Series Page Complete

I was inclined to title this post - I want to hide under the duvet.

'Cause that was kind of the reaction I had when I finally finished typing up my
Series Catching Up Page.

It's just so big. (insert your own smutty joke here) (And it's not even all of the series, just the ones that I want to get caught up on most of all).

To be honest, now I've typed it up, it's kind of putting me off the idea. Not the idea of taking a huge chunk out of my TBR pile this year - that's still a given. But having a better idea of what a humongous task it's going to be to catch up on all these series - well it's starting to feel a lot more like hard work rather than fun.

So after I finish Archangel's Kiss (my current read, which I'm sure I would be enjoying much more if it didn't feel so much like homework), I'm going to pick a couple of the standalone books off my TBR bookshelf to give myself a bit of a break. Maybe a banned book, or maybe just one of the books that I don't remember buying.

Hopefully then, I'll feel a lot more like tackling the ginormity of the task ahead.

Book Prejudices

Hi. My name's Lesley and I'm going to admit that I have book prejudices. In some ways this is a good thing, otherwise every time I went into Waterstones I'd be maxing out my credit card. But maybe it also means that I'm a little harsh on some books that I might otherwise have enjoyed.

Now I'm talking more here about things that stop you picking up a book in the first place or things that you read on the cover which mean that the story has to work harder to pull you in. (Niggles and grumbles with the actual story is a post for another day.)


The Cover itself

Now I hate to admit this but covers do play an important role in book purchases. More if it's a first time author. If it's come down to a choice between two books and one has a great cover and the other has a god-awful one, I know where my money's going to go. I think e-books get away with this more because they aren't going to be on your bookshelf where you have to look at them.


Cover Quotes

I try to take little notice of these because a lot of the time there seems to be little consistency in the recommendations. But one thing that does set off my readerly defences is if a quote says - laugh out loud funny, or any variation on that theme. Mainly because I then open the book almost challenging it to - 'Make me laugh!' And once you're in that mind set it means that the story has to work twice as hard as it might have done without the quote.


Strange character names

If an author is going to call their character Calliope, Ricochet or Teakettle. I wish they'd remember that the reader is going to be stuck with that for the whole book. I'm not saying don't use the name, I'm saying make sure you have a good reason for using it rather than Cathy, Richard or Thomas.

For example Cherijo in the Stardoc novels has that name because it's an acronym of her experiment designation. Also there's probably a little more leeway in science fiction.


Please tell me I'm not alone in my Monday morning moaning. Does anyone else out there share these prejudices or do you have some of your own? I have a copy of The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn to give away to one commenter on this post. Winner to be chosen by random number at randomnumber.org on Saturday.

Three Words I Hate

A little bit of a grumble.

Okay - three words I hate.

What's the point?

Not sure if those were the three words you were expecting. :) I get so fed up of hearing - What's the point of :-

• recycling
• conservation
• picking up your own litter
• anything!

Feel free to insert your own activity of choice. What's the point of me doing it when nobody else is? What's the point when it only makes a small difference? What if Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King...what if the suffragettes had said that?

Instead of asking what's the point?Ask instead, is it a good thing to do, is it the right thing to do, is it of benefit? And if the answer is yes, maybe that's the point. Or in other words stop moaning and get on with it.

Grump over.

Ferrets!

So, today a little moan. (What's new? You may ask. :) ) A while ago I wrote a post titled
10 things every potential UF heroine needs to know. It was me kind of poking fun at the cliches that seemed to be arising in Urban Fantasy fiction. I am now adding a new one to the list, and the picture is a clue - Ferrets!

If I read one more UF novel where the heroine has a ferret companion I am going to scream until my ears bleed.

I can almost understand how this trend started. A female fantasy heroine needs an animal companion, it can't possibly be a cat because that's what's expected and we have to be original and fresh. And it can't be a dog because that would be just too...doggy.

It's got to be something small, cute, independent, reasonably intelligent with a knack for getting into and out of trouble. A raccoon would just be ridiculous, and a skunk far too smelly. I think that leaves us with ferrets.

Ferrets, ferrets, ferrets.

Only they're no longer an original and fresh idea. Plus having seen the pilot episode of Warehouse 13 I now can't help but associate them with impossible wishes. (For those who missed that particular ep, if you make an impossible wish (e.g. world peace) using a magical object, what you actually end up with is a ferret. The last original idea in fantasy using ferrets that I can remember.

There are other members of the mustelid family, though I find it hard to imagine them cropping up in UF. However, it would give me the chance to use the 'a weasel is weasily recognised whilst a stoat is stotally different' rhyme in a review.

So are there any fictional animals that annoy you? Or failing that are there any cliches that you feel are really being overused recently? I have a copy of Demon's Daughter by Emma Holly to give away to one poster to this thread. Poster chosen at random by randomnumber.org on Friday (or possibly Saturday).