LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – Review 4: My New-Found Land
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Ann Pino, author, book, book review, diaries, diary, fiction, journal, journaling, lulu, Lulu book, My New-Found Land, novel, POD, print on demand, review, writing
Visit this author at her blog: http://ampfiction2.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your review and comments, Shannon! I’m so excited to have my first review by someone not already acquainted with me or the characters in the story.
This book started as a serial blog. I didn’t intend to make it into a novel, but enough people enjoyed it that I was curious what I would end up with if I cleaned it up and shortened it. The original word count was over 200K and I got it under 123K, which is still high for a novel, but not crazy-long for a spec fiction novel. Those pictures sure raise the page count, but I think they enhance the story and I’m glad you think so, too.
It was a fun story to write. In spite of the rather high body count, it has a lightness and humor that is absent from most of my other dystopian fiction. Certainly I wanted Diana to be tough, resourceful, and able to hold her own in a fight. But I wanted her to be human too, and to aspire to better things. Diana got to see a lot of human nature on her road trip, but I think she found more to laugh about than to despair over.
Thanks for the review and the link! I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next on your list!
I just scoped the preview; boyhow, the book looks fantastic. Well designed (which is sometimes a rarity in POD stuff) and unique. It seems to highlight the sort of niche POD is perfect for; the kind of book that lends itself to somewhat experimental formatting (the use of pictures/”sketches” is, quite simply, brilliant).
I’m definitely going to have to pick me up one of these. Nice job, Ann.