The Dynamic Trio - Blog

Last year I celebrated the whole week here at my blog and it was so fun I’m doing it again this year! Today a basic overview of the week and what it’s all about.

You can start by checking out the American Library Association’s Fabulous Banned Books Week Site!

Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006″ reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group; (This book is about penguins. Not made up penguins, but real penguins at a zoo who adopt an abandoned egg and raise the chick. The two adult penguins are male. Yes, the entire furor over the book is that the penguins in a nature book were male)

“Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;

“Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;

“The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

“Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;

“Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group (BTW, as a parent of a son who is very different from his peers, this book is one I know I’ll be giving him in a few years. It’s a really amazing book even for adults)

“Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;

“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence. (this is one of the smartest YA books I’ve ever read. It doesn’t have a happy ending per se, but it’s a scarily accurate view of what it’s like to be an adolescent. I do read a lot of YA books, by the way, it’s part of the parenting gig and my oldest is getting to the age where some of these books are appropriate reading. I also like them too!)

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

Freedom to read different ideas, even if you disagree with them or they challenge you, is one of our most important and cherished freedoms. As the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

I grew up in a household that treasured this concept. From a very early age I read everything I could put my hands on. If I had trouble or found something I couldn’t understand or made me upset, my parents used this as a teaching moment.

I’m not saying you have to agree with everything, or that you have to let your children read anything they want. I do think we, as a culture, seem to have a growing fear of ideas we don’t agree with and rather than listen to them and debate with our own, or simply ignore those ideas we loathe, we find it necessary to silence those other ideas.

As an author that frightens me. The books I write often contain sexually graphic material. Some of them have magic and paranormal creatures. Some of them have violence, some of them are menages with male/male contact. I understand and respect that not everyone will like them or agree with them. I don’t let my children read my books, that wouldn’t be age appropriate although I don’t generally go out of my way to hide what I write from them. But last year, my husband, stuck in traffic and listening to the local NPR station, heard the weekly call in show about new books and he called in to talk about mine. They put him through and he sat in a queue until they came back to him and told him they looked at my website and decreed it inapprorpriate for the adult audience to hear about on the radio. Apparently they decided the “elderly audience” listening “would be offended” and with an apology, they cut him off.

Adults are now being babysat by other adults because their own belief system is so weak they’re unable to hit the back key on their computer after hearing my website on a radio talk show. This is ridiculous.

If two male penguins sitting on an egg disturbs you and you think it’s somehow inappropriate for your children, I respect your right to believe so. I respect your right to take an active part in your child’s reading and intellectual life by not allowing it to be checked out from the library or purchased. What I don’t respect is the attempt to stop MY children from reading it because, it is my belief that a fear of two male penguins taking care of an egg is irrational. Beliefs - everyone has em and that’s a GOOD thing.

Ideas are not dangerous. The ABSENCE of ideas is.

I love reading. No secret there, that’s what prompted me to start writing and pursue publication. Living in New Zealand, it used to be difficult to find romance novels and like many others down this end of the world, I started off by reading Harlequin Mills & Boon stories since that was it for choice. Then something happened - I wanted more. I wanted different. I scanned shelves searching for different and discovered a love of paranormal way before it became fashionable. Ghosts, genies, shapeshifters and time-travel. There weren’t that many vampires around at the time.

I discovered Romance Writers of New Zealand and a specialist romance store right here in Auckland. I pounded away on my keyboard and wrote, targeting Mills & Boon like many of my fellow writer friends. I received rejections and realized I didn’t fit. I looked further afield and discovered ebooks. I researched the publishers and purchased some of their ebooks. I purchased more, submitted a story or two to epublishers and found a home.

That’s a brief potted history. I was thinking about the way my book buying has changed. I now purchase loads of ebooks since I’m comfortable ordering online and can get my “different” fix this way. I have a PDA to read my ebooks or use my laptop and don’t have a problem reading from the screen. I don’t hanker for the smell of paper. In fact ebooks are awesome when it comes to storage. What hubby doesn’t know won’t hurt him!

Part of being a writer is keeping up with the market. That’s expensive, and I can’t afford to buy every book I need to read. The library I belong to is very romance-friendly. I was ecstatic last year when I found they’d started to order in a lot of erotic romance. Over the years I’ve seen lots of blogs, articles etc about how people shouldn’t use libraries but should buy books and support authors. I don’t subscribe fully to that wisdom. My local library has copies of most of my books, and I’m happy with this. I mean they’ve purchased them initially so I do get one sale. My books aren’t readily available in New Zealand but readers are able to check out my books from the library and I’m building a local readership. For me, that works. These days lots of peope don’t pick up a book at all, so yes, if having my books in a library encourages people to read I’m all for it.

When I was in Hawaii recently I discovered most of the books I wanted to buy were trade paperback, and at $14 a pop my suitcases weren’t crammed quite as full of books as I’d envisaged before leaving home. I couldn’t afford it. Once I get through my to-read pile I’ll check the ebook sites online because a lot of the books I want are out in this format now. Ebooks are certainly cheaper for me down here in NZ. A mass paperback sells for between $15 - $20 and a trade paperback is around $30 - $35. This makes ebooks for around $8 (with the exchange rate) a much better deal.

I’ve also been known to visit the local secondhand bookshop but they don’t have many recent releases available, apart from Harlequin category books.

My biggest, bestest advice. For those of you who live in New Zealand or Australia I’ve discovered Fishpond (links below). Fishpond is our local version of Amazon and very good value since they’ve started discounting books. I shop there quite often these days.

So where do you buy your books? Have your book buying habits changed over the years like mine?

I was visiting Amarinda Jones blog the other day and saw this post. It was so funny I laughed out loud and had my kids thinking someone had slipped something illegal into my Starbucks. Amarinda is a fellow Ellora’s Cave author with a cool new book out called “Maid for Death.” Check out her blog - it’s a frickin hoot. In the meantime, I told her I was going to pass this around, so get ready to laugh…especially if you have breasts (wait, doesn’t everybody?). Here’s what she wrote:

“Breasts…what is the point of them? Yes, I know the various biological and sexual answers to this question but really aren’t there times when you wished you didn’t have them? Breasts can be painful and problematic. For a while now, I have held this belief that screw on- screw off breasts would be a distinct advantage. What am I talking about?

Advantages of screw on-off breasts:

• At period time when they start to ache – screw ‘em off and put them in a box until they are no longer painful to carry around.
• Mammograms are painful. Solution? Unscrew breasts – hand them to the technician to check while you wait outside in the waiting room.
• Gravity making your breasts sag? Unscrew ‘em and get new ones.
• Flat chested? Buy a bigger screw on size. Need a breast reduction? Buy a smaller size. No surgery involved.
• Using breasts to your advantage - “Hmm…a D cup today to get the boss off the subject of my slack arsed performance at work? Yes, I think so.” Men are so easy to get off track.
• Author Anny Cook’s suggestion - if you get mugged and you decide to fight back and chase the mugger, as you run you can unscrew a breast, throw it and bean him. The only problem with this is there could be case for assault with a deadly nipple and the legal ramifications of that.
• Author Kelly Kirch’s suggestions - public breast feeding would not be an issue as you could unscrew them and feed your child without moralistic people getting all offended. Also while taking a bath, if you don’t have a bath plug, unscrew a breast and use that. My only caution on that is make sure they don’t get suctioned into the plug hole too hard as you would be up for a replacement screw-on breast.
• Before you get dressed to go out women could look at an outfit and say “Does this need boobs or not?” Sort of like do I need a necklace or not? Think of all the clothes you could wear that would not pull across your bust.
• Twisted bra strap? Do you have permanent dints in you shoulders from wearing a bra? The answer is simple. Free yourself from bras. Get screw-on breasts that remain perky and need no hydraulic lifting.
• Weighing in for a diet check? Unscrew your breasts and be instantly pounds lighter.
• Not in the mood for sex but your partner is? Hand him the breasts and say “Knock yourself out.”
• Like to jog? Hate sports bras? Unscrew your breasts.
• They could be used for doorstops, exercise weights, ear muffs, paperweights, headrests – the uses are endless.”

So what’s your take on the subject. Tell us…after you’re done snarfing whatever you happen to be drinking while you read this!

TJ

This is potty training central. Sigh. Time number three. This one a girl so I don’t have to constantly redirect penises, which is nice and far less messy. (Again, I know, so glamorous!!). I find myself giving praise for bodily functions, which is, um odd outside of sex, LOL, and no, I don’t give my dude stickers or clap for him, even when he’s got his A game working. She likes to bring her barbie in with her and put her on the back of her seat. Whatever. As long as she doesn’t fall in, I’m game with whatever will get her out of pull ups because after what seems like an eternity of changing diapers (and my oldest will be 10 in November so yeah, a looooong time, each time I get one trained I ended up having another)

I’m in that “in between books” stage. I’m trying to settle in and work on something. I just figured out the opening to dirty/bad/wrong last night and this morning. My husband always listens to me so patiently when I pelt him with my ideas, LOL. And he’s a great sounding board and helps me plot too. I’m also revising something so that’s a task which uses a different writerly brain muscle.

Chased is out in print today! Wheee! I don’t see it listed at My Bookstore and More yet though, grr. It is however, now shipping from barnes and noble!

Even more good news? To Do List will be in a print combo with Jaci Burton’s Unwrapped in September of next year. How freaking thrilled am I? More details as they’re worked out.

I love animals and I’m a sucker for any story relating to animals. I watched a news story with interest today about residents of Capetown in South Africa running a raging war against baboons. The protected baboons are adept at opening cars and house windows. They are breaking into both and creating chaos, especially when they hit the “motherlode” - the fridge. Here’s the full story here

This reminded me of my own baboon experience, which happened during our overland trip through Africa. We were staying at a game park in Nigeria. The place was run down since they didn’t get many tourists but we stayed in these nifty huts, which was a change from camping. They also had a river with hot pools in it. After lots of cold showers and cold water washes, hot water was good! Anyway, they also had this small camp store that sold chocolate. Mars bars in particular. We hadn’t seen chocolate for weeks so just about everyone indulged. This camp had baboons and we had to make sure we locked our huts and didn’t leave any food about for them to steal. Between the camp store and our huts there was a dirt road. The baboons patrolled that road and let me tell you they could spot a Mars bar wrapper at one hundred paces! A few of our group were mugged by the troop of baboons and had to make a run for it, leaving their chocolate behind. I wasn’t game to purchase chocolate after that and everyone kept a wary eye out for those baboons. Not a creature you want to fool around with, that’s for sure.

I’m running a new contest in conjunction with Sierra Dafoe over at my website. Check out my contest page for details.

Is there some unspoken rule that once you hit the rolls of Bestselling NY or USA Today author, there’s no need for sticking to the basics? What basics, you’re probably thinking…

I expect any book I write to have a heroine that I like, and that I hope readers will like. Basically I’m reading a book right now and the heroine’s irked me soooo much I just want to throw it against a wall!

The story premise is awesome. But the heroine is childishly stubborn (I mean, “I’m still human even though I’m really a vampire and to prove it I’m going to run out into the sun! Aaahhhh!” followed by sizzle, sizzle, burn, burn, and the hero coming to save her…yet again. Strong woman and stubborn woman don’t necessarily equate to the same thing.

Sigh. Putting book down for the millionth time and scratching head. The first book in the series is what hooked me. The second book was pretty good too. This one? Hmmm. Well, maybe the next one will be better because the premise for the stories and the supporting cast is interesting enough to keep me buying ‘em. Either that or I’m just stupid.

Okay, done bitchin’…Now, back to the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings football game! It’s ten minutes into the first quarter and I’m still trying to decide to route for while I write the final sex scenes for Hatsept Heat.

So this week we learned Harlequin Spice has picked up the second Vegas anthology and it’ll be out in 2009. Not a whole lot more right now, this is brand spankin new. The second anthology has a paranormal theme and will have secondary characters you’ll meet in the first anthology.

My story for Vegas II, Sensual Magic, features William Emery, the owner of the burlesque club The Dollhouse and a witch named Nell Hunter who bursts into his life on the hunt for an embezzler.

Fed Ex’d my revisions off to my editor in Toronto yesterday, or rather my husband did because he is so very good to me and I have been really sick for Stripped, my story in the Vegas I anthology. I put up a Friday Snippet on my Lauren Dane blog, the opening of the novella and there’s a bit more info up at my website.

They sent us the cover and I’m still giddy. It’s just so gorgeous I can’t wait to show you all! Sexy, fun, sensual, captures all the stories really well. And it has my blurb on it and my name on the spine and wow, it’s real!

I’d just sort of come out of a blue funk so the sale and the cover were just exactly what I needed when I needed it. Sometimes it can be an uphill battle to keep a sunny outlook but with the help of friends and family, I do it and it’s so important to have these victories to keep going!

Oy, kids fighting! I can’t believe I’m actually getting in the van to do another road trip with them next month. I’m crazy.

Resident Evil: Extinction is coming. Oded, mmmm! I can’t wait.

Instead of doubling up and posting holiday snaps here, I’m going to direct you over to my blog where I have three different posts with various photos. As I said, we had such fun. I just love Hawaii, and I think the snaps show that.

Since arriving home I’ve caught up on all the laundry, attacked the ironing (yuck!) and started writing again. I’ve sent off a short story for Ellora’s Cave called Bad Boy Blues and started another Middlemarch story with a rodeo setting. I’m also working on edits for the fourth Middlemarch story, Assassin and as soon as my editor arrives home from her holiday I’ll be sending it her way. I think a break from writing is a good thing, but I find it very hard. I did actually do a little writing while I was on holiday as well as a lot of plotting in my head. I had to - I was getting withdrawal symptoms.

For me holidays are great for catching up on reading. Here’s a few of the books I’ve really enjoyed reading during the last three weeks: Alien Overnight by Robin Rotham, Fire and Rain by Lauren Dane, At Her Command by Marcia James and Dangerous Lover by Lisa Marie Rice.

While on holiday I couldn’t decide which book to read first. I was being finicky so in the end I read alphabetically as they’re stored on my PDA. It worked very well.

Have a great weekend. Tell me what you’re up to or recommend something you’ve read lately. My to-read pile is so big now one or two more books won’t matter!

Today is my son’s birthday and I almost forgot to blog since we’re running him around and such. We just got back home from his birthday massage (can you believe it?) and now I”m waiting on him and my oldest to straighten up some of the clutter, including gift wrap, so we can go have a late lunch together before he has to go to football practice.

He turned 16 and is WAY taller than me now. I do have to occasionally remind him who the mama is in the house. That along with the occasional snarl and threat to show his little girlfriend pictures of him crawling around at 6 months old with a snotty nose and nothing on but a tee-shirt!

Coming up on the end of Hatsept Heat. THANK GOODNESS! I’ve been struggling to write THE END, the same as every other book I write. The more I write, the more I find to say. Hmmm, can someone say “You talk too much?”

ROFL!

Well, it’s back to being the mom-slave for the day!

I finished To Do List this weekend and I found that it’s releasing on December 11!

This means in the Sven 70 Days Challenge so far I’ve written 111,000 words!. This makes me very happy because during this time I had a writerly wallow and crisis of faith but I kept writing. In the last 70 days I also edited four books and did print galleys. I wrote and finished: Wolf Unbound, Celebration for the Dead, To To List, Reading Between the Lines and I started and/or revised and edited Reading Between the Lines, Fire and Rain, galleys for Sleight of Hand and Chased and several projects for my agent. I’m also currently doing revisions for Stripped for the What Happens in Vegas anthology which comes out from Spice in May of 08!

After revisions, I have some options but firstly I’ll probably do some sample chapters for a project Megan Hart and I have planned. If I don’t have to do the chapters on that, I want to revise and expand Second Chances once I get my rights back (later this month) and then finish up Standoff, the last Cascadia Wolves book which is due at the beginning of next year but I’d rather just get it done and not have the deadline hanging over me. I prefer to finish things early if I can, it’s a thing, I know.

I have a sore throat and Morrigan is sick too. I’ve been waiting on her in her little nest on the couch as she watches The Little Mermaid and yells orders at me in her little stuffed up voice. Every year like clockwork, the beginning of school plague. I’m determined to resist so I’m chugging tea and taking all 800 of my vitamins and trying to eat as healthily as possible. My middle kiddo resisted it thought I was worried at the end of last week, he broke through this weekend and D is happy and healthy and chattering about Pokemon.

I picked up, and then tossed down three different books this weekend but did love the Mandy Roth books I read on my laptop. I also read a few Michelle/Mandy books and it gives me hope that dual author books can work. They work really well together.

Ironed eight million things for all my charges and there’s still more laundry. Good lord I hate laundry. However, there’s something about the mindless repetitive movement that helps me plot and get past story blocks so that’s always a good thing.

I’m all registered for RT in April and I’m talking to Frauke about designing some stuff for me to promote the Spice anthology. It’s all very exciting. We’re planning a fun workshop/reader appreciation party with swag and snacks - me, Anya Bast, Cynthia Eden, Megan Hart and Ann Aguirre. It’s on Friday so keep that in mind.

I missed Rock of Love on Sunday!!! Writing comes before television of course and I wanted to finish the book. But now I don’t know who got sent home. Was it crazy Lacy, questionable taste in clothing Heather or One S Jes? Did anyone watch? I need to know. - ETA - thanks for the info - Crazy Lacy got sent home. Now it’s one S and questionable taste in clothing left. Who will win Bret’s heart and his horrible fashion sense?

WINNERS of last week’s contests!!!

Kimmy - you win the ARC of Michelle Pillow’s Along for the Ride! Please send me your mailing address and I’ll forward it to Michelle so she can get it out your way.

And the winner of the contest to win your choice of my available titles is: Kris! Email me with your title and format choice and if it’s a title availble in paper your mailing address.

Congratulations!! Winners have seven days to claim their prize! Oh and if you’d like another chance to win Along for the Ride, check out my Lauren Dane blog!