Sarah McCarty recently blogged about characterization or lack thereof and her blog is entitled I have been driven to BDSM. *snicker* You can find the full blog here, but here are some snippets of what she has to say...
I have been driven to BDSM.
Reading it, that is.
I don't mind BDSM as a genre, it's just not my preferred genre, (I am so not the submissive type and tend to react negatively to the genre elements) but I find I'm going there more and more. Why? Because those seem to be the only authors writing a strong characterization component into their storylines.
Reading it, that is.
I don't mind BDSM as a genre, it's just not my preferred genre, (I am so not the submissive type and tend to react negatively to the genre elements) but I find I'm going there more and more. Why? Because those seem to be the only authors writing a strong characterization component into their storylines.
I've bought NY book after NY book and all I find are plot driven books with characterization being an after thought if it's there at all.
So many of my favorite authors have gone from characterization to plot only and there don't seem to be any upcoming authors putting out books with an emphasis on characterization.
You only have to look at Amazon reader reviews of books being released in the last 18 months to see the trend. Readers may not be able to pinpoint why they don’t find their favorite author's offering up to par, but their dissatisfaction is loud and clear.
Just toss me a bone and give me romances with the strength of characterization I saw in Whitney My Love, Coming up Roses, The Outsider, Mackenzie’s Mountain, and just watch those dollar bills fly across the counter to the cash register."
As I sit in my bookless misery, I can't help but feel there are lots of readers like myself with money in our pockets who approach our local bookstore every week with high hopes only to turn around and leave afrustrating 45 minutes later all our money still in our pockets because the one thing we read romance for is not in the books being offered. The close connection to the hero and heroine for me is why I love romance.
Lately, months have been going by without an offering I can finish. And as my auto buy authors switch their beloved anticipated voice from acharacterization focus to a plot driven focus, I feel my panic build. Is the time coming soon where I will be driven as a reader from the genre I love? I hope not, but right now, there’s no end in sight and I'm feeling the pain.
Sarah
You only have to look at Amazon reader reviews of books being released in the last 18 months to see the trend. Readers may not be able to pinpoint why they don’t find their favorite author's offering up to par, but their dissatisfaction is loud and clear.
Just toss me a bone and give me romances with the strength of characterization I saw in Whitney My Love, Coming up Roses, The Outsider, Mackenzie’s Mountain, and just watch those dollar bills fly across the counter to the cash register."
As I sit in my bookless misery, I can't help but feel there are lots of readers like myself with money in our pockets who approach our local bookstore every week with high hopes only to turn around and leave afrustrating 45 minutes later all our money still in our pockets because the one thing we read romance for is not in the books being offered. The close connection to the hero and heroine for me is why I love romance.
Lately, months have been going by without an offering I can finish. And as my auto buy authors switch their beloved anticipated voice from acharacterization focus to a plot driven focus, I feel my panic build. Is the time coming soon where I will be driven as a reader from the genre I love? I hope not, but right now, there’s no end in sight and I'm feeling the pain.
Sarah
In response to Sarah's blog, I must say I agree 100% with her point here. I can name off the top of my head about five books that I've read in the last three months that I didn't finish because they were lacking in characterization and were generally plot-based which does NOT cut it for me.
And this leads to the latest book I tried to get through but couldn't... I made it page 127 and I probably could have finished the book just to see what happened, but I didn't. Why? Because the characters and the romance wasn't gripping... it was generally plot and narrative. *sigh* The book I'm referring to is Cheyenne McCray's Forbidden Magic. This is especially hard for me to blog about because I love Chey... she's a great lady and so very nice, but this book just didn't do "it" for me. If Silver and Hawk's characterization and romance element would have been amazing and enthralling from the get go rather than plot and narrative taking up the majority of the space, I would have LOVED this story... I love witches and this storyline is one that I really do like. I may have to read the rest anyway... just to find out what happens with Silver and Hawk and the Femorii.
But, for right now, I've gone back to JD Robb's series... I'm only on book 4 or 5 so I've got a lot of reading to do... and I'm glad because I think this is where I'm going to stay for a while. I sure as hell hope that Christine Warren's book and Deirdre Martin's book when they arrive don't let me down.... I'll let you know.
By the way.. the poll of the week relates to this blog topic, so check it out and cast your vote.... if you can be arsed. : D
1 People Gabbed:
I so wish that I read JD Robb or even Nora Roberts *g*. I find myself reading old favorites a lot lately, and hadn't really thought about why, but reading your entry, and Sarah's blog, I think that lack of strong characterization may be the reason. I just seem to find myself dissatisfied with a lot of books lately. Which may be why I haven't had a whole lot to say, I think, on the review blog I share with JenniferB et al. I think I haven't even been able to work up a whole lot of enthusiasm to write up a review of anything much. I will do better! Even if it is just to say eh.
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