Here it is Monday, 6 a.m..I checked, it is Monday...and no Musing posted. What to do?Well, I could just wait.
But I just got home from work and am going to sleep, so the wait would be extended. So I decided to make my own question up.
Today's Fake Monday Musing question, as rarely, from the addled, sleep deprived brain of Caite is...
Do you have any book related pet peeves?
If so, would you care to share and rant about at least one for a bit? Oh, please!
Why, oddly enough Caite, yes I do have a book related pet peeve!
And I would love to share.
Thank you for asking.
A book that I just finished reminded me of one of my favorite book peeves.
I will call it Character Overload.
Now see, my dear beloved authors, I know writing a book is a great deal of work. You have spent months and months, maybe years and years, working on your book. And over this time, you created all your characters. Then you started to flesh them out, getting to know them, giving them a personality, a voice. Maybe they are like friends..or enemies...to you.
But remember, we, your readers, open that first page and them is the first we know of them. And just like going to a party or a meeting, full of people you do not know, all these people, all at once is very confusing. I can't even remember their names..party, meeting or book.
That recent book introduced maybe a dozen characters all in the first 40 pages. Would they all be important? Would I have to remember them all? They all started to blend into each other. Was that Bob who was from South Africa...or Bill or Bart? Which one was the 6 foot blond with the mustache and which was the 5'10" guy with the beard. And do I care? I had to actually go back and make a little cheat sheet. NOT GOOD.
And do not make the names similar.
This recent book.
Two, yes, two characters, both named Jimmy. I kid you not.
OK, my other pet peeve has nothing to do with books.
But I am on a roll.
Who the heck told people it was OK to show up at the free breakfast at the chain hotel in you PJs?!?
I do not want to see you or your kids, with your sleep disheveled hair, your unshowered bodies, your unbrushed teeth and you nighttime attire bodies while I am eating my microwave oatmeal and freeze dried eggs! It is bad enough as it is!
Oh wait. the 'real' MM is up now...I will make it quick.
This week’s musing asks…
When you walk into a bookstore — any bookstore — what’s the first section you head toward (what draws you)?
Wow, since our Borders close, and having no independent bookstores in the area, I can not remember the last time I was IN a bookstore. Let me think...
Well, as I remember, I would first check out the New Trade Paperback tables. Then the bestsellers, not that I was going to buy them there at those prices, then the leftovers table. Where you might actually find a bargain.
Then buy coffee, use the restroom, read some magazines and leave.
Which yes, may explain why they went out of business.
haha they were jammis at a hotel breakfast?! oh no!!
ReplyDeleteI guess you are supposed to keep reading those books with all the characters to figure out who is who.
wishing you a restful day!
Bwahahahahah - You should do fake MM every week. What a hoot. If only people would show up in hotels in the neat jammies in your pic. Why does the guy look like Bobby Flay? Anyway, on our "big trek north" every year, we invariably see people in sleep attire too lazy to even put on shoes! And definitely, NO, I do not want to see the 300 lb.Mr in a tank top, thank you very much nor do I want to hear the Mrs. screeching at the offspring.
ReplyDeleteOh. Caite, I love your "Fake MM Question"
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on both counts, however, my pet peeves are....
Now I don't think of my self as prude, I've been around the block a few times, but... I hate the hot, steamy romance scenes... I have thrown a lot of books in the trash can.... when I was reading a good book and all of a sudden they jump into the shower, bed, bush, etc. and start making "unbelievable" mad love. I look at it as the authors way of filling the word quota for the book. One of my favorite genres is a good mystery with a bit of humor, and light romance thrown in. But, I hate the mad, crazy, hot, steamy, unbelievable, so called love scenes.
My second pet peeve is... I hate swear words, cursing, and the Famous "F" word that is thrown around so freely these days. I don't talk that way in my life, and anyone who talks that way around me, and knows me, knows I will tell them when speaking with me I don't want to hear it. And believe me, they will say "I'm sorry" to me if they let one slip. So now if I don't like swearing, cursing, and the Famous "F" word in real life, what makes the authors think I would like to read it in every other line or so. Again, I feel that people who can't speak or make themselves understood with out all the bad language, have a small vocabulary. And again I think authors use it as filler, or they have a small vocabulary as well.
Sorry, I guess I ranted and raved long enough, I'm stepping down off the soapbox now...
I shudder at these PJ clad breakfasters .. and I sort of felt that way about too many characters during the 3rd book of the Martin's Fire & Ice books .. oy I was so confused
ReplyDeleteI hate it when I have to make a cheat sheet to keep track of characters, especially when half of them aren't relevant to the story.
ReplyDeletePeople really come to breakfast at hotels in their pj's? I wonder if they leave their house dressed like that.
Actually Kathy, I have seen people at the local convenience store in their PJs..and slippers...too!
ReplyDeleteAnother sign of the imminent collapse of civilization.
Good made up question. Maybe it will show up for real soon. I miss Borders too. We have a Barnes and Noble but it is not the same. Thanks for visiting.
ReplyDeleteLoved your fake MM. I do hate character overloads. I don't mind stories with tons of relevant characters, like the Game of Thrones books, but only if they are relevant and not just introduced and then laid on the back burner. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you--I don't want to see people in pajamas at breakfast in public. Our local bookstore just closed and there's nothing for hours around here. I miss hanging out in the bookstore.
ReplyDeletePeople show up in PJs at the hotel breakfast!? That just isn't right AT ALL.
ReplyDeleteI love your fake MM -- I think you should start doing it more often!!!
And my behavior in book stores is much like yours. Maybe we put all the book stores in South Jersey out of business!
This was so great! I loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve is author's using the characters full name once a chapter, for no good reason.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind kids who aren't in school yet at the hotel breakfast in pajamas.
Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog!
ReplyDeleteLove your 'Fake' and 'Real' Monday Musings!
Oh THANK YOU...I thought it was just me that couldn't keep straight the characters of a book. Was it my age? Or even worse, my cognitive ability? Thank you for letting me know it is not only me who has a problem with 19 characters and counting lol. Jammies at a hotel..well that is something I haven't had the pleasure of and hope I never do.
ReplyDeleteI have that pet peeve too! I just hate it when I have to turn back pages because I couldn't remember a thing about one of the 50 characters introduced in details.Gaah!
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