When to Shelf Ingredients?

During my last visit to the bookstore with Rae while playing the Book Cover Game, we came across several new publications by established writers, such as Stephen King and Margaret Atwood.

King's newest book is a collections of short stories called the Bazaar of Bad Dreams (November 2015). The cover was not something Rae and I were drawn too. It is very dark and the image is surreal with text writing like a bad horror movie.

First Line: "You can't come," his older brother said.

Me/Rae: Nope. Not in.

Me: I don't like openings that start with dialogue.


Then I saw the new Margaret Atwood novel in the new fiction aisle, The Heart Goes Last (September 2015).

Me/Rae: Ooh, the new Margaret Atwood./The cover's interesting.

First Line: "Sleeping in the car is cramped."

Rae: I'm out and I'm not surprised.

Me: Wow, I'm disappointed. Do you think that once you become a name, a brand, that the authors just don't worry about hooking readers with first lines? Because they expect their name to sell the books?

Little did I know that one innocent question would snowball in the conversation. Rae brought up a discussion from one of her writing class and the professor who said that nobody wants to edit the brand authors anymore. He did not give a reason why but it explains what may be happening. To find out if that was really true, I decided to run a little experiment and collect the first sentence to all King and Atwood's novel in order of publication. My hypothesis is that later publications will have less enticing first sentences than earlier publications because the authors or relying on their names to sell books rather than hooking readers as they did before becoming major author names.

With this in mind, I compiled a list of first sentences from Atwood and King's books (one's published clearly under their names, not pseudonyms). The first sentences were put in alphabetical order without authorship to prevent bias. However, since I compiled the list, I gave the list of first lines in alphabetical order to Rae and a few others with the stipulations that they didn't have to choose any of them in the hopes of more objective results, which were thus:

Stephen King's first lines generally didn't hook anybody and it didn't seem to matter when he wrote them. The early works and the later ones have about the same lack of appeal. Although, pretty much everyone did pick the first line from his very first book Carrie (1974): "Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not at the subconscious level where savage things grow." But the rest were passed over equally.

More people chose the first lines from Margaret Atwood. Interestingly it's not her earlier works that were chosen but some of her later ones. 

So what are the results? Inconclusive. There isn't any evidence either way. I still think though that there are plenty of people in the world who read books because of who wrote it rather than what the book is about. I think about my own Amazon pre-order list filled with books by my favorite authors. I don't know what the books are going to be about but just the fact that so-and-so author wrote them is enough justification for me to order them. I'm sure the same holds true for the likes of Stephen King, Nora Roberts, etc... These are authors who have become a brand. And once they've become that brand, why waste time trying to craft opening sentences to hook readers? Maybe they just decided it was time to shelve it.

Word Count: 607
Edits: 2

Sunday Special - Moon Called

Since there are similarities between Faith Hunter's Skinwalker and Patricia Briggs' Moon Called, I wanted to review some of the elements of Briggs' Mercy Thompson series that draw me back again and again.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Facade: Once again there's a female on the cover with prominent boobage and abs on display. However, I don't view her as a Barbarella bimbo because of the confident pose and tattoos. One of the differences between Hunter's cover is Brigg's female is not openly displaying any weapons and this is important to me so it lacks the inherent violence Hunter's cover had.

Appetizer: "I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first." That is a GREAT first line because it hooks the reader like eating something something salty and fried with powdered sugar on top. The questions start popping up: Who is "he"? and How does the person know "he" is a werewolf? Those sort of questions are what bring the reader into the story quickly because the reader is already invested in finding the answers. And if the cover was not clue enough, the story has some paranormal going on.

Tossed Salad: I chose this book to contrast Brigg's Mercy Thompson "walker" character with Hunter's Jane Yellowrock "skinwalker" character.

Mercy Thompson, like Jane, is of Native American descent but she doesn't know who her father is, so she has her mother's name. I like that Mercy's ethnicity is glanced over rather than hammered into the reader. Mercy is different, she is a unique paranormal creature in a world saturated by paranormal creatures because she is a "walker," someone who can turn into a coyote without using the skin of the animal. However, since she is so unusual, she was actually raised by werewolves. She understands quite a bit about her abilities but there are elements she is still discovering because she did not have anyone to teach her.

Mercy is loyal and protective of her friends and adopted family and biological family. Jane does not have any real friends and those lack of ties bothered me. Mercy is a mechanic who trained to be a history teacher. She's not worried about fashion or style. She works out in a dojo to be a better fighter and takes care of herself. Like Jane, Mercy will use a gun in a fight but prefers to use her fist.

Mercy also has memorable quirks. She has a cat without a tail, named Medea who likes werewolves. She has a tendency to bake cookies and brownies when she's worried or stressed. All of her clothes are always stained with grease and she is constantly trying to clean her fingernails but can't get them clean. Mercy provides humor, especially when it comes to revenge because she will wait to get her revenge and is an excellent prankster.

Mercy also has challenges. She has abandonment issues because her mom left her to be raised by werewolves and then her foster mother died when she was a teenager due to cancer. When the foster mom died, her foster father killed himself. Then Bran kicked her out to keep her from getting involved with his son. These quirks and vulnerabilities allowed me as the reader to relate to the character and I was never able to do that with Jane Yellowrock.

Main Meal: The rules of this urban fantasy world are fairly easy to understand and seem realistic even. For instance, part of the back story that is revealed through Mercy's connection with her former boss, Zee, is that the fae were in hiding from humanity since the invention of "cold iron" or since the industrial revolution. However, due to technological changes the fae had to come out of hiding. The result was that they were given land to settle separate from humanity called "reservations." I really appreciate the fact that the rules of this world are built on historical actualities.

Part of my problem with Faith Hunter's book was that I did not clearly understand the rules of the world. It was clear that Jane and Beast were two different identities sharing a body but how that came to be remained my question throughout the book. Meanwhile, Mercy clearly states that she was born a walker, does not need skin of animal to change and can only change into a coyote. Briggs also explains that there is a difference between "walkers" and "skinwalkers."

One of the issues I had with this first book was that I sometimes got lost as to who was who because of the number of characters involved. There were times when I had to go back and think, "Okay, who is this guy again?" The characters are very interesting, but there were a lot of them.

Dessert: It's just a great book!

Word Count: 799
Edits: 1

Judging Books by Their Cover

After my adventure browsing books before Christmas, I decided to ask one of my friends, Rae, to go to the bookstore with me last night to play the Book Covers Game. I wish I could have recorded it but I did take some pictures. Basically we went to the new fiction aisle and started discussing which books were catching our attention and why. Then we read first lines in the book and discusses how appetizing they were with a simple grade system of "in" or "out." We looked at about twenty books, so here are just a few and how our conversation went.

This may seem mean but I think it's a more accurate portrayal of what consumers do when browsing books. We don't have time to consume the whole meal, so we just nibble a little here and there.

Word Count: 711

Edits: 1

Taste Test Thursday - Skinwalker

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Review: Interesting premise, but not interested in reading more.

Facade: Usually a woman on the cover is a positive indicator for me. However, the image of the her straddling a motorcycle with boobs pushed up seemed sexualized. She is also hoisting a shotgun aggressively, which combined with the dark colors of black and gold, was a deterrent because it seemed to highlight masculinity and violence.

Appetizer: "I wheeled my bike down Decatur Street and eased deeper into the French Quarter, the bike's engine purring."

I gave a little internal squee when I read the first lines because I love New Orleans, home of my family, and I wanted to see what Faith Hunter would do with it. So that is really all the first sentence does, is set the location. Because it is in first person the reader does not know for sure if the narrator is a man or woman but one assumes woman because of the cover. Regardless of gender, a person on a motorcycle does bring to mind certain images which is a good way to create visual with minimal words. That being said, I was a bit disappointed with the use of the phrase "engine purring" because the bikes I've been around have never purred.

Tossed Salad: I did not finish the story with any memorable characters.

Main Meat Course: Jane Yellowrock is a kickass, motorcycle riding, gun toting woman. But... the flavors didn't mesh for me and here is why.

The concept of the "Beast" was cool, but dialogue between Jane and Beat was inconsistent. The story started out slow and with a lot of 'telling.' Why explain about recuperating from an almost beheading if it is going to be brought up in conversation later. There is this problem with redundancy and repetition again. At times the story read like a history book with the 'telling' and not enough showing. This is a story and it seemed the author forgot that she was supposed to be sharing a world with the readers.

Although I love learning new and interesting things while reading, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of details about mechanics and guns and fighting. Many of the fight scenes were reading like a script from an action movie.

The most difficult part for me was that the rules of the world were not clearly explained, such as the rules for using "mass" to change forms and why. And how did Jane discover that she can only change at sundown and sunup? I have stated before that establishing rules in the paranormal world is very important and it is clear that Hunter has done this. However, if those rules are different from conventional "Hollywood" rules, then they need to be clearly explained to the reader and this is where Hunter's story lacks cohesion.

Ultimately, the story is interesting and I can see why many people like it. But for me to keep reading the crafting needs to be better.

Dessert: It was immediately evident that the story of Jane Yellowrock has lots of plot lines open for future stories. So if you enjoyed the first book, there is definitely more out there for the reader.

Word Count: 537
Edits: 2

Sunday Special - The Shadow Queen

After last week's taste test with Hounded by Kevin Hearne, I decided to review one of my go-to books that also has a speaking dog character.

The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Facade: There's a female on the cover and not sexualized. The costuming of the woman indicates that is possibly historic or fantasy. The wrought iron and smoke in the background lend to a fantasy environment. I really like, though, the shaft of light behind the woman which highlights her and keeps the cover from being too dark.

Appetizer: "Still shaken by the storm of power that had destroyed half of the blood in Dena Nehele only a few days before, the rogues came down from their camps in the Tamanara Mountains to face an unexpected enemy."

The opening line for the story is not especially appetizing, (except for the end with "unexpected enemy,") but it is informative. For those who have not read the Black Jewels series, which sets up the world this story takes place in, the first lines serves as a nibble, telling the reader that something big has happened ("storm of power destroyed half the blood") in a location not of Earth ("Dena Nehel") during a conflict (use of the words "rogue") in which something "unexpected" has happened (that's the suspense). So while it may not be the most savory opening line, it is an adequate hor d'oeuvres.

Tossed Salad: I picked this book because of its characters, especially Vae the talking dog to compare with Hounded's Oberon.

Vae is a dog that is described to look like a sheltie which is called sceltie in the novel. The interesting aspect of Vae's character is that she, the dog, is able to communicate with the humans in the novel and continue to retain essentially doggy characteristics. Vae is loyal and loving who loves to go on "walkies" and has no problems herding her "humans" or nipping those who do not fall in line. Early in the story the reader gets the scent that the scelties are not "owned" by people, rather it is the other way around. Vae says, "I am helping to train him... I am allowed to bite. But not hard. Not the first time."

Like Kevin Hearne's Oberon, Vae serves as a source of humor. However, Vae's role is extended because the comedic exercise functions as counterpoint to the serious piquancy of the story. Additional differences arise between the craft styles of the two authors. Hearne's tendency to show and tell was too repetitive and weighted down the enticing aroma of the story. Bishop was able to establish a unique balance that allows the reader to imagine along with the story. For example there is  a scene in which a male character is being particularly obtuse while Vae is explaining what she thinks should be completely obvious. Bishop writes at the end of the scene, "Vae stopped walking and looked at him." The reader does not need a complete play-by-play of the dog stopping suddenly, turning around with her head tilted up and cocked to the side in that inquisitive look all dogs seem capable of doing with the tail slowly switching behind her, to know that is exactly what Bishop means in seven simple words. There are many descriptive details that readers can fill in on their own without being told by the author and it cuts down on possible repetitions because the reader does not need to be told that the dog is puzzled or does not understand why the human male seems so dense. It is all surmised by the simple descriptions and dialogue.

Cassie (Protagonist) is one of my favorite characters because she is someone who is born to rule by her very nature and by societies but has been hurt because she is not a beautiful and has insecurities about her looks and the type of ruler she is. Cassie has a strong work ethic which makes her a good ruler but she does not have the 'airs' that other rulers exude. Therefore, many people underestimate her and her capabilities and strengths. Cassie is innately kind, which is her strength though others do no always see this, and she uses that kindness-strength to protect those around her.

I really appreciate that though Cassie is extraordinarily kind, she is also real in that she does not get along with everyone and that kindness does not mean she is submissive. When shoved verbally, she shoves back and when pushed physically, she takes up arms (a club) though not the traditional weapons because those do not suit her style of fighting. Cassie know she is innately a queen who manages people and properties but ultimately she would much prefer to trade that work for working in the garden. Cassie is by no means perfect, she is insecure about her looks which causes misunderstandings between her and other characters. She has difficulty trusting men as a result. She worries that she will not be able to do the job expected of her and let everyone down.

I also love that she comes from an openly affectionate and supportive family. She also has quirks that are woven into the story, such as the by-play between her and different characters about Cassie wearing a hat outside because of her pale skin which "molts," according to Vae.

There are many other crunchy characters I could munch over but I think Vae and Cassie are enough for now. I may come back and update this later.

Main Meat Course: Reading Shadow Queen was like going to a another restaurant you know is owned by the same people who run your current all-time favorite restaurant. Hoping the meal is going to be just as fabulous but mentally preparing yourself to be disappointed. And the relief when your realize that, yes, the story is different but just as good.

My experience reading the story was overall very positive and there is not much I can offer in the way of critiques. I was slightly annoyed by one of the main supporting characters, the male Vae is "training," because he does continually get in his own way and does not appear to learn from his mistakes. 

Dessert:  There is a quality of the Shadow Queen and other books in the Black Jewels stories that appear original but echo of ancient medieval histories, matriarchal philosophies and pagan mythologies found in our encyclopedia past. Though the story is fiction it reads like an lost story from another time than a fantasy of pure imagination.

Word Count: 1,093
Edits: 2