Last week, Robin wrote a great piece on the topic of originality in fiction. There are pretty much no ideas that haven’t already been expressed but the one thing that distinguishes one work of fiction from another is voice. Yet, voice is something that is hard to define. It’s ephemeral. It is, from a definitional point of view, as hard to define as obscenity. I reached out and asked a variety of authors, editors, and bloggers what their definition of voice was. Here are the responses:

Courtney Milan, author of historical romances such as Trial by Desire:

Voice is a distinctive method of writing; it’s the way a writer deploys language to subtly reinforce character, mood, theme, and all that other good stuff. But I’m kind of a voice-rationalist. I think that a writer’s voice is rather like a singer’s voice: it can be trained, taught, examined, learned, and, yes, even altered and imitated.

From Executive Editor of Carina Press, Angela James:

“I’m looking for a great voice” is something editors say that makes authors groan and roll their eyes. What authors may not always realize is that the great voice I’m looking for, may not be the same great voice another editor is looking for, because every person is attracted to different things in writing. And what many people don’t realize is that anyone who writes–whether it’s email, blog posts, Twitter updates, articles or books has a voice. And no two voices are alike.

As an example, on Dear Author alone, there are as many individual voices as there are reviewers (and those individual voices all contribute to the overall voice of the site itself). Over time we can recognize who’s writing a review without looking at the byline, because we recognize the reviewer’s voice. An article by Janet and an article by Jane on the same topic will sound vastly different, because their voice–how they turn a phrase, their word choice, their construction of sentences, the emotional inflection and the depth of information and how they present it–their voice is unique. And perhaps one visitor to the site loves Janet’s voice, but struggles to get through Jane’s posts. Because we all relate differently to someone’s voice.

In genre fiction, voice is what makes an old concept seem fresh and new. It’s the quality of storytelling that grabs the reader by the throat and won’t let go, it’s what defines the reader’s relationship to the characters, their perception of the world and their connection to the story and plot. An author’s voice is what either gives a reader the ability to sink into a story or makes it difficult for them to connect to it.

Reader Maili:

A voice is an author’s distinctive style of expression and the core of storytelling. I feel there are five major elements of a voice: rhythm, attitude, grammar, mannerisms and style. I did wonder whether to include ‘tone’, but decided against it because I feel it’s part of a story, not the author’s voice. In short, a voice is a lot like a fingerprint, which means no two voices are ever alike.

Maili had an additional comment which I thought was very interesting:

I was talking to a friend about this the other day. She brought up a good question – what about translated works? Whose voice are we hearing – the author or the translator? Does Nora Roberts’s voice come through in a Russian or Japanese translated edition, for instance?

From Editor Esi Sogah, Avon:

This is tough, because voice is the most important thing to me when I make my acquisitions, but it’s very hard for me to give specifics. I think “voice” is best defined by its results. I know an author’s voice is working when a book stays with me, when it hangs out in the back of my brain. It’s what the author brings to the table that’s unique, and it can’t be taught. It can be refined and improved, but a strong authorial voice is, for me, the difference between a fine story and a great book.

From reader Keishon, my most trusted advisor of mystery/thriller books:

An author’s “voice” is something that comes naturally. ‘Voice’ can’t be taught/studied/copied. It is the ‘voice’ of the author that pulls me, the reader, into the story so thoroughly that it makes me forget that I’m reading a book. That is what “voice” does if you have it and not everybody has it, I’m afraid. –Keishon

Jill Myles, Author of the paranormal romance succubus series that starts with Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

Voice is basically the art of you telling a story. It’s the way you speak, your inflections, the things you emphasize because they’re interesting to you. You won’t have the same voice as someone else because they won’t tell the story the same way you do. At least, that’s how I’ve always thought about it. It’s like if you give me and Jia some fabric and tell us to make a dress, I’m going to pick a simple, straight pattern that’s going to emphasize the bust and de-emphasize the waist and avoid pleats. Maybe a zipper or an accent button. Jia might like glitter, silk and flounces. And spaghetti straps. ;) That’s voice – it’s all those things that combine to make your story have a personality.

From bloggers/reviewers Ana Grilo and Thea James at The Book Smugglers

When Jane first contacted us to answer the question, “How do you define authorial voice?” our first reaction was somewhat blasé (Ana’s reaction: "Yeah sure, easy peasy”). But, when the time came to actually write out our response, we realized that although we have an idea of what authorial voice is, actually defining it is a rather complicated business because voice is such a fluid thing. In terms of writing a book, authorial voice is the specific stamp in terms of style, language, cadence, and tone that an author places on his or her work – the implication is that an author is the “voice” behind the plot and the characters. Sometimes authorial voice is more discernible (say, in a third person-narrated novel), but, though intangible, it is always there. Authorial voice can be overt (see Cory Doctorow, whose characters feel like marionettes in a ginormous Cory Doctorow puppet show) or subtle (with Kazuo Ishiguro’s layered Never Let Me Go). At the same time, authorial voice goes beyond style because even style (and language and cadence and tone) can change from book to book for the same author (depending on story, genre etc). For example, Neil Gaiman has a very specific writing style discernible across the majority of his work – but in Stardust, the written style is markedly different (Gaiman himself has written about the change).

Perhaps it would be easier if we simply said: Authorial Voice is that quality that makes each author’s work unique.”

Nalini Singh, author of the Psy/Changeling series and the Guild Hunter series:

Voice, by nature, resists definition. It is that certain “something” that sets one writer apart from another, and is made up not only of the words the writer uses, the unique rhythm of language they create, but also, I think, of the stories they choose to tell.

One other thing I’ll say is that voice isn’t static – it changes over time, and as the author develops. However, with the strongest voices, the core remains the same, and it’s that core that keeps pulling me, as a reader, back to my favorite authors.

From Berkley Executive Editor, Cindy Hwang:

The one thing that I’m asked constantly (as is every editor) is: What are you looking for? My response? A great voice. It sounds like a cop-out, but it’s true–it’s not necessarily the story elements that draw me in, it’s the writer’s voice. I could be reading a story with story elements that feel fresh and exciting in a synopsis, but once I start reading the chapters, if the voice doesn’t draw me in, it doesn’t matter how fresh the elements are because I’ve already stopped reading. I don’t think voice can be taught, but it can be polished, and honed.

From PW Reviewer and editor of the Romance section, Rose Fox:

When I speak of an author’s distinctive voice, I usually mean the rhythm of the words, the use of similes and metaphors and pauses and repetition, everything that moves away from so-called transparent language (which often is merely boring language, and not transparent at all).

Voice is a struggle for many authors because lacking a distinctive voice can mean a book gets lost in a crowd, but having too distinctive an authorial voice, unmodulated by the topic at hand, can mean a book gets lost in the crowd of all the other books by that author. So ideally each book should have its own voice that harmonizes well with, but is not the same as, the voices of that author’s other books. Then the book will live vividly in the reader’s mind and memory.

From Bantam/Dell Senior Editor, Shauna Summers:

What voice is and means is pretty difficult to articulate, at least for me. That's because voice is a magical thing that is hard to identify in a specific or detailed way, but I know it when I see it, or should I say, read it. I do think it is what sets a writer apart more than anything else. Storytelling, character development, actual writing/use of language-’all of these are important, but I think where they all come together is in an author's voice.

Barry Eisler, author of the John Rain series and Ben Treven series:

Voice is one of those things that’s hard to define but that you know when you see it. Another word for it is style, and it’s the quality that enables you to know you’re reading James Ellroy, whose voice is powerful, rather than, say, Michael Chricton, who was a first rate storyteller but who possessed no particular voice. If you’re not sure, a simple test for determining whether an author has voice is to try to parody the author’s style. Authors who can be parodied have voice. Authors who can’t, don’t.

What is voice to you?   Do you notice it? Does it matter to you?

Related posts:

1. RWA Redefines Publisher Definitions
2. What is the value of authorial endorsements?
3. Audio Book Voice, Kate Fleming, Dies

******

Shannon Hale polled some of her fellow YA authors about morals and lessons in YA books. She received an interesting and varied response. One author commented that it seemed like too many books seem to encourage sex without consequences. Shelf Awareness had a small piece today on how no one seems to be commenting on the ultraviolence in the Hunger Games trilogy. One person shared with me that they wouldn’t read the Hunger Games because of the extreme violence toward children in this series. It’s certainly not a series I would want a young reader to read.

******

Random House has come to terms with Andrew Wylie over the books Wylie had planned to publish exclusively in digital form through Amazon. Random House will now make these books available digitally to all its vendors. There is no word on the royalty rate that was agreed to although there was some speculation that new deals from Random House would entitle backlist authors to reach 40% royalty quickly.

******

The PWxyz blog takes on the issue of serious readers. There are serious readers, the author of the piece suggests, and there are serious books. Serious readers are readers like her mother who reads all the time and spends quite a bit of money on books. Her mother, though, reads primarily bestsellers and Oprah blessed novels. I think it’s an interesting distinction between serious reader and serious books. Romance, for example, often does not deal with larger societal issues like hunger, poverty, war, racial inequality that say a fiction book or fantasy book does.

However, it does deal with micro societal issues. Can people of strong class differences overcome prejudices to stay together such as in Susanna Fraser’s The Sergeant’s Lady. Can someone emotionally stunted overcome his barrier to feeling to actually allow himself to be loved such as in Caitlin Carew’s Katrakis’ Last Mistress? Because these aren’t sweeping issues or big issues, they aren’t deemed to be serious and the fact that the end game is for two people to fall in love (or more) makes it even harder for critics to assign the label serious onto these books.

What remains unanswered in the PWxyz blogpost is what constitutes a serious book.

******

Finally, I found this article to bring up a lot of thoughtful questions with no clear good answer. What rights do people have when they invite a journalist into their home? Asne Seierstad, the author of The Bookseller of Kabul, wrote a story based on the thoughts of a female Afghan refugee with whose family Seierstad lived for three months in Kabul. Some of the book portrayed the woman’s husband poorly and hinted at darker deeds. The husband sued for this depiction and the Norwegian court ruled against Seierstad and ordered her to pay a money judgment.

Finally, after years of litigation, a Norwegian court last month ruled against Seierstad and ordered her to pay 250,000 kroner (Dh148,000) to Rais's second wife Suraia. (Seierstad says she will appeal.) The court found that what Seierstad had written about Suraia Rais's private thoughts was sensitive and concluded neither Seierstad nor her publishers "can be considered to have acted in good faith to ensure they were correct and accurate".

This issue is slightly different than when Turcottes sued Augusten Burroughs and St. Martin’s Press for publishing “Running with Scissors”. The suit alleged Burroughs defamed them and was ultimately settled out of court. It’s always, always risky to base a story on real people without a consent and a waiver. But the Seierstad issue brings up cultural issues even if true for the repercussions may be severe such as the claim that Seierstad’s book made it impossible for the Afghan woman to live in Afghanistan any longer. Further, Seierstad revealed some of the most intimate details about this family including a description of the genitals of a woman which would be verboten in Afghani culture. But the ending of the article brought to mind what some of the YA authors said in response to Shannon Hale’s questioning about morals in YA books. An author almost always leaves a footprint behind in her words:

For the truth is not a blank slate, not the mere absence of fabrication. It is, rather, always edited, always selected. We choose what to ask and what to omit, what facts to weave into a narrative, what to leave implied. All of us who try to write about other people in other cultures are also writing about ourselves: our art is a self-portrait, so we are never neutral. In telling other people's stories, we always tell part of our own.

Related posts:

1. Thursday Midday Links: Kindle 3 Available for Order, Ships Aug 27
2. Thursday Midday Links: Here Come the Category Bestsellers
3. Thursday Midday Links

Fear of criticizing one’s publisher evinces a certain lack of faith in one’s work. If speaking out on an important issue like one’s cover might cause an author to become unpublishable, I wonder how saleable that work really is. If the author’s voice is so easily replicated or replaced, why should it make any mark in the marketplace?

By coincidence, during last week’s controversy, I received an email from Barry Eisler, whose French publisher, Belfond, has repeatedly chosen covers Barry finds weak. Barry’s past attempts to persuade Belfond to change course have been fruitless, and Barry found their latest proposed cover so insipid and inappropriate that he decided to pen them an open letter. Would I post it, he asked? In a word: yes.

Will authors ever feel free to criticize publishers? Should they?   Should a conspiracy of silence be maintained? Does that help or hurt?   Is is unprofessional to air out criticisms in public?   If yes, what kind? If no, why?

Dear Belfond,

I’m grateful that you like my novels enough to buy the French publishing rights. And I hope it goes without saying that I want you to succeed with those rights, and succeed wildly. In fact, I think I can safely say to all publishers, on behalf of all authors, that we want nothing more than to help you succeed.

But damn, you sometimes make it hard.

The cover you plan to use for my seventh novel, Fault Line, pictured below, is inexcusably bad. It’s not just bad for my book; it would be bad for *any* book. It wouldn’t even work as part of a brochure from a surveillance camera equipment supplier (although at least there it would have some logical connection to the underlying product). Yes, it’s that meaningless. That boring. That unlikely to cause a potential customer to do anything but overlook it and move on.

Before we go further, let’s acknowledge two things. First, two percent of people are going to love your cover. It’s their favorite color, they find garage doors strangely erotic, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Such reactions are idiosyncratic and will exist in two percent of the population for any cover imaginable. Unless your goal is to appeal to only two percent of your possible customer base, you need to do better. Second, I understand different things work in different markets. But what you’ve chosen isn’t a violation of a particular market sensibility. It’s a violation of the fundamental principles of marketing itself — principles that apply across cultures. We’ll discuss those principles below.

Now, I grant you, Fault Line isn’t an easy story to capture in a cover. Two brothers — a soldier and a lawyer — riven by an old family tragedy. A conspiracy that forces them back together. A beautiful Iranian-American woman each desires and distrusts. Sex, violence, exotic locales. Suspense. A backstory right out of the headlines.

Did you notice how, in describing the book, I’m also describing its potential selling points, the points that might induce a potential reader to buy it? For some books it’s harder, for some it’s easier, but this is always what you need to do.

Now, can you identify even a single *one* of the selling points I mention above in your proposed cover?

I didn’t think so.

Let’s look at it another way. If you knew nothing about the underlying book and could judge only by this cover image and title, what would you guess the book is about? Related and equally important, what would the cover suggest the book feels like? Sexy, gritty, funny, phantasmagoric, scary, thrilling, fast, slow… you get the idea. A cover should convey sellable mood as well as sellable story points.

What you’ve proposed for Fault Line looks like a closed garage door with a couple CCTV cameras top right. The title suggests there’s some kind of fatal connection here, but in the absence of anything else, that’s not much to go on. So you’d have to guess, “The book is about closed garage doors. Or maybe surveillance cameras.” Of course, you’d be wrong — in fact, the book is not about garage doors or surveillance cameras, or even about concepts suggested by garage doors and security cameras. There is some (incidental) surveillance in the book, but even if the pictured cameras appealingly conveyed this notion, is surveillance really one of this book’s key selling points? Really the reason someone might want to buy this book? Is surveillance the reason *you* bought the book?

The proposed cover doesn’t even offer higher-level clues. Sex? Action? Exotic locales? Is a single one of these more general selling points even hinted at in this proposed cover?

As for the mood your image conveys, I’d say: Closed. Impenetrable. Inert. Dull. Lifeless. Empty.

Are those qualities that attract you to a story? Do you expect they will attract readers?

Of course not. In fact, if someone deliberately sought the most insipid, inert image possible, it would be hard to beat what you’ve proposed. I can only conclude from this that you don’t understand what makes a cover work, or what principles you ought to apply in choosing one, and that you’re therefore picking images more at less at random. That’s not good — you’re in the business of selling books, after all — but it would be worse to just accept this level of performance and give up. So I hope the following will help.

You need to start by asking yourself what *you* liked about the book. Why did you buy the publishing rights? What about the book made it special to you? Why are you excited about it, what moved you, what do you talk about when you talk about the book? If you like, you can approach this step instead by trying to articulate to a imaginary customer why he or she would like the book, find it exciting and satisfying, etc.

Next, once you’ve articulated these things and refined them, list them, in order of importance.

Third, try to identify imagery that suggests these things. You can do this yourself, or through a design firm to whom you’ve conveyed the list above (but don’t outsource the creation of the list itself. You might wind up with… well, with a picture of an olive-hued garage door). The imagery you or the designer selects will form the basis for the cover.

Finally, pressure check the proposed cover by asking the question I mention above: If you knew nothing about the underlying book and could judge only by this cover image and title, what would you guess the book is about? If the cover provides the correct answers — that is, the very things *you* liked about the book — you’re doing well. If you want to be thorough and do this test properly (and why not?), show the cover to people who really don’t know the first thing about the book and ask them what they think the book is about, what they think is the feel or mood of the story within.

A good cover will engage the potential customer. Eye-catching is fine, but it isn’t enough — otherwise we could just slap on florescent colors and zebra stripes and call it a day. As a general rule, there should be something in the cover that suggests a story, that makes the reader wonder about something hinted at but not revealed, that causes the reader to want to pick up the book to investigate further, something that’s like a whispered promise on which the book will then deliver. If a cover doesn’t interest a potential reader enough to at least cause her to pick the book up and flip it over, you’ve lost the opportunity to get her to take any other steps that might end with her carrying the book to the cash register. And if a cover doesn’t help you sell books, whatever else it might be doing, it’s a failure.

Stated simply, you must keep two things in mind: what a cover is for, and how your cover will achieve it. If you can’t clearly and persuasively answer both these questions, your efforts are likely to be substandard.

For what it’s worth, you’re hardly the only publisher that finds itself, shall we say, book packaging challenged. See, for example, Stephen King excoriating FSG for their inexcusably anodyne packaging of Mischa Berlinski’s Fieldwork. Or browse the shelves of any bookstore and see how few books are packaged effectively. Or consider this example of a publisher’s proposed author bio. But why not be better? After all, a poorly thought-out cover doesn’t cost less than a well conceived one. Mediocrity doesn’t save you money. It only costs you. And with so many poorly-packaged books out there, it’s easier for a good one to stand out.

Forgive me for discussing your packaging shortcomings in public, but I’ve tried before in private and to no apparent effect. I hope that by addressing you in this context, I might finally get your attention. And though I recognize this kind of communication might irritate you, a reaction authors generally fear, what do I have to lose, really? If you go ahead with this cover, you’ll have killed the book in France anyway (not for the first time, let’s be honest). So for me, there’s not much to lose in beseeching you to do better. And even if you don’t listen, others might learn from your mistakes. A conspiracy of silence on ineptitude in this business is slow suicide for everyone involved, and I’d like to see other authors push back harder when their publishers propose ineffective packages. If this letter encourages or enables other authors to improve their own publishers’ efforts, it would be some measure of consolation for stillborn sales of Fault Line.

But come on, you can do better than this. My British publisher did. Their initial covers for the UK Rain books were almost as bad as what you’ve proposed for Fault Line, and my sales in the UK reflected it. But to their great credit, the Brits acknowledged how poorly they had done, did a complete rethink, and dramatically repackaged the books with stunningly good covers (images below). My UK sales immediately shot up, I earned out, and my UK publisher is now firmly in the black with me. You can do the same, if you want to. I hope you’ll let me help.

Sincerely yours,

Barry

	First British cover for Rain Fall, looking like… a thriller about cloud formations?
	First British cover for Hard Rain, looking like a thriller about… the color mustard yellow?
	Now we’re talking.   Apply my test for a book package to this cover and to the previous British covers:   If you  knew nothing about the underlying book and could judge only by this cover image and title, what would you guess the book is about?   Related and equally important, what does it *feel* like?
	Again:   what does this cover convey vs the first British Hard Rain cover?

Related posts:

1. Let’s Talk About Sex (and Love and then Sex Again)
2. Give Away Your Book and Your Sales Will Increase
3. Tor to Give Away Free eBooks

I think this is your first book. I was thrilled when I found it on Mill & Boon in digital form because I could immediately buy it (along with all your other titles) after the thoroughly enjoyable Boyfriend: Plan B (review to come).

Nathan Delaney is a famous children’s writer using the pen name of Chris Senso. Nathan is a recluse, though, because he had a brush with fame back in his early college days which turned him into a near hermit. The only picture on his books is a childhood picture and he lives a very isolated life.

Unfortunately a popular daytime talk show host has decided that she will unmask Chris Senso and she begins a daily hunt for him, asking for her viewers to call in with tips and clues. She ratchets it up on a daily basis from using an age regression analysis to hiring a profiler to look at the books to determine the race, age, geographic location.

Nathan is spooked. He had writer’s block since he and his fiancee broke up. Nathan decides to get out of his current town. He starts driving and his car dies around Richwoods,New York.

Rhian MacGregor’s life was put on hold when her sister and her sister’s husband died eight years ago. They left behind a little baby and Rhian took up the parenting reins. She lost her fiance and her business that she started with him but now, as Jem is off for a summer trip with his grandparents, Rhian is starting to look at her empty life.

First, though, she needs to get her house painted. Nathan has offered up his services as a housepainter and despite having no local recommendations and appearing kind of a drifter, Rhian doesn’t have much choice. No one else will return her calls. (why Nathan choose to set himself as a housepainter is a bit questionable).

Nathan and Rhian are instantly interested in each other, but both are little too risk adverse to take a chance. As Nathan paints Rhian’s house and they begin to spend time together and their attraction deepens. Rhian decides that Nathan, a transient painter, would be the perfect person with whom to have an affair while Jem is gone. Nathan knowing he is just passing through also feels that this connection with Rhian is safe.

I loved the interaction between Rhian and her friend Min, both women were at a crossroads in their life. Nathan’s banter with his long time friend and agent, Matt, provided frequent moments of levity. Rhian and Nathan’s connection felt genuine.

Raising one eyebrow, he grinned wickedly as his eyes skimmed down her body. "Will you wear an apron? A very little apron to go with this," he said, leering, "very little skirt?"

"I’m a waitress, not a French maid." She blushed. She’d wanted him wanting her, but it felt uncomfortable.

He kissed her firmly and then pulled back and said matter-of-factly. "Any apron will do. I have a good imagination."

I thought it was an interesting look at the fetishization we have as a public and our deep seeded desire to know all can result in exploiting other’s losses such as when Lindsey, the talk show host, dug up the story about Jem’s parent’s death and put the pictures of it on her show. Jem was heartbroken and confused but all the while had enjoyed the hunt for Chris Senso.

“Why did she show my mom and dad?" He turned to Rhian with bewildered eyes and she pulled him closer. "Does she know about them?"

"I’m sorry, Jem. I think she does."

Jem’s voice was full of unshed tears. "I don’t want her to talk about my mom and dad. What if people watch her show and ask me those questions? I hate those questions."

Nathan knew the questions Jem meant, because he hated them, too.”

Nathan’s emotions were all over the place. He was falling in love with Rhian who maybe only wanted a temporary fling. He was afraid of ruining the tranquility he felt in this small town with its loving community by being found out as Chris Senso. He felt guilty that his friend and agent, Matt, was being followed around 24/7. He felt like he was losing control (and he was).

Rhian’s not so confused. She knows what she wants but she’s afraid to move outside her comfort zone, whether it is working on her children’s book or taking what she wants with Nathan.

But both Rhian and Nathan’s lives were on hold. Nathan because he hadn’t quite been able to shake off the past and Rhian because of Jem. Both were afraid to move forward.

The hunt for Chris Senso was a great way to build anticipation and suspense in the story. You knew Nathan was going to be found out. It was a matter of when and how.

There are things that didn’t make sense to me. Why did Nick really believe Patricia, his former fiancee, would not reveal his secret when they broke up? Where did he meet her if he has lived this hermit life existence? I also thought it was interesting that Nathan’s writing and art was so inspired by the women in his life. And if that were so and Patricia was as truly shallow as she is portrayed, then why wouldn’t his books during the Patricia period be shallow as well. As an aside, I always wonder at the taste of the hero when his first wife/fiancee is such a horrible person. Surely, there had to be something to recommend her other than her good looks and her desire to be showered with gifts? Also, was it too perfect that Rhian wanted to be a children’s writer as well?

I did love how the book ended and how Nathan and Rhian foiled the talk show host and Patricia. This is a sweet and tender romance and I’m ever so grateful to Jayne for having shown me the way to your books. B-

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon in used format (originally published in 2007 and apparently no longer in print) or in ebook format Mills & Boon.

PS Mills & Boon, the excerpt at the end of the book for Falling for the Tycoon by Karina Bliss totally worked for me. Bought the book. Who can resist a man that cries at funerals!

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: The Boyfriend’s Back by Ellen Hartman
2. REVIEW: His Secret Past by Ellen Hartman
3. REVIEW: Everything Nice by Ellen Shanman

In other publishing news, Ballantine has bought Jenny Sanford’s memoir.   As much as I have sympathy for a woman whose bastard of a husband humiliates her non stop on the national stage, I wish these politicians would just stop spilling their guts about their private lives.   I’ve had enough of the John Edwards’s story too.

Jessica of Racy Romance Reads guest blogs at Romancing the Blog about how art should not be judged on the relative morality of the artist.

Visual artists, musicians, film directors, and writers throughout history have been some of our most wretched human beings: liars, cheats, egomaniacs, thieves, heartbreakers, sellouts, and all purpose scumbags. A favorite example among philosophers is the painter Gauguin, who left his wife and family destitute so he could go to Tahiti and paint nudes.

Has, from the bookpushers blog, had a wonderful post about disabilities in romance at the Borders True Romance blog:

Reading "Lie with Me’ made me realise that romance, as a genre, can cross all boundaries and social issues, and transform negative elements into a positive light, which made me fall in love with the genre even more. Doing it the right way, with an emotionally or physically handicapped hero or heroine, can bring out the best responses in this particular trope.

SmexyBooks posts a rundown of books she’s excited about for 2010 in the paranormal/futuristic subgenre including Kresley Cole’s next Lykae book (if you are jonesing for a shapeshifter story), Pleasure of a Dark Prince. I am excited about the next Larissa Ione Demonica book. Surely Ione can write faster than she is currently doing so I don’t have to wait so long between books, right?   Patricia Brigg’s Silverborne is due in March.   Most exciting though? Carolyn Crane’s debut novel, Mind Games. It’s an UF and I am hopeful that there will be a thread of romance through it.   Crane has been a long time blogger in the romance community.

Nathan Bransford gives examples of the showing v. telling in fiction.

Being told that a character is “angry” is not very interesting – we’re reading the book, we know his dog just got kicked, of course he’s angry! It’s redundant to be told that the character is “angry.”

More interesting is how the character reacts to seeing his dog kicked. Does he hold it in and tap his foot slowly? Does he explode? Does he clench his fists?

Orbit released a super cool website for Gail Carriger’s book, Soulless.   It’s a digital “paper” doll.   I spent way too much time playing with the doll and her various  accouterments.   Don’t go there. You’ll only…well, I don’t say I didn’t warn you. See you in a few hours.   As for whether this promotion works? It did for me. I’m very interested to see where she wore these different outfits.   Am I shallow? I guess I am.   Book is due out first week of October.

The parties to the Google Book Settlement have succumbed to the intense pressure of the opposition.   Armed with the Department of Justice filing, the parties will attempt to recraft the settlement agreement.   This is not to say that there won’t be some settlement in the future, it just won’t be the one we’ve discussed.

Related posts:

1. Tuesday Midday Links Roundup: Boston Prep School Eliminates Its Library
2. Tuesday Mid Day Links RoundUp: The Medieval Chronicle
3. Thursday Midday Links Roundup: DWEBs Still Thwarting the Women