherwise, your readers won’t want them to find it either.
If you have a question, about writing or anything else, send me an email (mary (at) maryethompson (dot) com) with Q&A in the subject, or post it in the comments below, and I’ll answer your question right here on the blog!
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October 13, 2017
#FiveOnFriday with Iris Blobel
What inspired you to write this book?
I love this book. We went to the USA a few years back, travelling in a motorhome through five different states, having the time of our lives. After returning home, looking through hundreds of photos, I came up with the idea to turn our itinerary into a story. Fresh Beginnings was born. I hope the readers will enjoy this little journey and hopefully my love for the places we went to is shining through.
For first time readers, what book (of yours) should we start with and why?
Readers can start with any book of mine, but I have two series where the books can be read as a standalone, but to get a “feel” for the characters, I’d recommend to start with the first one. As for Fresh Beginnings, the first book in the series is New Beginnings
What do you hope readers take from reading your work?
I always like to use the cliché “I like to spread love”. My books are about family and friendship, something that is very important to me, and reviews are telling me that is what readers are appreciating.
What is one of your favorite quotes? What about it speaks to you?
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift.” Having finished cancer treatment only a few months ago, I’m appreciating life, try not to worry about matters I cannot change, but enjoy the little things in life as well as the big ones. I used to stress so much about all sorts of issues and had a need for success that I’d forgotten to love what I have now.
What song could you listen to on repeat and not get sick of?
I LOOOOOVE music, so picking “just” one was a challenge, but I’ve narrowed it down to three songs that have been important to me that last year: Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”, Savage Garden’s “Affirmation”, and Louis Tomlinson’s “Just hold on”
What is your favorite cocktail or drink?
Hands down – Coke Zero (which they took off the market, quite to my displeasure ☹)
What’s next for you?
“Echoes of the Past” will be re-released later this year or early next year. But there’ll also be a book set partly in New Zealand – another travel inspired story. I’m really looking forward to releasing this book. The main character has a Maori background
BlurbJared Fraser, a landscape business owner in Hobart, Australia, sets out for a holiday to the USA to travel along the Route 66 in a motorhome. Looking forward to his first holiday overseas, he’s excited as he prepares himself for the journey. But little could’ve prepared him for crossing paths with a beautiful hitchhiker.
Will he be able to put his past aside and grab onto happiness?
Ivy Bennett thought leaving her boyfriend would be the hard part. It doesn’t take long to figure out how wrong she was. As she struggles with making a new start in her life, the last person she expects to lead her to happiness is a laid-back Australian on vacation.
But she will have to say goodbye again. And not only to Jared.
Buy Links
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/d/B074Y3KMYG/
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fresh-beginnings-iris-blobel/1120056863?ean=2940154527429
iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fresh-beginnings/id1275979573?mt=11
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/fresh-beginnings-1
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/744769
Check out the whole series!
Excerpt
Ivy enjoyed being with Jared. During their drive towards the Grand Canyon he told her of his home and described as much of Tasmania as possible.
“I always imagined Australia to be hot with white beaches and beautiful water.”
“That’s up in the north in Queensland,” he explained. “We have spectacular beaches as well. Tasmania is a small island in the very south. The last step before the Antarctica, so to speak.”
“That sounds cold!”
He laughed. “It clearly isn’t Queensland.” Settling his gaze on her, he continued, “But it has beautiful beaches as well. And a wonderful marine life. And the mountains. We have some stunning mountains in Tassie.”
“Tassie?”
“Tasmania.”
“It sounds beautiful.”
He agreed. “Yes, it is. One of the best places on earth.”
Once they arrived at the National Park, they found a parking spot and walked towards the edge of the Canyon. She touched his arm to get his attention. Not that she needed to. His attentive nature drew her to him, and she couldn’t get enough of listening to him.
“I feel bad that you pay for everything,” she said in a low voice.
Jared waved his hand. “Nah. It’s only money and luckily the Australian dollar is—”
“Whether you can or can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter. I don’t like it.”
He stopped and turned towards her, causing heat inside her body. Her breath caught but she kept walking, yet, it took him only a few steps to catch up with her and, by way of placing his hand on her shoulder, to stop her.
“Wanna tell me why?”
Avoiding his stare, she lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug.
“A shrug is not really an answer, ya know that, right?”
Yes, she knew that. How could she tell him that she’d left Dylan because he’d spent all the money she’d worked so hard for? She didn’t want to be in the same situation, as in spending someone else’s hard-earned money. But deep inside she didn’t want to hurt Jared, either. She was enjoying her time with him so much, she wasn’t ready for it to end because of some silly pride.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a little squirrel in the bushes and despite some guilt inside, it was a perfect distraction.
“Look!” she said louder than she’d intended. “A squirrel.”
With great relief, she noticed how her devious plan had worked. Jared quickly grabbed his camera and kneeled down to get the best shot possible of this little creature.
Kneeling next to him, she asked, “Don’t you have squirrels?”
Still trying to get that perfect photo of the little creature, he whispered, “Nope.”
Author Bio
Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.
Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.
Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.
Author Links
Website: http://www.irisblobel.com
Blog: http://www.irisblobel.com/blog
Twitter https://twitter.com/_iris_b
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IrisBlobel
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067254.Iris_Blobel
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Iris-Blobel/e/B00FNFP3LI/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bQ68rL
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October 10, 2017
Ample & Alluring, so sweet
I love it when a man is not only sexy, but sweet. It’s even better when he’s both at the same time.
Excerpt from Ample & Alluring
“Jeez. If I knew you were going to be so bossy I never would have agreed to this.”
Wyatt barked out a laugh. “You definitely don’t like someone telling you what to do.”
“Nope. That’s why I own my own business.”
“Just one more thing to be impressed by. If only you enjoyed cooking, you’d be the perfect woman.”
“Again, what is it with men thinking we all belong in the kitchen?”
“And what it is with women thinking the kitchen is a punishment? I love to cook. I like having someone to cook with. Even if she is a whiny pain in my ass who won’t keep stirring!”
“Sorry!” I said, dragging the spoon along the bottom of the pan.
Wyatt took his shrimp away then dumped another spoonful of liquid in my pan. “Almost done,” he declared. “When that’s absorbed, we can eat.”
I stirred some more, enjoying the savory scents filling my nose with each slide of the spoon through the risotto. It looked good, and I was definitely hungry.
Wyatt came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“Is it done?”
“How would I know?”
Wyatt chuckled, kissing the back of my neck. Goosebumps swept over my skin, lighting me up. I swayed into him involuntarily and felt his cock twitch.
“Peyton?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Of course. I just like it when you kiss my neck.”
“Good to know,” he murmured, doing it again.
Wyatt reached around me and turned off the stove. He took the pan from the burner and carried it to the counter on the other side. He scraped the risotto onto a serving dish then topped it with mushrooms he cooked earlier and the shrimp.
Then he turned back to me with a look I was beginning to understand well.
“Forget dinner, Peyton.”
“But I’m hungry,” I protested playfully.
“So am I.”
Get It Now!
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Print on Createspace | Amazon | B&N
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October 8, 2017
Q&A Sunday: Reviews, part three
This week we’re talking about how I feel about bad reviews. Lupita asked…
Do you take bad reviews personally and let it affect you or do you simply take it with a grain of salt?
I think it’s hard not to take bad reviews personally. Many authors don’t read their reviews and early advice to authors is not to read them. I learned quickly that i can’t handle reading a review that destroys my book.
I mean, really, how many jobs allow anyone in the world to openly criticize what you do and have zero consequence?
As I said before, bullying in accepted when it’s disguised as a review. I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think anyone should think it’s fair. But it happens.
If a review is bad because the book is bad, it hurts. It bothers me to read that my books have editing errors (funnily enough, I misspelled both those words!). Editing errors I can, and have, fixed. If the fundamental storyline is just boring, I can’t necessarily fix it, but it’s good to know. If the characters are frustrating, again, good to know.
But when a review goes on to say nasty things about me and assumes to know who I am, that’s going to just make me mad. I’ve read reviews (thankfully not on my books) that have attacked the author for one thing or another. I don’t know if these people know the author, or if they just think they know something, or saw something online, but I don’t think a book review is the place for that. A book review should be a review of the book, not the person who wrote the book.
Let’s face it, if we were evaluating the person, horror books would be blasted on a regular occasion. I mean, really, if you thought everything Stephen King put in his book was his true desire, he’d be locked up somewhere. Books are stories, not reflections of the author.
But it’s still hard to walk away from a bad review without being upset by it. I want people to like my books. There are times I put things in my books knowing people won’t like it, but I know that’s the way the story has to be. Those things don’t bother me as much. Those I can take with a grain of salt.
The ones I can fix, like errors of any sort, I will correct and put the book back out.
A really bad review will ruin my day. It’ll make me question everything I write in the next book. It’ll make me question if I should be writing at all.
I love my job, but my job is dependent on finding readers. If readers hate what I write, I shouldn’t be writing.
Thankfully, my reviews overall are more positive than negative. I have emails from readers who’ve reached out to me because they loved my books so much. When I read a review that upsets me, I go through the emails I’ve save and read those. It makes me feel better, and gives me that spark to keep going.
And somehow, whenever I read a review that’s not that great, I always seem to get a new email from a reader who says she loved my book and can’t wait for the next one. That makes me forget about that bad review. And I love it!
Thanks so much, Lupita, for all your questions! It was a lot of fun to really think about reviews. No, I didn’t read any new ones of mine over the last few weeks, but it made me think about reviews, and I needed that!
If you have a question, about writing or anything else, send me an email (mary (at) maryethompson (dot) com) with Q&A in the subject, or post it in the comments below, and I’ll answer your question right here on the blog!
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October 6, 2017
#FiveOnFriday with Caroline Warfield
While visiting Venice not long ago I asked myself if I could set a Regency story there. I decided to find out. Here are five things I learned.
1. Lord Byron lived in Venice from 1816 to 1819 after he was forced to leave England over debts.
2. Young men of the Regency era regularly stopped in the city while on their Grand Tour, ostensibly a finishing touch on their classical education, but most often an excuse for wild living.
3. When Napoleon captured Venice in 1797 he ended centuries of rule by the aristocratic families, established democratic rule on the French model, tore down the gates of the Venetian Ghetto, and carted away many priceless works of art including the famous bronze horses from Saint Mark’s Cathedral.
4. He almost immediately gave Venice to Austria by treaty. Austria’s austere laws but a damper in Venice’s licentious customs. They banned Carnevale, In the opinion of many it became a dreary place.
5. The city was blessed with many physicians such as my hero, Salvatore. Many others were Jews, including Salvatore’s friend Judah Ottolenghi, because medicine was one of the limited numbers of professions open to them.
And so I discovered that I could indeed write a Regency romance set in Venice. The result was Lady Charlotte’s Christmas Vigil.
About the BookIt is 1818 and Byron is in Venice…
Lady Charlotte clings to one dream—to see the splendor of Rome before settling for life as the spinster sister of an earl. But now her feckless brother forces her to wait again, stranded in Venice halfway to the place of her dreams when he falls ill after attempting to imitate his idol. She finds the city damp, moldy, and riddled with disease.
As a physician, Salvatore Caresini well knows the danger of putrid fever. He lost his young wife to it, leaving him alone to care for their rambunctious children. He isn’t about to let the lovely English lady risk her life nursing her brother.
But Christmas is coming, that season of miracles, and with it, perhaps, lessons for two lonely people: that love heals the deepest wounds and sometimes the finest dreams aren’t the ones we expect.
Preorder now for an October 20 release:
Join us to celebrate the launch and holiday reading in general. There will be games and prizes!
About the Author
Traveler, would-be adventurer, former tech writer, and library technology professional, Caroline Warfield has now retired to the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania, and divides her time between writing and seeking adventures with her grandbuddy and the prince among men she married. Her new series sends the children of the heroes of her earlier books to seek their own happiness in the far-flung corners of the British Empire. She reminds them always that love is worth the risk.
Find Caroline on the Web:
Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/
Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/
Good Reads http://bit.ly/1C5blTm
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7
Twitter https://twitter.com/CaroWarfield
Email warfieldcaro@gmail.com
Newsletter http://www.carolinewarfield.com/newsletter/
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caroline-warfield
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October 3, 2017
Ample & Alluring, release day
Today is so bitter-sweet for me. I have absolutely loved writing the Big & Beautiful series, but I know it’s time to move on to new things. Today is a day to celebrate though. Today is a day for Ample & Alluring, Peyton and Wyatt’s new story!
I think these two are my new favorites. They’re definitely up there. They were so much fun to write! I love their banter and their spark and phew, are they hot! I hope you love reading their story as much as I loved writing it!
Excerpt from Ample & Alluring
“I’m the oldest.”
“Being the oldest sucks!” I blurted.
Wyatt laughed with me. “It kind of does. Of course, my brother and sister are both married. My sister has two kids. My brother said they’re trying for kids. Between them, there’s a little bit of pressure off me.”
“From your parents?”
He nodded, wide-eyed. “Oh, yeah. They’ve been asking when I’m going to settle down and have kids for twenty years.”
“No way.”
He snorted. “My parents were young when they got married. They were young when they had me. They think I’m wasting my youth by not being married already.”
“But you have to want to be married. It can’t just be something you do because they tell you to.”
“Trust me, I agree. I think it got worse after I broke off my engagement.”
“Whoa! You need to warn me before you drop a bomb like that.”
He smiled. “Sorry. I just figured everyone knew.”
I shook my head. “I live with my head in the sand. Or between a woman’s legs.”
He closed his eyes and fought his smile. “You know that’s killing me, right?”
I ate a bite of ice cream and grinned. “Yep.”
He took a breath. “Okay, getting rid of that fantasy image.”
“Ew! They’re my patients!”
“But if they weren’t?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not my fantasy. I don’t know how straight men do my job. I don’t think I could go home and have to look at a woman’s vagina and not have it appear clinical.”
“You’re crushing my dreams.”
“Well, that’s no good. Usually I make people’s dreams come true.”
“And you’re very good at it.”
Get It Today!
Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords
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October 1, 2017
Q&A Sunday: Reviews, part two
Lupita asked…
How do you feel about unjust reviews on your work? (I know we all have an opinion and don’t enjoy the same reading material, but I’m wondering about unjust reviews where you know it shouldn’t have even been posted. You know those reviews where they are just blowing smoke and clearly didn’t give the work a chance.)
Wow! This sure hits the nail on the head of a lot of my issues!
First, let me say, unjust reviews can be both good and bad reviews. Unjust reviews, in my opinion, are not only bad. Most of the time that’s what we thinking, but there are unjust good reviews also.
Confused? Let me explain.
Author X has a new book ready to come out. She gets in touch with all her friends and family and says, “Hey, my book is coming out tomorrow! When it’s live, go buy a copy and leave me a good review. I don’t care if you actually read it, just leave me a good review.”
Is that fair?
Um, no.
Does it happen?
Unfortunately, yes.
Lupita did a great job of detailing an unjust bad review so I won’t go into that one. In either case though, they’re frustrating, to say the least.
I think the best thing is to tell you when I, personally, think a review should be written.
When you finish reading the book.
When you read a book in a genre you enjoy.
When you feel you can write it without being emotional.
How many of you are questioning number one right now? Be honest! You can write a review on a book that you hated because it was so bad you didn’t want to keep reading, right?
Here’s my opinion on that… it’s never going to be your favorite book ever. It’s very possibly going to be a book you’re frustrated for wasting your time on. But is it fair to leave a review on a book that you never even read most of?
Let me ask you this… Did you ever see Fight Club or The Sixth Sense or Collateral Beauty or Sliding Doors? I’m not going to give away any spoilers here, but did you love the movie even more after you saw the ending? Maybe it started out okay, but you hung in there. It’s only a couple hours. It was a good story and the longer you watched, the more you became invested. The more you were curious. The more you wanted to know how it was all going to be resolved.
Then the end comes, and the big reveal, and BAM! It shocked the shit out of you. You never saw it coming (or maybe that was just me). Every single one of those movies was made better because they did such an amazing job concealing the truth behind the entire thing. You didn’t know the whole point of the story until the end. You didn’t see it.
What if that book you stopped reading that you gave a one star review to was the same? You could have missed out on something life changing.
Maybe you still hated it, but I have a hard time saying you should leave a review if you haven’t read the whole thing. If you read the whole thing and still hated it, then let’s go to my second criteria.
Is it a genre you enjoy?
My husband is big into fantasy books. He’s actually read The Lord Of The Rings – long before they were movies. He read Game Of Thrones years before HBO made them into what they are now. He enjoys stories with lots of characters and fictional worlds with magic and mythical creatures and intricately woven storylines.
I can’t stand it.
I’ve watched Game Of Thrones and The Lord Of The Rings. I enjoyed both. But to read the books would be torture for me.
But that doesn’t mean they’re bad. They’re just not for me.
There’s too much going on in those books. Too many characters that I can’t keep track of. Too many storylines.
But that doesn’t mean they’re bad. They’re just not for me.
Do you get it yet?
If you read a book in a genre you don’t typically read, you don’t always know the ‘rules’ of that genre. If you’re judging a book based on something you don’t like about the genre, that’s not fair to that book.
I had a content warning on one of my earliest books. It clearly stated in the description that there was vulgar language and sex in the book. I got a scathing review that there was too much sex in the book. Honestly, I laughed, but it still hurts my rankings. Someone didn’t like my book because they didn’t read the description and didn’t know the rules of contemporary romance. Many of them have open door sex. The ones that don’t, I’d say, are in the minority. But I don’t feel it’s fair to leave a bad review when that’s one of the expectations of the genre.
We’ve covered the first two. If you finished the book and enjoy the genre, then let’s move on.
Can you write a review without being emotional?
I get it. You read a book and that little thing pops up at the end asking you to leave a review. It’s easy, and tempting, to blast the book for all the things you hated. There was too much sex. And the heroine was too stupid to live. And the hero was an alpha asshole. And you hate small town romance.
And your dog just died, and there was a dog that died in the story.
And your boyfriend broke up with you because he found someone new.
And the hero has the same name as the one that got away in college.
And any number of things.
Are you thinking clearly? Are you upset because of things that happened in the book and you made parallels to your own life?
Does that mean the book sucks, or that the author is an amazing storyteller who has the ability to evoke emotion in you, even if it’s emotion you don’t like?
When we’re emotional, we can’t see things clearly. So while I get that you’re crying and the story really upset you, was it the story, or something else, that bothered you?
Take a day or two and see if you’re still as upset with a little distance. If you still feel the story is that bad, you’ll still want to write a bad review (or a good one). Go back in and write it. Yeah, I’d love to see only good reviews on my books, but I know they don’t resonate with every single person. I just ask that you don’t blast me, or anyone else, for something we can’t control.
Lupita has one more question about reviews for next week. Come back by then and check it out!
If you have a question, about writing or anything else, send me an email (mary (at) maryethompson (dot) com) with Q&A in the subject, or post it in the comments below, and I’ll answer your question right here on the blog!
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