I’ve been finding lately that I connect most with characters who have some trait or characteristic that they hide from just about everyone, until they really need it to connect with their HEA.  But in real life, I find myself gravitating to people who are more WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).

 Why, though? 

A couple of weeks ago bookwyrms got a throwback to my blog post about book hangovers.  And that post created some chatter about audiobook hangovers. And now you’re all getting the brain squirrel ramblings about the thoughts that invaded my memory after listening to a slew of amazing audiobooks in the last couple of months.

So after that lovely cliffhanger I left you on last Monday, I thought we’d pick things back up with Claire Wilder’s responses.

cue wavy TV screen image Last time on The BBW Blog we learned that both Claire Wilder and Katherine L Evans opted to unpublish books they had already published to rewrite them then republish them.

…Claire Wilder rewrote her Jewel Lakes series to change the point of view (POV) of her first 3 books (originally written in 3rd person) to match the POV of the last books in the series (written in 1st person)…

Now, I had originally planned to do this as one long blog post, but I was finding my thoughts getting muddied by going back and forth between the replies. So, faithful Bookwyrms, you got 2 separate blog posts. Today, you get to hear from Claire Wilder, whose Jewel Lakes series is complete in its rewrite and available for immediate binging!

1-star reviews are inevitable. And it's easy to feed into the energy they bring out in avid readers and fandoms. But here's my advice: Don't Feed the Trolls! Instead, feed the authors! Seriously! Want some ideas on why and how you can and should support an author when they get that 1-star review? I've got a few thoughts. Read the full post for the full picture.

What happens when an author decides a book or series they wrote needs a facelift? They do a rewrite and rerelease. But that process is not without its pitfalls. So what motivates a published author to unpublish a book, rewrite it, and rerelease it into the wilds of Booklandia? Read this latest blog post for some insight into the rewriting author's mind.

Do you RH your books (RH= reverse harem: 1 reader, many books at once)? Or are you a monogamous reader (1 book and only one book at a time)? … So, it’s been a while since I had to compartmentalize my reading (read- share my time with more than one book boyfriend outside of an actual RH book), and surprisingly it was not as hard as I feared it would be. I had been avoiding reading more than 1 thing at a time because I was afraid I would lose the plot line, emotional intensity, or character details if I spread my attention out over too many stories. But there was no way to accomplish what I needed to do without diving into all the things at once….

I love the concept of “soon” or “later” things, rather than “never” things. How many of us daydream about doing something and then immediately dismiss it because it’s too daydreamy? We escape into books where we eagerly suspend reality and embrace the chances others take on finding and owning their dreams. Then we close the book and return to a life of the everyday. But do we somewhere in our minds hold onto that belief that when the right opportunity presents itself, the right motivation strikes, or the right person pushes us into the right pathway we’ll seize that dream and run with it?

I’ve never been a newspaper fan, but I definitely reach for my phone every morning to check in on Facebook and Instagram. And even though I don’t catch flack from my family for it, I know a lot of people who do.  I have to wonder if they would catch the same crap if they were reaching for a newspaper. Or the remote to turn on the TV news. Is it the phone aspect of it? Or the social media aspect that riles people up?

Kindle or Paperback

It’s a common discussion in online romance reader and author groups. Authors go to great lengths to create beautiful covers only to have them hidden behind a Kindle cover. Some authors have shied away from the bare-chested mancandy covers in favor of illustrated covers, more artistic photographic covers, and even discreet covers for readers who still prefer to read a paperback over a digital book, but don’t want to broadcast that they’re reading a steamy romance novel… . Why are romance readers so hung up on hiding what we’re reading?

So now the question becomes, how does someone move forward to leave IS behind and really OWN their talents, abilities, and successes?  I’m not even asking for a friend. Because I need to know this. Is it even possible to completely eliminate IS from our lives? Or is a little IS actually a good thing? A way to stay humble? A way to accept that there’s no such thing as perfection?  I’m not sure about that. But I do know I am really looking forward to the day when I feel completely comfortable in all of my endeavors. Maybe turning 50 this week will take me a step closer to that.  I’ll let you know.

… Well, now I had a decision to make: was I really going to let this element of publishing distract me from the story I was reading? And enjoying! And with the knowledge I gained the decision was easy: I decided on “no.”  No, those mistakes were not going to ruin all of the joy I was gaining from reading those books…

Originally published 7/21/21

Just in case you’re a newer reader, I’m republishing this blog post here. It was my first entry when I started blogging, and is still available on my old website, but I wanted to repost it here since I reference it in my 2/28/22 post.

Happy reading, friends

One of my greatest pleasures in life is reliving a novel.  Yes, I know technically the term is rereading, but if you’re not living through what you’re reading, you’re doing it wrong.  I love immersing myself in a book for the first time, but going back and reconnecting with the characters, the setting, the story,… that’s magical…

I know what you’re thinking: here comes another lovey dovey, all is right in the world when you’re in love, love is the best thing ever, Valentine’s Day blog post. And you would be wrong. Yes, February 14 is recognized the world over with candy hearts, chocolates, roses, and romantic gestures big and small. But what if I told you that you don’t have to wait for a specific day every year to show or tell someone you love them? What if I told you that you could do that any freaking day you wanted?

Oh, there is so much to unpack here. Names define who we are. They can be symbolic of a time or place, representative of a person passed on, loved or hated, changed or held onto with vigor. But how much do they come into play when you’re reading a novel?

As an English teacher, I always counseled students to write and rewrite as often as they wanted, but at some point your piece has to be ready for publication. You have to let it go, put it out there, and then move forward. Is reworking a published novel a smack to the moving-on element? No, I don’t think so. There’s a difference between obsessing over something to the point of preventing it from being published, and recognizing your personal, professional, and artistic growth and wanting to bring something up to the next level based on the knowledge and experience you’ve gained on your journey.

It started as an innocent question in an author’s group: 

“Can I claim Niko? Has anybody licked him yet? Lol.”

And the game was on!

It’s not unusual to get attached to fictional characters. Well, at least it isn’t if you’re a true bookwyrm. But, there’s attachment, and then there’s the territorial I-licked-it-so-it’s-mine attachment found amongst some groups of bookwyrms when a specific character seriously claims your heart.  And in one group it’s become a beautiful running dialog of which characters belong to which group members.

There’s definitely something to be said about the fantasy aspect of romance novels.  The perfect man factor is one of them. The chiseled abs, rippling pecs, perfect hair, devastating smolder, and don’t even get me started on the arm porn and Adonis V.  But there’s also something really beautiful in the fantasy of having what you’re reading resemble some aspect of your life. 

How does a person who is used to doing all the things go from that to doing none of the things?  We don’t. We just find other things to do.  Since all the things I could do involved sitting on my ass and being a couchslug, I threw myself into more reading, more writing, getting back to knitting, and watching endless hours of TikTok videos.  Some were fun, inspirational, transformational videos, but let’s face it, that’s not why a romance reader gets on TT.  Nope. It’s really not.  We get on it for the books.  And the mancandy.  The best vids incorporate both!  And as I sat there and watched video after video I got this crazy idea that I could totally do that.  Well, not the mancandy part, but definitely the booktok part.