Young Adult Blog Party: Do Authors Have a Responsibility to Their Readers?

It is a miracle; I am posting. Actually posting. Thanks to Matt over at The Little Engine That Couldn't and his wonderful Blog Party, I have an actual idea for a post. Hurrah!

The blog party is all about a genre known best as YA, or Young Adult. I've seen a lot of talk on YA review blogs lately about what is actually appropriate for books for teens, and it's made me wonder: do the writers have a responsibility for the appropriateness?

My first answer would be very loud and very in the negative if you asked me this question. In fact, I might even slap you upside the head for comedic effect. Unfortunately, my second reply would be a quiet and begrudging yes. But not in the way you might think.
 A lot of aforementioned bloggers have talked about the sexual and explicit content of books. In fact, I'm pretty sure the (what seems to me when I have done no research whatsoever) rise in the 'Christian' genre is linked to this. Adults want their kids to read something 'clean' that affirms their own views and makes them accessible to what one adult calls 'the people of the tunnel', who laugh cynically at anything they need to believe in that isn't a fanon OTP. And that's good for them. I'm not going to go into that because it's a whole different kettle of morals.
 What I am going to go into is this idea that our young, impressionable minds can be dirtied and manipulated more than those of adults. This is where my emphatic, instinctive 'no' came from. Our society acknowledges that the media can manipulate us... but they also think that our generation -- the turned on generation, the one that will go and look for its own answers if it doesn't like the ones it finds -- are more likely to be twisted, simply because of our age. I have a giant issue with this. I may be gullible, but the rest of my generation aren't as stupid. If we see sex in a book, we're not going to be ruined like a maiden in Victorian literature. If we read a swear word in a book, it's not going to make us go around repeating it (after all, by the time you've made your way into the 'Young Adult' section of WHSmiths, you've already learnt a lot of things your parents never wanted you to know). We don't, as much as adults might feel it is their duty to do so, need to be protected from these things in our literature.

We need to explore them.

 And this is why I think that authors -- and not just the authors, but their editors and publishers too -- have a responsibility to us, their young readers. These people have a responsibility to show us the entire world, preferably objectively, and let us make up our own ideas. Like I said before, we're the internet generation; if we don't like what we hear, we'll Google search until we see something we agree with more. But we need to know we don't like it before we go a-looking. And we can't do that if we have clean, or even worse, biased novels shoved down our throats. The longer I spend on this earth, arguing my views with opposing parties, the more I think that, however right my political and philosophical views seem to me, it is wrong to try and force people onto my side. As a writer, I don't want to be writing novels as propaganda for my own beliefs. Not any more. I want to write something that will make people think about -- explore -- something. If they happen to find that they believe what I believe, then hurray. But that shouldn't be the main aim.

 In short, authors do indeed have a responsibility to their readers: not to censor things they don't need to know, but to let them think about the very things that the rest of the media restricts and come to their own conclusions.
At least, I think so.

Charlotte out!

Liebster Blog Award

Yes, friends. I am now famous enough to get an award. You are shocked, are you not?

The lovely Eryn over at telltaleink.blogspot.co.uk was wonderful (and wise -- I do have a pitchfork, after all)  enough to nominate me for the Liebster Blog Award! Hurray, and thanks very muchly, Eryn!

Rules:

• Link back to the person who nominated you
• Answer the ten questions given to you by the nominator
• Nominate ten other bloggers for the award who have less than two hundred followers
• Create ten questions for your nominees to answer
• Let the nominees know you have nominated them by going to their blog and telling them

The Questions (dun dun dunn! also, the colour might look crappy but I felt like mixing it up a bit so go with it, minions):

1. Are you an early bird, or a night owl? Which would you prefer to be and why? I'm a night owl, as I think most people my age probably are. However, I think being an early bird would probably be a blessing since society seems to think that the day starts in the morning.
2. What's your favourite kind of story? Adventure, romance, etc. I love all sorts of stories *shifty eyes* okay, so maybe I read a bit too much YA paranormal romance, but is that really such a bad thing? It's a good genre!
3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be (could be an imaginary place)? Hmm. Well, I couldn't live anywhere too warm because we vampires literally melt, but I also couldn't live anywhere too cold because as a cold-blooded reptilian hybrid thing I can't regulate my own temperature, so I suppose my ideal place to live would be in Goldilocks and the Three Bears land, where everything is juuuust right... until you get mauled, obviously.
4. What is the first sentence of your current work-in-progress? 'The day that I lost my family was the day I started losing my mind.' It seemed like a opening at the time, but not so much anymore. Pretend you never read it.
5. What is your ideal writing setting? Like, time of day, location, beverages to sip during. I like to write in the evening, sat in my room with angsty music blaring and lots of chocolate. Beverages would just take away from the... productivity...
6. If you could stay any age forever, what age would you choose? This is another hmmm one. Hmm. I suppose I'd stick at the age I am now (seventeen, for those of you 'rinos that don't stalk me) just so I didn't have to work. But that's just me being lazy and scared of the future.
7. What are your favourite historical figures? I wasn't aware I had any favourite historical figures, but if I do, they'll probably have to be the people hanging around Russia during the Revolution -- especially those who were part of the Revolution. Honestly, I just find the Russian Revolution interesting.
8. What is the thing you think about most when you are writing a story? The characters. Always. What they're doing, what they're thinking, how much pain I'm causing them (mwahaha) -- I'm always thinking about my characters and seeing everything from their perspectives.
9. What is your favourite animated movie? I'd have to say Finding Nemo.
10. Coffee or tea? Anything but. I can't stomach hot drinks. But if I absolutely had to had to had to choose, I would go for tea.

My Nominees:

• Jonathan
• Mark
• Anne
• Lily
• Oliver (I don't know how many followers you have but I nominated you anyway)
• Sam (who will have to send the link to his blog since he changed it)
• Cait and Mime (again, I'm not sure how many followers you have, but I nominated you anyway)
• Matt
• Jumbled Writer

My Questions:

1. How many trees live in your garden? If you don't have a garden. how many trees live in your heart?
2. If you had to do one hobby for the rest of your life, what would you want it to be?
3. Do you know what a hobby horse is (because I don't)?
4. What do you enjoy most about being nominated for awards?
5. This is an open question. Tell the world what you think it needs to know.
6. How many books do you own?
7. Which is your very favouritest book?
8. How long do you spend on each blog post (on average)?
9. Has an animal ever tried to murder you?
10. What is the best thing you have ever done, ever?

Charlotte out!

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me...

Hurray! Guess what, everyone -- I'm two today!

The blog itself just said that, by the way. At the grand old age of twenty-four months it has been given the ability to speak by the gods of technology. It asked me (at knife-point) to tell you this because it thought you wouldn't believe it if it told you itself. But it is completely true, 'rinos. I can assure you of that.

Yes, it was on this very day in 2011 that Charlotte posted her first post, which you wonderful people have somehow kept as the most viewed post throughout that whole time, even though I have become a treasure trove of much better and less embarrassing posts since then. I'm sure Charlotte will join me in thanking you for doing that. We are both so terribly grateful and bemused.
 Two years,one hundred and fifteen posts, three followers,one thousand six hundred and seventy views, forty menacing stalkers and three convictions later, the world is a much better place for having me in it, as I'm sure you'll agree.

I've seen a lot of blogs have parties for their birthdays, and while I would love to have a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, I'm a blog with no arms. It's lying -- it's pointing a knife in my face right now so how could it not have arms? Someone please come and help me. Ignore Charlotte, she's just messing, and taking me away from my point: I'm a blog, so I can't have a human birthday party (and don't really want one, either). However, I would like to have a Blog Get-Together. If any of you three followers, forty stalkers or people of the void have blogs, and if those blogs have been granted voices by the gods of technology, I would love to get to know them! Link to them in the comments and let them post what they will for the day, and I will get my minion/blogger to comment on their post for me. I would love to have some Blog Friends instead of rubbish human ones who think the anthropomorphosis of something immaterial is impossible.

 If you would like to send me a birthday message just add a comment, and if you would like to send me a birthday present (which you undoubtedly do), post it to Charlotte and I will steal it off her when she's asleep. Or perhaps I'll just kill her and take over her life as if nothing has happened -- I have been privy to her thought patterns for long enough now that nobody would ever notice, I think. I'll just see how it goes.

Blog out!

A to Z Survey

I'm back from the end of the land and my holiday! Hurray! I think I promised a round-up thing of how my WiP first draft went, but I'm procrastinating over that. Instead, you get this survey originally from The Perpetual Page-Turner! Yay!

Author you've read the most books from: Probably Rachel Caine -- I love all ten Weather Wardens books, and I've read a lot of the Morganville Vampires books, though I've sort of gone off them.
Best sequel ever: Tough one -- I love all sequels, usually, simply for the fact that there is one. But I think the best has to be The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
Currently reading: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Drink of choice while reading: Robinsons Orange and Barley squash. I basically only drink squash and Coke.
E-reader or physical book? E-reader. I love books a lot, but I also love my Kindle and not having to cart around very heavy books -- especially when on holiday like I just was.
Fictional character you probably would have dated in high school: well, I'm still in school, so... I think probably Adrian from Vampire Academy and Bloodlines.  I just always want to give him a hug. And he is so romantic in The Indigo Spell that he just can't be beat. Since this is hypothetical and he is fictional, he'd also probably have to not be a drunkard who was five years older than me.
Glad you gave this book a chance:  The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. I wasn't so sure about it at first, if you can actually believe it.
Hidden gem book: Samantha Young's Slumber (Chronicles of the Fade #1).
Important moment in your reading life: when I read The Book Thief. First book I ever cried at and one of the greatest books in the history of forever.
Just finished: The Magnus Bane Chronicles #1: What Really Happened in Peru. Don't read it. You will want to punch Magnus Bane and Cassandra Clare in their pretty little faces. It is way too cruel for words.
Kind of books you won't read: Contemporary. I know I've read some -- I think I've even reviewed some of them on here -- but no more. Reading them makes me feel dirty (says the girl who is writing a novel that walks the line between speculative and contemp. Don't talk to me.). I hate the 'broken person healed by love' trope.
Longest book you've read: If I'd got through Les Mis, I could say that, but unfortunately I didn't, so I don't really know.
Major book hangover because of: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelled Hodkin. Anything I read afterwards paled in comparison.
Number of bookcases you own: two. I have one in my room and my old one is on the landing and serves as a kind of communal thing for the books me and my brother have grown out of but can't find the will to get rid of.
One book you have read multiple times: I read lots of books more than once! The one I've read most times, though, is probably Vampire Academy #1. I think it's got up to 4 re-reads now.
Preferred place to read: in my house somewhere. The living room couch, probably.
Reading regret: that I used to be a Twilight super-fan in my youth. Sure, it introduced me to the genre that I love, but did I have to be so obsessed with it? Could I not have realised how bad it was sooner?
Series you started and need to finish (all the books are out): ha! I don't have the luck of discovering serieses after they've finished. My life is a list of Amazon Pre-Orders and cliffhanger tears.
Three of your all-time favourite books: that is just mean. Three?! Probably The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. No, wait, what about Weather Wardens? And the Kate Daniels novels? And the Alex Craft novels? This is too difficult.
Unapologetic fangirl for: Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, of course.
Very excited for this release more than others: The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines). And Grave Visions (Alex Craft #4) by Kalayna Price. You can't expect me to choose just one.
Worst bookish habit: breaking the spines on my books.
X marks the spot -- starts at the top of your bookshelf and pick the 27th book: it depends how you're doing it, because my bookshelf is double stacked and stuff, but what I got was... Lord of Misrule (about #100 in the Morganville Vampires Series).
Your latest book purchase: I just pre-ordered Grave Visions (Alex Craft #4) by Kalayna Price.
ZZZ-snatcher book -- last book that kept you up way too late: I haven't stayed up too late to read since I started getting migraines when I was ten, so it's a hard one to remember -- but I think the last one I remember was a book by Dianna Wynne Jones that I can't remember the name of but had something to do with red and white Welsh dragons and magic.

Well, that took up even more time than I imagined it would (I've been kind of stuck for purpose since I decided to take a writing break [which, if you don't count my holiday, has been today and yesterday and that is it] because all I want to write is my WiP and I'm supposed to be letting it rest [which I'm probably going to give up on soon and just go straight into my first read-through], so this is better than it sounds). Hurray!

Charlie out!

My Writing Plan for the summer (and part of the autumn, technically)

By Monday 10th June (this is a draft post, so I don't know when you will be reading this, which is why you get the full date) I will have finished school for the summer, thanks to my GCSEs finishing. Therefore, I have a lot of time on my hands. Therefore, I am planning on getting a lot of stuff done. Here it is.

For the rest of June I will be mainly working on writing blog posts for you, my lovely 'rinos, and editing/revising/rewriting/whatever you want to call it-ing Lantern's Fall. I might also be doing bits and bobs on Nemophilia and the story idea I got when I wrote this for a Write Practice practice, and don't let me forget about entering this competition. I will also be preparing for July.

Because (drumroll please)... in July I will be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time! Hurray! My goal is set at 50k, though I'm hoping to maybe do more than that (scoff), seeing as I have so much time on my hands. Like in November, you lucky dudes will be getting a look into my writing habits via some round-up posts, although I have not decided yet how often these posts will be. They will be added to the 'NaNoWriMo Journal' page again, so you can see how much awesomer I have become since 9 months ago.
For Camp I will be writing a re-telling of Hamlet. You can find more information on the shiny new 'WiPs' page.

August all depends on how far I get with Lantern and her difficult-to-work story. If I have got it all sorted, then August is pretty goal-less, unfortunately. I will be writing whatever takes my fancy and also going to the summer school weekend run by the Ilkley Literature Festival. Find out more about that here. If Lantern, Annie, Malan, Cathenna and assorted others have refused to cooperate, though, I will be working around the clock, as...

September is NaNoCritMo! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will be sending my baby off into the world for the first time and looking after someone else's to boot! I am slightly scared and apprehensive about this, but, as I'm sure you know, the teen writing community are a brilliant lot, so I'm sure it'll be brilliant. *gulp*

And that is my summer. Please feel free to berate me if I don't do any of the things I have written down here.

Writer type out!

New Things On This Blog Because I've Finally Got A Touch Of Time On My Hands!

It is exactly what it says it is. This is a round-up of new things and things that I will hopefully be adding straight after writing this!

First of all, you may have noticed that the 'My Writing' page has been lost to the time vortex. Well, that's because I have replaced it with WiPs! The work in progress page contains a short explanation of all the novels I am currently writing and what point I have got to with them, and it also contains a list of posts that I hope to put up in the future (mainly so I have no excuse to forget/not bother to do them). Hurray!

Secondly, I am going to add tags to all of my posts so that they are easy to find. Hurray!

Ahem. That's kind of it. Sorry. You might get an 'About Me' page as well, if you're lucky. But other than that, that's your lot of shiny new stuff. You're welcome.

Charlotte out!

Writing... no, wait, exams.

You may have noticed I've been (un)suspiciously quiet lately. This is because I have exams. Hurray. In fact, I should be revising for my RE exam tomorrow, but instead I'm writing this and watching Ten O'Clock Live which is very funny.

 Yes, my brain is currently slightly fried (you do not know how many times I had to re-type this sentence).

 I am planning posts, so you will see me soon!

Charlie the Exam Girl out!

The Little Engine that Couldn't Blog Party: Zombies vs Unicorns

Yes, it is time for the question that you all want to know the answer to, the question that this guy here finally dared to ask: which is better? There's only one way to find out... FIGHT!

Sorry, unfortunately I couldn't find and zombies or unicorns to battle it out live for your entertainment -- and besides, Harry Hill probably copyrighted the whole thing already -- so we'll just have to have a discussion about it.

Sorry.

Research

So, I sat down to write the next part of a part of a short story at the weekend. And then I went, wait a second.

Digression: it is snowing right now and I'm off school! Happy Face! :) (in case you didn't know what one was)

I digress. Anyway, I thought: wait a blimming flip of a second [I may be embellishing a little]! I don't know anything about lawyers [the next bit involves lawyers -- spoilers, sweeties], apart from what I've seen on Drop Dead Diva and Ally McBeal [I got series one for Christmas from my mum, who thinks it fits my weirdness level]. How can I write about them talking to my main character when I don't know if they'd even be allowed to talk to my main character, or if they'd want to, or how long the process would take, or ANYTHING?

SO my question to you, lovely people of the world, is how far can you or do you go with 'creative license'?
 Do I just go with what I was going to write, whether that's how the legal system works? Or do I spend hours combing the internet for knowledge when I don't even know what to ask it?

My other question -- request, rather -- is that, if you happen to be an expert in the field, or if you know whether lawyers are allowed to talk to witnesses of car accidents, and when they can talk to them, and what they can talk to them about, and which side of the court hearing or whatever the ones who'd want to talk would be on, then please comment! Please!

Writer out!

Happy New Year!

It's 2013, and we were all wrong about dying horribly and terribly. Well, most of us. I'm sure a few people experienced their own, personal, end-of-the-world scenario.
And now I've cheered you up, it's time to get down to my New Year's Resolution: Write more, and write it diversely. Oh, and share it, too.
I only made this up about two minutes ago, so I might be cheating, starting a resolution days after the year started, but there you go.
The more unobservant of you, who are staring into space instead of reading this post, might have noticed the shiny new page on the nav bar. Or you might not, since I'm making it after I post this. What is it? I hear the more observant of you, who are still glued to this post, ask. Well, it's only a cute little page which will have a cute little collection of smaller pieces of writing DONE BY ME! I know, you're excited. I'm going to try and keep up with writing the Holistic Collection, which I love, but also broaden my style of writing when I'm at home (because I've done all sorts at IYW, but hardly ever done similar stuff at home) -- a bit of poetry, prose, flash fiction, a short story or two, etc -- and also, hopefully coming along easily with that, the kind of topic -- eg, not all fantasyish stuff -- and putting it all up on this blog might just be a bit of a push to do stuff. Hurrah!

So, if you've got any style or topic suggestions, please put them in the comments! They'd be much appreciated!

Writer out!

I hope you haven't missed me...

...because I've been gone for YONKS. I'm afraid, bloggerinos, that I have been in a re-read mood for a good while now (aka I just don't have any good books screaming to be read on my Kindle). So I haven't been posting. Darn. But a few cool things have been a-happening, if you wanted to know:
 Firstly, I've been back to school. This is not a good thing, but is something that has happened. FACT.
 Secondly, I finished my second draft of Wings and a Prayer over the hols! Hurray! As much as it had become my baby, the poor thing had to end at some point, even if it meant not hitting the big 50K words I was aiming for. Poor sweetheart was dragging a little.
 In addition, I am now EDITING afore said thingymawhatsit (don't worry, I did give myself a bit of a break before diving into the whole business). If anyone has any super-epic editing tips, I'm all ears, because I'm a slight amount of useless at the whole thing.
 Also... umm... yeah, that's it. My life is now on emotional hold as I wait for the epicness that will be The Evolution of Mara Dyer on 23rd Oct. I am EXTREMELY excited. I'm also majorly psyched for the new MCR singles coming out, which my last post will attest too. And, as ridiculous as it seems, I am also on the edge of my seat waiting for The Indigo Spell. Yes, VA/Bloodlines fans, we DO have to wait 'til February.
 Grrr.
 Other than that (and various GCSE CAs), nowt is going on. How depressing.

 Charlie out!

I have to stop going on all these random hiatus whatsits

...because then I have to say hello again, which is awkward. I mean, 'oh, I might not post for a while' is great, informative, et cetera, but then I don't post for a week. The times that I just forget or put off blogging last for like a month or something ridiculous, and then I find myself obligated to do the whole 'hello' thing I usually do after I've said I'd be away, which just feels weird.
 I know. This isn't hat you signed up for when you clicked onto this blog, was it?
 Anyways, I'm back (again), and this is a quick recap of my life since exam results day: went to Gt. Yarmouth (and how the hell Gt. is the abbreviation for Great, I don't know). It made my home town, Keighley, look like a quaint little village in the country. Which it isn't. There were a lot of flies on the beach, there was a radar museum in the same-ish area (I don't like the military) and there was a castle in Norfolk that was rubbish but thankfully had a shopping centre. Then I was straight off to a farm in Leeds with the Ilkley Lit Festival, which was very awesome and fun and stuff like that (not very literary, I know). And then it was my sixteenth birthday. Oh yeah, it was also the start of the new school year. Grr. GRR, I tell you, GRR. My life is ruined.
 SO, I read a lotta books throughout all that, so hopefully I'll be throwing a nice amount of reviews up here in between all the homework I have.
 (Broken promise no. 1 of the school year: reviewing...)

 Yeah. Anyway. When did this stop being a book blog?????unhappyface??????lossofallcoolpoints?????

Bye
Blogger out

I'm no tech-wizard, but...

...the Book Reviews page of this blog seems to be down. I don't know how, or why, or if it's just on my computer, or what, but I apologise if you can't get on it (like a car bonnet). All of my book reviews have been posted on this home page here, so searching through it may help you find what you're looking for.

And no, I don't like those sorts of TV shows, I've just seen the adverts.
Out!

The reason why someone (me) isn't posting...

...is this website here. I'm afraid I was going through a few of the comics randomly, found one that caught my eye, and followed the story on from there instead of doing ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING ELSE. Grrr. I've gone through approximately 150 pages of it, and, unfortunately, I picked a place to start that was LESS THAN HALF WAY THROUGH (there are a couple of thousand of those damn things). I'm afraid you may never see me again -- apart from, of course, in the next few moments, maybe hours, maybe days, maybe weeks when I will (hopefully) be posting a review of OHMIGOSH THE NEW ALEX CRAFT NOVEL BY KALAYNA PRICE!!!!!!

So, point being, that's one good comic. Read it, fools!

Love the girl who's sorry about the capitalism.


Lol.




And the jokes. I am SO sorry.

Hugs+Hyperness

Out!

Sigh...

 I'm afraid that I might not post for a while. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to think my May exams would basically be the end of the year. I was wrong. Next week is Yr 10 Mock Exams week, and I have approximately 6 controlled assessments to do/start this term. Oh yes, I also can't forget the joys of work experience. So, as I said, you may not hear from me for a while. This is not my fault, and certainly not something I want to do, but you know what my school is like... actually, you'd better not. Creeps. Anyway, I'll love you and leave you, and hope none of you are addicted to my extremely intermittent blog posts, else you're screwed. Yay.

Tired and stressed chick out!

Hello again...

...I'm back!  Back from the land of warm weather and holy water, sunburnt and malnourished to prove it. I've read a book or two (all I'm gonna say is, yet again, ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh, I can't wait to read the next Weather Wardens, even though the whole thing with Imara is obviously not true).
 Lourdes was alright, actually. I'm sure you're thinking, ahh, she's one of those religious extremist chicks who goes to church all the time, but no. I mean, we went to church twice a day, but it was more about the pilgrims we were helping (and, for my group, singing until our eyes bled). I wish I'd gone with my friends and actually eaten, but my bezzies are just a few of the loudly atheist kids at our Catholic school, and at least now I get to eat like a pig without being told off for it.
 So, overall -- I seem to be reviewing my school trip, which is weird -- it's an amazing place to go. I wouldn't go for a full week, and I wouldn't let my school plan it, but otherwise I would reccomend a visit to Lourdes, France to anybody.

Tired me out!...Lol.

Exam Time Again...

... which is why I haven't been posting, and won't until after my school trip to Lourdes, France (which you'll get all of the juicy deets of, I promise). Sorry for those of you who follow my posts religiously and addictively --snort--

 Busy chick out!

'Extended Reading?'

 Ughh.
 This is my mum's new favourite thing, since my twin brother's English teacher sent home a list. Unfortunately, it's not so much mine.
 Apparently, reading widely all the time widens your vocabulary, helps you notice language patterns, yadda yadda yadda. Extended reading is about reading things you can understand, and is fun and enjoyable.
 No.
 To me, extended reading books are what I call 'old people books'. They were written a hundred or so years ago, and the people who read them are usually adults who read them for enjoyment or were forced to read them at school.

Look at the pretty drawings I drewed!

I realised that, in terms of the self-published, terribly grammarified books, I was kinda harsh to the Hunger Games. So I've devised a way of reviewing. If the stars look like this:

...it means that the book was like the properly-published books you get nowadays, without terrible grammar and weird narrating voices or whatever.
If the stars look like this:

...it means that the book is marked by self-published-e-book-not-proof-read-standards. These types can only get four stars, but not all self-published books neccesarily have to have these stars.
Got that? No, I don't think I've got it, either. But that's the new system. Hurray!
Graphic designer out!

I've got more techy

I can see what you're thinking -- is that possible?! Well, yes. Yes it is. I know have a Youtube channel called charlieeatsbooks. Yup. This is what I'm doing instead of getting around to writing.
 I don't imagine I'll upload anything, but it's there. Never know, you might find something good on there.

Channel-plugger out!