An Invitation and a Heads-up.

Greetings readers/writers/reviewers.

I wanted to drop a quick note to reassure everyone that we are indeed still at it here at Odyssey Reviews. One of our reviewers is down for the count, and we siblings have been preoccupied with some private family matters that have just begun to settle down, so we will be reading furiously to catch up. We ask the submitting authors who haven't received any reply from us to allow us some more patience at this time--we have been waylaid by at least a week and a half by impromptu flights across the country.

In the meantime, I've set up a "Reviewer Ring' (see below) and I invite my fellow review sites to please submit their site(s) to the ring. I've spent some time following the footsteps of some of our authors, and direct-linked some of the review sites I found on my hunt, but I would like to see those in the web-ring as well. It will help the authors to find us better.

A new review is coming soon; maybe two plus an interview with a book-cover designer. Thank you.

Note to Submitting Authors

Odyssey Reviews is not going to be accepting further submissions until we have worked through the majority of our current pending reviews. You may submit your work to our site following the usual guidelines, however you will not receive an answer for up to a week or more. If you have any questions, feel free to submit those to our submission email, and those we can answer immediately.

Thank you for your patience.

John Lawson; "Witch Ember"

Author John Lawson brings us “Witch Ember”; a gritty, dark fantasy set in a creatively crafted world where people are born with tiny shards or ‘embers’ which lend them magical powers. Esmeree, the primary character is born with a large piece of this ember, and unknowingly possesses tremendous powers; however she is also unfortunately an orphaned child of ‘the Mill’ where she grows up knowing only the horrors of prostitution, drugs and violence. Her role models are an assortment of unsavory adults, with only one or two creditable souls to help her survive. She is also surrounded by a collection of youths who are also part of this dismal, dirty world. Her greatest aspiration is to become a more refined, personal prostitute/concubine for the city’s richest; it is her sheltered view of the world and her ignorance of her own power and potential that makes her ambition so limited. You watch her grow, and with it, her world as well. It starts focused on the mill and its scurrying, grimy inhabitants and broadens slowly as the story goes along. You learn as Esmeree learns.

You will find that Esmeree is a plucky character, and she successfully carries the reader through this very thick novel as she overcomes each terrible experience, and slowly begins to discover who she is, where she must go, and the extent of her ‘ember’s power’. She is thoroughly likable, and despite how casually she perceives the trauma of her daily life, she has an honourable sort of soul, and she makes others around her better as well.

The author did a commendable job showing Esmeree's personal growth, and wrote a believable world imbued with the same political and faith-based upheavals as our own. The detail in this book is broad and you can get lost in it occasionally. It is a dark, coarse sort of book, I will not fail to mention that. The sexual content is explicit and without sugar-coating, and the violence is graphic and vivid. Those of you that are squeamish may not care for the content of Witch Ember.

As a reviewer, I do have some criticisms of this unusually tidy, well-put together novel. The author obviously enjoyed interspersing his many invented words into the book. He definitely took his time to create a world complete with its own dialects and slang. You can’t miss these words; they are all italicized and infused with a přöfůsĭŏn of šỳmboŀś to make them appear exotic. Frankly, as a reader, all it did was make it distracting. This was really unnecessary and it does nothing for the flow of the book when you constantly have to stop, flip through the index, find the word and its meaning, and then find where you left off. And doing it again and again (for it is a sizable index) really just made me want to put the book down and go read something less arduous, like War and Peace. It nearly ruined the book for me, and that is a lot considering that this is a really good book. I think the language was overdone, and unnecessary for a story that can carry itself perfectly well without it.

This is definitely the neat, seamless work of a technical writer. I usually tend to look for errors and such when reading, as do the other reviewers here at Odyssey, and despite the symbols and the distracting language, I could find little to pick apart when it came to the quality of the writing, the cleanliness of the manuscript, and the author’s ability to keep you riveted even through the slow bits and the index references.

I have to give Witch Ember five medallions. ONLY because I think it’s a notable work of self-published writing, BUT if I were feeling less generous, I’d take a half or whole medallion away just for the time I had to spend looking up words.

Paperback: 489 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica (May 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591290384
ISBN-13: 978-1591290384

Ten Questions for an Editor:

Odyssey Reviews caught up with editor William Greenleaf. We asked him ten questions:

Odyssey Reviews: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background, and what compelled you to become an editor.
William: My career as an editor evolved from my career as a novelist. My first novel was published in 1980. When I started writing full time in 1987, I also began helping other writers through workshops. I discovered that I loved helping new writers break into print. I can think of nothing in life more satisfying than helping another writer bring out the best in his or her manuscript.

Odyssey Reviews: What type of book do you enjoy working with most?
William: I work primarily with novels (all genres) and story-oriented nonfiction such as memoirs and autobiographies.

Odyssey Reviews: What are the most common mistakes you find in the manuscripts you edit?
William: Many newer writers fail to employ writing techniques that pull the reader into the story and maintain a sense of anticipation. If the reader doesn’t care what happens next, he or she won’t keep turning pages. So I would have to say that the most common problem is lack of sufficient development in the central conflict. Viewpoint errors are also very common. Newer writers will be more successful at writing vivid, compelling scenes if they stick to the viewpoint of one character through each scene. When it comes to mechanics (grammar, punctuation, etc.), the most common error is in paragraph structure. Paragraph breaks can become dramatic spotlights when handled correctly. A good editor can often turn a confusing manuscript into a gripping story simply by combining and splitting paragraphs at the right points. Of course, a good editor must also fix other common mechanical problems such as misplaced commas, capitalization errors, and the overuse of passive voice.

Odyssey Reviews: In your opinion, what are the worst mistakes an author can make with a manuscript?
William: The worst mistakes are: 1) failing to spend enough time with the manuscript to make it as good as it can be, and 2) sending it to the publisher before it’s ready. If your story deserves to be told, it deserves to be told well so it will hold the reader’s interest from first page to last.

Odyssey Reviews: In your opinion, what are the most important qualities of a good, marketable manuscript?
William: It must appeal to a wide audience of readers, it must respect the reader’s intelligence by living up to the promises made in the cover blurbs, and it must build and maintain a sense of anticipation in the reader.

Odyssey Reviews: What is the oddest editing experience you’ve ever had?
William: I was once given the task of turning an academic treatise on chaos theory into a romance novel. It turned out to be easier than it sounds, and it launched my client’s novel writing career, which is still going strong.

Odyssey Reviews: What is the best way for an author to choose an editor?
William: Find an editor who has genuine credentials such as verifiable writing success and membership in professional organizations like the Authors Guild. Have a heart-to-heart talk with the editor and make sure he or she has a real interest in your book and feels positive about it. Make sure your editor is easily reachable via email and telephone.

Odyssey Reviews: Having a manuscript edited can be an expensive endeavor for some authors. Do you have any advice for authors on how to keep the cost down?
William: First of all, don’t spend money for something you don’t need. If you’ve decided to use a specific editor, look closely at the various literary services offered by the editor. After the editor has read your manuscript, ask for his or her advice about which services would be of most benefit for you. When I evaluate a manuscript, one of my goals is to determine how I can be of most help to my client. If the client is on a limited budget, then my decision becomes: How can I best serve this author within that budget?

If you can’t afford to hire a professional editor, take stock of your circle of friends and family members. Getting feedback from several avid readers can help, though it’s often difficult for friends and relatives to be objective. You may want to consider checking with your local college or university. Graduate students often moonlight as editors. If you do this, don’t assume that the person is qualified just because he or she is a graduate student in English or literature. Ask to see samples of the editor’s work. If you’ve written a novel, don’t hire someone who hasn’t had experience with novels. If you’ve written your memoirs, make sure the editor has experience with memoirs or autobiographies. In other words, no matter how much you spend, make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.

Odyssey Reviews: What are the three most misused words you've noticed in your editing work?
William: Alright (not yet accepted, should be all right), misusing to and too, and misusing there and their.

Odyssey Reviews: Do you have any other special tips, anecdotes or advice for first time authors?
William: Take time to learn about the book publishing business. If you decide to self-publish your book, consider your options. Should you go with a print-on-demand publisher, or a traditional publisher? Will you retain the rights to your book? Be aware that printing your book is the easy part; selling it is quite another matter. What will the publisher do to promote your book? Does the publisher have a solid (and verifiable) track record for book sales? Take time to educate yourself before you sign on the dotted line.

Thank you Mr. Greenleaf; your insights are extremely valuable.

Here is William's website: http://www.williamgreenleaf.com/
Greenleaf Literary Services: http://greenleafliteraryservices.com/
Contact information:
William Greenleaf
2717 La Luz Circle NE
Rio Rancho, NM 87144

Phone: 505-796-6895

Email: william@wgreenleaf.com

Our next interview: A book cover designer.