THE Group for Authors! discussion

I can't be a regular reader as half the time I'm writing or researching for my own books, and half the time I get to read what I like. Not to mention, personal life eats into both these activities. So, I'm putting this in the General Folder, because the books I read in 2014 may be very less or maybe not; they may belong to any genre (including non-fiction) and most of all, I want all my reviews to be in one place. At the same time, I want to share my thoughts on the books I read with my group members.

The Shadow Rises by K.S. Marsden

Rating: 3

I liked this book. Horror is a genre where a lot of atmosphere building is needed to pull the reader in. Though the first few chapters weren't a puller, the overall story is brilliant. The author must be commended for that. The story is as intriguing as it is entertaining. I liked the characters a lot and the events that happen were mesmerizing. Interest is built up starting, I think, chapter 4. And half way through the book, I just couldn't stop reading and read all through the night. The suspense, the tension, the thrill was captured pretty well.

(view spoiler)[ When Sophie comes to Hunter's place claiming she wanted to be a witch hunter herself, I thought there was something fishy. But, I could never guess what she would turn out to be. I just was suspicious of her motives. So that was a good and surprising twist. (hide spoiler)] Also, the conflicts and motivations of the characters are presented very well.

However, the book could have done with a good editor. There are quite a few grammatical mistakes in the beginning and the end of the book, but a good part (the meat of the story, you can say)has better grammar. I'm specifically mentioning this, because when I started reading, the very first sentence had grammatical mistake and I was kind of put off by it. But, don't keep the book down, because if you continue reading, it gets better and when you finally finish the book, you'll be happy you kept reading. :-)

I also thought the end was a bit abrupt. Even though the threat is neutralized, everybody's happy, a lot of things still needed a 'closure' of sorts. (view spoiler)[ I wanted to see what the council does about Hunter's 'special powers'; whether Hunter succeeds in keeping his job or whether he is 'bound'. If the author thinks it could be tackled in the next book, I think that would work only if this is a short series of books. If it were a long series, it wouldn't work. The events leading to this conflict have arisen in THIS book, so the outcome of the conflict would look good in THIS book, not the next.

Also, I wanted a closure to Hunter and Sophie's relationship. What will happen now. Though the writer has put in one sentence what's in store for them in the future, a bit more explanation would have been better.

And, poor James. We, the readers, never get to know about HIS thoughts when Sophie acts the way she acts with him and later when the big revelation happens. Hunter doesn't want to kill her, but what are James' thoughts on it? I like James and I sympathize with him. He's smart and courageous and always has his feet firmly on the ground. It seems he doesn't get influenced by power or superiority of others, or even friendship sometimes. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, a good book. Worth a read.

Nice review. This reminds to check my own grammar, which I'm usually pretty good at, but -- being human -- not perfect.

Just a question -- not a criticism -- but aren't we supposed to post reviews elsewhere on GR? I have written several reviews and posted them elsewhere.

Just curious.

Thanks, and don't worry about grammar too much. Readers look for a good story and engaging characters. Grammar only gets in the way (sometimes) if the story isn't interesting enough or the characters aren't engaging enough. I think that's why I didn't see any grammatical mistakes in the meat of THIS story.

I'm not sure where to post my reviews. Where have you posted them? When I go to the groups' pages, there are a lot of categories to post various things to. Whichever folder/category I found suitable, I posted my reviews there. Now, I want a thread where all my reviews would be put together for me and others to see, not scattered all over like dust motes in the sunlight. So, I created this thread. I'll soon be adding my previous reviews as well to it. Just to keep them together.

Most people post their reviews on the book page.

I do too :-D But if I want to see my reviews, I have to click every book to go to its individual page to see my review. Also, if I post the reviews only on the book's page, it doesn't automatically get shared with my groups' fellows.
Btw, you have a peculiar name. If you don't mind me asking, what's Censored by Goodreads mean? Are you like a controller for goodreads?

Rupali wrote: "Thanks, and don't worry about grammar too much. Readers look for a good story and engaging characters. Grammar only gets in the way (sometimes) if the story isn't interesting enough or the characte..."

I beg to differ. Sloppy writing is sloppy writing, no matter how good of a story-teller the author may be.

Ken wrote: "Rupali wrote: "Thanks, and don't worry about grammar too much. Readers look for a good story and engaging characters. Grammar only gets in the way (sometimes) if the story isn't interesting enough ..."


I beg to differ. Sloppy writing is sloppy writing, no matter how good of a story-teller the author may be.


... "how good a story-teller". Edit out that redundant "of", Ken and then I will remove this post.

You are right Ken, but I'm right too. There's an international debate going on right now about whether to be too particular about the 'rules of writing', or just going ahead and telling your story in 'your own words'.

The other day, I came across a famous writer's quote (one, who is well known for his accurate grammar) where he says something like 'Language is like the clothes you wear. You can wear casuals and jeans and stuff, or you can wear formals. It is up to you to decide where to wear what. For example, you'll not wear jeans or casuals or even a creased formal shirt while taking an interview. And you'll not wear formals while going on a trek. But both types of clothes are okay as per the circumstance or the people who are going to see (and judge/like/dislike) you based on your choice of clothes for the occasion. Same is the case with writing. If you are writing for critiquers or for a literary award or probably the Englishmen and women (whose English and grammar is perfect), then you should pay more attention to what they expect of you as a writer. Otherwise, you don't have to obsess over grammar or vocabulary too much. Just tell your story in your own words (simple, easy English works best across the world).

A very good Indian example would be Chetan Bhagat. His grammar isn't perfect, but he sells more books than many award winning writers. Why? Simple reason: he tells the story of a common man in a common man's language. Another example is Lee Child. His prose isn't perfect, his plots aren't perfect and yet, people love his books. Same is the case with Harry Potter series. The author cannot hope to get a literary award, but her books, her characters have gathered cult following!

To be clear, I'm not saying that the writing or grammar should be pathetic, but I think a few mistakes are okay. After all, to err is human. My point is that instead of obsessing over grammar and the 'rules of writing', an author should concentrate more on the story he/she wants to tell. Also, the character development should be good.

Oh oh. This may turn into a debate. I agree with Ken. Bad grammar and bad writing in e-books might reflect on all of us. To tell a story in one's own words might work if an author uses the first-person POV. Putting bad grammar in dialogue could reveal the type of character the author wishes to reveal. Even this, however, can be annoying, according to writing books that I have read recently.

Don't distract the reader from the story. Remember Emily Bronte's WUTHERING HEIGHTS where she has a minor character use a dialect that is so heavy that we can barely understand him.

Does anyone here know anything about WAVECLOUD? They are advertising on FACEBOOK in my conversation thread. Are they like SMASHWORDS or BOOKBABY? Something tells me that they are like BOOKBABY (maybe an imitation).

No idea, Charles. :-(

Golden Eyes by Charles Gale

Rating: 4

As a kid, I'd seen the Street Hawk series on TV and I use to eagerly wait for it every week. It was one of my favorite shows! So when I came by this book, I was eager to read it. My personal experience is that books give a much fulfilling experience than the movie adaptation or a TV show made out of it. So I hungrily delved into the treat. However, I was a bit disappointed. It felt as if the book didn't come first, which was made into a TV show, it must have been the other way round. I felt as if I was watching one episode of that show.

This particular book dealt with 2 cases, not one, and the ongoing tests on the super bike were as usual. Though both cases are intriguing, the first case is solved by half time. It made me wonder, 'what now?'
The second case started in the middle of the book and street hawk solves that case too, not to mention, with style. I liked the characters (all of them) and the premise (the job of the hero, work that other characters do for a living, everything felt quite realistic).

I sure would have given this book a rating of 5 if the author had dealt with only one case in this book, or conjoined cases, or intertwined cases, anything. But here, there are two totally different cases and by the middle of the book, I'm pulled out of one intriguing case and plopped into another one, where I have to start using my brain again to solve the mystery before the author reveals it. Not that any of the cases in this book are who-done-it cases, but I like to use my brain nevertheless. By the end of any book I read, I like to savor its taste in my mouth and ponder over it some more. However, with this book, since there were two cases, as soon as I finished reading it, I stopped thinking about the book altogether. I don't know why it happened, but I guess it may be because it gave me a feeling as if I was watching one episode of the TV show, not reading a book.

Back to the business of 'bad grammar,' if I may. The fact is that there is no such thing as 'bad grammar,; there is only 'appropriate grammar.' A good writer should be aware of this. The overall narrative, unless the author is putting on a voice - as in, say, The Catcher in the Rye,' should be as neutral as possible. Thus the reader is affected more powerfully when the writer adopts the voice of a character. The reader unconsciously adapts to the idiom of the character, whether in speech or thought process.

Sophie wrote: "... "how good a story-teller". Edit out that redundant "of", Ken and then I will remove this post."

Mea culpa, Sophie. That will teach me to post before my morning coffee.

Getting back to the original topic, I don't think this group is an appropriate place to post reviews, but I guess that's up to the moderators.

Thanks anyway, Rupali. Maybe someone else out there has heard of WAVECLOUD.

I also posted the same issue that Ken posts: posting reviews in this place.

I also, as I wrote before, agree with Ken about grammar. Unless it is in dialogue to represent a certain kind of character, bad grammar or inappropriate grammar should be avoided. Maybe I say this because I spent years teaching it in Atlanta and in China.

hehe I see. Alright, I'll stop posting reviews here.

I wish I knew where to post reviews on Good Reads, so that others could read them and comment - as on for instance Amazon.

What's wrong with the book page for the book? The reviews have comment sections.

Hi Rupali, unfortunately, the Author Feedback Group isn't really the place to post your own personal reviews. As others have suggested, I would recommend posting them on the book page itself, or, if you'd like to keep up with them in a thread like this, creating a separate group and keeping them there. You can do this by clicking here. I'm going to close this thread for future posts.