Tagged: discussion

Discussion: Twitter Usage

As a blogger I resisted joining Twitter for a long time but over the years I’ve actually found it quite worthwhile (thanks so much to Mark from The Masquerade Crew for convincing me).  It’s let me connect with authors and fellow readers in much more meaningful ways than I initially thought it would.  I’ve used it as both a promotion tool for my posts as well as a way to quickly bug my favourite indie authors about when their next book is coming out.

But what I want to discuss is this: If you use Twitter, how do you use it?  Is it more of a promotion tool or a networking tool?  Both?  Neither?

Let me know in the comments below!

Discussion: #YANeedsMore…

If any of you were on Twitter a few days ago you were probably annoyed at me for tweeting so many things under the YANeedsMore hashtag.  I apologize for that but it got me so excited about the chance to share my thoughts on what my favourite genre needs more of.  I don’t expect it to change anything because hashtags rarely do but it was nice to get things out there.  Some of my suggestions for #YANeedsMore were:

  • Main characters who try, fail and then learn from their mistakes. Just like real teenagers do!
  • Main characters who struggle with mental illness as teens: clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, etc.
  • Characters with parents who care when their teenager suddenly starts behaving completely differently!
  • Characters who live in poverty and struggle with it daily. Not everyone lives in the suburbs.
  • Teen characters with chronic illnesses. Yes, even teenagers can be sick! And sometimes it isn’t always obvious.
  • Female protagonists who are okay with not currently being in a relationship. Seriously, not everyone wants to date constantly.
  • Disabled characters as main characters, not as cheesy inspiration for the able-bodied protagonist.
  • Clumsy non-athletes who don’t become butt-kicking machines after only a few weeks of training. Not realistic!

Those are just the highlights of my time on that particular hashtag but there were so many other tweets highlighting the need for actual racial diversity, interracial relationships, LGBT representation and so much more.

Now, this is absolutely not to say that books with these characteristics don’t exist because they do.  And that’s awesome!  But it would be nice to see a few more with some of these traits, to see them in the mainstream.  I love that so many indie authors are working on bringing some of these books to life but I would really love to see big publishers with the guts to publish YA books like that.

So what I want to know now is this: What do you think YA as a genre needs more of?

Discussion: Books into TV Series

I may be in the minority for book readers, but I almost like the Game of Thrones show more than the books in some ways.  I like how the show took out some of the more rambling storylines that happen in the fourth and fifth books; they did a really good job paring it down for a TV audience.  At the same time, I really didn’t like the timeline shift that led to Jaime raping Cersei in the show and I didn’t like the entire Dorne storyline, which felt like it was going nowhere.  But I’d still say that the Game of Thrones TV show has stayed true to the spirit of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.

One of the TV adaptations I was really impressed with was the adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen.  I officially finished the first four episodes in a huge binge-watching session last night and was really happy with the way the books translated onto the screen.  The actors and actresses are all very talented and the TV show stayed very true not only to the feel of Gregory’s series on the War of the Roses but also to a lot of the main plot events.  You have Jacquetta working her magic, Elizabeth growing more and more ruthless toward Edward’s enemies and the poor Neville girls admiring the queen and yet being forced to become her rivals for power.  It’s actually a very satisfying adaptation and on the whole I like it more overall than the Game of Thrones adaptation because it stays very true to the source material and the writing is consistently excellent.

So what I want to know now is this: Do you have any particular books that you’d like to see adapted into a TV series?  Or, how has your experience been with seeing your favourite books adapted into TV shows?  Was it good or bad?  Why?

Discussion: Connecting With Other Bloggers

One of the things that’s just part of being a blogger is (of course) connecting with other bloggers.  I find that the most common way I connect with my fellow bloggers has been through leaving comments on other blogs or responding to the awesome comments here on my blog.  I’m not a big user of social media but I have connected with a couple people on Twitter who then started following The Mad Reviewer.

Since I’m not exactly a social media guru I suspect that my methods of connecting with fellow bloggers are not representative by any means.  So what I want to know is this: How do you, as a blogger, connect with your colleagues?  Looking back on some of the blogger friendships/partnerships you’ve developed, how did they start?  And, more importantly, how do you maintain them?

I’m busy working all Saturday (ah, the joys of living in a tourist town) so I won’t be able to respond to your comments much but I will try to get to them before I board my flight on Sunday.

Discussion: Staying Motivated to Write

One of the things I personally struggle with is staying motivated enough to write here on my blog.  I think a lot of other people struggle with this from time to time and it’s an important thing to talk about.  When you’re in a blogging slump or even just really busy, how do you stay motivated?

I personally try to make a list and cross off items as I finish them, like my current one:

1.  Review The Courtesan Duchess

2.  Finish my review of The Dead Days Journal

3.  Read The White Princess by Philippa Gregory.

You get the idea.  Basically, my detail-oriented personality responds nicely when I have a list and physically see things being ticked off.  That’s why I have a to-review shelf on Goodreads as well; it satisfies me to take books off that shelf as I post my reviews of them.  It doesn’t always work but it’s one of the best things I can do to keep myself motivated during slumps.

So what do you guys do to stay motivated to blog/write in general?