Would one of you like to volunteer as the book discussion leader for Tempesta's Dream? The author is welcome to take that role too.

I'm waiting for my book to arrive this week. I'm feeling somewhat behind, because some of you have already finished reading the whole book. The discussion leader, in my opinion, should be somebody who could accept and talk about the positive and well as negative things that readers may say about this book. Robert Tulip's enthusiasm about this book is overwhelming. In view of his great praise for this book, I don't know if I will dare say anything critical about it...!!! Yeah...I just might say something, but in a constructive way, of course !!! After all, no work is perfect...

I would rather just answer questions as the book is being discussed. Of course, if no one will do it, I will facilitate a discussion chapter groupings by chapter groupings. But hopefully someone will do it. Chris, just let me what you want me to do.

I do believe my job on this forum is definitely to not defend my work, nor be critical of any person's opinion, as I agree with Crystalline not all books are perfect, and not every book is loved or even liked by all. My job, I believe, is to tell someone who wants to know, why I wrote something someway or if their interpretation of an event is correct or what was the reason for a character's motivation. As it relates to a "review" of my novel, I really cannot and will not comment.

Crystalline - let us know when you receive it.

Chip LoCoco

I will...I'm looking forward to reading it. It should come this Wednesday, but the weather may delay it.

Hey Chip,

You're absolutely right that you are not here to defend your work. This is meant to be fun for all of us including our authors.

We don't approach our fiction discussions the same way we handle non-fiction. With non-fiction an author is usually making an argument for one position or another so they can expect some agreement and some disagreement. We have some pretty heated debates in our non-fiction book discussions and this is one of the most exciting aspects to BookTalk.org.

But fiction is another story (no pun intended) and we're not doing a book "review" or "critique" here. We're reading and discussing a fiction book for enjoyment. Our fiction authors are not expecting to be critiqued or judged or evaluated for their writing skill. A book might not be "perfect" but our focus is not on pointing out the flaws.

Chip, we don't even really need a discussion leader. It is a perk when it happens. But there is no need for you to hold that title. Just participate however you like and we'll be happy with that.

I'm not sure how one can discuss a book (or a piece of art) without expressing an opinion (good or bad) about the story, or the protagonist, or the plot, or the writing skill: those are the elements which make the book enjoyable or not. "Criticizing" can mean merely evaluating without necessarily finding fault or expressing disapproval. In art, it can often mean to find the MERITS as well as faults, to analyze and evaluate...in a book, for instance, if I don't like the protagonist's decision about something, my saying that does not mean I'm disapproving of the author.
I'm looking forward to this discussion...

Chip, I received the book today. It looks great, I'm sure you're very proud of it, as you should be. Guess I'm very old fashioned in my attitudes: there's nothing like holding an actual book in your hands. I felt that way about my book also. Even though my book is also in both eBook formats, I wanted to be able to look at it and hold it in my hands - still feel that way !
I'll start reading it today.

Great. I am going to post later today just some comments about the Prologue (Prologo) that begins the novel. And then we will see where it goes from there.

I have read chapters 1-6 and will post my impressions today also. You will probably be amused/entertained by my comments. Just to let you know that I like opera, and am familiar with quite a few stories and arias, so the subject is not totally foreign to me. Also, I spent two weeks in Italy a couple of years ago on a 2-week painting workshop/tour (did not visit Milan) and found Italy to be a beautiful country. I expect to enjoy this book.