Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Even though most of the U.S. has a holiday today, we are still blogging at Dear Author because if you can’t blog and read and blog hop on a holiday, what good is it?

We’ll start off with a non book treat, but a visual feast for the eyes. Via my Twitter friend Teresa Kopec, romance reader and political aficianado, are the wedding pictures of Adam and Hallis. It looks mystical, like something you would read in a book but never have the opportunity to attend yourself.

In other fantastic news broken on Twitter, Kristen Painter, co owner of the Romance Divas, sold her first long form narrative book to Orbit. It’s part UF, part romance, and wholly interesting. (yes, I’ve had the good fortune to read it). You can get a taste of Painter’s work in September when her first book will be released from Samhain.

Jane Friedman, former CEO of HarperCollins, who oversaw 10 years of growth for that publishing company, asks the question about what kind of middlemen will exist in the future of publishing. Unfortunately she provides little guidance. For myself, I see many smaller publishers because …

 Loading ...

I kind of made up this poll so I could talk about a recent blog post that I saw wherein the author appeared to describe the Scottish hero in absolute terms:

But there is far more to a hero who wears a kilt than just his clothing. If the story takes place hundreds of years ago in Scotland, he’s a tall, strong warrior who fights for what he believes in and what he loves. His duty is to defend his clan, his lands, his country, and protect the woman he loves. Honor and loyalty are of primary importance to him. He is noble but at times playful. That delicious Scottish accent rolls off his tongue, seducing both the heroine and the reader. He can handle a sword or a woman’s pleasure with equal proficiency. He has passion in spades. Sometimes that famous Scots temper might escape his control and have him spouting Gaelic curses or chasing after the enemy with a sword. The land of myth and legend is his home. He has experienced the harsh realities of life–the feuds, battles and oppression–but chances are he also believes in fairies and magic. Perhaps his soul and body are battered

…

Somewhat belatedly, I am announcing the winner of the Famous Firsts giveaway from Harlequin:

As a special treat we have provided 1 nostalgia Harlequin tote bag and 8 Famous First novels to giveaway to a random commenter.

Don’t forget that you can enjoy 16 free Harlequin novels by downloading them at www.HarlequinCelebrates.com.

Patty L. is our winner. I’ve emailed you. Congratulations.

Dear Ms. Holley:

I bought this ebook because it was a new release from Samhain and because I found you entertaining and interesting on Twitter. (I think we shared a bad attitude Twitter day). I hadn’t realized when I bought and read it that it had been reviewed by Sarah over at SmartBitches. While I don’t disagree with Sarah’s comments about the flaws in the book, I would rate this book higher than a C- and here’s why.

Lark Manning has had a crush on Detective Taran Lloyd since forever. His family took her in when her parents died and her youthful hero worship has evolved into something much more adult. Unfortunately Taran hasn’t noticed that she has grown up and Lark is reluctant to force the issue for fear of rejection. Family dinners would be no fun.

What Lark doesn’t know but we, as the reader, do know is that Detective Taran Lloyd has not only noticed that Lark Manning has grown into a very hot woman but that she is his mate. He hasn’t figured out how to broach the mate subject with Lark. For the past …

Dear Ms. Hutchinson,

Firefighters are hot sexy thangs, so it’s easy to see why you picked that profession for this installment of the Courage Bay (Code Red) series. Wow, lots of stuff appears to be happening in this small, picturesque SoCal location including two people falling in love while they fight fires, rescue cats and solve an undercover investigation.

Shannon O’Shea is one of only two women in the fire department in Courage Bay, CA. She’s earned her spot though hard work, dedication and being in such top condition that she’s called “Biceps” by her fellow firemen. That and the fact that she arm wrestled, and beat, a fellow probie when his repeated attempts to ask her out annoyed her.

But John Forrester, newly arrived firefighter from NYC, lights her fires and quickly becomes very important to Shannon. She knows there’s something he’s not telling her. Is it related to the two mysterious warehouse fires that occurred? And is what he’s not telling her bad or good?

I love the calls out the squad gets. Some pathos mixed with humans at their hysterical, whacked out best. What people won’t do… The details about the station …

Loose Id was featured in the Washington Post. Treva Harte, the owner of Loose Id, was recently able to quit her job as a trademark lawyer to write and run Loose Id full time.

Doreen DeSalvo, the company’s chief financial officer, said the enterprise, which charges $2 to $8 for its online books, grossed $1.3 million in 2008 and is on track to make slightly more this year

Karen brings up the issue of perception as it relates to ebook companies. Like Karen, I have this perception that Loose ID does more m/m or m/m/f fiction than anything else.

Now of course I know that they do publish heterosexual romances, but I happened to surf over there on Sunday, and every single release was an M/M book. Two words: Nail and coffin.

Katie interviews the publicist for Sourcebooks about the upcoming YA line and his day to day activities.

My day officially starts at 8:30, but I like to get in early to read Shelf Awareness, the School Library Journal blogs (Practically Paradise, Fuse #8 and Amy Bowllan’s blog are my favorites), Media Bistro, and other blog reviews so I can stay aware of what is going on

…

Dear Ms. Krahn:

I don’t think I’ve read a Blaze Historical before (and I’m not even sure what a Blaze Historical is). I’ll admit that I passed over this book initially when I was perusing the eHarlequin ebook website because the blurb which included a reference to Prince of Wales and I am always nervous about the incorporation of Very Famous People in books. But! I am so glad that I did get this as an ARC because I actually thought the book was great and I wouldn’t have read it had it not been sent to me.

Mariah Eller is a widow whose sole inheritance from her deceased husband is the Eller-Stapleton Inn. One evening she is called to the Inn because several wealthy gentlemen were about to smash out the windows, molest her serving girl, and generally destroy the inn. Worse, because the so called gentlemen have signed her register under fake names (Jack Sprat, Jack B Nimble, Union Jack, Jack A. Dandy, Jack Ketch, Jack O. Lantern), she can’t even hold them responsible if they do wreak havoc. Her only choice is to lull them into a drunken stupor. …

Dear Ms. Hart,

Bess Walsh needs time away from her unhappy marriage. She finds it at the beach house she inherited from her parents. There, in the water, Bess fantasizes about Nick, the boy she loved and lost twenty years before. She touches herself and soon she feels Nick touching her. The lovemaking is intense, unforgettable.

But the next morning Bess is shocked to see that her fantasy lover hasn’t evaporated with the night. Nick is still there, and though physically he hasn’t aged a day since they parted company twenty years earlier, he feels solid and corporeal, and has an emotional maturity he did not have back in those days.

Bess has missed Nick so badly that she does not want to question his reappearance or interrogate his twenty year old disappearance. She knows it must involve something that she won’t like hearing. Instead, she drowns the questions in touch, in passionate sex that makes the rest of the world fade away.

Bess and Nick’s past is revealed in chapters that alternate with the present day storyline. Back then, Bess was a twenty year old college student who came to Bethany Beach …

There are a few very interesting (and some long) pieces on the current publishing business model and the way that it will need to adapt and change in order to survive.

• Michael Nielson’s long post on how publishing is failing and how smart parts of publishing can reinvent itself. It’s definitely worth reading but it’s not an article that can be read and absorbed in one sitting.
• John Green talks about advances versus royalty rates. Like many a good blog post, the topic inspires many good comments.
• The Espresso Book Machine is becoming a favorite of patrons in an independent bookstore in Vermont but it’s used mostly to publish self published works.
• Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell are arguing on the issue of free. Seth Godin weighs in.

Each year, RWA recognizes excellence in romance writing through the RITAs, considered the top honor in the genre.  Though awards are presented in a dozen categories, a writer has just one shot in her career to win the Best First Book award.  This interview series focuses on the debut authors nominated in that category.

…