Author: Stephanie

Genres II: Age Groups

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve read a wide range of genres lately. I’ve dabbled in a little of everything from memoir to fantasy and beyond. However, that’s not the only genre classification I’ve been blind to. Age groups are also used to classify literature, from children’s literature to young adult (YA) and adult. I, personally, ignore such genre restrictions when reading. From Dr. Seuss to Harry Potter all the way to Anna James Watson’s Blackmail, I really don’t care about age groups. If I want to read it, I’ll read it. If I like it, I like it.

Not everyone approaches reading with such abandon. Some people are real sticklers for age groups, with kids reading children’s books, adults reading adult books, and pre-teens and teens reading Middle Grade and YA. But are those realistic expectations?

No, no they’re not.

First of all, it’s almost impossible to define the genre of a book based on age groups. Yes, some age-based genres are more easily defined than others. Erotica like Blackmail clearly belongs in the adult group, and picture books like Dr. Seuss’s works can safely be defined as children’s books. What about Harry Potter? The books start off more as children’s books but, arguably, the dark tones and mature themes they later take on can be considered YA.


In the UK, there are “adult” covers for Harry Potter so that older readers won’t be embarrassed to be seen reading them in public.

Image retrieved from Quora

The Hunger Games? The Giver? Post-apocalyptic YA often teeters between YA with adult themes and adult books with YA-style writing. The Catcher in the Rye? Not everyone likes their YA with such vulgarity and others would claim that it’s a necessary part of the coming-of-age element which helps define the genre.

I’m sure that many will argue that these books more clearly fit into their age groups then I’m saying. That’s fine. I’d love for someone to spark an articulate debate about the matter. My point remains that books don’t often fit neatly into their age groups. This difficulty rings especially true for children’s book, as I learned in my undergraduate Children’s Literature course.

The second wrench in the “divide by age groups” campaign is a two-parter: people read at different levels and all the age groups bring their own special joy to readers.

I’ve always been an advanced reader. I was already reading in kindergarten and had to be set aside with tasks like writing down the alphabet so that I wouldn’t distract the other kids. I started reading Anne McCaffrey’s The Dragonriders of Pern and Jack London’s works when I was in the fifth grade. My mom was the same way and so was my oldest brother. We’re avid readers and that made us more advanced readers, too.

Many of my friends were also advanced readers as kids. We probably aren’t the best judges of age-based limitations because we’re not the average reader. We read at a higher level than the standard for ages, while other people read at a lower level than average. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s just who we are. Still, the very fact that we must read outside of our age groups to feel properly stimulating demonstrates the difficulty of such classification.

Of course, our reading level doesn’t matter as much as our reading preference. While I can read at a high reading level, I often read Middle Grade and YA novels. In addition to being a Harry Potter fanatic, I love Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Books intended for younger age groups offer a lot of entertainment value and make for a much more relaxing read. They can also make us think about the world around us without us realizing that’s what we are doing. Books for older age groups, on the other hand, more thoroughly explore themes established in younger books and address those situations which people find too “adult” for younger readers. The higher-level writing forces us to think more, and the novels stick with us for long after we’ve finished reading.

Some people are snobs about age groups, some secretly read younger books, and others–like myself–read whatever they want without caring who sees. The idea of what’s appropriate for which age groups is ever-changing and hard to define. No matter the age of their intended audiences, all books have their merits. So long as you want to read it, you should; it doesn’t matter if you read Dr. Seuss, Victor Hugo, or something in between. Go where your interests lie.

What are your thoughts? Should readers only read in their age group, or should we feel free to read whatever we want (at least once we’re 18)? Start a discussion, drop a line in the comments.

 

Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Struggling to Make Time for Writing

I’ve been very busy lately. Between book reviews, writing gigs, and my home life, I can barely stop to think, let alone write. It’s an unfortunately common problem for writers. Considering that society, particularly American society, seems to expect more and more of people, it’s no wonder writers struggle to stay afloat. The question becomes: how do we make time for writing?

Writers at all levels have responsibilities which take precedent over writing. Family, friends, household chores, a 9-5 job, it’s no wonder they have to scrape together all the time they can for writing. That’s excluding the marketing and publicity they have to generate once something of theirs gets published, and don’t get me started on editing.

Often when I read articles about fitting time for writing, the author treats the matter as though it’s just as easy as telling people to leave you alone for a while or turning the TV and social media off. It really isn’t.

We can’t always force our schedule to allow space for a solid hour or so of writing. It’s even harder when other people, like employers and family, are involved. What should we do if we can’t reserve a long chunk of our day for writing?


Image retrieved from Twitter

The answer is obvious, although challenging in practice: take minutes here and there to write down whatever is on your mind. I’ve personally found that my brain wants to write and makes the time for writing when I’m trying to get to sleep. While I really just want to sleep, I still keep a notebook beside my bed and spend a few minutes–whether it’s five or thirty–writing the scene or story idea that has popped into my groggy head. The notes app on my iPhone has also proved helpful in such situations. Whether or not I can decipher my writing in the morning is a different story entirely.

Take a notebook with you everywhere or, at the very least, make your notes app easily accessible. Five minutes on the bus, five minutes during your lunch break, five minutes while waiting outside your kids’ school, it can really add up. This form of time management doesn’t always make for the best writing since the interruptions can jar your thought process. However, would you rather start out with crappy writing or no writing at all?

Some people can carve out an hour or so from their lives and write better that way. In a perfect world, that’s probably how we would all like to make time for writing. We don’t live in a perfect world. We have distractions and stubborn schedules which can’t be rearranged without some part of our lives tumbling down. That’s why we have to take our writing whenever we can get it; if that means stealing a few minutes here and a few minutes there, well, that’s just the sacrifice we have to make to continue with our craft.

Have advice for making time to write? Any tricks to sneak writing in when it seems impossible? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

 

Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Book Reviews: Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part Three)

Trigger Warning: The book reviewed here depicts sex, rape, violence, heavy amounts of gore, and regular use of profanity. Slavery, abuse, torture, and revenge also serve pivotal roles in the plot. If you have any sensitivities toward such subjects or otherwise take offense to them, proceed with caution.

Warning: This review contains spoilers for Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part One) and Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part Two). Keep this warning in mind as you continue reading.

Today I’m reviewing Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part Three) by Ameel Koro, the third installment in his Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain series.

We last left Alina as she decided not to abandon Corina and to fulfill her promise of taking the woman to her former master, the ominous vampire lord Ovlar. Alina also hopes that, in helping Corina get the army she needs to take revenge on the Artucians, she will be able to rescue the man who loves her (and whom she loves), the young guard Sinna. Winter weather, a harsh terrain, predators, and Corina’s injured leg all stand in their way as they make the trek to Ovlar’s castle. Defying all odds, they finally reach the vampire’s realm, but how welcomed will they be? Can they convince Ovlar to mobilize against the Artucians? And if they do, will they survive the battle—and each other?


Image retrieved from Amazon

In the great city of Artucia, Cordillia attempts to prepare for Alina’s return and convince the other queens to do likewise, but that feat proves difficult when they begin mourning for the last Great Mother. Despite her best efforts, Cordillia cannot get the other queens to believe her on the vampire threat. She only has one choice left and it’s unthinkable, violating the dearest of all their laws set by the Great Mothers. Can Cordillia save her children, the other queens, and their people? Or is it already too late?

The next 286 pages roll out a seemingly-endless chain of secrets, deception, grudges, and, of course, war. Koro provides a glimpse into the much, much wider world of vampires and other mythical creatures from as far away as Rome. More importantly, he throws readers insights into the intricate—and violent—interactions among multiple vampires, a concept which he will hopefully expanded upon in his future work. The vivid imagery, action, compelling character interactions, and creative energy behind his mythical creations make Koro’s book a hard one to put down.

I would argue that Koro’s writing gets better with each book. Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part Three) certainly exceeds the quality of Part One and, surprisingly, Part Two. My favorite aspect of the book became the numerous cases of bad blood among the high-ranking vampires in the second half of the book. Like Alina, I felt thrown out of the loop but I loved reading about their interactions, especially the backstabbing. They showed me that Alina is the least of Ovlar’s problems in the revenge and deceit department. They also create an unexpected obstacle for Alina in finding Sinna as she becomes stuck in the middle of multiple vampiric feuds.

In these feuds, Koro introduces many intriguing new characters. The three whom I grew most invested in are Rodica (the only female leader of a vampire realm at the battle), Allison (the servant of one the big three who takes a liking to Alina), and Allison’s unnamed vampire companion, a servant of The Snakeborn and an unparalleled force of power and mystery. I don’t think that these characters got the space on the page they deserve but, based on the end of the book, I hold hope that Koro will return to these three, even if it’s only in memory.

While the new elements revealed in Part Two and Part Three still overshadow the original concept from Part One, I did not mind that this time. Sinna and Alina’s love still plays a part here but it gives way to the much more compelling relationship between Alina and Corina, one filled with mutual hate and, for a time, dependence. I simultaneously love and hate these women, see their glaring flaws and still feel for them, a sign of good character development. Their relationship not only drives the plot behind Part Three but promises more emotional turmoil and bloodshed in the rest of the series.

I became distracted by a few aspects of the book, although not as many as in the previous installments. Some are technical in nature. Koro slips constantly between past and present tense without a purpose behind it, but that problem can be solved with a little more proofreading. Similarly, many grammar errors appear throughout the e-book. Again, that’s a matter of additional proofreading and doesn’t detract much from the story itself. Some of these errors include unnecessary commas, missing commas, unnecessary a’s, and, occasionally, the use of “complement” when the writer should have used “compliment”.

A few stylistic matters also bothered me. Koro uses “awe” and variations of “awe” too often, especially during action sequences. He also uses the word “guy” in the modern sense (i.e. “man”), which isn’t a big deal but that usage didn’t arise until sometime after 1800. This meaning makes the narration and dialogue feel too modern. Still, it’s an easy fix should he choose to address it.

I have mixed feelings about the action scenes within the battle. On the one hand, they are very exciting and compelling, as well as thoroughly planned. On the other hand, so many different fights among individuals and/or small groups are depicted that they slow down the narrative. At times too many players enter a scene, causing some confusion along with switching among all the components of the battle. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This technique reflects the chaos of the battlefield, allowing the reader to feel as lost and desperate as Alina.

Overall, Koro did not disappoint with Sister of Echo: The Making of a Villain (Part Three). Yes, some issues from the first two books still linger, such as some modern language and grammatical errors. Nevertheless, I really liked the book. It’s compelling, mysterious, and kept me guessing from beginning to end. I’m very much looking forward to the next book in the series, Sister of Echo: Bronze Chamber, and I hope that Koro will return to some of the many characters and interactions he touches on in Part Three.

I highly recommend this book for fans of epic fantasy, historical fantasy, and vampires. If you like powerful women who know how to get what they want, you’ll definitely love Allison, Corina, and many of the other women who populate the world of Sister of Echo. It’s quickly climbing up Amazon’s list of Top 100 Free Books in the Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories eBooks category, so check it out while it’s still hot.

Do you know of any books I should read or review? Want me to review a book you’ve published? Contact me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or look me up on Fiverr.

 

Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Friday Fun-Day Writing Prompt: The Road Not Taken

Happy Friday, readers and writers. It’s been quite a busy time for me. I’m scrambling to buy the books I need for my Master’s program, I’m getting more orders on Fiverr, and, of course, I’m trying to make time for my own writing. That’s the way I like it. When I have nothing to do for too long, the little demons of my mind set in. The circumstances have, however, made me think about decisions and untraveled paths a lot recently. That’s why today’s writing prompt is based on Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”.

I’m sure that most of you know “The Road Not Taken”. For those who don’t, here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry on the poem. Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. While I prefer “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “The Road Not Taken” is also wonderful.

As usual, the prompt is simple. Imagine the main character of your current work in progress walking home. On the way home, they always come to a fork in the road. One path leads directly to their home and is well-worn by your character’s continued use of the road. The other remains foreign to your character. They have never been down this other road before, don’t even know what lies beyond it, but today they decide to take the road less traveled.

Spend five minutes in a free-write about their experience taking the road not taken. How do they feel about the change? What awaits them on the path? What do they think they will encounter on the new path home?


Image retrieved from Radiowest

After this free-write, walk away for a few minutes. Make a pot of tea, walk the dog, whatever. Just walk away from it and don’t think about your notes for a little while. Then return to your notes and write a scene, short story, poem, whatever you like based on the free-write.

Deciding to travel on “The Road Not Taken” can be a hard task in real life. The journey can reveal people’s strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, and desires. Forcing your character to do something outside of their normal routine can do the same thing. You may even learn something about the character that you didn’t know before. After all, Robert Frost once said that if there’s no surprise in the writer, there will be no surprise in the reader.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

What do you think of this exercise? Have you written anything you would like to share? Ideas for future writing prompts? Feel free to drop a line in the comments or e-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.

 

Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

The Intentional Fallacy, or Authorial Intent

Go ahead, English Literature majors, groan. I’m actually going to talk about “The Intentional Fallacy”. I’m a nerd, what did you expect? I didn’t really like modern literary theory as an undergrad but I wouldn’t be doing literature justice if I ignored it entirely.

For those who don’t know, “The Intentional Fallacy” is an essay written by New Criticism literary theorists W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley circa 1946. The essay argues, in essence, that the author’s intent when writing a work is impossible to know and highly undesirable when analyzing said work. What the author meant to say and what the writing actually says may be two entirely different things, especially when considering that many readers interpret texts differently, and so the author’s intent is negligible. If you want to know more, you can start with this Wikipedia entry on authorial intent. Beyond that, there are many resources you can explore, including the essay itself, but the Wikipedia entry provides a basic understanding.

We try so often to argue that an author meant this or that when we’re analyzing his/her work, but there’s a reason professors won’t let us get away with phrasing essays that way. It’s virtually impossible to know what a writer meant. We can’t step back in time and ask Herman Melville what he meant to say when writing Moby-Dick or what Percy Shelley tried to express in his poem “Ozymandias”. Even contemporary documents, such as letters and journals, may be unreliable.

Someone will probably counter that the prominence of social media allows modern writers, such as J.K. Rowling and Stephen King, to make their intent better-known. Does that mean we should utilize their intent in our analysis? That’s where we step into murkier waters.


Image retrieved from “The Problem of Authors”

In my critical honors thesis, “The Dumbledore Conundrum: The Presentation of Homosexuality in Harry Potter and the Production of Slash Fanfiction”, I address J.K. Rowling’s announcement regarding Dumbledore’s sexuality as a springboard for my overall argument. However, that does not serve as the sole–or the main–basis for my claims. I delve into textual analysis of both the books and the resulting fanfiction, theories regarding such topics as sexuality and the effects of children’s literature, and readers’ reactions to Rowling’s announcement. Certainly Rowling’s intent sparked a conversation but it does not drive the entire analysis of her books. Rather, readers compare and contrast their interpretations with her intention, thoroughly exploring the text for proof either supporting or disputing her claim.

Does such an argument fall under intentional fallacy? It’s possible. After all, the initial question behind the analysis relies on Rowling’s intention. However, the continuation of the argument relies on a much wider range of factors, including existing theories and textual evidence.

With the rise of writers’ presence and discussion of their own works on social media, we are met with an intriguing question: does the intentional fallacy still apply when studying 21st-century authors?

I don’t have a straightforward answer. The literary theorist in me wants to say yes. After all, writing is like any other form of art; the writer’s intention may have led to the creation but that isn’t what’s necessarily being expressed by the piece itself. Still, the curious reader in me wants to say that it’s not that simple. A writer’s intention may expose a side of his/her work that we simply hadn’t considered before but, now that it’s been brought to our attention, we see it everywhere.

I suppose my answer is this: authorial intent can start a conversation about the work but should not be primary evidence for any of the ensuing arguments. An author’s intent can be an interesting factoid and shed new light on his/her work but it does not prove that the work conveys that intent. Take what a writer says about his/her own writing with a grain of salt, especially when trying to formulate an argument about the piece.

What’s your opinion on the intentional fallacy? Does it still apply? Does social media and the Internet at large complicate matters? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

 

Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011