January 24

This is me confused

Over and over the last year I’m been facing up to the overwhelming consensus that if I want to make it as a pro writer I’m going to have to stop reviewing. I’ve certainly encountered difficulties from it before. And in the past few months three writers I admire greatly have all come out and said that you can’t do both.

The most recent happened just today over at Stacia Kane’s blog. Sure she wasn’t talking directly to me, but it’s something we’ve talked about before. Bless her Stacia’s not being mean at all. She’s right in that once you get published things change, and you do lose the right to voice your opinion without people flipping out on you all the time, sometimes over nothing. This is why I’ve seriously slowed down in blogging, and reviewing. I don’t want to be the writer that only posts about their work, but the world kind of demands that.

But also today came my friend Nicole Cushing’s Apex blog post on short stories where she credits my recommending Jennifer Pelland’s Unwelcome Bodies to her at Context in 2008 not just for giving her an enjoyable read, but for jump starting her re-joining of the writing circle. I read Unwelcome Bodies for review.

And also today I found out that some of my coworkers read my reviews, which means they don’t just help me do my job better, but they might be helping them do theirs better. And it’s commonplace for us to get letters from librarians over at Monster Librarian thanking us for helping them choose which books best fit their collections.

So it’s a really tough spot I’m in, where I know that reviewing might be holding me back from that whole representation and NY contract thing, but it’s also adding so much to other parts of my life (not to mention I’m still making more as a reviewer than as a writer, and that’s not including bookseller pay which, by the way my stint as a reviewer and being able to list websites and editors as references got me in the first place.)

This is what a career as a writer is, looking at where you are, where you want to be and trying to guess how best to get there. And usually, there is no right answer. but is there a best answer, and if so, what the hell do I do now?

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January 24

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked it by Adam Selzer

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

Random House Children’s, 2010
ISBN: 9780385735032
Available: New, used and digital

Ali Rhodes is the quintessential teenage curmudgeon. Music reviewer for her school paper and notorious snark queen she’s the last person to fall for trends and scams–or in love. But at a local show she meets a guy who is tall, Goth and handsome, and who knows how to sing with soul. It’s just too bad Doug is a zombie.

While it starts off as a snarky, humorous, paranormal tale, in the end, I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It makes a statement on the social pressures teens (and everyone really) face. (It manages to make fun of a lot of the trends in YA fiction as well.) Ali thinks she’s highly resistant to the fall-in-love-with-a-vampire deals, but finds herself reconsidering the rest of her life when her guidance counselor pushes “converting” on her and Doug’s personal limitations are revealed.

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It is witty, funny, and meaningful- the only problem is that it ends too soon. Highly recommended, especially for school or public collections with a lot of paranormal YA readers.

Contains: mild language, hinted adult situations

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January 11

Raiju by K. H. Koehler

ISBN: 9780982676103

I bought this book.

An off-beat book, Raiju is part teen urban fantasy, part classic monster movie. Kevin is a teen reeling from the utter destruction of San Francisco by a mutated shark. His best friend and mother both died in the attack and he and his father both emerged different people.

Now Kevin is trying to start over at a new school in New York, but being half Japanese and a hothead makes fitting in hard. And of course there’s a girl, Aimi, a gothic lolita singer with a temperamental sidekick and a dark secret. Beneath the city another monster grows, and it seems to be coming after Kevin. Kevin has his own secret. He’s a Keeper, the guardian of an ancient kami-god, one that could help him defeat the mutated monster lurking in New York’s sewers, or tear the city apart in its rage.

While much of this book appears to be straight out of a Godzilla flick, Koehler puts a wonderful new spin to it, infusing the mutants and science-gone-wrong explanations with an enticing Japanese mythos. An exciting book, it’s a shame it’s not longer (or that there’s no sequel out yet.) Definitely a book for people looking for more flavor to their paranormal fiction.

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January 6

Book #3 of 2011: The Dreadful Doctor Faust by K.H. Koehler

I was given this book for review.

From the first sentence this novella, a love song to revenge and the ultimate body modification, drew me in and made me wholly its. Poetically written full of rich description, without flabbiness,bb and pitch perfect emotional threads it’s the kind of story I wish I’d written first.

The Dreadful Doctor Faust focuses on Louise, a woman raped, shattered and left for dead outside an abandoned church, who is rescued by a mysterious stranger who lives below the city. While The Doctor is a genius, and amazingly compassionate, he’s also more than a mad scientist, he’s a twisted, sadistic creature with more heart than some super heroes.

This is a twisted love story, among other things. A stunning read, Koehler’s language makes it impossible to look away, impossible to not bring this wicked, sinister world to life inside the reader’s mind. Highly recommended for horror fans, a do not miss of 2011 for sure.

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January 5

In case you haven’t heard

That study that “proved” vaccines caused autism has been proven a fraud. Anderson Cooper even interviewed Andrew Wakefield who lost his medical license over it. It’s not like I told you this months ago (and I was very late to the party seeing as The Lancet, which published the paper, retracted it in February 2010).

And yet Jenny McCarthy and loads of other people continue to make money off fear, paranoid and the need to blame someone that parents of autistic children feel. Do NOT let these people con you any more!

Key points in the articles:

According to BMJ, Wakefield received more than 435,000 pounds ($674,000) from the lawyers. Godlee said the study shows that of the 12 cases Wakefield examined in his paper, five showed developmental problems before receiving the MMR vaccine and three never had autism.

*bolding mine.

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