Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 125
January 19, 2012
The winner of the GORILLA!!!
Is ME…oh, wait. Not an option. Damn it.
Ok, Amy's winner is Rebecca C.
She wins the cute gorilla and Amy's book.
Rebecca, if you can use the contact form to email me, I'd appreciate it!
Thanks everybody!
January 17, 2012
On opinions, speaking out, etc
So I'm not blacking out my blog today. I understand why a lot of people blacking out their sites because of SOPA… I get it and understand why.
As much as I hate piracy, hurting the sites that don't pirate isn't the way to do it.
However, I'm not blacking my site out because I'm scared I'll break it.
So instead of blacking my site out, I'm going to do another thing to speak out against any form of censorship.
I'm going to speak my mind. I'm going to post an opinion. Imagine that… O.o
Remember that pink unicorn post?
How posting negative reviews killed pink unicorns? Yes! It's true…read more about it here.
Anyway, I was on twitter and Redrobinreader said something that made me think there was another reviewer/YA drama thing. (There have been a lot lately…).
No. It wasn't a drama.
It started with an article in the Guardian, and I'll sum it up with the final line:
if you can't stand the heat of the blogosphere – don't Google yourself.
Very well said. I agree. I can handle negative reviews, I can handle snark and in all honestly, unless you get personal and ugly about my family, I'm not going to get too upset. If I see a harsh review, I might decide to go guzzle a margarita, call a friend, but in the end, that review means one thing…it didn't work for that reader. But it will work for somebody else, and that's what I need to focus on. This is the stuff that keeps a writer sane.
The thing that caught my attention was a link to this blog by Maggie Stiefvater.
One line that jumped out at me…
A review is an unbiased, careful look at a book — basically it is a little academic paper.
Disagree. So very, very much.
Where is this in the book of publishing that reviews must be an unbiased careful look at a book?
I don't recall being told this at any point in my career. My first book was published in 2003 and I realize that publishing has gone through (is still going through) a lot of changes, but I never got this memo about reviews.
Reviews were always just one person's opinion of your book. If it was something that could be used for promo? Awesome. If not…again, the margarita and the friend were very good to have on hand.
Then this bit, about negative 'reviews' that aren't really reviews at all:
They're often quite funny. But here's the thing, though. When a blogger writes a biased, hilarious, snarky rundown of a book they despised, he/ she is not writing a review. They are writing a post about a book.
So basically, a blogger writing a piece about a book isn't a review. Again…where was this written?
Now, keep in mind, I'm not trying to knock or bash Ms. Stiefvater but this idea is just…well, to be blunt, it strikes me as silly.
Sure, M-W.com says:
1re·view
a: a critical evaluation (as of a book or play) (link)
A critical evaluation. Doesn't say anything about bias, or lack of. Snark or lack of.
Just a critical evaluation.
Honestly, I'd rather have the snark. I'd rather have something funny than a dry as toast survey of one of my books.
When you mock or belittle the hard work that bloggers put into their reviews…well, think about how you love it when people belittle the hard work you put into your writing.
No, writing a review or… 'blog post' or whatever we want to call it isn't the same as writing a book. But it's still writing.
Writing negative reviews isn't always much fun for bloggers. Quite a few of them have said this. I've been around this block so many times, it's not even funny, so I've heard this song, seen this dance…it's nothing new.
And this drama? Again… it's nothing new. I started out in epublishing, in erotic romance and so many of these blow-ups are repeats of what some of us saw in 2004, 2005, when epubs authors and erotic romance authors were trying to find their fit in the online world.
This is nothing new. It's tedious, yep. But not new.
Anyway, bloggers have this review, written for readers…not the author…and it gets knocked.
And now here's the kicker…and where I go off on one of my many tangents. I didn't get this from Ms. Stiefvater's blog…it's from some of the drama that happened previously, and that led up to the post on the Guardian.
Yes, there are hundreds (or more) unpaid bloggers who post reviews. Maybe this is where we need to differentiate. Unpaid bloggers versus professional reviewers.
But both are capable of writing honest, insightful reviews…critical evaluations.
And anybody with a brain in their head can differentiate a well-thought out, insightful review, be it good or bad, from a ur a big stoopidhead and how did u evr git publshd anyway? post.
Now these, yes, we can call this silliness 'non-reviews' by a handful of people.
But their sort of 'reviewing' doesn't compare to the reviews you see at sites like Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Wicked Lil Pixie, Book Vixen, The Good The Bad & The Unread, Smexy Books, Limecello, etc, etc, etc.
Are these sites paid review sites? Nope. Bloggers. Some make money through ads and such, but they don't get paid to review, to my knowledge.
That doesn't make their reviews any less valid than the paid reviewers.
And now for the tie-in to censorship.
There are still so fricking many authors out there who have the sheer, unmitigated gall to say crap like…
Negative reviews serve no purpose.
Negative reviews deter reading.
You shouldn't post negative reviews…if you don't like it, just don't say anything.
In short, this crap tells a reviewer/reader what to think or say about a book.
And if a writer goes so far as to say, you shouldn't post them…
That writer has attempted to censor the reviewer.
Period.
Now…let's turn the tables. If you've ever been one of the writers who said that tripe? Next time you sit down to write, I want you to think about how much fun it would be if you had somebody tell you just what you can't write…and what tone you should use when you write what you can.
Random
These are the places I've been, am at, or will be this month. Some include prizes. Many include silliness. Just so ya know.
Fresh Fiction 1.03
Smexy Books 1.04
Novel Thoughts 1.05
The Book Pushers 1.10
Wicked Lil Pixie 1.14
The Book Vixen 1.27
Romance @ Random 1.30
Paperback Dolls 2.1
Writerspace 2.3
January 16, 2012
Hit or miss
I'll be hit or miss this week. I'll on the final run of THE REUNITED, the next book in the FBI psychic series, plus I'm putting together my next proposal for Berkley.
Translation…my brain is mush. I'm also slightly miserable from dental surgery and I'd rather hide in my room, blankets over my head, for eternity, or at least until the pain passes. Not an option, but oh well.
I did do a few productive things over the past few days…wrote on THE REUNITED, and I added an excerpt from STOLEN, which is the next RS due out from Ballantine.
You can read it here.
January 15, 2012
Random winner & IF YOU SEE HER winner…
We've got winners…
I posted that I'd be doing a few random winners from the IF YOU contest, posted here…(FYI, the random winners can still win the big prize).
The first random winner is Hope Reed.
Hope, if you can use the contact form to email me… I'll need your mailing addy.
And the winner of the Reader Giveaway for IF YOU SEE HER…
Diane S, who commented:
Because I so enjoyed If you Hear Her!
And J D Robb's Celebrity in Death due out in February.
Diane, if you can use the contact form, just send me your mailing addy.
As per my contest rules, you've got two weeks to contact me, or the prizes are forfeit.
January 14, 2012
Snippet Saturday…Setting
It's Snippet time… from THE DEPARTED
"Wrong, Jones. I'm not your concern. Haven't been for over a year. I quit, remember?"
"As if I could forget," he muttered. "Come on. You don't need to be here right now. You're already on edge."
On edge. Talk about an understatement. She smirked.
As he started to walk out of the cemetery, she reluctantly fell into step next to him, steaming mentally and debating on whether or not she wanted to go along with his imperiousness or not.
"Whether you're one of my people or not, you brought me here and you need to give me something to go on. You also could probably talk to that girl and help her a hell of a lot me more than these people here can."
She could refuse. She knew that. She didn't need to go anywhere with him. But the cold shivers running down her spine, the echoes of the departed, the strange, disturbing whispers…no, she didn't need to be there.
And she wanted to be out of there.
Badly.
If there was something or somebody here for her, she'd figure out it soon. Preferably after she'd had some rest, a few hot meals. She was so damn tired—too many jobs, too close together. She all but ached with exhaustion. Maybe fate and God would be kind, though, and this would turn out to be nothing.
She could use a break. Really.
Following Taylor out of the cemetery, she resisted the urge to the look back. If she had, she might have seen it as the moon came out from behind a heavy bank of clouds in just that moment.
The silvery stream of light fell across one of the monuments along the far borders of the cemetery. There was an angel there, her face upturned to the sky, her wings spread.
A sigh drifted through the cemetery, followed by a sound that was almost a sob.
Megan Hart — Read in bed!
Eliza Gayle
Rhian Cahill
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Zoë Archer
January 13, 2012
Recap on stuffs…
No 56 today…Just some odds & ends.
There's a big contest running between now and March. Details here… FYI, if you participate early on, you've got a chance at winning small giveaways… hint hint…
Time is running out if you want to get an early copy if IF YOU SEE HER. Details on that here. Going to draw a winner this week.
Another giveaway… Amy Ruttan… and her gorillas inspirations. 
I've using Pinterest a lot lately, plotting out the characters behind the current and upcoming characters in my FBI psychics series. If you're a writer, you can probably see how the 'boards' can work for that sort of thing.
My boards…
http://pinterest.com/shilohwalker/
Of course, I have to keep my 'info' there very minimal, because it's public.
But I was checking for private virtual boards and found this place…
And infinite, virtual corkboard. PRIVATE…
So I can take the pics I find on Pinterest, pin them here…and make notes. Very handy.
Okay. Enough rambling. I'm tired and need to work a little bit more before I call it quits…
January 12, 2012
Gorillas! Gorillas! They're everywhere! #giveaway
Ok, that's not what Amy wanted this called. Sulk.
We have a guest today. And a prize. *G* Prepare to be amused.
And say hi to Amy Ruttan.
A gorilla or how brainstorming can get those creative juices flowing.
While I was writing my little 1920's romance Bentley Gal I was twittering because hey it was my only outlet to real people since I had my youngest in 2009, anyways I was writing a scene where the hero and heroine who aren't supposed to be together are in a boat on a river in England.
I wanted to overturn them in the water, because I'm cruel like that and I knew how I was going to accomplish this.
Swans.
Sure, they're all graceful and pretty and they have a tragically beautiful ballet named after them, but swans are mean sons of a …*ahem* you get my point.
Before my hero and heroine were overturned they were trying to find a way to deter the swans and it made me pause because firstly what scares a swan and secondly what kind of predator in 1920's southern England who be roaming the countryside?
Hmmm. My writing came to a halt.
I was trying to show the heroine how the hero was trying to save her from being overturned into the cold wet river, especially since she was wearing designer clothing.
What is a swan scared of. Truly…not much. They're mean birds. Their claws are venomous and will give you a nasty infection if they scratch you and the males or cobs won't hesitate to bite you if you're intruding on their territory. Also, in England, swan meant had been a form of delicacy since the time of Elizabeth I. So granted, swans are going to be a bit protective.
I was on Twitter, what did I have to lose?
I posed the question. What is a swan afraid of?
Only one answer came back from Shiloh Walker.
@shilohwalker A gorilla?
I explained it was 1920's England and it would be hard pressed to find a gorilla. However she countered she would be afraid of an angry gorilla and I had to concur. Gorillas, especially silverbacks are insanely strong. They may look like gentle creatures and for the most part are, but if they had to defend themselves they will hurt you …badly. Hey, a swan and a gorilla given the right circumstances could be natural enemies. Right?
Hence this scene occurred:
"It's a—" he didn't get to finish as the boat was whapped from the side, rocking back and forth he tumbled over the side into the cold water of the Thames. When he surfaced he saw Davina still was in the boat, but the oars had drifted away and the cob was circling, making a beeline toward him. Its honking sounded like it was coming from the depths of Hell itself. It backed off a little way letting out another god-awful honk while it flapped its wings.
"What do I do?"
"I don't know," Davina screeched, but he could hear the humor in her voice.
"What animals are swans afraid of?"
Davina's eyes were wide. She shrugged her shoulders. "Gorillas?"
"Gorillas? Why would a swan be afraid of a gorilla?"
"I would be afraid of an angry gorilla," she suggested.
"How does a gorilla act?"
Davina shrugged again, stifling a laugh.
"You're loads of help." He swam over to the boat and clung to the edge, trying to get in. The swan whacked him with its wings and jabbed him with its beak. "Dammit all to hell," George cursed, the blow stinging his back. The cob circled again, but George made it into the boat this time. "Christ that hurt."
Davina was hiding her laughter behind her hand. "You shouldn't have skipped that rock so close to him yesterday."
"Ha ha ha, very funny." He rubbed the sore spot on his back. "I didn't know swans held grudges."
"Apparently."
"Oh lord, here he comes again. I'm sorry Sir Swan, just let us be." George's plea seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
"I know, start flapping your arms and honk louder."
"And what will you do, darling, laugh?"
"The swans seemed to be scared of my father's pointers, perhaps if I imitated the dogs?"
"All right, worth a shot." George began to flap his arms and mimicked the swan to the best of his honking abilities, while Davina barked like some kind of rabid dog behind him. It didn't work, for the cob busked their boat, and this time the row boat rolled over on its side, depositing them both in the Thames.
I can't recall if I intended the scene to be humorous, but thanks to Shiloh's ribbing and the addition to a gorilla the scene became humorous and it worked for the story.
Of course, now any time I mention anything with a question Miss Smarty Pants always quips:
@shilohwalker Is there a gorilla in it?
There are plans for t-shirts if we ever end up in the same conference, right Shiloh? I'm totally game for that.
Anyways, my point is (and I swear I have one) sometimes you have to look outside the box for answers, the most unexpected tool can help you brainstorm an idea you never planned on in the first place and that suggestion could really work.
Trust me, not all brainstorms work, but heck brainstorming and trying ideas in your writing are better than hitting the proverbial brick wall and thus not writing anything further. I've been there before too.
Just keep writing and don't be afraid to try something new or unexpected, you'll never know where it will take you.
And thanks Shiloh for throwing a gorilla in the mix, so because of that I'm giving one lucky commenter an eBook copy of Bentley Gal and a mini stuffed gorilla.
Isn't he cute?
BENTLEY GAL: Now available from Ellora's Cave *Blush* http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9763-bentley-gal.aspx
Superstar of the Brooklands racing circuit David Garr makes all the ladies swoon. Too bad he's actually a lady too.
Davina Wentworth should be happy, she has it all—money, a gorgeous fiancé, but ever since her brother's death the good life is not enough. Dressing as a man and racing under the name David Garr gives her the thrill she needs—until George Dyson becomes her number one rival, both on track and off.
George left the States to escape prohibition and his broken heart. He vowed never to trust a woman again, until he meets his sponsor's fiancée who captivates him. Though he knows he shouldn't pursue her, he can't help himself.
Davina has only ever felt alive behind the wheel of her Bentley, until George crashes through the barriers of her heart.
Where to find me:
Disclaimer
FYI…make sure you read my disclaimer. You have to check back to claim the prize. We'll post the winner at the end of this week or early next.
entering the contest means you've read the disclaimer and agree to it.
void where prohibited by law.
odds of winning depend on number of entries
do not post to sweepstakes sites
entries must be made to my blog via my website
read the disclaimer (link above) for the rest of the rules
January 10, 2012
For all those authors who seek to destroy their competition…
May I introduce you to the brilliance that is Meljean Brook…
Re-Tweeted all author contests — if readers get other books for free they will buy mine. Saw that K.C. finally came online again to promote her new book and Tweeted so I Re-Tweeted her Tweet. Make note: I supported her, can remind her of it when I ask for quote.
Re-Tweeted last Tweet of all NYT authors. Should get awesome quote soon.
Checked Amazon rankings. Checked rankings of all other PNR authors. Saw N.S. much, much higher than me. Made new Amazon account. Voted down all five-star reviews for her books. Wrote three-star review. "Was hoping for something more like M.B.'s incredible work, but N.S. only delivered something okay. Who spells 'hawk' with an 'e'? Also, M.B. is a more engaging and friendly Tweeter."
And…because I can't resist…*G* from comments…
by Shiloh Walker on January 10th, 2012 | [image error]Well, all you have to do is send SW some books, damn it. Geez, it's not like I'm hard to bribe. Geez.
18|
by meljean on January 10th, 2012 | [image error]Note to self: Get off internets, finish damn book, send to S.W. Include note in book about DESTROYING PEOPLE WHO LIKE AUTHORS EQUALLY. Be vague enough to make S.W. wonder if I am referring to her.
19|
by Shiloh Walker on January 10th, 2012 | [image error]Excellent. That will feed into SW's paranoia. Now get off the internets so I can sleep. Or…well. Not. Because if I'm not sleeping, I'm not writing tomorrow.
FYI…if you're not sure what this insanity is about… well, it has to do with that purple unicorn rant. I think. Or maybe Meljean is just crazy. Who knows. After all…it IS Meljean.
If You See Her… Reader Giveaway…
So I don't have an ARC…there was an issue and I'm ARC-less. But I do an actual, real, live book.
Yup… the published copy of IF YOU SEE HER.
For a reader.
One who comments here.
O.o
Want it? Tell me you want it…and because just that is boring, tell me one other book you've been looking forward to. (No, I'm not sending you that, too, I just need book recs.)
**FYI…make sure you read my disclaimer. You have to check back to claim the prize. We'll post the winner at the end of this week or early next.
**This is the second book in the series. This series is very tightly connected. Please don't be upset with me if you read it and don't follow as well because you haven't read the first book…you've been warned.
**No reviews are needed although if you read it and post an honest review at the place of your choosing, it will make me happy.
Other rules…
entering the contest means you've read the disclaimer and agree to it.
void where prohibited by law.
odds of winning depend on number of entries
do not post to sweepstakes sites
entries must be made to my blog via my website
read the disclaimer (link above) for the rest of the rules
