Pimping a friend and a quick review

Any Broadway fans out there? Being a fan of a things review-y, and also of embarrassing my friends, I'd like to draw your attention to Broadway.com's new word of mouth panel. They have gotten rid of their professional reviewer in favor of "man on the street" type reviews. They chose 12 people to send to shows, then they get to review them for the site. And one of the reviewers is my old buddy Ellen! Here she is, in all her fabulousness. I look forward to seeing what she has to say about NY theater (despite the fact that I never go). Congrats on getting chosen. Can't wait to hear about what you've seen.

I also wanted to quickly review Measure of a Man by Bonnie Dee (who is that guy on the cover and why does he keep showing up everywhere?) This book is part of Liquid Silver's Terran Realm series, which is like...environmental paranormal. Or something. Terrans are a race who live alongside humans and they keep the environment in balance. Or something. Different people have an affinity with a particular element (earth, air, fire, water) and some sort of power that is related to that element. These are called Keepers and there are Protectors who, um, protect the Keepers so that they can do their work. Okay, let's be honest. I didn't really get the world building, nor did I care about it all that much. I didn't even quite get what the heroine's power of mental healing had to do with the air.

Whatever. Doesn't much matter, because I found this to be an enjoyable, fast read. After reading this and Dee's contribution to the Boundless anthology, I can firmly say that I really love this author's characterizations. She writes down to Earth, likeable heroines, and offbeat, tormented and very appealling heroes. In this case, it made the book work despite me being meh about the Terran thing. MoaM has a con artist/petty criminal (Ian) as the hero and he gets drawn into the world of the Terrans when one literally crashes into him. Mirabai has strong mental powers and she works as a psychic healer. Dee was able to make her charming and not overly hippy dippy and sage like, but rather a nice foil for the jaded and self loathing Ian. They had good chemistry and the relationship developed quickly, but worked. Mira has stolen an object from the bad guys (the Destroyers), and it's a pretty standard going on the run type plot. It was the characters that made it work, from Ian and Mira to protector Justin to the bad guy (whose name is currently escaping me). I give it a B, and I've already bought the follow up Fruits of Betrayal. Maybe I'll figure out why the Destroyers want to destroy.

Happy New Year!

Hope this post finds everyone well and curled up on the couch, recovering from last night's festivities. Here at the house of Germs, we are watching "The Honeymooners" and continuing to avoid cleaning up the post-Christmas mess. Everytime I try to start putting things away, I turn around and they're all back out again.

So over at Romancing The Blog, a brave columnist has decided to take on the the very original, never addressed topic of mean bloggers, with their nasty 'slash and burn' reviews. As usual, I was late to read this, and by the time I did, all that needed to be said had been said. This particular posting seemed particularly obnoxious. So I just need to say one more thing. Or two.

I discovered reader blogs by accident when I was looking for an author website. I was amazed to find intelligent, funny writing about something I loved, and that I was kind of embarrassed about loving. I didn't know anybody besides my mom who read romances, and nobody thought too much of them. Then I decided to give the blogging thing a try myself. I thought it was a way to exercise my writing muscles, and to get out my thoughts about the great and not so great. Because I do actually find romance novels fascinating on a number of levels. As I kept writing, I found that I really enjoyed it. And it was one of the few outlets that I have, as a mostly stay at home mother. Silly as it may sound, it was something that was just about me, about something I enjoy. It had nothing to do with family, home or dog. I really enjoyed reading other's interesting, funny, and yes, snarky thoughts on books and whatever else crossed their minds. And as I started to face some personal difficulties, the blogosphere was an easy escape for me.

So I raise a toast (of chamomile tea) to you, reader/reviewer bloggers, for sharing your thoughts and love of this genre, and inspiring me to do the same. Here's to a new year of memorable reading. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say!

Devon's Review Rubric

Okay, I've neglected attatching any kind of rating to my reviews, because I'm so rambly and I don't stick to any kind of format. Some long, some short, lots of detail, little detail...but then I was thinking, perhaps I should grant some kind of grade, because even if I say conflicting things, one would know how I really felt. So here is my rating rubric, to explain how I would assign grades:

A=I love, love, love it. I would definitely re-read it. I want to hug it and kiss it and be its best friend.

B=I enjoyed it. It was definitely worth my time, and worth other's time too.

C=I liked it. I don't have anything too great to say about it, but I don't have anything too bad to say about it either.

D=I wish I could say I liked it, but there was just too much lame stuff.

F=Oh the pain, the pain. Stay far, far away.

DNF=Did not finish.

Books will be given a plus or minus if they eke their way closer to the higher or lower category. I wouldn't give a grade to a book that I did not finish. I will continue to comment on DNFs, because sometimes you don't finish a book because sometimes there's something you really don't like about it, hence the DNF, but sometimes it's just not your cup of tea, but it might be someone else's (see The Ultimatum. Recently kristiej gave this a good review. I knew others would like this one better.)

Anyhow, my first review featuring my rating system will hopefully be up tonight (Kim Harrison's Fistful of Charms). This is going to be a weird one, because my opinion of the book kept changing during the course of it.

Ranty thoughts...

It's a Friday night, and everyone's asleep, and I'm sitting here nursing my highly iced glass of wine (I have no tolerance these days), and thinking. I usually don't have much to say about the various dustups that arise, mostly because by the time I get to reading, all the fun has past and I have nothing interesting to add. However, this
Highland Fling review crap has got me a little annoyed. I won't rehash the whole thing, you can visit Sybil or Fiona to read about the whole glorious mess, but after looking at everything, and then reading this at KarenS' site, I am left pondering some burning questions:

A) Is there a difference between a bad review and trashing an author? I sure think so. Sometimes I think a book sucks ass. I'm not going to say otherwise. It doesn't mean I have anything against you, the author, just do better next time. Can authors tell the difference between negative reviews and mindless trashing?

B) What's up with "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all?" Last time I checked, a review was an opinion, a critique. Why does it have to be nice? Doesn't anyone read a newspaper or magazine? Are all the reviews of movies, television programs, art, etc. nice? C'mon, stop smoking crack (to quote Sybil)! Why on earth would a reader have to be nice about something, especially if they wasted their hard earned money on it, and if they back up their opinions with some reasons.

C) What does the author fear so much? Granted, if I were an author I'm sure I would stalk my reviews, and I would encourage my friends and fans to post glowing reviews. But, are they just so insulted by any harsh words, or do they think that potential readers are so flipping stupid that they can't tell the difference between a thoughtful review (be it positive or negative) and a stupid mess (positive or negative)? Perhaps your snarkiest readers are your most intelligent and thoughtful, and they wouldn't make a purchase based on a barely coherent, pointless review. It's this recurring feeling that I have that authors want to censor reviews because they think that potential readers are too dumb to make an informed decision that bugs me.

D) Finally, does anyone pay all that much attention to reviews on Amazon anyway?! Before I discovered blogs, I used to pop over to Amazon after I had read a book, to see what others thought. Between the content-less glowing reviews, the content-less nasty reviews, and the ridiculous Harriet Klausner (who reads sooooo many books she can't even get the summaries right), I would pretty much giggle my butt off. They are entertainment value only, by and large. If anything a mean review is more intriguing than a positive one. And look at crazy Laurell K. Hamilton. Shit-loads of negative reviews, yet she debuts at number one. Well, in her case, I think that she's made a pact with the devil so that people keep buying her books even though they know they're going to siz-zuck. Geezus, I almost checked Danse Macabre out the other day. I walked by, and was like, maybe I should just see for myself. It's the work of the devil, I tell you.

I'm thinking some folks gotta get over themselves, and just be happy people are reading their books. Even if I didn't like it, I still spent $$ on it, didn't I? Or at least the library did. It still goes towards your sales figures, doesn't it?

I hope this makes sense in the morning. I poured another glass of wine while typing.

ETA: This morning, I popped over to Alison Kent. I hadn't gone there before, because I had seen her comments everywhere else, and many people had referenced her, and I figured that I got the gist. But holy moly! I guess that there just is a disconnect between readers and authors. My post was about reviews, not professional behavior, but I was amazed at how authors and readers read the same words differently. The authors kept accusing others of twisting their words, while they twisted others' words. And don't get me started on the whole "just giving professional advice" thing. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Urgh,if I could only find a book that would keep my interest, I wouldn't be spending so much time reading about this. It's more compelling than anything on my TBR seems to be. Gotta get out of my funk.

Lighten up, it's just romance (and blogging)

After putting up the previous post, I ran across this
and this. It seems that someone has lost it, and has decided to make themself the snark slayer. People are taking this shit a little too seriously. Blogs are a forum for opinion. People can and do say what they want, and I will sit here and drink a glass of wine and giggle my ass off. You don't like it, don't read it. I say, lighten up, it's just romance. I have a feeling that this will get old fast even for the person who's doing it. How many times can you say, that snark sucked? All the anonymous commenters are interesting, though. Although there seems to be some speculation, I bet it's not MJD. She has shown she's not afraid to put opinions out there, which is why she's Captain Author-Bitch. I can respect her, even if I roll my eyes over what she says. Perhaps I'm just being hopeful, but I don't think she'd put up a blog with fake anonymous comments and shit.

Here she comes to save the day...

A mild-mannered, best-selling romance author sits in a Borders, signing copies of her newest vampire romance (hardcover, no less). Suddenly, a pink heart appears in the sky. Oh no, another romance author must be in trouble!! Captain Author-Bitch to the rescue!! MaryJanice Davidson rips off her glasses, kicks off her Jimmy Choos, and flies off to the nearest high speed connection, to defend the poor, beleaguered author under attack for merely expressing her sane, well-reasoned opinion. Those crazy readers/bloggers! Don't they know they have no right to criticize! They are not writers! Captain Author-Bitch will get them all!

Over at KarenS' Blog, there was a 'kerfuffle' (perfect word!) over book covers by Changeling Press (6/19). Browsing through the comments, I noticed that MJD had shown up for her usual "I bitch, therefore I am" type comment. All her comments have this vaguely superior, antagonistic tenor to them. Look, she's here and here and here, and here and here too!She shows up to prove that, yes, writers can be just as bitchy as readers, and don't expect her not to be a bitch just because she's dependent upon readers buying her books in order to make her many, many dollars. I think that's the point...maybe. The first time I read her snarky little commentary, I thought it quite funny. But now I'm amused in a groaning, eye-rolling, vaguely annoyed sort of way. I think she just likes to piss people off.

Will I stop reading her books? Nah. I loved Undead and Unwed, Undead and Unemployed and Under Cover. Nothing since then has lived up to that early promise, but I'll keep checking those "Undead and..." books out of the library. At least until they become so completely plot and character development free that they consist of one chapter of Betsy and Eric having sex and one chapter of the cast of characters sitting around the kitchen snarking at each other. Perhaps her Captain Author-Bitch alter ego is sapping her creativity. At least other authors being unfairly criticized by reader/bloggers can rest easy, knowing that Captain Author-Bitch is out to defend their honor, and that of writers in general.

As for the Changeling Press kerfuffle, I wonder if it was carefully orchestrated stunt to drum up some traffic for their site. I mean, at least a couple of people must have gotten curious enough to poke around. All I have to say is, in addition to the covers (many of them craptastic, to be sure), there are some incredible titles to be found:I Know Who You Did Last Summer, The Adventures of Wonderslut, Coffee Man and Straight Guy, and If It's Tuesday, There Must be Dildoes. Some of these titles are so...compelling, I might buy one for it alone. I have no idea about the quality. I do recognize some authors' names, I would imagine there's some great stuff on there, but, yes, some of the covers are off-putting, I'm sorry.

You say potato...

There has been a fascinating and amusing discussion? argument? war? going on in the romance blog community. It began over at Romancing the Blog with a column about reviews. It sparked a lot of discussion over who has the right to review as well as what they have the right to say. It moved over to this blog, where things seem to get a bit heated. I first read about it at the Smart Bitches. At all sites, the thread was enlivened by the presence of MaryJanice Davidson, who appeared to be taking a break from her very busy writing schedule in order to either piss people off or amuse them mightily all day long. Count me in the amused camp, but I think that the reactions to her comments illustrate an important point. Readers read things differently. There is never just one interpretation, no matter how sure you are that yours is the right one.

I love reading reviews. I usually read them after I’ve read a book , to see if people picked up on the same things I liked or disliked. And you know what, often they haven’t. Since I am always right, I am often dismayed to see how seriously some of these reviewers have misread the book. But that’s my just opinion (though seriously, sometimes it’s like we haven’t even read the same book). And it’s also my opinion that most readers are intelligent enough to tell the difference between a decent review and a piece of crap. A piece of crap, for example, is that review which, with no reference to the text, tells you that [this title] is wonderful or awful because it is just like/not at all like [this title or author]. Sorry, stupid and not helpful. Or, even worse, just I wuvved, wuvved, wuvved it so much. Think why, people, why. Make just a tiny reference or two to the actual book, please? Poorly written reviews and the few well written ones (on Amazon) do provide hours of reading entertainment though. Readers and Authors should take most of them with a grain of salt.