anne
New Member
Posts: 41 
Gender: Female
Dev Status: Devotee
Relationship Status: Married/Domestic partnership
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Post by anne on Oct 14, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5
Mmmmm... Santiago is absolutely delicious!! I'll have to take a break from reading or the book will be over too soon and God only knows when the sequel will be published...  |
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tabby
Full Member
Hello PD
Posts: 162
Gender: Female
Dev Status: Devotee
Relationship Status: Married/Domestic partnership
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Post by tabby on Oct 14, 2014 14:42:49 GMT -5
Will it be on Amazon?
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Post by Ximena on Oct 14, 2014 18:43:23 GMT -5
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Post by Ximena on Oct 14, 2014 18:56:40 GMT -5
Mmmmm... Santiago is absolutely delicious!! I'll have to take a break from reading or the book will be over too soon and God only knows when the sequel will be published... I'm glad you're enjoying it  . Yeah, there IS a sequel planned but it will be a while since I want to finish some other projects first. Please review the book on GoodReads, Loose Id, Amazon, etc., when you're finished if you enjoy it . |
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Post by ruthmadison on Oct 15, 2014 7:56:44 GMT -5
maybe a weird question, but did your publisher do any pre-pub reviews? I'm surprised not to see any editorial reviews or author blurbs on the Amazon listing  (Love the cover, btw. Great font on the title!) |
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Post by Ximena on Oct 15, 2014 11:34:27 GMT -5
maybe a weird question, but did your publisher do any pre-pub reviews? I'm surprised not to see any editorial reviews or author blurbs on the Amazon listing (Love the cover, btw. Great font on the title!) I know they have a list of reviewers they send the book to, but I think they're not out yet. |
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Post by ruthmadison on Oct 15, 2014 14:10:32 GMT -5
Ah, okay!
When will you know how launch day went? Probably not for a month or so, I would guess. But I'm excited to hear!
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Post by Ximena on Oct 15, 2014 17:38:43 GMT -5
Ah, okay! When will you know how launch day went? Probably not for a month or so, I would guess. But I'm excited to hear! Yeah I'm guessing I won't really get a feel for a month. |
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Post by Ximena on Oct 18, 2014 13:07:44 GMT -5
Just wanted to let everyone know that UnConventional should be available from all major ebook retailers (except iTunes and Google Play) as of right now. Thanks for your support ! You can also find it on Goodreads. Please add it to your shelves if you haven't already! |
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Post by mwin on Oct 18, 2014 17:03:08 GMT -5
Downloaded, read and loved.
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Post by blueskye101 on Oct 18, 2014 18:25:45 GMT -5
Me too, Ximena. Was over way too soon. Loved it and will have to read again. Wasn't sure about her married at beginning part but you did do a great job in making it for the best for her. I adored Santiago and was so glad you got into more of the nitty gritty of his condition. Bravo! Will get a review out soon.
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Post by Ximena on Oct 18, 2014 22:48:57 GMT -5
blueskye101 mwin I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it. Reviews do really help so I appreciate that ! I knew it was a risk with the infidelity but I like to tell real stories even if they make people uncomfortable sometimes, and I felt like Di's situation was one a lot of people might be able to relate to. Thanks again for your support and i am glad you liked it .
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tc2
New Member
Posts: 28
Gender: Female
Dev Status: Devotee
Relationship Status: Married/Domestic partnership
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Post by tc2 on Oct 19, 2014 16:59:03 GMT -5
Spent my Sunday reading this delicious book! Loved it.... Have spent the last few months reading, reading, reading, but this was different...yes the infidelity took a little coping with, but I loved how you played that out and how she came to her realisation of what she actually wanted. Fab thank you!
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anne
New Member
Posts: 41
Gender: Female
Dev Status: Devotee
Relationship Status: Married/Domestic partnership
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Post by anne on Oct 21, 2014 16:11:24 GMT -5
Phew, just finished the emotional roller-coaster which was the last fifty pages of your book! I knew from earlier writings that you have the compelling ability to immerse the reader deeply into your characters' lives which means that I'm emotionally pretty much spent now!  Of course, I must admit that the dev-factor in your book was also strong and contributed to that feeling. But it was not only that. It was an emotional journey because I struggled with the infidelity issue a lot. It made me think and evaluate my own partnership and consider the essentials of marriage - to what extent can other person's failures as a partner be tolerated, is marriage worth fighting for at all, etc. Probably being a conservative, I could not agree with all steps Di took and felt sorry for Stephen for a couple of times. Santiago, however, seemed way too perfect to me at first. When his disability was supposed to be his only flaw (to make him more human) then this was not a flaw for me at all. Towards the end of the book, when he got pissed for example, he became more real for me revealing his more vulnerable side. Still, I've got problems imagining that such an understanding and caring person truly exists - how can a person give so much out, make the other person feel so special, let her bathe in such care and comfort - without a trace of self-centeredness... I'm probably too old and disillusioned to believe in the existence of such people... However, this short "character analysis" shows that "Unconventional" is a good book! In my opinion a good book has to stir the reader and make him/her think. Also, writing is great, everything adds up and there were no holes in the plot - the whole book shows thorough editing before publishing. I liked your "cross-references" throughout of the book, for example the first exchange that Santiago and Di have contains the word 'adultery' which pops up over and over again, or when Di discovers that her name and Diego's start with the same syllable. Also, you had done such a comprehensive medical research that all readers will be aware what kind of disease BMD is after reading the book. Despite the previous "serious" comments, the book was entertaining, hot and a pleasurable read. I was so glad to learn that you are planning to write the sequel - I'll be looking forward to it eagerly - even more so because now the matter of infidelity has been resolved! Also, boarding a plane will never be the same for me - I will always think of Di and Santiago! Thank you for the effort of writing and publishing the book, I know that I will reread it over and over again! |
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Post by Ximena on Oct 21, 2014 17:11:52 GMT -5
Phew, just finished the emotional roller-coaster which was the last fifty pages of your book! I knew from earlier writings that you have the compelling ability to immerse the reader deeply into your characters' lives which means that I'm emotionally pretty much spent now! Of course, I must admit that the dev-factor in your book was also strong and contributed to that feeling. But it was not only that. It was an emotional journey because I struggled with the infidelity issue a lot. It made me think and evaluate my own partnership and consider the essentials of marriage - to what extent can other person's failures as a partner be tolerated, is marriage worth fighting for at all, etc. Probably being a conservative, I could not agree with all steps Di took and felt sorry for Stephen for a couple of times. Santiago, however, seemed way too perfect to me at first. When his disability was supposed to be his only flaw (to make him more human) then this was not a flaw for me at all. Towards the end of the book, when he got pissed for example, he became more real for me revealing his more vulnerable side. Still, I've got problems imagining that such an understanding and caring person truly exists - how can a person give so much out, make the other person feel so special, let her bathe in such care and comfort - without a trace of self-centeredness... I'm probably too old and disillusioned to believe in the existence of such people... However, this short "character analysis" shows that "Unconventional" is a good book! In my opinion a good book has to stir the reader and make him/her think. Also, writing is great, everything adds up and there were no holes in the plot - the whole book shows thorough editing before publishing. I liked your "cross-references" throughout of the book, for example the first exchange that Santiago and Di have contains the word 'adultery' which pops up over and over again, or when Di discovers that her name and Diego's start with the same syllable. Also, you had done such a comprehensive medical research that all readers will be aware what kind of disease BMD is after reading the book. Despite the previous "serious" comments, the book was entertaining, hot and a pleasurable read. I was so glad to learn that you are planning to write the sequel - I'll be looking forward to it eagerly - even more so because now the matter of infidelity has been resolved! Also, boarding a plane will never be the same for me - I will always think of Di and Santiago! Thank you for the effort of writing and publishing the book, I know that I will reread it over and over again! , thank you so much for your comments. It's always interesting for me to see how other people interpret things. (For instance, it was really interesting to see how mike interpreted the scenes with Santiago and his sister compared to how other people did.) I debated about whether I would respond or not, and finally decided to. Before I do, though, I want to A) thank you for reading the book and B) for your great review. Really. I also want to make the point that this response is in no way intended to disparage your review or how you felt about the book (like the infidelity) or as any kind of "defense" against your review! Just my response after reading what you had to say. OK, so the infidelity thing is I know tough for a lot of people, and I even had some publishers reject it solely because of that. My publisher (that I went with) warned me that I might get some flack because of it, but they were willing to stand by it if I was. I realize it's controversial and it makes a lot of people uncomfortable--and I also realize that there are times when we might question Di or not agree with her choices--and I totally respect that some people feel that way. But life is messy. As you probably already know from reading I/E, I don't shy away from messy. And sometimes it's hard to write. And sometimes it's hard to read. But if my characters want to go there, then I try not to fight them. (Well, sometimes I DO try, but it never works out.) And I wanted to tell a story that I felt was true to life. And I know that's not what normal romance does, but I've never been really good with "what everyone else is doing," lol. UnC was always about infidelity, because I really wanted to tell the story of a woman who married very young for the wrong reasons and tell an "unconventional" coming-of-age story. A lot of my revision process did go into tweaking both Di and Stephen's characters to try to flesh out why there's such a disconnect between them, and to try to get the reader to understand why Di makes the decisions she does even if they don't always agree with her about them. (If it makes you feel better, after this final revision even I felt a little bad for Stephen at the end.) That's also one reason I went with first-person present-tense for the POV. Because I wanted it to very much be what Di is thinking IN THE MOMENT. She isn't reflecting on this years down the road. No, it is happening RIGHT NOW, and as we probably all know, we're not always able to think clearly in the moment. Hindsight is 20/20, right? So yeah, Di is selfish and needy in a lot of ways, but that's also really what her internal conflict is about. As for Santiago... Yeah, he definitely comes off as "perfect" in a lot of ways, but that's again because we're seeing this through the "puppy-love," "I'm miserable in my life except when I'm with you" "in-the-moment" eyes of Di. And it's one reason why you start to see his veneer chipping away as the story progresses and as she gets to know him better and he stops trying to be the "perfect" person his family wants him to be and be more of himself (which is one of the themes of the book). I never intended his disability to be his "flaw" (though that is from his family's perspective), but it's also one reason why the sequel will be from his POV instead of Di's, so we can get more inside his head and see more of what he's really going through. It's also going to be about how they're out of that "puppy love" stage and into "reality" now--they're each now seeing each other as "real" people instead of these "perfect" archetypes, and facing "real" everyday problems in addition to things on a grander scale (such as family), so that should hopefully be interesting, even if traditional romance readers once again hate me, lol. I'm not going to be one of those authors who writes a second book identical to the first with only a shift in POV, but imagine how different UnC would have been if it had been from Santiago's perspective? How he may have portrayed Di to the reader (and himself) compared to how she did? Hmm. That's an interesting thought. Could be fun to re-write a scene from Unc in his POV... But after all, that's one thing I love about I/E, is the ability to switch POVs and see how different characters view the same situation through very different eyes. In fact, my Nano project (which I'll talk about more on my blog next week) I'm thinking of doing that very thing: have one scene from one character's POV and then have the same scene (more or less) through the second protagonist's eyes to see how differently each may view the same situation. But one reason I chose a first-person, present tense, female perspective for this novel was to challenge myself, to get out of my box and do something else. Thanks again to you, anne, and to everyone else for reading. I do welcome feedback, even if you don't always agree with everything that happens in the book! And I'm so glad it made you think and that you plan to re-read it. I tried my best to make it a book that would be even more enjoyable upon a second reading, bc I throw in a lot of little hints about Santiago's past and how he's "really" feeling that you may not catch the first time around but you will once you know more about his backstory, etc. Thanks! Sorry I blabbed for so long. It was just really nice to see such great feedback from a reader. I needed that after a hard day of interpreting class! |
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. Yeah, there IS a sequel planned but it will be a while since I want to finish some other projects first. Please review the book on GoodReads, Loose Id, Amazon, etc., when you're finished if you enjoy it 
Of course, I must admit that the dev-factor in your book was also strong and contributed to that feeling.