Archive for February, 2008
 Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years which related a Jewish child’s Holocaust experience including trekking 1900 miles across Europe with a pack of wolves (I know, I thought I saw that Disney movie too) is apparently not a memoir but a pack of fiction (or pack of lies, but I thought that was too easy).
Misah Defonseca’s book was translated into 18 languages and made into a french film. The author currently lives in Massachusetts and is 71 years old. I mention her age specifically because I know that we aren’t supposed to say anything negative about someone over the age of, say, 50, even if what they did would be considered a fraud on the public.
Dear Ms. Dimon:
 I mentioned before that your trademark seemed to be really great dialogue, snappy flirtatious banter. This book was no different. The problem was that while it had your trademark dialogue, it just had too much of it. I guess there really is too much of a good thing.
Gabrielle Pearson thought that she was developing a great relationship with her geeky, but hot, new boyfriend until he dumps her with the lame ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line. Reed Larkin thinks he’s doing Gabby a big favor. He’s been assigned to monitor her activities to see if she is involved in anything nefarious. To do so, he’s gotten close, determined she is clean and decides that to be involved with her anymore would endanger her life. Reed would really like nothing better than to take Gabby home and make sweet love to her, he decides to break it off ‘for her own good.’
Thus begins the pattern of Reed’s entire engagement with Gabby. He is always making decisions which he feels are in Gabby’s best interests. I found this terribly grating and while Gabby purportedly …
Celeste Bradley has been a series girl from the start. Her first series, Liars Club, was published by St. Martin’s Press. Since that time, she has written 11 books. Her most recent series is a trilogy called “The Heiress Brides!” Desperately Seeking a Duke (March 1st), The Duke Next Door (April 1st) and Duke Most Wanted (May 1st). Bradley has a Muse called Edna who, unfortunately, “disappears for weeks at a time with her Vin Diesel wannabe biker boyfriend.” The two of them have “good days and … bad days.” Celeste shares one of her best days with us.
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 I came to writing fairly late. …
Dear Mrs. Eagle,
 Your books have been favorites of mine for years. When I got back into reading romance novels about 10 years ago, “The Night Remembers” was
one of the first books I read and from there I started to collect everything you’d written. Your latest book, “Mystic Horseman,” reminds me of the best of your books from the golden 1990s.
Last year we caught a glimpse of Dillon Black in “Ride a Painted Pony.” He’s a man with a hard history who’s done some crazy things but who adores his two children even if his marriage to their mother (the end of which caused some of those crazy things) broke up 10 years ago. Now he and Nick Red Shield have built up a nice little business running cattle and breeding Indian ponies. And not just any Indian ponies but the supposed descendants of the horses of Sitting Bull. Dillon hopes this summer he and his daughter Emily can expand on the program they started the previous year which brings horses and the Lakota youth, descendants themselves of one of the Great Plains horse tribes, back together.
Dillon’s …
 Maybe Oprah inspired the industry or maybe Cory Doctorow and Baen Publishing’s long maintained message is finally breaking through, but the free keeps piling up. This time its Random House who is giving away Beautiful Children, a New York Times bestseller. You don’t even have to give your name or email address away. Just click that you agree with the terms of the copyright and download and go. It’s in Adobe format but it is not limited in anyway so you could save it as an html file or something else. The offer ends 2/29/08 at midnight so go download it soon.
Thanks Arielle for the heads up.
There is an article in MSNBC this morning about re-virginization. For the low low sum of $5,000 you can have your hymen “repaired” so that you can give the “gift” of virginity.
“Have you already unwrapped the priceless gift of virginity and given it away?” asks the Web site for the Pregnancy Resource Center of Northeast Ohio, where Watts began working part-time after she reclaimed her virginity. “Do you now feel like ’second-hand goods’ and no longer worthy to be cherished? Do you ever wish you could re-wrap it and give it only to your future husband or wife? Guess what…? You can decide today to commit to abstinence, wrapping a brand-new gift of virginity to present to your husband or wife on your wedding night.”
This type of crappy message has to be beaten down. The idea that not being a virgin could result in feeling that you are “second hand goods” and “no longer worthy of being cherished” is about the worst schlock to be passed off to our daughter who already have to deal with tremendous image issues. I think it’s this mentality that makes me hate the virgin widow trope with the heat of …
Dear Ms. Walker,
While I’ve read and enjoyed novels about supermodels in the past, I was a bit leery when I received your book. On one hand, I’m fascinated by the fashion  industry. On the other hand, I hate the message it sends to teenaged girls about body image and here we have a young adult novel about an up and rising teenaged model. Add to that the unavoidable cattiness we see on shows like America’s Next Top Model, and I just didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully, not only did this book neatly sidestep the easy path of backstabbing cattiness, it turned out the main character had many of the same concerns I did.
Violet Greenfield was once a high school social outcast. Being too tall and too thin, she was just never able to fit in. Boys didn’t want to date a girl taller than them and the popular clique wouldn’t give her the time of day. That all changed during senior year when she was discovered and signed with a modeling …
Dear Jane,
Thank you for inviting me to write this review of Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace. After reading your review last month I was eager to read this and even more delighted to win one of the 20 ARCs you gave away. I am happy to report that I enjoyed the book as much as you did.
 As you know, this book is written in the first person, from heroine Sirantha Jax’s POV. Generally speaking, I prefer a book written from multiple POVs. Maybe it is just what I am used to. But I have to say that this book works very well coming from Jax’s POV. Despite that “limitation†there is a very real sense that all of the characters grow and change as a result of what they go through together. And this ultimately is what makes Grimspace succeed for me. Ms. Aguirre is able to give us a strong sense of the other characters, especially March, even though we are not inside their heads. In your review you pointed out that Jax is not “loveable … [or] particularly honorable.” But, she is honest. During periods of …
Individuals who are, or once were, associated with PublishAmerica are suing the Preditor & Editors site for libel. Barbara Bauer is an agent who claims that P&E libeled her by calling her a scammer. Victor E. Cretella, an attorney with PublishAmerica and a member of the Maryland Bar, is suing P&E for harming his reputation.
Barbara Bauer is on SFWA’s twenty worst agents list.  NielsonHayden also noted that Barbara Bauer is a “well known scam agent” and so did Miss Snark. As everyone and their cousin on these sites note, calling someone a scam agent is defensible if it is the truth. (I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to say that it is not libel if it is the truth. Truth is just an absolute defense to libel).
On the P&E website, it claims that Victor E Cretella infringed on a contract. I am not sure how you can infringe on a contract. You can breach a contract. You can tortiously interfere with a contract but infringe? In any event, this is a bit more interesting. Apparently some had made complaints to the Maryland Bar Association regarding Cretella’s activities as PublishAmerica’s attorney. Any complaint made to an …
Dear Ms. Thomas:
 I first learned about you when Sybil sent me a link to your excerpt (this is a link to your blog because your website? It is gone!). It was enticing but your book wasn’t due out for months and months so I tried to put it out of my mind. But then my friend, Janine, mentioned that she was your critique partner and that she loved your book and maybe she could wheedle a copy out of you to read.
As you know, I stayed up late to read it. As is my normal course when I love a book, I begin emailing everyone I can to share the love which, in the case of early books, is like the author. I remember that I read this into the early morning hours and even forgot to set up a post for the blog for the morning.
Gigi is a very rich young girl who wants to marry well. Through a series of incidents, Camden Saybrook becomes Marquis of Tremaine. Camden has promised himself …
Dear Ms. Willig,
 Oh, what I’ve been missing by not reading your books earlier. Now having devoured “Pink Carnation” and the newest in the series, “The Seduction of the Crimson Rose,” I’ve been sucked in by your witty style, your fun characters and the entire world of early 19th century flower spies. What I still wonder is how on earth you have time to write these books and also be a NYC lawyer? Have you cloned yourself?
I haven’t gone back yet and read “Black Tulip” nor “Emerald Ring” but one thing that really impressed me while reading “Crimson Rose” is how you don’t rehash everything that happened in those books nor drag the heroes and heroines from those stories unnecessarily into this one. I usually prefer to read a series in order so that I won’t come across spoilers in later books that will ruin the reading experience of earlier ones. Sure I know some of what will happen in the two books I haven’t read but nothing that dims my desire to actually read them.
Miss Mary Alsworthy was mentioned, and not flatteringly, in “Pink Carnation” as a Regency …
 Dear Ms. Collingwood,
I both liked and didn’t like your novella Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased).
I was attracted to it as soon as Jane offered it to us, because your email mentioned it was a penny-dreadful styled ghost story, and I love the ghost stories of the Victorian era (it’s set in Georgian times but the style it’s written in is from the Victorian period). I didn’t realize it was a romance, and a MxM one, until fellow reviewer Jayne mentioned it in an email when I was already 20 pages into the 80.
And therein lies the duel nature of my feelings toward this piece. As a Victorian-style ghost story you did an admirable job, beginning with the naval men around the fire hearing a hair-raising story about a cursed ship from one of its men. I was surprised and pleased when at the quarter mark it shifted into present tense and the most intriguing character of the first part, Daniel Leigh, decided to challenge the curse himself by joining the crew.
There were hints about the sexual inclination of the …
The question of whether there is a divide between authors and reader/blogger/reviewers has been discussed and debated here and elsewhere. To me it seems clear that it does, at least in some quarters. Some reader/blogger/reviewers, including some of my fellow bloggers here on Dear Author, have called out some authors for behaving badly. And some authors have called out reader/blogger/reviewers for being mean girls. Recently, Janet (Robin) blogged here about her own response to some authors’ reactions to the recent Cassie Edwards scandal, saying that “It felt to me (and still does) that there was a frighteningly easy shift into reader v. author discourse.”
But nowhere, perhaps, is the rift more evident than in the relative absence from the romance community of people who bridge the gap — those who are both writers or authors, as well as bloggers and reviewers.
I don’t mean to suggest that this hybrid is completely nonexistent in the romance genre. Authors HelenKay Dimon, Alison Kent and Stephanie Feagan all write reviews for Paperback Reader. Bam is a blogger and former reviewer who is now published. There have also been some unpublished …
Reed Business Information (in its guise as Publishers Weekly) was a co-founder of the Quill Awards which was one part Oscar, one part People’s Choice with Publisher’s Weekly putting up a slate of nominees and the readers voting on that slate. Nora Roberts won Book of the Year in 2007 for Angels Fall.
Publishers Weekly posted its news that it is suspending its sponsorship of the Quill Award. The statement is a bit inconsistent. In one sentence it is to “suspend” backing and then in another talks about the “dissolution” of the award.
NBC is the other corporate sponsor but it has declined to make a comment. Apparently not very many readers voted and the awards did not increase sales for books. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Publishers Weekly and other Reed Business Information businesses are up for sale. More on that later.
I find this so interesting. Last year in Japan 5 of the top 10 selling books were “cell phone novels”. These novels are entirely written on cell phones using all of the abbreviations emoticons that I have so much trouble understanding.
These are very short novels but very successful. In fact the number one best selling book last year was in fact a cell phone novel entitled “Love Sky” written by Mika. The author explained her success due to difficulty most of her fans have in reading actual books and understanding their long difficult sentences.
That statement seems so hilarious, but I think these “books” are obviously interesting enough for the publishing houses in Japan since most of them are turning these cell phone novels into real books.
I wonder when this trend will hit our shore?
Via Collegian Online
Those of you who loved the novel can now enjoy the upcoming movie The Other Boleyn Girl on February 29th. The book was originally reviewed by Jayne and received high marks. I believe three or four of the Oscars this year were adaptations of books. Lets hope this movie is as good.
And who doesn’t love movies good or bad. It’s a chance to gorge yourself on a large tub of buttered popcorn while chasing it with a 48 oz drink. By the time the trailers are finished you feel sick. At least its my modus operandi.
Dear Ms. Thurman,
 I can’t remember exactly how I first discovered your books. When your first novel, Nightlife, came out a couple years ago, I dismissed it as just another straight urban fantasy. We already have Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green for that. Then I read a couple favorable blog reviews that made it sound interesting and I decided to give it a try. And am I glad I did. Nightlife entertained me, its sequel Moonshine hooked me, and this third book Madhouse might have inspired a little dance when it arrived on my doorstep.
Caliban Leandros is half monster — Auphe, to be precise, which are not happy, little elves or beautiful, mysterious fae. They’re sadistic, bloodthirsty monsters from hell. Literally. He and his (fully human) brother Niko have been running from them since they were kids because the Auphe specifically bred Cal as their key to transforming the world into their own personal playground. The Leandros brothers have since stopped them from succeeding, and now they’ve done the one thing they swore they’d never do: They’ve …
Dear Author is going with The Billionaire’s Secret Babes for our Harlequin reading challenge group name. Robin picked it so we are giving away two GCs to random commenters from the previous post. Ann Bruce and Whey are the winners of our Fictionwise GCs. Please send me an email with the email address where you want the GC sent.
To participate in the reading challenge as part of the Dear Author group, just put “The Billionaire’s Secret Babes” in the “tags” area. I’ll pull off any review tagged with that title and post them here at Dear Author as well, on a separate page. This coming Sunday, I’ll post a picture by picture “how to” to help you sign up, post, and correctly tag a review.
Here are the rules:
- You must sign up for an account at Harlequin.
- One half of the books you read/blog about must be Harlequin books.
- The books, both the Harlequin books and books by other publishers, can be of any publication date.
- You can review/blog about a book no matter the format: e-format, audio format, printed format.
Thanks for participating. Drop a …
Today’s guest review comes from author K.Z. Snow. Ms. Snow’s myspace profile indicates that she is a 100 year old woman from Wisconsin and from this guest review, appears to love Susan Fromberg Schaeffer’s The Madness of a Seduced Woman (Plume).
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(All direct quotes from the text are taken from the 1991 Plume trade edition.)
 The human heart can be a willful and rebellious creature. When prodded by an overactive mind that bears the taint of delusion, it can become a monster.
Susan Fromberg Schaeffer’s acclaimed 1983 novel, The Madness of a Seduced Woman, hooked me with its title alone. After reading it for the first time, I knew I’d been reeled into a fog that wouldn’t dissipate for days.
This novel stands tall among the finest works of contemporary women’s fiction. Intensely personal and yet epic in its scope, it doesn’t really qualify as a romance. There is no HEA-or, if the ending can be seen that way, it’s far from traditional. You won’t find the heroine’s double in any Harlequin release. She’s more closely related to Hester Prynne, Emma Bovary, Anna Karenina, Catherine Earnshaw, Tess Durbeyfield, and Carrie Meeber. The prose …
In the 1980s, Sony and Matsushita engaged in a battle over VHS v. Betamax. Sony lost that battle but has emerged the victor in home entertainment fight club battle 2.0. Last week, Toshiba announced it would “no longer develop, make or market high-definition HD DVD players and recorders.”
In the early 2000s, the movie industry and the technology industry began a redux of the VHS v. Betamax struggle in creating a successor to the DVD player. The current DVD technology does not take advantage of the visual capabilities of high definition televisions. Given that the FCC mandated that all video signals would be in digital versus analog format, more and more consumers will have HD televisions in their home. Making components that match that increase in technology means more money for the entertainment business.
Toshiba’s abandonment of the HD DVD format came with the promise that it would continue to support the 1 million users worldwide that had already purchased an HD DVD player. It’s a cautionary lesson for early adopters.
The battle for high definition home entertainment came down to HD DVD (Toshiba/Miscroft) and Blu …
Dear Mrs Wells,
 What happens when you take an intriguing idea and mix it with nice characters but throw in very standard plotting? A reader who ends up feeling manipulated. Oh, I know that’s what a romance book is supposed to do – get you to root for the characters and sigh at the HEA – but I just don’t want the strings to be that visible as they’re pulled.
How would you like to be Monica Lewinsky? For Real. And deal with white hot spotlight of public ridicule? Yet know you were innocent and still not be able to prove it? Emma is a detail oriented woman who’s made her way in life, built a business, takes pride in who and what she is and it’s all torn away. During a public relations trip, President-elect Ferguson visits the house where she’s the temporary hired butler. Her business supplies them but she also does some of the work herself, especially for long time clients. Ferguson is a sleaze who demands that the Secret Service supply him with a call girl for the night but the extended whoopee brings on a …
A fire on February 22, 2008, consumed the Historic Boonsboro Inn that Nora Roberts and her family were restoring. The blaze also damaged six other buildings in the small town. No one was injured but there was an estimated $1.5 to $2 million in damage.
The Smart Bitches reported on this yesterday and Nora dropped in to give a couple of updates.
Via SBTB and the tipsters in the email. Thanks.
Welcome to Query Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a query to be read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. Published authors may do so under their own name or anonymously.
Readers, though, the way that I look at it is this: Would the hook itself interest you in reading the book. If yes, what interests you and if not, what would you change to make it more appealing?
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Dear ________:
For the most part, what is it about Christmas that forces us to forget the weight of our daily stresses and ignore the complex quandaries of our lives, if even for just one day, to celebrate a traditional holiday with our families?
For the Most Part is a fictional story of the White Family Christmas. Lorraine White, recently widowed, is looking forward to spending a traditional holiday with her five children. Yet, each of her kids is wrestling with skeletons in their closet. Martin, the eldest and a school teacher, has had a short affair with a student who is now missing. Ellen, the oldest daughter, strives to …
I think this is old news but Harlequin is seeking authors to submit short stories (10,000-15,000 words) for electronic publication under the Nocturne Bites line. You can submit your manuscript online to NoctureBites@harlequin.ca.
If you have ever wanted to get in the mind of an editor the new podcast from Harlequin may be your ticket. Harlequin plans on producing 20-minute “Meet the Editor” podcasts. The first podcast is with Melissa Jeglinski who is the senior editor for Silhouette Desire, and Diana Ventimiglia, associate editor for Silhouette Desire and Silhouette Romantic Suspense.   A new podcast will be released every two weeks.
You can access the podcast through Harlequin, Itunes or other podcasters.
Via Fox Business
Dear Ms. Grady:
 I thought that I had read you before and that you were jmc’s secret pleasure which was why I bought this one. Unfortunately, this was a case of mixed up names. I was thinking of Robyn Donald but must have fixated on Robyn, forgetting the last name. It’s not the first time, I’ve gotten authors’ names mixed up and it won’t be the last.
Donna Wilks is a psychologist who does work for the criminal justice in Sydney including giving profiles of accused individuals. She is appointed by the courts to be an impartial party.
Tate Bridges, Australian broadcasting mogul, is thrilled when Donna is assigned to his recently arrested brother’s case. He comes to a fundraising party to seduce Donna into giving his brother a favorable report. Bridges is not shy about the fact that he’ll use whatever power and influence he has to game the system.
Donna and Tate were engaged five years ago but Donna broke it off after realizing that she would always come second to Tate’s business ambitions. Tate begins by blackmailing Donna …
Do some of us buy too many books? Do you find yourself having books in your personal library that you have never read? Are you running out of space for all of your books? MSN Money listed 10 ways to save money when buying books. Here are a few of my favorites:
Avoid New Releases – Do you really need it now?
Share – Just like it says, share your books with your friends!
Frequent your Public Library
Explore Used Bookstores
You can see the entire list here.
Via MSN Money
Medallion press is coming out with a fully illustrated romance in November. It is titled Passion’s Blood and has an expected print run of 10,000.
I have not seen an illustrated romance book before but I do know I like my fantasy “picture books” when done properly. Any opinions on Medallion’s other illustrated romance book Ellie and the Elven King?
Via Publishers Weekly
 Catherine Delors has a unique story that the readers haven’t heard before. Delors’ first language is French but her first published novel is in English. How hard must that be? Delors graduated from the University of Paris-Sorbonne School of Law, became a member of the Bar of Paris at 21, got married, moved to the US, passed the California Bar (which is super hard) and set up a solo practice after the birth of her son.
I’m pretty much in awe of that resume but even beyond being a bi-lingual lawyer, wife and mother, Delors wrote and sold her first novel, a historical “epic journey into the heart of the Revolution, from the glittering halls of Versailles to the brutal slice of the Guillotine.”
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While I was working on Mistress of the Revolution, things were not going well in my personal life. The joy of writing kept me going at a time of intense unhappiness.
And then one day my novel was completed. I had a moment of panic. A sort of postpartum blues, …
Dear Mrs. Raybourn,
 I remember when historical mysteries first started to become really popular. Then after that it seems that every possible time period and social class of historical sleuth got turned into some author’s hero or heroine. And I got a little bored with the genre and annoyed at thinking about Queen Elizabeth, Jane Austen or Beau Brummel being turned into crime scene investigators. Cut to me getting the arc of your second Lady Julia Gray novel, “Silent in the Sanctuary,” a few months ago – yes, I did read it a month ago and took notes and never got the review written, mea culpa – and the lovely cover with its gothic overtones plus the intriguing back blurb made me decide to come out of my self-imposed historical mystery celibacy.
Lady Julia is delightful. She’s obviously growing as a character. From the information you subtly include about the events of the first book – the details of which, thank God, are left unknown – we can see that she’s survived whatever was thrown at her, picked herself back up and begun to assert a little independence. After five …
I received an email this morning that contained the following words. I did verify that this was not a hoax but an email from a new publicity intern.
Hi,
I’m from [major New York publisher]. I would like to spread the word on two of our new Vampire novels. The first is [name of Book 1], and the second one (that I just began to read) is [name of Book 2].
Vampire literature is my favorite reading genre, and I think your website is great for people like us, who are true fans of vampirism. However, as of late a lot the genre has been oversaturated with smut, than overall content.
I assure you these two new novels offers something innovated and exciting.
We’ll send free copies of the books if you’re interested.
Thanks
For the record, we are not requesting the books because they don’t sound interesting to any of us, but it shows the danger of the mass emailed publicity inquiry. Because if the publicity intern had read the blog, she would know that we are all about the smutty vampire novels. The FiMD is spreading. Need more lolcats (although I read at Gawker or Wonkette …
Dear Ms. Frank,
 Let me be honest. The first two books in your Nightwalker series didn’t impress me much. So when I received the third book, I honestly wasn’t expecting to like it. But to my surprise, I enjoyed the romance between Siena and Elijah. Unfortunately, their relationship wasn’t able to overcome the other flaws plaguing this book.
Elijah is the demon race’s Warrior Captain. Unlike the Enforcers who punish demons that break their laws, warriors protect their race from those who mean them harm. When he’s ambushed by necromancers led by two traitorous demon women, the lycanthrope queen Siena saves his life.
Lycanthropes and demons once waged a 300-year-long war but when Elijah killed the previous king, Siena assumed power and declared peace between their people. A tentative peace has existed between their races for the past thirteen years. It’s because of this that Siena helps Elijah and nurses him back to health. Since he was attacked in lycanthrope territory, they would have been blamed for his death, sparking a new war between two races still harboring deep-seated prejudices and resentment towards one another. I love this backdrop and how it affected their mutual …
I think this is an interesting concept but have not decided yet why it’s needed (except maybe for greed?). Some authors and publishers will be mimicking what Hollywood has been doing concerning product placement in their television shows and movies. That is getting paid to mention their products in their books.
Enter first time author Tina Wells. She is CEO of Buzz Marketing Group, which advises clients on the intricacies of product placement. She is a guru when it comes to marketing to teens and preteens. She is extremely talented and only 24 years old. She is also the new author for an upcoming series from Harper Collins titled “Mackenzie Blue”. In her book, the central character loves Converse. She said this is central to her character. She has no idea whether Converse wants to sponsor the book though. But when asked if Nike requested product placement she said she would possibly look at another character for the placement.
Tina said she was inspired to write the series because she felt it was important for girls to have positive books to read and to encourage them to make good choices.
So did …
Dear Mrs. Blake,
 Years ago, I read one of your earlier historical books and kept in mind the unusual setting of early 19th century Louisiana until I found a replacement copy for the one I lost. Then I don’t think it was so noticeable as now when almost no time exists for publishers except Regency England and every character must be a Duke. I’m glad to see you’re still writing close to home.
“I require your expertise in order to kill a man.”
Gavin Blackford paused in the act of taking a glass of Maderia from a tray on the side table. Such a clear yet low-voiced request was unexpected during the courtesy call for Reveillon, the celebration of New Year’s Day. It was particularly surprising from a lady.
From the beginning, my interest was caught. Who was this woman who needed to kill someone and why was she approaching a fencing master? Gavin is just as surprised and intrigued. At first he thinks only to hear her out then politely decline. She is after all, a delectably beautiful woman and he has a fine sense of appreciation for such things. But then her …
When I first read this article from the Washington Post, I thought oh no, not another cancer scare. It seemed ridiculous at first. The study showed that those women who live in areas that are brightly lit at night have a higher rate of breast cancer.
At this point I was thinking, come on please, why are you trying to scare us. But they took night time satellite images to determine which geographical areas are most lit, and then found out the cancer rates of those individuals living there. Well the women that lived in these brightly lit night areas had a higher breast cancer rate.
This report also aligned with other studies in rats. Rats that slept at night with lights on also had a higher rate of cancer. It’s not proven but scientist link this higher rate of cancer to low levels of melatonin, which is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. The more melatonin the less chance you have of getting cancer. Supposedly, if you …
Dear Ms. Banks:
 I know that alot of people give up on authors after one or two books. I also know that I have “hot button” issues that will make me leave an author behind even after one book, or a portion of a book. I had real issues with the portrayal of the heroine in For Her Pleasure. My notes of the book said “Kit Townsend was such a weak character. I felt sorry for her mostly. She was pitiable.” I didn’t finish the book, not even enough to write a DNF review. I am big on strong heroines and I didn’t feel that Kit Townsend met that definition. Ordinarily, a weak heroine will prevent me from following that author’s writing in the future.
So this is the story of how I came to read Into the Mist. Last Thursday, I came home a bit early from work. I had had a tough week and I was looking forward to just vegging out. Your book, Sweet Surrender, was the only book that I had received that day and I just …
Dear Ms. Briggs,
 I’ve been putting off writing this review for some time. As readers, we each have our own preferences and quirks in what we like to read. We also have our personal hot buttons with regards to what we don’t. While I liked the first two-thirds of Iron Kissed, the last third hit my biggest hot button hard and it’s taken me this long to work through my distaste and articulate why.
Jane posted a favorable review a few weeks ago, which contains a good summary of the book, and I encourage interested readers to look at it if they’ve not done so already. I found it beyond my ability to write about the book without mentioning significant spoilers, so let that be a warning to people who haven’t read the book yet and wish to remain spoiler free. This second half of this review is not vague.
First, the good part. I admit I don’t particularly care for the Fae when it comes to urban fantasy, or any fantasy for that matter. I don’t actively dislike them the way many readers do vampires; …
Dear Ms. Roberts:
 I discovered the In Death series almost 20 books in (at the publication of Portrait in Death), so I had the opportunity to read a big chunk of Eve and Roarke’s story all at once. I was immediately and completely caught up in the fictional futuristic world, from the tumultuous adventure of Eve and Roarke’s courtship and marriage, to Peabody and McNab’s touching and funny transformation from antagonists to lovers, to the HoloRoom and AutoChef and hovering cars and every other technological transformation of half a century into the future. It really felt like one integrated story to me, and I couldn’t get enough. Now, after a few more years and almost ten more books in the series, I still feel compelled to check in with Eve and Roarke and New York circa 2060. But whether it’s the months between books or the circumstances of any long series, my enthusiasm shifts back and forth with each new book. With Strangers in Death, my experience was mixed: I loved reading about the investigation but was not so enraptured by the relationship aspects of the novel.
This …
moar humorous pics
In the past few weeks, we here at Dear Author have talked about author ethics and it occurred to me that we haven’t talked alot about blogging ethics.
While I do think that ethics is a community issue, I am not trying to force my ethics on anyone else in the blogging community. What I am trying to do in this post and subsequent posts on this issue is to explore the idea of blogging ethics and what that means.
The internet has been referred to as the Wild West. It’s ungovernable but vibrant. Alive with colorful personalities and outspoken individuals. The idea of placing limits on anyone on the internet is a bit of anethema.
But I have always been an advocate of criticism. I feel like one cannot grow without criticism or self examination. I can see, when I look over the posts of the past two years, that I have grown as a person and as a blogger. That my opinions and stances and voice has changed in response to my connection to those who have come to share in the community …
Many of you may have heard of this book “And Tango Makes Three”. It is a children’s book based on a real story about two penguins in the Central Park Zoo in New York. I guess what happened in real life was that two penguins were observed trying to “hatch” a rock. When the zoo keepers understood what was happening they took an extra egg from another penguin and allowed these two male penguins to hatch the egg.
The book was written to show young readers that non-traditional families exist and that they are acceptable. The book has won numerous awards. School officials in Loudoun County, Virginia did not find it award winning material though. They banned it from the library.
Via Fox News
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The news recently has been all about free ebooks lately, mostly stirred by Oprah’s Valentine’s Day gift of Suze Orman’s bestselling book, Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny. More than 1 million copies of the books were downloaded. The news reports have been mostly positive as Yahoo stated that the giveaway did not appear to adversely affect sales.
Carol Stacy, President of Romantic Times, emailed me today after Lynn Viehl posted on the issue of free ebooks. Viehl has given free books away, although not any of her New York published work likely because most contracts ceding US distribution rights to the publisher also cede the right to distribute ebooks. In her post today, Viehl makes a reference to RT:
“Now I wonder if Romantic Times will accuse Oprah and Suze of undercutting other writers’ advances, the way they did with me and Melanie last year. I’m thinking no, how about you?â€
Carol Stacy wanted to know what blogger protocol was, because she couldn’t make a comment on Viehl’s site in response to the post. I informed her that some …
Back in November, 2007, B&N was in their 3rd quarter and predicting little if no growth in same store sales for their upcoming 4th quarter. Now in their 4th quarter, JP Morgan is predicting negative same store sales. They downgraded B&N stock to neutral from overweight. B&N states that poor music sales is the culprit.
Via Publishers Weekly
Dear Ms Davison,
 I had been eyeing your book “Duking Days Rebellion” at Fictionwise before you offered it to Dear Author for review. It was actually on my wish list there just waiting for my next paycheck when Jane forwarded me the review request. Talk about nice timing! It took me back to my early days of reading historical fiction before I got back into reading true romance books.
I was somewhat familiar with the facts concerning the 1685 uprising against King James II by his bastard nephew the Duke of Monmouth having read several books using it as a backdrop. This book placed me right there not only during parts of the short battle but also in the afterwards. Mentioning the persecution of the French Huguenots by Louis XIV was a nice touch to show what Protestant Englishmen would be afraid Catholic James would force on them and to suggest the reason so many were willing to risk everything to remove him from the throne.
When Helena initially began her search with Nathan Bayle for the fate of her three relatives after the fighting was over, I had an “oh …
 Want a free ebook every week from Tor publishing? If you sign up for their newsletter, Tor will provide you the link, every week, to a free ebook that can be downloaded. The first book was Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, the winner of the 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I’ve not read a Scalzi book but I love his blog, Whatever. My avid following of his blog began in earnest with his Creation Museum visit.
This week’s offering is Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold, another author I’ve not read. What I am saying here? Yes, I am giving over my email address and apparently am willing to be spammed by Tor in exchange for ebooks I might never read. What can I say? I am a total sucker for free books.
Apparently, the free ebook giveaway is a precursor of an introduction of a Tor backed ezine featuring original shorts (fiction and non fiction) and a “lightweight” social networking environment. I wonder whether it could be a central social networking site for all science …
Today’s guest review comes from author Jennifer Estep. Estep pens funny novelizations inspired by the comic book ouvre featuring Bigtime and the super heroes/heroines (Karma Girl and Fiera, for example) and ubervillians that inhabit the city.
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 Donald E. Westlake is the funniest writer you’re not reading.
Never heard of him? I probably wouldn’t have either, if I hadn’t taken a course on detective fiction in college. Every few weeks, we’d get a reading list from the professor and have to pick a book to read and discuss. I was able to get most of the books with no problem, until we got to one of the final lists.
My library only had one book on the list – “Bank Shot” by Donald E. Westlake – a comic crime caper about some guys trying to steal a bank. Sounded interesting enough, so I checked it out. Read it. And fell in love with John Dortmunder.
John Dortmunder is not your typical hero. He’s not tall or handsome or particularly brave. He and Noble live in two different time zones. Dortmunder doesn’t run from trouble – he sprints as fast as he can. Picture a basset hound. Droopy …
Last week, Harlequin sent bloggers an email letting us know about the Harlequin reading challenge. If readers read and blog about 100,000 books in 2008, Harlequin will donate 100,000 books to the National Center for Family Literacy, a donation valued at approximately $700,000.00 US.
In the comments, many expressed a desire to participate. Here are the rules:
- You must sign up for an account at Harlequin.
- One half of the books you read/blog about must be Harlequin books.
- The books, both the Harlequin books and books by other publishers, can be of any publication date.
- You can review/blog about a book no matter the format: e-format, audio format, printed format.
I am going to do this and Robin aka Janet has agreed. I am sure that Jayne won’t mind me re-posting her reviews (she does alot of NEXT reviews). We can blog as a team merely by putting the team name in the “tags” area.
I also will open a special page here at Dear Author that will republish all the reviews that are posted under the team name. It will be updated on a weekly basis.
So all we need to do is a) pick a …
Dear Ms. Cohen:
 Your book, Driving Him Wild, came to my attention when it was announced as one of the RNA nominees for best category romance of 2007. As Sarah from SBTB notes, the lovely Harlequin folks decided that they would change the title for us Americans to His For the Taking. Driving Him Wild was a much more apt title and I kept wondering throughout the story how the heroine in the book was EVER for the hero’s taking.
But aside from the title, this was a very surprising Harlequin Presents. First off, the heroine is the one with money. Zoe Drake finds Maine forest ranger Nick Giroux, sitting outside her great-aunt Zinia’s Park Avenue apartment. Nick believes that his father, who left his family 16 years ago, is hiding out inside the apartment and he is not leaving until he gets inside. Zoe is partially turned on by Nick’s aggressiveness and partly creeped out. After all, Nick is a gorgeous specimen of a man. On the other hand, it is New York.
Zoe explains that she is there to get the clothes that recently deceased …
Welcome to Query Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a query to be read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. Published authors may do so under their own name or anonymously. Readers, though, the way that I look at it is this: If the hook were on the back of a book, would you buy it? If you would, what interests you? If not, what would make you pick it up?
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Canned Heat is a chewy mainstream tale approximately 97,000 words and is the first of a trilogy that retells Hamlet. It’s chock full of all the things polite people don’t discuss in public and a whole lot of it:
sex, religion, money, and politics–with a little nude art thrown in for good measure. What, sex isn’t spiritual?
A woman with a Glock. A man losing his faith. Two disreputable cousins and one engaging villain. Lives and a family inheritance at stake.
Giselle Cox is a linchpin in the fight to regain her family’s inheritance. She’s survived two attempts on her life and is on constant alert for another, determined to see that justice is served. All she really wants is an …
Due to increased competition from both brick and mortar and online bookstores, Borders opened a new concept store it hopes will eventually increase sales. Most of the store looks like the competition except for an area described as a digital center.   At this new digital center one could download music to their mp3 player, download ebooks, burn music to cd’s, research your family history, print photos and produce hardcover photo albums.
I am not sure about the photo albums but everything else seems to make sense. I have developed a few digital photo albums online and it can take hours and hours to organize the finished product. I think I would rather do that from the comfort of my home.
Borders is also going to sever their online presence with Amazon and start developing their own web site for selling Border products. Borders had been selling their products through Amazon for nearly 7 years.
Via USA Today
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer wants Amazon to start paying sales taxes on the sales it makes in New York. Spitzer believes it will level the playing field with those companies that reside in New York that compete against Amazon and already pay sales taxes.
Plus on a side note it would mean much more revenue for Spitzer’s causes, approximately120 million dollars from 2008 through 2010.
I have always felt this was inevitable, paying state taxes from on-line purchases. Is it fair?
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