Do our blog writing skills improve? And some KingKiller Chronicles segues

There's a long winded built-up to this question, so bear with me.
I was describing to my colleague at work how I spent most of this weekend sleepless due to a) Baby and b) Reading Patrick Rothfuss.

Now, I've read both of Patrick Rothfuss' books before (The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear). I've written about The Wise Man's Fear . 
If you are new to these names, they are books 1 and 2 of the KingKiller Chronicles. These books cover Day One and Day Two of the narrative, and Day three (or Book 3: The Doors of Stone) ought to be released in the next couple of years.*


(Aside) This wait for the third book is quite exciting, actually! There is quite an enthusiastic set of  Tor readers over at Jo Walton's re-read on Tor.com. Lots of theories being discussed!

* We dare not name a date, for Rothfuss is infamous for missing publishing deadlines. Current Goodreads site for Day Three in the Chronicles shows nothing, and it was reporting 2020 at one point to throw cold water on us eager readers.
P.S. Mr. Rothfuss' hilarious take on the goodreads readers who like to "review" books before they are out - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/327213074

Yet I really can't do the book justice. Trying to make a summary of the plot or storyline is an exercise in futility, as I realized when explaining to my colleague why he should read Rothfuss. It also seems like I've had this problem before - When I last wrote about The Wise Man's Fear , I actually didn't do a full review! Just trying to goad people into reading does count though, right?

This brings me to my point - do our blogging skills improve over the months and years we blog? I know we all HOPE they do, but without critical assessments, does pure practice result in improved writing skills?

Summer Releases I'm into currently

A friend recently asked me what I'm reading next, and I was stumped! I couldn't articulate (without sounding REALLY weird) the many books I'm currently in the middle of/anticipating starting:

• The Monkeewrench books by Mother-Daughter duo P.J. Tracy has a new one out: Off the Grid. I usually find these books chilling and gripping but this time it hasn't grabbed me and made me see killers around the corners.
• I'm re-reading Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive #1: The Way of Kings. The first time I read it, I was just speed reading bits to get back to my one favorite character (Kaladin) and I don't really remember a good half of the book
• I will probably read one or two of the Wheel of Time books again, to set me up for the Jan 2013 release of WOT #14 (the final book)
• Going through Terry Pratchett's The World of Poo in bits, and imagining reading that aloud to  my son when he is 3
• A friend passed on the Phillippa Gregory books a long time ago, PLUS I just borrowed one from the library, so I really ought to read that next

What you reading now? And what is next?

Armchair BEA - The Last Day and one more post

The last day of BEA has an intriguing question for us armchair BEA followers: "Ask the Experts"

Ask The Experts. In your post, ask the visitors to your blog for blogging advice.

My questions:
1. How do you avoid any blogging "slumps", where you stay away from your blog for a week or two on end?
2. Do you find, like I do, that weekends are slow for views/people reading your posts?

My tip:
Get Cross-blog audiences! Guest post, or interview on other blogs to help promote yours.
I feature a blogger interview every month here. 
Would you like to be featured here?
 
Read my first Armchair BEA post here 
Read sample author interviews or blogger spotlights here.

Jaipur Lit Fest - Banned and broken

The fracas over the Jaipur lit fest has sort of died down now, so perhaps it is time for a look at what actually happened?
If you don't know what I'm talking about - Jaipur is in India, a town known for a rich, majestic heritage in the arts. Each year, it hosts the largest lit fest in South Asia.
The annual Literature festival held there was in a storm of controversy this year.


Couple of anticipated highlights was Oprah's hour-long interview and visit at the festival, and Salman Rushdie's presence.


While Oprah's interview was truly interesting, Mr. Rushdie's visit was not permitted due to a few fanatics who (possibly never having read his books) protested loudly! 
His book, Satanic Verses, has been banned in India for a few decades - again, religious views triumphed over literature.


Result? No talk, no telecast and no freedom of speech.
Some 4-5 authors read out sections of his book in protest, but that was also not encouraged by the fest's organizers.


A sad show, all around.


More info:
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/26/indian-media-reacts-to-rushdie-row/
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/24/security-fears-quashed-rushdies-jaipur-video/

Holmes for the Holidays

The recent Holiday vacation season gives me a week off, and I've just spent a large chunk of it reading Laurie King's Sherlock Holmesian mysteries. I'm still on the first one, and it is pretty interesting!
This Holmes reading time coincides with the recent spate of promotions around the newest Sherlock Holmes movie by Guy Ritchie...AND far more interestingly, the trailer for the BBC Holmes is out - I present to you: Steven Moffat's brilliantly rendered Sherlock series (part 2) beginning 01.01.12

P.S. This is my first embedded video on this blog, so do let me know if it does/doesn't work in your browser. We loved watching the first series (split into three parts as it airs on BBC). Each part corresponds to one of the Sherlock mysteries from the Arthur Conan Doyle books. Very different from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock, and a "must see"!

SFF = Science fiction & fantasy

The weirdest conversation I've been in recently started with me talking about my love for SFF novels, and then degenerated into "Oh, SFF stands for...".


Really, how do you describe fantasy to someone who seems to think it is only Twilight or Harry Potter?
Sounds juvenile any way you do it.
*sigh* This is how I felt: (see picture ->)


Help?

P.S. I do read YA too, and Harry Potter is awesome. I'm not saying that I think YA is juvenile, just that Fantasy does include other styles of writing too.

Missing: One McCaffrey

The recent passing (21st Nov,2011) of Anne McCaffrey will affect all SFF readers everywhere. While she isn't my "all time fav" author, her books have been part of my reading repetoire, and I'm sure, part of many other scifi-fantasy lovers' reading lists.


Her DragonRiders of Pern stories defined dragons in books, and set the bar for other authors to beat. While reading her books now might feel a little trite, it is only because she was the first to write in that style, and has been inspiration for many other popular writers.
A good place to start would be the Harper Hall books.


Not just Pern: If you haven't read any non-Pern McCaffrey books, may I suggest the Acorna series, or the Planet Raiders series, or the Crystal universe. Yes, she was a prolific writer with a long career!


Need inspiration?
Here are some of the best covers, in a Tor post written by the cover illustrator himself, Michael Whelan: 
The Inspiration of Anne McCaffrey (Tor.com)

Where do you go for reading suggestions and inspiration?

Just as writers are familiar with writer's block, all readers go through dry periods of no reading  - does this sound familiar to you?

When your favorite author's books are all read, when a long fantasy series is completed, when your library just seems to far away to go to, or when you don't have that ONE great book to read, what do you do?
Do you put away reading for a while and turn to something else; focus on work or a hobby for that evening or week, maybe?

I end up randomly browsing news sites, or Amazon, looking for new authors or books. Still, I've recently found NetGalley to be a fount of inspiration! Just that thrill of reading books prior to their release is enough to get me started up again.
Another good source of recommendations and ideas are the lists at GoodReads, usually if you pick a genre, you are bound to get author suggestions. LibraryThing also works for a lot of people. And of course, the tried and true method of asking a friend IRL!
Where do YOU go for that reading itch?

Is the hardback book dying?

The time between hardbacks and paperbacks is progressively decreasing, and ebooks now release at almost the same time as the hardback. My recent purchase of Kate Daniel's latest by Ilona Andrews was the same day as the hardback, but I got it at 1/2 the cost.
We know more buyers are doing this, as Amazon recently reported that ebooks were outselling hardbacks by 143 to 100 (Publishers Weekly).
Ebooks also accelerate the paperbacks release dates - several publishing houses now release paperbacks within 6 months of the hardback release. 

“I really do think that e-books are part of the reason for this trend of hurrying up that paperback,” said Carrie Kania, the publisher of Harper Perennial and It Books. “You don’t have to wait for a lower-priced version of that book now. I think we need to move more quickly in general.”

Traditionally, the gap between hardback and paperback releases was 1 year.
Still, I would rather wait the three-odd months to the ebook release, and perhaps get it from my library, unless the author was a favorite of mine (Terry Pratchett, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Ilona Andrews among others).
Lots of interesting books have recently released directly as trade of mass market paperbacks - Scott Westerley's Uglies series did crazy good business in this format, perhaps justifying the no-hardback decision taken. Does this mean we are seeing a trend where the end lies in no hardback releases? 
Who knows!

Further reading? (nytimes)

Simon and Schuster ebook sales now 15% of revenues

The recent Q2 results for CBS corp included the Simon and Schuster results too, under the Publishing section. While overall revenues went down in the past year, the ebook and digital sales grew and more than doubled in revenue. Which means that those sales now count for 15% of their business!

I'm excited - I hope this translates into easier ebook sales in multiple countries.
Wouldn't it also be great if ebooks are released on the same day as the hardback release, but priced lower? I know that cannibalization of hardback sales by ebooks is a real and prevalent issue but Publishers ought to start figuring out ways to combat this aside from Price. 

"Publishing revenues for the second quarter of 2011 decreased 3% to $183 million from $189 million for the same prior-year period, as strong growth in the sale of more profitable digital content was offset by lower print book sales.  Digital content revenues for the second quarter of 2011 more than doubled last year's second quarter digital sales and represented 15% of Publishing's total revenues.  Best-selling titles in the second quarter included The Greater Journey by David McCullough and The Original Argument by Glenn Beck."

Read the entire results here (cbsatlanta.com)

Review: From Here to Absurdity

From Here to Absurdity: Pink Flamingos, Vibrators, and other Comical Events by David Hunter

Pages: 307

Genre: Non-Fiction/bio. 

Grade: A

Why I picked it up: The Galley was sent to me for review by the publisher, and I enjoyed the short blurb that was sent as a teaser.

Even though I RARELY read non-fiction, these stories were funny, thought-provoking and completely held my attention.

The Story: Written in a series of short stories, each based around a facet of the author's life.

His military basic training sojourn was described realistically, and thoroughly entertained.

Then I saw he took Ben Franklin and examined his human side, his foibles, his indulgences, and described a well-researched idea.

Some excellent historical research is a hallmark of this book, and made me think. Assumptions I'd had around Thomas Edison, the Pope, and legends that surround some people were questioned and firmly thrown out. The author talks about the Church, red states, the thin line walked by cops, tidbits from his experience as an officer and cop, surgery, love/hate campaigns, and the secret of writing!

This is no cookie-cutter "It" book - there is completely original writing, and great reading material to be had!

I'd recommend this to: Readers bored of run-of-the-mill books and want something fresh and thought-provoking.
Meet the author at:  "David Hunter in his Own Write"  http://radicalorthodox.blogspot.com/

Poll: Shorter Posts vs. Longer

The recent reviews I've seen online tend to be really long, and I know I tend to go that way and write longer reviews sometimes.
Some of the best replies and most read posts I have up are quite short:
One idea, one quick review, one thought.
Do reviews always have to be long? 
Should I add on to my post schedule, one short review a week and one short idea-post every other week?
But what do you prefer to read: Long posts, long reviews or shorter ones?

Teaser Tuesday #19 - Black Powder War by Naomi

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.

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 From Page 94:

"When  you are very hungry, my dear, it is hard for your ambitions to rise above your belly", Laurence said.

 
Black Powder War is the third book in the Tremeraire series, which is about the Napoleonic wars (an alternate history with Dragons). A lot of historical research in this book makes for intelligent, but slow reading. I find it easier to read in spurts, between other novels.

ANNOUNCEMENT: E-Volving Books launches the Blogger Spotlight showcasing a blogger and their ereaders! 

We begin with Charlotte at Lit Addicted Brit in the post below. Mail me at

  deepalipratap@gmail.com for your spotlight!

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Don't forget to enter below for a chance at winning a Kindle DX!
E-volution? By Author Scott Nicholson & Kindle Giveaway

Fantastic thought for the day

The very nice site over at BookishGal had this super post on book-related tidbits - unusual bookcases in this case. She also linked to this poster , which is a brilliant thought for the day.

Credits - created by  http://9gag.com/gag/6295, and linked to here at
http://subnetwork.posterous.com/read-more-books-than-blogs, and re-promoted at the Yay! Everyday site
Phew! Hope I got all the credits right..

Do you read more books than blogs? comment away!