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[HOO-HAA]

Thanks for the heads up, Wayne! I posted.

A pleasure, DL. I loved your post, by the way - enlightening! 

[Snell]

Guys, I was wondering if anyone wanted to post a brief review of Roses on Amazon.  The last two reviews are negative, and I was hoping some of you might have something nice to say.  Heal my bruised ego--sincerely 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978970713/

[Kody Boye]

If people are complaining about the language, they're obviously uneducated. -_-

Stupid people.

I could post a review that said OMG SNELL IS TEH SHIT, and while it would be an honest review, I don't know how many people would take me seriously. lol.

No worries on the bad reviews. I'd look at it this way; the good outweighs the bad by A LOT.

[Snell]

That's true, Kody.  I'm really not bent out of shape about it.  As some of you know, I've faced much worse criticism.  I'm really just sad because I lost half a star 

[Permuted Press]

I don't usually pay much attention to the individual reviews on Amazon when I'm going to buy something, but (right or wrong) I do often pay attention to the average rating.  More so if the book has several reviews.

[Snell]

Good point, J.  You're all the star I need  

[HOO-HAA]

I've posted a quick review, DL, with a link to what I would hope is a balanced review of ROSES at REVENANT. Should give people a clearer idea of what to expect. 

Remember that a bad review is much better, publicity wise, than a lukewarm review...

... On another point, the guy who though ROSES was vampire porn might be onto something - have you tried marketing ROSES to the erotic lit fans? 

[Kody Boye]

... On another point, the guy who though ROSES was vampire porn might be onto something - have you tried marketing ROSES to the erotic lit fans? 

They'd bitch at DL when the sex stops after the first few chapters. 

It doesn't matter, of course; I'm just saying. There may be positive and legatives.

Oh, and I have a marketing plan: nekkid vampire chicks with 'Roses' carved into their stomachs. 

[Snell]

Thanks, Wayne. Haven't tried marketing to the erotica audience per se, but the erotica readers who've read it say they loved the sex and wanted more. 

[Mbozoian99]

Sorry, I just did not enjoy the book. It is clear to me that you have a talent for writing, and the story was very different from the usual. I like the idea of crossing genre's of horror. But, it did not hook me and I could not bring myself to finish it. But, I did spend the money for it instead of borrowing it and I would recommend it to others because of its uniqueness. Besides, who am I to tell others they would not like it. I'm sure there are others who will truly enjoy the read. I just did not "get it".

[Snell]

Thanks, Mbozoian. Your assessment is fair, and I appreciate that.

In the free reading companion, I discuss some of the problems I have with the book, some of the obstacles I had to overcome to finish it. My style changed while writing Roses, went from purple and verbose to simple and blunt--a change reflected more in "Mortal Gods" from Headshot Quartet and the upcoming (maybe) "Remains" in Elements of the Apocalypse--so I struggled to maintain the overwrought style to avoid discrepancies throughout Roses. Many readers have the same problem with the prose--it's overwritten--but they also have a different problem: the beginning, especially the sex. I waited too long to get to the action, and that frustrates a lot of people. Eighty percent (if not more) of the reviews cite this issue. Turns out a boner is not much of a hook.

[Rhiannon Frater]

I'll be honest.  I haven't read this book. 

A few months ago, I read a really good review of it and hopped over to Amazon.com to read the excerpt.  I checked out when the main character had her hair whisper hexes and incantations (or something along those lines).  Though I know plenty of people who love prose in that style, I can't get into it.  But reading here in this thread how you have revised your writing style, I'm now very interested in your other works.  It was very obvious from what I read that you have a vivid imagination and can definitely set a scene. 

Some people will love your work. Others won't.  The readers just bought something that wasn't their style.  They should have read the excerpt.

I'm skipping over to Amazon.com in a bit to check out your other works.  YAY!

[Snell]

Goth, thank you!

I haven't released more novels as of yet, but I've sold a few novellas and short stories. If you visit my Amazon store, I've written little descriptions to let readers know what kind of story I have inside each antho.

Just a heads up, the shorts in Monsters Ink, The Undead, and Chimeraworld #3 are the oldest. And my novella Hourglass is ancient.

[Snell]

I'm ready to discuss Roses. Blatantly. Openly. Nakedly.

The novel meat-grinds almost every type of imaginable lipstick torture we suck in our movies and books (Roth, Ketchum, Lee, et al). If the sex in the novel appeals to anyone, sic.

The novel is also a caricature of vampire romance and zombie literature. My vampires do what Twilight vampires only lust to.  My zombies are so far beyond evolution they make sense only on alien worlds--they're a perversion of mutation. And of space-time. My vampires are essentially animals, which explains why they are so stupid, mistrustful and slow to evolve. If to the humans the vampire bite is sex, then to the vampires human sacrifice is orgasmic, and sometimes divine.  Isn't all violence tantric?

But the vampires are social beings as well, and they need a coven, a haven, homespun by the magic of the seer.

And come on: no one has ever mentioned the brutal intricacy of the setting!  The architecture of that world is one of my favorite elements.  After all, isn't the appeal of post-apocalyptic settings partly the view?

This book takes itself as seriously as most first horror novels of 21-year-olds.  Which is why it's funny and gross and awkward in its startling bloom.

[DreamingNeonBlack]

I don't know, I thought it was brilliant in many ways. The details in the way it was written really made me see the story in HDR ( high dynamic range ) in my mind. I could see this as a film with a multi-layered visual aspect, like the visuals of Watchmen or the latest Star Trek kicked up a notch. Highly stylized but very brutal at the same time.

That being said, if this were a film it would not be a huge blockbuster. Just like Watchmen, it would do well, but would have a great underground following and would really divide the ones who saw it.

If I had a complaint it would be that I also pictured the vampire characters much like the ones from Underworld. They may be a bit more vicious than those but they still made me think of those characters as I read the book. In look and in mannerisms.
But to me it was minor.
I loved the take on the zombies and how they mutated, that seemed pretty inspired to me.


Any plans on a lawsuit when Daybreakers comes out? That "human farm" concept seemed really familiar...