Dear Author Test Blog

Welcome to the brand new Borders blog for Romance Readers. We’ve convinced Borders that they needed a blog space for readers by readers. At the True Romance blog, you’ll get the newest information about the hottest books straight from the editors and authors. We’ll be giving away copies of books (early peeks). But most importantly, we’ll be providing a place for readers to come and talk about romances. What the love and what the don’t. What they can’t wait to see and what they wish would never be published again.

One thing that Sarah and I know is that romance readers love a good debate as much as they love their books.

Stay tuned for more content from editors, authors, and other readers on the internet. We will be reposting reader reviews left for romance books here at the blog as well as answering questions from readers about upcoming books, seeking out authors in their natural habitats, and generally nattering on about the great world of romances. We hope you join us in our quest to get everyone to read a romance. (and hopefully love it).

Most importantly, we want to hear from you. There are a ton of ways to get»

Dear Mr. Crutcher,

I picked up your book DEADLINE because my middle teenage daughter has a problem sitting still for long enough to read her required books for English, and when she does read them, she needs help absorbing them. She started your book, handed it to me and demanded to know “Is the main character really dying????”
As in she couldn’t believe her eyes. So I opened the book and read.

Yes, the main character is dying. Almost stopped reading right there because my kid-in-jeopardy tolerance is pretty low. But here’s the thing. I couldn’t. You sucked me right in with your easy, sardonic wit and devastating charm coated in a bluntness that as an author myself, I loved. Our hero is Ben Wolf, a pint-sized, eighteen year old who lives in a small town in Idaho. He has big things planned for his senior year, big things that don’t include a fatal blood disease.

But he takes the cards he’s dealt. Because he’s eighteen, he’s allowed to keep his terminal disease a secret from his crazy mother, distanced father and beloved brother. It’s a decision Ben claims to be positive about, but his inner id, whom he affectionately calls Hey-Soos, keeps poking»

Last winter, I posted that I would love to hear from readers, writers, bloggers about why they read, write and blog. Bev Stephans was one of the first to come forth and share her story with our community about why she reads.

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I don’t have a blog and I don’t write books, but I love to read and I love to talk about what I read.

I have been reading since I first learned how in school. My Dad used to take me to the library once a week and it was a magical place. All those books and I could only choose a few each time. In time, I had read all the books at my reading level and started on the next level.

Then we moved and we had a library nearby that I could walk to all by myself. What a treat. This wonderful library not only had more books than the previous library, but they had a marvelous doll’s house that I spent hours looking at.

Then we moved again and there was no library nearby. I was devastated and started stealing my mother’s paperbacks to read. Some were romances, but most were mysteries. My mother loved Perry Mason stories»

Last winter, I posted that I would love to hear from readers, writers, bloggers about why they read, write and blog. Gail Dayton, author of the new book, New Blood, offers up this personal account.

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I love to read. No, I looooove to read. And I read fast. I read about 300 books a year (counting re-reads). So when I saw the Ja(y)nes offer to post essays on reading, writing and the love thereof, I got to thinking—WHY do I love reading and writing so much.

It’s the stories. My cousin Diane taught me to read when I was just four, and from that moment, I’ve been caught up in the worlds opened up to me by books. But I think my addiction to story must go earlier than that, because my mother likes to talk about taking me to see Bambi with my multitude of cousins when I was three. (Mama is the youngest of four sisters, each of whom had four kids, except for Aunt Bettye, who had six…The family Thanksgiving is massive.) For weeks afterward, my invisible friend Bambi went everywhere with me. Hey, at least Bambi was a deer and didn’t require his own plate at the dinner»

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

(I could not have written this post without the help of Maili aka McVane and her near encyclopedic knowledge of the history of internet community on romance)

One thing that does not get enough acknowledgment is how past communities on the internet have blazed new trials in romance criticism and readership involvement in books. Michelle Buonfiglio’s piece about good communities and bad communities wasn’t just a swipe at Smart Bitch Sarah but it was an indictment of all communities that foster robust discussion. It raised old and tired arguments and worse dismisses or refuses to acknowledge the communities that formed the foundation of internet communities that we have today. The main reason why internet is good for romance? Because the community keeps us loyal to and passionate about the romance genre and that results in greater sales. The basis for my post today is threefold:

1. to honor and give due to those who went before us.
2. to recognize that critical discourse leads to strengthening of the community.
3. to enforce that romance needs an internet community of vibrant, contrary, smart readers.

“Nora Roberts does it again! First in a Quartet, VISIONS IN WHITE tells a emotional story about 4 friends that begin their own Wedding Planning business only to find a love of their own! Read Mac’s story & find out about her unexpected trip down the aisle.

All fiction readers will enjoy this book. Look for BED OF ROSES on sale in November.”

Thanks for your contribution, A Romance Reviewer. We’ll be sending you an ARC of Nora’s follow up _________.

A week ago I pounded out an article that I was going to offer up as my guest blog post for the Love of Reading Book Fair. It was all about how tension between print reviewers and bloggers is unnecessary because blogging fills the niches that print reviewers don’t have the space or inclination to service.

Yesterday I pulled it up to polish a bit and realized it that it was dullness personified. I figured that if there were new readers from the Book Fair, I didn’t want them to get the idea that romance was full of sex and boring. What kind of representative would I be? I put away the article to bore you with another day because I’m all about treating the regulars right.

To those who might not be familiar with Dear Author, we love romance books. We love the stories that end happily. We love the stories with the pink covers. We love the stories that have, wait for it, sex.

I decided to write about my affection for reading love, sex, vampires and the escapist factor of paranormal/fantasy books that are purportedly dominating the market today. (This seems to be debunked a bit in the recent Business of»

[slideshow id=2]I have TEN ACE/ROC titles (1 will be an ebook copy) scheduled to be published in March, April and May including Anne Bishop, Ann Aguirre, and Ilona Andrews. Anne Soward, editor of ACE/ROC, has donated these books to giveaway to highlight some of their spring titles. Play the slideshow (there is a 4 sec delay) or click through the covers and then take a look at the highlights below. Drop a note in the comments with the title of two books you would like and anything else you think ACE/ROC should know. Winners will be picked at random.

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We have lots of exciting books coming from Ace and Roc in the next few months! (Too many, in fact, to tell you about all of them—check out our website http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/specialinterests/scifi/index.html for more info on our upcoming releases.)

Thanks to Jane for giving me this opportunity to share some details on our forthcoming books with Dear Author readers.

In March 2009:

The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop.

• This is a new Black Jewels novel, set in the violently passionate, darkly erotic world ruled by the Blood, a race of witches and warlocks whose power is channeled through magical jewels. It features an unusual heroine for a Black Jewels novel—a lighter-jeweled»