alisonjanetbrown

Fantastic Regency Fantasy – Shades of Milk and Honey

This week, Shades of Milk and Honey is:
• A brilliant blend of subtle magic and historical fiction
• Exactly the kind of gentle romance I like
• Making me want some strawberries

Is unsolicited advice always criticism?

This week:
• I focus on the word ‘unsolicited’
• I have grown up with this
• I suggest a way to make sure your advice is solicited

What ‘women’s intuition’ really means

This week:
• The phrase ‘a woman’s intuition’ is used to cover a multitude of sins
• Reading the tone of the room is a skill
• Women develop this skill as a survival instinct

Three Twins at the Crater School Review

This week:
• I love school stories
• How many twins are there, exactly?
• This book has weird, fascinating worldbuilding

Choosing your genre as a reader

This week, defining your genre as a reader:
• Means you know yourself well
• Can close you off from finding other things you love
• Will help you avoid things that annoy or trigger you

Legends & Lattes: what is cosy fantasy? Or, how to make yourself hungry by reading descriptions of cake

This week:
• I try to nail down what cosy fantasy is
• Travis Baldree becomes a one-click author for me
• The mouth-watering descriptions of pastries made me hungry

Rainbringer: passive heroine, active heroine

This week, Rainbringer:
• Has two strong heroines
• Subverted my expectations
• Totally blew me away

Writing female secondary characters: why it’s important and how to do it

This week, secondary characters:
• Are most likely to default to male
• Are important representation
• Demonstrate the values of your society (and your writing)

Robert Muchamore nails writing female secondary characters, woop!

This week:
• Robin Hood is a 12-year-old boy who must survive alone in Sherwood Forest when his father is falsely accused of theft
• Women going about their business and doing their jobs in books is unusual
• Robert Muchamore writes great secondary characters who reflect reality

Secondary Characters, Narrative and Comedy – Review of Redshirts by John Scalzi

This week, Redshirts is:
• A fun romp through the Universal Union
• Sneakily asking ethical questions
• Much more meta than I anticipated