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* Skye Warren: Author Override
* Narrator Lorelei King: Interview
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* Carolyn Crane: Author Override | UTC Review
* J.T. Geissinger: Interview | UTC Review
* Men and Women of the Military Giveaway Hop
* Keri Arthur: Interview | UTC Reviews

Friday 17 August 2012

Author Override: Manda Collins


Author Override is the place where authors take the reins and take you on a journey into their world. Some may allow you into their private writing dens. Others may take you along with them on research trips or interviews. Whatever the case may be, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride because here you’ll get an in-depth look into an author’s musings.

To the Victor Go the Spoil(er)s

If you’ve been in the internet version of Romancelandia for any amount of time, you know that one of the most grievous offenses you can commit against your fellow readers is to spoil a book for another reader. For those of you who don’t know, spoiling is when you openly reveal some plot point or detail from a book that is not revealed in the back cover copy or promotional materials. Or depending on the reader, anything about the book that the reader wishes to experience on their own as part of the reading experience.

As a reader, I am of two minds regarding spoilers. On the one hand, I want to be surprised as I’m reading. On the other hand, there are certain things that I’d much rather know going into a book so that I can make a decision about whether to read the book at all. For instance, there’s a certain mystery writer I’ve been glomming lately who killed off a major character in one of her two series. I’d heard about it at the time, and how many romance/mystery readers were angry and disappointed by the author’s decision. But, since I wasn’t reading the series I didn’t have an opinion about it one way or the other. When the first book in the “killing off” series became available for free as an e-book, I’d long since forgotten about the scandal and picked it up and started reading. But something was niggling me about it in the back of my mind. A quick Google search told me that the character I was really enjoying in the freebie was the one who got killed off. So I made the decision to stop reading before my heart got broken. Then I picked up the second series and started reading it and I love it. I just hope she doesn’t decide to kill off any of these characters!

In my current release, HOW TO ROMANCE A RAKE, there’s a detail about the heroine’s disability that I would rather not get spoiled. But when I got my ARCs from the publisher, I saw they’d put the Author’s Note—where I totally spill the beans about Juliet’s injury—in the front of the book! So I was, in essence, spoiling my OWN book!

I have a friend who no matter what the book is, reads the ending first to make sure that the hero and heroine she wants to get together actually gets together. I’m not quite that bad. As long as neither the hero nor the heroine is killed off, I prefer not knowing what’s going to happen next. To me that’s one of the main joys of reading. And even though I’ve read more books than I can count, I still remember some of the most exciting moments where I was genuinely surprised by the outcome. Starting way back when I was thirteen and was SHOCKED to see Jane Austen’s EMMA paired up with what to me was an old man, ie. Mr. Knightly, who was about the same age that I am now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Manda Collins spent her teen years wishing she’d been born a couple of centuries earlier, preferably in the English countryside. Time travel being what it is, she resigned herself to life with electricity and indoor plumbing, and read lots of books. An affinity for books led to a graduate degree in English, followed by another in Librarianship. By day, she works as an academic librarian at a small liberal arts college, where she teaches college students how to navigate the tangled world of academic research. A native of coastal Alabama, Manda lives in the house her mother grew up in with three cats, sometimes a dog, sometimes her sister, and more books than strictly necessary.

STALK HER: Twitter | Blog | Website | Facebook
What about you? Do you read all the spoilers you can get? Or do you try your darndest not to get spoiled? Are there some books that you remember being especially surprised about as you read them? Share ‘em with me! I’ll give away a copy of HOW TO ROMANCE A RAKE to a random commenter!



You can lead a wallflower to the ball, but you can’t make her bloom—unless one daring young bachelor turns up the heat…

What’s a nice girl like Miss Juliet Shelby doing at a place like Lord Deveril’s ballroom? With her shy demeanor, she’s a total stranger to the dance floor and a source of mockery for the ton. So imagine her surprise when Deveril gallantly comes to her defense—and offers to teach her to dance! Juliet can hardly believe the most handsome bachelor in London would notice her, until he takes her in his arms and sets her heart ablaze…

Lord Alec Deveril has never felt such a spark of attraction for an unmarried lady before. Unlike the “fashionable” ladies he’s accustomed to, Juliet possesses a generous spirit, a fiery intelligence—and an explosive secret. Deep in the London underworld, a dear friend has vanished, and Juliet fears the worst. Deveril insists on helping, escorting her through the darkest alleys in town. But he too is hiding a shocking secret—and the only way he can defeat the devil in his past is to seduce the angel in his arms…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

36 comments:

Danni T said...

I do have a tendency to read and watch spoilers. Every time I do it, I tell myself this is the last time but then I do it next time too. I addicted to spoilers.

Timitra said...

I don't mind spoiling the book for myself, I don't read the end of the book but I might skip a couple of pages ahead if it's a really intense scene to see how it works out then I go back to my original page. I hate when others spoil books for me cause I don't enjoy the book as much as I would have had I not known...now I wait a few weeks/months when the spoiler has kinda dimmed/or been forgotten then I sit and read the book.

Anonymous said...

I like to read the spoilers to see if I will like the book.

Manda Collins said...

Good point, Timitra! If I am the one spoiling myself, I don't mind. But I don't like others spoiling it for me. I think it's a control thing;)

Angieia, it does help sometimes to know in advance. Like with hot button issues. If I know what they are that might help me decide whether or not to give a book a try.

Rebe said...

With favorite series, I try to avoid spoilers, but if it's a new to me author or book, I like some spoilers, just so I'll know if there's a HEA or a HFN coming up.

Lisa W said...

I try to stay away from spoilers, but I usually can't... esp. when it's a book from a series that I've been reading and/or waiting for the next part!
modularmates(at)comcast(dot)net

powerse said...

I try to avoid spoilers but with certain books in a series I may read the summary on the back to see how things are going ....this did not help with a certain cozy mystery series....after reading the backs I bought the first three but found out in the beginning of the second book that the female lead ended up with someone else....I did not read the backs of sunny's monere series and almost stopped reading after a certain book...i'm not sure if I would've wanted to know what happened in that book though so.......*shrug*

bnbhb@hotmail.com

anme said...

I don't look for spoilers generally. Most shows or authors that I read religiously, I don't need spoilers to get me to come back, but little teasers are great to keep up enthusiasm. Though I hate it when books, movies, or tv shows are spoiled unneccessarily, it is nice to have some surprises!
Where books are concerned, I do need some spoilers to know what kind of story I might be getting into. If I don't know that there will be an exciting murder mystery in the midst of a historical romance, I might not pick that book up.
Mel Brock

ana said...

I've never liked spoilers! I try and stay away from them at all costs. The only book I have read that I was completely surprised about was The Hunger Games cause that was the only one in the series that I hadn't read spoilers from
Gdlpgiron@yahoo.com

ana said...

I've never liked spoilers! I try and stay away from them at all costs. The only book I have read that I was completely surprised about was The Hunger Games cause that was the only one in the series that I hadn't read spoilers from
Gdlpgiron@yahoo.com

Di said...

I don't want to read spoilers at all - I want to read just enough of a description to find out if it is the kind of story I want to take my time to read. Mostly I read the back cover blurb - most of the time they are a good indication of the style of the story, but surprisingly, sometimes they are misleading.

Carin said...

I avoid spoilers like crazy, I want to be surprised, I like to have the answers come as the book flows, I hate nothing more than when someone else has read it first and wants to tell you all about it.

Landry Breaux said...

I had a real bad habit of peeking at the end of the book but I am learning to control myself. I do still enjoy reading previews and reviews of books I am considering buying. There are just too many options out there to waste money on bad reads. The last story that really held a big surprise for me was Toni V. Sweeney's "Vengeance from Eden". I really enjoyed that story!

Maria D. said...

I try really hard not to read spoilers - I do know that someone leaked a spoiler on a series I had been following like a mad fiend and even though I went ahead and bought the book - I was ticked off about the spoilery and haven't read the book yet...I figure I'll have to wait a little longer to get myself psyched up enough to read it. Now my mom is the exact opposite. She actually will read the back of the book if she can to make sure it has a happy ending ....lol

Leanna said...

I sometimea read spoilers, but I am more interested in reading reviews.

Na said...

No, I try to avoid spoilers. I like being surprised.

Manda Collins said...

That seems reasonable, Rebe! You don't want to get caught off guard with a less than happy ending:)

It's tough to avoid them sometimes, isn't it, LM?

Hmm, powerse, sounds like those back cover blurbs were less than informative!

Unnecessary spoilers are irksome, aren't they, Mel? With so many media outlets and blogs it's hard to avoid them sometimes, though. Especially if it's a popular series.

Ana, you must have read Hunger Games early on to have avoided spoilers for it so completely! Glad you went unspoiled for one of them, at least.

Di, back cover copy can be totally misleading! I hate it when I get burned like that!

I know what you mean, Carin. I love nothing better than being surprised (in a good way) by a story.

It's a fine balance, isn't it, Landry? You don't want to be spoiled but if there's something about the book that will hit a hot button or disappoint you, you want to know before you read it. Not sure what the answer is.

Maria, you sound like me. If I do read a spoiler, I might wait a long time before I read the book in the hopes that I'll forget about the spoiler. Almost never works, but it's worth a try.

Good point, Leanna. Though sometimes reviews are spoilerific. Even so you have to get opinions before you can make the decision to read the book. As long as the reviewer gives spoiler warnings I'm okay.

justpeachy36 said...

I don't really like spoilers. It's kind of like watching a movie with someone who has already seen it and can't resist telling what's going to happen next. I like to be surprised at least a little bit.

Martha Lawson said...

No, I hate spoilers and I stay away from them!

mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

Eli Yanti said...

Hi Manda,

Sometimes i like reading spoiler but sometimes i'm prefer not read to get a surprise :)

June M. said...

I try my hardest to avoid spoilers. I don't really want anything that I can't learn from the blurb and maybe the first chapter or two of the book.

RFTC Blog said...

I don't mind spoilers when it comes to books. Do I go out of my way to find them? No, but I don't avoid them. I don't like when others spoil things for me. I want to be the one to find the spoiler or ask about it.

Barbara E. said...

I try to avoid spoilers - I like to read about the book to get the feel of it, but I'd rather read the book from the beginning and not know all about all the good parts before I get to them. I know there have been quite a few books I've read that totally surprised me but I can't think anything in particular off hand.

Mina said...

As a reviewer I avoid them, as a reader I don't mind them. When a book gets my interest (a beautiful cover artwork, an intriguing synopsis, my fav author), nothing holds me from giving the book a chance.
minadecaro@hotmail.com

megblod said...

I avoid spoilers but I do tendency to skim ahead sometimes.

Linda said...

I try not to read spoilers tho I do like to read synopses so I know what the book is about & who the hero/heroine is. I don't want to be rooting for the wrong person!

Renee said...

I avoid spoilers like the plague. i won't even read books out of order for fear I'll know that they get together. Let's face it, I know at the beginning they will because for what other reason do we read happily ever after? Yet I get so disappointed if I know the ending. I can't explain it.

Joanne said...

This book sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it. I love spoilers, the more the better. They don't stop me from reading the whole book, they just get me more excited.

Jen B. said...

If it's a book I know I am going to read, I avoid all spoilers and blurbs. If I am on the fence, I might read postings more closely. Only if there are good reviews or a recommendation from someone I trust. When an author is a complete unknown but there are good reviews from trusted sources, I will read what I can find to try to determine my interest level. It's complicated! jepebATverizonDOTnet

Mary Preston said...

I prefer not to read spoilers, just as I will not skip to the end of the book.

lavendersbluegreen said...

I definitely prefer not to have the story "spoiled". I like to experience the book as the author wrote it. BTW, I loved How to Dance with a Duke and am looking forward to this one too. Hope I win! Thanks for the giveaway.
-lavendersbluegreen(at)yahoo(dot)com

Linda said...

I need HEA in the books i read or else i just can relax when i read, so if it´s a very scary one, i usually look at the end just to be certain that the Hero & heroine survives, =)
KMMoning´s the Fever series was surprising, did not see that twist coming.
Love the giveaway!
//Linda

Gigi said...

I love reading reviews -spoiler free cuz I really HATEEE spoilers... haha! (ileana-rafflecopter)

Unknown said...

I try to never read the spoilers. Thank you for the amazing contest!
mandicounter@yahoo.com

cheryl c said...

I don't like spoilers in books. I only read romances because I am guaranteed a happy ending. There is no need to find out spoilers of the ending.

In movies, however, I do like spoilers. Quite frequently, a romantic movie doesn't have a happy ending. I have ended up leaving a theater all depressed. So, now it is important for me to know if the movie ends well or not before I go see it.

Momma G said...

Sounds Great, thanks for the giveaway!