Frequent commentors (and sometimes the only commentors I get, what's up with everybody else, I know you all are looking) and very nice people Littlebird Blue and Todd Wheeler both were accepted in that anthology I mentioned before. My friends are filled with awesomeness.
LBB also writes commentary and critiques over at GreenMan Reviews, one of those places I read off and on. One, because their name rocks out, and two, because they really know their stuff. And Todd Wheeler is running a summer reading contest.
I feel like such a slacker next to these guys.
Just as a note, I would write about other friends, but many of them get published so often that I would feel like a press release office. Also, another friend has finished his first novel that he's going to try and get published. So I'll make a special shout out to Karl (whose supposedly reading this blog now, he doesn't normally read them). Health issues ate this weekend, so I still have one novel to read and critique, and another quarter of a novel to read and critique before the 15th. Once I'm past that, or I might start before that, I'll be reading Karl's novel and doing markup and critique.
I'm also toying with writing my own reviews of the novels and stories I read. I do that a little now, but it's as I'm reading them and are not a full review. The reason why I haven't is because, frankly, I don't know how to do reviews. And I think if I write them as critique many people wouldn't understand that I really like what I'm reading (life it too short not to like what you're reading) and what I'm saying shouldn't be taken as "trashing" the work.
4 comments:
Thanks for the links. Sorry your weekend was not a happy one. Hope everything is heading toward normalish.
We're getting closer to normal, Todd. Thanks.
I was waffling on the story contest link, not because I didn't want to do it, but I didn't want to spike your numbers. 'Cause you know just how many people read my blog, I didn't want it to be a stampede. :)
Reviews are a tricky business.
Obscurity is worse for an artist than a couple bad reviews. Way worse. And a good reviewer should give her readers as much room as possible to make up their own minds about a piece. By giving links to the author's website and places to buy the reviewed book, even if it didn't work for you you've spread the word about the piece.
To sum:
#1) Author Obscurity=Not Good for Books
#2) Spreading the word about things you read, linking to other author websites, taking part in an interactive community of readers & writers=Good for Books
O, and THANK YOU, Steve, for being so supportive of your fellow writers.
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