Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Awesomeness
February 15, 2011 | Tuesday | 265 Comments
Yes, yes, it’s the 15th. But awhile back, Hubby and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 15th, rather than the 14th, and not because the candy’s on sale, though that’s a perfectly good reason. So this year, I’m doing something similar: we’re celebrating on the 15th - with vintage romances. I recently had an email from a reader, DM, who found a Laurie McBain title she’d loved years and years ago on sale in the bookstore’s romance section - and she was so very happy to be able to buy a new one, as her old copy was…
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February 07, 2011 | Monday | 151 Comments
The Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series is one of the book series that I learned about from the Bitchery, one that I keep meaning to start reading already. Now that there’s another installment coming out 8 March, I think it’s time for me to get on with it already. I definitely have a habit of waiting to start a series until there’s at least a few books for me to read in a row - I did that with Julia Spencer-Fleming and with Ilona Andrews’ books as well. And then, when I know there’s a new one, I can go…
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December 31, 2010 | Friday | 50 Comments
Rather than do a recap of 2010, which would probably break my brain because I’ve done a lot of high-impact computer work this week (no, really, not even kidding) and because I can’t remember what I was wearing yesterday, let alone remember what I was reading eight months ago, I wanted to look back on the authors I discovered this year that rocked my world. These aren’t debut authors, not all of them, anyway. I don’t actually think being a debut author causes any more of a ripple in my consciousness than any other author or book that catches my…
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November 27, 2010 | Saturday | 23 Comments
Linzenberg writes with the following HaBO (Stands for “Help a Bitch Out,” those who are like, HUH?) request. This, to me, sounds like a movie: Back when I was, oh, I’d say 13 or so (so around the late-90s/early 2000s) I managed to get my paws on My First Romance NovelTM. I knew it was a Romance NovelTM, because it had S-E-X. How it ended up in my house, I have no idea, because my mother took it out of the library and my mother is a woman who says “Sugar” as a strong explicative. But somehow it made the…
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October 20, 2010 | Wednesday | 15 Comments
Want some reading of the ranking and listing and charting variety? From Billie: The Overthinkingit.com Female Character Flowchart. There was a lot of sketching involved in the creation of that graphic. Holy smoke. And, in further links of awesomeness, Lauren Baratz-Logsted wrote up what she considers her Book Pyramid, which parallels the AMA Food Pyramid only instead of nutrition, it ranks books by the respect they receive. Yeah. This can’t end well for romance. I have to say, I grinned at her comment: On behalf of every sensible-minded person in publishing, Romance, I’d like to offer my apologies. You make…
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August 02, 2010 | Monday | 24 Comments
This year at RWA Nationals I did something a little different. I scheduled lunches and meetings with only one or two people, because one thing I find exhausting about RWA is that I have 1/10th of a conversation with about 300 people for five days, and at the end my brain hurts and I can’t remember anything. So while I didn’t run around and do the interview equivalent of high-fiving 500+ people, I did have some fascinating conversations with people, and had one of the best RWA experiences since I started attending RWA three years ago. First: overview. RWA is…
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April 05, 2010 | Monday | 6 Comments
I go away for a week, and the inbox explodes with awesomeness. Links ahoy! From Kim: sexy erotica from the 1770s was discovered in a Lake District manor house. OH LA LA. One tale is called The Crafty Chambermaid’s Garland and details the story of a young woman who tricks a man into marrying her. Written in 1770 it states: ‘The Merchant he softly crept into the room. And on the bedside he sat himself down. Her knees through the counterpane he did embrace. Did Bess in the pillow did hide her sweet face. ‘He stript (sic) of his clothes…
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February 14, 2010 | Sunday | 44 Comments
If Sweet Valley High was your gateway drug to romance the way it was mine (I even reviewed one here a long long time ago), I have some news for you. According to EW.com, and some chatty editorial assistant gossip, the Wakefield twins are baaaaaack, this time as part of Sweet Valley Confidential: “a book chronicling their lives as twenty-somethings. Rumors have swirled for years that SVH creator Francine Pascal was working on a book focusing on the twins and their friends several years out of high school.” Say it with me now: Oh, Dear Sister! I usually don’t hop…
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January 27, 2010 | Wednesday | 4 Comments
Hooray: ten lucky winners are going to indulge like holy whoa with a copy of The Blaze Collection. Woo!
The winners as chosen by the Random.org integer generator are:
MelB
Kelsey
Nadia
Morgan M.
Kathleen
jarant
henofthewoods
Jessica L
The Queen B
And the grand prize winner: Peggy P.
Please email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with your mailing addresses asap so we can get your books out. Special awesomeness: they’ll be signed by the authors.
Thanks to Leslie Kelly and to all 300+ of you who made me want chocolate, fireplaces, and bathtubs, all in the same place.
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November 30, 2009 | Monday | 28 Comments
Sony Style has a very cool page called Words Move Me, where users submit short passages from written works that they find memorable, moving, or personally important. They’ve come up with a rather neat promotion and have asked me to take part in helping spread the word about Words Move Me.
Oh look! A widget! Here are some examples:
So let’s get to celebrating the words that move us and have us a contest!
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November 19, 2009 | Thursday | 2 Comments
Oh, the fine fine collarbone shot that has shown up in three covers so far, prompting… caption time! After reading through the snort-worthy comments, I’ve picked the runner up, and the winner, and also picked up a soreness in my side from giggling. The runner up, deserving of mad props and big ups and other assorted celebrations for awesomeness: Caroline for “How many more covers to we have to hold this position for? My neck is killing me!” And the winner, who will receive a $25 gift certificate to the bookstore of his or her choosing: Galadriel for “It was…
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November 19, 2009 | Thursday | 1 Comments
Don’t forget: midnight EST is the deadline for the Harlequin Notables Totebag Contest. You could win one of two totebags with the entire paper goods collection from Flower Pot Press. Woo! To enter, email SarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with a title makeover. Take the title of any romance novel and redo the title, vintage Harlequin style. The Playboy Sheikh’s Virgin Stable-Girl? Could be “Pardon My Lizard.” The Flame and the Flower (and many other old skool romances)? “Thank you for raping me.” Silver Angel? “The Playboy Sheikh’s Virgin Harem Girl.” - Entries are due midnight EST, Thursday 19 November 2009. - Email your…
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November 06, 2009 | Friday | 13 Comments
Thanks to alert awesome person Michelle Hauf, I found out that our site is featured in Marie Claire this month (December 2009 for those of you in Australia, where it’s already 2011). We’re on page 98 as part of a list of the top 15 Best Websites for Wasting Time. OH. My. GOD. Could I be more flattered?! HOLY HELL. We’re on a list with Daily Danza, CakeWrecks, There I Fixed It, and 1Bruce1—and Lifetime, Wow? I may swoon. Here’s a scan of the list, should you like 14 other ways to suck the time out of your day. I’m…
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October 31, 2009 | Saturday | 3 Comments
Harlequin is having a big ol’ 31% off sale today over at eHarlequin *Applies to regularly priced print books, excludes eBooks & Theme Collections (sob, sniffle, sniffle).
I’m posting the review tomorrow, but if you’re looking for a spiffy contemporary to read, you can get Jill Monroe’s SEALed and Delivered with this sale for only $3.45 US.
Note: when I tested out the sale, the 31% price only showed up in the shopping cart, so double check there if you’re going shopping. Happy reading!
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September 08, 2009 | Tuesday | 23 Comments
First, from Sony Test Driver Liz, a story from Stockholm: In Stockholm, I was in a major department store called NK (http://www.nk.se/). This place makes Nordstrom look like a Target that’s trying too hard. There was a fashion show going on in the foyer, people were mobbing the Hermes boutique, and me? I just wanted to find the toy department in the hope that somewhere in Europe was a store not completely sold out of the GoGo Crazy Bones my kids asked me to bring back. My thought was lavish block long multi story department store = higher prices but…
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