The series for Cat and Bones is over and Ms. Frost has given us a book of outtakes and deleted scenes. I have always enjoyed reading deleted scenes and outtakes from books that authors choose to share. I like finding out why they were deleted or re-written. I like seeing if things might have been different for our characters in some way. I think it is just fun. Jeanine has shared with us some great deleted scenes and she gave us the context of the story at the time of the scene so we would understand where the characters were at story wise as well as why the scene ended up on the chopping block. If you enjoyed the adventures of Cat and Bones, you will enjoy this collection.
Category: scifi
The Waiting Game
Recently I’ve noticed that a lot of the authors I’ve been following for years are spacing the time between books in a series more and more. Now sometimes it’s a health or other personal issues which I completely sympathize with and understand, hey as much as I’d like to have that new book real life and family is a priority, but sometime it’s not. Here are some of the reasons I’ve been consistently running into:
- The new series. Authors want to start new series, which I get creatively they get bored, so the old series which is the cash cow and the one I love starts to have longer and longer wait times. I have a few that publish like clockwork once a year but now with new series (still only publishing once a year) the series I follow only comes out every 2-3 years. Sometimes I actually have forgotten what’s going on it’s been so long.
- The publisher. Apparently the publishers like the publish certain genres certain times of the year. One author missed her deadline by a month and now her book is slated to release a year later. This is a NYT best selling author and this will make it a three year wait on the book. Really? You couldn’t find a spot?
- The deadline. As mentioned above deadlines seem to be getting tighter and tighter for writers and when they miss them then books seem to get pushed not weeks buts 6,8,12,18 months out.
The saddest part is that some new series I’ve picked up are really interesting but there has been no follow up..and its been 12-18 months for some of these books. Honestly I’ve lost interest in anything that’s not my core reading, as far as series are concerned, that aren’t indie authors. Do you think it’s over stressed authors, publishing houses that think people will stay loyal no matter what or an over critical me?
The Pre-Review
I have a conundrum. I hate pre-reviews. You know the reviews that people put up on books before they are released. The 5 star ratings that say “I CAN’T WAIT!!!” with unicorns and rainbows, but they haven’t actually read the book yet. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. They make me so crazy for these top three reasons:
- They dilute any real ARC reviews. If I’m looking at reviews to purchase a book, I can’t trust the rating because who knows how many 5 stars are just people that are excited to get a book. The ARC readers could be rating it 5 stars but now the true average is skewed.
- It hurts the authors and publishers. They tend to get alot of likes, so they are at the top. This is a problem because when I’m looking for an actual review, all I find is…OMG when am I going to get this book!!!! and not anything with substance. After awhile I get sick of shifting through them all and sometimes just give up. The sad part is after a book comes out, some of these 5 stars will get changed to lower ratings once the book is read.
- They use the likes later for a real review. You see people like those “I can’t wait reviews” because neither can they. And they can build up to a 100 likes in a year. But here is the twisted part, the reviewer can then edit it to a real review and keep the likes automatically becoming a top review, without any work (or sometimes without a good review) because they keep those likes. Then they get more for the actual review, it’s like getting double points, or let’s just call a spade a spade it’s like cheating.
But here is my problem, you have sites like Amazon that “fixed” this problem by just not allowing reviews of any book before its release. Now when I go to review any ARC I receive I can’t put a review on Amazon. I always intend to go back, but you know what they say about good intentions.
So which way is better, let anyone review anytime or only allow reviews once the book is released to stop all the 5 star previews that haven’t read? Les suggested giving the ARC readers a code to allow them to review, but who would we get the code from and would you need one for every site? I don’t know the solution or which way is better, frankly I see pros and cons in both system but you guys always have the best feedback so I figured I’d put it out there and see what you have to say…
Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews
I received an ARC of this book from the author…and all I can say is wow! I loved it! I am a fan of the Kate Daniels series so I was actually excited to buy this book come the end of December, but thanks to the Andrews team I got to read it early. So lets talk about it.
Blurb: Derek Gaunt has no family and few friends. Scarred, solitary, he is the lone wolf who separated from his pack. When those close to him are murdered, he’ll stop at nothing to hunt their killer through magic-drenched Atlanta.
Soon Julie Olsen joins him and what begins as revenge turns into the race to save the city. Their search puts them against powers they never imagined and magic so old, it predates history. It may cost Derek his life, but there are things for which even he would risk everything.
Review: I love this world, so for me this was icing on the cake. The awesome part is that it doesn’t have the throw away feel like most novellas do. This had solid world building, so if you’re not familiar with Kate Daniels (If you love UF this series is a must read) then you could still picture the post-shift Atlanta. Also being it Derek’s mind was a refreshing twist, one I didn’t expect, and the moments when he was talking to Julie were right on point for both of their characters. The story was interesting too, not too complicated with the shortness of the book, yet not immediately revealing, making you want to read more. If I could give future writers advice (and I really shouldn’t since I’m not one myself, but think of this purely from a readers standpoint) this is a great example of how, no matter how long your story is, fundamentals are key. This story had a clear beginning, middle and end but still left me with questions, making me hungry for the next book.
Great read and I highly recommend it, though it’s not available yet, mark your calendars for this book. Remember end of December, grab a copy you won’t regret it.
Geek Sneak Peek 