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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Goldilocks by Patria L Dunn

I just finished reviewing this one for Minding Spot.  Though it isn't posted yet, I'll try to post the link here so you can go read it, if you have the inclination.  I just wanted to take a few minutes to discuss it here, though.

Editing.  I can't stress it enough.  If someone is taking the time to read your book, then they most likely read as a hobby or more.  Which  means, they're going to get stopped and be annoyed by a lack of editing.  Imagine if you will, you're watching your favorite movie.  It's just getting to your favorite part.  All of a sudden, Waldo pops up and fills your screen with his brightly red and white striped attire!  He goes away after a second and your movie resumes.  You can't just jump back into where you were in your movie.  Now you're thrown off into Waldoland and trying to figure out what on earth he's doing there.  As a reader, this is a huge turn off.  I understand that many Indie authors cannot afford editing.  No worries.  Have someone actually read through it.  Spell check and grammar check are not enough.  Actually reading the book, you'll come across errors that will put a quick halt in the enjoyment of the reading process.

Note regarding my rant above:  This was not aimed at Goldilocks.  I have an advanced reader's copy where editing has not been finished yet.  It was rather what was on my mind after reading a few other 'finished' books that had not been edited and having issues with this one not being edited yet on top of it.  None of the fault in my rant lies with Dunn, but rather this was me venting :)

Trends.  I adore Gregory Maguire.  His book, Wicked, set a new trend of retelling favorite old stories in a new and fascinating way.  As for Goldilocks, we've all read the story.  Not a reader, well you've at least heard the story.  A little girl named Goldilocks gets lost and walks into the house of the Three Bears.  We have Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear.  What Dunn has done here with the retelling of Goldilocks I actually quite enjoyed.  There were several minor changes I would have liked to have seen, but it was still pretty great.

In this one, Baby Bear and Goldilocks are both teenagers.  Of course, that makes for some romantic possibilities as well as the wonderful drama of the teenage world. Not only that, Baby Bear isn't just a bear, he's a shifter.  But I'm sure you already figured that out.  Not only that, but he's a shifter with a PURPOSE.  This, of course, makes everything even more complicated.

If you're like me and enjoy the darker version of beloved children's tales, you should really enjoy this one.  Be prepared for the editing and you should be fine.  Also, anyone who reads Goldilocks on ebook, Dunn has made a deal for you.  If you read and review Goldilocks honestly on Amazon, and then email her (address provided on the last page of Goldilocks), she'll let you have one of her other ebooks free!  Honestly, a few of them sound pretty inviting to me!

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