Book Review: Of Fire and Storm by D.G. Swank

 

This image of the cover was taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Of Fire and Storm is the second book in D.G. Swank’s Piper Lancaster series.

 

Spoiler Free Summary: Piper is still new to the who demon slaying business, but the threats are still increasing more greatly. A mysterious threat is targeting young people who inevitably commit suicide. Things take a turn for the worse when one victim turns out to be connected to Piper. Her powers are growing, but someone she loves is going to betray her.

Character:  So this story is really closely patterned after Buffy. While I think the relationship is too close, I still like the feeling because I’m such a fan of Buffy.  It would be unfair to call Piper a Buffy ripoff. Sure, she’s a blonde-haired demon slayer, but Piper has enough unique traits. I’ll even admit that I’m such a fan of Buffy that I’m probably forcing the thoughts.  Piper is compassionate and driven. These traits make her easy to like. She’s a bit gullible if you ask me, but her sympathy and proactivity make her worth following.

Exposition: As the second book in a series, one has to expect some degree of exposition to help the readers along. However, this was pretty solid for me. I got the history when I needed it, and I got the story when I wanted it. I don’t feel like the story dragged down or went off the rails at any point.

Worldbuilding:  It wasn’t bad, but that’s what upset me. This series has a lot of potential in terms of lore and depth, but it never came. As a series, it’s obvious a writer isn’t gong to throw everything out in book two, but I didn’t get nearly as much of the setting as I wanted. Does this really hurt the story? Only if you love deep worlds and complex saga histories. However, if one is just reading one story for the sake of the story, he probably doesn’t miss the scope the same way I do.

Image of Swank was taken from her website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Dialogue: This is where the comparison to Buffy falls way short. The wit and snappy dialogue just isn’t there. I’m not saying it’s bad on it’s own, but I couldn’t help but make the comparisons I did, and when someone does that, that person has to be ready to accept comparison. The dialogue didn’t bring me down (even if some parts were just spoken exposition).  It didn’t feel stilted at all.

Description:  I probably could have used a bit more description. There was enough to get the movie theatre in my head going, but it was a pretty small theatre, and they didn’t have dBox effects. The character description was better than the scenic description by far. But some of the environments felt a bit thin.

Overall: Though it rigidly holds to the Buffy template I’m certain inspired it, it is still entertaining. It’s got a few surprises amid some of the more predictable aspects. It’s not bad if you’re a fan of the genre. It’s a fun read that gives fans of the genre somewhere to go if they need a fix. While heavily inspired (in my opinion) by the aforementioned TV show, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a cheap knock off. I think I enjoyed it as much as I did because of the blending of new aspects amid a familiar, well-loved story. If you miss Buffy, give this a read and see how you feel about it.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Betrayed: The Discovery Draft of Oneiros 2 Is Done!

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report that the discovery draft to Betrayed: Book Two of the Oneiros Log is finally finished!  I’m genuinely sorry for the delay on this project. Things got pushed around, and then some life stuff happened, and it just feels like I kept being pulled into other projects. I’m happy that part is done.

So what’s next? Well, Betrayed is gonna sit for a while. I can’t just jump into editing. I’m already too close to my own work, and if I don’t let a manuscript sit for a while, I tend to be blind to certain issues. I need to be objective when editing my work, and that means giving it some time.

While that goes on, the first thing I’m going to do is finish listening to the audio version of Sojourn in Captivity, which is going well. Courtney did some revisions, and now I need to just give everything a check to make sure it’s ready to go. I’m hoping to have that out in the world before I go to Shore Leave next month.

Collin is working pretty hard on Issue 2 of Hazel, and I’ll get the dialogue polished off for him when he needs. There’s some exciting news in that regard, but nothing is final yet, so I’m waiting until I have real facts rather than high hopes, but I am hopeful this project is progressing well.

I plan on doing the first draft of Betrayed starting in July. Yes, that’s a month away, and this book was supposed to be out last year, but a month is typically how long I let a project of that length sit. What that time will also let me do is outline Discovered: Book Three of the Oneiros Log.  Not only will getting that done mean the trilogy will be finished in time, it might help me reconsider certain things from this book.  There’s a huge gap between books one and two, but two and three are only a few weeks (or so) apart. Getting a good feel for the last book should help me make sure everything wraps up nicely.

Betrayed currently clocks in at 57,768 words. I think the gaps between writing and my own tendency to be a little lacking in description hurt me here.  The book should have been about 80,000 words. I know one character needs a bit more screen time, and I know I need some better description. So this revision will probably be a bit more work than the last few titles have been. The good news is the major framework is done, and I’m content with where the story is. Yes, it needs work, but I feel pretty confident that I know what I need to do.

I want to thank all of you for your patience in this. I’m so happy that I can write these stories and share them with people. I’d be lying if I said this book was anticipated, but I do know there are people waiting for this story, and I hope that Repressed did enough to tie you over. We’ll get Betrayed to you as soon as I can get it through the editorial process.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Book Review: Mordecai by Michael G. Manning

This cover for Mordecai was taken from its Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Mordecai is the first book of The Riven Gates series, which is the fourth series in the Mageborn saga. My review for the first the last book in the previous series is here. My review for the earliest series (Embers of Illeniel) is here.  My review for the central series (Mageborn) is here.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Mordecai has seen the passing of the Dark Gods. He’s saved Lothion, placed kings on thrones. His children have done similar things. However, now his past, and the past of the She’Har, are coming together to put him in a position he’s never been in. Tyrion, the progenitor of human mages and Mordecai’s distant ancestor, has returned to the flesh. The ancient enemy of the She’Har has also set it’s sites on Mordecai’s home. The ensuing conflict will cost Mordecai more than ever.

Character:  Mordecai is as wonderful as ever in this story. To me, this book sort of put the series back on track. Any series this large and this old is going to have ebbs and flows. While this book wasn’t as good as some others, it was one of the better ones in my opinion, and Mordecai’s story is why. I loved seeing Tyrion again, and most of the cast get’s some good screen time. The thing that has always elevated the series to me has been its characters, and they remain the driving force behind this outstanding saga.

Exposition: Previous books gave us the background and context we needed, so now we can get right into the drama and the action. Sure, I remember some scenes that might have slowed down a bit, but I’d say this was some of the better exposition I’ve seen in the series in a while.

Worldbuilding:  Mordecai delivers on a lot of promises the other books in the series have made. It really brings all the other generations to a deliciously dramatic head. There’s not a lot of new information here. What makes this so thrilling is to see the fulfillment of some 10 or so books into a new conflict. However, the new element in the saga opens a whole new list opportunities because the universe is expanded.

Dialogue: I’ll admit that this is probably Manning’s weakest area. A lot of the dialogue feels like exposition sometimes. We get told things rather than listening to other characters talk. It’s not honestly such a problem. A lot of writers (including myself) tend to lean on this. So you’ll read conversations that feel more like plot outlines here or there, but it’s still conversational and engaging.

Description:  Any Manning book feels like watching a 3D film in iMAX. This story is no different.

Overall:  This book takes everything you know about Mordecai and his world and flips it on its head. Everything that’s been building for more than ten books comes to a satisfying climax in what’s only the start to what I hope is the most amazing series yet. I’m not going to pretend this is the best book, that right is still reserved for Betrayer’s Bane. However, this book was a shot of adrenaline after a more youth-reader-centered trilogy from the younger heroes in the story. I already think this series is better than the last, and it has potential to evolve into one that rivals the first (chronologically).

Thanks for reading

Matt

Book Review: Dream Student by J.J. DiBendetto

Spolier Free Summary: Dream Student by J.J. DiBenedetto is a YA Romance Paranormal mystery novel about Sara Barnes, a med-school student who’s having strange dreams, some of which are horrifying.

She doesn’t think too much about them until she meets the boy of these dreams. Realizing he’s real, she pursues (aggressively) a relationship with him. However, if her romantic dreams are real, her horror comes back when she realizes her nightmares were also real. She chooses to use her dreams to learn who the killer is and help bring him to justice.

DISCLAIMER: J.J. is a friend and fellow author. I met him at AwesomeCon and he became a fan of my work. I think well of him, and bought his book because of the wonderful support and kindness he showed me. I assure you, the only “hookup” I gave was to buy the book based on that friendship. My opinions on his book are based solely on his book.

Character:  This is hot and cold for me. I think Sara’s a good character. Most who know me know I’m really not a fan of romance, and YA romance only amplifies that distaste. So if I read a book like that and don’t want to throw the main character out of a window, you can trust that fans of the genre will love it. The problems I have with the characters in this book are simply common problems I have with any character in a romance novel, or a YA novel; and when it’s a YA romance, well, God help me. I expected to have to slog through this book, but Dibenedetto’s Sara Barnes is a character worthy of a story. Sure, she jumps into some decisions that I sometimes struggle with, but I consider those hazard of the genre more than failures of the author.

Exposition:  This was where I felt there was the most room for improvement. Here, I understand that 1st person narrative inherently feels like a ball of exposition, but I noticed a few times where the MC seemed to be explaining herself to convince the reader to go with the plot more than provide scope or context. This wasn’t a problem through the whole book, but it got real heavy in the middle, and that part did indeed slow me down. Characters do this in 1st person, and if done with the right emotional tone and timing, readers consider it more snark, wit, or contemplation than justification. Here, I felt that happened, and it happened more than I feel it should. The consequence was that it slowed the middle of the book for me. This also happened at a point when I felt the story sort of veered off course. Once it got back on course, I was enthralled by the mystery and the clues.

World building:  This, alternatively, was a strength of the story. Whenever one deals with dreams in fiction (and I’d know a bit about this) it takes a lot of world building and planning. DiBenedetto does a solid job hiding clues in the dreams. He also uses those sequences and that world to a range of emotional results. In this, it felt a bit like the show Medium, which I enjoyed.

Dialogue: This again seemed to fit in line with typical YA themes. I felt the interactions between some characters (especially Sara’s friend) could have had a lot more conflict, giving the story depth, but typically in these books (at least the small sample I’ve read), the side characters tend to just roll with whatever insanity the main character heads for, which takes potential tension from the story. Yes, DiBenedetto did this, but not to a more offensive degree than any other YA book I’ve read does.

Description: This was average if not more effective in the dream sequences. J.J. uses detail to highlight clues, and I found myself paying more attention to description than I normally do (which is not at all). He doesn’t beat you to death with description. He’s also more merciful with some of the scenes one would commonly see in a mystery novel, and I appreciated that. However, I understand others would not like that. I’m more of a fan of cut aways mid swing than I am watching the blades trace lines of blood along a subject. I advise readers of this review to take note and decide which person you are to determine what you’ll think of this technique.

Overall: This book had a satisfying ending to a pretty cute paranormal romance mystery.  Sara was the most interesting part. Like any good 1st person story, she’s the reason I kept turing the pages in a book that falls outside my genre preferences. I’d recommend this to this genre’s readers and fans of the TV show Medium.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The Top 5 Most Awesome Heroes In Fantasy

Greetings all,

So I was running dry on ideas. I’d been doing a lot of update posts and bracket posts, and I felt it was time to do something different. That got me thinking about one of my favorite reasons I read fantasy: the idea of “who would win in a fight?”

Therefore, I decided to do a “Top 5” list. What is this list based on? My opinion! It’s my list. I hope this post encourages healthy (kind-hearted) debate. It may even inspire a bracket.

What do I base my opinion on?

That’s a great question. The first is memorability. I’m going to provide the five characters who came to my mind. If I have to try to remember you, you clearly aren’t that powerful. The down side? I honestly haven’t read that much. Oh I read a lot, but there are books I haven’t read (again why I hope you lovely readers would be interested in enlightening a fan). So, you can also look at my “read” bookshelf on Goodreads to tell me if there’s someone in a book I read that you think would top any of these five. From there, it’s based on sheer power and capability.  Limitations are also factored. for instance, you won’t find an Aes Sedai on this list. All I’d have to do is not threaten them, and, though they could make life inconvenient, they couldn’t hurt me. The rest is just me thinking about what I’ve read about them doing and how impressive it is.

Now that the logistics are covered, let’s see who’s the top dog!

#5: Ian Troy, The Crown of Stones  I honestly had a fight with myself about this.  Do I select the characters “at their most powerful” or their power level (or lack there of) at the end of the last book I read. Since most nerds like me will always argue fights on a “height-of-power” scale, I went with that as well. Ian begins the whole series with a display of power that would put any on this list on notice. Ian stops at number four because the crown serves as a weak point that could be exploited.  Since I have to take the character at the height of his power, I must also take him at the most dangerous of issues weaknesses too.  Ian could honestly destroy a world, but his power comes at the expense of the lives of others. This wouldn’t be a problem for a villain, but a former addict trying to protect life just wouldn’t consciously throw power around at the expense of (possibly) those he loves.

 #4: Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: I honestly had a lot of trouble placing him. As one reads LotR, it’s easy to understand he has the potential to lay waste to a number of opponents. The thing is, we never really see him do much in the way of magic. We feel like he could, so I have him all the way up to number three just for that reason, but he never really displayed it. If someone said to drop him to 4 or even 5, I don’t know that I could argue, except that the guy seems so powerful.  Therefore, I met in the middle.  This ranking (I feel) gives the potential of his power respect while also taking into account how little power he actually used in the books.

#3: Vin, Mistborn: I think she’d fall in this spot even without the “at her most powerful” rule. She wasn’t just powerful, she used that power in clever ways that made it pretty much unfair to fight her (unless you’re essentially a god). The events of the book take that seeming unfairness and make it down right laughable to think she couldn’t take out pretty much anyone. Allomancy is just an awesome power, and a full Mistborn is pretty much impossible to beat if you’re limited to a single power, but not if you’re using the One Power.

#2: Rand al’Thor, The Wheel of Time: The Dragon Reborn already has the strength to “break the world.” The One Power is such that some serious power get’s flung around. With this power, characters can make or flatten mountains. They can even use a weapon so great it erases one from existence (or even burns away parts of their life).  There are even ways to amplify that power! It’s honestly ridiculous when I think about it, but it’s so fun to read. While Rand could break a planet, he could make one, so he falls second to number one on the list.

#1: Harmony, The Cosmere: Sure, anyone who follows my blog knows Sanderson is my favorite author. But I dare you to point out a character who has god-power X 2. The Cosmere surrounds sixteen shards of what was once a whole. Each single shardholder is known as a god in their system. Harmony has two. Even Sanderson has said flatly that Harmony is the most powerful shard-holder for this reason. 2-4 could probably end a world, but Harmony could create one if he wanted. Some may argue limitations here, but only one shardholder to my knowledge is actually limited. Two were limited for reasons explained in the books. But, as far as I know, Harmony could do whatever he wanted, and no one could stop him. At his most powerful, there isn’t a fantasy hero (or even many villains) I can think of who could stop him.

So there’s my list! What do you think? Who would you add to the list of “most powerful”? Who would you rank higher than my guys? Do you think I got my list wrong? I want to hear it folks!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

A Guest Post from Steven D’Adamo! The Basics of PPC Marketing with Taboola

Greetings All,

I’m super stoked about this post.  I’ve known Steven since I’ve started blogging, and I consider him a friend above all. I also consider him one of my top marketing mentors, so when he offered to create a post, I jumped at  the chance.  His book, The Warden of Everfeld: Memento, is out now, and I’ve already ordered my paperback version and added it to my impossible to whittle down TBR list on Goodreads.   So, if you’re like me, and you feel like marketing is a tough nut to crack, please see below.

---

 

When I tell people I used to use PPC marketing as part of my job, they give me funny looks. When I tell them that I am now using PPC marketing to promote my first novel, they’re downright flummoxed.

But Pay-Per-Click Marketing is really quite simple: you pay a particular service to feed your webpages, articles, or blogs to other content-driven websites, where they can be seen by a wider, more diverse audience. You then only pay the service provider when a user clicks on your headlines and visits your website.

In this post, I’ll provide a basic overview of how to create and manage a PPC campaign through Taboola.

Creating a Taboola Campaign

There are many PPC services, but I chose to use Taboola, because of the two PPC services I used at my former job – Taboola and Outbrain – I found that Taboola has a better user interface and can be done more cheaply than Outbrain.

Setting up a new campaign is fairly straightforward.

1. In your Taboola dashboard, click Campaign Management on the left menu, and click New Campaign.
2. Name your campaign. I use a simple convention: RSPC – Publish Announcement – Smartphone, so I can differentiate the website, content, and platform for the campaign right away.
3. Select your timeframe. The shortest campaigns should be 10-14 days, but I think 4-6 weeks is optimal.
4. Select your targeting locations. Taboola lets you get into regions, cities, and even zip codes, but for most campaigns, you’ll want to stick with one country, like the US.
5. Choose your platform: desktop, smartphone, or tablet. Some people like to include Tablet and Smartphone together, since these are both “mobile,” but I prefer to use each platform separately.
6. Then, set your Cost Per Click bid and spending limit. You may have to start with a higher click rate, like $0.45-$0.50 per click, but Taboola lets you adjust this throughout the campaign. Your spending limit puts a monetary cap on your campaign, so you can plan the length and limit of your campaign based on your budget. 

There are other settings you can use, but those are the primary ones you will want to consider.

Next, you’ll want to create your content by adding URLs for the webpage you want to promote. I highly recommend using only one URL per campaign. If you have multiple URLs to promote, set each one up in a distinct campaign. However, for each URL campaign, write 3-6 unique headlines. This will help you capture the widest audience for your content.

For my content, I chose to promote my blog post announcing the pre-order period for my novel: https://redstringpapercuts.com/2018/06/19/the-warden-of-everfeld-memento-is-being-published/

I used the above four headlines across three campaigns for Tablet, Desktop, and Smartphone, targeting the U.S. – basically casting a wide net just to gauge initial interest in my novel.

For the image, I asked my cover illustrator to provide me with a high-quality image of my full cover without any of the text – Taboola does not like text in images. I then tried to diversify my headlines between a few key themes:

• Giving a quick tagline about the main characters
• Announcing the publication date for a new novel
• Presenting the reader with a question to make them curious
• Enticing readers interested in world-building or fantasy universes

One or two of these headlines will certainly perform better over the others, but finding out which ones will tell me a lot about my target audience.

Here is how my campaigns did on the first day:

Impressions tell me how many people saw my headline, while Clicks tell me how many of those Impressions actually clicked on my content. CTR, or Click-Through-Rate, is simply a ratio of clicks to impressions. Average CPC tells me about how much I’m spending per click on each campaign, and Spent gives the total dollar amount spent.

Now, a few notes on my actual results:

• I received the fewest clicks (15) on my Desktop campaign, but spent the highest amount to get them ($7.50, tied with total Spent for Smartphone).
• The CTR for Desktop is also a bit low – 0.03% (An average CTR is 0.03%-0.05%)
• By contrast, my Smartphone campaigns received the most clicks (32), with the highest CTR (0.12%), and a high Spend ($7.50).
• The Tablet campaign performed well, and still way better than Desktop.

Conclusion: I should consider re-allocating my budget away from the Desktop campaign, and toward the Smartphone and Tablet campaigns. These results are only from the first day, so I’ll wait another day or two before adjusting to see how things shake out over a longer period. A single day is really only a snapshot of my campaigns’ potential.

Next, I’ll want to see how my individual headlines are performing against each other. I already know that Smartphone and Tablet are doing well, so I’ll look at all of my headlines together to see which of the four stand out across all three campaigns.

The above screen only shows eight of my 12 total headlines, but that’s okay. The other four have received 0 clicks so far. And, Taboola’s content algorithm promotes headlines that perform well, so these already have a head-start over the rest.

Now for some quick notes on my headline performance:

• “What do honor and memory mean…” This is performing well across all platforms: 34 total clicks for an average CTR of 0.05%. The Desktop version may sink with its poor CTR of 0.02%, but this headline is a winner overall.
• “Explore the Unique World…” is showing some potential, but it has a lot of catching up to do.
• The other two headlines appear to be scrapping it out for second place.

Conclusion: I can already see that my top-performing headline is successful at drawing in readers, so I can consider using this one again for a later campaign.

The overall order and performance of these headlines will certainly change over the course of these campaigns, but I’m betting one of the current top three maintains its current dominance.

That’s all for now! I’ll keep an eye on each campaign’s performance over the next 10-14 days and decide then if I want to extend them. Visit Red String PaperCuts in a couple weeks for an update on how my PPC campaigns performed.

 

Book Review: The Core by Peter V. Brett

This cover was taken from Amazon.com for review purposes. The featured image was taken from Tachyon Publications for the same reason. 

Spoiler Free Summary:  In The Core by Peter V. Brett, The stage is set for Sharak Ka, the final war against demonkind. Arlen, a man who tattooed himself with wards to fight demons; Jardir, the leader of his people and self-proclaimed Deliverer; have joined forces and entered the core, dragging a demon prince as a guide. Inevera is trying to hold Jardir’s kingdom together no matter how much it seems to want to fall apart without her husband to lead. Leesha is ready to give birth, and her child’s complicated parentage forces her to try and outwit the world. She has to do this while preparing the free cities for a war they refuse to admit is on their doorstep.   As Arlen and Jardir travel to take out the queen of all demons, the rest of the world is left alone to face the onslaught of those same demons. Killing the queen is unlikely enough without the loss of life, but can they do it before everyone they’re fighting for dies?

Character:  I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Peter V. Brett is the best writer of characters and character plots in the game.  His ability to use each previous book to give more insight to specific characters makes this book that much more compelling. Every single person, no matte how much screen time, has a deep, well-developed story. This reason alone would be enough to make this my favorite book of the year (which it is), but there’s a lot to like about this book. The characters are just the unquestioned strength of the series.

Exposition: Whenever you have a multi-book series, there’s inevitably a necessary amount of exposition to help readers who haven’t read the rest of the series know what’s going on. Brett weaves most of that in through dialogue, which makes a tad of it feel forced (see below).  However, I didn’t really notice much exposition here. Some, but not so much that it bothered me.

Worldbuilding: This is the other aspect of Brett’s saga that stands out. This is an interesting world with a solid foundation of lore, magic, and demonology. There were some elements here that felt a bit like Wheel of Time in that just when you think “that guy is scary!” some other newer, more powerful monster shows up. The political intrigue is a nice bit of detail. I’m glad the story is over (I hate series that run long or never seem to end), but I hope we see this world again soon.

Portrait by Karsten Moran taken from Mr. Brett’s website.

Dialogue: When you’re characters are strong, everything else feels strong regardless of how good it actually is. As I sit here and really think about the dialogue in this book, I realized that’s where the bulk of the story’s exposition went. Characters realistically had to fill each other in, but those chunks of information were force-fed in some places. As long as the reader understands they’ll needed to get through those “info-dump” sections (I can think of three right now), the rest of the dialogue is crisp and powerful.

Description:  People who like deep, detailed description won’t think as highly of this as I do. I like my imagination to do the bulk of the heavy lifting, and Brett lets me do that. I get the details I need, and my mind takes care of the rest.  Those who want three adjectives for every noun won’t be happy though.

Overall:  The Core is (as I type this on May 28), the best book I’ve read so far in 2018. I figured it would be, but this book didn’t let me down in any way. It’s exciting, compelling, funny, and tragic. If you haven’t read this series, consider this my notification. Get this series! Read it! Great, interesting sagas with original magic systems are hard to find.   This one fits the bill.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Balticon Sale! 2 Books 99 Cents Each

Greetings all,

First, sorry for no review on Wednesday.  I was handling something. I’ll let you know more about that on Sunday.  I should be on track for a Saturday post though.

That said, on to the news! In celebration of Balticon, An Unusual Occupation and Caught are each #99cents May 25-28! Don’t miss this chance to get two great books for a total of $2.

Hope to see you all at the convention if you’re in the Baltimore area!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Always an Awesome Time!

Greetings all,

AwesomeCon was a few weeks ago, and I always like to talk about how the conventions I attend go.

This con is special to me because it was one of my first ever and certainly the first “big” convention I ever attended. I go every year, and I plan on being there every year God grants me life.

From a business standpoint, I did fairly well. What I mean to say is I sold about what I normally sell at any convention. AwesomeCon is a bit more expensive to get to, but that means I get a lot more exposure too. It’s a weird balance between sales and marketing, but I’m pretty satisfied with how it meant.

I’m hopeful that the new readers I met enjoy the books and maybe drop me a review or two. I also made a few new author friends and linked up with some fans. Look, the fact that I can say with certainty that I have fans is still kind of a wondrously strange thing to me. Getting to say hello to a few loyal readers and maybe meet a few new ones is always a plus.

Another reason I’m such a fan of this event is the fact that I usually have a panel.  This year was no different.  My panel about “The Pitfalls of Unwary Self Publishers” has become a tradition.  I managed to record the event this year so anyone interested in the process (or more importantly the things they shouldn’t do) can just watch the video.

 

Finally, I got to see some cosplay, my favorite was of a young woman who dressed as the new Doctor. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan, and she was the first person I’d seen wear the 14th (there were 14.  Count them.  #AllRespecttoJohnHurt) Doctor’s attire.

These events are always fun, and I can’t express how grateful I am to everyone who comes to see hello, much less listen to me rant about my books and then actually buys one. I’ll always be indebted to those who help keep my dream moving forward.

 

Thanks for reading,

Matt

I’ve Learned I’m Not Big on Villains: Reflecting on Bad Guys

As I’m not reading as quickly as I’d like, I don’t have a review for you all. That means I had to think about something on which I could discuss. I gave it some time, and as I was thinking about another project I’m taking on (super-secret, big possibilities), I started thinking about villains.  I did a blog on villains a while back, but then I realized, I’m not actually a big fan of villains.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a good conflict, but stick with me. I went back and thought about my favorite books of all time. Only one of them has any arguable main villains.

Beowulf: One might argue this has villains, and it does. But Beowulf fights several. To my recollection (and I’ll admit it’s been a long while) none of them have very complex back stories. Oh, there’s some information, but ultimately, they’re either the fodder Beowulf cuts through or the thing that finally takes him down. Grendel is the most discussed, but he’s dispatched fairly quickly in the book.

What Men Live By, by Leo Tolstoy: I promise you, there was no bad guy.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: So here we come to the “yes there was a villain” argument. Look, Ruin was the main antagonist. But Vin takes him on, and that’s that. Ruin wasn’t a mortal. He was this larger than life force that Vin had to elevate herself to take on (and I think there’s something there).

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson: Again, the Dark One was the overall threat.  Some may argue Ishamael was the “villain” of that story, but I simply don’t see it that way.

The Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey:  No villain. A threat, a lager than life threat, but no villain.

This led me to an assertion. Great Books Need Great Villains.  I think not. These are my five favorite books of all time, and the reason I love them has nothing to do with the villains. Do I think a great villain can make a book great? Yes, but I don’t think they’re mandatory. It really dawned on me as I was thinking about who my favorite villains are. The fact of the matter is I don’t have any. I’m actively sitting here thinking about books and who the MC faces in each of them, and I can’t even name one. Comics are different in that regard, but comics are meant to run for years, so you need a cast of villains to change things up.

I’ve said this a bunch of times, give me proactive, sympathetic characters, and I’m probably going to love your story. I’m less invested as a reader to see if they’re proactive because they have to defeat evil or because they have to beat this one particular antagonist. That’s window dressing for me. Bob and Caught both have villains. I certainly hope they’re enjoyable villains, but I don’t mind a world where the heroes are the ones with whom my readers connect.

So this post, short but interesting, leads to a question. Where do you sit in relationship to villains? I understand the value of compelling villains. What I’m asking is do you only invest in stories that have a great villain? Compare your favorite books ever to this question. Tell me the villain of your favorite book or series. I’m honestly curious to know what you think.

Thanks for reading,

V/R
Matt