Here I Fell Asleep: Books I Couldn't Finish

I have a bookmark, a little leather triangle that fits over the corner of a page, that says, "Here I Fell Asleep." It's from Florence (as in Firenze) and has pretty gold decorations stamped on the leather. There is something to be said about books that put me to sleep. I love reading at bedtime, for one thing. It works well for me as a transition from awake-time to dream-time. The sleep hygiene people say your bed should be used only for sleeping and sex, but I disagree. Bedtime reading is sacrosanct. But not reading Stephen King! Reading something interesting enough to be pleasurable and sedate enough to help me relax. Good bedtime books would make a nice blog topic, but that's for another time.

This is about books I didn't finish. Recently, I've been more diligent about posting review of books I liked and it just occurred to me that it's as important to look at books that didn't work for me...and why.

Author Interview: Samaire Wynne

I recently had a chance to chat with Samaire Wynne, the author of the "Meridian Pack" series, the first volume of which, Awakening Fae: Fated Mates, I reviewed here.

 

Deborah J. Ross: Tell us a little about yourself.  How did you come to be a writer?  

Samaire Wynne: Well, I have loved books and reading since I was a very young child. Wanting to create stories and books came naturally from that.

 

DJR: What inspired your book?  

SW: I love urban fantasy and have read many wolf-shifter books, and I thought I’d try my hand at that genre. I thought I would be taking a break from writing about fae creatures, but they crept into my story anyway!

 

DJR: What authors have most influenced your writing?  What about them do you find inspiring?   

SW: Madeleine L’Engle, Walter Farley, Susan Cooper, and Neil Gaiman have influenced me the most. They write about utterly fantastical places and characters, and I loved getting lost in their stories. They taught me how to write.

 

DJR: Why do you write what you do, and how does your work differ from others in your genre?  

SW:  I love writing fantasy: It’s my favorite genre. I write about characters that my readers end up caring deeply about, especially when the characters find a family of friends. “Found Family” is the theme running through every book I’ve written. As to how my work differs from others in the Urban Fantasy genre, I am not sure. There are some really fantastic writers and storytellers out there creating some amazing books. I hope I stand out to readers. I love world-building and character backstories, and I love creating stories. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

DJR: How does your writing process work?  

SW: To begin a new book, I always write a detailed outline. A typical 100,000-word book will have an outline at least five to seven pages long detailing character quirks, motivations, and backgrounds, and outlining the entire story from start to finish. I write early in the morning. Most of the time, I use the Pomodoro Method and write in 25-minute sprints. I try to see how many words I can write during each session, and I usually get so involved with the story that I write well into the afternoon.

Book Review: A New Shapeshifter Novel from Samaire Wynne

 Awakening Fae: A Fated Mates ~ Wolf Shifter Magical Adventure (The Meridian Pack Book 1) by Samaire Wynne (Black Raven Books)

“It’s good to read outside one’s familiarity zone” is oft-quoted advice. Usually, it means to try something darker, grimmer, and grittier than usual. But when I’d had my fill of dark/grim/gritty/depressing tales about sociopaths I really didn’t care about, I happily agreed to take a look at Samaire Wynne’s new wolf shifter novel. I dove into it without preconceptions and soon found it to be not only romantic in the best sense but also delicately layered.

Cameron, a foster kid about to age out of the system, is thrown into the world beyond the mundane when a puppy falls from the sky. I know what I’d do—everything I could to save it! In Cameron’s case, although it takes her a while to realize how she’s done it, this involves reaching out with a magical talent she had no previous idea she possessed.

Despite being forced to grow up too quickly when faced with an uncertain future, Cameron is still half a child. She has some, but by no means all, of the skills she’ll need to survive in the outer world. She’s got the grades but not the money for college; her foster parents do their loving best but cannot afford to keep her once she passes the age cutoff. The author perfectly captured Cameron’s loneliness and insecurity about the future and transforms it into loving protectiveness. In bonding with the puppy, Cameron places the welfare of another before her own, an essential step in growing up.

As Cameron encounters the puppy’s wolf shifter pack and her first terrifying encounter with the Nightmare Fae that are now stalking her, she embarks upon a journey into a new world of reincarnating wolf shape-shifters and magic. Much of what she learns comes from the wolf shifter pack. She struggles to define and understand her place among them. Often, their unqualified acceptance of her is puzzling, as are the gaps in their explanations. Later, it’s revealed that the shifter pack recognizes Cameron as a rare, immensely powerful Moon Fae, which is why they treat her with reverence and take on the responsibility of her education. Like a reader faced with too much exposition, Cameron is handicapped in her ability to understand it all at once, but even more so to put together the new relationships with her changing abilities—and her rapidly evolving identity. Being a normal human teenager is difficult enough, not knowing who you’ll be or what you’ll feel from one day to the next (thank you, hormones!). Added to that, Cameron as a Moon Fae is changing—awakening, as the title indicates. As the story progresses, Cameron matures in her understanding of her new world and herself.

Underlying the supernatural elements and slow-burn romance is a beautifully rendered portrait of a family-of-the-heart, and I think this is what gives this story its emotional depth. As Cameron herself puts it:

Me, who had fleeting connections to a dozen foster parents; me, who had never had a real family; me, who had just two black trash bags to hold every last bit of my life and belongings when I moved from foster family to foster family. I had finally found a family that cared about me. And the monsters had risen up, camouflaged in the most devious, deceptive way, and had descended on us and ravaged them.

The world of the Meridian Pack is an interesting blend of wolf shifters, fae, reincarnation, fated mates, teenage sexuality, nightmare menaces, action, and rational discussion. The author draws a distinction between wolf shifters, shapeshifters who transform into the form of a large wolf, as opposed to werewolves (as in the Underworld movies) and which appear in Book 2 of The Meridian Pack series. One of the more fascinating aspects of wolf shifter lore is the rate of aging; handsome Asher appears to be in his 20s, a little older than Cameron, but is in fact only much younger, with predictable and sometimes humorous consequences.

Although there’s plenty of dramatic (and romantic) tension, Awakening Fae: A Fated Mates often has an almost cozy quality. There was plenty to keep me turning pages but not enough to compel me to stay up all night. As I was puzzling this over, I attended a webinar about what keeps readers engaged. One thing that stood out for me was the importance of how the author makes you feel. That is based in the consistency and reliability of the reading experience, conveyed through the implied contract between author and reader. The author says, in effect, “In exchange for your time (and your trust), I promise this kind of story.” Part of this offer is conveyed through authorial voice, but pacing, character development, and more subtle aspects of story-telling are just as important. In order to repay the reader’s trust, the author had better come through. Wynne’s strong, sure command of these elements means the reader can relax into the story journey, knowing that whatever the ups and downs of dramatic tension and plot twists, the reading experience will unfold as promised, consistent and true.

Fans of Wynne’s other urban fantasies will love this one. It’s also a great place to start, especially if wolf shifters, fae, and coming-of-age stories are your jam. It's available now here and on Kindle Unlimited.

Samaire Wynne is a Puerto Rican author of over 20 novels in various genres, including horror and urban fantasy. She is Editor in Chief of Black Raven Books. She has been writing professionally for over 11 years.

A longtime Californian, you can find her skulking about in southern Virginia. If you were to visit her at twilight, she might serve you flower tea or butter whiskey on her back deck. If she excused herself and strolled into the forest, you might be tempted to wander after her. Past a stream, you’d see a stone well at the edge of her property, and you might hear voices coming from deep inside.

If you were to trip and tumble down the embankment, you might be stolen away by faeries keen to offer you a cookie or a bit of mead in a flower cup.

And if you were to drink it, you’d awake to find that a hundred years had passed...

Next Monday, I'll be interviewing Samaire here on my blog. Don't miss it!

 

Short Book Reviews: The Haunted Forest Takes Revenge

 Small Angels, by Lauren Owen (Random House)

The charming English village on the edge of a forest, equally charmingly named Mockbeggar, looks peacefully bucolic on the surface. Even the ghost stories and legends seem quaint when told in the sunshine. And if some of the villagers take such tales seriously, that just adds to the allure. Or so Chloe thinks when she arrives at the place that Sam, her husband-to-be, grew up in, excited to plan her dream wedding in the tiny church called Small Angels. But for Kate, Sam’s sister, the church, Blanch Farm, and especially the woods hold the memories of darkness and terror. Chloe inadvertently awakens the terror that has lain quiet for most of a generation. The woods are no longer safe…and they never were. The Gonne family, who have pacified the phantoms of Mockbeggar, is dispersed and only Lucia—called “the bad child”—remains.

Through multiple narrators and time lines, the story moves forward to its increasingly dark climax while revealing the past events that created the looming disaster. At times, I didn’t like any of them, although I desperately wanted them to find a way through their living ghost story. Then end was both unexpected and deeply satisfying. I love stories where the conflict is resolved through compassion, understanding, and integrity. Small Angels delivered such an ending to perfection.

Auntie Deborah's Writing Advice, September 2023 Edition

 Auntie Deborah’s Writing Advice

 

 

What would you do if you found out that someone had stolen your idea for writing a book and published it under their name?

First of all, ideas can’t be copyrighted, but I must add—with emphasis—that there are vanishingly few original ideas. What makes a book uniquely yours is what you do with that idea. The vision and skill in execution that make it personal.

So what would I do? I’d cheer them on for having a great idea and for having gotten it in print. And then I’d write my own interpretation.

The best short story rejection I ever received was from a prestigious anthology. The editor loved my story but had just bought one on the same theme (mothers and cephalopods, although mine was with octopodes and the other with squid)—get this, from one of my dearest friends, a magnificent writer. Did I sulk? Did I mope? No, I celebrated her sale along with her! And then sold my story to another market.

In other words, be generous. If you do your work as a writer, this won’t be the only great idea you get.

 

 How can you tell if a book needs an editor or a proofreader?

 It does. Trust me on this. It doesn’t matter how brilliant the story is or how many books you’ve written. None of us can see our own flaws, whether they are grammar and typos or inconsistent, flat characters or plot holes you could drive a Sherman tank through. Or unintentionally offensive racial/sexist/ableist/etc. language. Every writer, for every project, needs that second pair of skilled, thoughtful eyes on the manuscript.

 

 How do I get a self-published book into libraries?

If your book is available in print, the best way is to use IngramSpark and pay for an ad. Libraries are very reluctant to order KDP (Amazon) print editions. Same for bookstores.

If your book is digital only, put it out through Draft2Digital (D2D), which distributes to many vendors, including a number that sell to libraries.

Submit review copies to Library Journal. Consider paying for an ad if your budget allows.

Now for the hard part: publicizing your book to libraries. Besides contacting local libraries, assemble a list of contact emails for purchasing librarians (there may be such a thing already, so do a web search). Write a dynamite pitch. Send out emails with ordering links.

 

 Is it better to title my chapters, or should I just stick to numbering them?

 There is no “better.” There are conventions that change with time. Do what you love. Just as titles vs numbers cannot sell a book, neither will they sink a sale. If your editor or publisher has a house style, they’ll tell you and then you can argue with them.

That said, as a reader I love chapter titles. As an author, I sometimes come up with brilliant titles but I haven’t managed to do so for an entire novel, so I default to numbers. One of these years, I’ll ditch consistency and mix and match them. Won’t that be fun!

 

Short Book Reviews: A. C. Wise Redeems Captain Hook

 Hooked, by A.C. Wise (Titan)

Once invited, always welcome.
Once invited, never free.

Neverland is not a safe place but not for the reasons given in the books and movies. It’s a poison in the blood, an addiction whose single taste changes a person forever. A long time ago, a malevolent eternal child snatched a young man from his English home and transformed him into an immortal villain: Captain Hook. Never able to win against Peter Pan and always at the mercy of the menacing crocodilian beast, Hook’s world has become one blood-soaked death after another. Then a slowly evolving relationship with his ship’s surgeon awakens memories of the man he used to be, a man capable of goodness, self-sacrifice, and even love. After discovering a door through the sky, Hook and his surgeon return to London, living in the shadows and always fearing the return of the beast and the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of his mind. On the eve of World War II, a murder throws Hook together with Wendy Darling and her grown daughter, and it’s only a matter of time before Neverland sinks its claws into them again.

The narrative style is intense, dark, and eminently accessible. Moving from one timeline to another, the story unfolds as a spiral, layering connected events, character journeys, and emotional resonances. I especially admired how the author offers understanding without excuses for Hook’s violent deeds. Like other survivors of horrendous abuse, Hook is still responsible for his actions. He is what Peter Pan made of him—the quintessential adversary. He is also what he then makes of the ashen dregs of the man he might have been.

I missed Wendy, Darling, A. C. Wise’s previous novel based on Peter Pan, but I never felt the lack. It’s the mark of a skillful writer to create a sequel (or several) that stand so solidly on their own, no previous experience is required. Instead, Hooked captured me so thoroughly, I’m ready to grab anything else I can find by the author.

 

Short Book Reviews: Thoughtful Sociological SF from Rachel Swirsky

January Fifteenth, by Rachel Swirsky (Tordotcom)

Rachel Swirsky is one of the most thoughtful, provocative writers in contemporary science fiction. Her work embodies the human experience with all its pathos and glory, without ever preaching or descending into hyperbole. In January Fifteenth, she begins with asking “What if…?” What if Universal Basic Income happened? Who would it help, and how? Which problems would it solve, and which make worse? And how many lives would be untouched, because some problems cannot be solved by money?

Instead of an exposition-laden diatribe, Swirsky takes us inside the lives of four very different women. With compassion but notably without judgment, she plays out their days before, the day of, and after the annual UBI payouts. 

Hannah is a middle-aged mother fleeing an abusive ex-spouse, an escape made possible by her monthly UBI. But “doing a geographic” cannot solve her well-founded fears of discovery, nor can it take the place of unexpected and effective help.

Janelle is a single, Black, struggling journalist wrestling with a rebellious, activist younger sister. Her life has become an unending drudge of barely making ends meet by interviewing strangers about UBI, even though her sister and—formerly—she herself opposed the policy.

Sarah, a pregnant teenager, a prisoner of a religious cult that practices child marriage, polygamy, and keeping women poor and ignorant, trudges to the UBI disbursement center. Her money will not buy her freedom, even if she could imagine such a thing, for it belongs her elderly husband.

Finally, Olivia parties with her wealthy, entitled college student friends, vying for who can spend their UBI in the most wasteful fashion. Her life is a parade of drug-induced visions, superficial relationships, and fear that her parents will find out she’s flunked out. On the surface, she is the most financially well-off character, yet by far the most enslaved.

January Fifteenth is science fiction at its best: stories that are challenging, accessible and, most of all, human. 

Recommended.