Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Playing the Amazon Game, or Gaming the System?

Jane at DearAuthor has a post up regarding reader and writer allegations surrounding Highland Press, specifically addressing conduct by one individual:

Among other things, Highland Press [and “secret co-publisher, DeborahAnne MacGillvray”] [are] purported to do the following:

  * Banning authors from author loops for speaking out against Highland Press

  * Sending emails to subsequent publishers of those “problem” authors demanding that stock photography that the author purchased for the covers of her Highland Press books not be used by subsequent publishers. These stock photos can be used, as we know, by every publisher out there. I’m not sure on what basis Highland Press claims that stock photo cannot be used.

  * Using MacGillivray’s position to delete reviews she has provided to these problem authors and deleting reviews of the author’s friends.  (Of course, these are MacGillivray’s reviews and she is entitled to do whatever she wants with them).

A corollary to this is that the co-publisher uses a Yahoo Group list, Ladies in Waiting, change her Amazon reviews. When MacGillivray she gets a bad review, she tells the loop to click on the link to the Amazon page and vote “no” and then “report abuse”. With enough… read more »

On finding ourselves yet again struggling to define “true.”

Some individuals are composites, some details have been changed, and author Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down the House is “not a work of ‘nonfiction’ in any meaningful sense of the word,” according to the Boston Globe, but yet it is marketed as a “true story.” The movie 21, based on the book, opened this weekend in the #1 spot, and I knew a few neighbors who were hiring babysitters to go enjoy the behind-the-scenes story of how a group of MIT wundergeniuses hosed Vegas for millions by counting cards at Blackjack. To give you an insight into why hiring a babysitter to see a movie is significant, let me share: I have not seen a movie in the theatre since The Incredibles was in the dollar theatre in North Bergen, NJ. It takes a hell of a movie to convince me to go to a movie theatre as opposed to waiting for the DVD.

So is it a true story? Depends on how you define the words “is” “it” “true” and “story.”

Erotica in a nutshell.

Erotica author James Lear offers his opinion on why writing erotica (or porn - he uses the terms interchangeably) is a marvelous way to make a living, despite erotica being neglected by mainstream publishing.

I think that erotic literature serves the same purpose as other genre fiction, but with a more literal outcome. A good crime novel, be it by Agatha Christie or Alexander McCall Smith, provides a failsafe formula of crime, investigation and solution. The porn parallel is encounter, seduction and sex. While a whodunnit plots this pattern across an entire book, a porn writer must repeat it several times within one novel, allowing the reader time to recover before revving up the engines again. The reason why dirty books remain in the shadows is very simple: the book trade is not comfortable with masturbation. Books in which children are abused, women murdered and men brutalised crowd the shelves of WH Smith. Books in which consenting adults enjoy each other for the healthy entertainment of literate wankers do not.

Lear’s perspective is refreshingly blunt and analytic. No matter what anyone says about reading for prurient intentions, no one ever ignores money. Especially when that money is profit.

Help a Bitch Out: Find that Author!

Bitchery reader Eleanor is looking for an author who published under several names, but hasn’t been seen recently:

I’ve been trying to track down the historical romance author Stella Riley and I wonder if you can help me. Back in the 1980s and 1990s she published under the pen names Stella Riley, Anna Marsh and Juliet Blythe; her books included Garland of Straw, Black Madonna, Lucifer’s Champion, Splendid Defiance and The Marigold Chain. As far as I can tell she worked with Fontana, Severn House and Headline, but the latter axed her halfway through a four-book series, at which point she dropped off the face of the earth. Could you possibly shine a light on this for a frustrated fan? Any help greatly appreciated!

Barb Deane’s site doesn’t have any information - do y’all know what’s up?

The DA BWAHA Final Four Round Two Results

Results time!

DA Results:

SB Results:

The winner is Nora Robert’s High Noon which won by a total of 136 votes.  At the SB site, Robert’s book won by 83 votes and here at DA, it won by 53 votes.

The Championship Round is now in progress.  We’ll begin the post mortem on Tuesday.  I know you guys are so excited you are about to pee your pants.

Click on the links to our sponsors to let them know that you actually are paying attention to the contest. It’s for a good cause (not really, but the words “good cause” usually gets people to do things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do).

The Final Four: Round One Results

Results of the Paranormal v. Historical (Round 1 of the Final Four)

Combining the results of both Dear Author and Smart Bitches’ polls, here are the results:

The winner is Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away which won by a total of 37 votes.  Over here, Colleen’s book garnered 38 more votes than Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Serpent Prince.  At DA, The Serpent Prince received one more vote than The Rest Falls Away.  Don’t forget to vote in the second of the Final Four polls:  Erotica/Erotic Romance v. Contemporary both here and at Dear Author.

Click on the links to our sponsors to let them know that you actually are paying attention to the contest. It’s for a good cause (not really, but the words “good cause” usually gets people to do things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do).

read more »

Nipples and gratuituous use of the word “heteronormative”

Nipples! Thanks to Bitchery reader Susanne vai Boingboing, nipples are Photoshopped off of male wrestler mantitty for billboard in Florida.

Nipples, it may be, are against the law in Florida. Not having them. Just showing them (remind me, next time I go to Florida, to bring a lined bra and leave at home a few specifically nipple-friendly t-shirts I own). Fascinating discussion of why no one takes sociology seriously anymore follows the original post—my response? Hey, romance novels and man titty aren’t either, and lemme tell you. Man Titty is serious business!

Also, I would like to officially state that “heteronormative” is my new favorite word, and I’m going to use it at least six times a day.

Calling All Pittsburghers

When I travel to conferences, I like to do a short list of restaurants that I find online that are walking distance from the hotel. It seems that will be even more important for the Romantic Times convention in Pittsburgh in 2 weeks, because the Hilton Pittsburgh is under renovation, affecting all floors, the lobby, and the restaurant.

Fortunately, I’m from the ‘burgh, and have started to sketch out a list of walkable places to eat, both pricey and essentials-only. For example, there is indeed a Starbucks in walking distance, in Market Square. So caffeine-addicted folks like me, I’ll meet you there. I’m the bleary-eyed one with the glasses.

So - what restaurants in the downtown area to you recommend? And if you want to get brave and challenge us conference folks to the adventures of PAT transit, what bus-able or trolley-able places to eat do you love? Please feel free to post in the comments or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I’ll be posting a dining guide for the RT convention in the next few days. See you in Pittsburgh.

And for the record: it fucking SUCKS that the Pirates are not in town. Screw hotel construction -that… read more »

Friday Videos: Exercise, Assault, and Breaking Up—the Japanese Way

Going with last week’s Japanese theme, this week’s Friday videos involve Japanese girls exercising their wrists while learning English phrases for breaking up.

The video on assault is even better.

Ennnn-joy.

If you search for “Zuiikin girls” on Youtube, you’ll find a fuckton of these, with an assortment of indispensable English phrases taught by Japanese girls in bitchin’ spandex and a mean twirly wrist workout.

You can thank me later.

Looking for some TV to Watch?

If you’re in the States and have a public television channel, check this out: Nature is running a two-part show about What Females Want and, in part two, What Males Will Do. It’s all about seduction in the animal kingdom, and what males of varying species go through to seduce and attract teh wimmins. Part one is on Sunday on the PBS nearest me (I think I have three different PBS stations between NYC, NJ and Long Island. And not a damn one of them is showing the BBC Coupling reruns any longer, nor The Vicar of Dibley dammit. But enough of my love for British sitcoms and Dawn French).

Back to the Animal attraction! The miniseries is totally programmed into the DVR (in HD, too, and Hubby will flip if the DVR fills up and he doesn’t get his recordings in) because it sounds incredibly interesting:

From spiders that dance and monkeys that drum in the name of love, to female geladas that seek male partners with hot, red chest patches—this program about sexual selection explores the unique behaviors and special adaptations that determine how animals pick their mates, and how these selections affect future generations. In some… read more »

Remember Colin the Incubus Nymph?

Ah, Colin, the incubus nymph. You know…Colin? The incubus? In the ring? The ring that houses Colin, Invoked to be Possessed and Inhabited by an Ever Powerful, Seductive and Enchanting British Incubus Spirit Nymph?

THAT Colin?

I am sad to report, Colin is not yours. Colin is going to live with a very fortunate college student (living in a dorm, won’t that be fun?) named Emmy, who will have Colin the Incubus Spirit Nymph for her very, very own. How fab! And author Esri Rose, who asked for Colin’s, um, housing? Ensorcelment?

Whatever you call it, Esri is working on an interview with Colin the Ever Powerful Seductive and Enchanting. Word!

You Can Never Have Too Much Were

The editors at Ellora’s Cave have produced a list of the thirteen were-trends they’d love to see, inspired by our were-duck April Fool’s entry. I’m so afflicted with the giggles I can barely talk.

Well played, ladies and gents. Well played. And please do let me know when were-skunk, or better yet, were-musk-oxen romance hits the presses. Please, oh please, let it be scratch-n-sniff!

Smart Bitch Happy Hour: Teh Winnahs!

Get your top shelf ready, and make sure there’s a mattress on the floor, because if you drink all of these, you will pass out before you even know you’re falling down.

Presenting the winners in the Smart Bitch Happy Hour contest. Winning drinkmasters, please contact me with your mailing address so that I can send you your copy of Kathleen O’Reilly’s new book, Nightcap.

Thank you to Kathleen O’Reilly for judging and providing the books. And now, in no particular order, we have: the winners!

What Your Critique Partner Says About You When You Go to the Ladies’ Room

We’ve been talking a bit about critique partners here at Smart Bitches, and last Friday I had a chance to see CPs in action. I was invited to a dinner after the Novelists Inc. conference concluded with Kate Duffy from Kensington, whom I call the Julia Child of romance because it makes her roll her eyes at me, Karen who is mistress of PR and publicity at Kensington, and LaToya from Grand Central whose purse was so awesome I thought about stealing it, except I couldn’t because (a) that would be so not legal and (b) Law & Order SVU was filming outside the restaurant so there were plenty of real and faux cops who would have busted my ass for purse-theft. Her purse is still awesome and I covet it like whoa and gee whiz.

In addition, I got to meet Barbara Vey of the PW Beyond Her Book blog, who got a great picture of me having a bad hair moment in my giant puffy coat, and critique partners and happy authors Mary Stella and Beth Ciotta, who provided me with the answer to my question: “What does your critique partner say about you when you go… read more »

Chivalry and Other Romantic Behaviors

From Philippine newspaper The Inquirer comes Leica Carpo’s column about what books turned her onto reading:

I could say it was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby,” Dickens’ “Great Expectations” or even Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” that turned me onto reading. But that would be a lie. I must confess that historical novels were my secret passion and I was a Barbara Cartland girl first and foremost.

Right there with you, Leica. Only instead of Fitzgerald, F. Scott or Mitchell, Margaret, it was “High, Sweet Valley” and, before that, Beverly Cleary that brought me into reading.

After ruminating on the Cartland oeuvre, Carpo states, “I no longer read Cartland novels or expect “happily ever afters,” but to this day I don’t expect chivalry — I demand it.”

And then the article ends (BOO) but with enough of a statement to make me wonder, have romance novels influenced the way I view relationships, and specifically my own marriage?