Comments on: So why are these books so good?

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:20:14 +0000

..and not sexy, particularly when said ferrets appear as part of a post-coitus discussion.

(as the ferrets did (and the moon, also))

By: Patrice Sarath

Patrice Sarath — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:01:16 +0000

That should be a new Turkey City lexicon entry:

Black-footed ferrets: When a character spouts off random facts, they could be talking about the moon, calcium, or ferrets, it’s all equally annoying.

By: Patrice Sarath

Patrice Sarath — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:59:56 +0000

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Oh man. That’s just splendid.

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:49:23 +0000

Those quotes were in two different spots, I should add.

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:48:42 +0000

“You don’t use too many antacids, do you? You certainly don’t want to end up with kidney stones. The most common elements of calculi are calcium, oxalate, phosphate and uric acid”

“Look at the ocean, baby,” Tyson said, opening the wide sliding glass door so the cool night breeze swept into the room. “The moon has such an amazing effect on the water. Do you realize that the sun has only a forty-six percent gravitational force onthe earth? That makes the moon the most important single factor for creating tides.”

Just like ferrets, I say.

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:36:49 +0000

Sadly, I suppose he was right. I found I didn’t care. He could have been talking about the mating habits of black-footed ferrets for all I recall, I just thought it was annoying.

By: Patrice Sarath

Patrice Sarath — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:52:01 +0000

That’s a pretty great analysis. Now I wonder how I can get that to happen for me!

Ah yes, the “too rich to be loved for his/her ownself” flaw. We’ve seen that one before.

So I have to ask, were the facts that he spouted correct? At least, as far as you know? Because that could be charming if he couldn’t get the facts right! Sort of like Cliff on Cheers.

Then again, he wouldn’t be a hero, would he.

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:45:13 +0000

Hmmm….that starts up in “Oceans of Fire” and carries pretty much through the rest of the seven.

To me it looks like this happened.

a)Author wrote a hasty novella for an anthology with an idea she’d had in the back of her mind.
b)Got a surprisingly strong response to it.
c)Threw together a holiday book.
d)THe publisher says ‘wow, good sales’ write all of them’ at which point,
e)The author decides she has to get serious about this and comes up with a big over-arcing plot line.

I have to say that the novella and the first novel were a bit loosely thrown together. The subsequent novels seemed much more in line with each other.

One of the heros has a ‘fake flaw’ BTW. He’s an egghead scientist/search-and-recuse buff guy who goes around spouting random facts because he’s no good at conversation, and a belief that no one loved him because he was too rich for anyone to see past that.

Yeah, right.

Heavens, he was annoying.

By: Patrice Sarath

Patrice Sarath — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:11:55 +0000

Pretty pretty people can be fun to watch, true, and I admit that I have watched 90210 and Melrose for the eye candy and the over the top campy fun. But I like a bit more realism in my fantasy, and well-rounded characters are always more interesting.

I also think that writers should be aware of “fake” flaws. For instance, Hannah is cripplingly shy, and that’s why Jonas thought she was stuck up. But that’s not really a flaw, it’s a bit of aw shucks charm, at least as Feehan presents it. (I was horrifyingly shy in high school, and it is not charming at all.)

Referring to the um certain novel that you were discussing with your nephew, that heroine has several of these fake flaws, and it’s part of what irked me about it.

So tell me more about the Russian Mafia — I don’t think that’s in the books I have.

By: J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:52:34 +0000

There are actually a lot of writers who don’t lean on having the perfect male joined with the perfect female. I’ve seen writers who actually have female characters who lean towards plump or are not particularly pretty. I’ve seen male characters who have had physical disabilities (Regency does this a bit more than average since so many men would have been veterans of the war).

So reading about perfect people is somewhat like watching 90210. I just don’t get it. Obviously a lot of people do, though.