Archive for September, 2007
First up is the Apple iPhone issue.
 On Thursday, Apple released an iPhone firmware update that adds several functions incluing TV out functionality (meaning you can hook up the iPhone to the TV and watch the video iPhone content on the TV) and the ability to buy music over a wifi connection from the iPhone. Updating the firmware will remove any modifications but it will NOT make the phone inoperable. If you have hacked the phone to add the books.app, as I suggested in this post, wait until the programmers have updated the iPhone jailbreak code.
I do want to note that “jailbreaking” and “unlocking” are two separate things. If you have unlocked the iPhone to use with another carrier, then it is possible that your phone will be inoperable. If you simply opened up the iPhone’s programming (also called “jailbreak”) as I did, the firmware update simply removes your modifications and returns the iPhone to Apple’s preferred settings.
If you have done the jailbreaking but want to update, follow Natetrue’s advice here. If you did update and it is “bricked” or won’t work, then follow the …
Dear Ms. Joyce:
 This is only the second book of yours that I have read, so I am still basically a novice regarding your style and vision. The Conqueror was the first book of yours I read, and I did not have a positive experience with it. When I heard good things about your new paranormal series, I thought it a perfect time to try your work again. This book, Dark Rival, the second installment in the Masters of Time series, was definitely an easier read for me, but unfortunately, not a very satisfying one.
It took me more than three weeks to read this book, partly out of frustration and partly out of disengagement with the characters and the plot. My frustration came from what felt like a kitchen sink approach to the paranormal aspects of the novel (time travel, spiritual masters, a healing heroine, demons, crimes of pleasure, and more), historical anachronisms, and character inconsistencies, while my lack of engagement grew along with my inability to suspend disbelief over all of these things. Perhaps if I had read the first book in the series some …
Sadly, the marvelous Melanie Murray, editor of one of Jayne and my new favorite authors, Elizabeth Hoyt, is leaving Warner Publishing for other endeavors. Goodbye Ms. Murray. Best of luck. I hope Warner can find someone to fill your shoes.
ReaderGirlz is a site devoted to Young Adult (YA) books and to celebrate Teen Reader week which starts October 14, the site is hosting an author a day for 31 days. The list of authors that will come and participate in reader chats is like a who’s who of Young Adult authors, beginning with Meg Cabot and ending with Stephenie Meyer. I didn’t see my personal favorite, Sarah Dessen, but it is a stellar group.
Gather.Com’s romance writing contest sponsored by Simon & Schuster, Borders and Gather.com has whittled 500 manuscript submissions down to twenty-five semi-finalists. You can read the second (and the first) chapters of the semi-finalists and rate which one you like the best until October 8, 2007.
Some of these books are going to need serious title overhaul because “Bear Country” doesn’t inspire me to even click to read the chapter but neither do the standard romance landia titles grab me either like “Enchanting the Earl“. I’m interested in reading General Counsel (although I am sure that is a very dull title to most others) and The Wolf Huntress. Safe Sex and Home Repair by poster laughsing makes me hope that it is really, really funny.
 Madeline Hunter is famous for her rich detailed works. There’s not a wallpaper historical in her catalog of books. Last year’s publication, Rules of Seduction, was one of my favorites in 2007. Hunter’s latest release, Lessons of Desire, is out now and can be purchased in paperback or in ebook format at Books on Board.
 I am sure that there are writers who have unusual first sale stories. The slam-dunk wonders certainly do. Or at least I always thought so. Since it took me so long to make my first sale I just assumed it took everyone that long. The common wisdom says it does.
Then I went on a signing tour with a dozen other writers. We found ourselves one day in a library, doing a panel discussion on writing. The first question was about our first sale.
I was sitting in the middle of that long table. To my amazement, every writer ahead of me described how she had sold her first manuscript. Not how she made her first sale, but …
Dear Ms Kwitney,
 I got started reading your books way back (well not all the way back with your first one) with “The Dominant Blonde” and haven’t missed one since. As my fellow blogger Janine says, you have a way with flawed characters. They usually seem flawed in a believable, human way instead of a “flawed for a plot point in my book” kind of way. I want to root for these people to find their own little place in the sun because I like them and not just because they’ve been written as angst-filled, nearly broken people I’m supposed to cheer for.
An accomplished journalist, Zoe Goren can’t drive and she doesn’t cook. But that’s never been a problem in Manhattan, where the streets are filled with taxis and takeout restaurants, and a busy single mother can find everything she needs right at her fingertips. In fact, Zoe can’t imagine living or working anyplace else. But when Zoe’s daughter is diagnosed with dyslexia, she decides to make the ultimate sacrifice, moving two hours from Manhattan in order to enroll Maya in an excellent school for children
…
Alan Greenspan debuts at the top with The Age of Turbulence. Julia London appeared with her authorized fan fiction story based on the soap opera Guiding Light. There were no other meaningful debuts and only four books dropped out of the list.
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74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber (Mira), $7.99, No. 11 (Peak 1).
Innocent in Death, J.D. Robb, (Berkley), $7.99, No. 31 (Peak 9). Paperback release of a hardcover.
Ricochet, Sandra Brown (Pocket), $9.99, No.44 (Peak 5). Paperback release of hardcover.
Beyond Seduction, Stephanie Laurens (Avon), $7.99, No. 45 (Peak 8).
Guiding Light: Jonathan’s Story, Julia London with Alina Adams (Pocket), $22.00, No. 56 (debut).
The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory (Touchstone), $16.00, No. 78 (Peak 36). Trade paperback release of hardcover. This moved up from No. 92 last week and has spent 17 weeks on the list.
Darkfever, Karen Marie Moning (Dell), …
Bureaucracy generally moves slowly. In spring of 2004, the Justice Department issued a warning that there was a radical Islamist influence in the prisons.  A couple of weeks ago, in response to that warning, the federal Bureau of Prisons began the “Standardized Chapel Library Project”. The BoP worked with “experts” and compiled a list of non controversial lists of books for each of the major religions. Anything not on the list was to be banned from the prison libraries. The idea of banning books, even for prisoners, was incredibly offensive to many people and a class action lawsuit was initiated. Under the onslaught of criticism, the BoP announced today that all books removed from the libraries would be replaced other than those with “material that could be radicalizing or incite violence.”
Via New York Times.
Dear Ms. Sheedy:
 Family dynamics are always rife with inherent conflict. You use the theme again in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye to good effect. While KTG was much more romantic than the first book I read, Without A Word, and while the suspense was strong, I thought that the ending was almost too pat with all the loose ends tied up too prettily.
Joseph Worth and his friend, Julius Zern, form Guardian , a company that offers bodyguard services to the rich and famous. Joe spots a hottie on the street near his office with blonde hair and legs that go on forever. Naturally, he immediately begins to weave her into his fantasies and when she shows up at his office door, he feels like his day can’t get much better. Unfortunately, the hot blonde, April, throws a cold shower on those fantasies when she says she is there about Joe’s mother.
Joe’s mother, biologically speaking, made him a ward of the state when Joe was four so he doesn’t have fond memories …
Dear Mr. Capella,
 I’m so glad your editor persuaded you to write this book. And for the positive buzz at various other romance review sites that brought it to my attention. I’ve also heard that it’s already been optioned for a movie and after reading it, I can see why. The descriptions of Italy and Naples put the reader right on the scene, the characters (even the secondary ones) are three dimensional, the humor is delightful yet you manage to convey what war was doing to these people and this country. It also brought to mind something I read while preparing an Advanced American History report when I was in high school. One British general is said to have remarked about the mingling of soldiers and prostitutes of Naples, “Some of you chaps stick your privates in places that I wouldn’t even put the ferrule of my umbrella.”
Captain James Gould arrives in wartime Naples assigned to discourage marriages between British soldiers and their gorgeous Italian girlfriends. But the innocent young officer is soon distracted by an intoxicating young widow
…
I’m starting a new column for Wednesdays on USA Today Bestseller list predictions. There were a few books that were on sale last week that had street dates for Tuesday, September 25, 2007. The most notable one was JR Ward’s Lover Unbound. According to Bookscan, purchases of Ward’s book were made as early as two weeks ago which is bound to hurt the official street date week’s sales. She didn’t make it onto the USA Today list last week and I don’t think she’ll make it on this week either. In fact, according to the sales recorded by Bookscan, Monica McCarty, a new historical romance author, is outselling Ward. Would that be true overall? Probably not. I would expect to find Ward in more non traditional book locations like Wal-Mart and drugstores and grocery stores who may not be reporting point of sales data to Bookscan.
I think McCarty’s success is interesting. She writes historical romances set in early 17th C Scotland. By most accounts, historical books are selling by author meaning that historical romance …
Yes, I didn’t know that there was a National Coupon Month either but there is. I read a press release this morning from CoolSavings.com about a survey of coupon use by age. The most consistent user of coupons is the 55+ age group.  65% of the AARP crowd use coupons on every shopping trip. But the coupon use isn’t exclusive to the 55+ crowd. 51% of 35-34 year olds report using coupons on every trip. The most thrifty age group, however, is the 35-44 year old group who use coupons 61% of the time and 35% of those shoppers save $10-$20 per trip. This group, more than any other, relies on the newspaper for their main source of coupons while the others rely on a combination.
Not really book related, but I thought it was interesting.
Via CoolSavings.com Press Release.
Dear Ms. Hunter:
I really enjoyed Rules of Seduction and was greatly anticipating Lessons of Desire and the story of the independent and unconventional Phaedra Blair. When I began the book, I was even more interested because I could see that the story that was going to unfold was an exploration of a fundamental feminist issue of alone and unhappy v. together and happy. Because I knew how it woud end, I was intensely curious to see how the issue of female independence would be handled.
Phaedra Blair is the daughter of a famous independent female thinker Artemis who taught Phaedra to love freely. Her father, Richard Drury, was a respected member of Parliament and another intellectual. Richard and Artemis shared a “great love” but never married as Artemis maintained that marriage would rob her of her independence. On Richard’s deathbed he gives his memoirs to his illegitimate daughter, Phaedra, and extracts her promise to see the memoirs published. Upon reading them, though, she discovers that her mother had strayed from her father’s bed and that the lover that her mother took may have led …
Gizmodo wrote that it incorrectly reported that YouTube was going to use ad bumpers before video content. Instead, YouTube will have overlay ads. Also annoying but not so terrible as the 30 second ad bumper.
Dear Mr. Bryson,
 When your books are on, they’re wonderful. “Made in America,” “The Mother Tongue,” and “Neither Here nor There” are among my favorites. They’re funny, informative and a delight to read. But while “Notes from a Small Island” starts off with a bang (love the scene when you put the underwear on your head to keep warm on your first night in Dover) it unfortunately fizzles out midway through the book and ends up limping along to the finish.
What kept me reading were your delightful stories of your first and subsequent encounters with the English and getting to know your way around how things are different there, how you met your wife and her family and discovered you couldn’t understand the appeal of their favorite TV shows, your work mates, the upheaval in journalism during the 80s, wandering around Windsor with your daughter — I continued to enjoy things like this. It’s only when you start whining …
It seems like every day we get more and more announcements of companies selling digital content without software locks on it. Last week, eMusic announced its intention of selling its audiobooks without DRM and now Simply Audiobooks, the second largest online retailer of digital audiobooks (behind Audible) will be offering DRM free audiobooks with the goal of making its entire catalog DRM free.
Via Press Release.
Last week, there was an ad by Sony for the new Sony Reader that read “Sony. Sexier than a Librarian.” Today, Angela James sent me a link to a Wyoming library ad campaign that aims to bring the sexy back to reading. Barnhart ad agency helped Wyoming libraries to create a host of sexy and clever ads to bring readers into the fold.
One thing that the New York Public Library does is offer digital content to out of state users for $100.00 a year. Wyoming Libraries might consider doing something like to expand its reach beyond its borders.
Amazon’s new music store is now open and offering over 2 million songs from artists like KT Tunstell, 50 Cent, and the Rolling Stones. Every song and album is in the MP3 format, the most universal format for digital music, and can be played on nearly every device on the market from the iPod to the BlackBerry. 
The songs are priced from 89 to 99 cents and encoded at 256 kilobits per second.
It will be interesting to see whether iTunes will meet these prices. When it announced this spring that iTunes would offer EMI’s catalog of music DRM* free, it was with a catch. The DRM free music would be offered at a higher price – $1.29 instead of $.99.
Hopefully the competitive pricing Amazon is offering will put pressure on iTunes to offer DRM without the premium pricetag.
Via Press Release.
*DRM stands for Digital Rights Management and is a piece of computer code which ties the song or book to a single device. I.e., iTunes music can only be played on an iPod device or through iTunes.
 Rupert Murdoch consummated a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co for $5.6 billion and now is urging the board to make the online Journal free. The Wall Street Journal currently charges $99 and is the only major news site that has an online fee now that the New York Times has eliminated the subscription for its Times Select.
Murdoch believes that the Wall Street Journal online is losing ad revenue because of the restricted readership and that the increase of views from the elimination of a fee based access would be offset by increased ad dollars.
Via CNet.com
There has been some tension between romance blogs and the romance website, All About Romance. When I first read the threads over at AAR that turned from why some didn’t like the message board change to why blogs are exclusive and narcissistic, my first instinct was to reach out and say that we welcome commenters and hope that we aren’t exclusive. That’s my opinion still but I realized as I was writing this piece that there will always be some that won’t find Dear Author welcoming or interesting. That a blog, a website, or a message board cannot be all things for all people, least of all a blog.
We do have a viewpoint here at DearAuthor and because I pen most of the opinion pieces, most of the viewpoint that is espoused is mine. Jayne and I write most of the reviews for DA and our opinions vary widely and so do our writing styles so to that extent I think we have some depth but it’s not a great variety such as is provided at a place like All About Romance or Romantic Times.
I admit that when I began Dear …
Dear Ms. Shinn,
 This book was so good that after finishing it I kept saying to myself, "This book was so good! This book was so good!" I sat down at my computer to write this letter and like an inarticulate idiot, all I could think to say was "This book was so good!â€ÂÂ
Yes, Dark Moon Defender was a very, very good book, and easily the most romantic thing I've read that came out in 2006. Thus far it's also my favorite of your Twelve Houses books, which began with …
As you may have noticed, we use YouTube here for the hosting of our video reviews but next year, that will probably change. Gizmodo reports that YouTube will soon be adding 30 sec video ads to the beginning of video content beginning in 2008. Somehow I think that will lead to a huge decrease in video viewing, particularly in the viral video viewing where videos are embedded in blogs, like the one above that was on Dionne Galace’s today.
What a huge disappointment.
Via Gizmodo.
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) will start selling its product in November. The OLPC project is designed to provide a laptop for every child in a developing nation so that the technology divide would not further impoverish those without. For $399, you can get a funky green and white child friendly laptop delivered to you and one will be sent to child in need. The promotion will last two weeks and ship in time for Christmas.
Hmm. How young is too young for a laptop?
Via Endgadget.
Last week, we were the recipients of promotional insight from author Craig Davidson, whose promotional boxing matches got this reader out her romance genre lounge chair and into the literary fiction part of the bookstore.
 This week, we are pleased to share with our readers the thoughts of author Beverly Jenkins and the genesis behind the Pajama Party weekend book celebration. Jenkins has written sixteen books to date. She writes historical romances as well as romantic suspense. Her seventeenth novel, Sexy/Dangerous, was published in November 2006. Every other October, she hosts a Pajama Party weekend for her fans. This year, from October 5 to October 7, Ms. Jenkins will host her 5th PJ Party Weekend.
***
 The PJ began as idea I had as way to say thanks to my fans. At the time I was receiving so much fan mail it was hard to keep up with it. I thought it would be neat to have them all together in one spot so I could …
Drollerie Press came to my attention when two authors, Joely Sue Burkhart and Imogen Howson, emailed DearAuthor and wondered if we wouldn’t be interested in reading their books. The covers were gorgeous and I assumed that this was some small print independent publishing house. Upon further investigation, I learned that Drollerie Press is a new ebook publishing house that is offering transformative fiction in any genre. Jayne read Joely Sue Burkhart’s romance Survive My Fire and I read Imogen Howson’s young adult offering, Falling.
Both were interesting pieces of fiction that made us interested in more Drollerie Press offerings. One of the owners, Deena Fisher, emailed me with an offer to the Dear Author readership. Any purchase totaling $2.50 or more, the buyer will receive 15% off if they enter the words ” Dear Author ” (without quotation marks). The code is good through December 31st.
Ms. Fisher agreed to answer some questions about the vision and future of “Drollerie Press ”
Q. What is your niche in the publishing market?
Fisher: Mythic arts. Our goal is to showcase great writing in any genre …
Dear Ms. Vaughn:
 This was a top seller at Samhain’s My Bookstore and More a few weeks ago. I’m always curious about what other people are reading and so I bought the book blindly (no cover, no blurb) and I had never read you before.
India Powers is a woman who has spent her whole life pleasing her impossible parents only to be overlooked for her less successful older brother. She even went so far as to get engaged to a man she doesn’t love because it was the one thing that really pleased her parents. When India finds her fiance in bed with another woman, she decides that no amount of parental approval is worth a lifetime of unhappiness. She breaks off the engagement to the fury of her parents and heads off to take a vacation on a remote island.
Rafe Santiago and Grant Thompson have been best friends from childhood. Now adults and business partners, Rafe and Grant are weathering Rafe’s nasty divorce. During the marriage, Rafe’s wife constantly made plays for Grant, sometimes attempting to pit the two friends against each other. One …
Dear Ms Haseloff,
 Years ago I read the DIK review at AAR for this book. I was interested and purchased it. I read it and was blown away by it. I contacted you and you were gracious enough to email with me a little about this book and others you’d written. I’ve always meant to go back and write a review for it and now’s the time.
I love books which make me want to know more about the people and times presented in them. I knew you had based this on the real raid carried out by Kiowa and Comanche warriors against settlers on the Elm Creek in Texas that took place in 1864 while most of the soldiers and young men from the area were back east fighting the Civil War. I didn’t realize you had changed the names of the main characters and assume this was to allow for a little artistic license in telling the story. It seems that the basic facts are the same. The raid was launched on the few settlers remaining in the area, some managed to fight the Indians off while others, …
 Caroline Linden caught my attention with her second book, What A Gentleman Wants and I rushed out after that book was finished and bought her first book, What A Woman Needs. If I were to label Linden’s books, I would say enigmatic heroes and common sense heroines who show us that the path to love is never straight and easy, just like Caroline Linden’s road to publication.
Her latest novel, What A Rogue Desires is out in stores now and while I haven’t done a formal review of it, I have read it and it’s one that I would recommend.
***
 The first book I wrote was utterly unsellable. I didn’t know that at the time; I didn't even care. It was just for practice. The second book was better, but only a little. The third book, though, I knew that book was good.
The opening scene popped into my head one night, while I was making dinner, …
Dear Ms. McCarthy:
 I have liked your lighthearted works in the past but I wasn’t at all disturbed that you were exploring a darker side of your writing. On a superficial level, this book worked and I thought it took chances, but a deeper examination revealed some character trends that I found unappealing.
The story opens with Damien, an 18th Century dissolute and wealthy southern landowner, taking a demon into his arms and asking her for a favor. The favor is granted and we fade to black. The story re-engages in the modern day when Marley Turner makes a stop at Damien’s plantation in search of her missing, irresponsible sister. Marley Turner is the perfect temptation to Damien who has been abstaining for 200 years as a self imposed punishment. If he takes Marley, he endangers whatever soul he may have left to his succubus/incubus masters.
I was initially fascinated by the idea of the redemption Damien du Bourg. In the initial scenes, he is cruel and selfish. I almost wondered if he was really the hero. The problem is that I never …
 There was a recent post at “Fangs, Fur & Fantasy”, a blog for urban fantasy writers, from a self labeled romance cynic, author Maggie Stiefvater. Ms. Stiefvater is, by her own definition, a urban fantasy writer whose first book is due out in Fall 2008. She attempts to open a dialogue about romances by sharing that her astrological sign may be the reason she doesn’t like predictable formulaic books known as romances. “I’m afraid I’ll pick it up and the Greater Plot will be subverted to the Amazing Love Conflict which will be built on formulaic, predictable lines.” Ironically, one of Stiefvater’s favorite authors is JK Rowling.
Ms. Stiefvater, in the comments, goes on to admit she liked Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight but doesn’t really get the romance genre. Diana Peterfreund correctly noted that to like Meyer’s Twilight and to not appreciate romance is nearly an oxymoron. Twilight, for all its glory, fits squarely within the romance trope, i.e., loner girl, not the best looking gets the hottest guy around who happens to be a vampire. Caught between humanity and eternal …
James Patterson overtakes former President Clinton at the number one spot with his co written book, You’ve Been Warned. The rest of the list is really mundane.
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74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber (Mira), $7.99, No. 5 (Peak 1).
Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown), $18.99, No. 9 (Peak 1)
Innocent in Death, J.D. Robb, (Berkley), $7.99, No. 18 (Peak 9). Paperback release of a hardcover.
Beyond Seduction, Stephanie Laurens (Avon), $7.99, No. 26 (Peak 8).
Ricochet, Sandra Brown (Pocket), $9.99, No.38(Peak 5). Paperback release of hardcover.
Sorceress, Lisa Jackson, No. 59 (Peak 64). This is very surprising and shows that there might not be much cross over between romantic suspense/suspense to paranormal romance. Lisa Jackson writes RS for Kensington and is a perennial top 10 bestseller for those books.
Darkfever, Karen Marie Moning (Dell), $6.99, No. 68 (Peak 46)….
 NBC had a public breakup with iTunes, moved to Amazon, and some speculated it was due to NBC being unhappy with pricing. But in a surprise move, NBC announced that it will start offering free rentals of its TV shows. The “free” will be subsidized by ads and is limited in time, meaning after 7 days, the download doesn’t work anymore. But, free is free and its a download, rather than a streaming video.
Via Motley Fool.
The NY Times Select is now available free of charge, including its archives that go back to 1987. In a letter to readers, Senior Vice President & General Manager Vivian Schiller, wrote that since the launch of the TimesSelect online, the internet has changed dramatically.  “In light of this shift, we believe offering unfettered access to New York Times reporting and analysis best serves the interest of our readers, our brand and the long-term vitality of our journalism. We encourage everyone to read our news and opinion – as well as share it, link to it and comment on it.”
Essentially, the Times understands that the webosphere is driven by linkage. It’s the online version of word of mouth. One thing that I know was available in the Times Select subscription (that used to cost an individual reader $30 per month) was the Bestseller list. I wonder if that will be made available online on Wednesdays instead of Sundays.
I think that when you say the word “ebook” that the assumption is the major consumer is a male, probably one who is a tech aficionado. The reality, though, is that the most successful epublishing company is one that caters to women. The majority of bestselling ebooks are romances. And yesterday, Harlequin is leading the charge toward an ebook full future by announcing that it is the first major publisher to make their ENTIRE front list catalog available in eBook format.
Each month, Harlequin releases more than 120 titles per month and starting in October, all of the titles will be in ebook format.
"Women have embraced eBooks," says Malle Vallik, Director Digital Content & Interactivity. "They demand portability, immediacy, availability, depth, breadth and convenience and, by making our entire front list and exclusive digital editorial available to them, we are meeting that challenge. We are meeting the needs of our current audience and reaching a new and diverse base of readers. Seeking innovative new ways to serve our audience continues to be a Harlequin tradition.”Â
All I can say is Huzzah Harlequin!
Via Press Release.
Dear Kensington Books,
 Since the little bit of fiction here at Dear Author is in the epistolary form of these reviews, I thought it would be okay to address this one to a publisher. Jane’s review of Jo Goodman’s new release If His Kiss Is Wicked did a wonderful job of articulating much of what I loved about the book, and I share Jane’s confusion as to why Goodman isn’t an outright star. After all, her books are rich in historical detail, sophisticated in the witty and intelligent dialogue, supple in their richly drawn protagonists, passionate, and emotionally satisfying. So what is it? What’s up with the completely disconnected cover, for example? Not only does that cover NOT evoke any historicity, but the cover model is the physical opposite of the hero, Restell Gardner, who is most often described as a “Viking” because of his blonde hair, blue eyes, and light complexion. I also wonder about whether Goodman has a reserved lay down date, because I bought …
Dear Mr Murphy,
 I didn’t graduate from high school until long after 1968 but I remember a little of what was going on then. I’ve found myself reading more and more about Vietnam though it’s usually accounts written by military personnel who served there. Your book shows me a little more of what was going on in this country and how it impacted the lives of the generation ahead of me.
Kevin Cooper’s high school senior year plans of sex, drugs and rock and roll are shattered by the arrival of his brother Tim’s first letter from Vietnam. In Vietnam, Tim struggles to survive and to forget his love for anti-war activist Sarah Johnson. The three people’s lives, and the lives of their families are forever changed by war, student unrest and political assassination.
First let me say the sections from Vietnam are riveting, intense and well done (even if understandly very violent). Those parts of the book made me think of and go back and watch a fantastic DVD called “Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.” The way Tim wouldn’t tell his parents the full horror of what he was dealing with …
 .
The guys over at MobileRead noticed that the Borders Beta didn’t have the Sony Reader listed or any ebooks. In fact, in searching ebooks, Bob Russell noted that you received a sad error message: ” Did you mean books?”.
Cheer up guys, Borders and Sony are launching a co branded eBook Store and will expand the existing markets for the Sony Reader. Borders online store used to be managed under the Amazon flag and in leaving Amazon, Borders plans to fight for its online market share. Currently the Sony Reader is offered in 270 Borders stores. Beginning in October, that number will increase to 500 stores nationwide.
Also in October, Borders will launch an ebook store that will be supported by Sony. There is no word whether Borders will offer any other formats such as Mobipocket (Amazon’s company); Microsoft Reader (LIT); eReader; or any other popular formats. EBook promotion will be included in the Borders “Shortlist” customer email.
Via Press Release
It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Recommendations anyone? I know Jayne is particularly found of Marsha Canham’s, The Iron Rose. The most recent pirate/privateer book I recall reading was Jane Feather’s Almost a Lady. Other Pirate related books:
Anyone have recommendations for a good pirate adventure? (More pirate related titles at Likes Books.)
The NBCC is pretty much anti blog so I won’t be nominating myself (and I certainly don’t deserve to be nominated either) but the National Book Critics Circle is accepting nominations for the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing (yes, Dorothy, there is a prize for everything). You must be a dues paying member of the NBCC to nominate yourself.
Via Galley Cat.
Dear Ms. Ward:
 I’ve referred to you as romance crack before. Your books are addictive, like a pharmaceutical grade narcotic, that makes a reader hot for the next book before the current book is even concluded. Unfortunately, I think I got a bad batch and wonder what I should do about it. On the one hand, this book cured me of my JR Ward addiction. On the other, its sad to see such a promising series totally crater.
I can’t really give much of a summary without spoiling the book but I can say that Vishous, a man cursed with prognostication, is floundering, as his best friend has left him for a woman. He goes off to nurse his wounds and lo and behold, finds a woman of his own. He also finds out that he and Jane, his new love interest, have something in common – bad, bad mothers. This commonality and Jane’s willingness to follow him into his kinky world, bring the two of them closer together until the lessers threaten their fledgling love.
Jane and Vishous’ story is …
Dear Ms. Pace,
 Your first book “If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend” was one of my nice surprises for 2005. I didn’t read “Pug Hill” but when Jane told me we had a copy of Through Thick and Thin, I was game to try it.
These days, the Isley sisters’ sense of camaraderie isn’t what it used to be. They’re leading their own lives, with less in common every day. Stephanie is an overwhelmed stay-at-home mom with a handsome husband and a six-month-old baby. Meredith has a successful career as a New York restaurant critic, but her only future companion may be a yoga-loving dog. Sometimes it seems the only thing they still share is their mutual desire to lose weight.
So they decide to do it together, to turn back the clock to the slim self that Stephanie wants back and Meredith always wished for, and to the easy affection that once let them share everything. Only “everything” is harder now. Because neither sister has been completely honest about things that are very close to home…
After reading the back blurb, …
Borders and Gather.Com in conjunction with Simon & Schuster held a contest for unpublished authors which began with 2600 contestants and was whittled down to 10 finalists. The winner was Terry Shaw with his entry, The Way Life Should Be. The first runner up, Geoffrey Edwards, was compelling enough to the panel that his book, Fire Bell in the Night, was published too. Both books were released today, September 18.
The contest started in January of 2007 so the road to publication for these authors was somewhat swift (discounting, of course, the years preceding this year when they labored over their craft).
The romance writing contest is taking place now and if we can take anything from the first contest, the group is looking for good writers and are willing to award contracts to those that they perceive are saleable.
eMusic is the world’s largest retailer of indie music and the second largest digital music provider after iTunes. Starting today, September 18, eMusic will offer audiobooks in an mp3 format without DRM. The collection will include Blackstone Audio, Hachette, Naxos Audiobooks, Penguin and Random House. The costs are $9.99 for one book or $19.99 for two books (with subscription). The quality of the audiobooks are twice the quality available from iTunes and Audible.
Notable books narrated by well-known voices such as:
- Michael Ondaatje’s “The English Patient,” read by Ralph Fiennes;
- Nicola Kraus’ “The Nanny Diaries,” read by Julia Roberts;
- Barack Obama reading his own books, “Dreams of My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.”
With DRM free music and audiobooks can the case still be made for DRM’ed ebooks?
Via Press Release.
In a huge shift, NY Times is revising its bestseller lists. It will add a Trade Paperback list in addition to its stable of Non Fiction, Hardcover Fiction and Mass Market Fiction lists. It will also expand the paperback list to 20 titles (from the 15). The total number of bestsellers listed will increase to 110 from 70.
The addition of a trade paperback list adds another page of ad revenue for the Times. One executive sees that addition of a list as “completely ad driven.”
Via New York Business.
Some readers have argued in the comments at Smart Bitches that the romance genre definition does not include a happy ever after. I had a long and somewhat contentious debate with Robin over the definition of romance. Her argument is that the academic definition of the genre is that romance is a story that focuses on the love relationship of individuals and results in an uplifting ending for the characters involved in the love relationship.
My definition? A book that contains a love story and ends with the promise of happily ever after.
Robin’s argument is that if the more widely accepted definition was not one that included a HEA, that the ending of books would be more satisfying.
My argument is that authors need not limit themselves by the genre definition as expressed by the readers. Meaning, that if an author is crafting her books to be most reader friendly (depending on whom the reader is), then that is her issue and not one reliant on the genre definition. I read JR Ward’s recent book, “Lover Unbound”, as an answer to her fans, at least a certain segment of her fans. …
Dear Ms. Long,
 For me, reading The Secret to Seduction, was like having a glass of champagne. First the effervescent joy of being introduced to your characters through the liquid clarity of your voice, then the warmth of being immersed in the sensations and emotions that those characters grow to feel, and finally the blissful buzz of the happy ending.
I put off reading this book a while because, though I’d very much enjoyed Beauty and the Spy and liked Ways to be Wicked, I’d heard from a couple of disappointed readers, and even Jayne, though she enjoyed the book and recommended it, was a bit less enthusiastic than I’d hoped.
Silly me. I should know by now that opinions can vary widely, and that, though I have a lot of respect for Jayne’s, it rarely lines up perfectly with mine. I’m so glad I finally picked up the The Secret to Seduction, because for me, it was a delight from start to finish.
Sabrina Fairleigh, the adopted daughter of a …
Borders has lauched a beta of its new online store. The romance page has a top section of featured books and then book covers of upcoming and currently on sale romances (and some that may be loosely described as romances).
I like it and find it more attractive than Amazon. How easy it will to buy books and whether it will be a viable alternative to Amazon remains to be seen.
Robert Jordan, author of a seemingly endless Wheel of Time series, died peacefully on Sunday afternoon. He had been ill with amyloidosis for some time so the end was not a surprise. Fans of the series expressed sadness as Jordan’s death and frustration with the lack of conclusion to the series.
RIP JOrdan.
Via Media Bistro.
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