An AWWW Moment *another adorable kitten video*

Ever since I got my own cat, I've become one of those people obsessed with cute kitten videos. Here is another one that's just too adorable for words.

17 seconds of AWWWW goodness right here:

Guest Review: Bed of Roses *Nora Roberts*

KatiD of Katidom reviews Bed of Roses...

I will be the first to state that I am a huge Nora Roberts fan. A big one. Seriously, last time my boyfriend was at my house, he was looking at my shelves of Nora and JD Robb books, and he said, kind of breathlessly,

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“That’s got to be close to $1,000 worth of books -- all by one author. Damn, Kate!”
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Yeah, I love my Nora. There are three particular things that work for me about almost every Nora book:
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The sense of place. Nora has a real knack for creating a sense of place. The weather, the people, the setting, the language. All of it.
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The friendships that she writes, both men and women. Her characters tend to be people who I’d want to be friends with, and the relationships that she draws ring incredibly true to me.

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I almost always learn something when I read a Nora book. So far, I’ve learned about scuba diving (The Reef); wine making (The Villa); anthropology (Birthright); and hostage negotiation (High Noon).

It’s that third item that interested me about Nora’s new Bride Quartet. You see, I am a professional event planner, so I was very interested to see how she approached wedding planning, which I consider to be one of the highest stakes kinds of planning. I can tell you unequivocally that she gets way more right than she does wrong.

The Bride Quartet surrounds four lifelong friends who have founded a business surrounding wedding planning. The company is called Vows, and it offers brides not just the venue, but also a chef, a florist and a professional photographer. Book one, Vision in White, was Mac, the photographer’s story. Book two, Bed of Roses focuses on Emmaline Grant.

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Emma is a romantic. She’s a florist who spends her life capturing and bringing to life the flowers that each bride imagines. Emma is in charge of creating the setting for each bride. She completely and utterly believes in love. Her parents are still passionately in love, and Emma will not ever settle for less. She loves dating men, and experiencing the “click”. And she wants nothing more than to be cherished completely by the man she falls in love with. She doesn’t have one in particular in mind, but she’s been attracted to Jack Cooke, a long time friend for ages. The feeling is very mutual, but Jack is best friends with one of Emma’s partner’s brothers, and he feels it would be completely in appropriate to enter into a relationship with Emma, who should be practically like a sister. That is, until one night when Emma is working a wedding, Jack kisses her socks off.
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Soon Jack and Emma are entering into a relationship that they agree will be just sex, and when it’s over, they’ll go back to being friends. Jack is completely comfortable with this set up. He doesn’t want anything serious, and prefers keeping his own space, and his own territory. But he and Emma have been friends for so long, that it’s really comfortable with her. They make each other happy, and frankly, are fantastic in bed. But Emma *is* a romantic. And the longer she and Jack are together, the more she can’t help herself from making plans. And soon, she admits to herself she’s in love with Jack.
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Here’s the thing about this book, I can completely relate to Emma. I’m a romantic too. I love being in love. And I understood most of her actions. And when she and Jack have a big fight, I’m outraged on her behalf. What made this book so successful for me though is that Jack, once he realizes he’s screwed up, has to grovel. I mean *grovel* and it is goo-ood. Seriously, I could not have been happier with the lengths that Jack has to go to to convince Emma to forgive him.

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I found both Emma and Jack to be totally likeable, and more than that, I found it so easy to root for them to be together. I can honestly say that this is a book that I will happily add to my keeper shelf. OK, sure, almost all of Nora’s books get added to my keeper shelf, but this book is one that I’d happily and easily recommend to people who have either read Nora before and found her work not necessarily to their taste, or to those who have never read a Nora Roberts book before. Bed of Roses is an absolute delight. (Berkley Trade)
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Final grade: A

WTFckery Or Not? You Decide

1. Some author WTFckery at play? Laurell K. Hamilton is spewing nonsense again on her blog about how she is responsible for pioneering the genre (WHAT GENRE?! The one where she has a woman who can't keep close her legs for any man because of some ridiculous plot device that makes no sense??) and is moaning and groaning that:

The Anita Blake TV show on IFC is not happening. Now no wailing and gnashing of teeth about it. In the two years and some change since I sold the rights to my series its been very educational. I know a great deal more about television, movies, and how this branch of the entertainment business works. It has been frustrating watching other shows in the genre I pioneered go on the air while we didn’t, but in the end I believe most things happen for a reason. I would rather have no television show than a bad one.

Unless Bram Stoker has risen from the grave and has taken over LKH's body, sorry, yet again YOU HAVEN'T PIONEERED ANYTHING!! I will say you have evolved the urban fantasy genre where it has been accepted, but WTF? So what you started writing your Anita Blake series in the 80's? You cannot pioneer something that has been around for hundreds of years!

2. If you're ever camping over night in the woods and don't have a regular sleeping bag and want to scare your friends where they piss their pants, why not bring along the Bear Sleeping Bag?
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3. I'm always looking for new blog to visit. I recommend 100 Ways To Kill a Peep!

Death by Luke Peepwalker

4. Need an idea for a holiday gift? Channel your inner 1980's geek. There are no words to describe this collectible E.T. toy. Can you figure out what it looks like? Thanks Ms. Moonlight.

5. Ebay is a great place to buy some vintage WTF cover poster art. Never knew Satan was a lesbian. Now I know! Thanks @Rebyj!

6. Speaking of more WTF book covers, this is the season for some freaky looking Pumpkins out there. Of course we need one on a book cover!

Pumpkin Teeth Stories from Lethe Press!

This cover makes me think of Jack from the movie Return To Oz. *Jack always freaked me out*

7. This video is a bit old, but OMG WTF is up with this cat's yelling? Exorcise that demon out of this cat!


8. And your WTF Regretsy Product of the week! This pixie fairy doesn't dazzle me in any way.

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Best comment to explain this WTF Pixie: "I can get the same look if I get my lips stuck in a vacuum cleaner."

Enjoy this week in WTFckery...

A Book Pricing Trend I'm Not Liking

I keep seeing a pricing trend in books I really don't like and I can't believe publishers are getting away with it. It's the case of charging full price for a single title book that is the length of a category romance.

A few examples:

From Grand Central Publishing- Sherrill Bodine's A Black Tie Affair comes out in January. The paperback novel is only 218 pages and priced at $6.99, the same price for a full length book that is usually between 300 -350 pages.

Then we have from Ballentine- Linda Howard's Ice that came out this month. This hardcover novel is only 208 pages and priced at $22!

WTH?? How can a publisher justify these prices for these books that are more like category reads than full length books? Shouldn't they be priced more like a Harlequin category that is near the same page amount as these two books and priced under $5?

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At least Stephen King latest release, Under the Dome from Scribner that came out this month is priced at $35 for a hardcover but is over 1000 pages. I would gladly pay the $35 for this book because I feel that it's well priced for the product.

When you buy a book, do you take in to consideration that amount of pages a book is before you buy? Should there be a price set for amount of words or pages in a book? I believe if I am paying over $7 for a mass market paperback, it should be over 300 pages, which is anywhere between 80,000- 90,000 words.

And don't even get me started on the price of Trade sized books prices at $14 and sometimes are barely 250 pages!

Love Advice From Love Doctor Mho Fho *Attracted to Selkies and Trees*

Welcome to the latest Saturday Edition of Love Letters to Mho! The Love Doctor is in!

Dear Mister Mho Fho,

I am a simple girl who lives on an island surrounded by mist. I can’t help but watch the selkies that come out of the ocean as they partake in sexual congress with one another. One night I made a big mistake and watched their mating near the shoreline when one of the selkie men grabbed me and took me to his underwater kingdom where he loved me for hours on his massive sea sponge.

Because I couldn’t hold my breath for that long underwater, my selkie lover, who tastes like sweet nectar, let me go. As soon as I came back on shore, my bitch of an Aunt wanted to punish me because I gave my cherry to my new seal man. She left me with deranged Shaman who wanted to ravish me!

I ran away and was saved by the enchanted trees in the enchanted forest. One tree in particular has been so lonely in his thousands of years of life and one thing led to another and I found out how skilled a tree can be with their roots and branches, where they can bring a woman to pleasure.

Who should I be with? My sweet selkie lover or my large, stoic tree who can also give me shade from the harsh sun.

Yours in need,

M.





Dear M,

You are in quite a pickle my dear!

So, you must you choosing between the leafy man of your dreams and either become a Dendrophiliac:

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Or your wet, tasty underwater man and become a Sealophiliac:

Why choose? Either one you pick, you’re being screwed in ways no human woman should ever experience.

Good luck and make sure to buy a tweezer for all those splinters you will be plucking out of your hoo-haa as well as a good fresh water douche for all that seaweed and sweet nectar flowing out of each one of your holes.

Sincerely,

Mho Fho

Need a hint who's asking for advice?

The Cat Is Not Amused *Video*

I am sucker for adorable animal videos and this one will surely bring out the LOL's as well as the AWWW's.

The look on the cat's face says it all. Enjoy!

Book Reviews: Tainted and Hunting Memories

First, a strange sense of déjà vu…

Lily has gone to kill her fourteen year old sister’s rapist. She is able to kill Lucas Johnson with a gunshot, or so she thinks, but her act also backfires on her as she lies dying in a pool of her own blood because he stabbed her. Now she thinks she is going to hell for the crime she has committed as well as some minor misdeeds she did while was alive. But Lilly doesn’t die because as she awakens from her blackout, she finds herself tied down and about to be sacrificed by some monster. Lily is able to escape but passes out on the street in front of a man who reminds her of a frog.

When Lily comes to, she isn’t in her own body. She has been inserted into Alice Purdue, a waitress who works at her uncle’s pub. The mysterious looking frog man is Clarence, and the reason Lily has been saved is because she has been called upon to join in the battle between good and evil. The war that has been raging for millenniums is about to come to a head and Lily is the only one that can stop the demons from opening the final gate of hell, where they will bring pain and suffering on Earth. While she trains, Lily now must become Alice and forget about her old life, especially of her drunk of a stepfather and Rose, her emotionally scarred little sister.

As Lily becomes accustomed to her new body and life, she meets a sexy and dangerous man. His name is Deacon and he knows that Alice is very different. Apparently Alice had secrets, and Lily has to try and figure out what they are as well as keeping her distance from Deacon because he is not human but a demon. Because he is Lily’s enemy she may have to kill him at one point even though she is very attracted to him. As Lily channels her powers, she has entered into a dark world where no one can be trusted and is she doesn’t succeed, many will suffer, which also means Rose.

Tainted (Book 1, The Blood Lily Chronicles) by Julie Kenner is a dark urban fantasy with another heroine who channels her inner turmoil to fight evil and those who want to rule the world. Lily’s outlook on life is bleak but because of her deep love for her sister Rose, you can’t help but want to cheer her on. Lily goes through a great deal of pain all because of one rash act on her part. But because of this, she sets into motion something that has been planned for a long time.

Lily acts like a fish out of water, which makes sense because she has a new identity and new body. She does pretty well considering, especially with Alice’s family and friends. Things really pick up when she meets Deacon, the demon who makes Lily question herself and what she must accomplish.

I have no doubt that urban fantasy fans will find much to recommend with Tainted and the world Julie Kenner has created. But, I had a very strange sense of déjà vu while reading because of the amount of urban fantasy series being published with a heroine who is the key to salvation and must fight evil. Lily is not perfect. She does show fear and self loathing over her life and Deacon is one of those heroes that walk a fine line where he could become a villain because of who he really is. There are some nice action scenes and I did enjoy some of the mythology discussed as well as why Lily is so important.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything really original as I read. Tainted has a feel of a been there, done that type of plot found all too prominently in other urban fantasy books of this nature. If you can get past this main issue while reading, Tainted may be one to check out. I think I will pass on the next two books to be released in this trilogy (Ace)

Final Grade: B-


Second, a very forgettable book…

Things couldn’t be better for the immortal vampire Eleisha, who finally defeated her maker Julian. After hundreds of years of living in hiding and killing innocent humans for their blood, she has found a way to feed without killing. Eleisha couldn’t be happier with her new found family. She now has Philip, a Frenchman, who uses his gift of sexual attraction, to lure his victims, and Wade, a human telepath who left his life behind in Portland, Oregon to join Eleisha and Philip. Even though Eleisha scared Julian to the point where he ran away back to Europe with his tail stuck between his legs, he is still planning his revenge.

Both Wade and Philip are worried when Eleisha tells them about a letter she’s received from another vampire who wants to meet them. Philip thinks it’s a trick from Julian, but Eleisha doesn’t believe that. She’s been writing letters back and forth with Rose de Spender in San Francisco, California. Eleisha wants to invite Rose to come live with them in an old church she has purchased. Because Philip is afraid Eleisha will leave him, he does what she wants and soon he and Wade travel with her to meet this Rose.

Julian Ashton wants payback and raises the ghost of a recently deceased sixteen-year-old who overdosed on pills to help him. Mary Jordane will be in his control and now as a ghost she can follow Eleisha and report back to him. Mary tells Julian how Eleisha has meet new vampires, such as Rosa and her Seamus, a ghost who has been her only companion since the 18th century, and of Robert, a vampire Julian knew in the past who longs to destroy him.

Eleisha can taps into Rose and Robert’s memories so she can build a bond with them. Philip doesn’t like any of this and wants to go back to the way things were before these new faces entered into their lives. Eleisha refuses to listen to him and as they travel back home to Portland, Julian has come out of hiding and has a few new tricks up his sleeve that will ruin Eleisha’s plans.

Barb Hendee has written an interesting take on the vampire myth with vampires who are living on the edges of society and must do whatever they can to survive. Hunting Memories (Book 2, The Vampires Memories) is a gritty and dark and for those who enjoy any thing with vampire characters.

I found myself very bored and couldn’t find a connection with any of these characters and there was simply no excitement, thrilling suspense or action I can recommend. Eleisha has her moments where she shines but her interactions with Rose and the two very important men in her life failed to bring anything worth while to the story in general. Julian comes across as a pathetic creature who doesn’t scare in any way and the actions he takes to build a new army of sorts to defeat Eleisha and her crew was ridiculous.

Hunting Memories is a very forgettable book and the writing very disappointing, which is surprising because Barb Hendee is part of the well known writing duo with her husband. I was expecting Hunting Memories to have a nice atmospheric near gothic feel to it. Instead I felt like I was reading a failed attempt to catch those readers who are looking for another type of series with vampires, but ones who are weak, sad and just too whiny. Hunting Memories gets a pass. (Roc)

Final Grade: C-

Have a Happy!

*Thanks Tracy*

To all my American counterparts, have an incredible Thanksgiving.

To all my International counterparts, I feel your pain with not having a special day where you can gorge yourself on many tasty treats in the presence of your family and other loves ones.

To ease your pain, I leave you with some Muppet fun and their tribute to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Enjoy!

"Mama..."

I'm a 2009 NaNoWriMo Winner!

In less than 30 days I wrote 50,000 words. Actually. I wrote 66,000 words in the month of November with 4 days to spare to finish my NaNoWriMo WIP.

This is not counting the 10,000 words I wrote 3 days before the official start of NaNoWriMo, making my grand total at 76,600 and finishing my novel.

Writing 3,000 words everyday for 26 days straight...

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And you know what, it feels pretty good. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back. And to all my fellow NaNoWriMo's who decided to take this challenge, I give you a pat on the back also.

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The next step is revising and making it pretty. For some reason I think I will be up for the challenge ahead.

New Genre Alert: New Adult & Post Adolescence?

There's been some talk about a new genre called New Adult, which has been discussed on the Uncreated Conscience Blog.

What is the New Adult genre? "The target audience are people in their late teens and twenties, the college-aged and post-undergraduate crowd. This type of fiction in the adult market that deals with this strange in-between place, with “post-adolescence”

The post goes on to say there seems to be a group, people in their 20's, who don't consider themselves grown up yet. Where, you should be completely independent of your parents and make grown up decisions, as paying your own bills, renting or owning your own place and struggling with your own finances.

Is there really such a thing as post-adolescence and should there be fiction geared toward this group of people who may be unsure what their future is and where they're going? Do readers want to read about these these characters and their issues? Is New Adult an up and coming genre to look forward to? or perhaps this is just a type of new Chick-Lit in disguise?

For me, this looks to be an issue for those ages between 21-25 who are still very unsure what they're future is. Looking back at twenty or thirty years ago, many graduated college and joined the work force, got married, had kids and bought a home. Now with the unstable economy and the change in lifestyle, many are not settled until they're much older. Not too many people I can think of are settling down in their early 20's and starting a family. And honestly, if you have just graduated college at twenty-one or even before twenty-five, how can you afford a house that can range up to $300,000, pay housing taxes, as well as pay your college loans on top of your other bills?

The one book that comes to mind about post-adolescence issues is Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary. Even though Bridget is in her 30's, she lives a lifestyle much like a person in their early 20's does. And you know what, I could really connect with Bridget because she and her friends were much like mine own, stuck in the in between, where we want to be adults, but still held on to our adolescence, where the responsibilities were less stressful.

What do you think of the New Adult genre? Is there really a need for one? Are there any books like Bridget Jones's Diary that you can recommend that embodies this feeling of post-adolescence?

KB and Smexy Mandi Discuss New Moon The Movie Part 2

First, let's get this out of the way, shall we?

and now onto the important stuff...

Rather than posting a more traditional review of the movie New Moon, Mandi from Smexy Books and I got together to discuss this movie that dominated the past weekend. Being major Twi-Hard fans, we conducted a professional and insightful discussion on the movie itself and kept in mind that it's not always the amount of sparkling vampires or perfect abs that makes movie a must see viewing.
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What I will say is that after seeing New Moon, Team Jacob is in full effect and you may be surprised what our opinions are as fans in general... .

But first Mho had to get into the spirit of New Moon madness!

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Mho's so talented! he can read both books at the same time

Mho's overwhelmed by his New Moon collectable cards

Part 1 of this discussion can be viewed at Smexy Books...

KB: I was a bit disappointed with the major climax of the movie when Bells goes to Rome to save Edward from killing himself and the Volturi. It didn’t really astound me as I was expecting. How about you?

Smexy: I think that was the worst part of the movie! First, I found the sequence leading up to that moment, where Edward thinks Bella is dead to be confusing. It happened a bit differently in the book and I think if you had not read the book you would have been confused. Then, when Bella rushes into Edward’s arms just as he is about to expose himself (well, expose his sparklies) he was just like – oh hey. I mean, I know he at first thought he was already dead or dreaming, but even when he realized Bella was actually there – hello Edward! The love of your life just saved your ass. Get excited – show some emotion. I think they should have just replayed nekkid Jacob in the rainstorm over and over again. (because that is the only scene I have on replay in my head right now;)

The ending kind of surprised me – they did it a bit differently than the book. However, I have a feeling at the beginning of Eclipse they will get everyone back on track. Is it June yet? Am I allowed to be excited already? We only have three months until we are legally able to lust after Taylor Lautner. You think I am bad now, just wait. Taylor Swift better step back.

KB: Yup, the big, let’s save Edward scene was a bit let down. And my heart was breaking for Jacob when he begged Bella to stay with him. But we know that wasn’t in the cards and Bella had to save sparkles. For once she saves Edward! Girl power! I must admit that Alice and Bella do make a great team together. And I did like how Bella would write emails to Alice even though Alice would never see them. Alice in a way helped Bella heal like Jacob did.

And I will say I enjoyed the movie ending also. Sets up Eclipse perfectly, where Bella is stuck in between Jacob and Edward and where Edward asks… well that was a nice twist you didn’t see coming.

Another thing I found so annoying was the amount of times Edward glowed or sparkled. It looked so fake and ridiculous, including those scenes where Bella dreams of lying in the meadow with Edward with all the bright and wonderful flowers. Gag me. Was expecting a few pixies to come along and sing a Disney song.

Drinking from a New Moon souveir cup is very important when watching this movie

Smexy: Yeah, what was that dream scene? I thought we were in a sparkly Little House on the Prairie for a moment. And oh, the sparkles – they still sucked in New Moon. I thought after how awful they looked in Twilight they would have spent some money making it look better. Not so much. However, with a flat Edward and bad sparklies, I still really enjoyed this movie. I think it is a vast improvement over Twilight and I can’t wait to see how Edward matches up to Jacob in Eclipse since they both should have similar screen time.

I’m already anticipating the tent menage scene ;)

KB: I have a good idea what the vision Alice sees is from. If they panned down we would have seen... oops must wait for Breaking Dawn the movie! I found the first 30 minutes boring but the moment Jacob came on the screen, he made it worth the viewing. Jacob is going to have to put up with a lot from his puppy… wolf man!

Eclipse is going to blow the twi-hard fans away. More love, angst and fight scenes than you can imagine.

So, what grade would you give New Moon, for what’s worth, because we both know this is not a masterpiece of filmmaking.

Smexy: I would personally give it a B. And yes I realize compared to many other films out there it is a pile of cheez whiz, but considering the amount of entertainment it provides and the fact that it sticks so close to the books, it gets a B from me.

KB: I am torn between a B- and B. But I did enjoy the movie and I am very excited for Eclipse in June. Also the movie did stick close to the book. So, if you are a fan of the Twilight series and New Moon, you won’t be disappointed.

I say bring on the teenie bopper tent manage scene!

Two young Twi-Hard fans (with DD) are ready for Eclipse in June!

Fello Twi-Hard fans, what are your impressions of New Moon? Are you still on Team "Sparkle" Edward or now Team "Abs" Jacob?

Captive of Sin Book Review *Anna Campbell*

Lady Charis Weston is England’s wealthiest heiress. Seems there are a lot of these woman heiresses in regency England, who although obscenely wealthy, are on the run from some family member who wants to kill them for their fortune. In Charis’s case she’s hiding from her horrid, abusive step brothers who have beat her into near submission. They want to gain her fortune for their own means and try and force Charis to marry a man they owe a great deal of money to. All this must happen before her twenty-first birthday in three weeks when she will finally have access to her inheritance. Charis is able to escape from Hubert and Felix, the step brother duo who are oh so powerful. Again, it seems there are many of these evil powerful gentlemen also running around England hurting young women of various means.

Charis is hiding in a stable in the middle of winter and found by a stranger who frightens her because as he sits high upon his beast of a horse, she thinks he could either send her back to her step brothers or rape her. The gentleman concerned for this shivering and scared woman is Gideon Trevithick who has returned from India where he worked for the East India Company because of his talent in speaking many languages. But that’s not all, for Gideon was also a type of spy. Yes, yet another English gentlemen who’s a spy, but at least on another continent and not as a part of some underground London order where they wear robes, masks and hum the words, “Om”. At twenty-five Gideon has been through many unspeakable things, one-hundred times worse from what Charis has suffered. Something happened in India that makes Gideon standoffish and cold and even after he aids Charis, with the help of his friend Akash, Charis still feels Gideon will harm her. She lies and gives them a fake name and says she was set upon by ruffians and now is on her way to her aunt. Gideon doesn’t believe a word and because Charis is so fragile and bruised, he will protect her from whoever wants to harm her.

A few times Charis runs away but Gideon is able to catch her without ever laying a hand on her. Because she has no funds and knows her actions are desperate and foolish, she accepts Gideon’s offer of sanctuary after she tells him about her birthday deadline and what her step brothers forced upon her. Gideon wants Charis close, but not too close because for her to touch him is torture. Gideon cannot stand the touch of another even if it’s Charis who he’s falling in love with. Charis is annoyed that Gideon runs so hot and cold. He always wears black gloves and anytime she comes too close or lays a hand on him, he asks disgusted and becomes enraged. She begins to question her own appeal as a woman because she wants to be close to Gideon even though he keeps his distance and acts as if her touch makes him sick.

Each day closer to Charis’s birthday is very welcomed, but then Hubert and Felix come to Gideon’s estate because there are witnesses that place Charis with Gideon after he saved her from a group of nasty men. Gideon is a hero in the eyes of the people of England and keeping Charis a secret can’t last and he may end up arrested. Gideon has a solution to Charis’s problems that will test his endurance and means letting go of his unfortunate past and those memories in India where he feels like less than a man.

Captive of Sin has a feel of a luscious and all consuming romance. Unfortunately, I found it hollow and flat. Charis’s too stupid to live actions and Gideon’s growling one minute, protective and kind nature the next made my head spin. Nothing says cliché like a historical romance where you have the heroine scared of the hero from the beginning, but then suddenly out of the blue on page 36, for no reason I can think of, Charis forms lusty feelings for Gideon who almost made her faint in fear, and not because of the abuse she sustained from her one-dimensional villainous step brothers. Charis can’t understand her own strange attraction she now has for Gideon. Could it be because he rescued her from “discovery and disaster”? Or maybe it’s his regard towards her, where he’s full of desire, with his “carved saint” look and his “burning eyes that have no sanctity but are filled with suppressed passion, pain and anger”? As I read this passage, the song “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry ran through my head and stuck with me for the next 350 pages or so.

Gideon has all the attributes of a tortured hero who longs for touch and love. I felt the build up of passion between Gideon and Charis was too cut and dry. Not enough long stares or pleas were found within these two and I couldn’t find any emotional connection on my end. Even when Gideon and Charis have that moment of clarity, where everything comes together, I still felt something was missing.

I will give Anna Campbell credit for writing some really hot love scenes and she is still one historical romance author I turn to because her writing does grab you even though her characters may not. Not every author can have a winning book every time and Captive of Sin is such a book (Avon)

Final Grade: C+

Double Standard At Play: RWA, Harlequin and GLBT Authors

I can always count on Emmy, who has her own Live Journal, to be very blunt and honest. She has taken a different stance on the various opinions regarding RWA's decision concerning Harlequin and their vanity press venture. In her post she raises a good point about the question of where was the public outrage when RWA refused to allow GLBT author to be recognized?

Emmy goes on to talk about this double standard:

WTF with the double standard here? Why is it unfair that an author is 'being punished' by RWA for a decision their publisher made, when other authors who also write perfectly legitimate books can't get recognized either? Sucks to be part of the out crowd, dosn't it? But it was never a problem and it was never unfair until it happened to a large section of bestselling authors, rather than a small niche of relative unknowns.

Emmy has taken an interesting stance and wants someone to prove her wrong. This is in regards to RWA's RITA Awards

First what are the RITA's? The purpose of the RITAcontest is to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas

To my knowledge, RWA does not accept GLBT submissions for RITAs. Will have to hunt for where I saw it, but I distinctly remember being told that het authors can choose to not read a book, and rate it as "this isn't romance', because to them m/m romance is not. They won't even review m/m romance! Professional mags will take an author's money for ads, but glbt romances are not even eligible for review.

Anyways...prove me wrong. Prove to me that there are GLBT romances out there that are judged for RITAs. Go back as far as you wanna and find me ONE m/m romance that has been nominated in any category for the RITAs. Just one. Doesn't have to have won the category, just been one of the nominees (would that be the finals, I guess?). Will donate $200 to the charity of your choice benefitting the glbt community to the first person who can find one. Feel free to enlist other people to do the hunting for you if you haven't the time.

Author Lisa Hendrix commented on Emmy's post that GLBT books can't be eligiable for a RITA because these book are considered Erotic and there isn't an Erotic category for the RITAs..

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Author Dakota Flint also has a very valid comment: I still don't get why GLBT romance gets lumped into the "erotic romance" category automatically. I actually stopped buying from a publisher b/c I got so annoyed that they put every m/m romance under their hottest category no matter what the actual heat level was. The GLBT part of the "GLBT romance" description designates the orientation of the characters in the relationship and NOT the heat level. This seems so obvious to me. What is erotic romance, anyways? I've heard people say it's whenever the bedroom door is open in a romance, but that can't be it, surely...otherwise the majority of het romances I've read over the years would also be considered erotic. Let's put it this way...I've read so much GLBT romance that was labeled "erotic romance" and wasn't any more erotic than the het stuff labeled "romance." I don't really understand the distinction, at least not as it applies to GLBT romance.

Again, why are GLBT books considered always under the erotic umbrella? Can't there be different levels of sensuality in regards to GLBT book where they could be nominated in such RITA categories such as Contempoprary, Historical or even books with Romantic Elements?

Is there really a double standard?

And, I will donate $100 on top of Emmy's donation to the charity of choice if there is anyone who can prove that one Gay romance has been nominated for any category in the RITA's.

Want to Get Published? The Harlequin Horizons Solution

Last week was a big week with the on the edge of your seat drama in the publishing world. If you read all the websites and blogs dedicated to the publishing industry then you know about the Harlequin Horizons Broo Haa Haa or what I like to call Harlequingate because it has a feeling of shock, horror and mistrust to it.

There are many other sites I can point you to where you can read up and fully understand the aftermath of Harlequin’s decision to partner up with a vanity press called Author Solutions. (Will list at bottom of this post)

As soon as this was announced, you could have heard a pin drop as many published authors and those working towards getting published were shocked and appalled.

The question is, why does this have so many people up in arms? First let’s look at the definition of what a vanity press is.

A vanity press or vanity publisher is a publishing house that publishes books at the author's expense. If you use a press like Author Solutions, you can self publish your own work for a small fee.

Harlequin Enterprises is teaming up with Authors Solutions to form Harlequin Horizons:

Harlequin Horizons provides the opportunity for women's fiction writers and romance authors to publish their books and achieve their dreams. We understand that your time is precious, and your work and goals are unique. We have a team of professionals available to speak with you about your book, answer questions and provide assistance every step of the way. You may not always have a lot of time for yourself. But we encourage you to indulge in your passion for writing and begin the next chapter of your life as a published author.

At first this may seem like a great idea. Wow, a well known publisher like Harlequin who celebrated 60 years in publishing, made a hand over fist profit and publishes great books and authors is starting a new venture where they want to help those writers who are on the path trying to get published.

I’m looking at this from both a writer and a reader stand point.

As most of you know, I’m trying to get published. Now there are three routes I could take to do this. I can try to publish with a traditional publisher. This either involves me finding an agent who will sell my work to a publisher or send my work to a publisher directly who accepts a non agented writer’s submission. Then there is epublishing where I can submit without an agent unless those epbulishers are not accepting unsolicited materials. Then there is self-publishing. If I become very disillusioned and feel that I’m not getting anywhere by submitting to an agent, traditional publisher or epublisher and I have the funds, I can try self-publishing. This could cost me anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands out of my own pocket. Also, I must keep in mind the amount of books available to buy are less than available than a traditional publishing house or an epublisher. But there are success stories. If someone has a good self publishing run, they do go on to find an agent or work with a traditional publisher.

Now what if I send my manuscript to Harlequin and they reject it? What if in their rejection letter they mention Harlequin Horizons, and if I pay to use their services, then perhaps I can get published and a big fat HH logo will be on my books? But keep in mind the HH logo is still very different from the well known Harlequin Logo. (I wonder if the reading public at large would really know the difference?) Harlequin has rejected me but because I’m willing to pay for their service I can be as close to a Harlequin author as I can get, because with the HH logo on my books, the readers at large have no clue about this new service of Harlequin’s and will think I’m a Harlequin author and go ahead and buy my books.

This brings up a whole bunch of very shady and unethical problems. First, publishing is a business after all and anything that can make a company money will be embraced. What is stopping an editor from not rejecting an author’s work now that there is this new service that can bring more money into the company? Will there be a certain quota that must be reached in rejections where these rejected writers will use Harlequin Horizons? Will Harlequin become much like a car dealership where they must sell a certain amount of cars each month? “We must have over a 90% rejection rate this month. Whoever rejects the most gets a $50 American Express gift card!” Or perhaps they’ll be like the police, where a certain number of tickets must be written up by the end of the moth to unsuspecting drivers who park their cars in the wrong space or are caught driving ten miles over the speed limit.

I would be absolutely offended if I was given a rejection letter from a publisher who stated, “Sorry, you’re not good enough for us to publish, but if you use our handy dandy self publishing service, then you are. We’re not wasting money out of our pocket, but since you are, it’s okay. And because you’re paying, we’ll give you the same amount of support we would give any of our published authors we believed in and offered a contract to.”

Some writers may be okay with this. Even on the Harlequin Horizon’s website there is a button you can push that says Become An Author where:

Harlequin Horizons, a division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, is here to walk with you into your professional writing and publishing chapter, no matter where you are at on the journey. We provide the opportunity for aspiring romance writers and women’s fiction writers to self-publish their books and achieve their dreams.

With Harlequin Horizons, you'll receive the professional services and assistance you need to self-publish your book the way you envision. Our designers, editors and publicists are ready to provide expert assistance to help you reach your goals.

You may not always have a lot of time for yourself. But we encourage you to indulge in your passion for writing and begin the next chapter of your life as a published author. Start your journey today by filling out our registration form and speaking with one of our representatives.

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So, regardless of the hard work I put into my work, or don’t, with one easy click I can get published. I just need my credit card number available and I’m all set.

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There is so much more I can say how insulting and disturbing this is. After RWA (Romance Writer's of America), MWA (Mystery Writers of America) and SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) took a stand and told Harlequin that their new venture is wrong, Harlequin responded, saying they would change the name of the new project from Harlequin Horizons to a name that didn’t use the word, Harlequin. But they are still involved regardless of the name removal. And the damage has been done based on the small two paragraph article from New Yorker Magazine.

Yes, my dream is to become published and I believe in my work but taking a route like this seems dirty and shameful. Some may not care, but I do. Can you imagine as a reader walks among the book shelves and picks up a book thinking it is published by Harlequin because of the HH logo, but in actuality someone paid for the privilege to place their book on the shelf? But hey, we’ve been told that readers won’t confuse a Horizons book with a traditional Harlequin book. What if that person’s work isn’t the best published book it can be? Talk about someone’s reputation going down the toilet. Not only does that author get a bad rap, but the publisher itself. And we all know how strong word of mouth can be.

It's so easy to find a way out, to not work hard at your dream. Some are willing to pay $19,999 for a book trailer video while others stick to their guns and through their own sweat and tears, try to accomplish their dreaming knowing it may never happen.

Sorry, my dream is not worth the $19,999 or for a package deal of $599. I am worth more than that and will not use an easy way out like Harlequin Horizons to reach my goal. And even if my dream never becomes a reality, at least I know I didn’t succumb, where money exchanged can buy me a way in. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.

For those who would like to be better informed about the Harlequin Solutions situation, check out these websites:

Writer Beware Blog

Dear Author post 1 Post 2

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (Over 700 comments)

Author Ann Aguirre's Post

Author Jackie Kessler's Post 1 Post 2 Post 3

Harlequin's response to RWA's decision

WTFckery Or Not? You Decide

1. Changeling Press really makes it too easy. No words are needed:

BJ and the Hare:

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2. Fiction Vixen has a new bakery she recommends that bakes great erotic cakes. This is my favorite:

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You can never have enough short & stubby couples orgy on Red velvet cake. They made sure to have a little redhead having fun! How cute.

3. Rebyj sure does have an interesting taste in art. I see this as Wonder Woman giving birth.

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4. Yeah, I know I'm stuck on the Twilight craze, but I don't think I be getting my own tattoo with quotes from Meyer's series.

From Galley Cat:
As the highly anticipated release of Twilight: New Moon nears this weekend, The Daily Beast studied the novel's fans who actually tattoo parts of the book on their bodies. The photo montage captures everything from full length page tattoos to tattooed autographs.


5. If my demon duckie ever gets too lonely she can have fun with a duck with a dick. From Ms. Moonlight:

6. Octiplushies. Cute WTFckery for under $20. Their smiles scare me. Don't they look like reject Snork cousins?

7. You can always rely on Mother Nature for the best in everything WTFckery in trees. From Accidental Dong:

8. And the moment you've all been waiting for. Your Regretsy WTFckery shot of the week.

Can anyone tell me what the hidden meaning behind this picture is? I sure can't.

Enjoy your latest in WTFckery this week...