My Process

I was all set to start releasing my new Dark Fantasy series, CLAIMING KRINKAE, when I changed my mind to wait to finish writing book 2 for a rapid release. Then, I started writing books 3 and 4 and waited some more. And then, I went back and rewrote the front 30% of book 1. You’ve seen it. Claimed by Shadows had a cover reveal over a year ago…

Apparently, my process is to start something, get about 3/4 through a first draft, go away to another project, and repeat. I do, eventually, come back around to finishing, but sometimes a year or more goes by. I keep trying to rectify this by adding clear deadlines to my calendar, with realistic word count goals that will get me there. It has helped, but I’m still all around the multiverse with my focus.

Once a draft is finally completed, it gets put aside to marinate while I complete the other drafts I started. When those are finished (sometimes closER to finished, but not quite), I go back to edits on project 1, and around and around and around. This might not be so bad if I didn’t have nine projects working. Yes, nine. Five Krinkae novels, two Magic Fade books, the final book in Rishi’s Wish, and an unnamed novel I swear will be a standalone (no, I will not promise this as fact). And that’s not all of them. There are more stories traipsing for attention in my head, many with significant word counts started. These nine are just the ones I’m ‘focusing’ on. Yeah, focus is a word I need redefined. I know.

So, while 2022 had zero published books come from my little slice of reality, it looks like five will release this year.

Part of this focus problem was my indecision to publish my YA Fantasy traditionally. Deciding not to do that has brought that project back to the top of the pile. I’m super close to a published draft I’ve finally decided to title MAGIC FADE. Keep a lookout for that four-book series to start releasing this spring… (you can sign up to be an advanced reader and get it next month here).

I know we all want that final book of Rishi’s Wish to come out. Don’t worry, Dee will get her ending. I bit off more than I could chew with my Dark Fantasy Saga. It all started because I just wanted to see if I could write a romance novel. It is the largest money generator in the publishing world, and indie authors do super well publishing in that market. Of course, I’d want a piece of that. But I can’t do something simple. My idea of merging Warcraft with Prythian turned into a multiple-character saga whose surface story spans a hundred years. I won’t even mention all the side stories spawning organically from this adventure… Let’s just say the undertaking is a lot more than I planned for. Five books to start off the main attraction, with at least three to take it to the end. And because the characters’ stories are so closely tied, I had to ensure their overlapping paths were cohesive and correct. Hence, writing four books at once.

Through all this chaotic excitement of jumping universes, plotting has become a friend of mine. Do I still struggle with vomiting thousands of words I have to edit extensively because I just let my unconscious brain take over? Yes. Would plotting have sped up the writing process on all of these projects? Also, yes. Like so many things, the practice is in the doing. In my life, that’s how it works. And I think it is working. It’s been a few years, more than I wanted, to get all these ideas to pages and in your hands, but things happen in their time. I hope you’re half as excited about all these new books as I am!

Happy Reading!

CMM

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Donating = Loving

click to see why

Do you know??

I get that there are a lot of books out there. I’m currently looking at three lifetimes to finish my current book reading list, and there are still many years in my life left to add more. That doesn’t mean I should stop adding books. And like I’m not stopping, I feel you should keep looking to add to your library, as well. Especially if said books are very budget-friendly.

For example, Killing Game has just become permanently free on Amazon and is available for $0 across most platforms (including Nook). We Are Forever, the next book in the series, is only 99c, and about to be available on all platforms as well. Books 3 and 4 are locked into Amazon until April, but they are free to read on KU, or just $1.99 and $2.99 to buy. If you are one of the 30% not jacked into Amazon’s market, they’ll become available for you this summer.

Want a creepier, more suspenseful read? Ten-Zero-Nine tells of Dee’s origins for just $1.99 on all platforms.

So, why wait? Adding books to our libraries only shows how prolific and better than everyone we are.

Reflections on Reviewing Novels

Buried within this reflection on my reviewing practice is a review for the novella: The Curse of the Owl by Qatarina Wanders.

There’s this in-between where I often struggle with reviews. It’s important to me to maintain a steady level of integrity. I’ve lost a few fellow indie authors’ support by offering 3 stars instead of the 4-5 stars they seek. I think there’s some kind of unspoken agreement about that, but I just can’t abide it. Especially when giving 3 stars is already a reach. I want you to come here, see what I had to say about a book, decide to read it based on that saying, and trust I was honest. If you go into a book and find I over or under-stated, you won’t come back and see what I had to say.

I don’t know if readers don’t consider books rated under 4 stars. I will. Three stars to me means: good book, worth it. 4 stars is great, and 5 is couldn’t put it down, stuck in my head, changed my life kind of story. Sometimes I’m a little looser with the last, but all of this means 3 stars is still a good book. All that said, I understand that’s not a view everyone holds, so sometimes I go 4 if I’m hovering at 3+.

This is something that happened with my recent read. The Curse of the Owl starts with pages of info dumping. Paragraphs of explanation between single lines of dialogue. I recognize it because it’s a thing I’ve just learned not to do (in that, I have done it, and now recognize to not do it). It’s also a point I find with many indie authors doing it on their own (of which I am one. I don’t have the budget for legit editors, so I make do with reader feedback and numerous go-overs). My point: indie books are often published sans the final few edits. This doesn’t make them bad books. It definitely does not mean the stories aren’t good. It just means the ratings are always there, which doesn’t mean they’re not worth reading.

For The Curse of the Owl, I left this review:

This fast read is fun and interesting, with a unique take on the supernatural world I am curious to learn more about. With a pair of kick-butt protagonists, I found the stakes real and relatable. There is definitely enough here to turn into a full-length novel. While I found the front 40% a great heap of info dumping, the action sequences through the back half were exciting and page-turning. This novella seems a great set-up for the main series I have added to my TBR.

I understated and over-stated, just a little, all the things I said I wouldn’t to maintain a level of integrity. If I wasn’t reviewing this for a service, I would have put it down in the first few pages. That thought alone should warrant this short book unworthy of 4 stars, yet that is what I gave it. The ending did pick up. It was exciting. There were multiple cool action sequences. It’s a prequel to a series about the daughter and niece of the characters told here. Like so many indie books, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more. I wanted everything to get developed and told, not just washed over.

Happy Reading 🙂

CMM

My thoughts on Book Reviews

Book Reviews: How I Do It

A couple of years back, I started reviewing books but didn’t get very many posted, as I found it stressful. Most of the reading I do is from self-published, freshman, indie authors who rely on reviews to help get their books get read by a wider audience. Was my opinion worthy of influencing the career of a new author? Were my thoughts insightful enough to lead prospective readers down the right path?

I decided NO, and left reviews for others.

Yes, I tend to overthink things.

I’ve since decided to start this review thing again but feel the need to explain my point-of-view. Reading other reviews of those I’ve rated has left me feeling like maybe I’m on another planet. That is another reason I stopped posting my thoughts, but that’s just cowardly, so here goes another attempt…

First of all, I believe reviews are for readers. A review is to help someone decide whether or not they should spend their hard-earned money and invest their valuable time on a book. Reviews can truly be helpful for this. A review or two has helped me decide whether or not to buy a book. There’s even been a painfully negative review here and there that pushed me to read something when I felt the reviewer’s voice was overly harsh or seemed absurd to my point of view. This latter situation is why I stopped reviewing books myself, and, strangely enough, why I’ve decided to start reviewing again.

I think critiques and reviews are not the same thing.

I think many people believe negativity equates directly to intelligence – that finding the bad or interpreting something as inferior highlights a knowledge base above others. Inversely, if “we” like something “bad” it makes us stupid. I don’t like this. I must be too nice; not finding pleasure in saying anything that might hurt someone’s feelings. So much of it is in the approach; in the nature of the language used. I used to not post reviews under 3 stars. I stopped doing that, understanding after publishing my own books that the volume of rating matters as much as the level. Getting some 1 & 2 star reviews is healthy; a majority of them are a clue to reevaluate the writing. Still, I stay respectful and constructive, understanding throughout that my review expresses my opinion. My favorite book is someone else’s least favorite and thank god for that.

Many books I’ve really liked, despite feeling they could have been polished a bit before hitting the public eye, are worthy of reading. Depending on the kind of problems, that might mean I rate it 3 over 4 stars, though usually a 3 star comes from story problems. If I liked the book but thought it needed more development in some way, if I found myself skimming through large sections to get to the next part, the book will be 3 stars. If I forced myself to finish but couldn’t have cared less: 2 stars. 1 stars from me typically mean I DNF’d (did not finish).

5-star rating system

I continue to struggle with what to give 5-stars, versus 4-stars, versus 3. Part of me thinks a 5-star rating should be a rarity. 5-stars is the best, right? 5-stars means there’s very little, if any, room for improvement. 5-stars is for those favorite favorites.

Despite this argument with myself (still ongoing), I’ve started to toe the line. Inconsistenty equals problems. Reviews are to be helpful, not to prove my literary genius. This change of heart came after an author responded to a 3-star rating I gave alongside glowing comments. If reviews are to help convince others to read something I’m suggesting is worthy, maybe my star ratings should better reflect that.

Basically, after all this contemplation on how to best be fair to authors and their stories, I’ve decided on a compromise between my initial thoughts and my comparison of other reviewers. To reiterate, If I love a story, but genuinely think there should have been a little more development in a major case, it will get 4-stars. 5-stars go to those with very little missing. 3-stars will still signify a book worth reading but with some hiccups I couldn’t ignore.

–Goodreads’ 3 stars = ‘liked it’ while Amazon’s 3 stars = ‘it’s okay’. These are not the same thing to me. I think I tend to rate more in line with Goodreads, but because I think Amazon is more helpful to sales, I’ve been trying to gear my system to this.—

How, and Why, I Like A Story

Typically, why, and if, I like a book is based on emotion and gut. Even as I like “smart” stories and intelligently crafted characters, plots, and themes, my reviews are typically based off of my first response, emotional feelings rather than logical deductions and comparisons or deep study of nuance. If the book made me happy to read, I like it, even if I agree there may have been “better” ways the story might have been crafted, explained, structured, etc. In comparison to other reviews I’ve read, I’m definitely generous when it comes to structure, language usage, and engineering problems that most people are hung up on. One reason for this, I think, is that I read very fast, so tend to skim over “problems” that others, literally, trip over (like minor spelling and grammar errors). Secondly, I’m interested in the story. Crafting is difficult, and while I can see the argument that if you can’t craft or hire an editor, you shouldn’t publish, sometimes a story just wants to be told and we’re too impatient to figure out how to circumvent the world of capitalism needed to learn craftsmanship. If your story is engaging and real enough for me to slip down your rabbit hole, I’ll like your book, even if I can see where an editor, or a critical thinker, might have helped you immensely.

Lastly, spoilers are not necessary for a review. I’m not sure why that’s a thing. There is a book blurb for that. An essay is something that explains detailed points, critiques, argues, and analyzes. That’s not a review. The point is to explain why someone else should read the book without making it unnecessary for them to read it.

If you don’t like how I present my reviews, well, I have nothing to say about that. I like books. Books make me happy, and sometimes I like to tell people I liked a thing so maybe they’ll find the same joy. If you don’t like a thing that I liked, that’s okay. If there’s a How to Review like a Reviewer so You’ll No Longer be a Poser Reviewer memo, I’ll gladly take a look at that.

I’ll review your book! Email me a pdf with a release date (so I can give myself a deadline): cindy_martens@ymail.com

Happy Reading! 🙂

CMM

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TEN-ZERO-NINE

TEN-ZERO-NINE is the psychological thriller sequel to my Rishi’s Wish series. A short, fast-paced read that will leave you biting your nails and afraid to turn the lights off. Get it here:

Some things you can’t take back.

All Steve wanted was to find the balls to tell the girl of his dreams how he felt.

And he finally had.
Today was that day. A day engineered with no distractions. A day for just the two of them. No roommates. No cowardice. No second-guessing that the friendship they’d built over the last year wasn’t more.
Today was the day his hellish existence would move into the light.

Snatched away by four simple words, Steve’s day turns dark. From one second to the next, taking his future in his hands turns to a speeding train bearing down on him.

Each day more torturous than the last, he’s forced to watch his love slumber through a dangerous experimental procedure. A procedure that has never worked. A procedure that turns her from his friend into subject 10-0-9.

When she wakes, when she finally comes to, the first to survive, Steve wants to take it all back. The nightmare he’d been living was nothing compared to this.