tamnonlinear on potatoes, petunias, and other possibly carnivorous real-plants. As Liza would say, no plant can fully be trusted.
coraa on how negative reviews can help sell books.
metteharrison on 10 advanced writing mistakes that throw her (but may or may not throw you) out of the story.
In real life, there are thousands of people to fall in love with. In a book, two. The bad boy and the good guy. Usually, the bad guy wins. Sometimes the good guy. Depends on the author. But why not any other choices? Is that the way we see our romantic partners in real life?Bookavore gets frustrated and pleads with authors:
Please, for the love of Pete, STOP only mentioning the race of a character if that race is not white. I know you are trying to embrace diversity and create a more realistic world, but the fact of the matter is this. If I meet five characters (say, your main character, her mom, her sister, her best friend, and her other best friend) and you describe them but DON’T mention their race, and that is followed in the next few chapters by a black teacher, or a cute boy who’s Hispanic, that doesn’t prove to me that you embrace diversity. It proves to me that you assume all characters are white unless otherwise announced; that white is, in other words, the default race in your fictional world and by extension, the world in general.Bookavore also has some things to say about magical best friends.
(ETA: So google maps apparently cannot find “Will-I-finish-the-draft-today-land.” I think I’m in trouble. Because those guys can find everything, right down to the mesquite tree in my front yard.)