I didn't finish three series that I began recently. Each had unique reasons why I won't be reading beyond book 1, and I thought it could be interesting to lay out the reasons and analyze them so any writers (and I) don't make the same mistakes.
As always with DNF (did not finish) posts, I won't be sharing the exact books. I'd rather learn from the experience than shame an author or argue with fans.

Series 1
This series is critically acclaimed and award winning. I've enjoyed other books by the same author. In fact, this book was well written overall, and I totally understood the hype. The problem is that it was so grim dark, I'm talking war crimes on the page, that I couldn't handle any more of it. I'm currently reading to escape the horrors of reality, and this was simply too heavy for me to enjoy the escape. In the author's defense, this series came out over a decade ago, and if I'd read it then I might have had a very different experience. This author couldn't have predicted this problem, so the main reason I DNFed can't be avoided.

However, there's a second, more minor problem to highlight. The book opened with a very familiar situation: a teen girl who has some sort of disadvantage (financial, physical) gets into a war college where students sometimes kill each other for an edge. Sound familiar? I can name a lot of books with that opening right now. This author wrote it before the current best sellers existed, so it might have been a more unique opening at the time.

One lesson I can take away as a writer is if you're going to do a common trope or pattern, then do something very unique and unexpected with it. And also sometimes the world isn't in the right moment for your book, and that's not a reflection of your book's quality.


Series 2
This series is popular online, which is why I picked up the first book. Within a few chapters, I flipped to the acknowledgements section to see if it was professionally edited or not. This book was messy on the inside, grammatically speaking. There were entire sections where I couldn't follow who owned the dialog because of the lack of proper paragraph breaks. On top of that, the book had my least favorite trope of all time: a POV character knew something key to the mystery all along and just never thought about it. The ending was predictable, the main structural gimmick that moves the story forward is overdone, and the romance felt forced. I couldn't think of a single reason to continue reading the series.

Lessons I can take away as a writer include: find a good editor, dig deeper for more creative choices than what comes to you first, put twists on popular gimmicks or find a new way to move your story forward, and give your characters a reason to fall in love that goes beyond how hot they are.


Series 3
This series is also popular online, and one of my friends recommended it so I feel really bad not finishing. In fact, I didn't finish the first book. When I avoid a book and instead opt to do work for my job after hours instead, you know it's not the right book or series for me. The first problem was that the main character was in a psychologically abusive relationship upfront, which tends to be a no-go for me. I felt a trickle of a her desire for revenge though, so I stayed with it. Then near the end of Act 1, a new POV was introduced which had about a thirty page info dump. At one point, the info dump flashback had a flashback within it. At the start of Act 2, the two main characters meet and the personality of the female character was so wildly different in the man's POV that I wasn't convinced she was the same person. I know this book was meant to be enemies to lovers, but the main guy wasn't redeemable at all to me, and even though the main woman found him hot (a little too thirsty in her POV, to be honest) I just didn't get the chemistry.

Lessons I can take away as a writer include: don't do info dumps, especially don't do info dumps within info dumps, and keep characters' external personalities consistent. If she banters when she fights in her POV, then she should banter when she fights in his POV too. And finally, if you're writing a romance of any kind, there has to be chemistry, just a little hope, even if it's enemies to lovers. But, there are also elements some readers will never like, and that can't be helped. So as a writer just remember that not every book is for every reader, just like not every flavor of ice cream is for every person. And that's okay!


That's my DNF journey recently. I think I'll be switching genres for a palate cleanser to make sure I'm not just sick of enemies to lovers in dark fantasy settings. Have you DNFed a series after book one? What lessons were you able to take away as a writer? Let's discuss in the comments!

I have several non-fiction books I've used as resources lately. Enjoy these mini reviews!

Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress
This book covers exactly what the title indicates, including offering help if any of those three acts are a problem for you. It emphasizes why each is important, what it must do, and how to transition to the next part. I felt like this book was a bit below my level of writing understanding, because I didn't highlight a single thing in it. However, for newer writers, some of the advice offered may be new to you so for the price ($12.99 for a paperback) it might be worth it.

Mastering Suspense Structure & Plot by Jane K. Cleland
This book won the Agatha Award for best non-fiction, so I bought it from the little indie bookstore that set up at a conference recently. The book is split in two halves: planning and writing. If you're not a plotter, and don't plan to try it, then half the book may not be for you. While what it discussed was interesting, I still didn't highlight anything, which to me is telling. However, if you're new to plotting and want to try out a technique for it, this book may be of great use. It was a little more expensive (the paperback was $18.99) but at least I supported an indie bookstore.

The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
I've talked about the various thesauruses by this pair of writers before, and they never disappoint. This thesaurus helps identify negative traits to give characters, because a perfect character is a boring one, and associates them with causes, behaviors, thoughts, and examples. Some of the causes include emotional wounds, which really helps make a character cohesive. I also liked that it listed both positive and negative aspects of these traits so you can write a character where these flaws are sometimes a strength. It's safe to say I recommend it.

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants by Fez Inkwright
I bought this one at an indie book stand at a Christmas market. The book is gorgeous and the topic is very in line with a new writing project I have. There's a section up front for history and then it's an encyclopedia of plants that are poisonous, associated with magic, or both. Each entry explains why the plant was included as well as interesting facts, and often an image. I left flags all over this book to come back to. If you're writing about these types of plants or are just curious, I highly recommend it. For the hardcover I paid $16.99, and supported and indie bookstore, so it was a win all around.


Have you read any of these books? Which did you find most helpful? Let's discuss in the comments!

Steering the Craft by speculative legend Ursula K. Le Guin is a non-fiction writing craft book complete with exercises. She won so many top awards in the science fiction and fantasy realm that I knew I needed to see what her writing advice entailed. 

Overview
Steering the Craft is a mere 141 pages, but don't let that fool you. The 10 chapters each focuses on an element of writing. The exercises that appear at the end of each section include solo exercises and group exercises, which Le Guin recommended. These often included tasks to break the advice just covered by the chapter, then writing the same thing following the advice, especially if the topic was a bit more obscure.

My Experience
I followed along and did each writing exercise, which is not my usual pattern, since I read on my commute. However, this book I made sure to read at home next to my laptop. I loved the exercises, because writing something that broke the lesson just learned proven the lesson was right. I learn best through failure and this forced failure exercise style really hammered home the information much better than just having me try things correctly. All in all, the book and exercises took me about two days to get through.

Is It Worth It? 
I paid $16.99 for my paperback copy from an indie bookseller at a writing conference. I'd probably be willing to pay more, honestly. This was one of the most useful craft books I've read in ages! I cannot recommend it enough to writers both new and advanced. You may think you know everything in this book, but the exercises alone are golden. This is bound to be a timeless resource!


Have you read Steering the Craft and tried all the exercises? Which was your favorite? Let's discuss in the comments!

The Cartomancer's Curse by Kaitlin Schmidt is part of an indie series called Cards of Passion. It's technically book 7, but each novella stands alone and is written by a separate author. Full disclosure, I met Kaitlin at a writing conference, which is when I heard about the book, but I paid for the book and my opinions are my own.

Meridian is a tarot card reader, although her deck of cards isn't traditional, and her power extends to being able to psychically taste others' desires, from the mundane "I want to go home" vibes to the sexually explicit. To escape the flavor soup of city life, she has a secluded cabin, but when that is broken into, her sense of safety dissolves. Wren was hired to ransack Meridian's cabin, but immediately confesses when she realizes who Meridian is. When Meridian reads cards for Wren, hoping to gain insight into her mysterious desires, the reading goes awry and curses them both. They can only solve the problem together, but all that time spent tempts them to focus less on the curse and more on their desires.

I thought the magic system of the book was really cool. One thing writers always try to do is to involve all five senses. Sight is usually easiest and overused and taste is the hardest to incorporate, since it almost always requires eating, but you can't have characters eat in every scene. So tasting desires is a really cool mechanism to use an under-utilized sense, and the flavors chosen were both specific and unique without getting so exotic that I had to go to the grocery story to find some weird fruit. I also loved the queer-norm aspect of the book. For those not familiar, queer-norm is where a book includes queer relationships which are accepted and treated socially like hetero relationships have been treated in our world--there's no worry the parents won't accept it, no being targeted by hate groups or the government or whatever. It's the true embodiment of the phrase "love is love."

My age old novella complaint shines again: it was too fast. That's just me and novellas. I didn't feel like I spent enough time getting to know why the curse was happening before it was fixed.

This book is for you if you're looking for steamy sapphic romance, a cozy fantasy novella, or a unique magic system/taste-based magic system. I'm wondering if this would be a cool read for someone with synesthesia who tastes a lot of things that others would instead see/hear or a good read for someone who lost their sense of taste (perhaps in 2020?) and wants a book to bring back flavor memories. This book is not for you if you're looking for chaste romance, fantasy on the more epic or lengthy end of the spectrum, or if you dislike enemies to lovers.


Have you read The Cartomancer's Curse? What flavor was never assigned in the book and what do you think it would represent? Let's discuss in the comments!