Read, Rate, Review!

Just for a moment I'd like to remind you, dear readers, of ratings and how important they are to "indie" authors. Unlike authors who work for big book publishers, marketing is all on the writer. And marketing is *hard*. I'll admit I'm not great at it--that's an understatement--between working and editing and writing, seeking out book reviewers and pitching ideas is something I know I suck at and am really trying to get better at.
However, there is something you can do to help. And that's by reviewing what you've read that I've written. I'm sure you're like me, it's difficult to take a chance on a book that has few, if any, reviews. Reviews on Amazon--and Goodreads--are absolutely *vital* to spreading the word to others.

So, the next time you read one of my books and when your kindle prompts you to rate it after you finish it, would you please just check how many stars you thought it was worthy of? It's very simple to do and it ends up being an amazing help to me.
And in case you didn't know, I have a Goodreads page, too! All my books are on there as well as books I've read and rated.
Again, I hate to pander (part of the reason I'm so bad at marketing) but if you can spare a few seconds, you have no idea how grateful I'll be.

Is Star Wars Becoming the New "GamerGate"?

I'm a Star Wars fan. Ask anyone and they'll tell you I've been a fan since I first saw ANH when I was 4. I stick up for the prequels, I've seen the animated shows, I've read the books, played the games, written the fanfic, I'm a fan.

So I'm a little disappointed to see the way things are going in the fandom.

The first "Rogue One" trailer dropped this morning. I watched it and I was blown away by it. It looks fantastic, back to the OT--thank goodness--and seems to have an okay storyline. For a few hours I was happily excited. Aaaaand then the SJWs started coming out of the woodwork, as they do, determined to ruin all of our fun.

According to said SJWs (that's Social Justice Warriors if you're unfamiliar) people are aalllllll upset that the lead in this film is a woman.

Now it hardly even registered on me when I first watched the trailer that the lead was female. Why? Because it's not something I am obsessively looking for when watching a trailer--or anything. But SJWs are. They have to count everything, be it race, gender, sexuality, and make sure everything is absolutely even--or best case scenario--that they out number those horrible straight-white-males. For the majority of us, I have to believe we couldn't care less about what gender/sexuality/race the main character is. As long as it has a great story that is all that matters. Or at least it should be. Unfortunately, these days, that's not all that matters. Being fair and filling quotas is by far more important.

Instead of people talking about how great those AT-ATs look, or that armour, or the construction of the Death Star, people are being berated for pointing out the fact that Disney does seem to have a bit of an agenda going for them, and people are getting a little tired of it in everything. 

What agenda? you may ask. Is this sexist of you? Racist? No, of course not. Diversity is great! Star Wars is diverse. It's a big galaxy, and anyone who thinks that every character is white, straight and male is confused (people don't actually think that, it's something perpetuated by the SJWs mentioned above. No one is really upset, but it has to be construed that way so SJWs look tolerant. We saw this with the character Finn in The Force Awakes with all the fake racism there--yes, we know the majority of it was fake.) It's the same thing here.

How does this tie into the infamous GamerGate? It's the same thing. People like their fandoms. People don't want agenda pushed on their fandoms. People complain about that. SJWs scream at them for being racist/homophobic/sexist.

Are they? No. The vast majority of people aren't. Are there a few idiots out there who really have a problem with Jyn? Probably. But they're so small it's not worth mentioning. What they're sick of is the agenda. We don't want to admit it, but the main character is female simply because they know it'll make SJWs happy and antagonistic towards the rest of us. And we're already seeing it.


What SJWs don't understand is that these people don't care that the lead is female. They care that the lead HAS to be female. Storytelling in Star Wars is becoming less about stories and more about making those people who actually diversity count happy.

It's a very strange, and rather insulting world.

Does anyone really have a problem with a female role? No.
Do girls need strong females to look up to? Sure. Absolutely.

Some of the best characters in Star Wars--Ahsoka, Leia, Hera, Satine and now Rey and I'm sure this Jyn--are female.
But are they great because they are female?
For me the answer is no. They are great because of who they are--not "what" they are. I don't want my gender to define me. I don't want to have to focus on any physical characteristics to define what makes a character good or not.
The only politics in Star Wars are the ones it has always had.

Thank goodness I'm female. Go ahead and call me misogynistic, I'll just laugh. And I'll enjoy this Star Wars film no matter what agendas you try and shove down my throat.

Murder I Wrote!

I haven't written a rambling post about writing in a shamefully long time so you get one now.

Mainly writing out of triumph--and perhaps a little trepidation--over the new tale I've spun. It probably comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that I am a fan of mysteries. Sherlock Holmes my great hero, Inspector Poirot, Morse, Lewis, Marple have all been some of my absolute favourite tales. It is, however, a genre that has always intimidated me and I swore when I started writing that I would never try and write one. Why? Because mysteries are exact, mysteries are challenging. If a mystery isn't right you know it immediately. Therefor I was willing to leave murder (heh) to the professionals, simply to enjoy and never to write and stay in my playground of science fiction and fantasy.
Well, then I watched Broadchurch and damn it, I couldn't get an idea out of my head. And so for perhaps the last...oh, 3 months? I have been wandering the hills of Dartmoor in Victorian England (figuratively, I'm sad to say), researching, plotting and more or less chained to my keyboard.
Today I can proudly say I have finished the first draft of my first murder mystery story and I'm quite chuffed about it. It's been intimidating, and difficult (have to research EVERYTHING) but I believe it will be quite rewarding.
So you have something to look forward to for your summer reading (hopefully)!
Don't worry, book 4 of Alternate Worlds is coming, and I have another story in the works as well that hopefully you'll all enjoy as well.

For now I'll be back in Dartmoor, walking the same hills as the Hound of the Baskervilles and polishing this up to something hopefully worthy of your reading. 

 Cheers for now!

Hello everyone! From today (Feb 27) through March 3rd, my first book: Alternate Worlds: Passages is free to download on Amazon.
The book is the first in my series (Second book is also available and the third will be out later this year) and was heavily influenced by my love of clever characters, different worlds and paranormal villains. If you follow me on tumblr then you should be well aware of what my interests are, and this fits directly with them.


You can get it here: X

Happiness and excitement is something Victoria has given up hope on in her life. Even as princess of her dusty, desert world of Scrabia, Victoria feels her life is more like that of a prisoner. Thanks to a ruthless religious sect and her distant mother controlling every aspect of her life, there isn’t much room left for adventure.
Yet when she begins to notice the markings of a dark plot, right on the tail of her dreaded announcement of arranged marriage to her cousin, Victoria’s sheltered life begins to crumble.
And then it crashes round her when the unthinkable happens and Victoria is thrown from her world to the neighbouring planet: the lush, green world of Scottorr, rumoured to be haunted and full of unimaginable evils. Alone and no longer important, Victoria’s previous problems now seem childish and her life insignificant.
That is, until she meets her saviour: Andrew O’Neill, a genius inventor who is unlike anyone she has ever encountered. Andrew is terrifying with his strange outbursts and odd behaviour, yet fascinating and irresistible. His interest in her—his greatest discovery—draws her closely into his unpredictable life.
As she begins to adjust to her new home and grow closer to her new companions, especially Andrew, her loyalties begin to shift and her homesickness and desire for her previous life grow fainter by the day.
But all is not as it seems, for there are dark and supernatural forces at work not only on her home world but creeping to Scottorr as well and she and her friends seem to be the only ones who can stop it.

For more info on all of this nonsense, follow me on tumblr, twitter @TaylorLWrites or on FB at Taylor Leigh Writes

Cheers!

Book Review: Long Lankin

So, I've always had a fascination with those sort of slinking, creeping stories that make your imagination go wild (or at least mine) walking alone in the woods. Those supernatural creatures that send shivers down your spine.
A game (which inspired several attempted murders, I believe) called "Slenderman" came out, and this really was, I think, the embodiment of that sort of primal, hunted feeling we like to get when walking alone (or am I completely alone on this?!?)
So, with all of that being said, Long Lankin is basically Slenderman fanfiction. The poem itself, which if you haven't read, I suggest, is an old English rhyme and is truly morbid, not something one recites at poetry readings, but if they did, I'd applaud.
I liked this book for the most part. It's told in alternating views from two kids, Cora, who, along with her little sister Mimi, arrives in the English countryside not so long after WWII. They aren't so happy to be there, and neither is their aunt, whom they are sent to live with.
It turns out they have good reason to not be wanted. There are strange things in the little village. An old church they are banned from, a strange tree, and perhaps, worst of all, there seems to be some slinking, spidery thing they never quite see, something that crawls up walls, creeps through gardens and is always watching.
There's a lot of mystery in this, what, or who, is Long Lankin, what the village secrets are, why is their aunt's house always locked tight? This is a ghost story, but much more deliciously, it is a monster story, and I'm all for that.
My only complaint is, like with most horror stories (in my opinion) the wheels do seem to fall off a bit at the end. (This happened in Red Dragon too, so perhaps I'm just picky) Something about the last bit of action left me a little...unimpressed. HOWEVER, finishing a story like this does require something dramatic, and it was, overall, a fun read. I did stay up much too late reading it, so I suppose that says enough.

So, if you like stories told from the kids' POV (which I do) monster stories (which I do) or anything from post WWII Britain (which I do)  Or if you just like playing Slenderman, then I'd say, read the poem and then give this a go.

Book Review: Gone

I'm always wary about Young Adult, and so I usually tend to stay away from it. But I work at a library and every time this one came my way I found myself intrigued, so, I finally gave it a go this summer. And for a YA book, it was exactly what I wanted.

To be very brief with the plot, bunch of kids 14 and under are suddenly all that remains in their city. All adults and people over the age have simply "poofed" away. You can imagine the trouble. Kids having to assume responsibilities they never had to before. Some of that is a little stressful, as I sat reading I kept thinking about all the little kids left alone in houses, fires starting, and so on and so on, which the writer does cover. Anyway, yes, stressful situation.
To add to the stress, they are surrounded by a great, strange dome. And to make matters even worse, there are mutations among animals and people too. Needless to say, it's not good.

The book centres around a boy named Sam (and I know that these days people are totally against having a male hero, but I'm still someone who likes it, so it was another reason to read) who has his own problems and secrets. When the "FAYZ" hits (the event, you could say) he is suddenly someone people look up to. And he doesn't want it. So when the rich kids from the other school arrive, it's almost a blessing. But what their plans are isn't exactly nice.

I really did like this book. It's the first in a series of I believe 6 (?) and once I finish what I have on my kindle at the mo I'll be back into it. I like Micheal Grant's writing style and the plot was complicated, yet understandable enough to keep me interested.
My main complaint would be just how...helpless these kids are near the beginning. Even simple things like cooking their own meals, or driving are almost insurmountable tasks for them once mummy and daddy disappear. It makes you wonder how they survive at all, and I was a little irritated, not thinking the author gave them enough credit. Kids are, I have to say, smarter than this. At least all the kids I've ever met.
Be that as it may, they do fairly well when it comes to fighting and breaking into nuclear power plants.

So, reasons I would suggest this book to people: It's an easy read, but not simple. It deals with a very Lord of the Flies type situation. There are the bullies, the leaders, the smart kids, the useful kids and the really bad ones. Kids cope with murder and death, changes in their bodies (and NOT the normal kinds), they struggle to make a new world for themselves, struggle with their emotions, fight to survive and figure out what exactly has happened. There's sibling rivalry, the rather unfortunate side of just how cruel kids can be to each other, copious amounts of junk food eating, harsh and very real views on the problems all kids face and some other scary surprises.

And also some really amusing coyotes.

So if you want a book, I say pick this one up. It's larger than most YA books you'll find on the shelf, but for me, that's usually a good thing. By the end of it, I was wanting more, and very much appreciating the rather dark direction it took. Looking forward to book two.

Friendly reminder from Wagner the Writing Mage that my books are also available in paper form, in case you don’t have a Kindle.