No Such Thing As Beginner's Luck in This Game--This is for YOU New Writers!

Not to sound mean and discouraging (because this post is really meant to help) but you cannot expect to sit down and write a perfectly good novel the first time round. Sorry, but it's physically impossible. And you know what? That's a good thing, because if you don't mess up and have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes, you'll never be a good writer. Today I'm going to address several problems a lot of beginning writers have to help you along a little. I've had them, we've all had them, but we've all gotten past them and become better writers. I hope that might give a little hope to those who might be discouraged, that, yes, it does actually get easier as long as you're willing to learn from your mistakes and also to change things that really aren't working, even if it's painful. I've had the pleasure of helping some new writers with their stories and to me, it's a really fun, if not sometimes hard, job. In doing so, I have come across several common "mistakes" that new writers are wont to make. Here's a few words of advice that might help other new writers move past those, or at least get you to thinking.


For those who write too little:

Something I have seen a lot from new writers is lacking content. This was something I personally had a problem with when I started, and sometimes still struggle with, so I know a lot about how you can go about fixing it. Sometimes you just don't get everything onto the paper that needs to be there, and scenes feel hollow and flat because of it.

Why?: When you write, you picture something in your head, a lot of times very visually, and when you're new to writing, you might now always get everything down because you subconsciously feel that the reader will automatically know what's happening, like you do. Well, we're not in your head, so we need a little more help picturing what's going on. This might be what you're thinking of:

Caroline reached across the table to grab the sapphire necklace from Richard's hands, horror washing over her face. "You did not steal this!" she cried, but his proud smirk and the way he lounged back in his chair said it all as he replied, "What did you expect?"

This might be what comes out:

Caroline grabbed the necklace from his hand. "You did not steal this!" she cried. "What did you expect?" Richard replied.

Here's the information we have in the first snippet that we don't have in the second:

-They are sitting at a table
-The necklace is sapphire, and therefore likely expensive
-We know Caroline does not approve that Richard stole it whereas in the second one, we don't have anything to go on for her reaction except the ! which could indicate any strong emotion.
-Richard is obviously proud of what he did, and a commonly cocky individual. In the second snippet, we don't know how he replies-it could be indignant, angry, or anything.

How do you fix it?: This one's a little hard to catch for new writers, because it's not easy to pick it out by yourself. You really need another reader to be able to tell you when you're missing things. Fixing it isn't hard though. Adding things is always easy. All you need to do is take a really good picture of what is in your mind and write the scene out on paper. You might have problems with adding too much on occasion, that can happen too, but eventually you'll get the right recipe. Just remember that the most important parts are description of surroundings, emotions during dialogue, and movement of characters. We need to let readers know that they are not just talking heads, but real people.


For those who write too much:

On the flip side, there are those beginning writers who write TOO much. Not as common, perhaps, but it happens. Some writers are almost somewhat paranoid, and feel they have to put everything down, even the little mundane things that, to be frank, are just going to end up boring readers. I might enjoy Sir Walter Scott's books, but, let's be honest, he's really bad about this.

Why?: A lot of times, it might be the result of lots of research done. Which is good! Research is always a very good thing, and to be a beginning writer who does copious amounts of research for their book, is getting off to a very good start. However, the reason this can be a crippling effort for new writers is because they have not yet learned what to put in and what to leave out. That's always the bane of research. Veteran writers learn to bite the bullet--we only really use a very small percentage of information we have researched for months. It's hard not to share your knowledge, but you have to know what you can safely put into yours books and what needs to go at risk of boring the reader. We need to have enough information on a place, or historical setting to know what's going on and where we are the significance of it, but after that, the rest needs to go.

How do you fix it?: Close you eyes and chop. Sometimes consolidation works, but the best thing to do is just chop it out. Here's the rule I usually tell new writers and even myself: If it does not further along the plot or help the characters in some way, it needs to go. A good solution is to make a detailed author's note or appendix in the back of the book so that you can put all that information you researched there, for interested readers. Some people are going to be interested, and want to read more about the subject, but they should also have a choice and not be bombarded with things. Keep that in mind and never forget that just because you spend three months researching a subject, it doesn't give you leave to put every note into your story. That's just the way it is.


Explanation Through Characters:

This goes hand in hand with the last one and this isn't something that only new writer's do, but you should stop doing it as soon as possible if you're a culprit. I have read plenty of published novels with this problem, and it has always been annoying, lazy, and something that makes not only your readers seem stupid, but your characters as well. It is never okay to explain something to the reader by having the characters ask questions, unless it has never be address to the characters and it is actually part of the story.

Why?: Yes, things need to be explained in books sometimes, but never like this:

"Jim, could you explain again why we have to carry iron out on All Hollows?"
"Because it repels the faeries," Jim said, handing around the small blades. "It's one of the few things that actually hurts them."

Instead of explaining it like that, try something like this:

Sean held up the knife that Jim had given him, standing his ground as the faery advanced. As soon as he lunged with the knife though, the faery leapt back with a hiss. Sean cast a glance down at the small knife with new admiration. So that was why Jim had insisted on his carrying it!

Let the reader find out with the character, not by asking, but by experience. It is okay for a character to ask things sometimes, but not just so we can let the reader know information.

How do you fix it?: Try something like the example I gave above. It goes back to the classic rule "show don't tell". That is not by any means a stupid rule, it is very relevant. If you have a problem with this a lot, you may want to consider trying a book in first person. First person characters are allowed to have asides to the reader where they explain things. The reason it's okay, is because, one, they aren't actually asking another character, they're internalizing it, and two, a lot of times, a first person narrator will have some interesting quirk of character that will make his explanation more enjoyable to read. If written in first person, the scene above might read something like this:

"Take this, and don't lose it whatever you do," Jim said, handing me the small blade that I looked at critically. 
"This is pitiful," I said. "What good is it going to do in a fight?"
"It's iron," Jim said with a meaningful look, and I finally realized the significance: Iron is one of the only things that will ward faeries and on a night like tonight, I was going to need all the help I could get."



On Writing Descriptions:

This is something that takes a while to learn, but is actually very easy and fun. It kind of goes along with learning to add the right things to make a scene more interesting, but it also forces you to be more visual.

Why?: It's hard at first learning exactly how to describe things, whether it be people, places, clothing, or even movement or action. A lot of new writer's have trouble finding the balance between too much and not enough, especially when describing characters and places. This is another thing that you might need another pair of eyes to help you with.

How do you fix it?: Practice for the most part, but also looking at the thing you're trying to describe if possible. For characters, find someone who looks like them, for places, visit if you can so you can feel the atmosphere or if it's something you made up, find pictures that kind of look or remind you of it. Do exercises with just describing things, maybe give them to friends and have them tell you back what they think the place looks like just from your description. This is, unfortunately, one of those things that has no simple solution but practice, but like everything else with writing, it will eventually become second nature.


Cardboard Characters:

This is a big one, and one I always stress as majorly important to new writers. Most people read books and fall in love with them for the characters. Sure, nothing can beat an awesome plot, but if it's not accompanied by well-rounded, real characters, then it's always going to flop. Characters are the life of the story, they are what drive the plot, or get caught up in it, they are the ones readers connect with, often on a personal level. They have to be just as real as the people we know. In short, they can't seem like characters, and it's your job as a writer to make them as real as possible.

Why?: New writers make the mistake of writing characters as characters, not as people. Puppets. stereotypes and suchlike. But that is not how you form a character. They need to be flesh and blood, not paper and ink. You need to believe that it's possible for them to walk in the door. A lot of times new writers don't know how to listen to their characters and because of that, they just throw them into situations they probably wouldn't normally be in. The characters are made to fluctuate--they don't have a solid character. They seem flat, two-dimensional, and all the supporting cast melt together. This is never okay. Each character needs to make some sort of impact on the reader the instant they step onto the page. How you write dialogue goes into making the characters too. If they don't have their own voice, or you can't distinguish who's talking just by the lines, then the characters aren't living. In my favorite books, someone could read a snippet of dialogue and I'd know the character who was talking. That's what you have to do.

How do you fix it?: This is the hardest thing to get right, and you never will until you hear your characters in your head. If you are not hearing your characters in your head, then you are not officially a writer yet, and there's nothing you can really do until they start coming to YOU, not the other way around. If that last bit sounded weird to you, then you're obviously not there, because veteran writers know exactly what I'm talking about. And trust me, there's going to come a day when you're just as crazy and have people talking in your head. I distinctly remember when my characters first started talking to me, and my writing was so much better because of it. Yours will be too. I can't say when it's going to happen for any individual, you can't coax it, it's just one day you're going to be lying in bed, and you'll start hearing people converse in your head. And that's when it starts. And once that happens creating characters will be easy and effortless, because YOU don't create them, they create themselves.

My blog is named "Character Purgatory" because that's what I call the place all my characters sit in my head. It's like my mind palace (totally slipped in a Sherlock reference) but just for characters. Like the green room in a theater. Still weird? Just wait.

What I usually tell new writers is to pick up their favorite books, ones with their favorite characters and really take a look at what makes that character tick and why exactly you like them so much? What are the qualities that make you fall in love with them? I'll say this: I'm not a huge fan of fan-fiction (at least not shared fan-fiction) because of what people do with it (and I'm not nocking it all either because I'm sure there is actually some pretty good and decent stuff out there too) but I learned to write on it (Redwall fan-fiction, yep) and that taught me a lot about forming characters. I used ones I loved from the books, and added some of my own, and in order to keep the original characters from paling in comparison, I had to step it up, and learn how to create the hard way. This might be a good exercise for people who have problems forming characters. And the best part? No one ever has to read these stories if you don't want them to. I have tons of stories no one has even seen or heard about from my days of practice. They're bloody awful, most of them, but through those that I wrote by trial and error, I learned a lot about writing in general and certainly about writing characters.


And as for my last parting bit of advice? Read. Read and read and read some more because you can't write unless you know how words are strung together, and characters are created and worlds are built. The beginning writers I know who are hugely avid readers (and who read GOOD books by brilliant authors) write that much better than ones who don't read as much. And also, the best thing you can do for yourself is to know from the start that your first story is not going to be perfect. Ever. It just doesn't happen.

I hope these little tips might help some people out. If you have any other questions about things I might have missed, or personal concerns, let me know! I'd be glad to help =)

(All the snippets were written by me, by the way, I came up with them on the spot, it's my curse, now I have these characters in my head and am starting to wonder about them...)

Tour Stop and Excerpt: Soul Slam by Allie Burton

A sixteen-year-old on her first heist to steal an ancient Egyptian amulet inadvertently receives the soul of King Tut…and the deadly curse that comes with it.

           

And Olivia is not alone at the museum.

           

A member of a secret Society, Xander believes it is his place to inherit King Tut’s soul and justly rule. He knows nothing about the society’s evil plan to control the world or the curse. Now, he must deal with the female imposter who stole the amulet.

Xander convinces Olivia they must form a temporary partnership. The two teens develop a connection, and together they must figure out how to end the curse before it turns deadly. On the run, unable to touch because of the curse, and dealing with a male soul inside her female body, Olivia must learn to trust Xander.

As the mystery surrounding the amulet unfolds, Olivia and Xander start to fall for each other. But is love enough to save them and the world from destruction?

Excerpt:

(from the end of Chapter 1)

Crawling ninja-style out of the sarcophagus, my black gym shoes hit the ground without a sound. But inside, a screech built up in my lungs and released on a heavy exhale, the scream so loud it sounded like an alarm. “Aiyeeeeee!”

Xander and the old man froze.

I lunged at the case, swooped in, and grabbed the amulet.

A jolt rocked my body. Pain rocketed up my spine, but I held tight to the prize. Clutching the piece in both hands, I hit the concrete floor like a football player making a catch, and kept rolling.

“A girl.” Xander’s surprised voice rose on a high note. “What the…Tut.”

“Grab her!” The old man spoke in English.

“Touch her?” Xander sounded horrified like I was the slime of the world. “I can’t.”

“She’s got the amulet.”

I tried to get to my feet, but the pulsing inside threw me off balance. I crashed back onto the floor. Pain seared my fingers and heat rushed my veins.

My body jerked. My head spun.

Something slammed into me from the inside, like it was in my body trying to get out. Back and forth I jerked. A powerful energy thumped from my ribcage to my stomach and back again.

I trembled from head to foot. My vision blurred. Images swam before my eyes—a blue river, golden statues, Egyptian pyramids, deceit, and death.

“What’s going on?” The sound coming out of my mouth warbled. “Am I dying?”

This felt worse than the time I had pneumonia with no medicine, or the time I broke my arm and Fitch duct taped it…

Fogginess seeped into my consciousness. If I blacked-out they’d steal the amulet, leave me to be caught, to go to prison, to face Fitch’s wrath.

Whatever was inside me ignited like a nuclear bomb. My skin could no longer contain my insides. I’d explode into tiny pieces and scatter across the museum floor.

“It’s happening… To. Her.” Jeb’s voice was faint as if coming from a distance, but I saw his shoes through squinted eyelids.

“But it’s my right. My inheritance.” Xander stomped his sandaled foot near my head. “My destiny.”

“It’s too late.” Jeb’s voice curled like a sneer with extra hatred. “The transfer has occurred. This stupid girl is now in possession of King Tutankhamun’s soul.”

About the Author: Allie Burton

Allie didn’t realize having so many jobs would become great research material for the stories she writes. She has been everything from a fitting room attendant to a bike police officer to a professional mascot escort. She has lived on three continents and in four states and has studied art, fashion design, marine biology, and advertising.

When her kids asked, “when are you going to write a story we can read?” she switched from adult novels to Young Adult and Middle Grade and hasn’t looked back.

Allie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Romance Writers of America including the Young Adult, Dallas Area Romance Writers and Heart of the Rockies chapters. She is also a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Currently, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

www.allieburton.com

www.twitter.com/Allie_Burton

www.Facebook.com/AllieBurtonAuthor

www.wattpad.com/AllieBurton

Book Purchase Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HCQBQUI

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Soul-Slam/book-s_pWl8qAIUuFWSjFaG6mXg/page1.html?s=VzflmJB4FUyO957UxPW_6g&r=1

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soul-slam-allie-burton/1117717046?ean=2940149054824
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My Hobbit Supper! And a Pseudo Review of "The Desolation of Smaug"

I meant to post this Friday when I made it, but... I was too tired that night and have been working ever since so I only got a chance now. But yes! I made a Hobbit supper on Friday to celebrate the release of The Desolation of Smaug which I also got to see that day and LOVED IT!!! I don't care what anyone else has to say, no one is going to sway me in my opinion that it was blooming wonderful. My only problem is that I need to see it again to actually get everything to register since I was having a fangirl attack through the entire movie.

For my supper, I made little meat and potato pies, boiled carrots, and scones with jam and honey. To drink I made "ale" by mixing grape juice and ginger ale together ;) Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I had to fend my brothers off while I was trying to take the pictures.

As for the movie itself, yes, I already said I loved it. It was actually even better than I was expecting. I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but I LOVED what Peter Jackson did with it because in my opinion, he kept all the stuff from the book that mattered but really just fleshed out the storyline, and gave the characters more character. I loved the original story, but I really didn't like how all the dwarves seemed like essentially one dwarf. There were no defining characteristics between them. The actors who portray the dwarves in the movies work so so hard on coming up with backstory and little things that just bring the characters to life and I love that so much about it. Richard Armatage is one of my favorite actors ever--he might possibly even be my favorite, and the emotion and character he put into Thorin is just...there's too much there. I loved how they gave Kili more of a story line in this one as well, though I wish there was more of Fili! They come as a package deal and while he's there, the story didn't focus on him. There was one part in particular that happened to be my favorite in the whole movie between them and Thorin though. I'm not going to give it away, but anyone who knows me well enough can probably guess at what it was ;)

Look! All my favorite characters on one Poster! (Apart from Bofur, I love him too)

One of my main concerns with the movie was that there would be too many elves, but in all honestly, I didn't have that impression when I watched the movie. In fact, Lee Pace did such a brilliant job as Thranduil, that I actually wished he had more screen time. And I liked to see Legolas be not so perfect, younger and more hot-headed. I've never disliked his character, even though he has never been a favorite either. In short, I never watched the movies for Orlando Bloom like some people I know ;) I also didn't hate Tauriel like I thought I would. I still could have done without her, and all the important moments with her in them probably could have been accomplished by Legolas (Okay I have to give this spoiler to explain myself, so if you haven't seen, don't read until the next paragraph!!!) I think Legolas could have healed Kili and at the same time furthered the plot: In my writerly mind, I see it like this: Legolas felt kind of bad for what a jerk his father was to Thorin's company, and so he goes after the dwarves to help them when he finds out the orcs are on their tail. I can't see him leaving Kili to die just because he's a dwarf, that makes no sense, so he would have obviously healed him, and it would have taught him a lesson that dwarves aren't all conceited, and later help to further his friendship with Gimli in the Fellowship, and it would have taught the dwarves that not all elves were the enemy. And I think it would have been especially important for Fili and Kili to have been a part of that exchange, because they were not jaded by the past like the others of the company, so it would help form bonds later. So you see, I could deal with Tauriel, but she felt out of place and unnecessary. Frankly I just think she was the product of lady writers helping Peter Jackson. It always annoys me when people put (especially a non-series) girl character into a movie made from a book. We all know it's only to keep the women viewers happy. Um...well, we already have Richard Armatage, Aiden Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Martin Freeman and whoever else might take your fancy, and for the most part, the girls (like me) are going to be happy. The only girl fans who even care whether there are strong female characters are in the 12-15 age range. And Tolkien's female characters have always been strong and awesome! Remember Eowyn? If he had wanted to put a female character in The Hobbit he would have, and I am nearly certain she would have been just as awesome, but there wasn't a need for one in this story. At it's heart, it's a brotherhood story, a story about home and kin and there wasn't a need for a female character. As I've said many times before, romance does not need to be involved to save someone's life. It is not weird for a man to save another man's life at all and it would not have been strange for Legolas to do so for Kili. (end explanation.)

And so onto Bilbo!!! Yes, Bilbo fans (and I AM one despite what some people like to accuse me of just because I love Richard Armatage more than Martin Freeman ;) Bilbo fans can appreciate this movie. There were so many awesome Bilbo moments that made me really happy. I liked to see him having grown from the first movie into knowing more of what he was doing and pretty much keeping the dwarves in line since Gandalf wasn't around to do it. Again, I think Martin Freeman is perfect in the role and I know he's going to kill me in the third movie (am so and so not looking forward to it) And the part between him and Smaug? Perfect. Just perfect. It was traditional to the book, but again, had, I felt, more added character and Benedict Cumberbatch voicing Smaug was totally awesome. His voice acting was wonderful ;) And yes, they actually did manage to slip a couple tiny Sherlockish moments in. (Yes I totally, maybe almost laughed really hard in the theater when he deduced Bilbo had come from Laketown). Oh yeah, and the visual effects were lovely too.

And that's pretty much all I can put into words. It was the best three hours I have spent all month and now I'm going to go see it again soon =D

And on another note, if you haven't already taken a look at my new blog "Tales from a Modern Bard" go check it out and start reading my story The Voices Beneath an Arthurian retelling from Mordred's point of view. And so I can't be accused of shameless plugging, if you are interested in being a guest writer for the blog, let me know!! You can find my email up in the "Contact Me" tab. I would love to hear from you fellow writers!

I hope everyone is having a good holiday! I will have at least one more post up by Christmas for sure. Until then...

Slainte! And if you haven't already seen Desolation of Smaug GO SEE IT NOW!! And then come back to discuss it with me =)

My New Blog and Story

Hey everyone! I mentioned before that I had started up a new blog, "Tales From a Modern Bard" and it's now officially in use. I will start posting the first chapter of my Arthurian retelling The Voices Beneath later today, and if you're interested, please click the picture below to find out more about the story.

Also, on another note, if you are a writer, whether you're a published author or not, if you would like to participate in guest writing opportunities shoot me an email at sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com. I'm going to be looking for guest writers to feature of Modern Bard, and you could do anything from short serials, to one shots and even fun challenges with themes I or another writer will create to write from. If you think that sounds like fun (and trust, it's really going to be fun) I would love to have you! It's a great opportunity to get your writing out there to potential readers. If you're a new author, it will help you get feedback and more exposer, and if you're already published, letting people read your short stories might induce them to check out your novels. So it's a win-win, there's no way you can lose. I also hope that all my guest writers will help critique other guest writers so one of the qualities I look for is to bot give and take constructive criticism in a helpful, non judgmental way.

Click here to view more about the story and the blog itself!

Books of Note: November Reads

Well, I was going to get another post up this week with a snippet or something, but this month turned out to be way busier than I thought and this week I had little to no time to actually sit down. The awesome news is that I did end up finishing my first draft of Wolfsblood like I had hoped! Now I'm going to set it aside and start working on a weekly serial story which is an Arthurian retelling. I mentioned in a previous post that I was starting a new blog just for stories and writing by myself and hopefully guest writers as well. My goal is to post something each week. But you can read more about that here at the blog: Tales From a Modern Bard. I will be posting an introduction of sorts for my Arthurian story next week before I start posting it so if you want to know more about it, start following the blog, so you won't miss anything!

Anyway, on to by favorite reads for the month. I actually did get to read more this month than I thought and I read quite a few good books. Here are my favorites.


More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings his unique brand of epic storytelling to the teen audience with an engrossing tale of danger and suspense—the first of a series. With his trademark skills in world-building, Sanderson has created a magic system that is so inventive and detailed that that readers who appreciate games of strategy and tactics just may want to bring Rithmatics to life in our world.


Review

Thoughts on the Overall Book: This is one of those books that sounds so very strange at first that you really have to read it to know whether you will enjoy it or not, and in this case, I really enjoyed it a lot! And I also found it to be one of the most unique books I read this year.

Cover--Yea or Nay: Yes! It's awesomely steampunk and I love the mechanical horse on the front, even though the mechanical horses didn't have all that much to do with the story.

Characters: I actually wasn't quite sure what to make of Joel at first. I liked him, but he just seemed a little bland and like he complained a lot and didn't try to do anything to fix his problems, but once I got to know him better I really came to like him. He's a sensible boy, and honest (sometimes that might be considered a fault) but he's not afraid to take chances and do what needs to be done, and take charge, even ahead of superiors. While not my favorite young male character ever, I really enjoyed reading about him. Melody I loved first off. Maybe because she loves sketching unicorns and that's delightfully quirky? She's the kind of female character I love to read about. She's got spunk, and she's sarcastically dramatic, and most of all, she's not perfect and admits it and that always goes a long way to endearing me to a female character. Unlike Joel, I didn't find her annoying at all.

As for the supporting characters, I really licked Fitch. He was kind of your typical absentminded professor and was kind and a good guardian for the both of them. Nalizar was both annoying and yet you are never really sure what to think about him, which I really liked. I'm not going to say much more about anyone because I'm afraid I'd give away spoilers. You'll just have to read the book =)

The Romance: There wasn't any! Amazingly, Joel and Melody's relationship stayed kind of brother-sister. It may turn into something more in later books, but I don't think it will be for a while. Truthfully there's all too much going on in this book for romance anyway.

Writing Style: The writing style itself isn't really anything amazing, but I'm giving most of the writing points to Brandon Sanderson for world building. That was what I loved most about this book. It's a story set during the turn of the century in a steampunk/gearpunk universe that is like the United States, but...not. Instead all the states are seperate islands, and kind of more like they were before the American Revolution, all being a bit like their own country. For some reason, the island of Nebrask has a whole ton of rampant chalklings that need to be held back from invading the other islands. No one knows how they got there, but all Rithmatists are required to serve there to fight against them. The whole idea of Rithmatics is terribly clever, and I could tell that the author put so much work and consideration into it. I am not mathematically minded, but I loved the idea and the theories of Rithmatics. It's just such a cool idea! The whole thing about how some people are Rithmatists and others aren't was a little bit confusing, but even the characters in the book seemed to think so, so I guess that's just the way it is. In any case, this book is just totally awesome, and I have never come across something like it before.

Accuracy/ Believability: Not applicable, but the Rithmatics are actually very understandable which I was really glad for.

Problems/What bothered me: I didn't really have all that many problems. I have to say that the first third of the book was a little slow, but it helps to build up the story for later on, and it will definitely help the reader understand Rithmatics and everything else.

Conclusion: 5 stars. The ending surprised me several times before the book was over, and I love that. I just really liked the combination of alternate history, fantasy, and mystery that this book held and I can't wait to see what the author has in store next.

Recommended Audience: Girl or guy read 13 and up. It's kind of hard to recommend this book, but any fantasy lovers would enjoy it. I'd say Kenneth Oppel fans and Maggie Stiefvater fans would probably enjoy it. 

(Read my friend Mara's review here)


17-year-old Verity Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met. Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with whom she apparently has nothing in common. One truly horrifying surprise awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages were built to keep grave robbers out . . . or to keep the women in. Determined to understand, Verity finds herself in a life-and-death struggle with people she trusted.

Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.

Review

Thoughts on the Overall Book: This book was a surprisingly nice romance, an intriguing mystery and a cast of likable characters with a well researched historical background. It's a quick, easy read, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Cover--Yea or Nay: I'm divided. I don't like the character impersonator on the front. She doesn't look like how I imagined Verity. I do like the picture of the caged grave and the gold embossing and the colors are nice too.

Characters: Verity Boone is a very likable girl character. I never got annoyed with her once through the whole book and I felt indignant on her behalf for the things she had to go through coming back to the village, and I understood her misgivings when she meets Nick for the first time and finds him not so much like he was in the letters. Nick I wasn't sure how I felt about at first, but as the story progresses, I like Verity became increasingly fond of him. I also liked Hadley Jones, though I felt sometimes that his flirting with Verity got a little how of hand. The supporting cast was also really enjoyable, I especially liked Nate's sisters, and wished we got to see more of them. Verity's father is a very likable character as well, and I also really loved Beulah.

The Romance: Yes, there is a bit of a love triangle in this story, but what makes it bearable is the fact that Verity at least feels guilt for her feelings for Hadley and doesn't really know why she is attracted to him. I was very pleased with how the romance aspect of this story ended, and I think that, in the end, Verity ended up with the right guy.

Writing Style: The style isn't the best I have ever read, but the author did her best making it fit the time period, with the dialogue and everything. I almost wished it was in first person, but I didn't mind it in third either. I really liked the prologue because it pulled me right into the story, making me very interested to find out what happened, and I'll admit, even the prologue really surprised me.

Accuracy/ Believability: The author obviously spent a lot of time researching for this novel and it shows. I didn't see anything to complain about on a historical note, and I really love how she used the names from real caged graves to create her characters. I really love it when authors do that. I only wish the author's note had gone into a little bit more detail as there were several other things in the book that I wanted to know whether they were based off of anything or not.

Problems/What bothered me: Nothing really bothered me in this book.

Conclusion: 4 stars. An enjoyable read, and a rather fast-paced mystery. The end was totally surprising; I had some ideas about who I thought the culprit might be, but I didn't really expect the actual outcome so that's always nice.

Recommended Audience: Girl read, 15 and up. Readers who enjoy historical mysteries and don't mind a little romance would like it. Those who enjoyed "The Dark Unwinding" by Sharon Cameron would probably enjoy this one too.

Nano Snippets #3 Wolfsblood

Here's another snippet from my Nano project Wolfsblood. Now that's I've completed the 50,000, I am hoping to finish the entire first draft by the end of the month. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures up this weekend of the Justinius plushie I made, but I will do soon when I have a little more time.

On another note, I am working on starting up another blog just for short or serial fiction that I write. Mainly anything from really short, one shot stories, to longer novellas that I will post as a serial, or poems. I might even have guest authors on sometimes. I just decided I wanted to have a specific place to put other stories that I'd like to share, and though I'll be posting them onto Wattpad as well, I wanted to have a blog specifically for the stories. That way I can post accompanying artwork and people can comment even without having a Wattpad account. Anyway, the reason I'm doing this now is because next month I really hope to start posting up an Arthurian retelling I've been working on, which you will hear more about later. But I'm planning on starting to post it online either the first or second week of December, so I'm kind of excited to start my first serial story.

But for now, on to the snippet! In this part, Alex goes hunting a wolf for his wolf skin cloak, but finds more than he bargained for. (Terrible synopsis, I know, sorry.)

Running after the wolf, I realized that we were heading back out of the woods into the hills, and suddenly came out into the full light of the moon and the wolf was a streak of silver among the bracken of the hills. He ran up one, jumping from rock to rock and I followed, hardly feeling tired with the chase at all. I nearly skidded to a halt as the wolf suddenly whirled around to face me, crouching low and snarling deep in his throat. I raised the spear, crouching myself and returning the growl. We eyed each other, watching the other’s movements each waiting for the other to move first.

            The wolf leapt. I fell backwards in a sudden reaction to protect myself, the spear coming up and striking it in the chest as he descended upon me. A yelp escaped his throat, and I pulled myself to my knees, looking to the side where the wolf lay with my spear through him, not yet dead. His yellow eyes met mine, and I remembered Justinius’ words of advice. I pulled my knife out and placed one hand on the wolf’s forehead.

            “Be at peace, brother,” I said and slit his throat, feeling a surprisingly painful ache in my chest as I watched the life flow from the noble beast.

            I sat back on my heels, surprised as I put a hand to my face and found a tear streaking down my cheek. I was shocked at the emotion I felt at killing this wolf. I had never known they could be so human. Perhaps more so than the warriors who were cursed to change into wolves from the story.

            I stood, planning on carrying the entire body back with me to skin at the fort, but as I did so, a chilling sight caught my eye. Over the rise of the hill I could see several more wolves coming toward me. I turned quickly and realized even more were coming at me from behind. I frantically looked around and only saw more and more wolves coming. I couldn’t believe my eyes, wondering for a moment if I were hallucinating. Then a howl sounded out, and another followed closely behind it, until all the wolves were sending up an eerie cry that echoed strangely around the hills. I was hemmed in on all sides, and I realized with a sudden fear coursing through my veins, that I had no way of getting out of this. I was going to have to fight my way out, and even then, I didn’t think the odds were very much in my favor.