Roasting ALL THE MURMURING BONES (Angela Slatter)

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[@EdenYell]

Maria's one job is to be the extrovert and she is doing it very well.

[@angryotter9129]

What do we have to do to get a proper monster boyfriend on this channel?!

[@sciencefantastic]

Kelpie monster boyfriend or nothing

[@angryotter9129]

Right!

[@arthurmalvavisco8739]

As a writer who frequently writes mostly on vibes, what really bothers me is that some many writers have the same process but then simply refuse to have a good look and make their book more cohesive in terms of themes and structure. Like YES, writing on "vibes" or being a "gardener" or grower or whatever people call it this day is fine, BUT that means you have to work the structure a lot on post. When you write on "vibes" you have a lot of cool stuff but it won't actually all fit together. You have to look critically at your work and decides what stays, what is going to me merged into a single plot point and what might be better to leave behind. You look at your characters that are half empty, SEE what they are made of and fill them with their respective themes and what path they must make so that the journey meaningfully changes them. It's frustrating to read a book and realize that the author writes just like you, but also stops half way and instead of working their draft until they actually have a book, just correct grammar and release that half formed, stumbling beast, into the world.

[@focornali4349]

The name Mirin is hilarious to me because it's a sweet rice wine for cooking

[@mst3kharris]

It might have been interesting if the main character had been written as stiff and unyielding, but who gradually loosens and relaxes as she interacts more with fresh water. Like the ocean’s salt made her rigid and the fresh water loosens that for her.

[@Cheesy_Chiffon]

I DNFd this book somewhere between chapter 10-15 but I'm curious. Was there ever any follow up on the grandmother shape shifting into a sharp toothed demon witch during an argument the MC? That bit felt random as all get out. Was that ever explained, or did the author simply stroll past it as if it were just another super normal "It's totally fine. Don't even worry about it Susan." folklore zombie wandering on the side of the road?

[@yiannis5972]

I was in the middle of the massening trilogy videos ( for the 8th time ) when i saw this got uploaded . Excited to see what's up

[@racheltheradiant4675]

Did the book ever explain how they trapped the Mer Queen? It seems illogical that the dark sea creatures the family made an evil pack with would let them enslave one of their own without dire consequences. Shouldn't the family's decline be because the ocean and it's creatures were haunting/punishing them for daring to capture their queen to increase their dwindling fortune? Maybe make the green eyed assassin guy not actually the cousin's puppet but a dark fae creature (from the black lagoon) sent to find the whereabouts of the queen and murder all the O'Malley bloodline until she's free? He could of been a constant and creepy entity chasing her, like the Nazgul in Lord of the Rings. The story could of easily been about her trying to discover why her family had fallen under sudden misfortune....

[@yiannis5972]

The things that live in the sea are sooooo fucked up looking and diverse that when it comes to sea monsters you have no excuse to not find inspiration for creative monster building

[@mel4957]

Mirin being the payment in exchange for stealing the mer queen would've been so cool if Mirin was actually merfolk/part-merfolk herself and so the new setup her grandmother tries to create is marrying Mirin to the sacrifices

[@shay5555]

Halfway through this video and this book keeps sounding more and more like the movie The Lodgers about an incestuous Irish family cursed by lake monsters stuck in a decrepit family mansion.

[@elle8786]

Wait, I recognize that title. It's on my TBR. Okay, my TBR is way too long, time to hear the roast so I can decide remove or keep. Also, if it's not been recommended to you, I suggest reading Witch King by Martha Wells. I liked it, but I had Opinions and want to see what you guys make of it.

[@GibbyandKieran]

I read it around the time my estranged grandfather died so the opening hit me so hard I think I blanked out the rest of the book.

[@belenlowrey6251]

Just here to hear more about Will's family drama

[@willemijnvanhagen768]

This sounds like a great book for a rewrite

[@robertborland5083]

I mean, with the first half you have Lovecraft's The Shadow of Innsmouth meets Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. [Or, as @shay55555 pointed out, the film The Lodgers (2017).] The story has quite a bit of potential.

[@meredithsmakings3068]

I really liked the convo at the end about writing vs storytelling because I think I’m the storyteller who has a hard time with prose/mechanics/structure even though I know what all of those things are, and on a basic level, I know how they function

[@maximilianlopez196]

No talking skeletons? False. Advertising. 😅

[@S.M.Owens_]

Maria can you please publish a book because I'm already a fan of your work😂

[@huntedsnark7507]

A couple of years ago, I went to an online writing seminar (in Australia) with Angela Slatter on the panel telling us how to do the thing. So I was particularly amused by 'maybe learn to write better'.

[@catherinebustos6386]

This video is awesome! I'm just halfway through but the rewrite has so much potential, it's insane. I'm also here to feed the algorithm. Happy New Years from Argentina!

[@SalayaSkystone]

Hey! I've read this book! Picked it up cause it had a great fancy cover. It was a fine read, but alot of great ideas were never fleshed out and that felt... Confusing mostly.

[@marocat4749]

kelpie boyfriend! Also how is neither her grandma or ma a villain she has to stop. that sounds great. Hell even her ending with a baby? And the magic sounds that you need at least an object of a witch, or it would limit it or what if the merqueen were her mom.

[@enginesummer99]

I recommend The Bitterbynde Trilogy, by Cecilia Dart-Thornton, for more just SO many folklore creatures I was recently pretty impressed by To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose. It was a bit like His Majesty's Dragons, but the dragons don't speak (good choice, imo) and it goes hard on the racism issue.

[@gethygethy]

One thing that came to mind about short stories - Witcher series. Pretty much connected by short stories, with common threads. It's possible.

[@CrisM779]

Well, if this was a good read with even all the missed potential, then the author must really be skilled. Just for that reason you got me curious even though this isn't exactly my preferred genre. Also, I kind of feel bad that this turned into a roast since it wasn't an abysmally bad book like I would have expected.

[@Feejakka]

So true that missed potential can cause more frustration than outright crap. Big dead trees make us sadder than little thriving weeds. Or is that a lame metaphor 😂 Hopefully this book was a learning curve for the author and they continue to improve. As always, thanks for a thoughtful and entertaining discussion.

[@hazel350]

Angela Slatter is an extraordinary short stories writer, all in the same world, usually the protagonist of one story is the secondary character on another. This felt like a bunch of short stories glued together and it just didn't work

[@tasha5039]

Watched for fun🎉, commented and liked to feed the youtube gods😂😅😥📲😁

[@CuriousGreyHedgehog]

I just discovered you guys maybe 2 days ago, and I LOVE YOU ALL. You make me want to go read books, but also, I can't stop binging.

[@JeanetHenning]

Me currently writing my book on "vibes"😐

[@NaritaZaraki]

An offering for the algorithm! ^_^ Also 46:29 --> The goodest dogo!!

[@sabrinabeeart]

It's a testement to the quality of your critique that i still want to read this book. I have Of Sorrow and Such by the author on my tbr and every autumn i think this is the year i finally read it. And then i don't get to it and put it off for another year.

[@QueenChristine826]

A lot of new authors have the "too many plots" problem.

[@samyychannomnom9536]

Animorphs? :3

[@LadyJ403]

sounds interesting

[@maledictionwolf]

The three stories in one, with each leading sequentially to the other but not really affecting each other honestly sounds like a long-running D&D campaign. Finish the story arc in the starting town? Well I guess it's time to travel to the next adventure! And then you end up in a new town with a new story, and maybe a bit of character backstory gets woven in with the parents popping up again

[@aspiringheroine]

3:14 Katie😭😭