#is still less stressful than the act of running and hand delivering preorders

[judithan-fr]

me on my accent thread: I don't run preorders or keep an individual pinglist for accents its too much to maintain, this is for fun, not a job

>posts new accent and pings gasp to try and make sure ppl are able to have time to get gems without worrying (as is stated in my faq and nearly every single pinging post I make)

some rando, every single time without fail: hey can i preorder a slot

>house smoking a cig dot png

[rebeccaheyman]

reading + listening 10.20.20

My review is a day late because I allocated some of my weekly reading time to binge-watching ENOLA HOLMES on Netflix (based on a book, so had to check it out). What a charming, beautifully constructed, well-acted show! The closer we get to Election Day, the more easily-consumable content I need, which basically means non-stop Bake Off and/or novel adaptations from here to November 3rd. 

Without further ado, my reviews:

All Stirred Up (Brianne Moore), aBook (narr. by Mary Jane Wells). I actually ended up receiving an ARC of this audiobook last week, despite the fact that the release was earlier this month. Not sure exactly how that happened but here we are all the same! My 3-star review from NetGalley:

I confess I chose this title based almost entirely on the fact that it's narrated by Mary Jane Wells, one of my favorite narrators of all time. MJW could narrate the phone book and I'd probably give it a fair listen, but luckily her material in Brianne Moore's ALL STIRRED UP is considerably more dynamic--not to mention a perfect canvas for MJW to flex her range, accents, and humor.

ALL STIRRED UP is pitched as _inspired by_ Austen's Persuasion; it is NOT pitched as a Persuasion retelling, which seems to have escaped several other reviewers. The trendiness of Austen comps has made me wary of contemporary titles that lay claim to a comparison, especially since many of them are so atrocious. I would much rather see Alcove and Dreamscape market this title around more realistic comps: SCHITT'S CREEK meets DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME, with a helping of GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW heaped on for good measure. Like Mhairi McFarlane's work, ALL STIRRED UP features a slow-burn, second-chance romance, and two protagonists who have a number of personal demons to excise before they can get to the business of loving one another. The plot largely relies on external, non-romantic conflict to move forward, but Susan's family drama touched on compelling (if at times heartbreaking) issues that brought the Napier clan to life in brilliant detail.

Make no mistake, the romance itself is not the central conflict here; marketing should stress that this is contemporary fiction and/or women's fiction. While the history between Susan and Chris gives rise to emotional tension throughout the book, their relationship is NOT the central conflict -- and therefore this is not a category romance. I stress this because a good number of reviews seem to dock stars for the fact, but the book delivers on its promises if you actually read the blurb. Again, marketing might have considered a cover that doesn't lean so heavily on romance cues (feature more of the Napier family, feature Susan alone, accentuate the dueling restaurants rather than their owners, etc).

I was mostly charmed by ALL STIRRED UP, despite some emotional blows from parent/grandparent/friend deaths (in the past, not in the action proper), former drug abuse, and depictions of an anxiety disorder/ptsd. Ultimately, I found this novel heartfelt and uplifting, with the added bonus of authentic-feeling foodie content. MJW's narration is absolute perfection, and I hope we get more Moore/Wells collabs in the future.

The Project (Courtney Summers) eBook ARC (pub date: February 2021). Slam-dunk five-star read from my favorite suspense author. My review on NetGalley:

Few writers do suspense as artfully as Courtney Summers; years after reading SADIE, I can still easily recall the tense, aching anxiety I felt while reading it, and my heartfelt sadness at its conclusion. Summers' latest, THE PROJECT, delivers big when it comes to tension, aching anxiety, and heartfelt sadness all -- but it is also a masterclass in dual timeline structure, emotional depth, enigmatic characterization, and subtlety.

Lo's and Bea's relationships to one another, as well as The Unity Project and its mysterious leader, Lev Warren, propel the action of the novel forward. Lo sets out to answer a central question: Where is Bea? And second to that, is The Project a good-works-driven charitable organization, or a cult of personality with a dark underbelly? The more Lo uncovers about The Project, the less clear its purpose becomes -- while at the heart of it all stands Lev Warren, Redeemer and redeemed, lover and beloved.

Summers is one of those very rare authors writing true "crossover" -- fiction that could be as easily assigned to YA as adult audiences. To limit THE PROJECT to either category would be to deny its importance to both. About young readers, Summers recently wrote in a PW article, that they inhabit "a world where the cost of their education could be the bullet that kills their dreams, a world where they’ve witnessed the gross government mishandling of a pandemic, a world where the brutal killings of Black Americans at the hands of police go largely unanswered for, and a world where the flagrant disregard of their future by politically powerful climate change deniers is pulling us ever closer to a global crisis from which there will be no return." Lo's life reflects the complexity of today's young adult experience without dragging the specifics of _now_. The result is nuanced portrait of a young woman living a decidedly adult life, rarely of her own volition, and with the added complication of a traumatic history.

THE PROJECT is an up-all-night, read-til-its-done page-turner that kept me guessing to the end (and I'm hard to surprise!). I'm hopeful that Netflix will pick this up for series development, as it would utterly crush when translated to the screen. Looking ever so forward to more from an author who just gets better with every release.

From Blood and Ash (Jennifer L Armentrout), eBook. Imagine if you would the most reductive, hackneyed mash-up of SJM and Twihard, and you’ll get close to understanding what FROM BLOOD AND ASH is all about. For several days last week, it felt like the readers I follow on social media were obsessing over this book; they praised the OTP romance, dynamic world-building, and nonstop plot. But what I found instead was a poorly developed world rife with all the old familiar tropes, a romance that brings up serious issues of consent and gaslighting, and reliance on poorly reinvented plot lines from better trashy fantasies. Le sigh. 

Perhaps it’s my old age, but I’ve lost my taste for books that spend significant time and narrative space developing the in-world cultural, social, political, and religious structures, only to “gotcha” the hero(ine) and reader by revealing it was aLL a LiE. This book does that in last-gasp attempt to salvage some conflict late in Act III, and it’s not okay.

Also not okay is the power imbalance between the heroine and her very-obviously-the-mysterious-baddie-no-one’s-ever-seen counterpart. Review after review praises the hot heat in FBaA, but I couldn’t get past the hate-banging. Men who yell TELL ME YOU WANT THIS while practically inside their partners are not enacting a sexy, heroic, impassioned version of consent; they’re just ticking a box for “not rape” that has nothing to do with actual desire. It’s a hard pass for me.

This was almost as much of a letdown as Serpent & Dove, but both titles can battle it out for Most Derivative Trash Fantasy 2020. 

The Bromance Book Club and Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club #2) (Lyssa Kay Adams), aBook (narr. Andrew Eiden, with Maxwell Caulfield on book 1). I snagged the first of this series from my library’s digital collection when I was looking for some easy listening over the weekend, and I’m so pleased to tell you this is an incredibly charming series. Adams turns some familiar romance tropes upside-down by focusing on a group of men (the titular book club) who read romance novels -- aka manuals -- to better understand their relationships with women. This hunky group of alphas has a collectively soft underbelly; they live by the lessons gleaned from the romances die-hard readers love, such as “always run for a grand gesture” and “back story is everything.” In Bromance #1, we have excerpts from a regency romance interwoven with the primary narrative, which focuses on Gavin and Thea’s almost-totally-broken marriage. Do I wish the major marital conflict had less to do with orgasms? I do. But was it a fun, intriguing, well-narrated listen with a great secondary cast and some bona fide laughs? It was. Positive rep for speech impediments added to the magic. In Undercover Bromance, Mack and Liv work the enemies-to-lovers trope to fairly great effect, though the story touches on some troublingly dark topics (CW for sexual predation, murder, domestic abuse, abandonment, childhood trauma). Still, both Liv and Mack bring some unexpected features to the narrative, and it’s great to see the dynamic secondary cast further developed from book 1. My only real complaint is the forever-dull “dead cell phone” gimmick late in Act III. I can forgive Adams this one hackneyed indulgence, though I hope she doesn’t make a habit of it. Book 3 in this series (Crazy Stupid Bromance) release October 27, and the cat/hunk/romance novel featured on the cover is all the motivation I need to preorder. 

[quiznakchronicle]

Fandom event etiquette

Suggestions for both organizers and participants for a smooth and fun experience

Events are some of the most fun things in fandom. They bring people together for a common project, foster a great sense of community, and produce lots of amazing content for the fandom. As long as they’re run responsibly. As people who are quite active in the fandom events scene for the Voltron fandom a few things have been brought to our attention recently and we’d like to address them. Sheer event volume, poor management, and disorganized events are starting to turn people off from signing up/participating, and it’s really upsetting to see these things that are supposed to be fun turning into sources of stress and anxiety instead

Please know that this isn’t about pointing fingers at any single event or individual, rather this is advice we’d like to share based on our experience as both event organizers and participants. We welcome comments and further discussion, but if you’d like to add to this post please don’t namedrop any people or events. Don’t turn this post into a call-out, that’s not what it’s about. Finally, this post is written specifically about the Voltron fandom, but I’m sure it could apply to pretty much any fandom, so anyone who finds it useful feel free to reblog!

- @ace-pidge​ and @bosstoaster​

Organizers

Check the state of the fandom before starting a new event. This is absolutely crucial. For the Voltron fandom, I maintain an entire set of calendars with the schedules of all ongoing and upcoming events, please take advantage of it. Your idea is probably super cool! But if there are already a couple dozen other projects going on it may be wise to hold off on it. If you’re worried about someone else coming along and stealing your idea, you can make a blog/post to signal your intent to run your event in the future, and wait a while for things to calm down a bit before actually running it. I’ve been getting many messages from people saying they feel burnt out or overwhelmed with the sheer number of events, and that’s not a situation anyone wants. [Edit (14/09): After hearing the thoughts of a Zine mod on this topic I now find this next statement unfair and in poor taste, as it lowkey implies (falsely) that Zine mods don’t know what they’re doing. I’ll leave my original comments in for posterity, but let it be known that really at this point my issue with Zines is more instances of lackluster management rather than Zine volume in itself. This is especially worrying for Zines, because actual money is involved. The market has been flooded with Zines over the summer, which results in fewer people buying them overall. Fandom people aren’t made of money, and it’s important to consider this when planning a Zine]     

Make sure you’re able to commit entirely to the project, both time-wise and mentally/physically. Fandom events are BIG JOBS, especially the ones that span several months like Big Bangs and Zines. But even smaller events like Weeks or Exchanges require a certain amount of work put into them. That’s months of advertising, of making posts, of answering questions, of sorting people out and keeping tabs on them, of troubleshooting. Look at your school/work situation not just in the near future but also several months down the line: will you have the time to dedicate to this. Look at why you’re doing this event: are you just doing it because you want in on the fun. Look at your mental/physical health situation: will you have the capacity to see this through. If you know that given your history there’s a possibility something might happen that will prevent you from keeping on top of the project (like a depressive episode or a hospitalization) make sure to account for that (for example bring on a team of mods who will be able to carry on without you should you need to step back for a while)       

Make sure your fellow mods are up to the task. Smaller events can be comfortably run by a single person, but bigger events like Zines and Big Bangs really should be run by at least 2 people, if not a team of 3-5*. This will ensure the workload is shared and there’s less chance of burning out before the project reaches completion. And they must all be people who are equally invested in the project. Having 1 very enthusiastic mod and 2 wishy-washy tag-along mods is a recipe for a project to fall apart     

If your friend is asking you to co-mod an event with them and you’re not sure you can/want to commit to it, say no! Don’t feel like you have to accept just because it’s your friend asking. It’s better to be upfront and honest than to start something you won’t be able to finish

The above goes DOUBLE if you plan to run more than 1 event at a time. I’m not here to say you can’t run more than 1 event at the same time, but if you plan to do that you better make EXTRA sure you have the time and resources to commit to all of them

Get advice from someone who has run this kind of event in the past, especially if it’s your first time as an organizer. Talking to someone who has gone through this already will likely prove invaluable for running a smooth event and dealing with problems that may arise. Look through the notes on this post if you need to find someone to contact     

Communication is key, be transparent! It is extremely important to stay in contact with your participants. This will both remind them that the event is ongoing (you’d be surprised how often people sign up for something then forget about it entirely) and show that you are responsible and on top of things. Also, don’t forget about your public page. With most events having dedicated Discord servers these days, it’s easy to forget about updating the event blog/Twitter page. Putting up a post every now and then to update the public on the event’s progress lets people know it’s not dead and keeps their interest up while your participants work behind the scenes

Stay on schedule, and if you can’t, let people know. Be clear and upfront about the event’s timeline and the different milestones, and if you can’t keep to the schedule say so. People will generally be very understanding. If you’re dealing with a Real Life situation, or if there are circumstances outside your control like printing/manufacturing delays on a Zine, tell your participants and your audience. This will avoid people getting disgruntled and frustrated and bitter because they feel left in the dark     

If for whatever reason you can no longer see the project through, tell people instead of just disappearing off the face of the Earth. It’s really upsetting from a participant’s perspective to be left with no news for weeks or months on end without a clue what happened to the event. Sometimes things come up or stuff happens, it’s understandable, but if that’s the case you need to let people know. It may be very upsetting to make that post, but trust me, people will appreciate the knowing     

Be VERY CAREFUL if you’re going to be handling money (as with Zines for example). Handling people’s money is a huge responsibility. If you’re going to be taking money you have to make sure you’re able to deliver on what you promised. The absolute worst time for a project to stall out is after preorders and before products are shipped out. If your project stalls at this stage and you don’t keep your buyers appraised of the situation you may get accused of scamming people or people may start demanding refunds, which is a mess no one wants to deal with     

Don’t air your dirty laundry publicly. We get it, sometimes running an event is frustrating. Participants drop out, or disappear and can’t be contacted, or butt heads with you or each other. Don’t complain about it anywhere public; know that stuff you say will reflect on you as an organizer as well as on your event. Vent to friends or on private accounts if you must, but you want to appear professional and in control in public. If you appear messy, your event will also appear messy, and it may make people think twice about staying in it or participating in stuff you do in the future 

Related: Try and keep your tone upbeat and positive and professional in your promo posts and answers to questions, even if you’re answering the same question for the umpteenth time. Giving off a frustrated or negative vibe may turn people off your event    

 If you’re a minor who wants to run an event make sure it’s appropriate for your age. Honestly, kudos to you if you’re 15-17 and running (or helping to run) an event, it’s great that you’re so involved! But for the love of all things good don’t get involved in an event where NSFW content is likely to appear. No amount of “I’m mature enough” or “I act older” constitutes a valid excuse, and you’re putting your (adult) participants in a very dangerous situation if you do that. ESPECIALLY if they don’t know you’re underage

*This isn’t to say you can’t run a bigger event if you’re alone, because people can and have done it and quite successfully at that. But in that case you must be absolutely all in

Participants

When you sign up for something, take the commitment seriously. Only sign up for things you know you’ll have the time/energy to deliver on, and do your best to do it

Stay on task. Keep to the schedule on your own, don’t make the organizers run after you

If you need an extension, ask for it, and don’t wait for the last minute. Sometimes you just need those few extra days or that week to complete your piece. Very often organizers will be understanding if you approach them asking for an extension, but don’t wait till the deadline to do so. Ask for the extension the moment you realize you’ll need extra time. Also ask even if you’re not 100% sure you’ll need it. Better to get the extension but still hand your stuff in on time than to show up the day of the deadline with an incomplete work and asking for more time. In the event that the organizers can’t give you an extension, either sort yourself out to have your stuff done on time or drop out of the event

If you need to drop out, do it sooner rather than later. Sometimes things come up, or your muse goes on vacation, or something else happens that’ll make you unable to participate. That’s ok! It happens to everyone. But in that case, tell the organizers ASAP so they can readjust their plans around you. Don’t just disappear off the face of the Earth without letting them know what your status is

Pace yourself. I know it’s tempting to sign up for everything. But the more you’re in the more strain you put on yourself, and the more likely you are to cause a domino effect if something goes wrong

Don’t air your dirty laundry publicly. If you have an issue with another participant or the organizer(s), or the way the event is being managed, or whatever else, take it up privately first. If it can’t be resolved, maybe just quietly drop out of the event and go on your way