Hit List promo video

[naeko.livejournal.com]

More important to get home than to save the day? That's a terrible concept for a main character.

"What? Save the day? Nah. I''d rather just get home; staying might risk my life!"

No one should be writing books about a character who just wants to "get milk and go home." Books about characters who are not working toward something interesting end up being not interesting. This video doesn't say, "My book is going to be fun and exciting!" It says, "My main character has turned into a rather selfish coward."

Comments

[queenmeow.livejournal.com]

As of last night the first chapter isn't up at Amazon. I don't know about anyone else, but to me it's like a movie not being screened for critics beforehand. I know the author put the first chapter up on her website but was that really a sample of the final product? I cancelled my preorder of Hit List since all signs point to it being really bad.

[magdalen77.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that first chapter will be exactly as posted (except maybe with better formatting). For the last 4 books what she posted as the first chapter was the first chapter of the published book, misspellings and all. I don't remember any further back.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

Taken literally, yes it will make for a very boring character. But I think this is a case of LKH being in love with a pet phrase that doesn't quite say what she means it to say: in this case, if Anita continues to try to save/change the world, she'll burn out. She can't save everyone, she can't change everyone for the better. Now she's shifted priorities being able to survive, to go home to be with the people she cares about and have some kind of life. Which, imo, fits with how she's surrounded herself with so many preternatural and/or professionals of some kind -- the Harlequin, nearly all the wererats are gang or paramillitary, Olaf and Edward are assassins, etc -- that they can save themselves/Anita does not have to rush off to rescue her woobies and her home life has gone from non-existent to confusing to OMGSOPERFECT. And I get that change in mentality, but I can't start cheering that there's finally some character development, that Anita's sorted though the shit in her life and decided on what she wants and how to go about it, just because of how LKH goes about portraying this. This could be awesome in the hands of another writer, just...not LKH. Seriously, she needs to hire a ghostwriter that can translate her rambling mess into a decent story.

This, of course, turned into the usual complaining we do :/

[naeko.livejournal.com]

The problem (one of many; I'll pick just this one for now) is that Anita is based around saving, if not the entire world, then at least the people she's called in to save. Anita doesn't do that, anymore. She is not the character she started as and this is part of why so many people (you know this, but for form, I'll finish) are angry.

LKH created a character designed to do one thing, and has now decided that character is not doing anything even remotely close to that one thing- well, two things. She's not a mystery solver; she's not a zombie raiser. What the fuck is the point of writing these books anymore, when Anita is NOTHING LIKE how she originally was? The only shred of original characterization she possesses is her unnecessarily dickish attitude. The rest is gone. To say, "These books are now about Anita buying milk and going home," is basically saying, "These books are nothing like the ones I originally drew you in with. HA! GOTCHA! Now read this sappy, poorly written bullshit."

I don't understand why anyone would stand for that. Yes, it's a personal preference, but I don't give a shit about boring characters who do nothing extraordinary. I don't watch my neighbors (or even get to know anything about them) because they are probably boring. Why the fuck would I want to spend $8- $25 reading about Anita now that she's just as boring as my neighbors?

Also, did you see Jon (her husband, Jon)'s tweet about how his MOTHER was a photographer, and how that should somehow explain his skills? *snorfle*

Re: This, of course, turned into the usual complaining we do :/

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I totally agree, which is why I'm saying that with another writer this could have been an interesting and engaging character development. LKH, not so much.

I did! I'm sorry to say that Jon is probably wrong and that it's all down to the iPhone camera being made of awesome than any of his mad skills. Catching 4/10 photos with flying brass is not that hard when you've got a decent camera.

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Unlike real policemen, Anita and Edward are called in AFTER the crime has occurred!

[magdalen77.livejournal.com]

'Cause, you know, real policemen are like Miss Cleo and they show up before a crime has happened. LKH must have written her own script.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

"The serial killers are killing weretigers across the country. They're just moving across the country ...kill them one by one."

It's nice to see even her non-written declarations don't get edited into clarity and coherence.

Also, good choice of music. Slow, gentle, kind of a meandering, sleepy feel to it...certainly fits the reality of her latest books far better than it fits RANDOM GRITTY URBAN IMAGES and the supposed plot about Anita being on the hit list.

[the-mome-wrath.livejournal.com]

I like how in the video she had to get in a little comment in about her research.

This might be because I stopped reading at DM, but why would Anita be on the hit list if the serial killer is going after weretigers? I thought Anita didn't actually transform into any of her beasts. Trying to kill her because she's in the way or some other nefarious reason I could understand but because she has a tiger in her that she doesn't transform into? Doesn't make sense. How would they even know about that anyway?

[magdalen77.livejournal.com]

Some how, without being able to transform she's queen of all colors of tiger. It's not really explained, but that's why the technicolor tigers are attracted to her. Because Anita can't just have ordinary weretiger strain is her she has to have every color even the most rare (I think that's gold). It's just a mess of rampant Sueism.

[staringiscaring.livejournal.com]

The cover is so awkward.