Some frequently asked questions about Shannon C.

So I am one of the newbie ducks around these parts, and I thought it would be nice to answer some questions I have received from alert readers so you can get to know me better. Or stalk me. It all amounts to the same thing.

Q: Who are you and why are you qualified to review romance?

A: I’m a twenty-something college student living in the midwest. I read a lot, always have, and it was either start reviewing books formally or suffer the shouts of, “For God’s sake, Shannon, it’s just a book!” I read a lot, I know what I like, and I’m a decent writer, so thus reviewing seemed natural.

How’d you get stuck on this crazy train?

I sold my soul to Sybil.

Really?

Yes. She keeps it in a jar and she polishes it every day until it shines.

You are so full of shit.

Well, yeah. Actually, I met Sybil on a yahoo group, where we discovered that basically we have nothing in common, reading-wise. From there it was only a matter of time before she persuaded me to join the pond.

I am hot, sexy Russian bride. Will you marry me and take me to America?

No.

I notice you read a lot of paranormals.

Yep. My first love has always been fantasy, followed by science fiction and romance. When I started reading romance pretty exclusively over the past couple of years, I realized paranormals could provide me with that touch of magic I like while still giving me a good love story.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

I have tons of favorite authors, largely depending on what day you ask me. Lois McMaster Bujold, Lynne Connolly, Marjorie M. Liu, Samantha Kane, Meljean Brook, and Jean Johnson are my current pics.

I am the financial officer for the Prince of Nigeria, and we just need your account number so we can borrow your bank account to store several billion dollars worth of illegaly gotten money.

You can’t have mine, but I will happily give you the names of some of my exes.

What makes a good romance?

First, I need a strong heroine. I don’t need her to kick ass and take names, but she should at least be smart, and she should be a good foil for the hero. I don’t read anything so that I can live the heroine’s glamorous life for a while. Romance isn’t the way I inact my fantasies, and I don’t like it when I feel authors treat it as such. As for heroes, I think anyone can write a roguish rake, a Navy S.E.A.L. or a brooding vampire. My favorite romances are ones with characters who are different, unique, and don’t always stick to type. I especially love a well-written beta hero. (He doesn’t have to be a wet rag and he shouldn’t let the heroine walk all over him, but I enjoy reading about the quieter, more easygoing types.

What plot devices do you like?

I love friends-to-lovers stories. I’m fond of mail-order brides and marriage of convenience plots, and I love the I-want-her-but-I-can’t-have-her type plots.

Any plots you think are overdone and can’t stand?

I have relaxed my stance on the concept of fated mates from outright hatred to mild irritation. But only because I’ve read a few books where that concept was done well. Mistaken identity books hold no appeal, because invariably I’m not convinced by the rationale that the characters use to not reveal what’s going on. I haven’t read a secret baby book, and probably never will, because most of the premises rely on the characters behaving in really stupid ways. I kind of feel the same way about amnesia books, too. No real appeal there.

I can help you increase the size of your penis.

Not bloody likely, but again, I will happily point you to some of my exes.

Which duckie’s reading tastes closely match your own?

That’s hard. Gwen and Devon and I have similar tastes, although we don’t match exactly. (Gwen likes Christine Feehan, for example, whereas she leaves me cold.) But Devon and I do have similar reviewing styles, which is really nice.

So there’s my FAQ. If you have questions for me, preferably questions like, “How can I give you large sums of money for no apparent reason?” feel free to ask in comments.

ShannonC looks for Recs: Lora Leigh

Sandy M.’s latest review got me thinking about Lora Leigh. She is one of those authors that everyone seems to adore, particularly my fellow duckies . But the two short stories I tried by her, one in the Hot Spell anthology and the other in the A Wish, A Kiss, A Dream anthology didn’t work for me at all. And then there are the incest books, which people either love or they hate.

But despite all that, Lora Leigh sells like hot cakes and I keep thinking maybe I should try one of her full-length novels before I give her up completely.

But she has a huge, scary backlist, and I don’t know what to read. So I turn to the collective wisdom of the Pond.

Recommend me your favorite Lora Leigh book in comments and tell me why I should read it. The person whose comment actually manages to convince me to try one of her books will receive some sort of prize book donated and signed from Lora Leigh. Don’t ask me what prize–I am not the contest duckie nor do I play her on TV. [ed note: tis ok I answered for you cuz I can do that go team me!] Extra points will be awarded for creativity and/or attempts to make me snork a beverage out my nose.

Not ready for a Close Up…

 But I think we are looking a little better. Maybe? Thoughts… Suggestions?

The Pond

Frank, irreverent quacking about the Romance Book industry. Reviews, interviews, contests, and mayhem!

Forthright and frequently adult views on the writing industry. The Good, The Bad & The Unread has 2 to 4 book reviews every day (mostly romance but sometimes we swim into other genres). There may be occasional rants, but we like to think of them as strongly worded opinions.

Some authors are silly enough to let us interview them. We even talk a few into doing guest blogs, contests, and more. TGTBTU hosts about 3 guest author days a month. And the ducks are here, just because we like them.

We are quacky like that…

What other people say about TGTBTU

“TGTBTU always reminds me a bit of the first floor of Macy’s (the NY flagship store) at Christmas - crowded and crazy and buzzing with energy and good vibes - but dang, these people love them their books.”  - Bestselling author Karen Templeton.

Feed the Ducks

Have a question? Want to know if your book is set for review? Wanna know the secrets of the pond? Have a suggestion for the duckies? Want to submit your romance novel for review? Have news you wanna quack about? Ideas on how to make Gwen behave? Know of a topic we should put our beaks into? Have some top secret quackery? Just have something silly to share or wanna tell us how pretty our feathers are?

The Duckies

Sybil

Meet the Ducks

Alicia Thomas	Azteclady
Naughty Bev(QB)	Nice Bev(QB)
Connie	Devon	Finn
Gwen	LauraJ	Lawson
Nikki	SandyM or Sandy	ShannonC’s Icon
Sybil	Sybil	Sybil
Teddypig	Teddypig’s alterego

Review Grades

Many questions are asked of how we grade things around here, how a book can get reviewed, and, generally, what’s up with this blog thing. Here’s our logic, such as it is…

A+
Squee worthy. Fantastic “keeper shelf” shelf material. So damn good the reviewer wanted to have sex with the book AND recommend it to everyone they know.

A to A-
Excellent. Highly recommended to everyone the reviewer knows.

B+ to B-
Good. An enjoyable book with a couple of problems but no major issues. Recommended to people the reviewer thinks would like it.

C+ to C-
Average. This is an average read that perhaps didn’t appeal to the reviewer, but may to others. Recommended to fans of the author/genre, with buts. (Note - A ‘C-review’ isn’t a bad review on TGTBTU.)

D+ to D-
Poor. Has many problems but one shining moment saves it from sinking into oblivion. Not recommended unless you’re a die-hard fan of the author or genre.

F
It blows. No really, the reviewer asks themselves “Why am I reading this?” and then remembers it is so they may share with others on the blog. Not recommended except as birdcage liner.

DNF
Did Not Finish. But for whatever reason a reviewer wants to talk about it to either warn others away, or to see if anyone else was able to get thru it.

Things to keep in mind

Books may be reviewed by more than one person, but not every book can be reviewed. We don’t have enough reviewers or time in the day to get thru the mountains of new books published every day. If there is a particular book you want to see reviewed, feel free to email tgtbtu @ goodbadandunread . com (minus the spaces) and we’ll see what we can do - we love new books, genres, authors and we’re always looking for something shiny and different.

If bad reviews make an author sad or feel the need to make an ass of themselves in public, we suggest not reading our reviews of their books. We do not guarantee a good review simply because we’ve been sent a book. There are sites for that kind of stuff, this isn’t one of them.

Feel free to comment on how we do things around here. Not a lot bothers us. Opinions and discussion are what makes the world go ’round, after all.

Guest Author Days

GAD’s occur approximately 2 to 4 times a month, depending on the time of year and other events on the blog. We invite authors we love, hug, squeeze, and call ‘George.’ You are welcome to request a GAD, but the book being released needs to be sent to Sybil (by email or print) and read before a Day can be scheduled. We only do Guest Author Days for authors with books we would recommend.

More info can be found here:

The Duck Mantra

Any questions? Emails us (tgtbtu @ goodbadandunread . com ) and we’ll try to help you out.