First off, I think I should offer a disclaimer. When I mention bad reviews in a post, it's not in an attempt to have readers tell me, "Oh, they're so wrong! You're such a good writer." I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't want anyone thinking I'm fishing for compliments. Bad reviews do serve a purpose. As I said before, I'm not an advocate of writing something different out of fan service, but sometimes, a negative review can help you look at things with different eyes. For example, in Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes (or, in Germany, Blutsbande 3: Asche zu Asche, which has a way cooler cover and also is on sale right now, so run out and buy it, frauleins and whatever you call dudes over there), there was apparently a lot of crying. Like, a lot. But for some reason, I never realized it when I was writing it. Seriously, that book read like every character was watching Sophie's Choice. While on their period. Especially Nathan. If I hadn't read those reviews, I would have never noticed, and I wouldn't have been able to excise all the wailing and gnashing of teeth that I did from book four. And yeah, I did remove crying from that one, despite how much is still in there.
I wonder if I was having some kind of episode when I wrote those.
Anyway, I'm still thinking of unlikeable characters. Comments from y'all indicate that you like characters who aren't "perfect." This, I can get behind. A character with no flaws is not someone I can root for (cue snickering Australians). But now I'm thinking, is it a character who never makes a bad choice that's the problem, or a character who makes the wrong choices and insists that they're right? Which one is worse? That's a "would you rather" for you... would you rather read a sickeningly perfect character, personality wise, who can admit when they're wrong, or a sickeningly perfect character who believes that everything is right, just so long as they're the one doing it?
In other news, I'm going to go ahead and spill about the as-yet-untitled vampire book that I'm doing for Mira. It is not, in any way, connect to Blood Ties. Okay, well, it's like Blood Ties's distant cousin. When I first wrote Blood Ties Book One: The Turning, it wasn't a "book one." It was just Blood Ties and it was a traditional, HEA romance, and my idea was to pull a Sherrilyn Kenyon and introduce new characters in every book who would get their own HEA stories, within a broader series. One of those stories is what is being released next, though not with a character you've met in the Blood Ties series, and not in that universe, at all. I'm going to switch up some of the vampire rules and junk. And put in less crying.
The story itself is about a vampire who likes being a vampire, thinks it's the best decision he's ever made, and has never really run into any hardships or anything because of being a vampire. He ends up trapped in a town that is being held captive by supernatural powers, and suddenly finds himself in a whole heap of trouble, trying to hide from them what he is and convincing them that he's not responsible for their misery just by virtue of being a nonhuman.
I'm excited about this project, because, like with the book that eventually became The Turning, I get to take an idea that was, for the most part, already written and completely rewrite it, from the ground up. I get to take the skeleton of the idea and put new skin on it, which is going to be a lot of fun, because I didn't necessarily like the way it was written the first time. I think it's going to be great, and I'll be happy to get it out of my head after six years of it being firmly lodged in there.
First off the 'crying' in Ashes to Ashes must not have been a big deal to me. As I remember it everything seemed plausible and in character. Maybe I need to reread it *shrug*
ReplyDeleteSecond, interesting question about character choices. Personally I'd rather read a story where the author stays true to the character. I may not always 'like' a character but if they are true to their personalities I can't fault them. I've been disappointed in the past by characters that do things so out of character I find myself wondering where it came from and why. Was the action, thought ect really necessary and why wasn't there any lead up to the change. Am I making sense?
Thirdly, haven't delved into Lightworld/Darkworld but will find time soon. Also looking forward to your new vamp book. Your characters haven't disappointed me they challenge the way I look at others.
This idea seems familiar. Is it set in Ohio?
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely rather read a "perfect" lead who admits when they've made a mistake than a lead who thinks everything they do is right just because they did it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, after reading Amy's response I also have to agree with her — if that obnoxious trait fits a character, it won't necessarily make me quit reading, although it will annoy me.
In Child of Darkness, for instance, Ayla gets pretty high handed several times and actually makes the assumption that what she's doing is the best because "I'm the queene" — scenes which are balanced a bit in a couple moments where she struggles with wondering whether her course of action really is a good one, which fits with the way she struggled with herself sometimes in Queene of Light as well.
It's funny you should mention the crying in Ashes to Ashes, cause I just finished re-reading all four books and realized something I didn't notice the first time, which is that Nathan is a crier. Even when he's not all out bawling he always seems to be teary eyed. I don't mind it really, after all he does have to deal with a lot of personal grief.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings us to the whole likable character issue. I agree with Amy and Katherine, I think consistency is most important thing because I can dislike a character but if I understand where they're coming from than it's all good. As the case with Carrie, I didn't always like her choices but I understood her motivations and appreciated her "self-insightfulness" so that overall she was a likable protagonist.
Anywhose, just wanted to chime in ;-) Can't wait to read your new vampire book! Now I'm off to read Child of Darkness, toodels!
They're talking about your Blood Ties series at Bitten by Books today. : )
ReplyDeletehi. i don't want to ruin anything for other readers, AND i'm sure you've had this question asked of you many times before, but is there any chance that you will continue the blood ties series?
ReplyDeletei need closure. so if you say no, i will be able to move on with our "relationship" gracefully. thank you.