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Items for Editor's Picks 1. Escape from Alpha 2. Family Secrets 3. Tobias the Torturer 4. Kalamity 5. Return to New London 6. Impious Hearts 7. Barnaby, son of the traitor (01) Research Title GoT and Genre Reviewing Second Title Things I learned about genre reviewing from my participation in Got Hook Can you improve your genre reviews by pushing yourself beyond your perceived character count limits? About This Newsletter "Helpful reviews are supposed to be encouraging. If a reviewer does not encourage you to write then they have failed in their task."
"A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it." Danielle Steel “Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Letter From the Editor This year I am participating in "Game of Thrones"  , and one of the important aspects of this game on writing.com is reviewing. All GoT reviews have to be at least 1000 characters long. This means that, if you usually write 250 character reviews, you are being pushed beyond your perceived limits. This can be frightening and stressful the first few times you write 1000 character reviews, which brings me to a couple of questions.Can you improve your reviews by pushing yourself beyond your perceived word count or character count limits? Yes! How does pushing yourself beyond your limits improve your reviews and make them more helpful? First, it gets you out of any rut or box you have inadvertently gotten yourself into. I have found, that when I write reviews of around 250 characters, I look for only the most obvious technical problems and typos. When I go beyond the 250 character limit in a review, I have to look at other aspects of the story. To do this I have to slow down because sometimes there are subtle issues with plot or character that you do not detected in a quick read or the first reading of the story. When doing genre review, especially in fantasy and science fiction, look closely at the technology, as well as the plot and characters, used in the story. The reason I write this is that sometimes I tend to either overlook the technology or do not mention it in the review. In fantasy and science fiction the technology, magic is a form of technology, is important to the plot of the story. If you need to create a review template especially for fantasy or science fiction, do so, but remember to put a line in about the technology. Is there something you have learned from participating in GoT about reviewing? Have year learned something about reviewing from reading other people's reviews? Are you a member of a group that focuses on reviewing? If so, is there something you have learned from the group about reviewing? Please share your thought about reviewing, especially reviewing fantasy and science fiction stories or poems. Editor's Picks
Excerpt: “Hurry John! They’re coming!” A woman’s voice calls to the enormous man lumbering down the corridor. Johns’ body was experiencing a rush of adrenaline like never before. He is running for his life. In fact, all of them have been running for their lives.
Excerpt: The knife blade nicked Lindsy's ear, bringing a drop of blood before embedding itself into the ancient oak tree behind her. She reached up and grabbed the cut, removing her hand after a few seconds, leaving her ear healed.
Excerpt: In the Who's Who of Evil, considering all the disreputable scoundrels with feeble claim to humanity, one miserable scum-bag stands out. He was Monk Stephen's chief assistant. Tobias ran the "Reeducation Program." It was rumored that he'd been hand picked by Satan himself for the job.
Excerpt: Somewhere below, yet another metallic groan of the hull shattered the monotonous silence. He grimaced and attempted to change positions, his lower limbs now numb from hours of inactivity. Aunt Beatrice would have a field day if she were to see him this way. Why, she'd waste no time admonishing him for being such an impolite cad. Her sharp tongue would pierce through his usual veil of disinterest, her afternoon tea long forgotten as she would take muted pleasure at her ability to peg him in his place. Perhaps the lecture would end with a rap of her umbrella on his head and a verbal promise never, ever, ever again to act that way in her presence.
Excerpt: Amie Wakefield stepped down from the self-propelled steam cab and tapped the door to send it back to its stand. She took a deep breath, but was forced to start the air cleaner modification disguised as large pearl in the notch of her throat, due to the foul air. She began to walk into the dock area, hoping for the smell of salt and sea that was Londontown to her.
Excerpt: "Captain on Deck!" shouted the Executive Officer as Captain Hiram Novak entered the Command Operations Hub of the Interstellar Commonwealth Naval Exploratory Vessel Yanlai. The Yanlai had been underway for three years. It had traveled nearly 500 light years in that time using the advanced slipstream technology that had allowed humanity to expand out of the Sol system into the Orion Arm.
Excerpt: Barnaby stood stick straight, hands glued to his sides to avoid nervous shaking, and knees locked to the tallest, most royal, posture he could pose. He breathed so silently as not to be breathing at all, and he did not allow his eyes to move from the man behind the high desk. He knew that only the guilty looked away. Feedback From "Fantasy Newsletter (July 12, 2017)" Christopher Roy Denton  writes: Hello Neva!Thanks for mentioning my novel opening chapters in your newsletter. Cheers, Bob You're welcome. Prosperous Snow celebrating  writes: |
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