Tuesday, March 26, 2013

One more critique applied!

Just got done applying suggestions from another critique. This is why you have other people read your manuscript. So many things that made me slap my head and say "I can't believe I missed that!"

Some of my favorites of these moments:

- I have a character who, in one scene, uses a periscope to check around a blind corner for enemies.
In the next paragraph, he ducks his head around the corner.
One of my reviewers commented: "Dangerous way to do it if he has a periscope..."
*facepalm*

- A character is carrying a blaster. In the next paragraph or so, he comments that he lost his blaster.
Reviewer asked, "Where? When? How?"
*facepalm*

- And all the times when I'd proper-capped AND separate worded, AND hyphenated a word a term. (note-block was, at times, "Noteblock", "noteblock", and "note-block"... all in the same manuscript. There were other words I'd done the same thing to, but let's not talk about those...)
*facepalm*

So, if you see me and I have a red mark in the middle of my forehead, you now know why.

I also learned about to use the expression "small fry" (Turns out, that is plural...) More on that on my author Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAaronDemott Check it out for more content!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Book Review: The Man Painter

This weeks review is of The Man Painter, the freshly released sequel to The Earth Painter.

I'd start by saying that while I'd recommend The Earth Painter for almost any age, the sequel is.... more in depth... Which is both good and bad.

Pros:

- it shows real love between characters, not just lust that's called love.

- continues the story from The Earth Painter.

- characterization continues to be excellent. All our favorite characters are there, and a few of our not-so-favorites too. ;)

Cons:

- More "adult" in tone. While it does convey the intimacy and love of a married relationship, I, personally, feel it goes a bit too far. Borderline spoiler: If you can read this book and not blush when someone mentions pizza sauce, you're, ah, not as private a person as I am. There's nothing improper here, mind you, just a little more personal than I, personally, am comfortable with. I, personally, would only recommend this book for married people. But perhaps I'm just a prude. Or perhaps it's because I struggled with... such imagery awakening "love" before it's time before I was married. On the other hand, I could easily see how others could recommend this book without those hangups, as the author does an great job of showing the joy, freedom, and other benefits of waiting until after marriage to give your body and soul to just one other person.

Overall, I give it three to four stars, depending on the age of the potential reader.

Buy this book at:
Amazon.com

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Book Review: The Earth Painter

I'm not exactly the target audience for The Earth Painter. It's paranormal romance, I'm a thirty-three year old male.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the book. After the first page, I was hooked. The characters are great, and really come to life. (I especially wanted to strangle Holly's mom.)

The book also has a different take on the paranormal part. Instead of the traditional vampires, werewolves and others that have been done to death (and back...), the Earth Painter has immortals that either helped create the universe, or help run it. They're unique, they're funny, and each one is different. I'm definitely going to read the next book in the series.

I give it four stars. Why four, you ask? Well, the boy keeps showing up in the girls room. To me, this is a little inappropriate, and it's reminiscent of  another popular paranormal romance book.... For all the originality of premise, the actually romance part is better in the author's previous book.

Buy this book at Amazon: