• Review of WHEN THE SEA IS RISING RED by Cat Hellisen

    When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen My rating: 4 of 5 stars A haunting YA fantasy by a debut author. Seventeen-year-old Felicita, a sheltered aristocrat, flees the rigid traditions and stifling conventions of her caste, taking refuge in the slums and falling in with a rag-tag band of outcasts, grifters, and revolutionaries. Struggling to adjust to her new life, she plunges headlong into a dangerous infatuation, and is swept up in events she doesn’t understand. By the time she realizes the true nature of what she’s become part of, it’s too late to escape. This is a pretty familiar plot line. But Hellisen keeps it fresh with a determined and realistically conflicted heroine, interesting characters, and truly stellar world building. Atmospheric descriptions and lyrical prose bring the seaside city of Pelimburg–populated by humans, selkies and vampires (who aren’t like any other vampires you’ve met), animated by strange…

  • Link Roundup

    Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Links to articles, blog posts, etc., that I found especially interesting this week: - The Department of Justice's lawsuit against Apple and five of the Big Six publishers for alleged ebook price-fixing--in...

  • Book Giveaway

    Posted by Victoria Strauss Today and tomorrow, my fantasy novel The Arm of the Stone is a Kindle freebie. That's right--you can download it at Amazon.com for absolutely zero dollars! (And if you like it, you can buy the sequel, The Garden of the Stone...

  • Book Giveaway

    For print book enthusiasts, I’m running a giveaway from Tuesday, April 17 through midnight (EST) on Sunday, April 22. I’ll be picking two winners in a random drawing to receive handsome trade paperback copies of my Stone fantasy duology, which includes The Arm of the Stone and The Garden of the Stone. Just drop me an email via my contact form, and I’ll enter you in the giveaway. Be sure to provide your mailing address (the information won’t be shared, and you won’t be added to any mailing lists). US and Canada residents only, please. Thanks, and happy reading!

  • Poetry.com Returns

    Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Once upon a time, there was an infamous vanity anthology company called the International Library of Poetry, also known by the name of its website, Poetry.com. The ILP advertised free poetry contests in...

  • Review of THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

    The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern My rating: 4 of 5 stars Really 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because of the quality of the writing. A circus of dreams, open only during the hours of darkness. An ancient duel between two powerful sorcerers, enacted by proxy through a succession of students who are never allowed to understand why they are competing, or for what. A love story as doomed as it is inevitable. Lovely writing, sumptuous imagery, ingenious and exotic magics. All the ingredients, it would seem, for a truly extraordinary book. And yet, though this is a novel of wonderful parts, somehow the whole didn’t add up for me. Perhaps because the cool present-tense narration is distancing, making it difficult to engage with the characters. Perhaps because the multiple points of view–including the reader’s, in a guided tour of the circus–are too diffuse, and these different story threads…

  • Guest Blog Post: Why Small Publishers Fail

    Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware I've used up a lot of column space on this blog warning about the risks of submitting to small presses, especially brand new small presses. In my opinion, this is currently the most dangerous area for write...