I just started following Gin in the last couple of months. She's one of the hostesses of Boost it Tuesday with Candace's Book Blog and Every Free Chance. I love her blog and I think she is a talented reviewer. I've also learned she designs book covers. You should check out her portfolio. She's got some skills!!
Now that I've bragged about Gin, I hope you'll head over to my Meet & Greet interview. I look forward to reading your comments over there and good luck if you enter the giveaway!
Today I'm happy to welcome Ali from Ali's Bookshelf to the stage at Second Run Reviews. Ali and I are taking part of the Book Blogger Buzz Tour and today's my day to be the Hostess with the Mostest.
And now I will turn it over to Ali who is sharing her biggest blogger fail. I hope that after everyone reads Ali's post they will take a minute and use one of the links below to start following her. She's got some great stuff happening over at Ali's Bookshelf. Take it away, Ali!
Looking back over my years of book blogging, I would have to say I've had a few of those big blogger fail moments. I mean who hasn't, if we're being honest with ourselves, we've all had those moments where we are face palming and thinking why in the world did I just do that. So yeah, I have my pick of moments to chose from, but I think my biggest moment that I can remember would have to be when I posted a review for a book that I thought for sure was coming out within the next two weeks after I posted my review, but come to find out the publishing company had put off the release for a year.
I had already posted the review, once I figured out that the book was no longer being released at that time, I contacted the publishing company that had sent me the review copy and asked them what they wanted me to do. Luckily, they told me to just leave it up and were happy with the review. But, after that fiasco, I have double and triple checked my dates, even up to the second before posting, to make sure it's okay to post.
What is your biggest blogger fail? We all would love to know that we aren't alone in these fail moments.
Buy Vol. 1 on Amazon.com
Keeper Volume 1 is available on Amazon.com for 99 cents. You also purchase Volumes 2, 3 and 4! Grab them today and let me know your thoughts in comments.
It all beings July 1st!
Update (08/03/2014): All guest posts are linked to their respective pages except for 07/17 and 07/30.
Follow the Tour!
07/01/14: Mama Kitty Reviews appearing on Me & Reading Topic: Reading for Enjoyment vs. Reading for Reviewing - the difference in the reading for enjoyment and the toll that reading review copies had done to our hobby.07/02/14:
Me & Reading appearing on Contagious Reads
Topic: Why are you a reader?
07/03/14:
Raw Books Online appearing on Deliciously Wicked Books
Topic: What I look for in the book blogs I follow
07/04/14:
Reading is my Treasure appearing on Jenna does Books
Topic: What YA has taught me / how it has affected my life
07/07/14:
Chapter Break appearing on Reading with ABC
Topic: Ten reasons you CAN'T read and you are dying on the inside.
07/09/14:
Contagious Reads appearing on Reading Black & White
Topic: Organization tips and tricks
07/10/14:
Second Run Reviews appearing on Bibliognome
Topic: Books you feel need more attention. A top ten list. Tell why you think they need to be read by everyone.
07/11/14:
Fiktshun appearing on Once Upon a Twilight
Topic: Rant: Things you wish others would stop "judging" other book bloggers on
07/14/14:
Bibliognome appearing on Chapter Break
Topic: You've been asked to write a short story starring a gnome character, what would the gnome be named and how would the story go?
07/15/14:
Gwynn White appearing on Reading is my Treasure
Topic: What last books in a trilogy or series do you wish you had never read? Why?
07/16/14:
Reading with ABC appearing on Ali's Bookshelf Reviews
Topic: Your Favorite Blogger Moment. Recount it.
07/17/14:
Reading Black & White appearing on My Midnight Fantasies
Topic: What are those wonderful things you see in other blogger's reviews and think are wonderful? Or what do you like to see in other blogger's reviews?
07/18/14:
Ali's Bookshelf Reviews appearing on Second Run Reviews
Topic: Your Biggest Blogger Fail. Recount it.
07/21/14:
Parajunkee appearing on Midnyte Reader
Topic: Are you creative or just depressed? A mental survival guide for bloggers.
07/22/14:
Delicously Wicked Books appearing on Stephanie's Book Reports
Topic: After Fifty Shades. What's the next big thing?
07/23/14:
Stephanie's Book Reports appearing on Raw Books Online
Topic: What trends do you hope are popular next in Romance/Erotica?
07/24/14:
Janelle Reads appearing on Parajunkee
Topic: What trends do you want to see next in book blogging?
07/25/14:
Midnyte Reader appearing on Harlequin Junkie
Topic: Audiobooks vs. ...regular books?
07/28/14:
Jenna does Books appearing on Fiktshun
Topic: Hardcover vs. Paperback
07/29/14:
Once Upon a Twilight appearing on Gwynn White
Topic: Rant: Things you wish other book bloggers would stop doing
07/30/14:
My Midnight Fantasies appearing on Mama Kitty Reviews
Topic: My favorite animals to read about in fiction - or my favorite paranormal shifter characters and why.
07/31/14
Harlequin Junkie appearing on Janelle Reads
Topic: Dealing with your first negative review from an author you've enjoyed connecting with on social networks.
L.K. HILL has a degree from Weber State University, and has won numerous writing awards, including garnering first place in the 2011 League of Utah Writer Writing Contest. When she’s not writing, Hill relaxes with her family in Ogden, Utah, while maintaining constant communication with her many followers.
L.K. Hill is the author of the recently released Citadels of Fire. I am happy to host Ms. Hill today and so excited that she is sharing her thoughts about the creative license authors take when writing historical novels. If you haven't read my review of Ms. Hill's book, I invite you to jump over there after reading this post. Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway!
Writing historical fiction can be trickier than other genres. When writing about an event recent enough that living people remember it, there will be objections from those who remember it differently from the way the author portrays it.
When writing about an era too far past for anyone alive to remember it—say sixteenth century Russia, perhaps?—you run into a different kind of problem. The only way to learn the details of such an era is through research. And there are plenty of sources of information to be found. The problem is, even among the well-respected, academic sources, many of them contradict one another. Obviously primary sources are the best, but since most of us aren’t privileged enough to examine ancient documents housed in museums in the Kremlin, we have to rely on secondary sources, and they don’t always agree. My policy is that the more research you can do, the better. Not only will that give you a wide range of what is believed, but if most sources say one thing, and only one says another, chances are the larger consensus is the truth.
There is another aspect of research to consider. In service of the plot or characters, many writers stray from strict historical facts. It’s always difficult to decide how far to stray and what to change. Most readers of historical fiction know their stuff. They’ll see right away what the author has played with, and what they’ve stayed true to. Deciding what creative license to take with history is a personal thing, and every author handles it differently. For me, events and motivations are the most important things. The point of weaving history through our stories is to show why and how things happened, and how it affected the people involved. To mess with major events or the motivations that led to those events is to give your readers a skewed view of history. All of us who inhabit planet earth inherit our own history, and it’s important that we understand it, in all its tragedy and violence.
So, when I take creative license, I often mess with dates or the periods of time between events, but keep the events themselves and the chain of events that led to them as true as I possibly can. With Citadels of Fire, I collapsed the timeline quite a bit. I wanted to get through much of Ivan’s life, which would have happened across twenty years, but I didn’t want my characters to age quite that much. So, I covered the events in a shorter period of time, but otherwise stayed true to the events as they are recorded in the annals of history. Research and creative license are part of writing historical fiction, but they aren’t the most important part. Feeling the emotion of the story is what will help people connect with it and respect the truth of history. That said, the best way to help your reader feel the emotion is by doing your research and using restraint with the creative license you do take. Readers want to know that the story they just read and loved is true. And that they are a little more knowledgeable about their own world. Remember, knowledge of our past is or inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies…