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Amazon Antics

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sat October 18th, 2008, 11:56 pm

[quote=""cw gortner""]They certainly were more circumspect when I was learning to ride . . . I feel somewhat left out.[/quote]

I guess that would be called undressage.
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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Sun October 19th, 2008, 2:08 am

[quote=""Misfit""][ Besides, just because I pick up someone's book today and can't get into doesn't mean I might not love it to death a month or two or a year from now. Moods change and reading slumps do happen..[/quote]

That happens to me, too. I really couldn't get into Sharon Penman's Sunne in Splendor when I first bought it. I let it sit for over a year, then one day picked it up again. I loved it, couldn't put it down. Just goes to show, you never know.
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Sun October 19th, 2008, 3:38 am

[quote=""cw gortner""]That happens to me, too. I really couldn't get into Sharon Penman's Sunne in Splendor when I first bought it. I let it sit for over a year, then one day picked it up again. I loved it, couldn't put it down. Just goes to show, you never know.[/quote]

I've had that happen a few times. I try hard to be objective when I read and review, but there are a few topics that authors work into their books that will instantly turn me off.

I've had a terrible time reading PG's novels ever since Wideacre, and the incest theme. I've seen what incest really does in a family, and it's pretty damn ugly; either PG doesn't know what it can do, or just throws it in there to be controveserial and kick up the sales of her books. Pedophilia, yeah, that will nearly always cause me to toss a book onto the discards and move on. (I personally feel that pedophiles ought to be shot on sight, there's no curing them) Not to say that an author can't write that sort of thing, it's how it is handled and how good they are at telling the story.

If an writer can create a tale that captures my interest, then it doesn't matter too much on how precise the accuracy on the historical details are (altho' it does help). Same thing with nearly any other genre of fiction -- if they can get me to care about the characters and what happens to them, then I'm hooked. Not a lot of writers can really hit me in the gut, but I bless each and every one of them!

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sun October 19th, 2008, 2:34 pm

either PG doesn't know what it can do, or just throws it in there to be controveserial and kick up the sales of her books
At the risk of this thread getting cut off and put back onto the PG thread :) :p

The problem is is that it's not just in her books where she harps on the incest theme -- I know I've said this before but her forward to Seton's Devil Water really honed in on the overly close father/daughter relationship. I didn't pick up any incest between the two when I read it and I haven't heard anyone else who has read the book mention it either.

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Rowan
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Interest in HF: I love history, but it's boring in school. Historical fiction brings it alive for me.
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Post by Rowan » Sun October 19th, 2008, 9:29 pm

[quote=""Divia""]Well I do agree about the historical accuracy about a work. [/quote]

Yes, but there's more to writing historical fiction than just accuracy. You can be the greatest researcher in the world and have every bit of history spot on, but if you can't weave a good story, what's the point? It sounds like that's the only thing this woman thinks anyone should care about, but it's not.

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Sun October 19th, 2008, 9:41 pm

And I agree, to a point. If an author decides to throw out historical details and just weave their own story well then don't write historical fiction and write historical fantasy. I dont mind some leadway but when an author just gets things wrong I get my knickers in a knot.
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri October 24th, 2008, 12:31 pm

Well this is one author who just can't stop. He'd made some snarky comments on negative reviews last month and apologized when he was outed, yet he's started in again here. Some of his comments are now deleted but you can still get the gist of it. Love the excuse about someone else using his laptop.

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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Sat October 25th, 2008, 3:43 am

Fascinating. I bet T. Bell felt like an idiot when he got outed from his alias. Isn't it astonishing how quickly these little disagreements denigrate into flame throwing?
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Sat October 25th, 2008, 3:55 am

Well I suppose if one does aplogize they are trying to make things right again, but the damage is already done. Some may not care what he says now.
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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Sat October 25th, 2008, 4:13 am

Yes, but then he went onto another forum and got frisky again. Poor guy; though he's acting like a fool, I can tell he's genuinely freaked that his book isn't being loved as he thinks it should.

One more reason for authors to avoid amazon reader forums. Unless we're invited, it's really not the place to be lurking.
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

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