#flying straightish

[lgbtmediarepresentation]

BOOK REVIEW: FLYING STRAIGHTISH BY NINA WHITE

Thanks to the author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Flying Straightish is a novel by Nina White. It follows Lex and Domino, two space pirates who are drafted into “the clean up crew” and forced to help an organisation called the Galactic Alliance. The story jumps straight (ish... sorry I couldn’t resist) into the action, with events unfolding until our two main characters find themselves employed under a new captain and stationed on a ship which, for once, they haven’t stolen.

Lex and Domino themselves are strong characters and I liked their dynamic from the start and the descriptions of all the characters, especially the alien species, were creative and original. The plot itself was interesting, though I won’t include any details here for spoiler reasons, but I think the main strength of the novel is its leading space pirates, and all the interactions between them and the rest of the main cast.

Overall, although at times the writing was a little rough and the grammar a little off, the plot was solid and the characters shone. The writing itself was entertaining too, with sentences like “Their head tentacles were far too pleasant and exotic for trifles like gender to matter” or “And to be fair, most pirates have killed a lot of pirates. It’s a very competitive industry,” among my favourites. You can find Flying Straightish on goodreads, with links to the online shops where you can purchase it. It’s only £1.99 on the English Amazon store, or free with kindle unlimited. Currently, to my knowledge, it’s only available in ebook format. 

I recommend it for anyone looking for a fun, diverse space adventure.

[ninasnon-sense]

16.5K words left to go on this proof reading run for Flight of the Phoenix. So close and yet so far. Still no word back from the second beta reader for Monster, though I’m pretty confident with that one. I’m getting a surprising amount done consider there’s a baby to look after.

[ninasnon-sense]

It’s weird. I’m freaking out so much more over Lost and Found than I did over Vengeance of the Dead or Flying Straightish. I have no idea why though. I just really need this to work out. I really do.

Vengeance of the Dead was a stand alone horror novel (possibly novella if you’re being harsh), so it didn’t feel like it had the gravity of this one. But it was the first bit of writing I was asking people to pay for. It came out in June 2015 and to date it has sold 12 copies. I was never expecting it do amazing and honestly I was just glad some people bought it.

Flying Straightish was more complicated. I’m more attached to the characters, which is a good thing because it’s the start of a series. The world is huge and the sky is an open invitation rather than a limit, but the people helping me play spot the typo loved it and have been bugging me for the sequel since then, so I was pretty sure I was putting out an enjoyable book if not a good one. It’s only sold about 7 copies but it’s in a much more popular genre so I was expecting it to get swamped.

With Lost and Found I have no idea what to expect. Again the people that have been helping me proof read have loved it, but for some reason that really hasn’t put my mind at ease. I know I love it. I love the characters, I love the setting, I love everything about it. Maybe that’s why I’m so worried. I really want this one to do well. I want people to love it as much as I do. And I don’t know how to attract people to it. I’ve done my best with the cover and the blurb, but I have no idea how to go about marketing it. I wish I did. I really wish I did. For now though, all I can really do is post about it and hope.

For anyone interested, my UK author page is here and my US author page is here.

[ninasnon-sense]

Just ordered a physical copy of each of my books ^.^ Including Lost and Found. Should be hear next week. I can’t wait.

Speaking of Lost and Found, it’s just going through amazon’s review process now, so it’ll be available on Saturday at the latest. I’ll post links when it’s gone properly live. It feels a lot more real knowing that there’s physical copies out there.

[ninasnon-sense]

Flying Straightish (Hijinks and Shenanigans Book 1) eBook: Nina White: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Follow the exploits of Lex and Domino, a pair of self serving space pirates that get interrupted in their goal of sleeping their way around the galaxy and stealing everything that’s not nailed down (and some things that are) by getting drafted into the Clean Up Crew. Forced to assist a small band of weirdos in this rag tag organisation that runs around and does all of the real work for the Galactic Alliance, this trigger happy and often inebriated duo will barely tolerate bureaucrats, utterly fail at being law abiding citizens and leave everyone that sees them wondering just one thing. Where in the galaxy did he even get trousers like that?

[ninasnon-sense]

And that’s chapter 18 of Flight of the Phoenix done. Holy shit, I am a writing machine today. Shame I have grown up stuff to do rather than riding this wave for how ever long it lasts. I’m only about 2 and a half days behind now, rather than the week I was behind before.

[ninasnon-sense]

So, chapter 15 of Flight of the Phoenix is done. Yay.

Frankly, it should have been done a few days ago, but for about 4 days I was just way too wiped to work, so now that my batteries have recharged I’m playing catch up. 1600 down, another 1600 to go on top of what I normally write. It’s a pain in the arse, but I really did not have the energy or the mental acuity to write for those few days.

Sometimes you just need a break. Even though I love writing I’m the first person to admit that doing it everyday isn’t always the best idea and sometimes you just have to give your brain a rest. Especially if you have other commitments that really take it out of you. Writing often feels like having a second full time job, only it one doesn’t pay. Well, very well anyway. I think I’ve sold about 20 books in total since I started, but hopefully it’ll get to the point where I can quit my shitty day job over the next couple of years.

[ninasnon-sense]

Right, that’s chapter 13 of Flight of the Pheonix finished, taking the word count so far up to just over 39 000. I’m thinking this thing is going to be significantly longer than I originally though. Not sure by how much though. I reckon I’m about a third of the way through at the moment, but I won’t be able to tell for another couple of chapters. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up clocking in at around 100k, maybe even 110K. For perspective, Flying Straightish (available here) is just over 71K, or 216 pages according to amazon.

The thought is a bit daunting as I’ve gotten used to writing shorter books, but I used to aim for that sort of length. I also never used to finish a damn thing, so getting the chance to finish something that long can only be a good experience. Hopefully. I’m already dreading hitting the brick wall of Fuck This Story though. Mostly because of how well it’s been going for the past 20K words. It feels as though when that finally runs out It’s going to be even worse than usual. Oh well, I’ll manage.

On another note, I’m currently in the midst of trying to work out how Create Space works, so in a month or so physical copies of my books will be available, starting with the upcoming Lost and Found (more about that at a later date) and working back to the other two.