It's official: I suck at hiatus

[maderr]

But this book, trend really, aggravates me.

I'm sorry, but am I the only one completely and utterly sick of every other ebook containing massive kink? This book I was attempting to slog through had a not uninteresting premise -- dom interested in snarly professor who is unknowingly a sub. There's potential there, except as per usual with ebooks we breeze through the courtship or whatever as quickly as possible (though, credit where credit is due, it took longer that the five pages that is more common). Disappointing in a book nearly four hundred pages long, but whatever.

Seriously, though. When the only thing carrying the stories is the BDSM nature of the relationship, it gets boring fast. Adding heavy kink to your story, even making it the focus, does not get your story +100 interesting. It doesn't even get you +1. The professor is annoying. Every ten pages he's throwing another temper tantrum, and there's been so little evidence given of his past trauma that I don't really buy it. I don't want it harped on, but I would like it to matter. Some sort of functioning plot would suffice. My plots are never very involving, but they're enough to carry the story. That's all I want. But, of course, the popular thing is sex sex sex pause for Meaning Dialogue, sex sex sex.

So, it was okay the first hundred pages or so. If it had been a hundred page story, and written accordingly, I would have called it a good story. I do enjoy kink now and again (especially pretties getting tied up, and spanking, please dear god don't ever let my parents read this post. they don't need to know that much about what I read, oh the dangers of a close family). But 180 pages in I could no longer stand the boredom. Way beyond caring.

I apologize to those whom I owe stories - I should have finished Midnight and Robin Hood ages ago. Will attempt them very shortly, if the idea niggling at me does not bite (it's a fairytale, though, so it probably will bite).

The book, btw, is Bent by Sean Michael. Always a crap shoot. Some of her stories I like. Others I hate. Bent would have been good at about 100 pages. At 391, I'm sorry, it became boring as hell. Maybe it's just me, though. I am always willing to admit that.

Comments

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

When I was young and foolish I liked Sean Michael. Now, at a seasoned twenty-two, I know who to avoid.

I dunno, I think there's a kink cycle. Or maybe a threshold? I usually prefer plotty stories with good dialogue, compelling characters, and a satisfying romance. But every once in a while I need a twinkie - a terrible, bad-for-you, sugary confection. And cream filled. Let's not forget cream filled. Because sometimes all I want is a story about people being... cream filled.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

dude, I'm all about the cream filled stories now and again. that's just my point, though - this story was too smexed up and lacking to be amongst the plotty stories with good dialogue, compelling characters, and a satisfying romance set and too goddamn long and boring to be cream filled. That was my complaint. It was four hundred pages of I'd prefer a quick death, please.

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

Four hundred pages is one enormous twinkie. That'd send me into sugar shock. You're right - I'd pray for quick death.

Sean Michael also does this? Thing that I hate. >:F

I've almost given up on slash ebooks from TP anyway. It's just pages and pages of meaningless sex masquerading as a story. And the quality isn't very good anymore. I'll sit and wait until the authors on my flist put out something new. ;)

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

Oh, god. Tell me about it. -__- Stabbity!

Yeah, luckily I did not pay for this one. I had been tempted, but managed to resist. Skylark hooked me up, though, so I gave it a try.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

Oh sure. Blame me. ;3 *snickers* I took a shot. Fits like a Glove wasn't the best thing since sliced toast, but it was...intriguing in it's own right so I thought I'd give this one a spin. Although, if another novel in the series comes out, I'll probably read it. *ducks* But yes, that could have definitely been about 120 pages shorter and had more of a defined plot. I kept waiting for something to come to a head with the sorority chick and the lawyers. Or for Jim's shitty ass family to make an appearance. Or...there's a lot of plot things that vaguely make an appearance and then kind of vanish in the mist while they have wild bunny sex.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, I felt awful reviewing a book you'd given me. It wasn't all bad, I thnk shaving the length totally would have saved it. The Velvet Glove stories all have potential (some more than others) and they do keep me trying. I did almost buy Bent, I was so very close. i think I chose something else, in the end. I dont' remember what.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

XD Don't feel bad. *snicker glomps* I'll be the first to admit that there was way too much sex. (seriously, if I'd had to read it all at once, I would have lost my mind. There wasn't enough plot to keep a butt glued to a seat for four hours.) I don't think it would have intrigued me half as much if I weren't so damned naive about certain things. ^_^;; It was more like...learning about things without having to google and risk seeing the SCARY pictures. You know? XD

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Aha, it is fascinating in that respect. I always wonder what actual kinksters think of stories like these.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

That story was about 85% smex and 15% plot/characterization/everything else.

I think I would have been more bored with it if I'd tried to read it all in one session. Breaking it up amongst four days made it easier to forget how much of it was just pure smex. ^_^;;

Her stories, to me at least, a lot of the time read like a long series of drabbles. There's not a whole overarching purpose that links scenes together. You can usually read them out of order and not be all that confused as to what's going on and why. There are some exceptions that I've read of hers, but definitely the BSDM ones read like a long series of drabbles about the same characters thrown into one doc.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

I always know a story has too much sex when I start skipping the sex scenes to get to the plot. If there's not enough plot when I start doing that, the book goes sailing across the room to make a satisfying thunk against the wall. I figured this out reading regular romance and I am twice as demanding for my slash romance. It does annoy me that the majority of ebooks are PORN PORN PORN PORN! Where is the romance I was promised, dammit?

My other biggest problem, when the story is not all about porn, is the author giving one of the guys a mangina in order to make the story have romance. Seriously. Two reasonably manly guys can indeed be in love and and be romantic. You do not need to turn one of them into a stereotypical, weepy female love interest with a penis.

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

YES TO THIS COMMENT.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Amen, my sister. Amen.

[unusualmusic.livejournal.com]

THREE THUMBS UP TO THIS COMMENT.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

I read one (this one) where the guy actually becomes a woman for part of the story. Very, very...weird. O_o;;

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

I read a regular romance novel where for part of it, the woman became a man and the guy still really liked her. I was kind of disappointed they didn't have sex while she was a guy. Surprise gay sex!

I have also read many a romance where the woman is pretending to be a guy and the male lead is attracted to her despite thinking she's a guy/because he has figured out what gender she really is. My favorite is where the heroine kisses him, has the realization that he think she's a guy still, and kicks him in the balls. At which point he admits to knowing she's a she. It was hysterical.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Oh, god. Hart and Soul. That book was completely WTF with a side of whack.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I also looked at this one and wondered. I think I stuck it on my maybe list. Yup, I did. And wrote that it sounded like it was more D/s and S&M, but I might have been wrong about that.

I think there are a couple of Sean Michael stories that I really like, too. Frustrating to have authors be so unpredictable.

Also, I totally agree that there seems to be more and more kink out there. *sigh* I don't mind the occasional well-written kink story, but the ones that seem forced and gratuitous I could definitely do without.

[chilayse.livejournal.com]

I prefer plot over sex. A steamy sex scene isn't at all steamy for me if I don't know anything about the characters. Okay they're having kinky sex that's nice..WHO ARE THEY? To that end.. I think the only ebooks I've bought belong to you at the moment.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

Okay they're having kinky sex that's nice..WHO ARE THEY?

I hate this too! I'm like "Right. They're sleeping together. And I should care why?" It's even worse when the authors get the names of their own characters mixed up. Which seems to happen a lot in Torque Press stories. It would be hysterical if it wasn't so sad.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

It's rather depressing that of all the eporn presses out there, torquere is the only one I hear mocked time and again. I feel kind bad sometimes, but they dig their own grave.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

They all have their major lemons. It's just that Torque is notable for their lemons being because they're oversexed. I've read some major duds from Loose and Samhain. (I've been underwhelmed by the last few I've bought from each publisher.) But those are more where the story just failed all together (the kink, the plot, the characterization all just kind of totally fell flat...it's more generalized when they're bad. But yes, that can be just as bad if not worse at times than Torquere), not just specifically because every other scene was porny.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

I've been more disappointed than usual, lately. I dunno, I guess my choices are even worse than usual. I was happy to see Lynne's new one was out, b/c her writing isn't the best in the world and she has flaws, but her stories at least have a charm to them, and I like the chars more often than not. I did like Wild Raspberries, over all. It had some eye rolling, and I think I just skipped the sex altogether, but it held together pretty well in the end. Esp. for a torq book.

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

You know, I can't think of a single title from any of those publishers that I've ever wanted to read a second time, which to me means that they don't have any real heart. They're just words that happen to describe sex and a semblance of plot. Whereas with your stories, Tygati's stories, and M's stories, I've definitely read them more than once. (I have read Wolf and Seal possibly thirty times. It is one of my favorite stories ever. <3)

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Wolf and Seal! ^___^

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's one or two, but when I'm wanting to reread something or I'm needing my comfort stories...you guys are hands down the first people I run to for stories. They're just happy, and like you say, there's heart and they hit all the right buttons. ^_^ (And I love LOVE the puns. XD You are the awesome.)

[chilayse.livejournal.com]

I think I once read a story where the writer had an "I" instead of "He" in one or two places...

I didn't need to know which person the writer was pretending to be thanks.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

*LAUGH* Oh, man. Talk about being busted. That's too much self insertion for me, thanks.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

AAAAAAHHHHH! I do believe I would have stopped reading right there. It's bad enough when I figure out a writer's kinks just from what they constantly write. I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE IMAGINING THEMSELVES IN THEIR STORIES.

[chilayse.livejournal.com]

The story certainly didn't have enough going for it that i kept reading beyond that ..that's for certain...

It was funny though. I laughed at it for a few moments before going elsewhere to read.

[hartfully.livejournal.com]

I've actually made the decision to cut back on the amount of smut that I write because it was getting boring to, well. Write. (and I've decided to focus more on YA so, yeah). But really, the thing that irritates me the most is if the book's summary makes it sound like it focuses on the courtship or get-together but in reality it's all about the kinky porn. I mean, what a let-down. :(

(also, btw, I'm watching you on this journal now, since I've basically shut down nanthimus. *g*)

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Heya ^___^ Finally remembered to refriend you.

And yeah, that's the most annoying part. The summaries always make more promises than the stories ever come close to fulfilling. that sort of false advertising always pisses me the fuck off.

And yeah, smut gets boring to write fast. There's only so many ways you can do it before it's lather, rinse, repeat.

[hartfully.livejournal.com]

And I'm such a romantic, you know? A cheek stroke and meaningful eye contact (obviously written better than what I just wrote) can do more for me than full-on porn. *heeee, girly!*

[mailechan.livejournal.com]

*nods* Yup. But then again, plot apparently is this rare creature that needs to be hunted down, shot, mangled, cut up as small as possible and divvied up into as many stories as you can make out of one of these poor creatures.

Most writers don't understand that plot should be allowed to grow and flourish, and that a good one per book is how it should be.

By the way, we should talk about Darkover. Eeeee! I get an M!

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Darkover! Darkover! I was going to say the same thing in comment reply ^____^ Crap, I don't remember which days I took off. That whole weekend, but I don't recall which weekdays. I'll check on tuesday, then either call or email you?

[mailechan.livejournal.com]

Coolness! Eeeeee! Eeeeee!

Yeah, let me know. I usually go up to the hotel on Wednesday, but Jerry (my housemate) goes up Thanksgiving day, late. She has a nummy dinner at our house. You can choose which one you want to do.

[dameange.livejournal.com]

just wanted to say AMEN.