We’ve officially crossed into December “Reviewer Time” waters [ignore the out-of-schedule Mark & Liz episode] and we do so with another old dog in the blogosphere, who’s been working on his blog since 2004. I am talking about Joe Sherry from “Adventures in Reading”.

Sadly, I haven’t been a regular visitor to “Adventures in Reading”, so a great insight and a lot of commentary I can’t provide about the blog and the blogger, so I am as much as new visitor to his work as you guys are. So let’s explore his website together in greater detail. I certainly knew the blog before the current layout and have to say that in design it certainly has evolved for the better, because with the last template it resembled too much other blogs, including my own, which is why I also switched, but let’s not sidetrack too much.

Let’s get down to business now shall we. As far as reviews go, Joe opposed to what he says about his activity does provide a healthy monthly amount of posts that keep the interest alive and he is quite the reader with a lot of books finished each month, an amount which certainly makes me motivated to devote more time to my reading. The titles he covers are more in the fantasy department than science fiction, but he doesn’t seem to distinguish between the two genres as he is hooked on covering the awards every year.

Basically what Joe does is not only cover the results from the Awards along with the nominee lists, but he also goes on to comment on the nominees, posts comprehensive reviews and pays the necessary coverage of these events, the likes of which I haven’t seen done and for me certainly counts as good reading material.

HM: Hey Joe, welcome, make yourself comfortable and let's get cracking. First up, who is Joe Sherry, when he logs off from "Adventures in Reading"?

JS: I don't know, man. I'm just a guy. 30 years old. Live in the suburbs of Minneapolis. I think Minnesota is absolutely delightful and a beautiful place to live. I've got a day job, but there's some stuff that I don't talk about in public. I don't know how to talk about myself, so I think we're going to move right along here.

HM: The basic duo questions here are once more applied. What sparked your passion for reading and what brought you into speculative fiction?

JS: I can't answer what sparked my passion for reading. I've been reading something since I was three years old and I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading. What I can answer is why spec fic.

When I was in seventh grade I overheard a couple of kids in my class talking about this great new series of books that was so adult and that the other kids in the class weren't mature enough for. Those books were funny and fun and full of adventure and did I mention adult?

They were talking about the Xanth novels from Piers Anthony.

After that school year my parents moved from New York to Minnesota and I had a small town library with a librarian who supported SFF and I was hooked. I loved those early Xanth novels, moved into David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond Feist and I never looked back.

HM: What prompted you start "Adventures in Reading" and where do you see yourself taking your blog right now?

JS: For the start, a couple of things really. I've been blogging since late 2001, originally back on Diary-X back when it still existed. That was a more personal blog, though I posted the occasional review there. My reviewing life started on Amazon April 2000 when I posted a review of Wendy Shalit's A Return to Modesty, but the reviewing didn't pick up a year or two later.

The blog, though? The first post was June 18, 2004. I wrote about various books, some movies, just random stuff. At the time I called it "This Reading Life".

I started it because I was becoming tired of posting reviews on Amazon, though that would continue for a while. I wanted something more interactive, something more personal. I had no focus. It wasn't until later when I switched the name that I decided I wanted it to be a book blog. Only a book blog. When I started the blog I didn't know anything about this "blogosphere" or other blogs of the ilk. I just wanted to write about the stuff that I liked. I knew a bit more later, though I don't think I really feel like I'm part of a particular "community", at least not that one. It seems like the bloggers I read all knew each other from the same forum(s) and I'm not part of that. Which is fine.

Where do I see the blog going? All things being equal, more of the same. Hopefully just more of it. I enjoy writing about the various awards and catching up on those short stories. If anything, I'd like to be more consistent in reading and writing about short fiction. I'd like to be more consistent, I guess. Focused. I'm not. That's okay, too.

I take this blogging thing as it comes, do the best I can on any given day for whatever that means. Right now I'm content with it. When I'm not, I'll change things as needed.

HM: I am also on an organizational buzz and while I am figuring how to create a schedule to accommodate responsibilities and my interest, I want to know how other people cope with time deficiency. How do you find your reading time?

JS: Honestly, I think I have less pull on my time than other people my age do. I don't have kids, and that's a big one. Reading is one of my primary forms of entertainment and it is a priority for me. I make time to read, whether just before bed or on my lunch break or a bit when I don't feel like watching television. I'm also a fairly fast reader for most books.

HM: Let's hit the nostalgia button and transport you back to the very first review you've ever written. What was the book that prompted you to review it and what drove you to take up review blogging in the first place?

JS: My first review was on Amazon and it was a very, very short review of Fiona Apple's second album When the Pawn..., but the first book review was Wendy Shalit's A Return to Modesty. I read it my junior year of college and I don't know, I just appreciated Shalit's thoughtful take on Modesty as something that can and should be taken as a point of pride and not an object of scorn. I thought it was a beautiful book and as far as I know, I just wanted to say *something*.

I'd like to say I was off to the races, by next review didn't appear on Amazon for nearly a year, and unlike Shalit's book, I wrote out of disappointment in Don DeLillo's The Body Artist. After Underworld, man, The Body Artist was a huge disappointment. Still don't have the heart to re-read it. I didn't have much style back then, and the reviews certainly weren't very long, but the more I did it the more interested I was in writing about books. Otherwise, origin story up
on #3.

HM: What do you like best about reviewing and what is the worst aspect
from being a review blogger?

JS: Is there a worst aspect? This is supposed to be fun, man.

The best? Did you know that writers are people? Seriously. It's not that on an intellectual level I thought there were these plug-and-play book machines just cranking out awesomeness-by-the-book-full, but like actors or professional athletes, writers were these distant and mythical creatures. They probably had sparkly unicorn horns for all I knew.

The best part is that because of some e-mails with authors, some initiated by the writer, I realized that they were people like you or me. Now, grant that I don't really know how to talk to people in general, but that was still cool. Because of this I went to my first convention a couple years ago (Fourth Street Fantasy) and met some of the people who made the words appear and they're pretty awesome people. I mean, besides making the words appear awesome. One hooked me on Criminal Minds and now that's one of my favorite shows on television.

The best part is that it opened my world in a way that I wouldn't have expected in 2000 when I wrote about A Return to Modesty or in 2004 when I first started That-Which-Became-a-Blog. I'm never going to call it that again. That's just horrendous. I don't know how Jo Rowling pulled off not naming Voldemort (and she did).

HM: What is the essential method for you to create a review? Do you finish it up all at once or do you write it in segments, how often do you revise, etc.?

JS: Umm...I start at the top of the page and write until I get to the bottom? I don't really have one. Generally I'll write from start to finish, glance it over to catch anything extra-stupid, and release it. Sometimes I'll think of a point I want to make when I'm not working on the review that fits near the end, so I just drop it in there.

It really depends, though. Certain books require a bit more attention than others. I've tried to be more thoughtful in reviewing L. Timmel Duchamp's Marq'ssan novels because Duchamp's writing demands that time and thought. Others I can crank out nearly fully formed in my head.

I'm not a big reviser, though. Never have been. I have some editorial oversight at Fantasy Magazine that has helped me make fewer bald statements without explanation, but I think this also goes back to college.

Drs. Westerholm and De Jong team taught my first college English course and they explained to the class that we could take any position we wanted on a book so long as the text supported the position and we could back it up. They also required that any question be answered with at least five supporting sentences and preferably an example from the text. The text trumps all.

I don't always (or often) live up to their teaching and their example in my reviews, but it has definitely shaped me. It's the reason why a yes / no question is never a question with a one-word answer. Say "yes" and not provide five supporting sentences? Blasphemy.

Plus, I'm just a wordy bastard.

HM: Have you ever felt like abandoning it whole, because the world pressed you on reading and blogging time?

JS: Note my lack of consistency in updating every day. I frequently want to do more than I do, but I'm either uninspired or too busy and sometimes I just don't get around to it. That's okay, I think. I do best when I get on a roll and can build up several days worth of posts in one day and can stagger them out. That way I can take time off and the posts keep rolling out.

But quit the blog?

Dude, this is *fun*. I don't get paid, it's not an obligation. I do it because I want to.

HM: Thanksgiving has passed recently and since I don't live in the country, I am curious to hear about the holiday. Did you induce a food coma and even if it's a holiday dedicated to family did your reading addiction manage to snatch a time slot in the house?

JS: There's *always* time for books.

HM: While we are on the Holiday season vibe December is here and guess that means Christmas can't be very far. What's your wish list and also how many books do you estimate you will get from it?

JS: Aww, man, I'm 30. The wish list works very differently these days, though the parents insist on receiving a list. Because I'm such good friends with my library card and can buy the books I really, really need to own (assuming I don't receive them to review), I don't do much with books on the Christmas list. At least, not in genre.

But there's this awesome winter coat I want to get from J. Crew...

HM: Have you had the idea to sit down and take a stab at writing?

JS: Writing fiction, you mean? I've written a small handful of stories and have proudly collected my rejections, but not seriously. I'm not all that interested in writing fiction.

I did do NaNoWriMo a couple years back and completed my first novel which NOBODY will ever see. See #14 for why. It's just not good, man. There were vampires. They didn't sparkle, but still.

Nah, man. I don't have the drive nor the discipline to really try my hand at fiction of any length.

HM: It's undeniable that sadly we have less and less time on our hands, which means that as reviewers we have a fattening of the TBR piles. What does your TBR list look like?

JS: I've got two answers to this.

First, my TBR pile consists of everything which I've heard of and want to read and also everything I haven't yet heard of but would surely want to read. It will never end.

If I ignore the books I have purchased and haven't read or have on hold at the library, and only consider the books on my To Read and Review pile...

62.

I don't imagine I'll get to all of that, but I've got some awesomness in there which I'd like to read *anyway*

HM: As social networks grow, countless new sites that measure ranks pop up and more of us show at the blogging party have you officially entered the web hits war? I know there is one, even if it is silent, since we all want to be taken seriously and counted as reliable sources for information and critique and numbers prove that. Where do you stand on this subject matter?

JS: Eh...

I want to say that I don't care a lick about that, but let's be honest here. It would be pretty damn cool if I had a million hits a day and folks thought I was THE authority. Shoot, even AN authority.

I'm also a fairly realistic person, though. THAT is never going to happen and if it did, it would be a pure fluke and not because I'm inherently more awesome than everyone else out there. I'm well aware of my limitations and I can't do what Larry Nolan does. I respect the intelligence and critical thoughtfulness to his reviews. He's done some really cool stuff over at OF Blog of the Fallen. That's not the question, but I think Larry does some of the best work of our fellow bloggers.

But actually, that IS the question. The cream rises to the top. Mostly. If you're a smart blogger with something to say, people are going to notice. Forget about the million hits for a moment. I think this goes for anything in life, actually, but if you do a good job people are going to notice. Maybe not a million people, but smart people who value other smart people are going to notice and THOSE are the people who will be taken seriously and counted as a reliable source of information. It'll be the people who ARE reliable sources of information and SHOULD be taken seriously. They will be.

Of course we all want to be taken seriously, but I think we have to be honest about what we're doing. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not doing this for the hits. I'm doing this because I enjoy it, because it is something that is just *me*. It's mine. Yeah I check my stats and yeah I check to see if anyone is linking to me, but given my daily numbers, after five years I better not be doing this just for the hits.

HM: Publishing is evolving and changing. Conventional publication makes a few inches space for new forms to arise and one of them is self-publishing. Do you estimate that it will evolve into a reputable form with well regarded titles in the future and what is your opinion of it now?

JS: I don't have an inherent issue with self-publishing per se, because I think it can be valuable for people looking to produce a small number of copies of their manuscripts for whatever reason. Shoot, John Scalzi will self publish early copies of his manuscripts for personal and family use.

As a reader, though, I have a deep seated prejudice against self-published books put out to market. There will always be an exception to every rule, and there will always be the story of the writer who self-published and became a successful author. But what you will almost always find out about those rare stories is that they led to traditional publication and that the writer did not go back to self-publishing.

Unless we are talking about an instance where a previously published author did not sell enough copies of the previous book that she was able to sell her next to a reputable publisher and only then turned to self-publishing (take Charles Saunders and his Imaro books for an example of this), my view of writers trying to pass their
self-published work off as legitimate is this:

Publishing has a number of filters to keep the crap away from the books I really want to read. First is the agent. If you cannot get an agent to represent you, you may be unlucky, but it probably means that your fiction is not good enough yet. Second is the publisher. If you cannot get a publisher to give you money to publish your book, I can only assume that it means that your book was not good enough. Write another one and try again. If that fails, write another one and try again. Yes, maybe just maybe the agent and publisher did not recognize your genius, but if you really are a genius, you'll sell your next book. Or the next one.

I WANT those filters in place. If you think that some published authors are just no good and that anybody can write a better book, imagine what is sitting in the slush pile of life and thank your lucky stars that that those publishing filters are there and that you don't have to slog through even more dreck to find the good stuff.

That's not to mention the hard work the publishers put in to make the manuscript a writer turns in even better.

HM: Speaking of changes in the industry, you must have heard about the Harlequin fiasco with the launch of their own vanity press and the strategy behind utilizing it to make profits. This has got to be a very interesting situation to watch unwind since so many organizations are rapidly reacting like RAW removing Harlequin from its list eligible publishers to the MWA and SFWA, who are taking similar actions. What do you feel about the whole situation?

JS: I'm aware of the situation and I have an opinion, but you know what they say about opinions...everybody has one. I don't feel like I know enough about this particular situation to be able to speak intelligently about it.

In general, though, I'm not a fan of vanity presses. I think it's a sucker's game to leech money away from people who haven't done their homework and think they are getting far more than they are. Money should flow to the writer, not away from.

HM: And as technology creeps in and the physical book is fought for dominance by the electronic copies, what do you think of the new e-book phenomenon?

JS: I'm old school, man. I like having a physical copy in my hand, I love the smell of my public library, and I love browsing my local SFF used bookstore Uncle Hugo's. That said, if I had an affordable and quality e-book reader, I might feel differently. It's just not a priority, though.

The marketplace hasn't figured out what the proper price point is for e-books and Amazon seems to be artificially setting a number that has nothing to do with the non-printing costs of putting out a quality product.

Not sure I have a real thought here. What's going to happen is going to happen. I just hope that my favorite authors will be able to make money at it if the marketplace changes.

HM: Also I have been drowning in genres that keeping sprouting everywhere and all definitions cause my brain to melt down. Truth is that to me the lines between genres are blurring into obscurity. Could this mean a possible post-genre future?

JS: Post genre future? Never happen. What I mean is that while I don't know if there will be a blurring of what happens between the covers of a book, genre is ultimately a publishing and a sales category. Genre categorization is good for booksellers to group books into sort-of-kind-of-similar sections, and that's good for the "average reader" (or the average reader's mom) to walk into a bookstore and know where to find what they are looking for.

Now, grouping China Mieville, Elizabeth Bear, and David Eddings under the same heading of "fantasy" is ludicrous, but at least you know that this is where the impossible is shelved. Except when Audrey Niffenegger is shelved under General Fiction / Literature because it'll sell better there.

Which is all to say that while I think that there is a chance that some of the categories of genre will change; I don't think that genre itself will disappear. It's a useful method of talking about and identifying books in the simplest of terms. You want a Mystery or a Western or a Science Fiction novel? You know where to look.

HM: Please finish with your own words.

JS: Thanks, man. It was fun.

It’s Thursday, so probably this doesn’t ring a bell with you guys, but guess what. It’s time for another Reviewer Time episode. It’s an extra edition that stars Liz and Mark from the popular “My Favorite Books”. Both had been extremely busy for a couple of weeks [I guess when it starts to rain it pours is valid here], but my constant nagging and a few threats from Liz later we have a feature. Let’s applaud Liz [and me] for the persistence.

It’s been some time since my last collaborative blog commentary, so I was excited to be with one, but first more on the interviewees. If you have been on the blog prowl, there is no way you haven’t discovered their blog.

“My Favorite Books” is one of my favorite places to visit, which doesn’t show as much in the comments section, but who has the time to comment these day. I was introduced to this blog in late 2008, but just acknowledged its existence, until Liz was gracious as to contact me via Michael [ediFanoB] to participate in her Horror Fest. I couldn’t follow it as closely as I would have wished, but I stuck around for quite a few reasons.

First is MFB’s affinity towards darker, grittier and horror oriented titles, which I adore as well and usually prefer to read. Sure, there are the hottest new titles on display, but then there are totally new and unknown books with amazing British covers that promise a great ride as well. It’s a grand central station for the gritty and macabre lover of fantasy and the modern incarnations and horror. There is also the regular updates, reviews of great length and in-depth commentary on books, events and occurrences in the lit world.

Liz is the powerhouse driving force behind the blog with most active presence and she is one fun person to chat with on Twitter as well, so I urge you on to follow her. I enjoy the length and style of her reviews so far and I think that the great in-depth and in detail discussions she brings out from the books she has read is satisfying and urges the reader to comment. Mark is also following this model and unless I see who is exactly reviewing I can’t distinguish between the two, which I think is quite cool, because both are in synergy together and incorporate the blog’s personality. And the blogs’ personality is positively charged and you can tell these guys love what they are doing.

Apart from the books that make me personally drool and inspire book heist trips to Liz’s house, there are awesome giveaways and interviews and events like the horror fest.

HM: “My Favorite Books” to me is a synonym for the Mark and Liz unit that runs it, so I’d like to hear about who you guys are when you log off from the web.

Liz: Hi Harry – thanks for inviting us to play along. I work by day as an executive assistant to the ceo of an international mining company. When I log off from the interwebs I do a lot of reading and writing. We try to get out a bit when we can, so we’ll go for walks or catch some new flicks either at home or at the cinema. Just last night we’ve started gaming again – yes, people, gaming! We went to visit Sarwat Chadda (author of The Devil’s Kiss) and we talked books, writing and gaming – he’s running a first AD&D game for us and we’re loving it. I play two characters, a half orc fighter and a human cleric. I spend some time on the PS3 but have learned I totally suck at playing Guitar Hero but that Mark is stupidly good at it. I do however beat the crapola out of him when we play Mortal Kombat.;-)

Mark: I work in the financial sector in ‘real life’. Aside from a few years off the reservation I’ve spent a lot of my spare time gaming since high school in one form or the other. The rest is divided between writing, movies and reading.

HM: Before we head into literature territory, let’s discuss some juicy gossip. From what I gather you guys are an item [I hope I’m not wrong in this assumption] and to me it’s a geek fairy tale to find a person with mirroring interest and have this joint venture, so is “My Favorite Books” a testament to love?

Liz: Hardly gossip! Yes, Mark and I are an item – we’ve been together for wow, around 13 / 14 years! Ten of those as a married couple. I first met Mark on a train in Cape Town, South Africa – he was reading Tolkien. I’ve never read Tolkien and genuinely thought he was the cleverest person I’ve ever met. He introduced me to his bookshelf and I was in awe. And promptly fell in love. He taught me how to drink tequila and ride a motorbike. Both of which I do very badly, btw.

Mark: Not all true- she’s actually quite good at drinking tequila.

HM: As with all collaborative blogs, I am always curious about team dynamics and the focus of each member on the blog. Do you have a schedule or a system and can you with a few brief words describe what your function is?

Liz: MFB relies strongly on chaos theory. It makes no sense – we read so widely and so much and go to as many geeky events as we can and we try and do write-ups of those. I know that a lot of other sites have elaborate schedules etc. and I love that and I admire that but it just doesn’t work for us. We have so much on after work in the evenings, sometimes working late, that our reading time is mostly limited to commuting. I’ll pretty much try any genre and style of writing but I draw the line at hard sci-fi. My brain goes into a spasm. I kid you not. However, throw it to me in a movie and I’ll lap it up.

My function is networking and reviewing. I no longer have any ‘shame’ and have become quite brazen talking to various people about the blog, authors and books, competitions etc. Sorry, that makes me sound a bit crazy, but I obviously try and be professional about it. I’ve spent around three and a half years building up the blog, my contacts and honing my skillz as a reviewer. It’s been hard work but fantastic fun.

Mark: Liz is primarily responsible for the networking angle- I’m not quite as gregarious so tend to stick with the review side of things, especially the sci-fi stuff.

HM: Let’s hit the nostalgia button and transport you back to the very first review you’ve ever written. What was the book that prompted you to review it and what drove you to take up review blogging in the first place?

Liz: Wow – that takes me away to ages and ages ago! 2006 in fact – this is the first sort of “official” review that I did for MFB - http://myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com/2006/01/cinnamon-city-miranda-innes.html .

I’ll tell you a secret: MFB started out because I wanted somewhere to keep a record of the books I was reading. I read a lot. But I was rubbish at keeping track of it, even when I started the blog. So in 2007 it occurred to me that I was really wasting my time and blogspace by not actually making use of it, and it became an obsession. I visited other UK reviewer sites to see how it’s done, and then started doing it for real. And it’s been fun.

Mark: My debut was in June 2008 with - http://myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com/2008/06/devils-plague-mark-beynon.html . I can’t remember the exact conversation that got me drawn in, as up to then it had been solely Liz’s ballgame. Ultimately though, it was for pretty much the same reasons that Liz had started it in the first place- I was reading loads, so why not share? If I had known how much hard work it involved at the time though…

HM: What do you like best about reviewing and what is the worst aspect from being a review blogger?

Liz: Prepare for me to sound a bit fickle here: I love the thrill of getting a new parcel! It doesn’t matter if it’s from a publisher or if I’ve bought something from Amazon or won it somewhere else. I love the surprise of what that parcel may contain, the prospect of the story, of making new friends with the characters and maybe fall in love with the author’s writing style. I love that as a reviewer I sort of get a glimpse of the bookworld normal readers don’t get to see. A lot of books from publishers arrive with PR sheets and these I love as they sometimes give you an insight into what publishers are planning to do to promote the book. I love being able to be one of the shouty people out there promoting new books and new authors. It’s great fun. And subsequently having built a platform where our reviews are being read by a wide audience and they come to trust our judgement. That’s v cool. Oh, and more fickleness: the chance to run competitions. I love those!

The worst aspect: doing it as a hobby. It’s not about money, it’s about time. Both Mark and I work full time and it is long hours for both of us and as much as I would like to spend days and days just reading all these grand books, I can’t afford to as you know, I have to go to work and earn money so I can feed my habit husband and myself. *grin*

Mark: For me, the best ‘perk’, aside from the support of the various publishers, has been getting to know various authors and illustrators on a more personal level. The worst aspect is trying to find the time to do more than 30 minutes of reading on the train and then doing the reviews in between everything else.

HM: Have you ever felt like abandoning it whole, because the world pressed you on reading and blogging time?

Liz: Yes, I’ve come close. But it’s not because the world is pressing on me for reading the books or even blogging time – I type pretty fast so I can manage a decent sized review and rambling blog post pretty darn quickly. No, the reason I was contemplating throwing in the towel is more personal: I would one day like to be a full time writer and am currently working on various projects. And I had this huge crises of faith recently about being both a review blogger and a writer. The two just did not seem compatible to me. But then a wise person pointed out how the amazingly talented Mary Hoffman manages to do exactly that, along with other demands on her time. And I felt a bit stupid. So no, no more wimping out on my side!

Mark: I did too, but it had its roots in old fashioned laziness.. but fortunately Liz beat it out of me in time.

HM: Is it important for you to finish every novel handed to you as a part of the review oath or do you have a trial period, after which you can drop a book, if it proves too boring?

Liz: I do try to finish everything I pick up. I’ve only ever (publicly) admitted to one novel I couldn’t stomach finishing. It was not my cup of tea at all and it genuinely should have been. It was my favourite genre – action adventure! Oddly enough, that’s the one review I wrote with the heaviest of hearts – even if I find a book’s not for me, I try and see it from a different perspective, from another reader’s point of view, and I try and be logical about it, but you know, this one just blew me away for all the wrong reasons and I just couldn’t finish it.

Mark: I finish everything I pick up, and try not to discriminate when it comes to choosing the next read. It’s one of the things that I enjoy about reviewing- I get to read things that I may not have tried if I wasn’t doing this.

HM: You guys hosted a horror fest, which actually went for a few good months earlier this year and I would like to hear about a brief summarization of how that went and whether it generated the interest you were hoping for.

Liz: I’m a hugely nosy person. I love talking to people. The Horror Fest was very ambitious. I got fantastic responses to it from almost everyone I approached. We had a blast interviewing people and “pimping” ourselves. I’m not sure if it generated interest in other people – I selfishly did this for me and the blog! I know, I’m very fickle. *laughs*

Mark: What she said!

HM: Liz, I know that you are currently typing away for the IndieWriMo, which is the slimmer NaNo, so it’s a safe bet that you are on the creative side. How’s your writing experience so far been and please include bits about the genres you work in and your projects?

Liz: Holy smokes, Harry! Come out swinging, why don’t you! Well, hmm. Okay, earlier this year I sat down over a period of four months and typed out a 57,000 word manuscript for the middle grade market. It’s a straight action adventure quest novel influenced by Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. It’s an American term but it means for ages from around 9+. I still quite can’t believe I did it. I’ve lived with this story for around 2 years and yet it never managed to feel “right” whenever I tried writing it. Until this year. It came out in huge chunks. I wrote it in just over four months. It was AMAZING. I felt drained, euphoric. I don’t know how professionals do it. I’d be on a permanent high. I’m busy revising it at the moment and whilst I’m revising it, I’m also – for IndieWriMo – working on a contemporary YA urban fantasy. It’s more Mike Carey and Jim Butcher than it is…say Becca Fitzpatrick or Stephanie Meyer.

And then, I am very lucky that a short story I wrote: “Good Guys” got accepted into an anthology called “The mammoth book of Special Ops Romance”. It’s due out in March 2010 under my pseudonym for adult writing: Liz Muir.

HM: Mark, do you share the writer fever as well?

Mark: I have been well and truly bitten by the bug, yes. Over the years I’ve tinkered with various projects, but earlier this year I started on my current project, a fantasy adventure, and am currently about a third the way through it. It’s my goal to have the first draft finished by this time next year. It’s hard work sometimes, dragging those words onto the screen, but at the same time seeing it growing week by week gives me an enormous sense of accomplishment (even if I know there are several re-writes in my future!)

HM: As social networks grow, countless new sites that measure ranks pop up and more of us show at the blogging party have you officially entered the web hits war? I know there is one, even if it is silent, since we all want to be taken seriously and counted as reliable sources for information and critique and numbers prove that. Where do you stand on this subject matter?

Liz: When the blog started getting actual hits I started checking it obsessively. But it was a phase. I know we are small fry compared to what other bigger and more popular blogs and sites get but you know what the biggest compliment is: people who keep coming back and who subscribe to our RSS feed – it means they like what we have to say and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. That and the fact that the publishers are happy to keep sending those gorgeous little parcels onto us because they trust us to help them spread the word about their authors.

HM: Publishing is evolving and changing. Conventional publication makes a few inches space for new forms to arise and one of them is self-publishing. Do you estimate that it will evolve into a reputable form with well regarded titles in the future and what is your opinion of it now?

Liz: We’ve reviewed some self-published books in the past on the blog. Sadly, as of the later part of this year it’s not something we can afford to do any more as our commitments from the publishers have grown considerably.

There have been some great self-publishing successes, just look at David Moody, author of Hater, now published by Gollancz. What a fairy tale story! But then he was so focused and so determined to get his work out there, it’s as if he managed to bend the world to his will. I admire him greatly (and I got hugs from him recently, sorry Mark!) and to be honest, I’d say that those who have self-published should take a closer look to how hard David worked at it. Every single writers’ “how to” book tells you “don’t give up”. Almost every interview I do on the site authors tell readers “don’t give up”.

I don’t know if it will evolve into a reputable form regarded well enough – on one hand I would love to say yes but my inner writer says no. There has to be a reason, if you’ve sent it out to publishers or agents that they’ve turned it down. So many well known authors were turned down several times before their first, second, third, fourth, fifth novel was picked up. Not everyone’s debut novel sells. It’s a hard call. I’d like to point you to this article which just emphasizes the “don’t give up” motto you should have: http://dglm.blogspot.com/2009/11/help-needed-lots-of-help-to-get-started.html .

Mark: I have to agree with the sentiment that if it’s not being published, there’s probably a reason. I look at Patrick Rothfuss as an example of this- when Name of the Wind didn’t get picked up at first he hung in there, constantly refining the manuscript. Fourteen re-writes later and the rest is history.

HM: And as technology creeps in and the physical book is fought for dominance by the electronic copies, what do you think of the new e-book phenomenon?

Liz: *shudders* Dude, I’m not an e-book fan. I’m really not. Which is odd for me as I LOVE technology. But I suppose it makes sense in the long run if you are a traveler and you do commute a lot – reading on an ebook is much easier than lugging uhm (checks her bag) three books and one manuscript around!

I think I’ll leave this one to Mark to champion as I think he’s the one that may end up getting one!

Mark: E-books are going to evolve and grow, the same way as all new technology goes through an evolution after its initial release. Just look at mobile phones- compare the clunky bricks of the 80’s to the new iphone. I think in a couple of years time, once the manufacturers have processed the feedback and refined their designs, ebook readers will be a lot sleeker, a lot cooler and a lot cheaper. Publishing is going to have to evolve with them though, the question is how? It’s going to be interesting to see.

HM: Still connected with the shift in the publishing landscape, I have a question regarding the books from publishing houses. Big houses bet on the money and what sells and at a certain point some titles in some genres begin to echo each other, while small houses have published some uncharacteristic titles that don’t draw too much attention, but to me offer a bit of refreshing air. Are you sated with big houses or are you willing to stick with what you know?

Liz: Wow – question du tutti question! I won’t even pretend I’m playing it safe. I don’t care about popular. I care about stories and I follow writers, not titles or publishing houses. We receive books from the big guys as well as the indies so we end up reading widely and oddly. ;-) Both Mark and I have truly bizarre and eclectic tastes. Yes, sometimes we’ll go out and buy popular authors to read and review ourselves but we try to review the guys that are a bit less well known, the guys who don’t get to have a big marketing campaign behind them, purely because they may be debut authors or the publisher as a whole is cutting back on marketing spending. And blogs can do that because we are indies ourselves!

Mark: The story is everything. It doesn’t matter who’s written it, or who’s published it.

HM: Also I have been drowning in genres that keeping sprouting everywhere and all definitions cause my brain to melt down. Truth is that to me the lines between genres are blurring into obscurity. Could this mean a possible post-genre future?

Liz: Fantastic question and one I can’t even begin to venture into because I don’t get the chance to become too fan-girly over one specific genre. Well, I used to, but not anymore! Two things I would love to point out though is:

There are no genres in children’s writing – well, there are, but they are all filed under age, then alphabetically and I love that idea. Secondly, David Hewson, one of my favourite authors of all time whom I read for pleasure and can gush about in a truly embarrassing fashion has actually tackled this exact question in a series of posts this past week. http://www.davidhewson.com/2009/11/genre-the-sound-of-the-cell-door-closing/ - nose around the site, there are more.

Mark: I don’t think genres will ever disappear; they’re too useful a tool. They will morph and shift though, and there will definitely be some casualties- which may not be a bad thing.

HM: Please finish with your own words.

Liz: Harry – this has been a blast. Thanks so much for inviting us along. Can’t believe you made me go back and think about the early small days of the blog when I had no idea what going on!
We’re hoping to continue giving “our” public the reviews they deserve for 2010 and the foreseeable future.

Mark: It’s a Work In Progress! There are a lot of exciting new things coming up in 2010 which we’re looking forward to getting stuck into.

I am known to be irresponsible with the money I receive and I am staying true to the rule, even when my spending opportunities are thinned out to virtually none. But now heaven has decided to send in some scholarship money [a modest sum] and the first ten minutes I got it I found myself in a book store and went book hunting. At first I wanted the first Dark Tower novel, but then went on to see whether I could find Murakami's "After the Quake", but then found this:

I have been told a few times that I resemble Poe in expression in both poetry and short fiction [I kid you not. I count three such occurrences. I disagree, but the fact is a fact] and apart from "The Raven" I haven't read absolutely anything from the guy, despite that I love him and the ideas he has incorporated in his work. But then again I idolize many authors without dipping into their work.

I decided to remedy that and here is the result, this wonderful 700 page giant with the best of his short fiction at the mind boggling price of 21 BGN or 16 US Dollars. I am not at all sure how anyone could put such a low value on such a big and wonderfully crafted book with illustrations by John Ridgway and a beautiful red bookmark.

I am grateful.

PS: Excuse the awful quality of the photos. I absolutely suck at taking photos...

STATISTICS:

Total Works Read: 6
Book Breakdown: Four Novels, one anthology and one magazine
Format Breakown: One hardcover, 2 e-books, 2 MMP, 1 Tradeback

Total Pages Read: 2,057
Pages by Format Breakdown: Hardcover – 384, Tradeback – 500, MMP – 784, e-books – 356
Average Pages by Day: 68-69

WORKS:

"Bitter Night" by Diana Pharaoh Francis

"Flesh and Fire" by Laura Anne Gilman

"Dark Stranger" by Susan Sizemore

"Survival by Storytelling" Issue 1, edited by Shaun Duke

"Wilde Stories 2009", Best Spec Fic Gay Stories [to appear in Icarus Magazine's next issue]

"Born of the Night" by Sherrilyn Kenyon [to appear as guest review over at the Book Smugglers]

GOALS:

For December I am hoping to scratch off the my TBR list around seven to eight books, which I think is doable since most titles are small in size and thin in pages. As side reading material to the novel I have planned on covering around 300 comic book issues, which have handed to me as e-issues, if such a term exists, in order to prepare accordingly for my upcoming event month that will honor comic books.

Via the awesome BSCreview team I have discovered that Iron Man's sequel has an official poster and I can say that it spells awesome. Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Munn are also to star alongside Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Sunday has arrived and while last week has been still in the feature department [Liz and Mark have been rather busy, but I am waiting on them for a special off-schedule post] I am back to the regular posting schedule with another dear blogger on my Google Reader list Mark Chitty, the mind behind “Walker of Worlds”.

What separated “Walker of Worlds” from most blogs is that it is solely sci-fi oriented rather than the mixed approach towards genre most review bloggers I read have, including my own blog, which doesn’t show a predisposition to a certain genre or format. It’s not because sci-fi is less covered, because as we all know sci-fi has been hitting television and the movie screen hard with Star Wars and Star Trek and Battlestar Gallactica and so much more and then there are the scandals and debates about connected with the genre. I am sure that there are several pure science fiction review blogs out in the great space that is the Internet, but so far Mark Chitty is the one of the few to stick only to one genre.

Apart from the genre difference everything else that builds a review blog as such applies with full force with “Walker of Worlds”. For starters he usually reviews books that I’ve no clue, thus enriches my reading list, although science fiction is not exactly my passion. I am more of a spell casting dude rather than a Storm Trooper, but when it comes down to a well written novel I am usually on board. As far as Marks’ reviews go I can’t complain at all and I think he does a respectable job in the field with entertaining and informative review and according length.

Apart from that Mark Chitty supplies his readers with news from around the block and in that regard allows posting to cross over into the fantasy scene or simply post some odd tid bits from around the Internet. Complete with the awesome blog name and interior to boot, I can say, although in a more compressed version, that “Walker of Worlds” should make an entry on your Google Reader list.

HM: Hey Mark, thanks for stopping by my little feature. Now can you tell us who you are, when you shut down the browser and are not running “Walker of Worlds”?

MC: My day to day life is pretty uninteresting, although I live in such a beautiful part of Wales with my ever-tolerant wife, Jane, and hyperactive cocker spaniel, Snoop. I wish I could say my job is exciting and thrilling, but it isn’t - I work for Bangor University in admin where I get the great enjoyment of dealing with students on a day to day basis.

Other than that I enjoy gaming, basketball, walking the dog and any endlessly searching for a form of relaxation that doesn’t involve me having constantly make my wife cups of tea. Oh, and reading :)

HM: The basic duo questions here are once more applied. What sparked your passion for reading and what brought you to science fiction?

MC: I’ve always enjoyed reading – I remember the craze while I was at school were all the Point Horror books, most of which I devoured. After that my reading was fairly sporadic until I picked up Pandora’s Star by Peter F Hamilton in 2004. That was the book that got me back into reading in a big way and since then I just can’t seem to get enough.

As for choosing science fiction over the more popular fantasy, I just enjoy it more. The idea of authors extrapolating technology and events and showing us what could actually happen in our future and what we could find out in the stars when we finally make it appeals to me in a big way.

HM: What’s the origin story behind “Walker of Worlds”?

MC: Basically, I wanted to share my thoughts on the books I read with others. Not only that, but while surfing the net and browsing many of the blogs I read at the time I found that nearly all of them were fantasy orientated, I just decided to start reviewing what I read to get more sci-fi out there.

HM: Science fiction has a variety of subgenres in the same manner fantasy varies, but since I am not as knowledgeable as to what is what, which is your favorite subgenre or theme in Sci- Fi that you always come back to as a form of comfort zone?

MC: There are so many sub-genres that I enjoy: military sf, near future, far future, techno-thrillers, detective stories, action sf – the list goes on and on. However, my favourite has to be space opera for no other reason than its sheer scope. It can also combines a lot of the sub genres into one story format and, when done right, allows the reader to see just how much science fiction has to offer.

HM: While we are at the genre topic I have recently read some futuristic novels, which can be considered science fiction with interplanetary battles, aliens and farfetched technology, but also incorporate tropes like vampires and more romance, which I haven’t yet seen as used in the genre. Can you call those sci-fi or just hybrids with sci-fi elements?

MC: I see them merely as science fiction, regardless of the tropes they contain. To me, as long as a fairly plausible explanation can be given as to why, for example, vampires are in a science fiction story then I see no reason to try and tag a novel in that way – it’s all speculative fiction at the end of the day!

HM: I am also on an organizational buzz and while I am figuring how to create a schedule to accommodate responsibilities and my interest, I want to know how other people cope with time deficiency. How do you find your reading time?

MC: With difficulty! I usually try and get a half hour or so reading time during my lunch break, but this is nowhere near consistent. My normal reading time is before bed at night, although I also have time here and there throughout the week that I grab when I can. However, if a book has really pulled me in I will quite happily suffer the wrath of the better half by spending every waking minute reading it.

HM: Let’s hit the nostalgia button and transport you back to the very first review you’ve ever written. What was the book that prompted you to review it and what drove you to take up review blogging in the first place?

MC: The first review I wrote was The Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton. After he got me hooked on reading again with Pandora’s Star I started up a fan site, www.theunisphere.com, that covers much of his work. It was because of this site that I managed to get hold of a review copy of The Dreaming Void – the rest, as they say, is history. I enjoyed taking the time to read a book and put my thoughts down and because of it I started up the blog to look at more sci-fi books I loved reading.

HM: What do you like best about reviewing and what is the worst aspect from being a review blogger?

MC: I enjoy the fact that as a blogger I tend to look more into the genre and what is going on than I did as a regular reader. Finding books that I wouldn’t normally have picked up is great, as is having the platform to share my thoughts on them. I don’t really see there being any negatives, although the feeling of guilt when the books are piling up, and because of this some inevitably don’t get read, is the closest it comes.

HM: What is the essential method for you to create a review? Do you finish it up all at once or do you write it in segments, how often do you revise, etc.?

MC: I used to write a review as soon as I finished a book, but these days I tend to give it a few days, perhaps even a week or two, to let my thoughts of the book fully form. When I do come to write it I usually spread it out over a few days and then go back to it so I can read it again before posting.

HM: Have you ever felt like abandoning it whole, because the world pressed you on reading and blogging time?

MC: Occasionally I have, but that’s more a reflection on being busy at home and work during certain times rather than wanting to stop blogging. I love doing it and whether I post something once a day or once a week I’ll always blog :)

HM: Is it important for you to finish every novel handed to you as a part of the review oath or do you have a trial period, after which you can drop a book, if it proves too boring?

MC: I do feel it’s important to try and read what I get through for review, but in reality it’s pretty much impossible. There is only a finite amount of time in the day and I do make the call to prioritise the books I want to read and talk about, but if I ever request a book or am asked specifically to review one I make sure I get around to them. Whether I finish a book or not is an entirely different thing – I won’t read something that is doing nothing for me, but equally I will give a book more than enough time before I decide to drop it unfinished.

HM: Mark, do you share the writer fever other bloggers have stated over the course of this feature?

MC: Yes and no. As much as I would love to sit down and write a story, I know that I don’t have the time or discipline to do so, at least at present. I respect anyone who writes for a living and I’m in awe of them, someone who sits down and churns out stories and novels has my respect. Plus if I started writing my reading and blogging time would vanish – I couldn’t do something as intensive as creating a story in half measures – and I love reading and blogging too much!

HM: As social networks grow, countless new sites that measure ranks pop up and more of us show at the blogging party have you officially entered the web hits war? I know there is one, even if it is silent, since we all want to be taken seriously and counted as reliable sources for information and critique and numbers prove that. Where do you stand on this subject matter?

MC: It’s great to see people visit my blog and when the numbers continue to grow it’s brilliant, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. I started blogging to share my thoughts and regardless of whether 10 people or 1,000 people visit my blog it won’t change why I’m blogging, but it does give me that happy feeling to see that people are actually reading my opinions.

HM: Publishing is evolving and changing. Conventional publication makes a few inches space for new forms to arise and one of them is self-publishing. Do you estimate that it will evolve into a reputable form with well regarded titles in the future and what is your opinion of it now?

MC: I’ve only ever read (or tried to read) a couple of self published books, one I put down because it wasn’t entirely my cup of tea and the other because the editing was terrible. Personally I think self-publishing is fine for factual books that have a small audience, but not very good for genre writers who can more often than not do themselves harm for putting a self published story out there. Will it ever get better? In all honesty, probably not.

HM: Speaking of changes in the industry, you must have heard about the Harlequin fiasco with the launch of their own vanity press and the strategy behind utilizing it to make profits. This has got to be a very interesting situation to watch unwind since so many organizations are rapidly reacting like RAW removing Harlequin from its list eligible publishers to the MWA and SFWA, who are taking similar actions. What do you feel about the whole situation?

MC: If a publisher can openly do this they should be shot, surely it can’t do anything but harm to both themselves and any writers that decide to go with them? Just because it’s backed by a publishing house doesn’t make it right or trustworthy – in fact it makes it more wrong.

HM: And as technology creeps in and the physical book is fought for dominance by the electronic copies, what do you think of the new e-book phenomenon?

MC: I like ebooks, but I’ll never change from paper books, at least not until the industry makes ebooks and the required hardware more affordable. I also like having books on my shelves so others can see what I like at a glance – ebooks don’t offer that.

HM: Also I have been drowning in genres that keeping sprouting everywhere and all definitions cause my brain to melt down. Truth is that to me the lines between genres are blurring into obscurity. Could this mean a possible post-genre future?

MC: As I mentioned earlier – it’s all speculative fiction at the end of the day. However, I can’t see the labeling of genres and sub-genres disappearing yet, there is too much reliance by marketing and publicity departments on putting a label on what they’re publishing. I think the readers are also guilty of this – they want to know what they’re picking up by a simple glance at a pre-defined genre label.

HM: Please finish with your own words.

MC: Just thanks for the having me :)

Okay, I am getting back to the link posts of love since they are great filler posts and also now that I have a strategy to them I think will be awesomely easy to assemble. Plus I hope that people finally get the idea and return the linky love. Seriously now, fellow bloggers, stroke my ego one post a month.

REVIEWS:

Robert Thompson makes a return on FBC to review Scalzi's "God Engines", which reminds me that I want to own that novella. Donations are welcome.

Carl V. has decided to return from whence he had disappeared to and presents the following noteworthy review: Eclipse Three edited Jonathan Strahan and Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

We make a return stop at FBC to read Liviu's review of "Imager's Challenge" by L.E. Modesitt, Jr., which left me positively charmed.

Then we are off to the Book Smugglers, where Ana disses "Magicians" by Lev Grossman and I had to laugh all the way through, because she is quite passionate about why it didn't work for her. And at the same time we have Aiden at "A Dribble of Ink" to enjoy the novel.

From the Book Smugglers I have included two more reviews that piqued my radar: "The Mermaid Madness" by Jim C. Hines and "Madame Xanadu". From Thea, because so far everything has been Ana's reading, we have "Tainted" by Julie Kenner.

Adele over at UN:BOUND has an excellent review of "Silver" by Steve Savile, which according to talk with her is like Dan Brown minus the shitty writing.

Graeme reviews "The Infernal City" by Greg Keyes. I wouldn't mind reading it, but the exclusive quality puts a damper on my addiction.

NEWS and Tid Bits:

I am not surprised that I am returning back to the Book Smugglers, who are staging a circus and well I am going to participate, so it's worth to mention the Smugglivus opening doors December. The Book Smugglers are also welcomed into the family of Tor.com, which makes me extremely happy and extremely envious yet again. But given the amount of work they do, it's only natural they get recruited. It is also only a matter of time, until the Unholy Trinity unites again.

Carl V. is officially in his forties and the bastard has received too many good presents to make me envious as hell.

Tor.Com has Irene Gallo over to talk about "The covers that got away"

Graeme has a copy of "Small Miracles" by Edward Lerner to give to some lucky American or Canadian winner.

Umberto Eco will be returning with a new book and Larry from "OF Blog of the Fallen" has a bookgasm.

Tia Nevitt over at Debuts & Reviews has a post about the Authors who are Great Bloggers.

SMD has a stab at the Harlequin Situation and while I have read so many other posts on the subject this is as good as breakdown as any. I am not seeing Harlequin ever living after this one.

[Note:] I am sorry the images are so small. It is either that or monstrocities that jump over the post, which is not pretty. Also this contains spoilers as to later developments, so those that are already reading the series, best be careful for I will reveal some of the world building details and images that appear later on. However the spoilers are inclusive and if you haven't picked up the series and would want to the concepts will be vague enough to not spoil the fun.
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While the “Japanese Reading Challenge” yet has to reach the finish line and I am yet to pick the books I have included in my reading list I decided to take a stab on Japanese culture with a critical overview slash essay slash review on the second longest running manga series Japan’s produced “Bleach”. What I am about to do here is using "Bleach" as a large enough basis to try and paint a cultural picture of Japan.

But first some statistics to illustrate why a conventional review with blurb and plot nitpicking here wouldn’t be functional. “Bleach” published its first issue back in 2004 and since then it has amassed more than 40 volumes, which translates to 383 issues and when we do the math we arrive at the staggering total number of 8’043 from its first to latest issue. Do I need to say that the series is in no way nearing its end? These pages mean that there several major story arcs that propel the series and numerous minor story arcs, which enrich story and world. I’m quite certain that if one would start to count the number would pass the one hundred mark.

Here I would begin with my exploration in Japanese waters. Even from production you can spot the obvious differences with the West. Japan is built upon productivity, perseverance and consistency. Tite Kubo is both writer and chief artist and has been on this project from issue one, which is something unthinkable to happen in the US for instance, where all major comic book series change several artists and writers, which also reflects on the series’ tone and the arcs. With “Bleach” everything is intricately spun together, each detail put with care and with meaning and the consistency with world, characters and background is faultless. To me this is a highly evolved plotting that surpasses most of what I have read in novels.

“Bleach” begins small scale in order to introduce the reader to the setting and what we have is a Good vs. Evil world inhabited by Hollows and Shinigami. The equation is quite simple. The Shinigami [typically spirits in Japan mythology which are death personified] are the spiritual enforcers, which give human souls spiritual burial and send them off to Soul Society, but also have the task to locate and exterminate all Hollows. Being the primary threat in the series the Hollows are corrupted spirits bound to Earth, suffering from hunger for human souls.

Images below portray how the typical Hollow looks like. Although they vary in size and form the most common elements in the Hollow appearance are the mask that conceals the spirit’s identity, the skeletal exoskeleton and no human resemblance.

The Shinigami can be recognized for the samurai uniform and the sword [Zanpakuto] they carry, which is the manifestation of their souls and thus has unique capabilities. I also need to point out that each sword has a name and knowing the sword’s name is the key to access the rather awesome super powers stored within.

Enter Ichigo, a loud mouthed teenager with a Melinda Gordon thing going on for him, who is forced into a battle for his family’s safety with a Hollow and becomes a Shinigami, when the one assigned to kill the Hollow [the obnoxious and equally loudmouthed Rukia] fails and has to bestow Ichigo her Shinigami powers.

A bit long winded, but understandable in the manga. From this moment on Ichigo has learn the ins and outs that come with bearing a big magical sword and the lessons occur through a mixture of drama and slapstick, both over the top grave and hilarious. Which leads me to the second point about Japanese culture. Emotions and personality traits are never subtle and are intense, over the top and punch through the reader. Something mildly sad is taken with the emotional response one would show when someone has died and actual death is met with some kind of detonation inside the character’s heart. An extrovert is a hyperactive bouncing ball that spurts verbal diarrhea at high decibels. A promise is an actual almost physical bond, which must be kept at the cost of everything. The list goes on and on.

However if one wants to learn about Japan mentality and emotional culture, it would be best to focus on the Shinigami, which as stereotypical good guys embody every virtue that can be found in Japanese society. Honor, loyalty and friendship are the persistent elements here and are proven to be sacred through each battle, conversation and flashback. Hierarchy is met with respect and is not oppressive, shown through character dynamics and the general devotion the lieutenants express towards their captains without following orders blindly, but being partners to the captains. It may be a bit farfetched, but “Bleach” preaches the virtues of obedience in the perfect hierarchical society, also not unlike the social reality in the country. Not only this, but is also not random that the Shinigami are modeled after the samurai, who are famous for their bushido codex, which binds the individual to live and show frugality, chivalry, mercy. In that sense the good guys in this story are the concentrated essence of the virtues the Japanese believe in.

Ichigo is not quite a Shinigami, but as the plot thickens he’s grown to be accepted and shown respect, which is yet another model, which reflects Japan’s mentality and reality. In Japan the focus heavily falls on education, since Japan is highly modernized and it can offer much to those with the intellect for it, hence why so many geniuses seem to spring there and why a fixation with high school stories in manga and anime exists. The youth is treated to rigorous mental preparation to enter the best schools, universities and later on land the best positions. And this is not achieved by playing video games, but by hard work. This is what Ichigo as a character represents. With perseverance, hard work and focus one can achieve anything in the world. If you can steel your will, believe that a task is in your power to perform and do it because you have to, then no obstacle in life can stay in your way for too long. Of course withstanding the high tides has to be done with honor, fair play and respect towards who is your enemy.


As the story steams on and the world complicates the reader is introduced to another face that is Japan and this is the dark side so to say. Enter the Arrancar, which are a Hollow breed with Shinigami powers and become the main antagonists in the series. Unlike the original Hollows what we have here are humanoid beings with enough intellect to reason and are not led by a blind hunger for souls. The Arrancar are not animalistic in that sense. They have a sense of self and know what they are doing, which makes them cruel murderous bastards, each of the deadliest top ten incorporating a certain negative trait that can be found in humanity. There is no loyalty between them. They like to quarrel and when one falls it is welcomed as wonderful show and is usually staged by fellow Arrancar. Their function beyond the story is to act as a contrast and underline and emphasize on how abiding the moral code and holding sacred the virtues the Shinigami embody. Plus the fact that Shinigami always have the upper hand and do prevail most of the time show that Good is always going to win over Evil.

I think I did a good job at deciphering the moral blueprints, but let’s move on to imagination and intellect. First, Japanese people are all for symmetry, which is shown through the thesis and antithesis principle in the world building department. The Shinigami and the Hollows are on polar ends. Both fight, but the latter do it because it is in their instinct to do so, while the former do it because of necessity to preserve peace. It’s the usual order vs. chaos. Civilization versus savagery. On an idea level we have Arrancar and Vizard. As I have stated the Arrancar are Hollows, which managed to develop Shinigami characteristics. The Vizard have once been Shinigami, who have cultivated Hollow masks and so augment their original powers. It is this genius juxtaposition, which has me entirely enthralled within the series and once again proves that the Japanese know no boundaries, when it comes to creativity.


Last point I would like to illustrate here would be the massive scale, on which “Bleach” is functioning. This is a whole theme for Japan, which for a land so small is actually a country fascinated with HUGE [yes, I do believe they are overcompensating for something]. It has humongous buildings, big robots and their culture has spawned Godzilla and the mechas, so it’s no wonder that “Bleach” has 384 chapters, that the cast features more than 50 characters, that the swords’ capabilities can outrank a nuclear bomb in devastation and battles are bigger and flashier and more apocalyptic with each chapter. This story is swallowing steroids and engorging itself into Biblical proportions, which is why I love it. It climbs a mountain top, blows my mind completely and then I wait in anticipation how it will top that and for the run I have had here I know that it is capable of being bigger.


This concludes my exploration of “Bleach” as a dense guide book to Japan as culture and country. Thank you for bearing with me.

Super Emo Friends is just adorable 6 x 11.5 prints with your favorite and most popular super hero characters in their emo angst moments, where their personal tragedies are reduced to a mumble that is un-tragic and more cute and funny given their background. You can find them at ETSY.

Posted from my other blog dedicated to writing "Through a Forest of Ideas"
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The twenty first century won’t be the twenty first century unless you have too much on your plate, figure out insane ways to juggle with your priorities and interests, grind something hard inside the small snippets of time you have free and doing this without having to knock a few more hours sleep from your schedule.

I imagine the average closed minded person without a great myriad of interests [for whatever a reason], whose life fits exactly into reality, have a hard time do what life has written on that person’s chore list. So what’s left for the rest of us, who can’t survive the 9 to 5 hell [though in my country it usually extends to 10-12 work hours a day] and need to have hobbies to feel at least partially sane? I am one of the latter sort with zest to undertake new things, but a big fat lazy ass to actually exert control over the situation. Here is what I need to juggle with:

~ Academic life [lectures, studying, exercises, homework, exams]
~ Writing [novels, short stories]
~ Reading [for pleasure, for review, for research on projects]
~ Blogging [reviews, interviews, guest posts, for TLR and my writing blog]
~ Socializing [mail, twitter, blog hopping via Google Reader, actual people (yes, I occasionally do interact with actual human beings in the flesh)]

Due to financial circumstances that have affected the whole family, I shall have to become BREAD EARNER the 2nd and become once more employed, which let me tell you is not as easy in this economic situation, in my country, where part time jobs do not exist and for a student still in university. In time it will happen, which means that I will eventually find myself in a mutated time crunch. I do not foresee a happy ending here and the only resort to my aid will be time management skills. If life was a D&D session I would die to throw a twenty in that category, but since it’s not I will have to talk the time table. My schedule book is actually a folder and still a WIP, but looks promising.

I start from the big picture and move down to the day-by-day chaos. The first six sheets show the outlined goals in each category mentioned above with quota breakdown distributed in an even as possible manner. Writing and Reading are more or less on a calendar month basis, while the rest are on week dynamics. With these initial six sheets I will know what kind of productivity I aim to achieve. Pictures below.

Next follow the sheets that will house my notes on different topics connected to the six sheets, but have no immediate effect on my time table. Usually tasks I need to do in regards to project I am currently working on or notes on the book I am about to review. It saves me time, when I forget a detail I want to mention in reviews and is more helpful, while reading anthologies.


The last and largest sheet group contains the daily agenda for each day, where I will need to fit all the quotas in such a manner so that I can achieve the weekly and monthly goals. Since I am not that far in to be honest I didn’t get to doing these yet and I am not sure how effective this system will be, but it will certainly help me with my memory issues.

PS: Excuse my crappy photography skills.