Archive for November, 2010
I thought The Grammarian’s Reviews desperately needed a makeover, so after slaving away, I’m proud to show you all the results.
And if you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been slacking on getting reviews up. But no worries! Right now I’m running around, trying to get papers written. In a week everything will be back to normal.
This meme originates over at The Story Siren.
The Painted Boy by Charles de Lint.
Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney.
The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly thing going on over at Crazy-for-Books. Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee. If you’re a new blogger, like I am, or have been blogging for a while, stop by the sites and get involved!
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Weekly question: What is your favorite book cover?
Such a difficult decision. There are tons of covers that I love. But Dreamland, by Sarah Dessen, definitely has a beautiful cover that I’ve always liked.
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
FROM THE COVER:
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 the 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?
The notebook Dash and Lily exchange is hardly a book of dares, and what they do share is hardly dreams and desires. Instead it more resembles fluff – stereotypical boy/girl issues.
Dash is charming and creative, but also too pragmatic; the mix of his personality is unsettling and remains that way throughout the novel. Lily can hardly be considered a sixteen-year-old. Her character is overwhelmingly immature and bland. If anything saves the two of them, it’s Dash’s dialogue, which is most times witty. But the two of them are very unconvincing in terms of chemistry.
The plot seems scatterbrained and unfocused. Events happen and characters appear and all I can ask is, Why? The main premise of the notebook is ditched halfway through the story. There’s buildup to their meeting, and then it simply falls flat. Some issues are never resolved, especially parental issues, and so they feel unnecessary.
The writing itself is lacking. It’s repetitive, descriptions are dull, and the dialogue seems forced. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares leaves much to be desired.?
This meme originates over at The Story Siren.
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John.
I Will Save You by Matt de la Pena.
Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft.
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan.
Hold Still by Nina LaCour.
The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly thing going on over at Crazy-for-Books. Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee. If you’re a new blogger, like I am, or have been blogging for a while, stop by the sites and get involved!
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Weekly question: Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let’s use this week’s Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!
I am most thankful for my family and education.
As for holiday traditions, we do the typical big family feast.
Now the exciting part. Interview! I couldn’t help but send a few questions Ms. Roebuck’s way, particularly about her experience with e-publishing, which isn’t something most aspiring authors hear about or even consider. I’m hoping readers will benefit from what she has to say. I know I did.
Did you intend on having Perfect Score e-published? If so, why? What was the experience of being e-published like?
I’m actually British and e-publishing isn’t – or wasn’t at the time – much talked about in the UK. So when I finished “Perfect Score” I set about submitting to agents, never dreaming about e-publishing. I don’t live in the UK and I was so distressed (because of the expense and what I considered very old-fashioned) that many UK agents wouldn’t (and probably still don’t) take e-mail submissions, so I decided to try the States where publishers and agents are much more open to e-mail submissions. It made more sense anyway since the book’s set in the States. I had no idea about the submission process and I hang my head in shame at some of my initial ones. You really have to learn from experts how to submit – and never send a publisher or agent a genre that isn’t on their list of interests.
After thirty rejections, I was very depressed and then I received two acceptances on the same day! People have said that thirty rejections is nothing and that some people go into the hundreds before they’re accepted. Anyway, both acceptances were e-publishers and, since I’m a terrible geek, I thought, ‘why not? Sounds great’. And so I was introduced to a world of e-books which I’d never even heard of before.
It really has been a good experience. I wouldn’t say there’s much difference in the pre-publishing process, but now there’s a contrast between having an e-book on the market and having one traditionally published in paper. And that’s because of the author’s “platform” (new word to my vocabulary). With e-books an author can’t, obviously, do physical book-signings, or book tours, so it all has to be done “virtually”. And it’s a full-time job. But then, a friend who does have a book published in paper said she has to have a “platform” too because even though she’s published by a large publisher, they don’t have the money nowadays to do huge promotions, and she also admits her own marketing is taking up most of her time.
My e-publisher’s been great (Awe-struck Publishing). I was assigned a perfect editor (thanks Marie Dees!), they always answered my stupid “newbie” questions and I adore the cover they produced. They also released the book when they said they would and their royalties percentage isn’t bad either. So I’m happy.
Your characters are so lifelike, especially Sam. How did you decide to incorporate a character suffering from dyslexia, and was it challenging to write from the perspective of someone suffering from such a disorder?
Everyone seems to fall a little in love with Sam. I’m a teacher and I do see people with dyslexia from time to time. I’m not sure Sam’s problem really is only dyslexia – he has a severe case of it, if he has (I’ve never seen anyone as bad as he is). I also have a great friend who actually teaches dyslexic children and I picked her brains until she was sick of me! I enjoyed writing about Sam – and I did exaggerate his condition – but I wanted to make him into such a strong character who has to overcome almost overwhelming odds.
Working from home presents no problem for her since her office window overlooks the glittering point where the Tagus River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The huge container ships, tankers and cruise liners which are constantly on their way in or out of Lisbon harbor are a great source of inspiration (or distraction).
She has traveled widely through The States and believes that “being born American is like winning the lottery of life”. If she could live anywhere, she’d live in the Catskills in Upstate New York.
Perfect Score
Susan Roebuck
Blurb:
It’s the 1960s and feckless, exasperating Alex Finch is a rich, handsome and talented singer/songwriter who longs for two things: a career as a professional rock singer, and to have his love for Sam Barrowdale reciprocated. But drifter Sam’s two aims are simply to earn enough money to pay his sister’s medical bills and to hide from the world his reading/writing and speech disability. At this time the word “dyslexia” is generally unknown so to most people he’s just a “retard”. From the severe knocks life’s dealt him, Sam’s developed a tough outer coating and he has no time for a spoilt, selfish guitar player.
Despite his defects, Alex’s love for Sam never wavers and when Sam unexpectedly disappears, Alex begins a somewhat bungling quest to find him, only to discover that Sam has a fearful enemy: Alex’s powerful and influential yet sociopathic uncle.
As Alex spirals downwards towards alcoholism, many questions need answering. Just why did Alex’s evil uncle adopt him at age eleven yet deny him any affection? And what’s the mystery behind Alex’s father’s death?
Both seem to face unbeatable odds. Are they doomed to follow separate paths forever?
All of the characters have big, distinct personalities, no matter their roles. They’re lifelike. But Sam and Alex are beautiful – together and apart. From their appearances down to the way they talk, they’re characterized so well. Everything they do and say has a purpose; the dialogue is not fluff or filler.
The writing itself is strong. At times the descriptions go on for what seems longer than necessary, but they don’t take away from the story. The story is a bit difficult to follow at certain points, though. Time changes sporadically, and sometimes you’re given so much information about the present that you begin to question the past, and vice versa. Even the relationship between Alex and Sam at first feels like it’s just being thrown into the mix. After the occasional mid-story confusion, Roebuck successfully ties everything together in the end.
Perfect Score is definitely a refreshing change from mainstream Adult fiction. It’s neither cliché nor typical, but rather genuine and unique.?
