Noise in the Attic

Though I am not being paid to write this review, I do stand to profit financially (by however miniscule an amount) if a reader buys a product mentioned in this review through the links provided. That being as it may, I steadfastly refuse to endorse any product I have not personally used to my own benefit.

Cameron, Julia. The Right to Write: an Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. New York: Tarcher, 1999. ISBN: 1585420093. ISBN-13: 978-1585420094.

With The Artist’s Way and The Vein of Gold, Julia Cameron established herself as a champion of the universality of creativity. She contends that everyone can be creative, and she has devoted a substantial portion of her career to teaching that theory, both through her writing and in her face-to-face courses.

In The Right to Write, Cameron tackles writing in particular. Through a series of essays, she sets out her theory that every person has the innate right to write. Cameron uses her own personal experience, as well as those of her family, friends, and students, to illustrate her points.

In a fairly small book–236 pages–Cameron covers a lot of territory. Forty-three essays cover topics as diverse as how to begin, listening, keeping the drama on the page, ESP, writing badly, and commitment, among many others.

Cameron has the ability to illuminate her topics clearly and concisely. Most of her essays cover only two or three pages and can be read sequentially or individually as needed. Her writing style is personal and lively, as if she were speaking directly to her individual readers across a small cafe table.

Each essay–called “Invitations”–also comes with an “Initiation”: an exercise closely related to the essay that aims to open the reader’s mind to new possibilities. Some of the exercises are intense and can be emotionally challenging. Most of all, though, the “Initiations” are just that: introductions to new ways of thinking, new opportunities, and permission to put pen to paper and exercise your right to write.

Possibly the most useful exercise is the Morning Pages. Cameron strongly recommends using pen and paper and sitting quietly for fifteen to twenty minutes each morning writing longhand and using stream of consciousness to open the right, or creative, side of the brain and to silence the inner critic. I can testify that this technique is extraordinarily effective.

The Right to Write is an essential part of the writer’s book collection for the occasional pick-me-up and reminder that we do, indeed, have an intrinsic right to write.

Valley of the Soul (Bantam Spectra, 2006, ISBN 0553587110) is the third novel by Tamara Siler Jones, the third book in her series about Dubric Byerly, Castellan of Faldorrah, and her third book in the subgenre she invented — forensic fantasy. With forensic fantasy, Jones combines mystery, police procedural, horror, and fantasy into a unique and quite tasty blend. The forensics never violate the technology of the pre-industrial society, and Jones avoids the temptation to use magic or to have a Sherlock Holmes clone. Good old-fashioned police work, mud-slogging footwork and attention to detail, is Dubric’s method for solving crimes.

This latest volume follows Dubric, his squire Dien, and his page Lars as they try to solve a mystery involving missing and dismembered animals, a mystery that soon turns into something far more deadly. When people start turning up dead, all the signs point to a mage on the loose. Not just any mage, though, a blood mage — the deadliest and most evil of all. Although all mages were supposedly killed in the War of Shadows fifty years previous, it appears that at least one still lives, and it has a bone to pick with Dubric personally.

Trust, responsibility, consequences. These themes and more infuse Valley of the Soul with a richness and depth found all too seldom in modern fantasy. Actions have consequences. Even those things you did fifty years ago will come back to you. When they do, the interest you have to pay on their principal can be bankrupting. The trust of your friends and co-workers can be lost for good, usually right when you need it the most.

Consequences. Dubric’s actions during and after the War were taken with the best of intentions. However, when these chickens come home to roost, they are more like large hawks with bad attitudes and a score to settle. A frantic hunt for a blood mage who may be on the verge of regaining power is not the right time for these birds to come swooping down. Dubric has not only earned the enmity of the mage, but carries some secrets that will have a profound effect on his relationships with the people around him.

Responsibility. Dubric’s responsibilities as Castellan are a burden to him in his old age. Murder investigation and mage-hunting are a young man’s game. Now he also has the responsibility of explaining why he did what he did during the War and since. Explanations are not easy, and time and circumstances do not permit a leisurely conversation about them.

Trust. The real problem is that Dubric may lose the trust of Dien and Lars when he needs them the most. Worst of all, he will not even be able to trust himself at the crisis. This small band stands little enough chance against a powerful mage as it is. If the team is broken, the mage will win, and the world will once again enter a Dark Age of mage-magic and evil. Can Lars accept the truth about himself? Can Dien trust Dubric to do the right thing about Dien’s daughter, Jess, Lars’s intended? Can Lars and Dien learn to trust each other again as they dance around some sticky questions and misunderstandings? Can Dubric do the right thing, even at the cost of his beloved Maeve, the true love he has finally found nearly fifty years after he took the lives of his wife Oriana and their unborn child? Can he even trust himself as he falls under the mage’s control? They’d better, or they die and the world with them.

Dubric and his assistants are just normal people thrust into very abnormal circumstances and trying to do their jobs the best way they can. You will not find elves in Faldorrah, no dwarves, and the only wizards are evil. What you will find are real people: people who puke, who bleed, who do the wrong things for the right reasons. People who suffer and die. Magic is no help to them. The side-effects and consequences of using magical items are just too serious. The only people who could control such items are long dead; no one now alive understands them enough to use them effectively.

I strongly recommend that anyone new to the work of Tamara Siler Jones read her first two novels, Ghosts in the Snow (Bantam Spectra, 2004, ISBN 0553587099) and Threads of Malice (Bantam Spectra, 2005, ISBN 0553587102), to get a handle on the backgrounds and baggage that each character carries before reading Valley of the Soul. This history is essential to understanding why the characters behave the way they do and feel the emotions they do. Though these three novels are about the same time and place and characters, they are as different as three children who share the same mother. The series shows Jones’s growth as a writer and as a person, her journey through life, and her explorations of some of the deeper, and darker, regions of the human psyche. If you want oatmeal reading, stay away from these novels. Each is rich and dark, but in much different ways.

Ghosts is violent, but mischievous, a child taking delight in its wickedness. At the climax, the things happening in the background had me laughing myself into a fit of hiccups, while still worried sick about the outcome. It won the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel of 2004.  Threads is much, much darker–black as unforgivable sin–and deeply disturbing. The violence is much more graphic, and the suffering more intense and personal. This is the angst-ridden teen-ager of the bunch. It has been nominated for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Novel for 2006.  Valley is the adult. It faces issues of maturity, responsibility, and judgment. Though still violent, Valley is disturbing on a deeper level. The questions it leaves unanswered lead me to believe, indeed hope, that there will be at least one more story to come from Faldorrah.These novels all explore dark themes and are unflinching and liberal, though never gratuitous, when it comes to blood, gore, and violence.  Jones’s skill at creating multi-threaded plots and real characters has only increased over the course of her three books. Valley is tightly woven, fast-paced, and full of so many twists it might make you doubt your own sanity. The author’s sanity is, of course, undoubtedly compromised. Any mind that can conceive a story so devious, so devilish, must be unbalanced. Let us all hope and pray she never recovers. She does deliver good value for your money, though. Her books are all hefty, in the neighborhood of five hundred pages each, and tightly packed with fast-moving prose and Gordian-knotted plots.

I heartily recommend Valley of the Soul for those readers who like to explore the darker reaches of the human experience. Be advised, though, Tamara Siler Jones does not write stories suitable for children. These are books for mature adults, and will leave even them with disturbed dreams. The humor is dark as a murderer’s heart, and the horrific images will settle into your mind for a long stay. Fans of murder mysteries and horror will like these books; fans of light, escapist fantasy will not. I hope you enjoy Valley of the Soul and its compatriots as much as I have.

 

Viehl, Lynn.  Dark Need.  New York: Signet Eclipse, 2006.  ISBN: 0-451-21866-3

 Oh my.  Have you ever had the best sex of your life sitting alone and fully clothed in your favorite chair?  That’s what reading Dark Need feels like.  This is definitely the most erotic of the Darkyn books so far.  Holly Lisle’s blurb for If Angels Burn says that it is “Erotic, darker than sin, and better than good chocolate.”  Dark Need turns that concept into a bubbling fondue.  Dip if you dare.

Dark Need continues the story of the Darkyn begun in If Angels Burn and Private Demon (if you don’t have ‘em, get ‘em!).  Reading the first two in the series is definitely recommended.  The story in Dark Need certainly stands by itself, but knowing the background adds richness and nuance to the story that makes it a compelling read.

In brief, the Darkyn are Templar knights who were infected with a strange illness on the last Crusade in the 13th Century.  After they died, they came back as vampires.  This novel centers upon Lucan, for 700 years the chief assassin for Richard Tremayne, the High Lord of the Darkyn, and an enemy of Michael Cyprien, suzerain of the Darkyn in North America.  Lucan has come to Florida to set up his own jardin, which he knows will bring him into conflict with Cyprien.  In fact, he’s counting on it.

To complicate matters, Lucan is the chief suspect in two murders being investigated by Detective Samantha Brown.  Lucan’s uncontrollable lust for Sam and his plot to engage Michael in mortal combat result in a novel of intense passions and dark needs on many levels.  When centuries-buried passions are released, no one is safe.

The two previous Darkyn novels were rich, textured, and layered, and Dark Need continues that tradition.  There is a lot going on in this story than just what’s on the surface.  Highly recommended.  Just be sure to keep a fan and a gallon of your favorite iced beverage handy.

Bell, James Scott.  Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers From Start to Finish.  Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2004.  ISBN: 1-58297-294-X

For years, I have been trying to get a handle on plot and structure.  I have known all that time what plot is, but I have never been able to understand the mechanics of making a plot work.  Until now, that is.  There was a certain amount of serendipidity involved in my getting the amount of value out of this book that I have, but there is more to it than that.

Bell explains plot and structure clearly, using metaphors and words that are familiar.  His most basic explanation of plot revolvces around the LOCK metaphor: A Lead character with an Objective, who faces a Confrontation that leads to a Knock-out ending.  That’s pretty simple and also pretty obvious.

Bell then applies this system to the basic 3-act structure.  By showing how the Lead’s objective leads to the first “doorway of no return” at the end of Act I, and the confrontation takes the Lead through the second doorway of no return at the end of Act II, he plainly shows how plot leads directly to structure.

Another simple, yet illuminating, term Bell uses in this volume is “adhesive”.  By that, he means: “what holds the hero and villian to their courses?”  What keeps them from just walking away?  The glue that binds the story together is the stakes.  What do the hero and villian have to gain or lose that keeps them going?  I found the adhesive analogy compelling.  It just fits my way of thinking.

Finally, and importantly to me, Bell explains some of the most common plot patterns: quest, revenge, love, chase, etc.  This allowed me to see how my novel-to-be combines the quest and revenge patterns in two different plot lines.  The convergence of these plot lines creates an explosive confrontation that will (I hope) result in a true knock-out ending.

Each chapter of Plot & Structure ends with a series of exercise designed to emphasize and apply the lessons of that chapter.  Though I have not yet worked through these exercise, I have read them over and can see some immediate potential benefits to my work.  Let the homework commence.

I recommend Plot & Structure to any writer struggling to understand how a novel works.  My own experience has shown that wandering around hoping things will work is definitely not an effective novel-writing strategy.  If you find yourself in this situation, get Plot & Structure and get a grip on what you’re doing.

Saintcrow, Lilith. Working for the Devil. Warner Books, © 2005. ISBN: 0-446-61670-2

Just 2 things right quick before I start:

1. Dante Valentine kicks ass.
2. Lilith Saintcrow is The. Best. Name. for a writer of paranormal fantasy. Ever.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled review.

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Dante Valentine is a Necromance, one who raises the spirits of the dead. She may be the best in the world, but she won’t admit it. Danny also does bounty hunting on the side, helping bring criminals with dangerous magical powers to justice. The one thing she never imagined is that she would wind up on an assignment from the Devil, but then His right-hand demon showed up at her front door with guns drawn and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. One thing about working for the Devil, though: when the Prince of Lies takes a hand, all bets are off.Dante Valentine, known to her friends as Danny, is a complex character, full of the same doubts, fears, and contradictions as all humans. She lives in a world of darkness and immense powers. She is haunted by the ghosts of her past, pursued by demons, both literally and figuratively, and far too independent and self-reliant for her own good.Danny’s journeys through Hell and Rio de Janeiro as she attempts to fulfill her mission and bring her most dangerous and hated enemy to bay are also a journey through her own soul. Love and hate, hope and depair, are inextricably intertwined. As she peels away the layers of deceit and illusion in her attempts to determine the difference between right and wrong in a morally confused situation, Danny makes discoveries about herself and her companions that she doesn’t want to make and exposes parts of herself to her companions that she desperately wants to keep hidden.Working for the Devil is a story of love in many different forms and on many different levels. At the same time, it is a story of sacrifice and of honor. It is an exploration of good and evil and the difficulty of telling the difference sometimes. When truth is elusive, where do you put your trust? How do you tell who the good guys are when every hat is grey? Is your faith and honor worth the price you must pay?Working for the Devil is a rollicking adventure, full of action and desperation that will leave you wrung out, but wishing it didn’t have to end. Lilith Saintcrow is masterful at creating characters that you will care deeply for and identify with. She also writes a damned good fight scene. At the same time, she will bring you face to face with some hard issues and does not flinch when things get ugly.This novel is intense and riveting, and I have no reservations in recommending it. I also anxiously await the next Dante Valentine story, and I owe Demented Michelle an enormous debt of gratitude for introducing me to this author.

Way of the Cheetah: How to Boost Your Productivity by Lynn Viehl. 2006.

So you call yourself a writer, or would like to, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough time. Maybe the distractions of your busy life get in your way. Maybe you start strong but have trouble finishing anything. Don’t lose heart; the cavalry is here.

Lynn Viehl, well known arounf the blogoverse as Paperback Writer, offers her views on what it takes to be a successful writer in Way of the Cheetah: How to Boost Your Productivity. Her practical, no-nonsense approach to the writing life is refreshing and inspirational. These are the “secrets” that have enabled her to sell 32 novels in six years, 9 in 2005 alone. As a member of the elite Million-Words-a-Year Club, Viehl knows how to produce, and now she is sharing her methods with the rest of us.

Cheetahs have to produce in order to survive. They don’t spend time worrying about what the other cheetahs think, or if they’re “doing it right”. They hunt, or they starve. Just like the cheetah, writers have to produce to be successful. They have to write. Butt in chair, words on paper. That work ethic is the biggest price of success, and the hardest habit to develop. Way of the Cheetah shows you how.

Viehl offers her proven tactics for overcoming distractions, organizing your work space, breaking out of the dreaded cyle of the Eternal Edit, and getting past all the other traps that await the unwary. Above all, she emphasizes the necessity to take your writing seriously. If you want a hobby, consider stamp collecting. Writing is hard work. You can’t avoid that work, so you have to be serious about it.

At 71 pages, Way of the Cheetah is by no means a hefty tome, but each of those pages contains golden nuggets and sparkling jewels just waiting for you. Each of the 8 steps along the Way gives hard, practical advice for increasing your productivity, followed by exercises designed to guide you through putting that advice to work in your own writing life. Some of it will work for you, some will not, but every writer will find something here to benefit their career. I know I sure have.

I highly recommend Way of the Cheetah to all writers looking for the path to success. My feet are beginning to tread the Way, come join me.

Categories: reviews, lynn_viehl, Way_of_the_Cheetah, writing, books

Create a Character Clinic by Holly Lisle. First OneMoreWord Edition, (c)2006.

Bringing characters to life for the reader seems like an impossible dream for many writers. We give them distinguishing characteristics, maybe even distinct ways of speaking, but still they lie there on the page, bored and boring. Many writing books are full of What and Why; Holly Lisle’s Create a Character Clinic is all about How.

CCC walks us through the process of creating vivid characters, then goes a step further — it shows us how to go about bringing that character alive on the page. Part 1 of CCC is full of essential flow charts to help the writer find out about a character’s conflicts, dreams, needs, relationships, history, and other important information. These charts provide a road map through a process that, until now, has appeared esoteric and difficult. CCC Shows us how to ask the right questions, and gives pointers about when to stop asking to leave room for the characters to grow and surprise us as we write. The exercise at the end of each chapter provide practice in putting the principles to use in our own characters. CCC shows us how to use Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to find out what drives a character at the deepest levels.

Part 2 delves into the actual how-to of putting words on paper to create believable characters using exposition, dialogue, and action. Again using well-designed flow charts, we can explore the furthest reaches of the character’s sub-conscious. Then, we can use the Exercises to actually begin putting that character into a story and letting him develop into a three-dimensional person.

Part 3 is called “The Sins of Characterization, and How to Commit Them Right”. I found this section to be worth the price of the book (US $9.95) by itself. Lisle takes many of the most common mistakes writers make with characterization, and shows us how to use those mistakes to our advantage. The secret is in knowing when and how to use these methods to advance the story. Learning when and how to break the rules is essential to development as a writer.

Lisle’s writing and instructional style is clear and easy to follow. She is able to draw the reader in and make them feel a part of the process — a collaborator rather than a student. Create a Character Clinic takes pride of place on my desk as an essential, practical guide through one of the most difficult parts of writing, for me, at least. I strongly recommend Create a Character Clinic as a necessary part of a writer’s library.

P.S. While you are at HollyShop buying CCC, take a look at Lynn Viehl’s Way of the Cheetah, as well. Review here. If you would like to participate in promoting these terrific books and make a little money on the side, consider joining the affiliate program.

Categories: reviews, holly_lisle, create_a_character_clinic, writing, characters

Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones
Bantam Book, due out October 25, 2005, 498 pages, $6.99.

Dubric Byerly sees dead people. More specifically, he sees the ghosts of those who have been murdered in Faldorrah. As Castellan, Dubric is responsible for bringing their killers to justice so their spirits can peacefully depart. The sight of murdered people and the headaches they bring are prime motivation for Dubric to solve their murders and quickly. Unfortunately, in a world with barely medieval technology, forensic investigations are difficult at best. Dubric, his squire Dien, and his two pages, Lars and Otlee, are learning the art of forensic investigation as best they can, but sometimes, that is just not enough. When Dubric learns that young boys have been disappearing in the Reach, a remote area of the kingdom, he leakds his team squarely into a mob of ghosts and an evil so profound that Dubric doubts his ability to defeat it.

Threads of Malice is Tamara Siler Jones’s second published novel and a semi-sequel to her first, Ghosts in the Snow. It is a sequel in that it is set in the same world with many of the same characters, it is only semi- in that it does not continue the story in Ghosts. Threads is a stand-alone story, complete unto itself, though reading Ghosts first will give you some deeper insight into the characters and the world they inhabit.

Those who enjoyed Ghosts as much as I did should be warned that Threads of Malice is a much darker and more dangerous story. While Ghosts often showed a delight in its wickedness and even turned whimsical at times, Threads is a serious look at some deeply-rooted soul-rot. It looks at some subjects that are extremely distasteful and does it unflinchlingly. Readers will encounter pedophilia, torture, murder, and putrid corpses, among other things. Threads of Malice is a book of mud and blood, a book of storms, where the sun seldom shines for long, a book of unending pain and cruel death. Be warned.

Tambo Jones is one of a rare breed of writers who are willing to put their characters in real danger. With most novels, you can erad with the assumption that everything will turn out all right in the end. The hero or heroine will save the day in the nick of time through heroic efforts and purity of heart. At some point in Threads, and it may be a different point for you than for me, you will come to a horrible realization: the danger is real. People are grievously hurt, both physically and psychically, people suffer, people die. People you have to care for suffer. Some of them die. Bring no assumptions to this book.

Among the many themes that weave their way throughout Threads of Malice is the theme of good versus evil. I guess it’s safe to say that most novels explore this theme to some extent, but maybe not as closely as tambo does. In her world, evil is absolute, black, utterly ruthless, uncaring, pure. Good, on the other hand, is murky, flawed, and faltering. Human. Her heroes have feet of clay and are standing in a torrent that is quickly eroding them. Each of the characters carries his or her own burden of fear and guilt. Sometimes the burden becomes too heavy. Heroic acts are hard to come by, and safety does not exist.

With Ghosts in the Snow, tambo Jones staked out her place in dark fantasy, inventing the subgenre of forensic fantasy, and unveiled herself as a rising star in the field. With Threads of Malice, tambo secures her place as a serious writer with a voice that will be heard. The depth and intensity of Threads of Malice make this a must=read. The questions raised, the answers given or not given, are rich food for thinking readers. Though the price of reading this book may be high, the gains are worth it and more.

Categories: reviews, threads_of_malice

“Duty, Honor, Country”. For 200 years the motto of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, has inspired its graduates to give their very best to the service of their country. Many of them have given their very lives as their duty demanded. One of the questions Holly Lisle asks in Talyn, her new fantasy novel, is: Can there come a time when honor outweighs duty?

This is one of the questions that Talyn, the eponymous heroine of the novel, has to grapple with. Another very important one is: Can your enemy become your friend and ally? Along the way, she also must come to grips with trust, love, abuse, and death. Altogether, Talyn has a full life, and the lessons that she learns are vital for all of us.

Holly Lisle has a true and enviable talent with characters. She is able to take her readers deep inside her characters and let us see and hear and feel right along with them. Their pain and heartbreak, joy and love quickly become real to us. Each character speaks with a different voice and has a different personality. Through Talyn, we can see the conflict that tears her heart, and we know the scars will heal slowly. As she faces betrayal after betrayal, as her choices become harder and more painful, Talyn show us just how hard a Mistress honor is. Ultimately, she must learn to trust a former enemy instead of her own people in order to confront their common foe.

Lisle’s mastery of worldbuilding shines through in this novel, as well. This is her first novel set in the world of Korre. I hope to see many more. In Korre, she has created a culturally diverse world populated by varied peoples governed by varied political systems and religions. The interactions between these people are always colored by their regional prejudices and beliefs. The richness of this world promises many possibilities for further novels.

Talyn is a long novel at 524 pages, but so absorbing that I lost an entire weekend living in Korre. The printer did an extraordinary job on the paper and binding, making this a book that will last a long time and survive many readings. It feels solid in your hands, but not too heavy, and would make a nice weapon in a pinch.

Duty, honor, country. In Talyn’s case: duty, honor, Tonk. When these three come into conflict with each other, the result is one damn fine story told by a master storyteller. It engaged my imagination from the first page. The story climbs glorious heights and plunges to hellish depths. From triumph to defeat to love to betrayal, I was never sure exactly where I stood. The twists and turns were dizzying as Talyn struggled to come to grips with a world turned inside out and a relentless evil that would not rest until it possessed her literally body and soul.

Talyn haunts me. The many layers of theme and depth of meaning have kept my mind churning. A second reading awaits me in the near future. Lisle’s willingness to face harsh realities and their consequences always gives her books a cutting edge and the impact of a sledgehammer. Talyn is no exception. It is an intense and absorbing story told very well. Any thinking person will find a lot here to occupy their mind.

Categories: reviews, talyn

The Halo Effect by M. J. Rose. Mira, 2005. ISBN: 0778321975

This is what it’s like to walk around in someone else’s skin. M. J. Rose’s masterful use of words invokes all our senses. We feel what her characters feel, see what they see, smell what they smell. We even come to think their thoughts. She draws us in and, before we know it, we are riding the roller coaster, and we suddenly realize the cars are not very well attached to the rails.

The person we get to inhabit in The Halo Effect is Dr. Morgan Snow, a New York psychiatrist who specializes in sexual problems. We meet her as she is counseling Cleo Thane,a high-class, high-priced prostitute and madame. Cleo is writing a book that tells all about her (thinly-disguised) clients’ proclivities. When Cleo vanishes, the obvious questions arise: Who took her? Was it a client concerned over being exposed? Is she still alive?

The police can’t help. This is just a missing-person case to them, and besides, they have more important issues to deal with. Issues like the Magdalene Murders, a series of prostitutes murdered by a serial killer, apparently in some bizarre religious ritual. The murders are becoming more frequent, and the police have to move fast to avoid a bloodbath. An obvious move is to call Dr. Snow in to consult on the case. Are the murders somehow connected to Cleo’s disappearance? How is she going to find out? It’s not long before Morgan Snow is in a heap of trouble.

The Halo Effect is a rip-snorting suspense novel that will keep you guessing to the very end. As Morgan tries to deal with family and personal issues, professional ethics, and a handsome and intriguing detective transplanted from New Orleans, we come to understand her. Her tension and conflict crank up the energy level in this novel to piano-wire tautness. Rose’s technique in this book does not just depend on precise and eloquent use of words. She also lets us read parts of Cleo’s book along the way. Her ability to switch voices from Morgan to Cleo when needed is effective (and enviable, it’s something I will have to study carefully). Her characters are well-defined individuals, each with his or her own set of conflicts and defining characteristics.

I look forward to watching Morgan Snow grow as the series progresses. I truly enjoyed inhabiting her skin for a while.

Categories: reviews, haloeffect