Talking Vampires...Again

What do you want out of your vampire? Silly question? I want to know. I've been investigating vampires again and wanted to know: What do you really want out of your vampire? What turns you off about a vampire? What is a must for a vampire?
You're probably thinking, Slayer's off her rocker again. Nope. Just reading more reviews.

The reviews aren't even for my work. Nope. I go looking for the next good book to read and check out the reviews. I walk away wondering if the book is really that good/bad and how two reviewers read the same book but have such diverging thoughts.

So about those vampires...Scary? Bloodthirsty? Killing all humans? My thoughts are, if the vampire in that particular author's world is destructive and scary sexy, the kind that's out to rule the world without taking humans as pleasure objects...great. Keep that world that way throughout the story. More power to you. Purists don't want vampires that sparkle, wink, make eyes at a female for another other reason than to destroy her in order to get her blood. Wonderful. Not my thing, but whatever works.

But what if the author stays true to the world they've created, but the vampire does something that's not typical. I'm pretty sure Dracula never sparkled. And yet, this practice of sparkling has created such a heated debate there are denziens of teen girls who think all vampires do nothing but. I cite the reviews of Dracula on Goodreads where the individuals are totally shocked that ole Drackie came first and doesn't shimmer.

Is there a tried and true this is the ONLY thing that vampires can do manuscript out there? If there is, I haven't seen it. Is it possible that one can be totally turned off by a vampire that does something out of the norm? Sure. I'm not one for guys who don't shave their bodies. Sorry, not big into hairy men. I figure it this way, if the vampire does something, say eat food, as long as the author has explained why - survival of the fittest and fitting in to do just that - then go for it. As long as it stays logical for the character and the world, who am I to say that the vampire is written wrong?

Or am *I* the one who is totally off my rocker? I'd love to know. Come on and chatter with me. Pros, cons... I'm all ears.

Friday Fun With Megan - When You Say Short, You Mean How Short?

I've been thinkng a lot about reviews. And the lengths of stories. I'm noticing a lot of short stories on Amazon, AllRomance ebooks, and publisher sites. I write mostly short stories. So short stories fascinate me. I've also got a short attention span. Like the attention span of a gnat. Why? I have children and well, you get distracted.

But my thoughts about short stories are heading in the direction of reviews. I love to write quick reviews of books. Why? Because I liked the book. I want to tell everyone about it. There are some books that just don't shake me. Shrug. It happens. Do I review them? Sometimes and sometimes not. I'll review it and post the review if the book was interesting, but not really my cuppa. I probably won't post the review or take the time to write one if I just plain wanted to toss it against the wall.

Why? I've got a mentality of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Momma taught me to keep it quiet if I didn't like something I can't change. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

What I'm seeing as a trend with short story reviews... I've wanted to talk about this for a while. I'm seeing a lot of, this book was too short and I didn't like it short, type of comments. Now I don't mind if the reader wants a longer book. It's like Almond Joy and Mounds. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Fine.

But why mark it down because you wanted to spend more time with the characters? I call that the mark of a good book. It must've drawn me in and made me think about the characters after I closed the book. If I dream about the characters, then yes, it's a book worthy of review. I'd mention that I was totally engaged with the characters and wanted to know what happened afterwards, before, whatever and hint, hint to the author, I'd like another book with them in it.

Then there's the complaint that there's not enough story to it and it's too expensive. Um. Most sites place the length, file size, page length and word count on the buying page. Most authors don't set the price of the books, especially when with a publisher. It doesn't seem right to knock down a rating because the book was too expensive.

Does the length of the book turn you off before you get a chance to read it? Does the length affect your rating? And are you willing to overlook the length if the characters draw you in? I'd love to know.