Cover goodness... or not

Oh my. While cleaning out some old boxes, I came across this gem from 1996. Not only is the title craptastic, but he's wearing her robe! And the series title - From Here to Paternity. *love*

Back cover copy:
Carver Venner got a double shock when he opened his door that morning: a twelve-year-old kid that he never knew he had—clutching the hand of the sexiest woman he had ever seen. And though Carver would have loved to concentrate on social worker Maddy Garrett, there was another problem at hand. Like what to do about his daughter….


Raising Rachel, with her dubious ideas about everything from nutrition to education and her…colorful vocabulary, was bound to be a challenge. And Carver could use all the help he could get. But he soon realized that what he required from Maddy was more than just professional assistance…

You can get this on Kindle. I'm sure you can't wait!

Bloggers have the right to control the content on their sites

I usually stay far, far away from the kerfuffles in blogland. Occasionally I will lurk and read about them, but rarely do I involve myself and add my two cents. However, I saw a couple people I follow on twitter talking about being ticked about a situation and I determined to stay out of it and not even ask what it was until I read this post at Reviews by Jessewave.

Although I am a lurker there - rarely commenting, mostly for the same reason I rarely comment on any blogs these days - I read from my phone... I avidly read their reviews of m/m romances and have so many books in my TBR pile based on their recommendations, that if I bought them all at once, it would probably take my entire paycheck. The reviews on her site are informative, professional, and intelligent.

Why am I writing this post? Well, apparently, Wave's policy of reviewing only m/m gay books is ruffling feathers. Why? Because she doesn't review all the letters of LGBTQ, only the "G", and yet she has links on her site to Embrace the Rainbow, It Gets Better, and many other websites that provide help and assistance for troubled teens, and has the Safe Reading Zone logo on her sidebar. From what I can tell, the SRZ logo is indicative of a site that is not biased against the LGBTQ community, that is supportive and non-judgmental. This definitely describes Wave's site. Just because the site doesn't review other subgenres of LGBTQ, doesn't mean that the site is judgmental or non-inclusive. She doesn't review books about lesbians, bisexuals, transgedered or anything else, except for gay men. Yes, two penises, two acknowledged men in a romance with each other. She states it up front in her review policies. Apparently, to some, this means she is not an advocate of the genre, or of the LGBTQ community.

I say hogwash. OK, I say bullshit, but for the sake of staying PG, I say hogwash. First off, there is no stronger advocate for the LGBTQ community than Wave's website, and Wave herself. She does a lot of posts the goal of which is to educate the community (and herself, she admits) about m/m and also LGBTQ issues. I've appreciated many of those posts, because while I am not terribly educated about the lifestyle beyond what I read in the m/m romances I enjoy, I know there is a whole other world out there to learn about. Does that mean I can't advocate for the rights of those people? No, not at all.

Just because I'm not a lesbian does not mean that I can't be an advocate for lesbian rights. It doesn't mean that if I choose to put up a banner advocating for lesbian rights, but don't read and review lesbian books, that I should have to take down the banner. I don't read or review books about lesbians because it's not a genre I enjoy reading. I do frequently read and occasionally review books about gay men. And I am an advocate for gay rights, too. As well as bisexual, transgender or any other person. Nobody should have different (or fewer) rights based upon who they are, how they identify, the color of their skin, their religion, etc. I believe that I've made that perfectly clear through many of my posts - here, on my personal blog (intentionally unlinked), and on my political blog.

I digress. My point here is that as a book review blogger, I have the choice to read and review whatever the hell I want to. I blog about books because I have a love of reading, and I want to share my joy with others. Therefore, I tend to blog about genres that I read most and love. Wave's blog states in the banner that the site reviews male/male adult-themed books. It's not a secret. It's the genre she reads and loves. And frankly, the content on her website belongs to nobody else but her and the site's reviewers. They can post whatever they choose as long as it doesn't violate the law. And I have the choice to read it or not.

If I can't advocate for that for any blogger, then what happens to my own rights as a blogger to post the material that I choose to post? I lose control over that. If Wave doesn't want to read and review anything other than m/m gay romance, then that is her right. If she wants to post banners supporting other websites, supporting causes, or advocating for men on the moon, that is her right. Nothing else need come into the discussion.

Book blogging has evolved tremendously since we first started reviewing books here in October 2005 (and holy moly - that's almost 7 years!). It used to be stricly about sharing a love of books. Now it has become, for some, a big business. And that's ok. But for those of us who choose to stick with blogging for no other reason than we want to share our love of books, there continue to be no rules other than I get to share what I want, when I want, and in the genres I want. I don't know anything about Wave's relationships with publishers - other than she obviously has one, since she offers many free books - but it shouldn't matter. She should still have the right to choose which books from those publishers she accepts and reviews.

And I for one, will continue to stalk read her reviews for new books to enjoy. Yes, in the m/m genre.

The challenge. It. Is. On.

I spent Saturday with Tracy and Nikki, and Holly. Because we live so close to each other, Tracy, Nikki, and I have been known to get together for lunch and an afternoon of shopping occasionally. This time, Holly intruded invaded invited herself came, too. We had a blast. And it's really too bad none of us have any strong opinions or anything. Heh. After a fun lunch full of gossiping and book trash talk and talking about Holly's sour grapes post, we headed over to Borders, which *sob* is closing. Upside? Romance 50% off. I got 5 MMPB for $15.50. How cool is that?

Anyway, while we were there, we saw Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me on one of the tables. For some reason that I can't really put my finger on, I've never been a huge Crusie fan. Her books just don't resonate with me. I think I noted once that it may be because her books are printed on some super speshul paper with some super speshul ink that gets all over my fingers. All. Over. By the end of the 1st chapter. Strange the negative feelings that can stir up.

Just like when you don't care for sushi and your friends all tell you, "You just haven't had the right sushi at the right place yet!" they all three insisted that if I read Bet Me, I will lurrrve it. Apparently, I just haven't read the right Crusie yet (on the right paper with the right ink).

So I agreed. I will read it, and if I like it, I will write a review and make sure everyone knows that Holly was right. If not, I'm going to really shove it back in her face write a review that says why I didn't care for it. And hopefully, she won't bug me about it anymore.

And no, I won't read it in e. It will be in paper, and let the full reading experience be what it is.

So stay tuned for the Bet Me wars.

Author pseudonyms: helpful or harmful? Just wondering...

Warning: a long and rambling post ahead... but honestly. I'm really curious about this.

I've been thinking a lot about this, because I see it happening more and more often. It always bothers me when an author takes on a pseudonym to publish a book in or outside their usual genre. I feel cheated, because sometimes I’ll miss a book by a favorite author. Without the name recognition, I don’t always pick up books by new authors. I admit it. I only have a limited amount of money to spend, and the majority of my book-buying money goes to tried and true authors rather than first-timers, even though I do also buy and read new and new-to-me authors. I commented in my Overview of 2010 post about how sad I was that Leslie Parrish was having so much difficulty getting her books sold because they seriously rock the house, and I wondered if the pseudonym was hurting her because she lost out on the name recognition (she’s also well-known Harlequin author Leslie Kelly). The answer I’ve heard from many authors is that their publisher recommends/requests/requires the name change when branching out to a new genre – even if it’s still within romance. Something about reader expectations, blah blah blah.

I have to wonder if this is a smart move. We are living in an age where publishers will drop an author immediately if their first book doesn’t sell well. I would think that they would want to take advantage of any name recognition they can. When you send an established author out into the world with a new name, not only are they a new name, but they are a new author with a first book. It does nothing to increase their credibility.

Many romance readers are incredibly savvy. We read the OBC blurbs. We follow our favorite authors on Facebook, and twitter, and we read their websites and blogs. Not only are authors allowed to have more than one type of voice speak to them, they usually have no say in the matter, LOL, and as consumers, we should be able to understand that. On the other hand, many romance readers are also impossibly old-fashioned (GASP – S.E.Ecks? Nooooo! Say it isn’t so!!). They like what they like, who they like, and the way they write it. These folks are disappointed when an author changes genres, and whine to the high heavens about the immorality of sex in romances today (because real people don’t ever have sex with the door open, or before they get married, or in any way other than missionary). And there are many who fall somewhere in between. Just like in any other area of life, you can’t pigeonhole romance readers into a type. So why cater to only one portion of readers (the please don’t ever ever change a thing portion)? If those folks aren’t going to follow an author into a new genre anyway? Why not cater to those who will, and get the extra name recognition and sales out of it?

Here are some examples of pseudonyms I've been thinking about:
Sylvia Day/ SJ Day/ Livia Dare: I adore her historicals. I’m not a fan of urban fantasy, so didn’t read the SJ Days or the Livia Dares, but if she wrote those as Sylvia Day I wouldn’t hold it against her. In fact, I noted in my review of her latest historical that I simply (ok, impatiently, LOL) waited out the UFs knowing this book was coming. Not sure why the UF had to be released under not one, but two pseudonyms.

Leslie Parrish: This is the pseudonym for bestselling Harlequin author Leslie Kelly. A Kelly category is pretty much guaranteed to be a success, cause well, she rocks. But as Parrish, she had a really tough time breaking into romantic suspense, which sucked cause, well, the books rocked. Was it because Parrish was a “new” author with a "first" book? As a reader, I’m more likely to take a chance on a known author spreading her wings than an unknown newbie (although I read plenty of those as well). Personally, I think sending her out into the romantic suspense world as a new author hurt her sales, where her name recognition could have helped them. Sure, some readers would have read the first one and decided to stick with her categories (those "No, don't ever ever change a thing" folks  - and indeed, some did and needless to say were NOT happy). But how many more would have picked up that suspense book, simply because Leslie Kelly wrote it, and loved it – and then bought the rest?

Beth Williamson/Emma Lang: I really don’t understand the reason for the pseudonym here at all (Emma Lang), also requested by her publisher as I understand it. Emma Lang writes western historicals. Beth Williamson? Yup. Western historicals (although she has several hawt contemporaries out there as well). So here, this seems to be a perfect opportunity to take advantage of an author’s name in a genre where she’s already known. Why wouldn’t a publisher want to capitalize on that?

Toni Blake/Lacey Alexander: A successful dual genre, dual-named author. Her Toni Blake contemporaries are wonderful. Her Lacey Alexander erotic romances are also terrific. She’s also one who was able to keep her dual identity secret for a long time. I’m not sure if her print or her e-books came first, but it’s definitely easier, IMO, to break in as a new author into the digital world.

Jessica Bird/JR Ward: Does this one even count? I only ask because there seems to be no more Jessica Bird. JR Ward reigns in that relationship, and I guess given her success, rightfully so. Once the BDB came out, Jessica simply disappeared. But here's an example of a pretty successful category romance author breaking out into paranormal, and hitting a home run with a new identity. Would it have happened anyway, had they been released as Jessica Bird? I tend to think so, but at this point, who can tell?

Nora Roberts/JD Robb: Perhaps the most successful dual-named author of them all. I read on her site that the In Death series was originally only supposed to be a trilogy. I wonder if that was why she originally went with a pseudonym for the futuristic suspense books, either in case they weren't successful, or out of fear that her readers wouldn't accept a new genre. Was it her choice, or her publisher's decision? Nora? You out there? It would be very interesting to hear more about this. And once the books were successful, then I assume she was stuck. She even has a different author photo on her Robb books that looks much more appropriate for a suspense/thriller/futuristic author than a romance author (I'm sure that amazingly awesome leather coat is the same one that Eve wears). I think the NR/JD Robb brand is what every pub house is after when they ask their author to use a pseudonym. But really, how likely is that to happen again, where a highly successful author continues to write in both genres under both names? There's only one Roarke, people. (I'm sure there are other success stories, so if you know of any more, please share!)

Megan Hart: Here’s an author who is successful in romance. And yet, she hasn’t changed her name for any of her latest releases, some of which are not really romances. She made no bones about it to her readers – I recall her saying over and over – “Hey, this isn’t a romance – but I’d love for you to take a chance on it.” IMO, this hasn’t hurt her brand as a romance author in the slightest. When she does write a true romance, her romance audience will read it, even if they skip the speculative fiction. (If you write it, they will come.)

Many other authors have also successfully changed genres without changing their name. Coming to mind immediately are Tami Hoag, Lisa Jackson, Sandra Brown, Catherine Coulter, Heather Graham, Linda Howard, Iris Johansen, Mariah Stewart, and Karen Robards (can you tell I read thrillers - a lot?). Interestingly, they all switched from romance to suspense - and Graham dabbles with the paranormal (in its truest definition). And yet, Kelly wasn’t given the same opportunity. Interesting to me.

James Patterson and John Grisham both wrote books for YA readers (my boys both enjoyed them – youngest really enjoys the Maximum Ride series). Nobody asked them to change their names (I assume).

As a reader, I pick and choose which books I buy, even when an author releases a book in the same genre as she usually writes. I appreciate being given the benefit of the doubt for my own intelligence. Oftentimes, a book just doesn’t sound all that interesting to me, so I skip it. Doesn’t mean I don’t go back to that author next time. I eat up Teresa Medeiros’ and Kathryn Smith’s historicals, but after I read the first vampire historical from each of them, I passed on the rest. But when they each released another straight historical, I was the first to go buy it (I think I actually squeed aloud when Kathryn Smith told me about her latest series at the RWA Literacy signing in SF). Take Anne Stuart – she writes contemporaries, suspense and historicals. Just because her ‘genre’ changed, her writing remains constant. Dark, morally ambiguous heroes and almost TSTL heroines that make you want to smack some sense into them.

I look at authors like Lauren Dane, who writes contemporaries, futuristics, and paranormals concurrently. Or Shiloh Walker, who also switches from contemporary to paranormal. Or NJ Walters, who switches between vampires, shifters, and contemporaries easily. Common denominator: all these folks got their start in digital publishing, and continue to publish there. (And someone please tell me why NJ isn't a huge star in the NY scene? Huh?) Wonder if that’s the key here. Are digital readers more willing to follow authors and move between genres than their print counterparts?

What do you think? Does it help or hurt an author to use more than one name, whether they are switching genres or not?

Romance Novel: 2011 edition

Usually, delete email I get from my mom, but I loved this one, and remarkable, hadn't seen it anywhere else yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


He grasped me firmly but gently just above my elbow and guided me into a room, his room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone. He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear. "Just relax."

Without warning he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves slowly but steadily.

My breath caught in my throat. I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn't care. His touch was so experienced, so sure.

When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply. Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine and into my panties.



Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought. A man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking 'no' for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted.

A man who would look into my soul and say ...

"Okay, ma'am," said a voice. "All done"

My eyes snapped open and he was standing in front of me, smiling, holding out my purse.

"You can board your flight now."

Thoughts on reading quantity vs quality

Every month when I do my reading roundup, I get comments on the number of books I read, and at least one person comments on how they need to get moving on their TBR because they haven't read nearly that amount. I have a different take on it.

I read because it's how I relax. I'm fortunate enough to have two very self-sufficient kids who are more than old enough to take care of themselves when I want to relax for an hour with a book. Plus, they are never home in the evenings, and stay up far later than me!

I'm also a very fast reader, and always have been. A category romance usually takes me about 2 hours to read. There have been vacations where I've read 4 categories in a single day. But my husband reads about a book a month. And he's good with that.

Having said all that...

I went through a period of several years where I hardly read at all. I was too busy with my kids, too busy with my job, too busy to interact with anyone, much less have time to sit around reading when the house needed to be cleaned, the dinner needed to be cooked, the laundry needed to be done, kids needed to go to play dates or one sport or another... oh, and a marriage to keep on the front burner. Sound familiar to anyone?

At some point in the last few years, I realized that I need to take some time for myself, and that makes all the other relationships easier to manage. Of course, it didn't hurt that my boss actually wrote it into my yearly goals that I needed to work less and take more family time. Cool boss, no? But it's an indication of the kind of time I was devoting to my job and not to my family or myself.

I never, ever pay attention to the number of books other people read. As long as they feel happy and are satisfied that they get some "me" time in their busy lives, then I think whatever they read is awesome. In addition to not paying attention, I also never compared my reading quantity to anyone else's. Yes, I missed reading. A lot. But I found ways to sneak some in.

When the kids hit a grade in school where extra reading became required, we had family reading time. Everyone would grab a book and we'd all sit in the family room and read for a half hour.

When sitting in the stands waiting for a baseball, basketball, football, volleyball (fill in your sport, although they all apply to me) game to start, I snuck in a few pages.

When I got to school to pick up my kids and I had 15 minutes to wait, I read a little.

I don't think a day has gone by when my kids haven't seen me with a book in my hands. But some of those days, I was lucky to fit in a chapter in total.

But back to the comparison thing... I love books. As I know all of you do. But I also love my family. As I know you all do (ok, your own family, not mine! But why don't you love mine?!). There's a time and a place for every priority. And once I stopped to realize I needed me time, I slowly began reading more. And the more I read, the more I realized how much I had missed losing myself in a great story. I also think that while I will finish out the year with my monthly wrap-ups, I doubt I'll do it again. I'm only going to review the books I felt strongly enough about. I don't need to track my reads, I've come to realize. I just need to know that I'm reading enough to make myself feel good.

So my hope for you is this: that you are able to read enough that you feel you've satisfied your "me" time - even if it meant that the dishes went undone until morning. That you feel good about taking the time for yourself, even if it meant that your child needed to entertain themselves for a half hour. (Honestly, that's ok. They need to learn how to do that, and they need to realize that while you love them more than anything, if you're happy, they're happy, too.) That you feel like you've done enough to recharge your batteries, even if it meant instead of watching TV with your hubby one evening, you buried your nose in a book.

Whatever it is, it's not about how many. It's about why you read, what you read, and making yourself happy.

Happy 5th blogiversary to us!

Oops. We missed our 5 year blogiversary here. It was last week. Obviously, we're pretty low key around here, LOL.

While we don't frequent the boards where we met anymore, I will always be grateful to the particular author who wrote the books we so loved at the time. Because it was on her Yahoo group that I met JenniferB. After months of exchanging emails about what we were reading, she decided to start up a blog, and invited me and a few other friends to be a part of it. Because of that, we've had the opportunity to meet so many of you, and have gotten the most awesomest book recommendations ever! More to buy, more to share, more to enjoy. I can't count the money I've spent since I began blogging and you all started recommending books to me. (My husband does not share my appreciation in this, BTW) I can't count the number of books that have winged their way across the country back and forth in big boxes and little envelopes. All because we love to read romance.

It's through blogging that the SoCal Bloggers have gotten together numerous times. Those women are absolutely fantastic, coming from all walks of life, and yet we all have the basics in common. A love of our families, a love of reading, a love of friendship, and a love of romance. And it's all because we love to read romance.

I will also forever be grateful for the experience I've gained in the blogging world. Blogging and reading romance have helped me go on tobe considered a 'trailblazer' on this and ebooks at my publishing job IRL, impressing numerous people at my company with my so-called expertise (yes, I'm so awesome, look at me LOL). And to be frank, I'm definitely not an expert; far from it. But I'm an early adopter of ebooks and blogging, and that makes a difference in my job. All because I love to read romance.

So, happy 5th blogiversary to I Just Finished Reading. I hope we get to continue to share our love of books with y'all. And I hope you'll continue to share your love of books with us.

On author websites: a reader and web designer's take on it

There have been many blogs written about author websites; what works well and doesn't and what readers want. I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring, because I tweeted about a couple things yesterday and then thought this might be a better way to give folks the opportunity to add their two cents in more than 140 characters, if they so desired.

So, here are the things most important to me. Keep in mind, that I'm coming at it from the perspective of a designer and a code writer, but first and foremost, I am a customer of yours. As you'll see below, I'm a picky customer, but we all deal with those.

You are an author. I'm there to find out about your books. So please make them easy to find. Your site should be easy to navigate.

What I want to see:

• Simple, straightforward navigation.
• Books: already pubbed, forthcoming, backlist. I want them all.
• Blurbs
• Covers (not so huge that they overpower the rest of the information, but big enough that I'll recognize it on the bookshelf at Borders)
• If a book is part of a series, let me know. And let me know the order of the series.
• Links to where to purchase, if it's a hard-to-find or OOP book. If it's not? I know where to go.
• A link to your bio
• A link to your blog
• I'm also a huge fan of sitemaps (which Google and Yahoo love, BTW, so they are search engine friendly and are more likely to get you indexed in the major search engines if done properly).
• KEEP IT UP TO DATE. If you haven't updated your website in a year, and have 2 new releases in that time? Yeah, I'm not coming back.

All layed out in a logical fashion, easy, uncomplicated navigation so I can find what I came for.

What I don't mind:

• Contest page
• "Extras"

These are "nice to have's", but they aren't the reason that I go to an author's website.

What I don't want:

• Music (especially autoplay, but I don't come to your site for music; I come for books)
• Trailers: While I know a lot of folks like these, they are not the reason I come to your site. I usually don't watch these when they reside on an author's site. However, I will watch them if you post them on your blog. Go figure. I think it's a distraction from the reason I come to the actual site itself, though.
• A "members only" section where you post chapters, etc that normal folks like me don't get to see. If you want to require me to sign up for your newsletter to see these, that's one thing (although I hate that, too.) But to require me to remember yet another login and password? Forget it.
• Complicated navigation where I have to click through 5 or 6 pages to find your books. NO!
• Huge graphics and lots of scripts: They make a site load slowly - especially in mobile.
• Images of naked guys (and girls, but let's face it - it's usually the guys) that aren't safe for me to view at work without getting my ass fired for viewing pornography. (BTW, this goes for blogs, too.)

And now for the visual:

• Header: Your header should be just that: an image or menu at the head (read TOP) of the page. If your header takes up half the page, I have to scroll below the fold just to see content. Bad idea. I know those pretty images are nice and all, but they aren't why I'm coming to your site.
• Colors: Your background and text colors (and fonts) are the most important thing you can do visually on your site. If the site is hard to read, either because the font is too small, or the text color is too light, then I won't visit you. If the background is dark, I have a hard time visiting on my mobile device because it's too hard to read. Personally, for content I like a white (or light) background and dark text (black or something similar). As my eyes are now firmly ensconced in their 5th decade, I need easy to see. If I have to squint to read it? Bad. If you want the frame to be dark, I have no problem with that. Be as creative as you'd like. But I need to be able to actually see and read the content.
• Flash: Before I start, let me say that I think Flash is a great application. I use it at work. It definitely has its time and place (although much of what's done in Flash can be done with a javascript accessible to all). Having said that: I hate sites done completely in Flash for a number of reasons. First, when I go to write a review, I will often copy the blurb from an author's site (and give credit, of course). But when your site is written all in Flash, I can't copy and paste, which means I go elsewhere for the blurb, and you might not like that copy as much as what you've placed on your own site. I also like to copy and paste book lists into Excel so that I can track those books that I want to read. In Flash? Again, no copy and paste. Last, I have an iPhone. iPhones don't recognize Flash. So if I'm using my phone, I can't visit your site. Period.

The web is becoming about two things: content and discoverability. If I can't find your site when I google you, you have a problem. And if I can't read or navigate your site when I get there to see the content, you have a bigger problem.

One last note about reading on a mobile device: my phone is where I go through my Google Reader. I'd rather not click through to the site to read a blog post. I'll click through if I want to comment, but just to read the post? No thanks. So if you only put a partial feed on your blog, it gets deleted from my blogroll. Immediately. I don't care how interesting your posts are. If I can't read them all at once, I won't read them at all.

Mobile devices are changing the way we surf the net. I read this great article from Wired (which is a site I monitor in my day job). Basically, the gist is that a person can be online all day, and never once use the "web" as we've come to know it (ie, a laptop, PC or Mac). On my phone, I check my email, click through a link in an email to a website and view that site. I read Facebook and post to it. I read Twitter and tweet. I listen to music. I can read the newspaper or this week's issue of Time. Then I go onto my XBox and hook up with friends to play games. Then, when the game is over, I watch a movie streaming through the XBox from Netflix. All that time, I've been using the internet, but not the traditional web.

My point is this: websites need to be mobile friendly. This means optimizing for mobile. You don't know how to write in HTML5 yet? No worries. Simple, basic things make it easier for a mobile user to access your site. White/light background for content and easy to read dark text. Simple, straightforward navigation. Minimize logins so I don't have to type while I browse. Clean code so that the site isn't bogged down and runs faster. And once again, let me reiterate. If your site is written completely in Flash, the majority of mobile users can't read it.

Remember what it is that you want people to do on your site. But more important than what you want them to do, is what they want to do. What is the primary purpose of a customer/reader/whatever when they visit your site? Is it to find out about your books so they can BUY them? Is it to read your blog? Is it to network (which, BTW, should be done via your blog & other networking sites that you should feel free to link to from your site)? Once you know that, it makes it much easier to design your navigation and content.

What do you like or not like about author's websites? If you are an author, do you think about mobile users when you design your site and your blog? Or do you still prefer the pretty and shiny? And BTW, I think you can have both easy and pretty & shiny. I do. But be smart about the way you do it.

Author newsletters

Dear Author,

I receive newsletters from some of my favorite authors and publishers. I opted in to receive your emails because you advertised that I will receive information about your upcoming books and new releases.

I received a newsletter this morning that not only talked about your upcoming books, but also an organization that you are involved with politically. I make no bones about my political leanings, but had this email included information about a moderate or leftist organization, I would have the same reaction as I had to its conservative leanings. My reaction? No!!!! Please don't!!!

I sign up to receive information from authors such as you for one reason only — your books. Period. If I wanted to know more about your politics, I will follow you on Twitter or Facebook, or read your blog. Social media is the more appropriate place, IMO, for such conversations. Because via email, I expect to only receive that information that I've requested, and/or been promised. My inbox is already too flooded with emails from people and organizations I really don't want to hear from - I don't want to worry that the emails I asked specifically to receive are now sending something other than what they promised.

I will give you one more newsletter to determine if I am going to unsubscribe. This may have been a flook, and I do want to know about your upcoming publications. However, if it happens again, I will be forced to unsubscribe. Please don't alienate me from wanting to read your books like that. It makes me sad.

Authors. Please don't send information about political organizations (of any variety) in a newsletter that is supposed to be about your books. Please feel free to talk about the organizations that you feel passionately about. I certainly do. But please don't do it in an email about your upcoming books. Do it on your blog, or on twitter and Facebook, or any other social media.

Much love,
Lori


What do you think? Would it bother you if your author newsletters started containing information on political organizations? Would you rather see it elsewhere, like twitter or Facebook or a blog? Or does it not matter to you? Inquiring minds and all that...

Whatcha reading? And missing authors...

I've been reading a mix of old and new titles. When I get to feeling blah and have no idea what I want to read, I turn to my two favorite genres: historicals and romantic suspense.

So in a fit of "I don't know what the hell I want to read - nothing sounds good!", I read the last 2 Hathaway books by Lisa Kleypas and I'm rereading the Hearts of the South series from Linda Winfree.

Loved the Kleypas books. They were simply feel-good reads for me. And the Winfrees? Well, I've reviewed her enough around here that you have to know how much I adore her writing. Wendy did an interesting post over at Readers Gab that made me think of Winfree. She is always an emotional read for me. There's a point in each book, sometimes in the beginning, sometimes not until the middle, but there's always this point where I feel my stomach clench until it actually hurts. Her books never fail to elicit this reaction.

I'm up to Tom's book: Memories of Us, book 5 (really, I consider it book 6, because for some reason What Mattered Most, the prequel, isn't included in the series order). I'm so damn happy to be reading this series again.

Lately, I've noticed that I don't remember a whole lot about many of the books I read. Remembering character names, plots, authors - it's all becoming more and more difficult for me. Not sure if it's me, or that everything is starting to read the same and there aren't any tremendous stand-outs. I never have that problem with a Winfree book. I always remember the characters' names and the story. Even little tiny details. But I'm finding so much more rich detail this time around that I missed the first time. I even am noticing the times that Ash is seen and mentioned, something I never noticed in my first reads. Loving this series. Again.

But. I haven't seen any information about Winfree since the release of Uncovered last year. Her website hasn't been updated in forever. She hasn't posted anything on her blog. I really want a new book from her. But I also hope that everything is ok in her end of the world. Anybody know anything about her? New books on the horizon? Everything ok?

And what are you reading? Do you have a favorite go-to genre, or author, or series when you get the reading blahs? Help a girl out.

An amazing video about our military heroes

I'm sure we all have had the experience of seeing something so touching, so profound that we just sit there with tears rolling down our faces. It can be a book, a movie (damn you, Katiebabs!), or even, yes, a damn Hallmark commercial. C'mon, admit it. You've cried at a few of those, too.

This video has been making the rounds on Facebook, and in case you haven't seen it, it's a real tearjerker. It made me immediately pray for the safe return of every single service member serving our country. Pray that they will soon be safe in the arms of their child, spouse, sweetheart, parent, friend.

If you have a loved one serving, this is my wish for you.

Some thoughts on format

Lots of folks are beginning to discover the awesomeness that is the ebook, where before they were convinced they couldn't enjoy an ebook as much as a paper book. I've been reading books electronically since about 200...4? Yes, 2004. And I do love them. However, something occurred to me today as I answered someone about sending me a book for review. I told this person that I prefer to read thrillers in paper, rather than electronically. And requested a hard copy of the book.

Depending on genre, I've noticed that there are formats I prefer. I'd rather read really substantive books, thrillers, rom suspense, and historicals in paper. (Note, these are not mutually exclusive, and I realize that "substantial" books occur in all genres). I think it's because I frequently look back for details I may have missed, or to reread a passage, and it's more difficult to do that in an ebook. Or perhaps it's that since I can no longer "see" the book once I've finished it, the details fly out of my head. And as I grow older, that is a distinct possibility.

Other genres I don't really care if I read e or paper. Not to say that a contemporary isn't substantial, but usually I don't feel the same need to go back as I'm reading to fact-check or re-read a passage that may help clarify a current passage. I find that I prefer reading paranormals on my ereader. Not that I read a ton of them, but still... And I actually like to read contemporaries on there as well.

I know that Wendy now reads her Harlequins almost exclusively electronically. I can read them either way. In that one instance, I truly have no preference.

How about you? Are there genres that you prefer to read in paper? Or electronically? Or am I just a freak? (And the answer better be no.)

NSFW photos... thoughts, cheese, and whine

So, I usually check my blogs at work. I use Google Chrome's Incognito window, just to be on the safe side, but there are still files that make it through to my temp folder. And thus, available to TPTB (the powers that be) at work. Now, I had to sign a contract for TPTB that I wouldn't download any sort of inappropriate material at work. This would include NSFW photos and cookies.

I love to look at beautiful naked men as much as the next person, and there are some sites I just don't look at while at work, even in my GReader, because I know that there will be NSFW cookies (waving to Kris). I always view these posts at home or on my phone.

Lately, I've noticed that a completely unrelated post will have totally inappropriate pictures in it. And by that, I mean looking at the post title doesn't give me any clue whatsoever that there might be NSFW pics in it. Like a random "about my life" post. There were 5 or 6 in my GReader this afternoon alone. And NSFW doesn't just include naked people; it also includes a lot of other stuff such as hands down pants, m/m kissing, etc. And even some book covers!

So, I'm going to have to stop bloghopping at work (which I'm not supposed to be doing anyway). Which means I become totally scarce around blogland since I spend approx 11-12 hrs each day at work. Add in commute time, a little family time, a little food time, and I'm down to about 2 or 3 waking hours to sit online. And I'd rather be reading.

So here's my question: Is it really such an inconvenience to note in your post title something to the effect of (NSFW pics included)? I realize it's a pain in the ass, but I can't be the only person with this problem. I enjoy looking at pretty cookies as much as the next girl, but not enough to get fired.

Anyone else notice this trend? Of cookies included when there is nothing in the post to warrant it? And of no notice they're there?

I know I sound like a prude, and I am soooo not, but with the limited time I have, I want to get the most out of my bloghopping.

Thoughts?

Has Anyone Read...

Christy Reece? She has three books--two of them out: No Chance, Second Chance and Last Chance (comes out April 27). If you've read her books, did you like them? Hate them? Details! I'm wondering if I should get them.

BTW--WAVES! I've missed you guys :)

Romance snobs?

So... last month, I went on a cruise w/my sister. She has read romance as long as I can remember. But when I pulled out a book to read, she commented how I was reading that "trash", just like Mom. Turns out, my book was a historical. At the time, she was reading Fern Michaels. Apparently, my sister believes that the following are appropriate reading, and not to be considered "trash":
Nora Roberts
Fern Michaels
Debbie Macomber
Danielle Steel
Jennifer Crusie
etc.

You get the idea, right? Contemporaries only, and only from high profile authors, apparently.

Don't get me wrong. I'm kind of on a contemporary kick right now. I love contemporaries. But does reading someone other than a NY Times bestselling contemporary by some of the most famous romance authors ever make it trash? I accused my sister of being a romance snob, and she is. As romance readers, we have a hard enough time moving out beyond others' stereotypes. Do we really need that from people who read romances? While they hold a romance in their hands?

Now, no offense to any of these incredibly famous and prolific authors on my sister's list, but they don't float my boat. Nora? Well, I've never been able to get into her books, although I love the In Death books. They have a totally different flavor. Fern Michaels and Debbie Macomber bore me to death. Not sure why, but I think their books are too sweettame for me. Jennifer Crusie? I know I'm pretty much alone in this, but her books don't do it for me, either. Odd, I know. And Danielle Steel? OK, she wrote my first real "adult" romance, The Promise. Oh, how I loved that book. And the next 3 or 4 that followed. But after that? Ummm, yeah. Do I need to elaborate?

I thought to myself that I should pick out the most sex-filled book I could find from my e-reader - you know, multiple partners doing the really nasty with some BDSM mixed in - and give it her to read. Or maybe a really hot m/m romance. I wonder how long it would take me to go from reading trash to also being a pervert. And can I say? My husband likes me that way. He thinks the day I found my first EC book was the best day of his life, LOL. Hers? Well, they'd both have to get up off the couch long enough to make it to the bedroom. Because sex should be had on a bed. At night. In the dark. In order to avoid being trashy, you know.

What do you think? Are there some genres that you consider trashy in romance? Or are you happy, like me, to read across genres and let the story guide you? I've certainly read some books I'd call trashy, but no genres or authors in particular. How do you respond to a romance snob?

On a totally different note, here's what I saw in my Amazon recommends today. No trash there!

Ooooh, Lookie

Don't you just love it when you preorder something and forget about it? Then one day, out of the blue, comes a tiny package. What could it be? Oh, yeah! Woohoo!

Here's what came in my mail on Saturday.

I love me some Sabrina Jeffries. Yay me! And I know I preordered something else, but I'm not gonna go look to see what it was, so I can have another exciting day soon.

Doing our part for Haiti... give a little, get a lot!

My husband's multitude of bands is giving all their proceeds between now and 15 February to the American Red Cross for Haiti earthquake relief. Here's the message that went out:

"We're blown away by the devastation in Haiti. We're giving 100% of all music sales from now to Feb 15 on iTunes, Napster, Amazon, etc. to the American Red Cross for aid in Haiti. If you spend 9.99, we give a 9.99 donation. Search Sunday Night Gospel, Mary Carves the Chicken, Page Jackson, Muddflaps, and our buds, The Bowlwinders (comedy). This is what our music is all about.

You can search up their music on iTunes, Amazon, or almost any of the music sites.

I love their music, and yeah, I'm biased. You can check out samples of their stuff at:
myspace.com/marycarvesthechicken
Facebook
www.marycarvesthechicken.com (uh, yeah. The site's a little out of date, but hey. I'm their webmaster, and I've been busy! All the albums and a full song sample from each are there, so my work is done for the day)

Reading Goals and other assorted stuff

As you probably know by now, if you've read our blog for any length of time, I've never tracked my books. Each year, I try, and I can only seem to get through February before I give it up as just too much of a hassle. I also never set a goal for myself on the number of books I want to read. I just read, and the number is what it is.


However, this year, when I put my "Best of" post together, I forgot two books I really wanted to mention. (Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight and Daring Time by Beth Kery). Because I couldn't possibly review every book I read (waving to Jill), and I don't have a tracking system, it's really difficult for me to look backwards to remember all the books I read come EOY synopsis time.


So, this year, I'm taking a page from Holly's book. Since I'm already on Goodreads, I decided to make a bookshelf for books read each month, and an overarching one for books read each year. There's no way I could ever go backwards, so I'm just moving forward, especially since I'm still adding books from long ago as I come across them. Hopefully, that will help me at the end of the year not to determine how many books I read, but which ones I loved. I'd hate not to mention a book that really struck me simply because I'm lazy, LOL.


So if you happen to be on Goodreads, and don't see anything in the monthly reads bookshelves, leave a comment here and bug me, k?


In other news, the So Cal Bloggers got together again this weekend, minus Nikki who was feeling poorly (hope you're better soon!). We started off at Renee's with general book chat, and then moved on to the local UBS, where I bought more than I needed. I picked up The Prey, The Hunt, and The Kill by Allison Brennan (note to self - don't get rid of books you're going to want to read again!); Joe's Wife by Cheryl St. John (since it got such great buzz in the re-read challenge); an old historical from Anne Stuart, and one other that I can't remember (see? I need a tracking system!).


We had lunch at a cute (read tiny) yummy Mexican restaurant, where among other things, we proceeded to gossip about all of you (it's all good, I swear!). General consensus on other topics was that we all wanted to lose more weight. Ugh.


Another great day with Renee, Wendy, Holly, Tracy, and Rosie.