Stacia Kane

I admit, I picked up this book with a little trepidation. I got my start writing erotica, and I've been crafting sex scenes for over 8 years, with nearly 50 published short stories, novellas, and novels under my belt. I figured I knew just about everything there was to know about writing sex. I was wrong.

Stacia Kane's approach to developing a sex scene blew me away. She takes the time to explain her process in great detail, from the importance of minute details to penning believable dialogue -- just how much chatter is too much in a sex scene, anyway? And if you said it depends on the characters, you're right. Kane does a great job explaining how to make each sex scene unique, so that only this couple, in this moment in time, can be having this encounter.

Following Kane's suggestions will prevent any author from writing sex scenes that read like a formulaic, paint-by-numbers experiment, and will ensure clean, emotional, engaging sex scenes that will speak to readers. This is an impressive collection of essays, which I'd recommend to any author, whether writing in an erotic genre or not.… (mais)

I dunno. I've gotten kind of overdone with urban fantasy recently, to the point where I end up listening to it in the car because it's got funny moments and it's easy to tune out to, and the plot's basically the same the genre over. Gritty, broke detective-type chases supernatural thingamabobber-that's-doing-bad-stuff all over creation until in the end she defeats it by the skin of her teeth.

However. I ended up being really impressed with this book. The world building was unique -- the idea of the Church and the ghosts made me yearn for more explanation of the history and the functionality of the system. And our heroine was almost an anti-heroine; the things she does are certainly not for her own good, nor for most anyone else's, and she's the very picture of ambivalent corruption.

I also listened to this as an audio book, and I really do need to mention the linguistics. I really enjoyed the slang. I don't normally enjoy slang in books because it takes away from my understanding and makes me think about what's being said as a function of understanding rather than enjoyment. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the slang if I had read this rather than listened to it. But as it stood, the slang absolutely added to the atmosphere of the book, which is rare indeed. Kudos.… (mais)

This book was painful to read. Heart-wrenchingly painful, to the degree that I had to seriously consider whether or not to finish reading it, because it was starting to seep into my daily life and really bring me down. And it wasn't just that it was painful; it was that Chess was doing it all to herself.

The only thing that really kept me going was the slight hope that Chess would figure it all out and dig herself out of her own hole. And that's what's going to keep me going to the next book.

Unique worldbuilding, interesting linguistics, gripping story. Worth it, if only for hope.… (mais)

Oh Chess.

This was a good book. I'm honestly impressed with how the author manages to convey Chess's discomfort with situations, and my chest tightens reflexively when she's attempting to deal with something that's completely out of her arena and the only thing she can really come up with is flat terror. Like Terrible. Like Lex.

It also makes the books hard to read sometimes, but this one was cathartic. I'm concerned for her future, but at least she's sorted out her present. I'm really curious to have some more information about the activities at the end -- the investigation, Chess's part in it -- and I hope we get more details in the next book. Either way, good show.
… (mais)