Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Random Musings
by SB Sarah | October 30, 2012 | Tuesday at 1:40 am | 58 Comments
At last week's book club chat for What I Did for a Duke, one of the participants who went by the excellent name of 'CutMyTeethonKleypas' said that she was looking forward to Julie Anne Long's next book, A Notorious Countess Confesses ( A | BN | K | S | ARe | iB ). That book releases on 30 October (today!) and 'CutMyTeethonKleypas' said during the chat:
To which I said, "That is brilliant and why didn't I EVER think of that?" Seriously, all those times I took my lunch break and read and forgot to eat, then picked up the book on the bus home and nearly missed my stop? I could have called in sick with burritos!
So here's my question for you: have you ever called in sick to work or school to stay home and read a book? What was your excuse? And which book was it?
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by SB Sarah | October 26, 2012 | Friday at 10:46 am | 84 Comments
What's on your reading schedule this weekend? Are you reading some of the holiday romances that are everywhere of late?
I'm skipping Friday this week. I leave Jersey on Thursday afternoon, and arrive in Sydney on Saturday morning, skipping Friday altogether. Seriously, this is messing with my head. What was I supposed to do today? What if TODAY was the day Publishers Clearing House showed up on the porch with a big ass check and I skipped Friday altogether? It's messing with my brain, I tell you.
So to solve this brain twist, I'm reading historical romance. "Forget the present, try Regency instead!" is my strategy. This coming week I'll be running amok in Sydney, and am going to be having tea with bloggers and readers among other things. I'm so looking forward to it - and even a 14 hour plane ride comes with built in assloads of reading time.
So, what are you reading? What do you read when your brain feels twisted? And dude, what would I have done on Friday?!
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by SB Sarah | October 18, 2012 | Thursday at 1:53 am | 101 Comments
There are two words I keep running into in romances, and I have to talk about them.
First: when a heroine is barefoot and she's ambulating from one location to another, what verb will be used to describe her movement?
Padded.
All barefoot people pad. Count on it.
I searched "padded" on all books on my Kindle, and came up with 20+ examples referring to people walking barefoot. Because it's new, I have a total of 10 books on this device, so granted this is a very limited sample. But when I search my archive of books online, I get a similar flash flood of people paddling around. These are some of the results - sound familiar?
"She padded into the kitchen." "She padded into the living room." "Her bare feet padded against the hardwood floor." "She tossed the covers off, padded naked to the table…" "I changed into my sweatpants and padded out to the living room in my bare feet." "He padded back to the bedroom." "She kicked off her heels and padded toward the kitchen barefoot."…
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by SB Sarah | October 09, 2012 | Tuesday at 11:23 am | 50 Comments
Back in the day, many romances were very much focused on the heroine,and the hero was a somewhat nebulous, possibly menacing figure whose motivations weren't known, and whose actions were often only excused by the fact that the back cover copy proclaimed him the hero. Actions frequently included ravishing, bodice ripping, and generally being a rapetastic assclown.
Then, things began to change. We readers were treated to more and more of the hero's point of view: what he was thinking. Scenes, whole chapters, even wherein the hero's motivations, thoughts and emotions (and changing emotions) toward the heroine were known to the reader because we'd hang out in his head for awhile.
This put the reader in a unique space: she knew the heroine, and she knew the hero, and she knew enough of both to (a) even more readily -- one hopes -- forgive any asshattery on the part of either character and (b) understand why and how and possibly when the two would finally get together. Readers were the witness in the middle, privy to both characters' points of view.
This has become almost standard, particularly in some sub-genres. More often than not, in many…
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by SB Sarah | October 06, 2012 | Saturday at 3:31 am | 51 Comments
I received an email from Shawny about a problem she had that's rather common -- and a similar problem her uncle had that is both hilarious and sad:
Can I make a topic suggestion? Books that sound like one thing, but are actually another? Or maybe books with identical or very similar titles? I've read 2 books called A Kiss at Midnight this year, one was a fairy tale, one was vampire angst. Fortunately, I'm a fan of both, but not everyone is.
Another example - my retired banker uncle recently planned a trip to Savannah. Someone suggested he read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which is set in Savannah. So he got online, but instead of buying Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, bought Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evie. I believe the latter is set in Oregon.
He read the whole thing, acknowledged later that there had been more sex in the book than he had expected, and…
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by SB Sarah | September 28, 2012 | Friday at 9:14 am | 113 Comments
I don't always do open threads, but when I do, I make sure they become.... THE MOST EXPENSIVE BOOK SUGGESTION THREADS IN THE WORLD.
I love asking y'all what you're reading, mostly because when someone gets all excited about a book I relinquish control of myself and go buy it, and another one and that one too and oh, crap. I hope I'm not alone in that. This past week I've read two books based on very squeeful email reviews and suggestions. Those recommendations are terribly persuasive.
I can't talk about what I'm reading yet because I'm reading for future Sizzling Book Club picks, but I promise, so far, what I'm reading is awesome and giving me Good Book Noise™.
However, that doesn't mean I can't get all up in your business: whatcha reading? Are you enjoying it? What books have you been telling everyone about?
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by SB Sarah | September 04, 2012 | Tuesday at 1:12 am | 55 Comments
When I started reviewing all the 50 Shades-esque covers, particularly the Lora Leigh book ("Oh, come ON, now") I started wondering what things might have changed in Ye Olde Publishing Houses in the weeks and months following 50 Shades' domination of the bestseller list.
For example: cover art is changing, especially covers for contemporary romances that are explicit or tagged as erotic. Sexuality within books has also become a more prominent part of the pitches I've received - "This book is HOT!" for example.
I got to wondering how the success of 50 Shades might have changed or influenced the way folks in publishing houses go about their jobs, and so I got nosy and asked a few.
Pamela Jaffee, Director of Publicity at Avon, says that the style of the books on the outside and the inside has definitely changed: "We are repackaging a lot of great books (ie Sylvia Day) in the new evocative/erotic style. We're launching a new trilogy acquired by Harper Australia specifically geared to interest and entice the…
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by SB Sarah | August 06, 2012 | Monday at 3:32 am | 32 Comments
With all the business cards and email addresses exchanged at RWA and at other summer conferences, I thought an examination of the rules and best practices governing newsletter distribution might be a good idea.
Really, this is inspired by my own annoyance. I've noticed an increase in the number of email newsletters I'm receiving that I absolutely did not sign up for. This is making me insane and very angry, and I want to explain why this is a BAD IDEA and what to do if it happens to you.
First Rule of Newsletter: unless someone has specifically given permission or has opted-in to receive a newsletter, do not subscribe them. Ever.
This is high-level douchery. I call it Being an Unwitting Newsletter Douche.
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by SB Sarah | August 03, 2012 | Friday at 10:43 am | 73 Comments
If you went to RWA last week, you likely came home with a big ol' selection of books. I saw many a person making the trek to the FedEx office in the hotel on the last day! And if you didn't go, I'm betting you learned about new books this week that you're really excited about.
I made the mistake of starting FOUR different books and not finishing one of them yet - I hate when I buffet my reading like that, but when I travel, it happens to me often. I have to finish at least two before I start anything else. I ought to be strict with myself and finish all of them, but sometimes, curiosity gets the better of me, and I buy and start reading something I've been told about, or that grabs my attention. Oh, internet, you are so tempting with the book purchasing options!
So, what are you reading this weekend? What books are you totally into? What did…
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by SB Sarah | July 02, 2012 | Monday at 8:44 am | 31 Comments
James L. sent me the following story:
Greetings! This was weird. Before work, someone came to the front door (getting a large barking fit from my dogs), left a package on the porch, and departed. I figured it was one of those deliveries where they don't leave it in the mailbox but you don't have to sign for it. I thought it was a delivery for Mom, but it turned out to be a generic promotion for auto washing, complete with coupons and business cards. So, what was odd about this (and worth telling you)? All the car stuff was tucked into a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. Yup, they gave a free copy of the book (used -- the sticker was still on the front) to try to encourage folks to get their car washed, waxed, etc. This seems very strange: There's no erotic scene(s) in the book revolving around cars, and there was nothing from the company linking to the book to the service. (Best I could come up with: "Enjoy a dirty book -- and a clean…
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by SB Sarah | June 22, 2012 | Friday at 4:08 am | 81 Comments
It's time for what I think of as "the most expensive recurring feature" on the site - What are you reading?
Seriously, I read the comments and the book spending goes up, up, up, and I feel both lightheaded and giddy. I hope I'm not the only one.
This weekend is the Great American Backyard Campout, and I'm parking myself, the hubby, and our two boys (and a lot of bug spray - we're all lumpy-allergic to insect bites) in the backyard in a tent with flashlights and books and the best of intentions to sleep outside all night. I know Freebird, who is 6, will probably bring his favorites from the Lunchlady graphic novel series, and Baba O'Riley, who is 4, will probably bring ALL OF HIS BOOKS because that child is like a sherpa.
As for me, I'll be reading Truly, Madly Yours, by Rachel Gibson. I've never read it, and y'all had really good things to say about it in the recent Gibson thread. Watch, I'll wake everyone up trying to muffle my very loud snort-laugh.
What about…
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by SB Sarah | June 11, 2012 | Monday at 10:57 am | 74 Comments
While compiling the Rachel Gibson "Which One First?" recommendation list (which I'll be posting this week), several readers mentioned what I've termed the "Frayed Cover Recommendation."
To quote Rita, who was talking about See Jane Score ( A | BN | K | S | ARe ), "My copy is worn to the point that the cover is completely frayed."
YES. Exactly. When a book has been re-read so many times, the cover has fallen apart, and perhaps you've had to buy another copy because the book is that good, that's a 100% honest Frayed Cover Recommendation. The books don't lie!
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by SB Sarah | June 08, 2012 | Friday at 9:11 am | 84 Comments
I love hearing what books you're reading every so often - which is why I love this open thread of sorts to get all nosy in your reading business. Whatcha reading?
As for me, I am reading a YA due out in August that Jane recommended to me, Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry ( A | BN | K | S) - which I can never remember the title of, despite seeing it. It's the "kissing in the dark hallway cover" book. Then I have to go look it up. My memory is a ridiculous silly place. (And then, as I was looking up the "kissing in the dark hallway cover," I found Jennifer Echols' July book, Such a Rush, ( A | BN | K | S) which sounds all kinds of cool: a teen from a trailer park learns to pilot planes in secret.
But since Pushing the Limits is not out until late July (the 31st, which I am told in Publishing Land, is actually August, despite it being the last day of July. At least my memory is not the only…
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by SB Sarah | June 02, 2012 | Saturday at 8:56 am | 29 Comments
Howdy to the new folks!
I've noticed an increase in visitors who are new to the Hot Pink Palace of Bitchery - nice to meet you! We're all about romance here, both the books that are amazingly good and the books that are howlingly awful. We like romance novels - a LOT.
I've noticed an increase in articles about romance lately as well, likely due to the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey, because many, many people are trying to figure out why this book is so popular. I wrote about that a few months ago, but, as I said last week, this sort of super-saturation happens with books every now and again. It happened with Twilight, it happened with Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games. This time the book is not YA by a long shot (heh), but it happens. It'll happen again, but it's hard to predict why and how this type of hyper exposure and saturation occurs.
But folks are still talking about 50 Shades and reading it and writing…
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by SB Sarah | May 25, 2012 | Friday at 4:20 am | 107 Comments
Here's another question that sprang from a random query on the SBTB Facebook page: What's the longest period of time you've ever spent reading, nonstop?
I think my record is 6 hours. I've been on longer flights, but I think I made myself sleep. What's your record? And what were you reading?
What's the longest stretch you've ever read nonstop?
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