Insecure Writer's Support Group: Failing in Epic Proportions

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

          My debut novel POISON is a young adult dystopian. It involves quite a lot of action of epic proportions and took me a number of years to write and rewrite and then edit. The second novel in the series is mostly written and just needs a touch up before it goes to a professional editor. I worked on book three for Camp NaNoWriMo and am having the hardest time advancing the plot. Due to all the earlier epicness in the first two books, I feel like whatever happens in book three needs to be bigger and badder. I’ve already pulled out the big guns for the previous books and am left with what I can only describe as plot exhaustion. So much has happened to the main character that it’s a wonder she’s still functioning. With each new chapter I have to try and find ways to increase the tension but everything that could happen has happened and now I’m delving into territory that is just plain unbelievable in order to keep from stalling. So this month I’m having  a hard time completing the novel and it makes me regret not having a more solid outline when I began writing.

                I guess if I get nothing else from this experience I will have learned that I should pace my novels better so that I have something left for the grand finale! What about you guys? What’s making you insecure this month?

 

The Time Stopper & The Thought Readers by Dima Zales

THE STORY:

I can stop time, but I can’t change anything.
I can access memories, but not far enough.
My name is Mira, and my life is about finding the Russian mobster who killed my family. 

MY THOUGHTS:

I really enjoyed Mira as a POV character. I felt she was strong but was able to show vulnerability at the same time and it was a credit to Zales for being able to condense such a full impact story line into so few words. Mira is so different to the heroines that usually crop up in YA or NA books and I'm so glad for it. She's tough and crude and sexually free and I love that about her. I’m a huge fan of the mind reading genre and the concept of the thought dimension was a new one that I hadn’t come across before. Zales’ writing was engaging and very easy to read and I enjoyed the inclusion of Russian phrases and words to give the novella a more authentic feel.  

THE RATING:

5/5

THE STORY:

Everyone thinks I’m a genius. 

Everyone is wrong. 

Sure, I finished Harvard at eighteen and now make crazy money at a hedge fund. But that’s not because I’m unusually smart or hard-working. 

It’s because I cheat. 

You see, I have a unique ability. I can go outside time into my own personal version of reality—the place I call “the Quiet”—where I can explore my surroundings while the rest of the world stands still.

I thought I was the only one who could do this—until I met her.

My name is Darren, and this is how I became entangled with all the Russians and learned that I’m a Reader.

MY THOUGHTS:

After reading the prequel novella, The Time Stopper, I was looking forward to continuing the journey in The Thought Readers. The Thought Readers is told in the POV of Darren rather than Mira and starts off in the middle of the poker game in much the same fashion as the novella.

                This series has a unique concept in the mind reading genre that was executed very well. I enjoyed the initial insights into the thoughts of the secondary characters, though towards the end I felt there could have been less random mind reading and more concentration on building character relationships. As Darren mentions throughout the novel, it would have been nice to not be effectively told through mind reading what a character was thinking all the time. The idea behind the mind dimension was well crafted and I took it on face value. There was enough world building to make the concept plausible without spending too much time dragging down the plot.

Despite both The Time Stopper and The Thought Readers  being told in first person, Darren had his own distinct voice which I thought was well done because in a lot of books I’ve read with dual POVs, they all  tend to sound the same. I didn’t mind Darren as a POV character, mostly because of the great writing, but  as a human being I’m not sure we could be friends. Because of his abilities everything in life seemed to come so easily for him and I found myself at times feeling like he was a bit clinical in his reactions to some of the events in the plot. I’m hoping this is a deliberate move on the part of the author and that Darren’s perspective changes as the series goes on.

If I had one issue with The Thought Readers it was the insta-lust/love. I’m not a fan of this trope in any context and was a little disappointed when I came across it, especially given that I liked Mira a lot less in this novel than in her POV novella. Overall though, I really enjoyed the first installment in this series and will look forward to reading the rest and seeing how everything develops.

THE RATING:

4/5

Review: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

THE STORY:

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

MY THOUGHTS:

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years now ever since  I found out it’s set over the Christmas and New Year period. I finally got around to it this year and I have to say that although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t the whimsical story I had hoped it was going to be.

                The idea of falling in love through letters shared in a notebook left at a book store during Christmas is completely brilliant. I loved the inception of the notebook and how it wasn’t even Lily who started it but her brother trying to get her out of the way during the holiday season. The dual perspective of the narrative was great because we got an insight into the mindset of both characters and it was fun to see how they would interpret each other’s messages.

                What really let the story down for me were the characters themselves. Neither Dash nor Lily really grabbed me and to be honest, I didn’t feel any connection with them. I’m not sure if I just expect young adults to act a certain way but I just couldn’t get on board with the notion that a teenage boy would ever refer to himself as “persnickety.” I’m sure the authors were just trying to illustrate how intelligent and sensitive Dash was but I found him to be a little condescending and quite frankly a bit boring. I love books too but there was no need for his disinterest in just about everything to prove that he preferred his own company to that of others.

                I started off liking Lily well enough until the incident that caused her and Dash to first meet in real life and then it dawned on me that she was essentially a caricature of what a sheltered, spoiled child really is. Everyone around her protects and loves her and she’s never faced any real adversity in her life. The day after the incident she’s sorry but doesn’t take any action to make amends and she certainly doesn’t face any consequences.

                In fact, everything about this story felt easy. Even Dash’s encounters with his ex-girlfriend barely caused any friction. The characters decipher their respective clues so quickly and all the little ripples in their relationship were barely obstacles to overcome. Things were resolved rather conveniently with said characters relying on the good graces of their friends or relatives who just so happened to be celebrities or employees at all the right places.

                I didn’t go into this book with many expectations and if I just try and take it at face value it’s a good, light read. It didn’t blow me away but I didn’t hate it at the same time and if nothing else it’s put me in a Christmassy mood.

THE RATING:

3/5

Review: Floating Upstream by Jo Vraca

THE STORY:

Julia Marconi has a simple dream—to get out of Goldburne, the stinking hot town in rural Australia, where she’s followed the rules her whole life. She dreams of adventures far away from her violent father whose only goal is to maintain his old world values in changing times. Julia longs for true love rather than the match “made” for her years ago.
Super spunk Robbie Ventura and the arrival of the Carnival add unseen complications to her life, just as she’s ready to settle in and stay out of trouble. It’s all so tantalising. Just a taste here and there won’t hurt. After all, she’s an excellent liar. So with her brother’s motto, “Don’t get caught,” stuck in her head, Julia tries to survive her senior year of high school. All she has to do is spend the last year of the 70s with her head afloat, despite the currents dragging her away from her goals.
But the town of Goldburne and her father have eyes and ears everywhere, and her parents’ plans for Julia don’t involve starting the new decade and new life in the city. A secret that spans three generations and a war could mean Julia ends up like Maria Gervase —knocked up and married by 18.

MY THOUGHTS:

I’m finding it really difficult to put into words all of the things this story made me feel. And there were so many mixed feelings that Floating Upstream managed to evoke from the whole emotional spectrum. I thought the writing was quite serene and tied in really well with the title and theme of the river and the water being the place where Julia took refuge. The plot is quite slow but I feel like this was almost a reflection of the small country town lifestyle. Vraca paints an incredibly vivid picture of the monotony but also the tranquillity of Goldburne and as the story progresses the town itself almost becomes a character of its own.

                The characters in Floating Upstream were well fleshed out and very imperfect which I found frustrating but also understood to be true to life. The story dealt with a number of social issues like violence and sexual freedom and as it was set in the 1970s, I had to keep reminding myself that the reaction I had to the behaviour of some of the characters was unreasonable for the social context of the book. I enjoyed Julia as the POV character and really felt for her trying to break free from her parent’s traditional values. In another time Julia could really have been a wild child but the expectations of her family and also the people of the town really weighed heavily on her. I liked that Julia made a lot of mistakes and she paid the dearly for some of them which doesn’t often happen in other contemporary novels. My only issue with Julia was that the only times I really felt as though she had agency was when she was going to meet Robbie for a late night encounter. Most of the rest of the time she would often think and say things but when it came down to it she didn’t really push the boundaries. This was most evident when she tried to ignore the arranged marriage her parents had set up for her and during those times when her father was violent and it almost seemed like she was having an out of body experience throughout when I would have liked for her to stick up for herself. Again though, this is probably my own perception being clouded by today’s standards.

           Most of the other characters are well fleshed out and I enjoyed reading about them, although I wasn’t a huge fan of Robbie as the love interest and couldn’t really understand his appeal. Even if he was attractive, I just couldn’t get on board with the fact that they had literally no contact for months on end and he didn’t even have the decency to write to Julia even though she practically begged him to. Even if I discount the many double standards in their relationship, they just didn’t seem to have much in common and it felt to me like Julia was just someone Robbie was using to pass the time.

                Overall, Floating Upstream was a really engaging read for me. I was invested in Julia’s struggle and loved the great description of the town and the slow paced lifestyle. If you’re looking for a great Australian read, why not give this a try?

THE RATING:

5/5

Review: If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz

The Story:

They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.

I do not believe them.

At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.

Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.

And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.

My Thoughts:

I don't often venture into the realm of contemporary novels but when I do the experience usually makes me wonder why I don't read them more often. If Only We was no exception to this. It is a story about second chances, taking  risks and at the same time staying true to yourself. 

     Adrienne was a likeable narrator whose reactions were never over the top or too dramatic as seems to be the norm in NA novels. Also missing is the trauma and angst that this new genre has been built on and I for one am glad as I find all the drama difficult to relate to. I love the Adrienne is a normal girl with normal problems. She doesn't see eye to eye with her mother, she's finding it difficult to connect with her younger step-sister and she's declared her love to her best friend Chevy only to have him reject her. These are all things most readers can identify with.

       Unlike us though, Adrienne gets a second chance to do the summer over via the help of a little time travel. This time around Adrienne is determined to set things right, though she soon discovers that there are reasons why everyone acts the way they do and most of the time its got nothing to do with her. Instead of running away from her problems this time Adrienne makes herself face them no matter how painful or awkward. She also makes mistakes despite trying hard to be better and I thought this added a sense of realism to the plot. 

       I really liked that Adrienne was proactive in getting her life together and although there was romance it wasn't the center of the story. Adrienne learns that she has to be happy with herself before she can make someone else happy and that's a point so many other books miss.  Towards the end Adrienne grows as a person and is able to take drawbacks in her stride instead of feeling sorry for herself and just giving up like she would have previously. 

        There were a few things that I felt could have been done better, like an explanation for the time travel and a bit more tension in the romantic relationship. I thought Chevy was sweet but not super swoon worthy though to be fair I prefer boys of the supernatural variety! Overall I really enjoyed If Only We and look forward to future works by the author.  

The Rating

4/5

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Enjoy Life!

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
        This month my post is less about what I'm insecure about (everything!) and more about a habit that I have of dreaming so big it stops me from appreciating the small things. Let's face it, the chances of a writer making it big are slim. Yet who among us hasn't daydreamed about our books hitting a best seller list or being made into a movie? I do it all the time. It's gotten to the point where I've even planned overseas trips based on my future success. All this before I've even written the first draft of my novel. The other day I stumbled upon this quote:

It got me thinking about my current wishful habits and I realised that I will only ever have one debut novel. I may go on to write dozens of books and with any luck they may be well received but this time, right now is the time that I should be relishing. Everything I do at this stage is new and a scary kind of exciting. I shouldn't wish that away hoping for something that may never come. I will only have one round of firsts and even if there are better days to come they won't have that same feeling of fresh anticipation. So I've decided that from now on I will keep a lid on the dreaming and try to remember to enjoy life as it is, right now. Happy New Year everyone. Looking forward to another year of sharing encouragement with you.

Blog Tour - Release Day - If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz

Hey All,

I am so excited to be participating in the blog tour for the release of If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz. Jessica is a great writer, awesome blogger and all round lovely lady. What's more, for the duration of the blog tour If Only We is available for 99c! Need more convincing? Just look below:

Synopsis:

They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.

I do not believe them.

At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.

Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.

And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.

 Author Bio:

Jessica is the 28 year old author of IF ONLY WE, a YA contemporary coming out in October 2013. You can often find her either reading or marathon watching TV on DVD, her favorites being Castle and Veronica Mars. She frequently mismatches her clothes and giggles uncontrollably. She knows almost every Billy Joel song by heart. She collects books and toys, and she has an intense love of cats and lemurs. Currently in the midst of her quarter-life-crisis, she is still takin' names and getting very close to reaching an epiphany.

Want to know more?

If Only We on Goodreads
Author page on Goodreads
Author blog (on which there's an awesome giveaway happening!)
Facebook author page
Twitter 

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Not So YA

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two things have or are happening to inspire this months topic. One is that it's my birthday next month and I'll be leaving my 20s behind. The other is that I've discovered Wattpad, or more specifically what is popular on Wattpad and that just happens to be One Direction fan fiction.
       In the last few years I feel like I've become more detached to youth culture and as a result it has influenced how much I enjoy some of the more popular YA books out there. Sometimes it's as though I'm the only one who doesn't "get" how awesome a much hyped new YA release is. This makes me worry that the ripples of my maturing state of mind is going to flow into my writing and I'll get the most dreaded of review comments saying that it's clear I'm not a teenager.   
       I guess aging in inevitable though and I can only hope that there are others out there like me who will forever be teenagers at heart!

Random Thoughts: For The Love Of Writing

Once upon a time I wrote a story. I did it for the love of writing. It was called Iron Willed and I managed to get to the second book in the series before I finally lost steam and it sort of died in a heap. A lot has happened since I stopped writing that story.
      I rediscovered dystopia thanks to The Hunger Games. I  discovered self publishing and all the trimmings that come with it. Including the one piece of advice that all the advice sites agree on. That self published writers need to write good stories and have them edited to within an inch of their lives.
      Now that I look back on said story I can see how much I've improved as a writer. I'm so glad that all this obsession hasn't been for nothing. And yet a part of me is a little sad because I can also see that all this precision has bled a lot of the love right out of my writing.
      I've always maintained that I'm not really a writer. I'm a storyteller that just happens to express herself through the medium of words. I would love to tell my story through film or art or possibly manga/anime but alas I am so much worse at those than I am at writing. So this is how my stories will be told.
      I am sitting here thinking about what a shame it is that I find myself focusing on the craft rather than the storytelling. I remember how quickly I wrote those books and how much fun they were to write. It was freeing to just let the words flow. The story isn't mind blowing. I'll never get professional accolades for it. In fact, I can see some discerning reviewer (like myself ironically!) who would tear it to shreds. But you know what? This is the one book that I don't think I'd care if a reviewer totally firebombed.
      It's a fun book filled with teenage romanticism, cool powers, impossible world building, a snappy heroine, a non romantic best friend and plenty of stereotypical sidekicks. And I love it. Every single bit of it. So I've decided I'm going to write it. Technicality be damned.

Miscellaneous Monday: Bye Bye Borders and Misc Melbourne!

Since the news of Borders closing made headlines, I've been freaking out a little that there would be a chain reaction and all the other physical book stores would follow suit. This is what now lies where Borders flagship Melbourne store used to stand:

With the boom of internet shopping and ebooks, I sort of felt the the era of the paperback might be coming to a close. Then, whilst on a trip to see Transformers 3 last weekend, I stumbled upon this:

 

Dymocks Bookstore on Collins Street in Melbourne City. Very much open for business and choc full of good old books! Not only that, there is book culture all over the city. Underneath the city's train stations there are mini glass galleries where artists display their bookish art. 

 

By the end of the day I was feeling a lot better about the future of book buying and as an aspiring author it's a relief! I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about publishing an ebook because I love flipping through the pages of a physical book so much, but I definitely feel better about being one of those rabid bargain hunters who trawled liberally through the meager skeleton of Borders bookshelves while they went into liquidation.
       At this point I have to confess. This whole post has been a ruse to show off my favourite piece out of my Borders haul, a Young Adult sign from their young adult section. I plan to put it above my desk where I do all my writing. One day, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, my book will be on a bookshelf under a similar sign.

Seriously though, what are your thoughts guys? physical vs ebooks? Post your thoughts below.

*Note: If you're wondering, yes I know my photography sucks.