From My Bookshelf to Yours: January Winner

The comments for all the January From My Bookshelf to Yours posts were closed last night and the random number generator has selected a winner.

Congratulations to Lindsay, who wins a copy of Lilith Saintcrow's Flesh Circus!

Lindsay, please email me at nlberger(at)nlberger(dot)com with your mailing address so I can drop your book in the mail.

From My Bookshelf To Yours: February 2010, Week 1

This Week's Book: 6 Killer Bodies by Stephanie Bond

A killer remains at large . . .

Carlotta Wren's world is crumbling beneath her well-shod feet. One of her closest friends has been arrested as the Charmed Killer, But Carlotta refuses to believe it. And to prove her friend's innocence, Carlotta goes against her boyfriend Peter's wishes and resumes her after-hours body-moving duties.

And then . . .

Peter pressures her for an answer to his proposal . . .

Her troubled brother Wesley goes missing . . .

And the madman stalking the city strikes again, this time a little too close to home.

But when Carlotta finds herself in the clutches of the Charmed Killer, is she destined for her own body bag?

What I liked: I picked up the first book in this series at the Moonlight & Magnolias conference last October and I was really taken by surprise by it. One of my favorite things about these books is the alternation in perspective between almost-thirty Carlotta, the main character, and her nineteen-year-old brother Wesley. Though the books are very clearly about Carlotta, the balance that Wesley's POV provides really sets the Body Movers books apart, at least from anything I've ever read. The two voices are so distinct and both feel real to me, and the stories are that much richer for having both of them there.

Also, somehow Bond has had Carlotta stringing along the same three guys for six books now and the dynamic between them all is still interesting. You gotta love a book with extra hot guys walking around. ;-)

Want to win this book? Leave a comment on this post. Each commenter (excluding spammers, anonymous posters, or abusive commenters) will be entered into my monthly drawing. You have until midnight (Eastern) on the fifth of next month to enter. Open to US residents only. For more details, click here.

And don't forget, there's still time to enter to win one of the January books. I'll be drawing the winner on Saturday morning, so make sure to get your comments posted by midnight on Friday! Up for grabs from January: Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow, My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent, and Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill.

Editorials: I've Been Outsourced!

I'm too angry to blog today. I have half a mind to take off for the Mediterranean again and leave Nikki without my help for a few months to teach her proper respect and appreciation. Bye all.



Oh, fine, stop whining. It's not dignified.

Let me explain what is going on, and then you will see why I am so irate.

Nikki joined the Online Writing Workshop. For those of you who aren't familiar -- or who have remained deliberately ignorant out of respect for your Inner Editors -- OWW is basically a giant online critique group for science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers.

That's right. She's taken those beautiful pages that I slaved over and turned them over to complete strangers on the internet for feedback. If you're a member, you see Exhibit A by looking her up in the directory. She's put the first chapter of Familiar up there already.

No, I will not link to it. I don't know how and I don't care to find out.*

I'm just so furious I don't know what to do with myself. It was bad enough when she started taking my pages to her local critique group for feedback. I told myself then that asking them for "critique" was just her way of showing off my genius for her friends without seeming vain. But now she's asking people she's never even met before for help. I just can't believe she's done that to show off my brilliance.

Clearly she thinks these OWW people can do better.

Where is the trust? Has she no faith in me and my Inner Editor abilities???

::sigh:: That's it. I'm too frustrated to say more. I'm going to go spellcheck some LOLcats and blow off some steam.

*Note from NL Berger: I would like to know how to link to it, in case I meet another member and would like to direct them to my postings. If there are any OWW members reading this blog, can you link to your member information or postings? If so, how?

Reading as a Writer

Since I started writing seriously, I've found that no matter what I read, it's never just for pleasure anymore. Don't get me wrong -- I still enjoy reading more than just about anything. But it's hard to disconnect from the technical aspects of storytelling now and I end up making mental notes the entire time.

I suppose, in much the same way that doctors make the worst patients, writers must make the worst readers. Before I started studying writing as a craft, I didn't notice things like pacing issues or characterization flaws. If a character just stood there, gazing out over the scenery and ruminating on her personal history for fifteen pages, I just went with it. After all, I like knowing a character's backstory and my imagination enjoys painting pretty landscapes, so I didn't so much care that nothing was happening.

It never used to bother me when two or three characters got lost deep and involved conversations about something like politics or geography that started to read like university lectures after a while. Actually, not being much interested in politics or geography, I usually took those conversations as excuses to skim, assuming that my boredom was a flaw of mine.

When the POV hopped from one character to another so often that I felt something akin to seasickness (saltines, anyone?) while trying to keep up with the story, I told myself to just go with it and I'd get used to it eventually. Perhaps that's where I developed the habit of snacking while reading.

When the characters just meandered lazily through life for half the book, I'd just keep reading, waiting patiently for the inciting incident to finally set them down the path to adventure. In fact, I can remember being told when I was in elementary school that I wasn't allowed to stop reading a book until I'd gotten through at least 50 pages of it. "Every book seems boring for the first 50 pages," my teachers would tell me.

I can't do those things anymore. I read more now than I ever have before, keeping up with my genre and the general marketplace and culling the bookstore's offerings for little tricks and ideas I can adopt and adapt into my own writing. And though I can still get sucked into a story (just ask my husband how many times I've suggested we have something like chicken nuggets for dinner so I could eat with one hand and hold my latest book in the other) I can't completely turn off that analytical side of my brain.

I've learned not to reread books I loved in my ignorant youth. Better to just preserve my notion of their fabulousness than to risk tainting the memories with grown up knowledge.

Because my novelist's eye looks at that long introspective chapter and sees nothing but pages and pages of yellow text and I start inventing little bits of blue and red to mix it up a bit. (That's a part of Margie Lawson's EDITS system. If you don't know about EDITS, get thee to her website immediately! Well, finish reading here first . . . but then get thee hence!)

I see that long political lecture and want to slash through the page and scrawl "Show, don't tell!" in the margin.

I recently gave up reading a book entirely, after trying to force myself to read it for four months, because the POV switches made it impossible for me to stay interested. I only stuck with it for as long as I did because it's part of a series I've been reading since I was twelve years old and I felt, after following these characters for more than half my life, I should give them the benefit of the doubt.

And that meandering, directionless character? Well, let's just say my brain scribbles out "Chapter ##" (whatever chapter the story actually starts in) and rewrites "Chapter 1" at the top of the page and then tries to forget that I ever read everything that came before it.

At the same time, though the bad stuff tends to jump out at me like a blinking neon sign, I appreciate the good I find more now too. When I read a novel I just can't put down, when a character worms its way into my head and I find myself caring about what happens to them almost as much as I would if they were a real person, those analytical skills come in handy.

I look at the story and find all the ways that author crafted something so perfect. What did he do to keep the tension so tight the whole time? What is it about the author's voice that makes me wish I could hang out with her characters on the patio some Sunday afternoon, swapping stories and sipping something a smidge stronger than tea?

It's not just about wanting to break down the gizmos behind the curtain at the magic show so I can make the tricks my own. (Though I certainly want to do that too -- I'd be a fool not to.) While it can be annoying to be unable to suspend disbelief and just enjoy something because I can't help but see the flaws and cracks in the façade, it's truly satisfying to look at something I enjoyed and know why I feel that way.

Girl Talk Thursday: Put Your Best Flaw Forward

This week's topic: Tell us about your favorite "beauty secret."

Character Participating: Ame, from Birthstone, a twenty-three-year-old who just found out she's a telepath, can't control her powers, and is supposed to be the leader of a people she never even knew existed.

Beauty secrets . . . beauty secrets . . . I'm not sure how to take this one. I don't have the slightest idea why Nikki thought it would be a good idea for me to blog about this. I don't go in much for beauty products. I hate makeup, I use store-brand shampoo, and *gasp* I wash my face with good old-fashioned soap and water.

I did once lecture my roommate Damien about the differences between red and black lingerie on a first date, but somehow I'm guessing that's not the kind of beauty secret you're looking for.

As far as I'm concerned, beauty is all about attitude. Attitude and proper accessorizing.

I suppose I could talk about playing to your strengths. You know, wear the v-necks to show off the girls if you've got them or never pass up the slinky red dress if you've got the figure to carry it off. But that's kinda boring, and pretty much everyone knows to do that anyway. We all love focusing on our good bits.

But let's say you've got some kind of beauty flaw. A feature you don't like or something. Like you think your eyes are too small. Or your legs aren't long enough. Or you have this weird scar on your neck from where a bitchy old crone yanked your birthstone right out of your skin with a painful freaking piece of magic--"for your own protection", of course--when you were a kid.

Yeah, something like that.

Instead of hiding said flaw, like most people try to do, I say go ahead and draw attention to it. Put some seriously awesome makeup around those small eyes. Wear some high quality patterned tights on those short little legs of yours. (I'm not actually a fan of pantyhose, so I suppose it's good that I have longer legs.) Wear dresses with open necklines and drape some sparkley necklaces around that scarred neck I've got.

*Ahem* I mean, that scarred neck that it's possible someone might maybe have.

Sure, you could go the traditional route and try to hide said flaw. But it won't work. If you think it's a flaw, you're going to be self-conscious about it and you're going to end up drawing attention to it without realizing what you're doing.

But by intentionally drawing attention to thing you don't necessarily like about your appearance, you give the people looking at you something else to notice. If you had decided to wear a turtleneck instead of the drape-necked black dress, for example, you would probably have spent the whole night feeling at your neckline, making sure the scar was still covered up. Thus making everyone who looks at you wonder what the crap is up with your neck.

Not that I've ever done that.

Besides, you'll have way more fun if you do it my way. Nobody wants to think about how their legs are too short. And you'd spend your whole night sitting down so no one would notice your height. Or lack thereof. So now you're short and bored, and nobody wants that for their Saturday night out. Instead, in your spiffy striped tights, you'd walk around all night showing off those legs of yours. And probably getting compliments. Compliments are wonderful; who doesn't love compliments?

Hint: showing off is way more fun than sinking into the furniture.


DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog post reflect those of the character in Nikki's mind, and are not necessarily those of the author herself.

From My Bookshelf To Yours: January 2010, Week 4

This Week's Book: Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill

Vamps in Chicago!

You'd think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we're enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite--fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don't get me wrong, Joe Public isn't exactly thrilled to be living side-by-side with the undead, but at least they haven't stormed the castle yet.

But all that will change once they learn about the Raves--mass feeding parties where vampires round up humans like cattle and drink themselves silly. Most civilized vampires frown on this behavior, putting mere mortals at ease with their policy of asking a person's consent before taking a big gulp of the red stuff. However, that doesn't make good copy for a first time reporter looking to impress his high society family.

So now my "master," the centuries old, yet gorgeously well-preserved Ethan Sullivan, wants me to reconnect with my own upper class family and act as liaison between humans and vampires--and keep the more unsavory aspects of our existence out of the media. But someone doesn't want people and vamps to play nicey-nice--someone with an ancient grudge.

What I liked: The main character in these books, Merit, is fantastic. Especially in all the different ways she falls down. She screws up, jumps to conclusions, wrecks perfectly good relationships, lets herself get pulled into bad situations even when she knows better, and just generally gets a whole lot wrong. In other words, even though she's a vampire, Merit is very human. She's not a superhero, though she certainly has the potential to become one. And thus I can't wait for the third book in the series to come out this summer . . .

Want to win this book? Leave a comment on this post. Each commenter (excluding spammers, anonymous posters, or abusive commenters) will be entered into my monthly drawing. You have until midnight (Eastern) on the fifth of next month to enter. Open to US residents only. For more details, click here.

Perhaps I'll Just Sidle into the Back and Pretend I've Been Here All Along

I suppose that won't work, this being my blog and all . . .

Okay, I've been gone. Again. Let's just skip the part where I apologize and promise never to do it again. Something came up, a family emergency type thing, and I'm not going to get into it here. It's not over and done with, which is making things a challenge, but I'm trying to find a new equilibrium that still leaves me a few snatches of time here and there to do the whole writing thing.

As my absence from this little corner of cyberspace demonstrates though, blogging zoomed right down to the bottom of my priority list for the past two weeks. Which is a bummer, and not just because I had some good posts planned. I'm sure I'll get the chance to work them in around here eventually, but I'm thinking no one will be reading them, as my hit counter shows most of you have given up on me.

I can't really blame you. Blogging-wise, I've not been terribly reliable lately. Still, on the other hand, I haven't been distracting you from your own very important writing time either, so I suppose we could look at it as my doing you a favor. Right?

Moving on.

I'll be pulling it back together this week, doing the whole regular writing and blogging and tweeting thing again. See you around the interwebs.