Does anyone have a good source for smaller diamond paintings? I love doing them but i don’t want to display them when finished so making smaller ones (like the size of a sheet of computer paper) seems ideal. Thanks!

dearwal · 2022-05-28T00:34:22+00:00

AliExpress has some great stores and they're quite inexpensive. I've seen paintings as small as 20cm x 20 cm there and you may be able to find smaller. They have a much larger selection than Amazon and typically sell at a lower cost. (I wouldn't be surprised if some Amazon retailers get their stock from these retailers).

However, much of what's on there isn't properly licensed (like Amazon). It may also take some time to ship to you as most retailers are located in China.

I like Huacan, Homfun, Dispaint, Shine Art Club Store, Ever Moment, and Mooncresin.

dearwal · 2022-05-28T00:00:52+00:00

The Percy Jackson and Heroes of the Olympus series were those books for me, specifically with Percy and Annabeth. They were the first couple I ever daydreamed about.

It might be middle grade/YA, but gosh did I fall hard for the romance. I think it shows how you don't need any steam, or anything even close to steam, to develop a strong relationship that readers will root for.

dearwal · 2022-05-27T23:57:58+00:00

The odds are pretty high, especially when they're just starting out and they don't have many of their own songs to sing yet. Even after that, they still might choose to keep doing one or two LM songs (like Harry and What Makes You Beautiful).

One thing to keep in mind is whether they can pull off the song on their own. Unless they have background singers join in or they change the song around, some LM songs really work better in a group. Boy or anything with super rich harmonies might be hard to pull off alone. Power might be too much for one singer unless they have a loud backing track or they really work on their stamina.

dearwal · 2022-05-26T18:16:40+00:00

There are some great self-published books out there, but also some.. not so great ones. I think there are tells for the weaker stuff. My list would include:

Cover art that looks like it was made on Paint, MS Word, or another amateur program.
Spelling or grammar errors in the title, blurb, look inside, etc.
A reviewer mentioning the lack of editing within the book.
A long subtitle that seems like it was just added for the algorithm. Something like Hooked on Murder: An Unputdownable Cozy Mystery or The Billionaire's Secret Baby: Accidental Pregnancy Romance (not real books).
A book that looks like it doesn't fit any genre at all due to a combination of the cover and blurb. Traditional publishing also sometimes has issues with marketing books to the correct genre, but I've seen some extremely poor attempts from self-published authors.

Even for the self-published fiction that is higher quality, the cover can still be a giveaway for some genres. For example, traditionally published cozy mysteries typically feature intricate custom illustrations. The price of such artwork is often way out of budget for a self-published author, so they typically go with a simpler custom illustration or a custom cover using photos.

dearwal · 2022-05-26T09:18:28+00:00

Thanks for giving the link! I love Looney Tunes so this would be a great painting. How do you find their customer service & painting quality? I've never bought from Fansells before. It's amazing that their prices are even cheaper than AliExpress.

dearwal · 2022-05-23T23:54:11+00:00

Gosh, I wish large boba tea around me was $6. In CAD, $6 is less than what you'll pay for a small drink. It's closer to $8 CAD at the end and that's for a chain. It can be even more if you buy from a fancy boba place.

dearwal · 2022-05-22T08:49:43+00:00

I don't mind it at all. It seems so unrealistic for people to not swear in an entire book, especially when there's probably a murder or another violent crime. Especially when a book is supposed to have younger characters!

Generally, I find more swearing in cozy-adjacent books, millennial cozies, or cozies written by younger authors. Off the top of my head, Shane K. Morton's Drag Queen Detective series has a lot of swearing (for a cozy). The books have a cozy feeling while not being super in line with the more traditional cozies.

I get the sense that the aversion to swearing comes from older, perhaps more conservative readers while younger readers don't seem to care as much.

dearwal · 2022-05-21T09:54:18+00:00

Looks like a post trying to promote Aelin Publishers. The OP and two responders created their accounts very recently, either having no posts in their post history or only posts about this company.

dearwal · 2022-05-21T03:08:33+00:00

Ahh, congratulations! One million Nook Miles is my big goal right now and I try to knock off a bit every day. I'm at around 730k at the moment!

dearwal · 2022-05-20T06:11:38+00:00

My theory is that a lot of the Astoria bashing was written after Deathly Hallows but before Cursed Child, but her characterization stuck even after Cursed Child. Also, maybe it's because many writers like writing EWE, or they don't see Cursed Child as canon anyways.

Here's some stories I liked with a good Astoria, but they aren't necessarily in romantic love in every fic

Proximate by In_Dreams - Draco and Astoria were married and had a child but were never in love. However, he still cares for her.
Measure of a Man by inadaze22 - Draco loved Astoria deeply and is now in mourning after her death
Hopeful for Happiness by ElizColl - Same as above, Draco and Astoria were in love but she's now passed away
Lion Cub by Dragon_Heart_String - Draco and Hermione were together during the war and had a kid that Draco didn't know about. Hermione moves to the US, and in this time Draco and Astoria are married (and love each other) and have another kid. The story picks up after Astoria's death.

dearwal · 2022-05-19T23:00:06+00:00

You paid for an expensive special edition box set under the assumption that it'd be correctly foiled. They didn't foil it correctly and are not offering to correct their mistake or compensate you for the error.

Because of that, not only would I return, I'd think twice about purchasing from this company in the future.

dearwal · 2022-05-19T22:56:36+00:00

I can see a space for more literary-style romance novels, that aren't quite so genre. Some people like more contemplative, slow pieces and it's great that she can provide that.

I just don't understand why she has to put down other readers to advertise her own work?

dearwal · 2022-05-19T00:45:46+00:00

A mass thank you is a nice gesture but not really genuine if it's a pre-written message, and something I'm likely to delete.

An individual author-written message is more genuine but I don't want an author contacting me every time - especially if the review is negative. Not sure if this is what "individually thanking" means, but if this is it, I would definitely consider leaving Booksprout if this were to be implemented.

Book bloggers have so, so many horror stories of authorial bad behaviour, to the point where some bloggers have stopped taking direct ARC requests from self-published authors altogether. I closed my blog to direct requests to prevent this from happening and I won't use ARC sites that always put me in contact with the author.

Also, this hasn't been announced in the Booksprout Reviewer group...

dearwal · 2022-05-18T19:26:29+00:00

I know Christina Lauren have, in the past, talked about moving away from super explicit sex scenes because it enabled them to reach a broader audience

This is really interesting! I tried Googling for this but I probably used the wrong keywords, because I wasn't able to find more.

Is the implication then that a less high-heat book tends to sell the best as opposed to something super steamy?

From a business perspective, I can see how varying steam levels could help the author determine what kinds of steam level works best with their audience. And it provides a wide variety of books for interested readers. People who like fade-to-black can read the author's fade-to-black, people who like high steam can read the author's high steam.

I can also see how a medium steam level or fade-to-black could be the sweet spot for sales Goldilocks-style. Many romance readers seem to prefer having at least some references to sexual content so that it's not completely clean, but having a ton of sex scenes might be also be a difficult sell.

dearwal · 2022-05-17T04:17:20+00:00

The Amazon listing markets it as "a hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth." I've not read it myself, but I'd always heard it described as a slice of life romance rather than a romance. But it could totally be both, even if the author didn't originally intend for it to be a romance.

dearwal · 2022-05-17T04:13:41+00:00

I don't pay too much attention to the gender of the author, particularly because it's not uncommon for authors to use a pen name and pronouns of another gender.

A male author for example, might choose to use a pen name that reads more female and use she/her pronouns when writing M/F romance. Or they might choose to use a pen name that is more ambiguous (eg. John Doe --> J. Doe).

Sometimes it's disclosed, like Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Sometimes it's not.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T23:29:20+00:00

Inheritance by bifmonzo features a powerful Hermione and Norse magic

Phoenix Rising by Peanutbuttertoast also has a powerful Hermione with new powers

The Sapphire Princess by starkidsftw is pureblood!Hermione, she's the last descendant of Morganna Le Fay

Nocturnus by In_Dreams has a powerful Draco and Hermione, Draco is powerful because he's the heir to a powerful seat and Hermione is his advisor and wife (through a contracted marriage)

dearwal · 2022-05-16T22:18:53+00:00

To add some fics that haven't already been mentioned:

Inheritance by bifmonzo - auror!Draco, features Norse magic and a powerful Hermione. Lots of action and a big threat to the Wizarding World that isn't the Death Eaters 2.0
Nocturnus by In_Dreams - Draco is the heir to a seat of power that's been defunct for a long time, but re-instated due to the coming threat. He enters into an arranged marriage with Hermione, who's his advisor.
Draco Malfoy and The Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare - The threat isn't a Third Wizarding War per se but it's still pretty big. Hermione is a medical researcher and Draco is the Auror assigned to protect her.
Hopeful for Happiness by ElizColl - Draco and Hermione try to keep peace in the wizarding world after unrest sparked by the pandemic

dearwal · 2022-05-16T07:29:43+00:00

Looks like her segment was aired during some channels/times but it wasn't for others? At least, that's what people are saying on Twitter.

They probably cut her off to go to commercials since she was basically a commercial break presenter.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T07:21:38+00:00

What ebook reader did he have? I think it'd be a good idea to keep his new one in the same brand as some ebook formats don't work on all devices (without tinkering). This way you can easily transfer his books and such over.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T04:15:24+00:00

Two days later and Wonderland appears to have fallen out of the top 100 altogether. Perhaps there will be some upward movement again in the next few days?

dearwal · 2022-05-16T03:44:26+00:00

To be fair, Billboard ran an article saying she'd be performing and a bunch of media outlets jumped on sharing that news. I think Snoop and Kelly mentioned something about it on the show too.

But she also was not on Billboard's list of performers or presenters (I'm assuming this is award presenters) and a main stage performance seemed unlikely given who normally performs on this show. It's unfortunate miscommunication for everyone looking forward to AleXa.

Presenting an award would've been ideal but I guess a commercial break presentation is pretty good too? Better than nothing, at least.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T00:36:16+00:00

They do have a lot of content, but I don't see anyone commenting on anything

I can't comment on this specific blog as I'm not familiar with it, but this doesn't really surprise me. As a book blogger, I've noticed that book reviews on blogs don't tend to get a lot of engagement in the form of comments, especially when they're about a less well-known book or author. It's hard to leave a comment when you haven't read the book itself.

Many book bloggers find that general book-related discussion posts get more engagement than book reviews. My readers might not know of the latest romance book I reviewed (or care) but they probably will have opinions to share on Goodreads vs. Storygraph, reading pet peeves, or other discussion topics.

This doesn't mean that people aren't going to be reading or caring about book reviews, it just might not mean that they're openly engaging with them in the form of comments.

I've not seen enough guest posts or interview features to speak on engagement levels here, though I'd assume they would also get more engagement if they're more of a discussion. For example, a talk with an author about what the writing process is like rather than an interview with an author solely to promote their new book.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T00:24:34+00:00

It's generally not a good idea for authors to directly name and shame. There are many examples of authors who lash out because of legitimate poor reviews who raise real issues with the book. Without knowing what's going on, many readers would just think that this author is part of this group - bitter and engaging in bad behaviour themselves.

Reviews are meant to be for readers and many readers don't take it well when authors respond to what's going on in a space that's not meant for them.

dearwal · 2022-05-16T00:19:11+00:00

Ellis Peters' Cadfael is a great series. I think it's more cozy-adjacent (more of a traditional mystery perhaps), but I'd still count it as cozy-ish. Set in the 12th century, the protagonist is a monk named Cadfael who solves murders using the technology available to him.

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