Dear Goodreads,

I love Goodreads, it’s a fantastic website for authors and readers to interact, and find new books that they might not have heard about otherwise. I love scrolling through reviews of a variety of novels, whether that be to praise the author’s work or bash it – every review is different.
It has a gigantic list of what books are coming out this year, and next, and so hopefully you can tell I’m a big fan of the website.

There is one thing that don’t like about it though, and something that should be addressed more often.

Why, oh why are people reviewing books before they are even out?

I’m aware of ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copy) where someone will – well you get the point, but I’m very confident that before you write your review, you first mention that you recieved an advanced copy of the book from the author/publisher.

I had recently heard about Stephenie Meyer releasing a new novel on November 8th (just under 2 months), and so in the hopes of finding out more, I went onto Goodreads knowing they would have something for me.

It baffled me to find that already people have reviewed it, giving their thoughts on the book instead of actually waiting for it to release, then reading it before rating the novel. The same had gone for Sarah J Maas (author of the Throne of Glass series, and A Court of Thorns and Roses and sequel). Reviews were coming in, and guess what?

No one had read a single word. They just didn’t like it, and spewed hatred over the author.

I don’t like the Twilight series (besides Eclipse), and I have no interest in reading the Host (also by Stephenie Meyer), but that gives me no right to suddenly give her upcoming book, The Chemist a two star review just because I haven’t been a fan of her previous works. It only shows immaturity and ignorance!

This doesn’t just go for Goodreads, but for the cinema too as well as others. We immediately make the assumption that something will be awful based on previous experiances. (That’s what us humans do.) But taking it to the next level and throwing out reviews doesn’t just make us look bad, but it damages the product itself. If someone comes along, and finds a book that they like, but sees that it has a ton of negative reviews, he/she may be missing out on a story they could really enjoy! So let’s have some consideration, eh?

So Goodreads, as much as I love you, please let’s stop reviewing books in advance on the sole basis being we don’t like someone’s previous work, or the author themselves is someone we’re not a fan of. You can have your opinion, that’s fine, but it says a lot more about you then it does about the book when you review it in advance and with no knowledge of the contents.

Love,

Peter

Writing-Meme Tag

Admittedly, I have no idea how this is going to go down. I’m not a good judge on what memes/gifs to use and so I’m just going to jump right in and wing it. This writing tag was created by Jenna Moreci and the original tag she created can be found over here.

The idea of the tag is to associate your WIP characters to gifs and memes which are relevant to their flaws, personalities or a specific scene. Each character gets only ONE meme or gif. So without further ado, here we go.

Queen Nathalia

King Thomus

Ahsan

Ned

Thanatos The Grey

Esther

Emperor Karn Shi-Lang

The Mouth of the Emperor

Troy

Stheno 

Aurelia

Andromidus Brown

So there we go, that’s my list done for all you folk, and now for more writing. And food.

Thanks again to, Jenna Moreci, for creating this post, and I’d like to tag the brilliant @JYJHarris and anyone else who would like to do this tag. 🙂

The Pokemon Go Tag

Admittedly I haven’t played, and have no plans to despite being a moderate fan of the franchise.

But upon finding the amazing, Kim Chance‘s video on the tag, I was inspired to do my own. The original creator of the tag is,  Aentee. So without further ado, let us begin.

 

1. Starters 

Which book started your love for reading?

This one is easy! It has to be Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I remember reading it over and over again in bed as the last thing I did before going to sleep. I’m not sure why I started at number two, but the memories and feelings of reading Chamber of Secrets has stuck with me since those nights in bed with the book.

2. Pikachu

An iconic classic that you’ll always love

The Hobbit by J.R.R. to me is the ultimate fantasy novel. It brings joy and laughter, excitement and sadness to me and gives a journey that never tires no matter how many times I read it. The characters are lovable (especially those dwarves) and Bilbo Baggins is a wonderful protagonist.

3. Zubat

A book that you lost interest in because it’s literally everywhere!

I have to be honest, I’ve grown tired of the Percy Jackson universe.

I love the original five books, they’re fantastic! I’m just not interested in picking up either the Trials of Apollo series or the Magnus Chase series. Personally, I’d prefer if Rick Riordan went on to write other things. (This is not to say I’ll never go back and read the two series mentioned.)

4. Ditto

A book that reminds you of other books (tropes) but you still love anyway.

I’m going to go with the Percy Jackson series (the original five), but don’t get me wrong it still is a wonderful set of books and I highly recommend them.

5. Snorlax

The Shannara Chronicles written by Terry Brookes consist of over twenty novels, of which are about different time periods and characters across that universe. One day I’ll pick up a novel from the series but for now, I think I’ll stick to the television series.

 6. Gengar

 A book that kept you up at night

For this book, I’d have to choose All the Feels by Danika Stone. The book is amazing, I have a review right here on it. It kept me up all night as I went on this journey with Liv to bring back her favourite movie character, make new friends along the way and possibly find romance.

7. Nidoqueen and Nidoking

My Bookish OTP

Hmm, this is a toughie since I don’t really ship couples. If I had to say one, it would more than likely be, Liv and Xander from All the Feels. They were made for each other from beginning to end. ❤

8. Rapidash

A fire hot, fast paced read

The Gunslinger by Stephen King. Next! But seriously, I was finished within two days. Two days! Usually, I can finish a book within five days if I’m good. but I was hooked from start to finish with the Gunslinger.

9. Eevee

A series that you’ll never get tired of or spin-offs for

Harry Potter, duh! :p It may sound cliched but this series was my childhood, and where I took myself to escape from school when I was young. The characters, Hogwarts…everything is perfect to me and I have so many memories of reading the series in bed turning page after page just to see what happened next.

 10. Magikarp (Karp, Karp)

 A book/series that was surprisingly awesome

For this book, the reason I chose it wasn’t because I thought it would be bad, but just because the author, Jenna Moreci, managed to exceed my high expectations with her novel, “Eve: The Awakening”. It took me forever to read simply because I’m a slow reader but. The book is amazing, the characters are ridiculously fleshed out and each individual has their own “voice”, keeping them from becoming carbon copies.

 11. Legendary

An overhyped series that you’re still excited to read.

Game of Thrones? I’m a big fan of the television show but the books are huge and from what I’ve read, not really that compelling. (Please don’t hate me.) However, saying that, I do intend to read them at some point. 🙂

 12. Mew & Mewtwo 

 A Collector’s Edition Edition you wished you owned. 

For this book I’ve chosen, The Lord of the Rings Special Edition, it consists of “The Fellowship of the Ring”, “The Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”. It’s got 1184 pages but it will be so worth it in the end!

 13. A Poke-Egg (oh the memories of walking around waiting for the eggs to hatch!)

 A debut novel you’re excited to read next year. 

The novel “Wintersong“, a YA fantasy from S. Jae-Jones, is something I’m super excited for due to the addition of goblins, and this beauty comes out in February of next year. (5 months away! Yay!)

P.S The book cover is beautiful.

 14. Lure Modul

 An Auto-Buy Author

J.K Rowling, Jenna Moreci, Stephen King and Danika Stone.

15. The Server is Down

 A Book Release you’ve been waiting on forever

Despite what I’ve said previously about not reading the Game of Thrones book any time soon, I am so curious as to the content for “Winds of Winter”. However it doesn’t seem to be coming out any time soon.

Thank you once again to Kim for introducing me to this tag. You can find her tag right here , and thank you again to the original creator of this tag, Aentee! I had a blast doing this tag and hope you guys do!

Have a great week, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing the First Draft as a Screenplay

Hi all!

I hope you’re well, I was planning to write another post today about how I keep myself from being distracted when writing but that quickly went out the window. This post instead is inspired by fellow blog extraordinaire J.Young Harris (who has an archive of useful writing tips you should totally check out).

As none of you know since I haven’t really mentioned this, I write my first drafts in the form of a movie screenplay. This may sound odd and you may question my sanity (which is completely fine) but you also may find this interesting.

I’m a pantser by nature, outlining for me doesn’t work despite trying every now and again so this is where the screenplay/first draft comes in. When writing the screenplay the first thing that always pops to mind is to imagine my novel as a movie which as a film buff I can do rather well. All the characters are there, the scenery is made up and clear in my head. I’m not thinking about what words to write or how to get across a description, I just want to see things happening.

For example rather than typing up: Thomus retracted the blade from his opponent, his blood boiling frantically and his sword ever more so dripping with the foolish soldier’s own blood than with any other enemy he had defeated.
I would put: Thomus withdraws the bloodied sword as he panted wiping sweat from his face. There’s no need to go into length about how exhausted Thomus is or how angry he is. A screenplay gives those who need to read it an idea of what is happening on the screen and not what the character’s deepest thoughts are or how red the blood is. A screenplay moves the story along by action and whilst a novel will do the same thing near about, a script won’t linger.

After the first draft is complete, that’s when the real writing begins.  But the advantage I have is that every line of dialogue, descriptions (as brief as they may be) and actions are already laid out giving me the job of simply expanding upon them. Now; Thomus smiles and chuckles before shaking the hand of Ashan can look like, Thomus smiled brightly and let out a well-deserved laugh before taking Ashan’s hand and squeezing it tightly, affectionately.

I hope this has been of some help, please feel free to comment any questions you might have and I’ll be happy to answer. Take care. 🙂

My Experience Writing a First Draft

Hi all,

Today I wanted to talk about my experience in writing a first draft and how not to get discouraged when getting through it. For me personally the rough copy is always my favorite draft, it allows me to pour out all of my ideas for a novel without worrying about it being polished and released for anyone to read.

As I was writing the first draft for “Yesterdays Galaxy” I encountered plenty of issues concerning doubt – something us writers get a lot of the time. Will this really be any good? Who will want to read this? Those similar questions ran through my mind all the way throughout completion of the first draft. It’s only natural, right?

I find that constant reminding is necessary to help me not give up on the novel just because the first draft isn’t that good. I’m a perfectionist unfortunately, I’ll go over and over a scene until I’m satisfied with it and forget that the editing can come later. That’s where the positive reinforcement comes in.

Even if it’s just a poster from some website or a quote from an author telling whoever pays attention that first drafts are ALWAYS very bad, it’s useful for me to just get a small reminder that the first draft/rough copy is always rubbish so there’s really no need to edit. From there on I’ve felt more confident in what I write, often I do hesitate over a scene or a line of dialogue but if there’s anything that I’m pondering changing, whether it’s a flow of dialogue or a scene, I tend to write out an alternative of that exchange of dialogue or scene on a separate document.
If I like the alternate better than I’ll go for it but if undecided I can always leave the alternate and come back to it later.

Anywho, I hope you found some of the things I do when dealing with the first draft helpful. Thank you ever so much for taking the time to read my blog post and have a wonderful weekend!

 

Review: All the Feels by Danika Stone

I have needed this book in my life – and now that it’s here finally before my eyes I can let out all my enthusiasm for this beautiful book!

The characters are well written and multi-dimensional, there’s always something going on with them and Xander and Liz’s conversations are witty and full of heart and their chemistry is BRILLIANT!

You can imagine two people in real life talk like they do, there’s a lot more to both of them then what you first see and over the course of the book, you unravel more about these two and see just how vulnerable and strong they really can be. Xander dressing in cosplay during his free time is a stroke of genius! Danika threw me into Dragon-con which was colourful with a diverse amount of cosplayers of all television shows and movies whilst also giving me (someone who has only been once to a comic con convention) a real insight into what a comic convention is like since mine was quite a while ago.

I’m not the best at reviews as you can probably tell but I just want to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The premise is charming as are the majority of characters (other than Alex and Gary) are delightful to read. They’re dearests! 😉

SPOILER

Whilst it was obvious to me that Liz and Xander get together ( and make an adorable couple) I really enjoyed seeing them in scenes together, Danika did a great job of setting up their friendship and what it blossomed into.

Overall I really, REALLY enjoyed this book.
Pick the book up, you won’t regret it.

What Makes a Great Beta Reader?

Top of the morning to you!

I’m currently reading through two works as a beta reader, and always cautious as to what to put in my feedback when regarding things that could be improved. After all, I don’t want to look like a jerk but I also want to get my point across. So, here is my way of being a good beta reader.

1. Be honest but be nice

Hiding your true feelings to avoid giving how you actually feel about aspects of the novel won’t help at all. You can’t help if someone gets irritated by the feedback given and that’s okay, but there’s no reason you can’t put it delicately to minimise any damage they may feel.

There’s a method known called the sandwich method and it goes along like this. The beta reader would give feedback on something that they enjoyed about what was written, it could be an action scene or some dialogue or description, and then they would give something that they felt was lacking or should have been there altogether. Then once that’s out of the way you give them a positive push installing them with confidence that they can do it, that you believe in them.

Thank you to the wonderful Jenna Moreci for providing this tip.

2. Don’t talk about the book other than to the author

It’s never cool to talk about someone behind their back, and I would never talk about a book, divulging its secrets to others without the author’s consent. Maybe he or she doesn’t want anyone else to know about the book or anything that happens within its contents. Whatever your opinions on the book, keep between the writer and yourself, bad press can damage he/she’s novel and put people off from checking it out. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean other’s will.

3. It’s never Bad to Pull Away

Sometimes the book just isn’t working for you and no matter how hard you try, you can’t always bring yourself to finish it OR your schedule at work or from other commitments makes beta reading a lesser priority. It’s best to honestly tell the writer that unfortunately you can’t finish the novel and give a reason as to why; it doesn’t need to be specific just enough to let them know you can’t continue.

4. Do not be that Person who takes Forever to Respond

Of course, we all have different commitments and schedules but if they’re sending out their work chapter by chapter, try not to take three weeks to respond. If they send you out the entire manuscript make sure to ask when they’d prefer it back, if they give you a date you can’t do, let them know. It’s natural that reading through a whole manuscript will take longer than giving feedback chapter by chapter but you can always comment on whatever chapter you’ve just finished so if you do need to stop being a beta reader for whatever reason, let the writer know.

 

Writerly Goals

Inspired by a fellow author and WordPress blogger, Sarina Langer, I’ve decided to write my own goals for what I want to achieve in the future of writing. I’ll be going into quite a bit of detail so please bare with me and of course, I hope you all enjoy!

1. Finishing my WIP

This probably seems like a no-brainer right? Right, and yet with countless duds in the past where I envisioned whatever I was writing at the time to be “the one”, I’m still cautious of “Yesterdays Galaxy” being pushed to one side to make room for something else. So far I’m on my fourth draft and everything is going smoothly. I’m really enjoying the characters and story so I don’t see the changing of a project to be an issue.

My only qualm would be a release date, it certainly won’t be 2016 but I’ll cross that bridge when it comes.

2. Have a Writing Retreat

This is a must.

I revel in the uninterrupted writing sessions where my fingers can dance across the keyboard with only the two little budgies tweeting downstairs for company. So to have a permanent spot where I can write my heart out and back in again would be a dream come true. There’s a wonderful hotel close to me that I’ve used before which is nice and peaceful so I use that often (plus the countryside residence makes for some great views outside the window).

3. Travel up to The London Book Fair

Boy, how awesome would that be? It’d be amazing to travel up and see other people’s work and tips of a variety of subjects (and of course to meet new friends)! Maybe I’ll see you there one day.

4. Write a children’s picture book

I’ve had an idea for a while now playing around in my head, I think the story works so one day I’m going to aim to make that idea happen!

5. Co-Write a Book

It interests me what story would be produced by two minds. I’ve dabbled in the past with other’s but I haven’t had much success in writing, we’ve shared ideas but nothing has come as close to writing a proper manuscript.

6. Be Invited to Schools to Talk about Writing

Wouldn’t that be awesome? I think it would, I’d love to be able to stand up in front of a group of students and talk to them about writing and hopefully to inspire them to write in the future.

Once again thank you for reading, I really appreciate it. 🙂

Have a great day!

Writerly Ambitions

Evening/Afternoon/Morning all!

I hope you’re having or have had a pleasant day.

Today I wanted to write about my future plans for novels that I want to write involving projects for audio dramas and manga’s. Whilst I’m currently writing “Yesterdays Galaxy” and doing great at it, my mind has also been focused on what’s down the line for me and what you’ll hopefully check out. 🙂

So firstly there has been mention by me on my Twitter page here and there of a historic novel set in the 1800’s Australia, a survival novel to say the least. Well that’s still going on but will no longer be the next thing I write after finishing “Yesterdays Galaxy”. Right now I’m dedicated to finishing the trilogy my current WIP has started (if it is well enough received) meanwhile I’ll be recording all research I can find for my Australian novel in preparation for writing it. A brief outline is already jotted down and it looks pretty amazing. 🙂

Next up is another stand-alone novel which has been playing in my mind for a long time now, one centered around giants in modern day times and a journalists who is allowed to record their culture (until it takes a turn for the worst for him). Afterwards there’s a grand six-part fantasy series I’m excited to write, for a few weeks I’d been playing at the idea of writing that after my WIP’s trilogy but came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to spend nine years writing two series but wanted to instead write standalone books of different genres and then come back to a series. (I can’t write during a series a completely different book since it takes me out of the universe I’m currently writing for, crazy right?)

Anywho, next up after my fantasy series I’ll be writing what I hope is great series of thriller novels; of which I will not be releasing one after the other and this is because they don’t follow one large story line, they’re separate adventures pretty much with a few recurring characters. With that I’m also hoping to do a graphic novel of sorts, a manga that I’ve had in my head for a long time and an audio drama. 🙂

I’m mostly writing this blog post for myself if I’m being honest, I’m so excited for what’s to come that I needed to express it somehow! Can you blame me?

Anyway, have a great day or evening and be safe!

 

Be Polite but don’t be a Doormat

My title is aimed mostly at the cinema going experience, something I do regularly. It’s something I enjoy doing and so whenever there is something I’m looking forward to I’ll be the first one to see it on opening night (if possible).

HOWEVER I find that I am slowly being put off going to the cinema, as if somehow the appeal is no longer there or now in smaller quantities. There’s one single issue reason I have for this.

Humans.

Yes, as many of you probably guessed, human beings are the reason that going to the cinema is no longer a magical experience but more like a nightmare. The lights on mobile phones, the unnecessary giggling and the talking which people assume it’s okay because “they can”.  Well guess what guys and gals, that’s not okay.

As my title says, it’s okay to be polite and show love but at the same time if someone in the theater is being a douche, then you have every right to tell that person to be quiet or turn that damn light off! I use to be afraid of doing this, like terrified and it lasted for years and years until only recently at a viewing of Cinderella last year with my mother did I turn around to a young kid with his own mother and ask him to be quiet. Immediately he shut his mouth, I thanked him and the rest of the movie was fine.
Why should we have to put up with someone ruining the movie experience, pay £22 something only to have it ruined by a lack of respect from those incapable of being quiet for two or more hours?

I don’t mean to say it’s alright to yell at whoever is being loud, but don’t be afraid to tell them to be quiet. Be polite but don’t be a doormat, and if they don’t stop? Well that’s what the staff are there for.

I just wanted to get that off of my chest really, it’s been building up for a long time the urge to ask someone to quieten down and when I did it, I felt proud of myself. I didn’t enjoy it, gosh no and I’m forever grateful for those who respect other movie-goers, but it did help my confidence.

Have a great day guys and gals!