Creative Reviews discussion
The Attic
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Welcome to The Attic!!
Wow, Jenn! I think you are making the right decision here. Doing all those things for everyone is not helping them--it enables them so they will never learn to take care of themselves. I know it was hard for you to turn that poor baby away, but you are absolutely right about her needing to go to a totally different home. Your children have to come first, and there is certainly a loving home that will be able to devote so much more time to her. It is sad that she was in that situation, but it wasn't your fault, and you shouldn't be blamed for it.Anyone who will use a family member the way it seems you have been used will not be able to react like a logical adult when things don't go their way. No wonder they are treating you so awful. I mean, they are basically having a tempter tantrum because you didn't let them have their way. And what do we do when our kids have temper tantrums? Most of the time, we just ignore them, right?
:-)
This week on my blog I will have an interview with Louis K. Lowy who wrote Die Laughing. I have some sort of feature going on each week basically through the end of August.
I got two new books to sniff in the mail today! :-)
(To review)
and
(Giveaway win!)
Mod
The Rafters
I'm still waiting on a few more, but I am quite excited about this one!
***crickets chirping***Where is everyone? No one wants to hang in the attic anymore??? :-)
Is it just me, or do you all go through bouts of complete and total self-doubt (maybe self-loathing? LOL)...??? I am in one of those ruts where nothing is interesting and everything I write is complete crap--even my reviews!!! Gah! I know I'll get over it, but it stinks when I'm in the middle of it... ;-)
Aaannnnyyyywhhhooooo... I'm going to go read and continue to deny that I have caught my kids' sicky cooties...
It goes very quiet on occasion, doesn't it? I think they're all forgetting to nip down to the basement to check out The Attic. Might be just you and me, girl!Er.. Maybe I am too self-satisfied, but mine last about ten minutes, then I go eat chocolate and do something else for a bit and then I get back to it. Your reviews are great, though, so don't doubt yourself! If it would help, do mail me a bit of your writing and I promise I will tell you if I think it need tweaking? But if it really wouldn't, no worries...
So - are you running round the house pointing at your kids and chanting "cooties" then? I'm led to believe it's traditional, isn't it? (or "nits" in the UK)
Oh damn, my head's gonna be itching for days now. I think *I've* caught your kids' nits.
Hmmm....Is there such a thing as e-cooties/ e-nits? And how does one medicate against them?
JAC
Question..... Going to try my hand at interviewing authors.As an author or reader, what questions would you like asked/ answered???
I've done two interviews as an author and the questions I like most are the ones that are "off the wall". You have to ask some of the standard questions but I think that if you want to get to know the person behind the book(s), you have to break the mold a bit. I know that I answered tons of the same questions over and over from readers via email. Those answers are now easy and I'm nobody lol. A well known author could almost copy and paste their answers so your interview wouldn't be any different than others unless you make the author think at some point.
And let's be honest, the author wants to talk about and promote their books. If you have read the book and offer insightful questions, they will be happy to blather on for you lol. You also need to give them a chance to promote their works and you can do that with those questions.
Also, you would ask a nobody different questions than you would a "somebody". You have to assume that information about the "somebody"'is well known.
Just some thoughts.
Splitter
I mean germs...lol...not bugs...sorry to make you itch! They have some sort of upper-respiratory infection, and now I have a very sore, swollen throat :-(... I'm pumping full of vitamin C, and I am hoping my immune system doesn't completely fail me. I don't have time to be sick.
C.S. Splitter wrote: "I've done two interviews as an author and the questions I like most are the ones that are "off the wall". You have to ask some of the standard questions but I think that if you want to get to know..."What have been some of your off the wall and what do you write? I imagine your books to have lots of humor since you are always cracking me up with your posts
Aw, thank you. My motto is; joke 'em if they can't take a...wait...it's the other way around. Anyway :)
Here are a couple bloggers that I think do a good job mixing the "have to asks" with the "off the wall":
http://historicallyyoursbookreviews.b...
http://paradox-theangelsarehere.blogs...
I think my interview is still somewhere down the page on that second blog.
I liked the questions from both because they allowed me to give a bit more information on the book but were varied enough to not bore the reader.
Splitter
C.S. Splitter wrote: "Aw, thank you. My motto is; joke 'em if they can't take a...wait...it's the other way around. Anyway :)
Here are a couple bloggers that I think do a good job mixing the "have to asks" with th..."
Ok so alot of those I already had in mind. Good to know I'm on the right page! And way to plug yourself to me, I must now read your work ;)
So if I said I wasn't taking the opportunity to also plug my book, would you believe me? lolTell you what, I'll send you a coupon code for Smashwords :).
Splitter
C.S. Splitter wrote: "So if I said I wasn't taking the opportunity to also plug my book, would you believe me? lolTell you what, I'll send you a coupon code for Smashwords :).
Splitter"
You need to make money too, I know it isn't easy being an Indie.
I'll buy it, you didn't ask me for a review, simply piqued my interest.
People in this group are so damned cool :).Really, my favorite GR group.
Splitter
So I think I just shot my blog in the foot, but I'm starting to drown. So I just made this really long verbose post (because lets face it I don't know how to be anything else) stating after July 31st I'm not going to accept any new submissions for review until October. The thing is between Library Thing review contests which I entered too many of not expecting to win, and Net Galley where I went overboard expecting to be denied and Author Solicited reviews (meaning they contacted me via email) I sat down and figured out if I read two books a day and only read the books I agreed to review I will not catch up until they very end of August and that's reading nothing else but books for review every single day, and I have to keep a rate of two a day to finish by that date. My email is starting to frighten me because it's so far behind. It's been at least a week if not more since I've even really visited a blog. And even the few I've gotten to this month I've not spent more than 5 minutes before I make myself go back to reading. I was doing really well at gaining followers, and I know quite a few are indie authors and a lot of them are book bloggers and I still intend to have a review, interview, contest or feature posted every day but if I keep accepting submissions at the rate I am I will never see daylight again. So you guys are all reviewers and authors, do you think I just killed my blog or did I make a good decision? I feel guilty but I don't see any other method of catching up. If I keep going at this rate it will be months before I get around to books I've accepted for review because they'll just keep piling up. Basically my question is will blogger and writers write me off because I've stopped accepting more books for review for a couple months so that I can catch up?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I would say, probably not... :-) I think MOST people out there understand that we do have lives & we cannot sit around and read and write reviews 24/7. I am still taking review requests, but I try to make it very clear to everyone that I have a very, very long to-review list, and if they don't want to wait, they shouldn't send me anything. I have backed off on the giveaways I enter, although I recently have gone a bit overboard on netGalley b/c I am new there. I try to put my author requested reviews ahead of giveaway wins, however. I will read them & definitely review them, but I think it is a little more important to review for the authors I have actually been in touch with.
Please tell me you aren't actually reading two books a day, because that would make me feel extremely inadequate...LOL... I do good to get in two or three a week most of the time! ;-)
Mod
As an author or reader, what questions would you like asked/ answered???"
I love interviews with questions that are just simply not expected. I think it is just as important to get the readers to get to know the author away from the book, and seeing a sense of humor or a bit of wit is a selling point for me. Check out http://theunlockeddiary.blogspot.com/ for some really great ideas on some off the wall questions, or just listen to our JournalJabber show. I will promise you that we have questions no one thought of before...or maybe just didn't want to ask? LOL
But I could be interested in buying 2 different books from two different authors, and the one who made me smile or laugh more will probably get my money and my following more readily than one whose personality fizzled.
Give the author something they can give you an interesting answer to! And also an answer they haven't already given someone else.I was given a great tip by a friend of mine who had read about her favourite film director in a magazine, and was disgusted that he'd basically given the same answers as in a blog interview. My mate felt a bit cheated as she wanted to learn something new about them, not get rehashed old answers.
Possibly a cunning thing to do would be to Google the author's name, check out the last couple of interviews they've done and then cross off any questions they've already answered unless you have a different slant on them?
JAC
Jenn wrote: "Question..... Going to try my hand at interviewing authors.As an author or reader, what questions would you like asked/ answered???"
Hi Jenneral, as an author I most enjoy questions inspired by reading my novel, like "How does your work as a psychologist influence your characterization, particularly for character background and therapy scenes?" or "Why did you choose to kill off character X?" etc. It's a blast to discuss the novel in depth with readers since every reader takes away something different, and hearing their questions helps me see the story in a different light.
Cassie wrote: "I don't know the answer to that question, but I would say, probably not... :-) I think MOST people out there understand that we do have lives & we cannot sit around and read and write reviews 24/7..."I read a minimum of one per day most day, some days I'll get to two or three, but keep in mind all my kids are on visitation at the moment.
Jenn wrote: "So I think I just shot my blog in the foot, but I'm starting to drown. So I just made this really long verbose post (because lets face it I don't know how to be anything else) stating after July 3..."I don't think you've killed the blog, as long as you are still posting reviews in the meantime. I've just done the same (although some writers apparently can't read and are still sending me review requests) I got to the point where the review copies I had would probably have taken me nearly 3 mths to get through, let alone books I've bought. I was warning authors about the wait and they tend to be cool with it, but it was starting to feel like a weight on my mind, and was taking away the fun. As long as the blog is active I wouldn't have thought it should matter.
Jenn wrote: "So I think I just shot my blog in the foot, but I'm starting to drown. So I just made this really long verbose post (because lets face it I don't know how to be anything else) stating after July 3..."No, call a halt to submissions, Jenn! A lot of blogs do that and if they're still updating every so often, people will still come and read.
As for the authors, we'll all be here still clamouring for reviews when you get back, so slow down, catch up, rediscover the fun of it - and then perhaps when you get it back down to a manageable level, set yourself a quota of so many books a week and ask authors to come back next month when you have enough.
This has to be fun, remember! And the pressure will make it unsustainable if you don't rein in a little.
Besides, look on the bright side - having only set up a while back, you're now too popular to keep up! If that's not a sign of success, I don't know what is!
Take time, chill, and come back refreshed and ready to start again.
JAC
J.A. wrote: "It goes very quiet on occasion, doesn't it? I think they're all forgetting to nip down to the basement to check out The Attic. Might be just you and me, girl!Er.. Maybe I am too self-satisfied,..."
J.A., I may be wrong, because I've never tripped over a cootie in the dark, but I think nits and cooties are different beasts. Nits are the eggs of head lice, cooties I understand are mites that you can pick up walking through long grass, etc., that leave bite marks in places you wouldn't want to know about. We don't have them here -- just ticks that can paralyse and eventually kill if not removed or, in some of the less salubrious neighbourhoods, scabies, which are another kind of mite that burrows into your skin and cause all sorts of problems.
Does that help?
Yes, Phil, it helped me at least. It helped me feel itches EVERYWHERE lol.Splitter
C.S. Splitter wrote: "Yes, Phil, it helped me at least. It helped me feel itches EVERYWHERE lol.Splitter"
Wow, I'm sorry I brought this up... *scratch, scratch*
I meant it like when you're in grade school and you say you don't kiss boys b/c they have cooties...which later translates to germs...lol...
We're getting better, I think. Meds have helped the two littles improve a ton. My oldest had a pretty yucky cough this morning, but a little cough syrup seemed to help him for the day. I had to take an Aleve this morning for my throat, but otherwise, I'm feeling better today :-)...
Cassie,My wife and I both came down with sore throats and the general yuks. I took Avalox and it cleared up.
She, on the other hand, has a Z-Pack in her future but since she can't be in the sun when taking it, opted to start them tomorrow...after the pool.
A swear....how dark does she need to get?
I feel your pain.
Splitter
I'm not much for tanning--I think we had the burn/freckle convo already ;-)...The little ones are on abx, and I saw major improvements in them after the first 2 doses. I was prepared to call the doctor, but hopefully we are going to be able to manage without more. I have had about half a bottle of liquid vit C so far, and I have some vit C "fruit snacks" that I have been feeding the kids. Seems to be helping. And, for some reason, my husband appears to be avoiding it altogether, which is wonderful b/c he is worse than the kids when he's sick ;-)...
I just feel like I'm having a case of allergy flare-up, which I am used to...so as long as it doesn't get any worse, I'll live ;-)...
You guys are making me itch lol. Had to stop in because you're so not going to believe this. Remember how we lost power in the bedroom last month (which btw is still not fixed and I'm living in my living room and dining room until we can get all the new wiring in which is near to impossible if it keeps staying above 100 degrees since hot air rises,)
Well this morning there was no hot water. My tank which is actually less than 2 years old and an over priced energy efficient model is finicky. Sometimes if you wait a day or so it will just fix itself though about every six months I have to yell at the repairman and make him come back and fix it. He's the one who sold me a $2800 water tank with a 20 year guarantee and therefore he has to deal with it and a pissed off me whenever it doesn't feel like working.
Today however took the cake. About 4pm there's this pounding on the door. When we answer it there are about 20 fireman standing in my front yard and on my porch with two firetrucks. You'd have thought there was an inferno nearby. But no, someone reported smelling a gas leak around our house. We didn't smell anything inside, but sure enough set foot in the driveway and it smelled like sewage. So they check the house inside and out and the whole time the nosy firemen are questioning me about what I'm doing with a house this size etc, (all things completely unrelated to the issue at hand which are probably only to serve the town gossip since we don't talk to anyone in town and therefore they're curious about us since we haven't bothered to get to know anyone in the three years we've lived here.)
The gas company comes out, can't find the leak, but then they hear this big boom, no one knows where it came from. Someone mentions the error code blinking on the tank and since we've checked everything else, including digging small holes in my yard to check underground for leaks, they have me go and turn on the hot water. I start running the hot water(which in reality is still coming out cold), about 5 minutes later flames start shooting out the 30 foot long exhaust pipe that runs out of the house. It may not keep my water hot, but apparently works as an excellent flame thrower.
So NOW the utility company watched us call the repair guy and talked to them as well. He's coming out Monday to fix it, we have a notice that we can't turn it on (not that I would) until they've evaluated that it works properly and they're going to watch him fix it. Fortunately the repairs for that won't cost me anything though I do expect to get a bill from the Fire Department which I fully intend to hand to the repairman, via a courtroom if necessary. His ineptitude not only makes it so my water is finicky, he put my home and my life in danger with that tank. And seriously though I'm sure I scared him on the phone today, I was being nice because if my kids were here I think he'd have needed a bodyguard with him when he showed up to repair it. The utility guys said the only reason the tank didn't explode was the vent pipe. And considering it's PVC pipe which means it's plastic how long do you think it would have stayed helpful with flames shooting out of it?
For once I'm thankful for nosy neighbors. I hardly ever leave my house, how is it that things like this keep happening to me?
A flame thrower hot water tank? Sounds useful in an action movie! That sucks you have to go through all that. :(
Wow Jenn you should write a book! That is insane! This repairman sounds like a complete loser! I would yell at him too. I hope everything gets fixed and maybe you'll get lucky and hw willbhaul away the flame thrower and you'll get a new tank!
All this talk about itchy mites and colds makes me want to lock myself in my house! Stay away germs!!!
Aw Jenn....geez. Flames? It's lawsuit time.As for me, I would sic my wife on the repairman. I'm nice, she's not. Short ones are fiery.
Hey Cassie, most of us are like your hubby. Break our arm and we'll say to just tape it up so we can go back in the game. Make our head or stomach hurt and we get...well...we then begin to start all of our sentences with, "Hey, Honey, could you..."
Splitter
Short ones are fiesty you say?? Have i ever told you all i am only 5'2??LOL
I'm also stubborn. But i tend to not be good at getting anywhere in situations like that because i tend to yell and that never gets me anywhere. My hubby tho stays cool as ice and usually always gets what he wants. Frankly, it drives me nuts! Lol
OMG...my wife SAYS she is 5'2" but she better be wearing shoes when she tries to pass that off as truth lol.Slow dancing is a chore, I end up with a stiff back from stooping all night.
She can get away with, and needs to be..umm...assertive. Yeah, that's the words I wanted, "assertive". If she ever asks, I said "assertive", k? lol
I don't mind saying it, she scares me :)
Splitter
Sounds like we got some showties in this thread. But I'm 5'9". ;)
C.S. Splitter wrote: "Aw, thank you. My motto is; joke 'em if they can't take a...wait...it's the other way around. Anyway :)
Here are a couple bloggers that I think do a good job mixing the "have to asks" with th..."
I did an interview for Historically Yours and I loved the questions she asked. I've had a bunch of interviews now, and I love answering them all, even the question I've answered about 10 times now; How did you come up with this story..."
My favorite questions are when people ask me about the trivia of it, where did the names come from was one I recently answered and had a ball with. I love tying my imagination onto real characters, events and old literary references. A little bit of Google and a whole new tale appears ;D
Jennifer wrote: "Sounds like we got some showties in this thread. But I'm 5'9". ;)"Me too... :-)
Jennifer wrote: "Sounds like we got some showties in this thread. But I'm 5'9". ;)"Feisty and fiery 5 ft even here!!!!!
Thanks for all the advice on interviews guys!
I really appreciate it
Jenn wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Sounds like we got some showties in this thread. But I'm 5'9". ;)"Feisty and fiery 5 ft even here!!!!!
Thanks for all the advice on interviews guys!
I really appreciate it"
At 5 ft even myself, I think you are the perfect height ;D
Hey I almost feel tall, I'm 5'3" and a half, we can't forget the half because I was 5'4" before the military. All my high school records have me at 5'4" from grades 9-12 then I went into the Marines ran on pavement for month and months on end and all of a sudden I was 5'3 1/2" short people should not be allowed to shrink. Neat little thing I learned that running on hard surfaces repeatedly for long time period can actually slowly compress the cartilage in your back thus making you shorter. I'm sure there are other things that can do it too, but it's part of why old people get shorter as they age, the cartilage in their back starts to compress. I'm sure there are other reasons for that too, but I only know that compressing thing because I got shorter and wanted to know why. It's not like it hurts or anything or that you even notice until someone measures you and you say wtf? I'm not even entirely certain that happens to everyone, I just know I was one of the lucky ones that got shorter lol.And on the hot water tank guy I'm really good at yelling at him but I don't know enough about fixing stuff to feel comfortable handling his visit for the repair. He's always trying to talk us into new purchases saying that it wasn't his product it was that we don't have blah blah blah and should therefore pay him more money. And while I don't usually agree to any new money spent and fume a lot, not knowing if he's right or not makes me nervous and not as secure on my soap box. Ed however loves all that fix it stuff and he's pretty good at yelling himself. He's one of the quiet ones that everyone thinks never gets angry so when something actually does piss him off it's quite frightening. Fortunately in his eyes I can do no wrong therefore I'm never on the wrong end of his anger. He took an emergency vacation day so he can be here tomorrow.
So Jenn...if running on pavement makes you shorter, will rolling on the pavement make me thinner?Yeah, yeah, I could run and get the same effect but...
Splitter
Well i run on a treadmill all the time and occassionally outside so maybe I am not 5'2 anymore....and I don't like to wear heels I fall all over the place. LOL
I do wear boots in the winter with heals but thats about it.
And Power to all the Shorties in the house!! LOL
I think short people need to be fiesty, else the tall people will think they can run us down!!
HA HA HA
Angela wrote: "Jenn wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Sounds like we got some showties in this thread. But I'm 5'9". ;)"Feisty and fiery 5 ft even here!!!!!
Thanks for all the advice on interviews guys!
I really app..."
Thanks Jennela!
Cambria wrote: "Well i run on a treadmill all the time and occassionally outside so maybe I am not 5'2 anymore....and I don't like to wear heels I fall all over the place. LOL
I do wear boots in the winter with..."
Ohhhhhh I LOVE some tall skinny heels! And cork wedges and boots.......
yeah, met too. I have a pair of suede brown boots that go to the knee with a wedge heel. I love em. wedge heels are easier to walk in. lol.I do have a black pair (not knee high) that have thin heels they are maybe 2 or 3 inch heels.
I had this pair of stilleto's that I wore for the Marine Corp Ball last year that were magenta suede and like 4-5 inches tall. I fell all over the place and my hubby had to literally hold me up. Finally I chucked em and went bare foot. LOL
Nothing makes me feel sexier than some high heels but after having a baby that is now walking/running all over, it's not the best shoe decision.
I hate wearing heels... Makes me feel awkward... But I guess if I were short and petit, it would be different... ;-)
C.S. Splitter wrote: "So Jenn...if running on pavement makes you shorter, will rolling on the pavement make me thinner?Yeah, yeah, I could run and get the same effect but...
Splitter"
lol I doubt it, you'd probably get bruised which might result in some swelling and have the opposite affect lol.
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July 22nd I have a new review/giveaway going up as well!