Blog Content

It is my intention that nothing on this blog should be offensive to people of any race, colour, creed, sexual orientation or gender.  European cultural standards generally apply.  Views voiced by characters are not necessarily those of the author.  Characters may be biased and may hold reprehensible views.

Since the Princelings trilogy is intended to be suitable for 10 years and up—although later books in the series are more suitable for teenagers—the blog is also intended to be suitable for older children.  Some posts are PG-13, especially some of the Flash Fiction stories.  Some books reviewed may be suitable for adults only and this will usually be stated.  See review policy below.

Blog Comments

I understand that in some parts of the internet, the comments section can descend into mire, sewage and obscenity.  Comments here are moderated, i.e. I reserve the right to delete any comments, in whole or in part, if they are not in keeping with the spirit of the blog.  I also reserve the right to edit comments, including typos, and to make my own typos as well.  I’ll correct them when I notice them.  And I apologise for not noticing them before I post them.  Especially form for from.

Privacy

I do not capture email addresses unless you sign up to follow my blog using the sign-up form.  You can unsubscribe at any time on the email you receive to notify you of a blog post.  The only data I hold are your email address and the date you signed up, there are no other data associated with it.

When you leave a post comment, your sign-up details may be held by the server to enable your easy access next time.  I do not have access to this data other than on the comment. By making a comment you agree that the system may hold this data for your convenience for an unspecified period of time, since it seems to de-recognise people at random.

When you enter a giveaway, your email address, username and location are recorded on the rafflecopter, together with any social network links you disclose to make an entry. These are held by Rafflecopter. I may keep a copy of all entries for verification and for statistical analysis, e.g. to determine how many people enter more than one/every giveaway, and whether some giveaways or entry options are more attractive than others. These will never be disclosed to a third party. Winners may need to send me a mailing address; these are held within the email only, not in a database, and not connected to other data in the rafflecopter. Emails are normally deleted after the prize has arrived.

Your data will never be used by me to spam you or to send you unwanted or third party advertising.

Due to the nature of this blog, this policy statement is more than sufficient to comply with EU GDPR 2018.

Book Reviews

I am a writer, not a reviewer.  Writers must also be readers, and these are books I have chosen to read.  So my reviews are just my thoughts and opinions.

Books reviewed may have been:

  • downloaded free during promotions
  • won in giveaways
  • chosen and paid for
  • a library copy provided my Bookclub book
  • a review copy received free as part of a blog tour
  • a review copy received from the publisher via Net-Galley
  • an advance review copy received when I’ve read and enjoyed some of the author’s work before.

However I came by them, it makes no difference to my reviews  What you get is what I think – although I do not believe it is good practice to slate a book simply because I do not enjoy it.  Sometimes it is worth reading between the lines.  I am unlikely to give a negative review during a book tour, since I treat the event rather like a house guest.

I do not accept requests from authors to read and review their books.

The star rating systems on Goodreads and Amazon appear to me to differ in intensity.  Up to the start of 2016 I have probably given Goodreads stars at a higher level than the Goodreads qualifier – i.e. 5 stars – Amazing; 4 stars – I really liked it, 3 stars – I liked it, 2 stars -it was okay, 1 star – I did not enjoy it.  My natural instinct is that three stars is a good book, although as an author I’d be disappointed with it. Up to 2016 my ratings reflected that – I gave 4 stars to most books I read, because they were really good books, and five stars to the ones I thought were really really good, ones I’d want to read again, or where I’d want to read more of the author’s work on the basis of this one.  According to Goodreads I should give most book 3 stars and ramp it up from there.  I doubt whether I’d complete books I would only give 1 star to, and anything with two stars would suggest it was promising, but flawed in my eyes (often applies to badly edited books).  I could write a whole blog post on the pros and cons of the star system.  When I do, I’ll link to it here.

Preferred genres

Books reviewed may not targeted for my reader age-group, but most should not be unsuitable, save for crime thrillers.  Check the tags: MG and YA fiction will be tagged as such. I enjoy detective novels and the thrillers, and my bookclub selections can be for any adult genre.  If you’re not sure whether it’s suitable for you after reading the review, click the link to the book online and read the sample.

Book Listings

I use Goodreads extensively.  All my ‘To Be Read’ books are on there, as well as most of the books I remember reading.  (Some series just have a few token ones listed – generally I read all of a series).

To find a review of a specific book on this website, use the search button.  You can browse through all the books I’ve reviewed using the Category link or the menu item “Book Reviews”.

If you are on Pinterest, you can follow my BookList board there.

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