Down Under Views

For the first time since I got home from getting my gallbladder removed, I feel like I am getting a grasp on things.

Oh, I’m still incredibly behind on pretty much everything, but the fact is that I am finally on my way to catching up with all those things.

With all my time spent resting and healing, I got the chance to read a few books. I finished 101 Things to do Before You Diet, Howl’s Moving Castle and Sins of the Flesh. All those reviews will be going up in the coming weeks.

Right now I am reading Robert’s Rules of Writing, a non-fiction book which is almost bullet-style listing of do’s and don’ts for writing. I’m sticking to non-fiction for at least the next few weeks while I am trying to face my novel-in-progress head on. I’ve had a few lightbulb moments regarding that project, so I want to take advantage while I can.

Being behind in work doesn’t help with this, but a woman can dream, can’t she?

What are you reading?

I’ll admit it: I am one of those people who loves to start new things for the excitement of it, but there are plenty of times when it takes me a looong time to finish. I truly dislike this part of my personality, but I am learning to accept it as a part of who I am so I can work on changing my ways.

When it comes to books combined with this particular personality trait, it means I have a lot of books scattered around the flat with bookmarks in them. I’d tell you how many I have on the go at the moment, but I don’t even want to count.

I honestly think it reflects how I’m feeling lately, but I do feel like I should buckle down and finish all these books I have going.

One at a time.

But then again, is there anything wrong with reading multiple books at one time? I can’t really think of a reason unless you start mixing up plots and characters. (Which I haven’t because I’m reading a lot of non-fiction.)

I’m wondering…

Do you read more than one book at a time? Is that how you prefer to do it?

Things have been busy but calm all at the same time this past week. It’s quite strange, but I take it to mean that I am finally getting the hang of the thing I want so much – balancing my time. Work, creative writing, reading… I’ve actually done it all this week. Weird.

Recently my reading focused has honed in on a non-fiction book: The Cult of the Amateur – How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy by Andrew Keen.

Long title. Interesting subject.

As complicated as the title may make it sound, Keen actually does a good job of making himself clear on what he is saying and what his position is. I won’t get into it any more than that because I don’t want to write a review until I’m done.

One way I know a book is a good one is if it moves me to feel something. Even if that something is a hatred of the book, it’s still a ‘good’ book because of the lack of apathy on my part.

I already know this is a good book. I’m only fifty pages in and twice already I’ve gotten into a deep conversation with my husband about certain aspects of the book. I nearly preached to him as we talked about it last night.

Why do I have so much to say about this book? Because I feel Keen ignores key things, but on the other hand, I can understand why he does. But the very fact I am so impassioned about this book and this subject to actually go on and on about it makes it a good book no matter how I feel about it at the end.

(Mind you, the case would be different were it a fiction book. Bad endings can turn good books bad.)

What I’m wondering is if you have ever gotten so wrapped up in a book that you couldn’t help but go on and on about it. That you couldn’t help but talk with anyone who would listen to you go on about it.

Lately I have been inclined to read ‘easy’ books and ‘fluff’ material. Those two words applied to books are just a matter of opinion, but that’s what I’m going to call it.

Instead of continuing on with my very complex, serious novel of the moment or starting on the financial management book I’m scheduled to review, I’ve fallen back on some old favourites. Old favourites meaning teenage/young adult reading.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing, by any means. I love the books, plain and simple. It’s just that those are the only things I feel up to reading at the moment.

How about you?

Do you ever opt for ‘easy’ books? Do you ever need to give your brain a rest and read ‘fluff’?

I don’t read holiday-themed books. Not Christmas, not Valentine’s Day, not Halloween. I don’t read them.

There. I said it. Now I need to qualify it with…

I don’t read holiday books, but I have in the past. I don’t go out of my way to avoid them, I don’t think “Oh noes! Da Plague!” when I see them, and I’ll even read one if you give them to me. Probably. But I really, really don’t go out of my way to find them or read them.

I’m not sure what it is, exactly, that puts my book attraction on ice when it comes to holiday-themed books. I’ve read some, and some of the ones I’ve read were good. Still, they just don’t really jive to me.

The writer in me could be making a stand with this. Perhaps my inner creative self feels like the authors are writing for the holiday rather than any sort of ‘just because I love writing’ pleasure. But that doesn’t really hold up because I’m sure plenty of the authors who have penned holiday books did so because they loved writing and the holiday just happened to inspire them.

Maybe it’s the forced ‘I’m so happy and I love everybody’ feelings that usually serve to piss me off more than anything else that present the problem. I don’t want that sort of thing to invade my reading time. (No, I’m not a scrouge – I’m just not into fakey fakey ‘you’re a wonderful person, you jackass’ smiling stuff just because it’s the holidays.) That seems like it could be a definite reason.

No matter what it is, it all grinds down to this: If you want to get me books for Christmas (or any holiday), don’t get me holiday-themed books. Or give them to me early because it’s no fun sitting down to read about Christmas when that’s done and I’m gearing up for New Year’s.

Today I feel like having a bit of a rant, so feel free to move on if rants aren’t your kind of thing.

Whether they are in it for the money at the onset or not, I think every writer dreams of writing the book that will sell millions of copies. Writers want to make people feel, want to make people crave their books…

However, I’ve come across some authors – self-published authors, to be specific in this particular case – who seem to think that they need to make quick money now on their books. They also seem to be under the impression that it’s not normal to not be able to do so with any book they produce.

Not so.

The fact is, even though it’s sad, self-published authors aren’t going to get the same time that traditionally published authors do any time soon. It’s a very sad fact but it’s true. Why? Well, you can blame the people who didn’t hire professional editors before putting their self-published books out. You can blame the people who thought/think they are the world’s gift to literature and think they deserve high acclaim – and don’t hesitate to tell people so.

Reality check: Nobody deserves high acclaim; you earn it. Even traditionally published authors have to do that.

I have nothing against self-published authors. I have read the absolute most horrible, unedited, plot crazy piece of crap self-published books out there. But I have also read wonderful, edited, engaging self-published books like The Demo Tapes by Susan Helene Gottfried and Lighting the Dark Side by William R. Potter.

You may lure more people with honey than with vinegar, but another sad fact is that people remember the vinegar far longer than the honey. One self-published book that is horrible in quality (I’m talking editing, formatting, etc) is enough to put the average reader off all self-published books.

Personally, I’ve read the worst of the worst and still give self-published books a chance. Unless I can see that no effort has been put into editing. Then I just have to walk away. But there are a lot more people out there who won’t even give a second chance. They don’t have the time to because reviewers are constantly offered review books. I have over half a dozen on their way to me at this moment.

Self-published or traditionally published, I’m sorry if your book isn’t selling. Truly, I am. However, no one is guaranteed success. No one is promised to be a best seller. All you can do is try, so don’t spit on the helping hands offered (and/or hired) because the bottom line is this:

You have to work your rear end off to sell books.

Period.

…I’m still on vacation.

Be back tomorrow.

I’m not actually leaving until early tomorrow morning, but between the packing and sorting out last minute things, I might as well be on a sort of vacation.

Well, a vacation from the usual.

The vacation sort of started on Friday after the husband got home from work, but the real ‘away from home’ time starts tomorrow and goes until next Sunday when we get back. Between now and then I am sure I will find access to the internet.

The question will be – will I want to?

Because the answer will likely be ‘no’, I decided to have a ‘review week’ here at DUV starting tomorrow. I was going through my reviews, trying to decide which would be the best to post, and I realized that this would be a great opportunity to review a series.

After all, if people don’t like it, that could be a month of Fridays when people don’t come back to the blog if they’re not interested in the books. This way, it’ll last a week.

Less than that. Four days.

Monday through Thursday, I will be reviewing the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind.

Card is a writer with such immense talent that I still am in awe of his books. I haven’t read them all, but this series in particular had my head spinning in amazing ways.

I’m still undecided about what I’m going to review on Friday, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out within the next few hours.

Have a wonderful Sunday – and a great rest of the week!

As a virtual book tour coordinator, I’m pretty much dealing with stress for one reason or another all month long. This reviewer didn’t get the book, that author didn’t get the guest post to me, that host has gone missing on the day s/he is supposed to host… There is always something going on. All the ladies at Pump Up could tell you heaps of stories, I’m sure.

However, the real crunch time is the last weekend of the month – every month.

The last weekend before the start of a new month is always hectic. While we are scrabbling away to get everything back from the authors and out to the hosts, we are also putting the stops in the calendar (which is annoying enough for one tour, but we all pretty much have multiple tours every month), putting up author pages and doing all the sorts of things that are private to the company to make us more successful than the rest.

Above and beyond that, we’re already starting to work on the next tours, which we have to get all settled in one month. (As in, I’m getting everything set to go for June tours this weekend, but I’m already thinking about and starting to work on July tours.) While I’m working to make sure this month’s tour goes as smoothly as possible, I’m doing the beginning of the process – querying – for upcoming tours.

It’s all very crazy, but I assure you we love it. (Even if people and things do drive us bonkers sometimes.)

All up, that’s what I have been doing this weekend besides getting my exercise in, maintaining my blogs, spending time with my husband and trying to relax a little bit, at least, because it’s the weekend…

If there was anything I didn’t want my reading to turn into, it was work.

Alas, it has happened anyway.

Without realizing what I was doing, I totally over committed myself to reviews for this month, locking me into what books I would read and when I had to read them by. Now, I’m liking all the books I have to read, but there are so many reasons I usually am careful to avoid doing this to myself…

I’m a bit of a moody reader. Sometimes I don’t want to have to think very hard, so I pick up a romance or ‘fluffy’ chick lit (no offense to romance or chick lit authors – I’m one of you!). There are times when I’m in the mood to learn new things, so I pick up non-fiction. Other times, it’s the pick of the draw off my ‘to be read’ shelf.

Yeah, I still can’t believe I had to buy a SHELF for all the books I have yet to read.

So, as you can imagine, having a set schedule may be ‘good for me’ in regards to reading things based on brain decision rather than heart decision, but it doesn’t make me any happier about it.

There is also the fact that I am just not a fast reader. Period. I love reading, but I never developed that whole speed reading thing. A fact which is fine with me, to be honest. If anything, I read slower because I like to savour books rather than consume them.

Blarg.

All else I can say on the matter is: lesson learned.