The Personal Opinion Roundup (Part 2)

Last week I posted personal opinions about five of my books—in the midst of conversations about everything else, my thoughts on my own work had gotten a little lost in the crowd. The earlier post is immediately below this one and you can click on it if you want to hear about the first five books (The Birthday Present; A Year with the Harrisons; Facets of Fantasy; This Merry Summertime; and City of the Invaders.) Here's the next five:
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• Consuela—This book has become sinister. It started as an unnecessary development within a now-defunct series and then moved rather awkwardly into another series. But it has slipped into a dark horse position behind my other books and now sports a serious presence that is a surprise considering its fluffy past.
• Victoria: A Tale of Spain—This book is unfinished. I had assumed it was complete, but I've come to realize it's not and reader reviews have suggested that for a long time. The two pieces that came together to form the book can be called Part 1 and Part 2--so I am going to need Part 3 sometime.

• Ryan and Essie—This book is rather flimsy. A genuine malevolence underpins the planet the children stray into and in flashes you can still see the intent of the characters they meet. But the concepts are kept in the background and the book has a “for the whole family” popcorn flick tone.
• The Test of Devotion--This book is pretty good. It's a likable story with complexity, adventure, and a positive message about courage. There turned out to be a hidden layer of value beneath its first draft and it really deserved the second chance it got. If Jonah could get another opportunity, this book certainly can!
• Bellevere House—This book is a thing of the past. It has some sophistication, learned under Austen's tutelage, but people mostly saw it as an endgame, my final book, and it represented my failure as an author. This conversation is obsolete as I move on with my career and the actual story was never much looked at aside from it.

And there will be more updates.