FALLEN BOOK REVIEW

TO LAUREN KATE, THE WOMAN I INTENDED TO HATE, …BUT ALAS… CANNOT

It's been almost 2 years now since that long, tedious task of submitting queries, partials and fulls in my search for an agent. And while I did eventually find an agent, I recall vividly, one agent who wrote me back within about an hour's time of my submission. WHAT? That rarely happens. He liked my voice and my premise BUT… "had already purchased a series called 'Fallen'" and mine was just too similar in tone, characterization and plot. I was steaming (just when you think you have finally come up with an original idea first)…I was like, "Okay, who is this Fallen person, I'll find him/her."

So I made a note to self, to read my competition (begrudgingly) as soon as it hit the shelves. Because I am a very slow reader (I like to taste every single word) – it took me awhile to read Lauren Kate's Fallen. And, welp, I can see why that agent sucked her right up as well as Disney purchasing the rights to the book ASAP.

I am making it a point to review all the fallen angel books that were purchased (before mine gets sold, IF it gets sold), keepin' it real ya'll, and as this is my first STAB at a book review, I hope I can do Ms. Kate and her book justice.

First of all, it is no secret that most of the spooky books take place at some "special" school for the gifted, blood suckers or some other such freak fodder. Yawn. Lauren Kate's setting was no different, however, in this case (no yawn), it worked. Dark, different and believable. We have a protag who is also believable and what I liked about Fallen, was that it did not come right out and slap you in the face with WHAT we were going to be dealing with. Neither did it overwhelm us with too much information on what is a very complicated part of Biblical history. However, I am sure that will come (it will have to) in the following books in the series.

The relationship between the protag and the love interest moved at the proper pace, and I enjoyed some of the other scary tidbits thrown in along the way. While I did have some reservations about the protag's bff, it was a bit confusing exactly WHO that was, so it made some of our main character's feelings questionable in the end, as I did not feel that we really had enough time to see the interaction of these two to make it a bit more believable. But really, I think that was my only qualm, and Lauren, GREAT JOB!

What I always like to do when I read a book, is make little stars by some lines that to me, set writers, and those who just want to be writers apart. It is that thing that cannot be taught, it is simply the way that some writers weave their words together producing a beautiful, even poetic analogy, or description that tells us that particular person has been at the writing game for quite some time now vs. those who wake up one day and say, "I'm gonna write a book" – and luck and timing smile down upon them and it gets published. I think you will understand this a bit better as I share some of the lines that made me want to put the book down to clap…I did have to leave some out, so as not to have to deal with including "spoilers" or anything like that, but here is some of what Lauren Kate delivered (probably more appreciated by fellow writers than readers, but appreciated none-the-less) Becca Fitzpatrick, YOU ARE NEXT!!!:

"Around midnight, her eyes at last took shape. The look in them was feline, half determined and half tentative—all trouble."

"It had felt so good to be back home in Savannah, where, as her mom always said, even the wind blew lazily."

"At her old school, the green-tie-wearing, pomaded future senators had practically oozed through the halls in the genteel hush that money seemed to lay over everything."

"The sky was that no-color color, a grayish brown so oppressively bland it was difficult even to find the sun."

"She spotted a lone dandelion, and it crossed her mind that a younger Luce would have pounced on it and then made a wish and blown. but this Luce's wishes felt too heavy for something so light."

"That's right," Miss Sophia said, head bobbing in a saintly nod. She was just left of hard of hearing."

"This train of thought was heading straight for Pity City, and she wanted to get off."

Good Spooky Stuff:

"All she knew was that when the shadows came, they were usually accompanied by a cold chill under her skin, a sickening feeling unlike anything else."

Thanks Book Fetish!!!

Twitter / Book Fetish: : "We just read a ms from Kim Jones called 'Children of the Damned' -- PUBLISHERS you need to check this out!"

Authonomy Whew...and Something New on the Shelves...FALLEN ANGELS!!!

I am not quite sure how the ranking on Authonomy is determined, but I do know that when someone reads your work, the polite thing to do is to read theirs too, and then back it (helping their book to rise in the ranking system-which no one seems to understand exactly how it works & Harper Collins doesn't really explain what it takes to get your book up there in ranking number, but there are several factors), or at least give some sort of critique. After I posted my chapters, well, let's just say I ended up with an overwhelming amount of readbacks that no human (at least one who reads quite slowly and has a 4-year-old high-maintenance daughter) could possibly accomplish and have a real life too.

In light of the fact that I am making some edits to Children of the Damned, I simply do not have time to read and offer the type of critiques the writers on that site deserve so I bowed out gracefully. I hope to return as soon as I finish my 2010 edits and rewrites. There were some really nice people, some who offered some great advice, and there's plenty of awesome writing to be found there too. I made a few friends and I already miss it, but if I am going to make any money writing books, I must of course write them, hence...I took a hiatus from Authonomy.

Now for the AWESOME news that blew me away last week! I was doing the happy happy joy joy dance around my computer desk...I am thrilled (to say the least) to have come across a couple of articles about the state of affairs regarding fallen angels on the bookstore shelves (no, no) the angels aren't on the shelves, but the books about fallen angels are, and doing very well indeed.

Misty Harris wrote an article entitled: Flawed Angels Elbowing Vampires Aside on Bookshelves and the article can be found here: http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Flawed+angels+elbowing+vampires+aside+book+shelves/2016409/story.html
She writes: "Vampires have kept the blood in the book industry this recession but, apologies to Twilight's resident immortal Edward Cullen, insiders are betting future returns will be carried on the wings of angels." WOOT!

This can only be good news for me.

In another article written by Monika Bartyzel: http://cinematical.com/2009/12/10/are-fallen-angels-the-next-supernatural-romance-craze/

Ms. Bartyzel writes about Disney purchasing the rights to Lauren Kate's Fallen (also about fallen angels) and that the Hollywood Reporter "notes this is the new trend with other titles like Hush, Hush also dipping into the world of angels."

FYI, I have finished both of these books with the intention of hating them...NOT the case. I will be posting my reviews in the near future.

I do so hope that 2010 is better to me and my book than 2009. I hope life is too. : )

Keep Writing Everyone! As a dear friend once said to me, "continue to inflict your art upon the world." I expect all you other writers out there to do the same in 2010.

Sample Chapters

(UPDATE) February 20, 2010 - see above post regarding temporary removal of sample chapters. So sorry, but I will put them back as soon as I get the new updates/rewrites done. However you can still Google "Kim Jones Children of the Damned" as well as see some of the feedback I received while I was on Authonomy. I miss it so much. Great diversion, great for procrastination too.

I have posted the first 5 chapters of Children of the Damned on Authonomy. So for those of you who keep asking for a "taste" you can read the sample chapters here:

http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=13162

The latest news is that a talent scout from the CW Network found me on the internet and they pitched the series and the network is now considering buying the television rights for a possible series like Supernatural or the Vampire Diaries. So little sleeping, little eating is going on - pins -n- needles stuff.

My Apologies to my Posters on this Blog

I somehow deleted all the kind comments left for me to preview before posting and I cannot find them. But to the people who posted the advice, the "hang-in-theres" and such, thank you from the bottom of my heart! It can be so discouraging. WE know, right?!

More Nice Comments from Editors, but Still NO SALE!

When other authors told me it is a huge waiting game, they weren't kidding! In keeping with my positivity outlook month, ...

If you are in a similar situation (looking for an agent/editor/publisher, etc.), stay positive, the economy is messing a lot of things up as the publishing houses are focusing on their authors they KNOW will make them money, taking less risks on the newbies.

Never give up. If you really are a writer, you can't give up anyway. Right? I want my fellow writers to know that there is hope (probably more hope once this economic crisis is over) but hope none-the-less.

Fingers Still Crossed...

This is my positive post for the week. I decided that despite the fact that the sale has not happened as quickly as I would have liked, it will happen. The hard part is the waiting, any of you out there, awaiting a response from a would-be (fingerscrossed) agent/editor or publisher know exactly what I am talking about. The best thing to do is stay busy.

It is hard to remain sane while awaiting my future...I did so much want to write books and not have to go back to a "real guy job" - but we must do what we must do, especially with little ones, and teen ones who eat a lot.

For this week, I shall focus on good things happening.