Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Roseanne Bar is coming under scrutiny for recent posts made at MySpace while it appeared she was under the influence:

“i need to stop drinking, but i do not wish to … i am in Hawaii on the beach drunk,” read one message. Another said, “when you are old, you pee your pants more it seems.”

In a Falk like reversal, Barr is now claiming that a recently fired intern hacked into her MySpace page and posted the bizarre messages.

Rosemary Potter and Margaret Bell left a note here regarding the Falk comment and I felt important to bring attention to it. Not because I want to dredge up the RT issue, but because it clarifies their position.

It has recently been brought to our (Margaret Bell and I) attention by some concerned bloggers (thanks very much for advising us) that a rather inflammatory post was made by Kathryn Falk and co-signed by Margaret and myself.

I would like to confirm that Margaret and I were guests of Kathryn’s at the time the post was made, however we were out sightseeing in Galveston all day and were not aware of what had transpired.

Having read the post, we would like to state that for the record that this “Rhetoric” does not represent either Margaret’s or my views. We have further advised said blogger of our feelings on the matter.

As Australian Book Sellers and Lovers of Romance, we love all aspects of our business and quite frankly this kind of bullshit just pisses us off.

We are all about, putting Romance into our readers’ hands, giving authors the opportunities to talk to Aussie readers, selling autographed/personalized books, distributing Pre-release bookmarks and giving readers …

I spoke with Carol Stacy who will be making a post either today or tomorrow in response to my claim that RT reviews are biased. Stacy’s explanation tend to prove that they are not and I am of the opinion that the reviews are not based on ad revenue, except for ebooks and small press.

Ms. Stacy confirms that the blog post made on Karen Scott’s blog was Kathryn Falk. She wants to apologize if anyone was offended but she will not comment on Ms. Falk’s post more than that. I also don’t know that Kathryn Falk will come and provide explanation for what she meant.

One other comment before I have to get back to work and that is Ms. Stacy wanted to convey some details about the gay romance author promotional materials issue. According to Ms. Stacy, the hotel manager had several complaints by businessmen about the poster featuring men loving each other up. The hotel manager removed the poster and refused to put it back up. The promotional items were left on “Promotional Lane” and the author participated in the book signing.

I’ve received word that members from Ellora’s Cave are with Kathryn Falk at her ranch. Falk has a vested interested in seeing Ellora’s Cave succeed. She has a novel to be published by The Lotus Circle, a new company owned by Jasmine-Jade Enterprises, the owners of EC. It’s called The Secret Explained. Perhaps, part of the post were excerpts from the book. It’s like we were all recipients of an exclusive sneak peek. Yeah. Not.

This morning, Sybil Cook, blogger from The Good, The Bad, The Unread, spoke with Carol Stacy, Publisher and Internet Director of Romantic Times to ascertain the authenticity of the digital signature of Kathryn Falk. Carol Stacy replied “I see nothing wrong with the post.” The point is Ms. Stacy? “Point that blogs can be mean and nasty.”

A message has been passed onto Ms. Falk for verification but at this time, Romantic Times cannot confirm nor deny the identity of the blog commenter. Other than to say that Ms. Stacy, a senior representative of RT, sees nothing wrong with a post accusing bloggers of being “ridiculousâ€?, “viputerativeâ€?, “heartlessâ€?, “genuinely perverseâ€? and “sick in the head.â€?

Falk says that we should all support women run businesses regardless of quality of content. How does that jive with their lack of support for the female run publishing house that is devoted to gay romance? The Gay Romance promotional display at the hotel was removed for being “too risque” while Ellora’s Caves covers with naked threesomes are widely available. RT did nothing to support this author. On the bright side, some authors took the content …

Karen Scott, blogger from the UK, wrote a review of Ben’s Wildflower, a recent release from Ellora’s Cave. I wrote a review as well. Neither of us liked it. It was plotless porn. Today, a person purporting to be Kathryn Falk, the CEO of Romantic Times, posted a comment on Karen S’ blog proved what many of us though to be true: Romantic Times reviews are hopelessly biased. This post must be a joke and someone is masquerading as Ms. Falk because the statements the poster makes not only ruins any shred of credibility the Romantic Times has but also engages in some reprehensible commenting.

The commenter named Ms. Falk takes Karen S to task for a number of things, but outrageously suggests that Karen S is responsible for someone’s attempt to commit suicide as a result of a negative review.
I have heard from several people on your post who are saddened by what they read today. One person mentioned has offered her resignation. Another is contemplatiing suicide. Is that what you intended for your blog? Do you want this on your conscience? . . .

The blog in question …