Yes, yes I’m grasping desperately at straws here! It was a long, quiet yet exhausting weekend thanks to ms. Buffy the Vamp Slayer. Kara (other dog) is happier than a pig in shit while I”m still trying to recoup. It’s like having a baby all over again–albeit a sweet one that I left crying in the bathroom this morning. All this is to say, I’m rather thin on the blog topic but I started thinking about this book I started reading last week–and won’t finish.

It was a YA book–and you all know how much I love me some YA–set in Houston. And the author went to great pains…GREAT PAINS to let me know she’d done her research on the city of Houston. So much so, I found myself rolling my eyes at one point and finally tossed it aside. I would have been satisfied with much more general scene setting–ie. not having I-45 run the wrong way. Funny enough, I’d tried one of her adult fiction books a few years ago and it didn’t work for me but I can’t remember if it was for the same reason.

OTOH I also started Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten this last week. I specifically picked it up because I loved The Summoning so very very much and apparently, they’re set in the same world. Bitten is also a book with a lot of backstory to take in and sometimes I’m confused–I tend to be a fast reader but I find myself going back to reread to make sure I understand stuff. All that said, Kelley also dishes it out in small enough doses that I don’t feel terribly overwhelmed.

When it comes to worldbuilding, whether it’s paranormal, urban fantasy or contemporary fiction, we walk a fine line between painting a picture and overkill. Less is more in my opinion, but what do you think? And what are your particular pet peeves? Please let’s not make it personal, k?

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PS for those of you waiting with baited breath, Mercury is finally direct–can I get a hell yeah? :cloud9: