There are a lot of things I didn't like about this book. For a start, the author has a fairly annoying writing style that mainly revolves around telling us what the character is doing or feeling. Gruesome or tense scenes - and it is a zombie book, so there are plenty - are reduced to clinical descriptions that don't really hold any emotions at all. The characters are incredibly human - while that is a plus for the individuality of the book, it meant I didn't feel too involved in their survival. That though was probably also due to the lack of feelings the book produces.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Ali reviews: The girl with all the gifts by M. R. Carey
There are a lot of things I didn't like about this book. For a start, the author has a fairly annoying writing style that mainly revolves around telling us what the character is doing or feeling. Gruesome or tense scenes - and it is a zombie book, so there are plenty - are reduced to clinical descriptions that don't really hold any emotions at all. The characters are incredibly human - while that is a plus for the individuality of the book, it meant I didn't feel too involved in their survival. That though was probably also due to the lack of feelings the book produces.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
A reviews: Fantastic Four 2015 (may contain spoilers)
I think the most disappointing thing about Fantastic Four was that it really should have been better. When I first saw the trailer, I'll admit I was nowhere near as enthusiastic about it as I have been to all the other comic book movies and TV shows. With such fantastic offerings like Netflix original Daredevil, or the Avengers, Fantastic Four looked like it wasn't going to meet the bar. But the first half of the movie, while a little slow, is a pretty good set up. We see new aspects to Reed, Ben, and then their relationship. But the great start to their relationship is quickly derailed as soon as they grow up.
Adult Reed quickly abandons his best friend in favor of a scholarship to the Baxter Institute, where he meets a cold and boring Sue who was adopted into the Storm family (why she needed to be adopted is completely unclear - the rest of the Storm family are African-Americans, and it would have made far more sense if Sue was as well. Particularly because they completely ignore any jealousy or other dramas that could have come from the adoption other than one or two hints). Johnny Storm apparently has daddy issues and he is introduced via a Fast and the Furious audition, which completely ignored the fact he's also meant to be an incredibly bright science geek. He quickly moves into a typical side character (without the fantastic and snappy one-liners.) Budding relationships are limited to snapshots of the group sitting around and talking while Victor's strong introduction is quickly reduced to simply watching these moments in an attempt to convey jealousy of Sue and Reeds supposed romance.
Ben reappears, scoring a spot on the transporter when a crucial member of the team is kind of just... left behind (not to worry, though! They will still gain powers for no apparent reason). Speaking of, when they do get their powers, things for a moment start to get interesting when they're taking captive by the government/military. Reed escapes captivity, Ben's trying to deal with his new life while being exploited by the military, and the Storms just keep on filling up the background while providing little worth to the current events. Sue's 'shining' moment of her character is when she helps to track down Reed using her supposed pattern recognition/analyzation skills. Its the type of thing that a) could have been accomplished far more efficiently by a computer, and b) was purely added for plot purposes, further cementing Sue as a pretty-faced prop.
Any sort of rise the movie had created is quickly followed by a huge crash as the movie begins to rush, pulling out a villain in the form of Dr. Doom. Victor was at worst, an ass with a conspiracy and anti 'the man' complex but Dr. Doom is hell-bent on destroying everything. They hint that Victor had issues with the Baxter foundation previously but refuse to follow through, leading to something along the lines of 'he's now a villain because we said so'.
The climax arriving was a complete surprise - the movie had done very little to put the four together as a team. As a result, the final battle was sloppy, poorly put together, and didn't utilize the team's powers. Dr. Doom's abilities were inconsistent and while Reed is originally struggling to use his powers without aid, that's somehow fixed by pure willpower in the space of thirty seconds.
I'm normally opposed to movies being split into parts, but I feel like Fantastic Four would have benefited from a far longer runtime. It could have also been saved by better humor, or more thrilling action scenes, or if they had just continued to build/round out their characters and relationships rather than let them fall flat. At the end of the day, while I didn't hate it, it should have been a lot better than it was and I wouldn't be that interested in watching it again.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Ali reviews: Ashes Trilogy by Ilsa J. Bick
So to start of, Ashes introduces us to Alex, a teenager dying from a brain tumour who’s out on a hike when an electromagnetic pulse occurs, killing elderly people while teenagers get turned into Zombie-like creatures. Alex teams up with a young girl named Ellie and a twenty-something war veteran named Tom in a fight for survival. Ashes is an interesting read, mainly in part to an interesting heroine. Her brain tumour immediately sets her apart, in both her attitude and her actions, and Tom is not the usual love interest either. The zombies aren’t particular anything new in the beginning but given time they’ll start to surprise you as well.
The one thing I dislike about them is the excessive use of gore. Don't get me wrong, I get that gore is a part of a zombie concept and I’m usually okay with gore in a book format (movies, not so much). But Ashes tends to repeat the same gross imagery; the first time a couple of the particularly nasty ones cropped up I skipped them and then it reached a point where it was a little ‘ho hum, the zombie is eating someone’s eyeball again’. I don’t know, that one may just be me; as I said, I’m not a fan of gore so perhaps if I was it would be a little more ‘heck yeah, dismemberment!’ If you’ve read the series, let me know which side of the fence you sit on with this – and if you haven’t read the series, let me know generally!
Beyond that, the further you get into the Ashes trilogy, the weirder it starts to become. I did continue to enjoy it, but I feel like it would probably start to alienate some readers, particularly by the time you get to the third book with Monsters. I don’t want to talk about it too much in case I spoil it, but as a bit of a preview, in Ashes Alex develops super smell (that happens fairly early so I feel it's okay to mention) but more things develop (particularly in a bad guy) that are bit… interesting. They don’t go super-powered or anything, I just feel like it starts to stretch into a different concept then what the rest of the series was (aka just a zombie book). Which is good in some ways and as I said, I still liked it. But I don't think it would be something everyone enjoys.
The last thing I want to do is have a bit of a rant about the ending of Monsters. I won’t spoil it, don’t worry, but unfortunately Bick does the one thing I really can’t stand in an author; she gets lazy. Regardless of whether or not that was her ‘vision’, it’s a bit of a band-aid. It has an ending, don’t get me wrong, but I did put the book down with disappointment. I do understand the difficulty endings can be; everyone has their own vision and their own way of doing things. But I would’ve liked to have seen more to finish up a decent, although strange in the end, series.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
New series: WTF did I just watch?
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
B Writes: A Long Time Love Affair with Books
Do you snack while you read? If so, what is your favorite reading snack?
I used be very guilty of leaving my books open face-down to keep my place - my mother would tell me not to - “You’ll break the spine!” - but I would be in such a hurry that I wouldn’t care.
Mostly fiction I’m afraid. I would love to read more non-fiction on subjects I’d like to learn about, but I really have to be in exactly the right mood for that, so it doesn’t happen very often at all. If I do read non-fiction, it is most likely to be some kind of book on horses - training, dressage, stable management, etc.
Who wants to stop in the middle of the chapter?? Ahh! If it’s a book I have read many times over (and I have quite a lot of those!), I can stop in the middle of the chapter, because I know what’s coming next.
"The Foundling" by Georgette Heyer
Mary Grant Bruce’s “Back to Billabong” for the Kindle. I rarely buy new hard copy books, but I will thrift books like they are going out of style. (Which they sort of are! ...) (TT Д TT)
Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
Any time of the day will do for me, but the best place to read is somewhere cozy - preferably a couch, near a window with the sun streaming in. Yes, I’m part cat.
A bit of both actually. If the story is really good, but I don’t like the rest of the author’s writing, I usually like a stand-alone, but as I tend to get very attached to certain authors and characters, I probably mostly prefer series because I just want to read more.
By genre, then series, or author, and that’s as far as it goes. I have too many books to get really fussy, and not enough bookshelves to spread them all out on.
What kinds of books do you like to read and who are your favorite authors from those genres?
- Regency romances ~ Georgette Heyer
- Quirky/humorous Science Fiction ~ Terry Pratchett
- Pony books ~ Josephine Pullein-Thompson & Monica Edwards
- Classics ~ L. M. Montgomery & J.R. Tolkien
- Children’s Classics ~ Hugh Lofting
Monday, June 15, 2015
A writes: Why I Write
To me, this isn't really a question. You might as well ask why I breathe, or sleep, or eat. For as long as I can remember, stories and their characters have just been a massive part of who I am. Even if I'm not physically putting a story down onto paper, it's always in my head. It's a strange feeling - a part of me does, and always will, live inside many different worlds that no one else understands, at least not until they read about them. And even then, sometimes what they get is only a glimpse into a world I see, into the lives of characters who I know very intimately. Why do I write? I suppose the easiest answer would be because I want you to see - the worlds, the people, their stories. I want you to love them as much as I do, but if you don't, that's okay. I'll keep writing them anyway, because I could never stop. I can never stop.
I hope you enjoyed my take on these questions. Hopefully you guys have also been inspired like I've been to write frequently, even if it's just a little bit and even if you hate it. Because either way, you're writing and thats the important thing.
-A
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
B writes: Progress
Most days I'm easily going over my target - in fact my average word count is 500 words a day. I've done seven days of writing, and 3,503 words so far - with a few extra typed here and there that I didn't bother tracking. So far, I'm only doing the challenge five days a week, but I might up that to six days a week soon.
I want to keep it achievable though. That's why I picked such a low word count to aim for. Yes, it would be slightly ridiculous for some writers who are already writing regularly to do the same, but this is for me. A busy mother with three children under four years old, who has many other responsibilities and hobbies besides writing.
250 words, five days a week is not only achievable, but also encouraging. I hit that goal, I want to try for more. So I end up doing more than 250 words each and every time I sit down to write! Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a lot, like 1,013!
Either way, progress is being made and it's good. I like it.
- Dudley's Last Chance by Bonita Vear
Coming soon!
b.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
B writes: On Writing
I do write a lot every week, but I'm writing on my blogs, on Twitter, on other people's blogs. I'm not writing on things that are going to help my journey forward as a published author. I'm missing that part in my schedule of things to do, and as a result, all too often the book writing gets completely overlooked.
Crikey, the last time I worked on a novel seriously was.... Uh. Whoops. I don't even remember. Probably Nanowrimo 2013.
Gamenian did get some work done on it in 2014, but that was mostly polishing and editing; stuff to ready the manuscript for publishing. No real 'writing' as in building the story.
Since I've made this pledge I've written over 1,000 words. So I know it can be done. Bit by bit, day by day, I'm going to finish my next book, and then I'm going to start another one. I'm a writer. So I am going to write.
"Jody stared at the measly remnants of cake in front of her, and poked the crumbs into a tidy heap in the middle of the swirling gold pattern. It was always a bit of a worry when Bridget got that look on her face – mostly because it meant that she had some new idea that she was going to drag Jody into, and any amount of ‘no’s’ just made her all the more determined to go ahead."
- Dudley's Last Chance by Bonita Vear
b.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
B writes: Why I Write
A series of questions I found on Gala Darling that instantly intrigued me, and I knew I had to answer them for myself.
Because why do I write?
Why?
WHY DO I WRITE?
Because I can’t not write. Because I can’t not tell a story some how, some way. I have so much to say, and so many ways to say it – art, photography, creating with my hands – but in the end, I can’t not write about it.
It’s like the story is too big and too grand to be captured just by one medium, and each different medium adds another layer to this great big story I call ‘Life’.
So I create, I share my stories, and I hope that somehow the message gets across…
There is something out there, something that is bigger than we see. Something that inspires us, that drives us, that pushes and pulls us to grow, change, explore, create, expand, implode, fall down and begin all over again.
There’s life. There’s hope.
And those two things are the fundamental elements of my creative ‘me’. Story telling just happens to naturally blossom from those two core truths I know, and writing just happens to naturally blossom from my desire to tell a story.
So I write because I must.
HOW DO I WRITE?
Sporadically. It’s kind of sad. I’m not even close to any sort of rhythm or routine. I know that all professional writers talk about dedicating certain hours of the day, or making sure to hit a certain number of words, but I don’t do that. In fact, I’m the worst kind of writer…
The one who waits for inspiration to strike!
Ruh-Rho…
Please don’t follow my example! I write when I have a blog post to write, but it’s never on the same day week to week. I write when I have something I need to remember, or a story to tell. I work on my books when I need too. Nanowrimo was great for getting me into a regular routine, but I couldn’t keep it up for long. I had really bad tendonitis after trying to write 1,000 words a day for a month. Ouch.
Basically, I write when I want to. But it’s a least once a week, so I am writing regularly if it comes to that – just not once-a-day-regularly.
HOW DOES MY WRITING DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN ITS GENRE?
Hmm. This is a super great question. Mostly because I’m not sure, but let me think…
I think our writing is different from other books that I’ve read in the same space opera genre, mostly because of our faith, and how that shapes our world view, and consequentially, our writing.
There’s always a theme of hope, and something greater that’s out there – referring to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to make people think about their world view and why they believe what they do. Questions always lead to answers when your heart is truly seeking, and we hope to that by provoking the questions our readers can find an answer that satisfies their soul.
HOW DO I GET PAST WRITER’S BLOCK?
I… don’t. No, really. I just move onto another project and wait for the writer’s block to dissolve. Sometimes this works really well, and sometimes it doesn't. I think the best approach to writer’s block has a lot to do with whether or not you are a professional writer, or a part-time writer like myself.
I PASS THE PEN TO…
Alethia!
I pass the pen to any writer out there who would like to answer these questions themselves. Go ahead – tell us - why do you write?
b.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
A writes: our query letter
Obviously, the original wasn't in italics ;) Looking back, I'm pretty happy with the letter we created - we ended up using a lot of it on the back of the book. A lot of people with opinions on query letters - some people say to put the book info first (genre, word count etc) while others say to put it in later. Personally, we decided that putting it in before would be helpful and ran with that.
For me, writing the story plot was easy - I knew my book and straight from the start I had a pretty good idea how to present it. After doing a lot of research into formatting the plot, I found it relatively easy to write. The rest of it, like how to write credentials when you have none, what to mention, what not to mention etc just took a LOT of research. I've posted some of the links in the earlier post on queries that I did, but they were really only some of the crucial sites I found. I found a lot more of random articles, or random paragraphs within articles, that were very helpful, but there were too many to actually write a post about!
Hopefully, this gives you all some ideas on what to do with your query! As I've said before, I'm in no way an expert on query letters but I'm happy to answer any questions you guys might have.