Blog Hopping 4/27/2012

Welcome, fellow bloghoppers! You're looking at the personal blog of S.J. Bell, independent author. My first book, Bonds of Fenris, is coming out May 7th, and reviews can be found around the net. This week has been very quiet, but plenty was going on behind the scenes. I may have a review of Bloodrose at some point next week, and of course my book is coming out soon, so I'm excited about that. And just to remind you, there are still ARCs of Bonds of Fenris available for book bloggers. So, if you're interested, my e-mail's right there on the sidebar!

I also have a review blog, Lupines and Lunatics. Latest review is Promise of the Wolves.

This week's ice-breaker for Feature & Follow:

"Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her."

I try not to get too involved with fictional characters, but I think I know what you mean. I have a few examples from the realm of video games and TV, but fewer from books. I'm going to say Odysseus Grant from the Kitty Norville books, but in this case it's not a matter of disliking the character as much as disliking his effect on the story. From his introduction in book 5, he almost immediately became the most powerful good guy in the mythos. The next three books had him saving Kitty's behind repeatedly with his massive knowledge of the arcane. ("Godmoding like an Uchiha," I think I called it.) It reached the point where he had more agency in the story than the main character. Luckily, it seems that the author realized this as well: he was phased out and replaced with Amelia, who serves the same plot purpose but has a much more reasonable power level. One thing I admire about Carrie Vaughn is that she's not afraid to scrap ideas because they don't make her story better.

This week's ice-breaker for TGIF @ GReads:

"Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you overcome those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?"

Well, I usually force myself to just pick up something and get to it. But this can cause trouble. Reading when you're not in the mood results in a book dragging. Worse, it means you'll be testy and unable to appreciate the book for what it is. A better solution is to take a hiatus, which I did at the end of 2011 when it all just became too much. I should have come back in sooner than four months, though. That's the trick to it: if you go too long without reading, you start to find other pursuits. If books are just your hobby, that's not a big deal. If they're your business, like mine, it's a very big deal. Next time I take a hiatus, I'll try to keep it down to two months.