Not Fun...

Wow, I was totally unprepared for anything last week. Had maybe two posts go up and then I got sick. I thought I'd be able to post a couple little bits, but sadly that didn't happen.

I'm feeling much better, but now trying to play "Catch Up" on everything!

My desk still looks like a bomb went off on it. That is one of the things I didn't get to.

I did a lot of reading... well, more like "trying-to-get-past-these-first-few-pages-oh-please-let-this-book-get-better", rather than reading. I think I dumped six books off of my Kindle in one night before I found something I could actually get into.

Here's the thing. I love reading indie authors. I really do! I just don't like how when I choose the books, I have to filter through twenty of them before I find the gem.

Here is why I dumped those six books:

1 - There was one book where the author told me everything. I was sitting through a six page narrative and being shown very, very little. I didn't connect with anything in that book at all. And before I got too invested in it, I skipped ahead and was still being told. So I dropped it.

2 - One book started off great and hooked me, then flopped because it wasn't getting to the point. It more or less was beginning to be all about the teenage girl ogling the "strange, mysterious" boy beside her. I suffered through several chapters with no more information than I had when I started.

3 - Flat, flatter and flattest! No substance to the characters, the story and even the world they were presented in.

They wrote such great blurbs for the books! But once I started reading, it all fell apart very quickly. Typos, grammar errors, lots and lots of mistakes. One dimensional characters and lifeless dialogue.

Maybe being sick made me a bit more grouchy and snarky than usual, but I really had to look at these books, and the authors, and wonder... what the heck?

I know my writing isn't perfect and that I tend to repeat phrases a bit too much. (I'm not the only one!) But I care about what my story is going to look like once it is out in the real world. I'm even ashamed when I come across a typo. (I surely should have caught that before it went to print!!!) But it does happen. I can't fault anyone for being human. But I can sigh and be exasperated at people who do seem to have a talent for writing, but are in such a rush to get their work out there that it is riddled with mistakes.

Sad thing is, that could have been me at one point last year.

I was in such a rush to get my story out there, to put it in the hands of everyone I knew would love it, that I didn't want to take the time to fix it. But I had to. I didn't feel comfortable self publishing my book because I was afraid it, too, would have so, so many errors that people would get through the first paragraph and then just remove it from their e-reader.

Again, I say this: If you are going to self publish your book, polish that baby up! Be proud of what you have created and take the time to dust off the mistakes and clean around the edges to make it shine and be something you can be proud of, not something you want to shun later on down the line.

What turns you off about a book? What advice do you want to give to authors in a rush?

Book Review: 'Fox's Bride' by A E Marling...

Title: Fox's Bride

Author: A. E. Marling

Publisher: AEther Publishing

Pages: 269 (Print), File size: 1004 kb

ASIN: B009JDN2L8

Purchase: Amazon

Summary from Amazon:

A desert fox. An enchantress. And a sacrificial marriage.

Everyone in Oasis City worships the fennec fox as a sacred animal, except for the one woman forced to marry him. Enchantress Hiresha believes her fiancé is possessed by nothing more divine than fleas, and she also objects to the wedding venue: the afterlife. Priests will trap her in an airless sarcophagus with the fox. She has only four days of engagement left to live.

Her escape attempt ends in disaster, leaving her at the mercy of the city's vizier as well as her own pathological sleepiness. She wishes she could trust help from the Lord of the Feast, a past acquaintance with forbidden magic. He warns her that a sorcerer with even fewer scruples than himself may have arranged her marriage, to murder her. To find the truth before it's too late for her and the fox, she must slip off her silk gloves and break into pyramid tombs.

My thoughts:

A. E. Marling and Hiresha continue to capture my heart! The stories I have read by this author (this book and 'Brood of Bones') keep me coming back for more. Marling's writing is clean, well defined and cut as exquisitely as any of Hiresha's best gems.

When Hiresha arrives in Oasis City, she thinks her time spent there will be a bore as everyone scampers to do the fennec's bidding, believing that it is possessed by one of their gods known as 'The Golden Scoundrel'. But when the furry little avatar circles her feet three times, everyone is delighted that he has chosen his bride! While the details are a bit fuzzy, (no pun intended) Hiresha is certain she does not want to marry a fox.

While we get to meet some new faces, a few old ones return as well. Hiresha's maid, Janny and the dark one himself, the Lord of the Feast, Tethiel.

This time, the Lord of the Feast is not as prominent and the story focuses more on Hiresha and her Spellsword, Chandur. Because Hiresha does not want to rely on Tethiel as much as she did before, she discovers some new strengths of her own. Going against the wishes of the priest's, Hiresha makes her choice: Save the city or asphyxiate with a furry spouse.

Once again, Marling captivated me and Hiresha charmed me. I have to give this book a 5 star review.

Five out of five skull and crossbones.