Hello everybody!
I am happy to announce the blog reached 10.000 pageviews. Yay!
I am also happy to announce I am moving to my own site, at http://lizbethgabriel.com/
Please come and visit. I will no longer update this blog, but will continue posting on my new site.
Thank you for your support so far, it means the world to me.
See you there!
(You can always contact me at lizbeth@lizbethgabriel.com)
Lizbeth muses
Saturday, 17 August 2019
Thursday, 30 May 2019
Sataniasis and masturbosity
Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/herbal-tea-cup-tea-relaxation-4232777/ |
As you probably know, my physical book is no more. My guess is that someone reported it as inappropriate and Creative Space took it down. It baffles me why an overly sensitive reader would buy it since I clearly state in the description they will detest it, but go figure. Conservative types are usually all over inappropriate material faster than flies gather around a corpse. Perhaps they hope to save the rest of us innocent fools from the clutches of diabolical smut by reading it first. Or perhaps they have a metric system and the appropriate gadgets that measure masturbosity and sataniasis in a book. If the gadget starts singing hosannas, it's safe to read. If the gadget screeches like a televangelist is having a colonoscopy sans anesthesia in a moving firetruck, toss that book into the fireplace and wash your eyes and hands with bleach. I mean, seriously now? Oh, I just don't know, and it makes no real difference. The book was no more, period, and Amazon refused to give me the exact details why. Grrr.
Now, much as I wanted to mail to the Amazon KDP headquarters a bomb which would contain hordes of live roaches covered in glitter, I did not. I triple-facepalmed, yelled, fumed, cursed like a sailor, complained to my friends... and pretty much left it at that. It is sad, but one has to choose their battles wisely. So Amazon KDP does not want to re-print my book ever. So what. I'll find another way, I said to myself.
I started looking for an affordable printing company and found one. I decided I'll sell my book through my blog. The ebook is still available on Amazon.
If someone wants to buy a physical copy, they will be buying
it from me. They may as well ask for a signed copy; I won't charge them
extra. 😉 Nowadays everyone has Paypal, and so do I. Paypal protects the buyer if something is lost or not as described. Problem solved... or not.
You see, what I just described is a process. It's not going to happen tomorrow. I hired a graphic designer to do a makeover of my physical book as soon as she has some time. While waiting for that to happen, it was a good opportunity to check the contents. After the graphic designer is done, I won't be able to change the file again, so the stories should be in top-notch condition prior to the makeover. I was pretty certain they were in good shape, as I had hired an editor before publishing it. Right?
(Bit of advice here: never, and I mean never, let your guard down when it comes to checking and re-checking before publishing something. You may have hired an editor. You may have hired an entire team of them. I don't care. Read the damn thing one more time before hitting the publish button. Do it for science. Do it for grandma. Just do it. You will thank me later).
So I re-read the contents, groaned, and decided to unpublish the book in order to make corrections. After three weekends of editing, reading, re-reading, re-editing, rubbing my sore eyes and wishing for death, the book was re-published. The new edition is better than the previous, and it can be found here. If you want to check for yourself what this whole fuss was about and why anyone would go as far as to censor it, be my guest. Reviews have been very good on both Goodreads and Amazon so far, and now the book is even better!
Off to feed the cats. Be good to yourselves and have a lovely weekend!
Saturday, 9 March 2019
The Bitch Song
Witch Song by Amber Argyle
(2 out of 5 stars)*
Okay, first things first. This is harmless, predictable
YA fun. If you want to invest in it to take your mind off things, do. The
writing is decent and the world not unlikable. Please ignore the rest of my
review.
Now, for readers that might be looking for a serious
plot and plausible character development, be advised:
1) The only way your heroine can have such low self-esteem
is if her mother kept her in a burlap sack and beat her with a stick every day.
A large, mean stick. Which is not the case, as her mother dotes on her.
2) Why on earth why would a dark witch wreck utter havoc
with the seasons and the planet in general? She has nothing to gain out of it,
and in the long run, it will be like shooting her own leg.
3) You do realise that in a battle between mortals and
witches the witches win every time, or they can just escape, right?
4) Nope, a girl with such low self-esteem does not
suddenly develop awesome leadership skills. Witches are not an exception to that.
5) A book can be complete even if there is no romance in
it. In fact, wonder of wonders, a book can be complete even if your heroine
does not get engaged to anyone at the end, or in any part of it.
6) Deus ex machina must be used sparingly and ideally,
not at all. If you write yourself into a corner and can't think of a way out,
squeeze dem brain cells.
7) Oh yes, it is a series. Naturally. Because every
single book has to belong to a series nowadays.
8) Personal pet peeve. Why name your main character
Brusenna? Because it has such a good ring to it? Let me think of words that
begin with "bru": Brutus, brutal, brouhaha, brunt, bruise, brusque,
brute... Melodic no doubt, and all those positive connotations. It was a
natural winner. Not.
YA books are my bane... Over and out.
*My star rating and what it means:
Zero stars: Why me?!? I do come across books that aren't really books, but brain damage in disguise.
For reasons you can all understand, I won't be publishing reviews on
them. I tend to become enraged and say things I later on regret.
One star: Meh... I didn't like it and won't be keeping it. It might be the book, or it might be me. I'll try to clarify in my review.
Two stars: Average/ Okay.
Either the kind of light/ undemanding book you read and don't remember
in a month, or suffering from flaws that prevented it from realising its
potential.
Three stars: Better than average. Good
moments, memorable characters and/ or plot, maybe good sense of
humour... Not to die for, but not feeling like you wasted your time and
money either.
Four stars: Wow, that was good! Definitely keeping it and checking to see what else I can buy from the same writer.
Five stars: Oh. My. Goodness. The
kind of book you buy as a gift to all your friends, praise to random
strangers on the bus, and re-read until the pages fall out and the
corners are no longer corners, but round.
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
The unholy trinity (grammar, syntax and semantics chaos)
The Sect by Courtney Lane
(1 out of 5 stars; it made me laugh)*
Sometimes I am
not happy with self-publishing. This is one of those times.
As a reader and
writer, I've noticed an interesting trend. Advertise a book as extreme, dark,
disturbing, and you get a lot of readers willing to overlook the fact that same
book is simplistic, implausible and littered with mistakes. The Sect is such a
book. What should have been a final draft on a PC waiting for an editor to kick
the living daylights out of it, is instead a published book, first part of a
trilogy. Let's see.
- Stereotypical main character.
The rich
innocent girl cliché has been used countless times, and it is both unoriginal
and unrealistic. Just because someone is rich, it does not mean they live in a
protective bubble. On the contrary, rich girls tend to be a lot more jaded than
girls of the same age and lower income. Why? Use your common sense. I am also
tired of seeing innocent girls being thrown in the shit. Where's the challenge
in that? Why not use someone who's smart and streetwise, and still gets duped?
I'd love to see a writer pulling that one off.
- Fuck logic because reasons.
The main
character's actions and decisions don't make sense. Her circumstances don't
make sense either. They just don't. However they make a convenient basis for
the plot, so let's give her the common sense of a cauliflower. For science!
- I ate every space after ellipsis because I was hungry.
Three dots are
followed by a space if they are in the middle of the sentence. Otherwise
the sentence looks as if it had to urgently hit the brakes and the words kind
of clustered together, victims of a tragic typing collision.
- Change of past tense narration to present in the middle of the book.
Please don't do
that. The Timelords will find you and hurt you.
- Purple prose, grammar and syntax mayhem.
Dear writers,
please don't use rare and unusual words and expressions if you aren't certain what
they mean of how to use them. Chances are you are using them wrong, and it's
not flattering or constructive (although it can be very funny).
I cherry-picked
some examples:
"Since the day after I began living on the street..."
"Since the day after I began living on the street..."
No. Just
no.
"My deferred
dreams..."
The word
deferred means postponed. Dreams aren't something that can be cancelled and
rescheduled, like a doctor's appointment.
"It nearly persuaded
me into breaking down."
You can't be
persuaded into breaking down. First of all, we persuade someone to agree to
something, and convince someone to do something. Also, if breaking down was a
matter of choice, then it would not happen. I think what the writer wanted to
communicate here is that the heroine, upon seeing her worried mother, almost
gave in and reappeared.
"With his
shirt tucked into his slacks, the imprint of his wallet was easily found."
An imprint is
what happens when you press a hard object onto something softer. It does not
stick out, it goes in. This sentence means that the guy had a wallet made from
titanium and it had left an impression on his butt. I'm also not sure how such
a large butt dimple can be possibly misplaced or lost, in order to be found. I
think what the writer is trying to say here is that the outline of this guy's
wallet was readily visible.
"His dark
brown eyes were trained to the window."
Train: to point
or aim, used with "on" or "at". It usually refers to a
camera, gun, etc. So much better to say his eyes were focused on the window,
isn't it? Ditch the impressive verb and you can both communicate what you want
to say and be correct. Unless this guy shoots laser beams out of his eyes and I
just didn't get it.
"I took in
the storefronts, some closed, some were on the brink of opening."
On the brink: point
or state very close to something unknown, dangerous or exciting. Unless the
storefronts belonged to science labs, brothels and drug dens, I don't see any
reason for the expression "on the brink" here.
"You need
to be taught a lesson on who among us is the omnipotent one."
Um, the Lord
Almighty if you are Christian? Or Allah if you are not? Or chocolate if you are
me?
"I shook my
head with a viscous motion."
Ye gods! This
one made my eyes pop out. The only way you can make a viscous (thick and
sticky) motion is if you aren't a human being, but a piece of liver sliding
down a wall. Or an amoeba. Or an offspring between a human and the Old ones.
Why not write "a hibiscus motion"? It's prettier and just as
nonsensical a choice. I mean, why not. Hibiscus motion. I like it.
Editing, guys.
Proper, merciless editing. I can't stress this enough. I really can't.
Did Not Finish
at 21% Come on, blame me for it.
*My star rating and what it means:
Zero stars: Why me?!? I do come across books that aren't really books, but brain damage in disguise.
For reasons you can all understand, I won't be publishing reviews on
them. I tend to become enraged and say things I later on regret.
One star: Meh... I didn't like it and won't be keeping it. It might be the book, or it might be me. I'll try to clarify in my review.
Two stars: Average/ Okay.
Either the kind of light/ undemanding book you read and don't remember
in a month, or suffering from flaws that prevented it from realising its
potential.
Three stars: Better than average. Good
moments, memorable characters and/ or plot, maybe good sense of
humour... Not to die for, but not feeling like you wasted your time and
money either.
Four stars: Wow, that was good! Definitely keeping it and checking to see what else I can buy from the same writer.
Five stars: Oh. My. Goodness. The
kind of book you buy as a gift to all your friends, praise to random
strangers on the bus, and re-read until the pages fall out and the
corners are no longer corners, but round.
Friday, 5 October 2018
Censorship at its most insidious
Back in 2014, when I started out my journey as a published writer, Amazon only published ebooks via its KDP service. KDP is short for Kindle Direct Publishing. If you wanted to also offer a physical version of your book, you had to use Amazon's subsidiary company, Create Space. So I published my book, the Theater of Dusk, using both companies. KDP published the ebook. Create Space got the physical book. Good so far?
I've paid for everything out of my pocket. By 'everything' I mean the cover, editing costs, the costs of organising giveaways and sending copies to the winners and so on and so forth. It was a large sum, and I don't regret spending it. Other people spend the same money on shoes and the latest iPhone. I wanted to publish my book. Each to their own. Don't judge me for my vices and I won't judge you for yours.
My book doesn't sell, and it comes as no surprise. Since Amazon will publish even the manuscript of a monkey with basic IT skills, the floodgates were opened. Everyone hoping to make a quick buck or having delusions of grandeur jumped on the bandwagon. The market was and still is buried under tens of thousands of cheap, similar, awful books. Standing out became impossible, unless there was a team of professionals behind your book who used their knowledge and some serious money to promote and advertise you. Since I don't have a big publishing house behind me, I had very little hope of getting noticed. In fact, I never stood a chance. This, by the way, does not mean I regret publishing my book. I will never regret that.
About a month ago I made updates to both versions of my book and re-uploaded the manuscripts. Create Space contacted me shortly afterwards and told me they will stop publishing my physical book because it violated their standards. I sent several emails asking them to point out the exact problem, because they wouldn't even tell me if it was a title, cover, description or content issue. My book just violated their standards, end of conversation. They refused to answer my emails and explain what the problem was. And of course the book remained out of print.
Create Space is currently in the process of becoming one with KDP. The physical book was recently transferred to the new company. As soon as that happened, it was blocked there too. Wowsers! So I contacted KDP asking for help to solve this issue, hoping they'd be more professional and give me information. I mean, unless you tell me what the problem is, how in the blue blazes am I supposed to solve it? I waited and waited and got the same vague reply. That my book violated their standards, and consequently it would not be published.
At the time of writing this entry, only my ebook was available. I am surprised they haven't taken that down too. Now, I would love to think I'm too shocking for the minds of common men, and my literary genius has scared them senseless and they cowered before my immense depravity. But believe me if I tell you I've both read and written some very extreme things, and my first book is nowhere near close. All things considered, it's rather mild, it has a ton of trigger warnings in the description, and even the erotic scenes are few and in between.
How hypocritical is it to sell books like 50 Shades as Amazon and refuse to sell what doesn't even qualify as porn?
How hypocritical is to sell mysteries and thrillers with excruciating details of gruesome murder and torture and refuse to print what can barely be labeled as violent?
I am disheartened, because it has been a non-stop uphill struggle for four years and it doesn't look like it's going to improve anytime soon. I also know why they won't tell me what the problem is. If they did, and I had money, I could have taken legal action. By keeping the details vague, I can't accuse them of something specific. So they get to do what they want, and I have no say in the matter. A meek, obedient, perfect little cog, keeping the Great Machine running.
A meek little cog with visions of cities burning, of angels mating with monsters and giving birth to abominations, of deepest darkness, the Night Without End. Of beauty inseparable from suffering, for all beauty leads to suffering. Of compassion, cruelty and despair, and everything forbidden and forgotten, desolate and alone, crying out under starless, empty skies.
Still want me to be your cog? Because I don't think the shoe fits.
I don't even know why I bother writing this entry, except for the fact I am too bitter to keep it inside. It's not going to change anything and I know it. But I'm sick to my heart by constant adversity. And my only outlet is, unsurprisingly, writing. I mean, who would have thought.
Monday, 4 June 2018
Romance novels and tinfoil hats
King of Wall Street by Louise Bay
(3.5 out of 5 stars)*
Three and a half stars.
I won this copy in a giveaway. I gained the favour of fickle
Lady Luck by expecting fish to grow legs and ride a bicycle before I win
anything in a giveaway. In retrospect, winning was inevitable. This has nothing
to do with the review I am about to write, except for the fact winning the book
allowed me to write the review in the first place. It’s like the chicken and
egg argument without vegans butting in. My opinions are my own, especially when
I wear my tinfoil hat. During other times I am not so sure. I sometimes wake up
in my kitchen with an opened can of cat food in my hand, surrounded by a horde
of screaming felines and no memory of how I got there. But I digress.
I enjoyed this book. It was fun, sexy, quirky, with a nice
sense of humour and very few/tiny mistakes. Overall it was a very enjoyable
read. If you want to relax your mind immersed in a modern-day romance story,
look no further. Don’t expect to cry tears of enlightenment over it or gape
with amazement at the sudden plot twists. It’s a very decent book for its
genre, better than many others I’ve read, more freshly written, funnier and sexier.
It’s also predictable for the same reasons most romance novels are predictable.
I mean, you know that these two are going to end up together, just don’t know
how they will get there and that’s why you read the book.
The heroine is admittedly a bit irritating. She makes the
mistake of mixing business with pleasure with every unpleasantness this
entails. Sometimes her reactions are immature, but since one of the basic plot
elements is her relationship with her father, it makes sense. Or at least it did
not bother me. I don’t expect heroes to be perfect. I only expect their actions
and decisions to make sense according to what we know about their past and
personalities. As such, she made perfect sense.
The only real complaint I have is the hero. Yes, yes, his
fourteen-year-old daughter is his precious snowflake and if she wears a short
skirt the firmament will tremble and the world will end, devoured by giant
locusts or something. He’s a tough, tough mother... cracker, and he’s the best
at what he is, the fear of lesser men, blah de blah. But. Although his daughter
is as innocent as the driven snow and her purity must be guarded till his last
breath, he sees the heroine as a magnificent a$$ and a perky pair of boobs that
accidentally have a face and a name. Oh, and guess what! That tough guy is
constantly bossed around by his female relatives. How this works, I honestly
don’t know. Then again, it’s a trend in many romance books I’ve come across.
Men at the pinnacle of success who are superior to other men, leaders of the
pack, fearless predators, yet their relationship with women is either to cower
in front of their female relatives or see orifices instead of people. I think
that, too, is a result of the alpha male role model romance writers are desperate
to incorporate in their books because it is the synonym of ‘successful’ and
‘interesting’ (=sales). Then they find themselves stranded with a caveman in a
suit and desperately try to humanise him, turning him into a walking
contradiction in the process, because they have to show he has a vulnerable
side that does not fit anywhere in the previous picture. Whoopsie.
Yes, yes, I know. I went and wrote a feminist analysis on a
romance book. Bite me, it’s really late. I am off to wear my tinfoil hat and
feed my cats. Despite my complaints, I am looking forward to reading more books
by the same author. I had lots of fun with this one.
*My star rating and what it means:
Zero stars: Why me?!? I do come across books that aren't really books, but brain damage in disguise.
For reasons you can all understand, I won't be publishing reviews on
them. I tend to become enraged and say things I later on regret.
One star: Meh... I didn't like it and won't be keeping it. It might be the book, or it might be me. I'll try to clarify in my review.
Two stars: Average/ Okay.
Either the kind of light/ undemanding book you read and don't remember
in a month, or suffering from flaws that prevented it from realising its
potential.
Three stars: Better than average. Good
moments, memorable characters and/ or plot, maybe good sense of
humour... Not to die for, but not feeling like you wasted your time and
money either.
Four stars: Wow, that was good! Definitely keeping it and checking to see what else I can buy from the same writer.
Five stars: Oh. My. Goodness. The
kind of book you buy as a gift to all your friends, praise to random
strangers on the bus, and re-read until the pages fall out and the
corners are no longer corners, but round.
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