Thirteen things that sometimes irk me in books I’m reading
1. An author who writes series books that can’t stand alone or has continuing story lines, but then never writes the follow-up book.
2. Made up words in fantasies that are never explained.
3. Variations of the name Lucian, Lucan, Damon, Damien, and Ned. lol, sorry, couldn’t resist that last one. Now I have Nancy Drew in my head, though.
4. Introducing plot threads but never tying them up.
5. Unsympathetic characters.
6. The Big Misunderstanding (yuck, yuck, yuck, phooey).
7. Previously smart heroines who suddenly do the dumbest thing ever or act in a completely irrational manner.
8. A book that reads like a translation dictionary (this goes with #2). If you use foreign or made up words, don’t write it like: I’m giving him this, shala, key, to use. I like a little subtlety in my writing even if I want things explained so I can visualize the world.
9. 10,000 characters to keep track of and all of them with unpronouncable names. Eek.
10. Secret babies (and yet, I’ve edited two books that have “secret babies” in them).
11. A plot device used but not treated as a serious issue (death of a loved one, divorce, break-up of a marriage, rape, murder, etc). The characters seem to move on and recover in a day or two.
12. Obscure words used in an unfamiliar context. I don’t mind big words (I’m an editor, after all, I like words) but sometimes it’s nice to not have to pull out the dictionary to figure out the meaning of a sentence. If a more familiar word will work, why not use it?
13. Too many pop culture references, cliches, idioms or the like. It assumes that those things mean the same to everyone–or that everyone has grown up with/been surrounded by the uses of them. They don’t and they haven’t.
14. Sex to sell a book, not because the book demands it. I don’t want a random sex scene, please. I want a sex scene that belongs there. On the run from terrorists who are five minutes behind you in a forest and you drop into a pit filled with poisonous snakes? Please don’t stop to have a quickie–or even test how wet/hot/hard he/she is. Get the hell out of there!
:exactly:
Though I supposed #3 means I can’t name a hero Lucas and expect you to like him. :bat:
I’m writing my next Samhain book in Klingon
:giggle:
What drives me nuts is when an author starts a sentence talking about one thing and by the end of it they are onto a different topic.
“The rider was approached the town from the north road that was covered in rocks, the brown ones that are normally found in the south, but must have been carried here to improve the quality of the road.” WHAT?
I’m writing a dragon story for your antho in a made-up language–never mind that I’ve yet to make it up. And I’ll include a lot of weird names and lots of gratuitous sex. I’ll lower myself that far just for you.
I totally agree on Lucan/Lucian and any variation thereof. I’m reading Lara’s book at the moment, and when I found out that was the hero’s name, I was
Then I got over it.
I don’t think Lucas is the same as Lucian, so you’re safe
Yes, May, I felt the same way. Good thing for her the story rocks
Note to self: Ix-nay on the Ucian-Lay…
Great list, Angie! For myself, I’d add, dialogue that sounds exactly the same from character to character. Nothing will send a book against a wall quicker than having everyone, from the hero to the heroine’s eighty-year-old aunt, talk and think in the same speech patterns (especially if they all have ADD and jump from topic to topic in paragraph-length monologues. All the time.).
These are good things to know. :} {I am guilty of #3-but Never Again! lol}
Secret babies bother me but so does the whole, we had one night of unsafe sex and now I’m pregnant but I can’t tell him because he’d never love me, or it’s not his problem, etc. It almost ruined a book I just read, luckily the rest of the book rocked and I chose to forgive that unneeded plot line.
I had to change a Lucian recently to another name. He was French though! Sheesh. (Reminder to self, change name of hero in short I’m working on for Angie, snort)
Oh and Jaci, I bet you people would be all over a romance written in Klingon.
I’m with you on secret babies and random placement sex scenes. I lurve to read sex in romances and I love to write it but I want some context, please.
Thanks for telling me what not to do if I submit to Samhain (not that I’d planned on doing them).
lol, well, I’m only one editor. Other editors might hate different things, things I don’t mind at all. Sometimes it truly is about getting your work in front of the right editor.
Hmmm.
Never had a hero named Damon or Lucian or any variation of the above.
I have nightmares about #4. It’s my big fear. :chicken:
LOL – #2 for some reason immediately brought to mind The Pompitous of Love.
And I recently did a partial post on The Big Misunderstanding and how much I really dislike it, too. So with you on that!
*taking notes* [img]http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v319/tankexmortis/Smileys/th__artistbloc_by_sml_e.gif[/img]
That’s it! I am going to write the best epic romantic novel featuring Lucian who had a xxx-rated sex scene during a shoot out in the beginning of the book with X’an-j’rul who hoarded their secret baby because they had a big misunderstanding.
I’ll bet you’ll love it
:boff: