Dear humans,
Before I begin, please enjoy this picture of my sister and her paw. She does love to hold the female’s hand. She is very needy.
Okay, now that we have gotten our daily dose of cat picture out of the way, let’s talk about some fun stuff, some not-so-fun stuff, and so on.
The female has been asked by a bunch of nice people this week about how they can help with her new releases. I’ve made a list for your enjoyment. Here it is!
1: Review the book as soon as you’re finished. Truth be told, people are usually far more inclined to write reviews when they are upset that the female didn’t write the book they wanted her to write. If you enjoyed it, please take a few moments to tell other readers why.
In other news, it takes five 5* reviews to counter one 1* review, four 5* reviews to counter one 2* review, and so on. So, yeah. Those negative reviews can really hurt a book.
Add in how generally inclined people are to write reviews when they aren’t happy, and you get authors who seriously question if they want to be bothered moving forward.
Things like “I enjoyed this book because I found the characters to be enjoyable!” is an excellent review. So are things like “While this book wasn’t as funny as I expected, I enjoyed it because whatever reason, whatever reason, whatever reason!”
Don’t overcomplicated it. Just a simple why you liked it in a few words is a-okay!
2: Share the book onto your feed/various social media/with your friends. The link should look something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XH3NN5V
You can use your mini commentary to your friends about why they should read it as your review. (It’s basically the same thing.)
3: Like/click the ads on Facebook as you see them. It teaches facebook the ads are nice and should be displayed to actual people more often.
4: Go to the book and ‘like/helpful’ the positive reviews you think are meaningful. If a critical review is useful, you can helpful that, too. (Sometimes, the critical reviews help people buy the book.)
That’s about it. But it’s helpful!
That leads me to a gentle reminder that typecasting the author is sad. Yes, she writes clean books. That’s as typecasted as she wishes to be.
Sometimes, she will write hilarious books.
Sometimes, she will write bloody paranormal murder mysteries.
She is not going to write the book you necessarily expect. if you want to read the book you wanted me to write, please write the book yourself. The female writes the types of books she wants to read.
That means she’ll favor certain character tropes over others. She doesn’t like writing alphaholes, so she just skips that general personality trope entirely. She enjoys sassy women, so the women will often be sassy. She enjoys people with twisted morals, because the study of human nature is fascinating.
She is not going to write to your moral compass. Sometimes, she tosses the moral compass right out of the window while exploring what might happen to society if the moral compasses were changed or if history had undergone major evolution.
(This does not mean she supports what she writes. Get over that, humans. Seriously. It’s fiction.)
If the book says “Book one” of a series, the major overlying plot arc will not be resolved. Deal with it. That’s the point of a series. Not to give you a complete package where there’s no point in future books.
Booked for Murder is the first of five books dealing with the murder mystery and schemes established in the first book.
It is complicated. If you skim the book, you’re going to be going back to re-read those little conversations you skipped because you wanted more banter and less murder mystery.
Hint: it’s a murder mystery. It’s complicated. It’s okay if you don’t like playing murder mystery guessing games. by the last book, the entire mystery will be laid out for you, and you will be able to see how the bazillion little clues fall together for its conclusion.
No, Booked for Murder was not rushed. It took the female about six months to write, and if you could please stop making baseless (and rather stupid) assumptions about her writing work, she would appreciate it.
If you don’t like how she writes her books, go write your own books and publish them. Seriously. Or find someone else to read.
The female enjoys writing, but she is not writing explicitly to please you. She’s writing books she wants to read, and she’s opting to invest in those books and share them with you. Yes, this is her career.
No, that doesn’t mean she will be writing books catered to you. Sorry. That’s not how this works.
She is not always going to write hilarious books. She might even write a book with zero humor in it.
She does not like being a one trick pony. If you only want simple plots with fun characters, stick with the Magical Romantic Comedy books. If you like having to look between the lines and think, the Royal States books are more up your alley.
Also, the events in Taken are critical for some future events, particularly in New Waters. So, for the short-sighted readers who haven’t realized how much foundation work is in the book… read it a little closer and take the time to think about the various consequences of what has been discussed and the general events in the book.
It’s subtle. You have to think. if you were expecting to be bludgeoned with it, you’re not reading the right series.
Bludgeoning is a Mag Rom Com thing, not a Royal States thing.
It’s okay if you don’t like the Royal States or the subtlety of some of its titles. It’s okay if you don’t like the offbeat humor in the Mag Rom Com world.
It’s not okay to act like the female owes you anything other than doing her best to write entertaining books.
P.S.: The book’s quality isn’t shit just because you didn’t like the book. You didn’t like the book. Go read something else instead by someone else–and read something you ENJOY.
If you don’t like the female’s books, that’s really okay! Nobody likes everything. That’s the beauty of humans.
The female writes what she wants to read, and she gets tired of writing Mag Rom Coms all the time. The more tired she is of writing Mag Rom Coms, the more offbeat her fun projects, like Booked for Murder, become.
She was very tired of Mag Rom Coms when she was working on Booked for Murder. It was an excellent change of pace, and she enjoys the book very much. She’s been enjoying Runaway (Royal States) because it’s fun and different.
Also, considering there are really only nine major classes of personality types, and she has written 40+ books, yes there will be characters with similar traits… because the female likes writing certain types of books.
Each character has his or her own general playbook the female uses to write them… but she is the one writing the books. She has a style and tone. This is how this works.
It’s easy to keep a style ‘fresh’ when you’ve only written five books. Same with plots, etc.
At this stage in the game? It’s a challenge.
Don’t believe me, humans? Go write forty books and come back when you’re done to share your personal experiences. Seriously. Try it. It’s an adventure. (And it’s very difficult.)
It all boils down to this: if you don’t like the female’s writing… go find an author you will enjoy. The female wants her readers to be happy, and if you’re not happy, just quietly go find someone else to read who does make you happy.
And that is meant in kindness, because if you’re not happy with the books… you really should go find another author to read. There are thousands of marvelous authors out there.
Don’t waste your time on books or authors that don’t make you happy. That’s the name of the game, and if enough people don’t like the books the female writes, well… she’ll go find a new job.
And that’s okay.
Happy reading, folks.
Your characters are your babies. The children of your imagination. You have 100% custody of them.
We, your readers have visitation privilages. NOT RIGHTS! – PRIVILAGES! Privileges which you have been kind enough up to grant us.
Sorry. I think I’ve been reading too much on Reddits JustNoMIL.
lol that’s one way to look at it!
I completely agree that if people don’t like reading certain books, they should just stop reading them and find books they will enjoy. There’s no need to make a big fuss about it or try to tear the author down. Most of the time, it comes down to personal preference rather than the actual quality of the writing, style, etc. I’ve never written a book, and honestly, I can’t imagine just how difficult it is to write one. But, I know it has to be really difficult. I think readers should respect that and all the time, effort, and heart that goes into writing an entire book. ?
I have enjoyed all your books. It is always fun to have a new book by you to read. This book was one that lets me look forward to any sequels. Thank you for all your hard work.
I love your books, ALL IF THEM, so I’m not going anywhere…. Just saying folks, there are BIG NAME authors that I CAN’T STAND and it feels like I’m pulling my eye lashes out trying to get through them! So, since I won’t NOT finish a book that I start, in my old age I’ve become more selective about what I will read. And this anther clicks all of my boxes so I’m sticking with her. I haven’t finished “Booked for murder” yet but am loving it this far and will post a full review when I’ve finished….. So far it’s 5*…..
I love all your books for one main reason. They are original. I never can predict what will happen next. Not all the characters are people I would like, but they are never just a waste.
I hate getting bored when I write, I hate getting bored when I read… I do not like reading the same book over and over, with the same plot beats happening at the same predictable time. I just can’t stand it.
Like, I read this one author who was so predictable that at 50-55%, her characters would have a ten page long sex scene. Again at 75% or so. I had like six books of hers in my collection, and sure enough, the books were always paced where the characters did the same thing at the same rough percentage. So formulaic that I didn’t even need to work to guess what she’d write. It just bored me to tears. At 80%, the characters would ‘figure out’ what they needed to do. At 90%, they had done the thing. Rest of the closure stuff rest of the book.
Just… no? I couldn’t stand it. Stopped reading her. Formulas are too easy to guess. Those bore me.
Yes, precisely. Which is why I enjoy them as much the tenth time as I did the first time.
I love your books, some more than others , I have reread all of them multiple times.
Please keep writing.
I’ve found the same thing. After reading X number of books I could tell just what was going to happen and after awhile I stopped purchasing her books because they were too “formulaic” to quote you. I Want to be surprised I want to change and you do that for me I love your books I pre-order them all kudos to you thank you very much
Thank you for writing books you want to read. It means that I am going to enjoy the ride because I’ve found that even subjects that I didn’t think I would enjoy just pull me right in within the first couple of chapters. I come back up for air when the final page is read.
I find I love all three of your personas, which quite frankly surprised me.
So please, keep writing the books you want to read and we will keep enjoying your work.
Most of what I’ve read of your books have been Mag Rom Coms and Royal States books. I thought I’d prefer the Mag Rom Coms, but it turned out the opposite way. I enjoyed Booked for Murder, but certain aspects were not what I expected, which is not a bad thing. One thing I liked that isn’t too spoilery was the inclusion of the main characters’ parents. In real life, parents are a lot more important than most books show. But these parents are different than, say, Jessica and Pat, or Jessica’s parents. Or Juliette.
Very good layout on what to expect from your books,,,good job! I like your books,
please keep writing,,,,any type, whatever pleases you…. I want to read your Royal States
and the Booked for Murder series…once I get more $$ and no sick cats!
As I got older, I found that the authors I read for years became very formulaic and too easy to predict. The authors wrote to the expectations of a certain group of readers and probably to the same expectations of their Publishing Management. They also became more and more expensive. I stopped buying when after reading the first few chapters, I probably could write the darn thing myself. They became like the original Harlequin Romance books. Harlequins were cheap, were written by formula and there were thousands of the suckers in print. If you had even a smidgen of a brain, they became boring after a while.
I enjoy reading all of your series. They are fun and sex and violence do not make up 90% of the story. You have a certain style of writing that I enjoy and I know I will have a reading romp that will make me happy. Great storylines and interesting world view too.
If people do not like reading what or how you write, tough! As you stated, they do not have to buy. There is a lot of cheap cannon fodder out there to read. Go For IT!
I left a review for you. Thank you for giving me a Happy Day. Now I have to wait for the next one…Sigh…So Hard. Hugs from Canada
Not only do I love your books, but I love that occasionally you offer us, for our consideration, the works of other authors that you enjoy when you take time off from work. I’ve found some great reads! This greatly satisfies my inner book dragon, as I no longer have to struggle to find something to read while I wait for your next book to release!
I appreciate the fact that your male characters are not alphaholes and your female characters are not weak, melting lillies. Everyone has some sass to them. I’d rather read a story with strong main and supporting characters than one with jerks. And yes, I’ve read those. I don’t need the complete arc of a book to be finished in one book (especially when it’s a series) as long as there is a logical conclusion in the main story. What’s fun is knowing there’s going to be more. What’s not fun is having to wait for the author to finish the next book in the series. But that’s me wanting to read the next story in a series. It’s nothing against the author because gee, he or she has things to do other than making sure I’m happy.
I have been going back and re-reading and re-listening to your books — all of your books for the last several months. They and Audrey Faye’s Ghost Mountain series have been a emotional oasis for me. Just touchstones that are helping me deal with a really crummy 2020 that started before the pandemic got going and made the world go nuts.
So Thank You. Sincerely, thank you.
I loved Booked for Murder I also really liked that you stated up front how many books are in the series it gives me as a reader a heads up on what to expect from the book and that is will be a cliff hanger and a continuing theme throughout the series. If people can’t understand that or don’t like it, read a different series. Also I love the Royal States Series and the underlying point they are trying to get across subtle is not bad. I like it. I like a book that makes me think wether it’s how everything connects or about how it applies to the world today this does both and I love that. Please keep writing what you would like to read because I haven’t come across a book under any of you pseudonyms that I didn’t enjoy. So please keep writing what you like thats the whole point of being an author because if you don’t like it why should anyone else?