I'm so excited that Red Garnier has joined the Deliciously Naughty Writers group! Her first Ellora's Cave book, Spin Devil, garnered a Recommended Read and since its release in May of last year she's had a total of 12 books published at Ellora's Cave, Loose-Id and Liquid Silver Books. We're thrilled to add her talents to our group!
Check out her website for more information.
There's just somethin' 'bout a cowboy and his oversized...belt buckle.
What did you think I was gonna say?
Debbie Wallace tagged me yesterday, and the rules (see below) say I now have to tag six friends.
So, first, the rules:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.
Okay, here goes. Six things about myself:
1. I just signed a 3-book deal with Kensington. My first full-length novel, a paranormal (werewolf) erotic romance, is scheduled to be released in January 2009. W00t!!
2. I am lazy. Especially when it comes to housework and exercise. If I can figure out a way to motivate myself in those areas like I've been able to do in my writing career, I'd be thin and my house would be immaculate.
3. I believe people should force themselves out of their comfort zones. You don't accomplish anything by remaining status quo.
4. My family vacations as a kid consisted solely of our annual family reunion in West Virginia. In August. Sweat + bees = ugh.
5. My body seems to be very Arcadian rhythm driven, meaning I'm ready to crash when it gets dark and wake up as soon as the sky starts to lighten in the morning. Which makes things interesting in the winter when it's dark by 5:15 p.m., and really, *really* irritating in the summer when my bedroom, which faces East, starts getting light at 4:45 a.m.
6. And just because I'm so stoked about it--I just signed a 3-book deal with Kensington!!!!
All right, so now I tag six friends:
Maya Reynolds (http://mayareynoldswriter.blogspot.com)
Christine d'Abo (http://christinedabo.com/blog)
Maria Zannini (http://mariazannini.blogspot.com)
Marie Tuhart (http://marietuhart.blogspot.com)
December Quinn (http://decemberquinn.blogspot.com)
Sloane Taylor (http://sloanetaylor.com/blog)
Let the games begin!
Oh, and if you'd like a chuckle, check out yesterday's Smart Bitches' post. I think I spewed iced tea from my nose when I got to the Corporal Cuddling part (which is toward the end), especially with the "yodeling".
There has been quite a bit of squawking going on over the Internet regarding the Open Source Boob Project (you can go here to read about that). Dear Author blogged in response, as did author John Scalzi.
I realize the subject line of today's post is Funny Friday, and bear with me. This is the intro part--I don't think there is anything remotely funny about the OSBP (it's actually rather creepy to me and just shouts "here's another way to objectify women's bodies while trying to make them think it's a good thing" and, as several women pointed out on these other blogs, if a stranger (especially a man) came up to me at a conference and asked to touch my breasts, I'd immediately react in fear and at the very least a mental WTF?!? Maybe even a verbal WTF, if you startle me enough.).
However, there were some blogs that came out with a rather humorous response to the OSBP. I think my favorite response, though, has to be this one.
(As an aside, I'm a huge proponent for an Open Source Knee-to-the-Gonads Project... "May I touch your boobs?" "Sure, if I can squash your manly manly-bits.")
Yesterday's Publisher's Weekly had a report on Harlequin, to whom they referred to as the leading publisher of romance and women’s fiction (which they are. I also equate them to the 800-pound gorilla in the room--you just can't ignore them). Harlequin has announced that LibreDigital (a division of NewsStand that handles digital books for publishers such as HarperCollins, Bloomsbury and Hachette) will handle all of its digital book projects as well, including its e-books, and will also handle online browsing capabilities via widgets and its Browse the Book tool.
Last September, Harlequin announced that it would release all new books in both digital (e-book) and print format. Other future goals include using LibreDigital’s browsing and warehousing tools in conjunction with online retailers like Amazon.
Traditional publishers (i.e., big-house print pubs versus epubs) seem to be slowly coming to terms with the ever-changing publishing industry and the astounding growth that electronically-published books have seen in recent years.
In recent months there have been two authors who have been called on the carpet publicly for poor behavior--by readers. One has been accused (and there seems to be documentation to back up the accusations) of not only manipulating the Amazon review process, she also issued not-so-veiled threats to one of the people who posted a review.
You might think it was a terrible review aimed at the author personally (along the lines of "This woman couldn't write her way out of a paper bag" or "This author definitely shouldn't quit her day job" which, I might add, is uncalled for. You want to give your opinion about my book, fine. But don't criticize *me*.). But there was none of that. The review was the reader's opinion of the book and why it did or didn't work for her. And it was a 3-star review. Which is not bad--it means the book was an average read and, more importantly, *not* a waste of money. The author manipulated the system to have the review taken down. The reader re-posted it. Again it came down. Again it was re-posted. And so on and so on. Until the author made it known to the reader that she knew where she lived, what her children's names were, etc.
WTF?!? It. Was. A. Review. Get over it. You know, I consider myself lucky that I've never gotten a review less than a 3-whatever (3 stars, 3 hearts, 3 ribbons, etc.). And some of the 3s have been less than flattering, but...they were still 3s. And they were the opinion of the reviewer. For every 3 I've gotten I've received a 4 or 5 review on the same book by another reader. What that tells me is that my story spoke to one person in a different way than another.
It's just a review. Let. It. Go.
Then there's the case of plagiarism. A well-known historical romance author has been *proven* to have lifted (sometimes entire) passages from non-fiction works in her novels. (Mainly when she was describing something relating to Native American culture, or something in nature (such as black-footed ferrets)). A *reader* realized that part of the book she was reading didn't feel like the author's voice, so she got online and googled a few phrases, only to find out that those phrases had been part of an article in a nature magazine. Other readers did the same and found other instances where the author had "borrowed" word-for-word from other writers.
The fall-out? One of her publishers, Signet, has "divorced" her. Her reputation is tainted. Is it tainted for good? Only time will tell. The cynic in me says, no. The compassionate side of me says everyone deserves a second chance. The outraged reader in me says...
She'd better keep her day job. Oh, wait. This *is* her day job.
D'oh.
This kind of behavior makes the rest of us look bad, no matter that the majority of authors don't have sky-scraper sized egos and know better than to steal other writers' works. Most of us have thick enough skin that we don't go ape-shit over a review that isn't that bad. So those of you for who these debacles have left a bad taste in your mouth, take heart.
We're not all bad.
I'm very happy to report that my dragon shape shifter book, Dragonfire, has been nominated for Love Romances & More 2007 Golden Rose Award for Best Novella. Go here to see all the categories and to vote.
Some things to ponder as you go about your day today:
He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead. (Anonymous)
Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Albert Einstein)
Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person? (La Rochefoucauld)
It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired. (Lazarus Long)
Seems to me the basic conflict between men and women, sexually, is that men are like firemen. To men, sex is an emergency, and no matter what we're doing we can be ready in two minutes. Women, on the other hand, are like fire. They're very excited, but the conditions have to be exactly right for it to occur. (Jerry Seinfeld)
According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful. (Jay Leno)
Have a great Friday!
I'm happy to announce that Ellora's Cave has accepted two more novellas from me--one, tentatively titled Angel and the Duke of Sex, is a Victorian with Jack the Ripper as the bad guy, menage a trois and light BDSM. The other one, tentatively titled Fallen Angel, is book #2 in the Sassy Devils series. The heroine a feisty homicide cop. The hero is an angel, but not just any angel. He's an Angel of Retribution--the tough warrior who's sent after angels who've gone rogue. So he's not like a "traditional" angel you may have read about before.
I'm pleased to say my editor loved both of them. (Of course she did. LOL) It seems like I have an angel theme going on, but the reality is that I wrote Angel and the Duke of Sex almost a year ago. I submitted it, it was put on hold, I was told to resubmit after we saw how my other books were received. I (re)submitted both Angels in January. (And, interestingly enough, with this story the title is what came to me first. Then the rest of the story fell together.)
I'm waiting on title approval, then there are edits to be done, so no idea yet on release dates. As soon as I know, I'll post it here.
Actually, I want to talk about email spam today. Thought I'd share some of the more interesting ones that have piled up in my Spam folder over the last several days, with subject line and the first bit of the body:
95% off for sherrillquinn - Hello, make a wise decision, get your pharmaceuticals from the most well-known onine shop. (Well, I don't know about you, but I usually do my online shopping, well, online. No idea what an onine shop is...)
Replica watches - Why would I want a replica watch instead of a real one? (No, really, that's *my* question. In four days I've gotten at least 25 spam mails about replica watches.)
emmanesk - luv eachother at midsummer season summer man p0wer. (Er, what?)
I wonder why you're still shy - Your new masculine power will make your beloved lady bubble over with happiness! (If I have new masculine power, I need to see my doctor...)
Extra huge proportions - With these new measurements of your manliness you'll dance in the sheets until dawn! (Um. No. See my comment above.)
The doorway to a new life - Your giant pecker will find a resting place in every woman's hole. (Okay, that's just ew.)
Compliments - Dearest compliments of the season to you. (And to you, too... I guess.)
estepurj - at spring girls put on their boobies and humps, don't miss your chance to love or not to luv there (WTF? I don't know about other women out there, but I don't have the option of "putting on" my boobies and humps. They pretty much go with me everywhere, all the time...)
utkeeper - simon says: love your now. now! you can smell love for everyone. (Come on, everyone. Smell the love. Smell the... WTF? Now, listen, I don't mind feeling the love, but smelling the love?!? Ew.)
Any interesting spam mails you've received lately?
The Deliciously Naughty Writers (including moi) are at Love Romances Cafe today from noon to six p.m. EST. We'll be chatting with readers, sharing excerpts and giving away free stuff. Stop by, won't you?
Mildred, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business.
Several members did not approve of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new church member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and then just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend , or deny... He said nothing.
Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house...
LOL! You gotta love it when a "morally superior" person has the tables turned...
Amazon recently announced to its small press clients that they must start to use Amazon's POD (print-on-demand) publisher Booksurge to print the books they want to sell using Amazon's retail arm. Publishers like Lulu (which allows authors to self-publish) immediately caved. (And let me say here that, as a consumer, I love Amazon. I have spent a LOT of money there.)
But here's the thing. Whatever kind of "discounts" Amazon demands, whatever fees Booksurge charges, will hurt only one group of people. The authors. Just about all the writers I know aren't in this as a hobby--and I know I sure as hell am not. This is a career for me as it is most of my writer friends.
Amazon is pitching the move as a consumer-friendly change that will improve the speed of shipping books and other products (because Booksurge is on-site and can print and ship books within 24 hours of the order being placed. However, Lightening Source, the current POD printer, can also do--and historically has done--the same thing...)
The Author's Guild spoke up in a recent Publisher's Weekly article. In part, they question Amazon's motivation, saying the move has more to do with profit margin than customer service:
If Amazon is successful in wresting a large chunk of pod business away from current leader Lightning Source (which the Guild says does a good job), they will have taken a huge step in controlling publishing’s supply change and thus control much of the industry’s long tail business, the Guild said. “Once Amazon owns the supply chain, it has effective control of much of the "long tail" of publishing,” the statement reads. “Since Amazon has a firm grip on the retailing of these books (it's uneconomic for physical book stores to stock many of these titles), owning the supply chain would allow it to easily increase its profit margins on these books: it need only insist on buying at a deeper discount -- or it can choose to charge more for its printing of the books -- to increase its profits. Most publishers could do little but grumble and comply.”
Maya Reynolds has had some good posts about this (she's much more articulate about this than I am) here, here and here.
If you're a writer, this could very well affect you--if not today, then down the road if Amazon is allowed to continue this. And even if it doesn't ever affect you, what about your fellow authors? Give your support by signing the iPetition here.
It was reported a while ago about the Espresso Book Machine--a machine where the consumer could print the book of their choosing. The machine would print and bind the book within about 15 minutes. No more "The book I want isn't on the shelf, can I special order it?" kind of thing. If the book's not on the shelf, you can print it using the Espresso.
This week, Publisher's Weekly reported the following:
On Demand Books Signs Agreement with Lightning Source
“It’s always been the holy grail of the book business to walk into a store and get any book,” said Kirby Best, president and CEO of Lightning Source. With the signing of today’s strategic agreement with On Demand Books, proprietor of the Espresso Book Machine, Best sees that goal coming a little bit closer.
“When we first got into this, we thought our technology would be ahead of the content. Now we have to catch up,” said Dane Neller, cofounder and CEO of On Demand Books.
The partnership with Lightning Source gives On Demand access to its scanning facilities, but it also gives the company access to copyrighted material through an opt in/opt out clause that Lightning Source will add to its publisher contracts. At present, the titles available through Espresso fall mainly in the public domain.
The publishing industry, she is a-changing...
I get some of the funniest things in my email from my sister. She sent this to me a few days ago:
I don't know if it's unhealthy or even unholy, but I am totally addicted to Stargate Atlantis, and it's all because of this guy:
That's Joe Flanigan, who plays Lt. Col. John Sheppard. Admittedly, David Hewlett, who plays Dr. Rodney McKay, comes in a close second on the list of my favorite characters. But I don't have the lust-fest going on for him that I do for Joe. He's just so damned cute, I can't help myself.
I think I'm going to have to use him as inspiration for one of my heroes...
Anyone else out there with this same, um, problem?
