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Author Topic: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge  (Read 51720 times)

mare

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #150 on: July 21, 2011, 04:46:36 PM »

I'm glad you like it so far. The relationship between Alex and his parents was important to me. I wanted him to be close to both of them so I"m glad that comes across well. AS for as her relationship with them, hopefully that will be more understood later on and not seem so "creepy." In chapter 5 she explains to him why she didn't want them to tell him. She was ashamed of hereslf. But she will explain that more in the future as well. Thank you for your comments.

No problem! I'm looking forward to see why their bond (Krystle and Alex's parents) is so strong despite her and Alex not being a couple for so long. I know she explained in chapter 5, I just didn't think it was a good enough explaination considering it had nothing to do with Alex really and more just her own issue.

That's a good thing because I felt passionate about it so whether it was meant for us to like or not like her, she brought out a feeling in me. If she was one dimensional, I wouldn't care one way or the other.

Looking forward to see how it all unfolds. :)
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RokofAges75

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #151 on: July 21, 2011, 08:13:08 PM »

I've read up through Chapter 10 of "My Answer Is You" now, and I liked this set of chapters because they were revealing; I got a lot of information I'd been wanting and answers to my questions.  I'm more into the story and feel like I have a better understanding of the characters and their relationship now.  Both Brian and Josie are flawed, which I like.  Brian, at times, is a womanizing douche, and Josie is kind of a drama queen who seems to run away rather than deal with problems head-on, but it wouldn't be much of a story if they were both perfect and happily in love LOL.  Now I have new questions about which direction the story will go.  Will Josie rekindle her relationship with Brian, or will she start a new one with Nick, the sole voice of reason?  I like that you're keeping me guessing, Rachel!  I'll read more tomorrow.
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Purpura Lipstick

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #152 on: July 21, 2011, 09:02:28 PM »

This was NOT my story but I finished it and thought I'd fill out the survey for it as well.

1) Name of the story you read and the author and what you feel the genre is. Your answer might be different then the authors.
Stockholm Syndrome – Julilly
Definitely AU with some Action, her categories are good.

2) Would you have ever read this story if it wasn't a challenge?
I didn't know about the story until the challenge, so probably not.

3) What was your favorite scene?
I like the scene where you find out why Brian and Nick have the relationship they have, the backstory for them.

4) Who was your favorite character and why?
Actually, Brian.  I liked how you could see that he was really a jerk but there was that undertone of friendship towards Nick. That he felt he needed to be there and help him (well help him in the jerky ways he calls help)

5) Overall tell us one reason why you think someone else should/or shouldn't read this story.
I think everyone should read this story whether this is their genre of choice or not.  The characters are good, and it's a “page turner”.

6) Did it convert you to the genre it is? Would you be willing to read another story just like it?
I would definitely read another Julily's story now that I've read this one.

7) Give one piece of concrit that might help the author for future reference. This can be positive too, concrit doesn't always mean negative.
I think AU is your forte just based off this story.  You did a great job with the character development so we knew who they were in this story.

8) This should be the question the author asked in their survey. Everyone's will be different.
Does it suck?  Well yah, of course it does ;)   Was I able to properly picture the boys in their roles.  I had no issues with Howie or AJ, I pictured them right away.  Nick being such a pushover took me a chapter or two to get used to and then I could picture him easily.  Brian, honestly, took me a little longer but I enjoyed the change for him.  Instead of being the southern, God fearing boy he is he's a little twisted evil doer.  I liked it.

9) Would you recommend this story and author to another person? Why or why not
I would recommend it to anyone asking my opinion of a story to read, whether they read AU or not. I couldn't stop reading it.  The plot was well played out and the characters were described well.

10) Out of 10 stars what would you give this story?
10
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julilly

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #153 on: July 21, 2011, 09:41:12 PM »

Wow! Thanks Lore!! *blushes* I'm really glad you enjoyed it! :)
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Mellz Bellz

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #154 on: July 21, 2011, 09:58:47 PM »

Thanks!  Looking back, I'm not sure how we did either LOL.  Most of us didn't know each other very well; the whole idea was conceived here on this forum, and Rose took whoever signed up for it.  Luckily, almost all of the eleven turned out to be good writers, and that's probably the only reason it flows as well as it does in the first episode or two, because we were still getting to know each other and figure out the tone of the story.

The way we've always written it is, we get together in a big group chat to plan out each episode; Rose organizes our ideas into an outline, which she posts online for everyone to see; the outline is divided into specific scenes or parts, and everyone claims a part to write.  We usually wait our turn and write the episode in order, which helps to keep the flow and not leave big gaps.  It works out pretty well; the only problem we have is if someone takes forever to write their part, it holds the rest of us up, and that's why we only update once in a blue moon.  But it's a lot of fun, and I don't think it's a story one person - not me, anyway LOL - could have pulled off on her own.  It takes all of us putting our heads together to make it work.  Thanks for asking! :)


I vaguely remember you guys coming up with the idea here, but I remember not really getting involved because it just didn't seem like my thing. I know you started with 11 but just out of curiosity how many writers are currently working on 00Carter?
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Purpura Lipstick

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #155 on: July 21, 2011, 10:12:54 PM »

^ There are 5 writer's left.  I recently bowed out because my heart just wasn't in it anymore.  The girls are a great group though so the story will continue to be just as awesome (cause they aren't losing much in me) 
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Rose

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #156 on: July 21, 2011, 10:15:28 PM »

 

I vaguely remember you guys coming up with the idea here, but I remember not really getting involved because it just didn't seem like my thing. I know you started with 11 but just out of curiosity how many writers are currently working on 00Carter?

I'll answer this one.

As of right now, there's just five of us. Lore just quit the story but we gained a new writer who'll be writing the next episode with us. We've gone through so many writers, which is another part of the problem. I feel like there's a lot of good ideas that go into this, that may never be seen cause of that.
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Mellz Bellz

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #157 on: July 21, 2011, 10:23:07 PM »

Finished chapters 4-7 of 00Carter and the episode arc "Idolize Me."

This arc was very entertaining with Nick's mission involving him and his partner Diamond auditioning for an American Idolesque reality TV show in order to stop an enemy from using the TV show as a platform for worldwide destruction. I thought that Julie, Rose, and the rest of the girls did an awesome job parodying Randy, Simon, and Paula down to the tone of their voices. It was also nice to see a little more backstory revealed although I still have plenty of questions.

Some scenes were very vague to the point where I was confused about who exactly were talking in the scenes. I had to read things a few times over and still was not sure if I had gotten it. Julie explained to me though that this was intentional, so I am sure that it will all make sense in the next episode. I knew that was unlike Julie and Rose to leave things so open LOL.

My only Con Crit is that in this episode it is a little less seamless and you can sometimes see where other authors came in. Also I felt that in the audition scenes all of the lyrics were not necessarily needed. I can't wait to read more and clear some of my burning questions up.
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Mellz Bellz

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #158 on: July 21, 2011, 10:24:53 PM »


I'll answer this one.

As of right now, there's just five of us. Lore just quit the story but we gained a new writer who'll be writing the next episode with us. We've gone through so many writers, which is another part of the problem. I feel like there's a lot of good ideas that go into this, that may never be seen cause of that.

Yea I can see where that could be hard, but kudos to you girls for working through it!
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Rose

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #159 on: July 21, 2011, 10:29:54 PM »

Finished chapters 4-7 of 00Carter and the episode arc "Idolize Me."

This arc was very entertaining with Nick's mission involving him and his partner Diamond auditioning for an American Idolesque reality TV show in order to stop an enemy from using the TV show as a platform for worldwide destruction. I thought that Julie, Rose, and the rest of the girls did an awesome job parodying Randy, Simon, and Paula down to the tone of their voices. It was also nice to see a little more backstory revealed although I still have plenty of questions.

Some scenes were very vague to the point where I was confused about who exactly were talking in the scenes. I had to read things a few times over and still was not sure if I had gotten it. Julie explained to me though that this was intentional, so I am sure that it will all make sense in the next episode. I knew that was unlike Julie and Rose to leave things so open LOL.

My only Con Crit is that in this episode it is a little less seamless and you can sometimes see where other authors came in. Also I felt that in the audition scenes all of the lyrics were not necessarily needed. I can't wait to read more and clear some of my burning questions up.

I'm glad you pointed out the vagueness. Like Julie said, that was actually intentional. This was during our "Lets try to keep it somewhat short phase" LOL. Which...didn't last long LMAO. We wanted people to be wondering...is this them, is this someone else...who is it? Which you're right, isn't like us lol. Hopefully the next episode answers everything, I'm really curious to see if it actually does.

Thanks about pointing out some of the seamlessness. I feel like it shows a lot in episodes 2 and 3, and (hopefully) I feel like we got it together in Ice, Ice, Baby, which is episode 4.
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Rose

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #160 on: July 21, 2011, 10:37:22 PM »

Casual - impressions by Chapter 3.


So far the story seems to be setting up quite nicely. Now this is a preference thing, the dialogue moves slow for me. I'm a reader who prefers tags after speaking only when necessary so that my eyes can follow the dialogue quickly. But like I said, that's a personal taste thing.

Not sure if the flashback was necessary, immediately after the sex chapter. I mean as a reader, I already know they had sex, and that she enjoyed every minute of it lol. The flashback just repeats the necessary.

I also, doubt a little bit the believability of Quinn not having recognized Nick at all. Any girl who grew up at the time Nick was famous (which would be the case here) would've seen Nick plastered everywhere in the media.

I do think you get across the characters quite well. In two chapters I do have a very definite sense of Quinn and who she is. A lot of writers can't do that, especially in romance. So I'm happy to see that in here. :)
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Double Rainbow Fiction - So Bright and So Vivid...


"Don't annoy the writer. They may put you in a book and kill you." —Anonymous

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Mellz Bellz

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #161 on: July 21, 2011, 10:42:22 PM »

I'm glad you pointed out the vagueness. Like Julie said, that was actually intentional. This was during our "Lets try to keep it somewhat short phase" LOL. Which...didn't last long LMAO. We wanted people to be wondering...is this them, is this someone else...who is it? Which you're right, isn't like us lol. Hopefully the next episode answers everything, I'm really curious to see if it actually does.


Ok good! I wasn't sure if it was just me skimming over something important because I definitely had to reread those parts two or three times. I pretty much knew it was Pearl and AJ but some parts I was thinking "Wait? Is there ANOTHER pair of agents from another agency spying on Nick and Diamond?"
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RokofAges75

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #162 on: July 21, 2011, 10:47:59 PM »

Finished chapters 4-7 of 00Carter and the episode arc "Idolize Me."

This arc was very entertaining with Nick's mission involving him and his partner Diamond auditioning for an American Idolesque reality TV show in order to stop an enemy from using the TV show as a platform for worldwide destruction. I thought that Julie, Rose, and the rest of the girls did an awesome job parodying Randy, Simon, and Paula down to the tone of their voices. It was also nice to see a little more backstory revealed although I still have plenty of questions.

Some scenes were very vague to the point where I was confused about who exactly were talking in the scenes. I had to read things a few times over and still was not sure if I had gotten it. Julie explained to me though that this was intentional, so I am sure that it will all make sense in the next episode. I knew that was unlike Julie and Rose to leave things so open LOL.

My only Con Crit is that in this episode it is a little less seamless and you can sometimes see where other authors came in. Also I felt that in the audition scenes all of the lyrics were not necessarily needed. I can't wait to read more and clear some of my burning questions up.

Thanks for the great feedback, Mel!  I'm glad you thought the Global Idol stuff was entertaining.  Oddly enough, none of us are very into James Bond either, so even though that's where the concept of the story came from, it's only a loose parody.  We've included a lot of pop culture stuff and taken it in our own, random direction LOL.

I totally agree with you on the issue of seamlessness.  When I look back on the first two or three episodes, they feel awkward to me, too.  I think it's just the downside of trying to write with so many people without having a solid style for the story down yet.  We all had different writing styles, and a couple of our authors didn't speak English as a first language, so trying to get it all to flow together was tough.  I think the later episodes definitely flow better because we had fewer writers trying to mesh, and we had established the universe and style of the story.  I'll be interested to know if you agree once you get further into the story.

I agree on the lyrics too - I reread some of the episode today when I was responding to your reviews, and I definitely found myself skimming through those scenes.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2011, 10:50:12 PM by RokofAges75 »
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Rose

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #163 on: July 21, 2011, 10:48:12 PM »

Ok good! I wasn't sure if it was just me skimming over something important because I definitely had to reread those parts two or three times. I pretty much knew it was Pearl and AJ but some parts I was thinking "Wait? Is there ANOTHER pair of agents from another agency spying on Nick and Diamond?"

Nope, not you. Looking back, some of it comes across awkward. But at least it got you asking the right question... :) LOL
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Carter-Orange

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Re: Engarde!!!! The Reading Duel challenge
« Reply #164 on: July 22, 2011, 05:59:20 AM »

I'm up to Chapter 8 of My Mona Lisa now so thought I'd do a review.

Although I do like the story (I love the whole Cinderalla thing), there are quite a few instances of bad grammar.  Some of the sentences are written in a way which don't flow or make a lot of sense until you read them back.  It's a bit jumpy in places too and you don't always know which character's point of view you are reading from until you get further into the paragraph.

I like that she finally decided to get a life of her own, but couldn't picture her being a party animal for 6 months when she is that shy.  I also don't like how her friend Gilbert suddenly turned into an asshole, it should've been more gradual I think.  I also think 6 months of being unemployed is a long time for someone who went to New York with the intention of making something of her life.

Good to see she has a possible romance on the cards with the taxi driver though.
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