Archive for February, 2007
Dear Ms. Solomon:
 To say that I was impressed by this book is an understatement. You always know, as a reader, that a book is good when at the close the book, you immediately get the yen to go to the bookstore and find more on the author's work. Which is what happened to me and I blogged about that on Sunday. In fact, while I am generally opposed to epilogues, I thought this one could have used one. Or more rightly, I wished I could have read more about the couple. I guess there is something to be said for always wanting to leave your fans wanting more.
While this story is a romance and it is a suspense, it is about something more. It's about facing your demons, even if that demon is you. It's about moving on when your entire life is being controlled by the past. It's about two people, imperfect and incomplete going through life but not really living it, finding understanding in each other.
Gillian Gray is a famous photographer whose work portrays grisly death …
Remeber the open letter by Steve Jobs about the fact that DRM is crippling the digital music industry? Somebody might be listening to him. According to the Washington Post, Reps. Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) have introduced the “Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship” (or FAIR USE) Act to amend the fair reaching and imprope scope of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
“The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dramatically tilted the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public’s right to fair use,” Boucher said in a statement. “Without a change in the law, individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media if their use of the media within the home is severely circumscribed and the manufacturers of equipment and software that enables circumvention for legitimate purposes will be reluctant to introduce the products into the market.”
This would be a huge boon to the reader of ebooks and to consumers.
Dear Ms Cach,
 You had promised us a funny book and “The Erotic Secrets of a French Maid” delivers. At least for me it did. Fun yet intelligent characters, a plot that sticks to the point and true love — what’s not to like?
Emma Mayson has decided to clean houses to pay the bills while she searches for a job doing what she really wants. With a master’s degree in architecture you’d think she’d be able to find a job with a firm but so far, no joy. So to keep herself focused on the prize, she’s avoided venturing off into other fields which could distract her, make her forget current building codes and eventually turn her into an architectural “wanted to have been” rather than a wannabe. Plus going into other people’s houses lets her scope their design and layout.
Russell Carrick, wealthy start-up businessman, doesn’t really need anyone to clean his enormous Seattle home since he’s rarely there but he views his sister’s insistence on hiring someone to do it as her way of protecting him. Yeah, after the sudden death of their brother, her ideas of protection …
Dear Ms. Kleypas:
 After 20 plus historical novels, you’ve decided to change course and write a first person contemporary woman’s fiction novel. Sugar Daddy is billed as a big story featuring a plucky innocent heroine and her dilemma between two rich, alpha businessmen. The narrator, Liberty is a charming and sweet girl who would have made a great Young Adult heroine.
Unfortunately this is not a young adult book, but rather a woman’s fiction novel. I had a hard time buying into the idea that Liberty Jones had grown up by the age of 24 when the book ended. Had the story focused on the female protagonist, her struggle to cope as a mother figure for her 2 year old sister and her mixed race heritage, rather than the choice between two rich men, it would have had greater meaning. Or perhaps if it had explored, in depth, the real emotional issue of being in love with two men, it would have resonated more. Instead, it is just an accounting of Liberty’s short life, from age 13 to 24, her two loves, and ending with a contrived …
Happy Feet won the Oscar on Sunday night for the “Best Animated Feature Film” over Pixar’s Cars and Penguin, the publishing house, announced record profits. Penguin identified strong sales of mass market paranormal fiction and the premium paperback. President David Shanks confirmed that the premium paperback is here to stay.
Sales through penguingroup.com were up 30% and ebook sales were up 17%. On the ebook front, Penguin is going to appoint someone to a new position to coordinate Penguin’s worldwide e initiatives. Via Publisher’s Weekly.
President Shanks, I would be happy to be an unpaid consultant for your person in this project. I have lots of ideas on how to make your ebook venture a success.
I was inspired by May's Romancing the Blog article on Saturday about group blogs. Many an author participates in group blogs and many participate in more than one group blog. But you know what many authors do not do? They do not participate in reader blogs. I find that many of the group blogs do not contribute much to the blogging community. They serve as promotional vehicles and not much more primarily because these authors are not present anywhere else on the internet.
I rarely see authors step outside other author blogs to comment on reader blogs. Kristie(J) is a huge Lisa Kleypas fan and has been trying to get everyone in blogosphere to not only read Kleypas but blog about it. Yet, Kleypas has never once commented on Kristie J’s site. She guest blogs at Michelle Buonfiglio’s site. She comments on her own. But not on the one site that probably generates more positive Kleypas love than any other blog in blogdom.
It’s not fair to just point the finger at Kleypas. The fact is very few authors will ever comment on a readers’ blog or …
Yesterday, HarperCollins rolled out its “Browse Inside” feature that will eventually be available for all its books and could be embedded in blogs and websites.
Not to be outdone, Random House debuted its “Browse and Search” widget.
new InsightBookReader(’preview’, ‘9780345486585′, ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’, ‘Linda Howard’, ‘0′, ”, ‘http://www.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin/buy_landing.php?isbn=9780345486585′);
I like the Random House Widget better as it is just the cover and gives you the option of choosing a large or small version. I like the layout of the Random House browsing screen but it doesn’t allow you to change the font size and the screen display looks like a scanned image and not a true text one (the fonts were smudgy).
Harper Collins browser loaded faster, but had an irritating watermark of the HC copyright on almost every page. It was easy to manuever with font size choices and a table of contents.
Edited to add: I see the Random House Widget did not show up. …
Dear Ms. Ward,
 I admit it: I am addicted. Usually I'm drawn to subtle books, books that astutely observe the complexities of human relationships, books written with an ear for beautiful language. If that kind of reading experience is a horseback ride through lush countryside, one of your Black Dagger Brotherhood books is a high octane, high speed car race around a dizzying track, complete with thrills and spills.
And yet, I can't get enough. I stay up with Lover Revealed until the small hours of the morning, turning page after page. When I wake up, I reach for the thing almost as soon as I open my eyes. At the grocery store, I forget to buy carrots because part of my mind is still in that bold, flashy world you've created. When I close the book, even as part of me feels over-stimulated, like a kid who's spent too much time in a videogame arcade, I realize that the wait for the next book will be much too long.
As most of the romance-reading world knows, the Black Dagger Brotherhood is comprised of six huge, hyper-masculine vampires with unstoppable …
Dear Ms Rivers,
 When a heroine starts out so needy and dependent, I hope that the only way she’ll go from there is up. I have to say that since Lauren Campbell really did need to get herself a life, I’m happy that she improved over the course of “Window Dressing” instead of remaining the type of heroine who drives me batty.
Lauren and her slightly eccentric neighbor Moira actually have fun dropping Lauren’s 18 year old son Gordy off at college. During the six hour drive home, they pig out on junk food while Lauren tries to start getting used to the idea that her baby is gone. Over the next month, she lunches with friends, putters around the house baking cookies to send to Gordy, orders some catalogs from local colleges and tries to decide what she wants to study so that she’ll be able to support herself once her ex-husband stops paying the mortgage and alimony. Thinking she has the four years that Gordy will be in school to make up her mind, it comes as a shock to discover that she should have paid more attention to the terms of her …
HarperCollins launched its “Browse Inside” feature on its website today. Similar to Amazon’s “Search Inside” and a competitor to Google’s Book Search, Harper’s “Browse Inside” allows readers to “get a sense” of the book before purchasing.
According to the website, every HarperCollins book will have a “Browse Inside” feature. Each book has different content available. Some have the first two chapters. Some have just the first few pages from each book. I like this idea as nothing has a better chance of selling me on a book, other than a friend’s recommendation, than an excerpt.
The software allows a blogger or website to embed the feature much like a YouTube video:
Source: AAR-After Hours
I think in an effort to capture the blogging atmosphere, AAR posted the results in a smallish column on its blog site, After Hours, but the smaller column made for difficult reading (or maybe it was the formatting) and the two places to comment, at the blog site or on the message board, may serve to confuse people and split the commentary.
JK Rowling is suing eBay for allowing the sale of pirated ebook versions of her books from the Indian version of the auction site. An injunction was awarded in favor of Rowling prohibiting eBay from listing any illegal auctions. This requires eBay to police the auctions proactively instead of waiting for a notice from the rights holder of a copyright infringing sale. Via Times UK.
I certainly don’t condone any illegal sales of ebooks but I do wonder if JK Rowling could deter some illegal sales by authorizing legitimate e versions of her Potter books for sale. Clearly there is a segment of the market who would not only like such a thing but be willing to pay for it.
2006 Graphic novel sales are up 12% from 2005 totaling $330 million. ジェーン (JÄ?n), a friend of the Ja(y)nes and Janine, is reviewing romance oriented graphic novels for us. Graphic novels are for all ages and include non fiction versions as well. Via Publisher’s Weekly. Gravitation EX
released by TOKYOPOP on February 6, 2007, was Bookscan’s No. 59th selling romance title, beating out releases by Susan Wiggs Summer At Willow Lake and Susan Kearney’s Island Heat.
Shelfari is a Seattle based company that launched quietly last fall to compete with Library Thing, a commonly seen widget used on reader blogs accross the net. Shelfari allows you to input your books, rate them, and show them off on your blog. You can also enter your amazon associates id and earn money off the books on your shelf should a user click on the widget and then purchase the book.
Amazon recently invested $1 Million in Shelfari. It would be great to see integration between the two such that any Amazon purchase was automatically entered into the Shelf. The downside to these types of databases is that it is only as good as the information the user enters which can be quite a hurdle for readers with big libraries. We need to have a low priced bar scanner to assist in the cataloguing of personal libraries (not to mention how nice that would be for insurance purposes).
Liate Stehlik was named the Senior Vice President and Publisher of Avon in October of 2005. Prior to her move to Avon, Ms. Stehlik was a Vice President, Associate Publisher at Pocket. Avon has been a mainstay in the romantic fiction genre for decades. I have treasured keepers from the 80s that were published by Avon. In more recent years, Avon has become synonymous with regency historicals and funny contemporaries made popular by authors such as Julia Quinn and Rachel Gibson. I remember once speaking with an author at an RWA Convention several years ago. She yearned to be an Avon author because Avon authors made it on the New York Times bestseller lists. In February, Avon had three books on the Times Bestseller Paperback fiction list: What Price Love? (Cynster Novels) by Stephanie Laurens, Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands, What A Lady Wants by Victoria Alexander.
 Q. What is the role of a “publisher” at HarperCollins?
A: As I see it, the role of publisher is to be sure that every book on …
 The prospective manufacturers of a new ebook reader posted this picture and the following specs at Mobile Read:
Project of the device for reading electronic books
Screen: 6 “SVGA Electronic Paper Display (not E Ink Corporation)
CPU: ARM7, 73 MHz
SRAM: 1,0 Mb
ROM: 256 Mb (it is used 248 Mb)
USB 2.0
SD/MMC: up to 2.0 GB
Formats: TXT, XML (FB2), RTF, JPEG, GIF, BMP
Weight: 185 gram
Retail price: 165 Usd
The beginning of sales: IV-2007
The important part of this announcement wasn’t even listed and that is this device is to have a detachable front light. If this unit actually can be sold for $165 USD with a front light, this would be a perfect reading device.
 On Thursday night, around 9:30 pm, I finished Annie Solomon’s, Dead Shot, a March 1, 2007, release. I closed the last page and ran to my computer to download every Annie Solomon book that was available in ebook format. My quest to satiate my desire for Solomon romantic suspense books was put to an immediate halt when my search at several ebook websites came up with no results. Not one Solomon title is in ebook format.
I had a yen to read more Solomon but Warner’s inability to provide a digitized backlist deterred my would be impulse purchase. Impulse buying has long been a hallmark of retail sales. 26% of holiday shopping is impulse purchases. 60-70% of supermarket purchases are impluse buys. A research company, UIE, found that nearly 40% of online purchases are impulse driven.
This generation is more into instant gratification than any other, partly because we can get it now. Hear the song, Sleep Won’t Weep by Damien Rice on last Thursdays’ Grey Anatomy? Download it when the show is over and relive the emotional …
Nalini Singh created her own meme to generate publicity for her upcoming March release, Visions of Heat (Berkley Sensation). If you post the meme on your blog, you’ll be entered in a contest to win a $50 Amazon voucher and an Advanced Copy of Book 3 of her series, Caressed by Ice. Do it. You know you want to.
Dear Ms. Rose:
 Having read four of your six releases, I feel confident in saying that you consistently deliver a good suspense with a believable romance. You regularly villianize certain professionals (defense lawyers and journalists), but your provocative themes along with strong characterizations make for a non stop reading adventure.
Tess Ciccotelli is a psychiatrist with a promising practice until her patients start killing themselves. What is worse is that her patients seemed to be driven to kill themselves by Dr. Tess herself. Evidence from the crime scenes show hallucinegetic drugs with her finger prints on it; her voice is recorded as taunting the victims. Dr. Tess becomes the prime suspect and her life begins to fall apart as the press villifies her and the licensing board begins to review her competency.
Aidan Regan is convinced that Dr. Tess is at fault for the murders of her patients and sets out to prove it. In the course of the investigation, Aiden’s thinking is changed and he begins to not only believe that Tess is a victim, but he begins to care for her. This makes the real killer all …
Consumer Reports bought 23 titles: new, old, bestselling, classics, and midlist titles. The list price was $565. CR bought the books from Amazon at 32% discount. The next best retailer was BN.com at a 19% discount.
Via Consumer Reports magazine, January 2007, p. 6.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA62Mg0JEeA[/youtube]
I love this song. I can’t decide if Bridget Moynahan is one or if Tom Brady is an ass. Maybe it’s a bit of both. It’s like he said, “hey, babe, I’m breaking up with you to date a younger supermodel (Gisele Bundchen) but I’ll leave you with a little sperm package to remember me forever.” Her response, “Well, you’ll be paying me for said sperm package for the rest of your life.”
And what is going on with the trend of younger men/older women? Justin Timberlake leaving Cameron Diaz for the barely legal Scarlett Johanssen and now, Tom Brady shucking his older supermodel for a younger, sportier model. It’s nice to see that the trends always swing back. Maybe there is still hope for a resurgence of the historical romance novel.
An interesting story picked up by Media Bistro today. Jason Pinter, author and Crown editor (imprint of Random House) compared the sales numbers of Chris Bohjalian’s The Double Bind: A Novel, picked as Barnes and Noble’s second store-wide choice versus Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Starbucks’ second pick. The New York Times Bestseller list will debut The Double Bind (fiction) at #3 and A Long Way Gone at #2 (non fiction).
Pinter makes the case that Starbucks is more influential than bookstores and may rival Oprah on the influence front. The inaguaral book for Starbucks’ Picks was Mitch Albom’s book, For One More Day, which sold 50,000 copies at Starbucks alone.
Midwives by Bohjalian was a former Oprah pick and therefore, according to Pinter, had established a base that would likely purchase his next release. Beah did not, but he did have an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
The Bookscan numbers offer up more evidence in favor of Pinter’s thesis. Bohjalian sold 17,000 copies in week one and Beah, 26,000. Of the 26,000 Beah books sold, 19,000 …
Dear Ms. Anonymous Author:
I read your letter over at the Anonymous Publishing Vent Club which, I have to confess, has been terribly boring of late. I had high hopes for it when it started, but the first 4 posts have been quite dull. Your letter was just the right thing to start out the day. I’ll be quoting liberally from your piece so no one can accuse me of misinterpreting your thoughts.
You are mad at your publicist. How do I know this?
I am so PISSED at my publicist.
At first, I felt a bit bad for you until you let on that the publicist was a publisher employee.
I signed with this major publisher in hopes that maybe they’d do some publicity but so far he doesn’t return calls, doesn’t return emails.
Oops. This is where I started laughing. Good thing I didn’t have any liquids in my mouth else I would have spent the rest of the morning cleaning off my keyboard and screen. Let’s parse this sentence out some more. You signed with a major publisher because of the publicity you thought you would get? You didn’t sign with a major …
Independent booksellers are beginning to offer free wi fi to increase customer traffic. Bridget Rothenberger told Bookseller This Week that offering free wi-fi was “one of the smartest decisions” and that she would “recommend it to every bookstore.”
I love free wi-fi. Panera Bread offers it free but Barnes & Noble only offers a pay (as does Borders). Guess where I go to get a snack and read my book? Yep, Panera. If there was a bookstore that offered free wi-fi, I would be there instead.
Via Shelf Awareness
Dear Ms. Sinclair,
 Games of Command, your science fiction romance, begins shortly after an alliance is formed between the Triad and the United Coalition. Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian, formerly of the United Coalition, is surprised to learn that she has been assigned to the Vaxxar, a huntership under the command of the biocybernetic Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. When Tasha was working for the United Coalition, the “Tin Soldier” was her nemesis, and on the Vaxxar, Kel-Paten continues to dog her heels, so Sass believes he doesn't trust her.
Tasha and Kel-Paten each have a secret they are keeping from one another. In Tasha's case, the secret is that she is really the notorious “Lady Sass,” a rim runner who supposedly died in prison. In Kel-Paten's case, his secret is that he has been in love with Tasha for years, and his many run-ins with her in the past were orchestrated by Kel-Paten partly so that he could have a glimpse of her.
If Sass's secret is found out, the crucial alliance could be torn apart, and the United Coalition and the Triad could both fall prey to their mutual enemies. If …
Dear Ms Cornick,
 Wow, my historical cup doth runneth over. So far this year I’ve read two books set in ancient Rome and two during the reigns of the 17th century Charleses. Thanks again for sending me a copy of this book. I usually don’t miss at least trying a Harlequin Historical that isn’t set during the Regency. I don’t know where I was on this one since the Restoration Era is another favorite of mine.
Four years ago Lady Anne of Grafton and Simon, Lord Greville were engaged to be married. Both families were pleased and, despite not really knowing each other, Anne and Simon were both cautiously optimistic that theirs would at least be a marriage of passion if not love. Then the political differences between the King and his parliament boiled over into Civil War, tearing the country and families apart. Now, on the eve of battle, Simon finds himself besieging the manor and people which were once promised to him by his betrothal. For Simon has followed his conscience and pledged himself to Cromwell thus going against even his own father while Anne and her father have remained true to …
There have been a couple heated online debates about the legality of selling Advanced Review Copies, Galleys or Proofs, all of which pre publication copies of books. Nora Roberts was angered over the appearance of advanced copies placed on EBay by a seller who had eight of them. It was clear to me that any individual having 8 copies must have procured them with inside help for no reviewer gets more than one copy or maybe 2.
This seems confirmed by the recent report at Media Bistro that Harper Collins UK employees were caught selling Proofs of books on E-Bay. Apparently, an email went out company wide asking for employees with paypal accounts so the company could bid, purchase and find out the identities of the sellers. The Proof selling employees, in true Darwin Award fashion, didn’t really connect the dots and failed to pull down the auctions.
I have maintained that the sale of the ARC is not illegal. It is the point of procurement of the ARC which were the theft, if any, occurs. I am sure that Harper Collins …
There are no new faces on the list this week, but there were also no new releases last week. I expect that next week Nora Roberts’ alter ego will be up in the Number 1 slot. I’ve been resisting the expensive ebook purchase but it sounds like the book is a doozy. My bookseller friend said it might be one of the best of the series featuring a very serious impediment to Eve and Roarke’s seemingly unshakeable marriage. Gah. Must resist. Must.
Irish Dreams, Nora Roberts (Silh Special Releasees), $7.99, No. 8 (Peak 2).
The Dream-Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, $7.99, No. 11 (Peak 3).
Most Likely To Die, Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, Wendy Corsi Staub (Zebra),$7.99 No. 12 (Peak 5).
Plum Lovin’, Janet Evanovich, (St. Martin’s Press), $16.95 No. 16, (Peak 1)
McKettrick’s Luck, Linda Lael Miller (HQN), $7.99, No. 20 (Peak 8).
Tongue in Chic, Christina Dodd, Signet, $7.99, No. 26 (Peak 17).
The Winter Lodge, Susan Wiggs (MIRA), $7.99, No. 27 (Peak 13).
Causing Havoc, Lori Foster (Berkley), $7.99, No. 32 (Peak 13).
Angels All Over Town, Luanne Rice (Bantam), $7.50, No. 42 (Peak 22).
Point Blank, Catherine Coulter (Jove), $7.99, …
I always thought Audio books were way too expensive for purchase and I have only used them when I could check them out from the library, but my libraries selection was very limited. Audible is a good resource, offering many books for less than $20 if you subscribed. A better solution is Audiobooksonline, a UK company, which is purporting to offer audiobooks for rent. The author receives a royalty for the rent on top of the original purchase. It’s not as good, obviously, as each reader buying new, but it may increase overall use of audiobooks.
The service will operate in a similar way to online DVD rentals, with the customer paying a monthly subscription and compiling a “wish list”. Depending on which subscription band they opt for, they can borrow several titles at one time, listen, return and have their next titles delivered. The bands are: £9.99 for one title at a time, £12.99 for two and £15.99 for three – all for an unlimited number of choices in a month.
I hope this comes overseas, and soon. Via …
 Emma by Kaoru Mori. Published by CMX. Retail: $9.99 2/7 Volumes released in English. Series complete in Japanese. Rated T+ (teens and up; female nudity in a matter of fact manner, mild sexual references, kissing) . A-
Note: I feel distinctly uncomfortable addressing a frank letter to a Japanese mangaka. It’s so… Ugly American. So I will be addressing readers for the most part in these reviews so that I don’t have to be so circumspect.
Dear Readers,
One thing you’ll discover if you read much manga is that accuracy in setting isn’t something that really concerns most mangaka, if a story is set outside Japan. But there are exceptions. Emma is one of them.
Admittedly, there are a few things used here and there that are slightly anachronistic, such as having a model airplane in a few panels well before the first one ever flew, but they are used to make the story a little more colorful and are not major plot points so they don’t bother me. It’s the feel of the story I love….
Dear Ms. Arthur,
 You have the benefit of Bantam’s unique publishing/promotional effort of back to back to back publishing so that fans that are eager to read your books do not need to wait six months or an entire year, but rather one measly month. After Kissing Sin, I was interested but not excited to read Tempting Evil, particularly if Quinn, Riley’s vampire lover, was going to continue to play a big role. Fortunately, Tempting Evil is mostly about Riley kicking butt and less about her messy personal life.
Someone is kidnapping otherworld creatures to obtain their DNA and then use that DNA to generate an unbeatable fighting force. That someone was revealed to Riley at the end of Kissing Sun. The Directorate has developed a plan to eliminate this guy which includes Riley infiltrating the compound of the head guy by posing as a prostitute. As the plan progresses, Riley learns that she may not only be required to physically service some of the compound’s leaders but also engage in a fight match with other female contestants. I guess the book is like Fight Club …
Dear Mr. Moore,
 God I love this book. I think this is about the third or fourth time I’ve read it and it just gets better each time. OK, I could spend an hour coming up with a plot description but since some kind soul has already done so for the back cover, I’ll be lazy as hell (something I excel at) and use it.
Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching neck, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.
Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that’s where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door … and proceeds to rock Tommy’s life — and afterlife — in ways he never imagined possible.
Jody doesn’t have a clue how to be a vampire and has …
Dear Ms. Leigh:
 My friends love you. Generally, I love things my friends love. Unfortunately, the categorical syllogism ends there. While this story features a stronger, more emotionally secure heroine than I have seen in previous Leigh books, the implausability of the plot and the tiresome machinations of the hero left me deflated.
Morganna Chavez has always loved Clint McIntire, her brother’s best friend. For years, however, he’s been seemingly immune to her charms. Seemingly being the operative word. Clint is as attracted to Morganna even before it was appropriate for him to do so. He’s never acted on it because he does not believe he can love anyone given his terrible childhood. However, when Morganna, a newly minted DEA agent, is spotted at one of his favorite BDSM haunts and placed in danger, Clint is forced to confront his feelings for Morganna.
What makes this work, when it does work, is when Morganna is standing up for herself. She knows that Clint is attracted to her and she knows that he fights his attraction. She just doesn’t know the reason. She calls him on his emotional cowardice instead of being hurt …
Today, JD Robb’s 28th installment of the Eve Dallas and Roarke (no first name) saga is released with the title of Innocent in Death (In Death). Penguin has also allowed the release of Innocent in Death in the ebook version which can be purchased only at ereader.com, for now. I suspect in a week or two, the usual suspects such as Fictionwise and Powells will be offering the book as well.
I still can’t get a handle on ebook released by Penguin. It doesn’t even list Innocent in Death as an ebook on its website, nor does it have Jayne Ann Krentz’s White Lies identified as available in ebook format even though it, too, is for purchase at ereader.com.
In any event, if you are sitting at your desk and can’t wait till this evening to find JD Robb’s latest book in the store, you can have immediate gratification at ereader.com. Currently I am fighting with myself to keep from buying it until it shows up somewhere else cheaper. I’ll report tomorrow how well that fight worked out.
The Professors at Teach Me Tonight, a very thoughtful and insightful blog about romance, are seeking individuals to submit papers for their work, The Mind of Love: New Approaches to Popular Romance.
You don’t need to be an academic to offer an opinion piece, just the ability to author a thoughtful article on romance related academic criticism. Certainly if the comments are any example, any reader of Dear Author would be a worthwhile contributor.
Here are the particulars:
As is well-known by now, mass market romance novels constitute at least half of the domestic paperback market and an increasing percentage of the hardcover market. British, Canadian, and American romances are read all over the world, with many best-selling authors making most of their money from international sales; meanwhile, distinct national traditions of romance writing have developed, or continue to flourish, in Australia, India, China, and elsewhere.
In all markets, the romance genre is undergoing substantial external and internal expansion: not only are traditional romance authors branching out into mainstream fiction, but the romance genre is also exploding with new sub-genres, each adding a romantic twist to previous niche markets. Online romance reader communities are power-houses of information and …
Dear Ms. Nichols,
 Since I only read 148 of the 443 pages that comprise your first novel, Sunburst's Citadel, there are a number of things I'm not qualified to say about it. I can't say, for example, how much the characters grow or change over the course of the book, or whether the plot takes exciting or unexpected twists and turns in the latter two-thirds of the book. For all I know, if I'd stuck it out, I might have been rewarded with something really wonderful, and if so, that's my loss.
What I can talk about, though, are the things I liked and didn't like in the first 148 pages, and the reasons why I did not make it to page 149. What attracted me to Sunburst's Citadel was the unusual setting, medieval India, and the fact that the hero, Karim, was a Moghul and a Christian, and the heroine, Shamsi (a name that means “sunburst”), was a Rajput and a Hindu. Cultural or religious romantic conflicts often add dimension to characters, and this book, I thought, promised to be something different from the same-old, same-old.
After an intriguing opening in …
 The PNR PEARL Awards Paranoramal Excellence Award for Romantic Literature) for 2006.
Best ANTHOLOGY: My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding by Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lori Handeland, Rachel Caine and more…
Best FANTASY/MAGICAL: Master of Swords (Berkley Sensation) by Angela Knight
Best FUTURISTIC: Ghost Hunter by Jayne Castle
Best SHORT STORY/NOVELLA: Faery Good Advice (IN No Law Against Love) by Jacquie Rogers
Best SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY: Sorceress Of Faith by Robin D. Owens
Best SHAPESHIFTER: Dark Side of the Moon (Dark Hunter Novels) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best TIME TRAVEL: Parallel Attraction: A Novel of the Midnight Warriors, Book 1 (Signet Eclipse) by Deidre Knight
Best VAMPIRE: A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, #1) by Kresley Cole
Best NEW AUTHOR: Deidre Knight
Favorite OVERALL PARANORMAL: Lover Awakened: A Novel Of The Black Dagger Brotherhood (Signet Eclipse) by J.R. Ward
Via Lucinda Betts, nominee for the Best New Author.
Dear Ms. Thornton,
 After attempting the first book in this trilogy, “The Defiant Mistress,” I was pretty sure I wouldn’t go any further with the series. Then I read a good review for this book. That coupled with Laura’s positive post about it made me decide to give this one a chance. After all, I could always take it back to Waldenbooks. I love Waldenbooks’ return policy. I’m glad to say though that I won’t be using it for this book.
Lady Desire Godwin has lived a reclusive life since her father died five years ago. Before that, she helped to nurse her mother during her mother’s terminal illness. So it comes to pass that she’s now thirty years old and still unwed, despite the fact that she’s a wealthy heiress. But Desire wants a husband and children and knows that she needs a man to protect her. Just last year, a nobleman attempted to abduct an heiress and the marriage laws are such that if he had succeeded, nothing her family could have done would have annulled the forced marriage. When a stranger climbs up onto the roof of her London home …
 Even though it appeared by Feather’s last book that she hated romance, a new release of hers is due out late March. Simon & Schuster is rewarding all of us ebook lovers by offering up the “e” version A Wicked Gentleman for purchase a month before its paper debut. It also appears that the great 40% off discount has slipped to 35%. I still bought it.
 Susan Patron’s The Higher Power of Lucky won this year’s Newbery Medal, the highest honor for a children’s author. In it, the 10 year old protagonist uses the word “scrotum”. Librarians, school teachers, and booksellers are concerned about this word and have refused to order it for the bookshelves of school libraries saying that schoolteachers shouldn’t be required to explain this sort of thing to children or to expose children to these kinds of words.
I have a 10 year old nephew. He knows lots of words other than scrotum for his genitalia. I don’t think this word would shock or amaze him for more than a week. Via NYT.
 The Daytona 500 was run yesterday. It was a wild race filled with 6 cautions and one car finishing the race wheels up and on fire. My tot, a big Pixar Cars fan, was striken with concern over the car, but not the driver. I thought it was appropriate to pull out Roxanne St. Claire’s Harlequin romance novel I had bought a couple of weeks ago and read it. A review will come later this week.
In reading the NYTimes editorial piece on Nascar and Harlequin, it seemed to me that Harlequin was doing something right. In an effort to position itself as a publishing house that has a book for “every woman’s mood”, the partnership with Nascar seems to fit. I am not a Nascar fan myself, but I am fascinated by the interest in Nascar. Female interest in Nascar is quite high with a Sports Illustrated article reporting that
NASCAR’s 75 million fans 40 percent are women. For every two new NASCAR fans, one of them is a woman.
Nascar has put some limits on these branded Harlequin books in order to maintain its family image: …
 Last month, I read an amazing blog entry by epic fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson who has two books out from Tor, Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn) and Elantris. I had to wait a whole month before I could blog about it because it took that long before I could find the top of my head when it blew off. Mr. Sanderson makes the case (and not a very good one) that readers should buy hardcovers. The current blog post has been revised but the gist is there. Mr. Sanderson believes that only hardback sales can support an author and that
the eight dollar paperback is a free promotion given away by the publisher to maybe entice you to pay for the product that actually makes us a living.
Buying one hardcover instead of two paperbacks, according to Sanderson, is truly supporting the author.It’s perfectly acceptable in the writing world to make pleas for money.
If I, the reader, don’t buy new at exactly the right time, the author might not be able to write for a living and give up their day job. They may not be …
 There’s plenty of talk about whether giving away books can translate into paperbook sales. Cory Doctorow is a believer. I made the case here a few weeks back on Ebook Sunday. Michele Albert is putting her money where her mouth is. Albert is a multi-published author under the names Jerrot and Albert. Absolute Trouble is a book that was edited and published by Avon in 1998. Publisher’s Weekly said the following of Albert’s debut effort
Jerrott’s theme of redemption brings heart to this finely crafted plot, but what this novice writer does best is create memorable characters and, in an unusual coup, she manages to reveal her protagonists’ layers during sizzling sex scenes.
There are 32 Amazon reviews of this book and it has an average score of 4.5 stars. This book features the infamous stripper hero. If you aren’t a fan, haven’t read her, wonder what all the fuss is about, take a chance. Download her book and see if it doesn’t make you want to buy her March release.
For Ms. Albert, I hope this works out for …
Dear Adobe,
I have, often, derided the Adobe Acrobat format for ebooks. I have told people on this blog, in emails, on message boards, that this is my least favorite format and that you should only buy this format when there is NO OTHER OPTION. Buying an Adobe ebook, particularly one that requires authentication to read it, is akin to shaving your head when you are one of the most recognizable people in the world and, at one time, one of the most beautiful people in the world.
You’ve come out with a great new software called Adobe Digital Editions, for those people who love ebooks. And by great, I mean, if the reader was an island and had no choice but to choose Adobe’s software or be eaten by cannibals. You seem to think that readers want Adobe to control the reading experience because we readers can’t possibly know what we want.
 Adobe Digital Editions only has four font sizes. You can’t type in the percentage you want, it has a small a and a large a and that controls the font size for …
Dear Ms Randal,
 Wow, Harlequin really seems to be getting the message that romance readers want something other than Regency set romances to read. Will wonders never cease? In the past year I think I’ve read more books set during ancient Rome than in the five preceding years combined.
After two years spent battling the enemies of Rome, Marcus Flavius Donatus returns to the Imperial City determined to find the woman he left behind. However, her father won’t tell him where she is and all his inquiries turn up nothing. That is until Lelia’s younger sister offers Marcus a clue. Go to the afternoon games in the Flavian Amphitheater, she tells him and when he does he discovers that after Lelia was thrown out of her family home in disgrace for their affair, she became a gladiatrix to support herself. Horrified, Marcus negotiates to buy her from the lanista who owns her. But Lelia is still furious over how Marcus abandoned her and, with the lanista’s approval, she forces him to pay an outrageous price not only for her contract but also that of her best friend, Severina.
Marcus soon …
The bankruptcy court ruled that Perseus, not NBN, would be awarded the distribution contracts for the bankrupt PGW.
Via Shelf Awareness.
From Avenue Q. Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist, except for Tim Hardaway. He’s a bigot who “hates gays.”
Dear Ms. Bast:
 Tempted by Two is a sequel and features Miranda and Theo who appeared in Seduced by Twilight. Miranda is a counselor at a local woman’s shelter. This is not just a career for her, but a driving need. Miranda’s mother was beaten and ultimately killed by her abusive father. While Miranda has recovered and now seeks to help other women be free of domestic violence, she still shies away from permanent commitments.
Miranda has just started seeing Theo. Theo is a full blooded Tylwyth Teg, a five hundred year old fae. The only way for the Tylwith Teg to achieve full grasp of their powers is to form a triad. A triad doesn’t necessarily have to have a sexual bond but it commonly occurs when the triad involves members of the opposite sex. Theo recognizes that Miranda is his third and one that will complete him, not only bringing his powers to fruition but also fulfilling long dormant emotional needs. The problem is that Theo isn’t quite ready to impart to the third part of the …
Dear Ms. David,
 Some people can’t write short stories and some can. Count yourself among the “cans.” You pack a full story into 36 pages giving us enough information about the characters, crime and town of Lottawatah (where did you come up with that name?), that I felt right at home. One thing did confuse me a little. From the background information about Brianna Sullivan, I expected that you had written another novella or story about how she gained her psychic powers and what it was that caused her to sell her home, buy her motorhome Matilda, and hit the highways and byways to reluctantly listen to ghosts and help solve crimes. Have you done this and I just can’t find the story? And do you have further plans for Brianna that might include the handsome, doubting police detective Cooper Jackson? B for “I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries.”
~Jayne
Dear Ms. Arthur:
 Kissing Sin is the second book in the Riley Jensen series. Riley Jensen is a half breed: vampire and werewolf. She is working with the Directorate of Other Races to eradicate a lab that is experimenting with crossbreeds to develop the perfect killing machine. Riley doesn’t want to become a Guardian, which is essentially a paid assassin for the Directorate, but she is willing to throw her body and her mind into defeating the growing menace.
I find your writing to be a mix between Christine Feehan and late Laurell K Hamilton work. Kissing Sin is full of hot sexy men from a shifting stallion to a 1200 year old vamp to an alpha werewolf. Those readers looking for a more sexual paranormal series without a traditional romance ending will likely enjoy this series. Those who require more elegant prose style, like my blogging partner Janine, may be put off by the tendency toward info dumping and repetitiveness.
The story is the strongest when the narrator, Riley, is doing her paranormal kick butt investigative work. Riley is quite competent, maybe more than she should be …
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