Are you all Wordle'd out yet?

Dunno about you, but I'm still in the first tingly-all-over stage with these things. So much so that I've spent at least two whole days mucking around with them. Here are a few that haven't made it to the cutting room floor yet  - any opinions/preferences?

Adult, Young Adult or both?

One of the amazing comments from the indiePENdent reviewer suggested thar Archer is a book that can be enjoyed by adults and teens alike. The stats from the Helix review certain seem to back this up. As do the following comments from a variety of readers:

Comments about Adult and Teen Readers

“Jacky loves to experience the world through the wondrous eyes of a child where anything can happen, where the fantastic mingles with an emerging reality. She cares about the characters in her book and I think she writes her books FOR the children too, like a gift to them. ... The tempo of Archer pulls me along as if I am flowing down a river upon a strong current. I couldn't jump out of my canoe in the midst of a chapter even if I wanted to.”

 “Although targeting a teen boy audience, this story felt just right for me too, and would be right up the alley for many adults who read classics. This is a well-researched slice of Medieval life and even includes a glossary! I encourage anyone with teens who are interested in Medieval times and legends to pass this on to them.”

“Archer is cool. Your fanbase is leaning more towards the Rick Riordian portion on the great bookshelf of life, but, I read him too. And am quite proud of it. A good book is a good book, no matter what the age range. I love jousting so having it in your story immediately gave you high marks in my book. You made it seem so real and I love the way Finn has a mental connection with his horse.”

“While this reader typically consumes books slowly and methodically, I was taken in by the story and could not put it down, resulting in finishing the book at one sitting. I would recommend this book to any reader who enjoys a well spun tale, with no grammatical issues. I would also recommend this book to any young adult seeking an adventure like none other, or at least like none other that I have read.”

“Archer, the title character, is an orphan with a lot on his mind. This character and many of the others around him are nicely drawn with more detail than I think is typical of books aimed at middle school and high school students. This is all the more reason they should read it. As a parent of two who are now grown and gone, I strongly recommend that parents and teens read the same books and talk about them. This is an ideal book for sharing in this fashion.”

Comments from Adults
“I've read quite a few fantasy books in my life. I've read quite a few Young Adult books as well. Sometimes, straight fantasy books are too involved and long winded. Archer by Jacky Gray, was not one of those books!!! I must have said, 'one more chapter' about 20 times!! I couldn't put it down. Archer was such a well developed character and Ms. Gray's writing style was nothing short of amazing!”

“Archer is a great read, that once I started I just had to keep going. As a medieval re-enactor myself I found Archer very close to heart with what I do as a hobby. Jacky has achieved a great sense of being in the setting of a Medieval village and the events leading up to Archer's graduation.”

“Anyone who promotes Archery in any of its forms is to be congratulated in my book and I think somewhere along the way Jacky must have got caught up in the sport judging by the passion of her writing. I thought the sword and buckler bout between Finn and Archer was incredibly well done, a very engaging piece of writing.”

“Archer is fascinating and captivating! I love the way the characters, scenes and general description of Archer's world is portrayed so eloquently. Jacky Gray not only tells a wonderful tale; she manages to capture the sounds, smells and emotional energies of his world.”

“Archer is a tale spun in the days of the knights, but takes a different twist than traditional knight’s tales. Ms. Gray brings to the reader a new world filled with authentic traditional language, giving a sense of travelling back in time. This is not a book filled with fluff and half masked characters.”

“This read perfectly, as an action adventure story should. The plot pacing moved quickly, and the excitement of tournament was written so realistically that I could hear the hush and roar of the crowds as if I was there too. I also enjoyed the main character, Archer, he was likable and very much the classic story hero.”

“I know the exact feeling Archer and Finn feel after the impact, I've done competitive contact martial arts for almost twenty years and I can tell you, I really love the detail you put here. It connected me to the characters in a visceral way.”

“Jacky has nailed the character of a medieval archer; the books are a thrilling blend of action and rich historical detail.” “I enjoyed 'Archer', an engaging story whose Pagan spirituality is gently and attractively presented. Jacky has produced a credible parallel universe, a combination of the English middle ages blended with modern-day England in realistic and well realised settings.”

Comments from Not-so-grown ups
“Archer was amazing! I couldn't put it down. It only took me two days to read it when it normally takes me a week. Archer is a unique book there is none other like it. If I met Archer I would have a lot of questions to ask him about what it is like to live in his world. I love the way the girls get to do archery and the rings and I would love to do all the drama bits. I like the way that everyone's talents are recognised, nobody tries to take the mick.” 

“My mum was planning to read the book before I did but I insisted on reading it first so she has to wait. So far your book has been one of the best I've read in years. I'm looking forward to your next book.”

“Archer takes you into his world and you can feel the atmosphere of his surroundings.”

“An exhilarating story that sucks you in so it feels like you’re actually there. Pure genius.”

“The action scenes are so exciting it’s like watching a film.”

Mmmm - now if only I can think of some way of getting this kind of feedback out to a wider audience. Any ideas, dear readers?

Lulu Helix Review - Book Genome project

The good people at Lulu were offering a book review at a massive discount (40% off). I was very pleased with their detailed analysis of Archer compared to other young adult novels (specifically Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials"). If anyone knows of another YA book that Archer most resembles, I'd be pleased to hear it.

Anyway the stats went something like this:

	Archer	YA	HDM	RA	Range
Motion	61	59	61	68	46-72
Density	40	26	27	47	10-42
Dialog	68	65	74	60	51-79
Description	34	35	41	38	21-49

 HDM is His Dark Materials, RA is the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan - apparently Archer's scores most closely match 4 of this series of books. Not one I'd come across, but guess what I'll be looking for to read next?

Just to explain the metrics: 

Motion is the description of physical motion in a scene, for YA books this ranges from 46 to 72% of the book (average 59%). Archer scores well on this.

Density is a language complexity measure (sentence structure, vocab breadth etc) - Archer is right at the top end for YA making it a challenging read.

Dialogue does not include internal monolgue - Archer is on the high side for this (no kidding! - it comes from my being an Air sign - we lurve to talk).

Description needs no explanation - I'm pleased to see Archer is just below average - my eyes glaze over when there is too much, I figure many YA readers are the same.

The analysis also included some stats about word/sentence/paragraph and book length compared to averages for YA and all books. I'm happy to say that Archer generally comes smack bang in between the two, backing up a number of comments from people (see next post).

	YA	Archer	Adult
Book length	49,296	54,813	82,112
Paragraph	38	54	72
Sentence	13	17	17
Word	4.2	4.3	4.5
Unique Vocab	4,853	6,060	7,555

The DNA analysis suggested the major themes were: Medieval Weapons & Armor, Strategic Planning / Conflict Management, Crowds/Audience, Horses, Music/Performance, Expressions of Emotion and School/College environment. I'd agree with these, but was surprised there was no mention of ancient festivals/enchantment or wood-working/crafts.

The other thing they did was to create a highly skewed frequency density chart (Wordle to most of us) for the most unique words in Archer compared to other books on the market. Here is their version:

I was surprised by a number of their choices (instant, despite, boy, rest, girl, start, break, point, round) these did not feel at all unique, but it gave me an idea. I've been playing with one or two Wordle look-alikes - watch this space.

The upshot is, I would recommend this analysis - even at the full price of £34.99 (approx $50) this is pretty good value and gives some good marketing ideas as well. They also do a lite version at £19.99 (approx $30) with no DNA or comparible titles analysis, but well worth getting if it's all you can afford. You can find it here:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/helix-review/service/product-helixreview.html

Good Luck

The Best Holiday Evah - Bar none!

Apologies for the dodgy puns, but it is who I am. Yep, that really was me snuggling under a duvet in the first class cabin, sipping champagne and feeling grimier by the second as the harrowing tale of Les Mis unfolded.
I reckon everyone should travel first class once in their lives if they can - a huge thank you to Sam and Barry for making it possible. And here's what else they gave us :

Yep, Barbados really was a perfect piece of Paradise - and a virtually private beach with a mill-pool sea 500 yards on from fun filled body-surfing breakers. All one needed was a Pina Colada or the best Rum Punch on the island - oh the lengths we went to on the quest of that little gem! Sheer Bliss!

Spooky Stuff

I'm sitting here listening to the Planet Rock presenters devote the whole day to scary rock tracks (you gotta love their devotion on this last day of Rocktober (groan). Stuff like Ghost (Slash), Creatures Of The Night (Kiss), The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden), Witchy Woman (Eagles), Welcome To My Nightmare (Alice Cooper) and even Break On Through (To The Other Side) - (Doors).

I thought it was a good excuse to montage some of my "face" pictures - can you spot them? They are from photos I took in Avebury, Wales and Barbados  - just rocks, roots and water.

Ok, the last one (bottom right) is a bit of a cheat because I reflected the picture (the edge of a rock on the pony path up to Cadair Idris) - but it really wasn't as obvious when it was only half a face. Can't decide if it's animal or human, what do you think?

Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain or  Joyous All Souls. Whatever you call it, light a candle, eat something made from apples.
 
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ADDENDUM: Imagine my surprise when I learnt that it's not just me who "sees" faces in nature. There's even a posh name for it "simulacra." If you think I'm making it up, check out this guy:  http://www.palden.co.uk/simulacra.html.
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One wondeful week in wet windy Wales

Okay, so it wasn't all total slog. August saw a welcome return to the caravan with both daughters, hubby and even the dog. It did rain a lot - made the waterfalls even more vociferous than normal, and we finally took the Talyllyn steam train all the way to Tywyn. (pix to folllow). For me, much of it was spent doing the most exciting writing thing I've ever done - but I'm not gonna give it up yet. That deserves a post of its own, sometime soon.

Exhausted, Moi?

Ok, so the last 8 months have been the toughest for a while in terms of the pulls on my time. The trouble with full time working is you don't get time to play. At least I don't, because no matter how I try, the job I get paid for always seems to eat up all of my leisure time. My fault, I know - I always spend too much time creating Rolls Royce solutions when they only asked for a mini - I just can't help being creative.

The very best part was reading over 50 YA and MG books - I have discovered a raft of authors who have taught me so much about the type of books I love to read and write. There are way too many to mention, but the ones that moved me most were Patrick Ness (A Monster Calls), Cornelia Funke (Reckless/Fearless) and Michelle Paver (anything and everything - I will be stalking!).

In a week or so, I'll get some of my life back and hopefully be able to put my energies into writing - there has been one exciting little project which I hope to share soon.
Cheers
   Jacky