Advance Review (or sometimes called Reader) Copies are books released to reviewers ahead of publication. These reviewers then post their honest opinions about the book on release day across multiple platforms (like Amazon and GoodReads). Whether it’s a 5 or a 1 star, an honest review is worth it’s weight in gold—which is one of the reasons ARC editions are free to the reviewer.
Our first read is FOURTH WING, by Rebecca Yarros! Book club starts today, but if you're seeing this after Sept. 1 2023 don't worry: you have until the end of October to join and finish the book!
Life has been a little all over the place for the past couple months. I had surgery, my sister had surgery, my husband was let go from Twitch, and now we're in the middle of moving! So with all that excitement, the newsletter and Book of the Month went to the wayside.
I want a way to continue Book of the Month, but in a way that lets me get to know you all better, and lets you see what an author looks for when analyzing and learning from a novel. That means, Book Club Time!
1. Sign up for a Fable.co Account
2. Join the Sword & Board Discord
3. Click on the Fable Link pinned in #Book-Club
4. Follow the Fable instructions on how to pick up the book.
As an author, my mantra is to tell challenging stories and minimize harm. The major failing I see with sexual violence in many media forms is where the point of view and gaze fall. Particularly in western media, that gaze is often heterosexual masculine. That means sexual violence comes from that same perspective, and makes grotesque GoT Sansa scenes where her rape is all about the men (either perpetrator or witness). The violence is there to horrify and titillate the viewer. We should be horrified. We should never be titillated. Respect for the survivor is missing in these situations. I could break down where this failing is in a lot of media, but I don’t think that is the most important conversation to have. I think the more important questions are: 1) should sexual violence be included in stories for shock value, and 2) how can sexual violence be written.
If you’re looking at this before May 1, 2022, we’re currently running a special promotion on our Patreon where when you sign up at any tier, you receive the patron-only Gods Chronicle Anthology, volume 1. It is an alpha read edition that gives a great deal of backstory for characters within The Dying Sun, such as Merikh, Loralee, and Nikias. It also gives perspective to oft talked about characters Mansur and Rajiya.
Below are snippets from each of the shorts within the anthology. If you’d like to read them in full, please consider becoming a patron. Tiers start at $5/month. Thank you!
Everyone has a different approach to writing and it’s important to find what works and feels true for you. I throw on music (with lyrics even) or else I can’t work. Others wouldn’t be able to work in such a noisy, distracting environment. I can’t get my characters to work unless I throw a little emotional chaos into the mix. With that caveat, there are a few general techniques I want to talk about to help other writers turn into authors.
The sun cast short shadows over the palace garden. A large platter of decadent food lay on the table within the vine-covered pavilion. It was supposed to be a quiet lunch for the royal family; the khanum often insisted on these lunches whenever she felt the need to compensate for a lapse in maternal skills. At least, that was how Mansur viewed it. But he humored her desire for it—there was always a rather full decanter of chilled wine to compensate for the inanity of the lunch. Today, Mansur would have preferred a dull lunch over the one forced upon him.
“Now what’s wrong with him?” Mansur gestured towards the shahzade.
When I taught horseback riding lessons I was extremely fond of education and mathematic analogies. It works well when you’re trying to teach someone that the reason their horse doesn’t want to do x thing is because the horse is in elementary school and you’re trying to teach it calculus. Analogies and metaphor are fantastic ways to communicate with an audience (despite what the great J.R.R. Tolkien believed).
Today, I’m going to use food to explain why you should read far outside your comfort zone even if you only read for leisure.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab, is the story of a young woman ahead of her time. Adeline LaRue is a young woman in 1714 France who has no desire to play housewife. She wants to be free, to make her own choices and to see more of the world than her little village. Her mentor, Estelle, teaches her the hidden magic of the woods near her home, the streams and meadows. All with the warning to never pray to the gods after dark. But as Adeline grows, and as her life takes a turn for the ordinary, she makes a deal with the dark for an extraordinary life—only, it’s a life no one can remember.
I’m sitting here typing this post on a typewriter-key keyboard with a bowl of Chinese food perched rather precariously in front of it. Normally, I take a proper lunch break by sitting somewhere more disability-friendly than my desk and read (or listen) to a book, but today my self-appointed manager is in the shower and I can get away with working through lunch. Chekov, my service dog, is lying on the floor behind my chair curled up on the oversized pillow bed that was originally purchased for Boo (my now-retired service dog). He doesn’t much care for my office, he much prefers when I take my normal lunch break elsewhere.
Happy Holidays Readers,
What a year. I’m going to take a moment to take stock of what we’ve survived through and who we’ve lost. Getting to the end of 2020 has been an accomplishment with a dash of luck. Thank you to the healthcare, utility, delivery, and all the essential workers who have kept chugging at it this year.
I spoke with Kenny MacKay of the “Author Your Dream” podcast about balancing work, life, and staying healthy as an author. It was fantastic speaking with Kenny, and I hope you enjoy the interview!
